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who heard words formed the category fish; those who heard tones did not.' [Northwestern University] Page three provides comments from two of the researchers. Dr. Susan J. Hespos, one of the authors of the study, stated, "For infants as young as three months of age, words exert a special influence that supports the ability to form a category.' [Northwestern University] Dr. Sandra R. Waxman, another author of the study, stated, "We suspect that human speech, and perhaps especially infant-directed speech, engenders in young infants a kind of attention to the surrounding objects that promotes categorization.' 'We proposed that over time, this general attentional effect would become more refined, as infants begin to cull individual words from fluent speech, to distinguish among individual words and kinds of words, and to map those words to meaning." [Northwestern University]xavier Le Roy at EMPAC xavier Le Roy at EMPAC Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Inquiring mind 1 / 1 Back to Gallery After earning his doctorate in molecular biology, Xavier Le Roy decided he didn't want to be a scientist — he wanted to make dances instead. One of his earliest works, which he reprises at EMPAC on Saturday, is all about his transition from one field to the other. The solo piece "Product of Circumstances" jumbles together disciplines and perspectives, approximating the mix that Le Roy experienced during his years of taking dance classes every week while pursuing his biology studies at the University of Montpellier, France. Part artist, part scientist, he intersperses movement with personal narrative and detailed explanations of slides taken from his thesis, which explores gene expression and hormonal regulation in breast cancer. Le Roy made the piece in 1998, while living in Berlin, in response to an invitation from the organizers of an event called "Body Currency." One of a number of artists working in a wide range of mediums, he was asked to present a work about science, dance and his segue between the two. "I realized I couldn't formulate a concept or theory [about the topic] every time I tried; it brought me back to my practice, my biography, my history," he said in a recent interview. "To answer the question, I had to go through my experience and the elements of my life." The result is an hour-long work, presented in the format of an academic lecture, which examines theoretical questions about process and product while revealing multiple facets of the choreographer's personality and worldview. "I tried to put everything at the same level," he said. "The text is not there to highlight the dance, and the dance is not there to highlight the text. It goes back and forth all the time." Early on in the piece, Le Roy shares his growing disenchantment with science and its emphasis on conducting only experiments that will produce concrete results. "The idea that I had about science was very different from its practice," he said. "If you have to know you'll find [something] before you search, that's a problem." "Product of Circumstances" also traces Le Roy's development as a dancer. In his first break from the text, he steps away from the lectern and bends over, trying to touch his toes but not getting there. It's a re-enactment of a stretch he performed to loosen up during his years playing basketball, and he consciously keeps his hands about eight inches from the floor, as a way of rewinding to a time when he was less flexible. As the piece progresses, Le Roy moves from descriptions of tissue segments seen under a microscope to anecdotes of his early forays into the dance world. Turned away at auditions in Paris because he was "too skinny" and lacked training, he began studying the technique of Merce Cunningham; he demonstrates several of these exercises in "Product of Circumstances," along with excerpts from his own later works. He performs a section from his 1994 piece "Things I Hate to Admit" standing on a chair, and a section from "Burke," from 1997, that gives the illusion that his arms are cut off at the elbow. In the few seconds taken from "Self Unfinished" (1998), he transforms himself into a mechanical figure, accompanying each robotic movement with a self-produced sound effect. "The movement is built out of exploration of what this body, built in this way, can produce," he said. In the 15 years since "Product of Circumstances," Le Roy has made more than a dozen dances, including "Product of Other Circumstances," a sequel of sorts based on the Japanese dance form Butoh; "E.X.T.E.N.S.I.O.N.S," a series of public projects that used games and rules to generate choreography; and "Le Sacre du Printemps," set to Igor Stravinsky's classic composition, with movement based on the gestures of conducting. Le Roy continues to pursue answers to the questions he posed in "Product of Circumstances," such as, What is performance? What is representation? Is the human body an extension of the environment or/and the environment an extension of the body? He may no longer be a biologist, but he's still conducting experiments, and putting the results under a microscope. Tresca Weinstein is a frequent contributor to the Times UnionThe Dixie Mafia is a criminal organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi that operates primarily in the Southern United States (hence the name dixie). The group uses each member's talents in various crime categories to help move stolen merchandise, illegal alcohol, and illegal drugs. It is also known for violence, drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, extortion, robbery, fraud, and money laundering. Early days [ edit ] Beginning in the late 1960s, the Dixie Mafia began working as a loosely knit group of traveling criminals performing residential burglary, robbery, and theft. The gang did not function with a set chain of command, but was led by whoever had the most money. Despite the informal structure, the Dixie Mafia had one rule that members were expected to obey: "Thou shalt not snitch to the cops".[1] Unlike members of the Sicilian Mafia, the members of the Dixie Mafia were not connected by family or country of origin. They were loosely connected individuals of many nationalities with a common goal: to make money and wield control over illegal moneymaking operations by any means, including influence peddling, bribery of public officials, and murder.[citation needed] The gang became known for carrying out contract killings, particularly against former members. During its peak, from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, dozens of people were murdered (usually shot) by its members. Victims were most often murdered because they testified, or threatened to testify, against fellow members. One contract killer William Miller (also known as "Blue Eyes") was said to have carried out many of the contract killings. This could never be proven due to lack of information or evidence.[citation needed] Mike Gillich was also patron and protector of Kirksey McCord Nix, Jr., one of the gang's most notable members. In December 1965, at the age of 22, Nix was caught carrying illegal automatic weapons in Fort Smith, Arkansas. An old friend of his, Juanda Jones, ran a bordello there, and Nix became involved with Jones' adolescent daughter, Sheri LaRa. In later years, she would play a key role in his operations, including direct ties to the murders of Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, a former Biloxi councilwoman and mayoral candidate.[citation needed] Edward Humes, in his 1994 book, Mississippi Mud: Southern Justice and the Dixie Mafia, chronicled the Sherry murders, and the subsequent investigation of Gillich, Kirksey Nix, Bobby Fabian and others who were involved either loosely or actively in the murders. Bobby Fabian began cooperating with the FBI on the Sherry murders and was pleading with any law enforcement officials to move him out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary (LSP) because he felt he would be murdered. Fabian was transferred out of Angola but not a moment too soon as Dixie Mafia member (Florida boss) Jeffery Carter had managed to be assigned to Camp-D within the penitentiary, exactly where Fabian was being housed.[citation needed] LSP security obtained information from a confidential informant that Jeffery Carter was armed with a knife and that Carter was going to kill Fabian on the prison yard. Angola security immediately reacted to the information and actually spotted Jeffery Carter walking towards Bobby Fabian at which time a correctional officer ran up on Carter, who was only 50 yards from Bobby Fabian, and took control of Carter. Upon searching Jeffery Carter, correctional officers found a Buck knife in the open position on Carter's person.[2] With the aid of his father's connections in Oklahoma, Kirksey Nix beat the weapons charges in Ft. Smith and moved on to other crimes. He was suspected in the gangland-style murder of a gambler named Harry Bennett, who was about to turn state's evidence against several Dixie Mafia members. Although Nix's involvement in Bennett's murder was never proven, this incident precipitated a string of killings that left twenty-five people dead in six states over the next four years. Nix was a suspect in the attempted assassination of McNairy County, Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser, and in the murder of Pusser's wife. Nix was also convicted of murdering wealthy New Orleans grocery owner Frank Corso. At the time of the murder, Kirksey Nix was believed to be employed by Darrel Ward in Clarksville, Texas. Mr. Ward was a noted associate of syndicate boss Sam "Momo" Giancana and is thought to have controlled organized crime and bootlegging throughout Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. The Dixie Mafia was strongly connected to the State Line Mob and its leader Carl Douglas "Towhead" White.[3][4][5][6] Mike Gillich, Jr. died at age 82 of cancer in his Biloxi home on April 28, 2012. He reportedly had a religious conversion to Christianity in the years prior to his death. As of 2014 there has been a single group that has reestablished the Dixie Mafia in Wisconsin, mainly in Milwaukee. This newly formed Dixie Mafia focuses more on violence than the original Dixie Mafia.[7] Locales [ edit ] The Dixie Mafia's origins were in the Appalachian states. The group operated in many large Southern cities and some of the group's criminal activities were in more obscure parts of their major areas of operation, making the group and their activities harder to pinpoint.[5][8] The Dixie Mafia committed most of their crimes in areas that lacked strong, coordinated law enforcement, particularly in small communities throughout the South. In doing so, murders, intimidation, or other criminal activities could take place with less risk of local law enforcement being able to directly link the crimes to the organization.[original research?] Small town and county law enforcement agencies, especially in poorer sections of the South up to the 1990s, were usually inadequately equipped, and rarely had officers with extensive experience in the investigation of homicide or organized crime.[citation needed] The members of the Dixie Mafia usually created small, seemingly legitimate, businesses such as buying and selling junk or antiques. These businesses would provide fronts for the operators to buy and sell stolen items provided by others within the network. The businesses would usually operate until they aroused suspicion, then move to another location.[citation needed] Many members of the Dixie Mafia were former state or federal prisoners. Members were usually recruited while in prison; a history of violent behavior was generally a prerequisite to becoming a member. According to an article in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the gang was well known for its violence in collecting debts owed to gambling houses and strip clubs.[citation needed] The terms "Dixie Mafia" and "Southern Mafia" have been used interchangeably. Documented use of the two terms existed as early as 1993, when Scarfone wrote about the "Dixie Mafia" or the "Southern Mafia" working together with the "Italian Mafia" in the South. His accounts of the "Good Ol' Boy's Southern-Mafia" in Parts 3 and 4 of the article describe the group's indigenous nature.[9] It is unclear whether or not all journalistic and literary references to the "Dixie Mafia" and the "Southern Mafia" refer to the same group of individuals. Therefore, these terms have become terms of general reference to any illegal enterprise in the Southern states that, for cultural reasons, can expect a certain amount of support, both intended and unintended, from the local population[10] Louisiana State Penitentiary [ edit ] Louisiana State Penitentiary is home to many Dixie Mafia members. Most have life sentences without any chance of parole. Some mafia members have served a lengthy prison sentence and have been released from prison. One such Dixie Mafia member who is suspected of numerous murders around the United States (and Mexico) is Jeffery Carter. Jeffery Carter served a 20-year sentence in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) for the death and sexual assault of a New Orleans prostitute. Carter has since been released from custody and resides in or near Madison County, Florida. Jeffery Carter is suspected to be the Florida boss of the mafia, taking orders only from members behind bars in Angola, Louisiana (Peter Mule) and Marion, Illinois (Kirksey Nix). Shortly after Jeffery Carter's release from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, Federal authorities were involved in an airplane chase over the Gulf of Mexico after authorities spotted a low flying Piper Cub flying at full speed just a few hundred yards off shore. The pilot of this aircraft ignored the Federal authorities attempt to communicate. The pilot made a dangerous belly landing just yards away from the shore and was seen swimming to shore by authorities using infrared night vision. Despite all efforts to have law enforcement on the ground to locate this pilot, the pilot was never caught. The airplane was later determined to be stolen, and there was nothing illegal on board. However, law enforcement authorities believe that this low flying pilot was Dixie Mafia member Jeffery Carter. There was never enough evidence to arrest Carter as the pilot.[11] Law enforcement agencies have confirmed that in 1981 Jeffery Carter was befriended by infamous pilot and drug smuggler Barry Seal, while Carter was a bartender at a French Quarter bar in New Orleans Louisiana.[12] Barry Seal, in 1982, compelled Carter to relocate to Mena Arkansas to work for Seal at Seal's new business called Rich Mountain Aviation, at the Mena Airport. It is unclear what Jeffery Carter's work responsibilities were, but it is widely believed that Jeffery Carter was a protege of Barry Seal, and learned his flying skills from Barry Seal. A 2011 NPR report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit.[13] In popular culture [ edit ] A 1999 episode of The FBI Files details the FBI investigation of the Dixie Mafia, preempted by the 1987 murder-for-hire killings of Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret in Biloxi, Mississippi. details the FBI investigation of the Dixie Mafia, preempted by the 1987 murder-for-hire killings of Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife Margaret in Biloxi, Mississippi. The Dixie Mafia features prominently in the Kentucky-set television series Justified, which aired from 2010 until 2015. , which aired from 2010 until 2015. The Dixie Mafia feature as antagonists in the 2016 video game Mafia III, which is set in a fictionalized version of New Orleans circa 1968. , which is set in a fictionalized version of New Orleans circa 1968. The Dixie Mafia is loosely featured as antagonists in the 2017 TV Show Claws, that features fictional Dixie Mafia boss Clay Husser, portrayed by Dean Norris, and the Husser crime family.[14] See also [ edit ]MY DAD WAS THE GAME MASTER BY ALEX PHILLIPSWhile most kids’ parents limit their children’s time playing video games, my Dad did the opposite. That is because my dad is Howard Phillips, Nintendo’s former spokesperson and creative director, known better to first-generation Nintendo players as the Game Master. Idol to thousands of young Mario Bros fans, Dad knew every trick in the gaming book before he left the company in 1991. I reached him at our old home in Seattle through Skype to talk about his career at the forefront of mass-consumer gaming and as a cultural icon—a position that helped leveraged playground status for me and my sister Katherine.Yeah, the connection is all right. Let’s get going so your Mom and I can—I was asked to play all the games, develop the ideas, and to send them to Mr. Arakawa, the former head of Nintendo America, and Mr. Niromoto, who was in charge in Japan.Video games were just getting going again in the US after Atari had come and gone. It was still a toy, not a format, so not a lot of people were familiar with them. People saw ads for Nintendo, but we wanted to personalize it and let people know why gaming was cool and fun. That was my job.When it came to tips for games, reviews, or high scores that kids were sending in, I knew all of that stuff. That’s the reason I became president. Do you remember your sweatshirt?It was white and the logo was pink and blue? Katherine wore it a lot. That might have been when you were a little piece of mush, like six months old.Yeah, eyes, mouth, toes. Smiling, but not a lot going on.That was the first really great gaming magazine because it covered the most popular game system.We only had 18 games when it first came out, but we thought it would be cool to be able to tell people when there were others coming out—something specifically not corporate. The coolest thing about it was that we gave it away for free for the first few years.Kids loved the magazine because it included screen shots. Pre-internet and VCRs, actually showing kids the games was the only way to explain how to do tricks. They couldn’t just look it up online.Of course it was marketing. But for the kids it didn’t matter.was another idea to present tips and tricks to the kids. Nester was the quintessential video game kid, not wanting to ask for help but needing it. We could use him as an example of what most kids were trying in the games and wasn’t working. Howard was just me—the one who knew all the games and tricks.Maybe a little bit. But many boys are like that. They want to do everything themselves and figure things out on their own. I was that way, and still am.I never liked wearing ties. They are big honking pieces of cloth that weigh a lot, and when you wear them and go around corners you can feel it. Bowties are simple and easy, just like tying a shoe. It was a better thing all around.They didn’t play it up at all. It was my choice. But the media did because they were a bunch of straight-tie goofballs.I haven’t been dressed up recently.Yeah it just says “Nintendo Rocks the 90s.” Looking back on it now it's kind of lame but still fun because it was talking about how cool the 90s were going to be.I had a job in the warehouse shipping all the Donkey Kong arcade units around the country. I would personally move the games to the local places, like behind the hotdog machine at the 7-Eleven, and would also do maintenance. I took it as a chance to watch kids play and see what they liked and didn't like so I could pass that information on to Mr. Arakawa. I would also give them pointers on how to improve.In 1985, when they decided to release the Nintendo game console in the US, Mr. Arakawa asked me which games they should release. After examining them, I gave him 16 games and my reasons. I think it was the first game portfolio.Soon after that I was doing nothing but running around developing and playing games. At meeting with developers, Mr. Arakawa would come to me and say, "Play this game and tell me what you think.” It was kind of embarrassing. It was hard to say things that weren't popular, like "Your game sucks." I would just say it wasn't fun. Were us kids ever part of your game analysis? I always felt really important. Every kid's opinion was important. Sorry for bursting your bubble. I just made sure that I got the most out of it when I saw a kid playing. It was fun watching you and Katherine with boys because you would breeze by with a high level of game knowledge. You liked being experts. Were there gamer groupies? Yeah, there were. Katherine thought it was really cool. I still get emails from people who remember me from when they were six years old. They write about how much they loved the games and the company. For me, that is really validating. I wanted to be an advocate of the kids. I said “groupies,” not kid gamers. The parents could be creepy though. There was some lady at an event who gushed to your mom about how good my manual dexterity must be. Oh my God. That is nasty. Yep. Some of the moms were crazy. How did your job change over the years? It was such a different ballgame when you left the company. I had been doing the creative director thing for four or five years and the industry was really starting to grow. It was like the dotcom boom but obviously well before that. It was the beginning of the tech age. My skill, which was that I knew every game, wasn't possible by the time I left. It was quite a bummer. What do you think the future holds for gaming? We still have the same traditional themes, such as the unlikely hero, but as the production of games becomes less expensive, people will use the medium in new and different ways that aren't as classically "game-like." This new core is really about problem solving. Can you explain? With games, we are given an opportunity to explore the world, and I think the technology of games will allow us to do more of that in the future. Things like feeding the poor in Africa. So you’d like more fantasy. Why don't we try doing what we would never do in the real world but would do in a game? This will allow us to expose how we are doing things in the real world. You’re a good person, Dad.Jolla's press release yesterday that the Sailfish OS has 'achieved compatibility with the Android ecosystem' certainly generated some positive coverage for what is soon to be Finland's number one smartphone manufacturer. But what does that 'achieved compatibility' actually mean? Many were expecting Jolla to go with OpenMobile inc's. Android Compatibility Layer (ACL), but speaking to Jolla's CEO Tomi Pienimäki yesterday, he told me that "Jollia is not using" the ACL. "Jolla is developing its [own] Android application compatibility based on open source Android Projects and Dalvik runtime together with a 3rd party technology provider." Not surprisingly, Google have a definition of 'Android Compatibility', which can be found in their Open Source FAQ. Specifically "we define an 'Android compatible' device as one that can run any application written by third-party developers using the Android SDK and NDK." It's this definition of compatibility that the Sailfish OS has achieved, as Pienimäki explained, although as it stands a handset running Sailfish OS will still need to do some work to use the Android trademark in any advertising. "Sailfish OS is designed to meet the compatibility requirements of the relevant specifications needed to deliver competitive user experience for consumers and device vendors. It is to be noted that Sailfish OS however does not include Android OS as such, and thus not all specifications and certifications are relevant. It is up to Sailfish device vendors to consider and apply the relevant certifications." Which leads to the question of Google Play on the first Sailfish OS handset, the self-named Jolla. The Jolla handset will not ship with Google Play, but it will have an app store in the handset, as Pienimäki set out. "Jolla is developing an application store in co-operation with leading app store providers through which users will be able to download both Android and native applications for Sailfish OS." And to be clear on the main Android App Store, Pienimäki confirmed that "Jolla devices won’t have Google Play," Jolla are expected to release their first handset before the end of the year (and the first batch of handsets are already fully booked) but it's important that both the handset and the operating system are seen as having all the important applications that a user would want. Entrenching the idea of 'if it's on Android, it's on Sailfish' is a smart marketing strategy for the small start-up. The hope is that developers will also make the jump to Sailfish OS and take advantage of the native code. It's a risky path, and one that BlackBerry have followed without any big wins for native code, but with limited resources it's probably the best strategy for the Finnish company to follow. If Jolla can negate customers concerns of "will it run X?", then Sailfish OS has a chance to establish itself.On December 10th, 2016, Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy (R) won a runoff election for U.S. Senate against Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell (D) by a margin of 61 to 39 percent. The two candidates squared off in a runoff election after no candidate in a field of 23 came close to receiving a majority of the vote (50 percent +1) in the general election on November 8th, 2016. Voter turnout in the runoff, which took place four weeks after the general election, was just 29.2 percent--down from 67.8 percent in the general election--making it one of the lowest-attended U.S. Senate elections in the state in recent years. Louisiana is unique in that there are no primary elections before Election Day in November for the state's congressional elections. Instead, candidates of all parties run on the same ballot on Election Day, including more than one candidate from the same political party. If no candidate wins a majority (50% +1) of the vote, the state holds a runoff election between the top two vote-getters. Since this Senate contest was for an open seat, the field of candidates was particularly crowded. At the outset of the race, some 23 candidates decided to run: eight Democrats, eight Republicans, and seven independent or third party candidates. While the race eventually winnowed down to about 6 competitive candidates by November 8th, there was little chance of any candidate receiving a majority and avoiding a runoff. While the turnout on December 10th was particularly low, significant declines in turnout between the general election and the runoff are quite common, not to mention the fact that it is quite expensive for the state to pay for a second state-wide election. In 2014, for example, incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu and challenger Bill Cassidy faced each other in a runoff election four weeks after the general election, and turnout dropped from 51.5 percent to 43.6 percent. Cities in California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota use ranked-choice voting — also known as instant runoff voting — as an alternative to runoffs to avoid the low turnout and extra costs associated with holding a second election. Louisiana already uses ranked ballots for military and overseas voters, so that those voters can rank their preferences ahead of time should a runoff be necessary. Legislators should look for ways to expand the use of ranked choice voting to avoid low-turnout elections like the one on December 10th.Last Thursday, a US air strike hit a mosque in the Idlib province in Syria, reportedly killing at least 42 civilians. Activists on the ground were quick to document the aftermath of the attack with footage emerging of the rescue effort and the extent of the mosque’s destruction. It was said to have been full of worshippers who had gathered for a regular evening prayer, and according the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the civilian death toll may be higher with many still trapped under the rubble. The images from sources on the ground show a chaotic scene, with volunteers frantically trying to bury through the debris to save those buried underneath. But the US military’s Central Command denied that it had targeted a mosque, with spokesperson Col John J Thomas stating that it was a building holding an al-Qaeda meeting that was destroyed “killing several terrorists". According to the New York Times, he also says that “there is a mosque within 50 feet of that building that is still standing”. This statement, however, is misleading. The investigative search network Bellingcat was able to confirm by way of verifying numerous eyewitness testaments, local media sources and monitor reports that a mosque was indeed targeted. Speaking to Middle East Eye, Airwars, the transparency group monitoring air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group, said that Col Thomas is possibly referring to a different, older mosque nearby, but the Al-Jinah mosque in question was indeed targeted and around 50 percent of it destroyed. Civilians killed on the rise Far from being an isolated incident, the number of civilians killed in Syria and Iraq as a result of US air strikes has witnessed what Airwars researchers have called an “unprecedented increase” since Trump took office. According to Airwars, local sources are reporting that between 250 and 370 non-combatants were killed in Mosul in the first week of March alone. The group is still working to verify all claims, so far having confirmed that at least 71-79 civilians were killed in coalition air strikes in just seven days. This is not to suggest that during Obama's tenure there were no civilian casualties from air strikes, but there has undoubtedly been an upsurge since 20 January. According to Airwars figures, while 2016 saw an average of 35 non-combatant deaths per month, the figure more than doubled during the first two months of 2017. Considering the upsurge in strikes at the beginning of March, the figure for this month is likely to be even greater. Indeed, the Coalition now outstrips Russia on the number of civilian casualties killed from bombing in Syria and Iraq. The picture in Yemen is similarly bleak as the country witnesses a rampant escalation of US military action. The first week of March was similarly relentless; the Pentagon carried out more air strikes in Yemen than it had done under any total year of Obama’s presidency. Rather than seek approval from other senior officials and engage in discussion over strikes, Trump has shown a readiness to quickly approve a greater number of military actions. This senseless haste and lack of judgement was most clearly evidenced during the president’s first botched military operation into Yemen, when a raid on an al-Qaeda hideout resulted in the death of Navy SEAL Officer William “Ryan” Owens and several Yemeni civilians. According to a senior military official “almost everything went wrong”. Women and children were caught in the crossfire with an eight-year-old girl, named Nawar “Nora” al-Awlaki, reportedly bleeding to death for over two hours after she was shot in the neck. There was a powerful display of genuine grief by Ryan’s wife Carryn Owens at Trump’s speech to a Joint Session of Congress, which was received by a long standing ovation from Congress. Although Trump spoke of the great sacrifice Ryan made, his death appeared to be exploited by the president to divert attention away from his own responsibility for this failed operation, framing it as “they lost Ryan”. He also failed to acknowledge the fact that innocent Yemenis also lost their lives and no apologies were given for the dead women and children. Taken together, it speaks of a carelessness and an utter disregard for the local population, which is particularly dangerous considering that the US is already highly partisan in its involvement in the deadly Yemeni civil war. Rather than fostering trust with the local population, this will only serve to fuel further resentment and anger towards the US. 'Take out their families' But what is perhaps even more concerning is that the current policy of military escalation is coupled with a Trump request to change American obligations to follow international standards that minimise civilian harm. This request comes as part of Trump’s Presidential Memorandum, signed on 28 January, that asks the military to formulate a preliminary plan within 30 days to defeat IS. In the memorandum, Trump requests "recommended changes to any United States rules of engagement and other United States policy restrictions that exceed the requirements of international law regarding the use of force against ISIS". On 10 March, more than 30 former US officials submitted a seven-page letter to US Defence Secretary James Mattis in response saying, among other things, that “the United States has always put a strong premium on minimising civilian harm in armed conflict, both because it is the right thing to do and because doing so is strategically beneficial". Trump sees things differently, however, regarding these international standards as tantamount to a weak, “politically correct war”. "When you take out these terrorists, you have to take out their families,” said on the Fox and Friends show during his presidential campaign. By this logic, Nora's death was entirely justifiable. As a former senior military intelligence officer told Airwars, the transparency group monitoring air strikes against IS, “the goal is now how close to the chalk line can you get” on following international law. The ultimate losers But winning a war does not just depend on military might. It invariably relies on a persuasion of hearts and minds to your cause. The US, however, is now rapidly losing this war as the line dividing the enemy and the protector becomes increasingly blurred. Rather than seeking to protect those within the countries being bombed, Trump is prioritising giving new secret authority to the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct air strikes against targets, thereby reversing Obama’s approach that put the Pentagon in charge. This will greatly limit accountability and transparency over civilian deaths: while the Pentagon is legally obliged to provide public reports on air strikes, the CIA does not. This is gravely concerning considering that there is already a huge disparity betwehttp://www.iamsyria.org/six-years-of-syrian-conflict.htmlen official figures of civilians killed, and the numbers verified by Airwars. In the part three years, the Coalition has only official recorded 220 deaths; the monitoring group puts the figure at a staggering 2,590. He also wants more boots on the ground in Syria - not to protect civilians from their principal killer, Bashar al-Assad, but with the sole mission of combating IS, despite the fact that more than 190,000 Syrian civilians have been killed by the regime since 2011, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. Taken altogether, we are seeing a new slash-and-burn policy in which the ultimate losers will be those on the ground who are unable to escape. There has already been a staggering loss of life across the Middle East as foreign powers battle out proxy wars and try to reach a fait accompli, but while there will always be collateral damage and loss of civilian life in war, the aim should always be to do everything within your power to avoid it. However, the situation at present instead suggests a callous disinterest from Trump in the value of human life of those forced to live in these war-torn countries, a sentiment seemingly part of his wider disregard and dislike for Muslims at home and abroad. While we should not demean those in countries bombed by the US by suggesting that they will now all respond by running off to join terrorist groups, it is nevertheless clear that Trump is perpetuating the same dangerous them-and-us narrative that violent extremists use to rally others to their cause. With so much civilian blood on its hands, how can America possibly be made great again?An insulin pump mistaken for a gun at LAX led officials to delay boarding and screening Friday morning at Terminal 4 as airport authorities searched for a woman who they thought had a weapon, law enforcement sources said. The incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. as the female passenger was being screened at Los Angeles International Airport. She went through electronic screening, which detected an item shaped like a weapon, the sources said. But before screeners could search her, she walked away toward the boarding gates. Concerned Transportation Security Administration officials immediately alerted LAX police and the LAPD of a possible security breach. Sources familiar with the incident said security staff scrambled to determine what happened but eventually realized the "weapon" was actually a medical device. The woman was briefly detained and questioned. Authorities delayed some passengers boarding for up to an hour, according to sources. ALSO: San Diego penguins take to the skies (a lot) Dry, windy conditions bring red-flag warning 911 tape: Demi Moore suffered convulsions after'smoking something' -- Andrew Blankstein twitter.com/anblanx Photo: Lights at the entrance to Los Angeles International Airport. Credit: Los Angeles TimesSpaera is Greenlit by Steam! After 9 exciting days, Steam has Greenlit Spaera! We would like to thank all of you for supporting Spaera’s Greenlight campaign! We couldn’t have done it without all of you. Seriously, without you all, we would only have 10 votes. Yay? What’s next for Spaera? Now that we have access to the Steamworks API, we will be working to get the quality of life features you have all been asking for, such as friend matches, match lobbies, and achievements. In conjunction, we are preparing the game for Steam Early Access, eventually leading to a full release. We are also hard at work fulfilling our ID@Xbox duties for Spaera’s promised debut on Microsoft’s Xbox One. We hope you are as excited as we are! Again, we sincerely thank you all!The Bengal famine of 1943 (Bengali: pañcāśēra manvantara) was a major famine in the Bengal province[B] in British India during World War II. An estimated 2.1–3 million,[A] out of a population of 60.3 million, died of starvation, malaria and other diseases aggravated by malnutrition, population displacement, unsanitary conditions and lack of health care. Millions were impoverished as the crisis overwhelmed large segments of the economy and social fabric. Historians have frequently characterised the famine as "man-made",[C] asserting that wartime colonial policies created and then exacerbated the crisis. A minority view holds that the famine arose from natural causes.[D] Bengal's economy was predominantly agrarian. In the years before the famine, between half and three quarters of the rural poor were living in a "semi-starved condition". Stagnant agricultural productivity and a stable land base were inadequate for the soaring population levels, resulting in both a long-term decline in the per capita availability of rice and growing numbers of land-poor or landless laborers.[E] A large percentage also laboured beneath a chronic and spiraling
more so a north-south bruiser. He’s a bit of an injury risk, which is why the Jets opted for CJ2K, though his size will guarantee some red zone touches. If you invest early in CJ2K, Ivory is NOT a required handcuff. He is simply a fine late pick RB3-4. Projection: 658 Yards, 5 TD, 5 receptions, 30 ReYds, 0 ReTD 37. Darren Sproles (PHL) – Eagles fans rejoiced at the signing of Darren Sproles, as it will offer Chip Kelly another toy (as well as Nick Foles another target). Sproles is a legit threat whenever he touches the ball, as he continues being one of the most dynamic secondary running backs in the NFL. Last season Sproles caught 71 passes and we only expect to see that number increase. The Eagles are without any major threats at the WR position, so expect to see a plethora of dual RB sets. This doesn’t mean he’ll see a lot of running yards, so only reach for Sproles if it’s a PPR league (which you should only be playing in). Projection: 175 Yards, 2 TD, 85 receptions, 700 ReYd, 5 ReTD 38. D’Angelo Williams (CAR) – Though Williams has the ability to amass yards, he will rarely be a threat in the red zone. Cam Newton and Mike Tolbert were utilized in 16 of 21 carries when the Panthers were within 5 yards. A healthy Jonathan Stewart presents another option for red zone touches before Williams would be considered. It breaks my heart to see Williams stuck on a team that could never completely commit to the former star of Memphis. Williams almost always seems to be available late in drafts and is always worth a pickup. Just go in knowing he’s not going to get many points via touchdown. Projection: 850 Yards, 2 TD, 31 receptions, 380 ReYd, 2 ReTD 39. Bernard Pierce (BAL) – Though not the most dynamic of players, Pierce could represent a huge value depending on the length of suspension facing Ray Rice. Pierce is a decent enough runner with big size, though at this stage in drafting the level of parity begins to truly show. Pierce will benefit from a Gary Kubiak offense which has always been a boon to running backs. Pierce is a middle of the road guy, but could really shine if given the start. Projection: 610 Yards, 3 TD, 20 Receptions, 98 ReYd, 0 ReTD 40. David Wilson (NYG) –He has yet to really show his physical abilities, outside of the rare glimpse in 2012, and he spinal fusion surgery is troubling on a running back. We know that Coughlin likes the intangibles, but the fumbling problems keep him in the dog house. Should Wilson make the most of his opportunities, you’re looking at a player could make a huge difference for their team. Wilson is a deep sleeper in my book, but certainly a guy I would suggest stashing in all leagues. Projection: 589 Yards, 3 TD, 20 receptions, 180 ReYD, 2 ReTD. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Major League Fantasy Football Radio This Sunday the 27th of July from 11:30am-12:30pm EST we will have two guests Jeff Nelson and Ryan Ingram. Jeff is a high school assistant defensive coach & a 2 time Major League Fantasy Football Champion and Ryan is a writer Chase Jacobs will also be a guest co-host along with E.J. Garr. We will be discussing D-Line and running backs. You can listen live or call in and listen at 646.915.8596. Don’t forget that you can download the podcast on I-Tunes or Google play if you have an android. Look for “Sports Palooza Radio”. Major League Fantasy Baseball Radio This Monday the 28th of July from 1pm-2pm EST we will have two guests Andy Macuga and Dennis St. Pierre. Andy is a high school baseball coach out in California and Dennis is an owner in our leagues and a member of the arbitration committee. You can listen live or call in at 646.915.8596. Both baseball and football shows will be made a podcast after the live airing.Crystal Harris is engaged to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. You can't accuse Hef of marrying somebody half his age. More like a third. The bride is 24. The groom is 84. She was Playmate of the Month in December 2009. Hef became a free man after divorcing wife Kimberley Conrad this year. Not that marriage ever slowed down his dating life. He divorced his first wife, Mildred Williams, in 1959. This Friday, more than half a century later, he tweeted: After the movie tonight, Crystal & I exchanged gifts. I gave Crystal a ring. A truly memorable Christmas Eve. The following day, he clarified: When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears. This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory. Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring. I didn't mean to make a mystery out of it. A very merry Christmas to all. She retweeted that last one. Ahh, modern love. PHOTOS:One of the nation's top conservative think tanks has issued a report urging Congress to review 20 "unnecessary and harmful regulations" that the group says should be clipped as soon as possible. Three of the 20 are administered by the Federal Communications Commission, notes the Heritage Foundation's new Rolling Back Red Tape backgrounder, and involve oversight over ISPs and media acquisitions. "This regulatory tide must be reversed," Heritage's Dianne Katz concludes. "Policymakers should not just prevent harmful new regulations, but must repeal costly and unnecessary rules already on the books." Here are the three FCC-related powers on the list. Net neutrality No surprise that Heritage gives the FCC's new Open Internet Order top billing for repeal. The agency released the rules in December, and even though they exempt wireless broadband from any unreasonable discrimination provisions, Verizon and MetroPCS are suing the FCC anyway. Rescind them, says Heritage, and block the FCC from spending any appropriated money to enforce the provisions. "The new rules would hobble the ability of network owners to efficiently manage traffic flows, as well as chill the investment needed to keep the Internet growing," the report warns. "The end result: a slower and less dynamic Web. In addition, the rules give the government a role in deciding how content is treated on the Web, potentially threatening the free flow of information." Media ownership rules Over the last 70 years, both Congress and the FCC have enacted rules limiting the number of television and radio stations any single entity can own. These include a "dual network ban" going back to the World War II era that restricted any company to the ownership of one network (the target was NBC, which dropped a rib that eventually became ABC). Companies like Clear Channel have long opposed the Commission's provision limiting the number of radio stations an entity can buy in any one market. The government's newspaper/TV station cross-ownership rule has been a particularly hot topic. The FCC is currently reviewing all these regulations, as the agency must every four years. Heritage says the cross-ownership rule has definitely got to go. "Most of these rules are decades old, dating back as far as 1941. The media world, however, has changed dramatically since that time," the report contends. "In such a world, ownership restrictions on media outlets make little sense." Competitive problems can be handled via the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission. FCC merger review authority Through the long process approving the Comcast/NBC Universal merger, conservatives argued that the government was hamstringing the new entity with unnecessary public interest conditions. Among them: the merger agreement stipulates that the new Comcast can't "exercise corporate control over or unreasonably withhold programming from Hulu," which it will now partially own. But the report insists that Comcast and NBCU didn't compete with each other. "Congress should restrict the FCC's authority to review license transfers to a simple confirmation that the new licensee is eligible to hold the license," Heritage concludes. The Heritage Foundation is not alone in its disdain for the FCC's regulatory powers. On the first day of the new Congress, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced a bill that would bar the Commission from any further regulation of the Internet. With the Democrats still in charge of the Senate, prospects for legislation that limits the FCC's powers making it to President Obama's desk seem remote.Hi there!I was so much inactive these days that some of you maybe don't even know who am IWell, I was busy at my new job, but now I'm back, and you can try catching me at #Aposhack channel.It is that time when you can post your thoughts or ideas about new Apophysis. Yes, it is under its wayBe warned though, the new major version number is not for nothing... Apophysis 3 will be a huge step forward.The most important thing is it will support. Every layer can be a flame, a background,a time-escaped fractal... and probably other types, too. A single design can have as many layers, as you can create.Isn't it fascinating?It's also one and the only moment when we can get rid of Delphi and scripting library - finally! It's in C++ with Qt4,which means it's portable and relatively easy for other coders to mess with it as they like.The main design is ready, skeleton code is up and running - now I need YOUR thoughts. Note I can't get all of them intothe new Apophysis, but if you have something really interesting, I'm here to listenWell, that's all for now, my friendsHave a nice day/night!Peter.“It all started with one of Tom Curren's boards. I was picking up some boards for a surf trip and saw it at my friend's shop: a 1980s 6’5” Al Merrick hand-shaped for Curren. I rode that board on my trip, and it was such an amazing feeling. As you get older and start reflecting on your formative surfing years, you think about the boards that defined that time. Riding that board inspired me to start collecting these pieces of surfing's past. “I have hundreds of boards now, spanning from early-1900s Waikiki redwood boards all the way up to modern shortboards, but I'm most passionate about the era from the late '60s through the '80s. There was a lot happening in surfboard design during that time. We evolved from riding single-fin longboards to tri-fin shortboards in just a few years, and I was really inspired by the Bustin' Down the Door–era surfers like Mark Richards, Gerry Lopez, Buttons Kaluhiokalani, and Rabbit Bartholomew. That's why I have so many prominent boards from that period. I want to preserve what was, and hopefully these boards will inspire other surfers as well. “For me, it's not about the monetary value of the boards. I'm not looking at this as an investment. I still want to ride them. When you touch these boards, you're touching history. If you take Tom Curren's world-title board under your arm, you can easily picture yourself on the beach at Sunset the day he won it. Or when you pick up a board that MR shaped with Dick Brewer, you imagine yourself in that shaping bay, hearing them discuss the rocker or the rail line. It gives you goose bumps. “I don't think my collection will ever be complete. There will always be another board I'm after, and it's just a matter of searching for those stragglers and getting the collection to a place that feels like it's enough. But I feel pretty good about what I have now. When you have as many boards as I do, sometimes you forget what you have. I'll be looking for something in my garage and stumble across some amazing piece of surf history. I love it, but it does take up a lot of space. I've got a lot of luggage, as they say.” —Mark “Buggs” Arico Read more about specific boards in his collection in The 2015 Big Issue, on newsstands now.Yarra City Council stripped of citizenship ceremony powers over Australia Day decision Updated The Federal Government has stripped Yarra City Council of its power to hold citizenship ceremonies, after the Melbourne council voted to no longer refer to January 26 as Australia Day. Yarra, which represents Melbourne's inner north-east, will replace its citizenship ceremony with an event "marking the loss of Indigenous culture". Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the move was out of step with national values. Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke said the Government would not allow the council to politicise citizenship. "We are committed to ensuring that citizenship is treated in the 'non-commercial, apolitical, bipartisan and secular manner' which the Code mandates," Mr Hawke said in a statement. "The instrument I have signed today means there will be no more citizenship ceremonies conducted by the City of Yarra on behalf of the Government." He told ABC Radio Melbourne that if the Yarra Council wanted to advance an argument about Australia Day they should have done so without referencing citizenship ceremonies. "It's not because they're not holding [a citizenship ceremony] on Australia Day, but they passed a very political motion about Australia Day and cancelled their existing citizenship day on 26th of January in a political motion," he said. "The code is there to make sure that councils don't do these sorts of things. We don't want citizenship ceremonies being used as a political argument for anybody's political advancement one way or the other. "It's our role to uphold the code. We warned them not to do this or we would have to cancel their ability to do it, and I regret that they've done it." He acknowledged the decision was "pretty unusual and heavy handed" but told ABC RN had the council not included citizenship ceremonies in their decision the Government "wouldn't agree with it but wouldn't be doing anything about it". Yarra council voted to: Hold a small-scale, "culturally sensitive" event featuring a smoking ceremony on January 26. Adopt a communications plan that focuses on "broader community education to help people better understand Aboriginal community experiences of January 26". Refer to the day as "January 26" until another term is adopted nationally. Officially support the #changethedate campaign in council publications and social media. Consider ways to lobby the Federal Government to change the date of Australia Day. Yarra City Mayor Amanda Stone said she planned to talk to Mr Hawke about the decision soon. "I think it's a bit of an overreaction," she said. "I hope common-sense and decency will prevail. "He [Alex Hawke] has the right to make the determination, I disagree with it." In a statement, Ms Stone added: "We do not believe we are in breach of the Citizenship Ceremonies Code, and we will be seeking to discuss this matter with the Assistant Minister as soon as possible." Mr Hawke denied the Federal Government had over-reacted to the council's decision, saying Australia Day was the most popular day for people to receive their citizenship. He said the council had not consulted its constituents before making the decision. "It's a very narrow group of councillors making decisions on behalf of a very narrow group of people," he said. 'Challenges of our history' Mr Turnbull took aim during Question Time at the council's decision not to recognise January 26 as Australia Day. "We recognise that the history of European settlement in Australia has been complex and tragic for Indigenous Australians," he said. "We recognise the complexities and the challenges of our history. "But on Australia Day, we recognise the greatness of our achievement as Australians." Following the Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, Mr Turnbull said councils had duties under the Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code, and any council that breached it could have its authorisation to conduct citizenship ceremonies revoked. "An attack on Australia Day is a repudiation of the values the day celebrates: freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity," he said in a statement. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was also critical of the move. "Reconciliation is more about changing hearts and minds than it is about moving public holidays," Mr Shorten said. "But, of course, if we look at national days important in the history of this country, there is March 1 1901, when the Australian parliament, the Australian nation came into being." Mr Hawke said elsewhere in the country, the city councils Hobart and Fremantle had agreed not to involve citizenship ceremonies in their positions on Australia Day. "I had a good chat with those mayors and we had a good resolution where they backed down on it, in Fremantle the mayor conducted a citizenship ceremony on Australia Day and the council still held their own views," he said. "This is the first council where we wrote to them, we warned them not to do this, and they still passed a political motion saying Australia Day isn't their day." Topics: government-and-politics, australia-day, melbourne-3000 First postedDear Backers, Today we are going to share the first piece of new concept art with you, but I don’t want to over hype this. Before we get washed away in a flood of comments and critiques, just remember this is just one piece of art from pre-production. I happen to like it for a number of reasons, but we’re still a long way from locking in the overall art style. With that out of the way, I would like to take a moment and talk about the art process, pre-production, and our decision to stay with a 3D art style. PRE-PRODUCTION Right now there is a lot going on in the art department, but it is important to let you know we are not in full production yet. As I mentioned in our August Update, Little Orbit is starting from scratch to bring Matsuno’s design to life. This means we are in the experimental stages of pre-production, which is where we create a number of Design Documents including the Art Design Document. The Art Design Document will eventually form the roadmap for each visual component of the game. It will spell out in great detail the techniques we need to use to create our heroes, monsters, environments, and items. It will also map out the User Interface style guide and visual elements we will use to convey information to the players. Some of this document will be technical in nature with definitions for texture sizes and polygon counts, and other parts will contain the initial length of time it took to create each type of asset, so that we can build estimates of how long it will take to complete all of the artwork we need. The fun part of pre-production is where we bring in various external artists to submit creative ideas – concept art. We started by reviewing all of the existing Playdek concept art, and then exploring what we liked and what we didn’t. I want to go on record saying that there are many beautiful pieces of art that Playdek shared with the community. However, everyone on the art team shared two central problems with what was produced: 1) The pieces were overly gritty and realistic. For myself, I kept looking back at earlier Matsuno games, and they all have a much brighter color palette with more visual fantasy elements. And while a number of the Playdek pieces are lovingly painted and hauntingly epic, they mostly portray neutral to muddy color scenes with realistic characters that could have walked right out of medieval Europe. This isn’t the vision I had at all when I first started thinking about what the spiritual successor to Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre might look like. A quick glance at a tumblr of Akihiko Yoshida’s work (he was the character designer on many of the original tactics games) will show you what I mean. 2) The pieces weren’t from the perspective of the game. Many of the Playdek pieces show external views of distant locations. Again there is nothing wrong with the art itself. But none of these scenes are rendered from the proper angle or distance of a tactics game. None of them help an artist visualize battle fields or location elements that the player might interact with. We felt it was important to stick with concept art that will help us flesh out the look and feel of the game before we dive into true production. FULL 3D OR NOT Given that we needed to build out our own concept art, we next had to answer a major art question: Did we want to do full 3D art, or did we want to try and stick with something closer to Final Fantasy Tactics with 2D sprites against 3D environments? I have mentioned before that we have engaged a couple members of the Final Fantasy Tactics modding community, and two of them are pixel artists who spent time exploring the 2D approach. We had a couple renders done for each direction, but we ultimately decided for a number of reasons to stick with full 3D like Playdek originally promised. So how do we capture the feel of a game like Final Fantasy Tactics in full 3D? In my opinion, the goal of the Unsung Story art is to honor the games that have come before while still creating something unique and fun in its own right. We spent time analyzing the hand drawn 2D art, the pixel art, and then sketching out ideas for how that might translate into full 3D. We also reviewed the work of many classic tactics artists as well as sought contemporary inspiration. Alongside this entire effort, our design team has been redefining each aspect of the game by going back to Matsuno’s original ideas and narrative. We felt it was important to have a fairly locked down story line, game play mechanics, and class progression before we got too far commissioning concept art. DIVINE DEFENDER With some of these important decisions settled, we could now start commissioning concept art. When we commission these pieces, we want them to help us visualize the following things: How to translate the feel of a 2D sprite into a full 3D character model How to create distinction without too much detail that will be lost at the size and angle this character will be on screen How to capture the thematic feel of the School this class / armor set comes from How to bring Matsuno’s original fantasy themed Unsung Story ideas to life Here is my favorite so far that comes closest to addressing each of those issues: Divine Defender Concept Art The artist who submitted this piece is Tyler James, my incredibly talented Art Director on HEX: Shards of Fate. You can see more of his work on his website http://www.artofty.com/. I also want to thank iijyanaika for his feedback on the design. Iijyanaika is one of the early Art Consultant backers who signed up on the forums for access to our Art Discussion forum on the little orbit website. Hopefully you enjoyed the sneak peek and this gives you some insight into our process moving forward. We are looking forward to showing you more as pre-production continues. Thank you for your continued patience and support. Sincerely, Matthew ScottThe Dodgers are closing in on a one-year contract with former All-Star closer Chris Perez, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke under the condition of anonymity because the deal hasn't been finalized. Financial terms of the prospective deal aren't known. Perez, 28, was an All-Star with the Cleveland Indians in 2011 and 2012 but was released Oct. 31. Perez was arrested on marijuana charges this year and lost his job as the Indians' closer. Armed with a fastball routinely clocked in the mid- to high 90s, Perez figures to be a late-inning reinforcement in a bullpen that includes closer Kenley Jansen and setup man Brian Wilson. From Perez's perspective, the short-term deal will allow him to reestablish his value and reenter the free-agent market next off-season. Perez saved 123 games over the last four seasons, including a career-high 39 in 2012. He converted 25 of 30 save opportunities in 2013, but his earned-run average was a career-worst 4.33. He was sidelined for a month early in the season because of a sore shoulder and replaced as the Indians' closer for the final three games.Philadelphia Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds is on a mission to change hockey’s appearance. Enjoying arguably his greatest season ever, Simmonds wants to be revered as more than a player. He wants to be thought of as a role model, and he believes he’s on his way to becoming one. An African-Canadian, Simmonds is an oddity. According to the National Hockey League, only 16 players of African descent have played in a game this season. “I’m playing the game I love,” he said. “For me, I’m just trying to set an example for kids who are like me, who have been in my situation. They can look up to me as an example. If I can make it, they can make it, too. When I was a young kid, I looked up at people as inspiration. Willie O’Ree was the first African [-Canadian] to play. He was my goal.” Simmonds knows his history and is aware that he’s earning a lofty place in NHL lore. He’s playing well enough to earn an All-Star team berth. His quiet but confident play and demeanor stands out on the rink. It also stands out away from the arena. A bachelor millionaire, Simmonds can arguably walk through any black neighborhood with his uniform on and not be recognized. By contrast, because of his hockey notoriety, he would need a police escort to trek through a white enclave dressed in a suit. “It’s a little weird,” Simmonds said. “I’m playing a predominantly white sport and the majority of people who see me play are white. Having more black players playing in the league would change that. You see what All-Star Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban is doing now. We’re trying to [create] a little more notoriety for ourselves. We’re playing in a league where there are not a ton of black players playing. We’re trying to let it be known that we’re here. We’re trying to inspire the next generation of kids who look like us. “I stick out like a sore thumb, no matter where I am. I don’t mind it. I probably get more notoriety than a lot of guys for the way I look. That’s fine with me. If it helps the younger generation, I’m all for it.” Simmonds isn’t the first player of African descent to play for the Flyers. According to the club, that honor goes to former NHL right winger Claude Vilgrain, who played in two games for Philadelphia during the 1993-94 season. Since then, the Flyers have featured five other players of African descent, including Simmonds. Teammate Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, a left-handed-shooting right winger, was born in France. His father was born on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Donald Brashear, an African-American from Indiana, played four of his 16 NHL seasons in Philadelphia while African-Canadian Ray Emery, an All-Star goalie during his career, played three of his 11 seasons with the Flyers. Another African-Canadian, Sandy McCarthy, played two of his 15 NHL seasons in Philly. It’s not easy being a player of African descent in the NHL. During a preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings at John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, on Sept. 22, 2011, a fan threw a banana on the ice when Simmonds was attempting a shot during a shootout. The man, Christopher Moorhouse, was fined $200 after entering a guilty plea. His lawyer, Faisal Joseph, said Moorhouse was unaware of the racial connotations of throwing the fruit. Faisal said Moorhouse was caught up in the drama of an overtime shootout. Simmonds’ late third-period goal tied the game, and he was approaching Detroit goalie Jordan Pearce in an attempt to clinch the match when the banana was thrown. On Oct. 28, 2012, while playing for Liberec of the Czech Extraliga during the NHL lockout, fans of the opposing team Chomutov yelled the word “opice,” which means “monkey” in Czech, at Simmons. Chomutov general manager Jaroslav Veverka issued a statement saying fans who made the comments were not welcomed back at the arena. “People like that are ignorant, and they are trying to get a reaction out of you,” said Simmonds of the incidents. “If they don’t get a reaction out of you, what are they doing it for? I think you win by not responding. You go out there proving you’re just as good as the white players [playing].” Simmonds, who was part of a megadeal with the Los Angeles Kings, has grown to become a fan favorite in Philadelphia. It’s not unusual to see white fans proudly wear his jersey. Statistically, he’s among the league leaders in goals scored. Since Jan. 1, only Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin (43) and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (50) have more goals than Simmonds’ 39. When he was with the Kings, Simmonds was a defensive player and made his mark killing penalties. He had three power-play goals in three years for the Kings. This year, he’s doing both. His eight power-play goals lead the Flyers and tie him for the league lead. “He leads by example,” said Flyers rookie center Travis Konecny. “He works hard. He makes players around him better. You can’t help but learn by watching him play. I’m learning so much being around him.” Simmonds’ improvement as a player has been consistent and impressive. He’s scored 29, 28 and 32 goals, respectively, in each of the last three seasons. He’s currently tied for third in the league with 16 goals to go along with 13 assists. His stellar play may earn him a spot in the 62nd NHL All-Star Game set for the Staples Center on Jan. 29, 2017. The accomplishment, which would aid his quest to change hockey’s appearance, is within reach. “One thing that hurts the game a lot is that it’s expensive,” Simmonds said.”I believe the cost is preventing a lot of [minority] youngsters from playing. If the cost of playing comes down, I think you’d see more players like myself. “I try not to let outside things get to me. I’ve been discriminated against a lot, and I’m still here doing my thing. I want to be a difference-maker. I want to be that guy who makes a difference for my team.”President Trump’s inaugural committee raised a record $106.7 million, with much of it reportedly coming from major corporations. According to a Tuesday filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Trump's inauguration raised nearly twice as much as former President Obama’s $55 million for his first inauguration, which was also a record at the time. Listed by highest contribution, these companies were among Trump's inauguration's biggest donors. * Boeing - $1 million * Quicken Loans - $750,000 * Chevron Products Company - $525,000 * Microsoft - $500,000 * Citgo Petroleum Corp - $500,000 * Google - $285,000 * Pepsi - $257,295 * UPS - $250,000 * Chiquita Brands - $100,000 * Metlife - $100,000 * Anthem Inc. - $100,000 * Chevron Products Company - $25,000 * Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling - $25,000 Close friends to Trump also reportedly made significant donations, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who contributed $1 million through his sports company, Kraft Group. ADVERTISEMENT Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who also informally advises Trump, gave $250,000, according to the filing. Tom Barrack, a friend of Trump's who helped oversee the event, told Politico in a statement Tuesday that the fundraising triumph created an “incredible moment” in history. “The amount of funds raised for the inaugural celebration allowed the president to give the American people, those both at home and visiting Washington, a chance to experience the incredible moment in our democracy where we witness the peaceful transition of power, a cornerstone of American democracy,” Barrack said. Without providing specifics, inaugural organizers said the leftover funds from the committee’s fundraising efforts will be donated to charity. — Updated: 10:22 a.m.RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel of “gangsterism” on Wednesday over its decision to withhold the transfer of more than $100 million a month in tax revenues it collects on the Palestinians’ behalf. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a meeting for the Central Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 4, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman Opening a two-day meeting of senior Palestinian officials, when overall ties with Israel and the possibility of suspending security coordination with the Israelis will be discussed, Abbas described the tax move as a provocation. “How are they allowed to take away our money? Are we dealing with a state or with a gangster?” he asked a gathering of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s central council, its second-highest decision-making body. Israel announced in January it was halting transfers, saying it was in retaliation for a Palestinian decision to sign up to the International Criminal Court, where it plans to pursue war crimes charges against Israel. It is not the first time the payments, covering around two-thirds of the Palestinian budget, have been suspended, but in the past it has usually lasted only a few weeks. This time, the policy is unlikely to change until well after Israel’s March 17 election, once a new government is in place. European and American diplomats are worried such a long suspension would push the Palestinian Authority to the brink of collapse, affecting stability across the occupied West Bank. Already many of the PA’s 140,000 civil servants have had their pay cut by around 40 percent and there have been bouts of unrest in Ramallah, Bethlehem and other West Bank cities. Security coordination with Israel, a critical agreement dating back to the Oslo peace accords of the mid-1990s, may end up suspended simply because police and other personnel cannot be paid, Palestinian officials have said. “How are we going to pay the salaries?” asked Abbas, adding that as well as the tax revenues, Israel owed 1.8 billion shekels ($450 million) in unpaid salaries to Palestinians working for businesses in Israel. Relations between the two sides have grown dangerously brittle since the collapse of U.S.-brokered peace talks in 2014. If a decision is taken to suspend security coordination, it would have an immediate impact on stability in West Bank cities such as Hebron, Nablus and Jenin, where anti-occupation demonstrations are common. As well as not transferring the tax income, Israel’s state-owned electricity company has cut power to Nablus and Jenin in the past 10 days to press for payment of $492 million it says is owed by the Palestinian government. Earlier this week, the Israeli military mobilised 13,000 troops in the West Bank in a surprise drill, a reflection of the rising security concerns. While some members of the PLO are determined to suspend security coordination immediately, the more likely outcome is a partial suspension or an increase in the threat to do so.Leanne Watt, an expert in the management of personality disorders affecting adults, has warned that President Donald Trump’s mental instability could have serious consequences for the country and the rest of the world. Watt gave the warning in article co-authored with Richard Painter, President George W. Bush’s former White House ethics attorney. In the article published by NBC News, Watt warned that based on the experience she has gathered over several years of treating adults with personality disorders, there could be dire consequences for the country and the whole world if Trump’s mental health condition continues to deteriorate. Watt insisted that a mental health expert does not need to personally examine a person who is showing overt signs of untreated mental illness before making conclusions about that person’s mental health status, and warning the public about it. “Recognizing unfitness in a president does not necessarily mean waiting for a physical sign or even a catastrophic event.” “Personality disorders present predictable patterns that are well documented in the medical literature,” Watt and Painter wrote in the article. “In fact, we can often find the most accurate and honest account of a public figure’s Cluster B symptoms through public records.” Responding to criticism of other mental health experts who have spoken out about Trump’s mental health in the past, the writers argued that mental health professionals have an ethical responsibility to speak up when they observe public figures exhibiting behavior that is “troubling or suspect.” The authors argued that it is dangerous for mental health experts to wait for Trump to cause trouble or do something that leads to a catastrophe before making their observations about Trump’s personality known to the public. They added that it would be irresponsible of mental health experts to remain silent after detecting that Trump is mentally unfit to be president and that he is capable of actions that could endanger the country and the rest of the world. “Waiting for unfitness to manifest beyond the types of observable and highly predictive behavior patterns studied by psychiatrists and psychologists is, we believe, naive,” Watt and Painter wrote. “We cannot rule out the possibility that a president in a downward mental health spiral could destroy important global partnerships… and leave the U.S. vulnerable to terror attacks or war.” null Watt is not the first mental health expert who has warned that Trump could be mentally unfit for the responsibilities of the president and commander-in-chief. Several other mental health experts have raised questions about Trump’s mental health status. Recently, a group of about 800 mental health professionals released a statement, saying they were concerned that Trump’s mental health condition makes him unfit to be president and commander-in-chief. Several former government officials have also voiced their concerns about Trump’s mental health. Peter Wehner, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, recently said he was concerned that Trump “is psychologically and emotionally not well.” During a CNN panel discussion with Trump’s biographer, Michael D’Antonio, Wehner said that Trump is not “stable.” “This is a president who has a disordered mind. He’s impulsive and vindictive.” null Wehner cited Trump’s recent public comments about General John Kelly’s son and President Obama’s response to his death. He also recalled Trump’s confrontation with the Khan family and Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.). “This is a person who is just not in command of his emotions and feelings and actions.” Trump also came under criticism when he told the widow of the U.S. soldier killed in Niger that her husband “knew what he signed up for.” [Featured Image by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]It, this fall’s delightfully scary Stephen King adaptation, is opening beyond even the most optimistic expectations
is just placed into the socket in one quick movement. A second pneumatic connector attaches parallel, serial, PS/2 and USB connectors as well as video sound and networking jacks to the rear I/O panel of the motherboard automatically in one go. The tester adds hard drive, CD and floppy cables attached to components hard mounted to each test station. Gigabyte motherboard test center Hooking up each motherboard for testing takes only about a minute. Once set up, the motherboard is powered on and booted into a DOS test program and the functionality of every component and peripheral is confirmed. Every motherboard is tested for functionality before moving off to the final stage of testing. Pneumatic test rack clamps down onto completed motherboard to reduce worker fatigue from installing videocards and PCI Port-80 test cards all day long Note the drives mounted into the test rack. A second pneumatic arm holds connectors for the rear I/O ports, right The entire test bed Each worker handles two test stations at once, while the second is being set up the first is left to run a series of automated tests. Automated Testing Platforms Without the motherboard Bottom plate is milled out for each motherboard Note the pneumatic assembly top right holding the all I/O connectors Any boards that fail some tests or need more attention are sent to a manual testing area where technicians test individual components and perform more advanced diagnostics and reworking where necessary. Manual testing of a socket 775 motherboard. This looks more familiar Every port and connector must be tested for functionality Senior technicians perform more in-depth tests and repairs at a rework station Testing Stage 3: Burn In The final stage of testing is the stress test. Gigabyte’s Nan-Ping factory has a few huge, temperature controlled glass cabinet where a large number of motherboards can be hooked up with a variety of videocards and stress tested. Each system is run through several hundred loops of 3D Mark 2001 in 40C temperatures. This tests stability under the most grueling of conditions. Gigabyte’s glass ‘burn-in’ testing cabinets Temperature is set to 40 degrees. The benchmark is 3DMark 2001 The PCI daughter board indicates which test loop each motherboard is on Every single motherboard is tested this way, all with different videocards from various manufacturers Final Motherboard Packaging Once the motherboards are fully stress tested, they are ready to be packaged and shipped. Gigabyte, like most manufacturers, orders their motherboard boxes from a separate manufacturer and sends them off to be printed. Once the printed boxes are received, they pass through a machine which folds and shapes them correctly, then it’s down another manual assembly line where workers place each tested motherboard into its box. In go any promotional stickers, the cardboard divider, antistatic foam, software and other peripherals, then they are sent off to be packed into shipping boxes. The box packing machines are automated, wrapping packing plastic strips around each box faster than the human eye can see! Adding stickers and accessories to the box Box shaping machine Newly shaped boxes ready for motherboards Reference board for motherboard box contents Sealing boxes with plastic binding Stacked boxes of motherboards ready for shipping around the world We hope you’ve enjoyed PCSTATS visual tour of how motherboards are made, and have a better idea of how much work goes into every component of your system! Our thanks goes out to Gigabyte for the unprecedented access they gave PCSTATS to photograph every square inch of the Nan-Ping factory in Taiwan. Reference Mike D. Feb 5, 2005. How Motherboards Are Made: A Gigabyte Factory Tour. PCSTATS. http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1722&page=1 Please follow and like us:Hey Kings fans! On our last day in Beijing we went to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. The Great wall was really high and steep – and windy! The breeze sort of reminded me of California though, which I liked. We spent a few hours there and it was really cool to see all of the sights and sounds of a wonder of the world. Amazing that it was built so long ago and how much history it has. The Forbidden City was pretty awesome. The architecture was magnificent and it was cool to see how all of the emperors lived back in the day. It’s crazy how well preserved it is – you can smell the vintage when you walk through and it was almost eerie seeing all of the thrones and art work. I was able to get in a good workout in as well. We got up a lot of shots and I’m just focused on doing right by my body and feeling good about my game. My goal is to make more jumpers than the day before and I’ve broken my record two days in a row. I’m feeling good about my progress this summer and can’t wait to keep working. We made it to Shanghai and I got to do a basketball clinic with Visit California. It was super fun I really enjoyed it! Even though there was a language barrier between me and the other guys, it didn’t matter once we started playing. It’s cool to see how they play a little differently over here but we all still have the same fun being competitive on the court. I learned a lot about the culture of the sport. It was also great to watch them imitate our moves. You really see how the game is so much bigger than 30 teams playing eight months out of the year. Thanks for following along with my journey!Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s two nominees to the board that oversees Honolulu’s troubled police department will be questioned by a Honolulu City Council committee on Tuesday in a first step toward confirmation. The nominations of business executives Karen Chang and Jerry Gibson to fill two vacancies on the Honolulu Police Commission are gathering more attention than usual, coming amid a corruption scandal that led to the Oct. 19 arrests by the FBI of Honolulu’s former police chief, his prosecutor wife and five HPD officers. Chang is the board chair of Hawaii Pacific Health and a former executive with two national financial services firms. Jerry Gibson is area vice president for Hilton’s hotels in Hawaii. The nominations are scheduled for a vote by the full City Council on Wednesday. Cory Lum/Civil Beat Chang and Gibson have deep experience in their respective fields of business administration, finance and hospitality. But neither has direct experience in law, the criminal justice system or social services related to law enforcement, Gibson would succeed Marc Tilker, president and chief executive of Marathon Group, a fertilizer and agricultural products company. Chang would replace Luella Costales, who helps run a nonprofit organization that mentors and educates young people to be cultural and environmental stewards. The seven-member commission is charged with overseeing the Honolulu Police Department. Its duties, according to the Honolulu City Charter, include adopting and reviewing rules governing the department, reviewing the annual budget submitted by the police chief, submitting an annual report to the mayor and City Council, and investigating charges brought by the public against the conduct of the department or any of its members. Cory Lum/Civil Beat Steven Levinson, a retired justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court who serves on the commission, said the nominees appear capable of fulfilling these duties. Although Levinson has said the commission would benefit from more members with legal backgrounds, he said he had spoken to Chang and was impressed. “Karen is a financial wizard, basically,” Levinson said of Chang, whose resume includes senior positions with American Express Co. and Charles Schwab & Co. “I foresee she is going to be a very valuable member, and I’m very hopeful that Jerry is going to be a very important member of the group for many of the same reasons.” Chang’s position as board chair of Hawaii Pacific Health makes her responsible for overseeing the state’s largest health care provider. The nonprofit operates Kapiolani, Pali Momi, Straub and Wilcox medical centers, plus dozens of smaller facilities. Chang is the long-time fiancee of Rick Blangiardi, the general manager of Hawaii News Now, a joint operation of Honolulu television channels KHNL and KGMB. If confirmed, Chang and Gibson will be responsible for helping address the type of misconduct the federal government alleges former Police Chief Louis Kealoha engaged in along with his wife, Katherine Kealoha, a high-ranking deputy prosecuting attorney for the city. The charges against the Kealohas, including conspiracy, obstruction of justice and bank fraud, were spelled out in an 20-count federal indictment. Federal prosecutors allege the Kealohas abused their positions to discredit and intimidate relatives who had accused the Kealohas of misappropriating money from them. Among other things, the government accuses Louis Kealoha of involving officers from HPD’s Criminal Investigations Unit in the scheme, which allegedly included fabricating evidence in an attempt to get the federal government to bring charges against Katherine’s uncle, Gerard Puana. At the time, Puana was in a dispute with the Kealohas over personal financial transactions that Puana had entered with the Kealohas. The federal indictment accuses the Kealohas of misappropriating money from Puana and Katherine’s grandmother, Florence Puana. Despite questions about Kealoha’s conduct, the police commission in January agreed to pay Louis Kealoha $250,000 as part of a retirement deal. However, he must pay back the money if he is convicted of a felony. According to a spokesman for Mayor Kirk Caldwell, the intense media scrutiny of the police department and commission has made it difficult to fill the commission positions. The commission soon will lose two more commissioners: the terms of Cha Thompson, who runs a large entertainment company, and Eddie Flores Jr., who runs a restaurant chain, expire at the end of this year. Despite the challenges and scrutiny facing the commission, Levinson said he believes Chang and Gibson will have the toughness to face the rigors of the job. “She’s a tough lady,” Levinson said of Chang. “I have never met Jerry Gibson, but I can’t imagine he’s gotten where he’s gotten by not being a tough cookie, too.” Chang declined to comment, saying it was premature to to discuss the nomination before the council hearings. Gibson was unavailable for comment.The most advanced automation platform that just plugs in! One of the only IOT devices in the world that has fully functionaility with or wothout the internet! Save money, keep the electricity providers honest. , keep the electricity providers honest. Powerboards can be daisy-chained to support from 4,8,12 etc points Control all your IOT devices from one app or website. Unit all your gadgets. Store your data usage for 6 months. Includes the ability link sensors to it. ie temperature, ambience etc to it. ie temperature, ambience etc Totally programmable using c# with Microsoft Visual Studio. xmas and new Year deal 25Oct16 4 x Wirebutter boards and Free Shipping 14th Nov : Added support the Pebble watch, yes, you can control the powerboard by using the watch to monitor and control it. We now supports Amazon Echo We now support Amazon Echo *** NEWS ** We have listened and we will be making all our boards either 6 or 8 outlet. Everyone will get this upgrade free! WHAT IS WIREBUTTER? Imagine a powerboard as smart as an iPhone, complete with apps you can share among friends. It is so smart, it can communicate with other IoT devices or compatible gadgets through our Wirebutter store. Wirebutter have created the smartest powerboard in the world. It offers an all in one platform to control appliances, measure energy usage and communicate (wireless or wired) with other devices and third party vendor devices. Now you can build your very own automation system to turn on lights, fans,appliances in your house using Wirebutter. This could be yours, we love it and so will you! Note : We supporting US, UK, Australia, Asia and European sockets Measure power consumption per socket. Turn each socket on/off Charges USB devices. Distribute the internet throughout your home\office. It can interact with any other Bluetooth/wifi/zigbee device. All the above can be done remotely or locally. Can be programmed to your desire! Enterprise ready security. Integrate with Google Home and Amazon Echo integrates with IFTT and Apple Homekit support Includes surge protection Powerboards can be daisy-chained to grate large no of points that you may require. Doesn't require the internet to run! Imagine what you will do with Wirebutter? Automate your environment What can it do? Wirebutter uses an intuitive app interface to allow you to monitor your home’s power usage and manage that usage, all from your smartphone Integrate with existing gadgets and/or automation products. Turn your lights on or off remotely or put them on a schedule. Turn your appliance/s on or off when you forget. Determine which appliance is using the most power. Reduce your power bills. Detect faulty equipment and reduce the chance of fires. Make your old appliances into smart appliances. Monitor your home or business remotely by WiFi, Bluetooth and through the internet. Charge your USB devices quickly and efficiently. Share and download apps to customize its usability and functionality. Everybody knows having appliances on standby consumes energy which in turn means higher power bills. Wirebutter can be programmed to turn off standby appliances at your convenience and have them switch back on whenever it suits you. This means reductions on your power bill. This can mean savings up to hundreds of dollars a year depending on the type and number of appliances and the length of time normally on standby. i.e when your household is at work during the day or asleep during the night. The Wirebutter powerboard will streamline the way you manage and use your environment. HOW DOES WIREBUTTER WORK? Wirebutter works by acting as an all-in-one platform to communicate with your appliances. It connects via your existing WiFi network and effectively turns your environment into a smart environment. Through the Wirebutter platform, you can monitor your energy usage and interact with your home appliances either wirelessly or through wired connections using your electrical network. Wirebutter features for the Internet of Things Extend your internet across borders, rooms or walls wirelessly. Connect your electrical devices using Wirebutter, then control your appliances using the app. The app allows you to monitor power usage, turn an appliance on or off or download the appropriate app to fit your needs. Be in control of your environment. You can use our app to download the drivers that allow it to control other devices. If there is a gadget you wish to control then you can request us to create a driver or we will provide details for you to do this yourself. Imagine what you can do with Wirebutter? The more powerboards connected, the greater the reach and ability to integrate and control devices in your environment. Imagine what you can automate? A typical automation scenario. Usage explained.. Why is it so smart and useful? Simple. We have created an advanced application that allows you to download drivers that enable it to communicate with your existing gadgets. For example, if you have Philips Hue lights, all you need to do is download the driver and then you have access to them. If you have an iBeacon and/or Eddystone you wish to scan, then you can download the appropriate drivers. Wirebutter App that allows for broad integration. This enables the Wirebutter powerboard to be useful for many years and integrate with your existing or future automation infrastructure. Wirebutter Versions We have designed Wirebutter to be compatible throughout many countries so everyone can benefit from it. Powerboards for every country.. UK Model Australian Model US, Canada, Mexico, Central America Japan, Taiwan and some Pacific countries European Model Technical Details It enables you to control your home appliances and even communicates with other powerboards. It makes use of your existing network to streamline the way you manage your power, giving you the ultimate control over your environment, your appliances and gadgets. Third party product integration explained.. Power over Ethernet explained.. This platform is made possible by allowing: Wireless automation of devices through WiFi, Bluetooth, Homeplug or Zigbee protocols. Can be reprogrammed for individual application or customer requirements. Has the ability to monitor local sensors that can be incorporated. i.e. temperature, light levels, and noise levels. Provides the ability to install apps that enables functions specific to your environment. Can record history of activity for future analysis. Has the ability o be integrated into any mqtt system and be controlled by node-red(open standard by IBM) if you desire. Can be controlled remotely through a mobile device, tablet, desktop etc. If the system fails, the powerboard resorts to a standard powerboard and then can be replaced when required. Fast, secure and robust using the latest security protocols for your privacy. Includes powerline communications conforming to HomePlug standards. Can use your electrical network as the ethernet network. Powered by a sophisticated chip using the Microsoft Micro Framework operating system. Modern and upgrade-able. Wirebutter can be reprogrammed to meet the needs of future technology, that means it will never be obsolete. Proven third-party API access Able to be customized for corporate enterprises. Technologies and Protocols supported. Design Process We have been developing this product for over 3 years and been through many iterations and design phases. We have worked hard to refine the concept and allow a broad audience of users to ensure it is compatible with existing technology to get the greatest benefits to work across different market sectors We are in the process of developing different form factors which may be available based on our goal thresholds reached. We have focused on quality, security and usability during the developmental phase to ensure its not just a gadget but a useful product to be used by all. During this process we have produced many working prototypes. Tactile switches with user feedback Wirebutter in the raw..ready for production..Support Wirebutter! OUR TEAM Anthony Salerno, Co-Founder & Electronics Engineer, Product Designer 20 years’ experience in the IT industry. Successfully running a business for 17 years and was instrumental in creating commercial products from software solutions to hardware products. He is a qualified electronics/software engineer that has assisted Wirebutter in developing this system from his vast consulting experience and research in the industry. Terry Portelli, Director & Co-Founder Has been involved in the new homes and land sector for over twenty years. His contacts in the construction industry are second to none. He is a licensed real estate agent and has been running his own business for over 7 years. Prior to this, he held a senior management position for one of Melbourne's largest home builders and prior to that one of the biggest land sales agents in Melbourne. He sees this technology as a natural fit for this industry. Harry Iliopoulos, Director & Co-Founder Involved in Security and Assets Management and been successfully running such businesses for over 25 years. Harry has a keen involvement in Wirebutter, with a firm belief in its technological capacities and capabilities. Akshay Bhavsar, Electronics Engineer\Researcher An electronics and computer system engineer with 2 years experience in the field of building IoT products and applications. He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Swinburne University of Technology and is based in Melbourne, Australia. As an engineer, he has always been thinking of innovative state-of-art technologies, which can make human life easier, efficient and effective. Working on innovative ideas, building them and discussing them with others are his passion.United boss Rafa Benitez has sat down to reflect on a summer of change at St. James' Park Following the close of the transfer window on Wednesday night, Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez sat down to reflect on a summer of change at St. James' Park... The transfer window closed last night (Wednesday). How happy are you with the business that's been done this summer? I am very happy. We have really done a lot of business, to move players out and also to bring new players with experience in. It has not been easy all the time, because of the price of players in this window especially when the Premier League clubs had received their television income. But we have traded very well, we have kept focussed on our targets and we have tried to bring the players in with the characteristics that we needed. Every day, until the last minute of the last day, my communication with Lee Charnley has been great. We did everything we had to do to finalise our business early, but these days you can't control what others do, so while I was in Nyon in the UEFA Coaches Meeting and on my way back to UK, we were talking about the last transfers. I have to say I think we have done a great job and I think it is easy to see that. There's been a significant number of changes to the squad, both incoming and outgoing. What has been your thinking for the major overhaul? We needed every single player in the squad to be dedicated and to want to help in the campaign for promotion. I said in a lot of interviews this group of players have been very good professionals, but when a player doesn't have that desire then we need to move him on to another club. It affects moral and atmosphere in the group and that can be damaging. Also, we have had some players who were happy at Newcastle but they would not have been a big part of my plans this season. These players want to play football, that is normal, so sometimes it is in the best interests of everyone that they leave. We have brought in 12 players, which is more business than the Club have ever done in a transfer window. But after the relegation and the atmosphere you could sense we needed to make sure that we were strong in every position and that we had the right players and the right characters with experience for the Championship. We know we couldn't get some names that we wanted but we brought players in the positions and with the experience required for this division. A few positions were a priority for you - centre-back, striker, left-back and winger. Are you happy with the way the Club has strengthened those key positions? Yes I am happy. Everyone could see we needed more offensive players, more creativity in the team. So we have Matt Ritchie, Mohamed Diame and Dwight Gayle who are already doing a really good job for us to create chances and score goals and, of course, we added Daryl Murphy, which gives us another option up front. Now we have Christian Atsu who is an attacking winger, as well as Achraf Lazaar and DeAndre Yedlin, who are attack-minded defenders. We have also strengthened in other areas; Jesus Gamez, Ciaran Clark, Grant Hanley and Matz Sels will increase the competition at the back and Isaac Hayden will do the same in the middle, so the competition in each position only can be good for the team. You've brought in several players with lots of Championship experience and knowledge of English football. Was that important for you? It is important. The priority for us is that we get promotion this season, so we had to focus in the window on getting the right players for this division. The Championship is tougher and more physical, but still with good quality. Players who already have experience in the Championship understand the way the game is played already and they can help the rest of the squad to prepare for the style of football and the character that you need to succeed in this division. The likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Andros Townsend, Moussa Sissoko and Daryl Janmaat have left Newcastle in this window. You stated before that players would only be sold if the deal was in the best interests of the squad and the Club. Are you happy that is the case with these outgoings? With Andros, I wanted to keep him because he was exactly the type of creative player that we could build the team around, but football is not always as easy as that. He loved being at Newcastle but he wanted to play in the Premier League. We had to respect his decision. Gini, Moussa and Daryl also wanted to play in the top division. They are talented players but our objective is very clear and we needed every single player, like the staff and the fans, pushing in the same direction. It can affect the atmosphere and the team spirit if you don't have that. Fans will know that sometimes the team spirit was not strong last season and that was part of the problem why we got relegated. A group of individuals with a lot of talent does not make a good team. Our priority has been to build a strong team with good character, mentality and also talent. Now we have a squad where every player who is here wants to work together to fight for the Club. Do you expect to see some of the players loaned out, such as Tim Krul, Siem de Jong, Henri Saivet and Kevin Mbabu, back at the Club next summer? Our focus right now is only on the season ahead of us and we will look at the squad for next season when the time is right. For now, it was important for them to get some match time as they have not played as much football as they would have wanted to for a while. We will see, obviously, how these players do this season. Some fans are thinking Adam Armstrong would have been better staying at Newcastle but is the thinking to give him regular starts (at Barnsley on loan)? I agree that Adam is a good striker, he has good ability and it can be an exciting future for him. That is why we have given him a new contract, because we see that in the future he can be a very important player for Newcastle United. But at the moment he is still young and with not so much experience. The best thing for Adam's development as a player is to go on loan to a club where he will play regularly. With the experienced players we have in attack, I cannot guarantee that Adam would have the minutes on the pitch that he needs for his development. The bench is not a good place for a young player. It is always better that the player is on the pitch, so a loan was perfect for this season. We have to think always about the long-term, not just the short-term, and do what is best for the player and the Club. Promotion is obviously the main aim but how many of the players signed this summer could have a job to do beyond that, and will they stay on the journey? You are exactly right, promotion has to be the main focus so we had to build a team with that as the priority. There is no sense to be building for the Premier League if it means we don't have the right players to get out of this division. When you look at our squad, though, there are many players in different positions who will be very good for the Premier League, too. We will need to make some changes if we are successful at getting promotion, of course, but the foundation of a Premier League squad is already there. It is a good blend of players that we have now. Even in the first few games there have been injury problems. Does this prove you're right that strength in depth is vital? Absolutely, we have to have strength in depth. We have two games a week, every few days there is a game and we know from experience and also from research that if players are playing as many games as this they will pick up injuries. The research proves that it is inevitable. So, we have to do a few things. We have to rotate the squad. I have done this before at other clubs I have been at and it helps a lot to reduce the number of injuries because you can rest players and make sure they properly recover between games. Also you have to have depth to the squad in every position to make a rotation system possible but also to give us cover when injuries do happen. Finally, we have to have the proper medical and rehabilitation processes in place to get players back from injury safely - always - but as quickly as we can. That is why we made some changes to our medical team and our facilities this summer and I'm really pleased with the job they are already doing, it is all important. Does the big summer shopping spree mean we can expect less business in January? Now is not the time to talk about January. Our focus now moves away from transfers and is only on the football. Of course, we will continue to assess the squad over the next few months and see how we are doing before the end of the year. I have a lot of confidence in this group of players and hopefully we will be doing well and looking strong. There was a feeling Newcastle were previously signing players to use the Club as a stepping stone to bigger clubs, is that no longer the case? The main thing is that the Club is in control and we are signing players who are right for this Club and for our Championship campaign. It cannot be the other way around. We are only interested in bringing players to Newcastle who want to work hard for the Club and the team; not players who want to be at another club maybe next year or the year after. We are not a stepping stone, we are Newcastle United. Every player should be honoured to wear the shirt of this Club. They should feel the same passion that the fans feel, then you have a great relationship between the players and the supporters in the stadium. It is magical when that happens and it can help us achieve great things together. Are we still favouring European markets for transfers? For me, it doesn't matter where the player comes from, as long as he has the right mentality, character and the quality we need. Sometimes it is true that there is better value in other countries in Europe but we look at players from every league, it does not matter the country. We had a meeting with the scouting department at the start of the season to clarify the way to work and we constantly share information about players to be sure we can find what we need it doesn't matter where they are from. In conjunction with The ChronicleFeature Seven years after entering the mobile computing market with iPhone, the Cupertino-based company has now reached a peak of building and selling more computers than all of Microsoft's Windows licensees put together. Mac gets big by going small Apple flogs Android in profitability and premium sales Samsung said it planned to ship 100 million higher-end Galaxy S and Note models within 2013; Apple sold 153.4 million iPhones alone in 2013. As noted by leading market analyst Benedict Evans, Apple's combined production of Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices peaked in the December quarter at a level slightly higher than all Windows PCs put together, or essentially equal with all PCs combined with all Windows Phone shipments.Such sales volumes were unthinkable for Apple just a few years ago. While the company's Mac desktops and notebooks were growing significantly in the mid 2000s, they still remained in the realm of a million or two systems each year, in contrast to annual PC shipments well above 200 million.In 2007, Apple began selling a new kind of Macintosh: a handheld device running the same core OS (it was even called "iPhone OS X" in the beginning) and using a mobile-optimized version of the Mac's NeXT-derived Cocoa app development frameworks. By the end of the year, Apple added iPod touch, it's first iPod based on Mac technology like the iPhone rather than a simple, imbedded OS.Without phone features, iPod touch acted more like a general purpose computing system, attracting many users who were already committed to using their company's Blackberry or a simpler phone tied to a provider such as Verizon or NTT DoCoMo, and simply couldn't switch to an iPhone. That boosted the volumes of games and other app sales in the App Store, supporting iPhone growth and paving the way for a larger new table form factor.In 2010, developers' enthusiasm surrounding Apple's rapidly expanding iOS platform was extended to iPad, which worked like a larger format iPod touch to broaden the reach and utility of Apple's platform that proved to be effortlessly easy to use, manage and deploy. iPad now enjoys a deployment rate above 91 percent in the enterprise, and is alsoThe most notable aspect of Apple's growth is that its Macs continue to maintain an premium Average Selling Price of $1300 and its iPhones remain above $650, in a PC market where Microsoft's PC makers struggle to find customers with PCs priced at an average of $311, and where Windows Phones sell at an ASP of just $301.Apple's ability to surpass Microsoft's Windows sales volume via mobile growth can also be compared to Android. Like Windows, Google's Android platform (and the many variants of the software used by companies from Amazon to Chinese vendors unaffiliated with Google) is broadly used as an alternative to companies creating their own custom development platforms.An an ingredient, Android lacks the platform strength of Windows, because Google is unable to exercise much control over its licensees, despite attempts to do so Google also earns very little from Android as a platform compared to Microsoft's Windows PC licensing, and essentially nothing compared to Apple's far more lucrative, hardware-driven profits from iOS.Android's phone ASP has now dropped to $276 as the majority of "smartphones" using the system apply it in a feature phone role on extremely low end devices with no upgrade potential. Last year, Samsung said it planned to ship 100 million higher-end Galaxy S and Note models within 2013. Apple sold 153.4 million iPhones alone in 2013, without counting iPod touch, iPad mini or full size iPads.Apple obviously earned more than Samsung in selling high end phones throughout 2013, but also earned far more ( an order of magnitude more ) on sales of Macs and iPads, a general computing market where Samsung fails to earn much money at all.Add in every other Android maker's higher end phones and profit-to-volumes ratio falls even faster, as most Android licensees, including Google's own Motorola subsidiary, have been consistently losing money. Google's Motorola subsidiary reported losing $1.245 billion in 2013 alone, despite tech media predictions about how Moto X and its siblings would undercut Apple's iPhone and take over via volume sales to third world countries.Particularly hysterical in retrospect is the August 2013 article by Steven Levy of Wired, which just months ago faithfully reiterated Google's talking points explaining how the phone would launch a new epoch of smartphones justifying the $12.5 billion price tag Google had paid for Motorola. Instead the device proved to be a dismal failure. Google is now spinning Motorola as "successful" divestiture.Sales growth of smartphones and tablets is widely expected to slow in 2014, but Apple's high volume position in selling the most profitable smartphones, tablets, notebooks and desktop computers at ASPs that are two to four times as high as competing platforms means Apple has a lot more room to maneuver than its more poorly capitalized competitors who maintain far less user loyalty and satisfaction, and who lack the support of Apple's strong iTunes and App Store ecosystem.This is the latest update in Cyprus bank raid series chronicled below Activist Post It was anticipated that the weekend could bring finalized plans for how Cyprus would be dealt with by the Troika and parliament. The central problem that had revealed itself in the wake of the original indefinite bank holiday and subsequent ATM drain and protests, was how to stop capital flight when banks reopen, as well as a more widespread bank run across the Eurozone as trust in the banking system verges on collapse. The two largest banks in Cyprus saw the imposition of ATM withdrawal limits, which declined from 260 Euros to 100 Euros ahead of projected bank openings tomorrow, Tuesday — Sorry, make that Wednesday. Sorry, again, make that Thursday. An urgent statement was originally issued by the Central Bank prior to yet another delay that, “For the smooth functioning of the entire banking system, the Finance Minister has decided upon the recommendation of the Governor of the CBC, that all banks remain closed until Wednesday, 27 March 2013 included.” The ongoing closure makes this the longest in history. See other closures here. One key indicator for just how orchestrated this has been, and how dangerous the outcome, is that a final deal was supposedly reached at a dinner with Mario Draghi, Christine Lagarde, Herman Van Rompuy, and José Manuel Barroso — essentially the Four Horsemen of economic apocalypse. The new decision has been made to honor those who were insured up to 100,000 Euros (as if it is some sort of gift), but to steal around 30% of the money of depositors at the Bank of Cyprus, and all of the money for the uninsured of Cyprus Popular bank… Even worse is the fact that a final deal was thought to hinge upon a vote by parliament, but as ZeroHedge notes: There is talk that there may be no need for the government to vote for this – since it is not a ‘tax’ but a bank restructuring. It seems they have kept it in the bankers … the ECB (in its independent way) tells the Cypriot NCB what it should do, the Cypriot central bank then restructures its bank how it sees fit – good/bad bank and haircuts where it sees fit – this then gets around need for vote from government AND any possibility of a European Union law (on taxation) being broken … (Source) The deal is being welcomed by Eurozone finance ministers, naturally. On the surface it might seem that only a group of heavy investors will take the hit and that the common man has been saved, but even German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, had to admit that, “Cyprus faces a long, difficult path to rebuild its economy, but claimed that the deal reached in Brussels offers the country the best chance of getting back on its feet.” (Source) Other finance ministers weighed in on the program: IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the agreement was a comprehensive and credible plan which provided the basis for restoring trust in the Cypriot banking system, which was key to supporting growth. IMF chief Christine Lagarde said she would recommend to the board of the IMF that they should take part in the programme, but did not specify the amount. French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici rejected charges that the EU had brought Cypriots to their knees, saying it was the island’s offshore business model that had failed. He repeated his favourite catch phrase that Cyprus had a cazino (sic) economy that was on the brink of bankruptcy. (Source) German Chancellor Angela Merkel was thrilled as well that “the deal was right for Cyprus because it ensured that those who contributed to the crisis were required to pay towards its resolution.” These words should be anything but comforting coming from a system of centralized control. The IMF in particular has been responsible for freeing exactly zero countries from any type of economic turmoil, but are specialists at introducing and exacerbating systems of long-term economic enslavement... see Argentina and Jamaica. The IMF (a.k.a financial terrorists) absolutely loves crisis and is always positioned to capitalize through austerity and Soviet-style governance. Meanwhile, in Cyprus, bank employees and the general public alike wait for banks to reopen in order to assess the damage. Apparently no one knows how much money might already have fled Cypriot banks, since branches in London and Russia did not close or impose financial restrictions. And, as further proof of what a great deal Cyprus is getting, word was issued by the Dutch finance minister that Cyprus “represents a new template for resolving euro zone banking problems.” However, after markets responded to that possible reality and the Euro dropped precip
on some of the Shang bones), is too slow a process. The course taken in many parts of the world was to conventionalize the picture, reduce it to a simple and easily executed form, and then use it to represent homophonous words or parts of words. The course the Chinese have chosen has also been to conventionalize and reduce, but they then use the evolved element for the most part not phonetically, but to stand for the original object or to enter with other such elements into combinations of ideographic rather than phonetic value. This parting of the ways is of the most profound importance. The last two sentences are the crux of Creel's thesis. Where Boodberg and others, as noted earlier, see phonetic elements, Creel sees elements that are conventionalized or reduced forms used "to stand for the original object or to enter with other such elements into combinations of ideographic rather than phonetic value." This emphasis on ideographic symbols that are merely conventionalized forms of pictographs leads Creel into the fanciful explanations of Chinese characters that were so sharply condemned by Boodberg. Boodberg's refutation contained in learned journals known only to specialists could do little to counter the impact of Creel's views expressed in his popular The Birth of China. Here Creel says: "We have specialized on the representation of sounds; the Chinese have specialized on making their writing so suggestive to the eye that it immediately calls up ideas and vivid pictures, without any interposition of sounds" (1937:159). If we take this statement at face value without qualifying it with "What the author really meant to say was..." -- a practice that runs the risk of misinterpreting what the author meant -- the statement is absurdly false, as can be attested by any reader of this book who has not studied Chinese. Simply look at the characters sprinkled throughout the work and note how many or how few immediately call up ideas and vivid pictures without any interposition of sounds. The qualification that we hesitate to read into Creel's statement is suggested by the author himself, but in the same specialized journal mentioned earlier and quoted to the effect that Chinese is not "a pictographic language in the sense that it consisted of writing by means of pictures all or most of which would be readily understood by the uninstructed." But if the ability to grasp an idea "immediately" or "readily" from symbols that are "a practical pictographic and ideographic script" though not "pictoral writing" is limited to those who presumably must be classified as "the instructed," this makes the otherwise absurd statement inanely true. For it is equally true that the instructed can immediately grasp an idea whether it is expressed in Chinese characters, in Egyptian hieroglyphs, in Japanese kana, or even in our less than perfect English orthography. All literates are conditioned, like Pavlov's dogs, to respond to certain culture-bound stimuli. The written word "chicken" evokes in my mind precisely the same picture -- or pictures -- as the written character 鷄 (or 鸡), except perhaps that in the first case I may salivate in anticipation of Kentucky fried chicken and in the second of chicken cooked in soy sauce. Apart from the error of thinking that Chinese characters are unique in evoking mental images, where Creel and others from Friar Gaspar da Cruz right on down go astray in their characterization of Chinese writing is to succumb to the hypnotic appeal of the relatively few characters that are demonstratably of pictographic origin and to extrapolate from these to the majority if not the entirety of the Chinese written lexicon. The error of exaggerating the pictographic and hence semantic aspect of Chinese characters and minimizing if not totally neglecting the phonetic aspect tends to fix itself very early in the minds of many people, both students of Chinese and the public at large, because their first impression of the characters is likely to be gained by being introduced to the Chinese writing system via some of the simplest and most interesting pictographs, such as those presented at the beginning of Chapter 5. Unless a determined effort is made to correct this initial impression, it is likely to remain as an article of faith not easily shaken by subsequent exposure to different kinds of graphs. This may also explain the oversight even of specialists who are aware of the phonetic aspect in Chinese characters, including such able scholars as Li and Thompson (1982:77), who refer to Chinese writing as "semantically, rather than phonologically grounded" and consider that a character "does not convey phonological information except in certain composite logographs where the pronunciation of the composite is similar to one of its component logographs." It takes a profoundly mesmerized observer to overlook as exceptions the two-thirds of all characters that convey useful phonological information through their component phonetic. Myth vs. Reality A limited number of pictographic or semantic characters, like the limited number of what Bolinger (1946) Calls "visual morphemes" and Edgerton (1941) "ideograms in English writing," or even the extensive but still limited systems such as mathematical or chemical notation, cannot be considered indicative of full systems of nonphonetic writing that can function like ordinary orthographies to express nearly everything we can express in spoken language. The fact is that such a full system of nonphonetic writing has never existed. The system of Chinese characters, the Sumerian, Accadian, and Hittite cuneiform systems, and the Egyptian hieroglyphic system were none of them complete systems of semantic writing. For Sumerian and Accadian, Civil (1973:26) provides figures summarized in Table 8 showing the relative importance of phonetic versus semantic elements in various texts. With respect to Egyptian, Edgerton says that "of the total number of signs in any normal hieroglyphic or hieratic text, the overwhelming majority will not be ideographic at all but phonetic" (1940:475). The same is true of Chinese, as was shown in great detail in Chapter 5. Semantic Versus Phonetic Aspects of Cuneiform Symbols Symbols Sumerian Accadian Syllabograms 36.4-54.3% 85.6-95.7% Logograms 60.3-42.8% 6.5-3.5% Classifiers 3.1-2.9% 7.6-0.7% Nonphonetic symbols occur in every writing system. But using the existence of these symbols, however numerous, to conclude that whole systems not based on sound have existed, or even that such systems are possible, are unwarranted assumptions that lead inevitably to the complete obfuscation regarding the nature of writing that is expressed in the Ideographic Myth. This myth, it is apparent, exists in two aspects. Both must be rejected. The first is that the Chinese characters constitute an existing system of ideographic writing. This has been shown to be factually untrue. The second aspect is the validity of the ideographic concept itself. I believe it to be completely untenable because there is no evidence that people have the capacity to master the enormous number of symbols that would be needed in a written system that attempts to convey thought without regard to sound, which means divorced from spoken language. A few, yes, as in any writing system, including English with its numerals and other "visual morphemes." Even quite a few, given the large number of Chinese syllabic signs and graphs without good phonetic clues. But while it is possible for a writing system to have many individual "ideographs" or "ideograms," it is not possible to have a whole writing system based on the ideographic principle. Alphabetic writing requires mastery of several dozen symbols that are needed for phonemic representation. Syllabic writing requires mastery of what may be several hundred or several thousand symbols that are needed for syllabic representation. Ideographic writing, however, requires mastery of the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of symbols that would be needed for ideographic representation of words or concepts without regard to sound. A bit of common sense should suggest that unless we supplement our brains with computer implants, ordinary mortals are incapable of such memory feats. The theory of an ideographic script must remain in the realm of popular mythology until some True Believers demonstrate its reality by accomplishing the task, say, of putting Hamlet or at least Lincoln's Gettysburg Address into English written in symbols without regard to sound. Objections to the Term "Ideographic" We need to go further and throw out the term itself. Boodberg proposed doing so years ago when he sharply criticized students of early Chinese inscriptions for neglecting the phonological aspect of Chinese writing and for "insisting that the Chinese in the development of their writing... followed some mysterious esoteric principles that set them apart from the rest of the human race." Boodberg added (1937:329-332): Most students in the field have chosen to concentrate their efforts on the exotically fascinating questions of "graphic semantics" and the study of the living tissues of the word has almost completely been neglected in favor of the graphic integument encasing it.... The term "ideograph" is, we believe, responsible for most of the misunderstanding of the writing. The sooner it is abandoned the better. We would suggest the revival of the old term "logograph." Signs used in writing, however ambiguous, stylized, or symbolic, represent words. The last sentence should be given the utmost emphasis: Chinese characters represent words (or better, morphemes), not ideas, and they represent them phonetically, for the most part, as do all real writing systems despite their diverse techniques and differing effectiveness in accomplishing the task. Boodberg's objections to describing Chinese writing as ideographic were anticipated by a century in a remarkable book by Peter S. DuPonceau. The author, a leading scholar who was president of the American Philosophical Society, was one of the outstanding general linguists of the first half of the nineteenth century in the United States. Although his work has been briefly noted by Edgerton (1944) and by Chao (1940), it has not received the attention it deserves among Chinese specialists. I must confess to having failed to check his views until quite recently, a failure which has put me in the position of reinventing the wheel. For DuPonceau, with an insight that is truly astonishing in view of the limited sources available to him, presents cogently reasoned arguments against the notion of Chinese as an ideographic script and against the whole concept of ideographic writing. His presentation, though faulty in some points (as noted by Chao 1940), constitutes what is probably the most extensive refutation yet written of the Ideographic Myth. DuPonceau (1838:106-107) summarizes the background of the ideographic concept by noting the general opinion that Chinese writing is an ocular method of communicating ideas, entirely independent of speech, and which, without the intervention of words, conveys ideas through the sense of vision directly to the mind. Hence it is called ideographic, in contradistinction from the phonographic or alphabetical system of writing. This is the idea which is entertained of it in China, and may justly be ascribed to the vanity of the Chinese literati. The Catholic at first, and afterwards the Protestant missionaries, have received it from them without much examination; and the love of wonder, natural to our species, has not a little contributed to propagate that opinion, which has taken such possession of the public mind, that it has become one of those axioms which no one will venture to contradict. But DuPonceau does venture to contradict, and in no uncertain terms. In a succinct statement which might well serve as a credo for all students of Chinese to memorize, he concludes (1838: xxxi): That the Chinese system of writing is not, as has been supposed, ideographic; that its characters do not represent ideas, but words, and therefore I have called it lexigraphic. That ideographic writing is a creature of the imagination, and cannot exist, but for very limited purposes, which do not entitle it to the name of writing. That among men endowed with the gift of speech, all writing must be a direct representation of the spoken language, and cannot present ideas to the mind abstracted from it. That all writing, as far as we know, represents language in some of its elements, which are words, syllables, and simple sounds. The conclusions obtained so long ago by DuPonceau are matched by the equally insightful observations of his contemporary, the French sinologist J. M. Callery. In the introduction to his syllabary of 1,040 phonetic signs Callery states (1841:i): If the works of the illustrious Champollion had not already proved conclusively that the Egyptian hieroglyphics, previously regarded as symbolic signs, are, for the most part, nothing but phonetic signs, that is to say, signs destined to represent the different sounds of the language, I would perhaps not dare to raise my feeble voice to say before the scholarly world that the Chinese characters are also, for the most part, nothing but phonetic characters intimately tied to the sounds of the language, and not symbolic or ideographic signs, as has generally been believed up to now; however, since the barrier of prejudice has been overcome, and in almost all the sciences the eminently rational procedure of observation has been adopted, I am hazarding to put under the eyes of the public the result of my researches on the phonetic system of Chinese writing. It is a pity that "the eminently rational procedure of observation" adopted by DuPonceau and Callery has been so much neglected by modern scholars. It is disheartening to see how pervasive is the idea that the Chinese in the development of their writing have followed, in Boodberg's words, "some mysterious esoteric principles that have set them apart from the rest of the human race." It is particularly disheartening to see levelheaded scholars suddenly taking leave of their critical faculties when confronted by Chinese characters. One reason for the pervasiveness and tenacity of the myth, I am now convinced, stems from the use of the word "ideographic." The term itself is responsible for a good deal of the misunderstanding and should be replaced, since its repetitious use, as in the big lie technique and in subliminal advertising, insidiously influences our thinking. Boodberg has suggested that it be replaced by the term "logographic," others by "morphemic." These terms have been widely adopted in academic circles, but many scholars apparently see no real difference between them and "ideographic." In his discussion of Sumerian writing, Civil (1973:21) quotes a French writer who uses the term "idéographique"; Civil follows it immediately with the bracketed explanation "[i.e., logographic]." A college textbook on linguistics (Geogheghn et al. 1979:131-1) equates the two terms in the following statement: "In logographic writing systems each character that is used represents either a concrete or abstract concept or idea. (For this reason, they are also called ideographic.)" Kolers, who believes that "there are two major writing systems in the world today, the semantic and the phonetic" (1970:113), makes no distinction between the two concepts underlying the two terms in his confused references to Chinese writing as a system that is "not phonetic" and contains logographic compounds" that are "derived from pictures" and are "intuitively appealing" (1969:353, 357, 360). These typical examples show that the term "logographic" is simply being taken as a fancier equivalent for "ideographic" and is not fulfilling the expectation of Boodberg and other sinologists that it would help avoid misconceptions regarding the basic nature of Chinese writing. Both terms are inadequate and misleading because they fail to indicate that the process of getting from graph to word/morpheme involves the phonetic aspect of the latter and because this failure leaves the way open to the idea that we get from graph to word/morpheme by means of some nonphonetic, in a word, "ideographic," approach. Only the adoption of some such term as "morphosyllabic," which calls attention to the phonetic aspect, can contribute to dispelling the widespread misunderstanding of the nature of Chinese writing. The term "ideographic" has been used not only by those who espouse its basic meaning but also by others who do not necessarily accept the concept but use the term out of mere force of habit as an established popular designation for Chinese characters. I find, to my chagrin, that in my previous publications I have been guilty of precisely this concession to popular usage without being aware of the damage it can cause. As a repentant sinner I pledge to swear off this hallucinogen. I hope others will join in consigning the term to the Museum of Mythological Memorabilia along with unicorn horns and phoenix feathers.Here's a novel way to lose weight: Earth's gravity means we weigh less at different altitudes (but it would only be around 1%) Map has revealed that gravity fluctuations are much larger than first thought Mount Nevado Huascarán in Peru has the lowest gravitational acceleration The highest is the surface of the Arctic at an acceleration of 9.8337 m/s2 You would weigh 1% less if you moved from Arctic to Peruvian mountains You could weigh less on different parts of the Earth because of changes in gravity. The difference isn’t much, however. You would only weigh one per cent less if you moved from the Arctic to the Peruvian mountains, according to calculations made by New Scientist. This is because the world is not a perfect sphere and so gravity is not the same everywhere on Earth. Scroll down for video The World Gravity Map (WGM) has revealed the gravitational field of over 3 billion points covering 80 per cent of Earth's land masses. The map shows unexpected locations with more extreme differences in gravitational pull. It shows Mount Nevado Huascarán in Peru, for instance, has the lowest gravitational acceleration, at 9.7639 m/s2. The highest is at the surface of the Arctic Ocean, at 9.8337 m/s2 For instance, gravity is weaker at the equator and at higher altitudes. Now a new high-resolution map has revealed that these fluctuations are much larger than first thought. The World Gravity Map (WGM) has revealed the gravitational field if over 3 billion points covering 80 per cent of Earth’s land masses. To create the map, Christian Hirt of Curtin University and his colleagues in Western Australia, used existing high-resolution Earth gravity models enhanced by the gravitational signal from ultra-high-resolution satellites and topographic data. The map was the result of a major international collaboration that, for the first time, mapped the entire Earth's gravity field in ultra-high resolution This is an improvement on work conducted in 2011 by the GOCE satellite which created images that showed how gravity varies on different parts of the globe. The GOCE maps revealed what the Earth would look like if it was covered in an ocean dictated by gravity. However, the maps were only accurate to between two to 10 km. To improve the data, Christian Hirt of Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia used existing high-resolution Earth gravity models enhanced by the gravitational signal from ultra-high-resolution satellites and topographic data. The project was part of a major international collaboration that, for the first time, mapped the entire Earth’s gravity field in ultra-high resolution. The map discovered unexpected locations with more extreme differences in gravitational pull. VIDEO: The GOCE gravitational map They found Mount Nevado Huascarán in Peru, for instance, has the lowest gravitational acceleration, at 9.7639 m/s2. The highest is at the surface of the Arctic Ocean, at 9.8337 m/s2. ‘This suggests a variation range for gravity accelerations on Earth of about around 0.07 m/s2, or 0.7 per cent, which is about 40 per cent larger than the variation range of 0.5 per cent implied by standard models,’ said the report published in Geophysical Research Letters. Using a super computer to calculate the data, the team at Curtin University were able to get to spatial scales of less than a 200m. In 2011, the GOCE satellite created images that showed how gravity varies on different parts of the globe ‘I completed the intensive calculations for more than 230 million points in under four weeks by dividing the overall task into 672 separate computational jobs,’ said associate professor Michael Kuhn, of the Department of Spatial Sciences. ‘Doing this huge task on a standard desktop computer would have taken almost six months to complete.’ The WGM will allow scientists to understand the structure of the Earth in far greater detail than ever before, essentially being able to see the Earth ‘from the inside’. ‘In geophysics, for example, large resource deposits can be identified more accurately, with increased gravity showing possible high-density ore bodies,’ said Professor Kuhn. ‘It will also greatly benefit the field of spatial sciences, where instrumentation needs to be very accurately oriented with respect to the Earth’s gravity.’ ‘By being global and ultra-high resolution, the map enables a focus on global and regional as well as very localised and targeted areas,’ added Professor Kuhn.SM Entertainment will be holding an IT exhibition, the S.M.ART EXHIBITION. S.M.ART EXHIBITION will be held from August 10th to the 19th, a total of ten days at the COEX in Seoul, Samseong-dong. SM's premium contents will be showcased in state-of-the-art digital technology. SM and global businesses have collaborated together to present the world's first interactive entertainment exhibition, allowing visitors to enjoy and become emotional with its various features. Most notably, the exhibit will showcase a 3D stereoscopic theater where visitors will be able to meet SM artists in front of them. In addition, there will be holographs of live performances, with high quality production and the scale of an exhibition. Visitors will also be able to experience the 360 degree camera that was used in 'The Matrix'. With a large screen, visitors will be able to make video calls and meet stars, making it different from regular digital entertainment exhibits. It is expected to be a great digital experience for both domestic and overseas fans. The exhibit will be on a world tour platform, the 'S.M.ART EXHIBITION WORLD TOUR', as global fans will also be able to experience the exciting digital technology. Source: TV Report via NaverFord Motor was expected to release plans as early as this week to cut its global headcount by around 10 percent, people briefed on the plan said, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday. The cuts were part of Ford's $3 billion target for cost cuts this year in an effort to boost profitability as auto sales stagnate, the report said. In response to an emailed request for comment, Ford told CNBC, "We have not announced any new people efficiency actions, nor do we comment on speculation." But the iconic automaker also noted that it was remaining focused on its three strategic priorities: "Fortifying the profit pillars in our core business, transforming traditionally underperforming areas of our core business and investing aggressively, but prudently, in emerging opportunities." It added: "Reducing costs and becoming as lean and efficient as possible also remain part of that work." Read the full WSJ report here. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.Be sure to Like and Follow us, and check out the archive! Not everyone is into funky mid-century decor the way Mowrer is, but I think the experience is pretty universal; you get some piece of gear when you’re young and starting out, that somehow lasts even when you’ve gotten to capital-A Adulthood. Doesn’t matter that you got it from that sketchy thrift store two towns over, that it still bears the stains of your youthful excesses, and that smell no one can identify, it still stings to let it go. Mowrer’s couch has a slightly higher pedigree than that; he picked it up at antique store, back when we still shared a house, when a change in career status first allowed him to indulge his love of mid-century home decor. He still has the Egg Chair he bought around the same time, which is perfect for chilling and grooving to music that sounds like Don Martin sound effects. So what’s your (metaphorical or literal) funky old couch? Was it a hand-me-down from your parents, or did you find it on a streetcorner, spray it with Lysol, and put it in the studio apartment you shared with three other guys?HP servers could prove be costly to maintain under the new plans. In an unprecedented move by the company, HP will only provide firmware updates to Enterprise customers that are under warranty after February 19. In a press release, Vice President Mary McCoy announced firmware updates through the HP support centre will only be available to customers with a valid warranty, Care Pack Service or support agreement. The move could see customers forking out hundreds or even thousands on Care Pack Services, which provide hardware and software support, as well as services, to receive the latest updates for their devices. McCoy says while the move is a change from the past, it will place the company in line with the best practices in the industry. “We know this is a change from how we’ve done business in the past; however, this aligns with industry best practices and is the right decision for our customers and partners." The company Vice President says customers are given first priority because they are given a choice to pay for additional upgrades. Firmware is the read-only programming that is embedded into hardware. Firmware updates can be used to add functions, fix bugs, enhance security or simply improve performance of the device. Network devices such as routers and servers often receive firmware updates to ensure users are gaining optimal performance. Existing customers are advised to update their laptops, servers, tablets and other HP devices by the February 19. Source: HP \| Image via Tom's HardwareSecrets from the "Stranger Things 2" universe are revealed as cast and guests discuss the latest episodes with host Jim Rash. Caution: spoilers ahead! 1. Mind Blown 26m Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers sit down to discuss new characters and the season's most important themes. 2. Mad for Max 24m Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers stick around to talk 1980s tech and teenage love triangles with Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo and Sadie Sink. 3. Unlikely Allies 25m Joe Keery joins Shawn Levy, Gaten Matarazzo and the Duffer Brothers to shed light on Steve's evolution -- and the season's most surprising partnership. 4. Truth in Hawkins 17m Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery and Brett Gelman dissect a major new development, with insight from David Harbour and Shannon Purser. 5. The AV Club 18m Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Noah Schnapp and Randy Havens discuss Mr. Clarke's influence. "Science Guy" Bill Nye and Sean Astin weigh in. 6. The New Class 15m Sadie Sink, Brett Gelman, Dacre Montgomery and Linnea Berthelsen share their experiences creating new characters on a show with a huge fan following.Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2015 December 12 Comet Meets Moon and Morning Star Image Credit & Copyright: Greg Hogan Explanation: A crescent Moon and brilliant Venus met in predawn skies on December 7, a beautiful conjunction of planet Earth's two brightest celestial beacons after the Sun. Harder to see but also on the scene was Comet Catalina (C/2013 US10). The fainter comet clearly sporting two tails, lunar night side, bright sunlit lunar crescent, and brilliant morning star, are all recorded here by combining short and long exposures of the same field of view. Pointing down and right, Catalina's dust tail tends to trail behind the comet's orbit. Its ion tail, angled toward the top left of the frame, is blowing away from the Sun. Discovered in 2013, the new visitor from the Oort cloud was closest to the Sun on November 15 and is now outbound, headed for its closest approach to Earth in mid-January.US tech firm has stepped up lobbying efforts with $3.5m charm offensive to persuade EU to drop punitive action over alleged abuse of monopoly position Google enlisted members of the US congress, whose election campaigns it had funded, to pressure the European Union to drop a €6bn antitrust case which threatens to decimate the US tech firm’s business in Europe. The coordinated effort by senators and members of the House of Representatives, as well as by a congressional committee, formed part of a sophisticated, multimillion-pound lobbying drive in Brussels, which Google has significantly ramped up as it fends off challenges to its dominance in Europe. How Google's antitrust headache began not from castle ramparts Read more An investigation by the Guardian into Google’s multifaceted lobbying campaign in Europe has uncovered fresh details of its activities and methods. Based on documents obtained under a freedom of information request and a series of interviews with EU officials, MEPs and Brussels lobbyists, the investigation has also found: • Google’s co-founder and CEO Larry Page met the then European commission chief privately in California in spring 2014 and raised the antitrust case despite being warned by EU officials that it would be inappropriate to do so. • Officials and lawmakers in Brussels say they have witnessed a significant expansion of Google lobbying efforts over the past 18 months as the company faces increased scrutiny of its business activities in Europe. • Google has employed several former EU officials as in-house lobbyists, and has funded European thinktanks and university research favourable to its position as part of its broader campaign. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Google co-founder Larry Page. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images Capitol Hill’s aggressive intervention in Brussels came as the European parliament prepared to vote through a resolution in November 2014 that called on EU policymakers to consider breaking up Google’s online business into separate companies. Republican and Democratic senators and congressmen, many of whom have received significant campaign donations from Google totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaned on parliament in a series of similar – and in some cases identical – letters sent to key MEPs. In another letter, the US House judiciary committee wrote to MEPs concerning the antitrust case against Google. The committee’s chairman, Bob Goodlatte, said the committee was “troubled to learn” some MEPs were “encouraging antitrust enforcement efforts that appear to be motivated by politics” that would ultimately undermine free markets. Google has consistently donated to Goodlatte’s election campaigns, while members on the judiciary committee that he chairs collectively received more than $200,000 (£133,000) from the company during the 2014 election cycle. Google declined to comment on the letters or its ties to the committee, including the fact one of its senior lawyers in Washington had joined the firm straight from the judiciary committee where he served as an antitrust counsel to its Republican members. A spokeswoman for the committee did not respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment. Scaling up Google’s expansion of its lobbying activities in Brussels has come in response to a growing number of threats to its business in the EU, where it dominates about 90% of the search market. It argues that its rivals lobby just as hard against it, if not harder. In April, a long-running antitrust investigation came to a head when the newly installed EU competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, formally accused Google of abusing its market dominance by systematically favouring its shopping price-comparison service. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The EU competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters Google, which could face a heavy fine of more than €6bn (£4.3bn) if found guilty, has rejected Vestager’s case as “wrong as a matter of fact, law and economics”. But this is only one of the battles Google is fighting in Brussels. The European commission has also launched a separate competition investigation into Google’s mobile operating system, Android, and indicated additional inquiries are being considered. This follows the symbolic blow MEPs dealt the US company late last year with the so-called “unbundling” resolution. Under pressure to defend itself, Google has opened its cheque book. Last year, the company spent more than twice as much on lobbying in Brussels than Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter and Uber combined. Yet Google is still being outspent by Microsoft, which some in Brussels suspect is backing a vocal anti-Google lobby in Brussels. Microsoft declined to comment. Official transparency data shows Google has increased its annual lobbying spending from €600,000 in 2011 to almost €4m last year. In addition to its team of in-house lobbyists – many of whom have come from jobs in the commission or the European parliament – the company has employed eight European lobbying firms. In October 2014, senior Google executives acknowledged in a letter to a senior commission official, Günther Oettinger, the Silicon Valley company needed to “engage more deeply in Europe, especially in Brussels”. This strategy is borne out by records of meetings with the commission. Between December 2014 and June 2015, Google held more high-level meetings with commission officials than any other company. Google sympathisers accept it is lobbying hard, but suggest no company would sit back and not ensure its side of the story is being heard when so much is at stake, especially when claimants in the antitrust case have formed well-funded lobby groups to fight the firm. One such group, ICOMP, receives funding from numerous complainants in the antitrust case, including Microsoft, and is closely associated with Burson-Marsteller, a large public relations firm previously paid by Facebook to plant negative stories about Google. Latest data shows ICOMP spent €400,000 on lobbying in Brussels between 2013-14. It does not disclose how much it spent on legal costs incurred in connection with the case against Google. One senior EU official speaking on condition of anonymity said Google’s lobbying in Brussels stood out because of the intricate, often subtle yet powerful mechanisms it employs. “What is striking is the comprehensive and strategic approach they have. They are not only doing PR but they are doing everything. They are using proxies, which is much more powerful than just the usual stuff,” he told the Guardian. For instance, as part of its broader public affairs programme, Google has paid for academic research supportive of its public policy objectives, through its funding of work at prestigious European universities and leading Brussels thinktanks, including the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and the Bruegel Institute. A spokesman for the US tech firm said European politicians had “many questions for Google and about the internet”. To help answer those questions, he added, Google sometimes commissioned independent research, but always asked the academics to disclose funding they received from the company. Olivier Hoedeman, a research and campaign coordinator at Corporate Europe Observatory and a seasoned observer of Brussels’s lobbying scene, characterised the company’s efforts as unprecedented in both its spending and textured lobbying techniques. “Google has in an unprecedented manner stepped up their Brussels lobbying efforts during the last few years, massively increasing their spending on lobbying and on other activities in a very comprehensive and multifaceted lobbying campaign aimed at influencing the European commission’s decisions,” he said. Among MEPs, this became particularly apparent in November last year when the European parliament voted yes to the motion to break up Google’s search business from its advertising and other businesses. “At the time of the November parliamentary session, Google’s lobby activity clearly stepped up in a way that we have never seen before,” said Ramon Tremosa, a Spanish MEP from Catalonia involved in putting forward the unbundling resolution. Tremosa said that during the week of the vote Google’s Brussels-based lobbyists were joined by its public affairs officers for each of the 28 EU-member states in filling the corridors of parliament. According to Jacques Lafitte, a veteran lobbyist at Avisa Partners whose clients include a complainant in the antitrust case, Google’s lobbying in Brussels is unrivalled. “Before Google, the most sophisticated company in terms of political influence was Goldman Sachs. But Google beats them any day because contrary to Goldman they don’t just focus on the top,” Lafitte said. “Google makes its influence felt absolutely everywhere.” High-level interventions Google’s most senior executives have also played their part in the lobbying drive. In May 2014, with less than six months to persuade the commission to abandon the antitrust action before a change in leadership at Europe’s executive arm, Google co-founder Larry Page met the then commission president, José Manuel Barroso, at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Former European commission president José Manuel Barroso. Photograph: Christian Lutz/AP Before the private meeting, Barroso’s staff warned Page that under no circumstances should he discuss the antitrust investigation with the commission president. But Page was running out of time. A letter sent by Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, to Barroso months later shows the case was discussed. Page told Barroso Google could implement a new set of commitments designed to allay fears about European rivals being unable to compete with it. For an hour, the commission president sat and listened. “We loved having you in Mountain View and I enjoyed our discussion tremendously,” Page later wrote to Barroso. “Next time you’re in the Valley please come and visit again.” The timing of the meeting, according to Hoederman, was “very awkward” as the European commission was weighing the antitrust case against the company. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The entrance to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Photograph: John G Mabanglo/EPA “A visit of this kind at such a sensitive time muddies the waters and shows poor judgment by Barroso,” he said. “It would have been understandable if the EU’s competition policy officials felt that Barroso’s visit risked undermining their integrity of the investigation.” Julia Reda, a Green MEP from Germany, noted: “This is not the first time there have been reports of Google trying to influence the outcome of the commission’s antitrust investigation through high-level interventions. “As it is difficult to tell what is going on behind closed doors, I am not in a position to judge whether the communication between the commission and Google during this competition inquiry has been atypical, though it certainly raises questions.” A spokesman for the commission defended its dealings with Google. “In line with its normal procedures, the commission’s antitrust investigation into Google’s business practices has been handled in an open and transparent way,” he said. In September 2014, with the clocking ticking and less than a month before Barroso stepped down, Schmidt joined in the lobbying of Barroso, having previously left the task to Google’s chief in-house lobbyists in Brussels. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt addresses the 9th Global Competitiveness Forum earlier this year. Photograph: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images In a last
Thursday or Friday this week. Until then, favorites, follows and reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!Anxious, paranoid, dreamy Drake has a message for you: If you're making muffins, and there are too many walnuts in your muffin batter he just can't trust it. Also, he prefers "the berries that are blue." In case you were wondering! These are just a couple of feelings that Drake expresses about muffins in this unauthorized (I assume) and extremely bizarre (I can prove this one) remix of "Jumpman." It's not actually Drake's voice, but it is his face, and I'm easily tricked. As with most topics, Drake's feelings about muffins are too complex to summarize succinctly. Broadly: he loves them, he wants to eat them non-stop, and he's drooling. muffins muffins muffins muffins, woo! My colleague Chris Plante and I watched this video earlier today, fairly close to breakfast time. His reaction was "I don't even," and my reaction was "what." I was eating oatmeal, and didn't feel any immediate urge to change gears and eat a muffin. I don't know what Chris Plante was eating, but he didn't switch to a muffin either. I guess we both thought that was the end of it. But it wasn't over. Far from it: Chris Plante purchased his first muffin in "like six months" later this afternoon. It wasn't even breakfast time anymore! He says he doesn't know why he did it. I do. So does this guy: The charm of this video is hard to place — I don't think it is particularly well-made, funny, or clever. I don't even really care for the song it's parodying. I don't even really care for muffins. To be honest, I don't even care for jokes anymore. I spend way too much time on the internet to think anyone is funny. What I like most about this video, if I had to hazard a guess, is that it has the gall to exist. Across linguistic, cultural, and temporal barriers, anyone who watched this video would have one thought about it, which would be "why?" And then, six to eight hours later, "do I want a muffin?" Just some food for thought: do you want a muffin? If your answer is no, please check back later.Athletics World Championships 2011 Venue: Daegu, South Korea Date: 27 August - 4 September Coverage: Listen live on BBC Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra and online (UK only), watch daily video highlights on the BBC Sport website (UK only); live text commentary on the finals; watch live on Channel 4 Media playback is not supported on this device Blake takes gold as Bolt disqualified Jamaica's Usain Bolt was disqualified from the final of the men's 100m at the World Athletics Championships as countryman Yohan Blake took gold. Defending champion Bolt caused shock in the stadium in Daegu as he came out of his blocks well before the gun. Blake clocked 9.92 seconds to lead home American Walter Dix (10.08) and 2003 world champion Kim Collins (10.09). RULE 162.7 An athlete, after assuming a full and final set position, shall not commence his start until after receiving the report of the gun. If, in the judgement of the starter or recallers, he does so any earlier, it shall be deemed a false start. Except in combined events, any athlete responsible for a false start shall be disqualified But much of the talk will centre on the fate of Bolt, who still has the 200m and 4x100m to come. The triple world and Olympic champion beat a hasty retreat after his misfortune, although was quoted as saying: "Looking for tears? "Not going to happen. I'm OK." Bolt, 25, later released a short comment via the IAAF website, saying: "I have nothing to say right now. I need some time." Asked about the defence of his 200m title which begins on Friday, Bolt added: "How will I go? We'll have to see on Friday." TOM FORDYCE'S BLOG It was classic Bolt, another act in the comedy-drama that has seen him dominate the sporting schedules since that extraordinary night in Beijing's Bird's Nest two summers ago Read more from Tom's blog Bolt was his usual relaxed self before the race, preening when his name was announced, and the outcome will no doubt lead people to question both his preparation and the false-start rule. Previously, athletes had been allowed one false start before being disqualified for a second, but new rules were introduced by governing body the IAAF for the start of the 2010 season. While Blake, 21, had sympathy for his training partner he nevertheless was overwhelmed by his unexpected triumph. Media playback is not supported on this device No special rules for Bolt - IAAF "I don't think I can find words to explain it, I feel like I want to cry," he said. "I have been praying for this moment, this is all a dream for me right now. "Usain Bolt has been there for me. I felt I would win the race for Bolt." Dix, a double Olympic bronze medallist, added: "I didn't really think they were going to kick him out. How can you kick Usain out of the race?" The 35-year-old Collins, meanwhile, questioned the validity of the false-start rule after picking up his third World Championships bronze medal. "I don't think it is right. These things happen but you have to give people a chance," said the St Kitts and Nevis athlete. ANALYSIS It was a fantastic race but all the talk will be about Usain Bolt. That was a shock, pure and simple, but even the best in the world can get it wrong and the rules are the rules. Darren Campbell Former GB sprinter and BBC Radio 5 live summariser "If the IAAF feel that is the right way to go for TV rights and everything, the rule will stay. As much as I want to be on the podium, tonight is a sad night for athletics." Bolt, 25, has dominated the sprinting world in recent years: after storming to the 100m and 200m sprint double in then-world record times at the 2008 Olympics, Bolt matched his feat the following year at the Worlds in Berlin, setting new marks of 9.58 and 19.19. The 100m in Daegu had already been deprived of the three previous fastest men this year - Bolt's team-mates Asafa Powell and Steve Mullings and American Tyson Gay. Britain's Dwain Chambers was disqualified for a false-start in the semi-finals, one day after compatriot Christine Ohuruogu was eliminated from the 400m for the same infringement.For the Kathy Reichs novel, see Cross Bones (novel) Cross Bones is a disused post-medieval burial ground on Redcross Way in Southwark, south London.[2] Up to 15,000 people are believed to have been buried there. It was closed in 1853. Cross Bones is thought to have been established originally as an unconsecrated graveyard for prostitutes, or "single women", who were known locally as "Winchester Geese" because they were licensed by the Bishop of Winchester to work within the Liberty of the Clink.[1][3] The area lay outside the jurisdiction of the City of London and as a consequence became known for its brothels and theatres, as well as bull and bear baiting, activities not permitted within the City itself.[4][5] By 1769 it had become a pauper's cemetery servicing St. Saviour's parish. An archeological dig by the Museum of London Archaeology Service in 1992 uncovered 148 graves in Cross Bones, dating from between 1800 and 1853. Over one third of the bodies were perinatal (between 22 weeks gestation and seven days after birth). A further 11 percent were under one year old. The adults were mostly women aged 36 years and older.[4] History [ edit ] Origins [ edit ] The disused burial ground is on the left. John Stow, in his A Survey of London (1598), made mention of a "Single Woman's churchyard" in Southwark, near the Clink: Next on this [west bank of the Thames] was sometimes the Bordello, or Stewes, a place so called of certain stew-houses privileged there, for the repair of incontinent men to the like women... I have heard of ancient men, of good credit, report, that these single women were forbidden the rites of the church, so long as they continued that sinful life, and were excluded from Christian burial, if they were not reconciled before their death. And therefore there was a plot of ground called the Single Woman's churchyard, appointed for them far from the parish church.[6] It was mentioned again in 1795 in a history of St. Saviour's, Southwark: Our readers will remember that, in the account we have given of the Stews on Bank-side, mention is made of a piece of ground, called the Single Woman’s Burying Ground, set apart as the burial place of those unfortunate females; we are very much inclined to believe this was the spot, for in early times the ceremony of consecration would certainly not have been omitted; and if it had been performed, it would doubtless have appeared by some register, either in the possession of the Bishop of Winchester, or in the proper ecclesiastical court. We find no other place answering the description given of a ground appropriated as a burial place for these women, circumstances, therefore, justify the supposition of this being the place; for it was said, the ground was not consecrated; and the ordination was that they should not be buried in any spot so sanctified.[7] The antiquarian William Taylor wrote in 1833: “There is an unconsecrated burial ground known as the Cross Bones at the corner of Redcross Street, formerly called the Single Woman's burial ground, which is said to have been used for this purpose."[1] By 1769 it was being used as a cemetery for the poor of St. Saviour's parish. Up to 15,000 people are believed to have been buried there.[8] Closure and sale [ edit ] The graveyard was closed in 1853 because it was "completely overcharged with dead", and further burials were deemed "inconsistent with a due regard for the public health and public decency".[9] According to Southwark writer John Constable, the land was sold as a building site in 1883, prompting an objection from Lord Brabazon in November that year in a letter to The Times, asking that it be saved from "such desecration".[10] Constable writes that the sale was declared null and void the following year under the Disused Burial Grounds Act 1884, and that subsequent attempts to develop the site were opposed by local people, as was its brief use as a fairground. After removal of remains to the parish facilities in Brookwood, Surrey, the site was covered in warehousing and other commercial buildings.[11] Excavation [ edit ] Plaque on the gates, funded by Southwark Council Excavations were conducted on the land by the Museum of London Archaeology Service between 1991 and 1998 in connection with the construction of London Underground's Jubilee line. Southwark Council reports that the archaeologists found a highly overcrowded graveyard with bodies piled on top of one another. Tests showed those buried had suffered from smallpox, tuberculosis, Paget's disease, osteoarthritis, and vitamin D deficiency.[12] A dig in 1992 uncovered 148 graves, dating from between 1800 and 1853. Over one third of the bodies were perinatal (between 22 weeks gestation and seven days after birth), and a further 11 percent were under one year old. The adults were mostly women aged 36 and older.[4] The Southwark Mysteries [ edit ] Beginning in 1996, Constable began to publish The Southwark Mysteries, a series of poems and mystery plays.[3] The work has been performed in Shakespeare's Globe and in Southwark Cathedral.[13] Interest generated by The Southwark Mysteries inspired the Cross Bones Halloween festival, celebrated every year since 1998 with a procession, candles and songs.[11] An informal local group, Friends of Cross Bones, has campaigned for a permanent memorial garden.[14] The graveyard gates are permanently decorated by a changing array of messages, ribbons, flowers and other tokens; a short memorial ceremony is held at the gates on the 23rd of each month in the early evening. References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] Cross Bones website Brickley, Megan; Miles, Adrian; and Stainer, Hilary (1999). The Cross Bones Burial Ground, Redcross Way, Southwark, London. Museum of London Archeology Service. . Museum of London Archeology Service. Ogden, A. R.; Pinhasi, R.; and White, W. J. (2007). "Gross enamel hypoplasia in molars from sub-adults in a 16th–18th century London graveyard". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. . Tucker, F. (8 November 2007). "Kill or Cure? The osteological evidence of the mercury treatment of syphilis in 17th to 19th-century London". London Archaeologist. 11(8), pp. 220–224. . 11(8), pp. 220–224. Audio slideshow: Cross Bones, BBC News. Video montage and commentary, BBC News, 31 October 2010 Coordinates:CLOSE Authorities still haven't figured out exactly what sparked the Las Vegas shooting, which left 58 people dead and hundreds more injured. Video provided by Newsy Newslook Flowers, candles and other items surround the famous Las Vegas sign at a makeshift memorial for victims of a mass shooting Monday, Oct. 9, 2017, in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor country music concert killing dozens and injuring hundreds. (AP Photo/John Locher) (Photo11: The Associated Press) A report from Las Vegas authorities that gunman Stephen Paddock fired a barrage of shots at a hotel security guard six minutes before unleashing a hailstorm of gunfire on concertgoers from his room at the Mandalay Bay hotel may not be accurate, the hotel says. “We cannot be certain about the most recent timeline,” MGM Resorts International spokeswoman Debra DeShong said in a statement. "We believe what is currently being expressed may not be accurate.” DeShong said the investigation into the rampage Oct. 1 that killed 58 people has "a lot of moving parts" and is continuing. "As evidenced by law enforcement briefings over the past week, many facts are still unverified and continue to change as events are under review," DeShong said. More: Vegas mass killer shot a security guard minutes before carnage began More: Donations roll in for Las Vegas victims: 'Everyone's heart is in the right place' More: Las Vegas shooting: At least 59 dead, gunman 'crazed lunatic full of hate' Stephen Schuck, a building engineer at Mandalay Bay, on Wednesday told NBC News Today show he was on a higher floor the night of Paddock's rampage when he was called to check on a fire exit door that would not open. He said the hallway on the 32nd floor where Paddock was holed up was quiet when he arrived. "About a third of the way down the hallway and I started to hear shots go off," Schuck said, although they apparently were not directed into the hallway. Security guard Jesus Campos yelled to take cover moments before Paddock started shooting into the hallway, Schuck said. "I could feel them pass right behind my head," Schuck said. "Something hit me in the back and I took cover." Campos was shot in the leg. Schuck radioed to his supervisors to call police. "I am incredibly blessed that somehow I came out of there alive," Schuck told Today. "When he first started shooting I was kind of in disbelief, but I told myself to remain calm; if I freaked out now it would only get me killed or injured." Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Monday that the hallway shooting took place at 9:59 pm local time — six minutes before Paddock began his 11-minute assault on the 22,000 people gathered for a country music concert a few hundred yards from his hotel windows. Last week authorities had said the hallway shooting took place after Paddock began his shooting spree. Police finally stormed the room to find Paddock dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They also found an arsenal of weapons and ammunition. Lombardo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that investigators have interviewed Paddock’s entire family, including his two ex-wives. He said the investigation is progressing, but that a motive for the shooting has not been determined. “We may never know,” Lombardo said. “All those things that you would expect to find, we have not found.” Contributing: The Associated Press Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2wOm1XLPresident Obama Says He Had No Idea His Own NSA Was Spying On Angela Merkel from the that-seems-like-a-problem dept There are strong indications that it was the SCS that targeted the cell phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel. This is suggested by a document that apparently comes from an NSA database in which the agency records its targets. This document, which SPIEGEL has seen, is what set the cell phone scandal in motion. The document contains Merkel's cell phone number. An inquiry to her team revealed that it is the number the chancellor uses mainly to communicate with party members, ministers and confidants, often by text message. The number is, in the language of the NSA, a "Selector Value." The next two fields determine the format ("raw phone number") and the "Subscriber," identified as "GE Chancellor Merkel." [....] The time stamp is noteworthy. The order was transferred to the "National Sigint Requirements List," the list of national intelligence targets, in 2002. That was the year Germany held closely watched parliamentary elections and Merkel battled Edmund Stoiber of Bavaria's Christian Social Union to become the conservatives' chancellor candidate. It was also the year the Iraq crisis began heating up. The document also lists status: "A" for active. This status was apparently valid a few weeks before President Obama's Berlin visit in June 2013. Merkel spoke with Obama on Wednesday afternoon, calling him from her secure landline in her Chancellery office. Both spoke English. According to the Chancellery, the president said that he had known nothing of possible monitoring, otherwise he would have stopped it. Obama also expressed his deepest regrets and apologized. Among the politically decisive questions is whether the spying was authorized from the top: from the US president. If the data is accurate, the operation was authorized under former President George W. Bush and his NSA chief, Michael Hayden. But it would have had to be repeatedly approved, including after Obama took office and up to the present time. Is it conceivable that the NSA made the German chancellor a surveillance target without the president's knowledge? Former NSA employee Thomas Drake does not see this as a contradiction. "After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Germany became intelligence target number one in Europe," he says. The US government did not trust Germany, because some of the Sept. 11 suicide pilots had lived in Hamburg. Evidence suggests that the NSA recorded Merkel once and then became intoxicated with success, says Drake. "It has always been the NSA's motto to conduct as much surveillance as possible," he adds. So, last week, there was the report that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had found out about the US NSA spying on her mobile phone and had made an angry call to President Obama. As we noted, US officials made perhaps the weakest response ever, insisting that they weren't monitoring her phone today and promising that they wouldn't monitor it in the future -- but absolutely refusing to comment on whether or not the NSA had done so in the past. Of course, that just called much more attention to the obvious implication that they had -- and it took just a couple days before Spiegel revealed the details. Not only had the NSA been monitoring Merkel's mobile phone, but they'd been doing it for over a decade, since before she was in power Spiegel has a lot more, including some revealing information about how the NSA uses the US embassy in Berlin to intercept all kinds of communications.But then there's this incredible claim: President Obama insists he had no idea about it when he spoke to Merkel:Now, remember, this is the very same President Obama, who just a couple months ago claimed that every time more Snowden news broke, it would be the first he'd heard about some of these programs, and he'd have to go ask the NSA what they were really doing. Could this be one of those situations? It seems almost impossible to believe that the NSA would be spying on the head of state of one of our closest allies without the President being aware. As the Spiegel report notes, those kinds of orders would have to be renewed with approval from the top:However, after trying to avoid the question, over the weekend, the NSA admitted that Keith Alexander had never briefed the President about spying on Merkel (though, it's possible he heard about it from others).This makes it sound, again, like the NSA has gone rogue. How can President Obama seriously allow Keith Alexander and James Clapper to remain in charge when they've just made him look like a complete fool, supposedly totally unaware of what his own intelligence apparatus is up to -- especially when it concerns programs that, once revealed, can have a serious negative impact on a variety of diplomatic fronts?And for what benefit? The Spiegel report makes it clear that the NSA saw little value in spying on Merkel. They just did it because... reasons.The fact that President Obama hasn't yet fired Alexander in particular is fairly incredible, given this latest revelation. Filed Under: angela merkel, barack obama, germany, keith alexander, nsa, nsa surveillanceThe Importance of a Wall on the Southern Border General Blurps Posted on June 23, 2016 in Blog The use perimeter walls have been adopted by various countries for several reasons which include keeping illegal migrants, terrorists, and insurgents as well as drug smugglers way. With the increasing political instability in various countries, people migrate in an effort to seek refuge in safer countries as refugees. However, there comes along negative effects associated with immigrants such as insecurity issues (McGuire, 2013). Likewise, with proliferation of drug markets, smugglers have formed trade networks all over the world in an effort to expand their drugs businesses. This is the prime reason as to why some countries have turned to the construction of security walls at the borders so as to allow restricted entry into and out of people in such countries. The Berlin wall is one of the earliest nation separating walls but since its fall, several other security walls and fences have been constructed by several nations. Even though such fences and walls are due to external reasons, much of such projects are based on internal thinking and politics. For instance, the 664 Mexico-United States perimeter wall was specifically meant to keep the drug cartels in Mexico from establishing bases in the United States (Jones, 2014). Mexico has been for many years known for production and distribution of illegal drugs such as marijuana and methametaphine which is very profitable. Due to its low costs some of these drugs have been found to flood the United States markets leading to high dependence rates as well as poverty rates. Sometimes we tend to think that border walls and fences are sharp just as individual; country maps appear but this is not the case. The military keep watch a these walls which in most instances have entry and exit gates. These are the points where airplanes, vehicles and people on foot are inspected before they enter into a foreign country. Additionally, entry of illegal migrants might have a negative effect to the culture of the residents of the country in question. This is evident especially in the United States whereby the changes in the ways of life of its citizens has been influenced by immigrants. At some point, the Chinese, Italians and Irish were the major threats to America?s culture. At present, the immigrants of Muslim and Latin origin are the major threats who have been found to bring about social codes that have the ability to alter the culture of Native Americans (Andreas, 2012). The United States Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump indicates that the Mexicans take advantage of the leaders in the United States by allowing the flow of drug cartels and illegal migrants into the country. This is the major reason why Trump insists that the Mexican government must contribute towards the costs of constructing the Southern wall which Mexicans do not agree to. Sometimes in the year 2005, the Mexico declared a state of emergency to drug peddling and claimed that the government had been unable to control drug smuggling and illegal migrations. However, Mexico has not supportive to the construction of a security wall at the United States border. This is the time when the United States built up underground tunnels to have controlled entry and exit to Mexico. There are about forty of these channels but it has been discovered that drugs smuggling mostly takes place through these tunnels (McGuire, 2013). For instance, there is one of the tunnels which spans from San Diego to Tijuana was amazement since despite the advance construction designs like wired electricity, concrete floor and being a half miles long, about three hundred pounds of marijuana was found at one of its ends. Additionally, a tunnel at the California border that had a modern warehouse was found to be going the buildings from Mexico to the United States. This is the reason why fences and security walls are said to be likely to reduce such insecurity and drug trafficking issues. Although, America has not started the implementation of the project, there is hope that the wall will help in control of illegal immigrants and drug trafficking. References Andreas, P. (2012). Border games: Policing the US-Mexico divide. Cornell University Press. Jones, R. (2014). Border Wars: Narratives and Images of the US-Mexican Border on TV. ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 13(3), 530-550. McGuire, R. H. (2013). Steel Walls and Picket Fences: Rematerializing the US? Mexican Border in Ambos Nogales. American Anthropologist, 115(3), 466-480. Tags: Mexican Border, Illegal Immigrants, Illegal Immigration, Build a Wall, Drug Trafficking, Donald Trump, Donald J Trump, Trevor Heck, Southern BorderModel and actress Sulinh Lafontaine is not a daredevil stunt driver who raced in Furious 7 - she just plays one on TV. In the run-up to the premiere of the latest installment in the Fast & Furious franchise, the athletic, petite brunette gained notice with her claims she was the sole female stunt driver in the action flick starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Dwayne Johnson. But as the car blog Jalopnik reported Thursday, Lafontaine has been brazenly misrepresenting herself as a member of the film's crew. Scroll down for video Pump the brakes: Model and actress Sulinh Lafontaine has repeatedly said in interviews that she worked as a stunt driver on Furious 7, but this week she was unmasked as a fraud Need for speed: The 5-foot-5, 95-pound actress told a blogger during the Furious 7 premiere in LA Friday that she raced at speeds reaching 140mph on set At a Furious 7 premiere in Los Angeles last week, Lafontaine posed with a lime-green Challenger used in the movie and was interviewed by a blogger for a segment that was later featured on CNN's iReport. In the interview, which has since been taken down, the 5-foot-5, 95-pound actress gushed about how thrilling it was for her to join a major franchise like Fast & Furious. 'Being both an actress and stunt driver, there is no better film to be involved in,' she told her interviewer. When asked what it was like being the only female stunt car driver, Lafontaine addressed some of the challenges of working in a male dominated-industry. 'Female stunt drivers are far and few in between,' she lamented, without missing a beat. 'It’s hard to break into the stunt industry, even harder if you are a female. 'But to be the only female stunt driver on a set of this magnitude was absolutely mind blowing! I feel very honored. And blessed.' Ms Lafontaine then talked about the filming process, saying she did most of her driving in the desert and that her record speed on the shoot was 140mph. Joel Kramer, the supervising stuntman for Furious 7, told Jalopnik that his drivers usually don't go above 50mph for safety reasons. Nice try: Lafontaine even Photoshopped herself into a poster of the film, wedging her picture between Michelle Rodriguez and the late Paul Walker Cog in a machine: A stunt supervisor on Furious 7 said Lafontaine worked as an extra on the set (pictured) - one among some 1,500 people More lies: During an interview with New York Fashion Times, Lafontaine said she became licensed with the International Stunt Association in Europe and later got certified as a stunt driver in California When asked about the passing of Fast & Furious franchise stalwart Paul Walker, who was killed in a car crash last year, Lafontaine said that he was sorely missed on the set, where she described the mood as very somber. 'But the job had to be done. The film had to be complete. It definitely was not an easy task,' she noted. Lafontaine then launched into a monologue about how proud she was to be part of the Furious 7 stunt family, how she has never sought public recognition for her 'craft,' and how driving was in her blood. 'It’s a lifelong passion, and I am just simply grateful I am able to live my passion,' she concluded. During that interview, Ms Lafontaine causally mentioned that she has been in the stunt industry 'for a while' - a statement that would come back to haunt her later on. The iReport from the Hollywood premiere last Friday raised some eyebrows among stunt drivers, who wasted no time calling Lafontaine out as a con artist. Backlash: Members of the stunt community quickly called out Lafontaine for her fibs on Twitter and Facebook, insisting that she was a fraud and a liar Brazen: Lafontaine, pictured right with director Marc Scarpa, talked about the somber mood on the set after Paul Walker's passing last year Eddie Perez, a director and stunt coordinator, tweeted in response to Lafontaine’s bold claims: 'Social media and self promotion can be deceiving but you will get caught.' Stuntwoman Heidi Pascoe also did not mince words, calling the wannabe racer a 'liar' and a 'fraud.' Tamiko B, another member of the stunt community, was equally harsh in her appraisal of Lafontaine. All smiles: Lafontaine proudly posed with action star Jason Statham, who starred in Furious 7 'What a pathetic excuse for a person, you should be banned from the entertainment industry,' she tweeted in reaction to the eviscerating Jalopnik takedown of the bogus Furious 7 crew member. As the automotive blog reported, Lafontaine’s lie-riddled interview on iReport was not a matter of an ambitious performer getting carried away or fudging a few minor details, given that she has made similar claims on other occasions. During an interview with New York Fashion Times, Lafontaine asserted that after being asked to perform car stunts in a movie she was in, she became licensed with the International Stunt Association in Europe and later got certified as a stunt driver in California. After offering a jumbled response to a question about car brakes - Lafontaine claimed stunt drivers don't use brakes but instead 'rig' emergency breaks - she mentioned that the latest film she worked on was Furious 7. Kramer, the stun supervisor on the film, stated that Lafontaine was not employed as a driver. Her connection to the project did not go beyond her role as an extra in a crowd of 1,500. He also refuted Lafontaine’s assertion that she was the only female driver on set, saying that the production involved at least seven or eight female stunt doubles, including the veteran racer Debbie Evans Leavitt. But Lafontaine’s Flickr account and IMDB page painted a very different picture. On her photo-sharing page, the fashion designer and actress uploaded a black-and-white Furious 7 poster, with her face crudely Photoshopped between Michelle Rodriguez and the late Paul Walker. The post was accompanied by the hashtags #stuntdriver #workingactress #workinggirl On her IMDB page, Lafontaine, who has about a dozen and half minor movie credits – including a manicurist in What Just Happened and a hotel guest in Will Smith’s Hitch - is listed as an unaccredited 'race car driver' in Furious 7. About-face: In response to the growing outrage sparked by her claims, Lafontaine issued a statement on her Facebook Monday apologizing for a'misunderstanding' Small-time thespian: Lafontaine has about a dozen and half minor movie credits – including a manicurist in What Just Happened and a hotel guest in Will Smith’s Hitch She listed Furious 7 as her most recent project on IMDB, describing herself as an unaccredited 'race car driver' in the film In response to the growing backlash sparked by her Furious 7 premiere interview, Lafontaine issued a muddled statement on her Facebook Monday apologizing for a'misunderstanding.' ‘Dear friends and co-workers, please accept my humblest apologies for any confusion and/or misunderstandings with regards to the CNN iReport article “Furious 7 World Premiere with female stunt car driver Sulinh Lafontaine,’ she wrote. ‘As you are all aware I am new to this industry and I am learning as I go along. I had no idea that an inconsequential interview of a few questions about my experience working with all of you, would create such a rift between us. ‘I assure you, I meant no harm and I hope you will accept my apologies for any inconvenience it may have caused. I am new to this industry and I hope that in the future you can give me advice on how to better handle this type of situation, if it ever arises again. ‘The article has now been taken down. Thanks for being understanding while I learn the Hollywood ropes.’With the LG G4 review, our design commentary was mostly targeted towards the G4’s standard polycarbonate back cover. But recently we received some leather back covers from LG designed for the G4. As far as I can tell, these leather back covers come in two distinct types of textures. Most of the available colors have a relatively stiff and coarse texture to them, but others have a softer, finer texture. However, both back covers use similar processes, namely vegetable tanning with a coating applied over the tanned full-grain leather to keep the leather stain resistant, which is cut down to 0.45mm thick. The whole process is said to take 12 weeks. Subjectively, the leather covers are actually surprising in terms of how they improve the look and feel of the G4. The stitching on these back covers is probably somewhat controversial as it doesn’t serve much purpose, but it does help somewhat with gripping the phone and the stitching is actually real thread, which is at least somewhat surprising given that we’ve seen phones with fake stitching patterns on the back cover before. If you’re looking for a good way to improve the in-hand feel of the G4 and add some personalization in the process ala Motomaker, these back covers aren’t a bad way to accomplish that.New 6-Story Apartment In Wicker Park Gets Permits By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 20, 2015 5:37PM Facebook.com/HirschAssociates Off the Blue Line is the place to be for eager developers building new apartment and retail projects. And now a new 60-unit project is set for 1664 W. Division St. The developers,Centrum Partners, just received a permit to start construction, according to Curbed. Designed by Hirsch Associates, the six-story building will feature retail on the first floor and parking for 30 cars in the basement. Located only a block away from the Blue Line Division stop, the building features Transit Oriented Design standards, meaning it meets some of the city requirements for "parking-lite" apartment buildings meant for tenants who don't own cars. The architecture fits in with the modern vibe of the neighborhood's recent development boom, featuring floor to ceiling glass windows and irregular orange balconies made of perforated metal.The British ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould said Wednesday that the U.K. discourages any boycotts in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, following the decision of an Iranian swimmer to pull out of a race against an Israeli at the world swimming championship in Shanghai. "We very much hope that all countries will participate, and that there will be no boycotts against competing countries," Gould said in a statement. "Boycotts are the antithesis of the Olympic spirit." Olympic organizers unveiling the controversial logo. Getty Images Gould also addressed the Knesset on Wednesday, and extended a warm welcome to Israeli students, businesspeople, sports fans, and Olympians to visit the U.K. Marking one year to the 2010 London Olympic Games, Gould recalled the Munich massacre in the 1972 Summer Olympics, saying that "the world saw then they very worst in humanity." Iranian athletes have long pulled out of international events when faced with an Israeli opponent, citing illness or inability to compete. Most recently, an Iranian swimmer pulled out of a race that included Israeli Gal Nevo at the world swimming championships in Shanghai this week, claiming he was "tired and drowsy." The same swimmer pulled out of a race against an Israeli at the 2008 Olympics, claiming he was ill. Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter Email * Please enter a valid email address Sign up Please wait… Thank you for signing up. We've got more newsletters we think you'll find interesting. Click here Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later. Try again Thank you, The email address you have provided is already registered. Close The World Jewish Congress has called for Iran to be barred from taking part in the Olympics and other international sporting events until its athletes
was positive. CBS wasn’t much better, with 91 percent being negative to nine percent being positive. The New York Times and Washington Post were slightly better despite their relentless stories of leaks from the intelligence community. A total of 87 percent of the NYT and 83 percent of WaPo‘s reporting on Trump was in a negative tone. Even supposed right-wing outlets like The Wall Street Journal were pretty negative, only 30 percent had a positive tone. Fox News was the most even in their news coverage, 52 percent negative and 48 percent positive. “Trump has received unsparing coverage for most weeks of his presidency, without a single major topic where Trump’s coverage, on balance, was more positive than negative, setting a new standard for unfavorable press coverage of a president,” the Harvard study reported. Not only is Trump overwhelmingly portrayed in a negative tone, but he also receives three times more coverage than previous presidents like Obama and Bush. That’s probably all a coincidence though. The media wouldn’t purposely be trying to drive a narrative, would they? Latest VideosThat’s all, folks: Milo is officially out at Breitbart pic.twitter.com/7dE1ggovJi — Kyle Foley (@KFoleyFL) February 21, 2017 Stay tuned to see where he lands. Or if he lands. * Update: Looks like he’s already moving on. Here’s what he said at a press conference following his resignation: “The book will come out this year as planned” says Milo, says that other publishers have expressed interest — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 21, 2017 Naturally, Milo now says he's launching his own media outlet. — Will Sommer (@willsommer) February 21, 2017 Milo announces his own media entity, and college tour – “I look forward to making you laugh cry and think for many, many decades to come” — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) February 21, 2017 Oh. Milo: "I don't think this has done any harm for my profile." — Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) February 21, 2017 Alrighty then. * Related: Milo Yiannopoulos responds to critics over CPAC speaking invite Milo Yiannopoulos has been disinvited from CPAC in light of ‘disturbing comments’Pool/Getty Images China and India are once again at each other's throats over an unmarked border in the Himalayas. But this time, oddly, nobody seems to know why. In mid-April, around 30 Chinese troops marched across the de facto border between China and India and pitched tents 19 kilometers inside Indian territory, just when relations between the two were going so well. The Indian government, which has so far exercised relative restraint, was accused by opposition politicians as being "weak, cowardly and incompetent" for not driving the troops off. The Chinese, on the other hand, deny that their soldiers ever crossed into Indian territory. China and India haven't been able to agree on how to carve up the Himalayas since they fought over the border in 1962, but this latest development has baffled experts. As recently as March, Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with the Indian prime minister at a summit in South Africa, calling for India and China to deepen military ties and come to a border solution "as soon as possible." So why would China provoke conflict between the two nuclear neighbors? Here are some possible explanations. China is flexing its muscles On coming to power this year, Xi wasted no time in exerting control over the People's Liberation Army, even though he is the only civilian on its 11-man Central Military Commission. He launched a campaign to re-focus the armed forces to "fight and win wars" and has not shied away from other border disputes, such as those with Japan. Dr Li Mingjiang, an assistant professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told the South China Morning Post that the border dispute "might have been caused by the new leadership's assertive stance on issues of national interest…Such high-profile political signals would only encourage the army, especially frontier forces, to toughen their own stance in local disputes." Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times reports that at least one Indian diplomat puts the whole thing down to "an over-zealous Chinese commander." But it does seem unlikely that the Chinese incursion would have lasted so long without Beijing's consent. The Wall Street Journal suggests that the Chinese may be reacting to an Indian program to accelerate road building near the de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control. Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor of Chinese studies based in New Delhi, told the Journal that China may be working out a "negotiating point to force India to stall its actions close to the border." Which way is north? An equally plausible explanation is that ambiguity and an unwillingness to retreat was the cause of all the fuss. Troops from both the Chinese and Indian militaries cross the unmarked border on a regular basis, sometimes unaware of having done so. "This sort of situation happens easily because the two sides have different understandings of the Line of Actual Control," Zhang Li, a professor at Sichuan University, told the Financial Times. Indian politicians disagree, saying that Chinese troops deliberately crossed into Indian territory and have since refused to leave. The government has promised to defend Indian interests, while opposition parties accuse it of cowardice and inaction. Chinese premier Li Keqiang is expected to visit India in May, and this issue is likely to be raised. But neither the Indian or Chinese governments look likely to back down soon. Belligerent rhetoric from India's opposition parties gives prime minister Manmohan Singh few options, while Beijing will be loath to set a precedent for other border disputes. Besides, negotiation can be hard when you don't know what the other side wants. More from Quartz:Philly country-psych zen master Kurt Vile and Australian indie-rock orator Courtney Barnett are at once an odd couple and a perfect union—not so much a mirror image of one another as a negative exposure. Vile rarely rocks out as rambunctiously as Barnett, and Barnett doesn’t ever zone out to the same degree as Vile. And where Barnett can pack an impossible amount of observational narrative detail into a single couplet, Vile often spends his songs lingering on the feeling of lingering. But on a musical level, the two encroach on common twangy turf whenever their respective songs settle into a country-rock groove. And ultimately their differing songwriting styles serve the same function—they’re coping mechanisms against the absurdities and indignities of the modern world, navigating them toward an inner peace that always seems just a little out of reach. (That they just so happen to share first names with the preeminent power couple of ’90s alt-rock only makes their partnership seem all the more pre-destined.) Their debut collaboration, Lotta Sea Lice, thus feels less like a collection of traditional duets than an overheard discussion between two misfits who just met at an Existentialists Anonymous meeting. Unlike most he-said/she-said pairings, there’s no romantic role-play here, no cheeky entendres, no faux-frisson milked for dramatic tension, no song that’s ever going to replace “Islands in the Stream” or “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” on hipster karaoke-bar playlists. Instead, we’re treated to an intimate, fly-on-the-wall perspective on two peers talking shop about their songwriting methods. They’re the sort of chats that tend to happen behind dressing-room doors or around backstage festival buffets and swag lounges; here, they’re set to a roots-rock soundtrack that’s as casual as the conversation. But these seemingly mundane interactions are elevated by the audible bonhomie that Vile and Barnett exude when communing with one another. On the opening “Over Everything,” the two compare notes on their peculiar creative processes (he finds inspiration in solitude; she “speed-read[s] the morning news”), practically singing over one another with the excitement of two new acquaintances slowly coming to the realization that they’re actually long lost soul mates. After trading lines, Vile and Barnett sing the final verse in harmony as if sealing their friendship by blood pact, before mischievously steering the song’s breezy acoustic lope into a stormy, twang-tangled extended outro. But there’s a lot more to Lotta Sea Lice than the mere novelty of hearing two celebrated musicians singing songs about writing songs. “Let It Go” taps into more deep-seated anxieties about staying motivated, with the war between creativity and lethargy reflected in the tension between the song’s slow-dissolve, dew-drop guitar lines and restless, hiccupping drum beat (respectively provided by the Dirty Three dream team of Mick Turner and Jim White). And where the windswept country shuffle “Continental Breakfast” is a charming paean to Vile and Barnett’s long-distance friendship, it’s also a glimpse into the dislocating, Groundhog Day-like effect of touring for a living: “I cherish my intercontinental friendships, we talk it over continental breakfast,” Barnett sings, before adding, “In a hotel/In East Bumble, Wherever/Somewhere on the sphere, around here.” True to the album’s songwriter-workshop vibe, Vile and Barnett reveal more of themselves through a couple of covers and song swaps that allow them to get out of their own heads and dig deeper into the dirt. Originally recorded by Barnett’s wife Jen Cloher, “Fear Is Like a Forest” is a perfect fit for the album’s psychoanalytical themes, but gives the duo the opportunity to lean into a Crazy Horse grind (given an extra churn by Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa). And with Vile taking the lead, Barnett’s 2013 saloon-blues set piece “Out of the Woodwork” (translated here in proper Vile-speak to “Outta the Woodwork”) acquires a more ominous, black-cloud intensity. But the album’s most arresting moment comes when Barnett seizes Vile’s “Peeping Tomboy” and makes it her own, clearing up the original’s meditative haze for a stark, aching solo-acoustic interpretation, making lines like “I don’t want to work but I don’t want to sit around/All day frowning” feel less like an indecisive slacker’s mantra and more like the desperate pleas of an emotionally paralyzed agoraphobe. As those self-covers attest, Lotta Sea Lice is very much a middle-ground meeting—there’s none of the wild abandon that marks Barnett’s signature songs, while the duo never approach the hypnotic allure of Vile’s most entrancing work. This is a lazy-Sunday-hang of a record: cozy, congenial, and only periodically exerting the energy to get off the couch. (It’s also unconcerned with being a little silly—though, fortunately, “Blue Cheese” boasts enough of a fetching honky-glam swagger to forgive throwaway lines like “I met a girl named Tina/That girl, that girl supplies the reeferina.”) Fitting for two songwriters raised on ’90s alt-rock, Vile and Barnett bid us adieu with a winsome cover of Belly’s 1993 acoustic reverie “Untogether,” which Turner infuses with lysergic, Mazzy Star-like guitar slides. “You can’t save the unsavably untogether,” the duo sing in harmony, obliquely referencing the inherently fleeting nature of their alliance, as their solo careers and family lives inevitably beckon once again. But Lotta Sea Lice is a testament to how two artists can finish each other’s sentences even as they live worlds apart.And so to the big question. The one that has dogged us ever since the EU referendum and haunts every Brexiteer’s chlorinated daydreams. What is Britain for? Cliche-mongers will tell you that Britain lost an empire then couldn’t find a role. They are wrong. After careful study of recent newspaper articles, I have discovered just that new part – and today, dear reader, I am going to share it with you. The British are now world-beaters at paying other people to rip them off. We are number one at handing over cash to “investors” who do no investing, to “entrepreneurs” who run monopolies – and who then turn around and tap us up for a bit more on the way out. Angry at British Gas price hike? Save your fury for the government Read more Consider two stories from the past few days. British Gas announces its electricity prices will rise by 12.5%, starting next month. Just as the cold nights start drawing in, more than 3 million Britons will find their bills are more expensive. Never mind that the competition watchdog judged last year that British Gas and other energy giants were taking well over a billion pounds a year through “excessive prices”. This privatised industry has a tradition of ripping off loyal customers to uphold. Think about the scandal of people having to pay huge ground rents just to stay in their own homes. For years, big property developers have been flogging the freeholds on newly built estates to speculators, often based offshore, whose only relationship with the people living there is to hit them with ever-larger bills. Tens of thousands of families have been bundled up and turned into human revenue streams. Nor are they alone. Whether as taxpayers or consumers, pretty much everyone in Britain is now human feedstock for Big Capital. This may not be how you see yourself. After all, you’re a customer and in our dynamic, choice-stuffed markets the customer is king. Except that the propaganda doesn’t match reality. If, like me, you live in London and use water, you are forced to give your business to Thames Water. The same Thames Water that is owned by a consortium of international investors, whose interests were until recently managed by Macquarie, an investment firm with headquarters in Australia. I have reported before on this arrangement, which ran from December 2006 until March of this year. Between 2006 and 2015, Thames Water divvied up £1.6bn in dividends to its small circle of shareholders, who in turn loaded up the company with billions in debt. These “investors” were not doing much investing – indeed, they will shoulder neither the costs nor the risks of building London’s £4bn super-sewer. Much of the money will come from me and Thames Water’s 15 million other customers, through our bills. Between 2011 and 2015, the company paid no corporation tax at all. Someone bagged a bargain, and it wasn’t the taxpayer. Think about the train operators that are subsidised to the tune of billions by public money – only to penalise the public with eye-watering fares and crap broadband. We pay them to rip us off. Ponder the new nuclear station about to be built by the Chinese and French at Hinkley Point, at an estimated cost to British households of £30bn. Neither David Cameron nor Theresa May would countenance the British government creating a new power station, but they will pay way over the odds for foreign governments to do so. Want more examples? Think about the giant outsourcing industry, where a multinational such as G4S can fail to lay on enough guards for the 2012 London Olympics and charge taxpayers for phantom electronic tags on dead criminals – and still be put in charge of securing the Royal Mint. In the early 00s, the Mail and the Express would bang on and on about “Rip-off Britain” and how booze and fags and Levi’s jeans were cheaper abroad. Right under their nose a rip-off industry was getting started in the form of the private finance initiative. Tony Blair saw the arrangement as a way of funding more schools and hospitals without raising taxes or taking on public debt. As York University’s Kevin Farnsworth points out, PFIs also served an ideological purpose. “Try getting change in… public services,” he once chortled to a conference of private equity financiers. “I bear the scars on my back.” PFI – putting the private sector in charge of providing public infrastructure – was one of his ways of getting that change. These are all examples of losing control – over our bills, over our taxes, over our water and trains and schools Almost two decades later, we can see the results. PFIs have produced more fleecing than Millets. A PFI primary school in Middlesbrough, only opened in 2006, was demolished in 2015 because its foundations had been built on “defective fill material” – literally, dodgy ground. Children and staff moved to another site – nevertheless, payments on the contract had to be made. In Liverpool, a PFI school has been shut since 2014 – because there aren’t enough pupils to keep it open – yet taxpayers still pay £12,000 a day under the contract. These aren’t one-offs: they are inherent in the structure of PFIs, which dump all the risks on the public and hand the private sector all the rewards. As the TES (formerly the Times Educational Supplement) found in April, one PFI school in Bristol that needed a new window blind will have to pay £8,154 for it. Another that had to install a tap is facing a bill for £2,211. Private companies get paid for the building, then get paid again for cleaning and maintenance and interest charges. Across the UK there are more than 700 PFI projects with a capital value of around £55bn. It is estimated that they will cost the public more than £300bn. These are all examples of the public losing control – over our bills, over our taxes, over our water and trains and schools. Will freeing ourselves of the shackles of the European court of justice or EU state aid rules or any other Brexiteer hobbyhorse allow us to “take back control”? On the basics that govern our lives we have lost sovereignty. Brussels didn’t sell us down the river: Thatcher, Blair and Cameron did. Leaving the EU won’t change any of this. Theresa May will continue to privatise chunks of the NHS. Philip Hammond will still flog Britain to foreign capital as a bargain basement of cheap workers and low taxes – one giant Poundland. And Britons will find more and more aspects of their daily lives picked over by big businesses for revenue streams. • Aditya Chakrabortty is the Guardian’s senior economics commentatorPop Culture Happy Hour: 'Handmaid's Tale' And A New Comedy Enlarge this image toggle caption George Kraychyk/Hulu George Kraychyk/Hulu On this week's show, we have probably the biggest tonal difference between our first and second segments in our history, so stay with me. First, Barrie Hardymon of Weekend Edition and Leah Donnella of NPR's Code Switch team are with me and Glen (Stephen has a week off) for a conversation about the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. As we say on the show, both the story and the show — not to mention this conversation — are dark and difficult and deal very specifically with sexual assault and sexual slavery, so please make this one where you pay attention to who you're hearing it with. We talk about the experience of reading the book versus watching the show, the show's treatment (or non-treatment) of race, the performances from Elisabeth Moss and others, and the creepy way it presses a conversation both about the bodily autonomy of women and about the more general slippery slope that terrifyingly allows — and has, in history, allowed — people to be so inhuman to each other. Then we take a hard, hard turn toward lighter fare and check in with a good old broadcast comedy. Specifically, we take a look at Great News, created by Tracey Wigfield and executive produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. Fey and Carlock are also the EPs behind 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, so we talk about what this show does and doesn't share with those predecessors, and how we feel about their emerging house style. As always, we close the show with what's making us happy this week. Glen is happy about the return of Sense 8, a show he's been missing. Barrie is happy about the return of Veep, a show she thought she might never be able to watch — or want to watch — again. Leah is happy about a photo that perfectly captured the best of celebrity culture (sort of), and I am happy about a podcast that will brighten your day considerably. One more thing: You'll learn during this show that we are returning to L.A. for a live show at the Largo at the Coronet on June 15, where our fourth chair will be occupied by the great and good Shereen Marisol Meraji of the Code Switch team. Tickets will be on sale on May 16 at noon Pacific time, and you can find them at NPR Presents. Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter: the show, me, Glen, Barrie, Leah, producer Jessica, and producer emeritus and pal for life Mike.Share! This Friday, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be released on DVD/Blu-ray disc for tributes in the United States and Canada. Thanks to Lionsgate, we got a copy of Target’s exclusive 3-disc DVD/Blu-ray combo which includes a Bonus Disc with three behind the scenes featurettes and a gorgeous book-like package. The “book” comes in a clear plastic sleeve with the Catching Fire logo and bird on it. Slide the book out and you have the image of Katniss surrounded by red flames. The first spread features Katniss and holds the Blu-ray disc, which features over 2 hours of special features including a 9-part behind the scenes series called Surviving the Games. I believe this series is included on all Blu-ray discs except the Walmart version. The next spread features Peeta and this sleeve holds the DVD disc. This disc looks identical to the Blu-ray and features Katniss. It also showcases one of Prim’s lines from the trailers. Turn the page over and you’ll find Finnick, along with the quote that both he and Haymitch say to Katniss. This sleeve holds the Bonus Disc, though the disc in the photo is incorrect. I’d put the bonus disc into my PS3 and simply put the DVD disc into this one for the photo. The bonus disc features the flaming mockingjay of Catching Fire. Turn the final page and you’ll find Gale Hawthorne, along with a variation of President Snow’s line to Seneca Crane in the first film. Although I haven’t yet watched all of Surviving the Games (it’s a ton of awesome behind the scenes content!), I did finish watching everything on the Target bonus disc and since you can get Surviving the Games on the standard Blu-ray, I’ll focus on the content unique to Target’s edition. Below you’ll find the back cover of the book. The Bonus Disc is split into three parts: Alliance, Friend or Foe, and One Vision. Alliance focuses on the old cast coming back together. They talk a lot about how well they work together and what it was like to be under a new director. The thing that struck me the most from this particular feature was the interview with Francis Lawrence and Nina Jacobson. Francis talked about the complications of the love triangle and how important it was to the story in general and going forward into Mockingjay. A lot of people who recognize my name from the fandom may remember that I take issue with quite a few things in the first Hunger Games film, including the treatment of the love triangle. I’ve always felt that Suzanne Collins was able to accomplish something unique with Katniss, Peeta, and Gale in that her triangle felt like a genuine dilemma and something that was realistically central to determining the fate of Katniss Everdeen. Sadly, this didn’t seem to translate very well into the film and when Catching Fire came out, I was extremely pleased to find out that Francis Lawrence had done an impressive job of shoring up the triangle faults of the first movie. Listening to Lawrence and Jacobson talk about the evolution of the characters and why the love triangle is so key to their emotional development and overall character arc, I just couldn’t help but be awed at the fact that they get it. I know that sounds silly, since it’s not hard to grasp the deeper meanings of the novels, but Hollywood can so often disappoint and after The Hunger Games it was easy to expect the same. Friend or Foe brings in the new cast and includes interviews with Philip Seymour Hoffman that really make you feel the loss of him all over again. Hearing how much his fellow cast mates adored him and hearing his own recounting of how he came to be Plutarch Heavensbee was difficult to watch, knowing that he’s no longer among us. Casting Director Debra Zane is interviewed in this one and both she and Nina Jacobson gave a great retelling of how Sam Claflin was cast as Finnick Odair and how they got their Johanna Mason. The best part of it was the fact that you get to see a couple of reapings we never see on film such as Beetee and Wiress’ reaping. There’s also footage of the reaping of Finnick and Mags, which we only get to see in brief glimpses while Haymitch goes over the victors in the Capitol. One Vision mostly focuses on deeper discussion of the themes of the books and is a great watch for any fan of The Hunger Games. You’ll find that some of the interviews on the Bonus Disc overlap with the stuff on Surviving the Games, which can be a little odd at times, but overall the Bonus Disc from Target is a great watch and really gives you firm reassurance that Mockingjay is in great hands. With the beautiful packaging and a free poster with any pre-order, it’s hard to imagine why anyone would buy the regular combo pack since it’s only $3 less than this exclusive edition. Review of the BestBuy Steelbook and Walmart Double Feature discs will follow in the coming days.Amplify Concerts Music Events with Online Marketing We have had some trouble getting the crowds we wanted for our music events for several years now since record stores faded away. While it was still easy to reach people who might be into our event, I was always aware that there were thousands of people out there that just weren't seeing any advertising or making any contact with the places where we were letting people know about the event. Music people just don't have one place where a lot of them hang out anymore. So, we needed a new solution, and I think we've found one that will work out for us for a while. The event last year was the first time that we had ever tried online marketing to targeting people who were looking for music events through search engines instead of on the streets. Since we're a small production company, we could only afford a small campaign, which at least allowed us to get the word out in advertisements and on Facebook. I should note that we didn't do any of this ourselves, and that we really wouldn't have had the know how. The campaign was managed by a company we hired. I would say that the small investment we made into marketing was worth about 25% of our total ticket sales for this year. It was a great success, enough so that we will be able to put some of the extra sales we got toward expanding the marketing for our next big concert. I would love to hear anyone else's experience with online marketing for outdoor events. We could use some experienced tips to bring into the next season.Bakersfield, Calif. - Hart Park is approaching its 100th anniversary, and county officials are looking for the public's input on ways to revamp and revitalize the century old park. But as one group of locals tries to gain support for their idea of opening a water park in Hart Park, not everyone is on board. The group is set to present the plans at tomorrow's Hart Park vision meeting. It will be the third and final vision meeting on the agenda. The group rallying behind this water park is hoping people will come out and show their support for the idea. The group is headed by local businessman Mike Ross. Ross says the water park itself would be privately run - but Hart Park would continue to be owned by the county. According to the proposal, a large majority of the park would remain open to the public. Ross says they have been working for a few years with several different prospective sites to try to bring a water park to Bakersfield without success. Now, he is hopeful that Hart Park could be the place to make a water park reality for the county. But we spoke with one local who says he speaks for a large population of people who are passionately opposed to putting such an expensive, resource consuming entity in the longstanding, natural environment of Hart Park. We'll hear from both groups Tuesday at t he final vision meeting at the David Head Center in Lamont at 6 p.m. The public is encouraged to join. However, if you can't make the meeting, you can also e-mail your ideas to HartParkVision@KernCounty.com.Point set registration is the process of aligning two point sets. Here, the blue fish is being registered to the red fish. In computer vision and pattern recognition, point set registration, also known as point matching, is the process of finding a spatial transformation that aligns two point sets. The purpose of finding such a transformation includes merging multiple data sets into a globally consistent model, and mapping a new measurement to a known data set to identify features or to estimate its pose. A point set may be raw data from 3D scanning or an array of rangefinders. For use in image processing and feature-based image registration, a point set may be a set of features obtained by feature extraction from an image, for example corner detection. Point set registration is used in optical character recognition,[1][2] augmented reality[3] and aligning data from magnetic resonance imaging with computer aided tomography scans.[4][5] Overview of problem [ edit ] Data from two 3D scans of the same environment need to be aligned using point set registration. Data from above, registered successfully using a variant of iterative closest point. The problem may be summarized as follows:[6] Let { M, S } {\displaystyle \lbrace {\mathcal {M}},{\mathcal {S}}\rbrace } be two finite size point sets in a finite-dimensional real vector space R d {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{d}}, which contain M {\displaystyle M} and N {\displaystyle N} points respectively. The problem is to find a transformation to be applied to the moving "model" point set M {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}}} such that the difference between M {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}}} and the static "scene" set S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}} is minimized. In other words, a mapping from R d {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{d}} to R d {\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{d}} is desired which yields the best alignment between the transformed "model" set and the "scene" set. The mapping may consist of a rigid or non-rigid transformation. The transformation model may be written as T {\displaystyle T} where the transformed, registered model point set is: T ( M ) {\displaystyle T({\mathcal {M}})} (1) It is useful to define an optimization parameter θ {\displaystyle \theta } : T ( M, θ ) {\displaystyle T({\mathcal {M}},\theta )} (2) such that it is clear that the optimizing algorithm adjusts θ {\displaystyle \theta }. Depending on the problem and number of dimensions, there may be more such parameters. The output of a point set registration algorithm is therefore the transformation parameter θ {\displaystyle \theta } of model T {\displaystyle T} so that M {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}}} is optimally aligned to S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}. In convergence, it is desired for the distance between the two point sets to reach a global minimum. This is difficult without exhausting all possible transformations, so a local minimum suffices. The distance function between a transformed model point set T ( M ) {\displaystyle T({\mathcal {M}})} and the scene point set S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}} is given by some function dist {\displaystyle \operatorname {dist} }. A simple approach is to take the square of the Euclidean distance for every pair of points: dist ⁡ ( T ( M ), S ) = ∑ m ∈ T ( M ) ∑ s ∈ S ( m − s ) 2 {\displaystyle \operatorname {dist} (T({\mathcal {M}}),{\mathcal {S}})=\sum _{m\in T({\mathcal {M}})}\sum _{s\in {\mathcal {S}}}(m-s)^{2}} (3) Minimizing such a function in rigid registration is equivalent to solving a least squares problem. However, this function is sensitive to outlier data and consequently algorithms based on this function tend to be less robust against noisy data. A more robust formulation of the cost function uses some robust function g {\displaystyle g} : dist robust ⁡ ( T ( M ), S ) = ∑ m ∈ T ( M ) ∑ s ∈ S g ( ( m − s ) 2 ) {\displaystyle \operatorname {dist} _{\operatorname {robust} }(T({\mathcal {M}}),{\mathcal {S}})=\sum _{m\in T({\mathcal {M}})}\sum _{s\in {\mathcal {S}}}g((m-s)^{2})} (4) Such a formulation is known as an M-estimator. The robust function g {\displaystyle g} is chosen such that the local configuration of the point set is insensitive to distant points, hence making it robust against outliers and noise.[7] Rigid registration [ edit ] Given two point sets, rigid registration yields a rigid transformation which maps one point set to the other. A rigid transformation is defined as a transformation that does not change the distance between any two points. Typically such a transformation consists of translation and rotation.[2] In rare cases, the point set may also be mirrored. Non-rigid registration [ edit ] Given two point sets, non-rigid registration yields a non-rigid transformation which maps one point set to the other. Non-rigid transformations include affine transformations such as scaling and shear mapping. However, in the context of point set registration, non-rigid registration typically involves nonlinear transformation. If the eigenmodes of variation of the point set are known, the nonlinear transformation may be parametrized by the eigenvalues.[8] A nonlinear transformation may also be parametrized as a thin plate spline.[1][8] Point set registration algorithms [ edit ] Some approaches to point set registration use algorithms that solve the more general graph matching problem.[6] However, the computational complexity of such methods tend to be high and they are limited to rigid registrations. Algorithms specific to the point set registration problem are described in the following sections. The PCL (Point Cloud Library) is an open-source framework for n-dimensional point cloud and 3D geometry processing. It includes several point registration algorithms.[9] Iterative closest point [ edit ] The iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm was introduced by Besl and McKay.[10] The algorithm performs rigid registration in an iterative fashion by assuming that every point in M {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}}} corresponds with the closest point to it in S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}, and then finding the least squares rigid transformation. As such, it works best if the initial pose of M {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}}} is sufficiently close to S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}. In pseudocode, the basic algorithm is implemented as follows: Algorithm ICP( M, S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}},{\mathcal {S}}} θ := θ 0 {\displaystyle \theta :=\theta _{0}} while not registered: X := ∅ m i ∈ T ( M, θ ) {\displaystyle m_{i}\in T({\mathcal {M}},\theta )} for s ^ j := closest point in S to m i {\displaystyle {\hat {s}}_{j}:={\text{closest point in }}{\mathcal {S}}{\text{ to }}m_{i}} X := X + ⟨ m i, s ^ j ⟩ {\displaystyle X:=X+\langle m_{i},{\hat {s}}_{j}\rangle } θ := least squares( X ) return θ Here, the function least_squares performs least squares regression to minimize the distance in each of the ⟨ m i, s ^ j ⟩ {\displaystyle \langle m_{i},{\hat {s}}_{j}\rangle } pairs, i.e. minimizing the distance function in Equation (3). Because the cost function of registration depends on finding the closest point in S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}} to every point in M {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}}}, it can change as the algorithm is running. As such, it is difficult to prove that ICP will in fact converge exactly to the local optimum.[7] In fact, empirically, ICP and EM-ICP do not converge to the local minimum of the cost function.[7] Nonetheless, because ICP is intuitive to understand and straightforward to implement, it remains the most commonly used point set registration algorithm.[7] Many variants of ICP have been proposed, affecting all phases of the algorithm from the selection and matching of points to the minimization strategy.[8][11] For example, the expectation maximization algorithm is applied to the ICP algorithm to form the EM-ICP method, and the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is applied to the ICP algorithm to form the LM-ICP method.[2] Robust point matching [ edit ] Robust point matching (RPM) was introduced by Gold et al.[12] The method performs registration using deterministic annealing and soft assignment of correspondences between point sets. Whereas in ICP the correspondence generated by the nearest-neighbour heuristic is binary, RPM uses a soft correspondence where the correspondence between any two points can be anywhere from 0 to 1, although it ultimately converges to either 0 or 1. The correspondences found in RPM is always one-to-one, which is not always the case in ICP.[1] Let m i {\displaystyle m_{i}} be the i {\displaystyle i} th point in M {\displaystyle {\mathcal {M}}} and s j {\displaystyle s_{j}} be the j {\displaystyle j} th point in S {\displaystyle {\mathcal {S}}}. The match matrix μ {\displaystyle \mathbf {\mu } } is
Sikh faith on May 1, 2015. Kaur spoke alongside Simran Jeet Singh and Inni Kaur on "Seva" - selfless service in the Sikh religion. Hosted by the Pentagon Chaplain on Vaisakhi, the program was organized by Major Kamal Singh Kalsi and the Sikh Coalition, an organization leading the campaign for turbaned Sikhs and other people of faith to be allowed to serve in the U.S. military. Kaur's remarks at the first-ever Sikh event at the Pentagon in 2014 can be found here. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh. Thank you to the Pentagon Chaplain for gathering us here for the Sikh celebration of Vaisakhi. I am honored to reflect with you on the Sikh tradition of service - seva - and what it means for us, here and now. In this moment, we know that children are lying beneath the rubble of the earthquake in Nepal without chance of rescue. Families are mourning as the smoke clears from another ISIS car bombing. The Supreme Court is debating recognition of the human heart to love anyone without reference to gender or sexual preference. And just forty minutes away from Washington, a city is burning in the wake of another killing of a young, unarmed black man in what our President has called - from Ferguson to Staten Island to Baltimore - "a slow-rolling crisis." We may be tempted to turn away from these crises of our time. But the Sikh faith calls us to face the fires of life, no matter how they rage - and respond. Service is the core of Sikh practice, but it's not the kind of service we think we know. Seva is not safe. Seva is not easy. Seva means selfless service. To pursue a life of seva is to walk boldly into the hot winds of the world with a saint's eyes and a warrior's heart - and draw from a deep well of love to pour our body, breath, and blood into others. This kind of selfless service requires the courage of Mai Bhago, the 17th century Sikh woman warrior who told forty soldiers who abandoned their post during a great battle: "You will not hide from the fire. You will return to the fight - and I will lead you." Donning a turban and mounting a horse with a sword in her hand, she led them when no one else would. Because seva means becoming the one you are waiting for. I believe that seva is the call of our time. Let me show you why. Five centuries ago in South Asia, Guru Nanak, our first teacher, found himself in a similar time of crisis - a time of violence between Hindus and Muslims, denigration of women, and cruelty towards the poor. One day, the story goes, Nanak disappeared by the river for three days; people thought him a dead man, a drowned man, but he had experienced a divine revelation and emerged with a single profound utterance on his lips: Ik Onkar, God is One; we are One. Guru Nanak was birthed anew. He began singing a song of Oneness - music and poetry meant to lift us into sacred experience. When we pray like that, our ego - haumai, the voice inside us that separates self from selflessness - starts to quiet. And something marvelous happens: we fall in love. "I see no stranger," Guru Nanak said. "I see no enemy." When we are in love, we begin to see with new eyes: we look upon the faces of people who are different from us and say: Brother. Sister. I cannot live if you are dying. I cannot stand by if you are suffering. That kind of love is revolutionary. When we serve the child, the parent, the family, the community, the country, we do so not out of obligation but because we love them; and in turn, that kind of love saves us. Only through seva do you attain God, Guru Nanak taught us. That means: we pray to remember God (simran) but we serve to realize God (seva). That's why the way we serve matters, not with stress or despair, but with joy and boundless optimism called Chardi Kala. In fact, every Sikh gurdwara (house of worship) contains a prayer hall and a langar hall, a place where we cook and serve free meals, so that we can practice serving selflessly. But remember, seva is not safe. "If you want to play the game of love with me," says Guru Nanak, "then step onto my Path with your head on your hand." Our first teacher called us to play the game of love. Two hundred years later, our tenth teacher showed us how. In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh called Sikhs to a clearing in a place in Northern India called Anandpur Sahib. It was another time of crisis. The Sikh community was struggling to survive onslaught at the hands of Mughal rulers. Our numbers were dwindling, and the future was dark. There stood the Guru - a warrior dressed in a tall turban, sword in hand, often seen with a falcon on his shoulder. He rose before the thousands with fire in his eyes, and called out: "Who among you is ready to give your head for the love of God and one another?" The crowd was silent. The wind rustled, and the people did not move - until one brave soul, Daya, stepped forward. The Guru took Daya inside a tent and a few moments later, emerged with his sword dripping with blood, and called: "Now, who else is ready to give their head for love?" Not a word was spoken. The wind rustled, and the people did not move. Until courage stirred within another, Dharam, and he stepped forward and entered the tent. The Guru emerged once again with the same call, again and again, until five had offered their lives. The Guru appeared once more, but this time, he opened the tent for all to see - and there they stood. They were all alive and well, but they were changed. "These are my Panj Pyare," said the Guru. "My five beloved ones. These are the ones who were willing to offer their body, breath, and blood for the sake of love. The death of their egos has birthed them anew. The Guru gave them new names and anointed them, and was anointed by them in return. On that day, we as a community were also birthed anew. We too shed our old separate names and were given new names - Singh and Kaur, lion and lioness - to honor our equality and courage. We received the gift of five articles of faith, including long uncut hair, which men and some women wrap in a turban, so that we may never hide from the call to serve again. That is the story of Vaisakhi. That's why we are here today - to celebrate our birth as the Khalsa, a spiritual sister and brotherhood, a collective body of beloved ones. Now, I have a confession. As a little girl, this story always made me tremble. After all, isn't it madness to give up your life like that? But today, I see the story's meaning with new eyes. Seva springs from a love so deep we would give our lives for it. When I gave birth to a baby boy a few months ago, and held my son for the first time, I knew that I would give my life for him. I looked at my own mother and saw all the ways she had poured her body, breath, and blood into me. What greater bravery, what deeper love? If the story of Vaisakhi calls us to serve selflessly, then perhaps motherhood is our most ancient and profound model. So today, as we celebrate Vaisakhi, let us honor all of those who teach us the truth of seva, the same way mothers and fathers show devotion to the lives of their children and their children after them. Let us honor our elders who teach us how to hold fast to our faith in the fire - like my grandfather Captain Gurdial Singh who followed seven generations before him and served in the military, fighting on the frontlines in World War II against Hitler's armies. When his British commander told him to remove his turban, he refused, saying, "My turban represents my faith, and I cannot serve without faith." So he went to war and when German aircraft swooped down and shot his best friend, he did not run. He wrapped his friend's wounds with the cloth of his turban and brought him home. Because seva means leaving no one behind. Let us honor the faith and fearlessness of all our uniformed soldiers, including the Sikh Americans in this room: Corporal Simran Preet Singh Lamba, Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan, Colonel Tina Kaur Sodhi, Staff Sargent Bree Kaur, Petty Officer Geena Kaur Sidhu, Senior Airman Jasreen Kaur, Private Sukhreet Kaur, and Lieutenant Jaspreet Kaur Saini. Let us honor Major Kamal Singh Kalsi, a decorated hero who when treating the wounded in Afghanistan, was moved to tears when one young bleeding soldier looked at him and said, "Thank you, brother." Because seva inspires love in others. Finally, let us honor all the brothers and sisters in this room who are fighting for justice with modern-day swords - the lawsuit, the camera, the megaphone - not to vanquish others but to reconstitute the cultures and institutions that separate us. When Sapreet Kaur steers the Sikh Coalition to become the voice of a whole community, when Rajdeep Singh fights for our civil rights in the halls of power, when Gunisha Kaur sheds light on human rights atrocities, when Gurjot Kaur files lawsuits to challenge policy, when Ava Master uses online tools to tell our stories on the open Internet, when Ravi Bhalla responds to those in need as City Councilman, when Harinder Kaur Khalsa swears to serve her community as Deputy Sheriff, when Amandeep Singh Sidhu speaks truth to power in court, when Simran Jeet Singh wields his mighty pen, when Inni Kaur expresses the strength of truth in her voice, and when this week, my friend and brother Deeptej Singh stood with renowned LGBTQ advocate Sharon Groves just steps away from the Supreme Court to pray for the equality of all people - they show us what seva looks like in America today. Because seva means standing up for the dignity of every person, including those who do not look like us. That is why my friend Mayor Steve Scafiddi is here today. He has stood up for our community ever since a white supremacist opened fire in a Sikh house of worship in his city three years ago, leaving six people dead. The death toll would have been higher - it should have been higher - but one of his city's police officers took seventeen bullets defending our community. Lt. Brian Murphy, a former marine, was willing to offer up his life to save people who did not look like him. When Lt. Murphy was shot to the ground that day, he thought of the people inside the gurdwara and kept moving in order to give the gunman a target. When he felt death lulling him to sleep, he thought of his wife and children and willed himself awake. And when help finally arrived and he was rushed to the hospital, he kept asking after his fellow police officers. His service was not any single act; it came from his way of being. Since then, Lt. Murphy has come to know and love the community he nearly died for. When I told him I was coming to the Pentagon, he said, "Anyone who has been in the military knows that when we greet one another we ask: 'Have you been in the service?' Service is at the forefront of the Sikh religion. I don't know of any other principles needed more by a prospective serviceman.'" Sikh values are American values. The Sikh tradition of service captures the best of America. Seva calls us to look upon the faces of people who are different from us as our own brothers and sisters - whether Black, Latino, LGBTQ, Muslim or Sikh. Seva calls us to the burning city streets, to the steps of the Supreme Court, to the halls of the Pentagon, so we can show that all lives matter. All lives matter. Which brings us back to where we began: Seva is the call of our time. When I look at my son and all I hope for him, my throat catches. I know if he chooses to love like that, to serve like that, he will not be safe. But it is the only way to truly live. "Courage is fear that has said its prayers," says my friend Bishop Gene Robinson. So I draw my son close and whisper in his ear the prayer my grandfather taught me: "Tati vao na lagi" - the hot winds cannot touch you, not when you walk the path of true service. Even if you are beaten down. Even under a rain of fire. Even if you are bleeding - in the birthing room or on the battlefield - the hot winds cannot touch you. Because you are with the holy, and of the holy. You are with God, and of God. You are with love, and of love. And that kind of love saves us all.A Kelowna, B.C., man serving a life sentence for strangling a teenage girl 16 years ago has been recaptured after escaping from the minimum security unit at a prison in Mission, B.C. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) said RCMP from the nearby Agassiz detachment apprehended Dezwaan at around 11:15 a.m. PT Saturday morning. CSC said Dezwaan had been "unlawfully at large" since April 14, and it will be investigating the circumstances that led to the incident. Late Friday, Correctional Service Canada announced Dezwaan had not been accounted for at the Mission Institution as of that afternoon. In 2003, Dezwaan pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 16-year-old Cherish Oppenheim of Merritt, two years after choking her to death and leaving her body in the woods. Dezwaan was sentenced to life in prison, with no opportunity for parole for 15 years. His son, Kruse Wellwood, was one of two people found guilty of first-degree murder of Kimberly Proctor, an 18-year-old from Victoria, in March 2010. Mission resident Robert Thomson was at a gas station near his home when he saw a man he later found out was Dezwaan hiding near the treeline, wearing a black jacket over an orange jumpsuit. "It's kind of scary," Thomson said. "There's children all around here." Thomson said he thinks there should be more security at the prison to avoid incidents like these. Convict escaped on his birthday Mission Mayor Randy Hawes said this wasn't the first time a prisoner had walked away from the institution, but said it isn't generally a major concern for his community. "We know that when someone walks away from either of the jails... they're not staying here," Hawes said. "The last place that these guys are going to be is Mission. They're either going west or east, and they're going as fast as they can." Hawes said the two correctional institutions in Mission provide the city with good revenue and employment. CSC is quick to advise city officials when issues arise, Hawes said, adding that CSC also told him yesterday was Dezwaan's birthday. "Maybe he was out looking for a piece of birthday cake," he said. The Mission Institution in Mission, B.C., where Dezwaan was serving time. (Elizabeth McMillan/CBC) Escapes rare Many who heard about the escape expressed surprise and concern that a convicted killer would be held in such a low-security facility. But UBC law professor Debra Parkes said Canada's corrections system aims to cascade prisoners down through lower levels of security over time, especially for convicts with long or life sentences. "You would not want someone to be released from maximum security to the streets," Parkes said. "It's not a matter of being soft on crime.... You want people to be able to demonstrate that they can live in a lower-security environment." Parkes said it isn't easy for prisoners to get into minimum security, and some convicts with life sentences never do get released on parole. "The system is actually quite risk-averse," she said. Parkes also emphasized that prison escapes are rare, and, when they do happen, the prisoners aren't usually at large for very long. With files from Justin McElroySingle photons are ideally suited for sending information in digital form so that each photon encodes a 0 or a 1. In that case, it’s easy to imagine that this is all the data that a single photon can hold. Not so! In theory, there is no limit to the amount of information a single photon can encode. And that raises an interesting question. How much information can physicists pack into a single photon in practice? What does current technology allow? Today we get an answer thanks to the work of Tristan Tentrup and pals at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. They have packed more than 10 bits into a single photon for the first time. Their method is straightforward, in theory. The approach is to associate a single photon with a unique member of an alphabet. When the alphabet contains lots of members, the photon carries lots of information. It’s not hard to see why. When an alphabet contains only two members, such as binary code, each member encodes one bit of information. This is the amount of information needed to describe each symbol in the alphabet. But when the alphabet is bigger, it takes more information to uniquely describe each member. So each member can encode that amount of data. The actual amount of information is given by the log to base 2 of the number of members. For example, in an alphabet of 10 symbols, such as each decimal number, each symbol encodes about 3.3 bits. In an alphabet of 26 symbols, such as the English alphabet, each symbol encodes 4.7 bits. And so on. Tentrup and co achieve their goal by creating an alphabet with 9,072 symbols. In that case, each symbol encodes more than 13 bits of information. Creating this alphabet is simple. Tentrup and co do it by defining a 112 x 81 grid of pixels—that’s 9,072 of them. Each pixel represents a different symbol of the alphabet. To encode a photon with one of these symbols, all they have to do is point the photon toward that part of the grid. So when a specific pixel registers the arrival of a photon, it registers that symbol. The tricky part is doing this accurately with single photons. One way to steer photons is with a tilting mirror that simply reflects them in a specific, controllable direction. But Tentrup and co use a more flexible device called a spatial light modulator which modifies a photon’s wavefront as it reflects it. This uses diffraction effects to steer the photon toward its target. Detecting single photons is also a potential banana skin, since any stray light can overwhelm the signal. Tentrup and co have a handy trick for preventing this. Instead of creating single photons, they create them in pairs and encode just one of them with information using this steering mechanism. They look out for the other as a warning that the first is about to arrive at the pixel. This allows them to switch on the pixel at the very instant the first photon arrives. And this dramatically reduces the chances of a stray photon swamping the signal. Nevertheless, noise still has an impact and the photons end up carrying slightly less information than the theoretical maximum. The results are nonetheless impressive. “We demonstrate high-dimensional encoding of single photons reaching 10.5 bit per photon,” say Tentrup and co. That significantly improves on the previous record of just seven bits per photon and immediately suggests ways to encode even more by increasing the size of the grid. The work has immediate applications. Physicists already use information encoded in single photons for applications such as the distribution of keys in quantum cryptography. This information is currently encoded in single photons using the binary code of 0s and 1s. But the new technique immediately allows each photon to carry an order of magnitude more. “A very promising direction for this work would then be the implementation of a large-spatial-alphabet encoding for quantum key distribution,” says Tentrup and co. So we may not have to wait long to see this record-breaking technology in action. Ref: http://arxiv.org/abs/1609.04200: Transmitting More Than 10 Bit with a Single PhotonOn August 25, 1991, an unknown Finnish developer posted the following to the comp.os.minix newsgroup: Hello everybody out there using minix - I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things). That developer was of course Linus Torvalds and his free operating system came to be known as Linux. It's since more or less conquered the world, first becoming the de facto heir to proprietary Unix and latterly serving as the operating system for enormous numbers of devices large and small. El Reg runs on Linux and these days even Microsoft is embracing the OS, offering it in its cloud, porting products to it and even putting Linux to work running is data centre switches. As part of celebrations to mark the occasion the Linux Foundation has published its annual Linux Kernel Development Report. The report (PDF)* concludes that Linux is in great shape and opines “There may be no other examples of such a large, common resource being supported by such a large group of independent actors in such a collaborative way.” They've got a lot to work on: the report notes that the first versions of the Linux kernel comprised about 10,000 lines of code. Now it's nearing 22 million and growing at a rate of 4,600 lines a day. Growth in the number of lines of code in the Linux Kernel The report also details who those independent actors are, listing the top 30 individual and corporate developers. The top 30 Linux developers on versions 3.18 to 4.7 The top 30 companies contributing most to the Linux Kernel “The top 10 contributors, including the groups 'unknown' and 'none'” make up nearly 54 percent of the total contributions to the kernel,” the report says, noting a slight decline from last year's report. “It is worth noting,” the report adds, “that, even if one assumes that all of the 'unknown' contributors are working on their own time, well over 80 percent of all kernel development is demonstrably done by developers who are being paid for their work.” Just 7.7 per cent of contributions are now made by unpaid developers, a decline from 14.6 per cent in 2012 but one that the Linux Foundation thinks is an indicator of the extreme employability of proven kernel contributors rather than an indication of developer disengagement. The report concludes with “Lessons from 25 Years of Linux” that suggests a fast release cycle, creating a pool of maintainers, the advent of Git and the open nature of the project have all been critical to Linux's success. “Above all,” it concludes, “25 years of kernel history show that sustained, cooperative effort can bring about common resources that no group would have been able to develop on its own.” ® *The Linux Foundation would rather you give it some personal information before downloading, at this form.Cyperus papyrus) at Kew Garden London Papyrus plant () at Kew Garden London Cyperus papyrus (papyrus,[1]papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant, Nile grass) is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a tender herbaceous perennial, native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water. Papyrus sedge (and its close relatives) has a very long history of use by humans, notably by the Ancient Egyptians—it is the source of papyrus paper, one of the first types of paper ever made. Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. It is now often cultivated as an ornamental plant. In nature, it grows in full sun, in flooded swamps, and on lake margins throughout Africa, Madagascar, and the Mediterranean countries.[2] Description [ edit ] This tall, robust, leafless aquatic plant can grow 4 to 5 m (13 to 16 ft) high.[3] It forms a grass-like clump of triangular green stems that rise up from thick, woody rhizomes. Each stem is topped by a dense cluster of thin, bright green, thread-like stems around 10 to 30 cm (4 to 10 in) in length, resembling a feather duster when the plant is young. Greenish-brown flower clusters eventually appear at the ends of the rays, giving way to brown, nut-like fruits. The younger parts of the rhizome are covered by red-brown, papery, triangular scales, which also cover the base of the culms. Botanically, these represent reduced leaves, so strictly it is not quite correct to call this plant fully "leafless". Papyrus in history [ edit ] Papyrus paper Egyptians used the plant (which they called aaru) for many purposes, most famously for making papyrus. Its name in Greek and in English is widely believed to have come from Egyptian. Cyperus papyrus is now used mainly for decoration, as it is nearly extinct in its native habitat in the Nile Delta, where in ancient times it was widely cultivated. Theophrastus's History of Plants (Book iv. 10) states that it grew in Syria, and according to Pliny's Natural History, it was also a native plant of the Niger River and the Euphrates.[4] Aside from papyrus, several other members of the genus Cyperus may also have been involved in the multiple uses Egyptians found for the plant. Its flowering heads were linked to make garlands for the gods in gratitude. The pith of young shoots was eaten both cooked and raw.[4] Its woody root made bowls and other utensils and was burned for fuel. From the stems were made reed boats (seen in bas-reliefs of the Fourth Dynasty showing men cutting papyrus to build a boat; similar boats are still made in southern Sudan), sails, mats, cloth, cordage, and sandals. Theophrastus states that King Antigonus made the rigging of his fleet of papyrus, an old practice illustrated by the ship's cable, wherewith the doors were fastened when Odysseus slew the suitors in his hall (Odyssey xxi. 390).[4] The "rush" or "reed" basket in which the Biblical figure Moses was placed may have been made from papyrus. The adventurer Thor Heyerdahl built two boats from papyrus, Ra and Ra II, in an attempt to demonstrate that ancient African or Mediterranean people could have reached America. He succeeded in sailing Ra II from Morocco to Barbados. Fishermen in the Okavango Delta use small sections of the stem as floats for their nets. Ecology [ edit ] Papyrus growing wild on the banks of the Nile in Uganda Papyrus can be found in tropical rain forests, tolerating annual temperatures of 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F) and a pH of 6.0 to 8.5. Papyrus flowers in late summer, and prefers full sun to partly shady conditions. Like most tropical plants, it is sensitive to frost. In the United States, it has become invasive in Florida and has escaped from cultivation in Louisiana, California, and Hawaii. Papyrus sedge forms vast stands in swamps, shallow lakes, and along stream banks throughout the wetter parts of Africa, but it has become rare in the Nile Delta. In deeper waters, it is the chief constituent of the floating, tangled masses of vegetation known as sudd. It also occurs in Madagascar, and some Mediterranean areas such as Sicily and the Levant. The "feather-duster" flowering heads make ideal nesting sites for many social species of birds. As in most sedges, pollination is by wind, not insects, and the mature fruits after release are distributed by water. Papyrus is a C4 sedge that forms highly productive monotypic stands over large areas of wetland in Africa.[5] Cultivation [ edit ] The papyrus plant is relatively easy to grow from seed, though in Egypt, it is more common to split the rootstock,[6] and grows quite fast once established. Extremely moist soil or roots sunken in the water is preferred and the plant can flower all year long.[7] Propagation is the suggested process of creating new plants. It is done by splitting the rhizomes into small groups and planting normally.[8] It can reach heights of up to 16 feet tall.[9] C. papyrus[1] and the dwarf cultivar C. papyrus 'Nanus'[10] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).[11] Uses [ edit ] In Ancient Egypt, papyrus was used for various of purposes such as baskets, sandals, blankets, medicine, incense, and boats. The woody root was used to make bowls and utensils, and was burned for fuel. Egyptians made efficient use of all parts of the plant. Papyrus was an important "gift of the Nile" which is still preserved and perpetuated in the Egyptian culture.[12] Along with the economic uses, it also has environmental value. With the quantities it grows in and having its roots in the water, it plays an important role in the cleaning of the environment and regulation of the ecosystem.[13] On Lake Chad, coming out of rotting masses of plant life, it develops floating islands that play a significant role in the lower water levels.[14] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ]A remarkable rescue deep beneath the rubble, when hope of finding anyone else alive had been all but abandoned On Tuesday 12 January, Wismond Exantus was at work in the ground-floor shop of the four-storey Napoli Inn in Port-au-Prince. At 4.53pm, when the magnitude 7.0 quake hit, the 24-year-old cashier had the presence of mind to squirrel himself under a desk as the building tumbled down around him. By Saturday, 11 days later and hours after the government declared search and rescue operations to be officially over, he was pulled alive from the rubble. The story of Exantus – the last known survivor to emerge from Haiti's shattered ruins – is a remarkable tale of crisps, beer, whisky, Twitter, a riot and a diminutive Scottish woman rescuer. As he lay in the wreckage of the hotel, a drama unfolded of chaos, screaming and, eventually, helicopters and help. Wedged into a tiny black cavity, Exantus knew nothing of what was happening outside. "He didn't know if it was night or day," said his brother, Enso. He held his mobile phone throughout, but it was not charged, a torment which can only be imagined. With his other hand he groped around for supplies that had been scattered around the ruined shop: crisps, sweets, soft drinks and beer. When he wanted to sleep, he took a deep draught of whisky. "By the end he had drunk a whole bottle of White Label," said Enso. The cashier dreamed, among other things, that he was in the middle of the ocean and riding a horse. By Friday, after Exantus had spent 10 days in his dark tomb, the government declared the end of search and rescue operations. The chance of finding more survivors was negligible. International rescue teams started flying home. By Saturday scavengers were picking over the wrecked hotel when they heard a faint tapping sound, barely audible, but insistent. They alerted a passing Greek TV crew whose local fixer posted the news on Twitter while the journalists phoned the Hellenic Rescue Service, a volunteer team which, much delayed and supposedly too late, had arrived in Port-au-Prince just the night before. The team jumped into a borrowed car and raced downtown. "Within 10 minutes we were communicating with the man," said Apostolos Dedas, the team leader. The Greek rescuers lacked the heavy equipment necessary to move the debris so a group of French colleagues at the airport preparing to fly out were scrambled to the scene with their machines. Four hours later they had cleared a tight space in the rubble, but the male rescuers were too big to fit down it to cut away the final debris. "They needed someone else to go in but none of them was small enough," said Carmen Michalska, a 5ft 5in native of Kirkcaldy and Fife attached to the Greek team. "So I said I'll go and I went straight in." At the bottom she found Exantus alive and smiling. "He was just so happy to see us." When Exantus and his rescuers emerged a waiting crowd of Haitians applauded and cheered. Michalska, 36, on her first mission with the team, wore a layer of grime and a big smile. She embraced colleagues, some teary-eyed. "This is my first day with the Hellenic Rescue Service and at this rate it won't be my last." Did she ever suffer claustrophobia? She laughed. "No. Good job." Exantus was given oxygen, put on a drip and ferried to the French field hospital. Staff said he was tired, dehydrated and had abrasions on his arm but was otherwise fine. Asked whether chugging beer and whisky was advisable when trapped under rubble Gilles Gueney, a paramedic, shrugged. "Well, he's here." Before slipping into a deep sleep, Exantus said he had been saved by divine deliverance. "Every night I thought about the revelation that I would survive. It was God who was tucking me away in his arms. It gave me strength." • This article was amended on Monday 25 January 2010 to correct the spelling of Kirkcaldy.The Experiment By Christina Larson Genome Editing Breakthrough The use of a genome-tool to create two monkeys with specific genetic mutations. Why It Matters The ability to modify targeted genes in primates is a valuable tool in the study of human diseases. Key Players Yunnan Key Laboratory Jennifer Doudna, UC Berkeley Feng Zhang, MIT George Church, Harvard Until recently, Kunming, capital of China’s southwestern Yunnan province, was known mostly for its palm trees, its blue skies, its laid-back vibe, and a steady stream of foreign backpackers bound for nearby mountains and scenic gorges. But Kunming’s reputation as a provincial backwater is rapidly changing. On a plot of land on the outskirts of the city—wilderness 10 years ago, and today home to a genomic research facility—scientists have performed a provocative experiment. They have created a pair of macaque monkeys with precise genetic mutations. Last November, the female monkey twins, Mingming and Lingling, were born here on the sprawling research campus of Kunming Biomedical International and its affiliated Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research. The macaques had been conceived via in vitro fertilization. Then scientists used a new method of DNA engineering known as CRISPR to modify the fertilized eggs by editing three different genes, and they were implanted into a surrogate macaque mother. The twins’ healthy birth marked the first time that CRISPR has been used to make targeted genetic modifications in primates—potentially heralding a new era of biomedicine in which complex diseases can be modeled and studied in monkeys. CRISPR, which was developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, and elsewhere over the last several years, is already transforming how scientists think about genetic engineering, because it allows them to make changes to the genome precisely and relatively easily (see “Genome Surgery,” March/April). The goal of the experiment at Kunming is to confirm that the technology can create primates with multiple mutations, explains Weizhi Ji, one of the architects of the experiment. Ji began his career at the government-affiliated Kunming Institute of Zoology in 1982, focusing on primate reproduction. China was “a very poor country” back then, he recalls. “We did not have enough funding for research. We just did very simple work, such as studying how to improve primate nutrition.” China’s science ambitions have since changed dramatically. The campus in Kunming boasts extensive housing for monkeys: 75 covered homes, sheltering more than 4,000 primates—many of them energetically swinging on hanging ladders and scampering up and down wire mesh walls. Sixty trained animal keepers in blue scrubs tend to them full time. The lab where the experiment was performed includes microinjection systems, which are microscopes pointed at a petri dish and two precision needles, controlled by levers and dials. These are used both for injecting sperm into eggs and for the gene editing, which uses “guide” RNAs that direct a DNA-cutting enzyme to genes. When I visited, a young lab technician was intently focused on twisting dials to line up sperm with an egg. Injecting each sperm takes only a few seconds. About nine hours later, when an embryo is still in the one-cell stage, a technician will use the same machine to inject it with the CRISPR molecular components; again, the procedure takes just a few seconds. During my visit in late February, the twin macaques were still only a few months old and lived in incubators, monitored closely by lab staff. Indeed, Ji and his coworkers plan to continue to closely watch the monkeys to detect any consequences of the pioneering genetic modifications. The Impact By Amanda Schaffer The new genome-editing tool called CRISPR, which researchers in China used to genetically modify monkeys, is a precise and relatively easy way to alter DNA at specific locations on chromosomes. In early 2013, U.S. scientists showed it could be used to genetically engineer any type of animal cells, including human ones, in a petri dish. But the Chinese researchers were the first to demonstrate that this approach can be used in primates to create offspring with specific genetic alterations. “The idea that we can modify primates easily with this technology is powerful,” says Jennifer Doudna, a professor of molecular and cell biology at
to use it on her, had tried to wipe her mind with the gun. He had tried to hit her with the gun but something had gone wrong, it had backfired. But she still had ended up passed out. When she awoke, disoriented and confused, she stumbled back to their house. She had been terrified of going out to the woods for a very long time and seeing that gun again had to bring up some horrible memories. So Ford moved over to her and took the gun from her. "Sorry," he apologized to the kids. "I have no idea how you got a hold of one of these, but..." looking over at Susan, he sighed. "I think this might be perfect." Susan looked over at him, her eyes wide. "Ford…" her voice trailing off, she ran a hand through her hair. "Is there any other way?" "No." Susan shook her head. "I…I trust you, Ford." Ford nodded and started to examine the gun. "If I can just amplify the signal to a radio headset frequency..." grabbing some wires, he plugged them into the gun. Peering through some viewing glasses, he frowned at the sight of the agents running into the shack. "There. Now everyone PLUG YOUR EARS! GET DOWN! NOW!" As he shouted this, he moved to Susan and crouched next to her, their bodies pressed against each other and their hands covering their ears. A wave pulsed around them and then there was eerie silence. "We have to move, fast," Ford said, recovering the quickest. Helping Susan up, he squeezed her hand. She stumbled slightly and he instantly wrapped his arms around her, steadying her. He looked over at the others. "I need some important looking documents. Papers, really." "Your journal," Susan suggested. "No!" Mabel shouted. Running over, she handed Ford a stack of pages that were hurriedly colored but still fairly good drawings. Ford blinked down at the pages. "I don't think these would work-" "There's no time!" Stan informed them. Shoving Ford, and therefore Susan, he nodded to the entrance to the rest of the shack. "You two get the agents out of here." Sighing, Ford put the pages in the pocket inside his trench coat. Grabbing Susan's hand, the two hurried off. Through the shack they went, which had really changed from when Susan and Ford had been there last, until they were on the porch of the shack and surveying the confused mass of agents. "Stand down, gentlemen! I've been sent with the latest intel from Washington," pausing he flipped through Mabel's reports and then continued, hoping that this act was successful, "According to this very real report, the power surges in Gravity Falls were actually due to radiation from an unreported meteor shower. A total embarrassment for your whole department. Luckily I'm here to take this mess off your hands, but I'll need of all your..." his voice trailed off, he looked over at Susan, unsure of what exactly he needed to ask them for. "Any and all of your records," Susan put in. A man motioned to another man who stepped forwards. "Uh, everything about this case is contained on this drive." The other man handed Ford some sort of drive which he examined, curious about whatever it was. Looking over at Ford to see him occupied with the drive, Susan shook her head and addressed the agents, "I suggest you leave before I have all of you court-martialed." One of the men nodded. "Uhh, yes ma'am and sir. Apologizes ma'am and sir." Turning away, he whistled loudly. "False alarm, everyone!" as the agents started to loud up, Susan shivered slightly at the sight of the man tripping on his way to his car. The memory gun definitely had done damage. Turning away, she ruffled Ford's hair, knowing that that was the only method that would get him to stop examining the drive. He turned and then sighed. "But it's so cool," he whined even as he handed it to her. Seeing a goat, Susan shoved the drive in the goat's mouth and watched as the goat ran off, munching on it. "I'm sure we can find another one," Susan told Ford with a reassuring pat on his shoulder. Ford grinned. "I think this is the first time we've been alone since we got back to Gravity Falls…" "Great uncle Stanford and Miss Susan that was amazing!" at the young girl's voice, Susan gave Ford a look for jinxing their time together. Now, Mable was running towards them along with the mole-rat/gopher, Stan, and the boy. "Let's not go crazy; it was serviceable," Stan grumbled. Ford chuckled and nudged Susan, who grinned despite herself. "Thank you, kids, but please, call me Ford." "And Susan is fine," Susan put in. The boy nodded quickly. "Sure! Thanks, Great Uncle Ford and Susan. So, uh," grabbing a notepad and pen, he started to click the pen excitedly over and over again, "would you mind if I ask you two a couple billion questions about Gravity Falls?" Ford blinked. "Um, well I-uh..." he started to stumble. Susan just stared at the boy as if he was an alien, which given everything in Gravity Falls that could actually be true. "I don't think…" Luckily, Stan came in to the rescue the two. "All right, kids, it's been a long day and me and my brother, and I guess Susan as well, have a lot to talk about. Why don't you hit the hay, huh?" The boy looked up at Stan with wide, pleading eyes. "But, it's the author!" he protested and then clicked the pen some more. "I've been waiting so long to ask questions about-" Stan shook his head and grabbed the boy's and Mabel's heads and pushed them towards the door of the shack. "I said. Hit. The hay!" As that was going on, Susan and Ford exchanged worried looks. By the way both kids rubbed the back of their heads, Stan using that a means to shove them had to hurt, and by the way they reacted and went upstairs, one had to wonder how common that was. From what Ford had told Susan, Stan had always been rougher and more physical than him, but to act like that as an adult to two children? That was just troubling. "I'll just...let myself out," the gopher/mole-rat muttered, and then scurried off, which just left Susan, Ford, and Stan on the porch together. "So…uh," Stan said with an uncomfortable scratch of the back of his neck. "So…uh," Ford echoed. Seeing how uncomfortable Ford was, Susan took his hand and gave it a small squeeze, which prompted him to look over and give her a grateful smile. "So you and her…" Stan started, eyeing the two. Susan nodded. "Though not officially. There weren't that many priests in the apocalypse." "Try any," Ford muttered. For they had looked, quite a few times. At one point they considered going to a different part of the dimension, but the passage was always too dangerous. To them, the small bands made out of obsidian meant more to them than anything. Both wore the bands around their neck as they didn't want to risk dropping them Stan stared at them for a long moment, at their closeness. He sighed, "Do you guys want some food or anything?" Susan looked over at Ford, who shrugged. "Sure," he agreed. "Sure," Susan echoed. Stan nodded and then walked inside, leaving Susan and Ford alone. The two looked at each other. "We're finally back." Ford nodded and hugged Susan. "We're finally back." For a long moment, the two stood together, their arms around each other. At one point, Ford lowered his head down and kissed Susan briefly for a few moments, but then they just went back to hugging. Susan laid her head on Ford's shoulder and sighed. In the dimension they had been in, there were so few moments to be quiet. It was all running and fighting and trying to survive. Even though they were safe, they still wanted to be together, in each other arms, as they always were. "I love you, Stanford Pines," Susan said in a soft voice. She had said it once before, because she never felt comfortable using it casually. To her, love was special, and saying that she loved someone meant that she truly loved them. "I love you too, Susan," Ford replied. Taking her feelings into account, Ford never brought up the word love and only let Susan bring it up. He would always respond with that he loved her too, because that was the truth and he tried to be as honest as possible. So they stood there, on the porch, for a long After a silent dinner of cold pasta, Ford stood next to Stan and stared at themselves in the mirror. Susan was sitting nearby, watching them as they stared at their appearance. They had found all their old clothes, which was very nice, and now Susan was dressed in her dark green dress and Ford was redressed in his red turtleneck and tan trench coat. These clothes truly reminded them that they were home, that everything was okay, and Susan loved that feeling. "Look at us. When did we become old men?" Stan asked suddenly with a shake of his head. Ford grinned and looked over at Stan's reflection in the mirror. "You look like Dad," he remarked. Stan shook his head. "Ugh, uck, don't say that," he complained and then nudged his brother, which prompted both of them to laugh and Susan to grin. Once the laugh had died down, Ford sighed. "Okay, Stanley, here's the deal. You can stay here the rest of the summer to watch the kids. Susan and I will stay down in the basement and try to contain any remaining damage. But when the summer's over, you give us our house back, you give me my name back, and this Mystery Shack junk is over forever. You got it?" Stan glared at his brother. "You really aren't gonna thank me, are you?" after a beat with no jumping to answer, Stan shook his head. "Fine. On one condition: you two stay away from the kids; I don't want them in danger. Cause as far as I'm concerned, they're the only family I have left." Shaking his head, Stan walked off. Susan went over Ford and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's going to be okay," she reassured. Ford gave her a grateful grin and then rested his forehead on the top of hair. "I know we should go and see the damage the portal caused by opening, but our bed…our bed is here." "Tomorrow, Ford. Tomorrow we will work. Tonight, we will sleep." Ford grinned and took Susan's hand. Together, the two walked to their bed and promptly collapsed. So, as I said above, this will be a Ford/OC story. I really hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I know the ending was rather anti-climatic with them just going to sleep but I promise, it will be a lot more adventures as the story gets on. As much as I love fluff and kisses, Gravity Falls is a kid show and I want to stay true to the tone of the show, which is why I did K+ instead of my usual T rating and there will not be a lot of kissing. I will also make sure there is no cussing. I am huge fan of the show so I hope that I've stayed true to this episode. I will be updating this once a week, so next Sunday I'll have the next chapter up. I hope you enjoyed and see you next week!The US’s investment in medical research between 2004 and 2012 declined significantly. The same can’t be said for the rest of the world, as global investment in biomedical research actually increased during that same period, according to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The US is "at risk of losing its global scientific leadership and competitiveness." "The United States is at risk of losing its global scientific leadership and competitiveness," write Victor Dzau and Harvey Fineberg, current and past presidents of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in Washington, DC, in an editorial also published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "One indicator after another demonstrates numerous other countries outpacing the United States in their commitment to research." In the study, Moses and his team used publicly available data to understand patterns in global medical research investment between 1994 and 2012. They found that the rate of research investment growth increased by 6 percent per year in the US between 1994 and 2004. But between 2004 and 2012, the amount of money for research decreased by 0.8 percent a year — as the US's global contribution to biomedical research dollars dropped to 44 percent in 2012, from 57 percent in 2004. And while the US was cutting its medical research investments, Asian countries increased their global investment by 7 percent. The decline in medical research funding in the US has largely hurt early-stage research, specially "proof-of-concept research," which demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of a treatment after its discovery. Instead of ensuring that medical discoveries make it to later stages in medical research, funding has gone toward developing medical devices and late-stage clinical trials. This means that some discoveries never get to move ahead, because there's no money to make it happen. "The diseases where the need is greatest... have been relatively underfunded." The study also reveals an imbalance in the types of diseases that receive funding. The amount of money that goes toward cancer and HIV/AIDS research, for instance, is greater than the predicted burden associated with these diseases. "The diseases where the need is greatest — autism, depression, Alzheimer’s, Type 2 diabetes — are diseases that have been relatively underfunded compared to cancer and HIV/AIDS," says Hamilton Moses, a co-author of the study and the chairman of Alerion Advisors, a consulting group. Patents and copyrights in the US are also in decline. For example, the US contributed 57 percent of the world's life science patents in 1981, and now contributes 51 percent. And of the patents considered most valuable, the US contributed 73 percent in 1981. In 2011, however, that number was 59 percent. "We view this as a cloud on the horizon," Moses says. "As Asia and other countries patent more and the quality of those patents are greater, the threat to the US supremacy is real." The reasons for the decline in medical research aren’t straightforward. Part of it has to do with a change in the investment landscape, where industry has taken to funding projects that yield results over short periods of time. "The investor worldwide has become impatient." Moses says. "As a result, the markets have rewarded short-term performance, and that means that a marketing dollar goes further than a science dollar." But a bigger part of the reason lies in economic downturns that occurred in the early 2000s, as well as in enhanced interest in international security following 9/11. "When the US federal government runs deficits, biomedical research is de-emphasized," Moses says. And although this may seem intuitively correct, "you would hope to see that trend reversed — investment in science and tech is a very good economic investment." "Asia knows that biomedical research is a vehicle for them to enhance their international stature." The good news, Moses says, is that it is possible to have a huge impact by changing research priorities. For a long time, Ebola wasn’t viewed as a threat, and therefore received very little funding. But now that the world has taken notice of the disease, advancements are happening quickly. And although we still don’t have a vaccine, many trials are currently underway. "The machinery of research and development can move very effectively and you can get to new vaccines and new treatments rather quickly," he says. Thus, making changes in the way government and industry invests in medical research could potentially have a large impact on people's lives — even over short periods. "That’s why Asia is investing; Asia knows that biomedical research is a vehicle for them to enhance their international stature and the growth of their own populations," Moses says. If the US wants to ensure that the health of its citizens is taken care of in the future, or that research in the country won’t be hindered by non-US patents, "the US needs to increase spending in biomedical research," and "investment in health services research."AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - International inspectors have found traces of sarin and VX nerve agent at a military research site in Syria that had not been declared to the global chemical weapons watchdog, diplomatic sources said on Friday. Samples taken by experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition and Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in December and January tested positive for chemical precursors needed to make the toxic agents, the sources told Reuters on the condition of anonymity because the information is confidential. “This is a pretty strong indication they have been lying about what they did with sarin,” one diplomatic source said. “They have so far been unable to give a satisfactory explanation about this finding.” In 2013, the United States threatened military intervention against Syria’s government after sarin gas attacks in August of that year killed hundreds of residents in Ghouta, a rebel-controlled suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus. But the Damascus government forestalled foreign intervention by agreeing to a U.S.- and Russian-brokered deal under which it joined the OPCW, admitting to having a chemicals weapons program and promising to eliminate it. The government of President Bashar al-Assad last year handed over 1,300 tonnes of chemical arms to a joint U.N.-OPCW mission for destruction. But Damascus has denied using sarin or any chemical weapons in battle during Syria’s continuing civil war. The diplomatic sources said the sarin and VX nerve samples were taken from the Scientific Studies and Research Centre, a government agency where Western intelligence agencies say Syria developed biological and chemical weapons. Asked about the diplomats’ account, OPCW spokesman Peter Sawczak said: “Obviously we are working to clarify Syria’s declaration. I cannot discuss any details of that process, but in due course the assessment team will issue a report.” CHLORINE GAS ATTACKS An OPCW fact-finding mission has been investigating allegations of dozens of recent chlorine gas attacks in Syrian villages but is being refused access to the sites by the Assad government, the diplomatic sources said. The finding of VX and sarin supports assertions by Western governments that Assad withheld some of his stockpile, or did not disclose the full extent of Syria’s chemical capability or arsenal to the OPCW, according to diplomats and analysts. OPCW inspectors have been to Syria eight times to verify the accuracy of the details of the chemical weapons program provided in an initial report, but keep returning with more questions than answers, the diplomats said. Under the deal with Washington and Moscow, Syria agreed to permanently and completely destroy its chemical weapons program and cannot use poison gas in warfare. But the OPCW, which is not mandated to assign blame, said chlorine has been used “systematically and repeatedly” as a weapon in Syria after Damascus handed over its declared toxic stockpile. Syria has begun destroying a dozen chemical weapons production and storage sites, but also last year added several new facilities it had not initially disclosed to the OPCW. The United States wants a team of United Nations investigators to determine who is to blame for the more recent chlorine attacks in a bid to pave the way for U.N. Security Council action against those responsible. “We believe - and it’s clear that many Council members agree - that we have got to have a means of establishing who is carrying out these chlorine attacks,” Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters on Friday. “We hope that we can make progress on a resolution to ensure that there is a mechanism that will not only establish chlorine use, but establish who carried out that use,” she said. Power said Washington believes the facts indicate that the Syrian government is responsible. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a British expert on biological and chemical weapons, said Syrian government forces appeared to be the only party that could have carried out the Aug. 21, 2013 sarin attacks in Ghouta because they were mounted on a large scale and professionally executed. “This unequivocally proves there was sarin in Syria. If the OPCW possesses this evidence, it is absolutely another nail in this coffin,” he said.So President Trump was absolutely correct when he insisted — to much derision from Democrats and the mainstream media — that then-FBI Director James Comey assured him three times that he wasn’t personally under investigation. That’s just one of the revelations in Comey’s prepared statement for his Thursday testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Yes, some of the others paint the president as unaware or unconcerned with how the government works, and as obsessed with top officials’ “loyalty.” And Comey says Trump repeatedly asked for the investigation of ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn to go away. But also that the prez never crossed the line by actually ordering a shutdown. An order would be considered obstruction of justice. But just making the request is troubling — since it suggests the president doesn’t appreciate why investigative agencies like the FBI must remain fully independent and immune from political interference. And that can be dangerous — not least of all for the president himself. Comey emphasizes, “I did not say I would ‘let this go.’ ” But he also says Trump’s requests left him so uncomfortable that he “implored” Attorney General Jeff Sessions to “prevent any further direct communication” between Comey and Trump. see also Comey won’t testify that Trump obstructed justice: report James Comey reportedly will not accuse President Trump of obstructing... And he says Trump complained that the entire investigation into possible collusion with Russia was “a cloud that was impairing his ability to act” and asked what Comey could do “to lift the cloud.” The ex-director says he’s documented all this with memos, but refuses to turn them over to the committee. But he wrote them on the job, so they’re not his property. Whatever Comey says under questioning Thursday, Congress plainly needs to demand those memos and any similar ones from his entire FBI tenure. To date, the “cloud” over Trump is made entirely of conjecture, rumor and anonymous leaks. The public deserves hard evidence.Mathew Stokes will play his final game in the hoops this Saturday Geelong midfielder Mathew Stokes will play his 189th and final game for the Cats on Saturday at Simonds Stadium after he announced to his teammates he will be departing the club after this season. Stokes reflected on his time with the Cats that began when he was selected with the 61st pick in the 2005 national draft. “I am very thankful to the club for giving me the opportunity to live out this dream over the past 10 years,” Stokes said. “I got overlooked in the draft three times and Stephen Wells and the Cats were the only ones that wanted to take a chance on me. I am grateful for being part of this great club that has really changed my life. “To have played here and enjoyed the success that we have and to have done it with people that are and will be my best friends for life has been a great experience. I hope now that the players that are here set the culture for the club in the future and keep it moving in the right direction. “I have loved my time here and will miss coming in every day. But my goal was to play one game and to have been here for a decade and to take away so many great friendships and relationships is the most important thing, even more than the wins and premierships.” Geelong coach Chris Scott paid tribute to Stokes both as a player and a leader within the club. “Stokesy has been a great player to coach and a fantastic contributor to the club and the team over the past decade,” Scott said. “He is a player that has given everything for the club and been a key component of an incredible period for the club. In addition to his skills and toughness, Mathew’s resiliency is something that I really admire and is a shining light for others to follow. “These decisions are very difficult and Stokesy has conducted himself really well through the discussions and decision that have been made and when he went back to the VFL a couple of times this year he did a great job of helping the younger players.” Geelong CEO Brian Cook paid tribute to Stokes for his willingness to be involved in all aspects of the club. “Stokesy is very popular around the club, both in footy and the wider club, and has been a joy to watch over a long and successful period,” Cook said. “He has been working in our community department in his own time and has done a great job in driving our indigenous program Closing the Gap. I think Mathew will continue to achieve great things after he finishes with footy.” Stokes’ career highlights include: · Selected with 61st pick in 2005 national draft from Woodville-West Torrens · Debut against Richmond, round 9 2006 at Simonds Stadium · Kicking a career best 5 goals against Fremantle in round 17, 2007 · Booting three first quarter goals in 2007 preliminary final win over Collingwood · Returning in 2007 grand final win over Port Adelaide after suffering knee injury in first quarter · Played for the Indigenous all stars in 2007 and 2009 · Representing the Dream team against Victoria in the 2008 AFL Hall of Fame game as part of the 150th year of football celebrations · Selflessly ruling himself out of 2009 preliminary final due to minor injury with the full knowledge that he may not return for the grand final · Booting a critical second quarter goal in 2011 premiership win against Collingwood when the Cats trailed by 18 points · Surpassing Ronnie Burns (134 games with Cats) in 2013 as Indigenous player with most games in Geelong’s history · Finishing fourth in club best & fairest in 2013 · Representing Australia in international rules series in 2013 · Setting a career best with 38 disposals against the Eagles in round 4, 2014 · Booted his 200th career goal in round 9 2015 against the West Coast Eagles. He is one of just 36 players to have kicked over 200 goals with the club. · Over 188 games, Mathew has helped the Cats win 142 times (75.5%)A tourist in Iceland was reported missing, but the search was called off when people realized she was a part of the search group. Iceland Review reports, the woman was a part of a group travelling by bus. When the bus stopped Saturday afternoon near Iceland's Eldgja canyon in the southern highlands, the woman got off to freshen up and change her clothes. But when she got back on the bus, the other passengers didn't recognize her so they reported her missing. [ More Daily Buzz: Prince Harry getting a lot of salutes for naked photos ] They also incorrectly counted the number of passengers. The description of the woman must not have been that accurate because she didn't even recognize it. Not thinking it was her, she joined the search. About 50 people searched the terrain on foot and with vehicles until the early hours of the morning. A Coast Guard helicopter was even ready to join the search, but foggy conditions prevented that from happening. The search was called off around 3 a.m. when people realized the missing woman had been on the bus all along. [ More Daily Buzz: Bill Nye doesn't want creationism taught ] According to Iceland Review, a similar thing happened in 1954 when people searched for hours for a girl who reportedly went missing while picking berries. Not only was the girl not missing, but she participating in the search party. The incident was blamed on a incorrect description of the girl's clothing.Samsung agreed to pay Apple $548 million to settle a smartphone patent dispute, but the payment won’t put an end to the long-running legal battles between the two companies. In a joint statement filed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday, the two companies said that Samsung had agreed to make the payment in accordance with a partial judgment in Apple’s favor handed down in September. But Samsung also said in the statement that it wants to be able to get all or some of that money back if “the partial judgment is reversed, modified, vacated or set aside on appeal.” Samsung also raised the possibility that it might take the case to the Supreme Court, writing that it would ask for reimbursement if the partial judgment changed as a result of any petition filed with the Supreme Court. “We are disappointed that the court has agreed to proceed with Apple’s grossly exaggerated damages claims regardless of whether the patents are valid,” Samsung said in an emailed statement. “While we’ve agreed to pay Apple, we remain confident that our products do not infringe on Apple’s design patents, and we will continue to take all appropriate measures within the legal system to protect our products and our intellectual property.” In a filing to the court, Apple disputed Samsung’s assertion that it had any right to be reimbursed. Apple reiterated in a statement that the ruling “reinforces what courts around the world have already found: that Samsung willfully stole our ideas and copied our products.” The company also thanked the court for “sending a loud and clear message that stealing isn’t right.” The payment stems from one of two outstanding lawsuits between Apple and Samsung, which are fierce rivals in the smartphone market. This case began in 2011 when Apple sued Samsung for $2.5 billion in damages for infringing on some technology and packaging patents for devices. Apple won in 2012, but was awarded only about $1 billion. After years of appeals, some parts of the case have been dismissed by the court. Samsung is now paying $548 million to settle the technology patent allegations.SAGINAW, MI — A man has been charged in court after he attempted to make a woman sell her jewelry to a Saginaw Township gold store and give him the proceeds, later fleeing into the woods, according to police. Kenneth C. Compeau, 25, of Omer is charged with extortion and resisting and obstructing a police officer, according to court records. The woman, who was with the suspect at the store, whispered to a store clerk to call the police, according to the Saginaw Township Police Department. Officers responded and the suspect ran into the woods nearby the store, police said, and was found during a search with a tracking dog. In arraigning Compeau on Monday, May 13, Saginaw County Chief District Judge M. Randall Jurrens entered a not guilty plea on his behalf and ordered him held on a $15,000 or 10 percent bond. Compeau remains jailed. Compeau is scheduled for a May 23 preliminary hearing before Jurrens. Brad Devereaux Email \| Facebook \| Twitter \| 989-372-2442Pheww, this one was a hectic one. I too found out Pinkie Pie day was happening just a couple of days ago and made haste to whip up something quick for the occasion. I'll try not to miss any of these in the future, whenever another character appreciation day comes around I'll do my best and try to upload something for it.Well, now onto the picture itself. I didn't only draw Pinkie but Pinkamena as well since even though she's so Season 1 I'm still in love with how Pinkie's character transformed in "Party of One". I also tried my hand with a little animation, nothing that intense though.Still working on that rougher style and I have to say that I like it a lot since it allows me to finish a drawing much faster than my other techniques. Albeit with its little drawbacks, but I like it anyway; will definitely keep working on it.Anyways, any feedback is welcome, let me know what you think about this! I'll now collapse to sleep...Still frames from the animated gif for Pinkie and Pinkamena can be found here. Pinkie Pie © Lauren Faust & Hasbro.This post is a transcript of Reverse the ‘Verse: Episode 92, material that is the intellectual property of Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) and it’s subsidiaries. INN is a Star Citizen fansite and is not officially affiliated with CIG, but we reprint their materials with permission as a service to the community. INN edits our transcripts for the purpose of making the various show participants easier to understand in writing. Enjoy! Reverse the ‘Verse: Episode 92- Full Transcript Welcome to INN’s textual broadcast of CIG’s auditorial elevator music, going on live right now at twitch.tv/cigcommunity This is an audio test! If you can hear this test, it’s working! Intro video is playing. And Reverse the ‘Verse is live. A note, the music in the intro is not by Pedro. Blink 182, supplemental cheese, women’s soccer, star wars. Won’t be talking about any of those subjects. I see Ben, Alexis, Disco, and Justin. They’re talking about what Tom Hennessy talks about on dates. Welcome to Reverse the ‘Verse! Week in Review – Ben – Busy week, but all boring stuff. The longer you get into the job and the higher you climb in the company the more boring things get. Arranging travel, budgeting for set purchases for the next 6 months, etc… no exciting ship kickoffs and things. Meeting with the UK about implementing insurance, turning insurance from Chris’ initial design to something in the game. Looking at edge cases like ‘what if you lose all your ships’ etc… Disco will remove all ability to post to the forums before that goes live. Working out how to track and punish insurance fraud, etc… Got their third AtV set, it’s a separate set. It looks like Terra. There’s some chaos going on, cause isn’t there always? Interpersonal tensions in the office are at a high in the office cause they’ve been playing a lot of Uno. Apparently makes them want to murder each other. Wiffle ball assault happened Uno makes you a bad person. Prospector QA went up, special shoutout to Tyler Witkin for putting together the QA. Second Prospector Q&A will be going up anytime now. Last chance to pick up a Prospector during the sale, sale ends Monday. Designers know the end goal for insurance, but they’re working on seeing how it’ll affect people once it’s in place. Alexis’ week – Merch stuff, and the subscriber RtV on Wednesday with Pedro & Ross. Pedro barely made the sub RTV and he was telling Jared,” All is okay, you are the best I know” to calm Jared. Amazing Pedro impression from Jared. There are new patches available, they’ll be up right after the show. Manufacturer patch set. Aegis (pronounced eeghis?), MISC, Anvil, RSI, and Drake Interplanetary Those’ll be available at noon PST after the show. Alexis’ working on getting stuff for gamescom giveaways and handouts for events and stuff this week. They got chairs for the lobby. They had recycled furniture till now. Took them four years to get new furniture that wasn’t re purposed from something else. There’s more stuff in the fancave now too. The wall on the right is the Org Wall, they haven’t really showed it off yet. They showed off BNG, Disco’s letting Tom know that INN is on there too, and he’s not showing us. Makes us sad. There’s INN! And the Ausmonauts, some other stuff… it’s very shakey-cam. Justin’s week – work on the documentary for the making of SC, and working on the show-and-tell. They put together an internal show once a month to show people in the company what’s going on throughout the company. Show and Tells is shown to us in the AtV segment. AtV this week had Ship Shape about the Drake Herald, with Josh Coons. Ship’s coming along nicely, is a ‘herald of things to come’ – Ben. Ben wrote an intro for Disco – Hark the herald angel sings, or something along those lines. They’re shooting a ‘thing’ with INN soon – we like things! Where’s my Stuff! Section where Disco asks Ben where stuff is [2.4?] It is April 29th. They’re close to the first limited PTU test of 2.4. If it hasn’t already happened, it’ll happen soon ( to the special PTU people). 2.4 is coming along, it’s a BIG deal, biggest jump since 2.0. Almost certainly wont’ be live in April, but it’ll be worth the wait. Lots of work being done to fix persistence, which is huge, but there’s a lot of game changing content as well. Earning and spending money, changes to port olisar, holotable is gone, etc… Shooting a segment with Sean Tracy on Monday that Disco’s wanted to shoot for a while. Geekdomo – one of the best SC streamers – is having heart surgery this morning. Thoughts from CIG go out to him, and thoughts from INN go out to him as well. [Caterpillar?] Starting to wrap up the internal concepting. Moving towards next month’s concept ship. Getting ready for the Buccaneer. Late may. [F7A Hornet] Working on it for SQ42. It’s not ‘like the C’. It’s very different, but very similar at the same time. Easily identifiable as a Hornet. Supposed to have kickoffs for two tiny ships. They’re looking at what ship concepts they want to have well after the game’s out. Dad Lando – if anyone follows Disco on Twitter, Disco’s Dad is a Star Citizen. Plays more than Lando does too. And he loves the Cutlass. Disco’s dad is in the room. Disco’s Dad! Disco and his dad look like the same person. Disco’s Dad – ‘Disco, I am your father’ They’re wearing black hats, both wearing RSI track jackets. Disco’s Dad (DD) – He was a gamer before SC, been a gamer for a long time, Halo, Destiny, etc… lots of FPS games. Jared was doing SC stuff on Youtube, told his dad it was gonna be the best game in the world (this is 2013 or so). DD didn’t pay much attention to it, but a couple of years later, Disco got hired as an employee. DD thought that was great, cause he loved the Wing Commander movie (and Chris Roberts), cause the movie hit something inside DD. Decided to buy a ship, bought an Aurora. At that time there were lots of glitches. Looking at the ship at the beginning ‘if this is the beginning of
only one who’s ever gonna claim me Uh, uh, uh, uh, I’m in love with the price tag Gimme yo' number, Imma give that shit right back Chorus A: Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk Boyz Get Money Money, Money, Money, Money 'Chorus B: ' Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk-Fxxk-Fxxk-Fxxk Boyz Get-Get-Get-Get-Get Money Ummmmmmmmm…. Verse 2: Boo hoo hoo, you’re just a silly boy Go back to mommy and your Fisher Price toys Get on up out of my lane baby Drivin’ too fast for me to save ya ATL Mommy but I speed like a New Yorker Skinny minny but my money eats you like a porker Step down, cuz I’m winnin’, my money is killin’ (Repeat Pre-Chorus) (Repeat Chorus A x 2) Chorus C: Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk, Fxxk Boyz Get Money Chorus D: Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk-Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk-Fxxk-Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk-Fxxk-Fxxk Middle Eight: I’m too smart for all that You can take that love shit back Cuz the money’s where mind is at Oh no No drama in my life Never gonna be your wife Tossin’ all the boys off to the side Move it along, me and the girls gon’ sing this song Put ya'll right where you belong Fuck boyz get money all day long '(Repeat Chorus A) ' Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Boyz Get Money Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk-Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk Fxxk-Fxxk-Fxxk Fxxk Boyz Get-Get-Get-Get-Get Money White Noise Edit (Verse 1) We’re so semi-automatic, ecstatic, dramatic, up to no good Erratic and so fanatic when we hit the dance floor Bass is pumpin’ and thumpin’ super stompin’ We’re at it jumpin’ like it’s New Year’s Eve we go (ayoh, oh) Pre-Chorus A: We’re the white noise, pink noise, filling your head Feel the speakers blowin’ hittin’ the red We’re the big boys, bad boys, racin’ full speed ahead Head, head, head Pre-Chorus B: When you leave the club all you’ll hear is white noise All ya, all ya, all ya, all you’ll hear is white noise When you leave the club all you’ll hear is white noise All ya, all ya, all ya, all you’ll hear is white noise Chorus: We’re the white noise, pink noise, filling your head Feel the speakers blowin’ hittin’ the red We’re the big boys, bad boys, racin’ full speed ahead Head, head, head Verse 2: Ultra magnetic, electric, someone better call a medic Psychogenic, freakin’ every time we hear the beat Step into action, chain-reaction, feel the attraction I’m the captain come on feel the heat (ayoh, oh) (Repeat Pre-Chorus A) (Repeat Pre-Chorus B) (Repeat Chorus) (Repeat Pre-Chorus A) ...head, head, head... (Repeat Pre-Chorus B) (Repeat Chorus) Whiplash Edit Verse 1: Don’t break your neck, love Because she’s gorgeous She’ll never take care of a quadriplegic And now this neck brace Will be your necklace And I don’t want you When I’m all you need, yeah Pre-Chorus: You shoulda buckled up and kept your eyes straight Gave you directions, you had to deviate You took your own road but you got lost though I hate to say it, that was a no-no Chorus: ' 'Oh-hoh, I told you so Oh-oh, you shoulda let go I told you slow down You’re going too fast ‘Cause if you hit the gas You’ll get a whiplash Oh-hoh, and now your neck hurts Oh-oh, it could have been worse I told you slow down You’re going too fast ‘Cause if you hit the gas You’ll get a whiplash Verse 2: I see her eyes move In your direction You’re such a sad case Had to learn the hard way I know that some days You feel like hot shit And then you realize I’m behind you pushing (Repeat Pre-Chorus) (Repeat Chorus) Oh, yeah… Hey! Oh no… Hey! Middle Eight: Oh-oh, don’t you know? Didn’t I tell you so? Oh, didn't I tell you so? Don't you know, don't you know? (I’m coming up and and now you’re nothing I think you're sick with a case of being the addict Another rip in the mighty ocean You’re just a dead weight sinking to the bottom) (Repeat Chorus) Wannabe Edit Verse 1: She got that… She, she, she got that... She’s got that S.E.X - sex ready to go Turning heads all day, moves like a G.T.O Here she comes just a-walkin’, Wanna wear those shoes She’s got that "do wah diddy yum Diddy yum di do" Pre-Chorus 1: What she got that he wants so bad? Is her sugar that much sweeter? What does she got that I don’t have? I really wanna be her Chorus: I-I-I wanna be like her, wanna look like her, wanna act like her I-I-I wanna be like her, cuz she’s with him and he’s with her I-I-I wanna walk like that, wanna look like that, cuz I’m into that I-I-I know I’m not like that, but I’d be with her to get him back She's got that She, she, she got that Verse 2: A fully loaded gun She’s got that click, click, blow Knows how to turn him on Got the remote control She’ll heat you up so hot Rub you down in snow She’ll take you up too high Kiss then laugh and let go Pre-Chorus 2: What she got that he wants so bad? Is her grass really that much greener? What does she got that I don’t have? I really wanna be her (Repeat Chorus) Middle Eight: Her body’s in the supersonic Lay you down and pour the tonic She’s a trip, that crazy chronic She’s got it, she’s on it, I want it – I want you What she got that he wants so bad? Is her sugar that much sweeter? (Repeat Chorus x2) Astroboy Edit Astroboy (feat. Honey-B & W-Trouble) Edit Astroboy (feat. Honey-B & W-Trouble) [Invaderous Remix] Edit ==== Astroboy and me for life faster than light I’m the kinda girl who likes it rough Falling off my skateboard and actin’ tough Blame the game, it’s all the same Sayin’ that’ll cause you all this pain Come on man, this ain’t right Always tryin’ ta start another fight 3, 2, 1, now This is your night (Astroboy...) 3, 2, 1, now This is your night (faster than light...) Blast off into space, forget the human race With rocket fuel, we’re going faster than light Apollo 69, we're burning through the night Sit back, enjoy the ride, we’re 'bout to ignite Blast off into space, forget the human race With rocket fuel, we’re going faster than light Apollo 69, we're burning through the night Sit back, enjoy the ride, we’re 'bout to ignite 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ig-- 'bout to ig--... Leave that shit behind! Boy... He freaks me right Whoa oh Astroboy... Open your mind to actin’ blind You simply just need to unwind... Leave that shit behind! Blast off into space, forget the human race With rocket fuel, we’re going faster than light Apollo 69, we're burning through the night Sit back, enjoy the ride, we’re 'bout to ignite Blast off into space, forget the human race With rocket fuel, we’re going faster than light Apollo 69, we're burning through the night Sit back, enjoy the ride, we’re 'bout to ignite 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ignite... 'bout to ig-- 'bout to ig--... Leave that shit behind! Boy... He freaks me right Whoa oh Astroboy... Open your mind to actin’ blind You simply just need to unwind... Leave that shit behind!==== Astroboy (feat. Honey-B & W-Trouble) [sfpr Remix] Edit ==== Yelln' in the, Yelln' in the, "so incomplete!" Yelln' in the, "--plete!" Yelln' in the, yellin' yellin' Yelln' in the, Yelln' in the, "so incomplete!" Yelln' in the, "--plete!" Yelln' in the, yellin' yellin' I’m the kinda girl who likes it rough Falling off my skateboard and actin’ tough Blame the game, it’s all the same Sayin’ that’ll cause you all this pain Come on man, this ain’t right Always tryin’ ta start another fight 3, 2, 1, now This is your night ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... Freaks me right (astro...) Freaks me right Freaks me right (astro...) Freaks me right ('bout to ignite) Freaks me right (astro...) Freaks me right Freaks - Freaks - Freaks - Freaks - Freaks me right You’re the one I want tonight Then we’re done, no sad good-byes Not looking for no crazy love Just wanna fuck you on the low Blast off into space, forget the human race With rocket fuel, we’re going faster than light Apollo 69, we're burning through the night Sit back, enjoy the ride, we’re 'bout to ignite 'bout to ignite 'bout to ignite 'bout to ig-- 'bout to ig-- Boy... freaks me right Boy... don't let go Boy... freaks me right Boy... (freaks) boy... (freaks) oh-oh Astroboy and me for life He satisfies my appetite Never hungry for no other guy He freaks me right, just what I like Why you tryin' ta make shit so concrete? Yelln' in the air, "I'm so incomplete!" Girl that’s a lie. You high? Only gonna find true happiness inside Open your mind to actin’ blind You simply just need to unwind 3, 2, 1, now Leave that shit behind! Blast off into space, forget the human race With rocket fuel, we’re going faster than-- faster than-- Apollo 69, we're burning through the night Sit back, enjoy the ride, we’re 'bout to ignite 'bout to ignite 'bout to ignite 'bout to ig-- 'bout to ig-- Boy... freaks me right Boy... don't let go Boy... freaks me right Boy... (freaks) boy... (freaks) oh-oh Astroboy and me for life He satisfies my appetite Never hungry for no other guy He freaks me right, just what I like ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... ('bout to ignite...) Astro... astro... astro... Freaks me right (astro...) Freaks me right Freaks me right (astro...) Freaks me right ('bout to ignite) Freaks me right (astro...) Freaks me right Freaks - Freaks - Freaks - Freaks - Freaks me right Astroboy and me for life He satisfies my appetite Never hungry for no other guy He freaks me right, just what I like Astroboy and me for life He satisfies my appetite Never hungry for no other guy He freaks me right, just what I like (what I like) (what I like) (what I like) (what I like)==== UFO (feat. Fz from sfpr vs Invaderous) Edit I’m sick and tired of human boys. [Computerized, indecipherable speech] Eh~~~~~ Heh~~~~~ U F O I’m sick and tired of human boys. (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) I’m sick, sick…tired of human boys. (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) (I’m sick and tired of humans boys.) I’m sick and tired of human… U F O U F O! U F O! U F O! O! O!~ O!~~ 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} (We love you, you, you, you, you, you) 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} (We love you, you, you, you, you, you) 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} (We love y.y.y.y. you, you, you, you) 愛しあえる話も出来る {Aishi aeru hanashi mo dekiru} 愛~愛~愛~愛~愛~愛~愛~愛 {Ai~Ai~Ai~Ai~Ai~Ai~Ai~Ai~} (We love you, you, you, you, you, you) UFO! 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} 手を合せて見つめるだけで {Te o awasete mitsumeru dake de} 愛しあえる話も出来る {Aishi aeru hanashi mo dekiru} Kiss the Rain (sfpr Remix) Edit Kiss the Rain (Invaderous Remix) EditLAWRENCE — A few minutes after the news conference, David Beaty stepped into his new office and asked his wife, Raynee, a direct question. "How’d I do?" His biggest critic was honest. David had mistakenly said "Texas" instead of "Kansas" a few minutes into his speech when talking about players wanting to play for the school in their home state. Following the critique, though, came words of comfort. "Your heart," Raynee said, "came through." Though his words might not have been perfect, Beaty couldn’t have asked for much more from his introduction as Kansas football’s 38th head coach Monday. During his 32 minutes at the podium, the 44-year-old displayed the same enthusiasm and energy that helped him land his new position the previous week. "It grabbed the committee members," KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger said, "in a way I’ve never seen before." That started even before Beaty’s interview last Wednesday. Without prompting, the former Texas A&M receivers coach sent out a four-page document to the committee members explaining who he was and what his future plans would be for KU. That included a current evaluation of the program, a list of potential future staff members, ideas on ramping up recruiting and an overview of his big-picture plans. Committee member David Jaynes — an All-America quarterback for KU in 1973 — was impressed immediately. "These are the kinds of things that if you’re smart and want to be successful, you’ll do," Jaynes said. "And my feeling is, if he gets it — which he does — then when he’s trying to recruit great players, he’s going to do the same thing." Beaty’s second impression was just as strong. During the two-hour phone interview Wednesday, Beaty’s attention to detail and enthusiasm "captured his audience," according to Jaynes. "There are times in life when you’re presented with something, whatever it may be, and all of a sudden, your heart starts beating faster than normal," Jaynes said. "You can feel it, and you know it." Jaynes said he’d had the same sort of feeling when he was recruited to KU as a high school athlete 45 years ago. "You feel like this person has ‘it,’ " Jaynes said. "You just have this visceral reaction like, ‘Wow, this is something exceptional here.’ That’s the only way I can explain it." Jaynes wasn’t alone in his assessment of Beaty. When committee members connected again at 10 a.m. Thursday, their feedback to Zenger was overwhelming: It was time to go hire KU’s new coach. Jaynes made sure to ask Zenger — he’d kept his opinion to himself as to not contaminate the committee — if he felt the same way, and when he agreed, a process Zenger had expected to last into the next week was wrapped up in the ensuing 48 hours. "At the end of the day, when the committee said, ‘Go get him now,’ there’s some advantages to getting him now, getting the staff started," Zenger said. "But even more than that, there are recruits that will be able to be here next weekend because we were able to do this at this point. "That wasn’t the driving factor, but it was a nice benefit." Beaty won’t come at nearly the cost of KU’s previous coaches. Though his official contract has not been released, Zenger said Beaty’s five-year contract would be for $800,000 annually with incentives that could bring his yearly total over $1.5 million. KU’s two previous coaches had more lucrative deals. Turner Gill signed a five-year, $10-million contract with previous athletic director Lew Perkins, while Zenger inked Charlie Weis to a five-year, $12.5 contract. "It’s about presence and people coming to KU to coach for the right reasons, not because there’s a lot of money on the table (but) because they have a burning, passionate desire to be successful and for KU to be successful," Jaynes said. "This is what it’s about. I don’t give a damn about name coaches. I care about why someone is coming to KU and do they have the talent, obviously, but do they also have the burning desire to be successful? "I have no doubt that David Beaty has that desire." Beaty’s excitement came through in his mannerisms Monday. While at the podium, he spoke of building relationships, working hard and earning respect — and did it with his body swaying side to side, his hands moving from place to place to release additional energy. "Kansas, the university and the students here deserve a successful football program," Beaty said, "and we have a plan in place for that." More on offense — Beaty said he planned to bring a fast-paced, up-tempo offense to KU. "It’s fun watching that ball go all over the yard. It’s fun watching guys catch touchdown passes. It’s fun watching Todd Reesing run around and swing that thing across his body for 75 yards and a touchdown on the post to Dezmon Briscoe," Beaty said. "That stuff, man, you talk about fun, that was fun, and it can happen like that, and I think that’s one thing that has really drawn people to this is it’s something that’s exciting to watch." Bowen on board — Beaty said he had no hesitation in hiring Clint Bowen as his assistant head coach and defensive coordinator, calling him "one of the finest defensive minds in this country." "Not only do I believe in what he does, I believe in his production, and I’ve seen with my own eyes what he’s capable of doing," Beaty said. "He was a key piece to us moving forward here and being able to achieve what we wanted to achieve." Patience on staff — Beaty said it might be a few weeks before KU filled out the rest of its coaching staff, as he would be willing to wait until the end of other teams’ seasons for the right coaches. "There’s a lot better people out there than me, and I get that. That’s why I’m trying to hire them. I’m not afraid of having better people around me. As a matter of fact it might not be very hard to do," Beaty said. "But I’m going to tell you this: I’m going to go get the best folks in the country, and we’re going to win together." Reunited — KU quarterback Michael Cummings said Beaty helped recruit him to KU when he was a part of Gill’s staff in 2011. The junior said he remembered receiving a recruiting call from Beaty while in his car in high school. "I’m excited to play for the guy," Cummings said. "I trust him. I believe in him."In a recent essay entitled, “The Strategic Significance of the Internet Commons,” former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff describes cyberspace and the Internet as a “global commons” that must come under “global governance.” This is the latest salvo in an ongoing campaign by a disparate congeries of internationalists, socialists, communists, and jihadists to turn over control of the Internet to some sort of regime under the United Nations. Unbeknownst to most Americans, the effort to transfer that control to the UN — including Internet taxing, censoring, and surveillance powers — is already far advanced. As The New American reported in March of this year, the Obama administration has already begun the phased transfer of Internet control to a nebulous and uncertain governance structure that has been set up as an innocent-appearing transition platform that, ultimately, is set for transfer to UN control. The Chertoff article, which appeared on the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) on August 14, was originally published in the Summer 2014 issue of Strategic Studies Quarterly, a journal published by the Air Force Research Institute. In it, Chertoff writes: Cyberspace, much like the high seas, air, outer space, and Antarctica should be viewed as the newest global commons.... Cyberspace is a strategic resource that is essential to today’s global economy yet poses unprecedented risk and vulnerability. Like the development of global governance for the high seas and outer space, cyberspace needs global governance that preserves its freedom and openness while strengthening its security to protect the shared economic and utility value of all nations. Chertoff Cheers UN Law of the Sea Treaty Chertoff seems especially enamored of the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), citing it approvingly several times as the model for dealing with the cyberspace global commons. This is revealing, inasmuch as LOST has been a cauldron of controversy for decades, since it would: a) challenge the sovereignty of our inland and coastal waters; b) give the UN pretended legal authority over “all ocean space”; c) give the UN a huge constant revenue stream from seabed mineral rights and sea lane taxes ; d) subject our naval operations to UN interference; and much more. (See here, here, and here.) So, how is it that former DHS chief Chertoff is now an expert on the Internet, and why is he stumping for “global governance” for cyberspace? The short bio at the end of his article that we quote above states that he is “the co-founder and chairman of the Chertoff Group and a member of the Global Commission on Internet Governance.” Following in the footsteps of many other “public servants,” Chertoff has parlayed the contacts and connections from his government career into a lucrative and influential consultancy business. We won’t take space here to go into his business conflicts of interest (as, for instance, his public promotion of full-body airport scans, while failing to disclose that his firm’s client, RapiScan, is the main producer of the technology and is making millions of dollars on the supposed “security” provided by the devices), but what about this Global Commission on Internet Governance. Sounds very official, no? So who commissioned this commission? Chatham House Leads Internet Grab According to a press release from Chatham House on January 22 of this year: "Carl Bildt, Sweden's Minister of Foreign Affairs, will chair a new Global Commission on Internet Governance, launched by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House)." The Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA, also known as Chatham House) is the British cabal of globalists who serve as the de facto governing class of the U.K., in much the same manner that its New York-based sister house, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR, also known as Pratt House), operates here in the United States. Bildt serves on the International Advisory Board of the CFR. Another CFR luminary serving on the new Global Commission on Internet Governance is Nobel Prize-winning economist Michael Spence, author of The Next Convergence. And another is Joseph Nye, professor and former dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, former chair of the National Intelligence Council, and current executive director at the CFR, chair of studies at the CFR, and current North American chairman of the Trilateral Commission. Chertoff’s aforementioned bio neglects to mention that he also is a member of the Trilateral Commission, a very rarified group of one-worlders organized by David Rockefeller (former chairman of the board and current honorary chairman of the CFR, as well as founder and current honorary chairman of the Trilateral Commission). The CFR, RIIA, and Trilateral Commission form the top tier of globalist think tanks promoting world government. Notable allied outfits in this effort include the Brookings Institution, Aspen Institute, Peterson Institute, Club of Rome, Club of Madrid, Rand Corporation (of which Bildt is also a trustee), and a host of the big foundations, such as Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Gates, Soros, Hewlett, et al. And since we have mentioned the Aspen Institute, it is apropos also to mention that Michael Chertoff co-chaired Aspen’s Homeland Security Group, which produced the 2012 report entitled, “Homeland Security and Intelligence: Next Steps in Evolving the Mission.” As to be expected the Chertoff-led Aspen report advocated for evolution in the direction of centralized, nationalized control of police functions. That is always a given: In the CFR-RIIA world view, power — political and economic — must always “evolve” (with plenty of helpful pushes, shoves, and brow beatings by the CFR thought cartel) toward more concentrated and centralized power, first by breaking down checks and balances and transferring authority from the local to the national level, and then from the national to the regional and global levels. So, it is not surprising that Chertoff is once again toadying for the CFR-RIIA globalist powers-that-be in asserting the need for "global governance" over another vital aspect of our lives. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden, a CFR member, is a principal of the Chertoff Group. General Hayden served as a member of the CFR’s Advisory Committee that helped produce the Council Special Report No. 56 entitled, “Internet Governance in an Age of Cyber Insecurity.” The report was a project of the CFR’s International Institutions and Global Governance (IIGG) program, an ongoing project that is ever pushing for more centralized, concentrated global government. WEF and Upcoming UN’s Internet Summit in September It is also worthy of note that the venue chosen by the RIIA for its press release announcing the launch of the Global Commission on Internet Governance was — the 2014 World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos Switzerland. The WEF is that annual glamorous soiree of globalist billionaires, bankers, butchers, dictators, politicians, and academics where the CFR-RIIA elites of the capitalist world hobnob and network with their communist and socialist counterparts. Thus the explosion of activity and propaganda in favor of “global governance” for the Internet. The timing of the RIIA announcement at the WEF was not accidental; the organized one-worlders hope to push through much of their agenda to seize the Internet at the rapidly approaching Ninth Annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, this September 2-5. Turkey, which is supplying the IGF venue, is, of course, something less than a paragon of civil liberties. And heading up the Internet Governance Forum confab is United Nations Under-Secretary General Wu Hongbo, a functionary of the Communist Party of the Peoples Republic of China, where posting an unapproved Internet comment can bring a visit from the cyber police and cause the offending commenter to “disappear.” Related articles: Internet “Governance” Summit in Brazil Advances UN Control United States to Give Up Its Control of the Internet UN, Islamists & Communists Push Global Internet Regime Obama Tries to Bypass Congress with Deadly Global Internet Treaty ACTA UN Using Propaganda to Defend Proposed Internet Regime UN Seeking Global Internet Surveillance for Terror, Propaganda Obama Quiet as UN & Dictators Push to Control InternetSure, Justin Bieber has some eco-friendly nail polishes to his name, but if he wants to stay ahead in the barely pubescent, teen idol category, he’s going to have to at least produce some organic granola. Teen star Cody Simpson has launched his own brand of cereal containing less sugar than traditional kids’ cereals and made with natural and organic ingredients, Cody Crunch. The breakfast staple from the custom cereal and granola company, Me & Goji Cereal, contains organic multigrain O’s made of kamut, spelt and quinoa along with multigrain flakes, chocolate covered goji berries, and dried apple. When he’s not making girls swoon from his #1 Disney radio hits, Simpson is competing as an elite member of an Australian youth swimming team, so he wanted to design a cereal that was a notch above others in providing nutrition for an active, healthy person. And he was SinCEREAL about it. One serving of Cody Crunch yields 17% of the daily recommended allowance of fiber, 5 grams of protein, only 6 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fat and 155 calories. Millions of dollars are spent towards marketing cereals for children each year, but many aren’t worth your dollars when you consider the high sugar content found in popular brands. Consumer Reports found that 11 of the top 27 cereals marketed to kids had at least as much sugar as a donut from Dunkin Donuts. A report from Chicago Now showed many of the top popular cereals contained between 12-20 grams of sugar per serving. Possibly Related Posts:ctvottawa.ca It was a frantic cry for help that caused OC Transpo driver Michel Laurin to spring into action. "I saw this young girl on the ground, she was full of blood in the face and neck and she had welts from being beaten," said Laurin. He was on his way to start his shift at the Hurdman bus station when, all of a sudden, the afternoon of October 4th became one he wouldn't forget. He said a man was sitting in a car not far from where he spotted the woman near Riverside Drive, but ducked out of view when he looked over in that direction. "I heard the engine start, he put it in gear…I yelled at the girl to come to me, to get out of the way." Laurin said he thought the man was trying to flee the scene or run the woman over. He said the woman told him she was sexually assaulted and robbed. Laurin said he was able to write down the licence plate and gave it to police. He said when emergency crews arrived, the woman told them she did not know the man but got in the car with him and drove to the location where the alleged assault took place. As far as he knows, no one has been arrested. Ottawa Councillor Katherine Hobbs shared Laurin's story on Twitter after meeting him while he was driving the bus. The transit union vice-president said it is an important one to tell in light of several negative stories which exist about OC Transpo drivers. "They're more than just a bus driver; they're a hockey coach, soccer coach, they're members of the community," said Amalgamated Transit Union vice-president Mike Aldrich. Laurin received an OC Transpo safety award earlier this week for assisting the woman in need. With a report from CTV Ottawa's Katie GriffinAMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Kurdish militia in northern Syria has joined forces with Arab rebels, and their new alliance has been promised fresh weapon supplies by the United States for an assault on Islamic State forces in Raqqa, a spokesman said on Monday. The alliance calling itself the Democratic Forces of Syria includes the Kurdish YPG militia and Syrian Arab groups, some of which fought alongside it in a campaign that drove Islamic State from wide areas of northern Syria earlier this year. The Arab groups in the new alliance are operating under the name “The Syrian Arab Coalition” - a grouping which U.S. officials have said would receive support under a new U.S. strategy aimed at fighting Islamic State in Syria. A spokesman for some of the Arab rebels said they were told by Washington that new weapons were being sent to help them launch a joint offensive on the city of Raqqa. “We met the Americans and this has been approved and we have been told these new arms... are on their way,” said Abu Muazz, a spokesman for the Raqqa Revolutionaries Front, a grouping of mainly Arab tribal insurgents who are mostly drawn from the Raqqa area. He said the group constituted a 3,200-strong, well trained fighting force which could begin using the weapons within days of their arrival. It has an additional 600 fighters who are currently wounded, he said. A major offensive against the ultra-hardline Islamic State fighters could capture Raqqa in less than two months provided the “right weapons and quantities” arrived, Abu Muazz, himself from the jihadist-held city, said without elaborating. A U.S. military official has told Reuters that the Syrian Arab Coalition would push down towards Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital, while staying east of the Euphrates river. Keeping the YPG-backed force east of the river could ease Turkish concerns about any further expansion of Kurdish influence in northern Syria. Turkey is worried about the Kurds’ growing power in Syria fuelling separatism among its own Kurds. The United States last week announced a shake-up of its support to Syrian rebels fighting IS, effectively ending its program to train fighters outside Syria and focusing instead on providing weapons to groups whose commanders have been U.S.-vetted. The YPG has to date proved the most effective partner on the ground for U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State. By deepening ties with groups from Syria’s Arab majority, it could deflect concern among some Arabs that it exists solely to fight for the interests of Kurds. The YPG drove deep into Raqqa province earlier this year, but stopped short of advancing on Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa city, saying it wanted Syrian Arab rebels to lead such an assault. The new alliance includes the YPG, various Arab groups including Jaysh al-Thuwwar (Army of Rebels) and the Arab tribal Jaysh al-Sanadeed, and an Assyrian Christian group, according to a statement announcing its establishment. “The sensitive stage our country Syria is going through and rapid developments on the military and political front... require that there be a united national military force for all Syrians, joining Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs and other groups,” said the statement, which was sent to Reuters by a YPG spokesman. “Given that these forces in general are democratic and secular forces that believe to a great degree in diversity, we hope that they will receive support” from the U.S.-led coalition, said Nasir Haj Mansour, an official in the defense ministry of the Kurdish administration in YPG-held territory. “The current goal in practical terms is to confront Daesh, given that it is the first enemy, but the goal is also to build a democratic Syria in the future,” he said by telephone, using an acronym for Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.Officials
ER On a scale of 1 to 7, with “1” being “Not Important” and “7” being “Very Important”, please indicate the importance of the following factors when deciding whether to buy season tickets for an MLS team. 1 - Not Important 2 3 4 5 6 7 - Very Important Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) 1 - Not Important Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) 2 Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) 3 Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) 4 Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) 5 Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) 6 Ability to purchase a certain number of seats located together (i.e. eight seats located in the same row) 7 - Very Important Ability to purchase parking Ability to purchase parking 1 - Not Important Ability to purchase parking 2 Ability to purchase parking 3 Ability to purchase parking 4 Ability to purchase parking 5 Ability to purchase parking 6 Ability to purchase parking 7 - Very Important Access to a private club Access to a private club 1 - Not Important Access to a private club 2 Access to a private club 3 Access to a private club 4 Access to a private club 5 Access to a private club 6 Access to a private club 7 - Very Important Aisle seat Aisle seat 1 - Not Important Aisle seat 2 Aisle seat 3 Aisle seat 4 Aisle seat 5 Aisle seat 6 Aisle seat 7 - Very Important All-inclusive food & beverages All-inclusive food & beverages 1 - Not Important All-inclusive food & beverages 2 All-inclusive food & beverages 3 All-inclusive food & beverages 4 All-inclusive food & beverages 5 All-inclusive food & beverages 6 All-inclusive food & beverages 7 - Very Important Cost of tickets Cost of tickets 1 - Not Important Cost of tickets 2 Cost of tickets 3 Cost of tickets 4 Cost of tickets 5 Cost of tickets 6 Cost of tickets 7 - Very Important Discounts on single-game pricing Discounts on single-game pricing 1 - Not Important Discounts on single-game pricing 2 Discounts on single-game pricing 3 Discounts on single-game pricing 4 Discounts on single-game pricing 5 Discounts on single-game pricing 6 Discounts on single-game pricing 7 - Very Important Discounts on team merchandise Discounts on team merchandise 1 - Not Important Discounts on team merchandise 2 Discounts on team merchandise 3 Discounts on team merchandise 4 Discounts on team merchandise 5 Discounts on team merchandise 6 Discounts on team merchandise 7 - Very Important Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders 1 - Not Important Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders 2 Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders 3 Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders 4 Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders 5 Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders 6 Exclusive experiences available only to season ticket holders 7 - Very Important First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches 1 - Not Important First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches 2 First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches 3 First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches 4 First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches 5 First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches 6 First opportunity to buy tickets for concerts and international soccer matches 7 - Very Important In-seat food/beverage service In-seat food/beverage service 1 - Not Important In-seat food/beverage service 2 In-seat food/beverage service 3 In-seat food/beverage service 4 In-seat food/beverage service 5 In-seat food/beverage service 6 In-seat food/beverage service 7 - Very Important Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium 1 - Not Important Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium 2 Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium 3 Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium 4 Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium 5 Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium 6 Option to purchase tickets to other events at the stadium 7 - Very Important Private stadium entrance Private stadium entrance 1 - Not Important Private stadium entrance 2 Private stadium entrance 3 Private stadium entrance 4 Private stadium entrance 5 Private stadium entrance 6 Private stadium entrance 7 - Very Important Quality of league Quality of league 1 - Not Important Quality of league 2 Quality of league 3 Quality of league 4 Quality of league 5 Quality of league 6 Quality of league 7 - Very Important Quality of team and star players Quality of team and star players 1 - Not Important Quality of team and star players 2 Quality of team and star players 3 Quality of team and star players 4 Quality of team and star players 5 Quality of team and star players 6 Quality of team and star players 7 - Very Important Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) 1 - Not Important Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) 2 Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) 3 Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) 4 Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) 5 Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) 6 Seat distance from the field (i.e. row height) 7 - Very Important Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) 1 - Not Important Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) 2 Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) 3 Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) 4 Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) 5 Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) 6 Seat location in terms of stadium side (i.e. home side) 7 - Very Important Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) 1 - Not Important Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) 2 Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) 3 Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) 4 Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) 5 Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) 6 Seat location in terms of yardline (i.e. 50-yard line) 7 - Very Important Tailgating or pre-game party Tailgating or pre-game party 1 - Not Important Tailgating or pre-game party 2 Tailgating or pre-game party 3 Tailgating or pre-game party 4 Tailgating or pre-game party 5 Tailgating or pre-game party 6 Tailgating or pre-game party 7 - Very Important Team schedule Team schedule 1 - Not Important 1 - Not Important Team schedule 2 2 Team schedule 3 3 Team schedule 4 4 Team schedule 5 5 Team schedule 6 6 Team schedule 7 - Very Important 7 - Very Important SEAT LOCATION PREFERENCE A new stadium located in San Diego could serve as the home of a MLS expansion team and would offer a variety of seating options located around the field. General Seating locations would include standard-sized stadium seats and access to general public concessions, restrooms, and entrances. Premium Seating would also be available and offer the best views of the field in the stadium and could include wider, padded seats with more leg room, access to private climate-controlled lounge spaces with upscale food and beverage options, private restrooms, private stadium entrances, and access to preferred parking, among other such benefits. GENERAL SEATING LOCATION PREFERENCE General Seating could be located in a variety of areas in a new stadium located in San Diego, and would include access to general public concessions, restrooms and entrances. Please indicate which general seating areas you would consider purchasing season tickets for a MLS team in a new stadium, understanding that the most prime locations would be more expensive. Please select all that apply. Lower Level Sideline Upper Level Sideline Lower Level End Line Upper Level End Line Supporter Section I would not purchase any of these locations PREMIUM SEATING LOCATION PREFERENCE Premium seating could be located in a variety of areas and offer the best sightlines and amenities in a new stadium located in San Diego. The following table provides an overview of the five (5) potential premium seat concepts. The previous table provides possible premium seating locations in a new stadium located in San Diego. Please indicate which premium seat areas you would consider purchasing for MLS home matches in a new stadium for the season, understanding that the most prime locations would be more expensive. Please select all that apply. West Club Seats East Club Seats Field Loge Seats Loge Box Luxury Suite I would not purchase any of these locations GENERAL SEATS - LOWER LEVEL SIDELINE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located along the sidelines of the lower level of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $1,100 per seat ($65 per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $1,000 per seat ($59 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $900 per seat ($53 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located along the sidelines of the lower level, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Would you (your company) prefer to share the full season ticket package with another group or utilize the seats on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - UPPER LEVEL SIDELINE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located along the sidelines of the upper level of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $850 per seat ($50 per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $800 per seat ($47 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $750 per seat ($44 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located in the upper level along the sidelines, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Would you (your company) prefer to share the full season ticket package with another group or utilize the seats on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - LOWER LEVEL END LINE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located behind the goal in the lower level, on the end opposite of the supporter section, of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $600 per seat ($35 per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $550 per seat ($32 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $500 per seat ($29 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located behind the goal in the lower level, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Would you (your company) prefer to share the full season ticket package with another group or utilize the seats on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - UPPER LEVEL END LINE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located behind the goal in the upper level, on the end opposite of the supporter section, of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $550 per seat ($32 per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $500 per seat ($29 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $450 per seat ($26 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located behind the goal in the upper level, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Would you (your company) prefer to share the full season ticket package with another group or utilize the seats on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - SUPPORTER SECTION How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets in the supporter section in a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $500 per seat ($29 per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $450 per seat ($26 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $400 per seat ($24 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets in the supporter section, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Would you (your company) prefer to share the full season ticket package with another group or utilize the seats on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". CLUB SEATS - WEST CLUB SEATS A new stadium in San Diego could include club seats located in the lower level on the west side. Features and amenities associated with West Club Seats could include: · Wider, padded seats with more legroom · Access to a climate-controlled lounge off the main concourse · Enhanced concession options available for purchase · Private restrooms inside the club room · Tickets to all MLS regular season home matches · First right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing West Club Seats at a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $2,500 per seat ($147 per game) and included tickets to all regular season home MLS matches and first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $2,000 per seat ($118 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $1,500 per seat ($88 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase West Club Seats, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Would you (your company) prefer to share the full season West Club Seat ticket package with another group or utilize the seats on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season West Club Seat ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". CLUB SEATS - EAST CLUB SEATS A new stadium located in San Diego could include club seats located on the east side of the stadium in the lower level. Features and amenities associated with East Club Seats could include: · Wider, padded seat with more legroom · Access to a climate-controlled lounge located at field level · Ability to watch players enter and exit the field, as well as live post-match player and manager press conferences · All-inclusive food and beverage options · Private restrooms · Tickets to all MLS regular season home matches · First right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing East Club Seats at a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $3,500 per seat ($206 per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches, all-inclusive food and beverage, and first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $3,000 per seat ($176 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $2,500 per seat ($147 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase East Club Seats, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Would you (your company) prefer to share the full season East Club Seats ticket package with another group or utilize the seats on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season East Club Seats ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". CLUB SEATS - FIELD LOGE SEATS A new stadium located in San Diego could also include loge seats located along the sideline on either side of the stadium at field level with prime views of the on-field action. Field Loge Seats would also include amenities such as: · In-seat wait service · VIP parking · Private stadium entrance · Access to a private club lounge · Field Loge Seats located on the east side of the stadium would have access to a climate-controlled club lounge located at field level · Field Loge Seats located on the west side of the stadium would have access to a climate-controlled club lounge located on the concourse level · Upscale all-inclusive food and beverage · Private restrooms · Casual seating areas A minimum of four (4) seats would be required to sit in this area. Field Loge Seats would include tickets to all MLS regular season home matches as well as the first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium. How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing Field Loge Seats located along the sideline at a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $22,500 for four (4) seats ($331 per seat, per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches and first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $20,000 for four (4) seats ($294 per seat, per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $17,500 for four (4) seats ($257 per seat, per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase Would you (your company) prefer to share the cost of Field Loge Seats with another group or utilize the four-seat purchase on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share with another group I would purchase the seats alone With how many other parties would you share a full season ticket package? One Two Three More than three Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". Field loge seats could be located on the east or west side of the stadium. · East side Field Loge Seats will be located on the sunny side of the stadium during afternoon and early evening matches. Field Loge Seats located on the east side of the stadium will have access to a field level club lounge which provides you with the ability to watch players enter and exit the field, as well as live post-match player and manager press conferences. · West side Field Loge Seats will be located on the shaded side of the stadium during afternoon and early evening matches. Field Loge Seats located on the west side of the stadium will have access to an exclusive club lounge located on the concourse that is accessible to Field Loge Seat holders only. Given the amenities associated with various locations of field loge seats, on which side of the stadium would you prefer to purchase Field Loge Seats? East side (sunny side of the stadium with access to field level club lounge) West side (shaded side of the stadium with access to an exclusive club lounge located on the main concourse) CLUB SEATS - LOGE BOX A new stadium located in San Diego could include loge boxes located along the sideline with prime views of the field. Loge boxes are open-air boxes (similar to an opera box) that seat four (4) people and feature comfortable chairs on casters and could include amenities such as: · Drink rail and flat screen televisions · In-box wait service · VIP parking · Private stadium entrance · Access to a private club lounge with casual seating areas · Upscale food and beverage options · Private restrooms · Tickets to all regular season home MLS matches and first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing a 4-seat loge box at a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $27,500 ($404 per seat, per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches and first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $25,000 per 4-seat box ($368 per seat, per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $22,500 per 4-seat box ($331 per seat, per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase Would you (your company) prefer to share the cost of a loge box with another group or utilize the box on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share the loge box I would purchase the loge box alone How many seats would you (your company) prefer to purchase in a shared box? Two Three Four More than Four Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". CLUB SEATS - LUXURY SUITES A new stadium located in San Diego could also include luxury suites located along the east and west sideline approximately 15 rows from the field and could include amenities such as: · Seating for 12 people with seats located in the bowl · Private lounge area · VIP parking · Private stadium entrance · In-suite catering · Upscale food and beverage options · In-suite attendant · Multiple flat screen televisions · Drink rail · In-suite refrigerator · Private restrooms · Tickets to all MLS regular season home matches and first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing a 12-seat luxury suite at a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $75,000 ($368 per seat, per game) and included tickets to all MLS regular season home matches and first right to purchase tickets to all other events hosted at the stadium? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $65,000 per 12-seat suite ($319 per seat, per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $55,000 per 12-seat suite ($270 per seat, per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase Would you (your company) prefer to share the cost of a luxury suite with another group or utilize the suite on your own over the entire MLS season? I would prefer to share the luxury suite I would purchase the luxury suite alone How many seats would you (your company) prefer to purchase in a shared luxury suite? Two Three Four Five Six More than Six Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". SEAT PURCHASE INTENT - MLS Among all of the seating options that may be available in a new stadium located in San Diego for the MLS, please choose the single option you (your company) would most likely purchase. Single Match Tickets General Seating : Lower Level Sideline General Seating : Upper Level Sideline General Seating : Lower Level End Line General Seating : Upper Level End Line General Seating : Supporter Section Premium Seating : West Club Seats Premium Seating : East Club Seats Premium Seating : Field Loge Seats Premium Seating : Loge Box Premium Seating : Luxury Suite I would not purchase full season tickets, but would consider a half season or flex plan option I would not purchase tickets Some fans prefer to purchase multiple seating areas within the stadium. Do you intend to purchase more than one seating option in a new stadium located in San Diego? Yes No Please indicate the additional seating option you (your company) would purchase. Single Match Tickets General Seating : Lower Level Sideline General Seating : Upper Level Sideline General Seating : Lower Level End Line General Seating : Upper Level End Line General Seating : Supporter Section Premium Seating : West Club Seats Premium Seating : East Club Seats Premium Seating : Field Loge Seats Premium Seating : Loge Box Premium Seating : Luxury Suite PREMIUM SEAT LEASE TERMS Premium seating for a MLS team at a new stadium in San Diego could be available on a variety of multi-year terms. A common incentive for signing a longer term lease is a lower or no annual price increase. Lease agreements for new premium seats for a MLS team at a new stadium in San Diego could be offered in 3, 5 or 10 year terms, payable annually. Recognizing that lower annual price increases would be associated with longer lease terms, which multi-year commitment would you likely choose? 3-year commitment 5-year commitment 10-year commitment SDSU FOOTBALL SEAT LOCATION PREFERENCE A new stadium located in San Diego that could potentially serve as the home of SDSU football would offer a variety of seating options located around the field. Priority (Donor) Seating locations would include standard-sized stadium seats and access to general public concessions, restrooms, and entrances. The purchase of priority seating would require an annual donation to the Aztec Club, a portion of which would be tax deductible as a charitable donation. Premium Seating would also be available and offer the best views of the field in the stadium and could include wider, padded seats with more leg room, access to private climate-controlled lounge spaces with upscale food and beverage options, private restrooms, private stadium entrances, and access to preferred parking, among other such benefits. PRIORITY SEATING LOCATION PREFERENCE Priority Seating could be located in a variety of areas in a new stadium located in San Diego, and would include access to general public concessions, restrooms and entrances. Please indicate which priority seating areas you would consider purchasing for a full season of SDSU football in a new stadium, understanding that the most prime locations would be more expensive. Please select all that apply. Lower Level Sideline Lower Level End Zone Upper Level Sideline Between the 30’s Upper Level Sideline Between the 10 yard line and the 30 yard line Upper Level Sideline Between the End Zone and the 10 yard line Upper Level Corner Upper Level End Zone I would not purchase any of these locations PREMIUM SEATING LOCATION PREFERENCE Premium seating could be located in a variety of areas in a new stadium located in San Diego. The following table provides an overview of the four (4) potential premium seat concepts. The previous table provides possible premium seating locations in a new stadium located in San Diego. Please indicate which premium seat areas you would consider purchasing for SDSU football for the season in a new stadium, understanding that the most prime locations would be more expensive. Please select all that apply. West Club Seats East Club Seats Loge Box Luxury Suite I would not purchase any of these locations GENERAL SEATS - LOWER LEVEL SIDELINE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located along the sidelines of the lower level of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $900 per seat (including a $600 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $300, or $150 per game) and included tickets to all SDSU football home games? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $800 per seat (including a $500 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $300, or $133 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $700 per seat (including a $400 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $300, or $117 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located along the sidelines of the lower level, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - LOWER LEVEL END ZONE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located in the end zone of the lower level of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $400 per seat (including a $200 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $67 per game) and included tickets to all SDSU home football games? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $350 per seat (including a $150 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $58 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $300 per seat (including a $100 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $50 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located behind the goal in the lower level, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - UPPER LEVEL SIDELINE BETWEEN THE 30’s How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located along the sidelines between the 30’s of the upper level of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $1,000 per seat (including a $700 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $300, or $167 per game) and included tickets to all SDSU home football games? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $900 per seat (including a $600 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $300, or $150 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $800 per seat (including a $500 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $300, or $133 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located in the upper level along the sideline (between the 30’s), how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - UPPER LEVEL SIDELINE BETWEEN THE 10 AND 30-YARD LINES How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located along the sidelines between the 10 and 30-yard lines of the upper level of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $850 per seat (including a $600 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $250, or $142 per game) and included tickets to all SDSU home football games? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $750 per seat (including a $500 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $250, or $125 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $650 per seat (including a $400 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $250, or $42 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located in the upper level along the sideline (between the 10 and 30-yard lines), how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - UPPER LEVEL SIDELINE BETWEEN THE END ZONE AND 10 YARD LINE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located along the sidelines between the end zone and 10 yard line of the upper level of a new stadium located in San Diego if the annual price was $600 per seat (including a $400 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $100 per game) and included tickets to all SDSU home football games? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $500 per seat (including a $300 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $83 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $400 per seat (including a $200 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $67 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located in the upper level along the sideline (between the end zone and the 10-yard line), how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - UPPER LEVEL CORNER How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located in the corner of the upper level of a new stadium in San Diego if the annual price was $275 per seat (including a $75 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $46 per game) and included tickets to all SDSU home football games? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $250 per seat (including a $50 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $42 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $225 per seat (including a $25 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $38 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located in the corner of the upper level, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". GENERAL SEATS - UPPER LEVEL END ZONE How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing season tickets located behind the end zone in the upper level of a new stadium in San Diego if the annual price was $350 per seat (including a $150 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $58 per game) and included tickets to all SDSU home football games? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $300 per seat (including a $100 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $50 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase What if the annual price was $250 per seat (including a $50 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of $200, or $42 per game)? Definitely purchase Likely purchase Possibly purchase Would not purchase If you (your company) decided to purchase season tickets located behind the end zone in the upper level, how many would you (your company) likely purchase? One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight More than Eight Please specify: Enter numerical value only, i.e. "15". CLUB SEATS - WEST CLUB SEATS A new stadium in San Diego could include club seats located in the lower level on the west side. Features and amenities associated with West Club Seats could include: · Wider, padded seats with more legroom · Access to a climate-controlled lounge off the main concourse · Enhanced concession options available for purchase · Private restrooms inside the club room · Tickets to all SDSU home football games How would you describe your (your company’s) interest in purchasing West Club Seats at a new stadium in San Diego if the annual price was $3,000 per seat (including a $2,650 donation to the Aztec Club and a season ticket cost of
2012 ( ) 112 3.48[17] 13 13 "Boss Mabel" John Aoshima Story by: Tommy Reahard Teleplay by: Tim McKeon & Alex Hirsch February 15, 2013 ( ) 114 3.45[18] 14 14 "Bottomless Pit!" Aaron Springer & Joe Pitt Alex Hirsch & Michael Rianda March 1, 2013 ( ) 115 3.10[19] 15 15 "The Deep End" Aaron Springer & Joe Pitt Nancy Cohen March 15, 2013 ( ) 113 4.50[20] 16 16 "Carpet Diem" Joe Pitt Tim McKeon, Zach Paez & Alex Hirsch April 5, 2013 ( ) 117 3.36[21] 17 17 "Boyz Crazy" John Aoshima Matt Chapman & Alex Hirsch April 19, 2013 ( ) 116 3.16[22] 18 18 "Land Before Swine" John Aoshima Tim McKeon & Alex Hirsch June 28, 2013 ( ) 118 3.50[23] 19 19 "Dreamscaperers" Joe Pitt & John Aoshima Tim McKeon, Matt Chapman & Alex Hirsch July 12, 2013 ( ) 119 2.70[24] 20 20 "Gideon Rises" John Aoshima & Joe Pitt Matt Chapman, Alex Hirsch & Michael Rianda August 2, 2013 ( ) 120 3.18[25] Season 2 (2014–16) [ edit ] Shorts [ edit ] The five short series, Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained, Mabel's Guide to Life, Fixin' It with Soos, TV Shorts and Mabel's Scrapbook, aired between the first and second season of Gravity Falls. Short overview [ edit ] Series Title Episodes Originally aired First aired Last aired 1 Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained 6 October 14, 2013 ( ) October 18, 2013 ( 2013-10-18 ) 2 Mabel's Guide to Life 5 February 3, 2014 ( ) February 7, 2014 ( 2014-02-07 ) 3 Fixin' It with Soos 2 April 21, 2014 ( ) April 22, 2014 ( 2014-04-22 ) 4 TV Shorts 2 April 23, 2014 ( ) April 24, 2014 ( 2014-04-24 ) 5 Mabel's Scrapbook 2 June 2, 2014 ( ) Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained (2013) [ edit ] No. overall No. in series Title Original air date Prod. code 1 1 "Candy Monster" October 14, 2013 ( ) 004 Dipper and Mabel investigate Gravity Falls Anomaly #76, a monster trying to eat their leftover Summerween candy.[46] 2 2 "Stan's Tattoo" October 14, 2013 ( ) 001 Dipper tries to investigate Anomaly #23, the enigma that is Stan's tattoo.[46] 3 3 "The Mailbox" October 15, 2013 ( ) 002 Dipper and Soos investigate anomaly #54, a mailbox in the middle of the woods that can communicate and answer any question. 4 4 "Lefty" October 16, 2013 ( ) 006 Dipper and Mabel investigate anomaly #82, a guy who only faces left. 5 5 "The Tooth" October 17, 2013 ( ) 005 Dipper, Mabel, and Bear-o (Mabel's bear puppet) investigate Anomaly #42, a gigantic tooth in the shores of the lake. 6 6 "The Hide-Behind" October 18, 2013 ( ) 003 Dipper investigates Anomaly #132, a lumberjack legend known as the hide-behind. A creature never seen before. Mabel's Guide to Life (2014) [ edit ] No. overall No. in series Title Original air date Prod. code 7 1 "Mabel's Guide to Dating" February 3, 2014 ( ) 008 Mabel tests her dating quiz on Grunkle Stan, Dipper, and Soos.[47][48] 8 2 "Mabel's Guide to Stickers" February 4, 2014 ( ) 010 Mabel gives her perspective on the history of stickers.[47][48] 9 3 "Mabel's Guide to Fashion" February 5, 2014 ( ) 009 Mabel talks about how she's great at fashion, and then shows some flash makeovers on Soos, Stan, and Old Man McGucket.[47] 10 4 "Mabel's Guide to Color" February 6, 2014 ( ) 011 Mabel learns Grunkle Stan has never seen a rainbow and declares a color emergency.[47] 11 5 "Mabel's Guide to Art" February 7, 2014 ( ) 007 Mabel's gift of art has driven her to create of her own art movement: the "Cat-icature" and "Humanicaticature".[47] Fixin' It with Soos (2014) [ edit ] No. overall No. in series Title Original air date Prod. code 12 1 "Golf Cart" April 21, 2014 ( ) 015 Soos helps Wendy and Dipper fix the golf cart after they crash it during a stunt.[49] 13 2 "Cuckoo Clock" April 22, 2014 ( ) 014 Stan gets annoyed with the cuckoo clock and breaks it. So Soos decides to fix and decorate it along with Mabel.[50] TV Shorts (2014) [ edit ] No. overall No. in series Title Original air date Prod. code 14 1 "TV Shorts 1" April 23, 2014 ( ) 016 The episode starts with Mabel turning the TV on. Then she sees the following TV shorts: "Mystery Shack Commercial", "Soos Says Some Words" and "Li'l Gideon's Big House".[51] 15 2 "TV Shorts 2" April 24, 2014 ( ) 017 The episode starts with Grunkle Stan turning the TV on. Then the following shorts appear: "Why You Ackin' So Cray-Cray?", "Teenz Talk" and "Duck-tective".[52] Mabel's Scrapbook (2014) [ edit ] No. overall No. in series Title Original air date Prod. code 16 1 "Heist Movie" June 2, 2014 ( ) 013 Mabel tells the story of how she, Stan, Dipper and Soos snuck into the movie theater to see the movie Pony Heist.[53] 17 2 "Petting Zoo" June 2, 2014 ( ) 012 Mabel tells the story of how the family visited the petting zoo where they save a mutated cow from being potentially eaten.[54] Behind-the-scenes special [ edit ] Title Original air date U.S. viewers (millions) "Between the Pines" February 8, 2016 ( ) [note 6] 0.77[55] In this special episode, hosted by Time Baby and series creator Alex Hirsch, exclusive facts and information regarding the series are revealed. Notes [ edit ] ^ The first episode of season 1 premiered as a series preview. The series made its official premiere on Disney Channel on June 29, 2012. ^ This first episode of season 2 premiered on Disney Channel. The second season officially began on August 4, 2014 on Disney XD, the new network for the series. ^ This episode premiered on Disney Channel prior to Disney XD. The episode premiered on Disney XD on August 4, 2014. ^ This episode premiered on Disney Channel prior to Disney XD. The episode premiered on Disney XD on October 6, 2014. ^ This episode is a one-hour special. However, as of March 2, 2016, this episode has sometimes been split up into two separate 22 minute episodes. The first half of the episode is still titled "Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls", while the second half of the episode is titled "Weirdmageddon 4: Somewhere in the Woods". ^ A "Post-Finale Edition" of this episode aired on March 26, 2016. It featured clips from the series finale added in. References [ edit ]In response to our first growth-idea proposal. We have now moved into the growth-proposal phase after receiving a 100 % approval to move forward to the growth-proposal phase you can see the results here. We are proud to move on into the 2nd phase! Summary: The idea is to create a censor resistant decentralized micro-blogging application that sits on top of the Steem Blockchain. This will allow people to quickly give updates to their life and get some value back in doing so. With the Attention Economy fresh upon us, and we are all striving to achieve a new way to bring to the masses,but we also wanted to usher in the Activity Economy. One is not exclusive to the other,but can handshake with each other. Problem: Short form micro-blogging is still a necessary format in the SteemIt ecosystem. We have the long-tail with the main SteemIt platform, but short-form is under served and the platform in it’s current form doesn’t accommodate this need well. Solution: Nate Brune ( @picokernel ) had envisioned a version of Twitter on SteemIt originally called Squeak. We’ve decided to expand on this vision with some better functions and features. As mentioned above, we believe in a new model (or, an additional model ) we call the Activity Economy. You cannot have an Attention Economy without the activity. We hope by providing the necessary activity, this will create the necessary network effect of value to the SteemIt eco-system as a whole. We’ll be writing more about the Activity Economy very soon. Desired Outcome: Proposed Development Schedule : (9 weeks ) IOS: 480 hrs ANDROID: 480 hrs Website: 480 hrs API: 210 hrs ADMIN : 180 hrs Mockup Designing & UI Freezing: 50 hrs Reminder, we’ll be doing a complete re-branding overhaul of this project from From Squeak to Zappl. There will be other additional changes done which can be found below. On launch features Profile Feed / Main-Page Follower feed Followers page Following page Categories Steemconnect.com login Normal login Wallet page Great user ui/ux Promoted system Embedding twitch, youtube and other forms of media After launch features and goals. Emoji support? Multi lang support Multi lang special characters support Image uploading Private messaging system (Likely Rsa AES p2p encrypted messaging.) Poll system Tipping system Internal market? Blocktrades integration? Cost: $32,000 SBD To start contributing to the Zappl project transfer SBD/Steem to the @Zappl account. Early adopters who contribute will get special access to our Zapsters room at our Zappl discord channel. Let us know of the ID you used to contribue to the project and we’ll unlock the room. You’ll be able to get first access to the latest and greatest updates of Zappl and have direct access to the development team and influence decision making. Imagine having access to Jack Dorsey, or Evan Williams of Twitter early on! SO what are you waiting for become a contributor and let’s change the world with Zappl! In Other News: As mentioned above we have our Discord Channel so feel free to drop in and say hi! We love our SteemIt community. Want to get involved in Zappl? Let us know what kind of role you want to play. Thanks for ALL the support! The Zappl Team Our social media profiles and misc: Twitter Facebook Discord Follow, Upvote, Comment, ReSteem, Share @thedegensloth, @steemitqa, and @zappl STEEM ON! :)The ruling made public on Wednesday by the Lausanne-based court involved a man who made the gesture at a rally of right-wing nationalists in the canton of Uri on August 8th 2010. The court ruled on appeal that making a Hitler salute — lifting an arm up into the air at an angle of 45 degrees with a straight hand — is not punishable unless the person involved is proven to be “spreading racist ideology”. Otherwise, a person is “free to express a personal sentiment or belief” with the gesture, according to the ruling. The case concerned a raised-arm motion made by the defendant at Rütli, a mountain meadow on Lake Lucene, where federal government politicians traditionally give speeches to celebrate the Swiss national holiday on August 1st and to commemorate the country’s origins in 1291. Neo-nazi groups have disrupted such ceremonies in the past before tighter security measures were put into place. The incident occurred at a gathering of 150 members of the Swiss nationalist party, held a week after the national day, when the man, who was found guilty by a lower court, was observed publicly making a Nazi salute for 20 seconds. Martine Brunschwig Graf, president of the Swiss federal commission against racism, was critical of the top court’s decision. “The ruling can only mean there is no legal recourse against the Hitler salute,” Brunschwig Graf told the Swiss news agency SDA this week. A Swiss law, which came into effect in 1995, bans displays of Nazi symbolism for the purpose of promoting racist ideology. But the federal government has stopped short of banning the Nazi salute and the swastika symbol as neighbouring countries such as Austria and Germany have done. The Swiss court ruling makes it difficult for some one who makes a Nazi salute or shouts “Heil Hitler” to be accused of “propagating a racist ideology”, Hans Stutz, a journalist who covers right-wing extremist groups told the ATS news agency. Stutz warned that more frequent use of Hitler salutes is to be expected from such groups, given the difficulty in convicting someone under the current laws. Marcel Niggli, professor of law at the University of Fribourg, told ATS the term “propagation” is moreover, deliberately imprecise. To display a Nazi symbol, for example, is not considered in itself to be propagating an ideology, Niggli said. The Tablet, an online magazine about Jewish news, ideas and culture from the US, called the court’s distinction about kinds of Hitler salutes “a rather small technicality, considering the instantaneous associations most people presumably make upon seeing a Nazi salute being performed.” The Voice of Russia in covering the Swiss court decision noted on its website that a Nazi salute is regarded as Nazi propaganda that can be punishable by Russian law to a jail term of up to 15 days. The Kremlin press service noted this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill making attempts to “whitewash Nazism” punishable by hefty fines and prison terms.The commercial weight-loss drug lorcaserin appeared to reduce the use of and craving for oxycodone in rats that had been self-administering the opioid, according to a study published online in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience. Treatments for opioid addiction typically work by blocking or competing for receptors that opioids bind to in an attempt to reduce their euphoric effect, researchers explained. However, people who use such treatments often relapse, especially in environments that trigger memories of past opioid use. Previous preclinical trials have suggested lorcaserin curbed cravings for nicotine and cocaine, even in tempting environments. Researchers aimed to test whether it could do the same with opioids. Buprenorphine Implant Helps Maintain Opioid Abstinence Among rats that were self-administering oxycodone, those who received lorcaserin (Belviq) were subsequently less likely to take the opioid and to demonstrate drug-seeking behaviors than those who did not receive lorcaserin. The effect held firm even when the rats were exposed to cues, including light and sound, they were conditioned to associate with oxycodone. “The ability of lorcaserin to reduce the oxycodone self-administration and decrease cue reactivity associated with relapse highlights the therapeutic potential for lorcaserin in the treatment of opioid use disorder,” researchers wrote. —Jolynn Tumolo References Neelakantan H, Holliday ED, Fox RG, et al. Lorcaserin suppresses oxycodone self-administration and relapse vulnerability in rats. ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 2017 January 20;[Epub ahead of print]. Commercial weight-loss drug could help treat opioid addiction [press release]. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society; February 8, 2017.How’s this for a staunch defense of free speech in a secular state? Recently, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh denounced anyone who criticized religion or expressed their own lack of religious faith in striking terms: “I don’t consider such writings as freethinking but filthy words. Why would anyone write such words? It’s not at all acceptable if anyone writes against our prophet or other religions.” So does she mean that it’s all right to kill people who write such words? Hack them to death with machetes, usually? She didn’t say “yes,” but she didn’t exactly say “no” either. And this is regrettable, because quite a few people are being hacked to death in Bangladesh these days. In the current wave of murders, most of the victims have been “secular” bloggers who publicly stated that they were atheists and offered reasons for their lack of belief. They did not criticize or mock Islam directly, but merely insisting that religious faith was not necessary or rational was enough to “hurt religious sentiment.” For some people, it was reason enough to kill them. Four high-profile secular bloggers were hacked to death in separate attacks in Bangladesh last year, in a campaign of murder that was clearly more than just random incidents of religious rage. What was remarkable was the response of the government — or rather, its lack of response. Prime Minister Hasina leads a country of 160 million people that is officially committed to defending the freedoms of speech and belief of citizens of every religion (and of no religion at all). But while she publicly deplored the murders, she was careful at the same time to insinuate that the bloggers were outrageous people who had in some way deserved to be killed. She also insisted that these murders were the work of the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), or more precisely of its political ally, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party. She firmly denied that foreign extremist forces like Islamic State or al-Qaida (which would certainly approve of the killings) are active in the country. This probably seems to the prime minister to be sound practical politics in a country where 90 percent of the population is Muslim. So while not openly approving of murder, she publicly sympathizes with conservative Muslims who think they have the right to live in a society where their beliefs are never publicly questioned. It’s also good politics for her to blame the violence exclusively on the opposition parties, since admitting that foreign Islamists are involved would mean that she was failing in her duty to defend the country. But the result of her pragmatism and passivity has been a rapid expansion in the range of targets that are coming under attack by the extremists. On April 23, professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, who edited a literary magazine and founded a music school — and never blogged about religion at all — was murdered by machete-wielding men as he left his home in the northern city of Rajshahi to go to the university. He was an observant Muslim, but he was involved in cultural activities which many hard-line groups condemn as “un-Islamic.” The following day gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan, editor of a LGBT magazine, and actor Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy were hacked to death in the magazine’s offices in the capital, Dhaka. In other recent violence religious minorities have been attacked: Shiite and Ahmadi mosques, Christian priests and Hindus. (Several of the murdered bloggers belonged to the 10 percent Hindu minority, and their issue was religious belief in general, not Islam in particular.) So is Bangladeshi society drifting into the chronic terrorism against minorities of all sorts that afflicts its former ruler, Pakistan? The answer, unfortunately, is probably yes — and the blame lies mainly with the two women who have polarized Bangladesh’s political life for so long. Prime Minister Hasina is one of only two survivors of the family of Mujibur Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s independence struggle and its first prime minister. (He was massacred with all the rest of his family in a military coup in 1975.) The opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, is the widow of Gen. Ziaur Rahman, who led a subsequent military coup and declared Islam to be the state religion, only to be killed in yet another coup in 1981. In theory, at least, Hasina’s Awami League represents the ideal of a secular Bangladesh that embraces its minorities, and Zia’s BNP depends mainly on the support of conservative Sunni Muslims whose ideal society is explicitly Islamic. Such divisions exist in every Muslim society, but they are made far sharper by the mutual hatred of the two women who have utterly dominated Bangladesh’s politics for the past 25 years. The BNP’s alliance with Islamist parties pushes it ever closer to the religious extremists, and Hasina’s pandering to conservative Islamic sentiment (in order not to lose devout Muslim voters to the BNP) is taking her party in the same direction. And Islamic State and al-Qaida definitely are active in the country. Bangladesh is in deep trouble. Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.The scandal that led to the first-ever criminal charges against a governor of Virginia started with a dress. Soon after Republican Bob McDonnell won his 2009 gubernatorial election, his wife, Maureen, found herself in a tough spot. According to Tuesday’s indictment, she needed financial help, and asked Jonnie Williams, the head of a health product company and a campaign supporter, to buy her an Oscar de la Renta dress for her husband’s inauguration. A senior McDonnell staff member shot down the idea, and was met with this in an email from Maureen in late December 2009: I need to talk to you about Inaugural clothing budget. I need answers and Bob is screaming about the thousands I’m charging up in credit card debt. We are broke, have an unconscionable amount in credit card debt already, and this Inaugural is killing us!! I need answers and I need help, and I need to get this done. There’s no excusing what the McDonnells are alleged to have done: trading the influence of the Virginia governor’s office for gifts from Jonnie Williams. But Tuesday’s indictment and the charges against the McDonnells show just how difficult it is to be an American politician without great wealth, and how easy it can be to slip down a path toward corruption. The McDonnells are substantially different from a sizable number of other major political families. According to the most recent data, most members of Congress are now millionaires. Bob McDonnell’s successor, Terry McAullife, has earned tens of millions of dollars in the last few years alone. The McDonnells’ financial problems were not exaggerated in that 2009 email from Maureen. Just before the housing market crashed, McDonnell and his family invested in three rental properties worth between $800,000 and more than $1 million each. According to the federal indictment, two Virginia Beach properties belonging to MoBo, a company owned by Bob McDonnell and his sister, “required capital infusions of up to $60,000 annually to meet mortgage payments and other expenses.” MoBo, the indictment states, “relied on loans, including those from family and friends, to make up the difference.” The company was also exploring refinancing the properties from 2009 to 2012. The McDonnells, by all accounts, were in steep financial trouble by the time they arrived in the governor’s mansion. And to meet the financial pressures of life in public office, they turned to an incredibly outlandish scheme. It’s not surprising to see U.S. politicians place so much value on appearance, even well above their own means. To be shocked is to ignore the often outrageous pressure society puts on its (especially female) political figures to look the part. Not even Janet Yellen can wear a dress twice. And remember, as big as the bill is for Maureen McDonnell’s shopping spree, it doesn’t even touch the $150,000 the Republican National Committee spent on a makeover for Sarah Palin in 2008. But the McDonnell case isn’t just about money for fashion. In May 2011, Maureen McDonnell met with Jonnie Williams to tell him about the McDonnells’ “severe financial difficulties,” according to the indictment, and asked him for a $50,000 loan in exchange for help promoting Williams’ Star Scientific products. According to the indictment, Maureen also told Williams that she and her husband “did not know how they were going to pay for their daughter’s upcoming wedding expenses.” That money wasn’t just for dresses or Rolexes. Maureen McDonnell received the $50,000 and deposited it into her personal bank account, which before that infusion had a balance of only $4,798. Nearly $20,000 of Williams’ money was used not for makeovers, but to pay off credit-card debt. “Thanks so much for all your help with my family,” Bob McDonnell wrote Williams later that month. Relative political poverty does not justify the former governor’s alleged crimes, nor does it condone his wife’s trade of favors for dresses or family vacations. It certainly doesn’t make it right for the McDonnells to receive a hot-tub installation from Jonnie Williams’ brother. The American political system makes it easier for the wealthy to prevail. But the McDonnell case shows that the flip side is also true: In U.S. politics, not having enough money can carve out a path to ruin.March 2000 June 2016 March 2000 June 2016 March 2000 June 2016 Credit: Donald Miralle/Allsport (left) and Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press (right) In 2000, Michael Phelps traveled to Sydney, Australia, to swim in his first Olympics. He finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly final, ahead of three swimmers who were in their 20s. Phelps was 15. Now 31, Phelps — with a young son in tow and 27 Olympic medals around his neck — has swum in more Olympic events than anyone else in history. That was before his events in Rio this year: if those are included, no one else comes close. The Rio Games represent his fifth Olympics. By charting all of Phelps’s individual race times since Sydney, including the time that won him gold in the 200-meter Individual Medley on Tuesday, we can see how his performance has changed over the last 16 years: 2008 ’11 2012 ’09 5% Faster ’15 2016 Gold Faster times ’07 ’06 ’03 ’10 ’14 2004 ’05 Silver ’02 ’01 2000 ’13 2016 Olympic Qualifying Times Each line is Phelps’s time in a single race Phelps retired during 2013, and was suspended for a D.U.I. for much of 2015. Slower times Swimmers often swim slower when training for important events. 5% Slower Phelps could do no wrong at the Beijing Olympics: he won gold in all of his events. He is training for Rio with a regimen similar to the one that helped him dominate in Beijing. He is training for Rio with a regimen similar to the one that helped him dominate in Beijing. Phelps could do no wrong at the Beijing Olympics: he won gold in all of his events. Faster times 2008 ’11 2012 ’09 ’15 2016 5% Faster ’07 Gold ’06 ’03 ’10 ’14 2004 Silver ’05 ’02 ’01 2000 2016 Olympic Qualifying Times ’13 Each line is Phelps’s time in a single race Phelps retired during 2013, and was suspended for a D.U.I. for much of 2015. 5% Slower Slower times Swimmers often swim slower when training for important events. 2016 Olympic Qualifying Times 5% Slower 5% Faster 2000 Slower times Faster times ’01 ’02 ’03 Each dot is Phelps’s time in one race ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 Phelps won gold in all of his events at the Beijing Olympics. ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 Gold Silver Phelps retired in 2013, and was suspended for a D.U.I. in 2015. ’13 ’14 ’15 2016 He is training for Rio with a regimen similar to the one that helped him dominate in Beijing. Note: Only individual events are shown; relays are excluded. All swim times are plotted relative to the 2016 Olympics Qualifying Time for respective events. Medals shown in non-Olympic years are for Pan Pacific Championships or World Championships. Data includes most major meets. Source: Swimrankings.net Most swimmers typically peak around the age of 21, but Phelps swept gold in his events in Beijing at 23. In the leadup to Rio this year, he has posted some times that have approached his fastest ever. In July, he said, “It's been since 2009 since I’ve done a best time, and I think it would be kinda fun to do one before I retire, but time will tell.” In 2009, many swimmers, including Phelps, had benefitted from the now-illegal hi-tech, buoyant swimsuits. Phelps’s times from 2008 are a more accurate reflection of his personal best. Phelps did not post a new personal best in Rio, but it wasn’t out of the question. Especially at the beginning of his races, Phelps has matched the speeds that earned him eight gold medals in Beijing. Watch how he has kept pace with his younger self in the early laps of his Olympic races in the 200-meter butterfly: Although Phelps has remained competitive in shorter races, age has sapped his endurance, and he has lagged behind his younger self after the initial laps of longer events like the 400-meter individual medley, which he won in Beijing and placed fourth in London: Avoiding grueling races such as the 400 I.M. is one way Phelps aimed to post competitive times in Rio, where his longest race was 200 meters. Instead of trying for gold in a broad mix of events, as he did in 2008, Phelps has now focused his training on shorter events where power is more crucial than endurance. WC ‘01 PP ‘02 WC ‘03 WC ‘05 PP ‘06 WC ‘07 WC ‘09 PP ‘10 WC ‘11 PP ‘14 Sydney 2000 Athens 2004 Beijing 2008 London 2012 Rio 2016 ‘13 ‘15 100m Butterfly 2ND 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 200m Butterfly 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1ST 5th 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 200m Freestyle 1st 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 2nd 200m Medley 1st 1st 1ST 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 400m Medley 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 4th WC ‘01 PP ‘02 WC ‘03 WC ‘05 PP ‘06 WC ‘07 WC ‘09 PP ‘10 WC ‘11 PP ‘14 Sydney 2000 Athens 2004 Beijing 2008 London 2012 Rio 2016 ‘13 ‘15 100m Butterfly 2ND 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 200m Butterfly 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1ST 5th 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 200m Freestyle 1st 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 2nd 200m Medley 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 400m Medley 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 4th 100m Butterfly 2000 ‘04 ‘08 ‘12 2016 2nd 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 200m Butterfly 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 5th 1st 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 200m Freestyle 1st 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 2nd 200m Medley 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 400m Medley 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 4th Note: Medals in non-Olympic years are for the Pan Pacific Championships (PP) or the World Championships (WC). Phelps was retired in 2013, and being punished for a D.U.I. in 2015. Relay races and a 2006 silver medal in the backstroke are not shown.With Kings head coach George Karl set to go begin his first training camp with the Sacramento Kings next month, it will be a crucial time for him to fully install the style of basketball he wants Sacramento to play on offense. The Kings star center DeMarcus Cousins will certainly be a key aspect of that strategy, but Zach Harper of CBS Sports speculated that Karl could get even more out of Boogie by using him in a similar fashion as a previous star Karl coached; Carmelo Anthony. “While it's obvious that Anthony and Cousins are very much different players who occupy different positions, the way in which they attack and the distribution of their respective shots are relatively similar,” Harper explained. Harper’s point was illustrated by comparing shot charts of both Cousins and Anthony during the games in which the played under Karl. The chart reflected Anthony in his last season on the Nuggets and Cousins in the 19 games with Coach Karl at the helm last season. As the chart shows, both Cousins and Melo had tendencies to take and make mid-range shots at the left and right elbow, respectively, while also recording a large amount of their field goal attempts at or around the rim. Harper also noted an intriguing difference between the two players in Karl’s offense. “It's interesting to see that Cousins actually ran more often under Karl last season than Melo did in his final season with Karl, and with Cousins showing year after year that his midrange jumper is reliable
Realtor Posted by Steve Spalding in Quotable \| View comments In Miami, a Realty Agent (Dean Isenberg) who was less than pleased with the outcome of a deal that he felt he was shortchanged on by another Realtor, Debbie Blasberg, decided that the best way to get revenge was to turn to the Internet. His weapon? Fake Escort ads that he posted on Craigslist. In the ads he posted Debbie’s name, phone number and contact information along with some salacious requests. Debbie, a wife and mother, received hundreds of requests for sex as a result. Dean was found guilty of stalking and was charged a fine, but Debbie is still picking up the pieces of her damaged reputation. A Series Of Tubes If there is anything that should be taken from this it is that the web is now another vector for people to vent their frustrations. Just as you wouldn’t leave your car unlocked, it’s prudent to take some time to see just what information is available about you online. A vanity search every now and again can save you a great deal of trouble. (Image) (RSS)With Hallowe'en approaching, we should remember that the horror landscape used to be more than just zombies, vampires and shirtless werewolves. Whatever happened to that onetime horror movie staple, the Mummy? Will we ever see its' bandaged like again? With a horror heritage that includes a Bram Stoker novel (The Jewel of Seven Stars, released just six years after Dracula) and a string of Bela Lugosi movies, the good ol' Mummy should be up there with all the other horror classics getting Twilighted and revamped for the CW generation. So why are we in a Mummy recession? Here're some potential problems for the bandaged ones: The Comedy Aspect Whether it's the admittedly-silly name, the visual of a slow-moving figure wrapped entirely in bandages or too many appearances in Scooby Doo (See above), it's kind of hard to take Mummies seriously as any kind of threat recently. Nowadays, you're as likely to see a Mummy as comedic McGuffin in Eureka (or, yes, subject of a Scooby Doo direct-to-DVD movie) as anything that's really going to try and spook you. Seeing Mummies as sources for comedy isn't anything new, of course - - but somewhere along the line, that's all they became. For Mummies to live again, someone would have to come along and treat them with the fear and respect they deserve. Advertisement The Mummy Trilogy ...And that person wouldn't be Stephen Sommers. Don't misunderstand; as sub-Indiana Jones wannabes with the focus firmly on kid-friendly adventure and giving John Hannah a chance to overact at every opportunity, the three Mummy movies are actually pretty good (Well, the first one, at least). But as movies that make Mummies something to be spoken of in the same breath as vampires or werewolves...? Not exactly the greatest. Part of the problem with these movies is, in my opinion, we knew too much about the Mummy; by nature of its story, the Mummy ceased to be an unknowable, unstoppable threat but was, instead, a flawed human who just happened to have been resurrected millennia later with supernatural powers. Considering this trilogy has shaped the mainstream perception of the Mummy as much as anything else since its release, it's frustrating that this route was taken instead of the producers' original idea to let Clive Barker create a low-budget modern day movie about a cultist looking to reanimate an army of Mummies... Zombies There's no way around it: Zombies have completely stolen Mummies' thunder... and their whole schtick. Just look at the evidence: Undead? Check. Slow lumbering around? Check. Killing people? Check. Zombies are naked Mummies, except they're wearing clothes. It's not hard to see why zombies have come into ascendance while the popularity of the Mummy has declined: They offer all of the threat without any of the baggage; they can be contemporary, of any nationality, and don't have a particularly defined look. But is the overly-populated Zombie Bandwagon really enough to derail the Mummy Train permanently? If nothing else, I'm surprised that someone hasn't tried to get a bigscale Mummy movie made by pretending that it's a historic take on the zombie idea (Hollywood producers: You can send my fee care of io9.com, thank you very much). Advertisement Don't think I don't get it; Mummies seem silly and old-fashioned (literally, considering that whole Ancient Egypt thing) in a world where Vampire Diaries and Twilight show their horror peers to be filled with pouting teenagers who listen to Muse all the time. But all it would take is one well-made project from someone who really cares about the concept to put the Mummy back where it belongs, as a Horror Icon worth more than toilet-papered Hallowe'en costumes. Anyone got Guillermo del Toro's phone number... and a way to clear his schedule for the next couple of years?Last week, Thai authorities caught two diamond thieves at Suvarnabhumi International Airport and discovered that one of them had hidden a $270,000 diamond in her large intestines, ultimately forcing doctors to remove the gemstone with pliers. The Chinese woman and her male accomplice, both of whom remain unidentified, were set to depart from the Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport when authorities stopped them because they were suspects in a diamond theft case, according to the Herald Sun. The two thieves were caught on surveillance video at a jewelry fair two days before having switched out a six-carat diamond worth 10 million Baht ($277,420) with a fake stone after having asked to inspect it. When they were arrested, both initially denied involvement and the diamond couldn’t be accounted for. However, an X-ray revealed a diamond-shaped object inside the woman’s intestines. The woman soon confessed, and authorities attempted to reclaim the diamond through the use of laxatives but failed. After authorities told the woman that having the diamond in her intestines posed an immediate health risk, she agreed to an alternative operation. Armed with a colonoscope and a set of medical pliers, a doctor was able to successfully pull the diamond out of the woman’s large intestines. The owner of the stone was able to identify it after it was cleaned off. Here’s the lesson for thieves trying to smuggle diamonds in their butt: it will be removed one way or another.Okay fine, we admit it, you can’t see the Northern Lights this far south. But San Diego has its own version of Aurora Borealis, and ours has cast a hoppy spell over this city. What the rest of the world calls an IPA, San Diego locals consider pale in comparison. Aurora Hoppyalis is our San Diego-style IPA brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic, Amarillo, and Citra hops. Robust flavors and aromas of tropical fruit, pine, and tangerine linger through a dry, crisp finish. Tonight’s forecast: clear hoppy skies. Artwork: You can get a preview of this beer’s branding from the poster in the gallery above. The Tasting Arrived in: 32oz. Growler Served in: Specialty IPA Glass Back in early January we were craving some Karl Strauss Big Barrel IPA, and went to get the growler filled. Unfortunately they were out, but “San Diego Style Experimental IPA” caught our eye. After a taste it immediately turned our frowns upside down, and we hoped the “experimental” tag would be lifted making it a permanent release. Soon it was gone off the menu, never to return. But last week our sadness was erased for good when Karl Strauss revealed their newest release, Aurora Hoppyalis on Instagram. We asked them if “San Diego Style Experimental IPA” was its previous working name, which they confirmed. We immediately grabbed a growler fill to celebrate! We cannot recall ever seeing such a beautiful looking India Pale Ale as this one, with its vibrant gold, almost crystal clear and shimmery body. Aurora Hoppyalis resembled a lager in clarity, and it was so easy to sit back and admire the mesmerizing streams of effervescence racing upwards into its ivory white topper. Some photos were taken in the ever-so-important “proper glassware”, but with the huge aroma to this IPA, Aurora Hoppyalis was best served in our Spiegelau glasses. Just to point out how important glassware can be, the pint offered mild citrus notes. But in the specialty glass undercurrents of ripe peach and melon emerged, along with more intense citrus. As referenced above, Simcoe, Mosaic, Amarillo, and Citra hops were used to brew this tasty beer, but in our opinion Mosaic stole the entire show. The Mosaic hop offers a unique, often pungent citrus bomb-like flavor, which this IPA most certainly showcased. It was like Karl Strauss took their Mosaic Session Ale, and put it on steroids. Aurora Hoppyalis featured a light body and punching citrus throughout, with a juiciness that evolved as we sipped it. Its initial wave of citrus began with orange, then built to bitter grapefruit. With a quick 1-2 punch, hints of peach and the tropical goodness of mango emerged. A clean drying finish left a lasting citrus tanginess on our palates. Yes, we loved this beer to say the least! Aurora Hoppyalis packed the levels of fruity hoppyness you’d expect to find in a Double IPA, and we still don’t understand how this beer only clocked in at 60 IBUs. It was not overly bitter, but definitely seemed more intense than that mid-range number. Look for this crisp and delicious IPA on draft throughout San Diego right now, until it locally debuts in bombers and 6 pack bottles in the coming weeks. Distribution throughout California should happen in May.With nearly 1m page views, film of an oil-stricken Arctic built from Lego bricks is latest salvo in campaign against Shell deal A film depicting an oil-stricken Arctic built from around 120kg of Lego bricks is close to breaking 1m views a day after it was launched. The "everything is NOT awesome" YouTube short, by London-based creative agency Don't Panic for Greenpeace, is the latest salvo in a campaign by the green group to pressure the world's largest toymaker in to dropping a partnership that distributes its toys at Shell petrol stations. Lego is the proxy target for a campaign that started last week against Shell's ambitions to drill for oil in the Arctic. Some people have already questioned whether the Greenpeace campaign strikes the right note coming so soon after revelations in the Guardian and Der Spiegel that the organisation lost £3m on currency markets and that one of its top executives commuted to work by plane. Here's one Guardian commenter, for example: The Lego campaign does appear to be getting some traction – around 250,000 people have signed Greenpeace's petition calling on the Danish company to drop its relationship with Shell. Lego, though, seems unmoved so far. In a statement responding to the Greenpeace campaign, it expanded on its argument that the relationship helps its mission of doing good, by giving more children its bricks: We are determined to leave a positive impact on society and the planet that children will inherit. Our unique contribution is through inspiring and developing children by delivering creative play experiences all over the world. A co-promotion contract like the one with Shell is one of many ways we are able to bring LEGO® bricks into the hands of more children. We welcome and are inspired by all relevant input we receive from fans, children, parents, NGOs and other stakeholders. They have high expectations to the way we operate. So do we. Whether the new film changes that remains to be seen. Don't Panic was behind the hard-hitting If Britain was like Syria video for Save the Children, and says the new Greenpeace film took about three weeks to build. It's a cover of The Lego Movie's horribly catchy song, Everything is Awesome, voiced by Alex Baranowski and Sophie Blackburn, and, says creative director Richard Beer, was inspired by the similarly static Believe trailer for Halo 3, the hit Xbox game. As well as Emmet and Wyldstyle, the "lead" characters in the Lego film, apparently the video also features Halo's protagonist Master Chief too (I couldn't spot him – let me know if you can). • 11 July update: YouTube has removed the video, which had reached 3m views, following a copyright complaint by Warner Bros, the studio behind The Lego Movie. Greenpeace has uploaded it on Vimeo:New research conducted by SplashData revealed that “password” isn’t the dumbest password choice around anymore, as it has been replaced by “123456,” for the past year. However, “password” fell only one position compared with 2012, basically switching places with “123456.” The list of weak passwords includes various other obvious combinations such as “qwerty,” “iloveyou,” “1234,” “111111” and “000000.” Passwords such as “adobe123” or “photoshop” also made the top 20, revealing that many Internet users may choose passwords that are similar to the services they’re logging into. “Seeing passwords like ‘adobe123’ and ‘photoshop’ on this list offers a good reminder not to base your password on the name of the website or application you are accessing,” SplashData CEO Morgan Slain said. “Another interesting aspect of this year’s list is that more short numerical passwords showed up even though websites are starting to enforce stronger password policies.” The popularity top of bad log in security choices among Internet users has been compiled using data from lists of hacked accounts containing millions of stolen passwords posted online last year. The top 25 worst passwords of 2013 follows below.Airbnb, the service that allows you to quickly find a place to crash for a night or two in most cities around the world, or lets you rent out your own unused space, now has a dedicated application for Android tablets. Inside the updated applications, users will see immersive maps to locate listings around you, as well as listing pages that feature cinematic images in high resolution. As stated in Airbnb’s press release, it should resemble the look of a magazine. According to Airbnb, this is exactly what the tablet app offers. Immersive maps that share more about the listings to help people decide whether to dive deeper into the content Listing pages that showcase the cinematic images in high-resolution – Seamless flow through the app that reacts to touch rather than a point and click, which keeps people engaged as they move through the booking experience An in-depth Discover page offering curated listings, wish lists, and experiences around the world A message system specifically built for a tablet with dual-pane view for the first time on Airbnb New navigation setup that offers a simple way to find upcoming trips Please note, Airbnb states that the update should go live later this evening on Google Play, around 9pm Pacific. Play LinkPosted on by By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and frequent contributor to DownWithTyranny, digby, Truthout, and Naked Capitalism. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius, Tumblr and Facebook. GP article archive here. Originally published at DownWithTyranny TYT reporter Nomiki Konst interviews DNC Chair candidate Tom Perez If you ask mainstream Democrats (not a homogeneous group, but easily identifiable by their Clintonist, Obamist policies), and also their collaborators in the so-called “left media,” this question — “What about the battle within the Party?” — they’ll ask incredulously back, “What battle? Doesn’t everyone want unity?” Which is, itself, the next phase of the battle within the Party. The old guard, the Clinton and Obama factions, want unity — so long as they’re still in charge. Which sets the twin terms over which the next phase of the battle will be fought: the demand for “Party unity,” and the insistence on silence about fundamental, irreconcilable differences. Here are two small instances to illustrate that battle and its terms, field notes if you will about how the Party split is being handled its leaders. Both are from the above interview by TYT reporter Nomiki Konst with Tom Perez, the Obama wing candidate for DNC Chair. Keeping the Money Game Alive Let’s begin with an exchange about the interests of big-money consultants and consulting firms in keeping the Party’s budget “bloated” (Konst’s term) so they could drain into consultant coffers money that could bolster state party organizations instead. (Recall that Party funding and use of money was a key Sanders concern.) At 3:48, Konst asks Perez about the Party’s ties to those high-dollar consultants and firms. His answer is revealing. He starts by saying he believes in “grassroots organizing” instead of just putting money into high-dollar TV advertising. Yet when pressed (at 6:08, which is where I cued the clip) about the role of those consulting firms, who benefit financially from their role in current Party practices, in shaping the future of the Party, he avoids the question completely. So she tries again. At 7:30 she asks about conflicts of interest between what the consulting class wants and what the Party needs. Her example is the forward-looking “Unity” commission, on which a major Party consultant sits. This, to her, is a clear conflict of interest. Here’s that exchange (my transcript; emphasis in the original conversation): Konst: Aren’t conflicts of interest a concern? If you’re going to change the culture on the ground, how do you change it without banning these conflicts of interest who want to keep the party bloated? Perez: When you say that someone wants to keep the party bloated, I don’t know. The people that I talk to want to build a Democratic Party that works for everyone. … The folks that are running the Unity Commission, there’s going to be a lot of different perspectives that are put to bear — that’s what we want! Konst (incredulous): Including consultants? Perez: We have a big tent in the Democratic Party…. He then pivots to talking about how he would use more “minority contractors” — in other words, he repeats the Democratic Party appeal to “identity” rights and benefits as a way to distract Democratic voters and supporters from how money changes hands in the inner circles. Shorter Perez: We’re a big-tent party. Even the corrupt have a seat.(For a real-life example of what that corruption looks like, scroll or jump down to the end of this piece.) Where Are Your Sanders Supporters? The second interview chunk I want to point out is about why his own campaign for DNC Chair contains no high profile Sanders supporters or surrogates. At 9:08, Konst sees she’s being given the off-camera signal by a Perez staffer to wrap it up, so she hurries to ask “one last question”: Konst: This is about unity, right? Who in the Bernie Sanders world, of the surrogates, is supporting you? … Do you have any notable Bernie Sanders supporters? … Perez: I think you’re asking the wrong questions. Konst: I mean, you’re talking about unity. Every single candidate has both sides. Every single candidate that we’ve asked has a surrogate from both sides. Perez: … Do only celebrities count? Konst: No it’s not celebrities … union leaders, party chairs … Ponder that. For Perez, it seems the only Sanders people of note are “celebrities.” And the capper — after Konst says that the future of the Party is “about unity” (a statement I’m not in agreement with, by the way), we hear this: Perez (emphasizing each word): I think the future of the party is about making sure that we are focused on what we have to do together to take on our existential threat, which is Donald Trump. And when we focus on that existential threat together, that’s how we move forward. Shorter Perez: But … Trump! That’s the unity I’m talking about. Yes, Donald Trump is certainly an “existential threat” … to the country. But it sure sounds like for Perez, the existential threat to the Party are those pesky Sanders people and their challenges about money, about who gets it, and about how the consulting class, which feeds on and impoverishes the Party, is protected by Party’s leaders, its Obama and Clinton wings. The Democratic Consulting Class I’ll have more to say in a bit about the Democratic Party consulting class — a group of, I have to say it, predators. But this should get you started if the topic is new to you. From my friend Joe Sudbay via email, we find this article on the subject from 2005. The writer, Amy Sullivan, asks the question, “Why do Democrats continue to hire campaign advisors who lose races?” and then illustrates with examples. Here’s the start of her answer (my emphasis): Fire the Consultants Why do Democrats continue to hire campaign advisors who lose races? If you were a Democrat running as a first-time candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002, Joe Hansen was most likely a familiar part of your life. As the field director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), Hansen was responsible for recruiting promising candidates, and then for getting the nascent campaigns off to a running start. In the first overwhelming days of your campaign, Joe was a lifeline. He took you out to dinner for pep talks, broke down the fundraising process into something almost manageable, walked you through the selection of campaign staff and consultants, and promised that – if you proved you were a serious candidate by putting together the right team – the DSCC would happily write the checks that might make the difference when things really heated up in the fall. And when it came to choosing just the right firm to design and produce the fliers, postcards, and door hangers that would blanket your state in the closing weeks of the campaign, Joe recommended the very best consultant he knew: Joe Hansen. In addition to his job at the DSCC, Hansen was also a partner in the direct mail firm of Ambrosino, Muir & Hansen. His sales pitch must have been effective – Democrats in nine of the closest Senate contests in 2002 signed up with Hansen, including Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Max Cleland in Georgia, and Alex Sanders in South Carolina. The day after the election, only two(Tim Johnson in South Dakota and Mark Pryor in Arkansas) were still standing. Why do I call them predators? Because the only people whose success they feed, is their own. Bottom Line Four points: Whatever his other merits, there’s no question that Tom Perez is running at the behest of the Obama wing of the party as a counter to Keith Ellison, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. There’s also no question, whatever the organizational merits of any of the DNC Chair candidates, that for medium- to low-information voters this is seen as a proxy battle between the Obama-Clinton wing and the Sanders wing of the Party (search here for the phrase “proxy battle”). And there’s absolutely no question that one of Sanders’ big issues in the primary was (a) the role of money in politics, and (b) the role of money in the way the Party does business. Needless to say, that message resonated with a great many supporters who had no interest in seeing the Party’s current leadership continue. That was not only true for all Sanders voters in the primary; it was true for many Sanders supporters who failed to turn out in general election as well. Which means, finally, that if Perez wins this contest, those medium- to low-information voters may well think the Party hasn’t changed much after all, and just stay home again in 2018. After all, don’t you think that if every Sanders supporter had pulled the lever for Clinton, she’d have won in a landslide instead of lost in a squeaker? It’s not on the voters to think the Party is attractive, no matter how ugly the Trump regime is. It’s on the Party to make its own self attractive enough to prevent another Trump-size disaster. Or so one would think, unless one had a vested interest in keeping the Party just the way it is. Field notes from the battle within the Democratic Party. Stay tuned.Suicide soldier's dad decries 'toxic' ADF Updated The father of a soldier who committed suicide says more young people will kill themselves unless the military's culture is changed. Charles Williams's son, Jeremy, committed suicide at the age of 20 while he was undergoing basic training at a base in Singleton in New South Wales in 2003. Mr Williams says his son was a victim of a "toxic culture" that pervades the armed forces. He has welcomed Defence Minister Stephen Smith's announcement of a fresh set of reviews and inquiries into the culture of the Defence Force, but others are sceptical that army culture can be changed. Mr Williams says his son went down with shin splints and was transferred to a platoon which was "very much the butt of ridicule and of this culture of abuse and denigration which was fostered and encouraged at the NCO level and junior officer level". "He basically despaired of his situation," he said. Mr Williams says the military treated his son and his family appallingly. "No parent could possibly take any reassurance that the culture, this toxic culture and denigration of females in the ADF is being controlled, even being suppressed, in fact it's getting worse," he said. "We're seeing more of these incidents emerge, coming through in recent months and in recent years." Now his biggest concern is that more young recruits who are bullied and victimised will take their own lives. "You must remember that when young people go into the ADF they're in a controlled environment from which they can't escape," he said. "If they're subject to bullying, then very sinister options emerge. And that's why we've had these suicides, we've had these young people despairing of their situation." Mr Williams says the military's culture needs to be overhauled from top to bottom. He says Mr Smith's actions to change the culture of the ADF are "courageous". "What needs to be remembered is that the ADF is [an] instrument of the country. It's funded by the taxpayer. And if the military chiefs in this country can't manage these problems correctly then it's up to the minister to step in and ensure this sort of behaviour is controlled. "At long last we have a minister who is prepared to put his hand up, come forward and direct that the chiefs manage, as they should, this toxic culture of abuse that we've seen all too much of in the Australian Defence Force." But there are others who are sceptical the inquiries will be able to bring in any lasting changes. Jason Nicoll served as a peacekeeper in Rwanda and saw combat in East Timor with the Australian Army. He eventually left the army with post-traumatic stress disorder and says the military ostracised him and gave him no support. "When a bloke who's been in the army for a fair while and comes to his hierarchy, who he should be able to trust, and says that he's having a few dramas, when they push him aside and ridicule him, that's pretty low in my eyes," he said. "When you've done the time and you've put it all on the line for the hierarchy, you've put it all on the line for the country, you should be getting the support from within the unit. [But] it's just not there." Mr Nicoll says the army is an entrenched culture which will be difficult to change. "I would have to say that there's still a lot of old-school mentality in there where it is an old boys' club," he said. Topics: defence-forces, suicide, defence-and-national-security, air-force, army, navy, reserve-forces, unrest-conflict-and-war, australia, nsw, singleton-2330 First postedOfficer's intent key for jury; protesters demand answers Marchers at the protest. (Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle) Marchers at the protest. (Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle) Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Officer's intent key for jury; protesters demand answers 1 / 12 Back to Gallery As hundreds converged on Houston's criminal courthouse Thursday demanding answers about a verdict that cleared a former police officer of wrongdoing in the beating of Chad Holley, the jury's reasoning became public for the first time. The jury believed Blomberg was acting as a "reasonable police officer" and used his foot to "sweep" the teen's arms, not stomp his head, said defense attorney Dick DeGuerin. Blomberg, 29, was acquitted Wednesday of official oppression after a misdemeanor trial in which he testified he did not stomp the 15-year-old's head during his arrest on March 24, 2010. DeGuerin said Thursday that the jury told him there was no single deciding factor in their decision, but at least two members of the panel believed Blomberg was sweeping with his foot, not stomping. "A couple of the jurors said they definitely saw the 'pull back motion' of Andrew's foot" that his client described on the stand, DeGuerin said. Blomberg said on the stand that he wedged his boot into the crook of the teen's arm to try to get his hands behind his back. Holley can be seen on a security video lying on the ground on his stomach with his hands on his head after falling while fleeing police. Blomberg, the first officer to reach the teen, is seen raising his foot over Holley's head. An expert for the prosecution said he then stomped the teen's head or neck. On video for 4 seconds Blomberg is visible near Holley for about 4 seconds, then is seen running to deal with another suspect as several officers converge on the teen. Jurors, who have declined to speak publicly, spoke to DeGuerin and prosecutors after the trial. State District Judge Ruben Guerrero has sealed the names of the jurors. DeGuerin said the jury told him they acquitted because of what they saw and because prosecutors did not prove Blomberg's intentions. Assistant Harris County District Attorney Clint Greenwood declined to comment on what the jury had told him. DeGuerin's insight into the jury's process came as black activists and the Houston Police Department criticized the verdict. "I understand the jury's verdict, I just have to respectfully disagree," Police Chief Charles McClelland said Thursday. The chief fired Blomberg and six other officers after the allegations came to light. Blomberg, Phil Bryan, Drew Ryser and Raad Hassan, were charged with misdemeanors after being terminated. Holley was later convicted of burglary in the case. During Thursday's protest at the criminal courthouse, demonstrators blasted prosecutors because the six jurors selected for the misdemeanor trial were white. The crowd marched around the square between the county's criminal, civil, juvenile and family courthouses chanting "no more all-white juries." Protesters carried signs calling for an end to racism and hate and for all HPD officers to live inside the city limits. Protesters also targeted the Harris County district attorney and Houston's mayor, chanting "Pat Lykos got to go" and "Annise Parker got to go." Crowd urged to vote Police shooting victim Robbie Tolan, one of the speakers at the rally, implored the crowd to show up for jury duty and vote. "That's the only way you're gonna make a difference," he said. The former minor league baseball player, who is black, was unarmed when he was seriously wounded by a white Bellaire police sergeant in 2008. A jury acquitted Sgt. Jeffrey Cotton of aggravated assault in 2010. Lykos on Thursday defended the prosecutors who tried the case and noted that jury pools are created randomly from prospective jurors who say they can be impartial. "Unfortunately, many people say they have already formed an opinion and disqualify themselves from serving on the jury." She also noted that Blomberg's defense team struck the two black jurors from the jury pool. Chronicle reporters James Pinkerton and Cindy George contributed to this report. brian.rogers@chron.com twitter.com/@brianjrogersLawmaker Ali Motahari is one of the very few insiders in the Islamic republic who openly criticizes the system he is a part of. Motahari is now in hot water for apparently going too far in his criticism. In a December 30 speech in the Iranian parliament, Motahari blasted the house arrest of opposition figures Mir Hossein Musavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, and reformist cleric Mehdi Karrubi as illegal and anti-Islamic. He also criticized the "harsh" sentences for those arrested in the 2009 crackdown that followed the disputed reelection of Mahmud Ahmadinejad and added that the former president should be put on trial along with Musavi and Karrubi, who challenged his reelection. He said those arrested in the 2009 unrest should have an open trial. "As long as one side doesn't have the right to express itself and the other side says whatever it wants, this crisis will not be resolved," he said. In his speech, Motahari pointed to an open secret: he suggested that Iran's powerful judiciary is not independent, a charge judiciary officials have repeatedly denied. "Instead of chanting slogans about the sedition [the 2009 protests over Ahmadinejad's reelection], it would be better if the head of the judiciary would try to resolve it. The resolving of [the issue] requires an independent judiciary, not one that is influenced by this and that body and security and intelligence organs," he said. The Tehran prosecutor's office said over the weekend of January 4-5 that it had launched a criminal case against the outspoken Motahari over his speech. In a statement issued by Iranian news agencies, prosecutor Jafar Dolatabadi said that Motahari's remarks on the need for an independent judiciary implies "insult" against judges. The semi-official hard-line Fars news agency said that Motahari had been summoned to the Revolutionary Court for explanations. No date was announced. Meanwhile, Iranian news agencies reported that Motahari's personal website was blocked inside the country. Motahari responded by accusing the judiciary of an attempt to silence its critics. He said that according to the Iranian Constitution, it is his right as a member of parliament to comment on the country's affairs. He called the judiciary's action "illegal." "If members of the parliament are prevented from speaking about such issues, they should close down the parliament," he said. Motahari, the son of one of the founders of the Islamic republic, has also in the past criticized pressure on reformist figures and opposition members and called for the release of political prisoners. He has accused the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of having interfered in past parliamentary elections, and spoken against the arrest of journalists. Last year Motahari said he had discovered surveillance equipment in his office. Earlier this week, parliament speaker Ali Larijani, whose brother Sadeq is the head of the judiciary, said that although some of the claims made by Motahari were "untrue" and "humiliating," the filing of a criminal case against him by the prosecutor's office was unjustified. In 2002, then-lawmaker Hossein Loghmanian was put on trial and sentenced to prison for criticizing the judiciary. He was released after an outcry among his colleagues, including former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi, who threatened to resign. -- Golnaz EsfandiariYesterday, House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act which is a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act. As expected, Democrats are in hysterics over the bill. They’ve been telling some tall tales and falsehoods in order to scare people about the bill. Before we go into those, it’s important to point out that the AHCA is not a perfect bill. It’s not a full repeal of Obamacare for starters. There are also some questions about the cost of the bill and there are legitimate concerns about coverage, particularly for older people. Without further ado, here are some lies that Democrats are telling in the wake of the AHCA’s passage in the House. Lie No. 1: “Thousands, no millions, will die because of it” Democrats have been telling everyone who will listen that millions will die. Bernie Sanders told CNN “thousands will die” because of the AHCA. Even DNC chairman Tom Perez got into the act saying Republicans “will own every preventable death” because of this bill. Such rhetoric should be treated as what it is, trying to stop debate on altering any entitlement. Democrats play chicken little every time spending cuts are discussed and this is just more example of it. No one is going to die because of this bill. Lie No. 2: “Pre-existing conditions won’t be covered” Democrats and their allies have been claiming that pre-existing conditions won’t be covered in this legislation. Again, that’s just not true. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post. Her son has a pre-existing condition and she voted for the AHCA anyway. She wrote about how Maine dealt with preexisting conditions in 2011 and how that is the model for the rest of the country. Our plan allows states to serve and provide financial support directly to vulnerable populations, including people with preexisting conditions. We’ve seen this system work before — just look at Maine. After the state created an “invisible” high-risk pool (“invisible” because it did not cordon off people with preexisting conditions from the traditional market) and relaxed its premium rating rules in 2011, people with preexisting conditions continued to have access to health care and their premiums were cut in half. Young and healthy people could finally afford to enter the market, and prices stabilized even further. This approach was more personal, reasonable and innovative than anything a bureaucrat in D.C. could have imagined. There are concerns about whether or not the Federal government is providing enough support for these high-risk pools. But the only a state could get a waiver from the ACA’s pre-existing conditions mandate is if they set up a pool. Other than that, nothing will change for those with pre-existing conditions. Lie No. 3: “Rape Is Now A Pre-existing Condition” Yesterday, the media was full of articles proclaiming that rape is now a pre-existing condition. Once again, that’s false. 44 states bar insurance companies from denying people health insurance or making customers pay more for rape and domestic violence. In addition, just because insurance companies can do something doesn’t mean they will. A 2009 investigation from Politifact found that insurance companies were not charging domestic violence and rape victims more in the states they could. Once again Democrats are resorting to their usual scare tactics and lies to try and short-circuit debate on health care reform. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.I am become Raffi, destroyer of windows. Phot
trade deficit with Germany” and warned: “This will change.” Supporting his political ally, Mr Gabriel said: “Anyone who accelerates climate change by weakening environmental protection, who sells more weapons in conflict zones and who does not want to politically resolve religious conflicts is putting peace in Europe at Risk. GETTY Donald Trump came under attack from Angela Merkel and her allies The short-sighted policies of Donald Trump stands against the interests of the European Union Sigmar Gabriel “The short-sighted policies of the American government stands against the interests of the European Union. “The West has become smaller, at least it has become weaker.” Speaking at a discussion on refugees and migration, Mr Gabriel urged Europe to stand up to President Trump and not feel threatened when offering criticisms. He added: “The Trump administration wants to terminate climate agreements, wants to enforce military action in crisis regions and won’t allow people from certain regions to enter the US. “If the European are not resolutely opposing to this right now, the migration flow to Europe will continue to grow. Those who do not oppose this US policy are guilty.” Tensions between the US and Europe have grown since President Trump claimed he needed more time to decide if the US would continue supporting the Paris climate deal. Ms Merkel voiced her doubts about the reliability of the US as an ally, the German said: “The times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days. “And that is why I can only say that we Europeans must really take our fate into our own hands – of course, in friendship with the United States of America, in friendship with Great Britain and as good neighbours wherever that is possible also with other countries, even Russia.” World leaders gather at G7 summit 2017 Fri, May 26, 2017 Donald Trump will face Theresa May and world leaders at the G7 summit in Sicily Play slideshow EPA 1 of 8 G7 Summit in TaorminaIn Sarasota, Fla., someone pulled a 75-year-old gay man from his car and beat him, saying: “You know my new president says we can kill all you f------ now.” In San Antonio, a man told an Asian girl: “When they see your eyes, you are going to be deported.” A teacher in Wesley Chapel, Fla., told black students: “Don’t make me call Donald Trump to get you sent back to Africa.” The Southern Poverty Law Center documented 867 “hate incidents” in the 10 days after Donald Trump was elected president, more than 300 of which included direct references to the president-elect or his campaign rhetoric. The incidents — documented in the media or reported through a form on the center’s website — included vandalism of places of worship, attacks on Muslim women in headscarves and bullying of Hispanic students in schools. The center also counted 23 incidents it classified as “anti-Trump,” including one in which someone grabbed a man wearing a Trump hat by the neck on a subway in New York. Ethnic intimidation and hate crimes are hardly new. Because the center only began tracking incidents after the election, it is impossible to determine whether Trump’s candidacy and election coincided with a rise in incidents. But Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said many of those who reported being harassed or targeted said they were shocked because they had never experienced anything like it, leading him and others to conclude that the divisive campaign has emboldened harassers. “We’re seeing something new in its intensity and ferocity,” Cohen said. In releasing the new report Tuesday — “Ten Days After” — the center and other civil rights organizations assailed Trump, accusing him of inspiring acts of violence and harassment and of being too tepid in his condemnation of those behind them. They cited what they think is a rise in acts of hate primarily targeting women, minorities and immigrants. [Read the Southern Poverty Law Center’s report, “Ten Days After”] Trump said in a “60 Minutes” interview that news of Muslims and Hispanics being harassed saddened him. “I would say don’t do it, that’s terrible, because I’m gonna bring this country together,” Trump said in the “60 Minutes” interview. “I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it.” [‘Stop it,’ Trump tells supporters who are spreading hate. Is it enough?] Trump’s transition team released a statement late Tuesday, saying that Trump denounces racism of any kind and vows to be a leader for every American. “To think otherwise is a complete misrepresentation of the movement that united Americans from all backgrounds,” the statement said. “For anyone to conclude these senseless acts are the result of the election is disappointing and gives an excuse for their appalling behavior.” Civil rights leaders have called on Trump to apologize to groups that have been targeted, including the Muslim community in Jersey City, where Trump falsely claimed Muslims celebrated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “What he hasn’t done is acknowledge that his own words have sparked this barrage of hate that we’re seeing,” Cohen said Tuesday. “Instead of pretending to be surprised by the pervasive hate that has infected our country, Mr. Trump needs to take responsibility for it and repair the damage that he caused.” Leaders also called on Trump to rescind some of his political appointments, which they say signal that bigotry will follow him to the White House. Some of his selections “indicate that the bigoted and divisive rhetoric that we saw in the campaign will continue as a matter of policy and practice in the White House,” said Brenda F. Abdelall of Muslim Advocates. “If President-elect Trump wants to bring America together and be a leader for all Americans, he will need to disavow the dangerous proposals and ideas that single out and demonize Muslims and other communities.” Abdelall said that the FBI documented a 67 percent rise in hate crimes against Muslims between 2014 and 2015 and that her organization, which has been tracking hate crimes, suspects that number will rise again in 2016. [Hate crimes against Muslims hit highest mark since 2001] The center also surveyed educators in the wake of the election, and many reported elevated levels of anxiety among students, particularly immigrants who are concerned about what Trump’s election means for them and their families. They also reported bullying in which students repurposed campaign rhetoric to harass their classmates, including telling Hispanic students they were going to be deported. Others have taken Trump’s words captured in a 2005 videotape as license to assault girls. [‘The Trump Effect’: Report says 2016 campaign is causing an ‘alarming level of fear and anxiety’ for children of color] “I have had one male student grab a female student’s crotch and tell her that it’s legal for him to do that now to her,” said an elementary school teacher in Minnesota.Picture Getty Pork sold in Asda and Sainsbury’s has been shown to be infected with a strain of the antibiotic-resistant ‘superbug’ MRSA. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism tested 97 British pork products – and found they carried the potentially deadly bacteria. MRSA CC398 is less deadly than the strain found in hospitals – but can cause persistent infections and has already implicated in six deaths in Denmark. People could catch the bug from infected meat if it is not properly cooked, the Guardian said. In Denmark, the bacteria infects two-thirds of pig farms and is thought to have infected 12,000 people – and current regulations leave an ‘open door’ for infected pigs to arrive here. Prof Tim Lang, of City University in London, said: ‘If we don’t have tight infection control and we don’t try to control the movement of live animals, infection can spread. The British are up in arms about the movement of people, but the EU also has a large movement of animals. ‘We need biosecurity, we need to tighten up this livestock movement. You may get cheap meat, but in the long term it’s going to add to your public health problems.’He was hidden in locked closets, sedated by liquid sleeping aids, for 3 years before he died. He weighed 34 pounds. https://t.co/7fmeu683c7 pic.twitter.com/fSYbMWbHPE — Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 27, 2016 The last time anyone saw Yonatan Daniel Aguilar in public was in the spring of 2012. Teachers at his elementary school in Los Angeles were worried about him. One said Yonatan appeared to be hoarding food. Another said he came to school with a black eye. They filed their concerns with county social workers, who in turn alerted police, according to the Los Angeles Times. After interviewing people close to him, authorities found no cause for alarm — school officials told social workers he lived in a safe household. Not long after, Yonatan vanished. He did not return to class, nor to his after school program. Although his family had been the subject of a half-dozen reports by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, social workers had no legal ability to inquire about him, the Times reported. Yonatan’s stepfather, Jose Pinzon, believed the boy was living in Mexico. The boy’s mother, Veronica Aguilar, allegedly told him so, and said the same to other people who wanted to know his whereabouts. That was the story until August 2016, when Aguilar came to Pinzon with tragic news: Yonatan had died. Pinzon, who said he had not seen the boy in several years, figured she would be going to Mexico for the funeral. Instead, she opened the closet door. Inside was the 11-year-old’s body, wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by medicinal cups. His hair was falling out, his nose was plugged with foam, and pressure sores covered his tiny frame. He weighed just 34 pounds. “I took care of the problem by ruining my life,” Aguilar allegedly told Pinzon. Details of the harrowing saga were culled from Los Angeles County Juvenile Court records and published Thursday by the Times. Aguilar, 39, has been charged with murder and child abuse and is being held on $2 million bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She has pleaded not guilty and faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted, according to KTLA. Aguilar’s defense attorney told the Times: “My client is innocent until proven guilty.” Verónica Aguilar in court for an arrangement for 1 count murder and child abuse resulting in death. @latimesphotos pic.twitter.com/0r5ERN6By5 — Francine Orr/LATimes (@francineorr) August 25, 2016 Why Aguilar allegedly kept Yonatan hidden for so long remains a mystery — perhaps one that will be explored in her criminal case — but police said she was so crafty that for three years Pinzon may not have realized that he and his stepson were under the same roof, according to the Times. Sometime in 2012, Aguilar pulled Yonatan out of school, apparently because she was offended by questions from social workers, the Times reported. As the couple and their four children moved from house to house, the Times reported, Aguilar kept the boy locked in closets, sedating him with liquid sleep medications. When Pinzon would go out for groceries, Aguilar would always ask him to pick up purple-colored “syrup,” records show — something Pinzon reportedly found confusing because they were tight on money. At the time of Yonatan’s death, the family was living in a one-bedroom house in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park, according to the Times. Two children shared a bedroom and a third child slept in a shed outside, while the couple slept in the living room. Her children appear to have known what she was doing, but concealed it from their stepfather, the Times reported. It was Aug. 22 when Aguilar allegedly told Pinzon the truth about Yonatan. After seeing the boy’s body, Pinzon ran out of the house and called police from a 7-11, according to the Times. When detectives arrived, they interviewed Pinzon and the children in the same room. Pinzon exploded when he realized the children knew, reported the Times, which described the exchange from records: “How can you do this to me?” he asked. One of the children replied: “You were always at work, so you didn’t know.” Pinzon then started crying. “I carry a photo of him in my wallet,” he said, according to the records. “I’m the only one that cared for him.” A public memorial was held for the boy at an Echo Park church last month, according to KTLA. Among the speakers was Moses Castillo, the lead detective in the case. “Yonatan, I pledge to you that we will continue to tell your story in hopes that similar cases do not repeat again,” he told people who had gathered to remember the boy. Pinzon also recalled his relationship with the boy. “He’s still alive for me,” Pinzon said, “because I carry him in my heart.” More from Morning Mix: Americans adopted this South Korean man when he was 3. Now 41, he’s being deported. German couple lured women to ‘horror house’ with dating ads, tortured them to death, police say Yuengling beer backed Trump this week. You can guess the rest.A new deal on school funding in Illinois has been reached, but Governor Bruce Rauner has indicated he's hesitant about the new bill. NBC 5's Mary Ann Ahern has the latest. (Published Friday, Aug. 25, 2017) Just days after lawmakers announced that they had reached a tentative agreement on education funding reform, that compromise appears to be getting pushback from both sides of the aisle. After applauding the four top legislative leaders for "coming to a consensus" on Thursday, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner swiped at Democratic House Speaker Mike Madigan the following day for putting "a bunch of bad things" into the deal. Appearing before the Marion Chamber of Commerce, Rauner told business leaders in southern Illinois on Friday that lawmakers were "on the verge of what is largely good education funding reform" to fix Illinois' school funding system that has been found to be among the least equitable in the nation. "The bad news is, Speaker Madigan's caucus took the bill and inserted a bunch of bad things in it," Rauner said. "We’re trying to get out as many of those as we can. They’re trying to divert a lot of the money that should be coming to southern Illinois and central Illinois and divert it to the broken financial condition of Chicago. So, we’ve been battling that and it’s not been easy." Adding that the funding in question "shouldn’t go to Chicago," the first-term governor once again turned the blame on Democrats for inserting provisions "to assist Chicago in its financial crisis." "It’s not fair but it’s going to end up being a compromise," Rauner said. "It’s not where we’d like it to be and what I’ll try to do is fix the problems with it in subsequent legislation." Though he did not offer further details on what future changes may be in store, Rauner’s comments were a departure from his statement the day before. On Thursday, he thanked the leaders for their work on the "historic" reform, which has been the center of a monthslong battle in Springfield as school budgets across the state hang in the balance. At issue is Senate Bill 1, a measure passed by the legislature to move Illinois to an "evidence-based model" of education funding, which would take into account each district’s individual needs, as well as its local revenue sources, when appropriating state aid – prioritizing districts that are furthest from being fully-funded. Without an evidence-based model in place, no state funding can be disbursed to K-12 schools across Illinois at all, due to a provision in the budget passed in July that makes aid contingent on an overhaul of the funding formula. Critics of SB 1, including Rauner, have called it a "bailout" for cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools because the bill as passed took into account the district’s $505 million in unfunded pension liability, plus $221 million in its normal pension payments, as well as the $203 million Chicago Block Grant, when determining how much it should receive in state funding. The governor's amendatory veto earlier this month made several changes to the bill that included the removal of those considerations – which would result in CPS receiving $463 million less in state aid, according to an analysis from the Illinois State Board of Education. While specifics of Thursday’s compromise – hammered out through a series of closed-door meetings – have not yet been made public, it may include an additional $300 million to CPS above Rauner’s plan, as well as giving the state’s largest school district the authority to raise property taxes. In exchange, changes to the way tax increment financing districts are calculated into a school’s local funding capabilities may be imminent, at Republicans’ behest, plus a potential allowance for districts to get rid of requirements like physical education, for which the state does not provide funding. One of the more contentious results of the negotiations is a possible tuition tax credit pilot program for which officials may earmark up to $75 million for tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools. That was one of the features that Rauner called a "good reform" on Friday, though progressive Democrats, as well as several unions like the Illinois Education Association, quickly denounced it as an effort to create a statewide voucher program. A sponsor of SB 1 as it passed the legislature, state Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) tweeted Friday that he planned to vote against any bill "that contains a tax break for private scholarship donations," calling the proposal an "insidious right-wing assault on public education." "This current deal is a naked attempt by billionaire right-wing ideologue Gov. Bruce Rauner to push through a reverse Robin Hood scheme that siphons money from poor school districts and lets the wealthy avoid paying their fair share in taxes," the Chicago Teachers Union said in a statement, also slamming Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for his "tacit support of school vouchers." State Senator Daniel Biss, widely thought to be among the more progressive candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to run for governor against Rauner, said he was "encouraged" by the negotiations before slamming the tax credit program. "It is absurd that, in order to fund public schools, Governor Rauner and his allies are demanding a tax credit scheme that will just put more money in the pockets of millionaires and billionaires," Biss said in a statement. "The private school voucher program doesn't help create a more equitable education system — it's a false choice, and just the latest example of Rauner putting millionaires over the middle class," he continued. Legislators were briefed on broad details of the tentative deal Friday, though the legislation has not been formally introduced. The four top leaders plan to meet again Sunday in anticipation of a House vote Monday, followed by a vote on Tuesday in the Senate - which already overrode Rauner's amendatory veto, but would need to approve any further changes to the bill.In order to maintain its fighter squadrons, the U.S. Air Force needs the entire planned buy of 1,763 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. That’s in part because the flying branch was allowed to buy fewer than planned F-22 Raptors from Lockheed. The F-35 will have to complement the F-22. But can the smaller, slower, less nimble F-35 hack it as an air-to-air fighter? The Air Force has just 186 F-22s, of which only 123 are “combat-coded” and immediately available for war, according to Air Combat Command. The service had originally wanted 750 of the stealthy air-superiority fighters, but eventually settled on a requirement for 381 Raptors before the program was further truncated by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the early 2000s. But even 381 F-22s proved to be an unfulfilled dream. Ultimately, the Raptor program was terminated by Rumsfeld’s successor, Robert Gates. The last F-22 rolled off the assembly line in Georgia in 2011. In the aftermath of the F-22's cancellation, the Air Force was forced to alter its plans and press-gang the F-35—originally meant as a ground-attack aircraft—into service as an air-to-air fighter. It was the only way for the flying branch to keep enough dogfighters in the air. “Operationally, we have to have it,” says Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh. “The decision to truncate the F-22 buy has left us in a position where even to provide air superiority [we need the F-35], which was not the original intent of the F-35 development.” To be clear, the F-35 has always had some air-to-air capability. But that latent dogfighting ability was mostly meant for self-defense—not for aggressively challenging another country’s fighters in the air. Air Force photo But now the Air Force has no choice but to put the F-35 on the aerial front lines. “You have to have the F-35 to augment the F-22 to do the air superiority fight at the beginning of a high-end conflict to survive against the fifth-generation threats we believe will be in the world at that point in time,” Welsh says. Both China and Russia are developing these so-called fifth-generation fighters, which feature high speed, maneuverability and radar-evading stealth. The Chinese have their Chengdu J-20 and Shenyang J-31 prototypes. Russia is working on the Sukhoi T-50. Both the Russian and Chinese aircraft might have the potential to match certain aspects of the Raptor’s performance. By contrast, there are troubling questions as to how well the F-35 would fare against the new foreign fighters. While the F-35 has air-to-air sensors and can carry air-to-air missiles, it does not have the kinematic performance of the F-22. It’s simply sluggish in comparison. The Raptor was designed from the outset as an air-to-air killer par excellence—the F-35 was not. The Raptor combines a very stealthy airframe with a high altitude ceiling and supersonic cruise. Further, the F-22 possesses excellent maneuverability for close-in visual-range dogfights. Combined with the integrated avionics, which correlate all of the aircraft’s sensor data into one coherent display, the F-22's stealth and kinematics make it arguably the most lethal fighter ever built. The F-35 does have integrated avionics—in some ways more advanced than even the Raptor’s—and it has stealth. But the F-35 lacks aerodynamic performance. U.S. military test pilots say the JSF is similar to the Boeing F/A-18C in speed and maneuverability. Whereas a four-ship flight of Raptors cruising at high supersonic speeds in the rarified atmosphere above 50,000 feet can effectively choose when and where to fight, a flight of slower, lower-flying F-35s might find themselves forced to react to better-performing enemy planes if they are not careful. Moreover, the F-35 does not have the speed or altitude to impart as much launch energy to the AIM-120 air-to-air missile as the Raptor can, which means the missiles will have less range when fired from a JSF. Nor can the F-35 carry as many air-to-air missiles. Close in, the F-35 does not have the maneuverability of the Raptor, but it does still have very good low-speed high-angle-of-attack performance. An F-35 pilot should carefully exploit the strengths of his aircraft, using the jet’s stealth and sensors to engage enemy fighters from beyond visual range. If forced into a dogfight, an F-35 pilot’s best option would likely be to exploit the jet’s high-angle ability, turning quickly to get a first shot against the enemy. That’s how the Navy uses its F/A-18. But even if the F-35’s aerodynamic performance is roughly comparable to the F-16 or F/A-18, the aircraft’s stealth and sensors make it more survivable against future Chinese- and Russian-built fighters than older aircraft like the F-15. “Our legacy fighters against the new-generation fighters will not survive,” Welsh says. “Operationally, it’s just a fact.” As such, Welsh argues that the Air Force must continue with the F-35 program despite defense budget cut backs. “I don’t believe this is a good time to talk about truncating the buy, capping it at some number,” Welsh says. Sign up for a daily War is Boring email update here. Subscribe to WIB’s RSS feed here and follow the main page here.The first half of Fate/Apocrypha has finally landed on Netflix! This week in anime, Jacob and Steve break down the best and worst of everything this series has to offer compared to its predecessors so far. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network. Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead. Not Safe For Work warning for content and language. Jacob STEVE, STEVE, DID YOU HEAR THE NEWS? it just arrived by skelegram Steve oh i love that new service, no bones about it Fate/Apocrypha is finally on Netflix! I FEEL LIKE WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SIXTY YEARS. At least this guy has anyway And his extremely stupid name should tell you most of what you need to know about this new Grail War. Type-Moon show. Now I know the Fate series has many ardent fans, and I want to do this conversation justice, so in the interest of journalistic transparency and integrity, I whipped up this simple chart to show how I approach any givenshow. As such, I enjoyed Apocrypha quite a bit! The userbase for Fate/Grand Order would seem to agree with your assessment there. Oh yeah, on that subject, my Fate GO AP will max out in about an hour and a half so we're on the clock. While it is only half over, Apocrypha would seem to fall more on the We Must Let Them Fight side than the Stroking My Chin About What Makes A True Hero side of the Fate equation. But that's bound to happen when you replace King Arthur with uh this little murderbeast Can't say murder without it sounding sorta like Mordred! The difference between Arthur and Mordred (king torn apart by her complex ideals vs. pissy usurper who enjoys tearing other people apart) is a pretty nice summation of the difference between Nasu/Urobuchi-flavored Fate and this spinoff novel, which is more concerned with taking Fate's premise— (which need we remind anyone at this point is this) —and blowing it up to its grandest possible extent, starting with a Jewish mage fucking over the Nazis, stealing the Grail, and forcing the Clock Tower to crowdsource mages and double their usual master/servant ratio for a big fat fourteen-fighter free-for-all. And I love that. The nitty gritty of Fate lore, of which I've only scratched the surface, can get so impenetrable that I respect Apocrypha for basically going "fuck that" and doing everything in the interest of creating the grandest, stupidest, most entertaining battle royale possible. "Oh you thought seven Servants was too many? Well now there's 14 Servants, how about that? jk, there's 15, because there's a new Ruler class now. jk, there's 15 and half, because this homunculus is now sort of a Servant? jk, now's there's 16 because w h o c a r e s i t's a w e s o m e." Of course, all this hyperbole makes it sound like the story is just stupid spectacle, and it's not. The show cares very much about all its characters and relationships, and there are definitely still long scenes of exposition between stern mages with staunch personal philosophies. It's still Fate, after all. Somewhat regrettably, since the ballooning Master/Servant count certainly doesn't do the show any favors in regards to developing every character. Not exactly, but I think it does enough to keep the story compelling. I honestly like Fate's digressions into philosophy, because they make the story memorable and fun to discuss when it could have just been Chuunibyou Custom D&D Fantasy #4,627. But there's something to be said for taking that premise and paring it back to simpler expressions of the same basic ideas, made by lovable heroes who just have nice simple takes on things. Fate/Zero a lot (thanks Urobuchi), and Fate/stay night not so much (no thanks Nasu). And it's why I like Apocrypha for not dwelling on that aspect too much and instead focusing on its strengths (one of which is certainly Astolfo). I like the philosophical digressions when they're handled by a strong writer, for sure! That's why I ended up enjoyinga lot (thanks Urobuchi), andnot so much (no thanks Nasu). And it's why I like Apocrypha for not dwelling on that aspect too much and instead focusing on its strengths (one of which is certainly Astolfo). otaku -aimed anime really) needs a sad lil normalboy at the center, Apocrypha gives us one, but not in the form I'm used to from these stories. Instead of being the son of a great mage or some chode with a twisted dark destiny, "Sieg" as he's later named for INCREDIBLY SPOILERY REASONS is basically just a human battery who happened to have enough strength to fight back. And thanks to a little support from Astolfo and J'eanne, he just never stopped fighting. He's not contemplating his exact place in the world or which girl in his harem is the cutest, he just wants to live. It's kind of Apocrypha's answer to the usually lofty questions posed by Fate, that this kid who was literally created for one extremely limited purpose breaks away from it to find that he has no reason to live anymore, but that the desire to just BE is reason enough, which could make him heroic to a completely different kind of audience. And I think that's charming. That reminds me, I really like Apocrypha's take on the hapless everyguy, which is one place I think it shines in being smart even if it's not trying to be as heady as its big brothers. Because every Fate (and every-aimed anime really) needs a sad lil normalboy at the center, Apocrypha gives us one, but not in the form I'm used to from these stories. Instead of being the son of a great mage or some chode with a twisted dark destiny, "Sieg" as he's later named for INCREDIBLY SPOILERY REASONS is basically just a human battery who happened to have enough strength to fight back. And thanks to a little support from Astolfo and J'eanne, he just never stopped fighting. He's not contemplating his exact place in the world or which girl in his harem is the cutest, he just wants to live. It's kind of Apocrypha's answer to the usually lofty questions posed by Fate, that this kid who was literally created for one extremely limited purpose breaks away from it to find that he has no reason to live anymore, but that the desire to just BE is reason enough, which could make him heroic to a completely different kind of audience. And I think that's charming. I'll grant that Sieg's backstory is more interesting than your average protagonist. But as a character, I found him not much better than a nonentity. My eyes ended up glazing over or involuntarily glancing over to Twitter every time he ended up as the focus of a scene. I get what they were trying to do, but in execution his story just slows down the proceedings around him. I wish that time had been spent fleshing out other more interesting characters and relationships. But like you said, he's GOTTA be there. And even though he's ostensibly the protagonist, at least he takes a backseat to everything else that happens this season. Fair enough. And yeah, I found him more compelling because unlike with Shirou, we only spend like five minutes with Sieg at a time, which is like the optimal amount of everyman for me before we switch over to more of whatever the hell this is why yes, that is Jack the Ripper, obviously Why wouldn't Jack the Ripper be a loli in a thong, thank you Fate/Apocrypha. Definitely nothing wrong with that. I hope her wish for the Holy Grail is a decent pair of pants. GOD WILLING Like two minutes is more than enough Jack the Ripper for me thank you. But it really is like two minutes and then we're off to the races with some other character's subplot! All around, it's never a boring show. Okay, not...never. It is almost never a boring show. For all that talking-up of spectacle we've done, honestly the most bored I ever got? Was during the climactic battle. Sacrilege I know but it's true. Mordred knows how I feel. What, are you implying that spending the last third of your first arc's runtime on just one battle is perhaps suboptimal pacing? ufotable, but it is pretty good. Well, I'm saying that it proves the characters really do form a major core of the series' entertainment value. The fight animation/choreography isn't, but it is pretty good. Regardless, when the battles start to go on and on, I remember that I'd rather be learning about these precious murder-babies. or badass buddy cops Interestingly enough, with the major exception of Mordred and Kairi (who are the only pair to opt out of an alliance with the rest) most of the "hey fuck this and fuck you" characters are on the ostensibly "good" Red side, while the show quickly endears us to more of the underdogs on the "bad" Black side, another clever touch that forces us to think about who we really value as "heroes." There's a theme of "real vs. fake" going on here, where the Black side is being lambasted especially because they're an unofficial mage association of weird misfits disowned by the Clock Tower. And of course, many of the servants summoned are wannabes or imitations of some kind, with wishes to correct this part of their past. The FATE PHILOSOPHY stuff is there, it's just nested subtextually between a lot of dumb shit like mages in Doc Ock combat-wheelchairs getting hit by cars. LITERALLY the Doc Ock arms tho, it's so good dub. Oh yeah, I cannot take credit for that joke. The show makes it for you. And this one, especially in the It is delivered in exactly the way you are imagining right now. Thank you Bang Zoom!, I missed 2006. So if you're not a fan of Sieg, who are your problematic faves in this cast-of-too-many? Well I went into the show expecting Astolfo to be my favorite character, and while he's definitely up there, the greatest joy I derived from Apocrypha came anytime Mordred and Kairi were onscreen together. Yeah, Kairi's a weird reclusive necromancer that other mages are creeped out by, so he gets Mordred's feelings of isolation and wants to help her achieve her dreams. He doesn't look down on her for being the weird bastard clone-son of Arthur and having kind of a shitty attitude. They have by far the strongest bond of all the master-servant pairs cuz they just get each other man. They have the best rapport out of all of the Master/Servant relationships. They're both tough guys who love a good fight, and they quip back and forth like a father and his bratty child. It's all too good. And on a simpler level, Mordred just makes infodumps more fun to watch. Also, after a certain Twitter post, I couldn't unsee this, and it made the show 100 times better. OH MY GOD FATE APOCRYPHA IS ABOUT DRIL AND HIS DISRESPECTUL TEEN SON IF THE CLOCK TOWER BANS ME FOR HOLLERING AT SABER I WILL FACE GOD AND WALK BACKWARDS INTO HELL Mordred's awful one-liners are also super endearing Yeah that diss needs another pass, Arthur Jr. Garo, and I wish the show let us spend more time with them and their hot-blooded antics. They both feel like action heroes from a completely different anime series, like this season's, and I wish the show let us spend more time with them and their hot-blooded antics. Well, I'm glad we get to spend more time with some other favorites too, like this delicate flower She only wants to be LOVED :'( moe Frankenstein this much! I did not expect to likeFrankenstein this much! I also like Archer of Black a lot, but there are some fairly OBVIOUS ways he could be improved that I am disappointed were not implemented. I mean, his Master is wheelchair-bound, YOU KNOW what she was thinkin when she volunteered to summon the horse-boy. GIVE US THE MONSTER BOYS. it's only fair. Can we agree that the Black team is absolutely better than the Red team and Mordred should just swap sides so they can all flip off the Clock Tower and have an after-party together? It helps that the Black team has Masters who are distinct characters with relationships and shared histories, whereas Team Red is just @dril (great, admittedly) and this extremely cursed image. Doujin McFanFic." "My name isMcFanFic." But this time the arbiter is supposed to be TOTALLY on the good side. They said it in the first episode so it can't be wrong, I mean how could you distrust this face? But Black Team did seem to get the lion's share of hot Servants. Like I'm also very into Vlad's tired yet distinguished wine dad aesthetic. The gradient hair is the cherry on top. Like many blondes who dye their hair green, Vlad begins to feel the sting of regret within a few washes. shame about the whole vampire thing tho Look, Fate/Apocrypha's first half climaxes with the phrase "We have to stop that vampire from reaching the Holy Grail." If that doesn't do it for you, I just don't know what will. How about Astolfo's magic battle sousaphone? TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT LMAO, I actually forgot about that, and I just watched the
French, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey, and Tłįchǫ.[118] Multicultural media are widely accessible across the country and offer specialty television channels, newspapers, and other publications in many minority languages. In Canada, as elsewhere in the world of European colonies, the frontier of European exploration and settlement tended to be a linguistically diverse and fluid place, as cultures using different languages met and interacted. The need for a common means of communication between the indigenous inhabitants and new arrivals for the purposes of trade, and (in some cases) intermarriage, led to the development of Mixed languages. Languages like Michif, Chinook Jargon, and Bungi creole tended to be highly localized and were often spoken by only a small number of individuals who were frequently capable of speaking another language. Plains Sign Talk—which functioned originally as a trade language used to communicate internationally and across linguistic borders—reached across Canada, the United States, and into Mexico. See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] References [ edit ] Bibliography [ edit ]Poor taste? Or did they just miss the reference? The #1 comic book news website on the internet, Comic Book Resources (CBR), hosts a weekly interview with Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. This week's featured interview saw reference to the Marvel comics character known as Richard Rider. Richard Rider's super powered alter ego is known as Nova, who has recently been replaced by a younger version known as Sam Alexander. CBR also hosts the internet's most popular comic book forum to which they open it up for fans to ask questions to Axel Alonso. One fan in particular commented about the new Nova book and that it's called "Nova" and not "Dick Rider," with CBR keeping the "joke" as is (see below). Now what must be noted is that these questions are handpicked by both Comic Book Resources and Marvel, so this isn't something like a direct quote from a one-on-one interview. It's all planned. Very classy, guys. Check it out for yourself:Review: Blind Pilot, 'And Then Like Lions' Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. However, you can still listen with the Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page. toggle caption It's taken Blind Pilot five years to release a follow-up to 2011's We Are The Tide, and the result befits a group that moves at its own pace: And Then Like Lions unfurls slowly and gracefully, its energy directed more toward richness of sound than speed or force. The Portland, Ore., band makes wistful late-summer music — songs of reflection and connection, carried out in a subtle swirl of strings, horns, pianos and voices. Singer Israel Nebeker has described And Then Like Lions as a reflection on how we connect to the past, but it's a theme that takes many forms: The slow-building "Umpqua Rushing" channels thoughts on jealousy and regret through references to rivers and forest fires, showcasing Blind Pilot's gift (heard in "Moon At Dawn" and elsewhere) for conflating personal narratives with the movement of the natural world. In the lightly ambling "Don't Doubt," Nebeker offers a bit of advice — "Don't you doubt / Everybody's seen the winter / Don't you take the dark way out" — that seems to bear the weight of experience. There's a sense of deliberation to everything Blind Pilot has done in its three-album career: After all, back when the band consisted of just Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski, the two toured up and down the West Coast via bicycle. Now that it's a six-piece with a label deal and a national following, Blind Pilot travels more quickly. But it still uses its music as a vehicle for slowing down and examining the world around it.The Flash in Flashpoint Paradox Credit: Warner Bros Animation Leaked on Warner PR maven Gary Miereanu's twitter account over the weekend, Reverse Flash/Professor Zoom has been cast for. Screen actor C. Thomas Howell, currently starring on Southland, is playing the villain from the future who has a pivotal, and surprising role in the storyline. Included in the tweet that revealed the casting was frequent DC Animation director Jay Oliva, leaking his involvement with the film, as well. He most recently directed the two-part Batman: The Dark Knight Returns animated feature. James Tucker, a producer at Warner Animation was also included, teasing his involvement.Announced in 2012, after Superman: Unbound, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation's next animated feature now has a full title, release date, and the first official description and casting information.Revealed exclusively to Newsarama,will hit Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD, OnDemand, and Digital Download on July 30, 2013, taking the 2011 DC Comics series Flashpoint into the world of animation. That comic book series, by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert, served as the impetus for the "New 52" relaunch of the DC Comics universe later that year. The storyline wil mirror that of the comics, and we have Warner Bros. Animation's official description for you here. "When time travel allows a past wrong to be righted for The Flash and his family, the ripples of the event prove disastrous as a fractured, alternate reality now exists where a Justice League never formed, and even Superman is nowhere to be found. Teaming with a grittier, more violent Dark Knight and Cyborg, Flash races to restore the continuity of his original timeline while this new world is ravaged by a fierce war between Wonder Woman's Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans. With breath taking action and an all-star voice cast, it's a bold, emotional vision that will forever change the landscape of the DC Universe." While we can't reveal the full cast just yet (and we wish we could), we can share a few. Kevin Conroy leaked his return to the role of Batman in the film, and WBA confirmed the actor will be playing Bruce Wayne/Batman in the non-Flashpoint era sections of the film. Ron Perlman will be back as Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, Dana Delany returns to Lois Lane. We can also announce that Vanessa Marshall, no stranger to superhero animation having played Mary Jane Watson, Black Canary, Black Widow, Poison Ivy, and more, will be reprising her role from Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths as Wonder Woman. Other pivotal castings including Flash, Cyborg, Reverse Flash, Aquaman, and Thomas Wayne/Batman will be revealed soon. Along with the casting, release date, and description, see the first official still fromto your right, featuring The Flash in action.comes from DC Entertainment, Warner Bros Animation and Warner Bros Home Entertainment July 30, 2013.Got a comment? There's lots of conversation on Newsarama's FACEBOOK and TWITTERASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Asheville activists convened a news conference Monday to discuss crowd behavior during the campaign visit of Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump and say they plan to sue the city. RELATED \| “I'm furious. Absolutely furious,” Chad Nesbitt, the former chair of the Buncombe County Republican Party, said. He outlined his frustrations with the way the crowd dispersed as Trump wrapped up his comments. “We met face-to-face with the ugliness of Asheville. Flat out ugly,” Nesbitt said. Nesbitt places the blame on the city of Asheville who he says didn’t uphold the code to allow people to leave the building. He says at some point barricades were moved closer to the door, making it difficult for people to leave. “It was a gauntlet we had to walk through,” he said. According to a city spokeswoman, protestors on sidewalks may be asked to voluntarily move but as long as there is space for traffic flow and they comply with the law and pose no risk to public safety, they will not be forced to stay in one part of that space. Joey Robison went on to say more than 20 firefighters were present including five fire marshals with crews on standby and did not observe any violation of the state’s fire code. “If that's the case, then they should be fired because this was an absolute danger to everybody,” Nesbitt said. Robison also said, “While tempers and anxiety were high during the event, the number of incidents requiring intervention by police and first responders was relatively few.” “It is standard practice that departments conduct after-action assessments to identify areas for improvement after any large event,” Robison said. Nesbitt said he’s still planning to sue and is in the process of finding an attorney. Carl Mumpower, a former city councilman, was also in attendance at the news conference. At one point he had a pastor and an evangelist read several accounts from Trump supporters the night of the rally. Pictures detailing crowd reactions were also on display. RELATED \| Nesbitt and Mumpower also criticized the media for its coverage of the rally.I recently unlocked the bootloader for the consumer editions of Motorola Android devices using Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. This includes the Razr HD, Razr Maxx HD, Razr M, and Atrix HD models. The details of this research have been published on Azimuth Security’s blog. Terms of Use I have created a tool that may be used to unlock your bootloader. It requires that your device has been rooted and that the “su” binary has been properly installed. By using this tool, you agree to the following conditions: 1. You understand that using this tool will permanently, irreversibly void your device’s warranty. 2. You understand that it may not be possible to “relock” your device’s bootloader after unlocking using this tool. A side effect of this is that if you lose your device and you are not using disk encryption, a malicious party who acquires your phone may be able to extract all personal data from the device regardless of any lock screen. 3. You agree that I am in no way responsible for any damage to your device as a result of using this tool. Instructions The tool may be downloaded here. It may be used as follows: 1. Extract the entire contents of the zip file. 2. If you are using Windows, ensure you have installed the latest Motorola USB drivers available for your phone. 3. Ensure your device has been rooted and you have a working installation of “su”. 4. Ensure USB Debugging mode is enabled on your device. 5. If you are using Windows, navigate to the extracted directory and execute “run.bat”. If you are using Linux or OS X, navigate to the extracted directory in a terminal and execute “./run.sh”. Frequently Asked Questions Will this support _____? This tool supports the Razr HD, Razr Maxx HD, Razr M, and Atrix HD. No other models are supported. In particular, earlier OMAP-based Motorola phones will not be unlockable using this approach. Attempting to use this tool on unsupported devices may result in irreparable damage. Can I re-package this tool and put my name on it? No. Can this be patched by Motorola or my carrier? Absolutely. As always, if you’re interested in keeping your root access or unlocked bootloader, approach all OTA updates with caution. Be aware that failing to install OTA updates may deprive your device of important security and stability fixes and new features.Last week Tyrese Gibson launched an insane social media campaign, rallying fans around the idea that he’d be awesome as Green Lantern in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Justice League movie. Green Lantern is the only major role that still needs an actor, and Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash are all getting Batman v Superman cameos. I covered the start of Tyrese’s social media posts, but since then there have been dozens more. Just scroll through his latest Instagram photos to check them out. The crazy part is… it may have actually worked! Advertisement Just minutes ago Tyrese posted a photo at the Warner Bros. lot with the caption “I don’t talk….. I move….. #WB #GreenLanternMission”: Tyrese certainly isn’t the first actor to use his large social media following as a way to get a meeting with a large movie studio. But this is definitely an interesting story that I’ll be following closely. When there’s more report about the unfilled Green Lantern Justice League role, you’ll hear it here on Batman News!Tahlia: As a former* emo child, I’m all about finding the perfect pair of skinny leg jeans. As a petite girl (exactly 5ft tall), finding jeans that are perfect length-wise and that fit OK around the calves is ridiculously tough. Jeans shopping is a special form of torture and I avoid it at all costs. *Not so former. Gyan: I’m super fussy when it comes to denim. I don’t quite have Kardashian curves but I definitely have some, which I need to take into account when shopping, dressing, and living. Tight jeans are my literal idea of hell and sadly, they’re what most of the ~affordable~ shops seem to stock these days. Woe is me. Michelle: I like skinny-fit and high-waisted jeans because I like them to go over my tummy and to pull me in. Otherwise, honestly, it just feels like my ass crack is on show and that my vagina might just pop out to say “hi”. I never, ever buy my jeans IRL because the likelihood of a chain store stocking my size is just, well, lol bye.Share. The granddaddy of em' all. The granddaddy of em' all. It was 1979, and Atari programmer Warren Robinett was frustrated. The young engineer had already shipped a successful game called Slot Racers for the fledgling Atari 2600, and now he was working on something much more ambitious. Inspired by the text adventure games he’d played on computer mainframes, Robinett was building Adventure, a fantasy-themed graphical exploratory game and the conceptual predecessor to the action RPG. Opposed by his supervisor, Robinett worked on Adventure in secret. After delivering a proof of concept, he developed a groundbreaking console game with multiple rooms, interactive items, and a trio of deadly dragons each instilled with its own unique AI. Proud of his work, he wanted to add his signature to the game, but was blocked by his employer’s corporate policies. Atari didn’t allow software engineers to take credit for their games, fearing that if the identities of its most talented programmers were publicly known, they might be poached away by rival companies. Robinett’s solution was to create a hidden chamber in his sprawling map. The tiny room was secreted in a maze and only accessible with a special item. Concealed within the room was a minuscule object, a single invisible pixel. By carrying that pixel into another area of the world and stacking two other items on the same screen, the player could render a certain wall passable. Stepping through the barrier led to yet another secret room. inside, the player would find the words “Created by Warren Robinett.” Robinett left Atari soon after completing Adventure, and it wasn’t until much later that his secret signature was discovered by a teenage player, who wrote Atari outlining his discovery. According to Robinett, Atari manager Steve Wright was amused by the inclusion of the hidden surprise, likening it to finding an Easter egg. Check out the video at the top of the page to see the secret in action. Jared Petty is an Associate Editor at IGN. Adventure is his jam. Follow him on Twitter and discuss pixelated dragons."As someone who votes on those, I don't know how others might look at the break in service time," said Farrell. "He'd get my vote, from what we've seen." BOSTON -- Despite Jackie Bradley Jr.'s near three-week stint at Pawtucket, Red Sox manager John Farrell thinks his defense in center field has been so exceptional that he still deserves strong consideration to win the Gold Glove Award. BOSTON -- Despite Jackie Bradley Jr.'s near three-week stint at Pawtucket, Red Sox manager John Farrell thinks his defense in center field has been so exceptional that he still deserves strong consideration to win the Gold Glove Award. "As someone who votes on those, I don't know how others might look at the break in service time," said Farrell. "He'd get my vote, from what we've seen." View Full Game Coverage In fact, Farrell thinks Bradley is the best there is at his position defensively. "I think we'd be hard pressed to find a defender better than Jackie Bradley in center field," Farrell said. "Whether it's in our uniform or anybody's uniform, in the Major Leagues, I think he's the best center fielder in the game." Bradley, who returned to the Red Sox on Friday, was back in Farrell's lineup for the first time since Aug. 17. Worth noting • While Mike Napoli and Brock Holt remained out of the lineup with flu-like symptoms Sunday, designated hitter David Ortiz was also given a day off. Ortiz is still bothered by soreness in his right foot due to a contusion he suffered from a foul ball Aug. 24. • Koji Uehara, who hasn't pitched since blowing a save Thursday in New York, will return to action in the coming days. "Possibly by sometime later in the Baltimore series, but in a low leverage situation," said Farrell.The State of East Africa Report 2012 shows the value of the region’s total trade with the world doubled from US$17.5b in 2005 to US$37b in 2010. The State of East Africa Report 2012 shows the value of the region’s total trade with the world doubled from US$17.5b in 2005 to US$37b in 2010. The State of East Africa Report 2012 shows the value of the region’s total trade with the world doubled from US$17.5b in 2005 to US$37b in 2010. This was disclosed at the inaugural EAC Secretary General’s Private Sector Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) Forum held on Monday at the Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika in Bujumbura, Burundi. Addressing the CEOs, the Secretary General Dr. Richard Sezibera disclosed that in 2011, EAC Partner States sustained an average of 5% GDP growth against the global average of 3%. All performance indicators depicted significant growth trends, including Foreign Direct Investment inflows, which increased from US$683m in 2005 to US$1.7b in 2011. On Burundi’s economy, Sezibera said: “I launched the Doing Business 2012 Report here in Bujumbura, Burundi in mid-April this year, and the Report features Burundi among the top 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business, moving up 8 places in the global ranking (from 177 to 169).” He noted that according to the 2011 Doing Business indicators, it still takes an average of 47 days for people in Burundi to export a product; as a compared to the Dominican Republic, which takes 8 days for a person to export a product. He reiterated that the problem can’t be accredited to Burundi being a landlocked country. He said an exporter in Vienna, a landlocked city in Europe for example, takes 2 days to arrange for and complete the transportation of cargo to the port of Hamburg some 900 kilometers away. “This is almost the same distance from Burundi to the port in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania but that that trip here in East Africa can take one week or longer mainly due to inadequate infrastructure, as well as additional controls and waiting time at our border posts,” said Sezibera. He stated that the EAC Secretariat is working fulltime to implement policies which have the potential to increase investment and growth, and which also address directly issues of poverty and inequality. “By promoting free trade and movement of labour, the EAC as a region can deploy to the maximum extent possible the law of comparative advantage, leading to higher incomes for their citizens. By lowering barriers to entry into business and improving regulatory frameworks, we would both promote investment and stimulate growth,” he added. At the same occasion, Laurent Kavakure, the Minister of External Relations and International Cooperation of the Republic of Burundi, told the CEO’s that progressive elimination of non-tariff barriers; the ongoing construction of one-stop order posts and the creation of the Single Customs Territory will facilitate trade and improve the living standards of the people. The overall objective of the SG’s CEO Forum is to provide a platform for the EAC Secretary General and CEOs of businesses in the region for continuous dialogue to ensure the integration process works for business and trade, EAC competitiveness, and ultimately economic growth. The Forum is hosted by the East African Community Secretariat in partnership with East African Business Council (EABC) and Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA), based on the three organisations’ shared objectives of fostering the interests of the business community in the integration process. It was attended by among others the Vice Chairperson of Burundi Private Sector Mr. Antoine Ntisigana; the EABC Executive Director Mr. Andrew Luzze; Country Director, TMEA, Burundi, Anthe Vrijlandt and over 60 CEOs.Get the biggest What's On 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 A tour of Pontypridd using the Pokemon Go app will bring people together to explore the town centre and Ynysangharad Park. The mobile phone game, which has proved a worldwide sensation since its release in July, encourages players to explore their local area and seek out new Pokemon in order to make progress. Users 'battle' each other in the game by convening at virtual gyms at selected landmarks in the real world. Exploring Pontypridd And Pontypridd Museum will use the game at the centre of a new event, which will be a tour of Pontypridd town centre and the nearby public park. The tour will stop off at landmarks such as the Pontypridd Lido, the town centre fountain and the park's famous bandstand. Two tours, lasting up to an hour and a half, are scheduled for Wednesday, August 17. Morwenna Perrott, curator at Pontypridd Museum, said: "The idea came from a colleague of mine, who had started playing the game. 'A good way to get people out and about' "We think it's a good way to get people out and about, looking at the town centre and what we have here. It's a bit of a different tack for us. "We are going to set a lure in the game at the museum, so people who aren't already here might come here, and then we'll do the same for various places around town. "And we'll try and integrate a bit of history into the tour as well. We'll visit the lido, the bandstand, the fountain, the Evan James and James James statue, if it's been returned from repair." The tours will start at 10.30am and 2.30pm, and everyone is welcome to the free event. "It's a great was of getting people out," Morwenna added. "It'll be good to get people to look at the local area a bit differently, and at the same time letting them know what we have here at the museum."Gen Urobuchi is perhaps best known among anime fans as the screenwriter for the smash hit Puella Magi Madoka Magica; his latest project is scripting what is likely the fall's biggest and most anticipated series, Fate/Zero, the prequel to Type-Moon's Fate/stay night. We asked Type-Moon superfan and writer Alain Mendez to ask Mr. Urobuchi the burning questions he had in advance of the show's early October premiere; you can catch Fate/Zero streaming on both Nicovideo.jp and Crunchyroll. Gen Urobuchi: The process was that I drafted up a proposal for the new characters and the plot, and showed it to Nasu-san for his supervision. However, consequently, 90% of those proposals were accepted as they were already Nasu-san's ideas. As for character names, Hisau Maiya was only character name that I suggested. The other characters were all named by Nasu-san. In the Fate/stay night visual novel, Saber mentions that she only talked to Emiya Kiritsugu three times during the 4th Holy Grail War. Was it difficult writing a story in which the two main characters can only talk to each other directly 3 times? In order to abide by the original story, the character Irisviel has been introduced. Saber only talks to Irisviel. Kiritsugu only talks to Irisviel, too. So, in the end, Irisviel plays the role of facilitating communication between these two, who do not talk to each other. How often did you feel you had change elements out the story in your head to fit in with the story of Fate/stay night? Were there any plot elements that had to be completely scrapped to stay within the overall time line? Did you feel you had retcon anything in Fate/stay night to fit into your story? As a result of the discussions between Takeuchi-san (character design) and myself, Kirei Kotomine's height in Fate/stay night was revised for Fate/Zero. Also, we had to adjust the relationship between Saber and Kiritsugu, so as not to be too bad. We were afraid that if Saber excessively increases her distrust toward Kiritsugu, she would not easily open her heart to Shiro, who is Kiritsugu's adopted child. Since all the Servants are from foreign mythologies, how much research did you do for Fate/Zero? How much research did you do on foreign magical systems? Are there any other mythologies you wish you could have included in Fate/Zero? Our basic policy was that we used the settings of actual mythologies only as the basic foundation for ideas; rather, we would put the emphasis on how we could make our own imaginations grow from that foundation. As for the magical systems, we followed the systems applied to the world by Nasu-san rather than those of real occultism. Takashi Takeuchi and Kinoko Nasu both played table top role playing games (like Dungeons and Dragons or Record of Lodoss War) in their youth, and the influence of those games is evident on their work. Did you ever do such gaming? Do you do any other sort of gaming, especially considering you work for the visual novel company Nitroplus? Call of Cthulhu is the most profoundly memorable TRPG to me. You could say that Saya no Uta, my game script, was especially influenced by Call of Cthulhu. You said once that you felt Fate/Zero got you through a difficult period as a writer and had a hard time writing the endings to your stories. How do you feel you have changed as a writer since then? Are you more confident about writing endings now? I used to be trapped in the stereotype that the only true creative activity was something that had to express my own thoughts. I was subscribing to a strong belief that it would be insincere for me to “adapt” a story, to tell a story without having been the person who created it. However, through my writing on Fate/Zero, I reaffirmed the pleasure I get from simply writing. Since then, I have been able to concentrate on writing the story merely for entertainment without putting too much pressure on myself. Are there any scenes from the novel that you can't wait to see animated? Are there any scenes you not sure will come off as well in an animated form? I believe that this anime series will be 14 episodes. The big battles will be the most difficult scenes to animate. But, I expect that those scenes will look spectacular. Those are the most splendid battle scenes in the story. I cannot wait to see them. What is the part or element that you feel Fate/stay night fans should be looking for the most in the series? How Kirei Kotomine has grown up over 10 years. It's one of the themes of the show, how Kirei, who has sincerely struggled with these conflicts, will become the last boss in Fate/stay night. What are your impressions of Takashi Takeuchi and Kinoko Nasu? I am very envious of the relationship of mutual trust that they have built through their friendship for many years, as a person in the same business. I'm sure that their teamwork will continue to produce great things.TORONTO — When Willie Desjardins said everything is on the table after the Canucks were shutout on Thursday night for the fourth time in five games, he didn’t really mean it. For example, the Canucks may yet split the Sedins, but they aren’t trading one of them. Jannik Hansen isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Bo Horvat. Loui Eriksson will be with Vancouver all season, whether he scores an actual goal or not. The future of the head coach, however, is another thing. It always is. It’s a story as old as Canada itself. A National Hockey League team with high expectations — don’t laugh — torturously disappoints and the coach becomes an easy mark or, as Don Cherry once described Roberto Luongo, the “escape goat.” It’s happened so often, firing a coach in-season comes with its own hopeless slogan. “Well, you can’t trade all the players.” It is why, increasingly, the conversation around the Canucks is being centred around their head coach. This is a team that disappeared into an abyss last season, mostly blamed it on injuries, and promised an improved, more exciting collection this year. Arguably, the Canucks have been worse. The team has 16 goals in 11 games, a scoring rate so sad it will make history if it continues for the next few months. Amazingly, the Canucks have been shutout eight times in their past 24 games, stretching back into March. They are last in even-strength scores, and power-play goals, too. Is it enough to make Desjardins the latest “escape goat?” “I like the structure we’ve played with,” Canucks president Trevor Linden explained. “I think we’ve played well. We haven’t scored. Willie would need a long stick from where he’s standing.” Linden is right, of course. Desjardins can’t put the puck in the net, and it wasn’t only his plan to improve the team’s defensive structure at the risk of shaving down scoring chances. “I like the way we’ve competed,” Linden said. “I like the way we’ve played away from the puck. “I look at the chances we’re giving up, the shots we’re giving up this year as compared to last year and I think we’re a better group. I think we’re playing with better structure.” On that, there is no debate. The Canucks have cut down on shots and goals against. Last season, they were giving up 32.5 shots a game, and it’s down to 27.4. They ranked 23rd in goals against last season, and were up to eighth on Friday. The improvements have been obvious. But playing safe is not without significant gambles. If you have your forwards peeling back into the neutral zone whenever things get a little dicey, you’re going to sacrifice opportunities to beat goalies. And this is not a team blessed with many snipers, if any at all. The Canucks not only need scoring chances, they need lots of them. When Willie Desjardins said everything is on the table after the Canucks were shutout on Thursday night for the fourth time in five games, he didn’t really mean it. “The fact that we’re having a tough time scoring, I have trouble putting that on Willie,” Linden said. “I think our guys are working hard and eventually we’re going to break through.” Desjardins being on the hot seat in Vancouver is a topic that’s been addressed this week by the national hockey media, so it’s a story gaining momentum. Before Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the Senators in Ottawa, Linden was asked if he was going to be patient with his coach and backed him totally. “Yes, 100 per cent,” Linden said. “We’re just 10 games into the season. Stability is important to me. Patience is important. I understand people. You come out and you win four and then you lose one in overtime and then lose (six) in a row. Trust me, it’s been frustrating for everyone. It’s not easy for me. I understand it’s not easy for the fans. I know people want to win.” The Canucks’ structure is going to be tested Saturday against a fast, young Toronto Maple Leafs team. The Leafs attack, but they also make mistakes and bleed shots against. If the Canucks don’t score in this one, it will feel like they may never score again. Toronto is young. The Leafs average age is nearly two years younger than the Canucks and it provides a fascinating juxtaposition with Vancouver. The Leafs’ front office is viewed by many as the one that’s getting team-building right. They have a collection of exciting players, and those players can already score. The Canucks, meanwhile, are seen by some as the team without true direction, caught in the trap of needing a rebuild but wanting to compete for the playoffs. It’s something Linden doesn’t get. “The whole ‘what are they doing?’ question, I’m not sure about it,” Linden said. “What has gone on here in the past two years is a pretty significant change from one group to another. When you talk about changing a core group of older players, it’s hard when you don’t have … it’s a challenging thing to do. And it’s going to take some time. “Had we won the (draft) lottery on May 1, would that have made a difference? We didn’t win.” Maybe the people who wanted the team to tank all along had it right? Of course, the Leafs did win that lottery and with it got the right to select Auston Matthews. If you have a player like that it makes everyone look better. If you don’t, the improvements become harder to see. “If we look at where we started at and where we are today, we’re a lot further. We’re a better group now with our youth and prospects that we’ve introduced,” Linden said. “Our oldest defenceman is 30 years old. There are positives. People use the word ‘rebuild’ as this dramatic thing. “What is a rebuild to you? What’s a rebuild to someone else? What does transition mean?” So where does Linden think his team is at in its organizational life cycle? “Go back to the starting point, and that’s a well-documented place,” Linden said. “It was a challenging spot with the challenges we had in various areas of our organization, and that (spot) was borne out of success. “Working through contract situations and older players, we are transitioning our group to a younger group. If you look at what our goaltending situation looks like, even below the guys that are (in the NHL). If you look at what we’ve done with the defence, we’re younger and we have depth there and prospects. We have some meaningful prospects at the forward position who aren’t here. “We understood that the biggest challenge was when older players start to decline or move, can you backfill quick enough underneath? That’s always a challenge and we’re working through that now.” Working through it one goal at a time. jbotchford@postmedia.com twitter.com/botchford NEXT GAME Saturday Vancouver Canucks at Toronto Maple Leafs 4 p.m., Air Canada Centre CBC, TSN 1040 AMThe white-lipped snail or garden banded snail, scientific name Cepaea hortensis, is a medium-sized species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Helicidae. It is a close relative of the Grove Snail. Shell description [ edit ] Cepaea hortensis Four views of a shell of Cepaea hortensis The white-lipped snail is very slightly smaller than the grove snail, the shell being usually about 2.5 cm (1 in) in maximum dimension. Like the grove snail (brown-lipped snail), it has considerable variability in shell colour and banding, although the shell of the white-lipped snail is perhaps most commonly yellow, with or without brown banding. The principal distinguishing feature of this species is a white lip at the aperture of the shell in adult specimens, although very rarely the brown-lipped grove snail can have a white lip, and vice versa.[2] Distribution [ edit ] The native distribution of this species is Western Europe and Central Europe.[3] The range of the white-lipped snail extends closer to the Arctic in Northern Europe than the range of the grove snail. The white-lipped snail has been introduced to northeastern parts of the USA, but has not established itself as successfully as the grove snail. Habitat [ edit ] The two species share many of the same habitats, such as woods, dunes and grassland, but the white-lipped snail tolerates wetter and colder areas than the grove snail can. Life cycle [ edit ] This species of snail creates and uses love darts during mating. The size of the egg is 2 mm.[4]America's Escape from Knowing Editor’s Note: For many of us, one of the regrets about dying is that we don’t get to see how things turn out. We must face the fact that we are allowed to view, personally, only a brief chapter of the human narrative. Through our imperfect knowledge of history, we can gaze back through the haze of time at how we as a people (or as a family) got here, but the future is the ultimate unknown. That is the human condition – a mix of hope, awareness, regret and sometimes willful ignorance – a paradox that Phil Rockstroh confronts in this guest essay, which he dedicates to the memory of “my brave friend and gifted colleague, Joe Bageant, 1946-2011.” In Berlin, Germany, in early 1939, at Friedrichstrasse railway station, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, my grandmother placed my mother and her older sister, with a few family valuables sown into their clothing, on a Kindertransport bound for Great Britain. Email Printer friendly Soon thereafter, she went about the business of bribing my grandfather's way out of a concentration camp. And then, by means of more brides, charm, cunning, and sheer force of character, she and my grandfather secured exile from Hitler's Germany. My grandmother, being a shrewd judge of character, was able
platform and they have the debate,” he said of the Liberal manifesto expected in early September and the televised leaders’ debate during the campaign. “And they have Rob Ford,” the pollster said of the Conservative Toronto mayor who has embarked upon a controversial round of budget cuts at city hall. “It’s not clear if Rob Ford is helping or hurting the Liberals,” he said. “How that (budget crisis) gets resolved could help the Liberals and hurt the Tories if it doesn’t go well.” Read more about:Burton Malkiel, the Princeton economics professor and author of the index investing classic “A Random Walk Down Wall Street,” is more certain than ever that China’s a great investment, even if its real estate market has been frothy. As an advisor to the China-focused indexing firm AlphaShares, that’s hardly surprising. What was surprising was when Malkiel told IndexUniverse.com Managing Editor Olly Ludwig that older people focused on income-producing investments might be wise to find their yield in new places, namely emerging market bonds and high yielding blue chip stocks. Malkiel will take part in the "Inside ETFs Conference" next week in Florida, where he will sit down for a "Fireside Chat" with IndexUniverse Chief Executive Officer and Founder Jim Wiandt. Ludwig: People are talking a lot about China right now—is it a hard landing or a soft landing? And they’re wondering about towns being built up that have no residents and whether there’s a real estate bubble in eastern China. Can you put it into perspective? Malkiel: Let’s talk first about the Jim Chanos critique, that they have been building ghost towns, and they’re building bridges and railroads to nowhere. In my view, these projects are a deliberate attempt by the government to bring economic development and some of the riches that have been created in the eastern part of the country to the middle and western parts of the country. And it’s also facilitating the continuation of an enormous migration from the farms to the cities. I think the government knows exactly what it’s doing. There’s a lot of unrest in the center, and there’s an enormous disparity of wealth. Now on real estate prices, this is actually a very interesting phenomenon; there may very well have been a bubble in real estate prices. Ludwig: In places like Shanghai, for example? Malkiel: Exactly. The Chinese are prodigious savers and they basically get zero if they keep their money in the banks. And they have recently focused on real estate. Real estate prices have gone up a lot. The government stepped in to take a number of actions. For example, there’s a 40 percent down payment for buying a house. There’s a 60 percent down payment for buying a second house. And that 60 percent requirement was raised. They have slapped the wrists of some of the banks that were making a lot of real estate loans. And they have been successful in that real estate prices are down about 20 percent. And they may very well have somewhat further to go. Let’s say you’re a Nouriel Roubini—he’s the current doctor of gloom—who expects a hard landing. The big difference between China and how we got into trouble in the United States was, first of all, the down payments. People in the United States, in general, could buy houses with nothing down. It was heavy leverage and the financial institutions got over-leveraged too. And basically what the Chinese government has done is it has increased bank reserve requirements several times. In fact, the worry that the officials have now is that they may very well have gone too far. And probably the next policy moves will be loosening. Ludwig: They already started loosening bank reserves, on that crazy day, Nov. 30, when all those central banks cut short-term lending rates to banks and the Dow went up 492 points. Malkiel: I think you’re right. And it’s probably at the kind of tipping point where everything is likely to go the other way, where the economy has slowed down. It was a 10.5 percent rate of growth in 2010 and early 2011. Now it’s down to 9 percent, maybe even a bit less than 9. And I think the Chinese wouldn’t like to see this go down below 8 percent. And even if the government had to bail out some of the banks, which is possible, they’ve done it before—remember that China has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 17 percent. It’s 100 percent in the United States. It’s over 100 percent in Europe. It’s over 200 percent in Japan. They’ve got the wherewithal to change fiscal policy without any problem and to bail out any financial institutions that get themselves in trouble. There’s one other thing about real estate, which actually makes me more bullish about the stock market. Real estate prices are coming down. As I said, they’re down 20 percent. My guess is the government at some point, if real estate fell another 10 percent, will probably come in and loosen up. But what this has meant is the Chinese stock market is down the last couple of years. And, while I’m not a market-timer, I think people might say, “Stock prices are now at 8 or 9 times earnings; they’ve fallen a great deal—maybe this is the time to get back in the market.”[A version of this article was originally published in Social Science Space] by Christopher Shay In Monday’s U.S. presidential debate on foreign policy, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama exchanged zingers. They bristled, smirked, and wagged their fingers at each other, but the real takeaway of the night was that the candidates basically agree with each other. When the most glaring disagreement was whose tour of Israel was better, it’s clear that no matter who wins, U.S. foreign policy will stay the course. The United States will still be Israel’s ally; it will still rely on drone attacks; and it will continue to pressure Iran with economic sanctions. From a world policy standpoint, the exciting election action is abroad. This year, we’re watching an "unprecedented tsunami of elections." Some 82 nations have some sort of national election, and two dozen countries have already or will soon choose a new president, as World Policy Journal Editor David Andelman pointed out. Already, the dynamics are shifting. As countries across the world rise in prominence, and the U.S. role as global enforcer wanes, these elections around the world are increasingly important. Take Georgia. This month Mikheil Saakashvili made the most important move of his career—he stepped down. Saakashvili, once a darling of the West, clashed with Russia in 2008 over the breakaway states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He also concentrated power in his hands after splintering the country’s opposition groups. But in a stunning electoral victory, eccentric billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili defeated Saakashvili, and Saakashvili became the country’s opposition leader. Now, Ivanishvili promises to make Russia—and no longer the U.S. or the EU—Georgia’s most important strategic ally. Still, the peaceful transfer of power signals a functioning democracy—something that many analysts had doubted. This surprising election defeat changes the whole dynamic of the region. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting off and on for decades over the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh. Both countries are importing small arms from the Ukraine, and tensions remain high. Yet if war breaks out, Azerbaijan can invoke a mutual assistance pact with Russia, and the easiest way for Russian forces to reach Azerbaijan is through Georgia. Under Saakashvili, this could’ve been cataclysmic—perhaps under Russia-leaning Ivanishvili, not so much. The point with this example is that as the United States can impose its will less and less, these seemingly minor elections become crucial. The United States—whether headed by Romney or Obama—has very little influence in these matters. Analysts often repeat what should be obvious. We live in a “non-polar” world. Instead of the “bi-polar” world of the Soviet Union and the United States or a “uni-polar” era of American hegemony, we have an incredible complex, ever-changing world of shifting alliances. We live in spikey world, where local influence can quickly rise and fall. With regional dynamics more important than ever, the election of a single global leader can transform a region. A new president can pivot a state from relying on one power to another, tipping the balance of power in the region. Elections are also often stress tests for new governments. For Arab Spring countries, the elections revealed the local politics and power plays of the region that will shape their countries. The most important test for Afghanistan will be its national election in 2014. Setting up the infrastructure and security strategies needs to be one of the country’s top priorities right now. American troops will be largely gone, and ensuring a free and at least moderately fair election will be no easy task. Who comes to power and whether it’s viewed as legitimate will shape the future of the country. In Iran, the clearest path to reform is through the office of the president—Iran’s president, not the United States’. With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the way out, the world needs to watch who will be allowed to run for president in Iran. Behind the Ayatollah, the president is second most powerful person in the country. With the last faulty election having sparked an uprising and the country facing a financial crisis, maybe—just maybe—the mullahs will be wary of intervening too much. This would give a chance for a reformer to get elected, change the foreign policy of Iran, and transform the politics of the region. In the foreign policy debate, Obama was still correct to call the United States an “indispensable nation”—a phrase coined by former World Policy Journal editor James Chace. Americans—with their adoration of the entrepreneur, top universities, and culture industry—are well placed in this new non-polar landscape. Still, the United States is no longer the world’s top cop, able to compel countries to abide by international norms. Regional alliances, like the Gulf Cooperation Council or East African Community, and impromptu coalitions of the willing will be of greater importance. Paying close attention to the world’s other elections is key to predicting where the world is heading, certainly much more so than the banal display from Romney and Obama. *** *** Christopher Shay is managing editor of World Policy Journal. [Photo courtesy of Rosa Trieu/Neon Tommy]A snowstorm near Thunder Bay, Ont. knocked out power to thousands of Hydro One customers over the past weekend, but the outage didn't stop one meter from counting up the kilowatts, according to a man who keeps a close eye on his electricity use. Jerome Anderson, who lives just outside the city, says he was without electricity for about 48 hours, but his metre recorded more usage than a typical weekend when the power is on. Part of Anderson's daily routine is to take a look at his hydro meter, which logs approximately 45 to 60 kilowatt hours (kWh) per day, depending on the season. Anderson says he checked the meter on Friday morning, and it was at 9994 kWh. When the electricity came back on, and he checked the meter Monday morning, it was much higher than expected. "It had said that in the 48 hours where the power was completely off, both on the line and on the main breaker, and in the small shoulder hours either side, during those 72 hours we had used approximately 130 kWh of power," Anderson said. Hydro One said it will test a customer's meter, free of charge, if there is a concern that it may not be reading accurately. Hydro One will come and test a customer's meter if they believe it is not reading power usage correctly. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press) Anderson said he's had those tests done and crews could not find any problems. "They've sent out test crews, they've assured me the meter is accurate when they take it off the pole and they put their test rig on it and check it out for a minute or two," he said. "But, there's a mystery here. How can I use so much power when the house has been basically shut down? " A spokesperson for Hydro One said a device designed and manufactured by a third party is used to test the accuracy of hydro meters and they're found to be "almost one hundred percent accurate." Meanwhile Anderson said he's frustrated that his electricity bills and his usage don't seem to add up. "They keep saying it's my problem. So, where do we go from here?," he asked.Hi Neighbors! As I write this, I’m sitting on the floor of what has been my office for the last 11 years. Boxes on my left, bubble wrap on my right, and someone keeps stealing the tape gun. For the past week I have been working my way through a room full of great stories. Stacks of memorabilia, documents, and photos all waiting to be sorted, packed, and with a little luck, shared again. Artifacts from the original Narragansett brewery in Cranston to napkins with decade-old ideas scratched onto them – everything seems to come with a story. As I pack, the sheer size of what we’ve accomplished and what this company really means begins to come into focus. From 1890 to 1983, Narragansett Beer must have been one of New England’s largest producers of great stories, and many of those stories have ended up in this room. Workers openly drinking on the job. The case that fell off of the truck for a friend. The Hi Neighbor bus transporting bar patrons to Red Sox games. Larger than life characters like Curt Gowdy, Irene Hennessey, Dr. Seuss, Captain Quint, and the legend of part tour guide and part stand-up comedian John English. The memories are endless. I grew up here in East Providence with our Brewmaster, Sean Larkin, stayed around to play baseball for Brown, and my wife and I are now raising four daughters here. Rhode Island is my home, and any true Rhode Islander takes that sentiment to heart. About 15 years ago I was driving home alone through New Hampshire. My mind was burrowing down a rabbit hole of hypotheticals, tossing ideas from left to right. Blue and red flashing lights snapped me out of it – I was going 85 in a 65. Standing tall and straight the officer asked, “what were you thinking?” “I was thinking about bringing Narragansett Beer back,” I told him. The officer gave me a confused look and began to reminisce about how he and his mother used to drink a 16 oz. bottle of ‘Gansett while listening to Red Sox games on their old transistor radio. He let me go without a ticket. A few years and a couple of lucky breaks later, we were able to turn that daydream into reality. Since then, we’ve had a lot of fun, made a few mistakes, and garnered more stories than I could have ever imagined. In the last 11 years we’ve thrown our 125th Anniversary party (and many others), met many of the old brewery workers, and even teamed up with our notable Brewmaster from the glory days, Bill Anderson, to learn the recipe that put Narragansett Beer on the map. We’ve grown from virtually nothing to New England’s 5th largest – and the country’s 37th largest – brewer with the country’s highest rated Lager beer. Nearly two thirds of all establishments in RI proudly serve Narragansett Beer and we’ve now also brought a taste of Rhode Island to 15 other states. And while much has been said about Narragansett Beer, I could not be more proud of the nearly 300 local employees who have earned a well-deserved ‘Gansett paycheck as part of our family over the course of more than a decade, as well as the hundreds of community and non-profit organizations that we have supported over the years. While these are all terrific milestones, our efforts have felt somewhat incomplete as we have worked diligently, but continued to struggle to bring the brewing of Narragansett back home. Rugs have been pulled, plans have fallen through, and our future home literally went up in flames days away from closing a year ago. While these speed bumps were tough to swallow, they never deterred us from our dream and our promise to you. You have long since earned a brewery. I hated making you wait, and the feeling of letting you down after each door closed despite our best efforts was hard to take. But, as it often does in Rhode Island, hope prevailed. Today, it is with great pride that we announce that ‘Gansett is finally coming home. Next week we will move our offices from 60 Ship Street in Providence to The Guild, home of our future brewing operations, at 461 Main Street in Pawtucket. Several months will be spent restoring the building and installing the brew house, and later this year, we’ll be brewing ‘Gansett in the Ocean State for the first time since 1983. In 2009 we asked you to “Drink Your Part” and you certainly did. Every ‘Gansett you drank over the past 7 years was another brick in the brewery, and without you we would never be in the position that we are today. Thank you. Make no mistake, you made this happen. Please accept my letter as your open invitation to come visit us when we’re up and running. This is your brewery and we can’t wait for you to be a part of it. Thank you for everything, Mark D. HellendrungThe Thunder pulled out all the stops when they traded for Paul George in June, throwing the All-Star forward a lavish welcome party with one eye on the playoffs and the other on his 2018 free agency. That especially warm embrace was the first step of a shrewd and self-aware retention strategy, one designed to frame the Thunder as a family that cares, not merely a brand-building platform. What Oklahoma City might lack in nightlife or glamour, the pitch went, it makes up for with everything a star could desires: a winning environment, an MVP captain in Russell Westbrook, a proven GM in Sam Presti, a low-key ownership group, and an ultra-passionate fan base. Three weeks in, George has every right to wonder whether the Thunder will be able to deliver on their vision. Put aside Chris Paul and Isaiah Thomas, both of whom are sidelined with injuries, and George has endured the rockiest start to 2017-18 of any prominent star traded this calendar year. Unlike Kyrie Irving, he hasn’t enjoyed a profile boost as the face of a franchise. Unlike Jimmy Butler, his individual sacrifices haven’t led to immediate team success. And unlike DeMarcus Cousins, he hasn’t even been in position to post crazy numbers. Acclaim? Nope. Winning? Not yet. Stats? Not really. Remember, George is a 27-year-old scoring forward with a signature shoe, a sports drink commercial, and a first date with unrestricted free agency in just eight months. Under normal circumstances, he should be peaking on all fronts. The story in Oklahoma City so far has been one of regression, rather than ascension. George has been squeezed on both sides by Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, left with that trio’s third-highest usage rate. Compared to last year, George’s scoring is down, his shots are down, and his assists are down. Meanwhile, his touches, time of possession and free-throw attempts are all way down. To make matters worse, he doesn’t have much to show for that narrowing role: His shooting efficiency has fallen overall, Oklahoma City’s star-studded headliners haven’t really clicked, and he’s largely been a crunch-time bystander as the Thunder have compiled an 0-6 record in close games. If voting were conducted today, George would be left off the West’s All-Star team and he would be on the outside looking in at the All-NBA conversation. Playing with a high-level point guard for the first time in his career should theoretically be a godsend. Instead, the arrangement has often left George looking like an afterthought. As Oklahoma City fell to Portland, Sacramento and Denver in succession this week, George shot just 3 of 10 combined in the fourth quarter. In 23 minutes of clutch play this season, George has attempted just eight shots to Westbrook’s 18. It’s difficult to accumulate enough footage to film a Gatorade commercial when you only get to shoot once every three minutes with the game on the line. Layne Murdoch/Getty Images To George’s credit, he’s yet to raise a fuss, in contrast to his loud squawking in Indiana over his late-game role during the 2017 playoffs. Following an ugly loss to the Kings earlier this week, he diplomatically stated that the Thunder “have a whole year to figure it out.” He’s also done very well to make his presence felt defensively, leading the NBA in both steals and deflections. Preaching patience is standard operating procedure for any team in early November, much less one trying to quickly merge three alphas who share a tendency to shoot to much. But there are red flags aplenty in Oklahoma City’s early body of work, starting with the mediocre play of the Westbrook/George/Anthony trio. Oklahoma City’s new Big 3 has posted a -0.7 net rating through 11 games. Aside from spanking the Bucks and a nice first-half against the Celtics, the Thunder have yet to demonstrate the ability to form a whole greater than the sum of its parts against a quality opponent. This is particularly ominous because Presti sacrificed his already limited depth to acquire George and Anthony, trading away four rotation players (Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott) for the promise of two stars. The result has been a top-heavy roster whose top simply isn’t pulling enough weight compared to recent comparison points. Last year, the Westbrook/Oladipo/Steven Adams trio posted a +6.7 net rating. The year before, Westbrook/Kevin Durant/Serge Ibaka played at a championship-caliber +12.3 net rating. There isn’t a simple fix to make OKC's Big 3 hum. Westbrook’s own scoring and usage are down sharply this year; He’s trying, albeit very awkwardly, to clear room for his new sidekicks. Expecting the 33-year-old Anthony to dramatically rework his game is a fool’s errand. As per expectations, he’s been a capable catch-and-shoot target for Westbrook’s passes and a persistent weak link on the defensive end. That’s who he is, whether or not he dons the mythical hooded sweatshirt. All three of Oklahoma City’s stars are too willing to pound and settle, but they are also encouraged to revert to those bad habits by lineups that feature at least one, and sometimes two, non-scoring threats. Too often, a bad jumper by George or Anthony goes up because it’s still a better idea than a good Andre Roberson jumper. There also isn’t much ball movement or systemic support to grease the skids, as Oklahoma City ranks dead last by making just 256.2 passes per game. Playing Westbrook and Raymond Felton together would theoretically help the Thunder’s flow, but doing so requires trade-offs on the defensive end. Speaking of defense, Oklahoma City’s calling card has turned into its Achilles heel in crunch time. The NBA’s second-ranked defense drops to dead last in the clutch, posting an abominable 162.1 defensive rating in the last five minutes of games decided by five or fewer points. A chart comparing Oklahoma City’s clutch defense to the other 29 teams looks like a typographical error. Why, exactly, does Oklahoma City’s defense turn into a funnel when it matters? One persistent area of exploitation has been its lack of rim protection aside from Adams. All four opponents during Oklahoma City’s current losing streak have found success by pulling Adams away from the hoop—either in high pick-and-rolls or simply by deploying scoring big men above the elbow—so that Anthony and wings like George and Andre Roberson were left as the back-side defenders. That simple strategy has led to a parade of lay-ups from cutters, lots of forced fouls to prevent dunks, and quality kick-out threes once Oklahoma City’s defense collapses in panic. In postseasons past, Adams had Ibaka and Durant, players with significant length and shot-blocking ability, to provide cover. The current Thunder have no players fitting that bill, least of all Anthony. This looms as a long-term concern given that Adams, as a traditional center, isn’t ideally suited to covering stretch fives. On paper and so far in practice, Oklahoma City’s preferred closing lineup includes both a center who can’t always cover distance quickly enough to challenge three-point shooters and a power forward who can’t contest shots above the rim. That’s problematic. Oklahoma City’s clutch play, and especially its clutch defense, will improve because there’s nowhere to go but up. Repetitions are crucial for a team with so many new pieces and new roles. It’s also reasonable to expect that Westbrook will take his game to another level, responding to the Thunder’s losing streak by deferring less and taking on a greater scoring burden. As last year proved, his force of will can be a winning formula all by itself, at least in the regular season. The problem there, though, is that while more Westbrook might be better for the Thunder, it probably won’t be better for George. A true return of kamikaze Westbrook would necessarily come at the expense of George, Anthony or both. Meanwhile, it would take Oklahoma City even further away from the Westbrook/George superstar tandem image that had to be scrapped upon Anthony’s late-summer arrival. Given the prospect of George’s impending free agency and the massive luxury tax payments required to keep this core group together, Presti and company are already at the point where they need to show major progress on the question that will define the organization’s next chapter. What can the Thunder do to improve Paul George’s life?Not to be confused with mezcal mesclun, or mexamine Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a naturally occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin. It occurs naturally in the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii),[1] the San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi),[2] the Peruvian torch (Echinopsis peruviana),[3] and other members of the Cactaceae plant family. It is also found in small amounts in certain members of the Fabaceae (bean) family, including Acacia berlandieri.[4] However those claims concerning Acacia species have been challenged and have been unsupported in additional analysis. History and use [ edit ] Peyote has been used for at least 5,700 years by Native Americans in Mexico.[5] Europeans noted use of peyote in Native American religious ceremonies upon early contact, notably by the Huichols in Mexico. Other mescaline-containing cacti such as the San Pedro have a long history of use in South America, from Peru to Ecuador. In traditional peyote preparations, the top of the cactus is cut off, leaving the large tap root along with a ring of green photosynthesizing area to grow new heads. These heads are then dried to make disc-shaped buttons. Buttons are chewed to produce the effects or soaked in water to drink. However, the taste of the cactus is bitter, so contemporary users will often grind it into a powder and pour it in capsules to avoid having to taste it. The usual human dosage is 200–400 milligrams of mescaline sulfate or 178–356 milligrams of mescaline hydrochloride.[6] The average 76 mm (3.0 in) button contains about 25 mg mescaline.[7] Mescaline was first isolated and identified in 1897 by the German chemist Arthur Heffter[8] and first synthesized in 1918 by Ernst Späth.[9] In 1955, English politician Christopher Mayhew took part in an experiment for BBC's Panorama, in which he ingested 400 mg of mescaline under the supervision of psychiatrist Humphry Osmond. Though the recording was deemed too controversial and ultimately omitted from the show, Mayhew praised the experience, calling it "the most interesting thing I ever did".[10] Potential medical usage [ edit ] Mescaline has a wide array of suggested medical usage, including treatment of alcoholism[11] and depression.[12] However, its status as a Schedule I controlled substance in the Convention on Psychotropic Substances limits availability of the drug to researchers. Because of this, very few studies concerning mescaline's activity and potential therapeutic effects in humans have been conducted since the early 1970s. Biosynthesis [ edit ] Mescaline is biosynthesized from tyrosine or a hydroxylated phenylalanine. In Lophophora williamsii (Peyote), dopamine converts into mescaline in a biosynthetic pathway involving m-O-methylation and aromatic hydroxylation.[13] Tyrosine and phenylalanine serve as the metabolic precursors to synthesis of mescaline. Tyrosine can either undergo a decarboxylation via tyrosine decarboxylase to generate tyramine and subsequently undergo an oxidation at carbon 3 by a monophenol hydroxylase or first be hydroxylated by tyrosine hydroxylase to form L-DOPA and decarboxylated by DOPA decarboxylase. These create dopamine, which then experiences methylation by a catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) by an S-adenosyl methionine (SAM)-dependent mechanism. The resulting intermediate is then oxidized again by a hydroxylase enzyme, likely monophenol hydroxylase again, at carbon 5, and methylated by COMT. The product, methylated at the two meta positions with respect to the alkyl substituent, experiences a final methylation at the 4 carbon by a guaiacol-O-methyltransferase, which also operates by a SAM-dependent mechanism. This final methylation step results in the production of mescaline. Phenylalanine serves as a precursor by first being converted to L -tyrosine by L-amino acid hydroxylase. Once converted, it follows the same pathway as described above.[14][15] Biosynthesis of mescaline Laboratory synthesis [ edit ] [16] Laboratory synthetic mescaline. Biosynthesized by peyote, this was the first psychedelic compound to be extracted and isolated. Mescaline was first synthesized in 1919 by Ernst Späth from 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl chloride.[17] Subsequent to this, numerous approaches utilizing different starting materials have been developed. Notable examples include the following: Pharmacokinetics [ edit ] Tolerance builds with repeated usage, lasting for a few days. Mescaline causes cross-tolerance with other serotonergic psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin.[33] About half the initial dosage is excreted after 6 hours, but some studies suggest that it is not metabolized at all before excretion. Mescaline appears not to be subject to metabolism by CYP2D6[34] and between 20% and 50% of mescaline is excreted in the urine unchanged, and the rest being excreted as the carboxylic acid form of mescaline, a likely result of MAO degradation.[35] The LD 50 of mescaline has been measured in various animals: 212 mg/kg i.p. (mice), 132 mg/kg i.p. (rats), and 328 mg/kg i.p. (guinea pigs). Behavioral and non-behavioral effects [ edit ] Mescaline induces a psychedelic state similar to those produced by LSD and psilocybin, but with unique characteristics. Subjective effects may include altered thinking processes, an altered sense of time and self-awareness, and closed- and open-eye visual phenomena.[36] Prominence of color is distinctive, appearing brilliant and intense. Recurring visual patterns observed during the mescaline experience include stripes, checkerboards, angular spikes, multicolor dots, and very simple fractals that turn very complex. Aldous Huxley described these self-transforming amorphous shapes as like animated stained glass illuminated from light coming through the eyelids. Like LSD, mescaline induces distortions of form and kaleidoscopic experiences but they manifest more clearly with eyes closed and under low lighting conditions.[citation needed] Mescaline may cause Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder. As with LSD, synesthesia can occur especially with the help of music.[37] An unusual but unique characteristic of mescaline use is the "geometricization" of three-dimensional objects. The object can appear flattened and distorted, similar to the presentation of a Cubist painting.[38] Mescaline elicits a pattern of sympathetic arousal, with the peripheral nervous system being a major target for this substance.[37] Mechanism of action [ edit ] Mescaline is produced when products of natural mammalian catecholamine-based neuronal signalling such as dopamine and noradrenaline are subjected to additional metabolism via methylation, and mescaline's hallucinogenic properties stem from its structural similarities with these two neurotransmitters. In plants, this compound may be the end-product of a pathway utilizing catecholamines as a method of stress response, similar to how animals may release compounds such as cortisol when stressed. The in vivo function of catecholamines has not been investigated, but they may function as antioxidants, as developmental signals, and as integral cell wall components that resist degradation from pathogens. The deactivation of catecholamines via methylation produces alkaloids such as mescaline.[14] Mescaline acts similarly to other psychedelic agents.[39] It binds to and activates the serotonin 5-HT 2A receptor with a high affinity.[40] How activating the 5-HT 2A receptor leads to psychedelia is still unknown, but it is likely that somehow it involves excitation of neurons in the prefrontal cortex.[41] Mescaline is also known to bind to and activate the serotonin 5-HT 2C receptor.[42] Binding Sites Binding Affinity Ki (µM)[43] 5-HT 1A 4.6 5-HT 2A 6.3 5-HT 2C 17 α 1A >15 α 2A 1.4 TAAR 1 3.3 Difluoromescaline and trifluoromescaline are more potent than mescaline, as is its amphetamine homologue trimethoxyamphetamine.[44][45] Legality [ edit ] United States [ edit ] In the United States, mescaline was made illegal in 1970 by the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, categorized as a Schedule I hallucinogen.[46] The drug was prohibited internationally by the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.[47] Mescaline is legal only for certain religious groups (such as the Native American Church) and in scientific and medical research. In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Oregon could ban the use of mescaline in Native American religious ceremonies. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in 1993 allowed the use of peyote in religious ceremony, but in 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that the RFRA is unconstitutional when applied against states.[citation needed] Many states, including the state of Utah, have legalized peyote usage with "sincere religious intent", or within a religious organization,[citation needed] regardless of race.[48] While mescaline-containing cacti of the genus Echinopsis are technically controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, they are commonly sold publicly as ornamental plants.[citation needed] United Kingdom [ edit ] In the United Kingdom, mescaline in purified powder form is a Class A drug. However, dried cactus can be bought and sold legally.[49] Other countries [ edit ] Mescaline is considered a schedule 9 substance in Australia under the Poisons Standard (October 2015).[50] A schedule 9 substance is classified as "Substances with a high potential for causing harm at low exposure and which require special precautions during manufacture, handling or use. These poisons should be available only to specialised or authorised users who have the skills necessary to handle them safely. Special regulations restricting their availability, possession, storage or use may apply." [50] The peyote cacti and other mescaline-containing plants such as San Pedro are illegal in Western Australia, Queensland, and the Northern Territory, whilst in other states such as Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales, they are legal for ornamental and gardening purposes. In Canada, France, The Netherlands and Germany, mescaline in raw form and dried mescaline-containing cacti are considered an illegal drug. However, anyone may grow and use peyote, or Lophophora williamsii, as well as Echinopsis pachanoi and Echinopsis peruviana without restriction, as it is specifically exempt from legislation.[1] In Canada, mescaline is classified as a schedule III drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, whereas peyote is exempt.[51] In Russia mescaline, its derivatives and mescaline-containing plants are banned as narcotic drugs (Schedule I).[52] Notable users [ edit ] See also [ edit ]Russia is sometimes portrayed as a haven for hackers. So with tens of thousands of people descending on Sochi for the Olympic Games, NBC reporter Richard Engel set out to prove just how scary Russia is when it comes to IT security. In a frightening segment shown on NBC News, Engel described how quickly Russian hackers were able to work their way into a brand-new Mac, PC and Android phone that he had brought with him from the United States. "Malicious software hijacked our phone," Engel marvels, "before we even finished our coffee." Engel's initial report makes it sound like he did the online equivalent of leaving his bag unattended at the airport. What really happened shows that while yes, the Russian Internet can be a dangerous place, it's likely no more dangerous than the American Internet if you take the same precautions you would anywhere else. Critics jumped on the report, with some going so far as to call it fraudulent. "Most everything they describe in the story is as equally true at your local Starbucks as it is in Sochi," wrote Gartner analyst Paul Proctor in a blog post. But you don't have to take the skeptics at their word. NBC's own in-depth explainer on Engel's experiment tells you how flawed the
by growing sales for the motor vehicle and wood products industries. In constant dollar terms, sales rose 1.3 per cent, suggesting a higher volume of goods was sold. The gains in December were relatively broad-based, Royal Bank senior economist Nathan Janzen said. “Although the volume of sales remains down in Q4 relative to Q3, increases in the past two months are encouraging and, along with recent strengthening in exports, provide some early evidence that the economy was beginning to get a more meaningful boost from a stronger U.S. economy and weakness in the Canadian dollar,” Janzen said. Statistics Canada said Tuesday that manufacturing sales last year increased on an annual basis in 12 out of 21 industries, with transportation equipment showing the largest gain. Sales of motor vehicles rose 9.1 per cent as the lower loonie relative to the U.S. dollar contributed to the rise, although the number of vehicles produced was down in 2015. Motor vehicle parts sales were up 8.9 per cent, while plastics and rubber products gained 5.4 per cent. dhealing@calgaryherald.com Twitter.com/HealingSlowly With files from Canadian Pressinfo Libre La undécima legislatura ha acabado en fracaso. Convocadas nuevas elecciones, las primeras encuestas realizadas indican que la ciudadanía no premia. Según el barómetro de La Sexta, realizado por Invymark, el 43,6% de los entrevistados responsabiliza al PSOE por la ausencia de un nuevo gobierno, seguido por el PP (20,5%), Podemos (18,6%) y Ciudadanos (7,1%). En la misma línea, la encuesta de Metroscopia para El País indica queen España es el PSOE (el 36% así lo piensa, frente a un 25% que culpa al PP, un 19% a Podemos y un 2% a Ciudadanos). ¿No resulta sorprendente que, sea el PSOE, que llegó a un pacto con Ciudadanos, quien aparezca como culpable de que hayamos acabado yendo a elecciones?Como he argumentado en los artículos que he ido publicando endesde enero, creo que. Los dirigentes del PSOE pensaron que si Pedro Sánchez asumía ante el rey la responsabilidad de formar gobierno e intentaba un pacto con Ciudadanos, el electorado valoraría la posición central y constructiva del partido frente al bloqueo de PP y Podemos. Los datos de las encuestas muestran, sin embargo, que. Me parece que esa opinión ciudadana se funda en buenas razones.En primer lugar, el PSOE ha actuadoy más en general del electorado de izquierda, que reclamaban un pacto del PSOE con Podemos, las “confluencias” e IU. Los socialdemócratas han preferidoy de grandes grupos mediáticos antes que atender las demandas de sus electores. Puede que Podemos no quisiera tampoco el pacto de las izquierdas; es más, hemos visto gestos y maniobras de este partido que iban destinados a torpedear al PSOE más que a sentar las bases para un acuerdo. Pero, en cualquier caso, debe recordarse que quien asumió la responsabilidad de formar gobierno fue el PSOE y que este ha dejado claro en todo momento queen un posible ejecutivo.En segundo lugar, el PSOE ha utilizado públicamente argumentos de consumo interno quey con un interés elevado por los asuntos políticos. No tiene sentido que los dirigentes de este partido repitieran una y otra vez que la coalición de izquierdas no sumaba. Claro que sumaba:, con el apoyo del PNV y la abstención de los nacionalistas catalanes, sumaba. Resulta asombroso que Sánchez insistiera en que ese gobierno no era posible. No era posible, sencillamente, porque el PSOE no quería gobernar con la abstención de los nacionalistas catalanes. Sobre esta excusa o pretexto hablé en un artículo anterior. Que durante unas horas el PSOE considerase el Pacto del Prado ofrecido por Compromís muestra que los socialdemócratas, en realidad, sí que entendían queEn tercer lugar, el PSOE nombró una comisión negociadora claramente escorada hacia posiciones liberales que no facilitaba el acuerdo con Podemos. En dicha comisión figuraban personas comoque representan el ala más centrista del partido. Era, pues, una comisiónEn cuarto lugar, podía tener sentido ensayar un movimiento político que comenzara con un pacto con Ciudadanos y luego se extendiera a Podemos. Pero el PSOE presentó a Podemos un pacto de gobierno prolijo y lleno de medidas que este tenía que asumir íntegramente como punto de partida. Esopara intentar llegar a un acuerdo. En cualquier caso, lo que descubrimos ante el fracaso de la vía 191 (PSOE, Ciudadanos y Podemos) es que no había plan B. El PSOE no había previsto nada ante la eventualidad de que Podemos se negara a votar a favor del pacto PSOE-Ciudadanos, sencillamente porque los socialdemócratas descartaron desde muy pronto llevar a cabo una coalición con Podemos.En fin, creo que la estrategia seguida por el PSOE ha sido profundamente errónea.(divisiones internas, conservadurismo ante el cambio, atención excesiva a las consignas de medios de comunicación que han perdido su credibilidad e influencia, argumentos poco convincentes que solo se creen en Ferraz…). Da la impresión de que, defendiendo un mensaje que la ciudadanía progresista no comparte.El panorama futuro se presenta más bien sombrío para los socialdemócratas. Por una parte, si finalmente la derecha consigue formar gobierno (PP más Ciudadanos), el PSOE, pues para Podemos será relativamente fácil monopolizar la oposición a un gobierno conservador-liberal. En esas condiciones, el partido de Sánchez quedará desdibujado.Por otra parte, si no hay una mayoría de derechas, pueden ocurrir dos cosas, en función de qué partido quede segundo. Si el PSOE se ve superado por la unión electoral de Podemos e IU, tendrá que elegir entre apoyar a la izquierda de Podemos desde una posición de debilidad o apoyar una gran coalición que excluya a Podemos del gobierno, como ocurría en Italia cuando todos los partidos se unían para impedir que el Partido Comunista Italiano gobernase.para el PSOE.A su vez, si el PSOE queda segundo, volverán a darseya acabada: el partido socialista tendrá que decidir de una vez si quiere seguir pasando por alto lo que sus propios votantes piden o rompe con sus inercias y apuesta por una renovación profunda dirigiendo un gobierno de izquierdas.Resumiendo: dados los errores cometidos por el PSOE, a lo máximo a lo que puede aspirar tras las elecciones es aque no se atrevió a realizar en la undécima legislatura.At 5.45pm on Friday afternoon David Cameron was relaxing into his flight back from Brussels, reflecting on a tense but ultimately successful summit with his fellow European Union leaders. He had just scored a valuable victory to overturn EU rules imposing tax on sanitary products – averting a rebellion from his own Tory MPs. The Prime Minister did not know that at that moment an official limousine was pulling into Downing Street, carrying a single document that would blow apart his government’s Budget and engulf him in perhaps the gravest crisis of his career. I am the Prime Minister. The least you could have done is come to see me to discuss this I am the Prime Minister. The least you could have done is come to see me to discuss this David Cameron The driver of the ministerial car was charged with delivering one letter, marked for the attention of the Prime Minister. It was from the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, announcing his resignation with immediate effect. Inside the sealed envelope was a devastating critique of the Chancellor and Prime Minister, for pursuing a “distinctly political” agenda of cuts to benefits for the disabled. Mr Duncan Smith said he could not defend the cuts and would therefore be leaving Mr Cameron’s government, of which he had been a key member since 2010. When Mr Cameron’s plane touched down at Northolt in north-west London, he was immediately informed of his minister’s decision. Shocked, he rang Mr Duncan Smith from the back of the car as his prime ministerial motorcade sped back to Downing Street. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset about this,” Mr Cameron said. “If you do this it will be hugely damaging to us.” The Work and Pensions Secretary, who was at home in Milton Keynes with his wife Betsy, was clear. He could not support cutting disability benefits at the same time as handing tax breaks to the wealthy. “What can we do to make you reconsider?” the Prime Minister asked. “I don’t want anything," Mr Duncan Smith replied. "This is not a bargaining chip, it’s my resolved position.” Mr Duncan Smith’s bolt from the blue clearly angered Mr Cameron. “I am the Prime Minister,” he said. “The least you could have done is come to see me to discuss this.” Back in Downing Street, the Prime Minister held crisis talks with his aides before calling Mr Duncan Smith a second time. But this conversation, at around 7pm, was short. Mr Duncan Smith told him that he would not travel in to Westminster to discuss the issue face to face, and would not be reconsidering his decision. A furious Prime Minister told Mr Duncan Smith he was "behaving dishonourably" and ended the call. Mr Cameron was losing one of his most experienced and senior Cabinet ministers, a euro-rebel, and a former Tory leader revered by many Tory MPs. It was the first resignation Mr Cameron has suffered from a Cabinet minister furious at his own government’s policy. The pledge Mr Duncan Smith’s bombshell shocked Mr Cameron. But the origins of this crisis can be traced back three years, to Januar 2013, and the Prime Minister’s speech at Bloomberg’s London headquarters in which he bowed to pressure from his own MPs and pledged to hold an “in/out” EU referendum. The short-term benefit was to unite his own party behind the mantra of giving the voters a say on Britain’s relationship with Europe. It kept the Tories together in the face of a surge of support for the UK Independence Party and helped them deliver an unexpected majority in last year’s general election. But even while Tories celebrated their surprise victory last May, Eurosceptic MPs began plotting their campaign against Mr Cameron persuade the public to vote to leave the EU. In recent weeks ministers have warned privately that Tory MPs are now ungovernable, that they are ready to rebel over anything, all because they have been emboldened by the fight with the leadership over Europe. Mr Cameron’s decision to give ministers the freedom to campaign publicly against him and in favour of leaving Europe has done little to calm Tory tempers. Many MPs resent what they see as Mr Cameron’s cynical and unfair attempt to rig the referendum campaign in favour of remaining in the EU. Iain Duncan Smith was at the centre of the plotting. Rebel ministers would meet in his large Commons office to plan how the Leave campaign would be fought. Mr Cameron’s allies claim that Mr Duncan Smith – known widely by his initials “IDS” – is simply “obsessed” by Europe, suggesting it is the referendum, not the benefit cuts that have led him to leave the Cabinet, a claim that Mr Duncan Smith’s supporters flatly reject. Anyone but George Mr Cameron made a second mistake that has undermined his authority. On the eve of last year’s general election, he told a television interviewer that he would not be standing for re-election for a third term. "Terms are like Shredded Wheat – two are wonderful but three might just be too many," he quipped. It marked the unofficial, unplanned, and certainly unwise, start of the next Tory leadership contest. In the same interview, Mr Cameron named his closest friend in the Commons, George Osborne, as a potential successor, along with his great rival, Boris Johnson, and Theresa May, the Home Secretary. At Westminster, Mr Cameron’s clear support for Mr Osborne as his chosen heir has irritated MPs. Despite the Chancellor’s promotion of his allies as ministers and his own promotion to become the PM’s official deputy, as First Secretary of State, Mr Osborne's reputation as a brilliant political schemer has been severely tarnished in the fall-out. With a tiny Commons majority of just 17, the government has faced a series of defeats at the hands of its own MPs – and Mr Osborne has become the chief target for the rebels. MPs – including Cabinet ministers – were dismayed last autumn over Mr Osborne’s handing of his plan to cut tax credit payments to working people. He was ultimately defeated and forced to abandon the cuts, with the result that the government broke its own self-imposed cap on overall welfare spending. One minister said: “There is a sizeable group who do not want George as the next leader and have a clear aim of defeating him whenever they can.” The Chancellor was beaten by rebels on his own side into abandoning ambitious reforms to pensions, which would have radically cut tax relief for middle-class savers. He told his friends: “I want to be a big reformer. I want to be radical. Everybody tells me I have to be radical at the beginning of the Parliament,” he confided to friends at the time. But the Tory rebellion over pension reforms resulted in him promising to leave the tax incentives untouched at the Budget this month. Just a week before his Budget statement, Mr Osborne suffered a further defeat over moves to relax Sunday trading laws to allow large shops to open for longer. Some 25 Tory MPs rebelled and yet another of the Chancellor’s cherished reforms had to be scrapped. Welfare wars Every year, Mr Osborne follows the same ritual when it comes to writing his Budget speech. He collects together all his briefing notes and official forecasts and shuts himself away in his study. There, alone with his thoughts, he begins to write his Budget statement. But, at 1.15pm last Sunday afternoon, with Westminster deserted but for a few tourists, the quiet and seclusion that Mr Osborne was expecting was shattered. As he sat at his desk, outside on Whitehall, the team from Top Gear were filming stunts in a car - tyres screamed, and the smell of singed rubber filled the air. But it was once his Budget was over that the real noise started. Scores of Conservative MPs lined drew up plans to rebel over the cuts to the Personal Independence Payments for 640,000 disabled people. The cuts – which would save £1.3 billion – were essential to Mr Osborne’s efforts to balance the nation’s books and control spiralling welfare costs. But MPs warned the plan was unfair and had been so badly explained that they could not justify it to their own constituents. Mr Osborne was facing yet another revolt – and this time he was likely to be defeated on his own Budget, by the MPs he was hoping would one day elect him their leader. A frantic briefing operation began. Downing Street advisers, on Mr Cameron’s instructions, ordered Mr Duncan Smith to defend the benefit cuts far more strongly than they were doing. Mr Duncan Smith and his aides had already raised concerns that the policy was being rushed through after they were told to draw up the plan in time for the Budget. Now the Work and Pensions Secretary was being told to clear up the mess that he had warned Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne they were making, his allies said. Dutifully, Mr Duncan Smith wrote a letter to Tory MPs defending the policy. Yet at the same time, Downing Street was letting it be known that the Prime Minister was not as wedded to the plan as Mr Duncan Smith now appeared to be. To Mr Duncan Smith, Number 10’s aim was clear: they wanted to make him publicly take ownership of the cuts, to “throw him to the wolves”. If he was seen as the driving force behind this controversial policy, Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne could appear to be more reasonable, offering to “think again” about Mr Duncan Smith’s unpopular plan. The scheming, over the course of Thursday and Friday, was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, in the words of one of Mr Duncan Smith’s supporters. Within hours he had quit. The disability benefit cuts were the final flashpoint in the "terrible" relationship between Mr Osborne and Mr Duncan Smith. The Chancellor recently confided to a colleague the he and the Work and Pensions Secretary "can't bear each other" and that the situation was "a real problem". In one of the most explosive resignation statements of recent political history, Mr Duncan Smith signed off his letter to Mr Cameron with a devastating rebuke to his own party leader. “I hope as the government goes forward,” he said, “you can look again at the cuts you have insisted upon and wonder if enough has been done to ensure ‘we are all in this together’.”It’s 12 feet long, with a tail, claws, and sharp teeth. It’s only a gray balloon, but the rat strikes fear in the hearts of New York City building managers. The inflatable rat helped Teamsters Local 814 win a big victory for non-union movers who struck for a month for recognition and fair pay. Movers for ATM Enterprises were angry that they had no union and made $8 an hour with no benefits. Most of them did the same work as Teamster movers at Trucking Office Products System (TOPS) and worked right alongside the Teamsters--who made $16-$22 delivering the furniture to downtown office buildings. The fact that ATM and TOPS had different names but the same owners didn’t fool the ATM workers. The inside warehouse workers won raises of $5 an hour and medical insurance for the first time. ATM movers got a $5 raise, health care, and a pension. The already union workers at TOPS won $1 an hour and vastly improved health care. Best-Selling Book Secrets of a successful organizer A step-by-step guide to building power on the job. Buy Now. » They did it by handbilling and picketing the buildings where TOPS was using scabs to deliver furniture. “The building manager would come running out,” said business agent Walter Taylor. “’No, no, no, not in front of my building!’ they’d say. ‘I can’t have this rat in front of my building.’ We’d get the subcontractors tossed out.” Taylor said the Manhattan office buildings in question are “high-profile, nice, marble-looking buildings” on Fifth Avenue and Lexington Avenue. Many have a union harmony clause in their contracts with tenants. If the tenant disturbs labor peace—say by employing a scab mover—the building manager can intercede to work out an agreement. In this case, stop using scabs and take down the rat. “We developed a reputation because of the strike,” Taylor said. “Now they’re talking about the 814 guys: ‘They don't care. They’ll put up the rat.’”A woman holidaying in northern Australia was bitten by a snake just hours after her husband was stung by a poisonous jellyfish during an “unlucky” outback family camping trip. The first of the encounters with the local wildlife occurred while the father was walking along the shoreline in a remote coastal parkland in the Northern Territory. He was stung by a box jellyfish, a potentially lethal creature which is common in the area but typically poses less of a threat during the current drier months. The man was seen by a park ranger but reportedly recovered after being treated with vinegar. Hours later, his wife, aged 32, was walking near the family’s campsite at about 8pm when she was bitten by a small yellow snake. She was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Darwin, about 200 miles away. “They were unlucky to get two goes,” said Ian Badham, from CareFlight, a rescue service. “At this time of the year the jellyfish should not be there. It must have been a late party and it had not quite left.” The woman was treated in hospital for 24 hours and released. Mr Badham did not know whether the family had returned to their home in the state of Queensland, but added: “I think they decided to get out before the kids get anything.” The incident came just a day before a 72-year-old man in the Northern Territory fought off an attack by crocodiles by throwing spanners and spark plugs at them. He was attacked while crabbing with a friend who drowned after their boat was capsized by one of the crocodiles.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. June 15, 2016, 2:23 AM GMT / Updated June 15, 2016, 7:55 AM GMT / Source: NBC Bay Area By Phil Helsel The judge who handed down a controversial sentence in a sexual assault case involving a former Stanford student was removed from a new case at the request of prosecutors, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office said. The Santa Clara County District Attorney used a procedure known as 170.6, used by attorneys who feel judges are biased. The judge, Aaron Persky, is under intense criticism for sentencing former Stanford star swimmer Brock Turner to just six months in jail and lifetime registration as a sex offender for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside a campus frat party in 2015. Related: Joe Biden Calls Victim Stanford Sex Assault Case 'a Warrior' Persky was removed from the new sex assault case after on Monday he dismissed a misdemeanor stolen mail case mid-trial, prosecutors said. “We are disappointed and puzzled at Judge Persky’s unusual decision to unilaterally dismiss a case before the jury could deliberate,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “After this and the recent turn of events, we lack confidence that Judge Persky can fairly participate in this upcoming hearing in which a male nurse sexually assaulted an anesthetized female patient,” Rosen said. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in June 27, 2011. Jason Doiy / AP In the Turner case, Turner was sentenced to three years’ probation in addition to the jail term. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have said the sentence Persky handed down was legal, and Persky followed recommendations from the probation office. The prosecutor in charge of the hearing in the new sex assault case involving the nurse did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. The sex assault case Persky was removed from involves a man charged with a felony count of sexual battery for allegedly groping a woman while she was under sedation, the San Jose Mercury News newspaper reported. "It is one of those situations where we think the victim is particularly vulnerable,'' prosecutor Stacey Capps told the newspaper. In the stolen mail case, Persky ruled that there was insufficient evidence presented to send a case against Rachel Garcia to a jury, according to James Leonard, supervising deputy district attorney for central misdemeanor unit. "I was dismayed," Leonard said. "I've gone back and looked at the last 150 jury trials that we’ve done on my team, and that motion has been granted twice." The case would have normally be heard in San Jose but was handled by Persky because of an overflow, Leonard said. Related: Swedish Hero Recounts Nabbing Brock Turner During Assault A group has vowed to recall Persky through a ballot initiative over the Turner sentence. Prosecutors could use 170.6 to make sure he is removed from any sex assault cases in the future, Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson told NBC News in a recent interview. Once the affidavit is filed the transfer to another judge is automatic, she said. "There’s no reason he should ever sit on a similar case," Levenson, who also believes the Turner sentence was too short, said last week. Rosen’s office called removing Persky from the new sex assault case "a rare and carefully considered step for our office" and gave no indication it would be more widely used. “In the future, we will evaluate each case on its own merits and decide if we should use our legal right to ask for another judge in order to protect public safety and pursue justice,” Rosen said.When the Rochester Americans rocked the First Niagara Center on Tuesday, there was a feeling of relief that hockey had come back to Buffalo, even if it was just for one night. Although, the live atmosphere had its subtle differences. The Americans played in front of 10,936 people in the First Niagara Center, consisting of all lower bowl and 200 level seats. Not a single fan was in the upper bowl. It also seemed to take fans a while to get into the game, aside from when goals were scored. The “Let’s go Amerks” chant didn’t reveal itself until the third period and fans didn’t show any emotion towards the officials until the third frame either. The difference between the AHL and NHL may be a little less noticeable now that the NHL lockout remains in effect. Players like Cody Hodgson who would normally be in the NHL at this time, are earning a living in the AHL while the NHL and players association try to rectify their differences. “I think you really see it in the power plays,” Hodgson said. “We try to limit that, I thought we did a good job in staying disciplined because there is such a high talent across the league, that when you give these guys enough power plays, eventually it’s going to sting you.” Another subtle difference between Tuesday’s AHL contest and a regular NHL game was the amount of commercials. It seemed like there were only one or two commercials between periods, which allowed fans to stay engaged in the game. This, of course, is compared to the more marketable NHL, which seems to go to commercial after every other whistle. While the NHL continues to sort out its’ differences with the players association, the AHL will continue its season with a group of hungry talent. Fans may be encouraged to take a look at the future stars when they have a chance. Tickets for Tuesday’s game sold for as little as $15. Take that, with the fact that there is some NHL talent like Hodgson and Marcus Foligno, and a family could very easily justify the affordable night out. Be sure to check out other great articles at Sports Media 101.Emilie Oldknow stated on 8,000 leaflets that she was born in Rainsworth but in fact no such place exists. The 29-year-old Parliamentary candidate for the Nottinghamshire constituency of Sherwood actually comes from Rainworth. She describes herself in the leaflet as ''someone who was born in Rainsworth and lived in the area for all my life.'' She adds further down: ''... when I think of the time I worked for the NHS in Rainsworth, I can see the amazing progress that's been made.'' Beneath her signature at the bottom of the leaflet, she describes herself as ''labours candidate for Sherwood'' – omitting the apostrophe in the first word. The embarrassing spelling mistake was attributed to an ''internal error with the print process'' by the regional Labour Party office. Ms Oldknow was selected as Parliamentary candidate for Sherwood after Labour MP Paddy Tipping announced he would retire at the General Election. Mark Spencer, the Conservative candidate for Sherwood, farmer and businessman, said the error was evidence of Ms Oldknow's inexperience. ''Anybody can make a typo but I can't foresee circumstances where I would put out a leaflet spelling my home village wrongly,'' he said. ''She's only in her 20s and I think it exposes a lack of experience. At the end of the day we've got to have MPs who have a bit more about them than that. ''It's about life experience to a certain extent.''Louisville’s Chris Jones covers his mouth as if he is in pain during Saturday’s UK/U of L men’s basketball game. UK dooming college basketball? I watched the Louisville-Kentucky game Saturday and came away with the perception that I had not witnessed basketball as I know it should be played. This is the only Kentucky game I saw this season. One team smothered its opponent, not randomly, but totally. My belief is that Kentucky's coach has planned, through recruitment and coaching tactics, to build a program that smothers and bullies opponents rather than play basketball the way it should be played. Inevitably, this corruption of college basketball will doom the sport at the college level. No team wants to play that kind of program. I don't understand how Kentucky's players tolerate the loss of athletic play in their present up-and-down routine where true competition is never achieved. The NCAA should reject this corrupted play before other schools reject submitting their programs to participate. Jones' Oscar-worthy acting Did Chris Jones meet with Jennifer Lawrence prior to the game on Saturday? Just asking! CLOSE In the second half, Louisville's Chris Jones blatantly flopped while trying to guard Kentucky's Dakari Johnson. The Cardinals lost 58 - 50. CLOSE Coach John Calipari talks about Kentucky's win over Louisville. Read or Share this story: http://cjky.it/1zrr1LhDetective Di: The Silk Rose Murders cultivating ancient Chinese mystery One doesn't normally associate serial killer mysteries and pixel art with Chinese culture, but east meets west in a unique way in Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders, an upcoming historical mystery adventure from indie developer Nupixo Games. The titular detective is Di Renjie, a real-world chancellor during the reign of empress Wu Zetian in seventh century China. In this fictional story, Wu Zetian has just risen to power, but "within months of her ascension to the throne, murmurs of discontentment and revolution swell as detractors and enemies begin plotting against her." Into this tempest steps the newly-appointed investigating magistrate, who must "overcome his own inner demons and his allegiance to the previous emperor" in order to solve a gruesome series of courtesan murders that "will lead him on a collision course with the Imperial court and the empress herself." The Montreal-based developers describe the game's pixel art style as an "homage to old school graphics", while also adding their own "visual signature and design sensibilities." Inspired by the genre classics, its point-and-click gameplay will consist largely of a traditional blend of "exploration, dialogue choices, interaction with objects and clues, and puzzle-solving", but as a detective, you will also be able to "re-enact the scene of a crime to put your theories to the test" once you've gathered enough clues. Currently in production for PC and Mac, there is no firm release date scheduled yet for Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders, as Nupixo is planning a Kickstarter campaign for early 2015 in order to bring the game to fruition. In the meantime, check out the official website to learn more.I have to confess: I haven’t been the best teacher. I rarely do the Sanshin in class. I figured it was super simple, and takes away the precious time we have in class from the “real training” where techniques are applied. Frankly, I thought it was a little boring and a bit redundant. Then I started noticing Hatsumi Sensei putting a lot of emphasis on the Sanshin, and saying how important it was for training. So I decided to take a second look. The Movements of the Sanshin The Sanshin no Kata (三心の型) is a set of 5 movements trained using three different methods. The five movements are: Chi no Kata (地の型) “Earth Example” Sui/Mizu no Kata (水の型) “Water Example” Ka/Hi no Kata (火の型) “Fire Example” Fu/Kaze no Kata (風の型) “Wind Example” Ku no Kata (空の型) “Void Example” Note: The above elements correspond to an old method of counting. Although Stephen K. Hayes used elements as a way to classify and describe movements, this is his own invention and does not correspond to anything within Bujinkan nor Japanese training. The elements themselves are only used as a method of counting – nothing more. Sanshin: The Three Minds The name Sanshin is often translated as “three hearts”. However, the kanji shin (心) can also be translated as “mind”. In western language we tend to separate the idea of the mind as that of logic, and heart involving emotion or character. It may be more correct then to read the Sanshin as “Three Minds” or “Three Mindsets”. The number three refers to the 3 different ways to train the movements. The three methods are: Shoshin Gokei (初心五型) “Beginners Mind Five Types” Gogyo no Kata (五行の型 ) “Five Element Examples” Goshin no Kata (悟心の型) “Enlightened Mind Example” While the core movements of the Sanshin do not change, how they are trained depends on which of the above methods is utilized. Shoshin: The Beginners Mind The Shoshin Gokei level or method involves performing the 5 kata solo against an imaginary opponent. From a practical sense, this could be viewed as the most rudimentary level of the training where a beginner begins to develop the primary or base movement of Gyokko Ryu. Each kata is done consciously to condition the hand and leg coordination of the body. Simply put, the student is learning how to perform each movement. However, we can dig a little deeper by looking at the choice of naming this level as “Shoshin”; in Zen Buddhism this phrase means to have an open mind when studying a subject. To have Shoshin is to leave any preconceptions behind and to view the subject fresh every time. In terms of the movements, this would carry a spirit of exploring. This allows focus to change within practice of the movement. In my own training I have been emphasizing how the hips move to create power. It feels to me as this is built within each of the Sanshin movements. Yet, that only reflects my own training. When Shiraishi Sensei demonstrated the Sanshin, he performed with a sensation of almost falling forward in addition to his “foot, spine, hand” methodology. When Noguchi Sensei demonstrated it, there was an emphasis on swinging the arms to generate momentum. Someya Sensei emphasized proper shifting of weight and angling of attack. While the core movements were the same for each, emphasis changed, as each shared what they felt at the time was the hidden value of the movement. Gogyo: Applying the Elements When the 5 movements are practiced as Gogyo no Kata, they are performed against an opponent. At this level, a student learns how the theory of the base movement translates into training against an opponent. The Gogyo forces the student to take timing, distance, and other factors into account when applying the technique against an attacker. The movements should only be adjusted minimally to apply them, but never the less require adjustment; different height/reach of attackers may require adjustment in distance and foot work, the attack itself may require a different vector of attack, the strike may need to be adjusted depending on the opening and distance, etc. etc. The point is to fine tune the base movements, as well as learn how to adapt when conditions vary. Goshin: Obtaining Wisdom The last level is Goshin; the wisdom mind. Here, the kata are performed as a method of meditation to obtain enlightenment. While the first two levels require conscientious focus to develop and adapt correct movement, this stage almost requires the absence of conscience thought; the movements are done continuously – moving in and out of each kata spontaneously – until the practitioner obtains a moment of “enlightenment”. Enlightenment in this sense would be some kind of epiphany. Almost universally, meditation involves some aspect of quieting the mind, and the Sanshin in this case is used as a vehicle for that. I believe this has two functions; first you’re training your body to move unconsciously, and secondly you’re allowing yourself to observe your movement in an abstract and detached way. Sanshin is Shuhari It’s interesting that in many ways the Sanshin corresponds to the concept of Shuhari, which is a Japanese view of the path of mastery. We did a more in-depth article explaining Shuhari that you can read here. However, Shuhari can be translated as “preserve/copy, break, transcend”. In terms of the Sanshin, Shoshin can be equated to first learning by copying (Shu – Preserve/Copy), then Gogyo learning how to adapt for application (Ha – Break), and finally Goshin learning something deeper than the movement itself (Ri – Transcend). This means that the Sanshin is an analogy or allegory for learning in general; it functions as a blueprint on how students are to learn. Not only does it teach core mechanical movements that are built upon later, it also supplies the intended methodology for learning in general. This means that the Sanshin is not only much deeper than a set of basic body movements, but is one of the most important items in the entire art. Hatsumi Sensei has said that the Sanshin is having the “mind of a three year old”. At three years old the brain is in a state of rapid learning absorbing huge amounts of information at a time. Alison Gopnik, a Child Developmental Psychologist, gives a great analogy in her Ted Talk: Adults’ attention and consciousness look kind of like a spotlight.So what happens for adults is we decide that something’s relevant or important,we should pay attention to it.Our consciousness of that thing that we’re attending to becomes extremely bright and vivid,and everything else sort of goes dark…So we have a very focused, purpose-driven kind of attention. If we look at babies and young children, we see something very different. I think babies and young children seem to have more of a lantern of consciousness than a spotlight of consciousness. So babies and young children are very bad at narrowing down to just one thing. But they’re very good at taking in lots of information from lots of different sources at once. I believe this idea is what Soke is referring to when he says to “think like a three year old”; he is saying to have what Alison called a “lantern of consciousnesses”. So next time your tempted to skip the “easy” or “boring” stuff to get to the “real” thing (like I did), stop and take a second look; you might be surprised at what you’re missing. Found this
note the somewhat-similar opening guitar lines in both “Wharf Rat” and “Lifeboy” before getting into the true reason for this particular comparison: the lyrics. Here, we have the writing teams of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter (The Grateful Dead) and Anastasio and Tom Marshall (Phish) at their very best. Lyrically, both songs are about faith and beliefs pertaining to human existence. They explore the absence of fairness in life from the perspective of a person who is lost and desiring something more. In “Wharf Rat,” we are told the story of August West, a man whose relationship with his maker has deteriorated due to a harsh life as he longs for an escape from the path that he is on. “Lifeboy” tells of an unnamed character’s dissolving connection with God as this character nears destinations without answers or validation despite constant displays of faith through prayer. These are heavy subject matters handled in very delicate ways that give fans some of the most mesmerizing and thought-provoking listening experiences of both catalogs. “Brokedown Palace” and “All of These Dreams” Both subtle pieces, “Brokedown Palace” and “All of These Dreams” are very traditional-sounding, musically and lyrically. “All of These Dreams” is particularly reminiscent of a Grateful Dead ballad with its relaxed tempo and small piano and guitar inflections that layer the verses. Major chords tend to lead the song through its verses before a minor chord punctuates the emotional aspect at key moments. Digging into the lyrics, we have both songs using a river a symbol of guidance and peace. “Brokedown Palace” and “All of These Dreams” also evoke “sendoff” messages for its listeners (“Fare thee well…” and “All of these dreams would be yours to pursue…”). “Touch of Grey” and “Devotion to a Dream” Both “Touch of Grey” and “Devotion to a Dream” immediately launch into similar strumming patterns and tempos. Neither song has much of a lead guitar riff, as both Jerry and Trey settle back into a steady groove that gives the chord progression the main focus while little subtle lead inflections trail in the background. The major key is dominant here in both tunes and rarely do we come across a minor chord change (though it does occur at similar points in both songs). I also remember first hearing “Devotion to a Dream” when Fuego was released last year and noticed something very familiar about the vocal melodies of the verses and pre-chorus: it bears a strong resemblance with the bridge of “Touch of Grey” (“It’s a lesson to me…”). Cue the prominent backing vocals and we have ourselves two upbeat jam-rockers from The Grateful Dead and Phish. For more Dead / Phish fun, check out our feature "Hey Phish... the Dead Did It First!"(Photo: REUTERS / Andrew Medichini / Pool)Pope Francis (L) and Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew kneel to kiss the Stone of Unction, traditionally claimed as the stone where Jesus' body was prepared for burial, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem May 25, 2014. Pope Francis arrived in the West Bank on Sunday to start the most delicate part of his stay in the Middle East, with visits to the Palestinian Territories and Israel, where his every word will be scrutinized. When he met the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in Jerusalem Pope Francis lamented the "tragic" divisions between Christians. Speaking Sunday during an ecumenical prayer service held with Bartholomew and other Christian leaders in Jerusalem's Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, Francis said disagreements must not frighten people and paralyze progress towards unity. Earlier Pope Francis and the Patriarch held private talks and signed a common declaration pledging to continue along the path towards full unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Many Christians see the Ecumenical Patriarch as the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians. Address of Pope Francis Ecumenical Celebration in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher Jerusalem, 25 May 2014 In this Basilica, which all Christians regard with the deepest veneration, my pilgrimage in the company of my beloved brother in Christ, His Holiness Bartholomaios, now reaches its culmination. We are making this pilgrimage in the footsteps of our venerable predecessors, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, who, with courage and docility to the Holy Spirit, made possible, fifty years ago, in this holy city of Jerusalem, an historic meeting between the Bishop of Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople. I cordially greet all of you who are present. In a special way I express my heartfelt gratitude to those who have made this moment possible: His Beatitude Theophilos, who has welcomed us so graciously, His Beatitude Nourhan Manoogian and Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa. It is an extraordinary grace to be gathered here in prayer. The empty tomb, that new garden grave where Joseph of Arimathea had reverently placed Jesus' body, is the place from which the proclamation of the resurrection begins: "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead'" (Mt 28:5-7). This proclamation, confirmed by the testimony of those to whom the risen Lord appeared, is the heart of the Christian message, faithfully passed down from generation to generation, as the Apostle Paul, from the very beginning, bears witness: "I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4). This is the basis of the faith which unites us, whereby together we profess that Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of the Father and our sole Lord, "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead" (Apostles' Creed). Each of us, everyone baptized in Christ, has spiritually risen from this tomb, for in baptism all of us truly became members of the body of the One who is the Firstborn of all creation; we were buried together with him, so as to be raised up with him and to walk in newness of life (cf. Rom 6:4). Let us receive the special grace of this moment. We pause in reverent silence before this empty tomb in order to rediscover the grandeur of our Christian vocation: we are men and women of resurrection, and not of death. From this place we learn how to live our lives, the trials of our Churches and of the whole world, in the light of Easter morning. Every injury, every one of our pains and sorrows, has been borne on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd who offered himself in sacrifice and thereby opened the way to eternal life. His open wounds are the cleft through which the torrent of his mercy is poured out upon the world. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of the basis of our hope! Let us not deprive the world of the joyful message of the resurrection! And let us not be deaf to the powerful summons to unity which rings out from this very place, in the words of the One who, risen from the dead, calls all of us "my brothers" (cf. Mt 28:10; Jn 20:17). Clearly we cannot deny the divisions which continue to exist among us, the disciples of Jesus: this sacred place makes us even more painfully aware of how tragic they are. And yet, fifty years after the embrace of those two venerable Fathers, we realize with gratitude and renewed amazement how it was possible, at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, to take truly significant steps towards unity. We know that much distance still needs to be travelled before we attain that fullness of communion which can also be expressed by sharing the same Eucharistic table, something we ardently desire; yet our disagreements must not frighten us and paralyze our progress. We need to believe that, just as the stone before the tomb was cast aside, so too every obstacle to our full communion will also be removed. This will be a grace of resurrection, of which we can have a foretaste even today. Every time we ask forgiveness of one another for our sins against other Christians and every time we find the courage to grant and receive such forgiveness, we experience the resurrection! Every time we put behind us our longstanding prejudices and find the courage to build new fraternal relationships, we confess that Christ is truly risen! Every time we reflect on the future of the Church in the light of her vocation to unity, the dawn of Easter breaks forth! Here I reiterate the hope already expressed by my predecessors for a continued dialogue with all our brothers and sisters in Christ, aimed at finding a means of exercising the specific ministry of the Bishop of Rome which, in fidelity to his mission, can be open to a new situation and can be, in the present context, a service of love and of communion acknowledged by all (cf. JOHN PAUL II, Ut Unum Sint, 95-96). Standing as pilgrims in these holy places, we also remember in our prayers the entire Middle East, so frequently and lamentably marked by acts of violence and conflict. Nor do we forget in our prayers the many other men and women who in various parts of our world are suffering from war, poverty and hunger, as well as the many Christians who are persecuted for their faith in the risen Lord. When Christians of different confessions suffer together, side by side, and assist one another with fraternal charity, there is born an ecumenism of suffering, an ecumenism of blood, which proves particularly powerful not only for those situations in which it occurs, but also, by virtue of the communion of the saints, for the whole Church as well. Your Holiness, beloved brother, dear brothers and sisters all, let us put aside the misgivings we have inherited from the past and open our hearts to the working of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love (cf. Rom 5:5) and of truth (cf. Jn 16:13), in order to hasten together towards that blessed day when our full communion will be restored. In making this journey, we feel ourselves sustained by the prayer which Jesus himself, in this city, on the eve of his passion, death and resurrection, offered to the Father for his disciples. It is a prayer which we ourselves in humility never tire to make our own: "that they may all be one... that the world may believe" (Jn 17:21).Liberia is closing down most of its borders and quarantining certain communities as it attempts to crack down on the spread of ebola within the region, which has so far killed over 670, including 129 people in Liberia alone, reports the Associated Press. The country's president outlined on Sunday the new measures being put into place to restrict spread of the disease, which does not have a known cure. In addition to closing all but three of its border crossings and quarantining communities widely affected by the virus, the restrictions include limitations on public demonstrations and requirements that certain venues, such as restaurants, run a five-minute video on ebola. The current ebola outbreak became the largest ever recorded over a month ago, and it's still spreading. Guinea and Sierra Leone have also had residents infected with the virus, which is believed to have begun spreading from Guinea at the beginning of the year. Despite the tight restrictions, Liberia will reportedly be keeping open its international airport. Liberia will instead set up ebola testing stations at all open airports and border crossings, but specific requirements about use of those tests haven't yet been announced.Pin 15 29 Shares Paleo brussel sprouts is an excellent dish that people of all ages will surely love! Here is another way to enjoy bacon and veggies. Not only does it taste good but it is also very healthy! Brussel sprout is included as one of the world’s healthiest food. It is said to be an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin K. You’ve heard it before, nothing is better than bacon! It’s salty and delicious. This recipe is the perfect side dish or hors d’oeuvre. It’s great for a paleo dinner party or even just a quiet dinner with the family. The bacon expertly wraps itself around the sprout as it cooks making for a pop-able, 1 bite bit of paleo heaven. And here is how you do it in 3 simple steps. First, Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Second, Pull the bacon out of the package and cut the entire bunch in half. Third, wrap each brussel sprout with a half slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick and place the wrapped sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet. Then, cook in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and serve immediately. You may choose to remove the toothpicks, and serve in a serving bowl, or serve with the toothpicks on a platter like an appetizer or hors d’oeuvre. And there you have it! Your home made paleo brussel sprout. Enjoy! Bacon Wrapped Brussel Sprouts Print Bacon Wrapped Brussel Sprouts Total Time 30 minutes Servings 4 Calories 660 kcal Ingredients 1 lb Brussel sprouts trimmed 1 lb bacon cut in half Tool: wooden toothpicks Instructions Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pull the bacon out of the package and cut the entire bunch in half. Wrap each Brussel sprout with a half slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place the wrapped sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet. Cook in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy. Serve immediately. You may choose to remove the toothpicks, and serve in a serving bowl, or serve with the toothpicks on a platter like an appetizer or hors d'oeuvre. Nutrition Facts Bacon Wrapped Brussel Sprouts Amount Per Serving Calories 660 Calories from Fat 432 % Daily Value* Total Fat 48g 74% Saturated Fat 16g 80% Polyunsaturated Fat 6g Monounsaturated Fat 21g Cholesterol 136mg 45% Sodium 266mg 11% Potassium 1077mg 31% Total Carbohydrates 12g 4% Dietary Fiber 4g 16% Sugars 3g Protein 46g 92% Vitamin A 18% Vitamin C 161% Calcium 6% Iron 12% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Download Your FREE Paleo Starter Kit Today! 3-Day Paleo Diet Meal Plan Comprehensive Paleo Diet Shopping List 5 of Our Favorite Paleo Diet Recipes Check your email to download the free resources. VN:F [1.9.22_1171] please wait... Rating: 7.2/10 (25 votes cast) , 7.2 out of 10 based on 25 ratingsUPDATE: Since we posted this story, Jan Morgan has erased the post entitled “My Gun Range is a Muslim Free [sic] zone”, along with all her Facebook posts which made reference to it. We’ve stored the full text of that deleted page here. A gun range owner is receiving high praise from frothing Islamophobes and firearm enthusiasts alike after she vowed to ban all Muslims from her place of business. Claiming that her life has been repeatedly threatened by Muslims and that Islam is a theocracy rooted in “hate, murder and terror,” Jan Morgan declared her Gun Cave Indoor Shooting Range in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to be a “Muslim-Free Zone.” “This is not a coffee and donut shop. This is a live fire indoor shooting range,” wrote Morgan, who also doubles as a conservative writer and speaker, wrote on her website (the link is now broken). “One mistake in judgement on my part could cost innocent people their lives.” Thus far, the response in favor of the decision has been frighteningly unhinged, even by the vitriolic standards of the Internet. Morgan did not respond to calls and emails from Vocativ, but she did offer a lengthy defense of her new policy on her website. While acknowledging that not all Muslims are terrorists or barbarians, she claimed that there are 109 verses in the Quran that command them to kill non-believers. She noted that the recent beheading of a woman in Oklahoma by a co-worker, the Boston Marathon bombing and Fort Hood massacre were all committed by Muslims. And she makes sure to reiterate that Muslims who support or belong to ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas are threatening to kill Americans. Credit: Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Or Schwartz 1 / 5 Facebook Morgan was also apparently spooked by a couple of Muslims who recently visited her place of business. “Two muslims walked in to my range last week with allah akbar [sic] ring tone and message alert tones on their smart phones. They spoke very little english [sic], one did not have proof of U.S. citizenship, yet they wanted to rent and shoot guns,” she wrote. “Their behavior was so strange, it was unnerving to my patrons. No one would enter the range to shoot while they were there. Some of my customers left.” Lucky for Morgan, it looks like she won’t have much trouble attracting the right kind of new customers to her firing range. @rac49r Go Jan Morgan.. I support you 100% I think the USA should be a Muslim Free Zone. https://t.co/8BICDRTZfE \| \| @Buddy_Cooley GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!! JAN MORGAN IS MY HERO!!!!!!!!!! https://t.co/LidA5F3nn3 \| \| @2amguns GOD BLESS YOU Jan Morgan. I myself own a Gun store and am in 100% SUPPORT OF YOUR DECISION AND WILL FOLLOW SUIT!... https://t.co/pjYjpTlmzq \| \| @t6gadget Jan Morgan has the right idea. Grassroots, bottom up movement to rid our nation of this cancer called islam.... https://t.co/5dyhy5CvA7 \| \| @KendraHowley Love this woman! "Jan Morgan" @JanMorganMedia on Twitter! Hero to me! https://t.co/NfVxJlKe3M \| \| @JerryT87 @JanMorganMedia Right f*king on Jan!! \| \| @JathanRiley I've never met her but I'm proud on her for taking a stand against the Muslim community @PolitiBunny @JanMorganMedia \| \| As for any Muslim who might have beef with her new policy, she offers the following invitation: “Bring it.” This post has since been removedThank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. The reason Liquor and Lotteries failed to disclose Hodgins' earnings, the corporation explained Wednesday, is that he had entered into an agreement with the previous NDP-appointed board of directors to supply his services as an "independent contractor." But during that period, only a portion of his 2012 compensation was reported as required under the Manitoba Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act. From 2011 through 2016, Winston Hodgins served in various executive roles, first as president and CEO of Manitoba Lotteries, then as president and CEO of the merged Liquor and Lotteries and later solely as the corporation's president. In an apparent violation of public sector disclosure rules, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries failed to divulge annual compensation payments of as much as a half-million dollars to a former president and CEO. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/8/2017 (559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 16/8/2017 (559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In an apparent violation of public sector disclosure rules, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries failed to divulge annual compensation payments of as much as a half-million dollars to a former president and CEO. From 2011 through 2016, Winston Hodgins served in various executive roles, first as president and CEO of Manitoba Lotteries, then as president and CEO of the merged Liquor and Lotteries and later solely as the corporation's president. Winston Hodgins But during that period, only a portion of his 2012 compensation was reported as required under the Manitoba Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Act. The reason Liquor and Lotteries failed to disclose Hodgins' earnings, the corporation explained Wednesday, is that he had entered into an agreement with the previous NDP-appointed board of directors to supply his services as an "independent contractor." When a new Progressive Conservative-appointed board, chaired by businesswoman Polly Craik, took over in May 2016, it questioned the decision not to disclose Hodgins' compensation, seeking an opinion from the Canada Revenue Agency as to his employment status. The CRA determined that Hodgins should have been reported as an employee and not a contractor for 2016, said Deanne Carson, Liquor and Lotteries' vice-president of marketing and communications, in an email on Wednesday. "As his (Hodgins') status in 2016 was the same as it had been in previous years, we made the decision to disclose Mr. Hodgins' remuneration for 2011-2015 as well," she said. Earlier this week, the Free Press obtained a copy of Liquor and Lotteries 2016 disclosure report, which included a note detailing the remuneration that the corporation had failed to record for Hodgins in past years. According to the most recent Liquor and Lotteries disclosure document, Hodgins received $309,115 for nine months work in 2016. His contract with the corporation ended on Sept. 30 of that year. Hodgins served as president and CEO of Liquor and Lotteries until Feb. 16, 2015 and then as president after that. A cabinet order dated Dec. 17, 2014, during the Selinger administration, split his job in two, with former health bureaucrat John Stinson taking the role of CEO. Stinson would part company with the corporation in October 2016. Hodgins couldn't be reached for comment on Wednesday. Todd MacKay, Prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said it is "absolutely unacceptable" that Liquor and Lotteries failed to report Hodgins' remuneration in the past. "We can’t be using contractual shenanigans to get around reporting requirements. This absolutely should have been reported right from the beginning," he said, adding it's incumbent on the corporation to show taxpayers that it received value for Hodgins' high pay. MacKay said while it's good that the Tory-appointed board released the information, it should go a step further than simply airing "the dirty laundry of the past government." It needs to implement policies to ensure "this kind of thing doesn't happen again." Craik said the new board of directors began asking questions when it learned that Hodgins' pay had not been disclosed in past years. "It’s our obligation to make sure that the disclosure is made. And if we knew about it and didn’t do anything about it we’re just as culpable," she said in a telephone interview. Watching her words so as not to breach privacy laws, Craik allowed that it was "strange" that the company president would have been represented as a contract employee. She said according to Hodgins' contract, he had been placed in charge of strategic projects. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the day’s breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every morning. A source said Hodgins had overseen the proposed new downtown headquarters project that the new board would eventually scrap. Liquor and Lotteries had purchased the downtown Medical Arts Building as part of the project. Earlier this year, Liquor and Lotteries sold the building at a profit. Tannis Mindell, the chair of the previous NDP-appointed board from 2012 to 2016, seemed unaware that Hodgins' compensation had not been publicly divulged for years. Asked for an explanation Wednesday, she said: "I'm not sure. I honestly don't know." She then referred a reporter to Liquor and Lotteries management. larry.kusch@freepress.mb.caWe’re constantly surprised by the incredible worlds that game developers are able to create, but we’re never satisfied with the visuals for very long. Where Half-Life 2 once shocked a generation of gamers, it can’t even begin to stand up to many of the independent games being released in 2015. Even the latest AAA releases aren’t leaps and bounds over what we saw at the end of the PS3 and Xbox 360 life cycles, but Unreal Engine 4 has the potential to change everything. DON’T MISS: Watch someone beat Super Mario World in less than 6 minutes using an insane glitch As pointed out by Eurogamer, level designer and 3D artist Benoît Dereau, best known for his work on Dishonored, recently published a video of a tech demo called “Unreal Paris” that he created using the latest Unreal Engine. It’s only a short tour through a 3D-modeled Parisian apartment, but it might be the most gorgeous, realistic demo we’ve ever seen. Clearly, putting this much detail into an entire virtual world, especially those as large as the ones featured in recent games like Dying Light and Dragon Age: Inquisition would be a Sisyphean task, especially with interactive objects littered across the environment, but at least we now know that it is indeed possible. Now we all just need to convince Dereau to release this virtual tour on Oculus Rift so that we can start spending our evenings in Paris.Advertisement UPnP stands for “universal plug and play” and provides a set of standards for the hassle-free sharing of media Top Free Ways to Stream Video from Your Computer to Your Mobile or Tablet Top Free Ways to Stream Video from Your Computer to Your Mobile or Tablet Have a bunch of video files on your computer but want to watch them on your tablet? Not a problem. Read More without the need for manual setup. In essence, UPnP devices are able to see and communicate with one another, and one of the best uses for this technology to stream media around the house. DLNA is an acronym for “Digital Network Living Alliance” and was established by Sony in 2003 to further define (some might say restrict) the sharing of such media. In order to make use of UPnP and DLNA-compliant devices you will need a client (known as a renderer) such as a PlayStation 3 or Smart TV and a server which can be hardware-based like a NAS drive How To Build & Use Your Own Network Attached Storage Using A Ubuntu Netbook How To Build & Use Your Own Network Attached Storage Using A Ubuntu Netbook Read More or software-based as a service that runs on a PC. In order to stream to your console or other UPnP renderer you will want a free DLNA server which controls playback. Here is the MakeUseOf list of free UPnP servers for this purpose. A Quick Note Not all DLNA/UPnP devices work with all servers, and this is often down to the client (i.e. Smart TV, games console) than it is the server. Some servers include workarounds to extend support for devices such as this. The rule of thumb is to test servers with your devices – if you find one that fulfills the needs of your household then you should probably stick with it. If a particular DLNA server doesn’t seem to like one of your devices then you should probably try another until you find one that does. You might also want to look into a server that transcodes media for compatibility, but ensure your hardware can handle the task. Serviio is a premium UPnP DNLA-compliant media server with a generous free option. The pro version of the DLNA server requires a one-off fee of $25 for access to the MediaBrowser web-based player, API for online access to your media and the ability to control access to shared content. For home users looking to stream their personal connections over a local network, Serviio is a great choice. Android users can download ServiiDroid, which provides access to the Serviio console on Android devices (and more importantly does not require Pro). Users who do decide to drop $25 can access their media from anywhere via the ServiiGo Android application for the viewing of media away from your local network. TVMOBiLi is another premium streamer with decent free option, though it takes a different approach to Serviio. For TVMOBiLi, there are no restrictions over the use of features, and the whole media server is open for use until a user streams over 10GB of data. At this point you must purchase (either at $1.50 monthly fee or a one-off payment of $30) in order to continue use. Users automatically get a free trial of the premium “unlimited” mode upon installing TVMOBiLi, which gives you a month to decide whether it fits the bill and works with your clients or not. The service claims to support a vast array of media clients and has decent support documentation for a server up and running and resolving any issues. One of the most powerful media centres out there with a huge range of add-ons and open source grunt behind it, XBMC can function both as a DLNA-compliant UPnP server and a client for receiving streams. If you’re a regular reader then you’ll surely know that we’re rather fond of XBMC Entertainment On The Cheap: The Most Affordable Ways To Set Up A Home Theater Entertainment On The Cheap: The Most Affordable Ways To Set Up A Home Theater While plenty of pricey pre-built solutions exist, there are a few ways to bring a streaming box of entertainment to your living room on the cheap. With the right some open source media software, a... Read More at MakeUseOf, with the latest release being faster and prettier than ever. Setup of this DLNA server is as easy as enabling “Share video and music libraries via UPnP” in Network under System in XBMC’s main menu. From then on, your libraries will be easily discoverable on the local network. It’s really that easy! 4. PS3MediaServer (Windows, Mac, Linux) [No Longer Available] Designed to make the most of the PS3’s abilities as a media streamer, PS3MediaServer isn’t strictly limited to Sony’s console in terms of compatibility and has some compatibility with other clients. This is a mature project, with a number of plugins available for streaming from sources such as Grooveshark and SoundCloud as well as some on-demand TV providers. The blog side of things hasn’t been updated for a few years but the forum community is still very much alive, offering help and tips on getting the server up and running with your devices. There’s a little more tinkering involved here, but if you’ve got a PS3 and would like to use the same streamer for multiple clients then it’s a good option. 5. MediaTomb (Mac, Linux, FreeBSD) [No Longer Available] Another completely free DLNA server with transcoding ability, MediaTomb is a highly extensible UPnP solution with binaries for OS X, FreeBSD and a large range of Linux distributions. One of the best things about MediaTomb is the documentation, with detailed instructions about getting devices such as the PS3 and DLNA-enabled TVs working. The server is configured via a web interface, which provides a straightforward way to manage your media. If you run into problems that the Wiki or FAQ can’t solve then there’s an active forum on which to ask for help. LXiMediaCenter is a UPnP server that always transcodes video, regardless of whether it is in a compatible format or not. This means the requirements for running it are relatively high compared to some of the other servers on this list – so it’s not ideal for older machines. It also uses high quality encoding, so a wired Ethernet or 802.11n connection comes highly recommended. There are binaries available for Windows, OS X and a number of Linux distributions, making setup easy when coupled with the quick setup guide. The project is still in beta, and thus has not been tested as extensively as some others but it might suit those of you who value high quality streaming with the hardware to support it. Conclusion There are more UPnP compliant DLNA servers for the job, but these are some of the easiest to setup and most effective servers available. Don’t forget that much of the troubles encountered by DLNA clients is down to the clients themselves – much of the time due to not supporting the filetype attempting to be streamed (in which case transcoding is required). Let us know what you use, which you’ve found works best and whether premium options like TVersity are really worth it in the comments, below.FILE - In this May 16, 2012, file photo, the Facebook logo is displayed on an iPad in Philadelphia. Silicon Valley is a uniquely American creation, the product of an entrepreneurial spirit and no-holds-barred capitalism that now drives many aspects of modern life. But the likes of Facebook, Google and Apple are increasingly facing an uncomfortable truth: it is Europe’s culture of tougher oversight of companies, not America’s laissez-faire attitude, which could soon rule their industry as governments seek to combat fake news and prevent extremists from using the internet to fan the flames of hatred. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) LONDON (AP) — Silicon Valley is a uniquely American creation, the product of an entrepreneurial spirit and no-holds-barred capitalism that now drives many aspects of modern life. But the likes of Facebook, Google and Apple are increasingly facing an uncomfortable truth: it is Europe’s culture of tougher oversight of companies, not America’s laissez-faire attitude, which could soon rule their industry as governments seek to combat fake news and prevent extremists from using the internet to fan the flames of hatred. While the U.S. has largely relied on market forces to regulate content in a country where free speech is revered, European officials have shown they are willing to act. Germany recently passed a law imposing fines of up to 50 million euros ($59 million) on websites that don’t remove hate speech within 24 hours. British Prime Minister Theresa May wants companies to take down extremist material within two hours. And across the EU, Google has for years been obliged to remove search results if there is a legitimate complaint about the content’s veracity or relevance. “I anticipate the EU will be where many of these issues get played out,” said Sarah T. Roberts, a professor of information studies at UCLA who has studied efforts to monitor and vet internet content. Objectionable content “is the biggest problem going forward. It’s no longer acceptable for the firms to say that they can’t do anything about it.” How closely to manage the massive amounts of content on the internet has become a pressing question in the U.S. since it was revealed that Russian agencies took out thousands of ads on social media during the presidential campaign, reaching some 10 million people on Facebook alone. That comes on top of the existing concerns about preventing extremist attacks. This month, three men were arrested after allegedly using smartphone messaging apps to plot attacks on the New York City subway and Times Square from their homes in Canada, Pakistan and the Philippines. The plot was thwarted by an undercover officer, not technology. In some ways it goes to a question of identity. Social media companies see themselves not as publishers but as platforms for other people to share information, and have traditionally been cautious about taking down material. But the pressure is on to act. Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube in June created the Global Internet Forum to Combat Terrorism, which says it is committed to developing new content detection technology, helping smaller companies combat extremism and promoting “counter-speech,” content meant to blunt the impact of extremist material. Proponents of counter-speech argue that rather than trying to take down every Islamic State group post, internet companies and governments should do more to promote content that actively refutes extremist propaganda. This approach will unmask the extremist message of hate and violence in the “marketplace of ideas,” they
s the pay. Mark Ratain, an oncologist at the University of Chicago in Illinois, severed ties with Gerson Lehrman when the SEC announced its investigation of expert networks. “I didn’t want my name associated with this,” he says. And some of those who continue to participate say that they have become wary. Vachiery refuses repeat invitations from those who have prompted him for confidential information. Although he has enjoyed his conversations with some clients, the pressure has made him sour about the whole process. “I’m weighing each word I’m giving to these people and my level of trust is getting lower,” he says. “Each time I receive a request now I’m thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?’”A refinery owned by Gulf Oil Corporation in Philadelphia, located[1] at Girard Point on the Schuylkill River in South Philadelphia, caught fire on Sunday, August 17, 1975. This incident grew into an 11-alarm fire, not brought under control until 24 hours later, and resulted in the death of eight firefighters of the Philadelphia Fire Department (PFD), injuries to 14 other firefighters, and the loss of four PFD vehicles.[2] At the height of this fire, the loss of the huge, sprawling refinery complex was regarded as a real possibility as a tremendous firestorm enveloped two storage tanks, travelled through portions of the on-site piping, and destroyed the refinery's administration building.[3] Before the fire [ edit ] The Girard Point Refinery, built in 1905, occupied 723 acres (2.93 km2) of land located on the east bank of the Schuylkill River, from Girard Point in the south to Penrose Avenue in the north, with the ARCO Point Breeze Refinery located on the north side of Penrose Avenue and extending toward Passyunk Avenue.[4] An elevated section of Penrose Avenue passes between the refineries site, leading to the Penrose Avenue Bridge, connecting the east and west sides of the Schuylkill River. At the time of 1975 fire, the Girard Point Refinery (the refinery) produced 180,000 barrels (29,000 m3) per day of refined petroleum products. Prior to August 17, 1975, the refinery had been the scene of ten different extra-alarm fires since 1960. On September 9, 1960, several storage tanks were struck by lightning at the height of severe thunderstorms and resulted in an eight-alarm fire. On May 16, 1975, a six-alarm fire struck the refinery. At 12:45 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, August 17, 1975, the tanker M/T Afran Neptune, tied up at one of the Gulf Refinery docks, began pumping reconstituted Venezuelan crude oil (with an additional 5 percent naphtha) into Gulf Refinery Tank No. 231. Tank No. 231, built in 1929, of riveted seam construction, had a capacity of 75,000 barrels (11,900 m3) and had recently been renovated with an internal floating roof. Within the refinery's road system, the tank was located at Avenue “Y” and 4th Street. Avenue “Y” is an east-west street running parallel to and just to the north of the Penrose Avenue Bridge, while 4th Street is a north-south street running perpendicular to the Penrose Avenue Bridge and Avenue Y. Located just west of Tank No. 231 was Boiler House No. 4, the site of a four-alarm fire on April 22, 1967. A brick chimney arose from Boiler House No. 4 and this stack was a familiar sight to westbound motorists on the Penrose Avenue Bridge, as the word “GULF” was painted in large, white letters. The fire [ edit ] Hydrocarbon vapors, emanating from Tank 231, accumulated in the area of the boiler house and were ignited by an unknown ignition source. A flame front followed the vapors back to Tank 231, causing fire at the tank's vents and an explosion within the outer shell of the stack. These events began to unfold at 5:57 a.m. Shortly thereafter, a second explosion occurred within Tank 231. Burning petroleum spilled from the tank's vents into a diked area surrounding the tank. Within the diked area, a second tank (No. 114) just north of Tank 231, containing No. 6 grade fuel oil, also ignited as pipelines within the diked area began to fail. The initial explosion also damaged the pipe manifold outside of the dike wall and petroleum pouring out under pressure ignited. 1st and 2nd alarms [ edit ] At 6:04 a.m., upon receiving the report of fire from the Gulf Refinery, the Philadelphia Fire Department transmitted the refinery's fire alarm box: Box 5988, Penrose and Lanier Avenues. Upon leaving their station, Engine 60 (the assigned first-due engine company) could see fire and smoke conditions at a distance, and before arriving at the refinery, Engine 60 ordered the second alarm at 6:09 a.m. 3rd to 6th alarms [ edit ] First arriving companies had large clouds of heavy black smoke emanating from Tank No. 231, fire on top of Tank No. 114, and fire showing from the 150-foot (46 m) stack at Boiler House No. 4. The third and fourth alarms were ordered in quick succession by Battalion Chief 1, Arthur Foley, at 6:11 a.m. and 6:14 a.m. Acting Assistant Fire Chief Dalmon Edmunds ordered the fifth alarm at 6:34 am. The sixth alarm was ordered by Fire Commissioner Joseph Rizzo at 6:52 a.m. Over the next several hours, firefighters utilized deluge guns and master streams to cool down surrounding exposures, and applied foam directly to the burning tanks and piping in an effort to extinguish the fire. By 8:44 a.m., it appeared that the fire was well contained and the situation sufficiently stabilized to declare the fire under control. Commissioner Rizzo remained on the firegrounds throughout the warm, muggy August day to continue to oversee the firefighting operation. Philadelphia's two foam pumpers, Engines 160 and 133, along with the Gulf Refinery's foam pumper, continued to apply foam to the burning tank, piping and manifolds. Additional foam was acquired throughout the day from the fire department's warehouse and the nearby Atlantic Richfield refinery. It was also obtained from the National Foam Company in West Chester, Pennsylvania. However, as the firefighting operation progressed, it became apparent that the refinery's sewage system was not up to the task of properly draining the foam, water and petroleum-naphtha product mixture that was accumulating on the ground along Avenue Y, between 4th Street and 5th Street to the east, running in front of the refinery's administration building. These drainage problems were further exacerbated by a decision by refinery personnel to shut off drainage pumps. These pumps were shut off as part of a decision to de-energize overhead power lines that ran adjacent to Tank 231 along 4th Street. As the liquid mixture continued to build up in Avenue Y, Engines 16 and 40 were sent to Avenue Y and 5th Street to draft from a sewer intake and pump the material to a diked area some distance away. Additional ignition [ edit ] Engine 133 was set up on the east side of Tank No. 231 at Avenue “Y” at 4th Street, applying foam to the tank. Three members were attending to the apparatus and wading in the foam-water-petroleum mixture which was accumulating on the ground. Commissioner Rizzo and Gulf Refinery manager Jack Burk were on an overhead catwalk nearby observing the fire-fighting operation. Without warning, and in full view of Commissioner Rizzo and Burk, the accumulating liquid surrounding Engine 133 ignited, immediately trapping the three firefighters working at Engine 133. Without hesitation, other nearby firefighters dove into the burning liquid to rescue their comrades, not aware of the danger to themselves. Five more firefighters would be consumed by the advancing fire.[citation needed] 7th to 9th alarms [ edit ] It was now 4:41 p.m. and a firestorm was developing as the fire quickly spread eastward along Avenue “Y” towards 5th Street. Viewing the unfolding horror before him, Commissioner Rizzo ordered the seventh and eighth alarms, five additional rescue squads, and the recall of all companies which had previously been released from the firegrounds throughout the day. The burned firefighters were loaded into the Gulf Refinery Ambulance which roared past Rescue 7 – a mobile intensive care squad and the first apparatus to arrive on the scene after the liquid reignited. Firemedics in Rescue 7 took up a position behind an expressway pillar but found the position untenable due to the excessive heat from the fire. The apparatus was moved to the road East of the expressway and found the Gulf Fire chief on the ground suffering from a heart attack. As Rescue 7 treated the Gulf Fire chief the Administration building ignited from the heat and became fully involved in fire. At 4:46 p.m., Commissioner Rizzo ordered the ninth alarm and notification of Philadelphia Managing Director Hillel Levinson as a major disaster was now unfolding at the Gulf Refinery. As the fire swept eastward along 5th Street, Philadelphia's foam pumpers, Engines 160 and 133, and the Gulf Refinery foam pumper were destroyed in the fire's advance. At 5th Street, where Engines 16 and 40 had been assigned to improve drainage, their pieces were also destroyed in the fire's path, although their pump operators were able to escape. Upon reaching 5th Street, the fire traveled two city blocks north along 5th Street, threatening four additional storage tanks and the 125-foot (38 m) Penrose Avenue Bridge. 10th alarm and unrelated 3-alarm fire [ edit ] At 5:37 p.m., Commissioner Rizzo ordered the tenth alarm as the fire was then traveling southward and engulfing the refinery's administration building, which was located on the south side of Avenue “Y” between 4th and 5th Streets. The tenth alarm companies were ordered to report to Gate 24 at Penrose and Lanier Avenues, to set up deluge guns then remove themselves from the area. As the tenth alarm was being requested, the burden on the city's firefighting personnel was exacerbated by a box alarm transmitted for a fire in a paper warehouse 8.6 miles (13.8 km) away at “F” Street and Erie Avenue in North Philadelphia. Upon arrival, Chief Edward Hampson, Battalion Chief 10, had heavy fire in a three-story, former printing company now being used for paper storage. The second alarm was ordered at 6:07 p.m., followed by a special call for three additional engine companies at 7:18 p.m. Assistant Fire Chief James Skala, who had been at the New Jersey shore, returned to the City and assumed command of operations. 11th alarm [ edit ] As the situation continued to deteriorate at the Gulf Refinery, Commissioner Rizzo ordered all of the “D” platoon members from the day shift held over, and at 6:01 p.m., he ordered the 11th alarm. By seven o’clock, the involved tanks and pipelines were gushing flames and nearby streets in the complex were burning streams of oil and other petroleum products. For a period of time, it was far from certain where the fire would be stopped. Burk was quoted as saying that contingency plans had been made for a retreat through the refinery, street by street, tank by tank. But far from retreating, the men of the Philadelphia Fire Department attacked, retaking 5th Street, 4th Street, and finally Avenue Y. At 1:00 a.m. on Monday, August 18, 1975, Commissioner Rizzo left the firegrounds, going to area hospitals to visit the injured firefighters and to the homes of the families of the members who were unaccounted for. He relinquished command to Deputy Fire Commissioner Harry T. Kite. A second tank, 239, storing naphtha, was also involved in the fire. This tank was located on 4th Street just north of Avenue “Y.” On Monday morning, naphtha was pouring out of a 12-inch (300 mm) pipe in that tank and igniting in mid-air. The naphtha was burning in the street in an ever-widening pool. To curtail this fire, it was determined that the valve, hidden behind an earthen levee at the rear of the tank, about 100 feet (30 m) from the burning naphtha, needed to be closed. Three Gulf employees volunteered to attempt to close the valve. Using an aluminum boat, they waded through the material contained within the dike surrounding the tank. Firefighters placed a water curtain over them as they kept moving forward to reach the valve. They successfully reached the valve, spun it shut, and took the time to tighten it with a wrench. This operation took five minutes.[citation needed] Under control and (later) Fire out [ edit ] Just minutes short of a full 24 hours after the fire started, Deputy Commissioner Kite declared the fire under control (but still burning) at 5:38 a.m. on Monday, August 18, 1975. A decision was made to allow the fire in the original tank, Tank 231, to burn itself out, and the fire was not declared extinguished until Tuesday, August 26, 1975. However, in the intervening week, box alarms were transmitted for “flare-ups” on four different occasions to assist the fireground details that continued to work on the fire. Casualties [ edit ] By the morning of Monday, August 18, 1975, the cost to PFD personnel was confirmed. Six firefighters were killed and two were severely burned – and would die in the next few days – from the flare-up that occurred on Sunday afternoon. Fourteen other firefighters were burned and/or injured in their attempts to rescue the men caught in the flare-up.[5] The six firefighters killed onsite were: Firefighter John Andrews, Age 49, Engine 49 Firefighter Joseph Wiley, Age 33, Ladder 27 Firefighter Roger Parker, Age 28, Ladder 27 Firefighter Hugh McIntyre, Age 53, Engine 56 Firefighter Robert Fisher, Age 43, Engine 33 Firefighter Ralph Campana, Age 41, Ladder 19 The two firefighters rescued, but fatally injured, were: Fire Lieutenant James Pouliot, Age 35, Engine 20, died of his burns on August 24, 1975 Firefighter Carroll Brenek, Age 33, Engine 57, died of his burns on August 30, 1975. Cause of fire [ edit ] The original cause of the fire was the overfilling of Tank 231. While no crude oil escaped from the tank as a result of being overfilled, large quantities of hydrocarbon vapors were trapped above the surface of the tank's crude oil. As the quantity of crude oil increased, these hydrocarbon vapors were forced out of the tank's vents and into the area of the No. 4 Boiler House where the initial flash occurred. The overfilling of the tank, in turn, resulted from a failure of the tanker's personnel to properly monitor the quantity of crude oil being pumped to the tank. At approximately 6:02 a.m. in the wake of the first explosions and fire, the tanker terminated its pumping operations, left its Schuylkill River berth and relocated downstream to the Gulf piers at Hog Island, near the junction of the Schuylkill with the Delaware River. October 1975 9-alarm fire [ edit ] Two months after the disaster, another 9 alarm fire broke out at the refinery. On site this time, in addition to Fire Commissioner Rizzo, was Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, the commissioner's brother. As with the August fire, the October fire was eventually deemed under control when a sudden flare up sent many of the firefighters and media scrambling for cover. Mayor Rizzo was knocked over by his bodyguard and suffered a severely broken right femur, which required surgery.[6] Aftermath [ edit ] In July 1977, Gulf was fined $37,000 ($153,000 today) on charges covering more than 100 violations of the Philadelphia fire code.[7] In August 2007, about 200 people gathered at the Fireman's Hall Museum in Philadelphia as International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Shaitberger unveiled individual plaques honoring the firefighters lost in the refinery disaster.[8] In 1982, following the merger of Gulf Oil and Chevron Corporation, the Gulf Girard Point refinery became the Chevron USA Philadelphia refinery.[4] In 1994, Sunoco purchased the refinery from Chevron, merging it with the adjoining Point Breeze refinery complex (which Sunoco purchased in 1988) into a single operation—the largest on the U.S. Eastern seaboard.[4] In 2012, Sunoco and investment firm The Carlyle Group formed the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) partnership, to own and operate the refinery complex, renamed PES Philadelphia Refining Complex.[4] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] Somebody's Got To do It by Fr. John Bankhead 2014, Gypsy Press Coordinates:Nationwide protests gripped many cities for days following the presidential election as thousands march against Donald Trump's victory. Trump tweeted to condemn "professional protesters, incited by the media." (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) Demonstrations against the election of Donald Trump as president continued around the country early Friday, taking a decidedly violent turn in Portland, Ore., where police made several arrests after deeming the protests had turned into a “riot” punishable as a “Class C Felony.” “We reject the president-elect,” many of the demonstrators chanted as they marched through the streets. Elsewhere, thousands of protesters surrounded Trump's buildings in New York and Chicago, clashing with supporters of the president-elect in some areas. The protests earned recriminations from Trump, who met with President Obama at the White House Thursday morning. “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!," Trump said on Twitter. It was his first comment about the protests and one of few statements he has made since claiming victory over Hillary Clinton early Wednesday morning. In 2012, after Obama was elected to a second term, Trump tweeted: “We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!” [Violence erupts in Portland 'riot' as anti-Trump protests continue in cities across the nation] Early Friday morning, Trump took a different tone, tweeting this message: "Love the fact that the small groups of protesters last night have passion for our great country. We will all come together and be proud!" Condemning Trump's litany of crude comments about women and his attacks on immigrants, demonstrators across the country marched along city streets, blocked intersections, burned effigies and, in some places, gathered outside buildings bearing Trump's name. “Not my president,” chanted some of the protesters, while others waved signs with the same message. While many demonstrations late Thursday were peaceful, the vandalism increased in Portland as the night wore on. Police in Portland, Ore., said that protests against President-elect Donald Trump had turned into "a riot," on Nov. 10, with some smashing windows and lighting fires in the streets. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) “Due to extensive criminal and dangerous behavior, protest is now considered a riot. Crowd has been advised,” Portland police officials said in a Twitter post late Thursday. The department earlier warned that some drivers were being attacked during the demonstrations and advised protesters to stop the use of “illegal fire devices.” Police later said that they had arrested 26 people during the night, describing vandalism that occurred in numerous areas and describing those causing the damage as "anarchists." Teressa Raiford, a community organizer in Portland, said what began as a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest was transformed into something more insidious due to demonstrators not affiliated with the group. “They’re not coming to show solidarity, they’re coming because they know there’s going to be a big crowd,” Raiford said. “They don’t respect our movement.” Portland police said on Twitter that some protesters trying to stop the property damage were being threatened by others. “Many in crowd trying to get anarchist groups to stop destroying property, anarchists refusing,” one tweet read. Another police tweet said: “Police advising crowd there are gas and flares being prepared by protestors. Please leave for your own safety.” They also issued several orders to disperse for “unlawful assembly.” After several orders to disperse, police have used less lethal munitions to effect arrests and move the crowd. Ofcs still taking projectiles — Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) November 11, 2016 Mike Bivins, a local freelance journalist, said the protest took a noticeable turn late Thursday as demonstrators passed a Northeast Portland car dealership, where some starting breaking car windows. A dumpster and a newsstand were set on fire. Bivins said a Black Lives Matter organizer at Pioneer Courthouse Square told demonstrators earlier in the day not to police “anyone else's form of protest.” “I guess he didn’t think it would rise to this level,” Bevins said. Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq and an outspoken critic of the president-elect, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that protests are “indicative of how many people have been intimidated, how many people feel that their rights have not been fully guaranteed” because of Trump's campaign rhetoric. “We appeal to the surrogates of Donald Trump and to him, himself, that he needs to take the first step to make sure that the concerns that are being addressed,” said Khan, who asserted that Trump supporters are “attacking Muslims — Muslim women, snatching their headscarves in New York, in Louisiana, in Los Angeles. Mosques are being attacked by people throwing things. And that needs to stop.” At least 100 people were arrested Wednesday night during the first wave of national protests, according to police officials, most of them at one in New York. While most of the demonstrations remained peaceful, police in Oakland, Calif., said a rally there turned violent when some in the massive crowd injured three police officers by throwing rocks and fireworks at them. The unrest underscored the fractures in a country that awoke Wednesday to learn that Trump had pulled off an unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, and more were planned for the weekend. Demonstrations started early Wednesday in the biggest U.S. cities — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — and flared in places from Portland and Seattle to Philadelphia and Richmond, along with cities in red states such as Atlanta, Dallas, Omaha and Kansas City, Mo. But they continued Thursday evening, spreading to Baltimore where police said about 600 “anti-trump” protesters marched to the downtown area and blocked streets. Two protesters, they said, were held but not charged. Most of the major demonstrations took place in urban centers in blue states Clinton won Tuesday, highlighting the demographic divide that shaped the election results. Clinton's apparent narrow victory in the popular vote, coupled with her loss in the electoral tally, spurred demonstrators in New York to chant, “She got more votes!” as thousands massed in front of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan Wednesday night. The crowd stretched several blocks down Fifth Avenue. Before that, protesters had marched from Union Square to Trump's building, chanting, “Donald Trump, go away! Sexist, racist, anti-gay!” Protesters refusing to move as NYPD advances. pic.twitter.com/6gzj7KjzGC — Scott Bixby (@scottbix) November 10, 2016 At one point, demonstrators lit an American flag on fire. Later, amid a cacophony of loud chants, a glowing “Love Trumps Hate” banner was held aloft under the Trump Tower sign. The singer Cher mingled in the crowd, doling out hugs. Police in New York said about 65 people were arrested during the first night of protests, mostly for disorderly conduct or resisting arrest. People in Trump's circle said they were monitoring the unrest and had expected such activity after the election: Trump World is watching the protests tonight. Most of them, especially the populist-types around him, expected this, now and next year. — Robert Costa (@costareports) November 10, 2016 On Thursday, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) called the people protesting “a bunch of spoiled crybabies.” “We're bringing up a generation of spoiled crybabies,” Giuliani, a Trump adviser who has been touted as a possible attorney general, said in an interview on Fox News. Apparently referencing protests happening around college campuses, Giuliani said: “Most of the kids aren't crying. Most of the kids are going to class.” At one point Wednesday night, a protester in Los Angeles was interviewed on CNN and spoke about how “there will be casualties on both sides,” language that was condemned by Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump's campaign manager. Not cool. @POTUS or Hillary should address. 'People Have to Die': Anti-Trump Protester Calls For Violence on CNN https://t.co/NfEqhkrTvu — Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) November 10, 2016 In Florida, Trump supporters spilled out of an Irish bar Thursday to confront the hundreds of protesters making their way through the brick-paved district of Ybor City, the historic epicenter of the Cuban community in Tampa. Some of the Trump supporters, still holding their beers, stood within inches of the protesters, shouting “USA, USA.” Other hurled vulgarities at the crowd. Local police swarmed the area to separate the groups. Nearby, a retired Marine Corps corporal, Kyle Mullinax, stood at attention as protesters walked by. The protesters are “stupid,” he said. In Oakland, police said the crowd of demonstrators eventually grew to about 7,000 people Wednesday and began to splinter into smaller groups, some of which vandalized buildings. As things became more heated, police said, they used devices releasing tear gas several times. In addition to the three police officers who were injured, three police cars from nearby Pleasanton, Calif. — one of many cities that sent officers to help respond — were damaged, officials said. Authorities reported 16 cases of vandalism, including graffiti and looting, and said there were “numerous trash fires in the streets." (About 40 fires were extinguished by police and fire officials.) Police said they arrested 30 people and issued an additional 11 citations for vandalism, unlawful assembly and assault on an officer. [What does Trump's victory say about the country?] In Los Angeles, thousands of protesters filled the streets, including some who burned a giant papier-mache Trump head in front of City Hall and others who spray-painted profanity on the Los Angeles Times building and on vehicles used by news organizations. Hundreds of other protesters blocked two highways in the area, backing up traffic for miles. Protest is now on the 101. CHP is starting to move in pic.twitter.com/njlaqRB3zJ — James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) November 10, 2016 In Chicago, police said about 1,800 people has demonstrated outside of Trump Tower Wednesday. On Thursday, the protests started small, but grew to several hundred people, who marched through downtown streets, stopping traffic for more than two hours. Jessica Orman, 24, from Chicago, said she is dismayed by the people who voted for Trump and feels that her future is on the line. “I see people differently now. I don't smile at people on the street anymore. Because you never know,” she said. “I'm so jaded, but we have to fight. We have to protest. I can vote because people protested. I can be on the pill because people protested. Gay people have rights because people protested,” she said. Orman currently earns about the minimum wage and said she had hoped that if elected Hillary Clinton would raise the minimum wage. Now, she said, her financial prospects could get worse. “The economy could go belly up.” [For Democrats, a power outage in Washington and an identity crisis] MoveOn.org, a liberal group, had called on people to gather in cities nationwide. Ben Wikler, MoveOn's Washington director, said that people had registered to organize events in 275 cities and communities across the country, noting that many were candlelight vigils and group discussions rather than the sprawling marches seen in New York and Chicago. “A lot of people reacted to the election results with a kind of plodding feeling, like they wanted to curl up under their desks or hide under their sheets,” Wikler said Thursday. “Just knowing that you're not alone in this country is a powerful salve. And knowing there are people that want to continue to fight for a more perfect union is a source of strength at a moment that can feel very scary.” Tensions ran particularly high on college campuses. At American University in Washington, students burned American flags, and some shouted, “F--- white America!” In Austin, students at the University of Texas led a march for hours through the city Wednesday afternoon. As hundreds of protesters wove into traffic, bus drivers high-fived the students. Some in their vehicles got out and hugged them, tears streaming down their faces. “Seeing this is everything,” said Jennifer Rowsey, 47, as the march passed by a coffee shop next to Austin City Hall, where she is the human resource manager. “I felt so isolated,” she said. “I don't feel so alone now.” [Trump maps out a new administration to bring a seismic shift to Washington] Austin City Council member Greg Casar, the son of Mexican immigrants and a community organizer, joined the protesters when they passed him while he was giving an interview to local media. “A lot of people are calling for healing,” he said. “I think we should reject that.” He said that now is the time to support protesters, strikers and those engaged in other forms of civil disobedience. Casar said that if Trump comes to Austin, he will refuse to shake his hand. “If I have to go to jail” for protesting, he said, “I'll go to jail.” Many protesters who turned out said they were fearful that Trump would follow through with his pledge to deport undocumented immigrants. “I just felt waking up today that I was waking up to a whole new world, to a nightmare for my parents and people I care about and love,” said Tony, a 23-year-old line cook who declined to give his last name as he marched in Chicago, carrying his 6-year-old daughter on his shoulders. “There's so much heartache,” he said. “It's a bad time to be a Muslim or an illegal citizen in this country.” In Santa Ana., Calif., Lucy Dominguez, 37, and her husband, Oliver Lopez, 33, had their arms around one another and held a sign reading, “Peace.” “I came to stand up with the people. To stand up with my people, the Latino community,” she said. “I chose the peace sign because we need peace in this moment.” During his victory speech early Wednesday, Trump spoke about reconciliation following the bitter campaign, saying that it was “time for America to bind the wounds of division.” Later Wednesday, this tone was echoed by Clinton and President Obama, who said they were also disappointed after an Election Day that ended with Republicans in control of both the legislative and executive branches of government. Clinton said the campaign showed that “our nation is more deeply divided that we thought,” but she told her supporters: “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.” But the anger and grief that continued Thursday evening suggested that many fear what Trump's election means going forward. In Philadelphia, an estimated 1,000 protesters filled the streets chanting slogans such as “We reject the president-elect,” and “hands too small, can’t build a wall.” Police on bicycles moved with the throngs, who remained peaceful as they choked the streets of Center City. “I feel very dark about the future,” said Janette Chien, 27, of Philadelphia, who voted for Hillary Clinton. Chien, a first-generation immigrant whose parents were born in China, said Trump’s hostility toward immigrants troubled her. Since Tuesday’s election, Chien said watching her like-minded friends meltdown on Facebook has been grueling. “It’s just been horrible and exhausting,” said Chien, who works in afterschool programs with children. “We need to fight. If we don’t do anything, it’s just going to continue this way.” Leah Sottile reported from Portland; Kari Lydersen reported from Chicago; Nick Romeo in Berkeley, Calif.; Eva Ruth Moravec in Austin; Katie Zezima in Santa Ana, Calif.; Les Neuhaus from Tampa; Bobby Allyn in Philadelphia; Philip Bump, Ryan Carey-Mahoney, Kayla Epstein, Renae Merle and Anne Gearan in New York; and Fenit Nirappil and Juliet Eilperin in Washington contributed to this report, which has been updated since it was published. Further reading: “Something is happening,” Trump said. He was right. Trump meets with Obama at the White House as whirlwind transition startsDecisions made during the final months of the Bush administration created an environment in which the most politically connected investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, not only flourished, but saw their competitors laid waste, with firms like Lehman in bankruptcy, and others, like Merrill Lynch and Bank of America, forced to merge in desperate hope of surviving. Two recent news stories raise some interesting questions about Goldman Sachs. In the opaque world of investment banking and federal regulation, these reports shed light on the difficulty of determining where to draw the line between routine complex financial transactions and problematic conflict of interest and favoritism. The first story ran on the cover of last weekend's Barron's: "Resurrection on Wall Street" (subscription required). It documents in some detail the success of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as "Wall Street's sole standouts." The highly favorable story, which only peripherally refers to the government support each institution has received, concludes that they are both "making attempts to adapt to the new financial realities. Combined with the decline of their competitors, that makes them good bets for investors now." For a couple of banks trying to boost their stock, what more could you ask for? The second story, which was covered on March 15 by most news outlets, was based on the disclosure by the American International Group, Inc. (AIG) of massive payments to domestic and foreign financial institutions, and to 20 states, using money provided by U.S. taxpayers through the federal bailout. While most news stories focused on payments made to non-U.S. institutions, fueling populist anger, one of the more interesting aspects of AIG's disclosure statement is the fact that Goldman Sachs, at $12.6 billion, is the single largest beneficiary of AIG largess. The roots of the linkage between Goldman Sachs and AIG go back to the closing months of the Bush administration, as the financial meltdown reached crisis proportions and key decisions were made that are now reaping the whirlwind. Remember who played a key role in deciding to bail out AIG? Henry Paulson, the Goldman CEO-turned George W. Bush Treasury Secretary. Paulson, according to a September 27, 2008 New York Times piece by Gretchen Morgenson, led a team of regulators and bankers in early September to determine what to do with the most severely wounded financial institutions. One of the participants in those meetings was Lloyd C. Blankfein, Paulson's successor at Goldman Sachs. Out of those meetings came the controversial and heavily criticized decision to allow Lehman Brothers, a Goldman competitor, to go belly up, and to bail out AIG. Starting with $85 billion from the Fed, taxpayers have pumped a total of $170 billion into the giant insurance company. The bailout was crucial to Goldman in that it permitted AIG to pay off its $12.6 billion debt to the firm, $8.1 billion of which was to cover AIG-backed credit derivatives. At a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee on February 11, 2009, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein denied that his firm had a major stake in bailing out AIG. Blankfein told the panel that "with respect to our dealings with AIG, we were always fully collateralized and had de minimis or no credit risk at any given moment because we exchanged collateral....We had transactions with them. And if they had gone the wrong way, they would have owed us money. We assumed they'd pay it, but if they defaulted, they wouldn't pay us. We insured against that default. We didn't win money from it. We wouldn't have made money. But it would have protected our down side." Throughout the past six months of economic crisis, Goldman has taken full advantage of what the government has to offer. On October 28, 2008, Goldman and eight other banks were the first to receive federal bailout money under the Treasury Department's Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). which was initiated by Paulson. On November 25, 2008, Goldman became the first bank in the nation to benefit from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP), issuing $5 billion in government-secured debt at 3.367%, substantially less than the market rate facing banks which issued unsecured debt. All told, Goldman has issued a total of $20 billion in government-guaranteed debt under TLGP. In their dealings with banks, both Treasury and the Fed have been subject to relatively minimal disclosure, in order to protect the proprietary interests of financial institutions, especially to prevent rumors of illiquidity or excessive debt from threatening a bank's viability. * The banking and insurance industries have traditionally been among the most politically influential sectors. That was especially true during the George W. Bush years, when regulatory policies and tax legislation -- especially cuts in the rates on dividend and capital gains income -- produced a corporate bonanza. In the 2004 election, these financial interests demonstrated their gratitude by contributing hundreds of thousands to the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign. Employees of Morgan Stanley gave Bush more than any other company, $600,480; followed by Merrill Lynch, $580,004; PricewaterhouseCoopers, $513,750; UBS Americas, $472,075; Goldman Sachs, $390,600; MBNA Corp, $356,350; Credit Suisse Group, $331,040; Lehman Brothers, $329,725; Citigroup Inc, $320,620; and Bear Stearns, $309,150. * * The consequences of the decisions made in the private meetings chaired by Republican Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson
An openness to challenge each other help promote superior results through investing in your subject matter. Use the micro-meeting Time boxing meetings. You cannot waste time if you do not allow yourself to spend it. Pushing people to say what they need to say in 10 minutes enables Mayer to meet more people in less time. LinkedIn What they do Use a Framework to structure the meeting. Use a Framework to help decide who should be involved. Why it works: Use a Framework to structure the meeting Define the objective and success criteria of the meeting. Send pre-read materials the day before. Identify who is driving. Take the time to define semantics (and first principles). Assign someone to take notes. Summarize key action items, deliverables, and points of accountability. Ask what you can do better. Distribute action items and notes. Cascade relevant information to teams. Follow up (keep your word). The RAPID Framework for who should be involved: The RAPID framework focuses on the nominating the right people to invite appropriately. It is a loose acronym covering Input, Recommend, Agree, Decide and Perform Person who R ecommends a decision or action. ecommends a decision or action. Person who A grees formally. grees formally. Person who P erforms and has accountability for the work. erforms and has accountability for the work. Person who I nputs extra details or points of view that may or may not align. nputs extra details or points of view that may or may not align. Person who Decides on the action and commits the organization to action. Generally meetings only need people who fulfill the R,A,P and D roles (and some people hold multiple roles. The I role can be updated outside of the meetings where decisions are actually made. Common traits / tips There are many common traits amongst these companies in how they conduct their effective meetings. With all of them it is not what those traits are that make them special, most are obvious in nature. It is the discipline to adhere to them that makes them work. Implementing some templates and a meeting process can help guide and foster discipline. This would include: An agreed over all meeting structure - make sure everyone is on the same page. This should include: The type of meeting Inform (try to avoid these) Consult - gather input Solve problems / brainstorming Make decisions Build team or individual relationships - reviews and catchups Who are the right people to be there RAPID or another appropriate decision making structure Use a role check at the beginning of the meeting to ensure all appropriate people are there How long the meeting should be Always as short as possible to get the job done Try time limiting certain types of meetings to drive focus How you prepare, run, post meeting procedures Material prepared and provided advance Additional reading time at the beginning of the session Announcing and adhering to roles in a meeting Minutes taken and action items affirmed at the end The way you communicate inside the meeting Everyone prepare in advance their ideas rather than open discussion Time limiting speakers Asking "on a scale of 1 - 10" questions to get all participants talking Meeting Minute capture structure** Categories for each note Agenda Decision Done Information Idea Todo Each Item has a Directly Responsible Individual Conclusion The best meeting is the one that doesn't have to happen. If you can come up with a sound reason not to have one then don't do it! However it's inevitable that people need to come together for some reason. Formalize your meeting processes to save time and foster results.When trying to protect farms in east Africa from elephants, it would seem that nothing short of a giant reinforced fence or a chasmic ditch could safely keep the largest land animals on Earth away without causing harm. Unfortunately, building such barriers around every field is impractical, and the interactions of people protecting their crops frequently leads to accidents or even death of both farmers and elephants. But zoologist Lucy King had a much smaller idea: bees. It turns out elephants are terrified of bees because when the insects sting the inside of their trunks the pain is excruciating and there’s little they can do about it. The sound of buzzing alone is enough to make elephants leave an area immediately. King wondered what might happen if a string of suspended beehives at every 10 meters around a field might be enough to keep elephants away. A pilot program in 2009 proved widely successful and soon The Elephant and Bees Project was born. There are now active beehive fences in Kenya, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sri Lanka. Not only do the fences help pollinate crops and safely deter elephants, they also become an additional revenue stream for farmers who harvest honey and sell it locally, a fascinating example of interspecies landscape engineering. The Elephant and Bees Project is currently trying to raise funds to greatly expand the program. You can make a donation here. (via Neatorama, Nag on the Lake)Also of note: the scene begins with our first taste of an evil Jarvis. This could be a clue as to how Joss Whedon will give birth to Ultron in the sequel, The Avengers: Age of Ultron With the most significant change, as pointed out by CBM's Guardian Angel, our first look an unused female superhero, Wasp (Janet van Dyne). She can see her at the 17-second mark. Early in, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and his group go about recruiting the superhero team. After Fury has enlisted Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) help in order to recover the Tesseract from Loki, the film cuts to our first look at Tony Stark/Iron Man. He is underwater attaching a new arc reactor to Stark Tower's power line. But, Federico D'Alessandro's first animatic below, shows a much different intro for Iron Man. In the early version Iron Man would've fought never-used supervillain with Man with no arms and no legs. At the end of each nub, is some sort of attachment device. As the clip plays out you will see the amputee attach robotic hands and legs, thus making him a supervillain.In this second clip, Iron Man makes his introduction earlier in the film, just after Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has escaped with the cube, and his mind-controlled lackeys, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Professor Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård). In this version, Iron Man appears at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secret underground government research facility. He is in hot pursuit of Loki, as the underground lab is crumbling all around him. Loki is seen trying to escape via a subway car. Watch the video below to see what happens.The third animatic, involves Loki and Tony Stark's battle of wits at Stark Tower. But in this early version, the conversation is quite different, as Tony plays possum. He pretends to be under Loki's mind-altering influence, and pushes the charade too far. You can't fool the God of Mischief!The last animatic, shows the scene in which the gateway is opened to the outer space location where the Chitauri’s army awaits. There a few slight differences than the theatrical version.picks up when an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security. And Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. With director Joss Whedon at it's helm, and an ensemble cast including Chris Evans (Steve Rogers), Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson), Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton), Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff), Clark Gregg (Agt. Phil Coulson), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), with Tom Hiddleston (Loki), and Stellan Skarsgard (Professor Erik Selvig).Brooke Henderson was excited to be a first-time voter this year. The 18-year-old University of Virginia freshman studied up on the candidates in the Republican presidential primary in North Carolina and voted for Gov. John Kasich of Ohio. She watched with disappointment as Donald Trump captured the Republican Party’s nomination for president in July. Henderson eventually turned to Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and found she agreed with his socially liberal and fiscally conservative ideas. She is one of many students dissatisfied with the two-party political system who have not only pledged their votes to third parties, but also switched their formal party identification. This article is part of The UnConvention, coverage and conversation that highlights the issues and voices of young voters, in partnership with 92Y and Mic. “I just always assumed that [Republicans] would be who I would continue to align with,” Henderson, now a Libertarian, said in a phone interview. “This election has really opened my eyes, and I don't identify that as my party anymore. And I think that's the greatest impact it has had." Although there is some "anybody but (fill in the blank)" sentiment in almost every national election, this year the third parties are getting more attention from younger voters dissatisfied with Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, said John Hudak, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. An August Pew Research Center study found third parties drew most of their support from registered voters between the ages of 18 and 29, with 19 percent of them leaning toward former New Mexico Gov. Johnson and 9 percent toward physician and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. In the long run, Hudak said the Johnson and Stein candidacies will shift the political focus to how major parties can court millennials more successfully in the future. “Third-party voting is largely idealistic and it’s not any realistic approach to American politics,” he said. “After voters get that out of their system in their younger years, they will realize why we have a two-party system and that it’s easier to participate in it than to protest it.” Be part of the UnConvention World Vote Have your vote counted in 2016's first global straw poll for US president Vote Now! Although Johnson in particular maintained a significant level of support past the Democratic and Republican conventions, he has dropped in the polls over the last month and is now under 6 percent, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average. While Johnson's support was higher, longer, he's now falling back as third-party candidates usually do. Johnson’s campaign strategy was to reach 15 percent in the polls in order to be allowed into at least one of the presidential debates. He didn’t come close. And today, according to RealClearPolitics, Johnson and Stein are polling about 8 percent — collectively. Third-party candidates often face a decline in support as the election wears on, but Johnson seems to have fallen further than expected. FiveThirtyEight's polls-plus model, which tries to account for the decline third-party candidates face — has found Johnson's support erode even more than it had projected it would. Daniel Pryor, a spokesman for the nonprofit organization Students for Liberty, said the parties are still seeing wider support among students, who are eagerly researching alternatives because of the “sheer unfavorability” of Trump and Clinton. Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, and the leaked Democratic National Committee emails showing supposedly neutral party officials favored her over Bernie Sanders, made Clinton seem like an untrustworthy symbol of the establishment, said many students interviewed for this story. But Trump, despite defining himself as anti-establishment, hasn’t appealed to young voters with his vows to build a “big, beautiful” wall along the US-Mexico border, to temporarily ban immigrants of the Muslim faith and to cut taxes and spending. Organizers focused on young voters say interest has spiked in Libertarian and Green ideas on college campuses. Despite the current polling trends, they think a foundation is being built that will endure beyond the 2016 presidential election. The Libertarian-leaning Students for Liberty has 160 campus coordinators in North America, a 23 percent increase from 2015, Pryor said. The 2012 election saw a year-to-year increase of only 13 percent, he added. Another Libertarian nonprofit, Young Americans for Liberty, had 650 college chapters at the beginning of 2016. Cliff Maloney, the executive director, said in an email the group’s goal had been 750 chapters by 2017, but that number was reached in July. On the left, the Green Party, which focuses on environmental issues, advocates for non-violence and supports other progressive ideas, also claims growth among young Americans. Ursula Rozum, co-chair of Young Greens Youth Caucus, said her group started 2016 with only five chapters on college campuses. It now has 50, with chapter membership ranging from a couple people to more than 30. Third party votes deliver more than an angry protest against the two-party system, says 19-year-old Aaron Suárez, who previously supported Sanders in the Democratic primary. Suárez, president of the newly formed Capital University Greens in Columbus, Ohio, changed his party identification following the primary. He said Clinton’s ties to Wall Street and her policy to only regulate fracking — not shut it down — did not sit well with him. “A vote is not given to a candidate based on their political party,” the sophomore said. “It is my personal belief that Hillary Clinton has not earned my vote, and that Jill Stein has earned my vote.” Like Suárez, some Sanders supporters are lining up with the Green Party, Rozum said. Nearly every prospective young voter Rozum met at the Green Party National Convention in Houston, had been in some way involved with the Sanders campaign, she said. Meanwhile, many disaffected Republican students and allied groups are supporting Johnson as “the true fiscal conservative in the election,” said sophomore Olivia Corn, the chair of Cornell Republicans. The club’s student membership grew by more than 100 at Cornell University after it endorsed Johnson, and some original members of the campus GOP group shifted their allegiance to Libertarian, the 19-year-old said. In Athens, Ohio, Jacob Koval, communications chair of the Ohio University College Republicans, said he is also voting for Johnson despite having supported Republican candidates in the past. Koval said he will be voting Libertarian in the future as well. “This election has made me much more embarrassed to have had involvement with the Republican Party,” the 20-year-old sophomore said. “If there was a Republican candidate that I really strongly believed in who was running against Hillary, I'd be much more comfortable identifying as a Republican.” Some students, however, have expressed disappointment with the lagging poll numbers of the third-party candidates. “A lot of the hype around Johnson and Stein was media driven,” Hudak said. “But you also have to combine that with the fact that Johnson and Stein are truly awful candidates. They have shown no readiness to campaign or to lead, and they would not make effective presidents.” With Johnson’s and Stein’s tickets polling at 5.8 percent and 2.0 percent respectively, they are, at least, in a stronger place than their parties’ candidates in the recent past. Although the students interviewed admitted they do not expect a third-party candidate to become the next president, they said they are motivated by the prospect of victories down the road. Should either Johnson or Stein receive between 5 and 25 percent of the total popular vote — maintaining the status of minor-party candidates — a future Libertarian or Green candidate could become eligible for public funding in 2020 to help finance a general election campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission. “There's been a seed of at least considering third parties that has been planted,” Koval said. “More people will say, ‘I may have voted for Hillary, I may have voted for Trump, but I think I really kind of get what this [third part] person is saying. I really can resonate with it. And maybe in the future I'll start looking into it more.’” Ross Krasner contributed to reporting.Nicki Minaj posted a pretty nondescript screen capture of the iTunes top 10 charting Hip Hop/Rap songs Saturday night. But it wasn’t the chart itself that got people talking so much as Nicki’s commentary on the melanin deficiency of the artists on the chart. Nicki Minaj speaks on white rappers dominating the charts pic.twitter.com/zb8lUX13il — DJ Akademiks (@IamAkademiks) December 17, 2017 “It’s a great time to be a white rapper in America huh?” Nicki wrote in the caption of her now-deleted post. “These are the top 10 rap songs on US iTunes. S/O to Em & Post. Two of my faves. Congrats to Em on his new album. #Motorsport put dat thing in sport.” The chart has since been updated, but you can pretty easily read between the lines and see what Nicki was referencing. Of the 10 songs listed, Migos’ “Motorsport” and N.E.R.D.’s “Lemon” are the only two performed by artists that self-identify as black. Nicki wasn’t saying anything that hasn’t already been said about race in rap (or other genres perceived as predominantly black) by the likes of Solange, Azealia Banks or even Eminem himself. Defending Post Malone in such a discussion seemed like a curious choice. It’s possible Nicki considered an Instagram caption wasn’t the best place to try and have a nuanced discussion about race, privilege, and music because she ended up updating her caption. POST CONTINUES BELOW “Update blocking all u sensitive dick riders,” Nicki further wrote. “It IS a great time to be a white rapper in America. I wanna sign one for my new label. U know anyone? I spk my mthafkn mind n if u don’t like it gtfo my page dick rida! Y’all can never wait to ride the Queen dick! Sensitive ass ig thugs. Gtfoh.” That post was followed by a clip of J. Cole’s 2014 interview with Angie Martinez, where Cole also discussed the perception versus reality of genres of music traditionally performed by black artists. “Whenever a black woman speaks on ANYTHING she’s labeled as “mad” “angry” “bitter,” Nicki wrote in a similarly lengthy caption. “I’m on 4 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. I’m blessed & highly favored thx to my amazing fans.” Before the posts were deleted, Nicki captioned that she was posting “on new developments within the music industry.” There’s plenty of history to disprove the theory that white artists gaining popularity in predominantly black spaces isn’t a new development, but that’s somewhat of a moot point now because Nicki’s posts have been deleted. Much like Nicki’s infamous “What’s good, Miley?” moment and the multiple subs thrown at Iggy Azalea, this might lead to some substantive dialogue beyond an Instagram caption.January this year the U.S. Government destroyed Megaupload, but founder Kim Dotcom is a not done with the file-hosting business yet and is preparing to come back with a vengeance. The coding work for the new Megaupload is nearly finished, the servers have been ordered, and investors are lining up. A return of the file-hosting site appears to be looming. With 50 million visitors per day at its peak, Megaupload was one of the largest websites on the Internet. This quickly changed January this year when the U.S. Government took down the file-hosting service and had several key employees arrested including founder Kim Dotcom. Abruptly, the focus of Megaupload’s team shifted from serving customers to defending itself in a high-profile criminal prosecution. While the criminal case is moving ahead very slowly, Megaupload’s founder does have some progress to report on another front. Dotcom previously announced that he planned to bring Megaupload back to life, and new information suggests that this may happen rather quickly. In an update this weekend he tweets that most of the work on the second incarnation of the site is already done. “Quick update on the new Mega: Code 90% done. Servers on the way. Lawyers, partners and investors are ready,” Dotcom teases. “Be patient it’s coming,” he adds. From the brief progress update it’s clear that the site is on schedule for launch later this year. In addition, it’s interesting to note that despite the ongoing criminal case, partners and investors are happy to be involved. In recent weeks Dotcom has delivered several hints about the new Megaupload, which he says will be bigger and better than the file-hosting service that was taken down. “We are building a massive global network. All non-US hosters will be able to connect servers & bandwidth,” he explained earlier. According to Dotcom we can expect a Megaupload with an even greater range of applications than just file-sharing. While developers of file managers are being encouraged to get in touch for early API access, Dotcom is also calling out to those involved in email and fax tools, VOIP and video apps. It’s clear that Dotcom doesn’t have the slightest urge to throw in the towel. “They abused the wrong guy. I am going to turn this world upside down. Power to the people. Bye bye Echelon. Hello Freedom,” Dotcom added. It will be at least a few more weeks before the new Megaupload appears online, but there are exciting times ahead. MEGA exciting.Last week, at a meeting of the Davidson County Democratic Party, District Attorney Glenn Funk commented on the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent decision to phase out contracts with private prisons. “I don’t think a man should make a profit on keeping another man in chains,” Funk told the group. But every day, that happens in Davidson County — and not just because the the county jail is itself operated by the private Corrections Corporation of America. Every day, local bail companies are profiting off arrests both major and minor. And every day, there are people who can’t afford bail at all, no matter how low it is set. In 2015 in Metro Nashville, 11,406 people were arrested and given a bond of less than $5,000. Most of these arrests were driving-related charges, minor drug possession or theft of merchandise under $500. The average bond for arrestees with one warrant was $2,358.82. And 51.5 percent of these people could not post bond — not the full amount of the bail, mind you, but just the 10 percent of the bail that a bondsman would take as a fee. Which meant, on average, they spent two days longer in jail than people with similar charges who bonded out. This is a problem, says Josh Spickler, the executive director of the Memphis-based criminal justice reform nonprofit Just City. “You’re paying to keep people there who don’t need to be there,” Spickler says. Earlier this summer, Just City launched a revolving bail fund in Nashville to help bail out a handful of that 51.5 percent. So far, the organization has helped 12 people, paying their full cash bail. When the cases are resolved, Just City gets the money back, which means it can then bail more people out, and on, and on. Similar bail funds have been operating in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Chicago and Seattle for a few years. And most of their clients don’t skip out on bail, says Ezra Ritchin of the Bronx Freedom Fund. In fact, 96 percent of the more than 400 people they’ve bailed out have made all of their court dates. “Cash bail does not do what it claims to do,” Ritchin says. “It’s supposed to only address failure to appear, but it doesn’t. What starts as a misdemeanor arrest turns into life destabilization in every way.” Here’s what can — and does — happen when people are arrested on minor charges and can’t afford bail and spend those few extra days in prison: They often lose their jobs. When they lose their jobs, they can lose their housing, and they can lose custody of their children. And to get their cases dismissed quickly, they plead guilty, even if they might not be. But those aren’t the only possible consequences. A 2013 study by the Arnold Foundation found a direct correlation between extended pretrial detention and recidivism rates — starting at just two to three days. When detained for that period of time, as opposed to being bailed out within 24 hours, even low-risk defendants were more likely to fail to appear in court. They were also almost 40 percent more likely to commit another crime before trial. Spickler says the bond process hurts defendants, hurts families and hurts taxpayers, who are spending unneeded money to keep people in jail who are at little to no risk of flight. And the federal government agrees — a filing by the U.S. Department of Justice two weeks ago in relation to a lawsuit against the city of Calhoun, Ga., states, “a bail scheme that mandates payment of fixed amounts to obtain pretrial release, without meaningful consideration of an individual’s indigence and alternatives that would serve the city’s interests, violates the 14th Amendment.” Funk says his office wants “to make sure no one is incarcerated because they are poor.” However, he states that he’s definitely not in favor of eliminating cash bail. Every other country in the world besides the Philippines has eliminated it. “I am certainly open to having a system where a court may determine the community will be protected if someone is released without bail,” Funk says. “But I am not in favor of the overall elimination of cash bail in its entirety, because we need to have a method to ensure [defendants] don’t jump bail.” Funk’s office was unable, as of press time, to provide the actual number of defendants who did jump bail in 2015. The for-profit bail-bond industry writes about $14 billion in bonds annually in the United States, which gives the industry a sizable incentive to want the current bail system to stay in place — and it has the lobbying force to put pressure on legislators who might think otherwise. Also of note, during his 2014 campaign for office, Funk received at least $14,000 in donations from local bail bondsmen. Similarly, although defendants who can’t make bail cost Davidson County taxpayers money, they boost occupancy rates at the CCA-run county jail — and that boosts revenues for CCA shareholders. When asked if Funk’s comments in opposition to private prisons meant he plans to push for an end to CCA’s contract with the jail, his spokesperson Ken Whitehouse responded, “He is focusing on the duties of this office, and the jails are the jurisdiction of other law enforcement officials.” There is currently a study underway, in collaboration with the public defender’s office, of the bail system in Metro, but it might not be complete until next year. So for now, the Just City bail fund is the best that can be done to ease the situation, Spickler says with a sigh. But he’s not giving up hope for change. “If we have bail funds around in 10 years, we will have failed,” Spickler says. Email editor@nashvillescene.comJohn Piper is doubtless one of today’s most respected evangelical leaders. He is a scholar and preaches like a scholar, but with a broad appeal. That is not an easy combination. To say Piper is a Calvinist is an understatement. I am not a Calvinist, but I often profit from the lessons of John Piper. One always comes away challenged. In this video clip Piper takes on versions that do not allow the reader to know all the words of a text. Many read to get the idea and never learn the details. This can be misleading. I think preachers who never grapple with textual problems and leave their hearers in the dark do them a great disservice. Piper is discussing John 4:44-45. Here is how it reads in the NASB: 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast. Here is the NIV rendering of the same text: 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there. Listen and think.[HotS] NA Rosterpocalypse: Enough is Enough Text by TeamLiquid ESPORTS Graphics by EsportsJohn Rosterpocalypse in North America Enough is Enough Already Written by: Inimical With the conclusion of HGC 2017's Phase One and the Crucible, the North American scene has again found itself in a massive "Rosterpocalypse". At the start of the season, I believed like others that this new HGC structure would prevent the NA scene from cannibalizing itself. But this should be something we’ve come to expect. As many of us know, it’s far easier to blame a player on our team in Hero League than blame ourselves for our poor play, but that doesn’t help us improve at all. And since 2015, it appears the North American competitive scene hasn't quite learned this lesson either. If we turn to our European friends, we see the HGC system is working as intended. After a poor showing in Phase One, beGenius and Synergy faced the EU Crucible, where both teams lost rather decisively to former EU pros who had missed out on initially qualifying. Europe has always had a larger pool of players to draw from, but it was clear that the teams who moved up in place of Synergy and beGenius deserved to be there. Europe experienced its own Rosterpocalypse after BlizzCon 2015, but unlike North America, since then they have matured. The top three teams—Fnatic, Team Dignitas, and Team Liquid—have been relatively consistent with their rosters, and it’s no coincidence that good performance has followed. Europe has learned from their mistakes Graphic Credit: Milan Bogojevic In North America, the tired cliche "any team, no matter the record, can beat another on any given day" has rung true through this recent Phase. While this is supposed to act as a comfort to NA teams, what it actually telegraphs is the lack of consistency in North America. This inconsistency is the result of many forces including all-too frequent roster swaps, lack of serious practice, poor self-critique, etc. Most NA teams don’t have to look far to see how roster consistency pays off. The current Tempo Storm is the one exception. They have been the most consistent North American team in history, and they’ve held on to the top spot after Phase One. Is their success a product of their roster consistency or is their roster consistency a symptom of their success? I’d like to believe it’s the former; even in Korea, the best teams are the ones who have been together the longest, like L5 and MVP Black. Tempo Storm is the most consistent North American team for a reason Photo Credit: Tempo Storm The North American scene doesn’t need more swapping; what it needs is some tough love. When Blizzard set up the rules for HGC 2017, they However, on May 8th, 2017 for reasons unknown, As of right now, rumor has it seven of eight teams will be making some kind of change. Here are the changes to the North American scene which have been announced: B-Step completely disbands; aPm steps away, k1pro and KingCaffeine are a packaged deal; McIntyre's fate is unknown Gale Force eSports drops Equinox and benches Khroen; KingCaff and k1pro picked up Team Freedom drops Insomnia after finishing 4th in the playoffs; Kure picked up in his place Goku leaves Superstars iDream picked up by Naventic after Kenma switched to coach role; BigE swapping to support role, Zuna to ranged/offtank (seriously wtf) erho kicked from No Tomorrow after re-qualifying for Phase Two; Equinox picked up as melee assassin while Casanova switches to tank Superstars drops Faye; two open slots now available The most devastating change to the scene revolves around B-Step disbanding, which opened a spot in the HGC premier league for the first place Open Division team Even in Death. There was already furor over this decision EID did not look great against No Tomorrow in their Crucible match; Imported Support had the better showing against Naventic. You could make the argument that Imported Support deserves as much of a shot at the premier league, and the rushed decision by Blizzard to shove in another team without a proper tiebreaker seems somewhat questionable. While the two teams did play against each other in the “finals” of the Open Division playoffs, the only thing at stake was their right to choose the team they played against in the Crucible. Had the players known they were fighting for a spot in the Premier League, the circumstances would have been quite different. What’s the point of a premier league that doesn’t actively gather the best teams in the region to play against each other? The system is also unfair for players kicked from Premier League teams. They lose their salary without the chance to immediately re-qualify unless they get picked up. Instead, top tier players like erho and Insomnia may have to qualify through the Open Division over a six month period without the HGC salary to supplement their income. Playing in the Premier League is and should be a full-time job, and that’s arguably the main goal of this HGC format. The fact a group of players can simply remove one or two members and cripple that player's source of income seems unreasonably cruel. Yes, it's a job, and like any job, you can get fired. But if we look at North America, teams rarely make the right decisions when it comes to removing players—Fury and Glaurung are two shining examples of this, and Insomnia will likely be the third. #Furywastheproblem Photo Credit: ESL Even though these players admit the North American pool for talent is incredibly small, players still believe swapping will propel them to the next level—it hasn’t, and it won’t. Part of the reason for these changes are internal, and we don't always know the whole story, yet NA teams love jumping the gun and moving right into a switch simply because of a little adversity. Just recently, former Heroes of the Dorm champion Kure was courted by multiple teams before landing on Team Freedom. Who else is there? Teams are quick to cut a player without a legitimate alternative, an oversight that comes with little thought. It is actually beneficial for teams to stick together and improve one another's play simply because the NA pool is so small. While that sounds idealistic and not everyone is capable of the maturity required to follow the Kumbaya model, it doesn't really benefit a team to operate like a disgruntled Target employee who finally had enough, and in dramatic fashion, walked off the job. Of course, this is North America, and in North America we want instant results. But teams fail to realize getting good as a team-unit takes time. You simply do not form a team and immediately get first place. Most things in life do not work that way. While changes are sometimes necessary, they do not always fix the underlying problems. GFE's Fan after barely missing out on BlizzCon 2016 Photo Credit: ESL Ultimately, organizations should take a sterner approach with their players rather than simply nodding along and letting one player become a scapegoat for the team’s failures. NA should look and learn from Europe in order to create some stability and consistency in rosters. Adding hard-nosed coaches and managers in NA to keep in-fighting to a minimum and force players to look at the big picture would be a good first step. In order to be the best you have to grind. You will lose, and you will have to fight your way through it. Simply resetting a roster every few months isn't going to change much long-term. Attitudes must change. The environment, the culture, the atmosphere in the North American scene has to change. Europe has no doubt benefited from this with both Dignitas and Fnatic having legitimate chances to take series off Eastern teams at the Mid-Season Brawl, a proposition which would've been seen as ridiculous a year ago. This is the example North America should look toward. Hopefully two things happen as a result of this recent NA Rosterpocalypse. Either Blizzard reverts the transfer rule back to one player or NA stops "buying the lie" of roster swapping and redirects that energy into improving their patience, minimizing in-fighting, and focusing on productive self critique. Only then can NA hope to match the rest of the world. With the conclusion of HGC 2017's Phase One and the Crucible, the North American scene has again found itself in a massive "Rosterpocalypse". At the start of the season, I believed like others that this new HGC structure would prevent the NA scene from cannibalizing itself. But this should be something we’ve come to expect.As many of us know, it’s far easier to blame a player on our team in Hero League than blame ourselves for our poor play, but that doesn’t help us improve at all. And since 2015, it appears the North American competitive scene hasn't quite learned this lesson either.If we turn to our European friends, we see the HGC system is working as intended. After a poor showing in Phase One, beGenius and Synergy faced the EU Crucible, where both teams lost rather decisively to former EU pros who had missed out on initially qualifying. Europe has always had a larger pool of players to draw from, but it was clear that the teams who moved up in place of Synergy and beGenius deserved to be there.Europe experienced its own Rosterpocalypse after BlizzCon 2015, but unlike North America, since then they have matured. The top three teams—Fnatic, Team Dignitas, and Team Liquid—have been relatively consistent with their rosters, and it’s no coincidence that good performance has followed.In North America, the tired cliche "any team, no matter the record, can beat another on any given day" has rung true through this recent Phase. While this is supposed to act as a comfort to NA teams, what it actually telegraphs is the lack of consistency in North America. This inconsistency is the result of many forces including all-too frequent roster swaps, lack of serious practice, poor self-critique, etc.Most NA teams don’t have to look far to see how roster consistency pays off. The current Tempo Storm is the one exception. They have been the most consistent North American team in history, and they’ve held on to the top spot after Phase One. Is their success a product of their roster consistency or is their roster consistency a symptom of their success? I’d like to believe it’s the former; even in Korea, the best teams are the ones who have been together the longest
, the district attorney of Oklahoma County, the state’s largest, advised the county clerk’s office to begin issuing same-sex marriage licenses shortly before noon on Monday. “I swore on the constitution to uphold the law and the courts,” Prater told the Guardian in a telephone interview Monday. “And I stand by that oath, no matter what they decide.” Mary Fallin, the Republican governor of Oklahoma, issued a sharp condemnation of the decision, calling it a “violation of states’ rights”. She added: “The will of the people has now been overridden by unelected federal justices, accountable to no-one.” In Utah, another deeply conservative state, governor Gary Herbet expressed “disappointment” in the supreme court decision but conceded defeatl. “Ultimately, we are a nation of laws, and we here in Utah will uphold the law.” At the Salt Lake county clerk’s office, Gregory Enke, 51, and Ariel Ulloa, 37, picked up a license shortly after noon. Ulloa told The Associated Press he would telephone his parents and come out to them as gay before marrying his partner of eight years at the clerk’s office that afternoon. “It’s very important because we feel like we have finally accomplished something that we have been working for for so long,” Ulloa said. “We feel like justice is being done, in a way.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gregory Enke and Ariel Ulloa celebrate after getting married at the Salt Lake county clerk’s office in Salt Lake City. Photograph: Rick Bowmer/AP Evan Wolfson, president of the campaign group Freedom to Marry, welcomed the supreme court’s decision to allow the lower courts’ rulings to stand. “The court’s letting stand these victories means that gay couples will soon share in the freedom to marry in 30 states, representing 60% of the American people,” he said in a statement. But he called on the justices to “finish the job”. He said: “We are one country, with one constitution, and the court’s delay in affirming the freedom to marry nationwide prolongs the patchwork of state-to-state discrimination and the harms and indignity that the denial of marriage still inflicts on too many couples in too many places.” Opponents of same-sex marriage were furious at the decision. Brian S Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, said the group was “surprised and extremely disappointed”, and added in a statement: “This is wrong on so many levels.” He said it was “mind-boggling” that lower-court judges would be allowed to “redefine” marriage “and our highest court would have nothing to say about it”. Ed Whelan, of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, an opponent of same-sex marriage, criticised the court for its “irresponsible” decision. He conceded that it would be hard for the court to rule against same-sex marriage in future, having allowed so many pro-marriage rulings to stand. The decision was clear in its implications for the five states directly covered by the appeals turned away by the supreme court. Same-sex marriage became legal when the appeal courts dissolved the stays they had been put in place when ruling in favour of same-sex marriage. “The only point of the stay order was to maintain the status quo pending the ultimate resolution of the cases, and there is now an ultimate resolution of the cases,” said William Eskridge, a professor at Yale Law School. There are still hurdles in the path to legalising same-sex marriage in the six other states where appeal-court rulings also applied. District courts may decide that cases before them were different enough to warrant new appeals. “This is an area of the law in flux though and it is not inconceivable that a district court in one state might decide to argue its case is different enough from another in the same circuit to warrant a fresh appeal,” said Jessica Levinson, a supreme court commentator and professor of law at Loyola Law School in California. States could also petition the courts for rulings en banc - that is, in a sitting of all the judges on the court. But the lower courts would nevertheless be bound by the precedent set by the appeals that the supreme court allowed to stand on Monday. In Wyoming, one of the states affected in a knock-on fashion by the ruling, governor Matt Mead said the attorney general would continue to defend its marriage ban. A hearing on a pending case there is scheduled for 15 December. The supreme court move took legal experts by surprise, as the prevailing expectation was that the justices would simply delay making a decision, rather than turn the appeals away. “The impacts are pretty substantial and that may just may be an indicator that if and when they do [rule], they may well rule in favour of marriage equality in any event,” said Carl Tobias, Williams professor of law at University of Richmond. One of the supreme court justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, suggested in September that the court would delay taking up a case until a circuit court delivered ruling against same-sex marriage, which may happen in one of the more conservative circuits.One Click = $1 To Help Save Net Neutrality Seriously, it’s just one click Dharmesh Shah Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jul 10, 2017 Here’s the easiest thing you can do today to help defend Net Neutrality: 💚 Click on the heart icon to recommend this post (1 second). A donation of US $1 will be made for every upvote received, details below. And a few other ways to get involved: ✍ ️ Sign the petition on change.org (10 seconds). It’ll help. Those folks are great at mobilizing movements and there are already 22,000 signatures on that petition. (10 seconds). It’ll help. Those folks are great at mobilizing movements and there are already 22,000 signatures on that petition. ☎️ Call your senators and representatives (3 minutes). https://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home (3 minutes). https://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home 💪 Join the protest (boss level). You can find more information at https://www.battleforthenet.com/july12/ If you’re interested in the details, read on. Warning: There are no House of Cards spoilers in here — but there are a couple of feeble attempts at humor. You were warned. What the the heck is Net Neutrality? Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers (ISPs) and governments regulating the Internet should treat all data on the Internet the same and not discriminate or charge differentially based on user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode of communication. In practice, this means that ISPs would not be allowed to favor their own services over those of another provider. For example, you love Netflix, right? Of course you do. I do too. I spent a lot of this weekend binge-watching House of Cards. Now let’s say there’s some big cable/telecomm/Internet company called BombCast. And, you just happen to be a customer (because you didn’t have much choice in your area — that’s a topic for another day). Now, BombCast decides that they too want to get into this whole “we can make shows that people love even though we can’t fix our technical support that people hate” game. So, they start making their own shows about [insert thing that you find banal/boring here]. “If people want to watch that crap, fine,” you think, “to each their own.” But, with the absence of net neutrality, BombCast could decide: “Hey, you know, we don’t really want to stream Netflix content to our customers. Or, because of things our accountants said we should do, and our lawyers said was not illegal, we’re going to stream Netflix at a quarter of the speed. LET THEM HAVE BUFFERING VIDEO ON NETFLIX!” Without Net Neutrality, cable/internet companies can discriminate against individual content providers, and the odds are pretty good that they will. It’s not a theoretical problem. It’s a very real one. And, the discrimination doesn’t just have to be based on who is providing the content. It could be based on which device you’re using. Why is Net Neutrality important? ISPs have a distinct advantage in the marketplace for services delivered over the Internet because the barrier to entry into the residential internet market is prohibitively high: First, because of the huge capital costs in building out a network to end users Second, because of the billions of dollars in subsidies, tax breaks, and exclusive access rights granted by local, state and the federal governments. The barrier to entry for disruptive and innovative services on the Internet itself is almost zero, and this is what makes the Internet economy thrive. If ISPs are able to favor their own services or charge for preferred access, which only the largest companies could afford, then the opportunities for startups and small businesses to disrupt the status quo begin to drastically shrink. OK fine, but why are we worried about this now? The new commissioner of the FCC has vowed to strip down the Net Neutrality provisions put into place in 2015. This is despite the fact that net-neutrality is supported 3:1 across the political spectrum — it’s non-partisan everywhere (except Washington, of course). July 12, 2017 is the date that individuals and companies are coming together, rallying their networks and connections and galvanizing a movement to help save net neutrality and fight the threat to free and open Internet. Is this a hopeless fight? In a word: No. The battle for Net Neutrality is half a decade old, and so far, we’re winning. On January 18, 2012, Internet companies rallied together along with their users to completely turn the tide on two critical bills in Congress: SOPA and PIPA. The Internet blackout protests in 2012 resulted in: more than 8 million people looking up their representative on Wikipedia 3 million people emailing Congress to express opposition to the bills a petition at Google recording over 4.5 million signatures 2.4 million SOPA-related tweets lawmakers collecting “more than 14 million names — more than 10 million of them voters — who contacted them to protest” the bills Congressional offices were overwhelmed with phone calls and the bills, which originally enjoyed strong support, were shelved and many representatives heavily backpedaled from their initial positions. In short, it worked then. It can work now. July 12th, mark your calendar. Actually, don’t go to the trouble of putting it on your calendar, just take one of the actions listed below in the “How Can I Help” section now. It takes from 2 seconds to 2 minutes. You can bask in the warmth of the knowledge that you did something that helped — because you did. OK fine, but really, why should I care? Net Neutrality sits at the unique intersection of human/business/tech/culture which you, and your friends and your family, should get behind and help define. If you enjoy watching Netflix shows and YouTube videos, if you like reading articles on your phone and iPad, if you enjoy browsing ecommerce stores — then you should care about this fight. If you’re an entrepreneur or work at a startup, you should care about this fight. If you are the beneficiary of a a free(ish), fair(ish) and open(ish) Internet, you should care about this fight. (And if you’re reading this — you’re a beneficiary). How can I help? Every bit of support counts. Here are 6 ways you can help defend Net Neutrality, starting with the super easy (seriously, it will take 1 second), to slightly bigger commitments:The News Minute \| December 22, 2014 \| 9.55 am IST There has been suspected Maoist attacks in three different places at Palakkad and Wayanad districts of Kerala. In Palakkad, Mc Donalds restaurant, KFC Chicken Outlet and forest offices in Attappady were vandalized. In Wayanad too the forest office was vandalized. "Around 8 to 10 people came in the morning and vandalised the place. They have distributed pamphlets claiming that this was 10th anniversary of their movement and this was a movement against MNCs." said Nidhin Kanicherry, a CPI(M) activist in Palakkad. The Mc Donanlds and KFC restaurants near Chandranagar on the Palakkad-Coimbatore highway were attacked. In Palakkad's Attappady, Silent Valley National Park office range was apparently ransacked and posters were put up calling for an armed revolution. The suspected Maoists also burnt the vehicle which was parked in front of the office. Reports say that an armed group of 19 people had attacked the office around 1.30 am on Monday. The group damaged window panes and other equipment at the office. In Wayanad, the Vellamunda forest office was vandalized. Damage was caused to all the furniture and window panes in the office. No person was injured in any of the attacks. All the attacked places have the Maoist posters pasted referred to as CPI(Maoist) Western ghat committee. "It is our mission to make american corporates like McDonalds and KFC leave Indian soil" was the title of the pamphlets that were distributed near KFC and McDonalds in Palakkad. The pamphlets were signed off by the Secretary of the Western region of the CPI(Maoist). "The people need not worry about these attacks. We will first verify if this is actually a Maoist attack or committed by someone else under their banner. Even if it is a Maoist attack people need not worry, the state police is very well equipped to tackle them. The state government will also take steps to develop these places," Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala reacted. Kerala had, during the last one year, witnessed widespread protests after reports submitted by Madhav Gadgil and later by K. Kasturirangan regarding the conservation of the western ghats. The western ghats were included in the World Heritage List prepared by the UNESCO taking into consideration its ecological richness.I suppose this is what you end up with when you rename an airport by committee — an unwieldy 13-syllable Franken-name that no one will ever use in conversation. Ever. Today the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted five-zip to change the name of the Arcata-Eureka Airport to (deep breath) "California Redwood Coast — Humboldt County Airport." What, no mention of oysters? Can't we fit the Kinetic Sculpture Race in there? And Bigfoot! Where is Bigfoot?! The top vote-getter on a list of suggestions compiled by county staff was the much more elegant "Humboldt Redwoods Regional Airport." But instead the board went with a suggestion offered by the 15-syllable Humboldt County Aviation Advisory Committee. On the bright side, the new name will give people something to read while waiting for delayed flights.For the first time since the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con announcement, director Guillermo del Toro speaks out in detail on the status of the new “Haunted Mansion” movie he is developing for Disney, based on the classic dark ride. In an interview with MTV, del Toro explains that not only is the new film’s story being worked on, but artwork has been created and there are even talks of integrating the movie’s story back into the ride in the future. Guillermo del Toro tells MTV: We’re on the second draft of the screenplay. We have a huge show and tell series of boards. We have about 40 pieces of art, maquettes. We have fluid contact with Imagineering at Disney. We are making sure that we are not only faithful to the Mansion and the ride but that we have the ride in the future reflect into the movie and the movie into the ride. It’s been a very elaborate, very slow process. We went through a lot of the original art for the design of the Mansion. We went to the Disney Archives and went through the — I really would have liked to done a little bit of swindling but […] I was being watched. But we went through the Marc Davis sketches and color work which I’m a huge fan of. Then we explored the Mansion by foot at 5am in the morning. We took two hours, went behind the scenes. I went insane. It’s one of the happiest days of my life. Unlike the 2003 “Haunted Mansion” movie starring Eddie Murphy, del Toro’s “Haunted Mansion” will not be a comedy, but rather retain the spooky feel of the Disney attraction. Del Toro is a self-proclaimed, long-time fan of the ride and is likely one of the few Hollywood directors who can do the job right. It was previously revealed that the infamous Hatbox Ghost character from The Haunted Mansion would be a main role in the new film and with fans of the ride often hoping for that character’s return to the ride, this would offer a perfect opportunity for Imagineering to make it happen. Also brought up in the interview was director Jon Favreau’s current work on a “Magic Kingdom” movie for Disney and how closely del Toro is working with Favreau to connect the two films. Del Toro said, “I told Jon he could use some of the stuff and I can use some of his stuff and make it a cohesive universe. That would be fantastic.” Favreau and Del Toro recently made similar remarks in a panel discussion at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con. No release dates for either film have been set. But with a 2.5-hour presentation from the Walt Disney Studios coming up at the 2011 D23 Expo on Saturday and progress made on both projects, it’s not impossible to think fans in attendance at the event might get a further update about either.It is a curiously Canadian scandal: a social democrat outed as a closet free-market Tory. Last week, decade-and-a-half-old footage emerged of Thomas Mulcair, the leader of the federal NDP, praising—of all people—Baroness Margaret Thatcher. “A government should never pretend it can replace the private market. It does not work,” he said, in French, at a 2001 National Assembly commission, when he was still a Quebec Liberal. “It didn’t work in England. Up until Thatcher’s time, that’s what they tried. The government stuck its nose everywhere. A wind of liberty and of liberalism in the markets has been blowing in England and, instead of being one of Europe’s worst-performing countries, England has become one of the best-performing ones.” By now, it is a truism among progressives that Mulcair is a traitor to the cause, and his kind words for Thatcher, however long ago, served to underscore the point. The laundry list is long: his purging of candidates who have been even mildly critical of Israel; his refusal to consider raising taxes on the wealthy; his support for tar-sands expansion; his war with party stalwart Libby Davies; his approval of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union; his waffling on the Energy East pipeline. He threw Linda McQuaig, a star candidate in Toronto, under the bus, thanks to her support for higher taxes on the rich and her eminently accurate observation that “a lot of the oil-sands oil may have to stay in the ground” if Canada is to meet its emission-reduction targets. He has committed the NDP to a balanced budget—even as many experts believe the economy is in recession—and he pulled out of the women’s issues debate after Stephen Harper declined to participate. If the polls are correct, on October 19, Canada could see something unprecedented: a federal NDP government. But would that be a victory for the Canadian left? It is easy to dismiss criticism of Mulcair as mere ideological purity—diehard Reform partisans had similar complaints about Harper—but that is only half-right. Instead, it is possible that the NDP is more effective as an angel on the Liberal Party’s shoulder than as a serious contender for power. The most progressive federal budget in recent history came ten years ago, in 2005, when Jack Layton strong-armed Paul Martin for $4.6 billion in additional social spending and foreign aid, and promised, in exchange, to keep the fragile Liberal minority afloat. At the time, this came to be known as the “NDP budget,” thanks to its generous provisions for housing, tuition reduction, and public transit. A few months later, of course, the NDP joined the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois to topple the Liberals—ushering in the next nine years of Harper rule. Would an NDP government pass a budget like that? Mulcair is a consummate politician, one who believes nothing and anything; the fact that, after leaving the Liberals, he was seriously courted by both the Tories and the NDP tells you everything you need to know. It is difficult to believe he would propose something quite so audacious as Layton’s bargain, given his commitment to balancing the books. “It’s between jobs and growth or austerity and cuts—and Tom Mulcair just made the wrong choice,” Justin Trudeau said not long ago. Such is the state of our parliamentary left; the Liberals are more eager to use the a-word than the NDP. Accepting a reduced role does not come naturally to political animals, and one sympathizes with those in the NDP who believe that the party should do what it must to win, at which point it will legislate in accordance with its lineage. But every political hack knows the opposite is the case—“campaign from the left, govern from the right,” that old saw, is no less true for being a cliché. In the provinces that have recently elected NDP governments—Manitoba, Nova Scotia—the party has not acted altogether differently from the Liberals. (It’s still too early to tell in Alberta, but take an educated guess.) Crucially, it has also faced no pressure from its left flank. After all, it does not have one. It was not always thus. Layton, for all his faults, came up through civic activism and municipal politics. Although he started the NDP on its current path, his heart was in the right place, and he believed in the party’s roots. Under Layton and previous leaders, supporters could trust that, regardless of quibbles here and there—such as Layton’s support for reactionary tough-on-crime policies like mandatory minimum sentencing—the party’s MPs and activists were in the game for the best reasons. If they sought power for its own sake, wouldn’t they just join the Liberals? But should the NDP replace the Grits as Canada’s party of the centre-left, that trust will be gone. The NDP is often referred to as Canada’s conscience, and, however trite, this is a neat formulation of its role. Let the Liberals be the Liberals; let the NDP continue toiling in the thankless, essential winter of opposition. Still, it is important not to overstate the case. For progressives, an NDP government would undoubtedly be better than another Conservative majority. If the NDP can execute two key centrepieces of its platform—pass universal childcare and repeal Bill C-51—that alone justifies a vote for the party. But those would be pyrrhic victories. The Liberals were poised to implement childcare in 2005, before Layton cynically opted to sink Martin. And repealing a draconian anti-terror law, one panned by legal experts across the political spectrum as a gross overreach, hardly represents progress. It is just a step back from the brink. Mulcair is not Margaret Thatcher, but he might be Tony Blair—and that is the more instructive comparison. Although Blair resurrected Labour as a serious electoral force, he is now despised in the UK as a betrayer of the party’s founding ideals. “Power without principle is barren,” he famously said, “but principle without power is futile.” In his wake, centre-left parties throughout the West are coming to understand that emphasizing the latter at the expense of the former leads to ideological bankruptcy. The emergence of Bernie Sanders as a credible threat to Hillary Clinton, and of Jeremy Corbyn as a viable candidate for the Labour leadership, is proof—all the more surprising given that these men, aging socialists both, are electrifying their parties’ young bases as few others have. Canada appears headed in the opposite direction. We expect our parties to represent the true diversity of political belief—which is why we have a multi-party system in the first place. But in the Mulcair era, there is no longer a legitimate parliamentary option for Canadian leftists. On election day, Mulcair very well may lead his party to victory. The question is whether that party will still, at heart, be the NDP.When it launched the iPhone 7 a year ago, Apple confidently declared the headphone jack obsolete technology that we could learn to live without. I disagreed with the necessity of its removal then, and I disagree with it now, but with Google joining the ranks of jack-less phone makers, I think it’s time to accept the inevitability of the 3.5mm port’s demise. According to the two towering US giants of mobile tech, the future is wireless (or, in emergencies, dongle-shaped) and even though that will make our lives less convenient and our tech less compatible, we should all just come along for the ride. I’m not okay with this, but it isn’t my choice to make. Perhaps this is the resignation stage of grief that I’m going through. I just can’t summon the passion to be enraged by Google omitting what I consider to be one of my favorite things in the world. Plugging in a new pair of headphones is, to me, part of the ceremony of discovering great new sound. It’s a tactile and auditory preamble to the enjoyment of music. But the truth of headphone jacks on phones is that not all of them were made equal. A lot of them have actually served as portals to hellishly bland, flat music reproduction that let the user down. The original Pixel was among the number of phones with really underwhelming headphone audio. Google Pixel sound output is so bad that removing the headphone jack would be an act of mercy. Go wireless or just don't listen to anything. — Vlad Savov (@vladsavov) April 24, 2017 Apple’s bet in removing the headphone jack was that we could stomach some short-term inconvenience for the longer-term benefits of freeing up valuable real estate inside the phone. It was a calculated risk, intended in part to also force the development of better wireless and digital gear by headphone makers. Audeze, Bowers & Wilkins, and Shure have all responded by developing their own Lightning cables, which ensure their headphones sound their best when playing stuff from an iPhone. Everyone else in the consumer audio space now considers wireless as the default area of focus, and Apple’s influence in this respect should not be underestimated. Slowly but surely, Apple’s Android rivals are falling in line with its jack-less vision of the future Looking at how other mobile makers like HTC, Motorola, Xiaomi, and Google — and soon probably Huawei too, given that CEO Richard Yu told me in January that the company was planning a 2017 flagship phone without a 3.5mm jack, which is shaping up to be the upcoming Mate 10 Pro — are following suit, things are panning out exactly as Apple anticipated. A whole bunch of people are carrying stupid, annoying, easy-to-misplace dongles for their “legacy” wired headphones, nobody is especially overjoyed about the change, but we’re all adapting. The end of the headphone jack has not been the end of the world for iPhone users. Google initially mocked Apple’s decision, poking fun at it with marketing materials that described the 2016 Pixel’s headphone jack as “satisfyingly not new.” But companies take cheap shots at one another all the time, and that was then, this is now, and now Google thinks it has higher priorities than audio. The Mountain View company’s own justification for why it’s removing the analog port was given to TechCrunch after the Pixel 2 launch event: “The primary reason [for dropping the jack] is establishing a mechanical design path for the future,” Google product chief Mario Queiroz told TechCrunch after the event. “We want the display to go closer and closer to the edge. Our team said, ‘if we’re going to make the shift, let’s make it sooner, rather than later.’ Last year may have been too early. Now there are more phones on the market.” At first blush, this seems like a flimsy excuse when you look at the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG V30, both gorgeous, almost bezel-less phones with headphone jacks present. But extend the timeline beyond this year or the next, think about it in the context of a world where even more internal phone components are integrated or obviated. As phones have been shrinking, the proportion of internal space that the headphone jack commands inside them (and not just the jack itself, there’s also the audio amplifier and digital-to-analog converter circuitry to consider) has been growing. If we’re just talking about the near term, I’m unconvinced by Apple and Google’s arguments that the jack had to go to make room for better, more integrated design. However, over the long run, these companies are probably right. If Google were removing truly awesome sound, such as you’d get from the quad-DAC LG G6 or LG V30, I might have been more upset. If Google were one of the top two smartphone makers in the world, as Apple is, I might also feel like it’s rushing in too quickly with a change it could probably make and justify better in future models. But the fact is that LG will still be out there offering high-end integrated audio in its phones for audiophiles like me, and Google’s Pixel ventures remain on an almost experimental scale relative to the broader phone market. That being said, we shouldn’t mistake the small beginnings of Google’s time as a hardware maker and its comparatively puny Pixel phone sales for a lack of influence. Soon we’ll be choosing between ‘Made for Google’ and ‘Made for iPhone’ In the wake of the Pixel 2 event, I got word from Libratone and AIAIAI, a couple of Danish consumer audio brands, both annoucing that they’ve developed “Made for Google” models of their headphones and cables. These are tailored to work well with Google’s Pixel lineup of phones and Chromebook and include new “fast pairing” functions. Libratone and AIAIAI are just two of 25 partners that Google has already signed up as it seeks to emulate Apple and its famous “Made for iPhone” label. The difference between Google’s currently small-scale efforts and those of previous mobile contenders like BlackBerry and Microsoft is the direction of travel. Others have had control over their operating system and hardware before, but they weren’t in the position to capitalize on that in the same way that Google, purveyor of the world’s most popular mobile OS, is. Google has openly declared that its hardware business is no longer a hobby, and its future is only going to be more influential and impactful. Accessory companies are falling in line and cooperating early with a company they’d be foolish to doubt. Before the Pixel, Google’s Nexus line served as the prototypical best Android device that Google could envision. It was supposed to guide Android hardware partners in the development of their devices to best match Google’s intended direction for the software. That Nexus streak still remains in the Pixel smartphones of today, and what they signal is that Android is headed down the same path as iOS, leaving the headphone jack behind.A year after Toronto revamped guidelines recommending that high-rise residential condos and apartments have long-term backup power systems, only one building in the city appears to have complied. The Grange Condominium at 551 The West Mall in Etobicoke is equipped with four 60-kilowatt natural gas turbine generators. They were installed over the summer on the roof and are now online. "This is the first multi-residential building that meets this new guideline," said James Kennedy, president of Magnolia Generation, which did the installation and has a service agreement with the property management company Crossbridge. Four generators were installed over the summer on the roof of The Grange Condominium at 551 The West Mall in Etobicoke. They not only supply electricity, but heat and hot water. (Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC News) The new guidelines were inspired by the severe summer thunderstorms and the ice storm of 2013. Under the city's old guidelines, multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) only needed to have backup power for emergencies. That meant enough power to evacuate the building in the event of a fire, sending the elevators to the ground, activating hallway and stairway lights and fire suppression systems. Typically, these emergency power systems run on diesel generators and provide anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours of electricity. Unlike an emergency power system, the generators atop The Grange provide sustained power for ongoing occupancy, Kennedy says. "Meaning if there's a long-term outage people can stay in their residence for an unlimited amount of time, get running water, heat, elevator service and power to the common elements," said Kennedy, adding that kind of sustained backup is critical for vulnerable people, such as the disabled and elderly. "On average we have a dozen power outages a year. Some people, they can't get down the stairs. And if the power's out for a couple hours they don't have running water. They don't have heat." Meghna Mudaliar, who lives in a CityPlace condo, knows what that is like. Residents in the Spadina Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard West area had to deal with four power outages over the summer and fall of 2016. "I've lived here for over a year so it's been like three or four times I've had to hike up 26 floors with the power outages that happened," said Mudaliar. "I'm lucky. There are others on the 50th or 55th floor." Meghna Mudaliar lives in a CityPlace condo near Spadina and Lake Shore Boulevard West. Like thousands of residents in the area she had to hike up the stairs during four power outages over the summer of 2016. (Chris Dunseith/CBC News) Under the new city rules, condo residents like her would have not had to take the stairs. Fernando Carou, the senior engineer for the city's Community Energy Planning, helped develop the new minimum backup power guidelines for MURBs, which came in October 2016. "We're all affected by power outages, but what we found out in 2013 was that residents in high-rise buildings were particularly vulnerable because of their reliance on elevators, mechanical ventilation, even keyless-entry systems," Carou told CBC Toronto. As more and more condos are built, each one higher than the next, and as extreme weather events and aging infrastructure mean area-wide outages are more frequenct and severe, Carou says the new guidelines provide a roadmap for condo corporations, management companies and developers to improve their backup power systems. "It's different from emergency power, which just helps you get out of the building. In the case of a prolonged outage you want to stay in the building," Carou said. But while Ontario's building code mandates that any building over five storeys has to have a backup generator for emergency power, there is no current code or standard that addresses sustained, area-wide power outages in MURBs, during which there is no emergency in the building. Carou says the new guidelines are to fill that gap, but they are entirely voluntary. The Grange Condominium is the first of an estimated 2,500 high-rise residential buildings in the city. Fernando Carou, senior engineer for the City of Toronto's Community Energy Planning, helped develop the new minimum backup power guidelines for MURBs, which came out October 2016. (LinkedIn) "It's the first instance of compliance that we know of in an existing building. We don't know of any building that is being built yet to be in compliance," says Carou, who added while the guidelines are voluntary now that could change. "We would have to look at the tools under the City of Toronto Act," he said. Cost is a big factor in complying with the guidelines, says Kennedy of Magnolia, adding that the Grange retrofit cost about $2-million. In that case, Magnolia fronted the capital cost to Crossbridge in exchange for a service agreement that would pay the company for the electricity used by the condo at market rates. Kennedy says similar arrangements are being looked at for city-owned multi-residential buildings, such as those run by Toronto Community Housing. That could mean that The Grange could be the first of many.Facing its biggest challenge since last summer's Olympics, Canada dispatched Rio runner-up Sweden 1-0 in a women's soccer friendly Thursday. Janine Beckie's 34th-minute strike proved to be the difference on a cold, windy day before a crowd of just over 2,000. "We talked about the importance of the first goal at this level and we took the advantage in the first half," said Canadian coach John Herdman. "I thought we played some great football... Some of the combination play was as good as I've seen against a Tier 1 team. "To trump Sweden here, this is a really significant result for us just in terms of momentum." The challenge gets bigger for the Canadian women, who won bronze in Rio. They wrap up their European tour Sunday against Olympic champion and world No. 1 Germany in Erfurt. Canada faced the Germans twice at the Olympics, winning 2-1 in group play and losing 2-0 in the semifinal. Canada, ranked fifth in the world, had the better of the first half Thursday but had to defend stoutly in the dying minutes as the Swedes, tied with Japan at No. 6, looked to rally. Sweden came close twice in stoppage time, but a header off a corner flashed just wide and a subsequent shot was off target. Herdman said his team went into "game management mode" in the second half. "We said to the team 'Once we get to that 60th (minute) mark, just be smart, let's manage this game.' And to be fair, I don't think Steph (goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe) had a save to make. I don't know if Sweden has a shot on target, which is good to see how well the girls defended in that final third (of the game). "I'm just really happy. Really happy." It was Canada's first match since finishing runner-up at the Algarve Cup in March. The lone goal of the game started with Deanne Rose finding captain Christine Sinclair just outside the penalty box. Sinclair, showing sublime skill, took the ball with her right foot and popped it into the air to her left foot which she used to slice open the defence with a deft pass to Beckie. The Houston Dash forward, running towards goal while looking back like a relay runner about to accept the baton, scored with a left-footed shot low to the corner. Janine Beckie
packed. At least 10 missing children calls were received that day in Newport alone, authorities said. But what was unusual was what happened next. Martin, in town with his family for the holiday weekend, decided to help in the search. He called in some nearby uncles and cousins to help. He noticed a group of kids playing in a hole where the boy was last seen. He asked them to get out, and on a hunch, he started digging. “After a couple big scoops I felt him under there,” Martin said. Martin said the boy was white and blue when he pulled him out of the sand. Two uncles, Steve and Stuart Frost, rushed over and started doing CPR and chest compressions. “They got him moving and breathing before paramedics could get there,” Martin said. When tower lifeguard Fletcher Norseen arrived on scene, he continued rescue breathing. Newport Beach Lifeguard Battalion Chief Brent Jacobsen said the boy had been “tunneling” – digging one hole that connected to another hole – when it collapsed on top of him. Authorities believe the hole was about 3 feet deep. Martin said the boy had been under the sand at least 3-4 minutes. The boy was transported to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. Martin, who has children ages 9 and 12, said he did what anyone would do. “I’m not a hero. I have two kids of my own, it scares me. I just like to help out and help anyone we can,” he said. “I knew (the mom) was frantic and scared. Kids have gotten away from me, I know the feeling. I just tried to jump in and help.” Sand entrapment is a danger many beachgoers don’t know about, Jacobsen said. Lifeguards warn that no one should ever dig a hole that is deeper than 1 foot, and digging a tunnel and trying to climb into it is extremely dangerous. “It is very easy to become entrapped,” he said. “Sand can weigh several hundred pounds and you don’t even realize it.” Jacobsen said it was a close call. “We probably just narrowly missed a fatality,” he said. Martin said the family has sent photos showing the boy healthy at home. “That’s what makes it all worth it,” he said. “I was nervous and shook up seeing him how he was when he first came out of the hole.” Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.comLiving Concrete Created That Improves Buildings’ Thermal Comfort & Absorbs Atmospheric CO2 December 24th, 2012 by James Ayre The prime innovation of this new concrete is that it works very well as a support for the naturally occurring “growth and development of certain biological organisms, to be specific, certain families of microalgae, fungi, lichens and mosses,” the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya notes in a press release about the concrete. Currently the researchers are working to accelerate the natural colonization that occurs on the concrete by these organisms. Their goal is to have it set up so that the surface is very well covered in less than a year. “A further aim is that the appearance of the façades constructed with the new material should evolve over time, showing changes of colour according to the time of year and the predominant families of organisms. On these kinds of buildings, other types of vegetation are prevented from appearing, lest their roots damage construction elements.” The key qualities of the material are its specific pH, porosity, surface roughness, and it’s sandwich-like structure. The structure is composed of three layers: the first is a waterproofing layer, the second is the biological layer that allows water to accumulate in it, and the third is a ‘discontinuous coating layer’ with a reverse waterproofing function. The new concrete material works well as an absorber of atmospheric CO2, and also at capturing solar heat and providing insulation. The researchers think that the material could function very well fulfilling some of the same functions that vertical gardens and turf walls do. Source: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Image Credit: UPCThis video is plain and simple pretty funny. I only learned Spanish from Venezuelans( for some weird reason) during my education and it took me some time to realize the differences. This video accompanied an article on NPR about a lack of national identity within the Latinx/Hispanic identity. However I think that is not a problem unique to just this group. In america we take wildly different groups and just mash them together based on geographic proximity. There are a lot of different types of African descended people in America but the perception is solely limited to mostly low income urban or southern African Americans who are descendants of west african slaves. We do the same thing with labeling all south asian people as Indian or Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc as Asian. Hell even white people aren’t as monolithic as popular media makes it seem. Until recently Jews, Italians, Irish and even catholics weren’t white. While I understand how this can be frustrating, and it is. I also challenge people to think about why these generalizations exist. Many Americans grow up in completely culturally homogenized communities, and not just white people. I know many black people who don’t know the differences between different types of Asians or Hispanics. Its more a problem of ignorance than it is maliciousness. And ignorance can’t and shouldn’t be combatted by attacking one for their ignorance, but rather by offering them opportunity to learn. That’s why I think this is a good video, rather than make the viewer feel bad if they don’t understand the cultural complexities, it tries to humorously engage and teach the viewer a little about the culture. Great job Joanna, her other videos are also pretty greatDefenders 037: Spectre January 9, 2012 The lack of a clear winner in the last poll made this sort of a tough call, but here’s Spectre. It’s about time, anyway. So I guess this goes out to Atyidae and 3973. As always, I’m taking suggestions for tomorrow’s hero over at r/Dota2. Spectre is pretty cool, and one of the best carries in the game, imo. She’s got a great skillset: lots of mobility, added damage for ganking, and borderline imba offensive mitigation. Not to mention ‘dat ult! There’s something so satisfying about haunting and freaking the whole team out. Which one is the real Spectre? Sometimes by the time you decide, it’s too late, and she’s desolating you into oblivion. Her ult is one of my favourite ults in, and definitely my favourite global, but there are so many good ones. Zeus’, of course, is probably the most famous global. Clockwerk and AA both have global abilities that, with a little skill, can lead to some amazing kills. What’s your favourite global in the game? Wallpaper. 1920×1080 PNGs: Square / WallpaperORLANDO, Fla. -- Dwight Howard had a message for the one voter who had the audacity to completely leave the Orlando Magic center off the ballot for NBA defensive player of the year. "Thank you," Howard said Monday, when asked for his reaction to the slight. "I'll do better next year." That mission will be difficult to accomplish for Howard, who on Monday became the first player in league history to win defensive player of the year for three consecutive seasons. Howard led the league in double doubles and also averaged 14.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and a career-high 1.3 steals this season. Although Howard focused on making strides in his offensive game, his defensive dominance remained intact for the Magic, who were fourth in the league in both defensive field-goal percentage and points allowed. Orlando led the league in defensive rebounding. Howard received 114 of a total of 120 first-place votes and accumulated 585 points. Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett finished second with one first-place vote and 77 points while Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler was third with 20 second-place votes and 70 points. Howard found a bit of humor in being left off the one ballot, and also took a playful jab at teammates for always allowing him to keep his defense sharp. Only Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo have won the defensive player of the year award four times. Howard also acknowledged several other great post players, including Hakeem Olajuwon and Magic assistant coach Patrick Ewing, for helping him develop his game on both ends over the years. "Just to be in the same sentence with those guys, they've paved the way for me," said Howard, who at age 25 is in his seventh season. "It's my job to keep it going. I'm going to try to do the best I can on the defensive end to dominate and to change the game. It definitely is a honor to be considered one of the best defensive players to play the game, and I'm still young. So hopefully, I can keep it up." Howard said there are still areas in his game where he needs to improve defensively. He mentioned cutting down his personal fouls -- "less silly fouls," he said -- and learning how to draw charges as the next phases of his defensive development. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said there isn't much more room for Howard to grow defensively. He wasn't too bad on the other end of the court, either. Howard averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 59.6 percent from the field this season. "He doesn't have a weakness," Van Gundy said. "In a league that has this much talent, to be able to do anything like that, that nobody else has done before -- that's incredible. The one thing that's probably under-appreciated about him is that he's the smartest big guy I've ever been around." Otis Smith, Orlando's president of basketball operations, took the praise of Howard a step further. "It's nice to be doing this for the third consecutive year for probably the most dominating basketball player in history right now," Smith said. "We're hoping [to] come back here with another trophy in a couple of weeks." Smith was alluding to another major award for which Howard is in top contention: MVP. That trophy will be handed out in the next couple of weeks, with Howard, Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose and Miami Heat forward LeBron James considered the front-runners. James was named league MVP the past two seasons, but Rose is the overwhelming favorite to win it this season in a poll of ESPN analysts and former players, many of whom have cast official NBA ballots. Howard, who was flanked by the three trophies during Monday's news conference, picked up his latest defensive honor two days after the best offensive game of his career. He had a playoff career-high 46 points and 19 rebounds in Orlando's 103-93 loss to Atlanta in Game 1. The Magic have spent the past two days making defensive adjustments after allowing the Hawks to shoot nearly 73 percent from the field over the decisive second and third quarters of Saturday's game. Howard insisted his team would have a better defensive effort in Game 2 on Tuesday. As far as making room for additional awards hardware, Howard said he's got plenty of space. "I have a lot of space in my two-bedroom house," Howard joked. "I think I've had a great year. If I do win MVP, it would be a great honor. It's something I've been working toward -- one of my individual goals I put above my bed every year. I want a Finals MVP. I think that's better than the regular award." Michael Wallace covers the NBA for ESPN.com.For a long time I’ve been fondly playing Age of Wonders II Shadow Magic, so during my games with Age of Wonders 3 I couldn’t help comparing it to it’s previous title through a microscope and my rose-tinted glasses. As explored in our tactical article, Age of Wonders 3 is a turn-based strategy game with a world map, tactical battles and RPG elements such as leader classes. It can be compared to Civilization V, Fallen Enchantress or Might and Magic Heroes 6. There’s no economic victory, but you can win through alliance or complete destruction by capturing your opponent’s Throne city and killing his Leader by sword or spell. The RPG elements have been mostly been redesigned and a lot of these new changes really enhance the series. It also brings fresh life into the turn-based genre, and perhaps heals some of the pain that Might and Magic Heroes 6 wrought unto players. Your wizard, now called leader, can be one of six classes, the Warlord, Archdruid, Theocrat, Sorcerer, Rogue or Dreadnaught. The changes encourage players to directly slay enemies with their leader, rather than turtling in their tower. If you’re slain, and your city with your Throne hasn’t be captured, you can come back to life after a couple of turns. If you feel like you might lose the battle and your Throne, you can transfer your Throne to another city you own, but this takes several turns depending on the size of your current Throne settlement. Magical Spheres have also changed, and are now known as Masteries. They’re fewer in number but have more distinction between levels. One is Adept for the basic level of spells, the other is Master for the powerful spells like Lighting Strike and Destabilize Mana Core. Don’t worry though, as the spells have been expanded both in terms of number and their tier level, plus you can obtain more spells specific to your leader’s class. I’ll start with the negative points of Age of Wonders 3. Looking back over the Age of Wonders series, I still find myself trying old tactical habits like ‘trade spying’ in order to glean insight into what spells my opponents may have or find myself upset with some things that are simply missing, like those witty comments on the loading screens. Trading spells is no longer possible, so I end up slapping myself on the wrist each time I try it, but you can still trade resources, cities and items to other players and AI in the new diplomacy menu. The negotiation options have also been slightly expanded upon, from border access to gold and mana per turn requests. Another big change I dislike compared to Age of Wonders 2 is that ranged units always hit. The same goes for close combat attacks. Hero damage taken from trebuchets had to be nerfed during the beta for better balance. These changes might be due to the way units are visually represented and technical limitations on how individuals act within a unit with the newer 3D graphics. Line of sight and cover penalties still remain for ranged units though. Visually the game looks very good, the maps are especially brought to life with sounds from units, spells being cast, race-specific celebrations and terrain, adding to the overall immersion. Zooming out on the strategic map transforms the graphics into a paper style map with counters. Sunlight glistens off the sea; your leader’s mounts even make a noise when you select them on the map. In battle the graphics are also pretty good, there’s no blood or dismemberment, but corpses remain for the duration of the battle. Some players have disapproved of the new 3D models of the Draconian race, and I tend to find the granny-fingered waving animation of all races rather ugly, but the rest of the models and animations are pretty good, particularly when you see your cool looking hell-hound mount visually represented on both the world map and in battle. Having items and mounts show on a character’s stat sheet would be a bonus to RPG fans. Units in sea battles are also shown on their boats and represented fairly well, although ogres, giants and cavalry might look a little odd visually. Tactically, there’s no water walking spell and unless your unit’s can fly, they’re now automatically transported on boats as soon as they move onto deep water. Researching advanced boats can swing sea battles in your favour but at the cost of researching other more useful spells and units. Units on the world map take up the Coat of Arms you’ve selected, and you can customise your leader’s starting look with a wide variety of options. Although some choices like clothes and armours are limited, there’s enough options to enable your leader to look distinct (whether sexy, badass or absurd) from your friends custom leaders in multiplayer games. The interface has also seen an overhaul. You can now see what spells a city has on them more easily and potential retaliation damage in battles. As covered in our preview, if I had to be picky about the interface, all of your empire upgrades, spells and class specific units are researched from the same tab, its feels like a cheap tactic to give you more on the surface, but the magic soon wears off and you start to notice after a while where content could have been expanded given the time and resources. The music contains all the notes that fondly remind me of the previous Age of Wonders, but I feel they can get a bit repetitive this time round as I do miss the old soundtracks. I also prefer the end-turn sound from the previous game but I realise I’m just being picky there. Some of the old sounds are still very familiar and will really give that nostalgia feeling of playing the older games. There are six races in the game, Elves, Draconians, Goblins, Orcs, Humans and Dwarves. Without going into story spoilers, races such as Dark and High Elves have been merged as part of the story will reveal. A large controversial topic on the beta forums is unit and racial diversity. This has improved compared to the sequel, but more of the previous races are needed to fully flesh out the content. Triumph Studios have noted this as an ongoing issue and acknowledged the need for DLC after they’re happy with the core gameplay mechanics.A Lee County jury today convicted Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard on 12 felony charges in his ethics case, removing Hubbard from office. Hubbard, 54, was convicted after a jury spent seven hours deliberating whether he used his public position for personal gain. Hubbard faces up to 20 years in prison for each ethics count. Sentencing is set for July 8. Hubbard was immediately taken into custody and placed in the Lee County jail. He was released on $160,000 bond Friday night and driven away by a bail bondsman, according to the Associated Press. The conviction came after a 12-day trial in which Hubbard took the stand for three days in his own defense. "We hope this verdict tonight will restore some of the confidence in the people in the state of Alabama that public officials at all levels in the state of Alabama will be held accountable for their actions," Acting Attorney General Van Davis said. "Especially those who would betray their public trust and their position of public trust while in office from all levels, local, county and state." Attorney General Luther Strange recused himself from the investigation and appointed Davis to oversee it in 2013. Hubbard called the case a "political witch hunt" when he was indicted, and his lawyers accused prosecutors, especially special prosecutions division chief Matt Hart, of misconduct and leaking grand jury information. "We were accused, but at every step along the way, the court never found any basis for those things," Hart said. "And this kind of prosecution, when you're investigating and prosecuting people at the highest levels of power in government, you're going to get that sort of tactic." WSFA reported that Hubbard attorney David McKnight said they were "very disappointed" in the verdict and that the case would be appealed. "We plan on appealing," McKnight said. "I feel like I let my client down. I feel confident that we'll prevail in the outcome." Prosecutors said Hubbard used the power of his office to improperly benefit his companies and clients and to try to obtain $2.3 million worth of work, investments and financial favors. Hubbard's defense argued that the transactions were legal and within the bounds of the ethics law and exemptions for normal business dealings and longstanding friendships. Defense lawyer Bill Baxley told jurors that Hubbard took care not to run afoul of state ethics law and asked advice from the then-director of the Alabama Ethics Commission. Prosecutor Hart depicted Hubbard as a conniving politician who seized at opportunities to make money through his political party work and elected office. House Speaker Mike Hubbard guilty: Now Alabama has a choice He walked in the courtroom the speaker of the house, and walked out an inmate. "This is a good day for the rule of law in our state," Attorney General Luther Strange announced after the verdict. "This kind of result would never have been achieved had our office not put together the finest public corruption unit in the country. I'm very proud of their work. This should send a clear message that in Alabama we hold public officials accountable for their actions." The speaker's office released a statement saying that Rep. Victor Gaston, R-Mobile, the speaker pro tem, becomes acting speaker under state law and House rules. "The Alabama House is not defined by the actions of any one member, it is defined by the motto that appears on the wall of our Chamber, 'Vox Populi,' which means 'Voice of the People,'" Gaston said in a statement. "This incident, no matter how regrettable, offers strong proof that the ethics reforms passed by the Legislature in 2010 remain among the toughest in the nation." "I know that every House member, regardless of party, will keep Mike Hubbard and his family in our prayers as he begins this next, most difficult chapter in his life." Of the 23 charges Hubbard faced, he was convicted of: Voting on legislation with a conflict of interest that would benefit American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc., a consulting client. Receiving money from a principal, American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc., through a consulting contract. Receiving money from a principal, Edgenuity, through a consulting contract. Using office for personal gain through a consulting contract with Capitol Cups, a business owned by Robert Abrams. Lobbying the state Department of Commerce for consulting client Robert Abrams. Lobbying the governor's office for consulting client Robert Abrams. Using state personnel to benefit consulting client Robert Abrams. Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, former Business Council of Alabama Chairman Will Brooke, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers. Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, James Holbrook/Sterne Agee, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers. Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, Great Southern Wood President Jimmy Rane, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers. Soliciting and receiving money from a principal, Hoar Construction President Robert Burton, a $150,000 investment in Craftmaster Printers. Soliciting and receiving a thing of value from a principal, former BCA Chairman Will Brooke, help obtaining clients for Auburn Network and financial advice for Craftmaster Printers. Hubbard faced charges stemming from an investigation by the attorney general's office that started more than three years ago. A Lee County grand jury indicted Hubbard in October 2014 on 23 felony ethics counts. Hubbard had denied any wrongdoing. Hubbard was first elected to the Legislature in 1998, in his first run for public office. He quickly rose to positions of leadership and was named chairman of the state Republican Party in 2007, a position he held until 2011. Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard is guilty, but that's not all Cronyism and cowardice made this possible. As party chairman, Hubbard helped lead an historic change, recruiting candidates, raising money and organizing an effort that in 2010 would result in Republicans taking control of the Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. The new Republican majority in the House elected Hubbard as speaker, a position he has held ever since. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Updated at 9:58 p.m. to add quotes from Van Davis and Matt Hart. Updated at 10:11 p.m. to say WSFA reported an appeal is planned. Updated at 11:12 p.m. to add quote from David McKnight and statement from Rep. Victor Gaston. Updated at 11:20 to add charge of taking $150,000 investment from Hoar Construction President Robert Burton to the list of convictions. Updated at 7:21 a.m. on June 11 to say that Hubbard was released on bond.The challenging nuances of the luminous pink ball could lead to England leg-spinner Mason Crane being handed a Test debut in the day-night second Magellan Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, according to champion batsman Mike Hussey. QUICK SINGLE Stokes in the dark on return: Hussey Crane has vaulted into contention in the wake of England's 10-wicket thumping by Australia at the Gabba, with former England captain Kevin Pietersen calling for the leggie to replace paceman Jake Ball in the starting XI for the twilight fixture. While the pink ball is thought to favour swing bowling due to its pronounced movement through the air and off the seam on grassier pitches prepared to protect it, Hussey says wrist-spinners in particular provide a unique threat, which could lead to Crane's inclusion. The best moments from the Gabba Test "An interesting one that may come into consideration is Mason Crane, the leg-spinner," Hussey said on this week's episode of The Unplayable Podcast when asked if England could make a change for the second Test. "The reason why I say that is the pink ball, it's sometimes difficult to see the seam of the ball. "What JLT Sheffield Shield players who have played in the day-night Shield games have said, it's really hard to pick the leggies and the wrong'uns because you can't really see the seam. "I wonder if England might consider just bringing in the wrist-spinner for that exact reason. "I'm not expecting the pitch to turn a great deal but causing a few worries to the Aussies batsmen, in not being able to pick the wrist-spinner, might come into play. "If you remember last year South Africa came in and played an extra spinner and it was a wristy (left-armer Tabraiz Shamsi) as well. QUICK SINGLE Test newcomers did their part: Lehmann "It might be a smokey but I wouldn't be surprised if England went down that path." Boosting Crane's chances further is the injury to primary spinner Moeen Ali, who sustained a cut to his spinning index finger in the first Test. Aussie quicks ready to fire under lights: Lehmann While Moeen is expected to be fine for the day-night fixture, Crane would most likely come in for Ball, who left Brisbane with match figures of 1-115 from 26 overs. As England's most expensive bowler in a low-scoring match, Ball was called out by Pietersen, who definitively declared he would drop the tall speedster for Hampshire's Crane. "I wouldn't play Ball in the next Test match, absolutely not. Absolutely no chance," Pietersen told BT Sport. QUICK SINGLE Lyon personifies Aussie confidence "Is Jake Ball any good? I don't think so. Not at this level. Not in Australia, from what I've just seen. "Mason Crane I'd play. I know it's under lights but it gives that variation of a leg-spin bowler. One spinning away, one spinning in. "Moeen Ali, we've got an issue with his finger. Do you want Joe Root bowling all the overs? No." Skipper Smith's sublime Ashes century Hussey said Ball's uncharacteristic performance in the first Test would see the right-armer's name come under the spotlight when the tourists select their side for the pivotal match in Adelaide. "With Jake Ball, I did actually have a quick chat with Shane Bond, the England bowling coach," Hussey said. "(Bond) said he's just a bit short of a gallop at the moment, he will get better. QUICK SINGLE Lehmann, Chappell not fans of curfews "He probably didn't bowl the way he's renowned for. He's a tall guy but generally tries to pitch the ball up and look to swing it. "But he bowled quite short in the Brisbane Test which surprised a lot of us. "Whether his performance was good enough to warrant another place in the second Test remains to be seen. I think there will be a lot of discussion about it." 2017-18 International Fixtures Magellan Ashes Series Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers. England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes. First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard Second Test Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night). Tickets Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets Gillette ODI Series v England First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets Prime Minister's XI PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14 Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16 Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18 Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21The ACT government has announced the winners of the second round of its battery storage auction, part of a nation-leading plan to deploy 36MW of cutting edge distributed battery storage in more than 5,000 Territory homes and businesses by 2020. The eight winners of the tender – ActewAGL Retail, Energy Matters, EPC Solar, Evergen, ITP Renewables, Origin Energy, Power Saving Centre and Solarhub – will share in $2 million of grant funding to roll out the technology at subsidised rates. ACT environment minister Simon Corbell said on Thursday the grants package would support the distribution of more than 2MW of solar-integrated storage across more than 600 Canberra homes and businesses. The technology the companies will be offering through the scheme has not yet been revealed, but RenewEconomy has put in a request for more information. In the scheme’s $600,000 pilot round, Tesla, Panasonic, LG Chem and Reposit Power won the tender to deliver lower cost storage systems to 200 Canberra households. Of course, the ACT has also led the nation with its series of hugely successful reverse auctions for large-scale renewable energy, which have locked in some of the lowest prices for wind energy ever obtained in Australia. Indeed, in April this year, Corbell increased the size of the ACT’s third wind energy auction from 109MW to 200MW, in an effort to boost the Territory’s renewable energy target from 90 per cent to 100 per cent by 2020. More recently, the focus has broadened to battery storage, the roll out of which Corbell describes as an “important complementary strategy” to the ACT’s 100 per cent renewables target, while also informing “critical research and development” on the transition of Australia’s electricity grid. “Batteries will be called on to provide additional technical services to the grid such as helping to manage short term intermittency in generation as well as voltage and frequency fluctuations,” Corbell said in a statement on Thursday. For the consumer, installing a smart battery with one of the successful companies will offer a discount of up to $825 for each kilowatt of peak sustained output for a battery system connected to a new or existing solar system, Corbell said. “The ability of smart batteries to provide extra services to the grid also promises additional income streams for households and businesses.” Corbell said the battery storage tender had meant that Canberrans had gained access to world-class technology, some of which had been developed in the ACT. “The Canberra community are early adopters of new technology and are embracing solar and battery storage,” he said. “Feedback from participants is that, in addition to reducing their energy bills, they are getting access to more information about their energy usage patterns which is leading to further energy savings actions in their homes.”DYNAMITE has a distinctive sound. An ear-splitting crack pierces the air, followed by a deep rumbling that pulsates all around. Shock waves vibrate through your body, trembling the Earth beneath you. Your heart skips a beat and instinct urges you to search for cover. If it’s unexpected, it can be a nerve-racking experience at the best of times. If you’re standing in the middle of the Wakhan Valley, on the edge of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, with Taliban rebels fighting less than 20 kilometres from your isolated location, it’s nothing short of terrifying. And there I was, searching for cover on a dusty and exposed Wakhan road. Precipitous mountains intruded overhead while the Panj River raged its angry torrent below. Melon-sized rocks tumbled down the cliffs towards our group, shaken loose from the guttural explosion. My three fellow travellers and I stared at our driver Mohammed, waiting for instructions to flee. He simply laughed. “Construction,” he said. “The Afghans are building a road.” This is Central Asia’s most astonishing frontier. Considered the Holy Grail for cycle tourists, and a not-to-be-missed region for adventure travellers. A place of superlatives and mystery, with mountains that rise like jagged knives. It’s the world’s second highest international road, reaching dizzying heights of 4655 metres above sea level. A known heroin smuggling route, yet home to some of the most welcoming people imaginable. This is Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway. Our desire to traverse this stretch of road had led us to the Kyrgyzstan city of Osh, a common launching point for adventures down the Pamir Highway. My fiance Alesha and I teamed up with two enthusiastic backpackers to explore the legendary mountain route, and our spirits were high. The modest Osh Guesthouse helped organise the hire of a Mitsubishi Pajero and driver, and soon affable Mohammed had us exiting the city on a sunlit Saturday morning, destined for seven days of intrigue and scenic splendours. Landscapes change quickly in this part of the world, and within minutes craggy fields can morph into steep alpine gorges. Russian trailers are left abandoned in unusual places: on the edge of rivers, scattered in grasslands, or a part of someone’s house. They are a stark reminder of the decades of Soviet control that plagued Central Asia. Somehow the strange litter complements the striking backdrop. Our schedule was more or less open, but our route was determined. We would follow the Pamir Highway until we reached Afghanistan and its infamous Wakhan Corridor. The journey would then continue along the border, climaxing at the picturesque town of Khorog. This curious stretch of narrow land is a remnant of the Great Game, a political battle that took place in the 19th century between British and Russian forces. The corridor divides what were once the two former empires. Today its mystique attracts those who wish to gaze upon the mountains that separate Pakistan and Tajikistan: The Hindu Kush, or “Killer of Hindus”, towering above the Afghan landscape. The Pamir Highway twisted towards the small border town of Sary Moghul, near the base of Peak Lenin’s 7143m tall summit. We had barely parked the car before being recruited by a group of young boys to join their haphazard football match on a patch of dirt surrounded by earthen homes. Despite tourist numbers in this part of the world growing every year, it was still a novelty for the children to run circles around an unfit foreigner. These local exchanges would become commonplace over the next week as we moved into the neighbouring country. A 25km stretch of ‘no-man’s land’ separates Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and it is the second highest international border crossing in the world. The remoteness comes with a price — corruption is rife. Our passage was made easy by the lubricating of countless official’s pockets. Mohammed left us in the car to take care of all the “fees”. When we had finally entered Tajikistan we asked him how much in bribes he had to pay. “Too much,” was his grim reply. In true Central Asian style, it would not be our last run-in with officials. In the lakeside village of Karakul we checked into Sadat Homestay and set our eyes on a decrepit prison. The shell of a Russian tank stood guard and we found a hole in the fence to sneak through to photograph the grounds. Suddenly a soldier came charging towards us, with one hand on his pistol. We stopped in our tracks and apologised, as he explained that we were now trespassing in an active military base. Luckily he had chosen to use his voice instead of his gun to warn us of our mistake. The military presence is high in Tajikistan, and particularly along the Pamir Highway. Special permits are required to travel through the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) region, and roadblocks are common. When the security situation is stable, the GBAO region can still close due to adverse weather conditions. In July a tremendous landslide had closed a large portion of the Pamir Highway. Sections of it were still blocked off when we had arrived, two months later. Even with the bureaucratic hurdles to jump through, intrepid travellers flow through Tajikistan during the summer. The majority of foreigners you meet on the Pamir Highway are cyclists. Most have pedalled from either Europe or China, eager to tackle one of the hardest roads in the world to ride. We met one young man who had ridden his Suzuki dirt bike from his hometown of Brisbane, and was 15 months into a solo motorbike journey around the world. Perhaps more than most places, Tajikistan attracts true adventurers. Our journey continued along the Pamir Highway, with days occupied by hiking in mountainous glory and visiting glistening lakes. Nights were spent on the floors of mud brick homes. Tajik families would welcome us into their cozy homestays and provide simple yet delicious meals. They would sip green tea with us and join in with our card games. When we weren’t exploring the lakes and views in the surrounding villages, we
states and of the people. Because of that, you see the state legislatures pushing back.” Three of Bell’s bills directly target same-sex marriage, while the other would allow business owners to turn away customers on religious grounds. It’s one of several similar religious freedom proposals, including two constitutional amendments, that critics say would establish a “license to discriminate” against LGBT people. Other bills would bar cities from enacting or enforcing LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances, and restrict access to restrooms and similar facilities for transgender people. “This bill really is trying to establish the students’ rights to privacy,” said Rep. Gilbert Pena (R-Pasadena), who wants to make schools liable for damages if they allow transgender students to use restrooms based on how they identify. “How many girls in our high schools are going to be willing to allow some transgender male into their bathroom? Would you allow that for your daughter? I would not allow it for my daughter.” Sarah Warbelow, legal director at the nation’s largest LGBT group, the Human Rights Campaign, said Texas has “the largest number of bills we’ve seen in a single state intended to harm the LGBT community at least in a very long time.” Warbelow said based on what’s happened in other states, she believes bills targeting same-sex marriage have an “extraordinarily low” chance of passage. “There is not an appetite among moderate Republicans to pass bills that are so blatantly unconstitutional,” she said. But Warbelow said she’s concerned about proposals that would undermine local nondiscrimination ordinances. “As we as a movement have greater success at the municipal level in states that are controlled by more conservative legislatures, it is something that we worry about,” she said. And while some have characterized the current barrage of legislation across the U.S. as the last gasp of the anti-LGBT movement, Warbelow disagreed. “I think this is likely to continue for some time,” she said. “I anticipate that this will not be the last year that we see a number of these bills move.”US State Department hiding cause of death Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin – documents Sudden death On Monday 20 February 2017, Russian diplomat Vitaly Churkin suddenly passed away. He was a ‘highly respected Russian ambassador to the UN who was a tenacious, wily and witty defender of his country’. (source) On Tuesday 21 February the city medical examiner said that cause and manner of Churkin’s death needed to be studied further. ‘Further study usually includes toxicology and other screenings, which can take weeks.’ (source) US State Department Leaked documents now demonstrate that the US Department of State has tried twice to ban the NYC medical examiner from disclosing Churkin’s cause of death, claiming diplomatic immunity subsists even after death. You can read the two leaked documents here: Letter 24 February: State Dept to NYC Letter 1 March: State Dept to NYC Apparently the State Department requests have been successful, as spokeswoman Julie Bolcer today says that the city’s law department instructed the medical examiner’s office not to disclose the information. Comments A senior official says: “First time we’ve ever got that request” [not to release an autopsy report]. A former State Department official says: “I’ve never heard of diplomatic immunity surviving after death.” Just a thought: is Rex Tillerson, head of US Department of State, helping his friend Vladimir Putin to cover-up the cause of Churkin’s death? Acknowledgement These documents were brought to my attention by PassBlue.You can follow the detailed progress of visits, current health, etc on my blog with my hysterectomy tag but this is a detailed account of the entire experience starting from my ER visit, to diagnosis to treatment thus far. I’ll try to update this as needed to be an all-in-one page summary. (You can scroll to the bottom to see the most current update.) May 29th I went to the ER. Found out my uterus was full of tumors and cysts. In fact, I had so many tumors of such a large size, that they couldn’t do surgery right away. (High risk is 250 grams and I had approximately 1,250 grams or about 2.75lbs) From June until surgery (which was October 5th) I was on medication inducing temporary menopause to shrink the tumors. I was on unpaid medical leave during this time by order of the HR department, but they then decided to stop holding the position for me, leaving me permanently laid off and over $10,000 in medical bills. I worked a part-time job that did NOT give me insurance. I also did NOT get paid for any time off period. My last paycheck was June 3rd and I have no more coming until I can find a new job again. I’m asking anyone who can help for your support as a result. Even just sharing my links is helpful. I rely on my shop sales to replace my lost income from my day job for both medical bills and living expenses. With your help and support, I was able to raise the $2,600 I needed up front for surgery. My hysterectomy was October 5th as scheduled and went perfectly! I’m VERY slowly healing now – it’s a hell of a process – but surgery was only half the battle. I have over $10,000 of dollars in medical bills both from the ER stay and the 20% I’m required to pay under my insurance. PLUS I still owe money to my OB/GYN ($600) and have the $237/month premium for the insurance to continue paying. So your support is still appreciated!! As a result of this medical and financial crisis, I am asking everyone to help pass on my story and link(s) to help raise the money I need. Friday, May 27th – Saturday May 28th Sunday May 29th – Monday May 30th Overnight Saturday-Sunday from about 4am-6am I was violently ill for hours with stomach issues. Sunday morning around 9-10am, I was throwing up the water I was trying to drink. By Sunday afternoon the pain got even worse. It spiked to a 10 out of 10 in pain and I knew I had to get to the ER. It was almost impossible to get down my stairs (I’m on the third flood) since I couldn’t stand at all but I couldn’t bear to be carried. We got to the ER around 5pm. I went though triage and they gave me 32oz of this contrast liquid to drink for a CAT scan. Problem was I hadn’t really been able to eat or drink more than a few sips in two days. I was getting really ill from the contrast but they wouldn’t give me anything for nausea or pain until I got into a room. Around 8:30pm they got me back and I finally got my first meds. They gave me an anti-nausea and morphine injection through IV. Around 10pm I had my CAT scan. Sometime after midnight I had an ultrasound, then after that a second one internally as well as more morphine for the pain. Around 3am the OB/GYN came in from home to consult and take over my case. They knew from the CAT and ultrasound the problem was not GI related but rather because of masses in my uterus. The OB/GYN doctor also changed my pain med to something else since the morphine was helping but not enough. He explained what was going on and there was some concern about one of my ovaries as it could not be visualized due to the tumors and cysts. (He was afraid they might need to open me up and check that it hadn’t become twisted which can happen with the cysts get in the way and which would basically “kill” the ovary due to lack of bloodflow. The risk was low and I agreed we could hold off on emergency exploratory surgery if he felt it wasn’t a definite problem.) I would, however, need a hysterectomy to resolve the underlying problem since the pain was because of the sheer number of tumors and cysts in my uterus and because the cysts were so large there was risk of them bursting. (Which can lead to internal bleeding.) I was admitted around 5am to a room. I slept on-and-off for a few hours. His partner came to check on me that afternoon. She decided since I was stable enough and the pain was manageable with the meds, I would be more comfortable waiting until surgery at home. The doctor wanted me to follow up with the office and try to get in for pre-op appointment Tuesday to get on the OR schedule for Wednesday as that is his normal operating day. I tried calling the office when I got home but they were closed for Memorial Day. I got home late Monday afternoon and basically went to sleep until Tuesday, only getting up every 6 hours for my medication. Tuesday May 31st I spent the whole day back-and-forth on the phone with the doctor’s office. They were waiting on my records from the hospital and the billing woman was giving me all kinds of incorrect information. That’s also when she told me that they would need $2,000 up front before they could even get me on the schedule for my hysterectomy. I made the first available appointment on Thursday to get in, see the doctor and get to the bottom of things plus see if I couldn’t work out some kind of payment plan. Thursday June 2nd Thursday my Mom came and drove me up to the appointment. I met with the doctor and went over things again. I had a pelvic exam but needed two others which I was unable to do because of the pain med I was on. He switched my pain med again because the one I was on was just tearing my stomach up and runs risk of ulcers when taken in that high a dose for long periods of time. We were able to work out a payment schedule where we’ll put about 50% down (or about $800-$900 down) and then the remainder will need to be paid in 3-6 months after the surgery. We made another appointment for the following day for the other tests I needed. (Also had to pay office visit bill: $140) Friday June 3rd Friday back to the office. (Office visit bill: $275) They had me take Valium prior to the appointment because the procedure I needed was stressful and painful which meant I couldn’t drive. My mom brought me up to the appointment again for the second day in a row. I had two more ultrasounds (an external and an internal) to get a better look at the tumors and also a uterus biopsy where they had to take a piece of the uterus wall out. (The painful part.) The ultrasound reveled more then the one from the ER and showed I had more masses then they had originally guessed. I have multiple ones that are softball sized and several that are baseball sized. The ultrasound tech had never in all her years seen a uterus like mine and couldn’t even make heads-or-tails of what she was seeing since the tumors were so pervasive. The doctor said the total mass of the tumors are the size of a basketball. My uterus is the size of a woman who is over 4 months pregnant. This puts me at just too high of a risk for the surgery right now. High risk is considered 250 grams of tumors. I have approximately over 1200 grams. The tumors need to be shrunk before surgery. If we did it now, it would be 4-5 hours under anesthesia and the bleeding risk would most likely involve several pints of transfused blood. Being under that long is dangerous and he does not want to risk my health to that degree. So we’re doing something radical and I’m going to get a shot which will induce a medical menopause. The shot is $1,000 but the doctor is donating it to me. The shot, in low doses, is used for fertility, but in high doses will basically cut my estrogen production down to almost nothing. The tumors are fed by estrogen so the idea is that by stopping that, they can starve the tumors. He wants to get them down to 600grams if possible which will cut the surgery time in half. The shot is not without it’s risks and problems of it’s own. Of course, it will bring about a temporary menopause which will also bring about all the fun symptoms related to that. Because mine will be abrupt though, it can be much worse. (Normally, a woman’s hormones taper off naturally and gradually over years, not all at once.) I will have two weeks of extremely heavy bleeding followed by two months of the menopause symptoms. This is where it gets complicated though. I have absolutely no way of knowing how badly it will impact me. I have no way of knowing how I will feel, if it’ll be some good days, some bad days or just a constant. I have no idea how the pain will be, I have no idea how it’s going to affect my migraines. I have absolutely no way of knowing how I’m going to be able to function for the next two months overall, let alone day by day. Until it’s in my system and until I’m past the two weeks of transition period, I really can’t say at all. The doctor said there are some things he can give me (low dose hormone patches and such) pending on how it impacts my quality of life and my ability to function, but that’s all going to depend on how I am in the first place. My appointment for the shot is Tuesday, June 7th at 10:45am. I will try to pin down a timeline of sorts from him and get more details at that time. I was a little loopy on the Valium when we were going over it at the appointment on Friday. I could be back to work as soon as Monday June 13th or, I might need the two weeks of transition off, or, I might need longer to deal with the symptoms. I really can’t know until I’m there. In the longer-term, I will be on this medication for the next two months. After that, I presume we’ll redo the ultrasound to check on the size/weight of the tumors and if they have significantly shrunk, schedule the surgery. The surgery will be approximately 4 weeks of recovery time with a possibility of up to 6 weeks though of course, this is a few months out so I would know that when the surgery gets closer and we know the final size of the tumors. Monday, June 6th – Denied Medicaid In Florida, Medicaid goes through the Department of Children and families. And in order to qualify, you must either be pregnant, have a kid, be disabled or be an illegal resident. It’s the height of irony that my uterine tumors which make me infertile, also prevent me from being approved for medical help. Tuesday June 7th First, I got the shot. I only got a 1 month shot instead of the three month shot. (I thought he said two but I was on Valium at the time so I must have misheard.) I was really concerned about the side effects and once I took the shot if it was hell, there was no undoing it. So he gave me a one month to see how it goes. Also, I now know what the name of the shot is: Lupron. I have a follow-up visit in two weeks. (June 21st @ 1:15pm) The follow-up visit will be between $80-140. (Today’s visit was $48) After the next visit, we will determine how things are progressing and whether I will get another one month, three month, or just go for surgery. It just depends on how the tumors shrink, how I feel and finances too I suppose. The other thing I discovered is that I have a $612 balance from the hospital treatment. It’s separate from the hospital’s own bill so it won’t be covered if the hospital gets any charity aid for me. It also needs to be paid prior to the surgery. So in addition to the down payment of $800, now I also need to pay the balance of $612. The new goal is now $1,400 upfront and a total of $2,600 all together. (Not including things like the office visit costs.) Paid office visit: $48 Many of my online friends are donating crafted items for a medical fundraiser. I’ve opened up Phoenix Funds today which only has a few items so far but more should be coming soon. It’s in addition to my shop which of course will also go towards my medical bills and expenses. Anyone who can pass on one or both links I would appreciate it. Also, if anyone has handcrafted items, craft supplies or vintage items to donate, please let me know. Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com That updates us through today’s appointment. As always, I will continue to update this as events happen. Thursday, June 9th Well, I had wanted to get back to work for a couple weeks while on the Lupron, but my work will not allow me to return without a note stating I am 100% cleared for all my duties and my full schedule. Obviously I can’t say that right now as I am under continuing medical care and would be in-and-out as I was able to work and inbetween appointments. This means we are now completely down an income. It is absolutely vital that I get people to make purchases and pass along my links in order to offset my lost income. You can also find updates on the Phoenix Funds Hysterectomy Fundraiser Facebook Page. Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Thank you. Wednesday, June 15 My hospital bill showed up last night. While in the ER, I had two shots of morphine, fluids, anti-anxiety medication, and a strong NSAID painkiller. They did blood work, a CT scan as well as two ultrasounds (one external and one internal.) I was in the hospital from Sunday around 5pm until discharge Monday around 3pm. Here’s my bill. $13,347.20 Yeah. But, they’re nice enough to give me a “40% uninsured discount.” Oh well, that’s MUCH more manageable. I mean that brings it way down to $8,008.32 – Pocket change practically! Who cares that I didn’t even make that much money for the entire year at my day job last year? Let’s not forget, I still need surgery. Which will include a minimum of an overnight stay again. And which will, I imagine, be more expensive then the bill I just got. For which, I need $2,600 just to pay the OB/GYN and which does not include the hospital or the anesthesiologist fees. For which I still won’t have insurance for. Now I filled out the paperwork with the hospital to request charity to pay some or all of my $8,000 hospital bill. But there’s no guarantee I’ll be approved. And even if I am, it may not pay it all. And, in any case, I still have another round of medical bills forthcoming when I have the surgery. At this point, I’m not even sure the hospital will actually allow me to schedule the surgery. I asked the financial aid woman how that works and if I can get pre-approved for additional charity for the surgery since I need further medical care. She said when you have the surgery date set, to contact them again and work out “a payment plan.” Which means, they might require money down as well – money I can’t even know how much it’ll be until I have an OR date set. Do you see the absurdity of all of this? Do you see why my blood pressure is 159/90 right now? Do you see why I can’t sleep, am in a perpetual state of panic, am scared for my very life and yet powerless to do a damned thing about any of it? Do NOT get sick in America. If you’re like me, odds are you won’t be able to afford to get well. And if the illness doesn’t kill you, the stress probably will. Additionally, I made a YouTube video to explain what’s going on and to give another outlet for spreading the word. http://youtu.be/_wn_iInN8k4 Hysterectomy Fund Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Monday, June 27th – Appointment Update I had my 2-week follow up on June 21st. The OB/GYN put me on a low-dose add back hormone pill called Femhrt. It’s ironically the same two ingredients that was in my birth control pill, just in much lower doses. He gave me three months of samples for free. Very nice of him since it’s apparently expensive. The dosage is 0.5mg Norethindrone / 2.5 mcg Ethinyl estradiol for those curious. (Compared to 1mg/0.035mg respectively in my old BC Pill.) The reason for the add-back is that the first two weeks of Lupron apparently are not that bad. And I was already experiencing problems such as fatigue, body aches and some hot flashes. He suggested I try the hormones and see how it goes. Since they are the same ingredients I’ve taken for like 8 years in Pill form, I feel confident that I won’t have any weird side effects from that as my body should already be familiar with them. Since then, he’s right though. I have had some further menopause/Lupron symptoms. Thursday, June 23rd I went to bed but woke up every 45 minutes with the most awful hot flashes. But that sounds very mild compared to the experience. What it felt like was being cooked in an oven from the inside out. The intensity of the heat woke me up over and over the whole night through. That was the worst night of it though I’m also experiencing insomnia problems in general; difficulty falling asleep and waking up many times all night long. Sucks. Definitely not the norm for me either. I have my next appointment July 7th. He wants to give me a 3-month Lupron shot at that time. He feels that’s the only way to get the shrinkage we need to make surgery safe enough to proceed. Bad news is that means three more months in limbo. Three more months without a job, without income, and with these miserable side effects. Means my surgery wouldn’t be until at least October. Fuck, I just want this to be over already!!! The only good news is that it gives me longer to raise the money. But without income for that long, I fear it’s going to be much harder to just sustain our normal bills let alone raise the extra money we need. Paid office visit: $88 Monday, June 27th – Possible Medical Insurance The other pending news might just be good news if it pans out. I was able to sign up for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) last week too. Now I had heard of it before. But it requires you to have been completely denied for medical insurance before you can even apply. Typically applying for insurance with a broker/agent means a month or more of waiting for approval or denial. It’s a very lengthy and tedious process. Well, my Mom is awesome and she made some calls. She found out that I could apply online for a Blue Cross & Blue Shield insurance plan and because the approval/denial was a yes/no thing done by computer rather than a human, it tends to be much more strict and would turn me down based on my condition. And it did! (Never been so happy to be denied for something!) I’m waiting to hear back. If I get approved it’s $237/month in premiums. (Ouch) And I’d have a $1,000 in network/$1,500 out of network deductible to meet as well. Figuring a minimum of 4 months on the insurance (3 months for the shot, one month post surgery – bare minimum!) I’ll need $948 in premiums. ($1185 for 5 months) I’ll also need to pay the first $1,000 of treatments/office visits. After that, I’ll pay 20%. So I’m still going to need well over $2,000 to cover the basic minimums of the plan. So the amount I’m trying to raise doesn’t change. Now, the good news is that preventative care is FREE. That includes an annual physical and a mammogram (yes!!!) among others. It’s still A LOT of money but…it prevents me from getting a $13K bill from the hospital after the surgery itself. For the short-term, given the costs I’m going to be facing, it’s well worth it. (And then some.) I also still have the $600 balance to pay off from the consultation fees when I was in the hospital in the first place so the amount I need remains pretty much the same, BUT it will save me in office visits and surgeries. Basically, I’m getting a LOT more bang for my buck this way. I’m waiting to hear if I’ve been approved. Hysterectomy Fund Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Thursday, June 30th Just wanted to take a moment to update and give my thanks on the fundraising efforts so far. As of this morning, there is $1,350 in my Hysterectomy Fund. In addition to the funds specifically set aside (I transfer the money out of my PayPal to my bank account and cash it out and give the cash to my Mom for safekeeping to ensure it does not get spent on anything else) I also have funds in my PayPal from sales which are going towards medical bills (office visits, prescriptions, etc.) as well as living expenses (gas, food, etc.) Because I am now a month without a paycheck, those funds are just as important so sales in my shop are still literally life-saving for me right now. And I can’t say enough how much it means that I’ve had such a wave of kindness directed my way. The response to all this has been so positive and the kindness I’ve received so far has been so amazing. It’s been a very long month of worry, expense, medication, side effects and hardest of all, waiting – but it’s also been a month of kind words, well-wishes, nice emails, support and genuine kindness that I can’t thank you all enough for. It’s going to continue to be a long few months as I go through my pre-surgery medication and trials and then eventually through surgery and recovery itself, but I thank you for sticking with me and being there in spirit as I’ve been on this rough road. It means so much more than I can easily express. Thank you all. Hysterectomy Fund My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Friday, July 1st Seriously? That would be $1,220 due to the ER physician. This is a completely separate bill from the $13,347 bill the hospital billed me directly and the $248 bill the radiologist billed me as well. Bills sent separately from the hospital such as this do NOT qualify for the charity I applied for. (Which I might not even get due to income limits.) I’ve spent the past year – literally 12 months – working on rebuilding my credit. June 2010 I got a secured Visa just to start establishing credit again. My score is still “poor” but it’s going up. But it’s going to plummet again because I simply cannot pay these bills off. Especially not right now when I’m down an income. It’s so damned depressing. Makes me want to just give up, I swear. It’s like why do I bother? How can I ever better myself when all it takes is ONE little event to completely ruin me financially? I’m so tired of getting these bills I can’t even express the sheer exhaustion and hopelessness they make me feel. Hysterectomy Fund My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Tuesday, July 5th Just got a call from the gentleman at HCRA. I’ve been denied my claim to get assistance paying my $8,000 hospital bill. He said he scrounged the manual to look for any way to avoid including Love’s income but in all circumstances – even if it’s just roommates – total household income MUST be counted. So even though my bill is more then I made for the entire year last year, I am not eligible. So I have a total of $9,476 that I’m responsible for between the hospital, the radiologist and the ER physician. And I have no income coming in. Fucking awesome. Hysterectomy Fund My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Thursday, July 7th Had my second Lupron shot today. It was a 3 month shot instead of the one month shot I had June 7th. Holy crap this damned shot hurts to get. And my entire left butt cheek/hip area feels like a GIANT bruise. Lupron is very thick and they use a VERY large needle so yeah, OW. He did a brief exam – just externally pressing around on my abdomen – and said he thinks the fibroids are a little smaller already. He can still feel them but he thinks we’re making progress. So that’s definitely good news. The bad news is that the doctor is also requiring that I go on blood pressure medication. My blood pressure today was 160/100. He’s afraid I’m going to have a stroke. I keep telling him I’m just EXTREMELY stressed but he says stress alone wouldn’t make it this high. The pharmacy was out of the medication today so I get it tomorrow. When I get it, I’ll post the name. This is a stop-gap measure until next month when hopefully, I will be on the PCIP (Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan) and can go see a Primary Care Dr. to evaluate my blood pressure on a longer-term basis. Today’s visit was $237. Brings my total office visits out of pocket costs to $836 so far. He wants to see me next Friday, July 15th to check on my blood pressure. So more office fees then too. Hysterectomy Fund My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com Friday, July 8th Picked up my new high blood pressure (“hypertension”) medication today. The name is Labetalol. It comes with a whole list of scary side effects such as dizziness, indigestion, lightheadedness, nausea, stuffy nose, temporary tingling of the scalp or unusual tiredness. None of which sounds pleasant. In fact, I’m kinda freaking out over the side effects, precautions and two pages of warnings it came with from the pharmacist that I think it’s making my blood pressure worse. Hysterectomy Fund My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com Sunday, July 10th Update on the blood pressure medication. Two days in, I’m exhausted. I knew this was a side effect but I didn’t realize how overwhelming it would be. Saturday I laid down for a nap twice because I was so unable to stay awake. I took a shower today and had to lay down soaking wet just in the towel on the bed so I didn’t pass out. It should get better but right now I’m almost useless. A little queasiness Saturday, no real dizziness/lightheadedness so far. A LOT of scalp tingles though which I thought was a weird side effect but turns out to be true. It feels like when you get a chill and goosebumps across your body, but only on your scalp. Over and over. Very weird. Saturday took my blood pressure at the one of those machines at the store: 128/80. Sunday took it at a different store: 135/83. So some improvement so far. Next appointment is Friday the 15th for a check on how I’m doing on it. Hysterectomy Fund My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com Tuesday, July 12th For those who have lost track or just didn’t want to read through everything, here’s the current list of all my current meds. Lupron – This is the shot I had in the doctor’s office most recently July 7th. I had a one-month shot on June 7th and then three-month shot second. This is the medication that puts me into temporary menopause and starves my body (and tumors) of estrogen. Like a natural menopause, the Lupron comes with all the “fun” side effects plus some scary ones unique to the medication. I’ve definitely noticed bad mood swings and a tendency to cry for no reason on it. Sucks. Femhrt (0.5 mg/2.5 mcg) – This is an add-back hormone (norethindrone acetate/ethinyl) to counter the side effects of the Lupron-induced menopause. It’s actually the same two ingredients that used to be in my birth control pill but a much smaller dose. It has helped offset my hot flashes which is a relief! Mobic (Meloxicam 15mg 1x/day) – This is a NSAID that I take to help with the pain from the fibroids. It can cause stomach bleeding and ulcers. Pepcid – I take this with the Mobic to help prevent damage to my stomach. Labetalol (100mg 2x/day) – I started this last Friday because I’m having problems with high blood pressure for the first time in my life. It’s normally low but it’s been high since this all started and my OB/GYN doesn’t want me to have a stroke. This is a LOT for me. I used to only be on my birth control pill. (Which ironically I’m not on anymore!) I know it’s not a lot for some people, but for me, it’s insane how medicated I am these days. Hysterectomy Fund My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com Friday, July 15th Had my appointment today for the one-week follow-up on the blood pressure medication. BP was 128/82 and doc was very happy with where I was at. (Considering a week ago it was 160/100.) He also did just a simple external pressing on my abdomen to see how the tumors felt and he was impressed with the progress so far. Just in a simple exam like that he could feel a good amount of shrinkage has occurred so far. He wants me back in there in a month (appointment is 8/16 @ 1pm) for an ultrasound to really look at how I’ve progressed at that time. He feels we may even be able to plan and schedule the surgery if we see the shrinkage he hopes for on the next appointment. (Putting surgery most likely in that case in September.) Of course, it depends on the results of the ultrasound. As for the BP med (Labetalol), the side effects have been awful. I told him how miserable it is; how weak, exhausted, tired, and out of it I feel on it. How limp and mentally hazy it makes me. How I have to stop halfway up the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment because I’m just overwhelmed. He said just stick with it until August 1st when I should hopefully have the PCIP insurance plan in effect (still waiting on the paperwork) and can see a primary doctor to get a physical and let him tinker around with what BP med is best for me. As an OB/GYN he doesn’t want to get into long-term blood pressure maintenance drugs. He just wants to ensure I don’t stroke between now and then. But, aside from the miserable side effects of the BP med that are making my life a miserable fog, today was good news at the appointment. Now it’s just a matter of raising the rest of the money between now and then. Which is a HUGE worry and concern seeing as things have kinda stalled out recently. It’s not happening quite yet but we’re making progress and it will be here before we know it. (Office Visit cost: $117) Hysterectomy Fund Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Monday, July 18th – Approved for Insurance! I got wonderful news today. The letter from the Pre-Existing Insurance Plan (PCIP) came today. And I’m APPROVED! As of August 1st, I will have medical insurance which WILL work on my pre-existing gynecological problems and which WILL be able to be used toward my surgery. As you can see, I need to immediately pay the $237 premium for August in order to ensure it starts August 1st. (It will continue to be $237/month in premiums which is expensive but my money goes a lot further this way.) I also have a $1,000 deductible so I still need to raise enough money to pay the premiums for the next several months, satisfy the deductible and pay my co-pays. So I’m not out of the woods financially yet. Here are the coverage details of the plan: There is a prescription deductible as well which will come to effect for medication I may need. The good news is that my OB/GYN is IN-NETWORK for the plan. Please note, this is NOT retroactive so the $10,000+ in hospital bills and ER bills I owe are NOT covered. I still have no clue how I’m ever going to pay those off. It also doesn’t matter that I’ve already spent $836 in office payments to my OB/GYN because they’re before the effective date of the insurance on August 1st. But moving forward, I will be able to have coverage for visits and the surgery including the hospital, the anesthesiologist, radiology, etc. so I won’t get another bill that’s tens of thousands of dollars. This is a HUGE relief moving forward. Doesn’t solve everything but makes it all a little bit easier to ensure I can actually get my surgery. Hysterectomy Fund Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Saturday, July 23rd Blood pressure medication continues to suck with miserable side effects but at least it’s working! Hysterectomy Fund Donation Shop: http://PhoenixFunds.etsy.com My Shop: http://PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com Monday, August 1st Had our garage sale this weekend. A total of five households donated items to sell. We had quite a success and raised a two-day total of $655! It was a lot of hard,
July to September 2010 rainfall in historical perspective Background InformationBERWICK, Pa.—For one group of central Pennsylvania eighth-graders, a recent field trip to Baltimore included lunch at Hooters -- a restaurant better known for its busty waitresses than its food. The Berwick Middle School students were visiting the National Aquarium last week. Chaperones took them to various restaurants for lunch because the group of 100 was too large for a single place. The Bloomsburg Press Enterprise reports Tuesday that one group of 15 to 20 students ended up at Hooters. Superintendent Wayne Brookhart says that while he wishes the group's coed chaperones had chosen another restaurant, he has not received any complaints from parents. Hooters spokesman Mike McNeil says the restaurant chain often hosts groups, including sports teams and church organizations with teens and younger children. ------ Information from: Press Enterprise, http://www.pressenterpriseonline.com © Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.You don't have to be pulled out of a well by a plucky collie to know that there is such a thing as hero animals. But when you think of them, you probably picture disaster rescue dogs or a chimp sheriff... the usual stuff. What you don't picture are lions, gorillas and even whales throwing themselves in harm's way to save some helpless human. But you will now... 7 Lions Save Girl from Kidnappers Getty When you think about which animal you least want to show up when you're wounded and helpless, lions pretty much take the cake (and your face, and then some limbs, because they're lions). They're 300-pound, 6-foot-long cats that look at you as nothing more than a delicacy at a fancy lion restaurant they like to call Africa. But as we've noted before, lions also have a softer kitten center that leads them to care for some unlikely creatures. Johnny Nunez / Getty Lil Wayne was nursed by a lioness from age 1 to 17. Continue Reading Below Advertisement In this instance, it's a 12-year-old Kenyan girl who had been missing for a week. It turned out that she had been abducted by several men who were trying to force her to marry one of them (because who has time for romance?). But when the authorities finally found her, she was alone, her kidnappers having fled. Instead, she was surrounded by three lions that had scared away, and hopefully maimed, her captors.In a new interview with soon-to-be-ex-triple j breakfast hosts Matt and Alex, Childish Gambino has spoken about his fantastic new album Awaken, My Love! and his upcoming appearances at Falls Festival and Field Day. Speaking to the pair about his musical progression, Glover explained that he didn’t always want to make this music, or that he’d planned anything specific; rather it “felt appropriate.” Referring to the album being described as a “sucker punch,” he said, “I like sucker punches. I like being what you’re not expecting. The feeling of expecting water and getting lemonade, I like that.” Interestingly, he talks about how there’s no vocal pitching on the album. About the track California, he even said that many of the percussive sounds on the track weren’t an instrument at all, but his own voice (and he gives an example at 3:15). The conversation turns to performing the new music live, which Glover described as “incredible.” “I think the audience [at PHAROS] were taken away. We took phones away so nobody was recording the entire time, and we didn’t fill it to capacity. There was enough space for people to dance and run around… so it kind of felt like you were still outside.” Although the album oozes energy and fun, “it was actually really hard,” he admitted. “I was going through a lot… I was trying to display what I felt.” The new album has left fans divided, as it’s a major departure away from hip-hop. Fans of funk and soul have hailed it a masterpiece (including Questlove, who claims to have woken up D’Angelo at 4 am to tell him how amazing it is), but those who were hoping for rapping are less than impressed. So there will no doubt be a few relieved fans, with the news that Gambino is open to performing older tunes alongside his new album, although it totally depends on the crowd. “I like talking to my audience,” he said. “I really do like seeing how they feel. If we’re all feeling it, I have no problem playing some of the old stuff, I think that stuff is really cool.” He also talks about the virtual reality vinyl, playing Lando Calrissian in an upcoming Star Wars spin-off, collaborating with producer Ludwig Goransson. Attendees of Falls Festival and Field Day will be among the first on the planet to catch the new music live. It previously debuted at Glover’s own PHAROS event in Joshua Tree, California, but no further live dates had been announced up until Falls over the New Years period. It’s Here: Stream Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!” Image: SuppliedA huge crowd has gathered in central Cairo calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down. The opposition has called for one million people to protest. Crowds headed on foot for Cairo's Tahrir Square throughout the day Tuesday. They included women with babies in strollers. Their confidence is boosted after the army, in an official statement, described the demonstrations as legitimate and promised it would not fire on demonstrators. Army helicopters dropped leaflets calling on demonstrators to keep the protests peaceful. The demonstrators' message is a clear one and their hopes are growing for changes in a country where the same man has ruled for nearly 30 years. "We want to change the system, we want new alterations. The army must be with us, the army must be with us not against us. The army must be with us, not against us," said a protester. The army enjoys respect among Egyptians, among other reasons because it has no history of attacking its own people. It was unclear how soldiers might react if some of the demonstrators made good on their promises to march on the president's residence. Train service remains suspended for a second day in a bid by the government to discourage demonstrators from coming to the capital to protest. Internet service has been down since the first day of the protest more than a week ago. The atmosphere in the early hours of Tuesday's anti-government rally was friendly. It was a different scene from last Friday when scores of people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes with police. Throughout the downtown area the scars remain, with some buildings burned and looted. The towering headquarters of Mr. Mubarak's party is now nothing more than a burnt hulk along the Nile River. Across Cairo, hundreds of young men are manning checkpoints to prevent looting. One vigilante told VOA he wants to see change in his country but does not want it destroyed in the process. A big question that remains is what kind of state will emerge, if and when, Mr. Mubarak leaves power. Already there are disagreements within the opposition on whether Egypt should simply make democratic reforms or eventually become an Islamist state. Supporters of President Mubarak interviewed on the streets in Cairo called for him to stay in power. Hundreds gathered in support of Mr. Mubarak at a separate rally. Thousands of foreigners as well as Egyptian nationals trying to leave Egypt remain stranded at Cairo's airport as airlines continue to cancel flights.President Donald Trump says the Senate has the votes to repeal Obamacare. That's news to the Senate. Story Continued Below "I think that's aspirational," said Majority Whip John Cornyn, who counts votes for the GOP. "If there were 50 votes, we'd be voting," added John Thune (R-S.D.), another member of Republican leadership. Repeatedly claiming that Republicans have the votes to repeal major parts of Obamacare early next year, Trump is stoking expectations that the GOP can fulfill its seven-year pledge before the 2018 midterm elections — a promise that Republicans once again might not be able to keep. The Senate, Trump says, will have the 50 votes needed to enact the bill known as Graham-Cassidy, the last of a series of repeal bids that went down in flames this summer and fall. The reality is that no matter what the president says at the White House or how often he says it, nothing has changed at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Not a single "no" vote has flipped to a "yes." When senators talk about repeal after months of failure, they are talking about hopes and dreams — not about 50 votes to pass it. "I think eventually, I may be speaking aspirationally, eventually we'll have 50 votes for Graham-Cassidy or something like that," Thune said. POLITICO Pulse newsletter Get the latest on the health care fight, every weekday morning — in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. The cold hard reality has not stopped Trump — who has never served in a legislature and who confounded senators with his rapid-fire conflicting statements all week about whether he favored a bipartisan Obamacare stabilization effort — from insisting there are 50 votes for dismantling the 2010 health law. "We are very close," Trump said Tuesday. "As soon as we're finished with taxes, we really feel we have the votes to get block grants into the states." Of course, when, whether and how Republicans get through tax reform is another story. The Graham-Cassidy bill would have undone much of Obamacare and given states block grants to figure out health care for themselves — with much less money than they would have under the law today. It's named for two of its key sponsors, Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La). The president has predicted that in early 2018, Republicans would approve a new budget with a special rule allowing them to pass Obamacare repeal with 50 votes in the Senate instead of the 60 typically needed for legislation. They had that 50-vote threshold through much this year, but they still couldn't pass repeal. And that budget resolution expired at the end of the fiscal year. Trump wants to try again. "I think we have the votes or we're certainly within one vote, and when you're within one vote, you're able to get a vote," Trump said Thursday, although he acknowledged vote counts are "fragile. "We've found that out. We've seen that. I've learned that," he said. "I thought we had it the last time, and somebody came out of the blue and voted against it. So now we start the process all over again. But the block grant, the concept of blocking it out, block grants to the states, that's what people want." The president acknowledged Friday that "people are criticizing me for saying" Republicans have the votes, but he reiterated the pledge again. "I think we actually have the votes for that," he said. "You know, we were basically one short." While many Republicans still favor repeal, some privately worry that renewing the contentious debate — especially with Trump raising expectations of success — will only lead to another high-profile failure. And failure would come even closer to the midterms, when Republicans need to deliver achievement to their voters. But the Senate's biggest proponents of repeal say Trump is right in a sense. Among 52 Senate Republicans, there are 50 votes for the idea of repeal. They've just stumbled on the process. Graham remains optimistic. "We're at 48 — we need two more, and we may actually get more than two," he said. Graham still maintains he could have passed his bill if he had more time, if the budget rule had not expired. "The question is: If you started over and used a regular order process, can you get to 50? And I believe we can," he said. "I believe the product is getting better and better in the eyes of the Senate." There are many hurdles — including the fact that the Congressional Budget Office hasn't finished a full score of the Graham-Cassidy bill. Every CBO score of the other repeal bills forecast that millions of people would lose insurance — one reason they all collapsed. The House managed to narrowly pass a separate Obamacare repeal bill last spring after months of false starts. It was a tough vote for many House members, who are still miffed that the Senate left them hung out to dry. What it really boils down to, though, is that no senator is ready to flip a thumbs down to thumbs up. "We need to fix it," John McCain (R-Ariz.) said of the Obamacare markets. "And the fix, I think, is larger than Cassidy-Graham. It's much larger than that." But McCain says if Republicans are able to pass a bill to try to stabilize the Obamacare markets — which was introduced this week by Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) — it could provide some momentum for repeal. "To get something done usually makes it easier for something else to get done," he said. The GOP's only glimmer of hope is that Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted "no" on repeal over the summer, is open to the idea of Graham-Cassidy. But it's not accurate to say she's locked in to be the deciding 50th vote. "I don't know what the vote count is on Graham-Cassidy," Murkowski said. "I think in fairness, because we didn't see that [roll call vote] materialize, to suggest that there is a hard number — maybe it's wishful thinking, maybe it's speculation, but I think it remains to be seen." Murkowski likes the idea of block grants to states, but insists that Alaska can't be pushed into a one-size-fits-all solution or endure a huge cut in funding. But she didn't say "never" either. "Trying to fit us into a system that is a better fit for the lower 48 might not work for us, so give us more flexibility here, and that was the beauty behind the Graham-Cassidy concept," she said.Lubbock police arrested a 72-year-old man Friday in connection with an embezzlement investigation at a church where he started working part time as a bookkeeper then worked on a voluntary basis for two years. Ronald Massey was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on a second-degree felony count of theft between $20,000 and $100,000. The charge is typically a third-degree felony; however, because Massey is accused of stealing from a nonprofit entity, the crime is enhanced one felony level. Second-degree felonies carry a punishment of two to 20 years in prison. Police investigators believe Massey stole more than $90,000 from the Metropolitan Community Church and moved money from the church’s five bank accounts to hide his theft from the church’s board members, according to an arrest warrant released Aug. 14. Church board members called police in April after Massey reportedly sent the members a letter of apology, admitting to the theft of $80,000 from the church’s bank account. However, an audit of the bank’s accounts shows he allegedly stole about $90,600, according to an arrest warrant. A board member told investigators the group asked Massey in February about a bounced check and he reportedly provided them with a bank statement that showed everything was in order, the warrant states. After Massey allegedly confessed, a board member audited the church’s bank accounts and saw payments for Massey’s vehicle and electric bill, according to police. Board members also reportedly found handwritten notes from him and bank statements that indicated he tried to balance the church’s accounts after stealing the money. The warrant states Massey is a registered sex offender but was not prohibited from being around children. A board member told police she was aware of Massey’s record and said he did not work with children at the church. Jail records show he was released Monday on bond, which was set at $15,000.Located 135 meters (443 ft) underground is the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine in southern Poland. Entered into the UNESCO First World Heritage List in 1978, it was also proclaimed a Historical Monument by the President of the Republic of Poland in 1994. The mine is located in the town of Wieliczka and is within the Kraków metropolitan area. The mine, built in the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 2007, as one of the world’s oldest salt mines still in operation. Commercial mining was discontinued in 1996 due to low salt prices and mine flooding. Now a museum, the mine’s attractions include dozens of statues, three chapels and an entire cathedral that has been carved out of the rock salt by the miners. The oldest sculptures are augmented by the new carvings by contemporary artists. About 1.2 million people visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine annually. The mine is a product of work of tens of generations of miners, a monument to the history of Poland and to the Polish nation. Below you will find a gallery of the mine along with additional information about its history. [Sources: wieliczka-saltmine.com, muzeum.wieliczka.pl, Wikipedia] 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 327 metres (1,073 ft) and is over 287 kilometres (178 mi) long. The rock salt is naturally gray in various shades, resembling unpolished granite rather than the white or crystalline look that many visitors may expect. During World War II, the shafts were used by the occupying Germans as an ad-hoc facility for various war-related industries. The mine features an underground lake; and the new exhibits on the history of salt mining, as well as a 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) touring route (less than 2% of the length of the mine’s passages) that includes historic statues and mythical figures carved out of rock salt in distant past. [Source] 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. A wooden staircase with 378 steps provides access to the 64 metres (210 ft) level of the mine. There is a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) tour of the mine’s corridors, chapels, statues and lake, 135 metres (443 ft) underground. An elevator provides access to the surface. The elevator holds 36 people (nine per car) and takes some 30 seconds to reach the surface. [Source] 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. The salt deposit in Wieliczka formed in the Miocene Epoch, 13.6 million years ago. In the rift located in their foreground, known as the pre-Carpathian basin, a huge sea was formed. Various types of rock sedimented in the reservoir, rock salt layers formed as well. Salt deposits formed in many parts of this huge reservoir. The Wieliczka deposit formed over the period of approximately twenty thousand years. It owes its final shape to the orogeny which resulted in accumulation of salt deposits causing a several-fold increase in their original thickness. [Source] 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.OAKLAND — Steve Kerr wasn’t at the Warriors practice on Monday. Mike Brown ran it again. The team won’t be providing daily health updates on Kerr. They are allowing him to take his time while getting his health issues sorted out. Related Articles NBA rescinds DeMarcus Cousins’ technical vs. Charlotte 5 technical foul calls even more ridiculous than DeMarcus Cousins’ shoe toss As Golden State finds its ‘joy’, Kevin Durant is playing with anger Warriors 121, Hornets 110: Warriors’ DeMarcus Cousins makes more progress Warriors’ Draymond Green to play vs Charlotte So there isn’t a firm timetable for his potential return. But this much is clear: Mike Brown will coach Game 1 of Round 2 on Tuesday night against the Jazz and, most likely, beyond. “The way we look at it is — plan on him not coming back,” Draymond Green said. “That’s the way we’re approaching this thing. We’re not going to sit here and say if we can get to the Conference Finals, Steve may be back for the Conference Finals or if we get to the Finals…Nah. Mike Brown is our coach, we have the rest of our staff and that’s what we’re rolling with. We’re going to hope and pray that Steve gets better and can get back, but at the end of the day, his health is more important than anything. We’re here in support of him. We know how bad he wants to be here and we’d love for him to be here. But he has to take care of what he has to take care of — whether that’s this year or next year he’s back, we’re ready.” Kerr remains a fixture in coaching meetings and, Brown said, the two have daily phone conversations discussing practice plans, opponent scouting and rotation patterns. Green said the players “know” Kerr is still involved, but Brown is now the voice they hear on a daily basis. “I think it’s a lot easier to adjust to, oh, Steve’s back on the bench as opposed to play with your mental and wonder ‘Is Steve coming back? When is Steve coming back?'” Green said. “It’s too much. Just focus on what we have here. It’s like a player going down. One guy goes down, other guy has to step up. That’s what you do, adjust to that other guy who gets added to the lineup and play.”George Soros and other far-left billionaires began a three-day conference with Democratic Party activists and leaders to plan a war against President-elect Donald Trump. Soros, along with the other far-left billionaires who make up the “Democracy Alliance” (DA), are meeting for a three-day investors conference at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC. “This is our first time to gather and talk since the cataclysm of Election Day,” the conference agenda notes. DA President Greg LaMarche, formerly Vice President and Director of U.S. Programs for the Soros-founded Open Society Foundation, held a panel discussion with “four of the most thoughtful leaders of the Progressive community” on Sunday, the first day of the conference. SEIU International President Mary Kay Henry, Center for Community Change President Deepak Bhargava, and Demos President Heather McGhee were part of the panel along with Van Jones, a longtime Democratic activist and CNN analyst who recently suggested Donald Trump’s election was due to a “white-lash.” “The 2016 election has upended much of what we thought we knew about American politics,” the agenda says. “It has shown a roiling discontent with the political establishment, and there is ferment in the air. Forces of reaction, caution, and progress will joust for power in the coming period.” The work of organizations such as 350 Action, CPD Action, CWA, Demos Action, MoveOn.org, People’s Action, Pico Action, Wellstone Action and Working Families Party to “intervene in national and state politics beginning early in 2017” will be discussed as well. Prominent members of the Democratic Party, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Minnesota Congressman (and expected candidate for Chair of the Democratic National Committee) Keith Ellison, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are also expected to be in attendance, The “Democracy Alliance” has a well-documented history of funding far-left causes, having funneled over $500 million to left-leaning groups since its founding in 2005. One of the DA’s favorite causes is stoking racial division. In November 2015, members of Black Lives Matter met with the Democracy Alliance to discuss funding for the organization. “The DA, as the club is known in Democratic circles, is recommending its donors step up check writing to a handful of endorsed groups that have supported the Black Lives Matter movement,” Politico reported at the time. “And the club and some of its members also are considering ways to funnel support directly to scrappier local groups that have utilized confrontational tactics to inject their grievances into the political debate.”On Sunday at 2 pm, a group will gather at the Target parking lot in Wilsonville to memorialize the estimated 50,000 bees that died from pesticide poisoning at the site last week. “We will memorialize these fallen lifeforms and talk about the plight of the bees and their importance to life on Earth,” reads the event page on Facebook. So far, the site shows 130 people plan on attending. Event organizer Rozzell Medina told The Oregonian: “I thought it would be a good opportunity for people to see that this is not just a news item. With a lot of these ecological catastrophes, they become so abstract that people become scared to feel them.” The Oregon Department of Agriculture has confirmed that the bees died from the insecticide Safari, which was applied to 55 blooming European linden trees in the Target parking lot. The agency is not releasing the name of the landscaping company that did the work while it continues its investigation into whether state and federal regulations were violated. In the meantime, the agency has restricted the use of 18 pesticide products to prevent more bee kills. The pesticide used in Wilsonville was intended to kill aphids, which secrete honeydew that can drop onto cars in parking lots. But the blooming linden trees were also attracting a lot of bumblebees. More From EcotropeA new Pew Research Center study of more than six decades of Border Patrol data shows a first in 2014: The Border Patrol apprehended more non-Mexicans than Mexicans at U.S. borders this year. Pew researchers said the shift "is another sign that unauthorized immigrants from Mexico are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border significantly less often than they did before the Great Recession." The Border Patrol reports it apprehended about 229,000 Mexicans and 257,000 non-Mexicans in fiscal year 2014. The Pew study said the 486,000 total apprehensions of Mexican and non-Mexican unauthorized immigrants were up 16 percent from the previous year. Following spikes in the mid-1980s and at the turn of the 21st century, the number of Border Patrol apprehensions had been falling steadily for years. From the Pew Research Center: These numbers are dramatically different than in 2007 when Mexican apprehensions totaled 809,000, compared with just 68,000 non-Mexicans. The number of Mexican immigrants apprehended at the border peaked at 1.6 million in 2000, the Pew Research analysis showed. The last time Mexican apprehensions were as low as they are now was in 1970 when 219,000 Mexicans were apprehended. In 1970, non-Mexican apprehensions totaled just 12,000. The recent increase in non-Mexican apprehensions is due in part to a surge in unaccompanied Central American child migrants crossing the border without their parents. In fiscal year 2014, nearly 52,000 unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, more than double the total from the previous year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. By contrast, the number of unaccompanied Mexican children apprehended slightly declined over the same time period, from 17,000 to 16,000. For more, read the Pew study and see the 2014 Border Patrol data. Join the conversation below.While the Habs may call Montreal home during the season, they'll never forget where they came from. Long before Carey Price first hit the ice in the NHL, he was taking his first strides toward stardom back home in Anahim Lake, BC. Check out Pricey's insider guide to the must-sees back in his hometown. Anahim Lake, BC Population: 360 Best place to go shopping: McLean's General Store. It has everything you need. What it's famous for: Anahim Lake is known for its good fishing. Home arena as a kid: As a kid I didn't really have a home arena; we would mostly just play on the outdoor pond. Favorite restaurant: There isn't one restaurant that can beat my mom's cooking, really! Best hangout spot: Nothing is as relaxing as being on a boat so anywhere on the lake is the best hangout spot Elementary school: Anahim Lake Elementary School Best local treat: Bannock. It's kind of like fried bread.A day after Benjamin Netanyahu urged France to take a tough stance on Iran, French President François Hollande spoke to the Israeli Prime Minister by phone and promised French support. ADVERTISING Read more French President François Hollande on Friday assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of France’s firm support with regard to Iran and its nuclear programme. The Elysée said the two men had spoken on the phone and that Hollande underlined that France hoped the moderate line taken by the new Iranian President, Hassan Rohani, would translate "into actions", AFP reported. On Thursday, Netanyahu told France 24 that France must remain strong against Iran to prevent the country from reaching nuclear weapons capability. France "should be tough on Iran, with or without Rohani’s smiles", Netanyahu told FRANCE 24 Jerusalem correspondent Gallagher Fenwick. 'We are ready to engage in serious talks,' says Rohani "What Iran is putting forward with this smile campaign is an old position… they need the enrichment, the centrifuges and the heavy water plutonium reactor for one thing - to produce nuclear weapons, and we don’t want to give them that." Netanyahu suggested Rohani’s recent movements towards détente with the West were insincere. “If they really wanted to dismantle their nuclear weapons programme, they’d come out with it,” he said. Netanyahu likened the softening of Iran’s diplomacy to the trustworthiness of a hypothetical offer by Syrian leader Bashar al Assad to get rid of 20 percent of his country’s chemical weapons. “Would you accept that? Would anyone accept that?” he asked, “Of course not!” “You don’t dismantle 20 percent, you dismantle 100 percent. This is not my position alone. This was the French position, the EU’s position,” he said. Netanyahu told FRANCE 24 he does not fear that his comments will put Israel in a difficult situation. “I don’t have any problem telling the truth even if it’s not popular. It so happens that I’m not isolated - Israel is not isolated,” he said. “Just about every country in the Arab world agrees with our position; some say so openly, some say that less openly. There’s one country who doesn’t agree with us: Syria’s Assad, of course, because he supports Iran’s regime that continues to help him in the mass murder of women and children.” Netanyahu for now also ruled out the possibility of beginning dialogue with Rohani. "Call him an honest deceiver…You don’t normally call somebody who openly calls for your annihilation." When asked whether Israel would strike Iran on its own, without the help of ally the United States, the Israeli Prime Minister refused to discuss his country’s military options. "The Americans have great capacities, certainly greater than anyone else, but I wouldn’t cut short Israel’s capacities either." (FRANCE 24 with wires)Mark Blinch / REUTERS Toronto Mayor Rob Ford holds a news conference at City Hall in Toronto, May 30, 2013. Correction appended: June 4, 2013 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford certainly has had an impressive last three weeks. First, the Toronto Star newspaper published a story claiming that two of their reporters had seen a video of Ford allegedly smoking crack cocaine. Next, the Toronto police opened an investigation and interviewed members of Ford’s staff. Then, Ford fired his chief of staff for suggesting he should go to rehab, trigging an exodus of six of his 12 aides. Ford next held a press conference on May 24 denying using crack cocaine, being an addict or the existence of any tape. But that didn’t stop Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School from firing Ford as their voluntary football coach, a job colleagues say he almost loved more than being mayor. By this time, Ford was the butt of late night comics. “I’m Crack-man, eh, and I can fly!” squealed a Ford lookalike on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in a video that featured a dancing moose with a Canadian flag. (MORE: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Accused of Smoking Crack) It is perhaps easy to imagine Canada—and cosmopolitan Toronto—above such nonsense. This is Canada we’re talking about, supposedly an endless land of clean water, maple trees, Mounties and French secessionists. The reality is different. Toronto is the country’s largest city by far, home to 8% of Canada’s population – and the fourth largest city in North America. It is also fantastically diverse: a multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial city compared to most American cities. That shift in demography is partly to explain for the rise of Mayor Rob Ford. In 2010, Rob Ford became the only the second mayor to hail from Toronto’s suburbs. In 1998, Toronto amalgamated its six surrounding suburbs into one massive metropolitan area. His district, Etobicoke, is a mix of manicured mansions—like the one Ford owns—and tenement apartments. The neighborhood is incredibly diverse with a Caribbean community dominated by Jamaicans on one block and South Asian kids playing cricket in the vacant lot on the next with burka-clad Somali women herding their children along a sidewalk nearby. Ford was a right wing populist—a rarity for Canada—or, as his brother called Ford during the campaign, Canada’s Sarah Palin. His platform was stopping the government “gravy train.” In office, he semi-privatized the garbage collectors and barred transit workers from striking. He used the city’s surpluses to pay down debt. He slashed benefits to city employees and says he’s saved Toronto $1 billion since taking office, a claim many councilors dispute. But Ford wasn’t a details guy. “During my time on his campaign and in the mayor’s office, I probably knew where he was about 50% of the time,” says Adrienne Batra, his former communications director who left to become editorial page editor at the Toronto Sun at the end of 2011. “He’d just disappear and you’d ask him where he was and he’d say, ‘Oh, around town.’” In recent months his behavior has become more erratic, former aides say. He skipped council meetings to coach football and wouldn’t show up to work until after 11am. A court in November threw him out of office for using mayoral letterhead to raise money for his gridiron charity. He won an appeal in February. Ford comes from a colorful family. His father was a self-made millionaire who founded the family’s lucrative plastic labels business. His sister has openly struggled with drug addiction for much of her life and was shot in the head in 2005 in a drug-related incident. She survived. His older brother Randy was charged in a drug-related kidnapping, according to court documents. In late May, the Globe & Mail ran a story about how Ford’s other brother, Doug—who was elected to the city council in 2010—dealt drugs 20 years ago, a story he’s vehemently rejected. Earlier this year, a female politician accused the mayor of being high and groping her at a political event—charges he denied. And his alleged intoxication at a military ball in February spawned a spate of embarrassing stories. The video surfaced from the most unlikely of places: from Somali gang members and drug dealers in the mayor’s home town. The gang members contacted the Star and the website Gawker. Two Star journalists and one from Gawker were allowed to review the video, but the Somalis demanded $100,000 from the Star or $200,000 from Gawker if they wanted to buy the video and broadcast it, the news outlets said. Neither news outlet had that kind of money on hand—and the Star had no intention of ever paying such a sum to drug dealers, Robyn Doolittle, one of the Star reporters who has seen the video, told TIME—but both published stories based on the video their correspondents had seen. In it, they reported, Ford can be seen inhaling a substance from a glass pipe, swirling a lighter beneath it. The right wing politician slurs his words, eyes half-closed, calls a Canadian left-wing leader a “fag” and dismisses the kids he coaches on a football team as “just [expletive] minorities,” the stories report. In the weeks since, Gawker has raised $200,000 from 8,000 readers online, but the Somalis have since gone underground raising the question if anyone else will ever glimpse the alleged video, the outlets say. Ford denies the existence of any video, accusing the Star of shoddy journalism. The mayor, who declined to be interviewed for this story, has said he will not resign and intends to run for reelection in 2014. But Ford has, at the very least, a spotty memory. During the 2010 campaign he claimed to have never been arrested. When confronted with Florida arrest records for driving under the influence and possession of marijuana, he said he had forgotten those incidents. He denied getting thrown out of a hockey game for hurling obscenities at a nearby couple until the couple produced one of his business cards that he’d dropped. “I’m not saying the allegations are true, but Rob has an unfortunate pattern of denial, confrontation and then admission,” says Councillor John Parker, whom Ford named deputy speaker of the council. “And the stakes are a lot higher here.” Still, it is difficult to see how the tape—even if accurate—could lead to his removal from office. Toronto municipal politics isn’t a party system, so there is no party to force Ford to resign. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said at the end of May she might intervene, but it’s unclear what she could legally do. Observers say there is no precedent for a provincial government meddling in one of its municipalities. A video of someone smoking something is not evidence of law breaking: no one can prove what was being smoked. And, for now, polls show his support is holding. “I’d much rather a crack addict,” one Torontonian told a local television news station, “than some Ivy League nepotist scum any day.” Explains Nelson Wiseman, a professor of Canadian government at the University of Toronto, “Not withstanding all this, a third of the public would still vote for him. They see him as a big dumb guy like them—a Rodney Dangerfield type who just can’t get no respect.” But attention? Ford is getting that for Toronto in spades. The original version of this article included the following inaccuracies: Mayor Ford was the second mayor to be elected from the Toronto suburbs, not the first; the court threw him out of office in November, not December; he was allegedly inebriated at a military ball in February not March
the public sector. Because many Guatemalans are poor and depend on the public sector, these data are important. However, prices could be either higher or lower in the private sector. Further efforts to collect empirical data on the effects of particular TRIPS-Plus provisions are warranted. The U.S. Congress removed the data-exclusivity provision of the trade agreement with Peru in May 2007, recognizing potentially negative consequences for lower-income countries. 36 As an initial step, the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce should extend this recognition to all CAFTA countries. It should assert its intention not to implement the data-exclusivity provisions of CAFTA and should proactively cooperate with Central American governments that take action not to implement these provisions. A more limited reform proposal, generated prior to the Peru policy, would require generic producers to pay a small sum for the use of pharmaceutical test data, rather than the present system of establishing exclusive rights to protect investments in the data. 37 More broadly, the United States should support Guatemala in exploring ways to obtain lower-price drugs from donors and on the market. In its trade objectives, the Obama administration and Congress should aim for a fairer balance between promoting access to medicines and long-term incentives for drug innovation, particularly in developing countries. The World Health Organization has endorsed a comprehensive set of proposals, which include reinvigorating local production to stimulate technology transfer that would initiate research and development capability in developing countries. 38 The World Health Organization has also endorsed replacing intellectual property regimes with public health approaches, such as prize funds to reward research and development, thereby delinking incentives for research and development from drug prices. 39 Proposals from the pharmaceutical industry include voluntary measures to make selected products available at lower prices in developing countries, and also to sponsor unrestricted patent pools available to researchers exclusively for neglected tropical diseases. 40 Ongoing international consideration should assess the best prospects for benefiting health. Ellen Shaffer ( ershaffer@cpath.org ) and Joseph Brenner are codirectors of the Center for Policy Analysis on Trade and Health (CPATH) in San Francisco, California. The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support for this work from the Moriah Fund and Oxfam America. They thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for this journal and the many colleagues who have assisted with this work.. These include Mariel Castro, project director in 2007; Alejandro Ceron and Jennifer Crowe, on-site translators and advisers; and Luis Velasquez, Bessie Orozco, Claudia Herrarte, Juanita Mejia Rodriguez in Guatemala. For review of drafts and advice on methods, they thank Stephanie Burgos, Rohit Malpani, and Gawain Kripke, Oxfam America; Cesar Vieira; Nuria Homedes and Antonio Ugalde; and Arlene Ash. For assessments of medicines, they thank Sara Levin and Josh Rolnick. They also thank Kristen Smith, former CPATH Fellow, and Lily Walkover, CPATH outreach coordinator. EXHIBIT 1 Data-Protected Brand-Name Drugs And Competing Generic Drugs Denied Market Entry In Guatemala EXHIBIT 2 Patent-Protected Brand-Name Drugs And Molecules Causing Denial Of Market Entry Of Generic Drugs Into Guatemala EXHIBIT 3 Comparison Of Prices Of Selected Five- And Fifteen-Year Data-Protected With Non-Data-Protected Drugs On Guatemala’s Open Contract (In U.S. Dollars) NOTESFile photo: Franklin Graham at Ireland’s Celebration of Hope was held April 2-4, 2008, in Belfast. (Photo courtesy of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) (RNS) Evangelist Franklin Graham has announced he is abandoning the Republican Party in disgust over the move by the GOP-led Congress last week to pass a budget that Graham said was “wasteful” and provided funding for Planned Parenthood, which he compared to the Nazis. Graham has previously said he has no faith in any political party, but his apparent renunciation of his Republican affiliation is an indication of anger on the right and the strong interest many disaffected evangelicals have shown in populist outsiders like Donald Trump. Graham himself has expressed admiration for Trump, the surprise frontrunner in the Republican presidential field, and has voiced support for some of Trump’s more controversial positions — such as his call to ban Muslims from the U.S. — which have drawn condemnation from more mainstream evangelical leaders. [Why Franklin Graham says Donald Trump is right about stopping Muslim immigration] The federal government provides $528 million in funding for Planned Parenthood — about 40 percent of the organization’s annual budget — primarily through payments to Medicaid for health services for low-income Americans. Federal law prohibits funding of most abortions and Planned Parenthood separates federal taxpayer dollars from those used to provide abortions. Social conservatives have long fought to strip taxpayer funding from Planned Parenthood, and, after the release of a series of undercover videos by anti-abortion activists earlier this year, those calls ramped up to a fever pitch. Activists said the undercover videos show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the sale of fetal organs — which they called “baby parts” — for profit to medical researchers; making money off such organs or tissue could be illegal and unethical. Planned Parenthood denied that it was profiting from the sale and said it was quitting the practice. In the wake of that white-hot controversy, there was wide expectation that with Republicans in control of both the House and Senate Congress would eliminate funding for 2016. Some conservatives in the GOP threatened to shutdown the government if that wasn’t done. Robert Lewis Dear, the suspect in the November Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado, had a number of outbursts in court Wednesday, as he faces 179 counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and various other crimes. (Reuters) But the shooting massacre at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic late last month by a lone gunman, Robert Lewis Dear, who proclaimed himself “a warrior for the babies,” seemed to change the calculus and congressional leaders last week reached a deal that averted a shutdown and funds the government through September of next year. [Opinion: A conservative theologian explains why he disagrees with Jerry Falwell Jr. on Christians and guns] The deal also funds Planned Parenthood at previous levels — a development that has enraged many on the religious right, including Graham, son of the renowned evangelist Billy Graham. “This is an example of why I have resigned from the Republican Party and declared myself Independent. I have no hope in the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, or Tea Party to do what is best for America,” the younger Graham declared on Facebook on Monday. “Seeing and hearing Planned Parenthood talk nonchalantly about selling baby parts from aborted fetuses with utter disregard for human life is reminiscent of Joseph Mengele and the Nazi concentration camps!” Graham wrote. “That should’ve been all that was needed to turn off the faucet for their funding.” Graham drew immediate support on social media but how much sway he carries with voters is debatable. Billy Graham, who is 97, infirm and largely incommunicado, over the years came to rue his involvement with politics, saying it drew the focus from his evangelism. But his son has not been hesitant to offer his opinion of politicians and in particular hot-button electoral issues of interest to social conservatives. In fact, in denouncing the Republican Party this week, Graham made a pitch for the prayer rallies he will hold in every state next year, starting in Iowa in January shortly before the crucial first presidential primary. The rallies, as Graham says, aim to “challenge Christians to live out their faith at home, in public and at the ballot box.” Graham has said that if more evangelical voters turn out it could prove the difference in national and local elections, a point also made by Republican candidates. (David Gibson is a national correspondent for RNS) Want more stories about faith? Follow Acts of Faith on Twitter or sign up for our newsletter. Teaching about religion in public schools can be risky, but it’s worth it Do Muslims and Christians worship the same God? School suspends professor who said yesAlireza Edraki spends weekends in the lab. It's what he does. For the past three years, test tubes full of bacteria have been his constant companions. Not this weekend. "I'm so stressed out that I can't work," he says. Edraki is a third-year PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts' medical school in Worcester. You know Crispr/CAS-9, the gene-editing technology that’s in all the headlines lately? That’s what Edraki works on. Last year he was part of a team that published a seminal article in the journal Cell detailing work that could make gene therapies safer. To use a Trumpian phrase, that’s big league. It’s the kind of accomplishment that means Edraki is likely to have a long career in science. Unless the new immigration ban ruins it. Trump's executive order issued Friday explicitly bans anyone from Iran and six other predominantly Muslim countries from getting new visas for 90 days, among other measures. Though Edraki's family left Iran for the United Arab Emirates when he was a child, he still holds an Iranian passport and an F-1 visa that the Trump administration just put in jeopardy. 'They can take my house, but they can’t take my brain away from me.' "Even before this stupid new rule it wasn't easy, but it wasn’t like I was trapped here," he says. With a single-entry F-1 visa, visiting family overseas wasn't always easy. "But I always felt like I could go back if I needed to. Now I feel trapped." Edraki cannot go home, and with just an F-1 student visa he also can't stay long-term. He planned to apply for a permanent green card this month, but is unsure how the new order could change that. He's just one of countless students and scientists whose future in the US is uncertain because of Trump's order. Many from the greater Boston area gathered Sunday to protest—students and professors from MIT, Harvard, Boston University, Northeastern, and more joined an estimated crowd of 20,000 in Copley Square. Similar protests broke out in cities and airports across the country over the weekend. Science, like the tech industry, relies heavily on the intellectual prowess of immigrants. By some estimates, more than half of US post-graduate work in so-called STEM fields is done by international students. "That’s the way science is set up, you want the best---you don't care whether they are American or Iranian, you want the best," Edraki says. Indeed, he is part of a small seven-person lab comprised entirely of international students. The only American-born member of his lab is the leader, Erik Sontheimer. "This is horrible. It's reprehensible. It's counterproductive. It makes no sense," says Sontheimer. Like many professors who took to Twitter this weekend to express their dismay, Sontheimer believes this ban will hurt America's ability to attract and keep talented people. "It's going to have a very detrimental effect well beyond the seven specific countries named in the order. I think there will be strong disincentives for even Europeans to come here. They may just decide that this is not the kind of country that they want to be in for that long." Universities and colleges across the US have come out in condemnation of Trump's ban because of this threatened brain drain, from Harvard to the University of California. Former Republican governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels, now the president of Purdue University wrote: "The President's order related to immigration is a bad idea, poorly implemented, and I hope that he will promptly revoke and rethink it." One scientist who wasn't able to join the protests this weekend was Mehrdad Hariri, a Canadian-Iranian dual citizen who runs a science policy association in Canada. He's now blocked from entering the US. Reached by phone, he explained that he had planned to travel to the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference, the biggest science conference in the world, taking place in Boston in two weeks. This will be the first time in eight years that he's missed it. Scientists affected by Trump’s ban can take grim comfort in one fact: Knowledge is portable. At least Hariri wasn't already in transit when the order was issued, unlike Suha Abushamma, a Sudanese-born doctor who works at the Cleveland Clinic. Pro Publica reports that on Saturday night she was forced on a plane back to Saudi Arabia where she had been visiting family—moments before the American Civil Liberties Union won a temporary stay that would have prevented her deportation. For at least the next 90 days, she won't be allowed back. Or Samira Asgari, an Iranian doctor who was supposed to start work at Harvard this week but was turned away--at a time when the Association of American Medical Colleges says the US is facing a shortage of doctors. Her story went viral over the weekend. But for every Asgari, the lives of so many more immigrants have been quietly interrupted or thrown into chaos. There's Bassam (Sam) Al-Mohamadi, a Yemeni engineering student on an F1 visa finishing his senior year at Minnesota State University—Mankato. His mother called him on Saturday to say she feared she could not come to his graduation in May now. "I have not seen my Mom since 2012. I have not seen any of my family," he says. Al-Mohamadi has a job lined up in Los Angeles when school is over. He is legally able to work because he has applied for Temporary Protected Status due to Yemen's ongoing civil war, but he has no idea whether the Trump administration will grant it. And like Edraki, he is now stuck. "It’s a weird feeling to feel like you’re locked in," he says. "But whatever this is right now going on in this country, it’s still not as bad as civil war back home, as bombs are falling all around my family there." The list goes on, as does the likelihood of the US losing out on the world's top talent. Reza Kahlor, a green card-holder, is an Iranian scientist at Harvard who before this week was deciding between applying for professorships at top US universities or starting a company in Boston based on his biological discoveries. But if this ban restricts his ability to travel, he says he'd maybe rethink and go to Germany, or France, or Canada. That would be one less entrepreneur the US gets to claim as its own, one less potential discovery that could turn into an industry-changing technology that could generate jobs. But scientists affected by Trump's ban can take grim comfort in one fact: Knowledge is portable. "Let’s say tomorrow Trump shows up at my door and kicks me out. I will leave the country with what matters most: what I have in my head. They can take my house, but they can’t take my brain away from me," says Edraki. That is little comfort for Edraki in the face of what they actually can take away: his brother. Two years ago, Edraki's younger sibling came to the US to study engineering at UMass-Amherst. He turned down better schools on the West Coast because their mother was happy knowing the brothers were near each other. Like Edraki, his brother is a model student. He flew to Dubai for the Christmas break to see their parents. He now can't re-enter the US to finish spring semester of his sophomore year. "He is devastated. My mom said he hasn't eaten anything since last week," Edraki says. Ironically, Trump himself in 2015 seemed to sympathize with the likes of Edraki and his brother, tweeting, "When foreigners attend our great colleges & want to stay in the U.S., they should not be thrown out of our country." Today the Trump White House is telling Edraki to take his intellect and expertise elsewhere.The world's lakes are warming at a faster rate than oceans and atmosphere, a trend that may already have triggered major changes in aquatic ecosystems, according to a new report published in Geophysical Research Letters on Wednesday. Globally, lakes have been heating up an average of 0.34°C (.61°F) per decade between 1985 and 2009, researchers found. In northern climates, the deepest ice-covered lakes are warming at twice the rate of the atmosphere. "The widespread warming reported here suggests that large changes in Earth's freshwater resources and their processes are not only imminent but already under way," the study concludes. When lakes warm, their productivity decreases and they become more likely to form toxic algae or become vulnerable to damage by invasive species. That, in turn, threatens delicate ecosystems within the lake, including fish and other wildlife, which can lead to water insecurity, "substantial economic consequences," and, in some cases, "complete ecosystem loss," the study states. The global average lake surface warming rate during summer seasons implies a 20 percent increase in algal blooms and a five percent increase in toxic algal blooms over the next century, researchers found. That could ramp up dangerous methane gas emissions by 4 percent over the next decade. "Lakes hold a large majority of Earth's liquid freshwater, support enormous biodiversity, and provide key provisioning and cultural ecosystem services to people around the world. Climate change is among the greatest threats to lakes," the study states. "The pervasive and rapid warming observed here signals the urgent need to incorporate climate impacts into vulnerability assessments and adaptation efforts for lakes." SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts The researchers focused their study on lakes because their temperatures typically remain stable over time—unlike air, which fluctuates in temperature daily—making them particularly useful in measuring climate change. "Obviously, Lake Superior is going to stay cold for a very long time," University of Minnesota Duluth Professor Jay Austin, one of the study's co-authors, told the Star Tribune. "But these lakes provide a sort of 'climate antenna' that allows us to look at these global trends." "Relatively small changes can lead to large changes in systems that define our region," Austin continued. "Duluth would be a fundamentally different place if Lake Superior never formed ice." The study is the largest of its kind, analyzing temperatures of 235 lakes across six continents that represent more than half of the world's fresh water supply. "Society depends on surface water for the vast majority of human uses," said co-author Stephanie Hampton, director of Washington State University's Center for Environmental Research, Education and Outreach. "Not just for drinking water, but manufacturing, for energy production, for irrigation of our crops. Protein from freshwater fish is especially important in the developing world."This is the first of a four-part series highlighting FC Dallas’ Supporters Groups. The Dallas Football Elite aren’t your stereotypical supporters group. The focus is less on sustained chanting and more on harassing the visiting club at each home match, all with a goal of creating an atmosphere like that of which you would find at an English Premier League match. The DFE, favors the English style supporters group – which has a little bit of chanting/singing here and there. When the DFE first got started in 2011, it was met with some adversity from other fans – people asked them to sit down or to move out of the way. In order to create a sense of unity the DFE decided to wear blue in support of FC Dallas’ away colors. “When we all wore blue we were able to bind ourselves with other supporters that wanted to create a true soccer atmosphere in 103,” said Founder and current president Sean Dorwaldt. “The blue continued to grow and is now our main color. So we strongly encourage you to wear blue if you can. If not, no worries!” The DFE say they have won over most of the fans in Section 103 with their enthusiasm, but some wonder why the DFE doesn’t move to the Beer Garden. “It's simple, because our group is open to people of all ages and back ground,” said Dorwaldt. “The age limit of the Beer Garden would not allow for everyone in our group to make that transition over to the Beer Garden. We believe that you shouldn't have to leave your kids at home or be 21 and up to be a supporter.” For the first time in FC Dallas club history there are two supporter groups with over a 100 season ticket holders in both groups. DFE believes that their relationship with the Dallas Beer Guardians is vital to creating an amazing soccer atmosphere at FC Dallas Stadium. The two supporter groups do things a little bit different, but are working for the same purpose. “We have been told numerous times that it would be impossible to build a supporters group on the west side of the stadium,” said Dorwaldt. “The DFE started off with 16 members, and we were at 46 last season, and we are now at 103 season ticket holding members! Overall we have 115 members.” This year the DFE will be launching a new name for section 103 - The Snake Pit. "The Snake Pit offers an FC Dallas supporter a chance to stand with like-minded fans that love to heckle, sing, and even drink,” said Dorwaldt. The DFE are constantly doing events and finding new ways to hang out outside the match as well. Many of the DFE are members of American Outlaws, the USA supporters group, EPL supporter groups like, North Texas Blues, or Blue Moon Dallas. They also have an indoor team for those that want to continue playing the game. “Overall our group is a door to more connections that will embrace soccer of all forms for those looking to surround themselves with more like minded supporters, said Dorwaldt. “We have worked very hard from the founding of our group to create this atmosphere. We are excited to see that the vision that we have had for our group, and our section, is starting to come true. Our goal along with other supporter groups at FC Dallas is to get FC Dallas Stadium standing!” For more information on Dallas Football Elite, visit www.dallasfootballelite.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/dallasfootballelite or on Twitter at @DFelite.Dear readers, We have three apologies to make before this post. First, some reader feedback – Quentin, a council of the cows was held, and no, we can’t use small words. One cow politely recommended that you might want to buy a dictionary. Second, sorry for creating a post so soon after the last two. It was raining, we weren’t able to go out, and so another post happened. Third, sorry that we don’t have one other thing to list in our apologies here, we’ve run dry a little early. Fourth, sorry, that we’ve now apologized for one more thing that we’d originally said we would. Now, our first picture with words under it: Princess Pricklepants was delighted, her trip to the Planet of the Baboons went nicely (she had helped Mufiki, the Baboon King to reclaim his throne from the evil uncle Blemish, perhaps more on that later if we get enough baboons to illustrate), and Mufiki, the Baboon King had returned with her to see her robo-farm to learn about new alien cultures and technology. But when she arrived, things seemed amiss. There was a castle. There were no cows. There was no bear. The crocodiles were sitting in a moat, looking sad. A cat approached, and delivered a sinister monologue. “Greetings, Princess Pricklepants. I am Mittens, a humble farm-cat (with an Electrical Engineering degree from MIT – go Beavers!), and I have taken over this farm! You now are a former-hedgehog farmer, as I now control the farm! A-ha-ha-ha-ha! Using my advanced programming skills, I reprogrammed the robots to serve me to do my wily feline bidding. A previous advice column of yours had advised flinging cats via catapults, and now I have my revenge! Also, I banished your cows, forced the crocodiles to serve as slaves in the moat, and your literary bear friend is stuck in a paddock with no books to read! Bwa ha ha!” It was strange to hear a cat laugh. Regardless, the cat continued on for a while explaining how it accessed the reprogramming interface port of the robots, and some other details, but you don’t need to hear all of it. It was a very long monologue. Droidon and Galaxy came out and hugged the villainous cat since we had a photo of that. It was taken with the intent of adding to the drama and sense of just how sinister this cat was, though in retrospect, hugging cats doesn’t quite deliver the right mood. So, we ask you, dear reader, to please imagine that the photo illustrates the cat hacking up a hairball on your couch instead. Thanks! Princess explained to Mufiki that nothing like this had ever happened before in her adventures, normally dramatic conflicts were far less overt, but given the situation they needed to form a plan. So they formed a plan. Princess went and found the cows. Together they formed The Cows Of The Round Table (the members were not all cows, but Cows, Baboon, and Hedgehog Of The Round Table just didn’t roll off the tongue). Together, they planned a great battle – a siege against Castle Mittens to defeat the wicked cat and bring justice and order back to the farm, then Princess granted them knighthoods authorizing them to serve in the battle. She looked up the wikipedia page on knighthood to see if they had the details of the ceremony, but it was missing most details, so she winged it. Princess ordered several catapults from hedgehogfarmsupply.com (some assembly required) and prepared for battle. They had only ever seen one movie that involved catapults, so they loaded the cows into the catapults and began to fling them onto the castle. Christine, the cow safety officer, said something before they were loading her, but in the fog of war they were far too busy to get caught up in digressions. Now was the time for action. Unfortunately, they didn’t have many cows, so soon they were out of ammunition. Lady Bessie (they weren’t sure of the right title for female knights, and Wikipedia didn’t mention what to honorifics to bestow on cows knights at all, so they settled on that), Sir Unintentional Product Placement, Princess, and Mufiki realized they needed another plan. Bessie lamented that while she was a generic cow, she did have a Computer Science degree and before joining the farm had worked as a contractor doing programming work for a few companies developing robotic Artificial Intelligence software. With that kind of nerdy desk-job skill set, she was useless for most things, especially in medieval conflict… “Don’t feel bad, Bessie, we still like you,” said Princess gracefully. Mufiki said, “Wait, didn’t the cat reprogram these robots? Can’t Bessie just hack into their robotic computing mainframe matrix, or whatever you Earthlings call it, and override the program?” They hatched a cunning plan. Princess lured Redbot out while Bessie snuck up and reprogrammed his loyalty circuits to bond to hedgehogs and not like cats. They then reprogrammed Galaxy, while Sir. Product Placement tried to distract Mittens. That distraction worked poorly, so Princess licked her nose. The ploy worked! And so, the farm returned to its former state, Princess was delighted, and things returned mostly to a normal state, though they now had a castle on the farm, an evil imprisoned cat, a pig had shown up from somewhere, the bear was freed and given some interesting books, the Spinosaurus returned to doing Spinosaurus things, and the word count was a little low but was good enough to declare The End. For now.What started as a friendly discussion on Twitter about digital versus print comics quickly devolved into a string of hate speech and Trans Bashing between the owner of Larry’s Comics, Larry Doherty, and Christian Beranek, a self described “Comic book writer, geek girl and rocker.” The discussion started in a friendly nature. But quickly devolved from there. The issue with Larry’s response is the word “sir.” Christian is transgender. Meaning she identifies herself and lives day to day as female. So, you can see how the word “sir” might make one uncomfortable and is insulting and degrading. In fact Christian politely asks Larry to stop using the term. But, Larry being the agitator he is, continues. And… And… And the insensitivity continued… This is Trans Bashing and Cyber Bullying, no other way to put it. Larry was aware of Christian being transgender and continued to use the words “sir,” “dude,” “man” and “fellow” when referring to her. All terms belittling Christian. But, this isn’t the first time this behavior has come from Larry. In 2011, he also made insensitive racist jokes about the new Ultimate Spider-Man before the character was introduced and just rumored to be black. This is the latest example of a comic book industry struggling with inclusion, whether that’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or gender roles. Mandy Curuso took to the internet to describe the harassment she experienced this past weekend at New York Comic Con. She described it as her “first truly skeezy experience at Comic Con.” And that’s the thing, this is a minority that’s causing these issues. The majority of fans are inclusive and welcoming and like sharing the hobby and entertainment they enjoy with others. Unfortunately, incidents like this or what Mandy experienced don’t result in repercussions. The film crew Mandy dealt with will still get press passes and Larry will still have his ass kissed by publishers and creators who overlook his behavior that gives a black eye to the industry. When will we all say enough is enough? Christian was kind enough to respond to my inquiries and provided the following quote about the incident: Brett, I’ve been following Larry on twitter for awhile now. I appreciate his viewpoint as a retailer dealing with an ever-changing industry in which digital is becoming more and more important. Last night I made an admittedly cheeky comment about webcomics in response to a post about Marvel. It was meant to get a discussion going and it did. Larry is very passionate about print comics and often makes condescending remarks towards those of us who work in digital. Usually it rolls off but last night he called me ‘Sir’. I let pronoun misuse slide because I understand people are still getting used to me living as a female. I always ask the person to please make an effort to correct themselves and most times people are pretty cool about it. Last night Larry was not so cool. Larry points out that print comic sales are rising. I think that’s great for the Big 2 and others benefiting from it. But there are loads of us who are working hard to tell different types of stories in different ways. Many of the people who make comics online have never even been to a comic book convention let alone a comic book shop. Many feel they are hostile environments. I think the “Boy’s Club” mentality of comics holds us back in a lot of ways. To be fair those who act this way are in the minority but they are extremely vocal and many of them hold positions of power. I think manners and common courtesy go a long way. I’m not trying to censor anyone’s thoughts, I just think we’d have a much more pleasant and thriving community if we considered the lifestyles, backgrounds and viewpoints of other people. Just take a moment and listen from time to time. People will surprise you and many times you’ll learn something new. Heck, Larry and others like him might even increase their business further because of it. Thank you for the opportunity to have a say on this matter. I would have reached out to Larry for a comment on the matter, but he’s had me blocked on Twitter for my opinions for well over a year. Update: After numerous hours Larry has issued an “apology.” I have my opinion, but I leave it to you, the readers, to decide how truly heartfelt it is. And thanks for the shout out as the “vindictive blog” Larry and thanks for the traffic! hugs Update 2: It seems Larry clearly doesn’t understand why this was an issue, deciding to make a joke about it all. No Larry, it’s not the same thing, but thanks for showing us you can not learn a lesson and move on. Like this: Like Loading...Source: Former Obama Official Shrugs At ISIS Slaughtering Christians \| The Daily Caller A former Obama administration official at the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday that when it comes to the Islamic State slaughtering Egyptian Christians, “what goes around, comes around.” In a tweet posted Sunday, Mohamed Elibiary, who formerly served as senior member of the DHS’ Homeland Security Advisory Council, stated, “Reading ISIS’s latest mag ‘otherizing’ Egypt’s Copts. Subhanallah how what goes around comes around. Coptic ldrs did same to MB Egyptians.” “Subhanallah” is Arabic for “Glory to Allah,” and so in this tweet, Elibiary is expressing praise to Allah for the fact that ISIS is killing Egyptian Christians as apparent retribution for Coptic leaders doing the same to members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. In a followup tweet, Elibiary tries to deflect using semantics. @BennettJonah Jonah, 4 ur educ,there are multi "praise God" terms in Egypt'n Ar. Alhamdullah,not subhanallah,would've meant what u wrote in BHO hit piece. — Mohamed Elibiary (@MohamedElibiary) May 8, 2017 So it doesn’t literally mean praise allah, but according to Islamic sources it is usually translated as ‘glory be to allah’ and means that allah is ‘perfect in an absolute sense without any defects or imperfections of any kind.’ Elibiary went silent when called out, yet again, on his Muslim Brotherhood. @MohamedElibiary https://t.co/dwvCZhMkXB "phrase often has connotation of praising God for total perfection" … thus it's perfect when the Copts get theirs. — Will Myers (@wjamyers) May 8, 2017 @MohamedElibiary great ISIS apologism, classic MB stuff. way to go. — D.I. Unplugged (@DIUnplugged) May 8, 2017 @MohamedElibiary What Copts in Egypt did for MB,your statement confirm that MB and ISIS are one organization and you belong to this organization — 🇲 🇴 🇭 🇲 🇪 🇩 (@Mohamed74785155) May 8, 2017 It also suggests that Elibiary truly believes that ISIS is doing what Allah wills.Ground floor Wall showcases: "Traditional Currencies from Africa, Asia and Oceania" Here we show you money made of jewellery, feathers or other materials, and other means of payment from indigenous people. Gold Room "Money in the Roman Republic". Theme 1: War is Father of all things The Army and the State Roman Republican administration relied on the organization of the army. The organization of the central people`s assembly resembled that of the army. It elected the highest officials of the state who possessed both civil and military power. Of Coins and Wars All major changes in Roman coinage hark back to the necessities of war. During the Samnite Wars, Rome adapted its own system to the Greek coinage system and commissioned Greek artists with the production of Greek-style coins. The biggest monetary reform of ancient history was triggered by the war against Hannibal. It gave birth to the denarius that was to be in circulation for almost 500 years. Theme 2: Pater Patriae or How can Rome be fed? Subject 1: Conquests The Roman emperor became the guarantor of the well-being of Rome`s citizens. They expected him to organize lavish games, commission magnificent buildings and always provide enough grain to assure a livelihood. For all of that he needed money, as for the legionaries` pay and the salaries in the imperial administration. The easiest way to raise money was war. Making new provinces always provided Rome with rich war booty. Subject 2: Taxation In addition, the Roman emperors expanded the system of taxation. Every citizen in the provinces was obliged to pay not only taxes to his native town but a fixed tax per head to the Roman Empire, complemented by a share of his agricultural production. To levy all-encompassing taxes, censuses were carried out regularly. The Roman Empire did not only possess the world`s first national budget but likewise had systematic tax declarations valid in the whole Empire. "The just price" The focus of this exhibition is the economic history of the Middle Ages. We want to show you that the law of supply and demand is not as everlasting and natural as it seems nowadays. Different rules applied in the Middle Ages – which ones exactly you will find out in our five Picture Tours. Our Picture Tours aim to explain how the modern market economy developed out of small seeds planted many centuries ago. They also want to offer an alternative view on today’s understanding of money, wealth and the meaning of life. No medieval man would comprehend why we frantically chase money, wealth and influence. Different benchmarks were set in the Middle Ages. We recommend you eliminate all previous prejudices you have developed from watching historical movies. Allow yourself to be drawn into the world of the Middle Ages. And always remember: Medieval men and women weren’t any better or worse, smarter or dumber than we are. They simply had a different range of experiences. These Picture Tours will tell you all about those experiences. Stephan Koncz will be your guide in the MoneyMuseum. Listen to his audio introduction below. backSenior Republicans on Congress's Joint Economic Committee called yesterday for the withdrawal of a report by the committee's Democratic staff that argues that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost more than $1.5 trillion. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Rep. H. James Saxton (R-N.J.) attacked the report on "hidden costs" of the wars, calling its methodology flawed and asserting factual errors. The report, issued yesterday, said the war has cost nearly double the $804 billion in appropriations and requests for war funding thus far. In a joint statement, the committee's Republicans called the report "another thinly veiled exercise in political hyperbole masquerading as academic research." "All wars involve costs, and the war on terror is no exception," Brownback and Saxton said. "The Democrats' report would have benefited from more analysis and quality control, and less political content. We call on Senator Schumer and the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate to withdraw this defective report." Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) chairs the committee. The report argued that large war-related economic costs to U.S. taxpayers do not appear in the budget, such as the rising price of oil, paying for the care of the wounded, fixing damaged military equipment and interest on foreign debt. It estimated that the wars have cost the average American family of four more than $20,000. War funding
do play a part in why many people abuse. But ideas about masculinity are not the same as being male, and not all men have the same ideas about or sense of masculinity. Many men, for instance, do not believe that because they are men, women or children should be subservient to them or beneath them, that the penis is some kind of weapon, that sex is for asserting power or that smacking people around is okay just because some men (or women) do, even when they encounter other men or aspects of culture that insist those things are so. Many, many men already have or figure out how to have a masculinity that does not involve harming anyone. And just like being male can't make anyone abuse anyone else, neither can ideas of masculinity, even when they are a scary, hot mess. Again, for the vast, vast majority of people who perpetrate abuse, it is something they knowingly choose to do, not something their chromosomes or genitals force them to do against their will or outside their control. Let's give some space to the idea that your sexuality is "dirty" because of your gender. The idea that sex or sexuality are dirty is just something I just don't cotton to. They can sure be messy sometimes, physically and emotionally, and can also call up or give us access to some of the deeper, more intense and even darker parts of ourselves or others which aren't all full of rainbows and sunshine. But we can say the same thing about a lot of things in life. Creative work, for instance, like making art or music, can be and do all of those same things. Really loving someone can be awfully messy, too, and can also open up parts of ourselves or other people which aren't shiny and happy. And just like we can do so with love or creative work, even when that's the case, we can still express those feelings or aspects in ways that are healthy and don't do anyone or ourselves harm. Just like with love, sexuality has the capacity to be healthy, rich, beneficial, safe, caring and positively powerful and empowering. Personally, I believe it has more than just that capacity: my belief is that's its essential, truest nature. I'd like to talk a little bit about your mother now. When people have been abused in any way and don't get help with healing, especially with something like childhood sexual abuse, it can do a real number on them, as you unfortunately know too well. Your mother was traumatized, and, as happens all too often, that trauma didn't stop with her, either. Her trauma, and the way she has dealt with it, have also traumatized you. I don't have any idea about what your mothers' upbringing was like, what her resources and community have been, so I don't want to be too hard on her here, especially since being a victim of childhood sexual abuse is often incredibly hard, especially if she didn't get any help in getting away from it (and whoever was doing it to her), if she didn't feel able to tell anyone or wasn't believed when she did, or if she didn't get any good help and support, ideally very soon after it happened to her, so she could get safe and start to heal. No victim is ever responsible for being abused. That responsibility lies 100% with whoever chose to abuse them. You're absolutely right not to hold your mother responsible in any way for what she suffered when she was victimized, nor for the pain she experienced as a result. But there is something that any of us who have been traumatized or victimized are responsible for: that's our own healing. We didn't do what we need to heal from, and it sucks that we have to be the ones to do the work to repair something we ourselves didn't break, but that's the way it goes. It's not a victim's fault that healing needs to be done, but it is a victim's responsibility to try to heal, though it's hopefully not something we had or have to do without help and support. It's also our responsibility to care for ourselves and anyone else we agree to care for, and to work out how to do that in healthy ways, even when we've survived trauma and may have challenges in doing that well as a result. Having been sexually abused or assaulted does not absolve anyone of the responsibility to treat other people with care, respect, love and kindness, especially if and when we put ourselves in the position where we have agreed to provide that care. Having been sexually abused or assaulted also does not excuse any victim if and when they have done someone else harm. You don't have to blame your mother for anything. I don't think this is even about blame. But you do get to hold her responsible for the ways she has hurt you, just like she gets to hold the person who traumatized her responsible. Your mother didn't choose to be abused, but, assuming she was not forced into pregnancy, birth or parenting, she chose to be your parent. In choosing or accepting that responsibility, she agreed to provide you with an environment, including herself as a major part of that, in which you were safe and cared for. The onus was and is on her, as it is with every parent (even if few actually do it), to take real stock of themselves, identify anything they need to work through or learn to deal with that might do their child harm, and then do that work and keep doing that work, ideally before, but most certainly during, parenting. You aren't blaming her as a victim by holding her responsible for those things and any other ways she may have failed you or done you harm with her parenting. I want to also make sure you know that not only is your Mom not responsible for her abuse, neither are you. The fact that you may share a set of genitals or even some of the genetics of the person who abused her does not change that in the slightest: you have absolutely nothing to do with your mother being victimized. Save for the ways she has chosen to make it about you, it is not, in reality, in any way about you. You did not do this to her or anyone else. It's clear you grew up with some messages that might have made you feel otherwise, but I hope in time you can really feel and know what I'm saying here. I'm not sure what you mean when you say "good sex" and bad sex." Do you mean you can't figure out what healthy expressions of sexuality might be, and what might be sexual abuse? If so, I can leave you a few links that should help you get a start sorting that out for that: Driver's Ed for the Sexual Superhighway: Navigating Consent Safer Sex...for Your Heart What Is Healthy Sexual Development? 10 of the Best Things You Can Do for Your Sexual Self (at Any Age) Hello, Sailor! How to Build, Board and Navigate a Healthy Relationship Ready or Not? The Scarleteen Sex Readiness Checklist I am not worried that if you do not have a sexual partner soon you will do someone harm. By all means, if you truly feel, now or ever, you may be a harm to yourself or anyone else, I encourage you to ask for in-person help, since those are obviously things you want to avoid. I don't mean to deny or invalidate your own feelings about this, but at the same time, you've made pretty clear here that there's sound reason for you to strongly suspect those feelings are probably more about someone else's life (you mother's) and about someone else (the person who abused her) than they are about your life and about you. You know, the smartest person in the whole world could grow up with someone telling them or otherwise giving them the constant message that they are stupid and think -- despite every evidence to the contrary, despite even an IQ test that shows them to be the most genius of all geniuses -- that they're stupid. Someone who grows up with the strong message that they are the "bad" child could do everything right a person can do right and still think they're a terrible person. And someone like you could be reared with the message that, because of your gender, your sexuality will automatically be unhealthy and abusive and believe that completely, based on that messaging alone. I strongly suspect your fears about being abusive are probably mostly based on these messages you got, messages I believe have their only basis in your mother's trauma and none in the truth of who you are, someone who had nothing whatsoever to do with her abuse. Even if your mother didn't intend to lie to you, and she probably did not, I need you to know that you have been lied to. There is nothing bad about you because you are a man, and nothing bad about you because you have a sexuality and sexual desires. You expressed something you know about yourself in your letter, that you are a caring person.I'd suggest you put the most stock in the positive truths you know about yourself like that one, and work on throwing away what anyone, be it your mother or anyone else, is projecting unto you that is about someone else, not about you. I don't know of any data that supports the idea that without engaging in sex you will assault or abuse someone. Based on all the study that I've seen about sexuality and about sexual abuse, there's nothing that supports people feeling compelled to abuse because they feel sexually frustrated or because they aren't having sex they want. For sure, that can make some people feel lonely, annoyed, angry, sad or bitter, but it's a big leap to suggest or think that those feelings will automatically lead to sexually abusing. Our sexuality and sexual desires aren't a ticking bomb, where if we don't hurry and do something to stop the clock from ticking, they'll explode and blow us or anyone else up. People have sexual desires all the time that they can't or don't express the way they want to, when they want to, or every time they want to. While that can certainly be a bummer, that experience is not known to result in healthy people doing other people harm. And people who choose to sexually abuse other people are not usually people with the kind of awareness you have about sexual abuse and with the clear concern you have about not doing anyone harm. I'm most concerned about you getting hurt in sexual interactions right now, not about you hurting someone else. Sex with others is often a place where we're really vulnerable and very open, and with the way you're thinking about and feeling afraid of yourself and your sexuality to date, I think the most likely person to get hurt in a sexual exchange is you. That's a big window to leave open, after all, when you've got such delicate, fragile things inside right now. Something else that makes me concerned is that when we feel like crap about ourselves, we're much less likely to choose healthy people to be sexual with, and much more vulnerable to abuse, sexual or otherwise. I see you only imagining yourself as a potential abuser or harm, but what I'm seeing is someone who could be very vulnerable to abuse or being harmed. I think that without getting help in healing for yourself, you're likely to have a really hard time with sexual relationships right now, and not likely to feel or be very safe or comfortable in them. For that reason, I'd suggest putting dating and sex with others on the back-burner for now until you can make some good progress turning these feelings about yourself and your sexuality around and feel confident in your ability to be a sexual partner who you know is safe for others as well as for yourself. Feeling terrified about doing someone harm and only being reminded of the actual or possible abuse of your family members does not sound, at all, like the kind of headspace that supports healthy, sexual relationships or interactions that feel really good to you, physically and emotionally. If you feel frustrated sexually -- something we all can feel, including when we have partners and even when we're having sex with them -- and like you want to express your sexuality in a way you can feel safe about, I'd suggest sticking with masturbation alone for a while longer, until you feel much better about yourself and sexuality than you do right now. Masturbation usually takes care of much of the physical aspect of our sexual desires very well, and can be a positive way to affirm sexuality as something safe and good, and while I understand you likely also have some emotional desires involving sex with partners, too, I think even with the opportunity, those aren't likely to be met until you get some healing. I strongly suggest you seek out a qualified counselor or therapist to help you get started with all of this stuff, and to take a big step in really taking care of yourself with someone who knows and will constantly reaffirm that you are a person who deserves to be taken care of, who is a good person and who is someone worthy of trust and a sexuality and sense of self they feel good about. It sounds like you've lived with this for the whole of your life: that's a lot of emotional injury to undo, and that kind of healing takes time and some really good help. In counseling, if you still have concerns about harming anyone, you can voice those and your counselor or therapist can help you to assess that reality. If it does seem viable to them, they help you to be sure you and others stay safe. If they feel the way I do, and I suspect they will, they can give you a lot of help and tools to use so that over time, you can let go of that fear and feel more free to live your life and get close to people in the ways you want to, including sexually. That person can also help you develop a better sense, if you need that help, of what's healthy and sound in sexual choices and actions and what is not, both on your end and from sexual partners. No one page like this could possibly undo the damage that's been done to you and turn all of this around today. I can't tell you how much I wish that it could, and how much I wish I had the power to magic all of these scary and negative feelings away for you right this very second. I am heartbroken to hear you, or anyone, feeling like you are and have been. You deserve a much, much better life and sense of self than this. I hope that this at least can help you get started on a path to the good stuff, though. If you want some help finding someone in-person who can help you take it from here, I'd be glad to help you with that. You can start by looking at this database of services we have here, and if you can't find anyone that way, just let me know and I'd be glad to help you out. I'd also be happy to suggest some books I think might help you out, both about healing and finding a masculinity that feels comfortable to you, and about sexuality in general. I have a young adult sexuality guide I penned myself that I offer free copies of, when I can, to people who really need it and can't afford it or find it in their area, even at the library. If you think something like that would be helpful and are not in the position to buy or otherwise access it yourself, if you drop me an email with a postal address, I'd be delighted to donate a copy to you. Want something you can get started on right now, today, besides starting to look into counseling? One thing you can do that's very easy and can be very powerful is just to come up with a short, positive affirmation you can say to yourself in moments where you're feeling like this, or even put on a sticky-note in places you go to and see each day, like your bathroom mirror. Maybe something like, "I'm a good man, a good person and my sexuality is a good thing that can do good," or "I can and do care for myself and others, and my gender and sexuality can help me to do that, not keep me from doing that," or "Men can be safe. Sexuality can be safe. I can be and feel safe for myself and for others," or something else that gives you a positive, powerful and supportive message about your gender, your sexuality and your without-a-question capacity to be the caring, kind person I have absolutely no doubt that you are. (P.S. If you want to get your Mom some help, or at least give her some resources she can use to seek it out herself, I can help with that, too. You're my concern right now, not her, but if she's never had any help at all in healing, I'm also concerned about her. You might find that it feels positive for you to help her get the help she obviously has needed for a long time. It's okay if that's not something you want to do or try and help with, though, and I could certainly understand if that feels way too loaded given the ways she's hurt you. Even if you do want to do that, I'd encourage you to put most of your energy into taking care of yourself. I think it's high time for you, who you are and how you're hurting to come first.)Coming Soon Unbelievable After a teen reports being raped, then recants her story, two female detectives follow evidence that could reveal the truth. Based on a true story. Kid Cosmic In this animated series from the creator of "The Powerpuff Girls," an odd, imaginative boy acquires superpowers after finding five cosmic rings. Dolly Parton's Heartstrings Cannon Busters With a maintenance robot and a deadly fugitive tagging along, friendship droid S.A.M searches for its best friend, the heir to a kingdom under siege. Second City Television Special (Working Title) Martin Scorsese directs this Netflix original comedy special exploring the enduring legacy of Emmy-winning sketch comedy show "SCTV." Burn Out When his son's mom runs afoul of Paris's criminal underworld, a thrill-seeking superbike racer begins moonlighting as a drug courier to clear her debt. Behind Her Eyes Girl Fifteen-year-old ballet dancer Lara faces physical and emotional hurdles as she prepares for gender confirmation surgery. Inspired by a true story.As many as 390,000 people have been driven from their homes, according to the country's disaster management centre The United Nations said today it would launch an appeal for emergency flood aid in Sri Lanka as rescue efforts were mounted to reach those marooned. As many as 390,000 people have been driven from their homes and at least 3,744 houses have been destroyed, according to the country's disaster management centre. The death toll continued to rise as flooding swamped areas in the east of the country, leaving hundreds of people homeless. At least 37 people had been confirmed dead by this afternoon, and the cost of the floods has been estimated at £315m. Medical units have been sent to the area to help those who have sought shelter in crowded relief camps. The government sent military helicopters to distribute aid and used transport aircraft to move aid from the capital, Colombo. However, only six tonnes of aid was moved yesterday, according to the country's Daily Mirror newspaper. Four camps have been set up to help flood victims and reports said troops had been deployed to distribute food and medical supplies. India sent a plane loaded with food supplies as well as blankets and water purification tablets. The US said it was sending aid and has supplied boats to rescue the stranded and distribute bottled water, cooking materials and tarpaulins. The floods followed heavy rainfall in the east of the country. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Neil Buhne said an appeal would follow shortly. "I urge donors to generously support priority needs such as mosquito nets, clean water and food," he said. Ten more people were reported dead today and at least 12 more are missing and 49 injured. The worst hit district was Batticaloa, where 18 deaths were reported. Sellaih Rasiah, a community leader in Karaithivu, said villagers affected by the devastating 2004 tsunami have lost most of their belongings and would again have to start anew. Disaster management minister Mahinda Amaraweera warned of the danger of water-borne diseases. Up to one fifth of the country's rice farms have been hit. Brisbane begins big clean-up Heavy rain prompted new flood warnings in Australia yesterday as volunteers cleaned up in its third largest city. Four states issued flood warnings due to overflowing rivers and rain, while Queensland worked to recover from the disaster. Large parts of the state are still under water. In Brisbane, the water that swamped entire neighbourhoods has mostly receded, leaving behind thick mud. About 7,000 residents joined 600 military personnel to shovel, mop and sweep away the mess after the Brisbane river overflowed last week. Mayor Campbell Newman said: "Everybody rolls up their sleeves in this town." More than 30,000 homes and businesses in the state capital were flooded. The mayor said a complete clean-up would take months and reconstruction up to two years. More than 28,650 properties still lack power. The floods have caused 26 deaths in Australia's north-east since late November, and 28 others are missing. Associated PressA Senate panel on Wednesday approved bipartisan legislation that would prohibit federal employees who break the law or aren’t in good standing with their agencies from receiving bonuses. The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee reported out the 2015 Stop Wasteful Bonuses Act, which would bar agency heads from awarding bonuses to employees who could be fired or suspended for violating agency policy, or for doing something illegal that could land them in prison for more than a year. The ban for those employees would last for five years. Agency inspectors general, senior ethics officials or the Government Accountability Office would determine whether an employee’s conduct violated agency policy. The bill also includes a mandatory clawback provision requiring the employee to repay -- after notice and an opportunity for a hearing -- the amount of any bonus made during the year in which such a determination is made. “We’re talking about very serious misconduct,” said the bill’s sponsor Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., during Wednesday’s markup. Ayotte said the legislation would maintain due process for employees, including the right to appeal an agency’s decision to the Merit Systems Protection Board. The New Hampshire senator said her goal is to make sure that employees who “deserve to be recognized for their performance are” and that bad actors don’t benefit from bonuses when they engage in wrongdoing. Republican Deb Fischer of Nebraska and Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri are co-sponsors. Ayotte and McCaskill have introduced similar bills before. Agencies already can withhold bonuses from employees engaged in misconduct if they choose to, according to Cheri Cannon, a partner at Tully Rinckey, a federal sector labor and employment law firm in Washington. Cannon, who spoke to Government Executive in March when the legislation was introduced, said at the time that the bill is another example of Congress drafting legislation to create laws in an area where agencies already have discretion. “Several agencies and programs within agencies of which I am aware, already do withhold bonuses from classes of employees, such as senior executives, if they have substantiated IG findings against them,” said Cannon. “Mere suspicion or allegations of misconduct are not enough.” S. 742 was among several bills the committee approved during the Wednesday markup, including one (S. 1616) aimed at improving the detection and prevention of government charge card abuse and another (S. 1580) which seeks to streamline the federal hiring process. The latter, dubbed the 2015 Competitive Service Act, would allow agencies to share information on job applicants. Currently, agencies with similar hiring needs cannot share assessments of applicants with each other. S. 1580, introduced by Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, would let agencies collaborate on competitive service certificates when looking to fill a position in the same occupational series and within a similar grade level. Tester and Portman backed similar legislation in the last Congress, though the measure fizzled despite receiving bipartisan support in both chambers. The committee also reported out legislation that aims to better protect federal retirees from nefarious financial representatives seeking to steal their benefits. The 2015 Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act, which Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., sponsored, would give U.S. attorneys the statutory authority to prosecute retiree representatives who misuse funds from the Federal Employees Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System. The bill classifies misuse of such benefits as a felony, and provides the same protections that veterans and Social Security recipients receive. Under the representative payee program, a person or an organization manages benefits for recipients who are unable to do so for themselves. The panel on Wednesday also approved the nomination of Carol Ochoa to be inspector general of the General Services Administration. (Image via nito/Shutterstock.com)Yet, it should be noted that the entire volume of illicit drug production in Afghanistan is estimated at $65 billion. So we can see that the Taliban's share in the entire output is only 0.2 per cent. Thus obviously it’s not the main producer. However, the international security forces say that they will eliminate only those drug production sites and facilities which are related to the Taliban. In other words, all the 150,000 military personnel will be employed in eliminating a mere 0.2 per cent of the total illicit drug production. And it's suggested that the remaining 99.8 per cent is to be taken care of by the Afghan authorities. RT: Which they are not going to do? VI: Which they cannot do, of course. Revenues from drug production are $65 billion, and the Afghan government’s annual budget is $12 billion, and 90 per cent of this amount comes from financial aid. RT: What do Americans say to this idea? Because it makes perfect sense. VI:We have not heard any definitive answer. NATO's Secretary General Mr. Rasmussen, for example, Deputy Secretary General Claudio Bisogniero, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Di Paola all said that if the UN Security Council makes that decision, we will do this. RT: Why wouldn't the Security Council make that decision? It has decided that it is a threat to global security. VI: The UN Security Council's decisions are made when all member states agree on something. We need all members to vote in favor of considering drug production in Afghanistan a threat to international peace and security. RT: But they wouldn't do that… America wouldn't do that, any other countries? VI: On October 13th the Security Council passed Resolution 1943, but it recognized this not as a threat to international peace and security, but as a threat to international peace and stability. But such phrasing is not legally binding. Only the "threat to international peace and security" is legally binding. So we are also dealing with legal juggling here. RT: They’ve been in Afghanistan for nine years trying to establish democracy, but drug trafficking interferes a lot with it. My question is: do they understand that it undermines their goals in Afghanistan and makes them a failure? VI: Of course they understand. But nonetheless, they refuse to eliminate plants containing drugs, especially considering the fact that European countries participating in this campaign do not share their views on this issue. Under pressure from the electorate they are in favor of ending the military campaign in this country. RT: Can you say more about that? Russia thinks that it’s a big threat to global security. VI: It’s no longer a threat for Russia. It’s a factor which has been influencing the situation for a long time, and which leads to the elimination of the young population mostly aged up to 35 years old. It’s the group of people who suffer the most from drug addiction to Afghan opiates. This age group is leading in terms of the death toll, as it is reaching 40,000 deaths annually. Losses are immense. But we also estimate it as a threat to the rest of the world. The drug production issue in Afghanistan crossed the borders of this country long ago. The amount of drug trafficking is huge; it’s about 150 billion doses and injections. Drugs are brought outside the country’s borders, which creates trans-national global traffic routes. The three main routes are: the first is along the Balkan route towards the EU countries, the North route which is called the Northern Silk Route – since the times when the merchant Afanasyev was making a route to India – and the Southern Route across Pakistan to India and China and then via seas and oceans all around the world. Going across the territory of different states drug trafficking has its impact on the political life of the countries making the political, military, law enforcement and business elites corrupt and causes organized crime. If traffic routes are operating for a long time, they consolidate organized crime, which slowly arranges it into cartels which start fighting for control over these flows and tries to penetrate into politics to find a protector. That’s how terrorist manifestations and terrorism emerge. RT: What’s the way to easily eliminate the fields with drug containing plants? Supposing the Security Council made a decision and NATO started acting. VI: The thing is that the disease is at an advanced stage already. If we compare this case to oncology, it’s the fourth stage. And yet, this issue can be resolved. It requires a comprehensive approach which would include both the elimination of drug fields and encouraging agricultural cultivation of other plants and crops, as well as continued effort in restoring Afghanistan's economy. The existing framework of the country's economy today consists of the 142 business units which were established with the help of our country. Aside from those, all that Afghanistan has is humanitarian aid and illicit drug production. And of course the approach must include the peaceful settlement process. This is the key, because today we can see that a consolidation process is under way in the opposition, resulting in growing armed resistance both to the local government and authorities and to what the Afghans call the occupying forces. RT: Thank you very much. VI: You are welcome. For more on the story read "Afghans abandoned to fight drugs on their own – Russia’s drug control chief"The Syrian army has crossed the boundary of Raqqa province after advancing in a major Russian-backed offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Heavy Russian air strikes hit ISIL-held territory in eastern areas of Hama province, near the boundary of Raqqa, on Friday to facilitate the Syrian army's advance, the UK-based observatory said on Saturday. ISIL, which controls large swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq, is fighting Syrian troops, US-backed fighters and other rebel groups in northern Syria and is facing an offensive by Iraqi government forces and its on their stronghold of Fallujah. READ MORE: In Raqqa, support ISIL or die "Regime troops backed by Russian air strikes and Russian-trained militia entered Raqqa province on Saturday morning," Rami Abdel Rahman, the observatory's director, told the AFP news agency. The observatory said that at least 26 ISIL fighters and nine Syrian government and allied troops were killed in the fighting. It was the first time that government troops had entered Raqqa province since they were ousted by ISIL fighters in August 2014. The Syrian army was making its advances from the Athriya area of eastern Hama province, close to the provincial border with Raqqa. The offensive brought troops to within less than 40km of Tabqa, which is the site of an airbase and a big reservoir, the observatory said. The Tabqa dam on the Euphrates, 40km upstream from Raqqa city, is also the target of a separate offensive launched by US-backed Kurdish-led forces advancing from the north late last month. Raqqa city, further east, is ISIL's de facto capital in Syria and also, along with Mosul in Iraq, the ultimate target of the international anti-ISIL coalition seeking to destroy the group's self-declared caliphate. Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from Gaziantep, on the Turkish side of the Turkey-Syria border, said that the push into Raqqa from was a "significant development" but there was a still "a long way to go". "Raqqa is besieged by government troops from the west and Syrian factions from the north and from the east - the south is linked to the bordering province of Deir Az Zor which is still an ISIL stronghold," Ahelbarra said. "Now, whoever controls Raqqa will face a mammoth challenge, which is basically securing a vast territory," he added, noting that both the Syrian government and the Kurdish factions cannot maintain a significant presence of troops in the province as they are also involved in heavy fighting in different battlefields elsewhere in Syria.A dangerous cold snap is gripping much of the nation. Single-digit temperatures are in today's forecast from the Dakotas to New England, with wind chill readings down to about 45 degrees below zero in parts of the Midwest and Great Lakes regions, accounting for some of the coldest temperatures the region has seen in two years. Cold snap grips much of the nation A variety of winter weather advisories and warnings are in effect for much of Michigan, and downwind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The coldest wind chill temperatures recorded yesterday were 54 degrees below zero in Grand Marais, Minn., on the north shore of Lake Superior; -44 in International Falls, Minn., and -40 in Minot, N.D. Meteorologist Mike Augustyniak from CBS Station WCCO in Minneapolis says the brutal cold continues Tuesday - temperatures of nine below zero in Minneapolis-St. Paul, -25 in International Falls. Factor in the wind, Augustyniak said, and wind chills measurements approach 40 below in International Falls, 27 below in Green Bay, Wis., 31 below in Marquette, Wis., and Chicago and Detroit will feel in the teens below zero. And there's more: Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Buffalo will all feel like 10 to 25 below. Frostbite times there on exposed skin is 10 to 15 minutes. Another pocket of brutally cold wind is chilling northern New York, northern Vermont and New Hampshire. By tomorrow, Augustyniak said, the coldest of the cold will push slightly to the east. The National Weather Service says highs will likely remain in the single digits and teens north of the Ohio River through Wednesday, and in the 20s and low 30s for much of the Mid-Atlantic region. Chicagoans woke up Tuesday to temperatures hovering around zero, with wind chills around minus 10 to 15 degrees, reports CBS Station WBBM. And with the cold temperatures, comes snow and ice. Between two and seven inches of snow are expected in Cleveland Tuesday, with winds at 20-25 mph, and gusts up to 35 mph, bringing the wind chill down to 10-15 degrees below zero, reports CBS Affiliate WOIO. An inch to an inch and a half of snow fell over most of central and southern New Jersey. That was accompanied by cold air with temperatures not expected to get out of the 20s Tuesday. The National Weather Service says scattered snow showers are possible Tuesday morning in parts of New Jersey, leave a dusting to an inch of new snow, mainly in the higher elevations. Further east, as much as 6 to 12 inches of snowfall are anticipated for portions of southeast New England, from eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut through Rhode Island, and eastern Maine. Boston will see about 3 to 6 inches of snow through Tuesday morning.If you have a car with gas in its tank that has broken down or need just a little more gas for the lawn mower, siphoning gas out of your Ford 150 is a solution to not let your gas go to waste. A siphon creates a vacuum and allows gas to flow out of a tube that is placed in the gas tank. As gas leaves the tube, the vacuum forces it to pull in new gas from the tank, creating a cycle which can drain a gas tank to near empty or siphon just the amount you need. Cut clear tubing at least 6 feet long. The tubing should be three-fourths to 1 inch in diameter for the best flow rate. If the tube is too, large it can be difficult to achieve the needed suction. Twist off the gas cap to the Ford F150 gas tank. Insert one end of the tube through the hole where you normally would place the gas station nozzle. Step onto the step stool which should be placed next to the Ford 150's gas tank. The free end of the hose needs to be higher than the end in the gas tank for the suction to work correctly. Put the free end of the hose in your mouth. Begin to suck on the end to draw the gasoline up through the tube. Watch the clear tube for the gas. To prevent accidently ingesting gas, suck slowly. When the gas is 2 inches away from your mouth, seal the end of the tube with your thumb. Lower the end of the tube that your thumb is sealing into an empty gas container. The gas container should be placed on the ground to ease the flow of gas into the container. Remove your thumb from the end of the tube to begin the flow of the gas.A U.K. charity shop has found the mystery widower who left an anonymous, tear-jerking note along with a donated wedding gown. "We have found the kind gentleman who donated the beautiful vintage wedding dress to St Gemma’s Hospice this week," the shop wrote today on its Facebook page. "He is over the moon that we are giving somebody the opportunity to buy the gorgeous gown on eBay. He is a big fan of St Gemma’s Hospice and is overwhelmed with the International attention that his late wife’s dress is generating. "He is so happy and proud that the Hospice will benefit from funds raised by the auction of the dress," the post continued. "He wishes to remain anonymous and we fully respect his decision, but he is watching the media frenzy with interest and thinks it is wonderful." Utah Woman's Wedding Gown Purchased by Mystery Bride Bride's Shattered Wedding Saved by Surprise Donation Wedding Rings Donated to Salvation Army Spark Contest Seeking Lucky Couple The note, which was pinned onto the ivory lace fabric, reads: I wish any lady who takes this dress to have a life with her loved one 56 years like I did. [They were] happy years. I was a lucky man to marry a lady like mine. The paper was discovered June 8 by shop employee Aysha Alton at one of St. Gemma's 22 charity shops, where proceeds go to support the work of St. Gemma's Hospice in Leeds, England, according to St. Gemma's employee Nicola Woodgate. "The shop found a lovely handwritten note attached when they opened it up," Woodgate told ABC News. "It’s a very ornate, vintage gown that we think was probably made in the 1950s. It has no labels, so we think it was made for the lady who would've been the bride. "They knew immediately that it was a very special dress, but the note made it even more special." Since the gown has received worldwide interest, Woodgate said, St. Gemma's decided to list it for auction on eBay. The dress now has 23 offers with the highest bid at $941.09, and less than eight days left.
, 2002, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo informed the CIA that Attorney General John Ashcroft had approved waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah.[89] Journalists including Jane Mayer, Joby Warrick and Peter Finn, and Alex Koppelman have reported the CIA was already using these harsh tactics before the memo authorizing their use was written,[13][76][87][90][91] and that it was used to provide after-the-fact legal support for harsh interrogation techniques.[92] A Department of Justice 2009 report regarding prisoner abuses reportedly stated the memos were prepared one month after Zubaydah had already been subjected to the specific techniques authorized in August 1, 2002, memo.[93] John Kiriakou stated in July 2009 that Zubaydah was waterboarded in the early summer of 2002, months before August 1, 2002, memo was written.[94][95] The memo described ten techniques which the interrogators wanted to use: "(1) attention grasp, (2) walling, (3) facial hold, (4) facial slap (insult slap), (5) cramped confinement, (6) wall standing, (7) stress positions, (8) sleep deprivation, (9) insects placed in a confinement box, and (10) the waterboard."[33] Many of the techniques were, until then, generally considered illegal.[13][73][76][87][96][97] Many other techniques developed by the CIA were held to constitute inhumane and degrading treatment and torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.[73] As reported later, many of these interrogation techniques were previously considered illegal under U.S. and international law and treaties at the time of Zubaydah's capture.[73][96] For instance, the United States had prosecuted Japanese military officials after World War II and American soldiers after the Vietnam War for waterboarding.[96] Since 1930, the United States had defined sleep deprivation as an illegal form of torture.[13] Many other techniques developed by the CIA constitute inhuman and degrading treatment and torture under the United Nations Convention against Torture, and Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.[73] Ensuing interrogation [ edit ] At a CIA black site in Thailand,[98][99][100][101] Zubaydah was subjected to various forms of increasingly harsh interrogation techniques, including temperature extremes, music played at debilitating volumes, and sexual humiliation.[19][70][85][102] Zubaydah was also subjected to beatings, isolation, waterboarding, long-time standing, continuous cramped confinement, and sleep deprivation.[13][69][70][85][103][104][105] During Zubaydah's interrogation, President Bush learned he was on painkillers for his wounds and was proving resistant.[106] He said to the CIA director George Tenet, "Who authorized putting him on pain medication?"[106] It was later reported that Zubaydah was denied painkillers during his interrogation.[13][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114] Waterboarding [ edit ] Zubaydah was one of three or more high-value detainees to be waterboarded.[85][115] The Bush administration in 2007 said that Zubaydah had been waterboarded once.[116][117][118] John Kiriakou, a CIA officer who had seen the cables regarding Zubaydah's interrogation, publicly said in 2009 that Zubaydah was waterboarded once for 35 seconds before he started talking.[119][120][121] Intelligence sources claimed as early as 2008 that Zubaydah had been waterboarded no less than ten times in the span of one week.[13] Zubaydah was waterboarded 83 times within the month of August 2002, the month the CIA was authorized to use this enhanced interrogation techniques for him.[88][115][122][123][124][125] In January 2010, Kiriakou, in a memoir, said, "Now we know that Zubaydah was waterboarded eighty-three times in a single month, raising questions about how much useful information he actually supplied."[126] 2003 transfer to Guantanamo [ edit ] In August 2010, the Associated Press reported that the CIA, having concluded its agents had gotten most of the information from Zubaydah, in September 2003 transferred him and three other high-value detainees to Guantanamo. They were held at what was informally known as "Strawberry Fields," a secret camp within the complex built especially for former CIA detainees. Concerned that a pending Supreme Court decision, Rasul v. Bush (2004), might go against the Bush administration and require providing the prisoners with counsel and having to reveal data about them, on March 27, 2004, the CIA took the four men back into custody and transported them out of Guantanamo to one of their secret sites.[127] At the time, the moves were all kept secret. International Committee of the Red Cross report [ edit ] [85] I struggled against the straps, trying to breathe, but it was hopeless. I thought I was going to die. Abu Zubaydah on being waterboarded In February 2007, the International Committee of the Red Cross concluded a report on the treatment of "14 high-value detainees," who had been held by the CIA and, after September 2006, by the military at Guantanamo.[85] The ICRC described the twelve enhanced interrogation techniques covered in the OLC memos to the CIA: suffocation by water (which is described as "torture" by numerous US officials[13][97]), prolonged stress standing position, beatings by use of a collar, beating and kicking, confinement in a box, prolonged nudity, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold temperature, prolonged shackling, threats of ill-treatment, forced shaving, and deprivation/restricted provision of solid food.[85] Zubaydah was the only detainee of the 14 interviewed who had been subjected to all 12 of these interrogation techniques.[85] He was also the only one of the 14 detainees to be put into close confinement.[85] May 30, 2005, memo [ edit ] The final memo mentioned Zubaydah several times. It claimed that due to the enhanced interrogation techniques, Zubaydah "provided significant information on two operatives, [including] José Padilla[,] who planned to build and detonate a 'dirty bomb' in the Washington DC area."[122] This claim is strongly disputed by Ali Soufan, the FBI interrogator who first interrogated Zubaydah following his capture, by traditional means. He said the most valuable information was gained before torture was used. Other intelligence officers have also disputed that claim.[13][82][83][84][128] Soufan, when asked in 2009 by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse during a Congressional hearing if the memo was incorrect, testified that it was.[129] The memo noted that not all of the waterboarding sessions were necessary for Zubaydah, since the on-scene interrogation team determined he had stopped producing actionable intelligence.[122] The memo reads: This is not to say that the interrogation program has worked perfectly. According to the IG Report, the CIA, at least initially, could not always distinguish detainees who had information but were successfully resisting interrogation from those who did not actually have the information. See IG Report at 83–85. On at least one occasion, this may have resulted in what might be deemed in retrospect to have been the unnecessary use of enhanced techniques. On that occasion, although the on-scene interrogation team judged Zubaydah to be compliant, elements within CIA Headquarters still believed he was withholding information. See id at 84. At the direction of CIA Headquarters, interrogators therefore used the waterboard one more time on Zubaydah.[122] John McLaughlin, former acting CIA director, stated in 2006, "I totally disagree with the view that the capture of Zubaydah was unimportant. Zubaydah was woven through all of the intelligence prior to 9/11 that signaled a major attack was coming, and his capture yielded a great deal of important information."[130] In his 2007 memoir, former CIA Director George Tenet writes: A published report in 2006 contended that Zubaydah was mentally unstable and that the administration had overstated his importance. Baloney. Zubaydah had been at the crossroads of many al-Qa'ida operations and was in position to – and did – share critical information with his interrogators. Apparently, the source of the rumor that Zubaydah was unbalanced was his personal diary, in which he adopted various personas. From that shaky perch, some junior Freudians leapt to the conclusion that Zubaydah had multiple personalities. In fact, Agency psychiatrists eventually determined that in his diary he was using a sophisticated literary device to express himself. And, boy, did he express himself.[131] Intelligence obtained from Zubaydah and its aftereffects [ edit ] Zubaydah's capture was touted as the biggest of the War on Terror until that of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.[132] The director of the FBI stated Zubaydah's capture would help deter future attacks.[133] In a speech in 2006, President Bush claimed that Zubaydah revealed useful intelligence when enhanced interrogation was used, including identification of two important suspects and information that allegedly helped foil a terrorist attack on American soil.[50] These claims directly conflict with the reports of the FBI agents who first interrogated Zubaydah. He gave them the names before torture was used, and the third piece of information came from other sources who had been receiving crucial pieces of information from him without the use of harsher techniques,[13][82][83] as well as other government officials.[16][115] Iraq War (2003) [ edit ] The Bush administration relied on some of Zubaydah's claims in justifying the invasion of Iraq. U.S. officials stated that the allegations that Iraq and al-Qaeda were linked in the training of people on chemical weapons came from Zubaydah.[134][135][136] The officials noted there was no independent verification of his claims.[134][135] The U.S. government included statements made by Zubaydah in regards to al Qaeda's ability to obtain a dirty bomb to show a link between Iraq and al Qaeda.[137] According to a Senate Intelligence Committee report of 2004, Zubaydah said that "he had heard that an important al Qaeda associate, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and others had good relationships with Iraqi intelligence."[138] However, the year before, in June 2003, Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were reported as saying there was no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda.[139][140] In the Senate Armed Services Committee 2008 report on the abuses of detainees, the Bush administration was described as having applied pressure to interrogators to find a link between Iraq and al Qaeda prior to the Iraq War.[141] Major Paul Burney, a psychiatrist with the United States Army, said to the committee, "while we were [at Guantanamo] a large part of the time we were focused on trying to establish a link between al Qaeda and Iraq and we were not being successful."[141][142] He said that higher-ups were "frustrated" and applied "more and more pressure to resort to measures that might produce more immediate results."[141][142][143] Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, the former chief of staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell said: Likewise, what I have learned is that as the administration authorized harsh interrogation in April and May 2002—well before the Justice Department had rendered any legal opinion—its principal priority for intelligence was not aimed at pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida. So furious was this effort that on one particular detainee, even when the interrogation team had reported to Cheney's office that their detainee "was compliant" (meaning the team recommended no more torture), the VP's office ordered them to continue the enhanced methods. The detainee had not revealed any al-Qa'ida-Baghdad contacts yet. This ceased only after Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, under waterboarding in Egypt, "revealed" such contacts. Of course, later we learned that al-Libi revealed these contacts only to get the torture to stop.[142] Concerns [ edit ] In 2004, media coverage of Abu Zubaydah began listing him as a "disappeared" prisoner, claiming he had no access to the International Red Cross.[144] In February 2005, the CIA was reported as uncomfortable keeping Zubaydah in indefinite custody.[145] Less than 18 months later, Zubaydah and the thirteen other high-value detainees who had been in secret CIA custody were transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[146] After his transfer, the CIA denied access to Zubaydah. In 2008, the Office of the Inspector General, Department of Justice, complained that it had been prevented from seeing him, although it was conducting a study of the US treatment of its detainees.[147] Zubaydah's mental health [ edit ] Some people are concerned about Zubaydah's mental stability and how that has affected information he has given to interrogators. Ron Suskind noted in his book, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 (2006), that Zubaydah was mentally ill or disabled due to a severe head injury. He described Zubaydah as keeping a diary "in the voice of three people: Hani 1, Hani 2, and Hani 3"—a boy, a young man and a middle-aged alter ego.[20] Zubaydah's diaries spanned ten years and recorded in numbing detail "what he ate, or wore, or trifling things [people] said."[19] Dan Coleman, then the FBI's top al-Qaeda analyst, told a senior bureau official, "This guy is insane, certifiable, split personality."[20] According to Suskind, this judgment was "echoed at the top of CIA and was briefed to the President and Vice President."[20] Coleman stated Zubaydah was a "safehouse keeper" with mental problems, who "claimed to know more about al-Qaeda and its inner workings than he really did."[19] Joseph Margulies, Zubaydah's co-counsel, wrote in an OpEd in the Los Angeles Times: Partly as a result of injuries he suffered while he was fighting the communists in Afghanistan, partly as a result of how those injuries were exacerbated by the CIA and partly as a result of his extended isolation, Zubaydah's mental grasp is slipping away. Today, he suffers blinding headaches and has permanent brain damage. He has an excruciating sensitivity to sounds, hearing what others do not. The slightest noise drives him nearly insane. In the last two years alone, he has experienced about 200 seizures. Already, he cannot picture his mother's face or recall his father's name. Gradually, his past, like his future, eludes him.[148] Legal status [ edit ] President Bush referred to Zubaydah in a speech to Congress September 2006 requesting a bill to authorize military commissions, following the US Supreme Court ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) that held the tribunals as formulated by the executive branch were unconstitutional. Congress rapidly passed legislation that was signed by the president.[149] Less than one month after Zubaydah's capture, Justice Department officials said Zubaydah was "a near-ideal candidate for a tribunal trial."[150] Several months later in 2002, US officials said there was "no rush" to try Zubaydah via military commission.[151] At his Combatant Status Review Tribunal in 2007, Zubaydah said he was told that the CIA realized he was not significant. "They told me, 'Sorry, we discover that you are not Number 3, not a partner, not even a fighter,' " said Zubaydah, speaking in broken English, according to the new transcript of a Combatant Status Review Tribunal held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.[9] Abu Zubaydah's lawyers filed a lawsuit in July 2008 challenging his detention at Guantanamo Bay detention camps after the Boumediene v. Bush ruling. As of 2015, the judge overseeing the case, Richard W. Roberts, has failed to rule on any motions related to the case, even the preliminary ones. This has led Zubaydah's lawyers to file motion asking Judge Roberts to recuse himself for nonfeasance in January 2015. On March 16, 2016, Roberts retired early from the federal bench, citing unspecified health issues.[152] The judge's failure to act for nearly eight years may be related to the revelation in the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture that Zubaydah's CIA interrogators wanted him to "remain in isolation and incommunicado for the remainder of his life."[153] The U.S. Government has not officially charged Zubaydah with any crimes.[154] Joint Review Task Force [ edit ] When he assumed office in January 2009, President Barack Obama made a number of promises about the future of Guantanamo.[155][156][157] He promised the use of torture would cease at the camp. He promised to institute a new review system. That new review system was composed of officials from six departments, where the OARDEC reviews were conducted entirely by the Department of Defense. When it reported back, a year later, the Joint Review Task Force classified some individuals as too dangerous to be transferred from Guantanamo, even though there was no evidence to justify laying charges against them. On April 9, 2013, that document was made public after a Freedom of Information Act request.[158] Zayn al-lbidin Muhammed Husayn was one of the 71 individuals deemed too innocent to charge but too dangerous to release. Although Obama promised that those deemed too innocent to charge but too dangerous to release would start to receive reviews from a Periodic Review Board, less than a quarter of men have received a review. European Court of Human Rights decision [ edit ] On 24 July 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Poland had violated the European Convention on Human Rights when it cooperated with US allowing the CIA to hold and torture Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri on its territory in 2002–2003. The court ordered the Polish government to pay each of the men €100,000 in damages. It also awarded Zubaydah €30,000 to cover his costs.[159][160] On 31 May 2018, the ECHR ruled that Romania and Lithuania also violated the rights of Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri in 2003-2005 and in 2005-2006 respectively, and Lithuania and Romania were ordered to pay 100,000 euros in damages each to Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Nashiri.[161] See also [ edit ]Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench is the game's latest legend to speak out against baseball's great bat flip debate. Calling into the The Rich Eisen Show on Monday, the former Cincinnati Reds backstop responded to Bryce Harper's call for more emotion in baseball, saying those who flipped their bat in Bench's playing days were promptly dealt with their next time up. Related: Ortiz targets bat-flip haters in expletive-laden tirade "You can flip your bat. We had guys do that... and the next time up there was chin music. And if you want to play that way, that's fine," he said. "Bring back the excitement? OK, we'll bring back the brushback pitch, the knockdown pitch. That's all part of the excitement." Bench is just one of several Hall of Famers who feel baseball should still be played with a sense of old-school respect, while a plethora of young, current MLB stars feel more authentic displays of on-field passion are warranted. "I know a lot of the old-timers and a lot of people who watched baseball forever would love to see somebody have a little chin music," Bench continued. "If you want to do that, fine. Flip the bat, run around any way you want, but just expect the next time you come up to the plate, you better watching how much you dig into that batter's box." Bench, a 14-time All-Star played 17 seasons in MLB - all with the Reds - between 1967 and 1983. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1989 with 96.42 percent of the votes.Microsoft and Dropbox unveiled an expansion of their partnership today with the debut of a native application for Windows 10 devices. The app, which will work on both Windows 10 PCs and tablets, follows the companies’ earlier integrations across both web and mobile devices. However, the app is not yet live in the Windows Store across all regions – instead, it will become available over the next few days, notes Dropbox in an announcement. This new app was built on the Universal Windows Platform, with support for Windows 10-specific features like Windows Hello, Live Tiles, and Notifications. A Dropbox Windows desktop client is also available, but lacks the Windows 10 features. Similar to other Dropbox application on competing platforms, Dropbox for Windows 10 will allow users to drag-and-drop items in between the Dropbox app and Windows File Explorer, as well as copy or paste files. It also supports other features, including Quick Search (where you can just start typing to see results); interactive notifications that let you accept invites without launching the app; comments, @mentions; Jump List access (meaning you right-click on the app icon in the taskbar to access recent files); as well as “Windows Hello,” a feature that lets you use your fingerprint, face or iris to unlock Dropbox. In addition, Microsoft says that a version of Dropbox designed for Windows 10 Mobile is also “coming soon,” but declined to provide a launch date. Microsoft and Dropbox, as you may recall, have rolled out a number of integrations between their two businesses, beginning with the announcement of a formal partnership in November 2014. Since then, the companies have made it easier for users to access each others’ products and services from their respective platforms. For example, Dropbox’s mobile apps were made to work with Microsoft Office, including the ability to edit Office documents from inside the Dropbox app. And Microsoft Office users were later allowed the ability to edit their Office files within Dropbox via the web, too. [gallery ids="1266174,1266173,1266172,1266169"] According to a post from Steve Guggenheimer, Microsoft’s Corporate VP of Developer Platform and Evangelism and Chief Evangelist, the company’s partnership with Dropbox has since helped “more than 17 million people” get their work done. The expansion to natively support Windows 10 devices is a notable one, given that Microsoft now claims over 200 million active Windows 10 devices worldwide.The battle for the presidency is being billed as a two horse race after separate polls put Michael D Higgins in front with Sean Gallagher a close second. The Labour TD has support from about a quarter of the electorate, while shock runner-up, businessman and Dragon’s Den investor, Sean Gallagher has one-fifth. A dire showing from Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell, between 9-10 per cent, prompted Taoiseach Enda Kenny to call for the party machine to get behind their man - the second rallying cry this week. “It’s never too late for a candidate to win an election,” he said. “It’s important that the party understands that this is a presidential election and therefore they have an onus and responsibility to do everything that they can, and get out the Fine Gael vote.” The results from the Irish Times Ipsos/MRBI were within the 3 per cent margin of error and forecast transfers will decide the next president. Labour’s Michael D Higgins was on 23-25 per cent and Independent Sean Gallagher on 20-21 per cent, both well ahead of Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness on 16-19 per cent but lacking the ability to attract floating voters or transfers. Mr Mitchell has slumped to anywhere from fourth to sixth after his support nosedived in the last few weeks. Pollsters analysing the figures claimed that the winning formula for Mr Higgins and Mr Gallagher may come from the man who captures both young and older voters over the next three weeks. Other big losers are Senator David Norris following a week of questions about clemency letters he wrote in support of his ex-partner Ezra Nawi and an inability to answer on the controversy in a TV3 debate. Elsewhere, along the bottom rungs of the polling Mary Davis is sitting between fourth and sixth with 9-12 per cent of the vote, while Dana has a mammoth task on her hands to move off the 5-6 per cent mark. In the latest poll almost half think that Mr Higgins will win the election regardless of who they want in the Áras. Mr Higgins said the poll was consistent with the response he was getting on the street. Opposition to individual candidates was also significant after people were asked who they did not want to see in the Áras - Mr McGuinness polled 34 per cent. Dana and David Norris followed on 18 per cent and 16 per cent. Further polls are expected in the Irish Times and with Red C for the Sunday Business Post in the final two weeks of the campaign. The findings of a second presidential poll, released today, revealed similar voting preferences. The poll, conducted by Red C for bookmaker Paddypower, showed Mr Higgins in pole position with 25 per cent followed by Mr Gallagher on 21 per cent with Mr McGuinness in third on 16 per cent. Senator Norris was in fourth place with 14 per cent followed by Mr Mitchell on 10 per cent, Ms Davis on 9 per cent and finally Ms Scallon on 5 per cent. PATransport police stood by and did nothing. After all, Greek Orthodox Christians do not have protected victim status; Muslims do. The officers no doubt did not want to appear “Islamophobic.” “We rush to condemn Islamophobia. What about anti-Christian attacks?,” by Miranda Devine, Daily Telegraph, April 8, 2017 (thanks to The Geller Report): WHILE we constantly are lectured about Islamophobic violence, despite little evidence of its existence, there is official silence about its flip side: religiously motivated attacks on Christians. One Greek community leader, Rev George Capsis, has gone so far as to warn Christians not to wear overt religious symbols when they are travelling though Muslim enclaves of southwestern Sydney. But last Tuesday afternoon, 30-year-old Greek Orthodox Christian, Mike, discovered too late the risks of wearing a large cross outside his clothing while travelling on the train from Campsie to Bankstown with his girlfriend. He says he was minding his own business talking on his mobile phone, when four young men of Middle Eastern appearance allegedly violently ripped the crucifix off his neck, and stomped on it while swearing “F*** Jesus” and referring to “Allah”. He says they punched him and kicked him in his face, back and shoulders during the attack which began about 3pm, just after the train left Belmore station. When his girlfriend tried to defend him, two Arabic-speaking women also allegedly hit and kicked her. The crucifix, which his mother had given him, was bent, and the silver chain broken in two places. “I was born in Australia of Greek heritage,” says Mike. “I’ve always worn my cross. For him to rip it off and step on it has to be a religious crime… It’s not on to feel unsafe in your own country.”… He claims that five uniformed railway “Transport Officers” watched the attack and did nothing to help him, although police were waiting for the train when it reached Bankstown station.Two police officers took the names of three alleged assailants and a statement from Mike, photographed his injuries, told him they would review CCTV footage from the train and that he should expect a letter in a month, which may require his attendance at court…. Capsis claims Mike is the fourth Christian who has complained to him of a religiously-motivated attack in the past six months.“This is not an isolated incident. There are gangs of these young fellows of Muslim background who have been harassing people they identify as Christian… You don’t hear about it because no one’s reporting it.” The other three attacks Capsis says have occurred around public transport in southwest Sydney: “It’s like their territory; they don’t want Christians or other types of infidels there… “People like Greek Orthodox carry a big cross. I tell them to be practical and if they’re in those areas and wearing a big cross and a group of young guys comes, hide it in your shirt. Why provoke it? “If this keeps up, someone will be hurt. It’s got to be nipped in the bud.”… There have been isolated reports of anti-Christian abuse in recent years, such as churchgoers in Sydney’s west copping death threats from men driving past in a car bearing the Islamic State flag….But there are no hashtags for Christians like Mike when they ride on Sydney trains.Christy Clark likes talking about B.C.'s low taxes. BC Best Province for Low Taxes? Uh, Not for Poor Families read more Announcements, Events & more from Tyee and select partners ‘Punch to the Gut’ Musical on Residential Schools Returns to Vancouver Children of God has been shaped by intense audience reactions, says director Corey Payette. But since she's been premier, a fairly typical retired couple has seen their provincial taxes increase by 19 per cent. A low-income family with two children has faced an even larger increase, paying 20 per cent more in provincial taxes since Clark's first budget in 2012. That's an increase of 4.6 per cent a year, more than twice the inflation rate. There is nothing wrong with higher taxes, if they're equitable and the money helps build a stronger society. But Clark falls down badly on equity, according to this week's budget documents. While seniors getting by on modest pensions and low-income families have faced 20 per-cent tax hikes, their more affluent neighbours have pretty much escaped tax increases. A family of four with $90,000 income is paying only 1.1 per cent more in taxes than they did in 2012. A single person with $80,000 income has faced a 2.2-per-cent increase in the Clark years. The family of four with a household income of $90,000 is paying $102 more in taxes and fees after four years of Clark's leadership. The single high-earner person is paying $165 more. Yet the family of four scraping by on $30,000 is paying $448 a year more. (These numbers are all from Page 112 in the main budget report.) Partly, this is a consequence of the government's focus on spin and sloganeering. Clark likes to be able to go around saying income taxes are the lowest in Canada, so government managers increase other taxes, like MSP premiums, to keep her happy. In this year's budget, MSP premiums jumped again to bring in $2.6 billion. For the first time, they brought in more revenue than royalties from forests, natural gas and mining combined. Clark can say that B.C. has the lowest income taxes in Canada. But look at the total provincial taxes, and the story is different. A table in the main budget document offers detailed information on five different types of taxpayers and what they pay across Canada. Only one -- the single person with an income of $80,000 -- is paying the lowest rate in Canada. A family of four with a $30,000 income would pay less in three other provinces. A retired couple with the same income would pay less in two other provinces, as would a family with $60,000 income. What's more important is how people are paying. A decade ago, a family of four earning $60,000 paid one-third of their contribution to the government in income tax. That's broadly progressive -- the more you make, the more you pay. That share has fallen to 20 per cent today, as fees and regressive measures have been piled on by this government. Inequality as policy There is a pervasive myth that growing inequality is the inevitable result of some economic force, as immutable as gravity. In reality, inequality is growing in large part as a result of government policy. When a government decides to rely less on progressive taxes to raise money it increases inequality. People with lower incomes pay a larger share of the costs of government and are left with less money. People with higher incomes pay a smaller share and have more money. Inequality increases. The shift in who pays for government isn't just a matter of the amounts paid by different families. The Liberal government has steadily increased the amount paid by individual families, cutting the share paid by businesses. It's tough to break down who pays what. Sales tax, for example, is paid by families and by business. But 10 years ago, taxes clearly paid by business -- corporate taxes, resource royalties -- provided 18 per cent of provincial revenues. This year, they will provide 12 per cent of revenues. Businesses will pay more than $1 billion less than they did a decade ago. In the same period, taxes that can clearly be allocated to families have increased by $4 billion. Partly that reflects the collapse of natural gas revenues. (Though a smarter, more prudent government would have created a real Prosperity Fund and socked some of those non-renewable revenues away knowing the boom would be short.) But, as the budget notes, the natural resource sector provides a larger share of GDP today than it did in 1981. The citizens, as owners, are just getting a lot less revenue from the companies using the resources. Making families pay In any case, the government had many options for making up those revenues. And they choose to make families pay. The carbon tax offers a tidy demonstration of the tax shift from businesses to families. The tax is supposed to be revenue-neutral. "All revenue generated by the carbon tax will be returned to individuals and businesses through reductions to other taxes," the government promised in 2008. That year, 64 per cent of the offsetting tax cuts benefited individuals and families and the rest went to businesses. In this year's budget, families and individuals get 35 per cent of the tax savings that are offsetting the carbon tax; businesses get 65 per cent. The budget offered a vague announcement about a planned Commission on Tax Competitiveness to look at changes to encourage business investment. It's not difficult to predict the members will come from the business community and recommend lower taxes for business, without noting that means higher taxes for families. What British Columbians really need is a commission on tax fairness to look broadly at the way taxes are collected, who is paying and how we can build a more equitable, transparent and sustainable system to raise the revenue government needs.More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and the progression of the disease can vary from person to person. (Photo11: Rauluminate, Getty Images) As we discussed last week, November is National Alzheimer's Awareness Month. In our practice, we regularly come across clients or their loved ones who have Alzheimer's disease with its related dementia symptoms. It is important we as legal professionals understand Alzheimer's disease and dementia, since it affects so many of our clients and how we advise them. It is also important that you understand Alzheimer's, since it is reported that more than 5 million Americans have the disease. You likely will encounter someone with the disease or might even have it yourself. The Alzheimer's Association has developed a checklist of common symptoms of Alzheimer's disease to assist you in recognizing the warning signs: 1. Memory changes that disrupt daily life. 2. Challenges in planning and solving problems. 3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks. 4. Confusion to time and place. 5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. 6. New problems with words in speaking or writing. 7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps. 8. Decreased or poor judgment. 9. Withdrawal from work or social activities. 10. Changes in mood or personality. The progression of Alzheimer's can vary from person to person — and not everyone will experience the same symptoms. Barry Reisberg, M.D., clinical director of the New York University School of Medicine's Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center, has developed a framework that is generally recognized as the seven stages of Alzheimer's: Stage 1: No impairment (normal function). The person does not experience any memory problems. An interview with a medical professional does not show any evidence of symptoms of dementia. Stage 2: Very mild cognitive decline (may be normal age-related changes or earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease). The person might feel as if he or she is having memory lapses — forgetting familiar words or the location of everyday objects. But no symptoms of dementia can be detected during a medical examination or by friends, family or co-workers. Stage 3: Mild cognitive decline (early-stage Alzheimer's can be diagnosed in some, but not all, individuals with these symptoms). Friends, family or co-workers begin to notice difficulties. During a detailed medical interview, doctors might be able to detect problems in memory or concentration. Common stage 3 difficulties include: • Noticeable problems coming up with the right word or name. • Trouble remembering names when introduced to new people. • Having noticeably greater difficulty performing tasks in social or work settings. • Forgetting material that one has just read. • Losing or misplacing a valuable object. • Increasing trouble with planning or organizing. Stage 4: Moderate cognitive decline (Mild or early-stage Alzheimer's disease). At this point, a careful medical interview should be able to detect clear-cut symptoms in several areas: • Forgetfulness of recent events. • Impaired ability to perform challenging mental arithmetic — for example, counting backward from 100 by 7s. • Greater difficulty performing complex tasks, such as planning dinner for guests, paying bills or managing finances. • Forgetfulness about one's own personal history. • Becoming moody or withdrawn, especially in socially or mentally challenging situations. Stage 5: Moderately severe cognitive decline (Moderate or mid-stage Alzheimer's disease). Gaps in memory and thinking are noticeable, and individuals begin to need help with day-to-day activities. At this stage, those with Alzheimer's may: • Be unable to recall their own address or telephone number or the high school or college from which they graduated. • Become confused about where they are or what day it is. • Have trouble with less challenging mental arithmetic, such as counting backward from 40 by subtracting 4s or from 20 by 2s. • Need help choosing proper clothing for the season or the occasion. • Still remember significant details about themselves and their family. • Still require no assistance with eating or using the toilet. Stage 6: Severe cognitive decline (Moderately severe or mid-stage Alzheimer's disease). Memory continues to worsen,
world’s dissidents – there really is a pattern emerging: “What has been happening in the world since 2008 isn’t an incoherent series of random eruptions in sealed national spaces, but one big historical sequence”. They suggest they it is wrong to lament the demise of the specific anti-globalisation movement that seemed such an unstoppable force at Genoa, Seattle, or the City of London in the years leading up to 9/11. Instead, they suggest, it has become absorbed into the Zeitgeist. “It has disappeared, precisely because it has been fulfilled. Everything that made up its basic vocabulary has entered into the public domain: is there anyone today who questions the existence of ‘the dictatorship of finance’, of the political aims behind IMF-imposed reforms, of the ‘destruction of the environment’ by capitalist greed, of the insane arrogance of the nuclear lobby, of the barefaced lies of power, of the open corruption of the ruling class? You have to remind yourself that over the course of ten years, views once held only by radicals have now become the very stuff of common sense”. More people have absorbed the fact that neo-liberal capitalism is not just a theoretical entity but something that exists on a real everyday level. Stripping away the mystique of power, we see the criminality behind the facade: “The state is the mafia which has beaten off all the other mafia”. We also see that capitalism is, basically, the infrastructure of life in modern industrial society: “Power is now immanent in life as it is organised…” “Power has now become the very order of things, with the police in charge of defending it”. While outright brutality is of course constantly deployed to defend capitalism, the Committee suggest that a more significant aspect of repression is “a war of influence – subtle, psychological and indirect”. The so-called “crisis” is a prime example of this, they say, distorting the way that opponents are able to even think about capitalism. “We are not experiencing a crisis of capitalism, but the triumph of crisis capitalism”. “There isn’t a ‘crisis’ we have to get out of, there is a war we have to win.” If the key to understanding capitalism is to appreciate the diffuse nature of its existence in the very infrastructure of its world, it is also important to understand our own role, insist the Committee. The counter-insurgency strategies of the status quo always assume the existence of an “enemy” which is competing with it for the loyalties of the “population” – and thus it will always try to create divisions between the two, whether by propaganda or subterfuge of various kinds (such as false flag “terrorism”). But we should know that we are ourselves part of the population: “We are the ‘hearts and minds’ that they want to win over. We are the crowds that they want to ‘control’. We are the underworld in which government agents operate and which they hope to subdue, and not a rival entity in the pursuit of power. We don’t fight from within the population ‘like a fish in the water’ for we are the water in which our enemies are wading – soluble fish. We are that matter which grows from the inside, organises itself and develops. There lies the real asymmetry and our real position of strength”. Anti-capitalists therefore need sometimes to “disappear” back inside the population of which they are part so they can never be isolated from it. Already in The Coming Insurrection, The Invisible Committee displayed similarities to the thinking of the oft-neglected German-Jewish anarchist Gustav Landauer when they wrote that “revolutionary movements do not spread by contamination but by resonance”. In his most important text, For Socialism, Landauer wrote: “There is no need to fear a lack of revolutionaries: they actually arise by a sort of spontaneous generation – namely when the revolution comes…” In A nos amis, the Committee quote Landauer at one stage and are making the very same point as he did above, when they declare: “It’s not ‘the people’ which creates the uprising, but the uprising which creates its people”. In order to start this process moving, they stress that we need to organise ourselves. Without that, our numbers count for nothing – the 99% per cent will remain disempowered by the 1%. “There is a world of difference,” they point out, “between a mass of poor people and a mass of poor people determined to act together”. But worry not – this does not mean they want us all to rally under their flag and set up local franchises of The Invisible Committee in our own home towns: “Getting organised doesn’t mean joining the same organisation. Getting organised is about acting according to a common perception, whatever level that might be on.” With a view to building that shared perception, they propose an emphasis on the idea of the revolutionary Commune – what might also be termed the building-up of a culture of resistance. From struggling together we can discover “a quality of connection and a way of being in the world”. Our personal experiences of being involved in occupied spaces of various kinds, the Communes they have in mind, show us “that we can organise ourselves and that this power is fundamentally joyful”. The power that comes from resisting is therefore in itself a kind of victory. Importantly, they understand that a revolutionary urge is not something that can be artificially constructed or easily controlled or quantified, but is instead a “living force”. We have to be able to “see a world populated not by things, but by forces, not by subjects but by powers, not by bodies but by connections”. The big question facing us, they say, is “How can we build a force which isn’t an organisation?” It is here that the depth of their conception of the Commune comes in. They refer back to the “medieval” sense of the idea, which they say had been long lost before being rediscovered by the federalist faction of the Paris Commune in 1871, and which has kept on resurfacing every since. This is the same “force without name” that was understood by the proto-anarchist heretics of the Brothers of the Free Spirit. The activation of this nameless force will be crucial in turning insurrection into revolution, in turning opposition to the industrial capitalism world into a positive longing for something different. At the moment, this positive longing is only expressing itself in negative terms, as a deep rejection of all that it is not, all that is preventing its vision from being fulfilled. “Incurable disgust, pure negativity and total rejection are the only political forces in evidence at the moment,” note the Committee. The real driving force behind the Occupy movement was not the specific grievances that it voiced but a much broader “disgust for the world we are made to live in”. This disgust, however, is itself proof of a contrasting conception of how things should be, how we should be living. The disgust arises from an ethical awareness, something that has been largely abandoned by anti-capitalists and has thus been able to be appropriated, in a distorted form, by Islamicists and fascists. “The importance of the theme of prevailing corruption in nearly all today’s revolts shows the extent to which they are primarily ethical rather than political,” say the Committee. For them, there are such things as “ethical truths”, but they are aware that this is not so for everyone: “These are two words which, when placed together, sound to the modern spirit like an oxymoron”. They go on to define these ethical foundations for our resistance: “These are truths which connect us, to ourselves, to that which surrounds us, and each to the other. They take us to a world which is suddenly held in common, to a non-separated existence free of the illusory walls of our egos”. It is not entirely clear to me to what extent the authors see these ethical truths as being embedded in human nature, as I would argue they are. On the one hand they reject the notion that political order is needed in order to constrain a basically selfish human nature, that we are all separate and competing individuals who have to be held together by some kind of artifice. They comment: “As Marshall Sahlins showed, this idea of a human nature which it is up to ‘culture’ to hold down is a Western illusion”. On the other hand, they go on to dismiss mutual aid and a belief in the innate goodness of humanity as “fundamentally Christian” ideas, apparently unaware of the notion of original sin and the necessity, for Christians, of finding salvation from this innate state of sin through redemption in Christ. A belief in the innate goodness of humanity – of an innate tendency to co-operation and solidarity – is as alien to orthodox Christian thinking as it is essential to the alternative panenhenist (“all-in-one-ist”) view of our connection to the universe to which the Committee’s views elsewhere come so close. It is the loss of our understanding that we, as individuals form a living part of a much bigger organic entity (or series of entities – humankind, the planet, the cosmos…) that has left us stranded with little understanding of the forces around us. When one is simply part of a bigger being (in the way that our various organs and limbs are part of our body), ideas of mutual aid and working for the common good are not even matters of choice, but of necessity. The “goodness” involved is therefore not altruistic in some abstract or religious way, but a natural result of our organic belonging to the wider Whole. The Committee seem aware of this when they write that “the real catastrophe is existential and metaphysical” and when they add: “To be free and to be connected (lié) is one and the same thing. I am free because I am connected, because I am part of a reality much bigger than me”. They comment on the existence of “a universal thirst for rediscovering ourselves that can only be explained by universal separation” and stress the importance of a spiritual aspect to our struggle “whether that takes the form of theory, literature, art or metaphysics”. The idea of the individual as part of an organic humanity and of humanity as, in turn, part of an organic planet leads inevitably to an environmental basis for our culture of resistance and this is indeed embraced by the Committee. They explicitly reject the leftist slogan of putting humanity at the centre of our thinking: “We other revolutionaries, with our atavistic humanism, would do well to take a look at the constant uprisings of indigenous peoples in central and south America over the last 20 years. Their slogan could be: ‘Put the Earth at the centre’”. The authors are clearly inspired by the Zapatista movement and indigenous Indian thinkers are quoted in support of the importance of interconnections between people and land, which the Committee also pinpoints as a crucial motivation behind uprisings elsewhere in the world. Threats to our environment – whether it be the felling of hundreds of trees in an Istanbul park, the construction of high-speed rail line through the Italian Alps or the building of a new airport at Nantes – are prompting many of the most significant outbreaks of resistance against capitalism. Moreover, this resistance is targeting the very infrastructure which in fact now constitutes the essential reality of capitalism. Blocking infrastructure is becoming the most effective way of fighting power. “More and more revolutionaries are coming to throw themselves as greedily into what they call ‘local struggles’ as they yesterday did into ‘social struggles’”, note the authors. “What connects them are the gestures of resistance that flow from them – blocking, occupying, rioting and sabotaging as direct attacks on the production of value by the circulation of information and goods…” As I noted recently, this phenomenon has been particularly apparent in France, where the controversy surrounding the police murder of environmental protester Rémi Fraisse has revealed to the public the extent of the resistance to grands projets designed to expand capitalist domination at the expense of the natural world and human communities. The way in which these struggles often combine different types and levels of resistance – from traditional “local” campaigning to direct action approaches – fits well with the Committee’s vision of the way forward for anti-capitalists. They emphasise that a fully-functioning resistance must retain all its aspects, which they break down into three main elements – spiritual, combative (whether orientated towards attack or self-defence) and possessing material means and spaces. “Each time that one of these dimensions loses contact with the others and becomes independent of them, the movement degenerates – into armed avant-gardes, cults of theorists or alternative businesses”. The principal activities in which we should be involved can therefore be summed up as thinking, attacking and building. Writing theoretical texts such as these is evidently only one aspect of the revolutionary work being carried out by the authors and they conclude the book on a positive message to the amis across the world who increasingly understand that they are fighting the same struggle, not just against the capitalist system but for another way of being. “We will do what has to be done,” they promise. “This text is the start of a plan”. AdvertisementsDemocrats slammed Sean Spicer on Monday for saying there is “zero evidence” Russia influenced the 2016 election, accusing the incoming White House press secretary of being a "shill" for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an email, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) called Spicer’s comments false and pointed to an interview where several former White House press secretaries suggested President-elect 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 often creates his own facts. “Right on cue, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary was on the morning shows today spinning the falsehood that there is 'zero evidence' that Russia influenced the election through their hacking of DNC and Clinton campaign officials," the DNC email stated. ADVERTISEMENT The email was sent under a subject line arguing that the incoming White House press secretary "shills for Putin." On Fox News on Monday, Spicer claimed there was “zero evidence” of Russian interference in the 2016 election, despite intelligence agencies's reports about the hacking campaign leading up to Trump's electoral win. “The way the mainstream media is playing it up is that [Russia] had an influence on the election,” Spicer said on Fox. “There is zero evidence that they actually influenced the election.” Last week, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security released a joint report explaining how federal investigators linked Russia to the hacks of Democratic groups. The Obama administration issued sanctions on Russia last week in response to the hacking. Trump has continued to dismiss the findings from intelligence agencies and praised Putin on Twitter as "very smart" after the U.S. sanctions were announced. Trump said after the sanctions were announced that he wanted the U.S. to "move on," but he indicated he would meet with members of the intelligence community this week to discuss Russian interference in the election. “It is deeply disturbing that Trump and his future White House press secretary are willing to lie so brazenly about Russian influence in the election,” DNC deputy communications director Eric Walker said in a statement. “This was an attack on American democracy by a foreign power, but instead of trusting American intelligence agencies and punishing Russia for interfering in our election, the incoming administration is attacking our intelligence community while defending Putin’s meddling.”When scientists want to understand how a drug works, they often turn to mice or other small animals to see how it works in them, then try to relate the results in humans. But a mouse is not a human, and its body functions quite differently. So for a few years now, researchers have been working on a better approach: tiny organs—called organoids—that grow and live inside a petri dish, but function like an actual organ. This week researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital announced their creation of a working piece of human stomach, complete with the ability to produce acid and digestive enzymes. They say this petri-dish-stomach will help them to better understand how the real thing works—and what exactly happens when things go wrong. The human stomach has multiple sections, all with different functions. The researchers recreated a section of the stomach called the fundus, which is responsible for producing the acid and digestive enzymes necessary to break down the food we eat. But this vital section of the stomach is also particularly vulnerable to disease. Too much acid can create acid reflux disease, while an infection with the bacteria H. Pylori can cause ulcers and inflammation. By studying how these diseases progress in the stomach tissue, the scientists hope to be better equipped to treat them. “You can watch diseases unfold under a microscope,” says James Wells, the lead author of the study. But you can also see how the stomach heals itself. When too much acid builds up in the stomach, it often inflames the inner stomach lining. Certain drugs, like Prilosec, treat this inflammation by reducing the amount of acid your body produces. Seeing this healing process in action and what contributes to it, Wells says, gives researchers the opportunity to find new—and potentially better—methods for healing it, whether with drugs or with tweaks to the gut's microbiome. Their work was published this week in Nature. This discovery comes two years after the researchers created another area of the stomach, the antrum, which is responsible for producing hormones that perform vital tasks like stimulating appetite. Both mini organs were built using pluripotent stem cells, which are capable of becoming any cell in the body and then replicating. The ultimate goal for many scientists in this field is to create a “human on a chip”—a credit card-sized device that contains organoids from every organ in the human body. This device could be used to see how new (and old) drugs affect the body as a whole, which could potentially lead to more targeted drug therapies with fewer side-effects. One day, the same process could be used to grow organs destined for human hosts. “The next real steps for me would be to make these tissues better and more functional to be used in transplantation therapies,” Wells says. The idea would be to replace lost sections of organs like the small intestine, pancreas, or even parts of the heart. But that work is at least a few years down the line. For now, these organoids will earn their keep by helping scientists make our guts a little less mysterious.Constantine #4 Since the first issue, it was established that Constantine is an anti-hero: selfish, untrustworthy and willing to do whatever to get what he wants. So it was surprising in this issue to find out such a man actually has people that like him; people he can call friends. He betrayed both Zatanna and Chris but there was someone who cared for him enough to think of him as a son and another that worries for him like a mother. Breaking from the action of the past 3 issues, this book moves plot points forward while teasing the impending Trinity War. A day off for John is as trouble-ridden as you’d expect for the character. He’s rounded up by a group of men and taken to see Papa Midnite, the Haitian Sorcerer of the undead. Stealing a magical object from Midnite is about to cost him an arm. Naturally, he escapes unharmed and spends the rest of his day visiting ex-girlfriend Zatanna and dealing out justice to a low-level con-artist. The only major complaint with this issue is in the art style. It’s mostly excellent but Â every character has the same expression on their face. John and Midnite look excellent throughout the issue, but facial expressions and action scenes need work. The scene with Midnite wasn’t thrilling enough and John’s beat down in the bar just felt flat. Lastly, there was some odd dialogue between John and Zatanna. She was annoyed with his visits and wanted him gone but quickly became more talkative when asked about her divinations. It wasn’t a smooth dialogue transition and momentarily broke the flow of the book. Each issue gives a glimpse here and there of the goodness in John. There were several here but the one that stood out the most was at the end. After surprising a guy following him into an alley, he takes the money from his wallet. Since the guy had previously conned a store clerk out of $9, he returned to pay it back. That was unexpected, but went a long way to remind readers he’s not as bad as some of his actions make him appear. Working off plots established with Lemire, Ray Fawkes takes over script writing for this issue. The opening shows John in trouble but teases his inevitable escape. This was well done because it makes you read on to find out what John “did this time”. Subsequent pages shows the events leading to that scene, how he escapes and then moves on. What happens afterwards seems most important because John visits Zatanna and learns about an impending war between superheroes. During which John will align himself with Lex Luthor. He dismisses it but it reinforces the idea that John isn’t above an alliance with anyone if it’s necessary. Lemire and Fawkes may have been moving plot points forward in this issue but they managed to remind readers that John isÂ a good guy and sneak in hints about the upcoming Trinity War. The death of Catwoman in Justice League of America issue 4 could be the start. Readers should jump onboard this comic because John Constantine will be involved in shaking up the DC universe this summer. Review Score: 5/7 Guardians of the Galaxy #3 The Guardians of the Galaxy are heroes after saving London from Badoon invasion. Now, Captured by the Spartax Royal Guard, the guardians await their prison sentence for entering recently restricted Earth space. While the series began with a solid start, it’s a shame this issue took an early break on action to focus on the villains and their intergalactic politics. J-Son, the king of Spartax has quickly become an unlikeable character. Either time has made him the man he is now or he was always horrible but showing that would have messed up the stranded-alien-on-the-run story from issue 1. Now, he has this estranged relationship with his son Peter Quill, the Starlord. An alliance with other major alien races in the galaxy has been struck with the sole purpose of keeping Earth off limits. This resulted in it becoming a target and the Guardians coming to the rescue. It’s crazy to think that J-Son’s plan was to make an example out of Starlord, but that’s what it appears. It’s cracking an already fragile alliance with the other alien races. As for the other characters, Iron Man was Iron Man in this issue. There’s not much that really needs to be said. He called the Avengers for help but there’s no indication the message was received. Overall, he felt out of place more in this issue than the last. It’s time for him to depart and let the Guardians have their own adventures. This issue may have looked great–especially the beautiful space shots– but if it doesn’t maintain the action or give all characters enough panel-time than it’s going lose the interest of many readers. At only issue 3, it’s dangerous territory to have readers walk away feeling bored by what they just read. Many of which are new to this series. Marvel is clearly putting a lot of resources into making this a success so maybe this issue was a small misstep. Readers should give the next issue a shot before looking elsewhere to satisfy their interests in the “defenders of the galaxy” genre. Review Score 3/7 The Walking Dead #111 It feels like forever since a new issue of The Walking Dead has hit the shelves. Regardless, this issue continues to slowly push the story to an inevitable confrontation. The three communities are preparing for war against Negan. Rick and Jesus have taken up a brief residence at The Kingdom with Ezekial to train, make ammunition and plan their attack. However, they aren’t the only ones with plans. It’s interesting to watch Michonne –typically a very guarded character– begin to let her guard down as she gets closer to Ezekial. She goes to bed smiling and tosses her sword on the floor. A mistake she quickly fixes by picking it back up and sleeping with it. Negan springs his own surprise on Rick’s community by showing up a few days early for supply pick up. In an unsurprising move, Spencer foolishly takes advantage of Negan’s presence to try to have Rick removed as the community’s leader. Negan exposes him as a coward and cuts out his guts. He then goes off to play pool. The character has had a very tense relationship with Rick and this second coup attempt was completely logical. Readers that have been annoyed by Spencer won’t miss him but the lack of surprise in his actions is a bit disappointing. This series moves at a leisurely pace, which can be too slow for some readers. However, it’s part of what builds the suspense. Clearly, things for the three communities have been going a little too well; finding an ally in Ezekial and the tools to make ammunition. Three things are certain: 1. Negan doesn’t know what’s going on; 2. Negan knows and is waiting for the right moment to crush the rebellion; or 3. Negan doesn’t know but the communities grossly underestimates his defenses. Regardless, the suspense is building to a big, bloody conclusion. Negan’s visit to Rick’s community is troubling. If he suspects what Rick is doing, he won’t be giving him a slap on the wrist. Just like Glen, someone will pay for Rick’s actions. Something very, special is in store for the 10 year anniversary of the series. The series author Robert Kirkman doesn’t believe readers will be ready. Find out if he is right by picking up next month’s issue. Review Score 5/75.1.1 Concealed Carry and Prohibited Weapons Policy Purpose Illinois State University is committed to a safe and secure environment for the University community and its guests. The University established this Concealed Carry and Prohibited Weapons Policy pursuant to the 2013 Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66 et seq.) and its enabling regulations and other University policy. The purpose of this policy is to establish restrictions on possession, storage, and/or concealed carry of firearms and weapons on University property as defined below. Policy This policy applies to all University employees (faculty and staff), students, and visitors. The University maintains a Weapons and Firearms-Free policy for all University Property. All persons covered by this policy, unless authorized by law or a specific exception in this policy, are prohibited: From possessing, storing, carrying, or unlawfully using any weapon or firearm on University property or in any vehicle owned, leased or controlled by the University, even if that person has a valid federal or state license to possess or carry a firearm. From displaying, brandishing, discharging, or otherwise using any and all weapons or firearms, including concealed weapons or firearms. All persons covered by this policy must follow and are subject to any other applicable state or federal laws, and/or University policies including but not limited to the University Violence Policy (5.1.19). Exceptions The carrying or use of a firearm will be permitted in the following circumstances only if all criteria are met: Instruction and curriculum of officially recognized programs, including but not limited to military science; or The firearm is carried by an on duty law enforcement officer required to carry a weapon or firearm as a condition of his or her employment; the firearm is carried by an enforcement officer from an external agency conducting official business on University property; or any other exception is deemed necessary as determined by the ISU Chief of Police; or A concealed firearm may be stored within a personally owned vehicle only in certain unrestricted parking areas on campus and only if all of the following conditions are met: The individual has a valid conceal and carry permit; and There is not a posted sign at the entry to the parking lot that prohibits concealed firearms in the parking lot; and The firearm and its ammunition is concealed in a case within the locked vehicle ("case" includes a glove compartment or console that completely encloses the firearm or ammunition, the trunk of the vehicle, or a firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container) OR the firearm and/or its ammunition is concealed in a locked container out of plain view within the vehicle; and If the person removes the concealed firearm from the vehicle, it must first be unloaded inside the vehicle, and it may only be removed for the limited purpose of storing or retrieving it from the trunk of the vehicle. Prohibited Activities Illinois State University is committed to a safe and secure environment for all employees, students, and visitors. Pursuant to the University Violence Policy (5.1.19), conduct that threatens the health or safety of any person, or creates a reasonable fear that such a result will occur, including but not limited to: acts of violence, threats of violence, threatening behavior, reckless disregard for the health or safety of any person, and/or possession of weapons(s) on University property without proper written authorization or within a specific exception in this policy are not acceptable conduct at Illinois State University and will not be tolerated. Prohibited Weapons All weapons, including but not limited to a concealed firearm/handgun are prohibited on any University property unless all provisions of a firearms exception above are met, the weapon is used for a specially authorized purpose of instruction, research, and service approved in writing by the Chief of Police, or the weapon is authorized for use by an employee in the ordinary course of employment (e.g. an on duty law enforcement officer). Prohibited weapons include but are not limited to: Firearm, Handgun, Firearm ammunition, BB gun, pellet gun, paintball gun (except with prior written approval from the Chief of Police), tear gas gun, stun, taser, or other dangerous or deadly device of similar type; Knife with a blade of at least 3 inches in length (except an ordinary eating utensil), dagger, dirk, switchblade knife, stiletto, ax, hatchet, or other deadly or dangerous weapon or instrument of similar type; Bludgeon, blackjack, slingshot, sandbag, sand club, metal knuckles, billy club, throwing star, nunchaku, or other dangerous or deadly weapon of similar type; Bomb, bombshell, grenade, firework, bottle, or other container containing an explosive, toxic, or noxious substance, unless under academic/classroom supervision, (other than an object containing a nonlethal noxious liquid, gas, or substance designed solely for personal defense possessed by a person 18 years of age or older); Souvenir weapon or other weapon that has been rendered permanently inoperative; and any weapons outlined in the Illinois Compiled Statutes on Armed Violence (720 ILCA 5/33A-1, et seq.) Violations Knowledge of violations of this policy should be reported to the Illinois State University Police and your supervisor. In their absence or in the case of emergency, the University Police (911) should be contacted. Violations of this policy by students or employees will be considered "misconduct" and will subject the student or employee to discipline, up to and including expulsion or discharge/termination/dismissal as well as potential criminal prosecution. Violations of this policy by visitors will subject the visitor to removal/restriction from any and all property owned, leased or controlled by the University, on a temporary or permanent basis as well as potential criminal prosecution. University Police Department personnel may refer suspected violations of law to appropriate law enforcement authorities, and provide access to investigative or other data as permitted by law. Reporting As required by state and federal law, the Illinois State University Chief of Police and/or Illinois State University President or his designee will report to the Department of State Police within 24 hours any student who is determined to pose a clear and present danger to himself/herself or others. Definitions Concealed firearm – means loaded or unloaded handgun (any device which is designed to expel a projectile or projectiles by the action of an explosion, expansion of gas, or escape of gas that is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand) carried on or about a person completely or mostly concealed from view of the public or on or about a person within a vehicle. University property –Any building, classroom, laboratory, medical clinic, hospital, artistic venue, athletic venue, entertainment venue, officially recognized university-related organization property, whether owned, leased, or controlled by the University, and /or where University programs, activities, and classes are held. This includes but is not limited to any University owned or leased vehicles, real property, including parking areas, sidewalks, any buildings, real property and parking areas used by or for Laboratory Schools, and common areas owned, leased, or under control of the University.Murder charges filed in fatal Livermore DUI accident that killed mom and daughter Copyright by KRON - All rights reserved Video LIVERMORE (KRON) Brian Jones has been charged with two counts of murder and two counts of felony driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury for crashing his car into a Livermore apartment building killing a mother and her child. Officer David Boyes investigated the case. In his official declaration to the court, Boyes said that he got a search warrant for the event date recorder (EDR) on Jones' Corvette. That data showed that Jones was driving at speeds of up to 99 miles-per-hour in a posted 35 miles-per-hour zone when his airbag deployed. Boyes' investigation led him to believe that the airbag deployed when Jones lost control of his car and crashed into the concrete curb. Statements from witnesses and surveillance video corroborated what Boyes determined. This is not Jones' first DUI arrest. He had previously pleaded guilty to a DUI charge. Police did not say when that arrest happened. In the Declaration of Probable Cause, Boyes ended by saying that Jones "knew of should have known that his actions were likely to result in the death of another person." From the Alameda County District Attorney's Office:On May 3, 2015, defendant Jones, while under the influence of alcohol, drove his car at speeds ranging from 75 mph to 99 mph through residential streets of Livermore, CA. At 6:50 pm, the defendant failed to negotiate a turn in the 900 block of Murrieta Blvd. and left the roadway. Defendant Jones struck and killed Esperanza Morales and her 14-month-old daughter Yulida as they walked on a pathway before slamming into the rear of a relative's apartment. The incident also resulted in serious injury to two children, ages 6 and 7, who were playing in the rear patio area of the apartment at the time. Jones was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, gross vehicular manslaughter. Tests indicate that Jones was driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.14 percent. Livermore Mayor John Marchand said that the deadly crash following Jones' visit to a wine festival is about personal responsibility, not the wine event. "Mr. Jones chose to get behind the wheel after drinking and lost control of his car," said Marchand. Marchand said there were 270 craft booths in downtown Livermore during the wine festival and only ten per cent were wine- and beer- related. He said, "It is estimated that up to 150,000 people came to enjoy our downtown over the weekend but only ten percent of those attending chose to taste the wines and beers." Marchand added that, "The festival is designed to discourage heavy drinking since patrons are limited to a one ounce pour per station. They then walk to the next station, stand in line and wait for the next one ounce pour. Beers were limited to three ounce pours." The stations were spaced throughout the downtown area and waits between pours averaged 15 to 20 minutes, Marchand said. Employees at the wine festival were trained to recognize people who were impaired, according to Marchand. Four people were identified as impaired and were arrested for public intoxication, he said. Marchand also said "It is important to recognize that almost two hours elapsed from the time that pouring stopped at the festival and the time that the accident occurred" and alleged that it's likely that Jones chose to continue drinking elsewhere after the festival.The trials and tribulations that trans people face on a daily basis are thrust into the spotlight in the new short film Headspace. Written and directed by Jake Graf, the film delivers a unique glimpse into the inner thoughts of its all-trans cast as they try to navigate through their lives without feeling singled out or stared at. Headspace From awkward phone calls to uncomfortable public moments in bathrooms and doctor’s offices, Headspace exposes the struggles that trans people are forced to endure on a consistent basis. The cast includes Laith Ashley, a model from the trans reality show Strut, as well as fitness model Kieran Moloney, activist Munroe Bergdorf and Captain Hannah Winterbourne of the British Army. Get some insight into the trans experience by watching Headspace below.Steven Crowder is a Millennial. We know this because he tells us so repeatedly. He also tells us that, just like his peers, he’s quite selfish. Well, that’s about as far as his honesty goes in his interview on Fox. Crowder also tells us that he’s against “free” healthcare and “free” Social Security unlike his peers who just want “free” stuff: Millennials, they tend to vote, as you see with the Occupy movement, for more free crap. Not based on the constitutional parameters of government, not based on founding principles, but on what the government can give them, and because they’re voting that way, they’re doing it wrong. He also seems to have a problem with young adults staying on their parents’ health insurance: If you have absolutely zero self-respect it’s nice to mooch off your parents until you turn 26. I’m trying to imagine the parent that begrudges keeping their college student child on their insurance while they finish, say, medical school. Do you know any parents that would happily throw their kid out to work at entry-level jobs until they can get promoted to a level with insurance? Who would leave their child without insurance if they didn’t have to? Oh right, the kind that want their kids to “take personal responsibility” by incurring massive medical bills in case of illness or accident because nothing says “learning experience” like getting cancer or hit by a drunk driver while working at Wal-Mart without insurance. I don’t actually know any parents like that, do you? Here’s the video: Curiously, Crowder neglects to point out that he grew up in Canada where he received “free” healthcare until he moved to Los Angeles to make a living yelling about how stupid liberals are. I’m fairly certain he wasn’t a conscientious objector, so, in typical conservative fashion, do as he says, not as he did. This is the delusion at the core of conservative politics: we (the non-retired Gen-Xers to Millenials) want what our parents and grandparents had: a good job that we can retire from, not to have to worry about how to pay for medical bills during the most medically expensive time of our lives, and to have a little something put aside for when we’re too old to work. Crowder, as he shills for the conservative base, wants us to “take responsibility” for our lives and forgo all that good stuff our parents and grandparents now enjoy. Curiously, again, there’s no mention of them having to give it up
first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Either way, he says, they're giving with one hand what they take with the other and the money isn’t going where it should be: the kids. Single parents on social assistance are forced into signing over their child support to the provincial government, or – if they refuse — their monthly welfare cheque will be deducted by the same amount of the payment, according to Rosenbaum. That’s according to Norman Rosenbaum of Merchant Law Group, who’s representing a handful of Manitoba single parents who’ve been personally affected by the policy. A Winnipeg lawyer who has filed a class action lawsuit against the province says successive provincial governments have been lining their coffers for decades with money meant for children living below the poverty line. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/8/2017 (547 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 28/8/2017 (547 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg lawyer who has filed a class action lawsuit against the province says successive provincial governments have been lining their coffers for decades with money meant for children living below the poverty line. That’s according to Norman Rosenbaum of Merchant Law Group, who’s representing a handful of Manitoba single parents who’ve been personally affected by the policy. Single parents on social assistance are forced into signing over their child support to the provincial government, or – if they refuse — their monthly welfare cheque will be deducted by the same amount of the payment, according to Rosenbaum. Either way, he says, they're giving with one hand what they take with the other and the money isn’t going where it should be: the kids. "Basically they consider child support to be the resources of the primary care giver. But a ruling in the Supreme Court of Canada has said that child support is the right and entitlement of the child," he said. "The kid isn’t responsible for the parent being on social assistance and a third party should not be taking money earmarked for them." If a single parent receives $1,000 a month in welfare and has a court order for $800 a month in child support, they are left with two options according to Rosenbaum. "The welfare worker will say, ‘If you sign the child support over to us, you’ll still get the $1,000 a month. But if you don’t sign this, we’ll only pay you $200 a month,’" he explained. "That really isn’t much of a choice for the parent, so what happens is child support is turned over to social assistance." One father fed up with the situation is Steven Hennessey, 47 of Winnipeg, who’s paid child support for his three children over the past seven years and is part of the class action lawsuit. But since the mother of his children is on social assistance, his cheques go straight to the government. So when it comes to things like setting money aside for their future, or opening up investment accounts in their names, he feels he has to pay double, since the money he’s already sending each month doesn’t go where it should be. "The bottom line is that money designated for children is being taken by the government. It’s not provided to the child. They’ve been taking child support away from children for decades," Hennessey said. "This isn’t a Conservative thing. The NDP did it too. It’s a pro-poverty policy that affects children negatively and needs to be removed." In other provinces the practice has been removed. In 2015, B.C. became the first province to scrap the child support claw-back for single parents on social assistance, before Ontario followed suit in 2017. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the day’s breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every morning. Both Hennessey and Rosenbaum hope Manitoba will be next in line. "Regulation requires people receiving Employment and Income Assistance to make a reasonable effort to obtain the maximum amount of income available to them from all sources. Maintenance payments are considered income in assessing eligibility for EIA benefits," wrote a provincial spokesman in a statement. But as far as Hennessey’s concerned that's not good enough and needs to go. "This is not income. It’s child support. It’s for the child. It’s not income for the parent. They shouldn’t be treating it like that. The parent is put as a trust of that money, but it’s not theirs," he said. "Somebody has got to look out for these kids and right now the government isn’t and that’s a problem. I’m going to continue to pay child support as I always have. I just wish it would actually go to my children." ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caIn Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Server Beta, IE10 and all other Microsoft WebSocket client and server features now support the final version of the IETF WebSocket Protocol. In addition, IE10 implements the W3C WebSocket API Candidate Recommendation. WebSockets are stable and ready for developers to start creating innovative applications and services. This post provides a simple introduction to the W3C WebSocket API and its underlying WebSocket protocol. The updated Flipbook demo uses the latest version of the API and protocol. In my previous post, I introduced WebSocket scenarios: WebSockets enable Web applications to deliver real-time notifications and updates in the browser. Developers have faced problems in working around the limitations in the browser’s original HTTP request-response model, which was not designed for real-time scenarios. WebSockets enable browsers to open a bidirectional, full-duplex communication channel with services. Each side can then use this channel to immediately send data to the other. Now, sites from social networking and games to financial sites can deliver better real-time scenarios, ideally using same markup across different browsers. Since that September 2011 post, the working groups have made significant progress. The WebSocket protocol is now an IETF proposed standard protocol. In addition, the W3C WebSocket API is a W3C Candidate Recommendation. Introduction to the WebSocket API Using an Echo Example The code snippets below use a simple echo server created with ASP.NET’s System.Web.WebSockets namespace to echo back text and binary messages that are sent from the application. The application allows the user to type in text to be sent and echoed back as a text message or draw a picture that can be sent and echoed back as a binary message. For a more complex example that allows you to experiment with latency and performance differences between WebSockets and HTTP polling, see the Flipbook demo. Details of Connecting to a WebSocket Server This simple explanation is based on a direct connection between the application and the server. If a proxy is configured, then IE10 starts the process by sending a HTTP CONNECT request to the proxy. When a WebSocket object is created, a handshake is exchanged between the client and the server to establish the WebSocket connection. IE10 starts the process by sending a HTTP request to the server: GET /echo HTTP/1.1 Host: example.microsoft.com Upgrade: websocket Connection: Upgrade Sec-WebSocket-Key: dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ== Origin: http://microsoft.com Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13 Let’s look at each part of this request. The connection process starts with a standard HTTP GET request which allows the request to traverse firewalls, proxies, and other intermediaries: GET /echo HTTP/1.1 Host: example.microsoft.com The HTTP Upgrade header requests that the server switch the application-layer protocol from HTTP to the WebSocket protocol. Upgrade: websocket Connection: Upgrade The server transforms the value in the Sec-WebSocket-Key header in its response to demonstrate that it understands the WebSocket protocol: Sec-WebSocket-Key: dGhlIHNhbXBsZSBub25jZQ== The Origin header is set by IE10 to allow the server to enforce origin-based security. Origin: http://microsoft.com The Sec-WebSocket-Version header identifies the requested protocol version. Version 13 is the final version in the IETF proposed standard: Sec-WebSocket-Version: 13 If the server accepts the request to upgrade the application-layer protocol, it returns a HTTP 101 Switching Protocols response: HTTP/1.1 101 Switching Protocols Upgrade: websocket Connection: Upgrade To demonstrate that it understands the WebSocket Protocol, the server performs a standardized transformation on the Sec-WebSocket-Key from the client request and returns the results in the Sec-WebSocket-Accept header: Sec-WebSocket-Accept: s3pPLMBiTxaQ9kYGzzhZRbK+xOo= IE10 then compares Sec-WebSocket-Key with Sec-WebSocket-Accept to validate that the server is a WebSocket server and not a HTTP server with delusions of grandeur. The client handshake established a HTTP-on-TCP connection between IE10 and server. After the server returns its 101 response, the application-layer protocol switches from HTTP to WebSockets which uses the previously established TCP connection. HTTP is completely out of the picture at this point. Using the lightweight WebSocket wire protocol, messages can now be sent or received by either endpoint at any time. Programming Connecting to a WebSocket Server The WebSocket protocol defines two new URI schemes which are similar to the HTTP schemes. "ws:" "//" host [ ":" port ] path [ "?" query ] is modeled on the “http:” scheme. Its default port is 80. It is used for unsecure (unencrypted) connections. "wss:" "//" host [ ":" port ] path [ "?" query ] is modeled on the “https:” scheme. Its default port is 443. It is used for secure connections tunneled over Transport Layer Security. When proxies or network intermediaries are present, there is a higher probability that secure connections will be successful, as intermediaries are less inclined to attempt to transform secure traffic. The following code snippet establishes a WebSocket connection: var host = "ws://example.microsoft.com"; var socket = new WebSocket(host); ReadyState – Ready … Set … Go … The WebSocket.readyState attribute represents the state of the connection: CONNECTING, OPEN, CLOSING, or CLOSED. When the WebSocket is first created, the readyState is set to CONNECTING. When the connection is established, the readyState is set to OPEN. If the connection fails to be established, then the readyState is set to CLOSED. Registering for Open Events To receive notifications when the connection has been created, the application must register for open events. socket.onopen = function (openEvent) { document.getElementById("serverStatus").innerHTML = 'Web Socket State::' + 'OPEN'; }; Details Behind Sending and Receiving Messages After a successful handshake, the application and the Websocket server may exchange WebSocket messages. A message is composed as a sequence of one or more message fragments or data “frames.” Each frame includes information such as: Frame length Type of message (binary or text) in the first frame in the message A flag (FIN) indicating whether this is the last frame in the message IE10 reassembles the frames into a complete message before passing it to the script. Programming Sending and Receiving Messages The send API allows applications to send messages to a Websocket server as UTF-8 text, ArrayBuffers, or Blobs. For example, this snippet retrieves the text entered by the user and sends it to the server as a UTF-8 text message to be echoed back. It verifies that the Websocket is in an OPEN readyState: function sendTextMessage() { if (socket.readyState!= WebSocket.OPEN) return; var e = document.getElementById("textmessage"); socket.send(e.value); } This snippet retrieves the image drawn by the user in a canvas and sends it to the server as a binary message: function sendBinaryMessage() { if (socket.readyState!= WebSocket.OPEN) return; var sourceCanvas = document.getElementById('source'); // msToBlob returns a blob object from a canvas image or drawing socket.send(sourceCanvas.msToBlob()); //... } Registering for Message Events To receive messages, the application must register for message events. The event handler receives a MessageEvent which contains the data in MessageEvent.data. Data can be received as text or binary messages. When a binary message is received, the WebSocket.binaryType attribute controls whether the message data is returned as a Blob or an ArrayBuffer datatype. The attribute can be set to either “blob” or “arraybuffer.” The examples below use the default value which is “blob.” This snippet receives the echoed image or text from the websocket server. If the data is a Blob, then an image was returned and is drawn in the destination canvas; otherwise, a UTF-8 text message was returned and is displayed in a text field. socket.onmessage = function (messageEvent) { if (messageEvent.data instanceof Blob) { var destinationCanvas = document.getElementById('destination'); var destinationContext = destinationCanvas.getContext('2d'); var image = new Image(); image.onload = function () { destinationContext.clearRect(0, 0, destinationCanvas.width, destinationCanvas.height); destinationContext.drawImage(image, 0, 0); } image.src = URL.createObjectURL(messageEvent.data); } else { document.getElementById("textresponse").value = messageEvent.data; } }; Details of Closing a WebSocket Connection Similar to the opening handshake, there is a closing handshake. Either endpoint (the application or the server) can initiate this handshake. A special kind of frame – a close frame – is sent to the other endpoint. The close frame may contain an optional status code and reason for the close. The protocol defines a set of appropriate values for the status code. The sender of the close frame must not send further application data after the close frame. When the other endpoint receives the close frame, it responds with its own close frame in response. It may send pending messages prior to responding with the close frame. Programming Closing a WebSocket and Registering for Close Events The application initiates the close handshake on an open connection with the close API: socket.close(1000, "normal close"); To receive notifications when the connection has been closed, the application must register for close events. socket.onclose = function (closeEvent) { document.getElementById("serverStatus").innerHTML = 'Web Socket State::' + 'CLOSED'; }; The close API accepts two optional parameters: a status code as defined by the protocol and a description. The status code must be either 1000 or in the range 3000 to 4999. When close is executed, the readyState attribute is set to CLOSING. After IE10 receives the close response from the server, the readyState attribute is set to CLOSED and a close event is fired. Using Fiddler to See WebSockets Traffic Fiddler is a popular HTTP debugging proxy. There is some support in the latest versions for the WebSocket protocol. You can inspect the headers exchanged in the WebSocket handshake: All the WebSocket messages are also logged. In the screenshot below, you can see that “spiral” was sent to the server as a UTF-8 text message and echoed back: Conclusion If you want to learn more about WebSockets, you may watch these sessions from the Microsoft //Build/ conference from September 2011: If you’re curious about using Microsoft technologies to create a WebSocket service, these posts are good introductions: I encourage you to start developing with WebSockets today and share your feedback with us. —Brian Raymor, Senior Program Manager, Windows Networkingby Philosophers have been muzzled by the Western global regime; most of great modern philosophy concealed from the masses. What has been left of it, allowed to float on the surface is toothless, irrelevant and incomprehensible: a foolish outdated theoretical field for those few remaining intellectual snobs. Philosophy used to be the most precious crown jewel of human intellectual achievement. It stood at the vanguard of almost all fights for a better world. Gramsci was a philosopher, and so were Lenin, Mao Tse-tung, Ho-Chi-Minh, Guevara, Castro, Frantz Fanon, Senghors, Cabral, Nyerere and Lumumba, to name just a few. To be a thinker, a philosopher, in ancient China, Japan or even in some parts of the West, was the most respected human ‘occupation’. In all ‘normally’ developing societies, knowledge has been valued much higher than material possessions or naked power. In ancient Greece and China, people were able to understand the majority of their philosophers. There was nothing “exclusive” in the desire to know and interpret the world. Philosophers spoke to the people, for the people. Some still do. But that whoring and servile Western academic gang, which has locked philosophy behind the university walls, viciously sidelines such men and women. Instead of leading people to the barricades, instead of addressing the most urgent issues our world is now facing, official philosophers are fighting amongst themselves for tenures, offering their brains and bodies to the Empire. At best, they are endlessly recycling each other, spoiling millions of pages of paper with footnotes, comparing conclusions made by Derrida and Nietzsche, hopelessly stuck at exhausted ideas of Kant and Hegel. At worst, they are outrightly evil – making still relevant revolutionary philosophical concepts totally incomprehensible, attacking them, and even disappearing them from the face of the Earth. * Only the official breed, consisting of almost exclusively white/Western ‘thought recyclers’, is now awarded the right to be called ‘philosophers’. My friends in all corners of the world, some of the brightest people on earth, are never defined as such. The word ‘philosopher’ still carries at least some great theoretical prestige, and god forbid if those who are now fighting against Western terror, for social justice or true freedom of thought, were to be labeled as such! But they are, of course, all great philosophers! And they don’t recycle – they go forward, advancing brilliant new concepts that can improve life on our Planet. Some have fallen, some are still alive, and some are still relatively young: Eduardo Galeano – one of the greatest storytellers of all times, and a dedicated fighter against Western imperialism. Noam Chomsky – renowned linguist and relentless fighter against Western fascism. Pramoedya Ananta Toer – former prisoner of conscience in Suharto’s camps and the greatest novelist of Southeast Asia. John Steppling – brilliant American playwright and thinker. Christopher Black – Canadian international lawyer and fighter against illegal neo-colonialist concepts of the Empire. Peter Koenig – renowned economist and thinker. Milan Kohout, thinker and performer, fighter against European racism. Yes – all these great thinkers; all of them, philosophers! And many more that I know and love – in Africa and Latin America and Asia especially… For those who insist that in order to be called a philosopher, one has to be equipped with some stamp that shows that the person has passed a test and is allowed to serve the Empire, here is proof to the contrary: Even according to the Dictionary of Modern American philosophers (online ed.). New York: Oxford University Press: “The label of “philosopher” has been broadly applied in this Dictionary to intellectuals who have made philosophical contributions regardless of academic career or professional title. The wide scope of philosophical activity across the time-span of this Dictionary would now be classed among the various humanities and social sciences which gradually separated from philosophy over the last one hundred and fifty years. Many figures included were not academic philosophers but did work at philosophical foundations of such fields as pedagogy, rhetoric, the arts, history, politics, economics, sociology, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, religion, and theology.” * In his brilliant upcoming book Aesthetic Resistance and Dis-Interest, my friend John Steppling quotes, Hullot-Kentor: “If art – when art is art – understands us better than we can intentionally understand ourselves, then a philosophy of art would need to comprehend what understands us. Thinking would need to become critically imminent to that object; subjectivity would become the capacity of its object, not simply its manipulation. That’s the center of Adorno’s aesthetics. It’s an idea of thought that is considerably different from the sense of contemporary “theory”, where everyone feels urged to compare Derrida with Nietzsche, the two of them with Levinas, and all of them now with Badiou, Žižek and Agamben. That kind of thinking is primarily manipulation. It’s the bureaucratic mind unconsciously flexing the form of social control it has internalized and wants to turn on others.” Western academia is rigidly defining, which lines of thought are acceptable for philosophers to use, as well as what analyses, and what forms. Those who refuse to comply are ‘not true philosophers’. They are dilettantes, ‘amateurs’. And those who are not embraced by some ‘reputable’ institution are not to be taken seriously at all (especially if they are carrying Russian, Asian, African, Middle Eastern or Latino names). It is a little bit like with journalism. Unless you have an ‘important’ media outlet behind you (preferably a Western one), unless you can show that the Empire truly trusts you, your press card is worth nothing, and you would not even be allowed to board a UN or a military flight to a war zone. Your readers, even if numbering millions, may see you as an important philosopher. But let’s be frank: unless the Empire stamps its seal of acceptance on your forehead of backside, in the West you are really nothing more than worthless shit! * BLURRING THE WORK OF REVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHERS After all that I have witnessed and written, I am increasingly convinced that Western imperialism and neo-colonialism are the most urgent and dangerous challenges facing our Planet. Perhaps the only challenges… I have seen 160 countries in all corners of the Globe. I have witnessed wars, conflicts, imperialist theft and indescribable brutality of white tyrants. And so, recently, I sensed that it is time to revisit two great thinkers of the 20th Century, two determined fighters against Western imperialist fascism: Frantz Fanon and Jean-Paul Sartre. The Wretched of the Earth, and Black Skin, White Masks – two essential books by Frantz Omar Fanon, a Martinique-born Afro-Caribbean psychiatrist, philosopher, revolutionary, and writer, and a dedicated fighter against Western colonialism. And Colonialism and Neocolonialism, a still greatly relevant book by Jean-Paul Sartre, a prominent French resistance fighter, philosopher, playwright and novelist… I had all three books in my library and, after many years, it was time to read them again. But my English edition of Colonialism and Neocolonialism was wrapped in dozens of pages of prefaces and introductions. The ‘intellectual cushioning’ was too thick and at some point I lost interest, leaving the book in Japan. Then in Kerala I picked up another, this time Indian edition. Again, some 60 pages of prefaces and introductions, pre-chewed intrusive and patronizing explanations of how I am supposed to perceive both Sartre and his interactions with Fanon, Memmi and others. And yes, it all suddenly began moving again into that pre-chewed but still indigestible “Derrida-Nietzsche” swamp. Instead of evoking outrage and wrath, instead of inspiring me into taking concrete revolutionary action, those prefaces, back covers, introductions and comments were clearly castrating and choking the great messages of both Sartre and Fanon. They were preventing readers and fellow philosophers from getting to the core. Then finally, when reaching the real text of Sartre, it all becomes clear – why exactly is the regime so determined to “protect” readers from the originals. It is because the core, the original, is extremely simple and powerful. The words are relevant, and easy to understand. They are describing both old French colonialist barbarities, as the current Western neo-colonialism. God forbid someone puts two and two together! Philosopher Sartre on China and Western fascist cultural propaganda: “As a child, I was a victim of the picturesque: everything had been done to make the Chinese intimidating. I was told about rotten eggs… of men sawn between two planks of wood, of piping and discordant music… [The Chinese] were tiny and terrible, slipping between your fingers, attacked from behind, burst out suddenly in a ridiculous din… There was also the Chinese soul, which I was simply told was inscrutable. ‘Orientals, you see…’ The Negroes did not worry me; I had been taught that they were good dogs. With them, we were still among mammals. But the Asians frightened me…” Sartre on Western colonialism and racism: “Racism is inscribed in the events themselves, in the institutions, in the nature of the exchange and the production. The political and social statuses reinforce one another: since the natives are sub-human, the Declaration of Human Rights does not apply to them; conversely, since they have no rights, they are abandoned without protection to the inhuman forces of nature, to the ‘iron laws’ of economics…” And Sartre goes further: “Western humanism and rights discourse had worked by excluding a majority of the world’s population from the category of humans.” I address the same issues and so is Chomsky. But the Empire does not want people to know that Sartre, Memmi and Fanon spoke ‘the same language’ as we do, already more than half a century ago! Albert Memmi: “Conservatism engenders the selection of mediocre people. How can this elite of usurpers, conscious of their mediocrity, justify their privileges? Only one way: diminish the colonized in order to exult themselves, deny the status of human beings to the natives, and deprive them of basic rights…” Sartre on Western ignorance: “It is not cynicism, it is not hatred that is demoralizing us: no, it is only the state of false ignorance in which we are made to live and which we ourselves contribute to maintaining…” The way the West ‘educates’ the world, Sartre again: “The European elite set about fabricating a native elite; they selected adolescents, marked on their foreheads, with a branding iron, the principles of Western culture, stuffed into their mouths verbal gags, grand turgid words which stuck to their teeth; after a brief stay in the mother country, they were sent back, interfered with…” * It is actually easy to learn how to recycle the thoughts of others, how to compare them and at the end, how to compile footnotes. It takes time, it is boring, tedious and generally useless, but not really too difficult. On the other hand, it is difficult to create brand new concepts, to revolutionize the way our societies, and our world are arranged. If our brains recycle too much and try to create too little, they get lazy and sclerotic – chronically sclerotic. Intellectual servility is a degenerative disease. Western art has deteriorated to ugly psychedelic beats, to excessively bright colors and infantile geometric drawings, to cartoons and nightmarish and violent films as well as “fiction”. It is all very convenient – with all that noise, one cannot hear anymore the screams of the victims, one cannot understand loneliness, and comprehend emptiness. In bookstores, all over the world, poetry and philosophy sections are shrinking or outright disappearing. Now what? Is it going to be Althusser (mostly not even real Althusser, but a recycled and abbreviated one), or Lévi-Strauss or Derrida, each wrapped in endless litanies of academic talk? No! Comrades, philosophers, not that! Down with the sclerotic, whoring academia and their interpretation of philosophy! Down with the assassins of Philosophy! Philosophy is supposed to be the intellectual vanguard. It is synonymous with revolution, humanism, and rebellion. Those who are thinking about and fighting for a much better world, using their brains as weapons, are true philosophers. Those who are collecting dust and tenures in some profit-oriented institutions of higher ‘learning’ are definitely not, even if they have hundreds of diplomas and stamps all over their walls and foreheads! They do not create and do not lead. They do not even teach! They are muzzling knowledge. To quote Fanon: “Everything can be explained to the people, on the single condition that you want them to understand.” But “they” don’t want people to understand; they really don’t… And one more thing: the great thoughts of Fanon and Sartre, of Gramsci and Mao, Guevara and Galeano should be gently washed, undusted and exhibited again, free of all those choking ‘analyses’ and comparisons compiled by toxic pro-establishment thinkers. There is nothing to add to the writing of maverick revolutionary philosophers. Hands off their work! Let them speak! Editions without prefaces and introductions, please! The greatest works of philosophy were written with heart, blood and passion! No interpretation is needed. Even a child can understand.Ben Gershman said the Board of Elections told him he shared initials with another man in the Bronx. View Full Caption Ben Gershman KEW GARDENS — A voter who registered six months ago after moving to the city says he was tossed off the voter list because his name is similar to a man who lives in The Bronx, he said. Ben Gershman, 27, registered at the Department of Motor Vehicles after moving to Ridgewood from Chicago six months ago, he said. But when he checked last month, his name was nowhere on the voter list — because it matched someone else in another borough, the Board of Elections told him. "They told me I shared the same initials as a voter in the Bronx, it confused both registrations and I had become de-registered," he told DNAinfo New York. Gershman spent hours Tuesday morning at the Board of Election office location on Queens Boulevard, driving there after realizing he wouldn't be able to vote, he said. He finally voted after receiving a court order that allowed him to return to his Ridgewood poll site to cast a ballot. "It's insane what I have to do, and I am registered," he said. "There's no accountability in the election process." Comptroller Scott Stringer announced plans Tuesday to audit the Board of Elections over primary day issues. A spokeswoman with the Board of Elections did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Gershman's voting issues or any other problems at the polls today.'Animals' raped paramedic - Zuma Johannesburg - The men who attacked two female paramedics attending to a burnt toddler, behaved like animals, President Jacob Zuma said on Sunday. One of the women was raped. "It was very disturbing to hear that people providing a service to the community were violated in such a cruel manner... Those criminals behaved like animals," he said addressing Roodepoort fire station staff and a crowd who gathered inside and outside the station. On the night of Friday, March 6, three men confronted paramedics when they arrived in Durban Deep in Roodepoort to help a toddler who had suffered burn wounds. According to the police, the trio threatened the two male paramedics and told them to run away, otherwise they would shoot them. They then raped one female paramedic and attempted to rape the other. Zuma said he had spoken to the victims, their families, the head of emergency services in Roodepoort and the police investigating the matter. "I am happy that after this incident they (the paramedics) are still prepared to work. These criminals should be arrested as soon as possible." Police escort He said they had also agreed to co-ordinating with the police so that female paramedics would be accompanied by the police when going to dangerous areas to avoid the attacks. Zuma said it was also reported to him that the area where the incident occurred had long grass that criminals used as a hiding spot. He appealed to the city of Johannesburg to cut it. He also called on citizens to work with the police in fighting crime. "A lot still needs to be done, but government alone will not succeed. Let us work together with the police because criminals pounce at a every weak point." The president said the police were investigating the matter vigorously and were following leads. Meanwhile, he also sent his condolences to the families of four pupils who were killed in alleged drag racing incident in Soweto on Monday and promised to meet the families after the funeral.Dante Santiago Rosario (born October 25, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football for Oregon. He was also a member of the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. Early years [ edit ] Rosario attended Dayton High School in Dayton, Oregon. His father is Dominican and his mother is from Oregon. In his senior high school season, Rosario was named the 2002 Oregon 2A state defensive player of the year, and earned first-team all-state honors on both offense and defense in 2002 while leading the Pirates to the state 2A title. In a 45-20 victory against Amity in the 2002 2A state title game, Rosario rushed for 126 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries. He was ranked as the No. 6 linebacker on the West Coast by SuperPrep after posting 144 tackles (75 unassisted), three quarterback sacks, and five interceptions as a free safety/middle linebacker. He returned three of those interceptions for touchdowns. On offense Rosario racked up 1,238 yards and 27 touchdowns rushing, plus two more touchdowns on punt returns. The 6-foot-4 Rosario also played center for the school’s two-time defending state basketball champions. As a junior, he was named first-team all-tournament after averaging 13.5 points and 8.8 rebounds in leading Dayton to its second straight state championship. Rosario also was a competitor on his high school track and field team. College career [ edit ] In 49 games at the University of Oregon, Rosario recorded 94 receptions for 1,003 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Rosario played four different positions for the Ducks - halfback, H-back, fullback and tight end - and also was a special teams star for Oregon. Rosario began his collegiate career at Oregon in 2003 and played H-back after being recruited primarily as a linebacker. He started three games as a freshman and made 12 catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 55 yards and one touchdown on 17 carries. In his sophomore season (2004), Rosario was shifted to fullback from H-back, and caught 25 passes for 278 yards and six touchdowns. He also rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown in 10 carries. In 2005, Rosario's junior season, he moved to tight end from fullback, and caught 15 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. He also record 11 tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on special teams. As a senior in 2006, Rosario was named as an All-Pac-10 honorable mention selection after making 42 receptions, a school single-season record for tight ends, for 426 yards and one touchdown. He was the co-recipient of the Gordon Wilson Award, given to Oregon's top special teams player, after recording ten tackles and one forced fumble. Professional career [ edit ] Carolina Panthers [ edit ] Rosario was chosen by Carolina Panthers in the fifth round (155th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft. As a rookie in 2007, Rosario caught six passes for 108 yards (an 18.0 per-catch average) and two touchdowns. Rosario became just the third player in Carolina history to score a touchdown on first career NFL reception when he caught a five-yard pass from quarterback, Vinny Testaverde against the San Francisco 49ers on December 2, 2007. Rosario also returned two kickoffs for 39 yards (a 19.5 average). In the Panthers' 2008 season opener against the Chargers on September 7, Rosario overcame double coverage to catch a 14-yard touchdown pass in the back of the end zone as time expired, to give Carolina a 26-24 victory against the heavily favored San Diego Chargers. It is considered to be one of the most memorable catches in Carolina Panther history. When the game ended, Fox's final statistics leaderboard for the game mistakenly displayed the name of actress Rosario Dawson. He finished the 2008 season with 18 catches for 209 yards and 1 touchdown. He started 22 games for the Panthers over four seasons, but only 6 in 2010.[1] He was felt to be expendable after the signing of free agent Jeremy Shockey in March 2011.[2] Miami Dolphins [ edit ] The Miami Dolphins signed Rosario on September 5, 2011.[3] He was released on September 20. Denver Broncos [ edit ] Rosario was reunited with his former coach John Fox when he signed with the Denver Broncos in July 2011. He was released after the 2011 preseason due to the emergence of rookie tight ends Julius Thomas and Virgil Green.[4] Rosario was re-signed by the Broncos on September 22, 2011. San Diego Chargers [ edit ] On March 19,
of getting forgotten entirely in the rush to move on to the next year. Which is why we've put together this list, the 10 Most Unfairly Overlooked Movies of 2011, highlighting the films we want to make sure you don't forget. Take a look, give all these a chance, and don't let the good stuff get ignored once 2012 rolls around.Released just a few months after Jesse Eisenberg’s Oscar attention forand marketed with enthusiasm by Columbia Pictures,should have been one of the year’s most successful action comedies. But withstill in charge at the box office andreceiving most of the critical praise, somehowjust couldn’t compete. That’s a shame because director Ruben Fleischer delivers, and in under 85 minutes. The movie’s brisk pace is one of its biggest strengths, in telling the story of a pizza delivery boy who has a bomb strapped to his chest and only a few hours to rob a bank before the guys who put it there blow him up. He enlists the help of his former best friend, played to maximum hilarity by Aziz Ansari. They procure plastic guns, plan their heist, and try to find a way out of their doomed situation. The action kicks ass, particularly in the movie’s plentiful driving scenes, and the comedy completely delivers.has the good sense to keep it simple; constantly pushing forward, always moving, but never confusing. Few other 2011 movies managed to be as consistently clever and fun.is a blast. 50/50 We've written almost endlessly about 50/50 since it opened in late September, but no amount of support online was enough to get audiences to see something advertised as a "cancer comedy," starring Seth Rogen no less. It's hard to explain on paper how much about this movie works, how it deftly balances the raunchy comedy shared among young male friends-- like in a conversation about blowjobs that happens in a coffee shop about 10 minutes into the movie-- and the heavy emotional toll of what happens when an otherwise healthy 28-year-old is suddenly diagnosed with cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance as the ill Adam is the anchor of the movie, but he's surrounded by a ton of talent, from Rogen as an endearing but slightly selfish best friend to Anjelica Huston as his mom who just wants to help him through a tough time. Director Jonathan Levine manages all the shifts in tone perfectly, and even the people who think they can't handle another raunchy Seth Rogen comedy will find themselves choking up as the story takes the expected but always affecting route. By being so hard to define as a comedy or a drama 50/50 missed out on a lot of attention when it came out, but a year of movie watching wouldn't be complete without it. We've written almost endlessly aboutsince it opened in late September, but no amount of support online was enough to get audiences to see something advertised as a "cancer comedy," starring Seth Rogen no less. It's hard to explain on paper how much about this movie works, how it deftly balances the raunchy comedy shared among young male friends-- like in a conversation about blowjobs that happens in a coffee shop about 10 minutes into the movie-- and the heavy emotional toll of what happens when an otherwise healthy 28-year-old is suddenly diagnosed with cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance as the ill Adam is the anchor of the movie, but he's surrounded by a ton of talent, from Rogen as an endearing but slightly selfish best friend to Anjelica Huston as his mom who just wants to help him through a tough time. Director Jonathan Levine manages all the shifts in tone perfectly, and even the people who think they can't handle another raunchy Seth Rogen comedy will find themselves choking up as the story takes the expected but always affecting route. By being so hard to define as a comedy or a dramamissed out on a lot of attention when it came out, but a year of movie watching wouldn't be complete without it. The Adjustment Bureau It may be the highest grossing film on this list, having made $127 million worldwide, but starring Matt Damon and featuring an irresistible sci-fi premise, it should have made a lot more. The crackling chemistry between Damon and Emily Blunt should be reason enough to revisit this one, as watching Damon's character literally fight the forces of fate in order to be with her feels like a worthy battle the minute you see them swap quips in the bathroom at the Waldorf Astoria. He's a young congressman with ambitions toward the Senate, she's a dancer with a quick wit and free spirit, and their match seems perfect to everybody except the Adjustment Bureau, a mysterious, fate-altering group of men in sharp fedoras to intervene and make sure Blunt and Damon can't be together. George Nolfi, making a strong directorial debut, gives the film a sharp and distinctive look, and even when the third act gets into what might feel like spiritual mumbo-jumbo, Nolfi, Damon and Blunt-- with excellent supporting work from Anthony Mackie-- sell the hell out of it. It's not an action-fueled Bourne movie, and maybe that's why not enough people saw it, but its thrilling scenes aside, it might be the year's best romance too. It may be the highest grossing film on this list, having made $127 million worldwide, but starring Matt Damon and featuring an irresistible sci-fi premise, it should have made a lot more. The crackling chemistry between Damon and Emily Blunt should be reason enough to revisit this one, as watching Damon's character literally fight the forces of fate in order to be with her feels like a worthy battle the minute you see them swap quips in the bathroom at the Waldorf Astoria. He's a young congressman with ambitions toward the Senate, she's a dancer with a quick wit and free spirit, and their match seems perfect to everybody except the Adjustment Bureau, a mysterious, fate-altering group of men in sharp fedoras to intervene and make sure Blunt and Damon can't be together. George Nolfi, making a strong directorial debut, gives the film a sharp and distinctive look, and even when the third act gets into what might feel like spiritual mumbo-jumbo, Nolfi, Damon and Blunt-- with excellent supporting work from Anthony Mackie-- sell the hell out of it. It's not an action-fueledmovie, and maybe that's why not enough people saw it, but its thrilling scenes aside, it might be the year's best romance too. Attack the Block There's already talk of an American remake of this British film, which is reason enough to catch it before it's inevitably ruined by a movie that's not nearly as sharp, funny, and surprisingly emotional. As the directorial debut of Joe Cornish, Attack the Block is the movie about kids coping with an alien invasion that Super 8 only wished it could be. Set in a rundown south London British housing project-- "the block" of the title-- the movie follows a gang of teenagers who discover an alien that has crash-landed to earth, kill it and parade around with it, only to then be relentlessly hunted by a gang of black furry beasts who want revenge. John Boyega's Moses, as the leader of the group who's the most vicious but also probably the most noble, is the real standout, but the entire cast is terrific to watch, all funny and natural and exactly who you'd want to help you fight the aliens. It's hard to get used to the thick British accents at first, but everything else about Attack the Block is pure sci-fi joy. See it before the remake and say you were on board first. There's already talk of an American remake of this British film, which is reason enough to catch it before it's inevitably ruined by a movie that's not nearly as sharp, funny, and surprisingly emotional. As the directorial debut of Joe Cornish,is the movie about kids coping with an alien invasion thatonly wished it could be. Set in a rundown south London British housing project-- "the block" of the title-- the movie follows a gang of teenagers who discover an alien that has crash-landed to earth, kill it and parade around with it, only to then be relentlessly hunted by a gang of black furry beasts who want revenge. John Boyega's Moses, as the leader of the group who's the most vicious but also probably the most noble, is the real standout, but the entire cast is terrific to watch, all funny and natural and exactly who you'd want to help you fight the aliens. It's hard to get used to the thick British accents at first, but everything else aboutis pure sci-fi joy. See it before the remake and say you were on board first. Cedar Rapids Released early in 2011 when no one seemed to be paying attention, despite good reviews and generally broad appeal, somehow Fox Searchlight never really got behind Cedar Rapids. Missing the wide release it deserved, the film slipped away without notice. Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe in a movie about the small town people who stay behind, and like it that way. Tim gravitates towards the familiar and has never sought out new experiences. He’s never been on an airplane, had a drink at a bar, or really done much of anything; until he finds himself doing those things anyway when sent off to an insurance convention. Instructed by his boss to hang out with the straight shooters Tim instead finds himself falling in with the convention’s wild man (John C. Reilly), a woman who uses the annual getaways as her escape (Anne Heche), and a man named Ronald (played brilliantly by Isiah Whitlock Jr.) who’s far more than he seems to be. The chemistry between that ensemble makes the charm of Cedar Rapids utterly irresistible, and director Miguel Arteta finds something both hilarious and special in telling what feels like the authentic story of what happens when normal, mundane people step outside their routine. I walked away from Cedar Rapids rooting for Tim and all the Tims out there like him who, though they never seek out success, may be made of stronger stuff than anyone suspects. Released early in 2011 when no one seemed to be paying attention, despite good reviews and generally broad appeal, somehow Fox Searchlight never really got behind. Missing the wide release it deserved, the film slipped away without notice. Ed Helms plays Tim Lippe in a movie about the small town people who stay behind, and like it that way. Tim gravitates towards the familiar and has never sought out new experiences. He’s never been on an airplane, had a drink at a bar, or really done much of anything; until he finds himself doing those things anyway when sent off to an insurance convention. Instructed by his boss to hang out with the straight shooters Tim instead finds himself falling in with the convention’s wild man (John C. Reilly), a woman who uses the annual getaways as her escape (Anne Heche), and a man named Ronald (played brilliantly by Isiah Whitlock Jr.) who’s far more than he seems to be. The chemistry between that ensemble makes the charm ofutterly irresistible, and director Miguel Arteta finds something both hilarious and special in telling what feels like the authentic story of what happens when normal, mundane people step outside their routine. I walked away fromrooting for Tim and all the Tims out there like him who, though they never seek out success, may be made of stronger stuff than anyone suspects. Fright Night In an era where vampires have been transformed from brutal killers into romantic leads, Fright Night burst into theaters and tried to make fangs frightening again by remaking a mostly forgotten 80s movie. Audiences responded by ignoring it, even though over the course of the film Colin Farrell creates one of the all time great vampire characters. He’s spine-tinglingly scary and his name is Jerry. Jerry lives next door to Charley (Anton Yelchin) and his single-mother. It doesn’t take Charley long to figure out Jerry’s a vampire, but Jerry’s already three steps ahead of him and planning his destruction. The first half of the movie is spent hanging out in suburban terror until Charley, looking for a way to survive, seeks out a magician and vamp expert played brilliantly by a flamboyantly Goth David Tennant. Together they set out to save the suburbs by going vampire hunting. Jerry’s ready for them and whether he’s ripping up gas lines or terrorizing the family minivan this is one of the best true vampire movies to hit theaters in a long, long time. Scary, funny, gory, and unlike anything else you saw this year; make up for the mistake you made when you bought that ticket for Twilight and seek out Fright Night. In an era where vampires have been transformed from brutal killers into romantic leads,burst into theaters and tried to make fangs frightening again by remaking a mostly forgotten 80s movie. Audiences responded by ignoring it, even though over the course of the film Colin Farrell creates one of the all time great vampire characters. He’s spine-tinglingly scary and his name is Jerry. Jerry lives next door to Charley (Anton Yelchin) and his single-mother. It doesn’t take Charley long to figure out Jerry’s a vampire, but Jerry’s already three steps ahead of him and planning his destruction. The first half of the movie is spent hanging out in suburban terror until Charley, looking for a way to survive, seeks out a magician and vamp expert played brilliantly by a flamboyantly Goth David Tennant. Together they set out to save the suburbs by going vampire hunting. Jerry’s ready for them and whether he’s ripping up gas lines or terrorizing the family minivan this is one of the best true vampire movies to hit theaters in a long, long time. Scary, funny, gory, and unlike anything else you saw this year; make up for the mistake you made when you bought that ticket forand seek out The Guard This past summer the R-rated comedy was king. From The Hangover: Part II to Bad Teacher, Bridesmaids to Horrible Bosses, just about every laugher with lascivious behavior was a hit at the box office. Sadly, that didn’t really translate for John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard. The story of a laid-back, racist Irish cop (Brendan Gleeson) who must team up with an uptight FBI agent (Don Cheadle) to top an elite team of drug smugglers, the film was an irreverent laugh riot. The film operates partially as a Shane Black-style action comedy, in the vein of Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight, and the pairing of Gleeson and Cheadle is just as brilliant as any of those films. The two actors have a great rapport and every conversation between their two characters is a scream. Mark Strong, as an existential baddie who has become bored by the work he does, seems to have a blast with the part, playing up the audience’s expectations of him as a villain while also showing off a sharp wit. The Guard was only given a limited release – never expanding beyond 203 theaters – which would explain it’s less-than-stellar box office numbers, but is definitely one to hunt down as soon as it becomes available on Blu-ray and DVD. This past summer the R-rated comedy was king. From The Hangover: Part II to Bad Teacher, Bridesmaids to Horrible Bosses, just about every laugher with lascivious behavior was a hit at the box office. Sadly, that didn’t really translate for John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard. The story of a laid-back, racist Irish cop (Brendan Gleeson) who must team up with an uptight FBI agent (Don Cheadle) to top an elite team of drug smugglers, the film was an irreverent laugh riot. The film operates partially as a Shane Black-style action comedy, in the vein of Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight, and the pairing of Gleeson and Cheadle is just as brilliant as any of those films. The two actors have a great rapport and every conversation between their two characters is a scream. Mark Strong, as an existential baddie who has become bored by the work he does, seems to have a blast with the part, playing up the audience’s expectations of him as a villain while also showing off a sharp wit. The Guard was only given a limited release – never expanding beyond 203 theaters – which would explain it’s less-than-stellar box office numbers, but is definitely one to hunt down as soon as it becomes available on Blu-ray and DVD. Take Me Home Tonight A victim of a marketing campaign that unfairly branded it as a slice of 80s nostalgia, a victim of a studio who let it sit on a shelf for four years and most of all, a victim of every shitty raunchfest about twenty-somethings that came before it, Take Me Home Tonight looked like an absolute trainwreck on paper. Rightly so too. We don’t look for honesty and heart in comedies that play cocaine for laughs. We don’t look for imagination and warmth in puking scenes, and we don’t try to learn something from movies staring Dan Fogler, Topher Grace and Anna Faris. History has taught us there’s little upside to any of that, but sometimes life is messy and stupid and a little bit dirty, especially when it involves twenty-two year olds. Aimless and beaten down, Grace’s Matt Franklin doesn’t have any idea what to do with his college degree. Were he a bit older, that would make him a loser. Since he’s not, it makes him exactly like everyone else. A lesser movie would demand he and his sister and his best friend figure it all out in one night. Take Me Home Tonight, over beers, first kisses and bored shenanigans, simply nudges its characters in the right direction. It’s the type of quiet understatement amidst overblown chaos only men and women at that age could produce. A victim of a marketing campaign that unfairly branded it as a slice of 80s nostalgia, a victim of a studio who let it sit on a shelf for four years and most of all, a victim of every shitty raunchfest about twenty-somethings that came before it,looked like an absolute trainwreck on paper. Rightly so too. We don’t look for honesty and heart in comedies that play cocaine for laughs. We don’t look for imagination and warmth in puking scenes, and we don’t try to learn something from movies staring Dan Fogler, Topher Grace and Anna Faris. History has taught us there’s little upside to any of that, but sometimes life is messy and stupid and a little bit dirty, especially when it involves twenty-two year olds. Aimless and beaten down, Grace’s Matt Franklin doesn’t have any idea what to do with his college degree. Were he a bit older, that would make him a loser. Since he’s not, it makes him exactly like everyone else. A lesser movie would demand he and his sister and his best friend figure it all out in one night., over beers, first kisses and bored shenanigans, simply nudges its characters in the right direction. It’s the type of quiet understatement amidst overblown chaos only men and women at that age could produce. The Trip The standard for road trip movies featuring two characters that don’t get along was set a long time ago. Be it the limit-pushing strife between Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles or the contentious relationship between Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Midnight Run, it’s a subgenre with a rich history. As a result, Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip isn’t anything revolutionary, but it is a simple premise executed brilliantly. Starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as the “friends” traveling through the English countryside visiting various hotels and restaurants, the film is not so much plot driven as it is about the conversations that the two actors have. They sit down for five-star meals while comparing Michael Caine impressions, dissect each other’s film and television careers, and riff back and forth on trope movie dialogue, all of it reducing movie-goers to nothing more than laughing on the floor of the theater. The movie came out in very limited release over the summer and didn’t have any real A-list stars to push in the marketing (unless you count a brilliant cameo in the middle of the movie), so it didn’t perform exceptionally, but it’s definitely a film that real comedy fans should hunt down. The standard for road trip movies featuring two characters that don’t get along was set a long time ago. Be it the limit-pushing strife between Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles or the contentious relationship between Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin in Midnight Run, it’s a subgenre with a rich history. As a result, Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip isn’t anything revolutionary, but it is a simple premise executed brilliantly. Starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as the “friends” traveling through the English countryside visiting various hotels and restaurants, the film is not so much plot driven as it is about the conversations that the two actors have. They sit down for five-star meals while comparing Michael Caine impressions, dissect each other’s film and television careers, and riff back and forth on trope movie dialogue, all of it reducing movie-goers to nothing more than laughing on the floor of the theater. The movie came out in very limited release over the summer and didn’t have any real A-list stars to push in the marketing (unless you count a brilliant cameo in the middle of the movie), so it didn’t perform exceptionally, but it’s definitely a film that real comedy fans should hunt down. Win Win Tom McCarthy's third film is a lot like his first two, a small-scale story about people living relatively ordinary lives, trying to do the right thing even when it's kind of a pain in the ass. Win WIn has the added benefit of also being really funny, a story about a relationship between a middle-aged lawyer and wrestling coach (Paul Giamatti) who winds up taking in a runaway kid (Alex Shaffer) who doesn't seem to fit at all into his average middle-class life. The tensions between the kid and the family, along with the tensions the kid's own family brings with him, makes for both perfect worlds-colliding comedy and some real moments of emotional truth. There are no villains in this movie, only people trying to get through life without hurting too many people, and it's a pleasure to slip into McCarthy's view of the world, where everyone really just wants to be a mensch. With fairly limited Oscar hopes and a release date from all the way back in March, Win Win could easily be forgotten by now, but it keeps popping up among critics who loved it. Take their advice. It's a winner. For more of our end-of-the-year coverage, visit our Best of 2011 page. Tom McCarthy's third film is a lot like his first two, a small-scale story about people living relatively ordinary lives, trying to do the right thing even when it's kind of a pain in the ass.has the added benefit of also being really funny, a story about a relationship between a middle-aged lawyer and wrestling coach (Paul Giamatti) who winds up taking in a runaway kid (Alex Shaffer) who doesn't seem to fit at all into his average middle-class life. The tensions between the kid and the family, along with the tensions the kid's own family brings with him, makes for both perfect worlds-colliding comedy and some real moments of emotional truth. There are no villains in this movie, only people trying to get through life without hurting too many people, and it's a pleasure to slip into McCarthy's view of the world, where everyone really just wants to be a mensch. With fairly limited Oscar hopes and a release date from all the way back in March,could easily be forgotten by now, but it keeps popping up among critics who loved it. Take their advice. It's a winner. Blended From Around The Web Facebook Back to topApril 8th: I’ve updated this story by way of the note at the bottom of the post. Somewhere in Saskatoon, right now, a man named Naveed Anwar is quietly relishing victory. A victory he says he strategized and fought for deliberately – to take down Saskatchewan NDP leader Cam Broten. Here are the #skvotes 2016 results from the Saskatoon Westview riding: The name Naveed Anwar was familiar… Google Google Google… Ah yes, Anwar ran for the Saskatchewan NDP in 2011 in the riding of Saskatoon Sutherland. So, why did he run as a Liberal in 2016… and against the leader of the Saskatchewan NDP? Candidates do switch teams – but this seemed odd, especially given the number of votes received by Anwar, and the number Broten needed to win. So, I called Anwar. (At this point I want to take a moment and address the good people who pay me to work for a living: I do actually work. Promise!) Anyway, let’s have a look back: 2009: Ryan Meili’s loses his first run at Saskatchewan NDP leadership to Dwain Lingenfelter. March 27, 2010: At the NDP convention in Prince Albert, Meili announces his intention to run for the NDP candidacy in Saskatoon Sutherland. Days later, Anwar announces he is also running for the NDP nomination in Saskatoon Sutherland. September 2010: Meili drops out of the nomination campaign just a few days before the vote, saying on his Facebook page, “the often negative and divisive aspects of political life have taken their toll on me. For this reason I have decided to withdraw my candidacy for nomination in Saskatoon Sutherland.” A story that appeared in September 25, 2010 edition of the Star Phoenix reported Anwar was telling people he had sold a huge number of NDP memberships* in Sutherland – an amount that would shellshock any opponent. The types of numbers which, frankly, are sometimes associated with dubious dealings, though Anwar maintains he sold every one personally to his connections in the immigrant community in Sutherland. The same story cited Meili as saying he had been told that Cam Broten was supporting Anwar’s nomination. “If that’s the case it would be disappointing because it wouldn’t be about the last leadership, it would be about the next one, about eliminating a rival,” said Meili, who in hindsight was unbelievably prescient, considering he said this an entire year before Dwain Lingenfelter was obliterated as the Saskatchewan NDP’s leader. Broten “scoffed” and “laughed” at the suggestion that he was working to help Anwar bump Meili off the NDP ballot. “People like drama,” said Broten. “But I’m not supporting or helping any candidates.” At the time, Anwar also denied Broten was helping him. Given the way things have shaken out, when I talked to Anwar today, I asked him that question again. “Of course he did,” was his emphatic reply. “Provided support by (I’ve redacted the name, but it’s one of Broten’s longtime staff members). Huh. Back to 2010 – Anwar wins the Sutherland nomination, but goes on to lose the election to the Sask Party’s Paul Merriman. September 5, 2012: Cam Broten announces he’s running for leader of the Saskatchewan NDP. Naveed Anwar is on Broten’s NDP leadership campaign-team, playing what has been described by insiders as a “huge role”, specifically in securing Broten’s “ethnic vote”. A week later: Ryan Meili announces he is also running for Saskatchewan NDP leadership – his second attempt. March 9, 2013: Ryan Meili loses the NDP leadership to Cam Broten by 44 votes. The fact Meili was ran off walked away from the Sutherland ballot has been largely cited by insiders as the major reason he lost his 2013 Saskatchewan NDP leadership bid. 2014: Vicki Mowat is acclaimed as the NDP candidate in the riding of Saskatoon Fairview. 2016: Naveed Anwar runs as a Liberal candidate in Saskatoon Westview, against Cam Broten. So, how does one go from driving Ryan Meili out of a NDP candidacy with the support of Cam Broten (allegedly)… to loyally volunteering for Broten’s leadership bid… to running as a Liberal, against Broten? “Oh definitely,” said Anwar, when I asked him if he ran against Broten deliberately. Anwar says that in 2014 he went through the NDP candidate vetting process, which according to the Saskatchewan NDP Constitution includes a ‘Candidate Screening Questionnaire’, which is reviewed by the NDP’s Provincial Committee; criminal record check; and anything else the party requests for documents. This was the second time he had completed this process, and Anwar says just like he was in 2010, he was fully approved by the Provincial Committee to proceed with a nomination campaign in the riding of his choice. And he chose Saskatoon Fairview. Anwar said he chose Fairview for the obvious reason – it had just barely been won by the Sask Party’s Jennifer Campeau in 2011, and he figured he could win it back for the NDP in 2016. Except Cam Broten told him that no, Anwar could not run in Fairview, because that’s where he wanted Vicki Mowat to run. When Anwar refused to back down from his decision – citing his “democratic right” to run for nomination wherever he chose, since he had already been through the party’s approval process – he says he got an email from party CEO Frank Quennel saying nope, wasn’t gonna happen. If Mowat was such a shoo-in, why not just let Anwar run against her? Surely she’d have the membership support she needed to clinch the nomination, right? I’m guessing given how fabulously he performed for them in 2010 in Sutherland, Broten and Quennel knew Anwar could do the same thing again in Fairview, except this time he’d be knocking out not their nemesis, but their star candidate. Upon realizing he wasn’t going to get past party brass, Anwar said (and I’m paraphrasing) “f*k that noise”, and went to the Liberals, requesting to be put on the ballot in Saskatoon Westview. Anwar said he knew he couldn’t win Westview, nor was he planning to try. Instead, he said he looked at the redistribution of 2011 votes (given the boundary change), and calculated how many NDP votes he would need to steal, in order to ensure Broten lost to the Sask Party candidate. Once he had his number in mind, Anwar says he methodically targeted ethnic NDP voters in the riding and asked them to vote for him. Remember, methodically targeting the NDP ethnic vote was pretty much exactly what Anwar did in 2013 for Broten’s leadership race, so he’d have a ton of the names and information on hand already. (Well, except back then he was securing those votes for Broten, not against him.) In 2011 Broten only won his riding by 800 votes. Redistributed boundaries tipped the scales even further away from Broten. The number of votes Anwar needed to sway wasn’t that high. On the night of April 4th, 235 voters cast their ballots for Naveed Anwar. Cam Broten lost the riding by 232 votes. In today’s Star Phoenix, new MLA David Buckingham (who based on his quotes in the story, is probably getting media training as we speak) boasted his “stealth attack” on Cam Broten. “I don’t think he realized how much I was on the doorstep,” said Buckingham. “As long as I could keep him from the doorstep, I figured we had a chance of winning.” Okay, settle down cowboy. What we’re establishing here is just one more catalyst that led to Broten’s demise, so not sure you need to be taking all the credit, quite yet. (Also, how did you “keep him from the doorstep”? Buckingham either totally made that up, or he inadvertently spilled the beans on some kind of Sask Party’s central campaign diversionary tactic. Though I’m still not sure how they could keep Broten from doorknocking.) And let’s abolish the words “I”, and “stealth attack” from our new political vocab, shall we? I’ve had a few friends tell me that Anwar isn’t necessarily credible. He did definitely tell me a different story today than he did to the Star Phoenix in 2010. Based on what I’ve heard, though, the facts line up. He had a goal in 2010, and that goal was accomplished. He had a goal in 2016, and that goal was accomplished. Would another Liberal candidate in Saskatoon Westview have secured 235 votes on Monday? Don’t know. If not, would those votes have gone to Broten? Don’t know. Had Ryan Meili won the Sutherland nomination back in 2010, would he have won the riding in 2011? Don’t know. Would he have won the NDP leadership in 2013? Don’t know. What we do know, however, is that if Naveed Anwar was removed from the equation, the outcome of that nomination race in 2010, and subsequently the leadership race in 2013, might have been very different for Ryan Meili and the Saskatchewan NDP. If Naveed Anwar and his targeted campaigning was removed from the equation, the outcome of the 2016 election might have been very different for Cam Broten and the Saskatchewan NDP. Bottom line: if Naveed Anwar was removed from the political equation of the last eight years altogether, the Saskatchewan NDP might look very different today. I’m thinking a big chunk of their base would consider that a good thing. You’re going to hear this a lot around here: politics is a vicious game. Sometimes – more often than you think – it’s the pawns that end up flipping the board upside down. Quick primer on political party memberships: all nomination candidates receive a current riding membership list, so they can campaign for members’ votes. Additionally, nomination candidates sell party memberships. The only prerequisite is that the new members to whom they sell live in the riding. Members do not have to be Canadian citizens or of voting age. In other words – you beg your neighbors to pay a few bucks (around $10) for a party membership, and then those neighbors come out and vote for you. The nomination candidate with the most neighbors, wins. **April 8th update: CBC journalist Stef Langenegger (and she is an actual journalist – an awesome one at that. I, on the other hand, am decidedly not a journalist. I just like politics. We’ve been through this.) Tweeted that she spoke to the Saskatchewan NDP, and they said Naveed Anwar was not approved in 2014 as a candidate for their party. This doesn’t change anything for me, because either way Anwar was pissed off enough to do what he did, but they would be responding to the notion that it was a specific riding for which he was rejected.The Truth About Wolverine's Healing Factor In Logan By Adam Holmes Random Article Blend Since he was a young boy in the mid-1800s, Wolverine (then known as James Howlett) has had a healing factor that allows him to quickly recover from injuries. Upon reaching adulthood, this "talent" also slowed down his aging. However, when we reunite with the clawed mutant next year in Logan, the healing ability won't be as strong as it used to be, as evidenced by the new trailer, where we see him with scars on his face and back. According to director James Mangold, the reason for this setback is because they wanted to give audiences a different Wolverine than the one they've grown used to seeing for more than a decade and a half. While recapping the new Logan trailer with Empire, Mangold mentioned that he wanted to break away from "tradition" established in the previous X-Men movies so they would have more freedom with how they adapted Wolverine, hence why it's harder for him to permanently recover in the spinoff. He explained: One of the things we all thought about as we worked on this film is, well, we don't want to rebuild everything. We want to have some questions. In order to make a different Logan, and a different tone of a Wolverine movie, we felt like we couldn't hold on to every tradition established in all the movies religiously, or we'd be trapped by the decisions made before us. So we questioned whether Logan's healing factor causes him to heal without even a scar. We imagined that it may have when he was younger, but with age, he's getting older and ailing. Perhaps his healing factor no longer produces baby-soft skin. So we imagined he heals quickly, still, but it leaves a scar. The simple idea was that his body would start to get a little more ravaged with a kind of tattooing of past battles, lacerations that remain of previous conflicts. Although Wolverine has been one of pop culture's most popular superheroes for years, his ability to heal quickly means that moviegoers can't be as concerned about him being hurt in battle. After all, if you have a hero who can't die, then why worry about their physical well-being? The previous Wolverine movies tried to work around this, like when those adamantium bullets gave him selective amnesia in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, or when he was implanted with a robotic parasite in The Wolverine that temporarily shut down his healing factor. Thankfully, Logan's reason for the character's scarring doesn't reek of sci-fi; instead, natural causes are responsible. Judging by James Mangold's comments, it sounds like despite the scarring, Wolverine still won't have an issue if one of his adversaries manages to slice or shoot him. He'll recover, it's just that there will be a mark left afterwards. However, that does beg the question of if/when this power will ever go away. When Logan kicks off, Wolverine will be nearly 200 years old. So at what point does his healing factor shut off completely? When he's 250 years old? 300? That issue may not be discussed in Logan, but it's worth considering. Logan will be released in theaters on March 3, 2017. Blended From Around The Web Facebook Back to topOn May 17, Guillermo Jones scored a major upset with an 11th-round knockout of WBA Cruiserweight Champion Denis Lebedev. Jones, 41, has enjoyed a bizarre, but successful career and he is now back in the mix along with promoter Don King–despite the fact that both fighter and promoter had been written off recently. Jones is a fighter with a world-class pedigree that stretches back over 15 years. His success encompasses a mind-boggling range, from junior middleweight (154 pounds)
He’s really good. Giovinco has scored 54 regular season goals for TFC since joining the Canadian side in 2015, while adding 37 assists. Additionally, during last season’s playoff run — which saw Toronto advanced all the way to MLS Cup — Giovinco had four goals and as many assists.HOUSTON – The turning point in the Seahawks’ 23-20 win over Houston came when cornerback Richard Sherman picked off Texans quarterback Matt Schaub and returned it 58 yards for a touchdown. That pick-six, with Sherman sprinting down the field with one shoe, tied the score at 20 in the fourth quarter. But the interception was not by accident. In fact, it was exactly how the Seahawks planned it. In the locker room after the game, safety Earl Thomas didn’t deflect credit from Sherman. After all, he had to make the interception — his second of the season. But Thomas gave much of the credit to defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for his play call. Quinn noticed on film that Houston liked to roll out Schaub off play action in short-yardage situations, then have him quickly dump the ball in the flat. So when the Texans faced a third-and-four with about three minutes left, Quinn dialed up a play designed specifically to thwart that. Quinn had safety Kam Chancellor blitz off the edge, which negated Schaub’s ability to roll out after faking the handoff. He also had Sherman hover in the flat. After turning and seeing Chancellor in his face, Schaub quickly threw the ball up for grabs to tight end Owen Daniels. Sherman played it perfectly and jumped in front of the pass. “You’ve got to give credit to the D-coordinator on that one,” Thomas said. Seattle’s defense had seen that exact play in Friday’s practice when going against the scout-team offense. In practice, Sherman also picked off the pass in the flat. Defensive end Chris Clemons said Seattle’s defense doesn’t run that play often, but he said Quinn knew what Houston would likely do on that play based on the Texans’ formation and down. “We had practiced exactly that,” coach Pete Carroll said. “So it was really cool that it happened, but even more so for the poise and athleticism for Sherman to pull it off. It was the way it was supposed to be.” Sherman, of course, completed the play by taking it 58 yards for a touchdown minus half his footwear. “It might be the longest return without a shoe in the NFL,” Sherman said. “You got to check that.” Jayson Jenks: 206-464-8277 or jjenks@seattletimes.comGolf is a popular recreational past time in Australia and throughout the world. 1 The golf swing is a complex movement involving the whole body and is used to develop momentum that is transferred to the golf ball to propel it towards the target. This movement pattern requires a coordinated sequence of muscle activity to efficiently transfer the power generated by the swing. The purpose of this research is to review the muscle activity that occurs during the golf swing. This paper presents a review of the synergistic action of the muscles of the upper and lower body during the golf swing and discusses how these muscles are recruited during the different swing phases. For the purpose of this paper, all swing related activity refers to a right handed golf swing unless otherwise noted. By understanding the component parts of the golf swing, the clinician may be able to better construct a sports specific management programme. Such a management programme could target specific muscles and actions to improve function and reduce injury producing mechanics. A Medline search was conducted on studies carried out between 1965 and the present. The key words golf, swing, and electromyographic were used. A hand search of references in selected papers and Science and golf: proceedings of the World Scientific Congress of Golf books were also reviewed. Research papers that fit the criterion of being an electromyographic (EMG) analysis of the golf swing were reviewed, and the data collated were used to provide an overview of the muscle activity that occurs throughout the body during the golf swing. In the lower body, the most active left sided muscles are the semimembranosus and vastus lateralis (42% MMT each), followed by the adductor magnus (35% MMT). On the right, the vastus lateralis muscle (40% MMT) is the most active muscle followed by the gluteus medius (22% MMT). The late follow through starts when the club is horizontal to the ground and ends at the completion of the swing. The most active muscles in the upper body during the late follow through on the left are the infraspinatus (40% MMT) and the pectoralis major (39% MMT). On the right side, the most active muscles are the subscapularis (56% MMT), followed by the upper and lower serratus anterior (40% MMT). The early follow through starts at impact to when the club is horizontal to the ground. In the upper body, the most active muscle during the early follow through is the pectoralis major bilaterally (74% MMT), followed by the right subscapularis (64% MMT) and the infraspinatus on the left (61% MMT). The most active muscle in the lower body during the early follow through is the left long head of biceps femoris (79% MMT), and left vastus lateralis (59% MMT). The right gluteus medius (59% MMT) is the most active right sided muscle, followed by the abdominal oblique (51% MMT). In the lower body, the acceleration phase sees the left biceps femoris (83% MMT) being the most active muscle with the left upper and lower gluteus maximus, along with the vastus lateralis being the second most active muscles (58% MMT). On the right side, the abdominal oblique (59% MMT) is the most active muscle, followed by the gluteus medius (51% MMT). The acceleration phase starts from the horizontal club to the impact of the ball (late part of down swing). This phase of the swing sees the pectoralis major muscle bilaterally being the most active muscle (93% MMT bilaterally) in the upper body. On the right side, the second most active muscle is the upper serratus anterior (69% MMT). On the left side, the levator scapulae is the second most active muscle (62% MMT). The forward swing starts at the top of swing and ends when the club is horizontal to the ground (early part of down swing). The most active muscle in the upper body during this phase in the upper body on the left side is the rhomboid (68% MMT) and middle trapezuis (51% MMT). On the right side, the most active muscles are the pectoralis major (64% MMT) and upper serratus (58% MMT). The most active muscle during the forward swing phase in the lower body are the upper and lower gluteus maximus (100% MMT and 98% MM) on the right side along with the biceps femoris (78% MMT). On the left side, the most active muscles are the vastus lateralis (88% MMT) and the adductor magnus (63% MMT). The back swing starts from the time the club starts movement to the top of the back swing. During the back swing, the most active muscle in the upper body is the upper trapezius on the right side (52% MMT), with the middle trapezius displaying the second highest reading (37% MMT). On the left side, the highest reading occurred in the subscapularis (33% MMT) followed by the upper serratus (30% MMT). In contrast, the most active muscle in the lower body is the semimembranosus and the long head of the biceps femoris on the right side (28% MMT and 27% MMT). On the left side, the most active muscle is the erector spinae (26% MMT) and the abdominal oblique (24% MMT). Either the Basmajian single needle technique 19 or surface electrodes were used to collect muscle activity data. Before conduction of the golf swings, a peak one second EMG signal during manual muscle strength testing (MMT) was selected as a normalising value (100%) for each muscle tested. Tables 3 and 4 summarise the results of most active muscles in the upper and lower body respectively. Phases of the golf swing. (A) Address position; (B) early back swing; (C) late back swing; (D) top of swing; (E) down swing; (F) acceleration; (G) early follow through; (H) late follow through. The subject has given permission for publication of this figure. In total, 17 muscle groups were investigated in the nine papers analysed. A number of the muscles were divided into upper and lower or anterior, middle, and posterior sections. Table 2 summarises the muscles selected for EMG analysis. A number of papers have investigated the function of the shoulder muscles during the golf swing. 7– 9 Research at the Kerlan Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, Los Angeles, California collected data from different golfer groups. 7– 9 Male professional golfers were the subjects in one study. The data were then reported again on sequential occasions after the addition of subjects/groups (women, amateurs) to the data set and after advances in technology. The final paper by Pink et al 7 reports on the combined data, which are used in this review. Studies performed by Kao et al 5 and Jobe et al 10 analysed scapular and rotator cuff function during the golf swing. The activity of the trunk activity, both anterior and posterior, 2, 3, 6 the lower limbs, 4 and the forearm 14 during the golf swing have been the focus of other separate studies. Most of the literature has focused on the EMG analysis of the shoulder and lower back. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 Very little research has been conducted on the forearm and lower limb during the golf swing, 4, 14, 15 and one study compared expert and novice differences in muscle activity during the golf swing. 16 However, the latter paper merely reported that there was larger variation in muscle activity in the novice golfers than the expert golfers, with no data on muscle activity reported. The injury literature has determined that the lower back, wrist, and elbow are the three most common sites of golf related injury. 17, 18 Although there is EMG analysis of back muscle activity, only one paper 14 has investigated muscle activity of common forearm and wrist injury sites. DISCUSSION The classic golf swing, predominantly used in the early part of the twentieth century, involved a relatively equal amount of lumbopelvic and shoulder rotation during the back swing. The follow through position was characterised by a relatively neutral spinal position and the momentum of the player moving forward.18 The modern golf swing was made popular by Jack Nicklaus and is currently used by most current professional players. It involves a limited lumbopelvic rotation in the back swing resulting in a greater relative rotation of the torso compared with the classic swing. The follow through is characterised by a hyperextended spinal position, known as the reverse “C”. The momentum is directed upwards. This swing is thought to deliver more power to the shot and a higher ball trajectory. It is the most popular golf swing, both in the professional and amateur ranks.18 The clinician often sees patients presenting with a golf related injury. Many of these injuries occur as the result of golf swing mechanics and are soft tissue injuries. An understanding of golf swing mechanics is important in determining the aetiology and management of golf related injury. The back swing is characterised by a rotation of the shoulder girdle to the right, with right arm abduction flexion and external rotation and corresponding left arm adduction, flexion and internal rotation to take back the golf club. The right scapula retracts and the left scapula protracts as they move around the trunk in a clockwise movement. Thus the muscles most active in the back swing are located in the upper body. The upper and middle trapezius are the most active muscles on the right. On the left side, the subscapularis and serratus anterior muscles facilitate internal rotation of the arm and protract the scapula. The lumbopelvic region has limited rotation to the right in the modern swing, with the pelvic muscles providing a stable base for the trunk to rotate. The lumbopelvic movement results from hamstring group activation as the body weight transfers to the right side. The left oblique also contracts to aid this trunk rotation in the back swing. The down swing is often reported as being made up of two arbitrary components, the forward swing (the early down swing) and the acceleration phase, which begins when the club is parallel to the ground. The early phase of the down swing is characterised by the return of the body back to the ball in preparation to hit it. In the modern golf swing, the hip initiates this movement and rotates the pelvis to the left. The right gluteals are very active in the extension of the right hip. The right biceps femoris contracts strongly to aid in the transfer of body weight back to the left side. The left pelvic muscles are active to provide a pivot point for the left lumbopelvic rotation, and weight transfer is enhanced by the activity of the vastus lateralis and adductor magnus. In the upper body, the arms rapidly return the down swing in preparation to hit the ball. This combined movement of left rotation of the shoulder girdle and scapular rotation in an anti-clockwise direction around the trunk results in large activity of the left medial scapulae stabilisers/retractors. Muscle activity on the right side is high in the pectoralis major in the initiation of internal shoulder rotation and flexion, and the upper serratus anterior contracts to assist scapular protraction. The acceleration phase of the golf swing continues the down swing to the ball impact. This phase of the swing is the most active phase of the entire golf swing. The major movers of the shoulder girdle, the pectoralis, are the most active muscles. The right side continues the activity achieved during the early down swing, while the left pectoralis appears to maintain an eccentric contraction to control the left arm abduction and external rotation. On the right side, the upper serratus is still active to protract the scapula. On the left side, the levator scapulae are also active to help with the scapular tilting. In the forearms, there is what is termed the “flexor burst” during this phase.14 This refers to a large increase in wrist flexor muscle activation just before the point of impact. The acceleration phase also sees activity of the lower body, which is characterised by the left lateral leg and lumbopelvic stabilisers being strongly activated. The muscles are active to provide a solid base for subsequent rotation of the trunk in the process of hitting the ball. On the right side, the obliques are the most active muscles and assist the rotation of the trunk back to the ball from the right rotated (back swing) position. At the level of the hip, the gluteus medius is also active to aid in this rotation. Muscle function at point of impact Although the impact of the golf swing is a specific point in time, and instantaneous muscle activity is difficult to evaluate, it is important to know what is occurring in the body at this time. This is important because most golf injuries occur at impact. Just before impact there is an increase in right wrist flexor activation, the flexor burst, which corresponds to combined flexion and pronation of the right forearm that occurs through impact. If there is a sudden decrease in clubhead acceleration—for example hitting the ground or tree root etc—there is a sudden change from concentric to eccentric contraction in the wrist flexors. This stretch based injury is likely to be acute if forces are large enough, or overuse-type if it occurs regularly. The early follow through of the golf swing occurs after ball impact and is the phase at which deceleration of the trunk rotation occurs. The pectoralis major muscles continue to be very active, continuing their action of the acceleration phase. The other muscles that are active in the follow through are the right trunk external rotators and the left side internal rotators. This rotational activity is associated with similar paired activity in the shoulder. In the shoulder, the active muscles are the right subscapularis and the left infraspinatus. These muscles are active during impact, where there is a “rolling” of the forearms, which results in left arm supination and right arm pronation. This movement continues through early follow through resulting in left arm external rotation and right arm internal rotation. The rotator cuff muscles contract to control this movement. It is noteworthy that a lack of trunk rotation may require the much smaller shoulder rotators to become excessively active to maintain the swing momentum or decelerate it. Such a scenario may result in the shoulder dysfunction often noted in golfers, particularly instability in professionals. It is also noteworthy that those with back problems may potentially induce a shoulder problem in their attempt to reduce the loads on a painful lower back. Bulbulian et al2 noted similar observations in his research on a modified golf swing where the back swing is shortened. This research reported that the forces generated in the lower back were reduced by this swing, but the forces generated in the shoulder were greater. What is already known on this topic A number of studies have analysed the muscles of the shoulder girdle and trunk during the golf swing using EMG Many of the subjects were professionals or players with low handicaps—that is, highly skilled golfers The lower body muscle activity is similar to the acceleration phase, with the left side acting as a stable base and the right side rotating around the left. In the late follow through, the muscle activity decreases as the golfer nears the end of the swing. The muscle activity in this phase is similar to the early follow through, but with a lesser degree of activity. The only exception occurs in the upper body where the right serratus anterior shows increased activity, as it aids the protraction of the scapular around the trunk. During the follow through of the golf swing, a number of muscles are eccentrically loaded to aid the deceleration of the body and golf club. This is particularly true of the rotator cuff musculature. Eccentric muscle has the potential for injury because of the forces produced on muscle fibres.20–22 This review proposes that such a mechanism is inherent in the genesis of golf related shoulder injury. There are a number of methodological concerns about many of the studies on the EMG activity of the golf swing. All of the golfers selected in the studies were right handed. This aids standardisation of the data, and the results can be extrapolated to most golfers as most are right handed. However, left and right handed golfers may be different, and it is an assumption that EMG activity in the left handed golfer is a mirror image of the right handed golfer. Secondly, most studies were conducted on highly skilled golfers (professional or low handicap, <5, amateurs). In the United States, the average handicap is 16.1 for male golfers23 and 29.2 for female golfers,24 and in Australia, they are 18.1 and 27.5 respectively.25 Although the data collected may represent what ideally should occur during the golf swing, it may not accurately reflect the actual swings of most golfers. The “average” golfer is a very different quality of player, who would be expected to have a less reproducible and efficient golf swing, with potentially different muscle activity during the swing from a highly skilled golfer. Extrapolation of the data from one cohort to the other may therefore be problematic. Finally, the methods sections of the included studies do not have a description of the golf swing used by the subjects. As described previously, there are a number of different swing types in golf. Each swing has a distinct characteristic body motion, which may produce different muscle activation throughout the golf swing and alter the data collected. In addition, a third swing has begun to emerge. Components of both the classic and modern swing have been incorporated to produce what may be termed the “hybrid swing”. The hybrid swing uses a similar back swing to the modern swing, with limited lumbopelvic rotation, whereas the follow through is similar to the classic swing, with a relatively neutral spine position (less hyperextension). The momentum of the follow through is directed into left rotation in the right handed golfer.18 What this study adds All EMG studies relevant to the golf swing were synthesised, enabling explanation of why certain muscles are active during specific phases of the swing in relation to the movement of the body during the swing The methodology of the EMG studies was evaluated and it was concluded that further studies are required on golfers of different skill levels and with different swing types to determine if there are differences in these subgroups It is important that further studies of the EMG activity of the golf swing target the aforementioned methodological issues. Future studies could investigate both the upper and lower body activity in beginner/low level golfers (handicap >25), the average golfer,15–20 and the advanced golfer (professional and <5 handicap). These groups will allow a comparison between skill levels in golfers in terms of muscle activity and may identify potential reasons for the differences in handicaps. Studies on muscle activity that occurs during both the classic and modern swing are needed to identify if there is a difference between these swings. Ultimately, such data could be related to prospective injury data on these swings to better explain the causes of golf related injury. These data would also help clinicians to manage golf related injury, with the prescription of appropriate exercise protocols to rehabilitate and prevent injury.San Antonio FC midfielder Kris Tyrpak has been named to the USL Team of the Week, the league announced today. Tyrpak scored two goals in 90 minutes, leading SAFC to a 3-1 win over regional rivals Tulsa Roughnecks FC. Tyrpak recorded just the fourth brace in club history last Saturday and saw his first goal of the game featured on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays. Both of his goals were scored in the first half, and his second would be the eventual game-winner for SAFC. The Dripping Springs, TX native has tallied three goals and one assist on the season and is tied for third on the club in scoring. Tyrpak joined San Antonio prior to the 2017 season after spending the 2016 campaign with USL Western Conference Champions Swope Park Rangers, where he tallied seven goals and one assist in 28 games. The honor marks the first Team of the Week inclusion for Tyrpak this season, and first for San Antonio FC since goalkeeper Diego Restrepo earned a spot following the May 26 match at Swope Park Rangers. San Antonio has had at least one representative in the USL Team of the Week following nine of the club’s 14 matches this season. The full USL Team of the Week: GK – C.J. Cochran, OKC Energy FC D – Mitch Taintor, Toronto FC II D – Ryan Felix, Rochester Rhinos D – Forrest Lasso, Charleston Battery M – Brian Ownby, Louisville City FC M – Alejandro Covarrubias, LA Galaxy II M – Adam Najem, Bethlehem Steel FC M – Kris Tyrpak, San Antonio FC F – Jorge Herrera, Charlotte Independence F – Didier Drogba, Phoenix Rising FC F – Cameron Lancaster, Louisville City FC Bench: Eric Lopez (LA), Auston Trusty (BST), Damion Lowe (TBR), Agustin Cazarez (SAC), Andrew Wiedeman (CIN), Andy Craven (OKC), Franck Tayou (RIC)A Jefferson County Circuit judge on Monday issued a restraining order to block removal of the controversial Confederate monument near the University of Louisville. Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman issued the order Monday morning against Mayor Greg Fischer and metro government, barring them from moving, disassembling or otherwise tampering with the 70-foot-tall monument. A hearing is set for Thursday at 10:30 a.m. to consider the plaintiffs’ motion for a full temporary injunction. GOP congressional hopeful Everett Corley filed the temporary restraining order in Jefferson Circuit Court to stop Fischer and U of L President James Ramsey from removing the monument from the school’s campus. Also listed as plaintiffs are the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Kentucky Division, and its “Chief of Heritage Defense,” and political activist Ed Springston. “This restraining order is about respecting veterans,” said Corley, a real estate agent, who argued it was the “equivalent of a book burning” and smacked of political correctness gone awry. Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell said he would fight the restraining order, which he said took him by surprise. He said no one from his office was at the hearing. “We’ll obviously comply with whatever those orders are... but we will move to immediately set this aside,” he said. “This is a question of law and a question of facts. I’m not over here to politically grandstand like this gentleman is,” he said, referring to Corley. Thomas McAdam, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the suit is based on several arguments in hopes of turning the order into a permanent injunction to keep the monument in place. He said the basis of the lawsuit is that the mayor violated several laws, including not going through proper local, state and federal laws including historic preservation procedures. Because of the monument’s placement on the national register of historic places, he said, notifications and hearings are required. The suit argues the move also violates the Kentucky Military Heritage Act and other state laws. {snip} Fischer has previously said the monument should be moved from its location between Second and Third streets because it represents a painful chapter in history. {snip} The granite monument, completed in 1895, was built with funding from the Kentucky Women’s Confederate Monument Association for $12,000, according to the suit. {snip} Original Article Share ThisJoan of Arc tragedy-triumph meets 1970s Japanese art house transgression in Belladonna of Sadness (Kanashimi no Belladonna), a long-forgotten X-rated psychedelic animation gem about one woman’s violation, persecution, and sexual awakening produced over four decades ago by the makers of Astro Boy. The third entry in the Animerama trilogy of racy adult animated features was produced in the late ’70s by the company founded by Osamu Tezuka, the grandfather of anime. But the series bombed, and Tezuka’s studio Mushi Productions went under shortly thereafter. Belladonna of Sadness never even made it across the Pacific. Ever since then, Belladonna’s lived on only in the rarefied hearts, minds, and collections of obscure art fiends and animation hounds. Prized for its dreamlike watercolors and funkadelic score, Belladonna earned cult status for its striking visuals, brutal violence, and explicit sexuality, folded into a boldly controversial feminist narrative. Now Belladonna of Sadness has been brought to vivid new life by a group of L.A.-based cineastes who have given the 1973 gem a 4K restoration and added eight minutes of explicit footage back in. After its unveiling late last week at Austin’s Fantastic Fest, Belladonna will be released stateside for the first time next year. The stunning rediscovery, adapted by anime veteran Eiichi Yamamoto more than 40 years ago from Jules Michelet’s 19th-century French proto-feminist text La Sorciere, tells the tragic tale of a blissfully happy peasant bride in feudal France. The young woman’s passion stirs innocently at first as she enjoys newly wedded bliss with her husband, Jean. But when the powerful local Lord invokes his right of primae noctis and viciously rapes Belladonna on her wedding night, an escalating cycle of persecution and abuse is set in motion that leads her straight into the arms of the devil. Belladonna’s affair with Satan—appearing first as a flirty phallic imp, he grows in size and intensity proportionate to his mounting desire to possess her—gets her ostracized by her peers, but also leads to a financial and sexual liberation that begins spreading to her fellow commoners, much to the dismay of the morally bankrupt religious-political order. Brutal, beautiful, and produced at the height of the sexual revolution, Belladonna pays tribute to so-called witches of medieval times as the forebears of modern feminist revolutionaries. Lovers of provocative cinema are more than ready now to embrace Belladonna’s witchy eroticism. Art and fashion fiends should also gravitate to its distinct aesthetic. “It’s an artistically stunning movie,” said Cinelicious’ Paul Korver, whose team spent several hundreds of hours of work restoring the film once an elusive original 35mm camera negative was located. Without further ado, watch the psychedelic orgy of sexual liberation explode in a Daily Beast exclusive clip:French startup Giroptic just raised $4.5 million for a new kind of action camera. Giroptic looks like a GoPro, but if you look closely, you can notice three different cameras. The egg-shaped 360cam captures everything around you, making it the perfect camera for virtual reality headsets. Many companies are focusing on making headsets, but creating virtual reality content is an important piece of the VR puzzle as well. Some companies, like CCP Games, are making video games for these headsets. And others, like VideoStitch, are creating software tools to produce 360 videos in real time or in post-production. Giroptic is an interesting player as the company is producing its own camera as well as an in-house stitching solution. As a reminder, Giroptic also grabbed $1.4 million in a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter backers will receive their cameras in December and January. [gallery ids="1251650,1251651,1251652,1251653"] You can pre-order a camera for $499 on the company’s website. It looks like Giroptic is following GoPro’s playbook by releasing an expensive camera to everyone who is interested. And this is key — the 360cam isn’t just for professionals. It’s for everyone who wants to play with virtual reality video. Eventually, if virtual reality video becomes mainstream, Giroptic will be well positioned to sell a camera to millions of potential customers. Compared to other similar cameras, Giroptic stitches the video in real time on the camera. The team has spent years working on 360 imagery for real estate and forensic use cases. The GoPro prosumer angle is pretty recent in comparison. Partech Ventures, 360 Capital Partners, SOSV, Finorpa, and business angels such as Oleg Tscheltzoff, Pascal Cagni and Aloe Blacc participated in today’s round. The company now plans to sell its camera in store in order to be ready when the first virtual reality headsets also arrive in your favorite electronics store.UIC, the design-build company best known for its transformation of the Botanical Heights, continues to build outside that original footprint. The company is proposing a custom home with first floor apartment at 4401 Gibson Avenue in Forst Park Southeast north of Manchester. The company has previously completed six homes in The Grove (Avant Grove and custom homes on Gibson and Hunt Avenue). Proposed for the corner lot is a site plan that seeks to mimic the historic corner building form, with the facades built near the sidewalk line instead of set back. Initial plans show the home and apartment entrances on the south facade, fronting Gibson Avenue, a design echoing entrances on adjacent corner buildings. The inclusion of a one-bedroom apartment is similar to UIC’s first custom home project in The Grove, which included an apartment as well. Adding an income generating component to what is otherwise a traditional single-family home, is a smart way to help secure financing. The building form also adds housing diversity and density to the city. As co-generational living becomes more popular in the US, we may see projects like this more often. The vacant corner lot, and lot immediately to the west, were long owned by the City of St. Louis. In 2015, 4403 was acquired by Houlihan Development (AKA Homes With Limits). Houlihan was the developer for 4448 Chouteau, a universal design and energy efficient home nearby. In July of 2015, a $250K construction permit was issued for Pagano Land Development, to construct the single family home there today. The corner lot is owned by the 4403 homeowner. Existing lot and adjacent new home: 4401 Project Description (via Park Central Development): The proposed project is a single-family, 2-story home with an apartment in the lower level. The home is approximately 2000 sq ft with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths and a rooftop deck. The interior of the home will be an open floor plan, with 9’ ground floor ceilings, and a double-height space in the back. The homeowners will manage a small 1-bedroom apartment in the lower level that is approximately 700 sq ft. It will be accessed from the front of the building through a naturally lit “atrium” stair. Exterior: Finishes will include Kynar coated metal siding, aluminum clad or aluminum clad wood windows, painted insulated steel fulllite style doors, and sealed wood or wood-look siding. The rear elevation is a sealed wood or wood-look siding with aluminum clad wood windows. The west elevation will be a rated wall since it is less than 3’ from the western property line and will be a combination of metal siding and cement fiber lap siding with 7” exposure. Anticipated Cost and Timeline: Acquisition: $20,000, Pre-development Soft Costs: $15,000, Construction Cost: $405,000, Total: $440,000. Site Control: November 2016, Construction Start: Spring 2017, Construction Complete: Fall 2017, Occupancy: Fall 2017. Developer is requesting 10-year tax abatement. Adjacent corners to 4401 Gibson (first: northeast, second: southeast, third: southwest at Chouteau): In September, UIC announced it would renovate 110K sf of the Liggett-Myers Tobacco building at 4140 Park Avenue. That project will become the third office for UIC since opening at McRee and Tower Grove in 2006. The company’s work in the Botanical Heights area is coming to a close with Phase 3 plans including the construction of 17 single-family homes and the redevelopment of 25 additional buildings as apartments and commercial space. Phases I and II of Botanical Heights included 40 single-family homes, 34 apartment units, City Garden Montessori charter school, restaurants Olio + Elaia, Union Loafers, Old Standard, and La Patisserie Chouquette, and company headquarters for UIC, GadellNet, and SLAM! Agency. UIC has recently proposed a multi-building residential infill project in the city’s Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood, though it has yet to break ground. The company has two homes under construction on the south side of Manchester in The Grove at Boyle and Norfolk, and recently completed a custom home on Hunt Avenue in the neighborhood. Currently under construction and rehab is the 72-unit project on Detonty Street.RICHLAND COUNTY, WI — The nationwide manhunt for Joseph Jakubowski, the man who allegedly stole 18 guns and mailed a lengthy manifesto to President Donald Trump, is over after authorities arrested him at a campsite in a rural area about an hour west of Madison, Wis. According to Rock County Sheriff's officials, on April 13 at about 9:30 p.m. the Vernon County Sheriff's Office received a report of a suspicious person on a farmer's property on Estes Road near Readstown, Wis. Investigators assigned to the Jakubowski case were sent to the area along with tactical support to assist local authorities in determining whether the suspicious person was related to the manhunt. According to authorities, the suspicious person complaint reported that a man matching the description of Jakubowski was camping at that location and refused to leave when he had been asked to do so. Patch ongoing coverage: Local authorities established a perimeter and a tactical support team was sent in to investigate. According to reports, just before 6 a.m. tactical officers made contact with the suspicious person at the campsite. The man was positively identified as Jakubowski. According to authorities, arrangements are being made for Jakubowski to return to Rock County for further investigation and charges. Jakubowski Manifesto Released Jakubowski has been at-large for more than one week as hundreds of law enforcement officials conduct a nationwide manhunt. Jakubowski is accused of stealing 18 guns from a Janesville gun shop, and mailing a 161-page manifesto to President Donald Trump. According to a WTMJ report, the Milwaukee TV station has obtained a part of the manifesto, which can be read here: Read Jakubowski Manifesto New Charges New charges were filed against Jakubowski in Rock County on April 11 including Burglary-Arm Self With Dangerous Weapon, Theft - Written Lease-Special Facts and Possession of Burglarious Tools. All three are felony charges and carry maximum prison time of fourteen-and-a-half years combined. After Friday's arrest, authorities indicate that Jakubowksi would likely face additional charges. Blaze of Glory: A Prediction that Didn't Come True In a FOX 6 News report published April 11, reporters interviewed Jakubowski's former neighbor, Frank Taromino in Janesville. In the FOX 6 report, Taromino remembered an incident in 2008 in which Jakubowski was stopped for having a suspended registration. That simple traffic stop led to felony charges stemming from an escalation of that incident in which he reportedly grabbed the officer's gun and tried ripping it from his belt with both hands. Based on that, and other smaller incidents, Jakubowski's former neighbor said he does not think the manhunt will end peacefully. "I don't think he's going to jail. I think he's going out in a blaze of glory, honestly," Taormino said. Lengthy Criminal Record According to Wisconsin circuit court records, Jakubowski has a lengthy criminal record of more than 70 charges, including a mind-boggling list of minor traffic violations. In 2008, Jakubowski was convicted of disarming a peace officer and misdemeanor bail jumping. A media report
it was time to say goodbye. The plot is essentially teenage girls going crazy for a random pop singer and someone at the network thought that this would be the direction of their channel for the foreseeable future. The film itself isn’t the worst, the problem was what the film represented. For those growing up in the 90s era of Brink!, Zenon, Halloweentown, Johnny Tsunami, etc. Our time was up. I actually give the older movie’s credit for actually writing material that didn’t insult its target audience and gave them what they didn’t assume would just go over their heads. But after the rise of Hilary Duff and Raven Symone as teen icons, the network moved its agenda to the pandering of teenage girls and not entertaining content. Again, go watch Susie Q and then watch this film and you understand why I said the difference is night and day (and that change only took less than 6 years to complete). 1/5 In conclusion, Disney Channel Movies had a place in your heart if you were around at the right time. I recommend going back and watching the films yourself, i’m sure you can find a semi-legal site that has every film in question and more. You can’t recreate what once was, you can only relive it. Don’t Forget to Like, Follow This Blog at Society-Reviews.com, and follow on Twitter For Updates. AdvertisementsThe Saskatchewan Roughriders’ struggles in 2015 started with their lack of quality starting Canadians, specifically at the nose tackle position. Linebacker Shea Emry’s injury in the first game of the CFL season magnified both weaknesses, and sent a ripple effect across the roster. It caused ridiculous offensive personnel packages that confused both fans and players, and had little to do with football and more to do with passports. As a result, I was a little dismayed when the Riders lost out on the Ted Laurent free-agent sweepstakes. Not only did they not get the massive national lineman — he re-signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — but in waiting for him to make his decision, the Riders also lost out on a deep group of quality Canadian nose tackles. For a moment, I forgot the mantra “In Jones We Trust,” because I thought, “Oh no, here we go again, trying to find a Band-Aid to plug up a massive gash in the Riders’ defence.” But instead of signing a second-tier nose tackle as I expected, Jones and his team shifted gears and went after the second-rated national defensive lineman in free agency, all-star end Justin Capicciotti. Capicciotti now bookends the D-line with another new face, Shawn Lemon, to give the Riders a quality national starter on defence, as well as a formidable pass rush to pressure and contain opposing quarterbacks. But what these signings do not do is settle the concerns over the nose tackle position, and it could have a domino effect on the rest of the roster. Given the signings of Corvey Irvin and Markus White, I now assume that nose tackle is an international position, and developing nationals Rory Connop and Brandon Tennant seems less certain. Conversely, to avoid any confusing substitution packages, Riders special-teams ace Dylan Ainsworth will be asked to play more of a role at defensive end, a role in which he excelled at Western University. Who the nose will be may still be up in the air, but one thing for certain is that the signings at linebacker, paired with 2015 rookie-of-the-year nominee Jeff Knox Jr., gives the Riders perhaps the best group of linebackers in the league. The SAM linebacker is actually a misnamed defensive back, but any way you look at it, the Riders got one of the best in the game with Otha Foster. He’ll be called on to cover the opposition’s slot, and sometimes best, receiver. It is said that a player’s third season in the CFL is his breakout year and, like Foster, middle linebacker Greg Jones is entering his third campaign; he should lead the Riders in tackles. The signing took me by surprise because I was certain that Edmonton Eskimos linebacker J.C. Sherritt was destined for Rider green in 2016. That would once again have proved that Chris Jones has a blueprint for success, can identify talent, and has a great understanding of how to spend salary-cap dollars on quality and value and, above all, build a team. Similarly, no blank cheques were written for the secondary. Former Rider Graig Newman was signed, and former University of Regina standout Tevaughn Campbell was acquired from the Calgary Stampeders to join returning national safety Matt Webster in training camp. All three players are intent on starting on opening day. Free-agent lockdown cornerback Ed Gainey joins 2015 rookie standout Tyree Hollins in the secondary. There appears to be a lot more support in place this season, but only time will tell how this group of individuals comes together as a defence — and as a team. (I value your feedback at Mike.Abou-Mechrek@InvestorsGroup.com)Cromwood-Coventry residents and their elected officials say there is no doubt in their minds that Baltimore County was justified in closing an eroding stretch of Oakleigh Road in Parkville. "The county made the right call," said Baltimore County Councilman David Marks. But there is less agreement on when, if ever, the one-way road will reopen. Marks stressed at a meeting with residents Monday that closing the road, uphill from Cromwell Bridge Road, is only temporary, and that his goal is to reopen it as quickly as possible. But resident Elizabeth "Ann" Collier, who did not attend the meeting, was less optimistic as she walked past the barricades and into a wooded area late Monday afternoon, pointing to holes in the pavement and an eroding guard rail. Collier said she would buy a reporter dinner if the road reopens. More likely, she predicted, "It's going to make a nice dog-walking area or nature preserve." The county Oct. 21 closed a roughly quarter-mile portion of the road between Cromwell Bridge and Rushley roads, citing a safety hazard because of extensive erosion. No timetable was set for reopening it. Staff photo by Larry Perl / Cromwood-Coventry resident Robert Perkins stands outside his house and a sign that he posted, expressing concerns about potential traffic from a nearby housing development. Cromwood-Coventry resident Robert Perkins stands outside his house and a sign that he posted, expressing concerns about potential traffic from a nearby housing development. (Staff photo by Larry Perl /) Residents had called for the stretch of road to be closed. The Cromwood-Coventry Community Association board asked in an Aug. 17 letter to Marks that the road be closed "until satisfactory repairs can be made," and that the county make the road work a priority in the county's capital budget. "The side of the road is falling into a ravine," said resident John Scott, who attended the meeting with Marks along with residents Sharon Opdyke and community association president Mark Yeager. "There are sinkholes all over the place," Opdyke said. Yeager said that at an association meeting in August, a vote was taken on whether to ask the county to close the road. Staff photo by Larry Perl Cromwood-Coventry residents Sharon Opdyke, foreground, and Elizabeth "Ann" Collier stand on the closed stretch of Oakleigh Road on Oct. 26. Cromwood-Coventry residents Sharon Opdyke, foreground, and Elizabeth "Ann" Collier stand on the closed stretch of Oakleigh Road on Oct. 26. (Staff photo by Larry Perl) "Everybody raised their hand to close it," he said. But the closing of the road is not without its downside. Residents said it will limit their access to the community, in an area already congested at nearby Joppa Road and Perring Parkway, and will force them to use Littlewood Road, Jenifer Road or Mountain Avenue. Closing Oakleigh Road will also limit emergency personnel in the event of accidents on Cromwell Bridge Road, Opdyke said. That makes reopening Oakleigh Road even more important, Marks said. "I think it's an emergency situation," he said. Also attending the meeting were representatives of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., who said they would install erosion control measures in BGE's right of way in the community, which is also dealing with stormwater issues. But that issue is separate from the issue of closing Oakleigh Road, said BGE spokesman Aaron Koos. Marks said the County Council is considering a "no-build" zoning classification near utility lines, which could be applied to the Cromwell Bridge area. Related controversies Some residents said they suspect that the ongoing development of a subdivision of 33 Ryland Homes at nearby Littlewood and Rushley roads and related construction traffic has compounded erosion of Oakleigh Road. The project is already controversial because of concerns that it could bring as many as 340 new cars into the community with its narrow roads. And a related controversy came to light last week, when an attorney representing CalAtlantic Group, Inc., which succeeded Ryland in a recent merger, wrote a "notice to cease and desist" letter Oct. 22 to resident Robert Perkins, who lives near the 14.5–acre development. Perkins, 86, has posted signs outside his house, complaining about potential traffic, and he said Monday that the site, which already contains several model homes, should never have been developed because of its limited access. The letter by attorney George Brown, of the Baltimore law firm Kramon & Graham, P.A., accuses Perkins of posting signs on his property "in an attempt to disparage CalAtlantic and to discourage potential home buyers from purchasing CalAtlantic homes." The letter threatens to sue Perkins if he does not remove the signs with 48 hours of receiving the letter. Perkins said he painted over one sign but has left several others as is. "I think it's terrible that (CalAtlantic is) challenging Mr. Perkins' First Amendment right" to free speech, Collier said. "I've been against the overdevelopment that's going to cause all this traffic," Perkins said. Another resident, Pam Frock, of Rushley Road, said her house floods because of the development. Brown could not be reached for comment and an on-site sales counselor declined to comment or to give her name. Yet another neighbor, whose house is next door to the development, has affixed a handwritten sign to a tree. It says, "Ground zero. Marshy lawns. Wet basements. Bad buy."WASHINGTON - A strong holiday shipping season and a couple of favorable economic situations temporarily turned around the financial fortunes of the Postal Service, officials said Tuesday. The post office reported a $307 million profit between October and December of 2015, as compared to a $754 million loss the previous year. That was in part because increases in holiday shipping during the first quarter of the fiscal year, which begins in October. "Shipping and package revenue grew 13.5 percent over the same period last year, and was particularly strong during the holiday shipping season," Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Megan J. Brennan said. "We projected and delivered more than a 16 percent increase in package volume." But postal officials warned that without favorable interest rate changes and a postal surcharge that will expire in April, they would have had a net loss of approximately $700 million in the first quarter. "While net income is favorable compared to a net loss, it unfortunately does not reflect the end of our losses," Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Joseph Corbett said. The service is still seeking relief from the mandate to "pre-fund" retiree health benefits. Legislation in 2006 required the Postal Service to fund 75 years' worth of retiree health benefits, something that neither the government nor private companies are required to do. The service continues to press for legislation that would provide relief from its funding requirement for retiree health benefits and give it greater flexibility in setting rates. The first-quarter operating revenue for the Postal Service was $19.3 billion, an increase of $613 million, or 3.3 percent, over the same period in the previous year. "Today's good news is consistent with, and reinforces, the emerging consensus among key lawmakers, the Postal Service, postal unions, businesses, mailers and industry groups to move forward with practical reform that all stakeholders can buy into," said Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. "Such reform should include stabilizing rates as well as addressing the pre-funding mandate that is responsible for the red ink that's been reported in previous quarters."The pilot managed to swerve out of the mystery aircraft's way while he was on a routine police surveillance task over the city centre earlier this year. The helicopter was also carrying two police observers during the journey in May. All three reported seeing a strange aircraft with two continuous blue/green lights. The incident is detailed in a document compiled by experts from the Airprox Board, which records near misses and reports them to the military and air traffic control units. The report stated: "The front observer saw unidentified lights flying around their aircraft. The pilot established visual contact, as he manoeuvred the aircraft to avoid a collision and to identify the light source." The object was less than 100m away and flew around them. The pilot told the Airprox Board he thought the intent may either have been sinister or just someone messing around. It was initially believed that the object was a radio controlled aircraft and that it was purposefully flown around the helicopter. The report stated: "He (the pilot) believes the lights may have come from a radio controlled fixed wing aircraft, the lights being to assist with night flying." Despite searching the area with a thermal camera, the pilot was unable to find any signs of radio-controlled model activity. And the British Model Flying Association ruled out the possibility, saying the mystery object was flying too high to be a miniature craft. Nick Pope, who previously worked for the Ministry of Defence's UFO desk, said: "A helicopter was nearly blown out of the sky. "This is a very disturbing incident which needs to be thoroughly investigated by the MoD and the Civil Aviation Authority as well as other near misses. "The conclusion on the report is unsatisfactory especially when this aircraft came within seconds of a collision. "It is a very interesting case especially when you look at the eyewitnesses. They are credible and reliable sources who have experience in night time flying." "This sighting clearly illustrates that whatever one believes about UFOs, this incident raises important air safety issues and should be taken seriously."Skype for Android has been updated to support Android Wear smartwatches, allowing users to check notifications, reply to chats, and accept or decline calls from the wrist (though the call itself is taken through your smartphone). It’s certainly a long overdue update for Skype, and comes as Android wearables start to gain wider adoption. Android Wear devices — including the Moto 360, Huawei Watch, LG Watch Urbane, and ASUS ZenWatch — are specifically listed as examples, meaning Microsoft probably feels these are the models currently gaining the most traction in the market. Skype rolled out support for Apple Watch back in April. Users will be able to reply to messages by speaking into their smartwatch with voice-to-text support, or choose from pre-written responses if they’re in a hurry. “You can even draw on the watch and respond with an emoji,” Skype said. The update also hands off more in-call functionality to Android Wear, allowing users to mute, hang up, or pause and switch to another incoming call from their smartwatch. You can grab the update (version 6.4) here.WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that all options are on the table for the United States to respond to North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile over northern Japan’s Hokkaido island into the sea in a new show of force. The missile test further increased tension in east Asia as U.S. and South Korean forces conducted annual military exercises on the Korean peninsula, angering Pyongyang which sees the war games as a preparation for invasion. North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under its leader, Kim Jong Un, in defiance of U.N. sanctions, but firing projectiles over mainland Japan is rare. Trump, who has vowed not to let North Korea develop nuclear missiles that can hit the mainland United States, said the world had received North Korea’s latest message “loud and clear”. “Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table,” Trump said in a statement. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke and agreed that North Korea “poses a grave and growing direct threat” to the United States, Japan and South Korea, the White House said. Investors flocked to safe-haven assets after the missile firing. The dollar fell to its lowest in more than 2-1/2 years against a basket of major currencies.DXY but then rebounded, while benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note US10YT=RR yields fell and the price of gold XAU= hit more than a nine-month peak. U.S. stocks.SPX recovered from a sharply lower open. INTERMEDIATE RANGE Initial assessment indicates the North Korean missile was an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), the Pentagon said in a statement. Two U.S. officials said it appeared to be a KN-17, or Hwasong-12. North Korea’s Kim guided a launch of its Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday in a drill to counter the joint exercises by South Korean and U.S. militaries, the North’s official KCNA news agency said on Wednesday. “The current ballistic rocket launching drill like a real war is the first step of the military operation of the KPA in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying. Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning said diplomacy was still Washington’s preferred option with Pyongyang. North Korea was defiant. “The U.S. should know that it can neither browbeat the DPRK with any economic sanctions and military threats and blackmail nor make the DPRK flinch from the road chosen by itself,” North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun said, using the initials of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The North vows to never give up its weapons programs, saying they are necessary to counter hostility from the United States and its allies. The United States has said before that all options, including military, are on the table, although its preference is for a diplomatic solution. The United States is technically still at war with the North because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Relations worsened last year when North Korea staged two nuclear bomb tests. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the launch was “absolutely unacceptable and irresponsible” and that the Security Council now needed to take serious action. Saying “enough is enough,” Haley said she hoped China and Russia would continue to work with the rest of the Security Council when it meets on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what more can be done about North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. The Security Council earlier this month unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea after it staged two long-range missile launches in July. In response to Trump’s statement that all options are on the table, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters: “It’s troubling, because tensions are high and whose nerves are stronger, we don’t know.” A U.S. official denied a report by Japan’s Nikkei newspaper that the United States and Japan will call at Tuesday’s meeting for an international embargo on oil exports to North Korea. Securing diplomatic agreement to such a ban would likely be extraordinarily difficult. A missile is launched during a long and medium-range ballistic rocket launch drill in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on August 30, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS Diplomats say China and Russia typically only view a test of a long-range missile or a nuclear weapon as a trigger for further possible U.N. sanctions. Negotiations on the past three substantial U.N. sanctions resolutions have taken between one and three months. The United States has proposed that the Security Council adopt a statement on Tuesday condemning North Korea’s ballistic missile launch and imploring “all states to strictly, fully, and expeditiously implement” U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang, according to a copy of the draft statement seen by Reuters. The draft statement does not threaten new Security Council action against North Korea. In China, North Korea’s lone major ally, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the crisis was “approaching a critical juncture”, but it might also be a turning point to open the door to peace talks. The launch was North Korea’s second since U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appeared to make a peace overture last week, by welcoming what he called the restraint Pyongyang had shown by not conducting tests for several weeks. Trump also expressed optimism last week about a possible improvement in relations, saying of North Korea’s Kim: “I respect the fact that he is starting to respect us.” Some experts in Asia said Kim was trying to pressure Washington to get to the negotiating table with the latest missile tests. “(North Korea) thinks that by exhibiting their capability, the path to dialogue will open,” said Masao Okonogi, professor emeritus at Japan’s Keio University. HIGH-FLYING MISSILESouth Korea’s military said the missile was launched from near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, just before 6 a.m. (2100 GMT on Monday) and flew 2,700 km (1,680 miles), reaching an altitude of about 550 km (340 miles). Four South Korean fighter jets bombed a military firing range on Tuesday after President Moon Jae-in asked the military to demonstrate capabilities to counter North Korea. South Korea and the United States had discussed deploying additional “strategic assets” on the Korean peninsula, South Korea’s presidential Blue House said in a statement, without giving more details. Earlier this month, North Korea threatened to fire four missiles into the sea near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam after Trump said it would face “fire and fury” if it threatened the United States. North Korea fired what it said was a rocket carrying a communications satellite into orbit over Japan in 2009 after warning of its plan. The United States, Japan and South Korea considered it a ballistic missile test. Slideshow (13 Images) The latest missile fell into the sea 1,180 km (735 miles) east of Hokkaido, the Japanese government said. In many northern Japanese towns, sirens wailed and loudspeakers urged residents to take precautions, sending some scrambling to leave their houses while others confessed they had no idea what they should do.Emails on Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonSanders: 'I fully expect' fair treatment by DNC in 2020 after 'not quite even handed' 2016 primary Sanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' Former Sanders campaign spokesman: Clinton staff are 'biggest a--holes in American politics' MORE’s private server marked “top secret” ended up in the inboxes of three total Clinton aides, the State Department revealed. The 22 emails over seven email chains included Clinton aides Jacob Sullivan, Cheryl Mills, and William Burns, according to documents released by the State Department to Vice News Friday. ADVERTISEMENT Twenty of the emails were restricted to Clinton and Sullivan, with some originating from other unnamed State Department officials. Two were email chains among State officials forwarded by Sullivan — one to Clinton and Mills, and another to Clinton, Mills and Burns. The existence of the top-secret email chains became publicly known in January, although their recipients have remained under wraps until now. In his report on the investigation into Clinton’s private email server, FBI Director James Comey said that the emails were not put under stricter classification after the fact. "Seven e-mail chains concern matters that were classified at the Top Secret/Special Access Program level when they were sent and received," Comey said. "These chains involved Secretary Clinton both sending e-mails about those matters and receiving e-mails from others about the same matters.” The State documents itemize each email and show who was included on the chains but do not reveal the subject of the messages. The documents were released in a so-called “Vaughn Index,” a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that withholds some information. Vice News said that a Vaughn Index would typically include additional insight into the content of the emails.Fat tax won't pop our ballooning obesity epidemic Posted Rather than taxing foods, Australia needs a cultural shift towards being active. It is time to make sport and recreation more accessible and affordable, writes Amy Bainbridge. It's a regular question from family and friends. "What athletic feat have you been up to lately?" I'm often called "crazy" because I love to run and swim. I'm sad to say, these days, a love of being active makes me abnormal. It also makes me a little sad - because the amount of exercise I do could be considered'moderate' at best. It's sad, because somewhere along the way, being an active Australian has become unusual. It shouldn't be. Australians work some of the longest hours in the developed world. Many of us spend plenty of time each week commuting to work. We love to reward ourselves with a meal out and something to drink. Many of us sit at a desk all day and the kilos creep on without much thought. There's little time left in the day to be active, and to put some thought into what we put into our mouths. We're neglecting our health, and we're getting fatter as a result and putting a strain on our health system. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) released new guidelines this week in an effort to tackle our spiralling obesity problem. If current trends continue, the NHMRC says a staggering 83 per cent of men and 75 per cent of women will be obese in 10 years. Unsurprisingly, it says we need to change our diets and ramp up the exercise to prevent this from happening. It says obesity now costs Australia $21 billion a year, and it has overtaken smoking as the greatest risk factor for disease and injury. Frightening stuff. You can read more about the healthy eating guidelines here. At the same time in Europe, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has called for a tax on sugary drinks to stymie a ballooning obesity epidemic. The report Measuring Up describes the UK as the 'fat man' of Europe. It says a quarter of men and women are obese or overweight. And one in five children aged between 10 and 11 are overweight or obese. The report goes on to say that obesity levels in the Western world are reaching 'unprecedented proportions', and that there is a growing acknowledgement that we are facing one of the biggest threats to public health in the 21st century. So, in this context, talk has been raised of a 'fat tax'. The college suggests raising the cost of sugary drinks by 20 per cent. I've previously written that something drastic needs to be done but a simple tax isn't addressing the root of the problem. We need some tough love, but we need to go further. And we must deal with our inactivity, combined with our growing love of large portion sizes. We need a cultural shift towards being active. While I'm all for introducing compulsory boot camps for employees in sedentary jobs, I'm also a realist. We need achievable goals, changes that can be worked into our lifestyle. The NHMRC says we now need to exercise for 45 minutes to one hour a day to be healthy. It was previously thought that 30 minutes a day would be enough. This is achievable, I promise. Rather than taxing foods, Governments should be looking for incentives for businesses to support their employees get regular exercise. This could be in the form of tax break on activities, gym memberships or other tailored fitness. It worries me that in sport, we are fast becoming a society of the 'haves' versus the 'have nots'. Those who can afford to participate in sport and recreational activities they enjoy, and the others who cannot afford to do so. Instead of talking taxes, we should be making sport and recreation more accessible and affordable. Swimming lessons for children are popular, but are increasingly expensive. A casual swim can be expensive, too. In Hobart in December, it cost $7.40 to swim at the city's main indoor pool. Casual visits to most gyms cost around $20 - they're shamelessly trying to force you to commit to a membership, which can be more than daunting. On top of that, memberships themselves can be expensive and you'll be penalised if you drop out earlier than your contract. Gyms don't suit everyone anyway. On top of this, we need to encourage people to get incidental activity into their day. To walk to the bus stop, to the train station. Take the stairs, not the escalator or the lift. Get out of the car and ride a bike. Take a break at lunch time, even if it's just for a 20 minute walk. It's all achievable. Various campaigns have tried to impress this message upon us. It's not getting through. Why not? Forcing people to pay more for bad food isn't the solution. Positive change is. Amy Bainbridge is the ABC's consumer affairs reporter. View her full profile here. Topics: diet-and-nutrition, health, obesityPumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake [click for printable recipe] link Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake By Heather Baird Tuesday, October 12, 2010 Tuesday, October 12, 2010 Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake Recipe ByPublished: I'll be the first to admit that I've been to Starbucks a little too often since the Pumpkin Spice Latte has been back on the market. There's something so lovely about spiced coffee... it makes you feel cozy and assures you that fall has truly arrived. I've been so impressed with the many food bloggers who have tried their hand at a copycat recipe, and there are a few I can't wait to try. (Like this one!)Needless to say, this dessert was inspired by that same cozy drink, and it was an instant favorite at my house. I'll be bringing one (or two?) home for the Thanksgiving table this year. This cheesecake is one of the easiest baked varieties I've ever tried. I didn't experience any surface cracking and I didn't need to adjust the baking time at all. I half expected something to go wrong due to the adaptations I made to the recipe - but no. I didn't even use a water bath!An easy way to dress up a cheesecake (or most any cake) is to cut strips of wax paper and lay them across the cake evenly before dusting generously with powdered sugar. No special equipment necessary! Gotta love that.It's so nice when a dessert turns out exactly the way you hoped it would. I piped on a little freshly whipped creme and then sprinkled the entire cake with nutmeg and cinnamon. Instant coziness on a plate!Yield: 9" cake, serves 8-10 Crust:2/3 cup all purpose flour2/3 cup almond flour1 tsp. cinnamon3 tbsp. sugar4 tbsp. cold butter, cut into piecesPreheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend ingredients until mixture resembles coarse sand. Press into the bottom (not up sides) of a 9-inch spring-form pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely.Filling:2- 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened3/4 cup white sugar1 tbsp. vanilla extract3 eggs1 cup of canned pumpkin2 tsp. ground allspice (substitute recipe here 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon3 tsp. espresso powder, or Starbucks VIA instant coffee (for authenticity)Using an electric hand mixer, combine the cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix until smooth. Mix eggs in one at a time, blending well after each addition.Remove one cup of the mixture and transfer to another bowl. Add the espresso powder to the 1 cup of filling and mix until coffee has dissolved and is uniform in color. Set aside.Blend 1/4 cup of sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon and allspice into the remaining filling. Pour the pumpkin mixture on top of the crust in the spring-form pan. Top pumpkin mixture with the 1 cup coffee filling mixture.Bake for 55 minutes or until filling is set. The cheesecake will puff up in the middle a little bit as it bakes and then relax back down as it cools. Run a knife around the edge of the pan for easy un-molding. Allow the cheesecake to cool before removing rim of spring-form pan. Chill until ready to serve.Garnish:Whipped cream (1/2 cup heavy cream, 3 Tbsp fine white sugar, beat together with electric mixer)Cinnamon, nutmeg and powdered sugar for sprinkling1 Cinnamon stick broken in half (decor only)Top cake with whipped cream, sprinkle with spices and powdered sugar. Garnish with cinnamon sticks.West Queensland's iconic Isis Downs Shearing Shed celebrates century with rare open day Updated A renowned shearing shed in Queensland's west will open its doors to the public for one day only as it marks its centenary. Construction on the Isis Downs shearing shed, a semi-circular woolshed at Isisford, south of Longreach, began in 1913 and was completed in 1914. It has a unique design and is known as one of the largest early twentieth century shearing sheds. Isisford is also holding horse races tomorrow, and the Isisford Race Club has worked with the station's owner to enable visitors to tour the woolshed today between 9:00am and 5:00pm. Visitors were once able to view the building, but it has been off limits for a number of years. Engineer historian Ian Waples has researched the shed and said it was the only example of its kind in Australia. It is one of our historic icons in this community, it is our history, and it is something that we are proud of. Sally Edwards, Isisford Race Club secretary "Well I think what is special about it is the design to start with, it's very unusual the design, it is a semi-circular shed," he said. "The original design was a 52-stand shed, so it was a massive exercise [to build]. "It's all steel construction, except for the floor and that is very unusual in woolsheds, they are usually just all timber. "This one has got a centre pole in the middle of the structure and all the trusses radiate out from the central pole, so to be inside it, it is a really magnificent building." Mr Waples said it would also have been a huge challenge to build. "All the steel was brought out from England, Australia at that time didn't have any steel mills, so the steel was all brought out to Melbourne, fabricated in Melbourne, shipped to Rockhampton, then via rail, out towards the site, and then by teamsters to the property," he said. "It was really a magnificent effort when you think back 100 years. "For that area, it must have been an eye-opener to see such a magnificent building going up." The Isisford Race Club secretary Sally Edwards said today's opening may also encourage more visitors to attend tomorrow's race meeting. "We have a lot of tourists come through and they ask about the shed all the time," she said. "It is disappointing [that it's not open] but we just appreciate that we do have this time. "It is one of our historic icons in this community, it is our history, and it is something that we are proud of." An extra horse race has also been listed on the program at the Isisford race meeting, to celebrate the centenary of the Isis Downs shearing shed. 100 year old shed was well ahead of its time Property manager Phil Dearden, from Consolidated Pastoral Company, said the shearing shed was a special building. "It's 52 stands - so certainly that would have been a significant number of sheep that would have gone through in a day," Mr Dearden told ABC Country Hour. "It was the first electric shed too, as far as I know in Australia - electric overhead gear - so it was pretty well ahead of its time. "It was a pretty unique set up for the time, and it is a unique shape, so I guess that is what makes it what it is." The Pastoral Company has not used the shed for shearing for 10 years following a move out of sheep, but said it has remained in good condition. Topics: history, community-and-society, isisford-4731 First postedFrog and Toad Front cover of the first book with seal affixed: Caldecott Honor Book (1971) Author Arnold Lobel Illustrator Lobel Country United States Genre Children's picture book, short story collection Publisher Harper & Row Published 1970–1979 No. of books 4 Frog and Toad are the main characters in a series of easy-reader children's books, written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel (who also wrote Mouse Soup). Each book contains five simple, often humorous, sometimes poignant, short stories chronicling the exploits of a frog and his friend, a toad. Some of their adventures include attempting to fly a kite, cleaning Toad's dirty house instead of postponing the chores to the next day, and finding out different reasons for isolation. Frog is taller with a green shade, and is more cheery and relaxed than Toad; Toad is shorter and stout with a brown shade, and while just as caring and friendly as Frog, is also the more serious and uptight of the duo. In 2008, three of Arnold Lobel's uncolored, unpublished Frog and Toad books were discovered in an estate sale. They were consolidated into two books and colored by Lobel's daughter Adrianne Lobel.[1] Origins [ edit ] When Lobel was sick and out of school for much of second grade he kept himself busy by drawing. He used his animal drawings as a way of coping with the social insecurity of his return and to make friends. His books about animal friends, such as Frog and Toad, were drawn from these experiences. Lobel himself wrote "Frog and Toad are really two aspects of myself."[2] In the New Yorker, his daughter, set designer Adrianne Lobel suggested "that there’s another dimension to the series’s sustained popularity. Frog and Toad are 'of the same sex, and they love each other'," and that "'Frog and Toad' really was the beginning of him coming out".[3] Books [ edit ] Barnes & Noble published a hardcover omnibus edition of three books in 2008: Adventures of Frog and Toad, comprising the complete text and illustrations of Frog and Toad are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, and Days with Frog and Toad. Two books that contain references to Frog and Toad were completed by Lobel's daughter Adrianne from
Matt Bonner warms up before second half action against the Houston Rockets on Jan. 2, 2016 at the AT&T Center. Spurs’ Matt Bonner warms up before second half action against the Houston Rockets on Jan. 2, 2016 at the AT&T Center. Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Ex-Spur Matt Bonner still hopeful about his NBA future 1 / 12 Back to Gallery Matt Bonner doesn’t know if his career is over. He’ll almost certainly never don a Spurs uniform again. He might not get another chance to unfurl his peculiar-looking 3-pointer as an NBA player. That uncertainty hasn’t prevented Bonner from preparing as if he had a team to report to for media day next Monday. RELATED: 11 things to watch for going into Spurs training camp “I’m going to fight to get into the league,” Bonner told the Concord Monitor. “I’m going to fight to play one more year.” As of Sept. 19, 2016, Bonner still doesn’t have a job in basketball. He has no idea if one exists for him among the league's 30 teams. He’s been toiling in small gyms in his native New Hampshire, a far cry from the Spurs’ practice facility not far from the buzzing interstate highway. His goal was always to play until 40 – now he just wants to make through to 37. Twelve years into a career in which he has won two NBA titles and knocked down 797 3-pointers, the 36-year-old is still adrift, a free agent with a few leads but no assurances. “There’s been interest, but nothing concrete,” Bonner said. “A lot of teams are like, ‘We like Matt, we just don’t have a roster space right now, but if anything changes, he’s in the mix.’ There’s a long way to go until opening night, so I’m remaining optimistic.” RELATED: Bonner acknowledges Spurs career 'probably over' Bonner holds no grudges against his former team; after all, he's one of only six players to play 10 uninterrupted seasons with the Spurs. “There’s no hard feelings,” he told the Express-News last month. “I’m beyond appreciative of everything the Spurs, the city and the fans have done for me.” Bonner, who grew into a beloved figure in San Antonio, is among the franchise’s leaders in several categories. He ranks eighth on the games played chart — 632, two more than Bruce Bowen. He is fourth all-time in 3-pointers made (656) and attempted (1,588) and fifth in 3-point percentage (41.3 percent). Bonner is unlikely to add to those totals with the Spurs, but he hopes those career tallies aren’t set in stone just yet. That’s why he’ll keep working, even without a team to work for. nmoyle@express-news.net Twitter: @NRMoyleGet our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. IN THE early 1990s, as the collapse of the Soviet Union remade eastern Europe, two economies stood out for their size and potential. One was Poland, with 38m people; the other Ukraine, a country of 52m. It was not clear then which was destined for greater things: Poland’s GDP per person was no bigger than Ukraine’s, and its heavily indebted economy was shrinking fast. Today the comparison seems ludicrous. Ukraine’s economy shrivelled by almost 18% year on year in the first quarter. Poles are three times richer than Ukrainians. Some of this divergence is the bitter result of geopolitics. Russia reconciled itself to Poland entering the West’s orbit; when Ukraine tried to shift towards the European Union last year, Russia seized Crimea—and it still meddles in Donetsk (see article). Europe could dangle the incentive of joining the EU in front of Poland; full membership for Ukraine is remote at best. But reformist policy also mattered. The West helped turn Poland into an economic success story. If it now wants to give succour to Ukraine—and to counter Russia’s wrecking tactics—it needs to learn from that earlier rescue. Progress on Ukrainian economic reforms has been painfully slow One lesson from Poland is the need to restructure debts. Thanks to a cut in Poland’s debt-to-GDP ratio, from 83% in 1990 to 56% in 1993, debt-service obligations did not cripple the economy. As part of its financing programme with the IMF, the Ukrainian government is negotiating with its creditors to reduce its debt-service burden (see article). Rather than just extending debt maturities, Ukraine must be allowed to impose a write-off on most of the principal that its private creditors are owed, without jeopardising external funding. Poland also points to the need for generous funding. The West spent heavily to drag Poland into modernity. From 1990 to 2000, only China, India and Egypt received more foreign aid. In Ukraine the IMF has so far been the only large source of funds. It says Ukraine needs about $40 billion of help in the form of debt relief and loans; the true needs are higher still. Yet the sums on offer from the outside world have been pitifully small. America could supply far more than the $2 billion-worth of loan guarantees it has so far promised, at little risk to its taxpayers. The Europeans have been even stingier. By mid-May the EU had disbursed €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) of economic assistance. That is contemptible. It is also a missed opportunity: annual investment of $6 billion could help Ukraine loosen Russia’s grip by making it nearly self-sufficient in gas by 2030. Most perverse is the EU’s insistence in October that the Ukrainian government must pay $3 billion in disputed arrears for gas imports to Gazprom, Russia’s energy giant. Because of that, in financial terms, the club that Ukraine wants to join has hurt more than it has helped. As in Poland, funding must be tied to long-term structural reforms. Ukraine’s government is already making some useful changes. Tax evasion is getting more difficult. To improve the finances of the state gas monopoly, Naftogaz, household gas prices are rising fourfold. That has saved the state money: in the first quarter of this year Ukraine posted a budget surplus. But much more needs to be done. Stations used by Naftogaz to measure gas flow are inside Russia, meaning that no one is sure how much passes into Ukraine: that creates huge scope for gas to be siphoned off and sold illicitly. Ukraine’s murky legal system, a turn-off for business, resists change. The apparatus of corruption remains intact. And righting the public finances should not come at the expense of spending on health care and education, which has been cut. The martial plan The parallels between Ukraine and Poland are not exact. Poland in the 1990s had not just lost territory to invasion, nor was it vulnerable to Russia’s economic blackmail. The West cannot pour limitless amounts of money into Ukraine without setting conditions. Nor can it cut off a country that has been deprived of its industrial base by force, that has seen 2m inhabitants displaced and whose economic fate rests in large part on the machinations of the Kremlin. A meaningful package of humanitarian aid to Ukraine should be offered independently of reform-linked funding. Since the crisis began, the EU and its member states have contributed just €139m-worth of aid. In 2011 the European Commission offered more money to help salad farmers affected by an outbreak of E. coli.Colors in sand Sand can be unbelievably colorful. Most of us are familiar with tan, orange, yellow and red colors but the range of colors that occur in sand is almost limitless. In this post I will show some compositionally interesting sand samples and explain briefly which constituents are responsible for these colors. This is not the most usual stuff we used to play with in a sandbox. Most sand samples shown here are collected from beaches all over the world (Hawaii, Caribbean, Turkey, France, Sri Lanka, etc.) but some are not entirely natural. Sometimes sand contains so much interesting minerals that it is mined as a mineral resource and purified after that. Let’s take a closer look one sand sample at a time. Green mineral is olivine. It is a common mineral in dark-colored igneous rocks like basalt. Papakolea, Hawaii. Width of view 20 mm. It is a typical coral sand that is widespread in the Caribbean. Pink grains are forams. White is a mixture of corals, forams, mollusks, etc. San Andrés Island, Colombia. Width of view 20 mm. Obsidian from Hawaii. Such sand forms when lava flows into the sea, disintegrates violently and cools so rapidly that crystals have no time to form. This is natural basaltic glass. Width of view 20 mm. Garnet is a very common component in many sands and sometimes forms beautiful reddish heavy mineral concentrates. Sand sample is from Australia. Width of view 20 mm. Sulfur occurs as a native mineral around fumaroles in volcanically active areas. These sulfur grains come from Iceland. Width of view 20 mm. Sodalite is a relatively rare magmatic mineral. This beautiful sand sample is a mixture of sodalite and dolomite and comes from a mine in Namibia. Width of view 20 mm. Glauconite is a clay mineral that forms distinctive pellets and frequently occurs in beach sand. This sample is unusually rich in glauconite and comes from France. Width of view 20 mm. What makes volcanic ash gray? It is actually a mixture of differently colored grains. Pumice and felsic mineral grains (quartz, feldspar) are usually light-colored but most volcanic ash samples also contain mafic crystals (hornblende, pyroxene, etc.) that add darker hue which makes typical volcanic ash look grayish. This sample was collected just one day after the eruption of St Helens in 1980. Width of view 20 mm. Several beaches claim to have the whitest sand in the world. I am not aware if the shore of Lake Salda in Turkey is among them but it has reason enough. Its sand is composed of snow-white mineral hydromagnesite — a product of hydrothermal reactions. To be honest, this sand also contains few fragments of greenish serpentinite but I removed these grains to make the sand look really white. Width of view 20 mm. Volcanic black sand from Martinique. It is mostly composed of greenish elongated pyroxene and equant black magnetite crystals. Width of view 12 mm. Heavy mineral sand from Sri Lanka which contains lots of intensely colored spinel grains. Width of view 20 mm. Dirt from a copper mine dumps in Namibia. Such bluish green color is typical to weathering products of copper ore like malachite, chrysocolla and chalcophyllite. Width of view 20 mm. Volcanic glass from California. Reddish color is an indication of weathered iron (mineral hematite). Width of view 20 mm. This sand sample is composed of ordinary stuff — quartz. It is hematite again that gives reddish color to quartz grains but this time hematite only covers the grains as a very fine-grained pigment. Sand sample is from Australia. Width of view 20 mm. This time it is not so much about color. Small platelets are mica (brown biotite and gray muscovite) flakes that act as small sparkling mirrors in many sand samples. In this sand samples from France these mica flakes are unusually numerous. Width of view 20 mm. These bluish grains are small cordierite crystals. Cordierite is a mineral that occurs in metamorphic rocks. I made this sand sample by crushing rock sample that was composed of fine-grained cordierite. Width of view 20 mm.Board gaming as a hobby has been growing like mad recently. With so much going on, it’s a tough hobby to keep up with, but how much do you know about how board gaming got its start? How have games evolved throughout history since those first games? And where can we get our hands on some of those ancient games? Peter Attia attempts to address these sorts of questions in his article “The Full History of Board Games.” Well, he doesn’t exactly say where you can buy some knucklebone dice or a 5,000-year-old copy of Senet, but he does describe the cultures that created them. Image Credit: Dmitry Denisenkov For example, many ancient games used “dice sticks” instead of a single die. These two-sided, painted sticks were thrown to determine your “roll.” And what do you think the oldest board game still played today is? Hint: It’s not backgammon. Peter’s writing explores all sorts of fascinating board game trivia like this, but it’s not so comprehensive that it will cause you flashbacks of 4th-period history class. In all actuality, your curiosity will probably be piqued just enough that you’ll find yourself looking up topics such as “Libro de los Juegos” and “Book of the Dead” on Wikipedia. Image Credit: The British Museum The article finishes with some recent board game history such as the unexpected success and influence of Settlers of Catan, Spiel des Jahres (a very prestigious board game award), Kickstarter, and even TableTop and International TableTop Day. Okay, now that we’re all really curious about board game history, can someone build a board game museum already? Feature Image Credit: Zeno.orgAn Arizona kennel owner is under fire after calling pet owners telling them their dogs had escaped his care only for the owners to discover that the dogs had died from heat exhaustion in his home. Thursday night, Arizona authorities discovered 17 dogs had died at a Gilbert, Arizona, boarding kennel owned by Todd Hughes and his family, according to CBS5AZ. According to several owners, Hughes had contacted them telling them their dogs had escaped. After receiving the call, several owners who were out-of-state sent friends to search for their dogs. Families and friends arrived to scour the area for their missing dogs only to the discover that the dogs had died while being held in a room where the air conditioning failed. Families are questioning how the dogs could have died from the heat overnight with temperatures in the 80’s Justin Taylor who showed up to search for his family’s missing 6-year-old golden retriever, Koda, said the owner lied to everyone. “Todd [Hughes] called everybody and said, ‘Oh, your dogs got out and they’re missing,'” Taylor said. “They weren’t missing. They’re dead.” According to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Hughes wasn’t home at the time of the incident, leaving it to his family to check on the animals. “One of the dogs chewed through an air conditioning wire overnight,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chris Hegstrom said. “When the [Hughes family] checked on the dogs the next morning, many were already dead.” According to Hegstrom there was a total of 28 dogs in the home, adding that the incident was “a horrible tragic accident.” One owner, Heather Bennett, disagreed. “It wasn’t [a tragic accident],” Bennett said. “It was an act of negligence, completely.” No criminal charges have been filed and families are expected to file civil suits against the kennel owner. Watch the video below: CBS 5 – KPHOPhoto: AP George Zimmerman says he is auctioning off the pistol he used to kill Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teen whose murder he was acquitted of in 2013. In an interview with Florida’s WOGX, Zimmerman explained that the Justice Department recently returned the weapon and he believed it was time to “move past the firearm” that he would otherwise “put in a safe for [his] grandkids.” Zimmerman also said he was unconcerned with how critics might react to the sale. “They’re not going to be bidding on it, so I couldn’t care less about them,” said Zimmerman.“I’m a free American. I can do what I like with my possessions.” In the auction description, Zimmerman calls the gun “a piece of American History” and makes multiple references to his perceived enemies, including “B. Hussein Obama.” “The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin,” writes Zimmerman. “I am proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds will be used to: fight BLM violence against Law Enforcement officers, ensure the demise of Angela Correy’s persecution career and Hillary Clinton’s anti-firearm rhetoric.” In a statement, The Trayvon Martin Foundation said they were focussed on their mission to end senseless gun violence and had no comment. h/t MediaiteWhile many Disney movies are deserved classics, it isn’t hard to tell that most of the villains in the studio’s films (no matter their gender) have a distinctly feminine air. In fact, the 2015 documentary Do I Sound Gay? purposely includes a supercut of these “effete, aristocratic, effeminate” animated baddies, the film’s director David Thorpe told Vice. Those old Disney movies are still essential parts of any family’s collection. But since kids now live in a world where the Supreme Court has guaranteed the right to same-sex marriage, there’s a good chance they’re more clued in to gay stereotypes. This weekend, a Twitter user named Holly (username @_Hate_Holly_) decided to remove their last shred of innocence by tweeting about the “gay agenda” of Disney villains: The pioneers of the gay agenda pic.twitter.com/YyVZHBsaW5 — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 She then classified each baddie using modern LGBT terminology: The cultured gay. Very well traveled. Family won't leave him around kids. (Not bc he's a perv he just might kill them) pic.twitter.com/SKhvqPv9xM — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 The lesbian that's gentrifying your neighborhood but thinks it's fine bc she's edgy and hip. (Think shameless) pic.twitter.com/ZyMmBRf9eJ — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Came out the closet late in life after her husband died. Family thinks it's just a phase. pic.twitter.com/qMUu6uJYaP — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Your chain smoking 40 drinking gay auntie that they try not to invite to Christmas every year but she always shows up ready to fight pic.twitter.com/5vkGP2leyA — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Started with a crack habit now we here. pic.twitter.com/sS6CGj1rQu — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 The white feminist lesbian. Wears black lives matter tshirts but voted for trump. pic.twitter.com/eoO5OSFMGv — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Not really gay just watched too many episodes of orange is the new black. Will likely return to her family in 3 months. pic.twitter.com/mSllAyxqJB — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Scene gay. Always knows where the party is. Please don't lick the sticker he gives you. pic.twitter.com/GgO7poRWiM — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 The gay politician. Has been blackmailed three times. Very house of cardsesque lifestyle. pic.twitter.com/tlKrXYPqR1 — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Very sassy. Brows laid to the gods, always. Will read you like a novel. pic.twitter.com/RMJIdIQER9 — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Not here to play with you hoes. Can vogue like nobody's business. Knows every beyonce routine. pic.twitter.com/cT5Ua1um4C — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Annoying problematic meathead gay. Advocates for LGBT rights but thinks #alllivesmatter pic.twitter.com/CHzLj2Oj9J — Uncoachable (@_Hate_Holly_) April 2, 2017 Holly told the Observer that her tweetstorm was “satire at the current backlash over gay characters being portrayed in children’s movies.” While these characterizations are hilarious, the reality is that Disney was more open to the LGBT community than its movies might suggest—the studio supported lyricist Howard Ashman as he battled AIDS in the 1990s. Disney films have also evolved in recent years—Frozen and the Beauty and the Beast remake featured gay characters in a more subtle manner.Kathryn Stalbaum CBS affiliate WDJT (CBS/AP) WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. - Kathryn Stalbaum, a 15-year-old Wisconsin girl, went missing Tuesday morning while riding her bike to school, reports CBS affiliate WDJT. Authorities have since found her bike, but there has been no sign of the teen. Authorities in Waukesha County say Stalbaum had texted a friend early Tuesday saying she had missed her bus and would be riding her bike to Kettle Moraine High School, 2 miles away from her home. "We don't know what happened to Kathryn," said Waukesha County Sheriff's Department Inspector Eric Severson. "I don't know if she's left voluntarily. I don't know if she's left against her will. I don't know." According to the station, the teen's bike was found across the street from Waukesha Memorial Hospital. Officials have searched the area around Stalbaum's school, her home and the route she may have taken to school Tuesday. Dive teams also reportedly searched ponds in the area. Stalbaum is described as being 5-foot-7 and 120 pounds with long brown hair, blue eyes and braces. She was last seen wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and bright pink Nike tennis shoes, according to WDJT. CrimeStoppers is offering a $1,000 reward in the case. Authorities are asking anyone who knows anything about Stalbaum's whereabouts to call the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office at 262-446-5090.NEWARK, N.J.: A building located at the gateway to the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark’s East Ward is about to see new use. According to Carmelo Garcia, the Chief Real Estate Officer and Executive Vice President of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, two new businesses are planned for the Ironbound Station Plaza building, located at 2-14 Ferry Street, at the corner of Market Street, directly across from Newark Penn Station. One of the spaces will be occupied by a location of a national coffee company, the name of which has not yet been revealed, while the other will contain a Blink Fitness gym. Blink Fitness, which is owned by Equinox Fitness, has been expanding into Northern New Jersey in recent years, and has other area locations in Journal Square in Jersey City, Union, and South Orange. Additional new gyms are planned for 620 Central Avenue in East Orange and 870 Springfield Avenue in Irvington. Blink Fitness spokesperson Danielle Muzones confirmed to Essex County Place that the company recently signed a lease to open its first Newark location in the space, and that it is expected to open in the first quarter of 2018. The 117-year-old building has most recently contained medical offices, including the Ironbound Community Health Center, but was originally the home of the Ironbound Trust Company and a Prudential office. For additional stories and live local news, follow us on Twitter ( @PlaceNJ ) and like us on Facebook ( Essex County Place ).Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk is week-to-week with what sources say is a sprained medial collateral ligament in one of his knees. Dubnyk, who gutted out the entire first period Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames despite being hurt five minutes into the game, will travel on the upcoming four-game road trip to at least get treatment and because his father, Barry, already has travel plans to Fort Lauderdale for the father/mentor-son portion of the trip. While coach Bruce Boudreau would only allow that Dubnyk won’t be on the ice through this weekend, the net for the foreseeable future belongs to Alex Stalock, who will start Thursday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Last month, Stalock talked candidly to The Athletic about what he thought of his time in Toronto after being traded there from the San Jose Sharks two seasons ago. Stalock was immediately placed on waivers and barely played for the AHL Toronto Marlies. Stalock ended up not starting last...If you thought The 100 was already a horror show, think again. In this week's episode, titled "Demons," the quest to find the true commander Luna involves a trip back to Arkadia, which forces the group to confront demons both real and emotional. In the exclusive clip above, Octavia (Marie Avgerpoulos) does both when she makes her way into her dead boyfriend Lincoln's bedroom, and seems to be overwhelmed with emotion after his untimely execution just three episodes ago. Fortunately, she brings Jasper (Devon Bostick) with her, and he's able to give her the same comfort she once gave him. "Remember when you told me it gets better?" he asks. "It's OK to fall apart a little, Octavia. You loved him." "A warrior doesn't mourn the dead until the war is over," Octavia responds, clearly holding back her tears. Luckily, she quickly finds what she was looking for—a clue to Luna's location—just before things go very wrong. Watch the clip above!In the opening years of the 21st century, Sofia Coppola wanted her second feature film to be “a little funnier and more romantic” than The Virgin Suicides, the debut that got her a place among the rising filmmakers of the day. Inspired by her numerous trips to Japan in her twenties, she developed the idea of setting an unorthodox love story in the center of Tokyo, among all those neon signs, posters of Kevin Costner and Harrison Ford advertising coffee and beer and flashy karaoke bars where broken English versions of Western rock hits echoed through the night. Lost in Translation turned out to be a huge box office hit, as it effortlessly connected with hundreds of thousands millennials, who found it easy to emphasize and relate to Coppola’s protagonists’ feelings of being lost, stuck and confused. It’s not only the box office that was blown away—the critics mostly adored Coppola’s vision, seldom failing to mention the glorious performances of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in the lead roles. The great Roger Ebert, whose reviews continue to inspire and remind us what the film world irreversibly lost in 2013, considered Coppola’s sophomore effort to be one of the most impressive movies of the whole decade, and it’s certainly not an isolated occurrence that the film left the same mark on us as it did on the late critic. Nominated in four different categories–Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay—Lost in Translation triumphed in the latter category, earning the talented daughter of a proud father her first her only Oscar up to this point. So what’s so special about this movie? An experienced actor whose career is in an obvious downfall comes to Tokyo to shoot a whisky commercial. Calm and half-depressed, at the same time desperately stuck and accepting this fact with dignity and stoicism, the actor spends his nights at the hotel bar in silence. There he meets a beautiful college graduate, driven to anger and disillusionment by her young husband, who prefers the company of a perky movie star over spending time with her. These two strangers, left alone and isolated in the ocean of lights, sounds and chaos that is contemporary Tokyo, connect on an inner, deep level and start developing a true friendship and affection for one another. A seasoned actor and a girl only at the beginning of her adult life share a week together, at the end of which both feel a little happier with their circumstances and with themselves. It’s a love story like no other, a romance comedy too subtle and deep to be simply put in a labeled drawer, a film that many might deem incomprehensive and slow because of its obvious lack of action. But the action is here in abundance, if you know where to look. Coppola spent six months writing the film, which was ultimately shot in only 27 days, leading to a lengthy editing process back home. If Murray’s resistance hadn’t been broken during the full year of Coppola’s courting and harassment, Lost in Translation would have been, well, lost in the translation from Coppola’s head to the empty screen. As she put it, Murray was an elusive guy who didn’t even let them know when and how he was coming to Tokyo, and without him, she claims the movie would never have gotten made at all. His role was crucial, and the way he delivered it immediately raises the question why this genius actor never got the Academy’s attention. Johansson, on the other hand, was barely 18 at the time, and she shocked Coppola with the maturity and wisdom she brought to her character. Neither Murray nor Johansson had to audition for their parts, as Coppola knew exactly what she wanted. It’s clear that her choice was prophetic as soon as you watch these two loveable characters interact. Shot by cinematographer Lance Acord, who insisted on using natural light and avoiding artificial literally whenever possible, edited by Steven Soderbergh and Sofia Coppola’s frequent collaborator Sarah Flack, with a delightfully melancholic score supervised by Brian Reitzell, Lost in Translation is a film so full of restrained but powerful emotion that it’s an experience we put ourselves through at least once a year. From the erotic first shot of Johansson inspired by the paintings of John Kacere, all the way to the mysterious whisper into Scarlett’s ear at the very end, this film is a poetic exhibition of humor, love and understanding. A monumentally important screenplay. Dear every screenwriter/filmmaker, read Sofia Coppola’s screenplay for Lost in Translation [PDF]. (NOTE: For educational and research purposes only). The DVD/Blu-ray of the film is available at Amazon and other online retailers. Absolutely our highest recommendation. Let’s Get Lost: Translation Talk with Sofia Coppola and Ross Katz. Courtesy of Focus Features. Sofia, the vantage point of a young woman has been a constant in the work you’ve done so far. But here, working with Bill Murray, you explore the older man’s as well… Sofia Coppola: … and he’s having a midlife crisis in Japan—where it’s already so confusing. In the film, Charlotte is having that early 20s, “what do I do with my life” crisis. She and Bob are two people at opposite ends of something comparable; she’s just going into a marriage and he’s on the other end, having been in one for years. There is camaraderie between them at the moment in time that they’re at. It’s two characters going through a similar personal crisis, exacerbated by being in a foreign place. Trying to figure out your life in the midst of all of that… I always do that on trips, just start to think of these issues when I’m away from home. Ross Katz: One of the exciting things for me was what Sofia said to me when we met: “Bill Murray is my leading man.” We did not conceive of this movie without him. I genuinely believe that Sofia would not have made it if he didn’t agree to do it. He is a real leading man and his performance is, I think, wonderful. What was the genesis of the idea for Lost in Translation? Did it come from a specific trip? SC: It was inspired by spending time in Japan in my early and mid-20s. I went there six or seven times over a couple of years. Just from spending time there, being in the Park Hyatt Tokyo, I wanted to do something set in Tokyo, and I liked the idea of how, in hotels, you keep running into the same people. There’s this sort of camaraderie even though you don’t know them or even talk to them. And, being foreigners in Japan—things are distorted, exaggerated. You’re jet-lagged and contemplating your life in the middle of the night. Also, I love Bill Murray and I really wanted to write something for him showing his more sensitive side—what you felt a little bit of in Rushmore, I wanted to see more of that side. And there’s just something funny about being stuck in a situation that you don’t really want to be in. The Park Hyatt hotel that you stayed at, that’s the one in the movie, right? SC: Yes, although I didn’t stay there when I was younger because it was expensive [laughs]… I stayed there a few times later on. There’s something very specific and odd about that hotel. The city is so chaotic and here’s this silent floating island in the middle of Tokyo. They have the “New York” bar and a French restaurant—but it’s the Japanese version. RK: The pool is pretty amazing too. And the view—we would often sit by windows, look out at Tokyo from 40 stories above and say, “How the hell are we going to make this movie in a few weeks?” Ross, when and how did you come aboard the project? RK: We were brought together. I was finishing up The Laramie Project and was in L.A. on behalf of In the Bedroom, and Bart Walker—Sofia’s agent—thankfully put us together for a meeting. Bart had asked me, “Would you be interested in meeting Sofia?” I said, “Are you kidding? She’s one of the most exciting filmmakers around.” I had just loved The Virgin Suicides so much. We met and it was a little bit like asking someone to the prom. I left our meeting thinking that she has a great sense of humor and perspective. She really understands the movies that she wants to make. Every nuance is so clear to her. I wanted to help her realize that. I waited by the phone and then she called—the best call you could get. When we were talking about Lost in Translation it was clear that she would evoke Charlotte’s (Scarlett Johansson) journey. In addition, she really had the Bob Harris (Bill Murray) character down. She saw the film in terms of those special times in your life where you make a connection, and it doesn’t make any sense and it doesn’t fit into your world but somehow you connect with someone. Everybody comes from different places in their lives yet a lot of things are the same. Sofia talked about a memory of something that only lasts a short time yet stays with you forever—and I thought it was a great way of describing the movie. Sofia, had you gone to Japan to write the screenplay, or for further inspiration? SC: I didn’t write it there. I’d been there a lot and had my photos. A lot of the places in the movie are places I’ve gone. My friend Charlie Brown always takes me around. That’s his nickname; his real name is Fumihiro Hayashi. I met him a long time ago and he has a fashion magazine there. Charlie is in Lost in Translation, he sings “God Save the Queen”; he always sings that, and that was one of the first images I wanted to make a movie around. I did go back a year before we shot, with friends, and videotaped anything that looked interesting and worked on the script after that. Some of that stuff I did put into the script: staying in the hotel and seeing the “aquaerobics” in the pool and having the shabu-shabu dining experience. Then there are these advertising campaigns that you see in Japan: American actors endorsing products and being a little bit embarrassed about it. I’m affectionately poking fun at it; I don’t look at it as hypocritical. It’s just so weird to be in Japan and to look up and see Brad Pitt selling coffee, and see a Brad Pitt head floating in a vending machine. It’s one of those out-of-context things in Japan, like a replica of a French café. This film was made entirely on-location in Japan. How does a purely American filmmaking team plan on and prep for such an adventure in an exotic break from the familiar—especially as an independent feature with a modest budget? SC: It was a big adventure. One of things I love about Tokyo is that it’s so different than being in Europe—much more foreign and unfamiliar with regard to the culture, the language. Everything’s different, even getting the groceries. There’s different rules and traditions that you learn as you go. We got there a little bit in advance. There were about eight of us from the U.S. and the rest were local. RK: Very different than what I’d been involved with. You can’t really embark on this kind of a journey without a total willingness to have your plans change, your ideas thrown back in your face, and reinvent your plan on a daily basis. The only way you can do that is with a true partner, and that’s Sofia; she was really up for the adventure. It was completely exhilarating—and terrifying at times. It’s not as simple as a language barrier. A lot of people work with language barriers. More than 90% of our crew was Japanese, many of whom were non-English-speaking. In Japan, there’s a different kind of cultural protocol, there’s a different way that things are done, including on the filmmaking side of things—the structure of a crew and how a crew works. So, there were a lot of big adjustments on both sides. Sofia and I didn’t want to jump into Japan and make an American movie, American style. I think a lot of people plop down in their location and say, “Well, we’re just going to do it the way that we do it.” But there were certainly examples of the language barrier. One night, we were shooting the fire alarm sequence that comes toward the end of the movie and takes place in the middle of the night. Our casting folks were great—mainly non-English-speaking. They had arranged for us to have about 50 extras there.
Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally planned for the same day on the eastern part of the Mall.[29] King wrote a Washington Post op-ed column offering measured criticism of Beck's event: While it is commendable that [Glenn Beck's] rally will honor the brave men and women of our armed forces... [its] organizers present this event as also honoring the ideals and contributions of Martin Luther King Jr.... My father... would be the first to say that those participating in Beck's rally have the right to express their views. But his dream rejected hateful rhetoric and all forms of bigotry or discrimination, whether directed at race, faith, nationality, sexual orientation or political beliefs.... Throughout his life he advocated compassion for the poor.......Profoundly religious..., my father did not claim to have an exclusionary "plan" that laid out God's word for only one group or ideology.... I pray that all Americans will embrace the challenge of social justice and the unifying spirit that my father shared with his compatriots.[30] MLK April 4, 2011 rally On April 4, 2011, the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of his father, King helped to lead nationwide demonstrations against initiatives to eliminate and undermine collective bargaining rights of public workers in Wisconsin and other states. King led a mass march in Atlanta and spoke to a crowd of supporters at the Georgia state capitol, urging them to "defend the collective bargaining rights of teachers, bus drivers, police, firefighters and other public service workers, who educate, protect and serve our children and families." On November 17, 2011, King and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka co-authored an article for CNN, calling for reforms to end oppressive immigration laws.[31] In August 2013, King went to Philadelphia, where he joined Mayor Michael Nutter in announcing the city's joining of a national campaign on poverty, jobs and education.[32] To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington, King traveled to Washington, along with other civil rights leaders.[33] On November 21, 2013, King spoke at DePauw University regarding his memories of John F. Kennedy's assassination.[34] King appeared on MSNBC's "The Cycle" on May 9, 2014. He was asked by co-host Touré if he believed that Democratic Party has done enough to get the overwhelming support from African-Americans it receives. King's answer is said to have shocked the host. "The party does not do enough," he said. "It's our responsibility to hold the party accountable. And I'm not sure we do that. I think we have to find a way to hold the parties accountable. He went on to say that he believed there should be communication between African-Americans and the Tea Party Movement, saying "the only way you change is you have to be at least communicating".[35][36] Ferguson, Missouri [ edit ] In August 2014, King addressed the shooting of Michael Brown and reported that he would come to Ferguson, Missouri.[37] King was present at a rally with Michael Brown's parents on August 17.[38] On an interview with Fox News, King said his father would be "greatly disappointed" with the violence that occurred in Ferguson after the grand jury verdict.[39] King attended Brown's funeral on August 25.[40] Other pursuits and interests [ edit ] In January 2011, it was reported that King will attempt to become a "strategic partner" in the New York Mets baseball team. "This was blown up way out of proportion," King told the Associated Press. "While I'm not leading a group and I'm not having direct conversations... I think it is very important to promote diversity in ownership."[41] King was among the co-founders of Bounce TV, a black-oriented digital broadcasting network. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander that aims to end voter suppression.[42] Ministers March for Justice [ edit ] On August 28, 2017, King marched with Al Sharpton in Washington D.C. for the Ministers March for Justice leading over 3,000 ministers to protest the policies of President Donald Trump. King was under major controversy when he agreed to meet with Trump in January 2017.[43] Family [ edit ] In February 2008, Martin Luther King III married longtime girlfriend Arndrea Waters.[44] On May 25, 2008, the couple had a daughter, Yolanda Renee King, the first and only grandchild of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. She was named after her aunt, Yolanda King, who had died of a heart condition at age 51 in Santa Monica, California, the previous year.[44] Yolanda Renee appeared with her family at the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington celebration, where President Obama and various leaders and other notable persons were charmed by her presence. Yolanda Renee helped her family ring a bell that once hung in Birmingham's 16th St. Baptist Church, which had been bombed 18 days after the original March On Washington, killing four young girls.[45] At age nine Yolanda Renee King spoke at the March For Our Lives demonstration in Washington, D.C. on March 24, 2018.[46][47][48][49][50] Honors and awards [ edit ] King with opera star and activist Stacey Robinson (left) in 2014. On February 5, 2006, King, accompanied by the nieces and nephews of Rosa Parks, presented the ceremonial coin at Super Bowl XL. The coin was then tossed by New England Patriots star and University of Michigan alum Tom Brady to end the pregame ceremonies, which included a dedication and moment of silence to the memories of Parks and Scott-King and a performance of the Star-Spangled Banner by Dr. John, Aaron Neville and Aretha Franklin accompanied by the Alabama State and Clark Atlanta University choirs. On March 29, 2008, King threw out the first pitch at the Major League Baseball Civil Rights Game. On September 19, 2010, King received the Ramakrishna Bajaj Memorial Global Award for outstanding contributions to the promotion of human rights at the 26th Anniversary Global Awards of the Priyadarshni Academy in Mumbai, India.[51] On September 29, 2015, King was awarded the Humanitarian Award by the Montreal Black Film Festival.[52] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Works cited [ edit ]Paperback Audiobook Hardback Ebook Buy Amazon Blackwell's Book Depository Hive Waterstones WH Smith Wordery Foyles Synopsis Infinity Engine is the third and final novel in the Transformation series, by bestselling science fiction author Neal Asher, following Dark Intelligence and War Factory. A man battles for his life, two AIs vie for supremacy and a civilization hangs in the balance... Several forces now pursue rogue artificial intelligence Penny Royal, hungry for revenge or redemption. And the Brockle is the most dangerous of all. This criminal swarm-robot AI has escaped confinement and is upgrading itself, becoming ever more powerful in anticipation of a showdown. Events also escalate aboard the war factory. Here Thorvald Spear, alien prador, and an assassin drone struggle to stay alive, battling insane AIs and technology gone wild. Then the Weaver arrives - last remnant of a race that died out two million years ago. But what could it contribute to Penny Royal's tortuous plans? And beyond the war factory a black hole conceals a tantalizing secret which could destroy the Polity. As AIs, humans and prador clash at its boundary, will anything survive their explosive final confrontation?© The Associated Press Electricians install solar panels on the roof of an Arizona home. States are re-examining whether utilities should pay retail prices for the energy that solar customers generate. The practice of requiring utilities to pay solar energy customers retail prices for electricity that they produce but can’t use is under attack in multiple states. And energy policy analysts, electric utilities and solar industry representatives predict the practice will lose favor as solar power’s popularity continues to grow. Net metering — paying solar customers for transferring their excess energy back on to the electric grid, usually at retail rates — might be a victim of its own success. It has helped to propel the surge in solar power. But for utilities, what was once a minor expense has grown into a huge one. State policymakers in booming solar markets and elsewhere are looking to see if net metering places a disproportionate burden on utilities and their non-solar customers. Regulators and legislatures in 28 states, from Hawaii to Maine, are either scrapping net metering or considering doing so. The measures’ potential impact on utilities, the solar industry and its customers vary. Hawaii, for example, is closing net metering to new solar customers. Nevada is phasing out net metering at retail rates for everyone. California decided to preserve net metering at least until the end of the decade. But net metering has long been a target of utilities and critics, so why does there seem to be such a rush to reconsider the policy now? At the end of last year, the U.S. Congress extended a 30 percent tax credit for installing solar panels through 2021. Had the tax credit died or been extended for just another year, “a lot of steam would have been taken out of solar growth and out of the net metering argument,” said John Godfrey, a Washington lobbyist for the American Public Power Association, which represents publicly owned utilities. “But it’s been extended by five years, so you have fuel for conflict” over net metering for many years now, he said. Greentech Media Research, an energy research and consulting firm, estimates that renewing the tax credit will increase solar power by more than 50 percent over the five years. If that tax credit didn’t pass, “we’d be having a different discussion about net metering,” said Greentech analyst Austin Perea. Because it’s been extended, debate over solar policy has shifted from the federal to the state level, he said. Burden or Benefit for Utilities? Solar energy is alluring because it’s free and nonpolluting. But the debate over net metering highlights the difficulty utilities and regulators have in integrating solar into the electrical grid. Solar power only works when the sun is shining directly on the panels. What’s more, there’s no easy or affordable way to store excess solar energy for later use. (But promising research on batteries may solve this problem.) So in order to have electricity whenever they need it, most solar customers have to be on the electric grid. Net metering is a way to smooth out the peaks and valleys of solar power supply. It’s a way for solar customers to offset their energy costs by transferring unused energy back to the grid. If they use more than they produce, they pay the usual retail rate. If they transfer more than they use, they get credited at the same rate. If customers are careful about using electricity from the grid, they can rack up big savings — even more so in sunny climes. But utilities’ net metering costs are escalating, and many of them are calling the arrangement lopsided. They say it favors solar customers at the expense of utilities and non-solar customers. The Edison Electric Institute, which represents shareholder-owned electric companies, acknowledged in a position paper that it’s fair for solar customers not to pay for a utility’s power, “because they did not use it.” “But, they also avoid paying for all of the fixed costs of the grid that delivers power when they need it and takes the power they sell back to the utility,” the institute said. “As a result, these grid costs are shifted to those customers without rooftop solar.” But solar advocates say the utilities’ arguments zero in on the costs of net metering without accounting for the benefits. “Utilities tend to forget about the avoided infrastructure costs,” said Sean Gallagher, who coordinates state policy and regulatory efforts for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Clean local solar power can eliminate the need for substations, new transmission lines and other costs, he said. Solar users also tend to rely on the sun during peak periods of energy use, when energy often costs more, Gallagher said. With solar, he said, utilities might not need as high of a capacity for energy production. They might be able to avoid adding power plants. There are also societal benefits, such as fewer greenhouse gas emissions and more jobs in making and installing solar equipment, he said. Understanding the total value of solar energy is critical. It will help regulators and legislators decide if they should keep net metering, change it or replace it. That’s why studies are underway in at least 24 states to quantify the value of solar, according to the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center at North Carolina State University. Autumn Proudlove, a senior policy analyst at the center, said that the valuation studies and other factors will lead to gradual changes in most states. “People recognize that net metering doesn’t necessarily recognize the costs to utilities,” Proudlove said. “It’s a rough mechanism. There is a movement to get more granular and have it reflect the actual costs and benefits” of selling excess energy to a utility. But how? States are answering that question in different ways. A Body Blow to Solar? If anyone has heard or read about net metering in recent months, it’s likely because of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission. It decided in December to gut the state’s net metering program, prompting lawsuits, protests and an effort to put the issue before voters. Given the growing debate over net metering, a decision to phase out retail pricing in Nevada was not surprising. What shocked the solar industry, customers and analysts was that existing customers would not be grandfathered in. Retail pricing for net metering would be closed to all customers, new and old. “The case in Nevada is unprecedented,” Greentech’s Perea said; it will have a drastic effect on existing users and the solar industry. The decision also adds fixed charges for solar customers. It upends the financial calculus of solar users when they installed their systems. They assumed net metering would help them recover their hefty investments fast. Nevada solar customers’ monthly electric bills will go up 50 percent, Greentech estimates; and it will take them years longer to recover their investments, maybe even a decade or two. The reaction has been swift. Some solar companies are pulling out of Nevada because new installations are expected to slow to a crawl. Greentech ranked Nevada fifth among states in new residential solar installations last year. Perea’s forecast for 2016 has Nevada dropping to 31st. “That speaks to a larger theme, which is that rooftop residential solar is very much contingent on net metering design,” Perea said. California, which accounts for almost half of the 20,000 megawatts of the United States’ solar generating capacity, took the path opposite to Nevada’s. Except for adding some small fees, the California Public Utility Commission decided to keep the current retail net metering scheme in place at least until the end of 2019. Hawaii, which has the most solar users per capita in the country, took the middle ground: It is phasing out net metering but is grandfathering in existing solar customers. “Hawaii is a postcard from the future when it comes to energy,” SEIA’s Gallagher said; net metering there is headed for big changes. Unlike Nevada, Hawaii officials say they are not trying to stymie solar, he said. “They explicitly say they are trying to be fair to both customers and the utilities.” A Path to Consensus? If utilities, regulators and the solar industry can agree on two basic things, it’s that solar energy will need financial incentives to be an integral part of energy policy and that net metering is a divisive and imperfect tool. Despite the broad agreement, however, the pattern in most states has been for the various sides make their case and then for regulators to settle the dispute. But several states are embarked on a novel approach. They’re having stakeholders — utilities, solar, customers, regulators — hammer out a way to keep solid incentives in place. The goal is to encourage solar without placing most of the cost on utilities. In April, a group of utilities and solar companies in New York filed a plan with the state Public Service Commission that would create a gradual path away from retail net metering. Under the proposal, net metering would continue for some customers. But solar companies would start sharing the costs of net metering with utilities. Maine took a similar approach late last year and came up with a widely applauded proposal that was drawn up by utilities, the solar industry, environmentalists, customers and Maine’s public advocate. The collaborative approach was seen by analysts and various industry officials as a sound model that could work elsewhere. “Each state is different and they have local factors to consider, but this process worked well in Maine, where they avoided much of the controversy that we’ve seen,” said Proudlove, from the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center. It’s not what the different parties would have written themselves, she said. “But they all got much of what they wanted and could live with. It’s workable.” But the proposal needed approval from Maine’s Legislature and politics ensnared the plan. Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed it at the end of April, saying it would increase energy prices for homes and businesses that cannot afford solar panels and pick winners and losers in Maine’s energy industries. The House failed to override the veto. Despite the outcome this year, many analysts such as Proudlove say Maine’s approach is sound and can serve as a model for other states that are grappling with the issue.GCHQ, the government's monitoring agency, acted illegally by developing spy programs that remotely hijack computers' cameras and microphones without the user's consent, according to privacy campaigners. A legal challenge lodged on Tuesday at the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT) calls for the hacking techniques – alleged to be far more intrusive than interception of communications – to be outlawed. Mobile phones were also targeted, leaked documents reveal. The claim has been submitted by Privacy International following revelations by the whistleblower Edward Snowden about the mass surveillance operations conducted by GCHQ and its US counterpart, the National Security Agency (NSA). The 21-page submission details a host of "malware" – software devised to take over or damage another person's computer – with such esoteric names as Warrior Pride, Gumfish, Dreamy Smurf, Foggybottom and Captivatedaudience. Details of the programs have been published by the Guardian and the online magazine The Intercept run by the journalist Glenn Greenwald. They are said to allow GCHQ to gain access to "the profile information supplied by a user in registering a device [such as] … his location, age, gender, marital status, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation, education, and family". More intrusively, Privacy International alleges, the programs enable surveillance of any stored content, logging of keystrokes and "the covert and unauthorised photography or recording of the user and those around him". It is, the claim maintains, the equivalent of "entering someone's house, searching through his filing cabinets, diaries and correspondence, and planting devices to permit constant surveillance in future, and, if mobile devices are involved, obtaining historical information including every location he had visited in the past year". Such break-ins also leave devices vulnerable to attack by others "such as credit card fraudsters, thereby risking the user's personal data more broadly", Privacy International argues. "It is the modern equivalent of breaking in to a residence, and leaving the locks broken or damaged afterwards." The claim acknowledges that it is unclear how many computers or mobiles have been infected but points out that leaked documents show the agencies have the ability to scale up the programme to infect millions of computers and devices around the world. GCHQ itself had reservations about the legality of these surveillance operations, Privacy International claims, pointing to a leaked document noting that "continued GCHQ involvement may be in jeopardy due to British legal/policy restrictions". The activities of GCHQ breach the right to private and family life under article 8 of the European convention on human rights and the 1990 Computer Misuse Act, Privacy International alleges. The submission states: "Privacy International accepts that, in principle, surveillance may be conducted for legitimate aims such as national security. The issue is therefore whether the interference is 'in accordance with the law' or 'prescribed by law', and whether it is necessary and proportionate." The IPT is a partially secret court which investigates complaints about MI5, MI6, GCHQ and the use of surveillance powers by government, police and local authorities. Many of its hearings take place behind closed doors. The IPT has extensive powers to demand to see all relevant intelligence and evidence. Often complainants are told the tribunal can neither confirm nor deny whether surveillance has taken place. This latest submission will join a long line of legal challenges brought by civil liberties groups following Snowden's revelations. The IPT is already looking at complaints over GCHQ and NSA use of mass interception programmes such as Prism and Tempora. Other claims have been lodged against other European governments, at the European court of human rights and with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), alleging abuse of telecommunications equipment. Eric King, deputy director of Privacy International, said: "The hacking programmes being undertaken by GCHQ are the modern equivalent of the government entering your house, rummaging through your filing cabinets, diaries, journals and correspondence, before planting bugs in every room you enter. Intelligence agencies can do all this without you even knowing about it, and can invade the privacy of anyone around the world with a few clicks. "All of this is being done under a cloak of secrecy without any public debate or clear lawful authority. Arbitrary powers such as these are the purview of dictatorships, not democracies. Unrestrained, unregulated government spying of this kind is the antithesis of the rule of law and government must be held accountable for their actions." In the past GCHQ has declined to comment on any of its specific programmes, but stressed that its activities are proportional and comply with UK law. Responding to allegations earlier this year that mobile phones were being targeted through downloaded apps, the agency said: "It is a longstanding policy that we do not comment on intelligence matters." A spokesman added: "Furthermore, all of GCHQ's work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework that ensures that our activities are authorised, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight, including from the secretary of state, the interception and intelligence services commissioners, and the parliamentary intelligence and security committee. All our operational processes rigorously support this position."The trick of free agency, especially when it comes to older players who already have made their money in the National Football League, is finding the way to maximize the time and talent a veteran has left. How do you motivate a guy who is financially secure? How do you convince him to push through the monotony of the offseason, to work on his body, to train, to sweat through training camp and to keep fighting through the grind of the regular season? How do you motivate him to push through the inevitable adversity every season brings, no matter the team? The Bears didn't have much success against the Packers during Julius Peppers' four seasons in Chicago. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh How do you remake a player who is past his prime into a serviceable version of his younger self? The answers to those questions are rarely clear or easy, which is why the general rule is that the smart teams build through the draft and supplement their roster through free agency. It is also why Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson so rarely spends money in free agency. Thompson doesn't believe in bringing in other teams' players. He wants to find, draft, cultivate and, ultimately, keep his own. That's the Packers way. But Julius Peppers is different. Peppers in Green Bay actually could work. It actually makes sense that the Packers signed the 34-year-old veteran defensive end who has played 12 seasons for two franchises and made, as one NFL head coach put it to me the other day, "a gazillion dollars." Yes, Peppers at 34 isn't the Peppers of 24. He isn't the player who averaged more than 10 sacks a year in his eight seasons for the Carolina Panthers, who selected him second overall out of North Carolina in 2002. Peppers isn't the player who notched double-digit sacks in eight of his first 11 seasons. He isn't the player who terrorized quarterbacks off the edge, who wore them down with his relentless pursuit, a combination of size and speed that is so rare in a defensive end. He is not that, no, but he still has talent. Peppers is sliding down the backside of his career, but he still has value. He is a veteran leader with ample experience and a wily sense of how, even at his age, to best break into the backfield and rattle a quarterback. Editor's Picks Demovsky: How will Packers utilize Peppers? For now we can only speculate about how the Packers will utilize Julius Peppers, writes Rob Demovsky. In Green Bay, Peppers has two things that will help in his favor. The first is that the Packers' defensive line coach, Mike Trgovac, was the Panthers' defensive coordinator for six of Peppers' eight seasons there. Trgovac understands what Peppers does well and how he is most comfortable lining up. He knows that while Peppers played in a 4-3 defense for all four years in Chicago, he has always wanted to play in a 3-4 scheme. Trgovac knows that Peppers is just as good of an athlete as DeMarcus Ware and that Peppers can still be effective standing up or rushing as a joker. Trgovac will understand how to push Peppers' buttons and how to get the most out of a player who didn't always look like he wanted to be out there last season. Most importantly, Trgovac will provide Peppers with familiarity and a trusted voice. He has a chance at being able to affect Peppers even after Peppers has made all of that money. Nnamdi Asomugha didn't have that in Philadelphia. He was familiar with no one. After all those years in Oakland, Asomugha was playing in a new system in 2011 for a defensive coordinator, Juan Castillo, who had spent the previous 13 seasons as the Eagles' offensive line coach. Asomugha had no one who really knew him in Philadelphia. He had no ally on the coaching staff. He had no one he could turn to on the team when things went sideways -- and boy, did they. Peppers will have that in Green Bay, which will give him a fighting chance to succeed.After A Long Fight, New Rules Defend Small Farmers. For Now Enlarge this image toggle caption Dan Charles/NPR Dan Charles/NPR This week, just days before he says goodbye to his job, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack landed one last punch in a brawl that's gone on at his department since he got there eight long years ago. He announced new regulations that are intended to protect small farmers from mistreatment at the hands of meat packers, swine dealers, and poultry companies. Advocates for small farmers, including the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, praised it as an important step toward ending abuses of power by the handful of companies that dominate the meat industry. The National Pork Producers Council, on the other hand, was furious, calling Vilsack's move "an apparent attack on rural America for its role in helping elect Donald Trump as president." The sharply partisan reaction to the new regulations suggests that the new rules face an uncertain future. Some of them aren't set to become final until after Trump takes office. The regulation has its roots in complaints by farmers about growing concentration of power in the poultry, pork and beef industries. A few big companies dominate each of those businesses. In the case of poultry, the major companies typically rely on "contract farmers" who build and own the chicken housing, but depend on poultry companies to supply everything else, including the birds and the feed. Some of these contract farmers say that under these arrangements, they carry much of the risk, but have almost no power. Contract farming has been on the rise in the pork industry as well. And in the beef industry, some farmers say they can't be guaranteed a fair price for their animals, because just four companies control three-quarters of the market. In 2008, Congress asked Vilsack's agency to write rules to protect farmers against unfair practices in the meat industry. Later, though, after meat industry protests, Congress changed its mind and blocked any further work on the rules. Last year, that legislative dam broke, and Vilsack charged through the opening. The new rules come in several parts. The first, which could takes effect almost immediately, makes clear that unfair, discriminatory, or deceptive behavior toward any individual farmer violates the law. Until now, some courts had decided that the law only prohibits behavior that reduces competition in the entire industry. Vilsack called that "an extraordinarily high burden" of proof for farmers to meet. Other rules define what those unfair, discriminatory and deceptive practices are. They include a requirement that companies share information about how they set prices and ban retaliation against farmers who complain. The National Pork Producers Council, in its statement, said the new rules would have a devastating effect because they will increase the risk of lawsuits by farmers. That increased "legal uncertainty," according to the NPPC, will actually hurt small farmers, because more companies will decide instead to produce their own hogs, on their own farms, cutting small farmers out of the action. It's unclear whether all of the rules will take effect. Some of them, including the definitions of what practices are unfair, discriminatory, or deceptive, won't be final when the Obama administration leaves office. The incoming Trump administration could move to block them or simply refuse to enforce them.this is a copyright infringement..! legal will take care of this — Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) July 9, 2017 Rcvd appreciation frm all poet's family but Notice frm you Sir.Deleting the Tribute video to Babuji.Sending earned Rs 32 as demanded.Pranam🙏 https://t.co/wzq22TZnzf — Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) July 12, 2017 NEW DELHI: Actor Amitabh Bachchan sent a legal notice to AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, accusing him of "copyright infringement" for unauthorised use of a poem penned by his late father, the poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, in a video paying tribute to renowned Hindi poets.In the video, which was uploaded on Youtube and shared on social networking sites, Kumar can be heard reciting a poem written by Harivansh Rai Bachchan and his son, Amitabh Bachchan, has taken exception to this."This is a copyright infringement. Legal will take care of this," the Bollywood superstar had said in a tweet on Tuesday.Vishwas then received a legal notice from Bachchan, asking him to take down the video from Youtube within 24 hours and threatening legal action for failure to comply. He also demanded an account of the revenue generated through "exploitation of the poem".In a statement, the Aam Aadmi Party member said that he had received appreciation from the families of all the poets he had paid tribute to in his videos, and it was only Bachchan who had reacted by serving him a legal notice. Vishwas then said the video has been deleted from Youtube and he would be sending his earnings from the video - a meagre Rs 32.An associate of Vishwas confirmed the same and said Rs 32 was the revenue generated from advertisements on YouTube.The video, which featured Bachchan's poem 'Nirman', was part of Vishwas's programme 'Tarpan', in which the AAP leader-cum-poet eulogises noted Hindi poets.(With inputs from PTI)Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. Dec. 2, 2016, 8:01 PM GMT / Updated Dec. 2, 2016, 8:01 PM GMT By Andrew Rafferty and Didi Martinez Before retired Marine Gen. James Mattis can get a confirmation hearing to become the nation’s next secretary of defense, he’ll have to get past a decades-old law meant to ensure a cornerstone of American democracy — civilian control of the military. The reasons behind putting a civilian in charge of the Department of Defense are numerous. The secretary of defense has immense responsibilities as the only person aside from the president who can authorize military action and is an influential voice in the decision to launch a nuclear strike. The National Security Act of 1947 states that a secretary of defense will be appointed “from civilian life” by the president. The law calls for a grace period of ten years before an active duty officer can hold the post, though Congress knocked down the waiting period to seven years in 2008. “The provision is a law because of America’s nervousness of giving the military too much power,” said Charles Stevenson, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “There is a concern that someone who has been a general all their adult lives doesn’t really understand civilian life,” Stevens added. “The secretary of defense has to deal with domestic businesses, has to recruit people from the civilian job sector. If he is just used to commanding he might not be used to commanding civilian society.” Releated: Trump Picks Tough Talking Gen. James 'Mad Dog' Mattis as Secretary of Defense Mattis would be just the second retired general to lead the military. Army Gen. George C. Marshall, a five-star general, served as President Harry Truman’s secretary of defense from 1950 to 1951 as he oversaw the Marshall Plan aimed at rebuilding Europe after World War II. But the waiver granted to Marshall came with a stern warning that the exception should not become the rule. "It is hereby expressed as the intent of the Congress that the authority granted by this Act is not to be construed as approval by the Congress of continuing appointments of military men to the office of Secretary of Defense in the future," a report accompanying the 1950 statute stated. "It is hereby expressed as the sense of the Congress that after General Marshall leaves the office of secretary of defense, no additional appointments of military men to that office shall be approved." Similarly, Congressional aides say an exception allowing Mattis’ appointment would also make clear the provision does not approve the future appointment of military leaders to head the Pentagon. Both Democrats and Republicans have largely reacted favorably to the Mattis selection, commending the four-star general for his experience and “warrior monk” reputation as a student of military strategy. But approving the necessary waiver has been met with skepticism from Democrats uncomfortable with upending a more than 60-year-old precedent. Further complicating the process is that the exception could be filibustered in the Senate and require 60 votes for passage. Though it may not derail the Mattis nomination, it could delay the process much more than if Trump chose a non-military nominee. “While I deeply respect General Mattis’s service, I will oppose a waiver. Civilian control of our military is a fundamental principle of American democracy,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in a statement. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., called civilian leadership of the military “part of the fabric of America.” “We know problems around the world where the military is too close to the governments of their countries. We’ve seen the consequence of that play out in very adverse ways,” Cardin said on MSNBC. The waiver will be the only chance members of the House have to weigh in on one of Donald Trump's nominees. The Senate is responsible for approving Trump’s Cabinet, but both chambers will have a chance to cast ballots on the provision to dismiss the seven-year wait. “While this [waiver] is something Congress should seriously consider, and I believe he would make an excellent Secretary of Defense, we must also bear in mind the precedent we would be setting and the impact it would have on the principle of civilian leadership of our nation's military,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Cali., said in a statement.Archaic notions of masculinity endanger men Recently, news headlines have been riddled with reports of male students committing suicide at one college or another. Suicide among young males is an ever-growing epidemic, but there is a viable solution. Feminism can theoretically decrease the suicide rates of teenage males. Miles Groth, a psychology professor at Wagner College, states in his work “Boys to Men: The Science of Masculinity and Manhood,” published by Psychology Today, that “Suicides among young males are four times more common than among young females and they are occurring among ever younger males, some in their early teens.” What is the cause for these drastically different suicide rates? In 2010, Newsweek Magazine attempted to answer this question in its issue, “MAN UP!” According to an article by Andrew Romano and Tony Dokoupil, the concept of masculinity is the fundamental cause for the higher rate of male suicides. The authors explain that with the harsh economy and rapid changes in the workforce, especially regarding the integration of women, men are trying to fulfill an outdated stereotype of what it means to “be a man,” pursuing ineffective beliefs and solutions. Both authors argue, “Suggesting that men should stick to some musty script of masculinity only perpetuates the problem. For starters, it encourages them to confront new challenges the same way they dealt with earlier upheavals: by blaming women.” Due to these unfortunate beliefs about masculinity and inaccurate perceptions of the feminist movement, not many men consider feminism to be the logical answer they’re looking for. The suicide rates among teenage males are rising because young men undergo new academic challenges such as college when they are not yet comfortable in their manhood. Some may even be trying to prove their own manhood, and may think that they need to persevere through their struggles alone. They do not consider reaching out for help and expressing how they feel as an option because it goes against the stereotypical perception of masculinity. As a result, they feel alienated from their peers and are left without a sufficient source of guidance. The effects of these outdated beliefs go far beyond that of academic- and socially-induced suicide. The idea of “manning up” is linked to bullying, teenage depression, crime and substance abuse. Archaic notions of masculinity oppress men by insinuating that there is something wrong with expressing emotions because that is a sign of weakness and is “womanly.” Since women are stereotypically more emotional than men, men repress their emotions to avoid acting “womanly” at all costs. Feminism strives to abolish gender-based stereotypes. Through a change in the idea of what it is to “be a man,” male teenagers trying to find their identity will not be so discouraged to seek out help and express their emotions to someone. They will not feel so much intense pressure to “be a man” and tough it out on their own. However, men are not innocent bystanders in this battle against stereotypical masculinity, but act as the
Christie took some members of his own party to task when they threatened to deny the state the funds in the name of fiscal responsibility. The Hoboken mayor said the governor's response, thus far, to her claims has danced around the central issue at stake. "They did not respond to the No. 1 question: Are they linking Hoboken funding to the Rockefeller project?" Zimmer said. “The fact is they are."Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers remarks at the Hudson Institute's Herman Kahn Award Ceremony at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, New York, U.S., September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently visiting the United States, will separately meet U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Sunday, campaign sources and Israeli officials said. The meetings will take place a day before Clinton and Trump face off in a first presidential debate but no details of where or when the meetings will take place were immediately available. Netanyahu traveled to the United States this week to address the U.N. General Assembly and met U.S. President Barack Obama and a number of other world leaders. Earlier this week, Clinton met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who also addressed the U.N. General Assembly. Trump also met Sisi.Motorcyclists cruise through Washington, D.C., without helmets in May 2013 during the annual Rolling Thunder rally. Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images Motorcycle enthusiasts and members of Congress are pushing to ban federal funding of local efforts to check helmet use or establish checkpoints that single out bikers. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., reintroduced his Stop Motorcycle Checkpoint Funding Act on Thursday, following the quiet introduction of a bill with the same name by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., in January. The Senate bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. The House bill has seven initial co-sponsors; an identical version last year had 52 co-sponsors, 10 of them Democrats. Only 19 states require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Most others require young riders – either under 21 or 18 – to do so. Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire don’t require helmet use. This map created by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows state motorcycle helmet laws. Click through to the institute's website for specific information on state laws. The American Motorcyclist Association, which claims more than 200,000 members, is a leading force pushing for the legislation. The association has fought against motorcycle-specific checkpoints for years, dating their origin to 2007, and has succeeded in helping ban the law enforcement tactic in five states. It also generally opposes state helmet laws. “We don’t like the idea of discriminating against motorcyclists and stopping only them,” says former U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., the group’s vice president for government relations. “There’s a history of more and more police departments stopping only motorcycles on the highway,” Allard says. He says New York received a two-year grant for $490,000 that's been used to do so. Allard says the association’s membership isn’t timid about dialing members of Congress, and the political power of bikers has previously been seen at the state level. In 2000, Florida repealed its requirement that all motorcycle riders wear helmets. Michigan did so in 2012. An analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found in the three years before 2000, 515 motorcyclists died in Florida, 9 percent of whom were not wearing helmets. In the three years following repeal of the helmet law, 933 bikers died, 61 percent of whom were not wearing helmets. Allard says the motorcyclist association’s membership generally feels that “if you’re an adult you can make your own decisions” about wearing a helmet, and prefers that federal funds go to training programs that aim to reduce accidents, rather than initiatives forcing bikers to wear helmets. Sensenbrenner echoed that sentiment in a statement, saying his legislation "protects motorcyclists’ rights and promotes crash prevention" and would prevent local cops from "using [federal] taxpayer money to corral them along the highway and check for infractions that do not cause crashes.” Safety advocates, unsurprisingly, aren’t enthused about the bills. “It will tie the hands of law enforcement,” says Catherine Chase, vice president of governmental affairs at the organization Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “There are checkpoints to check on sobriety, there are 'click it or ticket' checkpoints to make sure people are wearing seat belts – why not ensure that motorcyclists are wearing legal helmets to protect them?” she says. Chase says helmet laws “are constantly under attack in the state legislatures,” often from state-level organizations that call themselves ABATE (which stands for A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments). “If the groups are not successful on the state level, this is another way to approach it,” she says. “There is a very vocal group who are very motivated and do not want to be told to wear helmets. Their mantra is, 'Let those who ride decide,' but we say, ‘Let those who pay have a say.’” Chase says the costs to taxpayers and society at large from accident cleanup and long-term health care for injured bikers justify mandatory helmet laws. Allard says the bills, which are slightly different, are unlikely to see votes on the floor of Congress. He says there’s more likely to be a push to incorporate them into a large highway spending bill later this year. "It is an issue that's appealed to both Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, because they don't like the idea of discriminatory action," he says.Intercepting HTTP Request/Response using C++ Rest HTTP Library We released the C++ REST SDK (codename “Casablanca”) as an open source project on CodePlex in Feb 2013. It enables writing modern, asynchronous C++ code that can connect with REST services. Using the C++ REST SDK, you can create an HTTP client that can connect to HTTP server, send requests and handle responses. The following links are pre-requisites to get familiar with the C++ Rest SDK. The C++ Rest HTTP Library offers an interesting feature which allows you to intercept your HTTP requests and responses before sending it out on the wire. This is useful for many scenarios and allows application developers to write custom handling of messages in one common place. In this blog post, I will describe the intercepting technique in detail and will walk through few examples/scenarios where this can be used. “Stages” of Http client message pipeline Intercepting HTTP requests is achieved by defining “stages” on the http client before it is sent. These stages form the full pipeline for the http client. Say if a client defines 3 new stages for the request, this would mean that the actual request will be processed by each of the stages in order before being passed on to the last stage. The last stage (which is implemented internally by the http_client) will interact with lower-level communication layers to actually send the message on the network. When creating a client instance, an application may add pipeline stages in front of the already existing stages. A stage is defined by adding a handler using http_client.add_handler() API. This API has two overloads, Pass in a std::function object as the handler: Following will ensure lambda “ foo ” gets called before the message is actually sent. http_client.add_handler(foo) Implement a pipeline stage by deriving from the http_pipeline_stage class and pass it to the add_handler method. The scenarios that we will discuss below will demonstrate how to use these overloads. A handler can do 2 things: It can short-circuit the HTTP request and avoid sending the message over the network. The handler in this case should return a task representing the eventual response. Handler can do some extra processing of the message. For e.g. handler may update some counters, modify request/response headers etc. In this case, the handler should call the next stage. One can similarly define “stages” to intercept the response received. Scenario 1: Adding a stage to http_client request processing Let us go through this with an example. Consider a client that uploads data to a service. However, this service has a limitation that it only accepts JSON data. If a user sends xml or binary data in a PUT request, the service will reject this request. One way of avoiding this round-trip is by adding a step to the request processing pipeline, that checks the content-type and decides whether to continue with the request or not. In the below code-snippet, we have a content_handler lambda that does this for us: This handler will check the content-type header and pass the request to the next stage only if the content-type is “application/json”. The second input parameter to the handler is the next_stage. For any other content-types, it fails the request immediately by replying with the BadRequest (400) HTTP code. Note: In the below snippet, we are only checking for the standard JSON MIME type. Sites can use other JSON MIME types too. auto content_handler = [](http_request request, std::shared_ptr<http_pipeline_stage> next_stage) -> pplx::task<http_response> { auto content_type = request.headers().content_type(); if (0!= content_type.compare(L”application/json”)) { // Short-circuit the HTTP request: construct a response object with status code = BadRequest // and return a task containing the response. http_response response; response.set_status_code(status_codes::BadRequest); return pplx::task_from_result(response); } else { // Content type is JSON, so call the next pipeline stage to send the request return next_stage->propagate(request); } }; http_client client(L“http://localhost:60009”); client.add_handler(content_handler); client.request(methods::PUT, L“jsonentry1”, filebuf.create_istream(), L“application/json”).then([](http_response response) { // Print the status code. std::wostringstream ss; ss << L“Server returned returned status code “ << response.status_code() << L‘.’ << std::endl; std::wcout << ss.str(); }); Scenario 2: Adding multiple stages to the client: You can always add more than one handler, they will be executed in the order in which they were added. Say in previous example, the client wants to add its version to every outgoing request. You can define a stage that can add a custom HTTP header named “AppVersion” with the client’s current version. We will be using following overload of http_client.add_handler to achieve this. http_client.add_handler(std::shared_ptr<http_pipeline_stage>) The add_custom_headers stage extends http_pipeline_stage. During request processing, the http client runs this stage against the given request and passes onto the next stage. Each stage has a reference to the next stage available in the http_pipeline_stage::next_stage. Implement the http_pipeline_stage::propagate()method to add your custom functionality. In the example below, this stageadds two new headers “AppVersion” and “ClientLocation” to the request message. If the request was short circuited by the content_handler stage, the add_custom_headers stage will not be called. Only when the content_handler propagates the request to the next stage, will the headers be added. // Pipeline stage used for adding custom headers class add_custom_headers : public http_pipeline_stage { public: virtual pplx::task<http_response> propagate(http_request request) { request.headers().add(L“AppVersion”, L“1.0”); request.headers().add(L“ClientLocation”, L”Redmond”)); return next_stage()->propagate(request); } }; http_client client(L“http://localhost:60009”); client.add_handler(content_handler); std::shared_ptr<http_pipeline_stage> custom_stage = std::make_shared<add_custom_headers>(); client.add_handler(custom_stage); Scenario 3: Intercepting HTTP response messages In the above two illustrations, you saw how we can intercept the request pipeline. We can do the same with responses too. The client can add a new pipeline stage that will be executed before passing the response to the application. This stage can also modify the response received from the server. The response_count_handler below increments a counter for each response received and also adds a new header to the response. The propagate()call returns a task of the response, its continuation can modify the response and return the updated one to the application. Note that since multiple requests can be made simultaneously, accessing any data from within the handler must use synchronization. This will impact the performance and scalability of the application, which is a concern especially when implementing the handlers at the http_listener side. Hence, it is recommended to implement purely functional handlers: they should take a message, manipulate it and pass it to the next stage. volatile long response_counter = 0; auto response_count_handler = [&response_counter](http_request request, std::shared_ptr<http_pipeline_stage> next_stage) -> pplx::task<http_response> { return next_stage->propagate(request).then([&response_counter](http_response resp) -> http_response { // Use synchronization primitives to access data from within the handlers. ::_InterlockedIncrement(&response_counter); resp.headers().add(L“ResponseHeader”, L“App”); return resp; }); }; http_client client(L”http://localhost:60009”); client.add_handler(response_count_handler); Scenario 4: Testing the HTTP client This feature can be very useful for local testing as well. Instead of setting up a test server, you can add a stage that performs the server side validation at the client. These test hooks can reduce the test setup overhead significantly. For example: we can add a test handler that verifies a key and replies with the Forbidden (403) status code if the key is incorrect, thus performing a server side authentication step at the client itself. auto test_auth_stage = [](http_request request, std::shared_ptr<http_pipeline_stage> next_stage) -> pplx::task<http_response> { if (is_valid_key(request.headers())) { return next_stage->propagate(request); } else { http_response response; response.set_status_code(status_codes::Forbidden); return pplx::task_from_result(response); } }; http_client client(L“https://www.cpprestsite.com”); client.add_handler(test_auth_stage); When can this come in handy? These handlers are good for adding extra processing at the level of HTTP messages. Some examples of when these can be used: Logging purposes or to maintain counters for the number of requests and responses To add or modify the HTTP request or response headers. Perform some validation of the request before the actual processing. For example, you can check the authentication key and reject unauthorized requests. This way, you can avoid unnecessary roundtrips. Local testing: The handlers can act as test hooks and perform server side processing locally, without actually setting up a server. Any feedback or comments are welcome either below or at our codeplex forum. Kavya Kotacherry, Visual C++ QA"Yes, you can be a father and yes, you can be Ra's al Ghul at the same time," Barrowman tells THR with a laugh. "It's just very complex." Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) is about to shake things up again for everyone on The CW's Arrow. Last seen six months ago in Nanda Parbat taking on the role of Ra's al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins, things have been going well for Malcolm. But when Laurel (Katie Cassidy) convinces Thea (Willa Holland) to resurrect her dead sister Sara (Caity Lotz) via the Lazarus Pit, their request will "throw things into a tailspin" for Malcolm. The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Barrowman about how Malcolm will react to their plan, what he's been up to with his new army and more. "Malcolm makes his big return and he returns with a smash and a bang," the actor says. Malcolm hasn't been on the show since he became the new Ra's al Ghul, and it's been about six months since that happened. How has he been adjusting to his new role? He has been adjusting quite well. There's been a time [jump], so you are finding Malcolm when he has all the men bowing to him: Nyssa [Katrina Law] is bowing to him, and Malcolm is in complete control. Something happens in the episode that proves that. What happens when Thea and Laurel walk through the door is he's not expecting that, so it throws a bit of a spanner in the works. That's where the, shall we say, the fatherly instinct comes out because with one, he's being a father, and with the other he's being Ra's. Both have two different issues. Is this dilemma going to affect his standing as the new Ra's? He can't really be a good father and the leader of the League of Assassins at the same time, right? Of course you can! Laurel's coming back to ask him to resurrect his sister, who Malcolm murdered, using his daughter to get her out of the way to help him with a situation that he needed to manipulate. So now Malcolm becomes very ethical and, I'm not sure if this is the right word but, moralistic about the whole thing. Then he turns around to his daughter, who has an issue herself, which is this bloodlust she has, and he knew this was going to happen. So he turns to her and he does something completely without ethics or morals. So yes, you can be a father and yes you can be Ra's al Ghul at the same time [Laughs]. It's just very complex. Nyssa has never been a fan of Malcolm's, since he murdered Sara and especially now that he's taken over the League, which she saw as her birthright. Has she been following his orders or has she been fighting back in any way? She has to follow his orders to a certain extent. Well, she has to follow his orders. If she goes out rogue, he'll have to deal with it. But that doesn't mean she won't throw obstacles in his way. Something happens in the episode that Nyssa is involved in that is going to be a jaw-dropping moment. Nyssa is putting obstacles in Malcolm's way. How is Nyssa is going to react to Laurel's plan of resurrecting Sara? Both Nyssa and Malcolm's reactions are going to be surprising to the audience. It's interesting as to how they both react to it, with the passion and severity of their reactions. Remember, Malcolm wasn't a fan of the pit for his daughter. He was going to let her go. He only wanted the pit for himself, for selfish reasons. So for it being used for other things now, it's a dilemma for him. We've seen a lot of different sides to Malcolm over the past few seasons, from loving father to grieving husband to evil villain to helpful ally. Which side is your favorite to play? What I love most about Malcolm is his complexity. The audience allows me to give that complexity to a villain who I see as a misunderstood hero. It's a different kind of villain to play. But you will see the return of the puppet master and the magician this season, as well as the passionate father. You're going to get a combination of every side we've seen prior all wrapped up in one season. Which side comes most naturally to him? He has to work harder to be a loving father. That's something he learns every time he does it. But it's the manipulator that comes very easy for him. The ruthless side. It's the father side he has to step back and think about. It's interesting to see how he approaches fatherhood differently this time around vs. when Tommy (Colin Donnell) was still alive. Yes, he has. He was always very angry with Tommy because he saw Tommy as being useless. The fact that Tommy died a hero, but Malcolm was the cause of it, he does regret that in the latter part of Tommy's life he was finally getting to bond with him and get him to be more like him, and then all of a sudden it went all wrong. That's why Malcolm doesn't want to make the same mistakes with Thea. But he wants Thea to be strong, and to be like the son he never had, who is her half-brother Oliver [Stephen Amell]. That's why he has such a strong affection for Oliver, because of his drive, his passion, what he has become. That's what he wants Thea to be so she can protect herself and be strong enough to turn to him and ask for help. What is going to surprise fans the most about what Malcolm goes through this season? The way that he deals with things in two different cities. He's watching and learning an awful lot about other people in other cities. Does that have anything to do with Damien Dahrk (Neil McDonough)? [Laughs] I can't say! Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.Chart of the Week – Why America is Doomed This post exists solely to call attention to this recent poll released by AP-GfK yesterday. About 4 in 10 say they are not too confident or outright disbelieve that the earth is warming, mostly a result of man-made heat-trapping gases, that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old or that life on Earth evolved through a process of natural selection, though most were at least somewhat confident in each of those concepts. But a narrow majority — 51 percent — questions the Big Bang theory. Those results depress and upset some of America’s top scientists, including several Nobel Prize winners, who vouched for the science in the statements tested, calling them settled scientific facts. Those results also depress and upset laypeople like myself who have never practiced science professionally. Here are all the statements evaluated by the poll: Smoking causes cancer A mental illness is a medical condition that affects the brain Inside our cells, there is a complex genetic code that helps determine who we are Overusing antibiotics causes the development of drug-resistant bacteria The universe is so complex, there must be a supreme being guiding its creation Childhood vaccines are safe and effective The average temperature of the world is rising, mostly because of man-made heat-trapping greenhouse gases Life on Earth, including human beings, evolved through a process of natural selection The Earth is 4.5 billion years old The universe began 13.8 billion years ago with a big bang Here are the results in a single graph, sorted from most confidently accepted claim to least: The hypothesis of cosmic intelligent design by a transcendent mind is the only one here that doesn’t have any scientific backing, and it is vastly outperforming highly validated scientific theories about the age of the universe, the age of the Earth, and how life evolved. If anyone needs me, I’ll be curled up in a fetal ball, weeping for the future.When I was 21 years old I murdered mice at the crossroads of the world and almost got away with it. Not that anyone cared much. Not there, not then. I’m guessing few tears have been shed at any point for the mice of Times Square, but by June of 1981 we were six months into the blindingly bright new reality of the Reagan Era, and New Yorkers seemed to be splitting into roughly two large camps in response: those fighting desperately to keep their eyes open, and those fighting to keep them shut. If that sounds a little dramatic, a little much, well that’s how it felt to a young, self-serious assistant manager of a six-screen movie theater on 44th and 7th, through whose glass doors the assistant manager would watch in slack-jawed wonderment every evening as the known world went koo koo. As if everything had taken on the qualities of dramatization, grown swollen and shiny, engorged with laughing gas. Advertisement: People were wearing costumes instead of clothes, spiffed-up regurgitations of 30-year-old styles.They were speaking out of the corners of their mouths, their words bracketed by quotation marks. Two old Broadway theaters across the street were being razed to make room for a 30-story hotel with “California King” sized beds, whatever they were; a decades-old diner in the neighborhood was being kitschified into a 1950s-style “diner.” Even Bond’s, the iconic men’s clothing store above the Criterion, had been similarly mummified and repurposed as a retro nightclub. Anyone who was alive in 1981 knows that our present moment is less of a beginning than a fruition. It can be difficult to communicate to those who weren’t there just how quickly and radically the culture inverted itself in just a few years, how disorienting it was for so many of us. Reagan, who liked to tell stories about being present at the liberation of concentration camps he had never visited, whose White House operated under the guiding principle that, “If you tell the same story five times, it’s true,” was first called the “Great Communicator” in August of ’81, giving Orwellian punctuation to a summer when when economic supply and demand traded places, music became a visual medium, and Jeff Koons became famous. The movies being shown at the Criterion were either bloated, winking facsimiles of the stories they’d displaced, or new stories that blithely inverted the moral valence of the old ones. When it premiered in 1983, it wasn’t until about 45 minutes into watching "Risky Business" that I realized the filmmakers weren’t kidding, that they actually expected me to root for Tom Cruise’s amoral frat-boy and not against him. The other staff members at the Criterion did not share my alarm, not outwardly anyway. My immediate superior was a defiantly bearded holdout from The Before Time named David, who oversaw my attempts at money-counting and book-balancing with the half-lidded gaze of a man who spent his breaks chain-smoking his way through "The Portable Dorothy Parker." He was 30, about five and a half feet tall with a pointed chin and floppy bangs, and seemed to be making the leap from elvish to wizened without stopping at untroubled. He wore enormous, square-framed glasses. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone more pregnant with unspoken observations than David was in 1981. He had only been at the Criterion for three years, yet David was the senior member of our staff. As movie theaters went it was not a terrible place to work — it was even, on occasion, thrilling (like on News Year's Eve when we would all head up to the roof with picnic dinners and watch the thrashing mobs below from the comfort of fold-out beach chairs, or on our late night explorations of the labyrinth of hidden passageways that connected the Criterion to its neighbors, or on the morning in early June when 2,000 kids in Doc Martens lined up in front of the theater at 10 a.m. to see a matinee show by The Clash during their two week run at Bond's ) — but nobody ever wanted to stay for very long. Most of us were on our way to or from somewhere, recently hired or about to leave. We were students, immigrants, divorcees, refugees, rehabbers, and in my case, a dropout, since leaving a junior-year lecture on The Politics of the Soviet Union at NYU, and never returning to the class or the school again. In thinking about the moment years later I would finally notice that my retreat from impending adulthood had coincided almost exactly with the violent end of my parents’ marriage, but at the time I was certain I was leaving school because, as I put it to my soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, “They simply have nothing to teach me here.” Advertisement: There was a certain redundancy to being 21 in 1981. The country itself had glimpsed, in its post-Watergate disillusionment, the frightening and liberating truths of post-adolescence: that our fathers were human, that we were mortal, burdened with responsibility and capable of cruelty, that a meaningful future would require self-reflection — and with the election of an addled fantasist we had chosen, as young adults will, to run from reality and take uneasy refuge in delusion. Every night after the last show had started at the Criterion I would stand at the ticket box with Aman, the eldest of three friends from Afghanistan who had arrived at the Criterion two years earlier, after the invading Soviet army had chased them from their homes. Strikingly elegant, with a swept-back mane of hair and the posture of a sentry, Aman would ask in halting sentences why I had given up on my education, and smile with patience at my lunging replies. I was a lost, thick-tongued mess, but thankfully not far gone enough to miss the dull thud produced by the complaints of a foggy-eyed American suburbanite on the ears of an exile, so I let my colleague do most of the talking, which, as you can imagine was of a distinctly guarded sort. Aman allowed himself a suspiciously hearty laugh at my expense at least once, though, when I finally confessed, during one of our ticket-counter chats, to a recent spree of mouse murders. Advertisement: I had murdered my first mouse about eight weeks after taking the job at the Criterion, or about six weeks since the mice had launched a series of midnight attacks on the store-front ice cream stand the theater’s owners had opened in a renovated former box office. Ice cream stands were popping up all over New York that summer, selling a product that, like so many other things -- suits, chairs, baseball players and beds -- had suddenly and without warning doubled in size. The Criterion itself had recently undergone a metastatic growth, with the division of its ground-level movie house into two, and the addition of four new bunker-ish theaters in the basement. It wasn’t very long, of course, before all that digging and growing and ice cream-welcoming caught the attention of the building’s permanent residents, and, on a distractingly humid night in early June, inspired them to overcome their usual shyness to brazenly dine, buffet style, at the stand’s five-gallon tub of rum raisin. An emergency meeting was called by Rich, one of the owners, a sputtering fire hydrant of a man who had recently taken to wearing blue shirts with white collars that only served to emphasize his myocardial complexion. Rich, along with his wife and sons, operated the Criterion in a manner that perfectly evoked the level of easy-going, drama-free problem-solving we all associate with the word “family,” and forever inoculated me against the cultural mythology of “mom and pop shops.” Advertisement: Rich had a plan for dealing with the mice and it went like this: Kill the mice. Kill all the mice, however we have to, every day, for as long as necessary to keep them from getting between us and a single penny of that sweet, sweet Fuck-You-Jimmy-Carter-It’s-Morning-in America-Now Money. The mice-killing would happen like this: The morning crew would set out some traps, glue traps, and every night at closing time the college dropout would dispose of the trapped and killed enemies of wealth in a manner to be determined later. OK? OK. So, that was OK. No biggie, whatever. Except I probably didn't say “no biggie, whatever” because people weren't saying things like that yet. We were still in the first few months of The Reaganing, and there were still some things, a few stalwart, remaining things, like words, that hadn’t yet been fully holographed and italicized. Or so it seemed to me, self-serious me, as I helpfully explained to the Criterion’s cashiers, concessionaires and ushers in long, spit-flecked, nightly asides much like this one, often for precisely the same purpose: to avoid the uncomfortable subject of mice. Advertisement: Like people and presidents, mice do their worst damage in secret: the poisoning of wells, the sharing of contagion, the spreading of fear. We are left to infer the trouble they’ve caused by the shit they leave behind. In 1981, Ronald Reagan was doing his best to murder the past and obscure the future. He occupied a constantly evolving, revisionist present, where he was able to make a virtue of his knack for amiable amnesia and blithely dismiss “misstatements” with a calculated twinkle in his eye — and the press cooperated by judging the administration on its own terms. The good news is that, like people and presidents, mice also cannot resist the desire to force others to clean up their poop, a hubris they refuse to unlearn and which leads them, inevitably, to their doom. They do not go peacefully, however. A mouse stuck in a glue trap will chew through flesh to free himself, and die trying. He will snap his own bones, break his own teeth, and die in agony. Finding a mouse in a glue trap usually meant finding a dying mouse, rather than an already dead one. It meant witnessing his agony, sometimes three or four times a night, something that only got harder the more I did it. Advertisement: The question of what to do about that had become an urgent one. Tossing writhing rodents into a trash can was unimaginable. David suggested I let him pet the mice. David had a sore on his arm, near his wrist, that wouldn’t heal. A round, purple lesion that he referred to as his “stigmata.” “I’m like a reverse Jesus,” he said. One touch from me and they’ll keel right over.” So I walked into the office to ask Rich, the owner, why we didn’t just hire an exterminator. I found him sitting there in front of teetering stacks of one- and five-dollar bills — a not uncommon sight in the movie theater business, but always a fraught one, since the movie theater business is actually the popcorn business, or, more accurately, the popcorn cup business, since popcorn cannot be inventoried in units, while cups of course can, and so the opportunities for mischief are as plentiful as the number of cups that can be retrieved from the trash every night by concessionaires who then refill and resell them while pocketing, and sometimes sharing, the profits. So maybe it was just-a-hazard-of-the-business jumpiness, or maybe not, but whatever the reason, when I entered Rich’s office and asked my exterminator question he cocked his head at me and said, “Do you like your job?” and before I could muster an answer he was chalking a diagram for me on the office blackboard. As he drew he said, “Do you know why you have a job?” and then something like, “You have a job because I. Make. Money. I created your job and everyone’s job in this place and I pay for your uniform, your Social Security, (there were lots of chalk dollar signs and arrows now, raining down from the top of the blackboard at a stick figure that I guess was supposed to be me. “... and I give you breaks and let you eat in the office and all this stuff I do not and should not have to do because I make enough money to do them. You wanna give me a hard time about being smart enough to not get ripped off by some schmuck with a tank full of Raid I can buy at the A&P? How about a little gratitude? How about maybe instead some gratitude?” I took a breath and mumbled my thanks, and what I did later that night was this: I followed a telltale trail of droppings behind the ice cream counter, to find a mouse who had just then and just barely been trapped. One of his rear feet had firmly, permanently, dug its way into to the glue. I lifted him, or, not him but the trap, as he dangled from it, and I placed it in a white ice cream bag and crumpled the top closed. Then I walked out the front door of the theater toward a momentarily empty Seventh Avenue and I bent quickly to place the bag a foot or so from the curb, turned right around and headed back inside without waiting to see what happened. When I left work through the same door an hour later I avoided looking at scene head-on, but caught the flattened shape of the bag in my peripheral vision. Advertisement: I repeated the procedure every night after that, at least once, sometimes more. The top ten television shows of 1975 were, in order, "All in the Family," "Sanford and Son," "Chico and the Man," "The Jeffersons," "MAS*H," "Rhoda," "The Waltons," "Good Times," "Maude" and "Hawaii Five-O." Anyone too young to remember them should look up images of the people who starred in those series, people like Esther Rolle and Bill Macy. You might notice that almost all of them look suspiciously like actual people, human beings, with medical histories and memories and digestive systems. And if you look up 1985’s top shows you might notice that this was very much not the case for the stars of "Dynasty," "Dallas," "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," "The A-Team," "Simon & Simon," "Knots Landing" and "Falcon Crest." You’ll see a gallery of the kind of faces we’re now used to seeing on TV, the ones that look like they’re assembled in face factories and shipped to Hollywood in bubble-wrap. That was the face Reagan’s America loved, the kind that asked nothing of its audience, and it was the face his White House presented to the public. Despite all his time on horseback, Reagan was a man of affect, not action, and he was inspiring a culture of apathy and entitlement. Sometime in June of ’81 a patron vomited in the entryway to one of the new basement bunkers. I had cleaned up my share of excretions from a wide variety of urban inhabitants over the two years that I’d been working in theaters, but my recent elevation to management meant that I would now be able to delegate that and other unpleasant tasks to the ushers. Advertisement: So I pulled a mop and bucket out of the storeroom, started walking it toward Aman, who was the usher on duty and... and I kept walking, right past him, over to the puddle on the floor. I had never been a boss before, of any kind, and I was incapable of making the needed request of anyone, let alone Aman, who was at least 20 years older than I and a lifetime more dignified. I got to work on the stinking mess myself, but as I went to wring out the mop Aman placed his hand on my wrist
centre, to comment, but it has not yet responded. What happens next? The European Commission has been keeping tabs on Romania and Bulgaria regarding their efforts to tackle corruption for nearly a decade, producing annual progress reports, normally published in January. Dimulescu says Romania, given its efforts, wants to be free of this monitoring, but NGOs and some of the judiciary feel they still play an important role in driving reforms. Elections could also play a part: Bulgaria goes to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president, while Romania has parliamentary elections on December 11. Your view Have you got a story to tell about corruption in Romania and Bulgaria? Send your article feedback to chris.harris@euronews.com or via @lyonanglais on Twitter. Full interview with Valentina-Andreea DimulescuMarch 6, 2017 Today, President Trump signed a revised Executive Order on refugees. This new order corrects many deficiencies of the first by removing a religious preference, removing the indefinite bar on Syrian refugees, and removing Iraq from the list of countries banned from U.S. travel for 90 days. While these changes to the original order represent a step in the right direction, the overall effect of this order still targets the most vulnerable refugees and U.S. allies. The order continues to place a 120-day moratorium on refugees from all nations, shutting out tens of thousands of desperate women, children, and families seeking refuge. After the moratorium on resettlement, it would slash by more than half the total number of refugees eligible to come to the United States. Despite Iraq being removed from the new order’s list of countries affected by a 90-day ban, the overall halt to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program will affect over 50,000 Iraqi allies who served with the U.S. Military, U.S. government, and other U.S. organizations who are currently waiting in that program. Due to this halt, the robust security screening measures being performed on these individuals may expire, requiring that some go through these measures again, adding many more months to their processing. Many simply do not have that time to lose, especially the allies that are now targeted for standing alongside our country during wartime. The new order also retains its focus on six Muslim-majority nations, which again indicates a troubling pattern of anti-Muslim sentiment in U.S. policy. Such actions only reinforce the narrative of our enemies, like ISIS and other extremists, who would have the world believe that the United States is at war with Islam. As veterans, we took an oath to defend dignity and freedoms of all people, regardless of their national origin or faith. Veterans for American Ideals believes that this revised executive order still seriously weakens U.S. national security, undermines our global leadership, and markedly separates us from the ideals that we strive to live up to as a nation. As a diverse group of veterans holding many differing political views, we believe that America is strongest when our policies and actions reflect our ideals. We believe that this revised Executive Order does not meet that standard, and we will strive to work with the president, lawmakers, and all Americans for policies that uphold both our national security and moral leadership in the world.Green Left, August 15, 2010 By Tony Iltis The cover of the August 9 edition edition of Time magazine featured a shocking picture of Bibi Aisha, a young woman whose nose and ears had been cut off. The photo was accompanied by the headline: “What happens if we leave Afghanistan”. However, what happened to Aisha took place in Afghanistan under Western occupation. France 24, Aug. 1, 2010: Malalai Joya, a leading Afghan activist for women's rights and politican who featured among Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2010, spoke out against what she calls the manipulation of public opinion over the plight of Afghan women: There is no doubt that the Taliban are misogynist barbarians but the US can be a good match for them for the war crimes that it has committed in these nine years, killing around 8,000 civilians in their military operations. Malalai Joya, a leading Afghan activist for women's rights and politican who featured among Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2010, spoke out against what she calls the manipulation of public opinion over the plight of Afghan women: There is no doubt that the Taliban are misogynist barbarians but the US can be a good match for them for the war crimes that it has committed in these nine years, killing around 8,000 civilians in their military operations. In return for allowing Time to publish her photo, Aisha was flown to the US for reconstructive surgery. However, although Time ensured her mutilated face was seen worldwide, they appear less keen for her voice to be heard. “I heard Aisha's story from her a few weeks before the image of her face was displayed all over the world”, Ann Jones, author of Kabul in Winter, wrote in the August 12 Nation. “She told me that her father-in-law caught up with her after she ran away, and took a knife to her on his own; village elders later approved, but the Taliban didn't figure at all in this account. “The Time story, however, attributes Aisha's mutilation to a husband under orders of a Talib commander, thereby transforming a personal story, similar to those of countless women in Afghanistan today, into a portent of things to come for all women if the Taliban return to power.” In March, Wikileaks published a CIA document that outlined a strategy to counter growing opposition in Europe to participation in the US-led occupation. It recommended using a narrative about the oppression of women in Afghanistan that highlighted the Taliban’s misogynist violence while ignoring that of the pro-occupation warlords and the occupation armies. Afghan feminist Malalai Joya condemned the pro-war media manipulation. “During the Taliban’s regime such atrocities weren’t as rife as it is now and the graph is hiking each day”, she told France 24 on August 1. “Eighteen-year-old Aisha is just an example and cutting ears, noses and toes, torturing and even slaughtering is a norm in Afghanistan “Currently, Afghan people, especially women, are squashed between three enemies: Taliban, fundamentalist warlords and troops … The US used the plight of Afghan women as an excuse to occupy Afghanistan in 2001 by filling television screens, internet pages and newspapers with pictures of women being shot down or beaten up in public. “Once again, it is moulding the oppression of women into a propaganda tool to gain support and staining their hands with ever-deepening treason against Afghan women.”It’s the kind of thing that usually happens near the end of a campaign, when all hope is lost: Mitt Romney’s foreign-policy team is trashing him to the press. On Afghanistan, one adviser told David Sanger of The New York Times, “None of us could quite figure out what he was advocating.” Another acknowledged that when it comes to Iran, “I’m not sure that anyone knows if the candidate has a strong view of his own.” A third admitted that “Romney doesn’t want to really engage these issues until he is in office.” What’s going on? Part of it is simply Romney, whose lack of foreign-policy experience and apparent lack of strong foreign-policy convictions are inviting internecine warfare among his staff. But the problem goes deeper. Republican foreign policy may be crashing against reality’s shoals. Once upon a time, leading figures in the GOP foreign-policy establishment thought a lot about the limitations on American power. The guiding assumption of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger’s foreign policy was that the United States no longer had the money or will to wage war against communist movements across the world and would thus have to make deals with the Soviet Union and communist China in hopes of getting them to restrain those movements themselves. Realists like Brent Scowcroft, Kissinger’s former deputy in Nixon’s National Security Council, dominated Republican foreign policy as late as the George H.W. Bush years. And even Kissinger’s ideological foes—the original neocons who rallied around Ronald Reagan—largely understood that in the wake of Vietnam, the American public had little appetite for military force. Although Reagan funded anticommunist regimes and insurgencies from Central America to Central Asia, he was deeply cautious about deploying U.S. ground troops overseas. In his final year in office, in fact, Reagan adamantly refused to invade Panama, on the ground that it could turn into another Vietnam. Since the Cold War, Kissingerians have largely gone the way of the dodo bird inside the GOP. As on domestic policy, the party has moved further and further right—not just to the right of Nixon and Kissinger, but to the right of Reagan as well. The Gipper, it’s worth remembering, sanctioned Israel for bombing Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981. Today, by contrast, Republican foreign-policy advisers not only support Israel bombing nuclear facilities in Iran; they urge the U.S. to do the job itself. Supporting an aggressive U.S. military posture is today almost as central to Republican foreign policy as cutting taxes, spending, and regulation is to Republican domestic policy. And yet that posture has never been more at odds with the existing limitations on American power. As much as many GOP foreign-policy hands want to accuse Barack Obama of surrendering in Iraq and Afghanistan, fewer and fewer Americans see those wars as anything but a waste. As much as prominent Republican foreign-policy hands urge bombing Iran, the leadership of the U.S. military appears deeply opposed. And with the federal government facing increasingly savage budgetary tradeoffs, the Republican insistence on ever-higher defense spending looks increasingly delusional. Beneath the fratricide in the Romney foreign-policy camp lies the deeper problem that, at least since Sept. 11, GOP foreign policy has largely assumed that limitations of public money and public will should not constrain American foreign policy. And during the primaries, when Romney advocated bombing Iran and rejected negotiations with the Taliban, he embraced those assumptions, too. But now, forced to lay out their candidate’s views in greater detail for a more attentive press corps and a more skeptical general-election audience, the Romney camp is struggling. And they’re going to continue to struggle because ultimately, the problem isn’t Romney. The problem is a Republican foreign-policy narrative that pretends that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the financial crisis have not imposed serious new limitations on American foreign policy. Foreign-policy strategy, I once heard the historian John Lewis Gaddis explain, involves reconciling goals—which can easily expand—with means, which cannot. In that sense, today’s GOP has a foreign-policy orientation, but no foreign-policy strategy, and Mitt Romney is unlikely to provide it one. It’s going to be a rough few months till November.After rushing to the door to get out of the pouring rain, I spotted a box tucked into the corner to avoid getting wet (thanks UPS guy). I could barely put all my stuff down before my Husband had a knife begging me to open it. (I will admit, I wanted to try to wait until Christmas, but that lasted a total of 5 seconds). As soon as I cut the tape, I could see fabric, and I got very excited. My S.S. made me a Zombie Harry Potter Bathrobe!!!!!!!!!!! The sad part is, I don't think enough exclamation points could accurately portray my real life excitement!! It is so creative, and soft and warm. I am wearing it, and had to turn off the heater. Borduin, you are AMAZING! Thank you sooo much! You sure have given my Husband some gift competition!Linda Liao (Chinese: 廖佩伶; pinyin: Liào Pèi Líng, now known as 廖語晴; born 24 May 1981) is a Taiwanese singer, actress, VJ and professional gamer. She attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Career [ edit ] Liao is best known as the host of the weekly MTV Taiwan Top 20 show. In 2005, she became well known in Singapore for her role as Ellie Chua in the MediaCorp Channel 5 television drama Chase. In 2006, she was voted the 2nd Sexiest Woman in Singapore's FHM. In 2007, she acted in another Mediacorp TV Channel 5 drama known as After Hours reprising her role as Ellie Chua from Chase'. She performs the theme song of the drama, "So Real". In 2007, she and Jun Jin from the Korean KPop group Shinhwa (신화) collaborated in a song, titled "Forever". Liao also made an appearance in the music video "It Could Be Love" by Korean group The Name, which also starred Shinhwa member, Jun Jin. In 2007, she was voted the 19th Sexiest Woman in Singapore's FHM. An avid basketball player in her teenage years, Liao remains an avowed fan of Michael Jordan. In 2010, she was the Grand Champion of the ESL Female Gaming StarCraft II Cup. She previously sponsored by Razer, but as of June 2012, Razer confirmed that they were no longer sponsoring her because she was focusing on other parts of her career. Discography [ edit ] Studio albums [ edit ] 2002 August - Linda 7 2004 June - 我挺你 2011 May 27 - Love Presents 爱。现 Filmography [ edit ] Film [ edit ] Twisted (2011) (2011) Fishing Luck (2005) Television series [ edit ]Satellites spot Syrian violence from space BY STEPHEN CLARK SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: February 11, 2012 The U.S. State Department says satellite imagery of Syria shows escalating violence between government and rebel forces as the regime deploys armored divisions and artillery against major cities. Images posted on the State Department's Facebook page Friday appear to show artillery batteries, armored vehicles, widespread fires and evidence of shelling in several Syrian cities. Commercial satellite operator DigitalGlobe tasked its satellites to snap aerial imagery of Homs, a city in western Syria with a population of about a million people. Homs has been the epicenter for many of the clashes between powerful government forces and protesters. The DigitalGlobe imagery of Bab Amr, a neighborhood of Homs, appears to show armored tanks, deserted streets and craters, which could be the result of shelling from artillery guns or rocket launchers. Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, said the images offer proof of the brutality of the attacks. The protesters took to the streets last year demanding the resignation of Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad. "Satellite photos have captured both the carnage and those causing it -- the artillery is clearly there, it is clearly bombing entire neighborhoods, and it marks a new low for the Assad regime," Ford wrote in a Facebook posting. The State Department withdrew from the U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Monday, the same day the DigitalGlobe image was captured. U.S. officials also released black-and-white satellite photos of what the government says are mobile rocket launchers and artillery on the outskirts of Homs and Az Zabadani, Halbun and Rankus, cities near the Syrian capital of Damascus. The State Department did not disclose whether the black-and-white photos came from commercial or government reconnaissance satellites. Larger image available for download. Credit: DigitalGlobe/U.S. State Department The following satellite photos show artillery and rocket launchers deployed outside Syrian cities, according to the State Department. Credit: State Department Larger image available for download. Credit: U.S. State Department Larger image available for download. Credit: U.S. State Department Larger image available for download. Credit: U.S. State Department Larger image available for download. Credit: U.S. State Department Larger image available for download. Credit: U.S. State Department Larger image available for download. Credit: U.S. State DepartmentA fter a September 1989 tour of Houston's Johnson Space Center, Boris Yeltsin -freshly elected to the new Soviet Politburo- made an impromptu visit to a typical American grocery store -'Randalls'- in Clear Lake, Texas, to have himself a look around... And more than anything he'd seen at the advanced NASA facility, what really blew Yeltsin away was the sheer variety of goods at the supermarket. The fact that such stores where to be found in just about any town in America was said to be beyond comprehension for the Soviet politician- the pictures tell a thousand words- A mesmerized Yeltsin wandered the aisles, marveled at price-scanning registers he had no idea even existed -while taking his free in-store samples of cheese, etc and remarking how if ordinary Russians knew about America's horn-of-plenty 'there would be a revolution'. He added that the Soviet Politburo -with their special import shops/privileges- and not even Gorbachev have access to such variety as the average American did.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Manager Terry Francona told reporters on Tuesday that he's considering lineup changes for Game 5 of the ALDS on Wednesday night at Progressive Field. Several positions could be in play. "I've got about four lineups right now," said Francona. Francona said third baseman Giovanny Urshela, who committed two critical errors in Monday night's 7-3 loss to the Yankees, was still hurting because of a bruised left shin suffered when Starlin Castro hit a line drive off his left shin in the second inning for his first error. If Urshela can't play, the Indians could move Jose Ramirez from second to third base; move Jason Kipnis from center field to second and play Austin Jackson or Greg Allen in center field against Yankee left-hander CC Sabathia. If Edwin Encarnacion returns to the lineup, Michael Brantley would probably start the game on the bench. Brantley is 1-for-11 since replacing the injured Encarnacion in the first inning of Game 2. When asked if Brantley would be in the lineup against Sabathia, Francona said, "I don't know about that one. Part of it will be about who's available. Sabathia, historically, has been tough on him. "We may be better with him on the bench. I haven't quite worked through that yet. A lot hinges on Edwin." The winner of Game 5 will advance to the AL Championship Series and play Houston in a best-of-seven series.Famines and plagues took a heavy toll on the European populace during the 14th century, with the Black Death estimated to have killed some 35 million people in just three years from 1347. But perhaps the overwhelming experience of the era was war. Europe was in ceaseless transition, with great empires coming or going in the space of just a few centuries – think: Byzantine, Ottoman and Holy Roman. Closer to home, England finally lost the Hundred Years War and then slid into the chaos of the (un)civil Wars of the Roses in the 15th Century, with many thousands of men doing battle in the name of the Houses of Lancaster and York. Fortunately for the fighters of the age, there was plenty of literature of the self-help variety to guide them through combat – especially the arm-to-arm sort. The second most useful remains How a Man Schall be Armyd at his Ese When he Schal Fighte on Foote, written anonymously in England in about 1450, which instructs a man in what he should wear, from his underpants to his helmet, if he wants to enjoy his day out fighting on foot. Medieval weaponry techniques were incredibly complex – enough to make contemporary Hollywood fight scenes look clumsy Toby Clements It is pretty prescriptive, but rings with hard-won wisdom. "He shall have no shirt upon him but a doublet of fustian lined with satin," it starts, which sounds pretty strict – but as anyone who has ever spent a day in armour will tell you, armoury chaffs in the same way cycling in a pair of jeans chaffs. The last thing you want under your armour (well, perhaps not the last thing – there are plenty of other things you would not want there, and plenty of people willing and able to put them there) would be buttons or extra seams, or anything that might ride up, or fall down. Over this shirt you put on your arming doublet, a sort of tie-up cardigan made of tow-padded linen punctured with strategic holes through which you tie the rest of your clothes – your woollen stockings and your mail guarded codpiece – and various pieces of plate armour with greased crossbow twine. Once your bascinet (helmet) is buckled on, and you have your dagger on your right hip and your short sword in your left hip (both unsheathed, and hanging from iron circles) and your long sword (or poll axe) in your hand, all you now need is a "pennant painted with Saint George or Our Lady" to bless you as you go, and you are ready to rumble. Hans Talhoffer illustrates how to defend yourself while stuck in a hole But what now? This is when perhaps the most useful self-help manual of the 15th Century might come in handy. Hans Talhoffer was born in Swabia, in what is now Germany, and after training as a fencing master, he turned his hand to writing his famous Fechtbuch, a wonderfully expressive treatise on fighting. The manual includes instruction on all sorts of weapons and covers a wide arrange of scenarios, including, brilliantly, how to fight a nun who has a rock wrapped in her veil while you are standing up to your waist in a hole. (Whether or not Tolhoffer intended it, the description also works as a lesson for nuns: how to fight a man standing up to his waist in a hole while you have only a rock and your veil). The weaponry techniques are incredibly complex and deft – enough to make contemporary Hollywood fight scenes look absurd and clumsy. Instead of two men standing opposite each other while parrying cross cuts for a few boring minutes until their swords are hopelessly chipped and blunted, Tallhoffer is all about movement. His protagonists twist, wriggle, grapple, lever, and bend their bodies in every unexpected way imaginable. They grasp their swords by the blade – don’t forget your gloves! – and smack their enemy with the bulbous hilt (the handle), or use it to twist a shoulder out of joint. The art is all about balance, and the smart application of the correct amount of force required to ruin your opponent. Makes sense: Talhoffer suggests chopping off your opponent's hand to win a sword fight I have had a few lessons in the sorts of skills Talhoffer taught, from a wiry – and very sweaty – German instructor; classes that included many unexpected humiliations and inexplicable bruises. On the first day, the instructor said, simply: "Come at me". I did so, and immediately found myself upside down, reasonably high over his head. Thank the Lord we were on mats and using padded staves. What I learned in those mercifully brief ‘lessons’ is that the weapon – whichever one you chose – is only part of it. Nothing is off limits: gouging and biting are expected, welcomed even. In truth, the weapon itself can sometimes serve as a distraction: you look up at the pick coming down on your head and you move to parry it, but already your assailant has a knife – or a length of stiff foam, in training scenarios – almost exactly where you don’t want it. And we weren’t even supposed to have knives! Toby Clements is taught longbow skills by Tim of Bedcote, Warwickshire (Photo: Martin Pope) Of course, Talhoffer was mostly instructing his clients in judicial combat, rather than in how to face the chaos of a battlefield, where death or terrible mutilation seemingly came at random, in any number of ways, and from any number of directions. And here no self-help manual presumed to trespass, leaving the body and soul of any man who wishes to fight on foote in the hands of God. Kingmaker: Broken Faith by Toby Clements, is published by Century, at £16.99Hit-and-run driver sought after plowing into Highland Park coffee shop http://t.co/T6W9bJw1GV (Vid Sotero Delgado) https://t.co/xmXmQXb6Qp — ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 28, 2015 Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who lost control and plowed his pickup truck into a coffee shop in Highland Park early Sunday.The suspect crashed into The Highland Cafe in the 5000 block of York Boulevard at 2 a.m.Witnesses told police they smelled burning rubber and then saw the suspect make a left turn, lose control and crash into the coffee shop.Surveillance video shows the suspect repeatedly attempting to back up and leave, and several people crowding around his vehicle."There was a lot of people around trying to stop him, but he was still able to get out and take off so there is some footage," owner Alfonso Arellano said. "We're hoping someone will come forward."The suspect fled the scene eastbound on York Boulevard. His vehicle was described as a mid-80s tan Ford pickup truck.The Highland Cafe announced on Instagram that it would remain closed on Sunday as the cleanup continues."Unfortunately we will be closed today due to a wreckless hit and run. Thankfully no one was hurt #besidesourfeelings," staff wrote.Details on when it would reopen were not immediately released.Anyone with information on this case was urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Traffic Division.Disclosure: I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for the Staten Island Yankees. I received tickets for the game as well as food vouchers to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation. My family has been on a mission the past few years to visit as many Major League and Minor League ballparks as we can. Wherever we go on vacation, we check and see what the city has to offer in regards to ballparks. My oldest son collects miniature bats from all the stadium and has quite the collection. And when we go to a game, we pretend to be the biggest fans of the home team and sing as loudly as we can during the 7th inning stretch. (That is, of course, unless we happen to catch a game in which our beloved Mets are playing against the home team.) For whatever reason, in our many stadium visits, we had overlooked one of NYC’s Minor League teams, the Staten Island Yankees. Maybe subconsciously we stayed away because we are Mets’ fans, but whatever the reason, we had never ventured to Staten Island for a game. We finally put a game on the calendar and since it was the Minor League Yankees, we put aside any Yankee ill-will and dove right into being a fan of the Staten Island Yankees. And now attending a Staten Island Yankee game is on my list of favorite things to do in NYC. The ballpark sits just a three minute walk from the Staten Island Ferry terminal and the view from the ballpark is fantastic. Beyond the outfield wall, you can see the boats and the ferries cruise along the water. Lady Liberty stands tall past the Center Field wall and in front of the Manhattan skyline. Tourists can accomplish 3 things at once there – NY baseball game, seeing the Statue of Liberty, and getting a great shot of the Manhattan skyline. Kids will have a great time at the game. A bouncy house and pitching game can be found beyond the left field. You need to buy tickets to bounce or throw a pitch (cash only), but at $2 for the bouncy house and $1 to play the pitching game, it doesn’t break the wallet. But the main reason to go to the ballpark is to cheer on the Staten Island Yankees. There is something special about watching a Minor League baseball game. It takes one back to a more innocent time and there is always the watching the next big thing while he’s an 18 year old rookie. Like most ballparks, the food consists of favorites like hotdogs, pizza, and sandwiches. The prices are pretty standard compared to most other minor league ballparks in the metro NY area. I drove so I didn’t even bother checking out the beer selection. Sorry, I don’t have any info for you there. Getting to the game is easy. You can either take the Staten Island Ferry, which lets you off right by the stadium, or you drive. Driving is easy, but the costs rack up between the bridge tolls and parking, so unless you can’t budget the time for public transportation, take the free Staten Island Ferry. The Staten Island Ferry is the best bargain in NYC and is worth the trip itself. It was an exciting day at the park for my family. Each one of us took home a ball that was either fouled off or handed to us by a Yankee player and the kids scored some autographs. After the game, my kids ran the bases. I couldn’t help but feel completely satisfied as a dad as I watched my kids round third base and head home with giant smiles on their face. Would I recommend a Staten Island Yankees game? Look at the smile on this face and you’ll have your answer. And if you want to buy tickets, use the promo code “mommy” for a discount. For more information about the Staten Island Yankees, see the information below. Staten Island Yankees website: http://atmilb.com/1x4QL1c http://atmilb.com/1x4QL1c Staten Island Yankees Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StatenIslandYankees https://www.facebook.com/StatenIslandYankees Staten Island Yankees Twitter page: @SIYanks @SIYanks Staten Island Yankees Instagram account: @SIYankees @SIYankees Staten Island Yankees Promo Code: http://bit.ly/1nViaer CODE: “mommy” Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit LinkedIn Tumblr Pinterest Email PocketDuPage voters to decide if election commission should be dissolved hello DuPage County voters soon will weigh in on a proposal to disband the county election commission and return its responsibilities to the clerk's office. County board members on Tuesday agreed to put an advisory referendum question about the issue on the March primary ballot. The decision comes after state lawmakers failed to act on legislation to merge the commission with the county clerk's office and create a new panel to provide bipartisan oversight of elections. "Let's just go to a full-fledged consolidation," county board Chairman Dan Cronin said after the vote. "Fold it into the clerk's office." Election oversight power was stripped from the clerk's office in the early 1970s to create the election commission. Cronin said he's hoping DuPage voters overwhelmingly support the nonbinding ballot question to dissolve the commission. "We want to professionalize and increase the competency and performance of this operation," he said. "Folding it into the clerk's office, we think, offers us that opportunity." According to the resolution approved Tuesday, the question on the ballot will read, "Should the DuPage County Election Commission be dissolved and its functions be consolidated with the office of the DuPage County Clerk?" If voters agree, Cronin said he'll take the election results to state lawmakers and urge them to act. "We've got to get the referendum question that will give us the mandate to go down there to Springfield and ask the legislators," he said. The 1973 state law that formed DuPage's election commission required both political parties to be represented on the three-person election commission board. Republicans hold two of the three seats. Another state law change is the easiest way to undo the election commission. While it could be done through a binding referendum, DuPage doesn't have the authority to do so because it doesn't have home rule power. The clerk's office is run by Paul Hinds, a Republican. But Democrat Jean Kaczmarek is expected to challenge Hinds in the fall 2018 election. On Tuesday, both Hinds and Kaczmarek said they support taking the merger idea to voters. "For over a decade, I have been calling for returning the election commission back to the county clerk's office as it's done in 100 other Illinois counties," Kaczmarek said. "This progress follows years of a single, steady drumbeat." If election oversight is returned to the clerk's office, Hinds said he would be prepared for that transition. "It's something that we're ready to go ahead and do," he said. County officials estimate that consolidating the election commission and the clerk's office could save taxpayers at least $300,000 a year by combining staffs and finding efficiencies.Huzzah! This Saturday Miss Took was out being an adult and doing adult things while I got to stay home and play. No work, no schedule, and a chance to play the newest, and first, Adventure Pack from the Haradrim Cycle… The Mûmakil! Read on to see what I thought… A few quick things to get out of the way. First, I would love to do more of these. Would this interest anyone? When AP’s come out, aside from the general chatter of the discord channel and the COTR Podcast, I don’t hear a lot about quests as they come out except in the form of player card reviews. Please let me know if you’d like to read/hear more first impressions of quests. It seems like there’s not a lot out there in blog form. Second, spoiler alert… I lost. You should know that. Third, if you wish to experience the quest fresh, then you may want to skip this article. I won’t be going every minor detail on every card, but it’s still worth noting that this article may not be for you. Anyway, enough of that. Into the jungles of Harad we go! The premise of “The Mûmakil” may delight or terrify you. Or perhaps it will fill you with a sense of dread with the thought of having to face the towering, powerful Oliphaunt for the upteenth time. Veterans of the game seemed to have had their fill of this exotic creature. Caleb, developer of the cycle, appears to think otherwise, and I think he approaches the design of this quest with all of that in mind. The Heroes are following Khaliel through a Harad jungle, having recently escaped from the clutches of Mordor. Their goal is a simple* one. Tame a Wild Mûmak, the giant elephants native to the land. Once tamed, these mighty creatures will prove invaluable as they transport the Heroes, and the survivors of Khaliel’s village, to Gondor. Taming a Mûmak is not so easily accomplished, nor is traversing the twisting, tangling paths of the jungle, where other, potentially more dangerous creatures lay waiting to strike. In the beginning of the quest, everything starts out pretty normal. The Wild Mûmak are set aside, along with the Capture Objectives that players use to actually tame them. Players then each choose a different location and the quest begins. Side B has the players shuffling in Wild Mûmak after exploring the active location, while also preventing them from passing until the number of Mûmak in play equals the number of players. Once the pre-reqs are met and appropriate progress is made, players move to stage 2. Things are pretty straightforward from there, as players work to accomplish their task of taming the beasts according to their capture objective (which trigger off of combat, questing, or location exploration, depending on which card). Once there are no more Capture Objectives in play, the game ends and the players win. Like those of the “Sands of Harad” Deluxe Expansion, the quest in “The Mûmakil” is a welcome return-to-form coming off the heels of the several unique and inventive quests in the “Dreamchaser” cycle. While “The Mûmakil” isn’t creating a map or using double-sided locations, the mechanics in the quest make what could have been a simple and, to be blunt, boring quest of trekking through the forest into one that feels simple yet still refreshing. For instance, take a look at two of the creatures that make an appearance in this quest. Though they don’t have the raw numbers like the indestructible Mumak, the Strangling Python and Giant Centipede can be potentially hazardous to players. Most characters can shake a damage or two, but thanks to the likes of the above enemies, those who wander through the Harad jungles may suffer nasty effects like a blank text box or worse, the inability to ready at all. Their little stats make them negligible, but a slight misstep can turn the tide. Like the Carrion Bird and Sand Viper from “Desert Crossing,” weaker enemies are no longer inconsequential. The combat phase will always be a little bit dicey. It’s a great way to keep things simple but fun, but is also thematically sweet under the lens of a perilous jungle locale. These are creatures foreign to our Heroes, possessing weapons and abilities unknown to them. And then you still have to worry about the big guys! The Wild Mumak in this quest were the right amount of difficult. 6 attack strength is easily mitigated in today’s meta, but what about having to defend 6 attack twice every turn? The easy option would be to send the Mumak back into the staging area, but with locations being churned out, and some of those being hit with the Overgrown treachery, you’ll need to push through with some decent willpower. The Mumak are also immune to player card effects in addition to being indestructible, which I’ll admit, is a bit frustrating but it’s probably for the best. Also worth noting is the Mumak can only take a maximum of 3 damage each round, keeping the quest from being ended too quickly. One of the most intriguing cards in this quest was the Harad Tiger. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it in my first play but I sort of wished I did! I mean, for one thing, look at that art! But seriously, I like the idea of a 0 engagement-cost enemy lurking somewhere in the deck, stalking the Heroes. Once the Tiger reveals itself, it can begin to jump around from player to staging area, slowly picking off weaker allies until someone slays it. Worse still, even if you “luck out” and the Tiger is reduced to simply being a shadow card, you will find one of those Mumak making a second attack before their end of round ability even comes into play. This quest can surprise you, and that makes it great, especially in terms of replay value. Now what about taming the Mumak? Sadly, I lost before I could get to the 2nd stage but I did have a chance to playtest this quest shortly before it was finished. So I do
light on every dark corner where human trafficking still threatens the basic rights and freedoms of others. From factories and brothels to farms and mines, millions of men, women, and children in the United States and around the world are exploited for their bodies and their labor. Whether through violence, deceit, or the promises of a better life, some of the most vulnerable populations among us -- including migrants and refugees fleeing conflict or disaster, homeless LGBT youth, Alaska Native and American Indian women and girls, and children in poverty -- are preyed upon by human traffickers. In order to rid the world of modern slavery we must do everything in our power to combat these violations of human decency. The United States has pursued efforts to address these crimes and lift up individuals who have suffered unspeakable abuse at the hands of traffickers. Through the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, we have joined with the private sector, faith communities, law enforcement, and advocates to coordinate efforts to prevent trafficking and protect victims. Focusing on an agenda that prioritizes victim services, the rule of law, procurement of supplies, and increasing public awareness, the Task Force has strengthened Federal efforts to end human trafficking. In 2012, I issued an Executive Order to strengthen protections against human trafficking in Federal contracting, and nearly a year ago, I signed legislation that strengthened our ability to prevent products made with forced labor, including child labor, from entering American markets. We must address the consequences of human trafficking and work to tackle its root causes. This past fiscal year, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice provided more than $60 million to community-based organizations and task forces to assist human trafficking victims, and since the beginning of my Administration, we have nearly tripled the number of victims connected to services.The Department of Homeland Security has also taken steps to streamline immigration procedures for trafficking victims and ensure their regulations are consistent with existing law. And through new Victims of Crime Act regulations, Federal funds can now be used to help human trafficking victims with their housing. Through the White House Council on Women and Girls, we have worked to address the sexual abuse-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately affects those especially vulnerable to sex trafficking -- including young women and girls of color. And the U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking -- comprised of 11 human trafficking survivors of diverse backgrounds and experiences -- recently released its first set of recommendations for combating human trafficking while keeping survivor perspectives in mind. Every action we take at home, from the clothing we wear to the food we eat, is connected to what happens around the world. As a Nation, we have worked to address the problem of forced labor in our supply chains, and as individuals, we must strive to be conscientious consumers. Working with our friends and allies, we have made this issue an international priority. Just this year we used multilateral fora, including the North American Leaders Summit, the East Asia Summit, and the United Nations, to raise awareness and work with partners around the globe. In addition to urging other countries to develop and expand their anti-trafficking laws and services for victims, we are also stepping up our foreign assistance in this area. Working alongside the international community, we have seen significant increases in trafficking prosecutions and convictions, and we have made great strides in supporting victims. As leaders in the global undertaking to end the exploitation of human beings for profit, we must always remember that our freedom is bound to the freedom of others. This month, let us find inspiration in America's progress toward justice, opportunity, and prosperity for all and reaffirm our pledge to continue fighting for human rights around the world. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 2017 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, culminating in the annual celebration of National Freedom Day on February 1. I call upon businesses, national and community organizations, families, and all Americans to recognize the vital role we must play in ending all forms of slavery and to observe this month with appropriate programs and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-first. BARACK OBAMAClick to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Well, this changes things just a little re U.S.-Canada, flying conspiracy theories and shrill howls of “injustice” from the Canadian side. Looks like most of us missed this one. Lost (for me, at least) in the dramatic hullabaloo of it all, and in my flying-fingers effort to explain some of soccer’s laws in context, I completely missed Melissa Tancredi’s brutal indiscretion during the second half of Monday’s U.S.-Canada match. The hard-charging, physical Canadian midfielder stomped on Carli Lloyd’s head while the U.S. midfielder lay fallen inside the U.S. penalty area. I just watched video, and there can’t be much doubt that it was as deliberate as it was horribly dangerous to Lloyd (pictured, right). No question this stomp, in the 55th minute Monday, should have been a straight red – and probably would have been so if spotted by any of the match officials. If nothing else, this should quiet any of the conspiracy silliness, or the allegations of match fixing. Because if there was ever a justifiable way for a referee to reduce one side to 10 men, this would have been it. See for yourself: . (NEW UPDATE, 5:07 p.m. ET: here’s a great look at the incident as the NBC team talks about it) .Government will ‘look again’ at year-long prohibition imposed on men who have sex with men, says public health minister The government will conduct a review of the rules prohibiting gay and bisexual men from donating blood, the public health minister Jane Ellison has announced. Under current legislation, men who have sex with men (MSM) are banned from giving blood for 12 months after having sexual intercourse. Responding to a question from the Conservative MP for Lichfield, Michael Fabricant, during women and equalities questions in the House of Commons, Ellison said making sure the blood supply was safe was an absolute priority. “Donor deferral for men who have sex with men was changed from lifetime to 12 months in 2011, but four years later it is time to look again at the question. Public Health England has just undertaken an anonymous survey of donors and I am pleased that the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs [Sabto] will review the issue in 2016.” Ellison added: “It is important to put it on the record that the blood service does not discriminate on sexual orientation. Lesbians are free to give blood and their blood donations are extremely appreciated. The deferral period is based on sexual activity, and it applies to a number of other groups other than just men who have sex with men.” Others who are prohibited from giving blood include those who have had sex with a commercial sex worker in the past 12 months, who have ever injected themselves with drugs, or who have been sexually active in parts of the world where HIV/Aids is very common. The policy is based on the statistical likelihood of certain groups being HIV-positive, as the virus does not show up in blood tests immediately. The Freedom to Donate campaign, of which Fabricant is a long-time backer, claims that the restrictions should be reconsidered in light of advances made in screening capabilities and declines in the blood supply. The NHS Blood and Transplant authority issued a warning in June that the number of donors had fallen by 40% in a decade. A spokesperson for the gay rights campaign group Stonewall said: “We want a donation system that is fair and based on up-to-date medical evidence. Currently gay and bi people cannot give blood if they have had sex in the past 12 months, regardless of whether they used protection. Yet straight people who may have had unprotected sex can donate. “These current rules are clearly unfair and we want to see people asked similar questions, irrespective of their sexual orientation, to accurately assess the risk of infection. Screening all donors by sexual behaviour rather than by sexual orientation would increase blood stocks in times of shortage and create a safer supply by giving a more accurate, non-discriminatory assessment.”It’s closing in on to being nearly a week since the Xbox One was officially launched by Microsoft. Facing a lot of hiccups and bumpy roads leading to the launch, Microsoft still managed to sell one million units to the customers within 24hours but keep in mind that it is a total of selling units in 13 key countries. Piracy is a growing concern in the video games industry. With many accomplished hackers hacking consoles to run downloaded games. Microsoft’s previous console, the Xbox 360, was also not immune to piracy and featured hacking elements such as “JTAG” which allows the user to run downloaded games (whose data has been ripped off and uploaded on the internet for the platform) from the hard disk. Piracy was one of the main reasons why Microsoft tried pushing strict DRM policies such as online verification of the console once every 24hours to see if the console has been modified in any way and if it was then the console would be immediately banned. However, the backlash from the gaming community was so fierce that Microsoft had to retract its policies in order to stay in the game with its competitors. Apparently, everyone saw this coming. The hackers of the Xbox community have managed to dump Xbox One’s NAND data, yes the very own NAND data of the Xbox One. Folks over at Konsolen – Junkies (Console Junkies) revealed that the size of the NAND present on Xbox One is 4.9GB in size. It was also revealed that NAND can be dumped using Corona V2 using SD Card reader just as with the Xbox 360. However, to do so, the crystal or ‘quartz’ needs to be disabled. It was also mentioned that J-Runner ‘may not’ be used for dumping as it limits the size to 3.5GB on Corona. You can head over to Konsolen-Junkies to see the images. Do note that the NAND files contain drive info and serial number. So Xbox One’s own system NAND also comes on a SD Card like Xbox 360 Slim’s NAND? Previously it was made known by a famous hacker ‘C4eva’, who dumped the data of Call of Duty: Ghosts for the Xbox One on the internet, that the discs can be read. This means that Xbox One is gaining attention from the hackers who are able to reach the first step with dumping the NAND. Since the hackers continue to tinkle with the Xbox One, the question is how long till they are able to hack it completely? Stay tuned with us as we bring you more information as the story develops. DISCLAIMER: GearNuke is not associated with the aforementioned website or any hacking attempts of the Xbox One.Not to be confused with Interplanetary Internet. Intergalactic Computer Network or Galactic Network[1] \| (IGCN ) was a computer networking concept similar to today's Internet. J.C.R. Licklider, the first director of the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) at The Pentagon's ARPA, used the term in the early 1960s to refer to a networking system he “imagined as an electronic commons open to all, ‘the main and essential medium of informational interaction for governments, institutions, corporations, and individuals.’”[2][3] An office memorandum he sent to his colleagues in 1963 was addressed to "Members and Affiliates of the Intergalactic Computer Network".[4] As head of IPTO from 1962 to 1964, “Licklider initiated three of the most important developments in information technology: the creation of computer science departments at several major universities, time-sharing, and networking.”[3] By the late 1960s, his promotion of the concept had inspired a primitive version of his vision called ARPANET, which expanded into a network of networks in the 1970s that became the Internet.[2] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ]Halfway to the midterms, Trump and his supporters are talking about Hillary Clinton nearly as much as they did during the 2016 campaign. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images In a few days we will reach the halfway point between the presidential election of 2016 and the midterm elections of 2018. Normally, midterm elections at least partially operate as a referendum on the performance of the president and the president’s party. But there are growing signs Donald Trump will try something entirely new: making the midterms a referendum on his defeated 2016 opponent. Just since October 27, the semi-official message center of the Republican Party — the president’s Twitter feed — has launched 15 separate attacks on Hillary Clinton. They mostly focus on claims that she, not he, colluded with Russia, though today he’s leapt joyously into the controversy over Clinton’s pre-primary fundraising deal with the Democratic National Committee. Pocahontas just stated that the Democrats, lead by the legendary Crooked Hillary Clinton, rigged the Primaries! Lets go FBI & Justice Dept. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017 As always, Trump is careful to inflate every allegation against Clinton into a crime that needs to be investigated, and even within the constraints of Twitter, he manages to work in collateral insults such as calling the junior United States senator from Massachusetts “Pocahontas,” an allusion to right-wing attacks on her for once identifying herself as having Native American ancestry. But the broader picture is that, day in and day out, Trump is bringing up and savaging Crooked Hillary again and again. It was his first impulse when the Mueller investigation produced its initial indictments of former Trump campaign officials. And it is the touchstone to which he returns almost no matter which controversy has arisen about his own behavior. Perhaps this habit just reflects Trump’s proclivity for counter-punching, for “often accus[ing] others of the exact thing he stands accused of.” It was certainly the hallmark of his 2016 campaign, most notably when he responded to the politically devastating revelations of the Access Hollywood video by bringing Bill Clinton’s sexual misconduct accusers into the audience at a presidential debate with the 42nd president’s wife. But as we get farther and farther away from that campaign, you have to wonder if Trump is determined to keep in place the dynamics that produced his unlikely election as president. Yes, his base is excited by his immigrant-bashing and law-and-order rhetoric and his defense of “our history and our heritage” and his chronic defiance of political correctness. But as the chants of “Lock Her Up” at a Trump event in Alabama 319 days after the 2016 election showed, nothing is as exciting as are attacks on Crooked Hillary. And they are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. So long as the Mueller investigation continues, the pro-Trump conservative media is sure to continue to ventilate “alt-collusion” theories revolving around the Clinton campaign and/or Clinton as Obama’s secretary of State. Incredibly, two new congressional investigations of Hillary Clinton are now underway: One probe will deal with why the Obama administration allowed a Russian company to acquire U.S. uranium mines, and a second will look into why the FBI decided not to pursue charges against Clinton for use of a personal email server. Republicans who want to keep the focus on Trump’s vanquished foe will receive considerable assistance from Democrats who cannot seem to disentangle themselves from the controversies arising from the Clinton-Sanders nomination contest. So it is entirely possible that as the 2018 election approaches, Republicans from Trump on down will be incessantly talking about Hillary Hillary Hillary as though she’s on the ballot somewhere. It may be a better political bet than dwelling on the president’s own record.NEW YORK, United States – It is not the highest profile gig in the United States government, but the State Department’s envoy on religious freedom has a powerful megaphone at his disposal for calling out the persecution of people overseas based on their faith. Since President Donald Trump named Sam Brownback, a devout Catholic, for the job, Christian conservatives have celebrated, while Muslim and civil rights activists bemoaned a West Wing that seems to champion one faith over others. To his critics, the would-be ambassador at large for international religious freedom has a track record of pushing a Christian agenda in Kansas politics, rejecting Syrian refugees and throwing his weight behind an anti-Sharia law. “Only under the Trump administration would someone so opposed to the constitutional rights of an American faith community be appointed to safeguarding international religious freedom,” said Robert McCaw, from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a watchdog. Brownback’s fans, however, praise a passionate politician who has helped ill-treated foreign Christians, and whose selection marks a rebalancing of scales that were tipped against the majority US faith until last year’s election. Previous title-bearers have had relatively low profiles, but Brownback’s pedigree as governor of Kansas may yield a more potent religious envoy who can influence when Washington uses sanctions or troops to tackle inter-faith chaos in Syria and elsewhere. The Senate must act on the nomination before Brownback can start his new position. ‘Sharia bill’ Critics point to Brownback’s record as a Republican US senator and representative for Kansas. He has been governor of the wheat-growing, Midwestern state since 2011, was re-elected in 2014 and is not eligible to serve a third consecutive term. In 2012, he signed what had been dubbed the controversial “sharia bill”, which was aimed at keeping state courts and agencies from using the Islamic legal code and other non-US laws when making decisions. While the Kansas bill does not mention sharia, critics said the word was removed to stave off legal challenges and that the law served to single out Muslims for ridicule while doing nothing to reinforce the primacy of American laws on US soil. “He couldn’t wait to sign it. It vilifies Muslims, casting them as outsiders,” Moussa Elbayoumy, head of CAIR-Kansas, told Middle East Eye. “He advocates for a small minority even within Christianity, the ultra-conservative Christians, and no one else.” He couldn’t wait to sign it. It vilifies Muslims, casting them as outsiders - Moussa Elbayoumy, CAIR-Kansas Last year, Brownback was one of more than 30 governors to buck former president Barack Obama’s bid to resettle 10,000 people fleeing war-torn Syria, under pressure from European leaders who were inundated with refugees. The married father-of-five said Washington had not provided “adequate assurances” that refugees were being properly screened, although governors did not have the power to pull out of the federally run programme. Christian conservative legislation He also irked the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) by signing orders and bills that eroded “the separation of church and state” by favouring the rights of Christians to discriminate against gays, said the group’s Kansas-based executive director, Micah Kubic. In 2015, Brownback issued an executive order protecting the religious freedom of clergy and organisations that opposed same-sex marriage as Kansas began to comply with the landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court legalising gay marriage. Earlier this year, he addressed a rally in Kansas that defended the right of a Christian florist to withhold her services from a same-sex wedding. He has also altered state laws that added rules to the process for abortions. Brownback has been “one of the nation’s leading proponents of the notion that people, businesses, and even governments should be able to discriminate against others because of their own religious beliefs”, added Kubic. Brownback rejects allegations of prioritising Christians and said he would be “honoured to serve” in a position that was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, of which he was one of the key sponsors. “Religious freedom is the first freedom,” the 60-year-old former college lecturer in agricultural law said in a tweet at the time of his nomination this month. “The choice of what you do with your own soul.” Though Brownback riles liberals, Kansas is bedrock conservative and voted overwhelmingly for Trump in last year’s election. His unpopularity in the Sunflower State likely has more to do with the revenue crisis caused by the deep income tax cuts he championed. According to Morning Consult, a polling group, Brownback was America’s least popular governor until he was knocked off that perch in April by Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor who has two damaging scandals – Bridgegate and Beachgate – under his belt. 'Effective ambassador'? Weak polling has not deterred Mark Tooley, author of Methodism and Politics in the Twentieth Century, who told MEE that Brownback’s passion for aiding the persecuted would make him among the “most effective ambassadors for religious liberty these past 20 years”. Faith McDonnell, from the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a think tank, said his nomination marked a correction to Obama’s presidency under which “Christians were put at the bottom of the barrel,” she told MEE. Trump has prioritised religious freedom and signed an executive order in May to loosen rules on churches and faith groups expressing political opinions. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a summit for pledging support for persecuted Christians in the same month. This administration has signalled that they’re taking Christian persecution and religious persecution seriously - Faith McDonnell, Institute on Religion and Democracy “This administration has signalled that they’re taking Christian persecution and religious persecution seriously,” said McDonnell, meaning Brownback could have “more ability to impact policy and not just to be a moral conscience in the administration”. Religious envoys are tasked with promoting religious freedom globally, via an annual report that keeps tabs on 195 states and by identifying “countries of particular concern” that may face sanctions or “further actions”. For McDonnell, this would mean ensuring Christians, Yazidis and others who have suffered in the Islamic State (IS) group’s rapidly shrinking caliphate in Syria and Iraq “have as much right to religious freedom and not having their heads sawed off as [members of] other religions”. This is what worries Elbayoumy. The US has historically been keener to help the outgunned Christian secessionists of East Timor and South Sudan than Muslim-minority rebels, such as those fighting in the Philippines, he said. A feisty envoy could impact an already loaded foreign policy. “We are not dealing with the same issues worldwide with the same even hand,” Elbayoumy told MEE.Frank Seravalli TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Follow\|Archive Claude Julien chuckled, and then said what everyone in Montreal has been thinking for the last month. “We’re not idiots,” the Canadiens coach told reporters in French. “We can see that he’s not the Carey Price we know.” It has been plain to see. The Canadiens’ all-world netminder allowed five goals on 26 shots Thursday night in Minnesota, the seventh time in his last 10 starts he let in four or more goals. Price, 30, is off to the worst start of any season in his career with a 3-7-1 record,.877 save percentage and goals-against average of 3.77. “It’s definitely a battle,” Price said Thursday night. “But I know how to get through it, so I’m not concerned.” Yes, Price has been here before. He went through a tough stretch last January, right before Julien replaced fired coach Michel Therrien. There have been other statistically worse 11-game stretches in his career. The last 11 games of the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, Price went 4-7-0 with an.876 save percentage. He went 2-7-1 with an.865 save percentage in 2008-09. This may be rock bottom – a jarring sight for a team that relies on their goaltender to breed confidence like no other in the NHL. The Scrum: Carey Price Mitch Melnick hosts a TSN 690 roundtable discussion about Carey Price and the Habs with Nilan, Marinaro Martin Biron, the 16-year NHL veteran who is now an analyst for TSN, RDS and MSG during Sabres broadcasts, first saw Price play in 2007 in Hamilton while Price was a teammate of his brother Mathieu with the AHL Bulldogs. The conversation in the stands that day was “not if Price would win a Vezina, but how many,” Biron recalled. So the sample size is large. “This is the worst he has looked, no doubt,” Biron said Friday. “It’s almost like he has lost his tool box. He is having a hard time finding the puck. He is late on rebounds. This is a guy who usually makes hard saves look easy, someone who is bailing out his teammates.” Price wasn’t at practice on Friday. The team announced he is dealing with a minor lower-body injury. Al Montoya is expected to start Saturday against the Jets. The spotlight is burning extra bright, TSN analyst Jamie McLennan said, because the Habs are off to such a poor start. His body language also visually amplifies his bad play. “When you think about the last few seasons, whenever his game has gone into the ditch, the Canadiens had always gotten off to such a strong start that he had already established himself in the season as a dominant force,” McLennan said. “So much is under the microscope. It doesn’t help that Carey Price is so good and so sound that when he’s on his game, he looks casual in net. When he’s bad, he looks really bad.” Part of that has caused fans and even some in the media to interpret Price’s play as “lazy.” That isn’t what Biron and McLennan see. “If it almost looks like he is not trying, it’s because he is always on that line between nonchalance,” Biron explained. “That’s how easy he makes saves look because of the technical aspect of his game. It may look like he is getting up with no spring in his step, but he’s been uncharacteristic. He almost looks like he is stumbling or clumsy. It’s hard to watch.” Price has been especially victimized by shots coming from his blocker (right) side. According to SPORTLOGiQ’s Mike Kelly, Price entered Thursday’s action with a.677 save percentage on shots from that area, which is nearly 20 per cent lower than the league average of.864. Among goaltenders with at least four starts this season, Price ranks 38th in save percentage, ahead of only Steve Mason, Philip Grubauer and Louis Domingue - who was recently demoted to the AHL. Price is hardly alone. More than half the NHL’s starters are well below a.910 save percentage so far, including Matt Murray, Tuukka Rask, Cam Talbot, Henrik Lundqvist, Craig Anderson and Frederik Andersen. League average last season was.914. McLennan’s theory is that goaltenders have struggled at the start of this season because of the way rules have been enforced. With slashes to hands consistently resulting in minor penalties, McLennan said players with speed are “getting to the middle of the ice untouched” because it’s harder to slow them down. That means more clean shots from the slot, saves that Price usually makes. The Canadiens have also been porous defensively in cutting down back-door opportunities at the side of the net, McLennan noted, which is an abnormality for a Julien-coached team. Biron said Price’s situation reminds him of Jake Allen last season, when the St. Louis Blues told him to stay home to try and find his game. Allen, like Price, needed a “hard reset.” “Except, the Canadiens don’t have that kind of breathing room,” Biron said. “This isn’t a young guy trying to figure out his game.” Marinaro: Price should change his pads Tony Marinaro is trying to find solutions to Carey Price's early season struggles and believes an equipment change may be in order. McLennan recalled a lesson from his first NHL goaltending partner Ron Hextall: “You can’t stop the puck harder.” “It sounds funny, but players can skate harder, shoot harder, work harder,” McLennan said. “As a goaltender, if you try harder, it’s counterproductive - you ended up chasing the puck and opening up more holes. I think that’s why you’ve seen him try to stick with it.” McLennan said Price will need to “play his way out of it.” “His timing is off. His position is off,” McLennan said. “Mentally, it’s a struggle. That’s his game in a nutshell right now. The smoothest goalie in the game looks like he’s thinking in net.” Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalliQuarantining files has its benefits, but a current bug is causing some trouble. When you first download a file in OS X the system considers it to be foreign and tags it with a quarantine flag. This flag prevents it from running if it contains executable code, at least until it is scanned and the user is notified that the file contains code and could potentially change files on the computer. If the file is an application, then when you open it the launch services will present a warning that the file was downloaded from the Internet. Once you confirm that you wish to continue, the quarantine flag is removed. However, there appears to be a bug in the latest version of OS X Lion in which the quarantine flag is attached to existing files on the system, preventing some code such as user scripts from being executed. If you create shell scripts, for instance, then opening them in TextEdit and making changes to them will result in them no longer being executable and will result in an "Operation not permitted" error in the Terminal. Some users have found that this problem happens even if you make edits but do not save the file, suggesting the problem could lie with the system's Autosave features. But if this were the case then it would happen to all programs that support Autosave such as Pages or other iWork programs, and that hasn't been reported happening, which suggests the problem is elsewhere. After investigating the problem, I found it appears to only happen with Apple's sandboxed applications, such as TextEdit and Preview, suggesting the issue has to do with alterations to the sandbox rule configuration in the OS. Sandboxing is a method of voluntarily restricting a program's ability to access system resources, and this is done by subscribing the program to a predefined rule set, called "entitlements," when it is compiled. The entitlements, which are defined in Apple's frameworks (central libraries), can be altered at a later date to refine how sandboxed applications behave, and it appears Apple may have adjusted some of these in such a way that they now result in any newly edited documents from sandboxed applications being quarantined. Screenshot by Topher Kessler To see this in action, open TextEdit and create a new file in your home directory called "test" and put some text in it. Then open the Terminal and enter "xattr test.rtf" to print out the extended attributes associated with the file. You should see both "com.apple.FinderInfo" and "com.apple.quarantine" appear in the Terminal, which indicates the file is flagged as being quarantined. Now remove the quarantine flag by running "xattr -d com.apple.quarantine test.rtf" in the Terminal, and then repeat the xattr test.rtf command to confirm that the flag has been removed. If you now edit the document, and then run the xattr test.rtf command to list its attributes again, you will see the quarantine flag has been reapplied. The same thing happens to documents opened and edited with Preview. In most cases this should not be a problem since most documents are not executable, but since TextEdit is the editor that Apple ships with OS X, a number of people use it to make quick edits to scripts and other executable files on the system, and so because of this bug, in the latest version of Lion their scripts will no longer run. At this point there are a couple of options: Remove quarantine attributes. If you rarely use TextEdit to modify script files, then you can reverse the quarantine by removing the attribute from the file, similar to the demonstration above. To do this, locate the file in the Finder and then open the Terminal application. In the Terminal type "xattr -d com.apple.quarantine" followed by a single space. Then drag the file to the Terminal window, which should append its file path to the command, and press Enter to run the command. Often people put edited multiple scripts in a central "scripts" folder they have created, in which case you can easily remove the quarantine flag from all the files by targeting the parent scripts folder recursively instead of individual files. To do this, type "xattr -d -r com.apple.quarantine" in the Terminal followed by a single space, and then drag the parent folder containing the scripts to the Terminal window, and press Enter to execute the command. Use another text editor. The problem here has to do with sandboxed applications that interface with the system's launch services, so you can use a text editor that is not sandboxed such as TextWrangler, or if you are familiar with the Terminal then any command-line text editor should work just fine (most people who script should have some familiarity with vi, pico/nano, or emacs). Disable quarantining. The system's quarantine feature is a good security measure so I would not recommend this to everyone, but if you are confident in the files you download and run on your system then one option is to disable quarantining altogether. To do this, open the Terminal and run the following command, then reboot the system: defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool NO This command will use the defaults system (the preferences editor) to target the Launch Services preferences and change its setting for "LSQuarantine" to a false or "off" value, so the service will no longer flag new files with the quarantine attribute. Questions? Comments? Have a fix? Post them below or e-mail us! Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums.Eszter Hargittai is Delaney Family professor in the communication studies department at Northwestern University, where she studies the social implications of digital media. From the reports of people’s experiences with the new augmented-reality game Pokémon Go, it would be easy to conclude that a dangerous technology has been foisted upon us. Pokémon Go has been blamed for a all sorts of problems, from people disrespecting memorials to hazardous driving. The problem isn’t the technology, but rather how some people use it. But with technological and cultural innovations, you can pretty much cue the naysayers. While it’s true that some people engage in questionable actions while playing the game, blaming an app for so many issues vilifies a technology with positive potential — and also lets players off the hook for bad decisions in using it. When I visited the 9/11 memorial in New York City last year, I was mortified to see people taking smiling selfies at such a somber place. My first thought, however, was not that cameras should be banned from such sites. Rather, I wondered how it is possible that a person could find anything to smile about at such a location and pondered what efforts could help convey the seriousness of the memorial and the historical events it commemorates. Perhaps motivated by similar discomfort at the dissonance between location and activity, critics have called on the makers of Pokémon Go to remove in-game pieces from certain places where players congregate, such as cemeteries and memorials. They wonder how these locations ended up on the game map in the first place. But Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go’s technology, did not randomly plop game pieces onto the map. The map of the game is essentially a Pokémon-branded remake of the map in another Niantic product, a game called Ingress. Players of Ingress submitted locations as sites of interest (or “portals” as they are called in the game) for approval by Niantic. They included parks, sculptures, murals, memorials, museums, churches, synagogues and historic markers. From these, the developers chose which sites would constitute Pokéstops and trainer gyms in Pokémon Go, locations where players can interact with gaming elements. For the past two years, players of Ingress have been regularly visiting the locations that are now relevant in Pokémon Go. They have spent considerable time at these spots, staring at their phones. I know, as I am one of them. Yet Ingress has not attracted the ire that Pokémon fans interacting with little virtual animals has. Why not? True, Ingress gained users gradually, rather than catapulting to instant popularity, but it does have millions of players globally with the potential for affecting game locations. What is the difference? [I love Pokémon. So why do I hate Pokémon Go?] The most important way the games vary in terms of explaining the location of game play is that the virtual creatures people try to catch in Pokémon Go can show up anywhere. Although there are specific, fixed locations for Pokéstops and gyms, Pokémon roam in the wild and thus might show up as you are entering a place of worship or driving on a highway. Without knowing in advance where a game piece may be, people can easily be caught off guard as one pops up on the map. In Ingress and GPS-based treasure-hunt games like geocaching and Munzee, players know exactly where to go to play and can get in the right frame of mind to do so, whether that means parking their cars before engaging with the game or looking around to make sure they are not disturbing others. In Pokémon Go, you never know where you may spot a Pokémon and want to catch it immediately before it disappears. That element of surprise can make for more exciting game play, but it can also prompt players to take actions on a whim that can result in dangerous or disrespectful behavior, such as catching Pokémon at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. One solution to this problem? Remove the random element of where Pokémon can turn up. This would not simply make the game less exciting; it would also further disadvantage players in suburban and rural areas and some urban neighborhoods where Pokéstops and gyms are much less common, already allowing fewer options for game play. The moral panic surrounding Pokémon Go has been unfortunate, as it taints a technology as the culprit for much bad behavior that is ultimately the player’s responsibility. There is no shortage of articles trivializing the game, making fun of it or painting a dire picture of the new hobby. But these critiques ignore the potential upsides of such technologies, like getting people outside to walk more and encouraging people to socialize with others. Cynics like to emphasize that players are glued to their phones, but some game features benefit from social coordination and thus encourage meeting up with others for game play. Indeed, this is
survey indicates the prehistoric settlement is 238 hectares (588 acres), almost twice the size of the modern-day National Mall in Washington, D.C. It contained more than 1,200 buildings and nearly 50 streets. A number of other prehistoric sites, of similar size, have been found in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe. These sites are sometimes referred to as belonging to the "Trypillian" culture, a modern-day name. The name is derived from the village of Trypillia in Ukraine, where artifacts of this ancient culture were first discovered. Archaeologists found that when this prehistoric settlement was abandoned, its structures, including the newly discovered temple, were burnt down, something that commonly occurred at other Trypillian culture sites. Ornaments and figurines Fragments of figurines, some of which look similar to humans, were also found at the temple. Like findings at other Trypillian sites, some of the figurines have noses that look like beaks and eyes that are dissimilar, one being slightly larger than the other. Ornaments made of bone and gold were also discovered at the temple. The gold ornaments are less than an inch in size and may have been worn on the hair, researchers say. At the time the prehistoric settlement near Nebelivka flourished other early urban centers were being developed in the Middle East. And the newly discovered prehistoric temple is similar, in some ways, to temples from the fifth to fourth millennia B.C. that were built in ancient Middle East cities, such as those in Anatolia and Mesopotamia, Burdo and Videiko note. For example a 6,000-year-old temple at the ancient city of Eridu, in modern-day Iraq, also had a floor partitioned into smaller rooms, they note. The discovery was recently published, in Ukrainian, in the journal Tyragetia. Another paper reporting on recent research at the settlement was published recently online in the journal Antiquity. Related on LiveScience and MNN: This story was originally written for LiveScience and was republished with permission here. Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. 6,000-year-old temple with sacrificial altars discovered A 6,000-year-old temple holding human-like figurines and sacrificed animal remains has been discovered within a massive prehistoric settlement in Ukraine.GENEVA (AP) — Would you accept about $2,500 from your government every month, no questions asked? Swiss voters get a choice Sunday in a referendum that, while not specifying a figure, asks if they want "unconditional basic income." Experts estimate a minimum of 2,500 Swiss francs ($2,560) per month is needed for an individual to make ends meet in wealthy Switzerland, where private-sector health insurance is required and the cost of living is sky-high. Critics warn that the policy would explode the state budget. The Swiss government itself advises voters to reject the proposal, and polls suggest it will fail in a country known for free-market policies and a high-tech, capitalistic financial sector. Proponents, however, insist the time has come for a minimum monthly wage as sweeping 21st-century economic changes like robots displacing factory workers make jobs more precarious in the digital age. They say they're seeking momentum more than outright victory. Polls have suggested that only about one-quarter of Swiss voters back the idea. Still, the initiative cleared the bar for a vote, which in Switzerland's direct democracy means garnering at least 100,000 signatures in a petition drive. It is one of five issues on the ballot Sunday, including efforts to raise money for public services and simplify the application procedures for asylum-seekers. Universal basic income might seem like souped-up welfare but proponents say it's actually aimed to supplant welfare. Advocates in Switzerland and other European countries also examining the idea say current welfare systems are overburdened by red tape, deterring many potential beneficiaries from applying. The novelty of unconditional basic income is that everybody would get it automatically. It would be a floor: Salaried workers who earn more than 2,500 francs a month would get no extra money. Under a proposed model, each child would get one-quarter of the total for adults — about 625 francs per month — a sum higher than state child-care outlays for families today. Possible ways of paying for it would include fees on salaries of people who earn more than the minimum, savings from welfare programs that would be discontinued and taxes or spending cuts in the state budget. Switzerland's basic income push is among the most advanced in Europe. The Dutch city of Utrecht wants to start a two-year experiment with a similar plan, handing money to residents who already receive welfare benefits. Ralph Kundig, president of the Swiss chapter of the Basic Income Earth Network, said some economists favored the idea as a way to underpin consumption and support the economy. "Our parents, grandparents and beyond worked hard so that we could produce more by working less, with machines and so forth," Kundig said. "The only thing that they did not foresee was that this wealth would only benefit the owners of the means of production." Kundig said studies and pilot projects show people wouldn't just sit at home and do nothing. "Basic income is much more of a stimulant to employment and the economic activity of a country," he said, adding it would increase entrepreneurship because people would be less afraid about losing jobs and more willing to take risks. But an association of mostly small businesses in the southwestern Swiss region of Valais region, UVAM, is among the many voices calling for voters to reject the proposal, writing on its Web site: "No bread without work." It lambasted the basic income proposal as "an absolute danger, because it's the perfect negation of the virtue of work" that would entrench a dependent class and cost 208 billion francs per year. "Without wealth, here's no redistribution, because money doesn't fall from the sky," the group wrote. Kundig said all reforms are often viewed in a negative light at first. "All advances in society — like retirement insurance or even the right for women to vote... were initially considered catastrophes for the economy," he said of earlier Swiss reforms. "Everybody who resists social progress always says it can't be paid for, but that's just talk."For some, Mozilla's most intriguing Web project isn't the next version of Firefox -- or any version of Firefox, for that matter. It's an entirely new Web browser engine, code-named Servo, written in Mozilla's Rust programming language and intended to fully exploit modern, multicore hardware. Earlier this week, Servo's development team released a new iteration of the project with an all-new UI -- reminiscent of the tabbed interfaces found in modern browsers -- built using the first full 1.0 release of Rust. [ Also on InfoWorld: Mozilla Rust language approaches 1.0 milestone. \| Stay on top of the new programs and software available with the InfoWorld Applications newsletter. ] Don't ditch your existing browser, though. Servo is a fast-moving prototype technology, not (yet) a product, and it needs to be built manually from many different pieces. Plus, even with all that work, it currently runs on only Linux, OS X, or Android; no Windows port exists yet. Mozilla Research Mozilla's Servo browser engine, written in Rust, is meant to render HTML all the faster on modern hardware, but Servo hasn't yet been deployed as anything other than a research project. Mozilla claims Rust has been built from the inside out for concurrent, low-level programming on modern, multicore hardware. Servo is something of a proof-of-concept project for the language that demonstrates Rust's ability to write software that not only takes advantage of current CPUs but is more secure by default than C. The HTML parser written in Rust for Servo, for instance, is billed as "[avoiding] the most notorious security problems from C, but has performance similar to a parser written in C." Aside from benefiting from Rust's memory safety and speed, Servo's professed technological advantage over other browser engines is its ability to render multiple elements for a Web page's layout in parallel. Browser engines typically do all their work in a thread bound to a single CPU core; Servo is intended to vault over that limitation. The rendering speed of a browser engine isn't the only thing that makes it fast, though. Websites have become as dependent on JavaScript as they have on HTML, so accelerating JavaScript performance has been the focus of much recent work on speeding up browsers. The most recent build of the Chromium project, for instance, optimizes the way JavaScript is parsed and cached to further speed page load times. Mozilla so far has refrained from making concrete plans for Servo -- or Rust -- to formally succeed Firefox or its use of C/C++. For the time being, at least, Firefox remains Mozilla's browser of choice.People clash with Spanish Guardia Civil guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis on Sunday Raymond Roig/AFP/Getty Images In Catalonia on Sunday, Spanish forces cracked down on the region for attempting to stage an independence referendum. Hundreds were injured, and many people were unable to vote. Among those who did, around 90 percent voted for independence, at least according to Catalan numbers. The next steps from both Spain’s central government and the Catalans in favor of independence are unknown, but the crisis shows no signs of abating. To discuss how things got this bad in one of Europe’s largest democracies, I spoke by phone with Sebastiaan Faber, a professor of Hispanic studies at Oberlin College and author of the forthcoming book Memory Battles of the Spanish Civil War: History, Fiction, Photography. During the course of our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, we discussed the ways in which Spain hasn’t outgrown the Franco dictatorship, how the financial crisis exacerbated Spain’s politics, and why this weekend will leave a permanent mark on Catalonia. Isaac Chotiner: For people who don’t understand the deep Catalan desire for independence, at least among a sizeable chunk of the population, how would you explain it? Sebastiaan Faber: There is a long-term explanation and a shorter one. The long-term explanation is really that Spain was formed as a state in the 1400s but never really ceased to be a multinational state. It was always composed of communities that really identified more as Catalan or Basque or Galician or something else than as Spanish. And that remains. There was a resurgence of those feelings in the late 19th century, and in the 1930s, when Spain became a republic, those feelings manifested politically in the desire for some sort of regional autonomy, and the granting of regional autonomy. Galicia, the Basque country, and Catalonia got special status as autonomous regions within the Spanish state. But then, within the Franco dictatorship, which last from 1939–1975, those aspirations were harshly repressed to the point where people were not legally allowed to give their children a Basque, Galician, or Catalan name. They had to give them Castilian names. And all the other expressions of nationhood were also really repressed. Then Franco dies, Spain becomes a democracy in the late 1970s, and the big question is what to do with this multinational identity. The solution that was found then, and generally thought of as brilliant or at least really well-suited for the situation, was to turn Spain into a semi-federal state where within the Spanish state there are 17 autonomous communities, including the Basque country, Galicia, and Catalonia. So the people in Catalonia have long thought of themselves as different from Spain with its own language and culture and all that. So why has it bubbled up so passionately in the last couple of years? The short-term reason is that conservative Spanish politicians and conservative Spanish parties have never really accepted the multinational nature of Spain, fully. This has to be because, I think, they evolved out of Francoism, and never really shed Franco’s vision of Spain as a proudly unified and fairly homogenous country. In 2006, Catalonia expressed its desire to update its regional constitution. A new version of the statute was passed, and then approved by the Spanish parliament, so in principle things were good. One of the interesting things about this new statute was that it called Catalonia a nation, whereas in the Spanish Constitution it is called a nationality, not a nation. So there was some kind of upgrade. At that point, the main Spanish conservative party filed an appeal against the new statute with Spain’s Constitutional Court, which in 2010 declared important parts of the new statute unconstitutional. This was a slap in the face to many people in Catalonia, who saw it as yet another piece of evidence that Spain would never respect who they were or take their identity seriously. And when I say identity, there have always been financial considerations. This involves the amount of control Catalonia has over its own tax revenue and the way the Spanish state distributes wealth and funds, in which relatively wealthy regions like Catalonia end up giving more into the national treasury than they receive out of it. But in 2010, we were one or two years into the Great Recession, and the awareness of being financially put at a disadvantage came on top of the indignation over what the court was doing. Being at a disadvantage is one way to phrase it, but the other would be that they were more fortunate to live in a wealthier region and shouldn’t be so resentful about paying more into the pot. Absolutely, you are completely right. The sharing of the wealth is something that is basic solidarity in regions of the same country. I think the fact that in 2010 it became way more of an issue had to do with the cutbacks that all of Spain was suffering, the austerity that was imposed by Brussels. And the cutbacks in Catalonia were more severe than in many other parts of Spain. They suffered more at that point. And I think psychologically, a lot of people in Catalonia no longer saw themselves as part of the Spanish family, so the notion of solidarity became a sense of “we are being robbed.” That was the phrase: “Spain is robbing us.” The apparent lack of affection and recognition was confirmed by this decision from Madrid that they couldn’t have the new statute. What do you make of how the Spanish government responded this weekend? I think what happened Sunday was scandalous and horrifying and really saddening in many ways. I am talking about the ways in which the security forces—and especially the imported security forces from the rest of Spain, less so than the autonomous police force—cracked down very harshly on citizens who wanted to vote. I think those images are horrible. But they were foreseeable and they were avoidable. The Spanish state had already over the past weeks taken plenty of measures to make the referendum invalid. The validity was already undermined enough, and this display of brute state force was unnecessary. The fact that it came to this takes two parts. One is that the conservatives in Catalonia embraced the urge for independence that was growing after the 2010 decision, and embraced it in a fairly opportunistic way to prevent the erosion it was showing [in the polls] because of corruption and the response to the austerity measures. It saw a chance to strengthen its base even though it never was pro-independence. For the conservative government in Madrid, being inflexible in Catalonia and flexing its muscles in Catalonia—it has also been electorally advantageous to adopt a harsh and zero-tolerance attitude. There is an interesting way in which two parties who are on the same side politically have been engaged in a game of chicken, which for both has served to strengthen their electoral base. Everyone knew these trains were going to crash, but neither one had short-term electoral incentives to change course or break. How do you break down the Catalan population that wants independence? Among the actual population, there are between 40 and 50 percent who genuinely want to be independent. So the movement is real, at the level of civil society. What politicians have done with that movement is a different question. Among the 40 or 50 percent, they are politically all over the map. It could be a Catholic baker from a small town, or an accountant from Barcelona, who thinks Catalonia would have its finances in better order, and doesn’t feel Spanish. Or it could be a 20-year-old immigrant from North Africa who moved to Catalonia, and feels very much part of the Catalan project and doesn’t feel part of Spain at all. It also includes leftist activists and militants who believe the only way to achieve social change towards equality and social justice is to have a smaller and more manageable and republican Catalonia, as opposed to the larger parliamentary monarchy with strong conservative tendencies. Some of them don’t consider themselves nationalists and don’t care about flags and anthems; they want a progressive republic. If the only way to get that is to ally with a conservative party with economic policies [they] strongly disapprove of, so be it. As soon as [they] get it, they can drop the alliance and fight for progressive politics. Do you buy the number that the Catalan government is putting out? That 90 percent or so voted for independence? I think so, yeah. There was a nonbinding referendum in 2014, and the numbers aligned with that. Turnout would have been 40 percent or so, and of the people who turned out, 90 percent voted for independence. It makes sense because people who were against independence would not have gone out and voted. There was no real campaign for the no vote. If the central government had reacted more reasonably on Sunday, what do you think would have happened after the votes were tallied? I think the reasonable actions should have started way early, but if it had done what it did up until yesterday and then decided to just let the vote happen, and not send in the police like it did, I think the government would have had a stronger case going forward. It looks like the Catalan government is going to unilaterally declare independence, so it looks like the escalation will continue. The bluff-calling will continue. And then the Spanish state, forced into reactive mode, will likely react with judicial measures and officially revoke the autonomy of Catalonia, which is something the Spanish Constitution allows for. I think the effect of Sunday is that the Catalans won the image war. Any person in Europe or the United States will look at this and say, “They just want to vote and old ladies are being hit in the head.” And they got to vote. The Spanish prime minister kept saying that the referendum will not happen. Well, people voted. And then the prime minister comes on Sunday and says it didn’t happen. I think Madrid has lost a lot of ground. That said, I think the endgame is unclear. I think the endgame among the Catalan elite—especially the Catalan conservatives who have spearheaded this—is to force Spain into a negotiation that will perhaps lead to another statute of autonomy but not independence as such. But the problem is that many of the people who voted Sunday really want independence and really believed that their vote Sunday will get them there. So even for the politicians in Catalonia who are willing to think pragmatically and think of this as a negotiation, part of their electorate will never forgive them for what they will see as a betrayal. Think about what people put on the line Sunday. They took a huge risk. And we all know that experiences like these, if you are part of it or a child or even older, these are formative experiences in people’s identities. This will leave a legacy in Catalonia. People will remember this day.PEEKSKILL, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — The parents of a former Peekskill High School student are suing the school district, alleging a school psychologist crossed the line when he helped the girl acquire birth control. As CBS 2’s Lou Young reported, Anthony and Eve Jackson say their daughter obtained birth control pills three years ago, when she was 16, during school hours at a health clinic following a school counseling session. “This case is about a school taking away and hijacking a parental right,” said David MacCartney, the Jacksons’ attorney. The clinic, Hudson River Health Services, is located about a half-mile from the school and has no official affiliation with it. But the Jacksons allege the high school psychologist and his wife, who worked at the clinic, “conspired” to get their daughter the birth control they would’ve preferred she not have. “Counselor took student through an elevator, down out to the school, out a side door after having called his wife at the health clinic and had her come in her private vehicle to pick the girl up,” MacCartney said. The clinic operates in a city with the highest teen pregnancy rate in Westchester County. “I see young kids with children,” Peekskill resident Joseph Selza said. “I see babies having babies.” “It’s better than getting an abortion, having birth control,” said Peekskill resident Tyleica Mann, who became a mother as a teenager. Allison DuBois, chief operating officer of Hudson River Health Services, said the facility keeps services confidential under state law and cannot notify parents about teenagers who visit there. The Jacksons are seeking damages and other parents to join them in the lawsuit. The girl, now 19, is not a party to the case. The psychologist still works for the Peekskill City School District. Schools superintendent Larry Licopoli said he could not comment because he had not see the lawsuit. You May Also Be Interested In These StoriesSandwiches = love. (Picture: jenifoto) Here’s today’s reminder to thank your mum for all the stuff she does for you. Or make her a sandwich. Jessica Olah, an artist from New York has just launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund a major art project in honour of her mum: her mission to make 2,340 peanut butter and jam (we’re British, and so refuse to give in and call it jelly) sandwiches over the course of 5 days. Because PB&Js are love, in carb form. Jessica decided to do the project as a creative way to pay homage to all the important things her mother has done for her over the years, including waking up early to make her a sandwich every day throughout her school days. She’s making 2,340 sandwiches to pay back her mum for the ones she made, one for each school day from Kindergarten to 12th Grade. Advertisement Advertisement Jessica will complete the project in a gallery space in New York, where members of the public can pop in to watch the process. Once made, the sandwiches will be donated to the Bowery Mission, a charity in New York which feeds the homeless and hungry. The Indiegogo asks for donations to make the project happen, with $11,000 (around £7,250) needed to cover the cost of ingredients, gallery rental, transportation and artsy materials. Donating to the cause can get you all kinds of treats, like a handpainted PB&J art piece, a picnic with Jessica, and an empty jam jar. The project’s PB&J theme takes on a special significance for Jessica and her artsy connection with her mum. Her mum’s a photographer, and back in 1989 she created a photo series dedicated to making peanut butter and jam sandwiches. Jessica now wants to blow up those photos to poster size and display them in the gallery, too. She says: ‘It’s a way to show my mum I appreciate everything she did for me when I was growing up.’ ‘She made me sandwiches every single day.’ MORE: 100 homeless people were given disposable cameras. These are some of the (amazing) results. MORE: Mum makes amazing cartoon art out of food to get son to eat healthily MORE: Artist creates smoothies to match every Pantone colour Advertisement AdvertisementBuy a programme for Mike Bartlett’s new play Game and, apart from the expected background articles and CVs of the cast, you encounter the present tension between two styles of theatre. Directed by Sacha Wares and designed by Miriam Buether, Game is a 55-minute dystopia about a culture in which the poor are given luxury accommodation in exchange for suffering a sort of extreme paint-balling by the rich. Theatregoers wear headphones and watch the live action either behind glass or on video monitors. Formally, it more resembles video-game or television than conventional theatre. And yet although the evening depends almost entirely on seeing and feeling, the programme – as is now standard in new writing theatres – contains the whole script. In this case, stapled within the centre pages is a simple facsimile of the dialogue, without any covers or flourishes. A fancier publication is available from Nick Hern Books (NHB). But generally avid for play-texts – having enjoyed Tom Stoppard’s new play The Hard Problem (Faber) twice on the page after once on the stage – I found that Game was lessened rather than strengthened by being read afterwards. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian The bare dialogue and stage directions give no sense of the unsettling and innovative spectacle that the work becomes in the theatre. Someone – such as a student or theatre-lover unable to travel to the Almeida – who read the text without seeing it would be in the position of an archaeologist asked to guess the personality of a skeleton. This disconnect is an illustration of the way in which British theatre, which has traditionally been based on the word, is increasingly exploring – through a new generation of directors and designers – the physical, visual and sensorial. The work of Bartlett straddles this transition. His hit play King Charles III rewarded reading after seeing, permitting appreciation of the daring and ingenuity of the mock-Shakespearean verse. But his recent one-act drama Bull – dramatising violent office politics in the setting of a boxing ring – was, like Game, largely a visual and physical event, with study of the words providing only an enjoyable reminder of some of the spectacular invective spoken. Facebook Twitter Pinterest King Charles III by Mike Bartlett. Photograph: Johan Persson/PR At Shakespeare productions, Sir Winston Churchill would sit with the script on his knee, in order to check that the actors were getting the lines right. So it’s perhaps a good thing that history has spared the war leader from being in the audience for the two most recent productions at London’s Royal Court theatre. Not only would he have found the depiction in Jack Thorne’s Hope of a Labour council refusing to accept a Tory government’s spending cuts to be a bit leftwing but, if checking it against the published version, would have hurled it aside in confusion, because what the actors say and do differed so significantly, with lengthy sections of dialogue cut and the introduction of much physical business unmentioned on the page. And, while the Conservative hero would probably have been horrified by the content of the current production, Zinnie Harris’s How to Hold Your Breath – which starts with a young woman having a one-night stand with the devil – Sir Winston would have been even more disturbed if he had consulted the Faber play-text to check if he could believe his eyes, as the publication contains an entirely different first scene that never appears in the production. (Oddly, the published Hope also contained a thrown-away opening.) It has long been standard for published plays to include a note along the lines of the one that appears in the NHB edition of Thorne’s play: “As the text went to print before the end of rehearsals it may differ slightly from the play as performed.” The Faber text of How to Hold Your Breath omits this warning, although similar wordings appear in other releases from the same firm. Stoppard, an eager re-writer, thanks Faber in an author’s note to a later edition of one of his plays, for their indulgence of his frequent textual revisions for new productions. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Hope by Jack Thorne. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian What’s surprising about the disparity between the printed and acted scripts of the plays in the 2014-15 Royal Court season is that digital technology has made it easier to accommodate late changes. Nick Hern, who runs NHB, the most visible theatrical imprint apart from Faber, tells me that, with Hope last year, Jack Thorne was able to email the latest rehearsal version as late as 2 November, with proofs sent out to him by 4 November. He returned the proofs on 7 November, and sent through some replacement scenes and speeches the following day before the book was printed on 10 November, a fortnight before previews began. Yet, even so, by opening night, the published and performed plays notably diverged in several places, with the text, for instance, containing no mention of sequences featuring ukeleles and mime. This may reflect last-minute rethinking by Thorne or the director John Tiffany but may also represent a position – held by many dramatists – that a script can be interpreted in many ways, with the premiere staging being only one of them. One benefit of digital publishing is that the ebook version of the play-text can theoretically be revised right up to opening night and then during the production, so that the play-text always matches the current played text. But Hern says that dramatists often choose to leave their initial script as it was, preferring it to remain the basis for any revivals. Facebook Twitter Pinterest How To Hold Your Breath by Zinnie Harris. Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian Some changes, though, have such impact on the meaning of a drama that they must be recorded for future performances. There’s one such striking rewrite in a post-premiere NHB edition of Caryl Churchill’s play Drunk Enough to Say I Love You. In the original script, a malevolent character called Sam threatens and menaces a chap called Jack. The play was widely taken as a metaphor for US foreign policy – [Uncle] Sam dominating [Union] Jack – but, in a preface to the corrected text, the dramatist explained that, while she had always intended Sam to represent America, his victim could have stood for almost anywhere in the world and so she changed the second character’s name to the more universal name of Guy. Churchill, one of the star names on Hern’s list, well illustrates the gains and pains of publishing plays. As much of her output – including Top Girls and Serious Money – is set by exam boards and regularly produced by student actors, the books sell well. But Churchill’s more recent work – such as Love and Information – consists of unattributed lines of dialogue, with no characters, settings or stage directions specified. So later directors are allowed complete creative leeway, but anyone who reads the script without seeing a production receives only a fragment of the experience. Indeed, Churchill and Stoppard – Britain’s two leading senior dramatists – offer completely opposite models in this regard. Reading one of his scripts afterwards vastly enhances the experience of seeing the play; but studying one of hers, for the reader, can reduce the play’s impact. This makes them perfect representatives of text-based and event-based theatre. The modern fashion for providing audiences with the words they have heard is clearly popular. Hern says that, during the limited run of a new play, a theatre might shift around 1,500 to 3,000 copies, depending on the size of the venue: figures that more than satisfy publishers of literary fiction and poetry. But, as recent examples have shown, the latest renegotiations in the main production hierarchy – between director, writer and designer – mean that a post-theatre reader now sometimes discovers what they didn’t get to see rather than what they did. The text of Game is like having the instruction manual without the machine.Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Rebecca Johnson, who wrote a 1999 profile on ex- “CBS This Morning” host Charlie Rose for the New York Times Magazine, said Rose was an “unmitigated douchebag” while she was writing the article. Johnson posted on Facebook this week: “We spent several days together, and I really came to dislike him.” She continued, “I had just signed a contract with Vogue and he asked me if I liked [then-Vogue editor-in-chief] Anna Wintour. I replied that I didn’t ‘like’ her or not. It wasn’t that kind of relationship. When he sensed my increasing coldness, he SO weirdly called me up and threatened to tell Anna I said I didn’t like her.” The writer, who still works for the fashion monthly, added, “I was stunned at how puerile he was and told him to do whatever he needed to do. The next day, Anna called! She seemed as irritated by him as I was, but she had promised to make the call. Most awkward phone conversation ever. Charlie Rose. Unmitigated douchebag. Now and forever.” Reached for comment, Rose — who was let go by the network Tuesday after a string of sexual harassment claims — tells us Johnson’s account is “absolutely false.”So there I was standing by my front door, getting ready to leave, when I hear a noise outside. Then, my doorbell rings. I quickly pull the door open, and look out, seeing the mailman trot off back to his truck. I look down, and there it is. The package sat there, just asking to be opened. I hastily pulled the box into my living room, looking at it with a longing gaze, knowing that it could only be my Secret Santa gift. The tape easily gave way to my eager fingers, opening itself up to reveal the treasure hidden within. I waded through the mounds of protective packaging materials, silently thanking them for giving their protection to my precious gift. Finally, there it was, presented before me in all it's glory. A beautiful, red Syma S107g remote control helicopter. Though I didn't list it in my profile, I had wanted a remote control helicopter since early in my youth, and these childhood dreams had never been fulfilled. My eyes lit up in pure joy, my brain racing in excitement, my heart filled with warmth. Thank you, Secret Santa. Thank you so much for my amazing gift!Please enable Javascript to watch this video ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – A blind woman, who said she was unjustly handcuffed and dragged out of a St. Louis bar by an off-duty police officer, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday and is against William Clinton. He works for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, but he was working a secondary job at Caleco’s Bar & Grill the night of the incident. It happened in Oct. of 2013. Marvelena Quesada spoke exclusively with FOX2’s Anthony Kiekow about the incident. She said she was helping her friend pay their tab at the bar when Clinton said that it was closing time and she needed to leave. Marvelena said she wasn’t moving fast enough, so she said Clinton grabbed her and she fell. “He dragged me and my dog outside and put handcuffs on me,” she said. Marvelena said Clinton let her go, but she was left with physical and emotional bruises. “I was very depressed,” she said. “I had nightmares.” Clinton still works the secondary job at the bar. Marvelena’s lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensation for unreasonable seizure and assault and battery. FOX2 reached out to Clinton but had not heard back as of Wednesday night. The police department didn’t comment for the story. The bar declined to comment for the story. However, FOX2 was told Clinton has a reputation of being very friendly with customers. Marvelena has been a plaintiff in a successful federal lawsuit in the past.On April 24, 1916, the tenor Enrico Caruso sang Vois ma misère hélas! Vois ma détresse from Camille Saint Sa ë ns’ opera Samson et Dalila in a private performance for Helen Keller. Keller experienced the music by touching Caruso’s vocal apparatus as he performed, reportedly telling the singer afterwards, “Though I cannot see your face, I can feel the pathos of your song.” Contemporaneous newspaper reports make much of the fact that Keller’s fingers did what her ears could not, thereby rendering her touch as silent. An equally noticeable tendency in the press reception of Caruso and Keller’s musical encounter is skepticism. Commentators doubted that Keller could experience music in the ways she herself claimed, waving away the sensations she described as figments of a deceptive touch. A report in The Richmond Times Dispatch is unceremonious in this regard, refusing to accept that Keller could have had any properly musical understanding, while nonetheless allowing that Keller may have formed “emotional images” in response to what she felt. In contrast, an account of Caruso’s performance for Keller in The Los Angeles Herald bears the subheading “The Thing May Not Be Impossible,” and strikes a note in support of Keller: “Only those who mistake their ignorance for cunning will deny Miss [sic] Keller’s statement that with her fingertips she can feel the emotions of a fellow human being.” I’d like to press the language through which Keller communicated her experience to Caruso. References to emotion and affect in music commonly require metaphors of touch. In relation to music’s expressive capacities, for example, feeling is understood to signify feeling emotion. Responses to music are likewise communicated through haptic and kinesthetic metaphors, but with the emotional dimensions left unspecified: to music is ascribed the power to grab, reach, transport, move, take hold. Each of these verbal figurations simultaneously evoking touch and movement is familiar enough that there seems to be little point in subjecting them to closer examination. Yet, in Keller’s declaration, and in the Los Angeles Herald report there is a subtle play of figurative and literal meaning that links the emotional and physical meanings of touch in an unfamiliar way. The quoted passages call attention to touch as a component of music reducible neither to metaphorical nor to literal feeling. As practiced by Keller, the act of touching music is inseparable from both touch as emotion and touch as sensation, while also creating an altogether different way of understanding music. Through literally feeling the singer’s body in performance, Keller could metaphorically feel the expressivity of Caruso’s voice, her fingers drawing out the affective layers in Samson’s expression of grief. Keller’s fingers were neither silent nor misleading but rather the conduit for what I will call an avid touch. Taking my inspiration from a core aim of this blog, namely to explore avid listening, I ask: what might it mean to cultivate an avid touch in our own musical activities? Keller and Caruso’s musical encounter creates a relationship between musician and audience that exemplifies some of the possibilities through which we might get more in touch with music, whether in the classroom, the concert hall, or the home. An avid touch may begin at the fingertips, but ultimately it courses through the entire body and involves the senses, imagination, memory, and affect. Keller’s own writings provide a helpful starting point for understanding this complex array of musical resources. The poetic excerpt quoted above provides one such example. Her poem brings multiple senses into play, and shows—in its constant shifts between the real and fantastical, the metaphorical and the literal—the potentially wide range of an avid touch. A more prosaic representation of Keller’s world, this time focused more narrowly on touch, provides another, no less
in the general direction of the police official’s residence on Redbeam Avenue in Torrance, the officers on guard received a radio call that indicated the truck matched the description of Dorner’s gray Nissan Titan. As the vehicle approached the house, officers unloaded a barrage of bullets into the back of the truck. When the shooting stopped, they quickly realized their mistake. The truck was not a Nissan Titan, but a Toyota Tacoma. The color wasn't gray, but aqua blue. And it wasn't Dorner inside the truck, but a woman and her mother delivering copies of the Los Angeles Times. FULL COVERAGE: The manhunt for Christopher Dorner Hernandez was shot twice in the back and is expected to recover. Her daughter escaped with only minor wounds from broken glass. In an interview with The Times on Friday, Beck outlined the detailed account of how the shooting unfolded. Just hours before, Dorner allegedly shot three police officers, one fatally. And, in an online posting authorities attributed to him, he threatened to kill more police and seemed to take responsibility for the slaying over the weekend of the daughter of a retired LAPD captain and her fiance. Dorner manhunt: Search resumes in Big Bear mountains Dorner manhunt: Officers opened fire on mother, daughter Dorner had history of complaints against fellow LAPD officers -- Andrew Blankstein and Cindy Chang Image: Christopher Dorner is spotted by a surveillance camera in Orange County on Jan. 28. Credit: Irvine Police DepartmentYour article on Boston’s bicycle safety report notes that 22 percent “of the collisions between cars and cyclists occurred when a vehicle door opened unexpectedly on a cyclist” (“With crash data, city tries to make bicycling safer,” Page A1, May 15). Car doors do not open “unexpectedly”; they open when people in the vehicle work a handle and push them open. When this results in a collision with a cyclist, the fault is almost always that the vehicle operator failed to check that it was safe to do this, and it is these drivers who should shoulder the heavy burden of liability for the serious injuries their negligence causes. That is not to say that all accidents involving cars and bikes are the fault of drivers, but “dooring” should be reported with action verbs to make it plain to all just where the responsibility lies for avoiding this kind of collision. Tony Lovell CambridgeThe latest reports suggest that Inter are keen to take Chelsea striker Fernando Torres on loan but they don't want to pay a fee for it. Fernando Torres remains an important name on Inter's list of potential striking reinforcements, but it seems the Nerazzurri want to do the deal as cheaply as possible. Inter's main priority for the summer is to sign a world-class striker and coach Walter Mazzarri is said to have drawn up an ambitious list of targets. Manchester City's Edin Dzeko is believed to have headed the list but looks highly unlikely to leave City at a price Inter could afford after an excellent conclusion to the season. Real Madrid man Alvaro Morata also seems to be out of Inter's league, especially as Mazzarri's men only qualified for the Europa League. Torres' name has frequently recurred in connection with Inter and he was linked with the club in the January transfer window. According to the Corriere della Sera, Inter owner Erik Thohir is keen to bring Torres in but has concerns about the financial terms. Inter are said to be reluctant to pay anything for the loan and would also want Chelsea to continue paying a significant chunk of Torres' wage bill. It is common practice for a club to pay a fee for a loan, for example Juventus paid around £350,000 to take Pablo Daniel Osvaldo from Southampton in January, but Chelsea may waive that necessity. However, if Chelsea were to continue paying a significant proportion of Torres' wages it becomes hard to see what they would be getting out of such a deal. Chelsea are expected to announce a big-name striker signing shortly with reports circulating that a £35m deal for Atletico Madrid star Diego Costa has already been agreed.Today’s post is an answer to a question that i was asked a few times, namely how do you use Marvelous Designer to create a puffy Chesterfield type of Ottoman furniture. Now If you have ever had the need to model a Chesterfield furniture you are well aware that it can be a drag, and quite the bore making one, as it really does take a bit of time to make it. In today’s post i will show you a way in which you can create a type of “fake” chesterfield Ottoman (A small puffy chair) with the help of Marvelous Designer. In the first video you will see how to create the Chesterfield base out of six pieces of fabric. Then we will proceed to add the inner lines that will define the division between the buttons which give the distinct look, and we will see how to control the strength of those lines. As an added bonus we will also see how to make the Ottoman models have extra bit of wrinkles which are more common for cloth fabrics opposed to leather ones. So if this might interest you check out the video below. The second video is a bit of a bonus video as it covers a topic that i probably should have covered when i made the Complex Rugs and Simple Rugs posts as it does explain how to make the what i call “Marvelous Designer Rug”. What i mean by that is one of those rugs that have an inner pattern that is giving it that area shrink and weft look, which in turn is giving your scene a more daily usage look. As the method of creating this kind of a rug is very much similar to creating the Ottoman and it’s a great exercise i decided to squeeze it in here. So go ahead and check out this video as well. So with those two videos watched you should now have a better understanding of what inner shapes do in Marvelous Designer and how to use them to get great looking results. One thing that i have to note is that MD is an amazing piece of software, and with the videos i’ve made so far about it we are just scratching the surface of what it can do. So if you are working in a field where you have to do a lot of cloth simulation then it might be a good idea to pick up MD if you still haven’t done so. Ok so if you’ve watched the videos and are still reading this then i would like to ask you guys to leave your comments either here, or on YouTube and tell me your thoughts on MD tutorials. And for now that would be it, like always if you did enjoy them like and share them around, and keep coming back for more.Florida’s tea party Republican Gov. Rick Scott has made a point to flaunt the wealth that landed him in office (instead of jail). One of his first, likely illegal, moves was to sell the state plane that transported his predecessors while on state business. Why? Because Scott didn’t need the taxpayers’ jet, he has his own helicopter and access to his friends’ Lear Jets. Equally played up was Scott’s decision not to accept a salary. After all, he made so many millions out of defrauding the government on padded Medicare billing in his businesses that he doesn’t need the piddly $130,000 that me and my fellow residents could provide him. Heck, Scott spent $76 million of his “own” money just to buy the office. But there are some things that even Rick Scott needs help with. Scott, who focused his campaign and every FOX News appearance he’s ever made, on getting rid of the Affordable Healthcare Act which would provide health insurance to millions of uninsured Americans – and Floridians – is accepting our help to pay for his health insurance. We do not begrudge our millionaire governor his dirt-cheap, taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage. We just wish that the millions of Floridians who have no coverage at all — and who help pay for Gov. Rick Scott’s dirt-cheap health insurance — could get the same deal. But they can’t because Florida politicians like Rick Scott are doing everything in their power to fight “socialized” medicine. They are suing to keep “Obamacare” out of Florida. They are rejecting millions of federal health care dollars that could help the poor and disabled. They are cutting indigent care funding. Meanwhile, Scott will be paying about $360 annually out of pocket to provide coverage for both himself and his wife. That means the bill for the two of them will be about $30 per month. Why so cheap? He is among 32,000 select state employees who pay very little out of pocket — as little as $8.34 a month — because the taxpayers cover their costs. And that’s just the upper echelon employees. “For all 176,000 state workers with government health care, Floridians spend $1.8 billion in health care costs,” The St. Petersburg Times reported this week. “That amounts to roughly $137 per year spent by every employed taxpayer over the age of 18.” Scott has marshaled his communications team and annexed members of the larger Republican Party for Florida in an editorial letter-writing and robocalling blitz to help him makeover his image and boost his poll numbers, which are the lowest ever recorded for a governor. You would think that at least one of these folks might have cautioned him about how accepting taxpayer provided health care would resonate. Then again, maybe they did. Scott listens to no one and his ideological blinders leave him at a huge disadvantage when it comes to logical thought processes. For example, Scott was wrong in the first part of this statement criticizing his interpretation of the ACA, which unfortunately, does not provide “government run health care.”: “I clearly believe government run health care will be bad for you as a patient. But in providing coverage for him, and for his wife, he was right.“If we allow to promote and do all this stuff on the street, we are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves like normal, standard people,” Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic champion, said in English. “We just live with boys with woman, woman with boys. “Everything must be fine. It comes from history. We never had any problems, these problems in Russia, and we don’t want to have any in the future. It’s unrespectful to our country. It’s unrespectful to our citizens because we are Russians. Maybe we are different from European people and other people from different lands,” Isinbayeva told reporters. “We have our home and everyone has to respect (it). When we arrive to different countries, we try to follow their rules.” “I want to say to Yelena, ‘You understand a very large portion of your citizens here are gay and lesbian people. They are standard people, too. They were created this way. For you to tell them that they’re not normal and standard, that’s what we’re taking an issue with.’ That’s why we have to continue to demonstrate and to speak out against the ignorance that she’s showing.” At the World Track & Field championships in Moscow, Swedish high jumper Emma Green Tregaro competed today with her fingernails painted in rainbow hues in a gesture of solidarity for the LGBT community, drawing condemnation from Russia pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva.American runner Nick Symmonds, who yesterday dedicated his silver medal to his gay friends at home, slammed Isinbayeva.Isinbayeva has set 28 world records and won gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. According to the, she was part of the team that won Russia the right to host the 2014 Games. Cheering on Isinbayeva's bigotry is NOM's Damian Goddard. Labels: bigotry, Damian Goddard, Moscow, NOM, religion, Russia, Sochi Olympics, sports, straight alliesby: Mauricio Rubio Jr. email: mr@99sportsproblems.com twitter: @MRubio52 And so there was Delmon Young, standing in the way of Chris Sale as the budding phenom was attempting to pull off another escape trick. This is the scenario that Robin and co. imagined when the reset the rotation this way. Get Sale a start against Verlander in case we have to stop the bleeding. It worked out poorly, but before we get into that, let’s take a look at why this game was so important/meaningful/fun. Prologue: Quote: Andy: RE: Fantasy Baseball: “Sorry for the anal rapeage on the last day.” Chris Sale is having a tremendous year at the tender age of 23. The lefty is putting together a Cy Young caliber year in his first full exposure to the league as a starter. He is lightning in a bottle and the Sox are trying to convert it into a post-season berth. Sale has been off a bit lately. The breaking stuff is still sharp, but there is a noticeable dip in velocity that concerns White Sox fans. He is, however, the unquestioned ace of the staff, armed with the stuff (shit your pants slider with a good change) and good feel for pitching. The White Sox moved him back a few days and matched him up with perhaps the preeminent ace of the modern age. Justin Verlander is having an off-year. And by off-year I mean that he’s only third in the AL in ERA and WHIP, only second in HA/9, and only second in total strikeouts. Verlander set the bar impossibly high last year when he put a filthy repertoire and a feel for pitching together and created a monster that the AL is having great difficulty dealing with. The man is a monster, and I believe he is the best pitcher in baseball. He toys with you in the early innings, hitting 90-95 on the gun as needed before unleashing the hellish 101 fastball that, grouped with an elite curve/slider/change combo, is just unfair to the rest of humanity. He also manages to pitch deep into ballgames, using superior pacing in his game. Normally, this should be chalked up as an automatic loss. Losing this game would mean many things. Heading into the Tigers series the White Sox enjoyed a fairly cushy 3 game lead, only a sweep would produce a tie atop the division standings and the Sox had their two aces going in Peavy and Sale. Well Peavy did yeomen’s work, but he pitched sub par according to his 2012 standard, and Scherzer shoved it on Saturday, setting up the improbable sweep that the Sox feared. I would feel better about the White Sox chances with a 2 game lead instead of a tie. Detroit is an enigmatic team that finds “it” in spurts. They are perfectly capable of rattling off an 8-2/9-1 stretch and that could be bad for the Sox. They needed this game and they had the right guy on the mound. With the division hanging in the balance, there aren’t many pitchers I’d pick over Sale. There are none that I would pick over Verlander. 1st Inning Quote: Keith Law: “MVGIDP ‘@Buster_ESPN: And Miguel Cabrera leads the majors in hitting into double plays. espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batt…’“ Verlander: There was a time when Verlander struggled against the White Sox. It wasn’t that long ago either. The Chicago White Sox are a historically good fastball hitting team. When Verlander was first called up in 2005 he was a thrower with good stuff. He cranked it to max velocity at all times, and that played right into the hands of the White Sox. You had to think that maybe the White Sox would find a way to get back to those days when De Aza launched a “get me over” fastball into the right field bleachers. The book on Verlander is that you have to get him early, and when he fell behind Youk I thought this would be a big inning for the Sox. Verlander battled in that first inning, he managed to get 3 strikeouts, the first being on Youk, but he was working from behind consistently. The fastball was gettable, the Sox were sitting on it and laying off the two-seamers down and away, and the junk that he was throwing low. As the inning progressed I realized that they needed to score all the runs they could this inning because that slider/curve combo was sharp today, and he gains a feel for those pitches as the game goes along. What makes Verlander so dangerous and tough is that he doesn’t get weaker as the game goes along. He only gets stronger. Line: 1ip/2h/3k/0bb/1er Sale: Chris Sale has struggled against the Tigers in his first season as a starter. He carried a 6+ ERA against Detroit heading into the game, so the first go around would be extremely important. In 2012 opponents hit.197 against Sale the first time they face him in a game. By the third PA the average jumps to a still respectable.241. If Sale is going to go deep, he needs to be solid the first time through the order. It started dubiously, it wasn’t a lead-off HR, but he did walk Austin Jackson. He had a solid attack against Infante and met Miggy for the first time. Sale hints at a strategy forming in this at bat, which only lasted 2 pitches. He pitched backwards a little bit. Old axioms dictate that a pitcher establishes the fastball first and then moves on to the slow stuff. Sale threw Miggy a slider that was high and away before burying a moving fastball low and in to induce a double play. It was smart pitching and a professional attack on a great hitter, ensuring that Prince Fielder would lead off the next inning. Line: 1ip/0h/0k/1bb/0er 2nd Inning Quote: Me: “Needless to say, Verlander made it move a little.” Verlander: Have you ever had your definition of “Art” questioned? I remember once I was sitting in the waiting room of a mechanic, watching as he bent a metal frame and melded it back together with precision and grace. The craftsmanship bordered on art, and I wanted to call it art, but I knew that would be silly. I did it anyway, and I brought it up in art history class where I was shot down, and perhaps rightly so. “There’s no creativity!” the teacher barked. I suppose not. I was reacquainted with that feeling when Justin Verlander struck out Tyler Flowers in the 2nd. Verlander dialed up the velocity to 95 in the first as he had to overcome sloppy control. He brought it back down to the usually 90-92 in the second inning and then he found “it.” “It” can be many things. “It” can be command/control, “It” can be touch on a fastball, the comfortable grip on a breaking ball, the right arm slot for a change. “It” in this case was a combo of breaking stuff and command. What Justin Verlander did to Tyler Flowers should be illegal but it was wonderful to watch. It will go down as another strikeout, and you might see it on Sportscenter, but the pure attack of Flowers was sublime. Verlander got Flowers to swing at a fastball, wasted a pitch and then threw two breaking balls that made me wish I could do that just once. I would shit my pants against all MLB pitching, but that combo of breaking stuff is probably the closest we’ll get to the baseball equivalent of “The Brown Note.” All that was missing from that sequence were peace doves going off in the background. It was Art, and it was masterfully done. Line: 2ip/2h/4k/0bb/1er Sale: Chris Sale is hell on lefties. The delivery that he employs hides the ball extremely well. It’s a lot like Jared Weaver from the left side. The fastball isn’t overpowering, but it’s effective as it just looks like it’s coming from behind you to right over the plate. Prince Fielder is pretty effective against lefty pitchers. When I first saw it I thought that Sale was falling in love too much with his fastball. We’ll see in later innings why I was wrong, but for now, Sale was able to get Fielder to swing at a pitchers pitch and fly out harmlessly to center. Delmon Young followed up with an awful at bat, he was confused by a slider on the second pitch and struck out on a fastball. Peralta made solid contact and I thought it would lead to trouble, but Sale ate Garcia up on a fastball in and worked out of it once again. Sale’s secondary stuff looked excellent thus far, but the fastball was worrisome at this point. He was trying to establish it, but the Detroit hitters looked like they were getting closer to squaring it up. Sale would need to make an adjustment. Line: 2ip/1h/1k/1bb/0er 3rd Inning Quote: Elizabeth Hathaway, with priorities clearly in order: “I need Sale to do well tonight. My fantasy playoff is in the balance!!” Verlander: This was the point of no return for the White Sox. Verlander wasn’t lights out in this frame, but the stuff was filthy and the way he finished was pretty much a sign that it was lock down time. Verlander started the frame by allowing Hudson to single on a bad fastball. Then he went to work. De Aza was bunting at this point. Miggy Cabrera has two bad ankles which severely limits his range over at third. Hawk and Stoney were practically begging for the White Sox to bunt/slap shit his way all series and I can’t fault that logic. Pride and honor probably kept Robin from employing that strategy, but when the chips are down and you’re fighting for your playoff life, pride and honor should go out the window. The White Sox should have taken advantage of that situation and did not. De Aza failed on the bunt attempt and then was fooled by an off speed pitch and hit into a fielder’s choice. Youk is a pain in the ass in the batter’s box. Even though Verlander hit him, Youk was guessing up there. Verlander had him as he set him up with the classic fastball/breaking stuff combo. Youk was fooled so badly that he half swung and ran into the pitch. Wise notes: Change, Nasty. Curve, Nasty. FB up the ladder – great attack, doubled up on fb’s, sequence was filthy. Paul Konerko is fun to watch at bat to at bat. He has a plan when he goes up there and he adjusts on the fly so well. Paulie has an oval that he will absolutely not go outside of unless the stuff is filthy. Konerko is the guy that I would show to my kids if I was teaching them how to approach an at-bat. Verlander made him swing like a little leaguer. Line: 3ip/3h/5k/obb/1er Sale: Sale flashes a deeper understanding of craft in the Boesch at-bat. One day, if given the opportunity to grow and mature as a big leaguer with minimal injury, Sale will be the perfect blend of dominant and smart, and the league will bend to his will. As good as he is right now, he can be the dominant ace Verlander is if he stays healthy. I have no doubt. He was hinting at nibbling away with Boesch, putting him in his safe zone. Boesch can relax now, he’s going away with soft stuff, and then he blew a fastball by him with no warning. Laird didn’t want to take the bat off his shoulder and I don’t blame him. It was a bad walk because Sale missed the zone, not because Laird coaxed it. Laird was passive, Sale did not attack here. He did attack on Austin Jackson and induced a double play. This was an example of good, smart pitching. Sale is flashing that more consistently now that his fastball velo is trending downwards as the season goes on. This is important in the development of a young pitching mind, you have to be able to be on even when your stuff isn’t great. Sale’s slider is the only pitch that is wowing at this point, yet he is pitching smart and working all corners of the plate at this point. We have a legit pitcher’s duel on our hands. Line: 3ip/1h/2k/2bb/0er 4th Inning Quote: Matt Spiegel: “So, haven’t watched a ton of Terry francona this year. Disappointed to hear him being MLB Gruden. Everyone is awesome.“ Verlander: At this point, Verlander has settled into his happy zone and there isn’t much you can do about it when he’s there. The curve/slider isn’t so much a breaking ball as it is a snap dragon from hell. Verlander left a fastball up to Rios and he hit a harmless flyball out to center. After that Verlander punished AJ Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez with breaking pitches. He got Pierzynski looking on a curve and AJ knew it, he calmly left the batter’s box with his head down and a look of confusion on his face that told the whole story. He ramped up the velo on Alexei and made him take a silly swing at an unhittable pitch. With Verlander settled in it’s up to Chris Sale to not blink. Line: 4ip/3h/5k/0bb/1er Sale: The middle of the Tigers lineup is scary good and the back half of it is absolute shit on a stick. Sale has a test here, and it’s one that young pitchers need to ace in their development. At a certain point, top prospects can get out any AA lineup, even most AAA lineups, but the MLB is a different beast with a steep learning curve. You’re going up against men who have seen everything you have to show them, and it’s up to you to fool them. Sale had to go through Infante, Miggy, Prince, Delmon, and Peralta. He shoved it to Infante, but then Miggy showed the type of approach that separates the men from the boys. Sale had a good attack, he was working both sides of the plate, but Miggy was waiting for a mistake, and Miggy didn’t swing at pitcher’s pitches. He coaxed a walk and set up a dangerous situation. Prince Fielder is made fun of quite a bit. I get it, he’s fat and he has dreads, it’s funny in a way. What people overlook is how he’s grown from a slugger to a hitter. He has more walks than strikeouts this year, and while the slugging % is down, he’s become a better hitter this year. Sale worked him carefully, he had him set up for a slider when he hit him inside with it. He had him and then he lost him. Pitchers fall in love with certain pitches sometimes. When the fastball isn’t working pitchers find ways to work around it. Sale fell in love with his slider in the Delmon Young at-bat. He showed him 3 sliders down in the zone and got him to strike out swinging. This is important to remember, that Delmon saw three sliders in this at bat. It becomes very important in a few innings. He did much the same with Peralta, didn’t pop a fastball in that at-bat and just threw offspeed stuff. He got Peralta to ground out on a sick slider. Line: 4ip/1h/3k/3bb/1er 5th Inning Quote: Elizabeth Hathaway: “Well I’m indifferent to Sox or Tigers winning, I just want Sale to do well.“ Sale gives up a HR to Boesch on a mistake pitch Elizabeth Hathaway: “Damnit!” Verlander: Verlander fell behind on Flowers and let up to issue his first walk of the game. This was the K-CS sequence that had me scratching my head. I’m all for being aggressive in a baseball game against a premier pitcher, but to put on the hit and run with a catcher while the batter has 2 strikes and Verlander is pitching is odd. He’s a good bet to strike the guy out and Flowers is not going to be safe at second. The changeup was sick, and the throw to second wasn’t even that good, but Flowers is slow, so it arrived in plenty of time. Just like that the dreaded lead-off walk doesn’t matter and Verlander can go back and attack De Aza. Which he did and it was sick. Line: 5ip/3h/7k/1bb/1er Sale: Major League hitting is a bitch. One moment you’re thrashing around Garcia, making him look like the untested rookie that he is, the next you make a mistake to Boesch and he makes you pay dearly for it. 430 ft. worth of home run later and it’s all tied up. Many things can happen at this point, but this was the junction that I knew Sale wouldn’t get the win. Verlander looked locked in and he can go longer than Sale. All Sale could do at this point was keep it tied. I think the Laird out was what finally convinced Sale to abandon heavy use of his fastball. Laird hit a big fly ball out to left that he just got under. It was a loud out and it looked like the Tigers were about to break out. So Sale adjusted and went to the slurve. Elizabeth: “And for the love of god what was that last play?” Me: “Twas a Hammertime play, both of them.” Quick break: There isn’t much in baseball that’s funnier than a pickle. Perhaps a slap hit that the 1b allows to roll, hoping it goes fair, only to bounce off the bag and into fair territory allowing the runner to reach 1st safely. That play was glorious. The pick-off/pickle was equally fun. AJax gave us some grade A entertainment there. Line: 5ip/2h/4k/3bb/1er 6th Inning Quote: Andy: “Well this one is done. Gonna need Detroit to continue to suck against the rest of the league.” Verlander: Contrary to old SABR dogma, there is such a thing as a pitcher inducing weak contact, and it is documented here. In this inning Verlander got Youkilis to line out softly to third with a good mix of pitches and differing eye levels. Wise Notes: LOL Slider LOL Curve Weak Contact. Again. Remember when I said that Paul Konerko has a great approach? This was the at bat that showed it. Remember, the last time he saw Verlander he took an ugly looking cut. Now Konerko was waiting for a pitch, he saw something in the last at bat and adjusted to it. He hit a single, which doesn’t seem like much, but the approach was golden. He didn’t go outside of himself, he remained in his zone and hit a pitch he could do something with. It was a fine piece of hitting. Verlander dialed it up against Rios and got him to fly out to center. Verlander was in pure attack mode. Line: 6ip/4h/7k/1bb/1er Sale: Infante started the frame with a seeing eye single to left. Sale was then very careful to Miggy and walked him on sliders. Which put Prince on the spot. 2 on with none out and the game/division hanging in the balance. Slider: strike/sick Slider: ball (Sale falling into bad habit, needs to get away from sldr) Change: swing+miss, 1-2 Slider: ball 2-2 Slider: foul 2-2 (CHANGE!) Slider: K! GREAT attack! And so there was Delmon Young, standing in the way of Chris Sale as the budding phenom was attempting to pull off another escape trick. I thought he was going to wiggle out of this at that point, and the game would still be tied. Instead Sale dipped into the well again, throwing more sliders to a guy who’s already seen a bunch of sliders. Delmon Young hit what would be a good pitch in a vacuum. However, Sale’s sequencing deteriorated after the second Young AB and he became to reliant on the breaking stuff to bail him out. Young waited on a slider he could handle and got one, sending the Tigers to first place with one swing. After that Sale punched out Peralta, gave up a single to Garcia, and then k’d Boesch, but the damage had been done. Pending the BLOLpen, the White Sox had once again been swept by Detroit. Final Line: 6ip/5h/7k/4bb/4er 7th Inning Quote: Me: “Yeah there’s still the Detroit BLOLpen though” Andy: “Yeah but Verlander may throw 130 tonight” This was more or less closing time for Verlander. He had a lead, he had a manageable pitch count, he was into the 7th and his stuff was still sick. AJ Notes: Changeup, still nasty. 2 seamer, still nasty. Killed with FB’s, nasty. He walked Flowers and dropped a hammer on Hudson. After 100+ pitches Verlander is just now pumping the velo up to 99 mph. Line: 7ip/4h/9k/2bb/1er 8th Inning Quote: Andy: “Verlander is a bitch. He’s been talking shit to AJ for years, not sure why.” Buster Onley: “For those asking: It looks like A.J. thought Verlander was staring him down, and asked what the problem was; Laird waved him to the dugout.” Verlander: There isn’t much to say about this inning besides that Verlander finished with dominance. The sequence to Wise was particularly nasty, as was the sequence to De Aza to start the frame. Yes, this was a Sunday lineup, but even so the stuff was biting, and as the game went along, he got stronger and pitched smarter. Final Line: 8ip/4h/11k/2bb/1er 9th Inning Quote: Andy: “I know you’re gonna see the new baseball movie, but man I have to download that shit off the net cuz no way in hell am I giving that old bastard my money.” I hate Jose Valverde, that is all. Epilogue Quote: After watching Valverde suck his own cock on the mound: Andy: “Makes me sick to my stomach watching that cocksucker. I’d say that if he was on a AAA team, he’s just scum! Lol!” When Chris Sale grows up he will be in the Justin Verlander tier of great. There are probably only 5-8 true aces in the game of baseball, guys that you want starting games 1-4-7 of a World Series. Verlander is at the top of my list. This game if anything showed how smart he pitches. The sequencing by Verlander was absolutely supreme and after the initial trouble he settled in and put the White Sox down. Sale will learn, it’s all a part of the process. Major League hitting is hard, and this lineup is particularly brutal to learn against. Sale dipped into the well one too many times and he got burned. It happens. He showed enough flashes of smart pitching to believe that pending health, he will be special. Pitching is a craft, one that takes years to hone. Right now his stuff is allowing him to get by. Soon he will hit a rough patch and then he’ll really learn how to pitch. And then the league is fucked. September It’s hitting that familiar fever pitch now. The kettle’s getting hot and it’s screaming for a release. The baseball wave is hitting that crescendo, that peak where every minute detail matters. The pitches are magnified, the losses feel awful, the wins feel euphoric. September is that crazy month where the ragged post season hopefuls beat the ever loving shit out of each other for 30 days. It can be elegant, it can be ugly, but mainly it just is a fight to survive. The White Sox are entering that month tied atop the division, and now it’s like the season started over. Now the fun shit begins.Famous Swiss Watchmaker, Jaeger-LeCoultre, together with international auction House Christie’s announce a special exhibition at the Christie’s 85 Old Brompton Road salesroom: Jaeger-LeCoultre & Christie’s travel through time with Reverso: "wrist-style since 1931”. Both sharing a rich history with Great Britain it was a natural partnership for the Houses’ to come together in celebration of this iconic Collection. While originally created for British polo players in 1931, the Reverso took on the classic design codes of the Art Deco period and marked key moments of History – it has become an emblem for Jaeger-LeCoultre. The style of Reverso plays the leading role at this exhibition with a discovery of the ‘Grande Maison’ exceptional Metiers Rares and savoir-faire. In a compelling journey through more than 85 years of Reverso, Jaeger-LeCoultre will display some of the new pieces presented during SIHH, historic pieces, exceptional complications, as well the made-to-measure offer: the Atelier Reverso. Along the exhibition path, visitors will enjoy a stroll through Jaeger-LeCoultre timepieces, which encompass a tradition of innovation and precision, art and craftsmanship, elegance and passion since its founding in 1833. Watch enthusiasts will be able to live the Reverso experience to its fullest through the ‘augmented reality’ concept.WINNIPEG — Manitoba is about to join a growing number of provinces that limit the use of electronic cigarettes. Healthy Living Minister Deanne Crothers says she will introduce a bill in the legislature on Monday aimed at protecting people who don’t want to be exposed to the vapour. Crothers says she cannot reveal details until the bill is made public. READ MORE: E-cigarettes bite into Manitoba’s revenue despite tax hike But she says the legislation will strike a balance between protecting the public and supporting people who use e-cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco. British Columbia and Ontario have recently moved to ban e-cigarettes in indoor public areas and restrict the way they can be advertised and displayed. Crothers said Manitoba’s approach will be “unique” but along similar lines. “I definitely don’t want to get in the way of people quitting smoking, but I do want to create a clear indication to members of the public of where it’s appropriate to vape or use e-cigarettes and where it isn’t,” Crothers said Thursday. “Primarily we’re looking at this from a protecting-children perspective.” E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that do not contain tobacco but can be used to heat a liquid, creating a vapour that users inhale. No inserts containing nicotine
, to the fact that Kevin-Prince Boateng and Robinho were both unavailable, as was Zlatan Ibrahimovic – last seen shooting elks during a break from his rehab programme in Sweden. Missing, too, were Massimo Ambrosini and Gennaro Gattuso in midfield, while Napoli were fortunate not to have a penalty awarded against them when Paolo Cannavaro appeared to handle in the area shortly after Cavani had made it 3-1. "This match was an anomaly," insisted the Milan manager, Massimiliano Allegri. "We kept the ball, we went in front. We didn't manage to preserve our lead because the equaliser arrived in a somewhat fortuitous way. Are Napoli the scudetto favourites? The favourites don't change with one match. At the end of the season you will have all the same teams there. Napoli deserve credit because they played the match they had to play and we messed up. But there is no concern on my part." That is a reasonable enough stance to take so early in the season. But when your opposition have a king and saint-in-waiting on their side, you may not want to give them a head start. Talking points • Alexandre Pato didn't get a chance to show off any moves at the weekend, but perhaps that's for the best. "He's unwatchable," declared Thiago Silva after the pair indulged in a quick shimmy at the end of Milan's draw in Barcelona. "In fact, I always say he's not a real Brazilian. To think he listens to hip hop." • Gian Piero Gasperini remains manager of Inter for now, despite another horribly disjointed Inter performance in their 0-0 draw at home to Roma. As I reflected in the closing notes of my minute-by-minute report, the blame for Inter's present state should lie more with Inter's directors than their manager – but that is not to exonerate a man who seems to lack the courage of his convictions. For the fourth consecutive game (taking into account the pre-season Super Cup) he completely overhauled his tactics, and for the fourth time his players looked lost. The decision to withdraw Diego Forlán for Sulley Muntari with 10 minutes to go said it all. On a more positive note, congratulations to Javier Zanetti for matching Giuseppe Bergomi's record of 756 games in an Inter shirt. • As for Roma, there were at least some positive signs in the regular link-ups between Francesco Totti and Fabio Borini, but while Luis Enrique is at least set with his 4-3-3 formation there are still too many players underperforming. One chance at the start of the second half aside, Pablo Daniel Osvaldo was anonymous. In better news, Maarten Stekelenburg has been released from hospital, where he had spent the night following his boot to the head from Lucio. • Did Juventus put in a perfect performance on the way to winning 1-0 in Siena? No. But will their fans care one jot as they survey a league table that shows they too are already five points ahead of both Milan clubs? Hmm. Any club that can leave Milos Krasic, Fabio Quagliarella and Eljero Elia on the bench can't be in too bad a shape. • Juventus and Napoli aren't the only ones off to perfect starts, but are instead joined at the top by Cagliari and Udinese, after wins over Novara and Fiorentina respectively. Whilst you wouldn't want to infer too much from that for the rest of the season, Cagliari in particular still deserve to enjoy the moment – this is the first time since 1970 that they have opened a Serie A season with consecutive wins. • Djibril Cissé informed the world this week that he and his new strike partner Miroslav Klose "never stop talking, not even in the shower". In which case the German might want to tell his team-mate at some point that there are more effective routes to goal than taking hopeful pot-shots from 25 yards. A 2-1 defeat at home to a Genoa team with a miserable recent record on its travels was not what was expected from this Lazio side after their draw in Milan. The loss of Stefano Mauri to injury could prove to be a heavy blow. • Think the pitch at San Siro looked bad at the weekend? Atalanta and Palermo conducted their meeting in the early kick-off on Sunday in a swamp – conditions getting so bad at one point at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia that the match had to be halted for 30 minutes. Whether it should have been allowed to continue after that is a matter for debate, but Atalanta will be happy it did after taking three points off their pre-season penalty to move up to -2. Results: Atalanta 1-0 Palermo, Bologna 0-2 Lecce, Cagliari 2-1 Novara, Catania 1-0 Cesena, Inter 0-0 Roma, Lazio 1-2 Genoa, Napoli 3-1 Milan, Parma 2-1 Chievo, Siena 0-1 Juventus, Udinese 2-0 Fiorentina Watch Serie A video highlights including Napoli 3-1 Milan Latest Serie A tableReuters reported today that trade associations representing Internet service providers "are expected to take the lead in suing the Federal Communications Commission" over its new net neutrality rules. Verizon sued after the FCC issued net neutrality regulations in 2010. The company ultimately won its case, but the victory backfired because the federal appeals court ruling paved the way for the FCC to impose even stronger rules. "[A]t least some companies, including Verizon Communications Inc, are currently not planning to bring individual lawsuits and instead aim to participate through trade groups," Reuters reported, citing "several people familiar with the plan." "We believe there will be a lot of litigation, which will probably be led by industry associations," Verizon CFO Fran Shammo told Reuters. Suing through trade groups "would allow companies to streamline their litigation efforts and could help firms avoid drawing any fire individually, as Verizon did after it challenged the previous version of net neutrality rules on its own in 2010," the report said. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, CTIA-The Wireless Association, and USTelecom are the most likely to sue, according to Reuters. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has said he expects lawsuits from the industry, and that's one reason the FCC issued the rules using its strongest authority, the common carrier provisions in Title II of the Communications Act. The court ruling vacating the 2010 rules said prohibitions on blocking and discrimination were "per se common carrier obligations" and thus could not be imposed unless the FCC reclassified broadband providers as common carriers. "We have addressed that issue" by reclassifying broadband providers, Wheeler said after last month's vote.J. Michael Pearson After the outpouring of rage that greeted Turing Pharmaceuticals last week when it decided to hike the price on an older med by 5000%-plus, its CEO, Martin Shkreli, is one of the last people any pharma chief would want to be compared with right now. But that's the position Valeant ($VRX) skipper J. Michael Pearson found himself in Monday afternoon, when all 18 Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter requesting Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz issue his company a subpoena--and called for Pearson to testify, along with Shkreli, at a hearing next week. The reason? The committee members say the Canadian pharma is withholding documents from Congress related to Isuprel and Nitropress--a pair of heart meds whose prices soared earlier this year by 525% and 212%, respectively, after Valeant picked them up from Marathon Pharmaceuticals. The letter puts Valeant and Pearson alongside Shkreli in a pharma-pricing rogue's gallery--a spot that Shkreli undisputedly occupied last week when news of Turing's huge price increase surfaced online. As the letter points out, Shkreli "tweeted that his price increase is 'a great thing for society' and berated a reporter"--FierceBiotech's John Carroll--"as a'moron' for requesting an explanation for his price increase." "Valeant is using precisely the same business model as Martin Shkreli," the committee members wrote to Chaffetz, noting that it's one of "acquiring potentially life-saving drugs to maximize their own corporate profits." "We believe it is critical to hold drug companies to account," they said, requesting that the committee invite Pearson, in addition to Shkreli, to testify next week. Valeant received a letter back in August from Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) asking for information on Isuprel and Nitropress, including the dates, quantities, purchasers and prices paid for all sales of the drugs; total expenses relating to their sales, including specific amounts for manufacturing, marketing and purchasing of active ingredients; sales contracts; and profit projections. But earlier this month, Valeant nixed the request in a two-page letter, arguing that "the specific documents and information referenced in your letter are highly proprietary and confidential." The way Evercore ISI political strategist Terry Haines sees it, Valeant will end up having to testify at Chaffetz's Turing hearing. "Traditionally, the minority party can ask for and get one hearing witness. Clearly (Democrats) want Valeant there to make the case that drug pricing problems are widespread, and not just with Turing," he wrote. But either way, "Congressional scrutiny of drug pricing will not lead to legislation in a Republican-majority Congress," he figures. Republicans "have never voted for price regulation … and are not about to start now." Meanwhile, Valeant's employees are growing antsy over how the pricing crackdown might affect the company, particularly because its shares have suffered in recent days, along with many other drug stocks. Earlier Monday, Pearson sent them a letter aiming to put their fears to rest, explaining that revenues from the jacked-up drugs aren't part of the drugmaker's growth stats. "Valeant is well-positioned for strong organic growth, even assuming little to no price increases," he wrote. The company's "core operating principles include a focus on volume growth and a concentration on private and cash pay markets that avoid government reimbursement in the U.S. and across the world." More bad news hit shareholders Monday afternoon, though, as word of the Democrats' letter spread. Valeant shares were down 15% at press time. - read the letter (PDF) Special Reports: 10 big brands keep pumping out big bucks, with a little help from price hikes \| The top 10 most expensive drugs of 2013 Editor's Note: This story was updated with quotes from the committee members' letter.What's new in this version Changes in 1.5.0.5: + new boost smoke FX + new explosion FX + fixed behaviour around ceiling + pixel landing on top of a pixel hovering on ceiling => game over + crashing into ceiling with low velocity only lighlty bounces the pixel back down + game now fills the entire screen, landscape or portrait + pixels now have momentum - pixel landing on top of another pixel will push the column down a bit, depending on how many pixels there are in a column already + UI cleanup + Space, click or tap to play - instruction text is simplified to Tap to play, if touch screen is detected + more dynamic scoring - only after a pixel is landed, score is increased, so a column is not scored in full until it is fully landed + now it is also possible to land a pixel on a landing column and score 2x more points, not just 1 point more + pixels still descending while landing explode if a pixel crashes on top of the column - no points! + game does not end until all pixels either land or explode Changes in 1.4.0.4: + Added best score displayBy Dr. Mercola In the featured TED Talk, Seeds of Our Ancestors, Seeds of Life, environmental activist Winona LaDuke addresses some of the more hidden dangers of global corporate domination by companies such as Monsanto. “Food for us comes from our relatives, whether they have wings, fins, or roots… Food has a culture. It has history,” Winona says. Many Westerners may have forgotten any ancestral traditions revolving around food. But for American Indians, Hawaiians, Maori, Mexicans, and many others, food still has a special role within their culture and history. Genetically engineered (GE) foods, which are not only altered in various unnatural ways, are also patented. Farmers must pay user fees to plant them and are prohibited from saving the seeds for the next season. This unnatural system threatens not only biodiversity and environmental health, it also threatens cultures and the cultural identity of peoples around the world. Corporate Domination of Food Threatens Cultural Identities At present, biotech corporations are fighting tooth and nail to ensure genetically modified organisms (GMOs) gain unrestricted access to the markets around the world, and the food industry as a whole is also poised to achieve global domination via free trade deals that usurp nations’ rights to make and uphold their own food laws. To the American Indian tribe Ojibwe, wild rice (minoman) is sacred. The tribe was led by the Creator to settle where minoman grew, and wild rice is the first and last food tribal members will eat in this life. It’s featured in sacred feasts and ceremonies, and minoman is grown today in much the same way it was grown a thousand years ago. Similarly, taro holds a special place in the Hawaiian culture. To the Hawaiians, taro is part of their cosmogenealogy; they consider themselves related to taro—to them, taro is their older brother. To the New Zealand Maori, the peruperu potato is sacred. All of them have fought to prevent these culturally important foods from being genetically modified (GM) and patented. So far, they’ve all won. Yet the march of GMOs continues unabated, with more and more “redesigned” crops being released, and with it, biodiversity declines. Not only are GMOs replacing conventional seeds, but GMOs also spread and pollute other non-GMO crops, thereby posing a double-threat to diversity. Engineering Extinction Over the past 100 years, we’ve lost an estimated 75 percent of our agro-biodiversity, and this has environmental consequences that many fail to consider. Loss of access to traditional foods also leads to poorer health. Across the world, when people abandon their traditional whole food cuisine for processed foods, obesity and related diseases inevitably follow. Winona also discusses the economic ramifications of seed patenting. At present, commercially available seeds are owned by seven corporations, and farmers are stripped of the inherent wealth associated with owning, saving, and sharing seeds. Our current food system is highly concentrated—first, in terms of being a monoculture with very few varieties available, and second, in terms of ownership of these few precious crops. And far from being the answer to the world’s food needs, this concentration actually ensures food insecurity. Add to that the fact that many of the older varieties of crops were higher in valuable nutrients too. As just one example, work by Dr. August Dunning, chief science officer and co-owner of Eco Organics, shows that to receive the same amount of iron you used to get from one apple in 1950, by 1998 you had to eat 26 apples. Free Trade Agreements are Really Forced Trade… Free trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which involves the United States and 11 other countries, and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and Europe, have major implications in terms of our economy, our daily lives, as well as our states- and national sovereignty. While they’re deceptively described as free trade agreements, they’re actually lead to forced trade, and by setting up international laws that supersede national laws, they create a situation in which quality and safety of food is virtually guaranteed to be as low as possible. Many European countries worry that these trade agreements may undermine or circumvent many of their established laws against GMO’s and other American food practices, such as disinfecting chicken in chlorine and the routine use of hormones in beef production, neither of which is permitted in the EU.1 Based on what has happened with other trade deals, such fears are warranted. The difference between Europe and the US in terms of how farmers and consumers view GE foods is mirrored in the amount of GMO’s grown and used in food. In the US, 88 percent of all corn, 94 percent of cotton and 93 percent of soybeans are genetically engineered varieties. In Europe, less than one percent of the farmland is dedicated to GE crops—primarily in Spain—and Europeans are strong proponents of the precautionary principle. In the US, regulators tend to approve new technologies based on short-term studies done by the manufacturer. European regulators tends to be far more cautious, and acknowledge that what they don’t know is perhaps more important than what little they do know about the product in question, so they’re less likely to approve items that are poorly studied. As noted in The Washington Post:2 “Genetically modified crops are broadly unpopular in Europe, and farmers and environmentalists fear that if trade restrictions are lowered, both genetically modified seeds and U.S.-grown genetically modified products would quickly take over European farmland and grocery stores. Some farmers are hoping to stop the talks if rules that govern their work are thrown into the mix, and they are determined to keep U.S. industrial farming an ocean’s-length away… “We will fight this until we cannot fight any more” if it appears that restrictions on growing genetically modified crops are about to be loosened, said Reinhard Jung, the head of the Brandenburg Farmers’ Federation.” Why are Free Trade Agreements Negotiated in Secret? Free trade agreements really do little to boost local economies; they simply empower corporate superpowers to become even more dominant. Unfortunately, trade agreements are poorly understood by most people, which isn’t surprising considering they’re negotiated in secret, and the public is rarely engaged in the process. If you missed my interview with Ben Lilliston, Vice President of Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, in which he discusses the workings of international trade agreements, I highly recommend taking the time to listen to it now. These agreements really do little to boost local economies; they simply empower corporate superpowers to become even more dominant. Trade agreements are poorly understood by most people, which isn’t surprising considering they’re negotiated in secret, and the public is rarely engaged in the process. If you missed my interview with Ben Lilliston, vice president of Program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, in which he discusses the workings of international trade agreements, I highly recommend taking the time to listen to it now. Download Interview Transcript You can also learn more about these and other trade deals on the Public Citizen’s Globalization and Trade website.3 They also have a page dedicated to the issues relating to the TPP,4 where they note that this trade deal could: Offshore American jobs and increase income inequality5 Introduce SOPA-like threats to Internet freedom6 Increase cost of medicines7 Empower corporations to attack US environmental and health safeguards8 Expose Americans to unsafe food and products9 Undermine Wall Street reforms10 Ban Buy American policies needed to create green jobs11 Bad News: Industry ‘Bought’ TPP Fast-Track Approval At present, the TPP and the TTIP are under negotiation, and the stakes include rules relating to medicines, local food programs, food safety programs, and even labor rights. Unfortunately, the US Senate recently voted to give President Obama the authority to fast-track the TPP. Fast-tracking means Congress will not be able to debate or amend the agreement; it can only vote yes or no on it, as is. As noted by The Guardian,12 there was a lot of public resistance against fast-tracking the TPP, but corporate money won at the end of the day. On May 14, 62 senators voted yes on the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA); 38 voted no.Lightspeed A game that helps you learn to read music. Project maintained by buzzcola Hosted on GitHub Pages — Theme by mattgraham Lightspeed is a game that will help you learn sight reading. It shows flashcards with notes, intervals and triads and you earn points by hitting the correct notes on your MIDI keyboard as quickly as possible. At the end of each round you get a point score and an average response time. How high can you score? What's your best response time? New features in 0.2: Countdown timer before each round starts, so you have time to get your hands on the keys! Lots more configuration options, including turning off accidentals, right and left hand practice and adjusting the maximum flashcard time Automatically checks for updates so you'll know the next time a new version comes out. What you'll Need to Play To play Lightspeed you need a computer running Windows. The game features an on-screen keyboard or you can play using a real keyboard with MIDI. This requires some way to plug your MIDI keyboard into your computer. Lots of newer keyboards these days can connect directly to a computer via USB - if yours doesn't, you can use one of these USB to MIDI cables. Support Lightspeed Development Lightspeed is free for everyone and the code is open source. If you have fun playing it and you'd like to support the project (or just buy me a beer), donations are welcome. Learning to Sight Read Music If you're a music student or teacher, you're familiar with learning to sight read and how tough it is. I found that when I worked on new repertoire I only spent a certain amount of time reading - then the material was memorized and I was working more on articulation and performance. There are sight reading exercise books out there but I wanted something fun that would give me feedback for incorrect notes. Lightspeed will not help develop your ability to read ahead of your hands, since only one note or note combination is displayed at a time. But it is a hardcore drill on note recognition, shape recognition and keyboard geography (assuming you don't look down), and by incorporating a few rounds every morning into my practice routine I've really improved my sight reading. I hope it helps you too. Getting Help Lightspeed is a work in progress and is developed by me in my spare time. If you need help just send me an email at orr.james@gmail.com. If you've got some feedback I'd love to hear from you! If you're a programmer and you'd like to help out, check out the project on GitHub.The Piqua Shawnee Tribe Early History Most historians label Shawnee people as nomadic because they have found evidence of Shawnee people moving about in North America, settling in various places and often retaining small family units for long periods of time. The state of Alabama has long been the home of many Shawnee people. In fact, some historians state that perhaps the Shawnee people have inhabited Alabama for a longer period of time than any other geographic region. Some archaeologists set the date of 1685 as the first evidence of Shawnee settlement in Alabama. However, oral tradition states that we have been here much longer than that. Ancient burial sites that use burial methods common to the Shawnee have been located in several sections of the state. Early accounts can be confusing since what is now called Alabama was once a part of Georgia territory. Several early maps show Shawnee settlements in what is now called Alabama. Early French and English maps show several Shawnee towns in what would be considered Upper Creek territory in Alabama. Some of the most notable were near modern Alabama towns. One village was near present day Talladega and was known in English as Shawnee Town. Another town was near Sylacauga. In 1750 the French took a census mentioning the Shawnee at Sylacauga as well as enumerating another Shawnee town called Cayomulgi, (currently spelled Kyamulga town) that was located nearby. Kiamulgatown was also listed in an 1832 census. A 1761 English census names Tallapoosa Town. This town was also named in a 1792 census by Marbury. There are French military records that mention a Shawnee presence at Wetumpka near Fort Toulouse. In most cases the traders called Alabama Indians “Creeks” because they lived on the numerous creeks and waterways in the area. Many of these “Creeks” were not of the same tribe or nation. Rather they went by a large number of names. Each group maintained their own unique heritage while living side by side with their neighbors. Today Now, in the 21st century, there are many descendants who still call Alabama home. Many of their family stories are varied. Some avoided walking the Trail of Tears. Some families escaped into the Cumberland mountains, others hid in swamps or less traveled places. A careful study of southeastern history will reveal that not all settlers agreed with Andrew Jackson’s removal policy. While many people did not escape the removal, some did. After the turmoil subsided some families returned. Many families chose to live in outlying rural areas where there was little government scrutiny and their neighbors weren’t too curious. While a lot was lost, family histories and ways were passed down. It is out of that background that current Piquas live and work to preserve their unique heritage. The tribe consists of several family groups that are interrelated and live in several states. We also have relatives who reside in Canada. Currently the majority of Piquas live in Alabama, with members also in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Texas, Maryland, and South Carolina. Because we are so widely dispersed, we have at least four tribal gatherings per year in alternating geographic locations, thereby preventing any of our people from having to travel much farther than the others. While we have a Principal chief, and second chief, our tribal government is maintained by a Tribal Council. The Council is composed of clan mothers and clan chiefs, with an advisory body known as the Council of Elders. Tribal Council is conducted in accordance with Clan protocol. All issues are debated and taken before the clans for consideration and deliberation. It is the function of the Council to debate and seek consensus on all tribal matters so that the people speak with one voice. Modern positions such as treasurer and secretary are determined by election for a set period of time. These positions do not have a vote on Council. In 1991 the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky recognized the Piqua Sept of Ohio Shawnee as an Indian tribe. On July 10, 2001 the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission under the authority of the Davis-Strong Act recognized the Piqua Sept of Ohio Shawnee Tribe as an Indian tribe in the state of Alabama, thus making the Piqua Sept the first petitioning group to be recognized in 17 years. Enrollment will be considered by the Tribal Council for applicants who can document their Shawnee ancestry. Those applicants who are of American Indian descent other than Shawnee must be descended from a tribe that was known to live with the Shawnee prior to the 1832 removal act. Potential applicants are encouraged to visit so that we may get to know you before any decisions are made regarding enrollment. For further information please contact: Principal Chief: Gary Hunt Piqua Shawnee Tribe 3412 Wellford Circle Birmingham, Alabama 35226 Indian Commission Representative: Don Rankin 3412 Wellford Circle Birmingham, Alabama 35226 Tribal Secretary: Debbie Hurst If you would like to read more about the Shawnee people the following books may help: Shawnee!!, James Howard, Ohio University Press Tecumseh..a Life, John Sugden, Henry Holt The History of Alabama, Albert Pickett (originally pub,1851 reprinted 1962), Birmingham Book and Magazine The Shawnee, Jerry E. Clark, The University of Kentucky Press Tukabatchee, Archaeological lnvestigations at an historic Creek town Elmore County, Alabama 1984, by Vernon James Knight, Jr., The University of Alabama.Hey, I just found an article on webMD, which claimed that obese women get 1 hour of exercise a year, and men get under 4 hours. I thought that sounded a bit ludicrous, and I wanted to get your take on it. Asked by fartgoblinofdoom77-deactivated2 BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Clearly I can stop doing yoga now, as I’m waaaay over that for the whole year already. That’s just impressively ridiculous. It’s almost certainly not based on a study, but if it is, it’s an incredibly biased study just in terms of selection factor. Also in terms of definition of “exercise”. Just the number of people who walk as a major means of transportation or as part of their job disprove that utterly. Holy shit. The dual assumption here – that fat people must not ever exercise, and that exercise means physical activity that has no other purpose and probably conforms to some other arbitrary standards – is not supported by reality in any way, shape or form. It’s like saying poor people never exercise based on the fact that they can’t afford gym memberships, and never mind that many or most working class people spend far more of their time in strenuous physical activity than a rich person who spends an hour at the gym three days a week. This is doubly true because there’s a higher rate of poverty among fat people and, conversely, of being fat among poor people. shakes head, still laugh What bullshit will they come up with next? -MGSKY's Blueprints Vol.1: Metagame & Base Design Just a quick few notes: This project took over 3 weeks to assemble and I will be releasing the portions as I complete the visual aids, hopefuly getting them to look better as well. The written content is all finished and some of these changes have actually been already implemented, so try not to stone me for old news. Also, out of all the Volumes, this is the shortest one, so individuals with tl;dr policy are hosed. Based upon input, I may revise and polish some bits and release the whole thing again with the last volume. Hello! For those of you who don’t know me, I am SKYHEX, a member of The Vindicators outfit operating on Mattherson. I decided to do this project because I see many great ideas or simple tweaks done by this community disappear into the abyss amidst a myriad of complaints about even the smallest of things. Thus, I will be reposting this project on 3 main communication channels for our community: Official Forums, Planetside Universe and /r/planetside. Twitter linking will also be utilized. Now, let’s get to work, there is a lot to cover. Preamble I am creating this project in order to put in my ideas and summarize other people’s suggestions to the development team in hopes to make Planetside 2 successful and enjoyable for many years to come. This project is by no means insisting these changes to be executed exactly as written and that they have to be done immediately, it is for the consideration of the development team and playerbase alike. The format of this project will for now be in written form with as much visual aid as possible from sample pictures from various sources as well as ‘blueprints’ of my own creation. Those blueprints and visual aid are the sole reason for the title of this project, as I don’t lay claim to a vast majority of these ideas. I hope this format will be easy to understand and clear in all of its aspects so that no misrepresentation is possible. Provided enough time and experience with the software, I may make these either into single-image infographics or perhaps even video format for ease of digestion. Main Idea Sources: Official Planetside 2 Forums /r/planetside Planetside Universe Forums Planetside Upgrade Project Youtube content of: Faint, MattiAce, Wrel, And since I frequent PSU, Official Forums and reddit alike, all of you who comment there in detailed paragraphs should consider yourselves contributors in some manner. Table of Contents I. Vol. 1: Metagame & Base Design II. Vol. 2: Factions & Asymmetrical Balance III. Vol. 3: Classes & Equipment IV. Vol. 4: Vehicles & Armaments V. Vol. 5: Resources & Consumables VI. Vol. 6: Monetization & Competitive Scene VII. Vol. 7: HUD & Miscellaneous Vol. 1: Metagame & Base Design 1) Grand Scale Goals 2) Continent Capture and Benefits 3) Overall Base & Outpost Design 4) Spawn Rooms 5) Capture Mechanics 6) Additional Defences & Objectives 7) Facility Benefits Grand Scale Goals Planetside 2 is one of the most unique games in existence and its potential is extreme. It has a solid FPS base, interesting mechanics and astonishing battle size considering the genre. To a common consumer however, it lacks one important aspect: reason to play, to care about decisions beyond simple cert acquisition. Territory control is meaningless as of now, both from game and lore perspective. While lore is much more important for single player games, people in general need to see a goal and subsequent rewards for said goal and a story is one way to drive them. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to entice the populace to prefer playing objectives instead of just grind to progression, which is infinitely more important in games with persistent worlds rather than match-based ones. First option is to utilize the broad developer interaction with players. As in, tracking the worldwide progress of factions and rewarding those with the most territory control by showing exclusive previews or even perhaps releasing faction specific weaponry a day or two earlier, using the game launcher’s splash screen to advertise this. This social method can give the players heavily interested in the gear and game a grand incentive to not just sit and farm. Another option is to use in-game mechanics and rewards of progression as well as lore. The first great step, the alert missions, has already been taken and with player generated missions, the per-continental incentives will increase greatly. However, possession of all territory on all available continents should be much more greatly rewarded, perhaps with a combination of XP, lore fragments, art, collectibles, special decals/other minor cosmetics, achievements or, albeit a bit cheesy, a Vocal Praise from respective announcers that could perhaps even taunt the remaining empires. All and all, you want to get as close to a “You Win” state as possible, without actually having to roll the credits. It is very resource draining and perhaps not as important as other aspects of the game that will be covered, however if you want to achieve a complete, wonderful experience customers will gladly support with their funds, it would be a mistake to overlook this. Continent Capture and Benefits Capturing a continent: Yields the XP incentives akin to what is given with recently added Alerts, while Alerts themselves pertain to more specific tasks such as holding bases for X amount of time, conquering set amount of bases etc. and they do not provide as big of an incentive as a Continental Domination. Of course, it will be better to add this as continental locks are implemented as well, so that it may not be simply exploited for humongous amounts of experience. Continental Benefits: As of now, the incentive to hold a continent is meagre at best, because 10% off of one type of resource that replenishes so quickly is not something players cannot live without. Thus, all continents give 10% decrease to all resources (more on a resource revamp in Volume 5), which stacks up to a maximum of 33%, therefore requiring a control of 4 continents to have such an extreme benefit. Other benefits include a specific resource gain bonus that allows supplying of counter-offensives even if a faction has a very small amount of territory on other continents. More on the resource handling is in Volume 5. Timer-less deployment in any base on a locked continent can also be implemented to incentivise exploration and map knowledge. Overall Base and Outpost design Common Ground: Any facility, big or small, has an onion-like defensive design. From walls and AT turrets near entrances, AI turrets strewn across the courtyard to AA turrets mounted on the buildings at the core of the complex. Thankfully, it seems the PTS has an example. Walls are of course not the only way to secure a base, using terrain is another great idea, which seems to be put to use on Amerish in large quantities. Outposts: While easier to capture even for small squads, it is necessary they maintain a degree of defensibility. Even though they may lack the sheer number of turrets, they should more than enough equate that with the amount of cover. Also, utilizing their position (Vanu Archives, The Crown) or degree of penetration resistance (The Stronghold) will prove as an additional defence mechanism. Towers: To offset their compactness, additional buildings are to be placed around, both for more cover and to house additional objectives (Volume 1, part 6). On the other hand, more access routes are required to allow infiltration, at the moment there is one chokepoint only – the staircase, which now can also be fired at from the safety of the teleport room. Tech Plants: The AA turrets are to be placed along the runway leading to the resupply pad, to obscure them from shelling from the ground. Additional AT and AI turrets may take their place. Amp Stations: The exterior may remain unchanged except for adding AV shields for back entrances, governed by a single generator placed in the conglomerate of buildings near them. Placement of the generator may vary from station to station. Biolabs: Elevators to be placed inside the biodome leading to small platforms protruding through the dome itself with AA and AT turrets emplaced (image pending). Additional buildings around the base of the Biolab, similar to Saurva are also required. Internal reconfiguration will be explained in Capture Mechanics. Spawn Rooms Current design of spawn rooms is less than optimal. It is still, like its previous iteration, a box surrounded by a death zone. The difference is now everything inside the box can be seen and its path predicted in exchange for the inhabitants to actually know where from and what is about to doom them. It is possible to introduce spawning safe from vehicular abuse without constructing spawn fortresses. The Spawn Room is just that, a room that is a part of a bigger building that has 2 or more adjacent buildings right next to it and also leads to an outpost courtyard. Example below. To prevent aerial lockdown of the spawn room, an entrance leading to the roof stairs as well as several shield windows should be placed on the top. The windows are to have these properties: no entity or projectile passes see-through from the inside obscuring the view from the outside
haptic feedback was missing, it didn't feel necessary to have, though perhaps after longer use, we'd pine for it. Alas, the Snapdragon 835 VRDK is not a device anyone but developers can buy. Qualcomm hasn't announced a price for it either, which could be another limiting factor if it's above a certain price point.The Block at Orange, which has been adding a slew of outlet and off-price stores including next year’s opening of Nordstrom Rack, said Tuesday that it has renamed the shopping center to the Outlets at Orange. “With the growing number of outlet brands already open and coming soon to this property, the new name better reflects our vision, which will offer long-term value to the tourism economy and the local market,” Gregg Goodman, president of the Mills, the Simon Property Group subsidiary that owns the Outlets at Orange, said in a statement. More O.C. retail news: The new name has already been reflected in the center’s website. New signs will be going up in the next 60 to 90 days. The outlet and off-price offering at The Outlets at Orange, originally built in 1998, includes Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Neiman Marcus Last Call Store, Calvin Klein, DKNY Company Store, Tommy Hilfiger Company Store, Perry Ellis and Original Penguin. Also, Esprit will open this fall. The Outlets spans about 710,000 square feet. It has been approved by the city to expand up to 105,000 square feet. About 35,000 square feet of that expansion will be occupied by a Nordstrom Rack, which is slated to open in spring 2012. The Outlets is also making it easier to get into the center. Currently, as drivers heading west on the 22 Freeway take The City Drive exit, they can only turn left or right on Metropolitan Drive. Now that a short road is paved, they will have the option to go straight as well to make it much more accessible to get into the center. The new road will be called Designer Drive and will be open within the next few weeks. Also, renovated restrooms at The Outlets will be completed by 2012. Follow OC Retail blog on Facebook to get other retail news and events. More O.C. retail news:Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling know their time-travel cult movie is hard to decipher. As Sound of My Voice’s co-writers, they intentionally crafted a story that’s like a jigsaw puzzle of modern art — full of odd-shaped pieces and open to interpretation. “The film is designed like a calculus proof, very carefully,” director Batmanglij said in an interview with Wired. “That X factor, that N — what the value of that N is, you just have to trust your instinct at the end of the experience.” What he means is that the film gives you the equation and some numbers, but a few key scenes in Sound of My Voice remain open to analysis. Any given audience member can solve the problem differently based on what they determine the values of those Xs to be. (Spoiler alert: Minor plot points follow.) Take, for example, Maggie — the cult leader, hauntingly played by Marling, who claims to have come from the year 2054 to inform people about their impending future. Lorna (played by Nicole Vicius) and her boyfriend Peter (Christopher Denham) have been trying to expose Maggie in a documentary. When Lorna is shown a photo of the enigmatic leader wearing what appears to be a costume outside Grauman’s Chinese Theater, her reaction indicates that she sees the picture as proof that Maggie is a fraud. But the scene could also mean Maggie once owned a crazy dress and walked down Hollywood Boulevard. “Is that photo offering concrete proof that Maggie is definitely not from the future because she was Cinderella in front of the Chinese Theater, or did she really arrive here and begin as a street urchin and work her way up to Cinderella?” Marling said to Wired. “We tried to craft it so that each seed could be interpreted multiple ways.” So, is there one definitive ending? What about one right way to interpret any particular scene? Um, maybe? To find out, Wired got on the phone with the film’s director and star to try to crack the code of Sound of My Voice. Along the way, we got their thoughts on the possibilities of time travel, cults named after IP addresses, and what’s going on with their upcoming anarchist infiltration film, The East. Wired: There seem to be clues in the film that are meant to reveal the truth or lead you away from it. Was that intentional? In a way you could prove any ending of this film was the “real” ending, right? Marling: I think that we tried to — and I hope this worked — we tried to have everything offer or inspire multiple interpretations. We tried to craft it so that each seed could be interpreted multiple ways and that you’re constantly, as the audience, with Peter, sort of pushed back and forth between whether or not she is or isn’t extraordinary. Wired: This film seems to deal with trust on a lot of different levels. Batmanglij: Trust is fascinating because in so many ways the movie is kind of cynical about it. Because it kind of suggests you shouldn’t trust anyone. But yet in other ways the film asks you to trust — especially in its ending, it asks you to just trust [it] in general. Marling: Or trust yourself and your interpretation. It’s true of Peter and true of the audience. In the end, it’s about the audience trusting themselves and their interpretation of the events. Batmanglij: Either way, you have to trust what your instincts, your gut, tells you happened. “A lot of things that began as science fiction are now science. Wild ideas of fiction writers in the ’70s about what technology might be able to do, it now does.” Wired: Is there a right answer to what actually happens in the end? Batmanglij: Yes. I think the right answer is that if it’s Peter’s story, you have to follow Peter’s journey. And for Peter, I think there’s a change. There’s an excavation of who he really is. For the audience, I don’t think they get any such luxury. That’s true in real life. At the end, the movie’s about faith and you don’t get that luxury with faith either. Faith requires a leap, otherwise it just becomes science. Wired: Which is interesting, because some people probably think of cults as being anti-science, but Maggie’s cult is built around a time-traveler and they do things like engineer their own food. Were you trying to juxtapose faith and science with this? Batmanglij: Yes, and it’s only science fiction if time-travel is possible [in the film]. But if it is possible, then it’s science fact. It gets kind of funny, because if time travel is [actually] possible … Marling: Then the movie isn’t science fiction. Batmanglij: Then the movie isn’t science fiction. Well, it is, because we know time travel isn’t possible. Marling: Yeah, but do we? That’s the weird thing about science fiction is that what we consider science is always being revised. Science is our best guess as to what’s going on right now, but there’s no question that human perception is pretty limited. A lot of things that began as science fiction are now science. Wild ideas of fiction writers in the ’70s about what technology might be able to do, it now does. So, I don’t know, is time travel possible? Maybe. I like to think that it might be. It certainly was a fun exercise for us to daydream about what it might be like if there really was a time traveler in the practical sense — things like time-travel jet lag. “In the original outline, the group was known only by their IP address.” Wired: And that brings it back to faith. A lot of what is now scientific fact started out as a theory taken on faith that someone went out and proved. Marling: That’s such a nice way to say it. And so many of those ideas and theories have begun with people saying that: “You’re crazy.” It’s a lot like what people said to us when we said we were going to try to make this movie with very little money. The crazy people are interesting. Wired: And that explains why people want to follow Maggie, right? Batmanglij: We thought that if there was a time-traveler — especially one that never leaves a basement because she’s dying from her time-travel to get here, according to her — a cult would naturally just spring up around her. Wired: At what point did you guys know Brit would play Maggie, and how did that influence your writing of that character? Marling: I had always wanted to play Maggie. Even in the early writing phases, she was really unclear to us and I think because it’s sort of intimidating to think that you need to write a charismatic cult leader. How is she able to hold the attention of this group so deeply that they are giving their blood to her? [Eds. note: This actually happens in the film.] The moment that broke her open for us was the scene where she really puts Peter under pressure and sort of cracks him. Something about that moment helped us understand her as someone who, despite all her flaws and weaknesses, does have a very acute perception for seeing people, and seeing clearly and being able to articulate to someone the thing that makes them tick and maybe some kind of center that they have avoided or have been looking for. Maggie is able to expose that in a way that is both terrifying and compelling. And the sense of release that comes with that is what Lorna calls an “emotional orgasm.” Wired: Brit, did you write toward something that you wanted to act out one day? Marling: I think that we’re always interested in writing the sort of female characters that we don’t see that often in cinema. That is something that Zal and I talk about a lot and are really attracted to — this idea of women acting with agency and not being passive and not being these thin characters that are just The Girlfriend or The Wife or The Daughter. I think Maggie was exciting in that way. I always like to do the thing that I’m a bit afraid of, and I think that I was afraid of Maggie and whether or not I could … Batmanglij: Pull it off. We knew Brit was going to play Maggie and I think that that’s why it was hard for us to figure Maggie out for a while. By the end of the script, we had written someone who vacillates quite suddenly but quite masterfully between uncanny empathy and viciousness. “I think that we’re always interested in writing the sort of female characters that we don’t see that often in cinema.” Wired: The cult doesn’t have a name in the film. Did you ever try to think of one? Batmanglij: Yes. In the original outline that we ever wrote for this project, the group was known only by their IP address. Wired: The IP address of who or what? Batmanglij: I guess Klaus’s computer. It was like 172.19 … Marling: 195.45.3 … Something like that [laughs]. Wired: Why an IP address? Batmanglij: Peter had been looking for a group to join to debunk it and he had stumbled upon this group on the internet. It’s unclear, and Lorna asks him this in an early draft: “Wait, did we get in touch with the group or did the group get in touch with us?” Marling: Did they find Peter in a chat room or did Peter find them? It’s hard to say in the internet. Wired: So the two of you just finished filming your latest collaboration, The East, in December. The only details out there are that it’s about a contract worker who infiltrates an anarchist group. Is it going to be as much of a mind-bender as Sound of My Voice? Batmanglij: Do you want to go see this movie? It would be no fun if you knew all the twists and turns. It’ll be more fun if you go into it blind. – – – Sound of My Voice opened in New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles last week and expands into more cities Friday.By Michael Snyder, End of the American Dream. If you want to see war without end, vote for Hillary Clinton. It is tremendously ironic that Hillary Clinton and the mainstream media have attempted to portray Donald Trump as “dangerous” and “temperamental”, because it is Clinton that actually has a long history of being emotionally unstable. She has a temper that is absolutely legendary, and she has been cussing out the men and women in her security detail for decades. Hillary Clinton played a key role in starting the civil war in Syria, thanks to her Libya is a post-apocalyptic wasteland today, and now she is picking a fight with the Russians before she has even won the election. Of all the candidates there were running for president this election cycle, there was nobody that was even close to as dangerous as Hillary Clinton, and if she wins the election I am fully convinced that World War 3 will begin before her time in the White House is over. Someone that shares this opinion with me is Donald Trump. According to Reuters, Trump recently stated that we are “going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton”… On Syria’s civil war, Trump said Clinton could drag the United States into a world war with a more aggressive posture toward resolving the conflict. Clinton has called for the establishment of a no-fly zone and “safe zones” on the ground to protect non-combatants. Some analysts fear that protecting those zones could bring the United States into direct conflict with Russian fighter jets. “What we should do is focus on ISIS. We should not be focusing on Syria,” said Trump as he dined on fried eggs and sausage at his Trump National Doral golf resort. “You’re going to end up in World War Three over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton.” In order to have a no-fly zone in Syria, you would have to enforce it. And in order to enforce it, you would have to be willing to shoot at the Russians. According to National Intelligence Director James Clapper, that could have dire consequences… Russia could shoot down a U.S. aircraft if a no-fly zone were imposed over Syria, National Intelligence Director James Clapper said Tuesday. “I wouldn’t put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft if they felt that was threatening to their forces on the ground,” Clapper said, speaking with CBS’ Charlie Rose at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York about several national security issues. Of course Clapper is not alone in that assessment. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Francis Dunford, says that imposing a no-fly zone over all of Syria “would require us to go to war”… “Right now, Senator, for us to control all of the airspace in Syria it would require us to go to war, against Syria and Russia,… That’s a pretty fundamental decision that certainly I’m not going to make.” (Senate Armed Services Committee, September 22, 2016, emphasis added) But Hillary Clinton is unwavering in her position that this is what she wants. You see, the truth is that Hillary Clinton wants to win the war that she started in Syria. Back in 2011, she spearheaded an effort along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey to try to use the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East as an opportunity to try to overthrow President Assad in Syria. If it wasn’t for her meddling, millions of refugees would not be pouring into Europe and elsewhere, and there would be no “humanitarian crisis” in Syria at all. Thanks to Russian intervention, the war in Syria is not too far from being over, but the Obama administration is desperate to keep it going. They understand that if Assad is victorious that all of their efforts for the last five years have been wasted, and that is why they are so determined to keep Aleppo from falling. Without Aleppo, many of the jihadist rebels that the Obama administration has been supporting won’t have anywhere to hide. So the Obama administration has actually been considering direct strikes against the Syrian military, and the Russians have already said that they will not allow this to happen. If Obama is insane enough to order airstrikes against Syrian forces and the Russians start shooting back, that could set off a chain of events that could rapidly spiral completely out of control. One recent survey found that current American leadership has a 1 percent approval rating in Russia right now, and the Russians dislike Hillary Clinton even more than they dislike Barack Obama. The Russians know that if Hillary Clinton is elected that it is quite likely that they will have to fight a war with us, and that is why they desperately want Donald Trump to win in November. You can see this outlook reflected in comments that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently made about the two candidates… “Mrs. Clinton has chosen to take up a very aggressive stance against our country, against Russia. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, calls for cooperation – at least when it comes to the international fight against terrorism,” Putin said. “Naturally we welcome those who would like to cooperate with us. And we consider it wrong, that we always have to be in conflict with one another, creating existential threats for each other and for the whole world,” Putin noted. Anyone that watched the three presidential debates could see that Hillary Clinton is absolutely seething with animosity for Russia. The thought of her finger on the nuclear trigger is almost too terrible to contemplate, but it may soon become a reality. And even now, the Obama administration and our NATO allies are shifting forces into position for a confrontation with Moscow. This week it is being reported that NATO troops will soon be sent to Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania… Nine hundred US troops are to be sent to eastern Europe next year as America’s troubled relationship with Russia enters new, uncertain territory. A US-led battle group of NATO allied soldiers will be sent to Poland as part of the multi-nation operation. British forces will lead one of the four battle groups in Estonia, Canada will spearhead the presence in Latvia and Germany will be present in Lithuania. In addition, Infowars is reporting that U.S. Marines will soon be stationed in Norway near the border with Russia… After accepting a Pentagon proposal, Norway will host US Marines at a base near the Russian border as Russia deploys nuclear-capable ships to Kaliningrad. A rotating force of approximately 330 Marines will be stationed at an airfield in the city of Vaernes, just outside Trondheim, beginning in January. Norway and Russia share an 122-mile border in the Arctic. “The US initiative to augment their training and exercises in Norway by locating a Marine Corps Rotational Force in Norway is highly welcome and will have positive implications for our already strong bilateral relationship,” said Norwegian Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide. Most Americans aren’t aware of any of this, nor do they really care about our relationship with Russia. But in Russia things are completely different. The possibility of war with the United States is the biggest news story over there these days, and feverish preparations are being made for a potential nuclear confrontation… Russian authorities have stepped up nuclear-war survival measures amid a showdown with Washington, dusting off Soviet-era civil-defense plans and upgrading bomb shelters in the biggest cities. At the Kremlin’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Cold War is back. The country recently held its biggest civil defense drills since the collapse of the U.S.S.R., with what officials said were 40 million people rehearsing a response to chemical and nuclear threats. I know that I have been writing about this over and over, but the truth is that we are on a path to war with Russia, and the election of Hillary Clinton would greatly accelerate the march toward war.The Build Process These days JavaScript is overloaded with tooling (we’re even guilty of throwing our hat into the ring with pliers), but remembering this is a “simple” website, I’m going to steer clear of any build tool in this article, and I would suggest you do too. As an aside, I’m not just leaving build tools out of this article because they’re overkill for this small demo, I take this approach on any project I’m getting started with. My method with most software is to ignore it, try to get by without it, and only to reach for it if I identify a specific problem that it can solve well. If your build process becomes unwieldy, a tool like grunt, gulp or pliers can help to organise things. But equally (especially with grunt and gulp) their configuration and setup can be equally unwieldy, and significantly bewildering. Replace the scripts section of your package.json with the following: { "build-css": "stylus source/stylesheets/index.styl -o static/css", "watch-css": "stylus source/stylesheets/index.styl -o static/css -w", "clean": "rm -rf static/css && mkdir -p static/css", "build": "npm run clean && npm run build-css", "watch": "npm run clean && npm run watch-css & nodemon server -e js,jade", "start": "node server" } Note: if you’re on Windows, the clean task needs to use different path separators… rm -rf static\\css && mkdir -p static\\css Thanks to Timothy Trowbridge for pointing this out. I’ll explain each command in detail. The reason to put them in the package.json ; is simply to give them aliases. The benefits are three-fold: npm allows you to use locally installed modules without typing node_modules/.bin ; you don’t have to remember how to type the entire command each time; and it means that you can freely change the contents of the command (you could, for example, change the build-css command to use Sass instead of Stylus, and nobody else on your team would need to know – they continue building their css blissfully unaware). Running commands is simple: npm run <name> npm run build-css – this uses the Stylus CLI to compile the index.styl stylesheet to css, and place it in the static/css directory – this uses the Stylus CLI to compile the index.styl stylesheet to css, and place it in the static/css directory npm run watch-css – this is exactly the same as the previous command, except that it will continue running until manually stopped, compiling the stylesheet any time the source files are change. This task essentially supersedes the stylus middleware I mentioned earlier. – this is exactly the same as the previous command, except that it will continue running until manually stopped, compiling the stylesheet any time the source files are change. This task essentially supersedes the stylus middleware I mentioned earlier. npm run clean – this removes any built files (currently only css, but it might later include browserify-ed JS) and creates any required directories. – this removes any built files (currently only css, but it might later include browserify-ed JS) and creates any required directories. npm run build – this does everything required for the server to run correctly, which is just to run the clean and build-css commands – this does everything required for the server to run correctly, which is just to run the clean and build-css commands npm run watch – this is the command that is most useful in development. It will watch the entire project for changes and recompile assets or restart the server accordingly. – this is the command that is most useful in development. It will watch the entire project for changes and recompile assets or restart the server accordingly. npm run start – this simply starts the server and does no watching at all. There was one additional dependency introduced here – nodemon. It does a great job at watching files and restarting on change, so install it like so:TRENTON -- There's one position Gov. Chris Christie can reportedly cross off the list of potential new jobs when he leaves office in January: taking over Mike Francesa's sports-talk radio show. The Daily News reports sources saying Christie has been axed as a contender for Francesa's time slot on the New York City sports-talk radio station WFAN 660-AM. Jaime Saberito, a spokesperson for WFAN, told NJ Advance Media that the station "has not yet made a decision regarding a new afternoon host, so we cannot confirm the accuracy of the Daily News report." Brian Murray, a spokesman for Christie's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Full recap of Christie's (failed?) bid for WFAN job The two-term New Jersey governor auditioned for Francesa's job over two days in July when the iconic host was on vacation. Francesa is sheduled to leave the station at the end of the year. On his first day of auditions, Christie took heat from caller Michael Goldstein, a frequent FAN caller known as "Mike from Montclair," who bashed the brash governor for sitting on the beach at Island Beach State Park over the Fourth of July weekend when he had closed other state-owned facilities - including that park - to the public. Christie called Goldstein a "communist" and a "bum." The governor is a frequent guest host on the station's "Boomer & Carton" morning show. It's unclear is Christie would still be considered for another slot on the station. NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report. MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Cable operator Comcast has settled with California authorities and agreed to pay $33 million for accidentally publishing the names, phone numbers and addresses of about 75,000 people who paid to keep the information private.Of the total, $25 million will go to state agencies. Each customer affected will receive $100.About $432,000 more will go to about 200 law enforcement officers, judges and domestic abuse victims who said they faced safety concerns because of the leak, which occurred from 2010 to 2012.California's Attorney General Kamala Harris called the leak a "troubling breach of privacy.""Violations of consumers' privacy will result in significant penalties," she said Thursday in a statement announcing the settlement.Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. apologized and applauded the settlement.The breach occurred when a system upgrade failed to mark listings data of customers who paid as much as $1.50 a month to keep their information private on top of what they paid Comcast for Internet-based phone service.The data was published online and in phone books after it was sold through a listings data licensing company. In 2013, Comcast refunded about $2.5 million to customers, covering the period their information was inadvertently made public. Cable operator Comcast has settled with California authorities and agreed to pay $33 million for accidentally publishing the names, phone numbers and addresses of about 75,000 people who paid to keep the information private. Of the total, $25 million will go to state agencies. Each customer affected will receive $100. Advertisement About $432,000 more will go to about 200 law enforcement officers, judges and domestic abuse victims who said they faced safety concerns because of the leak, which occurred from 2010 to 2012. California's Attorney General Kamala Harris called the leak a "troubling breach of privacy." "Violations of consumers' privacy will result in significant penalties," she said Thursday in a statement announcing the settlement. Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp. apologized and applauded the settlement. The breach occurred when a system upgrade failed to mark listings data of customers who paid as much as $1.50 a month to keep their information private on top of what they paid Comcast for Internet-based phone service. The data was published online and in phone books after it was sold through a listings data licensing company. In 2013, Comcast refunded about $2.5 million to customers, covering the period their information was inadvertently made public. AlertMeCharles C. Johnson, the groundbreaking journalist behind GotNews.com, has gone public on Facebook with a powerful story that he chose not to publish years ago – and the story adds more weight to the pedophile ring being uncovered by PizzaGate researchers. Johnson’s story centers around Ryan Loskarn, the former chief of staff of a powerful U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn). Johnson was told about a gay pedophile ring in Washington, D.C. – and Loskarn was caught and arrested for his involvement. “Time to tell you about a story I didn’t publish. In 2012 I was told about a gay pedophile ring in DC involving a chief of staff of a powerful Republican. The story seemed far fetched and I dismissed it. Turns out this was who my source was talking about: Ryan Loskarn, the chief of staff of Senator Lamar Alexander. Loskarn ultimately took his own life. Michael Cernovich is absolutely right to focus on pedophilia in DC. It’s real. #pizzagate,” Johnson wrote on Facebook. Loskarn, arrested for possession of child pornography, is reported to have committed suicide in 2014. However, before taking his own life – and whether he took his own life or was “suicided” by members of the pedophile ring is debatable (as ex-CIA director William Colby told John Decamp, “if it’s done good enough you can’t prove it was a murder or track the perpetrators who did it”) – Loskarn admitted to being abused as a child. The note in which Loskarn claimed that he was sexually abused as a child was posted online by his family members. “I found myself drawn to videos that matched my own childhood abuse,” the note said, on JesseRyanLoskarnsLastMessage.com. “I pictured myself as a child in the image or video. The more an image mirrored some element of my memories and took me back, the more I felt a connection.” Loskarn admitted in his suicide note that what he revealed is his “deepest, darkest secret.” “The first time I saw child pornography was during a search for music on a peer-to-peer network. I wasn’t seeking it but I didn’t turn away when I saw it. Until that moment, the only place I’d seen these sorts of images was in my mind.” Loskarn, wrote. “They’re the first thing I see when I wake and the last thing I think about before falling asleep. I am not in control of anything anymore, not even my own memories. It’s terrifying.” Loskarn continues, “In my mind I instigated and enjoyed the abuse – even as a five and nine year old – no matter the age difference. Discussing what had happened would have meant shame and blame.” The odd thing about this note is that, toward the end, it says: “as I begin the process of trying to sort this out and fix myself” and in the end he begins apologizing ending with: “and last, to the children in the images: I should have known better. I perpetuated your abuse and that will be a burden on my soul for the rest of my life.” It appears throughout the note that Loskarn was caught up in a struggle as to whether to end his life or not. He either eventually decided to take his life or was killed, like many before him, to keep this dirty, dark secret of others in the D.C. pedophile ring hidden.I’ve been thinking lately about the great experiences I had in life. I thought about what has made me feel happy, represented a significant challenge, kept me out of my comfort zone and was rewarding... in few words, made me feel alive! I came up with four life experiences: Being a dad, an entrepreneur, a freelancer and a race car driver. Fatherhood is by far my biggest accomplishment in life, yet I’ll be focusing on the other three in this post. I found out that starting a business from scratch, getting to the marketplace on my own and driving a race car as fast as I can, share several aspects. Everything starts with a dream. To be my own boss, to have my company offering stock at the NYSE or to race in Formula 1 are big dreams. Ultimately, I cannot be frustrated if I don’t achieve them, because the gold is in the process. And this happens because of the passion I feel, which takes me through the ups and downs. As freelancers, entrepreneurs and racers we are passionate about what we do, and that sets us free. Yet dreams require a vision, laying a path way for us to follow. We look ahead and then don’t think much about it. While going forward, we decide to get out of our comfort zone and assume risks (some of which are calculated). Of course, there are dangers, particularly when we push our limits. In this process, we make mistakes from which we are supposed to learn. These are usually discouraging, but we consider ourselves resilient people and we try to get back on our feet and face adversity. Yet we need to be self-confident, to get out there another day, another race and give it our best shot. Oh, yes... and we are stubborn. If we look at this from a business perspective, there are remarkable aspects in common. We live on a budget (from race to race, gig to gig, or round to round or sale to sale). To be able to actually get this budget, we need to develop our own personal brand, work proactively in sales and generate credibility. We all need to work on the financial aspects of what we do and in deciding where and how we invest our budgets. Should I buy a new set of tyres or a complete engine rebuild? Should I hire a new sales person or invest in online ads? Should I go on holiday or attend a convention? Decisions everywhere! But most important of all, we need to work on ourselves and learn to live with our mind. It’s imperative that we develop nerve management skills while performing at our best. I’ve found that this requires a mix of concentration and enthusiasm. Concentration to keep us focused and enthusiasm to keep us going. I’d say that enthusiasm is a source of strength. Metaphorically, we try to avoid skidding on fast corners while taking risks and pushing our limits. Yet, risks are an accepted part of the job. So the big question would be how can I be at the top of my form, develop the best work I can or make my ideas become a reality without ruining it? I found the answer in a racing book while wondering about the fine art of winning races (who would have thought I’d find it there!). Let’s imagine this race. You start about half way up in the grid because you didn’t qualify that good. You are angry with yourself. You can’t let go because you know the tremendous effort that required simply to start up the car at the track (both economical, logistical and technical). You have a team behind you who worked long hours in providing you with the best possible car, given the budget. Your sponsors have high expectations on you as well... you have the will to drive fast and bring the car home in one piece. Red lights out! Pedal to the metal! 8,000 RPM. Second gear! Your start was brilliant! Your are now at the top 5. Lap after lap you pass the cars in front of you one at a time with flawless manoeuvres. Mid-race, you run in first. And then… your mind kicks in. You start listening to every small noise your car makes. You start worrying about overheating the brakes. You miss a gear change... Soon you start blocking your tires under braking. Small mistakes make you slower. The car running behind you gets nearer and nearer. After a couple of laps, he is tailing you. How on earth do you manage your mind at full speed, drive fast and avoid mistakes? How do you win that race, given the conditions? How do you nail that big gig that you need so much? How do you convince that investor that has shown some interest in your company? The answer I found goes like this: “Delete your expectations. Focus on your possibilities” In other words, stop thinking about winning the race. Focus on the next braking point. After that, focus on making the ideal line through the corner and maximizing your speed at the following straight. Then focus on the next braking point... well... you got it. When we limit our mind tricks, we can focus on the job at hand. This not only has a calming effect, but actually helps us get things done. Eventually, we’ll get to the podium. These words have become a mantra in my life. As an entrepreneur, I have found their deep meaning and felt them “in the skin”. Great days when I feel I can touch the sky with my hands are followed by days full of questions. “Why I am doing this” or “How am I going to solve this situation I can barely understand” are just a sample of how my mind assaults my self-confidence in those days. To keep going and focusing is hard, because enthusiasm has mysteriously vanished... and with it, strength. But then something magical happens. A small issue I am perfectly capable of solving appears. I say to myself that it isn’t much work and that I can do it. So I start and all of a sudden, I realize I have been working quite hard (and in peace!) for some time. I only did something which I thought wasn’t that important, but somehow that started me up again and enthusiasm returned almost silently. I then breathe and continue with the next issue. And after it, on to the next one. I believe that doubts appear when we start questioning our expectations. I find expectations very important when we define our vision and as a general direction for our efforts. But that’s about it. Our ability to be flexible in how we reach that direction is defined only by the actions we take. So keeping ourselves focused on what we can do brings peace of mind and performance. So, how about you? How do you deal with your expectations? Nicolas Reyes is an entrepreneur, race enthusiast and occasional writer. A former business consultant, he is the founder of Cloudlance.co, company that provides services to the freelancers and independent professionals of the world and of Digirodeo.com.He’s the best there is at what he does – and now he can be yours on a budget! Today, Marvel is pleased to present a new line of ten Wolverine themed TRUE BELIEVERS titles – coming this February! Celebrate the legacy of Wolverine and his protégé X-23 with specially priced introductory issues, available only at your local comic shops! Printing some of the most iconic Wolverine and X-23 stories of all time for the suggested retail price of $1 – TRUE BELIEVERS are the perfect way for readers to get caught up with Laura and Logan! Your window into Wolverine only costs a buck! Whether it’s your first time reading these memorable tales or your hundredth – you won’t want to miss one moment of the claw slicing action! Ten unforgettable stories – priced at $1 each! Be there when these exciting TRUE BELIEVERS issues come to comic shops throughout the month of
sophomore campaign. She already has more than 800 points in her career and posted a career-high 28 points twice this season. The Germantown, Wisconsin, native has recorded five 20-plus point performances this season, including a double-double against Kansas City (Nov. 22). Higginbotham tallied a game-high 25 points and four 3-pointers in Western Illinois' win over South Dakota at home to clinch the outright regular season league title. She also ranks third in The Summit League with 2.0 steals per game and eighth with 14.6 points per contest. Higginbotham is also a former Summit League 'Player of the Week' selection (Jan. 9) and was named to the NCAA Women's Basketball Starting Five (Jan. 11).Braun joins Blumer as a member of The Summit League All-Newcomer Team. She emerged as a post presence for the Leathernecks and across The Summit League, averaging a league-leading 2.9 blocks per contest. The junior forward recorded a career-high nine blocks in Western Illinois' overtime win over Oral Roberts (Jan. 7), which ranked second all-time in program history for blocks in a single game behind Teilane's 10 (twice). Braun totaled four games of five or more blocks. The junior transfer from Racine, Wis. also posted a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds in WIU's second win over Oral Roberts on the road.The quintet lead No. 1 seeded Western Illinois in the quarterfinals of The Summit League Championship with Saturday's (March 4) noon tip against eighth-seeded Denver in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.Allison Arens, South Dakota, Western Illinois, Western IllinoisMadison Guebert, South Dakota StateDanielle Lawrence, IUPUIKerri Young, South Dakota State, Western IllinoisFaith Ihim, Oral RobertsMikale Rogers, IUPUIMikaela Shaw, OmahaEllie Thompson, South Dakota StateMichaela Dapprich, OmahaAbigail Fogg, South DakotaSydney Hall, IUPUIMaria Martianez, Oral RobertsClarissa Ober, South Dakota State, Western Illinois, Western IllinoisMichaela Dapprich, OmahaCiara Duffy, South DakotaSarah Jacobson, North Dakota State, Western IllinoisClarissa Ober, South Dakota StateMadison McKeever, South Dakota, Western IllinoisCiara Duffy, South Dakota, Western IllinoisAn artist's impression of the Mars probe including lander and rover. Provided to China Daily China is on track to launch its first Mars probe around 2020, with the plan to retrieve soil and rock samples before 2030, according to the mission's chief designer, Zhang Rongqiao. The nation aims to be the first to conduct orbital and surface explorations of Mars in a single mission, Zhang said on Wednesday at an international forum on lunar and deep-space exploration in Beijing. The probe will consist of three parts — an orbiter, lander and rover — and will include 13 pieces of test equipment, seven on the orbiter and six on the rover. Zhang said the orbiter and the rover will collect data on the Red Planet's atmosphere, electromagnetic fields, temperatures and landscape, among other things, while the rover will also be used to test equipment for sample-retrieval missions between 2025 and 2030, he added. "Chinese scientists are doing preliminary research now to anticipate the data that will be collected from Mars, so we can publish our reports faster," Zhang said. He added that the Mars mission is "going smoothly and all according to plan" despite the failure of the Long March 5 carrier rocket launch in July. China also has plans to send probes to Jupiter in 2036 and Uranus in 2046, he said. Russia, India and the United States have all had probes orbit Mars, but only the US has successfully landed a rover and carried out surface missions.Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window) Click to share on Flipboard (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) When Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 was over, most drivers went out to dinner, attended Conor Daly’s post-race party – or just plain chilled out and relaxed. But not Bryan Clauson. Clauson put together his own version of “the double” Sunday, starting his day at Indy and finishing it not 600 miles away for NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 – but rather with an evening sprint car race about 60 miles away in Kokomo, Indiana. Wow @BryanClauson what a day! Has anyone else EVER raced Indy 500 then won a sprint car race that night??? #spectacular — Brad Doty (@braddoty18) May 30, 2016 It was indeed a heck of a day and evening for Clauson. First, he led the 500 for the first time in three career starts there, having the 32 other drivers in the field chasing him for three laps. Next, Clauson finally finished his first 500 in the No. 88 Cancer Treatment Centers of America Honda for Dale Coyne/Jonathan Byrd’s Racing, amassing 198 laps in the 200-lap event. That was a significant improvement than his first two starts in 2012 (completed just 46 laps) and 2015 (completed 61 laps). From the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Kokomo Speedway… #IndianaDouble pic.twitter.com/HUcF1S4FWs — Bryan Clauson Racing (@BryanClausonInc) May 29, 2016 BC finished 23rd in the 100th running of the #Indy500! Now he's getting ready to race his sprint car @kokomospeedway! #IndianaDouble — Bryan Clauson Racing (@BryanClausonInc) May 29, 2016 Here's another fun fact for you: Before yesterday only 215 drivers had led a lap at the Indy 500… And BC added his name to that list! — Bryan Clauson Racing (@BryanClausonInc) May 31, 2016 Fun Fact: Only 763 drivers have raced in the Indianapolis 500! — Bryan Clauson Racing (@BryanClausonInc) May 31, 2016 Running 500 miles at Indy didn’t leave Clauson too worse for the wear: he went out and won just a few hours later that evening at Kokomo! BC wins! Parked it at Kokomo! pic.twitter.com/eQUr1Z6FEh — Bryan Clauson Racing (@BryanClausonInc) May 30, 2016 As he was leaving IMS, Clauson, a native of Noblesville, Indiana – about halfway between Indy and Kokomo – stopped quick enough to tweet out his reaction to his finish at Indy. Happy w/ our effort today! Had an ill timed yellow late that trapped us a lap down…Was pretty cool to lead a few laps! Now off to Kokomo! — Bryan Clauson (@BryanClauson) May 29, 2016 And then with that, the 26-year-old Clauson was back on the road up to Kokomo Speedway. Parked it @kokomospeedway!!! Man what a day! — Bryan Clauson (@BryanClauson) May 30, 2016 Racing at Indy and Kokomo was just a warm-up act for Clauson, who is kicking off a stint of 40 races in 34 days, as part of Clauson and Byrd Racing’s “Chasing 200” tour. Tonight kicks off Indiana Midget Week and 40 races in the next 34 days… Circular Insanity hits full swing this month #Chasing200 — Bryan Clauson (@BryanClauson) May 31, 2016 Of course he and fiancee Lauren also had a banquet to attend on Monday night. Follow @JerryBonkowskiNikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday that President Donald Trump has not blocked her from attacking Russia, even as he continues to assail U.S. news media for its reporting on congressional and legal investigations into whether his aides colluded with Russian officials to help him win the election. "The president has not once called me and said, 'Don't beat up on Russia' — has not once called me and told me what to say," Haley told ABC News. "I am beating up on Russia." Haley said Russia's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula was wrong, as well Moscow's continuing involvement supporting pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine battling Kyiv's forces. "When they do something wrong," she said, "I have no trouble calling them out. The president has not disagreed with me" holding Russia "accountable." Asked whether Trump needs to be "beating up on Russia" as well, Haley responded, "Well, of course. He's got a lot of things he's doing, but he is not stopping me from beating up on Russia." "The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea," Haley said. She added that "Crimea-related sanctions" levied against Russia will continue to "remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine." The U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Moscow, on orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin, meddled in last year's presidential election in an effort to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state. Haley told ABC that "certainly, I think Russia was involved in the election. There's no question about that." She added, "We don't want any country involved in our elections, ever. We need to be very strong on that." The top U.S. investigative agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is probing whether Trump aides criminally colluded with Russian officials to boost Trump's election chances. In addition, intelligence committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives are conducting their own investigations of Russian interference in the election. Trump only reluctantly accepted the intelligence community's finding about Russian meddling in the election, but he frequently has disparaged news accounts about the ongoing probes. On Saturday, on his Twitter account, Trump said, "It is the same Fake News Media that said there is 'no path to victory for Trump' that is now pushing the phony Russia story. A total scam!"Disney World’s Fastpass+ system is an ever evolving one. Some things get added, some things get removed. Some parks have “Tiers,” while others don’t. An upcoming change to Fastpass+ will affect some popular meet and greets and future attractions. Beginning May 27, 2016 both the Anna & Elsa meet and greet and the Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel meet at the Magic Kingdom cease to offer FP+ as selections. What does this mean? I believe it means that Disney World is targeting May 27, 2016 as the date that Anna and Elsa could move to Epcot’s new Royal Summerhus meet area. Some believe Princess Fairytale Hall will likely go back to offering meets with Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and Aurora in some combination. Another change that takes place on May 27, 2016 is moving Mission: Space back to Tier 2 status. Mission: Space was Tier 2 before Soarin’ went down for refurbishment, adding a third screen. One friend has told me that Epcot is actually considering re-opening Soarin’ with the old film in late May, then switching it over to the new Soarin’ over the World when Shanghai Disney opens in mid-June. Disney World and Disneyland likely won’t begin showing Soarin’ Over the World until Shanghai presents it first. I expect NORWAY to open with the park. Disney World has to know how insanely popular these attractions will be and open them with the park. Creating 2 hour lines before the attractions open would be creating a disaster of Guest Services complaints. I also expect the Anna/Elsa meet in Epcot and the new Frozen Ever After ride at Epcot to become Tier 1 FP+ attractions, which means you’ll either need to wait in some long lines, stay until closing or visit Epcot 2 times on your visit. Here’s how I would plan my FP+, if these attractions join Tier 1. Day one: Tier 1: Meet Anna/Elsa and try to book early Tier 2: Spaceship Earth & Meet Mickey Day two: tier 1: Soarin’ tier 2: Journey & Seas On day one I would arrive before park open day one and head straight for Frozen Ever After ride and use FP+ for Anna/Elsa then spend some time walking about. Day one would be a good time to use my Princess touring plan on Character Locator from 11am onward. On day two I would arrive before park opening and head straight for Test Track, then Mission: Space. I would plan my Soarin’ FP+ for 10:00am range. You’ll either wait in longer lines for Joy & Sadness and Baymax (separate lines and NO Fastpass+) or you’ll meet them near the end of the day. All this is just a scenario at this point, but I’ll make sure my Character Locator Touring Plans accommodate all the best attractions. It does appear that Epcot will move back to a 2 day park with Magic Kingdom being 2 or 3 days, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom will be single day parks.Jason Daniel Earles (born April 26, 1977)[1] is an American actor, comedian, and martial artist, known for his role as Jackson Stewart in the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana and his role as Rudy Gillespie in the Disney XD series Kickin' It. Early life Earles was born in San Diego, California.[2] After living in Ohio and Washington state, his family moved to Oregon.[2] In Oregon, he graduated from Glencoe High School in Hillsboro.[3] Before moving to southern California, Earles lived in Billings, Montana, where he graduated from Rocky Mountain College in 2000.[4] Career Earles played a nerdy card gamer who was friends with the character Brian Miller in the CBS sitcom Still Standing. In 2004, he appeared in the film National Treasure as Thomas Gates, ancestor of Ben Gates (Nicolas Cage). In 2005, Earles played Ernie Kaplowitz in the film American Pie Presents: Band Camp.[5] He guest-starred twice in the Disney Channel series Phil of the Future as Grady Spaggett, an advanced math student. Earles appeared in the 2006 Disney Channel Games on the Blue Team,[6] and in the 2007 and 2008 Disney Channel Games on the Red team. Earles was the co-host of Disney Channel's Sing-Along Bowl-athon (Disney Channel's 2006 New Year's Eve special) and the corresponding online voting.[7] Earles' most notable role was as Jackson Stewart, the older brother of Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2011.[8] Earles was notably older than the character he played; when the show began, he was a 29-year-old playing a 16-year-old.[9] He voiced Spudnik in the 2009 talking dog film Space Buddies.[10] Earles stars as Rudy Gillespie in the Disney XD original series Kickin' It, which premiered on June 13, 2011.[11] Personal life and philanthropy Earles has contributed cast memorabilia to the fundraisers for Rocky Mountain College, his alma mater. On August 12, 2017, Earles married Katie Drysen.[12] Filmography Web Year Title Role Notes 2013 Santa (voice) Episode: "Mall Santa" 2013 Jennifer McMinamin (voice) Episode: "New Year" Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref. 2009 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Actor: Music/Dance Hannah Montana: The Movie Nominated [14][15]The book-to-film adaptation of Stephen King’s It has just confirmed its release date for September 8th, 2017. Directed by Andy Muschietti (Mama), the movie will be filming in Toronto throughout the summer. Last year we reported that Will Poulter (The Maze Runner, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) was still in the mix for the role of Pennywise, the demonic clown. “Will Poulter would be a great option. For me he is at the top of my list,” Muschietti firmed up. “King described 50s’ terror iconography,” he added. “And I feel there’s a whole world now to rediscover, to update. There won’t be mummies, werewolves. Terrors are going to be a lot more surprising.” As of yet, there is no official cast. We’ll be keeping a close eye on things.You may not realize it, but the cell phone in your pocket creates a time-stamped map of everywhere you go: where you shop, where you receive medical care, and how often you frequent a church, school, or gun range. That's because cell phones automatically connect to the nearest cell phone tower, and by doing so, constantly determine and record the user's location. WIRED OPINION ABOUT Andrew D. Selbst (@ASelbst) is a postdoctoral scholar at Data & Society Research Institute and a visiting fellow at the Yale Information Society Project who researches law and technology. Julia Ticona (@JuliaTicona1) is a postdoctoral scholar at Data & Society Research Institute who researches technologies of work, inequality, and culture. Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Carpenter v. United States, a major Fourth Amendment case that questions whether the police can access your phone’s location data without a warrant. The government argues that it should always be entitled to that information, no questions asked, because the 95 percent of American adults who own cell phones choose to give up that information “voluntarily.” Because cell phones transmit that data automatically, however, cell phone users have no choice in revealing their location. Therefore, the only action that could be “voluntary” is owning or using a cell phone. The problem is that cell phones are no longer meaningfully voluntary in modern society. They have become central to society’s basic functions, such as employment, public safety, and government services. The cell phone is a revolutionary technology, but its real value comes not from its technical capabilities, but from its near-universal adoption. Whether you have a job or are looking for one, there’s a good chance you need a cell phone. If you work in an office, you’re familiar with the demands of work email. But low-wage workers are often even more dependent on phones. Many hourly jobs use on-call scheduling, a practice that requires employees to call in to their workplace several hours before a shift starts to find out if they’re needed. Up to 90 percent of retail workers are subject to last-minute scheduling changes, which functionally require that workers have a phone within reach at all times. Many workers at large-scale retailers like Starbucks, McDonalds, and Old Navy use apps to trade and schedule shifts. What's more, cell phones are crucial for finding employment. More than half of job-seekers between ages 18 and 29, and 40 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds, have looked for work using their smartphones. The leading job recruiting websites report that most of their traffic comes from mobile devices; 60 percent of Indeed.com’s 200 million unique visitors per month are using their phones to check out listings on that site. Cell phones are also an important public safety tool. Federal and local governments use mobile alerts to push information out about threats to public safety, missing children, and dangerous weather. After Hurricane Harvey damaged emergency call centers and the 911 system was overloaded with requests, Houston residents turned to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter for help, primarily via cell phone. Social media use was so common at the time that the US Coast Guard tweeted to remind people that they should still report emergency assistance needs through 911. And when hurricanes Irma and Maria destroyed Puerto Rico’s wireless networks, the hunt for cell phone service caused traffic jams on the sides of highways and packed parking lots outside of hotels. In fact, even outside of natural disasters, 80 percent of 911 emergency calls are made by cell phones. Government at all levels increasingly relies on cell phones to provide important services. The federal government made big investments to create mobile apps and mobile-optimized websites for its food stamp program, for managing social security benefits, and for accessing US Citizenship and Immigration services. Citing the 12 percent of Americans who rely exclusively on their mobile phones for access to the internet, the bipartisan Connected Government Act, which would require federal agencies’ public-facing websites to be mobile friendly, is currently making its way through the House and Senate. Major cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles have mobile apps where residents can submit 311 service requests for city maintenance issues like potholes and graffiti. The mobile app NYC Votes lets New Yorkers register to vote and monitor their registration status. Cell phones are especially crucial for some of the most vulnerable in society. Younger, lower-income, and non-white Americans are particularly likely to own smartphones, but not have broadband in their homes. Smartphones are a cheaper on-ramp to essential services than a laptop and home broadband services. A recent study found that for smartphone users in low-income households, 63 percent report mostly using their cell phone to go online (versus only 21 percent of high-income users). Despite meager resources, homeless people often make cell phones a priority because they are necessary to access critical services and maintain social ties. Along with 15 other scholars, we at Data & Society, an independent, nonprofit research institute focused on the social and cultural issues arising from data-centric technologies, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Carpenter, explaining the necessity of cell phones to the public. When they hear oral argument this morning, the Supreme Court justices will have already learned that cell phones have become basic social infrastructure necessary for jobs, for safety, and for crucial social services. The justices will surely understand that without any alternatives for accessing online services, vulnerable (and over-policed) populations will be unable to make meaningful choices to protect their privacy, amplifying the disadvantages they already face. The justices will have to confront the fact that absent a ruling that requires police departments to obtain warrants to retrieve cell phone location data, cell phones will render our lives involuntarily transparent. At its core, the Carpenter case is about whether Americans’ rights to privacy should turn on whether they “voluntarily” choose to have a cell phone. We hope the Court realizes that it’s really no choice at all. WIRED Opinion publishes pieces written by outside contributors and represents a wide range of viewpoints. Read more opinions here.Hot_Bid Profile Blog Joined October 2003 Braavos 36026 Posts Last Edited: 2014-02-15 18:33:14 #1 Liquid`HerO Interviews Hot_Bid Fnatic Miniraser: "I'm more of a 'Naniwa' Swede" mYinsanity StarDust: "I went to the Airforce just to play more in Proleague" Grubby on his every day life, balance, and @Hot_Bid on Twitter - ESPORTS life since 2010 - http://i.imgur.com/U2psw.png Hot_Bid Profile Blog Joined October 2003 Braavos 36026 Posts #2 More coming soon (TM)! @Hot_Bid on Twitter - ESPORTS life since 2010 - http://i.imgur.com/U2psw.png KadaverBB Profile Blog Joined June 2009 Germany 24735 Posts #3 <33333333333333 Administrator Laws change depending on who's making them, but justice is justice ACrow Profile Joined October 2011 Germany 6578 Posts #4 Hotbid interviews best interviews. Now get Kim Phan and make her uncomfortable Get off my lawn, young punks xtorn Profile Blog Joined December 2013 4043 Posts Last Edited: 2014-02-15 17:17:30 #5 awesome!!! wow StarDust has quite good english. "get married, good build order" LMAO. ------ edit ok, the one with Hero was the most epic interview ever. "thank you youtube and panasonic" haha ------ ahahaha the MC one Life - forever the Legend in my heart GTPGlitch Profile Blog Joined March 2011 4555 Posts #6 Hero is so fucking handsome . Jo Byung Se #1 fan \| CJ_Rush(reborn) fan \| Liquid'Jinro(ret) fan \| Liquid'Taeja fan \| oGsTheSuperNada fan \| Iris[gm](ret) fan \| Chewbacca. Profile Joined January 2011 United States 2050 Posts Last Edited: 2014-02-15 14:13:10 #7 Shout out to my fans, I just hope to show great interviews. HotBid is awesome! Damn, so many nice quotes..what are you trying to insult me at the end of the interview or soemthing? ♥ Jaedong, but to hell with the sheep. 5.6k Solo Queue Support opterown Profile Blog Joined August 2011 Australia 42225 Posts #8 hahaha hero :D Moderator Retired LR Bonjwa JustPassingBy Profile Blog Joined January 2011 10465 Posts #9 Ah, I knew something was lacking up till now in the tournament, informative and funny interviews! :D Olli Profile Blog Joined February 2012 Austria 24017 Posts #10 HerO :D <3 Administrator "Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly." ChriS-X Profile Joined June 2011 Malaysia 1130 Posts #11 oh wow i didnt realise how much i missed these Liquid`Jinro Profile Blog Joined September 2002 Sweden 33687 Posts #12 Amazing interview hehehehe Moderator tell the guy that interplanatar interaction is pivotal to terrans variety of optionitudals in the pre-midgame preperatories as well as the protosstinal deterriggation of elite zergling strikes - Stimey n \| Formerly FrozenArbiter The_Templar Profile Blog Joined January 2011 THE FUTURE 52439 Posts #13 Lol HerO ^_^ Moderator I'm actually a Doublemint Profile Joined July 2011 Austria 8018 Posts #14 Great interviews, especially enjoyed the SD one [MD]Frostbite Profile Blog Joined May 2012 Canada 292 Posts #15 Good interviews, I really want to see a JD interview, or with Ret, or with Innovation. White-Ra, the godfather Protoss Zenbrez Profile Joined June 2012 Canada 5957 Posts #16 God, its been so long Hotbid! Refer to my post. esdf Profile Joined December 2012 Croatia 729 Posts #17 On February 15 2014 22:35 Hot_Bid wrote: More coming soon (TM)! let's hope it's not soon in Valve time. :D let's hope it's not soon in Valve time. :D why do you not believe it? the legend has alived! m0ck Profile Blog Joined November 2010 4040 Posts #18 Einstein was as German as Hitler was Austrian. Weavel Profile Joined January 2010 Finland 8719 Posts #19 Grubby interview was really good. Watch it people. Life/Seed//Mvp/NaNiwa fighting! ZeNEX forever! Darkhorse Profile Blog Joined December 2011 United States 22865 Posts #20 HerO so good. Also Stardust you are handsome! Writer "I was born on the same day the fucking holocaust happened" - TL Writers Skype 9/22/2014 1 2 Next AllMetro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Local governments will now be required to release business permits and licenses in just one to two days. The Trade, Local Government and Technology departments have signed an agreement to cut down the business permit and licensing system of all cities and municipalities. "It takes people weeks and months to start a business. We don't want to make it difficult for people. Their business is not in lining up. Their business is in doing their business," Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a press briefing on Tuesday. Related: Davao boasts of 3-day business permit processing Under the current system, entrepreneurs have to submit their requirements to the city government, but also get a separate clearance from the barangay (village) and a safety certificate from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP). "That is so many windows, so many signatures — and that's just for the mayor's permit," National Competitiveness Council Co-Chair Guillermo Luz said. Related: Government agencies urged to speed up processing of business permits The new system will only require the entrepreneur to approach the city hall. The city government will handle all the necessary clearances and payments with the barangay and the BFP. This should cut down the processing time of business permits and licenses to just 1-2 days, from today's average period of 5-10 days. The cost of the permits and licenses will remain the same. Lopez said business registration could be completed in just three steps: "You just file the documents, pay the fees, and collect your permit or license." The circular will be effective immediately, but local government units (LGU) will still have to be trained to handle the new system. Entrepreneurs should see the difference in the next 30 days, Lopez said. Related: Gov't, private sector improve business processes After streamlining, automation will be the next step to slash red tape in the government. The Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) is already building a software program the recording, assessment and issuance of business permits and licenses. "The DICT is already piloting the software application in Tanay, Rizal. In the next few months, we will make it available to help automate the processes of other LGUs," Technology Undersecretary Jorge Sarmiento said. Luz added that some LGUs were already automating processes on their own, designing their own applications that stand alone from each other. He said, "We want a central platform from DICT, and all LGUs can roll out their platforms from there. That will be faster and also more standardized." Geneveve Pietro, an entrepreneur from Makati City, welcomed the news. It has already taken her six months and counting to open a dialysis center. It is costing her business not just money, but also time and effort, to line up all day at various government offices. "Kung online na lahat, 'yung pagod mo, 'yung oras mo, 'yung expenses, lahat 'yun, mawawala 'yun lahat. Kung baga, isang click mo nalang, kahit nasa office ka nalang magagawa mo na, hindi mo na kailangan pumunta dito [sa city hall]," Pietro said. [Translation: If everything was online, your hardship, your time, your expenses, all of that would be gone. In just one click, you can accomplish your forms, even if you stayed in the office. You wouldn't even need to go to the city hall.] According to the World Bank, the Philippines ranks 103rd out of 189 countries in terms of the ease of doing business. It ranks an even lower 165th in the category of starting a business.The Reverse Learning Technique: How Top Students Bust The Curve Wanna know my secret to curve-busting grades in engineering school? I did everything backwards. Introducing: the Reverse Learning Technique. Let’s dig in. Bonus: Download the free Reverse Learning Technique Guide you can take with you. It’s late September. Exam 1 is here already – holy bejeezus. You have 4 other courses to study for, and every additional minute spent on Physics is a minute lost for your English 101 paper, your rote memorization of atomic structures for Chem, and for your History of Rock and Roll “test.” Okay let’s be honest – that last one you squeezed in on the walk across campus to the exam room… But what if there were a way to shortcut the whole thing, and jump right to the meat: solving difficult problems? What we’re taught to do How frustrating can it be to spend hours in lecture, and hours reading textbook chapters, only to feel like you still have no idea how to do the homework problems? Ever wondered why it happens this way? Or have we all just assumed this type of struggle is just “part of the process” for those unfortunate souls with a degree program that requires general physics? Ahhhh, what the life of a business major must be like… A typical student’s approach Let’s say you just came out of a lecture introducing Centripetal Acceleration. The professor shows a rock spinning around attached to the end of a rope (presumably attached to the hand of a small child goofing off in the back yard), and explains that there must be an accelerating force keeping that rock moving in a circle, and preventing it from flying into your neighbor’s window. (Granted: no kid has actually done something like this since ~1960, but our prof. seems to be slowly losing the battle to father time, so we’ll let it slide.) We’ve seen stuff like this before, and the textbook does much the same. “It’s due to an inward force that doesn’t contribute to the energy of the object, and is always perpendicular to it’s path of travel,” the book says. On your 4th attempt at re-reading that, hoping to somehow make sense of it by stuffing more of the words into your tired brain, you realize that you have no clue what that means or what to do with it. What we should actually be doing Let’s take instead, what I call the Reverse Learning Technique – a tactic you can use to dramatically increase your ability to solve difficult physics problems, without spending hours reading over your notes and textbook examples. We’re all familiar with reverse engineering – peeling back the layers from a finished product to try to gain insights into the structure, process, and technology that underlies it. A young engineer at work, taking apart a 1970s VCR. Photo: Steve Jurvetson Reverse Learning works in much the same way. It’s a technique for working backwards from the solution to a complex homework problem or potential test question to a set of related core concepts (lecture and textbooks work the opposite way). Sticking with our Centripetal Acceleration concept, let’s take a somewhat complex roller-coaster problem as an example. The Reverse Learning Technique Suppose you work through an example problem with the TA in your discussion in which you need to find the acceleration vector of the roller coaster cart when it has completed the first quarter of the loop shown below. This is a somewhat unfamiliar problem that you may not recognize requires a fairly deep understanding of Centripetal Acceleration. Thankfully, you’ve diligently copied down the solution and have it in front of you. On the down side, it looks a bit like gibberish. Seriously TA, you couldn’t have thrown in a label or two? Anyways, you have the solution in front of you: the acceleration is 43.20 m/s2 to the left, and 9.81 m/s2 downwards. And not only that, you have most of the math leading up to it. Good. This is our Reverse Learning starting point. Now we start asking why. Question 1: Let’s start with the obvious one (if you’ve had basic physics), why is there an acceleration downwards of 9.81 m/s2? Well that’s gravity. As long as the Earth is down, which in this case we are assuming it is, there will always be a downwards acceleration acting on the cart of 9.81 m/s2. Okay Concept #1 (gravity) down. Now moving right along… Question 2: Why is there an acceleration to the left of 43.20 m/s2? This is a bit trickier, but let’s look at our diagram and see what’s happening to the cart at that point in time. It’s halfway up the backside of that loop. And where will it go after that? Up and to the left. So to keep the cart from flying straight up in the air (like it was shooting off a ramp), there must be something turning that cart to the left as it rises. Well, the only thing there is the track. Ahh the track – that’s what’s moving the cart to the left. Okay, so how does the track accelerate something even though it doesn’t itself move? Well we can ask ourselves: where else does this happen? Bouncing a tennis ball maybe? The ground provides a reaction force that completely decelerates the ball and changes its direction. A tennis ball impacting the ground and changing direction. Photo: Ingrid Taylar Oh yeaahh, that’s the Normal Force (reaction force provided by a solid object). That’s why he has that marked as FN on the force diagram. Great, Concept #2 (Normal Force) down. Question 3: So then what’s this equation he wrote using Fn? Oh wait, that’s showing ac and v2/r. I remember seeing that in lecture. Right – that’s Centripetal Acceleration, from our diagram before. And taking that a step further, the answer he gets for the x-direction acceleration (at the end) is the same thing he gets when he calculates Centripetal Acceleration, which as we just saw, is related to the Normal Force. So the Normal Force must be causing the Centripetal Acceleration, which is moving the cart up and to the left! Now you’ve related concept #3 (Centripetal Acceleration) – the one we care about in this context – to a concept you already have familiarity with, concept #2 Normal Force. And you also know that both (1) acceleration due to Gravity and (2) Centripetal Acceleration can interact at the same time on one object, independent of one another. These are the big insights you need to be able to solve general physics exam problems. The takeaway Look at the ground we’ve covered with just a few of the most obvious questions we can ask ourselves about this problem. And there’s still 75% of the work involved in the problem that we haven’t tried to explain yet. Do you see how this is different than what we’re taught to do? We’re taught to first, learn the concept. Learn the logic behind everything from
, is still at large, but French police distributed to their European counterparts the details and number plate of a Citroen Xsara they believe he may be driving. Dutch police also revealed he had been arrested in the Netherlands in February for possession of cannabis. Paris attacks: 5,000 rounds fired in St-Denis raids, prosecutor says – live Read more The arrests in Paris and Brussels point to the existence of a circle of sympathetic “enablers” willing to help out without asking too many questions even if they had a limited idea of the plot. But the new evidence also strengthens investigators’ belief that the synchronised multiple attacks were coordinated by a control point in Paris. A mobile phone found in a dustbin near the Bataclan theatre, where 89 people were killed, contained a floor plan of the theatre and a text message signalling the start of the attacks, which was sent to another phone at a hotel room booked by Abdeslam in the southern Paris suburb of Alfortville. Another safe house had been rented by his brother, Brahim, and the third hideout, in St-Denis, was located through a combination of a witness testimony, surveillance and phone tapping, according to the French state prosecutor, François Molins. On Wednesday evening, it was still unclear whether this coordinator was Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian jihadi wanted before the Paris slaughter for a series of attacks in Belgium and France. He was previously thought to been in contact with the gunmen from Syria and Greece, but the tip that helped lead to the St-Denis raid suggested he was hiding there, but Molins did not confirm press reports on Wednesday that he was one of the dead. He only said that neither Abaaoud nor Salah were among those detained. On Tuesday night, French police distributed the photograph of one of the three dead attackers from the Stade de France, who is believed to have travelled through Greece and the rest of the Balkans in the two months before the attacks carrying a passport in the name of Ahmad Almohammad, with the details of a long-dead Syrian soldier. St-Denis raid: loud booms and gunfire shatter silence of suburban morning Read more All the other known attackers, as well as Abaaoud, are of French and Belgian nationality with similar life stories of limited petty crime or drug taking, and radicalisation in their late teens or early twenties. At least four are known to have spent time in Syria with Islamic State extremists. As European citizens, there was no need to resort to subterfuge or risk Mediterranean sea crossings to reach their target. They could travel freely around the continent even when the authorities in their home countries were aware of their extreme views and foreign travels. The Belgian prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that the Abdeslam brothers had been interrogated earlier this year, but had not been detained because they were not seen as a threat. Brahim, who blew himself up outside a Paris bar on Friday night, was questioned in February, after Turkish authorities stopped him on suspicion of attempting to go to Syria to fight, and sent him back to Brussels. “He denied to us that he wanted to go to Syria. When he was interrogated, he just said he had been trying to go on holiday to Turkey,” said Eric Van der Sypt, the spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office. “There were no signs he was participating in terrorist activities. He was just a radicalised youngster, and there were no reasons to hold him.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Police arrest two suspects in St-Denis Salah was also questioned at about the same time, although he had not gone on the Turkish trip and the prosecutor’s office found no evidence he had gone to Syria. “Not to our knowledge,” Van der Sypt said. He too was not deemed a threat. The prosecutor added: “We have over 130 who we know have come back from Syria, and spent a certain amount of time there, and we can hardly follow up on them. We can’t keep an eye on everyone.” Simply increasing the resources of the police and the prosecutors would not solve the problem, Van der Sypt argued. “It’s impossible,” he said. “You could double the effectiveness of the police and the prosecutors which would mean you could keep an eye on more people but would this mean such attacks can be prevented?” EU travellers to face stricter checks under French border plan Read more European interior ministers are meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss better intelligence sharing, tighter controls on Schengen area borders, and the dissemination of advance passenger lists on commercial flights to help spot foreign fighters returning from Syria and other flagged security risks. Most of the plotters involved in the Paris killings would, however, have been able to sidestep such enhanced measures. Even if information had been shared about the Abdeslam brothers it is far from clear it would have led to their arrests or to the prevention of the attacks. Van der Sypt said no details of the brothers’ background had been shared with the French authorities before the attacks because they were simply seen as being too insignificant. “Imagine if we had spread the information to the whole world. Do you have any idea of the amount of information that would be spread? No one in the world can handle so much information. There are 135 [returned foreign fighters] that we know of. France has many more. You can share the information, but the question is can you handle the information?” the prosecutor said. He would not comment on a proposal being discussed in the Belgian cabinet to put electronic tagging bracelets on radicals who return from fighting in Syria. “To start with it is a social problem. That is the basis to it all,” Van der Sypt said. “The judicial answer is the last answer. More important is prevention of people getting radicalised. There will never, ever be a watertight system to catch people who are going to Syria.”If the IDE or editor you’re using for Scala isn’t working for you, or you want a change of scenery, try another tool. It’s easy to switch. This post looks at Atom. Inside Underscore there’s a mix of developer tools. Emacs, vim, Sublime Text, Eclipse, and IDEA all get used. I use Atom. Atom is GitHub’s “hackable text editor for the 21st century”. The appeal for me is: a good text editor that feels like Sublime Text; open source, cross platform, and yes, hackable with web technologies; good selection of plugins; and the start of Scala type inspection, code completion, and click-to-source code navigation via Ensime. It’s not perfect: it’s not as fast as Sublime, but it is open source; it doesn’t have the proven track record of vim or Emacs, but is perhaps less intimidating; and the Scala support is not as rich as Eclipse or IDEA, but I don’t sit around wondering what the IDE is doing. And if the Scala support bugs me, I can turn it off but I still have the same editor. What’s it like? I mainly work on a project using the trinity of: an editor window, ~compile in a terminal, and having the documentation open. But I find I’m also turning on the Ensime support from time to time. It’s useful when exploring code I’m not familiar with. Viktor Hedefalk is developing the plugin for Atom. I use it for finding the type of a value, and for clicking through to source. It can do more, but that’s what I use. Rather than describe it, let me show you what it’s like: So not perfect, but it’s the editor I prefer. If you’re interested in getting involved with Atom and Scala support…Beer and sports go hand in hand – they really always have. Like anything in life, prices seem to always be going up, up, up. Beer prices are certainly no exception. We at LWOS have followed a site called SaveOnBrew.com for some time. Periodically they put out some really great insight into beer industry as it relates directly to sports. Back in January we ran an infographic on “Beer Consumption and the Superbowl“. The article was wildly successful, as we had many “thank-you” notes sent across my desk…errr, laptop. Today, we bring hockey fans an interesting look at beer prices from around the NHL’s arenas. There are certainly some surprises, particularly with the high and low. It was interesting to see how SaveOnBrew examined the cost fans of each team would have to pay at their respective arenas to “Fill the Cup” (Stanley Cup) with beer – nice idea! Note that all prices have been equalized into a price per 12 ounces. That way arenas that sell 20 ounce beers (ie Bell Centre) are not been penalized, and we have a fair apples to apples (lager to lager) comparison. All prices have also been normalized to US Dollars and are at a BEFORE TAX amount. So, without further ado, I give you the beer prices from around the NHL. Before you take a look, please remember to follow us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport. If interested, follow our hockey department – @LastWordOnNHL, @LastWordBKerr and @BigMick99. Infographic Photo Credit: saveonbrew.com, used with permission, all rights reserved. Data via Saveonbrew.com and is based on information reported by each team during a survey Bell Centre Photo Credit: haven’t the slightest via photopin ccJUBA, South Sudan — The young woman we’ll call Mary, for her protection, says she was raped by four South Sudanese government soldiers while United Nations peacekeepers stood less than 100 meters away. On July 8 fighting broke out between government soldiers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which is loyal to President Salva Kiir, and the forces of rebel leader Riek Machar, who was dismissed as vice president on Monday. According to multiple interviews conducted by The Daily Beast, soon after the fighting began, government soldiers began to rape civilians living in UN “protection of civilians sites” while they were traveling to collect food. According to community leaders from one section of the UN camp that holds 15,000 people, some 100 women were raped or reported missing on a single day—July 18. The UN blocked access to journalists for two weeks after the fighting began in Juba, and when reporters finally were able to visit the camp women described being gang-raped while United Nations peacekeepers were in full view. UN peacekeepers in South Sudan are mandated to use force to protect civilians, but once the women are outside the camps, that mandate seems to be annulled or ignored. “I tried to run to the UN gate and passed some of the shops, but when I almost reached I was captured,” said Mary. “I was less than 100 meters away and I saw the [private security guards], and even the UN police at the main gate.” Five soldiers chasing Mary grabbed her cellphone and started beating her. Mary tried to run away, but the soldiers caught up with her and dragged her to the side of the road. Four out of the five soldiers then raped her. If the UN “find a person being raped, they should intervene,” she said. “Two vehicles passed me while I was being raped near the UN compound and they didn’t say anything,” Many civilians living in this camp fled there for protection years ago when the last civil war began in December 2013. That war killed tens of thousands and took on ethnic undertones—many Dinka supported Kiir, and many Nuer supported Machar. Around 29,000 people in total live in this camp, and most are part of the Nuer tribe. The SPLA “view me as the people of Dr. Riek Machar, and that’s why I was raped,” said Mary. “I am not viewed as South Sudanese.” Just three months after Kiir and Machar formed a unity government to put their warring past behind them, things have gone disastrously wrong. At least 500 people died in the initial fighting, much of it centered around this UN complex. One man inside the camp showed The Daily Beast the frame of what is likely the projectile from an RPG-7, an anti-tank weapon, that destroyed his home and killed one child. “You can assume that we were targeted,” said Shantal Persaud, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan spokesperson. Every woman that The Daily Beast interviewed said that the lack of food in the camp continues to force them to make the dangerous trek to the market and risk being raped. Most men refuse to travel, saying it’s not their role to collect food. The low food supply is a direct result of the fighting. The UN was unable to move freely in the days after the shooting started because government soldiers blocked them, and a planned food distribution was delayed for roughly 10 days. A UN agency warehouse with millions of dollars of food was looted by otherwise unidentified “armed gunmen.” Food supplies to Juba have also been delayed because rebel forces aligned with Machar have cut off some land routes to the capital. The World Food Program started to distribute food on July 22, but civilians who fled to the camp during the recent fighting have still not received rations because the UN has not yet registered them. And even those women who have received food still make the dangerous journey to buy food at the market. The women “want to stock food because they are not sure what will happen next,” said a field monitor with WFP who was helping to distribute food to women with children. “The WFP food was looted, so in case the same thing happens they have nowhere to go.” Most of the rapes happen along a stretch of road that is roughly one mile long, which leads to the UN compound. The winding, uphill journey begins at a taxi stand—drivers don’t dare go farther for fear of the government soldiers lurking ahead. Hordes of women wearing colorful dresses walk on the edge of the road balancing bags of food on their head. SPLA soldiers zip back and forth in pickup trucks or sit lazily under trees. The Daily Beast saw one soldier start to beat a woman on this stretch. The stomach-churning journey comes to an end among a series of shops and homes at a place called, simply, “Checkpoint,” which is immediately outside the UN base. It was here that a girl we’ll call Sara, who is 15 years old, was gang-raped by six soldiers on July 18. Two soldiers grabbed Sara out of a pack of women, and took her to “a small house inside Checkpoint.” There, four more soldiers waited. “That’s where I was raped,” she said, and all six took part. Persaud, the UN spokesperson for South Sudan, said that the mission has reinforced protection for women as they travel to collect firewood, another vulnerable trek. These latest incidents come after earlier reports of UN peacekeepers failing to use force to protect civilians. An investigation by The Daily Beast found that peacekeepers fled their posts when government soldiers attacked a UN base in Malakal. It’s unclear if government soldiers rape women because of their ethnicity. Elizabeth, whose name we’ve changed, says she is not sure if the government soldiers raped her because she lives in the UN camp, or “because they just wanted to do it.” “If you were a Nuer, we would have killed you,” a government soldier said to Elizabeth after he and others raped her. “They asked me, ‘Why are you staying in the [UN] compound? Everyone in the compound deserves what we have done to you.’” The UN peacekeepers “who were up [in the guard tower] could see me when they were raping me.” Nobody came to her rescue, she said.The mediation meeting between the workers and representatives of the management of the security company Eulen that was held at the Labour Court of Catalonia (TLC), ended after less than an hour of dialogue and without any kind of agreement, leaving little hope of reaching an agreement to avoid the call of a partial strike starting this Friday, Sunday and Monday by the staff of the private security company at Barcelona's El Prat airport, as previously warned. The representatives of the workers indicated that there was a big gap between the positions of the company and the workers, and recognised that in the mediation it was not possible to enter into discussions about specific points of the collective conflict due to the management accusing the strike committee of preventing a vote from all the workforce. The representatives of the company Eulen did not want to make appraisals at the end of the meeting. Juan Carlos Giménez, an advisor to the strike committee for the workers of Eulen, described as ''reckless'' the position of the representatives of the company in the mediation meeting that was held before the mediators of the employers and workers of the TLC. Whilst the representatives of the company left the meeting refusing to make statements in front of the media, they did have a balance of the mediation delegates of the workforce. Giménez explained that in the meeting they were not able to enter into dialogue about any of the demands of the workers because at the beginning of the mediation the company presented a set of ''false'' claims that the strike committee did not allow voting by all of Eulen's employees when it was decided to go on strike. The timetable of the strike The workers of Eulen maintain the indefinite partial strike that, as El Nacional has already advanced, will have a duration of four hours intermittently, on Fridays, Sunday and Mondays at the El Prat airport from 5:30am to 6:30am, 10:30am to 11:30am, 4:30pm to 5:30pm, and from 6:30pm in 7:30pm. Possible solution? The association of travel agencies, Acave, has proposed that Aena cancels the contract that it maintains with Eulen, the concessionaire company that manages the security filters at the airport. In statements made to Catalunya Ràdio, the president of Acave, Martí Sarrate, has said that the solution would be to convene another public tender to manage the service.introduces you to Christianity's origins in ancient Pagan religion. You'll discover the evidence, the scholarship, and the reasoning behind this eye opening understanding of western intellectual history. You already know Christmas trees and Easter eggs were originally Pagan, and you probably know the seasonal timing of the two holidays is Pagan too. Mildly interesting. Not what you'll find here. What you'll discover at POCM is that ancient cultures around the Mediterranean shared a set of ideas about Gods and their powers and place in the universe—and that Christianity adopted those ideas, and applied them to Jesus. Ancient people knew godmen did miracles. The first Christians knew Jesus was a godman, so the stories they told about Him included miracles. He even did the same miracles other, earlier Pagan godmen did. The core of Christianity—the worship of a miracle working, walking, talking godman who brings salvation—was also the core of other ancient religions that began a thousand years before Jesus. Heaven, hell, prophecy, demon possession, sacrifice, initiation by baptism, communion with God through a holy meal, the Holy Spirit, monotheism, immortality of the soul, and many other "Christian" ideas all belonged to earlier, older Pagan faiths. They were simply part of ancient Mediterranean culture. Along with miracle working sons of God, born of a mortal woman, they were common elements of pre-Christian Pagan religion. Mithras had 'em. So did Dionysus, Attis, Osiris, and Orpheus. And more. And they had them generations—centuries— before Jesus was a twinkle in Saint Paul's eye. Let's go seeBrowsing Apple's App Store in search of new applications for your iPhone or iPod Touch, you find an interesting-sounding program and start reading its user reviews. Many are overwhelmingly upbeat, their wording eerily similar. Are the reviews fake? Were they written by the developer (and family and friends) to inflate the app's overall rating? For other programs, you may find a string of 1-star reviews that trash the app and recommend a competitor. Were those penned by a devious rival? With more than 25,000 programs in the App Store, at least some competitive shenanigans are bound to happen--and a few developers have already accused others of planting negative reviews. Njection, the developer of NMobile, an app that alerts drivers to speed traps, has accused competitor Trapster of posting reviews that criticize NMobile and praise Trapster. When contacted by PC World, a Trapster spokesperson, who asked not to be identified by name, e-mailed this response: "We don't have time to post petty slams against competitors, nor respond to accusations that we do." Complaints are flying even over frivolous programs. Air-O-Matic, maker of Pull My Finger, says that rival InfoMedia, which sells iFart Mobile, posted bogus comments that praise iFart and slam competing flatulence apps. InfoMedia CEO Joel Comm counters that he doesn't see anything wrong with a developer's posting an anonymous review of a competitor's app. "If people purchase the app, they can do whatever they want within the guidelines of the iTunes review system," Comm wrote via e-mail. "I see no reason to disclose that you are a competitor." Reviews by Nonusers Whether fake or biased reviews of iPhone/iPod Touch apps are common is difficult to ascertain. Verifying the legitimacy of a review is nearly impossible, although in browsing reviews for this story we did come across more than a few that appeared suspicious. We also discovered that it's easy for reviewers to pass judgment on apps they haven't used, despite Apple's recent efforts to curtail that practice. (Apple didn't respond to PC World's inquiries for this story.) Take, for instance, the reviews for ViewTi Golf, a golf rangefinder currently on sale for $25. In early March it had 19 reviews, including 14 by people who gave the app 5 stars (best on a scale of 1 to 5). Of those 14 reviewers, 10 had reviewed apps only by ViewTi LLC, the developer of ViewTi Golf. We contacted the company; in response, representatives noted that 4 of the 5 other reviewers (those who gave ViewTi Golf 1 to 4 stars) had also reviewed only ViewTi Golf and no other app. Then there's Brick Breaker Revolution 3D, a $6 game from Digital Chocolate. Within hours of its February 27 release, the app had four 5-star reviews. Certainly, that alone wasn't a big deal. But one reviewer, "Snorkydog," had given 5 stars to six Digital Chocolate games, and just 2 stars to a game from another developer (the only other game Snorkydog had reviewed). So was Snorkydog a plant? Or just a devoted fan? Digital Chocolate CEO Trip Hawkins acknowledges that user reviews are often less than reliable. "Many reviews are pretty idiotic or hilarious or biased in one direction or another," he wrote via e-mail. "It is like reading any forum or chat log. Of course you have to assume that every developer that loves their mother's cooking should be expected to love their own games." But a fake review, pro or con, doesn't invalidate the system, he says: "Frankly the presence of these ‘lover' votes only seems to be enough to offset the even more ridiculous hater votes." The Employee-Penned Review One review we found was written by an employee of the company that sells the program. Reid Carlberg, who works for Model Metrics, gave a 5-star rating to his employer's Search2GO for Salesforce CRM. The first paragraph of his review read: "Downloaded last week and have been loving it. It totally saved me this AM when I was walking to the office from the train and needed a phone number. Fired it up and 10 seconds later I had it and was not late for the conference call I forgot about. AWESOME." Carlberg's original review didn't disclose that he worked for Model Metrics; he added information later, after we contacted him. Carlberg says that since he didn't try to hide his personal identity--his App Store user name is "ReidCarlberg.com"--he wasn't trying to deceive anyone. But it's unlikely that the average reader would have known that Carlberg worked for Model Metrics until he stated so in the amended review.Print Article Ryan Langford responds to questions from prosecutor Lori Adams, left, on Wednesday in day three of the Justine Winter trial in Kalispell. Langford is Winter's ex-boyfriend. On the night of March 19, 2009, the relationship between Justine Winter and her then-boyfriend Ryan Langford had apparently reached its end. For nearly an hour, Winter and Langford would exchange text messages in a conversation during which Winter allegedly threatened to crash her car and kill herself. After sending a final message at 8:19 p.m., Langford testified Wednesday in Flathead County District Court that Winters replies ceased. A short time later, Langford learned she had been in a collision on U.S. 93 north of Kalispell on a bridge near the intersection of Church Drive. The crash killed 35-year-old Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son Caden Vincent Odell. Winter was charged with two counts of deliberate homicide. What prosecutors wanted to know Wednesday was: Did Langford take Winters threats of suicide seriously? Yes and no, Langford said. I know Justine, and I still do. It didnt concern me because it was Justine. On the third day of what is expected to be a two-week trial, a jury listened as Langford and others responded to questioning focused on the hours before and the months after the fatal crash. Langford testified that Winter had dropped him off at his home after an argument that began as the two visited one another at Winters Evergreen residence. Im pretty sure it was a book or a journal about one of my friends she had dated previously, he said, later adding, I got jealous because it was my best friend, or someone I had been very close with. Flathead County Attorney Lori Adams delved further into the relationship in questioning Polson-based psychotherapist Treasa Glinnwater, who counseled Winter before and after the crash. Glinnwater said Langford was able to exert a certain amount of control over Winter, dictating that she not speak to other boys. She was with him constantly, she would text him regularly, she would talk to him on the phone every night, Glinnwater said. Suicide threats, Glinnwater said, became a way for Winter and Langford to exercise control in the relationship. It was always clear it was never meant, she added. Glinnwater further testified that Winter showed none of the tell-tale signs of a suicidal individual. Conversations with Winter after the crash would do little to answer the question of whether or not Winter intentionally crashed her vehicle into Thompsons. She said she could not remember that night at all, Glinnwater said. Richard Poeppel, who was also called to testify Wednesday, said his memory of the crash is still clear. Poeppel said he was driving north behind Thompsons Subaru on his way home from a trip to Costco. He said both he and Thompson had slowed down to about 45 mph as their vehicles approached the construction zone near the intersection of Church Drive. He said he saw Thompsons brake lights flash as she went over Stillwater Bridge. He saw a southbound vehicle cut over into the northbound lane. After that, it was a cloud of steam like I had never seen before. Poeppel rushed to the crash scene, he said, first checking on Winter before approaching Thompsons Subaru. She was still alive at the time, he said, and she attempted to say something to him as he propped her up through the back, right door of the vehicle. It seemed like eternity, he said. Finally a nurse came up and told me she had expired. Later Wednesday, Prosecutors called Montana Highway Patrol Sergeant James Kitchin to testify on technical aspects of the crash gleaned from the Airbag Control Module also known as the black box of Winters vehicle. Five seconds before colliding with Thompson, Winter was traveling at a speed of 81 miles per hour, Kitchin said. A second later the speedometer hit 83 mph before topping out at 86 mph two seconds before the crash, he said. The device also indicated she did not apply any brake pressure in the moments before the crash, he said. Prompted by questions from prosecutors, Kitchin also identified a slap mark on the speedometer of Winters vehicle. The orange impression near the 85 mph tick on the speedometer was likely the result of the needle slapping the instrumentation at the moment of impact, he said. He said the slap mark was consistent with the Airbag Control Module. Its two pieces of the puzzle that point to one goal, one speed, he said of the evidence. The black box also showed that Winter was not wearing a seat belt, Kitchin said, a fact that prosecutors hope will strengthen their case that Winter intended to kill herself. Ernie Freebury, a former deputy coroner with the Flathead County Sheriffs Office, was the first to testify Wednesday and said both Thompson and Odell were pronounced dead at the scene. Thompson died from a collapsed chest cavity, Freebury said, while the most severe injury sustained by Odell was a broken neck. They would have died, without question, fairly immediately, Freebury said. He concluded that the manner of death was homicide after viewing text messages on Langfords phone, investigating the scene and speaking with the lead Montana Highway Patrol investigator, he said. Also testifying Wednesday were three forensic toxicologists who collectively reported that Thompsons blood was void of alcohol or drugs. Two mechanics who assisted troopers in examining Winters vehicle, a former friend of Winter and two investigating Montana Highway Patrol troopers were also called to the stand. Prosecutors are expected to continue calling witnesses throughout the week, with Winters defense attorneys Maxwell Battle and David Stufft scheduled to call their own witnesses beginning Monday. Winter, who is being prosecuted as an adult, faces a maximum of 200 years or life in prison if convicted on both counts of deliberate homicide. Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.comThe overhead is one of the most straightforward shots in tennis, so straightforward it follows a script. You are standing not too far from the net. A ball is falling down to the court from way up above. Your job is to meet it with your racket over your head, and hard. The only real choice left to you is where to put it: pick out some doomed spot on the court, typically a corner, where your opponent cannot retrieve it. Not that they’re going to make much of an effort, anyway—by that point, the opponent has begun to go limp and mentally check out, realizing the death blow that awaits them, though they might feebly lunge in one direction just to keep up appearances. Merely having the opportunity for an overhead is a sign that your opponent has already done something wrong: a desperation chip blocked back too shallow, a lob severely undercooked. To strike an overhead is to carry out a mutually understood fate. Both parties know how this is supposed to go. Just put the ball away. Take out the trash. Go on with your day. World No. 97 Dustin Brown has a very different brain, though. Brown sees something straightforward and looks for a way to bend it. He looks at the routine and finds something novel. He sees an overhead and, somehow, sees the opportunity for a dumpy drop shot. And thus a fresh, uniquely bad shot is brought into the world. Somewhere in the commentator’s box John McEnroe cackled in disbelief. Advertisement But those who have watched plenty of Brown have learned to expect not just the unexpected but the beautifully ill-advised. Brown is a genuine innovator in dubious decision-making. Sometimes his shot choices pay off, and more times, over the churn of three or four sets, his luck fizzles out. Either way, this approach has made him one of the most watchable figures in tennis. For a brief stretch in his second-round match at Wimbledon against top seed Andy Murray, Brown seemed to have lulled his elite foe into playing his own capricious, telegenic style. Murray was well-suited for the part. For all their difference in terms of on-court success, they do share some of the same touch-based genius: Murray hits maybe the most effective lobs of anyone to ever play the game; Brown, if nothing else, hits the most entertaining. Both are fond of carving up a drop shot. Murray went on to win 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, but in the first set these two traded soft lobs and wanton drops in deeply strange exchanges that barely resemble competitive tennis, let alone Grand Slam play. Here’s a representative sample. Your diverse menu: A crackling backhand return, echoed by a crackling 95 mph backhand winner; a forehand return struck just as fast; the overhead drop shot in the center of the very weirdest point; another sequence that both players seem to be refusing to win; a white-hot ace off a second serve. Andy Murray, a heady, anally retentive tactician who has studied and anticipated every opponent’s idiosyncrasy, said after the match that it had been “difficult to come up with game plans because you don’t know what they’re going to do.” There is truth to that. You never know what Dustin Brown is going to do. Sometimes he seems more in the mood for cardio than hitting winners. Sometimes he wants to return a serve as hard as his lank frame can physically muster. Sometimes he seems unwilling to do anything fiercer than gently nudge the ball over the net. At some point midway through the first set, the commentator glanced at a graphic and noted that Dustin Brown had hit more balls inside the service line than past it. How do you plan for someone like that, someone whose game follows no internal logic, who bucks the usual rhythms of the sport, whose every decision emerges from some unseen, underwater place? You don’t, really. You just sort of hang around until he fails.Federal Court Rules Plowing Without an Army Corps Permit Violates Clean Water Act Pacific Legal Foundation lawyer Tony Francois provided this update on John Duarte, with Duarte Nursery, who has been fighting the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers who declared him in violation of the Clean Water Act for farming without a wetlands permit. Originally posted on the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Liberty blog Last Friday we received a disappointing decision in Duarte Nursery v. Army Corps of Engineers. The court ruled that the company violated the Clean Water Act by plowing its property, even though the Act exempts normal farming practices. And, the implementing regulations state that plowing is never even subject to the Act, so long as it does not convert wetlands to dry land. Since no wetlands were lost or reduced in acreage by the plowing in this case, the court’s decision amounts to a rule that you may not plow in federally regulated wetlands without an Army Corps permit, the clear exemptions to the contrary notwithstanding. (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE)News in Science Post-dino mammals were fat and slow Slow start A near complete fossil of an ancient mammal proves it wasn't much of a runner. But with the dinosaurs gone, it really didn't need to be. Many of the mammals that emerged right after the non-avian dinosaur extinction were hearty creatures, as exemplified by Ernanodon, a beast described in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The skeleton that is the focus of the study is nearly complete, revealing how this early mammal looked in the flesh and lived. "Ernanodon was a badger-sized, rather chunky mammal with a short square skull, extremely reduced dentition and big claws on the forelimbs," says lead author Peter Kondrashov. "The structure of the forelimb indicates that this animal was doing a lot of digging, probably mostly in the search of food," adds Kondrashov, who is an associate professor and chair of the Anatomy Department at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. He and colleague Alexandre Agadjanian analysed the skeleton, which dates to the Late Paleocene (60 to 55 million years ago). This Ernanodon individual lived in Mongolia. Other, less complete, remains were previously found in China. "Ernanodon is a unique find and represents one of the most complete skeletons ever collected from the Paleocene of the Naran Bulak locality," says Agadjanian, who works at the Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The animal's hind limbs were almost flat-footed, so the researchers don't think Ernanodon was much of a runner. It instead appears to have spent most of its days digging and eating, without much chomping. "Based on the structure of the teeth - very thin enamel layer, reduced tooth size - it appears that the food was rather soft and did not require a lot of chewing," Kondrashov explained. "Similar dental structure is observed in mammals that feed on termites, ants and other social insects, so we think that it was specialized in feeding on social insects as well." No direct descendants While Ernanodon is long gone and has no direct descendants, the scientists believe this animal was related to a group of extinct mammals known as palaeanodonts. They too had bulky bodies, tiny teeth, and big claws for digging. These animals are, in turn, related to modern mammals called pangolins, or scaly anteaters, which live in Africa and Asia. Based on the earlier evidence for Ernanodon, scientists thought the then enigmatic mammal was related to modern armadillos or sloths. While pangolins somewhat resemble these animals in appearance and behaviour, they represent a different genus and species. Ernanodon is just one of many mammals that came to prominence after the great non-avian dinosaur extinction. "This animal comes from the time period known as the Paleocene, which followed the Cretaceous, so it probably evolved as a result of the appearance of numerous new niches after the dinosaurs went extinct," says Kondrashov. "We know very little about Paleocene deposits in Asia," he adds, "and this find sheds a lot of light on the early evolution of mammals in Asia."With the advent of colour TV and more channels to choose from, several foreign television shows made their entry into India. With their wit, humor, and vibrance, these shows became popular here as much as they were abroad.
playing. It still retains a lot of power, a lot of energy, and there is definitely a lot of over the top playing. Everybody is featured – drum solo, bass solo, guitar, keyboard – but it’s definitely more thematic. And, it’s great, ’cause when you play that thing live, you know, people actually sing along to the themes,which is great feeling. It’s been almost nine years since your solo album Suspended Animation was released. You already had some talks about the new studio release, any updates on that? Yes and no. [laughs] It’s something that people ask me all the time. I’ve been involved with Dream Theater throughout the years and it’s hard to find the time to do that. But, I do have some music written, some of it written during the G3 tour in South America last year, and that’s something that I’m gonna do, I’m gonna get back into a studio this year and get that on. It will be coming soon, you know like you said it’s been a long time since the first one. I’m excited to get that out and get that going. Share this: Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Reddit Digg Email LinkedIn StumbleUpon Tumblr Pocket PrintEuro 2016 Team Guide: Spain target historic treble Vicente del Bosque's charges are heading to Euro 2016 chasing a remarkable hat-trick of titles but their era of continental dominance will be fully tested this summer Coach: Vicente Del Bosque Key player: Sergio Busquets Qualifying form: W9, L1, D0 Top scorers in qualifying: Paco Alcacer (5), David Silva (3) will chase an unprecedented third consecutive European Championship title in but they do not arrive at the finals as the dominant force that so memorably dispatched to win Euro 2012. Vicente del Bosque's side stormed to a 4-0 win in the final in Kiev, becoming the first team to win three straight major international tournaments following on from their triumphs at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. However, the cracks that first started to appear when hosts handed them a 3-0 defeat in the final of the 2013 Confederations Cup were brutally exposed 12 months later, as a humiliating World Cup defence ended after just two matches. A 2-1 loss to Slovakia in their second Euro 2016 qualifier suggested the scars of that World Cup experience might continue to cause pain, although from that point their progress was otherwise unblemished. Nevertheless, the problems brought into focus by memorable World Cup reverses against (5-1) and (2-0) still do not appear to have been adequately solved. Indeed, the apparent coup of persuading Diego Costa to pursue his international career with Spain rather than Brazil has proved a misadventure. The star scored just once in his first 10 appearances and was left out of the preliminary squad. Paco Alcacer was the top Spanish scorer in qualification but the 22-year-old has also failed to make the cut after his form towards the back end of the season tailed off with. Alvaro Morata has all the skills but remains an inconsistent presence at, meaning 35-year-old Aritz Aduriz might be the best option to spearhead Spain's attack after a phenomenal campaign with Atheltic Bilbao. In midfield, Spain's lavish assortment of playmakers continues to be the envy of Europe and Del Bosque, who plans to leave after Euro 2016, will leave out many who would walk into other national sides. David Silva and Cesc Fabregas can unpick the most tightly locked defences, Andres Iniesta will make things tick in the manner of his old ally Xavi, while colleague Sergio Busquets is now the fulcrum for club and country. Spain's lacklustre display in March's 1-1 friendly draw against Italy without Busquets underlined how pivotal his midfield anchoring role will be in France. At the back, advancing years and an occasional tendency for mistakes could further test the uneasy truce between Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique, although the and Barcelona centre-backs remain elite operators. Del Bosque has a decision to make in goal between Iker Casillas and David de Gea, the latter of whom has been persistently brilliant for this season. The upside for Spain fans is that, even with the signs of their waning power, on their day the champions are still capable of beating anyone. Spain will start their defence against, before taking on and in Group D. Progress from that pool looks the minimum they can expect, but a run to the final, and ultimate glory, might be trickier this time around.An alternative National Anthem will be read out as a poem before games in the NRL Telstra Premiership's Indigenous Round this week. The initiative has been pushed by Australian Rugby League commissioner Dr Chris Sarra, who has gained international recognition for his leadership in Indigenous education. The alternative lyrics to the National Anthem were written and recorded by Judith Durham, lead singer of The Seekers, in 2009. "Inclusiveness is one of the values of our game of rugby league – the greatest game of all," Sarra said on ABC Radio on Thursday. "We take those things seriously and given that it is Indigenous Round we thought it would be a good way to gently say to the rest of the country, 'you know what, our National Anthem in its current form is not as inclusive as it could be. There is an alternative set of words that sounds very similar to the existing one that is worth having a look at'. "It won't be played as the National Anthem but it will be recited as a poem. We just wanted the country to have a think about it and start the conversation about who we are." The NRL will celebrate Indigenous Round throughout Round 10, with every NRL club wearing Indigenous inspired jerseys during the round for the first time in history. A series of cultural performances, gift exchanges and Welcome to Country ceremonies will occur at matches, with a theme of Recognition as the focal point throughout the round. Past Indigenous legends of the game, Dean Widders and George Rose, will also spend time with each club in the lead up to the round, educating teams on the importance of the round and history of rugby league amongst Indigenous communities. "When I was speaking to my colleagues at the Commission and Todd Greenberg, I said to them 'when we play the National Anthem in its current form I'll stand up as it's polite to do so, but when I listen to the lyrics I don't particularly feel included and I'm not sure that new Australians would feel particularly included, and I'm not even sure that most Australians really connect with our current National Anthem'," Sarra said. "The alternative form of words is pretty spectacular. When you hear it sung, it's the kind of thing that a National Anthem should do. It gives you goosebumps. "We're all clever people and we're aware that this can get highly emotive. We didn't want to upset our corporate sponsors or our relationship with government, or our fans. We just wanted to say 'have a think about this'." The NRL is continuing its partnership with RECOGNISE throughout Indigenous Round, with support for the movement to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution and ensure there is no place for racial discrimination. In addition, the NRL will also celebrate the 1967 Referendum to enable States and Territories to make laws in support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to count them in the census, and the 25th anniversary of the 1992 High Court Mabo decision that recognised native title for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Judith Durham's alternative National Anthem lyrics Australians let us stand as one, upon this sacred land. A new day dawns, we’re moving on to trust and understand. Combine our ancient history and cultures everywhere, To bond together for all time, advance Australia fair. With loving hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair. Australians let us all be one, with peace and harmony. Our precious water, soil and sun, grant life for you and me. Our land abounds in nature’s gifts to love, respect and share, And honouring the Dreaming, advance Australia fair. With loving hearts then let us sing, advance Australia fair.OTTAWA—“Lone wolf” attacks more often come from white supremacists and extreme right-wing ideologies than from Islamic radicalism, internal CSIS documents say. Citing recent academic research, the unclassified documents note extreme right-wing and white supremacist ideology has been the “main ideological source” for 17 per cent of so-called lone wolf attacks worldwide. Ziyaad Mia, of the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association, says anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada is a growing concern and "some of this xenophobia is being stoked by political leaders." ( Chris So / Toronto Star file photo ) Islamic extremism accounted for 15 per cent of such attacks, the document noted, while left-wing extremism and “black power” groups followed with 13 per cent. Anti-abortion activism (8 per cent) and nationalism/separatism (7 per cent) rounded out the list, while in 40 per cent of cases there was no clear ideological motivation. “Lone actors tend to create their own ideologies that combine personal frustrations and grievances, with wider political, social, or religious issues,” note the documents prepared for Michael Peirce, assistant director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. “This study confirms that lone actor terrorism runs the gamut of ideological persuasions.” Article Continued Below The documents, obtained by the Star under access to information law, were prepared for Peirce’s appearance before a Senate committee on national security in October. His testimony came five days after Michael Zehaf-Bibeau fatally shot Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial. In a video recorded minutes before the shooting, Zehaf-Bibeau claimed his actions were in retaliation for Canada’s combat missions in Afghanistan and, more recently, Iraq. Zehaf-Bibeau’s attack came days after Martin Couture-Rouleau ran down Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Authorities said Couture-Rouleau was frustrated after he was refused a passport, allegedly to travel to Syria and fight for the Islamic State. Those two attacks have focused the Canadian conversation about domestic terrorism on radical Islam to the exclusion of other potential threats. The Conservative government has repeatedly referred to the attacks to sell its new anti-terror legislation, which would give Canada’s spies police-like powers to “disrupt” threats. Other Canadian lone wolf attacks, such as Justin Bourque’s shooting rampage in Moncton last June that left three RCMP officers dead, were not automatically branded as terrorism. After three people were arrested last month in an alleged plot to open fire in the Halifax Shopping Centre, Justice Minister Peter MacKay called them “murderous misfits” — not terrorists — because their attacks were not “culturally motivated.” When reporters later asked MacKay to explain what he considers terrorism, he encouraged them to “look it up” in the Criminal Code. But Prime Minister Stephen Harper has often referred to the threat of Islamic extremism in the House of Commons, and once mentioned the “jihadist monster” whose “tentacles” reached the Parliament buildings. Article Continued Below The CSIS documents explicitly warn that the notion the Western world is at war with Islam plays into terrorist recruitment strategies. “International terrorist groups place a high priority on radicalizing Westerners who can be used to carry out terrorist attacks in their home countries,” the documents read. “The narrative that the West is at war with Islam continues to exert a very powerful influence in radicalizing individuals and spreads quickly through social media and online fora.” Other CSIS documents, obtained by The Canadian Press, warned the Conservatives last September that there is an emerging anti-Islam movement in Canada, similar to movements in Europe. Ziyaad Mia, who has been following the government’s proposed new spy powers for the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association, said anti-Muslim sentiment in Canada is a growing concern, particularly in the context of the rhetoric from top government officials. “Some of this xenophobia is being stoked by political leaders. And I think that is a problem,” Mia told the Star this week. “Some of our political leaders need to tone that rhetoric down and actually calm people down … and tell people this is not the right way to go, instead of stoking the fears of xenophobia by talking about the war on terror and (that) we’re in this sort of apocalyptic conflict with the Islamic State.” The Star requested an interview with Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney’s office, as well as CSIS, for this article. Public Safety “respectfully declined” the request. In a written statement, a spokesperson for the department said the government is attempting to give police more tools to combat terrorists and the “fear they hope to generate.” “The government always vigilantly monitors the full range of threats to Canada and Canadian interests,” Josée Sirois wrote.By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement "Alien-like" scenes of tadpoles feasting on eggs emerging from their mother have been caught on camera. The footage marks the success of a captive breeding programme for the critically endangered mountain chicken frog, one of the world's largest frogs. In April, 50 of the amphibian giants were airlifted from Montserrat after a deadly fungus swept through the island, devastating the population. Now several breeding programmes are under way to save the frogs. Once numbers have been boosted in captivity, researchers hope to reintroduce the frogs back into the wild within the next two years. Bizarre sight The remarkable footage was recorded at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey, which took in 12 of the rescued frogs. Twenty-six others went to Parken Zoo in Sweden, and 12 are now housed in ZSL London Zoo. Giant of the forest Enlarge Image So far, four pairs of mountain chicken frogs have started to breed - which could result in hundreds of frogs. And this has given researchers an insight into the way that these unusual amphibians care for their offspring. "Mountain chickens have very peculiar breeding habits because they form foam nests in burrows in the ground," said professor John Fa, director of Durrell. The females lay their eggs in these nests, which eventually hatch into tadpoles. But as the nests are underground, food is scarce - so the frogs need to find a way to provide nutrition for their young. "In the case of mountain chickens, we have discovered that the female comes into the nest and starts laying a string of infertile eggs. The tadpoles feast on the unfertilised eggs "We thought that the eggs would come out and drop to the bottom of the nest and then the tadpoles would start eating them. But the footage shows about 40 tadpoles congregating around the female and eating the eggs as they come out of the female's body. "Every now and again, the female uses her back legs to push the tadpoles away from her body so another set can come up and eat as much as they can." "It is really weird - it is an alien scene. This is the first time we have caught this on film," professor Fa said. Frog killer The mountain chicken frog (Leptodactylus fallax) is one of the world's most threatened frogs. The frog is so called because its meat tastes like chicken. It was once found on seven Caribbean Islands, but thanks to hunting and environmental pressures it is currently found only on Montserrat and Dominica. Q&A: The frog-killer fungus Now, however, the deadly chytrid fungus, which has devastated amphibian populations around the globe, has also ravaged Dominica's mountain chickens. The fungus was first detected on the island in 2002, and within 15 months, 80% of the mountain chicken population had been obliterated. Conservationists were extremely concerned when they found that the chytrid fungus had spread to Montserrat earlier this year, and was sweeping quickly through the last mountain chicken population. The team made a decision to airlift some of the last healthy frogs and bring them into captivity in a bid to save the creatures from extinction. "Things are not going terribly well in Montserrat because chytrid has now infected the safe population - or at least the one we thought was safe," professor Fa said. The breeding success has offered scientists a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak situation, and they are now concentrating on increasing the frogs' numbers. The team hopes to get the mountain chickens back into the wild They hope to eventually release the captive mountain chickens back to their native home of Montserrat, and are currently looking for sites that are free of the deadly fungus. "If that doesn't work, if the area is infected, we will have to think again, and it could be that we take the animals to another island. "Within a year or two we have to get these animals back to the wild. The longer you keep them in captivity, the more difficult it is for them to enjoy a life in the wild again," professor Fa said. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionIn a matter of hours the “Gina Carano Actually Has A Life Outside The Ring” blogger-gasm has gone into full effect. The following photos come to us via Fan IQ/Cage Potato/MMA Fight Girls/MMA Underground Forums. Anyone we’re missing? Here is the story recap. Gina has this friend who goes by the name Tonya Evinger. She is also a cage fighter from the infamous Evinger family out of Odessa, Texas. This family does two things: kick ass and party. Gina runs with the Evinger’s, especially Tonya. Tonya, being Texan we suppose, likes living the hard life and has a thing for Gina Carano as you will see after the jump. Tonya Evinger and Gina Carano cutout Even if Tonya is a bad influence on Gina, it doesn’t seem the MMA golden girl has to be persuaded to get on top of her friend. The smile says it all. Here are the two ‘friends’ outside of the bedroom. Gina and another chick from the Evinger stable. And how can forget the Gina Carano cell phone holder? Tonya and our hero pre-bed romp? Who cares.There are few things as satisfying – and dangerous – as burning through stuff with a laser. Drake Anthony AKA Styropyro is a young man who enjoys making DIY lasers out of things, and he recently completed a 3000mW laser made from the diode of an old DLP projector that can blow out a beam so hot that it burns paper, plastic, and electric tape in seconds. Considering the most powerful handheld laser you can buy clocks in at 1,400mW, Anthony’s laser is pretty powerful. He has an entire YouTube channel dedicated to his potentially-damaging efforts, although this light-saber-esque laser is probably his most impressive feat yet. Considering he makes is enclosures and the electronics himself and he’s still in his teens, it looks like Styropyro has a long career ahead of him training his laser cannons on enemy attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. via GizThe closer November 2 gets the more Fox News supports Republican candidates, not only in their role as Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, but also financially, through their parent corporation, News Corp. Murdoch lied, when he said those donations had nothing to do with Fox. But now that lie may have opened him up to legal trouble: In August, News Corporation — the media company owned by right-wing tycoon Rupert Murdoch and the operator of Fox News — gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association. Several weeks later, it donated another $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. When asked about the RGA donation, Rupert Murdoch explained: “It had nothing to do with Fox News. The RGA [gift] was actually [a result of] my friendship with John Kasich.” As ThinkProgress’ Ian Millhiser reported, there are laws against corporate managers treating a publicly-traded corporation as if it were their own personal bank account. The Supreme Court in Delaware, where News Corp. is incorporated, has made it clear that “[c]orporate officers and directors are not permitted to use their position of trust and confidence to further their private interests.” Now, shareholders may be taking notice of the potential illegality outlined by Millhiser. The New York Times reported today that The Nathan Cummings Foundation, a shareholder of News Corp., wrote a letter to the company’s board objecting to the company’s political donations, and warned against the use of “corporate treasury funds to further the personal political agendas of corporate management.” This afternoon, Media Matters obtained a statement from another investor, F&C Investments, which says it will oppose the re-election of the Chairman of the Audit Committee at News Corp.’s annual meeting this Friday in response to the donation controversy. F&C says it, too, is concerned about shareholder money being used to further the political goals of “individuals” within the company… [emphasis added]Last month, a group of fiscal conservatives were unceremoniously kicked off of their committee assignements by House Speaker John Boehner. The purge highlighted the schism between GOP leadership and fiscal conservatives in the House and set off the grassroots in their defense. While these members may eventually find themselves facing primary challenges because of their willingness to stand strong on fiscal issues, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) is finding that standing by his principles is resonating well at home: On Wednesday night, Amash took questions at a town hall meeting at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, a place that honors the presidency and long congressional career of a consummate party loyalist and legislative consensus builder. Amash, born three years after Ford left the White House, is taking a different path — bucking the GOP leadership on issue after issue, including last week’s challenge to Boehner’s re-election as speaker. A crowd of about 175 people turned out for the town hall in downtown Grand Rapids. “It’s been a very eventful last month or two in Congress, to say the least,” Amash said, alluding to his newfound notoriety. “Even I’m sick of seeing myself in the paper.” But the very warm reception was also a reminder that for a conservative Republican elected from a conservative district, being labeled a troublemaker by the establishment is not necessarily bad politics back home. Amash said his two main goals as a congressman are to get a handle on spending and to bring transparency to the process. He says Americans need to better understand how Washington works and what Congress does to begin to fix things. “There’s a system in Washington, D.C., that is not right. And it’s not because people are Republican or Democrat. The whole thing is broken,” said Amash, who has garnered attention for using Facebook to explain each of his House votes. While he was challenged by one attendee on being stripped of his committee assignment and challenging Boehner, Amash explained, “At the end of the day, the kind of, where you go along with everyone just to get along politics, it doesn’t really do much for the American people. It doesn’t do much for you as my constituents — the people I’m representing.” Amash really is one of the few good guys on the Hill. He’s not trying to be part of “Team Republican,” he trying to hold both parties in Congress accountable, even his own leadership, when they sell out taxpayers for sake of political expediency.Is there an apt comparison to be made between Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who went to their deaths in Sing Sing prison’s electric chair in 1953 for “conspiracy to commit espionage,” and Private First Class Bradley Manning, who was convicted on July 30 of 17 of 22 charges of espionage and theft? Most people would immediately say "yes." Writing in the Los Angeles Times, the Rosenbergs' youngest son, Robert Meeropol, says of Manning: “I feel a kinship for him.” The Rosenbergs provided military and atomic information to the Soviet Union of Joseph Stalin, both during the years of World War II and in the days of the early Cold War; Manning violated his oath to the United States when he gave classified secrets to Julian Assange’s Wikileaks. Both Manning and the Rosenbergs endangered American national security out of a misguided belief that they were serving the higher interests of humanity. The Rosenbergs believed that the world working class, whose interests were protected by the Soviet Union, deserved any military secrets they desired. Manning believes that there should be no secrets, and hence any data he had access to rightfully should be told to one and all. If we excused people who betray their country out of a delusional belief that they are doing so for a higher cause than patriotism to their own nation, then our nation would truly be in mortal danger from our enemies. Robert Meeropol doesn’t see it that way. The logic he shows in his op-ed is actually quite revealing. While the prosecutors claim that Manning was guilty of “espionage, theft and other unsavory terms,” Meeropol believes that “what Manning really did was reveal the truth of our government’s action to the American people and the world.” He goes on to draw his analogy between the fate of his parents and that of Manning. After cknowledging that his father and co-defendant Morton Sobell “did provide valuable military information to the Soviet Union during the 1940s” -- to my knowledge an acknowledgment he has never made before -- Meeropol then argues incorrectly that his parents' espionage network did not provide atomic information. Also, the experience of his parents’ trial, sentencing, and execution has led him to believe that “citizens must know what the government is doing in their name.” Meeropol begrudges those who think “Manning is a traitor.” As he sees it, the convicted soldier only “released classified material that embarrassed the U.S. government” and might “put us at a disadvantage when dealing with other nations.” Nothing significant, evidently -- just like what his father gave to the Soviets, though valuable, did not deserve a death sentence or even a conviction. He no longer believes in his parents’ dream of “faith in the USSR,” but he understands their supposedly well-meaning motivation. But his own faith, he writes, is to “humanity as a whole.” And Mr. Meeropol has decided that Bradley Manning is only a whistleblower who, like Meeropol himself, says he feels “connected to everybody.” Reading Manning’s words, Meeropol adds: “Isn’t that how we all should be thinking?” Well, no, it is not. The situation and threats we face do not permit us the luxury to give away secrets necessary to our national security. Let us take a look at what Bradley Manning wrought upon us. As James Kirchick writes in the Daily News, Manning is nothing less than a traitor. Indeed, he argues that the Manning was lucky to avoid the death penalty, which Kirchick believes was well-deserved because he committed capital crimes. First, Manning provided the names of individuals who opposed authoritarian regimes, and whose disclosure puts them at risk of attack and death in their own countries. For example, he disclosed the names of judges who were willing to take part in a trial in Lebanon of those responsible for the death of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who had been assassinated by Hezbollah and its Syrian patrons in 2005. A cable from the U.S. ambassador stated: “These persons are at risk of being threatened or assassinated for agreeing to act as tribunal judges.” Did we need to know their names, Robert? Another cable given to WikiLeaks by Manning named two brave human-rights activists who were giving information about the horrors of the Assad regime in Syria to the United States. How does that serve “humanity as a whole”? There are scores of similar items cited in Kirchick’s article. But even more important, Kirchick writes, “is the vast chilling effect that Manning’s treachery has had, and will continue to have, on American diplomacy.” Opponents of Iran’s move to obtaining a nuclear weapon, for example, will now find that the leaks greatly interfere with our diplomats gaining information and acting wisely, since those who previously might have come forth now will wonder whether Manning’s leaks have compromised them. A whistleblower is one thing; the release of information that inhibits freedom of the U.S. and its representatives to act abroad in our nation’s interest is another thing -- since our enemies, and not just our citizens, have access to what he gave away. U.S. actions in Iraq, which he and Meeropol oppose, are not excuses for releasing classified information because of a misbegotten view that everyone has a “right to know.” As Kirchick concludes: “Manning’s supporters reveal themselves to be inspired less by justice than by a vengeful, anti-state dogma directed mostly at one state: The United States.” Robert Meeropol is a citizen of this country -- not the world. His parents were citizens of the United States also, although in their minds they were subjects of Joseph Stalin and the U.S.S.R., to whom they thought they had a duty to serve. Manning felt, as a soldier who knew him testified in court, that he had “no allegiance” to the United States, and that our flag “meant nothing to him.” Unfortunately, he took an oath to our country that he betrayed. He deserved to be found guilty, just as the jury rightfully convicted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg many decades ago. Robert Meeropol’s belief that it is wrong to “elevate the interests of our country above those of all others” is nothing but foolish, dangerous, and wrong-headed. Citizens of this country owe their allegiance to this country, not to a mythical world government in which we all supposedly live, and all share democratic values. One cannot align instead with “humanity as a whole,” unless Mr. Meeropol wants to harm his own country at a time in which much of the rest of humanity are not exactly our bosom friends. Bradley Manning betrayed and harmed his own country, just as Julius and Ethel Rosenberg did in the '30s and '40s. Both were rightfully convicted. How sad that Robert Meeropol still holds illusions that blind him to reality.Is the evil, that many cite as indicative of the 'failure' of the 'War on Drugs,' actually a perverse indices of its success? Ernest A. Canning Byon 4/20/2012, 8:05am PT Guest Editorial Series by Ernest A. Canning Even a glimpse at the statistics leads knowledgeable sources, like Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, to describe the 'War on Drugs' as a "failed prohibitionist policy." "Over the last 40 years, more than 45 million drug-related arrests have cost an estimated $1 trillion," Amy Goodman reported on Democracy Now! "Yet drugs are cheaper, purer and more available today than ever." And that's just in the U.S. According to the United Nations' 2011 World Drug Report [PDF], "in 2009, between 149 and 272 million people...aged 15-64 used illicit substances at least once in the previous year." The UN estimated that Cannabis was "consumed by between 125 and 203 million people worldwide in 2009," adding: Drug traffickers and organized criminals are forming transnational networks, sourcing drugs on one continent, trafficking them across another, and marketing them in a third. In some countries and regions, the value of the illicit drug trade far exceeds the size of the legitimate economy. But Nadelmann's description of the 'War on Drugs' as a "failed prohibitionist policy" is derived from the supposition that the 'War on Drugs', at least here in the U.S., was actually formulated with a desire to suppress or eliminate drug abuse. In PART 1 of this series, we examined the question of whether the U.S. Government's effort to challenge legalization of marijuana in California and elsewhere was akin to shutting down the competition, given the CIA's long-documented history of profiting from the world-wide drug trade. In PART 2 we posited that an end to the 'War on Drugs' could deliver a devastating blow to the bottom line of American corporations who have come to depend upon the Prison Industrial Complex in the U.S. and its huge pool of slave laborers --- most, non-violent drug offenders. So now, we must examine the hypothesis that, if accurate, should rock us all to our core. What if the horrific consequences of the worldwide drug trade, which, per the UN 2011 World Drug Report, includes an annual death toll of 200,000, are precisely what President Nixon and the covert branches of U.S. Empire had in mind when formulating a policy that would enhance the domination of the 1% over the 99%? Are we now living in a form of Aldus Huxley's Brave New World in which "Failure is Success" can be added to the three slogans from George Orwell's 1984 --- "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery" and "Ignorance is Strength" --- a world in which a vote against legalization is actually a vote in favor of illicit distribution by organized crime and their allies in the CIA?... U.S. Empire resists legalization because it would lessen Empire's grip As revealed during a poignant March 9, 2012 segment of Democracy Now (see video below), Vice President Joe Biden's statement that "'there is no possibility' the U.S. will back legalization," has failed to deter a growing consensus amongst leaders in Mexico and other Latin-American nations that the 'War on Drugs' should be replaced by some measure of legalization to, in the words of host Juan González, "reduce the power of drug cartels and reduce the bloodshed connected to the drug war." According to an April 14, 2012 Los Angeles Times article, the Obama Administration's 'War on Drugs' stance will face a "rocky reception" at the 33-member Summit of the Americas in Cartegena, where the Presidents of Columbia and Guatemala are pushing for legalization, taxation and regulation of "marijuana and other illicit drugs." The U.S. rhetoric of the 'War on Drugs' rings hollow, especially in Mexico, where CNN reports "nearly 48,000 people have been killed in suspected drug-related violence" in the last five years, including 13,000 in "the first three quarters of 2011 --- a number that does not include the more than 5,000 people who have disappeared." The concern about the power of the cartels and escalating violence comes full circle to the recent DOJ/DEA crackdown on even medicinal marijuana in California when placed in the context of the claim made by Jorge Castañeda, former foreign minister of Mexico. He notes that, per the DEA's own estimates, somewhere between 40% and 60% of the Mexican cartels' profits come from marijuana. Legalize marijuana, therefore, and 40%-60% of the cartels' revenue vanishes overnight. Legalize, regulate and tax all narcotics (with concurrent efforts at medical, educational and psychological assistance in avoiding substance abuse) and the cartels would be swept into the dustbin of history.* Nadelmann asserts that there is a growing recognition amongst Latin American leaders that there is simply no "evidence that any militaristic, criminal justice crackdown strategy can defeat what is essentially a global commodities market." Years of evidence suggests he's right, but it also seems significant that the growing resistance to the 'War on Drugs' comes from a region where one nation after another is breaking free from the control of the U.S. corporate global Empire --- an Empire on behalf of whom the CIA has long had a green light to bypass "any militaristic, criminal justice crackdown." Frankenstein's monster If the core hypothesis of this three-part series is accurate, if the 'War on Drugs' was created and perpetuated in order to effectuate the control of the 1% over the 99% by such machinations as covert CIA funding and the pool of slave labor created by the Prison Industrial Complex --- goals that have created a symbiotic relationship between Empire and the murderous drug cartels --- we may now be approaching the stage where Empire's pact with the Devil has come home to roost. The same CNN report, quoted above, which described the growing carnage in Mexico, reveals that it has now migrated northward: Street gangs with cartel ties are not only in Los Angeles and Dallas, but also in many smaller cities across the United States and much farther north of the Mexican border. Mexican cartels had a presence in 230 cities in the United States in 2008, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Its 2011 report shows that presence has grown to more than 1,000 U.S. cities. While the violence has remained mostly in Mexico, authorities in Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Alabama and other states have reportedly investigated abductions and killings suspected to be tied to cartels. A Great Awakening? Although an effort to legalize, regulate and tax recreational use of marijuana failed when a majority of Californians reportedly** voted "no" on Prop. 19 in Nov. 2010, citizens in both Colorado and Washington state will likely be given the opportunity to vote on legalization in Nov. 2012. Significantly, amongst those supporting the WA initiative are former Republican NM Gov. Gary Johnson, former U.S. Attorneys John McKay & Katrina Pflaumer, former state Superior Court Judge Robert Alsdorf, and former FBI agent Charles Mandigo. Separately, more than 300 economists, including three Nobel laureates, on the basis of a study by Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron suggesting the U.S. would save as much as $13.7 billion/year if marijuana were legalized, signed a petition calling for an open debate in which "advocates of current policy" would be forced "to show that prohibition has benefits sufficient to justify the cost to taxpayers, foregone tax revenues, and numerous ancillary consequences that result from marijuana prohibition." Passage of the measures now pending in WA and CO, of course, would not preclude a repeat of the recent federal crackdowns on CA medicinal marijuana clinics. But, as the late historian Howard Zinn observed in A Power Governments Cannot Suppress : "When the citizens begin to suspect they have been deceived and withdraw their support, government loses its legitimacy and its power." Make no mistake. When it comes to the 'War on Drugs,' we have all been deceived. • PART 1 of this series is here. • PART 2 of this series is here. ___ * * * Democracy Now!'s 3/9/12 segment covering the growing Latin American resistance to the 'War on Drugs' follows... * * * Ernest A. Canning has been an active member of the California state bar since 1977. Mr. Canning has received both undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science as well as a juris doctor. He is also a Vietnam vet (4th Infantry, Central Highlands 1968). Follow him on Twitter
mission reports the priority - have npc_mission_seek_recognition embassy_results include the other three logical outcomes - drop missions that have no dialog in case a companion somehow ends up with one - override prisoner escape chance properly - rewrite auto-defect trigger - add cultural considerations to new faction pick - prevent random event losses for raiding villages during siege when not actually doing so - remove lovers' system that was making all ladies adulteresses - use correct title strings for Scots/Irish and fix other inconsistencies and omissions - fix ask peace dialog - fix ambiguity in player/faction relations (removes ability to threaten own kingdom's caravans) - add Mod ID string - place sound controls in mission templates to make sure loop tracks are killed - add ambiance to lair interiors - fix refuge chest - fix logic of child count dialogs - fix bard improve relations with lady - fix behavior of rescued lords - fix behavior of ambiance neutrals during jailbreak - fix "hole" in recruit permission dialog when already have it - move recruit permission update from triggers to script - player loses permission to recruit in center that gets new owner - fix fiefs string for lord select for fief - remove player picture from refuge menu - fix troop training management - unset g_encountered_party when it is removed (invalid party bug) - add proper conditions to Hadrian Wall dialog and kill experience reward exploit - fix tutorial message for Roman Baths ruins - adjust pricing formulas (attempt to prevent changes from buying/selling same article) - disable some monastery options when learning to read (early exit exploit) - disable scouts (and their loss) at sea - shut down random events at sea - exclude non-normal villages from lute search (quest was blocked when village inaccessible) - allow slaughter of non-quest cattle after cattle delivered - correct standard bearer report on Camp Menu - allow only one town recruiting run from whatever menu (recruit picking exploit) - clean up event_triggered dialogs, particularly for returning party members - check spiral death cam is finished before attempting to leave scene - attempt to eliminate sometime corruption of refuge text - make immersive default ship names - reinitialize item info (wiped out in someone's save game by unknown cause) - fix craftsmen names - test slot_faction_political_issue properly (has two default values, which rendered the system inoperative half the time) - fix debug message producing false commander mismatches - fix and improve mutiny duel trigger - add backstop at automenu trigger to ensure campaign death after mutiny duel loss FACTION RESTORATION - process just one faction at a time - adjust rate of restorations to about 1/month at end of game - produce no more than one "Possible Rebellion" message (if no rebellion), and have it escalate with number of walled centers - remove player-based all-or-nothing phaseout - make lord defection dependent on current king relation - make sure faction leader joins resurgent faction - avoid giving money to undefined troop - fix the growth of the rebellion, include adventurers - bring in supporting lords if rebellion threatened (to avoid stranding them if faction is destroyed AGAIN) - avoid auto-war with player FAST-TRACKED DURING BETA - fix dog interference with army orders (order ALL bug) - fix hire refuge armorer - allow visit village leader at night from menu - prohibit battle panel by down player (leading to crazy camera) BINARIES - Viking banner textures (fix some white backgrounds) - scn_caravanatacada.sco - scn_castle_37_exterior.scoTune in to HLN's "Nancy Grace" at 8 ET Thursday night for new details on the trial of Casey Anthony. Follow the details as they happen at our special Casey Anthony trial page. (CNN) -- Prosecutors on Thursday questioned George Anthony, the father of murder suspect Casey Anthony, about gas cans he reported missing around the time his 2-year-old granddaughter disappeared. Casey Anthony's former boyfriend Anthony Lazzaro testified the day before that he had helped her break into the shed at her parents' home on June 23, 2008 -- one week after her little girl, Caylee Anthony, was last seen. According to testimony, however, neither Anthony's parents nor Lazzaro knew that the child was missing, as Anthony insisted that she was in the care of a nanny at the time. Lazzaro said Casey Anthony called him and told him she had run out of gas. They got the gas cans, and Anthony put the gas in her car herself, he testified. On June 24, George Anthony called police to report the break-in and report the gas cans missing. He testified that he saw his daughter later in the day and argued with her about the missing cans, because he had a hunch she had them, as she had taken the cans before. Anthony said that when he went to get them out of his daughter's car, she bristled, brushed past him, quickly opened the trunk and retrieved the gas cans, throwing them down and telling him, "Here's your f---ing gas cans." The gas cans are significant to the case because a piece of duct tape on them appears to be the same as that found on the mouth of Caylee's skeletal remains, which were found six months after the child went missing. The type of tape, prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick told jurors in her opening statement this week, is relatively rare. "I'm probably the one who put that on" the gas can, George Anthony said, adding that at the time, after Caylee was reported missing, he and his wife were "running on fumes.... I'm trying to do the best I can." He said that when his daughter returned the gas cans to him, there was no tape on them. But he said a vent cap on one was gone, and he put the tape on "because I didn't want a gas smell in the shed or house." George Anthony had several testy exchanges with defense attorney Jose Baez during his testimony, at one point telling him, "You're badgering me. You're trying to get me upset." In addition to capital murder in Caylee's death, Casey Anthony, now 25, faces six other charges, including aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and providing false information to authorities. If she is convicted by the jurors -- seven women and five men -- she could face the death penalty. Anthony has pleaded not guilty and denies harming her daughter or having anything to do with her disappearance. Baez has said that once all the facts are known, it will become clear that his client is not guilty. The Orlando trial, which comes after nearly three years of legal twists, turns and delays, has garnered interest nationwide. George Anthony testified Tuesday and was re-called to the stand Thursday for part of the morning session. Also testifying Thursday was Ricardo Morales, who dated Anthony briefly in early 2008 before she met Lazzaro. Morales testified that the two continued their friendship after breaking up, to the point that Anthony stayed overnight at his house June 9 and 10, 2008. She brought Caylee with her, he said, and the three slept in his bed, with Anthony in the middle. He denied any sexual contact with Anthony while Caylee was in the bed. He said that after June 10, he never saw Caylee again, but he saw Anthony on July 1 and again on July 15, when she picked him up at the airport after he had vacationed in Puerto Rico. At no time did she mention that her daughter was missing or had been kidnapped, he testified, and he saw no change in her demeanor. She was "happy, smiling. She was asking us how our trip was," Morales said. "Just normal Casey." Morales was one of numerous people, including Lazzaro, his roommates and other acquaintances, who said Anthony did not mention Caylee's disappearance between June 16, 2008, the day the little girl was last seen, until the evening of July 15, when Anthony's mother, Cindy, reported her missing to authorities. Each witness testified they saw nothing different in Anthony's demeanor and that she did not tell them her child was missing or had been kidnapped. However, under cross-examination by Baez, those who saw Anthony and her daughter together testified that Caylee was well taken care of and that Anthony, at least to their knowledge, appeared to be a good mother. Dante Salati, who testified that he went to high school with Anthony, testified that he saw genuine affection between her and Caylee. Asked by Baez whether he found it shocking that he wouldn't notice a change in her behavior after the little girl disappeared, Salati said yes. Melissa England, an acquaintance who shopped and had dinner with Anthony on July 3, recalled her saying that she was thinking of leaving Orlando for a place with a better school system so Caylee "could get a better education." England also testified that Anthony received a call and told some other friends that she had car trouble and couldn't go out with them. As she hung up, Anthony remarked, "Oh, my God, I'm such a good liar," England said. Anthony, listening to her testimony, shook her head. England did recall that as she and Anthony were out with others that night, Anthony received several calls and became upset and cried, eventually saying she wanted to leave. England said her boyfriend told her Anthony was arguing with her brother, but Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. ordered the jurors not to consider that statement after Baez objected. Anthony repeatedly visited at least two nightclubs during the month Caylee was missing and participated in a "hot body" contest at the Fusion Ultra Lounge. Two women who worked as "shot girls" selling alcoholic shots to club patrons there testified Wednesday that Anthony was a sort of overseer, telling them where to be and making sure they weren't harmed. Lazzaro and his roommates said that when they asked where Caylee was, Anthony told them she was with her nanny, mentioning that the nanny was taking her to Universal Studios and to the beach. In the early days of the investigation, Anthony said the nanny, who she said was named Zenaida Gonzalez and nicknamed "Zanny," had kidnapped Caylee. Authorities were never able to find the nanny but did track down a woman with that name who denied ever meeting Anthony and later sued her for defamation. One friend of Anthony's, Matthew Crisp, testified that he met her for lunch on July 7 and asked about Caylee. Anthony told him "she was in Sanford on a playdate with one of her girlfriends who also had a child." Sanford is about 25 miles north of Orlando. The Anthony's next-door neighbor, Brian Burner, testified Wednesday that he was doing yard work outside his house on June 18 when Casey Anthony approached him and asked to borrow a shovel "to dig up a bamboo root." She returned it about an hour later, he said. George Anthony testified Thursday that he owns several shovels. Prosecutors allege that Casey Anthony, after conducting searches regarding chloroform on her computer, used chloroform on her daughter, then put duct tape over her nose and mouth, suffocating her. Baez, in his opening statement Tuesday, dropped bombshell allegations, telling jurors that Caylee was not murdered at all, but drowned in the Anthonys' pool on June 16. He said Anthony and her father panicked upon finding the child and kept it secret. He explained Casey Anthony's behavior in the month Caylee was missing by alleging that she was sexually abused starting at age 8 by her father and that she had been schooled from a young age to "hide her pain." In his earlier testimony, George Anthony denied ever sexually abusing his daughter or that he found Caylee dead in his pool. HLN's "Nancy Grace" producers Philip Rosenbaum and Lee Alexander contributed to this report. Watch Nancy Grace Monday through Sunday starting at 8 p.m. ET on HLN. For the latest from Nancy Grace click here.Japanese blog reports that Apple will be redesigning the iPod nano later this year with a new form factor that more closely resembles an iPod touch. According to the report, the iPod nano will apparently sport a rectangular screen and a home button similar to that found on iOS devices.Given that the screen size on this redesigned iPod nano would appear to be substantially smaller than the iPhone/iPod touch, it seems unlikely that the iPod nano would run iOS apps. Instead, Apple is likely to use a custom operating system and apps skinned to resemble iOS as found on the current incarnation of the iPod nano.The report also indicates that Apple will be bringing a "dedicated new iTunes service" to the device, but there is no word on what that service would entail.Apple's iPod lines have generally trended to smaller form factors with each redesign, but this rumored redesign would appear to mark a substantial increase in size from the current form factor, which was introduced in September 2010. Several leaked photos have suggested that Apple planned to add a camera to the smaller form factor, but it appears that the company may have ultimately scrapped those plans.It would not be unprecedented, however, for Apple to decide that smaller is not necessarily better, particularly if the iPod nano can see increased functionality with the new design. Apple famously removed virtually all buttons from the iPod shuffle in March 2009 as it moved controls to the headphone cord, but a September 2010 redesign saw the return of the click wheel and other on-device buttons.The rescue of the 33 unfortunate Chilean miners has definitely turn into an international media event. All aspects of the rescue have been carefully staged to make the entire thing a spectacular show inspiring emotions, admiration and national pride. For those knowledgeable of Masonic and occult symbolism, it is hard not to ponder on the numerological and symbolic facts of the event. Here are some of them: 1- The number of Miners Insignia of the 33rd (and highest) Degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry The number 33 is of great importance in Freemasonry and in Qabbalistic system of numbers. It can be found in many instances in Masonic lore. “For example, consider the number 33. The first temple of Solomon stood for thirty-three years in its pristine splendor. At the end of that time it was pillaged by the Egyptian King Shishak, and finally (588 B.C.) it was completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the people of Jerusalem were led into captivity to Babylon. (See General History of Freemasonry, by Robert Macoy.) Also King David ruled for thirty-three years in Jerusalem; the Masonic Order is divided into thirty-three symbolic degrees; there are thirty-three segments in the human spinal column; and Jesus was crucified in the thirty-third year of His life.” – Manly P. Hall, Secret Teachings of All Ages “Alchemy is a threefold art, its mystery well symbolized by a triangle. Its symbol is 3 times 3 – three elements or processes in three worlds or spheres. The 3 times 3 is part of the mystery of the 33rd degree of Freemasonry, for 33 is 3 times 3, which is 9, the number of esoteric man and the number of emanations from the root of the Divine Tree.” – Ibid 2- The Date of the Event The date of the start of the rescue is also significant: 10/13/10 which can qabbalistically be calculated this way: 10 + 13 + 10 which equals…33. 3- The Phoenix The name of the rescue device was named “Fénix” (Phoenix), which is the bird that rose from its ashes. Once again, the selection of the name Phoenix, a mythological creature holding a great importance in occult mysteries, is quite interesting. The bird is considered a symbol of accomplishment of alchemical transmutation, a process equivalent to human regeneration. “In the Mysteries it was customary to refer to initiates as phoenixes or men who had been born again, for just as physical birth gives man consciousness in the physical world, so the neophyte, after nine degrees in the womb of the Mysteries, was born into a consciousness of the Spiritual world.” – Ibid. 4- The Number of Days it Took to Drill the Hole …33. “The work took 33 days total, one day a man,” said Mikhail Proestakis, manager of Driller Supply Company, which participated in the drilling of the rescue shaft with a diameter of 66 centimetres, which is 33 times two. “I believe in numerology, it has to mean something.” – Source 5- The First Note Sent by the Miners “Others call attention to the first note the miners sent up to show they were still alive – “estamos bien en el refugio los 33” (all 33 of us are in the shelter) – which was 33 characters in length.” – Ibid 6- The Symbolism of the Event To summarize the rescue event, 33 miners, who were trapped for 69 days in the depths and darkness of the underground were lifted one by one, on 10/13/10 in a device called “Fenix” – a creature representative of occult initiation – to the light of day. As they say “Ex tenebris lux”: From darkness to light. Acting out the Masonic motto? With these facts in mind, I’m asking you this: was the Chilean Miner’s rescue a Masonic mega-ritual? Inverted pentagram on the shirt the miner’s were told to wearMost animal clades follow a predictable path in geographic commonness and taxonomic diversity over time1,2. Clades usually start within a very restricted range3, and then expand and diversify to occupy large stretches of Earth. Almost immediately after this peak in success, they start declining in diversity and finally go extinct1,2,4,5,6 (although a few may survive with as little diversity as one genus like sphenodonts, coelacanths, and nautiloids). There is no consensus about the reasons underlying this path, and no general explanation has been advanced as to why clades have to die out following such a predictable path7. Studies of paleontological extinctions deal with the ever-increasing negative effect of biotic interactions8, geologic and climatic events1,2, ecological and evolutionary traps9, and of course major extinction crises10. While these factors certainly represent effective causes for extinction of species, their impact at the level of clades is unclear, although it has been demonstrated that competition may drive entire clades extinct11,12. With the exception of clades that fail during mass extinctions, we argue the explanation for the demise of most other clades lies in the tendency of natural selection to produce more and more specialised types within each lineage as time progresses13,14, a pattern we dubbed weak directionality (in contrast to old views of evolution as moved towards the “perfection of life”)13. Herein we define specialisation as a process of adaptation to a specific habitat via the acquisition of narrow ecological niches15, and infer the degree of specialization by the dynamics of species range size and its mutual overlap among species within clades. While specialization confers obvious advantages in terms of competitive abilities where and when species do live16, it also increases extinction risk17,18,19,20,21, via reduction in range size9,10,22, and by depressing cladogenesis23,24. According to this “weak directionality” model13, clade geographic range and taxonomic diversification is best viewed as proceeding according to two distinct phases (Fig.1): during the early phase species richness increases, and the clade expands geographically. The intensity of competition and the extinction rate are low on average. But as the clade diversifies its total occupied range fills the available ecological space, thus depressing geographical expansion and greatly strengthening the effects of competition7,8,24,25. During this stage, specialisation might further foster taxonomic diversity, by promoting species coexistence, hence sympatry26,27,28. Yet, it also drives the clade into a late phase when its negative effects of survival and diversification will eventually take their toll on clade survival. Figure 1: The weak directionality theory of clade geographic evolution. (A) The total (green solid line), average (blue solid line), and clade (gold solid line) range size curves for the focal clade. The total range curve is computed as the algebraic sum of individual species range sizes over time. The average range curve is computed dividing the total curve for the number of species present in each time bin. The clade range curve represents the range actually occupied by the entire clade, summed over consecutive time bins. According to weak directionality theory predictions, after the shift point (vertical light blue line) the total- and the clade range curves should diverge signficantly over time, as an effect of a progressive increased range overlap (sympatry). The area test (B) is devised to test such prediction. As species range sizes are expected to decrease, on average, after the shift points, the average range curve should take a negative slope after the shift (C). The slope test is devised to test such prediction. Full size image The most direct expectation of weak directionality is that clades should become rich in specialised species as time passes. Hence, under this theory, we predict that most species in the late phase of clade evolution should have traits typical of specialists, such as small range size and high degree of sympatry17,18,29,30. Given high degree of sympatry and reduced range size are presumed to depress diversification, according to this model there should be some point in time where both the regime of range size evolution and the diversification process shift (Fig. 1). We tested this hypothesis by locating statistically significant shift points in the total range size, degree of sympatry, and net diversification rate curves. We then tested four hypotheses consistent with the early/late phases scenario to assess whether 1) our data support the existence and temporal coincidence of total range size, degree of sympatry, and diversification shifts, 2) the degree of sympatry increases and the net diversification rate decreases after the shifts, and 3) the average species range size decreases after the shifts (see Fig. 1) and 4) the degree of sympatry is negatively correlated to speciation rate and positively correlated to extinction rate, which would indicate the link between specialisation and the decrease in diversification. To test these predictions we collected from the Paleobiology Database (https://paleobiodb.org/#/ on 2/10/2016) the fossil occurrence data on 21 extinct animal clades belonging to five different phyla (Cnidaria, Mollusca, Brachiopoda, Arthropoda, and Bryozoa, see supplementary information). The data included 14,430 species and 84,454 fossil occurrences, spanning around 480 million years from the early Cambrian trilobites and brachiopods, to late Cretaceous ammonites. For all of the analysed clades, we first computed the range size of each species per time bin, and the range size of the entire clade per time bin, which represents the union of individual species ranges (Fig. 2). We then summed individual species ranges within each time bin and then over consecutive time bins, to produce a “total range curve”. The use of cumulative range values, rather than time bin data, is appropriate as it smooth off unequal sampling and allows calculating effectively changes in the regime of geographical evolution of clade (see below). The (slope of) total range curve plotted versus time indicates the velocity of range size accumulation at the level of clade. It is equivalent to the average size of species ranges times species richness cumulated over all time bins. The total range curve is best fitted by either sigmoid, or generalized logistic curves, while the linear model is rejected for all the examined clades. This indicates that the increase in total range size slows down towards the recent, according to saturation dynamic (Table 1). To quantify the degree of sympatry (Figs 1B and 2), we started by summing the geographic range of the entire clade over consecutive time bins. This “clade range curve” is different from the total range curve in that it depends on how much individual species ranges do overlap (for instance, if two species have range = 1 km2 and do perfectly overlap the total range curve will be 1 + 1 = 2 km2, while the clade range curve will be 1 km2, Fig. 2). Then, we computed the area between total and clade range curves per unit time, under the specific hypothesis that the area difference between the two curves should be larger after the shift point, thereby indicating a higher degree of sympatry since (Fig. 1B). Eventually, we tested how often the difference between the two curves tends to increase after the shift points across clades, in keeping with our hypothesis 2, by means of the binomial distribution. Figure 2: Difference between total and clade range curves computation. The total geographic range is computed by summing the range of each species in each time interval and then over successive intervals. The actual range is the real range of the clade, thus it is computed as the union of species’ areas, subsequently summed over consecutive time bins. In the figure, the shaded areas represent the species ranges. Species are indicated by capital letters. For each time bin, extinct species are indicated in grey color, living species are reported in black. Upper row: computation of the total range curve. Lower row: computation of the clade range curve. Full size image Table 1: Likelihoods obtained by comparing total range size cumulative curves to three different theoretical curves corresponding to the linear, sigmoid, and generalized logistic models. Full size table The net diversification rate was computed starting from the fossil record as the expected number of speciation/extinction events per lineage per Myr. Finally, we computed a second measure of the degree of sympatry at the level of bin. For each such bin, we took the ratio between the total range size (summed algebraically over all species in the bin) and the clade range size in the focal interval. This ratio represents the degree of overlap among individual species ranges. We assessed whether changes in the degree of sympatry throughout a clade’s history significantly correlates with temporal variation in speciation and extinction rates. To this aim, we fitted birth-death models in which speciation and extinction rates respond to changes in sympatry by means of an exponential correlation with parameters γ λ and γ μ, respectively11. Shift points in degree of sympatry among species, total range size and net diversification rate are statistically closer in time to each other than expected by chance in 20 out of 30 cases, and for 16 out of 21 clades (Table 2). Both figures are statistically different from chance according to the binomial distribution (Table 3), indicating that the existence and temporal coincidence of shift points are robust. We then took the average ages of the three shifts to get a single shift point, and tested hypotheses 2 and 3. In keeping with our predictions (hypothesis 2) the degree of sympatry increases after 28 out of 30 shift points. Even after excluding the earliest third of clade evolution (when a high degree of sympatry is expected because in a diversifying clade species tend to place close to each other on Earth’s surface5) we recover the same pattern. The increase is temporally coincident with shift points (Table 3). Table 2: Average age of the shiftpoints (in Ma) and the percentage of time since clade inception to the shiftpoints. Full size table Table 3: The distribution of positive cases (i.e. either in accordance or not with the hypotheses tested) for the clade statistics reported in Table 2. Full size table Then, we tested the prediction that species average range size decreases after the shift points (hypothesis 3), by dividing the total cumulative range curve by the number of species present in each time bin. This allows testing the evolution of species average range size over time (Fig. 1A,C). After the shift points this curve has a slope significantly different from zero fifteen times, 12 of them being negative (i.e. the species average range size decreases towards the recent, Table 3), and in eight different clades. This is consistent with the idea that species after the shifts tend to be small-ranged and therefore specialists. Yet, after nearly one half of the averaged shifts (16/31, 51.6%) there was no significant pattern in average range size. Net diversification rates decrease after the shift points in 28 out of 30 cases and for all of the clades, thus supporting our predictions. Finally, as expected the extinction rates are positively correlated with the degree of sympatry in 12 clades out of 21, and the speciation rate is negatively correlated to sympatry in 13 clades (Table 4). Overall, 16 clades out of 21 show either decreased speciation or increased extinction as the degree of sympatry increases, in keeping with our prediction that sympatry (as a consequence of specialisation) depresses diversification to drive the clade extinct. Table 4: Correlation between the degree of sympatry and speciation and extinction rates. Full size table Overall, our results indicate that the distinction between an early and a late phase of clade evolution is useful, that the net diversification rate decreases consistently during the late phase, and that mainly specialist species, having high degree of range overlap to each other (sympatry), make up the majority of clade biodiversity after the shift points. We repeated all of the analyses excluding species with less than 10 total occurrences, in order to rule out the possibility that what we perceive as rarity, is in fact lack of preservation. The results are available as supplementary information. On such a reduced dataset, we located 22 shift points for seventeen clades. The shift points are statistically significant in 19 out of 22 cases (86.4%), and net diversification rate is always lower after than before the shifts. Yet, the degree of sympatry after the shift is higher than before only 9 times, and the average range size is significant and negative just one time. Taken at face value, these latter results are not supportive of weak directionality. Yet, it must be noted that by excluding rare (or otherwise poorly sampled) species from the dataset, we effectively removed those species whose effect on clade range size evolution we were seeking to test.Grammy-nominated artist Wiz Khalifa will perform William & Mary’s 2014 Charter Day concert, officials announced at the university’s Yule Log ceremony tonight. The rapper will be joined by fellow rapper and frequent collaborator Chevy Woods for the event, which is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Feb. 8, 2014, in William & Mary Hall. Tickets for the show are $15 or $25 for William & Mary students with ID, $25 for faculty and staff with a promotional code and ID and $30 for members of the general public. The $25 floor-access tickets will go on sale to William & Mary students only on Jan. 7 at 8:30 a.m. All other tickets will go on sale Jan. 8 at 8:30 a.m. Students can purchase tickets at www.ticketreturn.com/WM/, and faculty, staff and members of the general public can purchase them at www.ticketreturn.com. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Tribe Ticket Office in William & Mary Hall or over the phone at 757-221-3340 during the office’s regular business hours. All ticket prices are $5 more at the door. Khalifa has released four studio albums since 2006 and is expected to release his fifth, “Blacc Hollywood,” in 2014. He is widely known for his songs “Young, Wild and Free,” “Work Hard, Play Hard” and “Black and Yellow,” which hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Top 100 chart. Khalifa has received four Grammy nominations and won Top New Artist at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards. Woods is a frequent collaborator with Khalifa and helped him establish the Taylor Gang record label. Woods has since released four mix tapes with that label, including 2013’s “Gangland 2.” Prohibited items at the concert include: all outside food and drinks, coolers and other food containers, illegal substances, backpacks, bags bigger than 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot, balls or Frisbees, umbrellas, pets, artificial noisemakers, laser pointers, firearms or other weapons, cameras with a lens greater than 4 inches, laptops, tobacco products and anything deemed unsafe by police or event staff. The concert is part of William & Mary’s annual Charter Day weekend, which celebrates the day on which the university received its royal charter in 1693. Gavin DeGraw and Good Old War performed at the 2013 concert. William & Mary’s 2014 Charter Day ceremony will be held Feb. 7.In the course of revolutionary struggle, the abolition of the state, of exchange, of the division of labor, of all forms of property, the extension of the situation where everything is freely available as the unification of human activity – in a word, the abolition of classes – are ‘measures’ that abolish capital, imposed by the very necessities of struggle against the capitalist class. The revolution is communization; it does not have communism as a project and result, but as its very content. Communization and communism are things of the future, but it is in the present that we must speak about them. This is the content of the revolution to come that these struggles signal – in this cycle of struggles – each time that the very fact of acting as a class appears as an external constraint, a limit to overcome. Within itself, to struggle as a class has become the problem – it has become its own limit. Hence the struggle of the proletariat as a class signals and produces the revolution as its own supersession, as communization. a) Crisis, restructuring, cycle of struggle: on the struggle of the proletariat as a class as its own limit The principal result of the capitalist production process has always been the renewal of the capitalist relation between labor and its conditions: in other words it is a process of self-presupposition. Until the crisis of the late 1960s, the workers’ defeat and the restructuring that followed, there was indeed the self-presupposition of capital, according to the latter’s concept, but the contradiction between proletariat and capital was located at this level through the production and confirmation, within this very self-presupposition, of a working class identity through which the cycle of struggles was structured as the competition between two hegemonies, two rival modes of managing and controlling reproduction. This identity was the very substance of the workers’ movement. This workers’ identity, whatever the social and political forms of its existence (from the Communist Parties to autonomy; from the Socialist State to the workers’ councils), rested entirely on the contradiction which developed in this phase of real subsumption of labor under capital between, on the one hand, the creation and development of labor-power employed by capital in an ever more collective and social way, and on the other, the forms of appropriation by capital of this labor-power in the immediate production process, and in the process of reproduction. This is the conflictual situation which developed in this cycle of struggles as workers’ identity – an identity which found its distinguishing features and its immediate modalities of recognition in the ‘large factory’, in the dichotomy between employment and unemployment, work and training, in the submission of the labor process to the collectivity of workers, in the link between wages, growth and productivity within a national area, in the institutional representations that all this implied, as much in the factory as at the level of the state – i.e. in the delimitation of accumulation within a national area. The restructuring was the defeat, in the late 1960s and the 1970s, of this entire cycle of struggles founded on workers’ identity; the content of the restructuring was the destruction of all that which had become an impediment to the fluidity of the self-presupposition of capital. These impediments consisted, on the one hand, of all the separations, protections and specifications that were erected in opposition to the decline in value of labor-power, insofar as they prevented the working class as a whole, in the continuity of its existence, of its reproduction and expansion, from having to face as such the whole of capital. On the other hand, there were all the constraints of circulation, turnover, and accumulation, which impeded the transformation of the surplus product into surplus-value and additional capital. Any surplus product must be able to find its market anywhere, any surplus-value must be able to find the possibility of operating as additional capital anywhere, i.e. of being transformed into means of production and labor power, without any formalisation of the international cycle (such as the division into blocs, East and West, or into center and periphery) predetermining this transformation. Financial capital was the architect of this restructuring. With the restructuring that was completed in the 1980s, the production of surplus-value and the reproduction of the conditions of this production coincided. The current cycle of struggles is fundamentally defined by the fact that the contradiction between classes occurs at the level of their respective reproduction, which means that the proletariat finds and confronts its own constitution and existence as a class in its contradiction with capital. From this flows the disappearance of a worker’s identity confirmed in the reproduction of capital – i.e. the end of the workers’ movement and the concomitant bankruptcy of self-organization and autonomy as a revolutionary perspective. Because the perspective of revolution is no longer a matter of the affirmation of the class, it can no longer be a matter of selforganization. To abolish capital is at the same time to negate oneself as a worker and not to self-organize as such: it’s a movement of the abolition of enterprises, of factories, of the product, of exchange (whatever its form). For the proletariat, to act as a class is currently, on the one hand, to have no other horizon than capital and the categories of its reproduction, and on the other, for the same reason, it is to be in contradiction with and to put into question its own reproduction as a class. This conflict, this rift in the action of the proletariat, is the content of class struggle and what is at stake in it. What is now at stake in these struggles is that, for the proletariat, to act as a class is the limit of its action as a class – this is now an objective situation of class struggle – and that the limit is constructed as such in the struggles and becomes class
feud was not over yet. When Cotton questioned Schumer about why he had gone back on his word, the New York senator claimed that he had only been speaking for himself. “I said that I would not block him,” Shumer said, according to Hayes. “I’m not telling Ron Wyden to do this. Why don’t you go talk to Wyden?” What a jerk. Apparently, Chuck Schumer is not a man who sticks to his word. He is instead a liar, a deceiver and a con artist. It is no wonder he fits in so perfectly with the Democrat Party. As for Pomeo, he was eventually confirmed and sworn in Monday, according to NBC News. Of course, this could have happened on Friday, but God forbid that Schumer stick to his word. Like us on Facebook – USA Liberty News Please share this story on Facebook and Twitter and let us know what you think about Sen. Chuck Schumer’s despicable lies and the brutal verbal lashing he received from military veteran Sen. Tom Cotton! What do you think about Schumer’s deception? Scroll down to comment below! Source: conservativetribune.com H/T BizPac ReviewRecently, several members and staffers on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s role in the Presidential election, visited the National Security Agency, in Fort Meade, Maryland. Inside the enormous black glass headquarters of America’s largest spy agency, the congressmen and their aides were shown a binder of two to three dozen pages of highly classified intercepts, mostly transcripts of conversations between foreign government officials that took place during the Presidential transition. These intercepts were not related to the heart of the committee’s Russia investigation. In fact, only one of the documents had anything to do with Russia, according to an official who reviewed them. What the intercepts all had in common is that the people being spied on made references to Donald Trump or to Trump officials. That wasn’t even clear, though, from reading the transcripts. The names of any Americans were concealed, or “masked,” the intelligence community’s term for redacting references to Americans who are not the legal targets of surveillance when such intelligence reports are distributed to policy makers. The binder of secret documents is at the center of the bizarre scandal created by what may be the most reckless lie President Trump has ever told. On March 4th, he tweeted, “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” The White House made several efforts to justify Trump’s claim, including using Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, as a conduit for the documents, which allegedly offered some substantiation. A former Nunes staffer now working for the White House dug up the transcripts and shared them with Nunes. As Bloomberg View reported, earlier this month, Susan Rice, Obama’s national-security adviser, had used a process that allowed her to request that the masked names be revealed to her. Rice had to log her unmasking requests on a White House computer, which is how Trump’s aides knew about them. Nunes and the White House presented this as a major scandal. “I think the Susan Rice thing is a massive story,” Trump told the Times, adding, while offering no evidence, that Rice may have committed a crime. It is now clear that the scandal was not Rice’s normal review of the intelligence reports but the coördinated effort between the Trump Administration and Nunes to sift through classified information and computer logs that recorded Rice’s unmasking requests, and then leak a highly misleading characterization of those documents, all in an apparent effort to turn Rice, a longtime target of Republicans, into the face of alleged spying against Trump. It was a series of lies to manufacture a fake scandal. Last week, CNN was the first to report that both Democrats and Republicans who reviewed the Nunes material at the N.S.A. said that the documents provided “no evidence that Obama Administration officials did anything unusual or illegal.” I spoke to two intelligence sources, one who read the entire binder of intercepts and one who was briefed on their contents. “There’s absolutely nothing there,” one source said. The Trump names remain masked in the documents, and Rice would not have been able to know in all cases that she was asking the N.S.A. to unmask the names of Trump officials. Nunes is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee because, in talking about the documents, he may have leaked classified information. But this is like getting Al Capone for tax evasion. The bigger scandal is the coördinated effort to use the American intelligence services to manufacture an excuse for Trump’s original tweet. The intelligence source told me that he knows, “from talking to people in the intelligence community,” that “the White House said, ‘We are going to mobilize to find something to justify the President’s tweet that he was being surveilled.’ They put out an all-points bulletin”—a call to sift through intelligence reports—“and said, ‘We need to find something that justifies the President’s crazy tweet about surveillance at Trump Tower.’ And I’m telling you there is no way you get that from those transcripts, which are about as plain vanilla as can be.” (The White House did not respond to a request for comment.) The fallout from Trump’s tweet could have grave consequences for national security. The law governing the N.S.A.’s collection of the content of communications of foreign targets is up for renewal this summer. Known as Section 702, part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, it is perhaps the most important intelligence tool that America’s spy agencies have to gather information about potential terrorist attacks and about the intentions of regimes around the world. There are legitimate privacy concerns about allowing the N.S.A. to vacuum up such an enormous amount of communications. A report from 2014 by the Obama Administration’s Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board identified several areas that might be changed to increase the privacy protections for Americans, but the board also “found no evidence of intentional abuse” of the program. Some American intelligence officials are now concerned that Trump and Nunes’s wild claims about intercepts and Rice have made Section 702 look like a rogue program that can be easily abused for political purposes. The intelligence source said, “In defense of the President, Devin Nunes and some other partisans have created a huge political problem by casting doubt, in the service of Donald Trump, on these intercepts.” Senator Rand Paul, of Kentucky, a leading critic of Section 702, has been using the episode to rally libertarians. He recently tweeted, “Smoking gun found! Obama pal and noted dissembler Susan Rice said to have been spying on Trump campaign.” Democratic critics of Section 702 have also been emboldened. “Section 702 of FISA allows warrantless searches on Americans. That’s unconstitutional & must be changed,” Representative Ted Lieu, the Democrat from California, tweeted last month, during the controversy. “They manufactured a scandal to distract from a serious investigation,” Eric Swalwell, a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee, who would not comment on the N.S.A. documents, said. “And the collateral damage is the public confidence in our intelligence community when we need to count on them now more than ever. Considering the threats we are facing right now from North Korea and ISIS, it’s a pretty dangerous time to undermine the I.C.’s credibility to make a five-yard sack in the Russia investigation.” Even though there is now some bipartisan agreement that Nunes’s description of the intercepts was wildly inaccurate, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are still preparing to focus on Obama’s national-security team, rather than on Vladimir Putin’s. Last week, Democrats and Republicans finalized their witness lists, and the names tell a tale of two separate investigations. The intelligence source said, “The Democratic list involves all of the characters that you would think it would: Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Carter Page,” speaking of the three Trump campaign officials who have been most closely tied to the Russia investigation. “The Republican list is almost entirely people from the Obama Administration.” The fake scandal created by Trump and Nunes is not over yet. The first name on the Republican list is Susan Rice.Please pass Senator Duckworth’s Video Visitation in Prisons Act, which would require that the Federal Communications Commission ensure that correctional facilities that have video visitation do not ban in-person visits. When my sister began serving a sentence at Illinois' Lake County jail, I wanted to visit her right away. She'd been incarcerated in the past, and visiting her in person was always crucial to maintaining some human connection within an inhumane system. However, when I looked up visiting information about this jail, I discovered that in-person visits were banned, and all visits were to be conducted via video. Video visitation is an important option for people who can't afford to travel far away to see their loved ones in jail or prison, as well as people with disabilities, illnesses or time commitments that inhibit their travel. But according to the Prison Policy Initiative, jails are increasingly using video visitation, and, in most cases, replacing in-person visits entirely. Securus, a company providing phone calls and video visitation for jails, actually mandates this ban in some of its contracts. (The company says it will not include this clause in future contracts; whether it will keep that promise remains to be seen.) Still wanting to support my sister, I reluctantly tried video visitation. When I set up my first video visit with my sister, I ran into multiple problems. Securus' technology failed to connect me with my sister, so I spent the half hour on the phone with tech support instead, crying. I worried my sister would think I'd forgotten about our visit. Aside from unreliable technology, video visits cost money, and many families go into debt to cover the costs. But there's some hope. Please sign my petition to ask Congress to pass Senator Duckworth’s Video Visitation in Prisons Act, which would require that the Federal Communications Commission ensure that correctional facilities that have video visitation do not ban in-person visits. Face-to-face visits help people in correctional facilities retain vital ties with loved ones on the outside. Jail and prison, by definition, are places of isolation and disconnection. We cannot allow for the removal of one of the few opportunities for connection -- and one of the few human rights -- granted to people who are locked in cages.Srinagar (India) (AFP) - Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, exacerbating tensions during a months-long stand-off between the two armies. Indian troops using sling shots in a separate incident. AP Photo/Dar Yasin Srinagar (India) (AFP) - Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, exacerbating tensions during a months-long stand-off between the two armies. Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake, a major tourist attraction in the picturesque mountain region of Ladakh on Tuesday, an Indian defence official said. He said Chinese soldiers had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but had been pushed back. "There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. The brief confrontation was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides retreated to their respective positions, he added. Police in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where Ladakh is located, said clashes were relatively common along the de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "These things happen every summer but this one was slightly prolonged and more serious but no weapons were used," a police source in Srinagar told AFP. The Pangong lake area lies over 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) high on the Tibetan plateau. The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometres away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months. The border trouble began in June when Chinese soldiers started to extend a road through the Doklam territory -- known as "Donglang" in Chinese. The area is disputed between China and Bhutan. India, a close ally of Bhutan, then deployed troops to stop the construction project, prompting Beijing to accuse India of trespassing on Chinese soil. China has said India must withdraw its troops before any proper negotiation takes place. India said both sides should withdraw their forces together. The plateau is strategically significant as it gives China access to the so-called "chicken's neck" -- a thin strip of land connecting India's northeastern states with the rest of the country. The two nuclear-armed neighbours fought a brief war in 1962 in India's border state of Arunachal Pradesh. Tensions along the LAC rose in 2014 when Chinese soldiers moved into territory claimed by India, sparking a two-week military stand-off that overshadowed a visit by China's President Xi Jinping.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The apprenticeship levy has "driven coach and horses through devolution", Mr Miles said The UK government should ask for the assembly's permission before imposing charges to pay for services which are devolved in Wales, a Labour AM says. From April, a new way of providing apprenticeships in England, funded through a UK levy, will begin. But Welsh ministers responsible for apprenticeships here said they will not get new money from the charge. Jeremy Miles said it was a "mess". The UK government said it was an assembly matter. The UK government is introducing a UK-wide levy on larger employers to raise funds for apprenticeships, saying that Wales would get about £130m a year from the charge. All employers with a wage bill of more than £3m a year will pay 0.5% on it. But the Welsh Government said it had lost out on funding elsewhere from Westminster despite the extra cash. Welsh ministers have their own scheme - for which they announced an extra £15.5m in February - although firms have been urging Welsh ministers to ring-fence the levy cash. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Apprenticeship policy in Wales is run from Cardiff "The UK-wide levy is a bit of a mess of a policy," said Mr Miles, a backbencher who serves the area of Neath. "What we should have is a situation where, if the UK government wants to raise a levy to pay for the apprenticeship policy that applies in England, they should do that. "But that shouldn't capture companies or operations of companies based in Wales where there's a very different apprenticeship policy." He said the levy had "driven a coach and horses" through democratic devolution. "Imagine if you have a situation where the UK government, or the English government, decided to put a penny on national insurance to pay for a particular policy in the English NHS, or put some money on national insurance to pay for social care for example," he said. "You can then imagine how difficult that would be, which represents a much bigger part of the Welsh Assembly's work and the Welsh Government's operation and budgets". In future, he said the Welsh Assembly should have the power to consent or withhold consent to any proposed UK-wide charge which would affect Wales. "Brexit is going to mean that we are once again around the table with the UK government arguing over funding formulae and powers - this should be on the table," he added. A spokesman for the UK Department for Education declined to provide a statement, but said it was an assembly policy matter.Our story The idea for the Seamhead clothing line came during a college baseball game that four friends were enjoying in the spring of 2013. In a Field of Dreams type of moment, one of the friends looked out onto the field and could see a logo and the first shirt the company would produce. With a few months of hard work and many late nights, we finally arrived at the Kickstarter phase. Our concept/mission The idea of the Seamhead brand is to give baseball fans something to wear that lets them stand out from the normal sports crowd. We want to create shirts that foster conversation about the wonderful game of baseball and the subtleties that come from within the game. We'll know we've been successful if people that aren't familiar with baseball ask "what does that mean?" or "what's a seamhead?" Maybe by creating a few shirts with catchy phrases or cool designs we can help grow the number of kids playing little league baseball and pick up games on the playground. We'd love to help get more people to join the club that loves the game of baseball as much as we do. We already have over 20 t-shirt design concepts on paper. With the help of a few trusted baseball friends and fans, the four initial shirt concepts are below. Once we get our website up and running we will start selling shirts to the retail public (hopefully sometime during October 2013). Our shirts During the design process, we spent 2 weeks going through sample shirt blanks from over 15 different manufacturers to find the perfect blend of softness and wearability. We have chosen two different types of fabric for our blanks, depending on the color required for the shirt background. Our screen printing process will leave the shirts with a soft feel, not a hard vinyl print that cracks and starts to degrade within just a few washes. Although it is shown here in solid gray, the "Original" t-shirt will be printed on an athletic gray 60% cotton/40% poly blend blank. The screen print color (distressed for this shirt) will be in our company's trademark red. A 3" Seamhead logo will be printed in red below the back collar. Deign artwork for the "Original" shirt The "Definition" t-shirt will be printed on a white, 100% combed cotton blank. The screen print colors will be our trademark red with black print. There will also be a 3" red Seamhead logo below the back collar. Design artwork for the "Definition" shirt The "Mud" t-shirt will be printed on a chocolate brown, 100% combed cotton blank. The final brown color will be a little darker than what is shown below. The screen print color will be a slightly distressed tan, with a 3" Seamhead logo, also in tan, printed below the back collar. Design artwork for the "Mud" shirt The last design, our ".400" t-shirt, will be printed on an indigo blue, 100% combed cotton blank. The final color will be darker than what is in the design artwork. The screen print color will be distressed white, with a 3" Seamhead logo, in distressed white, printed below the back collar. Design artwork for the ".400" shirt Our shirt blank manufacturer is Next Level and the shirts are all 4.3 oz fabric. All shirts will be offered in sizes S-2XL. Our target retail price point for each shirt will be $24 for S-XL and $26 for 2XL. S&H is expected to be a flat rate of approximately $10. This design is our sticker artwork and will be used to create our 5th shirt...a more simple design. We haven't chosen the shirt color or blank, but will do so in the next couple of weeks. Deign artwork for our sticker and the upcoming "Classic" t-shirt What you are supporting Our Kickstarter campaign was created to fund our first run of shirts and stickers. We've already spent over $2,000 in the design, trademarking and website creation phases. Seamhead was started on a shoestring and we need your help to bring our product to market. Your support of our Kickstarter will not only allow us to create and print this first set of shirts but to also bring more shirts to baseball fans everywhere!Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a get out the vote event at La Gala in Bowling Green, Ky., Monday, May 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) The chance New York real estate developer Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States has gone from impossible to improbable to likely in the relative blink of an eye. Several recent national polls have him running even with or even ahead of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He's nipping at her heels in state polls, too. In New Jersey he's behind by four – 38 percent to 34 percent. They're tied in New Hampshire according to one poll, 44 percent a piece, and Trump is ahead in Oregon by two – 44 percent to 42 percent. Sure, it's early in the race, the voter screens may be unreliable and both candidates have a lot of ground to cover between now and their nominating conventions later in the summer. Nevertheless, the louder the liberals scream about Trump, the better he seems to do. There are a lot of reasons for this. Serious people have put serious effort into explaining why Trump is doing so well while Clinton is comparatively in trouble. Whatever they may conclude, however, it all comes down to one thing: vision. He has it, she doesn't and the voters know it. Editorial Cartoons on Hillary Clinton View All 258 Images Vision is the core concept underlying any campaign for office, especially the presidency. A candidate has to be able to explain quickly and right off the bat why he or she wants to be president. Trump can: He wants "to make America great again." Clinton can't, at least not persuasively enough to countermand her opponent's appeal to independents, swing voters and the working-class Americans in whose hands and ballots the power to pick the next president likely resides. Clinton cannot campaign as a trustworthy leader or as an experienced pol. Her previous behavior as first lady and secretary of state leave these avenues closed off to her. She doesn't want to answer unflattering questions about her record, so she avoids them. The American voter won't let her have it both ways: They have grown far too cynical for that. She also can't campaign promising to extend the policies of Barack Obama and the progressive turn the national electorate appeared to take in 2008. America remains a center-right nation. European-style socialism, with a small "s," may be catching on among the portion of the electorate that likes Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, but it's hardly mainstream. Not yet, anyway. Just about every credible independent national poll taken over the last six months has found only 25 percent of the country feels the United States is headed in the right direction. An astonishing two-thirds of those surveyed – and go ahead, pick your poll – believe this nation is on the wrong track. The next presidential contest is a change election that Clinton will not win if all she can do is promise four more years of what we've experienced over the last eight. Trump's message, even if it is still only a basic outline with few details filled in, is both clear and resonating. Clinton's is ambiguous. That it's "her turn" – unless your name is Kennedy, Bush, Adams, Roosevelt, Taft or Romney, we Americans tend to eschew politicians with dynastic ambitions – is not a winning message, nor is it one grounded in the idea it is time for a woman in the Oval Office. Her economic plan is a direct attack on what people are calling the sharing economy. She can run as the candidate promising to make equal pay for equal work a reality but that falls apart once anyone looks at the Clinton Foundation, where male executives make on average 38 percent more than the women. She can't run as a strong and effective voice to re-establish America's role in global peace and security without having to talk about Benghazi. In short, she's run out of things to talk about. People can't explain what the country would look like after she is president for four years. She's failed to convey her vision of the future in any meaningful sense while Trump has gone about the business of owning it. That's straight out of Campaigning 101 – if you can't explain why you want to be president, don't expect anyone else to do it for you. It's a critical part of making a personal connection with the voters that is persuasive enough to get them to pull the lever for you on Election Day. The ground she's lost thus far will be very hard for her to get back. Meanwhile, those on the right who are encouraging Trump to change his message and style are doing him no favors. Right now it's all working well enough for him as people are starting to see him in the White House, and not just as a dinner guest who walked over from a suite at his eponymous hotel.ESPN’s coverage of the NBA Playoff games led the night in the Monday cable ratings this week. The network’s broadcast of the Golden State vs San Antonio game scored the top 2.1 rating in adults 18-49, while two special late-night editions of “SportsCenter” grabbed 0.9 and a 0.4 throughout the night. In addition, NBC Sports’ broadcast of the Anaheim vs Nashville NHL Conference Final game also landed in the Top 25 with a 0.6. VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” scored the second-highest spot of the night with a 1.3, one-tenth higher than its 1.2 from the week before. On USA, “WWE Monday Night Raw” continued to hold steady with another 1.0 peak rating throughout its three-hour broadcast. Meanwhile, AMC’s “Better Call Saul” ticked back up from a 0.6 to a 0.7. Top 25 original cable shows among adults 18-49 for Monday, May 22, 2017 Show Net Time Total Viewers (000s) 18-49 rating NBA PLAYOFFS – CONF FINALS ESPN 9:00 PM 5,785 2.1 LOVE & HIP HOP ATLANTA VH1 8:00 PM 2,517 1.3 WWE ENTERTAINMENT USA 9:00 PM 2,759 1.0 STREET OUTLAWS DISCOVERY 9:00 PM 2,311 1.0 BASKETBALL WIVES 6 VH1 9:00 PM 1,981 0.9 WWE ENTERTAINMENT USA 8:00 PM 2,661 0.9 SPORTSCENTER 12AM ESPN 11:36 PM 2,189 0.9 WWE ENTERTAINMENT USA 10:00 PM 2,425 0.9 T.I. AND TINY VH1 10:00 PM 1,633 0.8 BETTER CALL SAUL AMC 10:00 PM 1,650 0.7 TEEN MOM MTV 9:00 PM 1,016 0.6 NHL CONFERENCE FINALS NBC SPORTS 8:02 PM 1,502 0.6 ANDERSON COOPER 360 CNN 8:00 PM 1,873 0.5 NBA PRE GAME ESPN 8:00 PM 1,452 0.5 ANDERSON COOPER 360 CNN 9:00 PM 1,799 0.5 VEGAS RAT RODS DISCOVERY 10:01 PM 1,385 0.5 SHEPARD SMITH REPORTING FOX NEWS 9:00 PM 3,313 0.5 TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT FOX NEWS 8:00 PM 3,461 0.5 HANNITY FOX NEWS 10:00 PM 3,330 0.5 NEON JOE ADULT 12:00 AM 851 0.4 CNN TONIGHT CNN 10:00 PM 1,532 0.4 TEEN MOM AFTER MTV 10:01 PM 721 0.4 SOUTHER CHARM BRAVO 9:00 PM 1,114 0.4 SPORTSCENTER 1AM ESPN 1:01 AM 830 0.4 SHEPARD SMITH REPORTING FOX NEWS 11:00 PM 2,126 0.4 Source: The Nielsen CompanyThis story is about Published Jan. 15 10 things to know about Dennis Smith Jr. from impressing Steph Curry to owing his grandma an SUV Share This Story On... Twitter Facebook Email Jae S. Lee/Staff Photographer Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. signs autographs for fans after the open practice at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (Jae S. Lee/The Dallas Morning News) By SportsDayDFW.com Contact SportsDayDFW.com on Twitter: @SportsDayDFW Editors note: This story was originally published on June 22, 2017. We are resurfacing this story due to the current trade rumors surrounding Smith Jr. and the Mavericks. Here are 10 things you might not know about Dallas Mavericks point guard Dennis Smith Jr.: 1. Swatting J. Cole sooooo bad Meet a young Dennis, a menace to society 😂 @realcoleworld don't try me big bra. Make sure y'all go cop that 2014 forest hills drive album today by the way. @kingofqueenz25 A post shared by Dennis Smith Jr (@desmith4) on Dec 9, 2014 at 7:08am PST J. Cole -- who has gone platinum on albums with no features multiple times -- was a big fan of Smith's while the point guard was at Trinity Christian High School in Fayetteville, N.C. He was such a big fan that he challenged him to a game of one-on-one. J. Cole's hometown is Fayetteville, so it sounds like it was pretty easy for Smith to accept the challenge. So in 2014 the two got together to play a pickup game and Smith showed Cole no mercy by ruthlessly swatting a layup attempt, as seen above. Even after that swat, Smith said he still respected J. Cole's game. "He came out aggressive the first game and scored a good amount of his team's buckets," Smith said of the artist to USA Today's Jason Jordan. "Then I was like, 'Wow, dude can hoop for real!' It was more competitive than I expected, and that in itself was respectable." 2. Why Smith is such a big J. Cole fan Here's what Smith told SLAM Magazine: "Being from Fayetteville, some of the stuff that he had to go through, I've had to go through. We're pretty much cut from the same cloth. You're right though, he pretty much talks about the grind in his early music. 'The Come Up' is the first mixtape that I'm hip to of his and every time that I go out and run early in the morning or get up shots, I let 'The Come Up' play all the way through." J. Cole also gave Smith some advice when they first met: "Definitely about my grades and keeping them up. He was a smart guy growing up. He told me to stay focused on ball and then he asked me the main question that I'm asked from everybody: 'What college do I want to go to?' "He's a big UNC fan. He told me that 'I'm a UNC fan, but I want you to go wherever is best for you.'" 3. He really impressed Steph Curry The dunk above was so good that it caused both Curry brothers -- Seth and Steph -- to react. Steph even ran up to the cameraman to see a replay. 4. He's ultra competitive Here's what Smith's high school coach, Heath Vandevender, told The Fayetteville Observer's Sammy Batten: "Smith is the most competitive kid I've ever coached whether it's playing video games, pool, cards, whatever it is. I think he will remember everyone drafted in front of him, especially the point guards, and will use that as motivation for next season.″ The point guards who went ahead of him were Markelle Fultz (No. 1 to the Boston Celtics), Lonzo Ball (No. 2 to the Los Angeles Lakers), De'Aaron Fox (No. 4 to the Sacramento Kings) and Frank Ntilikina (No. 8 to the New York Knicks). ESPN's Fran Fraschilla also spoke very highly of Smith to Batten: "You're talking about a guy who is a junkyard dog, who is strong, gets to the basket, is tough and always plays with a chip on his shoulder," Fraschilla said. "He's a kid who could slide and all of a sudden a team picking ninth, 10th, 11th goes, 'Oh my god. We've got to take him. It's a no brainer.'" Fraschilla was right. Here's what Smith said after being picked by Dallas: "I'm definitely motivated," he said from the Barclays Center in New York where the draft took place. "I just use it as fuel to the fire. I've been underrated my whole life and that's perfectly fine with me. I'm accustomed to it. I'm going to go out and be Dennis Smith and nothing can stop that." 'I want my momma': Dennis Smith Jr.'s rise to Mavs' top pick came with a caring single dad, family 5. He owes his Grandma an SUV SportsDay's Brad Townsend recently traveled to DSJ's hometown to get the full story on the upbringing of the Mavs' top pick. From being raised by a single father to starting his basketball career on a dirt court outside of a double-wide trailer. Here's an excerpt from the story featuring his grandmother, Gloria, and what will most likely be his first purchase as an NBA player: "Based on the NBA rookie salary scale, Junior is slotted to make $2.7 million this season and is guaranteed to make at least $7 million during his first two seasons, not counting endorsement deals. Yet on this night, Junior asks Senior for money so he can get something to eat. Junior says he has nothing in mind for himself, but he does know what his first major purchase will be. A black Lexus SUV for Grandma. She's already picked it out. "When you go back to Dallas," she tells Junior, "you tell Mark [Cuban] to go ahead and pay you, so I can get treated."" Read the full DSJ profile here. 6. Childhood dream came true From per-k!!! Lol and anybody that try to fry me I'm settin flames to em lol 🔥🔥 A post shared by Dennis Smith Jr (@desmith4) on Dec 25, 2012 at 8:06am PST 7. 2018 Slam Dunk Contest Despite two impressive dunks in the first round, Smith was unable to advance to the finals in his first NBA Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star weekend. Utah's Donovan Mitchell would go on to beat Cleveland's Larry Nance in the finals. Smith finished in third place. Smith's second dunk of the first round netted the first perfect score of the contest, but a weak first dunk ended up dooming the rookie. Check out both of Smith's dunk's right here: 8. Not a Tony Romo fan / Mark Cuban actually asked DSJ to clean up his Twitter account after becoming a Maverick. This tweet, however, made the cut. But on this particular tweet, he did attempt to explain himself, and said since arriving in Dallas he is now a Cowboys fan. 9. Down goes Duke When Duke loses, America wins. On Jan. 23, Smith had a monster stat line of 32 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals in an 84-82 win at Duke. Why was that significant? It was N.C. State's first win there since Jan. 1995. That's 22 years! Wolfpack fans were so pumped that they made T-shirts after the game. 10. Did we mention his dunks are amazing? In case his Slam Dunk Contest video's weren't enough, here are some more DSJ jams: This Topic is Missing Your Voice.VICTORIA — The B.C. government claims to have virtually no records from senior officials who oversaw the botched firings of health researchers, in response to multiple freedom of information requests by the B.C. NDP and The Vancouver Sun. The government said it was unable find a single email, memo, briefing note or other correspondence from top officials in the Health Ministry and premier’s office during two years in which it was rocked by the scandal, forced to apologize and launched an outside review. Those top officials include the deputy minister of health and the deputy minister to the premier, who is also the head of the public service, from mid-2012 to late 2014. During that time, the province dealt with intense public backlash to the botched termination of eight researchers, including the subsequent suicide of one of those fired. The health minister publicly apologized for being too heavy-handed with the workers. The government rehired some employees and settled lawsuits with several others. It also hired a Victoria lawyer to do an independent review. And yet, the government said it has no records from its most senior officials who oversaw those actions. “So the head of the public service didn’t have a single record over two years about the biggest human resources scandal in B.C. history,” NDP critic Katrine Conroy said in the legislature Tuesday. “Forgive us if we find that a bit hard to swallow.” As well, the government claims its former lead investigator into the botched firings, Wendy Taylor, didn’t send a single email about the case earlier this year after The Sun published a story that revealed the RCMP had never conducted an investigation into the terminations because Taylor’s team had never sent the Mounties any evidence. The revelations caught government off guard and put the premier on the defensive. Yet there’s no email from Taylor about the subject during the days after the story ran. The lack of records is further evidence of the Liberal government’s dismal record on transparency and FOI, the Opposition New Democrats charged Tuesday. A recent report by the privacy commissioner concluded political staff and employees in the premier’s office are inappropriately deleting emails, frustrating FOI requests and breaking the FOI law. The lack of documentation has plagued the health firings case for years. There are no records of a supposed review into the firings by deputy health minister Stephen Brown, who was asked by deputy minister to the premier John Dyble to re-examine the case, said NDP critic Adrian Dix. “There’s no paper evidence it ever took place,” said Dix. Victoria lawyer Marcia McNeil had also noted the lack of proper reports, briefing notes and other government records during her independent review of the firings in late 2014. “This dearth of documents has granted the decision-makers (whoever he/she or they may have been) an opportunity to avoid taking ownership of the decision,” wrote McNeil. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sarah Plank said Tuesday the government hopes Ombudsperson Jay Chalke will answer any outstanding questions about the firings as part of a broad review he’s undertaking. “We recognize the public’s desire to fully understand what took place in regard to the issue of the health firings,” Plank said in a statement. “That’s why the matter was referred to the Ombudsperson for investigation.” rshaw@vancouversun.comGoogle received more requests from the U.S. government to
article, Comber said, “Certification is voluntary, so physicians who make the choice to participate in continuous learning and quality improvement activities are doing so out of a personal commitment to high standards for their patients and their practice.” Certification is voluntary only insofar as work as a physician is voluntary. My personal standards are indeed quite high, but that has nothing to do with my enrollment in the MOC process. I have no real choice in the matter, regardless of what the ABO or ABP or ABMS say. If all of this seems complicated and difficult to follow, as a physician trying to keep up it most certainly is. While I truly love being a pediatrician and caring for my patients, more and more doctors are finding the practice of medicine an unforgiving and wearying profession that no longer seems worth it. As Dr. Hester puts it, “The new MOC process comes at an especially hard time for all of us. It seems to add insult to injury in this profession that once seemed noble, and now just seems like a whirlpool from which none can escape.” I lack the wherewithal to start my own competing certifying board, to say nothing of the chutzpah. But whatever my other qualms with Rand Paul’s political agenda, I cannot fault him for trying to find a way around the ABMS’s cartel. I suspect I am not alone among physicians along the political spectrum who otherwise have little common ground with him. If I were a single-issue voter, he’d have mine in 2016.War. War never changes. But it certainly gets complicated! War has been one of the main draws of EVE ever since the early days. The wars of EVE serve as milestones by which the structure and time of EVE is defined, entire books are written about the greatest ones. However, just like all the other wars, the war in Catch, known as the Winter War, has a lot of moving parts. With that in mind, we have two of the greatest analytical minds on wars sitting down and laying out how this war came to be, why it has turned out the way it did, and what it means for the future: CSM member and CVA FC Jin’taan, and critically acclaimed war correspondent for Eve News 24 Salivan Harddin give you The War Room. The War Room Episode 1by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 28, 2015 Trade groups representing tech companies and app developers say they are opposed to the Federal Trade Commission's proposed consent decree with retail tracking firm Nomi Technologies, which allegedly misrepresented its privacy practices. Nomi said in its former privacy policy that people could opt out of being tracked in retail environments by providing the company with their devices' 12-digit MAC addresses, according to the FTC. The company, which provides analytics services to retailers, also allegedly promised to allow consumers to opt out “at any retailer using Nomi’s technology.” But Nomi didn't require its 45 retail clients to disclose whether they used the technology, and most of its clients didn't voluntarily do so, the FTC alleged in a complaint unveiled last month. The result was that consumers who might have chosen to opt out at retail locations weren't able to, according to the agency. The company agreed to settle the FTC's charges by promising that it won't in the future misrepresent its policies. Nomi's current privacy policy no longer says that consumers can opt out at retail locations. This week, trade groups including NetChoice (which counts Google, AOL, eBay, Facebook and Yahoo as members) and the Application Developers Alliance weighed in against the consent decree, arguing that the FTC's decision to prosecute Nomi could backfire. “We worry this is action sending the wrong messages to businesses,” NetChoice says. “Even if you try to do the right thing, like providing broad consumer opt-out, the FTC will bring suit for even non-material errors in a privacy policy regardless of whether consumers were harmed by any misstatements.” Commissioners Maureen Ohlhausen and Joshua Wright dissented from the decision to bring an enforcement action. Wright said that the inaccuracy in Nomi's privacy policy was “not material,” while Ohlhausen wrote that the majority's decision could encourage other companies to “do only the bare minimum on privacy,.” But Commissioners Edith Ramirez, Julie Brill and Terrell McSweeny, who voted in favor of the decision, said that even though the FTC encourages companies to offer privacy choices, the agency “must take action in appropriate cases to stop companies from providing false choices.” The Application Developers Alliance says in its filing that the inaccuracy in Nomi's privacy policy was “de minimis” and didn't harm consumers. “The Alliance believes that the penalty against Nomi is disproportionate and heavy-handed, and that its harshness may encourage companies to simplify their data practices and privacy policies to a degree that will always ensure their legality but will also transmit very little information to the consumer,” the organization writes. “If this occurs then consumer information and consumer choices will diminish,” the developers' group says. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce writes that the FTC should take a less aggressive approach with startups like Nomi. “Taking into consideration such factors as good faith efforts to comply with the law and allowing small entities to correct mistakes within a reasonable time frame regarding their privacy statements makes good policy sense,” the organization says. Like other retail tracking companies, Nomi provides data about shoppers' traffic patterns, such as the percentage of people who enter a store after walking by it. Between January and October of 2013 (the time period covered by the FTC's complaint) Nomi gathered tracking data via 12-digit “media access control” (MAC) addresses -- identifiers that mobile devices broadcast when users turn on WiFi or Bluetooth. Nomi attempted to anonymize the MAC addresses by replacing the actual series of characters with alternate, but persistent, identifiers, according to the FTC. Last year, Apple moved to prevent tracking via MAC addresses by reconfiguring its software. Now, iOS 8's WiFi scanning uses random, locally administered MAC addresses, instead of the permanent MAC addresses.If you would like to see more articles like this please support our coverage of the space program by becoming a Spaceflight Now Member. If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further. Chinese engineers rolled out a Long March 7 rocket to a seaside launch complex on Hainan Island in the South China Sea on Monday, aiming to fire a robotic refueling freighter into orbit as soon as Thursday to test technology for China’s future space station. The Tianzhou 1 spacecraft mounted on top of the 174-foot-tall (53-meter) Long March 7 launcher will dock with the Tiangong 2 space lab around two days after liftoff, the first of three linkups planned during the cargo carrier’s mission. Chinese officials said the automated mission is due to launch some time between Thursday and next Monday. Carried on top of a mobile launch table, the Long March 7 emerged from its vertical assembly building around 7:30 a.m. Beijing time Monday (2330 GMT; 7:30 p.m. EDT Sunday) and made the 1.7-mile (2.7 kilometer) journey in about two-and-a-half hours, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., or CASC, the state-owned lead contractor for the Chinese space program. The rocket and its 32-wheel mobile carrier weighed around 4 million pounds, or 1,800 metric tons, during the rail trip to the launch pad Monday. A time lapse video of the rollout released by Chinese state television is posted below. If the final preparations go smoothly, liftoff could occur around 1140 GMT (7:40 a.m. EDT; 7:40 p.m. Beijing time) Thursday from the Wenchang space center, a tropical facility on the northeast coast of Hainan Island that hosted its first space launch last year. The launch is timed for when the Tiangong 2 space lab’s orbit track passes over the Wenchang launch pad, allowing the Tianzhou 1 cargo craft to reach the human-tended module after deploying from the Long March 7’s upper stage. Tianzhou means “heavenly vessel” in Chinese, the name of a new series of supply ships designed to deliver supplies and rocket fuel to China’s space station, which is scheduled to be completed in orbit by 2022 to support three-person crews for six-month expeditions. Crews on China’s space station will need fresh equipment, experiments and other supplies during long-duration missions. The longest Chinese spaceflight to date was the Shenzhou 11 crew’s visit to the Tiangong 2 space lab last year, a mission that lasted approximately 32 days. “For example, the daily supplies of the astronauts, including food and clothing, extravehicular spacesuits, as well as drinking water with special tanks,” said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the Tianzhou 1 spacecraft at CASC. “We will see if the Tianzhou 1 spacecraft meets the demand of transporting and resupplying various goods through this launch.” Chinese officials said the Tianzhou 1 vessel, weighing nearly 29,000 pounds (around 13 metric tons), is the biggest and heaviest spacecraft ever built and launched by China. Mao Wanbiao, deputy commander at the Tianzhou 1 launch site, said Monday’s rollout marked the start of the final stage of launch preparations. “All work is going smoothly, and we are ready for fueling and launching,” Mao told China’s CCTV state-run television network. After the rocket reached the launch pad, a complex positioned around 2,000 feet (600 feet) from the beach, work platforms rotated around the Long March 7 to give workers access to the vehicle for final checks. The Tianzhou 1 spacecraft arrived at the Wenchang space center Feb. 13, and components of the Long March 7 rocket arrived in March for final assembly inside the vertical integration hangar. Designed to accommodate up to 14,300 pounds (6,500 kilograms) of payloads, the Tianzhou spacecraft is similar in purpose to cargo freighters that fly to the International Space Station, such as the Russian Progress supply ship and the commercial Cygnus and Dragon carriers built by Orbital ATK and SpaceX. In design and capability, the Tianzhou is most like Russia’s Progress and Europe’s now-retired Automated Transfer Vehicle, which carried dry goods, water and propellant to the orbiting outpost. The U.S. commercial supply ships and Japan’s HTV logistics vessel cannot refuel the space station. “This is a new experiment,” Bai said in an interview with CCTV. “If we succeed, then the docking of manned spacecraft and cargo spacecraft will use this technology.” The Tianzhou 1 spacecraft measures around 34.8 feet (10.6 meters) long and 11 feet (3.4 meters) in diameter. Once in orbit, the spaceship will extend its power-generating solar panels to a span of approximately 49 feet (15 meters) tip-to-tip. “The Tianzhou 1’s carrying capability is designed according to the scale of the space station, aiming to achieve the highest carrying capacity, with the lowest structural weight,” Bai said. “There is an index for the spacecraft’s carrying capacity, or payload ratio, as it is called. The payload ratio of Tianzhou 1 reaches 0.48, which ranks fairly high in the world.” He said the Tianzhou 1 mission is expected to last about two months, during which time the craft will dock with Tiangong 2 three times and refill the module’s liquid propellant tanks. China’s state-run Xinhua news agency previously reported the Tianzhou 1 spacecraft will then fly on its own for around three months before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Thursday’s launch will be the second flight of a Long March 7 rocket, China’s new medium-class launcher that debuted on a test flight in June 2016. Powered by four liquid-fueled strap-on boosters and a twin-engine core stage, the Long March 7 will blast off with 1.6 million pounds of thrust. A single YF-100 engine is fixed to the base of each booster, each generating about 270,000 pounds of thrust, and two of the YF-100 powerplants propel the first stage, burning kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants. Four smaller YF-115 engines, burning the same kerosene/liquid oxygen mixture, are mounted on the Long March 7’s second stage. The Long March 7 is capable of putting a payload of nearly 30,000 pounds — about 13.5 metric tons — into low Earth orbit, and more than 12,000 pounds — 5.5 metric tons — into a sun-synchronous polar orbit up to 435 miles (700 kilometers) in altitude. China plans to launch the core piece of its planned 60-ton space station next year, followed by the addition of research and habitation modules. Crew and cargo ships could begin visiting the space complex soon after the launch of Tianhe 1, the central module, on a heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang. Built between 2009 and 2014, the Wenchang launch center sits at 19 degrees north latitude, closer to the equator than any other Chinese rocket base, giving China better access to place satellites in geostationary orbit. It also allows rockets to drop their spent boosters in the ocean instead of over land, as is the case with China’s landlocked launch sites. The Long March 5 is needed to loft the heavy pieces of the space station, and it accomplished a successful maiden flight in November. A second launch of a Long March 5 rocket is set for June, when it will take off from Wenchang with an experimental communications satellite. The third Long March 5 flight in November will dispatch China’s robotic lunar sample return craft, named Chang’e 5, to land on the moon and bring rock specimens back to Earth. Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court put ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi on trial on Sunday on charges of endangering national security by leaking state secrets and sensitive documents to Qatar, furthering a state crackdown on his outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Former Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi sits behind bars with other Muslim Brotherhood members at a court in the outskirts of Cairo, December 29, 2014. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih Mursi, who was toppled by the army in 2013 after mass protests against his rule, remained defiant, insisting he was Egypt’s legitimate president despite facing several court cases. “This court does not represent anything to me,” said Mursi, who was on trial with 10 other people. The maximum penalty if convicted is death. Relations between Qatar, a Gulf Arab state, and Egypt have been icy since July 2013, when Egypt’s then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Mursi and then launched a tough security crackdown against Islamists. Qatar had supported Mursi, who is already in jail along with thousands of Brotherhood members, many of whom have been sentenced to death on separate charges. The public prosecutor had said Mursi’s aides were involved in leaking to Qatari intelligence, documents which exposed the location of and weapons held by the Egyptian armed forces and detailed the country’s foreign and domestic policies. Human rights groups accuse Sisi, who went on to become Egypt’s elected president last year, of suppressing dissent, an allegation the government denies. “We were abducted and tortured to pressure us to confess falsehoods,” said defendant Amin al-Serafy, who was a secretary in the presidency under Mursi. Islamist militants based in the Sinai Peninsula have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since Mursi was deposed. Sisi says the Brotherhood still poses a serious threat to Egyptian security despite the crackdown, which has weakened what was once Egypt’s most organized political organization.Please enable Javascript to watch this video AKRON-Akron police are investigating a shooting that happened at a barbershop Thursday morning. Akron police Lt. Rick Edwards told FOX 8 News, shortly before 11 a.m. three people were shot inside RP's Blade Academy Barbershop on West Exchange street. The barbershop was packed with customers at this time. Police said the suspect was sitting in the barber chair and had an apron on. A 20-year-old man walked in and started yelling for the suspect to get out of the chair. That is when the suspect pulled out a gun from his waistband and opened fire on the 20-year-old man, and two others. According to police, the suspect is described as a black male ranging in age from 20-30, who is 5'6", 140 pounds, wearing large framed black glasses, designer blue jeans and grey underwear. Lt.Edwards said the three victims are males and are 17, 20, and 49 years old. Their injuries include gunshot wounds to the ankle, the shoulder and chest. Stay with FOX 8 and FOX8.com for the latest on this developing story.Valve hardware chatter continues, following economist Yanis Varoufakis’s spell as the studio’s ‘Economist-In-Residence’. Varoufakis has blogged about his time with the studio, has discussed Valve’s dabbling in hardware, and claims to have seen ‘the future’ while there. Get his thoughts below. The blog post was translated by NeoGAF forumite alexandros is rather fascinating, and recalls how Varoufakis was first approached by Gabe Newell to help the studio create what he allegedly called ‘a single currency’ across formats and countries. Whether or not this pertains to a system like Microsoft Points or not remains to be seen. He was drafted in to help sort out the problem of economies that spawned from MMO games on Steam, and suggested that gamers selling in-game items across games and on eBay was part of Newell’s desire to create a single currency. Varoufakis explained, “Today, as we speak, one million people make a living off of Valve’s games. And I don’t mean the 400 employees of the company. For example, in China at least 200,000 players earn from 40 to 80 thousand dollars annually – which is more than enough to ensure a comfortable living, without even having to leave their house and with a PC and an internet connection as their only means of “production”. On the subject of Valve’s internal economy and famous ‘bossless’ hierarchical system, Varoufakis added, “Because Valve itself is structured in a way that contradicts all our prejudices about what a modern, successful high-tech business means and how it should be structured. It’s a bossless company, with no managers, with complete autonomy for every individual working there or working with it as I am now), with a system of value distribution that is based on the principle that they all vote on other people’s salary. “I’ve written elsewhere on Valve’s structure so I won’t go deeper here. I’ll just say that it is an experiment that gives hope on how technological evolution could in the future a) be decoupled from the traditional hierarchical organization of a company (in a way that combines horizontal participatory management with high technology and efficiency) and b) lead to the radical separation of the capitalist connection of property rights over the means of production from the withholding of profits. A big discussion for another day.” On the subject of Valve’s hardware exploits, which include AR goggle prototypes, Varoufakis explained, “At the time period between March till June I went back to Valve and we begun a research program of systematic study of their economies. Within a few days we had the first results that shed light on the way prices are determined and how arbitrage is fluctuating. “At the same time, I got the chance to “see the future”. You see, in addition to their game software, Valve has started developing hardware. Worried by Microsoft’s and Apple’s tendency to claim a bigger and bigger cut of its profits (in order to allow users access to Valve games through the computers that run their software), Valve has started experimenting with its own machines that give you the ability to run these games without a (Microsoft or Apple-controlled) computer. “I’ve signed an NDA so I can’t reveal much more. I’ll just say that I really saw the future. (it’s not a small deal to see a virtual but highly realistic alien stand beside a real human in the same room with you, walk around the room and wink at you. And all that without a screen, a projector or even a computer near you…)” How’s that for a Tuesday morning bombshell folks? Let us know what you think below. Thanks Kotaku.Security cabinet agrees to plan calling for Israel not to invade Gaza and for Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets Israel has agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire in the week-long conflict between Israel and Hamas. The plan put forward by Cairo starts with a "de-escalation" that was due to begin at 6am on Tuesday and raises hopes of serious international engagement in the crisis amid growing concern about bloodshed in Gaza. Israel's security cabinet accepted the Egyptian proposals at a meeting on Tuesday morning, the Reuters news agency reported. But the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, earlier appeared to reject the text, calling it "an initiative of kneeling and submission" and declaring the battle would continue. Three rockets launched from Egypt at the southern Israeli resort of Eilat on Tuesday wounded four civilians, Israeli security officials said, describing it as an attempt by Sinai militants to upstage Egypt's attempts to mediate. On Monday night in Washington Barack Obama welcomed the Egyptian initiative and described the deaths of Palestinian civilians as a "tragedy" while reiterating Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks. "We are encouraged that Egypt has made a proposal to accomplish this goal that we hope can restore the calm that we are seeking," Obama said at an Iftar dinner marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at the White House. "The pictures that we are seeing in Gaza and in Israel are heart-wrenching." The increased diplomatic activity is aimed at ending a military confrontation in which more than 170 Palestinians – mostly civilians, according to the UN – have been killed. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, and the Middle East envoy Tony Blair are expected to travel to Cairo on Tuesday. After a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on Monday evening, Egypt – a key mediator in previous hostilities between Israel and Hamas – suggested a full ceasefire could be in place by 6pm on Tuesday, to be followed within 48 hours by separate talks between the two sides and neutral mediators to discuss a longer-term agreement. A statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry called on "Israel and all Palestinian factions to immediately enforce a ceasefire, in view of the fact that escalation and mutual violence … is not in the interest of either party". Both sides, it said, should stop "hostilities … via land, sea and air". Israel should refrain from a ground invasion as part of its military offensive, and Palestinian factions in Gaza should refrain from firing rockets, attacks on borders or targeting civilians. Crossings should open to allow the movement of people and goods "once the security situation becomes stable on the ground". Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's political leader in Gaza, suggested in a televised speech that Hamas could be open to negotiations. "We are at an important stage in struggle against the occupier," he said, reiterating Hamas's demand for the release of its members in Israeli jails, including those arrested in a "recent sweep" in the West Bank. Other Hamas officials said only a fully fledged deal to end hostilities would be accepted. One told Agence France-Presse that no agreement had been reached despite the Egyptian proposal. "There are efforts and communications on the issue of a truce deal but until now there is nothing final … Efforts are being made by various parties, particularly the Egyptians, but in a weak manner," he said. Diplomatic sources also cautioned against quick progress towards a ceasefire agreement. "This is going to be much harder to achieve than the 2012 ceasefire. My guess is that there are still some bleak days ahead," said one. Others argued that Egypt's initiative was sincere, and a ceasefire inevitable, since neither Hamas nor Israel were seeking a further escalation of the conflict. The government of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Egypt may also be anxious to prove its worth on the international stage and improve the standing of the Cairo regime. "Egypt does not want to help Hamas," said Issandr el-Amrani, a Cairo-based analyst and North Africa project director at the Crisis Group. "But it wants to get recognised by the international community for playing its role … Every time there's been [tensions over Gaza] people have been looking for a way of calming down. The question is on what terms." Earlier on Monday, the EU joined calls for an end to the bloodshed in Gaza, saying it was in contact with "parties in the region" to press for an immediate ceasefire. "We call on all sides to exercise maximum restraint, to avoid casualties and to return [to] calm," said an EU foreign policy spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic. In Washington, a State Department spokeswoman said: "We welcome Egypt's call for a ceasefire and hope this will lead to the restoration of calm as soon as possible. "Secretary Kerry has been deeply engaged in conversations with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Egyptian government officials and President Abbas throughout this difficult period, and the United States remains committed to working with them and our regional partners to find a resolution to this dangerous and volatile situation." Both Kerry and the British foreign secretary, William Hague, urged a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement, reached at the end of the last intense conflict between Israel and Hamas. Kerry spoke by phone to Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, on Sunday, stressing Israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Gaza. He said the US was concerned about escalating tensions and was ready to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, according to a senior state department official. In a statement, Hague said he had spoken to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Liberman, to express his concerns about civilian casualties and urging a restoration of the November 2012 ceasefire. "It is clear we need urgent concerted international action to secure a ceasefire, as was the case in 2012." Hague told MPs at Westminster on Monday that any ceasefire deal had to be part of a wider effort to improve conditions in Gaza. However, analysts were sceptical about the chances for achieving a ceasefire in the short term. "It's a pretty depressing picture. The Egyptians have been quite happy to see Hamas take a beating, and the US is being cautious and is unwilling to get into a confrontation with Israel," said a western diplomat in Jerusalem. Egypt, which has historically close ties with Gaza, has been instrumental in the past in persuading Hamas to sign up to ceasefire agreements that Cairo has helped to mediate. But since last year's military coup the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas's ideological parent, has been outlawed and Egyptian attitudes to Gaza have hardened. The US has been exasperated by the failure of its intensive efforts in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process over the past year, which was led personally by Kerry. After talks broke down, it warned that the failure could lead to renewed violence. Blair met Sisi in Cairo at the weekend "to review the latest events on the ground", according to an Egyptian presidential spokesman. But he is seen as close to both Netanyahu and the Egyptian regime, and is unlikely to gain the confidence of Hamas as a peace-broker. Netanyahu told his cabinet said on Sunday that the goal of the Israeli military's Operation Protective Shield was "the restoration of quiet for a long period while inflicting a significant blow on Hamas and the other terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip". It is the same goal as 2012's Operation Pillar of Defence, and 2008-09's Operation Cast Lead: to contain Hamas but not obliterate it. Israel knows that eliminating Hamas, even if possible, could leave a vacuum filled by organisations more militant, more radical and less palatable. "It's a fine calibration between weakening Hamas enough and not weakening it too much. Netanyahu still wants Hamas as the address in Gaza, otherwise there will be chaos and mayhem," said Daniel Levy, the Middle East director of the European Council for Foreign Relations. Hamas – whose leaders are likely to be safe in underground bunkers, unlike the hapless civilians, which has who have nowhere to hide – has said its terms for a ceasefire would include Israel lifting its eight-year blockade on the Gaza Strip, opening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, and releasing Palestinian prisoners Israel rearrested after freeing them in exchange for the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011. According to the western diplomat, Hamas wants to see real change in Gaza in exchange for ending the rocket fire. "The challenge is firstly to define the common ground for a ceasefire, but beyond that to work out how we change the paradigm," he said, referring to easing movement, access and trade restrictions in Gaza, and the restoration of Palestinian Authority control. "But we have to be careful not to be over-ambitious – otherwise we'll just be back here again." Levy warned that a ceasefire might restore what is known as "quiet", but "that means Israel returns to normality but Gaza returns to being under siege. The fundamentals don't change."South Park: The Fractured But Whole comes out on December 6, Ubisoft said today, unveiling a bunch of new info about their next cartoon game. The premise: the South Park kids are playing superhero, and have just entered a civil war... over how to plot out their superhero franchise plans. The Fractured But Whole starts off where Stick of Truth ended—them throwing the stick away—and moves the kids from playing fantasy to dressing up as superheroes. Buying The Fractured But Whole will also get you a free copy of South Park: The Stick of Truth on PS4/Xbox One/PC. In fact, Ubisoft says that you can get a copy of Stick of Truth if you pre-purchase the game starting today. Your main character, Douche Bag from the last game, will get to build a superhero persona by picking from one of several classes like Brutalist and Speedster. He’ll also have a backstory that’s laid out by Cartman in an opening sequence. Advertisement In a series of videos during Ubisoft’s press conference today, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker showed off different aspects of the game, including a new tactical combat system (with a grid!) and various interactive objects.• Understudy Willy Caballero unlikely to be offered new contract • Question marks remain over form of first choice Claudio Bravo Pep Guardiola will target a new goalkeeper for Manchester City in the summer, with Willy Caballero unlikely to be offered a fresh deal when his contract ends. What has happened to Pep Guardiola’s project at Manchester City? Read more Caballero is Claudio Bravo’s deputy and although the Chilean remains City’s No1 if his unreliable form were to continue Guardiola would have to decide whether to recruit an understudy or a goalkeeper who could provide direct competition. Caballero joined the club in summer 2014, being signed from Málaga by the previous manager Manuel Pellegrini, who promised the Argentinian he would have a chance to vie with Joe Hart for the No1 jersey. However, Caballero never established himself under Pellegrini, though he did claim a Capital One Cup winners’ medal following an impressive display in the final last year, saving three penalties in the shootout. Hart is on loan at Torino and although he will return to City in the summer there seems little prospect of him being able to re-establish himself under Guardiola. The Catalan’s lack of faith in Hart moved him to sign Bravo from Barcelona.Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. At a hearing today of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is expected to attack a Presidential plan to require government contractors to disclose their contributions to political groups. The hearing is a bold move for Issa, who only months ago founded the House Transparency Caucus with the declaration that “sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant.” The disclosure rule at issue is really just a small-bore response to last year’s sweeping Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, which opened the floodgates to corporate cash in elections. It focuses exclusively on federal contractors because they presumably have more incentive than other private companies to bribe and influence politicians. So why is Issa throwing a fit? The answer, as with most things in politics, probably involves money. The union-backed group Chamber Watch has tallied up how much dark money went last year to support Republicans on the Oversight Committee and the Small Business Committee, which is co-hosting the hearing. The results are striking: Evidence suggests that a large part of this dark money comes from companies that feed at the public trough. Board members of just one of those dark money groups, the US Chamber of Commerce, earned a collective $44 billion from federal contracts last year, according to Chamber Watch. Only 18 of the Chamber’s 53 board members didn’t land contracts with the federal government.The latest FIFA World Rankings have been announced and England fans across the country have now seen the lowest ranking for their team in 12 years. The placement of 17th may come as a shock to some, but it should be taken as a stark warning. Despite some of the teams being very wrongly placed (Colombia in 5th, having dropped from the heady heights of 3rd) in a very dubious ranking system, England can have no complaints. There are around eight teams miles better than England in terms of squad and form at the moment: Spain, Germany, Brazil, France, Argentina, Uruguay, Italy and Holland. There are several teams in a similar position to England: Portugal, Belgium, Russia, Croatia, Chile, Ukraine and more. Alone, this shows that England is already looking at a very hard fight to even feature in the top 10. Of course, expectations are thrown high whenever a good performance against a big side happens. However, does Russia expect itself to be called a top side after pulling off shock wins? No, with a major point being that it was a shock win. Regardless of the teams going above and below England, it is a fair ranking. The team has had some shoddy form, with sides like Poland holding them to a draw, and the fact is that the squad is average. England do have some world-beaters in Wayne Rooney and a limited few others. Jack Wilshere is being expected of too much, as are others when not ready. If you compare again to Poland, they have Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski as star players and then a very mixed squad. Remind anyone of a certain country that clings to its 1966 glory? This is not to say Poland are at England’s level – they aren’t – but it is more to show that two or three great players cannot elevate you to the highest ranks anymore. A top quality team needs to be built a la Spain and Germany. There Elo football rankings provide a different view, and some say a more accurate one. England is rated as 6th best team, however these ratings have slowly declined in accuracy over the past couple of years, It may readjust after a major tournament, such as the upcoming World Cup. The irony of all this shock at England’s low ranking is that the fight to keep a summer World Cup in 2022 still rages on. How much egg would be on the FA’s (metaphorical) face if the decision to change locations of the World Cup was made to keep with tradition and fit in so well with the English league format? A team that could feature Tom Cleverley as a leading ‘star’ may well be ranked lower than Scotland come the next decade. To go back to comparisons, of the last starting eleven for England against Ukraine, only Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard can really call themselves top international stars and two of them have seen better days. It is an embarrassing state for the nation to be in. Injuries and suspensions can be blamed, but the fact is it wasn’t good enough to beat Ukraine, a side who have had better squads themselves than the one put out against England. The rankings can still be ridiculed further, with Wales having been confirmed as the second-best home nation and Northern Ireland rising, despite a recent defeat to Luxembourg. The point still stands though: England is no better than it has been rated. On their day, the side can beat Spain or Brazil, as proven, but the consistency and squad quality lacks. Also, when was the last time England beat a ‘top’ team in a major cup, such as the World Cup or European Championship? Does it not suggest that friendlies can be misleading? Would that be where it is all going wrong? In spite of whether England should be rated 6th or 17th, the rankings bring home a cold truth: England is on a slippery slope of decline and needs to act quick, or a warm winter in Qatar will be the least of its worries. Thanks for Reading, you can follow me on twitter @PitchsidePie. Give the site a follow while you’re at it – @LastWordOnSports. Feel free to discuss this and other footy related articles with thousands of fans at r/football. Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? Find more info at our “Join Our Team” page.One of the most striking things about visiting the United States these days is noticing for the first time how much of the world’s most powerful nation, this glorious frontier land lodged between two shining seas, is coated in breadcrumbs. Basically they breadcrumb everything now. It’s not just breadcrumbed meat, breadcrumbed vegetables, breadcrumbed pizza, or even, in the absence of visible crumb, that chemical glaze the US seems to apply to everything from breakfast cereals to yoghurt to the hair, skin and teeth of its presidential candidates. At one point during my holiday there this summer, which was, in fairness, in Florida, the country’s great scented armpit, I bought a sandwich containing breadcrumbed chicken and breadcrumbed aubergine crammed between two slices of bread that were, in a rare case of missed opportunity, not breadcrumbed. The nightmare of American food – so much food, but somehow always the wrong food – is nothing new, just as the rise of Total Breadcrumb is a logical step for a nation that has always taken patriotic pride in its powers of mass production. “All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good,” Andy Warhol famously said, and there is something triumphantly star-spangled about this impulse to sand down and homogenise, the artful sterility of the breadcrumbed life. All of which is a roundabout way of offering up some praise for the Premier League, which is having a moment of its own in the US right
he approached Pine Street, he saw a group of people with skateboards standing on the corner. Suddenly, someone in the group rolled their skateboard in front of the victim, who didn't have time to stop and crashed his bicycle, according to the police report for the incident. When the victim tried to confront the skateboarder, he was immediately surrounded by the group. A member of the group punched the victim in the face, knocking him to the ground, according to the report. The victim later told officers the group started kicking him in the head and ribs until he lost consciousness. A handful of Good Samaritans intervened and broke up the attack, according to the report. One of the attackers reportedly tried to steal the victim's bike, but a passerby stopped him and returned the bike to the victim. After the attack, the victim was shaken and upset but told witnesses he didn't need any help and didn't want to call 911. He ended up riding the 15 blocks home on his now-damaged bicycle. Once home, the victim realized his iPhone was missing and thinks one of the attackers took it while he was knocked out. He also started to feel excessive pain in his head and had friends drive him to the hospital, where he was found to be suffering from a possible concussion, lumps on his head, scratches all over his legs and body and a sore rib cage. The victim eventually reported the incident to police but was unable to give officers a good description of the attackers. He also said he didn't think he would recognize them if he saw them again.Update 4/25 2pm ET: Riot Games has released the brackets of the European open qualifier, which includes a team named "Chocolate Orange Fudge!", which is Fnatic Academy. That team consists of Werlyb, Impaler, SozPurefect, Exork, and former Fnatic starter Klaj, as reported earlier in this report. The original story is below. Just a day before the open qualifier bracket locks, European-based Fnatic has finalized the lineup for its Challenger squad Fnatic Academy, sources close to its players and the organization told ESPN.com Thursday. Headlining the team will be support Johan "Klaj" Olsson, who was recently moved down to the Challenger squad from the main team. Klaj participated with the main Fnatic lineup for the majority of the spring split, after replacing former support Lewis "NoXiaK" Felix. Klaj won't be the only former League Championship Series player participating in the squad either. Former Giants Gaming and Team Huma top laner Jorge "Werlyb" Casanovas and former Team Coast and Renegades: Banditos jungler Matthew "Impaler" Taylor will fill the team's top lane and jungle. Editor's Picks "To the last I grapple with thee..." - ROX Tigers vs. SK Telecom T1 The Tigers hunt its own version of Moby Dick: SK Telecom T1. The teams continue to meet, and SKT continues to walk away with the win. The Tigers continue to chase. Will this time be different? Mango: "Being a Mango fan is a beautiful thing--and also sometimes the worst thing in the world." Mang0 discusses his rise and fall and the pocket picks he's ready to bring into competitive play. Classic cards could possibly make a comeback in Hearthstone With cards taking the nerf bat left and right, Dan takes a look at the classic cards that might be making a return to the meta. 2 Related Laning with Klaj will be former Natus Vincere (Na`Vi) Challenger AD carry Sébastien "Exork" Lamorte. In its mid lane will be Exork's former teammate Hicham "SozPurefect" Tazrhini, who has participated in the Challenger scene since early 2014. That team will participate in the European Challenger Series open qualifiers, which take place in the coming weeks. If they make it through that part of the qualification process, it will be thrown into another qualifier that will house six teams from national leagues -- with Renegades: Banditos, G2 Vodafone and Tricked eSports already locked in as three -- and the fifth- and sixth-place Challenger squads from last split, mousesports and SK Gaming. Klaj's demotion to the Academy lineup comes an odd time. On Thursday night, Team SoloMid announced that former Fnatic star support Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim would be leaving the squad in hopes of returning to Europe. That has sparked speculation across social media that YellOwStaR might return to Fnatic's starting support role, which is now conveniently vacant. Meanwhile, Werlyb will have another shot at making it back to the LCS, but with a significantly more equipped organization this time around. For the past few months, he was a member of Team Huma, which suffered from financial shortcomings, as reported by the Daily Dot.One of my Facebook friends posted this today: A lovely Facebook meme. Did it make you chuckle? A lovely Facebook meme. Did it make you chuckle? I see this kind of thing a lot from this person. My guess is my friend posts misapplied arguments like this to trololololol. He doesn’t want to be taken seriously, but he likes getting people’s panties all atwist. It’s sadism, really (not really). Regardless of whether or not he wants people to learn anything or reflect for real, I did anyway. The poster above illustrates an attitude I see a lot. Usually from those with the most social status and special treatment (those from the middle class, whites, and men), who are blind to the full scope of the complaints they hear due to the difference in their lived experience (ie: they’re not evil). What they’re saying is that they’re upset because they can’t freely say what they want. It’s oppression, really, they would argue. Just like poor Daniel Tosh. (For more on this, google “Daniel Tosh” and “Rape Jokes”) That Facebook meme suggests that people can’t say what they want to, that there’s some kind of censorship imposed on them for “daring” to offend. But no one is censoring here. Even Tosh is free to say what he likes, but it takes tremendous entitlement to think that means listeners must THEN respond to him favorably. That we must enjoy and respect what he says, just because… why, he has opinions? Yeah right. Welcome to the real world, my lovely friends. If your job is comedy and you aren’t amusing us, we don’t buy your tickets or watch your shows. Any response to you is actually speech and it’s just as protected as yours, and we’re just as un-entitled to you liking it. Belle reads a lot. Gaston really ought to see what she’s found out. Belle reads a lot. Gaston really ought to see what she’s found out. This “rape joke” example brings me to another insight. I think we need new words. Offense for example. So many people use this word, so many others (usually members of favored groups) rebel against it. What’s happening is, you say you’re “offended”, and what people hear is: “My wittle FEEEEEELINGs hurt!” But who’s going to care about your feelings being hurt? A huge percentage of people are going to think you ought to toughen up! They’ll think, “My goodness how did you survive this long expecting other people to accommodate your weakness?” With that understanding, the offenders are then feeling justified to write memes about offense and censorship like the one I saw on Facebook. They say back to the offended, “Don’t be such a whiner!” They feel pretty brave “standing up” to this idea because it seems like everyone is just a mindless sheep complying with the request of this bellyaching “offended” person. It’s too bad, because they’re so far off the mark. I blame the word “offense”. The thing is, when a person says “I’m offended” they’re usually saying something closer to: “I am witness to you invalidating humans for an insignificant reason, and that is doing real damage and is utterly embarrassing and horrifying and I don’t think you meant it to be. I thought to tell you.” It’s not that they’re feeling insulted! They’re seeing a breach in respect and decency. Not a small MISSTEP in protocol, or an incorrect use of etiquette. You have done something that they know to be molestation to other people, a form of corruption rotting good people (you) from the core. They see it and you don’t, and there has to be a better way to communicate that, because right now it sounds a whole lot like rigid rule-enforcing! What happens next is everyone involved, not understanding each other, just splits off into teams. They play these roles, they jerk their knees, they get to feel super justified, super pissed, and while they’re playing this game no one is being understood. The thing is, how could people understand each other when these are the exchanges happening over, and over, and over again? No wonder people are seeing each other as enemies! These words are leaving them interpreted as whiners, morons, or assholes. Yeah, so the word “offense” doesn’t make people see anything. In this case it doesn’t even mean anything. It’s being used but not being heard. Until a replacement word is found, when you would ordinarily use the word offense, say what you really mean, in long form. Skip the code word. You have to work a little harder and use a bit of finesse unless all you want to do is repeat the same scene over and over and over. Like Groundhog Day. Don’t be this guy. Still image from the film Groundhog Day Don’t be this guy. Still image from the film Groundhog Day You want to say: “I hated your rape joke, it was so offensive!” Instead try: “Not understanding why making jokes about rape is problematic. It goes against the unwritten standards of being a good person and I’m sure you intended this innocently but you make yourself look like you don’t understand the suffering of victims. It might be time to rethink this. I’ve spent a lot of time on this subject, so if you want some resources I can save you some time and send a few your way.” It’s not cheeky or cute or rebellious to be “offensive”, it’s not brave or charming, it doesn’t make you look like a freedom fighter, or rulebreaker, or like you’ve figured anything out. People think that it does because they imagine “offense” as if it means “insult”. Insult is really not what people are saying. Really! Even the whiny ones. Learning about this will save you from frustration, annoyance, and will let you work on being a good person at the next level. What I’m saying here is not some alternative viewpoint, or niche opinion. It’s an attempt at translation. I think anyone involved in debating offense clearly cares, and when you care so much it can be hard to refocus from “defense” to “understanding” but there are clear advantages to doing so. I’d like to know if this was helpful or saves you some frustration. Have you been stuck in this cycle of uselessness and futility (no matter where in this pattern you happen to be stuck)? Is there something you’ve learned that you wish other people knew about? Leave a ReplyCarson Leonti is a total ham. So it’s only fitting that he will dress as Miss Piggy to emcee the Tustin Tiller Days talent show on Friday, Oct. 6. “I plan to make myself the joke,” Leonti said. For example, one antic will involve scampering about the stage as he’s chased by a bacon-lover. The 21-year-old Irvine resident relishes clowning around in feminine attire. For the past two years, he has supplemented his income as a waiter by performing comedy in drag at gay clubs all over Southern California. However, the opening night of Tiller Days will mark Leonti’s first-ever appearance before a mostly heterosexual crowd. “I’m both excited and nervous,” he said. “I don’t want to scare the kids.” That’s why he decided to come as the lovable Muppet: “I adored Miss Piggy when I was a child.” Now in its 60th year, the Tiller Days festival pays homage to Tustin’s agricultural heritage and small-town roots. Annual traditions include carnival rides, a big parade, bake-offs, dance troupes, school bands and the aforementioned talent show. Local nonprofits sell hot dogs, sodas and cotton candy. How, exactly, do drag queens jibe with this slice of Americana — in a historically conservative city? “It’s a wonderful way to celebrate diversity and how far Tustin has come,” said TyRon Jackson, entertainment chair for the Tiller Days community stage. Respected in the community for his work with at-risk children and homeless people, Jackson first approached Tiller Days liaison Christine Zepeda with his idea. “I told her I wanted to raise the bar and do something out of the box this year,” Jackson recalled. “She looked at me and said, ‘Let’s do it!'” Other volunteers seemed, at least momentarily, a bit more hesitant. “When I brought up drag queens in a meeting, there was a silent pause for about 10 seconds,” Jackson remembered. “I said, ‘You have my word. Everything will be OK.’ Then they gave me their blessing.” Larry Sample, 70, chair of the organizing committee for Tiller Days, was one who didn’t quite know what to make of the notion. “I was a little shocked, but everybody else seemed to be OK with it so I went along,” Sample said. “I’m thinking a lot of people won’t figure out he’s a drag queen, per se. And kids won’t notice or care. Maybe the 80-year-old grandmom and grandpa will be offended.” Tustin Councilwoman Letitia Clark, 35, who graduated from Tustin High with Jackson, agreed that “some of the more conservative members of the community might raise an eyebrow.” Even so, Clark said, Jackson is so admired that “just about everybody will get behind anything he does, no matter how taboo it may seem at first.” Jackson, a behavior interventionist for Tustin Unified School District, founded Operation Warm Wishes — which provides assistance to struggling families, including an annual Thanksgiving dinner in Peppertree Park and laundry services. As a gay teen in a low-income family, Jackson endured taunts at school. Those experiences led him to spearhead anti-bullying and public awareness campaigns. Subtly introducing a drag-queen shtick to the general population during Tiller Days is simply an extension of his efforts, Jackson said. “My role as a gay man is to inspire people to be more compassionate,” he said. Leonti remembers well the sense of alienation he felt at school and even at home when he was growing up in Riverside. His parents, both pastors, encouraged him to “pray the gay out” once they learned his sexual orientation, he said. “I have come to terms with the fact that some people cannot understand what I’m going through,” Leonti said. “I realized that anger would destroy the kindhearted, sensitive person I am. It’s not worth it.” He remains close to his father and mother – although they mostly avoid the “elephant in the room,” Leonti said. “I invited my mom to come see me in a club, and she said, ‘Oh, Car, you know I’m not into that stuff!’” he said. On a recent afternoon, Leonti demonstrated for visitors the two-hour process he undertakes before drag routines. He sat before a mirror in the apartment bedroom he shares with his boyfriend and rifled through a box chock-full of cosmetics. First, he erased his eyebrows beneath multiple layers of powder applied with multiple swipes of a glue stick. This step alone required a good 30 minutes. “How else am I going to hide my manly features?” he quipped. Next, he coated his face with primer and foundation, drew new and ultra-arched eyebrows and brushed on bold degrees of eye shadow, liner and lipstick. Doing nothing in moderation, he attached three pair of false eye lashes with hair bonding glue. “I’m painting a picture, making a masterpiece,” Leonti said. He creates his costumes with thrift-shop clothing, hot glue and even toy parts. To craft the ears for his Miss Piggy ensemble, Leonti “butchered” a stuffed animal his boyfriend won for him at a carnival. Leonti wanted to save his Miss Piggy getup as a Tiller Days surprise, so instead modeled a lace dress that started as a second-hand wedding gown. Underneath, he wore five pair of pantyhose that held in place foam padding on his rear end while concealing the hair on his legs. Why doesn’t he just shave his legs and wax his eyebrows? Well, he explained, because he is not a woman. “I’m a gay man,” Leonti said. In drag, Leonti becomes alter ego Whisper. “I feel a lot more comfortable expressing myself when I am Whisper,” he said. But at Tustin Tiller Days, he will step out of the comfort zone he has developed at gay clubs. What if someone in the audience jeers him? “Well, I’ll just keep going,” Leonti said. “I can’t stop the show.” There’s nothing to worry about, Councilwoman Clark predicted. For one thing, she pointed out, drag queens have become part of pop culture with the nine-season VH1 reality TV competition “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” For another, the times they are a-changin’. “A new generation is coming up in Tustin,” she said. “Recognizing our diversity makes us all feel connected. Tustin Tiller Days is an institution in our city that celebrates both who we were then and who we are today.” The 60th annual Tustin Tiller Days, a three-day celebration of the city’s farming heritage, takes place Friday, Oct. 6, through Sunday, Oct. 8, at 17522 Beneta Way and in Columbus Tustin Park, 14712 Prospect Ave. The event helps nonprofits raise money. The talent show begins at 8 p.m. Oct. 6 on the community stage. The parade gets going at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 7. Other events include the Backyard Brewfest Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Information: 714-573-3326.× Twenty years later, the swing music revival of the late nineties remains a perplexing hallmark of the decade. For a few years, bands that swung made a forceful showing on mainstream radio. Leading the pack was Carrboro's Squirrel Nut Zippers, who cloaked raucous rock in fast-and-loose hot jazz arrangements. Its ebullient songs were as inspired by the Pixies as they were by Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong. Pop history has pegged Squirrel Nut Zippers as instigators of the swing revival, but the band predated the fad, growing from the same fertile indie scene that nurtured the likes of Superchunk and Archers of Loaf. The band's first LP, The Inevitable, was released on Mammoth Records in March 1995, well before the swing trend hit a fever pitch. And the Zippers' East Coast home kept them isolated from the West Coast "cocktail scene" that morphed into the new swing movement. For a week spanning the end of October and beginning of November 1995, Squirrel Nut Zippers posted up at Daniel Lanois's Kingsway Studios in New Orleans to record its second album, Hot, which would propel the band to its strange national stardom. The Zippers never planned on hitting the big time, but an ambitious label rep and fortuitous timing helped the single "Hell" explode on mainstream radio, several months after the release of Hot in June 1996. The movement that helped the band sell more than a million records was a boon and a curse. Locked into a trend they wanted no part of, most of the band members felt like their project suddenly had a very short shelf life. The shadow of litigation, acrimoni-ous departures, and the divorce of Jimbo Mathus and Katharine Whalen, all of which caused Squirrel Nut Zippers to fall apart a few years after Hot, still hangs over the band. Only two members of the original lineup are on board for this year's twentieth anniversary tour for Hot: front man Jimbo Mathus and drummer Chris Phillips. Relationships remain strained enough that Katharine Whalen, whose voice lent the band so much of its signature sound, declined multiple requests for an interview. But this isn't the story of how it all fell apart. Rather, it's a trip through the dizzy carnival ride that flung a handful of small-town oddballs, who had convened as a casual, one-off art project, into the center of a storm they never expected. THE BAND: SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS Jimbo Mathus: Songwriting, vocals, guitar, tenor banjo, piano Tom Maxwell: Songwriting, vocals, guitar, baritone saxophone, clarinet, resonator Ken Mosher: Songwriting, guitar, alto and baritone saxophone, baritone ukulele Chris Phillips: Percussion Don Raleigh: Bass Katharine Whalen: Vocals, banjo, baritone ukulele THE LABEL: MAMMOTH RECORDS Steve Balcom: Label manager Tom Osborn: West Coast representative Lane Wurster: Art director ASSORTED PLAYERS Andrew Bird: Violin Duke Heitger: Trumpet Mac McCaughan: Cofounder, Merge Records Mike Napolitano: Engineering and mixing "WE WERE A GOOD LITTLE BAND." Lane Wurster (Art director, Mammoth Records): The very first thing they did was that single Merge put out [1994's Roasted Right]. Mac McCaughan (Cofounder, Merge Records): For Merge, it wasn't that weird, because it wasn't terribly far from, say, an early Lambchop record. Katharine's voice really set it apart, because she sounds so amazing. Tom Maxwell (Vocals, guitar, baritone sax, songwriting, Squirrel Nut Zippers): The discussion was, who do we sign with? Merge offered fifty-fifty deals, which was compelling, but Mammoth had a distribution deal with Atlantic. Lane Wurster: With The Inevitable, we gave that record away. That was the way we promoted itsend it around to people that we thought would like it instead of doing big ad buys or other promotional stuff. Jimbo Mathus (Vocals, guitar, banjo, songwriting, Squirrel Nut Zippers): We really did a lot of heavy lifting with The Inevitable to get a sound that was cohesive, what we felt would really resonate. By the time Hot rolled around, the expectations were high. Tom Maxwell: Something tectonic was happening, but we just were making money. We were getting a lot of wedding gigs. We could anchor little tours on it, and we played a lot. We got better, and we wrote new material. By the time we went to New Orleans, we had been touring the songs for Hot for like six months. We were a good little band, and definitely could put it across. HAVE IT KINGSWAY Tom Maxwell: Jim Mathus came to me and Ken and said that he was going to New Orleans, and did we want to come along? It sounded innocuous, but actually it felt very momentous to me. I didn't really understand why. And so we drove down in somebody's shitty car and stayed with Jimbo's high school friend. Jimbo Mathus: A man by the name of Glenn Graham was in one of my first psychedelic rock combos. He went on to be in Blind Melon, and he's the drummer. We kept in touch. Tom Maxwell: [Blind Melon] had recorded at Kingsway Studios, and he brought his friend Mike Napolitano, who just seemed to get it. And then Glenn says, "Yeah, you should go to Kingsway, where we made this record." We go to this fucking mansion in the French Quarter, on the corner of Chartres and Esplanade. Dan Lanois had bought it after he made all that money producing U2. He made no attempt to turn it into a studio; he just moved a bunch of gear into it. Jimbo Mathus: It was ideal. There's no distraction. You're in an incredible space. You know it's got haints all in it. Hell yeah. Tom Maxwell: I called Steve Balcom from the label and said, basically, "Look, we're going to do our next record here." Steve Balcom (Label manager, Mammoth Records): We loved that studio. It was an imperfect recording environment, but it was the perfect recording environment for that band. Chris Phillips (Percussion, Squirrel Nut Zippers): It was a magical place. The way it smelled, the way it felt when you walked in the kitchen door. It was all vibe. I certainly think that it created a creative space that encouraged everyone to enter their own fantasy world and be all that they could be as an artist. Mike Napolitano (Engineering and mixing): Kingsway kept you. It was impossible to do the thing that is the entrenched way of making records: control, control, control. Kingsway was not built for that. Ken Mosher (Saxophone, guitar, songwriting, Squirrel Nut Zippers): Even going to Kingsway visiting, that would be like going to Buckingham Palace and going, "OK, we're going to be living here soon." NITTY GRITTY HOT BAND [page] Tom Maxwell: We play the Black Mountain Music Festival. We meet this young, handsome violinist, who's playing Irish music, named Andrew Bird. He comes up to us later and says that he's had a dreamhe was playing music with us, and that's what needed to happen. We were like, "That's great, sure!" Stacy [Guess, the band's longtime trumpet player] didn't even come to the show, because he was scoring. That was two weeks before we went down to record. Stacy had been our trumpet player for a year and a half. It felt kind of like an amputation. Jimbo Mathus: He was a heroin junkie who had retired for about nine years. But he got it back on and we fired him. There was no room for that kind of behavior. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I ever had to do. I'm the one that fucking fired him. He was an honorable man. He just couldn't live in this world, apparently. Tom Maxwell: The idea was, "We're not kicking you out, but this is incompatible, so you need to get your shit together." In my mind, it was like, "Hey, this is such a good thing, that he'll choose this over that." That's because I wasn't hooked on heroin, and it hadn't rewired my brain. Ken Mosher: We voted four to two to continue the tour, to go to Chicago instead of just going back to Chapel Hill. I really was not sure that we were going to have a band if we didn't continue on that tour. All of a sudden, it got real hard. It became work. I'm glad that we did what we did. But that was probably one of the last group decisions that we made that was a good one. Shortly before the release of Hot, the Squirrel Nut Zippers got a big media boost that helped the record get off to a good start when it hit shelves in June. A Mammoth Records intern got the band connected with Bob Edwards, the host for NPR's national Morning Edition program. Edwards liked the band and had them on the show, where they came off well and grabbed the attention of thousands of new ears. But while the Zippers did well on college and public radio formats, nobody from the band or Mammoth ever expected it to find mainstream success. The idea was that the Zippers could have a steady, mid-level career. However, a change in the national media landscape provided the band with its biggest break. Four months before the Zippers released Hot, President Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law. Part of the new legislation allowed for media companies like Clear Channel to buy up radio stations and other outlets. Clear Channel began dictating playlists to its stations, homogenizing Top 40 radio across the country. Many program directors, figuring they'd shortly be out of a job, began taking more risks with their music selections, coinciding with the rapid ascent of "Hell." Back in the Triangle, Mammoth and the Zippers developed a good relationship with G105, making a splash with a morning rush-hour performance on The Showgram with Bob and Madison. The station's program director, Kip Heinzmann, worked the band into the station's rotation, which translated to regular plays and in turn boosted the band even more in its home state. The warm local reception spread throughout the Southeast, and the Zippers kept climbing. Tom Maxwell: We had just played with Bird in Chicago, literally the week before, and asked him to come down [to play violin on Hot]. He was never a member of the band. He was around when we made records, because it was always a good idea to have Andrew Bird on your record. He was an idiosyncratic guy among a bunch of idiosyncratic people. Jimbo Mathus: We were writing at alarming rates. We were on a real creative high wave. We were challenging one another. Most of those songs were brand new songs written within the year or so before the record was cut. Ken Mosher: There were a lot of slow songs, and I remember thinking, "We need to write two or three more fast ones before we get in there, upbeat ones." I worked with Jimbo and Tom equally at that time. Probably more with Jimbo, even. Tom Maxwell: We never told each other what to play unless it was a very specific line. You always just put it into the Zippers box and shook it up, and then something came out the other side that was way more sparkly than what you thought it was. Chris Phillips: To me, it was much more about the tone than about creating any one specific type of music. I don't think any of us thought about [that]. We were just pulling on our inspirations and doing with them what we could. Ken Mosher: A day and a half into that project, we had recorded "Put a Lid on It," really as a demo, and sort of abandoned that. We hadn't recorded anything else, and it was like, "Jesus Christ, we have five days to record this record," and we hadn't even met Duke [Heitger, a New Orleans trumpet player hired to fill in for Stacy Guess]. Then, for the next three days, it was absolutely focused. Jimbo Mathus: We probably did four a day. We'd gear up, just like we do now. Saddle up, see what key it's in, make sure everything's straight, work on the arrangement real quick, do head arrangements. That's it. Knock it down. Ken Mosher: When we weren't particularly good at playing, we tried to be clever as a band about creating scenes behind solos. Maybe the tempo wouldn't change, but the percussion instrumentation would, and the whole tone of the players in supporting roles would change. We were just trying to be more clever in a studio way. Tom Maxwell: One challenge was, who the fuck is going to play trumpet on this record? We had the name of a guy that we were told was the guy. We'd never met him or heard him play. The morning he showed up, I was like, "Look, Ken, we need to go ahead and buy a bottle of bourbon, because if this guy sucks, we're gonna want to get drunk. And if this guy's really good, then we'll probably want to have a drink. Either way, we win." We were walking back to Kingsway with a bottle of Maker's Mark, and Duke Heitger's like, "Hey, are you guys in the Squirrel Nut Zippers?" Duke Heitger (Trumpet): I arrived at the studio and everyone was kind of lounging around because they'd already laid a lot of their tracks down. We had our introductions, and then we got to work pretty quickly. They didn't have charts or anything, so they would sing what they had in mind. Otherwise, it was left to me to come up with what I was going to play. Tom Maxwell: Any time you hear any other musician play something that appears to be an answer to one of those trumpet lines, it prefigures the actual trumpet line. Ken Mosher: We thought we were going to be painstakingly trying to tell him what to do, or helping him write parts. He's like, "Oh, I just play how I feel. Oh, I like the way this feels," and just goes crazy. Duke Heitger: The music that the band played was a little different than my comfort zone. It called for a little reckless abandon on occasions, where maybe I would have been a little more reserved in a different setting. It's a rock band. They were certainly a new look at melodies and changes for me. It was fun to tackle that. Chris Phillips: He was like a Howitzer gun going off. He was so fucking talented. I think he opened a lot of our minds to how learning your craft can really assist you in fulfilling your artistic vision. Duke Heitger: The Squirrel Nut Zippers were telling me, as we were having drinks after the recording session, "Oh, come on, join the band, we're going places!" And as a professional musician, I'm thinking, "Ah, yeah, right, everyone says that." Tom Maxwell: He comes from a world where he plays on steamboats and wears black pants and a white shirt. The idea that you would sit around and smoke pot or drink alcohol in the studio setting was utterly beyond him. We were punk-asses driving around in a van. Why would he join the band? BACK TO THE MIXING BOARD [page] Mike Napolitano: [Producer] Brian Paulson seemed to have something in mind already about how the record should be recorded and produced, and it was at odds with what they were feeling. He continued to put up microphones that I think nobody wanted but him. Tom Maxwell: We were still cutting stuff live, but there were tons of mics that we put up that we ended up not using. We ended up using the more remote, kind of ambient microphones. Chris Phillips: We were a handful to deal with, and I think we had a lot of cooks in the kitchen sending [Paulson] in circles. I think that was tough for him, and it was hard for him to get a focus on the clear line through the mix. We weren't totally satisfied with it. Ken Mosher: We needed compression and oomph to make Hot sound like a modern record disguised with old instruments. I think we had sort of grasped some of the subtleties. There are moments that are really beautiful on Hot. Tom Maxwell: It was sounding more like a Wilco record than the Squirrel Nut Zippers. All of the liveliness was being sort of pushed out of it with compression and post-micing. It just wasn't good, so we had to go back to the label and say, "We have to remix this." Ken Mosher: Then we're like, "OK, we'll all go to the record company," and they're like, "You go." I go to Steve Balcom's office, knowing that we've already spent all our budget. I remember saying something like, "Look, if you look at Raleigh-Durham, and there's maybe a million and a half people around here, we've sold twenty-five thousand records. If you extrapolate that nation-wide, we're at a million records." We both laughed, but he agreed to shell the money out to go remix it. Thank God! Mike Napolitano: That's when they called me and asked if I thought there was any way I could mix it. Brian had developed methods that he wanted to employ, whereas I didn't have any experience to know, "Don't do that." They were describing what they wanted, and I didn't have any preconceived notions that it shouldn't be done. Steve Balcom: I probably was worried that things wouldn't get done, but they did get done. And that's the thing about that bandthey would push it to the edge, and then they would always pretty much come through. Tom Maxwell: We take it to the label, and they're very happy with it, and we're very happy with it. We're down in New Orleans, and I'm standing in the driveway with Ken and Chris P., and I'm like, "Guys, this is a really good record. It's going to sell seventy thousand copies," which is three or four times what we had sold with the first one, a number I pulled completely out of my ass. Katharine always named the records, so I think she was just like, "Call it Hot!" That worked for us. "HELL" BREAKS LOOSE Tom Maxwell: In the fall [of 1996], I find a house in Pittsboro that is being rented for two hundred fifty bucks a month. I convince Ken that he needs to move from Saxapahaw to live in this house, and we can make a record there. Ken Mosher: After the great success of me talking the record label into remixing, we also talked the record label into just giving us the money to record, and then letting us set up our own recording studio in my house in Pittsboro. Tom Maxwell: We're in there recording Perennial Favorites when the label says, "We need to have a meeting right now. It can't wait." And we were like, "What could this be?" Ken Mosher: Oh, Jesus Christ, we're going to get dropped, and we have all this shit in our house. It's gonna suck. Tom Maxwell: Steve Balcom was there, and he was like, "You have a hit song." And I was like, "Whose song is it?" Because that meant a lot, whose song it was. He was like, "It's your song. It's 'Hell.'" Steve Balcom: "Put a Lid on It" was the song that we really thought was going to be the one. Tom Osborn (West Coast rep, Mammoth Records): We were working "Put a Lid on It" because
there and use just about any Ruby tutorial to start developing in IronRuby. Over the next few days I am going to be experimenting with IronRuby and will try and post many of my findings up on the blog! I hope you enjoyed it!More than 50 civil-liberties and Internet-freedom groups sent a letter to Congress on Wednesday strongly rejecting a bill to reform the National Security Agency’s data-collection programs because it would “entrench some of the worst forms of NSA surveillance.” The coalition is targeting the FISA Improvements Act, a measure championed by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who has been among the NSA’s most vocal defenders since revelations about the agency’s Internet and phone metadata collection began surfacing in June. Her bill enumerates proper use for the bulk-collection programs, requires the NSA to provide annual reports on the use of its telephone metadata database, and makes it a criminal penalty to access data procured via the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act without authorization. Criticism of Feinstein’s bill is nothing new, but the letter follows a federal judge’s opinion released earlier this week that characterized NSA surveillance as likely unconstitutional and “almost Orwellian.” In response, Feinstein conceded Tuesday that the Supreme Court, not Congress, should decide the constitutionality of the agency’s data collection. Feinstein’s bill “does not offer real reform to stop the NSA’s mass collection of our communications and communications records,” reads the letter, whose signatories include Reddit, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Human Rights Watch. The bill instead “seeks to entrench some of the worst forms of NSA surveillance into U.S. law and to extend the NSA surveillance programs in unprecedented ways.” Feinstein appears unlikely to stop pushing her legislation, however, saying in a statement Tuesday that she believes the NSA’s call-records program “can benefit from additional transparency and privacy protections — including additional public reporting and added court review provisions which were recently adopted by the Senate Intelligence Committee in the bipartisan FISA Improvements Act.” But Feinstein’s public deference to the Supreme Court, combined with a growing sense among tech groups large and small that her bill merely codifies the NSA’s existing authority, indicates that any momentum for the bill is, for now, halted. “The recent federal judge’s ruling that the National Security Agency’s phone-surveillance program is likely unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment is the latest confirmation that mass surveillance is incompatible with a democratic society,” said Joanna Parke, managing director of ThoughtWorks, which also signed the letter. The letter does not expressly support alternative legislation proposed to rein in the NSA, but several of the signatories have previously expressed support for Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner’s Freedom Act, which had 115 cosponsors as of Tuesday. Sensenbrenner’s bill and a mirror one in the Senate by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would restrict the collection of metadata, create a special advocate to oversee the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and demand the NSA increase its transparency and accountability."Mind the gap" is something savvy subway travelers always take to heart. It's also sound advice when studying the NBA's current hierarchy. Three teams stand above the rest when examining the league's best right now. The Warriors have three fewer losses than everyone in the league. The hard-charging Hawks hold a 3.5 game lead on the rest of the Eastern Conference. And the Blazers notched their NBA-best 30th win of the season on Sunday. On the other side of the spectrum are the Knicks, Manhattan's lovable loser. New York has managed to lose 35 of its last 40 games, giving the team a four-game "lead" on the 76ers in the East cellar. Judging by the way the Knicks have played of late, it's going to take divine intervention for that team to release its stranglehold on No. 30 in these rankings. Dethroning the Warriors, Hawks and Blazers won't require a deity's involvement, but it will require quite the run, as the trio has distanced itself from the rest of the pack. With the NBA's middle class growing each week, let's take a look at where all 30 teams stand in this week's NBA Power Rankings. (All stats and records through Jan. 11)BREAKING NEWS (Photo11: Jerry Mosemak, USA TODAY) Story Highlights School said his obtaining a license to marry his same-sex partner was a violation of his contract Headmaster said in a statement that faculty at the school are required to follow church teachings Michael Griffin graduated from the school and has taught French and Spanish there for 12 years PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A gay teacher at a Catholic high school was fired Friday after he applied for a marriage license. Michael Griffin was fired from Holy Ghost Preparatory School after administrators said his obtaining a license to marry his same-sex partner was a violation of his contract. Father James McCloskey, the school's headmaster, said in a statement that faculty at the school are required to follow church teachings, NBC Philadelphia reported. He said in the statement that Griffin's decision "contradicts the terms of his teaching contract at our school, which requires all faculty and staff to follow the teachings of the Church as a condition of their employment. In discussion with Mr. Griffin, he acknowledged that he was aware of this provision, yet he said that he intended to go ahead with the ceremony." Griffin, who graduated from the school and has taught French and Spanish there for 12 years, said that his relationship with his partner of 12 years wasn't a secret from the school and that his partner had even been to McCloskey's house. Griffin lives in New Jersey, which became the 14th state to recognize same-sex marriage in October Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1brO4xdGoogle Hangouts has never been perfect, but its previous form, as a browser extension that let you chat in floating windows, was pretty neat. Of course, we can’t ever have nice things for long. Last month, Google began rolling out a single-window interface for the extension that’s a little more straightforward, but not nearly as flexible. But if you want the old floating chats back, there’s now a way, thanks to developers Patricia Mayo Tejedor and Sandoche Adittane. The duo has made the old Chrome extension available on GitHub so you can install it on your browser in just a few easy steps. All you really need to do is download an unzip it on your desktop, enable developer mode in Chrome, load up the new folder and voilà – floating Hangouts windows are back! Grab the extension and find easy-to-follow instructions in this GitHub repository. Via Lifehacker Old Hangouts Chrome Extension on GitHub Read next: Old CRT TVs make for interesting musical instrumentsFans of Kat Von D have been waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the brand new Kat Von D Beauty Studded Kiss Creme Lipsticks. In what is truly an unprecedented move, the brand is replacing their entire Studded Kiss collection with an updated and fresh new formula that will elevate the collection to new heights. If you loved these creamy, long-wearing lipsticks before, wait ’til you get a load of what’s headed your way. This brand new formula features 40 shades, including White Out, a revolutionary white lipstick that can be used as a base to really amp up your lip color or to mix custom shades. It’ll be even easier than ever for creative makeup lovers to show off unique and original colors. The collection includes three different finishes: satin-matte, glimmer, and metallic. No matter your lipstick preference, you’ll find beloved options here. KVDB’s new formula makes for a weightless, long-wearing lipstick with a rich and creamy texture that delivers highly saturated color. Kat’s been working on this revamp for a very long time, leading us to believe it’s going to be worth the wait. Who else would dedicate such time and attention to detail to perfecting their product? The Kat Von D Beauty Studded Kiss Creme Lipsticks will launch on January 12th at katvondbeauty.com. They’ll be available at Sephora online on January 19th and in stores on January 26th. The staggered release date not only gives fans a chance to shop in whatever way they prefer, but it also keeps the products from rolling out and therefore selling out too quickly. The collection will be available internationally in February, so it won’t be far behind the U.S. release. That’s a whole lot of brand new colors headed our way. Did you spot any old faves? We are especially intrigued by the white lipstick, aren’t you? Not only is it a completely bold choice to wear on its own, but it provides an opportunity for those who enjoy customizing their lip to truly go wild. Any opportunity we get to stretch our creative limits is a breath of fresh air. Keep your eyes peeled for a chance to pick up these lovely new lipsticks in the new year.(Reuters) - Hackers used malware to steal customer payment data from most of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc’s (CMG.N) restaurants over a span of three weeks, the company said on Friday, adding to woes at the chain whose sales had just started recovering from a string of food safety lapses in 2015. Chipotle said it did not know how many payment cards or customers were affected by the breach that struck most of its roughly 2,250 restaurants for varying amounts of time between March 24 and April 18, spokesman Chris Arnold said via email. A handful of Canadian restaurants were also hit in the breach, which the company first disclosed on April 25. Stolen data included account numbers and internal verification codes. The malware has since been removed. The information could be used to drain debit card-linked bank accounts, make “clone” credit cards, or to buy items on certain less-secure online sites, said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the non-profit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. The breach could once again threatens sales at its restaurants, which only recently recovered after falling sharply in late 2015 after Chipotle was linked to outbreaks of E. coli, salmonella and norovirus that sickened hundreds of people. An investigation into the breach found the malware searched for data from the magnetic stripe of payment cards. Arnold said Chipotle could not alert customers directly as it did not collect their names and mailing addresses at the time of purchase. The company posted notifications on the Chipotle and Pizzeria Locale websites and issued a news release to make customers aware of the incident. Linn Freedman, an attorney at Robinson & Cole LLP specializing in data breach response, said Chipotle was putting the burden on the consumer to discover possible fraudulent transactions by notifying them through the websites. “I don’t think you will get to all of the customers who might have been affected,” she said. Security analysts said Chipotle would likely face a fine based on the size of the breach and the number of records compromised. “If your data was stolen through a data breach that means you were somewhere out of compliance” with payment industry data security standards, Julie Conroy, research director at Aite Group, a research and advisory firm. “In this case, the card companies will fine Chipotle and also hold them liable for any fraud that results directly from their breach,” said Avivah Litan, a vice president at Gartner Inc (IT.N) specializing in security and privacy. Chipotle did not immediately comment on the prospect of a fine. Signage for a Chipotle Mexican Grill is seen in Los Angeles, California, United States, April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Retailer Target Corp (TGT.N) in 2017 agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle claims stemming from a massive data breach in late 2013. Hotels and restaurants have also been hit. They include Trump Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG.L) as well as Wendy’s (WEN.O), Arby’s and Landry’s restaurants. Shares in Chipotle Mexican Grill ended marginally lower at $480.15 on Friday following the announcement.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Teenagers have been speaking about the 'dangers' of sexting Police investigations into children sharing sexual images of themselves and others have more than doubled in two years, figures have shown. Forces in England and Wales recorded 6,238 underage "sexting" offences in 2016-17, a rate of 17 a day. Police said they received reports from children as young as 10. Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for child protection, said: "There is a worrying upward trend." He added social networks needed to remove indecent images more quickly. The number of cases where under-18s were sharing indecent or prohibited images was up by a third on the 4,681 offences recorded the previous year, and represented a 131% rise on 2014-15, with 2,700 incidents. Mr Bailey, who is head of Norfolk Constabulary, said: "Sharing and possessing these images is against the law. Once an image is shared with others it can cause deep embarrassment and distress." As well as calling for faster action from social media companies, he said schools needed to do more to counteract the influence of pornography. He said: "I am concerned about the impact that exposure to extreme pornography can have on children so we need to consider if a lack of universal relationship and sex education is compounding the problem." Exploitation and coercion Police said the youngest children involved in sexting inquiries were aged 10, while the number of offences investigated was at its peak among 14-year-olds. Girls were more likely to be the victims, but suspects or perpetrators were evenly split between boys and girls. Investigators noted that reports of offences declined substantially in August, suggesting children were more at risk in school term time. The figures cover a period in which the College of Policing introduced new guidance, aimed at assuaging concerns that teenagers might be routinely criminalised by laws on sexting. It said that officers should record all cases of under-18s sharing images of themselves or other children as crimes. However, formal action only needs to be taken where there is exploitation, coercion or wider child protection issues. There were more than 2,000 such cases where police determined that further action was not in the public interest in 2016-17. Mr Bailey said: "Forces are risk-assessing every case to ensure we are not unnecessarily stigmatising children and saddling them with a criminal record. "But there will always be a criminal investigation where we see that young people are being coerced, exploited or blackmailed." The NSPCC said the rise in sexting incidents is "extremely worrying". "It is vital that parents and schools talk to children about the dangers of sexting as soon as they are given any technology," the charity said.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 The UK's first ever DNA database for CATS has been created and has already been used to snare a killer. David Hilder was convicted of manslaughter after hairs from his cat Tinkler were found of the dismembered torso of friend David Guy. A database, compiled by forensic scientists at the University of Leicester using profiles of 152 cats, was used to demonstrate the likelihood that the hairs belonged to Hilder's pet. The evidence was used as part of the prosecution case, leading to the successful conviction of Hilder for manslaughter. Dr Jon Wetton, who led the project, said: "This is the first time cat DNA has been used in a criminal trial in the UK. We now hope to publish the database so it can be used in future crime investigations. "This could be a real boon for forensic science, as the 10 million cats in the UK are unwittingly tagging the clothes and furnishings in more than a quarter of households." In July last year, the torso of Mr Guy was found on a Southsea beach wrapped in a curtain, on which eight cat hairs were found. Hampshire Constabulary sent the hairs to California for analysis, where the scientists examined the cat's mitochondrial DNA, which is a type of DNA contained in small structures within cells and passed down the maternal line. The mitochondrial results showed not only a match with the suspect's cat Tinker, but also that the same DNA type had not been seen among 493 randomly sampled US cats. The police were keen to know if the type was equally rare in the UK - and, more specifically, in the area of the crime. Hampshire police tracked down Dr Wetton - who had created a similar database of UK dogs while working with the Forensic Science Service (FSS). He proposed that he would have to create a UK cat database from scratch to analyse the findings, and set to work with PhD student Barbara Ottolini. The team were able to get the samples from a company which handles analysis of blood from pets for vets across the country. The samples showed cats' ages, gender and postcode - with 23 cats from Southsea and another 129 from a range of places throughout the rest of the country. Only three of the samples obtained matched the hairs from the crime scene, confirming that it was indeed an uncommon type in the UK. This evidence was presented at Winchester Crown Court, and formed part of the prosecution case successfully convicting Hilder for manslaughter. Dr Wetton said: "Within each cat hair are two types of DNA, individual-specific 'nuclear DNA' detectable in the roots of some larger hairs, and'mitochondrial DNA' which is shared by all maternally-related individuals and can be found even in the finest hair shafts. "Animal DNA offers a way of linking people to places and items through the transfer of their pet's hairs."Ian Harte: Linked with a possible return to Leeds this summer Harte is expected to leave Reading this summer when his contract at the Madejski Stadium expires. The goalscoring defender has seen his first-team chances limited this season and new Reading boss Nigel Adkins is thought to be willing to let him move on The news has alerted a host of clubs to his availability and Leeds are thought be exploring a move to re-sign the former Republic of Ireland international. Full-back Harte came through the ranks to make his professional debut at Elland Road and went on to make nearly 300 appearances for the club between 1996 and 2004. Leeds boss Brian McDermott is a big admirer of Harte having worked with him during his time in charge of Reading and he is believed to have made a new left-back one of his top priorities this summer.Image caption Goosey is delivered in the back of a truck to the roundabout where it announces the coming of the fair Image caption The fibreglass and timber model weighs about a quarter of a tonne and is kept in storage for 11 months of the year Image caption Nervous workmen delicately hoist Goosey onto the back of the truck to move it across Nottingham previous slide next slide Nottingham's Goose Fair mascot has been risen from hibernation to take up its annual residency on one of the city's roundabouts. Goose Fair has taken place in Nottingham for more than 700 years and "Goosey" has sat on the Mansfield Road roundabout since the 1960s. Nervous workmen undertake a delicate operation to move the model about four miles to signal the upcoming fair. Goose Fair opens on 2 October and runs until 6 October. The model - thought to be female but not scientifically tested - is made from fibreglass and timber, is about 6ft 6ins (2m) tall and weighs about a quarter of a tonne. 'Iconic' goose Tony Papkiewicz has been in charge of the model for more than 20 years but never tires of the annual event. "It is an iconic piece. It is one of those things people expect to see every year," he said. "When we put it on the island people know the fair is on its way." Goosey is stored in the Woolsthorpe depot in Bilborough the rest of the year and undergoes an annual repaint and clean by the community payback team. Legend has it the travelling fair - one of the largest in Europe - gets its name from when hundreds of geese were taken from Lincolnshire to be sold in Nottingham.Get the biggest celebs 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 Christopher Eccleston has reprised his role as Doctor Who to surprise a sick 14-year-old fan with a personal Christmas message. The 51-year-old actor recorded a video message for young fan Daniel, who suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) - a genetic condition which affects the body's connective tissue - and heart condition Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Christopher is seen sat back in his home in the clip, speaking directly to the camera as he says: “I would like to come and see you myself but I’m currently half past the Milky Way and a quarter to Orion’s belt which means that Paddington hospital is a little out of my reach." Having had "word from 12" (aka Peter Capaldi), the star adds: “If I had a spare one I’d send you my sonic screw driver but I don’t have a spare one I passed it along to 10, and 11 and 12.” It comes after friends and family began social media campaigns for the Doctor Who stars to send their support to Daniel. The campaign began on fan sites Bad Wilf and Geek Syndicate using the hashtag #drwhodaniel, and Capaldi also visited the youngster in hospital. (Image: BBC) Actress Frances Barber, who played Madame Kovarian, also visited Daniel and Steven Moffat sent a video message alongside Christopher. It was no doubt a welcome surprise for fans to see Christopher back in the role, after he quit in 2005 after just one series - and turned down the opportunity to return in the 50th anniversary special two years ago.But French pair say they do have 'a lot of respect' for Skrillex Daft Punk have claimed that EDM “lacks depth” – and also confessed that they initially thought it had all been made by just one person. Speaking in this week’s NME, which is on newsstands now or availably digitally, the French pair said they didn’t listen to a lot of “electronic music”. Asked for their opinions on DJs such as Deadmau5 and Skrillex, the band’s Thomas Bangalter said: “Deadmau5? No. I wouldn’t listen to Deadmau5 for pleasure. Skrillex we have a lot of respect for. He’s said that he saw our live show with the pyramid in 2007 and it made him want to make music, but it feels like he’s not copying our formula. He might be the kid that breaks the cycle, but we don’t listen to a lot of electronic music. We never did.” His bandmate Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo then added: “I don’t know EDM artists or the albums. At first I thought it was all just one guy, some DJ called EDM.” When asked if that was because it all sounded the same, he replied” “A little bit, yeah!” while Bangalter added: “Maybe it’s just one guy called Eric David Morris.” De Homem-Christo also later compared it to “an energy drink” that’s “really efficient on the body”, adding: “EDM is energy only. It lacks depth. You can have energy in music and dance to it but still have soul.” Daft Punk release their long-awaited new studio album ‘Random Access Memories’ on May 20, but the album is currently streaming via iTunes. The LP features collaborations with the likes of Julian Casablancas, Chilly Gonzales and Giorgio Moroder and also includes the single ‘Get Lucky’ with Pharrell Williams, which held its place at Number One in the Official UK Singles Chart this weekend after passing 100,000 sales per week for the third week in a row. Subscribe to NME here, or get this week’s digital issueThis is the most persuasive case for giving more money to lifesaving charities that I've read in years. And it's written from perspective of a frat bro. Tommy Maranges, better known as Philosophy Bro, is a national treasure. His Tumblr is full of astonishingly clear explanations of really complex ideas in philosophy, which also happen to be written as if the author spends every weekend guzzling Natty Ice in a tank top. Here he's translating "Famine, Affluence, and Morality" — Princeton philosopher Peter Singer's very famous case for why we're all donating way less money than we should be to charities that save people's lives. The piece starts with an analogy: imagine you're walking by a lake, minding your own business, when you see a child drowning. Only, Philosophy Bro's version is way better: Like, let’s say I’m on my way to a bitchin’ party and I’m looking fly as shit and I smell good because you already know, and I’ve got a 30-rack of Natty because I’ll be goddamned if I show up empty-handed to the house I’m about to burn down. Once I get over this bridge, and turn the corner I’ve arrived and so has the party. Except I hear a bunch of splashing and I look over the bridge into the river and – fuck me – there’s a kid flailing around and calling for help, like he’s drowning for some reason instead of handling his shit like an adult. You'd have to be just the worst if you didn't jump in and save the kid, even if it ruins your perfectly popped collar. The conversation would be something like this: "Oh you brought beer!" "Yeah bro, I wouldn’t let anything stop me, not even the child who literally drowned on my way over here." "Wait… what?" "Yeah, I let a child drown to death, but I brought some beer." "But a child died." "Sure but beer! Plus I smell good. Who’s DJing tonight?" "But a child died." "Agree to disagree?" It shouldn't matter whether the kid is far away — maybe you can throw in an empty keg or something that they can swim to: If my friend is like "Eeennhhh, fuck him, he’s kinda far away" I would be like "Yeah, but we could still save him. This plan is going to work." and he’s like "Oh, I know it will work, I’m just saying, even if I know it’s going to work: any more than a football field away, and I don’t give a shit." Like fuck that guy, right? How did I become friends with such a trashhat? It doesn’t matter that he’s FARTHER AWAY, I can still prevent a CHILD from DYING A HORRIBLE DEATH and all it cost me is I have to be like "sorry we had to use the keg to save a life, but we can just buy a new one." Nor should it matter how many kids there are to save, or whether there are other people standing around doing nothing. If you can save a kid from drowning, you should do it, right? Obviously. But here's where the analogy kicks in: we're all making that same decision, all the time. There's so much extreme poverty and disease around the world, and there are such low-cost ways to save lives in places like Uganda, that even a tiny amount of donation on your part could save a life. Every time we spend $5 at the bar (let alone do something really dumb like give $400 million to Harvard), we are doing the exact same thing as refusing to jump into the pond to save the kid. There's literally no difference: What if I told you that for $5, you could buy a life-saving vaccine for a child? Sure, he’s far away, but we already agreed: who gives a shit, right? It’ll still save his life, and it only costs you not having a fifth drink at the bar on a Thursday. Remember that $300 bar receipt you posted with the caption "just another Thursday night wearing matching plaid with my bros, we’re special and impressive and are the ACTUAL six dudes with the biggest dicks, unlike all you OTHER overconfidences of bros who think that, well guess what, it’s us?" What you were really saying was "I routinely pass up the chance to save two dozen lives with science so that I can black out and pretend that I like myself for a night." That’s fucked up, bro. And sure, literally everyone else in the bar was ALSO passing up the chance to save a child’s life, but that doesn’t let YOU off the hook, right? Step up and do the right thing. What’s the worst that can happen? People give too much money, and then no one starves to death but also not everyone has the car they want? THAT WOULD BE TERRIBLE, WOULDN’T IT? GOD FORBID WE SOLVE POVERTY TOO HARD. Or, sorry, no, fuck you, that’s a risk worth taking since it might mean NO ONE STARVES TO DEATH. Right now, all over the world, literally hundreds of thousands of children are in situations that are totally fucked, and even though you’re far as shit from them, you can save their lives. For like $3 you could buy a shitty rum and Coke, or you could buy a mosquito net that helps PREVENT CHILDREN FROM GETTING MALARIA. And as we’ve ALREADY AGREED, who gives a shit that these kids live far away, or that lots of OTHER people could buy the net, too? Neither distance nor the number of people standing around has anything to do with whether you should SAVE THEIR LIVES OR NOT. You don't have to be a saint to follow through on this. You just have to shell out a few more bucks. Here’s the situation, an actual situation in the real world right now as you shop online or make plans to go out with your bros tonight: Somewhere a child is hungry, and even though he is very far away, he will still be alive in a week if you give $5. If you instead spend that $5 on a drink or a shirt, he will have starved to death, and you will have a drink or a shirt. So let me ask you: How badly do you want that drink or that shirt? Persuaded? I definitely am. If you are, too, here's a list of charities that could save the most lives with the least money. And, though it runs totally contrary to the spirit of this post, here's where you can buy Philosophy Bro's book, Descartes' Meditations, Bro. Vox Video: There's a simple solution to solve povertyThis week represents two bookends to my foray into scholarly public outreach: new reports of "gay lovers" from Pompeii casts and the six year anniversary of the hubbub over the "gay caveman" skeleton. These and other similar skeletons represent both a desire to better understand our collective human past and a curious need to project our current cultural baggage backwards. First up, Pompeii. A pair of casts -- made in the 19th century from plaster that filled the void of soft tissue and preserved the skeletons -- represents two people found close together following the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. They've been said to be "embracing," and an early interpretation was of "two maidens." But this week, DNA testing on the remains revealed both were chromosomally male and not directly related. Cue the media coverage of "gay lovers" (Telegraph) and "the two maidens were men" (Daily Mail), without critical assessment of any of these loaded terms. What's especially strange is that two men who died in the same place at the same time in a catastrophic event are assumed to have been lovers. As classicist David Meadows tells me, "They weren't 'gay' when they were thought to be women." While the archaeologists involved in the new study make it clear in the Telegraph piece that the nature of the relationship is impossible to determine, the media's jumping to a conclusion about sexual attraction and applying the modern label "gay" -- which is quite anachronistic in terms of ancient Roman culture -- reveals much more about our modern culture's obsession with this topic than it tells us about the Romans. A similar issue exactly six years ago was a catalyst for my start in media criticism of bioarchaeological finds: the "gay caveman" or "transgender caveman." The skeleton of this third millennium BC individual from the Czech Republic suggested male sex; however, the person was buried in a somewhat anomalous way for the time and place, and suffered a similar media over-interpretation. As I wrote at the time: However, it's important to note that biological sex, gender, and the choice of sexual partner are not interchangeable terms, as much as we interchange them in American culture. Most people are born into one of two sexes (male/female), but there are intersexed or third-sex individuals, sometimes people with chromosomal differences. But people are conditioned by culture to perform a gender role (man/woman, masculine/feminine). And people generally choose to engage in sexual intercourse with: someone of the opposite sex (heterosexuality or "straight"), the same sex (homosexuality or "gay"), both sexes (bisexuality), or no one (asexuality). In the Telegraph and Mail articles, then, all three of these terms are being conflated, sometimes by the archaeologists themselves. If this burial represents a transgendered individual (as well it could), that doesn't necessarily mean the person had a "different sexual orientation" and certainly doesn't mean that he would have considered himself (or that his culture would have considered him) "homosexual." In the intervening six years, there have been a number of similar cases where 21st century technology -- ancient DNA analysis -- has been overturning long-held assumptions about the biological sex of particular skeletons and causing researchers and the media to rethink their interpretations of ancient relationships. For example, DNA analysis in 2015 of a Pazyryk burial that had been assumed for decades to be a 16-year-old girl showed that the skeleton was actually male. The interpretation of the burial changed suddenly from an unusual "warrior princess" dressed in male clothing to, well, a rather normal teenage boy. Other skeletons haven't been subjected to DNA analysis yet. There are the "Hasanlu Lovers" from a site in Iran dated to 800 BC. Found in 1973 by a University of Pennsylvania team, one skeleton is likely male based on the osteological indicators of sex, and the other's sex is less clear but more male than female. The limits of osteological sex assessment are clear; there are many times when we can't be certain what biological sex someone was, and the majority of the time we can't tell anything about culturally-constructed gender. But while the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology's webpage explains the male-possibly male skeletons pretty well -- they may have been family members such as father and son -- Wikipedia interestingly asserts that they are male and female. Because of the visual of a hand on the face, a chin tilted upwards, a body turned sideways, we are tempted to see a woman and man kissing because we are enculturated to see in this representation a heteronormative embrace. Projecting our contemporary assumptions about sex, gender, and sexuality onto the past is clearly problematic, but examples abound. In her book The Bioarchaeology of Socio-Sexual Lives: Queering Common Sense About Sex, Gender, and Sexuality, anthropologist Pamela Geller provides numerous examples of this phenomenon and takes on the issue of heteronormativity in interpreting
US was released on October 19, 2010 to mark the film's 50th anniversary, featuring yet another different cover.[187] The film is also included on two different Alfred Hitchcock Blu-ray boxsets from Universal.[188][189] See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] ^ Universal Pictures acquired the distribution rights for the film from Paramount in 1962.[190] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] The following publications are among those devoted to the production of Psycho:HIV infection has steadily increased among gay and bisexual men in the United States since the early '90s, even as it has decreased among heterosexuals and injection drug users. Most new infections among black and Hispanic gay/bi men are among young men between the ages of 13 and 29. Young black MSM (men who have sex with men) are twice as likely as their white and Hispanic peers to get HIV. White gay/bi men are mostly being diagnosed in their 30s and 40s. Half of all infected gay/bi men don't know they are HIV-positive. More than two-thirds of infected black men, and nearly 80 percent of HIV-positive young men aged 18 to 24, are unaware they have the virus. And there is still the death toll of AIDS, in spite of medical advances that have allowed many to live well with HIV rather than die in short order from AIDS. By the end of 2007, AIDS had killed an estimated 282,542 gay and bisexual men in America, most in the prime of life. Long-time Los Angeles gay activist David Mixner in August 2010 called it the best and worst moment in the plague's three decades. "The good news is indeed reason to celebrate," he said. "Real progress is being made in fighting this disease." As for the bad news, Mixner said the recessionary economy was "wrecking havoc with HIV/AIDS budgets, international funds to fight HIV, research and treatment and care." In particular, Mixner noted that the federal AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) has either cut back or frozen in place. "Unless this situation is totally corrected," said Mixner, "it could mean a death sentence for some people with HIV/AIDS." At the time of Mixner's comments, more than 3,000 individuals in this country were on ADAP waiting lists in 13 states, hoping the program would enable them to receive the life-saving medications they can't afford on their own. In early summer 2011, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 8,100 Americans were now on the ADAP waiting lists across the country. Without guaranteed access to HAART for everyone who is HIV-positive and can't afford the expensive medications on their own, any hope of treating our way out of the epidemic is wishful thinking. And for those with HIV denied the medication they need to suppress the virus -- rendering them less infectious -- the chance of developing horrific illness and death from AIDS increases with each passing day, even in 2011. In the summer of 2010, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) called on President Obama and secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to work closely with Congress to provide adequate emergency federal ADAP funding in the current fiscal year ($126 million) to eliminate wait lists, reverse cost-containment measures, and meet the increased demand for treatment. PACHA further asked for adequate federal Ryan White CARE Act funding in fiscal 2011 and beyond to meet the growing need for the care, treatment, and essential support services the Ryan White program supports. Finally, the council asked for immediate expanded access to Medicaid for people with HIV through the enactment of the Early Treatment for HIV Act. PACHA noted that although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 "will greatly improve access to affordable, high quality health care for many people living with HIV and AIDS," most of the provisions relevant for people with HIV do not take effect for years to come. This means insurance companies will be allowed to continue denying coverage to people with HIV and other pre-existing conditions until the practice is finally banned in 2014. For now, health care reform means that if people who are currently uninsured want and can afford the high premiums of private insurance, they are by and large limited to a group policy or a state risk group plan. Some Medicare provisions affecting lower-income people won't go into effect until 2020. Though not speaking directly of the crazier-than-ever quilt of an American health care system, PACHA understatedly said, "People living with HIV and AIDS confront significant barriers to access to care and treatment right now."As speculation mounts that San Diego general manager A.J. Preller is about to trade some big-name talent in response to the team's disappointing play, outfielder Justin Upton said he hopes the Padres can perform well enough coming out of the All-Star break to change Preller's mind. "At this point, I haven't given up on the team,'' Upton said this week in Cincinnati, where he was a member of the National League All-Star team. "I really like the guys, and I like the clubhouse. We still have some time to change the minds of the front office. In a perfect world, we play well over the next two or three weeks and A.J. pumps the brakes on dismantling the team.'' Justin Upton's recent slump hasn't helped the struggling Padres. AP Photo/Gregory Bull The Padres were expected to contend in the NL West after Preller made a flurry of offseason acquisitions. But they sit fourth in the division with a 41-49 record and are 10 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers and 7½ out from a wild-card spot. The Padres fired manager Bud Black on June 15 when they were 32-33. They've since gone 9-16 under interim manager Pat Murphy. In recent weeks, Upton and fellow outfielder Will Venable, relievers Craig Kimbrel and Joaquin Benoit, and right-hander Ian Kennedy have been among the veteran Padres players mentioned as possible trade candidates. Earlier this week, Peter Gammons tweeted that Preller also is gauging interest in right-hander James Shields, who signed a four-year, $75 million deal with San Diego in February. Upton, 27, has a.753 OPS and 14 home runs in 87 games this season. He's immersed in a 4-for-41 slump that's dropped his batting average from.276 to.253 since late June. The Padres acquired Upton from the Atlanta Braves in a six-player trade in December. In January 2013, Atlanta acquired Upton from the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a seven-player deal. "Once you've been traded, it becomes easier,'' Upton said. "Obviously you don't ever want to leave a team you enjoy being on, but you start to understand it's a part of game. The game is the same any place you go, so you have to be OK with it.'' As a three-time All-Star with 178 home runs and an.824 OPS in his career, Upton can expect to receive a big payday on the free-agent market this winter. He's trying to balance the pressure of producing in his "walk'' year with the desire to play in a postseason as a member of the Padres. "Being a free agent, all that means is that you've hung around and played well enough to have that right,'' said Upton, whose brother, Melvin Upton Jr., also is on the Padres. "It's something that's exciting, but it hasn't affected me at all. "I got kind of lucky. I got thrown into the horrible city of San Diego, so it's been rough,'' Upton added, laughing. "I'm just enjoying my time there. Being a part of that team has been fun.'' The Padres begin the second half with a 10-game homestand featuring series against the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins at Petco Park. "It's been frustrating at times, but guys haven't rolled over,'' Upton said. "Talentwise, I think we're still capable of being in the hunt at some point. But we've got to play better. That's just being realistic. We've shown flashes, but we haven't played as well as we can.''Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in learning and memory dysfunction. Cognitive deficits result from cellular and metabolic dysfunction after injury, including decreased cerebral glucose uptake and inflammation. This study assessed the ability of intranasal insulin to increase cerebral glucose uptake after injury, reduce lesion volume, improve memory and learning function and reduce inflammation. Adult male rats received a controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury followed by intranasal insulin or saline treatment daily for 14 days. PET imaging of [18F]-FDG uptake was performed at baseline and at 48 h and 10 days post-injury and MRI on days three and nine post injury. Motor function was tested with the beam walking test. Memory function was assessed with Morris water maze. Intranasal insulin after CCI significantly improved several outcomes compared to saline. Insulin-treated animals performed better on beam walk and demonstrated significantly improved memory. A significant increase in [18F]-FDG uptake was observed in the hippocampus. Intranasal insulin also resulted in a significant decrease in hippocampus lesion volume and significantly less microglial immunolabeling in the hippocampus. These data show that intranasal insulin improves memory, increases cerebral glucose uptake and decreases neuroinflammation and hippocampal lesion volume, and may therefore be a viable therapy for TBI.Paul Ginsparg, professor of physics and information science and creator of the arXiv LINDSAY FRANCE/University Photography In the summer of 1991, Paul Ginsparg, a researcher at the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory, set up an email system for about 200 string theorists to exchange papers they had written. The World Wide Web was a mere infant—it had been opened to the public on Aug. 6 of that year. The string theorists weren’t particularly interested in making their research widely available (outsiders would have a tough time following the conversation anyhow). Ginsparg’s archive was a way for the theorists to communicate with one another. For a short while, it would remain an insular tool for exchanging the latest theories of quantum gravity. But the novel system of communication would become the basis for a new model of academic publishing. Some wags would later joke that it was string theory’s greatest contribution to science. By 1996, Ginsparg would write : “Many of us have long been aware that certain physics journals currently play NO role whatsoever for physicists. Their primary role seems to be to provide a revenue stream to publishers, a revenue stream invisibly siphoned from overhead on research contracts through library systems.” The arXiv, as it came to be known, was by then used widely in physics; some mathematicians and computer scientists had also started using it. Ginsparg had increasingly turned from doing physics to running the archive. (In 2002, he even received a MacArthur “genius grant” for his work on the arXiv.) Since April 2008, researchers with funding from the National Institutes of Health have been required to submit their articles to a site called PubMedCentral, one of the arXiv’s offspring. After an embargo period (up to 12 months post-publication), the articles are openly accessible. During the embargo period, journals would have the option of restricting access to subscribers and charging nonsubscribers on a per-article basis (about $30). This experiment in open-access publishing is now on the verge of ending altogether or becoming the new status quo, depending on which politicians win an important legislative battle. The Federal Research Public Access Act, reintroduced today by a bipartisan assortment of politicians, would broaden the open-access requirement to nearly all federally funded research. The rationale is that taxpayers, having paid once for the research, shouldn’t have to pay again to read what was done. Today’s bill is a response to the Research Works Act, which was introduced in December. The Research Works Act would roll back NIH’s open-access policy and prohibit the government from imposing any similar policies in the future. The invisibly siphoned revenue stream that Ginsparg referred to comes from institutional subscriptions, which don’t come cheap. A year’s print subscription to Cancer Genetics, say, will run you (without discounts) $5,010 per year. (Individuals can subscribe for $280.) Cancer Genetics, along with 2,637 other journals, is published by Elsevier, a multinational conglomerate that made $1.1 billion last year on $3.2 billion in revenue—a 36 percent profit margin. This is typical of the industry. It helps that the “referees” who peer-review journal articles perform the job for free. (Almost 5,000 scholars are now boycotting Elsevier in protest of price-gouging and other practices, in a movement started by a British mathematician on Jan. 21.) Erik Engstrom, Elsevier’s current CEO, made $3.2 million in 2010; his predecessor Ian Smith got more than $1.7 million as a parting gift when he left after eight months on the job. A journal article serves many purposes. One of them is to make money for publishers. Scientists and other academics publish in scholarly journals as a credentialing mechanism and, secondarily, to tell people about their work. Journals used to be crucial for both of these reasons, but in a world where academics could just post a paper up on their own websites, the primary purpose of a journal article is its professional validation. That’s why it makes some sense that the authors of a journal article should pay for the privilege of that validation, via peer review, rather than readers paying for the privilege of reading. That is the reasoning behind the Public Library of Science (PLoS), a nonprofit group of seven journals that launched in October 2003. The PLoS journals weren’t the first “open-access” journals, but they have become the standard-bearers of the rapidly growing movement. PLoS journals charge authors between $1,350 and $2,900 per article, which goes to cover overhead. The work is then freely available to all on the Web. These fees are paid for out of research grants directly, rather than, as in the old system, being siphoned through university libraries. For those who can’t pay (for instance, scientists from poor countries), the costs are waived. Such “open-access” models blur the current legislative debate a bit. Since articles published in open-access journals are freely available from the get-go, the legal requirement that they be made accessible after some waiting period becomes moot. But it is a spur for old-fashioned journals, which stand to lose if their archives are made freely available, to change their business model. There is little doubt that author-pays models will be less lucrative than the subscription-based models, because they do not allow for the same rates of growth—it’s easier to grow a subscriber base than an author base. But it does seem the fees can cover production costs, even though the old guard tries to argue otherwise. Allan Adler of the Association of American Publishers, which has been leading the lobbying push against public-access mandates, says he doubts the open-access business model is “sustainable.” However, PLoS brought in more than it spent in 2010, and its CEO, Peter Jerram, made $432,640 in 2010 —it’s not a shoestring operation, even if it doesn’t come with millions. The open-access movement has been gathering steam. Harvard adopted an open-access policy in 2008. The policy requires faculty to grant their institution a nonexclusive right to freely distribute their scholarly articles. Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT, and the University of California-Berkeley followed in September 2009; as did Princeton in September 2011. But the university policies allow their researchers to apply for waivers from the open-access requirement if publishers won’t let them make their papers available. The current NIH rule and the broader Federal Research Public Access Act have no such loophole. The open-access movement has strong momentum. After a hacker was arrested in July 2011 for breaking into JSTOR, an online archive of journal articles, the company opened up first some of its archive from before 1923 to the public, then later granted limited open access to more recent articles. In England, the Royal Society made its historical archives, including its Philosophical Transactions, first published in 1665 and thus the world’s oldest peer-reviewed publication, open-access in October. More recent publications were also made more available, albeit after (at most) a one- to two-year post-publication embargo. Google Scholar has wide coverage and frequently gives the public access to full text, even of subscription-gated papers, via researchers’ websites (though it omits PDFs over 5 megabytes, irking researchers in disciplines like archaeology that rely on larger image files). JSTOR’s future in the world of Google Scholar is tenuous. Of course, most scientists already get unfettered access to the journals they need through their institutions. But the current ecosystem of publishing still is not particularly healthy for them. Scientists joke about things like the minimum publishable unit (also least publishable unit, or, for short “ publon ”). Maximizing the number of publications while minimizing their intellectual content doesn’t serve any broader interest. But it’s the inevitable result when the number of publications (which is objectively verifiable) becomes disproportionally important in relation to the quality of insight. Academic administrators have grown increasingly concerned with the “impact factor” of journals—i.e., how often the journal is cited. This, in turn, has led to pressure on researchers to cite for the sake of citing. The progress of science won’t turn on the publishing model. Journal articles are the shadow of science, not science itself. But by taking power away from journal publishers, open-access (and public-access mandates) should make for a healthier scientific ecosystem. It won’t immediately fix the “publon” effect, but charging for publication should exert at least a slight pressure on scientists to actually have something to say. Elsevier and other commercial publishers have an incentive to encourage the publication of as many papers as possible, regardless of the quality. In a statement, Elsevier says laws like FRPA “could undermine the sustainability of the peer-review publishing system.” These claims are easily mocked. The shell game here is the oldest one in politics: an attempt to pass off the parochial interest of the few (journal publishers) as a broader societal benefit. The debate in Congress cuts across ideological lines—the competing bills have Republican and Democratic co-sponsors in both the House and the Senate. It should be mentioned here that Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a sponsor of the Research Works Act, got $15,750 in donations from the Elsevier and its executives in the last two years (out of a total of $119,300 that the company and its executives spent on congressional races). The bills are likely to be held up in Congress for quite a while. The White House, in the meanwhile, is conducting its own review of the issue. Smaller journals will suffer in coming years, as they give way to informal sharing among colleagues and lower-margin open-access replacements. Top-tier publications like Nature and Science will survive; in fact, the publishers of both journals have publicly said they oppose the Research Works Act. They will survive because they have acquired such stature that a result is no longer published in Nature or Science because it’s important; it’s important because it was published in Nature or in Science. Whatever the White House ends up saying, and even if Congress remains gridlocked, the movement toward open publishing now seems irreversible. In 1996, Ginsparg said that it wasn’t a question of if, but when “commercial publishers accustomed to large pre-tax profit margins” would find themselves unable to compete with a “global raw research archive” combined with “high-quality peer-reviewed overlays.” The answer to his question seems clear: now. This article arises from Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, the New America Foundation, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, visit the Future Tense blog and the Future Tense home page. You can also follow us on Twitter.Still confused about the tangled, time-crossed chronology of River Song and the Doctor on Doctor Who? Alex Kingston herself narrated the whole River timeline, in the final episode of the tie-in show Doctor Who Confidential after Saturday's season finale. We track River's own POV on her timeline below — plus there's a four-minute Doctor Who skit, written by a group of schoolchildren. Geronimo! Advertisement Oh, and it should go without saying that there are spoilers here, for anybody who's not up-to-date on Doctor Who. Sadly, the BBC is pulling the plug on their "making of" series, Doctor Who Confidential, after more than six years of following every episode of the main show. At least the show went out on a high note, with some actually indispensable insights into the River Song story. Advertisement As creator Steven Moffat tells the show, "I've never found River Song's timeline that complicated. It's just, she has the adventures roughly, broadly in reverse order to the Doctor." In any case, it's worth hunting down a copy of the final Doctor Who Confidential, since it has a long stretch of River Song narrating her own life story, as read by Alex Kingston. (Update: I embedded a slightly crappy quality version at left.) It goes roughly like this: I was born in battle, on an asteroid called Demon's Run. I was the daughter of Amy Pond and Rory Williams. They named me Melody Pond. I was kidnapped, taken by Kovarian, a servant of the Silence, to an orphanage on Earth. Advertisement I was raised with only one purpose: to kill the Doctor. I escaped the spacesuit and lived on the streets. Homeless, alone and dying. Until I regenerated. Advertisement And became the best friend of young Amy and Rory. Growing up with my parents. Waiting for the arrival of the Doctor. And then I regenerated into a new form. I was the woman who would become River Song. Although I didn't know that at the time. I was born to kill the Doctor. And I did so with a kiss. A kiss poisoned by the Judas tree. But I was shown who River Song would be, and I saw just how much I would love him. And I so I gave all my remaining lives to restore his. Because I knew the Doctor was worth it. Advertisement And in return, he left me the most wonderful gift. (Referring to the blank diary.) I knew that some day I would find the Doctor. (We see her going to archeology school.) But the spacesuit was waiting for me. But I just couldn't bring myself to kill him. And so, all of time collapsed. And only the Doctor could save the universe. Rule one: the Doctor lies. He escaped his own death. A secret I knew I had to keep. Even though it meant imprisonment. But I've always been good at escaping. Advertisement From this point on, I realized I knew more than him. (At this point, we see her telling Rory she can't be with the Doctor until the end, and then their meeting as adults, at Demon's Run.) From that moment on, we were living our lives in the wrong order, the Doctor and me. And in all our future meetings, I would know him more, and he would know me less. Advertisement Until one day the Doctor would invite me to watch me kill him. Once again I found myself at Lake Silencio, folding back on my own timeline. This time a witness to the Doctor's shooting, knowing everything but unable to tell those who cared the most that the Doctor would survive. Back to the orphanage where I grew up, but this time as witness to my own escape. (Shooting all the Silence in the tunnels.) Did I mention I was kick-ass with a gun? No-one kidnaps me and gets away with it. Advertisement And then came his first kiss and my last. But I always knew the Doctor would be there for me, so long as I left him a message. (Referring to the giant carving in the cliff wall.) He would always be there to catch me. (Flying out of the spaceship.) Even at the crash of the Byzantium he came, my love couldn't resist it — bringing with him an Amy Pond who did not know me. Advertisement (And then we see Amy and Rory with River in the garden, drinking wine.) I finally let Amy know the wonderful secret — that the best man I ever knew was alive. However delighted they were, I knew a far worse day was waiting for me: My last encounter with the Doctor. I always knew that one day my love wouldn't know me. Now I looked into his eyes and saw that day had come. The Doctor was willing to sacrifice himself to save the Library. But I had to take his place. But that man, that impossible man, never gives up. The Doctor saved me, preserving me in a computer. And all my glorious memories of the Doctor live on. Because just sometimes, everybody lives. Advertisement Meanwhile, here's the four-minute skit, "Death is the Only Answer." Could that be the answer to the oldest question, the question hidden in plain sight? Probably not. Anyway, here's Einstein and the Doctor, together again for the first time since 1987's "Time and the Rani":Gold and silver prices are being repressed by central banks, but Sprott Asset Management's Charles Oliver argues that demand pressure will cause this dam to burst sooner rather than later. As a result, he expects big increases in the prices of gold and especially silver, with a corresponding recovery of small- and mid-cap precious metal equities. In this interview with The Gold Report, Oliver discusses several companies likely to prosper thereby, most of which will be profitable now, even at current bullion prices. The Gold Report: Gold continues to languish under $1,300 per ounce ($1,300/oz), even as full economic recoveries in the U.S. and the European Union (EU) have yet to occur, despite trillions in new debt and stimulus. Meanwhile, we have two wars in the Middle East that could escalate, as well as reports that Russian troops are in Ukraine. With all that in mind, do you think that gold's fundamentals are less important than they once were, or is the price of gold being held back by other factors? Charles Oliver: Gold is just as valuable today as it was 100 years ago. There was an orchestrated takedown of gold in April 2013. It has since traded between $1,200/oz and $1,400/oz, and this flies in the face of the conditions you mentioned. We're going to have to be patient. We have gone through a bottoming process. We've had similar conditions before. In 1974, after the oil embargo, U.S. inflation was increasing dramatically, yet gold fell from about $200/oz to about $100/oz in 1976. Then over the next four years gold subsequently rallied to over $800/oz. In this decade, gold has fallen from $1,921/oz to $1,180/oz, but the fundamentals remain intact, and gold will regain its reputation as a unique store of value. TGR: You used the phrase "orchestrated takedown." Do you agree with the thesis advanced by the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) that gold and silver prices are manipulated downward by central banks? CO: A decade ago I was on the sidelines. Then, after 2008, when the Federal Reserve gave us quantitative easing (QE) 1, 2 and 3 and increased its balance sheet by $4 trillion, effectively fixing the bond market and price, I became convinced that GATA was correct. All the price-fixing scandals we've seen are not isolated incidents. The gold market is a relatively small one. When 400 tons of gold rapidly came onto the market in April 2013, I was persuaded that this was definitely an orchestrated takedown. TGR: Can this gold repression be maintained, or is it a dam about to burst? CO: I like that metaphor. Eric Sprott did an analysis that suggested that a fair amount of the gold putatively held by the Federal Reserve may not actually be in its vaults. Footnotes in the Fed's records indicate possession of about 8,000 tons but also suggest that some of that might have been loaned out. We don't know how much, but supply-and-demand numbers suggest it could be a very significant amount. I believe that the gold exchange-trade funds (ETFs) were raided because gold could not be found where it was supposedly held, so it was taken from the ETFs instead. Much of the gold sold out of Western vaults has found its way into Asia, China in particular. To run a trading platform requires a certain amount of physical bullion to meet delivery demands. If deliveries cannot be met, confidence in the system will fail, and paper trading will dry up. I must say I was quite surprised that after Germany asked for its gold back from the U.S. and it was informed that delivery would take seven years, the market did not suddenly unravel. Nevertheless, I believe the central banks are running out of bullets, and when they do, we could see a very significant rise in the gold price. Page 1 of 4 >>next >Our long-established business has been named ‘England’s Best Butcher 2005 – 2006’ and “Britain’s Best Butcher 2013-2014”. Our reputation is built on our commitment to providing only the best quality products, backed up by customer service levels that we strive to make second to none. Whilst we never lose sight of the fact that our success is built on our role as the local family butcher, offering traditional quality meat products, we have also expanded and diversified our product range to include pies, cooked meats and a wide range of delicious hand made sausages. In fact we are almost as well known for our pies and sausage as for our quality meat. Since Robert (Bob) Green introduced Pork Pies to the business not long after the Greens took over the shop, the pie trade has gone from strength to strength and they are now a big part of the business. This was helped by the fact that Wilsons Pork Pies have won many awards and in the last 15 years they have been named Best Small Pork Pie on three occasions at the Great Yorkshire Pie competition, and been named in the top four places of the Pork Pie Appreciation Society annual competition held in Ripponden, including two overall winners. READ MOREQuantum Break is a game that a lot of PC gamers were looking forward to. Developed by the team behind Max Payne and Alan Wake, Quantum Break looked like a title that would showcase what DX12 is all about. And to be honest, a lot has been said about the PC version of Quantum Break. So time now to see whether we’re dealing with a rushed console port or a really demanding PC title. For this Performance Analysis, we used an Intel i7 4930K (turbo boosted at 4.0Ghz) with 8GB RAM, NVIDIA’s GTX980Ti, Windows 10 64-bit and the latest WHQL version of the GeForce drivers. A lot has already been said about the PC version of Quantum Break, with lots of PC gamers claiming it to be one rushed console port. However, Quantum Break appears to be the most demanding PC title we’ve ever tested. And to Remedy’s credit, this isn’t JUST a rushed console port. Our GTX980Ti was unable to offer a constant 60fps experience at 1080p on Ultra settings. While testing the Ultra settings, we experienced severe stuttering and low framerates. Since this is a DX12-only title, we used PresentMon in order to measure our framerates. At 1080p and on Ultra settings, Quantum Break ran with 45fps. While Remedy claimed that an NVIDIA GTX980Ti was recommended for Ultra settings, we can confirm that a single GTX980Ti is unable to run this game at 1080p, unless of course you lock the framerate at 30fps. But let’s be realistic here; who would do such a thing on the PC? In order to run Quantum Break smoothly, we used the following settings. And we are happy to report that with these settings, we did not experience any stutters (apart from when the game was saving). Quantum Break ran with a minimum of 50fps with these settings, and below you can find two videos in which you can witness how smoothly the game actually runs. As you can see, there aren’t any frame pacing issues or stutters. What’s really interesting here, is that our GTX980Ti ran Quantum Break with 90fps on Low settings (we kept our resolution at 1080p). So basically, PC gamers with really old GPUs will undoubtedly encounter performance issues, and they’ll have to lower their resolutions (or lock the framerate at 30fps). Just for the fun, we tried Quantum Break on our GTX690 (which performed similarly to a GTX680 as the game does not support multi-GPUs) and we were able to maintain a constant 30fps experience on Low settings. In other words, Quantum Break is the most demanding title we’ve ever tested (at least when it comes to its GPU requirements), and its official PC requirements mislead PC gamers. Remedy should had made it clear that the Ultra requirements were for gaming at 1080p + 30fps. Furthermore, Quantum Break is yet another title that favours AMD’s GPUs. According to reports, the Radeon R9 Fury X is providing a better gaming experience than the NVIDIA GTX980Ti. In fact, the performance gap between them is said to be around 8-11fps. We don’t know whether NVIDIA will be able to narrow this performance gap via its drivers, however all DX12 titles are currently performing better on AMD’s hardware. And that’s something consumers should take into account when purchasing the top of the line GPUs that are currently available to the market. Graphics wise, Quantum Break does a lot under its hood. The game is powered by Remedy’s in-house engine, the Northlight Engine. For its Global Illumination, Remedy used a mix of screen-space and pre-calculated solutions. Screen space reflections and Volumetric Lighting have been used, as well as Physically-based rendering. Quantum Break also packs incredible particle effects in Time mode, some cool physics effects (as a number of objects are destructible), amazing character models, and really polished animations. Unfortunately, though, the lip-syncing is not as good as the one found in other triple-A titles (like Ryse or Rise of the Tomb Raider for example). The biggest downside with the PC version of Quantum Break is that Remedy has kept the temporal reconstruction technique that was used in the Xbox One version. Our guess is that Remedy kept that technique for performance purposes. After all, NVIDIA’s current top tier GPU is unable to run the game – in its current state – with 60fps on Ultra settings. Imagine what would have happened if the reconstruction tech hadn’t been used. Everyone would be complaining about the game’s performance. Still, it would be awesome if there was an option to disable it as this technique makes the visuals look like they are covered in Vazeline. And since this is a UWP and a DX12 title, we can’t use Reshade in order to sharpen the visuals. As a result of that, PC gamers will have to put up with these blurry visuals throughout the game. What a bummer. Moreover, an aggressive LOD system is in place. Remedy has not provided any LOD slider so players will be unable to increase the LOD settings. As a result of that, you’ll notice objects changing right in front of you. Again, Remedy used this aggressive LOD system in order to improve performance. Still, a LOD slider and the ability to remove the reconstruction technique are currently the most requested options of PC gamers. Regarding its CPU requirements, we did not notice any performance difference between a quad-core and a hexa-core CPU. The game scales well on more than four threads, however it does not require a high-end CPU in order to be enjoyed. Quantum Break stresses more the GPU than the CPU, so you can think of it as a GPU-bound title. So, what’s the verdict on Quantum Break PC? Is it a rushed console port or a really demanding title? Well, a bit of both. While there are some indications of a rushed console port (no “Quit” button, no LOD slider and no ability to remove the reconstruction technique), there are also indications of a product that received some love. For example, the mouse controls are great, making the gunplay feel better. Moreover, there are proper on-screen keyboard indicators, and Remedy has added an option to disable copyrighted music. In its current state, Quantum Break is the most demanding title available on the PC. We strongly believe that there was room for improvement and the game would benefit from various optimizations if Remedy had enough time. Unfortunately, it didn’t have. And that’s one of the reasons why the game requires such powerful GPUs. Is it a rushed product? Definitely. Is it as bad as Batman: Arkham Knight was? Not at all. Contrary to Batman: Arkham Knight, in Quantum Break PC gamers can lower their settings and enjoy the game (as showcased in our videos). Still, there is definitely room for improvement so here is hoping that Remedy will further optimize the PC version via patches. Enjoy!An identity theft service that sells Social Security numbers, birth records, credit and background reports on millions of Americans has infiltrated computers at some of America’s largest consumer and business data aggregators, according to a seven-month investigation by KrebsOnSecurity. The Web site ssndob[dot]ms (hereafter referred to simply as SSNDOB) has for the past two years marketed itself on underground cybercrime forums as a reliable and affordable service that customers can use to look up SSNs, birthdays and other personal data on any U.S. resident. Prices range from 50 cents to $2.50 per record, and from $5 to $15 for credit and background checks. Customers pay for their subscriptions using largely unregulated and anonymous virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin and WebMoney. Until very recently, the source of the data sold by SSNDOB has remained a mystery. That mystery began to unravel in March 2013, when teenage hackers allegedly associated with the hacktivist group UGNazi showed just how deeply the service’s access went. The young hackers used SSNDOB to collect data for exposed.su, a Web site that listed the SSNs, birthdays, phone numbers, current and previous addresses for dozens of top celebrities — such as performers Beyonce, Kanye West and Jay Z — as well as prominent public figures, including First Lady Michelle Obama, CIA Director John Brennan, and then-FBI Director Robert Mueller. Earlier this summer, SSN
most guarded secrets have a way of being found out, and, as Umaru becomes even more obnoxious and outrageous, her two lives are bound to collide in disastrous fashion in HIMOUTO! UMARU-CHAN! Rating: TV-14 Director & ADR Writer: Kyle Colby Jones Himouto! Umaru-chan Cast ListWritten by Gary A. Swaby on April 16, 2010 at 6:29 pm Hideo Kojima has revealed that a certain scene in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker had to be cut from the Japanese version to meet a “C rating”, which is basically like an age 15 certificate. However the Western versions of the game will remain completely uncut, with that specific scene intact. In the US, it has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB, while the BBFC has given it a 15 in the UK. Hideo was upset about having to lose the scene in the Japanese version, as he stated on Twitter that it is “absolutely necessary for MGS”. When you put it like that Hideo, I feel real fortunate to be living in the Western world. My question is what kind of scene had to be cut from the Japanese version that was kindly passed by the Western certificate associations? Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker releases at the end of this month in Japan for PSP. It releases in the US on June 8th and in the UK on June 17.Chinese people wear face masks with "No to Kunming PX," paraxylene, written, chant slogans as they hold protest against a planned refinery project in downtown Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan province Saturday, May 4, 2013. After word spread about an environmental protest that was planned for Saturday in the central Chinese city of Chengdu, drugstores and printing shops were ordered to report anyone making certain purchases. Microbloggers say government fliers urged people not to demonstrate, and schools were told to stay open to keep students on campus. Meanwhile, hundreds of people - many wearing mouth masks - gathered in Kunming to protest a planned refinery project in the area. The demonstrators demanded information transparency and that public health be safeguarded. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT BEIJING (AP) — After word spread about an environmental protest that was planned for Saturday in the central Chinese city of Chengdu, drugstores and printing shops were ordered to report anyone making certain purchases. Microbloggers say government fliers urged people not to demonstrate, and schools were told to stay open to keep students on campus. And when Saturday came, thousands of police officers and security staff were on Chengdu's streets, some of them making a tight ring around a major public square. A weekend-long earthquake drill, officials said, but many residents didn't believe it. They said city officials pre-emptively quashed the protest over a petrochemical plant that a powerful state-owned enterprise is building about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Chengdu. "What do they fear?" asked local resident Tina Zhong, contacted via China's social media. "If the government can share more information, the public would be less distrusting." While China punishes political dissent aggressively, it has been somewhat more tolerant of environmental complaints. The public, especially members of China's rising middle class, have become more outspoken against environmentally risky plants, and several mass protests against such projects turned violent last year before local governments agreed to scrap the plans. In the city of Qidong in eastern China, protesters against a wastewater discharge project last year even briefly occupied the local government compound and stripped a high-ranking official half-naked. The reaction to the protest plans in Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan province, raises questions about whether China is getting tougher on dissent over environmental issues, though a protest Saturday in southern China saw less heavy-handed government tactics. Hundreds of people — many wearing face masks — gathered in Kunming to protest a planned refinery project in the area. The demonstrators demanded information transparency and that public health be safeguarded. That project and the plant near Chengdu are owned by PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer. The plant being built northwest of Chengdu in Pengzhou is expected to produce 10 million tons of refined oil and 800,000 tons of ethylene per year. Residents say they are worried the plant would pollute the air and water, and question why the plant is being built in a region prone to earthquakes. Pengzhou is in the same fault zone as the 2008 Wenchuan quake that left 90,000 people dead or missing, and for an earthquake last month that killed at least 196 people. In Chengdu, local authorities have been taking pre-emptive measures to stop local residents from taking to the street. At least one neighborhood police station has asked drugstores to report anyone buying large quantities of face masks, and for printing services to inform police immediately of those printing or photocopying materials with phrases such as "Petro Project," ''Environmental Protection," ''Personal Health," and "Pengzhou." The police demand that personal identity numbers and phone numbers of the customers be collected and reported. A woman who answered the phone at the police station said the notice was issued in accordance with an order from the municipal government and its public security bureau. Officials contacted in the city government said they were unclear about the issue. Eight Chinese microbloggers contacted by The Associated Press through private message also said the city government has been disseminating fliers urging its residents not to take part in any protest to preserve the city's stability — sometimes forcing signatures — and that several junior and high schools as well as colleges were asked to hold classes to keep the students on campus on Saturday. Most of the microbloggers refused to give their names, saying they feared how government officials would respond. Yam, a local woman who declined to give her family name because of fear of retaliation, said her employer on Thursday asked its employees not to take part in protests and threatened them with punishment should they err, after her company's general manager was invited to a tea session with the city's propaganda officials. She said her friends at state-owned companies were threatened with expulsion if they should protest.Hi, my name is Brian Russell, and I've created a full-color, dinosaur-laden children's book called, What I Remember About Dinosaurs. The idea started when I thought about how my baby daughter will never learn about the brontosaurus that my generation grew up loving because scientists now say they never existed. I wanted to make a book to share my love for dinosaurs and hopefully inspire a new generation to learn all about these creatures that have captivated the hearts and minds of millions of people. So I compiled a humorous book of facts I could remember. The main goal of this Kickstarter is to give this book the best chance to succeed and give you all some extras along the way! Your contributions will help pay for: proofs, printing, distribution, shipping, incentives, and marketing efforts. There are tons of goodies to be had which you can read all about below. Everything from digital copies of the book, to desktop backgrounds, to custom prints of your favorite dinosaurs, signed books, magnets and more! Please don’t let this idea go extinct. Notes The music used in the video was "Keyboard vocals no.2" by Marlo Eggplant (www.corpuscallosumdistro.com) For samples of artwork, sketches and more, check out my website! If you'd like to promote this project, please check out these pre-made banners for your convenience! :DNow playing: Watch this: How to find out if you're getting a Ticketmaster voucher Did Ticketmaster send you a voucher over the weekend for free event tickets? You better check to make sure you still have it. The vouchers, which are part of the settlement of a 13-year-old class-action lawsuit, began showing up in customers' inboxes this past weekend. The vouchers are supposed to be good for four years, but some people are reporting that the vouchers they had previously seen in their account have now vanished. Some customers turned to Twitter to voice their bewilderment. A CNET employee also reported a similar experience. Ticketmaster representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Customers who purchased tickets through the company -- which is part of Live Nation -- between October 21, 1999, and February 27, 2013, are eligible for the vouchers.Life is too short to spend holidays with people who make you feel like shit. Repeat after me, I am an adult and get to choose who I am around, at all times, including the holiday season. I am an adult and get to choose who I am around, at all times, including the holiday season. I am so happy to be at a point in my life where I am fully at peace with who I need to spend the holidays with. I'm not quite sure why I allowed myself to suffer all of those years - but since I am certain there must be some of you who also have your holidays ruined by mean relatives - I am going to share my story. For the last 15 years of his life, my father and I did not get along. Since he died, I've made peace with our relationship. I've forgiven both of us for being human and completely dropping the ball on the whole father-daughter thing. But when I look back on how I spent the holidays while he was alive, I just shake my head and think, Why? He was your typical stubborn, old-school, Italian. Whatever the reasons were that we didn't get along - and however much of it was his own fault - he would never admit to it. He much preferred the "intimidate into submission" route. I think my father intimidated everyone in the world but me. I was just too stubborn for his tactics to work; his large stature, silence and constant grimace did nothing but piss me off more. When his go-to tricks didn't work - he would just flat-out ignore me. I know my father loved me - but because of the aforementioned stubbornness and latent old-school anger, instead of letting things go - he just pretended I wasn't there. I'm not kidding. I would show up to my Aunt's house every year for Thanksgiving and subject myself to hours of my father being a passive-aggressive, silent bully and everyone pretending they didn't notice. And every year I thought the same thing; "Why do I put myself through this?" The ideal scenario would have been that we both would have just gotten over ourselves, talked things out, and moved on. For some reason, no matter how many times we tried - it never worked. My brother always insists that my father loved me most of all. I don't doubt that with the hindsight and clarity that death brings. I just really think I reminded him of all of his parenting failures - the ones he hated himself for - and by default, the ones he ended up hating me for.Earlier this week, four United States Senators did not think that a new game, Manhunt 2, was not sufficiently rated high enough and may even be bought by the children. Those four Senators decided to write the Entertainment Software Rating Board, private agency set up by the video game makers to self-regulate their products. The demands of the Senators are: The senators would like to see more transparency from the ESRB: “What information is provided back to developers after receiving a rating? Why is information regarding rating changes or reasons for decisions unavailable, except for content descriptors, to the public?” reads the letter. The letter also cites the leak of the AO-rated version by a Sony employee and subsequent unlocking of some of the AO-content on the PSP version, as well as the “realistic motions” used to kill characters in the game on the Nintendo Wii, as evidence that the ESRB should reevaluate its ratings process. “[W]e ask your consideration of whether it is time to review the robustness, reliability, and repeatability of your ratings process, particularly for this genre of ‘ultra-violent’ video games and the advances in game controllers,” concludes the letter. I’m not sure how dense the Senators are, but usually the content description is usually enough to determine if a game is suitable or not suitable for children. If a game’s description says that there’s violence with blood splattering all over and if a parent doesn’t want their child exposed to that right now, the parent probably won’t buy that particular game. However, our wonderful Senators believe we are morons who need to be taken care of by the government. Also, although the letter did threaten the ESRB with government takeover implicitly but the letter itself is a statement that these Senators think that video game content is enough of an issue that they’re more than willing to take it over from the ESRB if they do not meet the prudish standards of our Senators. Just which four Senators think this is such an important issue: Signed by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) Of course “protecting” the children is not the issue for these four, it’s power and control over what you can and can’t see and play on your computer. Finally, today is “Black Friday” so when you’re shopping, piss off a Senator today.Have you ever brought something home from the store like a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, or a can of soup and after having tasted or tried the product thought "this is so bad, I wish I could sue these guys"? Rockford resident Matthew Ashcraft is really doing something about it. Ashcraft is accusing Kraft of tampering with his box of Macaroni & Cheese and suing them for emotional distress. Does he have a case? Let's take a closer look. First, I need to open my pantry and get the blue and gold Kraft Macaroni & Cheese box. I don’t have any time for messing around. Now you’re telling me I've have to actually make this? Great. I’ll just open it on the side where it’s perforated for “easy open”. After wrestling with the Kraft Macaroni & Cheese box for some time, I think this Ashcraft fella might be on to something. I decided once my thumb was almost blistered, to give up the "easy" method and just rip the top off. Sweet Lenny photo Apparently the noodles don’t come pre-cooked. Bogus. Now I have to use my own water AND Tupperware bowl to make Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. Distress level: HIGH. Sweet Lenny photo What is this? I need to use my own ingredients? A half stick of butter? I was planning on using the butter for a fabulous banana bread recipe that my grandmother gave me. Oh well, maybe some other time. Sweet Lenny photo Milk? What the? I needed that for something. Good thing it’s close to the “sell by” date. If I had to use brand new milk for my Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, I’d have a real problem. Sweet Lenny photo Now it’s time for the dreaded cheese powder packet. I know when I open the packet, it’s going everywhere…yup, it did. Who’s going to clean this up for me? No takers? Distress level: VERY HIGH Sweet Lenny photo I’m finally done. The macaroni has been cooked and drained, the powder, milk and butter have been added and now it’s time to eat. I now need to mix it and use one of my own spoons? Sweet Lenny photo I had to mix the ingredients for almost a full 60 seconds. I almost felt a drip of sweat while mixing. If I dirty my clothes from working too hard, who’s going to clean them? Kraft? I don't think so. This is a raw deal. Distress level: LIVID Sweet Lenny photo After finishing an entire box by myself in record time, It is well worth the "distress" of making the blue and gold box of cheesy goodness. Forget it. You win Kraft. Your macaroni and cheese is delicious. According to the article, Matthew Ashcraft was attempting to settle out of court. If the offer was a lifetime supply of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, he needed to drop the suit and just accept. Distress level: Full and relaxedTrades have been one thing GM Ron Hextall has been known for during his time at the helm. In an era where plenty of league general managers are reticent to swap players and draft picks, Hextall hasn't been the slightest bit afraid -- especially with his build-through-the-draft philosophy. By now, much has been made with the Flyers' second-overall selection in this year's NHL Draft. With the draft now less than a month away, excitement is abuzz that a big-name prospect ( Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier ) could find their way to the Orange and Black, or the pick could even be dealt for the right price (hey, anything is possible in today's NHL). 13. Nov. 12, 2016: Petr Straka to New Jersey for a conditional seventh-round pick I'll put this down as the worst, because at the time this trade was made, it almost seemed like the Flyers could get more for a 24-year-old Straka. He had just completed his third season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and though he recorded 19 goals and 37 points in the prior season, he was a healthy scratch to that point. Sure, seventh-rounders can't be slept on, but the move just came off as baffling. Considering Straka put up four goals and 13 points with the Devils' American League-affiliate Albany Devils, perhaps Hextall and the Flyers saw something in Straka that warranted moving on. 12. 2016 fourth-round choice to New York Islanders for 2017 fourth-rounder Eleven spots after taking Connor Bunnaman, the Flyers sent another pick in the fourth round to the Islanders for a fourth-rounder in this year's draft. Essentially, it was a way of saying the players left in the fourth didn't merit another pick in the round, and they might as well wait another year for it. Tough move to make, though, considering this year's prospect crop is measurably weaker than last year's. It does give the Orange and Black three picks in this year's fourth round, though, so it's liable to be moved yet again. 11. 2015 fourth-rounder to Los Angeles for 2015 fourth-rounder and 2016 sixth-rounder Not necessarily a bad trade, per se, but it has room to improve. This trade allowed the Kings to move up and snag Austin Wagner, while the Flyers dropped back to end up with Mikhail Vorobyov. It also afforded them the opportunity to select Anthony Salinitri with their second pick of the sixth round. Vorobyov signed an entry-level deal with the club last month, and is expected to join the Phantoms next season after five goals and 14 points in 72 career games with Ufa of the KHL. 10. 2016 first-rounder (18th overall) and 2016 third-rounder (79th overall) to Winnipeg for 2016 first-rounder (22nd overall) Again, not necessarily a bad trade, but this one will take some time to pan out. The Flyers allowed the Jets to move up and snag Logan Stanley, and took German Rubtsov at No. 22. After going scoreless in 15 games with HC Vityaz of the KHL, Rubstov moved over to the QMJHL to play with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, and erupted with nine goals and 22 points in 16 games. Rubtsov signed an entry-level deal on March 2, and will return to the Saguenéens next season. 9. Scott Hartnell to Columbus for R.J. Umberger, 2015 fourth-rounder Financially, Hextall's first move made sense, but on the ice, it was just rough to watch. Though Scott Hartnell was coming off a 20-goal campaign and was an established fan-favorite, five more seasons of his $4.75 million cap hit was just too hard to bear, so he was sent to the Blue Jackets for three years of Umberger's $4.6 million hit. Umberger recorded just 11 goals and 26 points in his second stint as a Flyer before being bought out last season, while Hartnell is coming off his worst offensive output as a Blue Jacket (13 goals, 37 points) at the age of 35. One aspect of this move that often goes overlooked is that while the Flyers were coming off a playoff appearance (a tough seven-game loss to the NY Rangers), it's not like they were getting any farther than the Second Round. As Hextall wanted to get started on the team's rebuild, it made sense to move an aging player with a steep cap hit on the decline. The 2014-15 Flyers did not return to the playoffs, and a similar outcome was likely even with Hartnell in the picture. 8. Mark Streit to Tampa Bay for Valtteri Filppula, a 2017 fourth-rounder and a conditional 2017 fourth-rounder With the Flyers unexpected to return to the playoffs, they dealt veteran Mark Streit to the Lightning for another veteran in Valtteri Filppula, as well as fourth- and seventh-round picks in this year's draft. Conditions are still undisclosed for the seventh-rounder, while the fourth would be the Flyers' third pick of the round. 33-year-old Filppula, who was primed as a buyout candidate for the Bolts in the offseason, chipped in on the second line and totaled five goals and eight points in 20 games. He also allowed Sean Couturier to slide in a comfortable third-line center role, where he recorded 14 goals and 34 points in some of his best hockey over the second half of the season. 7. Kimmo Timonen to Chicago for a 2015 second-rounder and 2016 conditional pick The trade that ended an era. After not suiting up a game for the Flyers in the 2014-15 season because of blood clots, franchise cornerstone Kimmo Timonen was sent to Chicago at the deadline for a second-round puck in 2015 and a conditional pick in 2016. The second-rounder was eventually sent to Toronto in 2015, where they selected Jeremy Bracco, and the conditonal pick materialized into a second-round selection, where the Orange and Black snagged Wade Allison. 6. Tye McGinn to San Jose for a 2015 third-rounder Once upon a time, Tye McGinn was a top Flyers prospect. Following his third season with the team, though, the Flyers sent him to the Sharks for a 2015 third-rounder, which went on to become Felix Sandstrom. Certainly a decent swap in retrospect, as McGinn is still hanging around with Syracuse of the AHL while Sandstrom is on his way to becoming one of the organization's goalies of the future after a promising start with Brynas of the SHL. Sandstrom will be sticking around in Brynas for next season, giving him an extended opportunity to hone his game at a top level. 5. Nicklas Grossmann, Chris Pronger to Arizona for Sam Gagner, conditional pick During the 2015 Draft, Hextall pulled off what many considered to be impossible -- moving the $4.9 million cap hit of Chris Pronger, who had been inactive since 2011, while also shedding the dead weight of Nicklas Grossmann. Though Gagner posted eight goals and 16 points in 53 unspectacular games in the 2015-16 season, the deal was already seen as a major coup for Hextall. The conditional pick also ended up getting moved to the NY Islanders for a fourth-rounder in this year's draft (see No. 12). 4. Zac Rinaldo to Boston for 2017 third-rounder I still can't believe this one happened. Don Sweeney, newly-minted GM of the Bruins, decided to take Zac Rinaldo for a third-round pick. The same Zac Rinaldo that went on to play 52 games and score one goal before spending this whole season with AHL Providence. An actual skate lace can be selected, and it would still be an absolute fleecing for the Flyers. 3. Luke Schenn, Vincent Lecavalier to Los Angeles for Jordan Weal, 2016 third-rounder (82nd overall) This trade was seen as excellent, just solely because it got the disgruntled Vinny Lecavalier and disappointing Luke Schenn out of town. It also netted the Flyers a decent young player in Jordan Weal, a player long seen as too good for the AHL yet not good enough for The Show. Weal had a monster 15 goals and 47 points in 43 games with the Phantoms, and was a pleasant surprise in 23 games with the Flyers, scoring eight goals and 12 points after Travis Konecny went down with an injury. Considered a throw-in at the time of the trade, Weal is expected to carry his strong performance with the big club in 2017-18. The Flyers selected Carsen Twarynski with the third-round pick, though he's established himself as quite underwhelming in his junior career. 2. Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay for Radko Gudas, a 2015 first-rounder (29th overall) and a 2015 third-rounder (90th overall) Firmly in sell mode at the deadline, the Flyers dealt then-longest-tenured player Braydon Coburn for an injured defenseman in Radko Gudas and a pair of 2015 draft picks. The 29th-overall pick found its way to Columbus by way of Toronto, while the third-rounder yielded another goalie-of-the-future candidate in Matej Tomek. Gudas, on the other hand, has established himself as a well-rounded defenseman. He had a reputation for being nothing more than a goon/dirty player when he was first acquired, but he has parlayed that into the Pelle Lindbergh Award this season for most-improved player. 1. 2015 first-rounder (29th overall) and 2015 second-rounder (61st overall) to Toronto for 2015 first-rounder (24th overall) The Flyers traded up five spots in the 2015 first round to get their hands on Travis Konecny, for their second pick of the opening round. It only cost them a first-rounder they had already, and a second-rounder. Konecny, taken 17 selections after Ivan Provorov, was immediately seen as one of the players that the franchise will build around. He made his debut last season and showed promise, with 11 goals and 28 points in 70 games.Arnie Roth is an American Grammy Award-winning conductor, composer, and record producer, best known for conducting numerous concerts for video game music. He is also a classically trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music group Mannheim Steamroller. Roth is also the principal conductor and music director of the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, Play! A Video Game Symphony, and several Final Fantasy concerts including Distant Worlds and Final Fantasy A New World. SPECIAL GIVEAWAY – Win a pair of tickets to the January 23, 2016 Miami, Florida performance of Final Fantasy: A New World – CLICK HERE TO ENTER! (Contest ends 1/19/16). Join us as we talk about: Arnie’s involvement with the music of the Final Fantasy. What is unique about the music of Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy A New World. Some of the amazing ways that fans express their passion for the music and the games themselves. The magic behind translating the music of Final Fantasy into full orchestral performances. What Arnie has learned in his own life through being a part of directing and performing music from Final Fantasy games. …and much more! Learn more about Final Fantasy: A New World by going here: http://ffnewworld.com/It's a creative tradition. For Taylor University's annual Silent Night, fans don't make a sound at a men's basketball game until the Trojans score their tenth point. You can hear shoes squeaking. After Taylor gets to 10, though? Taylor's fans act like their team just won an award for Best Basketball Team Ever. The Silent Night tradition has apparently been around for over 20 years, and it's received a lot of attention in seasons past. The routine, always done the Friday before final exams, also includes singing "Silent Night" near the end of the game and a postgame campus-wide Christmas party, but this seems like the best part. It might be grating for the team's opponents, but that looks like so much fun. That little kid in a Carson Palmer jersey(?) at the 0:57 mark is just punching a balloon in the middle of the court for no reason! Basketball! Whether or not it was the tenth-point celebrations, Taylor beat Indiana Dabney, 94-72.BEAVERLODGE ALBERTA, CANADA (enlarge picture) Welcome to Beaverlodge Alberta located in the County of Grande Prairie that covers an area of over 6,000 sq km. DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com Accommodations: Beaverlodge Hotel Restaurant and Tavern. 101 Avenue. and 10 Street 780-354-2059. Camping: (enlarge picture) Beaverlodge Pioneer Campground is located on west side of town and operated by the town of Beaverlodge. (enlarge picture) Pioneer Campground is open mid May to mid Sept. Total of 29 stalls, 10 full service sites, 19 power only. Tap water, showers, firewood included. (780) 354-2201. Red Willow Park, 19 km southwest of Beaverlodge on Highway 667. 12 sites. Day use and overnight camping. (780) 532-9722. Hommy Park. 5 km southwest of Beaverlodge on Highway 43. 22 sites, tap water, horseshoe pits, baseball diamonds. Open mid May to mid October. Demmitt Park. Located near the BC border on Highway 43. 20 unserviced sites. Open May 1 to mid October. Golf: (Photo of the Green) Riverbend Golf and Country Club (780) 354-2538. Located 2 km south of Highway 43, 5 km west of Beaverlodge. The clubhouse originally was a NAR station built in 1929. It became a clubhouse in 1972. Camping available. 9 holes, club and cart rentals. Riverbend Golf website (enlarge picture) Beaverlodge Community Centre. Many weddings and social functions are held here. Holds 200 to 225 people. Basement meeting room for Elks & Legion Clubs. 10114-4 Avenue. (780) 354-2471. (enlarge picture) Official opening of the new Library Dec 2007. Now located on mainstreet next to Community Resource Centre. Beaverlodge Public Library. (780) 354-2569.Official opening of the new Library Dec 2007. Now located on mainstreet next to Community Resource Centre. Beaverlodge Library The Beaverlodge Fire Department has 25 volunteer firemen with 2 fire engines. Office (780) 354-8900. Town of Beaverlodge. (780) 354-2201. Beaverlodge & District Chamber of Commerce (780) 354-8785. Town of Beaverlodge Website Beaverlodge Advertiser. Local community paper that began as a weekly in 1956. Trevor Harris owned and operated the newspaper for 52 years until he sold it in 2008. He died in 2012 at the age of 78 years. The Town & County News based out of Beverlodge and reaches the communitiies of Hythe, Valhalla Centre, Sexsmith and Clairmont with 1,800 readers. Published Thursdays. 780-354-2980. (enlarge picture) St Mary's Roman Catholic Church is one of the 7 churches in Beaverlodge. The average life expectancy of someone living in Beaverlodge is 80 years (2015) and the average family income is $95,570. * AUTOS * FARMS-ACREAGES * RENOVATIONS * HEALTH-FITNESS * DIRECTORY * EVENTS * NPHL * VIDEOS * HOME BEAVERLODGE Alberta Located just 43 km west of Grande Prairie, Alberta, is the Town of Beaverlodge, with a population over 2,720 (2015 stats) living in 1,138 dwellings. It provides services to over 4,000. Known as the "Gateway to the Monkman Pass." MORE PHOTOS: Click on the mini-pictures above to enlarge photo. Beaverlodge Pool, Old RCMP Library, Curling Rink, Town Office, GPREMS, St Marys School, Residential picture. Settlers arrived in the early 1900's down the Athabasca Trail and the Edson Trail and Hinton Trail. The "Bull Outfit", which came by teams of oxen, were made up of Sherks, Smith, Crabb, Lossing, Walton, Flint, Cranston, Miller, Traux and Gaudin. (Members of a religious group). The Pioneer Stopping Place was one of the first places where travellers could get a meal and a nights sleep. Its Post Office opened in 1910 named "Redwillow" take from the nearby river. Later the name was changed to Beaverlodge, which came from the lodges all along the river built by the Beaver Indians. VIDEO DUAL CAM VIDEO Featuring the Main Street of Beaverlodge View The Dual Cam shows both sides of the street as one travels north along mainstreet (For best results increase video to fill screen)View VIDEO> (3:19min) The original Beaverlodge settlement was located on the east hill overlooking the valley. The first store opened in 1909 and In 1910 the first school was build at the old townsite with Mrs. C.A. Drake as the first teacher. Two more schools were also built shortly after. When the railway came in 1925, the settlement moved from the hill nearly 2 km to be along the present location by the tracks. The Canadian Forces Radar Station which started in 1954 was located on the top of Saskatoon Mountain just east of Beaverlodge. It provided a boost to the community til 1988 when the station was finally closed. South Peace Centennial Museum which opened in 1967, located just west of Beaverlodge 2.5 km north on Highway 43. Has the only known operating 30 HP Waterloo Steam Traction Engine. Displays and artifacts of interest for the whole family. The Annual South Peace Centennial Pioneer Days and Peace Country Opry happens the 3rd Sunday of July, includes pancake breakfast, demonstrations and entertainment. Displays and artifacts. Steam driven sawmill, thresher and lumber planer. Antique tractor, car, truck collection plus many antique buildings. Overnight camping for a fee, concession and playground. (780) 354-8869. South Peace Centennial Museum. SOUTH PEACE CENTENNIAL MUSEUM The Autumn Festival was held at this museum located between Beaverlodge and Hythe, AB. The Antique Tractors were in action, plus there were many activities held all Day September 9th, 2012. View The Autumn Festival was held at this museum located between Beaverlodge and Hythe, AB. The Antique Tractors were in action, plus there were many activities held all Day September 9th, 2012.View VIDEO> (3:10min) The South Peace Centennial Museum is now home to a grain elevator built in 1929 that was located at Albrite, along Highway 43 near the town of Beaverlodge. It was originally owned by Federal Pacific Grain, then UGG who sold it to the Fosters in 1964. It was first hoped that an elevator located in Beaverlodge could be moved to the Museum, but it was discovered, that elevator couldn't be moved because of the poor condition it was in. In the spring of 1996 two old United Grain elevators in Beaverlodge were demolished. Those elevators were built in 1928 and over time became inefficient. Beaverlodge has a diverse economy. The top industries include Retail, Oil, Agriculture, and Construction. Beaverlodge is home to the Northern Agricultural Research Station. The Federal experimental station originally started in 1916. Employs 23 full time staff and 17 part-time staff. Beaverlodge has its own Airstrip 2km south of the Town. (photo) It is paved but only accessible to small aircraft. It is home to the Grande Prairie Soaring Society. BEAVERLODGE MOTOCROSS RACES There was lots of action at the Beaverlodge Motocross Racetrack on September 2012, as competitors of all ages competed. Rick Leitner, Beaverlodge President, tells us about the event, plus some of the exciting action is captured in this video. View There was lots of action at the Beaverlodge Motocross Racetrack on September 2012, as competitors of all ages competed. Rick Leitner, Beaverlodge President, tells us about the event, plus some of the exciting action is captured in this video.View VIDEO> (2:17min) Beaverlodge Events: Jones Jamboree held annually in early July. The Annual Agriculture Fair is held in mid August. Other activities include Pee Wee Hockey Hockey Tournaments, Skating Carnivals as well as the Beaverlodge Farmers' Market takes place at the Community Centre. NOW POSTED Events of the Peace Country Residential area of Beaverlodge, Alberta (Picture of a quiet residential street) In January 2002, a new Canada Post Office facility was built. December 21, 2002 a downtown fire destroyed many local businesses on the west side of main street. (A Clothing Shop, Chinese Restaurant, Hair Salon, Massage Parlor, Accounting Office and Drugstore.) In May 2012, the Beaverlodge Pool Complex (photo) opened at the corner of 10th Street and 4th Avenue. The Beaverlodge Town Office is now located in the same building. More News: A new St Mary Catholic School is being constructed to open June 2016. It is to replace the existing school that currently holds 150 students. The new school will have room for up to
9-2010) Language : English \| Year : 2009-2010 \| Size : 193 MB Screenshots : Notes :During the hottest week of the summer, hanging around a ice hockey rink seems like a cool idea. But for the 44 youth hockey players spending Monday through Friday at the Steel Ice Center in Bethlehem, it's about much more than staying out of the sun. They're learning some of the finer points of hockey and even more lessons about life from Riley Cote, the former Philadelphia Flyers left winger and current Lehigh Valley Phantoms assistant coach. Cote's High Performance Hockey Skate and Skill Camp, featuring Flyers skating coach Slava Kouznetsov, offers plenty of on-the-ice instruction and video follow-up. However, it's outside the rink where Cote really wants to deliver messages that resonate with the kids, who range in age from 8 to 15. "We try to teach them life lessons through hockey," Cote said Wednesday. "I'm an optimist, but I'm also a realist and I realize that not everyone is going to make the NHL. It's really a very small percentage of guys who ever do. So, we talk about a lot things away from hockey. … giving respect, taking care of your body, preparation and being a pro when it comes to attitude and character. All of those things translate to every facet of life, no matter what you do for a living or what school you're in. There's always going to be a certain expectation from coaches, teachers and bosses. CAPTION Bethlehem Catholic senior Justin Paz talks about his game-winning shot to beat Nazareth and looks ahead to Emmaus in the EPC finals. Bethlehem Catholic senior Justin Paz talks about his game-winning shot to beat Nazareth and looks ahead to Emmaus in the EPC finals. CAPTION Bethlehem Catholic senior Justin Paz talks about his game-winning shot to beat Nazareth and looks ahead to Emmaus in the EPC finals. Bethlehem Catholic senior Justin Paz talks about his game-winning shot to beat Nazareth and looks ahead to Emmaus in the EPC finals. CAPTION Becahi's Zamar Brake talks about a hard-fought win over Wilson and looks ahead to 4A championship game against Central Catholic. Becahi's Zamar Brake talks about a hard-fought win over Wilson and looks ahead to 4A championship game against Central Catholic. CAPTION Former Allentown Central Catholic quarterback Tim McGorry returns to the school as its head football coach. Former Allentown Central Catholic quarterback Tim McGorry returns to the school as its head football coach. CAPTION Justin Paz had his second game-winning shot in three nights as Becahi beat Emmaus 46-44 for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship. Justin Paz had his second game-winning shot in three nights as Becahi beat Emmaus 46-44 for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship. CAPTION Nick Foles Opts to Void 2019 Contract With the Eagles Despite leading Philadelphia to its first ever Super Bowl win, Nick Foles appears likely to depart the team before the 2019 NFL season. Nick Foles Opts to Void 2019 Contract With the Eagles Despite leading Philadelphia to its first ever Super Bowl win, Nick Foles appears likely to depart the team before the 2019 NFL season. "We always talk about acting like a pro. You don't have to be a pro to carry yourself like one. It's how you go about doing things. It's about never complaining, working through adversity, all of those elements come into play during the week at our camp in addition to trying to make them better hockey players. There's a bigger picture here. We want to generate high-quality people who have a purpose and are going to do the right things every single day of their lives regardless of what their God-given abilities are." This is Cote's fourth camp at the Steel Ice Center and he runs others at Clifton Park, N.Y., and Newark, Del. Most of the kids are from the Lehigh Valley, although there are participants from outside the immediate area and even Europe. He sees the interest in ice hockey growing here, thanks in large part to the Phantoms, who have completed two seasons at the PPL Center in Allentown. "I really do see the excitement here," he said. "The PPL Center is the best building in the league by far. The training facility in the building is the best in the league by far. So there's an attraction for veteran players to come, but the support from the people of the Lehigh Valley has been awesome. I think we've sold out all but two games in our two years here. It's just a good place to be. I've put my roots here and bought a house before the season started last year in the west Allentown/Salisbury Township area. So I really love it here and the reception of the fans has been great. A lot of the fans are Flyers fans and they have the same passion as the people in Philly." Riley said it's an exciting time for the region with the Flyers stockpiling lots of young talent. "Seeing all of the young prospects coming through has got to add an exciting element for the fans," he said. "The team has gone through a rebuilding period and the fans have been patient with that. But now it's becoming crunch time and playoffs and championships are the goal every single year. I don't think the players can say anything bad about this area. It's been positive all the way around." Larry Fortunato, formerly a secretary with the Lehigh Valley Flames and Phantoms Youth programs, brought Cote to the Lehigh Valley five years ago, before the Phantoms arrived. He appreciates the impact the 34-year-old Winnipeg, Manitoba, native is having on area youth hockey. "As far as I'm concerned he runs one of the best camps that involve kids in the Lehigh Valley," Fortunato said. "It's more than just hockey with him. He teaches the kids a lot of life lessons and we just hope that the camp continues for a long time because Riley does such a great job." For more information about the camp, go online to: www.highperformancehockeycamps.com. Many of the great players in Stroudsburg High basketball history will reunite for a pair of alumni games on Saturday at the high school at 3 and 5 p.m. … Mike Mittman, the golden-voiced local TV commentator and Larry Holmes' sidekick on Service Electric's "What the Heck Were They Thinking?," will be seen and heard on a boxing card at 7 p.m. Saturday on Philly's Comcast SportsNet. It's the Peltz Boxing card featuring seven bouts with the star attraction being a middleweight fight featuring Dashon Johnson of Escondido, Calif., and DeCarlo Perez of Atlantic City. They meet in the scheduled eight-round main event. Mittman, who also co-hosts "The Peak" TV show, a 30-minute health and wellness program, with Ashley Russo on WFMZ-Channel 69, recently signed a lengthy contract with Comcast to serve as a blow-by-blow commentator. Mike's son, Steve, Channel 69's morning traffic reporter, is also part of the boxing broadcasts. … Former Parkland and current Penn State women's volleyball star Taylor Krause was recently recognized as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar. Krause was one of 81 Penn State student-athletes recognized for having recorded a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher during the previous academic year. Krause, who will be a senior this fall, has been named a team co-captain along with Haleigh Washington, another Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recipient. The high school season is long over for former Catasauqua High softball star Hannah Edwards, but the accolades continue to come her way. She was recently named to the MaxPreps All-American team, her 14th All-American honor. Edwards, The Morning Call's two-time player of the year, hit.680 this spring with 51 hits, 45 runs and 52 steals. She ended her career as Pennsylvania's career leader in hits (207), runs (158) and steals (192). Pitt-bound Edwards can be seen at 10:30 p.m. Friday on ESPNU playing in the Premier Girls Fastpitch High School All-American Game at Bill Barber Park in Irvine, Calif. The game features 36 of the of the best 2016 high school graduates. Edwards is one of only two players selected from Pennsylvania.New York Times: Government’s new estimate puts volume of BP oil gusher at another Exxon/Valdez ‘every 8 to 10 days’ The United States has more than doubled the estimated size of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, while BP’s chairman was summoned to a White House meeting with President Barack Obama. Carl-Henric Svanberg, the Swede who chairs BP’s board, was invited to the meeting next Wednesday along with other company officials, but there was no mention of CEO Tony Hayward, who Obama has said he would fire, if he could, for making flippant remarks about the crisis. “The potential devastation to the Gulf Coast, its economy, and its people require relentless efforts to stop the leak and contain the damage,” said a letter to Svanberg from Thad Allen, the Coast Guard admiral leading the US government’s response to the crisis. The letter was published online by Politico. Data suggesting the leak could be upwards of 40,000 barrels a day rounded off a miserable day for BP in which its share price plummeted almost 16 percent in early London trading before finishing at its lowest level since 1997. Investors fled for fear Obama intends to exact a heavy price from the British energy giant as its potential liability soars and US officials look to suspend prized shareholder dividends until compensation is paid. Although it later recouped most of its loss, BP’s share price has collapsed more than 40 percent — wiping tens of billions of dollars off its market value — since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank on April 22. Friday could be worse as the markets had already closed by the time Marcia NcNutt, chairing the US government’s flow rate assessment team, doubled the previous official flow figures of between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day. “The lowest estimate that we’re seeing that the scientists think is credible is probably about 20,000 barrels, and the highest that we’re seeing is probably a little over 40,000,” McNutt told reporters. For angry Americans digesting daily images of oiled birds and crude-covered marshes, this only reinforced the impression that BP has been disingenuous about the size of the spill from the start to try to limit its liability. The company’s first estimate was only 1,000 barrels per day and it stuck to a later estimate of 5,000 barrels a day even as that amount was being siphoned to the surface with more oil and natural gas still clearly gushing out. A containment device fitted last week is now capturing 15,800 barrels a day, but the latest data suggests at least 4,200 barrels and possibly up to 25,000 barrels, more than one million gallons, is still spewing into the sea each day. At least 40 million gallons of crude has already poured into the Gulf, and perhaps double that. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez tanker leaked roughly 11 million gallons into the sea off the Alaskan coast in 1989. The latest plunge in BP’s share price came the day after US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the company’s liability should include reimbursements for all companies hit by a six-month moratorium on deep sea drilling. Asked during a Senate grilling if the government will make BP pay out to all companies that go out of business, take bankruptcy or lay off workers, Salazar replied: “The answer to that is, yes, we will. BP is responsible.” US government officials said BP had agreed to speed up payouts to individuals and businesses affected by the spill following a meeting with Admiral Allen. In an interview with AFP, Allen said BP had responded to a letter ordering it to inform the US government by Friday of its contingency planning for the containment system and said he was satisfied by its response. The imminent arrival of a second processing vessel is expected to boost the capacity of the containment system to 28,000 barrels and Allen said further operations would be carried out over the “next three to four weeks” to put down a new mooring at the site. The mooring will allow a super tanker and more equipment to be brought in to place a more fitted cap on the leak that can capture all the leaking oil and make the system easier to disconnect in the event of a hurricane. A permanent solution will not come before the first of two relief wells are drilled, in August at the earliest, allowing the leak to be plugged with cement. Obama, who heads to the Gulf next week for his fourth visit since the disaster, met Thursday at the White House with relatives of the 11 workers killed when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. With additional reporting by RAW STORY.Last week, Microsoft founder Bill Gates attempted to convince billionaires around the world to agree to give away half their money to charity. But in Germany, the "Giving Pledge," backed by 40 of the world's wealthiest people, including Gates and Warren Buffet, has met with skepticism, SPIEGEL has learned. "For most people that is too ostentatious," said the asset manager of one of the billionaires contacted by Gates, adding that many of the of the people contacted had already transferred larger proportions of their assets than the Americans to charitable foundations. Dietmar Hopp, the co-founder of the SAP business software company, has transferred some 2.9 billion to a foundation. Klaus Tschira, another founder of SAP, has handed more than half his wealth to a foundation. Peter Krämer, a Hamburg-based shipping magnate and multimillionaire, has emerged as one of the strongest critics of the "Giving Pledge." Krämer, who donated millions of euros in 2005 to "Schools for Africa," a program operated by UNICEF, explained his opposition to the Gates initiative in a SPIEGEL interview. SPIEGEL: Forty super wealthy Americans have just announced that they would donate half of their assets, at the very latest after their deaths. As a person who often likes to say that rich people should be asked to contribute more to society, what were your first thoughts? Krämer: I find the US initiative highly problematic. You can write donations off in your taxes to a large degree in the USA. So the rich make a choice: Would I rather donate or pay taxes? The donors are taking the place of the state. That's unacceptable. SPIEGEL: But doesn't the money that is donated serve the common good? Krämer: It is all just a bad transfer of power from the state to billionaires. So it's not the state that determines what is good for the people, but rather the rich want to decide. That's a development that I find really bad. What legitimacy do these people have to decide where massive sums of money will flow? SPIEGEL: It is their money at the end of the day. Krämer: In this case, 40 superwealthy people want to decide what their money will be used for. That runs counter to the democratically legitimate state. In the end the billionaires are indulging in hobbies that might be in the common good, but are very personal. SPIEGEL: Do the donations also have to do with the fact that the idea of state and society is such different one in the United States? Krämer: Yes, one cannot forget that the US has a desolate social system and that alone is reason enough that donations are already a part of everyday life there. But it would have been a greater deed on the part of Mr. Gates or Mr. Buffet if they had given the money to small communities in the US so that they can fulfil public duties. SPIEGEL: Should wealthy Germans also give up some of their money? Krämer: No, not in this form. It would make more sense, for example, to work with and donate to established organizations.Any minute now, Elon Musk will reveal details of the biggest update to Tesla’s Autopilot suite since its release in October of 2015. He was supposed to do this last Wednesday, then, when that didn't come to pass, over the weekend. I’m sure he had bigger fish to fry, which gave me more time to digest the lessons of my most recent Tesla cross-country drive, and contemplate what we can expect to see in Autopilot 8. Without further ado: Improved Situational Awareness Display Might this not mean better object recognition, with a display drawn to scale? More accurate icons, including pedestrians? How about making the secondary nav and power displays smaller, and the central display bigger? Previous Next Close Mode Confusion/Alerts/Involuntary Disengagements I’ve lumped mode confusion, alerts, and involuntary disengagements together because they clearly go hand-in-hand-in-hand. Mode confusion is blamed for 90 percent of all plane crashes attributed to human error. As good as Autopilot 7 is, its state of engagement feedback—that is, the user’s awareness of whether or not it’s actually engaged—is mediocre at best. But that's better than everyone else’s, which is non-existent. After 7,000+ miles of Autopilot 7 usage, I’ve only ever had one mode confusion incident, and that was when I thought the system was on when it wasn’t. Again, even though Autopilot 7 is state of the art, its state of engagement notification is limited to two pairs of pleasant sounding chimes (ascending or descending based on engagement or disengagement) and a little grey or green steering wheel to the right of the speedometer. Not good enough. I’m not suggesting Christmas lights here, but man, anything between Christmas lights and what we currently have would be safer. I'm not exaggerating when I say the entire dash should pulse green when Autopilot is engaged, and the phrase "Autopilot Engaged" should scroll across it every 20 seconds. Better yet, install a heads-up display and have that also pulse in the driver’s line of sight. Do those things—do anything—before the government mandates something we all hate. Oh, and when the system disengages, make the entire dash flash red and sound an unpleasant horn. Over and over. Shocking? It should shock. It will also make it less likely people will try to engage the system in less-than-ideal conditions. Is it unsafe to shock? It’s safer to shock once and have people remember it than it is to crash and have people remember that. (See number 3: Conditional Prohibitions.) Previous Next Close Re-engagement Prohibitions We’ve already seen a leak about this, and it’s exactly what I hope Musk will give us. If a driver ignores the disengagement warnings in Autopilot 7, the car will eventually come to a stop. Fine. What’s allegedly coming in 8 is that the user won’t be able to re-engage Autopilot until the car has been placed in Park, then back into Drive. I have a strong suspicion that most of the accidents blamed on Autopilot occurred because drivers kept trying to re-engage in less than ideal conditions after numerous hands-off warnings. This should solve that. I hope. This is similar to rules baked into Airbus aviation autopilot systems, which I will be addressing in an upcoming article. We need a lot more aviation autopilot logic pulled into automotive, and this is a huge (if unsexy) step in the right direction. AutoSteer Feel/Torquing The Autosteer aspect of Autopilot puts too much torque into the steering. Call it too much of a good thing. Everyone else puts too little. I want to be able to change lanes within Autopilot, but currently, any steering input while engaged disengages Autopilot altogether. Therefore, in order to keep it engaged I often have to remove one hand from the wheel where, at rest, it might disengage the system. Loosen this up, just a little. Say, 10 percent. Previous Next Close Geo-Capping/Conditional Prohibitions/Fleet Learning This one seems obvious. Weather, darkness, and direct sunlight all have negative effects on Autopilot, greatly increasing the likelihood of an involuntary disengagement; therefore, Autopilot should not be engage-able in these conditions. I’ve engaged Autopilot in moderate rain at 90 mph. I’ve also chosen to dial it back to 30 mph for my own safety. It appeared to work perfectly—emphasis on "appeared to." The average person is unable to judge whether such conditions are suitable for Autopilot, and shouldn’t be allowed to use such a technology until it matures, and both driver education and product training improves. The myriad scenarios in which such limitations should be imposed would fill volumes, but Tesla’s Fleet Learning must be capable of correlating historical weather, light levels, and sun placement with disengagements, driver inputs, and accidents. Expect to see a lot more Fleet Learning data integration—if not in Autopilot 8, then in interim updates. That’s the whole point of Fleet Learning, and where Tesla has an advantage. For now. Previous Next Close Geo-Fencing This one also seems obvious, probably because it’s kin with number three. The highway on which Joshua Brown’s accident occurred had perpendicular access roads lacking 4-way lights or stop signs. Would capping Autopilot’s speed on that road have saved Brown’s life? Maybe not, but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt his chances of survival, and if Brown had been forced to take the wheel because he personally felt the need to speed, he’d have been more likely to avoid the accident. Likewise, Autopilot isn’t intended to work in Manhattan traffic, so why should it be possible to engage it within our snarled grid system? I consider myself a bit of an expert on Autopilot. Really, I love it, but that just means I know more about its limitations than the usual critics, most of whom have somewhere between zero and one hour behind the wheel. Until Autopilot sees lights and signs, it shouldn’t be possible to use it in Manhattan unless you’re on the FDR Drive or the West Side Highway north of 57th street. For the record, I did the entire FDR Drive last week on Autopilot, in traffic, with only two disengagements. It was brilliant. (Video coming soon.) Anywhere there’s a happy Tesla owner, there’s an area they know Autopilot shouldn’t be used, at least right now. Let’s see some more Fleet Learning applied, maybe specifically toward new owners. Ooops, I think I just opened a can of worms. Well, here’s a bigger one: Previous Next CloseAn estimated 500,000 people lined up last weekend at Apple stores around the country to buy an iPad 2. The best part, after getting past that annoying Connect to iTunes screen, is loading up the tablet with apps. Which of the 65,000 iPad apps should you download? From utilities to games, here's Wired.com's quick list of must-haves for your brand-new iPad 2. Dropbox We rave about Dropbox all the time at Wired.com. That's because it's an indispensable addition to the iPad. It is an online storage service that works on an iPad, iPhone, Android phone, or any Windows or Mac PC. Your Dropbox folder is where you put all the files you want to access with any device, and the service automatically syncs so they're available to you everywhere. Say, for example, that you're a student with a Mac and you want to read research papers on any of your devices. On your Mac, drop some PDFs in your Dropbox folder, then on the iPad launch the Dropbox app and you can read those PDFs on the tablet while you're on the bus. You could also launch the PDFs with the Dropbox app on an Android smartphone or iPhone. Besides PDFs, you can put video, pictures and music in your Dropbox, too. You have to have this app: It'll save you a ton of time that you'd otherwise waste syncing to iTunes over USB. Free, download link. Air Video Let's say you've got a lot of video files on your PC that aren't iTunes-compatible, or were acquired through (ahem) less than legal means. With AirVideo, you can quickly set up a server on your PC and choose a folder that you want to share with your iPad. Then hop on your iPad and launch AirVideo, and you can instantly stream most videos inside that folder. AirVideo will even live-convert videos while you're watching, so it's all an instant, seamless experience. $3, download link. Friendly There isn't an official Facebook app made just for the iPad. Until Facebook comes up with something better, Friendly is basically the best option. It's polished and its looks resemble Facebook's own style, so you'll feel right at home. After you log in with your Facebook ID, you'll be wasting time stalking your Facebook buddies in no time. Free, download link. GarageBand Made by Apple, the GarageBand app is simply stunning. The app packs a virtual piano, guitar, bass guitar and drum set to record songs. Especially neat are Apple's "Smart" instruments, which contain preset chords and rhythms for each instrument, so anything you play can sound good. This way, people of all ages will be able to pick up an iPad and compose some neat tunes. $5, download link. Infinity Blade Originally made for the iPhone, Infinity Blade has been rescaled and beefed up for the iPad. While it works on the first-generation iPad, it's even better on the iPad 2. This 3-D sword-fighting game puts the iPad 2's powerful graphics processor to good use. Swipe your fingers on the touchscreen to attack, parry or dodge. It's a superfun game that should provide hours of entertainment. $6, download link Instapaper We've featured Instapaper before, but we have to mention it again, because it's just too crucial. Reading through a web browser can be a chore, with all those distracting ads, ugly sidebars, etc. Hit Instapaper's "Read Later" button on your PC web browser to add a page to your reading list. Then on your iPad you can launch the Instapaper app to read everything you've saved with just the words and pictures, stripped of all the junk. It's great for concentrating, and it might just change the way you read. $5, download link. Flipboard We can't get enough of Flipboard, a beautiful social magazine. Fundamentally, it scrapes content from URLs shared on Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds. But that doesn't do justice to the elegant way it lays out the stories for easy browsing. It's even better on the iPad 2 now because of the performance boost. Wired.com is an official partner of Flipboard, too, so you'll notice our site's content has been optimized for Flipboard. Free, download link. PenUltimate If you come up with a great idea, you can quickly jot it down in this note-taking app that acts a a virtual Field Notes notepad. Unlike other note apps, where you have to type, PenUltimate just lets you scribble on the screen with your finger (or a stylus). We love it because the design and overall feel of the app is just slick. $2, download link. TuneInRadio Listen to all your favorite online radio stations with this app. Plus, you can use this app to set an alarm to play your favorite station in the morning. As there's no built-in alarm app on the iPad, this should come handy. Sure, you've just turned your iPad into a $500 clock radio, but you can't pick up the clock radio and read Google News on it, too, can you? $1, download link.Undergraduate Student Government senators voted unanimously to change the name of the Women’s Student Assembly to the Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment at the first USG meeting of the semester Tuesday. SAGE Assistant Director Maddie Hengst said that the change came about in order for the group to better fulfill its mission statement and become a better resource for both cisgender and transgender students. “Our mission statement recognizes that we do not just cater to female-identified students, but also cater to students of all gender identities,” Hengst said. “We also don’t want to alienate any of our constituency by focusing exclusively on women.” Several senators initially voiced their confusion over the choice of a name change instead of the creation of an entirely new student organization. Sen. Leena Danpour asked why WSA did not choose to remain the same and simply create a new group called SAGE. “I hope that in the future women wouldn’t feel alienated by our organization or feel inadequately represented by our organization,” Hengst said in response. “I think right now the organization wasn’t appropriately representing our mission statement, so this name change isn’t really changing the purpose of our organization at all — it’s just better reflecting what our mission statement has been and the work we’ve been doing for the past few years.” Sen. Emily Lee wanted to know if WSA’s name change would expand its functions and encroach on the functions of the Queer and Ally Student Assembly. Sen. Kate Oh said that for the most part, this would not occur. “Gender identity and sexual orientation identity are different things,” Oh said. “There might be overlap, but there shouldn’t be any encroachment.” After the vote to change WSA to SAGE passed unanimously, Sen. Tyler Matheson presented his resolution to create a system notifying students of whether or not they are taking any pass-fail courses. The electronic system, which will also notify them of how many pass-fail courses they registered for, aims to provide students with useful information about classes. Senators will vote on whether or not to pass this resolution at the next USG meeting.With Her Eye on 2020, Sen. Kamala Harris Calls on Pres. Trump to Resign Over Unproven Sex Harassment Accusations Those who thought that Democrats forcing Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to resign over sexual assault allegations without due process was a ploy to try to force President Donald Trump from office, go the the head of the class. Freshman Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) on Thursday joined a growing number of Democrat senators calling on Trump to resign over unproven accusations of sexual assault. Harris made her call during an interview with Politico, which tweeted about the interview, “. @SenKamalaHarris tells us @realDonaldTrump should resign over sex harassment accusations ‘in the best interest of the country’” . @SenKamalaHarris tells us @realDonaldTrump should resign over sex harassment accusations ‘in the best interest of the country’ pic.twitter.com/WWro2IAdXZ — David Siders (@davidsiders) December 14, 2017 CNN published a list Thursday morning of senators calling on Trump to resign: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Democrat presidential nomination. Harris endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2015, expressing her “deep admiration” for the rape-enabling wife of former President Bill Clinton who formed the Bimbo Eruption Squad to discredit, intimidate and threaten women who made claims against her husband. Harris wrote on Facebook on August 6, 2015, “I’m excited to stand with Hillary Clinton. She has fought for decades to create opportunities for California families. I have a deep admiration for her, and I know that she will be a phenomenal president. Will you join me in helping elect Hillary as our country’s first woman president?” Harris, formerly the California attorney general who was elected in 2016 to her first term in the Senate and sworn in this year, has presidential ambitions for 2020, reportedly meeting with Hillary Clinton’s “inner circle” last summer according to Page Six. Featured image of Harris at the Women’s March on Washington, January 21, 2017, via screengrab.Scots voting on whether to leave the United Kingdom? Exercise in democracy. Kurds voting on whether to leave Iraq? Exercise in democracy. Catalans voting on whether to leave Spain? Exercise in democracy. Britons voting on whether to leave the EU? Bigotry, xenophobia, racism! It's odd, really. The global trend is toward having more and smaller countries. In the mid-1950s, there were 80 states in the world. Today, there are 200. Thirty of them have come into existence since 1990, most recently Montenegro, Kosovo and South Sudan. By and large, this development is both progressive and liberal: it means that decisions are taken more closely to the people they affect, and that national loyalties align more closely with electoral boundaries, making democracy more effective. Yet, for some reason, the sorts of people who cheer for Timorese or Tibetan independence tend to react very differently to the notion of British independence. I suspect it has something to do with our tendency to rank the world into a hierarchy of privileges, and to form our sympathies, not on the basis of any objective criteria, but on the basis of supporting the perceived underdog. The Catalans and, even more, the Kurds, can plausibly present themselves as victims. Scottish separatists also tried to cast themselves in that light – albeit with less historical justification, which is one of the reasons they lost. The UK, though, will never win many sympathy votes. Because it was the first industrial nation, it tended to have a technological edge over its rivals. Even when it was manifestly in the right, it was rarely the underdog. Its size and history mean that its Euroscepticism is resented in a way that that of, say, Norway or Switzerland is not. When the Norwegians and Swiss voted against EU membership, their decision was seen for what it was: a preference for democratic self-government. When Britons voted the same way, a thousand half-clever columnists reached for cliches about the British Empire. Even so, the EU is swimming against the historical current. Its obsession with size is a sign of its age, a hangover from its 1950s childhood. In those days, big was beautiful, whether in business or in politics, and sensible men agreed that the future lay with massive conglomerates. That, though, is not how things worked out. Hong Kong went on to outperform China, Singapore to outperform Indonesia – Switzerland, for that matter, to outperform the EU. The states with the highest per capita GDP on the planet, according to the CIA World Factbook, are Liechtenstein, Qatar and Monaco. Indeed, Qatar is the only territory in the top ten with a population of more than 350,000. The EU won't give up on political integration. It refused to allow David Cameron to retrieve even a single competence, and thereby ensured that he lost the Brexit referendum. In a world where power is becoming decentralised, devolved and diffused, Brussels remains dogmatically attached to the federalism that Jean-Claude Juncker preached last week. That difference of vision explains why it is in everyone's interest for Britain to replace its current deal with something looser and friendlier. After Brexit, on the same principle, we should pass the powers we have recovered from Brussels downwards and outwards, to local authorities or, better yet, to individual citizens. That, though, is another story.Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku has struggled for goals off late and drew another blank during the Red Devils 4-2 win over Watford last night. The Belgian has netted only one goal in his last 11 appearances with many now calling for him to be dropped to the bench. United legend Rio Ferdinand believes he knows the real reason for Lukaku's loss of form and that is due to the presence of fellow striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The former defender believes that it is just a matter of time before the Belgian starts banging in the goals, but the presence of the Swede does make matters worse. Man Utd news: Rio Ferdinand reveals major problem behind Romelu Lukaku struggles #mufc — Manchester United (@ManUtdAction) November 29, 2017 "He'll come out of this. I think that maybe the bigger problem for him is Zlatan Ibrahimovic being there. Mentally, having a big striker behind you who wants to play, that's a pressure (coming) from within, and sometimes people find that hard to deal with", Ferdinand said to BT Sport as quoted by Express. Rio Ferdinand: Why Romelu Lukaku is struggling at the moment for Man Utd #MUFC https://t.co/wgrW1AzaeM — Express Sport (@DExpress_Sport) November 29, 2017 The Red Devils have not been affected by Lukaku's goal drought but will need him firing on all cylinders when they travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.India's Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a lower court's ruling that decriminalized gay sex, a move gay activists slammed as regressive as they struggle for acceptance in this largely orthodox country. Known as Section 377 for its place in an 1860 British penal code, the law makes consensual sex between same-sex adults punishable by a fine and up to a 10-year prison term. The Delhi High Court, in a landmark 2009 ruling, ruled that the law should not apply to consenting adults, including same-sex couples, a decision the Supreme Court overturned. Here are excerpts of what the Supreme Court had to say in the 98-page judgment. Click here to read the judgement in full. What the court said about the judiciary’s powers to declare laws unconstitutional “The High Court and this Court are empowered to declare as void any pre-Constitutional law to the extent of its inconsistency with the Constitution and any law enacted post the enactment of the Constitution to the extent that it takes away or abridges the rights conferred by Part III of the Constitution. In fact a constitutional duty has been cast upon this Court to test the laws of the land on the touchstone of the Constitution and provide appropriate remedy if and when called upon to do so. Seen in this light the power of judicial review over legislations is plenary. However, keeping in mind the importance of separation of powers and out of a sense of deference to the value of democracy that parliamentary acts embody, self restraint has been exercised by the judiciary when dealing with challenges to the constitutionality of laws. This form of restraint has manifested itself in the principle of presumption of constitutionality.” How the court must consider Parliament’s stance “After the adoption of the IPC in 1950, around 30 amendments have been made to
0. With this app you can use your finger or a stylus to jot down quick notes and sketches directly over screen images, which you can then save and share. You can also customize the color and style of your pen tip. Another feature, Dual Screen Dual Play, lets you mirror screen images between the phone and another TV or monitor. And what's displayed doesn't necessarily have to be the same content. Other extras include pinch-zooming during recorded video playback; Wise Screen, which keeps the screen on when it detects someone's face staring at it; an aspect ratio corrector that corrects how downloaded apps display in case of screen distortion; a battery saver that helps to conserve power and battery reserves; LG motion gestures so users can control certain functions (like pausing video or turning off an alarm) through physical gestures; and an eco mode module that optimizes the Optimus G's quad-core performance. The phone has the usual connections of Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. There's also NFC support, which LG told us can be used in conjunction with packaged LG Tag+ stickers that can activate customizable phone settings. You'll be able to access system settings from the notifications pull-down, and pinching and zooming on the home screens gives you a bird's-eye view. Camera and video A 13-megapixel camera, you say? We were skeptical when we first heard about it, too. Of the handful of very high-resolution smartphone cameras we've tested, few live up to expectations. Nokia's 808 PureView's 41-megapixel camera was one exception, but HTC's Titan II disappointed. In many cases, Sprint's Optimus G's full-resolution images did pack in more information than AT&T's 8-megapixel Optimus G. The same photo take on Sprint's Optimus looked sharper and richer in many test photos; yet in others, AT&T's photos looked sharper too, and more alive. Some of that may have to do with the higher-contrast we saw from AT&T's camera module -- many images were noticeably more saturated, but also less natural compared to the real-world subject. Josh Miller/CNET However, both phones have the same camera software. There are controls for choosing among seven scene modes, five white-balance modes, and four color effects. You can select resolution that goes from 13 megapixels down to 1 megapixel. Geotagging, brightness, and flash are other settings. While you can select your favorite of four shutter sounds, we weren't able to turn the sound off. LG gets a slight demerit there for the lack of a stealth mode. For fancier shooting options, you can turn on HDR (high dynamic range) mode, or take a sweeping panorama shot. There's also continuous-shot mode, which takes a burst of six photos. There are some other fun things you can do with the camera: Time Catch Shot, for example, takes a series of six shots around an event, so you can choose the best single image to keep.Last Updated: 12/30/2015 I recently embarked on a Single Page Application (SPA) project in which React was to be used with ASP.NET Core 1.0 (RC1) and Webpack. Due to some single sign-on security requirements, the decision was made to initially render the application from an ASP.NET MVC 6 view. Barring this constraint, the more traditional index.html file would have easily sufficed as the application’s shell. What did this MVC view buy me? It allowed me to leverage my C# skillset to satisfy the security requirements in an MVC controller. Specifically, I needed to analyze some HTTP request header values. The requirement described above undoubtedly complicated things, but there was another conundrum: cache busting. A good cache busting strategy must be mindful of two extremities in particular: the development workflow and the production environment. During development, a unique collection of file names should be produced for each Webpack build. If clearing the browser’s cache immediately following a build of client-side assets has become commonplace in your development workflow, carve out some time to identify the underlying problem. When deploying to production, the files which changed since the last Webpack build should be assigned new, unique file names. After all, the application’s users shouldn’t be inconvenienced due to poor planning on part of the development team. Give the customer one less reason to consider doing business with the competitor. Making Sense of Webpack Hash Keys Webpack is capable of yielding file names which are supportive of the cache busting obligation. This is made possible by a couple of hash key placeholders which can be used in the output section of the Webpack configuration file. Those placeholders are: [hash] – A generated value which is unique to a build. [chunkhash] – A generated value which is unique to each chunk in a build. These hash keys are made visible in the Webpack build output (see screenshot below). For example, the hash key used in the vendor.c7a466d957209719c8d9.js file name was produced with the chunkhash placeholder. The 67f2bdb1268bed71d35e hash key provided near the top of the build output represents the hash placeholder value. This walkthrough will utilize chunkhash; however, there’s additional work to be done outside of this placeholder. Namely, the values assigned to the chunkhash placeholder must be extracted. Without these extracted bits, it’s impossible to reference the requisite client-side assets which were run through the Webpack build. After a bit of research, I stumbled upon an npm module called html-webpack-plugin. This utility seemed promising, as it generates an index.html file with ease. My hope was that it could be adapted to a C# Razor view. Hours of hacking passed, and while I came close, I was unable to get this working to my satisfaction. Mission aborted, and onto the next option for solving the problem. Striking Gold with the Webpack Assets Plugin The assets-webpack-plugin was the next plugin I tried, and this did the trick. In a nutshell, this plugin generates a JSON file containing the generated file/chunk names. Unless configured otherwise, the JSON file’s default name is webpack-assets.json. I’ve changed the file name slightly, to webpack.assets.json, for demonstration purposes. Assume that my Webpack configuration file will produce two chunks: app and vendor. The resulting webpack.assets.json file will look as follows: The supporting ES6-based Webpack configuration file could look as follows: Direct your attention to line 41 in the gist provided above. This is where the assets-webpack-plugin configuration is defined. In review, the plugin configuration section is accomplishing the following three tasks: naming the generated file webpack.assets.json copying the generated JSON file to the build folder enabling pretty printing/formatting of the JSON Parsing the JSON File Now that the necessary client-side assets have been dropped to the build folder, the C# code must read webpack.assets.json. The unique JavaScript file names must be retrieved for injection into the MVC Razor view. With the assistance of the JSON.NET NuGet package, the following code does the job with ease: An object of type JObject is returned. With that object in hand, the MVC controller is equipped to fetch the desired file names and inject them into the ViewBag for retrieval in the view. There was one challenge in particular that’s worth noting in regards to the helper method provided above. The helper method expects a parameter value representing the fully-qualified path to the project’s root folder. This value allows the method to locate the package.json file and the generated build folder. Since the application is compiled against.NET Core 1.0, we only have a subset of the features provided in the full.NET Framework (e.g., 4.6). In short, the old way of doing this (AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory) isn’t supported in.NET Core. The new approach to retrieving this desired path involves using the IApplicationEnvironment interface from the Microsoft.Extensions.PlatformAbstractions namespace. ASP.NET Core 1.0 is adorned with dependency injection, so constructor injection can be used to handle this: Wiring up the Generated Assets to the MVC 6 View The Index action method corresponding to the MVC view looks as follows: Line 5 invokes the helper method described in the previous section. Lines 6 and 7 retrieve specific file names from the JObject and inject them into the view via the ViewBag. In the view, the two script tags appearing immediately before the closing body tag look like this: Since we’re leveraging ASP.NET Core 1.0 and running under IIS, there’s something worth noting here. By default, all static assets in the application are served from the wwwroot folder. Without any additional configuration, an attempt to serve files outside of that folder will fail. What additional configuration is required to serve files from the generated build folder? A hosting.json file must be created at the project root, and its contents should be nothing more than the following: Wrapping Up Attempting to learn Webpack can be daunting, especially since the official documentation leaves much to be desired. Couple that with the moving target that is ASP.NET Core 1.0, and it becomes quite the chore to get the two working together. Introduce the cache busting requirement for client-side assets, and you’re involved in a wild goose chase trying to get all the moving pieces stitched together. The good news is that all the hard work leads to a very robust solution. Hopefully I’ve saved someone a few headaches with this blog post. The complete sample application described in this post can be found in this Git repository. Share this: Twitter Facebook Google Like this: Like Loading... RelatedA conservative group misleads taxpayers on the Affordable Care Act and the Internal Revenue Service’s future role in enforcing it. Americans for Tax Reform posted a “projected” IRS tax form on its website that claims to “help families and tax specialists prepare” for new tax provisions under the health care law. But ATR makes several false claims: The group claims taxpayers will have to disclose “personal identifying health information” to the IRS to prove they have insurance. It quotes an IRS official who said taxpayers will report their “insurance information.” But the official also said the agency will not collect “any personal health information.” ATR says employers must offer preventative coverage that includes “abortion and hair loss treatment.” That’s not true. The law requires smaller insurance plans to cover preventative services, but states decide if those services include abortion. Even then, each state must have at least one plan that does not cover abortion. The group says failing to comply with the law could result in “interest against your property.” The law specifically bans the IRS from filing liens and levies against persons who fail to pay the tax for lacking insurance. ATR claims taxpayers can apply for a waiver from the health care law. That’s false. The government has given temporary waivers to some companies — not taxpayers — regarding one provision of the law, which involves benefit caps. ATR says it created the tax form — just days before the presidential election — as a “service to the public.” Our public service is to correct the record. Not Getting Personal Starting in 2014, the health care law requires most Americans to have insurance or pay a tax, although exemptions will apply based on income and other factors. The IRS will require most taxpayers to prove they’re covered or they must pay a tax on their 2014 tax returns. The IRS hasn’t issued exact procedures for how taxpayers will prove they have insurance. But that hasn’t stopped ATR from making misleading statements. In an introduction to the tax form and in the instructions, ATR claims the IRS will require Americans to disclose: “Personal identifying health information” “The nature of their health insurance” “Insurance card information” ATR bases its claim on a snippet of congressional testimony from then-IRS deputy commissioner Steven Miller in September. ATR quotes from Miller’s prepared remarks, in which he stated that “taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health insurance coverage and/or making a payment.” But Miller explicitly stated that the IRS will not collect “any personal health information.” Miller, Sept. 11: Taxpayers will get a form at the end of every year from their insurer to use when they prepare their tax returns. It is important to note that the information that insurers provide to the IRS will show the fact of insurance coverage, and will not include any personal health information. In most cases, taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health insurance coverage, and/or making a payment, and there will be no need for further interactions with the IRS. Douglas Shulman, who recently stepped down as IRS commissioner, also addressed privacy concerns. He told Congress in August that the IRS will verify whether or not a taxpayer has insurance. But he said the agency will not ask for personal information (See part 2, minute 40:00). U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis, Aug. 2: There are also individuals who … claim that the Internal Revenue Service is going to have access to individuals’ private health information. Is that a need in order to enforce the provisions of the act? Shulman: No. Absolutely not. What we will know is and ask for based on the law is: ‘Do you have health insurance coverage? If so, for how many months? And what is the name of the insurance company?’… I think it’s been way overstated our role in health care. We are basically going to facilitate the financial transactions that make this whole law work. But we’re not going to have access to private individual health care information except for the fact of coverage. Shulman said the IRS will match the information a taxpayer submits to what his or her insurer reports (see minute 9:00). He also explained in a speech at the National Press Club in 2010 that taxpayers will attach a form to their tax return that insurers will send to them. Shulman, April 5, 2010: When someone files their return, the insurance company will send us a little box that is checked, a yes-no question, that says, ‘Do they have coverage or not?’ They’ll send it to the individual. The individual will attach it to their return, and they’ll send it to us. Think it’s just like a 1099, where you get information reporting about the interest that you have on the bank account. We will run matching programs around that. And if somebody doesn’t have coverage, they’ll either have paid the penalty that they owe, or they’ll get a letter [from] us saying that you owe this amount. The IRS hasn’t officially announced procedures for how taxpayers will prove they have insurance. None is listed on the IRS’s web page dedicated to Affordable Care Act tax provisions. But the IRS proposed in April the types of information insurers must submit to the IRS in 2015 — and they don’t include personal health details. The agency proposed asking insurers for the following: The name, address and Social Security Number or Tax Identification Number of the taxpayer and any dependents. Dates the insurer provided coverage. Whether the insurance is considered “qualified” under the law, which means it covers a number of broadly defined health benefits, among other requirements. Whether the individual bought insurance through an affordable insurance marketplace, known as a health insurance exchange. Whether the individual is eligible for tax credits and other assistance to help pay for coverage. Abortion Coverage Required? ATR claims employers must offer preventative coverage that includes “abortion and hair loss treatment.” That’s not true. The law requires preventative coverage in insurance plans sold to small businesses and individuals. But the states define what that coverage is. Some states already have laws banning abortion coverage — although some extend exemptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Others states have chosen to include voluntary abortion coverage in plans offered to small businesses and individuals. But even then, the health care law requires those states to offer an additional plan that does not cover abortion. ATR’s tax form asks taxpayers if their employer offers “affordable qualifying coverage.” And the instructions for this question claim that a qualified plan “must include necessary preventative coverage such as contraception, abortion, and hair loss treatment.” It’s true the ACA specifically requires most health insurance plans to pay for contraception for women, coverage that at least 26 states mandated to some extent before the health care law. And it’s true the law includes new coverage requirements for preventative services. But those requirements apply to new insurance plans sold to individuals and small businesses that have 50 or fewer employees. The requirements do not apply to large employers, which make up about 70 percent of the insurance market. The act’s intent is to make coverage sold to individuals and small businesses as comprehensive as typical employer-based plans. So, the law requires the smaller plans to cover 10 broadly defined “essential health benefits,” one of which is “preventative and wellness services.” The ACA allows the states to define what those preventative services are in “benchmark” insurance plans. The benchmark plans in Kansas, Kentucky and Utah, for example, do not cover voluntary abortion beyond at least one of the exceptions for rape, incest or to save the mother’s life. In fact, those states — and five others — outlawed private and public insurance from covering voluntary abortions before the ACA became law. And 20 states have banned insurers from covering abortion in plans sold on exchanges, the affordable insurance marketplaces that states and/or the federal government are supposed to set up under the health care law. States including California, Colorado and New York have picked benchmark plans that cover “voluntary” or “elective” abortions. California’s plan, for example, requires a $30 copay for a “voluntary termination of pregnancy.” But as we’ve written before, the law requires that at least one plan sold on a state exchange not include abortion coverage beyond the standard exceptions. (The law also bars federal subsidies from directly paying for a voluntary abortion.) None of the benchmark plans in the six states mentioned above covers cosmetic hair loss treatment. No Liens or Levies The form also claims that “failing to comply with the Obamacare Tax Mandate could result … in interest against your personal property.” That’s not true. As we’ve written before, the IRS cannot file a tax lien (a legal claim against such things as homes, cars, wages and bank accounts) or a levy (seizure of property or bank accounts). The law specifically states on page 151 that the government cannot “file notice of lien with respect to any property of a taxpayer by reason of any failure to pay the penalty imposed by this section, or … levy on any such property with respect to such failure.’’ But as we noted, the law leaves room for the IRS to issue penalties and to sue to recover the unpaid tax, just as it does now for overdue taxes. Waiver Whopper The form’s instructions page also claims that taxpayers “can apply to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for a waiver from Obamacare.” We’ve addressed similar claims before. The fact is HHS gave temporary waivers to companies — not individual taxpayers — pertaining to one provision of the law. The health care law will gradually eliminate the annual and lifetime dollar limits placed on insurance benefits. The law raises the limits each year until 2014, when health plans can no longer place a cap on benefits. HHS has granted waivers to more than 1,200 companies, particularly restaurants with low-income and part-time employees. The waivers allowed companies such as McDonald’s to temporarily continue to provide bare-bones insurance coverage to some workers. The waivers, which affect nearly 4 million people, expire in 2014. — Ben FinleySorry for my Posts Nope Just Kidding Five nights At ♥♥♥♥♥♥s (Five Nights at Freddy's) Still sucks the Jumpscares are not scary the game is horrible the lore is confusing and still people are still solving it and Much much way worse than the game is its Fandom full of Little 5 to 11 Year old immature kids that posts "Diz is ♥♥♥♥xy he is may hasband end he faks me" and when i some people those reviews about it not liking it they say "♥♥♥♥ YOU fnaf iz da best gaym ever go kiyl yor self" and FNAF 3 is made really fast by you guys threathning Scam Cawthom to make the game or else then you did the same in FNaF 4 now he is making you FNaF World because he knows you will buy the game and he will get money from it and i know you'l be posting hate comments here so bye and il seat back relax and ready to get Banned also i won't reply“There is a difference between making a conscious choice and being led to believe that you are making a conscious choice.” + Lenon Honor Media Mind Control is a precise science. What we find on planet Earth is a network of interwoven mind control distribution nodes. It is a grid that reaches into all lands and affects all people regardless of location, perceived race, skin color, cultural orientation, sexual preference, political ideology, religious belief, economic status, etc. As it relates to the psycho-physical subjugation of masses of people on planet Earth, there is not one vehicle of influence that can remotely compare to that of the media mind control global apparatus. While in the midst of the media mind control global apparatus an individual will not realize that they are being subconsciously influenced nor will they realize the sometimes overt, but mainly covert, means of subconscious manipulation present within the media mind control global apparatus. Within this apparatus there are many who believe that they are making conscious decisions about the direction of their lives. However, in many cases, such individuals are simply provided with the belief that the choices that they are making are based upon their own conscious awareness; choices that are, in fact, the result of media manipulation i.e. mind control programming. The mind control programming is perpetual and is designed to, in the first place, deny the mind control victim of its ability to consciously choose, and to ultimately insight a predetermined psychological, and or emotional, and or physical response within the individual so affected. A classic example of this would be Occupy Wall Street (2011) which was a social/cultural experiment that had global influence via behavior modification. People the world over were mesmerized / programmed into thinking, reacting, and behaving in a predetermined way without conscious thought while believing that they had made a conscious choice. Many of the media mind control programs are strategically designed to create such a belief; the belief that any given choice is the result of a conscious thought process. Understand that there is no better way to control the masses than to have the masses believe that they are making a conscious choice; a choice that ultimately disempowers them. The Media Mind Control Think Tank (Case Study: Occupy Wall Street 2011) Those who produce the programming to initialize this process of behavior modification are well aware of the behavioral expressions manifested via the manipulation of the subconscious mind. This is to say that the vast majority of those who embraced Occupy Wall Street did so not out of a conscious choice, but rather out of subconscious manipulation. Subsequent behavior patterns that resulted from such manipulation were predictable and were the result of the subconscious acceptance or the subconscious “embracing” of the Occupy Wall Street Mind Control Program. This “subconscious-sourced embrace” can be applied to various media focal points including the current “Trayvon Martin” media blitz (2012), wherein a great tragedy has been hijacked by media and turned into a means of manipulating the masses into engaging in thought patterns, emotional patterns, and behavior patterns that are conducive to the trivialization of the tragedy itself. This subconscious-sourced embrace is actualized by a very precise, scientific, and ordered process; one that is repeated over and over again; the only change occurring in the topic of focus. Let me explain what I mean by this. The Subconscious-Sourced Embrace As it relates to the manipulation of the subconscious mind so as to actualize the acceptance or the embrace of a particular issue, as being relevant to the mind control victim, there is a precise modus of operandi employed. In my 14 hour video series “How to Decode Media Manipulation 101” I outline, at length, the various methods employed. For brevity’s sake I will outline the general procedure as it relates to the aforementioned media mind control program: The masses are given something to focus on, something to externalize energy to, something to externalize power to, something to love, something to hate, something to believe in, something to distrust, something to divide the masses amongst themselves. The object of focus can be a person, an idea, a concept, a thought pattern, an institution, a perceived cause or movement, or an illusion. Regardless of the form of the object of focus, once the masses accept the object of focus as being relevant to them they unconsciously consent to their own manipulation; a manipulation that media delivers via repetition, media saturation, sensory overload, neuro-linguistic programming, race-based divisional constructs, religio-centric diversions, political/governmental authoritative stage shows, graphical representations of reality, computer generated images, falsified news stories, exaggerated news stories, subliminal associations, subliminal suggestion, fear-based mind control programing, strategic tonal/vocal frequency application, ad infinitum: all designed as a means of mass diversion; so that the individual constantly looks externally instead of looking internally and asking the question, “What do I need to do to improve upon my own condition so that I can make a respectful contribution to the upliftment of all of humanity?” This level of mass diversion is purposeful and actually maintains a particular power structure. This maintenance is also strategic, and is actualized not through physical force but rather though careful and long-term manipulation of the human being’s subconscious mind. The individual whose subconscious mind has been manipulated into externalizing focus believes that by externalizing focus they will change the power structure itself; not realizing that the externalization of focus is what maintains and emboldens the power structure in the first place; a fascinating paradox to say the least. I must also mention that the behavior patterns that manifest out of this externalization of focus are Perfectly Predictable. As a brief example: Posting memes, short videos, blogs, etc. about the Global Bankers, the illuminati, George Bush, Freemasons, Barak Obama, the Queen of England, Nicki Minaj’s Grammy outfit, Madonna’s Halftime Super Bowl Ritual, Occupy Wall Street, Monsanto, or Troy Davis are all predictable behavior patterns, and are, from the vantage point of the Media Production Think Tanks, symptomatic of the degree to which the masses have been mind-controlled. Understand that it was perfectly predictable that the masses would jump on board the “Occupy Wall Street” media mind control program. It was perfectly predictable that the masses would jump on board the “Occupy Monsanto” media mind control program. It was perfectly predictable that the masses would jump on board the “Kony 2012” media mind control program. And now it is perfectly predictable that the masses would jump on board the “Trayvon Martin” media mind control program; the programming in this particular case is so deep that adults are currently walking around wearing hoodies, as if a simple fashion statement is somehow a meaningful contribution to the upliftment of the human species. In essence, the great injustice committed against Trayvon Martin has been reduced to a hoodie. I will tell you that these childish displays are symptomatic of the efficiency of mind control programing and the ability that such programming has in modifying human behavior; behaviors that are predetermined and perfectly predictable. I must also mention that the degree of accuracy, in behavior modification predictability, functions as entertainment to those who are part of the Media Mind Control Think Tanks (more on this later). Human Behavior Modification, Programming, and Predictability Human behavior is constantly being modified. This modification is largely actualized through the manipulation of the subconscious mind. With these levels of manipulation established, the behavior of the manipulated individual will, in most cases, be determined prior to the manipulation taking place. In others words the behavior modification is perfectly predictable and the programming needed to realize such modification is the means to that end. Here are just a few examples of behavior modification wherein the masses are manipulated to place focus or relevance upon things that they would not have even considered as relevant to them had their subconscious mind not been so affected by media manipulation: Trayvon Martin Hoodies, skinny jeans, ripped jeans, planking, silly banz, sagging pants, Kriss-Cross pants, flat tops, jheri curls, the shag, mullets, Tebow mania, Lynsanity, gangster rap, Air Jordan Shoes, high heel shoes, cigarettes, excessive tatooing, cougarism, polygamy, so called “girl” power, man purses, 2012 Doomsday Prophecy, the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, etc. Most people who have jumped aboard any of the above mention media mind control programs did not do so through intellectual process. Instead, they were programmed to do so via subconscious manipulation which brought forth a psychological condition wherein the individual disconnects from their ability to consciously choose; and is subsequently subject to the subconscious programming that brings about emotional reactions, childish behaviors patterns, and an overwhelming surrender of personal power and personal responsibility. Most importantly please understand that: This level of surrender functions as entertainment for those who produce the media mind control programs. In essence, the masses are provided with various entertainment topics that stimulate in the masses a predetermined psychological, emotional, and physical response. The stimulated response becomes entertainment for those who produced the media mind control programs. This is what I call “The Media Manipulation Petri Dish”; the manipulated masses are the bacteria that are manipulated from afar; carefully kept at a safe distance from the scientists/social engineers. (What I have just shared should be meditated on at length.) The 3 Month Challenge There are those who will say that any of the aforementioned media mind control programs are important and that they must focus on such things in order to create change. I will say to these particular people, that time always tells the truth, and that if you make a “conscious” choice to simply write down any given media mind control program, and wait 3 months, you will soon find that what you believed to be worth your time, what you believed to be relevant, what you believed would create positive change was simply a waste of energy and a waste of valuable time; energy and time that one could direct towards improving upon ones internal condition thusly coming to a place of personal empowerment; an empowerment that would provide the necessary tools to create positive change. Again, if you waited just 3 months you would realize that you were led to focus on something that didn’t matter to you prior to media manipulating you into believing that it mattered. You will find that this manipulation was subconscious. You will find that the stories that you rallied around were completely irrelevant to you from the beginning. In many cases you will find that the stories that occupied your thoughts so vehemently faded away in direct proportion to media’s toning down its reporting on such stories. This is to say, that in such a case, media controls what occupies your mind, your time, and your energy. As soon as media picks up a story it becomes relevant to you. As soon as media drops a story it is no longer relevant. Again, write down those stories that you feel are currently relevant to you and wait 3 months to see whether or not those stories were worth your focus. Again, this is a 3 month challenge and during those 3 months you must not subconsciously embrace any new media mind control programs. In waiting 3 months you will also find that any given story will be re-packaged and re-distributed so as to reinforce predictable behavior patterns as was the case with Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Monsanto, The Death of Osama Bin Laden and The Death of Moammar Gadhafi, Troy Davis and Trayvon Martin, ad infinitum. Special note: If you really want to challenge yourself you can look at the recycling of stories that occur over decades such as “Weapons of Mass Destruction” in Iraq and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” in Iran: this happens to be part of the Regime Change Script (R.C.S.) and is part of the broader mind control apparatus which I have termed “The Global Motion Picture Stage Show”. Conclusion I am often asked for my opinion concerning the various media mind control programs issued through news media. I frequently dismiss such inquiries in that, after 5 years of research, countless hours of documentary work, and countless radio shows on the topic, I have come to the realization that no form of media manipulation can take place without some level of consent and that all forms of media manipulation are external in the first place and can be easily neutralized via internal purification. Far too many are unwilling to engage in the process of internal purification and, as a psychological defense mechanism, subconsciously embrace any external distraction that media presents. This subconscious acceptance, in effect, absolves the individual from rectifying their own internal psychological turbulence; for it is easier to focus on distractions that are outside of you than to deal with the mentality that resides inside of you. Those who commit to improving upon their internal condition will be equipped to make the greatest contribution to uplifting the human species. Those who commit to focusing on external distractions will be susceptible to the various techniques and strategies of media mind control. My dear family and friends the time is now. It is time to look internally and ask the critical question, “What do I need to do to improve upon my own condition so that I can make a respectful contribution to the upliftment of all of humanity?” When you are able to fully answer this question you will arrive at a place of personal empowerment and conscious choice. As a result you will be in a position to begin the process of creating positive change for all of humanity. For more information about the science and techniques of media manipulation you can purchase my 14 hour video series “How to Decode Media Manipulation 101”. Additional resources: Documentary “Media Mind Control and the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico” Copyright © 2012 Lenon Honor Liked it? Take a second to support Lenon Honor on Patreon! Related Posts:national Brother Peter Paul says that PM Narendra Modi’s wife, Jashodaben, and her close relatives are always under watch and she is not allowed to move about freely Brother Peter Paul, who managed to get Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wife, Jashodaben, from Gujarat to Mumbai, to participate in a day-long hunger strike on Friday, says he is now planning to go on an indefinite hunger strike. He says this is because Jashodaben and her close relatives are always under watch and she is not allowed to move about freely. Also Read: Ahead of Narendra Modi's Mumbai visit, PM's wife Jashodaben fasts for slum dwellers Brother Peter Paul had got Jashodaben to Mumbai to protest against demolition of slums in the monsoon. He said he will see to it that the Centre takes note of his protest. Pic/Swarali Purohit Jashodaben was invited by the Good Samaritan Mission, to protest against slums being demolished during the monsoon period. Paul claims he had to visit her at least eight times, meet her brother in the temple of their village, explain the protest to him, as security guards assigned to protect Jashodaben listen to everything she says. “I have received calls from people in many places including Akola, saying they want to invite her for their event too. I told them it is not an easy task, as her movements are restricted, and whatever she says is listened to,” said Paul. Read Story: PM Modi's wife, Jashodaben, is in Mumbai! Jashodaben protesting at Azad Maidan on Friday He claims that apart from a few relative’s places, she is not allowed to go anywhere. When she decided to attend their event, five days before her scheduled visit, she travelled to Ahmedabad and stayed at her relative’s house. On the night of February 11, her brother Ashok Modi took a train from Unjha, their village, and went to Ahmedabad. Pretending that she was travelling back to her village, the brother-sister duo got into the Lok Shakti express for Mumbai, leaving the guards puzzled. “Everything here in Mumbai was also a secret. She reached our ashram in Vikhroli early morning after 5 am. On February 12, she had a bath in the morning, offered prayers and later, we left for Azad Maidan. Even local police wasn’t informed,” said Paul. Paul feared that like earlier times his plan would be foiled. He claims the previous time he had tried inviting her, but faced a lot of hardships and Jashodaben wasn’t allowed to travel. Now, Paul says he is saddened with the watch on Jashodaben and her relatives, and is planning an indefinite hunger strike. “This is not the way someone is treated. She also belongs to the poorest of the poor segment. She is kept under watch. Even most of her relatives aren’t allowed to see her. I will go on an indefinite hunger strike for her, and her relatives, and see to it that the Centre takes note of it and she is treated well.”Arno Marten CEO & HEAD INSTRUCTOR Arno is on ex-pat German with a rich history of guiding. In the last 25 years he's taught tens of thousands of people everything from scuba, paragliding, river-boarding and now packrafting. Arno's history before that is even richer, but because it involves still classified missions as an elite member of the German Special Forces, we can't really talk about it. On our longer trips Arno will occasionally open up a bit about this past of his (with names and places changed to protect the innocent of course) and it always makes for a riveting story! Arno founded Packrafting New Zealand after discovering the lightweight and portable boats when he needed a way to tow his kit during an attempted swim (yes, swim) from Milford Sound down to Dusky sound. Although he only made it half way to his goal, he fully realised the potential of the packraft and hasn't looked back.NATUZA NERY EDITORA DO PAINEL PAULO GAMA DO PAINEL Publicidade De saída do governo, o ministro da Cultura, Marcelo Calero, acusa o ministro Geddel Vieira Lima (Governo) de tê-lo pressionado a produzir um parecer técnico para favorecer seus interesses pessoais. Calero diz, em entrevista à Folha, que o articulador político do governo Temer o procurou pelo menos cinco vezes —por telefone e pessoalmente— para que o Iphan (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional), órgão subordinado à Cultura, aprovasse o projeto imobiliário La Vue Ladeira da Barra, nos arredores de uma área tombada em Salvador, base de Geddel. Nas palavras do agora ex-ministro, Geddel disse em pelo menos duas dessas conversas possuir um apartamento no empreendimento que dependia de autorização federal para sair do papel. "Entendi que tinha contr
between whenever you want. Smart Kids Puzzles Smart Kids Puzzles is a slick looking wooden puzzle game for small children. The puzzles take the shape of many random animals where it's the player's job to assemble a bunch of colored puzzle pieces into the shape of the target animal. While none of the puzzles are overly complicated, I would imagine that is by design so that even the youngest of players can earn a sense of accomplishment. Monetization: $0.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- An educational and entertaining game for kids, with a lot of beautiful wooden puzzles. Tiny World (Donate/Ads Free) Tiny World is a cute and colorful game with simple controls. You either tap on the left or right side of the screen to control the direction and speed of your vehicle. As it traverses its curved world, it is the job of the player to keep control of the bags stored on top of the vehicle. Any bump in your path may knock out a few of these bags. Once every bag has fallen off the top, the game is over. Basically, you want to see how long you can last without dropping these bags in order to aquire the highest score possible. Monetization: $1.07 / no ads / no IAPs -- Are you looking for a nice little colourful game which is easy to handle and that takes you away in a few seconds?...Then, welcome in “Tiny World”. Play "Tiny World" and embark on the most international driving game, navigating a van across the world and testing your skill and anticipation. But beware, if you lose your luggage you will have only to return to the start again in an attempt to set a new record. Fox Tales - Kids Story Book: Learn to Read If you are looking for a great interactive story to read to your kids or simply something to help them learn how to read, then look no further than Fox Tales - Kids Story Book: Learn to Read. Not only does it feature plenty of adventure game aspects for you child to interact with, but it makes for a great bedtime tale thanks to its heartfelt story. There are 45 pages with hand-drawn illustrations with a total of 84 hidden stars to be discovered, which should provide hours of entertainment and replayability for any child between the ages of 5-12. Monetization: $1.49 / no ads / no IAPs -- “Fox Tales” is an interactive story with features of an adventure game for children aged 5 to 12. It will be excellent both as an individual activity for a child and as a bedtime story, read out by parents. Since the text is visible on the screen, the story may also be a perfect aid when the child learns to read. The text may be read out by the parents or by a professional reader. The game DOES NOT include any advertisements or micro-payments. When your child is reading “Fox Tales”, you may be satisfied. Where's My Mickey? Disney has taken their popular Where's My Water? physics-based puzzle game and skinned it with a Mickey Mouse theme for the release of Where's My Mickey?. Not only does it contain 5 unique episodes with surprising and witty scenarios, but there are also brand new weather mechanics that change up how you interact with each stage. Just make sure to watch for the included advertisements and in-app purchases, and you should be able to find an enjoyable experience for your child. Monetization: $1.99 / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $2.99 -- Join Mickey on a brand new adventure in Disney’s most popular mobile game franchise. Where's My Mickey? introduces a whole new world of life-like physics-based gameplay with stimulating weather mechanics and humorous animations. Immerse yourself in the ultimate mobile gaming experience as you watch funny episodes while solving challenging puzzles. Tap, swipe, and swirl to help Mickey collect water and complete each story. Every drop counts. Shu's Garden+ How do I explain Shu's Garden+? While it is a sandbox experience, there appear to be at least a few hidden goals for the player to hunt down. But for the most part, this is a bright and colorful playground for you child to explore. There is nothing to read, and the controls are quite simple. Any child no matter their age should be able to enjoy the gameplay. Monetization: $2.49 / no ads / no IAPs -- As Shu, a space-cactus of the bouncy persuasion, you spring from planet to planet, spreading plant life and finding new friends. Create a forest. Enjoy a splash in a pond. Play tag with a bee. Make weird hybrid plants. Launch a giraffe into orbit. Shu’s Garden is a fully open playground with no hard goals, scores or missions. Lightbot Jr : Coding Puzzles All the parents out there that would like to get their child interested in coding early should take a look at Lightbot Jr : Coding Puzzles. Essentially Lightbot Jr is an easier version of the popular Lightbot : Programming Puzzles. It is intended for children between the ages of 4-8. There are a total of 42 levels where your child can play as Boybot or Girlbot as they solve problems that are rooted in computer science concepts. And if you find that your kid enjoys this game, then you will also want to check out the rest of Lightbot's fantastic catalog. Monetization: $2.59 / no ads / no IAPs -- Lightbot Junior lets players gain a practical understanding of basic concepts like writing instructions, debugging problems, simple procedures and loops, just by guiding a robot with commands to light up tiles and solve levels. Teachers worldwide are choosing Lightbot first out of other games and software when introducing their students to programming. Sago Mini Robot Party Sago Mini Robot Party is all about allowing your child's creativity to shine through creating an assortment of robots out of hundreds of different robot parts. You kid can mix or match to their liking, all in order to assemble the silliest creations their imaginations can muster. And if robots are not your child's biggest interest I would wholeheartedly recommend checking out the rest of Sago Mini's games. Every single one is targeted towards preschoolers while offering fully trustworthy monetization practices that any parent can appreciate. Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- Let’s have a robot party. Build your own cupcake-making robot. Mix and match funny robot parts to invent super silly combinations. Does your robot have two heads or wear bunny slippers? Power up your robot and it’s time to play. Make tons of cupcakes, dance to robot music and celebrate with balloons. Kids Piano Games PRO Kids Piano Games PRO is something of an educational music game. It starts your kids on the path of learning the piano as well as gives them the skills to identify particular instrument sounds. Basically, this game encourages your children to explore music creatively by helping out a band of friendly monsters who are preparing for a concert. There are 8 musical notes available, which should allow for an easy way to learn how to play some of the most popular children's songs. Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- The child can compose their own rhythm by creating fun songs of different musical genres through experimenting with different beats and instruments as well. Overall, children of all ages can enjoy learning mixing sounds and composing songs with the help of a musical monster band. Your child will certainly have fun with the different characters in the game, each one with their own sound and musical rhythm to play instruments on stage. Petting Zoo I wouldn't say Petting Zoo is a game per se, but more an assortment of interactive pictures. That means there is no real goal, other than to see how many crazy reactions you can find by tapping and swiping on the 21 available animals drawn in this app. I would imagine any child should find these differing reactions humorous and amusing, which to me says that Petting Zoo is a great choice for your kid's entertainment. Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- From acclaimed author and illustrator Christoph Niemann comes this interactive picture book. Swipe and tap the 21 animals and be surprised at how they react. This app combines the charm of hand made animations and Niemann's wry humor with state of the art technology. What would an elephant in your bathroom do? Can a dog break-dance? A storybook app unlike all others. Thinkrolls 2 - Logic Puzzles Avokiddo is another top quality kid-focused publisher that releases highly polished educational apps with ethical monetization. One of their most popular games is Thinkrolls 2 - Logic Puzzles, a logic puzzler for kids 3-9 years old. The graphics are bright and colorful, the controls are spot on, and the lack of in-app purchases and advertisements alleviates any worries of needing to spend any more money on the title past the initial asking price. Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- Take pride in your children's achievements, as they sharpen their minds and solve increasingly challenging puzzles, all while having fun. Thinkrolls 2 is molding the next generation of scientific geniuses and will have the whole family enthralled. Children must use all their wits to navigate 32 spunky characters through 270 levels of increasingly complex mazes (135 for ages 3-5 and 135 for ages 5-9). Finger Hoola Finger Hoola is a pretty unique title. It is your job to try and spin a digital hoop at certain set speeds. Basically, you will see a graph in the middle of the screen that has a bar in it. This bar needs to stay at a certain level in the graph for a set amount of time. In order to keep this bar where you want it, you need to spin your hoop at a particular speed. This takes a good bit of hand eye coordination, so may not be ideal for smaller children. Luckily Finger Hoola is a multiplayer game, so you can help your child along as you play with then, if need be. Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- Spin rings around your fingers and escape into a world of ambient sound and abstract shapes. Develop your dexterity and unwind your mind. WARNING: Moments of meditative focus can lead to sensory climax. Grass skirt NOT required. A brand new gameplay experience Unique touchscreen hula physics Create beautiful ambient audio Zap Zap Kindergarten Math Zap Zap Kindergarten Math is an educational adventure game perfect for children aged 3-6. Basically, you can expect a collection of fast-paced math games that will be a solid introduction to mathematics. This content mainly includes addition and subtraction, place values, and measurement and data, but it is the gamification aspects that really help to keep your child interested in learning. Oh, and you can ignore the Play Store's in-app purchase inclusion statement, as there are none to be found after you install the game. Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- Zap Zap Kindergarten Math makes math for kids an exciting event to look forward to, with a variety of gamified challenges across different settings. Choose between two characters, and then level up by answering math questions to improve your total score. Our adaptive learning feature also ensures that every player will be playing at just the right level of difficulty, so he or she will always be suitably challenged! Alphabet Soup - Cutie Monsters Little Phoenix Interactive is another publisher to take note of their ethically priced kid-friendly games. Their 2015 release of Alphabet Soup - Cutie Monsters is a great title in particular for the inventive way it teaches your kids the alphabet. The way it works is you have a bowl of alphabet soup where it is the player's job to tap on each letter in the bowl, all in alphabetical order and as quickly as possible. Monetization: $3.54 / no ads / no IAPs -- Designed for use at home or early grade school classrooms, the game makes learning the alphabet fun and easy with upper and lower case letters included. Children can compete as they try to beat their previous fastest completion time or go head to head with a friend in multiplayer mode. Solar System with Astro Cat Solar System with Astro Cat is a cute little educational game that teaches children about the wonders of the Universe. Professor Astro Cat and his trusty friend, Astro Mouse are your guides to the universe where you explore planets, moons, suns, spacecraft, and everything in between. There is even a fun little minigame where you play through challenges in a jetpack, which makes for a nice break in between the more educational content. Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- Blast off into space and learn about the wonders of the Universe with Professor Astro Cat and his trusty friend, Astro Mouse. Download now to join the Astro Cat Space Programme and embark on this fact-filled intergalactic learning adventure. Rocket into the solar system and out to the milky way with Professor Astro Cat to find out all there is to know about solar eclipses, the Sun, Moon and all the planets. Hey Duggee: We Love Animals BBC Worldwide has been quietly releasing Hey Duggee branded games on the Play Store for quite some time. While I can't speak for the rest of their apps, these Hey Duggee games are all pretty solid. Though if I had to choose one, I would go with Hey Duggee: We Love Animals. It is an infectious little game where you are tasked with caring for an assortment of cute cartoon animals. Much like the Tamagotchi game listed above, you will need to feed, exercise, give water, and even sometimes bandage your pets in order to keep them as happy as possible. Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs -- Duggee's back and this time he's awarding the We Love Animals Badge. Safe ad-free fun for your little ones. The Squirrels have been learning how to look after animals... and now it's your turn to have a go. There are eight crazy creatures to care for in four lovely locations. Have fun helping them to interact with their surroundings – kites, sandcastles, balloons, windmills, a paddling pool, sprouting veg, bouncing pumpkins and lots more. Appisodes: Enchanted Science Appisodes: Enchanted Science is one of many immersive interactive TV episodes that Disney has labeled with the moniker "Appisodes." There is a whole bunch of these games on the Play Store, but today I wanted to cover Appisodes: Enchanted Science in particular. Not only does it feature many of the characters from the Disney Junior animated series Sofia the First, but the story, mini games, and overall high quality of the title show that Disney still has the chops to create worthwhile content for children. Monetization: $4.99 / contains ads / no IAPs -- The Sofia The First Disney Junior Appisode featuring "Enchanted Science Fair" is filled with video, games, and music as preschoolers play along with their favorite Disney Junior show. They will touch, tap, swipe, tilt, shake and talk their way through a fully immersive interactive TV episode that reinforces developmental values. Sesame Street Alphabet Kitchen Just about everybody is going to be familiar with Sesame Street. After years of quality educational content on TV, Sesame Workshop has finally expanded to the digital world with a handful of games for Android. One of their standout titles is Sesame Street Alphabet Kitchen, a vocabulary-building app that will help your child practice their early literacy skills. This is done by blending letter sounds to create words, all within an enjoyable Sesame Street environment. Monetization: free / no ads / single $2.99 IAP full game unlock -- Sesame Street Alphabet Kitchen turns learning vowels and new vocabulary words into a fun-filled cookie making experience. By creating letter cookies and decorating them in his kitchen, Chef Elmo helps kids learn about vowels. Through blending letter combinations to create words, the Sesame Street friends help your child ‘bake’ 3- and 4-letter words into delicious cookies. Steppy Pants If you are looking for a game that is going to keep your kid rolling on the floor laughing, then you will want to check out Steppy Pants. It is a game of coordination where each tap on the screen moves one leg of your character. Think QWOP, but way way simpler. Now add in the fact that the game is played in an assortment of ridiculous situations, such as avoiding cracks on a sidewalk or jumping from one piece of furniture to another while avoiding the lava on the living room floor and you have a game that captures all of our collective childhood imaginations into a humorous walking simulator. Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $2.99 -- Steppy Pants, the most realistic walking simulator you'll play this year. Keep your cool when faced with insurmountable odds, like reckless drivers and an inexplicable inability to step on sidewalk cracks. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll remember just how much fun you can have walking down the street. We've been playing this game non-stop for months and it still makes us chortle. Toddler Kids Puzzles PUZZINGO Toddler Kids Puzzles PUZZINGO is an educational puzzle game from 77SPARX Studio, Inc. The assortment of puzzles included in this title are intended to help toddlers and kids develop spatial recognition, matching, tactile, fine-motor skills, and build vocabulary. While I know the in-app purchases may appear to be high, rest assured they are for unlocking content and not nickel and diming your wallet. So make sure to check out the rest of this studio's catalog, as each one of their games is fantastic. Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $14.99 -- Looking for a game that is fun AND educational for your kids and toddlers? Puzzingo Puzzles is that and more. Download today. Kids and toddlers love Puzzingo puzzles and games. They are full of interactivity, animations, and fun for learning and repeat plays. Unlike jigsaw puzzles, every Puzzingo puzzle piece is named, so preschool children will build vocabulary while playing. Endless Wordplay I have saved the best for last. Not only are all of Originator Inc.'s educational games fantastic, but Endless Wordplay is hands down its standout title. Sure, the in-app purchases may appear expensive, but trust me on this when I say that each and every one of them is worth the asking price. There is no other publisher on the Play Store creating educational games of this quality, and in this instance, Endless Wordplay sets the stage for you child through spelling, word building, and rhymes like no other. Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $6.99 - $14.99 -- As the next delightful app in the Endless series, Endless Wordplay sets the stage for spelling, word building, and wonderful rhymes. This app introduces key spelling patterns and phonograms that are important for beginning spellers and early writers. Written English can be complex and confusing, and Endless Wordplay reinforces spelling rules and variations using rhymes and a fun, progressive learning path. And that is it, folks. I hope this list of 30 games was helpful in your search for kid-friendly titles. Keep an eye out for more listicles of this nature from me in the future. Oh, and if you have any recommendations for the next list, please feel free to sound off in the comments below.The FWCAC Biennial Fort Worth Community Arts Center March 4 – 29, 2014 The Fort Worth Community Arts Center (FWCAC) is celebrating their community’s diversity through the arts. They are looking to showcase the talents of regional artists and art groups. The first FWCAC Biennial was exhibited under the title The 39-Hour Show in 2004. It has since become a tradition of exhibiting the diverse art and artists of north Texas. The FWCAC Biennial will exhibit from March 4 through March 29, 2014. The show is an open exhibit accepting artwork from anyone in the north Texas community. All art work will be accepted over a three-day period, March 1-3, 2014, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Display is on a first come, first serve basis. Every local north Texas artist is eligible to enter regardless of age or experience. All media in either two- or three-dimensions will be accepted. Click here for the event prospectus (rules, entry form, etc.). One original work under 36 inches per artist will be accepted with a $10 entry fee. Texas Artist Coalition members entry fee is $5. Artist can opt for their art to be sold at the biennial. Participants will receive 75 percent of the sale of their art work. Funds from The FWCAC Biennial will be used to support future exhibits at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. Fort Worth Community Arts Center The Fort Worth Community Arts Center is located in the Fort Worth Arts District across from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art at 1300 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, Texas. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information visit fwcac.comThe Y combinator can't be typed using Hindley-Milner types, the polymorphic lambda calculus on which Haskell's type system is based. You can prove this by appeal to the rules of the type system. I don't know if it's possible to type the Y combinator by giving it a higher-rank type. It would surprise me, but I don't have a proof that it's not possible. (The key would be to identify a suitably polymorphic type for the lambda-bound x.) If you want a fixed-point operator in Haskell, you can define one very easily because in Haskell, let-binding has fixed-point semantics: fix :: (a -> a) -> a fix f = f (fix f) You can use this in the usual way to define functions and even some finite or infinite data structures. It is also possible to use functions on recursive types to implement fixed points. If you're interested in programming with fixed points, you want to read Bruce McAdam's technical report That About Wraps it Up.All 10 of the luxury townhouses at the new Water Tower Stacks project have already been scooped up for prices ranging from half a mill to three-quarters of a million bucks. In fact, 90 percent of the four-story homes were under contract the first week. So who, you may ask, is moving into Atlanta's hottest, hippest Beltline-adjacent neighborhood? Internet moguls running startups with no vowels? Independently wealthy hipsters with $3,000 fixie bikes? Successful artists who got rich selling sculptures made from gum and recycled LaCroix cans? Nope. None of the above. According to a press release from builder Epic Development, the Water Tower Stacks' new residents are "a blend of empty nesters and former suburbanites" hailing from places such as Dunwoody, Marietta and Sandy Springs. Residents of the new development — designed by Gamble + Gamble and located about a block west of Krog Street Market — are, according to the release, "excited to enjoy city life" and "excited to be a part of the gentrifying, diverse community." Many of them are Baby Boomers who were drawn in from the suburbs by O4W's walkable lifestyle. Each four-story unit comes with a two-car garage and ranges in size from 2,000 to 3,437 square feet. Below are testimonials from a couple of new owners, per the release... "We are beside ourselves — we are thrilled to move into The Water Tower Stacks," said Bunny L. Currently they live in Sandy Springs in a similar size home to the one they are buying in The Water Tower Stacks... According to Bunny she has been going in to town to run and walk for years because it's more interesting — there's more to look at. She and her husband, Bob, are excited to they will no longer have a yard with which to keep up with anymore after 37 years in their current home. Like most buyers, she loves the walkable lifestyle offered by this area... The walkability is a great amenity to Terry and Mary D., too. Terry and Mary had been in their north east Cobb County home for 28 years and in the area for 40. They have a second home in Florida and are living there until they move into The Water Tower Stacks. Their three grown sons already live in the downtown area. According to the couple, "Cobb is a great place to raise kids, but we wanted to move downtown for the arts, entertainment, walkability and close proximity to the kids. And it's also 45 minutes closer to our home in Florida." · In O4W, the 'Water Tower Stacks' Vision Gets Specific [Curbed Atlanta] · Luxe O4W Townhomes Get A Name, New Rendering [Curbed Atlanta]Mumbai: Support to farmers is necessary but not at the cost of credit discipline as people who benefit from loan waivers often expect further waivers in future, which leads to many more loans remaining unpaid, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said. “Credit discipline breaks when you waive off farm loans. Money will come in today because government will pay but when we will give loan in future, farmers will wait for next elections. Support to the farmers is necessary but not at the cost of credit discipline," Bhattacharya said on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday. ALSO READ \| Farm loan waivers are back in favour Bhattacharya’s comments came a day after SBI announced a one-time settlement scheme on farm equipment and tractor loans, with the bank willing to take a 40% haircut. The scheme is applicable for loans up to Rs25 lakh. Such loans make up about Rs6,000 crore of doubtful and loss cases on the bank’s books, Mint reported on 14 March. The bank from time to time announces one-time settlements for certain customer segments to boost recovery rate. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to waive farmer loans during its campaign for the Uttar Pradesh elections. SBI, however, specifically said its current scheme had nothing to do with any government announcement. The previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government too had undertaken a major farmer loan waiver ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2013 found that of the 80,229 accounts that were granted debt waiver or relief, the beneficiaries in 8.5% of the cases were not eligible for either. “Waiving off loan is an unhealthy activity…and every time a waiver is done, it diverts access to credit and shrinks credit availability," former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said in 2014 at a conference held in Mumbai. At the event, Bhattacharya also said that public sector banks (PSBs) need to think beyond the government for capital gains, Bhattacharya said at the event. “I think we need to get out of that as it is not the case anymore. The government is very clear, they will give money only if you are actually efficient in all that you do," she added. Under the Indradhanush programme announced in 2015, the government had decided to infuse Rs70,000 crore in PSBs over four years wherein Rs25,000 crore each was to be infused in fiscal years 2015-16 and 2016-17 and the remaining Rs20,000 crore equally divided in two tranches in the next two years. ALSO READ \| Govt plans ‘Indradhanush 2.0’ for recapitalisation of banks In a note to clients on Tuesday, Kotak Institutional Equities said its study of previous loan waivers “does not conclusively give any evidence of deterioration in credit behaviour of borrowers and/or slowdown in growth in subsequent years". However, the brokerage warned that the risk-reward framework had deteriorated in the priority sector lending portfolio as waiver was becoming a common phenomenon in elections. “SBI is offering OTS (one-time settlement) for the past two months, which is quite regular. This is getting highlighted at this point of time because BJP had promised waiving farm loans by 2018. There is no connection between the two. With increasing competition, farmers will get loan at (the) right time and at (the) right price," said Ashutosh Mishra, senior analyst, Reliance Securities.Editor's Note: This column is reprinted with permission of the Washington Examiner. Click here to read it at that site. Sick of Hollywood's standard superhero fare? You could do worse than to take in J. Edgar, the new Clint Eastwood-directed biopic about the legendary FBI director who served eight presidents over nearly five decades. "Served" isn't quite right—Hoover mainly served himself, and the dossiers he compiled through his agency's spying on top political figures made presidents fear to replace him, lest he, as Richard Nixon put it, "pull down the temple" in retaliation. If, like me, you've been unconvinced by Leonardo DiCaprio's career transition from teen heartthrob to action hero, you may be surprised by how good he is here as an aging bureaucratic martinet, bent on eliminating all obstacles to his control. And, at its best, the movie is a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of government surveillance. For my money, however, it spends too much time on Hoover's relationship with top aide and lifelong companion Clyde Tolson—an unconsummated romance, per Eastwood's take. The implication—that Hoover's (alleged) repression drove FBI oppression—muddles an important message with Freudian psychodrama. After all, plenty of FBI agents with conventional family lives embraced COINTELPRO, the bureau's domestic espionage program, and presidents like Jack Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, who were, let's face it, hardly sexually repressed, were themselves enthusiastic wire-tappers. When the steel industry raised prices in 1962, JFK and RFK ordered wiretaps on company executives and had FBI agents carry out dawn raids on their homes. ''Lyndon Johnson was the most demanding'' when it came to requisitioning FBI political intelligence, federal judge Laurence Silberman discovered in 1974, when, as a deputy attorney general, he was tasked with reviewing the late Hoover's secret files. At Johnson's request, the FBI even bugged presidential candidate Sen. Barry Goldwater's campaign plane. Hoover's hang-ups, whatever they might have been, weren't the problem. The problem was, as a Senate Select Committee investigating intelligence abuses concluded in 1976, that "intelligence activities were essentially exempted from the normal system of checks and balances.... such Executive power, not founded in law or checked by Congress or the courts, contained the seeds of abuse and its growth was to be expected." In a two-year investigation, the Church Committee discovered just how deep the rot at the FBI ran. The COINTELPRO program went far beyond mere surveillance, with agents burglarizing homes and planting "evidence" designed to discredit "subversive" groups (broadly defined). On one occasion, FBI agents kidnapped an antiwar activist to intimidate him into silence. On another, agents bugged Martin Luther King Jr.'s hotel rooms and sent him a tape containing evidence of his extramarital affairs. With the tape was a letter saying ''King, there is one thing left for you to do. You know what it is''—that is, commit suicide. As the movie shows, in Hoover's day, domestic spying was a comparatively low-tech affair, a matter of index cards, and on-site wiretaps. Today, modern processing power and data-mining technology have dramatically enhanced federal spying capabilities, and post-Hoover legal restraints have been steadily weakened in the wake of 9/11. The Justice Department's latest report to Congress shows that a record 14,212 American citizens and permanent residents had records of their financial, telephone and Internet activity seized by the FBI last year through extrajudicial National Security Letters. That's not to suggest that the agency is currently engaged in Hoover-era criminality. But it's worth considering that, as my colleague Julian Sanchez points out, "the existence of such large databases in itself increases the risk of abuse." "Information is power," Hoover intones in one of the film's key lines—and history warns us that power unchecked becomes power abused. Gene Healy is a vice president at the Cato Institute and author of The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power (Cato 2008). He is a columnist at the Washington Examiner, where a version of this article originally appeared. Click here to read it at that site.Valeri Nichushkin has dominated at international tournaments in 2013. (Photo: Nathan Denette, AP) Story Highlights Aleksander Barkov could fit in the top tier and at the top of second tier Valeri Nichushkin and Darnell Nurse move into second tier Who's rising and who's falling in the draft The lines of demarcation at the top end of this year's draft are starting to come into sharper focus for us at Red Line after a month's worth of major events at home and abroad. We might equivocate slightly on drawing the line between the first tier and the second tier, but essentially we have 11 guys broken down into three tiers. The top tier consists of three — maybe four — players, depending on how we feel on a given day. Seth Jones, Jonathan Drouin, and Nathan MacKinnon (in that order) are in for certain. Depending on what day you ask us, Aleksander Barkov might join the group as well. It's so close, sometimes it just comes down to our last impression at our most recent viewing. The next tier includes perhaps Barkov, then Elias Lindholm, Valeri Nichushkin and Sean Monahan in a tightly bunched group of forwards, as well as Darnell Nurse from the blue-line ranks. The newcomers are Nichushkin and Nurse. Nichuskin followed up his strong showing at the world junior championships by absolutely wowing us at the Five Nations under-18 tournament, where he led Russia to gold with some clutch performances against Sweden and the USA. But what really shocked us was his sheer physical size: He has grown from a good-sized winger into King-Kong on skates out there. There wasn't a single defenseman in the tournament who could prevent Nichushkin from walking them down right into the goaltender's lap. Nurse, meanwhile, has been steadily upping his game and impressing us as a beast on the back end for several months now, and our opinion on him coalesced as we watched him toss around the nation's most highly skilled forwards like so many sacks of potatoes at the CHL Top Prospects Game. Our third tier consists of a pair of skilled wingers and a big rearguard. Hunter Shinkaruk has been out injured lately, but has done nothing but score in every conceivable fashion when he's in the lineup. Adam Erne has jumped into contention with a great mix of size and speed off the rush — last month's off-ice issue notwithstanding. And it seems as though Rasmus Ristolainen has been around forever (we first saw him over three years ago in Timmins, Ontario, as a barely 15 year-old kid), but he's still holding his value as a big, mobile defenseman with good puck skills. RED LINE REPORT'S TOP 10 PROSPECTS No. Player Pos. Ht., Wt. Shoots Date of birth Team 1 Seth Jones D 6-3, 208 Right Oct. 3, 1994 Portland 2 Jonathan Drouin LW 5-11, 185 Left March 27, 1995 Halifax 3 Nathan MacKinnon C 6-0, 182 Right Sept. 1, 1995 Halifax 4 Aleksander Barkov C 6-2, 207 Left Sept. 2, 1995 Tappara 5 Sean Monahan C 6-2, 193 Left Oct. 12, 1994 Ottawa 6 Valeri Nichushkin RW 6-4, 202 Left March 4, 1995 Chelyabinsk 7 Elias Lindholm C 6-0, 181 Right Dec. 2, 1994 Brynas 8 Darnell Nurse D 6-5, 194 Left Feb. 4, 1995 Sault Ste. Marie 9 Rasmus Ristolainen D 6-3, 196 Right Oct. 27, 1994 TPS Turku 10 Adam Erne RW 6-1, 206 Left April 20, 1995 Quebec RISING Valeri Nichushkin: Completely dominated the world's best at Five Nations. Also, has grown into a huge monster. Nic Petan: Has been hot for, oh, about five months now. Has convinced us he's the rare tiny guy whose hockey sense will allow him to transition to the NHL. Laurent Dauphin: Love his smooth game, great hands, and play-making ability. Instinctive and shows awareness of different situations. Nick Moutrey: The big kid is starting to play with an edge and is putting up points. Fairly versatile and can play multiple roles. Nikita Zadorov: His brutal pounding of basically everything that moved had a lot of eyebrows arching at Prospects Game. Justin Auger: So big we're not sure if we should list him as a power forward for the NHL or the NBA. FALLING Ryan Pulock: Mostly our fault for keeping him so high this long. We've given him a pass till now, but at some point he has to tighten up on the defensive end. Anthony Duclair: His offensive production went south when Mikhail Grigorenko left for the NHL, and he angered teammates with some attitude issues. Ryan Kujawinski: Showing nothing. A step behind the play. No enthusiasm in his game. Has completely lost the edge he once possessed. NEWS AND NOTES FROM AROUND THE SCOUTING COMMUNITY -Much of Kelowna's success is generated from the back end, where it has a trio of draft eligible blue-liners who are blossoming into something special. Madison Bowey is a first-round candidate, and at Red Line, we could easily see Jesse Lees and Mitch Wheaton finding their way into the third round. Bowey is one of the smoothest skating defensemen in the entire draft and excels in the transition game. His quick puck movement decisions and strong defensive
reporter] was like, ‘Just come on out, you’ll love it, you’ll love it.’ So I went out on the ice and I was probably on the ice for maybe an hour and a half, and I fell in love with it.” A few months later, Team USA invited Davis to join it as its ceremonial captain to “give them encouragement and support,” Terry Davis, the director of communications for USA Curling, told ABC News and ESPN’s The Undefeated. “Vernon also took part in media opportunities at both [2010 and 2014] Games to help curling gain more exposure.” Besides bringing general awareness to the sport, the African-American two-time Pro Bowler said he also hopes his role as honorary captain can help attract more African-Americans to the game. “Right now, I feel like a lot of African-Americans don’t really know too much about the game of curling. But it can be different … and that can change through promoting,” he said. “I’m an art studio major, so I’m all about doing something different and just trying to see what else is out there, exploring, and just thinking outside the box and opening up my mind.”Older New Zealanders are struggling financially heading to retirement, and are making up an increasing percentage of bankruptcies, according to new figures. Photo: 123rf Data from credit score provider CreditSimple.co.nz shows many baby boomers are facing larger mortgages and high personal debt - and when faced with divorce or unexpected unemployment, they're unable to recover. In 2010 20.6 percent of bankruptcies were by people aged over 55, but the latest figures show that's up to 27.8 percent. Speaking to Nine to Noon, Credit Simple spokesperson Hazel Phillips said the numbers were concerning, but she couldn't pinpoint an exact reason for the increase. "But you might imagine that it's a bit of a GST hangover perhaps, people suffering more, it could be rising inequality, I guess there's lots of theories that you could transpose onto that one." Phillips said 16 percent of credit card debt was held by the over 65s, indicating people aren't coping with their expenses or are spending beyond their limits. "This isn't people are using a credit card for their expenses and paying it off in full every month and getting rewards points... This is actually just ongoing credit card debt." She said 28 percent of mortgages were held by people aged 55 and over, putting significant pressure on people who want to retire at 65. But those pressures varied across the country. "The ones in Auckland have got an average mortgage of nearly $400,000, so what are your chances of paying that off in 10 years to retire at 65? Probably not great." In contrast, she said the over 55s in Dunedin had an average mortgage of nearly $165,000. "Some of the people we talk to say: 'Look, I owe this huge amount and I'm going to sell my place in Auckland and go live in Twizel or Lumsden or something', but there are some people who say 'I want to stay in Auckland, I don't want to leave, I owe a huge amount and I don't know what I'm going to do'." Ms Phillips said people's credit scores improve as they get older and she encouraged people to use that to negotiate better rates with their banks.Vialli comes from an affluent and educated Italian background. As Vialli noted, such a background was almost unheard of amongst English footballers. That footballers came exclusively from the working classes in England had important implications – such as the reluctance amongst English teams to consider tactics seriously, and their approach to training. His whole approach was refreshing, for example in his empirical approach to issues. Rather than simply discuss the impact of climate on English v Vialli comes from an affluent and educated Italian background. As Vialli noted, such a background was almost unheard of amongst English footballers. That footballers came exclusively from the working classes in England had important implications – such as the reluctance amongst English teams to consider tactics seriously, and their approach to training.His whole approach was refreshing, for example in his empirical approach to issues. Rather than simply discuss the impact of climate on English versus Italian football, he examined the statistics, showing that the key difference is not in temperature or in rainfall, but in the wind.Vialli was particularly interesting in similar vein as he wrestled to define the national/cultural/attitudinal differences between England and Italy in relation to football.He identified that English managers were less intellectual because of their working class background. He put his finger on the English habit of selecting “celebrity” managers whose fame lay in their playing skill, not in their managerial qualifications and experience. Vialli recognised that he himself fell into this category when appointed at Chelsea – an appointment which had astonished Italians, but not English.In a manner totally unprecedented for the Monthly Book Group, the team pursued the proferred ball relentlessly, without pause for diversion or amusement, and not even playing the man instead of the ball. (Is there any subject other than football which would generate such sustained concentration and serious debate amongst Scots? Certainly not money, last month….)The opening phase saw some pretty play around the book as a whole. “Tremendous, really interesting”. “One of these books that will forever change the way I see certain things”. Even for a non-football-fanatic (yes, there was one) the book had proved quite interesting, although frustrating in having an index but no contents section. However, kicking the ball back to the centre, it was a pity that his early empirical method deteriorated into assertion backed up by selective quotation. The second half of the book was weaker than the first, as he rushed to squeeze in extra topics.Was the book aimed at England or Italy? We assumed England, as there was no evidence it had been published in Italy. And the subtext – disguised by Vialli’s tact and charm – was the question of why the English (particularly the English national team and English managers) were less successful than they expected to be. At the time of the meeting, the top eight clubs in the English Premiership were managed by managers who were not English....This is an extract from a review at http://monthlybookgroup.wordpress.com/. Our reviews are also to be found at http://monthlybookgroup.blogspot.com/General Michael Flynn reportedly said he wanted to remove a Turkish cleric from his compound in Pennsylvania Former CIA Director Woolsey said Flynn wanted to 'whisk' Fethullah Gulen away A spokesperson for Flynn denied the accusations of wrongdoing A new report claims General Michael Flynn floated the idea of 'whisking' away an exiled Turkish cleric during a September meeting. The Wall Street Journal reports former CIA Director James Woolsey allegedly plotted 'a covert step in the dead of night to whisk this guy [Fethullah Gulen] away.' ADVERTISEMENT A spokesperson for Flynn denied the accusations of plotting to remove the cleric who was exiled from Turkey in 1999. General Michael Flynn allegedly had the plan to 'whisk' away Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen from Pennsylvania and send him back to the mid east Former CIA Director James Woolsey said Flynn plotted to remove Fethullah Gulen (pictured) from the US The discussion reportedly did not detail exactly how to get Fethullah Gulen, who is a legal US resident, from where he was living in the Pennsylvania Poconos. Flynn allegedly wanted to avoid the US extradition process. Turkey has accused Gulen - a former ally who has turned into Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's top foe - of trying to destabilize Turkey and says his movement is behind a failed military coup in July aimed at toppling the Turkish leader. One of the people in the meeting with Flynn was reportedly Erdogan’s son-in-law. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup. His movement also condemned 'in the strongest terms' the ambassador's assassination. The government however, has labeled the movement 'the FETO terror organization' and has cracked down on Gulen's followers, arresting tens of thousands of people for their alleged link to the coup and purging more than 100,000 suspected supporters from government jobs. Earlier this month, Michael Flynn admitted that his lobbying firm was paid $530,000 for work that could have benefited the Turkish government, just two months before he was appointed to the White House. Erdogan accused Gulen of organizing a deadly coup in July 2016 against Turkey Flynn's consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, was lobbying for a Dutch consulting firm with ties to Erdogan before and immediately after the US election. The military veteran stepped down in February less than a month into President Donald Trump's administration amid mounting questions over his future and his close links with the Kremlin. His stunning announcement, first reported by CNN, came just hours after sources close to the government revealed that the Justice Department had warned the new administration that his links with the Kremlin had put him in a compromising position and left him open to blackmail. ADVERTISEMENT Flynn made numerous phone calls to the Russian Ambassador to the US before Trump took office, and later hinted he may have gone against diplomatic protocol by discussing the rollback of sanctions.Image copyright EPA The European Council president has said the only alternative to the EU is "political chaos" and key Leave campaigner Boris Johnson's recent comments were "absurd". Donald Tusk said he was speaking out to defend his "vision of Europe". He said he could not "remain silent" after Mr Johnson compared the EU's aims with Hitler's. Leave campaigners said EU chiefs joining the referendum debate would help their cause. The UK votes on 23 June on whether to remain in the EU or to leave. Mr Tusk chose a joint news conference with the Danish prime minister to make his intervention, saying that ex-London mayor Mr Johnson had shown "political amnesia". He said: "To defend does not mean to lecture anyone. The British citizens will make this decision themselves and they do not need any whisperers, especially from Brussels. "I understand this very well. But when I hear the EU being compared to the plans and projects of Adolf Hitler I cannot remain silent. Such absurd arguments should be completely ignored if they hadn't been formulated by one of the most influential politicians of the ruling party." Mr Tusk said the EU remained a "firewall" against conflict between European countries, saying the "banal" truth was that "the only alternative for the Union is political chaos, the return to national egoisms, and in consequence, the triumph of anti-democratic tendencies, which can lead to history repeating itself". Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Boris Johnson has stood by his comments about the EU and Hitler Mr Johnson, a high-profile figure in the Leave campaign, sparked criticism when he said both Hitler and Napoleon had failed at unification of Europe and the EU was "an attempt to do this by different methods". He has stood by his comments, describing the ensuing row as an "artificial media twit storm", and fellow Leave campaigners have defended him. One of them, House of Commons Leader Chris Grayling, said: "I think what Boris said at the weekend was a view from a historian. What we had this morning was a contribution to the debate from the European institutions. "Frankly I think the more the European institutions get involved in the debate about what the future of Britain is in the EU the more likely we are to get a Leave vote." But Lord Heseltine, a Conservative former deputy prime minister who is campaigning for a Remain vote, said he would be "very surprised" if Mr Johnson - seen as a future party leader - became prime minister after his "preposterous, obscene" remarks during the referendum campaign. He told the BBC he found Mr Johnson's comparison of the EU and Hitler "deeply distressing". "He is behaving now irresponsibly, recklessly and I fear that his judgement is going," he added.Thousands of rock climbers, para gliders, bikers and other aficionados of extreme sports are feeling a little let down after the latest legislative session. A group of outdoor enthusiasts urged Hawaii lawmakers to strengthen a law that limits the state’s liability for accidents on public land. The advocates were concerned about recent closures of Hawaii trails, including the popular rock-climbing spot Mokuleia, and believed increasing liability protection for the state would improve trail access. The grassroots organizing effort, fueled by sites like Reddit and Change.org, had allies in the Attorney General’s Office and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. But after a series of political disagreements that pushed the debate down to the wire, the Legislature decided merely to make permanent the state’s existing law, Act 82, regarding public land liability instead of passing the more expansive proposal. The law established a system by which the state Department of Land and Natural Resources identifies dangerous natural sites and puts up warning signs that shield the state from unlimited liability. For activists, the result was a crushing disappointment after weeks of lobbying. But for lawmakers, the debate was a continuation of years of wrestling with the question of how much responsibility the state should bear for accidents on public trails. It’s a salient issue in Hawaii, where the state manages more than 100 trails across six islands used by thousands of tourists and residents each year. Following a fatal rockslide at Sacred Falls on Mother’s Day 15 years ago, the Legislature implemented Act 82 in 2003, which capped liability for accidents if the state puts up warning signs. But over the past five years, Hawaii taxpayers have still spent more than $7 million to compensate victims of accidents on public land. While some argue Act 82 does a good job of balancing taxpayers’ financial interests with the individuals’ right to compensation, others say that it’s time Hawaii follows the example of California and Colorado and does more to protect taxpayers from high-priced settlements. Costly Lawsuits and Closed Trails Since 2010, Hawaii has spent more than $7 million to settle lawsuits related to accidents on public land. The settlements addressed accidents ranging from a kid who hurt her leg on a fragment of a sign on a beach to the high-profile deaths of two hikers on Kauai that led to a $15.4 million payout (of which taxpayers shouldered about $5 million). Settlements Paid for Accidents on Public Land, 2010-2014 Year Amount Lawsuit Description 2013 $75,000 Gentry v. Aila Man who went camping hurt his groin after landing on metal pole while climbing down a tree 2012 $40,000 Ah Loo v. State of Hawaii A girl hurt her arm when a portion of the Hanalei pier’s roof fell off and hit her 2012 $5,459,107.50 Brem et al v. State of Hawaii Two women died when they fell off a cliff while hiking in Kauai 2011 $18,000 Santiago v. Kauai A child was sand sliding on the beach and hurt her leg on the fragment of a monk seal warning sign 2010 $1,500,000 Five consolidated cases A breach in the Ka Loko Dam caused the deaths of seven people In some cases, accidents have led to the closure of recreational areas. Sacred Falls State Park is still closed 15 years after the Mother’s Day accident that killed eight people and injured 50 more. The deaths of two women in 2006 who were hiking in Kauai also led the state to close off the unofficial trail at Opaekaa Falls in 2007. The injury of a 12-year-old girl at Mokuleia on the North Shore of Oahu also caused the state to shut down the popular climbing spot. The girl’s family sued the YMCA, not the state, but the state still decided that there were enough liability concerns to close the area. More Vulnerable Than Other States Advocates for more liability protection say Hawaii law leaves the state a lot more vulnerable to expensive lawsuits than some other states, including California and Colorado. Unlike Hawaii, both states have recreational use statutes aimed specifically at protecting the state from liability for accidents related to extreme sports. Rep. Derek Kawakami from Kauai introduced a bill last year that focused specifically on dangerous sports, but it didn’t advance. He said he’s interested in pushing for a law that mirrors what exists in other states. “The point is that anyone can sue but we just want to line it up so that when they do, they lose,” he said. In a state dominated by the Democratic Party, it may be no surprise that efforts at tort reform in Hawaii haven’t gained much traction. According to a 2010 report by the National Conference of State Legislators on tort liability, 28 states have laws prohibiting punitive damages against the state, while 32 have caps on how much a person can receive in damages. Hawaii isn’t among them. State’s Responsibility or Personal Risk? Rep. Karl Rhoads said that while many people contend the state should have more immunity from lawsuits, he thinks the current law, Act 82, is sufficient. “I think if the government is doing negligent things we should be on the hook just like everyone in the private sector is,” he said. Still, as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rhoads helped draft a revised version of the bill, SB 1007, which had the backing of those who support shielding the state from lawsuits. While he was willing to support broadening Act 82, Rhoads said the state will save more money in the long run if it dedicates more funding to maintaining public land and preventing accidents. “If we had spent a million extra dollars on maintenance, could we have prevented the Brem case? Maybe,” he said, referring to the case of two women who died in Kauai in 2006. “At some point it’s cost-effective just to be preventative and not allow things like that to happen.” Mike Richardson, a rock climber who helped organize community members in support of strengthening the liability law, said Rhoads has a point. But he said that clarifying the law could only serve to help protect the state financially and increase access to recreational areas. Richardson was particularly frustrated with the political maneuvering regarding SB 1007, and even joined nearly two dozen others to file an ethics complaint accusing Rep. Sylvia Luke of weakening the bill because she is a personal injury lawyer. It’s likely the debate will play out again next year, as Richardson and his rock climbing friends plan to return to the Capitol to advocate on the topic again. Kawakami also said the issue isn’t going away. “This is something that’s on the top of my priority list,” he said.Almost three dozen Democratic lawmakers called on the Obama administration to change its immigration detention policies saying that they lead to systemic homophobic and transphobic abuses. The 35 House members said in a letter sent Monday to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson that, under the status quo, the US would be better served if lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and transgender alleged offenders of immigration laws are not detained during proceedings. “We believe [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] should consider an LGBT person’s detention as ‘not in the public interest,’ per your enforcement priorities memo of November 20, 2014, due to the extraordinarily high risk of abuse in detention,” they told Johnson. They called for alternatives to imprisonment, including parole and “supervised release and community placements” until DHS and ICE find a lasting remedy to the abuses. Backing up their claims, the Democratic lawmakers cited recent studies which, collectively, paint a picture of a discriminatory prison system. “Recent surveys of jails and prisons by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found that non-heterosexual detainees experience sexual assault at up to ten times the rate of heterosexual men,” they wrote. “The situation is starker for transgender detainees. According to the BJS survey, one in three will be sexually abused within twelve months in custody.” They also pointed to a 2013 Government Accountability Office report, which discovered that transgender immigrants were victimized by one in every five reported sexual assaults in ICE detention. “This is deeply troubling given the fact that transgender individuals are estimated to be less than 1% of the general population,” the Congresspeople wrote. The legislators did note that ICE has reached out to LGBT immigrant advocates and that it “will be issuing recommendations for DHS’ consideration in the near future.” They, however, also alluded to what appears to be a deep prejudice among ICE officials. “ICE’s own intake system recognizes the risk LGBT immigrants face in detention and says they can release LGBT immigrants 70 percent of the time, however ICE officers consistently override this and use their discretion to detain anyway in 68 percent of those cases,” the lawmakers wrote. They also noted that an internal DHS study found that ICE officials overrode “Risk Classification Assessment” recommendations in 7.6 percent of all cases “and in 19 percent of the cases for LGBT detainees.” Read the letter here.Paul: Bankrputcy is an option for U.S. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- How should the United States deal with its growing debt problem? Ron Paul thinks declaring "bankruptcy" might be a good idea. The Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate was discussing Greece's fiscal trouble with Iowa radio host Jan Mickelson on Monday when he was asked, "If bankruptcy is the cure for Greece, is it also the cure for the United States?" "Absolutely," Paul replied. Of course, sovereign nations can't declare bankruptcy the same way a corporation might. Instead, the government would be unable to fulfill its obligations, and would stop making payments on its debt, resulting in a default. Greece is currently embroiled in a debate over how to pare back its social programs and government spending to secure another bailout for paying its debts. Paul said social programs -- medical care and other benefits -- have pushed Greece to the edge, and the United States should take note. "The big message there is the fact that the people who are seeing they are losing their benefits and their free medical care and all, are rioting in the streets," Paul said. "That is the problem, and we are not immune from that." Paul -- known in Washington for his renegade economic ideas -- wants to convert the U.S. monetary system to one based on the gold standard, and held a hearing last week to grill federal officials about his bill to audit and inventory the nation's gold reserves. The Texan is no fan of the Federal Reserve either, and suggested Monday the United States should eliminate the Fed as a way to reduce the deficit. "We owe, like, $1.6 trillion because the Federal Reserve bought that debt, so we have to work hard to pay the interest to the Federal Reserve," Paul said. "We don't, I mean, they're nobody; why do we have to pay them off? However, the Fed returns the interest earned on those holdings to the federal government. Last year, the Fed sent $79 billion to the Treasury. On the debt ceiling, Paul said the most likely scenario is that lawmakers pass a series of short-term increases of the nation's borrowing limit. And he said that if the U.S. were to wipe out the debt owed the Fed, investors would gain confidence. "They'll say 'Hey, they've just reduced the deficit by over a trillion dollars, now they can handle it. They can go back to meeting their other obligations,' " Paul said. "It might give some reassurance to the market."He called on people to stop 'body shaming' men for their penis size A man with a one-inch-long'micropenis' said his one sexual encounter 12 years ago was so humiliating that he has not pursued a relationship since. The experience - during which the woman laughed and repeatedly asked him 'is it in?' during sex - left him so emotionally scarred that he has not dared to try again. Writing under a pseudonym for Cosmopolitan, 'Jf', the 35-year-old man said that he is 'deeply ashamed' of his penis and called for people to be more sensitive about 'body-shaming' men. Humiliated: A 35-year-old man, not pictured [STOCK IMAGE], has described the difficulties of having a small penis He said that his penis is 2.7 inches-long when erect and that flaccid 'it resembles two raisins flat on top of each other'. He added: 'As it extends erect, I would guess that in length and girth, it would be the equivalent in volume of two cocktail sausages.' The man said he is 'deeply ashamed' of his penis - in part because of the way he has heard women mock the size of men's sexual organs. 'At one time, I actually overheard three or four of my colleagues at work all agreeing that "men with small dicks should be made to wear a sign warning women,"' he said. Describing his only sexual experience, with a'very attractive university student', he said it had a devastating impact on his self-esteem. He said: 'When I stripped, she stared at my micropenis, giggled, and put her hand to her mouth, muttering simply "OK" in a tone that suggested she was taken aback. 'When it came to actually performing, first I found that the condom wouldn’t stay on, but more frustratingly, my micropenis kept falling out every time I tried to penetrate her. 'Even when I was inside her, she kept asking me, "Is it in?" Every time she asked me that, I wanted to die. It was clear that she was getting nothing out of the experience.' Self-conscious: The man, known only as 'Jf', said he is 'deeply ashamed' of his sexual organs which measures one-inch-long when flaccid and 2.7-inches-long when erect, pictured Despite trying hard to please the woman, he said she did not appear to enjoy the experience and eventually 'huffed in an annoyed way and got up'. Afterwards he said he felt sorry for her so he walked two miles to her home to deliver a box of chocolates 'to show both appreciation for her intimacy and also as an apology'. But he later regretted the gesture which made him feel like a 'loser' and felt like'she deserved better'. The experience has put him off getting physically close to a woman again. He added: 'If I started to look for love, it would just make me feel down, and I already struggle with depression and anxiety secretly. 'I don’t need the humiliation and hurt that looking for love would bring me.' Calling on people to take the body-shaming of men more seriously he said it should be treated in the same way that it is when women are the victim. Citing Ilma Gore's Make America Great Again painting - which features an image of Donald Trump with a micropenis - he said it was 'treated like a punch line rather than an attack'.About This Game New difficulty mode called Nightmare Mode. In this mode, enemies can only be defeated using the following attacks: Adrenaline Burst, Dodge Burst, Headshots, so the gameplay requires far more skill and tactics. Players will not be able to use the Final Judgement finisher (QTE mode) to defeat enemies. Theater Mode - Rewatch cutscenes and get extended background information on characters, helping to unravel the story after your 1st playthrough Smooth Operator Pack for console will be included, which includes X-ray glasses, bewitching outfits, stunning beauties, and a killer new mission and boss! Get ready for some seriously stylish action from renowned designer SUDA51. In this exclusive version for PC, players will be slicing, dicing, and shooting as the suave executioner Mondo Zappa. Prepare for the thrill of love and kill in KILLER IS DEAD!You know the ones, working through med school, in an exciting, but stressful new job, or maybe your adult child, niece, or nephew who needs to get those REM cycles. The single best way to improve your health and quality of life is to improve your sleep. Improved sleeping may take some trial and error, but usually involves a function of two factors: habit and environment. Here are a few of the best gifts for your favorite insomniac: The Wake Up Light helps prevent the anxiety of an upcoming raucous alarm clock. It mimics the gradual lighting of day. For those who need a gentler entry into the morning, and for those who count the hours until the alarm, it can help with barriers to proper sleep. This is a top of the line model and also dims to help you fall asleep, but there are wake up lights at many different price points. To save a little money, check out Certified Refurbished on Amazon for deals. Shut out shades bring the darkness your room needs. Pitch blackness helps prevent our minds from being tricked into thinking it is morning. Great sleepers don’t allow any light into their sleeping space. You may also consider a super soft eye mask. Aromatherapy Essential oils like lavender oil or cedarwood oil bring calm when it’s time for bed. A sachet on your pillow and a bit of oil on your forehead (let’s be honest, I put mine literally inside my nose) reminds your mind to slow down. Add aromatherapy and soothing sounds to a bedtime meditation routine for a HUGE healthful benefit. Sheets that you love. These best rated sheets may be the ticket to a full night’s sleep for you. Choose a quality pillow (best rated for most sleepers) and a lovely cotton quilt to encourage sleepiness. You can even wash your bedding each week in laundry detergent with a soothing scent to help encourage the aromatherapy. Smudging is a spiritual tradition from some Native American tribes including the Cherokee people from which my husband and son are both tribe members. Along with aromatherapy and a meditation routine, using smoke to feather over your feet all the way to your head is a great way to close out this day and invite peaceful slumber. Magnesium supplements before bed are used by some to encourage the body to calm down and enter into a restful state. A Day Planner Human behavior experts recommend allowing a particular time of the day for worry and banishing it from all other times of your day – especially bedtime. Adopting this practice along with using your day planner to document the stray scheduling and tasks that float into your mind will give you a chance to put it on paper and forget it for the night. Earplugs take some getting used to, but sound reduction is another way to promote a calm sleep-filled night. Herbal tea with no caffeine. Caffeine is frequently cited as a barrier to good sleep. You may have to cut it out altogether! A luxurious shower gel that you only use at night. A nightly hot shower with an aromatherapy shower gel can trigger your brain that your bedtime routine has begun. Let’s not give up the good fight for great sleep! Let me know your tips, tricks, and truly helpful sleep aids in the comments.Defense secretary rejects 'inward' turn among US politicians and insists country will embrace its role as a global superpower Hagel says US will continue to lead but admits: 'We must listen more' US defense secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday presented an austere vision of American global leadership in the 21st century, conceding that “imperfect outcomes may be the best we can expect” for terrorism and other pressing international challenges. In a speech delivered to the Center for Strategic and International Studies that was tinged with ambivalence, Hagel pledged that the US would continue to embrace its role as a global superpower, rejecting both an “inward” turn among US politicians and a “hubris” that Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, called an “insidious disease.” Amid the backdrop of an international crisis for Washington over pervasive US surveillance, Hagel said that the US “must make a far better effort to understand how the world sees us, and why. We must listen more. We must listen more.” Terrorism, the pre-eminent focus of Hagel’s three predecessors, received barely a paragraph’s worth of attention in a 30-minute speech that mostly sought to frame US foreign leadership for “what comes after the post-9/11 era.” Hagel lumped together “cyberactivists, terrorists and criminal networks, and non-state actors” as part of “short-term realities” that the US will confront – but, he said, will not eliminate. “We must manage through these short-term realities as we strategically engage these complex problems – staying focused on our long-term interests and long-term objectives and outcomes,” Hagel said. “Imperfect outcomes may be the best we can expect, working our way toward the higher ground of possible solutions and resolutions.” All of which contrasts with an embattled National Security Agency, which is under Hagel’s purview, that has recently come to argue that terrorism is a rising challenge. The NSA director, Keith Alexander, in answering the agency’s critics, has been arguing that terrorism is “the highest globally that it's been ever, over 15,000 people killed” in 2012, as Alexander testified last week to a House panel. While the triumphalist rhetoric of the post-9/11 era was absent from Hagel’s speech, he did not address the contemporary contours of US counter-terrorism operations, such as special operations raids, drone strikes and capture missions, which have been displayed by US military and CIA forces in the past month alone, in Somalia, Pakistan and Libya. The longer-term challenges Hagel outlined have been familiar themes of Obama administration speeches since former secretary of state Hillary Clinton declared that America was in the midst of a “Pacific century.” Hagel hailed a “renewed engagement in the Asia-Pacific region” while pledging the US to accepting “the astounding diffusion of economic power and sweeping demographic change,” including the rising influence of nations such as China, Turkey, India, Indonesia and Brazil. Since Clinton’s declaration, US officials have struggled to demonstrate how what used to be called the “pivot to Asia” is substantial, or has not been dwarfed by the military’s immediate challenges in counter-terrorism. Hagel suggested that a forthcoming Pentagon study, known as the Quadrennial Defense Review, will revamp the US defense posture in light of persistent challenges, automatic budget cuts and diminished political will to engage in peripheral conflicts. Hagel did not outline the delay or cancellation of major weapons systems – such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the family of next-generation stealth attack jets that represent the most expensive weapons program in human history – but said the study will question “the assumptions and scenarios that guide how the military should organize, train, and equip our forces.” Hagel broached the politically treacherous subjects of a “tiered readiness system” for exhausted US troops and cutting pay and benefits for service members, which have represented the highest proportion of budget growth since 9/11. As an apparent guide to the “imperfect" solutions the US will offer in the future, Hagel pointed to the recent initial destruction of Syria’s chemical weapon production equipment, an unexpected international development spurred by President Obama placing the US military on the precipice of bombing Syria. Hagel, who was lambasted before and during his Senate confirmation hearings for alleged softness on Iran, praised the “diplomatic path” to a potential resolution of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, but said the US would not change its military posture in the Middle East during negotiations. “We will maintain a strong and ready military presence in the Persian Gulf, and the broader Middle East, to deter Iran’s destabilizing activities, and to work with and protect our allies and our interests,” Hagel said.New research by the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center shows that the overuse of antibiotics may be linked to diagnostic errors, threatening patient outcomes and increasing health care costs. The study was published on May 18 in “Infection Control & Epidemiology,” the online journal for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. According to researchers, antibiotics are administered to approximately 56 percent of all hospital patients. However, a significant portion of those patients receive antibiotics they don’t need due to misdiagnosis. “The findings suggest that antimicrobial stewardship programs could be more impactful if they were designed to help providers make accurate initial diagnoses and to know when antibiotics can be safely withheld,” said Dr. Greg Filice, lead author of the study. Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of 500 randomly selected inpatient cases at MVAMC in order to examine provider diagnoses and evaluate whether the prescribed antibiotic course was warranted. Four physicians who were board-certified in infectious diseases and internal medicine judged the cases. Each diagnosis was categorized as either correct, incorrect, indeterminate or a symptom consistent with an infectious disease. The researchers discovered that 95 percent of the 209 patients who received an incorrect or inconclusive diagnosis were inappropriately given antimicrobial courses. By comparison, only 38 percent of the 291 patients who received a correct initial diagnosis were inappropriately administered antibiotics. Overall, only 58 percent of patients received a correct initial diagnosis. The most common inaccurate diagnoses were identified as cystitis, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, kidney infections and urosepsis. Researchers identified several contributing factors that led health care workers to make incorrect diagnoses, including fatigue, lack of clinical experience and relying on intuitive processes rather than analytical processes. “Diagnostic accuracy is integral to the safe use of antibiotics,” said Filice. “In order to improve the use of antibiotics in health care, we must consider this challenge and look for tools and strategies that help clinicians decrease unnecessary and potentially harmful antibiotic use.” “Modern Healthcare” reports that there has been growing concern regarding the overuse of antimicrobials due to a worldwide increase in drug-resistant bacteria. Approximately 23,000 people die and 2 million people are sickened each year due to drug-resistant superbugs, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. The threat is so serious that President Obama issued an executive order in September 2014 instructing the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture to take aggressive action on the issue. The order specifically called for improved antibiotic stewardship in health care facilities. Filice said efforts to combat antimicrobial overuse may be more successful if the campaigns are designed to include decision supports that help health care workers make accurate initial diagnoses. For example, he said the Veterans Administration is looking into a four-tiered strategy that would require pharmacists to review electronic health data before filling antibiotic drug prescriptions and demand that physicians include a diagnosis with every prescription. “It’s so easy to start an antibiotic, but that will force them to think carefully about the decision,” said Filice. For more information/questions regarding any legal matters, please email info@nelsonhardiman.com or call 310.203.2800.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday named a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general as the government’s first federal cyber security chief, a position announced eight months ago that is intended to improve defenses against hackers. Gregory Touhill’s job will be to protect government networks and critical infrastructure from cyber threats as federal chief information security officer, according to a statement. The administration of President Barack Obama has made bolstering federal cyber security a top priority in his last year in office. The issue has gained more attention because of high-profile breaches in recent years of government and private sector computers. U.S. intelligence officials suspect Russia was responsible for breaches of Democratic
is best not to apply too much mathematics. Trump claimed, for example, that “there are scores of recent migrants inside our borders charged with terrorism”, an assertion already open to dispute, but went on to add on top “for every case known to the public there are dozens and dozens more”. If “scores” means at least 40, then by this logic, Trump is claiming the existence of around 1,000 more people than anyone else has. US interests If the speech has one abiding slogan, it too could have done with some more fact-checking. Putting America first sounds at first just like an extension of Trump’s hallmark promise to make America great again. Yet it also harks back to the America First Committee of the 1940s, a group set up to prevent the US from joining the second world war, only to be disbanded three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Isolationism v interventionism But perhaps this just points to the biggest contradiction of the speech: the tension between its isolationism and its interventionism. At once, Trump urges more of a pragmatic and realist approach to the exercise of US power, unconstrained by the niceties of political correctness, and yet blasts Obama for having “no vision, no purpose, no direction, no strategy”. It is perhaps unfair, however, to dwell too closely on textual analysis of a speech clearly written by a number of people. “We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism” is a powerful line, but it does not sound very much like it was written by the same man who told a rally in Pennsylvania on Monday: “Do I look like a president? How handsome am I?”OTTAWA — Canadians under the age of 54 will be forced to wait longer to qualify for their Old Age Security pensions, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Thursday. The controversial shift means that starting in 2023, the age of eligibility for OAS benefits will gradually increase to 67 from 65. With an 11-year "notification" of that change and a six-year phase-in that concludes in 2029, Flaherty said he has given Canadians "ample time to make adjustments to their retirement plans." Flaherty also announced a new measure that will permit Canadians to delay claiming their OAS until later in life and, in return, be rewarded with higher benefits. The purpose is twofold: Keep Canadians in the workforce longer to boost the economy and provide taxes to government, and limit the costs of the OAS system by ensuring there are fewer beneficiaries. In an apparent move to blunt some of the public uproar, Flaherty announced that pension plans for public servants will be changed to require that the employees pay a larger contribution: 50 per cent. As well, the pension plan for politicians, often criticized as an overly generous "gold-plated" scheme, will be adjusted, starting in the next Parliament, so they are "comparable" with contribution rates made by public servants. However, there were no details on precisely how much of an increased share the MPs will bear in contributions, or whether they will lose two attractive elements of their scheme — qualifying for benefits after just six years in office, and claiming the money at age 55. The controversial shift in OAS, the backbone of Canada's public pension system, was first telegraphed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in January but details didn't come until Thursday. Flaherty argued the changes are needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the pension system. He told the Commons the OAS program was designed decades ago for a "much different demographic future." In the 1970s, there were seven workers for every one person over the age of 65, he said. In 20 years there will be only two. Similarly, in 1970, life expectancy was age 69 for men and 76 for women. Today, it is 79 for men and 83 for women. "The result is that Canadians are living longer and healthier. There are fewer workers to take their place when they retire. Canada has changed. Old Age Security must change with it, to serve the purpose it was intended to serve," Flaherty said. Opposition parties say he is creating a "false crisis" and immediately mounted fierce attacks. NDP leader Thomas Mulcair said Harper had violated a promise to not touch pensions. "But today we learned that the word of the prime minister is worth nothing," said Mulcair. "It's totally inadmissible that in a country as rich as Canada we still have so many elderly people who are living in poverty. Mr. Harper prefers there would be more." Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said many Canadians, especially those in "physical industries," won't be able to work beyond 65 and would end up on provincial welfare rolls.Rate This Am I the only who’s confused by what’s going on in Burbank these past few week? First Disney changes “Rapunzel” ‘s title to “Tangled” and then cancels “The Snow Queen” outright because studio execs reportedly believe that modern moviegoers are no longer interested in watching feature length animated fairy tales. But then they announce that they’re making a sequel to “Enchanted.” Did any of those executives actually watch “Enchanted”? If so, don’t they realize that this 2007 Walt Disney Pictures release pays tribute to that studio’s library of animated fairy tales? So what’s the point of making a sequel to “Enchanted” if Disney execs no longer believe that there’s really an audience out there for these sorts of movies? Copyright 2007 Disney. All Rights Reserved I got a note this past weekend from HatMadder Long story short, MatHadder, the reason that Walt Disney Pictures has put an “Enchanted” sequel into active development is that the “Enchanted” franchise is now a known commodity. That – provided that Disney Studio execs mount the proper sort of promotional campaign (more importantly, pick the right opening weekend) – “Enchanted 2” is virtually guaranteed to turn a profit. As for the reason that Disney opted to change “Rapunzel” ‘s title to “Tangled” … According to the Mouse’s market research, it would seem that – outside of the United States & Germany – the story of Rapunzel itself has very little name recognition. More to the point, even those among surveyed who actually recognized Rapunzel’s name, these people had little or no knowledge of what her fairy tale was actually about. They knew that this story featured a princess with long hair who was trapped in a tower. But beyond that … zippo. So here was Disney’s marketing department trying to trade on Rapunzel’s name recognition only to then discover – outside of the U.S. & Germany – this fairy tale didn’t really have any name recognition. Which then forced the Studio to rethink how it was going to sell this particular animated feature. Copyright 2008 Disney. All Rights Reserved Now to answer the really difficult question: Did “The Princess & the Frog” ‘s overall box office performance really have an impact on Disney’s decision to retitle “Rapunzel”? Well … I’m not going to lie to you folks. There are a lot of people in Burbank who are still scratching their heads over the disconnect that seems to have occurred in regards to Disney’s return to hand-drawn animation. I mean, how is it that a film that was this heavily hyped and received so many glowing reviews (i.e. this Ron Clements & John Musker movie received a 85% freshness rating over at Rotten Tomatoes) still needed eight weeks in wide release before it was finally then able blow through the $100-million-in-domestic-ticket-sales box office barrier? The prevailing theory in-house seems to be that having the name “Princess” featured so prominently in TPATF’s title may have had a detrimental impact on this movie’s grosses. That – to be specific – young males may have deliberately shied away from buying a ticket to a movie that had the word “Princess” in its title. Which seems to have been a contributing factor in Disney’s recent decision to rename “Rapunzel” “Tangled.” Know this, though: At least from the Disney Consumer Products’ side of the fence, “The Princess and the Frog” was a smash hit. This past holiday season, most retailers regretted not taking a bigger position when it came to merch associated with Disney’s newest hand-drawn animated feature. Given that they typically sold through everything that they had in stock by Thanksgiving and then had to turn away customers who specifically came in looking for Princess Tiana toys in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Photo by Nancy Stadler Speaking of Princess Tiana: Of all the Disney Princess dolls that were sold over the 2009 Christmas shopping season, Tiana moved the most units. Which is pretty extraordinary for a brand-new character. So as far as DCP is concerned, “The Princess and the Frog” was a home run. They’d love it if WDFA turned out a new movie like that every year. Whereas the folks on the Studio side of things, who judge success not by how many dolls were purchased, but – rather – by how many tickets were sold … “TPATF” ‘s grosses weren’t quite what they were looking for. Which bring us back to “Rapunzel” … Or – as this film is now known – “Tangled.” As I understand it, in an effort to win over young men, to convince them that this Holiday 2011 release is far more male friendly that “The Princess & the Frog,” the posters, trailers and TV ads for this upcoming WDFA production will place a pretty heavy emphasis on Rapunzel’s love interest, the infamous bandit Flynn Rider. Copyright 2009 Disney. All Rights Reserved Mind you, just as the title of “TPATF” was adjusted for different foreign markets (EX: In Germany, this Ron’n’John production was known as – simply – “Kiss the Frog”), “Tangled” ‘s title will also be tweaked as this picture is trotted out around the globe. Which is why you just have to love the French. I mean, here’s Disney execs reportedly so upset about the impact that the word “Princess” has on “The Princess and the Frog” ‘s box office that they changed “Rapunzel” ‘s title to “Untangled.” And yet – in spite of all the brouhaha back in Burbank -- what does Disney Studios France’s marketing staff choose as the title for this holiday 2010 / January 2011 release? “Princess Rapunzel.” Anywho … What’s your take on “Rapunzel” ‘s name change? Do you think that retitling this CG feature “Tangled” is really going to compel that many more young males to buy tickets to this new WDFA production? Your thoughts?By Stephen Shoults Incident Date: March 5, 2017 Department: Cincinnati Fire Department What happened: Citizens were concerned for their friend who did not answer his phone, so they called for emergency services to check on him. Police were at the residence and the fire department was called in to assist. While firefighters were forcing entry through the front door, the man fired a.44 Magnum in their direction, twice. The 68-year-old veteran reportedly believed that intruders were breaking into his house and feared for his life. No one was injured and no charges were filed. Watch a body cam video of the incident. Discussion points: Legal issues, guidelines, training and best practices A violent encounter on a patient welfare check is tragically not unusual. In April 2016, one Maryland firefighter was killed and another was injured trying to make entry into a home. In May 2017, a Dallas firefighter-paramedic was shot and critically injured while attempting to help an injured man. After reading the news article and viewing the video, ask yourself or discuss with your partner, squad or company the following questions: Can fire/EMS legally force entry on implied consent without patient contact? Does your service have a policy, guideline or protocol for a patient welfare check or when to force entry? Have you had training on forcible entry for a medical call? What did it include? How many people should be sent for a patient welfare check and where should they be positioned? What would you do if you realized you were being shot at? What is the difference between cover and concealment? When and how should you approach a person who has just shot at you? Is this similar to an "unknown medical alert activation, no further information"? Tips for welfare checks and forcing entry Here are tips and reminders for welfare checks and forcing entry. 1. Get more information. On any unknown call, attempt to gain additional information from dispatch such as demographics, time last seen, prior responses to the address and any known weapons. 2. Request additional resources. If you receive a call to perform a patient welfare check with no patient contact, the person is not expecting to see you. Consider having police officers make first contact. Consider requesting the use of a ballistic shield prior to forcing entry. 3. Announce your presence, loudly. If the person cannot hear the phone or medical alarm company, they probably can’t hear you knocking at the door. Consider using a PA system, air horn or siren. 4. Verbally and visually identify yourself as an emergency responder. Don’t just yell the person’s name while pounding on the door or looking in the window. This could be frightening and they could mistake you for an intruder. Announce yourself as fire department or ambulance. Be in uniform and consider high-visibility wear. 5. Prepare for the worst. Forcing entry on a third-party medical call should not be considered a routine task. It should be considered high-risk with the probability of no reward or low reward. Often the person is either already deceased or in no distress whatsoever. 6. Constantly reassess the scene. The scene can change rapidly and should never be considered completely safe. If something dangerous occurs, recognize it quickly and react appropriately. 7. If the scene becomes dangerous: Stay low, get away and find cover. Know the difference between cover and concealment. If someone is shooting, being unable to see the shooter does not mean you are safe and it does not mean that the shooter cannot see you. With all this in mind, do you think unarmed fire and EMS personnel, likely not wearing body armor, should be tasked with forcing entry into the home of an unsuspecting citizen? In the comments below, share some of your thoughts about this call, as well as your department’s approach to the issue. As always, this is meant for us to grow and learn. About the author Stephen Shoults is a full-time EMT in eastern Pennsylvania. He started his EMS career in 2008 as a volunteer firefighter/EMT in Alaska. He has experience in private EMS, hospital-based EMS, and EMS via management service organization. Stephen is a certified EMS instructor and recently started his first business, a mobile CPR and EMS training service. He can be reached at training@KeystoneCommunityRescue.com, or find him on Facebook.Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. The British Royal Navy assault ship HMS Bulwark arrived in Haifa Port on Tuesday for a short visit before she sails back to the United Kingdom. The Bulwark, whose captain is Capt. James Parkin, is deployed as part of the Royal Navy’s Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) Task Group commanded by Commodore Andy Burns. Based in Devonport, the Bulwark is one of the Royal Navy’s two amphibious assault command and control ships. It is the second largest ship in the British fleet, measuring 176 meters long, displacing some 18,000 tons and with a company of nearly 600 men and women.These include some 170 Royal Marines and 42 Commando Royal Marines, including their Viking armored all-terrain tracked vehicles, as well as numerous support vehicles. Able to deploy worldwide within five days, the Bulwark’s first operational deployment was to Lebanon in 2006: evacuating civilians following the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War between Hezbollah and Israel.According to a Royal Navy statement, the Bulwark’s docking in Haifa “demonstrates the growing relationship between the Royal Navy and the Israeli Navy and the desire to continue to develop that interaction.”Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, speaking on board the ship, told the crowd, “This visit is a sign of the deep cooperation between the UK And Israel. We enjoy very good cooperation on many levels, including intelligence, and now of course, between our navies. I think that especially today, with what is happening around us in the Middle East, this is a very important visit.”Capt. Parkin told The Jerusalem Post that “We have Israel Navy colleagues on board right now, learning, getting presentations, and exchanging ideas about operations. We have a great relationship with the Israel Navy, although it is quite difficult to get a warship out to Israel, but we try to as often as we can. I am very proud that I am in Haifa for the second time in my naval career.”Prior to docking in Haifa, the Bulwark took part in several sea exercises with the Israel Navy. “We’ve operated with several Israel Navy ships, practicing communications and maneuvering,” said Parkin. “It is a tremendous honor to bring the Royal Navy’s amphibious flagship into Haifa, and I particularly enjoyed exercising with the Israel Navy at sea beforehand, as well as discussing matters of mutual interest.”But it’s not all work for these men and women. The ship’s company will challenge the “Israeli Barbarians” rugby team to a match, watch Beersheba vs Inter Milan in the Europa League and take time to see some of the historic sights in Israel.”“Most of the 560 people on board my ship have never visited Israel before, and there is a palpable sense of excitement on board about exploring this vibrant and fascinating city,” Parkin said.“I’ve never been to Jerusalem, and I’m going there tomorrow. I am very excited, it’s a life-long ambition,” Parkin told the Post, adding that “if there isn’t a photo of me lying on my back in the Dead Sea reading a newspaper, I’ve done something wrong.”In the Royal Navy statement, British Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey said “I am delighted that HMS Bulwark has been able to call in at Israel during their current deployment. As part of a strengthening defense relationship with Israel, this visit is evidence of the UK’s strong commitment to security in the region.”Speaking to the Post, Quarrey said “it’s fantastic” to have such a ship here in Israel. “It’s the largest ship that’s docked here for years, it’s a symbol of the growing partnership in defense and security between Israel and the UK, at a time that the two countries face very severe challenges. We need to be working together, and this ship symbolizes just that.” Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” – Aristotle Habits can be our best friends and they can be our worst enemies. In fact, life is pretty much a series of habits played out on a day to day basis; like Aristotle presciently pointed out, we are what we repeatedly do. We have all got some bad and good habits, it part of being human. But what if you’re able to eradicate 90%, 50% or even just 10% of your bad habits? How much healthier, productive and happier would you be? I have listed 6 simple ways for you to tackle and hopefully remove bad habits in your life. Be aware of them! Habits are that because they are routinized and we do them unwittingly. But because they are so ‘natural’, we tend not to think too much of it. The very first step is to list down some of the bad habits that you perform. It doesn’t matter how ‘big’ or how ‘small’ it may seem but first, be conscious of it. Start small. Changing habits is, admittedly, a difficult task. But the benefits you could potentially derive from changing just a single bad habit is immense. For instance, if you drink 3 cans of soda a day, start small by switching to 2 cans a day for a month and then gradually reduce it instead of going cold turkey immediately. At the end of the day, even if you do not kick the soda-drinking habit but manage to reduce your intake from 3 to 2 – that is not such a bad outcome (relatively speaking)! Commit it to writing. It is no use doing mental accounting saying ‘I will do this and I will do that’. You need a proper system external of your mind to keep track. Write it down! Seriously, there is no excuse not to put pen to paper. It helps you commit to breaking your habit as well. Figure out your ‘why’. It is little use wanting to get rid of bad habits if you do not feel strongly enough about getting rid of it. You must change your ‘want’ to ‘need’. One way of doing this is to keep your motivation strong. Why do you want to kick soda-drinking? Why do you want to quit smoking? Why do you want to stop chewing your fingernails? Why do you want to stop playing games on your phone before going to bed? Write down a list of ‘benefits’ (to use the last example). ie. (1) I want to have a better rest (2) so I can sleep longer (3) So I can feel more refreshed the next morning. You don’t have to read them aloud twice a day – in fact you can tuck them away. But whenever you’re losing motivation, bring out this list and revisit your reasons and motivation for wanting to get rid of the habit. Speak to someone. It can be difficult getting rid of a habit alone. Speak to a good friend or your partner – telling them your plan to get rid of a particular habit. Make it clear upfront that you may not achieve it and ask not to be judged! They are there for support and they are not adjudicating and scoring you. I find that this helps because when you ask for aid there is a tendency for that someone to be judgmental (because they think that’s what you want!) instead of being supportive so make it clear from the get-go. When you make progress, speak to them and let them know. When you fail to reduce your bad habit on a particular day, let them know as well. Watch your thoughts. Whenever you’re tempted to reach for that 3rd can of soda, watch what your mind tells you. ‘Oh, its just another can’ or ‘Oh, I can reduce my intake tomorrow’. Be careful of such mental thoughts and be disciplined about it. Whenever some talk comes up, do not ignore it but be aware and consciously create a positive reinforcing thought – ‘Yes but it is better not to do so because XYZ…’ Similarly if you find yourself saying ‘damn, I can’t do this anymore’ follow up by consciously thinking aloud ‘but it was never easy to begin with and I will see results soon!’ Remember to start small and watch your auto-suggestions. For a more comprehensive ‘cheat sheet’ on breaking habits check out this blog post. Also, this book by Charles Duhigg – on the power of habits – is an excellent read and might be something you want to see further.Clichy mayor Rémi Muzeau led a powerful protest on Friday against a Muslim street prayer in his municipality. The mayor, and several other high placed Paris politicians, were singing the French national anthem during their protest. They walked towards 200 Muslim worshippers who were praying on the streets of Clichy, a Paris suburb. According to ‘The Local France’ Muzeau led the protest ‘after growing infuriated by the presence of hundreds of Muslim worshippers praying on the town’s market square every Friday for the past nine months’. Muzeau himself was happy with the result of the protest: “We did what the police should have done a long time ago.” The president of the region, Valerie Pecresse, who demonstrated as well, said about the action: “The public space cannot be taken over illegally. We are in a country where we do not pray in the street, the rules of law are being flouted.” According to The Local France Muslims used the square to pray as a protest, after their new mosque was built ‘too far away’ at 1.5KM.What if conversation were more than just small talk? What if you had the opportunity to have a meaningful exchange with another person and spark new relationships, new ideas, and new outlooks on life? Would you take it? The Feast of Strangers is an event based on an original idea by Oxford scholar Theodore Zeldin. It seeks to promote openness and curiosity through a sincere exchange between two people, away from judgment and convention. The events pair two strangers together for sincere, rewarding exchanges that probe beyond small talk. You are each given a Menu of Conversation that looks like a restaurant menu, with starters, fish, grills, dessert, etc., but instead of descriptions of food dishes, each heading contains topics to talk about, 25 in all. A ‘Muse’ then introduces the meal and explains how to proceed and the rules of what is more than a game. Each of you chooses a topic, and when you have finished discussing it, the other chooses a topic, and so you go through the Menu. This conversation takes two hours, though it has been known to last seven hours. We invite you to step outside your comfort zone and be open to not only learning more about another person but about yourself. This is, in many ways, what life is is all about! For further background information, please visit http://www.oxfordmuse.com/ CBR Muse - Feast of Strangers, is kindly supported by Two before 10 Canberra who will be providing food, coffee and other non-alcoholic beverages for purchase during the evening. Be sure to register as capacity is limited!China, Fed, the Volkswagen scandal -- All of these are leaving investors dazed and confused. The Dow tumbled 180 points Tuesday. The S&P 500 declined 1.2% and the Nasdaq retreated 1.5%. "Dazed and confused" is the overriding sentiment in markets, according to Tom Stringfellow, chief investment officer at Frost Investment Advisors. Wall Street is certainly starting to get "Fed" up with lingering confusion and the lack of clarity on when the Fed will lift interest rates from 0% and why it didn't happen last week. Top Fed officials have been giving speeches and media interviews trying to explain the reasoning behind the decision. However, all of it seems to have confused investors even more. Related: These comments are causing stock uncertainty "Investors are still reeling and in a state of confusion in regards the Fed's outlook for the economy and timeline for normalization," veteran market watcher Peter Kenny, an independent market strategist and founder of Kenny's Commentary, wrote in a note. Things were almost a lot worse on Tuesday. At one point the Dow was down 288 points before the markets rebounded slightly. Still, the losses were enough to return the Dow to "correction territory," signifying a decline of at least 10% from previous highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are nearly back to correction mode as well. Related: Is the stock market holding Janet Yellen hostage? Fed frustration mounts The Fed decision perplexed investors because it sent mixed signals. The central bank cited global developments (code: China) and market turbulence for keeping rates steady. Fed chief Janet Yellen mentioned China and global concerns several times when she talked to reporters about the central bank's decision. Her comments suggested the Fed was placing more weight on market turbulence and China than is historically normal. Confusion mounted as Fed officials fanned out to explain the decision. Officials including Dennis Lockhart, Jeffrey Lacker and James Bullard sounded more aggressive about raising rates than Yellen, citing recent improvements in the economy. All of this has left investors scratching their heads. "Yellen was dovish and yet four of her colleagues on the Fed have come out and sounded more hawkish and no one knows what to expect," Michael Block, chief strategist at Rhino Trading, wrote in a note to clients. "The dithering and mixed messages are not bullish or helpful at all. We should remain under pressure here," Block wrote. Volkswagen scandal knocks auto, European stocks Meanwhile, European stock markets plunged 3%, slammed by similar concerns and a massive emissions scandal that is enveloping one of the world's largest car makers. Volkswagen (VLKAF) stock plunged another 17% in Europe after a breathtaking 20% drop on Monday. Investors fear the fallout could spread. Shares of Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) slumped 6%, Ford (F) declined 3% and General Motors (GM) retreated 2%. Auto parts makers were also being squeezed. Tenneco (TEN) and BorgWarner (BWA), each of which make emissions control products, plunged about 8% apiece. Related: What Volkswagen means to the German economy Clinton-fueled biotech backlash Also in the U.S., biotech stocks remain under pressure following Hillary Clinton's promise to take on alleged "price gouging" by drug makers. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) slid 1.5% after tumbling 5% on Monday. Big losers include Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) and Mylan (MYL). Goldman Sachs (GS) stock also fell 2% after the company revealed that its CEO Lloyd Blankfein has cancer.Mozilla plans to make a change to Geolocation in Firefox 55 that would block requests automatically if they come from non-secure origins. Geolocation, broken down to its core, refers to technologies that allow sites and applications to determine a user's position in the world. This can be useful when mapping services are used among other things (show me where I'm, auto-filling of the current location). Many sites, not only mapping services but also shopping sites, or multi-lingual sites, use Geolocation for functionality. It is fairly common for instance that users are redirected automatically to a local version of the site if it exists. Firefox 55: Geolocation requires secure origin Mozilla plans to make the change in Firefox 55. The implementation is on the heels of the Chromium team which added the requirement to Chromium 50. Firefox 55 is scheduled for an August 2017 release. Basically, what this means for Firefox users is that Geolocation requests won't work anymore if a site or application does not use HTTPS. To be precise, Geolocation will also work in the context of encrypted WebSocket connections (wss://), and requests from local resources such as localhost. Mozilla notes that services that use non-secure origins for Geolocation requests will break when the change happens. Telemetry data that has been analyzed five months ago suggests that this will affect about 0.188% of page loads in the browser. Just looking at non-secure origin Geolocation requests, Telemetry data suggested that 57% of getCurrentPosition() requests and 2.48% of watchPosition() requests use non-secure origins. The figure will go down further in the future as more and more sites start the migration to HTTPS. If you run Firefox Nightly currently, which is at version 55 at the time of writing, you will notice that non-secure Geolocation requests still work. The feature is hidden behind a preference right now which you need to set to false to test right away: Type about:config in the browser's address bar and hit the Enter-key. Confirm that you will be careful. Search for geo.security.allowinsecure. Double-click on the preference to toggle it. Once you have set the preference to false, any Geolocation request from an insecure origin will fail. Now You: do you use sites that make use of Geolocation? (via Sören) Summary Article Name Firefox 55: Geolocation requires secure origin Description Mozilla plans to make a change to Geolocation in Firefox 55 that would block requests automatically if they come from non-secure origins. Author Martin Brinkmann Publisher Ghacks Technology News Logo AdvertisementPhoto THE evolution of species takes place over millenniums. Pop-culture franchises just don’t have that kind of time. Rupert Wyatt’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” opening Aug. 5, is the seventh film about the peculiarly advanced simians invented by Pierre Boulle in his 1963 novel “Planet of the Apes” and the first in 10 years. The last “Apes” picture, directed by Tim Burton, was a remake of Franklin J. Schaffner’s original 1968 adaptation of the Boulle novel; the first film generated four sequels, a couple of TV series (one live action, one animated), a line of comic books and a jungleful of merchandise before the brand began to peter out, ceding its dominance to other, stronger market beasts like “Star Wars” and “Batman.” The apes had a nice run, but nothing lasts forever. Species die out. Empires fall. Profits decline. New heads of studios rise. Photo Boulle’s idea, though, is so powerful that it may be immune to the vicissitudes of natural — and even artificial — selection. He imagined an upside-down world in which apes, our ancestors, have become more civilized than humans and feel perfectly justified in treating us like dumb animals: hunting us for sport, keeping us in cages, using us as the subjects of extremely unpleasant scientific experiments. In the first “Planet of the Apes” movie, humans really don’t appear to deserve much respect: they can’t reason and don’t use language. When three American astronauts land on the planet, the apes understandably fail to distinguish these new specimens from the unevolved species they’re accustomed to. One of the earthmen, named Taylor (Charlton Heston), tries to persuade his captors that he’s different, but it’s a heavy lift; the existence of an articulate, rational human is an affront to both ape science and ape religion. (The idea of Heston as the most evolved exemplar of the species may take some getting used to for nonsimians too.) It’s a witty notion, of a kind that characterized old-school science fiction: the fantastic “what if?” premise that allows the writer to examine the conditions of his own time from a different perspective. The novel and the first movie, which had a screenplay by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, came out at the height of the cold war, when bomb anxiety made the end of the humanity as we know it seem a not entirely fanciful notion. In the film’s famous final sequence, Taylor, having escaped from the apes, sees the head of the Statue of Liberty on the beach and realizes to his horror that he has been on a post-nuclear-holocaust Earth all along. (Thanks to relativity, his space odyssey has landed him a couple of thousand years into the future.) Nuclear worries may not be as high as they were in the 1960s, but the image still resonates. We know that our species hasn’t yet developed to the point where blowing ourselves up is unthinkable. Photo But most of the interest of the original “Planet of the Apes” and its sequels lies in their skewed, satiric take on human nature. The apes are disconcertingly like us, and it’s fun both to imagine them as better than we are and to watch their civilization developing some very familiar discontents. They have race and class issues and a rather rigid social hierarchy: orangutans rule, gorillas enforce, and chimpanzees do most of the intellectual work — subject to the approval of the orangutans, who sit in judgment like the Académie Française or the Holy Office. The chimp scientists who try to save Taylor are accused of heresy: the orangutans and the gorillas are, to an ape, staunch creationists. Advertisement Continue reading the main story In the four immediate sequels — “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (1970), “Escape From the Planet of the Apes” (1971), “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” (1972) and “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” (1973) — the back story of humankind’s demise and the apes’ ascent gets filled in a bit, with tricky timelines. In “Beneath,” whose action takes place not long after that of the original, Earth is destroyed a second time; in “Escape,” two chimp scientists who have managed to get off the planet before the cataclysm land back in Los Angeles in the 1970s, where they are greeted with the same sort of skepticism and fear that Taylor encountered in ape society. (The movie even borrows a few incidents and plot points from Boulle’s novel, transposing them from human to ape.) These chimps, Zira and Cornelius (Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowell), are a married couple and in the course of the movie have a baby. They’re the Adam and Eve of the super-apes, and in the two final installments their son, who calls himself Caesar (McDowell), leads his band of merry primates in battle against the steadily devolving humans. Photo The sequels are of wildly variable quality. “Beneath” and “Battle” are, in impressively varied ways, quite terrible; “Conquest,” a kind of simian “Battle of Algiers” with overtones of the late-’60s Los Angeles race riots, is fast paced and has a pleasing B-movie shamelessness to it. “Escape,” directed by Don Taylor, is actually pretty good; like the novel and the first film, it’s more about ideas (and jokes) than spectacular primate action.A House committee voted Thursday to subpoena the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, and other top department officials, stepping up scrutiny of the agency amid allegations that secret waiting lists were used to cover up long delays for doctors’ appointments. The subpoena from the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs covers all emails and other correspondence related to the “destruction or disappearance of an alternate or interim wait list” at the department’s Phoenix medical center.
Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia, where he just paid a deferential visit and assured Sunni Arab leaders that “we are not here to lecture” despite their abominable records on human rights. This perplexing dichotomy has been vividly captured in video and photographs — Mr. Trump laughing comfortably with Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador to Washington during a recent Oval Office meeting, while refusing to shake the hand of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany when she came to town. There was more of the same in Brussels, with Mr. Trump shoving aside the prime minister of Montenegro, which recently defied Russia to join NATO, on his way to a front row spot for a photograph. The allies had hoped to hear a robust endorsement of the NATO Treaty’s Article 5, which commits them to a “one-for-all, all-for-one” principle that has been the foundation of the alliance since it was established. What they got instead was a vague promise to “never forsake the friends who stood by our side” after the Sept. 11 attacks, and assurances from Sean Spicer, the press secretary, of a “100 percent commitment to Article 5.” This would have been more persuasive coming from Mr. Trump, since he and not Mr. Spicer had denigrated NATO as “obsolete” and suggested darkly that the United States might not defend allies under attack if they did not contribute more to the alliance. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been no more credible than Mr. Spicer. “Of course we support Article 5,” he told reporters earlier this week, presumably assuming that the president would say much the same thing in Brussels. That Mr. Trump did not reinforces the common perception that Mr. Tillerson has no more influence over his thinking than do Jim Mattis, the defense secretary, and Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, the national security adviser, on whom many had counted to put Mr. Trump’s foreign policy on a more responsible path. That Mr. Trump and the allies were unable to agree on a common approach toward Russia was also worrisome. Moscow has become increasingly aggressive as Mr. Putin annexed Crimea, waged war in eastern Ukraine, meddled in the American and European elections and intervened militarily in Syria. The most that emerged from a meeting between Mr. Trump and Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, was that the two shared the “same line” on Ukraine. All told, Mr. Trump’s commitment to NATO and America’s tradition of leadership remain very much up in the air. Should the president abdicate both, no one would be happier than Vladimir Putin.Red tape watchdog criticises initial costings and rationale for three sets of proposals designed to make it harder for workers to organise strike action Government proposals to toughen up trade union laws have been condemned as not fit for purpose. The regulatory policy committee (RPC), which the government appointed in July to scrutinise progress towards cutting £10bn of red tape this parliament, criticised the initial costings of proposed changes to the law, designed to make it harder for workers to strike. The RPC said the government had been too hasty in pushing through its proposals, which were first set out in the Conservative party manifesto ahead of the general election, and called on it to undertake further consultations. The RPC looked at the initial impact assessments of three sets of proposals in the trade union bill, which MPs will debate when parliament reconvenes after the summer recess, and classified them as “not fit for purpose”. The three proposals were: to allow employers to break strikes by bringing in agency workers to replace strikers to force striking workers to tell their employers their plans two weeks before a strike only to permit strikes in “important public services” if 50% of members vote and 40% do so in favour of strike action The RPC found that the government’s impact assessment on agency workers being allowed to replace striking workers undermined its own central assumption and “provided reasons why it might be more beneficial to the employer to take the short-term costs associated with a strike”. It also questioned the government’s claim that the introduction of new ballot thresholds would reduce the number of working days lost due to strike action by 65%, saying the calculation assumed there would be no change in voting patterns. It pointed to the suggestion that turnout might rise if the rules were changed. On the proposal to force workers to tell employers of their plans two weeks before a strike it said there was “little evidence presented that there will be any significant benefits”. A spokesperson from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills said: “Strikes can have a damaging impact on the lives of every working person and recent polling shows public support for our proposed actions. “We have made the best assessments of the available evidence. To build a broader evidence base we are consulting widely and welcome views. The final impact assessment will reflect these responses as well as the RPC’s concerns. We are also strengthening the role of the certification officer to ensure that there is high quality data in the future.” The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said again that the trade union bill threatened the basic right to strike, and added that it was being “rammed through with unseemly haste, without a proper case being made”. “We’re pleased that the regulatory policy committee has exposed the lack of consultation and the unfair imposition of excessive red tape on unions and employers,” she said. “This is an opportunity for the government to take a step back, recognise that they were wrong, and drop these proposals which threaten the democratic right to strike.” The RPC is made up of economists and representatives from small and large business, civil society, academia and the legal profession. It has one trade union representative who was barred from discussions surrounding the assessments to avoid a conflict of interest. The government introduced its bill, which amounts to the biggest crackdown on trade union rights for 30 years, in July.It said it felt forced to act as a result of the number of strikes called on the London underground, railways and in schools based on small turnouts or two-year-old ballot mandates. The number of working days lost to strikes was 704,000 in the 12 months to April 2015, compared with an annual average of nearly 13m in the 1970s.Scientists at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China have developed micro-robots capable of moving inside human blood vessels. These nano-swimmers are fast and strong enough to pass through viscous liquids, like blood and deliver medicine. The nano-robots are controlled by an external magnetic field and can swim the front crawl at 10 micrometers per second. The study was published in the journal Nano Letters in which scientist Tianlong Li and his colleagues explain the technology behind this invention. Scientists have long been engaged in the development of devices for the targeted delivery of drugs to specific organs. This invention helps administer the precise amount of dosage without an excess amount of medicine which could lead to side effects, thereby harming other organs. © Photo : Tianlong Li et al. / Nano Letters, 2017 Micro/nanorobots Earlier, various miniature containers, 3D print medications, robots, or modified living cells, for example spermatozoa, have been used. However, the Chinese scientists decided to use micro robots that can float in blood or other liquids. These robots consist of three segments: central, made of gold, and two nickel "hands," which are attached to the central segment with the help of porous silver "hinges." The robot is controlled by an external variable magnetic field. Due to the fact that the field is constantly changing, the robot moves its "hands" and propels itself forward. “For targeted medicine delivery without invasive procedures, these nano-swimmers could be coated with medicine and injected into the bloodstream, where their trajectories could be roughly steered by external magnetic fields,” publication New Scientist reported. In order to use such robots in the bloodstream, they must be made of biocompatible materials. As for using them in the less complicated areas in the human body like the urinary tract or the eyeball, clinical trials could begin within the next 5 to 10 years. Last year, an international group of researchers presented a biocompatible origami robot, which also moves by an external magnetic field. With the help of such a robot they managed to draw out a battery from a model stomach. Similarly, scientists in the US created a universal implant to release drugs at a given point in the body.Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign operation has a variety of key goals, but as the cycle gets underway in earnest, the Florida Republican’s first priority was simple: raise a ridiculous amount of money. As of yesterday, it’s mission accomplished. MSNBC’s Aliyah Frumin reported that the former governor’s super PAC has raised a staggering $114.4 million, on top of the $11.4 million Bush’s campaign itself raised in the 16 days following his formal launch. To put this in perspective, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, raised $45 million in the second quarter, on top of the $15.6 million haul for the pro-Clinton super PAC. Those totals were widely seen as pretty impressive – initially the best of any candidate in either party – though they pale in comparison to the Bush fundraising juggernaut. The former governor’s fundraising prowess is all the more impressive in light of the enormous field of Republican candidates – with 17 candidates vying for contributions from GOP donors, it’s that much more difficult for one contender to dominate. Bush nevertheless has more than doubled the money raised by his next closest Republican rival. But what struck me as funny about all of this was a quote in the Associated Press report about Bush’s fundraising success. …Bill Kunkler, a Chicago private equity executive and Bush donor, said that while the Bush name may have opened some doors, it’s Jeb Bush who closed the deal. “People have been willing to take a look, and he’s overcome the people who have said, ‘Not another Bush,’” Kunkler said Thursday. “People are looking at him as a guy who did it on his own, and who stands on his own.” What’s amusing about this is how wrong it is. I’m not trying to take away anything from Bush’s fundraising totals – they’re genuinely impressive – but by no fair measure is he someone who succeeded and stands “on his own.” As regular readers may recall, the New York Times reported earlier in the year that Jeb Bush spent much of his adult life taking advantage of his family connections to advance his interests and ambitions. In Florida, people went out of their way to get close to Bush in the hopes that he’d relay messages and suggestions to his powerful relatives – which he routinely did. When Bush decided to run for president, he quickly exploited a “ wide network of donors who supported his father and brother.” Indeed, when fundraising appeals started reaching GOP donors, they were sent directly from his father, mother, brother, and even his son (an elected official in Texas). It’s consistent with a life filled with unique opportunities made available to Jeb because of his powerful last name and political legacy.In exactly 252 days, Ragen Chastain plans to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and run a full marathon, all in under 17 hours at IRONMAN Arizona in Tempe, AZ on November 20, 2016. In a recent IronFat post, we were treated to a report of Ragen’s “first big bike wreck”, a typically harrowing tale where events conspired against her to produce a major obstacle, followed by shaming from a random stranger and yet another stranger recognizing her brilliance and defending her. In the end she overcame her obstacle and learned a thing or two about shifting gears. The way Ragen tells it, after a long bike ride, with a tailwind behind her and heading up a steep hill, she had a leg cramp and lost control of her bike and had to drop it. After extricating herself from the wreck, as she lay injured and bleeding, a group of men rode past, and one of them yelled at her to move to the other side of the path. Another man immediately told off his friend and stopped to help. Finally, Ragen had to pick herself up and ride “almost 3 miles” back to her car, then go home and debride all the asphalt from her wounds. Ragen has since written about the same bike path in the “peloton of pricks” story, where a large group of men tried to force her off the path as they passed, yelling at her to “move”. The path Ragen is talking about is the San Gabriel River Bike Trail, a paved urban multi-use trail that runs along the bank of the San Gabriel River. The “steep” downhills and uphills are shallow underpasses where the trail crosses roads. It is actually possible to identify exactly where Ragen wrecked her bike, because she got so excited about bragging about her injuries that she forgot to do her usual metadata sanitization. The underpass that tripped her up is a 2.5m drop and rise over almost 250m of trail. In typical Ragen fashion she also couldn’t resist lying about the distance back to the parking lot, which was only half of the “almost 3 miles” she claimed. This trail is fairly narrow and has a shoulder on one side and a steep drop on the other for much of its length. There is no room for five people to ride side by side as Ragen claims in the “peloton of pricks” story, which brings up questions about whether this is another Ragenesque exaggeration of a group yelling “on your left”. So what actually happened in the bike wreck story? After a leisurely ride up and down a paved urban path, Ragen had a leg cramp as she rode through an underpass, and fell off her bike because she is still unable to stop it properly (she cannot straddle the main bar due to her size). Instead of pulling over to the wide shoulder on the left, she stopped in the path to take photos of the minor road rash for her blog. A group of bicyclists exiting the underpass came upon a large woman blocking half the path to take selfies, and one of them suggested she move over to the shoulder. When they realized she was hurt, they stopped to help. Finally, she biked about 1.5 miles to the parking lot, but couldn’t resist exaggerating when she wrote up the post later. Observant readers may be wondering how well Ragen’s current training will prepare her for the bike course at Tempe in just over 8 months. Mapping out an estimate of her training route during the bike wreck story shows a gentle elevation change with a number of small dips for underpasses. This is actually a quite a bit more “challenging” than the completely flat beachfront boardwalk where she did all the training for her IRONMAN 70.3 last year. By comparison, the bike course in Tempe has 125m of elevation range, and about 480m of elevation increase spread over its three loops. It is fairly obvious someone who describes a 2.5m underpass as “steep” is totally unprepared for this course. AdvertisementsDavid De Gea: Set sights on Stepney's record The 23-year-old joined the Red Devils from Atletico Madrid in June 2011 but endured a shaky start as he struggled to get to grips with the physicality of the English game. But he has since established himself as one of the Premier League's top goalkeepers and is now on 97 appearances for the club. He is on course to bring up his century against Spurs on December 1st and hopes to one day reach Alex Stepney's record 539 appearances by a United keeper. He told the Daily Mirror: "One hundred, eh? Wow! "I'll be delighted to reach that figure. It makes me very happy and I want to make it to 200 and then 300 appearances. Never know "The record is a lot of games. You never know though. At the moment, that figure seems very high but I'll take it one game at a time. "I hope to play as many games as I can for Manchester United and, who knows, maybe one day I will reach that number and go even higher. "I'm very happy with my form. I feel like this is a particularly good moment in my career right now and I hope to continue." De Gea needed to bulk up to cope with the physicality of the game in England. He added: "I do a lot of work in the gym these days and I enjoy that. I have also changed the food I eat and that's helped me put on muscle and bulk up. "It's been a big change, but it's working."A group of TDs have announced their support for debts to be written off, both in Ireland and in Greece. The Dail members are welcoming the proposal of a 'Debt Conference' by the Greek Syriza political party, to write off some of the country's loans. It comes as Greece prepares for an election on Sunday - where Syriza are reported to be the most popular. Earlier, the Taoiseach said the Government here wouldn't be looking for a similar move on Irish debts. Enda Kenny says asking creditors to tear up Ireland's debts would create instability that Ireland cannot afford. One of the TDs in support of the a debt write down, Joan Collins from the United Left, says the Taoiseach is too focused on complying to the wishes of Europe.This site is updated infrequently. For up-to-date information, please visit the new OCaml website at ocaml.org. The most recent version of OCaml is 4.07.0. It was released on 2018-07-10. Some of the highlights in release 4.07 are: The way the standard library modules are organized internally has changed: the List module (for example) is now named Stdlib__list; a new Stdlib module contains a series of aliases such as module List = Stdlib__list ; the Stdlib module is implicitly opened when type-checking OCaml programs (as Pervasives previously was), so that Stdlib.List can be accessed as just List, as before. The purpose of this reorganization is to facilitate the addition of new standard library modules while minimize risks of conflicts with user modules of the same name. Modules Float (floating-point operations) and Seq (sequences) were added to the standard library, taking advantage of the new organization mentioned above. The error messages caused by various typing errors have been improved to be easier to understand, in particular for beginners. Effort has been made to reduce the compilation time of flambda programs, and the size of the generated.cmx files when using the -Oclassic optimisation level. The HTML manual has benefited from various style improvements and should look visually nicer than previous editions. Since 4.01, it is possible to select a variant constructor or record field from a sub-module that is not opened in the current scope, if type information is available at the point of use. This now also works for GADT constructors. The GC should handle the accumulation of custom blocks in the minor heap better; this solves some memory-usage issues observed by code which allocates a lot of small custom blocks, typically small bigarrays. For more information, please consult the comprehensive list of changes. Distribution Source distribution Source tarball (.tar.gz) for compilation under Unix (including Linux and MacOS X) and Microsoft Windows (including Cygwin). Also available in.tar.xz format. OPAM and GODI are source-based distributions of OCaml and many companion libraries and tools. Compilation and installation are automated by powerful package managers. The INSTALL file of the distribution provides detailed compilation and installation instruction. Precompiled binaries for MacOS X We do not distribute binaries for MacOS any more. Mac OS is fully supported by the OPAM package manager. Precompiled binaries for Microsoft Windows These binaries are no longer available. You can compile from sources following the Windows release notes, or use the experimental OPAM on Windows system. User's manual The user's manual for OCaml can be: browsed online, downloaded as a single PDF, PostScript, or plain text document, downloaded as a single TAR or ZIP archive of HTML files, downloaded as a single tarball of Emacs info files. The user's manual for OCaml can be: License Ocaml is Free Software, copyright INRIA, licensed under the LGPL version 2.1 (with a special exception on static linking). See the full licence. Members of the Caml Consortium benefit from a more liberal license (BSD-like). Other versions Many previous releases are still available. You also have read-only Git access to the working sources and to all previous public releases. See: ocaml/ocaml on Githubnext Image 1 of 3 prev next Image 2 of 3 prev Image 3 of 3 They gather under the blazing sun and blue skies of an Australian beach, looking out at the water that once symbolized so much misery: Terrifying boat trips marked by sickness and death and the constant dread that their own lives might be nearing the end. But today, the sea will become their unlikely savior. For these five asylum-seekers, a novel program introducing them to the iconic Aussie sport of surfing is helping to transform both their feelings toward the ocean and their lives and allowing them, at least for a brief time, to forget the pains of the past. "We know that getting into the ocean and surfing makes everybody feel good," says Brenda Miley, surf school director at Let's Go Surfing, which is providing the lessons. "... I just think it's a win-win because it helps build confidence, they learn some skills, they learn about being a local Aussie." There is a rush of nervous laughter and chitchat as the men file into the Let's Go shop at Sydney's famed surf haven, Bondi Beach. Inside, instructors Conrad Pattinson and Will Bigelow demonstrate how to put on wetsuits. Amin, an asylum-seeker from Iran, flexes his muscles under the neoprene and chuckles. He has been urging his fellow Surfing Without Borders buddies along all morning, eager to get on a surfboard for the first time. But he admits his excitement is tinged with anxiety. Like the tens of thousands of asylum-seekers who have fled to Australia in recent years, Amin's trip involved a harrowing ocean crossing that began in Indonesia, where smugglers pack migrants into rickety boats that frequently break down or capsize. Those who survive the journey are often scarred by it. Amin's memories of that trip and the relentless seasickness that came with it are dark. Today, though, he hopes to forget all that. Down on the beach, Pattinson and Bigelow give the men a pep talk. They explain how the current works and the different parts of the surfboard. "We're going to make a plan to keep it safe and get heaps and heaps of waves," Bigelow says. Amin eyes the turquoise water, where the swells are gaining strength. He asks how far out they will go. "Not deep," Bigelow assures him. The students practice standing on the boards from the safety of the sand. Pattinson warns them that if they don't use proper form, they'll lose their balance and "do a helicopter." At this, he circles his arms wildly. The men crack up. Finally, it is time to hit the water. The men slide onto their boards and paddle toward a sandbar where the waves are breaking. There, the instructors help maneuver the students' boards into the proper position. And when Amin is ready, Pattinson pushes him forward onto his first wave. Amin presses himself up with his hands, pops into a brief, unsteady crouch and... Splash! "Fell down, no good!" he says. Undeterred, he wipes his face, grabs his board and paddles back out. One by one, the men make their first shaky attempts as Pattinson and Bigelow whistle and cheer. Flanked by other student surfers, they are largely indistinguishable from the rest of the rookies: Their hips wobble, their arms "do the helicopter," they occasionally collide, and they belly flop more than they stand. But more than anyone else in the water, they laugh. This kind of joy is exactly what the staff at Settlement Services International hoped to achieve when they launched the surf program last year. They knew their clients were grappling not only with the trauma associated with their boat journeys and the wars and persecution they had fled, but also with the anxiety of settling into a new country. Sandra Oehman, a case manager at the not-for-profit organization and a surfer herself, researched the concept of ocean therapy, which has been used to help everyone from sexual assault survivors to war veterans. Many find that being in the water and focusing their energy on riding the waves produces a calming sensation that helps clear the mind. Maybe, Oehman thought, it could do the same for her clients. Her manager, Robert Shipton, thought it was a brilliant idea. After all, their organization's goal is to help asylum-seekers adapt to their new culture — and what could be more Australian than surfing? Conscious that students might harbor fears of the ocean, instructors took a gradual approach, says Miley, the surf school director. First, they encouraged the men to go in the water just up to their hips, then helped push their boards onto the waves, and calmed any jitters along the way. The technique worked wonders for the dozen or so participants, who quickly gained confidence and became so enamored with the sport that many of them now surf on their own, using boards donated by locals and the surf school. "We just found that once we just encouraged people and got them in and gave them that safe space to be in the water, that very quickly those worries about anything that had to do with the water — that just disappeared," Shipton says. "And it's now to the stage where they're like, 'Let's go to the beach, we want to go surfing, let's do it more!'" Danny, an asylum seeker from Iran who was part of the pilot group, says surfing helped clear his head of the horrors he left behind. "It was very different from my (boat) journey," says Danny, who like the other students spoke on condition that their last names be withheld to protect themselves and loved ones in their home countries. "My worries when I was in the ocean were gone and I had the feeling of freedom. And I was happy." Back at the beach, Kumar, an asylum-seeker from Sri Lanka, hops off his board after riding a wave into shore. He can't stop grinning. In his former life as a fisherman, he spent a lot of time on the water. But it was nothing like Bondi. "I will never forget this," he says. "Ever." The waves are growing along with the students' fatigue. Amin's muscles are tired, but he isn't ready to quit. Bigelow pushes his board onto a wave. Amin stands up for a brief moment — then pitches face-first into the water. He emerges from the whitewash, claps victoriously at his progress and paddles back out for more. Another wave is coming. Bigelow counts it down: "3-2-1... Go!" And this time, Amin has it. He stands up, steady on his feet, coasting atop the water and whooping in glee. "AHHH!" he screams. "It feels good!" In the shallows, he pauses to catch his breath, face lit by a smile and the warm Australian sun. Today, that miserable boat trip — and the fear that went with it — feel a world away. "I took a chance in my life," he says of his journey to Australia. "I have to win or lose my life. I didn't lose, I win — because I was stronger than the ocean." Then, surfboard slung under his arm, he turns and trudges jubilantly back into the sea.After its January 2011 debut, critics hurled eggs at billboards advertising the program, protested outside the production company's office and filed more than 70,000 complaints with the Turkish government television agency. The show's producers shortened kissing scenes and toned down certain elements. Today, Magnificent Century is the most popular program in Turkey and one of the most popular shows in the Middle East. Aired in 45 countries, it is the latest Turkish soap opera to take the region by storm. And according to Turkish academics, the programs are subtly changing cultural norms. "Somehow, in those serials, you have a very balanced adjustment," said Aydin Ugur, a professor of sociology at Istanbul Bilgi University. "Women are modern, but they are not degenerate." What may someday be known as the Islamic world's accidental cultural revolution began in 2006. A Saudi-owned, Arabic-language satellite television channel, MBC, bought the rights to a Turkish soap opera about a young woman named Gumus who marries into a wealthy family. Dubbed into colloquial Arabic, censored of its raciest scenes and renamed Noor, the series was a phenomenal hit. Unlike Western soap operas, it focused on an extended family, a strong tradition in Turkey and the region. In 2008, the show's final episode drew an estimated 85 million viewers over the age of 15, according to MBC, including 50 million women, a figure that represents more than half the adult women in the Arab world. Like Magnificent Century, the show violated conservative cultural norms. Some Muslim characters drank wine with dinner and engaged in premarital sex. In one case, a character had an abortion. The lead male character, Muhannad, was the show's handsome hero. A loving, attentive and loyal husband, he supported his wife's career as a fashion designer and treated her as an equal. Their successful marriage -- which combined traditional loyalty and modern independence -- was both popular among women and groundbreaking. Some Arabic-language newspapers reported that arguments and even divorces occurred in several countries as a result. In Saudi Arabia, conservative Islamic clerics issued Limbaugh-like denunciations. They declared the show "wicked and evil" and a "secular Turkish assault on Saudi society." They issued fatwas against watching it and forbade people from praying in T-shirts that depicted the show's two stars. The head of a Saudi religious council said the owner of MBC should be tried and potentially executed for airing indecent material. Since then, Turkish soap operas have grown even more popular and received glowing coverage from Arab and Western journalists. Beyond breaking cultural taboos, the shows display something else: Turkey's rapid economic growth. Today, the country boasts one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. In its soap operas, Turkey is modern, Muslim and prosperous at the same time.Iligan, Philippines (CNN) During the rainy season on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao, storms are foreshadowed by flashes of lightning in the distance, visible above the treetops. When the rain finally comes, it is a vicious, torrential downpour, which ends as abruptly as it begins. While the rains come and go, the flow of wounded into a military hospital in the north of the island does not. Just as two ambulances pull into the hospital at Camp Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro, the skies once again open up, muddying the dirt courtyard. They discharge yet another 10 soldiers, wounded in what is becoming a bloody, protracted insurgency by ISIS-affiliated militants. Lt. Col. Jonna Dalaguit, the facility's chief medical officer, looks exhausted from the constant stream of broken men who are ferried into her hospital, brought in displaying the wounds of war -- "bullet wounds, blast wounds, fractures," she tells CNN. "We have (admitted around) 330 casualties since day two of this crisis." It's the worst count she's ever seen. It's been like this for a month, since ISIS-aligned fighters stormed the northern Mindanao city of Marawi, capturing key government buildings and setting fire to churches and schools. In the weeks that followed, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have slowly clawed back territory in the city, but a stubborn remnant of around 100 fighters clings to a handful of inner city neighborhoods, despite a sustained -- and some argue indiscriminate -- campaign of government airstrikes reducing much of the city to rubble. High human cost The siege, which appears to have taken authorities by surprise, has come at a high human cost -- ISIS has killed at least 66 Philippines soldiers and wounded hundreds more since the conflict began. It's the highest military death toll in recent Philippines history. It's so overcrowded at Camp Evangelista that around 30 soldiers, who aren't in critical condition, lie in camp beds in an open-air hallway. From here they watch their comrades, bloodied and broken, rushed in from the battle. JUST WATCHED The human cost of ISIS in the Philippines Replay More Videos... MUST WATCH The human cost of ISIS in the Philippines 01:44 The troops occupying the beds here, and throughout the wards, bring back stories from the front. One, who cannot be named for military reasons, painfully levers himself up, to prop himself against the side of his hospital bed. He lowers his sweatpants to show the stained bandages which cover much of the back of his thighs. He was on the battlefield earlier this month, clearing buildings in the city with his team. His point man's weapon jammed, he said, and when he went to help him clear it, he was struck by an IED. "I saw the ignition for a split second and turned," he said. "The (armored) vest protected me but not my legs." He suffered extensive burns in the attack; his teammate was also wounded. Another bomb went off when the recovery team went in to extract them. He was one of the relatively lucky ones. He says four members of his unit -- his friends -- have died in the past month, and he saw civilian bodies on the streets when the army first went in to take back the city. Photos: More than 330 casualties have been admitted to the Camp Evangelista military hospital in Cagayan de Oro since Philippines forces started trying to push ISIS fighters from Marawi on May 23. Hide Caption 1 of 5 Photos: ISIS has killed at least 66 Philippines soldiers and wounded hundreds more since the conflict began on May 23. Hide Caption 2 of 5 Photos: Most soldiers brought to the military hospital at Camp Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro, Mindanao, are suffering "bullet wounds, blast wounds, fractures," the chief medical officer says. Hide Caption 3 of 5 Photos: The ISIS-aligned militants are using tactics from Iraq and Syria now, including IEDs and RPGs, one soldier tells CNN. Hide Caption 4 of 5 Photos: It's so overcrowded at Camp Evangelista that around 30 soldiers sleep in camp beds in an open-air hallway. Hide Caption 5 of 5 Battle-hardened The militants this time are much more organized and "wiser" than in previous encounters, he says -- they've learned urban combat tactics honed in ISIS-held territory in the Middle East, he says. "They're using tactics from Iraq and Syria now -- IEDs, RPGs." The minarets of the city's mosques, not too long ago used by imams to call the faithful to prayer, now serve as deadly ISIS sniper nests. Another soldier, whose mother quietly cleans his wounds as he lies in his bed, tells CNN that, as well as importing ISIS' urban guerrilla tactics, they ape the AFP's methods, and are fearless in carrying out counterattacks. "We have mortars, they have mortars already," he says. "And they are ready to die." Filipinos are used to the torrential summer rains, but they do not hold out much hope that this vicious insurgency, which has erupted with a ferocity unseen here before, will end as quickly. Early warnings Like the low thunder that precedes Mindanao's downpours, there have been rumblings of Islamist uprisings on the island for some time. Armed extremist groups have been in Mindanao -- the only part of the Philippines archipelago with a sizable Muslim population -- since at least the 1970s. Over time disagreements and regional factionalism took hold and individual groups have separately carried out bombings, kidnappings and other atrocities with little central organization, mostly in areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a collection of Muslim-majority provinces and cities in the region. It was only with the rise of Isnilon Hapilon, a commander in the Abu Sayyaf Group of Basilan, an island in the south, that some form of reconciliation came about. Hapilon, a wiry extremist in his early 50s, was named emir of Southeast Asia by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2016 and has since set about uniting the region's extremists. Abu Sayyaf commander Isnllon Hapilon, seen here in a screen grab from a militant-released video, leading jihadis while holding an ISIS flag. In a matter of months, he has gathered as many as 14 groups under the black banner of ISIS, according to Rommel Banlaoi, a terrorism expert with the Philippines Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research monitoring group. The Marawi operation represents the first time these forces have banded together to fight under the ISIS flag. "I don't think we've ever seen an alliance like this that has shown the military capacity to take over a city, or to mount an operation that has anything approaching the complexity of this one," Sidney Jones, the Indonesia-based director of the Institute for Policy and Analysis of Conflict told CNN. She says the difference lies in the appeal of the ISIS ideology -- "the fact that these very disparate groups subscribe to and have been attracted by the idea of a single Islamic state for the entire world." Tight controls Mindanao is under martial law and the closer to the epicenter of the violence, the stricter the controls are. At a checkpoint on a road into Iligan City, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Marawi, civilians on foot and on public transport line up to pass into the city cordon. Many of the thousands who pass through each day are former residents of the stricken city, and the checkpoints are another daily reminder of their hometown's parlous situation. At the barrier, passengers disembark from their jeepneys and line up in the June sun, slowly shifting forward towards makeshift awnings set up by the police and military. There, they are treated brusquely by troops on edge and fearful of bombings or other attacks. After waiting their turn, they display their ID cards and move on. If they don't have documentation -- and many lost everything when fleeing the city -- they write their personal details in a log book. One commuter, Alfie Pitogo, tells CNN it is an annoyance but it's worth being inconvenienced if it keeps the city safe. Troops and police officers are on the hunt for suspected militants and escaped convicts from the jailbreak that the terrorists conducted at the beginning of their bloody campaign. Post
the cartel, who fight another cartel, to expand its territory control, who is helped by the Mexican corrupt officials, who are on the kill list of a third cartel. This is a complex situation, rendered more volatile by the US influence, not the the least by the influence of dark forces like the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA is known for legal and illegal actions throughout te world. But it needs to pay for those illegal actions, as additional budget. It had already sold weapons to Iran in the 80s for the purpose of funding over illegal operations, this is not new that they use illegal means to fund illegal acts. It is reported that they are involved in drug trafficking in Mexico, as a mean to fund the illegal part of their budget, though it remains controversial because of CIA denial. Several whisteblowers have confirmed the CIA involvement. It is not the first time a federal US agency interferes with the Cartels, often trying to help one over the other, or using dubious methods to arrest them. This includes gun walking, a federal program by the ATF to put legal weapons in the illegal Mexican market, to track them, it ended with 1400 additional guns in the end of cartels. It also includes a deal between the US government and the Sinaloa cartel, where it is protected in exchange of eliminating its rivals. All this US direct and indirect involvement just increases the violence in Mexico, destabilizing the country further. But it also has some other ways where it destabilizes the country, financially. Mexico can't compete with the US, as the US is the first economic power. But in addition to troubles to export quality goods, they are getting outpaced in other financial and economic areas as well. Although, with the new trend of always searching for cheaper labour, there are more and more US companies' factories in Mexico, increasing the number of low paid jobs. This doesn't totally negate the immigration to the US as US jobs remain better paid, often with a better standard of living, that said, with people retiring, there is now a net immigration of Mexicans, from the US to Mexico. But a big part why Mexico is not in a good shape is its government, which is where the US outpacing Mexico cruelly shows. The US has a ruthless banking sector, who has little regard for ethics, as shown multiple times, with the sell of deficient financial products before the 2009 crisis, betting against products sold to clients (Goldman Sachs), giving credits to people you know can't pay (Subprimes), and a number of other shady practices like illegally opening new accounts without the client's knowledge (Wells Fargo). It is therefore not surprising to learn that cartels use big American banks to launder their money and then keep it to the US. This is a net loss for Mexico, especially because this money is illegal, and could (should) be seized. It is somewhat counterbalanced by the remittance of the Mexican who are working in the US, but, because gangs are not cash starved, it only furthers the gangs power and violence in Mexico. With this climate, there is no way Mexico can export very high quality good in quantity, as the cartels will immediately by interested in stealing them, and it doesn't have the necessary investment because of its instability. It doesn't leave much for the Mexican government to have enough taxes on to fight poverty and crime, and it is not enough to replace the remittances by the Mexicans in the US. The simpler products are already produced in Mexico by US companies, which means that the amount that stays in Mexico remains small. There is a dynamic electronics sector, but the part that are by domestic companies are still overwhelmingly for the domestic market, that means that it's limited by Mexico's poverty and isn't exported much, so it doesn't add foreign cash to the economy. It leaves services, that are gangrened by gang's racket and intimidation, mostly can't be a net cash flow into the economy (as it's domestic demand), and are poorly taxed (because of gang's involvement) apart from tourism, and raw materials. Mexico's tourism work because it is so much cheaper than the US, and the US is a great basis for tourism demand, however, with everything that was outlined before, it is clear that Mexico can't have optimum tourism now, there is too much violence and instability. It still works, and is a great portion of Mexican economy, but can't be the only important sector in those conditions, especially for taxes. It leaves us with raw material export who also needs to be strong for a good Mexican budget. Luckily, the gulf of Mexico is full of oil. Despite cartels smuggling oil that is the property of the state company, it's taxed high enough to be a great contributor to Mexico. That's where the US puts Mexico to what it is now, a growing, but still poor nation, with a not strong enough government with an insufficient budget. The US shale industry crashed the oil prices, thanks to surproduction, and bankruptcies not affecting the production, and that leaves the Mexico part of the taxes covered by oil, as half what it was in 2010, and even less. It is not enough when you are fighting ever more powerful cartels, endemic corruption, and an immigration, though reducing, to you neighbouring country. The US is not directly responsible for everything that was just said, but most of it stems from US policies, or its influence on Mexico. The large proportion of Mexican in the US is due to stricter border control, as it is now preferable for Mexicans to stay in the US, rather than working seasonally, but it is mostly not its fault, except when they propped up juntas and murderous regime in South America, if there is an immigration flow going through Mexico. Its policies or absence of regulations like the drug war, and having a private healthcare dominated by predatory pharmaceuticals companies is the start of the power of the gangs, however it's not totally because of the US that Mexico also adopted the war on drugs strategy, and there would still be demand nonetheless, even if the US did everything right, with Mexico staying on the path of the cocaine trade, and still being a cheaper, less policed neighbour of the US. What gets really indefensible is the meddling the US is secretly and covertly doing in the cartels' fight for power against each over. Helping a cartel, or trading with them only inflates a problem, which is already putting Mexico in an uncomfortable situation and is the reason for the current corruption and violence. Finally the US can't do anything about its trading power, though it could help render its economy, and companies, more ethical, as they fuel an already tensed situation, or profit from it without giving enough back to Mexico. In the end, a lot of the way the US destabilizes Mexico are inherent to its status of a superpower, but if doesn't rectify what it can, there will remain a high incentive for Mexicans to emigrate to the the US, and Mexico's growth will be stunted with very high crime, making it a security threat to keep things as they are and shackling Mexico's future to US policies. You can find our Facebook here for the latest updates: https://www.facebook.com/The-new-reality-in-foreign-policy-492287754467588/?ref=bookmarks if you want to have a look at out miniseries on Eritrea: https://thenewrealityinforeignpolicy.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/eritrea-paradise-lost.htmlTransport for London has apologised for the Oyster card fault Thousands of people using London's public transport network may find their electronic Oyster card no longer works after a fault hit the system. The system was inoperable for at least five hours on Saturday. Some cards used during that time have since stopped working or incurred a fine. The cards are used as payment on buses, Tube, tram and Docklands Light Railway. Transport for London apologised and said people with a faulty card could get a replacement from Tube stations. A spokesman said: "Customers whose cards are not working are advised to go to their nearest London Underground ticket office where they will be able to exchange their card for a replacement. "A small number of Freedom Pass and Young Persons Oyster card holders may also have been affected. "They will be required to apply for replacement cards through their relevant local authority and through the young persons travel card helpline respectively. "Our staff will be instructed to allow these card holders to continue to travel whilst replacements are issued." 'Rare' fault It follows a computer fault which lasted from about 0530 BST to 1030 BST on Saturday, rendering cards inoperable, although several bus routes across the city were still unable to read cards much later in the day. Ticket barriers were left open while the problem persisted to allow passengers pass through without delay. Free bus travel continued on the roads for longer because individual buses had to return to their garages for their systems to be reset. Machines used to place funds on the cards were also affected by the fault. Transport for London (TfL) apologised and said Oyster faults were "very rare", adding that a problem of this nature had not happened since March 2006. Passengers touch the electronic card on the reader on entry or exit to a station, or when entering a bus. Any passenger who entered the underground or DLR system while the system was down and finished their journey after it was repaired may be charged the maximum fare. Inconvenience apology In a statement issued after the fault occurred, TfL said: "All passengers who incur a maximum fare on Saturday 12 July will be given an automatic refund from Tuesday. They do not need to take any action. "We are investigating the cause of the problem, will ensure that any necessary refunds are honoured and apologise to our passengers for any inconvenience caused." In May, London's transport commissioner Peter Hendy said 17m cards had been issued since the introduction of the Oyster system in 2003. He added that it had successfully sped up journeys and reduced queues on the city's public transport network. Passengers can currently use Oyster cards as a travel card to cover fares for periods up to one year, as well as to cover single journeys for travel to London destinations including overground stations. People using the cards can also use them on a pay-as-you-go basis by topping up the amount of money on it to cover journeys of varying distances. Commuters within London travelling on First Great Western (FGW) trains will be able to use pay-as-you-go Oyster cards from September. E-mail this to a friend Printable version Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these?Symbol of Avarice In Game Description Monster head resembling a treasure chest. Once an ancient god, it is said this is the symbol of shame imposed on a long lost clan, exiled for the sin of avarice. Wearing this slightly raises soul absorption and item discovery, but also affects its wearer with the curse of the branded. Availability Rare drop from Mimic. Check the Mimic's page for farming tips. Also, if every available Mimic is killed in one playthrough, the last one defeated will always drop it. General Information Drains health at the rate of 5 HP/Second. The health drain continues even when resting at bonfire. If you want to peruse your spells or items at a bonfire, remember to take it off or it will kill you right at the bonfire. Due to its regular health drain, this item is a good choice for safely reaching the required health for using the Red Tearstone Ring. Adds +200 to Item Discovery and increases soul drop by 20%. The item Discovery effect does not stack with Covetous Gold Serpent Ring but does stack with Humanity, while the soul drop effect does stack with the soul increase of Covetous Silver Serpent Ring. There's a time gap between the death of a boss and its soul drop. You can equip this helmet and/or Covetous Silver Serpent Ring in this time frame, and you will still get extra souls. The time frame is quite long; you can fully view a boss' death animation and still have time to switch gears. The size of the chest makes it very hard to aim with a bow when it is equipped, though if you use the Ring of Fog it is easy to aim a bow by seeing through the chest.Here’s a fact — Mitch McConnell polls badly in Kentucky. He has been in Washington since 1985. Kentuckians, like everybody else, are tired of Washington. So Kentucky has tired of Mitch McConnell. In fact, there may be no incumbent Republican Senator more vulnerable this year than Mitch McConnell. He stays in the race because of pride. Any other Republican with his polling would be shown the door by... well... Mitch McConnell. If the GOP does not gain the Senate in 2014, it will probably be because they lose Kentucky. They only lose Kentucky if Mitch McConnell is the Republican nominee. New non-partisan polling bears this out. For a while, McConnell’s team has pointed to a series of partisan polls and dismissed them as such. But Rasmussen has the first really non-partisan poll. The McConnell team has panned it claiming McConnell’s primary opponent Matt Bevin does better with liberals than him. They are squealing like a stuck pig because of what the poll actually shows. In it, McConnell and the Democrat Allison Grimes are tied. Bevin actually beats Allison Grimes. This poll is actually consistent with other polls showing McConnell only a point ahead of Grimes. You want to change Washington? I’ll say it again — the single biggest thing you can do is support Matt Bevin. His primary is early in the year. He needs your help. We must boost his name identification. He can beat Allison Grimes. He can help us keep the Senate. It is more and more clear that Mitch McConnell is the weakest incumbent Republican. It’s time Republicans pick Matt Bevin.Gadolinium alloy heats up inside the magnetic field and loses thermal energy to the environment, so it exits the field cooler than when it entered. Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling technology based on the magnetocaloric effect. This technique can be used to attain extremely low temperatures, as well as the ranges used in common refrigerators.[1][2][3][4][5] The effect was first observed by a German physicist Warburg (1881)[6] Subsequently by French physicist P. Weiss and Swiss physicist A. Piccard in 1917.[7] The fundamental principle was suggested by P. Debye (1926) and W. Giauque (1927).[8] The first working magnetic refrigerators were constructed by several groups beginning in 1933. Magnetic refrigeration was the first method developed for cooling below about 0.3K (a temperature attainable by 3 He refrigeration, that is pumping on the 3 He vapors). The magnetocaloric effect [ edit ] The magnetocaloric effect (MCE, from magnet and calorie) is a magneto-thermodynamic phenomenon in which a temperature change of a suitable material is caused by exposing the material to a changing magnetic field. This is also known by low temperature physicists as adiabatic demagnetization. In that part of the refrigeration process, a decrease in the strength of an externally applied magnetic field allows the magnetic domains of a magnetocaloric material to become disoriented from the magnetic field by the agitating action of the thermal energy (phonons) present in the material. If the material is isolated so that no energy is allowed to (re)migrate into the material during this time, (i.e., an adiabatic process) the temperature drops as the domains absorb the thermal energy to perform their reorientation. The randomization of the domains occurs in a similar fashion to the randomization at the curie temperature of a ferromagnetic material, except that magnetic dipoles overcome a decreasing external magnetic field while energy remains constant, instead of magnetic domains being disrupted from internal ferromagnetism as energy is added. One of the most notable examples of the magnetocaloric effect is in the chemical element gadolinium and some of its alloys. Gadolinium's temperature increases when it enters certain magnetic fields. When it leaves the magnetic field, the temperature drops. The effect is considerably stronger for the gadolinium alloy (Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 ).[9] Praseodymium alloyed with nickel (PrNi 5 ) has such a strong magnetocaloric effect that it has allowed scientists to approach to within one milliKelvin, one thousandth of a degree of absolute zero.[10] Equation [ edit ] The magnetocaloric effect can be quantified with the equation below: Δ T a d = − ∫ H 0 H 1 ( T C ( T, H ) ) H ( ∂ M ( T, H ) ∂ T ) H d H {\displaystyle \Delta T_{ad}=-\int _{H_{0}}^{H_{1}}{\Bigg (}{\frac {T}{C(T,H)}}{\Bigg )}_{H}{{\Bigg (}{\frac {\partial M(T,H)}{\partial T}}{\Bigg )}}_{H}dH} where T is the temperature, H is the applied magnetic field, C is the heat capacity of the working magnet (refrigerant) and M is the magnetization of the refrigerant. From the equation we can see that magnetocaloric effect can be enhanced by: applying a large field using a magnet with a small heat capacity using a magnet with a large change in magnetization vs. temperature, at a constant magnetic field Thermodynamic cycle [ edit ] H = externally applied magnetic field; Q = heat quantity; P = pressure; ΔT ad = adiabatic temperature variation Analogy between magnetic refrigeration and vapor cycle or conventional refrigeration.= externally applied magnetic field;= heat quantity;= pressure; Δ= adiabatic temperature variation The cycle is performed as a refrigeration cycle that is analogous to the Carnot refrigeration cycle, but with increases and decreases in magnetic field strength instead of increases and decreases in pressure. It can be described at a starting point whereby the chosen working substance is introduced into a magnetic field, i.e., the magnetic flux density is increased. The working material is the refrigerant, and starts in thermal equilibrium with the refrigerated environment. Adiabatic magnetization: A magnetocaloric substance is placed in an insulated environment. The increasing external magnetic field (+ H ) causes the magnetic dipoles of the atoms to align, thereby decreasing the material's magnetic entropy and heat capacity. Since overall energy is not lost (yet) and therefore total entropy is not reduced (according to thermodynamic laws), the net result is that the substance is heated ( T + Δ T ad ). A magnetocaloric substance is placed in an insulated environment. The increasing external magnetic field (+ ) causes the magnetic dipoles of the atoms to align, thereby decreasing the material's magnetic entropy and heat capacity. Since overall energy is not lost (yet) and therefore total entropy is not reduced (according to thermodynamic laws), the net result is that the substance is heated ( + Δ ). Isomagnetic enthalpic transfer: This added heat can then be removed (- Q ) by a fluid or gas—gaseous or liquid helium, for example. The magnetic field is held constant to prevent the dipoles from reabsorbing the heat. Once sufficiently cooled, the magnetocaloric substance and the coolant are separated. This added heat can then be removed (- ) by a fluid or gas—gaseous or liquid helium, for example. The magnetic field is held constant to prevent the dipoles from reabsorbing the heat. Once sufficiently cooled, the magnetocaloric substance and the coolant are separated. Adiabatic demagnetization: The substance is returned to another adiabatic (insulated) condition so the total entropy remains constant. However, this time the magnetic field is decreased ( H = 0), the thermal energy causes the magnetic moments to overcome the field, and thus the sample cools, i.e., an adiabatic temperature change. Energy (and entropy) transfers from thermal entropy to magnetic entropy, measuring the disorder of the magnetic dipoles. [11] The substance is returned to another adiabatic (insulated) condition so the total entropy remains constant. However, this time the magnetic field is decreased ( = 0), the thermal energy causes the magnetic moments to overcome the field, and thus the sample cools, i.e., an adiabatic temperature change. Energy (and entropy) transfers from thermal entropy to magnetic entropy, measuring the disorder of the magnetic dipoles. Isomagnetic entropic transfer: The magnetic field is held constant to prevent the material from reheating. The material is placed in thermal contact with the environment to be refrigerated. Because the working material is cooler than the refrigerated environment (by design), heat energy migrates into the working material (+Q). Once the refrigerant and refrigerated environment are in thermal equilibrium, the cycle can restart. Applied technique [ edit ] The basic operating principle of an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) is the use of a strong magnetic field to control the entropy of a sample of material, often called the "refrigerant". Magnetic field constrains the orientation of magnetic dipoles in the refrigerant. The stronger the magnetic field, the more aligned the dipoles are, corresponding to lower entropy and heat capacity because the material has (effectively) lost some of its internal degrees of freedom. If the refrigerant is kept at a constant temperature through thermal contact with a heat sink (usually liquid helium) while the magnetic field is switched on, the refrigerant must lose some energy because it is equilibrated with the heat sink. When the magnetic field is subsequently switched off, the heat capacity of the refrigerant rises again because the degrees of freedom associated with orientation of the dipoles are once again liberated, pulling their share of equipartitioned energy from the motion of the molecules, thereby lowering the overall temperature of a system with decreased energy. Since the system is now insulated when the magnetic field is switched off, the process is adiabatic, i.e., the system can no longer exchange energy with its surroundings (the heat sink), and its temperature decreases below its initial value, that of the heat sink. The operation of a standard ADR proceeds roughly as follows. First, a strong magnetic field is applied to the refrigerant, forcing its various magnetic dipoles to align and putting these degrees of freedom of the refrigerant into a state of lowered entropy. The heat sink then absorbs the heat released by the refrigerant due to its loss of entropy. Thermal contact with the heat sink is then broken so that the system is insulated, and the magnetic field is switched off, increasing the heat capacity of the refrigerant, thus decreasing its temperature below the temperature of the heat sink. In practice, the magnetic field is decreased slowly in order to provide continuous cooling and keep the sample at an approximately constant low temperature. Once the field falls to zero or to some low limiting value determined by the properties of the refrigerant, the cooling power of the ADR vanishes, and heat leaks will cause the refrigerant to warm up. Working materials [ edit ] The magnetocaloric effect (MCE) is an intrinsic property of a magnetic solid. This thermal response of a solid to the application or removal of magnetic fields is maximized when the solid is near its magnetic ordering temperature. Thus, the materials considered for magnetic refrigeration devices should be magnetic materials with a magnetic phase transition temperature near the temperature region of interest.[12] For refrigerators that could be used in the home, this temperature is room temperature. The temperature change can be further increased when the order-parameter of the phase transition changes strongly within the temperature range of interest.[3] The magnitudes of the magnetic entropy and the adiabatic temperature changes are strongly dependent upon the magnetic ordering process. The magnitude is generally small in antiferromagnets, ferrimagnets and spin glass systems but can be much larger for ferromagnets that undergo a magnetic phase transition. First order phase transitions are characterized by a discontinuity in the magnetization changes with temperature, resulting in a latent heat.[12] Second order phase transitions do not have this latent heat associated with the phase transition.[12] In the late 1990s Pecharksy and Gschneidner reported a magnetic entropy change in Gd 5 (Si 2 Ge 2 ) that was about 50% larger than that reported for Gd metal, which had the largest known magnetic entropy change at the time.[13] This giant magnetocaloric effect (GMCE) occurred at 270K, which is lower than that of Gd (294K).[5] Since the MCE occurs below room temperature these materials would not be suitable for refrigerators operating at room temperature.[14] Since then other alloys have also demonstrated the giant magnetocaloric effect. These include Gd 5 (Si x Ge 1−x ) 4, La(Fe x Si 1−x ) 13 H x and MnFeP 1−x As x alloys,.[12][14] Gadolinium and its alloys undergo second-order phase transitions that have no magnetic or thermal hysteresis.[15] However, the use of rare earth elements makes these materials very expensive.[16][17] A 2019 review article can be found in Progress in Materials Science.[18] Current research has been used to describe alloys with a significant magnetocaloric effect in terms of a thermodynamic system. Literature says that Gd5(Si2Ge2) for example may be described as a thermodynamic system provided it satisfies the condition of being “a quantity of matter or region in space chosen for study”.[19] Such systems have become relevant to modern research in thermodynamics because they serve as plausible materials for the creation of high performance thermoelectric materials. Ni 2 Mn-X (X = Ga, Co, In, Al, Sb) Heusler alloys are also promising candidates for magnetic cooling applications because they have Curie temperatures near room temperature and, depending on composition, can have martensitic phase transformations near room temperature.[4] These materials exhibit the magnetic shape memory effect and can also be used as actuators, energy harvesting devices, and sensors.[20] When the martensitic transformation temperature and the Curie temperature are the same (based on composition) the magnitude of the magnetic entropy change is the largest.[3] In February 2014, GE announced the development of a functional Ni-Mn-based magnetic refrigerator.[21][22] The development of this technology is very material-dependent and will likely not replace vapor-compression refrigeration without significantly improved materials that are cheap, abundant, and exhibit much larger magnetocaloric effects over a larger range of temperatures. Such materials need to show significant temperature changes under a field of two tesla or less, so that permanent magnets can be used for the production of the magnetic field.[23][24] Paramagnetic salts [ edit ] The original proposed refrigerant was a paramagnetic salt, such as cerium magnesium nitrate. The active magnetic dipoles in this case are those of the electron shells of the paramagnetic atoms. In a paramagnetic salt ADR, the heat sink is usually provided by a pumped 4 He (about 1.2 K) or 3 He (about 0.3 K) cryostat. An easily attainable 1 T magnetic field is generally required for initial magnetization. The minimum temperature attainable is determined by the self-magnetization tendencies of the refrigerant salt, but temperatures from 1 to 100 mK are accessible. Dilution refrigerators had for many years supplanted paramagnetic salt ADRs, but interest in space-based and simple to use lab-ADRs has remained, due to the complexity and unreliability of the dilution refrigerator Eventually paramagnetic salts become either diamagnetic or ferromagnetic, limiting the lowest temperature that can be reached using this method. Nuclear demagnetization [ edit ] One variant of adiabatic demagnetization that continues to find substantial research application is nuclear demagnetization refrigeration (NDR). NDR follows the same principles, but in this case the cooling power arises from the magnetic dipoles of the nuclei of the refrigerant atoms, rather than their electron configurations. Since these dipoles are of much smaller magnitude, they are less prone to self-alignment and have lower intrinsic minimum fields. This allows NDR to cool the nuclear spin system to very low temperatures, often 1 µK or below. Unfortunately, the small magnitudes of nuclear magnetic dipoles also makes them less inclined to align to external fields. Magnetic fields of 3 teslas or greater are often needed for the initial magnetization step of NDR. In NDR systems, the initial heat sink must sit at very low temperatures (10–100 mK). This precooling is often provided by the mixing chamber of a dilution refrigerator or a paramagnetic salt. Commercial development [ edit ] Research and a demonstration proof of concept device in 2001 succeeded in applying commercial-grade materials and permanent magnets at room temperatures to construct a magnetocaloric refrigerator[25] On August 20, 2007, the Risø National Laboratory (Denmark) at the Technical University of Denmark, claimed to have reached a milestone in their magnetic cooling research when they reported a temperature span of 8.7 K.[26] They hoped to introduce the first commercial applications of the technology by 2010. As of 2013 this technology had proven commercially viable only for ultra-low temperature cryogenic applications available for decades. Magnetocaloric refrigeration systems are composed of pumps, motors, secondary fluids, heat exchangers of different types, magnets and magnetic materials. These processes are greatly affected by irreversibilities and should be adequately considered. At year-end, Cooltech Applications[27] announced that its first commercial refrigeration equipment would enter the market in 2014. Cooltech Applications launched their first commercially available magnetic refrigeration system on 20 June 2016. At the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a consortium of Haier, Astronautics Corporation of America and BASF presented the first cooling appliance.[28] BASF claim of their technology a 35% improvement over using compressors[29] Current and future uses [ edit ] Thermal and magnetic hysteresis problems remain to be solved for first-order phase transition materials that exhibit the GMCE.[23] One potential application is in spacecraft. Vapor-compression refrigeration units typically achieve performance coefficients of 60% of that of a theoretical ideal Carnot cycle, much higher than current MR technology. Small domestic refrigerators are however much less efficient.[30] In 2014 giant anisotropic behaviour of the magnetocaloric effect was found in HoMn 2 O 5 at 10 K. The anisotropy of the magnetic entropy change gives rise to a large rotating MCE offering the possibility to build simplified, compact, and efficient magnetic cooling systems by rotating it in a constant magnetic field.[31] In 2015 Aprea et al.[32] presented a new refrigeration concept, GeoThermag, which is a combination of magnetic refrigeration technology with that of low-temperature geothermal energy. To demonstrate the applicability of the GeoThermag technology, they developed a pilot system that consists of a 100-m deep geothermal probe; inside the probe, water flows and is used directly as a regenerating fluid for a magnetic refrigerator operating with gadolinium. The GeoThermag system showed the ability to produce cold water even at 281.8 K in the presence of a heat load of 60 W. In addition, the system has shown the existence of an optimal frequency f AMR, 0.26 Hz, for which it was possible to produce cold water at 287.9 K with a thermal load equal to 190 W with a COP of 2.20. Observing the temperature of the cold water that was obtained in the tests, the GeoThermag system showed a good ability to feed the cooling radiant floors and a reduced capacity for feeding the fan coil systems. History [ edit ] The effect was discovered first observed by a German physicist Warburg (1881)[6] Subsequently by French physicist P. Weiss and Swiss physicist A. Piccard in 1917.[7] Major advances first appeared in the late 1920s when cooling via adiabatic demagnetization was independently proposed by chemistry Nobel Laureates Peter Debye in 1926 and William F. Giauque in 1927. It was first demonstrated experimentally by Giauque and his colleague D. P. MacDougall in 1933 for cryogenic purposes when they reached 0.25 K.[33] Between 1933 and 1997, advances in MCE cooling occurred.[34] In 1997, the first near room-temperature proof of concept magnetic refrigerator was demonstrated by Karl A. Gschneidner, Jr. by the Iowa State University at Ames Laboratory. This event attracted interest from scientists and companies worldwide who started developing new kinds of room temperature materials and magnetic refrigerator designs.[9] A major breakthrough came 2002 when a group at the University of Amsterdam demonstrated the giant magnetocaloric effect in MnFe(P,As) alloys that are based on abundant materials.[35] Refrigerators based on the magnetocaloric effect have been demonstrated in laboratories, using magnetic fields starting at 0.6 T up to 10 T. Magnetic fields above 2 T are difficult to produce with permanent magnets and are produced by a superconducting magnet (1 T is about 20,000 times the Earth's magnetic field). Room temperature devices [ edit ] Recent research has focused on near room temperature. Constructed examples of room temperature magnetic refrigerators include: Room temperature magnetic refrigerators Sponsor Location Announcement date Type Max. cooling power (W)[1] Max ΔT (K)[2] Magnetic field (T) Solid refrigerant Quantity (kg) COP (-)[3] Ames Laboratory/Astronautics[36] Ames, Iowa/Madison, Wisconsin, US February 20, 1997 Reciprocating 600 10 5 (S) Gd spheres Mater. Science Institute Barcelona[37][38] Barcelona, Spain May 2000 Rotary? 5 0.95 (P) Gd foil Chubu Electric/Toshiba[39] Yokohama, Japan Summer 2000 Reciprocating 100 21 4 (S) Gd spheres University of Victoria[40][41] Victoria, British Columbia Canada July 2001 Reciprocating 2 14 2 (S) Gd & Gd 1−x Tb x L.B. Astronautics[42] Madison, Wisconsin, US September 18, 2001 Rotary 95 25 1.5 (P) Gd spheres Sichuan Inst. Tech./Nanjing University[43] Nanjing, China 23 April 2002 Reciprocating? 23 1.4 (P) Gd spheres and Gd 5 Si 1.985 Ge 1.985 Ga 0.03 powder Chubu Electric/Toshiba[44] Yokohama, Japan October 5, 2002 Reciprocating 40 27 0.6 (P) Gd 1−x Dy x L.B. Chubu Electric/Toshiba[44] Yokohama, Japan March 4, 2003 Rotary 60 10 0.76 (P) Gd 1−x Dy x L.B. 1 Lab. d’Electrotechnique Grenoble[45] Grenoble, France April 2003 Reciprocating 8.8 4 0.8 (P) Gd foil George Washington University [46] US July 2004 Reciprocating? 5 2 (P) Gd foil Astronautics[47] Madison, Wisconsin, US 2004 Rotary 95 25 1.5 (P) Gd and GdEr spheres / La(Fe 0.88 Si 130− 0.12 H 1.0 University of Victoria[48] Victoria, British Columbia Canada 2006 Reciprocating 15 50 2 (S) Gd, Gd 0.74 Tb 0.26 and Gd 0.85 Er 0.15 pucks 0.12 University of Salerno[49] Salerno, Italy 2016 Rotary 250 12 1.2 (P) Gd 0.600 mm spherical particles 1.20 0.5 - 2.5 1maximum cooling power at zero temperature difference (ΔT=0); 2maximum temperature span at zero cooling capacity (W=0); L.B. = layered bed; P = permanent magnet; S = superconducting magnet; 3 COP values under different operating conditions In one example, Prof. Karl A. Gschneidner, Jr. unveiled a proof of concept magnetic refrigerator near room temperature on February 20, 1997. He also announced the discovery of the GMCE in Gd 5 Si 2 Ge 2 on June 9, 1997.[13] Since then, hundreds of peer-reviewed articles have been written describing materials exhibiting magnetocaloric effects. See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ]It was a stunning allegation from the mouth of his little girl. “I was devastated,” says Ireland, 64, a married father of one daughter, another adopted girl and former foster parent to several children over the years, including the accuser and her brother. Her claim, investigated by police, never led to a charge or conviction. But it remains on his record, continues to undermine his ability to work and support his family and has changed the former police officer’s life for good. Robert Ireland’s foster daughter, whom he cared for in his seaside B.C. home for nearly a decade, made allegations of sexual assault against him shortly after she left in 2012, when she was in her early teens. The girl’s allegations in 2012 also led to Ireland and his wife losing their foster parenting contract, which removed the accuser’s brother and another foster child from their home. They have not been able to serve as foster parents since. Because the RCMP routinely release “non-conviction” records as part of employment background checks, Ireland’s recent application for a position with a provincial transit company suddenly ended after the unproven allegations appeared on his police check. “I’m close to all my kids. I’d take them on ski trips and to Disneyland. I loved bringing them up in the world and seeing a difference. “This was my daughter. I loved her. I never thought I’d ever be accused of anything by her. I was a basket case for six months after. A Star investigation has found three other men were similarly accused of sexual assault by the same girl. The information has also ended up in the country’s criminal records database, which is accessed by U.S
that some of the people in their counties do not obey them and refuse to fulfil the bannus of the lord emperor, saying that they have to answer to the missi of the lord emperor for the haribannus, not to the count … 7. There are also others who say that they are the homines of Pippin and Louis and then, when the other people of the county have to go to the army, declare that they are going on their lords’ service. 8. There are others again who do not go and say that their lords are staying at home and that their duty is to go with their lords to wherever the lord emperor shall have commanded. And there are others who for this reason commend themselves to those lords who they know will not be going to the army. 9. That above all the people in the counties are becoming more disobedient to the counts and having more frequent recourse to the missi than was previously the case Capitulary of Boulogne: October 811 The articles which the lord emperor estabished at Boulogne, which is on the coast, in the forty-fourth year of his reign, in October, in the fifth indiction. 1. Any freeman who has been summoned to the army and has scorned to come is to pay the full haribannus, that is, sixty solids, or, if he does not have the wherewithal to pay this sum, to surrender himself as a pledge into servitude to the prince until in the course of time that bannus comes to be paid by him; and then he is to revert to his free status again. And if a man who has surrendered himself into servitude on account of the haribannus should die in that servitude, his heirs are to lose neither the inheritance which belongs to them nor their freedom; nor are they to be made liable for that haribannus. 2. That a count is not to presume to exact the haribannus in any circumstances, not for neglect of guard-duty or of service in a scare or garrison or of the obligation to billet troops or of any other bannus, but that our nissus is first to receive the haribannus on our behalf and then, by our order, to give him his third part of it. And the haribannus is not to be exacted in lands or mancipia but in gold and silver, cloth and arms, horses and livestock and such commodities as are of use. 3. Any homo holding our honores who has been summoned to the army and not come at the appointed time is to abstain from meat and wine for as many days as he will have been convicted of having arrived after the appointed time. 4. As regards the punishment of anyone returning from the army without the leave and permission of the prince – which action the Franks call herisliz – it is our will that the ancient ruling be observed, namely, sentence of death. 5. If someone from among those holding a benefice of the prince should fail his comrade-in-arms when he is going on campaign against public enemies and refuse to go or stay with him, he is to lose his honor and benefice. 6. That no one in the army is to invite his comrade-in-arms or any other man to drink. And whoever is found drunk in the army is to be segregated [‘excommunicetur’] in such a way that he may have only water to drink until such time as he recognises that he has done wrong. 7. As regards vassals of the emperor who are known to have benefices yet still serve within the household, it has been decided that any of these who remain at home with the lord emperor are not to keep their enfeoffed vassals with them but are to suffer them to go with the count in whose district they dwell. 8. As to what must be furnished in going on campaign, it has been decreed that what is established by ancient custom is to be required and observed, that is, men are to have provisions for three months from crossing the border and arms and clothing for half a year. But it has been decided that this is to be observed as follows: the Loire is to be accounted the starting-point for provisioning for those who travel from the Rhine to the Loire; those who go from the Loire to the Rhine are required to have three months’ provisions from the Rhine; those who live across the Rhine and march through Saxony are to know that the border is at the Elbe; and those who dwell across the Loire and have to advance into Spain are to recognise the mountains of the Pyrenees as their border. 9. Any free homo who is discovered not to have been in the army with his lord this year is to be compelled to pay the full haribannus. And if his lord or count left him at home, he is to pay that bannus for him; and as many haribanni are to be exacted from him as he left homines at home. And since we have allowed every lord to leave two homines at home this year, it is our will that they make these homines known to our missi, for they alone are excused the haribannus by us. 10. It has been decreed that no bishop or abbot or abbess or rector or custodian of a church whatsoever is to presume to give or to sell a coat of mail or a sword to any outsider without our permission; he may bestow these only on his own vassals. And should it happen that there are more coats of mail in a particular church or holy place than are needed for the homines of the said church’s rector, then let the said rector of the church inquire of the prince what ought to be done concerning them. 11. That whenever we wish to dispatch a fleet the lords are to go on the ships and to be equipped for this. These translated texts are from Charlemagne: Translated Sources, by P.D. King (Kendal, 1987). We thank Professor King for his permission to include these items. First published in 1987, Charlemagne: Translated Sources is one of the best available collections of primary sources. The items available in this work include: Annals of the Kingdom of the Franks (also known as the Royal Frankish Annals) Revised Annals of the Kingdom of the Franks Moselle Annals Lorsch Annals Moissac Chronicle Life of Louis the Pious, by the Astronomer Lives of Stephen III, Hadrian I and Leo III, from The Book of Popes 30 Capitularies, dating between 769 – 813 The Caroline Code Also a selection of letters and other minor chronicles P. D. King also provides a description of the nature of these sources as well as a detailed history of the events of Charlemagne’s reign. Professor King sells this publication privately, and if you are interested in this work, please contact him by postal mail at: P.D. King Moresdale Hall Lambrigg Kendal Cumbria, United Kingdom LA8 0DHWith the world growing more concerned about attacks by militant groups on civilians, Microsoft Corp on Friday outlined new policies to crack down what it called “terrorist content” on some of its consumer services. In a blog post, the company said it would ban what it called “terrorist content” on some services such as gaming tool Xbox Live, the consumer version of its Outlook email service, and its consumer documents-sharing service. But for its search engine Bing, Microsoft cited free expression and said it would remove links only when that “is required of search providers under local law.” Initially, Microsoft will rely on consumers to report objectionable content. The company also said it would fund research of a tool that scans content and flags images, audio and video. “We will consider terrorist content to be material posted by or in support of organizations included on the Consolidated United Nations Security Council Sanctions List that depicts graphic violence, encourages violent action, endorses a terrorist organization or its acts, or encourages people to join such groups,” the blog post said. The steps illustrate the tough predicament many companies face balancing public safety with individual rights. The issue came to the fore after Apple Inc. and the U.S. government clashed over whether federal authorities could force Apple to create software to unlock a phone used by a shooter in the San Bernardino attacks last year. Ultimately, the government paid a third party to unlock the phone. “The events of the past few months are a strong reminder that the Internet can be used for the worst reasons imaginable,” Microsoft said in its post. Microsoft said users can use an online form to recommend removal of content. “Use this Web form to report content posted by or in support of a terrorist organization that depicts graphic violence, encourages violent action, endorses a terrorist organization or its acts, or encourages people to join such groups,” the instructions read. Microsoft said it would provide information on how to counter negative content, a policy adopted by another technology giant: Facebook Inc. The social-media service this year announced a tool it calls “counter speech,” encouraging activists to counter extremist views with posts promoting tolerance. Last year, Facebook updated its guidelines to prohibit advocacy of “terrorist activity, organized criminal activity or promoting hate.” Social media site Twitter Inc suspended 125,000 accounts, most of which it believed were linked to the militant Islamic State group. © Thomson Reuters 2016We’ve been hearing about intriguing stealth thriller title Stifled for some time, but soon we’ll finally get to play it. Stifled is coming to PlayStation VR (PSVR) in just over two weeks’ time on October 31st, developer Gattai Games confirmed on the PlayStation Blog. The game has been in development for some three years in Singapore, making it one of the first PSVR titles to stem of Sony’s efforts in the region. In Stifled the world around you is pitch black. You illuminate the path in front of you by making sounds detected by PSVR’s microphone. Make too much noise, though, and you’ll also alert enemies to your position. It’s played with a DualShock 4 and also supports a non-VR mode. Check out the trailer below. We went hands-on with the game late last year and found the core mechanic to be particularly terrifying. Hopefully the full game is just as good.It’s close to impossible to hear Wes Craven’s name without immediately picturing Freddy’s glove or the ghostface mask. Over the year’s Craven’s name has become synonymous with the characters he created –and we remember them together because Craven was astoundingly good at predicting which kinds of scares would hit us at our core. From gore to crass wit to mind-bending self-reference (he basically invented meta), no one invigorated the horror genre quite like Craven, who died Sunday of brain cancer. Craven passed away surrounded by family members on August 30th at the age of 76. While we mourn the loss of this prolific director, we want to celebrate all the times he gave us goosebumps and made us wish we still slept with a nightlight. Here’s a look back some of Craven’s best spine-chillers. Those are our top picks, what would you add to this gallery?Growing up poor can suppress a child's genetic potential to excel cognitively even before the age of 2, according to research from psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin. Half of the gains that wealthier children show on tests of mental ability between 10 months and 2 years of age can be attributed to their genes, the study finds. But children from poorer families, who already lag behind their peers by that age, show almost no improvements that are driven by their genetic makeup. The study of 750 sets of twins by Assistant Professor Elliot Tucker-Drob does not suggest that children from wealthier families are genetically superior or smarter. They simply have more opportunities to reach their potential. These findings go to the heart of the age-old debate about whether "nature" or "nurture" is more important to a child's development. They suggest the two work together and that the right environment can help children begin to reach their genetic potentials at a much earlier age than previously thought. "You can't have environmental contributions to a child's development without genetics. And you can't have genetic contributions without environment," says Tucker-Drob, who is also a research associate in the university's Population Research Center. "Socioeconomic disadvantages suppress children's genetic potentials." The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, was co-authored by K. Paige Harden of The University of Texas at Austin, Mijke Rhemtulla of The University of Texas at Austin and the University of British Columbia, and Eric Turkheimer and David Fask of the University of Virginia. The researchers looked at test results from twins who had taken a version of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at about 10 months and again at about 2 years of age. The test, which is widely used to measure early cognitive ability, asks children to perform such tasks as pulling a string to ring a bell, putting three cubes in a cup and matching pictures. At 10 months, there was no difference in how the children from different socioeconomic backgrounds performed. By 2 years, children from high socioeconomic background scored significantly higher than those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. In general, the 2-year-olds from poorer families performed very similarly to one another. That was true among both fraternal and identical twins, suggesting that genetic similarity was unrelated to similarities in cognitive ability. Instead, their environments determine their cognitive success. Among 2-year-olds from wealthier families, identical twins (who share identical genetic makeups) performed very similarly to one another. But fraternal twins were not as similar -- suggesting their different genetic makeups and potentials were already driving their cognitive abilities. "Our findings suggest that socioeconomic disparities in cognitive development start early," says Tucker-Drob. "For children from poorer homes, genetic influences on changes in cognitive ability were close to zero. For children from wealthier homes, genes accounted for about half of the variation in cognitive changes." The study notes that wealthier parents are often able to provide better educational resources and spend more time with their children but does not examine what factors, in particular, help their children reach their genetic potentials. Tucker-Drob is planning follow-up studies to examine that question.Donald Trump launched an angry denunciation of the official probe into his election campaign’s alleged ties to Russia yesterday as it emerged the federal investigation could make its first arrest as early as Monday. Senior Republicans also stepped up attacks on Robert Mueller, the man leading the investigation into alleged Russian attempts to sway last year’s American election, criticising leaks and demanding he step aside. US media reported that the first arrests from Mr Mueller’s investigation - possibly including some of Mr Trump’s senior former advisers - could come on Monday after a grand jury approved its first Russia-related indictment on Friday. The revelation sparked a weekend of feverish speculation about who would be indicted as well as frantic Republican efforts to discredit the investigation. In a furious and defensive barrage of tweets on Sunday morning, Mr Trump dismissed the allegations as “phony” and the investigation as a “witch hunt”, complaining that allegations against Hillary Clinton had not been examined in the same detail.In a statement early Monday, Mr. Wagoner said he had been urged to “step aside” by administration officials, “and so I have.” He thanked G.M. employees for their support. “G.M. is a great company with a storied history.” Mr. Wagoner said. “Ignore the doubters because I know it is also a company with a great future.” The United Automobile Workers union had no comment on Mr. Wagoner’s departure. But Michigan’s governor, Jennifer M. Granholm, echoed an fledgling sense in Detroit that Mr. Wagoner may be viewed as an auto industry martyr. Speaking on MSNBC, Gov. Granholm said Mr. Wagoner was a “sacrficial lamb.” During his nine years in charge, Mr. Wagoner never appeared to waver from his determination that G.M. would reclaim its spot as the unrivaled leader of the auto industry, despite steadily falling sales. Through three major restructuring plans enacted on his watch — eliminating dozens of plants, tens of thousands of jobs and jettisoning hundreds of dealers — Mr. Wagoner maintained a stolid confidence in himself and the company’s strength. Only recently did he acknowledge the need to significantly pare the company’s brand and model lineup, to better match the company’s bloated infrastructure with the shrinking market. Only at the second round of Congressional hearings last fall did Mr. Wagoner start agreeing that the company had made mistakes, and that its problems were not all attributable to outside forces like the weakening economy and tightening credit markets. Mr. Wagoner joined G.M.’s financial operations in 1977 out of Harvard Business School, and, like generations of executives before him, worked nowhere else during his career. Mr. Wagoner vaulted into Detroit’s consciousness in 1992 upon another resignation during a financial crisis — that of Robert C. Stempel, the chief executive at G.M. at the time. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Then only 38, Mr. Wagoner became G.M.’s chief financial officer. Two years later, he was named president of its North American operations. Photo His mentor, the chief executive John F. Smith Jr., named Mr. Wagoner president of G.M. in 1998, and he succeeded Mr. Smith in the top job in 2000. Like Mr. Smith, Mr. Wagoner aggressively expanded G.M.’s operations outside the United States. The company now sells 65 percent of its vehicles overseas, thanks to Mr. Wagoner’s push into markets like China, Russia and Latin America. However, G.M.’s sales slump at home led to it losing its longtime title last year as the world’s largest auto company, replaced by Toyota. 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. “It’s a pretty unceremonious ending,” said John Casesa, an industry analyst and managing partner of the Casesa Shapiro Group. “G.M. lost its way in the ‘70s, but the company didn’t know it until 20 years late. The hole was much deeper than he realized when he became C.E.O.” And, Mr. Casesa said, Mr. Wagoner’s finance background might have been a poor fit: “The most successful auto companies are run by people who came out of the revenue-generating functions — manufacturing, design, marketing — making cars and selling cars.” Mr. Wagoner, the analyst said, “skipped the whole apprenticeship that most auto C.E.O.’s experience.” Mr. Wagoner presided over some of the biggest losses in G.M. history. In 2002, the company had predicted that it would earn $10 a share by the middle of the decade. Instead, G.M. lost $30.9 billion in 2008, when its per-share loss translated to more than $50 a share. G.M. stock, an economic bellwether that sold above $35 only three years ago, closed Friday at $3.62; it has fallen as low as $1.27 in the last year. In 1994, when he took charge of G.M.’s North American operations, the company made up 33.2 percent of auto sales in the United States. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Last month, G.M. represented only 18.8 percent of American car and truck sales, according to statistics from Motor Intelligence, which tracks industry data. Under pressure to stop G.M.’s sliding market share, Mr. Wagoner hired Robert A. Lutz, a longtime auto industry executive, in 2002. Mr. Lutz reorganized G.M.’s product development operations, and introduced a number of new vehicles, including sporty models like the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky. Both Mr. Lutz, who had previously announced his plans to retire by year’s end, and Mr. Wagoner have championed the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid electric car that G.M. plans to introduce in late 2010. Mr. Wagoner has said that one of the moves he regretted most was G.M’s decision to kill the EV-1, an electric car that it leased to customers in the late 1990s. Although the vehicle was not profitable, it helped G.M.’s image with environmentalists, which in 2006 Mr. Wagoner conceded he had understood too late. Only six months ago, Mr. Wagoner stood in front of hundreds of G.M. employees in the atrium of the company’s Detroit headquarters, celebrating the automaker’s 100th anniversary. Dressed in a gray suit and a yellow, blue and white striped tie, Mr. Wagoner said: “So, what’s our assignment for today and tomorrow? Above all, it’s to demonstrate to the world that we are more than a 100-year-old company. We’re a company that’s ready to lead for 100 years to come.”During a meeting at the White House, the president assured Senator John McCain that after months of delay the US was meeting its commitment to back moderate elements of the opposition. Mr Obama said that a 50-man cell, believed to have been trained by US special forces in Jordan, was making its way across the border into Syria, according to the New York Times. The deployment of the rebel unit seems to be the first tangible measure of support since Mr Obama announced in June that the US would begin providing the opposition with small arms. Congressional opposition delayed the plan for several weeks and rebel commanders publicly complained the US was still doing nothing to match the Russian-made firepower of the Assad regime. Mr McCain has been a chief critic of the White House's reluctance to become involved in Syria and has long demanded that Mr Obama provide the rebels with arms needed to overthrow the regime. He and Senator Lindsey Graham, a fellow Republican foreign policy hawk, emerged from the Oval Office meeting on Monday cautiously optimistic that Mr Obama would step up support for the rebels. "There seems to be emerging from this administration a pretty solid plan to upgrade the opposition," Mr Graham said. He added that he hoped the opposition would be given "a chance to speak directly to the American people" to counter US fears that they were dominated by al-Qaeda sympathisers. "They're not trying to replace one dictator, Assad, who has been brutal... to only have al-Qaeda run Syria," Mr Graham said. The US announced in June, following the first allegations the Assad regime had used chemical weapons, that it would send light arms to the rebels but refused to provide anti-aircraft missiles and other heavy weapons. American concerns were born partly out of the experience of Afghanistan in the 1980s, when CIA weapons given to the anti-Russian mujahideen were later used by the Taliban.import React from'react'; const Avatar = ({ url }) => <img src={ url } />; class Profile extends React.Component { render() { return ( <div> <Avatar url={ this.props.avatarUrl } /> { `${ this.props.firstName } ${ this.props.lastName } - ${ this.props.email }` } </div> ); } } export default Profile; This simple example can illustrate how “this.props” can clutter your code, that’s why we see React developers tend to use ES6 Destructuring capabilities. import React from'react'; const Avatar = ({ url }) => <img src={ url } />; class Profile extends React.Component { render() { const { avatarUrl, firstName, lastName, email } = this.props; return ( <div> <Avatar url={ avatarUrl } /> { `${ firstName } ${ lastName } - ${ email }` } </div> ); } } export default Profile; Cleaner? Yes, but we can do better. How about, injecting the props into the render method, “kinda” like a stateless component? import React from'react'; const Avatar = ({ url }) => <img src={ url } />; class Profile extends React.Component { render({ avatarUrl, firstName, lastName, email }) { return ( <div> <Avatar url={ avatarUrl } /> { `${ firstName } ${ lastName } - ${ email }` } </div> ); } } export default Profile; How? Well the example above doesn’t work without doing something like this: import React from'react'; const Avatar = ({ url }) => <img src={ url } />; class Profile extends React.Component { render({ avatarUrl, firstName, lastName, email }) { return ( <div> <Avatar url={ avatarUrl } /> { `${ firstName } ${ lastName } - ${ email }` } </div> ); } } const oldRender = Profile.prototype.render; Profile.prototype.render = function propsInjectorFunction() { return oldRender.bind(this)(this.props); } export default Profile; We probably want to export the “propsInjectorFunction” functionality to another file and be able to reuse it on other classes right? Enter ES7 decorators (https://github.com/wycats/javascript-decorators) function injectProps(target, name, descriptor) { const oldFunction = descriptor.value; descriptor.value = function propsInjectorFunction() { return oldFunction.bind(this)(this.props); }; return descriptor; } export default injectProps; and now on the Profile class we import the decorator a use it like so. import React from'react'; import injectProps from './injectProps'; const Avatar = ({ url }) => <img src={ url } />; class Profile extends React.Component { @injectProps render({ avatarUrl, firstName, lastName, email }) { return ( <div> <Avatar url={ avatarUrl } /> { `${ firstName } ${ lastName } - ${ email }` } </div> ); } } export default Profile;The Final Call \| National News An important interview and the beginning of a dialogue By Richard B. Muhammad - Editor \| Last updated: Jan 26, 2016 - 8:02:53 PM What's your opinion on this article? An historic interview between America’s leading conspiracy theorist and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan may have opened minds and perhaps hearts to different viewpoints, but it certainly fostered the beginning of a dialogue. The highly respectful exchange between the Alex Jones of InfoWars.Com and Min. Farrakhan was broadcast over the internet on Jan. 20 as a major topic of Mr. Jones’ regular four-show and went live at the same time at the official website of the Nation of Islam, NOI.org. Mr. Jones titled his documentary, which ran about 56 minutes, “Louis Farrakhan: Angel Or Devil? In this powerful, unprecedented interview, Alex Jones and Farrakhan break the mold.” The video presentation by Final Call Broadcasting was titled “Minister Louis Farrakhan Speaks: The Full Interview with Alex Jones” and was an hour and 56 minutes long. The interview was prompted by questions from Mr. Jones had regarding a speech last year in Miami, following false reports that Min. Farrakhan called for 10,000 fearless to “kill White people,” and that lie and others were destroyed during session taped Jan. 4 at the home of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, patriarch of the Nation of Islam in Phoenix, which serves as a western headquarters for the Nation. During his broadcast, Mr. Jones referred to the Minister as the “2nd Most Influential Black Man in The World,” with only President Barack Obama having more influence as president of the United States. He also referred to the Minister as one of the 100 most influential Blacks in history and among the most important five or six Black figures in recent decades. The interview included Mr. Jones’ perspectives and views but it also was perhaps one of the most extensive in having Min. Farrakhan speak directly to an audience concerning the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad in a largely unedited interview, which Mr. Jones said was only changed to meld similar points the Minister made in the interview together. It did not, however, include the entire interview but The Final Call broadcast did. Alex Jones host of infowars.com, an internet alternative news site, interviews Min. Farrakhan. Photo: Richard B. Muhammad Comments on social media, including the Alex Jones Facebook page, were not all positive but interest had been peaked and some awareness raised: “I have to say......watching this interview I find one thing......There is something insidious...not quite palpable, that I am feeling or detecting......I can’t place my finger on it but I am sure of one thing......this is a troubling interview. I will admit that I was raised to be skeptical of this man and this might be skewing my interpretations....Listening to his other rallies and interviews this man is a totally different beast.......hehe not Alex but Mr. Farrakhan,” said James Arthur Bartlett. “Mr. Jones, I loved the interview. It was refreshing to see Mr. Farrakhan in a different light. I also loved the reference to Planned Parenthood and its history. I will say one thing, however: that the white devils are not only in the Democratic party, but also in the Republican party. Great Interview,” said Arturo A. Armendariz in comments on the Alex Jones Facebook page. Dylan Stacey, replying on the Jones Facebook page, was blunt: “I approached this interview with hatred of the character of Louis Farrakhan and walked away with a better understanding of where his mind set comes from and an appropriation of his damn near same view of the global elites as I do. The globalist are going to try and will succeed in killing us all if we don’t make our stand and continue the INFOWARS thank you Commander Jones. The resistance awaits.” “Very well put together I’m impressed,” commented Matthew Johnson. “I lived in a African American community that had it not been for the NoI it’d turned into total anarchy in the 90’s, I even went to see Farrrakhan speak, and I’m still friends with many of the people I met back then, and I’m white as rice. I think it’s great you did this, the Nation is largely misunderstood by people.” Others were less impressed and some skeptical of the Minister and of Mr. Jones, but a conversation has begun. “1. It’s a start, because behind the scenes, of what most don’t see, (is) there is a lot that the powers that be are worrying about... So, go and get Farrakhan and sit down Alex Jones, this Hell is getting desperately hot! 2. When Mr. Jones confirmed that everything Minister Farrakhan said about the weather is coming to past right now. 3. Expeditiously!... TIME is a running out!” commented Jah La Dream on Minister Farrakhan’s Facebook page. Screen shot of comments posted on Alex Jones’ FaceBook page. Mall Scott added, “Yes I do think a part two should take place, after watching some of these presidential debates it’s nice to see two individuals come together for a truly intellectual conversation even though (my opinion) the minister brought the real wisdom, it was a wise decision for alex jones to reach out to the minister and make an effort to create this dialogue. I’ll look forward to part 2.” “Good Interview!” Sheku Lamin Sangari observed. “What would be interesting is to to see a panel of people such as the honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, George Galloway MP, Jesse Ventura and two other people to dialogue or debate with a chairman or chairwoman of the panel and a live audience that can ask questions if possible!” Nabil Zoobi, on the Minister’s Facebook page declared: “Exposing Satan, calling Time on the Gog and Magog system. Blowing the Trumpet of Judgment!!! Farrakhan is the Man we read about in Revelation. FACT!” “Patriots of all colors and creeds will come together, celebrate their differences and defeat the UN globalist agenda,” said Russell Adkerson. “The minister is correct,political discourse has gotten low brow. Alex Jones and minister Farrhakan are conducting themselves like adults,” added John Hanner on Facebook. And on Facebook, Peggy Hatchet observed: “It’s brilliant how Minister Louis Farrakhan makes a clear distinction about an important matter, using ‘babies in a crib’... (giggles) ~ phenomenal ~” When Mr. Jones asked why he agreed to the interview, the Minister explained there is value to “the idea of dialogue, truthful dialogue, that gets us past the media manipulation of persons, events, and the truths of persons and events.” “I’ve been talking to Black people for 60 or more years and Black people understand me pretty well. But White people don’t know me and may not understand me,” he said. “Now, Black people I know because I’m Black and I come up from among my people. But to have a chance now to speak to a White audience, mainly who may be conservative in their culture, thoughts and desires, and for me to be able to represent the Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad to that group and answer questions that they are interested in hearing a truthful answer to.” Interview subjects ranged from conspiracy, to the shadow government ruling America, the country’s future, God’s special desire and plan to use Black people to build a new reality, abortion, U.S. policy in the Middle East, presidential politics and Donald Trump and God’s judgement against America. Warnings about the tenor of American politics and how if it degenerates it diminishes America’s stature, and a clear warning from the Minister that no political hopeful will be successful unless the candidate deals forthrightly with justice for Blacks in America and the indigenous people of this nation was an important part of the interview. “The one thing that’s missing in the dialogue, even with Mr. Trump, nobody’s talking about the future of Black people, the future of the Indigenous, the Native Americans. This country, the original sin of America, is the destruction over 120 million native people,” said Min. Farrakhan. “So if Mr. Trump, and I believe he’s bold enough, if he knew how much God is interested in the future of Black people; not that (God’s) not interested in the future of ‘all people,’ but he’s interested in the future of Black people for this reason. … Black people, no matter what we have suffered up to this very moment, we have never been spies for any foreign government against America. We have never risen up as a force against the tyranny that has been imposed on us by our government. We have fought in every war from the Revolutionary War all the way up to the last war that there was in the Gulf. We have a heart, Mr. Jones, of forgiveness. A heart that today we can love those who have done us so much evil. So God wants to use us,” he said. But Min. Farrakhan added, citing the words of his teacher, the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, America is under divine judgment wracked by unusual weather destroying lives and property. The United States is reaping what she has sown for the murder and oppression of Blacks and the indigenous people and God himself is punishing America, he said. The weather will continue to get worse and this is a dangerous time, the Minister added. “I got to say my teacher again is the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I believe him to be a messenger of God. I believe that God raised him as a warner to America,” said Min. Farrakhan. The Minister agreed with Mr. Jones that an evil and powerful minority is trying to drive humanity to the brink, regardless of race or religion and looks to create, foment, exploit and benefit from conflict and strife. These “globalists” are only loyal to themselves and have people fighting one another while they claim everything, argued Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones has major detractors for criticism of the Black Lives Matter Movement and when a heavily armed group of Whites came to Ferguson, Mo., last summer, some carrying AR-15 rifles, they said they came to protect an InfoWars.Com reporter. Many also take exception to Mr. Jones vehement attacks on President Obama and accuse him of right-wing racism. Some feel content he airs stirs the racial pot. Mr. Jones insisted the only racism he has seen expressed against Blacks has come from liberals and Whites and Blacks in politics who don’t want the Black masses.On the day that it was learned that the US Soccer Federation will not be allowing Major League Soccer-owned USL clubs into the 2016 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, next year’s tournament field got one team lighter. The defending National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) champion New York Cosmos B, which acts as a reserve team for the Cosmos senior team, made it public through Twitter that they do not intend to participate in the 103rd edition of the tournament, as was originally announced last month. According to Erik Stover, the COO for the New York Cosmos, the policy changes do not apply to his club, but they had made the decision prior to the changes being brought to light. He posted the following on Twitter: @GothamistDan @kkfla737 Technically the rule doesn’t apply to us, but we have decided not to include #CosmosB in the #USOpenCup. (1/2) — Erik Stover (@ErikStoverNYC) November 5, 2015 @GothamistDan @kkfla737 We want to honor the integrity of the tournament and we think having two teams is a conflict (2/2) — Erik Stover (@ErikStoverNYC) November 5, 2015 When TheCup.us followed up with Stover, he expanded on the timing of his tweet. “We made the decision not to put our B team in the Open Cup before the new rule was announced. We just spoke about it publicly for the first time today because there was some discussion resulting from US Soccer’s announcement today,” said Stover. “Regardless, US Soccer’s intent is clear and we completely agree with their point of view. We also think that the federation will close that loophole (of having the same club entering multiple teams) in the future.” He continued: “It’s a pretty simple decision for us because it’s kind of ridiculous to have two teams in the same tournament,” added Stover. “The most basic issue is that we could conceivably end up playing ourselves which is not good from anyone’s point of view. Plus, we’ve been faced with the possibility of playing other teams’ reserve teams over the past two years and it wasn’t hard for us to imagine potential conflicts. I’m not saying anything questionable ever happened or would happen in the future,
?” Last March, the Bloomberg financial-news Web site reported that Wachovia Bank, now owned by Wells Fargo, had admitted to federal prosecutors that, in the years 2003–8, it had failed to prevent the laundering of at least $110 million of drug-cartel money through the exchange houses it operated in Mexico. The bank also admitted that it had failed to monitor $420 billion in transactions through these same exchange houses. Wachovia agreed to pay $160 million to end the criminal investigation, acknowledging “serious and systematic” violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Jeffrey Sloman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, stated that the bank’s “blatant disregard for our banking laws” had given the international cocaine cartels “a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations.”This article is based on a longer report "An Agenda for Equity: A Framework for Building a Just Transportation System in Los Angeles County" by Vanessa Carter, Manuel Pastor, and Madeline Wander. Los Angeles: Reluctant No More A leader in California's urban planning scene, Bill Fulton, once characterized Los Angeles as a "reluctant metropolis" -- unwilling to accept that sprawl had hit a wall, unable to see common connections between neighborhoods to create a cohesive region, and unlikely to overcome the social disparities and racial tension that twice produced civil unrest. But as we witness a paradigm shift in how Angelenos move through the region, how Angelenos understand the interconnectedness of our region, how Angelenos are unifying across difference to fight for a more equitable region, we think that Los Angeles may be reluctant no more. Talking with 40 advocates and organizations across the Southland, we have seen signs that the once disconnected and dystopian L.A. is fading away. With a new vigor, social justice organizers, policy advocates, government agencies, business leaders, and others are engaging in how to move us more sustainably through our region and, at the same time, how to swell the numbers of those supporting transportation equity. We call that last part movement building. Last week, as part of this L.A. in Motion series, our director Manuel Pastor explained the "Just Growth" frame -- one that is big enough to encompass L.A.'s wide-ranging transportation equity movement -- asserting that social inclusion is the key to achieving economic prosperity and sustainability. This week, we run through the agenda for transportation equity being brought together by our region's social-movement leaders. How is transportation equity defined? What does it entail? Who are some of the organizations innovating in the different niches of this work? If these questions pique your interest, read on. What do we mean by Transportation Equity? As we look ahead to upcoming articles in this series, it may be useful to define what we mean by "transportation equity." Indeed, this is a difficult concept to define, as it must capture a broad range of issues facing the Southland -- from transit-oriented development to bicycles to goods movement (we dig into these and some other issues a little deeper below). But we believe the following definition does just this by highlighting outcomes (both benefits and burdens for our communities) as well as the importance of public participation in planning processes. In our view, transportation equity means: Equitable access to quality, affordable transportation options and so employment, services, amenities, and cultural destinations; to quality, affordable transportation options and so employment, services, amenities, and cultural destinations; Shared distribution of the benefits and burdens of transportation systems and investments, such as jobs and pollution, respectively; and of the benefits and burdens of transportation systems and investments, such as jobs and pollution, respectively; and Partnership in the planning process that results in shared decision-making and more equitable outcomes for disadvantaged communities while strengthening the entire region. In short: people matter. Photo: Metro Library and Archive/Flickr/Creative Commons. An Agenda for Transportation Equity in Los Angeles Of course, making sure that we put people first means that we need to consider a wide range of things that also count in the overall calculus of achieving transportation equity in L.A. Below we outline specific areas that make up our region's transportation equity agenda -- as we see it -- and how social-movement organizers are leading the charge. Two caveats: First, while we separate these concerns for the sake of clarity, the threads of this work are inherently intertwined, and we think that they should be treated as such. Second, there are so many excellent examples of campaigns and organizing in each of these areas that we could not possibly include them all. (So we ask for your grace and understanding!) Without further ado, the top six issue areas that matter for a transportation equity agenda in L.A.: We're not just singing kumbaya, however; bringing together this many strands of work is complicated. Tension that keep this agenda from being integrated and adopted include the high degree of jurisdictional complexity in our multi-layered region, the depth of relationship required to foster genuine community participation in government plans, and identification of what "equity" means at the planning and implementation level. It means building capacity within government and community organizations to move the work, it means advocates and businesses partnering in the difficult work of urban development, and it ultimately means moving from having conversations to making change. Photo: Doran/Flickr/Creative Commons What's Next: A Shared Framework for Movement and Action, Together What this confluence of activity across sectors and communities adds up to is a broader movement for transportation equity, as part of a vision for just growth -- investing with equity to build a better, stronger region for the long-haul. And what these advocates and organizers understand -- due to the region's rich social-justice movement building legacy -- is that now is a crucial time for L.A. to invest with equity in transportation. After all, it's not often that a region's residents tax themselves to put $40 billion into a transportation build-out over the next 30 years. These key investments will impact how people can easily and affordably get to their jobs, as well as determine the safety and healthfulness of their surroundings. The ripple effects of transportation equity will be broad and long-lasting for the whole region. Indeed, transportation may be where we can get the most equity bang for our tax-dollar buck. As the collective voices in this L.A. in Motion series will show in the weeks ahead, it's the movement-building organizations that are tackling the complexities of what real participation looks like, who holds what power, defining metrics that matter for equity, building out government and community capacity, partnering with business -- to infuse equity into transportation planning. If this framework for just growth, the agenda for L.A.'s transportation equity movement, and the inspiring stories from our communities can contribute to strengthening our region's ability to establish an innovative and inclusive transportation system, we've done our job. __________ References: See our report "An Agenda for Equity: A Framework for Building a Just Transportation System in Los Angeles County" for a full list of references that inform this article. Benner, Chris, and Manuel Pastor. 2012. Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America's Metropolitan Regions. New York, NY: Routledge. Brenman, Marc, and Thomas W. Sanchez. 2012. Planning as If People Matter: Governing for Social Equity. Washington D.C.: Island Press. Fulton, William. 1997. The Reluctant Metropolis: The Politics of Urban Growth in Los Angeles. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press. Pastor, Manuel, and Michele Prichard. 2012. "L.A. Rising: The 1992 Civil Unrest, the Arc of Social Justice Organizing, and the Lessons for Today's Movement Building." Los Angeles, CA: The USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity. About the Authors: Vanessa Carter is a Senior Data Analyst with the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity. Madeline Wander is a Data Analyst with the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity.Microsoft on Wednesday confirmed that the next Xbox video game console, code-named Durango, will be revealed to the public during a special event at its Redmond campus on May 21. That event will kick off a multi-event unveiling that will continue through June and culminate with the release of the device, which is expected in early November. On March 28, I exclusively revealed via Twitter that Microsoft had changed the original reveal date for the next Xbox from April 24 to May 21. So yesterday’s confirmation is interesting for two reasons, the least obvious of which is that the news came on April 24—the original date that the firm intended to reveal the next Xbox. Related: "Microsoft Touts Xbox Momentum and Future" Here’s what I know about the next Xbox (along with some clearly identified conjecture). Early announce. The initial reveal date was pushed back from April 24 to May 21 so that Microsoft could better position the device against the PlayStation 4, which Sony announced in late February. Full (end user) announce. Microsoft will fully reveal details about the next Xbox, including the launch lineup of games, on the eve of the E3 tradeshow in early June 2013. Developer announce? It appears that Microsoft will discuss the next Xbox developer platform at the Build conference in San Francisco in late June, based on clues on the Build website. Launch. The next Xbox will launch in early November 2013. Windows 8 Core. The next Xbox is based on the "Core" (base) version of Windows 8. This suggests a common apps platform or at least one that is similar to that used by Windows 8. It also suggests that Microsoft could open up this platform to enthusiast developers. (That last bit is supposition on my part.) Price. Microsoft will initially offer two pricing models for the console: a standalone version for $499 and a $299 version that requires a two-year Xbox LIVE Gold commitment at an expected price of $10 per month. No entertainment box. Microsoft originally planned to offer both a “full” version of the next Xbox (with video game playing capabilities) and a lower-end entertainment-oriented version, code-named “Yuma,” that didn't provide gaming capabilities. But plans for Yuma are on hold, and no pure entertainment version of the next Xbox will appear in 2013 (or possibly ever). Blu-ray. The next Xbox will include a Blu-ray optical drive. Internet-connected. The next Xbox must be Internet-connected to use. This is the source of the “always on”/“always online” rumors and isn’t as Draconian as many seem to believe. Another Xbox 360. Microsoft will also deliver a third-generation Xbox 360 console this year that will be significantly less expensive than the current models. The new Xbox 360 is code-named “Stingray,” but it’s not clear whether this device is required because the next Xbox isn’t backward-compatible or because Microsoft simply wants a low-cost entertainment box alternative. (A third possibility—and to be clear, these possible reasons are all speculative—is that the Xbox 360 simply has life left in it and with dwindling component prices in the 8 years since the original launch, the firm can still make money selling such a device.) There’s a lot I don’t know, of course. The name is a big area of speculation, and while I’ve heard nothing official, I’d be surprised if Microsoft didn’t just called it Xbox. I’ve never seen the console, nor have any idea what it might look like. And in addition to the aforementioned confusion over backward compatibility and the apps platform, there are questions surrounding Kinect (which I understand is integrated and non-optional) and of course the fabled (and possibly imaginary) Xbox Surface tablet. We’ll have to wait and see what Microsoft announces—or what it leaks—to find out more. On that note, Microsoft’s May event will be broadcast live via Xbox.com, over Xbox LIVE, and on Spike TV if you're in the United States or Canada. Related: "Surprisingly Strong Quarter Suggests Microsoft Transition Is On Track"I got a mail from redditgifts asking me to confirm whether or not i received my package. I marked it as not received. But just now i got my package. Faith in SS restored!! :D I got lot of chocolates and a packet of pretzels. I wasso excited about the pretzels as i have never eaten it before. I tried it. And OMGGGGG! it is so delicious. Chocolate covered pretzelsss!! :D Thank you my SS(Whoever you are) for sending me an awesome box of goodies. Also i want to confirm if anything is missing. Because when i received the package, the side of the box had a small hole and it was cello taped. Edit : How do i stop eating these pretzels!! They are so damn addictive!! Here are the picsRachael D'Amore, CTV Toronto Peel Regional Police have charged a man who allegedly worked at a Milton daycare with accessing and possessing child pornography. On Tuesday, parents at the Milton Community Resource Centre received an email notifying them that a staff member at the facility had been charged with possession of child pornography. The executive director of the centre, Rebecca Barrows-Vrankulj, told CTV Toronto that the centre became aware of the police investigation after being contacted by Peel police and the Children’s Aid society. In the statement, Barrows-Vrankulj said that the news was ‘deeply troubling’ to the daycare centre. “The centre assures everyone, especially parents, that we are cooperating with police to assist them in their investigation,” the statement reads. The daycare did not identify the accused or his specific position in their statement, but assured parents that the employee has been removed from the property and will not return. The Ontario Provincial Police have taken over the case but have yet to release details pertaining to the investigation. According to the Brampton courthouse, Steven Campbell was charged with one count of possession of child pornography. On a Facebook page believed to belong to Campbell, a post indicates that he began working at the centre as an early childhood educator in 2013. He was released on bail on Monday and is scheduled to make a court appearance on May 16. The OPP would not provide details about the case, but said that a multi-jurisdictional news conference will take place this week where police will discuss the provincial strategy to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation on the Internet. The conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Apr. 28. With files from Tamara Cherry.Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exist in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exists in my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the evil one himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot.Another week, another installment of the Transatlantic Tracker, a regular feature on Sixers.com that provides updates on the five players competing internationally whose rights are held by the team. In this installment, we’ll focus on three standout performers from that group: Dario Saric, Jordan McRae, and Furkan Aldemir. In a 67-64 loss to Unics Kazan on Thursday, Dario Saric logged 25 minutes and notched 13 points (5/9 FG), nine rebounds, one assist, and one steal. His 56.8 effective field-goal percentage is second amongst active players on his team and his 15.8 rebounding percentage leads Anadolu Efes outright. Through nine games, the 20-year-old is averaging 11.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 22.0 minutes per game. Saric and Efes are back in action against TED Kolejliler on Monday. Jordan McRae continues to light it up offensively in the Australian National Basketball League, averaging 22.4 points per game on 46.9% shooting. Against the New Zealand Breakers on Friday, he put up 24 points and went 8-of-20 from the floor, 2-of-3 from deep, and 6-of-6 from the line; he also pulled down six rebounds, dished out two assists, and notched two steals and a block. Through nine games, he’s averaging 22.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.0 blocks in 30.8 per game. Furkan Aldemir is one of the best rebounders in all of international basketball, and his numbers for Galatasaray this season are a testament to his proficiency on the glass. In 10 games, he’s averaging 8.5 points (65.3 FG%) and 9.6 rebounds per game despite only playing 23.6 minutes per game. Most impressively, 46.9% of his rebounds come on the offensive end (6.9 OREB/36 minutes). On Wednesday, Aldemir was asked to describe his shot-blocking method (he averages 1.4 per 36 minutes). He compared it to a work of fine art. Really. ••• If you’re wondering why Arsalan Kazemi hasn’t been featured in the last two installments of the Transatlantic Tracker, it’s because he hasn’t played since November 5. According to Andrew Crawford of Shark Fin Hoops, Kazemi’s Chinese Basketball Association team, Chongqing Fly Dragon, didn't properly register his visa, and he was forced to leave the country. He’s back now and should return to action shortly. Expect updates.The Royal Canadian Mint is now offering the newest coin in its popular “$20 for $20” series. “Superman” is 27 mm across and made of 7.96 grams of fine silver that is 99.99% pure. It has an order limit of five per household and an overall mintage limit of 350,000. The coin’s reverse features a classic DC Comics image of Superman bounding forward with his arm outstretched and his cape sprawling behind him. The outer edge of the design bears the inscriptions 2015, FINE SILVER 9999 ARGENT PUR (“pure silver” in French), and 20 DOLLARS. The obverse bears Susanna Blunt’s portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, with the inscriptions CANADA, ELIZABETH II, and D.G. REGINA circling the image. D.G. REGINA is short for the Latin words, Dei Gratia Regina, meaning, “By the Grace of God, Queen.” The Canadian Mint’s $20 for $20 series issues fine silver coins at a cost matching their inscribed denomination. The series was launched in 2011; since 2012 the mint has released four silver $20 for $20 coins per year. The mint’s Web site describes the coins as “among the purest in the world,” available “tax free and risk free for an affordable price.” The Superman 20 dollar piece is the fourth $20 for $20 issue this year, and the 18th overall since the start of the series. For more information on the $20 for $20 Silver Superman coin, visit the item’s product page. The Royal Canadian Mint also offers a subscription service giving collectors the chance to sign up for all four of year’s releases; learn more about $20 for $20 subscriptions here.HOT on the heels of the announcement that junior footballers in Victoria will play scoreless matches to make the game more fun and inclusive, news.com.au has uncovered a secret AFL plan to play a score free-round in Round 22 this year. In a leaked white paper entitled “THE FUTURE OF OUR GREAT, INCLUSIVE, EXCELLENTLY GOVERNED GAME”, outgoing CEO Andrew Demetriou lists score-free rounds as one of the legacies he believes will cement the AFL’s status as the premier Australian sporting code. “Research has shown that fans of teams which continuously lose can develop low self-esteem and anger issues, and lose interest in the code,” the white paper says. “While we know that Collingwood fans have self-esteem and anger issues regardless of how their team performs, it is hoped that fans of clubs like the Melbourne Demons and Western Bulldogs will maintain both their interest in the code and their will-to-live through this initiative. media_camera Scoreless rounds should prove a huge boost for Bulldogs and Demons players, many of whom have never actually touched a football. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images) According to the white paper, the score-free matches would likely take place in Round 22, as “that’s when most teams tend to tank* anyway, while good teams rest players for the finals”. “Did we say tank? Sorry. We meant lose after trying as hard as possible,” the white paper clarifies. The leaked document includes several other proposals to maintain the domination of the AFL over its rivals, including a peptide-free round and a James Brayshaw-free round. “The former would be impossible to police but we will look into it going forward, while the latter would obviously be an incredibly popular initiative,” the white paper states. The leaked document was first brought to light on the morning of April 1. NO SCORES FOR KIDS: READ THE ORIGINAL STORY HEREFollow The Daily Ticker on Facebook! States and the federal government are taking a tougher stance against the pharmaceutical industry and have collected a record amount of money from drug companies this year according to a new report issued by consumer lobbying group Public Citizen. Big Pharma has swindled $30 billion from states and the federal government for nearly two decades says Public Citizen's Dr. Sammy Almashat. States are fighting the pharmaceutical industry over a range of allegations including overcharging taxpayer programs like Medicare and Medicaid and illegally marketing their drugs to patients. Drug companies are sometimes inflating the cost of a drug by as much as 60 or 70 times the real value of that drug, according to Almashat. Many states are facing severe budgetary constraints and have been increasing their enforcement efforts against drug companies to reap additional revenue. More than $6.6 billion has been recovered through mid-July by both the federal government and states. Related: States Grapple With Fiscal Budget Crises "Since 2009 state governments have finalized more than twice as many settlements, for more than six times as much money, as they had from the previous 18 years combined," the report said. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Abbott Labs (ABT) accounted for two-thirds of the financial penalties paid to state governments and Washington, according to the report. In July GlaxoSmithKline, the UK's largest drug manufacturer, pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to a $3 billion settlement with states and the U.S. government over accusations that it improperly promoted its drugs for unapproved uses and failed to report safety data. Almashat says 50,000 to 100,000 patients died from using Glaxo's blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia because the company did not report studies that showed an increased risk of heart attack and other fatal side effects. "In these cases it's not only defrauding taxpayer programs of billions of dollars, it's also putting patients' lives in danger," Almashat says in an interview with The Daily Ticker. GlaxoSmithKline CEO Sir Andrew Witty said of the settlement: "Whilst these originate in a different era for the company, they cannot and will not be ignored. On behalf of GSK, I want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learnt from the mistakes that were made. We are deeply committed to doing everything we can to live up to and exceed the expectations of those we work with and serve." Glaxo's settlement was the largest in U.S. history, eclipsing the $2.3 billion fine Pfizer paid in 2009 for over marketing its drugs including the painkiller Bextra. "We are seeing systematic fraud," Almashat says. "Almost every drug company has been involved in at least one settlement with the federal or state governments." GlaxoSmithKline has been involved in as many as 20 settlements and could be regarded as a "repeat offender" he notes. The federal government and states may be announcing a record number of settlements with drug companies but financial penalties are not stopping the unlawful action. Related: Corporate Tax Loopholes = Corporate Socialism: Pulitzer Prize Winner David Cay Johnston "It has been going on for years and ultimately only results in slaps on the wrist," Almashat says. "Every year there is a new billion dollar settlement. Payouts are only a fraction of the profits that are generated by the fraudulent activity. Crime does pay in these cases." To end this continual cycle of wrongdoing, Almashat argues that the government needs to take a new tactic with drug makers: criminally prosecute executives involved in the fraud. Financial penalties paid by drug companies also need to align with the profits companies reap from improper drug marketing and pricing fraud. Tell us what you think! More from The Daily Ticker: Why Your Phone, Cable & Internet Bills Cost So Much Thank You, Millions Of Anonymous Chinese Workers Making $2 An Hour, We Love Our iPhone 5s! American Cancels Hundreds of Flights: Are Pilots to Blame?PORT HARDY, British Columbia — A Canadian wildlife officer was suspended without pay last week after he refused to kill two black bear cubs. According to Canadian broadcaster CBC News, conservation officer Bryce Casavant was called to a Port Hardy mobile home where a black bear was raiding a freezer full of meat and salmon. The mother bear was killed. Later, the cubs, a brother and sister, showed up at the property looking for their mother. They climbed a tree and ended up on top of the mobile home. That’s when the conservation officer tranquilized the cubs and took them to a veterinarian, despite orders to put them down, CBC reported. The cubs were then taken to a recovery center operated by the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association, which is also on Vancouver Island. The suspension was reported in a local paper, and has since gained international attention. An online petition had gained nearly 200,000 signatures by Sunday, asking for the reinstatement of Officer Bryce Casavant. “In 30 years, this is the first time we’ve ever had an issue like this,” recovery center manager Robin Campbell told the CBC. “There has to be some kind of misunderstanding … hopefully somebody will come to their senses.” British Columbia’s Environment Minister Mary Polak called this a “very sad and unfortunate situation.” “Although conservation officers must sometimes put down wild animals for the safety of the public and the welfare of the animal, we understand how difficult it is for all involved,” she said. The CBC reports anonymous hackers released a string of e-mails showing Casavant defending his decision to refuse to kill the cubs. It’s unclear what will happen to the cubs. One media outlet reports that the cubs will stay at the wildlife recovery center for 18 months until they’re ready to be released into the wild. That report has not been confirmed by officials. Thousands of people have taken to social media to advocate for the suspended officer, even British comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted about the story. Bryce Casavant, conservation officer, suspended for refusing to kill bear cubs http://t.co/E6AKvu6Kyd Reinstate this honourable man. — Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) July 8, 2015Editor's note: Temple University announced it will cut seven sports, including men's gymnastics. Evan Burke, a former captain of the team tells what the program meant to him, and includes comments from two other gymnasts. All three are gay. There are two things that I have known my entire life. I knew I was gay and I knew I was a gymnast. I am the son of a professional football coach, and my brother and I were required to participate in a sport at all times. While my brother played football, baseball, soccer and track and field, I fell in love with gymnastics. I came out as gay when I was 16 and there was no looking back. When it came time to apply to colleges, I was a little nervous leaving the accepting city of New York for another life. I knew I wanted to do gymnastics and I knew I wanted to be accepted. I knew another gay gymnast from my state went to Temple University in Philadelphia. I applied, got offered an academic scholarship and packed my bags. The moment I walked through the front door of the gym I was greeted not with a hello and a handshake but with a hug. "Brothers don’t shake hands, we hug," I was told. From that moment on I was a brother. I was a boy of Temple U. Jokes were common, but they were all in good fun; it was the kind of joking that brothers make. We had people from every different background in that gym -- liberals, conservatives, the very religious and atheists. The one thing that amazed me is seeing members of the team who had graduated, come back for a visit into the gym and give everyone a hug like they had never left. We were not top dogs my first year at Temple. We finished fourth in our conference that year, after winning conference the two previous years. That didn’t discourage us, though. We had the highest GPA out of all the athletic teams at Temple, and in the top three among men's gymnastics teams in the country. My senior year, we started the competition season off with a bang. We were light years ahead of the competition and finally won our conference. Unfortunately, I broke my foot that year and had to watch from the sidelines. But my teammates always made sure I felt a part of each victory. I was voted co-captain my senior year. They didn’t see me as a floor and vault specialist, they didn’t see me a a gay guy -- they saw me as a leader. I didn’t walk through the door a leader. They made me one. Every single boy of Temple U made me who I was. That year wasn’t easy. We had plenty of ups an downs. We sweat, shed a lot of tears on the road and bled with every rip and cut on our hands. But when they announced that we had won conference and my co-captain Taylor and I embraced and cried together before grabbing that big cup and standing on top of the podium surrounded by our brothers as champions, it made all of it worth it. After giving my senior speech and wrapping up my career as a Temple gymnast I was approached by many of my brothers with tears in their eyes and a great big hug. They told me how much they enjoyed having me there and it wouldn’t be the same without me. Their parents came up to me and thanked me for being such a positive influence on their son’s life. I look back and see the amazing education I got. I graduated with a 3.5 GPA in kinesiology and psychology. I look back on the fact that I earned an athletic scholarship along the ride and the respect of so many. But the only thing that matters to me when I look back is the faces of all of my brothers. I have the greatest family that I have made through Temple University Men's Gymnastics. I’m proud to wear the Temple "T" forever because it shows the love for my brothers. Unfortunately, this heart-felt reflection is fueled by a sad event. Temple announced that its intends to cut seven athletic teams from their department, one of which is men’s gymnastics. They plan for this to go into effect in July 2014. I have been in a conversation with almost 100 current and formers brothers of Temple U. We are trying to figure out how to save our team and to ensure that the experience that I have had is available to any other boy out there, gay or straight. Please sign our petition and follow our fight to #saveTUMG. Here is what the program meant to one of my teammates, Dash Sears: I grew up in suburban south central Pennsylvania where I didn't want anyone to know I was gay. I kept my grades up and pushed all of my efforts in the gym while crushing myself under the weight of hiding who I truly was. Temple was not originally my first choice to go to college. I originally desperately wanted to attend the College of William and Mary. Sadly, I was put on the waiting list and decided to go with Temple and be a walk-on my first year to the gymnastics team. It was probably the best decision I have ever made. My first year at Temple not only was my first year away from my parents but also my first year living in a metropolis. It was eye opening beyond belief, and it wasn't long until I met some of the most amazing guys who helped me out of the closet. If it wasn't for my gay teammates, I don't know if I would have ever come out. Every day there was support and friendship beyond anyone's sexuality, and every year as new recruits came in so did their eyes open up to LGBT acceptance, as it was a major tenet to being on the team. The focus had always been on one's abilities and their commitment to the team and everyone was judged based on their character. If someone had a problem with another's sexuality, that was a personal problem they had to overcome. Probably my fondest memory was of coming out to my parents on my 20th birthday. It was a magical moment, as well as extremely awkward. I decided to come out to them after my first competition they had ever seen me compete as a Temple Owl in Annapolis, Maryland, at a Chili's. I gathered the team around and surrounded my parents in their booth. As I started to talk, I glanced around and spotted the growing reactions of everybody's faces as they realized what I was about to do. As I shed some tears and told not only my parents but also many other team parents what I had hidden from them for so long, my parents stood up and immediately hugged me in front of everyone. On the ride back in the team van, I don't think I have ever laughed or smiled so hard in my life. This is the nature of this team and the nature of the sport. It's a way for an athlete to express and present themselves without fear of judgment based on their sexuality, and a way that we all as a community connect to each other through sport. Temple was and always will be a big part of that. I would be sad to see it go, knowing that others like me would not have the same place to go to for this sport. It would be a shame to deny others the same happiness I experienced. This is why saving Temple University Men's Gymnastics, an LGBT-friendly team, is vital to preserve our sport and community. We ask for and appreciate your support. For a third perspective, here is what another gymnast, Clay Stewart, wrote. He graduated the year before I started at Temple: Growing up in a rural South Carolina town, I must admit that I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder. The experience was everything from bullying, being kept after class for a teacher to read me Bible scripture, or being asked to say the Lord’s Prayer before marching band competitions. A typical experience for a Southern gay kid in 2003. Needless to say, it was no shock to anyone that I opted to head north for my college experience by going to Temple. Though I hadn’t heard much about the university, I knew it had a gymnastics team and was passionate about continuing a sport I started when I was only 3. My expectations were simple: do well in school, live in a big city, and compete in gymnastics. But what I never expected was that by joining the team I would become part of a brotherhood. It’s an experience where only the guys around you know just how much dedication, discipline, and commitment it takes to complete at a certain level. It’s an environment where we each push each other to be the best and support each other no matter what. Our team thrived academically and we were all-around great scholar-athletes. Our team was personally very close – a chance for me to see firsthand what it was like to be respected for my talent and equally supported for who I am as an individual. One of my fondest memories is when I announced there would be a university-sponsored LGBT event immediately following practice. Without wavering, my team turned out in full force for the event, including the politically conservative guys and the devout Mormon. As we walked in the doors, the entire room stared and it became obvious that no one ever expected a D1 team to show up. But TUMG proudly came out to support me as an openly gay athlete. It’s for that reason that when I stuck my dismount, clinching a conference championship my senior year, that I leaped into the arms of my Mormon teammate. This was the environment where we were friends and supporters above all else – a place where a Mormon and a gay guy could become the best of friends. It is my hope that the Temple University Men’s Gymnastics Team continues to exist and thrive so that future students have an opportunity to learn and grow just as I had the chance. We’d greatly appreciate your support as we move forward with trying to save this amazing and LGBT-friendly institution. Evan Burke, 25, was a gymnast at Temple from 2008-2013 and captain of the team in his senior year. He now coaches at Broadway Gymnastics School in Los Angeles. He can be reached at gymcoachevan@gmail.com. You can sign the online petition to save Temple men's gymnastics. You can follow the Twitter campaign: #saveTUMGMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE before his arrest, Mr Adams said he was "innocent of any part" in the murder of Mrs McConville Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has been arrested by Northern Ireland police in connection with the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. He presented himself to police on Wednesday evening and was arrested. Speaking before his arrest, Mr Adams said he was "innocent of any part" in the murder. Mrs McConville, a 37-year-old widow and mother-of-10, was abducted from her flat in the Divis area of west Belfast and shot by the IRA. Her body was recovered from a beach in County Louth in 2003. Police said a 65-year-old man presented himself to Antrim police station on Wednesday evening and was arrested. 'Malicious allegations' In a statement, Sinn Féin said: "Last month Gerry Adams said he was available to meet the PSNI about the Jean McConville case. That meeting is taking place this evening." Mr Adams added: "
played 4 brings the value of all of them to 12, and so forth. Thus, several players with low cards can team up to take down a high card, or just to hold fast until they can discard their junk. I’ll be bringing my copy of Fuji Flush to every holiday gathering I attend this year. Designer: Friedemann Friese Publisher: Stronghold Games Players: 5-8 (best with 6+) Time: 15 minutes Genre: Card Credit: Brain Games Ice Cool Ice Cool is the latest entry in that most venerable of holiday genres: “Children’s Games That Adults Get Way Into After a Third Glass of Wine.” In this installment, players are flicking (like, using their index fingers to physically strike) small penguin figures to propel them around an ice school (get it?). The school has several rooms, and three of the players compete to be the first to travel through the connecting doorways. The fourth penguin, meanwhile, is the school’s “hall monitor” (trust me, this all makes sense after a bottle of rosé), and the player’s goal is to catch the other students as they careen down the halls. With practice you can apparently curve your penguins around corners and even jump them over walls, but you’ll spend most of your early games ricocheting them off doorframes while biting back the swears. It’s still a grand time, though—especially for the kids, who will love trouncing their thick-fingered and slightly inebriated elders. Designer: Brain Games Publisher: Brain Games Players: 2-4 Time: 20 minutes Genre: Dexterity, children’s Credit: Horrible Games Potion Explosion We started this list with the most prestigious school for aspiring mages, and we’ll end it with the least. At the Horribilorum Sorcery Academy for Witty Witches and Wizard, players acquire four ingredients—unicorn tears, fairy dandruff, ogre mucus, and dragon smoke—and combine them to make mystical brews of untold power. That’s the backstory, anyway. In practice, players take turns plucking marbles from the Dispenser, a clever contraption with five tilted columns. When a marble is taken, the one above it in the column rolls forward to fill the vacancy, “clacking” against the one below. And when two marbles of the same color clack (our term; not canon), you get the name of the game: a Potion Explosion. All marbles involved in an explosion are also taken by the active player, which may result in yet more clacks and additional ingredients claimed. Indeed, through the use of your previously created potions—each of which can be quaffed for some in-game benefit—a single pick from the Dispenser can net you a dozen marbles or more. Potion Explosion has been described as an IRL Candy Crush, but I prefer to think of it as a very clever set-collection game that works as well for two players as it does for the whole family. Designers: Stefano Castelli, Andrea Crespi, Lorenzo Silva Publisher: Horrible Games Players: 2-4 Time: 45 minutes Genre: FamilyChancellor Philip Hammond has backed a transitional deal for Brexit saying it would be "helpful" to allow longer than two years for the UK's EU exit. Mr Hammond told the Treasury select committee that there was an "emerging view" that having longer would tend towards a "smoother transition". There would be "less risks of disruption" including "crucially risks to financial stability", he added. However, both business and government would have to make changes, he said. His comments are being seen as the strongest signal yet from the government that the Brexit process could take a lot longer than the two years needed for the official Article 50 exit process to be completed. On Monday the Treasury Select Committee called for written submissions on transitional arrangements as part of its inquiry into the UK's future economic relationship with the EU. It defines "transitional arrangements" as being "any arrangement that takes effect between the point at which the UK formally leaves the EU... and the point at which the UK's final, settled relationship with the EU becomes effective." Customs arrangements "I would not want anybody to think this is just about financial services," Mr Hammond told MPs. "For example, depending on what future customs arrangements are between the UK and European Union, there could be significant physical infrastructure changes that need to be made at ports of entry and exit, not only in the UK but on continental Europe as well," he added. He said there could also be a need to train large numbers of people in anticipation of a "much more intensive process at borders. "So it's not just the business sector, it's also the government sector that has to think about how long it takes to make changes, hire people, train people, introduce IT changes. "And I think the further we go into this discussion, the more likely it is that we will mutually conclude that we need a longer period to deliver," he added. Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, BBC economics editor The government position is becoming clearer. By the end of the Article 50 timetable - which Number 10 believes will be March 2019 - the UK will have legally agreed to leave the EU. But it will not be like jumping off a cliff edge. Rather, Britain and the EU will still have a close relationship, with many EU rules remaining in place. They will slowly be unravelled over subsequent years as Brexit is made a reality. Read more from Kamal here Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said it sounded like two years was the "bare minimum, we're probably going to need more." Mr Tyrie also said he had received briefings from firms about the need for transitional arrangements, including one from a major financial institution which said insufficient time to adjust could result in severe disruption to client services, causing financial instability and significant cost to the wider economy in Europe and globally. Mr Hammond said he was also hearing about concerns in this area, particularly from the financial services sector. Later he added that there were "compromises between the political will to get things done and to move on and the bureaucratic and/or business desire to have the largest period possible to make any change".Abstract This specification defines an API that provides access to the vibration mechanism of the hosting device. Vibration is a form of tactile feedback. 1. Introduction This section is non-normative. The API is specifically designed to address use cases that require simple tactile feedback only. Use cases requiring more fine-grained control are out of scope for this specification. This API is not meant to be used as a generic notification mechanism. Such use cases may be handled using the Notifications API [ NOTIFICATIONS ] specification. In addition, determining whether vibration is enabled is out of scope for this specification. 2. Conformance As well as sections marked as non-normative, all authoring guidelines, diagrams, examples, and notes in this specification are non-normative. Everything else in this specification is normative. The key words MAY, MUST, and SHOULD are to be interpreted as described in [ RFC2119 ]. This specification defines conformance criteria that apply to a single product: the user agent that implements the interfaces that it contains. Implementations that use ECMAScript to implement the APIs defined in this specification must implement them in a manner consistent with the ECMAScript Bindings defined in the Web IDL specification [ WEBIDL-1 ], as this specification uses that specification and terminology. 4. Vibration Interface typedef (unsigned long or sequence<unsigned long>) VibratePattern ; Navigator { boolean vibrate ( VibratePattern pattern ); partial interface}; The vibrate () method, when invoked, MUST run the algorithm for processing vibration patterns. The rules for processing vibration patterns are as given in the following algorithm: Let pattern be the first method argument of the vibrate () method. Let valid pattern be the result of passing pattern to validate and normalize. If the result of running the steps to determine the visibility state [ PAGE-VISIBILITY-2 ] is not visible, then return false and terminate these steps. Note A trusted (also known as privileged) application that integrates closely with the operating system's functionality may vibrate the device even if such an application is not visible at all, and thus may ignore the previous step. Perform vibration with valid pattern. To a vibration pattern given pattern, run these steps: If pattern is a list, proceed to the next step. Otherwise run the following substeps: Let list be an initially empty list, and add pattern to list. Set pattern to list. Let max length be an implementation-dependent maximum length of pattern. Note If the length of a pattern is greater than max length an implementation of this API could consider breaking the request effectively into multiple shorter requests internally to achieve the same effect, rather than ignoring what follows the max length. There are cases, however, where it is appropriate to ignore the pattern exceeding the max length. An example is if the length is so long that it would effectively create a denial of service attack on the user. A web application might also make multiple requests if it is known to the application that the length is too long for some implementations and a possible gap in between patterns is acceptable. If the length of pattern is greater than max length, truncate pattern, leaving only the first max length entries. Note If the length of the pattern is even and not zero then the last entry in the pattern will have no effect so an implementation can remove it from the pattern at this point. Let max duration be an implementation-dependent maximum duration for a single vibration entry in a pattern. For each entry in pattern whose value is greater than max duration, set the entry's value to max duration. Return pattern. To perform vibration using pattern, run these steps: An implementation MAY return false and terminate these steps. Note For example, an implementation might abort the algorithm because no vibration hardware is present, the user has set a preference indicating that pages at a given origin should never be able to vibrate the device, or an implementation might cap the total amount of time a page may cause the device to vibrate and reject requests in excess of this limit. If another instance of the perform vibration algorithm is already running, run the following substeps: Abort that other instance of the perform vibration algorithm, if any. If pattern is an empty list, contains a single entry with a value of 0, or if the device is unable to vibrate, then return true and terminate these steps. Return true, and then continue running these steps asynchronously. For each time in pattern, run the following substeps: If the index of time is even (the first entry has index 0), vibrate the device for time milliseconds. Otherwise wait for time milliseconds. When the user agent determines that the visibility state of the Document of the top-level browsing context changes, it MUST abort the already running processing vibration patterns algorithm, if any. 5. Security and privacy considerations Vibration API is not a source of data on its own and as such is not producing any data possible to consume on the Web. However, it is known that it can serve as a source of events for other APIs. In particular, it is known that certain sensors such as accelerometers or gyroscopes are prone to tiny imperfections during their manufacturing. As such, they provide a fingerprinting surface that can be exploited utilizing the vibration stimuli generated via the Vibration API. In this sense, Vibration API provides an indirect privacy risk, in conjunction with other mechanisms. This can create possibly unexpected privacy risks, including cross-device tracking and communication. Additionally, a device that is vibrating might be visible to external observers and enable physical identification, and possibly tracking of the user. For these reasons, the user agent SHOULD inform the user when the API is being used and provide a mechanism to disable the API (effectively no-op), on a per-origin basis or globally. 6. Examples This section is non-normative. In the following example the device will vibrate for 1000 milliseconds (ms): Example 1 navigator.vibrate( 1000 ); navigator.vibrate([ 1000 ]); In the following example the pattern will cause the device to vibrate for 50 ms, be still for 100 ms, and then vibrate for 150 ms: Example 2 navigator.vibrate ( [50, 100, 150] ); The following example cancels any existing vibrations: Example 3 navigator.vibrate( 0 ); navigator.vibrate([]); A. Acknowledgements The group is deeply indebted to Justin Lebar, Mounir Lamouri, Jonas Sicking, and the Mozilla WebAPI team for their contributions, and for providing the WebVibrator prototype as an initial input. Thanks to Anne van Kesteren for suggestions on how to make the specification reusable in other contexts, and to Lukasz Olejnik for the privacy considerations. Finally, thanks to Zhiqiang Zhang for the Simplified Chinese translation.Inside the psychiatric center (Photo: Courtesy of Project Senium) It was Thursday afternoon, on the second to last day they had planned for the shoot, and most of the crew was out sick. But Joe Trimble and Nicolas Levasseur had been at the abandoned psychiatric center at sunrise, and now they were trying to get on top of one of the buildings. There was a hatch, maybe 15 feet up, that they wanted to get themselves and their gear through. They had found a junked-up firehose on the ground, and tied it to their loaded-up MoVI stabilizing rig. As the gear lifted into the air, Trimble realized: We’re hauling $15,000 worth of gear up on a firehose that’s at least 20 years old. What are we doing? Normally, Trimble, Levasseur and their friend and colleague Jesse Miller spend their time making films in places where they’re not putting their gear at quite as much risk—and where they’re not trespassing to begin with. But with Project Senium, they wanted to use their production skills to push the boundaries of urban exploration video. This wasn’t going to be one of those shaky tours made with a phone camera or a GoPro. “The goal was to try new things that weren’t necessarily being done,” says Trimble. Using drones and a camera with what Gizmodo calls “mind-boggling low light performance,” this is what they created: As urban exploration has become more popular, the frontier for what’s cool and impressive has moved. There’s a premium on discovering places no one’s been before, and where 10 years ago, a few people were publishing photos of urban explorer (“urbex” for those in the know) adventures, now Instagram’s made moody shoots of crumbling #abandonedplaces commonplace. Increasingly, too, the video footage coming out of these places is more ambitious and made with nicer gear. It helps that the technology’s getting better and that great video cameras and drones are now relatively affordable. But, with so many more people undertaking the same sort of adventures, there’s also a push to do something different. The first shot of Project Senium’s film, for instance, is of the tallest building on the property, the Kings Park Psychiatric Center. But the team carefully planned the second shot to pay homage to a shot by the photographer Tim Kirsch, who’s been documenting abandoned places at his site Opacity for years. “We started following him, 8 or 10 years ago, and he had this really iconic photo of that main building,” says Levasseur. “That stuck in our heads so long that we wanted to make a shot that looked just like it, but be a moving, cinematic shot. We wanted to take what he did, kind of give an ode to him, and take it a step further.” During production, the gear was broken down and reassembled. (Photo: Courtesy of Project Senium) Getting all their gear into the site, though, was a production in itself. They would break down the gear, load it into a few backpacks, make their way to the location, and reassemble everything they needed. Friends helped—both by carrying gear and watching it while the actual shooting went on. At this point, the center’s relatively well trafficked, sometimes by people intent on messing up the place. One time, before the actual shoot, Levasseur was there with five or six people, the MoVI stabilizer and some other expensive gear. His group had gone to a different part of the building, while he stayed behind to talk to a couple of people he’d met previously online. While he was standing there, with maybe thirty grand worth of gear, a group of eight guys, on with a golf club in his hand, came through. “I can defend myself against two people, but if these guys wanted to take my gear and run off, I was going to be in a bad spot,” says Levasseur. “We were in a big abandoned building, we were trespassing to begin with, and if someone did happen, we couldn’t just go to the cops.” Besides the threat from less-than-friendly humans, the building itself posed a risk. The dust and asbestos coated the gear: afterwards, they sent out lens to be professionally cleaned. At one point, part of the ceiling—something heavy, Levasseur says—came down and hit someone on the shoulder. But to the Project Senium team, it was worth it. As urbex becomes more popular, their sense is that it might accelerate the destruction of this place—both because some people want to do more than just explore and because more traffic puts more pressure on authorities to simply tear the buildings down. The film they made is a document of a facility that may be gone. “If in five years, the whole thing is leveled, you’ll be able to show: this was all here,” Trimble says. “It was real.”Published online 20 April 2011 \| Nature 472, 261 (2011) \| doi:10.1038/472261a Column: World View There are too many doctoral programmes, producing too many PhDs for the job market. Shut some and change the rest, says Mark C. Taylor. The system of PhD education in the United States and many other countries is broken and unsustainable, and needs to be reconceived. In many fields, it creates only a cruel fantasy of future employment that promotes the self-interest of faculty members at the expense of students. The reality is that there are very few jobs for people who might have spent up to 12 years on their degrees. Most doctoral-education programmes conform to a model defined in European universities during the Middle Ages, in which education is a process of cloning that trains students to do what their mentors do. The clones now vastly outnumber their mentors. The academic job market collapsed in the 1970s, yet universities have not adjusted their admissions policies, because they need graduate students to work in laboratories and as teaching assistants. But once those students finish their education, there are no academic jobs for them. “Most doctoral programmes conform to a model defined in the middle ages.” Universities face growing financial challenges. Most in the United States, for example, have not recovered from losses incurred on investments during the financial fiasco of 2008, and they probably never will. State and federal support is also collapsing, so institutions cannot afford to support as many programmes. There could be an upside to these unfortunate developments: growing competition for dwindling public and private resources might force universities to change their approach to PhD education, even if they do not want to. There are two responsible courses of action: either radically reform doctoral programmes or shut them down. The necessary changes are both curricular and institutional. One reason that many doctoral programmes do not adequately serve students is that they are overly specialized, with curricula fragmented and increasingly irrelevant to the world beyond academia. Expertise, of course, is essential to the advancement of knowledge and to society. But in far too many cases, specialization has led to areas of research so narrow that they are of interest only to other people working in the same fields, subfields or sub-subfields. Many researchers struggle to talk to colleagues in the same department, and communication across departments and disciplines can be impossible. If doctoral education is to remain viable in the twenty-first century, universities must tear down the walls that separate fields, and establish programmes that nourish cross-disciplinary investigation and communication. They must design curricula that focus on solving practical problems, such as providing clean water to a growing population. Unfortunately, significant change is unlikely to come from faculty members, who all too often remain committed to traditional approaches. Students, administrators, trustees and even people from the public and private sectors must create pressure for reform. It is important to realize that problems will never be solved as long as each institution continues to act independently. The difficulties are systemic and must be addressed comprehensively and cooperatively. Prestige is measured both within and beyond institutions by the number and purported strength of a department's doctoral programmes, so, seeking competitive advantage and financial gain from alliances with the private sector, universities continue to create them. As is detailed on page 276, that has led most fields to produce too many PhDs for too long. The solution is to eliminate programmes that are inadequate or redundant. The difficult decisions should be made by administrators, in consultation with faculty members at their own and other universities, as well as interested, informed and responsible representatives beyond the academic community who have a vested interest in effective doctoral education. To facilitate change, universities should move away from excessive competition fuelled by pernicious rating systems, and develop structures and procedures that foster cooperation. This would enable them to share faculty members, students and resources, and to efficiently increase educational opportunities. Institutions wouldn't need a department in every field, and could outsource some subjects. Teleconferencing and the Internet mean that cooperation is no longer limited by physical proximity. Consortia could contain a core faculty drawn from the home department, and a rotating group of faculty members from other institutions. This would reduce both the number of graduate programmes and the number of faculty members. Students would have access to more academic staff with more diverse expertise in a wider range of fields and subfields. Faculty members will resist, but financial realities make a reduced number of posts inevitable. Higher education in the United States has long been the envy of the world, but that is changing. The technologies that have transformed financial markets and the publishing, news and entertainment industries are now disrupting the education system. In the coming years, growing global competition for the multibillion-dollar education market will increase the pressure on US universities, just when public and private funding is decreasing. Although significant change is necessary at every level of higher education, it must start at the top, with total reform of PhD programmes in almost every field. The future of our children, our country and, indeed, the world depends on how well we meet this challenge. Mark C. Taylor is chair of the department of religion at Columbia University in New York and the author of Crisis on Campus: A Bold Plan for Reforming Our Colleges and Universities (Knopf, 2010). e-mail:mct22@columbia.eduFutura is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Paul Renner and released in 1927. It was designed as a contribution on the New Frankfurt-project. It is based on geometric shapes, especially the circle, similar in spirit to the Bauhaus design style of the period.[2][3] It was developed as a typeface by the Bauer Type Foundry, in competition with Ludwig & Mayer's seminal Erbar typeface of 1926.[4][5] Futura has an appearance of efficiency and forwardness. Although Renner was not associated with the Bauhaus, he shared many of its idioms and believed that a modern typeface should express modern models, rather than be a revival of a previous design. Renner's design rejected the approach of most previous sans-serif designs (now often called grotesques), which were based on the models of signpainting, condensed lettering and nineteenth-century serif typefaces, in favour of simple geometric forms: near-perfect circles, triangles and squares. It is based on strokes of near-even weight, which are low in contrast. The lowercase has tall ascenders, which rise above the cap line, and uses nearly-circular, single-storey forms for the "a" and "g", the former previously more common in handwriting than in printed text.[a] The uppercase characters present proportions similar to those of classical Roman capitals.[7] The original metal type showed extensive adaptation of the design to individual sizes, and several divergent digitisations have been released by different companies.[8] Futura was extensively marketed by Bauer and its American distribution arm by brochure as capturing the spirit of modernity, using the German slogan "die Schrift unserer Zeit" ("the typeface of our time") and in English "the typeface of today and tomorrow".[10][11] It has remained popular since.[5][12] Release [ edit ] [b] Different sans-serif designs take different decisions on the proportions of the capitals. Futura’s capitals are inspired by Roman square capitals, with considerable variation in width. Grotesque sans-serifs on the nineteenth-century model such as Helvetica have capitals that are more uniform in width. Original drafts of Futura had more abstract variant designs for several letters, such as a two-story lowercase "a" (left, compared to Futura's standard one-story "a" at right). Paul Renner began sketching his letters that would become Futura in 1924; the typeface was available for use three years later.[13] Matrices for machine composition were made by Intertype. Despite its clean geometric appearance, some of Futura's design choices recalled classic serif typefaces. Unlike many sans-serif designs intended for display purposes, Futura has quite a low x-height, reducing its stridency and increasing its suitability for body text.[c] The original Futura design concept included small capitals and old-style figures. These were dropped from the original metal issue of the type and first offered digitally by Neufville Digital under the Futura ND family;[citation needed] small caps are also available in the URW++ digitisation. The design of Futura avoids the decorative, eliminating nonessential elements, but makes subtle departures from pure geometric designs that allow the letterforms to seem balanced.[15] This is visible in the apparently almost perfectly round stroke of the o, which is nonetheless slightly ovoid, and in how the circular strokes of letters like b gently thin as they merge with the verticals. Renner's biographer Christopher Burke has noted the important role of the Bauer Foundry's manufacturing team in adapting the design for different sizes of text, a feature not seen in digital releases.[8] However, Renner expressed some disappointment with the slow design and release process, as it allowed Erbar (1926) to precede his design and other typefaces of similar design to appear in the same year as its release. Renner's original plan was for two versions: a more conventional version suitable for general use, and a more eccentric, geometric lower case based on the circle and triangle.[16] This plan was scrapped, although the characters did appear on an early specimen and more recently on at least one digitisation.[17] Futura was immediately very successful, due to its combination of classicism and modernity. It spawned a range of derivative geometric sans-serif typefaces from competing foundries, particularly in the United States. In the UK Futura, while sometimes used, was overshadowed by Gill Sans, which became popular for similar reasons in the UK and came to define 1930s and 1940s printing. While more humanist, it also has geometric leanings which are particularly visible in the capitals. Usage [ edit ] An early American metal type specimen sheet of Futura Oblique. The design shows a hypothetical layout advertising a car, emphasising Futura's modernity and cleanliness. A metal type specimen sheet of Futura Bold Condensed. Many styles and weights of Futura were rapidly created as a brand extension. The commemorative plaque left on the Moon in July 1969 features text set in Futura. Futura remains an important typeface family and is used on a daily basis for print and digital purposes as both a headline and body font. The font is also used extensively in advertisements and logos, notably by IKEA (until 2010), Supreme, Party City, Volkswagen, Royal Dutch Shell, Crayola, FremantleMedia and HP in their print ads.[citation needed] Particularly until the 1950s it was used extensively by the publishing industry as a general-purpose font. Cyrillic variant of the Futura typeface made for the Summer Olympic Games Moscow 1980. Autopilot controls of a Boeing 747 with legend written in Futura. Use of the font is widespread in the aerospace industry for flight instrument and control markings A Cyrillic variant of the Futura Medium typography was made by Anatoli Muzanov for the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow.[18] Futura is also employed by the RAI (the Italian public broadcasting agency) for its logo and is used in the Italian railway system for signs. Futura has been used extensively in film and video. It is used for the title logo of the 1999 film American Beauty. It was also used in various TV shows including Doug, Lost, Warehouse 13, the American version of Sesame Street, which had the capital "I", lowercase "j", and numbers "1" and "4" in simplified forms, etc. Futura is featured ubiquitously throughout the film adaptation of V for Vendetta, for everything from the title logo and ending credits, to signs, newspapers, computer screens and other props. Wes Anderson is fond of the font and used it in some of his films. Futura was also Stanley Kubrick's favorite typeface.[19] Transport is another important area where Futura has been used extensively due to its ability to be read quickly from a distance; it can be found extensively in the instrument panel graphics within automobiles — Mercedes-Benz being one of the most prolific users of the font. Futura is used extensively in aviation for instruments and control legends — most Boeing airliners use Futura within their cockpit controls, for example. NASA used Futura frequently during the Apollo space program, with charts, techncial documents, and spacecraft instrumentation labels all making use of the typeface. NBC used a modified version of Futura for its original 1986 version of the current logo and its wordmarks.[20] A bold version of the font was used for NBC Sports on-screen graphics from 1989 to 1991, and by CBS Sports from 1992 to 1996. In 1997, the Pittsburgh Steelers (an American football team) switched to rounded numbers on the jersey to match the number font (Futura Condensed) on their helmets. In 2012 the newly formed Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club use Futura on their logo and club documentation[citation needed]. The Minnesota Timberwolves adopted Futura during their 2017 rebranding.[21] Futura is used on the current TV5 (Philippines) logo and is also Animax Asia's main typeface. All three of Vampire Weekend's albums use Futura on the covers, with the first two being exclusively Futura. The Boston Celtics' championship banners are also in Futura Condensed. 2008 science fiction-fantasy film City of Ember features Futura Medium in many prints through the story. The condensed version is the main font in the 2011 role-playing video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, as well as being used extensively throughout the Watchmen graphic novel as well as the movie based on it. The Medium version is a font used predominantly alongside the Stratum 2 font in the 2014 racing video game Driveclub. In season 2 of Stargate Universe, episode "Common Descent – Part 1" the ancestors of the crew state that one of the two continents was named "Futura". There are several references to the name being a font in the episode. Futura also served as the typeface for UK television series Utopia's title cards, coloured white upon a neon yellow background (neon green in season two). More recently, Futura has seen widespread use in many films and video games; Destiny and Wolfenstein: The New Order both use Futura on their covers, with Wolfenstein using the font throughout the in-game menus also. The 2013 film Gravity and 2014 films Interstellar and Gone Girl also use Futura on their theatrical release posters. Futura is used in the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War Location Cards. The first person shooter game Battlefield 1 (released in 2016 by Electronic Arts and DICE) uses Futura as its main font both in-game and for promotional purposes. Later metal type versions [ edit ] Futura Condensed [ edit ] Futura Condensed is a condensed version of the original Futura font family. Bold and bold oblique fonts were released in 1930. Medium, medium oblique, extra bold, and extra bold oblique fonts were released in 1936. Light and light oblique fonts were released in 1950. Futura Demibold [ edit ] Futura Demibold is a variation of the original Futura.[22][23][24][25] Futura Display (Futura Schlagzeile) [ edit ] Futura Display in a specimen book. Released in 1932, Futura Display uses more angular strokes, resulting in rectangular letter forms. This is also the font used on the covers of the classic Region 2 Doctor Who DVD covers. Futura Black [ edit ] A metal type specimen of Futura Black First released in 1929, Futura Black is an alternative design that uses stencil letter forms.[26] Example uses of the font include the public safety departments of the city of Boston, title sequences of television programs such as The Love Boat and Prisoner: Cell Block H, and as the wordmark for the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings from 1982 to 2003. Steile Futura [ edit ] Steile Futura was Paul Renner's attempt to create a typeface that would be closer to the nineteenth century sans serifs than to the geometric model. During the course of development, Renner developed several intermediate versions. Some of the early design could be found in the experimental font called Renner-Grotesk, which appeared as a trial type casting from the Stempel type foundry in 1936. Renner kursiv, a true italic companion to the regular version, was made after Stempel had been taken over by Bauer in 1938. The work on the type family continued in the 1940s, but Renner's poor health had slowed down the development. Renner started to work again on this project in 1951 under the name of Steile Futura (steil in German means "upright" or "steep"). The font family released by Bauer consist of mager (light), halbfett (medium), fett (bold), kursiv halbfett (medium italic), and kursiv fett (bold italic). The font family was released in 1952–1953. It was sold by Bauer in German, English, Spanish, and French markets as Steile Futura, Bauer Topic, Vox, Zénith respectively.[27] The font family has rounder letters than Futura Display. For the first time, italic type features are incorporated in the italic fonts. The fonts incorporate handwriting features, especially in italic version. URW and Berthold have released digitisations, URW's under the name of "Topic", its name in original release in some non-German speaking countries.[28][29] Tasse by Font Bureau is a loose adaptation.[30] Futura Inline [ edit ] Sample of the font Futura Inline in metal type. An "inline" version with a line drawn through each letter. Digitisations [ edit ] A comparison of Futura weights in digital format. With the demise of hot metal typesetting, Futura has been redrawn in digital formats. Because of complex licensing agreements, there is no one digital version of Futura but several, each with different features. (Some releases may be re-drawings or upgraded versions of earlier digital releases.) Releases of Futura exist from Linotype, Bitstream, URW++ (several), Elsner+Flake and many others under that name, and by many other companies under others because of rights issues. For example, Fontsite's (including Futura Black and Poster) is renamed as 'Function'.[31][32][33] As with all metal type revivals, converting Futura into a digital format poses interpretative challenges. Metal type fonts could be made differently for each text size, so a variety of metal and phototype versions of Futura exist on which a revival could potentially be based. In addition, revivals will need to add characters not present in the original Futura like the Euro sign and Cyrillic, and therefore do not all have the same character set. Futura revivals may also decide to make design changes, like replacing Futura’s straight 'j' with a more conventional substitute as URW's revival does. Scangraphic's revival notably includes optical sizes, with a tighter-spaced design (SH) created for headlines and a more spread-out version (SB) for body text sizes.[34][35] As an assessment of the decisions involved, a wide-ranging review by Stephen Coles of digitisations of Futura and its competitor geometrics noted that Bitstream's "abandons some of the strict geometry in favour of a more harmonious whole, but it may not be the Futura you were expecting," and that URW's Futura Nr. 2 was "Possibly optimized for small text: it’s wider, ascenders shorter, counters larger, and apertures more open. Conversely, round glyphs (a, g, e,) are more true to the circle. This attribute doesn’t make this a great text face, but if you want that strict geometry, No. 2 delivers."[36] Futura ND (1999) [ edit ] G from the Neufville digitisation of Futura, compared to perfect circles. The letterfrom the Neufville digitisation of Futura, compared to perfect circles. This version is based on the original sources of the Bauersche Giesserei, which had passed its typefaces to its Barcelona branch, Fundición Tipográfica Bauer SL. Released in 1999 by Neufville Digital — a joint venture of Fundición Tipográfica Bauer SL and Visualogik Technology & Design b.v — it includes small capitals and the old-style figures that had not been made in metal types. The redesign was done by Marie-Thérèse Koreman.[37] Neufville Digital issued Futura, Futura Black, Futura Condensed, and Futura Display (Futura Schlagzeile) under the Futura ND family.[38] A limited release with some weights and features missing is bundled with macOS. OpenType features included stylistic alternates, lining figures, proportional figures, old style figures, tabular figures, fractions, standard/discretional ligatures, superscript, small caps. Futura ND Alternate (2015) [ edit ] Designed by Marie-Thérèse Koreman, it is a version of Futura ND published by Bauer Types, S.L. with alternate character designs,
Read more Kasowitz told reporters: “We will leave it to the appropriate authorities to determine whether these leaks should be investigated along with all the others that are being investigated.” Kasowitz said Trump felt “completely vindicated” by Comey’s testimony and repeatedly noted that Comey had said the president was not personally the target of the Russia investigation. But he denied Comey’s assertions – made under oath – that Trump pressured Comey to shut down an investigation into his national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and that the president asked his FBI director to pledge his loyalty. “The president never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr Comey stop investigating anyone, including suggesting that Mr Comey ‘let Flynn go’.” Kasowitz said. He continued: “The president also never told Mr Comey ‘I need loyalty, I expect loyalty’ in form or substance.” The two assertions were significant parts of Comey’s testimony on Thursday and his written statement to the committee released on Wednesday. During the daily White House press briefing, which unusually took place off-camera, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders batted away most questions about the hearing, referring reporters to outside counsel, Marc Kasowitz. I can definitively say the president is not a liar Trump spokeswoman But the spokeswoman insisted: “I can definitively say the president is not a liar,” adding: “It’s frankly insulting that that question would be asked.” In his opening remarks, Comey accused the White House of spreading “lies, plain and simple” and attempting to “defame” him and the FBI after his dismissal on 9 May. In a TV interview after he fired Comey, Trump called the former FBI director a “showboat” and a “grandstander” and said the agency was “in turmoil”. At a later point during the hearing, Comey said he created memos after each of his meeting with Trump out of the urgent concern that the president “might lie” about their interactions. Comey said that he did not feel the need to draft memos after his meetings with presidents George W Bush or Barack Obama. “I was honestly concerned he might lie about the nature of our meeting and I thought it important to document,” Comey said. Does Comey's statement give grounds to impeach Trump? The experts' view Read more Sanders said she had “no idea” whether Trump taped his Oval Office conversations, but attempted to make light of the question, suggesting she could “try to look under the couch” for evidence of a recording device. Days after firing Comey, Trump said on Twitter that the former FBI chief “better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press”. In a memorable line from Thursday’s hearing, Comey said: “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.” As Comey finished testifying in public on Capitol Hill, Trump – who was uncharacteristically silent on Twitter during the hearing – defended his administration’s progress on a range of domestic issues in a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington. “The entrenched interests and failed bitter voices in Washington will do everything in their power to try and stop us from this righteous cause, to try to stop all of you,” Trump told a Christian conservatives at at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington. “They will lie, they will obstruct, they will spread their hatred and their prejudice, but we will not back down from doing what is right.” He continued: “As the Bible tells us, we know the truth will prevail … we know how to fight better than anybody, and we never give up. We are winners, and we are going to fight.” Comey's testimony shows: the impeachment machine is warming up \| Richard Wolffe Read more House Speaker Paul Ryan, the most senior Republican in Congress, reflected the views expressed by several in the GOP after the hearing: that Trump should have left more space between the White House and the FBI but that there was so for no indication that the president had attempted to obstruct justice. “Of course there needs to be a degree of independence between DOJ, FBI and a White House and a line of communication is established,” Ryan told reporters at a weekly press conference. “The president’s new at this. He’s new to government and so he probably wasn’t steeped in the long running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ FBI and White Houses. He’s just new to this.” Ryan clarified later that the president’s inexperience was not an excuse but pointing it out was “just my observation”.As Paul McCartney prepares to shut down Hollywood Boulevard tonight, we remember that beautiful day in 1987 when U2 did a live show on a rooftop of a liquor store in downtown L.A.. It was all filmed as the official video for "Where The Streets Have No Name," back when MTV still showed videos and U2 was unquestionably the biggest band in the world. The impromptu performance was an homage to The Beatles, who did the same thing in their final concert in "Let It Be." (As Bono said at the time, "It's not the first time we've ripped off the Beatles.) It took place on the rooftop of the Republic Liquor store at 7th and Main on March 27, 1987. The location is now a Mexican restaurant (Margarita's Place) that still draws tourists, as in this Flickr photo from last year. The video shows the police about to shut down the show at at any moment: one cop is heard saying, "You're drawing people in here from Orange County and all over the goddamned place. We're shutting this location down." According to band manager Paul McGuinness, the confrontation was overly dramatized; the band was hoping to get shut down by the authorities, but the police let them play. The video was directed by Meiert Avis and produced by Michael Hamlyn and Ben Dossett and went on to win a Grammy. Hamlyn was almost arrested following a confrontation with the police, according to an interview with Uncut magazine. Avis later said that "getting busted was an integral part of the plan." Adam Clayton later said, "The object was to close down the streets. If there's one thing people in L.A. hate, it's streets closing down, and we've always felt bands should shake things up. We achieved it because the police stopped us filming. Were we worried about being arrested? Not at the time." It was actually was not quite as impromptu as it appeared: Prior to filming, a week was spent reinforcing the roof of the liquor store to ensure it would not collapse if fans swarmed onto it, according to Wikipedia. A backup generator was also put on the roof so shooting could continue if the authorities shut off the power on the primary generator. They also rebuilt the sign for The Million Dollar Hotel, which can be seen in the background, as an added draw in case no one showed up. The performance attracted about 1,000 people, not the 30,000 predicted in the radio clips at the beginning of the video. The audio was actually a studio recording, although the band played four versions of their Joshua Tree hit. Enjoy this blast from the past. We salute you, fist-pumping guy in a baseball cap perched on that one-way sign and curly-haired dude dancing in the streets. Here's a less high-quality version with less audio overlay.This special report from Vice should have the world´s attention. While the Japanese government (and mainstream media) continues to ignore the horror unleashed by the Fukushima nuclear plant tragedy, recent reports coming out of Japan paint a whole different picture. Yes, we should be freaking out. Vice travel to Fukushima to see the nuclear plant, meet some locals, and interview experts. According to ex-politician Hiroshi Kawauchi: “The nuclear reactor has emitted airborne radioactive cesium levels that exceed the Hiroshima A-bomb by 168 times, but we´re always told everything is OK.” 168 times? The consequences for groundwater and seawater contamination, not to mention the food we eat and the air we breathe, are unimaginable and will get worse with each generation. Fukushima has the potential to be a global nuclear catastrophe unlike anything we have ever seen before. The Japanese government has covered up the truth, putting residents at great risk for many generations to come. 90 million tonnes of radioactive water is leaking into the ground and the ocean. Another YouTube video showing latest reports from Fukushima this week paints a terrifying picture, although the mainstream press remains quiet. Please share this short report to raise awareness and put pressure on Japan´s government and the UN to do something about Fukushima, the worst nuclear disaster in history, and one that affects the whole world.by These days, Ted Christopher doesn’t concern himself much with chasing the goings of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. But there’s one event on the Whelen Modified Tour schedule that will forever have the Plainville driver running for more. The NAPA Spring Sizzler is the race that Christopher will never tire of chasing wins at, and he’ll be doing just that on April 30 at Stafford Motor Speedway. Christopher will enter the event with a team operated by Scott Anderson in the 00 Modified made famous by late long-time owner Joe Brady. Christopher will be chasing his seventh career Spring Sizzler victory. He has five in Whelen Modified Tour cars and he also won the one Spring Sizzler event that was contested in SK Modifieds in 1988. “I’m looking forward to it,” Christopher said. “I always like to run that race. I’ve won it a few times. Like to try to win it again. I’ve won it more than a few times I would say. Let’s try to get another one. “And some people don’t consider the SK [Modified win] a Spring Sizzler win. I’ve told people that if they changed it to dirt and they brought dirt cars here and Stewart Friesen won it in a dirt car and it was the Spring Sizzler, it would still be the Spring Sizzler. So just because you ran [SK Modified’s] doesn’t mean that it’s not the Spring Sizzler.” Christopher, the Whelen Modified Tour’s third winningest driver all-time with 42 career victories, made just two starts with the series in 2016. He ran the Spring Sizzler for Anderson and also the division’s event at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. The team had planned to also run the event at the Speedbowl again, but the race was recently removed from the series schedule.States Rights Gist 1831 – 1864 Brigadier General States Rights Gist was a descendant of Marylander, Gen. Mordecai Gist, who distinguished himself at the battle of Camden in 1780, and at the Combahee in 1782 during the American Revolution, and subsequently resided at Charleston, S.C. At his death Mordecai left two sons who bore names exemplifying his views, and most views of Americans of that time, concerning their status as a free people among the nations of the world. His sons were Independent Gist and States Rights Gist. Having been born in Union, South Carolina on September 3, 1831, States Rights Gist graduated from South Carolina College, before attending Harvard University Law School. After graduation he returned to South Carolina where he practiced law. In 1859, Gist became involved in the state militia, rising to brigadier general. In this capacity he trained and prepared his fellow South Carolinians for the war that would soon come. When his native state seceded from the Union, he worked as state adjutant and inspector general, whose responsibility it was to acquire arms for the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Gist then served as a volunteer aide to General Bee, and at the critical moment in the first battle of Manassas. The day after this battle, Bee was killed and Gist stepped in as temporary commander of his brigade. When Gen. J. E. Johnston rode to the front with the colors of the Fourth Alabama at his side, Beauregard relates that "noticing Col. S. R. Gist, an aide to General Bee, a young man whom I had known as adjutant-general of South Carolina, and whom I greatly esteemed, I presented him as an able and brave commander to the stricken regiment, who cheered their new leader, and maintained under him to the end of the day, their previous gallant behavior." Gist was wounded in this action, but he subsequently resumed his duties as adjutant-general, organizing South Carolina troops for the war, until in March, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate service, and ordered to report to General Pemberton, then in command of the department. He was after this on duty on the South Carolina coast, in command east of James island in June, on that island from July; temporarily in command of the first district, and in December, 1862, in command of the troops ordered to the relief of Wilmington, until May, 1863, when he was ordered to take command of a brigade and go to the assistance of General Pemberton in Mississippi. Reaching Jackson his command formed part of the troops under J. E. Johnston, took part in the engagement of May 14th at Jackson, marched to the Big Black river just before the surrender of Vicksburg, and then returning to Jackson was besieged by Sherman. His brigade comprised the Forty-sixth Georgia, Fourteenth Mississippi and Twenty-fourth South Carolina, the Sixteenth South Carolina soon afterward being substituted for the Mississippi regiment, and was assigned to the division of Gen. W. H. T. Walker. He fought gallantly at Chickamauga, commanding during part of the battle Ector's and Wilson's brigades, his own brigade being led by Colonel Colquitt, and on Sunday commanding Walker's division. At an important stage of the fight Gen. D. H. Hill called for Gist's brigade for dangerous duty, in the performance of which it suffered severely. He continued in conspicuous and valuable service; during the battle of Missionary Ridge commanded Walker's division, and throughout the Atlanta campaign of 1864 was identified with that division. After the fall of General Walker he was transferred to Cheatham's division, which he commanded for some time during the fall campaign of that year. At the terribly destructive battle of Franklin, Tenn., he was one of the noblest of the brave men whose lives were sacrificed. On November 30, 1864, attended by Capt. H. D. Garden and Lieut. Frank Trenholm, of his staff, he rode down the front, and after ordering the charge and waving his hat to the Twenty-fourth, rode away in the smoke of battle, never more to be seen by the men he had commanded on so many fields. His horse was shot, and he was leading the right of the brigade on foot when he fell, pierced through the heart. Gist was one of six Confederate generals to die this day.It was in the mid-1980s that I first heard the term “politically correct,” from an older housemate in Berkeley. She had a couple glasses of wine in her and was on a roll, venturing some opinions that were outré by the local standards. I thought the term witty and took it for her own coinage, but in retrospect she probably picked it up from one of the magazines that she would leave on the kitchen table: Commentary, or maybe the New Criterion. The Cold War was in full bloom at the time, and it was clear to all in Berkeley which side deserved to win. She was on the other side. I was in my late teens; her treasonous perfidy was exciting. Through the ’80s, ’90s, and into the new millennium, the phrase “politically correct” would crop up here and there. Among people who were credited as being sophisticated, use of the term would be met with a certain exasperation: It was needling and stale. The phrase had been picked up by the likes of College Republicans and Fox News, and if you had an ear for intellectual class distinctions you avoided it. Originally a witticism, the term suggested there was something Soviet-like in the policing of liberal opinion. When it first came into wide circulation, was it anything but humorous hyperbole? Is that still the case today? A sociologist might point to a decline in social trust over the past few decades—they have ways of measuring this—and speculate about its bearing on political speech. One wonders: Who am I talking to? How will my utterances be received? What sort of allegiances are in play here? In the absence of trust, it becomes necessary to send explicit signals. We become fastidious in speech and observe gestures of affirmation and condemnation that would be unnecessary among friends. The more insecure one’s position (for example, as a middle manager who senses his disposability, or a graduate student who hopes for admittance to the academic guild), the more important it is to signal virtue and castigate the usual villains. In some settings these performative imperatives lead us to mimic the ideologue. But from the outside, mimicry may be indistinguishable from the real thing. This uncertainty heightens the atmosphere of mistrust, as in the Soviet world where one could never be sure who might be an informer. Such informers need not be ideologues themselves, just opportunists. Ryszard Legutko is a professor of philosophy in Krakow who has held various ministerial positions in the post-Communist, liberal-democratic governments of Poland and is currently a member of the European parliament. Under communism, he was a dissident and an editor of the Solidarity movement’s samizdat. He is thus well positioned to make comparisons between two regimes that are conventionally taken to be at polar ends of the axis of freedom. In his book The Demon in Democracy—published last year, with a paperback edition scheduled for next year—Legutko’s thesis is that the important differences between communism and liberal democracy obscure affinities that go deeper than any recent sociological developments. He finds both tyrannical in their central tendencies and inner logic. Legutko’s tone is darkly aggrieved, and he sometimes overstates his case. But his biography compels us to consider seriously the parallels with communism that he asserts, for as a former dissident under a brutal regime he knows what real oppression looks like. He is no intellectual crybaby or talk-radio crank. Many of Legutko’s observations and arguments can be applied to the United States, even though he is more focused on EU-style liberal democracy: Even a preliminary contact with the EU institutions allows one to feel a stifling atmosphere typical of a political monopoly, to see the destruction of language turning into a new form of Newspeak, to observe the creation of a surreality, mostly ideological, that obfuscates the real world, to witness an uncompromising hostility against all dissidents, and to perceive many other things only too familiar to anyone who remembers the world governed by the Communist Party. The parallels Legutko finds between liberal democracy and communism become plausible once you grant that in Europe the term “liberal democracy” has come to name a disposition and political system that is neither liberal nor democratic. In theory, liberal democracy is supposed to be a merely formal or neutral arrangement to guarantee rule by consent—the consent of a majority with important constitutional limits and guarantees of minority rights. Thus conceived, it is to be agnostic about human ends and ideals, pluralistic in its sympathies, and tolerant of dissent. Such political ideals would nourish a diversity of human experience and many “experiments in living,” John Stuart Mill hoped. But if the hope was to depoliticize society, rendering issues of public morality into matters of private concern, the effect has been the opposite. Everything is deeply politicized: family life, intellectual life, art, sex, children’s toys, you name it. Domains of life that were previously oriented by their own internal logic of experience are now held to account by a self-appointed vanguard, exposed to the sterilizing light of publicity, and made to answer to liberal ideals that are not merely procedural but substantive. “It is difficult to find some nondoctrinal slice of the world, a nondoctrinal image, narrative, tone, or thought,” Legutko writes. In this regard—the denial of sovereignty to spheres of life that in principle ought to be beneath the notice and beyond the reach of the political regime—it is fair to say that liberal democracy in its 21st-century workings does resemble communism as described by dissident authors such as Milan Kundera and Václav Havel. Both regimes have “proved to be all-unifying entities compelling their followers how to think, what to do, how to evaluate events, what to dream, and what language to use.” Communism had, and liberal democracy has, its own orthodoxies and its own “models of an ideal citizen.” What can account for the mismatch between liberal democracy’s easygoing self-image and the feel of everyday life in a liberal democracy? There is little sense of social spontaneity; one watches what one says. This has come to feel normal. Like François Furet before him, Legutko suggests that the key to understanding the character of life in a liberal democracy is the role that history—or rather History, understood as inevitable progress in a certain direction—plays in the liberal imagination. In recent decades, this manifested as the enthusiasm for trying to bring liberal democracy to very illiberal places using the blunt instruments of military action and marketization. But it was during the Obama era that this energy really got released onto the domestic scene for the first time in perhaps 40 years. Liberals started calling themselves progressives—a rebranding significant because it announced a new boldness in speaking an idiom of historical necessity. It announced a new impatience with foot-draggers as well. In a handful of years, we went from Obama himself being opposed to gay marriage (however sincerely) to a cultural norm in which to wonder aloud about the civilizational novelty of gay marriage, even in a speculative or theoretical register, is to risk harming yourself socially and professionally. To anyone who felt squeezed by a tightening cultural grid during the Obama years, the parallels Legutko offers with the Soviet experience won’t seem hyperbolic. Both the communists and liberal democrats, while praising what is inevitable and objectively necessary in history, praise at the same time the free activities of parties, associations, community groups, and organizations in which, as they believe, what is inevitable and objectively necessary reveals itself. Both speak fondly of “the people” and large social movements, while at the same time... [they] have no qualms in ruthlessly breaking social spontaneity in order to accelerate social reconstruction. In his foreword to Legutko’s book, John O’Sullivan crisply lays out the logic that follows from the conviction of historical privilege shared by communism and liberalism. Both insist “that all social institutions—family, churches, private associations—must conform” to certain rules in their internal functioning, and “both are devoted to social engineering to bring about this transformation. And because such engineering is naturally resisted,... both are engaged in a never-ending struggle against enemies of society (superstition, tradition, the past, intolerance, racism, xenophobia, bigotry, etc., etc.).” Legutko writes that going with the flow, whether Communist or liberal-democratic, “gives an intellectual more power, or at least an illusion of it. He feels like part of a powerful global machine of transformation.... [He criticizes] what is in the name of what will be, but what a large part of humanity, less perceptive and less intelligent than himself, fails to see.” This sounds apt as an account of a certain kind of narcissistic political pleasure. In the United States, Comedy Central serves to organize the youthful, lumpen intelligentsia and make it aware of itself as a force. A coveted demographic for advertisers, these viewers tune in to be flattered by the minstrels of corporate right-thinking. As a rough rule of thumb, it seems the higher the stock market capitalization of a firm (think Google, Facebook, Apple) and the more quasigovernmental a role it plays in our collective lives, the less daylight will be found between its enlightened positions and the brave truth-telling of a Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee, or John Oliver. Liberal use of the F-bomb confirms, and reconfirms, that here we are engaged in transgression—for the sake of principles the stupids fail to grasp. “The trackers of traitors to liberal democracy readily succumb,” Legutko writes, to the delusion “that they are a brave small group struggling dauntlessly against an overwhelming enemy.” In the European setting, “On their side are the courts, both national and international, the UN and its agencies, the European Union with all its institutions, countless media, universities, and public opinion.... They feel absolutely safe, being equipped with the most powerful political tools in today’s world but at the same time priding themselves on their courage and decency, which are more formidable the more awesome the image of the enemy becomes.” In the United States, a small-town entrepreneur who, say, politely declines to bake a cake or arrange flowers for a gay wedding sometimes has to suffice for this purpose, serving the role of an awesome enemy. Notions such as freedom of association and freedom of conscience can only mask the “hate” just beneath the deceptively congenial surface of American life. As Legutko writes, “the very idea of liberal democracy should presuppose the freedom of action.” But because there is an arc of progress to this regime—one that is not only discerned in retrospect but is understood as a mission—those who fail to get with the program “lose their legitimacy. The need for building a liberal-democratic society [as opposed to a mere liberal-democratic political procedure] thus implies the withdrawal of the guarantee of freedom for those whose actions and interests are said to be hostile to what the liberal democrats conceive as the cause of freedom.” Such projects of social transformation give expression to progressive “empathy” for designated classes of victims. But here we encounter another bit of Newspeak, if we grant that empathy properly understood means being sympathetic and alive to human experience in its concrete particularity. Progressive empathy tends to treat persons as instances of categories defined by politics. Drawing a parallel between Communist class struggle and liberal-democratic gender politics, Legutko writes that “a real woman living in a real society, like a real worker living in a real society, is politically not to be trusted because she deviates too much from the political model. In fact, a nonfeminist woman is not a woman at all, just as a noncommunist worker was not really a proletarian.” One could go further: Willful obtuseness to social phenomena is crucial in constructing the symbolic persons at the heart of these progressive dramas, because the point of the dramas is for the progressive to act out his own virtue as one who embraces the symbol. Progressive purity, based on abstraction from social reality, sometimes has to be guarded by policing the speech of real individuals who are putatively the objects of the progressive’s enthusiasm, or the speech of those who are in more intimate contact with these individuals and threaten to complicate the picture—for example, the speech of the social worker who frankly describes the confusion and unhappiness that mark the lives of transgender people. The great march forward requires the erasure of “gender binaries,” and that is all one needs to know. Legutko’s book will appeal to people who can point to no overt political oppression, but who feel that the standards of acceptable discourse increasingly require them to lie, and to accept the humiliation of doing so. Like other dissident writers from the Soviet sphere, Legutko provides a historical parallel to our own time that helps us parse that feeling and discern its logic. Matthew B. Crawford is a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the author, most recently, of The World Beyond Your Head: On Becoming an Individual in an Age of Distraction.LAS VEGAS – You can go ahead and start making your plans now for next year’s “International Fight Week.” It has its anchor, and it’s another landmark. UFC 200 will take place July 2, 2016, in Las Vegas – at the city’s new and still under-construction venue, MGM-AEG Arena, just west of MGM Grand Garden Arena. UFC President Dana White made the announcement today at the UFC Fan Expo, which took place at Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas. No fights have been announced for the card. “Every year, we just want to make this thing bigger and bigger,” White told fans at the expo after announcing the plans for the card. Construction on what currently is called MGM-AEG Arena began a little more than a year ago. The finished facility will hold upwards of 20,000 fans for MMA and boxing events, as well as concerts. The venue sits just behind the New York-New York casino. When the arena was announce in May 2014, White told MMAjunkie that he had been promised the ability to hold the first sporting event in the venue. This year’s “International Fight Week” has Saturday’s UFC 189 as its anchor event with Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes in the headliner. Past UFC pay-per-views in the early July time period, around the Independence Day holiday, have included UFC 175, which saw Chris Weidman beat Lyoto Machida in a middleweight title bout; UFC 162, which saw Weidman upset Anderson Silva; UFC 148, a rematch between Silva and Chael Sonnen; and, of course, the landmark UFC 100 in July 2009 – heretofore the best-selling pay-per-view in UFC history. For more on UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.Signing, Alexander Graham Bell and the NAD Photo: Alexander Graham Bell and a group of school children Most Americans know Alexander Graham Bell as the inventor of the telephone, but few are aware that the central interest of his life was deaf education or that he was one of the most prominent proponents of oralism in the United States. Like his father before him, Bell spent his life studying the physiology of speech, once said that “to ask the value of speech is like asking the value of life.” After emigrating from England to Canada in 1870 and to the United States a year later, Bell began to teach speech to deaf students using a universal alphabet invented by his father called “Visible Speech.” In 1872 he opened a school in Boston to train teachers of deaf children. Bell’s second chief interest was the study of heredity and animal breeding, and he became an early supporter of the eugenics movement to improve human breeding. Bell did not go so far as to advocate social controls on reproduction, as many eugenicists did. He did, however, decry the immigration into the United States of what he termed “undesirable ethnical elements,” calling for legislation to prevent their entry in order to encourage the “evolution of a higher and nobler type of man in America.” His views on immigration, deaf education, and eugenics overlapped and intertwined. He described sign language as “essentially a foreign language” and argued that “in an English speaking country like the United States, the English language, and the English language alone, should be used as the means of communication and instruction at least in schools supported at public expense.” He maintained that the use of sign language “in our public schools is contrary to the spirit and practice of American Institutions (as foreign immigrants have found out).” “I think Alexander Graham Bell’s greatest crime was keeping deaf people apart from each other. It wasn’t so much that he thought speech was important. Worse than that was that he didn’t want deaf people to marry each other. He didn’t want them to be near each other. He wanted them to be apart.” Gina Oliva In 1884, Bell published a paper “Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race,” in which he warned of a “great calamity” facing the nation: deaf people were forming clubs, socializing with one another and, consequently, marrying other deaf people. The creation of a “deaf race” that yearly would grow larger and more insular was underway. Bell noted that “a special language adapted for the use of such a race” already was in existence, “a language as different from English as French or German or Russian.” Some eugenicists called for legislation outlawing intermarriage by deaf people, but Bell rejected such a ban as impractical. Instead he proposed the following steps: “(1) Determine the causes that promote intermarriages among the deaf and dumb; and (2) remove them. The causes he sought to remove were sign language, deaf teachers, and residential schools. His solution was the creation of special day schools taught by hearing teachers who would enforce a ban on sign language. As oralism became the dominant method of instruction in schools for deaf students, the National Association of the Deaf and other community organizations rose to the defense of sign language in the classroom. They called it the “natural language of the deaf” and argued that a reliance on oral communication alone would be educationally disastrous for most deaf students. They took the debate to Deaf community newspapers, to journals of education, to teachers’ conventions, to any forum accessible to them. The National Association of the Deaf began production of a series of films, in 1910, under the direction of its president, George Veditz. The NAD raised $5,000 to make eighteen films. The fear and the hope that animated the project was that the elimination of sign language and deaf teachers in the schools would lead to the deterioration of their beloved language and the hope was that the new technology of film could preserve examples of the “masters of our sign language” for future generations. Veditz’s own contribution to the film series, an impassioned call for “The Preservation of the Sign Language” denounced the damage caused by the “false prophets.” These films provide us with an early glimpse of the language Deaf Americans created. “Society in general views Alexander Graham Bell as an American hero, as the inventor of the telephone. He was famous, wealthy, and influential. His own Mother was deaf. He was always associating with the Deaf community and he was a teacher of deaf children. He had his own day school in Boston. He was very familiar with the Deaf world.” Brian Greenwald HISTORIC FILM QUOTE: “We American deaf are now facing bad times for our schools. False prophets are now appearing, announcing to the public that our American means of teaching the deaf are all wrong. These men have tried to educate the public and make them believe that the oral method is really the one best means of educating the deaf. But we American deaf know, the French deaf know, the German deaf know that in truth, the oral method is the worst. A new race of pharaohs that knew not Joseph is taking over the land and many of our American schools. They do not understand signs for they cannot sign. They proclaim that signs are worthless and of no help to the deaf. Enemies of the sign language, they are enemies of the true welfare of the deaf. We must use our films to pass on the beauty of the signs we have now. As long as we have deaf people on earth, we will have signs. And as long as we have our films, we can preserve signs in their old purity. It is my hope that we will all love and guard our beautiful sign language as the noblest gift God has given to deaf people.”George W. Veditz, “The Preservation of the Sign Language,” 1913, (translated from ASL by Carol Padden and Eric Malzkuhn)Zakir Naik + Mumbai police + religious enmity + MUMBAI: A total of Rs 60 crore was deposited in controversial televangelist's bank account in the last three years from three different countries, aprobe has found. The money was transferred to five accounts belonging to Naik's family members, a police officer who did not wish to be named said.Police sources said they had probed the money angle and found details of all transactions. "We still don't know what this money was meant for. We have done an inquiry and found the money trail. The money was transferred to family members' accounts," said the officer.The account, the officer made clear, does not belong to Naik's NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) but is his own. Police are looking into the financial transactions of Naik and the IRF. However, they are yet to question IRF officials."We may question them about the source of income, the connection between the depositors and Naik," said the officer.A decision on whether to initiate action against Naik's two NGOs under the Foreign Contributions (Regulation) Act 2010 is yet to be taken. The Union home ministry is examining possible FCRA violations by IRF and IRF Educational Trust, both registered as "educational" NGOs under FCRA but reportedly receiving and utilising foreign funds for "religious and religion-linked" activities. A source close to Naik however said, "There is no illegal transaction. The money came into the bank account, and all the records of IRF have been cleared till 2015 by the Income-Tax department. Whatever money came is in white and all the records are maintained. This also helps the country's foreign exchange to grow."Mumbai police are also probing the accounts of an international school run by Naik. A police inquiry report, submitted to commissioner D D Padsalgikar recently, was compiled after going through the bank statements and money transfers, sources said.had on Wednesday reported that the Maharashtra government is all set to book Naik for promoting. The tele-preacher has been under the scanner after a probe into the July 1 Dhaka attack revealed two of the attackers were inspired by him.Last month, Kerala police registered a case of forcible conversion against Arshi Qureshi and Rizwan Khan and arrested the two. Qureshi was in the past attached to the IRF. Mumbai police on August 6 registered a case against four persons, including Khan and Qureshi, for allegedly radicalizing Ashfaque Abdul Majeed, 22 and instigating him to join the IS.As the Fire head into the final home game of their three-match home stretch at Toyota Park, they stand as the only Eastern Conference team above the playoff line that has a negative goal differential. Saturday’s visiting opponent, Lee Nguyen and the New England Revolution, are sitting just behind the Fire in the conference table with but one point less. In other words, league standings are quite fragile at the moment, and Chicago’s uncharacteristic (and very possibly momentary) placement near the top of the Eastern Conference standings could be undone by the end of this MLS weekend. Even as an optimistic start to the season has lent an increasing sense of hope for the Fire’s playoff picture, only a three point result from Saturday’s match will keep anxious fans at least somewhat comfortable before the club heads out on a three-match away stint. That bridge will be crossed next week, however, as this Saturday will see two very evenly matched teams take the field at Toyota Park and
Andrei Karlov, was shot dead AP 8/13 Turkish police secure the area near the art gallery where Andrei Karlov was shot REUTERS 9/13 The gunman reportedly shouted "Aleppo" and "revenge" after shooting Mr Karlov dead AFP/Getty Images 10/13 The gunman stands over the body of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov AP 11/13 The gunman, a Turkish policeman, can be seen standing behind the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, before he opened fire AP 12/13 An ambulance leaves the area near the art gallery where the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was shot dead REUTERS 13/13 Guests leave as the gunman holds his weapon behind them AFP/Getty The ministry said rescue teams found fragments of the plane at a distance of about 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile) from shore, at a depth of 50-70 metres. Russia's RIA news agency, citing an unidentified security source, said preliminary data indicated that the plane had crashed because of a technical malfunction or a pilot error. We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads. Subscribe nowElvis Presley is pictured in his United States Army uniform in this undated publicity photograph. REUTERS/Handout LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - A pile of hair believed snipped from Elvis Presley when he joined the U.S. Army in 1958 sold for $18,300 on Sunday, according to a Chicago auction house. The King’s hair was one of up to 200 items of Elvis memorabilia collected by the late Gary Pepper, who was the president of the Tankers Fan Club set up for Elvis fans. The top price of $62,800 was paid for a cream collared cotton shirt with the monogram EP that came with a magazine showing the King wearing the shirt, or at least one similar. It had been expected to sell for between $2,000 and $4,000. A red ultrasuede shirt, which was also expected to sell for between $2,000 and $4,000, and was also believed to have been worn by Elvis sold for $34,000. Chicago-based Leslie Hindman Auctioneers posted the results of the auction on its website, saying the lot of hair sold for $18,300 which topped the expected price of between $8,000 and $12,000. All prices on its website included the buyer’s premium. The auction house said the hair was given to Pepper to mail to Presley fans. No DNA test was carried out on the hair but the auctioneer quoted “an expert in celebrity hair authentication,” John Reznikoff, saying it matched the Elvis hair he has in his collection. No details of the winning bidder were immediately available. Elvis died in 1977 at the age of 42.This year has seen the proliferation of proposed applications and startups using blockchain technology. Predicting which will succeed and which will fail with 100 percent accuracy is, of course, impossible. But the likeliest candidates for success are the cases where the benefits of not relying on a central intermediary most exceed the extra costs of using a blockchain to process transactions. Will our health records and deeds to our homes end up on blockchains? The answer will depend greatly on these costs and benefits. The benefits of not relying on a central intermediary are often larger than we first assume. Let’s look at the most well-known blockchain application — payment processing — and one of the most important functions of today’s intermediaries, namely keeping our data secure. We use central payment-processing systems such as credit cards, PayPal, or bank transfers all the time, almost without thinking about it. As we do so, we implicitly trust these intermediaries to protect our personal and financial data from being stolen and to not misuse the data themselves. Data hacks of epic proportions do happen, but let’s assume that the probability of something bad happening when we use one of these intermediaries is very low. Does that mean the cost of relying on these intermediaries to secure our data is low? Not necessarily. We place our trust in these intermediaries because they have made costly investments over time to engender that trust. Firms that centrally process payments spend millions per year on hardware, software, employees, and research and development to communicate to customers that their data is safe in each transaction. And all the major credit cards require their e-commerce merchants to meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, first rolled out in 2004. Merchant compliance, which includes network security, monitoring, and several other standards, is expensive. For the smallest e-commerce merchants (defined as under 20,000 transactions per year) accepting Visa, MasterCard, or Discover, becoming compliant costs an estimated $75,000 to $90,000, and maintaining compliance costs an additional estimated $35,000 annually. For the largest merchants (processing over 6 million transactions per year), the costs are estimated to be 10 times as large. Intermediaries pass security costs along to consumers in the form of credit card or banking fees. But if blockchain technology’s advocates are correct and if a network has enough independent computing “nodes,” we can avoid these costs while providing perhaps even greater security. Data security is, of course, just one problem with relying on centralized intermediaries. Financial intermediaries can grow large enough to dictate fees to consumers or influence government policy, and many people have privacy and other concerns. And intermediaries often cost more than we initially think. But these problems are just one side of the story. Central intermediaries generally process data at a lower cost per transaction than blockchains (Jeffrey Tucker, our newest addition to the AIER family, recently described the latest news in the battle over scaling Bitcoin’s ability to process transactions). The market will ultimately determine whether the benefits of decentralization outweigh the costs in payment-processing and other industries, but intermediaries often cost more than we initially think.Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said Thursday she has asked the FBI to help investigate the fatal shooting of two people by a Chicago police officer who was answering a domestic disturbance call on the West Side last weekend. A law enforcement source has said Quintonio LeGrier, 19, was shot early last Saturday morning as he approached the officer, swinging a metal bat. Bettie Jones, 55, was shot by accident as she stood behind him near the front door of a two-flat in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. The shooting is being investigated by the Chicago Independent Police Review Authority, but Alvarez said in a statement she has asked the FBI to join the case. "This is a deeply disturbing incident that demands a very deliberate and meticulous independent investigation," she said in the statement. "At this stage, the investigation is being conducted by IPRA, but my office has also contacted the FBI to request their involvement as well." She said her office "will review the results of the investigation when they are presented... and will determine if any criminal charges are warranted." Alvarez faced intense criticism for waiting more than a year to file murder charges against a Chicago police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald as the teen walked down the middle of a street with a knife in his hand. The officer fired 16 times, emptying his gun. Alvarez filed the charges as the city of Chicago finally released a video of the October 2014 shooting. She has defended the investigation as a detailed inquiry into a case more complicated than the video might suggest, though she acknowledged the video's release spurred her to move up her announcement. There have been almost daily calls for her resignation since then. In the wake of the McDonald shooting, the Department of Justice said it is investigating whether Chicago police have systematically violated peoples' civil rights. The shooting of LeGrier and Jones came about a month after the McDonald video was released. The officer in that shooting has told authorities LeGrier ran out of the building, swinging a bat at the officers, as he and his partner arrived at the West Garfield Park home, according to a law enforcement source. The officer fired at the teen several times, fatally striking him. But the officer also fatally shot in the chest Bettie Jones, a downstairs neighbor who the law enforcement source said was standing in the doorway behind the teen. The officer later said he didn't see her.Gladys Berejiklian smiles at a press conference on Monday. Credit:Daniel Munoz "That's something that I valued and worked hard to do and I want to make sure that everyone else has that opportunity as well." Ms Berejiklian was speaking at her first media conference after being unanimously elected Liberal leader by her party room on Monday and before being sworn in as NSW premier. She outlined her government's key priorities as local infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, housing affordability and a strong economy. Quizzed about how she would approach the housing affordability question, Ms Berejiklian did not offer specific policy solutions but rather said she would be outlining initiatives "in the near future". NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet. Credit:Daniel Munoz Ms Berejiklian was speaking alongside Finance Minister Dominic Perrottet, who was elected deputy Liberal leader on Monday and is expected to become Treasurer in a reshuffle. Mr Perrottet has advocated scrapping residential stamp duty in favour of a broad-based land tax as one affordability solution. Asked about this, Ms Berejiklian said it was "not my preference." Ms Berejiklian said housing supply was "the best way to address housing affordability" but that the government "needs to do more". "That is the biggest issue people raise with me in Sydney; it's the biggest concern people have across the state," she said. However, she also pledged to be "open-minded and seeking advice of people outside the government, outside the bureaucracy, outside elected officials to support us in that". In a prepared speech, Ms Berejiklian outlined two major influences that will determine the type of premier she will be: her Armenian migrant parents and public education. Ms Berejiklian's father, Krikor, was a boilermaker who worked on the Sydney Opera House; her mother, Arsha, a nurse. "They made us believe we could be anything we aspired to be," Ms Berejiklian said, referring to herself and her two sisters. "That's certainly what I bring to the job today." On public education, Ms Berejiklian noted that while she was born in Sydney, when she started school she couldn't speak English. She paid tribute to her teachers who "saw something in me and encouraged it". "That's why you'll have, in me, the strongest supporter of [the Gonski education funding reforms]," she said. "Because I know what a public education can do for somebody. And if I didn't have access to that education, I wouldn't be standing here today". Ms Berejiklian, who is single and has no children, was asked how prepared she was for questions such as those put to former prime minister Julia Gillard. "I say, take me as you see me," she said. "I'm someone who's always been myself. Not all of us can plan how our life turns out. I'm a very happy person. "The closest people in my life are my family. I'm not going to judge anybody on their personal circumstances. I'm here to govern for everybody. And I hope that people judge me on my merits and on what I can do." Ms Berejiklian has been reviewing some of the Baird government's more contentious policies. It is unclear which policies are in the spotlight but those that have caused controversy include forced council amalgamations, lockout laws for licensed premises and the proposed privatisation of the Land and Property Information service. Ms Berejiklian said she was comfortable with the current situation with the lockout laws. On council mergers, she said she was open to discussions with the nationals, who are pushing to halt further amalgamations. On fresh policy directions, Ms Berejiklian said: "there are some things that I would like to talk to my colleagues about. "To suggest that everything's on the table wouldn't be an accurate description, but to suggest that I would listen on issues that obviously are causing angst for people – of course I will do that." Ms Berejiklian would not be drawn on a forthcoming reshuffle but said appointments would be made "on merit". Labor leader Luke Foley said that Ms Berejiklian would inherit the premiership at a time of immense challenge and called on her to divert more of the state's surpluses toward key services. "The key services that the people of NSW rely on for a good life are failing, particularly our health system," he said. "If we can't build the schools we need now when the rivers of gold from the Sydney property boom are flowing into the state's coffers, when can we?" Loading He also called on Ms Berejiklian to consider a broader range of policy responses to housing affordability. "She's been the person in the government who's stubbornly insisted that boosting supply is the only tool to tackle housing affordability," he said. "It's not; it isn't working."President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama to be U.S. Attorney General has sent a chill up the spines of many in the emerging cannabis industry. Many were preparing themselves for someone like Rudy Giuliani. He wasn't for legalizing marijuana, but they felt he would be pragmatic and recognize the financial benefits that states have been reaping from the tax revenues. Sessions is a passionate anti-marijuana advocate. As attorney general, Sessions would oversee federal prosecutors and the Drug Enforcement Administration as well as other law enforcement agencies that could come down hard on marijuana businesses, even if they complied with their own states' laws. Sessions has spoken out against marijuana a number of times. He once said, "You can’t have the President of the United States of America talking about marijuana … you are sending a message to young people that there is no danger in this process. It is false that marijuana use doesn’t lead people to more drug use. It is already causing a disturbance in the states that have made it legal.” He famously said of the Ku Klux Klan that he was okay with them, “until I learned they smoked pot.” Sessions later said he was joking. "Senator Sessions is clearly out in the deep end when it comes to issues of marijuana policy and he stands diametrically opposed to the majority of Americans who favor the legalization and regulation of marijuana,” said Erik Altieri, executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). “This could foreshadow some very bad things for the eight states that have legalized marijuana for adult use and in the 29 states with medical marijuana programs.” Altieri said Sessions could begin blocking ballot initiatives, conduct raids on legal businesses and begin dismantling the legal cannabis industry that has already been established in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Many in the industry are holding onto hope that Trump, who has expressed his support for medical marijuana will maintain that position. They are also clinging to the belief that the businessman in Trump will see the amount of money that is coming into the states from the taxes and will not want to take that money away. Aaron Herzberg, Partner & General Counsel at CalCann Holdings, said,”Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is the worst pick that Trump could have made for attorney general as it comes to marijuana issues, and this selection bodes very poorly for the Trump administration to adopt a marijuana-friendly policy. It appears that he is intent on rolling back policy to the 1980's Nancy Reagan's 'just say no on drugs' days. He has displayed open hostility to efforts to legalize marijuana, recently stating earlier this year that 'good people don't smoke marijuana.' He has been extremely hostile to efforts to legalize both medical and adult use marijuana.” The National Cannabis Industry Association struck a more conciliatory note saying, “We look forward to working with him to ensure that states' rights and voter choices on cannabis are respected." The marijuana community also points to several remarks that President-elect Trump has made during the campaign where he said he believed it was up to the states, however, Tom Angell of the Marijuana Majority said, “Sessions’s past remarks clearly indicate he doesn’t support letting states set their own marijuana laws without federal interference, setting up an early potential conflict inside the new administration. Trump will have to decide how much rein to give the attorney general to go against his repeated campaign pledges.” The industry has been gathered in Las Vegas this past week for its biggest event, the Marijuana and Business Conference. Over 7,000 people attended the conference and there were over 300 exhibitors. Most were expecting Trump to appoint a conservative attorney general, but they genuinely feel that the genie is already out of the bottle on marijuana and that it would be incredibly difficult to reverse course. The community points to polls that overwhelmingly favor legalization and they point to the huge tax revenues that the legalized states have come to rely on. However, this is an administration that has said it wants to reverse Obamacare, reverse Roe v. Wade and reverse trade agreements. A nascent federally illegal industry is small potatoes compared to those items. With millions invested into businesses, the nervousness is clear as they begin gearing up for a fight they believe it coming. NORML is already raising money for an Emergency Response Fund. Sessions will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a confirmation hearing; if the committee advances his nomination, as expected, it will go to a floor vote. He is likely to be approved because Democrats do not have the votes to block his confirmation. It is expected that he will be questioned about racist comments that derailed his nomination to serve as a federal judge in 1986, and about his views on drug policy.On Saturday afternoon, September 20, my daughter, who lives in Nashville, called my wife, who was visiting in Atlanta. She knew that my wife had planned to return to the Memphis area by way of Nashville. She told my wife to be sure to fill up her gas tank in Atlanta, because there was a major gasoline shortage in Nashville. My wife went out to fill her gas tank, and she found that she could not find a gas station with gas for sale. She called me to warn me. I immediately went to the local gas station. They had no premium gas, but they did have unleaded regular. I filled up my tank. I came home and did a search on the web, and I found a story about the shortage in Nashville. The story said that a rumor of an imminent shortage had swept Nashville, and people lined up their cars to fill up their tanks. My daughter said that she had been in a long line herself. She was able to fill her gas tank, but shortly thereafter, the gasoline station manager placed “empty” signs on the pumps. Here we have a classic example of rationing by lining up. A week before, there had been a regional gasoline shortage as a result of fears regarding Hurricane Ike and the possibility that gasoline refineries in Texas would be shut down for months. Some gas stations raised prices, but others refused. The ones that refused ran out of gas. People sat in their cars for half an hour or longer in the hope of getting to a pump, and filled up their tanks. Before the weekend was over, President Bush went on national television and warned against gasoline stations that gouged consumers. He said that there would be an investigation regarding accusations of gasoline stations that raised prices on Friday. The message got through this weekend. Instead of raising prices, in an attempt to reduce demand for gasoline, thereby allocating gasoline that was in short supply by means of price, station managers simply let people fill up their tanks until the pumps were empty. Anyone who wanted gasoline after that was out of luck. This is rationing by lining up. It is the alternative to rationing by price. Rationing by lining up creates no financial incentive for suppliers of the item in short supply to allocate new supplies to the region of the country which is experiencing a shortage. Instead, delivery schedules remain the same as they did prior to the shortage. This continues the shortage. Whenever there are complaints about price gouging during a period of a shortage, sellers get the message. The next time there is a shortage, they hesitate to raise prices. They shift to the other allocation system: first come, first served. This subsidizes people who have a low value on their time. People who place a high value on their time prefer to pay extra money in order to attain their goals. But this is made illegal by the state. So, the shortage lasts longer than it would otherwise have lasted. The official goal of the government is to make certain that everyone has access to the item in short supply. The government says that raising prices during a shortage is unfair. So, the result is the opposite of what the government’s official justification was for holding prices down. There is an even greater shortage, because people buy more of the item than they need immediately. They have no incentive to reduce their consumption, thereby making available applies to those who were at the end of the line. There is no incentive for anyone at the front of the line to refrain from filling his gasoline tank. So, gasoline runs out before the line runs out. This happens with regularity. All it takes is a rumor to create massive demand for the item that is believed to be in short supply. There is no pricing arrangement that alerts people to the crisis. Instead, long lines appear in the front of gasoline stations. As soon as the long lines appear, people panic, and line up to get gasoline even though they do not have empty tanks. This is exactly what I did as soon as I heard about the shortage. I had half a tank, but I went to my local gasoline station and filled up. I found that there was no premium gasoline available. That was not a problem, since I use unleaded regular. But I did note that there was a shortage of premium, and this encouraged me to fill up my tank. The public refuses to learn. The public is incensed against people who raise prices in a crisis, that is, people who respond to increasing demand by large numbers of buyers. The critics do not like the principle of the auction: high bid wins. The critics prefer another principle: first come, first served. The second principle offers no incentives for suppliers to increase production. Once again, we learn that the free-market principles of open competition and high bid wins cannot be thwarted without negative repercussions. Gary North [send him mail] is the author of Mises on Money. Visit http://www.garynorth.com. He is also the author of a free 20-volume series, An Economic Commentary on the Bible. Copyright © 2008 LewRockwell.comElisabeth Hasselbeck asked a guest on Thursday whether he believes that feminism is hurting American's national security. Nick Adams argued in his new book "American Boomerang" that men around the world are no longer allowed to be "manly." In an appearance on Thursday's "Fox and Friends," he said it was a "dangerous" phenomenon, claiming, "American men are of course very susceptible to it. It's really important particularly in America given the leadership role that America has in the world that American men be allowed to be men." "Is this in direct relation to feminism on the rise?" Hasselbeck asked. "Is it a result just sort of society seeing men that are not as masculine and men that are as masculine being kind of demonized?" "Elisabeth, you've hit the nail on the head," Adams said. "Do you see this affecting national security, how a nation operates in terms of being a strong presence globally?" Hasselbeck asked later.If you think extracting globs of earwax from your own ear is gross, imagine handling a nearly foot-long, inch-thick tube of whale earwax. To protect delicate eardrums, around 8 to 10 baleen whale species have ear canals that are naturally sealed off from the external environment. Over the years, earwax begins to build in the narrow tubes. Whales don’t hear like humans–fat deposits in their jaw funnel low-frequency sound vibrations toward their eardrum, so the wax does not get in the way of their hearing. By the end of a blue whale’s life, the wax forms a solid, permanent tube of what researchers refer to as an earplug in the animal’s ear canal. While most people would likely consider the prospect of handling this stuff rather off-putting, for scientists the earwax provides “unprecedented lifetime profile” of the animal, according to a new paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Like tree rings, layers found within whale earplugs are already used to help researchers estimate an animal’s age. In this new study, scientists guessed that the wax may have more secrets to tell. Traces of events recorded from birth to death may leave their mark in the whale’s ear wax, they figured. Chemical pollutants, for example, are a problem for ocean creatures, included endangered blue whales. Many of these contaminants build up in whales’ fatty tissues, but fat offers no clues as to when a whale might have been exposed to those chemicals. Perhaps the earplug would. However, testing this hypothesis requires invasively getting at that golden substance–a difficult task while the whale is alive. But in 2007, a 12-year-old, 70-foot long blue whale washed ashore near Santa Barbara, dead from a ship strike. The recovered 10-inch long earplug sat in a freezer for a couple years, until the team sampled it. They also took samples of its blubber to compare it with the wax and get chemical profiles of these two lipid-rich materials’. Earwax is continuously deposited throughout the whale’s lifetime, but forms alternating light and dark layers on approximately 6 month intervals. The light corresponds to periods in the whale’s lifecycle when it’s feeding, while the dark represents times of fasting and migration. The team performed numerous chemical analyses to produce a profile of the whale’s life, told at a 6-month resolution. Within the wax, they found markers of the stress hormone cortisol, growth-inducing testosterone, contaminants such as pesticides and flame retardants, and mercury. Much like humans, this particular whale’s stress levels increased as it got older, effectively doubling over its lifetime. Testosterone peaked when the whale was about 10 years old–the height of puberty for male blue whales. The contaminants tell an interesting story. From the whale’s birth until about 12 months old, anthropogenic chemicals such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (better known as DDT), chlordanes, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers appeared in his earwax. About 20 percent of the the whale’s total organic contaminants turned up during this first year, indicating that although the whale’s mom likely did a good job nursing her son, she also inadvertently transferred toxins to her baby during gestation and through her milk. After the whale was weaned, the bulk of pollutants that built up in the whale’s body likely came from krill, it’s main food source. Blue whales can consume up to one ton of the little shrimp-like crustaceans each day, so small contaminants present in the tiny creatures can accumulate over time in the whale’s body. The contaminants also work their way into bodily secretions such as earwax. Mercury, which gets into earwax the same way as the other pollutants, peaked in two separate events much later in life, first when the whale was about five years old and then again at about ten years old. Both the organic pollutants and the mercury continued to accumulate throughout the whale’s lifetime, meaning that the older the whale became, the more pollutants built up in its ears. About 90 percent of these contaminants also turned up in the blubber, confirming that both blubber and earwax can be used as markers of exposure, but that earwax provides a method of tracking when exposure occurred. “DDT was banned 30 years before this animal was born, but it was still exposed to DDT over its entire lifetime,” study author Sascha Usenko of Baylor University pointed out in an interview. “It was exposed to both historical and current chemicals, like brominated flame retardants.” Pollutants like DDT and mercury are known to cause a host of problems for animals, including developmental disorders and thyroid issues. While these findings don’t bode well for the health of the ocean’s creatures–especially endangered ones like the blue whale–the researchers are excited about using the chronically archived wad of wax to better understand the extent to which humans are tampering with marine fauna’s health. It also provides marine biologists with a new tool for studying of whale life events. “For a majority of the species on the planet, lifetime profiles such as these are simply unattainable,” the researchers write. The team hints at the wax’s research possibilities. For example, they noticed that stress hormones began to rage after the whale went through testosterone-triggered puberty, indicating the big guy may have been flustered over competition and pressure to win a lady friend. On the other hand, some of the whale’s ever-growing stress may be due to accumulating pollutants, though this study only scratches the surface of that question. Large pulses of pollutants, like the mercury seen in this whale, may indicate that the animal came near a polluted shore (the coast of California in this case, perhaps) or was exposed to a major contamination event. “To be able to scientifically measure chemicals that are not as persistent, such as hormones that degrade in the body, is outstanding,” Usenko said. “We can ask questions like ‘Do contaminants have impacts on changes in stress?’ and maybe do a better job at addressing those questions.” Examining old museum specimens’ ear wax from the 1950s and onwards, the team thinks, may reveal significant changes to the ocean and its creatures’ health over the years. Additionally, the researchers have confirmed the method works on grey whales, and they suspect it should also apply to other species of baleen whales. “This innovative tool increases the feasibility of accurately assessing anthropogenic impact on everything from an individual organism to marine ecosystems,” they write. The earplug is no doubt only beginning to reveal its secrets. In the meantime, whale researchers may celebrate over less of a need to handle whale blubber, poop and blood–up until now the conventional means of studying whale health, and probably even more unpleasant than handling a giant tube of years-old wax, even though the earplug does reportedly have a pungent fishy smell. “It’s not something you want to get on your clothes, it sticks around with you for a while,” Usenko said.If a school offers separate classes for gifted students, one of the most difficult questions is who should be allowed in and who can benefit. Should students be picked based on their IQ alone, given that IQ scores fluctuate and correlate heavily with race and family income? Or should other factors play a role? A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper found that the students who benefit the most from gifted classrooms are students who aren't gifted at all — at least, not as measured by intelligence tests. Instead, they're students who scored well on standardized tests in previous years. What the study found The researchers, David Card from the University of California-Berkeley and Laura Giuliano from the University of Miami, studied classrooms in a large school district with an unusual method of educating gifted students. (They don't name the district, but it's likely in Florida, based on the description they give of the district's size and its policies.) Beginning in fourth grade, elementary schools in the district have separate classrooms for gifted students, rather than occasionally pulling them out of class for enrichment activities. But the bar is high to be classified as gifted: Students who aren't from disadvantaged backgrounds have to have an IQ of at least 130; students who are learning English or who are from poor families can meet a slightly lower bar, an IQ of higher than 116. And so gifted kids are rare. Most schools have fewer than 10 students in the fourth grade who meet those criteria, and classes need to have at least 20 students. So schools have to find other kids to fill the remaining seats in gifted classrooms. They turn to "high achievers," students with high scores on statewide standardized tests the previous years. It turns out that those high-achieving kids, who don't score as gifted at all on an IQ test, benefit the most academically from being in a gifted classroom. The effects (or lack thereof) of gifted education The gifted classroom had little to no effect on the standardized test scores of students admitted based on their IQ. For the students with IQs of at least 130, that's not surprising. Their test scores were high to begin with. They didn't usually need help with basic reading and math. And they were more likely to say they were satisfied at school after they moved to the new classroom — suggesting that the gifted class had a positive effect by helping students who were bored or disengaged before. Students with disadvantaged backgrounds who were admitted based on IQ tests also didn't see a huge bump. The researchers found this more troubling, because those students' scores weren't as high coming in as the first group's. And those students said they were less satisfied at school after testing into the gifted class, so it's not clear that they were getting other benefits from being grouped with smarter peers. Students with high test scores but lower IQs — the kids who got the leftover seats — saw a significant improvement in their standardized test scores. The impact was larger for students who are racial minorities or from disadvantaged backgrounds, the students least likely to be admitted to a gifted program based on IQ alone. In other words, the gifted program ended up providing the biggest test score boost to kids who weren't really supposed to be there in the first place. Separating students could raise test scores, but it's controversial The authors argue for a broader definition of "gifted" that includes test scores, not just IQ — since it's the students with the high test scores who were benefiting the most. Establishing separate classrooms for high achievers, whether or not any of them are "gifted" as measured by intelligence tests, could lead to a test score boost at low cost, they write. Whether students should be sorted into classrooms based on academic ability at all, though, is far from a settled question. The researchers found that students left behind when their higher-achieving peers were sorted into a separate classroom didn't suffer. Some researchers, though, argue that this type of sorting perpetuates academic inequality. The best students, whether they're chosen based on their IQ or their standardized test scores, get the richest curriculum; the others are left behind. Grouping students together based on ability for one subject, particularly in elementary school, is fairly common. But the idea is that students can move between ability groups as they progress. That's very different from picking students out and assigning them to a separate classroom based on their score on a standardized test.The decision by a Calgary officer to sic a police dog on a teenager fleeing the scene of a break-and-enter last weekend is being questioned by the youth's lawyer. A 14-year-old — who can't be named in order to protect his identity under the Youth Criminal Justice Act — is accused of stabbing Jester, a six-year-old German shepherd. The dog was taken to hospital and underwent surgery before being released to his handler's home to recover. But the boy's lawyer —who says his client has no criminal record — will be looking into why the dog was used in the first place. "As with any case involving the use of police force, we will be focused on the circumstances and the dangers that the Calgary Police Service officer was facing when he decided to release his dog on a fleeing youth," said Curtis Mennie. "Unfortunately in this case we have a police dog biting into a youth who was fleeing an area." Deployment makes 'no sense' The teen was running away from officers and there seems to be no evidence violence was used by the suspect during the break-and-enter. Those two facts trouble criminal defence lawyer and legal expert Pawel Milczarek who says given what he knows, the deployment of the dog "makes no sense." "You have to really question whether that's an appropriate use of force." Police initially responded to a report of a suspected break-in at Grant MacEwan School in the city's northeast just before 2 a.m. on Sunday. The two underage suspects fled when officers arrived and Jester was sent after them. The boy accused of stabbing Jester is charged with maiming an animal, break and enter, and possession of a weapon. A 15-year-old suspect has also been charged with break and enter. Self-defence argument possible If the teen stabbed the dog because he was being bitten, Milczarek says that could open the door to a self-defence argument. "It may be an involuntary response. When an animal is biting you, you may try any means to make it stop." Police recently announced the boy was charged under Quanto's law, a new criminal code section named after an Edmonton police dog that was stabbed to death while chasing a suspect in 2013. But Mennie says although the charge could be amended at the next court appearance, right now his client faces a different charge that doesn't have to do with police animals. Mennie is still awaiting disclosure from the prosecution. The matter is back in court on Sept. 7.DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar’s emir on Tuesday publicly invited fellow Gulf rulers to a Doha summit, apparently seeking to forestall what diplomats say is an attempt by some peers to move it elsewhere in protest at what they see as an Islamist tilt in his foreign policy. Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani smiles as he is welcomed upon arriving at Khartoum Airport for an official visit April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah Diplomats say preparations for the annual gathering of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have become indicative of an unprecedented rift between Gulf Arab states over Doha’s backing of Islamists during Arab Spring revolts. In an unprecedented public move, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recalled their ambassadors to Qatar in March, accusing Doha of failing to abide by an agreement not to interfere in one another’s internal affairs. So far efforts by members of the GCC, an alliance that also includes Oman and Kuwait, to resolve the dispute have failed. In a speech to the advisory Shura Council, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said “deepening the bonds of brotherhood” among GCC members was at the forefront of Qatari foreign policy. “In this context, we welcome our brothers the GCC leaders at a summit hosted by Qatar next month,” he said. The three states mainly fell out with Qatar over the role of Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood. Gulf officials say the three want Qatar to end any support for the Brotherhood, seen as a terrorist organization by Saudi Arabia. Qatar says it backs all Arabs, not just Brotherhood members
don’t think of things as individual or static lumps of pre-formatted stuff. A popular metaphor for relatedness compares things to jewels in Indra’s Net of Jewels. Each eye in the net contains a sparkling jewel, which reflects all the others [2.]. Another beautiful image of interdependence is Thich Nhat Hanh’s meditation on “interbeing” from his The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra: If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow, and without trees we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either … If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not there, the forest cannot grow. In fact, nothing can grow. Even we cannot grow without sunshine. And so, we know that the sunshine is also in this sheet of paper … The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look, we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see the wheat. We know that the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in this sheet of paper. And the logger’s father and mother are in it too … You cannot point out one thing that is not here—time, space, the earth, the rain, the minerals in the soil, the sunshine, the cloud, the river, the heat. Everything co-exists with this sheet of paper … As thin as this sheet of paper is, it contains everything in the universe in it. Most of what we hear about emptiness as a spiritual teaching comes from Buddhism. In Buddhism, our selves and all other phenomena are said to be empty of the kind of exaggerated, independent existence we attach to them. Realizing emptiness is taught as a way to unleash profound freedom. When we realize that selves and phenomena don’t exist as solidly as we think they do, our clinging is reduced. It is said that in cases of very deep realization, suffering is completely eradicated. Emptiness in Buddhism How does Buddhism explain emptiness? Different Buddhist schools emphasize different kinds of answers. Meditators may focus on pointers, such as the impermanence of constantly changing phenomena, the unfindability of a solid self, or the “great doubt” experienced in koan study. Another approach to emptiness uses study and reasoning. Drawing inspiration from the work of Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti, Tibetan monks devote much of their monastic education to it. We, Greg and Tomas, have found the method of reasoning very powerful. Reasoning can apply to everyday things like tables and chairs, as well as to subtle things like standards of beauty or what it means to claim that one spiritual path is “higher” than another. The insight gained from emptiness reasonings can transfer from one thing to another. It can even be generalized to all things. And it doesn’t depend on our feelings or mood. Because the Buddhist emptiness sources are centuries old, their meditations refer to things like seeds, sprouts and chariots. I’m sure that these were intuitive, familiar, everyday objects in their day. But they don’t feel as familiar these days. Here are two well known examples: “Seed and sprout” meditation on causality or production: “Is something produced from itself or from something different? Does a seed produce a sprout or is a sprout produced from itself? Are a seed and a sprout the same thing or different things?” “Chariot” meditation on identity: “Just what is the chariot? Is it the same as its parts or different? Is it dependent upon its parts? Are the parts dependent upon it? Is it the possessor of its parts? Is it a mere collection of parts? Is it the shape of the parts? Some meditations, like this one on movement, are very abstract. They’re hard to understand and hard to apply in everyday life: “Movement”, a metaphor for change: “What has been moved is not moving. What has not been moved is not moving. Apart from what has been moved and what has not been moved, movement cannot be conceived.” [3.] For most students, these kinds of meditations require lots of unpacking to become relevant and helpful. The ideal situation would be a small class setting with an insightful teacher. The teacher could explain the meditations, apply them to everyday issues and answer questions. But these situations aren’t easy to find, even on YouTube! Emptiness meditations from Western sources In our book, Emptiness and Joyful Freedom [4.], we tried to modernize the meditations and make them more user-friendly for a contemporary audience. We added meditations from psychology, neuroscience and philosophy. We feel that these modern meditations do a better job of addressing modern Western maladies, such as issues of identity, self-esteem, meaning, truth and the diversity of spiritual teachings. And even for students working in a traditional Buddhist framework, these meditations may serve as additional tools to deepen their insights into emptiness. Some people wonder quite rightly how any philosophy can lead to personal transformation. Isn’t philosophy too dry? It certainly is dry for some people but not for everyone. Philosophy has a good track record in Buddhism, as well as in other transformational paths, such as Advaita Vedanta, Taoism and the wide variety of ancient Greek teachings. But in our opinion, the major reason that philosophy can be transformational is this—it’s not done in a vacuum. In the paths that use it, philosophy is integrated with other activities. When I (Greg) studied Zen many years ago, the highest teachings permeated things as mundane as holding our chopsticks while eating. Philosophy, when taught in a holistic way, transforms us though its wisdom as well through its effects on the path’s meditations, ethics and human relations. Buddhist philosophy on emptiness offers the insight that phenomena are dependently arisen. The West has many analogous insights. Historically, we don’t mean the metaphysical teachings from Plato, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Kant or Hegel but what we might call the Western anti-metaphysical tradition. This is a kind of critical or counter-tradition that includes Greek skeptics, Michel de Montaigne, Pierre Bayle, Friedrich Nietzsche and, more recently, John Dewey, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Wilfrid Sellars, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Richard Rorty and Quine, as mentioned previously. There are also many others. Modern emptiness meditations are also inspired by cognitive science, sociology, comparative religion, literature, art, film, rhetorical and cultural studies, as well as many other fields. These meditative tools give us ways to address issues quite similar to those found in Buddhist investigations, such as the self and its properties, cause and effect. There are even tools to deal with the subtle matter of what it means to hold a thesis. As Nagarjuna says about his teaching, “If I had a thesis, that fault would apply to me. But I do not have any thesis, so there is indeed no fault for me.” [5.] Using the meditations The idea behind emptiness meditations is to refute an object we think exists but doesn’t. The object can be an inherent self or something else we imagine to exist in an unchanging or mind-independent way. Although the independent object doesn’t exist, our distorted thoughts and feelings treat it as if it does. When we realize the non-existence or nonsensicality of the imagined object, the distorted thoughts and feelings fade away. Greater peace, happiness and love ensue. For example, I might think that I really exist. After all, René Descartes said so. So I might have a conception of this self as a separate soul, a set of values, unique habits or memories. We’ve heard people say, “I can’t help it. That’s what I do. Deep inside of me, it’s who I am.” Because I have this exaggerated notion of myself, I’ll suffer when something challenges it. So in my meditation, I’ll try to refute it. I’ll look for this separate, definable self everywhere I can. I’ll look amongst the bodily and mental phenomena. I’ll also look apart from these phenomena, such as in various religious or philosophical teachings, Platonic heavens and anywhere else I feel it could be. I’ll attempt to cover all possibilities. What will I find? Claims, beliefs, concepts, feelings, sensations, habits and actions. But I won’t find a self. Because I’ve set up my meditation to include every possibility, I will sooner or later realize that such an independent self is unfindable and unnecessary [6.]. In fact, the closer I look, the more I don’t find it. All I find is its absence. In the emptiness teachings, this non-finding is considered to be my realization of the emptiness of the self. What is left? Not the self I thought existed but a contingent conglomeration called “the self”. This is a more open-textured version of the self, free to change. It depends on earth, air, water, food, biology and conceptual labelling. It’s this empty self that goes to the store, pays bills and realizes emptiness. This empty self becomes lighter, freer, kinder and happier because of these meditations. Many emptiness meditations have these same features in common: identify the target of refutation, look systematically for it and fail to find it. They result in freedom from essentialism (belief in inherence) and nihilism. The heart expands and the web of life becomes more colourful, interrelated and immediate. In Buddhism, this web of life, permeated with our understanding of emptiness, is often called “conventional truth”. Emptiness itself is called “ultimate truth”. And even though “ultimate”, it is nevertheless empty. We’ll now take a look at three Western approaches to emptiness meditation: ancient Greek Scepticism, Linguistic Holism and Social Construction. They each approach emptiness in a different way. Greek Scepticism works with beliefs; Linguistic Holism works with language and reference; and Social Construction works with the co-creation of meaning. Ancient Greek Scepticism The branch of ancient Greek Scepticism called “Pyrrhonism” [7.] is perhaps the easiest Western approach to put into practice. The key idea is that in matters pertaining to belief and truth you withhold assent as to how things really are in themselves. This leads to peace of mind, whereas being dogmatic and having beliefs about the nature of things in themselves leads to unease. The most prolific spokesperson for Pyrrhonism was Sextus Empiricus, who lived in the second century BCE. About the consequences of beliefs in the natures of things, he wrote: … [T]he person who entertains the opinion that anything is by nature good or bad is continually upset. When he does not possess the things that seem to be good, he thinks he is being tormented by things that are by nature bad, and he chases after the things he supposes to be good; then, when he gets these, he falls into still more torments because of irrational and immoderate exultation, and, fearing any change, he does absolutely everything in order not to lose the things that seem to him good [8.]. Sextus identifies our beliefs as chief causes of suffering. For Sextus, a belief has a greater degree of investment than a mere inclination. A belief is more like a position about things in themselves. It’s a position that one feels committed to defending against opposition. Sextus considers it to be a form of dogmatism to hold beliefs in this sense. For Sextus, even “The honey is sweet” voices a belief. It makes a claim about the mind-independent nature of honey. But “The honey appears sweet to me” is only an impression or a report on appearances. For the Pyrrhonist, it is possible to live without having commitments about how things exist in themselves. At first, this seems impossible. “How can we even cross the street without beliefs? Don’t we need to believe that it is safe?” No, we don’t need to believe that it is safe. We can simply respond to the appearance of safety without believing that it is true of an independent reality. Even without beliefs in this sense, the Pyrrhonist is not beset by nihilism or stupefying inactivity. Sextus himself was quite active—he was a physician, philosopher and writer. According to Sextus, one lives according to the “ordinary regimen of life”. This is strikingly similar to the Buddhist notion of conventional truth. The Pyrrhonist is also saved from nihilism by not forming contrary beliefs. There are other varieties of scepticism that argue that “Things are not as they seem” or “Our beliefs are not accurate”. Sextus considers these statements to be expressions of “negative dogmatism” because they are also beliefs about the nature of things. Sextus is keenly aware of the dangers of self-reference and self-contradiction with this kind of philosophy. But he manages to avoid negative dogmatism. Like Nagarjuna, he explains how he avoids self-cancellation. At many points he reminds us, “I say all these things without belief.” Of course we can’t simply tell ourselves to stop believing. Towards this end, Pyrrhonism provides an entire arsenal of techniques called “modes” that are intended to help us withhold belief. Some of the modes attune us to the variety of likes and dislikes among humans and between humans and animals. Other modes are deconstructive critiques against logic and reveal the arbitrariness of what we accept as evidence or proof. We use the modes by playing certain appearances off against others. As a result, we are brought to an impasse where no alternative is clearly more warranted and we don’t know which one to believe. We end up withholding assent to all of the alternatives and feel at peace. Pyrrhonism is especially helpful in the area of spiritual claims that sound like statements of objective truth. These claims can cause clinging if we believe them, so they make excellent targets of analysis. An example would be: (C1) “Consciousness is a product of brain activity.” We might believe this is true. We might find ourselves defending it and getting upset when others disagree. But we can also use the Pyrrhonist “Mode of Disagreement”. This is where we remind ourselves how much disagreement there is about (C1) and how there are conflicting claims with different authoritative defenders. (C1) is not uncontested. A prominent example of disagreement comes from the corpus of nondualistic spiritual teachings. (C2) “The brain (like all reality) is made of consciousness.” Between (C1) and (C2), experts disagree. Among the many competing claims about consciousness and the world, which one is true? Which should we believe? To get out of this impasse, the Mode of Disagreement offers immediate assistance. Faced with contrary authoritative alternatives, we simply withhold assent to them all. It’s like saying with relief, “I don’t have a horse in that race.” Gavagais and Linguistic Holism Linguistic Holism is another helpful approach to emptiness. It highlights our inability to map words to the world. For the Linguistic Holist, the lack of maps explains why our safari explorers couldn’t find a stable translation for “gavagai”. And even when learning our native language, we don’t consult a map or compare a word to the world. We look from a word to the holistic webwork of other words, gestures and expressions related to it. And like the Net of Jewels itself, this webwork can be endless. In Linguistic Holism, successful communication doesn’t require maps, invariant meanings or zero ambiguity. All it needs is fluent person-to-person interaction. Holism is a pragmatic approach. It resonates with the Buddhist idea of conventional truth, where to be happy we don’t need things to be independent or objective. Seeing meaning as empty helps us see the world as empty as well. This reduces our tendency to cling to our conceptions about the world. Since we suffer so much from attaching to solidified meanings about things, Linguistic Holism can be a major step towards reducing our suffering. It is a move towards flexibility and kindness. Social Construction You’ve got to be taught To hate and fear, You’ve got to be taught From year to year, It’s got to be drummed In your dear little ear You’ve got to be carefully taught. —South Pacific (1958) Social Construction is an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge and experience. It involves language, feeling, perception, cognition, evaluation, norms, standards and points of view. Social Construction seeks to show how human experience depends upon co-created understanding and the making of meaning. Like Madhyamaka Buddhism, Social Construction looks at things we feel are inherent and self-established. But when we take a close look, do we actually find these self-established things? No, we discover how they depend on other things. We discover their emptiness. Emptiness is frequently at play in the worlds of film and literature, even in the Hollywood musical [9.]. For example, the popular film, South Pacific (1958) contains romance with deep cross-cultural complications. The racial and romantic tensions give rise to a heartfelt emptiness realization expressed in song. A young American, Lieutenant Joe Cable, is stationed on a South Seas island during World War II. Joe falls in love with Liat, a beautiful Polynesian woman. Marriage is discussed but he can’t go ahead with it. He feels torn, unable to fully accept Liat’s Polynesian heritage. One evening, Lieutenant Joe is talking to his friend Emile De Becque, a French expat planter living on the island. Emile tells Joe how it feels to be the victim of racial prejudice. Emile recounts how he had proposed to his American girlfriend, a nurse stationed on the same island. She turned down Emile’s proposal, feeling uncomfortable that he’d previously been married to a Polynesian woman. The American nurse said she couldn’t explain her feelings. “This is emotional,” she told Emile. “This is something that’s born in me.” Now that Emile sees prejudice acted out by both Americans, he asks Joe, “Why do you have this feeling, you and she? I do not believe it is born in you! I do not believe it!” “It’s not born in you,” says Joe. “It happens after you’re born.” Because we’re in a musical, Joe sings the rest. The song, entitled “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” became both controversial and famous in mid-century America. The final verse, like the verse quoted above, alludes to the empty, socially-constructed roots of hate and prejudice: You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, Before you are six or seven or eight, To hate all the people your relatives hate, You’ve got to be carefully taught! This climactic song beautifully expresses Joe’s emptiness realization. After this, he’s able to embrace his love for Liat. Conclusion These three Western approaches to emptiness—Pyrrhonism, Linguistic Holism and Social Construction—are powerful critiques of separation. They operate similarly to Buddhism. They all aim to liberate us from the same kind of thing—extreme notions of independence and inherent existence. The specific targets differ from teaching to teaching but what unites them all is a profound challenge to rigid thinking and feeling. All these approaches share an ability to liberate aspects of our experience. Footnotes Quine, Word and Object, The MIT Press (1960) The most famous source for the image of Indra’s Net, though not the first, is the Buddhist Avatamsaka Sutra From Jay L. Garfield’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way Non-Duality Press, 2013. In this book we choose a specific Buddhist interpretation of the emptiness teachings: the Prasangika Madhyamika system, but several others could have been used as well. A very readable introduction to this Buddhist approach can be found in His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s How to See Yourself as You Really Are See Jan Westerhoff, The Dispeller of Disputes: Nagarjuna’s Vigrahavyavartani, p. 63 Depending on how the meditation is locally set up, I may be justified in concluding that it doesn’t exist. The Prasangika Buddhist meditations are set up in this logically rigorous way After the philosopher Pyrrho, c.360–c.270 BCE, whose teaching was to withhold assent to propositions about things in themselves See Benson Mates’ excellent translation and commentary on Sextus’ treatise, The Skeptic Way, p. 93 For more on the literature and emptiness, see my “Gatsby and Gestalt Shifts” also here on The Culturium Post Notes Join Our NewsletterNot very creative, those Republicans. From Roll Call [sub req.]: Acknowledging they can’t stop the Senate from bringing up a health care reform bill, Republicans have mapped out a strategy to draw out the debate, attack the measure’s core components and force difficult votes on vulnerable Democrats. Republicans have no illusions of substantively altering the Senate bill. But they plan to use targeted amendments to attack the legislation issue by issue, offering detailed GOP alternatives in a concerted bid to turn the public against the measure and to try to set the table for electoral gains in 2010.... Republican Senate aides and operatives familiar with the leadership’s floor strategy say leadership will put different Senators in charge of various themes. Their responsibilities will include messaging and spearheading Republican amendments. Finance ranking member Chuck Grassley (Iowa) will probably handle all things tax-related; Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), a former state insurance regulator, will likely deal with health care premiums; Budget ranking member Judd Gregg (N.H.) will tackle the bill’s deficit implications; Cornyn will focus on malpractice reform. Good thing Baucus spent so much time negotiating with Grassley, huh? As if we needed more evidence that those negotiations were not done in good faith on the Republican side. And what about Susan Collins, that great moderate that Olympia Snowe was supposed to be able to bring around. The article also points out that Nebraska Republican Mike Johanns will be conducting town meetings in Nebraska during the floor debate, undoubtedly an effort to try to put Ben Nelson in a bind, an effort that's unlikely to do much to sway Nelson, or whip up much angry froth against him back home. Nebraskans don't really seem to work that way. But Johanns may as well knock himself out. While Republicans might be able to actually delay the process, they're highly unlikely to see any dividends from it. If the craziness of August didn't turn Americans away from supporting the Democrats' healthcare reform efforts and, particularly, the public option the only thing that their obstructionism will result in is further tanking of support for Republicans. But what this really does is demonstrate that bipartisanship with this crop of Republicans is a myth. It was nice back in the old days when a handful of responsible Republicans existed, when there was actual back-and-forth between the parties in crafting policy, when Republicans gave a shit about the direction of the country and weren't just in it to win at all costs. That Republican party is long dead.Pablo Torre has done it again. ESPN senior writer/TV person/sometimes annoying guest host on The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz has picked a No. 16 seed to upset a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament every year for the past four years. Torre has come pretty close to being right once (Gonzaga only beat Southern by six points in 2013; you can view all his previous picks here) but of course, a 16 has never beaten a 1. Will it happen this year for the first time? Torre is, once again, calling for it. His pick this year: West No. 16 seed South Dakota State over West No. 1 seed Gonzaga. “It’s going to happen this year,” he said. Gonzaga is a 22-point favorite over South Dakota State. The Bulldogs (32-1) and Jackrabbits (18-16) are set to tip off at 2 p.m. E.T. on Thursday. The game will be televised on TBS. You can view the full game time and TV schedule for the first round here.Yesterday Texas Gov. Rick Perry made headlines around the world by stating the following on climate change: “I think we’re seeing almost weekly, or even daily, scientists that are coming forward and questioning the original idea that manmade global warming is what is causing the climate to change,” the Texas governor said on the first stop of a two-day trip to the first-in-the-nation primary state. This is a curious statement, because it’s widely divergent from the facts on the ground in the state Perry governs. One might think the governor of Texas would consult Texas scientists on this question, especially those in the atmospheric sciences department of his beloved alma mater, Texas A&M University. There’s no dissension among this bunch, who issued a statement a couple of years ago on climate change that included the following: It is virtually certain that the climate is warming, and that it has warmed by about 0.7 deg. C over the last 100 years. It is very likely that humans are responsible for most of the recent warming. If we do nothing to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, future warming will likely be at least two degrees Celsius over the next century. Such a climate change brings with it a risk of serious adverse impacts on our environment and society. The statement was signed by the entire department at the time, and no one there currently disagrees with it. Again, these are the climate scientists at Texas A&M, and the ones you would think Perry would turn to if he had questions about the validity of climate science. It’s perfectly reasonable to disagree about what to do about climate change, because it’s an expensive and almost intractable problem to address. And it’s true, scientists don’t have all the answers. But there’s minimal disagreement in the scientific community about humans contributing to the preponderance of warming during the last century.Disney has announced a slew of updates to its movie release calendar, though all of the films are untitled and thus, remain a mystery. The untitled, live-action Disney fairy tale film previously dated for Dec. 22, 2017 has moved up to July 28, 2017, where it will square off against Sony’s “Jumanji” reboot. That leaves “The Croods 2,” “The Six Billion Dollar Man” and an untitled PG-13 comedy from Warner Bros. as the only films slated to open on Dec. 22, 2017. Elsewhere, there is now an untitled, live-action Disney fairy tale slated for release on April 6, 2018 (an animated film from Focus/Laika will open on April 4, 2018), as well as untitled live-action Disney movies scheduled for Aug. 3, 2018 (no current competition) and Dec. 25, 2018, which is four days after Sony opens an animated Spider-Man movie. Also Read: Disney Preps 'Jungle Book 2,' Jon Favreau in Talks to Direct Again Additionally, there is another untitled, live-action Disney fairy tale film set for Dec. 20, 2019. The unknown film currently has that plum release date all to itself. Disney’s upcoming live-action slate includes the fairy tale films “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (5/27/16) and “Beauty and the Beast” (3/17/17), as well as this summer’s “Pete’s Dragon” (8/12/16). The studio’s development slate includes the following films: Cruella with Emma Stone set for the title role and Kelly Marcel writing A Wrinkle in Time with Ava DuVernay attached to direct and Jennifer Lee writing Jungle Cruise with Dwayne Johnson set to star and John Requa and Glenn Ficarra writing Dumbo with director Tim Burton and writer Ehren Kruger A sequel to Mary Poppins with director Rob Marshall, starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda Maleficent 2 with Angelina Jolie set to return in the title role and Linda Woolverton writing The Nutcracker and the Four Realms with director Lasse Hallstrom and writer Ashleigh Powell The Jungle Book 2 with both director Jon Favreau and writer Justin Marks returning A Tinker Bell project with Reese Witherspoon set to star and Victoria Strouse writingVictim identified as a 41-year-old man from New York City Pittsburgh police are investigating after a 41-year-old man was shot and killed in Crafton Heights on Thursday night.A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson says the victim was deceased when crews arrived on the scene along the 700 block of Woodlow Street.The victim has been identified as Shakiem Williams, who is from New York City.So far no arrests have been made. Pittsburgh police are investigating after a 41-year-old man was shot and killed in Crafton Heights on Thursday night. A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson says the victim was deceased when crews arrived on the scene along the 700 block of Woodlow Street. Advertisement The victim has been identified as Shakiem Williams, who is from New York City. So far no arrests have been made. AlertMeImage copyright AFP Image caption Drivers will walk out at 21:00 on Tuesday Tube drivers on the Central line are to stage a 15-hour strike over the "displacement" of staff. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) will walk out at 21:00 on 21 February. Drivers on the Central and Waterloo & City lines went on strike in January in the same dispute. The union claims drivers are being "shunted around" the network but London Underground (LU) said they had to be placed where they were needed. Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, said: "RMT negotiators have made strenuous efforts through the Acas [conciliation service] machinery to resolve this dispute but the door has been slammed in our faces. "To up the ante, LU have now written to us confirming that they will be bulldozing through the displacements regardless. "Let us be in no doubt, if LU are allowed to get away with this move on the Central line they will start shunting drivers around at the drop of a hat regardless of the consequences." Previously LU has said the dispute has centred on the need to move eight train operators into a new depot. Steve Griffiths, London Underground's chief operating officer, said the drivers have been asked "to move to another line where they would make a real difference to the service our customers receive".Close Drought-stricken California is suffering from one of the state’s worst water shortages of the past century, one that could hit the agricultural industry hard financially. The current drought is responsible for the greatest water loss ever seen in California agriculture, according to a July 2014 study released by the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. Researchers project that the drought will likely inflict agricultural industry losses reaching a staggering $2.2 billion. This number reflects the statewide costs of the drought on the agriculture industry, including the loss of 17,100 farm-related jobs. The study also notes that the drought has forced at least five percent of irrigated cropland to go out of production in the state’s Central Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California. “When considering the West as a whole, we are currently in the midst of a historically relevant megadrought,” explains bioclimatologist Park Williams, a professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York. He illustrates the severity of the situation, stating, “More area in the West has persistently been in drought during the past 15 years than in any other 15-year period since the 1150s and 1160s.” Alarming new research by Cornell University, University of Arizona, and U.S. Geological Survey researchers warns that the current drought situation could get much worse. The new research shows that the likelihood of a megadrought–one lasting more than 30 years–is much more possible than previous computer models predicted. Photo: Gabriel Millos TAG California, Drought ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.The Washington Redskins named Dr. Robin West the team's director of sports medicine Wednesday. West is used to being the first in her field, as she is the only head female physician in Major League Baseball (she serves as the lead team physician with the Washington Nationals). With Wednesday's announcement, she has added a similar distinction in the NFL. She also is one of only two female head orthopedic surgeons in the league. West on Wednesday said football is as "safe as it's ever been." She attributed that to improvements such as instant replay, which allows medical staff to improve their treatment of an injury, plus having unaffiliated neurological consultants and an independent injury spotter at games. "We have a lot of eyes on the field looking and all the research," West said. "The NFL puts tens of millions into concussion research as well as the technology behind preventing head injuries." West, a board-certified orthopedics and sports medicine surgeon, is the medical director of Inova Sports Medicine in Fairfax, Virginia. West is not new to the NFL, having served as assistant orthopedic team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 11 years. She also served as team physician for the athletic department at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The Redskins introduced Dr. Robin West as the team's director of sports medicine on Wednesday. John Keim/ESPN West joined Inova Medical Group in 2014 as chairman of the sports medicine institute, where she directs the clinical, strategic, administrative and academic affairs of the program. Redskins president Bruce Allen said, "Dr. West's unique experience dealing with professional and amateur athletes makes her expertise extremely rare, and we are glad to add her to our team." With the Redskins, she will work with a staff that includes Dr. James Andrews, a longtime consultant. Dr. James Bradley, who is the head team physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers and a close friend of West's in addition to being her mentor at University of Pittsburgh, said he knew West had the makings of an elite orthopedic surgeon within 20 minutes of observing her first surgical case, not only because of her technical skill, but due to the way her interpersonal interactions immediately earned her the respect of everyone in the room. "People talk about the sports gene. Well, Robin has the sports surgeon gene," Bradley said. "The stage or the moment is never too big for her. Very few people truly have that quality." "And," Bradley added, "the players love her." West says her goal is to not only bring additional experts to the Redskins' medical staff but also to provide the players with immediate access to as many services as possible at Redskins Park. "One way to enhance sports performance and aid in injury prevention is to deliver the highest level of care in the most timely and efficient manner," West said. "I am excited to join the Redskins' medical team and lead that effort."Arkansas could do very little to stop LSU running backs Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice in its 38-10 loss on Saturday night. The Tigers ran for 390 yards and 5 touchdowns in the victory and exposed a big flaw for the Razorbacks. As much as we make fun of the defenses at Cal, Texas Tech and Oregon, Arkansas now owns the nation's dead-last rushing D. Ouch. — Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) November 13, 2016 Their defense has been historically bad in limiting opposing backs’ yards per carry. Andrew Hutchinson of 247Sports did some fine statistical research and revealed just how poor Arkansas’ defense has been in that area this season. Warning: It’s not pretty. Arkansas' defense has allowed 6.34 yards per carry this season, which is dead last in the NCAA. But that's not the craziest stat… — Andrew Hutchinson (@NWAHutch) November 13, 2016 If you took all 1,113 FBS defenses over the last 9 seasons, Arkansas' 6.34 yds allowed per carry would rank 1,110th. Only 3 have had worse. — Andrew Hutchinson (@NWAHutch) November 13, 2016 2015 Eastern Michigan (6.46), 2013 Nevada (6.57) and 2013 New Mexico State (6.86) are the only three teams with worse yards allowed/carry. — Andrew Hutchinson (@NWAHutch) November 13, 2016Sark Sark is an application that helps you build an Xcode project on your Mac from any OS without the use of any applications. All you need to do is set up your Mac and open a browser! The goal of this application is not to replace Xcode or to compete with Macs. Instead, we aim to help young programmers who have an iMac or know someone who does and can’t afford a Macbook. We aim to help those who, for some reason, need to edit and test Xcode projects, but forgot their Macbook at home. Using Sark, those people will be able to edit their project using a native application like Sublime Text, using all of their computer’s speed efficiently without needing to rely on a fast internet connection to remotely access their Mac. How does it work? If you follow along the usage instructions, you’ll notice that Sark is a Node.js server that runs on a Mac that should be accessible through the Internet. The server will execute commands and use Socket.io to communicate with the client. Usage example What does Sark need to run? How to use it? Downloading Running the server Leave the terminal window open, and open Finder Navigate to the newly decompressed folder Open the file “config.json” with any text editor. Change “123” to your desired password Type in terminal: javascript gulp dev Now your server is up and running. If you go to http://localhost:3000 you should get the Sark’s homepage. But if you don’t have a public-facing IP, you’ll need to… Make your Mac accessible from anywhere I like to use NoIP as a easy (and free) way to remember my iMac IP address. - Create a NoIP account - Download the OS X client - Add a new host (your Mac). (Almost) Like this: Open the NoIP app that you’ve downloaded and go to the hosts tab Select the host you’ve created before
a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Contact wiredlabs@wired.com to report an issue. The stereotype of Japanese office culture — rigid, formal, and hierarchical — is still the norm in most of the country. Nishimura observes none of those rules. In spite of that, or perhaps because of it, the lackadaisical 31-year-old with a soul patch and wispy goatee has become the most influential figure on the Japanese Web. We're in the downtown Tokyo headquarters of Dwango, the company that runs a Web video site called Nico Nico Douga (Smiley Smiley Video). In just over a year, Nicodou, as it's affectionately known, has become the fifth-biggest online time-suck in Japan, with users spending more than 12 million hours on the site each month. Dwango owes much of that success to its partnership with Nishimura. His salesmanship is unconventional, to say the least. "Nico Nico Douga is a total waste," he says with a grin. "You'd be in trouble if you didn't have Google, but you wouldn't dieif Nico Nico Douga didn't exist. But waste is our culture in Japan; look at how we package each candy individually." It's true — in Japan, if you buy a bag of gummies, each piece inside is swaddled in its own superfluous wrapper. Nishimura has given his countrymen the tools to cut through all that packaging. He started with 2channel, a bulletin board service he created in 1999. It's become one of the few places where Japanese people can say exactly what they feel without concern for decorum or propriety. Video produced by Annaliza Savage and edited by Michael Lennon. For more, visit wired.com/video Wired contributor Lisa Katayama gives an overview of Nico Nico Douga. Now Nicodou has brought the 2channel style of community to Web video. The site lets users plaster their comments directly on top of any uploaded video. Posts are sometimes so numerous that they obscure the clips. "Even when the videos are boring, the viewers are getting together and entertaining each other," Nishimura says. "Hiroyuki's figuring it out as he goes along, not really giving a shit, but he hit the nail on the head," says Joi Ito, a Tokyo-based venture capitalist and CEO of Creative Commons. "Japan is an unhappy culture. The people are lonely and depressed, and the Internet is a release valve." To the online communities at 2channel and Nicodou, Nishimura is a folk hero and role model. (In Japan he's referred to solely by his first name, a privilege afforded only to top-tier pop stars and TV heartthrobs.) And in a nation that actually has a word for "death from overwork," Nishimura takes pains to point out that he hasn't had to exert himself much to achieve success and fame. He's just a slacker who showed a nation how to goof off. In his 2007 book Why 2channel Will Never Fail, he wrote: "If running the site required me to get up at 9 am every morning, wear a suit, and not have time to play videogames, I'd probably quit." "I taught myself to code in grade school," Nishimura says. "After that I did some odd jobs, and now I'm here." He gestures at the conference room and bows with exaggerated self-effacement, as if to apologize for his boring life and easy path to success. Nishimura is cracking wise; he thinks it's ridiculous that a journalist would travel from America to interview him about his silly Web sites. In the lingo of 2channel forum posters, I am kuki yomenai — someone who "can't read the air," who isn't in on the joke. Nishimura downplays the importance of 2channel. He created the simple bulletin board system nine years ago as an exchange student at the University of Central Arkansas. "I was bored," he says. "I made it to kill time." There's nothing remarkable about the technology — the site is similar to BBS setups that were common in the US at the time. And indeed, navigating it is like time-traveling back to the Mosaic era: It's just pages of blue hypertext links and text punctuated by banner ads and a brick background pattern. What was innovative about 2channel was its openness. Nishimura read the air and realized that what Japan needed was an outlet for unfettered expression. On 2channel, anyone can start a thread and anyone can post — there's no need to register or log in and no Web handles. There are no censors, no filters, no age verification, no voting systems that boost one thread or comment over another. "I created a free space, and what people did with it was up to them," he says. "No major corporations were offering anything like that, so I had to." The people of Japan who pass each other wordlessly on the way to work each day suddenly realized they had a lot to talk about. They could argue, berate, complain, insult, opine, free-associate, joke around, and revel in their ability to entertain one other as a completely anonymous collective. The is video from the site Nico Nico Douga (Smiley Smiley Video). It has been viewed over 650,000 times received over 75,000 comments. Older comments drop off unless the users who submitted them have paid premium accounts. This ugly, lo-res site gets about 500 million pageviews a month, and Nishimura runs it with the help of nearly 300 volunteer administrators. "The only person who gets money from 2channel is me," he says. "Well, I guess I pay for the servers." It earns him 100 million yen a year — about $1 million — mostly from ad revenue. "But I don't think that's all that different from some dude who opens a convenience store in front of a train station," he says dismissively. "They can make a million yen a day." Nishimura is chuckling over a 2channel thread on a recent news item. "There was this 66-year-old man who was killed by his 61-year-old wife — she beat him to death with a bamboo sword," he says. "It's kind of funny, the contrast between the classic bamboo sword and the modern Internet. Posters were writing things like, Grandpa was probably becoming a pain in the ass to take care of.'" The snarkiness, the sophomoric humor, the questionable taste — 2channel posts often have the sort of tone you'd find on a site like Something Awful. There's also a prankish streak: When fast-food chain Lotteria held an online poll asking customers to vote for a new flavor of milk shake, 2channelers stuffed the ballot box in favor of kimchi — fermented cabbage. (Lotteria dutifully offered the vile concoction for sale.) But 2channel isn't just for geeks. Yes, there are threads where programmers discuss PHP and Ruby on Rails, and threads where otaku debate the latest manga and anime. But there are also threads on sex, politics, sports, and motorcycles. Bored housewives gossip about celebrities. Students and teachers discuss their peers in school-specific threads. The commenters have developed their own jargon and shorthand. There's that put-down kuki yomenai, a dismissal of the clueless who can't read the air. And there's the catchphrase omae mona, a comeback that translates roughly as "I know you are, but what am I?" Omae Mona is also the name given to a catlike character that commenters frequently append to posts: Though 2channel is text-only, users have circumvented that restriction by raising ASCII imagery to an art form, typing out elaborate illustrations that are often closer to editorial cartoons than emoticons. Nishimura's primitive bulletin board has become a hot brand. Book-length collections of comments have become best sellers and have been adapted into manga, TV shows, and movies. There are popular blogs dedicated to highlighting interesting threads. 4chan, a US-based site dedicated to anime, griefing, and all things NSFW, is one of several foreign imitators of 2channel. "Its weirdness dominates Internet culture," Ito says. I'm watching a video on Nico Nico Douga, Nishimura's follow-up to 2channel. A cute girl in a skimpy outfit has set up a camera in her bedroom and filmed herself dancing. Suddenly, a barrage of comments begin to scroll across the video. "She's pretty good!" "Boobies boobies boobies boobies!" "She's kinda fat." "Cuter than my girlfriend!" "What is happening to our country?" "Is it just me or can you see armpit hair at 1:15?" In many ways, the site is a standard Web video portal. What's unique is that the Flash-based video files have an extra interactive layer that lets viewers insert text on top of any clip as easily as if they were typing an instant message, and it displays that comment whenever someone else loads the video. Think YouTube meets TRL. Every kind of clip imaginable gets the Nicodou treatment. A British news item on dolphin fishing in Japan has some commenters declaring the slaughters a disgrace; defenders say it's no different than killing any other animal for food. Amateur videos riffing on the latest Web meme garner enthusiastic praise as well as criticism on editing techniques. US sitcoms show up perfectly translated and ready for annotation just hours after they air, and Sunday-morning anime programs have thousands of comments by afternoon. For many, the site isn't just a viable alternative to TV — the added layer of commentary makes it better than TV. Nicodou got its start when Nobuo Kawakami, CEO of the mobile-applications developer Dwango, saw an opportunity to port 2channel's irreverent, free-for-all sensibility from an archaic BBS to a full-fledged Web 2.0 application. Dwango, a public company with nearly 500 employees, already had a relationship with Nishimura. The company advertised on 2channel and even sold ringtones of him reciting popular catchphrases from his BBS. In 2005, when Dwango created a subsidiary called Niwango, it chose a name that further linked the company to Japan's most notorious BBS: Ni is the first syllable of Nishimura and also the Japanese word for two — as in ni channeru, or 2channel. Nicodou is the subsidiary's flagship service. Nishimura continues to run 2channel independently, but he shows up at Dwango headquarters a couple of days a week to help develop and promote Nicodou. "Hiroyuki is the Steve Jobs of our company," says Koji Mizoguchi, a Niwango board member. "He's the idea man, but he's not concerned with the specifics of how to make it work." This news item from Japanese TV got the Nico Nico Douga treatment. A woman claims that Hiroyuki Nishimura is irresponsible because he refuses to police posts on the site 2channel. He insists that its impossible for him to do so. Commenters seem to side with Nishimura. Nicodou launched in January 2007. It now has 6 million registered online users, and 1.3 million people view the mobile phone version. It gets almost a billion pageviews a month — twice as many as 2channel — and Dwango estimates that the site accounts for 8 percent of Japan's total bandwidth use. The site still trails YouTube in traffic among Japanese, but it's twice as sticky — fans check back often to see how others have embroidered upon their favorite clips. Some users time their comments with the dialog or music, creating a call-and-response feel. They've even figured out how to anticipate scrolling speeds to create elaborate screen-filling ASCII animations. Kawakami points out that Nicodou is one of the few successful sites in Japan that isn't simply a localized or reverse-engineered version of some Western concept. Like 2channel before it, the site seems to scratch a cultural itch that other countries just don't have. "In American movie theaters, everyone laughs out loud when they're excited," says Tomohito Kinose, another Niwango board member. "You never see that in Japan — you'd probably get punched if you made a sound. But if there were a keyboard next to each movie seat that made comments show up onscreen, people would be typing like crazy." One of the more than 1 million videos available on Nicodou is a TV news item about Nishimura himself. The segment begins with a narrator introducing Eiko, a woman who was subjected to some libel on 2channel. She submitted a request asking that any comments about her be removed but was told it would not be possible unless she identified each offending post. "I think the person in charge of this site would be considered very irresponsible in a normal society," Eiko says in the clip. "I continue to be slurred in places I don't even know about. This online society is so irrational and difficult." She is presented as if she were the victim of a violent crime: Her voice is computer-altered to protect her identity, and all we see onscreen is a tight shot of her hands folded in her lap.As parents of school children around the country prepare for the start of a new school year, one set of parents will not be doing the same. Last month, just a week before Christmas, six-year-old Akshay Balan was killed while walking with his cousin to school. He was struck by a woman driving an SUV who was doing a three point turn down the street. His death came exactly a year after another boy was killed on his way to school by a four-wheel-drive. Kevin Qunital was also run over – his death deemed an accident by a coroner who determined that Kevin was in the driver’s blind spot and that she wasn’t aware of his presence. SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles) and 4WDs (Four Wheel Drives) are a common sight around our schools. Their increasing popularity can be linked to the fact that they are now most commonly marketed to families. And parents have been buying into the marketing push big time, with sales of SUVs going up every year – for example, there were nine percent more SUVs sold in 2013 than in 2012. It’s easy to feel safe when driving a big beast of a vehicle around city roads. It gives you greater height in the car seat and perhaps more confidence that if you were involved in an accident you would be better off than the other guy. It is perhaps this feeling of confidence that makes people who drive SUVs drive more dangerously – a finding by a Queensland University of Technology study. As the lead researcher in the study, Dr Andry Rakotonirainy, mentions – “Driving children to school in a four-wheel drive requires different skills to driving a sedan or smaller car. You have to take into consideration that you are driving a vehicle that is two to three times the weight of a normal car - and higher - and will therefore handle differently.” Most people who get behind the wheel of a 4WD don’t know that they have to drive the car differently. They don’t learn the unique set of driving skills you need to operate these vehicles. Back in 2005, after a 4WD ran over and killed a five year-old on school grounds, the NSW Deputy State Coroner, Jacqueline Milledge, recommended that 4WDs should be banned from stopping within 200 metres of schoolyards with primary and infant students. She also called on the RTA to introduce special licences for 4WDs over two tonnes. In the years since the inquest, neither recommendation has been implemented - the economic needs of the ailing car industry having being deemed far more important than road and child safety. It’s not just Ms Milledge who saw the need for an SUV ban around schools. In 2009 almost 20,000 Queenslanders signed a petition to ban SUVs from school pick-up zones and shopping areas. It seems quite a lot of people are worried about the safety of such big vehicles around areas where small children are about. Many of us perceive these cars as getting in the way of driver safety – their large wide bodies obstruct the view of other drivers on the road; they have poor side and rear-view vision which is why many of these types of cars now come with rearward cameras – however these cameras themselves don’t give a full view of what’s going on behind and around the car; they have a greater rollover risk; and they have more blind–spots – meaning it’s easy to not see small children and animals from the vehicle. And as for the feeling of security drivers of SUVs may feel – recent crash tests in the United States have revealed your average car may be safer to drive than an SUV. All of this shows that we need to rethink our use of these vehicles, especially around school areas. If we drive SUVs we should educate ourselves in the downsides of the vehicle we drive as well as learning the differences in handling this type of vehicle in comparison to an average car. I live near a very busy public school and have seen for myself the sort of manoeuvres parents undertake because they are so caught up in getting to and from school in time. They lose themselves in the momentum and forget that their seemingly time-saving act could also be a life threatening one. No one ever thinks it’s going to happen to them – that one careless act could take the life of a child. But it happened to the motorist involved in the accident that took Kevin Quintal’s life - and all it took was two seconds. Two seconds that anyone would wish they could take back – but sadly life doesn’t work that way. Instead we can make it so that another senseless death of a child doesn’t have to take place – and if that means a ban on SUVs around schools, then so be it. Saman Shad is a storyteller and playwright.Now That The Intelligence Community Got Away With Lying, How Can You Trust Anything They Say? from the there's-no-punishment dept We've already discussed how Director of National Intelligence James Clapper flat out lied to Congress (and the American public) and gets away with it completely. While the Obama administration and other surveillance defenders have been almost universal in support for Clapper, despite his lying to Congress and the American public, this seems like a really bad strategy. As has been discussed, at the Black Hat conference, NSA director General Keith Alexander was heckled by someone who accused him of lying to Congress as well, perhaps confusing Alexander for Clapper or perhaps assuming that Alexander told lies another time.But here's the thing: given Clapper'slying combined with the complete lack offor doing so, there's simply no reason at all to take anything that Clapper or Alexander says at face value. Alexander, especially, has been trying to go on a charm offensive to convince people that the press reports are exaggerated. He even "cursed" during his speech at Black Hat, and then pretended that it was by accident, and asked that it not be mentioned, trying to show how "honest" he was being. But all the charm in the world can't overcome the simple fact thatthat there appear to bedirect consequences for lying. Even if weto believe him, it's pretty difficult.If the administration really wants to convince us that the surveillance programs are above board, it seems that keeping on an admitted liar to both Congress and the American public as the "face" of such programs isn't a particularly intelligent idea. It just makes people that much less likely to believethat Clapper, Alexander or others say about the program in their attempts to defend it. Filed Under: james clapper, keith alexander, lies, nsa, nsa surveillance, trustEveryone seems to be all about Twitter so here’s some simple examples of how to update your Twitter status from a command line prompt, web server or simple html web site. These three examples require curl so install it if you don’t already have it. For these examples I’ll be using my Twitter user name ‘codytaylor1234’. My password is not ‘mypassword’ so make sure you put in your own information. The easiest way to update your Twitter account is to just call curl from the command line with this command. curl --basic --user "codytaylor1234:mypassword" --data-ascii "status=This Twitter update brought to you by curl on the command line" "http://twitter.com/statuses/update.json" <?php $username = 'codytaylor1234'; $password ='mypassword'; $update = 'This Twitter update is from a php script using curl'; $url = 'http://twitter.com/statuses/update.json'; $ch = curl_init(); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "$url"); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, "status=".$update); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $username.":".$password); $result = curl_exec($ch); curl_close($ch); if($result) echo'success';?>; To update your Twitter status with PHP you are going to want to do the same sort of thing but with a bit more typing. Since a cross-domain request in Javascript isn’t really an option we have to create a proxy using PHP in order to authenticate the user on the Twitter API. If anyone knows an easy way authenticate a Twitter user using only javascript I’d love to hear it. Anyway if we replace a small amount of code in the above example and put it in a file then we can use a simple ajax request to update our Twitter status. So the new PHP file would be: <?php $username = $_POST['username']; $password = $_POST['password']; $update = $_POST['update']; $url = 'http://twitter.com/statuses/update.json'; $ch = curl_init(); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "$url"); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, "status=".$update); curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $username.":".$password); $result = curl_exec($ch); curl_close($ch);?> For this example I called that php file ‘twitter-update.php’. Now that we have our simple proxy we can update our twitter status with a simple html form and a little ajax. I used the prototype framework for my javascript. <script src="includes/prototype.js" type="text/javascript"> <script type='text/javascript'> function update_twitter() { var param_string = "username="+$('username').value+"&password="+ $('password').value+"&update="+$('update').value; alert(param_string); var options = { method: "post", parameters: param_string, onSuccess: function (xhr, Json) { alert("Response received successfully."); }, onFailure: function (xhr, Json) { alert("Request was unsuccessful."); } }; var oRequest = new Ajax.Request("twitter-update.php", options); } </script> Obviously this is for example purposes only and if you’re actually using it for production then you should edit it a lot. Now for the last little bit here’s the simple html form that starts it all.Katie works to mobilize community participation in placemaking and public space projects. Currently with ioby, a nationwide nonprofit civic crowdfunding platform, she’s worked with Friends of the High Line, the NYC Parks Department, and as a strategist for social enterprise startups. She holds a Master’s in City Planning from MIT. November 9, 2016: the day after the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Sixth street became ground zero for a roiling protest that seemed to spring straight from the collective id of a city knocked flat. New Yorkers poured from subways and office buildings, fueled by anger, grief, disbelief, and the drive to show what could only be shown collectively: the city’s wholesale rejection of the President-Elect. Their destination was Trump Tower, whose looming, opaque black glass stood in contrast to the small-d democratic human expression unfurling below. That day, Fifth Avenue became a new public space – packed with bodies, hashtagged, and forever changed in its city’s collective memory. By the inauguration, the streets and sidewalks surrounding the tower were reconfigured as a makeshift security zone, whose impenetrability was indicated by Jersey barriers, the architecture of accidental permanence. Secret Service agents, heavily armed NYPD officers, and private security guards staffed checkpoints at the perimeter. Fifty-Sixth Street was indefinitely closed to traffic. Gawkers and selfie-takers, bearing middle fingers or red baseball caps, became as permanent a fixture of the streetscape as its lightposts. The street had transformed once again: in both physicality and meaning, it had left its ordinary state through a chaos defined by public sentiment, before being reclaimed as a security space, public in name only. “The right of people from all parts of society to meet their fellow-citizens in the public space is a basic pillar of democracy.” — Jan Gehl “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” — Donald Trump New York’s street design is pragmatic above all else. A Manhattan street is a public place designed for function, not expression, for efficient commerce and egress, not specifically for public gathering. Fifth Avenue, one of New York City’s most identifiable public spaces, is not known as a palette for public dissent. Although it’s “bustling” — the most Manhattan of qualities — it’s less an agora than a utilitarian thoroughfare and a shopping district. In the mental map of the city, it’s most synonymous with high-caliber consumption, material desire, and upward-mobility tourism. What does it mean when such a narrow definition of “public” is blown up by mass protest, and then further narrowed through security protocol? Before November 9: An increasingly private public space As a public space in Midtown Manhattan, Fifth Avenue before November 2016 was far from simply “public.” Its five lanes of downtown-bound traffic are flanked by wide, sidewalks on which pedestrian traffic is heavy but commerce, from flashy advertising to sidewalk vending, is dominant. As is common in Midtown, the line between public and private space has long been blurred here. Sidewalk-adjacent public plazas can seem insincere attempts to accommodate theoretical gathering, while somewhat hidden Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) are tucked into the atriums of office towers. Both are nominally public concessions built by developers in exchange for a height variance, and they are typically treated as afterthoughts. The POPS within Trump Tower (whose context and meaning is expertly dissected by Karrie Jacobs in Architect Magazine) is a badly-marked labyrinth of atrium-level space with minimal seating, and often-closed balconies on higher floors. The poor signage and limited amenities of this space represent the rule, rather than the exception, for Midtown POPS. This stretch of Fifth Avenue is one of the “great walks” of Manhattan; its intact streetwall, consistent activity and reliable spectacle make it a tourist attraction. It’s long been known as a destination for both window shopping and actual commerce. Both are transactional public activities, with private enterprise defining the parameters of expected and accepted behavior. Whether providing the entertainment or the actual goods, the department stores, chain stores, and boutiques of Fifth Avenue determine the primary use of the sidewalk. In summer months, some even open their doors and provide air-conditioning and music to the sidewalk, literally blurring the atmosphere between public and private. And this forefronting of the private sector is no accident: the Fifth Avenue BID has been working since the 1990s with more than 150 retailers to keep Fifth Avenue from 46th to 61st Street “clean, safe and welcoming,” provide “supplemental security and sanitation services,” and assist tourists along this commercial strip. As is typical in high-value commercial districts, security and surveillance infrastructure are pervasive. Heavy concrete planter barriers and bollards delineate property lines and define street-level public plazas. A line of barrier planters has stood outside Trump Tower for more than a decade. The district has a visible police presence, including regularly-placed NYPD officers directing traffic. The Fifth Avenue BID employs “Community Safety Officers,” private security staff who double as tourist ambassadors and provide an additional visual symbol of public security. When the officers first hit the street in 1993, then-Mayor Giuliani called it “emblematic of the type of public/private cooperation that yields a win-win-win situation. Communities win, businesses win, all New Yorkers win.” The omnipresence of surveillance cameras, though a visible and expected aspect of public urban life, is more difficult to quantify. New York City does not publish the number or location of public or private cameras, although according to most experts, it has risen dramatically in the past two decades. A study by the New York Surveillance Camera Project estimated that visible surveillance cameras on Fifth Avenue in Midtown more than quadrupled in just the year and a half following the September 11 attacks. The New York Civil Liberties Union found that the percentage of surveillance cameras in public spaces in New York rose by 443 percent from 1998 to 2010, and has counted more than 2,400 known public cameras in Manhattan alone. London, which does make its numbers public, has more than 500,000. Speaking on the increasing pervasiveness of both mounted and drone-based surveillance cameras, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the Daily News in 2013, “We’re going to have more visibility and less privacy. I don’t see how you stop that.” For many New Yorkers, assumed surveillance is increasingly a fact of public life, and a small price to pay for security. November 9: Emergence of the unruly Fifth Avenue Even before the 2016 election, the public street and sidewalks of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Sixth Streets had grown in symbolic significance in the city’s consciousness. Small but fierce flash-protests, organized largely through Twitter and Facebook, had become increasingly frequent during the campaign. Anonymous organizers of actions such as the October 16 “blockade” by women protesting Trump over recently-leaked admissions of sexual assault, mobilized, publicized, and documented their actions through Twitter personas such as @PussyGrabsBack (joined October 2016). Taking a page from leaderless, social media-driven movements such as the Arab Spring and Occupy, these actions seemed to focus not on getting tens of thousands of participants, but on mobilizing as quickly as possible and disseminating information in real time to affect the news cycle. In effect, these 21st century tactics take an expanded view of the public realm, and public protest, considering online space an equally crucial front for resistance. A meaningful protest movement, it seemed, didn’t require a lot of bodies in the street, but did require a lot of eyeballs. In the weeks leading up to the election, with more than 90% of Manhattan voters planning on pulling the lever for Hillary Clinton, a Trump victory seemed like a remote and unserious possibility. While NYPD and private security presence had been ramped up at the tower in the final weeks of the campaign, there had been little public or media discussion of the possible impact of four years of Secret Service-level security on either public space or the city’s budget. The inconvenience of security infrastructure on Fifth Avenue appeared temporary, and New Yorkers were used to temporary inconveniences. It is difficult to overstate the shock felt in New York on the evening of November 8. That evening, much of the real-time initial reaction – the disbelief, the desperate calculations, the anger — took place on social media, our most immediate public realm. But November 9, a cold and rainy day, brought the online reaction into physical space, as waves of protestors headed to Fifth Avenue. The thousands of participants in the first post-election protests had not planned, scheduled, or permitted their participation. Facebook events had been hastily created early Wednesday morning, and many saw images of the growing crowd on Twitter before heading out. Others just knew they would not be alone if they went. The public space at Fifth and Fifty-Sixth had taken on a new urgency overnight; the map of Manhattan in the city’s collective consciousness had undergone a shocking update. Even outside the current reality that crowd-size estimates equate to political clout, it’s difficult to quantify the number of protestors outside of Trump Tower in the two days following the election. Estimates generally range in the several-thousands in Manhattan. Similar unplanned, unpermitted, fast-breaking mobilizations occurred in cities across the country, and around the world. Much like the Women’s Marches and airport protests that followed in January, these distributed protests’ simultaneousness and unified imagery, made possible by social media, were a source of strength for participants. For twenty-four hours, Fifth Avenue was uncharacteristically unruly. The Trump Tower protests were self-organized, spontaneous, un-permitted, and emotionally charged. Although largely peaceful, sixty-five protestors were arrested on November 9, on charges including “disorderly conduct” and “blocking vehicular traffic.” However, at a certain point in the evening, the NYPD, a police force well-versed in crowd control, seemed to give in to the crush of protestors determined to occupy space outside the Tower, and as long as they remained peaceful, made few attempts to control their flow. The snapshot of Fifth Avenue immediately following the election was as genuine a public expression of the right to public space as is possible in a highly-securitized, heavily surveilled and psuedo-privatized environment like Midtown Manhattan. The frequent speculation about whether we’re entering a “new era of perpetual protest” is often rendered in optimistic surprise; but what are our public spaces for if not for democratic expression? And does the fact that this expression, in public space, seems so anomalous indicate how far our public spaces have drifted from their purpose? A few weeks later: Barriers up By the end of November, the bulk of the initially-visible public outpouring of anguish had moved from Trump Tower to a more recognizable twenty-first century agora: the internet. The resistance took on other forms besides bodies in the street. Larger, more organized actions, such as the Women’s March, were planned. Estimates were assembled regarding the cost to the city of securing Trump Tower for the next four years. Mayor Bill de Blasio feuded with Trump in the tabloids about this cost. The President-elect did little to ingratiate himself to those who had shown up to protest his election, his fellow New Yorkers. Meanwhile, several rows of metal pedestrian barriers went up around Trump Tower, essentially privatizing the sidewalk. 56th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues was entirely closed to traffic, and security checkpoint booths appeared at the intersections behind high-speed crash barriers. Three traffic lanes were barricaded off, two for a security buffer and one across the street for a semi-permanent pen for journalists and photographers keeping tabs on visitors to the tower. The new “temporary” security infrastructure invoked permanence in the same fashion as much of Lower Manhattan following September 11. New Yorkers seemed to know what to expect, and the loss of a small sliver of public space in an already questionably-public district seemed to pale in comparison to fears of what the new administration would bring. Physical public space restrictions aside, the site continued to feature significantly in the city’s collective self image. As the Trump name was being removed from the residential towers on Riverside Drive across town, commercial tenants in Trump Tower and adjacent buildings complained of a drastic decline in foot traffic and a drop in sales. Mayor de Blasio was quoted in the press as saying “I will not tell you that Gucci and Tiffany are my central concerns in life.” However clumsy, this sentiment is telling in its opposition to the fundamental identity of Fifth Avenue, a place that has been more or less defined by high-value commerce. Also, by the end of Trump Tower had developed its own online persona. Geotagged Instagram posts from the tower contained hundreds of individual expressions of on-location disdain, far outnumbering positive imagery of the location. The raising of a middle finger at a skyscraper might only last a moment in physical space, but its online life is long. In late November, an online “vandal” changed the building’s name in Google Maps to Dump Tower. But the barriers remained up, the visible opposition on-location continued to dwindle, and commuters learned to avoid the security snag as if it were any other obstacle to New York efficiency. Whose streets? Public space carries within it a fundamental tension. On one hand it requires predictability to function. Collective orderliness is the assumption that allows us all to surround ourselves with strangers, to commute on transit, to live and to work stacked floor upon floor, to consume at a steady rate without running out of things to consume. Yet on the other hand, by definition public space invites some degree of chaos. People are unpredictable, and public spaces can be visible showcases for the chaos and expression that makes us human. We are constitutionally granted freedom of assembly, but street design, visible security and surveillance, public-private management agreements, collective memory, and social norms can all contribute to that freedom being exercised infrequently. In order to satisfy egress and commerce, Fifth Avenue, and other commerce-oriented public spaces require that human unpredictability be kept to a minimum. Fifth Avenue was never intended for mass demonstrations. It’s not a marketplace of ideas, it’s a marketplace, and it evidently takes a global-scale systemic shock like November 8 to shift that ingrained identity, even for a few days. If we are indeed headed into a new era of mass demonstration, what does that mean for public space? For one thing, the era is likely to be defined by an uneasy and quickly evolving hybrid of online and offline mobilization that will be impossible to accommodate with public space design alone. Rather than Fifth Avenue, the spontaneous immigration ban protests at airports nationwide are perhaps a truer manifestation of this new kind of public assembly. They did not take place in traditional, designated public gathering spaces. Diffuse, immediate, reactionary and viral, it was their speed, their number, and their imageability that made them powerful. It’s difficult to imagine this power coming from a demonstration in even the most thoughtfully-designed public plaza. If there is a silver lining to the decades-long trend of encroachment on public space of security, surveillance and commercial infrastructure like that surrounding Trump Tower, it’s that our definition of public spaces is broadening beyond the physical to the virtual and the temporal. The tower may now lay claim to some additional real estate, but public expression can now organize in a flash, multiply with a click, and live in a collective memory supported by digital connection.Update October 2016: Jennifer's tape has a bit of a surreal quality to it, it definitely sounds different than Mike's copy, even though it's the
species is sub-par for both sexes, but because we’ve often inhabited a violent and sub-par world, such arrangements were and still are at times a necessary evil. We’ve come a long way since then, and because the places and situations where brutality and danger await have grown more abstract and further away, most of us never come into contact with that real, gut-wrenching fear for our lives- that situation in which we would give up everything, all control for a few barrel-chested men standing at the mouth of our caves. But these men are still there— overseeing a staggeringly complex system of checks and balances backed up by the implied might of a male-powered army. In other words, we as a species still keep men on the front lines, but most of us living in first-world cities are so far removed from the reality of this that we don’t even need to consider it. It isn’t part of our lives and so we simply pretend it doesn’t exist. In fact, we have grown so far removed from the brutal fact that masculinity is necessary, that certain factions in our society have actually begun to preach that the masculine contribution of safety and sacrifice was an unimportant part of the cultural history of gender relations. It is therefore quite simple for them to imagine that the gender roles are inherently imbalanced in favor of men. After all, these “social justice warriors” inhabit worlds no longer dangerous, and as such they fail to give credit to the men who made it safe in the first place. And so they blog from their New York lofts (built by men, some of whom may have died in its construction) on their laptops (designed by men and manufactured in male-dominated factories, made from copper mined by men under peril) enjoying the protection of a government and constitution many men died to create. And from their safe cocoons have the audacity to say that men “oppress” women. They unironically blame the “patriarchy” for all gendered problems, without realizing that this patriarchy they are describing is the very civilization that has propelled them out of the Stone Age in the first place.Why do these people never go off and live in the woods? Surely no oppression lurks in the forest? Oh right, there are bugs and shit out there… If you grew up in Western culture, you have likely been led to believe a very black and white fairy tale about this “oppression”. In this fiction, we are told that women have always been the innocent sufferers of a brutal subjugation, held down by the massive male ego, giving their subservience and support and getting nothing in return. Can you believe those horrible men that used women like slaves for most of history? Men must be, you know, inherently evil or something. This is one of the biggest lies of our time: the idea that men have through all of history treated women like slaves, taking and taking and giving absolutely nothing back. If only those women could have been free from the men, the modern mind imagines from its position of relative safety and comfort, they could have been free and happy. But that is not at all how the world really works. Women have traditionally put up with being controlled because they relied on men for survival, and men have fought, died, built, and created because those activities were necessary to protect, shelter, and insulate the vulnerable people that they relied on for the continuation of life itself: namely, the women and children. The point is, for centuries men have and still do give at least as much as they take. Men are not demon oppressors, but are just as victimized by the brutal reality of the world as anyone else who lives here. For time untold it has been the men who were being blown to bits, stampeded over, decapitated by spears— risking death and dismemberment for the benefit of their societies. It is the same reason that the draft, higher rates of suicide, work related deaths, and lower life expectancy in general are still male problems in 2016: problems that we are barely allowed to acknowledge because it runs counter to the male oppressor / female victim narrative that has been entrenched in our culture for the past fifty or so years. How has this demonization come to pass? It is precisely because women do have so much social power (they always have, in fact) that a few tiny groups of radical feminists have been extremely successful in brainwashing us with this warped view of history. So much so, in fact, that there is a lot of “male guilt” out there. Some men even feel the need to somehow make reparations for this misrepresented history of false oppression, to “check their privilege”, and go about doing, saying and believing anything that women tell them to. Some men feel like they can’t even approach attractive women because they are afraid of being labeled a “creep”. The point of this all is to tell the men out there that they have no reason to feel guilty for being men. It doesn’t seem like a revolutionary thought, but men as a gender have a greater need than ever to internalize these positive messages. Masculinity is not toxic. You are not privileged for being born with a penis. Your masculinity is not fragile. There is no “patriarchy” which promotes you at the expense of women. You are not creepy or shallow for being attracted to young, feminine, thin women. You are not part of the “rape culture” because you attempt to chat up a pretty woman on the subway. It is not “catcalling” to say hello to a woman on the street. You are not an oppressor who needs to make amends for some horrid set of past aggressions. You are allowed to be dominate, confident, and assertive as you are naturally geared towards behaving. Ignore the dumb sitcom husbands with the too-good-for-him wives. Ignore the people who try to write-off your success as something handed to you by your genitals. Some people expect you to apologize for who you are; these people are simply probing you for weakness. Don’t give them the satisfaction. Be a man, and be proud of it.SHARE According to the results of GFI Software's third annual IT Admin Stress Survey, conducted by Opinion Matters, fully 79 percent of IT staff are actively considering leaving their jobs due to job-related stress. That's a significant increase from 2013, when just 57 percent of respondents said they were actively considering leaving. The survey of 200 U.S. IT administrators also found that 38 percent of IT staff have missed social functions due to issues at work, and 35 percent have missed time with their families due to work demands on their personal time. One quarter of respondents said they've seen a relationship severely damaged or fail due to their job. Twenty-three percent of respondents say they work between eight and 12 hours of unpaid overtime each week. https://o1.qnsr.com/log/p.gif?;n=203;c=204660766;s=9477;x=7936;f=201812281312070;u=j;z=TIMESTAMP;a=20392931;e=i One third of respondents say they regularly lose sleep over work pressures, one quarter say they've suffered stress-related illnesses, and 17 percent say they're in poor physical condition due to work demands. Thirty percent of respondents say they're the most stressed person in their social or family group. "IT is renowned for being one of the most stressful white-collar jobs to undertake, now more so than ever given the critical role IT plays in everything from ecommerce to facilities management," Sergio Galindo, general manager of the Infrastructure Business Unit at GFI Software, said in a statement. "There is a lot that organizations can do to reduce the burden -- and with it the stress levels -- carried by IT staff," Galindo added. "Providing realistic IT budgets and staffing levels helps a lot, but there are productivity changes that can also significantly de-stress the IT department, such as investing in technology to automate personnel-intensive activities like deploying software updates and managing sprawling Wi-Fi networks and the myriad of mobile devices that users are bringing to work."Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. A groundbreaking ruling by the Safed Rabbinical Court, which released a woman from her marriage to a man in a seven- year coma, continued to generate controversy on Tuesday, with a group of the country’s most senior haredi rabbis publishing a letter against the decision in the ultra-Orthodox press. The Safed court issued the ruling back in March, although it only became public in May. The case relates to a 32-yearold woman whose husband was involved in a motorcycle accident seven years ago and sustained severe injuries. He fell into a coma and has not recovered since.Jewish law stipulates that a man must freely give his wife a bill of divorce, or a get, for the marriage to be formally terminated.However, an unconscious person is unable to do so and thereby leaves his wife “chained” to the marriage.There is leeway in Jewish law to declare such a person dead in regard to the marriage, thus freeing the woman from the marriage.However, when doctors assessed the case in question several years ago, they initially stated that although the chances of his waking from the coma were very slight, such a possibility did exist. For this reason, the Safed Rabbinical Court would not terminate the marriage, and the woman was unable to obtain a get.In March, however, the rabbinical court’s three-man panel revisited the case and went to see the husband in hospital.They concluded that the husband’s physical status was such that there was no serious likelihood that he would ever awaken from his coma.Using an innovative interpretation of Halacha, the rabbis concluded that they could issue a get zikui – a bill of divorce that is granted on the husband’s behalf, that he would agree and desire to give.According to this interpretation, it is a positive Torah commandment to end a marriage if the husband is no longer able to fulfill his marital obligations and would therefore want to issue the divorce, allowing the rabbinical judges to enact this wish.The Safed ruling was issued by court president Rabbi Uriel Lavi, Rabbi Yosef Yagoda and Rabbi Haim Bazak, who noted in the ruling that they had based their decision on the halachic opinions and writings of two of the most authoritative rabbis of the last century: Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Hazon Ish, and Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank.The Safed rabbinical judges also received support for their ruling from the highly respected former president of the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Appeals, Rabbi Zalman Nehemia Goldberg.Earlier this month, however, Goldberg retracted his support, with Haaretz reporting that he claimed the Safed rabbis had asked him his opinion on a theoretical case, not on the practical specifics of the case before them.Nonetheless, Goldberg originally wrote a note appended to the ruling, saying, “After having read that which the venerable Rabbi Uriel Lavi wrote and explained, [I find] his words to be very correct and I join his opinion to permit this special case before us.”A well-placed source has claimed that Goldberg, a haredi rabbi, was threatened by elements within the ultra-Orthodox sector, but still supports the ruling.On Tuesday, a number of senior haredi rabbis – including Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, the most senior non-hassidic rabbi in the haredi world; Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, who is the nephew of the Hazon Ish and is an authoritative rabbi in his own right; and Rabbi Haim Kanievsky – published a letter in the haredi daily Yated Ne’eman, saying that they did not support the ruling.“We trembled to see that a ruling was issued to permit a married woman (a woman whose husband is [in a] vegetative state, by means of a get zikui) [to remarry], [a ruling which is] stacked with fabricated reasoning rejected by Jewish law,” the rabbis wrote. “Therefore we are obligated to vigorously protest this decision, [which is against] Jewish law, and the permitting of this married woman [to remarry].”Attorney Batya Kehana-Dror, who is the director of the Mavoi Satum women’s divorce rights group and who represented the woman in question, called on Tuesday for chief rabbis Yitzhak Yosef and David Lau to publicly support the ruling of the Safed Rabbinical Court.Kehana-Dror criticized the chief rabbis for failing to support the ruling of one of its rabbinical courts.“We have still not heard the voices of the honorable chief rabbis in support of Rabbi Lavi and his rabbinical court, who fulfilled their task with decisiveness and courage, truth and faith, and found a halachic solution to the difficult problem of a chained woman,” she said.“Beyond the halachic dispute stands a woman whose fate and life are dependent on this ruling, and the suffering caused to her in recent days is indescribable, when from one side [efforts are made] to discredit her get, and on the other hand there is no one to defend or save her.”Yosef, who serves as the president of the Supreme Rabbinical Court of Appeals in Jerusalem, told the Safed rabbis he disagreed with their ruling before they issued it, but has yet to comment publicly on the case.There was no response from Yosef to a Jerusalem Post request for comment. Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>Ron Paul: GOP Establishment Threatened By Trump Because "He Is His Own Boss" "The Republican Party is obviously threatened by Trump being his own boss," Paul told host Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria." RON PAUL: They like to control people. They’ll do whatever they can. They’re terrified of competition. I think that the Republicans will do everything possible in these last few primaries to keep Trump from capitalizing on this. Then they’ll go to the convention. There’s already threats out there... Trump’s not going to go away easily. That’s not going to happen. He likes trouble and he doesn’t mind threatening people. The biggest mess is for the Republican Party... If they mess around and change the rules, the Trump supporters will know. They’re really in a bind. They’re not going to come out of this with very many benefits for the Republican Party.But if he is innocent of being too ignorant about the reality of terrorism to be president, then he is guilty of trying to mislead Americans about the nature of terrorism for political gain. And that is execrable. Whether Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, Americans share a common interest in clarity on the matter of what causes terrorism and how best to fight it. Disagreements on that subject are totally legitimate. Lying about that subject is not—it undermines America’s ability to understand and fight terrorism for the selfish gain of a politician. All politicians lie, but that sort of lie is especially pernicious and shameful. And there is more. Even if we treat Trump’s comments as yet another instance of his abandoning the literal meaning of words—even if we take him as trying to convey only that Hillary Clinton was a bad secretary of state—we arrive at another worrisome conclusion about Trump. Understanding it requires a bit of background. When President Obama appointed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, Donald Trump declared that Obama was “doing great” and that “I think Hillary Clinton is a great appointment.” Later, during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, Trump gushed about how much he liked Clinton and how harding working she was, among other words of praise: Even after the Benghazi attack, Trump was praising Secretary of State Clinton: At various times, Trump has tried to explain away this praise. For example, he told Jimmy Kimmel that due to his business interests he always spoke highly of politicians, prompting the late night host to comment that Trump was saying he is “full of shit.” Trump agreed! But calling Trump “full of shit” lets him off too easily here. If we take Trump at his word, he wasn’t being a typical businessperson saying nice things about a politician while secretly disagreeing with them on taxes or immigration policy. If we take Trump at his word, he was falsely praising Clinton and her work as secretary of state even as he believed it was emboldening terrorists to murder Americans! That is the implication of the story he is now telling us. Now, there’s no way to know what is really going on in Trump’s head. But it’s hard to reconcile all his contradictory comments and behavior without concluding that, one way or another, Trump treated his own business or political interests as more important than American democracy’s collective effort to stop terrorism. And any way you tell it, Trump demonstrated a willingness to go on national television and blatantly lie to millions of Americans on this grave, life-or-death topic. Why does anyone trust Trump, or believe he should be entrusted with the presidency? Over and over, he shows with his actions that he is dangerously unfit."The American President told me in confidence that he is a Muslim." That was the claim of Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, as reported in the May 2010 issue of Israel Today. According to journalist Avi Lipkin, Gheit appeared on Nile TV's "Round Table Show" in January, on which he said that "he had had a one-on-one meeting with Obama who swore to him that he was a Moslem, the son of a Moslem father and step-son of Moslem step-father, that his half-brothers in Kenya were Moslems, and that he was loyal to the Moslem agenda." Obama allegedly said this in the context of reassuring Gheit that he would soon deal with Israel: He asked that the Moslem world show patience. Obama promised that once he overcame some domestic American problems (Healthcare) [sic], that he would show the Moslem world what he would do with Israel. Could this be true? Even if Gheit's claim isn't true, or was misreported, every country in the free world must be cognizant of the catastrophic sea change that has taken place in the leadership of the free world -- as witnessed by events over the past year. Barack Obama took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, and yet whether he is a Muslim or not, he has undeniably gone around the world promoting Islam and Sharia (Islamic law). And now, if what Gheit says is true, we know why. The alleged exchange between Obama and Gheit would almost certainly have happened in early January 2010, when Gheit was in Washington, D.C. regarding "Mideast peace talks." On Thursday, January 7, 2010, the Associated Press reported that "Clinton and Mitchell [were] scheduled to meet" with Gheit on Friday, January 8, 2010: see ABC news here. On Friday, January 8, 2010, Hillary Clinton and Gheit spoke with each other. The U.S. Department of State has provided video before the meeting: see the Department of State here. On Saturday, January 9, 2010, NPR spoke with Gheit about his visit: see NPR.org. This is a devastating claim, and yet no media outlet is covering it. Remember, during Obama's campaign, I and others were excoriated for using his middle name. We were accused of implying he was a crypto-Muslim. We could not discuss his background, his Islamic schooling, his ties to Islam. However, I have meticulously documented his Muslim background in my soon-to-be-released book, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America. It became all too clear after his election how proud Obama was of his Muslim name, background, and family. He made this plain when he gave his very first interview to Muslim media and boasted of these things. He suddenly became proud of the very things that were verboten to speak of during the campaign. That was the level of deceit and obfuscation. If Gheit's reported claim is true, then Obama is a baldfaced liar. But why? Why lie if you have nothing to hide? Of course, if Obama believes himself a Muslim, then his prior behavior constituted taqiya -- deception or lies to advance Islam. This he performed brilliantly during his election: He lied with brazen contempt. And now his Islamic Jew-hatred is made painfully clear in his stunning rebuke of Israel. In Israel Today, political analyst Aviel Schneider exposes some of the further implications of Gheit's claim: That could explain why Obama has instructed that the term "Islamic extremism" no longer be used in official government documents and statements. Furthermore, the US is now accusing Israel of harming American interests in the Middle East. General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said Israel's intransigence on resolving the conflict with the Palestinians is endangering US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even the US Congress considers Obama's behavior toward Netanyahu humiliating. Three-quarters of the House of Representatives, 337 of 435 members, signed a bipartisan letter to Clinton expressing "deep concern over recent tension" between the two countries, and demanding that it be smoothed over quickly and in private. "Obama is a real problem for Israel," a senior official told told Yediot. "He is Israel's biggest strategic catastrophe." The newspaper also quoted another official who believes that for the first time Washington has switched sides. "The Obama White House is putting pressure only on Israel but does not expect anything from the Palestinians," he said. "These American demands are unacceptable." Is it any wonder that Obama's counterterror adviser speaks Arabic, calls Jerusalem "Al-Quds," and calls jihad a "legitimate tenet of Islam"? We know that Gheit met with Obama in April 2010 in D.C. -- check out White House.gov, which lists Gheit as one of the attendees of a "Nuclear Security Summit" at that time. And they met more than once. Gheit had a private meeting with Obama in May 2009. Worse yet, Gheit just last month called Israel " the enemy." This after Israel gave them the Sinai (which Israel had won in a defensive war and defended through another one) with all its oil in return for "peace." How plausible is Gheit's reported claim about Obama? Let's review Obama's track record: And earlier this week, Obama became the first president to host a press conference with the American flag nowhere in sight. Ouch. What a disgrace. Now: will the lapdog media make Obama address Gheit's claim?When people tell me about plans for huge fossil fuel development in the developing world, I just mention that there are some hard and fast limits in the natural system that will be showstoppers for the business as usual fossil-fuel model around the world. The biggest limiting factor is water. US Geological Survey: Production of electrical power results in one of the largest uses of water in the United States and worldwide. Water for thermoelectric power is used in generating electricity with steam-driven turbine generators. In 2005, about 201,000 million gallons of water each day (Mgal/d ) were used to produce electricity (excluding hydroelectric power). Surface water was the source for more than 99 percent of total thermoelectric-power withdrawals. In coastal areas, the use of saline water instead of freshwater expands the overall available water supply. Thermoelectric-power withdrawals accounted for 49 percent of total water use, 41 percent of total freshwater withdrawals for all categories, and 53 percent of fresh surface-water withdrawals. Aarhus University (Denmark): Two new reports that focus on the global electricity water nexus have just been published. Three years of research show that by the year 2040 there will not be enough water in the world to quench the thirst of the world population and keep the current energy and power solutions going if we continue doing what we are doing today. It is a clash of competing necessities, between drinking water and energy demand. Behind the research is a group of researchers from Aarhus University in Denmark, Vermont Law School and CNA Corporation in the US. In most countries, electricity is the biggest source of water consumption because the power plants need cooling cycles in order to function. The only energy systems that do not require cooling cycles are wind and solar systems, and therefore one of the primary recommendations issued by these researchers is to replace old power systems with more sustainable wind and solar systems. The research has also yielded the surprising finding that most power systems do not even register how much water is being used to keep the systems going. “It’s a huge problem that the electricity sector do not even realise how much water they actually consume. And together with the fact that we do not have unlimited water resources, it could lead to a serious crisis if nobody acts on it soon”, says Professor Benjamin Sovacool from Aarhus University. Combining the new research results with projections about water shortage and the world population, it shows that by 2020 many areas of the world will no longer have access to clean drinking water. In fact, the results predict that by 2020 about 30-40% of the world will have water scarcity, and according to the researchers, climate change can make this even worse. “This means that we’ll have to decide where we spend our water in the future. Do we want to spend it on keeping the power plants going or as drinking water? We don’t have enough water to do both”, says Professor Benjamin Sovacool.You nominated aLive, HerO, Jaedong, Jim, Polt, Scarlett, Snute, and Taeja for WCS America Favorite Player of the year. The community's votes have been counted, and we have a winner! Your WCS America Favorite Player of 2013 is: Full name: Sasha ‘Scarlett’ Hostyn Race: Zerg Team: Acer The 2012 World Championship Series Canada and North American Champion entered the 2013 WCS carrying the mantle of not only her own accomplishments, but the hopes of fans all over North America and around the world. Scarlett did not disappoint. She took third place in the Ritmix Russian StarCraft II League Season 5 Finals in July with a win over Hyun. In August, she came tantalizingly close to the Grand Final of WCS America Season 2, falling 2:3 to Jaedong in the round of four. In November at the Red Bull Battlegrounds in New York, Scarlett started really showing her stuff -- defeating Bomber and Golden in the group stage before taking out the Boss Toss 2:0 to win 3rd place. To cap off a strong finish to 2013, she won her group, then defeated both StarDust and Life en route to a 2nd place finish at ASUS ROG Northcon. Check out a few video selections from 2013, starring Scarlett:Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 was the best phone you could buy for about a week. Now Apple has come along and spoiled Samsung’s party with not one but two new phablet-sized phones: the iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X. While the new iPhones still don’t come with a stylus, Apple did upgrade them in just about every other way. So how does Samsung’s flagship stack up to Apple’s latest handsets? Let’s take a look. iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Size Apple The iPhone X is significantly smaller than the Note 8. If you’re looking for the absolute biggest phone you can buy, Samsung wins here. It’s Note 8 has a whopping 6.3-inch display, a good deal larger than the iPhone X’s 5.8-inch one. But screen size doesn’t tell the whole story. With nearly an inch more screen than the iPhone 8 Plus and way more pixels than the X, you’d expect the Note 8 to be a significantly bigger package, but the dimensions are remarkably similar to the Plus: Note 8: 162.5 x 74.8 x 8.6 mm iPhone 8 Plus: 158.4 x 78.1 x 7.5 mm iPhone X: 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Display Jason Snell The iPhone X’s Supe Retina display is simply gorgeous, but the Note 8’s is no slouch. Both the Note 8 and the iPhone X feature remarkable displays, with the iPhone X representing Apple’s first foray into OLED screens. Samsung edges the iPhone X when it comes to resolution, but we’ll need to compare the two in person to see which comes out on top when it comes to color and brightness. In pure numbers, however, Samsung takes the crown, both in size and resolution: Note 8: 6.3-inch, 2960 x 1440 Super AMOLED, HDR, 532ppi iPhone 8 Plus: 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 LCD, 401ppi iPhone X: 5.8-inch, 2436 x 1125 OLED, HDR, 458ppi iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Performance Apple The A11 chip in the new iPhones is something to behold. Comparing iPhones to Galaxy phones has never been an apples to apples comparison, but on paper, Apple’s A11 Bionic chip is a screamer. With six cores and 4.3 billion transistors, it looks to give the Note 8’s Snapdragon 835 a real run for its money, at least in terms of raw power. In real-world use, however, the phones will be pretty close in speed, but the Note 8’s 6GB of RAM could pull it closer in benchmarks. Apple has traditionally been stingy with its RAM thanks to the intense iOS optimizations, with the iPhone 8 Plus topping out at 2GB. The A11 chip also integrates an Apple-designed GPU with a three-core design that should give games a boost. Note 8: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (octo-core, 10nm, up to 2.45GHz) iPhone 8 Plus: A11 Bionic chip (septa-core) iPhone X: A11 Bionic chip (septa-core) iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Battery Adam Patrick Murray/IDG The Note 8’s battery is great, but will the iPhone X’s be better? We won’t know exactly how big the new iPhones’ batteries are until iFixit’s customary tear-down, but based on Apple’s claims, the iPhone 8 Plus will last “about the same” as the 7 Plus, while the X will last “up to two hours longer,” and both phones now support Qi wireless charging like the Note 8. The Note 8’s 3,300mAH battery gets around 9 hours of real-world use, more than enough to get through a full day of use, and the 7 Plus was equally long-lasting. If the X truly lasts two hours longer than the 8 Plus, it could put it over the top. iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Storage Doug Duvall/IDG The S Pen isn’t the only thing the Note 8 has that the iPhone doesn’t—it also has an SD card slot. All three phones offer a base model with 64GB of storage. However, the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X add a 256GB tier that isn’t available on the Note 8 (at least not in the U.S. anyway). However, the Note 8 includes a microSD slot so you can upgrade the storage as much as you’d like, and for a lot less than the $150 Apple is charging for 192 extra gigs of storage. iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Camera Adam Patrick Murray/IDG The Note 8 is a great camera, but the iPhone X’s might be even better. Apple and Samsung have been slugging it out over camera performance for generations of phones, and this year is no different. Let’s start with the specs: Note 8: Dual 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras, f/1.7 and f/2.4, dual optical image stabilization, 2X optical zoom iPhone 8 Plus: Dual 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras, f/1.8 and f/2.8, optical image stabilization on main lens, 2X optical zoom iPhone X: Dual 12MP wide-angle and telephoto cameras, f/1.8 and f/2.4, dual optical image stabilization, 2X optical zoom All three phones have very similar cameras, with the Note 8 edging out the iPhone X slightly when it comes to aperture. Additionally, all three phones feature a “bokeh” mode—Portrait on the iPhone and Live Focus on the Note 8—but the Note 8 offers the ability to adjust the level of background blur, which isn’t available on the iPhone. However, the iPhones have a new feature called Portrait Lighting that simulates various instances of studio-style lighting after portraits are shot. When it comes to video recording, the iPhone 8 Plus and X both film in 4K at 60fps, while the Note 8 tops out at 30fps. Additionally the iPhones have slo-mo video support for 1080p at 240fps, while the Note 8 only supports 720p. As always, however, the proof will be in the pudding. Apple has introduced an improved image signal processor for the new iPhones as well as some auto-focus and lighting tricks, but we were pretty impressed with the Note 8’s new camera too. iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: AR and VR Doug Duvall/IDG When it comes to AR and VR, the Note 8 and the iPhone X are in different leagues. The Bionic in the iPhones’ new A11 chip means it has a neural engine with a dual-core design that performs up to 600 billion operations per second for real-time processing to help with Face ID, Animoji, and augmented reality. Samsung doesn’t specifically tout any AR benefits of the Note 8, but Google’s new ARCore will allow the phone to take advantage of the emerging tech, but it remains to be seen if it will be as advanced as Apple’s ARKit. The Note 8 does beat the iPhone 8 Plus and X when it comes to VR, however. Pop the phone into a Gear VR headset and you’ll be able to watch 360-degree videos and play immersive games, something no iPhone can do yet. iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Biometrics Apple You have to unlock the iPhone X with your face—there’s no more fingerprint sensor. The iPhone 8 Plus includes the standard Touch ID fingerprint-scanning sensor. However, since Apple has eliminated the home button on the iPhone X, that phone doesn’t have Touch ID. In its place is Face ID, which uses the TrueDepth camera system to build a “unique facial map.” The Note 8 features an array of options for unlocking your phones, including fingerprint, retina, and face. The fingerprint scanner isn’t in the greatest spot and we had loads of issues with facial recognition, but the retina scanner worked flawlessly during our testing (though others haven’t had the same result). Apple promises that it’s just as secure as Touch ID, but we’ll have to test it out to be sure. iPhone 8 Plus vs. iPhone X vs. Note 8: Price Adam Patrick Murray/IDG The iPhone 8 Plus is the cheapest of the lot. While much has been made of the iPhone X’s $999 price tag, it’s really not all that much higher than the Note 8’s $930 price. But the iPhone 8 Plus is practically a bargain compared to both of them: Note 8: $930 (64GB) iPhone 8 Plus: $799 (64GB), $949 (256GB) iPhone X: $999 (64GB), $1149 (256GB)Record balmy temperatures and scarce snow have ruined lots of seasonal plans upstate. The New York Times surveyed some of the state's usual winter hotspots—as it were—and found usually frozen lakes still liquid, ski slopes barren or only occasionally cool enough for artificial snow, and locals stressing. In the Adirondacks' Lake George, an hour north of Albany, the town and lake's namesake winter carnival has begun without the benefit of lake ice where much of the festivities usually take place. The Times reports: The motorcycle and truck races that usually make a noisy spectacle of the iced-over lake are likely to be canceled. The dogs that are supposed to pull children on sleds around the lake will instead be pulling them around a parking lot. The outhouse race, in which teams of five drag wooden port-a-potties on skis across the ice — two pushing, two pulling, one enthroned on the toilet seat — was relocated to the dry land outside Duffy’s Tavern. (For the first time since the race was instituted 20 years ago, the skis were swapped for wheels.) Lake Flower in the town of Saranac Lake hasn't frozen all the way across, but that didn't stop a few hardy/foolhardy souls from sawing out chunks of it to build an Ice Palace for their annual shindig. Look, traditions are traditions, okay? The melty madness is a region-wide phenomenon. North Country Public Radio reports that January snowfall was 6 to 12 inches below normal for most of the Adirondacks, and 12 to 18 inches below normal for the Southeastern Adirondacks, and that Burlington, Vermont logged daily high-temperature records of 54 degrees on two days last week. In Jackson, New York, northeast of Albany, an organizer said ahead of last weekend's Winterfest, "We're holding out hopes for snow." They got an inch and a quarter, according to records for nearby Battenville, which is better than nothing. In Buffalo, frequently one of the country's snowiest cities, the Times writes that golf courses stayed open into December, and the usually lake-effect-stricken populace found themselves ranking 15th in the nation for seasonal snowfall, an event that prompted a whole Buffalo News article. Rick Cohen, owner of Buffalo's Transit Drive-In theater, booked the new Star Wars movie through mid-January and said he may reopen as soon as Valentine's Day. "From a business standpoint, I think global warming’s a great thing," he told the
the ongoing trial. As such, the oil major said, he should review his decision or give it a new trial. The evidence in question surrounds expert testimony about how the Macondo well’s casing was weakened and breached, part of a series of eight alleged errors linked to the blowout. “BP respectfully requests that the Court eliminate its theory that this series of acts amounted to gross negligence,” the company said in its motion. “In the alternative, BP would be entitled to a new trial.” The motion is one of many BP has filed to curb fines stemming from the case. Barbier has rejected most of them. The company has already taken more than $42 billion in provisions for the worst offshore spill in U.S. history, which killed 11 workers, and its fines could swell as much as $18 billion when Barbier assigns damages under the federal Clean Water Act next year. The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-md-02179.The West Wing is more in flux than usual. John Podesta’s in as the new Fixer. Phil Schiliro is back to mend fences with Congress. Longtime Obama consigliere Pete Rouse is leaving. Reports have other White House vets delaying their departures until the ship feels righted. But those departures will come — and likely sooner rather than later. And if their predecessors are any indication, the next wave of aides to jump will be able to leverage their experience and contacts into lucrative way private sector gigs. Here’s a look at ex-Obama aides who have done well by their work with the president. David Axelrod Old gig: Political guru and West Wing counselor New gig: Taking his guru-ness to the next level by establishing the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago; advising clients in races as far-flung as Italy; living comfortably on the sale of his stake in two Chicago public affairs firms in 2009 for $3 million; working on his memoir due to be published in 2014 by Penguin Press; working as a paid political analyst for NBC News; a highly-paid member of the Washington Speakers Bureau. David Plouffe Old gig: Campaign mastermind; White House adviser New gig: Giving big-dollar speeches that draw criticism, whether they are in Azerbaijan, or to companies with ties to Iran, and advising private clients. Plouffe “built a billion-dollar nationwide organization that inspired millions and made history,” gushes the same Washington Speakers Bureau that represents Axelrod. He received a seven-figure advance to write his book The Audacity to Win, which became a best-seller, but now can be found in the bargain bin. Recently joined ABC News as an analyst. (Incidentally, William Daley, former Obama chief of staff, has just signed up with CBS, so the big three networks are covered.) Robert Gibbs Old gig: White House press secretary New gig: Formed the Incite Agency with ex-Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt. Gibbs, the agency’s site reads, “has helped companies across a multitude of industries to create and implement communications strategies grounded in research and data” and describes him as a “core member of the team that built the Obama brand from the ground up.” Clients include pharma behemoth Eli Lilly. Anita Dunn Old gig: White House communications director New gig: Director of SKDKnickerbocker, a public affairs firm. The firm’s clients include AT&T, General Electric, Time Warner, Pratt & Whitney, Kaplan University and TransCanada, the company behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Jim Messina Old gig: Deputy chief of staff; 2012 campaign manager New gig: Formed The Messina Group, a consulting firm. In managing Obama’s reelection, Messina, his site says, “abandoned every step of a traditional presidential campaign and merged technology and politics in a way that was both unpredictable and unprecedented.” In September, he joined the board of directors of LanzaTech, a biofuels company, to, the company says, “help evangelize the new energy paradigm.” Jon Favreau Old gig: Obama speechwriter New gig: Formed Fenway Strategies with former Obama national security spokesman Tommy Vietor. They have “crafted remarks for some of the world’s most famous CEOs, philanthropists, celebrities, and government officials,” their site says. “No one ever took a vow of poverty in the White House,” Favreau said in a video interview in October. “No one said they would never again work in the private sector and make money.” Bill Burton Old gig: Deputy White House press secretary New gig: Formed and ran Priorities USA Action, a super PAC that raked in more than $75 million during the 2012 campaign; recently joined the public affairs firm Global Strategy Group as a managing director. Clients include GE, Cisco, American Express, Comcast, and Pfizer. Stephanie Cutter Old gig: Obama health-care strategist; deputy 2012 campaign manger New gig: Yelling at Newt Gingrich daily on CNN’s Crossfire; recently formed Precision Strategies with ex-Obama aides Jen O’Malley Dillon and Teddy Goff. “We built and managed a $1.2 billion start-up called the Obama campaign,” their site says. Mike Donilon Old gig: Senior adviser to Vice President Joe Biden New gig: This summer joined AKPD Message and Media — which just happens to be Axelrod’s old firm and which was retained by Bill de Blasio’s successful New York mayoral bid. His campaign paid the firm more than $7 million.High School Inventors Rachel Frank In between pep rallies and history tests, these 10 brainy students are refining cancer treatments, cleaning up car exhaust systems, and improving communication between humans and robots. ALLISON DANA BICK Allison Dana Brick Jonie Schwartz High School: Millburn High School, Millburn, N.J. Invention: Smartphone water-quality tester When Alison Dana Bick was in middle school, a downpour swamped the streets of her hometown and flooded its well. Public officials warned that flooding might have carried sewage into the water supply. "My friend called to ask if there was a way to check the safety of the tap water," Bick says. When a Google search revealed that there wasn't any fast and easy household test, she decided to create one. Four years later, she completed work on a cellphone application that determines the concentration of bacteria in a photographed sample of water. Unlike current water-testing kits that take 18 hours to evaluate the full chemical and bacterial content of a sample, Bick's cellphone test provides a simple answer—contaminated or safe to drink—immediately. Bick knew that Colilert-18, one of the most common water-quality testing agents, turned yellow when mixed with bacteria-contaminated water; the more the bacteria, the darker the hue. So she developed an algorithm to read and analyze the yellow-pixel intensity in a low-resolution photo of the chemical water sample. She is currently collaborating with the Millburn Short Hills chapter of the American Red Cross to field-test the system. College: Bick starts her freshman year at Princeton University this fall. She plans to study chemical engineering. Ryan Erickson RYAN ERICKSON High School: Los Alamos High School, Los Alamos, N.M. Invention: Portable, solar-powered desalination unit Ryan Erickson may live on a high desert mesa, but he has big plans for the ocean. Last year, he began to develop an interest in large desalination projects—which remove salt and other minerals from seawater to make it drinkable—in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Australia. But he soon learned that no one had built a portable, automated, affordable desalination system that also treats seawater for harmful bacteria—although millions of people, including those living in coastal nations, lack safe drinking water. His solar-powered device, a three-foot cube easily carried by two people, relies on readily available materials: sand, charcoal, and plastic bottles. Saltwater is filtered through layers of sand and charcoal before entering a boiling chamber. The steam is cooled and collected on a condenser coil and then exposed to a SteriPEN, which kills harmful bacteria with ultraviolet light. Other portable desalination systems are less sophisticated and can remove only salt from the water, not other harmful contaminants. Erickson's next step is to redesign the system to make it even more compact. College: This fall, Erickson will enter the University of California, San Diego, where he will study electrical engineering. PARAM JAGGI Param Jaggi Param Jaggi High School: Plano East Senior High School, Plano, Texas Invention: CO Eduardo Fernandez (Far Right) Eduardo Fernandez EDUARDO FERNANDEZ High School: Carl Hayden Community High School, Phoenix, Ariz. Invention: 3-D assisted robotic arm After Eddie Fernandez figured out how to take apart a remote-control car at age five, no gadget was safe. "Toys, batteries, motors, circuits: I wanted to know how they all worked," he says. In seventh grade, he joined a team that built robots for the national FIRST competition. One entry threw 80-inch spheres eight feet in the air. Another played soccer. He also helped design and build an underwater autonomous robot. But his best work so far, he says, came about when he led the construction of the EVROV robot arm, designed to lift and move instruments to assist astronauts with spacewalks. He also created a complementary 3-D video system that helps human operators gauge depth as they remotely operate the arm from inside their ship. He presented the robot (and its nearly $11,000 price tag) at last year's Conrad Foundation Spirit of Innovation Awards. Fernandez is motivated in part by uncertainty—his father was recently deported to Mexico. "When it happened, it really hit me that things can change overnight," he says. "And that I needed to work harder and make better use of my time." College: Fernandez will be heading to Arizona State University in the fall to study mechanical engineering. ALEXANDER GILBERT Alexander Gilbert Alexander Gilbert High School: St. Albans School, Washington, D.C. Invention: Improved MRI contrast for more-accurate diagnoses When Alex Gilbert was about six years old, a close relative of his was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. A year later, she discovered that doctors had misread her MRI results. "I was so young, I don't think I fully appreciated how shocking [the false diagnosis] was," Gilbert says. At age 15, he began to study magnetic imaging technology, and after his sophomore year in high school, he had an internship at the National Institutes of Health. There he developed a technique to improve MRI image contrast so that practitioners can more accurately spot the signs of neurological diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging systems excite protons and record the pattern by which their spinning slows down—that's what produces the image. But the cell density of each part of the body alters the signal intensity: Air and bone produce weak signals and dark images. Fat and marrow produce bright images. Gilbert wrote an algorithm that accounts for those differences and improves image contrast, which can help reveal hard-to-spot tissue damage. The next summer, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Gilbert developed another technique for improving contrast in MRI images. He found that by injecting a stain that binds to nucleic acids, the structural details in gray matter are clearer. College: Gilbert is about to start his freshman year at MIT. He plans to major in physics or biophysics. Matthew Fedderson and Blake Marggraff Rachel Frank MATTHEW FEDDERSON AND BLAKE MARGGRAFF High School: Acalanes High School, Lafayette, Calif. Invention: Tin-based cancer treatment Matt Feddersen and Blake Marggraff have been blowing things up in their backyards together since the fifth grade. "We each have very patient parents," Marggraff says. In their junior year of high school, they entered the world of formal experimentation. A teacher mentioned that faulty tin-based shields at nuclear power plants were somehow amplifying radiation. Feddersen and Marggraff, who both had family members who had had battled cancer, wondered if tin could be used to create a secondary dose of x-rays that would augment an initial dose, making radiation treatment more effective. In their high school's biology lab, the students injected tiny particles of tin into a simulated tumor made out of yeast. When x-rays hit the metal, it produced a second wave of radiation like in the faulty nuclear shields, but this time frying additional cells. The treatment killed more than 20 percent more cells than conventional radiation treatments, for only 60 cents per patient. Feddersen and Marggraff plan to test the treatment on human cells when they move on to college. College: Feddersen is attending the University of Illinois for a year and plans to transfer to MIT. Marggraff is entering Washington University in St. Louis. JAO-KE CHIN-LEE Jao-ke Chin-Lee Jao-ke Chin-Lee High School: Stuyvesant High School, New York, N.Y. Invention: Active noise cancellation for human-robot speech interaction Since she first watched a television show about DARPA's Grand Challenge competition for driverless cars in 2006, Jao-ke Chin-Lee has been fascinated with artificial intelligence. In high school she applied for a summer research program at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and wound up working on an autonomous forklift known as Pokey, one of the lab's major projects that year. Robots have a difficult time processing the subtle inflections of human language, especially when a lot of background noise is present. Pokey, designed to operate on construction sites, couldn't tell the difference between spoken commands and the ambient noise that shares the same frequencies as human speech. After teaching herself how to apply the necessary math and computer science to speech processing, Chin-Lee developed an algorithm that filters out the background noise. The program has potential applications beyond just Pokey; she hopes to someday build it into voice-operated wheelchairs, for example. College: This fall, 16-year-old Chin-Lee, who skipped first grade, will begin her freshman year at Harvard University, where she plans to study computer science and machine learning. Javier Fernandez-Han Peter Han JAVIER FERNANDEZ-HAN High School: Homeschool, Conroe, Texas Invention: All-in-one waste, food and energy system While visiting the 2005 World Exposition in Japan, Javier Fernandez-Han and his family came across a mock refugee camp staged by Doctors Without Borders. "I didn't know people lived in those situations, without drinkable water, food and shelter," he says. "I realized I wanted to focus on systems for sustainable living." In 2009, at the age of 15, he began to integrate existing and modified devices such as a water pump and a flush latrine into an all-in-one system for refugee camps and small villages in the developing world. Among other functions, his invention treats sewage, turns harmful gases including methane into fuel for algae, and produces oxygen and algae biomass that can feed livestock. Later that year, he won the Ashoka Lemelson Excellence Award for the device. Soon he began to wonder: If he created this system by himself, what could a whole team of inventors do? He founded two groups, Inventors Without Borders and Innovation Foundry, in which teenagers collaborate on problems such as hunger, lack of access to education, and poor air quality. College: Fernandez-Han hopes to study industrial design at Stanford University. GABRIEL SEE Gabriel See Valerie Au High School: Renaissance School of Art and Reasoning, Sammamish, Wash. Invention: Lego robot for automated DNA assembly At the age of nine, Gabriel See joined his high school's robotics team. By 11, he had mastered every high-school science and math course available in his district and enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Washington. See had worked with several commercial liquid-handling systems—devices that use robotic arms and motorized pipettes to measure, transfer, and control liquid in precise quantities—but knew that the equipment's $10,000–$50,000 price tag made them unaffordable to all but the best-endowed labs. So, at the university's pathology lab, he invented a simple system that uses Lego Mindstorm programmable construction toys. Within a year, he finished the system using firmware from the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Lab and software that he wrote himself. It can transfer as little as five microliters (slightly larger than the tip of a ballpoint pen), the amount demanded by such projects as DNA assembly. The system costs just $750, making it affordable to small universities and start-up companies. The device won the silver medal in MIT's 2009 iGEM competition. College: See still has to learn to drive and to go to prom, but he's already hoping to study computational biology at MIT. Sara Volz Sara VolzRemember McKinney, Texas? Just a week ago the video of yet another police officer brutalizing a Black girl went viral. As we always do, we took to the virtual streets and actual streets to voice our outrage. A video circulated on social media showing hundreds of people from different racial backgrounds marching on the community pool to demand justice. Some marchers held up #BlackLivesMatter signs. They even sang Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” Yes, change is gonna come, so long as people speak truth to power, organize, and agitate. But not so fast … White supremacy has America on lockdown. ARE YOU HUNGRY? Over 40 million Americans don’t have enough to eat and we want to know why. From redlining to the opioid crisis to the flint water crisis, we're exploring why and what is making food insecurity worse in the United States. Listen Now Unwilling to let Fox News be their only defenders, White residents of McKinney publicly thanked the White police officers on the scene for their “service.” They are not alone. Others joined them with their “ALL Lives Matter” signs. Despite their narrative of a post-racial America, this expression—like the celebration of the officer’s “service”—is just anti-black racism at its core. White supremacy teaches that society exists to situate whiteness at the front and center. Of every fuggin’ thing. Whiteness is not just on the marquee but the building itself. White people are so accustomed to always being in focus, always being the point of every conversation. Every idea, situation and narrative must be related to White people. Anything that does not prioritize whiteness compels outrage and backlash. So when they see and hear #BlackLivesMatter, they essentially react by saying, “How dare you NOT focus on us?” [Cue Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds.”] Newsletter Never miss another story. With "This Week In DAME" delivered straight to your inbox on Fridays, your weekend reading is set! Look Becky and Connor, I know it is hard outchere in these streets being White. People are wearing shirts, writing hashtags, and carrying signs anshit that don’t prioritize YOUR lives. Sure, White people are free of any of the dangers, threats or consequences of actually being Black, but I understand it is a struggle to live in a world where you’re not reminded every moment that you matter more than others. This is reverse racism on fleek! Like many Black people, I am fortunate to have evolved White people in my circle—the ones who get it, and are truly supportive allies and sometimes activists. (I call them the descendants of John Brown.) They don’t push back with #AllLivesMatter. They don’t insist upon prioritizing and privileging their voices, views, or experiences over ours. And when we do call out racism, privilege, or White supremacist attitudes, they see the bigger picture, know the larger truths and come correct. Trouble is, knowing this kind of White people reveals the ugly truths of those Robert E. Lee- and Paula Deen-type Whites more starkly, and makes people like me even less tolerant of their foolishness. The undercurrents just beneath the surface of the #AllLivesMatter backlash are that Blacks are still inferior, substandard and subservient to White folks. Metaphorically, we are still enslaved and picking their crops, getting whipped like Lupita in 12 Years A Slave for stealing soap, and they don’t even see the racism and the violence inherent in chanting “Master’s Lives Matter.” The racism behind #AllLivesMatter displays a deep lack of empathy for the fact that, from conception through birth, every stage of life, to the threat of an early/unjust/tragically untimely death, every Black person lives with the threat of being under siege in these United States. It embodies the false belief in King’s Dream; that is, pretending not see race and racism and wishing them away. Claiming “All Lives Matters” erases the consequences of the many ways society enacts racist structural policies that impact our daily realities. For example, since the recession began in 2009, the Black-White wealth gap has widened. The median White household was found to own 13 times as much wealth as the median Black household, according to a Pew Research analysis of Federal Reserve data. Here comes Becky, “All Lives Matter!” Black unemployment is consistently stuck at double the White rate. And educational attainment doesn’t do much to close the gap: According to the 2013 Survey of Consumer Finances, the average Black college graduate accumulates less wealth than the average White high-school dropout. Conner talmbout, “Dude, All Lives Matter!” There are 1.5 million Black men missing or dead from everyday life, according to a recent New York Times report. From the legislature to the halls of the criminal justice system, from America’s police forces to the expansive prison system, it is clear that all lives don’t matter the same. Some lives are invisible. Disposable. Look at Meg over there crying, “Stop being racist! All Lives Matter.” While Minneapolis is considered one of the most progressive and diverse major U.S. cities, Black residents there are almost nine times more likely than Whites to get arrested for low-level offenses, according to a new ACLU report that looks at racial disparities made in arrests by Minneapolis police. Clearly, incarcerated Black lives matter, for the state’s profit margin. Listen to Tanner sipping iced latte on Martha’s Vineyard and defensively proclaiming, “All Lives Matter.” Not counting early deaths from police and other unnatural causes, researchers at UCLA “found that the average life expectancy in the U.S. was 74.79 years for Caucasian men and 67.66 years for African-American men. For women, the average life span was 79.84 years for Caucasians and 74.64 for African Americans. In all states, the ethnic disparity was less for women than men. According to a recent Urban League report, “Blacks experience less than three-fourths the quality of life experienced by White Americans,” due to a lower median income, higher unemployment rate, and greater likelihood to be living in poverty. Where was the #AllLivesMatter crowd when we were debating health care and other social-welfare programs on chopping block from the Republican Party? You were too busy talking about welfare queens, moochers, and parasites. If #AllLivesMatter, how do you explain separate and unequal schools in America? How do you account for the differential expectations and resources in our schools that continue to break down along economic, and thus largely color lines? When it comes to where the “best” teachers go and where investment is directed, it is clear that #BlackEducationalLives ain’t worth a good goddamn because White students deserve AP classes and state-of-the-art everything. If #AllLivesMatter, how do you account for the stark differences in how Whites and Blacks experience the War on Drugs, stop-and-frisk, or school discipline? Racism even drives school suspensions. The Washington Post reports that “African Americans and students with disabilities are suspended at ‘hugely disproportionate rates,’ said leaders of the group, called the Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative.” The #AllLivesMatter refrain is a form of denial, a diversion from gross racial injustices. It shows how many White people are isolated from Black lives and realities. The embrace of #AllLivesMatter reflects a lack of empathy as well and the unwillingness—or inability—to acknowledge the truth of all the daily odds and threats against Black lives. The deep grief and mourning when yet another tragedy dominates the news, is an unacknowledged and undiagnosed sign of White delusion. The struggle and pain of Black life and history are real. The scars, the trauma, the heartbreak are real. Why do some White people have to shine the spotlight to beam their superiority and claim the suffering as their own? Would they do that at a wake or a funeral, interrupt the eulogy to remind everyone that they are ultimately the ones who matter? Another Black kid dies at the hands of police, and you say, “All Lives Matter!” A Black child is brutalized at a pool party, and you insist that “All Lives Matter.” A Black man suffering a stroke in his car is tazed and maced. And still you cry that “All Lives Matter.” We keep burying our dead, protesting brutality, and they want us to say, “You matter, White lady.” You keep locking up our men, and you want our reassurance that, “You matter, White man.” Never mind that every moment of their lives, everything in our culture tells White people how much they matter: how beautiful, intelligent, important, and superior they are and how much people of color suck being alive. White America can’t even acknowledge Black people’s suffering without calling attention to themselves and claiming victimhood. Unwilling to bear the burden of the countless inequities that plague Black life, they still want their IMAGINED suffering to take center stage. Listen, White people aren’t ready to slice ten years off their life expectancy or assume the very real burdens of being Black, but they want to take every opportunity to remind us, and themselves, that their reality always trumps ours. Why can’t White folks let people who are struggling to navigate countless obstacles and threats simply mourn, grieve, rage, and reflect? Why are they so disturbed and threatened when we dare to assert our humanity and the right to just treatment? Given how the one-percent-controlled media like Fox News and conservative talk-radio networks push the lies of “White victimhood,” “reverse racism,” and their beloved “post-racial America,” we see how easy it for the average White person to blame Black people for everything going wrong in their world. So they insist that #AllLivesMatter as unarmed Black men, women and children are brutalized and killed by police, as the attackers and killers escape prosecution, because their very sense of self and humanity are so deeply rooted in White supremacy that they feel compelled to remind Black communities that they will never matter as much as Whites. They need Black people to view themselves and their experiences as disposable and unimportant except for the ways in which they feed and sustain the White narrative. But we know the truth. We understand everything, and will continue to insist that #BlackLivesMatter and push back on all assertions to the contrary. We will keep fighting the notion that our lives can be considered only against the backdrop of White lives. That our realities are valid only in the context of White perspectives. That our humanity is inferior to that of White humanity.Several weeks back, we learned of the harrowing tale of the zero-g sex geckos: blasted into low Earth orbit aboard the Russian Foton-M4 satellite as part of a biological experiment to study reproduction in microgravity, the sex geckos mission was endangered almost from the beginning when Russian space agency Roscosmos lost positive control over the geckos’ spacecraft. Roscosmos was able to receive telemetry, but it couldn't send commands. Without ground control, the Foton-M4 would slowly decay out of orbit and enter the atmosphere uncontrolled. Further Reading Outlook grim for orbiting Russian zero-G sex geckos Fortunately, Roscosmos was able to reestablish its uplink only a few days later, and the experiments continued. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with pioneers who push forward the boundaries of scientific knowledge, all five of the geckos have died Their passing was discovered during recovery operations for the Foton-M4 spacecraft, which successfully de-orbited and landed as planned in southern Russia yesterday afternoon. When the intrepid reptiles’ enclosure was examined, it was found to contain five tiny mummified gecko bodies. Preliminary indications are that the geckos all froze to death. According to a statement (in Russian) from the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems, the geckos could have died at any stage in the flight; it is as yet unclear why, but it’s likely that there was a malfunction in the temperature-control component of the gecko habitat’s life-support equipment. Further investigation is planned to more accurately determine the time and cause of the geckos’ demise. The most important question—whether or not the sex geckos were able to join the Million Mile High club before death—remains unanswered. As explained by the Moscow Times, the Foton-M4 craft wasn’t equipped to transmit live video; the geckos’ mating (or lack of mating) was videotaped for study after the landing. Wired says that there was in fact no zero-g sex for the tiny doomed space travelers. However, even in the face of tragedy, life continues: the geckos’ fellow travelers on the Foton-M4 spacecraft, a habitat full of Drosophila flies, were in fact able to mate in microgravity.When most people think of worlds, they think of big balls of rock or gas orbiting a star. Variations usually tend toward strange atmospheres, odd compositions, or exotic native life. One world might have a crimson sky and a dozen moons; another with a vibrant ring system may be locked in a perpetual ice age. But these are only worlds as nature might make them. Just as mankind has created new, artificial chemical elements, so too is it possible for the human race to eventually create entirely new classes of worlds. Worlds that may stretch around planets or trap the energy output of entire stars. Worlds that may challenge the scale of the universe. These new worlds are immense artifacts collectively known as megastructures. This article is an overview of the many types of megastructures that have been featured in science fiction stories over the years. Megastructures are easily one of the most awe-inducing concepts in speculative fiction, and the musings of various creators have given birth to a startling variety of them. Definition Basically, a megastructure is defined as any single artifact that challenges human preconceptions of size. A modern city may not be considered a megastructure because it is composed of many smaller buildings. The Great Wall of China, however, could be considered one, because it is a single, unified structure. Rationale Megastructures require vast amounts of material, capital, manpower, energy, and logistic planning to construct. Some may take decades, centuries, or even thousands of years to construct. So why bother building one at all? For some, form follows function. Some feats can't be performed by anything except the very large. Space elevators, for example, need to be tens of thousands of kilometers in length in order to propel cargoes into orbit. In order to trap all of the sun's radiative energy, a structure as large as a Dyson sphere is a necessity. The enormous expenditure of building such structures may be mitigated by the valuable services and resources they can provide. Another reason to construct one may be as simple as the need for living space. Interstellar travel may turn out to be impractical because of one circumstance or another, meaning we may be forever trapped within our own star system. Unless draconian measures of control are used, burgeoning growth will eventually outstrip the capacity of terrestrial worlds to support their populations. However, if a civilization were to convert all of the material in the system to the job of supporting life, by creating the vast habitable surface area of, say, a Ringworld or Dyson sphere, the problem could be circumvented. In some cases, as in Niven's Ringworld and Malibu Comics's Godwheel, larger megastructures may be used as enormous life and cultural laboratories. Specimens from many thousands of worlds can be held and studied in detail on the vast surface of the artifact. Sociological and biological experiments can be conducted on a grand scale without endangering the source stock on distant homeworlds. A megastructure can also act as a means of preserving or protecting a culture from disasters or outside influence. In the novels Farthest Star and Wall Around a Star by Frederick Pohl and Jack Williamson, a Dyson sphere is used as an intergalactic lifeboat to transport survivors away from an exploding galaxy. On a smaller scale, space-borne O'Neill Colonies could be used as refuges for cultures that wish to retain their ideological "purity" away from outside contact yet still remain self-sufficient. But perhaps the most significant reason to build a megastructure is to simply prove that one can, to create some lasting and unforgettable monument to the power and ingenuity of its builders. A number of megastructures, such as space elevators, rotovators, and O'Neill colonies, have already been discussed in detail in previous Strange Horizons articles. Links are provided at the end of this article. Arcologies The term "arcology" is a fusion of the words "architecture" and "ecology," first coined by Paolo Soleri in his landmark 1969 book, Arcology: City in the Image of Man. Arcologies have also been incorporated into many science fiction works since, such as the movie Blade Runner and novels like Neuromancer by William Gibson and Oath of Fealty by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Arcologies are envisioned as optimal human urban environments; large, self-enclosed mega-skyscrapers with volumes measured in the cubic kilometers that contain everything a human population could ever need. They would be miniature cities onto themselves, engineered for maximum comfort and efficiency. The structure would not only supply living space but would have its own commercial, industrial, and business districts. A resident would not only live within the structure, but also commute and work and shop all within its enclosed walls. The interior would also be configured with a great many windows, parks, and mirrors to give the illusion of much greater space in individual hallways and chambers. Because space within the structure is used much more efficiently, an arcology would require only about two percent as much land as a modern city of equivalent population. Actual living space per person would be about the same, but the support structure can be built on a much more efficient three-dimensional scale, and the need for road infrastructure (which can consume as much as sixty percent of the space of modern urban sprawls) would be eliminated altogether. Arcologies of many different configurations have been proposed, many able to hold up to half a million residents or more. Though arcologies today are seen primarily as an urban development, they can be built for nearly any environment. Cliffside arcologies, farmland arcologies, and even dam arcologies have all been proposed. Many see the development and perfection of Earth-bound arcologies as a necessary first step for engineering livable colonies in the oceans and in space. Megaships Megaships are an outgrowth of ever-larger ship designs, exemplified by super-carriers like the USS Enterprise and luxury liners like the Queen Elizabeth II, each designed to hold many thousands of passengers and crew. A new class of megaship, built on a scale dwarfing even those vessels, would become the sea-borne equivalent of arcologies. The Freedom Project, the most well-publicized civilian endeavor along those lines, envisions a massive vessel 4,500 feet along its beam, making it nearly a mile long and four times the size of the Queen Mary. It is designed to hold no less than 100,000 people at any one time, including 40,
the 'commercially unreasonable' test will protect against: harm to competition and consumers stemming from abusive market activity." So far the FCC has not said how it defines what is reasonable and what is not. A spokesman for the agency said on a call with reporters that this is why the FCC is asking for public comment on the proposal. The FCC will also ask how this provision should be applied to wireless networks. According to the 2010 Open Internet rules, the rule forbidding unreasonable discrimination of traffic does not apply to wireless networks. "The FCC wants to provide an opportunity for the public to comment before decisions are made," the spokesman said. "The idea is to ask first and answer those specific questions later once we've gathered more information. That's the responsible way to do this." What about 'peering' arrangements? What the proposal will not address are commercial peering arrangements between broadband providers and content providers or any other network operators looking to connect to broadband networks. This is an issue that surfaced recently from Netflix, which has claimed the FCC needs to adopt "strong" Net neutrality to ensure that companies, such as Netflix, can get access to broadband networks without payment. But the truth is that such commercial arrangements between content companies and among network operators has never been considered as part of the Net neutrality issue. And an FCC spokesman acknowledged that this is not an issue addressed in the current Open Internet proposal. But he did not elaborate on whether the FCC would consider opening a different proceeding to look into regulating these commercial deals. Instead, he emphasized that the proposal that the chairman shared with his fellow commissioners Thursday and on which the FCC will vote on in May, does not outline any new concepts for Net neutrality. The proposal essentially rewrites the old rules from 2010 and provides a legal basis for establishing the previously adopted regulation. He also noted that the chairman's goal in getting these rewritten rules on the books is to ensure that everyone is playing by the same rules of the road when it comes to the Internet. "There is a gap right now in regulation" he said. "And the chairman is working quickly and aggressively to close that gap before the end of the year to protect consumers and entrepreneurs."The values behind our Food With Integrity philosophy influence virtually every decision made at Chipotle. We have lots to say about what Food With Integrity stands for, but it is, simply put, a vision for continuous improvement of the ingredients that we source for the foods that we prepare and serve to our customers. The vision is driven by the fact that the food landscape never stops changing, and there's always room to be better. This mentality, and the standards that have evolved as a result, are responsible for an initiative that brought Chipotle a lot of attention--both positive and negative--over the last year: our decision to voluntarily disclose the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food and our commitment to remove the GMOs from our food to the fullest extent possible. We knew at the time that showing the world which of our menu items is likely to contain GMOs and working to eliminate these same ingredients would present some hurdles. But in the end, these were easy decisions to make, because they are consistent with two values that form the foundation of Food With Integrity. First, we have always been committed to learning as much as possible about where our food comes from, and being as transparent as possible. Disclosing the GMOs on our menu followed naturally from this. Second, we have always sought to ensure that our food not only tastes delicious, but that it is also nourishing. We believe that everyone, including Chipotle customers, should have access to food made from ingredients produced in a way that preserves farms and rural communities for future generations. And we know that without healthy soil, you can't produce healthy food. Given the possibility that widespread cultivation and consumption of genetically modified ingredients could compromise these things, we feel a responsibility to our customers to seek out non-GMO alternatives whenever possible. This decision has been portrayed as controversial. Critics claim that disclosure is expensive and that we can't feed the world without GMOs. We're always willing to consider the possibility that we don't have all the answers, but try as we might, it's been tough for us to come up with a rock-solid argument against Chipotle's position on GMOs. Multiple national surveys have been conducted about GMO labeling and the consumer's right to know what's in our food. The results have been fairly consistent: more than 90% of Americans are in favor of knowing when they are eating foods made with genetically modified ingredients. The companies that sell GMO seeds claim that growing their genetically modified crops is good for farmers. Yet it's those same companies--not the farmers--that benefit the most from GMO-based farming. Genetically modifying species like corn or soybeans allows the companies to patent seeds, which gives them greater control over what farmers are able to grow--and as a result, greater control over the food supply. And while the companies that sell GMO seeds to farmers insist that their products are safe for people, animals, and the environment, there is an active debate among scientists about whether or not there is sufficient data to support that conclusion. Since the government continues to rely on the industry to determine whether or not their products are safe, there is little objective research available on the topic. The argument that GMOs are an improvement over natural seeds because they were produced by scientists is a convenient one. After all, most reasonable people agree that science has produced some astounding advances. But genetically modified foods hold out promises that are at best untested, and at worst unrealistic. Traditional edible plants and animals have evolved alongside humans over thousands of years to provide the people who eat them with essential nourishment. In exchange for this, we have an obligation to those plants and animals to keep caring for them responsibly.1973 book by Flora Rheta Schreiber Sybil is a 1973 book by Flora Rheta Schreiber about the treatment of Sybil Dorsett (a pseudonym for Shirley Ardell Mason) for dissociative identity disorder (then referred to as multiple personality disorder) by her psychoanalyst, Cornelia B. Wilbur. The book was made into two television movies of the same name, once in 1976 and again in 2007. There has also been books published after the fact, challenging the facts of Sybil's therapy sessions. A few examples of these are SYBIL in her own words, Sybil Exposed, and After Sybil. Summary [ edit ] Mason is given the pseudonym "Sybil" by her therapist to protect her privacy. Originally in treatment for social anxiety and memory loss, after extended therapy involving amobarbital and hypnosis interviews, Sybil manifests sixteen personalities. Wilbur encouraged Sybil's various selves to communicate and reveal information about her life. Wilbur writes that Sybil's multiple personality disorder was a result of the severe physical and sexual abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her mother, Hattie. Described personalities [ edit ] The book begins with a list of Sybil's "alters", together with the year in which each appeared to have dissociated from the central personality. The names of these selves were also changed to ensure privacy. Sybil Isabel Dorsett (1923), the main personality Victoria Antoinette Scharleau (1926), nicknamed Vicky, self-assured and sophisticated young French girl Peggy Lou Baldwin (1926), assertive, enthusiastic, and often angry Peggy Ann Baldwin (1926), a counterpart of Peggy Lou but more fearful than angry Mary Lucinda Saunders Dorsett (1933), a thoughtful, contemplative, and maternal homebody Marcia Lynn Dorsett (1927), an extremely emotional writer and painter Vanessa Gail Dorsett (1935), intensely dramatic, fun loving, and a talented musician. Mike Dorsett (1928), one of Sybil's two male selves, a builder and a carpenter Sid Dorsett (1928), the second of Sybil's two male selves, a carpenter and a general handyman. Sid took his name from Sybil's initials ( S ybil I sabelle D orsett), meaning that Mason's personality would have been named Sam ( S hirley A rdell M ason) ybil sabelle orsett), meaning that Mason's personality would have been named Sam ( hirley rdell ason) Nancy Lou Ann Baldwin (date undetermined), interested in politics as fulfillment of Biblical prophecy and intensely afraid of Roman Catholics Sybil Ann Dorsett (1928), listless to the point of neurasthenia Ruthie Dorsett (1890), a baby and one of the less developed selves Clara Dorsett (date undetermined), intensely religious and highly critical of Sybil Helen Dorsett (1929), intensely afraid but determined to achieve fulfillment Marjorie Dorsett (1928), serene, vivacious, and quick to laugh The Blonde (1946), a nameless perpetual teenager with an optimistic outlook The book's narrative describes Sybil's selves gradually becoming co-conscious, able to communicate and share responsibilities, and having musical compositions and art published under their various names. Wilbur attempts to integrate Sybil's various selves, first convincing them via hypnosis that they are all the same age, then encouraging them to merge. At the book's end, a new, optimistic self called "The Blonde" emerges, preceding Sybil's final integration into a single, whole individual with full knowledge of her past and present life. Controversy [ edit ] The book had an initial print run of 400,000.[1] The book is believed by Mark Pendergrast and Joan Acocella to have established the template for the later upsurge in the diagnoses of dissociative identity disorders.[2][3] Audiotapes of recorded conversations between Schreiber and Wilbur were examined by Herbert Spiegel and later by John Jay College of Criminal Justice academic Robert W. Rieber. Both professionals concluded that Wilbur suggested multiple personalities to her client, whom they saw as a simple "hysteric". Their "smoking gun" proof of this claim is a session tape in which Wilbur is heard describing to Mason the personalities she has already seen Mason exhibit. Spiegel and Rieber also claim that Wilbur and Schreiber fabricated most of the book, which is not a psychiatric case history as would appear in a peer-reviewed journal but a fictionalized narrative. Many details of the real case were changed or removed to protect Mason's privacy.[4] Critics of Spiegel and Rieber's "revelation" ask why they waited until after Schreiber, Wilbur, and Mason were all dead before revealing the tapes, which Spiegel supposedly had in his possession all along.[5] A review of Rieber's book Bifurcation of the Self by Mark Lawrence states that Rieber repeatedly distorted the evidence and left out a number of important facts about Mason's case, in order to advance his case against the validity of the diagnosis.[6] Patrick Suraci, author of SYBIL in her own words, was personally acquainted with Shirley Mason and is still in touch with members of her family, criticizes Spiegel for what he terms unethical behavior in withholding the tapes. Spiegel also claimed to have made films of himself hypnotizing Mason, supposedly proving that Wilbur had "implanted false memories" in her mind, but when Suraci asked to see the films, Spiegel said he had lost them.[7][8] The case remains controversial, as Wilbur's psychiatric files were apparently destroyed upon her death,[9] and Mason is also deceased. In 2011, journalist Debbie Nathan published a detailed exposé, Sybil Exposed, in which she claims that Wilbur, Mason and Schreiber knowingly perpetrated a fraud in order to create a "Sybil, Inc." business, selling T-shirts, stickers, board games and other paraphernalia. Much of Nathan's book repeats material already covered in the original Sybil, including a 1958 letter in which Mason spoke about making up the "alters" for attention and excitement. In Sybil, this letter was interpreted as an attempt to put difficult, painful therapy on hold.[10] Nathan claims Schreiber became aware of Mason and her alleged past, writing Sybil based on stories coaxed from her during therapy, and that this case created an "industry" of repressed memory.[11][12] In 2013, artist-journalist Nancy Preston published After Sybil, a personal memoir which includes facsimile reproductions of Mason's personal letters to her, along with color plates of her paintings. According to Preston, Mason taught art at Ohio's Rio Grande College, where Preston was a student. The two became close friends and corresponded until a few days before Mason's death. In the letters, Mason confirmed that she had had multiple personalities.[9] Film adaptations [ edit ] There have been two film adaptations, both made for television: See also [ edit ]Showcasing 65 of the Best Website Designs of 2018 Throughout the year I’ve showcased my favorite website designs findings in the Line25 Sites of the Week roundups. This special near-end of year post showcases the best of the best, pulling together the best website designs of 2018 into one showcase of super cool sites. Beagle website is a great example of a responsive web design and has an elegant and interactive website layout. This website aims to raise awareness about 30 endangered species in an interactive and creative way. This digital agency is formed of a very experienced multidisciplinary team and has quite a classy website. This website tells the story of each of Blacknegative’s fascinating projects. They use a creative slideshow layout for their portfolio. This is yet another website that focuses on raising awareness, this time on slavery. It uses an interactive design that makes readers wonder about the things they have and do. Take a look at Unpigeon’s website. They use powerful and interactive visuals to help people discover new ambitions. This website uses a centered vertical slideshow before laying out any other content. This is also a business card website for Jordan Sowers. Victoria Spicer’s website uses powerful images in a very creative way to present content to their readers. This is a music portfolio presented in a very creative way through their web design layout. This website has a very friendly and dynamic interface and focuses on presenting their for-sale properties. This is yet another interactive website example that I believe is amongst the best of this year. Check it out to find out whether we think the same about Gout. This is the presentation website of a veterinary products developer and distributor with quite an awesome website. This website could serve as inspiration for your next project thanks to its innovative idea of web design layout. This horizontal website talks about space exploration using a dark background and a linear way of presenting content. Tim Roussilhe’s website is a modern and classy example of a creative developer’s portfolio. It has a simple, minimalist design. The Feebles has a colorful and playful website layout. They also have a lot of experience in creative businesses. Jaune de Chrome is yet another example of a minimalist and sensitive web design that can serve as good inspiration for your next project. They offer good solutions for your problems and they have an amazing interface. They use typography and animations to present content. This website presents a portfolio or works done by Flavien Guilbaud in a creative way through a vertical slideshow. This website belongs to a freelance digital designer called Chris Biron and his web design layout keeps it simple and nice. This is Daoust Lestage architecture portfolio. His works are presented as a slideshow that also uses typography. This is quite an interesting example of an interactive website. Narrow Design’s website layout uses geometry as its main creative motif. Agence-belle-epoque is yet another example of a sensitive web design layout that focuses on images and typography to present content. This shop’s website uses images, typography, and colors to present its content in a creative and original way. Their website lets you discover step by step everything there is to know about Creative Wallonia. Kvell focuses on creating functional and easily attainable design for everyone and their website surely expresses creativity and design experience. They sell elegant home decor products and their website expresses their affinity for sensitive design. Basic is a strategic agency for brands and has a really cool interface for their website. Their online presence is based on a simple yet creative web design layout. They use a pink palette of colors for their web design layout that gives their site a sensitive and feminine touch. This website belongs to a graphic designer from Paris and he has a well-thought and designed page that proves his vast experience in this line of work. P22 is made of a team of people interested in technology and design and their website uses a lot of typography and animations. They’re a creative agency and their website uses bold and artistic horizontal bands on which they placed content. Wokine is a digital agency whose website has a very friendly interface that uses vertical scrolling, a large range of colors and typography to present content. They focus on growing bright minds whether they’re interested in design or web development. If you’re interested you should definitely have a look on their website. Merci-Michel is formed of a team of digital experts and their website uses a lot of animation clips, illustrations and typography to present content in a creative and innovative way. Norgram’s website focuses on presenting a portfolio of works done by their design studio. If you’re out of ideas for your next trip you should take a look on this amazing website that will surely help you find the best location for your vacation. They use bright colors, animations, and typography to present themselves as a digital agency that’s full of experience. This is yet another good example of a creative use of typography and animations and their website might even serve as a good source of inspiration for your next project. They have a colorful and really friendly interface that makes you rethink the way you’ve been designing up until now. Paul Valentine’s website has an elegant web design layout that best suits their beautiful products. This is a selection of 1o artistic albums chosen by 16 artists all brought up into a cool website with a minimalist design that only focuses on presenting the project gallery. This is yet another good example of an interactive website that uses vertical scrolling and animations to present content to their readers. This horizontal website presents a gallery of images in a minimalist and elegant way. They also use a calming background music. Dribbble comprises all the content related to creativity and technology in one site. This website uses a gray millimetric paper for its background and a pink palette for content, giving it a really friendly and familiar look. They focus on creating apps and their website uses a huge typography on a horizontal band to point out important content. This is another example I find interesting. Teixido uses a light grey grungy texture to give the website a more familiar look and a tactile experience for the readers. They also have a light gray texture that makes their colorful logo stand out. They have an elegant yet friendly interface. They use a dark background that gives their website a more formal interface. They also use soundtracks, images and typography to layout content. Did you know there were so many ways to design a creative ‘H’. If not you should definitely check out this cool website and who knows, maybe it will be your net project’s inspiration. Their aim is to manage all your business and travel expenses and they have a cool and interactive website that uses bold colors, animations, and typography. This website presents a music experiment in a creative way. It uses background sounds, images and typography to create a really calming environment. This is yet another example of a website that thrives on creativity. They’re an experienced multidisciplinary team and their website proves it. Void has a really cool and interactive website that you don’t want to miss. Check it out to see exactly how creative a site could get. This friendly interfaced website focuses on presenting a youth teaching program in China through an animated colorful background and typography. They’re a full-service design studio and their website has a dynamic interface thanks to colors, animations and a good choice in typography. This website uses an animated horizontal band full of Chinese typography and grid-type gallery to present content. This website uses bold colors and animations to create a friendly and interactive interface for themselves. Their page uses an intro with short clips of some of their projects while the rest of the website uses a minimalist design and illustrations to present their portfolio. Pentagram is a design company whose website presents a lot of content through images, texts and so much more. They’re loyalty experts and they have a colorful and dynamic interface for their website. Check out their website and find out more or simply get inspired by their web design layout. This website focuses on raising awareness about rain forests which are believed to exist to help man and nature take care of each other. They have an interactive site that uses powerful images for its background.Pressure is mounting for Australian governments to raise the legal drinking age to 21 to protect the health of young people whose brains are still vulnerable to the toxicity of alcohol at 18, leading health experts say. Four professors of mental health and public health have joined a growing list of influential Australians to call for a new legal drinking age that would bring Australia in line with the US where people cannot buy alcohol until they are 21. They say raising the age limit would protect young people from the brain damage that can be caused by too much alcohol and the harms associated with being drunk, such as car accidents and violence. Writing in the Medical Journal of Australia, John Toumbourou of Deakin University’s School of Psychology, Ian Hickie of the Brain & Mind Research Institute, Kypros Kypri of the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle, and Sandra Jones from the Centre for Health Initiatives at the University of Wollongong, said there was increasing evidence that the accessibility of alcohol from the age of 18 was causing great harm to young people. For example, they said a survey of 260 people aged 17 to 19 during end-of-school celebrations on the Queensland Gold Coast in 2010 showed 75 per cent played drinking games, 64 per cent consumed more than 10 drinks per night, and one in five had unprotected sex, in some cases with multiple partners.Senator John McCain (R-AZ) speaks to reporters as he arrives for a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts The number of people who could have provided BuzzFeed News with a copy of the infamous Trump dossier is vanishingly small. Only a few people had access to the full document, which consists of 17 memos dated between June 20, 2016 and Dec. 13. One person who was provided a copy of the salacious document, written by former British spy Christopher Steele, is Arizona Sen. John McCain. But McCain, who has already acknowledged providing an early version of the dossier to former FBI Director James Comey, denied this week that he also gave a version to BuzzFeed, which published it on Jan. 10. “I gave it to no one except for the director of the FBI. I don’t know why you’re digging this up now,” McCain said during a testy exchange with The Daily Caller on Wednesday. McCain was asked whether he was BuzzFeed’s source after the Republican’s office declined to answer direct questions on the matter. Only a few people are known to have had possession of the full 35-page document before BuzzFeed obtained its copy. Former British spy Christopher Steele. (Youtube screen grab) In addition to McCain and Steele, opposition research firm Fusion GPS had the dossier, as did David J. Kramer, a former State Department official and an associate of McCain’s. Earlier this week, BuzzFeed reporter Ken Bensinger disclosed in federal court — in response to a lawsuit related to the dossier — that he obtained a copy of the report in December. Bensinger said that his source allowed him to take photographs of the dossier. (RELATED: New Court Filing Re-Opens Question Of Who Gave Dossier To BuzzFeed) Earlier this week, BuzzFeed reporter Ken Bensinger disclosed in federal court — in response to a lawsuit related to the dossier — that he obtained a copy of the report in December. Bensinger said that his source allowed him to take photographs of the dossier. The identity of BuzzFeed’s source is significant for two reasons. It is a central question in a lawsuit filed against the media outlet by Aleksej Gubarev, a Russian tech executive named in the dossier. Gubarev is identified by name in Steele’s Dec. 13 memo. In it, Steele alleges that Gubarev was recruited under duress by the FSB, Russia’s intelligence agency, and that he used his companies to infiltrate the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee. Gubarev’s attorneys have said they want to find out if BuzzFeed’s source provided any warnings or qualifications about the allegations made in the dossier. If so, the lawyers are likely to argue that BuzzFeed was negligent and careless in publishing the document. BuzzFeed, which has apologized to Gubarev, has defended its decision to publish the dossier, noting that its article unveiling the Steele memos explicitly stated that the memos had not been corroborated. The website also said that the dossier was newsworthy because Comey had briefed President Trump on its allegations during a meeting on Jan. 6. On top of its importance to the lawsuit, the identity of BuzzFeed’s source is of widespread interest because of the possibility that a government official disseminated the uncorroborated document to the media, possibly as a hit job on Trump. It was widely believed until recently that Fusion GPS itself gave the dossier to BuzzFeed. The opposition research firm, founded by former Wall Street Journal reporters, has close relationships with numerous Beltway journalists. Prior to the election, Fusion arranged for Steele to brief several reporters on his findings. (RELATED: Details Emerge About Trump Dossier Firm’s Media Outreach Campaign) It was widely believed until recently that Fusion GPS itself gave the dossier to BuzzFeed. The opposition research firm, founded by former Wall Street Journal reporters, has close relationships with numerous Beltway journalists. Prior to the election, Fusion arranged for Steele to brief several reporters on his findings. In a surprise twist, Fusion recently denied in a court proceeding that it gave BuzzFeed the final version of the document. “Buzzfeed went to [Fusion GPS] and tried to get the dossier from them and they refused to give it to Buzzfeed,” Evan Fray-Witzer, a lawyer for Gubarev, said in a deposition last month in federal court in Florida, where BuzzFeed is being sued. Steele has also denied that he was BuzzFeed’s source. In court filings in London, where he is being sued by Gubarev, he said he did not give the dossier to any news outlets. McCain and Kramer, a former official at the McCain Institute, were first told about the dossier in November, during a conversation with Sir Andrew Wood, a former British spy and associate of Steele’s. McCain then dispatched Kramer to meet with Steele in London on Nov. 28. Steele, who operates Orbis Business Intelligence in London, has revealed in the London lawsuit that he allowed Kramer to view the dossier but did not provide him a copy. He said that an “arrangement” was later made for Fusion to provide a copy of the dossier to McCain through Kramer. David J. Kramer (Youtube screen grab) McCain then provided a copy of the document to Comey during a Dec. 9 meeting. Four days after McCain met with Comey, Steele would produce the final memo of the dossier, the one that was provided to BuzzFeed and which included the allegations against Gubarev. Steele sent the final memo to Fusion with instructions to pass a hard-copy to Kramer and McCain. It is unclear how the dossier was disseminated after that. Fusion has not said whether it disseminated the final version of the dossier to anyone outside the company. The denials by Steele, Fusion and McCain that they were BuzzFeed’s sources leaves just a few posibilities, including Kramer. Kramer has not responded to multiple requests for comment about his handling of the dossier or whether he gave it to any news outlets. He has not talked on the record to any reporters since being identified in the controversy.Update on Bloodied Trump Supporter Jovi Val: Pro-Trump Plastic Surgeon Volunteers to Fix His Face Trump supporter and Brooklyn, NY native, Jovi Val was assaulted in a Brooklyn Bar in early July for wearing a MAGA hat. Jovi Val was hit in the face and the back of the head with beer bottles leaving him with a broken nose and a gash on his face which needed 15 stitches. Jovi Val of ‘The Modern Patriots’ went to a bar in NYC after Milo Yiannopoulos’ book party ‘Dangerous’. Val says he was dancing for a few hours on the dance floor when his red MAGA hat fell off. As he went to pick up his hat, a woman identified as Emma Rodriguez was stepping on his hat and told Val she hates the hat and hates him. Val pushed her away to retrieve his hat when he got into a fight with Rodriguez’s boyfriend, Leonardo Heinert. Val was then struck in the face with a beer bottle by Heinert. Rodriguez also struck Val in the back of the head with a beer bottle. Val, Rodriguez and Heinert were all arrested and subsequently released. Val was taken to a hospital where he received 15 stitches to close up the huge gash on his face. Here is the latest… A pro-Trump plastic surgeon volunteered to fix Jovi’s face for free. The New York Post reported: When a Brooklyn man was attacked with a broken bottle in a Manhattan bar over his “Make America Great Again” hat, fellow Trump supporter Dr. Joseph Pober had his back — and his face. The Park Avenue plastic surgeon was so troubled by the July 7 beatdown that he fixed Jovanni Valle’s face for free. “This is something that had to be done. When I heard about this I was shocked,” Pober told The Post. “It’s freedom of speech that is being attacked and assaulted. … I can’t imagine that anyone in America would viciously assault you, break your nose and slice your face with a broken beer bottle.” Valle, an uninsured 26-year-old right-wing activist also known as “Jovi Val,” was bashed over the head with the bottle during a 3:30 a.m. brawl at the Bulgarian bar Mehanata on the Lower East Side. Read the rest here.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Image manipulation expert Ric Bradley airbrushes Zoe Kleinman Whether it's Obama on the beach or the impossibly flawless skin of this month's glossy cover girl, any picture can now be digitally altered to tell an entirely different story. In the age of the airbrush, can we ever really believe our eyes? One man who can is Professor Hany Farid, a computer scientist and digital forensics expert who is a professional spotter of faked images - although he does not like the term. Technology and culture This is the first of a five part series exploring the intersection between technology and culture "Fakery is a loaded word - I prefer alteration or manipulation," he said. "It's not always intended to be malicious." His website features a large gallery of published images that aren't quite what they seem. The oldest has been around for an astonishing 150 years - a portrait of Abraham Lincoln dated 1860 that is in fact Mr Lincoln's head on the body of another. "It has happened throughout history," said Prof Farid. "The compositing of two people together is common - we see this over and over." Light and shade A magazine cover showing Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the beach together was actually a composite of two individual shots taken almost six months apart, he said. "A lot of people think it's easy to spot because they often see bad fakes. But of course if you only see the bad ones you think it's easy," said Professor Farid. How to spot common alterations Cloning: Part of image subtly duplicated, eg to make smoke cloud look bigger - a computer can analyse pixel colours in different areas and compare them for similarity Re-touching: To sharpen blurred or underlit detail - proportions of basic colours in sequences of pixels are often not balanced after a re-touch. Lighting: By analysing all shadows in an image, scientists can tell whether a shot had a single light source. His team uses scientific equations and mathematical algorithms to analyse photos looking for statistical anomalies in their composition. Very subtle differences in shadowing are often a give-away. Identifying exactly where the shadows fall on an image reveals where the light source must have been to have created that shade. If there is more than one source, then the image is likely composed of more than one picture. "When you take a picture of people in two different settings the lighting is always different," he said. "Your brain isn't sensitive to noticing it unless they are dramatically different - we are developing forensic tools to identify it." Matter of fact It may not be the end of the world that two movie stars were not really sunning themselves at the same time. But the composition trick takes a more sinister turn when it is used to dramatise or even alter the recording of serious or sensitive events. Image caption Spot the difference - Zoe Kleinman gets photoshopped. In 2003, while actress Kate Winslet was busy hitting the headlines for complaining that she had been overly airbrushed after a magazine cover shoot, a bigger scandal was brewing. That same year photographer Brian Walski was sacked from the LA Times after he admitted to compositing two photographs of conflict in Basra. The two images both showed a soldier directing civilians but the second featured a man carrying a child in the background. They were composited so that the soldier appeared to be holding his hand out to stop the man. Afterwards Mr Walski said he had not considered the consequences of his actions at the time. "When I put the pictures together, I knew what I was doing. It looked good. It looked better than what I had, and I said 'wow'," he told photo website PDN online soon afterwards. It's like counterfeit currency - you can't stop it but you can make it more difficult Hany Farid Fast forward to 2010 and The Economist ran a front cover picture of US President Barack Obama looking alone and thoughtful with an oil rig in the background and the headline "Obama vs BP" - in fact he was on a beach talking to two other people who had been airbrushed out. Deputy editor Emma Duncan said the changes were made because she "wanted the reader to focus on Obama". "For news organisations it's not a good idea," said Professor Farid. "It's like changing a quote to make it more aesthetically pleasing." However he added that it is not common practice in news (celebrity and fashion journalism aside) - and many news photo agencies have strict policies about how their images can be used. "In the mainstream news it's relatively small - they are serious about photo-journalism," said Prof Farid. Mixed reception It's not just news editors who frown on doctored images - a manipulated picture is not admissible in court as legal evidence. But Professor Farid thinks that the judges may be missing a trick. Tools of the trade Software such as Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) are available free online, but the best known brand is Photoshop Now in its 20th year, the Adobe tool has over 5m registered users worldwide Adobe says Patch Match is Photoshop's most popular feature. If an editor removes part of an image Patch Match fills the gap by pulling in content from other bits of the picture and duplicating it A new device in very early stages at the Adobe research labs is a camera with a matrix of lenses that can take multiple perspectives of the same scene. These could then be synced together to create an image that is almost panoramic in its detail A composite image showing lots of angles of a crime scene might show up evidence that one might miss by looking at a series of separate pictures, for example. "In a court of law you cannot introduce a manipulated photo - that is altering evidence," he said. "I would like to advocate that society starts thinking about the introduction of digital evidence in a court of law. Every year the law gets further behind the technology." However with the media already saturated with manipulated pictures, many of which can only be identified with the help of complex mathematics, the law is erring on the side of caution for now. Even Professor Farid admits that as technology advances, the fakes are getting harder to spot, but his methods are also evolving to keep up with the manipulators. "The ability to tell real from fake is increasingly hard," he said. "It's like counterfeit currency - you can't stop it but you can make it more difficult."In the solar panel sector, “If one-third of them survive, that’s good, and two-thirds of them die, but we don’t know how that happens,” said Li Junfeng, a longtime director general for energy and climate policy at the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency. Mr. Li said in an interview that he wanted banks to cut off loans to all but the strongest solar panel companies and let the rest go bankrupt. But banks — which were encouraged by Beijing to make the loans — are not eager to acknowledge that the loans are bad and take large write-offs, preferring to lend more money to allow the repayment of previous loans. Many local and provincial governments also are determined to keep their hometown favorites afloat to avoid job losses and to avoid making payments on loan guarantees, he said. Mr. Li’s worries appear to be broadly shared in Beijing. “For the leading companies in the sector, if they’re not careful, the whole sector will disappear,” said Chen Huiqing, the deputy director for solar products at the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products. The Chinese government also wants to see the country’s more than 20 wind turbine manufacturers, many of which are losing money, consolidate to five or six. “Wind does not need so many manufacturers,” said Mr. Li, who in addition to drafting renewable energy policies is the president of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association. Chinese solar company executives blame their difficulties partly on the United States’s decisions last spring to impose antidumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on solar panel imports, and on the European Union’s recent decision to start its own antidumping investigation of imports from China. “It is not a Chinese industry problem, it is a global solar industry problem,” said Rory Macpherson, a spokesman for Suntech Power, one of the largest Chinese solar panel manufacturers. “It is primarily the result of an imbalance between supply and demand, and the U.S. and E.U. trade investigations.” Mr. Li said the solar industry’s problems were the result of overcapacity in China, and not the fault of trade restrictions. Photo Yet he insisted that if the Chinese government could turn back the clock and revisit past renewable energy decisions, it would not do anything differently. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The problem lies in the eagerness of Chinese businesses to rush into any new industry that looks attractive and swamp it with investments, he said. Chinese companies and their bankers are then far more reluctant than Western companies to admit defeat for investments that prove unprofitable. Mr. Li added that banking
name ( name ), data ( data ){} }; Each Message object read contains string data, which in this case is just converted back to an integer. The Accumulator treats a negative number as a signal to stop, and return the accumulated sum to JavaScript via StreamingWorker ’s writeToNode function - which was introduced in the first post. At the bottom of accumulator.cpp we must also include two functions to setup the addon properly when required from JavaScript. StreamingWorker * create_worker ( Callback * data, Callback * complete, Callback * error_callback, v8 :: Local < v8 :: Object > & options ) { return new Accumulate ( data, complete, error_callback, options ); } NODE_MODULE ( accumulate, StreamWorkerWrapper :: Init ) This is essentially boilerplate code to allow the streaming-worker module to package Accumulator into a proper Node.js Addon. If you are interesting in seeing how it’s all done, check out the full source code, and my book. A simple npm install will build the addon. Back to JavaScript Now let’s take a closer look at the JavaScript program shown earlier. Notice the first thing that is required is the streaming-worker module, this module wraps C++ addons created with the streaming-worker-sdk to provide event emitter and streaming interfaces. We instantiate the addon indirectly, by calling the worker factory function with the supplied path to the addon executable. "use strict" ; const worker = require ( "streaming-worker" ); const path = require ( "path" ); // we will build this... var addon_path = path. join ( __dirname, "build/Release/accumulate" ); const acc = worker ( addon_path ); acc. to. emit ( "value", 3 ); acc. to. emit ( "value", 16 ); acc. to. emit ( "value", 42 ); acc. to. emit ( "value", - 1 ); acc. from. on ('sum', function ( value ){ console. log ( "Accumulated Sum: " + value ); }); Once instantiated, the addon is adorned with a to event emitter interface, we can emit messages to the addon - in this case a “value” event with an associated integer. The addon will read this off it’s queue to process the data. Once we emit -1, the Accumulator addon was written to calculate the sum, and emit the answer back. We capture that by registering a handler on the sum event when fired by the associated from emitter connecting the C++ to JavaScript. When run, you’ll get the expected answer of 61. Streaming input to C++ While the streaming-worker automatically creates event emitters, it does not create a streaming interface unless told to do so. Each addon is likely to want to be notified that the stream has closed differently (for example, the accumulator detects -1 as a sentinel but other addons could use a ‘close’ message, or a different sentinel value). To allow for this flexibility, streaming-worker accepts a parameterized callback into a stream function which creates the input stream. When the input stream is closed, the callback is invoked - which in this case will just send the -1 sentinel to the accumulator. "use strict" ; const worker = require ( "streaming-worker" ); const path = require ( "path" ); const streamify = require ('stream-array' ); var addon_path = path. join ( __dirname, "build/Release/accumulate" ); const acc = worker ( addon_path ); const input = acc. to. stream ( "value", function () { acc. to. emit ( 'value', - 1 ); }); streamify ([ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ]). pipe ( input ); acc. from. on ('sum', function ( value ){ console. log ( "Accumulated Sum: " + value ); }); Conclusion This post was a followup to my initial post using streaming-worker to send events and stream data from C++ into JavaScript. While this is a really simple example, hopefully this post can help you get started using streaming-worker for sending data into your C++ addons. The full source code for all this is at https://github.com/freezer333/streaming-worker. You’ll also find a few other examples that demonstrate other features. The setup is pretty general - you can use this to create addons that output lots of different types of data. There’s a ton of V8/NAN work going on behind the scenes to make streaming-worker-sdk work, which includes a lot of interesting work with NAN’s asynchronous addon patterns and ObjectWrap. If you want to learn how it all works, have a look at the contents of my ebook - C++ and Node.js Integration, which can be purchased here. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. DisqusLocations: Orange County beaches. Subject: Orange County Beaches (duh) I’ve been trying this thing called “photography” with some regularity since about 2007ish. While our relatively nice Orange County weather cuts down on the number of interesting sunsets we have (no clouds), an evening spent at the beach is never wasted in my book. And so, over the last five years I’ve taken hundreds of photos at OC beaches. Since we’re about to leave our preteen years in a few days for the grown up two-thousand-teens, I thought I’d put together a collection of some old and new coastal shots from what I hope was my adolescent photographic period. Maybe the next five years will bring some good stuff for a change. If you’re a regular visitor, you’ll recognize a lot of these. Either way, thanks for visiting! I know the colors in this image look unbelievable, but they’re real. I actually had to tone down the pink a little to get the blue sky to come back a bit. I shot this at the Bolsa Chica wetlands with a 500mm lens. That’s Long Beach Harbor in the distance. Self-portrait. Note to self: take off headphones next time. This is my cousin and cousin-in-law and their “family.” This was taken above Newport Beach as part of a Christmas card set. Another self-portrait, and a great example of what a shot looks like when you forget to rotate your graduated ND filter. This next shot is the result of a 4-minute exposure. I don’t do many exposures that long because of our sparse cloud cover, but am always happy when I have the opportunity. For my last shot, an image taken at Victoria Beach. Thanks for coming by!As the end of 2014 quickly approaches, we are left to reflect on how far the elearning industry has advanced in the past year. Just like the year before, new advancements in technology have opened up new doors with online learning initiatives. MOOCs are still here (no surprise), Tin Can API is gaining in adoption, and new platforms (such as WordPress) are being leveraged for online course creation. The industry certainly is carrying momentum – so what does it have in store for next year? Below are a few of my predictions on what we can expect. MOOCs Forced to Grow Up For the past few years there has been considerable excitement about MOOCs, with Coursera clearly being one of the most recognizable. Investors are doubling-down on MOOCs as well, pumping more money into them (Coursera alone has raised $85 million in four rounds). Funny thing is, we are yet to really understand how these investors will get their return. And that’s what leads to my prediction in 2015. Next year, MOOCs will be forced to evolve – perhaps more towards the end of the year. Investors are going to want to have a better idea of how to recoup their investment, and part of that includes monetizing the service in some capacity. Looking past the money component, I can see the MOOC user base demanding more from the platform. Currently MOOC completion rates are pretty dismal, and in many cases it includes nothing more than a poorly monitored forum with a few videos. Truly interactive course experiences are a necessity moving forward. You need to look no further than what the folks at Codecademy are doing. Mobile Learning Spike Begins Mobile learning has been around in the mainstream for a few years now, but to date it really hasn’t experienced its spike. I believe that in 2015 we will start to see rise of this likely monumental peak. There are a few reasons, but mainly the advancements in the technology (think smartphones and tablets), as well as the continued adoption of Tin Can API. More people are turning to mobile devices to accomplish things that they once opened a computer to do. It only makes sense that people will be engage in learning activities using these same devices. This isn’t to say that traditional elearning won’t have its place. It certainly will. There will just be more of an emphasis on cross-platform compatibility so that courses can be accessed no matter what device is used. Major Universities Adopt Online Degree Programs If you live in the United States, you are probably quite familiar with the online degree programs that are available. It seems like every other commercial on TV is in reference to earning a degree online. This year in particular I have noticed that there is an even larger variety, way more than just ITT Tech and University of Phoenix. That said, these new entrants aren’t what I would call the most popular universities. Some are pretty obscure. I think the bigger universities are playing the waiting game to see how these small players make out (spoiler alert: they will do well). In 2015, I think it is reasonable to expect bigger names to begin advertising their online degree programs. Funny enough, this may somehow contribute to my first prediction regarding MOOCs. Perhaps some way weaving together some form of kickback to the MOOC platform for referring students to their programs. Admittedly these are just three areas of the elearning industry. There are many different niches to keep an eye on, including the rapid elearning development market (I expect Captivate to come out with a big announcement next year) as well as the learning management space (more and more LMS services appear every day). Whatever may happen, what has become abundantly clear is that the elearning industry is poised to continue its rise.Approximately 6 percent of the U.S. population hunts. To a lifelong hunter who’s worked hard to pass the tradition on to my children, that statistic is frightening. It should be frightening to you as well. We like to think of hunting as a God-given right but, in reality, it isn’t. Like it or not, our hunting heritage ultimately lies in the hands of the remaining 94 percent of the population that does not hunt. Fortunately for us, the vast majority of those non-hunters approve of hunting, as long as you don’t start throwing the word “trophy” around. But as hunter numbers continue to dwindle, can we keep that level of support? Social media has given us a great platform to unite and spread the positive message of hunters as conservationists and providers of healthy, organic table fare. Unfortunately, hunters can’t seem to stop fighting with each other long enough to spread that positive message. The anti-hunters, on the other hand, have taken full advantage of social media and never miss an opportunity to use it to their advantage. Which begs the question, will we continue to let social media divide us until we ultimately cannot stand up to the anti-hunting fringe? Or can we come together as hunters and bring a united voice to the non-hunting public? Divisiveness Among Hunters Honestly, it’s not the anti-hunting attacks and rhetoric that keep me up at night. The antis have been harassing hunters for years. Most non-hunters see these attacks for what they are — the acts of extremists. The real threat to our hunting heritage is the divisiveness that social media has brought to the hunting ranks. Differences in opinions are nothing new for hunters. I’d be willing to bet that even the pre-settlement Native Americans couldn’t agree on the best wood for making a bow or the most effective arrowhead design. But when communication was limited to face-to-face, or even telephone discussions, those differences were typically handled in a civil manner. Each side would share their opinion and, in most cases, no one would change their mind. But at the end of the day, everyone remained friends. Unfortunately, social media has changed the way we handle those differences. Maybe it’s because we only see a name and a profile image on the other side of the conversation, rather than a human being and fellow hunter. Whatever the reason, we often say things to one another on social media we wouldn't dare say in person. If you’ve spent more than 10 minutes on any of Facebook’s thousands of hunting pages or groups, you’ve undoubtedly witnessed it first-hand. See if this rings a bell — someone shoots a record-class buck and baseless poaching accusations immediately start flying. Someone shoots a small buck and he/she is shamed by more experienced hunters. Or, maybe it’s a hunter using one type of equipment being criticized by someone who uses something else. The list goes on. Don't Miss: 5 Deer Hunters Who Tick Everyone Off Hunters Making Hunters Look Bad Another area of concern with social media is the lack of a filter when it comes to what many hunters share on social media. Because of my job, I spend a lot of time online, which includes viewing and sharing my fair share of hunting photos and videos. I understand that hunting involves the taking of a life. We get blood on our hands. It’s a natural process that I believe is engrained into our DNA. We shouldn’t be ashamed of that. But, at the same time, we have to consider who else may see what we post and how it could impact their view of hunting. Because of that, I cringe at a lot of the hunting photos and videos I see shared on social media these days. Without getting into the gory details, I’ve seen photos of deer and coyotes with arrows stuck in their heads, over-the-top, look-what-my-broadhead-did photos, videos that show excessive suffering before the animal goes down, and the list goes on. If it weren’t for us supplying the antis with the ammunition, they wouldn’t have a story to tell. The science and the facts are on our side, but we have to do a better job sharing the right message in a way that shines a positive light on hunting. Sometimes it’s not hunters making hunting look bad, but those posing as hunters — the poachers. Unfortunately for us, the mainstream media does a poor job of differentiating between hunters and poachers when it comes to reporting wildlife violations. The result is often a black eye for all of us. Don't Miss: Guide: Non-Hunting Parents With Children Who Want To Hunt What Can We Do? Will social media be the death of hunting? Not in and of itself. But it’s up to us whether social media strengthens hunting support or weakens our ranks. Social media is just a tool — a way to reach the masses. It can just as easily serve to spread the positive message of hunting and conservation as it can to spread the negative. We have to come together as hunters to make that happen. We can start by policing our own ranks. Individually, we can be supportive of one another and stop the bickering over trivial matters such as equipment choice or hunting method. We also need to put more thought into what we post online. While we should never be ashamed of our hunting heritage or attempt to hide it, we do have to be conscious of the 94 percent of Americans who don’t hunt and try to keep our posts as tasteful as possible. As managers of hunting pages and hunting groups, we can take away the voice of the trolls — those who seek to divide us. The best policy for negative comments, baseless accusations and inappropriate photos and videos is to simply delete them and move on. If someone is a repeat offender, block them. Let’s stop giving these dividers a voice. Finally, let’s do a better job of sharing the positive aspects of hunting. Let’s post about the camaraderie, let’s share our table fare, let’s talk about the positive difference we make as hunters to the environment, and let’s talk about how fun and exciting hunting can be. Sure, we can share our harvests, too. That’s what it’s all about. But we should make sure we are doing so tastefully. In the end, it’s not just about us. It’s about the legacy and the traditions we leave for our kids and future generations to come. Don't Miss: Realtree's Rut Report Are you a deer hunter wanting to learn how to accomplish your goals? Check out our stories, videos and hard-hitting how-to's on deer hunting. Follow us on Facebook.Synthetic marijuana, often referred to as "K2" and "Spice," are now banned in Boston under an ordinance signed by Mayor Marty Walsh Friday. The ordinance, which went into effect immediately, prohibits the sale, possession, manufacturing and distribution of the synthetic cannabinoids, also known as synthetic marijuana. Violating the ordinance carries a $300 fine from the Boston Police Department per incident. Walsh called the substances "extremely dangerous" and easily accessed by young people. The substances, which sometimes can be found in small retail stores and on the Internet, are popular among high school seniors, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. City Councilor Frank Baker, who represents the Dorchester neighborhood, was the primary proponent of the measure. The City Council voted to pass the ordinance earlier this week. "It is my hope that this ordinance will give our law enforcement officials the authority to enforce not just the sale and possession of the synthetic marijuana found in our stores today, but all types of synthetic chemical compounds produced in the future," he said in a statement. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's website, "Spice abusers who have been taken to Poison Control Centers report symptoms that include rapid heart rate, vomiting, agitation, confusion, and hallucinations." The institute adds, "Spice can also raise blood pressure and cause reduced blood supply to the heart (myocardial ischemia), and in a few cases it has been associated with heart attacks."Microsoft today said it will deliver a record 16 security updates next week to patch a whopping 49 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Office and SharePoint. Andrew Storms, director of security operations for nCircle Security, called the massive update "daunting, again." Four of the 16 updates were tagged with Microsoft's "critical" label, the highest threat ranking in its four-step scoring system. Another 10 were marked "important," the second-highest rating, while the remaining pair were labeled as "moderate." Nine of the updates could be exploited by attackers to inject malicious code into vulnerable PCs, Microsoft said in its usual bare-bones advance notification of the updates scheduled for release Oct. 12. Microsoft often labels remote code executable bugs -- the most dangerous -- as important when the vulnerable components are not switched on by default or when other mitigating factors, such as defensive measures like ASLR and DEP, may protect some users. Next week's Patch Tuesday is a record on almost every count. The 16 updates -- Microsoft dubs them "bulletins" -- are a record, beating the count from August 2010 by two. The 49 individual patches easily exceeds the single-month record of 34, which was first set in October 2009 and repeated in this past June and August. Microsoft has been shipping alternating large and small batches of fixes, with the larger-sized updates landing in even-numbered months, so October's big numbers shouldn't come as a shock. In August, for example, the company issued 14 bulletins patching 34 vulnerabilities. September's batch, however, included 9 bulletins that fixed 11 flaws. "I have a theory about the large October updates," said Storms, pointing out that Microsoft released 13 bulletins and patched 34 vulnerabilities in the month last year, and issued 12 updates and fixed 21 flaws in October 2008. "It's the year-end financial and retail push by most companies, which go into lockdown mode the last two months of the year, when they don't update their systems," he said. Twelve of the 16 bulletins are aimed at Windows, either the desktop or server editions, or in some cases both. Two from next week's slate affect Office -- Word and Excel, specifically -- and are likely patches for one or more file format vulnerabilities in those applications, said Storms. One of the bulletins will address a problem in SharePoint, Microsoft's enterprise-grade collaboration server software. According to the advance notification, the SharePoint update will be related in some way to Office Web Apps, the online editions of Microsoft's Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications. Other than the sheer number of updates users will have to apply, Storms also noted that several apply to the newest versions of Microsoft's operating system, Windows 7 on the desktop and Windows Server 2008 R2 on the server side. Both have been patched numerous times since their introduction last year. Nine of Tuesday's Windows updates will apply to Windows 7 -- including all three of those marked critical -- while Windows Server 2008 R2 will also receive nine updates, two of them critical. While Microsoft has touted Windows 7 as its most-secure OS ever, and wants Windows XP users to ditch the nine-year-old software for the new edition, fewer of next week's updates apply to the aged operating system than to Windows 7. XP will be affected by eight of the 13 bulletins, and just two of the three pegged as critical. The critical IE update will affect IE6, IE7 and IE8. Microsoft did not reply to questions about whether it will also update IE9, which was released as a beta three weeks ago. "It's the token IE update, and totally expected," said Storms. Microsoft has been patching IE on an every-other-month schedule for some time, and last fixed flaws in the browser two months ago. Microsoft did not say whether next week's updates would include fixes for vulnerabilities that could be exploited by "DLL load hijacking" attacks. Also called "binary planting" by some researchers, the attacks leverage design flaws in Windows applications to place malicious files on PCs disguised as DLLs (dynamic link libraries), then have them execute automatically. Although several vendors have patched their programs to deflect DLL load hijacking attacks, Microsoft has declined to confirm whether any of its applications are vulnerable, and if so, which ones. Researchers, however, have claimed that IE, Word, PowerPoint and a number of lesser-known Microsoft-made Windows programs are flawed and should be updated. Even minus a round of DLL patching, next week's updates will stress out IT administrators, said Storms. "It doesn't look entirely complex," he said. "There's no Exchange update, or SQL Server or IIS. But it will be daunting...again. The overwhelming part is for those organizations that do their due diligence, and test before they deploy the updates." Other vendors have recently issued large updates. Adobe, for instance, pushed a 23-patch update for its popular Reader PDF viewing software to users earlier this week. "I continue to harp on Apple for their giant numbers [in their security updates]," said Storms. "Then I look here and realize I can't give Microsoft any breaks this month." Microsoft will release the 16 updates at approximately 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 12. Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. Follow Gregg on Twitter at @gkeizer or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. His e-mail address is gkeizer@computerworld.com.July 19, 2017 deur Admin Afrikaans-Vriendelik Sanderien van der Walt Deur: Annelise de Vries en Jhua-nine Wyrley-Birch Anton Rupert, die legendariese Afrikaanse sakeman en entrepreneur, het gesê die persoon wat nie droom nie, is nie ŉ realis nie. Die pad na suksesvolle entrepreneurskap is ŉ moeilike een, maar Suid-Afrika is immers ŉ land van mense met planne. Die grootste denkfout wat Suid-Afrikaners egter maak, is om bang te wees om te sê hulle wil ryk word, meen die ekonoom Mike Schüssler. “Alles is moontlik as ’n mens kreatief en groot dink. Wie uithou en aanhou, kan sukses behaal.” Suid-Afrika het entrepreneurs nodig soos nog nooit tevore nie en hoewel kenners meen dat die verband tussen taal en ekonomiese vooruitgang kompleks is, stem akademici saam dat taalgemeenskappe wat in hul eie tale investeer, ŉ daadwerklike bydrae maak in die ekonomiese waarde wat aan die spesifieke taal geheg word. Linguiste argumenteer dat taal die grondslag vir ekonomiese vooruitgang lê en dat daar spesifieke industrieë is waar taal as ŉ belangrike bemarkbare kommoditeit bestempel word. Die toerisme- en versekeringsbedryf is maar net twee voorbeelde van dié industrieë. Prof. Vic Webb, dosent in linguistiek en direkteur van die Universiteit van Pretoria se sentrum vir taalpolitiek (CentRePol), skryf dat dit veral van toepassing is op toerisme in Suid-Afrika danksy die land se ryke verskeidenheid van tale en kulture. Webb verduidelik verder dat taal ook ŉ belangrike rol in die versekeringsbedryf en verwante industrieë speel omdat versekeraars die sosiologie van verbruikers moet verstaan om ŉ produk te bemark wat in die verbruikers se behoeftes voorsien. Taal speel ook ŉ beduidende rol in Suid-Afrikaanse entrepreneurskap. Luidens ’n opname in 2017 van die Suid-Afrikaanse Instituut vir Rasseverhoudinge (SAIRV) is 14% van die land se bevolking wat 15 jaar en ouer is, Afrikaanse huistaalsprekers. Altesame 23% is Zoeloe-huistaalsprekers en 15% is Xhosa-huistaalsprekers. Dié verslag het verder getoon dat entrepreneurskap in Suid-Afrika vanaf 2015/16 tot 2016/17 met ongeveer 34% gegroei het. Daar is voorts bevind dat daar in 2013 altesame 1 517 ondernemings in die informele sektor was. Hiervan was 308 minder as ’n jaar terug gestig. Wat die internasionale entrepreneurskapindeks betref, was Suid-Afrika in 2016 in die 52 ste plek. Dié indeks meet die gehalte en omvang van entrepreneursaktiwiteite in 132 lande. Volgens die Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), waar 400 navorsers 66 wêreldekonomieë meet, is bevind dat 72% van Suid-Afrikaners meen entrepreneurskap is ŉ goeie loopbaankeuse. Hieruit kan afgelei word dat entrepreneurskap in Suid-Afrika groei. Dit is nie ŉ vreemde verskynsel as daar na die geskiedenis gekyk word nie. Vanaf 1939 tot 1950 het die getal Afrikaanse ondernemings van 3 710 tot 13 047 toegeneem. Vanaf 1948/49 tot 1954/55 het die aantal Afrikaanse ondernemings, landbou uitgesluit, met 40% gegroei. “Sprekers van alle inheemse tale in Suid-Afrika moet nou aangemoedig word om voordeel te trek uit die groeiende entrepreneurslandskap”, sê Sanderien van der Walt, projekkoördineerder van AfriVriendelik. Ook Mmusi Maimane, leier van die DA, meen entrepreneurskap hou groot voordele vir die land in. Hy meen dat in plaas daarvan dat die regering probeer om 5 miljoen werkgeleenthede te skep, die land eerder by 1 miljoen nuwe entrepreneurs sal baat. Die DA-regering in die Wes-Kaap het selfs administratiewe prosesse vereenvoudig om dit makliker te maak om ‘n sakeonderneming te registreer wat aan wetgewing voldoen. Nóg ŉ inisiatief wat die stigting van sakeondernemings maklik maak en in ŉ inheemse taal bedryf word, is Afrikaans-Vriendelik. Dié veldtog het ten doel om entrepreneurskap in Afrikaans te bevorder deur gratis bemarking aan Afrikaanse ondernemings en diensverskaffers te bied. Dit is in 2016 bekend gestel en trek vandag ŉ nuwe baadjie aan. Afrikaans-Vriendelik word een van vyf inisiatiewe van AfriVriendelik. Ander inisiatiewe sluit in ŉ aanlynkletskamer vir AfriForum-lede en entrepreneurs, bemarkingsopleiding, die jaarlikse Tinteltong toekennings asook ŉ entrepreneurskompetisie.A Congressional hearing on CIA drone strikes is planned next week, but it’s going to have to go on without testimony from human rights lawyer and Foundation for Fundamental Fights director Shahzad Akbar, because the US State Department won’t let him. Akbar is representing multiple children injured in a US drone strike in North Waziristan, an attack which also killed their grandmother. Akbar and his clients were invited to the hearing. Akbar sees the move as a deliberate attempt to keep him from testifying, and says he had a US diplomatic visa for two years in the past, and had never had a problem getting permission to visit the US until he started representing drone strike victims. Rep. Alan Grayson (D – FL) condemned the State Department’s move, saying they had given no excuse for why Akbar shouldn’t be allowed in. “We have a chronic problem in Congress that when the administration is involved in one side of the issue, we rarely hear the other side of the issue,” Grayson noted. Last 5 posts by Jason DitzConsider these facts from a recent Federal Reserve report: Between 2010 and 2013, “only families at the very top of the income distribution saw widespread income gains.” That’s the Fed’s way of saying that the top 3 percent of families receive roughly a third of all income generated in the U.S. annually. The top 10 percent of families received just about half of total income in 2013. Thus, total income is split evenly between the 10 percent and the remaining 90 percent. Between 2010 and 2013, “families at the bottom of the income distribution saw continued substantial declines in real net worth.” As incredible as it sounds, 90 percent of Americans own just 25 percent of the country’s wealth while the remaining 10 percent own 75 percent of it. The dismal science does not get much drearier than that. Of course, the 1 percent has always wanted to whitewash this inconvenient truth that the market distributes income and wealth in such a morally indefensible manner. I am nonetheless bewildered by an essay last week by Marty Feldstein, an AAA-rated Ivy-League economist, advisor to presidents and presidential hopefuls, mentor to a dozen crème-de-la-crème economists and member of the board of directors of the American Insurance Group for 22 years. Feldstein claims that the wealth distribution is not as bad as it looks. After all, the have-nots still have Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security! All we have to do is to count those benefits as part of our private wealth as though they were in our safe-deposit boxes, and the obscene distribution becomes quite tolerable. So alright then, I’ll ask my banker if she’ll take my rights to Medicare as down payment for a house, and after that I’ll cash in my future Social Security payments to pay for a trip to the Caribbean. No? What do you mean I can’t do that? Feldstein defines wealth as “the ability to spend more than one’s income.” But he forgets the time dimension. A diamond ring could be converted immediately into cash at the local pawn shop, and then I could spend more than my income. However, my Medicare entitlements do not enable me to do so. I have to wait until I get sick in order to receive any benefits, and the benefits won’t enable me to spend more than my income; instead, they’ll just help me get over my ill fate of having become sick, and then I still have my co-payments to worry about. And as far as Social Security is concerned, for more than 10 million people it does not enable them to spend more than their income either; in fact, it is their only income. Ask a 20-something-year-old if they think they feel wealthier because of the existence of Social Security. I bet they’d look at you askance. After all, half of millennials do not believe that they will receive any benefits by the time they retire. They are paying taxes now and are poorer for it, not wealthier. Will future generations be honor-bound to continue Social Security payments by the time they retire? There is no generational contract, no pledge, no promise that they’ll have retirement benefits waiting for them. With such an uncertain economic future, we can hardly blame them for being incredulous. I doubt that they consider their future benefits as part of their portfolio while burdened by taxes for their grandparents’ generation’s retirement. Moreover, just 6 percent of millennials (and 9 percent of members of Generation X) believe that Social Security benefits will remain at their current levels. And the benefits are pretty low to begin with. The average monthly Social Security payment is but $1,300, which is about the hourly wage of a typical 1 percenter. In other words, Social Security income is just $135 above the official poverty threshold for a family of two over the age of 65. That’s nowhere near wealth. MORE FROM JOHN KOMLOS Income inequality begins at birth and these are the stats that prove it Social Security might meet your basic needs if you limit your needs to the bare minimum. Note that U.S. Social Security benefits are well below Organisation Economic Co-Operation and Development average relative to income. Thomas Pikkety, the celebrated author of the best-selling “Capital in the 21st Century,” defines wealth as “the total market value of everything owned… provided that it can be traded on some market. It consists of the sum total of nonfinancial assets… and financial assets… less the total amount of financial liabilities (debt).” In other words, wealth can be transferred. Entitlements cannot be. In fact, the state of our finances is even worse than the Fed’s data show. The Census also collects wealth data and shows what the have-nots owe. The Census reveals that the bottom 20 percent of U.S. households is underwater with an average net worth of -$32,000, that is, the debts of about 60 million people are greater than all their assets combined. No automobiles, no equity in a house, no checking account balances, no diamonds. Nothing owned outright. If you combine the first and second quintiles of the wealth distribution, it’s apparent that 120 million people’s average net wealth is still below zero at minus $11,000. And let us not forget that the picture is even more dismal among minorities. Among African American households, average wealth is still negative in the bottom 60 percent of the wealth distribution. And the average wealth among 80 percent of African American households is a meager $10,000. I wish I could whitewash these facts somehow, but using Social Security to offset this picture just won’t do. The inconvenient truth is that these government programs are not wealth at all. Rather, they are simply transfer payments from currently 166 million workers to 59 million retirees and people with disabilities. In contrast, Feldstein writes: “The Social Security trustees estimate that Social Security ‘wealth’ — the present actuarial value of the future benefits that current workers and retirees are projected to receive — is $59 trillion.” No such thing. The Social Security Administration actually calls these estimates “future costs” and not “wealth.” So the Social Security Administration does not consider these taxes wealth, the Fed does not consider them wealth, the Census does not consider them wealth and the participants do not consider them wealth. It looks like they’re wealth only in Professor Feldstein’s imagination.We are hiring! Rockbite Games is a mobile game development team in Yerevan, Armenia. We are the team behind Deep Town, a popular title with millions of active players. Our growing team is constantly looking for adding best of the best to our ranks. If you are looking for technically challenging job in one of the Yerevan’s hottest startups, we want to hear from you! (Tour our virtual office here!) Apply from list below, or send your cv to careers [at] rockbitegames.com We are always looking for the best professionals to join our team. So, if there was nothing that exact matched your current skillset and background, check the hidden entrance here and let’s talk! Also Rockbite has cool internship program for entry level people. Right now the Application is closed, check back soon on this.The success or failure of our relationships depends a great deal on the success or failure of our ability to communicate with the people in our lives. When we converse with them, we have certain assumptions about what the other person will know and understand that enables us to communicate in ways that promote the relationship instead of inhibit it. When these assumptions aren’t met, communication suffers in part because us humans find it difficult to take the perspective of someone who is more naïve than us. Work by Dr. Susan Birch at the University of British Columbia has found that adults suffer from what she has termed the “curse of knowledge”. That is, when we have a memory or knowledge of some event, we are biased towards believing that everyone shares this knowledge. This bias is greater for personal events than for objective facts and we use this bias when making our assumptions during conversations with others. Imagine, then, being in a conversation with someone who should share the same
to use their towers. Without reserves, Renarin had decided to withdraw the western line and send it out to face the advancing force. Unfortunately, he hadn’t waited for a complete scouting report before making his move. They didn’t know how many Prallans were out there—the highstorm had hit before the messengers could get an accurate count—yet Renarin had already played their hand. He should have sent more scouts, and sent warning to the king of the approaching force. Renarin’s maneuver hadn’t been a terrible one, but it had been hasty. It was not a choice Dalenar would have made, but he could see another commander giving those same orders. The king was not as lenient as Dalenar—he was furious about not being informed. Unfortunately, Renarin’s lack of self-confidence only lent fire to Elhokar’s censure. On the other side of the tower, the king continued to fidget. Dalenar knew the young king well—he wasn’t really mad that Renarin had committed the reserves. Much would have been forgiven if it hadn’t been for a single fact—the scouts claimed that the Traitor himself rode with the flanking force. Dalenar could see Elhokar’s hands twitching, yearning to summon his Blade and attack the man who had killed his father. Dalenar shook his head. Elhokar needn’t have worried. The entire army knew that the king had sworn to severely punish any man who robbed him of the pleasure of killing the Traitor himself. Renarin’s force wouldn’t attack the Traitor’s banner until the king arrived. Besides, they would have stopped for the highstorm like the rest of the army. Elhokar would have his chance soon enough. Once the storm passed, the king could regain command and ride out to see if the scout reports were true. The tower creaked one last wooden groan, quivering beneath a final gust of wind, and then all was still. The highstorm had passed. “Gather my honor guard and find me another horse,” Elhokar said to an attendant, striding toward the door. He paused, looking back. “Move quickly, Uncle, unless you want to be left behind again.” Water could bring life even to the seemingly barren stormlands. Rockbuds appeared to be simple stones until they sensed water on their shells; with the fall of the highstorm rains, the false rocks split, revealing the delicate petals and thirsty vines that hid inside. The plants opened only after storms, their petals uncurling to lap up a few moments of sun, their vines creeping down to soak in the puddles of rainwater. Tiny, crablike crustaceans scurried from fissures and cracks, digging in the temporary muck and feeding on the exposed plants. Traipsing across the slick stone, seeing the rockbuds in bloom, made Dalenar think of his home—a land where the plants didn’t need to cower within rocky shells between highstorms. Kholinar, a land where stone walls were covered with blooming polyps, where the boulders were draped in vines and the air was cool with humidity. The highstorms were weak back in the Kholinar Lait—the lowland valley was surrounded with hills just steep enough to protect it from the fury of the winds, yet not sheer enough to bring danger of flash floods. Once, battle had made Dalenar thirsty for more of the same, but now it seemed only to make him long for the warmth of his hearth. If all went well, he could be back at Kholinar within the month. Elhokar rode defiantly ahead, crossing the rock on someone’s roan stallion. Around him strode seven thousand troops and a tenset Shardbearers, Dalenar and his two sons included. If the Traitor truly marched with this flanking force, then he would not escape a duel with Elhokar. Dalenar hustled, his armor clanking as he jogged up beside the king’s horse. His body protested the motion—he had taxed it much these last few weeks, and the remainder of the trip would be even worse. Elhokar rode on one of the last horses in the entire army—the beasts were extremely expensive to import from Shinavar, and even harder to care for in the harsh stormland climate. Even many noblemen had difficulty affording a mount—of the ten Dalenar had brought with him to Prallah, only two remained, and he didn’t plan to risk any more in battle. “Elhokar,” Dalenar said as he approached the king’s horse, “I don’t like this. We’ve had no word from the force my son sent, and we still don’t know the size of the enemy. We could be marching into an ambush.” Elhokar didn’t reply. He did, however, have his Blade in hand already. “I sent scouts, Uncle,” he replied. “We will not make your son’s same mistake.” Dalenar sighed. The stormlands expanded into the distance, endless hills of naked stone broken only by the occasional formation of rock. Directly ahead of them, the stone rose into a moderate-sized butte, steep-sided and formed of dark brown stone. Their last report from the reserve forces placed them a short distance ahead, on the other side of the butte. Something seemed wrong to Dalenar. They were too far away to see anything, but his conclusions came from instinct rather than sight. His feeling of dread was confirmed by the sight of an approaching scout, running across the hills with an urgent step. “Halt the column,” Dalenar ordered. Elhokar eyed him, but did not contradict the order. The seven tensquads pulled to a halt, waiting for the solitary scout to approach. “What is up there?” Elhokar demanded as soon as the man arrived. “Is there fighting?” The scout shook his head, puffing for breath. “No, Your Majesty... or, at least, it isn’t going on anymore....” “What?” Elhokar demanded. “What did you see?” The scout shook his head again, looking confused. “They’re... dead, Your Majesty. All of them.” The scout had not exaggerated. Dalenar stepped solemnly through the field of corpses, blue and brown uniforms intermixed, weapons clutched in dead fingers. The small valley was a scene of absolute carnage. Nothing stirred; even the wind seemed silent, as if the Almighty Himself were hesitant to speak. The soldiers of their seven tensquads stood at the edge of the battlefield, looking in at the fallen, remaining where the king had ordered them. Only Shardbearers and a few important commanders picked their way across the field, examining the dead. Dalenar frowned, kneeling beside the body of a fallen soldier—a young spearman in blue. The boy wore the leather skirt and wooden plate armor of the standard Aleth footman. Yet he had not been killed by another spearman—the side of his head had been crushed in. Heavy infantry, then? Most heavy infantry carried hammers, maces, or axes instead of spears. But heavy infantry made up a very small percentage of most armies, and that was especially true of the Prallans, who hadn’t the resources of the Aleth military. He stood and wandered across the field, examining the fallen—trying to see beyond the faces of the dead, trying to sense the flow of the battle that had claimed their lives. It was immediately obvious that the Prallan force had been larger—far larger. There were at least three brown-clothed corpses on the ground for every blue one. Over fifteen thousand.... Dalenar thought with amazement. How in the name of the Lawbringer did our men stand against such odds? The valley was hedged on one side by the plateau, and bore a large crack in the ground directly opposite. It would have been possible for the Aleth soldiers to use the columnlike valley to hold a strong line, keeping themselves from being surrounded. But that was a defensive maneuver—even if the Aleths had managed to successfully hold such a formation, they couldn’t have killed so many of the enemy. Besides, the corpses told Dalenar a different story. They spoke of no defensive formation, but a haphazard offense—a scattered mixing of sides. Very few men on the entire field had been killed by spears—yet nearly all wielded them. Their wounds were washed of blood—as if they had fought and died during the rains of the highstorm. It didn’t make sense. Even assuming that there had been Prallan survivors, it seemed impossible that so many had been killed by the Aleth force—especially if the Prallan army had contained as much heavy infantry as the damage seemed to imply. It was wrong, all wrong. There is no way our force did this, Dalenar thought, scanning the battlefield. Even with three Shardbearers, they could not have done this much damage. Something very strange had happened on this battlefield. The dead whispered to him clues of their struggle, and only one thing made sense. A third force had attacked both of them. But how would such a force have gathered without Elhokar’s scouts locating them, and how had they escaped so cleanly? They would still be close. “Your Majesty!” Dalenar said. “I want you out of here. Now.” The king ignored him, stepping over a body, accompanied by Meridas and—by Dalenar’s command—Renarin and Aredor for protection. Elhokar walked through the bodies with an indifference—or, rather, a preoccupation. He was not callous, just determined. His eyes sought one thing. Dalenar studied the landscape urgently, sensing danger. He saw none, however. The plateau was low, and he could see nothing at its top. He waved over a few scouts and sent them searching anyway. Then he made his way over to the chasm. It was not an irregular feature—the highstorm rains carved out many a gully and fissure in the stone. The sides were sheer, and the bottom contained only rubble. No men had attacked from within its reaches. “There!” the king cried suddenly. Dalenar looked up to see Elhokar jump over a body and break into a run. Dalenar cursed, forcing himself to follow after, jogging in his Shardplate and trying to be as respectful toward the dead as possible. He kept his eyes up, the sense of danger still keen. Yet no army appeared to attack—if, indeed, a third force had come upon these men in the rains, it had fled quickly to forestall retribution. Dalenar caught up to the king as Elhokar knelt down to tug at a bloodied banner. It bore the glyph Jie. Beneath it lay a haunting face. He had once been known as Oshlen Reil, though his lord’s name had been stripped from him after his murder of King Nolhonarin. Since that day, Olshen had simply been known as the Traitor. And he was very, very dead. “No...” Elhokar said, falling to his knees on the bloodied ground, bowing his head. Aredor nudged Dalenar, pointing to the side. “That one’s Talhmeshas,” he said, pointing at another corpse. Talhmeshas Pralir—king of the Prallan state of Pralir, the nation that had harbored the Traitor and invited Aleth invasion. Dalenar frowned, studying the bodies. Both had been stripped of their Plate and Blades. Elhokar knelt, stunned, beside the body of the man who had killed his father. Eventually, he picked up his Blade and rammed it into the stone beside the dead man’s face. “All these years,” Elhokar whispered, “fighting. Looking for him. Longing to feel his blood on my Blade...” Dalenar shook his head. At least the king had no one to blame for stealing his vengeance—the man who had killed the traitor undoubtedly lay dead on this field somewhere. The king looked up with a sudden motion, then stood, sliding his Blade free from its stone sheath. There was... danger in his eyes. Dalenar felt a chill. There was no one to blame, unless— Elhokar pointed at Renarin. “You took this from me,” he hissed. Dalenar gritted his teeth, placing his hand on Elhokar’s iron shoulder. “Your Majesty—” Elhokar shook the hand free with a sharp movement. “Stay out of this, Uncle.” The king raised his blade, falling into Airform’s dueling stance, one foot placed forward, Blade held in two hands. Renarin took an uncertain step backward—his Blade wasn’t even summoned. Elhokar had been right about one thing; the boy was a terrible duelist. And, despite his shortcomings, Elhokar was one of the finest in Alethkar. “Elhokar!” Dalenar snapped, stepping between the two. “This is my son!” Elhokar stood, weapon outstretched. Dalenar had seen such a seething hatred in the young king’s eyes only one other time—the day he had found his father’s body. Finally, he hissed in anger, but dismissed his blade. “He forfeits his Shardblade,” Elhokar snapped, standing upright. “He drops from Fifth to Thirteenth Lord, and he shall not inherit, even if Aredor should die.” “What?” Aredor asked incredulously, steeping up to his younger brother’s side. Aredor’s Blade was still out, Dalenar noticed—and unlike his brother, Aredor was quite competent. “Elhokar,” Dalenar said quietly, stepping up to the king. “This is excessive. The boy only did what—” “The boy’s leadership made me an oathbreaker,” Elhokar said. “I swore to take the Traitor’s life myself—every man in the army knew that. The soldiers who disobeyed my order are dead, but the responsibility for their act lies with the one who commanded them.” Dalenar held his tongue, afraid that his response would be unfitting of a nobleman. His hand, however, quivered as he gripped Oathbringer’s familiar hilt. “It’s not just the Traitor’s death, Uncle. The boy nearly cost us this day’s battle. I will not have him in a position where he can take command again. Either he gives up the Blade now, or he duels me for the opportunity to keep it.” The wind finally started blowing again, a light breeze, sending a ripple across the tattered cloaks of the fallen men. The Voice of the Almighty, it was called. Dalenar felt it whisper to him—whisper temperance as he gritted his teeth, facing down the son of the brother he had loved so much. Finally, he turned away. “Do as he says, Renarin,” he said. “Father, no!” Aredor cried. Renarin, however, was his normal quiet self as he summoned his Blade. Ten heartbeats passed as a season, and the boy knelt, proffering the Blade. Nolhonarin had presented the weapon to Dalenar on the eve of the boy’s birth, as he had done the day Aredor was born. Renarin had carried it since the day of his charan. Elhokar took the weapon, then pulled out a steel-handled dagger. He slammed the butt of the dagger against the pommel of Renarin’s Shardblade, knocking free the black opal that formed the pommelstone—the opal was the “shard” of a Shardblade, the object that made it possible to bond weapon and man. The opal dropped to the stones, clicking softly. Then Elhokar spun, marching from the battlefield. The collected Shardbearers and commanders who had gathered around the scene slowly trickled away, their faces uncomfortable. Renarin stared down at the opal. Aredor knelt by his brother, his face dark. He would have fought to keep his Blade—he was like his older brother, Sheneres. Determined, unyielding. Sheneres had died at the hands of the Traitor that same night, the night Nolhonarin had died. The boy had died in defense of his king, but there had been no time for Dalenar to seek his own vengeance. Only the king’s revenge mattered. Dalenar was Elhokar’s Parshen. His will was swallowed in that of his king. Such was his duty. Dalenar turned away from the boys, looking up toward the horizon. He could still see the darkness of the highstorm retreating in the distance. “Come, Renarin, Aredor,” he mumbled. “We must return to the camp.”Musician and actor Elvis Presley rose to fame in the mid-1950s—on the radio, TV and the silver screen—and continues to be one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. Who Was Elvis Presley? Born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Presley came from very humble beginnings and grew up to become one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. By the mid-1950s, he appeared on the radio, television and the silver screen. On August 16, 1977, at age 42, he died of heart failure, which was related to his drug addiction. Since his death, Presley has remained one of the world's most popular music icons. When Was Elvis Presley Born? Presley's birthday is on January 8, 1935. How Did Elvis Presley Die? Presley died of heart failure related to his addiction to prescription drugs. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Famous House Presley's Memphis home, Graceland, is open to the public, and numerous fans from around the world visit the legendary residence annually, especially around Presley's birthday and the anniversary of his death. Thousands of fans traveled to Graceland on August 16, 2012 — the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death — for a special vigil in honor of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. During the gathering, fans held lit candles and stood outside of Presley's home. Though the Presley family holds a tribute event each year to mark the anniversary of Presley's death, the 2012 gathering was unique: Presley's estranged wife, Priscilla, and daughter Lisa Marie Presley appeared together for the first time at the annual event. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website "You should see this from our point-of-view. It's amazing," Priscilla Presley said during the event, according to the Washington Post. "The candles are lit. It's truly a sight to behold... This is something that Elvis would never, ever have believed could have taken place here." Elvis' Family Photos 10 Gallery 10 Images Wife and Daughter Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in 1967 but later divorced in 1973. The couple had one daughter together, Lisa Marie, who was born in 1968. Early Interest in Music Musician and actor Elvis Aron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. (He later changed the spelling of his middle name to the biblical form of Aaron.) Presley was supposed to be a twin, but his brother, Jesse Garon (sometimes spelled Jessie) was stillborn. From very humble beginnings, Elvis Presley grew up to become one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll. Raised by loving, working-class parents, Presley's family had little money, and they moved from place to place frequently. He was deeply devoted to his parents, especially his mother, Gladys, and was raised to have a strong faith in God. Presley attended the Assembly of God Church with his parents, where gospel music became an important influence for him. Presley received his first guitar as a gift from his mother on his 11th birthday in 1946 and had his first taste of musical success a few years later when he won a talent show at Humes High School in Memphis. After graduating in 1953, he worked a number of jobs while pursuing his musical dream. He cut his first demo record at what later became known as Sun Studio that year, and before long, Sam Phillips, the record label owner, decided to take the young performer under his wing. Presley soon began touring and recording, trying to catch his first big break. "That's All Right" was Presley's first single in 1954. First No. 1 Hit: 'Heartbreak Hotel' In 1955 Presley began to develop a following with fans being drawn to his unusual musical style, provocative gyrating hips and good looks. That same year, he signed with RCA Records, a deal worked out by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Presley was on a roll, scoring his first No. 1 single with "Heartbreak Hotel," as well as his first No. 1 album, Elvis Presley, and signing a movie contract with Paramount Pictures — all in 1956. Despite the uproar that his sexy dance moves caused, he also became a popular guest on a number of television variety shows. 18 Gallery 18 Images Military Service Soon, Presley was everywhere — on the radio, television and the silver screen — working as a musician and actor. His first film, Love Me Tender (1956), was a box office hit. Even a stint in the U.S. military couldn't put a damper on Presley's thriving career. He received his draft notice in 1957, and was inducted into the Army the following March. He eventually served in Germany for about a year and a half. Shortly before Presley left for Europe, his beloved mother, Gladys, died. He was granted a leave and returned to Memphis for the funeral. Deeply saddened by her death, Presley returned to duty. While in Germany, his spirits were lifted slightly when he met a young teenager named Priscilla Beaulieu. Movies & Soundtracks After leaving the Army in 1960, Presley resumed his career and was soon back at the top of the charts with the soundtrack for his film GI Blues. He continued recording music and acting in such films as Blue Hawaii (1961), Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) and Viva Las Vegas (1964). Though his films were often hit or miss with both critics and audiences, they brought in a profit and the soundtracks usually sold well. By the late 1960s, however, the enigmatic performer appeared to be losing his box office appeal. Proving he was still the "King of Rock 'n' Roll," he recorded his first TV special in 1968, often referred to as the "'68 Comeback." He wowed audiences with his performance, which showcased his talents as a singer and a guitarist. Divorce to Priscilla, Drug Addiction Around this time, Presley's personal life also seemed to be on an upswing. He and Priscilla wed in 1967 and had a daughter, Lisa Marie, the following year. Unfortunately, this joyous time would not last. By the early 1970s, Presley's marriage was falling apart. The couple divorced in 1973, and Priscilla received custody of Lisa Marie. Presley was also wrestling with other personal problems, including a growing addiction to prescription drugs; the once-thin rock star was battling a weight problem, and his destructive lifestyle caught up with him that fall, when he was hospitalized for drug-related health problems. Despite his personal obstacles, Presley remained a popular draw in Las Vegas and on tour. He performed at his last concert in June 1977, in Indianapolis, Indiana. After the concert, he returned home to his Memphis mansion, Graceland, to prepare for another tour. Death and Legacy Sometime in the morning of August 16, 1977, Presley died of heart failure, at the age of 42. It was later ruled that his death was related to his prescription drug use. Presley was buried on the Graceland property, near the gravesites of his mother, Gladys, father Vernon and grandmother Minnie Mae Hood Presley. Throughout his amazing career, Presley helped popularize rock 'n' roll music in America. He also won three Grammy Awards for his gospel recordings. A major musical force, Presley had 18 No. 1 singles, including "Don't Be Cruel," "Good Luck Charm" and "Suspicious Minds," as well as countless gold and platinum albums. He was one of the first performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986). But Elvis has been recognized for his contributions to several musical genres, most notably rock, country and gospel. In 1998, Presley was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame; three years later, he was posthumously inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Elvis in Pop Culture Since his death, Presley has remained one of the world's most popular music icons. Over the years, several documentaries and films have explored the enigmatic performer, including a 2005 television miniseries starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Elvis. In 2018 HBO released a two-part documentary, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, which explores his early life, rise to fame and his myriad musical influences. That year, the online auction site IronPlanet announced that a private jet once owned by Presley and his father was on the market. The red 1962 Lockheed Jetstar, which has sat idle on a New Mexico runway for decades, features an interior with gold-tone woodwork and red velvet seats but has no engine. The previous owner purchased the jet in 2017 for $430,000. Another 2018 auction, held at the Guest House at Graceland and online, featured more than 200 keepsakes from third-party collectors which were all once owned, used and signed by the King himself. The highest-priced item, a 1942 Beretta M1934 pistol given to Presley by General Omar Bradley, sold for more than $51,000.The head of Microsoft Studios and the Xbox division – Phil Spencer – has recently stated Microsoft is now more than ever committed to supporting the PC. According to an audio interview courtesy of The Inner Circle Podcast, the PC scene is “incredibly important” to both Spencer and the company. “I thought the Windows 10 announcement was good. We haven’t talked much about it yet, but I’ve said gaming on PC is incredibly important to me, and I think incredibly important to this company”, stated Spencer. “We took gaming very seriously on Windows a while ago. As we were launching Xbox, we were kind of distributing what we were thinking about. I’m really committed to us getting back to supporting both Xbox – as much as we ever had – and also PC, because I know that my friends and customers out there who are great gamers on Xbox, a lot of them are also great gamers on PC, and I want to make sure that we’re able to offer them the best experience across all the platforms”. Additionally, Microsoft’s boss has also provided an insight into the fragmentation of online identities across multiple gaming devices. “I see people playing games in many different places, whether it’s playing PC, the consoles, people playing on their smartphones, people playing on their laptop… We put a lot of time and effort into LIVE and I think of Xbox One as the way people play great games on their television, and I want to make sure that the television experience is great. But we know that people also play games in different places, and today when you’re playing on all those different devices it feels very disconnected; it doesn’t really know who I am, it doesn’t know who my friends are, it doesn’t know what podcast I should be listening to. I’m kind of a different person on every one of the devices with a different set of games, achievements, friends, leaderboards etc”. “In the future, I hope that it’s less ‘gaming by device’ and more something where people are playing and are connected with their friends regardless of the device they’re on”.One of the UK National Health Service boards hit by WannaCrypt earlier this year has again been infected by malware. The Lanarkshire board manages the Hairmyres Hospital, Monklands Hospital, and Wishaw General Hospital in Scotland, and on Friday had to warn patients that it was only handling emergency cases. Lanarkshire was one of the many NHS districts hit by the WannaCrypt/WannaCry ransomware attack earlier this year. The latest infection took out the hospital's staff rostering and telephone systems, and on Saturday morning NHS Lanarkshire posted this brief statement on its Facebook page: “Due to NHS Lanarkshire IT issues, the staff bank system and telephone are offline and currently unavailable” (“staff bank” refers not to a financial service, but the system that tracks available staff – El Reg). At the time, NHS Lanarkshire expected a 72-hour outage, and CEO Calum Campbell attributed the outage to malware, with systems taken offline to contain the outbreak with help from its IT provider. A couple of hours later on Saturday morning, it posted an update requesting that people avoid visiting emergency departments unless absolutely necessary. By Sunday, Campbell posted that staff had “worked overnight to secure and reinstate our IT systems”, adding that affected systems “are in the process of being fixed”. Campbell apologised to patients affected by the outage and promised that their appointments would be re-scheduled. In an unrelated report, security outfit Proofpoint last Thursday said it had spotted a ransomware it dubbed “Defray” targeting hospitals, via Word files entitled “Patient Report”, in the US and UK. ®hey, thanks for your answers. some more questions: - Are you starting with your full funding or fundraising? when this fundraising stops? I'm asking this because it's not the same selling "new" shares because you are adding funding to your hedge fund; than spectulating on the shares. I guess there shouldn't be speculation there. The fund can grow up or down, it means the total amount can increase or decrease; but that shouldn't affect the value of the shares. Maybe you are trading with 500.000 eur and getting 15% one day, so the value of the share should increase 15%. If someone gets out of the fund, and next day you have 400.000 eur but get 15% more, the shares should reflect this increase. could you explain further?? - then are you doing an online-transparent accountancy of our money and how you invest it?? Where? As you buy/sell and move that money/crypto we should be able to "see" it's "market value". I mean, do I have to believe when you tell me that today your share value is for example 300 eur??? You should be showing and proving us the market value of your investments, notjust telling us. The only way of doing that is with an on-line proof-of-existance of your assets and investments; an excel sheet with some functions may be fine for you, but shouldn't be enough for your investors. Understand me, I don't mean you are trying to scam; I'm sure you have the best intentions; I'm just making common sense questions on how do we control you move our money, and how do we control if you really win money or loose money. One great thing about crypto is it's transparency and ability to see and control it in real time; there are many opaque-hedge fund in fiat money quite regulated and even like this they keep "scamming" people (see the financial crisis of 2008 with mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDO))... soo...ok you are a crypto hedge fund, so I guess you are going to act in a TRANSPARENT way, unlike the traditional hedge funds, giving your costumers an online minute to minute accountancy of the funds/crypto and assets you are in; and THIS will be ONE of your KEY VALUES. Right?? Am I wrong?The first official Group Match for Pokkén Tournament DX concluded this past Monday, with hundreds of players competing for one of the top 100 spots. Players who placed in the top 100 have received their special titles for their accomplishments, so if you managed to snag a top 100 spot, go check out your new title! You can find the results for the top 100 of the FSBC Aura Blast Cup below. We will also be posting about the 2nd official Group Match - the FSBC Shining Feather Cup - later today, so be sure to check back later! There will be a couple differences, including a new participation prize and a different format (Team Battle)! Editor's Note: It has been brought to my attention that there were separate Groups for European and Japanese players, which is why there are only North American players in these rankings. Please note that these results are for the North American version of the FSBC Aura Blast Cup specifically! FSBC Aura Blast Cup - Top 100 1. ALLISTER Wins: 399 Location: United States 2. AqUa_iGamer Wins: 388 Location: United States 3. Mins Wins: 352 Location: United States 4. SmashSteve Wins: 342 Location: Canada 5. Combo Wins: 335 Location: United States 6. Almazar Wins: 320 Location: United States 7. Dream_Ninja Wins: 307 Location: United States 8. H2WhoAreYou Wins: 302 Location: United States 9. Combo Wins: 300 Location: United States 10. Cecily Wins: 288 Location: United States 11. kalonpus Wins: 274 Location: United States 12. Valei Wins: 250 Location: United States 13. Forest Wins: 247 Location: United States 14. Sir_Salty Wins: 194 Location: United States 15. Spooky Wins: 160 Location: United States 16. SilverSui Wins: 150 Location: United States 17. ProGroupie Wins: 146 Location: United States 18. Ben Wins: 135 Location: United States 19. WonderChef Wins: 131 Location: United States 20. BooBooJeffries Wins: 129 Location: United States 21. SereneSuicune Wins: 126 Location: United States 21. [REDACTED] Wins: 126 Location: United States 23. TheD4nkKnyte Wins: 120 Location: United States 24. ToSh1KuB Wins: 119 Location: United States 25. Obs Wins: 117 Location: Canada 25. DegabaKitten Wins: 117 Location: United States 27. Psyanide Wins: 111 Location: United States 28. UndercoverDave Wins: 104 Location: United States 29. [REDACTED] Wins: 101 Location: United States 29. DA-MYOOTOO Wins: 101 Location: United States 31. Payne Wins: 91 Location: United States 31. Rodrigo[CL] Wins: 91 Location: United States 33. FortunaTrainer Wins: 90 Location: United States 34. croza7 Wins: 88 Location: United States 35. Kitsu Wins: 79 Location: United States 35. MisterLucky Wins: 79 Location: United States 37. Thulius Wins: 78 Location: United States 37. Feyre Wins: 78 Location: United States 39. McCent Wins: 69 Location: United States 40. Lvs'Way Wins: 67 Location: Canada 40. Fleur Wins: 67 Location: United States 42. Brett Wins: 66 Location: United States 43. Wiggly4Pokken Wins: 63 Location: United States 44. NotONBS Wins: 62 Location: United States 45. [REDACTED] Wins: 60 Location: United States 46. KCGemini Wins: 58 Location: United States 46. WHO?liganFish Wins: 58 Location: United States 48. RoksoTheSavage Wins: 57 Location: United States 48. Duff Wins: 57 Location: United States 50. Slipster Wins: 55 Location: United States 51. SonicNKnux Wins: 54 Location: United States 52. Faith Wins: 53 Location: United States 52. SamSamGaming Wins: 53 Location: Canada 54. Adelvos Wins: 52 Location: Canada 54. BarkJon Wins: 52 Location: United States 54. Midori? Wins: 52 Location: United States 57. grndmspntys Wins: 51 Location: United States 58. Raine Wins: 50 Location: United States 59. DKPRIME Wins: 48 Location: United States 60. Rainforest Wins: 47 Location: United States 61. Drake Wins: 46 Location: Canada 61. RaggedHoodie Wins: 46 Location: United States 63. TheScout Wins: 43 Location: United States 63. Benner Wins: 43 Location: United States 63. Zoom Wins: 43 Location: United States 66. Lupo Wins: 42 Location: United States 66. Angelus Wins: 42 Location: United States 68. Nanaca Wins: 41 Location: Canada 69. Ra1nbow Wins: 40 Location: United States 70. Gandelphox Wins: 38 Location: Canada 71. Zach Wins: 37 Location: United States 72. [REDACTED] Wins: 36 Location: United States 73.? Wins: 35 Location: United States 73. Serket Wins: 35 Location: United States 75. Leaff
break in the first team last campaign, with Monaco in the second division, scoring 6 goals as he helped his side into Ligue 1. 8. Samuel Umtiti Age: 19 years old Club: Lyon Nationality: French Position: Centre Back After years of success at the top, Lyon is going through a transition phase with plenty of focus on blooding the youth. An average squad age of 23.7 is a testament to their youthful policy, with 19-yr-old Samuel Umtiti at the height of it. The Cameroonian born central defender has established himself at the heart of Lyon’s defence, and will continue to be given opportunities this new campaign. Click here to read a detailed Scout Report on Samuel Umtiti 7. Nicolas Isimat-Mirin Age: 21 years old Club: AS Monaco Nationality: French Position: Centre Back Despite his young age, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin has loads of experience at professional level making over 80 first team appearances at his previous club, Valenciennes. The 21-year-old has been linked with some top European clubs, Liverpool most notably. As Monaco’s big money revolution took seed this summer, Isimat-Mirin was a rare young signing made (along with Anthony Martial) as Monaco look to add to their young talents. Manager Ranieri, would have identified the defenders obvious talents, and one can expect much from the Frenchman. 6. Jordan Ayew Age: 21 years old Club: Marsellie Nationality: Ghanaian Position: Striker Jordan Ayew is from a rich football background, with nearly his entire family involved in football professionally. The 21-year-old has been around for quite sometime but is often ignored by the football fraternity. He has already notched up over a 100 appearances for both club & country. Still living in the shadows of his brother Andre in the Marsellie squad, the Ghanaian will be hoping Elie Baup gives him a more regular role in the first-team squad. 5. Kurt Zouma Age: 18 years old Club: Saint Etienne Nationality: French Position: Centre Back Kurt Zouma has been one of the most sought after Ligue 1 players in 2013, with clubs like Manchester United being linked with the 18-year-old. He however has (so far) stayed in France, having already cemented his place in the Saint Etienne first team. A move, however, to a bigger European side is imminent. It’s set to be an intriguing campaign for Les Verts having lost their main man Aubameyang in the summer. Needless to say, Zouma is set to play an important role as Saint Etienne look to maintain their challenge for European spots. Click here to read a detailed Scout Report on Kurt Zouma 4. Marquinhos Age: 19 years old Club: Paris Saint-Germain Nationality: Brazilian Position: Centre Back Marquinhos’ career has erupted over the last one year. After securing a move to the Serie A from Corinthians, stellar performances made top European sides take notice. The mighty Barcelona, among others, were tracking the career of the Brazilian. PSG finally won the race, adding one of the most sought after youngsters to their growing list of talents. One can only hope that the 19-year-old is given regular first-team football as he looks to enhance his career. A tough ask, given PSG’s existing squad list and expectations for the campaign. 3. Lucas Digne Age: 20 years old Club: Paris Saint-Germain Nationality: French Position: Left-Back Second PSG player to feature on the list, is also the second big money young signing the French champions made this summer. Digne is thought to be one of the brightest French talents of the current generation. With plenty of experience at former club, Lille, Digne will not be shy to push for a place this coming campaign. The 20-year-old was being tracked by many clubs, but chose to stay in France and join the revolution. Only time will tell if this is a mutually beneficial move. The future, though, is extremely bright for Digne. 2. Lucas Ocampos Age: 19 years old Club: AS Monaco Nationality: Argentine Position: Winger Another Monaco talent features as the returning club look to make their mark on French and World football. Ocampos was at the 2004 Champions League runners-up before the likes of Falcao made it. The Argentine was a crucial part of the side that gained promotion from Ligue 2, having signed from South American giants, River Plate. The youngster turned 19 only this summer and has his best years ahead of him. A scary thought for the rest of the French league. Despite the star names, Ocampos will continue to be an integral part of Ranieri’s plans; one can expect much from this wonderkid. 1. Florian Thauvin Age: 20 years old Club: Lille Nationality: French Position: Attacking Midfielder Lille’s new signing makes it at the top of our list. Florian Thauvin is an exciting French talent who will be plying his trade in France’s top division. The ex-Bastia man was signed way back in January and loaned back to his original club as a show of goodwill & to get some game time. A move which proved to be beneficial for the 20-year-old. Lille have always been known for possessing talented individuals, assisting them in challenging for European spots. Thauvin will play a vital role in the 13-14 campaign if Lille are to get back to where they want to be. Click here to read a detailed Scout Report on Florian Thauvin Special Mentions It’s always difficult to narrow down a list to just the Top 10. The above talents are the ones (in our opinion) that should be paid attention to. There are however, a couple of others who unfortunately didn’t make the list, but possess the talent nevertheless. Yassine Benzia from Lyon’s young side is one that could have an important season ahead of him, along with Rachid Ghezzal. Adrien Rabiot is one name coming through from PSG that looks to possess some talent; opportunities however may be hard to come by. Kurzawa and Fabinho are two names among Monaco’s elite that are looking to make a name for themselves, while 17-year-old Anthony Martial has also joined the cash-rich club. Bordeaux’s Uruguayan youngster, Diego Rolan, almost made the list while Rennes’ full-back, Dimitri Foulquier also deserves a mention. Nice, as mentioned, are a club with a lot of young talent; Valentin Eysseric has a crucial role to play in the side. Lorient’s new signing, Vincent Aboubakar, has established himself in the Cameroonian national team and looks to make his mark in the French league as well. Ligue 2’s ‘Best Player’ award winner, Gilbert Imbula, joined Marsellie as he looks to play a crucial role in their campaign. PSG’s Jean-Christophe Bahebeck will be out on loan for Valenciennes in 13-14, while Serge Aurier is a bright spark in Toulouse team of youngsters. And finally, Jordan Veretout from Nantes looks like a solid midfielder as well. Stay tuned for more young talents as we look to cover other leagues as well in our quest to follow the development of the best young talents in World football. Top 10 Premier League Talents to Watch-Out For // Mid Season Report Top 10 Bundesliga Talents to Watch-Out For // Mid Season Report Top 10 Serie A Talents to Watch-Out For // Mid Season Report Top 10 La Liga Talents to Watch-Out For // Mid Season Report Is there any other player who we should pay special attention to? Let us know by dropping a comment below. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @OOTB_football and like us on Facebook. We’re on Google+ and Tumblr as well for those interested.Employee killed in robbery at Lee’s Discount Liquor store; witness identified The Lee’s Discount Liquor store employee had his hands in the air; he was complying with the armed assailants; he did not try to flee or fight back, according to Metro Police. The man also did not have access to the store’s safe; he was gunned down Monday night “execution style,” Metro Lt. Dan McGrath said. Three gunmen are seen on surveillance video storming into the store, at 8785 W. Warm Springs Road near Durango Drive, about 9:45 p.m., McGrath said. Two had their weapons drawn. They were seen running out of the store about three minutes later, leaving behind a gravely wounded man with multiple gunshot wounds, McGrath said in a news conference at the store’s shopping center parking lot Tuesday afternoon. The man, only described as being about 25 years old, died at University Medical Center hours after he was shot, McGrath said. Investigators were trying to identify the men, as well as a woman, initially described as a "person of interest," shown on the video. The woman was at the cash register paying for items when the robbers came in and ordered her out of the store, police said. She contacted detectives and "is no longer being sought in connection with this incident and is now only considered a witness," police said Wednesday. The men ran out with an undisclosed amount of cash as well as the victim’s wallet and cellphone, McGrath said. They are seen running west before they disappear from the video. During the news conference, Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson called on anyone who knows anything about the shooting to come forward. He termed the incident an "execution murder … a stupid, stupid murder." Police think the men went into the liquor store intending only to rob it, then became frustrated when they lacked access to the safe, McGrath said. Two other employees who were in the store were cooperating with investigators, as was the store’s owner, McGrath said. McGrath did not disclose details about what happened during the robbery but said there was an exchange of words. "Our family and team members are deeply saddened by last night's tragedy," Hae Un Lee, the liquor store chain's owner, said on Twitter. "We pledge our support to law enforcement in bringing the assailants to justice. Most importantly, we pledge our support and condolences to the family in the sudden loss of their son." Grieving people, who declined comment, gathered about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday in front of the store, where a single white flower and an apple had been placed. More people arrived later and added flower bouquets to the memorial. The three robbers were described as black men in their 20s. The first two stand about 6 feet and weigh about 180 pounds. One wore a white zip-up hooded sweatshirt over a gray hoodie with the gray hood pulled over his head. He also wore gray sweatpants and dark high-top athletic shoes with a white design. He had a gun. The second robber wore a black hooded sweatshirt with a red “UNLV” design, police said. He wore red shoes and jeans. The third robber stands between 5 feet, 8 inches and 6 feet. He weighs between 240 and 260 pounds and was seen wearing a “greenish” hooded sweatshirt. He was armed with a long-barreled revolver. Anyone with information is asked to contact Metro at 702-828-3521 or [email protected] To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555 and crimestoppersofnv.com.Image caption Arthur Montford presented STV's Scotsport programme for 32 years Former Scottish football broadcaster Arthur Montford has died aged 85. He was best known for hosting more than 2,000 episodes of STV's Scotsport programme over a 32-year period from the late 1950s. As well as presentation Montford also carried out football commentaries and wrote about other sports, most notably golf. He died at home after battling illness intermittently over the past couple of years. Image copyright STV Image caption Arthur Montford wearing one of his trademark jackets in the 1960s Montford, who was from Greenock and a lifelong Morton fan, began as a journalist and radio presenter before the opening of the STV studios at the Theatre Royal offered another opportunity. In August 1957, Montford was offered the STV job, but told a recent BBC Scotland programme he needed some convincing. He said: "I hadn't really thought much about it but when he said that my salary would jump from £14 a week to £20 a week, I became extremely interested and I was hired on the spot as the newscaster, sportscaster, continuity announcer and jack of all trades…" During his time on Scotsport, Montford became famous for his trademark sports jackets and classic lines such as "what a stramash!". Having come from a long line of newspapermen, Montford gave credit for his presentation style to his father's influence. He said: "My father told me that no matter how poor the game was, whether you were writing it, describing it on radio, or commentating on it, you must look for something worthwhile to talk about and do not be negative. And it was a thought that I always carried with me".Copyright by WFLA - All rights reserved Cake that was ordered by Jordan Brown. KXAN has decided to blur the last two letters in the third word. (Courtesy: Kaplan Law Firm) Copyright by WFLA - All rights reserved Cake that was ordered by Jordan Brown. KXAN has decided to blur the last two letters in the third word. (Courtesy: Kaplan Law Firm) Claire Ricke \| KXAN - AUSTIN (KXAN) - The lawsuit against Whole Foods for writing a gay slur on a cake has been withdrawn. Jordan Brown apologized to the company for using "the media to perpetuate this story." He said the company did nothing wrong and he wants to apologize for questioning their values, and the bakery associate he questioned in the lawsuit. Brown also said he was sorry for diverting attention away from "real" LGBTQ issues. He ended his statement apologizing to his partner, family, church, and attorney. In April, Brown said he went to Whole Foods for a cake that said "Love Wins," but instead discovered the words "Love Wins F-," an anti-gay slur. Brown claimed the cake was sealed with a sticker when the employee handed it to him. Whole Foods countered the suit claiming the charges were fraudulent. Surveillance video from the grocery store showed Brown buy the cake April 14. A Whole Foods spokesperson said the UPC label was visible on the top of the cake in the video, and moved to the side of the box in the video Brown released. The lawsuit stated Brown did not notice the additional word on the cake until he was at a stop light and looked down at the cake. He claims he left a voicemail to the Whole Foods corporate office but never heard back.A Georgia pastor who generated a firestorm of controversy after he tweeted that “homosexuals got what they deserved” after the deadly massacre at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, was sentenced to 35 years to life for aggravated child molestation Tuesday morning. Shortly after the Pulse nightclub attack, Kenneth Adkins tweeted, “been through so much with these Jacksonville homosexuals that I don’t see none of them as victims. I see them as getting what they deserve.” Adkins, 56, later walked back his comments, saying he wasn’t referring to the shooting victims, but instead his tweet was “strictly meant for the Jacksonville group that has made my life a living hell” since he served on the community discussion panel. He had also fought against the expansion of non-discrimination protections for LGBT people in Jacksonville, Florida, by dressing in drag and making bizarre threats on Facebook, saying, “I am gonna ‘pee’ next to your women in the women’s bathroom and let’s see how y’all feel.” Earlier this month, Adkins was been found guilty of eight counts of child molestation of a young boy and girl who attended his church. Adkins must serve a minimum of 35 years in prison, with the rest served on probation. He also faces up to 20 years for every additional charge, all to run concurrently. Savannah Now adds: He was convicted of grooming two teens — youths he was supposed to be mentoring — to have sexual intercourse first in front of him so he could judge if they were doing it properly to eventually joining in on the acts himself. Last week the jury saw two photographs of Adkins’ penis that he sent his male accuser in 2014. And they saw several electronic messages sent between Adkins and the female.Five of the charges he’s guilty of relate to the female who denied anything of the sort happened. She lived with Adkins and his wife until about a month after his arrest. “She’s in his clutches,” said Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper. “What he has done to that girl is not only criminal, it is deplorable.” The male told the jury last week that Adkins watched them have sex so many times that he lost track. He said the sex — in the presence of Adkins occurred in the church office, at the beach and in Adkins’ car. The male, according to testimony presented during the trial, initially told an Army investigator that his girlfriend was 16 and he was 15 when the activity first began. On the witness stand, the young man said his then-girlfriend was 15. Sixteen is the age of consent in Georgia.This Labor Day most Americans will be taking a break from their bosses, but a small group of employees will be celebrating the fact that they are their own bosses because they belong to workers cooperatives. It’s a democratic working arrangement that seems to be gaining more attention since Occupy Wall Street, although the concept actually goes back to the dawn of the labor movement. The idea made news in June when the New York City Council made the largest pledge of government support for worker cooperative business development in U.S. history by making a $1.2-million investment in such initiatives. “Obviously, cooperatives didn’t just come out of Occupy Wall Street,” said Brendan Martin, founding director of The Working World, a Manhattan-based nonprofit organization that provides investment capital and technical support for worker cooperatives. “But it did help focus people’s energy and attention on alternatives… The whole movement was about questioning aspects of our economic system and who owns what. One of the key problems is how few own so much!” One lively offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street was the creation of OccuCopy, a workers cooperative in Brooklyn, which started with a small group camped out in Zucotti Park who had discovered they had similar interests. Now it’s renamed Radix Media, a “full-service commercial print shot” with three members. It’s also a union shop—part of the Teamsters Local 1, the Amalgamated Lithographers of America. Their big project right now is helping the People’s Climate March produce material to publicize its nationwide event Sept. 21. “We do a ton of stuff,” explained Lantz Arroyo, who was born in Rockville Centre and lived in Hempstead until he was four. But he got interested in workers cooperatives while he was living in Portland, Ore., before moving to New York City and joining up with his co-workers last summer. He loves the working arrangement. “We’re not working for someone else and getting paid low wages while someone at the top is making more,” he told the Press. “We do find ourselves working on our days off and having meetings on our days off, but I think it’s definitely more fulfilling. It’s a great model for people who want to have a livelihood but don’t want to just make someone else rich while they’re struggling every day.” WORKERS UNITE All told, there are 29,284 cooperatives in the United States, excluding housing co-ops, but only 223 are directly worker-owned, according to John Duda, communications coordinator of the Democracy Collaborative, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group, which promotes this worker-owned business model. The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), a national organization established in 2004, estimates that there are 300-400 worker-owned co-ops and “democratic workplaces” in the United States, employing 2,500-3,500 workers. A 2012 study by the Democracy At Work Institute, a USFWC affiliate, found that 71 percent of worker co-ops have fewer than 15 members. The largest worker co-op in the country happens to be the Cooperative Home Care Associates in the Bronx, which has 1,100 “worker-owners” out of it 2,300 employees, according to the USFWC. “Cooperatives are a bigger part of the economy than most people realize,” Duda told the Press. “You’re talking about organizations that are democratically owned and controlled by their members. Those can be purchasing cooperatives, banking cooperatives, agricultural cooperatives, housing cooperatives, or worker cooperatives.” Add in credit unions and employee-owned companies, and “about 130 million people in the U.S. are in cooperatives,” said Duda. “There’s 6 million more people in employee-owned companies in the United States than there are in labor unions in the private sector.” Here on Long Island, the Bethpage-based Peerless Electronics became an employee-owned company as of May 30, 2012, when the Employees Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) acquired 100 percent of the company from the estate of the late owner, Alvin M. Shankman, who had owned the firm privately since 1945. In a press release, Robert Levine, president and chief financial officer, wrote: “In today’s economic and business environment, it is especially important to note that we have secured the employee positions, maintained jobs on Long Island and will continue to be a strong business partner with our customers and suppliers.” Peerless preserved its hierarchical structure, but the transition also kept the company alive. Duda says that creating worker cooperatives generally offers a better approach to economic development than typical government policy. “You don’t give a corporate tax subsidy to somebody and hope they’ll create some jobs that will pay a living wage,” said Duda. “You give it to people who are running a democratically owned business. They tend not to vote to dissolve themselves or ‘offshore’ themselves.” Subsidizing corporations, Duda said, “didn’t actually deliver the goods. We have greater inequality today than we did a couple of decades ago.” Duda said that the New York City Council’s $1.2 million budget initiative to fund worker cooperative development targeted at low-income communities was a great step forward. “Folks without assets don’t have the equity to start a business, so how do you get them those assets in a way that doesn’t exploit them?” Duda said. “Our organization focuses on how do we get worker cooperatives the business that they need? How do you build a larger framework for local policy that says: ‘Ok, we’ve got hospitals and universities; they spend billions of dollars a year, but they spend it outside the communities that they’re a part of.” MEET THE NEW BOSS The co-op concept is certainly getting wider attention, here and elsewhere. “Our board had a huge discussion about cooperatives” last year, said Long Island Progressive Coalition Director Lisa Tyson. “They’re awesome!” Her group is not-for-profit, so the business model doesn’t apply, but she thinks more people should consider it. “When businesses are threatened, it’s a great way to keep the business alive and have the workers take on a different role,” she said. Tyson said her group didn’t know of any functioning worker co-ops on Long Island. Attempts by the Press to find them in Nassau and Suffolk also came up empty. Out in the Rockaways, it’s a different story, where two workers cooperatives are thriving—with more on the way. “I think we’re planting the seeds for what could be a big change,” said Scott Trumbull, project officer for the Working World. He’s been involved in helping set up La Mies Bakery, which has four employees, and Roca Mia Construction, which has five. In the planning stages are a landscaping cooperative and a taxi service. Of course, raising capital is the biggest hurdle for any business, let alone a cooperative. Thanks to the New York City Council’s recent $1.2 million pledge, the Working World got a $230,000 grant, which will have a direct impact on future cooperative development in Far Rockaway, Trumbull said. What differentiates their investment strategy from a typical start-up loan is that “we assume the risk,” he explained. “We only recover our money from the profits the co-op generates,” he said. That’s why they are very rigorous with the co-ops they commit to helping. “One of the most important things in co-ops is to have a really strong set of rules to guide the cooperative,” said Trumbull. “When someone is doing something that is not right, you can say, ‘Hey, this is not in compliance with the rules that we ALL agreed upon.’…It’s a big switch from being accountable to the boss to being accountable to the whole group.” So what does a worker co-op do on Labor Day? “We respect it!” said Trumbull with a laugh. “We will not be working!”Congressional Democrats and the White House yesterday settled on a plan to rush $15 billion in emergency loans to the cash-strapped Detroit automakers and were working into the night to resolve final disputes over the conditions the government should attach to the money. Under the plan, unveiled by Democratic leaders, the Treasury Department would cut checks for the car companies as soon as next week. The proposal also calls for President Bush to name a "car czar" to manage a vast restructuring of the firms and restore them to profitability. Democrats bent to the will of the president on several key demands, most notably in agreeing that the emergency funding would be drawn from an existing loan program aimed at promoting fuel-efficient technologies. Still, the White House objected yesterday to several elements of the Democratic proposal, congressional aides said, including requirements that the car companies notify Washington of any transaction of more than $25 million and that they pull out of lawsuits against states seeking to enforce tougher tailpipe-emissions standards. Under the proposal, the car companies would be required to submit detailed plans for restructuring by March 31, when they would be eligible for additional government assistance. The Bush administration was pressing to strengthen those provisions to make clear that only companies that were either financially viable or taking steps to achieve viability could receive more federal cash. In a statement, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the two sides had "made a lot of progress in recent days" and that discussions were continuing over how to "help automakers restructure and achieve long-term viability." "Long-term financing must be conditioned on the principle that taxpayers should only assist automakers executing a credible plan for long-term viability," Perino said. Appearing briefly before reporters, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Democrats, too, are determined to force changes in the domestic auto industry, which had been losing customers to more nimble foreign competitors even before a deepening recession slashed demand for new cars to the lowest level in 25 years. "Come March 31, it is our hope that there will be a viable automotive industry in our country with transparency and accountability to the taxpayer. We think that is possible," Pelosi said, adding that auto company executives, their employees, their shareholders and their network of local dealers all will be expected to make concessions. "We call this a barbershop," Pelosi said. "Everyone is getting haircuts." Talks continued late yesterday in Pelosi's Capitol Hill offices. Despite the administration's last-minute objections, both sides remained optimistic that a deal could be finalized and quickly presented to lawmakers for a vote. "It is overwhelmingly likely that a bill will be on the president's desk by the end of the week," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, whose staff was taking the lead in drafting the measure.Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. (Luis Robayo, AFP) Bogota - Some 400 000 people in Colombia's bustling port city of Buenaventura lost power Sunday after a key electrical tower was destroyed, an act military officials blamed on Farc rebels. "At 09:45 Buenaventura was left without electrical service," read a statement from the power company, the Energy Enterprise of the Pacific (EPSA). A military overflight located the destroyed electricity tower some 27km from the urban center of Buenaventura, officials said, after two large explosions were reported. The port of Buenaventura, Colombia's largest, handles most of the nation's foreign trade. The attacks notwithstanding, the Marxist rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government are in peace talks dating back to November 2012, to end a decades old civil war. The conflict has killed some 200 000 people and uprooted more than six million since Farc launched its Marxist-inspired guerrilla insurgency in 1964.No surprise: The biggest gainers in overall service jobs are the biggest metros. Greater New York tops the list with more than 381,098 projected new service-class jobs, followed by Los Angeles (249,810), Chicago (225,132), Houston (152,884), Atlanta (135,680), Philadelphia (131,241), Washington, D.C. (127,489), Dallas (125,620), Phoenix (116,437), and Minneapolis (112,892). My colleague Charlotta Mellander of the Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI) used the BLS projections to forecast service-class job growth across U.S. metros based on their current mix of jobs. The map below by Zara Matheson shows the geography of this growth. More than 60 million American workers do this kind of low-wage service work. And by 2020, these jobs are projected to make up more than roughly half of all projected new jobs – 9.7 million, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections. This week, I've been looking at where the jobs will be in America over the next decade. My last post looked at blue-collar jobs. Today I turn the fastest growing job category of all - low-skill service jobs. But job growth is a function of population size; so the next map plots the projected percentage change in service-class jobs for U.S. metros. Using this metric, two Texas metros – Brownsville (16.3 percent) and McAllen (16 percent) – top this list, followed by Mankato, Minnesota (15.8 percent), Duluth, Minnesota (15.8 percent), Goldsboro, North Caroline (15.7 percent), Rochester, Minnesota (15.7 percent), Pittsfield, Massachusetts (15.6 percent), Alexandria, Louisiana (15.2 percent), Waterbury, Connecticut (15 percent), and Johnstown, Pennsylvania (14.9 percent). While no large metros (those with more than one million people) are among the leaders in percentage of service-class job growth, some are projected to do quite well. New York leads the pack with a projected service-class growth of 15.5 percent (ranking 29th out of all metros). It is followed by Hartford, Connecticut (14.3 percent), Rochester, New York (14.2 percent ), Camden, New Jersey (14.2 percent ), Milwaukee, Wisconsin (14.2 percent ), and Detroit, Michigan (14.2 percent). President Barack Obama's current jobs strategy neglects service jobs in favor of manufacturing. That's a prescription for failure. A comprehensive jobs strategy must put service jobs and service workers front and center. The key is to see service-class workers as sources of innovation, continuous improvement, and productivity gains. Research by my Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI) team shows that engaging these workers' skills can simultaneously boost productivity and wages. To do this, Americans may have to consider paying more for services. Henry Ford long ago argued that auto workers should make enough money to afford the cars they made. As part of post-war social contract, which created a broad middle class, blue-collar jobs were elevated to good ones, and Americans collectively all paid a little more for manufactured products. If we want to combat inequality, create millions of good jobs, and make it possible for millions more to enter the middle class, we must do the same for service workers today. In my next post, I will look at the places where you are more likely to find a higher-skill, knowledge-based, creative class job in the future.Pre-Order Album If you follow Dillon Francis on Instagram (which you should…because it’s awesome) you may recall his post with a little tease of a moombathon track. Or maybe you saw him at a mega festival like EDC, and heard the track live? Well for those of you who’ve been waiting to hear the finished version, it’s online and ready to blast. ‘I Can’t Take It’ is the latest preview from his first artist album Money Sucks, Friends Rule, and it’s a big one alright. In the words of Francis himself, the song is about, “everyone needing to stop pidgeonholing producers into one genre, and also about the fucking Taco Bell on Beverley constantly running out of Fire Hot Sauce because I can’t fucking take it no more!” Well to be honest then, we kinda have to thank that Taco Bell for running out hot sauce because this is pretty freaking huge. A simple intro with a punchy kick and plucky melody, leads into a heavily distorted “I can’t take it no more” vocal, which is pitch-bent like crazy through the build up; the drop is different from the in-progress Instagram preview, but is much cleaner and has an certain attitude about it that practically screams…well…”I can’t take it.” If you’re lovin’ what you’re hearing, pre-order his debut album on iTunes. Better still, if you wanna see him live, Dillon has a huge North American tour going on, that’s going to run through to the new year. For more information and tickets, head over to the official website.Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2 details Episode and other mode additions A new set of screenshots released. Arc System Works has shared the latest information and screenshots of the console version of Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2, introducing its Episode Mode additions and various other modes. Get the details below. ■ Episode Scenarios “Episodes” are character-specific episodes told with full voice-overs. Episodes have been added for Jam Kuradoberi, Raven, Kum Haehyun, Dizzy, Baiken, and Answer. ■ All Sorts of Modes and Content M.O.M. Mode Collect medals, and customize and strengthen characters in M.O.M. Mode. New items have also been added. Combo Mode Learn how to unleash special moves and consecutive techniques for each character in Combo Mode. Challenges also support the new version along with changes to battle balance. Mission Mode Practice your fighting game techniques and each character’s counter-measures in Mission Mode. Counter-measures have been added for new characters Answer and Baiken, too. Avatar Different variations of head characters for your online avatar that can be used in the lobby and player matches have been added. A great number of emotion patterns have also been added. Guilty Gear Xrd: Rev 2 is based on the content of Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator, but adds various new elements including two new characters (Baiken and Answer), new stages, new moves, new motions, and more. In Japan, it will launch for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 on May 25. In North America and Europe, it is planned for release in 2017. A PC version is also announced, but has yet to be dated. View the screenshots at the gallery.We're trying something different than a predictably spooky Halloween offering this year by putting an exciting new twist on the October holiday event. Add new trees, an awe-inspiring Sixth Age quest and level 90 ranger gear into the mix and you’ve got an update month that'd cheer up even Death himself! Lumbridge Rebuildathon The October holiday event - free players and members It’s the first ever rebuildathon! Since the explosive encounter between Saradomin and Zamorak, Lumbridge has suffered horrific damage to its once-majestic castle and surrounding walls. A group of local builders, led by Foreman George, have decided to do the right thing and rebuild it. Naturally, they'll need a community of hardy adventurers to help them dismantle the abandoned war camps and reclaim the materials needed to fuel the reconstruction effort. Absolutely everyone will be able to join in, earning XP, an emote and even a unique costume from around Lumbridge: Explorer Jack's hat. There's a title for members to earn, too. You’ll be able to see the collaborative effort of the players in full effect as the camps are broken down and buildings slowly raise from the ground, so make sure you get involved and help rebuild the home of RuneScape. As a special, one-day event during RuneFest, players and RuneFest visitors will be able to build something special to pay tribute to the brave warriors who lost their lives during the Battle of Lumbridge. But that won’t be till November - look out for information next month! Elder and Crystal Trees - High-Level Skilling Update High-level skilling update - members only Tired of chopping down magic trees? Irritated by ivy? Feel like smashing the sawmill to splinters? If that sounds like you, then worry not, for there are two brand-new trees for the most worthy of woodcutters to branch out to this month. Elder trees (accessible at level 90 Woodcutting) can be felled for rare elder logs, which are used in a variety of skilling activities. Make new elder shortbows and shieldbows (level 60 - or 65 with a sight - to wield) with your Fletching skill (level 90 and 95 respectively) or even burn them (level 90) for great Firemaking XP. You’ll be able to sell them too, of course, which will be a great new way for woodcutters to earn precious GP. Crystal trees can be chopped by level 94 woodcutters. These trees can never be fully cut down, but the crystal formations that sprout up around them give the best Woodcutting XP rates in the game when shattered! You’ll need to hunt them down, though. There are a few nice surprises for elven-eyed players to spot along the way, and the chance to break off a crystal geode, which can contain valuable gems, crystal seeds or crystal triskelions. Both of these trees act slightly differently in-game, so new tactics and collaborations will need to be created to get the most out of
, sensors use these signals to receive input about your finger. But the UW engineers devised a way to use these signals as output that corresponds to data contained in a password or access code. When entered on a smartphone, data that authenticates your identity can travel securely through your body to a receiver embedded in a device that needs to confirm who you are. Their process employs a sequence of finger scans to encode and transmit data. Performing a finger scan correlates to a 1-bit of digital data and not performing the scan correlates to a 0-bit. The technology could also be useful for secure key transmissions to medical devices such as glucose monitors or insulin pumps, which seek to confirm someone’s identity before sending or sharing data. The team achieved bit rates of 50 bits per second on laptop touchpads and 25 bits per second with fingerprint sensors — fast enough to send a simple password or numerical code through the body and to a receiver within seconds. This represents only a first step, the researchers say. Data can be transmitted through the body even faster if fingerprint sensor manufacturers provide more access to their software. The research was funded by the Intel Science and Technology Center for Pervasive Computing, a Google faculty award and the National Science Foundation. For more information, contact the research team at onbody@cs.washington.edu.Mohammed al-Gherari lost five family members, including a young niece and nephew, when NATO accidentally struck their compound in the Libyan capital as they slept. Nearly a year later, his grief is compounded by threats and allegations from neighbors who believe he and others who survived the attack were harboring a regime loyalist or hiding weapons for Moammar Gaddafi's forces. At least 72 civilians, a third of them under the age of 18, were killed by airstrikes, according to a report released Monday by Human Rights Watch — one of the most extensive investigations into the issue. The New York-based advocacy group called on the Western alliance to acknowledge the casualties and compensate survivors. 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. The decision by the United States and its allies to launch an air campaign that mainly targeted regime forces and military infrastructure marked a turning point in Libya's civil war, giving rebels a fighting chance. But Gaddafi's government and allies in Russia and China criticized the alliance for going beyond its UN mandate to protect civilians. The number of Libyans killed or injured in airstrikes also emerged as a key issue in the war as Gaddafi's regime frequently exaggerated figures and refused to comment on most claims, insisting all targets were military. At one point, Libya's Health Ministry said 856 civilians had been killed in's campaign, which began in March 2011, weeks after the uprising against Gaddafi that erupted with peaceful protests evolved into a civil war. The UN-appointed International Commission of Inquiry on Libya said earlier this year that at least 60 civilians had been unintentionally killed and recommended further investigation. Based on investigations conducted in Libya from August 2011 through this April, Human Rights Watch established that 28 men, 20 women and 24 children — 72 civilians in all — had been killed in eight bombings in Tripoli, Zlitan, Sorman, Bani Walid, Gurdabiya and Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte. The advocacy group acknowledged the figure was relatively low considering the extent of the seven-month campaign, which the alliance has said included 9,600 strike missions and destroyed about 5,900 military targets. It ended after Gaddafi's death in late October. The group said it had documented several cases in which there clearly was no military target and criticized for failing to acknowledge the deaths or to examine how and why they occurred. In Brussels, said it had carried out the bombing campaign with "unprecedented care and precision" and had fulfilled the requirements of international humanitarian law. " did everything possible to minimize risks to civilians, but in a complex military campaign, that risk can never be zero," spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said on Monday. "We deeply regret any instance of civilian casualties for which may have been responsible." She said the alliance had looked into each allegation of civilian casualties. "We have reviewed all the information we hold as an organization and confirmed that the specific targets struck by were legitimate military targets," Lungescu said. The alliance did not have troops on the ground during or after the conflict who could have independently checked the results of its airstrikes. HRW recommended that make public information about the intended military targets in cases where civilians were wounded or killed and provide "prompt and appropriate compensation" to families who suffered from the attacks. The strike against al-Gherari's compound on June 19, 2011, was a rare case in which the Brussels-based alliance admitted it had made a mistake. "It appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure which may have caused a number of civilian casualties," said in a statement. The Libyan government rushed a group of foreign journalists based in Tripoli to the site, eager to use the deaths as propaganda against the West. Children's toys, teacups and dust-covered mattresses could be seen amid the rubble, and the journalists were shown the bodies of at least four people said to have been killed in the strike, including the two young children. Al-Gherari said government officials disappeared shortly after the fanfare ended and the family received no compensation or financial assistance from either side. Meanwhile the acknowledgment, which did not provide details, failed to satisfy neighbors who continued to accuse the family of harboring a regime figure. "I want to present a full explanation that the reason was a mistake because we're still facing accusations that Gaddafi or a higher regime figure was there and that's why our house was targeted," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. He said five people were killed, including his 2-year-old nephew and a 7-month-old niece. Lungescu, the spokeswoman, said the June 19 strike targeted a missile site in Tripoli but that one weapon malfunctioned and was unable to determine where it landed. "A review concluded it was possible that the failed weapon may have hit the house of the al-Gherari's family, which was not the intended target," she said. Human Rights Watch said it visited the site in the Souk el-Juma neighborhood in August and December and "did not see any evidence of military activity such as weapons, ammunition or communications equipment." It also said satellite imagery showed no signs of military activity at the home. The deadliest attack recorded by the rights group was in the rural village of Majer, south of the former rebel stronghold of Zlitan. The first bomb hit a large, two-story house owned by Ali Hamid Gafez, a 61-year-old farmer. It was crowded with people who had fled the fighting in nearby areas. That was followed by three more bombs that killed 34 people killed, including many who had rushed to the site to help after the earlier explosions. Human Rights Watch said it visited the area the day after the Aug. 8, 2011, strikes and found no evidence of military activity, although it did find one military-style shirt in the rubble. "I'm wondering why they did this, why just our houses," one of the residents, Muammar al-Jarud, was quoted as saying in the report. "We'd accept it if we had tanks or military vehicles around, but we were completely civilians and you can't just hit civilians." AP We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. At The Independent, no one tells us what to write. That’s why, in an era of political lies and Brexit bias, more readers are turning to an independent source. Subscribe from just 15p a day for extra exclusives, events and ebooks – all with no ads. Subscribe nowPlease enable Javascript to watch this video MADISON (WITI) -- Skyward is a data-collection software program created in Stevens Point -- and utilized within school districts in the state. It allows parents and administrators to view detailed information about students -- including what they eat for lunch. Now, Skyward is looking to take its operation to Texas, after state lawmakers opened the contract up for other vendors -- and ultimately selected Skyward's competitor, a Minnesota-based company to provide this data-collection service. Skyward says the whole process was unfair -- as lawmakers defend their decision. Lunch at Nicolet High School in Glendale involves pizza, pasta and pin numbers. There is no need for lunch money inside the Nicolet cafeteria, as students use a bar code on their student ID cards to pay. As the items ring up, the student's photo and information about what they are eating appears on a screen in the cafeteria, and their homes if their parents want to make sure their children are making healthy choices. "I, as a parent can go over to food service literally the minute after they go through that lunch line," one parent told FOX6 News. In the office, using the same software, secretaries deal with attendance, health records, grades and more. It is a one-stop shop for student information -- a system called "Skyward." This system allowed Nicolet to consolidate nine different computer programs into one software system. Skyward is based in Stevens Point and was founded in 1980 by Jim King. "Once a school district started to use our software, they would tell their friends, other school districts and it just mushroomed," King said. Today, more than half of Wisconsin school districts use Skyward software, as do 1,400 other school districts in 18 states and five other countries. "We've sold our software in China, we've sold it in Argentina. Isn't it ironic we can't sell it in Wisconsin?" King said. That irony is turning into agony for the company's founder. Right now, each school district can find the best software for itself. However, in 2011, state officials changed that -- wanting to come up with a way for all of Wisconsin's public schools to have a uniform standard of collecting data. "The Legislature and the governor with my support said in order to create the best efficiency and the best data system in the state of Wisconsin, we need to have a single vendor, go out and get a bid," State Superintendent Tony Evers said. The theory was: the only way to measure academic achievement across the state was to have uniform reports from all of the school districts. "It was really just to try to have a system that the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI) had to make an apples-to-apples comparison of student achievement across the state," Gov. Scott Walker said. To achieve that, the state DPI, led by IT specialist Kurt Kiefer believed there needed to be just one student information system, and it would be awarded in a "winner-takes-all" kind of competition -- a request for proposal, known by the acronym "RFP." "They based their decision on one system not having to talk to any other system," King said. Therefore, Skyward, already in more than half of the state's school districts would have to compete for the same business all over again -- only this time, it wouldn't be the schools picking, but instead, a group of state "experts." "That to me is a stab in the back to a Wisconsin company," King said. This, despite the fact that King's customers were happy, as shown by Skywards 98% retention rate. "The technical management at DPI created this problem for whatever reason. We think it was to eliminate Skyward from doing business in Wisconsin," King said. Skyward sees a more sinister motive. It had captured business from schools that had once been a near monopoly of the CESAS (Cooperative Educational Service Agencies), which were founded to share staff and equipment between schools. "We literally took their entire customer base and moved them under Skyward. It has ticked them off to the point where they will do anything to get rid of us. They can't beat us in the free open market," King said. The open market is one thing, but the state Capitol is another. The state's Joint Finance Committee okayed the project, even after serious questions were raised by lawmakers. "There's a lack of trust that a single vendor is going to be best for the taxpayer," Rep. Cory Mason (D - Racine) said. Mason pointedly asked Kiefer why he was pushing a single vendor system. The process was supposed to be open for any company to make a proposal, but documents show that in 2012, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation had attempted to steer the bid towards Skyward -- offering tax breaks, but the Governor's Office deemed that to be unfair. Therefore, the RFP was restarted, with everyone on an even playing field -- or so it seemed. However, the idea of a single company handling all student information systems in Wisconsin was unsettling to conservatives like Rep. Robin Vos (R - Burlington). He has long advocated free market solutions. "I do not see the benefit. If we can allocate the same cost, but give choices to every school district to say as long as you achieve the same results, I shouldn't care the path you take to get there," Vos said. Vos wanted a multi-vendor approach that would have required all different companies to produce data in a uniform way. Vos asked for a vote to allow for multiple vendors, instead of a single vendor. Yet, in a puzzling twist, all of the "free market" Republicans voted against Vos' wishes. "It goes completely against the Republican platform, what Scott Walker stands for which is a free market economy: open for business, smaller government," Mike Weber, president and CEO of ISCorp said. Meanwhile, King is more upset with the Republicans on the committee who he says backed away from their party's stated goal of letting competition dictate the winners and losers in the free market. "I'd like to ask each one of them -- look 'em in the eye and ask 'em why they did this and why they continue to do this. Nobody has the common sense to stand up and say hold the phone. If nothing else, we are not going to create another monopoly in this state," King said. However, that is just what the Legislature did. On February 1st, the contract was awarded to Infinite Campus -- a Minnesota-based company, and one of Skyward's competitors. Infinite Campus beat Skyward in the RFP process and was judged to be better technology at a lower price. Now, more than two months after the bid was awarded to its rival, Skyward is raising questions about the integrity of the process. A FOX6 examination shows several irregularities, with the RFP's set of requirements broken in both directions, awarding points to Infinite Campus and taking them away from Skyward. "It really comes to question -- the bias of the final five evaluators that were on the evaluation team that were allowed to change all of their scores even though the proposals didn't change," Weber said. Through open records requests, FOX6 News discovered the RFP was initially scored in Skyward's favor, but (and it is unclear why), the same proposals were rejudged and the scored were essentially flipped. "Skyward actually won the scoring by about 300 or 400 points. After the rescore happened, Skyward lost by over 1,400 points, so there was a swing of 1,700-1,800 points on a scale of 10,000 where the vendors actually changed positions," Weber said. "Other things we noticed in the proposal is 73 times the selected vendor was scored higher than the maximum points allowed -- 73 times. 139 times Skyward was not given the minimum amount of points they deserved based on the rubrics associated to their evaluation process," King said. A half-dozen phone calls to Infinite Campus went unreturned. The Department of Administration refuses to explain why that happened -- and the department operates under the authority of Scott Walker, who defends it. "The process was set up to protect the public from people in office from picking people who are political allies or personal friends out there. What they said is you need to have an objective clear standard. They followed that," Gov. Walker said. Weber founded ISCorp, which warehouses data for Skyward. He stands to lose nearly $1 million a year in the deal and did his own audit of what happened. "In over 40 cases, Skyward didn't even get the minimum score for what they actually had, and that really started to trouble me," Weber said. The question was why? Why would the Legislature award a state contract to an out-of-state company -- one that was more expensive and less secure, and one that had a track record of failure in Maine and other states? Especially when a Wisconsin company was already working well for half the state. "They were duped. They were duped by Kurt Kiefer, when Kurt Kiefer is telling them all the great things about a single vendor -- telling them that all these other states are doing -- this was a lie. It was not debated by anybody with any technical background like myself or any of my staff. So these politicians, why would they doubt the head IT guy of the DPI?" King said. Weber agrees that the evidence points to Kiefer. "Certainly, Kurt Kiefer had an agenda. He had a preferred vendor. When he didn't get his result the first time around, they rescored," Weber said. Before Kiefer became the Assistant State Superintendent, he was the superintendent of the Madison School District, where he had done business with Infinite Campus -- even appearing on the company's website, endorsing the product. "In my opinion, Kurt Kiefer was still promoting the Infinite Campus product while he was Assistant Superintendent to the state of Wisconsin and while he was writing, constructing and editing his white papers for why Wisconsin should go to a single vendor. Again, the DPI basically chose because they controlled the RFP process," Weber said. Evers is Kiefer's boss, and Evers defends Kiefer's actions. "That was when he worked for the Madison School District. When he worked for us he wasn't advocating for any of it, and he wasn't part of the decision-making with the Dept. of Administration, so no. I don't think he influenced it at all," Evers said. Kiefer argued passionately for the single vendor system before the Joint Finance Committee. "It definitely to me looks like collusion. Certainly the person who has written all the white papers being Kurt Kiefer who is the Assistant Superintendent of the Department of Instruction -- he's the one who wrote all the facts of why it should go single vendor," Weber said. King believes the process was rigged from the moment it started. "He will deny he had anything to do with this. It's ludicrous. It's ridiculous. For him to be involved and literally heading up this selection process with his biases against us and for Infinite Campus is just, that in itself should just throw this whole thing out," King said. Now, more than 200 school districts are facing a technology transition, and trying to find the money to do it. "I don't get why we need to have a single system for the whole state, where the districts and the state are using the same system," John Reiels, the Technology Director at Nicolet High School said. Reiles uses the analogy of department stores. Kohl's and T.J. Maxx may look different and operate differently on the retail floor, but in back, both have standardized loading docks, so trucks can move products in and out. That same idea, he says, could apply to data collection. Different companies, like Skyward and Infinite Campus could co-exist in the marketplace, and the state could take data through a uniform digital "loading dock." "Let's build a loading dock that's standardized, but not rebuild the whole structure," Relies said. It was just three years ago that Nicolet converted to Skyward, at a cost of $70,000. That whole investment would be lost. More is at stake in Stevens Point, where Skyward employs 280 people. The company was planning to add a $20 million facility and 600 employees over 10 years. "Our intent was to build a $20 million facility here in Stevens Point. Our roots are in Stevens Point. We want to stay in Stevens Point," King said. Now, the company will almost certainly move to Texas. "The consequence of this decision standing is number one: Jim King will lose all confidence in our political and administrative leadership in this state. The other consequence is Jim King will pick up and leave this state because if I can't sell my product in Wisconsin, I'd be a fool to stay in Wisconsin," King said. Superintendent Evers denies any special favors. Gov. Walker says it was a DPI-led process, and he believes the process was "above-board." "I do. The person who oversaw it, the third-party observer was a legal consult for Jim Doyle, a Democrat, so there's no political allegiance to us. She looked at the process as part of the review. They've added yet another third-party reviewer for that," Gov. Walker said. Nearly a dozen phone calls to Minnesota-based Infinite Campus were not returned. Its chief operating officer is a former Republican staffer for a U.S. senator on Capitol Hill, who has faced ethics charges. He had also gone around Wisconsin giving presentations at Infinite Campus user meetings using cherished University of Wisconsin "Motion W" logo in a slide that read WTF, as he criticized Skyward. "I wouldn't want that man in charge of every one of the school districts in Wisconsin. That to me is about as unprofessional as it gets," King said. King has filed a protest with the DPI, but is still waiting for answers. This is the only answer he's getting from the state: "If I had a magic wand, I'd love to say let's keep it in Wisconsin" (Tony Evers). "One of the questions going forward is, is this the way we're going to do it and are we going to have multiple vendors? That might be something to look at in the future as long as the data comparison is apples-to-apples," Gov. Walker said. "I wish some politicians would have whatever it takes to stand up and say no. We are not going to allow this to happen. I don't think (Gov. Walker) could look me in the eye and say Wisconsin's open for business," King said. "Would I prefer it to be a company from Wisconsin in this case? Absolutely. But, that's not what the rules are. That's not what the process is. We're obligated via the law to follow the objective measures that were laid out in advance of this," Gov. Walker said.Speaking today to members of the VFW, President Obama criticized Republican opponents of the Iran nuclear deal, saying they echo the mind-set of hawks that led the US into a major war in Iraq last decade, and saying diplomacy was a more responsible solution. Virtually the whole Republican leadership in Congress is opposed to the pact, and awash in lobbying from Israeli groups, they intend to try to get a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress to try to block the deal outright. The White House has warned that if Congress does manage to do this, the US sanctions regime will be almost impossible to get back in place, as US credibility will suffer enormously from them agreeing to and then disavowing the nuclear deal. They have also warned blocking the deal would increase the chances of war. While it is unlikely Congress can must the two-thirds majority, raising the chances of war with Iran seems very much the point for many hawks, who see a US war against Iran, on Israel’s behalf, as an end unto itself. Last 5 posts by Jason DitzYesterday our new Star Wars overlords announced that they are going to make spin-off movies set in a time or place unrelated to the new trilogy focusing on particular characters. News sources then printed rumors that the focus would be a young Han Solo in one movie, and Boba Fett in another. We’ve had arguments about the merits of Boba Fett here before, so I’m not going to get into that. The point is, there is no official word yet. We are free to speculate! A Rogue Squadron movie would probably have the most potential in terms of character development, intrigue, and action. An elite group of fighter pilots going up against impossible odds to liberate world’s from the Empire in the Galaxy after Return of the Jedi. Doesn’t that just sound awesome? They made a bunch of books about it and they were fantastic (not to mention the video games). The problem, of course, is that Wedge Antilles (the commander of Rogue Squadron) is not exactly the name you headline movies with. He helped out in all the critical moments (the first Death Star, the Hoth snow battle, the second Death Star), but I think the average person would not know who he is. Do you even know? As far as the Lando movie, his story is two heavily tied in with Han Solo. And if they’re making a movie with Han in it, you can bet he’ll be the star. I’m still holding out for that buddy comedy though. Maybe Disney is holding River Pheonix in cryo-freeze to play a young Harrison Ford again. Or maybe they’ll just use Shia LaBeouf.Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee speaks during a news conference on Jan. 5 File, Brandy Baker, AP Photo/Detroit News (CBS) DETROIT - Detroit Mayor Dave Bing suspended the city's police chief Tuesday amid allegations of a sexual relationship with another officer. This is the second time in two years that a Detroit police chief has been embroiled in a sex scandal, CBS Detroit reports. "After learning of the allegations regarding Chief Ralph Godbee, I have placed him on a 30-day suspension pending a full and thorough investigation of this matter," Bing said in a released statement. Godbee, 44, was allegedly involved in an affair with 37-year-old Angelica Robinson, an internal affairs officer for the Detroit Police Department. Her attorney stated that his client was trying to cut off the relationship and that Godbee "didn't like that." Robinson's attorney told The Associated Press that Godbee had officers locate Robinson and put her under surveillance after she posted a photo of herself on Twitter with her service gun in her mouth. Robinson, who is married, allegedly posted the picture after learning Godbee was at a weekend conference with another woman. Godbee, who is separated from his wife, became police chief two years ago following Chief Warren Evans' resignation after his relationship with a subordinate, Lt. Monique Patterson, was revealed. It was later learned that Godbee also had a romantic relationship with Patterson before she dated Evans, according to CBS Detroit. Bing appointed Assistant Chief Chester Logan to assume the duties and responsibilities of police chief during Godbee's suspension. Robinson was reassigned to other duties and doesn't have use of her service weapon.New Judicial Watch Docs Reveal State Department Made Deal With Hillary Clinton to Keep Call Log, Schedules SECRET Thank God for Judicial Watch. Conservative watch dog group Judicial Watch released Thursday new State Department documents revealing then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin were permitted to remove records under a claim they were “personal” records including Hillary’s call log and schedules which were not allowed to be made public. The documents show the Obama State Department records would not be “released to the general public under FOIA.” Judicial Watch reported. The Muslim Brotherhood mole, Huma Abedin was also allowed to remove 5 boxes of “physical files” out of the State Department including records described as “Muslim Engagement Documents.” Via Judicial Watch: (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released new U.S. Department of State documents showing former Secretary Hillary Clinton and her then-Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin were permitted to remove electronic and physical records under a claim they were “personal” materials and “unclassified, non-record materials,” including files of Clinton’s calls and schedules, which were not to be made public. The documents show the Obama State Department records would not be “released to the general public under FOIA.” The new records also show that Huma Abedin was allowed to take five boxes of “physical files” out of the State Department that include records described as “Muslim Engagement Documents.” Judicial Watch obtained the reports about the records from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for: Any and all DS-1904 (Authorization for the Removal of Personal Papers and Non-Record Materials) forms completed by, or on behalf of, any of the following individuals: Former Secretary Hillary Clinton Former Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills Former Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin Former Deputy Chief of Staff Jacob Sullivan The documents include a list of official and personal calls and schedules that Clinton removed, which carry a special notation that the documents were not to be made public records. The notation is on an addendum to a DS-1904 signed by Clarence N. Finney Jr., then-director of the Office of Correspondence and Records, who was the reviewing officer. (Judicial Watch has a pending request for the deposition of Finney in separate litigation concerning Clinton emails and the Benghazi terrorist attack.): President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton had this to say about the new documents from the State Department: “We already know the Obama State Department let Hillary Clinton steal and then delete her government emails, which included classified information. But these new records show that was only part of the scandal. These new documents show the Obama State Department had a deal with Hillary Clinton to hide her calls logs and schedules, which would be contrary to FOIA and other laws. When are the American people going to get an honest investigation of the Clinton crimes?” Hillary Clinton continues to commit crimes and get away with it while an innocent President Trump is hunted down by dirty cop Mueller and his team of liberal hacks. Truly disgusting. These new documents show the Obama State Dept had a deal with Hillary Clinton to hide her calls logs and schedules, which would be contrary to FOIA and other laws. When are the American people going to get an honest investigation of the Clinton crimes? https://t.co/WGIdpe9CeK — Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 14, 2017 Why are these two still walking around freely?Yemen is, again, leaderless. Last week, on the day Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah passed away, the president of Yemen Abdrabu Mansur Hadi and his entire government resigned. That was a smart move. Mr Hadi is a calculating politician, far better than his stone-faced public persona suggests. By resigning, he has placed total responsibility for what now happens in Sanaa and the north in the hands of the Houthi rebels. This is clever, but risky politics. In addition to the very obvious military battle engulfing the capital, there is also a public relations battle taking place in the country. The Houthis, a rebel militia from the north that took over the capital in September, have sought to present themselves as the true defenders of the revolution, while working behind the scenes to consolidate power. By resigning, Mr Hadi is ensuring the Houthis will no longer be able to claim victories as their own and pin failures on the central government. If the political process is gridlocked, if Sanaa is unstable, if the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh appears to have renewed influence, that will be the fault of the Houthis, not of Mr Hadi. Yemenis, then, may soon fall out of love with the Houthis. And this is a crucial element. Because the Houthi takeover had many fathers, but one of the chief was the willingness of too many Yemenis to accept their control in return for support on political issues like subsidies. For that they must shoulder some blame. Yemenis must recognise that constantly shifting alliances to gain temporary advantage, at the expense of the broader national interest is harming the entire country. This is the Lebanese disease, and it has wrought havoc with that country. Long-term, the interest of all Yemenis is in a stable government, even if, in a country of limited resources, it seems easier to grasp whatever power is on offer. Constantly shifting alliances have allowed space for three groups to gain influence in Yemen – the Houthis, Al Qaeda and the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, all three of whom most Yemenis would be happy to be rid of. It has also allowed a space for Iranian influence, an influence that is drawing both the Houthis and Mr Saleh into political alignment. Yemenis were shocked this month at a leaked phone-call between Mr Saleh and Houthi leaders, in which they coordinated military and political strategy. But they should not be: Mr Saleh has never given up his view that he is the legitimate ruler of the country, regardless of what millions of Yemenis and the Gulf states think. The end game for Iran is obvious. No one should be in any doubt what “solution” Tehran and Mr Saleh seek. By allowing the Houthis to destabilise the capital, Mr Saleh hopes to emerge, once again, as the only guarantor of stability, the only man who can charm the snakes of Yemen. It will not be him who wields power, but his son, so the dynasty will remain. For Tehran, having the Houthis inside the Yemeni political tent will give them veto power over what Sanaa does. The Yemeni state is not failing, but it is being reshaped – and reshaped on the Gulf’s watch. Iran’s game is long but it can be countered. There is a greater immediate danger facing the Gulf in Yemen, and that is America. Yemen’s failing as a state has been the same for decades: it is that, to paraphrase Henry Kissinger on Germany, the state is too big for the people, too small for the country. The security state in Yemen was always too big, too corrupt, too brutal. Ordinary people felt the rule of the state too closely. Yet Mr Saleh could never rule Yemen totally. He was not a dictator, in the way Saddam Hussein was in Iraq. Instead, he needed alliances – which is why he is quietly allying himself with the Houthis. But there are other allies the Houthis could turn to. They could turn to the United States. US interests in Yemen are limited to security, in particular the threat of Al Qaeda, and protection of shipping lanes through the Red Sea. Most of the rest is negotiable. The Gulf, however, has far more interests in its populous neighbour. The Houthis could accommodate the concerns of America, but they cannot accommodate the concerns of the Gulf. This is the real danger for the Gulf states in Yemen. The country is becoming a battleground for other people’s wars, and that instability will reach its neighbours. There is a strong possibility that, as it withdraws from the region, the US may simply decide its interests are limited to security rather than stability in Yemen, and allow the Houthis to run the show as long as Al Qaeda is contained. That is not unthinkable, as the recent rapprochement between Washington and Tehran shows. Yemen may be leaderless once again, but the Gulf is not. Now, more than ever, it needs to assert its political interests in Sanaa and across the country. Allowing the politics of Yemen to be decided in foreign capitals will come at a heavy price. falyafai@thenational.ae On Twitter: @FaisalAlYafaiBy, 10 PARIS The news about Logitechs acquisition of TT Design Labs, a two-member startup that originated on the crowd -funding Kickstarter program, is generating feel-good vibes in the design and engineering community today.TT Design Labs was founded by Zahra Tashakorinia and Derek Tarnow, two designers who developed TidyTilt -- a little magnetic device which serves as an iPhone stand, mount and earbud-cord organizer.While Logitech, a Switzerland-based manufacturer of traditional computer accessories such as mice and keyboards, isnt disclosing the financial terms of the deal, the company is re-launching TT Design Labs TidyTilt, TidyTilt+ and Just Mount in Logitech-branded versions. It has hired the two entrepreneurs to design future Logitech products. Tarnow joins Logitech as a product designer with Tashakorinia as a consultant.What many budding designers find promising the news is that the TidyTilt project went straight from a design-school project to a successful company acquisition without entrepreneurs having to go through the long and uncertain song-and-dance of finding a VC and establishing a business of their own.For TT Design Labs, the acquisition took less than 18 months.The two entrepreneurs launched the company through Kickstarter, a requirement for their school project at the Institute of Design in Chicago. They had never designed a product for sale to the public nor launched a business. Kickstarter, a private for-profit company, provided them tools to raise capital. By early 2012, the pair had more than $223,000 from would-be customers who voted with their wallets via their Kickstarter campaign for TidyTilt.While this isnt the first crowdfunding acquisition, its believed to be one of the first cases in which a leading hardware vendor acquired products born on Kickstarter.Tarnow wrote Thursday (June 6) in his blog at Logitech, When Logitech approached us, we were skeptical at first our business plan didnt include acquisition.He added, We realized that joining Logitech was an ideal situation we get to engage the expert engineering, supply chain, distribution, and marketing minds at the company, while we get to focus more of our time on what we love most designing great products with the user in mind.Not all websites implement our on-site analytics and publish the results. For these sites, we show estimated metrics based on traffic patterns across the web as a whole. We identify these patterns by looking at the activity of millions of web users throughout the world, and using data normalization to correct for any biases. The more traffic a site gets, the more data we have to calculate estimated metrics. Estimates are more reliable the closer a site is to being ranked #1. Global traffic ranks of 100,000+ are subject to large fluctuations and should be considered rough estimates. If a site has Certified Metrics instead of estimated, that means its owner has installed code allowing us to directly measure their traffic. These metrics have a greater level of accuracy, no matter what the ranking. Learn more about Alexa's DataHouthi rebels say Saudi-led coalition to blame for attack on ceremony that left at least another 525 wounded Airstrikes on Yemen funeral kill at least 140 people, UN official says More than 140 people were killed and more than 525 wounded when airstrikes hit a funeral ceremony in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, a senior UN official has said, as Houthi rebels blamed the attack on the Saudi-led coalition. The dead and wounded include senior military and security officials from the ranks of the Shia Houthi rebels fighting the internationally recognised government of president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi as well as their allies, loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. In the aftermath of the strike on Saturday, hundreds of body parts were found strewn in and outside the hall. Rescuers collected them in sacks. “The place has been turned
Reilingen, Hockenheim, Talhaus, Ketsch, Schwetzingen, Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld, Mannheim-Seckenheim, Mannheim Landscapes [ edit ] The authentic route taken by Bertha Benz not only links almost forgotten original sites she passed on her way, it also leads to one of the most attractive scenic regions in Germany, the wine region Baden. The route follows several Roman roads in the area of the Upper Rhine Plain, for example the Bergstraße (Mountain Road), it leads along the foot of the Odenwald mountains and the Kraichgau, and shortly before reaching Karlsruhe it branches off into the Pfinz valley leading to Pforzheim, the entrance to the Black Forest. As Bertha was afraid of some steep mountains,[19] the return trip follows an alternative route and finally runs beside the river Rhine back to Mannheim. Sights [ edit ] Bertha Benz Challenge [ edit ] The Bertha Benz Memorial Route opened in September 2008. But the Ministry of State of Baden-Wuerttemberg suggested embedding the official inaugural run in the framework of the ceremony of Automobile Summer 2011, the big official German event and birthday party commemorating the invention of the automobile by Karl Benz. On January 25, 2011 Deutsche Welle (DW-TV) broadcast worldwide in its series Made in Germany a TV documentary on the invention of the automobile by Karl Benz, highlighting the very important role of his wife Bertha Benz. The report was not only on the history of the automobile, but took a look at its future as well, as shown by the Bertha Benz Challenge.[20] Tesla Roadsters at the Bertha Benz Challenge 2011 in Mannheim. The first Bertha Benz Challenge[21] took place on September 10 and 11, 2011.[22] In the future it will take place yearly, aiming to become a globally visible signal for a new automobile breakthrough, as it is only open for sustainable mobility: Future-oriented vehicles with alternative drive systems – hybrid and electric vehicles, hydrogen and fuel cells – and other extremely economical vehicles. Its motto is: Sustainable Mobility on the World’s Oldest Automobile Road! The second Bertha Benz Challenge took place from September 14 to 16, 2012, but started from the Automechanika held by the Frankfurt Trade Fair. It also included two rounds on the motodrom of the Hockenheimring, that thus opened itself towards sustainable future mobility.[23] The third Bertha Benz Challenge took place from September 13 to 15, 2013, starting for the first time from the Frankfurt Motor Show, one of the world's largest motor shows, and supported by the presence of the German Environment Minister, Peter Altmaier along with Winfried Kretschmann and Volker Bouffier, the Prime Ministers respectively of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. References [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] Bibliography [ edit ]The weed panel. \| Dana Rubinstein A new (non-smoking) champion for marijuana legalization in New York “It is my intention as a New York State senator to soon introduce a law that would actually decriminalize, regulate and tax marijuana in New York,” said State Senator Liz Krueger, an Upper East Side liberal, on Wednesday night. The room full of marijuana enthusiasts erupted into applause. Story Continued Below Liz Krueger is not, as she noted, a stoner. She says she last inhaled in the 1970s. But at the Wedneday evening forum she hosted at Baruch College about her bid to legalize pot, she emerged as the unlikely hero of New York State’s marijuana legalization movement. Under Krueger's draft “Marijuana, Regulation, and Taxation Act,” first released Wednesday night, New York adults would be allowed to grow up to six pot plants at home. New Yorkers could buy and sell weed just like they buy and sell alcohol. And like alcohol, the business of weed sales would be regulated by the New York State Liquor Authority. Drivers would not be allowed to operate vehicles under its influence. And marijuana would be heavily taxed, to the tune of $50 per ounce. (In New York City, an eighth of an ounce of reasonably good weed typically costs $50.) Eighty percent of the proceeds would go to the state’s general fund, with the rest directed to substance abuse, criminal re-entry and job training programs. Localities would be able to tack on an extra five percent, or could opt out entirely. “It’s almost embarrasing to be a New Yorker, to look around, and Connecticut and New Jersey and Vermont and Rhode Island, and Massachusetts and Maine all have legal medical marijuana, and we don’t,” said Ethan Nadelmann, the impassioned founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Eighteen states and Washington D.C., have medical marijuana laws on the books. Colorado and Washington state recently legalized recreational pot smoking, much like Krueger would like to do here at home. But Nadelmann warned, "Marijuana ain’t gonna legalize itself." To illustrate his point, he recalled the 1970s, when he was in college and marijuana legalization seemed a foregone conclusion. Several states had decriminalized it, and during his campaign, soon-to-be president Jimmy Carter called for its decriminalization on the federal level. At the movies, “that person would smoke a cigarette, that person a joint,” recalled Nadelmann. “It was all chill. And then,” he paused and made an explosive sound for effect, “It turned around fast.” While in 1979, an annual survey of college freshman found 51 percent supported legalization, ten years later, only 16 percent did, according to Nadelmann. Fast forward to 2010, when more New York City residents were arrested for marijuana possession than during the 19 years between 1978 and 1996. Most of those arrests were of young blacks and Latinos, even though statistics indicate more whites smoke marijuana. Momentum has in fact been slowly building in New York State in the direction of weed legalization. Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed decriminalizing the public possession of small amounts of marijuana. Among the 50 or so attendees hanging on Krueger's every word was a former High Times editor, a 22-year-old board member for New York State's chapter of NORML, and the executive director of the American Pot Smokers Association, the guy who regularly distributes fliers near Union Square Park. So when, following the panel, Krueger took questions from the audience, several of them were of a distinctly servicey nature. “This one I feel is for the doctor in the house," Krueger said at one point, reading a question from the audience off off an index card. "Is it healthier to use cannabis or not, and why?” Panelist Julie Holland, a psychiatrist who used to run Bellevue's psychiatric emergency room and wrote The Pot Book, said the speed of legalization would depend on public displays of support for it outside the friendly confines of events like this one. "In the same way that Harvey Milk felt strongly that if you want rights then you have to stand up and say that you want your rights, and that you’re gay and you want your rights, and I think it’s the same way with pot smokers," she said. "I think that people have to stand up and say... 'I’m a C.P.A. and I pay my taxes and I vote and I’m a pot smoker."From the makers of Natural Selection Subnautica is the next game from Unknown Worlds, the creators of the Natural Selection series. It's a sharp departure from their prior first-person shooter/real-time strategy hybrid offerings as Subnautica is an open-world underwater exploration adventure game. You'll be exploring a huge diverse ocean, from shallow coral reefs, to deeper areas like lava zones. Plus there's crafting, submarines, an ocean full of sea creatures, and much like other open-world survival-type adventure games, it's up to you to create your own stories. Subnautica (PC) Developers: Unknown Worlds Publisher: Unknown Worlds Release: TBA I caught up with Unknown Worlds during PAX East earlier this month, and it was at the Boston show where they made the public debut of Subnautica. What was on demo was very much pre-alpha based on a few months of work, so what I got to play was a small taste of what the developers ultimately envision. Open-world survival adventure games are popping up left and right these days, but Subnautica is a breath of fresh air as the game is set within the sea. Players are kind of just thrown into the water, and you're free to explore how you want to. The PAX build had some objectives in place just to give players a goal for the short five-minute playable demo, and is something that won't be in the final game. To show off the crafting system, I was tasked with catching different types of fish to create a Sea Glide, a personal vehicle with a propeller that made swimming faster over just using my arms. Catching fish was just a simple matter of grabbing them with my bare hands, and once I had the right fish types the game made me the Sea Glide. Again, this was a tiny demo and I imagine there will be a more involved crafting process. From there I used my Sea Glide to find the Cyclops, one of the Subnautica's submarine types. Oxygen plays a factor in your experience, so as I was hunting fish for crafting material, I had to ascend to the surface to refill my oxygen meter. Once I got into the submarine however I didn't have to worry about oxygen anymore. Your sub is essentially your home, and they can be customized to your liking. From increasing its speed, to strengthening its haul, to even growing kelp that will generate oxygen for you, thus letting players reach deeper areas of the ocean. Subs can also store mini-submersibles that you can use to explore areas a big sub wouldn't be able reach as easily. The diverse landscapes are backed by the procedurally-generated environment, where you'll always be discovering something. The world is not quite as seemingly infinite as say Minecraft, but Unknown Worlds hopes to make it at least feel like the world is limitless. "You'll never win Subnautica," Unknown Worlds' Hugh Jeremy told Destructoid. "And we hope you'll never know if you've plunged to the deepest depths if we can achieve the scale that we want in this game." There will be combat as creatures can be aggressive towards you, but it's more of a last resort thing when you have to fight off wildlife. Players will also have to be weary of their impact on the sea life. One predatory type of fish I encountered in the demo was the Stalker, an eel-like creature with a giant mouth full of sharp teeth. If I were to kill off all Stalkers in one particular area, another predatory fish could come in that was too afraid to live there before. Now with no Stalker, this other danger can kill all the fish that I needed for crafting, thus forcing me to move on to a new area. As for multiplayer, Unknown wants to get single-player right before tackling that. They do imagine featuring multiplayer, having people working together as a crew on a submarine and such, but they're focusing on the core single-player stuff first. So far I'm liking where the team is going with Subnautica. It's a fresh enough take on what's starting to become a stale genre with all the me to zombie survival games being pumped out there. You are logged out. Login \| Sign up Click to open photo gallery:Legislators in North Carolina recently introduced a bill to make Christianity the official state religion. That bill has now been turfed, but we can probably expect similar moves in the future. An Omnibus Poll, sponsored by YouGov.com and the Huffington Post, reveals just how far from the nation’s roots we have traveled on the subject of separating church and state and retaining the nation’s neutrality when it comes to how Americans chose to practice their respective religions. According to the survey, 34 percent of Americans would favor making Christianity their official state religion while less than half (47 percent) oppose the concept. Thirty-two percent of those polled indicated that they would also favor a constitutional amendment that would make Christianity the official religion of the United States with just over half (52 percent) opposing the notion. Leaving aside for a second the abject failure of millions of Americans to grasp the most basic precepts of their Constitution, this poll actually provides more questions than answers. Lots more. And in truth, these are questions with roots that are hundreds of years old. If you’ve visited America anytime during the past couple of centuries, you realize that the nation has something of a church and state problem. You can argue the details all you like, but the bottom line is that the Framers of the Constitution set the stage for controversy by being too damned vague. I mean, “separation of Church and State” – what the hell does that really mean, anyway? We have these problems before us today because Jefferson, Madison and Co. didn’t have the basic good sense to insist on specificity, which is odd, given that all the Founding Fathers were pretty clearly fundamentalists. As, one assumes, were the Founding Mothers. They just toss terms like “God” and “Church” and “separation” around like we all know what they mean, when clearly we don’t. So here’s what we have to do. Let’s forget separation of Church and State and accept that we are One Nation Under God, In God We damned sure Do Trust, and that we are a Christian Nation® (this part is crucial). Let’s get past all that soulless secular humanism and By God establish a state religion. Better yet, let’s charge Congress with the job, since so many of the members of that august body have thought long and hard on the subject already. Here’s how it works. The U.S. will adopt as our national religion that which Congress can agree on sufficiently to pass by a two-thirds majority, and by this I mean they must pass each plank of the resolution by that margin. Understand, “God” is way too vague, and you can’t very well build a moral society around vagaries. We have to insist that Congress agree on what God is and how He (She) should be worshiped. For instance, we’ll need Congress to decide whether the Bible is intended as a metaphorical guide or as literal, journalistic fact. Was Mary literally a virgin? Did Abraham literally live 900 years? Did Moses literally tie his ass to a tree and walk 40 miles? These are not small issues, and if they are not settled by legislative fiat we risk another millennium of sectarian strife. Other issues we’ll need Congress to rule on: Should baptism be by sprinkling as an infant or by immersion once one is born again? And, how quickly can we set in place an emergency re-baptism program for all those people that had it done wrong the first time? Is God a man, a woman, both, or neither? What race is God? This will be important when we do physical and artistic representations of Him/Her/It. What about those places where the Bible appears to contradict itself, as in Genesis 1 & 2? Are we to take these as tests by God, or error by monks, or what? Confusion in one’s prime legal texts can lead to all sorts of mischief, as I think is more than evident from the fact that we’re even having this little chat to start with. We’ll need a plan to transfer power from the President to Jesus when He makes his triumphant return to Earth after the Rapture. We’ll also need a policy of engagement for Armageddon. When do we launch the nukes, and at whom? Once we know who’s on God’s side and who’s on the side of Satan, shouldn’t we just go ahead and launch a pre-emptive strike? How old is that darned Earth, anyway? I mean, it’s important to know what to tell kids about dinosaurs if the world is only 6000 years old. How old is that darned Earth, anyway? I mean, it’s important to know what to tell kids about dinosaurs if the world is only 6000 years old. What the hell do we do about those damned Jews, who have made clear that they aren’t on board with Jesus as the Son of God? Do we wait and let Jesus deal with them himself or should we set about making them either believe what we believe or leave? And don’t even get me started on Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, and other varieties of Satanist. If we’re truly a Christian land, is it right that their blasphemy should be tolerated, and worse, that they should be able to benefit from social programs paid for by Right-thinking Christians? Should the Office of Homeland Godliness be a Cabinet-level appointment reporting to the President? Should the President be the de jure head of the Church? Should it be a separate branch of government insulated from the meddling influence of future secular legislators, and especially from Satanic minions on the Supreme Court? Or, for that matter, should we rework the government and Constitution so that we replace the democracy with a Christian theocracy? What should our foreign policy toward non-Christian nations be like? Some of them are Godless, but strategically important (Britain, Canada, anybody with oil, etc.) Should a nation’s relationship with God be a consideration in conferring most-favored-nation status? There’s also the woman problem. Are they to be submissive to their husbands, as dictated by some, or are they to be accepted as full partners in God’s Church of America? Can they be ministers, for example? And while we’re on the subject of troublesome sorts, is the Church going to take the “accepting” stance toward gays or are they all going to hell? If the latter, should we get them on their way or let God deal with them in His own good time? Finally, what about the athletics programs? Back in the ’80s in Wilmington, NC, there was a huge hullaballoo over – of all things – softball. The local Mormon church signed up for the city-run league, causing the other churches to pitch a galloping hissy fit. Said one spokesman, “we do not feel we can extend the hand of Christian fellowship to people who do not worship the same god we do.” The Mormons stood their ground, those who worshiped a different god from the Mormons stood theirs, and the city was forced to cancel the whole damned league. But that was over 20 years ago – we’re past all that now, right? Nuh-uh. The same kind of conflict broke out again last year in Pennsylvania. Give me another hour or two and I’ll come up with more questions, but you get the idea. The success of a faith-based government hinges on getting these issues settled and chiseled into stone sooner rather than later. If Congress leaves wiggle room and unanswered questions we’ll be at each other’s throats until the Second Coming, and I’m pretty sure that’s not what the Framers intended. _____ An earlier iteration of this post originally appeared on January 20, 2010.It's that time of year again. With the NBA season set to begin next week, our panel has put together our list of the 100 best players in the NBA right now. We factored in everything: injuries, new coaching, talent, athleticism, decision-making, the works, and scored the top 100 players on a 1-100 scale with 100 as the best. Rankings were determined by the average of those four scores. Rookies were excluded on the basis that there's simply no way to evaluate them as NBA players yet. The NBA regular season is just around the corner, and we're breaking down the top 100 players in two installments. First, players 100-21. For the first time in our rankings' history, LeBron James did not receive a perfect 100 score as the unanimous best player in the league. Meanwhile, we had a wider range of disagreement this year. The takeaway is that there are so many great players at the top of our list that it's hard to find a consensus across the board. Only three point guards made our top ten list, while four forwards snagged spots on the list, plus whatever it is Anthony Davis is (because he's not human, that's for sure). The biggest thing you should glean from our list is that the league is in a phenomenal place, talent wise. We weren't reaching to stretch in guys to justify them as top 100, instead we were agonizing over who to leave out. There's so much talent in the league, and again, this list isn't even counting what looks to be a pretty incredible rookie class. With young players showcasing YouTube-worthy skill on a nightly basis and veterans bringing winning formulas to their teams, it's no wonder the NBA is currently as popular as any time since the Jordan era. You can let us know what you think of our list by giving us a shout at @cbssportsnba. Enjoy the Elite 100. Los Angeles Clippers \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 67 The Truth will hopefully set the Clippers' bench free. Pierce returns to his home in California for one more run at a title. Can he help his old coach Doc Rivers and company get over the hump, finally? Brooklyn Nets \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR A versatile player, Young could've signed with a winning team this offseason but instead opted to return to the Brooklyn Nets. Young's style of play fit in quite well within Lionel Hollins' system last season and he should continue to excel as a combo-forward in Brooklyn. Memphis Grizzlies \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: NR Expect another First Team All-Defense effort along with unbridled enthusiasm and hustle. That's all you are going to get from Allen, but that's OK because that is all the Grizzlies need him to do. Golden State Warriors \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR He hit 40.5 percent of his 3-pointers while providing the Warriors with very good defense in their title run. The question is whether or not he has the dribble game to create for himself and others. He may not ever be able to fully show what he can do while on the Warriors, but it would be a mistake for Golden State to let him go elsewhere and individually flourish. Sacramento Kings \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 36 The Kings will give Rondo the ball and tell him to make their cast of characters click. After the debacle in Dallas, it's hard to get too excited about this... until you start watching his old Celtics highlights. Milwaukee Bucks \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR Parker was pushing for Rookie of the Year before his injury last season. If he can recover and get back to where he left off and take a step forward, there's every reason to believe he'll be a star in this league sooner rather than later. Miami Heat \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: 55 Injuries have derailed Deng's career over the last several seasons yet he still has been a productive player and averaged 14.0 points and 5.2 rebounds last year in Miami. With the Heat, Deng is a very nice fourth option behind Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Goran Dragic. Chicago Bulls \| PF \| Last Year's Ranking: 64 Perhaps too tough for his own good, Gibson played through a torn ankle ligament last season. When healthy, he's an incredible defender with underrated offensive skills. He's been ready for a bigger role for years, but probably won't get one without a trade. Orlando Magic \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: NR Payton had one of the most underrated rookie seasons last year, filling in triple-doubles and showing better scoring capacity than expected. He projects as a terrific point guard. Too bad there's about 11,000 of those in the NBA. Minnesota Timberwolves \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 83 He's one of the better defensive point guards and one of the best passing point guards in the NBA, but none of that will matter if he can't learn how to finish around the rim at even a slightly below average clip. Rubio is better than casual fans give him credit for, but he still has to be better and healthy to prove them wrong. Chicago Bulls \| PF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR He was the Bulls' best player in March, and at 24 years old he should be a massive part of their future. It's unclear how new head coach Fred Holberg is going to deal with the frontcourt logjam, however. Phoenix Suns \| PF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR As talented as he is petulant, Morris may eventually get his wish and be traded from the Suns. Morris is a dynamic offensive player, however, is a lazy defender whose overall game is probably already plateaued despite his own grandiose ideas about himself. New York Knicks \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: 96 In two years with Portland, Lopez fought mascots and helped fix the Blazers' defense. Now he's tasked with doing this for the Knicks and he's actually capable of accomplishing this. He's a stabilizer in the middle of the paint and his role will be tested more than anybody else in New York. Orlando Magic \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR At 23 years old, Harris still has plenty of time to further refine his overall game. An excellent scorer, Harris will be asked by new Magic head coach Scott Skiles to become a better defender while also improving his 3-point shot. If he is able to improve in these two areas, Harris could eventually move up this list and be considered as one of the better forwards in the NBA. Cleveland Cavaliers \| PF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR Being the best offensive rebounder in the NBA is a very niche title, but as Thompson proved in the 2015 playoffs and NBA Finals, it is a very valuable skill to have. Thompson is also an excellent defender and excelled as the Cavs' sixth man. If he becomes less hesitant to shoot while close to the basket, Thompson could probably average a double-double. Cleveland Cavaliers \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: NR The big Russian center is going to get an insane amount of money in the summer of 2016. He's one of the better rim protectors in the NBA and was the biggest reason Cleveland's defense was fixed after he joined the team. He doesn't do more for the Cavs because they don't ask him to -- not because he can't do it. Charlotte Hornets \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: 40 Batum dropped more than 40 spots on this list from last year because of a disappointing, injury-plagued season. Assuming that he's healthy and his shot goes back to normal, the versatile forward should bring what the Hornets hoped that Lance Stephenson would. Houston Rockets \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 82 Ariza should be higher on here in theory, but he's mostly been a below average 3-point shooter everywhere except Washington. If he can be consistently accurate from 3, his added defense makes him an incredible weapon. He's not the wing creator we hoped he'd become, but he's a very good safety valve. New Orleans Pelicans \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 58 If Holiday were able to stay healthy, he would easily be a top-15, maybe top-10 point guard. A good shooter, a great defender and gifted passer, he could have a remarkable season under Alvin Gentry... if he can stay healthy. Los Angeles Clippers \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 78 Redick has moved past the injury issues that have plagued him in the past few seasons and remains a tremendous shooter. He's a little underrated at this spot, given that while he's not as good defensively as he was in Orlando, he's still a plus on that side of the ball and one of the league's best shooters. Washington Wizards \| PF \| Last Year's Ranking: 73 One of the greatest personalities in the NBA, Gortat has found a home in Washington as the perfect pick-and-roll partner for John Wall. With the fragility of Nene, Gortat is the rock in the middle for the Wizards and will continue to anchor Washington's defense down low. New Orleans Pelicans \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 99 Filling in as the Pelicans' primary ball handler when Jrue Holiday was injured last season, Evans played admirably by averaging 16.6 points and 6.6 assists. Evans will probably go back to being the Pelicans' sixth man this season, a role he should excel in if healthy. Indiana Pacers \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 59 Wanting to play faster, Indiana made the right move by signing Ellis this summer. He really only does one thing well, and that's score. Yet that is exactly what the Pacers need him to do. Los Angeles Lakers \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: 60 Hibbert gets to try to reestablish himself before free agency in this season with the Lakers. You can count on him still remaining one of the best rim protectors in basketball. You can't count on him being a good rebounder or a consistent scoring threat. Can he turn that reputation around? Golden State Warriors \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: 79 Talk about small-ball all you want, reference how often the Warriors won games and playoff series without Bogut on the floor, but his professionalism, rim protection and toughness goes a long way for what Golden State does. Bogut was as good, if not better, than Draymond Green defensively last year for the top defense in the league, even if he's not as versatile. Indiana Pacers \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: NR Hill will play more off-ball with Monta Ellis on his team, which could be a great thing for him. Hill has become a fantastic scorer and having him attack against closing defenses could make him even deadlier. Use him as a scorer in the pick-and-roll and he'll rack up efficient possessions. He just shouldn't run a team as a distributor. Charlotte Hornets \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR One of the league's best wing defenders, Kidd-Gilchrist made significant strides in his offensive game last season. By signing him to a long-term extension this summer, the Hornets are betting that Kidd-Gilchrist keeps on developing and eventually turns into a star. Kidd-Gilchrist was poised for a breakout year, but unfortunately a shoulder injury will keep him sidelined for most of the season. Without Kidd-Gilchrist, the Hornets will be a far worse team and will likely miss the playoffs again. Toronto Raptors \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: 68 He's a big offensive weapon, a hard worker and only 23 years old. By giving him a four-year, $64 million extension, the Raptors are betting on him realizing his full defensive potential. That hasn't come close to happening yet. Phoenix Suns \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: 80 The Suns brought him in for defense, leadership and communication. He should deliver all of that, even though he's headed into his 15th season. It was huge for him to play in 75 games for the Mavericks last year. Orlando Magic \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 94 Oladipo is the player on the Magic most likely to become an All-Star. There are holes in his game, but he's on the cusp in so many areas, versatile and the player they most often turn to in late-game crucial situations. Is he ready to lead the Magic to the playoffs in his third season? Denver Nuggets \| PF \| Last Year's Ranking: 50 A non-stop worker, Faried is a good player but not great. Faried is an excellent rebounder yet is a liability on defense and has a limited offensive game. Will he be able to improve his game under new Nuggets head coach Michael Malone? Detroit Pistons \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 88 Over his final 19 games of the season under Stan Van Gundy, Jackson averaged 18.6 points, 10.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from 3. If he can come close to that production, his new $85 million contract will be a steal. Denver Nuggets \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: 62 Gallinari is healthier than he's been in more than two years. He's had a phenomenal Eurobasket performance, and has been put in the top spot as the Nuggets' star after signing an extension this summer. If Gallo can stay healthy, he's able to take the game over in a way that Denver desperately needs this year. Boston Celtics \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 56 After stints in Sacramento and Phoenix, it seems like Thomas has finally found home in Boston. So far content coming off the bench -- if he sticks to that role -- Thomas is already a front-runner for the Sixth Man of the Year award. Philadelphia 76ers \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: NR It's unclear whether or not Noel will develop into an elite player, but his improvement over the course of last season was encouraging. After the All-Star break, he averaged 13.1 points, 10 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.3 blocks and 2.1 steals per game. Miami Heat \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: NR In his 48 appearances for Miami, Whiteside averaged 23.8 minutes per game and had the league's best block percentage, rebounding percentage and sixth-best PER. He also shot 63 percent from the field. These are superstar numbers, but no one knows if they can be sustained. Milwaukee Bucks \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR The 3-and-D wing is one of the most important roles a non-star can have in this league. Middleton has become one of the better wing defenders in the NBA and he's made 41 percent of his 558 3-point attempts the last two years. He's legit. Brooklyn Nets \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 38 If you can remove his paycheck from your judgment of his game, Johnson is still a dangerous outside shooter, a fantastic attacker off the bounce and he involves his teammates. The problem is he plays for the Nets where basketball now goes to die. Phoenix Suns \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: NR A phenomenal season in Milwaukee ended in injury frustration in Phoenix. He should pair brilliantly with Eric Bledsoe for a young and hungry Suns team... but then, we've said that about a lot of point guards in Phoenix. Golden State Warriors \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 34 A truly brilliant player, Iguodala was mature enough to accept a lesser role with the Warriors. And they were smart enough to put him on the floor as much as possible on the game's biggest stage. He won't make the All-Star team anymore, but his value was obvious when he won Finals MVP. San Antonio Spurs \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: 87 The best defensive pairing for San Antonio last year was Green with Kawhi Leonard, allowing less than 96 points per 100 possessions. That was the best two-man combination overall for the Spurs. Green is a lethal shooter, a brilliant defender and a no-fuss teammate who gets what the Spurs do. He's invaluable, and is the best non-star player on this list in all honesty. Dallas Mavericks \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 74 If Matthews is able to bounce back from his Achilles' injury like nobody has before, this ranking will be too low. If he's not able to do that, this ranking may be way too generous. One of the better two-way guards when he's healthy. Atlanta Hawks \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 52 Arguably the best shooter in basketball, Korver became a first-time All-Star in his 12th season. You'd expect him to keep getting even better if not for the elbow and ankle surgeries this offseason. Charlotte Hornets \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: 27 After being injured for most of last season, Jefferson switched up his diet and lost 20 pounds so he could put less stress on his knees and back. Jefferson is instrumental to Charlotte's success, and if he is able to play like he did in the 2013-14 season, the Hornets should be competing for a playoff spot in the East. Sacramento Kings \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: 69 A little ignored factoid about Gay: he's been a very good player since joining the Sacramento Kings. They've been awful for many reasons, but he's been spectacular. Not a lot of players are putting up the same individual production as him. Houston Rockets \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 33 Lawson clearly has off-court issues, which are bigger than basketball. But if he can move past those problems, he has the skills and talent to be an All-Star for a title contender. There's a good -- if not great -- chance that Lawson could single-handedly push the Rockets to an NBA title. People are sleeping on how good he can be despite his problems. Los Angeles Lakers \| SG \| Last Year's Ranking: 29 This is entirely awkward. We want to believe Kobe can still be some form of the Hall of Fame player we remember, but the truth is he can't stay healthy the last two years and he shot jumpers worse than Ricky Rubio did last season. Does he make this ranking look stupid or generous? Chicago Bulls \| PG \| Last Year's Ranking: 18 Is the former MVP too low on this list? Has his prime truly been robbed by injuries? Rose had to deal with similar issues last season and will have to face them again this year. He showed flashes of the "old" Derrick Rose last season and is still a more than capable player. If the Bulls want to take that next step this season it will all depend on Rose, who will have to prove his doubters wrong yet again. Utah Jazz \| C \| Last Year's Ranking: NR Quite simply the most exciting and promising young center in the league if you don't count Anthony Davis (a power forward) or Karl Anthony-Towns. Gobert is simply dominant defensively, whether you consider the metrics or the eye test, and is a huge plus offensively as well. The future is simply nuclear for the Stifle Tower. Dallas Mavericks \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: 44 The Mavs paid handsomely for Parsons last summer and due to injuries, he didn't produce as expected in his first season in Dallas. Parsons may never be an All-Star, but he is an excellent wing player possessing perhaps the best shot fake in the league. Another year getting acclimated to Rick Carlise's system should help Parsons as he begins to take on a larger role for the Mavs. Toronto Raptors \| SF \| Last Year's Ranking: NR Anybody could have had him a couple of
onstage I was so terrified I almost threw up,” she recalls. “I learned why they call it the greenroom.” Spanx started as a one-woman show. In her first year Blakely shilled her new invention from a folding table in the foyer of Neiman Marcus, with a giant before-and-after photo of her derriere in cream slacks and bikini briefs underneath in one shot (an embarrassingly obvious Maginot Line) and $30 Spanx Power Panties (et voilà! no more line) in the other. Over the last couple of years Spanx has depended less on Blakely’s face—and other body parts—to shift its shapers and stay ahead of a handful of copycats. The company is now run by a team of 125, only 16 of them men. It sells 200 products in 11,500 department stores, boutiques and online shops in 40 countries. Distributors worldwide clamor to get on the stockist list. “With international, we’re just warming up,” says Goldman. Blakely would still happily pose in nothing but Spanx on the cover of any of the nine catalogs mailed each year to 6 million shoppers, but she knows Goldman, 49, won’t go for it. “I’m game for anything,” says Blakely. “The company has to pull me back.” Goldman, who created the first business plan at Spanx over the founder’s objections that it would stunt creativity, plays the straight man to Blakely’s more impulsive act. Fueling her more impetuous side is her entrepreneurial twin: husband Jesse Itzler, 43, a former rapper from Long Island, who has backed and cofounded a few startups, including Marquis Jet, which sells fractional air-travel time. When I meet him at his midtown Manhattan office, he bounds up the stairs in a sweaty headband, his blond curls dripping. He’s come from an intense cardio workout with a Navy SEAL he hired to move in with him and Sara for a month. (This is more efficient than hiring rickshaws from his office, as he used to do, and paying the driver to be a passenger while he hauled the vehicle all the way home.) Itzler regards Blakely’s accomplishments with amazement and amusement. “She’s 50% Lucille Ball, 50% Einstein. I keep a list of Sara-isms in my phone,” he says, referring to her goofy moments. “There’s something every day.” Recent example: wearing two different shoes, one red-soled Christian Louboutin and one plain boot, and having to hobble up the escalator at Bloomingdale’s. Legend: On the way to the Screen Actors Guild Awards one year, Blakely realized in the limo she’d forgotten her jewelry at her hotel. Instead of turning back, she had her driver stop at a candy store—and accessorized her gown with stretchable candy necklaces and bracelets. Spanx fans recognize her on the street, in stores and in airports and want to show their allegiance. “Women flash her,” says Itzler. “Imagine that. She’s just really good. She’s the best, man.” * Blakely didn't set out to invent anything, but she always had a knack for hucksterism. The daughter of a personal injury lawyer and an artist, she grew up in the beach town of Clearwater, Fla., always looking to make a buck. She’d set up a haunted house at Halloween and charge her neighbors admission. Or, tearing a page from Tom Sawyer, she’d trick her friends into doing her chores by turning weedpulling into a competition. As a teen she pulled off a rare double act: popular blonde cheerleader and debate team champion (no performance anxiety then). But tragedy eclipsed her sunny childhood. While riding a bike around her cul-de-sac, she saw a car run over her best friend, right in front of her. “I think that when you witness death at age 16, there’s a sense of urgency about life,” she says. “The thought of my mortality—I think about it a lot. I find it motivating. It can be any time that your number’s up.” That same year Blakely’s parents separated. Not long afterward, both her prom dates died in horrible circumstances. She sought solace in her father’s Wayne Dyer cassette tapes, memorizing all ten volumes of the motivational speaker’s How to Be a No-Limit Person series. Dyer preaches “self-actualization” and “eliminating your erroneous zones.” She was so moved that she marched to her principal’s office to suggest they include the cassette tapes in the Clearwater High curriculum. Her friends couldn’t run the other way fast enough. “People used to fight over who had to ride home with me at night after a party,” says Blakely. “No one wanted to be in my car—they’d be, like, ‘No! She’s going to make us listen to that motivational crap!’” Blakely started her first business in 1990, a kids’ club at the Clearwater Beach Hilton, charging $8 a child for a few hours of babysitting while moms and dads tanned. She was just out of high school, had no experience, no CPR training — and no insurance. She got away with it for three summers before trying to steal business from rival hotels’ summer programs. It was only when she went to pitch the Hilton’s general manager— age 20, in her first suit from Casual Corner—that she was busted. “He literally escorted me off the premises,” Blakely remembers. After getting a degree in legal communications at Florida State, Blakely twice took the LSAT exam for law school admission and twice scored abysmally. Frustrated, she drove from Clearwater to Orlando to audition for a job at Disney World. Two inches too short to fill the 5-foot-8 Goofy costume, she instead spent eight hours a day on a moving walkway buckling visitors into their seats at Epcot’s now closed World of Motion ride. “I think I wanted to postpone reality, having spent my whole life thinking I’d be a lawyer,” says Blakely, who as a kid loved watching her dad in court. “It didn’t work. My first day at Disney I went on break and saw Snow White dragging on a cigarette.” After three months of misery at Disney, Blakely applied for a job she’d seen advertised on a billboard. She spent the next seven years at Danka, then a $1 billion Florida-based office supply company, now part of Japanese printer giant Ricoh. It taught her the art of the cold call. “They gave me a cubicle, a phone book and a territory of four zip codes in Clearwater and said, ‘Now go sell $20,000 of fax machines a month door-to- door,’” she recalls. Blakely again found herself being escorted out of buildings. “I’d get business cards ripped up in my face because I was soliciting.” But with her easy charm, good looks and slick debating skills, she became, at age 25, Danka’s national sales trainer. * Like many startups, Spanx began life as an answer to an irritating problem. The panty hose Blakely was forced to wear at both Disney and Danka were uncomfortable and old-fashioned. “It’s Florida, it’s hot, I was carrying fax machines,” she says. She hated the way the seamed foot stuck out of an open-toe sandal or kitten heel. But she noticed that the control-top eliminated panty lines and made her tiny body look even firmer. She’d bought a new pair of cream slacks for $78 at Arden B and was keen to wear them to a party. “I cut the feet off my pantyhose and wore them underneath,” she says. “But they rolled up my legs all night. I remember thinking, ‘I’ve got to figure out how to make this.’ I’d never worked in fashion or retail. I just needed an undergarment that didn’t exist.” Blakely, then 27, moved to Atlanta, set aside her entire $5,000 savings and spent the next two years meticulously planning the launch of her product while working nine to five at Danka. She spent seven nights straight at the Georgia Tech library researching every hosiery patent ever filed. She visited craft stores like Michaels to find the right fabrics. She sought out hosiery mills in the Yellow Pages and started cold calling, only to be told no repeatedly. Immune to rejection thanks to years selling door-to-door, she decided just to show up. At the Highland Mills hosiery factory in Charlotte, N.C., she was turned away, only to receive a call from the manager two weeks later. He had daughters, he told her, who wouldn’t let him pass up her invention. (Today the Spanx line is manufactured in 15 countries, including Thailand, Israel and Honduras; the cotton crotches are still hand-sewn in North Carolina.) To save $3,000 in legal fees she wrote her own patent from a Barnes & Noble textbook, setting aside $150 to incorporate her company, but couldn’t decide on a name. After a succession of terrible ideas she settled on Spanks, substituting an “x” at the last minute after reading that made-up names sold better. “The word ‘Spanx’ was funny,” she says. “It made people laugh. No one ever forgot it.” In the summer of 2000 she spent evenings on a friend’s computer designing her packaging. She went for cherry red and, with the help of a graphic artist, created a blonde cartoon model with a long ponytail called Sunny—Sara’s animated alter ego. Blakely flew to Dallas that fall to meet with buyers from Neiman Marcus. Current CEO Karen Katz was president of all the upscale chain’s stores at the time and remembers seeing Blakely in a conference room, pitching. “Sara’s effort was to solve an age-old problem for women in a modern way,” Katz says. She adds that Blakely’s obvious charisma and unusual backstory didn’t hurt. “We were smitten from the beginning.” With Neiman in the bag, Blakely convinced Bloomingdale’s, Saks and Bergdorf Goodman to give her a shot. Blakely was still working her day job at Danka, keeping her side business top secret, sitting up all night shoving Spanx orders into white padded envelopes from Office Depot. She was 24/7 customer service, answering phone calls from her bathtub or bed. Her then boyfriend quit his job and took care of shipping and handling. Unable to shell out for advertising, Blakely took on marketing and p.r. She tore out journalists’ bylines from magazines and called them. She took over morning staff meetings at department stores to show sales associates why Spanx shouldn’t languish in the beige hinterland of the hosiery floor but be sold alongside womenswear and shoes. If that didn’t work, she improvised, once sneaking some red Spanx packages onto a rack she bought at Target and placing them by a cash register in Neiman. “All the staff assumed someone else had approved it, until they caught me on CCTV,” she laughs. She connived her way to her biggest coup, shipping samples to Oprah Winfrey’s longtime stylist Andre Walker, who noticed the talk-show host started looking ten pounds lighter. In November 2000 Winfrey named Spanx her favorite product of the year on the annual audience scream-a-thon that was her Favorite Things Show. When Blakely got the call from Harpo Productions, she was warned to get her website ready, since orders would undoubtedly cascade after the show. Spanx didn’t have a website. “We took a color copy of the packaging and scanned it in,” Blakely says. “I ran a considerable Web business for $18 a month.” She resigned from Danka two weeks before the show aired. Spanx was profitable from day one, and raked in $4 million its first year and $10 million the next. For the next two years Blakely constantly traveled to do in-store demos and local news appearances. In 2001 she scored a coveted deal with QVC, which turned her down until it read a Forbes story (“Footless and Fancy-Free,” Apr. 2, 2001) that described Blakely as an “accidental entrepreneur” who’d reinvented the girdle. So what if Spanx took the high road (Bergdorf ) and the low (QVC) at once? Women were buying like mad. “Sara was out there shaking her butt and selling her product,” says Goldman in her office, next door to Blakely’s and furnished like an Upper East Side living room—velvet fittings, monogrammed Louis Vuitton trunks. Goldman, a ten-year veteran of Coca-Cola, where she ran the licensing division in 54 countries, came on board in 2002, first as a consultant, then as CEO. She was Spanx’s fifth employee. Her office was the kitchen in Blakely’s apartment in Decatur, but she knew that wouldn’t be the case for long. “I wanted to run Spanx like a public company from the start. I thought, Let’s get Ernst & Young to do our audits. They didn’t really do companies our size, but I said we were going to be bigger one day. We did the same with IT.” As Goldman set about professionalizing the company, Blakely found a publicity stunt she couldn’t pass up. After six auditions she was cast on Richard Branson’s 2003 reality show, Rebel Billionaire, which aired on Fox in 2004. Her lawyers (and her dad) begged her not to do it. But Blakely says she wanted to meet and learn from the Virgin mogul. Branson saw it as another sign of her p.r. savvy. “She was already reasonably successful before, and she cleverly thought the show would help,” he says. Leaving Spanx in Goldman’s hands for three months, Blakely won task after task—shocking her teammates and the crew. “I was cast as the girl who’d have the meltdown from heights on the first episode and lose her mind,” she says. Blakely followed daredevil Branson up the side of a moving hot air balloon at 8,000 feet, climbing a rope ladder the equivalent of a 17-story building. She’d be a world record holder if she’d remembered to call Guinness afterward. “Sara was the runner-up overall,” says Branson. “The only reason I didn’t give her the top prize was because she was already successful. She didn’t need a leg up.” Instead, Branson cut her a personal check for $750,000 to start a foundation. To date Blakely and Spanx have donated $17.5 million to charities primarily aimed at supporting girls and women—college scholarships in South Africa, homes for single mothers and their families (via Habitat for Humanity) and empowerment grants supporting entrepreneurship among them. “Isn't my wife delicious?” Itzler asks aloud in an Atlanta restaurant, while gripping her thigh under the table. He’s flown in from New York for one day to watch Blakely speak to a group of jobless women seeking inspiration. With six homes—two in Atlanta, an Upper West Side condo in Manhattan, a Connecticut summer house, an outpost near Blakely’s brother in La Jolla, Calif. and a new place in Clearwater—he and his wife often miss each other. One of them usually has in tow their 2-year-old son, Lazer, named after Itzler’s Brooklyn-born greatgrandfather. Blakely and Itzler met six years ago through Marquis Jet, an offshoot of NetJets. He’d come up with the idea of allowing travelers to buy time on private planes at age 27, after a few years in L.A. rapping (biggest hit: “Shake It Like a White Girl”) and writing sports jingles, including the NBA’s Knicks anthem “Go New York Go.” In 2006, when he planned a celebrity poker tournament, a sales rep suggested he invite Blakely, who by then was successful (and brave) enough to fly on private planes. Itzler had never heard of Spanx and Googled Blakely’s picture, thinking, “Yeah, she can come. Top of the list.” Each was hooked, even though both were attached to other people. They married in 2008 in Boca Grande, Fla. in front of Blakely’s early Spanx employees and Itzler’s friends from his years in the music and sports industries. “We had very successful people and, like, thugs,” he says. Blakely had a moment of panic weeks before the wedding. She sat Itzler down at a favorite Upper West Side restaurant and told him the secret only her immediate family knew: just how rich she was. “She said to me, ‘I’m not sure you really know how successful Spanx is—[and] I am.’” Blakely told him the company pulled in not a couple of million dollars a year but a couple of hundred million. Itzler started crying. “I was just so happy for her.” Itzler himself isn’t exactly poor. In 2010 he sold Marquis to Berkshire Hathaway, which owns NetJets, for an undisclosed amount. He now owns a stake in Zico, a trendy coconut water brand (Coca-Cola has 20%), as well as Voli, a low-calorie vodka, and Sheets, a caffeinated version of Listerine’s strip that dissolves on the tongue—all held through his 100 Mile Group, an incubator and marketing company. Investors in various projects include friends LeBron James and Gisele Bündchen. Blakely has strong views about her wealth. “I feel like money makes you more of who you already are,” she says from behind a mirrored desk in her plush Atlanta office, stirring a bowl of take-out soup and exhausted from a sleepless, flu-ridden night. “If you’re an asshole, you become a bigger asshole. If you’re nice, you become nicer. Money is fun to make, fun to spend and fun to give away.” Most fun: anonymously buying dinner for an entire restaurant crowd at her favorite Japanese steak house in Atlanta or bidding on travel “experiences” like VIP trips to Paris Fashion Week and Sundance at the charity auctions she and Itzler attend. Coming off its best year ever, Spanx has big plans for expansion. Goldman is pushing to double international sales, now over 15% of the total, within three years. She spends a lot of time jetting around Asia, laying the groundwork for Spanx in countries that don’t obsess about their posteriors quite as much as Westerners do. She and Blakely plan to open stand-alone shops, first in Atlanta, then slowly worldwide. They’re pushing their cheaper diffusion line, Assets, and adding new categories— swimwear, activewear, men’s underwear—as customers demand more options and competitors like Yummie Tummie, Dr. Rey Shapewear, Skweez Couture and Body Wrap (as well as Victoria’s Secret and Maidenform) flood the booming shapewear market. Spanx is often the most expensive brand on the shapewear rack, but it hasn’t hurt sales. “If you have a great product, you can charge whatever you want,” says Noah Wrubel, CEO of lingerie site BareNecessities.com. “I as a retailer have no interest in a race to the bottom. Anyone can make a cheaper product.” Blakely can afford to fund Spanx’s planned growth, but she and Goldman might, for the first time, consider a public offering or an injection of outside capital to speed things up. “We’ve been approached consistently from day one, and it was never something I entertained,” Blakely says. “Now, for the first time, I may entertain it.” She still gets teary-eyed whenever she rides up the escalator in Bloomingdale’s to see the Spanx shop that opened last spring. “I have to pinch myself,” she says, hobbling in her different shoes, greeting shop assistants and adoring customers who recognize her from years of TV appearances. “Five grand,” she says, thinking back a decade. “Good investment.”Until relatively recent times, the symbiotic relationship existing between economic and political institutions has only been vaguely comprehended. It has been popular to view these two major sectors of American society as having a generally antagonistic relationship, with political institutions serving as a countervailing force to economic influence. This view is reflected in the traditional conception of economic history that suggests the American business system had, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, maintained an existence largely independent of, and indifferent to, the interests of the American public. The business community in this era is seen by many as ruthless and hegemonic, exercising nearly unlimited corporate power that threatened the very foundations of a free and competitive economic system. Those who hold to this view insist that the interests of the public required the imposition of political controls to regulate such matters as trade practices, pricing policies, and the size and entry of business firms in the market. It supports a consensus that government regulation of economic activity represents a national policy commitment to elevating the "ethical plane" of competition in order that market influences may more freely serve some vaguely defined "general welfare." One business scholar has reflected this attitude well: It is not always safe to leave business to its own devices; experience has shown that its freedom will sometimes be abused. … Competitors have been harassed by malicious and predatory tactics, handicapped by discrimination, excluded from markets and sources of supply, and subjected to intimidation, coercion, and physical violence. Consumers have been victimized by short weights and measures, by adulteration, and by misrepresentation of quality and price; they have been forced to contribute to the profits of monopoly. … [T]he nation's resources have been dissipated through extravagant methods of exploitation. These abuses have not characterized all business at all times, but they have occurred with sufficient frequency to justify the imposition of controls. Regulation is clearly required, not only to protect the investor, the worker, the consumer, and the community at large against the unscrupulous businessman, but also to protect the honest businessman against his dishonest competitor. This impression of the purposes and effects of the regulatory process is reinforced by a common historical view of the 1920s as the declining years of laissez-faire capitalism, in which "big business" had its last profligate fling before being brought under the discipline of rational, politically supervised economic planning. Indeed, the so-called Great Depression that ended this decade is generally perceived as one of the high-water marks of corporate dissipation and irresponsibility, ushering in the uncomfortable aftereffects of the 1930s. The New Deal is, to this day, regarded as a major turning point in government and business relationships, and it represents to many the inevitable consequences of undisciplined market power. The National Industrial Recovery Act, the Agricultural Adjustment Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as the operation of intraindustrial agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, and the Federal Power Commission are commonly depicted by historians as having imposed competitive discipline and socially responsible behavior upon a recalcitrant business community. Paralleling this view of history, however, is a recognition that government regulation has generally served to further the very economic interests being regulated. The economist — and later United States senator — Paul Douglas was not the first to become aware of this fact when, in 1935, he observed with some bewilderment, "Public regulation has proved most ineffective. Instead of the regulatory commissions controlling the private utilities, the utilities have largely controlled the regulatory commissions." Nor was he the last to perceive the truth of that proposition. Indeed, in the intervening years, research has revealed the dominant influence of commercial and industrial interests in shaping and directing government regulatory policies in order to advance such business interests. While there is a debate as to whether businessmen had advocated the establishment of political agencies in order to structure the marketplace for their benefit or had only captured such agencies after they had been created, few would question the idea that the regulatory processes of government have been actively and purposefully employed by business interests in order to gain advantages denied them in the marketplace. Though recognizing the existence of a legitimate debate on the question of the origins of regulatory legislation, one of the underlying premises of this book is that most political intervention into economic activity has been fostered by business leaders and trade associations desirous of restraining or eliminating those trade practices of their competitors that most threatened existing market positions or price structures. As historian Gabriel Kolko and others have observed, competition was very intense among business firms in the early 20th century. Firms with established market positions wanted to reduce the impact of such competition and employed voluntary methods (such as mergers, pooling, trade association "codes of ethics," and other agreements) in efforts to stabilize competitive relationships. When such voluntary means failed due to lack of effective enforcement, influential corporate leaders — having found a condition of unrestrained competition and decision making unacceptable to their interests — helped promote the enactment of legal restraints upon trade practices. As Kolko has written, The dominant fact of American political life at the beginning of this century was that big business led the struggle for the federal regulation of the economy. If economic rationalization could not be attained by mergers and voluntary economic methods, a growing number of important businessmen reasoned, perhaps political means might succeed. Or, as an earlier scholar, Myron Watkins, noted, From the time of President Theodore Roosevelt's second administration there had been an insistent movement among certain industrial leaders for either a legislative or administrative definition of an exact standard of competitive conduct." It is the purpose of this book to inquire into the attitudes of business leaders toward competition during the years 1918–1938 and to see how those attitudes became translated into proposals for controlling competition through political machinery under the direction of trade associations. This particular 20-year period has been selected because of the fundamental metamorphosis taking place within the business community itself and the importance of this era in the history of government regulation of economic activity. During these years, men of commerce and industry began forging, through the trade associations, a consensus as to the proper scope and intensity of competitive behavior. This 20-year period brackets American business experiences with two major industry-dominated government regulatory systems: the War Industries Board (WIB) and the National Recovery Administration (NRA). Under these two systems, businessmen increasingly exhibited a disposition for a collectivized authority over one another, with trade associations serving as government-backed enforcement agencies. Perhaps the historian Robert Wiebe has best summarized the attitudes toward government-business relationships with which business leaders emerged from World War I. Recognizing that "[o]nly the government could ensure the stability and continuity essential to their welfare," men of commerce and industry did not focus upon a "neutralization of the government." On the contrary, "They wanted a powerful government, but one whose authority stood at their disposal; a strong, responsive government through which they could manage their own affairs in their own way." The attraction of so many business leaders to systems of government-enforced trade practice standards reflected a continuing institutionalization of economic life. The systemwide benefits of maintaining openness in competition — with no legal restrictions on freedom of entry into the marketplace or on the terms and conditions for which parties could contract with one another — were being rejected by business organizations more concerned with the survival of individual firms and industries. As a consequence, business leaders expressed an increasing desire for the maintenance of conditions of equilibrium that would help preserve the positions of existing firms. Free and unrestrained competition demanded a continuing resiliency in responding to market changes. The innovation in products, services, and business methods that made economic life creative and vibrant came to be seen as a threat to the survival of firms unable or unwilling to respond. Concerns for security and stability began to take priority over autonomy and spontaneity in the thinking of most business leaders. There were a number of factors that helped to influence efforts on behalf of government-enforced equilibrium policies. To begin with, there were significant organizational and technological changes that occurred within the business system, both prior to and following World War I, to which businessmen had to respond. One analyst of the business scene, Carl F. Taeusch, declared that the factor that did the most to stimulate the growth of trade associations was "the advent of trade — or industrial — as opposed to individual competition." Taeusch noted that starting with the early 1900s and continuing through the 1920s, American business underwent quite radical changes in the development of major new industries and new methods of manufacture and product distribution. The combination of these factors had a major impact, not only upon the firms within the industries that were undergoing such changes, but also upon businesses indirectly related to such industries. The principal new industries included those producing automobiles, airplanes, electrical power, and products powered by electricity (including radio, motion pictures, the phonograph, and consumer appliances). There was also a total revamping of the petroleum industry — which, prior to the automobile and electricity, had existed primarily as a source of lighting — accompanied by a realignment of the relative market positions of petroleum, electricity, and coal as fuel and power sources. The revolutionary changes in distribution methods included the development of chain stores, direct selling by manufacturers, vertically integrated retailing organizations, and the growth of new consumer-credit practices. The new manufacturing methods embraced many industries and resulted in a restructuring of business organizations to take advantage of new efficiencies brought about by such new production methods. The combination of these factors led to the growth of product (or "industrial") competition. Some of the consequences to industries of such radical changes are given by Taeusch: The use of structural steel and cement in the building industry has confronted the lumber interests with a problem of self-preservation; changes in food habits and the more aggressive tactics of new food businesses have faced the older staple-goods concerns with the problem of rapidly declining sales; style changes ruthlessly affect the use of textile goods. Taeusch's explanation found support in the analysis offered by economist Joseph Schumpeter. Addressing himself to the "process of Creative Destruction," through which established firms are challenged and often replaced by new sources of competition, Schumpeter concluded that price competition is not the most significant factor to which firms have to respond. In his view, it is not that kind of competition which counts but the competition from the new commodity, the new technology, the new source of supply, the new type of organization … competition which commands a decisive cost or quality advantage and which strikes not at the margins of the profits and the outputs of the existing firms but at their foundations and their very lives. Citing retailing as an example, Schumpeter declared that the competition that was most critical arose "not from additional shops of the same type, but from the department store, the chain store, the mail-order house and the supermarket." "Because 'collectivism' reflects conservative, status quo sentiments, its underlying premises were consistent with business efforts to resist change." Whatever its relative significance vis-à-vis price competition, there is no doubt that the processes emphasized by Schumpeter served as the progenitors of economic advancements that revolutionized American life: the replacement of the horse by the automobile and of the kerosene lamp by the electric light; the opening up of worldwide systems of communication, transportation, and distribution; and the introduction of the consumer to an increased variety of services and products. In such a volatile climate, change became one of the few constants upon which businessmen could rely. Economic survival often depended upon innovative resiliency; firms with higher unit costs and prices had to either become more efficient or drop out of the race. Instability and turnover were continuing threats with which firms had to contend. The severity of the competitive struggle was best reflected in the automobile industry: of the 181 firms manufacturing cars at some time during the years 1903 to 1926, 83 remained in business as of 1922, while 20 managed to survive through 1938. In addition to the technological and organizational sources of change, trade policies proved disquieting. So intense was the pace of competition that many firms turned with increasing frequency to aggressive sales practices and lowered prices in order to gain some comparative advantage. The consequence, of course, was to further heighten the intensity of trade rivalry. Businessmen seeking nothing more than the most pragmatic route to survival in such a competitive and evolving environment became pariahs to industry colleagues. Such aggressive trade practices provided the climate in which American business found itself as it entered World War I. Paradoxically, men of commerce and industry found, in the wartime management of the WIB, a temporary respite from what many regarded as the killing pace of commercial warfare. The economic cease-fire imposed by a centrally directed alliance of government and business afforded businessmen the opportunity of experiencing a less-menacing trade atmosphere. When peace was restored to the rest of the world, however, competitive aggression returned to the marketplace. Businessmen, recalling the managed harmony of the war years, confronted the intensely competitive 1920s with hopes of realizing a more durable and predictable setting in which to conduct business. Firms that viewed the processes of change as threats to their positions began organizing resistance. Speaking to this phenomenon, economist Walter Adams observed that such firms "quickly and instinctively understood that storm shelters had to be built to protect themselves against this destructive force." Businessmen confronted, not only the kinds of changes observed by Taeusch and Schumpeter, but a political environment within which antibusiness sentiments were widespread. As Wiebe has observed, political hostility toward large industrial combinations, and a good deal of confusion over Supreme Court cases that sought to distinguish "reasonable" and "unreasonable" restraints of trade, left the business community in a somewhat unsettled frame of mind. These "tensions from political uncertainty and economic instability" generated a transformation in the thinking of business leaders. Politics and ideology became employed in the efforts of businessmen "to protect their positions of leadership in America's twentieth-century society in transition." The result was a more conciliatory attitude toward government; for purely pragmatic reasons business leaders attempted to absorb reform movements and use them to their advantage. A very broad range of social and economic conditions existed during the years 1918–1938: a war, an era of seemingly endless prosperity, the Great Depression, and the New Deal with its promises of a politically engineered recovery. Continuing throughout this period, however, was an organizational transformation that had begun long before World War I: the "collectivization" of human society. The principle of "collective organization," postulating the superior interests of the group over those of its individual members, was emerging within the business system as well as within other sectors of society. Because "collectivism" reflects conservative, status quo sentiments, its underlying premises were consistent with business efforts to resist change. Industries organized themselves through the machinery of the trade associations and began the task of altering the attitudes, belief systems, and practices that represented the old order. Business decision making that emphasized the well-being of the individual firm was to be eschewed in favor of attitudes that stressed the collective interests of the industry itself. Individual profit maximizing was to be de-emphasized when confronted by the "greater interests of the group"; independence and self-centeredness were to be put aside in favor of a more "cooperative" form of "friendly competition." Nothing so threatened the interests of this emerging industrial order as the free play of market forces at work in an environment of legally unrestrained competition. Nothing so preoccupied industry-oriented business leaders in the post–World War I years as the effort to structure this environment so as to keep the conduct of trade within limits that posed no threat to their collective interests. Throughout the years 1918–38, there was a consistent effort by many business officials and trade associations to develop a spirit of "business cooperation" through which, it was hoped, severe competitive pressures could be restrained. As we shall discover, many business leaders tried to establish systems of business relationships that would mitigate aggressive competitive practices and reduce the threat of economic loss to firms unable to withstand such competition. One finds industry leaders and trade groups railing constantly against the "price cutter," the "cutthroat" competitor, and the entrepreneurial interloper who dared to "invade the territory" of an established competitor. Such efforts invariably began with voluntary methods of "self-restraint." When voluntary approaches failed to produce the desired stability, many businessmen — mindful of the advantages experienced under the WIB — sought to effectuate this spirit of "cooperation" through politically backed programs designed to fashion a greater degree of centralized business decision-making. Characterizing their proposals as "industrial self-regulation," business spokesmen and trade associations worked to secure for themselves a diluted competitive environment that would not be threatening to their interests. Such political efforts to control trade practices led, ultimately, to the enactment of the National Industrial Recovery Act, a piece of legislation put to death in 1935 by the US Supreme Court. We shall examine both the contributions and responses of businessmen to this recovery program and will consider the post-NRA period in order to determine whether its existence had significantly affected the policy recommendations of business leaders for controlling trade practices. After a more general development, in the first four chapters, of business responses to competition, we shall examine a number of specific industries. In chapters 5 through 7, we shall look at such industries as steel, petroleum, coal, textile manufacturing, and retailing in order to obtain a more detailed understanding of competitive conditions and business responses to those conditions. These particular industries were selected for a number of reasons: they were all considered major industries throughout the period encompassed by this book and were among the principal industries undergoing the substantial changes discussed by Taeusch and Schumpeter; representing such diverse fields as capital-goods manufacturing, natural-resource development, consumer-goods manufacturing, and retailing, they provide a fair cross section of American commerce and industry; not having had a "public-utility" status imposed upon them, these industries were, for the most part, open to entry by would-be competitors and had pricing practices determined by market rather than political influences; and because competition was particularly intense within these industries during the period, some of the most spirited and vocal efforts to tranquilize competitive inclinations came from these sectors of the economy. An examination of other industries reveals similar tendencies and influences at work, and it is believed that the industries selected for specific study herein offer a fairly representative picture of the development of business attitudes toward competition and regulation during the 20 years following the end of World War I.The Buffalo Sabres have their centers for the future in Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart, but the organization is hoping to develop talent on the wings to support that trio. One of those wingers looking to complement the likes of an Eichel or a Reinhart is right wing Justin Bailey – one of three second round picks for the Sabres at the 2013 NHL Draft. The 6’3”, 200-pound forward from Williamsville, NY grew up just 20 minutes outside of Buffalo and turned pro this fall with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate in Rochester. Playing
scientific community dismissing any connection. 'They can put anything they want in that vaccine and they have no accountability for it,' Kennedy said of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the Crest Theater stage in Sacramento. 'They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone. This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country,' Kennedy added. Kennedy said that the documentary helped convince lawmakers in Oregon stop a similar measure in that state, and was hoping it would have a similar effect in California. Anti-vaccine advocates delivered free tickets to the screening to every California lawmaker on Monday, and cordoned off three rows in the theater for them on Tuesday that remained empty. Unpopular opinion: The film screened on Tuesday purports that there is a connection between the vaccine chemical thimerosal and autism, though it is a theory the scientific community has mostly dismissed Advocate: Kennedy speaks with audience members at the Crest Theater in Sacramento on Tuesday Senate Bill 277 was scheduled to have its first hearing Wednesday in front of the Senate Health Committee. If passed, the law will remove an exemption in the vaccination law that currently allows parents to cite personal beliefs in not vaccinating their children. The anti-vaccination movement has been sweeping the country, and with more parents refusing common immunizations, many long-dormant illnesses like measles and whooping cough are breaking out in schools. Senator Richard Pan, a Democrat from Sacramento and a pediatrician, called Kennedy's endorsement of the anti-vaccine cause as dangerous.A South Florida sheriff's deputy has been charged with manslaughter in the 2013 shooting death of a man who was carrying only an air rifle and may have been unable to hear police commands because he was listening to music through earbuds. A grand jury indictment released Friday charges Broward sheriff's deputy Peter Peraza with manslaughter with a firearm in the shooting of 33-year-old Jermaine McBean, who was black. The charge carries a maximum 30-year prison sentence. Prosecutors said Peraza turned himself in Friday morning. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had a lawyer to speak for him. The Broward Sheriff's Office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. McBean was shot by Peraza after 911 callers reported seeing him carrying what appeared to be a real rifle down a busy street. The Associated PressEnlarge By Brendan Hoffman, Getty Images Protesters calling for an immediate end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan rally in Lafayette Park near the White House on March 20. WASHINGTON (AP) Thousands of protesters carried signs that read "Indict Bush Now" and flag-draped cardboard coffins on Saturday urging the immediate withdrawal of all troops sent into combat overseas. Protesters rallied at Lafayette Park across from the White House and then began marching through downtown seven years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Seven protesters, including activist Cindy Sheehan, were arrested after the rally. Stops on the march route include military contractor Halliburton, the Mortgage Bankers Association and The Washington Post offices. The protest — which calls for the immediate withdrawal of troops sent to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan— drew a smaller crowd than the tens of thousands who marched in 2006 and 2007. But organizers said many more people have become disenchanted with President Barack Obama, who has pledged to withdraw troops from Iraq, because he ordered more troops into Afghanistan. TIMELINE: Key moments in the Iraq conflict CASUALTIES: U.S. lives lost in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond Sheehan began shouting "arrest that war criminal" through a bullhorn and pointing to the White House from an area of sidewalk park police had closed off Saturday afternoon. The other six protesters were among a group of more than a dozen who had lain down on the sidewalk next to the row of cardboard coffins. Anna Berlinrut, of South Orange, N.J., was one of a number of protesters who have children who have served in Iraq, and said her son supports her protests. "If there were a draft, we'd have a million people out here," Berlinrut said when asked about the turnout. The exact number of protesters was unclear, as D.C. authorities do not give out crowd estimates. The protest at Lafayette Park was peaceful, although police closed a portion of the sidewalk in front of the White House fence after protesters tried to use mud and large stencils to spell out "Iraq veterans against the war." Once the sidewalk was closed, the protesters stenciled the message on the street using mud they had carried in buckets to the rally. Longtime activist Cindy Sheehan was among the speakers at the rally and asked whether "the honeymoon was over with that war criminal in the White House" — an apparent reference to Obama — prompting moderate applause. Sheehan also encouraged protesters to join a tent camp near the Washington Monument, saying they need to do more than shake their fists at empty buildings. She pledged to erect the tents again after the National Park Service forced protesters to take down the tents Monday. Sheehan has been a vocal critic of the war since her 21-year-old son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004. She staged a prolonged demonstration in 2005 outside former President George W. Bush's ranch near Crawford, Texas. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark also spoke, calling on the Justice Department to investigate the officials who launched the Iraq war. Later, activist and former U.S. presidential contender Ralph Nader said there has been no real difference in American foreign policy since Obama's election. "He's kept Guantanamo open, he's continued to use indefinite detention, he refuses to pay for the war," Nader said. In New York City, there were far fewer protesters at a similar rally. A few dozen enthusiastic protesters gathered near a military recruiting station in Times Square, though they were far outnumbered by uninterested tourists. A group of older women calling themselves the Raging Grannies sang, "The country is broke, this war is a joke." Four demonstrators evoked images of the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by dressing in orange uniforms and wearing black hoods. Liz Proefriedt, a retired Roman Catholic nun, held up a banner that read, "Bread not bombs." "It's sad that a lot of people did not come out for this protest," said Kathy Hoang, of Manchester, Conn. "People are getting used to the war, and don't bother even to think about it anymore." 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 moreDunseth says he learned how to be more media friendly from Alexi Lalas when the two of them played together in New England in 1997. The rookie followed the U.S. national team star and current ESPN analyst into a TV interview to observe how it was done. "They asked him a question and he just turned on a light, he turned into this different person," Dunseth recalls. "I'd never seen anything like it. I was just watching how he was excited, he was telling stories, he was taking shots at himself, making himself look human and it was all super interesting to me. I was actually standing next to one of the media members up there in Boston and I was like, 'Man, I want to learn how to do that.'"Ten cents. What can you buy at the store with ten cents? Nothing. You can't even buy a Tootsie Roll Pop for that price, those suckers cost at least a quarter now! You might not be able to buy any physical goods for a dime these days, but today you can buy an awesome game with mechanized warfare for that price. The game I'm talking about is Epic War Tower Defense 2 by developer AMT games. Epic War TD 2 has been out for a little over a year now, so it's likely this sale is a just a way for the developer to drum up interest for a new title by getting naïve tech bloggers to write about the steep discount in an... Oh. Well, you got me this time guys. Anyways, the game looks to be a pretty standard tower defense game (with the most generic title ever) with above average graphics. According to the app description it features: 9 high-power towers 2 mega towers 44 distinct enemies 50 brain-puzzling missions 100+ hours of enjoyment Not bad for a tenth of a dollar. Most reviews are positive, but there are a couple of complaints that the game ramps up in difficulty too quickly and that it can be a bit of a grind in later levels. So what, it's a dime, it could be terrible and I still wouldn't feel bad about dropping a dime on it. You shouldn't either. Try it out if you like, the link is in the widget below.Tankers! You've done your homework this month, and now it's time for your final exam. All weekend long, put your talent to the test and enjoy a collection of bonuses, discounts, and missions designed to bolster your grade. Take advantage of a Crew XP bonus to help those brave warriors learn. To that end, you can capitalize on Crew Training and Retraining and Skill Reset discounts. Make sure your diploma has the right name on it; Crew Document Changes are discounted, too. Stock up on equipment and pummel the enemy. All this and a collection of missions that will help you fully realize your newfound potential! Start Time: Friday, September 12, 04:00 PDT (07:00 EDT) End Time: Monday, September 15, 04:00 PDT (07:00 EDT) Bonuses and Discounts Every Battle Every Battle x2 Crew Experience Crew Training/Retraining Discount Crew Training/Retraining Discount 50% Discount (Gold & Credits) Skill Reset Discount Skill Reset Discount 50% Discount (Gold & Credits) Equipment Discount Equipment Discount 50% Discount (Credits) Crew Document Change Discount Crew Document Change Discount 50% Discount (Gold) Missions Mission / Objective Top of the Class I Complete a battle as one of the top five XP earners on your team. Reward: 1 Small Repair Kit, 1 Small First Aid Kit, 1 Manual Fire Extinguisher Tier IV or higher Random battles only Once per day for each vehicle Top of the Class II Complete a battle as one of the top three XP earners on your team. Reward: 1 Large Repair Kit, 1 Large First Aid Kit, 1 Automatic Fire Extinguisher Tier IV or higher Random battles only Once per day for each vehicle Top Honors Win a battle with your team's highest XP score. Reward: 2,000 XP and x1.3 Credit Multiplier Tier IV or higher Random battles only Once per day for each vehicle First win multiplier is not eligible Graduating Class Complete a battle while dealing more than 500 damage Reward: x2 Crew XP Multiplier (stacks with bonus to create x3 for these vehicles) Tier VIII or higher Repeatable Random battles, team battles, and skirmishes Back to School: Tank Academy - Graduation Premium Shop Weekend Warrior Bundle $9.99 3 Days of Premium + 1,250 Free: 1 Day of Premium Month of Education $12.69 30 Days of Premium Free: 1 Day of Premium Intermediate Bundle $77.19 Type 64 Pz. IV S. TOG II* SU-122-44 4 Garage Slots Free: 105 leFH18B2 + 1 Garage Slot Welcome Back to the Battlefield $52.19 T34 Garage Slot Free: T14 + Garage Slot Additional Premium BundlesSubscription boxes are all the rage in the beauty community, and that trend has carried over to indies. There are a few indie boxes available, but they are normally pretty limited in number, so it’s tough to snag one. In fact, I haven’t been able to until now. Most indie sub boxes are focused on either eyeshadow/blush or bath stuff. So, when Elizabeth of Kiss My Sass announced that she was putting together a monthly sub box focused around lip products, I was excited! I’ve reviewed some of KMS’s lip glazes, and overall, I was really pleased. When these went on sale, you had the option to buy the reoccurring shipment for $8/month + $2 shipping, but unfortunately, I didn’t see that option (I was in a rush), so I ended up getting the one-time box for $10 + $2 shipping. The package was set up to ship on Monday (5.4), and it arrive at my house today (5.8), which is very quick! It was packed in a padded envelope, not a box (not that that matters, but it’s still called a subscription box even if it’s not in a physical box – is that weird?). When I opened the package, there was a professionally wrapped little leopard-print paper bag. Inside were the contents of this box, which were: Lip glaze in Hypnotic: This is a magenta-violet lip gloss in a nice plastic tube with a doe foot applicator. The gloss itself isn’t sticky at all. The doe foot applicator does squeeze off a lot of gloss when you pull it out of the tube, which isn’t a bad thing. It keeps you from pulling out way too much gloss at once. But if you want to layer it, you have to work for it. Bare lips: One layer (it’s a bit patchy with just one layer): Built up: Built up more: The color of the gloss itself is so lovely. In indirect sun, it’s a more violet-magenta color with a strong blue duochrome to it, which I love! In direct sun, it’s more pink-magenta, and the pink sparkles really come through. Wearing this color, it lasted for about 3.5 hours (including eating a bowl of popcorn, a protein bar, and drinking some hot chocolate – yes, that is my dinner on a Friday night!), so that’s actually pretty impressive. I didn’t line my lips or put on any lip primer, so it’s impressive that it lasted for so long. I did get a bit sticker as it wore down, but it wasn’t at all uncomfortable or even too noticable, but I thought I’d call that out. Also, the scent for this is pink frosting. It smells just like Shiro’s pink frosting scent to me, but it’s slightly less chemically, which is nice. I think Shiro’s is a bit much, so this is just the right amount for me. Sample of Tattoo Shop eyeshadow: This eyeshadow has black base that shows dark purple with electric blue and hot pink sparkles. The sparkles and color really show up, whether over a sticky base or even just NYX white base. Obviously, over no primer or anything at all, it’s mostly just the black base with some random sparkles. This color is absolutely gorgeous. I think it’ll make an amazing liner! You’ll see that the purple is more blue-purple in indirect sun and is more royal purple in direct sun. Other than as liner, I personally probably wouldn’t wear this color. You guys know I’m not a big fan of eyeshadows with black bases in general. But other than my personal feelings on that matter, this is a really nice quality eyeshadow and the purple sparkles are really easy to get to show. This color is in KMS’s permanent collection. Sample of Sailor’s Demise: This color is described on the site as inspired by mermaids, which is spot on. When I swatched this and took my notes, all I wrote is “I am a mermaid.” It’s a gorgeous blue-green color. The creaminess is really nice, too. I’ve never worked with a cream eyeshadow before, so I’m really excited to try this out. It’s a pretty large size sample, too, which is nice! I’m very curious to try this out and see if I have any trouble with creasing. I’ve always wondered that about cream eyeshadows. This product is also vegan, which is interesting. Link to it on the site. Hypnotic perfume: This is a perfume sample that is a dupe of Love Spell by Victoria’s Secret. I haven’t smelled that in a long time, so I can’t say how close this is or not, but regardless, it is a bright, citrusy, and fruity smell. Overall thoughts: I really liked this box. I think all of the products included were really nice quality. I was happy with every product in here! I do wish that the collection felt more cohesive, like some of the other indie subscription boxes out there (especially Aromaleigh, Notoriously Morbid and Hello Waffle have great, cohesive themes!). Instead, this felt much more like Birchbox in the way of “Well, we just had some random stuff, so we decided to just send it out together and call it a box.” I prefer the boxes that have a monthly theme that feels cohesive, so if I were going to give feedback, it would be that. Also, I like when the indie boxes have samples from other companies too, so hopefully as this box gets a following, that’ll be included as well. But, to sum it all up – Would I buy this again? Hell yes! I feel like the value is definitely there. I also really like KMS’s products. I’ve ordered from Elizabeth a few times, and I’ve always been extremely pleased with the customer service and quality of products. So, would I recommend this? Yep. Will I try to get on the reoccurring schedule? Probably. Will I at least buy a few more boxes until I am exploding with lippies? Yep!! Share this: Email Reddit Facebook Twitter Google Pinterest Tumblr StumbleUpon PocketBelow is a snippet of a press release about the August 20 celebration of Walkin’ Jim Stoltz, an Earth First! musician from the early days of the movement who passed in September last year: Friends, family and admirers of one of Montana’s most well-known environmentalist-singers will gather on Saturday, August 20 in the Big Sky Town Center to celebrate the life of Walkin’ Jim Stoltz in a manner he would have appreciated: In the mountains, with music. Nationally known artists Dakota Sid Clifford, Earth Mama Joyce Rouse, Kate Bennet, Emma’s Revolution, and Alaskan troubadour Susan Grace Stoltz are just some of the musicians who will take to the stage in the new Town Center pavilion to share their songs of the Earth. They will be joined by Montana performers Bluebird Sky, Prairie Wind Jammers, Keith Hammer and Cowgirl Poet Buzzy Vick in the free all-day event, billed “Forever Wild 2011” which will take place at the Big Sky town Center from 3:30-8:30 PM. The Forever Wild memorial is a way to both honor Jim’s life and continue his vision. Concert-goers will have opportunities to donate to MUSE and its new scholarship fund, Kid for the Wild, which is intended to help kids spend time in the outdoors through assistance with camp or outdoor expedition expenses. For more information on the concert, what’s in Big Sky and Walkin’ Jim’s life and legacy, check the M.U.S.E. site (Musicians United to Sustain the Environment) at www.musemusic.org. We hope to see you there! For more about Walkin’ Jim’s life, click here AdvertisementsZac Goldsmith has been elected as the Tory candidate for next May’s Mayor of London election, to face Labour’s Sadiq Khan. The Conservative selection, in which MP Zac beat Assembly Member Andrew Boff, MEP Syed Kamall and London’s deputy mayor for crime and policing Stephen Greenhalgh, suffered from a dismal turnout of fewer than 10,000 voters. This is a smaller total than the 15,661 who voted for Boris Johnson alone in 2007. 9,227 voted in the Conservative primary (in which any Londoner could sign up and vote for £1), compared to 87,884 who voted in the Labour selection. Winner Goldsmith received 6,514 votes, while Sadiq Khan received 48,152 in the Labour race. Some London Labour sources are quietly confident about their chances: a poll last month indicated Khan could enjoy a large lead over Goldsmith, while the son of a bus driver versus the Old Etonian narrative could prove important. Goldsmith has already conceded that his image could prove a problem. In a 2013 interview with the Huffington Post, in which he said he was “not going to stand as a candidate for Mayor of London”, he also said his background if he did run would be an issue. “The odds of my succeeding in the mayoral contest, I think people have had enough of white male Etonians, I’m not sure my chances would be very high”, he said.Protestors took down many of the barricades around the monuments on the National Mall, leaving the Mall's landmarks open for tourists tonight. News4's Darcy Spencer reports. (Published Monday, Oct. 14, 2013) A rally with appearances from conservative stars Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz escalated into a tense situation Sunday, as veterans protesting the government shutdown clashed with police, taking down barricades blocking the closed World War II Memorial and dumping them outside the White House. The group, upset with the closure of memorials in Washington due to the shutdown stalemate, was organized by the Million Vet March, but it soon took on a more political tone. According to NBC News, the president was in the White House at the time the protesters arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Video from cameras on the White House lawn showed people carrying barricades, presumably from the WWII memorial, to the fence. The DC Police Department said via Twitter that they were on the scene with the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police. Protesters Clash With Capitol Police Day 13 of the government shutdown brought major fireworks to the White House. Protesters broke down the gates blocking the World War II memorial on the National Mall and carried them to the White House. Despite some clashes with police, no one was arrested. News4's Derrick Ward reports. (Published Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013) NBC News desk assistant Brittany Marshall reported a sizable police presence moved protestors away from the White House fence. News 4's Derrick Ward said the crowd dissipated shortly thereafter with some people getting on buses to leave the area. Members of the Million Vet March planned on gathering at the World War II Memorial on Sunday despite the memorial being closed due to the government shutdown. According to a statement on the group’s website, they feel military personnel and veterans are “being used a political pawns in the ongoing government shutdown and budget crisis.” Organizers say they are not a political leaning group, but call the shutting down of memorials “a despicable act of cowardice.” Memorial Protest Spills into Street The protest at the WWII memorial is on the move. (Published Sunday, Oct. 13, 2013) However, conservative political commentator Sarah Palin, the 2008 vice presidential nominee and former Alaska governor, and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) arrived and spoke to the people gathered at the memorial. "This is the people's memorial," Palin said. "Our veterans should be above politics." Ward reported some truckers who have attempted to slow beltway traffic this weekend as a protest measure made their way down to the Tidal Basin area. Police blocked off roads in an attempt to keep streets clear.Two destroyers and three amphibious landing vessels carrying marines set sail from Russian bases in the Arctic and the Black Sea, according to Russian military sources. Russia's defence ministry insisted that the mission was part of a previously scheduled exercise in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Black Sea and at least one of the vessels in the flotilla has patrolled waters off Syria earlier this year. But Western diplomats say the purpose of the mission is to show tangible support for Mr Assad, to warn the West against military intervention in Syria and to prepare for the possible evacuation of Russian nationals from the country. Russia renewed naval patrols in the Mediterranean in 2007 – after a 15-year hiatus – with a wider aim of expressing the country's military resurgence. It was unclear whether the ships were carrying weapons supplies or large numbers of marines. Despite the demonstration of military strength, speculation has been mounting that Russia is subtly realigning its once unquestioned support for Mr Assad, although its public position is unlikely to change. This week, Moscow announced that it would halt the delivery of new weapons to the Syrian armed forces, while some of Mr Assad's leading opponents have been invited to the Kremlin for talks. Meanwhile, Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria, sought regional support for his faltering peace plan as he held talks with senior officials in both Iran and Iraq. Mr Annan, who said this week that he was working on a new proposal to end the fighting in Syria, said he believed that Iran could play a "positive role" in ending the crisis, despite its close relationship with the Assad regime. The United States has accused Iran of propping up Mr Assad, by giving him arms and logistical support. Mr Annan has said that he will brief the Syrian opposition on a new approach he has agreed with Mr Assad earlier this week. Although he would not be drawn on the specifics of the proposal, he said that his new plan involved ending the conflict on a step-by-step basis, beginning with districts that have suffered the worst violence.Bahrain wouldn't seem to have a lot to offer, except that it seems to offer something for a million people ( half of which are guest workers) living on a desert island. Why is it generating so much interest? Is there any oil left there? In this article, I will discuss some recent developments between Bahrain and its neighbors in the context of its long history. The small archipelago nation of Bahrain can't seem to stay out of the news lately, as the government continues its containment of civil protests that it perceives as a threat to its rule. The majority (60-70%) Shi'a population has observed the examples of regime-change elsewhere in the Middle East and were demonstrating publicly about their treatment under the Sunni monarchy. The Bahrain military has escalated its armed repression of these demonstrations, and Saudi Arabia eventually sent troops there. Iran expressed its sincere displeasure with that, recalling its ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The United States, which has a strategic military presence on Bahrain and a strategic petroleum interest in Saudi Arabia, has expressed its displeasure to everybody involved except the protesters. Bahrain and Oil Given the presence of anachronistic monarchies, pricey palaces (see linked pdf), outlandish residential developments, and foreign meddling, you know that oil is somehow involved. Indeed, Bahrain was the first location in the Middle East that oil was "discovered" (in the sense of drilling for it and finding it). But even Bahrain oil is complicated, and many different factors influence the role that oil is playing in current events. For one thing, it actually produces relatively little oil directly. Its only field, Awali, peaked decades ago at about 75,000 bpd and has been producing around 30,000 bpd. Cumulative production is a little over 900 million barrels. The EIA has provided the following summary of Bahrain production and consumption: The additional liquids production possibly comes from some natural gas liquids production (Bahrain has some non-associated gas fields), but most of the difference between the Awali and Bahrain outputs is refinery gains, as about 250,000 bpd of oil is refined at the state-owned refinery. According to the IEA, consumption is approximately one third each gasoline and jet fuel and the remainder diesel and other liquids. Bahrain is trying to squeeze more out of Awali, and has been doing some rather extensive drilling for such a small field. From the 2009 Annual Review of Bapco (the national oil company): An aggressive development drilling programme for the 2009-2011 period is underway. A total of 104 wells are targeted in the programme, including complex directional, horizontal and reentry wells as well as conventional vertical wells. IHS/CERA expressed some skepticism about the economic prospects of extracting more oil from Awali, as did Michael E. Lynch. The latter missed a couple of points, though. First, gas is injected in Awali as opposed to water. Also missed is that there are plans to target shallower reservoirs containing heavy oil. In Bahrain Occidental has partnered with Bapco and Mubadala to form Tatweer, who are currently conducting pilot studies on the heavy oil reservoirs in the Awali field. The reservoirs have low permeability (2mD) unfractured carbonates with large volumes of heavy oil, and a trial of steam injection above the fracture gradient is being considered for 2011/2012. Some early success has been claimed, but it is not clear if this heavy oil has come on stream yet. Bahrain's energy minister Abdul Hussain Bin Ali Mirza says his country's ageing Bahrain field, where EOR boosted output from an average of 29,000 barrels a day to a level of 40,000 barrels a day within a year, will see output hit 100,000 barrels a day within seven years. If all goes well, they will have a bit more (of lesser quality) oil to export. However, in reading the Bapco Annual Reports, one will note that they claim quite a bit of oil exports at present. That is because Bahrain has claim to half of the output of the offshore Abu Safah field, which Saudi Arabia operates. Saudi Aramco handles all aspects of the production of 300,000 bpd of Arab Medium, and Bapco collects its share of the money paid when oil leaves the Saudi Ras Tanura port. Saudi Arabia gets credit the total Abu Safah production, but Bahrain gets half the net revenue. The benefit to the Bahraini treasury is rather substantial, and certainly makes for stronger ties with Saudi Arabia. How did this come to pass? Islands in the Sun History certainly plays a part in what is transpiring at present, as it is one of back-and-forth until relatively recent times. The Bahrain land grab goes back thousands of years, and its claimants have included Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians. The Portugese occupied the islands starting in 1522, and after their forced exit in 1602, Bahrain was lorded over by successive waves of Persians and Arab tribes from the mainland for the next 180 years. In 1783, the Sunni al-Khalifa family, a clan from the Atabi tribe residing on the Qatari peninsula, seized Bahrain from Persia -- originally out of spite for getting their hands slapped for piracy: Late in I782 the Al Khalifah had raided Bahrain, plundered Manamah, its principal town, and retired with a great quantity of loot. Shaikh Nasir of Bushire was despatched by the Prince of Shiraz, Governor of the Persian province of Fars, to destroy Zubarah and chastise the Al Khalifah, but was himself defeated and compelled to withdraw. Fired by their success, the Al Khalifah crossed over to Bahrain and, with the help of the Al Sabah, their kinsmen from Kuwait, overcame the Persian garrison and made themselves masters of the island. From The Persian Claim to Bahrain by J. B. Kelly, International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) Vol. 33, No. 1 (Jan., 1957), pp. 51-70 The Al Khalifah did very well with Bahrain, first taking advantage of its strategic location by creating a hub for merchant vessels and a trade emporium, and later with pearl fishing. Before long, though, it was again being tussled over by some new players: the ascendant Wahhabi religio- military empire from the Arabian mainland, and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. Things became even more complicated with the arrival of the British around 1820. They were trying to stop piracy in the region, and then ended up being in the position of deciding who "owned" the islands. Bahrain became a British Protectorate in 1830, and this enshrined the Al Khalifah family's hold on the islands to this day. Some interesting background on how the British apportioned control over the Gulf region is found here. The British were concerned that rulers of the weaker gulf families would yield some of their territory under pressure from more powerful groups, such as the Al Saud or the Ottomans. Accordingly, the treaties signed between 1820 and 1916 recognized the sovereignty of these rulers within certain borders and specified that these borders could not be changed without British consent. Such arrangements helped to put tribal alliances into more concrete terms of landownership. This excerpt really resonates today: Controlling, or owning, land became more important with the discovery of oil. When oil companies came to explore for oil, they looked for the "owner" of the land; in accordance with British treaties, they went to the area's leading families and agreed to pay fees to the heads of these families. As oil revenues increased, the leaders became rich. Although the leaders spent much of their new wealth on themselves, they also distributed it in the area they controlled according to traditional methods, which initially consisted mostly of largesse: gifts for friends and food for whomever needed it. As time passed, the form of largesse became more sophisticated and included, for example, the construction of schools, hospitals, and roads to connect principal cities to towns in the interior. When the British finally decided to get out of the Gulf, both Saudi Arabia and Iran made a claim for Bahrain. There was some talk of folding it into a new state including Qatar and what is now the United Arab Emerites, but this did not sit well with Iran. An obstacle to creating a "superstate" was the status of Bahrain, which had been occupied by Iran at various times. The shah of Iran argued that he had a stronger claim to the island than the Al Khalifa, who had only come to Bahrain in the eighteenth century. Furthermore, the shah indicated that Iran would not accept a federation of Arab states that included Bahrain. In the end, the United Nations (UN) considered the issue of Bahrain; it decided to deny the Iranian claim to the island and to allow the Bahrainis to form an independent state. Bahrain was better suited to independence than some of the other shaykhdoms because the island had been a center of British administration and had a more developed infrastructure and education system than its neighbors. Ironically, the greater British presence on Bahrain made residents more resentful of treaty ties to Britain. Bahrain was the only place in the gulf where demonstrations against Britain occurred. Bahrain was granted formal independence in 1971. Iranian Claims Despite the years that have gone by, there are some with a different version of history. What is evident is that the maritime and costal of Bahrain were part of Iranian territory from the beginning of Sasanian Empire until throughout of Iran was occupied by the Arabs Islamic forces and migration of Bedouins from Arabian deserts into southern Iranian territories started. There were several territorial claims by Persia in the 20th century up until Bahrain was granted independence by Britain in 1971. At that time, the Shah of Iran at first restated - but then rescinded - all claims on Bahrain. Of course, the Iranian revolution in 1979 changed the scene dramatically, and Iranian clerics have occasionally used the Bahrain issue as one of their rallying cries. But the newer government has not made an official claim of ownership. A failed attempt by the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain to create an Islamic state was certainly inspired by events in Iran a short time earlier. However, there isn't much evidence to support direct involvement by Iran in the current unrest. According to Wikileaked US cables (see Appendix), there are stronger ties between the Shi'a in Bahrain and those in Iraq, than with those in Iran. More recently, King is Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had implicated Hamas as being behind the recent protests. Sum of All Saudi Fears The following map illustrates quite simply why Saudi Arabia has substantial concern over unrest in Bahrain: Location of Bahrain relative to Saudi Arabian Oil Infrastructure. The orange outline shows the relevant maritime borders. Quite obviously, Bahrain sits within throwing distance (as few as 25 miles) from critical Saudi oil infrastructure. Shown on the map are nearby Saudi oil fields (Ghawar, Abqaiq, Abu Safah, Qatif, and Berri), the oil export terminals (Ras Tanura, Al Juaymah), the critical oil processing facilities at Abqaiq, and the equally critical water treatment facilities of Qurayyah which enable water injection of many fields including Ghawar, Abqaiq, Berri, and Khurais. The even slight possibility that Iran could gain control over land so close to these facilities has motivated a surprising amount of largess towards Bahrain. This largess begins with the deal giving Bahrain half of the Abu Safah output (albeit under treaty), but there is more to the story. And while there are other factors besides security of the oil infrastructure which likely contribute to the largesse, it is probably true that Bahrain would not exist as an independent nation if not for it. Let's Make An Oil Deal Let's return to the agreement which provides Bahrain's largest single source of income. As discussed earlier, Bahrain has long had multiple claims of ownership. The first disputes were over who owned the islands; later disputes were about ownership of the water around them (and the oil under that). These disputes have come and gone over years, and just a year ago, Qatar, Iran, and Bahrain signed yet another treaty once again clarifying territorial boundaries in the Gulf. But the first agreement signed by Bahrain was with Saudi Arabia, and it concerned oil. Both BAPCO and Saudi Aramco had done some exploration on the seabed of the Abu Saf-ah Shoal, shallow waters located 65 miles NW of Bahrain but only 30 miles off the Saudi coast (see map), as early as 1949. In 1958, they came to an agreement: the disputed area was on the Saudi side of the border, but they would assign to Bahrain half of the oil revenue in perpetuity. What a sweet (...er, sour) deal that turned out to be. http://www.jag.navy.mil/organization/documents/mcrm/saudi_arabia.pdf The area cited and defined above shall
." As part of the plan, the company plans to cut costs and reduce advertising spending. The company's stock gained nearly 3 percent to close at $24.60. That's down from more than $65 a share in March of 2015. Twitter: @krobijakeThe organisation said that South-West England, the Midlands and parts of Yorkshire have had their “drought status” removed due to torrential rain over the last six weeks. The lifting of drought status follows the highest level of monthly rainfall in over 100 years, the Environment Agency said. It said that the heavy rain has “significantly increased” river and reservoir levels in the counties in question. The rain has reduced pressure on the environment and public water supplies. However the removal of drought status on many parts of the UK does not affect the 20 million Britons who are currently hit by hosepipe bans. The South, East and South-East of England remain in drought and these are the only areas where a hosepipe ban has been put in place. Dr Paul Leinster, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, said: “The recent record rainfall has eased pressure on water resources in some parts of England, helping levels in rivers and reservoirs to recover and providing relief to farmers, gardeners and wildlife.” He said that the agency will “continue to keep a close eye on the situation”. He added that low groundwater levels remain a “concern” and are unlikely to return to normal levels before this winter. Groundwater levels in many parts of the UK are still at a similar level to 1976, the last time the UK was hit by such a severe drought, said Dr Leinster. The agency warned that a return to dry weather could lead to restrictions for farmers and problems for the environment later in the year. According to the Environment Agency, the 19 areas that are no longer in drought are South Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol. Parts of Gloucestershire, parts of Hampshire, most of Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire are also out of drought. All of these counties bar South and East Yorkshire were only placed under official drought status on April 16, less than a month ago. South and East Yorkshire were placed in drought on March 28. The agency said that it is “unlikely” that water companies will now impose hosepipe bans in these areas over the summer. Swathes of the UK were put on official drought status after one of the driest ever spells on record. In the first week of April research by the Environment Agency showed that rainfall in March was only at between 29 to 68 per cent its average level for that month. River flows, reservoir levels and groundwater levels across the UK were all below normal levels, the agency said. However by the end of this week research by the agency showed that the situation had reversed. River flows were “notably or exceptionally high” at almost half the relevant sites across the UK while many reservoirs are “recovering”, the agency said.Imagine a massive croc. Walking on its hind legs. Towering over you and ready to clamp down on you with its enormous fang-filled maw. What sounds like something out of a bad Star Trek episode actually existed back in the day. Scientists say the fearsome prehistoric croc, Carnufex carolinensis, ruled North America as a top predator millions of years before the dinosaurs showed up. (Story continues below image and GIF.) Life reconstruction of Carnufex carolinensis. The Gorn, a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid reptilian species in Star Trek. See the resemblance? A mysterious specimen, hidden away. Fossils of Carnufex carolinensis, a.k.a. the “Carolina Butcher,” were discovered a decade ago in the Pekin Formation, a geological formation in North Carolina's Chatham County. They were hidden in storage at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences until they were recently rediscovered by a curator working there, the Washington Post reported. Slicing machine. When researchers examined the fossils, they realized they were looking at a new species--a nine-foot-long creature dating back some 231 million years. Using a high-resolution surface scanner, the team mapped the croc's skull and created a 3-D model of it (see below). "The skull of Carnufex is slender and long-snouted with dozens of blade-like teeth," Lindsay Zanno, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University and the lead author of a paper describing the research, told Discovery News. "For all practical purposes, this was an animal skillfully adapted for slicing flesh from the bones of its victims." Reconstructed skull of Carnufex carolinensis. 3D surface models of skull bones shown in white. Gray areas are missing elements reconstructed from close relatives of Carnufex. Top of the food chain. Along with extinct animals called rauisuchids and poposauroids, Carnufex was likely one of the top predators in the Northern hemisphere during the late Triassic period. Scientists believe it hunted creatures like armored reptiles and early mammal relatives, before a massive extinction event occurred. “We knew that there were too many top performers on the proverbial stage in the Late Triassic," Zanno said in a written statement. "Yet, until we deciphered the story behind Carnufex, it wasn’t clear that early crocodile ancestors were among those vying for top predator roles prior to the reign of dinosaurs in North America.”President Trump’s counselor Kellyanne Conway doesn’t consider herself a “feminist” in the traditional sense of the word. In an interview published Thursday, the 50-year-old mother of four told The Washington Post that she doesn’t align with the “pro-abortion,” “anti-male” tenets of modern feminism and considers herself more of a “postfeminist.” “I don’t consider myself a feminist. I think my generation isn’t a big fan of labels. My favorite label is mommy,” Mrs. Conway said. “I feel like the feminist movement has been hijacked by the pro-abortion movement or the anti-male sentiments that you read in some of their propaganda and writings,” she continued. “I’m not anti-male. One does not need to be pro-female and call yourself a feminist, when with it comes that whole anti-male culture where we want young boys to sit down and shut up in the classroom. “And we have all of these commercials that show what a feckless boob the man in the house is. That’s not the way I see the men in my life, most especially my 12-year-old son,” she added. “I consider myself a postfeminist. I consider myself one of those women who is a product of her choices, not a victim of her circumstances.” Mrs. Conway, who served as Mr. Trump’s campaign manager and became the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign, said she is just now starting to realize how historic her involvement was. “It’s a bigger deal now in retrospect. I never gave it much thought during the campaign,” she told The Post. “But looking back, I feel the enormity of that moment in time, mainly because of all the people I’ve heard from,” she said. “I consider myself more passionate than emotional, but it is nothing short of moving to hear from women and girls from all over the country and from men who say, ‘My daughters think you’re a role model.’” Mrs. Conway co-wrote the book “What Women Really Want: How American Women Are Quietly Erasing Political, Racial, Class, and Religious Lines to Change the Way We Live” with Celinda Lake in 2010. Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.Hackers on Monday installed child pornography onto the computer of Czech President, “I turned on my computer and looked in disbelief for about 10 seconds at what was happening, before I realized that it was a hacker attack,” Zeman said in an interview. IT specialists from the president’s office have traced the attack back to the US state of Alabama, the president said. This is not the first cyber attack on Czech politicians. Hackers broke into the email account of the Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka in early 2016. Previously, unknown users sent fake messages from his Twitter account. In October 2013, pornographic photographs appeared on the website of Zeman’s Party of Civic Rights (SPO). Zeman is considered a critic of Islam and supports an end to EU sanctions against Russia. The 72-year-old plans to run for a second five-year term in office early 2018.Google has offered the first public indication that it may be willing to settle Oracle's lawsuit against it over the alleged infringement of Java patents in Google's Android OS. Google and Oracle filed legal papers Wednesday that provide the court with an update on the reexamination of Oracle's patents, and on whether they think the case should be "stayed," or put on hold, pending the outcome of that process. Google argues in favor of a stay. It said the reexaminations are likely to narrow the scope of the case and the damages Oracle can claim against it. Narrowing the case would also make it "more likely that the parties could reach an informal resolution of the matter," Google's lawyers wrote. While Google doesn't say it is actively seeking a settlement, Wednesday's filing marks the first time it has said publically that it may be open to the idea, said Florian Mueller, a patent attorney who has been following the case. "In a fundamental departure from the positions it previously articulated in its public filings and its public statements, Google clearly blinks," Mueller wrote in his FOSS Patents blog. Google did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Oracle sued Google last August, saying its Android OS violates seven Java-related patents that Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems. Oracle has said it is seeking $2.6 billion in damages for the alleged infringement. Google has strongly denied any wrongdoing and says Oracle's damages estimate is "breathtaking." Any settlement would likely require Google to pay Oracle royalties for its use of Java in Android. Oracle remains opposed to delaying the case, it said in Wednesday's filing. Among the reasons it cites is that Google is apparently hiring away Oracle engineers to work on Android. "The prejudicial impact of such a delay would be particularly acute as Android continues to gain market share at a dramatic pace, growing at over 500,000 activations per day... and as knowledgeable Oracle employees continue to be lost to turnover (many being hired away by Google)," Oracle's lawyers wrote. Delaying the case pending the reexaminations by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office would also "surrender control" of the court's schedule to "an overburdened administrative agency," Oracle said Google asked the patent office to reexamine Oracle's patents soon after it filed its lawsuit. The PTO has issued preliminary "office actions" rejecting Oracle's claims in four of the patents, and upholding them in a fifth. Google says it expects office actions for the remaining two patents shortly. However, legal experts have cautioned against reading too much into the preliminary rulings, some of which Oracle has already appealed. David Mixon, a patent lawyer with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings who has been following the case, said he thinks the judge is likely to stay the case, given that the patents are in the process of being reexamined. James Niccolai covers data centers and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow James on Twitter at @jniccolai. James's e-mail address is james_niccolai@idg.comThe Illinois Supreme Court on Friday unanimously ruled unconstitutional a landmark state pension law that aimed to scale back government worker benefits to erase a massive $105 billion retirement system debt, sending lawmakers and the new governor back to the negotiating table to try to solve the pressing financial issue. The ruling also reverberated at City Hall, imperiling a similar law Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushed through to shore up two of the four city worker retirement funds and making it more difficult for him to find fixes for police, fire and teacher pension funds that are short billions of dollars. At issue was a December 2013 state law signed by then-Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn that stopped automatic, compounded yearly cost-of-living increases for retirees, extended retirement ages for current state workers and limited the amount of salary used to calculate pension benefits. Employee unions sued, arguing that the state constitution holds that pension benefits amount to a contractual agreement and once they're bestowed, they cannot be "diminished or impaired." A circuit court judge in Springfield agreed with that assessment in November. State government appealed that decision to the Illinois Supreme Court, arguing that economic necessity forced curbing retirement benefits. On Friday the justices rejected that argument, saying the law clearly violated what's known as the pension protection clause in the 1970 Illinois Constitution. "Our economy is and has always been subject to fluctuations, sometimes very extreme fluctuations," Republican Justice Lloyd Karmeier wrote on behalf of all seven justices. "The law was clear that the promised benefits would therefore have to be paid and that the responsibility for providing the state's share of the necessary funding fell squarely on the legislature's shoulders. "The General Assembly may find itself in crisis, but it is a crisis which other public pension systems managed to avoid and... it is a crisis for which the General Assembly itself is largely responsible," Karmeier wrote. Each of the four Illinois public retirement systems is in deep financial trouble. (Chicago Tribune Graphics) (Chicago Tribune Graphics) "It is our obligation, however, just as it is theirs, to ensure that the law is followed. That is true at all times. It is especially important in times of crisis when, as this case demonstrates, even clear principles and long-standing precedent are threatened. Crisis is not an excuse to abandon the rule of law. It is a summons to defend it," he wrote. The ruling means Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly will have to come up with a new solution after justices appeared to offer little in the way of wiggle room beyond paying what's owed, which likely would require a tax increase. Coming up with a way to bridge a budget gap of more than $6 billion already was going to be difficult with little more than three weeks before a scheduled May 31 adjournment, and now the pension mess has been added to the mix. Rauner, who argued during last year's campaign that the law was unconstitutional and didn't go far enough to reduce the pension debt, said the court ruling only reinforces his approach of getting voters to approve a constitutional amendment that "would allow the state to move forward on common-sense pension reforms." The governor has proposed allowing veteran state workers to keep the current benefits they've earned through a certain date, then move them into a lower-paying benefit plan created for newer state workers. To try to make that approach pass legal muster, he wants lawmakers to put on the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to clarify that future retirement benefits could be changed. In its ruling, the court restated that state worker retirement benefits that are promised on the first day of work cannot be later reduced during their term of employment, only increased. But it is unclear whether a change in the constitution could be applied to existing state workers. Even if reluctant lawmakers were to put a measure on the ballot and voters approved it, such a change would spur years of litigation that could involve both state and federal courts. A coalition of unions that represent government workers and retirees applauded the ruling as protecting "the hard-earned life savings of teachers, police, firefighters, nurses, caregivers and other public service workers and retirees." "Public service workers are helpers and problem solvers by trade. With the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling, we urge lawmakers to join us in developing a fair and constitutional solution to pension funding, and we remain ready to work with anyone of good faith to do so," Illinois AFL-CIO President Michael Carrigan said in a statement. Democratic Senate President John Cullerton issued a statement noting concerns he raised at the time the bill was passed. "Today, the Illinois Supreme Court declared that regardless of political considerations or fiscal circumstances, state leaders cannot renege on pension obligations," the statement read. "This ruling is a victory for retirees, public employees and everyone who respects the plain language of our constitution." The court decision affects not only state government but also taxpayers in Chicago and municipalities throughout Illinois struggling to cope with growing pension debts that are straining government budgets. At City Hall, the ruling stands to loom large in lawsuits that unions and retirees filed against Emanuel's changes to pension systems for city workers and laborers. Like the state law, the city measure reduced annual cost-of-living increases. The ruling also could hurt Emanuel's leverage as he negotiates a pension fix for the retirement systems covering Chicago police and firefighters. At the state level, for decades governors and lawmakers failed to put enough money into the pension systems covering most state workers and university employees, as well as suburban and downstate teachers. In playing catch-up, spending on pensions now amounts to almost a quarter of every tax dollar that goes into the state's general bank account.Continuing with our series on meeting the Disney characters in the parks, we have now reached Disney’s Hollywood Studios or as some people call it “Construction Land”. This is still my favourite park, and I can easily fill an entire day there. I see people’s point about attractions closing down, but there is still a ton of fun to have in the park. Character meet-and-greets are a fantastic way to fill your day here. Plus, there is the added bonus that this is the only place in Walt Disney World where you can meet some of these characters. Just like last time, for the purpose of this article we will only talk about characters in specific locations, with no character breakfasts or special access needed to meet them. Also, it should be noted not all characters here will sign autographs so make sure to take note before going. You don’t want a disappointed child or Husband because Chewbacca didn’t sign their book. Woody’s Picture Shootin’ Corral Who doesn’t love Toy Story? I get excited just thinking about this meet-and-greet because it’s just so much fun. Like many of Disney’s Hollywood Studios meet-and-greets this one is held inside. The easiest way to find it is follow the massive amount of guests going to Toy Story Mania, and when you get there turn around and face thre windows behind you. You will see the smiling faces of Buzz Lightyear and Woody. Like Toy Story Mania, this attraction can have a long line, but I can not express enough about how much it’s worth it. These characters are great. Outside you will also find the Green Army Men from the movie. They are busy having silly adventures but are really just waiting for you to stop them for a picture. If you don’t immediately see them just wait a moment, and they will be by. There is never a wait, and you can just walk right up to them, but be warned… they can be really goofy. The Green Army Men and Woody will sign autographs, but Buzz usually just has a stamp. Star Wars Launch Bay If anyone in your family is a Star Wars fan, you have to drop by the new Star Wars Launch Bay. Old School Star Wars fan might be a little disappointed because you used to be able to meet Darth Vader here, but he is off doing other things for the time being. We all know he will make some kind of appearance in the new Star Wars land, so he won’t be gone forever. Until then don’t worry because there are still two fantastic characters to meet here. In the Star Wars Launch Bay you can meet Chewbacca over on The Light Side, and Kylo Ren on The Dark Side. Two fantastic characters every Star Wars fans should meet. Just note the lines can get long here… real long. Try to go when the park opens if you can. Sometimes you can also meet Stormtroopers here, but many times they are to busy on patrol to stop for photos. It should also be noted that no character here will sign an autograph. Center Stage Courtyard Looking to meet some classic characters in Disney’s Hollywood Studios? This is where you will find Chip, Dale, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy. Obviously they aren’t all there having a party at the same time, so check with Disney for appearance times on your trip. All these characters will sign an autograph as well. Animation Courtyard If you have really young children this will probably be top of your character meet-and-greet list. Here your family can meet Doc McStuffins, Jake (NeverLand Pirates), Sofia the First and Minnie Mouse. Make sure to check with Disney information for who is appearing at what time. With the exception of Minnie Mouse, you aren’t going to find these characters in many places. There is a character breakfast we will cover in a future article, but besides that, this is where you can make your little child’s dream come true. The lines are split to meet them, and the lines can sometimes get a little long. If you see a long line up don’t worry. The cast members keep these lines moving pretty quickly, and all of the characters will sign autographs. Sorcerer’s Workshop Any true Disney fan would not pass up a chance to meet the big… well little, mouse himself; Mickey Mouse. Here at Disney’s Hollywood Studios your whole family can meet Sorcerer Mickey. How much fun is that? I’ve heard people say the line up can get long for him, but I’ll be honest I have never seen one longer than 15 minutes. He does sign autographs. You have to hurry if you want to catch James P. Sullivan (Sulley) and Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. As of April 2, 2016 they will go on vacation for awhile with the new construction starting. This is a fantastic meet-and-greet because you get two characters with one wait, and you can’t find them many places in Walt Disney World. There are never more than 4 or 5 families waiting to see them, and they really take their time with the guests. It’s just a great spot. Neither of these characters sign autographs either. Soon to Come… The internet recently jumped for joy at the news that Olaf is coming to the parks. He will be in the Echo Lake District. Disney hasn’t announced when, but it will be sooner rather than later. This new location will actually have rotating characters, but I have a feeling Olaf will be popular. He will probably be there for a long time. Disney Parks Blog also recently announced that just off Commissary Lane you will soon be able to find Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. At the time of this article there was no arrival date announced. Disney’s Hollywood Studios may not have as many character meet-and-greets as Magic Kingdom, but it does have some interesting characters that you can’t find anywhere else. You may be able to find Donald Duck in every park but you can’t find the Disney Junior characters everywhere. A lot of guests are scared they can’t fill a day of fun here, but add in some characters and you will be surprised how fast your day fills up. Now go out and meet some new or old friends."Stock Photo: Police With A Weapon, A Special Unit" on Shutterstock: http://tinyurl.com/lqt6vuy Heavily-armed, masked paramilitary forces descended upon the Gogebic Taconite mining site in Wisconsin over the weekend, much to the chagrin of local residents and elected officials. “I’m appalled,” state Sen. Bob Jauch (D) told The Wisconsin State Journal on Monday. “There is no evidence to justify their presence.” Jaunch sent a letter to Gogebic President Bill Williams on Monday demanding the company remove the guards, which he called “common in third world countries,” but stressed that “they don’t belong in Northern Wisconsin.” The company brought in the paramilitary forces after being confronted by a group of about 15 protesters in June. At least one of the demonstrators, a young woman, was hit with misdemeanor charges for trying to take a camera away from one of the company’s geologists. Gogebic claims they’ve since caught several people illegally camping on their property and did not want to take any chances. The company hired by Gogebic is Arizona-based Bulletproof Securities, which boasts that many of their employees are ex-military and many of their clients are celebrities and government officials. They certainly look the part, too: photos of Bulletproof guards at the Gegebic site published by the Wisconsin progressive blog Blue Cheddar show men who look very much like special forces soldiers, complete with assault rifles and black masks. “Do they have the authority to use those weapons? If so, on who?” Jauch asked the Journal. “I don’t know if there’s a hunting season right now except maybe for rabbit, but you shoot a rabbit with that, all you’ll end up with is fur. What would you use those weapons for except to hurt somebody?” The mining site they’re protecting in the Penokee Mountains is highly controversial and critics say in violation of a treaty with Native Americans. Video shot by Wisconsin-based website Indian Country TV over the weekend featured at least one of the paramilitaries wearing full camoflage and a military-style net over his face — an image that would have been completed by an assault rifle, if he hadn’t left it sitting on the passenger’s seat of his vehicle, right next to a cameraman. “What happened to your fancy guns?” the cameraman asked. “Look at that. Very close by. Who are you going to shoot?” “It’s a security protocol,” the guard replied, refusing to provide his name or his employer’s name. “You’re being caught up in a national phenomenon,” the cameraman informed the guard. “We’ve got reporters calling from all over the country wondering about the occupation of Penokee Mountains Heritage Park by people who’ve got automatic weapons. And the question is, ‘Why?'” A spokesperson for Gogebic told The Cap Times on Tuesday that they’re considering restricting their drilling sites from public access, which wouldn’t be an option until December when the state begins accepting applications. This video is from Indian Country TV, published July 7, 2013. —— [“Stock Photo: Police With A Weapon, A Special Unit” on Shutterstock.] (H/T: Talking Points Memo)Popular jailbreak tool Redsn0w – compiled by the iPhone Dev Team – has just been updated with full support for iOS 5.1.1. You may have caught our tutorial, which detailed how one could jailbreak their device tethered using Redsn0w, although since it was a pre-iOS 5.1.1 release, users needed to "point" the tool to the older firmware. Thanks to the update, though, no download of older firmware is required, and Redsn0w version 0.9.11b4 now fully supports iOS 5.1.1. The response from the iPhone Dev Team has been a swift one, but we’d expect nothing less from a group of individuals as dedicated and talented as they are. The updates for Redsn0w have been arriving thick and fast of late, and even though no new jailbreaks or iOS versions have arrived for quite some time, the utility has been subject to much housekeeping and performance enhancements. Of course, the jailbreak is still tethered, and is limited to A4 and below devices only (iPhone 4, iPad 1, iPod touch 4/3G, iPhone 3GS etc), and you can follow the step-by-step how to tutorial by following our jailbreak 5.1.1 tutorial, keep in mind that you have to skip steps 4, and 7, since Redsn0w now officially supports iOS 5.1.1 and will fetch the needed files on its own. HDR wasn’t performing properly when the camera was initiated by the lock screen button, while AirPlay video playback and Safari bookmark syncing was also causing a few issues to some users, but after downloading and installing iOS 5.1.1, those problems should have disappeared. It remains to be seen how far away a potential untethered jailbreak may be, and although the likes of I0n1c and Pod2g have made some exciting discoveries on iOS 5.1, and since, in jailbreak terms, iOS 5.1.1 seems to be essentially as you were, the chance of a fully-untethered JB remains possible. Those running the new 3rd-gen iPad will undoubtedly be the keenest of any iOS user to see a jailbreak, and there are quite a few tweaks which, you feel, would run fantastically on that new Retina display. With a brand new, A5X processor added to the mix, though, it’s going to be a tough task, so we’ll have to be patient and let the trusted devs do what they do best. We’ll be keeping you up to date with any significant news regarding the JB scene, so stay tuned to our coverage here at Redmond Pie! Download Redsn0w 0.9.11b4 for Windows Download Redsn0w 0.9.11b4 for OS X You may also like to check out: You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web. Related StoriesJerry is really personable. I mean, you’ve got to like Jerry Jones. If you’re around him, you’ve got to like him, unless you hate the Dallas Cowboys, which some people do. But as a person, he’s likeable. He’s fun to be around. His whole family is working with the team. They are a great family. I’m partial to family, myself. Jerry Jones expects you to win the Super Bowl every year. He just puts a lot of pressure on his team to go to the Super Bowl and win it. He’s won it three times before. He wants to win it again and again. And that’s the other good thing about him. Some owners want to win, but they don’t want to give the up-front bonus money to allow you to pick up the players to get it done. Jerry’s willing to do that, so I thought he was a good owner in that sense. If he had a Drew Brees, he was going to keep him, whereas San Diego let him go to get somebody else while Drew established himself as a Hall of Famer with the Saints. Jerry was willing to go out and get a guy like Terrell Owens, who also has Hall of Fame credentials. If you could convince him that a guy was going to help the team, he would pay the money to get him. Terrell’s personality rubbed people wrong. He was seen as being selfish, but I liked him because he worked hard and he played hard. I had been around selfish players before, but if they played hard, worked hard, that was a redeeming quality to me. Terrell had some great years in Dallas with us. He’d play hurt. He didn’t know how to say the right things at times. There were a lot of people against him, but I wasn’t one of them. Jerry has certain ideas on things and you can go with it or tell him you don’t like it, one or the other. He didn’t mind you telling him you didn’t like something either. He listened. Now once he makes up his mind on certain things, he’s the boss. If he decided he was going to draft a certain player, he was going to take him, no matter what you or anyone else said. Advertisement When I joined the Cowboys, they already had an offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett. He had been the quarterbacks coach for the Miami Dolphins before they fired their entire coaching staff, which made him available. Once the season began, I liked what we had on both sides of the ball. We went 13–3, which was the best record in the NFL, and had a top-ten defense. We lost to the Giants in a home playoff game. We had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win, but they stopped us. The Giants went on to win the Super Bowl, so you’ve got to think if we would have won that game, we might have won it all. You never know, because we had a really good year. With one year left on my contract, I had my agent ask Jerry for an extension on my deal. It seemed like things were good, but they weren’t. Or at least, they weren’t good enough. The year before, when we went 9–7, the press wanted to fire me. Now here I was, with a 33–15 record and a playoff win in three seasons, and coming off an 11–5 year. I thought I’d get Jerry to extend my contract beyond the 2010 season. But he wouldn’t. Advertisement Another factor was Jason Garrett had some head coaching opportunities. He got an offer from the Baltimore Ravens [in 2008], and his agent evidently went back to Jerry and said, “If you give him what Baltimore is paying him as a head coach, he’ll stay in Dallas as offensive coordinator.” Jerry matched the offer and now Jason was making more than me. I asked Jerry about it and he said, “Well, you know, we had to keep him.” “That just doesn’t seem right to me,” I said. After our 9–7 season, when the offense struggled, Jerry said that maybe he should have let Jason take the Baltimore job rather than give him the big raise. Advertisement Jerry did agree to give me more money. He did it by adding an option year to the two remaining seasons on my contract. It included a bonus that would only be paid if I finished the season as head coach. “This is just for if you murdered somebody, or something like that, you wouldn’t get the bonus,” Jerry said. “And it’s our option to pick up that extra year.” Advertisement “Well, then that’s not giving me another year if it’s your option,” I said. I took the deal, although I still didn’t think it was right. Jerry can do what he wants to do as owner, obviously. I just didn’t think it was right that an assistant coach was making more than a head coach. He could have paid me more. He had plenty of money. Still does. But he’s a businessman and his business side made that decision. We began the 2010 season on a bad note with a 13–7 division loss to Washington. We didn’t allow a touchdown on defense. We shouldn’t have allowed the Redskins’ defense to get one either, but right before the half, Jason asked me, “You want us to go for a score or just run the half out?” Advertisement “Yeah, okay,” I said. We ran a play and we got a ten-yard holding penalty. There were only four seconds left in the half. Jason called a pass. Tony Romo threw to our running back, Tashard Choice, who was four yards behind the line. DeAngelo Hall hit him; he fumbled; Hall picked up the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. I didn’t know Jason was going to run a play after having a ten-yard penalty and only four seconds on the clock instead of kneeling on the ball, which was what we should have done. Advertisement We hit rock bottom in our eighth game when we went to Green Bay and lost 45–7. It was one of those situations where if you get beat by a good team on the road and a lot of things go bad for you, the perception is you’ve lost the team as the head coach. Everybody’s saying that. They think that. For road games, I would fly out with the team but always fly back with Jerry on his private plane, mainly because he wanted to use that time for just the two of us to talk and to hear about what happened in the game from the coach’s perspective. On the way back from Green Bay, I gave him my thoughts about the game, although I knew that he was hearing the same thing that was being said pretty much everywhere—that I had lost the team. The next day, he called me into his office and said, “I’m going to make a change.” Advertisement I asked him if I could stay on the job for one more game because I felt I would have a chance to go out on a winning note. We were playing the Giants on the road, and I said he could make the change after that game and start fresh with a new coach for our next game at home, which would be a week after the New York trip. “No, no, I’ve made up my mind,” Jerry said. “That’s what I want to do.” Jason Garrett took over and the Cowboys won the next two games and ended up with five total victories to finish the year 6–10. I felt like—and I still feel like—we could have won those last two games as well. You never know when it’s going to turn around, but that didn’t happen. Advertisement One of the first texts I received after being fired was from Terrell Owens, who Jerry had decided to let go after the 2009 season. “I think you’re a great coach, and I really appreciate what you did for me,” Terrell said. I hadn’t had many players do that and I had been coaching for a long time. Players say nice things later on, or when they see me, but Terrell went out of his way to tell me that he thought I did a good job. At a time like that, when you’ve just been fired, it makes you feel a lot better. I also felt good about my 34–22 record with the Cowboys. It’s not tremendous, but it’s still pretty good. That’s still the tiniest of a fraction of a percent ahead of Tom Landry, the all-time winningest coach in the history of the franchise. People don’t want to hear that, but it’s a fact. Advertisement There really is no other head coaching job like the Dallas head coaching job—football fans in Texas are crazy about their teams. I was exposed to that being around my dad and the whole “Luv Ya Blue” era in Houston. We went 10–6, 10–6, and 11–5 with the Oilers, and still got fired. We were one of the winningest teams in the league for those three years, so that showed me that anything can happen. It all comes back to the fact that the guy who owns the team can do whatever he wants to do even if you don’t think it makes a lot of sense. Wade Phillips is the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. This piece is an adapted excerpt from his new book with Vic Carucci, Son of Bum: Life Lessons My Dad Taught Me About Football and Life. It is reprinted with the permission of Diversion Books. Buy it here.This week, Ayushi Mansingka from our
comes to conserving forests. Source pinterest OO Indigenous Rights, Private Funding Key To Slowing Deforestation, Says Norway Minister - Efforts to save the world's forests hinge on securing private sector funds and ensuring indigenous communities in tropical forests are more involved in protecting their environment. <> A Lethal Landslide, and More Rain in a Javanese village. Courtesy of @Sutopo_BNPB OO Java, Indonesia: Massive Deforestation, Heavy Rain Create Lethal Landslides - Takeaways: 64 died in recent landslides; 1800s to present: Java forests declined from 10 to 0.4 million hectares. Since 2005: 2000+ people have died from landslides. Forests anchor soil; remove them, add heavy rain, and landslides result. When we harm forests, we harm ourselves. * * 2016: THE YEAR CLIMATE SHATTERED An Extreme Mosaic: Heat waves, droughts, and flooding have already broken records in 2016. OO Shattered Records Show Climate Change Is An Emergency Today, Scientists Warn - May was the 13th month in a row to break temperature records, say recent data. It's the latest in a string of climate records this year -- from vanishing Arctic sea ice, to carbon dioxide levels in the air, to drought in India and the vast bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef -- records that scientists have described as a bombshell and an emergency. Noted UK Meteorologist Adam Scaife, "Including this year so far, 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have been since 2000 - it's a shocking statistic." Fast-rising CO2 levels are "almost entirely" the reason for the record-busting year, with some help from El Nino. This year's high temperatures so far mean 2016 almost certainly will be the hottest year on record. Related Headline: That's Bleached Coral, Not Snow in this aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef, where massive amounts of coral have bleached and died, just one of several record-breaking climate events that have occurred so far in 2016. Source The Centre of Excellence, Coral Reef Studies OO Seven Climate Records Set So Far In 2016 - a sampler: Warmest Arctic winter Last 9 months are hottest on record India's hottest day: 51C (128 F) Alaska warmest spring on record Increase in CO2 levels far more than in previous years Australia's hottest autumn (US spring) yet Record massive bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef * * SPEAKING OUT Not Just The Public, But Scientists All Over Agree - no Arctic drilling. Credit Joshua Trujillo at seattlepi.com OO Scientists Urge Obama to Halt Oil Leasing in the Arctic - 400+ scientists from over a dozen countries signed the letter, urging him to do so, because of the significant environmental and climate risks associated with further fossil fuels exploration there. OO Obama At Yosemite Attacks 'Lip Service' To Natural Beauty Amid Climate Inaction - he warned that climate change could ravage many of America's vaunted national parks, and criticized political opponents who "pay lip service" to areas of natural beauty but oppose efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. * * @@ Climate Change 101: Why Care? What You Need to Know - Bill Nye tells it all in five minutes amid graphic, dynamic, engaging, compelling imagery. Check it Out! * * HOT NEWS Hot Times OO May 2016: One More Record-Hot Month for the World says NASA, with record-breaking warm temperatures for the globe; So far this year, every month has been record warm. February and March set consecutive records for the most anomalously warm month (ie, deviating the most from average temperatures), show data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). OO 370 Months And Counting... Global Warming Is Causing A 'Fundamental Change' In The World's Weather the UN warns, as NASA reports the hottest spring in history for the northern hemisphere, accompanied by unusually high rainfall recently in parts of the US and Europe. World Meteorological Organization global climate director Dr. David Carlson said the new data showed 370 straight months of warm or warmer-than-average temperatures worldwide. He noted, "The state of the climate so far this year gives us much cause for alarm...Exceptionally high temperatures. Ice melt rates... Once-in-a-generation rainfall events." The Heat Is On... Source NSF Centra lArizona Phoenix LTER site Scientists warn of regular record breaking global temperatures within 50 years without dramatic reductions of carbon emissions, researchers find. By 2061-2080, summers around the world are likely to exceed the warmest on record today, affecting health and food production. <> Why Climate Change Makes Stronger Storms -- it's the added heat. Just add heat, and watch things stir. "We have no choice but to address climate change, or it will address us." -- Michael Mann @@ Coal Country Clobbered by Climate-fueled Cataclysm The sad fact about the working class people who have supported right wing politics historically in the US, is that they are themselves so often the victims of the policies their political heroes advocate. This is certainly true in areas of environment and climate, and yet another of those increasingly common "one in a thousand year" events in West Virginia illustrates vividly. OO Greenland Was Hotter Than New York City Recently - Greenland, the Arctic nation that is basically one huge ice cube, is feeling rather balmy lately. OO 120+ F Expected As Monster Heat Wave Hits Southern California Credit Matt Granz OO Dangerous Fires, Extreme Heat Causes Misery Across Southern California with 100+ temperatures across a wide area that are fueling dangerous fires. <><> OO What Would A Global Warming Increase Of 1.5 Degrees Be Like? The difference in temperature of 1.5 or 2 degrees C is marginal. But what about rises of 1.5 C and 2 C? The effect on more extreme weather - think floods, droughts, storms, and heatwaves -- is not: Research suggests that a 1.5 C rise would double the risks of the extremely heat waves and droughts that were once rare but now occurring more often - yeah, we'd likely get twice as much as the present. Now, add another 0.5 C rise - and the risks double again. And the probability of even more extreme events increases even faster. What does a 2 C rise mean for life on Earth? Parts of the Middle East would become uninhabitable without permanent air conditioning. Some experts predict a massive decline in the food crops critical for human survival: Parts of Africa would see their corn crops cut in half, for example. Two degrees, says Johan Rockström, director of the Stockholm Resilience Center, "contains significant risks for societies everywhere; 1.5 looks much more scientifically justifiable." * * FIXING CLIMATE CHANGE @@ A Simple And Smart Way To Fix Climate Change given by Dan Miller in 2014 at a Ted talk suggests a way to profit as we tackle climate change, by finally charging those who sell and use fossil fuels - and distributing the revenues back to all of us. The strategy is sure to speed transition to clean renewable energy. What's not to like? Check it out! * * BURNING UP Burning Up: 31 large (1,000+ acres) US wildfires are now burning in the west; the wildfire season has grown 100+ days longer. Source Climate Central at wxshift.com OO Everything You Need to Know About Wildfires in One Map - the new US wildfire tracker map at Climate Central keeps you updated on all, and puts it in the context of our changing climate. * * UP, UP, AND AWAY OO Atmospheric CO2 Levels Forecast To Pass Grim 400 Ppm Milestone - And Won't Fall Below It In Our Lifetimes says the UK Meteorological (Met) Office, the national meteorological government agency. Related Headline: OO Antarctic CO2 Hit 400 ppm For First Time In 4 Million Years and is the last CO2 monitoring station on Earth to do so. <> An Increasingly Common CO2 Generator with help from El Nino, which has helped spark wildfires worldwide. Source softpixel.com OO El Niño Likely To Boost CO2 In 2016 which has warmed and dried the tropics, limiting the ability of forests to take up CO2 from the atmosphere and triggering huge fires around the globe. * * AGRICULTURE EMISSIONS IMPACTING CLIMATE MORE Climate-Changing Cows are the main culprits, emitting methane as they burp and fart; their numbers increase as the world's appetite for meat does. Source opensourcevegan.com OO Climate Impacts From Farming Are Getting Worse say new United Nations figures. * * GOOD IDEAS Beautiful Good Food Source Fully Raw at pinterest.com OO Going Vegetarian Can Cut Your Food Carbon Footprint In Half says a big recent study on diets in the United Kingdom. OO China Aims To Halve Meat Eating and has issued guidelines to help wean its citizens onto a more vegetarian diet − offering huge potential health gains and cuts in greenhouse gases. The country consumes 28% of the world's meat due to its population size. The Chinese health ministry has published new dietary guidelines recommending that people should eat from 40g to at most 75g (1.5- 2.5 oz) of meat a day, which is close to the level recommended by British health authorities to limit the risk of developing bowel cancer. A Green Way for Wildlife Source firstforwildlife.wordpress.com OO Natural Corridors Could Help Wildlife Survive Climate Change - Linking up natural areas with migration corridors could help wildlife keep pace with climate change. OO It's The Economy That Needs To Be Integrated Into The Environment - Not The Reverse - BP's call for a'meaningful carbon price' is the latest example of wrongly trying to apply economic theories and tools to the environment. <> Source Green MPs on Flickr OO UK: Retailer Crowd Funds Solar Panels For Its Stores to Help Communities - Marks & Spencer is partnering with Energy4All, a not-for-profit group that helps community groups set up energy co-ops, with the aim of raising £1.23 million to put panels on nine large stores. Investors will be guaranteed a 5% yearly return, M & S will buy the energy it needs, and further profits will be invested in community energy projects. Triple Win!!! * * MELTDOWN The River Below - a massive subsurface river of ice may be speeding the flow of ice into Antarctic waters, and speeding sea rise. Source Hubbard et al., 2016 OO An Antarctic River of Ice Might Hasten Ice Shelf Collapse & Sea Level Rise - as ice collapses into the sea. The discovery of the 300 ft thick moving layer of ice beneath a major ice shelf, the Larsen C, might be speeding its collapse into the sea, says a new study. It's Melting, Melting... and as permafrost dries, releasing even more climate changing CO2. OO As Permafrost Melts and Dries, Its Carbon Emissions Will Double - under a 10C rise in temperature, says a new study that mimicked such warming in the arctic permafrost. In real time, this will happen when the rest of the world heats just 5C, since the Arctic is warming about twice as fast. As the soil warms and dries, microbial activity increases and starts using oxygen, increasing emissions. Using oxygen results in releasing more CO2, which lasts far longer in the air than the methane released by anaerobic microbes in waterlogged permafrost. Doubling the release of climate changing emissions will further accelerate climate change and accelerate even greater releases of these emissions. * * GOOD CLEAN NEWS OO Renewables Will Replace Gas as Top U.S. Power Source in 2031 a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis shows, becoming the dominant source of electricity generation in the U.S. in 2031, even without subsidies, as wind and solar costs plunge. Solar and wind capacity will become cheaper than gas or coal without any incentives after 2020. OO Solar, Wind Costs Could Fall Up To Nearly 60 % By 2025, a study by the International Renewable Energy Agency says, if governments create the right policies that minimize transaction costs and streamline administrative procedures and approval processes. OO Scotland Exceeds Emissions Targets--Six Years Early - beating out much larger countries. * * CORAL REEF CATASTROPHE CONTINUES Beautiful, But Can It Reproduce? Healthy looking Carribean elkhorn coral have been found that cannot reproduce. Source www.mnn.com OO 'Zombie Corals' Pose New Threat To World's Reefs - as if massive die-off from heat bleaching, ocean acidification, and pollution weren't bad enough threats to reefs, scientists have discovered the existence of 'zombie corals' which look healthy but cannot reproduce - they are essentially walking dead, and useless for any hopes of repopulating dead reefs. Researchers also found a common sunscreen ingredient is killing and mutating corals in tourist spots. <> When A Reef Dies, Its Fish Disappear such as this Palauan Mandarin fish in Palau, Micronesia. Source www.palaudiveadventures.com OO Another Season of Bleaching Predicted for Northern Coral Reefs - Takeaways: current global coral bleaching event started in 2014; It is the longest-lasting and largest such event ever recorded; It is expected to last til the end of 2016, at least. . Northern hemisphere reefs can expect another season of bleaching. Micronesia reefs face the biggest threat; Micronesia depends on reefs for food and tourism revenue. OO Australia: Prime Minister Unveils £500 Million Plan To Save The Great Barrier Reef - to pursue solutions such as solar panel projects, improved sewage treatment, and helping farms and businesses to prevent pollutants and fertilisers entering waterways. Sounds good (except he really can't do anything about the damage already inflicted), but this is an election campaign pledge.... need I say more? * * CLIMATE LEADERSHIP Four Australian Catholic Orders are jointly and publicly divesting from coal, oil and gas: 'We believe the Gospel asks no less of us.' OO Australia: Catholic Orders Take Their Lead From The Pope And Divest From Fossil Fuels OO White House Commits To Boosting US Energy Storage capacity, as it rolled out a suite of executive branch and private sector commitments to do so. This will assist President Barack Obama's goals of fighting climate change and modernizing the grid by smoothing the integration of renewable energy and creating resilient backup systems. * * ELECTION YEAR: If You Don't Vote For Climate Action, You Can Forget The Rest - in a climate-changing world of famine, drought, rising seas, giant storms and heat waves, there will be no security in jobs, health, wealth, or national safety. There will be chaos ensuing from increasing crises and disasters. Vote. OO Global Warming Policies We Set Today Will Determine The Next 10,000 Years - of global warming, a new study shows -- and whether our civilization survives or not: history shows that harmful climate change has destroyed civilizations before. This time, it could be worldwide. Let's keep "The Hunger Games" in the realm of fiction. * * NATURAL REPERCUSSIONS The Carbon Cycle - how it flows from air to plants to soil to air to... Source Kirk et al, 2016, Fig1 OO Alpine Soils Losing Up To A Third of Their Carbon As Summers Warm Takeaways: The top meter of the world's soils holds 3x the carbon in the entire atmosphere; Losing that soil carbon will speed up climate change; The Alps are already losing carbon as summer temperatures rise; German alpine soils have lost an average 14 % of their carbon, up to 32 % in places. The Warming Meadow - has been heating since 1991, and showed over a few years what global warming can do to ecosystems over decades. It continues to serve as a field climate change lab. Credit John Harte MEH: SIMILAR US RESULTS occurred in the first and longest running climate change field experiment (FD: John Harte, my husband, started it in 1991) in a subalpine meadow in the Colorado Rockies. From 1991-1996, the soils lost 20-25 % of their carbon, and then slowly rebounded. Now, unheated plots are starting to show this same effect, albeit far more slowly, as real world global warming sets in. OO First Mammal Species Wiped Out By Human-Induced Climate Change - sea level rise did in an endemic island rat. An interesting sidenote, but a drop in the bucket compared to the mass extinction of animals and plants humans are causing as they continue to spread, and destroy natural habitat for their own purposes. * * A SWEET SPOT IN CREATING SUSTAINABLE POPULATIONS Triple Win: Using Profits to Provide Needed US Family Planning - Medicines360.org is key to creating a sustainable US population and bright futures for women - AND saving taxpayers many billions yearly in community costs by preventing unintended pregnancies. Source medicines360.org * * SOCIAL REPERCUSSIONS The New Venice, Like It Or Not - just one of several Texas towns that recently flooded. Source Texas Climate News OO US Flooding Costs Will Soar In A Warming World, Economic Analysts Say - Damage from Texas flooding in 2015 and 2016 have reached into the billions. Expect more. Drought Dries Up the Promise of Food for this Vietnamese farmer. Credit Kham at Reuters OO Vietnam Drought Leaves One Million In Urgent Need Of Food - the worst drought in 90 years coupled with seawater intrusion into Mekong River delta have destroyed fruit, rice and sugar crops. * * FOSSIL FUEL FOLLIES OO Power Plants Are No Longer America's Biggest Climate Problem - Transportation Is. Takeaways: US cars, trucks, and airplanes now emit more carbon dioxide than its power plants do; The US has made remarkable progress in cleaning up its electricity sector since 2005; Power plants account for only about one-third of America's CO2 emissions; . Transportation, another third (and now the biggest source); Transportation remains much tougher to address; And since 2013 transport emissions have been creeping upward again. <> Credit Michael Lukovich OO Biggest US Coal Company Funded Dozens Of Groups Questioning Climate Change OO Oil Bust Leaves States With Massive Well Cleanup as the recent oil bust is putting oil producing states on the hook for thousands of newly abandoned drilling sites at a time when they have little money to plug wells and seal off environmental hazards. OO Exxon Sues a Second Attorney General to Fight Off Climate Fraud Probe - following the ancient tradition of killing the messenger if the message threatens you. If we do not grow sustainably, Our children will die inhumanely. @@ The Cost of Unintended Pregnancy: Too Young Teen childbearing cost US taxpayers $9+ Billion in 2010 And the costs of raising a child usually ensures decades, if not a life, of poverty for its mother. - US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WHAT YOU CAN DO Help prevent unintended pregnancies in your community: publicize where women can access affordable contraception. Find locations here: And there are many more actions you can do, right here. * * * SOLAR KEEPS FLYING OO Investments in Solar Energy Grow to $9.4 Billion in 2015, Says World Bank Private infrastructure investment was 72% higher than the average of the previous five years. * * * WHY WE SHOULD ACT NOW: RISING RISKS Daily Climate Change: Global Map of Unusual Temperatures, June 28, 2016 How unusual has the weather been? No one event is "caused" by climate change, but global warming, which is predicted to increase unusual, extreme weather, is having a daily effect on weather, worldwide. Looking above at recent temperature anomalies, much of the US and the waters surrounding it are experiencing warmer than normal temperatures: the eastern Pacific warm spot continues and so does the drought in California, where wildfires rage even as an extreme heat wave occurred. Much of the areas surrounding the North Pole are experiencing much warmer than normal temperatures - not good news for our Arctic thermal shield of ice. Hotter than usual temperatures continue to dominate human habitats. * * There is, of course, much more news on the consequences and solutions to climate change. To get it, check out this annotated resource list I've compiled, "Climate Change News Resources," at Wordpress.com here. For more information on the science of climate change, its consequences and solutions you can view my annotated list of online information resources here. To help you understand just what science does and does NOT do, check this out!The Democratic Party should not impose support for abortion rights as a litmus test on its candidates, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday, because it needs a broad and inclusive agenda to win back the socially conservative voters who helped elect President Trump. “This is the Democratic Party. This is not a rubber-stamp party,” Pelosi said in an interview with Washington Post reporters. “I grew up Nancy D’Alesandro, in Baltimore, Maryland; in Little Italy; in a very devout Catholic family; fiercely patriotic; proud of our town and heritage, and staunchly Democratic,” she added, referring to the fact that she is the daughter and sister of former mayors of that city. “Most of those people — my family, extended family — are not pro-choice. You think I’m kicking them out of the Democratic Party?” Those comments from one of the Democrats’ most powerful and high-profile women come at a moment of opportunity and struggle within the party. It has been shut out of power in Washington, controlling neither house of Congress nor the White House, and its ranks have been decimated at the state and local level. Given Trump’s unpopularity and the recent stumbles that Republicans have made in Congress, Democrats have great hopes of making significant gains in the 2018 midterm elections. But the opposition party is also gripped by an internecine battle for its own identity, moving leftward with calls for ideological purity by portions of its activist liberal base while also trying to reach out to the rural, working-class Americans who turned against Democrats last year. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) listens to reporters Tuesday in her office on Capitol Hill. (Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post) Abortion has become a flash point. Newly installed Democratic National Committee Chairman Thomas Perez and former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) came under criticism by abortion rights advocates during their “unity tour” last month, when they appeared together at a rally for an Omaha mayoral candidate who has sponsored legislature bills to restrict abortion. Perez responded with a statement declaring that support for abortion rights is “nonnegotiable” for Democrats, and that they should speak with “one voice” on it. At the time, Pelosi bristled at the party chairman’s comments, saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on April 23 that “of course” it is possible for an abortion opponent to be a member of the Democratic Party. She added that she has served for many years in Congress with colleagues of her party who do not share her own liberal views on the subject. On Tuesday, she went further, arguing that the Democrats cannot afford to enforce an ideological test on the abortion issue. “In our caucus, one thing unifies us: our values about working families,” Pelosi said. “Some people are more or less enthusiastic about this issue or that issue or that issue. They’ll go along with the program, but their enthusiasm is about America’s working families.” She also suggested that the party’s presumed rigidity on social issues is one reason that Democrats were unable to appeal to segments of the electorate that might otherwise have been in tune with their broader agenda. “You know what? That’s why Donald Trump is president of the United States — the evangelicals and the Catholics, anti-marriage equality, anti-choice. That’s how he got to be president,” she said. “Everything was trumped, literally and figuratively by that.” Pelosi’s comments drew a guarded rebuke from Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading abortion rights advocacy organization. “Encouraging and supporting anti-choice candidates leads to bad policy outcomes that violate women’s rights and endanger our economic security,” Hogue said via email. The platform approved by Democrats at their national convention in Philadelphia last year “went further than the Party has ever gone to stand up for the women’s rights. It didn’t just seek to protect abortion access — it sought to expand it,” Hogue said. “If the Democratic Party is going to gain back power, it can’t go backward, it can’t back down and it can’t trade away these principles.” Polling indicates that a significant portion of people who consider themselves Democrats do indeed have misgivings about abortion, which has been legal nationally since the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Surveys by the Pew Research Center have generally found that about 3 in 10 Democrats say that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. Pelosi expressed doubt whether any hard-line antiabortion candidate could win a Democratic presidential primary. She also noted that the debate over abortion no longer boils down to whether a candidate is for or against the basic right to the procedure, but rather over whether and what types of limits should be imposed. As a result, “within the Democrats, I don’t think that you’ll see too many candidates going out there and saying, ‘I’m running as a pro-life candidate,’ ” she said. “It’s how far are you willing to go on the issue — but let’s not spend too much time” on the subject. “It’s kind of fading as an issue,” she said. “It really is.” Pelosi pointed to Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) as a case study in how the Democrats tolerate diverse views. Casey describes himself as personally opposed to abortion, but he has also fought alongside other Democrats against efforts to withdraw federal funds from Planned Parenthood. “Bob Casey — you know Bob Casey — would you like him not to be in our party?” Pelosi said. That name has particular resonance within the party. Casey’s late father, Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey, was denied a speaking spot at the 1992 Democratic National Convention when he asked to present a minority report opposing the party’s platform plank on abortion, which declared “reproductive choice” as a “fundamental right” that should receive government financing. In the wide-ranging interview, Pelosi expressed satisfaction at the fact that Republicans in Congress have thus far failed to overturn the health-care law that was the signature domestic legacy of the Obama administration — and one of her own greatest legislative accomplishments when she was House speaker. Pelosi was able to win passage only after adding assurances that the new law would not use government funds for abortion. She also recalled: “Look, we worked with the nuns. The nuns helped us pass the Affordable Care Act. The nuns. The Catholic nuns — thank God for the Catholic nuns. The Catholic hospitals are speaking out against” the current GOP legislation to overturn the law. “Do we subject them to a test and say, ‘Before you speak out on this bill, we want to know where you are on this, that and the other thing?’ ” Pelosi said. “No. No.” David Weigel contributed to this report.Single men and women residing in Essel Towers, a gated condominium on Gurgaon’s MG Road, have alleged “moral policing” by the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) over a notice that came up over the weekend. Put up on Saturday morning, the notice, with the subject ‘rules and regulations for residents and visitors’, states: “Where only girls are staying boy visitors shall not be allowed and where boys are staying girl visitors shall not be allowed.” Advertising The notice states that the order has been passed by Essel Towers Maintenance Pvt. Ltd. (ETMPL), and the Essel Towers Residents’ Welfare Association (ETRWA). RWA president Rajeev Sinha did not respond to calls and messages from The Indian Express. Raj Gopal, a 27-year-old from Mumbai, who works in the corporate sector and has been living in a rented accommodation with three flatmates for the last three months, claimed, “Earlier, they had a rule that members of the opposite sex could not stay overnight, and had to leave by 10 pm. A few days ago, one of my female friends came for dinner and was planning to leave around 11 pm. But at 9.30 pm, guards turned up and demanded that she leave immediately.” Gopal claimed things will get worse with the new order. “We cannot even ask relatives or siblings to stay with us,” he said. Bharti Singhla, 24, who hails from Himachal Pradesh and has been living here for a year, said, “We were okay with the 10 pm rule, but this one is ridiculous. We cannot even call our colleagues or relatives anymore… I might have to look for other places to stay.” Some tenants The Indian Express spoke to drew comparisons with Mumbai or Bengaluru, where “such things are never an issue”. Amit Kumar, 30, a senior consultant with a consultancy firm, has lived at Essel Towers for three years. He claimed that “even though landlords are on our side, the RWA refuses to listen to them”. Advertising “At one point, they said we could get members of the opposite sex if we had prior permission from the landlord, but later this exception was revoked,” he said, adding, “They will allow a man and a woman to interact within the locality only if they are married.”Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announcing that Melbourne will be the headquarters for the Network Operations Centre of the NBN. Picture: Stuart Mcevoy THE world's largest chipmaker, Intel, says it's time to lift the NBN from the political debate and get on with building it. Intel Australia managing director Philip Cronin, said it was time to explore societal benefits of the NBN after Communications Minister Stephen Conroy committed the federal government to a three-year technology sharing agreement with the company today. "I guess from my perspective it's time to move beyond the politics. The government has been re-elected, the network has continued to be built out -- it's time to move on and think less about the holes in the ground and think more about what will happen on the network," Mr Cronin said. Read Next The agreement comes at a time when Labor is facing sustained pressure to justify the NBN's $43 billion price tag. The latest was from Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim Helu who said that the cost was excessive. Mr Cronin conceded that the announcement may be seen as an attempt to fortify the government against those criticisms. "It may be but you know I'm not interested in the different bits of politics around (the NBN). I've been on the record both within my role within Intel and within the AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) saying this has to be about moving beyond the politics, this has to be about the benefits to Australia and the benefits to society at many levels," he said. The agreement, forged in Melbourne today, formalises on-going cooperation between Intel and the government that stretches back beyond two years. It's hoped that Intel will help the government brainstorm ways to use the NBN to improve e-learning, e-health, e-government and energy conservation in metropolitan and regional areas. It will also explore ways to deliver economic growth to regional areas. Under the terms of the agreement the government will have access to Intel's worldwide internal research lab including its social sciences division led by Australia-born researcher, Genevieve Bell. Intel will continue to have access to the NBN Co to showcase its technology and pass experience with high-bandwidth networks back into the company. 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 Now Read NextMichelle Malkin on her recent experience at a Colorado marijuana store: For the past three months, my mother-in-law, Carole, whom I love with all my heart, has battled metastatic melanoma. After a harrowing week of hospitalization and radiation, she’s at home now. A miraculous new combination of oral cancer drugs seems to have helped enormously with pain and possibly contained the disease’s spread. But Carole’s loss of appetite and nausea persist. A month ago, with encouragement from all of her doctors here in Colorado, she applied for a state-issued medical marijuana card. It still hasn’t come through. As a clerk at Marisol Therapeutics told us, there’s a huge backlog. But thanks to Amendment 64, the marijuana drug legalization act approved by voters in 2012, we were able to legally and safely circumvent the bureaucratic holdup. “A lot of people are in your same situation,” the pot shop staffer told us. “We see it all the time, and we’re glad we can help.” Our stash included 10 pre-rolled joints, a “vape pen” and two containers of cheddar cheese-flavored marijuana crackers (they were out of brownies). So far, just one cracker a day is yielding health benefits. Carole is eating better than she has in three months. For us, there’s no greater joy than sharing the simple pleasure of gathering in the kitchen for a meal, with Grandma Carole at the head of the table. Do I worry about the negative costs, abuses and cultural consequences of unbridled recreational pot use? Of course I do. But when you get past all the “Rocky Mountain High” jokes and look past all the cable-news caricatures, the legalized marijuana entrepreneurs here in my adopted home state are just like any other entrepreneurs: securing capital, paying taxes, complying with a thicket of regulations, taking risks and providing goods and services that ordinary people want and need. Including our grateful family.Just as I was decorating my tree I head a knock on the door. To my surprise I was given a huge box! When I opened it I was so incredibly happy, as was my kitty Omar from The Wire. We found a crinkly tunnel for Omar to explore as well as a super fun cat charmer and some catnip! And, of course, Omar from The Wire loooovved the huge box as well. We have been happily playing since we got this gift. I could barely get him to stand still for some pictures. And I was finally able to get him away from the tree for once. update! OH SHIT! Things just got real! I came home from vacation to find a baller set of gems, KITTEN FREAKING MITTENS, and an amazing set of brushes. Secret Santa you da best!This season has been the most successful of Serge Gnabry’s young career. He adapted to life at his new club Werder Bremen, scored several mind-blowing goals, and received a call from German national coach Joachim Low. It was only a year ago that he was struggling to make the bench at West Bromwich Albion. Gnabry’s technical soundness and tremendous athleticism have always been there. He didn’t turn into a player that is on Bayern Munich’s scouting list overnight. But how does a footballer already in his twenties experience such a resounding rebirth? For Martin Weddemann, owner of Focus-on-Performance, a German-based training and performance consulting company, the answer is obvious. In the past, Gnabry’s injury problems weren’t treated correctly and cost the winger years of his career. “When he recovered from a knee injury in 2014, the people [at Arsenal] who treated him should have built up the ‘movement software’ of his brain which controls the motion system,” says sports scientist Weddemann. “But instead, they probably just focused on the healing process of tissue in his leg. That’s not enough in order to prevent injuries and stabilise the entire body.” Weddemann and his companion Lars Lienhard, who worked with the World Cup-winning German national team in Brazil in 2014, are well-respected among athletes from various sports. Their clients include cyclist Leopold Konig, shot putter David Storl and luge legend Tatjana Hufner. But for the past few years, they have been striving to make changes in football. Several world-class players already use their services. Arsenal skipper Per Mertesacker swears by their methods; German superstar Marco Reus called Lienhard in the middle of the night and asked for help during his time at Borussia Monchengladbach; player agents and sporting directors email them several times a week; medical staffers from the best clubs of the world knock on their door. It has become routine for Weddemann to talk to higher-ups in football business, who believe they have found the next big thing – ‘neuroathletics’. Like the name suggests, it links neuroscience and athletic training. “Neuroathletics is not just one of these new trends we see every once in a while in the fitness sector. It is a completely different foundation,” explains Weddemann. “We have to primarily focus on what the brain does. It controls everything that happens in the body. Often enough staff members only treat the injury where it occurs. If a ligament is torn, they just look at the damaged part and don’t take any further actions.” Weddemann and Lienhard are proponents of methods that might appear superficial, but in fact stimulate the brain in order to achieve better body and movement control. Processes that happen subconsciously can lead to pain, stress on certain areas of the body, and, in the worst cases, to severe injuries. Neuroathletic training sessions involve individually designed eye or balance exercises suited to the sport-specific needs of the athlete, says Weddemann. These exercises completely differ from what football players normally do in between matchdays, but help them to become less prone to injuries that aren’t caused by on-pitch collisions. When Weddemann sits in front of his TV and watches the Bundesliga, he often shakes his head. Even just looking at the screen, it becomes clear to him that some players are not fully fit. The way they move, the way they lean towards one side, the way they run tells him that something is wrong. If, for instance, a player drags one leg behind by a little bit, it can be a precursor to a muscle tear. Weddemann and Lienhard could probably earn their money just by betting on injuries, but instead they want to help footballers and, of course, leave their mark in the sport. It brings a smile to
chemical analysis may be difficult, Dr Wilhelmson added, meaning that reviving the 200-year-old brew for modern drinkers may prove difficult. "Whatever we analyse, we're going to have to do a lot of interpreting," she said. "We need to analyse what it is today and start thinking about what it was like when it was made - when it was fresh, because it clearly isn't fresh now."Could Gay Marriage Become Legal in Illinois? The gay marriage bill needs 60 votes in the Illinois House to pass. Could it happen? We counted up where the votes might come from. State Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, hugs Daphne Scott-Henderson after passage of the gay marriage bill out of the House Executive Committee Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013 to the floor at the State Capitol in Springfield. Gay marriage advocates in Illinois are celebrating this week. Late Tuesday night, the Illinois House Executive Committee passed SB10, the Senate-approved gay marriage bill, for consideration to the full house. The final vote in the Illinois House has been rumored to be around March 6 or 7 (update 3/11: Kate Sosin of the Windy City Times reports that the vote could happen any day). If that passes, Gov. Quinn has said he will sign the bill, making Illinois the tenth state in the nation to approve gay marriage. But that’s a big “if.” The bill needs 60 votes in the House to pass, and the House leadership has been very upfront about the fact that this will be a very tight vote. Marriage advocates should already be concerned after the executive committee vote. The bill passed 6-5, with Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, one of the representatives who voted for civil unions in 2010, voting no. Rep. Luis Arroyo, another civil union supporter, says he will vote no on the bill as currently written (he has religious objections). So where does that leave the bill? We ran down the numbers and did our best to get a sense of where everyone is. We’ve also included links if a representative has indicated how they will vote on the record. If we missed something, let us know! Definite yes: 14 These are the bill sponsors, so they’re a sure bet for support. Rep. Greg Harris (D-13) Ann Williams (D-11) Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25) Christian L Mitchell (D-26) Cynthia Soto (D-04) Daniel J. Burke (D-01) Deborah Mell (D-40) Kelly M. Cassidy (D-14) Lou Lang (D-16) Naomi D. Jakobsson (D-103) Robert F Martwick (D-19) Robyn Gabel (D-18) Sam Yingling (D-62) Sara Feigenholtz (D-12) Likely yes: 29 These are the people who voted for civil unions in 2010 and are still in the legislature, have been elected since civil unions passed and have been endorsed by Equality Illinois (EQIL), or have indicated support on the record. Al Riley (D-38): voted for civil unions Andre Thapedi (D-32): voted for civil unions Arthur Turner (D-09): voted for civil unions Camille Y. Lilly (D-78): voted for civil unions Carol Sente (D-59): voted for civil unions Edward Acevedo (D-02): voted for civil unions Elaine Nekritz (D-57): voted for civil unions Elgie Sims (D-34): endorsed by EQIL Elizabeth Hernandez (D-24): voted for civil unions Emily McAsey (D-85): voted for civil unions Emmanuel Chris Welch (D-07): endorsed by EQIL Esther Golar (D-06): voted for civil unions Fred Crespo (D-44): voted for civil unions Jehan Gordon (D-92): voted for civil unions Keith Farnham (D-43): voted for civil unions Kenneth Dunkin (D-05): voted for civil unions LaShawn Ford (D-08): voted for civil unions Laura Fine (D-17): endorsed by EQIL Maria Antonia Berrios (D-39): voted for civil unions Martin J. Moylan (D-55): endorsed by EQIL Mary E. Flowers (D-31): voted for civil unions Michael J. Zalewski (D-23): voted for civil unions Michael Madigan (D-22): House Speaker, voted for civil unions Mike Smiddy (D-71): Smiddy told the Quad City Times he will sign up to be a co-sponsor as soon as the bill advances to the floor. Monique D. Davis (D-27): voted for civil unions Robert Rita (D-28): voted for civil unions Scott Drury (D-58): endorsed by EQIL Thaddeus Jones (D-29): Jones told the NWI Times he will support the bill. William Davis (D-30): voted for civil unions Toss-up: 20 These are the representatives who have indicated past support for gay rights or have been purposefully vague when discussing the issue. Likely no: 37 That’s the number of representatives who voted no on civil unions in 2010 and who remain in the house, as well as the representatives who have been elected since 2010 and have stated their views on the record. Barbara Wheeler (R-64): Wheeler told the Daily Herald that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. C.D. Davidsmeyer (R-100): Davidsmeyer was appointed to the seat in December to fill out the term of retiring Rep. Jim Watson. Watson voted against civil unions, so Davidsmeyer may follow suit for marriage. Chad Hays (R-104): Hays has not stated his opinion on marriage. He was not endorsed by EQIL, nor was he recommended by the Illinois Family Action PAC. He was elected to replace the retiring Bill Black, one of the Republicans who voted for civil unions. Charles E. Jefferson (D-67): voted against civil unions Charles E. Meier (R-108): He is opposed to gay marriage, according to the Belleville News-Democrat Dan Brady (R-105): voted against civil unions Daniel V. Beiser (D-111): voted against civil unions Darlene J. Senger (R-41): voted against civil unions David McSweeney (R-52): in a Daily Herald candidate profile, he said “marriage should be limited to that between a man and a woman.” David R. Leitch (R-73): voted against civil unions Dennis Reboletti (R-45): voted against civil unions Donald L. Moffitt (R-74): voted against civil unions Ed Sullivan, Jr. (R-51): voted against civil unions Frank J. Mautino (D-76): voted against civil unions Jeanne M Ives (D-42): Ives said last year she is “not in favor of gay marriage.” Jerry Costello II (D-116): Saba Hamid of NBC Chicago reported that Costello is against same-sex marriage. Jim Durkin (R-82): voted against civil unions Jim Sacia (R-89): voted against civil unions Joe Sosnowski (R-69): A member of the executive committee, Sosnowski voted no to advance the bill to the floor. The Rockford-based My Stateline reported a statement from Sosnowski’s office in which the representative said, “I believe that the definition of marriage is between one man and one woman.” John E. Bradley (D-117): voted against civil unions John C. D’Amico (D-15): voted against civil unions Josh Harms (R-106): The Pontiac Daily Leader reported that Harms believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. Katherine Cloonen (D-79): Last fall, the Daily Journal reported that Cloonen was opposed to gay marriage. Kay Hatcher (R-50): voted against civil unions Linda Chapa LaVia (D-83): voted against civil unions Michael P. McAuliffe (R-20): voted against civil unions Michael W. Tryon (R-66): voted against civil unions Mike Fortner (R-49): voted against civil unions Norine Hammond (R-93): Hammond was recommended by the Illinois Family Action PAC. Patrick J. Verschoore (D-72): voted against civil unions Raymond Poe (R-99): voted against civil unions Renée Kosel (R-37): voted against civil unions Rich Brauer (R-87): voted against civil unions Sandra M. Pihos (R-48): voted against civil unions Timothy L. Schmitz (R-65): voted against civil unions Tom Demmer (R-90): Demmer opposes gay marriage, according to the Daily Chronicle. Tom Cross (R-97): voted against civil unions Definite no: 18 This is a list of every representative who sponsored last summer’s Defense of Marriage bill. Adam Brown (R-102) Bill Mitchell (R-101) Brad Halbrook (R-110) Brandon W. Phelps (D-118) David Harris (R-53) David Reis (R-109) Dwight Kay (R-112) Jil Tracy (R-94) JoAnn D. Osmond (R-61) John M. Cabello (D-68) John Cavaletto (R-107) Keith P. Sommer (R-88) Michael D. Unes (R-91) Mike Bost (R-115) Patricia R. Bellock (R-47) Robert W. Pritchard (R-70) Thomas Morrison (R-54) Wayne Rosenthal (R-95) Needless to say, the vote really will be very tight. We’ll update this list if more public statements become available, Photograph: Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune ShareInvestigative Journalist Michael Hastings was killed Tuesday in a fiery crash close to his home in Los Angles. His car, which was reported to have been traveling at a high rate of speed, jumped the median and immediately exploded in a dramatic fashion upon impact with a tree.Witness Luiz Cortez was quoted by KTLA as saying “I was just coming northbound on Highland and I seen a car going really fast, and all of a sudden I seen it jackknife, I just seen parts fly everywhere and I slammed on my brakes and stopped and tried to call 911.” According to various news reports the car’s engine was found in a yard between 60 and 100 feet away. Hastings was pronounced dead at the scene but his remains were too charred to immediately identify. His death was later confirmed by the LA county coroner’s office through fingerprints.Hastings was best known for his high profile story on General Stanley McChrystal published in Rolling Stone in 2010. McChrystal was quoted making disparaging comments about President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, while he was the commander of US forces in Afghanistan. McChrystal's comments led directly to his early retirement following their publication. Hastings had been working for the online news outlet BuzzFeed at the time of his death.Wikileaks tweeted Wednesday that they had forthcoming news about Hastings death. Wikileaks later tweeted that Hastings had contacted one of their lawyers, Jennifer Robinson, concerned he was the target of an FBI investigation. L.A. Field Office spokeswoman Laura Eimiller was quoted by the Burlington Free Press "At no time was journalist Michael Hastings ever under investigation by the FBI," on Thursday.Hastings' concern about the release by Wikileaks is corroborated by his statements in an email to friends provided to KTLA after his death: “Hey [redacted copy], the Feds are interviewing my ‘close friends and associates.’ Perhaps if authorities arrive ‘BuzzFeed GQ’, er HQ, may be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices or related journalism issues.” He added, “Also: I’m onto a big story, and need to go off the radar for a bit.” He ended the email: “All the best, and hope to see you all soon.”Hastings's last story for BuzzFeed was a fiery op-ed that managed to denounce a rogue’s gallery of administration officials and congressional Democrats for defending the very same NSA domestic spy programs they used as a wedge issue during the Bush administration.At the time of his death, Hastings was reportedly working on at least three stories. Although the details will likely remain eternally unknown, all three had national security implications and all three had direct bearing on the current domestic spying scandal.Immediately after the 2012 election, it was revealed that retired four-star General Petraeus, who was then director of the CIA, had an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell. Petraeus, who had been McChrystal's superior, predecessor and successor as commander of US forces in Afghanistan, resigned at once. The affair had been revealed because Broadwell had repeated sent anonymous threatening emails to Florida businesswoman and military booster Jill Kelley, who was also a friend of General Petraeus, along with a number of other top military and diplomatic brass. Feeling threatened, and because the emails contained sensitive military information, Kelley contacted the FBI. The FBI then used the metadata from the emails to track them to Broadwell. Server information was then seized and deleted emails between Petreaus and Broadwell revealed their affair to investigators.One of Hastings's unfinished stories is reported to deal with the fallout from this recent sex scandal. Over the course of the FBI investigation, several alleged improprieties popped up. The original FBI agent assigned to the case was reported to have sent shirtless pictures of himself to Jill Kelley via the internet. Government officials made statements suggesting without substantiation that Kelley herself was having an affair with General John Allen, who succeeded Petraeus as the US commander in Afghanistan. These allegations were denied by Allen, Jill Kelley and her husband Scott.Although Allen was cleared of any wrongdoing by a board of inquiry, he was not given another assignment and retired on April 29, 2013. Feeling that their personal lives had been invaded, and that they had been exposed to media scrutiny and scorn, Jill and Scott Kelley filed suit against the FBI and DoD in federal court on June 3rd. Days later, the NSA domestic spy scandal exploded across the world media scene.Hastings was believed to be covering the story in a way that was sympathetic to Jill and Scott Kelley, representing them as honest patriotic citizens victimized by a government spy operation that treated crime victims as collateral damage. According to the LA Times, “Hastings, 33, was scheduled to meet with a representative of Kelley next week in Los Angeles to discuss the case, according to a person close to Kelley.”Hastings is also believed to have been working on a story about the Petraeus's replacement as director of the CIA, John Brennan. Brennan is the key architect of Obama's Disposition Matrix, affectionately called a “kill list” by the press, which help the National Command Authority to decide who to kill and how to kill them outside of combat zones without judicial review. A career CIA man, Brennan was considered for nomination by Obama for the agency's top post once before, but withdrew his name once his public support for torture and extraordinary rendition (illegal kidnapping and torture) became a potential liability.Hastings's third reported pending story was the most potentially shocking. It concerned his friend and fellow investigative journalist Barrett Brown. Like Hastings, Barrett Brown was a young iconoclast deeply concerned about national security and domestic spying issues. When Brown came into possession of emails from HBGary and Stratfor he ceased work on his book and began looking into the mechanisms and implications of domestic spying. The sheer volume of the revelations by Jeremy Hammond and other members of LulzSec caused him to initiate a crowd sourced journalistic entity called Project PM Although Project PM considered their work journalistic, they were very loosely structured, published information via a wiki, and remained mostly anonymous. Although the HBGary and Stratfor emails had been stolen by LulzSec, they had been disseminated through Wikileaks and via torrent. So it was a surprise to Brown – who had worked for Vanity Fair, the Guardian, Newsweek and many other mainstream publications – when the FBI came knocking with a warrant to seize his computer. As reported in The Nation, Barrett Brown was not home at the time. Instead he and his laptop were with his mother. This led to a chain of events that may well lead to Brown being imprisoned for over a century. First, the FBI arrested his mother for obstruction of justice for possessing Brown's laptop. She faces up to a year in prison herself. Brown then took to YouTube, perhaps unwisely, and threatened the FBI agents with exposure for their alleged crimes and heavy handed tactics.Brown was then arrested and charged with various computer crimes related to the possession and distribution of credit card numbers contained in some of the dumped emails from Stratfor. The people he is accused of distributing them to are other members of project PM, although none of the numbers have been published and no unlawful transactions have occurred. These are the same credit cards that Jeremy Hammond faces ten years for stealing.Within the thousands of emails between HBGary executives, their staffers, and other intelligence contracting companies they were hoping to build marketing alliances with was an email from an the Chief Technology Officer of Xetron. Xetron is an information security firm that is a division of Northrup Grumman. Xetron and HBGary were hoping to add a third company, Endgame Solutions, to the a technology consortium they were forming.Endgame Solutions is a very publicity shy company seems to specialize in offensive cyberwar capability. In the email from Xetron's CTO, Brian Masterson, wrote “While I was at their place getting briefed by Chris, Gen. Patraeus' [sic] exec called three times to set a follow-up meeting. It seems like there is plenty of interest in them.” Petraeus was commander of CENTCOM at the time and had huge amounts of discretionary funds at his disposal through the Combatant Commander Initiative Fund. It is unclear what interest Petreaus had in building his own independent offensive cyberwar capability or how he intended to use it.Brown is currently being held without bail and has been awaiting trial for nearly 300 days. His defense team recently filed a motion for a continuance, order to examine the results of their discovery motions which include two terabytes of data.Hasting and Brown shared a biting and irreverent style and an unwillingness to compromise for the sake of acceptance or access, the way other media figures so often do. Hastings was much maligned by some in the mainstream press for breaking the unwritten rules about not attacking the powerful. His style alienated many other reporters who routinely trade obedience for access There are many theories currently swirling about the internet about Hastings's death. They focus on the minutia of speed and engineering. How could Hastings's engine have flown 60 feet from his car? Or was it 100 feet? How long were the skid marks? Were their skid marks at all? How fast was he going? Why did his car burst so immediately and dramatically into flames? Why was he driving so fast? The summing up of the questions of course leads to “Was Michael Hastings murdered and if so, how?”The full details of Michael Hastings' death may never be truly known. Despite the LAPD's pronouncement that there was no foul play, their investigation will last an additional six weeks, which is an eternity of news cycles. Honesty and respect for human rights have never been hallmarks of the LAPD's character and their statements should will always be suspect because of their history.The question that the Free Press hopes to help answer is this: “What made a fearless journalist so fearful that he sought legal help, warned his employer and colleagues of an impending FBI investigation and made plans to disappear?”All three of Hastings' known lines of inquiry lead to retired and disgraced General Petreaus, the officer clique and intelligence agents around him, and his immediate successors. Is Petreaus somehow involved in Hastings death? That is unknown and quite a leap, based on what is known. The convergent lines of inquiry centering on him do make him what law enforcement types would call a person of interest.What is the relationship between a dead journalist and men with secret kill lists? More importantly, what does that relationship say about our society? The answers to those questions are not in a burnt car or at a crash scene in LA. Those answers are in leaked documents, public records and most chillingly, in the mirror. If we wish to honor a courageous journalist we will look for those answers in all the uncomfortable places.India has zoomed past the US to take the second spot on a list of the world’s most attractive renewable energy markets. In their annual ranking of the world’s top 40 markets for investing into renewable energy, consultancy firm EY named China (pdf) the world’s most attractive renewables market for 2017, followed by India. The US, which held the top rank last year fell to third, mostly due to a shift in domestic energy policy under president Donald Trump. The 2017 list also includes new entrants such as Kazakhstan, Panama, and Dominican Republic, indicating efforts made by smaller countries to decrease dependence on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse emissions. Top 10 most-attractive renewables markets for 2017, according to EY Rank Country 1 China 2 India 3 US 4 Germany 5 Australia 6 Chile 7 Japan 8 France 9 Mexico 10 UK India had lagged in the renewable energy space for many decades. However, since his ascent to power in 2014, prime minister Narendra Modi has turned largely towards renewable energy to fix India’s chronic power shortages and reduce dependence on coal. In 2015, Modi called solar energy the “ultimate solution” to India’s energy crisis. In 2015, India even held its first conference on renewable energy investment, where private companies committed some $200 billion in investments into green energy. These included large investments into solar and wind power by companies such as SunEdison Energy, ReNew Power, and the Adani group. “A combination of strong government support and increasingly attractive economics has helped to push India into second place in the latest issue of our Renewable energy country attractiveness index,” EY said in its report (pdf). ”This follows recent dramatic growth in renewables, with more than 10 GW of solar capacity added in three years—from a low base of just 2.6 GW in 2014—and record new wind capacity installed in 2016–17 of 5.4 GW, according to official figures.” In 2016, India was ranked third on the list behind the US and China. In 2014, the country stood seventh on the list, while it was at ninth in 2013 (pdf). As of March 2017, India has a combined renewable energy capacity of 57 GW. Over the next five years, the country hopes to grow that to 175 GW, mostly helped by solar, which has seen a significant drop in tariffs in recent months. “In recent tenders, solar developers [in India] have offered to supply power at lower prices than new-build coal plants, effectively blocking new coal capacity,” according to the EY report. Since 2010, solar-power tariffs have dropped over 70% and are now lower than the average cost of electricity supplied by the National Thermal Power Corporation, the country’s largest power generator, that heavily uses fossil fuels for power generation. The 2022 renewable energy target of 175 GW includes 100 GW of solar power—60 GW ground-mounted and 40 GW from rooftop—while wind energy is expected to deliver 60 GW. The remaining 15 GW will come from biomass and small hydro projects. The country’s wind energy installations are ahead of schedule; the country set a goal of 4 GW of new wind power capacity in 2016, and ended up installing 5.4 GW. Solar, though, is not quite there. “Despite impressive growth of 6.8 GW in 2016, solar is lagging its target of 12 GW (7 GW of utility-scale and 5 GW of rooftop solar), showing just how ambitious the government’s goals are,” says the EY report. “The government’s additional emphasis on PV parks (solar parks) will help to plug the gap, but it needs to do more to encourage rooftop solar installations.” India’s current rooftop solar energy capacity is just 740 MW.Ottawa Senators head coach Guy Boucher confirmed on Friday star defenceman Erik Karlsson is fine and will play Game 5 Saturday. Karlsson incurred an apparent leg injury in the second period of the Sens' Game 4 loss Thursday after he collided with New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider. He appeared to be in pain and was seen limping following the end of the period. Boucher held Karlsson out of the third period but said after the game he expected he would be able to return in Game 5. In other Sens' roster news, Boucher confirmed Craig Anderson will start in net Game 5 but wouldn't say if he is planning any other lineup changes for Saturday. The Senators and Rangers are tied 2-2 in their second round Stanley Cup playoff series.The NHS will make e-cigarettes available to the 8 million smokers in the UK to help them quit An electronic cigarette product has been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, meaning it can be prescribed by GPs. The e-Voke, made by British American Tobacco, will be available in the new year. A report by Public Health England, King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London published earlier this year found that e-cigarettes carry just five per cent of the risk of tobacco. It estimated that if every smoker in Britain switched to vaping about 75,000 lives a year could be saved. Last night the Department of Health confirmed an e-cigarette has been licensed for medicinal use and will be prescribed alongside existing nicotine replacement therapies, including patches and chewing gum. A spokesman said: “We know there are now more than a million ex-smokers who have used e-cigarettes to help them to quit smoking completely and that the evidence indicates they are significantly less harmful to health than smoking tobacco.The rebreather is a piece of headgear in Fallout: New Vegas. Contents show] Characteristics Edit The rebreather provides a Damage Resistance of 3, but no DT, and grants unlimited oxygen while submerged underwater. The player cannot drop or sell this item, and its condition will never degrade. It fills the mask slot, so it does not prohibit the wearing of head gear that only covers the top of the head (e.g., combat helmets). It cannot be worn with certain helmets, such as power armor helmets, or glasses (e.g. Dr. Mobius' glasses), but can be worn with most hats. Location Edit The item is received from Jack at Nellis hangars during the Volare! quest if the player has a Science skill of at least 45, or a pressure cooker. To find a pressure cooker, see here for a list of locations. Notes Edit The rebreather is one of two pieces of apparel the player can equip in Fallout: New Vegas which provides Damage Resistance instead of Damage Threshold, the other being Vault 11 jumpsuits (the trenchcoat has a DR of 5, but is flagged as unusable by the player). which provides Damage Resistance instead of Damage Threshold, the other being Vault 11 jumpsuits (the trenchcoat has a DR of 5, but is flagged as unusable by the player). The rebreather is located in the apparel section of your pip-boy and cannot be worn in conjunction with any kind of eyewear, but it can be worn with most headgear such as the Space suit helmet or the combat helmet. Interestingly enough, since the goggles helmet can be worn with glasses, it can also be worn with the rebreather. It also fits on Chinese stealth armor. If you fail Jack's mission or if Janet is killed, when trying to gain the Boomers' respect, he will only say "Go to hell, outsider. Stay away from me." which means you cannot communicate any further with him, and making the obtaining of the rebreather difficult. He can still be spoken to, however, if you approach him when he goes home to sleep. Upon completing the quest Volare!, the rebreather is still considered a quest item and therefore cannot be dropped, sold, or placed into any storage devices. As such, it can be taken to the Sierra Madre. The quest flag can be removed by using the console command SetQuestObject 00100633 0. The rebreather is not an air filtration system, and cannot protect the player from the Cloud in the Sierra Madre. . If the player character's nose is big enough, it will poke through the mask. Bugs EditPolice on the scene investigate around a Metro-North Train after it derailed on route to Grand Central Station in New York City on December 1, 2013. At least four people were killed and 63 injured after the Metro-North passenger train derailed on a sharp curve in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sunday morning. UPI/John Angelillo \| License Photo Police on the scene investigate around a Metro-North Train after it derailed on route to Grand Central Station in New York City on December 1, 2013. At least four people were killed and 63 injured after the Metro-North passenger train derailed on a sharp curve in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sunday morning. UPI/John Angelillo \| License Photo Police on the scene investigate around a Metro-North Train after it derailed on route to Grand Central Station in New York City on December 1, 2013. At least four people were killed and 63 injured after the Metro-North passenger train derailed on a sharp curve in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sunday morning. UPI/John Angelillo \| License Photo Police on the scene investigate around a Metro-North Train after it derailed on route to Grand Central Station in New York City on December 1, 2013. At least four people were killed and 63 injured after the Metro-North passenger train derailed on a sharp curve in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sunday morning. UPI/John Angelillo \| License Photo Police on the scene investigate around a Metro-North Train after it derailed on route to Grand Central Station in New York City on December 1, 2013. At least four people were killed and 63 injured after the Metro-North passenger train derailed on a sharp curve in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sunday morning. UPI/John Angelillo \| License Photo The remains of a victim are carried out of a Metro-North Train after it derailed on route to Grand Central Station in New York City on December 1, 2013. At least four people were killed and 63 injured after the Metro-North passenger train derailed on a sharp curve in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sunday morning. UPI/John Angelillo \| License Photo The remains of a victim are carried out of a Metro-North Train after it derailed on route to Grand Central Station in New York City on December 1, 2013. At least four people were killed and 63 injured after the Metro-North passenger train derailed on a sharp curve in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sunday morning. UPI/John Angelillo \| License Photo NEW YORK, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Four people were killed and at least 67 were injured when a New York commuter train derailed Sunday morning in the Bronx, police said. Five cars went off the tracks about 7:20 a.m. EST in the Spuyten Duyvel section of the borough, The train, traveling from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to Grand Central Station, was rounding a curve about 100 yards from its next stop when the cars careened off the track toward the Hudson River. Three people died when they were ejected from the Metro-North train as it twisted and turned off the track, officials said. The fire department said 11 people were critically injured and six suffered serious injuries. "It's obviously a very tragic situation," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. The train operator, who was among those injured, told investigators he applied brakes to the train, but it didn't slow down, a law enforcement official on the scene told CNN. National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Deborah Hersman said investigators would look at the track condition, signal system and human factors in determining the cause, CNN reported. Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano said there were about 100 people on the train, The New York Times reported. "On a work day, fully occupied, it would have been a tremendous disaster," Cassano was quoted as saying. "I was at my desk at my computer, and I thought a plane was coming in," a witness told WCBS-TV, New York. "I jumped away. Then after the noise stopped, I looked out the window and saw the train derailment, and I called 911 right away. They put me on with the fire department. I told them what had happened, where it was, so on and so forth.... I told them there wasn't any flames. There was a little bit of smoke coming out from one of the cars, and they got here pretty quickly." Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, who represents the area where the train derailed, said it was "certainly the worst one on this line," the Times reported.What is the average price for teen car insurance in RI? I'm a guy! :) ANSWER: I would recommend you to visit this web page where one can compare rates from the best companies: PROTECTIONQUOTES.NET RELATED FAQS: Is it legal to be declined health insurance for this reason? I applied with a major insurance company in California, am a single vegetarian in my mid/late 30s no children, extremely healthy never been diagnosed with anything, exercise regularly. I guess they dug up that I had taken a fertility drug in the past - I was never even diagnosed as infertile - it's a really cheap common drug that stimulates your ovaries to produce more eggs but I had no partner to get pregnant with so to was just something I got from a fertility doctor if I wanted to get pregnant with donor sperm. That's not even covered by insurance if I ever want to do that again and the drug's like $20 you can practically get it over the counter it's so common I know tons of women who use it. I didn't even apply for maternity care to be included in my insurance, just a basic policy. Is it legal for them to decline me because of this? So if a woman has a baby they are no longer eligible for insurance? Most women who get pregnant take this drug (including both my sisters) yet they still have insurance. Was it legal for the pharmacy to give them this info? I don't know how else they found out." Is Farmers insurance a good company to work for? I was recently offered a position at Farmers and i was wondering if that would be a good career choice or just a waste of time? Medical Insurance Cost? I plan on becoming a Ultrasound Tech. I plan for my husband to be a Medical Records Tech. I'd make $90,000 and he would make $44,000 a year. If I have two kids how much money should I expect to be taken out of my check each month for Medical Insurance from BlueCross Blue Shield?" I am trying to get a 2006 Dodge Charger R/T. I am worried that insurance will be to high? I am worried that insurance will be too high. I am 16 years old and my Dad is paying for it. What is the average insurance that someone pays. Do you tihnk insurance on this charger will be a lot? How much should my 19 yr old be paying for liability insurance? She has had a policy with State Farm for liability which is the requirement in Illinois which was about $68 a month Yesterday they said she now has to pay $130 a month for insurance on a 1995 Toyota Camry. There is no loan on the car, so I told her just to get the basic liability insurance in illinois. Isnt $130 a month high and why do you suppose it all the sudden went up. I told her to call them back and she did. They gave her some spill about a deposit and monthy payments. My name is on the title of the car, neither of us have ever had a wreck. I insure an old truck for about $45 a month. What do you think about her sudden increase in payment from State Farm? I am trying to make her independent, so I have refused to pay her insurance." Can I be under my parents' insurance under a different state? I am a college student with a permanent address in Illinois, but I am in California for college. I am planning on getting a car in California. Can I get insurance under my parents' policy? What is the cheapest way of doing so? Should I register the car under their name or my name?" Car Insurance: Driving Test? This may sound like a dumb question to you, but right now I have my permit. I'm not in the insurance right now. Do I need to be in the insurance before my driving test? I know they ask for a proof of insurance, so what does that mean? Thanks! No judge or rude comments please!" What does initial debit mean in health insurance? I got a mail for recently applying for health insurance from Blue Shield of California. It says: Your coverage (individual) is currently paid 12/12/10. Effective 01/01/11, your monthly dues/premium will automatically be debited from your account on the first of each month.Your first debit will be in the amount of $142.09 to cover the period from 12/12/10 to 02/01/11. After this initial debit, regular withdrawals of $87.00 will be made on the first of each month. Ok, so I understand I am supposed to pay $87 each month. But I don't understand the initial debit where it says I have to pay $142.09. What is that amount for? What does it mean? Why is it covering from December to February? Almost about 1 to 2 months. Is that some sort of special payment everyone has to pay for health insurance? Can someone please explain this to me? I never applied for health insurance, so I'm not familiar with how things work. Thanks." How old must you be to have classic car insurance? is their any age you have to be for classic car insurance as i have been looking to buy a ford xr
communicate with dementia patients effectively How to live with someone who has Alzheimer's How Do You Do it Alzheimer's Care Coping with Alzheimer's https://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com/2016/03/alzheimers-death.html The simple answer, Alzheimer's does not kill a person directly.Some people might think or believe that Alzheimer's causes brain death. In other words, it causes the complete brain to stop functioning.This is not true.By Bob DeMarco(or it is very rare).What happens as Alzheimer's progresses into the later stages is thatin which there isAs far as I can tell foris listed as pneumonia. However, this is changing very fast and Alzheimer's rather than pneumonia is being recognized on death certificates.and are often difficult to treat. Bedsores can develop into a sepsis infection.through broken skin and spread throughout the body. It's a rapidly progressing, life-threatening condition that can cause organ failure.For example, it is not unusual for Alzheimer's patients(also known as bladder infections).Unlike you and me, they can't tell us they have aAs a result, sometimes the symptoms while going undetected. This is actually the first symptom that is noticed or detected.There are additional known complication. like, etc.that deaths from Alzheimer's are 5 to 6 times higher than previously reported by the Centers for Disease Control and death certificates.The bottom line here is that it is theYou are reading original Alzheimer's Reading RoomThe goal of the Alzheimer's Reading Room is to Educate and Empower Alzheimer's caregivers, their families, and the entire Alzheimer's community.CitationBob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room, 2016"Death by Complications from Alzheimer's, What does this mean?"After a year of headlines about shockingly homophobic statements from the government, Gay Star News visits Malaysia to find out what life is really like for LGBT rights activists there Out of all Asian nations, Malaysia has the dubious honor of collecting the most negative headlines on Gay Star News in the last 12 months. From plans to set up ‘rehabilitation’ centers for gay people, to the Prime Minister decrying ‘deviant aspects’, to the laughable, if it weren’t so damaging for the children involved, ‘gay guidelines’ endorsed by the Education Ministry. A visit to the country gives us the chance to meet the activists on the ground and find out what life is really like for LGBT people in the racially diverse, majority Muslim country. We meet Jerome Kugan, co-founder of Seksualiti Merdeka sexualities rights festival, which was banned by the government in 2011, and ask him to give us the word from the frontline of LGBT rights activism in Malaysia. How does the public homophobia from the government affect gay people in Malaysia? Does it mean that everyone has to live a closeted life? Or is there a thriving scene despite all of these comments? I think the scene has been thriving since the 90s. And that hasn’t really stopped, the nightclubs, the saunas, they are still happening. I think Malaysia has some of the most online gay chat users in the world. But of course public acceptance and coming out is still a huge issue for a lot of Malaysians. And most people prefer to live in the closet, especially at home with their parents, especially for Muslims. A lot of the gay Malay are afraid. If you work in the entertainment industry, you know who’s gay. Some of them are even flamboyant on TV, but they will never come out. They even enter into marriages and have kids – but we know they’re gay because we see them out in the clubs. How does the culture of Malaysia affect LGBT life here? Malaysia is made-up of three main races. Malay make-up the majority, the Chinese and the Indian, who are migrants from the turn of the 20th century. They came here before the war. A lot of them are third or fourth generation now. And even though there’s a lot of mixing culturally, the different races are still quite segregated. So you go to different neighborhoods in Kuala Lumpur and one neighborhood is just Malay, one is just Chinese and one is just Indian. You still have that segregation – even though they’ve been here for decades. And I think that has influenced a lot of the life here. Including gay and lesbian and trans life. We’re divided. The gay Malays stick to their own group. The gay Chinese stick to their own group. Not just that, but the Malay lesbians will stick to their own group and the Chinese lesbians stick to their own group. It’s even more fragmented than another country where people all speak the same language, because we also all speak different languages. Does that make it difficult to make progress? It’s hard to organize. As an activist you always wonder if you are reaching out to the right people. We have to decide whether to translate our publicity materials. And then we worry that if we translate it, will the religious authorities find out about it. So one of the strategies we have for addressing LGBT rights in this country, is to do it all in English. We’re exploiting a weakness within religious authorities and government departments, because they conduct most of their communications in Malay. So when they come across English stuff sometimes they can’t even read it or understand it. The government is made up of majority Malay people. It’s actually written into the constitution like that. So that indigenous people, which includes Malay and all the other indigenous people, they have special privileges. They get most of the civil servant jobs, they get given most of the government loans and government housing and all that stuff. How does Islam affect people here? If you’re born a Malay in this country, you’re automatically Muslim. You have no choice. And then you are subject to sharia law. We have two systems of law in this country: civil law and sharia law. The sharia laws are different in each state. Sharia laws ban homosexuality – for men for women – and there’s a law used against transgender women which bans ‘impersonating a woman’. In the civil code we still have a colonial era law that criminalizes sodomy – a law that’s been used twice against the leader of the opposition Anwar Ibrahim in a smear campaign. What’s the history of Seksualiti Merdeka? We are a loose coalition of individuals and organizations and basically it’s a sexuality rights festival. We did it for the first time in 2008. It was centered around the Annexe art gallery in Kuala Lumpur. Pang Khee Teik and I are the co-founders. We invited academics, activists, artists, performers. Through that we managed to create a network of people who are interested in the issues and want to do something about it. We found out through doing Seksualiti Merdeka that a lot of people have been wanting to start an LGBT rights movement in this country. But it’s a very daunting task. In 2011 we got banned by the government. We think it’s because we invited Ambiga Sreenevasan to officiate at the launch. Ambiga is hated by the government because she is the leader of this movement called Bersih, meaning clean in Malay. It’s a movement that’s calling for free and fair elections, because the elections in this country are so corrupt. We invited Ambiga because we felt she could reach out to a wider public who believe in the human rights cause. The government then did a smear campaign about Ambiga and the leader of the opposition Anwar Ibrahim tying them to Seksualiti Merdeka and spreading the mis-information that it is a sexy orgy party – which is not what it is! When they shut us down we never got served court orders, they called us, they just turned up to the event with 30 police officers. Why did you decide not to try to hold a Seksualiti Merdeka in 2012? We’re just waiting for the election to be over. The Prime Minister needs to call an election before the 8 March. At the moment the government are looking for any opportunity to create a media storm. And we don’t want to give them that. So our strategy is to lay low for a while. We don’t want to give the government more fuel in their anti-gay rhetoric. The government own the mainstream media and they can just spin it any way they want. How the mainstream media described the ban of Seksualiti Merdeka in 2011 was terrible misinformation. But after the election, then it’s time to have another festival. In the meantime are you doing any other LGBT rights activism? We’re doing some fundraising for Justice for Sisters, the main aim is to raise funds to finance legal case for trans women. And I run Rainbow Rojak but that’s basically just a social community night. What’s different about it from the other gay parties is that we are self-consciously queer, we’re slightly more political. How is the gay party scene in KL? The oldest club is Blue Boy – it’s been there since the 80s. There’s also Marketplace – but it’s only really happening on Saturday nights. There’s Frangipani on Friday nights. Those are the main ones. There’s also one that caters to bears. The Indian community have house parties but I have no idea where. It’s very underground. I think Malay parties also happen but it’s also underground. The trans community have pageant events. There are drag shows in town. There are things happening. And you can find within the independent art scene a few people doing stuff here and there. What the international community do to help LGBT people in Malaysia? First of all we need money. Funds to help built networks in the country. Even Seksualiti Merdeka doesn’t have money. We don’t have an office, we don’t have staff, we’re all volunteers. And it’s hard to do all the things we want to do. Volunteer power’s just not sustainable. So we need to find a way around that. The other thing is media coverage, international media coverage about what’s happening on the ground here. I think more people need to know. And not just Malaysia but the whole southeast Asian region. There’s things happening here that are mind-boggling. There’s violence happening but it doesn’t get reported because there’s a media silence. The Malaysian media get memos from the Home Ministry telling them to bury positive news about LGBT people. Negative reports appear on the front page or the first few pages. Positive reports on the 8th or 9th page or not at all. Keep in touch with Seksualiti Merdeka on their blog.Image caption President-elect Mohammed Mursi was the leader of Egypt's main Islamist party The office of Egypt's president-elect Mohammed Mursi is to take legal action against the Iranian Fars news agency for fabricating an interview with him, the official Mena news agency said. Fars quoted Mr Mursi saying the two countries should improve ties. Such a move would go against Western efforts to isolate Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme. Mena quoted Mr Mursi's spokesman, Yasir Ali, as saying the interview was entirely made up. Ties between Cairo and Tehran have been frosty since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution and the Egyptian-Israeli peace deal of the same year. The two countries do not have full diplomatic relations but each has a mission in the other's capital. Fars said that Mr Mursi had "underlined his enthusiasm for the further expansion of ties with Iran, and said relations between Tehran and Cairo will create a strategic balance in the region". On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Mr Mursi for winning the election, state TV reported, adding: "I emphasise expanding bilateral ties and strengthening the friendship between the two nations." Prior to his election, Mr Mursi was leader of Egypt's main Islamist party, the Freedom and Justice Party.The NYPD said Thursday that President Donald Trump’s enormous slate of proposed budget cuts would take away “critical” funding the department uses to fight terrorism in New York. The cuts could impact everything from active-shooter training to intelligence analysis to bomb squad equipment, police said at a briefing with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday. “Under the president’s proposal, nearly all federal funding to the NYPD would be eradicated,” James P. O’Neill, the New York City police commissioner, said during the briefing. “This funding is absolutely critical. It is the backbone of our entire counter-terrorism apparatus.” As the nation’s largest city, New York has long been a target for terror attacks. Law enforcement officers have also had to work to protect First Lady Melania Trump and her son Barron, who still live at Trump Tower in Manhattan. The Trump administration has defended its budget cuts as getting rid of unnecessary programs to accomplish his campaign promises. But O’Neill says the proposed changes would make the president’s home town less safe. “It is the cornerstone of effective preparedness and prevention against terrorist threats, and enables us to do all we can do to keep this city secure,” O’Neill said. “Everyone who lives in, works in, and visits New York City — this money’s critical to keeping everybody safe.” O’Neill said the proposed federal budget would cost the NYPD about $110 million, which it receives annually through the Homeland Security Grant Program, according to the Washington Post. He added that New York City continues to be a top terror target, and said: “Simply put, we cannot afford to cut corners in fighting terrorism.” Write to Abigail Abrams at abigail.abrams@time.com.After Devin Patrick Kelley allegedly entered a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas last Sunday and shot dead 26 people, the conversation, prompted by politicians, immediately turned to mental health. The "horrific shooting" represents a "mental health problem at the highest level", US President Donald Trump declared on Twitter, adding in a press conference that the attack "isn't a gun situation". Trump's argument was bolstered when it was revealed that Kelley, 25, had "suffered from mental disorders" and had escaped a psychiatric hospital more than five years ago. He was sent to the facility after being charged in a military court with assaulting his wife and fracturing his infant stepson's skull, according to documents obtained by local news channel KPRC. Despite the revelations about Kelley's mental health, and the fact that the majority of Americans (63%) believe mass shootings in the US have more to do with mental health problems than gun control laws, health professionals warn that people should not draw a connection between mass shootings and mental illness. "This is all a red herring," Liza Gold, a forensic psychiatrist at Georgetown University of Medicine and editor of the book, Gun Violence and Mental Illness said. "The vast majority of mass shootings are not committed by the diagnosable mentally ill, no matter what politicians try to suggest," Gold said. "Our country is in a state of denial about the real nature of gun violence and what we can do to decrease mortality." Only about three to five percent of violent acts in the US are committed by individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness, and the percentage of crimes they commit with a gun "are lower than the national average for persons not diagnosed with mental illness," according to findings published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2015. Studies have also found that the mentally ill are no more likely to become violent than a person without an illness, and that only one percent of violent acts committed by psychiatric patients involved killing a "target". "If we were able to magically cure schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, that would be wonderful, but overall violence would go down by only about four percent," according to Jeffrey Swanson, a professor in psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, told ProPublica in 2014. The National Rifle Association (NRA), the most powerful gun lobby in the US, has capitalised on the public perception of the mentally ill. {articleGUID} Following a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada in early October that left 58 dead and more than 500 injured, NRA Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre also pointed to mental health. "I mean, the outrage they're trying to stir against the NRA, they ought to be stirring against the mental health system, which has completely collapsed," he told CBS at the time. Investigators have yet to reveal whether alleged Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock had a diagnosed mental illness. 'Accessibility is the real problem' Michael Stone, a forensic psychiatrist at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and author of The Anatomy of Evil, has created a database of 350 mass murderers dating back over a century. While Stone has found that around 20 percent of mass murderers have been severely mentally ill, he told Al Jazeera that the "real problem is accessibility" to guns. {articleGUID} In the Texas shooting, Kelley bought the firearms he allegedly used through a federally licensed firearms dealer, where the seller is legally required to conduct a background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). His name was able to clear the system because the US Air Force admitted they failed to report Kelley's domestic violence convictions to the FBI - a conviction that, according to federal law, bars an individual from buying a firearm. Researchers say, however, that even if Kelley's history had been reported to the FBI, he would have still had a way around the system as not all legal firearm purchases in the US require a seller to conduct a background check, fill out a form, or even show ID. Currently, US federal law only mandates background checks from firearm retailers with a federal license to sell. For private sales that involve a seller without a federal license, including those at gun shows, only 19 out of 50 US states mandate a background check or a license or permit to buy a firearm. Texas is not one of them. According to a 2010 Department of Justice report, "...individuals prohibited by law from possessing guns can easily obtain them from private sellers and do so without any federal records of the transactions". Gun control advocates highlight this "loophole", and push for a federal mandating of background checks for all firearm purchases, private, unlicensed or otherwise, an idea commonly known as "universal background checks". "Do they work? Millions of background checks have been denied, which suggests they work," said Eric Ruben, an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Law and fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice whose work focuses on weapons law and the Second Amendment. {articleGUID} "Of course, they are not everything … but they likely increase the cost of guns on the black market, which is a good thing. And they are the best way I've heard to enforce the gun prohibitions that are central to current gun regulation in America." While the NRA has argued that proposals such as these "would deprive individuals of due process of the law", Ruben disagrees. "Such policies are perfectly consistent with the Second Amendment. In fact, I know of no case in which background checks have been challenged successfully," Ruben told Al Jazeera, adding that background checks only help to "implement bans that themselves are widely viewed as constitutional". 'Inherent contradictions' Despite the NRA's efforts to lobby against expanding gun laws, studies from both the Pew Research Center and the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research have found that the majority of Americans (77 percent to 85 percent, respectively) support background checks for private sales along with other gun-control measures. {articleGUID} "But we're left with a very politically challenging situation here," Stone said. The NRA argues that "mental illness", not guns or background checks, should be "the focus of any policy to address high-profile shootings". But health experts point out that the organisation is also against expanding NICS to include "psychiatrist's diagnosis, a doctor's referral, or the option of a law enforcement officer … or seeking mental health treatment". Including these individuals would be overreaching and "doing so would actually discourage troubled people from getting the help they need", according to the NRA's website. Analysts and researchers also highlight that while politicians are quick to blame mental health for mass shootings, Trump and other pro-gun politicians have not said they will increase funding for healthcare providers or mental health research. {articleGUID} In his first months in office, Trump repealed a regulation, implemented by the previous administration, that banned gun sales to individuals with certain mental health diagnoses, including those receiving Social Security checks for mental illnesses. "There is so much inherent contradiction from all these people that it really boggles the mind," Georgetown University's Gold said. "Mass shootings attract wide attention, but once you yell'mental illness', no one even wants to consider evidence-based, sensible gun reform that could actually make a difference without infringing on gun rights," she added. "The NRA has been very successful in creating a learned helplessness and denial that benefits them and not anyone else."Decided to share some SCP related stuff I make for my daily warmups or just for fun. I do mostly high realism and concept art type stuff, but I also love doing semi-realist comic-book type art (I favor the American Penciled or Inked European styles). Here's one I did during some downtime yesterday and today. 682 says hi. Just a quick and dirty speedpaint, but I kind of like how it came out- Might have to take this one to a full workup and reupload. Just a quick and dirty speedpaint, but I kind of like how it came out- Might have to take this one to a full workup and reupload. This is roughly how I always picture SCP-682's default state; I'd be interested to hear how it compares to other people's mental images. ^_^ Feel free to leave requests, by the way- I'll see what I can get to as time and the fickle inspiration fairies allow! Update I now have an art page, the Scorpion Pit!I feel like few things surprise me anymore in the world of mobile gaming, as in the last near-decade it seems like everything that can happen on the App Store has happened, at least in some respect. When I got the email announcing Bridge Constructor Portal, I did one of these. I think you could make a strong argument that Portal is the perfect video game, and the world-building that was done in Portal 2 has left me absolutely starving for anything new involving Aperture Science. While this certainly isn’t a Portal 3, which undoubtedly will leave some fan’s disappointed, I think the a full-fledged Portal game on iOS really wouldn’t work that well. Instead, the guys at Headup Games and Valve have come up with a great solution: Basically injecting a heaping helping of GLaDOS into Bridge Constructor ($1.99). Take a look at the trailer: Backing up a bit, if you’ve never played a Portal game before, I implore you to fix that problem. You can pick up the bundle on Steam for $30, although it’s often on sale for far less than that. The games are also available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and you shouldn’t have much trouble finding them used for around $10 a pop. The entire gimmick of the Portal games revolves around using a portal gun which can shoot out a blue portal and an orange portal. You solve puzzles via clever placement of these portals and jumping (or walking) through one to come out the other. Throughout the process you’re guided by an artificially intelligent supercomputer named GLaDOS, who quickly reveals herself to be equally sinister and witty. The year of Portal’s original release, GLaDOS won several awards for being the best video game character of the year, and you’d be hard pressed to find many people who would argue that GLaDOS isn’t among the best video game characters of all time. Additionally, GLaDOS singing Jonathan Coulton’s “Still Alive" is… Well, simply incredible. Bridge Constructor Portal, as the name suggests, combines gameplay from Bridge Constructor and Portal. You’ll build bridges across Aperture Science-like testing areas, utilizing seemingly every element from the Portal universe from Companion Cubes to the orange and blue goo from Portal 2. Feast your eyes on these screenshots, JUST LOOK AT THEM!!! I’m seriously just beside myself with how excited I am for this game- Particularly considering Valve isn’t the kind of company who will just license out IP to anyone who stumbles into their office with an envelope full of cash like many, many popular IP holders who get pitched mobile games. My absolute dream would be for Valve to acknowledge this game as canon in the Portal universe and slips in some additional tidbits on Aperture Science. Yes, this is what it looks like when I fan out over something. I’m sorry. Anyway, Bridge Constructor Portal will be released on December 20th on mobile devices, as well as Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Judging by how things have been going with release dates lately on the App Store, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see it pop up sometime on December 19th, but, we’ll see.Former media magnate Peter Mukerjea, who was arrested on Thursday in connection with the sensational Sheena Bora murder case for allegedly'shielding the accused' has been charged with murder. According to reports, Mukerjea has also been accused of attempted murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy by the CBI "Peter Mukerjea booked under sections in original FIR 302, 120 B, 306, 201, and 363 of the IPC. Proceedings yet to begin," reports ANI. Peter Mukerjea's wife Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai were produced before the court, which extended their judicial custody till December 3. Mukerjea was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), hours after it filed a chargesheet in which Indrani, the mother of the victim born from her first marriage, and two others were accused of the crime. Sheena Bora was allegedly murdered by her mother, Indrani's former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar Rai in Mumbai in April 2012. The body of the 24-year-old was dumped in a forest in the neighbouring Raigad district. The chargesheet, filed three months after Sheena Bora's remains were found in a forest near Mumbai, names Indrani, Khanna and Rai as accused--who were all arrested in August this year. The agency has charged them with criminal conspiracy to kidnap, murder, cheating, destruction of evidence, forgery and use of forged documents besides violation of provisions of Information Technology Act.Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond will end her 10 year stint as the province's representative for children and youth today and says the provincial government often moved slowly and in some cases retaliated against her. "At times I felt there was a spirit of retaliation towards me," she said in an end-of-term interview. "At the same time I couldn't get distracted by the Victoria parlour games, I had to stay focused on kids which is what I have done. This is an essential position, the work has to be done in a non-political way. "Even though at times they have treated me as a member of the opposition and intentionally targeted me in that regard to destabilize my work." B.C. Representative for Children and Youth Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says the provincial government moved too slowly to put in place many recommendations. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press) Decreasing number of kids in care One of the Turpel-Lafond's proudest accomplishments has been lowering the number of children in care from 11,000, 10 years ago to 7,000 now. But the province's watchdog for children blames current Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux for not increasing wage rates for care workers as the primary reason for why that number didn't go even lower. Stephanie Cadieux, Minister of Children and Family Development, is accused of moving too slowly by Turpel-Lafond (CBC) "I would have liked her to have brought more spirit of change. I think she has been very slow on improvements," said Turpel-Lafond. "I am confident I could have got [children in care] to 4,000 if the government would have actually paid foster care rates to Aboriginal kinship placements. We could have gotten more Aboriginal children out of care." Finding a replacement Minister Cadieux's office turned down an interview request about Turpel-Lafond's tenure coming to an end. A parliamentary committee was struck in the spring to find a replacement for Turpel-Lafond but so far no one has been hired. This has created concerns that the job will remain empty for months, with dust already accumulating on the empty shelves and desk in the representative's office. "It's hard not having the transition. It's disappointing despite the committee being struck in April, we are here in October... and it doesn't appear I will be able to play any role in that transition," said Turpel-Lafond. "The hiatus causes a lot of stress and anxiety for a lot of people whose cases need urgent attention." By the numbers Since the Representative for Youth's office was created in 2006, it has handled more than 17,000 cases, delivered 92 reports and provided the government more than 200 recommendations. Paige, 19, died of a drug overdose after a troubled life on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. (B.C. Children's and Youth Representative) When asked about one report that stood out, Turpel-Lafond mentioned the Paige report. It uncovers the story of an aboriginal teen on the Downtown Eastside who for years suffered abuse and neglect, persistent inaction from front-line professionals and an indifferent social care system. Paige died of an overdose in 2013 when she was 19-years-old. Turpel-Lafond will now take some time off to spend time with her children, joking she is dropping from, "a daily caseload of about 200 a day to four kids of my own."Anthony Nicholls died in hospital days after a firework was posted through his letterbox These pictures show the devastation inside a gutted house where a father was killed after a commercial firework was posted through his letterbox in an incident police are treating as murder. Neighbours claim Anthony Nicholls desperately tried to smash windows so that he and his partner Marie, 50, could escape the flames which left the walls blackened and a TV melted. Police say the blaze started when a lit box of fireworks containing 200 tubes of explosives - normally used at outdoor public displays - was put through the door of his home in Birmingham. The 56-year-old was rescued by firefighters who raced to the property after receiving a 999 call at 11pm last Thursday. The former hardware store worker was rushed to hospital with 60 per cent burns and placed in an induced coma after the blaze ravaged his property. But West Midlands Police said Mr Nicholls never regained consciousness and detectives had now launched a murder inquiry. His partner Marie is still being treated for fractures to her legs after jumping from a first floor window. Mr Nicholls' have described him as a 'fun-loving, funny man' who 'worked hard all his life'. Neighbours reported hearing Mr Nicholls screaming for help and trying to break the windows in a desperate bid to escape. The former hardware store worker was rushed to hospital with 60 per cent burns and placed in an induced coma after the blaze ravaged his property This picture of a blackened staircase inside the property shows the devastation caused by the commercial firework A blue forensic tent could be seen outside the £150,000 semi-detached property on Saturday, which has been left badly damaged by the fire A blue forensic tent could be seen outside the £150,000 semi-detached property on Saturday, which has been left badly damaged by the fire. Neighbours living on the quiet residential street described seeing paramedics frantically working on Mr Nicholls. One elderly woman, who did not want to be named, said: 'It's really shocking because this is usually a nice quiet area. 'I've been told somebody put lit fireworks through their letterbox. They were both in bed asleep and Marie jumped from the window. 'People were saying they could hear fireworks going off in the night and that they sounded very close. 'Its despicable that somebody could do such a thing. He used to work at the hardware shop over the road but gave up because of his health.' The commercial firework was posted through the letterbox of Mr Nicholl's home in Birmingham Neighbours living on the quiet residential street said described seeing paramedics frantically working on Mr Nicholls Mr Nicholls' friend Janet Mahoney, 73, said: 'He really is a nice chap - anyone who spoke to him would say the same thing. I knew him from the shop he worked in. It really is shocking and I'm so so sad for Tony - I spoke to him only three days before the fire.' Detective Inspector Paul Joyce of West Midlands Police said: 'The impact would have been terrifying for the occupants and I would urge anyone who sold or is missing a firework of this size to get in touch. 'This would have been a large heavy firework that would have been difficult to carry some distance, so I would ask anyone who saw someone carrying a large box in the area last Thursday night to contact us. 'Any information no matter how insignificant if may seem to you could help our investigation. 'Sadly one of the victims of this fire has died and our thoughts are with his family and partner at their time of loss. 'His death means that we are now treating this as a murder enquiry and I would like to re-emphasise the need for anyone with information to call us. 'We are following up several active lines of enquiry and are focusing on CCTV from the local community. If you have any home CCTV that we have not yet seen please call us.' Officers believe the firework, which gutted the home's interior, would have taken two minutes to fully discharge and are asking for help in tracing where it came from. Mr Nicholls' partner, named as Marie, is believed to have broken both legs jumping from the bedroom window after they were awoken by the blaze on Thursday night Mr Joyce added: 'The impact would have been terrifying for the occupants and I would urge anyone who sold or is missing a firework of this size to get in touch. 'This would have been a large heavy firework that would have been difficult to carry some distance, so I would ask anyone who saw someone carrying a large box in the area last Thursday night to contact us. 'Any information no matter how insignificant if may seem to you could help our investigation.'This year's Youmacon was wonderfully fun and full of talented and inspired cosplayers. My husband and co-host of Addicted to Anime, Stephen, and I spent two amazing days at Youmacon and saw so many amazing cosplays. I can't put them all here because there are so many photos, although you can see them on our Facebook page. Because of the sheer size of Youmacon, we're sure there are also plenty of other amazing cosplays we never even got to see. I'm going to share with you some of my personal favorites that we were able to snag photos of. This Celestia Ludenberg cosplay from the anime Dangan Ronpa was beautifully put together, right down to the oversized hair. Detail to the dress was also spot on. These Kirito and Asuna cosplayers from Sword Art Online caught our attention with their attention to detail. Their weapons are perfect, right down to Kirito's dual wielding. This group ofcosplayers definitely caught our attention! The Navi cosplayer stayed in character the entire con, chasing people around the con and shouting "Hey! Listen!" and "Watch out!"I saw this cosplay while eating lunch and I just had to approach her. The pictures truly do not do this cosplay justice. I cannot for the life of me remember just what she was cosplaying, but I couldn't leave this cosplay out.This Maka Albarn cosplayer, from, was traveling with the previous cosplayer. It seems that good cosplayers travel in groups! It's obvious she put a lot of effort in to her prop and thought into her cosplay.This Kiki cosplay, from, is a simple yet wonderful piece.is a film by the very popular Japanese film director and artist, Hayou Miyazaki.is by far one of my favorite video games. I was ecstatic to see such a talentedcosplayer. Both her outfit and her props were splendidly made—she even had a functional hidden blade!We found this gorgeous pair when leaving the People Mover! The picture does not do their face paint and custom lenses justice, trust me. They were cosplaying as their own original characters.I enjoyed these cosplays of these characters from theseries, but what really caught our attention was the Flying Nimbus they had created that was even capable of moving. I saw them wheeling around the convention on their Flying Nimbus on more than one occasion!This Lucy Cosplayer frommade Stephen and I immediately become giddy! We're both huge fans of that anime, and she was the first cosplayer in the many, many conventions we have attended to actually create the vectors. She said that this was her very first cosplay that she has ever put together.This was only Part One of this photo series. Soon I'll be releasing Part Two, so keep an eye out for it. Until then, let me know what you think in the comment section below!powerknowledge Jan 18, 2012 @giannirenna: True (Méliès directed hundreds of films), but Flicker Alley did release two very nice multi-disc collections of his copious surviving work on DVD several years ago. I've come THIS CLOSE to spending the $80+ on those sets a dozen times, but have always pulled back in the hopes that a BD release would be forthcoming. Fingers crossed. Might happen soon... Side note: the restoration in the clip is GORGEOUS (having shown at least a half-dozen different restorations to introductory film classes over the years, I'm thrilled to see the film finally looking so exceptional). Still, I hope that the score here is only one of those provided: I detest anachronistic scoring for silent films (Kino's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" DVD has an especially jarring, Zorn-y one; Alloy Orchestra seems to be the only scoring group that "gets" how to balance modern instrumentation and source images) and Méliès had an intended "narration script" to be read with the film (see Kino's "The Movies Begin" and "Landmarks of Early Film, V1" discs) that absolutely should be present as an optional track.Nate Silver, the statistics whiz who founded FiveThirtyEight, tweeted this ominous warning this morning: Anyway, Trump will probably be the GOP nominee and possibly become President. No joke. If you care either way about this, you should vote. Silver explains why, in this piece he wrote earlier today: On Twitter this weekend, there was a lot of activity behind the hashtag #NeverTrump, with various conservative intellectuals and operatives pledging that they’d refuse to support Trump in November. Rubio’s Twitter account employed the hashtag also, although Rubio himself has been ambiguous about whether he’d back Trump. It’s reasonably safe to say that
is dead or dying, mostly at the hand of fracked natural gas. Not only is burning coal last century’s tech, the rampant pollution spewed by coal-fired plants kills 13,000 Americans each year down from 24,000 in 2004, when less regulation was enforced. Not everyone is affected in the same way by coal pollution, as evidenced by a recent case study shared by Edson Severnini, an economics and public policy researcher at Carnegie Mellon. Severnini looked at what happened to the health of people living in communities from the southern United States after two nuclear power plants were shut down in the wake of the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown. This was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, although its small radioactive releases had no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public. Nevertheless, pressed by the public which suddenly became very critical of nuclear power, the Tennessee Valley Authority closed down two nuclear power plants whose power output was replaced by new coal-fired plants which opened in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Severnini looked at things like how much energy was produced by each coal plant, pollution levels for the towns and cities in the vicinity of the plants, as well as medical data on newborn babies born in these areas. The findings were striking. On average, the weight of a newborn baby declined by 5.4 percent after the new coal-powered plants began operating. This decline in weight was consistent and appears to be unique to the areas impacted by new air pollution. In absolute numbers, each baby weighed on average one-fourth of a pound less. “In response to that shutdown, electricity generation shifted one to one to coal-fired power plants within TVA, increasing particle pollution in counties where they were located. Consequently, infant health may have deteriorated in the most affected places, indicating deleterious effects to public health,” the researcher wrote in his paper. Popular Mechanics reports that a 5.4 percent reduction in newborn body weight “can result in a lower intelligence quotient and lower income, as well as higher rates of illness, stunted growth, and [brain] developmental problems.” That’s not counting known health risks associated with coal pollution for both infants and adults alike. According to a report issued by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), pollutants in the air from burning coal damage virtually every major organ in the human body and contribute to four of the top leading causes of death in the USA. “These stark conclusions leave no room for doubt or delay,” says Kristen Welker-Hood, PSR’s director of environment and health programs. “The time has come for our nation to establish a health-driven energy policy that replaces our dependence on coal with clean, safe alternatives. Business as usual is extracting a deadly price on our health. Coal is no longer an option.” Severnini’s report once again highlights the devastating effects of burning coal for energy, though the findings are correlated and not causal (it would be nearly impossible to establish a causal link in this case). As such, the case for ‘bringing coal back’ or ‘making it great again’ is not warranted. It’s bad for our health and the environment. It’s bad for business, too. According to a 2011 study published by the late Paul Epstein at Harvard, coal imposes external costs of $350 billion to $500 billion — half a trillion dollars — every year in the U.S. Instead of coal, we should be more focused on getting our energy from renewable sources — and there is some progress. Last year, 95% more solar capacity was added in the United States. Solar now employs more people in electrical power generation than coal, gas, and oil combined. There are twice as many jobs in solar than in coal in the United States. At the same time, the intermitted nature of wind and solar means we’ll have to wait maybe one or two decades before the energy storage tech catches up with our needs. To be 100% independent from fossil fuels, nuclear power should also play its part as a transitional energy source. In a world where coal kills 4,000 times more people per unit of energy than nuclear, I think most people are pointing fingers at the wrong targets. Enjoyed this article? Join 40,000+ subscribers to the ZME Science newsletter. Subscribe now!Odisha Sun Times Bureau Jajpur, Jun 4: Believe it or not, love for a girl drove five friends to enter into a suicide pact in Odisha. As per reports, five youths, including three teens, were in love with a girl. Little did they know that they were in love with the same girl. When they realised it, they decided to sort out the issue amicably without much fuss as they were fast friends. They came out with a solution to enter into a suicide pact. The obsessed lovers decided to consume poison to sacrifice for each other. In case anyone survives, he would stand a chance to marry the girl, sources said. The love-struck youths prepared a toxic paste of marijuana, vermilion and peruviana (Kaniyara in Odia) seeds and gulped down the deadly substance. When they started vomiting, they were rushed to Bari Community Health Centre (CHC) in a critical condition. When their condition further deteriorated, the five youths—Ashok Mallick (20), Kuna Mallick (20), Rashmi Mallick (19), Alok Mallick (18) and Goutam Mallick (16)—from Jorakula village in Kalamatia panchayat under Bari block in Jajpur district were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) yesterday evening in a critical condition. Meanwhile, the incident has become the talk of the town as it took place a day before Savitri Brata where married women observe fast for the long life of their spouse.Newton Kansan The plug has been pulled,�at least temporarily,�on a senate bill that would have prohibited city and county governments from building broadband networks. Senate Bill 304 was postponed indefinitely last week, and the consensus among local officials indicates�they are not sad to�to see it go. "I don't understand a legislature that professes to say it's anti-government, that Washington runs edicts down them and now they try to do the same thing to us," Newton Mayor Jim Nickel said. "They usurp the home rule philosophy." That was essentially the same thing Nickel said during Tuesday's Newton City Commission meeting. In the commissioners' packets, there was a letter from Newton City Attorney Bob Myers to the Senate Commerce Committee that was looking at the bill. "My greatest concerns, apart from the further erosion of the powers of local government, is that this legislation could have a significant detrimental impact on the ability of local governments to engage in economic development to attract new jobs and industry into the state of Kansas," the letter stated. There was an instance, the letter said, where an existing Newton business needed to relocate to expand. The business had a choice between an industrial area in Newton or sites in other cities and states. Newton did not have adequate broadband access, "the location being outside of Cox Communication's declared service boundaries," the letter said. Cox finally agreed to extend service into this area. "Getting an existing carrier to agree to provide service would always be a first option," Myers' letter said. "But, had Cox not agreed, under this bill we would have been left with no other options than to let this existing company leave town." Nickel said the bill "would allow them to get by with a minimal amount of service without allowing cities or counties to try to provide service. We'd have our hands tied." The city commission watched a video from the city of Chanute, which runs an ultra-high-speed broadband network. "Telecoms wouldn't bring fiber broadband service to our town, so we chose to build it ourselves," text on the screen read. "Now draconian legislation has been brought forth to stop us." John Torline, city administrator for North Newton, said the city was in talks with a Lawrence company a few years ago about starting a broadband newtwork there. Negotiations fell through, but it is still a possibility, Torline said. "I think personally the airwaves are in the public domain, not in the private domain," Torline said. Torline did not buy the argument by the bill's backers that private industry should not have to compete with government to provide services. "Any service a city provides is potentially in competition with private enterprise," he said. "Based on that premise, it could be required that cities no longer provide service for sewer, water, natural gas or trash collection." Kurt Friesen, who runs Network Tool and Die, an internet service provider in North Newton, said, "I don't like municipalities competing with private enterprise, but in an area that is underserved and there's not a private business willing or able to provide the service there may be a case for municipalities to look at it." Kansas 74th District Rep. Don Schroeder-R said, "To my knowledge, everyone from the bill sponsor to the Senate president simply want the bill set aside as there would be nothing good to come of working it at this point. Sometimes bills become tainted and that kills them. That is apparently what has occurred with SB 304." Larry Gates, Chanute utilities director, said he thinks the bill will be back. "It continues to do those things across the nation," he said.An 18-year-old Muslim bride named Rajabbi Khurshed killed herself after her husband refused to accept the results of multiple virginity tests and demanded a second wife. The husband, 24-year-old Zafar Pirov, is now in custody in Tajikistan for his role in his young wife’s suicide. He could face up to eight years in prison. Khurshed was married for just 40 days when she decided to take her life. From the beginning, the young girl was a victim of patriarchal mandates. Forced into an arranged marriage with a man she had never met before, Khurshed was victimized by nearly everyone and everything in her life, including her parents, her husband, and the state. Radio Free Europe reports: Her parents arranged the 18-year-old woman's marriage, in her native village of Chorbogh in May, to a man she'd never met. The Tajik state obliged Khurshed to undergo a prenuptial medical exam, which in her case included a virginity test that while technically optional is routinely demanded of young women by either or both families. And her new husband, 24-year-old Zafar Pirov, cast her out weeks later after humiliating her with further virginity tests and demanding that he be allowed to take a second wife. Ultimately, Khurshed felt the need to escape the hell on the earth that she had been placed in. Drinking a fatal dose of vinegar, the teenage bride killed herself. She told her family on her deathbed that following the forced virginity tests, she "couldn't take it any longer." Tajikistan’s obsession with virginity has ruined many lives after a 2015 court ruling demanded that grooms and brides undergo comprehensive physical exams before getting married. While men only need to undergo basic exams for sexually transmitted diseases, women are held to a much higher standard. So-called “purity” tests, invasive exams designed to humiliate and dehumanize women, primarily young brides, are administered to women by overzealous state-sanctioned doctors. To date, Tajikistan’s judicial docket has been flooded with hundreds of court cases involving virginity disputes. Most of the cases are brought forward by Muslim husbands who refuse to believe their wives. Virginity’s place on the altar of veneration has facilitated the exploitation of young women across the country. Men have weaponized Islamist-inspired ideas of sexual purity to subjugate women in horrific ways. By all measures, Khurshed was a virgin. She passed all her tests and received the proper certification to prove her "purity". And still, her abusive husband, Pirov, rejected the veracity of the tests in a bid to procure a second wife and fulfill his desire for totalitarian control over the women that have been placed into his life against their will. Welcome to the real war on women.Share The founder and leader of Faith Word Church International at Nii Boi Town in Accra has been arrested by the police for allegedly rubbing olive oil in the vagina and on the clitoris of his church member. Pastor Edmond Kakrae Agyei, according to the Tesano police, claimed he was casting out evil spirits that had possessed the victim by applying the oil in her private part. After the act, the pastor allegedly attempted to rape the victim but she reportedly shouted for help and managed to escape. Pastor Edmond Kakrae Agyei has provisionally been charged for indecent assault and breach of trust. The Tesano Divisional Crime Officer, DSP Aba-Afari, who confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, said the victim is an 18-year-old Senior High School graduate who fellowships with her parents in that church. The pastor confided in the victim’s mother (named withheld) after church service on Sunday, August 28, 2016 that God had revealed to him through a vision that her daughter was possessed with an evil spirit. He requested the woman to allow the girl come for deliverance service on Tuesday, August 30. On that Tuesday, the mother of the victim asked her daughter to go for service but when the victim got to the church, the pastor requested that they go to his house for the said deliverance to be carried out and the victim obliged. At his residence, the pastor allegedly asked the victim if she had ever accepted any love proposal from a man but she answered in the negative. “Pastor Edmond Kakrae Agyei again asked the victim if she had experienced menstrual pains before and the victim answered in the affirmative,” DSP Aba-Afari narrated. The police officer said the founder of the church then told the victim that the menstrual pains were the work of the devil and that he could deliver her by smearing anointing oil on her navel. The pastor then ordered the victim to lie down and remove her dress while he rubbed the oil on her naval and parts of her abdomen. The suspect further asked the victim to remove her pants and he rubbed the oil on the victim’s vagina and clitoris. When the victim asked him to explain his actions, the pastor allegedly said he was being directed by the Holy Spirit to do so. The 18-year-old victim resisted and attempted to stand up. Pastor Agyei at that point grabbed the victim and forcefully kissed her and it was at that point that the victim raised an alarm for help. The victim overpowered the pastor, came out of his room and reported the matter to her parents in the house. A compliant was later lodged with the police which led to his arrest. ---A scientist from the University of Exeter has helped to identify a male-killing microbe in a tropical butterfly called the African Queen, which leads to the death of all sons when a mother is infected. In most of Africa this microbe, called Spiroplasma, infects African Queen butterflies but has no effect on their offspring. However, in a narrow zone around Nairobi in Kenya, where two sub species of butterfly live and breed, the scientists noted that the microbe infection caused all their sons to die. In fact the male eggs never hatch and are often consumed by their hungry sisters. The authors of the paper, published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, believe that the phenomenon, which takes place where two sub species meet, is the first step in the transition of the two sub-species into two true, non-interbreeding, species. Professor Richard ffrench-Constant, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter's Cornwall campus, and a team of British, Kenyan and German scientists, have found that the chromosomes of the females in which male-killing occurs have changed dramatically with a non sex chromosome fusing with a sex chromosome to form a new chromosome called 'neo W'. Professor ffrench-Constant, Professor of Molecular Natural History, said: "We tend to think of new species coming about due to environmental changes but here its clearly the microbe that is driving these two sub species apart. "Whilst we don't understand the precise molecular mechanisms behind this chromosomal merger, this means that no males are made in the hybrid zone, and that mating success in the zone is effectively zero, thereby creating a barrier with a new species on either side." This paper represents the culmination of 13 years of field work in which the sex and colour pattern of butterflies around Nairobi was painstakingly recorded by a team led by Dr Ian Gordon based in Nairobi. The breakthrough came when female butterflies from the all- female zone were sent to Germany to have their chromosomes examined and where Professor Walther Traut from the University of Lübbek discovered that two of the chromosomes had fused. Dr David Smith, formerly from the Natural History Museum at Eton College, first author on the paper, said: "The neo-W effectively acts as a genetic sink for all males, and butterfly populations around Nairobi are nearly all female. Our results demonstrate how a complex interplay between sex, colour pattern, male-killing and chromosomes has set up a genetic'sink' that keeps two subspecies apart." Professor Walther Traut, from the University of Lübbek, said: "This is like a smoking gun for the way in which species become distinct. It is rare that we can find the molecular basis for how species develop." Professor ffrench-Constant added: "It appears that the butterfly's susceptibility to the male-killing microbe is driving the separation of the two butterflies into two true species. These tiny microbes are therefore having a major effect on sex and death in this fascinating butterfly."One of the framers of the 1987 Constitution is favoring the amendment to the Local Government Code as a means to the regional development promised by federalism. Attorney Christian Monsod on Friday said the Constitution allows provinces to convene voluntarily and autonomously pull their resources and push for change in the Local Government Code on the equitable division of the internal revenue allotment (IRA). "All you need to do is amend the Local Government Code, and say that the IRA, your internal revenue allotment, instead of 40:60, in favor of central, will be reversed. It will be 60:40, in favor of the LGUs," he said on [email protected] He added, the local government code also allows the provinces to borrow funds from the national government, much like the promise of federal states being able to raise their own funds. The Bangsamoro Basic Law, he cited, would allow the state to keep 70% of its resources, and Monsod said the Constitution allows for the provinces to petition to the Congress to create a law that would afford them the same autonomy. "I think we can change the IRA very quickly by just changing the Local Government Code and you don’t have to wait two years and to put a federal system in place that will have a long transition period anyway," he said. Monsod said the promised social change after the People Power Revolution ousting Ferdinand Marcos is embedded in the Constitution. "The heart of 1987 Constitution is social justice and human development. So if you're talking about a revolution, and I think that is what people wanted in voting for President Duterte, the revolution the poor want is social justice not federalism," he said. DANGERS OF FEDERALISM While on the campaign trail, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has said "nothing will appease the Muslims, the Moro people if we do not give them the BBL (Bangsamoro Basic Law)." But recently, Duterte's anointed House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has said they are putting the passage of BBL at the back burner and will prioritize the shift to federalism instead. For Monsod, the incoming administration's first order of business should be to "clarify what exactly it wants to do and what’s the sequence and priorities are." He also recommended reverting to Duterte's earlier statement of trying out federalism in Bangsamoro and seeing if it will be successful before applying the change. "Let’s try it in Bangsamoro—where they have already said they are not going, they’re no longer aspiring for cessation; they want to remain within the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines—and make that the template for the rest of the country," he said. He emphasized this because he said, it will be difficult to revert back to a unitary system of government once the shift to federalism is completed. Monsod also warned that the abrupt shift without the complete quelling of corruption and political dynasty will not work as effectively as proponents hope. "When they talk about devolving power to the people with federalism, they assume that when you devolve power from central to local government, that local government will then devolve it to the people. My bet is that the clans, political clans and dynasties will hijack those powers and keep them to themselves," he said. He is also wary of the unequal economic development because the starting local economic state is not equal among the regions. He fears the richer regions will alienate the poorer regions and "be more selfish about their natural resources." "They will charge the adjoining regions for using their water resources, for example. The distribution of rights and powers is going to be quite difficult," he said. Monsod also pointed out that not all federal governments have successful economies like the United States and not all unitary governments have failed economies. "There is no formula that says that this will be successful if we do this and then how do we reverse if we find out that we were wrong," he said.Shipyard Brewing Company Smashed Pumpkin Ale As much I as I hate to believe it, summer is done and cold weather is ahead. The two benefits of this are fall seasonals and football. Eventually we will also have winter seasonals and football too. Trying to stay positive here! The first fall seasonal beer I have decided to review is Shipyard Brewing Company’s Smashed Pumpkin Ale. This beer is part of Shipyard’s Pugsley’s Signature Series and any time you have a special series it often means high ABV of imperial stature. This pumpkin ale fits the bill weighing in at 9 % ABV. It took me a while to warm up to the concept of pumpkin beers and I am happy to say I am fully onboard after about 3 or 4 seasons of practice. Brewed in Portland, Maine, this beer contains Light Wheat and Munich malts paired with the spicy/earthy Willamette and Hallertau hops. You may be wondering why wheat malts are used in ale such as this, well according Beer Advocate they are often used in small quantities to help head retention. Moving on, time to try this Imperial Pumpkin. I purchased this beer in a 22oz bottle, retailing at $13 in North Carolina. My tasting was done in a Belgian beer glass to ensure I could take in all the aromas this beer has to offer. The color is a cloudy copper with a white head (which actually had little retention after all my educating above). The aromas of this beer are the obvious pumpkin and nutmeg as you will find in most pumpkin ales, but really not as overwhelming as other I have consumed. Taste once again incorporates the expected pumpkin and nutmeg, but the added bonus is actually being able to taste the spicy hops which tend to be buried in most pumpkin ales. A little too much of the alcohol taste is coming through for my liking. Mouth feel is smooth, light to medium with minimal carbonation. Unfortunately the alcohol in beating out those hops in the lingering after taste. Overall, I like that this ale does not smell or taste overwhelmingly like a pumpkin pie with a pound of nutmeg. However, I was a little disappointed in the balance and inability to tame the alcohol taste at the end. I tend lower my rating based on the after taste because when I sit around drinking a beer, I can’t be swishing it around in my mouth the whole time. Therefore, I will give the Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Ale 3.5 mugs out of 5 on the Draft Notes scale. This was my first Shipyard beer and I look forward to trying more of their offerings. To read more about the brewery, check out their website here: http://www.shipyard.com/. I plan on reviewing another pumpkin ale in the “Imperial” category as I would like to compare the finish on others to see if my expectations are too high. Look out for the Southern Tier Pumking review in the next couple of weeks. AdvertisementsApple today released its iOS 5.1 update, which brought a number of new features to the table, including the ability to set up custom network configurations using Apple Configurator, the device management tool Apple offers through the Mac App Store for management of multiple iOS devices across an organization or household. Apple doesn’t go into detail about what exactly you can do with the new network configuration options, saying simply that it allows users to install configuration profiles “to configure Wi-Fi and Ethernet corporate networks,” but it’s very possible that this could also open the door for users to employ virtual private network settings on an Apple TV, meaning that they could potentially get access to U.S. region-locked streaming services like Hulu Plus beyond American shores. Of course, that’s bad, don’t do that. But if you were so inclined, you could give it a try and let us know what you think. I’m hearing that getting Configurator to properly prepare Apple TV units for device management isn’t working just yet, but this could be because an update from Apple for that piece of software is still required and will be fixed soon. After all, there is already a brand new Knowledge Base article on Apple’s website about the procedure for updating Apple TV network settings from within Configurator.. If you’re looking for other additions, the Apple TV update boasts quite a few, including support for the new Shared Photo Streams introduced in iOS 6 and AirPlay for audio from Apple TV to other sources, whereas before now it’s always been only the other way around. Full details about what’s included below, as per Apple’s official update notes:Alright Apple, you win. You don't really want multitasking on the iPhone, and iOS4's halfhearted attempt proves it. iOS4's multitasking is a mess of a feature. Yes, it lets you listen to Pandora while using other apps. Yes, it lets you freeze games that support multitasking, such as Plants vs. Zombies, while you take care of more important tasks. But in exchange for those perks, some of the iPhone's elegance is lost, and the advantages you'd gain from true multitasking aren't there either. (See related: iOS 4.0 Multitasking Has Challenge Ahead ) Let's be clear about what iOS4's multitasking is: Rather than run multiple apps at the same time, iOS4 freezes the ones that aren't in use, with the exception of certain functions. Music, for instance, can play in the background, VoIP apps can answer calls and GPS apps can give directions. But most apps won't do anything except go to sleep, which means one of the classic tricks of multitasking, loading one task while you perform another, is not available unless the developer adds that function under a special task completion API. Some apps, such as Flickr, may take advantage of this feature for large file transfers, but others won't. Waiting for a YouTube video to buffer over a 3G connection? It won't go anywhere unless you're staring at the loading screen. Then there's the issue I've seen acknowledged most often: Developers must add multitasking functionality themselves, and the majority have yet to do so. This will fix itself with time, but the lack of support dampens the initial impact of iOS4's marquee feature. What bothers me the most, however, is the sloppy implementation of iPhone multitasking. Every time you open an app, it gets added to the tray, and the only way to close it is by pressing and holding any app icon, then clicking the top-left corner of the apps you want to close. If you don't micromanage, the tray quickly becomes overrun with clutter, making it hard to find the apps you really need. When Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced iOS4, he said this: "When it comes to multitasking, if a user has to use a task manager, they (the developer) blew it." I suppose Jobs was referring to Windows Task Manager, which you use when all hell breaks loose on a PC. But taken literally, iOS4 has a task manager too, and all hell breaks lose if you don't use it. This time, Apple blew it.Tasmania touted as humane, cost-effective, productive asylum seeker solution Updated Tasmania would become Australia's asylum seeker processing centre, with newcomers living and working freely in the community, under a plan developed by local leaders and human rights activists. The Tasmania Opportunity Leaders Summit in Launceston heard that the case for making the state an asylum seeker processing centre went beyond the natural security it afforded as an island. Speakers, including human rights lawyer Julian Burnside QC, said Tasmania offered an alternative to the Federal Government's Sovereign Borders policy, one that was more humane, better value for the Australian taxpayer and of benefit to the local economy. It would deliver enormous economic benefit to the state in infrastructure spending, education and training and in business opportunities, Dr David Strong The proposal included allowing people to live and work in the community, receive Centrelink benefits and live where the Government determined their money would have the greatest benefit for the local economy. Mr Burnside, who won this year's Sydney Peace Prize, told the summit the Federal Government spent $5 billion a year on asylum seekers, and that Tasmania was a much more cost-effective option. "If you can reduce that cost dramatically to one-tenth of what it is at the moment, and in the process avoid doing harm to frightened people and do some good for the Tasmanian economy, that seems a good thing all round," he said. Asylum seekers could boost Tasmanian economy Mr Burnside told the summit that asylum seekers should be seen as a resource, not a threat. "They would be bringing in to the community not only their courage and their initiative but also the income that they can earn," he said. He said there were some conditions that should be attached to any planned move to make Tasmania a refugee processing centre. Asylum seekers would still be detained on arrival for one month only, for health and security screening. Following that, Mr Burnside said further conditions needed to met under the plan. These included: The asylum seekers had to stay in touch with the Immigration Department; They should be engaged in education, training and work; and They must live in a region designated by the Government - for example, Tasmania. A summit co-ordinator, Launceston paediatrician Dr David Strong, said the plan had the potential to be "the biggest, most far-reaching project in Tasmanian history". "It would deliver enormous economic benefit to the state in infrastructure spending, education and training and in business opportunities," he said. "It would further enhance Tasmania in the eyes of the nation and the world as a welcoming place that warmly embraces those seeking a better life.'' Topics: refugees, government-and-politics, launceston-7250 First postedThe term "queen bee" is typically used to refer to an adult, mated female (gyne) that lives in a honey bee colony or hive; she is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive.[1] Queens developed from larvae selected by worker bees and specially fed in order to become sexually mature. There is normally only one adult, mated queen in a hive, in which case the bees will usually follow and fiercely protect her. The term "queen bee" can be more generally applied to any dominant reproductive female in a colony of a eusocial bee species other than honey bees. However, as in the Brazilian stingless bee Schwarziana quadripunctata, a single nest may have multiple queens or even dwarf queens, ready to replace a dominant queen in a case of sudden death.[2] Development [ edit ] Older queen larvae in queen cell lying on top of wax comb A queen cup Queen larvae floating on royal jelly in opened queen cups laid on top of wax comb. When conditions are favorable for swarming, the queen will start laying eggs in queen cups. A virgin queen will develop from a fertilized egg. The young queen larva develops differently because it is more heavily fed royal jelly, a protein-rich secretion from glands on the heads of young workers. If not for being heavily fed royal jelly, the queen larva would develop into a regular worker bee. All bee larvae are fed some royal jelly for the first few days after hatching but only queen larvae are fed the jelly exclusively. As a result of the difference in diet, the queen will develop into a sexually mature female, unlike the worker bees. Queens are raised in specially constructed queen cells. The fully constructed queen cells have a peanut-like shape and texture. Queen cells start out as queen cups. Queen cups are larger than the cells of normal brood comb and are oriented vertically instead of horizontally. Worker bees will only further build up the queen cup once the queen has laid an egg in a queen cup. In general, the old queen starts laying eggs into queen cups when conditions are right for swarming or supersedure. Swarm cells hang from the bottom of a frame while supersedure queens or emergency queens are generally raised in cells built out from the face of a frame. As the young queen larva pupates with her head down, the workers cap the queen cell with beeswax. When ready to emerge, the virgin queen will chew a circular cut around the cap of her cell. Often the cap swings open when most of the cut is made, so as to appear like a hinged lid. During swarming season, the old queen is likely to leave with the prime swarm before the first virgin queen emerges from a queen cell. Virgin queen bee [ edit ] Metamorphosis of the queen bee Egg hatches on Day 3 Larva (several moltings) Day 3 to Day 8 1⁄ 2 Queen cell capped ~ Day 7 1⁄ 2 Pupa ~ Day 8 until emergence Emergence ~Day 15 1⁄ 2 – Day 17 Nuptial Flight(s) ~Day 20 – 24 Egg Laying ~Day 23 and up A virgin queen is a queen bee that has not mated with a drone. Virgins are intermediate in size between workers and mated, laying queens, and are much more active than the latter. They are hard to spot while inspecting a frame, because they run across the comb, climbing over worker bees if necessary, and may even take flight if sufficiently disturbed. Virgin queens can often be found clinging to the walls or corners of a hive during inspections. Virgin queens appear to have little queen pheromone and often do not appear to be recognized as queens by the workers. A virgin queen in her first few hours after emergence can be placed into the entrance of any queenless hive or nuc and acceptance is usually very good, whereas a mated queen is usually recognized as a stranger and runs a high risk of being killed by the older workers. When a young virgin queen emerges from a queen cell, she will generally seek out virgin queen rivals and attempt to kill them. Virgin queens will quickly find and kill (by stinging) any other emerged virgin queen (or be dispatched themselves), as well as any unemerged queens. Queen cells that are opened on the side indicate that a virgin queen was likely killed by a rival virgin queen. When a colony remains in swarm mode after the prime swarm has left, the workers may prevent virgins from fighting and one or several virgins may go with after-swarms. Other virgins may stay behind with the remnant of the hive. Some virgins have been seen to escape the hive to avoid being killed and seek out another without a queen, such as in the eusocial bee Melipona scutellaris.[3] As many as 21 virgin queens have been counted in a single large swarm.[citation needed] When the after-swarm settles into a new home, the virgins will then resume normal behavior and fight to the death until only one remains. If the prime swarm has a virgin queen and the old queen, the old queen will usually be allowed to live. The old queen continues laying. Within a couple of weeks she will die a natural death and the former virgin, now mated, will take her place. Unlike the worker bees, the queen's stinger is not barbed and she is able to sting repeatedly without dying. Capped queen cell opened to show queen pupa (with darkening eyes). Piping [ edit ] Piping describes a noise made by virgin and mated queen bees during certain times of the virgin queens' development. Fully developed virgin queens communicate through vibratory signals: "quacking" from virgin queens in their queen cells and "tooting" from queens free in the colony, collectively known as piping. A virgin queen may frequently pipe before she emerges from her cell and for a brief time afterwards. Mated queens may briefly pipe after being released in a hive. Piping is most common when there is more than one queen in a hive. It is postulated that the piping is a form of battle cry announcing to competing queens and the workers their willingness to fight. It may also be a signal to the worker bees which queen is the most worthwhile to support. The piping sound is a G♯ (aka A♭). The adult queen pipes for a two-second pulse followed by a series of quarter-second toots.[4] The queens of Africanized bees produce more vigorous and frequent bouts of piping[citation needed] Reproduction cycle [ edit ] The surviving virgin queen will fly out on a sunny, warm day to a "drone congregation area" where she will mate with 12–15 drones. If the weather holds, she may return to the drone congregation area for several days until she is fully mated. Mating occurs in flight. The young queen stores up to 6 million sperm from multiple drones in her spermatheca. She will selectively release sperm for the remaining 2–7 years of her life.[5] The young virgin queen has a limited time to mate. If she is unable to fly for several days because of bad weather and remains unmated, she will become a "drone layer." Drone-laying queens usually signal the death of the colony, because the workers have no fertilized (female) larvae from which to raise worker bees or a replacement queen (Pearcy et al. 2004). Though timing can vary, matings usually take place between the sixth and tenth day after the queen emerges. Egg laying usually begins 2 to 3 days after the queen returns to the beehive, but can start earlier than this.[6] A special, rare case of reproduction is thelytoky: the reproduction of female workers or queens by laying worker bees. Thelytoky occurs in the Cape bee, Apis mellifera capensis
hurt. But you can't go a whole day without seeing fights or car crashes, or people getting jumped, shot, anything. If you can get through one day without seeing none of that, that's the best day." His chances of living to adulthood, he says, are 50-50. Asked if this is hard to hear, his mother Khad'ja Touray, says, "Not hard at all because I only have a 50-50 chance. So it's a reality check." Like many boys whose fathers are absent from their homes, Malik feels a responsibility to watch out for his family. When a boyfriend threatened his mother, Malik looked for something sharp to pass her to defend herself. "I was little, but I did what I could do," he says. "She'd tell me to hide but I wouldn't. It's not my nature to sit and hide." Which brings Malik back to the matter of his bike, being 14 and his neighborhood. He likes the way the trees are planted in Avondale, how they line the streets. He likes all the colors of the houses. "It's beautiful, but every day you have to survive. It's beautiful but these killings have to stop." Sometimes, if he's unsure if it's safe to go somewhere, he'll cross the street to talk to his mother and make it seem he can't go rather than he's scared to go. "But I am scared. Sometimes, not always." He has rules for moving around his community. Never go anywhere a crowd is gathered. Don't go into certain apartment buildings, like the Poinciana on Reading Road, where Tyann Adkins was shot and killed in March – except that he goes there anyway to check up on his cousins who live there. And assume that in any gathering of teenagers, at least a third are carrying a gun. "When you're in Avondale, they walk around like they're grown but they're not. Grown men have guns but they keep it close. But these guys walk around and flash it out. They want you to see their guns, like, 'If you're messing with me, I'm going to shoot you.'" It's one of the reasons his mother constantly reminds him to be careful and to keep his circle of intimates small. Just like violent things happened to these other kids, she tells him, they can happen to you. You are not exempt. Malik hears her. He says he starts each day not with prayer, but with hope. Prayer sometimes doesn't work, he says, but hope gets you through the day. Hope and your own best instincts. "If I'm going to the store, sometimes I have to take another way to get there. If I go outside, I have to make my way to a point without getting shot or getting into a fight." He pauses. "And I usually make it there. I mean, I'm here now." WATCH: Some hope to make it to 21, others want to be doctors CLOSE The hopes and dreams of 14 year olds: Some hope to make it to 21, others want to be doctors. The Enquirer/Cara Owsley Only later did Malek realize how easily he could have lost his life. Chapter 2: Malek Green Malek Green is one of three teens who robbed DeSales Market in March. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) It was a crime people couldn't stop talking about -- three teenagers in Halloween masks barging into DeSales Market in East Walnut Hills in the middle of the day, putting a pellet gun to the owner's head, reducing a customer to begging for his life, stealing their wallets and fleeing to a suburban mall to buy clothes with their credit cards. It was a ruthless act that belied the boys's age. When their identities hit the street, the name of the youngest - a 14-year-old from Evanston - was passed along as a question. Malek Green? Malek Green, the freshman forward who scored 28 points to lift Taft over West High? Malek Green, who gets As and Bs and wants to be a math teacher? Malek Green, known for breaking up small fights and walking away from big ones? Malek, who didn't have a criminal record and whom nobody thought ever would? "I thought it wasn't a really big deal at first. I didn't have to do anything. I was just there. They said, just come in there." Two days after his release from juvenile detention, Malek sits at his dinner table, trying to explain his actions. His head is mostly down. His voice is quiet. A monitor is attached to his ankle. His mother, who has made sure Malek has done everything the court asked and apologized to his victims, sits at his side. One of his two worst moments, he says, was disappointing her. The second was seeing what they put their victims through. Of the customer, Malek says, "He was scared and stuff. He said he had kids right there near. And I know a lot of things was going through his mind, like is he going to lose his life." Only later did Malek realize how easily he could have lost his own. Malek says one reason teenagers commit crimes is they fear being viewed as a punk, "getting looked at like a lesser person, or like they're afraid of things." His mother gives him a long, serious look. "I need to know the people who I be around," he says slowly, soberly. "If I'm around somebody who's talking about negatives, or about doing something wrong, I need to find an excuse to to leave -- or just walk away." Having a baby and keeping up with ninth grade is harder than Terri thought. Chapter 3: Terri Simpson Terri Simpson with her son Terrion, 1. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) Terri Simpson remembers the moment she first told someone she was pregnant. She was 13, in a summer school program, and she told a friend at the top of a slide. "She said, 'Quit lying!' and pushed me down the slide." Terri wouldn't mention her pregnancy again until she was too far along for an abortion. Now her son Terrion is a toddler who sleeps in her room. "He doesn't usually stay up late, but I do be tired," says the ninth-grader from Avondale, who gets up at 5:10 a.m. to catch a bus to Withrow University High School, leaving her son with her father. Four days a week, she stays after school until 5 p.m. for tutoring. "Then I go home, play with him for a minute, give him a bath, feed him, and then I've still got homework." She says it matter-of-factly, and with a smile. On weekends, she relies on help from her vast group of siblings – "I'm like the 14th kid." Her teachers are supportive and, overall, her friends have stood by her. But she admits having a baby and keeping up with ninth grade is harder than she thought. "If I'm taking a test, and I think I can't do it, I think of my son and I think I can't give up. He motivates me." She smiles again. "But I don't play a lot." "Basketball is my getaway key." Chapter 4: Tony Hill At age 10, Tony Hill and his six siblings were removed from the custody of his mother. He now lives with his grandmother. He hasn't seen his siblings since. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) Tony Hill knows things a 14-year-old shouldn't know. Like how it feels at age 10 to be sent outside because his mother had a boyfriend there. And to stay outside all night. Like what it's like to go to the refrigerator and find nothing – really nothing -- there to eat. Like breaking that news to his six younger sisters and brothers. Like breaking into cars and buildings to get money to feed them. "When you finally hit that rock bottom, it's like, wow, I just don't care anymore," says the Taft eighth-grader who moves among Avondale, Over-the-Rhine and other neighborhoods. "And your hands get sweaty, and you just do it. When I was breaking into cars, I didn't care whose stuff it was. It just needed to be mine, just so I could feed my family. The only thing that would have made me stop was money." He's spent time at 2020, the Hamilton County youth detention center. He's been suspended from school for an altercation with a former girlfriend. But he says jail time isn't the answer for any kid. "When you take somebody to jail, it's not stopping them. It's just making their minds go different – thinking how could I have tricked the cops, how could I have found a different way to run. It's like putting a cover on a fire – it's not going to put it out." What has put the fire out for Tony is an AAU basketball team called the Cincy Buckeyes and his coach, Jesse Cheatham, "who is right at my shoulder telling me what's right." Basketball, he says, is "my getaway key. When I play basketball, you can't do nothing but get better. As long as I have Coach Jesse, the chances of my being on TV doing something wrong are zero to none." WATCH: 'I was with both of them before they passed' "My friend just died from watching a fight." Chapter 5: Alexis Lindsay CLOSE Alexis Lindsay lost two close friends within eight days of each other after they were shot and killed in March 2014. The Enquirer/Cara Owsley Alexis Lindsay's best day of eighth grade was the first day of school, when her friends were excited to see each other and she got to meet new people. Her worst was the day she came to school knowing her best friend Jashawn Martin wouldn't be there. Jashawn would walk Alexis home from school, meet up with her at Owl's Nest Park in East Walnut Hills to talk about people or a new song they both liked, and keep an annual Lazer Kraze date on her birthday. Most days they'd stop for a hug on the way to their third bell classes at Withrow University High School. On March 21, Jashawn was shot to death at the corner of Essex Place and Taft Road in Walnut Hills. Police say he was on his way to see a friend but stopped to watch a fight. Alexis says she thought about Jashawn's decision recently, when she went back to Owl's Nest Park. "I was sitting in a corner and these girls were arguing and then these boys jumped in. I was like, 'My friend just died from watching a fight. I'm going home." At her school, she says, sometimes people stand on cafeteria tables to get a better view of a fight. Alexis has always been the steady, quiet friend who people talk to about their problems – so much so that sometimes she's smiled but not really listened. She's listening now. "I want to help people," she says, wiping tears from her cheeks. "I want to be there for them to talk to. I want to listen – cause it's hard out here these days." "If I could just find somewhere out there that's peaceful." Chapter 6: Armanie White Armanie White said he sometimes hears gunshots in the middle of the night and hopes that one day he can find somewhere peaceful to live. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) It was the best moment of Armanie White's junior high football career. Maybe, he says, one of the best of his life. The sixth game of the season for the Withrow Tigers. The coach calls for Number 30. Long, lanky Armanie goes in and catches a Hail Mary pass – with one hand. "Everybody was hurraying me, and hitting my shoulder pads and saying good catch." Armanie's practiced-passive gaze is gone and he breaks into a smile. At 14, being known is an important thing in Avondale, and Armanie White is a kid everybody knows. As soon as he checks in at home after school, "I leave back out," he says. He tries to stay out of the way of bad things, he says, but sometimes they find him. He has a July 5th court date for the theft of a bicycle. He's been to juvenile detention. He's had a warrant out for his arrest. His parents warn him. A lot. They tell him bullets don't have names on them, that they can hit anybody. They tell him to be aware of what's happening around him. They tell him to not to hang out at certain spots. "And I don't," he says. "But sometimes I'm just there on accident." That's what he believes happened to his friend Tyann Adkins, who was killed in an Avondale apartment on a Saturday afternoon, waiting to have her nails done. The two had gone to school together since preschool. He calls her "my little baby." Sometimes he hears gunshots when he gets up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. "I think, somebody's getting shot. Or what if one day that was me? Or, I could get shot just being somewhere at the wrong time." "Stuff happens anywhere," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'd like to live somewhere peaceful – if I could just find somewhere out there that's peaceful." "I don't trust nobody, really." Chapter 7: Grady Chapel “I don’t really have friends,” Grady Chapel says. “I think of them as associates. I don’t think I should have friends. I don’t trust nobody, really. You get close to somebody, and they turn their back on you.” (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) Grady Chapel lives in Avondale but he hangs out elsewhere – Newport on the Levee, Downtown on Fountain Square, Tri-County Mall. And he always hangs with the same four guys. His brothers. "I don't really have friends," he says. "I think of them as associates. I don't think I should have friends. I don't trust nobody, really. You get close to somebody, and they turn their back on you." At Hughes High School, where he's an eighth-grader, he's an outfielder on the baseball team and an offensive and defensive lineman in football. He says if he had to name an actual friend, he'd probably pick someone he plays sports with. But an incident last year at Bengals Park in Avondale convinced him that his mother was right about never letting your guard down. A group of teenagers "came out of nowhere," and told Grady they wanted to fight him. An acquaintance who was with Grady said he wouldn't let the fight happen, but didn't have the power to stop it. Grady saved himself by running to a stranger and asking to use her phone to call his mother. "It was her daughter's birthday, and she didn't want something bad to happen," he says. For Grady, it was a turning point. "I don't want to be in Avondale all my life. Nothing's really out there, and something's always happening," he says. "My three oldest brothers have jobs. They're all trying to get money, and that's my plan – to get a job and get money. I trust my mama, my grandparents, my brothers, that's it. I don't really need friends." "A lot of my family members are getting killed back to back to back." Chapter 8: Jalen Owensby Jalen Owensby was friends with Tyann Adkins who was shot and killed in March by another 14 year-old. Jalen also lost her older brother to murder when she was 6 years old. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) "I don't understand how somebody can take somebody else's life." Jalen Owensby says out loud what students at her school have been thinking since two of their Withrow classmates, Jashawn Martin and Tyann Adkins, were shot and killed in March. But Jalen, who lives in Evanston, has been trying to make sense out of losing people to violence since she was six years old. "My uncle came and picked up my cousin and me at school and took us to the hospital," the eighth-grader says, remembering back to 2006. "I saw my brother in the room. I went over to hug him, and he didn't hug me back. And I realized he wasn't there any more." Her 20-year-old brother, Rodney Owensby Turnbow died a day after being shot by an acquaintance. His death came seven years after a cousin, Roger Owensby, died after a struggle with Cincinnati police officers – a death that led up to the 2001 riots. Last summer, another cousin, Justin Owensby, was found shot to death in Westwood. "To me, it's a curse, because a lot of my family members are getting killed back to back to back," she says. "If I got shot and killed, it would be hard on my parents. I'm the only kid in the house and my dad already lost one. I plan on moving to Atlanta. I don't want to live in Cincinnati because I don't want to be an innocent female who gets killed." "The first paycheck I get is going to my mother." Chapter 9: Jamir Parker One of Jamir Parker's big dreams is getting his mother out of Evanston. He’d like to be a professional athlete. If not, he’s thinking about joining the U.S. Army or starting his own sporting goods company. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) Some of Jamir Parker's friends have started smoking. It's making him think he should be hanging around more positive people. Meanwhile, he's working on stuff of his own. "I go to school to work on academics. I'm working on basketball and other sports, and on getting taller." Jamir, a ninth-grader at Withrow, thinks people his age shouldn't have to act older. "I mean, it's 14," he says. He likes roller skating, going to Kings Island and going to the movies – with females. Do females like him? His smile is immediate. "Of course," he says. One of Jamir's big dreams is getting his mother out of Evanston. He'd like to be a professional athlete, or maybe join the U.S. Army or start his own sporting goods company. "The first paycheck I get is going to my mother." Kids at school joke about selling weed to make money. Jamir says it's something he'll never do. "I won't because my dad did it – he sold drugs. I haven't seen him half my life. He should be coming home (from prison) in a couple months or a year. I remember a couple times of seeing him." But his mother, he says, has always been there. "We talk all the time. I tell her everything I do in school – if I do something stupid or get in a fight. And I tell her what I'm going to do in my life so I don't turn out like my father." At her church, Jazonee never leaves the podium without a standing ovation. Chapter 10: Jazonee Burton Jazonee Burton has a 3.8 GPA in double-accelerated classes. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) The fourth Sunday of every month, young people at New Friendship Baptist Church are called to the front of the sanctuary, where they give an accounting of their grades and activities. Jazonee Burton never leaves the podium without a standing ovation. Her 3.8 grade-point average in double-accelerated classes and her acceptance at Walnut Hills High School bring tears to the eyes of some church members. They've been watching Jazonee grow up since the age of four. They've lost neighborhood youth to drugs or violence, so Jazonee's success feels personal, like an answer to prayer. She looks across the sanctuary where she regularly sings and performs what she calls "praise dance." "This church is very important to me. I've learned to know a lot of people here, and I love a lot of people here." Jazonee, who lives in Evanston, doesn't hang out on the streets. She doesn't smoke or drink. She doesn't rebel against her mother. She doesn't have a boyfriend. "A lot of boys at my school are pretty disrespectful with touching girls. I don't think it should be allowed. I try to keep myself distant from that. I have a lot of friends, but if a boy does something I think is inappropriate, I'll talk to him about and if he does it again, I'll go to an adult." What influenced her was one of her pastor's sermons. "He said we should respect ourselves, to make sure others respect us." "I'm the strongest soldier." Chapter 11: Kimera Starnes After facing several struggles, including the loss of family members and being teased at school, Kimera Starnes is known as a peacemaker and a student who never gives up. (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) Kimera Starnes' grandmother used to tell her that God gives his hardest battles to his toughest soldiers. She smiles. "So I thought, I'm the strongest soldier." The crutches beside her are evidence of her newest battle, a hip fractured while running track for Clark Montessori. Her doctor said it could take weeks to heal; the seventh-grader started walking the next day. Other wounds, however, took longer. Her family still mourns the death of her sister, who was killed 11 years ago by her husband. Then two years ago, Kimera's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, her father with lymphoma, and a favorite aunt with diabetes. "My family was kind of falling apart, and school just wasn't a priority. I got held back." The tough little tomboy who'd take on kids who taunted her for being dark-skinned turned into a determined adolescent who "knew how to deal with a setback." Kimera, who lives in Walnut Hills, entered therapy, caught up on her studies, ran track, played soccer and volleyball. Now, among her friends, she's known as a peacemaker. "When somebody says something to one of my friends, they want to fight. But I'm the one who says, 'Let's just think what happens if you do this.' I come from a family where violence is kind of like a big thing." Before Lamon leaves for school at 6:33 a.m. he's already put in a decent day's work. Chapter 12: Lamon Owens Lamon Owens is the oldest of four children. "Some days I enjoy living where I am at and sometimes I am not so sure." (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) By the time he gets to his Walnut Hills Metro stop for the 6:33 a.m. bus that takes him across town to Aiken College and Career High School, Lamon Owens has already put in a decent morning's work. Up at 5 a.m. three mornings a week and 4 a.m. the other two, the seventh-grader is in charge of getting his three younger siblings up and ready for school. He wakes them, tells them what they're supposed to wear, calls them down to breakfast, pours their cereal. Before he and his 12-year-old brother walk out the door, they've done the dishes, wiped out the microwave, sprayed down the counter and swept the kitchen floor. The two switch additional bathroom and kitchen jobs every other week, and they both wash their own clothes. His family and friends call Lamon "Easy," and after seven family moves, he knows how to get along with almost anybody, and he's almost always exactly where he's supposed to be. Four nights a week that's at the US Bank Boys and Girls Club in Avondale, and the fifth, he's serving on the Avondale Youth Council. A part-time job at the council nets him up to $40 every two weeks. Earlier this year, after paying off the last $7 he owed on a bike he bought for himself, he got out of his mom's car at a Walnut Hills gas station, walked up to three homeless people on a nearby street corner and handed each one $10. "My sister and brothers were in the car and the second oldest one was like, 'Dude, you could use that.' I was like, I've already gotten the bike I wanted. I don't need the rest." "Everybody in my family takes a part in my life." Chapter 13: Nayla Armstrong Nayla Armstrong, a student at Clark Montessori. “Everybody in my family takes a part in my life. If they can’t do much, they’ll show up at a basketball game or a volleyball game. I feel blessed.” (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) Nayla Armstrong has thoughts about being 14, and she is happy to talk them out. She just has to do it quickly because she's leaving for a school field study. To the Bahamas. "We're studying marine life," she says, seated in the lobby of her school, Clark Montessori. "But it's bittersweet – I'll be away from my family for 10 days." When it comes to the worlds of bitter and sweet, Nayla's life has largely been sweet. She's a "sporty kind of girl," she says, who's been swimming and playing basketball since she was 6. Her biggest concern is grades. "Honestly, I struggle with my grades because I have so much to do." Her biggest fans are her parents, 22-year-old sister and 2-year-old niece. "Everybody in my family takes a part in my life. If they can't do much, they'll show up at a basketball game or a volleyball game. I feel blessed." Nayla, who lives on the border of North Avondale and Avondale, is cautious – she calls her mom to tell her where she's going when she walks the family dog, Red – but she feels safe at home and school. "If there's a conflict, teachers talk to the people who are angry separately, get both sides of the story, then settle it then and there. Usually people get along well here." While she loves athletics, she plans on being a veterinarian. "Sports can get you educated, but it can't get you educated with a degree – and I want a degree." "My mom tells me, when the sun comes down, come in." Chapter 14: Savannah Howard Some days Savannah Howard is scared in her neighborhood. “I fear losing my life, losing my mama, my grandma, everybody in my family. I fear guns and knives. I’ve never seen a gun, except on TV, but I know people who have been shot. And my mom tells me, when the sun comes down, come in. Cause when the sun goes down, bad things happen.” (Photo: The Enquirer/Cara Owsley) Savannah Howard doesn't it find it hard to picture herself at 19, holding down a job, living in an apartment and going to college at Xavier University or somewhere "far out" – which to Savannah means anywhere outside Cincinnati. "I've never been far out to other places," she says somewhat shyly. What's harder for Savannah is figuring out how to navigate her world right now. Every morning she takes Metro bus 11 downtown from her home in Avondale, and catches the 34 to Withrow University High School, where she's a seventh-grader. Every afternoon, after track practice, she and her best friend Destiny reverse the process, hopping off at the Hirsch Recreation Center for dance practice or to rehearse for the Miss Hirsch Beauty Pageant. But then comes a 15-minute walk home, during which the girls pass apartment complexes known for drug-dealing and violence. "Sometimes when it's not crowds, I feel safe. But when it's crowds, I call my mama." Savannah knows that she is fortunate. Her family lives in a house, not an apartment. Savannah has only moved once in her entire life. And every time she calls, her mother comes for her. But some days – not every day – Savannah is still scared in her neighborhood. "I fear losing my life, losing my mama, my grandma, everybody in my family. I fear guns and knives. I've never seen a gun, except on TV, but I know people who have been shot. And my mom tells me, when the sun comes down, come in. Cause when the sun goes down, bad things happen." A closing note from Krista Ramsey At some point in almost every interview Cara Owsley and I did for this project, these 14 year olds broke our hearts. They're programmed to hope, like any young teenagers, but they live in neighborhoods where hope is at best a gamble. What could save them is a community that provides the support, structure and safe spaces to help them save themselves. If you'd like to be part of that support, here are three things you can do: Help with summer learning programs, service projects or everyday recreation at Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati, or help fund their programs. To volunteer, call 513-421-8909, ext. 19, or www.bgcgc.org. To give, make checks to Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati, 600 Dalton Ave., Cincinnati 45203. Change two lives – a young person's and yours – by becoming a mentor with the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative. More than 977 kids are waiting on you. Or sign up to speak about your career or invite a teen to job-shadow. Call 513-363-5203. Tutor, help with projects, donate or just hang out with kids at the Avondale Youth Council. Information, 513-281-0599. Checks payable to Avondale Youth Council, 3618 Reading Road, Cincinnati 45229. Contact Krista at kramsey@enquirer.com. Read more of her stories here.By Salvador Rodriguez IBF lightweight champion Miguel "Puppet" Vazquez (33-3, 13KOs) has received an offer to defend his title against undefeated Olympic gold medal winner Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16KOs), who is scheduled to return in an HBO televised fight on June 8th from Las Vegas. Although earlier reports suggested Juan Carlos Burgos would be the opponent, Vazquez indicates that there are ongoing discussions for a fight with Gamboa. "They contacted me with an offer for a fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa. The fight is not yet a fact - I'm are waiting to get the word on whether or not we are going to fight. It depends on a good agreement being reached between my promoter Zanfer [Promotions] and those who are organizing this event, 50 Cent and Gary Shaw. I'm ready to fight Yuriorkis Gamboa," Vazquez said. Vazquez was going to have a unfication with WBO champion Ricky Burns, but the match fell through when Burns dumped promoter Frank Warren.Lawrence Krauss Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss: Religion could be largely gone in a generation The co-creator of "The Unbelievers," a documentary made with Richard Dawkins, believes religion could disappear Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss believes that in a generation religion could disappear. Earlier this year the theoretical physicist, who teamed up with Richard Dawkins to create the documentary "The Unbelievers," spoke at the Victorian Skeptics Cafe. There he was asked what he thought about religion being taught in schools; the video of the response was uploaded on Monday to YouTube by user Adam Ford. Advertisement: "What we need to do is present comparative religion as a bunch of interesting historical anecdotes, and show the silly reasons why they did what they did," Krauss said on the topic of teaching comparative religion. “People say, ‘Well, religion has been around since the dawn of man. You’ll never change that,’" Krauss stated. "This issue of gay marriage, it is going to go away, because if you're a a child, a 13-year-old, they can’t understand what the issue is," he continued. "It’s gone. One generation is all it takes." "So, I can tell you a generation ago people said there is no way people would allow gay marriage, and slavery — essentially — [gone in] a generation; we got rid of it," Krauss stated. "Change is always one generation away. So if we can plant the seeds of doubt in our children, religion will go away in a generation, or at least largely go away. And that’s what I think we have an obligation to do." Krauss also discussed the way that critical thinking should be taught in schools -- not teaching logic in the abstract but having children confront their own misconceptions. He also stated that teachers and parents should instill curiosity and doubt in their children, and not what to learn but train them how to think. In 2013 Krauss caused a bit of a stir when he remarked that the teaching of creationism in schools was tantamount to mild child abuse. Advertisement: Watch the video below:Barbara Kruger’s bold lettering has adorned buses, warehouses, magazine covers, albums and train stations. Her next medium? MetroCards. Starting Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will release 50,000 limited-edition MetroCards with Ms. Kruger’s pointed questions emblazoned on the back. The cards will be available at four stations around the city and will arrive in conjunction with a series of site-specific works Ms. Kruger is creating for the Performa Biennial. The two sets of cards each contain questions that Ms. Kruger has asked in artwork throughout her career. “Who is healed? Who is housed? Who is silent? Who speaks?” is similar to part of a 1991 work, “Untitled (Questions).” “Whose values?” was printed on a Newsweek cover in 1992, as a response to Dan Quayle’s emphasis on family values during his vice-presidential campaign. “These issues of power and control and physical damage and death and predation are ages old,” Ms. Kruger said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. “I wish some of these issues would become archaic.” Ms. Kruger splits time between Los Angeles and New York, and she said she was excited by the interactive potential of this project: “I take the subway six times a day when I’m in the city,” she said. “The level of dispersal and distribution of meaning is huge.” Her artwork will adorn the LES Skatepark under the Manhattan Bridge, as well as a billboard at 17th Street and 10th Avenue and a school bus.A former Dallas police officer was sentenced to 180 days in the county jail Friday for beating and pepper-spraying a handcuffed man during a 2011 arrest. Quaitemes Williams, 29, was convicted in June of official oppression, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison. Williams’ defense counsel had asked state District Judge Michael Snipes to give him probation. Snipes was going to delay the start of Williams’ sentence, but the former officer asked to begin serving his time right away. With good behavior, he could be released in 60 days. Dash-cam footage of Williams and two other officers showed the trio struggling to handcuff 42-year-old Rodarick Lyles, who was pulled over because his license plate didn’t match the Cadillac he was driving. In the video shown to a jury in June, Williams punched Lyles and beat him with a flashlight after the two fell to the ground during the scuffle. Later in the video, Williams pepper-sprayed and kicked Lyles while he was handcuffed and lay face down. Williams was fired from the Dallas Police Department after another officer said Williams used excessive force. The city of Dallas gave Lyles a $500,000 in compensation. On Friday, Snipes said he was weighing probation, anger management or a jail sentence for Williams. “Quite frankly this is a difficult decision,” Snipes said. Ultimately though, Snipes decided on the jail sentence. Sheriff’s deputies escorted Williams out of the courtroom. After the hourlong hearing, Lyles said he believed Williams received a lighter sentence because he is a former police officer. “I am hurt. … No one had to walk in my shoes, no one had to remember it like my kids,” Lyles said. “My kids have to see this and say, ‘That’s my daddy.’” Prosecutor Russell Wilson said he had hoped for a harsher sentence but respects the judge’s decision. “I look at a police officer as a person who does not engage in criminal conduct,” Wilson said. “Here, this was a man on the ground kicked, and I think when you make that decision to kick, you lose that title.” Defense attorney George Milner, however, said he believes Williams should have received probation because Lyles resisted arrest. “This wasn’t some officer that went out and initiated some problem. This was a man who fought vigorously as long as he could,” Milner said. “If you start trouble with the police, there is going to be a problem.”A mockup of what we think the future of the South Side park might look like. View Full Caption Flickr/Ken Lund; Guaranteed Rate CHICAGO — U.S. Cellular Field will change its name to Guaranteed Rate Field, the White Sox announced Wednesday afternoon. The White Sox and Guaranteed Rate, a national mortgage lender, have signed 13-year naming rights deal, according to the Sox. But the name could last even longer — the Sox have an option of extending the deal past 2030. RELATED: U.S. Cellular Field Changed Its Name And People Are Freaking Out “We are pleased to find, in Guaranteed Rate, a new naming rights partner founded in Chicago by Chicagoans, which shares our commitment to the city and to our fans,” said Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the White Sox. So what will you call the @whitesox renamed Guaranteed Rate Field? https://t.co/AfaUrxfNfN — DNAinfo Chicago (@DNAinfoCHI) August 24, 2016 WGN Radio Sports Reporter and South Sider Sam Panayotovich chats about the new name. “We view this partnership as an opportunity to connect a successful Chicago business with a historic baseball franchise, and we look forward to growing this important relationship over the coming years as millions of fans enjoy White Sox baseball at Guaranteed Rate Field,” Reinsdorf said. The name change drew a decidedly mixed reaction from fans on social media, many of which began sarcastically listing "better" names than Guaranteed Rate Field. Brooks Boyer, chief marketing officer and senior vice president for the Sox, said he had not spent much time on social media since the decision was reached but said he was
. Quebecers have spent years debating the accommodation of minorities, including the 2008 Bouchard-Taylor Commission on the issue which recommended that some public officials be prohibited from wearing religious symbols, Cardinal said. “And so, for Quebecers, it’s like going backwards instead of going forwards in terms of moving ahead on that issue.” 84 per cent of Quebecers support the requirement to remove face coverings, according to a September 28 Ipsos poll. In Quebec, Cardinal said, the Bloc Quebecois is working hard to keep niqabs on the agenda, and is hurting the NDP with their efforts. But unlike Bricker, she doesn’t think it’s all about the niqab: Mulcair’s stance on issues such as TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline, which he doesn’t oppose, could also be costing him in Quebec. “In Quebec it’s also the environment, the oil, pipelines. I think that’s another issue that is important to Quebecers and the kind of paradoxical approach of the NDP towards the pipeline,” she said. Mulcair has his work cut out for him, thinks Bricker. “You’ve got a situation in which you’ve got Quebec nationalists, softer nationalists maybe, combined with a very strong left in the rest of the country. That’s a very difficult combination to pull together,” he said. And where those groups may differ, such as on the state’s right to dictate citizenship dress codes, could make Mulcair choose between his supporters. It’s not just voters either – already, several NDP candidates, including incumbent Romeo Saganash, have publicly stated their opposition to the niqab, according to media reports. Alex Bushell, a former NDP campaign worker and current consultant for Environics Communications, is more skeptical about the niqab’s overall effect on the campaign. “Is that the one issue that people are going to cast their ballot on? Some people say yes but my gut says no.” “The niqab issue was something that no one was talking about two weeks ago and now it’s the issue that some people are saying is defining the election. In another week we might have another issue that’s defining the election.” There is still time for the NDP to take back the lead, Bushell said. In 2011, the NDP surged in the polls less than two weeks before election day. It’s now 19 days away.Several ideas on how to start this post Another year, another rumination on death and aging from your favorite internet funnymakers. This year, we bring you another rumination on death and aging by us, the internet laffmen. A year has passed since our heralded return, I NAME THEE ANNIHILATOR!. It was universally hailed as one of the greatest episodes of A Lesson Is Learned. From this creative apex we could only fall, limbs uselessly flailing, into the abyss of relative mediocrity. Greetings, readers! We hope you had an enjoyable year. Please enjoy this fresh cut of Welcome, readers! Are you sitting comfortably? Did you know that sitting for very long stretches can be damaging? Remember to get up from time to time and pace around the room. Remember to first pick up your toys off the floor or you may be injured. Do not play with badly-made toys, as they will snap off and lodge Cowabunga, dear readers. It is autumn. A season of mugs and cardigans. I hope you will savor this latest A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible. The script is very well-written. I am pleased with how it translated to comic form. It is funny and also makes you think about things. Please hold it delicately. Today we have begun selling prints of our comics through Topatoco.com. We are very pleased about this. We have wanted to do this for a long time. Topatoco is great and sells many fine things from many wonderful creators. Jeffrey Rowland was extremely helpful in setting up the shop, sharing his insight and tailoring it to our requests. Thanks also to David Malki for getting the ball rolling. We appreciate you guys. More episodes will find their way to the shop sooner than you may suspect. Let us know if you have a favorite you would like to have in your own home. Have you seen the Scale Kickstarter? Dale is writing the story for this wonderful game, Scale. In the game, you can change the size of things, very dramatically! Like make a house so small you can put it in your pocket (I do not know if they have implemented pockets as a concept but it would be pleasant to be a mouse in a safe woolen pocket). I urge you to take a look. They have about a week left to raise the rest of the money they need to make the game. If you are a fan of comics, you may like the $65 tier, which offers a Scale art print by the estimable Aaron Diaz, KC Green, Dale, or me. As for me, I�m spending most of my time working with writer Tevis Thompson on my first graphic novel, Second Quest. We've been posting updates about once a month. Even if you didn�t back the Kickstarter, you�ll be able to buy the book when it comes out next year. If you�d like to stay in touch, follow me on twitter, tumblr or facebook. Be exultant to each other. David Comment / Read CommentsBlogs Civil Society is Key to the Debate on International Control Over the Internet June 04, 2012 Civil society will be the critical player in a policy debate that has dominated recent tech news - whether the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will be given the power by its Member States to regulate internet access and the internet itself. Despite the fact that the US Government and US industry have vocally opposed this outcome, it is US civil society that has the biggest role to play to ensure that the Internet continues to be open and decentralized. The ITU is a United Nations agency focused on setting international standards related to information and communications technologies – and whose stated mission is to connect all the world’s people “wherever they live and whatever their means.” Among other things, the ITU allocates global radio spectrum, and coordinates the assignment of satellite orbits. What’s all the fuss? The ITU and its 193 Member States (including the US) and approximately 700 “Sector Members” will meet this December in Dubai at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) to update the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), a treaty to which all Member States are signatories. And while the details of some of the proposals to change the ITRs are unknown, what we do know about others give cause for alarm. Several of the proposals are intended to expand significantly the jurisdiction of the ITU to give that body the ability to regulate both Internet access and the Internet itself. These include proposals that would give the ITU the power to 1) set mobile data roaming and peering rates, 2) adopt regulations intended to protect children online; and 3) prohibit Internet connections that cause harm to “technical facilities or personnel.” In a rare “kumbaya” moment in US communications policymaking, policymakers, industry and civil society groups (including Public Knowledge) of all stripes are in accord that the ITU’s jurisdiction should not expand to encompass regulation of the Internet, and that some of the proposals to change the ITRs could well have dramatically bad effects on the internet. But the fact that pretty much everyone in US communications policymaking land is on the same page with regard to the ITU’s jurisdiction doesn't mean that we will cruise to victory. While some in the US portray the effort to give the ITU more power as some plot by China, Russia and other repressive regimes to limit freedom of expression and human rights, it’s a lot more complicated that that. Some countries just want a safer, more secure internet, and see the ITU as the best way to accomplish that goal. Also, a number of countries, including democracies and those the US considers friends in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere have serious concerns that the US and US corporations have too much control over the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and other Internet governance bodies. As Google’s Rick Whitt has said, if this debate is viewed as the US (and by proxy US industry) against the world, the future of the Internet is in peril. It is with those friendly countries that nevertheless are concerned with US power over the Internet that civil society can have the greatest impact. Civil society does not have a seat at the ITU table (few can afford the almost $34,000 it costs to become a “Sector Member”). But US civil society groups can talk to their counterparts around the world (and particularly in countries in the Global South like Brazil & India) and hopefully persuade them that an Internet controlled by an intergovernmental agency like the ITU will be one where speech is less free, human rights are less respected and economic development is slowed. Many US civil society groups have strong and trusted relationships with their counterparts through work in international policy forums like the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). If civil society groups in the Global South are convinced, they will can talk to their ITU delegates and urge them to join the US and oppose centralized control over the Internet. But it will take more than jawboning by civil society groups here to stop the threat of an ITU takeover. US civil society (and by extension the US Government) must acknowledge the concerns of countries that believe that the US has too much control over Internet governance, and must address those concerns without giving control of the Internet to the ITU. Insisting that anything less than the status quo will lead to an ITU takeover is both untrue and ultimately self-defeating. For background, check out last week’s Free State Foundation conference and the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology’s hearing.His freewheeling presence inside the hallowed walls of the dressing room intimidated them that sultry Lahore afternoon. Just as they prepared to tackle this rotund, bearded chap in shalwar kameez, the skipper's hoarse accent halted them in ranks. "He is Naeem and he will lead the Zohr prayers today," he said in a tone dripping with authority, quelling any conflicting opinions that itched to get voiced on the occasion. The stranger went onto lead the prayers with reassuring control, all fourteen players lining-up obediently to his 'call of wisdom.' "He has a fabulous knack for azaan and is also a dear friend," explained the captain, sensing the edginess among players. A tense post-lunch cricket session followed the mystifying dressing room congregation, as the bouyant Indians led by the dashing Sourav Ganguly threatened to create history on the field by vanquishing the home side for the first time in 53 years. Two hours later, the Pakistanis regrouped for tea. And there he was once again, the captain's dear friend, waiting for yet another 'jamaat' in the well-guarded ambience of players' arena, this time for evening's Asr prayers. A number of them declined the offer to join in, citing tiredness or mental fatigue for their reluctance. "Nothing doing, all rise NOW," declared the burly skipper, much to the annoyance of players. Particularly furious were the two unbeaten batsmen at the crease, who had to undo their pads and safety gear to bow once again to this 'outsider' who introduced himself as a small time actor from Lahore television. It was March 2005, the year prolific batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq assumed captaincy of the national outfit. Hailing from Multan, the city of saints, this son of a muezzen took little time in laying down the blueprint for religious reforms in the team. The diligent players were asked, in no uncertain terms, to focus on their rituals in addition to the normal workload. Born-again Muslims such as the former Test opener Saeed Anwar and ex-singing icon Junaid Jamshed, with their preachy, revivalist rhetoric, became household names on cricket tours. Amid talk of purity and spiritual uplift, parallels were drawn between religious practices and the way game should be played. It became increasingly evident that with the growing influence of religion and for skipper's overwhelming tilt towards it, players would make the grade more for their display of faith, abhorrence for the shaving kits and bird-watching rather than their ability to perform on the field. In a bid to massage the skipper's ego, more and more players were seen sporting beards while 'Thanks to Allah' rapidly caught on as the motto of the Pakistan team. That, clearly, was the beginning of a new trend in Pakistan cricket, a trend totally alien to the game in this part of the world which boasts such superstars as Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis who did the country proud with their achievements with no pretensions of being the torch-bearer Muslims. Under Inzamam, however, the well-distinguished but fine line between moderation and extremism was clearly overlooked by this bunch of devout Muslims who had an air of disdain about them that smacked of disaster. There were many like the Beaconhouse graduate Salman Butt, self-styled playboy Shoaib Akhtar and the level-headed Younis Khan who resisted getting sucked into the growing trend of fundamentalism in the side. Others, however, chose to follow it wholeheartedly, or so it seemed. That included people like the 'converted' Mohammad Yousuf, formerly Yousuf Youhana of Christian origin, who spoke of his sudden enchantment with Islam. Many eyebrows were raised at Youhana's sudden change of heart and mind. While reports in media hinted at 'forced' conversion, the family members of the Lahore-born player held a violent demo infront of the Pakistan Cricket Board offices, accusing Saeed Anwer's brother Mazhar of 'foulplay' after he had ventured into a business partnership with Youhana few months ago. There were others like Mushtaq Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzak, Saqlain Mushtaq and Ijaz Ahmed who claimed to have found the 'ultimate solace' in religion after years of turbulent times in life as they undertook regular' Tableeghi trips'. Two definite factions had formed in the team – that of the religious and the not so religious - with the former being the dominant one. And yet, the contrast in players' beliefs never prevented them from playing together, until the time they started to lose. It was the nightmarish tour to England in the summer of 2006 that begun to lay bare the chinks in Pakistan armour. The historic 'forfeiture' that followed the infamous ball-tampering controversy at The Oval involving Aussie umpire Darrel Hair brought to light the dictatorial instincts of Inzamam whose arbitrary decision of not taking the field in protest cost Pakistan the Test which looked well within their grasp for most part of four days. Despite some outstanding feats from Yousuf, Younis, Hafeez and Umar Gul in the series, the tourists succumbed without a fight, often giving the impression of having ice rather than blood in their veins at crunch moments. A disgruntled Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Shaharyar Khan and his deputy Abbas Zaidi privately scoffed at the shift in focus – from cricket to religion - of the Pakistan team but lacked the courage to take the bull by the horns. "It was a sensitive issue which not only bothered then PCB chief Shaharyar but also coach Bob Woolmer who felt the team was gradually losing its passion for the game and was found lacking in aggression and firepower when most-needed," said a senior PCB official requesting anonymity. In spite of the England tour debacle, the trend continued unabated as Inzamam and Company blocked all attempts of thwarting the same, moving swiftly to crush any opposition that ever came along. Suddenly, the critics could see a pattern emerging. Young Salman Butt, one of the best players in the country, was constantly seen languishing on the sidelines, not for any lack of form but for his candid comments in Abu Dhabi about being out of favour for not sporting a beard. Then there was the case of Shoaib Akhtar who refused to tow the 'hardline' or accompany the players to Raiwind where huge religious congregations are held annually. The whispered mutterings of younger players including Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Imran Farhat and Rao Iftikhar on having little or no choice at prayer times or about muted independence on tours abroad surfaced from time to time. A record-breaking twelve players and officials performed the Hajj in 2006 with the core group of Inzamam, Saeed Anwar and Saqlain completing a hat-trick of the Islamic ritual with Junaid Jamshed in tow. In October 2006, the scenario took a drastic turn. With makeshift skipper Younis Khan resigning in a huff on the eve of ICC Champions Trophy, Shahrayar Khan's dwindling empire was finally brought to the ground. Enter Dr Nasim Ashraf, a US-based nephrologist and President Musharraf's close aide, to take over the reins of Pakistan cricket. The tough-acting PCB chief announced his arrival with a bang, restoring Younis as skipper for the high-profile event in India and sounding a warning to Inzamam against influencing players with what he termed as'religious extremism.' This, indeed, spelled trouble for those who until now had succeeded in reshaping realities to manipulate things their way in Pakistan cricket team. In dredging up virtually every available support to keep the trend going, Inzamam then pulled off the most unlikely induction of former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed into the side as assistant coach at the expense of his childhood friend, Waqar Younis. Yet another player with strong religious leanings, Mushtaq despite his dubious background of being in league with the bookies during the late 1990s, was named for the South African safari, much to the dismay of Dr Ashraf who was reduced to a by-stander as the burly skipper twisted the PCB's arm to get his way in the wake of his appointment as leader till the World Cup. Graeme Smith's South Africans annihilated Pakistan amid rumours of discontent among players and further reports of 'Tableeghi tours' taking place alongside the matches. Manager Talat Ali minced no words in his post-tour report by saying that Woolmer has lost all respect and effectiveness in the dressing room with Mushtaq calling all the shots including team meetings, nets sessions, etc. Unfortunately, no lessons were learnt from the South African tour fiasco and while Pakistan struggled to put 15 fit players together for the all-important World Cup in the West Indies, the spectre of fundamentalism and match-fixing again started to raise its ugly head. With team morale at an all-time low and with younger players getting increasingly disillusioned for being browbeaten by the ruling lobby into taking up the rituals, the critics never gave Pakistan a chance in the mega event. What happened in the Caribbean, though, was not envisaged by the worst of Pakistan critics. A loss to minnows Ireland sent Inzamam-ul-Haq's army crashing out of the first round, making it the country's shortest, most pathetic campaign in World Cup history. Coach Bob Woolmer's shocking death bamboozled the cricketing world soon after and almost entirely shifted the focus from the growing influence of faith in the team. While personal freedom of practising religion and holding beliefs is to be respected at all costs, putting up a show of religious fervor by a handful of high profile public figures seems pointless in a country of 180 million Muslims. Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties but the uncertainty that dogs the game in Pakistan must end since fans are pining for the reassuring simplicity of cricket and cricketers to make a comeback, once and for all. This is an amended version of the article published in the Herald in April 2007.John McDonnell claimed that Lord Sainsbury of Turville should be suspended from Labour after it was revealed that the Blairite peer has also made donations to the Liberal Democrats Fracncesco Guidicini/Times Newspapers Ltd Labour should suspend its biggest private donor from the party, the shadow chancellor has suggested. John McDonnell made the claim yesterday after it was revealed that Lord Sainsbury of Turville, the Blairite Labour peer who has given the party more than £15 million since 2002, had also donated £2 million to the Liberal Democrats. The former supermarket chairman said that the donation was to support the campaign to keep Britain in the EU. In total he gave nearly £8 million to pro-Remain groups before the referendum, more than any other individual. However, Mr McDonnell accused Labour of a “clear pattern of double standards” by taking no action against Lord Sainsbury for funding a rival party while suspending a pro-Corbyn union leader yesterday. Lord Sainsbury, 75,…From QQ: Harbin Pharmaceuticals Sixth Pharmaceuticals Plant’s luxurious palace explodes online, gold foil inlaid hallways and corridors Recently, the official website of the Harbin Pharmaceuticals Group’s Sixth Pharmaceuticals Plant published a set of photographs showing the internal environment [at the plant] with the photographs showing that its building is decorated in the style of Versailles, with fully carved wood corridors, gold foil inlays, and every angel lifelike and unique. CCTV anchor Li Xiaoming said on his weibo: Initial reaction, Harbin Pharmaceuticals Six is a state-owned enterprise. According to Ministry of Finance data, state-owned enterprises made profits of nearly 2 trillion yuan, but only turned over about 5% as “bonuses/dividends”. It is said that state-owned enterprises are the people’s enterprises, so the people should know how the enterprises’ money is used. This “palace”, would the people be delighted to see it? Also on Xinhua, China.com, & Sohu. From QQ: 腾讯锦州市网友﹎HuaSL: No wonder seeing the doctor for a cold require spending over 1000! 腾讯内蒙古网友老虎: Those who can’t afford to get medical/health care should go take a tour of Harbin Pharmaceuticals. Just picking a little something off the wall should be enough for you to get medical/health care. 腾讯北京市网友ー个不善于言: I think it is for people to behold and admire, as the average person wouldn’t be able to go inside. The most niubi in all of China. 腾讯网友本汐: Just looking at it from the outside, you’d think it was some foreign historical site! Making money isn’t a problem, as long as it isn’t by bleeding others dry of their emergency/life-saving money! 腾讯哈尔滨市网友吕蒙: Only shows that Harbin Pharmaceuticals’ profits are good, nothing extraordinary, is decorating luxuriously a crime? The offices of banks’ financial management in every country are all like palaces, how come no one exposes those? A journalist with nothing better to do, people with nothing better to do, is there nothing more important to report? So someone who speaks the truth like Bai Yansong [a well-known CCTV host] is censored/banned, but a journalist that reports this kind of unimportant information makes headlines~~~shameless~ 腾讯合肥市网友九五二七: Look at their swimming pool, gym, ping pong room… it’s basically just like a professional health club. Come on, this kind of worker’s club is way too TMD luxurious… 腾讯网友 /爱情救生圈: I knew Harbin Pharmaceutical’s treatment of employees was good. To provide benefits to the employees is a good company and good management. I don’t care about these things, but I dare ask which company’s executives/officers shares the large amounts of money it makes with the workers. They are all state-owned enterprises, but some have poor treatment. I support Harbin Pharmaceuticals’ management. 腾讯淮北市网友爱在初夏: That they have money is because they worked hard to earn it, depending on their intelligent and hard work and continuous research and development, and not being eliminated from the market. As for how much money they turn over is their business, all I care about is the number of people’s jobs they can drive so long as they do not go bankrupt!!! 腾讯北京市网友志军世家国际: What happened…? This is very normal. What’s the big deal? This is what the healthy development of a business looks like. So Chinese state-owned enterprises aren’t allowed to do this? I support Harbin Pharmaceuticals… Hope there will be even more enterprises like Harbin Pharmaceuticals… 腾讯网友蓦然回首: No wonder so many people go all out to get into state-owned enterprises, because the benefits are so good. If I have the chance, I too want to get into a state-owned enterprise. If I can’t get it, I will still find a way for my children to help me realize this dream, and have other people know that my family also has someone in a state-owned enterprise. 腾讯湖南省网友思损: If state-owned enterprises are not banned, China’s economy will be difficult to develo and social conflicts will be difficult to overcome. 腾讯广元市网友花神之泪: Look! Below the so-called grand and resplendent color flows the people’s blood and tears… 腾讯苏州市网友散步………: State-owned enterprises, uses the country’s money, the money made considered their own, the money they lose considered the country’s, always a business without loss. They should properly [spend the money to] deal with the pollution a pharmaceutical plant causes. 腾讯绍兴市网友独生子: How many people are suffering hardships. How good it would be if Harbin Pharmaceuticals Sixth plant provided financial aid to those who should be helped. This is too luxurious… 腾讯上海市网友弈风:Home The Modern Law Library Lack of Online Privacy Rights Is Very Troubling,… The Modern Law Library Lack of Online Privacy Rights Is Very Troubling, Says Author I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did January 2012 List Price: $26.00 Are you in control of your digital self? ABA Journal web producer Lee Rawles talks with Lori Andrews, author of I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy about the lack of online privacy rights and the need for a social media constitution. They discuss the changes that social networks have brought to all areas of the law, including evidence gathering; what evidence is admissible in courts; how social media can affect the right to a fair trial; and the right to control one’s image. Andrews touches on how secret data aggregation about your online activities can affect the price of your health insurance, the advertisements you see, what jobs you qualify for and the limits on your credit card balance. Reviews: The New York Times: “The Dangers of Sharing” Kirkus Reviews: “I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did” The Diane Rehm Show: “I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy”The Kerala lecturer whose right hand was chopped off by radicals of the Popular Front of India (PFI) outfit has been removed from service by college authorities.The management of the Christian-run New Man college informed T J Joseph that he has been removed from service effective from September 1 on the grounds of hurting religious sentiments of a certain community, college sources said.Reacting to the management's decision, Joseph said this was an unexpected blow to him and his family."I have not thought of any legal action so far against the management", he said.Kerala's Education Minister MA Baby has told NDTV that this is excessive use of authority by the college administration."Joseph can appeal at the University Tribunal and explore other legal means. We will provide him with all the help if he wants to seek legal recourse," said Baby. PFI activists had hacked Joseph's right hand on July 4 while he was returning home with his family from a Church. They accused him of preparing a Malayalam question paper with alleged derogatory references to Prophet Mohammed.So far 30 people have been arrested in connection with the attack.The lecturer, whose severed hand was sutured, has injuries all over his body and is now recovering at his residence at Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district.The college authorities had issued a show cause notice to Joseph asking why he should not be removed from service for hurting the religious sentiments of a section of people.Though Joseph had replied to the notice, the management was not convinced.(With PTI inputs)A manuscript copy of the 1722 Table of Ranks The Table of Ranks (Russian: Табель о рангах, translit. Tabel' o rangakh) was a formal list of positions and ranks in the military, government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a struggle with the existing hereditary nobility, or boyars. The Table of Ranks was formally abolished on 11 November 1917 by the newly established Bolshevik government. Principles [ edit ] The Table of Ranks re-organised the foundations of feudal Russian nobility (mestnichestvo) by recognising service in the military, in the civil service, and at the imperial court as the basis of an aristocrat's standing in society. The table divided ranks in 14 grades, with all nobles regardless of birth or wealth (at least in theory) beginning at the bottom of the table and rising through their service (sluzhba) to the tsar.[1] While all grades were open by merit, promotion required qualification for the next rank, and grades 1 through 5 required the personal approval of the tsar himself. Despite initial resistance from noblemen, many of whom were still illiterate in the 18th century and who shunned the paper-pushing life of the civil servant, the eventual effect of the Table of Ranks was to create an educated class of noble bureaucrats. Peter's intentions for a class of nobles bound to the tsar by their personal service to him were watered down by subsequent tsars. In 1762 Peter III abolished the compulsory 25-year military or civilian service for nobles.[2] In 1767 Catherine the Great bought the support of the bureaucracy by making promotion up the 14 ranks automatic after seven years regardless of position or merit. Thus the bureaucracy became populated with time servers.[3] Achieving a certain level in the table automatically granted a certain level of nobility. A civil servant promoted to the 14th grade gained personal nobility (dvoryanstvo), and holding an office in the 8th grade endowed the office holder with hereditary nobility. Nicholas I raised this threshold to the 5th grade in 1845.[4] In 1856 the grades required for hereditary nobility were changed to the 4th grade for the civil service and to the 6th grade for military service. The father of Vladimir Lenin progressed in the management of education, reaching the 4th rank and becoming an "active state councillor" (действительный статский советник), which gave him the privilege of hereditary nobility.[5] With occasional revisions, the Table of Ranks remained in effect until the Russian Revolution of 1917. Table of Ranks [ edit ] An abridged version of the Table of Ranks[6] with time expiration set for promotion is shown below: The table below contains the military ranks of the Guards (infantry and cavalry) 1722 until 1917.[8] Class Infantry Cavalry 1722 1730 1748 1884–1917 1730 1748 1798 1884–1917 1 – not scheduled – 2 3 Colonel (Polkovnik) Colonel 4 Colonel Lieutenant colonel (Podpolkovnik) Lieutenant colonel 5 Lieutenant colonel Prime major (Premer-mayor) Prime major 6 Major Second major (Skund-mayor) Colonel Second major Colonel 7 Captain (Kapitan) Captain Captain Captain Rittmeister (Rotmistr) Rittmeister Rittmeister Rittmeister 8 Captain lieutenant (Kapitan-leytenant) Captain poruchik (Kapitan-poruchik) Stabskapitän (Stabs-kapitan) Sekundrittmeister (Sekund-rotmistr) Stabsrittmeister (Stabs-rotmistr) 9 Lieutenant (Leytenant) Poruchik Poruchik 10 Unterleutnant (Unter-leytenant) Podporuchik Podporuchik Cornet (Kornet) 11 – not scheduled – 12 Fähnrich (Fendrik) Praporshchik Cornet 13 – not scheduled – 14 An 1898 copy of the Table of Ranks Peter I stipulated that "princes related to us or married to our princesses always take precedence" and that when military officers of the army and navy were of the same rank, "the naval officer is superior at sea to the land officer; and on land the land officer is superior to the naval officer". He laid down that fines of two months' salary should be assessed against those falsely claiming a higher rank or gaining a rank without qualification. He stated that service with a foreign monarch would not automatically confer the rank until approved by the tsar, as "we do not grant any rank to anyone until he performs a useful service to us or to the state", while women were to "advance in rank with their husbands". Style of Address [ edit ] In a way the government, court, military and clergy ranks represented the gentry class of the Russian Empire. Similarly to the noble titles, the rank holders each had their specific style of address: As of 1917 (the year of the monarchy's collapse) Class Civil, court and military ranks Clergy ranks Class in Russian English translation in Russian[9] English translation K-1 Ваше высокопревосходительство Your High Excellency Ваше высокопреосвященство, владыко Your High Eminence, Lordship Black clergy K-1 K-2 K-2 K-3 Ваше превосходительство Your Excellency Ваше преосвященство, владыко Your Eminence, Lordship K-3 K-4 Ваше высокопреподобие Your High Reverence K-4 K-5 Ваше высокородие Your High Birth K-5 Ваше высокоблагословение Your High Blessedness White clergy K-5 K-6 Ваше высокоблагородие Your High Well Birth K-6 K-7 Ваше благословение Your Blessedness K-7 K-8 Ваше высокоблаговестие Your High Evangelism K-8 K-9 Ваше благородие Your Well Birth Ваше благовестие Your Evangelism K-9 K-10 K-10 K-11 K-11 K-12 K-12 K-13 K-13 K-14 K-14 Outside that table are the rank of Generalissimus, which was a honorary title and not a military rank and the title of Patriarch, which theoretically equaled the eminence of the Russian Emperor, but which Peter the Great kept vacant between 1700 and 1720 and eventually substituted for the collective board of the Most Holy Synod, effectively turning the Church into a department of the state. First complete translation into English [ edit ] The first complete translation into English of the original Table of Ranks promulgated by Peter the Great in 1722 was presented by Brazilian historian Angelo Segrillo in 2016. It is available online at http://lea.vitis.uspnet.usp.br/arquivos/arttableofrankslea.pdf.[10] See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] ^ The Russian word "действительный" means "actual, valid, real, effective, true" and in this context is sometimes translated as "actual" or "acting" (which has the disadvantage of confusion with the English language concept of acting rank ).Look. People are submitting videos this month for the annual Andy Kaufman Award competition (the submission date deadline was this past Monday, I just found out), and I just feel as though in the past couple of years, the awards have become, well, less Andy Kaufmanesque? Less weird. Less special. Which is why I was so pleased to see Brent Weinbach last night on Conan. Weinbach won the Andy Kaufman Award a few years ago. Last night he proved again why he’s operating at a different level than your “regular” stand-up comedian, and why that’s a good thing. Also, I’d like to see a show that’s just my favorite eccentric stand-ups trying to be “regular,” with Weinbach and Maria Bamford and more. Also also, Conan O’Brien decided to grow his beard back. Weird beards rejoice! OK. Roll the clip.Parker McLeod is on the move again. According to Marc Weiszer of the Athens-Banner Herald, McLeod has left the Georgia program. The former Alabama and Western Kentucky quarterback walked on to Georgia’s team following the arrival of head coach Kirby Smart. Smart had recruited McLeod for the Tide back in 2013. While McLeod was never going to steal any reps from sophomore Jacob Eason or true freshman Jake Fromm this spring, his departure compounds the Bulldogs’ depth issues under center heading into the spring. With Greyson Lambert’s eligibility extinguished and the graduate transfer of Brice Ramsey, UGA currently has only walk-on Sam Vaughn behind Eason and Fromm. The team’s issues under center are compounded by the uncertainty on the offensive line heading into the spring. Georgia did sign six promising offensive line prospects in its 2017 recruiting class, but only one of those players has arrived on campus for spring football. Should an unfortunate injury or two be sustained by either of Georgia’s quarterbacks this fall, the team could be a snap away from being forced to get creative under center. Not exactly an ideal scenario with so much hype surrounding the Georgia program in 2017. Follow Michael Wayne Bratton / SEC Mike on Twitter.My good friend and author Devery Anderson posted a note on his Facebook status about gay marriage. I thought what he wrote was insightful and needed to be published on our blog. I have edited it for formatting and anything marked with a are my additions. Here is a short bio of Devery: Devery Anderson is the editor of The Development of LDS Temple Worship, 1846-2000: A Documentary History, and co-author of Joseph Smith’s Quorum of the Anointed, 1842-1845: A Documentary History, and The Nauvoo
7 Voters’ August 1 Primary Pamphlet Education: University educated in Germany, Sweden, and America. Earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees with Economic minors Occupation: Part owner: Boeing, Microsoft, PacCar, Disney, IRobot, Orbital, Southwest, etc. Statement: Abolishing the minimum wage will create jobs, jobs, and more jobs and a fantastic future. As usual, as a small spending/small tax, perennial candidate running against big spending/big tax perennial incumbents, I, GoodSpaceGuy, am advocating for a better orbital space program and a peoples’ technological living standard that soars up into the sky. We should allow the economy to create jobs for everyone who is willing to work. We should move away from the hugely out-of-balance Command Economy and its destructive minimum wage. We should move towards the voluntary, competitive, prosperity-producing Free Market Economy. More jobs help produce solutions. Jobs are solutions! Stop killing jobs. Also let’s transform King County into a clean and beautiful parking paradise in which King County becomes a good home for many industries, including the space industry and the fantasy-of-film industry. Problem people have difficulty finding, getting, and keeping jobs. The job destroying minimum wages seem to say, “Problem people, you may not work! You will earn zero dollars per hour.” The minimum wage of the Command Economy forbids problem people working. Bad things happen. Employers refuse to hire problem people. Homelessness, misery, begging, trash, and crime increase. The homeless get wet and cold in the trashy, winter rain. After we abolish the minimum wage, problem people can increase their earnings. Work produces worker wealth and skill, an upward path. As it becomes easier to get jobs, problem people can help make King County clean, beautiful, and great again. Let’s declare the job destroying minimum wage to be unconstitutional. To decrease homelessness, begging, welfare, and crime, please defend the right of problem people to sell their faulty labor at their individual low market rates. Elect GoodSpaceGuy as your next King County Executive. Go Seahawks! Go Mariners! Post Number 502018 February 5. Updated February 6In last year's, 2017 King County Executive Primary Election, the voters in my race decided to overwhelmingly continue on the same big spending, Big Government, Command Economy Course that is producing so many homeless people.What man-made misery! So unnecessary! Let's move towards the freedom of the Market Economy.In this 50th message, I, GoodSpaceGuy, am re-printing my suggested course of action as published in the August 1, 2017 King County Primary Voters' Pamphlet: Only about 6% of the voters in my race endorsed with their votes my program for raising the living standard, but I want to thank that 6% who understand that the free market increases employment and thereby prosperity. By getting more people working for you the consumers, we can raise the living standard. We should declare the minimum wage, which interferes with the rights of problem people to negotiate their own wages, to be unconstitutional.! Monday, November 07, 2016 Donald Trump and Goodspaceguy Donald Trump and Goodspaceguy, 2016 November 7, Monday Post Number 49 Being an optimist, I Goodspaceguy predict that tomorrow the voters in all 50 states will elect Donald Trump President of the United States. He will win all 50 states. I do not wish to believe that the voters of any state will instead vote for lies and crime. With Trump as President, the high way to a great people's prosperity will be open. With Trump as President, it will become easier to work and build a people's 'prosperity on Spaceship Earth. (I prefer that we think of our Earth as a fabulous natural spaceship.) Added comment: 2017 January 2, Monday: My Dear Fellow Travelers of Spaceship Earth, I, Goodspaceguy, was correct in my wishful prediction that Donald Trump would be elected President of the United States, But, unfortunately he was only elected by a majority of the voters in 30 of the 50 states. In the remaining 20 states, a majority of the voters seemed to have endorsed lies, lies, and corruption. When I made my wishful prediction, I was hoping that the voters in the lost 20 states would not endorse lies, lies, and corruption with their votes. I now wish you - the glorious, remarkable people of our Spaceship Earth - a prosperous 2017, But with increases in the job-destroying minimum wage, Poverty will continue among people-with-problems! With not enough jobs, Crime will increase! Please re-create the destroyed jobs by abolishing the minimum wage of the Command Economy! Please support instead the prosperity-producing, voluntary, competitive Free-Market Economy. The Free Market Economy produces prosperity. The Command Economy produces poverty. As Spock would say, "Live long and prosper." Sincerely, Goodspaceguy Donald Trump and Goodspaceguy,2016 November 7, MondayPost Number 49Being an optimist, I Goodspaceguy predict that tomorrow the voters in all 50 states will elect Donald Trump President of the United States. He will win all 50 states. I do not wish to believe that the voters of any state will instead vote for lies and crime. With Trump as President, the high way to a great people's prosperity will be open. With Trump as President, it will become easier to work and build a people's 'prosperity on Spaceship Earth. (I prefer that we think of our Earth as a fabulous natural spaceship.)Added comment:2017 January 2, Monday:My Dear Fellow Travelers of Spaceship Earth,I, Goodspaceguy, was correct in my wishful prediction that Donald Trump would be elected President of the United States,But, unfortunately he was only elected by a majority of the voters in 30 of the 50 states.In the remaining 20 states, a majority of the voters seemed to have endorsed lies, lies, and corruption. When I made my wishful prediction, I was hoping that the voters in the lost 20 states would not endorse lies, lies, and corruption with their votes.I now wish you - the glorious, remarkable people of our Spaceship Earth - a prosperous 2017,But with increases in the job-destroying minimum wage,Poverty will continue among people-with-problems!With not enough jobs, Crime will increase!Please re-create the destroyed jobs by abolishing the minimum wage of the Command Economy!Please support instead the prosperity-producing, voluntary, competitive Free-Market Economy.The Free Market Economy produces prosperity.The Command Economy produces poverty.As Spock would say, "Live long and prosper."Sincerely,Goodspaceguy Sunday, June 26, 2016 Goodspaceguy, 2016 Washington State Gubernatorial Candidate for Prosperity This is message #48 from me Goodspaceguy on my blog Our Spaceship Earth 2016 June 26 (I might revise this message from time-to-time.) 2016 June 29, Wednesday: To move towards small government, vote for the small spending candidates. Vote against the big spending candidates who build big intrusive government and subject the people to heavy taxation. Gubernatorial candidate Goodspaceguy says that small government and a large private sector and the competitive free market produces the higher living standard. Eleven 2016 candidates for Governor of Washington State is good competition! Is the news media you follow reporting to you about these eleven candidates? It is also good that there are so many candidates (17) in the US Senate race from Washington State. These primary election races end on Tuesday, August 2, 2016, just 34 days from now, June 29. 2016Voters’PamphletBio&Statement4Governor 2016 May 27 Goodspaceguy BIO: Elected Experience: Goodspaceguy was elected to leadership in various fun, social organizations. Other Professional Experience: Benefiting from do-it-yourself skills and shared-living, Minnesota-born, amateur economist and amateur investor Goodspaceguy has become prosperous. Education: Being university educated in business, economics and other subjects in Germany, Sweden, and America, has given amateur linguist Goodspaceguy a worldview. Community Service: As we travel with our Mother Sun inside our Milky Way Galaxy, amateur astronomer Goodspaceguy thinks of our Earth as our “Spaceship Earth.” Former Boy Scout Goodspaceguy tries to improve our Spaceship Earth Home in simple ways: like picking up litter and helping here and there. Professional amateur Goodspaceguy is a Generalist. STATEMENT: Thank you to my more than 55,000 friends who voted for me, Goodspaceguy, in 2015. In our democracy, we, the people, build our living standard. We should now stop building the poverty-inducing welfare state, and we should resume building our competitive, free market. How? Stop voting for the big spenders who become the big taxers and growers of enormous, stifling government that leads to high rents and high prices. Instead, vote for the small spenders so that the competitive, free market segment of our economy can profitably grow and hire more producers. Also, study economics, which tells us how to operate our prosperity, movie, and poetry producing free market. Unemployed people should reclaim the right to sell their own labor at bargain rates. Because the minimum wage prevents some people from getting work, abolish the minimum wage. The minimum wage shrinks our exchange economy, destroys jobs, increases crime, and increases homelessness. The minimum wage is a tool of force of the always-out-of-balance, evil command-economy. Defend the right of even losers and slackers to enter the work force and raise the living standard by selling their labor at their low market value. Low loser wages will allow even criminals to get legal jobs. We need their help. As losers work, many will learn and improve their skills and earning power. They will help produce more and more goods and services … thus raising the living standard at lower, but profitable prices. Let’s turn losers and criminals and welfare recipients into productive workers. Jobs reduce crime and panhandling. Let’s activate the power of the market place to turn losers and criminals into winners in a low cost, low stress, free-parking, Washington State of beautiful sky homes. Let’s build a free market Utopia. Campaign phone number: 206-601-8172 Campaign email: goodspaceguy42@yahoo.com Campaign website: www.colonizespace.blogspot.com 2016TVWPoetryStatement (5 minutes) If you want to improve cars, study auto mechanics. If you want to improve our living standard, study economics, And vote for the small spenders … Not the big spenders. Big government bad! Small government good! Let’s build a full-employment … free market … utopia. With profits, let’s incentivize the competitive free market machine. Through work, let’s build up our living standard. Let’s explain and expand the competitive free market machine. I, candidate Goodspaceguy, am trying to decrease poverty. I, economist Goodspaceguy, am trying to increase prosperity. I want us to build a full-employment … free market … utopia. Let’s expand the equilibrium, free market machine that produces utopia. I love competitive capitalism. Capitalism is the best. Capitalism raises our living standard, Better than all the rest. Better than the poverty of the incentive-killing welfarism, Better than the poverty of intrusive, gross governmental-ism. Better than the use of force by socialism. The competitive free market system is the best. The competitive free market system is better than all the rest. The free market system is better than crumbly communism. The free market system is better than shoddy socialism. The free market system is better than gross governmentalism. The free market system is better than wormy welfarism. I want jobs, jobs, jobs, and more jobs. I want jobs for everyone. I want jobs for your mothers. I want jobs for your brothers. At individual, supply and demand wages, everyone can work. It is work … that raises the living standard. Getting more people to work, Makes increasing production less hard. Losses bad. Profits good. I want jobs for the homeless. I want jobs for the panhandlers. From the welfare rolls, I want workers. To raise the living standard, let’s turn welfarists into workers. When supply through competition increases, prices can decrease. When housing through competition increases, rents can decrease. But when people raise the minimum wage, prices go up, And the exchange economy chokes and shrinks, chokes and shrinks. Jobs are lost. People say, “At sky-high prices, I will not buy.” Jobs are lost at higher prices, and the exchange economy shrinks. When the minimum wage increases, Crime also increases … because jobs decrease. But when the cost of labor decreases, Crime also decreases … because jobs increase. More jobs … less crime. So many people forbidden to work by the minimum wage. So many people turning to crime because of the minimum wage. So many people made homeless by the minimum wage. So much trash, too expensive to clean up … because of the minimum wage. To raise our living standard, let’s reject the Command Economy. Let’s abolish the job-destroying minimum wage. Socialism uses the force of the Command Economy. Let’s abolish the crime-promoting, trash- promoting minimum wage. If we expand competitive capitalism and change welfare into work-fare, Watch our state of Washington change into a giant economic faire. Jobs will increase if we abolish the minimum wage. Homelessness will decrease if we abolish the minimum wage. Trash will decrease if we abolish the minimum wage. Crime will decrease if we abolish the minimum wage. Blessed be you, the brain-storming merri-makers For you may become Washingtonian movie-makers. By the sweat of your brows, You shall earn your bread. By the sweat of your brains, You shall build your mansions. Your life is your mansion. Your life and your body were the start of your mansion. In the heavens above there will be many mansions, Boeing-built to orbit Spaceship Earth and our Sun. Let’s not destroy Seattle’s viaduct. Let’s park on it instead. When we buy our gas, we also pay a tax. If we start parking on Seattle’s viaduct, Seattle moves ahead. With more parking, we might relax to the max. To raise our living standard, let us study economics, Which tells us how to build a full-employment, equilibrium utopia. The competitive free market moves us towards equilibrium economics, But the command economy moves us towards waste and distopia. Stop building the command economy’s compulsory distopia. Instead, let’s build a full-employment, free market utopia. Make individual, market-rate jobs …Washington’s claim to fame. Google Goodspaceguy. Goodspaceguy is my name. This is message #48 from me Goodspaceguy on my blog Our Spaceship Earth2016 June 26 (I might revise this message from time-to-time.)2016 June 29, Wednesday: To move towards small government, vote for the small spendingcandidates. Vote against the big spending candidates who build big intrusive government and subject the people to heavy taxation. Gubernatorial candidate Goodspaceguy says that small government and a large private sector and the competitive free market produces the higher living standard. Eleven 2016 candidates for Governor of Washington State is good competition! Is the news media you follow reporting to you about these eleven candidates? It is also good that there are so many candidates (17) in the US Senate race from Washington State. These primary election races end on Tuesday, August 2, 2016, just 34 days from now, June 29. Saturday, July 18, 2015 Goodspaceguy: Defend Small Business: Abolish the Minimum Wage Goodspaceguy: Defend Small Business: Abolish the Minimum Wage (Guten tag, Deutschland.) This is message #47 from me, Goodspaceguy, on my blog Our Spaceship Earth 2015 August 28 (I might revise this from time-to-time.) 2014 October 30: To see videos about candidate Goodspaceguy and his attempt to raise the living standard into orbital space, go to the internet or to YouTube and google Goodspaceguy. There you can also see videos by people who claim to be Goodspaceguy. These other Goodspaceguys may have the goal of discrediting Goodspaceguy. Drew Atkins, editor at Crosscut Public Media, also recently released his elaborate space interview with Goodspaceguy on Crosscut and on KCTS TV. This amusing interview has also made it to YouTube. 2015 October 27: Goodspaceguy says, "Rent controls destroy the rental markets!" 2015 October 19, Monday : Yesterday I was informed that I, Goodspaceguy, have been endorsed by the 34th Legislative District Republican Party. This is helpful for me because I have felt somewhat alone in my past attempts to un-sabotage our competitive, free-market,capitalistic economy, that works to raise the living standard. Of all the economic systems that I know of, free-market, competitive, capitalism seems to produce the best path to a higher living standard. We should try to build a Spaceship Earth (Planet Earth) upon which people can easily find and change work at their different market values. Each different job that a person gets is like a new classroom. Property rights are the pathway To prosperity for the people. Goodspaceguy, 2015 September 5 Support Citizen Alliance for Property Rights. The following statement is suppose to appear in the voters pamphlet for the election ending on Tuesday, November 3 in King County, Washington State: Port of Seattle Goodspaceguy: Defend Small Business: Abolish the Minimum Wage(Guten tag, Deutschland.)This is message #47 from me, Goodspaceguy, on my blog Our Spaceship Earth2015 August 28 (I might revise this from time-to-time.)2014 October 30: To see videos about candidate Goodspaceguy and his attemptto raise the living standard into orbital space, go to the internet orto YouTube and google Goodspaceguy. There you can also see videos by peoplewho claim to be Goodspaceguy. These other Goodspaceguys may have the goalof discrediting Goodspaceguy.Drew Atkins, editor at Crosscut Public Media, also recently released his elaboratespace interview with Goodspaceguy on Crosscut and on KCTS TV. This amusinginterview has also made it to YouTube.2015 October 27: Goodspaceguy says, "Rent controls destroy the rental markets!"2015 October 19, Monday : Yesterday I was informed that I, Goodspaceguy,have been endorsed by the 34th Legislative District Republican Party.This is helpful for me because I have felt somewhat alone in my past attempts toun-sabotage our competitive, free-market,capitalistic economy, that works to raisethe living standard.Of all the economic systems that I know of, free-market, competitive, capitalismseems to produce the best path to a higher living standard.We should try to build a Spaceship Earth (Planet Earth) upon which people caneasily find and change work at their different market values. Each different jobthat a person gets is like a new classroom.Property rights are the pathwayTo prosperity for the people.Goodspaceguy, 2015 September 5Support Citizen Alliance for Property Rights.The following statement is suppose to appear in the voters pamphlet for the election endingon Tuesday, November 3 in King County, Washington State:Commissioner Position Number Two Candidate Goodspaceguy Candidate Goodspaceguy Contact information: 10219 Ninth Ave. So. Seattle WA 98168 Seattle WA 98168 goodspaceguy42@yahoo.com http://colonizespace.blogspot.com Education: University educated in Germany, Sweden, and America, Goodspaceguy earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (economic minors.) Occupation: Shared Corporate Owner Goodspaceguy: “Unsabotage our shared, competitive, free market!” Statement: Warning: There are several people (some brilliant) who have been writing and producing under Goodspaceguy’s name (perhaps to cause him vote loss?) This is entirely unnecessary because Goodspaceguy can lose votes all by himself just by saying that the anti-free-market, minimum wage should be abolished so that less-productive, disadvantaged people can easily get work at their low market value. (Note: Jobs educate! Being forbidden to work by the minimum wage is terrible.) You the people of King County own the Port of Seattle. Why are you subsidizing this business through your property tax and through your rent? Are you getting a prosperous King County? No! Goodspaceguy thinks you are getting a lower living standard. Improving the economy by increasing jobs should be a goal of the port. Make it easy for the long-term unemployed and the homeless and the many beggars to get jobs somewhere in our competitive economy (where supply and demand sets prices.) Unsabotage our economy. Raise the people’s living standard by increasing production. To fix your car, hire auto mechanics. To fix your economy, elect economists who understand business and the profit incentive. At university, Goodspaceguy spent much time studying business and economics. Because you have a super-duper high-cost port, Goodspaceguy believes cost control should be increased. Investor Goodspaceguy, a small spender and a big saver, has become prosperous. To increase business, Goodspaceguy hopes we will become willing to use business and economics principles to change from a high cost port to a low cost port! To help Goodspaceguy raise the living standard, please study economics. Read the news. Listen to radio talk show hosts. Discuss and defend capitalism. Remember: when you vote for big spending candidates, you are voting to increase taxes and waste and wild, wild spending (with millions to the terrible tunnel?) End of voters' pamphlet statement. 2015 July 18. (Revised 2015 August 28) I plan to revise and add to this message from time to time. Small business is said to create 80% of the new jobs, so when small business is attacked, jobs decrease. Many other candidates claim that they will increase jobs, but by supporting the minimum wage, they actually decrease jobs. What are you getting for your taxes? I think you are getting a lower living standard. My name is Goodspaceguy, the small business candidate, and you the people of King County are the owners of the Port of Seattle, which is a governmental business. The port taxes you directly through your property tax or indirectly through your rent (making your rent higher.)What are you getting for your taxes? I think you are getting a lower living standard. By taxing you, your port’s goal might be to get you to subsidize and improve the Port so that employment will increase. But because of the huge unemployment caused by the job-destroying minimum wage, your subsidy to the Port is more than cancelled out: so many people not working, so many homeless people. The minimum wage forbids many less able people to work, which cannot be overcome by the taxes that you pay to the Port. World economics teaches that the higher the minimum wage, the fewer the jobs. To earn the minimum wage or higher, workers have to produce at the minimum wage level or higher. Some don’t and lose their jobs. As the minimum wage goes up, the less able and the less responsible people usually lose their jobs or don’t even get jobs. It is wrong to use the minimum wage to forbid the less able to work. When we abolish the minimum wage, jobs will increase and homelessness will decrease. To increase jobs and raise the living standard in the wonderful, competitive, free market, we are suppose to set wages by supply and demand so let’s abolish the job destroying, minimum wage laws. I am also opposed to the restraint of trade that will be caused by the pending partial merger with the Port of Tacoma. I, Goodspaceguy, say that work, wealth, and the competitive free market produce a higher living standard for the people than our current, sabotaged system. Study world economics and stop forbidding people to work. 2015ElectionBlog 47 is a continuation of a work in progress and will be revised from time-to-time. 2015 July 17: This message #will be revised from time-to-time. Goodspaceguy is one of three candidates for the position of Port of Seattle Commissioner, Position Two. When the King County Primary Election ends Tuesday, August 4, 2015, one of the candidates will have been eliminated, and the surviving two candidates, who get the most votes, will continuing on to the General Election, ending Tuesday, November 3, 2015. There is a lack of cost control at the Port of Seattle. Thus the port is a high cost port, from which some customers flee, seeking the use of other ports. The elected five member Commission should be a supervising watch group that acts to hold down costs. Goodspaceguy wants to help change the port from a high-cost port into a low-cost port, which attracts users. Goodspaceguy wants the Port of Tacoma and the Port of Seattle to continue competing with each other instead of engaging in a restraint-of-trade operation named the Northwest Seaport Alliance. Competition promotes cost control, which should promote more business for both Tacoma and Seattle, helping to raise the living standard in both Pierce County and King County. Competition gives you, the people choices. Competition “to the bottom” actually raises the living standard of the people the most and helps to lower prices. Competition helps produce a full employment economy, which is really, really good. I, Goodspaceguy, want to make it easier for people to produce the good life for themselves: much, much better than the good life in Sweden. 2015 July 18. (Revised 2015 August 28)I plan to revise and add to this message from time to time.Small business is said to create 80% of the new jobs, so when small business is attacked, jobs decrease. Many other candidates claim that they will increase jobs, but by supporting the minimum wage, they actually decrease jobs. Tuesday, July 23, 2013 Goodspaceguy: Sometimes Government Doesn't Work Well GoodSpaceGuy: Sometimes Government Doesn’t Work Well 2013 July 23 Dear Fellow Crew members of our Spaceship Earth, This is message #46 from me, GoodSpaceGuy, on my blog Our Spaceship Earth Government Bridges to No-Where Projects make some people, such as me, think that we should try to make government smaller so that the workers can keep a larger percentage of what they produce instead of having it taxed away to go for “No-Where” projects. For example, I am one of four candidates for the position of King County Executive in King County, the most populous county in the state of Washington. We are having an election in King County for various county offices and for the school board, but King County Television doesn’t seem to be interested. Why? What is happening? Perhaps the incumbents don’t see a need for an election in which too, too much is said? In my mind an election is an important event that should be covered by county owned TV when a county has its own government TV station. Therefore, King County TV should have been promoting this election. It hasn’t. The City of Seattle in cooperation with King County has been helpful by having the various candidates make video voter guide presentations of two minutes each, but King County Television hasn’t been running them. According to the King County Television Schedule on the Internet, last week (Monday, July 15 through Sunday July 21, 2013) in order to promote excitement and enthusiasm for our mail-in election, King County Television showed zero of the video voter guide presentations. King County Television is doing a wonderful job of keeping this election a secret. This leads to stable government, favoring the incumbents. Some of the challengers, such as me, might make statements that some people might find upsetting. The mail-in voting has now begun. But most voters have not seen the video voter guide presentations. As of this morning (Tuesday, July 23, 2013) the King County Television Schedule for this week (Monday, July 22 through Sunday July 28, 2013) indicates that the candidates’ two minute presentations were shown on Monday, once each, but the schedule shows no plans to show them again during this voting week. Why confuse the voters? Has the power structure determined that it is better for most voters to vote without having seen the candidates? Of course, the schedule might be changed at anytime to show the candidates video presentations after more of the voters have voted, but King County television has so many different types of programs to show to educate the voter, for example, “Using Manure in the Garden.” With so many good programs, its hard to find time for the candidates in our democratic republic. GoodSpaceGuy: Sometimes Government Doesn’t Work Well2013 July 23Dear Fellow Crew members of our Spaceship Earth,This is message #46 from me, GoodSpaceGuy, on my blog Our Spaceship EarthGovernment Bridges to No-Where Projects make some people, such as me, think that we should try to make government smaller so that the workers can keep a larger percentage of what they produce instead of having it taxed away to go for “No-Where” projects.For example, I am one of four candidates for the position of King County Executive in King County, the most populous county in the state of Washington. We are having an election in King County for various county offices and for the school board, but King County Television doesn’t seem to be interested. Why? What is happening? Perhaps the incumbents don’t see a need for an election in which too, too much is said?In my mind an election is an important event that should be covered by county owned TV when a county has its own government TV station. Therefore, King County TV should have been promoting this election. It hasn’t.The City of Seattle in cooperation with King County has been helpful by having the various candidates make video voter guide presentations of two minutes each, but King County Television hasn’t been running them.According to the King County Television Schedule on the Internet, last week (Monday, July 15 through Sunday July 21, 2013) in order to promote excitement and enthusiasm for our mail-in election, King County Television showed zero of the video voter guide presentations. King County Television is doing a wonderful job of keeping this election a secret. This leads to stable government, favoring the incumbents. Some of the challengers, such as me, might make statements that some people might find upsetting.The mail-in voting has now begun. But most voters have not seen the video voter guide presentations.As of this morning (Tuesday, July 23, 2013) the King County Television Schedule for this week (Monday, July 22 through Sunday July 28, 2013) indicates that the candidates’ two minute presentations were shown on Monday, once each, but the schedule shows no plans to show them again during this voting week. Why confuse the voters? Has the power structure determined that it is better for most voters to vote without having seen the candidates?Of course, the schedule might be changed at anytime to show the candidates video presentations after more of the voters have voted, but King County television has so many different types of programs to show to educate the voter, for example, “Using Manure in the Garden.”With so many good programs, its hard to find time for the candidates in our democratic republic. Wednesday, July 03, 2013 Goodspaceguy: The Minimum Wage is A Big Cause of UnemploymentDON’T dare try telling Josh Reynolds rugby league isn’t a mental game — the Canterbury star’s mind is his greatest asset and just like his kicking and passing game, training his mind for the rigours of playing in the NRL has been a long process. But it’ll all be worth it if he can reach the level of the game’s greatest player, Johnathan Thurston. In showing how serious he’s taking 2016, Reynolds has revealed he’s cut certain friends out of his inner circle and taken to heart the work of Canterbury’s mind coach whose tips he’s been putting into practice. “Johnathan Thurston didn’t become Johnathan Thurston by just throwing the ball around, eating garbage and going out on the weekends,” Reynolds told foxsports.com.au. “His prep is perfect because he always seems to have good games. I’m trying to do that with my diet and a bit of stuff with my mind. Josh Reynolds of the Bulldogs celebrates kicking a field goal. Source: News Corp Australia “Sometimes I feel I can drift. I want to relax a bit and that’s how I want to be on the field — I see the best players are the most relaxed players so that’s what I’m trying to be.” Not only has Reynolds been working on managing his anger but the former NSW Origin representative has been trying to not dwell on past performances which he believes will be a major turning point for his career. “We’ve had a mind coach at the Dogs for a while, John Novak — it’s been a four year process,” Reynolds explained. “I still get stages where I feel agitated and angry but now I know how to deal with it. I had a bad day at training the other day — I don’t go home and think about it, I get over it and know tomorrow’s a new day.” While many of these kinds of stories have been written about various players during pre-seasons, this one is different. Josh Reynolds fires up. Source: News Corp Australia When Reynolds speaks, there’s something different about the tone of his voice. He seems more mature and more comfortable within himself. He’s changed. Reynolds has known for quite some time now that if he wants to make a long-term career out of rugby league that he’s going to have to make some changes. “My career has been inconsistent and I’m not afraid to say that,” Reynolds admitted. “I’ve had some really high highs but then some really low lows — I want to find that balance in my game and life on the field. “That’s why I’m confident in knowing what I have to do. I’ve taken some really big steps in my life off the field and my game on the field to make sure I’m being the player I want to be, not the bloke at the coffee shop or on Twitter. “I feel like I’m in a good place.” Changing his mentality has long been a work in progress. So when the news broke mid-last year that his halves partner Trent Hodkinson was set to leave for Newcastle in 2016, the five-eighth knew the time to put his hard work into effect had arrived. Josh Reynolds gets in the face of referee Gerard Sutton. Source: News Corp Australia This year Reynolds is the senior playmaker. The buck stops with him. It’s a lot of pressure which is being placed on the 26-year-old but he’s certain he’s ready for it. In getting into a positive mindset, Reynolds has distanced himself from “the few negative people that I see [that] tend to bring me down”. The next step is tweaking his playing style, with his aggression and brain fades often landing him in hot water and under scrutiny. “I’ve played like that my whole life,” he said. “When I first started I could have got away with it. Now, that over the top (stuff) has got me into trouble before. “It’s not the player I want to be — a hot head — but then again, it got me there. I have to find that balance. I need to take a step back and realise what my job is. “There’s time’s for me in the game where I can spark the boys and spark something. I’m finding them. I’m looking back at things in the past and realising when’s the time to do it and when’s the time to hold back.”Taking the teeth out of a sketchy aid lead. Sketchy aid climbing can be a brain-numbing, adrenal-gland-tapping affair, especially when the consequence of falling is a monster whip or a trauma-inducing impact. Despite the notion that honed aid artistes keep company with the Grim Reaper, and head up onto horror-show leads with a blasé attitude, most experienced wall climbers employ a few tricks to keep themselves from visiting the dark side. Stack the odds. Wear a helmet. Folks have been maimed by slipping out of their aiders and flipping upside down on clean A1. Now imagine what your noggin might collide with during a lengthier fall... yikes. Fingerless gloves are another great idea, as are eye protection and supportive, aider-friendly shoes. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Clip the iron. If you’re carrying a hammer, clip it into your harness when you’re not using it — an ice-climbing clipper biner works great for this task. During rapid descents, that hunk of steel can do some serious damage when it’s dangling on its leash. (Hooking, bounce testing, and free climbing are three prime instances when a fall is possible and pounding pins isn’t necessary.) ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website Light is right. Eyeball your pitch from the belay, and only take the gear you need to climb the first twenty or so feet. Paring down the rack can easily cut 10 to 15 pounds — this weight reduction just might be enough to keep that number-one head or tipped-out TCU from ripping. When more gear or a specific piece is required, the belayer can send it up. Another weight-reduction strategy is to use an 8.5- or 9-millimeter dynamic tag line. When the leader hits the belay, she can pull up one end of the static haul line, along with the jugs, hauler, cordelette, locking biners, and any other gear she needs to set up the anchor and hoist the pig. Attention. Keep your belayer aware and ready. Make sure she is positioned near the anchor’s hard point, with her brake hand securely gripping the rope. It’s disconcerting to look down and see your buddy stretched out and half asleep on the portaledge when you’re strung out above multiple copperheads. One strategy is to frequently request gear to be zipped up, forcing your belayer to be more interactive, and thus more attentive. If the leader is a heavyweight, the belayer may wish to anchor in with a directional to keep from kissing the rock should her fall-management skills be tested. Limit your loads. Carry a few load-limiting quickdraws . Several companies make these nifty draws, but Yates has cornered the market with aid-specific load-limiters. When hit with a fall, their specially designed bar-tacks rip sequentially, absorbing some of the impact
Windows 10 Mobile version didn’t show up, while others could not install it due to a bug that prevented the process from starting. “We are aware of issues related to the recently published Windows 10 Mobile update, including: update not being offered, update appearing to get stuck at 0%, and pesky low storage notifications,” the company said in a statement when deciding to pull the update completely. Windows 10 Mobile 10586.29 is available for Lumia 950 and 950 XL devices that aren’t enrolled in the Windows Insider program, so it’s critical to both users and Microsoft to make the process run smoothly on both models, especially because we’re talking about the company’s new flagships. The update should already be available for all devices that are yet to update, so go over to the phone update section to see if it’s there for you too. Thanks for the tip, @vickymhatre6!Now the mortgage-backed machinery is beginning to hit its stride again. In just the first two months of the year, CMBS issuance jumped to $19 billion—about four times the volume of last year's first quarter—filling the real estate market's tanks for what is already shaping up to be a busy year. "Borrowers and sellers on both sides will have the confidence to enter into these larger acquisitions knowing the CMBS financing will be there," said Douglas Mazer, who co-heads Wells Fargo's CMBS lending group in Manhattan. "It's a key driver of sales, especially in New York, where we have these larger trophy-asset deals."And supply is still rising. In the wake of the huge volumes run up in January and February, JPMorgan Chase dramatically revised its CMBS forecast to $70 billion this year, from just $45 billion previously."There are predictions that the market could go even higher this year, to $80, $90, even $100 billion," said Tom Fink, an executive at the CMBS tracking company Trepp.While such figures pale in comparison with the industry's $230 billion high-water mark hit in 2007, it is still a multiple of last year's $44 billion, much less 2009's rock bottom of just $1 billion. Behind the surge, experts say, are hordes of investors looking for alternatives to the record-low returns offered on Treasury bonds and other investment products. In New York, real estate investors and owners alike are already beginning to seize their opportunities. Giant Manhattan-based landlord Vornado Realty Trust, for example, is arranging a CMBS loan for the retail condominium it purchased last year at 666 Fifth Ave. for $707 million, according to sources. Meanwhile, Milford Plaza, whose ground lease was just sold for $325 million and whose hotel and retail space are also separately up for sale by owners Rockpoint Group and Highgate Hotels, is being looked at by potential buyers as a likely CMBS deal, people familiar with the site say.For property buyers, the securities offer several key advantages. One is speed. In recent years, purchasers of big properties had to herd together teams of banks to come up with the hundreds of millions of dollars in financing their deals required because none of the lenders was willing to shoulder the burden themselves. Knowing that they can quickly sell off loans in tiny slices as securities allows single banks to commit to vastly larger loans. Lately, the mortgage securities have begun to offer another benefit: lower costs. Funds available through CMBS are increasingly available at lower rates than those demanded by life-insurance companies and other lenders that plan to keep them on their own balance sheets."CMBS right now is offering interest rates around 4%, which are the lowest that have been available since the Second World War," Mr. Fink said.For big property owners like George Comfort & Sons and RCG Longview, the securities offer the chance to raise vast sums cheaply and quickly by taking out loans against their holdings. That is cash that they can then put back to work by buying other properties, adding yet more demand to the market. In kind, SL Green, the city's largest landlord, just refinanced 1515 Broadway, the Times Square office tower that is the headquarters for media giant Viacom. In that deal, the company took a $900 million CMBS loan against the property. Similarly, Tishman Speyer recently securitized a roughly $190 million loan tied to a Los Angeles office complex called Wilshire Courtyard that it purchased late last year. Tishman Speyer is now searching for hundreds of millions of dollars in CMBS financing for the 32-story tower it owns at 11 W. 42nd St., sources say.At a forum in Cedar Rapids Iowa on Sunday, Bernie Sanders fielded a question from a young Mexican-American woman who says that she developed self esteem issues because she did not see enough cartoon protagonists who resembled her racial group. His answer goes deeper than race and touches the media's other bias: class. "We are a country where millions of people are in despair," Sanders said. "Black, white, brown. They want to see a reflection of their life, of their reality, in media, and in many respects, they are not." "And then they say, who the hell is talking about me? Who knows about my life? Why should I vote? No one cares -- No one even knows what's going on in my life." QUESTION: I grew up, I'm Mexican-American. We didn't have cable or anything --this has a point-- I promise. So I watched a lot of PBS and whatnot. Most of the [cartoon] characters, growing up, I know they're animals, most of the characters, I assumed they were white. Growing up it was kind of hard to believe in myself. And so I was wondering, if there is any way we can make, at least public broadcasting television legally require diversity. And not just one character from each race, but like protagonists of various races and stuff like that. That'd be nice. BERNIE SANDERS: I want to broaden your point. And that it is, throughout this campaign I've been talking about my fears that economically we are moving towards an oligarchical form of society, where a small number of very wealthy people are reviecing almost all of the new income and the new wealth. Politically, I worry as a result of Citizen's United, billionaires are buying elections, but I also worry about the media. Paulina raises an issue, it is one issue, but here is what I worry about. I think you can watch television 24/7, and not get a feeling that what you are seeing is the reality of American life, in many respects. You're talking about racial issues, in a sense. You're not seeing people of your background on television. Right. What I'm talking about also, and [Iowa State] Sen. Turner made this point a moment ago, we just came out of the worst economic downturn in the modern history of this country, since the Great Depression. Millions of people lost their jobs, millions of people lost thier homes, millions of people lost their life savings. Today in America, you have a middle class which si disappearing. You have in some cases, peoples life expectancy going down, massive despair. Is that reflected on televison? Is the reality, the pain of America, reflected on television? The struggle people are making. Half of people 55 years of age or older, have zero savings for retirement. Got that? You're 57 years old, you got nothing in the bank. How do you think you're feeling? You're scared to death. See that on television? CNN? NBC? ABC? Soap operas? Not so much. You're point is right, and I agree with you, but it is even deeper than that. We are a country where millions of people are in despair. Black, white, brown. They want to see a reflection of their life, of their reality, in media, and in many respects, they are not. And then they say, who the hell is talking about me? Who knows about my life? Why should I vote? No one cares -- No one even knows what's going on in my life. So media becomes an important part of the reality of America, and I think we need some big changes there.Left on the cutting room floor You've finally done it. You've written your 1200-page game bible, describing all 150 painstakingly detailed levels, 20 different boss fights, and an overarching plot that spans generations. Now comes the part where you actually, y'know, make it. You've got two years to do so, and your publisher's last'sure-fire' project just got sent through the critical meat grinder, so your budget's been chopped in half. Aaaaaand half of your top-level staff has quit in frustration. Hope you're not married to that hours-long multi-path ending you were planning on implementing. There are lots of reasons certain scenes get cut, whether it's due to a lack of time, hardware constraints, or the developers simply biting off more than they can chew. Sometimes, the cuts go unnoticed, and the rest of the game goes on without a hitch. Some other games don’t cut enough, continuing to clumsily refer to these now non-existent events, leaving you wondering just what the hell everyone is talking about. And a surprising amount of these cuts are very much last-minute changes, as evidenced by their content’s persisting but locked-off presence on the final retail disc. It’s a weird old mix of stuff, alright. Ever wondered what could have been? Check out these seven amazing scenes that were cut from your favorite video games. 7. Wreck a Thanksgiving Day Parade (Ghostbusters: The Video Game) The Ghostbusters game is famous for two things: letting players act out their favorite moments from the classic films and also for not sucking like nearly every other licensed video game. It's pure fanservice, letting you run amok in a hotel, library, sewers, and more, generally destroying everything in sight on your quest to bust as many ghosts as possible. One particular scene was supposed to take you through the streets of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but was inexplicably cut. As you can see from this tech demo, the level design and crowd AI were both in place, and if you go digging around on the disc, you'll even find some cutscenes that were supposed to take place during this parade. Had the level been included, you would have captured ghosts while riding on a float as huge balloons filled the sky. In the final game, the mayor even makes specific reference to how the Ghostbusters have wrecked "his library, museum, and parade," despite the parade never actually making it in. It's a shame, because this level sounds awesome. 6. Save Stilwater with song (Saints Row: The Third) Saints Row: The Third's story, while full of hilarious sequences and lots and lots of crotch punching, feels a bit lacking, and some details from the official strategy guide actually shed some light on as to why. According to the guide, there were several different drafts and details that changed over the course of development. At one point, Johnny Gat was supposed to be captured instead of killed, characters like Viola and Kiki would have joined the Saints, and Shaundi was actually supposed to be off gallivanting on a reality show in Mexico. But the best scene that was left on the editing room floor? After the bridge to Stilwater is destroyed, there was supposed to be a cutscene featuring a 'We Are The World'-style song routine as the Saints attempt to raise money to rebuild the city. I'm actually a bit saddened now, knowing that this was supposed to exist. It would have been hilarious. 5. 32 colossi, gone (Shadow of the Colossus) A playthrough of Shadow of the Colossus will take an average player anywhere from 8-10 hours. Not too shabby for a game based solely around traversing a barren landscape filled with 16 boss fights. Now imagine that total time nearly tripled, as developer Fumito Uedo originally envisioned as many as 48 colossi available to conquer. Realizing that 48 hulking beasts was probably a bit too much for the PlayStation 2 to handle, Ueda cut the roster down to a more manageable 24. Eight of those were also scrapped due to budget constraints and other limitations, with their only existence confirmed by their presence in the game's artbook. Among the cut colossi are a massive daddy longlegs, a phoenix, a griffon, and even a monkey. While those seem interesting enough, I'm actually even more curious about the other 24 colossi that were planned. The sheer number of them would have lead to some absolutely bonkers concepts, most of them completely unlike the 16 we actually got. 4. Samus was supposed to fight Meta Kraid (Metroid Prime) Between fighting space pirates, battling those annoying metroids, and otherwise coping with the deadly flora and fauna of Tallon IV, Samus certainly has her hands full during her first 3D outing. Hell, she even comes across a cyborg version of perpetual thorn-in-her-side Ridley, who attacks her during the penultimate boss fight. But Ridley wasn't supposed to be the only major villain making their GameCube debut. If things had gone to plan, Samus would have come across a giant, three-dimensional version of Super Metroid's Kraid. Referred to as 'Meta Kraid' by fans, this overweight lizard was modelled, textured, and intended to be used as a boss fight in the Phazon Mines on Tallon IV. A large portion of his level was prototyped and implemented, but would have delayed Metroid Prime's release date. Unfortunately, he was deemed 'unimportant' to the overall experience, and thus got the axe. Maybe he'll finally get his due in a high-definition sequel? Fingers crossed. 3. That exciting bridge battle from the trailer? Never happens (Bioshock Infinite) Five years is a long time to wait for any game, let alone for the highly anticipated followup to instant classic BioShock. And a lot can change over five years, as different modes and areas are created because they sound cool and dropped when they don't work. If you compare the BioShock Infinite we got in 2013 to the preview trailers shown in the years leading up to release, you can see some pretty spectacular moments that never actually made it into the final release. In this ten-minute gameplay trailer from 2010, Booker's companion Elizabeth seems to have way more power at her disposal than she does in the actual 2013 release. She's not only opening tears to hidden weapon caches, but she's also summoning rain clouds for him to use as a conductor for his electricity hands. There's even an exciting and protracted bridge battle, complete with dramatic appearance by the intimidating Songbird - all of which was cut from the final game. While this trailer is likely more proof-of-concept than actual gameplay, it's still intriguing that many of the ideas and locations shown off prior to release were either changed or removed completely. 2. Arsenal Gear destroys Manhattan (Metal Gear Solid 2) If you've played Metal Gear Solid 2, you've probably noticed that the lead-up to the final boss feels a bit… truncated. Raiden goes from standing on top of Arsenal Gear in the middle of the ocean to battling Solidus on top of a ruined building in New York City within a few awkward edits. So what happened? Well, there was supposed to be a lengthy sequence showing Arsenal Gear smashing its way through the New York skyline, knocking into the Statue of Liberty (which would wind up on Ellis Island after the dust settled). All told, the out-of-control Gear should have crushed half of Manhattan, but all of it was cut in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. While it's a shame that the removal caused such a jarring disconnect between the aforementioned scenes, it would have been in incredibly poor taste if Metal Gear Solid 2 had shipped with this scene intact, mere months after the attacks. 1. Most of the game (Knights of the Old Republic 2) It's no secret that Knights of the Old Republic 2 shipped unfinished. Pushed up against a looming deadline, developer Obsidian had to make a hard decision and cut swaths of content just to get the game out the door. It hacked off reams of character interactions and dialog, removed locations like a droid production plant and an entire extra planet, and even cut large sections of the ending. The final product left players confused and incomplete. Something was obviously missing. Thankfully, many of the related files were still included on the game's discs, despite not being accessible during the course of normal play. Intrepid modders have since taken these files, prettied them up, and fitted them back into the main game, including that awesome sequence in the aforementioned droid factory. Bring that misanthropic HK-47 droid with you, and either save and recruit the robots found within, or blow them all up. And the ending? Well, there actually is one now. Finally; closure. Hopefully there's a director's cut No one likes to cut their favorite feature or tear-jerking scene, but sometimes difficult decisions need to be made in the name of actually shipping a product. Luckily, many of these scenes get to live on thanks to rereleases and player-created mods. What are some of your favorite deleted scenes? Let me know in the comments!I am hoping that my Christian, and Catholic/Orthodox in particular, readers will do me a favor here. I have something I want to try and nail down, and could use help. You see, something which is not uncommon to run across is a variation of the following notion: Women love more than men. Sometimes it is as simple as that. Other times you will see it as “wives love more than husbands.” Or “mothers love more than fathers.” And so on. The point being, it is all an example of the above idea that women are more loving. Nevermind what particular notion/definition of love is intended. What I am asking from my everyone is if there is any scripture which justifies this notion. Anything at all, please mention in the comments. And for my Catholic/Orthodox readers, are there any writings of the Church Fathers or saints which say something along these lines? I am quite curious about this. My gut tells me this is a modern notion, something which has appeared since “Chivalry” in the west was perverted. [If I was Rollo I might say something along the lines of “feminine primacy socialization” or the like] However, I might be wrong. So I’m asking for your help here. Anything you find, just leave in the comments. AdvertisementsBy Steve Tawa PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The Committee of Seventy, which champions fair elections and political accountability, brought together the outgoing and incoming Mayor at its annual post-election luncheon. Hundreds of supporters of Seventy and its better government advocacy agenda saw Mayor Michael Nutter receive the first ever Champion of Integrity in Government Award, presented by the organization’s Chairman of the Board, Stephen Tang. “As mayor, he set the tone from the top, that members of the administration would meet the highest standards of integrity and ethical behavior.” The award is named after Joan Markman, the city’s first Chief Integrity Officer, whose office investigates complaints of fraud, corruption and unethical behavior. She passed away earlier this year. Nutter, who appointed Markman, says he ‘misses her greatly.’ “Joan’s moral compass never, ever failed her.” Mayor-elect Kenney backed then Councilman Michael Nutter years ago to support the creation of the City’s Board of Ethics. As a mayoral candidate last March, Kenney’s first policy paper centered on strenthening ethics policies. They included what he called Driving Down Pay-to-Play, referring to the practice of awarding government contracts in exchange for campaign contributions. “We are going to go forward and build on the things that the nutter administration has done on transparency, ethics, and integrity in government.” Kenney, who spent 23 years on City Council, first introduced pay to play legislation back in 2003. In 2007 and 2011, Seventy distributed an “Ethics Agenda” to the mayoral candidates, and it is pleased that many of its reforms recommended in its agendas have been achieved.A feline in the US has broken the Guinness world record for world's longest domestic cat. The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that a five-year-old Maine Coon named Stewie was certified as the new record holder after measuring 123.2cm from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail bone. Robin Henderson stretches out her Maine Coon cat Stewie, who has just claimed the record as the world's longest cat. Credit:AP That's a little more than 1.2 metres long. The record was previously held by another Maine Coon that measured 121.9cm. Stewie's owners, Robin Hendrickson and Erik Brandsness, say they decided to try for the record after hearing countless people say they were amazed by Stewie's length. Mr Hendrickson said Maine Coons were known as "the gentle giants" of the cat world.With a few clicks of the mouse, anybody can see that Byrd dramatically lowered the rate at which he hit ground balls in 2013, from an average of 1.06 per flyball in his 3 declining years with the Cubs to 0.62 in his breakout stretch with the Mets. With a few more clicks they can view video of any of Byrd's at-bats over the last 3, 4, 5 years. But the point is not what the numbers say about Byrd, because the numbers still say that, even with the Pirates, he was a hitter whose production would have made an $8 million salary seem reasonable. The point is that the Phillies still seem to be operating with the philosophy that the subjective opinions of their personnel men are the most important variable in deciding a player's value.Fab computer hacking game Hacknet [official site] has launched its mod tools, letting players create their own missions, campaigns, music and more. Or if you don’t fancy making things yourself, hey, you’ll still get to play the ‘extensions’ other people make. I’ll be sorely disappointed if someone isn’t already making a campaign recreating the great movie of our cybertime, Hackers. I’ll make it myself if I have to. I’ll get some friends in to help me type. The Gibson must fall. If you’re not already hacking the planet yourself, hey, Hacknet is on sale right now too.”Hacknet Extensions enables players to create their own Hacknet campaigns, system networks, nodes, themes, music and story missions, and share them with other players through Steam Workshop,” developers Team Fractal Alligator explain. Several new campaigns are already up on Hacknet’s Steam Workshop. A small mod-making contest is going on too. Hacknet was already one of the best hacking games, according to resident leet dood Br3ndy, so mod support on top sounds splendid. If you fancy jacking in yourself, a 66% discount makes Hacknet £2.39/3,39€/$3.39 on sale on Steam until Friday. Or it’s £6.62 to buy Hacknet together with Labyrinths, its recent expansion. Go on, you knChipotle plans to close all of its stores for a few hours next month to host a company-wide meeting discussing food safety after the chain was tasked with dealing with food poisoning outbreaks last year. Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle, told the Oregonian the meeting is expected to take place on Feb. 8 and will involve all staff members. A wide-range of topics are going to be covered in the meeting. “We want to thank our teams for all their hard work, to discuss some of the changes we are making to enhance food safety, to talk about the restaurants role in all of that and to answer some questions from employees,” Arnold said in an email to the paper. The company announced Wednesday it will launch a marketing campaign in February to kick off its road to recovery after the food scares. Sales plunged 30 percent in December from the food poisoning outbreaks. First, an E. coli outbreak came to light at the end of October, with additional cases being reported over the next several weeks. Then, in what Chipotle says was an unrelated case, a norovirus sickened dozens at a Chipotle in Boston. Last week, the company said it was subpoenaed by federal authorities as part of a criminal investigation tied to a different norovirus outbreak in California over the summer. Lawsuits have also been filed on behalf of customers sickened after eating at the chain. Bill Marler, a food safety lawyer in Seattle, told the Oregonian that more lawsuits are coming. “I represent a total of 75 people, but I haven’t filed all their lawsuits yet,” Marler added. At an investment conference in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday, Chipotle executives said the company is taking measures to reduce the risk of another food scare to "near zero." They said they would start "inviting customers back" to restaurants in February with stepped-up marketing and direct mail offers. They said food safety will not be explicitly referenced in the marketing, but that there might be a "clever headline." Chipotle Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung noted the company's recovery would be "messy," with investments in food safety and marketing eating into profit margins. During the half-hour presentation at the ICR conference, Chipotle founder and co-CEO Steve Ells noted customers will still see food preparation in restaurants, including the grilling of steaks and steaming of rice. That sense of freshly prepared ingredients has been one of Chipotle's attractions as it has sought to distinguish itself from traditional fast-food chains. Ells noted the company's dedication to food quality in the past, and added that he was confident the company would win back customers and emerge as a stronger company. Executives said they expect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to declare the E. coli outbreak to be over at some point. The agency has not identified an ingredient that was responsible for the E. coli outbreak, and Chipotle has said it may never know what was to blame. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Click for more from the Oregonian.The number of vacancies for physicians in B.C. is believed to have reached a historical high, with nearly 700 positions listed by Health Match B.C., the provincial agency that recruits health professionals from around the world. And if last year’s recruitment is any indication, only about a third of the doctors will be found. Last year, it filled 234 vacancies — 192 on a permanent basis and 42 locum (temporary) positions. Of the 667 postings listed now (the number fluctuates on a daily basis), 447 are in family medicine. Data provided by the Ministry of Health shows constantly escalating vacancies for the past four years, particularly for general practitioners. This comes as no surprise to West End resident Susan Stewart, who has been using walk-in clinics for the past six years since her doctor retired. “Every time I ask for a referral, I’m referred to the websites,” said Stewart, 41, who is forced to wait in line to see a doctor each time at her local Care Point Medical Centre on Davie. “And after doing some research on the doctors I find there, I call the offices to ask about availability and I’m told that some of the doctors on the list aren’t taking patients.” At the clinics, Stewart added, she sees a host of different doctors but doesn’t “get that familiarity that you get from a regular family doctor. For some things it’s a concern because you like to have a doctor-patient relationship with someone who knows your history instead of having to repeat it every single time to a new doctor.” John Mabbott, executive director of Health Match B.C., acknowledges the list of vacancies is significant. According to the latest (2015) report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, there were a total of 10,692 doctors in B.C. in 2014. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. says there were 11,574 doctors in B.C. as of February 2015. Both Mabbott and Sarah Plank, communications director for the ministry of health, attributed the vacancies in community clinics and hospitals to an aging population that is creating more demand for medical services as well as the fact that younger doctors are working fewer hours as they seek more work-life balance than generations of doctors before them. “Younger doctors are not working 70-hour work weeks,” Mabbott said, adding that female doctors — a growing proportion of the medical profession — also tend to take more time off because of family commitments. Such furloughs create more need for locums. Plank said that in the first quarter of 2016, Health Match filled 80 physician vacancies (60 permanent and 20 locum positions). Eighty is the highest number of jobs filled in a quarter in four years, she noted. Dr. Alan Ruddiman, president of Doctors of B.C., said B.C. is now facing “the perfect storm” with an aging medical workforce (average age 54) and an aging population needing doctors more than ever. “When I first came to Oliver to practice family medicine 20 years ago, I took over a practice in which the average patient was 63 years old. Now it is 76,” he said. “Patients living longer have more complex conditions and this is putting more demands on doctors.” He said doctors have been pressuring health authorities for years to come up with physician supply plans. “Otherwise, it’s a crapshoot trying to predict where we need doctors and how many.” The health ministry is finally preparing such a plan, he noted. Foreign-trained medical graduates, including the 100 or so B.C. residents who each year graduate from medical schools outside Canada, could help fill vacancies. According to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., about 200 foreign (international medical graduates) doctors are deemed eligible for registration and licensure if they meet certain criteria. But that doesn’t mean they will all get jobs. Ruddiman said one of his goals as president is to “chip away” at how to increase the numbers of jobs for Canadian medical graduates who train overseas and want to come back here to work. “It’s like turning a big tanker around,” he said, referring to the fact that Canadians have to compete against non-Canadians who also trained overseas and there are only so many postgraduate residency spots. They are also required to prove their education was similar and at least equal to the education they would have gained in Canada. For many British Columbians, the first step in the hunt for a family doctor is the College of Physicians and Surgeons’ Find a Physician online search tool. A few quick queries reveal that rural residents aren’t the only ones having trouble finding GPs. In Kamloops, the province’s eighth-largest city, not one of its 118 practising family doctors is accepting new patients. The situation is the same in Victoria, Abbotsford, Nanaimo and Kelowna. For those desperate for a family doctor, it means possibly long waits at walk-in clinics. Stewart says her wait time “can be anywhere from one to three hours depending on the time of day.” Ameez Allidina, who also visited the Care Point clinic Wednesday, said he hasn’t bothered looking for a family doctor because people he works with have told him it’s virtually impossible. “The last time I had a doctor was seven or eight years ago (after a move from Ladner). It’s disheartening,” said the 37-year-old. “The lineups (at the clinic) are pretty long in general.” Mary Powell, a 66-year-old West End resident, said she times her visit to the walk-in clinic so she can continue to see the same doctor. She said she phones ahead and asks the receptionist when her doctor is in, and heads down to the clinic to see him. “You pick a window when he’s there. I’ve done this for three weeks and it’s worked out well,” she said. Powell said her waits can be between one to three hours. pfayerman@postmedia.com bmorton@postmedia.comNASA and Boeing are ramping up their preparations to begin full-scale production of the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage assembly. The schedule calls for the completion of the Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1) Core Stage in time to be shipped to the Stennis Space Center for a full stage test firing in 2017. SLS Cores: After being sidelined for repairs, the Vertical Assembly Center (VAC) is now expected to be handed over to Boeing around the end of October. This machine is where the Cores and tankage for the SLS will be welded. However, it has been suffering from major teething issues. The handover of the VAC and acceptance of the tool will allow assembly of the major structural elements for both flight and test articles to begin next year. “From a broad picture standpoint, it’s continuing to do factory readiness through this year,” noted Patrick Whipps, NASA resident manager at MAF for the SLS Core Stage. “(We will) complete that in early ’16 and begin to bring those structural test articles (STAs) and simulators to Marshall (Space Flight Center) in late ’16 or early ’17 at the latest.” The Core Stage structural test articles consist of the major structural elements: the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks, the engine section, the intertank, and the forward skirt. Those elements will be tested individually at Marshall, with MAF fabricating simulators of the elements that would normally be mated together. “(The simulators) won’t look exactly like flight hardware, but their function is to test the center of gravity and some of the structural capability…in the (structural test) hardware,” added Mr. Whipps. All of the welding tools at MAF are now up and running except for the Vertical Assembly Center (VAC), which is the tool responsible for the assembling of the barrels, rings, and domes into the complete Core Stage structures. Despite being unveiled in a NASA fanfare, the machine suffered from a false start as the vertical rails of the VAC were found to be misaligned, which has kept the tool off-line ever since. Realignment of the rails is now complete, but the slight position changes were significant enough that the software used with the tool had to be updated. “Recovery Decision Meetings” during the year have seen the handover date slip month on month, but it is now anticipated that the VAC will be turned over to Boeing sometime around the end of October for qualification and acceptance testing. “From a qualification and acceptance perspective, there are four stages,” said Frank McCall, Boeing SLS Deputy Program Manager. “First is tool acceptance, and you’ll see by the VAC a big barrel on which we’ll do that tool acceptance weld. We’ve already made one weld on that barrel; we will re-weld that and weld another barrel to that and that will be the process by which we accept the tool. “Then we have weld confidence articles, which are articles that actually qualify the weld process. So we’ll go weld flight-type hardware on weld confidence articles and then we’ll take those welds, excise them, and go do tests on the welds to ensure that the welds have the right integrity.” In addition to the assembly of the structural elements, preparations for sub-assembly work to outfit the elements is also in progress. Mr. McCall noted that sub-assembly parts suppliers are currently qualification testing their components for delivery to MAF over the next several months and into early next year. In the past, MAF was the production site for foundational elements of NASA launch vehicles such as the S-IC first stage of the Saturn V and the Space Shuttle External Tank. Similar in some respects to the Shuttle ET, the SLS Core Stage is more complicated. “We’re making a rocket, not an External Tank here, but we’re making an External Tank and then making it a rocket,” Mr. Whipps noted. Beyond the propellant tank functions, the Core Stage houses the SLS vehicle avionics in the forward skirt at the top, and the propulsion package in the engine section at the bottom. “The engine section is by far the most complex new portion of the Core Stage…it will be as densely-packed as the (Space Shuttle) orbiter boat-tail ever was,” Mr. Whipps added. The engine section includes structural elements for the RS-25 engines and the five-segment solid rocket boosters that are attached at their aft end. It also includes hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical services for the engines and the vehicle. “That area is being carefully (arranged), with ergonomic models involved just to be sure that we know how to get people in and around and tighten every bolt and inspect every joint.” Concurrent with the STA testing at Marshall, MAF will be constructing and assembling the flight hardware for the first Core Stage, CS-1. After the flight structures are assembled in the VAC, they will get a coating of primer and then the thermal protection system (TPS) foam application. Following that process, the tanks will be integrated vertically with the other outfitted structures in two major sub-assemblies: the forward-skirt and the intertank with the liquid oxygen tank and the liquid hydrogen tank with the engine section. External outfitting of the sub-assemblies with feedlines and system tunnels will occur after they are positioned horizontally in the final integration area before they are joined together to allow for final TPS closeouts and RS-25 engine installation. The now full-assembled rocket will then undergo extensive functional checkouts. The current schedule continues to call for final assembly and checkout to be completed and the stage ready for transport to the Stennis Space Center in September 2017. The stage is expected to then ship to the Kennedy Space Center at the end of that year for mating inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). (Images: Via Philip Sloss, NASA and L2 – including SLS renders from L2 artist Nathan Koga – The full gallery of Nathan’s (SpaceX Dragon to MCT, SLS, Commercial Crew and more) L2 images can be found here) (To join L2, click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)Abstract Aims To critically evaluate the clinical implications of the use of non-fasting rather than fasting lipid profiles and to provide guidance for the laboratory reporting of abnormal non-fasting or fasting lipid profiles. Methods and results Extensive observational data, in which random non-fasting lipid profiles have been compared with those determined under fasting conditions, indicate that the maximal mean changes at 1–6 h after habitual meals are not clinically significant [+0.3 mmol/L (26 mg/dL) for triglycerides; −0.2 mmol/L (8 mg/dL) for total cholesterol; −0.2 mmol/L (8 mg/dL) for LDL cholesterol; +
0, the percentage of black Americans living in poverty had fallen to 22.5%, the lowest level since 1974. However, like the crime statistics mentioned above, the downward trend began in 1991, and the effect of the law was not so clear cut as to work for the general good of all African Americans. Single mothers benefited from the reform bill, for instance, but the number of Americans living in extreme poverty – a minority within the group living in poverty – more than doubled from 1996 to 2013. ‘Record increases in income and record low unemployment’ Median income rose for all Americans, including black Americans, after the introduction of the 1996 welfare reforms. However, household incomes had already been on an upward trajectory since 1991. And the unemployment rate had been trending downward. But if the law Clinton signed don’t deserve all the credit for lowering crime rates and poverty, it also doesn’t deserve sole responsibility for mass incarceration – that too was on an upward trend before the 1994 crime bill was passed. America’s black incarceration rate had been steadily climbing since 1980, as successive presidents and Congresses passed laws related to the “war on drugs”. Clinton himself has recognized that his legislation made an existing problem worse, in comments made after the rally disruption, as well as last year. In a foreword to a book on mass incarceration published a year ago, he wrote “we have overshot the mark”, and speaking at an NAACP convention last July, the former president conceded: “We had a lot of people who were locked up, who were minor actors, for way too long.” Mass incarceration continues to disproportionately affect black Americans. For every 100 black women who are not in jail, there are only 83 black men. A statistic which led the New York Times to calculate last year that there are 1.5 million “missing” black men in America. Everic White contributed to this article.US president tells town hall meeting in Washington DC that ‘working through these issues... will take some time’ After more than a week of protest and outrage over police killings of black men, Barack Obama answered questions at a town hall event on Thursday that offered few concrete answers but cautious optimism that issues of race and violence in the US are better than they have been, and can improve more with dialogue and empathy. Barack Obama calls for peace at Dallas memorial service for five police officers Read more “Because of the history of this country and the legacy of race, and all the complications that are involved with that, working through these issues so that things can continue to get better will take some time,” the US president said. The first two questions came from Cameron Sterling, the 15-year-old son of Alton Sterling, who was killed by police in Baton Rouge, and from Diamond Reynolds, the fiancee of Philando Castile who narrated his shooting death by an officer in Minneapolis on Facebook Live. Obama also took questions from the mother of a Baltimore police officer, from a Black Lives Matter organizer, and from Texas lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, among others. Throughout the night Obama tried to strike a conciliatory tone, much like he did in his speech Tuesday in Dallas, where five police officers were killed by a gunman during a protest march last week. Virtually all of the president’s answers to questions came in two parts, either speaking to the concerns of protesters, and buttressing with a call to not demonize police officers, or visa versa. Trump trying to campaign as 'racial healer', says Oklahoma governor Read more A response to a question about racial bias in policing was characteristic of this equivocating throughout the event: “What is true for a lot of African American men is there’s a greater presumption of dangerousness that arises from the social and cultural perceptions that have been fed to folks for a long time,” Obama said, then adding, “but black folks and Latino folks also carry some assumptions. You may see a police officer who’s doing everything right, and you already assumed the worst rather than the best in him, and we have to guard against that as well.” Most of the questions Obama fielded were open ended pleas for his help in making progress, such as Reynolds who, after saying she was scared for her daughter’s future simply asked, “What do we do?” Patrick on the other hand used the moment to accuse the president of not being a firm enough supporter of law enforcement, suggesting police do not “really in their heart feel like you’re doing everything you can to protect their lives”. Obama responded: “I have been unequivocal in condemning any rhetoric directed at police officers so I think, lieutenant governor, you’d be hard pressed to find any message that did not include a very strong support for law enforcement.” Dallas shooting: Obama to visit area as fresh protests deepen America's divides Read more Obama also repeatedly tried to validate the concerns of protesters, for example coming to the defense of the Black Lives Matter movement, saying the phrase “refers to the notion that there’s a specific vulnerability for African Americans that needs to be addressed. It’s not meant to suggest that other lives don’t matter. It’s to suggest that other folks aren’t experiencing this particular vulnerability.” Obama, like he has in other statements throughout the week, ultimately pleaded for mutual understanding and empathy between activists and law enforcement. “Kindness and compassion expressed by these two sides … that makes a big difference,” Obama said. “Sometimes people just want acknowledgment.” The town hall, which was broadcast on ABC stations and hosted by David Muir was taped earlier in the afternoon Thursday in Washington DC. Erica Garner, daughter of Eric Garner who was killed by NYPD officers in Staten Island exactly two years ago Thursday, took to Twitter in the midst of the taping to call the town hall a “farce” and a “sham”, saying she had been falsely promised by ABC news that she would have an opportunity to ask the president a question. officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) I need all of you to know that this #ABC town hall that will air at 8pm is a sham. They shut out ALL real and hard questions It was reported that after these complaints, Garner was able to speak with the president directly, but that meeting apparently did not alleviate her disenchantment with the event’s tone or execution. “They lied to me and my family to get us to travel to DC to participate. Taking time away from things I had planned to remember my father,” Garner said on Twitter. Her criticism of the event seemed to be widely shared by activists and even many journalists, who portrayed it as at worst pandering and offensive, and at best, unproductive. “ABC set up a town hall that was about trying to build bridges with black people and law enforcement in a way that was disingenuous to the real life conditions between black people and law enforcement,” said Patrisse Cullors, a Black Lives Matter co-founder who was invited to the event but did not have an opportunity to ask a question. DarkSkintDostoyevsky (@daniecal) Obama holding a 'Calm The Negroes Down And Appease The Police Unions' townhall?? Brandon Pope ABC 57 (@BpopeTV) I understand the balancing act Pres. Obama has to do w/ #POTUStownhall. But it seems that isn't helping the conversation progress. The town hall followed a four-and-a-half hour meeting with activists and law enforcement officials the president held Wednesday.Autonomous vehicles and hydrogen cars are two of today’s most futuristic transportation technologies – and Mercedes-Benz just combined the two in its new Vision Tokyo car. The concept vehicle looks like a sleek city friendly van, but inside and under the hood it’s packed with technologies and luxuries that will be available in the not too distant future. Or, as Mercedes puts it, it’s an autonomous “automotive lounge for a future generation of megacities.” Unveiled at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show, the Vision Tokyo concept borrows many styling cues from the F 015 Luxury in Motion concept that debuted earlier this year. Even though most car lovers wouldn’t be caught dead driving a minivan, Mercedes-Benz describes the concept as an urban transformer that reflects the growing youthfulness of the Mercedes-Benz brand. With the Vision Tokyo concept, Mercedes-Benz aims to show how the car of the future can be turned into a hip living space and in this case “a chill-out zone in the midst of megacity traffic mayhem.” Related: Mercedes-Benz just unveiled a hybrid car that can transform at high speeds “The Mercedes-Benz Vision Tokyo embodies the concept of an automotive lounge for a future generation of megacities. The purity and sensuality of the Vision Tokyo’s styling defines a new interpretation of modern luxury from Mercedes-Benz,” stated Gorden Wagener, Head of Design at Daimler AG. Since the Vision Tokyo concept is an autonomous vehicle, it’s interior doesn’t have to look like a conventional interior with front and back seats. Inside the Vision Tokyo concept has room for up to five passengers that can sit on a large, oval shaped couch. The unique lounge-style arrangement allows everyone on board to enjoy the benefits of autonomous driving. It is possible to drive the Vision Tokyo concept, since a seat facing in the direction of travel can be released from the center of the couch at the front. The steering wheel, too, is then moved from its standby position into driving position. Lastly the Vision Tokyo concept is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell electric drive system that has a driving range of 609 miles. The system gets its power from either hydrogen or wireless induction charging system. The Vision Tokyo concept can travel up to 118 miles from the energy in the battery, while the other 491 miles come from the electricity produced in the fuel cell. + Mercedes-Benz All images © Mercedes-BenzThe name “Kawasaki” may be most readily associated with motors of the two-wheeled, gasoline-powered variety; but the Japanese multinational company has recently announced that it will soon be getting into the tidal power generation business. Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has announced that it will work with Okinawa Electric Power and Okinawa New Energy Development to prepare a new tidal power generator technology for testing off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. Then, KHI will test the technology at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland. The EMEC is the first center of its kind to offer developers an opportunity to test full-scale, grid-connected prototypes under high velocity wave and tidal conditions. High velocity currents at the tidal test site at the Fall of Warness, where the KHI technology will be tested, reach almost 4m/sec (7.8 knots). The facility offers seven test beds at depths ranging from 12 to 50 meters, in an area of over three square miles. According to Anne MacColl, chief executive of Scottish Development International, which facilitated the collaboration between KHI, EMEC and the Scottish Government, KHI’s decision to test its new tidal power generation system at EMEC is “testament to Scotland’s growing international reputation in emerging low carbon technologies.” Scotland has around one quarter of Europe’s tidal resources; and building a partnership with a large multinational corporation like Kawasaki will help the EMEC as it expands its operations to key locations with significant tidal resources in the Americas, Asia and continental Europe. Kawasaki supplies a number of renewable energy products, including everything from small hydraulic power generation systems to biomass, wind, and solar power systems. The company has several commercial power generation projects in Japan.By Leo Babauta I’ve been on a handful of long trips this year and in recent years, and on all those trips, I lived out of a small bag. I loved living so lightly, but every time I came home, it felt weird: all of a sudden I had about 10x more stuff. It didn’t feel in alignment with the light, minimal lifestyle. So after a 25-day trip to Asia last month, I came home with a mission: to live only out of the same bag I traveled with. I’ve been doing it for a couple weeks now, and I plan to keep doing it for as long as it feels right. I think of it as my One-Bag Lifestyle — though it’s not for everyone, and it doesn’t make me better than anyone, I really like it. To be clear, I have more things than fit in the bag: furniture, an iMac, tools, a handful of books that I can’t bear to get rid of (about 10 of them). But as for clothes and other personal items, I boxed up everything else and am pretty much only using what can fit in my 21-liter backpack. I don’t expect anyone else to want to do this, but in case you’re interested, I thought I’d share more about what I’m doing and why. The Bag I’ve been beta-testing an amazing backpack this year, the Minaal Daily, for about six months now, and I really love it. It’s not a cheap bag, but if you care about quality and live out of your bag, you’ll want to get something built well. If you’re interested, you should grab it here, as they just launched a Kickstarter campaign for it. The guys who make it are friends of mine, and are really good people. I dragged this bag around for 28 days all over Europe this summer, with Eva and the kids. I carried it in Melbourne for a writer’s festival. I took it to San Francisco, Portland, Tokyo. And all over southeast Asia, on planes, trains, and hundreds of thousands of steps though the streets of Hanoi, Hoi An, Saigon, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Chiang Mai. I ride my bike to the grocery store with it. Anyway, it’s awesome, and I don’t think I”ll get another bag for years. Cutting Down to Fit in the Bag I’ve been traveling for years with one bag, so I can easily fit what I need in something that’s less than 20 liters (my smallest was 15 liters). I’ve slowly winnowed down what I need for traveling, to fit in a small bag: I wear a pair of pants and a T-shirt I can work out in, and some tennis shoes that are comfortable for walking. Packed clothing: workout shorts, workout shirt, a couple extra pairs of socks, a few extra pairs of underwear, a lightweight hoodie, lightweight rain jacket. Gadgets: I carry my 11-inch Macbook Air, iPhone 5, travel adapter, cords. Toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, floss, nail clippers, razor, small electric clippers (for my shaved head), ear plugs, eye mask. Misc: Passport, notebook, pen, napkins. I don’t bring running shoes, a Kindle, books, extra clothes, dress clothes, snacks. Obviously, this won’t work for many people, but I’ve simplified what I do on the road so I don’t need anything else. I wash my clothes in the sink or shower when I travel, every day. It takes like three minutes, and is totally worth not having to carry a lot of stuff around. I work out by walking and doing bodyweight exercises, so my health needs are fairly lightweight. I see other people dragging luggage, or roller bags, waiting for their checked luggage, and I feel any trade-offs of living lightly are far worth it for me. I can walk around a foreign city all day without getting tired from the pack on my back. Boxing Up My Stuff at Home When I got home a couple weeks ago, I found a big cardboard box, and put pretty much all my personal stuff into it. This way, if I really need anything, I can still get it, but I’m going to see what it’s like to live without it. I did make a few concessions: I have running shoes. I have an extra pair of workout shorts and shoes and socks. Again, I didn’t get rid of a handful of books. Most books I did get rid of, but I kept about 10 books I plan to read in the next six months (fingers crossed). If I don’t read them in those six months, I’m going to (painfully) let them go. I have dishes — I’m limiting myself to one bowl, one spoon, one fork, one water glass, one coffee/tea cup. But we still have more dishes for Eva and the kids. Again, I still have furniture, an iMac, tools, and other shared things. Also, we now have a car, since we moved to Davis last year. I wash my clothes by hand usually, in the sink or shower. I either wash an underwear and either shirt or shorts each day, or wait a few days and wash a small load by hand. I might need a few extra things, as the weather gets colder. That’s OK, I’m not trying to suffer, just to live lightly. The Costs and Benefits Other than having to wash clothes more often, which only takes a few minutes, I haven’t seen any big costs yet. We’ll see, as the experiment continues. I’m not pledging to live like this forever, I’m only trying it out. The benefits are subtle: I feel lighter. I don’t have a lot of stuff to take care of, to clean, to organize. I don’t have choices to make about what to wear each day (I wear the same things every single day). I really just worry much, much less about this part of my life, and that allows me to focus on what’s important to me: my wife and kids, my writing, running and working out, meditation, reading, eating healthy vegan food. That’s all I think about these days, and so far I’m loving it.As if we needed further proof that everything is connected to Anonymous, a woman who was a long-ago object of fascination to the notorious griefer collective nearly took the gold this week in the reality TV competition America's Next Top Model. New Orleans college student and artist Allison Harvard, 21, survived 11 elimination rounds to reach the show's season finale, which aired Wednesday. The hands-down favorite with Top Model fans, she nonetheless lost in the competition's final minutes when host Tyra Banks and a panel of judges anointed rival Teyona Anderson – a contestant with a more conventional look. Well before Harvard became famous to a national TV audience, she was both appreciated and feared on the "/b/" board on 4chan – the birthplace of the internet's greatest memes and most felonious pranks. The waifish, wide-eyed blonde's self-portraits – which she'd posted on the web – circulated in that community in 2005, according to Encyclopedia Dramatica, the canonical record of all things channish. The ghostly digital photos of Harvard in heavy eyeliner and broken-babydoll outfits and poses, along with her fascination with nosebleeds, simultaneously aroused and frightened Anonymous members, who dubbed her "Creepy Chan." When cheerier images of the woman later surfaced, her moniker was updated to "Cute Chan." In 2006, her photos stopped appearing in 4chan. But she remained true to her gothic side when auditioning for the 12th season of Top Model last year, candidly describing her interest in blood. (Video at bottom of post). Harvard underwent the usual series of Top Model makeovers while on the show, which host Banks reflected on while sending Harvard home. "You have had a transformation," said Banks. "Like, when you look in the mirror it is not the weird girl, it's the weird cool girl. Like, 'Yeah, I look different, and it's special, and it made me a finalist on Top Model!'" "She has had her hair cut, dyed, and lengthened and she has been told to stop gawking so much, which she has happily complied with in an effort to shed her past reputation," reads Encyclopedia Dramatica. "These things, while going against her original trend of being creepy, have gained her more wide acceptance within the American viewing public, much in the same way that putting a Starbucks on every corner somehow makes shitty, burnt coffee taste better." Updated to correct errors in the history of Creepy Chan. See Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E-m21GzzLoFile Photo: CPI leader Govind Pansare being shifted to a hospital after he was shot in Kolhapur. (Press Trust of India) Veteran communist leader and anti-toll tax campaigner Govind Pansare, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds in an attack on Monday, died on Friday at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital. He was flown to Mumbai earlier on Friday for treatment. Mr Pansare, who was in the forefront of the anti-road toll agitation, and his wife Uma had been out for a morning walk in Kolhapur when bike-borne assailants shot four rounds at them. Investigators said a country made weapon was used for the attack. Mr Pansare was rushed to a local hospital; he had received injuries in the neck, armpit and right leg, and was on ventilator support. The spot where the shooting took place is a quiet, residential area and no CCTVs were placed there, the police said. There was no eye-witness to the shooting either. The police are preparing sketches of the suspects on the basis of information provided by Uma, who is recovering and is now able to speak. Teams of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and Mumbai police are assisting the Kolhapur police into the probe on the attack.[Update below] A Citi Bike competitor that doesn't rely on putting out docks for their bikes is coming to New York City next week, despite the fact that the Department of Transportation won't be welcoming them. The Post reports that Spin, a California company that offers up bikes that can be picked up and left anywhere on the street, will be debuting with 300 bikes in the city on Monday, August 14th. 150 of the bright orange bikes will be distributed in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and another 150 will be placed around Rockaway. Council Member Eric Ulrich welcomed the new bikes, telling the Post that it was a way to provide more choice and that the city didn't owe Citi Bike any protection as a "monopoly." However, the Department of Transportation told the paper that Spin hasn't been authorized to operate in the city, and that "ad hoc promotions for individual companies" isn't the way to expand bike share. Caroline Samponaro, a spokesperson for Transportation Alternatives, said that while dockless bike share "has the potential to be part of the future" of bike share in the city, the organization would rather see Citi Bike expanded to Staten Island and the Bronx. "Dockless bike share is not going to create the solution we're hoping for, which is a connected public transportation network via bike share," she told Gothamist. The Spin bikes are unlocked with an app, cost $1 per half-hour and can be left anywhere, as they use self-locking technology. Per the company's website, the people behind Spin got tired of traffic and "expensive Uber rides" as well as bike share stations not being located near their favorite snacks. And while Spin hasn't been sanctioned to operate in New York City, the company was given the go-ahead by city officials in San Francisco recently, where they put out 125 bikes recently, with a plan to grow to a fleet of 500. Other dockless bike share companies have come under fire for terms of service that could potentially violate users' privacy, as well as rules that say riders are responsible for making sure there are no mechanical faults on the bike. The issue of maintenance seems especially dicey, as an executive at a dock-reliant bike share system told The Guardian, "You see thousands of bikes parked everywhere around the city and many are not working because nobody takes care of them." A person reviewing Spin in Seattle also complained the the GPS directing users to the bikes was somewhat faulty, leading him to parking lots and into alleyways. [Update 3:33 p.m.] The Department of Transportation has sent a cease and desist letter to Spin, warning them not to begin operating in New York on Monday. The letter, from a DOT attorney, reads in part: Please be advised that you do not have the authorization or permission, pursuant to a concession, franchise, permit, contract or otherwise, required for such operations. Additionally, the City of New York will actively enforce all laws and its police powers, including but not limited to those that protect its rights of way and ensure the safety and service provided by the City’s rights of way. In addition to the letter, DOT commissioner Polly Trottenberg issued a statement in which she said that "this can’t be the Wild West, with ad hoc installations that haven’t received City approval and that don’t fully consider the future of bike sharing in New York." Trottenberg did say that the DOT is "considering" the use of dockless bike share technology in future phases of the system's expansion.In his last column as the New York Times' public editor, or ombudsman, Arthur Brisbane admonished the newspaper for what he called an unstated "progressivism" that bled through the journalism on a semi-regular basis. He was right in one sense: the Times does, from my perspective, view the world through a lens that affects its journalism, and the paper doesn't forthrightly say so. But that worldview is more nuanced than Brisbane's label. The Times is, without doubt, progressive on social issues, not just on its editorial pages but also in the news pages. It is less so in other arenas. Despite some reporting that has infuriated the powers-that-be from time to time, the paper's evidently close ties to the New York and Washington power elites have given it a justified reputation for coziness with authority. What bleeds through when I read the Times – with important exceptions that keep the Times at the top of my must-read list despite its failings – is a deep kinship with the people who pull the key levers in our government and economy. As one former Times journalist once told me, the paper is the "trade journal for the rich and powerful". So, call me less than shocked at the discovery, reported Tuesday by Politico, that a Times reporter, Mark Mazzetti, gave the CIA an advance peek at an upcoming column by op-ed commentator Maureen Dowd. The Times has repeatedly allowed the Obama administration's national security operatives to vet upcoming journalism – the paper took public pride in the way it redacted WikiLeaks material at officials' behest – and it notoriously held a huge story (pervasive and illegal spying on Americans by the Bush administration) for a year. Still, it's hard to fathom why he or his editors would share a column by Dowd, whose commentary these days rarely contains any facts that haven't been previously reported.) The response of the Times' managing editor, Dean Baquet, was approximately this: "Nothing to see here. Move along." Actually, it was worse. As Politico's reported (I've corrected a minor spelling error): "'I know the circumstances, and if you knew everything that's going on, you'd know it's much ado about nothing,' Baquet said. 'I can't go into in detail. But I'm confident after talking to Mark that it's much ado about nothing.' "'The optics aren't what they look like,' he went on. 'I've talked to Mark, I know the circumstance, and given what I know, it's much ado about nothing.'" The Times subsequently issued this statement, which seemed to admit that the "optics" were, in fact, more or less what they looked like: "Last August, Maureen Dowd asked Mark Mazzetti to help check a fact for her column. In the course of doing so, he sent the entire column to a CIA spokeswoman shortly before her deadline. He did this without the knowledge of Ms Dowd. This action was a mistake that is not consistent with New York Times standards." That response has generated the derision it deserves. It's my fervent hope that the Times' incoming public editor starts her tenure by asking some extremely pointed questions. Given the Times' demands for transparency from others, its stonewalling on Mazzetti's dealings with the CIA transcends irony; it's downright hypocritical, and Baquet's blithe assurances were not credible. The Times isn't the only major organization with deep establishment ties to have allowed a subject of its coverage to vet that coverage before readers saw it. Media watchers were surprised to learn recently that the Washington Post had given the University of Texas an advance look at a story draft by a higher education reporter. The Post and Times, meanwhile, are among many journalistic organizations to have allowed Obama administration and Romney campaign officials to vet quotes before publication. Baquet told his paper (kudos to the Times for actually running the story) that he didn't like the practice and that "maybe we have to push back a little harder." You think? Journalists' dealings with sources prior to publication or broadcast are not binary, yes/no relationships. There's always some give-and-take, and sometimes, it raises ethical issues: for example, you will rarely, if ever, see a story in which a journalist treats his primary (often confidential) source as skeptically or harshly as others named in the piece. But handing a finished piece over? That is over the top. I don't know how much of this goes on in traditional media organizations. I do know that in my own years in the business, I wasn't party to any such practice. When I was a business and technology columnist in Silicon Valley, a decade-long stint that ended in 2005, I'd occasionally read a paragraph or two – typically, my translations of technical concepts into plain English – to someone I'd interviewed, to ensure that I was getting the details right. But sending a story or column in full? No way. For all that, I fully understand sources' wishes to see what's going to be said about them. Anyone who's ever been covered in a news story knows that errors creep in to even the best journalists' reports. Outright bad faith by reporters is exceedingly rare, in my experience, but absolute fidelity to what I know, as opposed to what is reported, is equally unusual. The best reason not to share reporting ahead of time is the most obvious. It makes your source a colleague or, at the very least, gives that appearance. If that's the intention, put another byline on the piece. Otherwise, don't be surprised when outsiders accuse you of compromising coziness with the people who, by tradition and the genuine national interest, should remain at arms' length.The German jihadist Christian Emde issued the warning in an interview posted to Facebook by Jürgen Todenhöfer, a journalist who has reported extensively from areas in Iraq and Syria controlled by Isis. Emde, who was expelled from Britain in 2012 for possessing jihadist publications, said Isis would eventually seek to take over Europe. “We will one day conquer Europe. We don’t just want to. We will. And we are sure about that.” Speaking in Mosul with armed men in the background, the one-time German Protestant said Isis would continue to behead and enslave people it considered its enemies. Christians and Jews would be allowed to live in an Islamic state, but only if they paid a form of protection tax. Otherwise, “they will all be killed”, he said. By contrast, the world’s 150 million Shia Muslims would not be offered the chance to pay a tax. Isis would kill any Shia who refused to “repent” and convert to the Sunni faith, said Emde. “150 million, 200 million, 500 million – we don’t care about the number.” Asked if Germans should expect terrorist attacks on home soil, he said: “They should brace themselves, definitely.” Todenhöfer released the video just hours before Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the German parliament and said Germany would use “all legal means” to fight “hate preachers” and other extreme Islamists. The Chancellor also vowed to continue arming and training Kurdish fighters battling Isis in Iraq and Syria. "Hate preachers, violent delinquents who act in the name of Islam, those behind them, and the intellectual arsonists of international terrorism will be rigorously fought with all legal means at the disposal of the state," she said. A separate Isis video released on Wednesday also named Germany as a possible target for terrorist attacks.By Sophia Bollag \| Associated Press SACRAMENTO — California’s secretary of state says he won’t comply with a second request for voter data from President Donald Trump’s commission investigating alleged voter fraud. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the commission’s vice chairman, sent a letter to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla on Wednesday asking again for voters’ names, party affiliations, addresses and voting histories if state law allows that information to be public. In June, the commission requested the data for voters in all 50 states. Padilla and officials in at least 16 other states have refused. Some said they worried providing the data would undermine voters’ privacy and said the commission is politically motivated. Trump formed the commission after he claimed without evidence that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election. Trump, a Republican, lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton. Reading this on your iPhone or iPad? Check out our new Apple News app channel here and click the + at the top of the page to save to your Apple News favorites. The new request was crafted to address some of the concerns raised by Padilla and others, Kobach wrote. The commission will keep the data confidential, he said. “The Commission will approach all of its work without preconceived conclusions or prejudgments,” he wrote. Padilla, a Democrat, refused to comply again and called the commission a “sham.” “The commission’s new request does nothing to address the fundamental problems with the commission’s illegitimate origins, questionable mission or the preconceived and harmful views on voting rights that many of its commissioners have advanced,” Padilla said in a statement. Kobach’s requests have prompted multiple lawsuits. On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a privacy advocacy group’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the commission from receiving the voter information.Share. No release date so far. No release date so far. A Nintendo employee has let slip that Gone Home is headed to the Wii U. Exit Theatre Mode The news was revealed by Damon Baker of Nintendo of America, speaking at the Unite 2014 conference on the processes of publishing on the Nintendo Wii U eShop. Baker says that Gone Home is "confirmed" as a Wii U title and is "coming out in the near future." You can catch his mention of Gone Home on Youtube (listen at about the 6m50s mark). Developer The Fullbright Company told IGN earlier this year that Gone Home would be coming to consoles, though at the time it was undecided which ones. In IGN's review, Gone Home was described as one of the finest stories we'd ever experienced in games. Katie Williams is a freelance writer and games journalist. She tweets at @desensitisation and hopes that one day, a bird will tweet back.With most versions of Android, we're not used to seeing a changelog until a few hours after the AOSP code has been fully uploaded and somebody has had time to generate a comprehensive list. Imagine our surprise when such a list for KitKat 4.4.3 was discovered simply lying around on Google's servers. The file, named KK-MR2_changelist.txt, is located amidst Android's platform documentation. This is something of a first, since we'll actually learn about what's to come before the code is even available. The changelog was first added 3 weeks ago, but it may not have been uploaded to AOSP until more recently. Judging by the build numbers listed and the relative position of the 4.4.3 tag, there's a good chance KTU70 is going to be the final release. That particular version would have been built on March 11th (build number parser). This changelog seems to contain every accepted modification since KitKat 4.4, not just those from 4.4.2 - and at 5293 lines of text, it's certainly not a quick read. We'll be working on cutting it down to just the new submissions, but in the meantime, everybody is welcome to do their own looking around. Developers often leave clever or witty remarks, so be on the lookout for a couple of good laughs. 7503e73 4.4.3 is MR2, version boogaloo! It's fairly common for Google to ship one final update to the Nexus family in the weeks leading up to a major release, which we can probably expect for I/O 2014. In other words, don't be too surprised if a flood of updates begins rolling out really soon. Update: Google has taken down the changelog, but there is a copy mirrored on Github. [Changelog (dead) & Description] [mirror] Thanks, the_commenter.Get the biggest rugby 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 Calling Cardiff City and Cardiff Blues fans. What do you make of the news? Let us know by leaving your comments below CARDIFF CITY have released Cardiff Blues from their long term lease at Cardiff City Stadium with immediate effect. The move will mean the Blues return to the Arms Park from next season as the Bluebirds undertake "significant branding" of Cardiff City Stadium as a football-only venue. The decision comes as the Bluebirds consider major rebranding next season, with leaders of Supporters' groups called to a meeting with club chiefs this evening. WalesOnline can confirm the proposed changes could see the club wear red kit and adopt the Welsh dragon as a new emblem for next season. The club's Malaysian investors believe red is a more dynamic colour for marketing in Asia, as well as of more national significance in Wales. Such changes would alter more than 100 years of history at the club, who have played in blue since 1908. It is understood the move has been ordered by billionaire backer Vincent Tan, with the prospect of a stadium expansion, a new multi-million pound training facility, and boss Malky Mackay being handed a summer war chest of cash to strengthen the playing squad also on the table. In terms of the Blues, the move back to the Arms Park comes after huge unrest among supporters who have simply not taken to the Cardiff City Stadium. Those fans have voted with their feet throughout the season, packing out the Arms Park when the region returned for clashes against Ulster and Connacht this season. In comparison, less than 4,000 people tunred out for the Blues' last home game of the season, despite it being a chance to say farewell to much-loved stars such as Martyn williams and Gethin Jenkins. A statement from Cardiff City said: "Cardiff City Football Club can confirm that following positive negotiations and in the best interests of all concerned, an agreement has been reached to allow Cardiff Blues to terminate their lease at Cardiff City Stadium on 1 June 201
at the main hospital in Bahrain that treated injured protesters were tortured by being forced to stand without sleep for days on end. Other prisoners were told that unless they sang the praises of the king their interrogators would urinate into their mouths. At the heart of the crisis convulsing this part of the Middle East is a struggle between Sunni and Shia, and Britain has openly taken the side of the former. It may not necessarily be a good long-term investment. The total population of states bordering on the Gulf is about 145 million of whom at least 110 million are Shia. It is a mistake to think that the Shia in the rest of the Middle East do not notice or care what happens to their co-religionists in Bahrain. The Islamic State (Isis) fighters have become the shock troops of the Sunni communities in Iraq and Syria but their extremism and international isolation may lead to a defeat for the Sunni in both countries. There is no question about Bahrain’s toxic human rights record. An independent inquiry in 2011 catalogued abuses and, despite promises of reform, torture and mistreatment continue. Last year even the United States State Department, normally cautious when it comes to highlighting the failings of the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf, said that the abuses in Bahrain included “citizens’ inability to change their government peacefully; arrest and detention of protesters on vague charges, in some cases leading to their torture in detention; and lack of due process in trials of political and human rights.” Only last week Bahraini human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja was sentenced to three years in prison for “insulting the king” by tearing up his photograph. She had just given birth to her second child, and is free on bail pending appeal. Her father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, is already in jail serving a life term for his role in encouraging the Arab Spring protests. Nabeel Rajab, one of Bahrain’s leading human rights activists, was arrested on 1 October because he “offended national institutions” by his comments on social media. Mr Rajab had criticised the government for using counterterrorism laws to prosecute human rights defenders, and had accused the Bahraini security forces of encouraging violent beliefs similar to those of IS. He pointed out that a former Bahraini interior ministry officer, Mohamed Isa al-Binali, had joined Isis and was calling on other interior ministry employees to do likewise. Among Mr Rajab’s tweets was one saying: “Many Bahrain men who joined terrorism & Isis came from security institutions and those institutions were the first ideological incubator.” The Bahraini security forces often draw their personnel from other Sunni states such as Pakistan and Jordan and they then become naturalised Bahraini citizens. The Bahraini Shia say there is a continuing campaign to deny them jobs in all sectors and to change the demographic balance on the island in favour of the Sunni. There has always been a strong strain of hypocrisy in the claims of the US and Britain to support secular democracy and civil rights in countries such as Libya and Syria. They do so in alliance with Sunni theocratic absolute monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and UAE which understandably have no interest in spreading secular democracy anywhere. In 2011, UAE said it would refuse to join the coalition against the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi if there was any criticism of Bahraini repression. The most powerful figure in Bahrain is widely regarded as being not King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa but the Prime Minister, Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa who has held his office since 1970. Calls for his resignation were one of the main demands of demonstrators three years ago, but he has steadfastly refused to step down. Bahrain was a British protectorate from the 19th century until independence in 1971, ruled by the al-Khalifa dynasty that has long looked to Britain to shield it from international reaction against domestic repression. From the mid-1960s the head of security on the island was Ian Henderson who had played a role in the suppressing the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the 1950s. Successive periods of protest were harshly dealt with. Since 2011 Britain has played a role in muting the international reaction to the suppression of the protests by emphasising that a dialogue is under way and reforms are being introduced, though nobody else sees any sign of these going anywhere. It has played along with Bahraini government claims that Iran is orchestrating Shia dissent on the island though there is no evidence for this. Sectarian hatreds between the Sunni and Shia communities within Bahrain have deepened in the last three years with the Shia more marginalised than ever. There had been divisions within the royal family about how to handle dissent, with the King and Crown Prince seeking compromise and the Prime Minister and the branch of the al-Khalifa known as “Khawalids” opposed to sharing any power with the majority. But these differences seem to have ended with a victory for the latter faction which can increasingly ignore Shia protests that are confined to villages and the outskirts of the capital, Manama. ORDER IT NOW It is not at all clear why Britain needs to establish its first permanent naval base in the Middle East since 1970 in Bahrain, other than the fact that it is possible to do so. British intervention in Iraq after 2003 saw the deployment of ground troops in Basra, but they were far too few to control the city or the surrounding countryside. There was a political failure to understand the degree of popular hostility and resistance this force would face. Much the same happened in Helmand Province in Afghanistan after 2006, when again the numbers of British soldiers were too few to assert control while they were enough to provoke local opposition. The base in Bahrain will be used to support RAF operations against the Islamic State in Iraq, but these are on such a small scale that they will not do much to affect the outcome of the war with Isis. Most British disasters in the Middle East over the past century have stemmed from wishing to be a major player in the region, while underestimating the resources necessary to do so.Next Year Could Mark The End Of Polio Polio is in its final days. The disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of kids a year around the globe is now down to just a few dozen cases this year. "We are aiming to halt all transmission of wild polio virus next year," says Peter Crowley, the head of UNICEF's global efforts against polio. If polio is stopped, it will be only the second human disease to be eliminated. Smallpox was the first — the last case was in 1977. There's reason to be optimistic that this gigantic feat of public health is within humanity's grasp. The World Health Organization says polio transmission has stopped for the first time ever in Africa. Last month, Africa's last bastion of polio — Nigeria — celebrated going an entire year without recording any new cases. The Last Days Of Polio In Africa The red dots on the map below show how cases continued to pop up over a wide belt in the middle of the continent from 2010 until 2014. "This is a really major step forward in the effort to eradicate polio from the world," says Kate O'Brien, a professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins. O'Brien also works with the World Health Organization as an adviser on global immunization policy. She calls ending polio in Nigeria "absolutely massive" in the overall eradication effort. With Nigeria off the list of countries where the virus is self-sustaining, there are now just two nations in the world where transmission has never been fully stopped: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Of the 51 cases of wild polio detected globally so far this year, all of them have been in those two countries. (Note: The world map at the top of this post also includes cases of vaccine-derived polio, which are easier to control.) The problem is that until polio is actually stopped in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the multibillion-dollar global effort against the virus is going to have to continue everywhere. "This is a virus that is fighting for its life," O'Brien says. "It is going to find people and places that are not vaccinated. It's going to find a way to move and it's going to find those places that are vulnerable." Kids will continue to be vaccinated everywhere around the world for at least three years after the last case to make sure that the virus doesn't stage a comeback. Public health officials have been declaring that polio is on the verge of being wiped out ever since Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin came up with vaccines against it in the 1950s. At that point the world was tallying hundreds of thousands of cases each year. Now, it's just a few dozen cases globally, and polio's demise does appear closer than ever. The disease that in its heyday affected Franklin Roosevelt, Olympian Wilma Rudolph and actors Mia Farrow and Donald Sutherland will be relegated to the history books.Peruvian President Ollanta Humala announces major funding for decontamination plants around the world-famous Lake Titicaca, but climate change poses a greater threat than pollution to the lake and its surroundings. Follow Eye On Latin America on Twitter @eye_on_latam for regular updates and the best the web has to offer on Latin America! Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake at nearly 4,000 metres above sea level, and also Latin America’s largest lake with a surface area of more than 8,000km², is among the region’s most well-known geographical landmarks and has become a major destination for tourists visiting the continent. The increase in tourist numbers, and more importantly the rapid growth of cities lining the lake such as Puno (on the Peruvian side) and Copacabana (on the Bolivian side), have put ever-greater pressures on the lake, with the threat of water pollution particularly crucial given its potentially negative consequences for the tourism industry, and far more importantly for the two and a half million people whose livelihoods depend on the lake. To this end, the Peruvian government’s announcement last week that it is prepared to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into a major operation to clean up the lake’s waters is a most encouraging development. However, recent studies have shown that this staggeringly beautiful lake is faced with a much bigger – and more existential – menace, in the form of climate change. Last week the Peruvian president, Ollanta Humala, revealed plans to invest US$450m in six new water treatment plants around the lake, in order to begin tackling the growing problems and hazards posed by pollution in the lake and its watershed, which have sparked protests from locals in recent months. The announcement follows on from bilateral talks between Peruvian and Bolivian authorities last month, where the two sides agreed to collaborate in reducing pollution and water contamination in the region. However, Humala has insisted that local authorities must produce a full technical report on the treatment plants, before he gives formal approval to the governmental funding. The plan would go a long way towards addressing the levels of water pollution, which according to a study carried out last year by Peru’s National Water Authority (ANA by its initials in Spanish) have reached significantly high levels of contamination. Among the symptoms of this are the dangerous levels of metals and phosphates, which are thought to stem from nearby mining and industrial activities. Other sources of pollution include the burgeoning tourist industry around Lake Titicaca, and even streams of untreated waste from homes and businesses as far away as El Alto, one of Bolivia’s largest cities which is located barely 50 kilometres away. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown that a much larger and longer-term threat to Lake Titicaca comes in the form of climate change, and the impacts that this is increasingly having on the Andean climate and hydrological cycle. In 2009 the lake’s authorities said that water levels had fallen to their lowest since 1949, with 80cm lost over six months during that year’s winter alone, and there was a notable reduction in the lake’s inflow as significant amounts of the river water flowing towards the lake evaporates before it even reaches it. The authorities claim that climate change has been the overwhelming factor in this transformation, with increased solar radiation in the Andean highlands being accompanied by a decrease in rainfall and the length of the rainy season. Peru’s glaciers, which are the source of many of the Titicaca watershed’s rivers, are being hit particularly hard by the changing climatic conditions, with another study carried out by the ANA last year finding that the country’s glaciers had shrunk by about 40% in the last 40 years. Other research suggests that Peru’s glaciers could disappear completely within half a century as the region’s highlands continue to warm at a much faster pace than the global average. More recent satellite images reveal the extent to which the lake’s shoreline has receded over the course of a few decades, but academic research suggests that far worse could yet be in store if global carbon emissions continue to push global warming towards the internationally-set 2°C rise – a limit that will easily be passed on current emissions trends. A 2010 paper (quoted here) used advanced modelling to predict that if average global temperature do rise by this amount, Lake Titicaca would likely shrink by as much as 85%, virtually wiping it out with catastrophic consequences for agriculture and livelihoods in the surrounding areas. However, Lake Titicaca is by no means the only body of water increasingly coming under attack from climate change and pollution. Late last year, Bolivian authorities were forced to declare a disaster zone around Lake Poopo, the country’s second largest lake after Titicaca, after pollution and low water levels led to the deaths of thousands of fish and animals. The takeaway lesson from all of this is that rescuing the region’s lakes will be a long and costly process, of which the initiative promised by President Humala is just the start. But the alternative, of leaving Lake Titicaca and other areas to their fate, would be unbearable for the millions of people who depend on these fragile environments. A video report from 2009 documents the strain that Lake Titicaca has already started to feel from the impacts of climate change AdvertisementsAfter 25 years as an active Sc ientologist in the Church of Scientology, I left the organization in August 2009. I wrote up why I left and published it on the Net: I then started a blog: After 6 months, I compiled my blog posts into a book called: I erected a forum for free discussions on Scientology and my activity shifted somewhat from blogging to discussion on that forum. It became an active venue for many level-headed discussions on the topic, but after I renewed my blogging efforts, went rather limp. In June 2010, almost a year after my dramatic exit from the church, I started a new blog. Although the topics ranges from the really geek, to art and politics, amazing people I meet, random thoughts, music, philosophy, and Scientology, I have decided to compile all my Scientology related posts into this book. It shows my journey from an Independent Scientologist to just me. It is a tough trip from a Scientology-conditioned mind to a free mind. But, as I am a work in progress, I am on a continual quest to free my mind. My views here will surely not represent my views in the future. Along with the book “Six months in the open”, this book may well be the only consistently running record of how a long time Scientologist have evolved after leaving the church and landed as what the person considers as “himself”. At first I thought it would be a good to write a short summary before each month worth of blog posts. But after a few attempts, I decided the posts should stand just as they were published – with no explanations or additives. Bear in mind that there are many blog posts on other subjects than Scientology in between the ones compiled in this book. I have included some posts that are not strictly Scientology-related to give a more complete picture of my changing viewpoints along the way. An example of such posts are the “Amazing person”-series that I wrote during November 2012. I wrote one new blog post every day about an amazing person I have met in my life. I have included a few of them to give you a more complete view of my evolution during that very busy month of blogging. My blog gathers more comments than any other Scientology-related blog. Y ou may find the discussions there intriguing, inspiring and certainly thought provoking. I owe much to the contributors on my blog. I hope you find this book useful or inspiring. Dedicated to my boys, Anette.and Brendan Oslo, May 2013; Copyright 2013, Geir Isene. Licensed under the GPL license version 3.This article is about the capital of Hungary. For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation) Capital city in Hungary Budapest is the capital and the most populous city of Hungary, and the tenth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits.[9][10][11] The city had an estimated population of 1,752,704 in 2016 distributed over a land area of about 525 square kilometres (203 square miles).[12] Budapest is both a city and county, and forms the centre of the Budapest metropolitan area, which has an area of 7,626 square kilometres (2,944 square miles) and a population of 3,303,786, comprising 33 percent of the population of Hungary.[13][14] The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into a Roman town of Aquincum,[15][16] the capital of Lower Pannonia.[15] The Hungarians arrived in the territory in the late 9th century.[17] The area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241.[18] Buda, the settlements on the west bank of the river, became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century.[19][20][21] The Battle of Mohács in 1526 was followed by nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule.[22] After the reconquest of Buda in 1686, the region entered a new age of prosperity. Pest-Buda became a global city with the unification of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest on 17 November 1873, with the name 'Budapest' given to the new capital.[12][23] Budapest also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,[24] a great power that dissolved in 1918, following World War I. The city was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Battle of Budapest in 1945, and the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[25][26] Budapest is an Alpha- global city with strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment.[27][28] It is Hungary's financial centre[29] and the highest ranked Central and Eastern European city on Innovation Cities Top 100 index,[30][31][32] as well ranked as the second fastest-developing urban economy in Europe.[33] Budapest is the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology,[34] the European Police College[35] and the first foreign office of the China Investment Promotion Agency.[36] Over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including the Eötvös Loránd University, the Semmelweis University and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.[37][38] Opened in 1896,[39] the city's subway system, the Budapest Metro, serves 1.27 million, while the Budapest Tram Network serves 1.08 million passengers daily.[40] Budapest is cited as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe,[9][41][42] ranked as "the world's second best city" by Condé Nast Traveler,[43] and "Europe's 7th most idyllic place to live" by Forbes.[44] Among Budapest's important museums and cultural institutions is the Museum of Fine Arts. Further famous cultural institutions are the Hungarian National Museum, House of Terror, Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Hungarian State Opera House and National Széchényi Library. The central area of the city along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has many notable monuments, including the Hungarian Parliament, Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, Gresham Palace, Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Matthias Church and the Liberty Statue.[45] Other famous landmarks include Andrássy Avenue, St. Stephen's Basilica, Heroes' Square, the Great Market Hall, the Nyugati Railway Station built by the Eiffel Company of Paris in 1877 and the second-oldest metro line in the world, the Millennium Underground Railway.[41] The city also has around 80 geothermal springs,[46] the largest thermal water cave system,[47] second largest synagogue, and third largest Parliament building in the world.[48] Budapest attracts 4.4 million international tourists per year, making it a popular destination in Europe.[49] Etymology and pronunciation [ edit ] The previously separate towns of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were in 1873 officially unified[50] and given the new name Budapest. Before this, the towns together had sometimes been referred to colloquially as "Pest-Buda".[51][52] Pest has also been sometimes used colloquially as a shortened name for Budapest.[51] All varieties of English pronounce the -s- as in the English word pest. The -u in Buda- is pronounced either /u/ like food (as in US: [53]) or /ju/ like cue (as in UK: ). In Hungarian, the -s- is pronounced /ʃ/ as in wash; in IPA: Hungarian: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] (). The origins of the names "Buda" and "Pest" are obscure. The first name probably comes from: Buda was probably the name of the first constable of the fortress built on the Castle Hill in the 11th century [54] or a derivative of Bod or Bud, a personal name of Turkic origin, meaning 'twig'. [55] or, a personal name of Turkic origin, meaning 'twig'. or a Slavic personal name, Buda, the short form of Budimír, Budivoj.[56] Linguistically, however, a German origin through the Slavic derivative вода (voda, water) is not possible, and there is no certainty that a Turkic word really comes from the word buta ~ buda 'branch, twig'.[57] According to a legend recorded in chronicles from the Middle Ages, "Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of Hunnic ruler Attila. There are several theories about Pest. One[58] states that the name derives from Roman times, since there was a local fortress (Contra-Aquincum) called by Ptolemaios "Pession" ("Πέσσιον", iii.7.§ 2).[59] Another has it that Pest originates in the Slavic word for cave, пещера, or peštera. A third cites пещ, or pešt, referencing a cave where fires burned or a limekiln.[60] History [ edit ] Early history [ edit ] The first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts[15] before 1 AD. It was later occupied by the Romans. The Roman settlement – Aquincum – became the main city of Pannonia Inferior in 106 AD.[15] At first it was a military settlement, and gradually the city rose around it, making it the focal point of the city's commercial life. Today this area corresponds to the Óbuda district within Budapest.[61] The Romans constructed roads, amphitheaters, baths and houses with heated floors in this fortified military camp.[62] The Roman city of Aquincum is the best-conserved of the Roman sites in Hungary. The archaeological site was turned into a museum with inside and open-air sections.[63] The Magyar tribes led by Árpád, forced out of their original homeland north of Bulgaria by Tsar Simeon after the Battle of Southern Buh, settled in the territory at the end of the 9th century displacing the founding Bulgarian settlers of the towns of Buda and Pest,[17][64] and a century later officially founded the Kingdom of Hungary.[17] Research places the probable residence of the Árpáds as an early place of central power near what became Budapest.[65] The Tatar invasion in the 13th century quickly proved it is difficult to defend a plain.[12][17] King Béla IV of Hungary therefore ordered the construction of reinforced stone walls around the towns[17] and set his own royal palace on the top of the protecting hills of Buda. In 1361 it became the capital of Hungary.[18][12] The cultural role of Buda was particularly significant during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus. The Italian Renaissance had a great influence on the city. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles and philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second only in size to the Vatican Library.[12] After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367 (University of Pécs), the second one was established in Óbuda in 1395 (University of Óbuda).[66] The first Hungarian book was printed in Buda in 1473.[67] Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around 1500.[68] Retaking of Buda from the Ottoman Empire, 1686 (17th-century painting) The Ottomans conquered Buda in 1526, as well in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541.[69] The Turkish Rule lasted for more than 140 years.[12] The Ottoman Turks constructed many prominent bathing facilities within the city.[17] Some of the baths that the Turks erected during their rule are still in use 500 years later (Rudas Baths and Király Baths). By 1547 the number of Christians was down to about a thousand, and by 1647 it had fallen to only about seventy.[68] The unoccupied western part of the country became part of the Habsburg Empire as Royal Hungary. In 1686, two years after the unsuccessful siege of Buda, a renewed campaign was started to enter the Hungarian capital. This time, the Holy League's army was twice as large, containing over 74,000 men, including German, Croat, Dutch, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Czech, Italian, French, Burgundian, Danish and Swedish soldiers, along with other Europeans as volunteers, artillerymen, and officers. The Christian forces seized Buda, and in the next few years, all of the former Hungarian lands, except areas near Timișoara (Temesvár), were taken from the Turks. In the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz, these territorial changes were officially recognized to show the end of the rule of the Turks, and in 1718 the entire Kingdom of Hungary was removed from Ottoman rule. Contemporary history after Unification [ edit ] Bond of the City of Budapest, issued 1. Mai 1911 Soviet tank in Budapest (1956) The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian struggle for independence[12] and modernisation. The national insurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated one and a half years later, with the help of the Russian Empire. 1867 was the year of Reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary. This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest, lasting until World War I. In 1849 the Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest was opened as the first permanent bridge across the Danube[70] and in 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third part, Óbuda (Old Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade and cultural hub. Ethnic Hungarians overtook Germans in the second half of the 19th century due to mass migration from the overpopulated rural Transdanubia and Great Hungarian Plain. Between 1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians increased from 35.6% to 85.9%, Hungarian became the dominant language, and German was crowded out. The proportion of Jews peaked in 1900 with 23.6%.[71][72][73] Due to the prosperity and the large Jewish community of the city at the start of the 20th century, Budapest was often called the "Jewish Mecca"[18] or "Judapest".[74][75] In 1918, Austria-Hungary lost the war and collapsed; Hungary declared itself an independent republic (Republic of Hungary). In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon partitioned the country, and as a result, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory, and about two-thirds of its inhabitants, including 3.3 million out of 15 million ethnic Hungarians.[76][77] In 1944, a year before the end of World War II, Budapest was partly destroyed by British and American air raids (first attack 4 April 1944[78][79][80]). From 24 December 1944 to 13 February 1945, the city was besieged during the Battle of Budapest. Budapest suffered major damage caused by the attacking Soviet and Romanian troops and the defending German and Hungarian troops. More than 38,000 civilians lost their lives during the conflict. All bridges were destroyed by the Germans. The stone lions that have decorated the Chain Bridge since 1852 survived the devastation of the war.[81] Between 20% and 40% of Greater Budapest's 250,000 Jewish inhabitants died through Nazi and Arrow Cross Party, during the German occupation of Hungary, from 1944 to early 1945.[82] Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz rescued tens of thousands of Jews by issuing Swiss protection papers and designating numerous buildings, including the now famous Glass House (Üvegház) at Vadász Street 29, to be Swiss protected territory. About 3,000 Hungarian Jews found refuge at the Glass House and in a neighboring building. Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest by giving them Swedish protection papers and taking them under his consular protection.[83] Wallenberg was abducted by the Russians on 17 January 1945 and never regained freedom. Giorgio Perlasca, an Italian citizen, saved thousands of Hungarian Jews posing as a Spanish diplomat.[84][85] Some other diplomats also abandoned diplomatic protocol and rescued Jews. There are two monuments for Wallenberg, one for Carl Lutz and one for Giorgio Perlasca in Budapest. Following the liberation of Hungary from Nazi Germany by the Red Army, Soviet military occupation ensued, which ended only in 1991. The Soviets exerted significant influence on Hungarian political affairs. In 1949, Hungary was declared a communist People's Republic (People's Republic of Hungary). The new Communist government considered the buildings like the Buda Castle symbols of the former regime, and during the 1950s the palace was gutted and all the interiors were destroyed (also see Stalin era). On 23 October 1956 citizens held a large peaceful demonstration in Budapest demanding democratic reform. The demonstrators went to the Budapest radio station and demanded to publish their demands. The regime ordered troops to shoot into the crowd. Hungarian soldiers gave rifles to the demonstrators who were now able to capture the building. This initiated the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The demonstrators demanded to appoint Imre Nagy to be Prime Minister of Hungary. To their surprise, the central committee of the "Hungarian Working People's Party" did so that same evening. This uprising was an anti-Soviet revolt that lasted from 23 October until 11 November. After Nagy had declared that Hungary was to leave the Warsaw Pact and become neutral, Soviet tanks and troops entered the country to crush the revolt. Fighting continued until mid November, leaving more than 3000 dead. A monument was erected at the fiftieth anniversary of the revolt in 2006, at the edge of the City Park. Its shape is a wedge with a 56 angle degree made in rusted iron that gradually becomes shiny, ending in an intersection to symbolize Hungarian forces that temporarily eradicated the Communist leadership.[86] From the 1960s to the late 1980s Hungary was often satirically referred to as "the happiest barrack" within the Eastern bloc, and much of the wartime damage to the city was finally repaired. Work on Erzsébet Bridge, the last to be rebuilt, was finished in 1964. In the early 1970s, Budapest Metro's East-West M2 line was first opened, followed by the M3 line in 1976. In 1987, Buda Castle and the banks of the Danube were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Andrássy Avenue (including the Millennium Underground Railway, Hősök tere, and Városliget) was added to the UNESCO list in 2002. In the 1980s, the city's population reached 2.1 million. In recent times a significant decrease in population occurred mainly due to a massive movement to the neighbouring agglomeration in Pest county, i.e., suburbanisation.[87] In the last decades of the 20th century the political changes of 1989–90 (Fall of the Iron Curtain) concealed changes in civil society and along the streets of Budapest. The monuments of the dictatorship were removed from public places, into Memento Park. In the first 20 years of the new democracy, the development of the city was managed by its mayor, Gábor Demszky.[88] Geography [ edit ] Topography [ edit ] Budapest, strategically placed at the centre of the Carpathian Basin, lies on an ancient route linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain. By road it is 216 kilometres (134 mi) south-east of Vienna, 545 kilometres (339 mi) south of Warsaw, 1,565 kilometres (972 mi) south-west of Moscow, 1,122 kilometres (697 mi) north of Athens, 788 kilometres (490 mi) north-east of Milan, and 443 kilometres (275 mi) south-east of Prague.[89] The 525 square kilometres (203 sq mi) area of Budapest lies in Central Hungary, surrounded by settlements of the agglomeration in Pest county. The capital extends 25 and 29 km (16 and 18 mi) in the north-south, east-west direction respectively. The Danube enters the city from the north; later it encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island.[12] The third island Csepel Island is the largest of the Budapest Danube islands, however only its northernmost tip is within city limits. The river that separates the two parts of the city is 230 m (755 ft) wide at its narrowest point in Budapest. Pest lies on the flat terrain of the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly.[12] The wide Danube was always fordable at this point because of a small number of islands in the middle of the river. The city has marked topographical contrasts: Buda is built on the higher river terraces and hills of the western side, while the considerably larger Pest spreads out on a flat and featureless sand plain on the river's opposite bank.[90] Pest's terrain rises with a slight eastward gradient, so the easternmost parts of the city lie at the same altitude as Buda's smallest hills, notably Gellért Hill and Castle Hill.[91] The Buda hills consist mainly of limestone and dolomite, the water created speleothems, the most famous ones being the Pálvölgyi cave (total length 7,200 m or 23,600 ft) and the Szemlőhegyi cave (total length 2,200 m or 7,200 ft). The hills were formed in the Triassic Period. The highest point of the hills and of Budapest is János hill, at 527 metres (1,729 feet) above sea level. The lowest point is the line of the Danube which is 96 metres (315 feet) above sea level. Budapest is also rich in green areas. Of the 525 square kilometres (203 square miles) occupied by the city, 83 square kilometres (32 square miles) is green area, park and forest.[92] The forests of Buda hills are environmentally protected.[93] The city's importance in terms of traffic is very central, because all major European roads and European railway lines lead to Budapest.[91] The Danube was and is still an important water-way and this region in the centre of the Carpathian Basin lies at the cross-roads of trade routes.[94] Budapest is one of only two capital cities in the world which has thermal springs (the other being Reykjavík in Iceland). Some 125 springs produce 70 million litres (15,000,000 imperial gallons; 18,000,000 US gallons) of thermal water a day, with temperatures ranging up to 58 Celsius. Some of these waters have medicinal effects due to their medically valuable mineral contents.[91] Climate [ edit ] Budapest has a borderline humid subtropical climate because the warmest month exceeds 22 degrees on average, and the coldest month is above 0 degrees on average. (Köppen classification). Winter (November until early March) can be cold and the city receives little sunshine. Snowfall is fairly frequent in most years, and nighttime temperatures of −10 °C (14 °F) are not uncommon between mid-December and mid-February. The spring months (March and April) see variable conditions, with a rapid increase in the average temperature. The weather in late March and April is often very agreeable during the day and fresh at night. Budapest's long summer – lasting from May until mid-September – is warm or very warm. Sudden heavy showers also occur, particularly in May and June. The autumn in Budapest (mid-September until late October) is characterised by little rain and long sunny days with moderate temperatures. Temperatures often turn abruptly colder in late October. Spring and Autumn are generally mild. Mean annual precipitation in Budapest is around 23.5 inches (596.9 mm). On average, there are 84 days with precipitation and 1988 hours of sunshine (of a possible 4383) each year.[3][95][96] The city lies on the boundary between Zone 6 and Zone 7 in terms of the hardiness zone.[97][98] Climate
among the NFL teams that have engaged in similar transactions with the National Guard. U.S. Senator Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has jumped on the revelations as examples of "egregious and unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars by the New Jersey Army National Guard." But Matt Stys, an Iraq veteran and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War based in Colorado, told Common Dreams that the revelations point to something far more insidious: the permeation of military propaganda into every aspect of U.S. life. "I think it's detrimental to the youth, specifically, seeing these images on a television of the NFL supporting the military," said Stys. "It indicates to them that adults think this is right." "Should we be perpetuating war or should we be looking at peace, understanding, and education?" Stys asked. "We're not defending our country or freedom—we're destroying other countries and other countries' freedoms."1 of 2 2 of 2 Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O’Leary has said he supports a prescription-heroin program that remains highly controversial among his party colleagues. His position is also in stark contrast to that of Stephen Harper’s government, which was taken to court for attempting to eliminate a Vancouver program that supplies severe addicts with pharmaceutical heroin, or diacetylmorphine, as it’s known. On his way into a speaking engagement at the University of British Columbia last night (February 9), O’Leary was asked by a journalist with the UBC-based Cited podcast whether he would similarly attempt to shut the program down if he were elected prime minister. “No,” O’Leary replied. “This is a disease. And do I want people using unsterile needles? No, because that just causes AIDS to occur in higher frequency. But at the same time, I’d like to put more resources into helping them kick the habit. Because that is a drug that ends in a bad place for everybody.” Since November 2014, Vancouver’s prescription-heroin program has operated out of a clinic in the Downtown Eastside. There, doctors and nurses administer diacetylmorphine or hydromorphone (another narcotic that’s similar to heroin) to a select group of severe addicts who have repeatedly failed to get clean with traditional treatments for an opioid addiction, such as methadone or abstinence. The program is legal via the federal Special Access Programme (SAP), which allows doctors to prescribe otherwise-illegal drugs after receiving permission from Health Canada on a case-by-case basis. Former Conservative health minister Rona Ambrose accused Vancouver doctors of abusing the SAP to prescribe heroin via a “loophole”. She subsequently revised regulations to shut it down. After the Liberal party took power following the 2015 election, the new health minister, Jane Philpott, reversed Ambrose’s regulation change. O’Leary is a Canadian entrepreneur best known for his appearances on Shark Tank, a reality television show where people pitch business ideas. His bombastic style has led some commentators to compare him to U.S. president Donald Trump. At UBC, O’Leary’s initial focus on clean needles prompted the journalist to clarify his question. “This isn’t Insite, which provides safe injection and clean supplies,” Kim said to O’Leary. “They are actually providing heroin with taxpayer money from the government.” O’Leary said he understood. “It is part of a program to help people get off heroin,” he explained. “That’s the whole idea. The whole idea is you have compassion for people and you try and help them get healthy. I’m all for that. Who isn’t? But at the same time, the controversies come around the idea of providing safe needles. And the reason we do that is to try and stop AIDS from spreading. But we need to spend more money and rehabilitating people so they don’t want to do drugs in the first place. Not that drug.” At Crosstown Clinic in the Downtown Eastside, Dr. Scott MacDonald oversees patients with severe addictions who are given prescription heroin and hydromorphone to stabilize their lives. Travis Lupick The exchange ended with O’Leary restating he would not interfere with the health-care initative. “I don’t want to cut funding to that program.” (Funding is actually provided by the provincial government via Providence Health Care, but O’Leary’s words can be interpreted as at least tacit support.) B.C. health officials are increasingly discussing prescription heroin as a tool that can be used to help manage the fentanyl problem and decrease the number of overdose deaths that have risen so sharply in recent years. In 2016, there were 914 fatal overdoses in B.C., up from 510 the previous year and 366 in 2014. Last year, the synthetic opioid fentanyl was associated with about 60 percent of drug-overdose deaths. Except for O’Leary, Conservative politicians have followed Ambrose’s lead and criticized any measure that could be viewed as a step toward the legalization of hard drugs. On January 26, Bob Saroya, Conservative MP for Markham-Unionville, for example, took to Twitter to criticize a Liberal opponent’s suggestion that Canada should consider decriminalizing drugs. This week (February 8), the Straight reported that the Liberal MP for Vancouver Centre, Dr. Hedy Fry, said it’s time for Canada to begin a conversation about legalizing heroin and bringing the drug’s supply under the regulations of government. “This is the discourse that we must have now,” Fry said. “Nobody is ramming anything down anybody’s throats. I’m not saying, ‘Let’s legalize.’ But I am saying, ‘It’s time we discussed this, openly and publicly.’ ” Her remarks followed those of Don Davies, NDP MP for Vancouver Kingsway, who in January told the Straight he similarly wants an open debate about legalizing hard drugs in response to the fentanyl crisis. “I think we are at the point, as a country, where we can start opening a dialogue about finding a better method of distributing drugs, legally, to those who are addicted to them so that we can avoid the unnecessary death, destruction, and crime that is so clearly associated with the current model [prohibition],” Davies said. “I am in favour of starting that dialogue.” The Conservative Party of Canada is scheduled to elect a new leader this May. The list of candidates vying for the job includes two politicians from British Columbia. Those are Rick Peterson and Andrew Saxton.There are many familiar elements in The Dark Horse, a New Zealand drama heralded by some native critics as one of the country’s great films. Several thoroughly worn-out genres—the prestige biopic, the gritty “faux-documentary” drama, the feel-good mentor/student story—are represented here as well. But they’re counterbalanced by the highly detailed and vivid setting, an engaging story unfamiliar to most viewers outside of New Zealand and an array of strong performances. Cliff Curtis portrays protagonist Genesis Potini, a real-life Maori chess master whose crippling bipolar disorder derailed his promising career. The film focuses on his life post-institutionalization and chronicles his path to redemption—a difficult journey expressed in the melancholy and complex emotions that encompass the otherwise uplifting story. When the film begins, a wandering Genesis is lured off the rainy streets by some vintage chessboards arranged in a store window. He fiddles with the pieces as confused shoppers observe, and despite his bedraggled appearance and aimless, incoherent mumbling, they aren’t uncomfortable or threatened, and neither are we. Such is the grace is Curtis’s performance; he makes Genesis, who died in 2011, a sympathetic figure without denying his alarming presence. Suddenly, someone from the mental hospital is there to whisk him away amid a ring of protests (“He isn’t hurting anything,” someone says), and he’s roughly tossed into a van by some burly men. Feelings of wonder and sadness, fascination and confusion underline the sequence, suggesting that a potentially happy ending will be bittersweet at best. The only person who can check Genesis out of the institution is his brother Ariki (Wayne Hapi), a quiet and tough-looking guy who’s not exactly pleased to hear from his estranged sibling. Reluctantly, he brings Genesis back to his home and there we see that Ariki is a high-ranking member of a Maori biker gang. As Genesis attempts to settle in a trio of hard-boozing gangsters loudly commiserate in the kitchen as heavy metal music blasts from the stereo. The general squalor of Ariki’s house suggests it’s sort of a home base for gang operations. In addition to adhering to a strict regimen of medication, Genesis was advised by his doctor to completely avoid stress—an unlikely possibility given his new surroundings. Luckily he connects with his teenage nephew Mana (James Rolleston), who’s being primped to join the gang on his upcoming birthday. Another point of solace for Genesis are the Eastern Knights, a group of at-risk Maori kids who formed a chess club to help stay away from gangs and crime. It’s here that the film most resembles something like The Mighty Ducks, or even Richard Linklater’s School of Rock—films that feature a desperate adult leading a group of ragtag kids to unlikely success in an organized competition thus resulting in personal redemption for the adult. But rather than redemption, Genesis is seeking connection. “The board is like our land, and we must protect our land,” he tells the group, referring to numerous ancient Maori myths. The way he relates Maori legend and the game of chess to his young protégés suggests both respect for his culture and detachment from his brother’s hardened lifestyle, itself a way to stay connected with ethnic roots. You can see the ongoing effects of systemic poverty and social displacement within the country’s Maori population on the faces of Ariki and his cohorts, in the somber and steady way they carry themselves. The Dark Horse is never expressly political, but its sociopolitical interests interact with the story in powerful ways. Such subtly tends to save the film from various genre clichés. The Dark Horse is often sentimental, but it’s also genuine and sincere, so some of the more predictable and admittedly rote scenes—the protagonist’s temporary mental relapse, the Eastern Knights’ inevitable triumph at a prestigious competition in Auckland—still gel with the overall narrative, which is ultimately much more concerned with Genesis and his relation to Mana. Like his uncle, Mana has a unique talent for chess, but his ties to the gang along with his father’s unyielding demands stand in the way. In his eyes, Ariki is keeping Mana tied to his culture, but the same goes for Genesis, meaning overcoming those obstacles is a matter of reconciling centuries of fractured cultural expectations. There are no easy answers, and to its richly deserved credit, The Dark Horse doesn’t offer any. The final image unexpectedly mirrors The Graduate: two wayward people facing an uncertain future with only each other to rely on. But unlike in the Mike Nichols film, the message here is one of hope.NEW DELHI: Will the President and Prime Minister soon be flying long overseas trips aboard Air India One or Air Force One?The government is in the process of finding a replacement to the over two-decade-old Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets of Air India that have been used for long distance VVIP flights. But before the successor to the original “queen of the skies” (B-747) is found, a panel of secretaries of top ministries like defence, finance, aviation, external affairs, home along with brass of the special protection group will this month meet to address two key issues — whether the new plane should be two-engine or four-engine and whether AI or Indian Air Force should be operating and maintaining the chariot of the sky.“There is a huge price difference in the price of twin-engine and four-engine jets. So there is the obvious financial angle,” said highly placed sources.The IAF maintains and operates a fleet of Boeing Business Jets for use by top VVIPs like President, Vice-President and Prime Minister for flying within India and to neighbouring countries. “The secretaries will decide whether the new aircraft should be with AI or IAF. If they decide in favour of the IAF, then the defence establishment will decide the successor aircraft. Else, civil aviation authorities will take a technical call on which plane is best suited for the VVIPs,” said the source.Prime Minister Narendra Modi boarding the special Air India plane on his way to Japan earlier this year.The final decision will be taken by the highest echelons of the government. However given the long-distance requirement, the choice for both the defence and civil aviation authorities is going to be limited to the options from Boeing and Airbus.The four-engine options from Boeing are the four-engine B-747 and two-engine B-777 and B-787. Incidentally, AI already has both the long range (LR) and extended range (ER) versions of the Boeing 777, apart from the constantly snag-ridden Dreamliners (787).The B-777s had been inducted into AI’s fleet after 2007, and the Dreamliners are brand new with many yet to be delivered to the airline. The B 777-300 ER and B-787 compare favourably to the fuel-guzzling B-777 200 LR. AI is, in fact, getting rid of the LRs as keeping it on ground is less loss-making than flying it due to its abysmally poor fuel efficiency.President Pranab Mukherjee arriving at Chennai airport in a special Indian Air Force plane. (TOI file photo)Sources do not rule out the possibility of using AI’s wide body Boeing planes as the next VVIP jet with certain changes as they are already in the fleet and do not have to be bought afresh. Even if the government decides in favour of IAF maintaining and operating the next VVIP Jet, the same can be transferred from AI to IAF, reducing the Maharaja’s loan.The other options are from Airbus — four-engine A-340 and two-engine A-330, apart from the under development A-350.The current list price of Boeing’s long range jets goes from Rs 2,282 crore for a brand new B-747-8 to Rs 1,352 crore for a B 787-8. Airbus long range jets’ current list price goes from Rs 2,112 crore for A-350-1000 to Rs 1,375 crore for A-330-200. (Calculations at Rs 62 to a dollar).“AI’s old B-747s are still trustworthy. The only issue is that their old engine and body frame make them fuel guzzlers. The fuel efficiency of new planes is obviously much better. It is just like comparing a well-maintained old car with a new one that boats of latest technology, comfort along with fuel efficiency,” said a source.THE ALTITUDE CLUB PRESENTS NETWORKING FOR NEWCOMERS THURSDAY, JANUARY 28TH, HOSTED INSIDE WEST 50, MISSISSAUGA Moving to a new country you will be faced with many new challenges and changes in your new home. If you have recently moved to Canada, networking is a great way to develop new connections and help build your professional and social network in Canada Networking for Newcomers was created to provide opportunities for new immigrants in Canada to learn valuable networking skills, to meet, connect and exchange ideas, contacts, job leads and information on career development while building their professional network. The Altitude Club is an organization dedicated to providing the ultimate networking event for Internationally Educated Professionals, International Students and New Immigrants in Canada. Connecting New Immigrants To Opportunities Through Networking:Courtesy General MillsAh, the sleep inducing, football watching, turkey-obsessed, Thanksgiving meal. For many around the country the turkey is the unfortunate star of our dinner tables every November. In 1911, a Vest Pocket Essay published in the San Francisco Call noted, “The turkey is the national bird of thankfulness,” and “the patriotic turkey dies for his country on Thanksgiving day,” shares NPR. Not sure the turkeys are aware of their patriotism or they’d agree to make this sacrifice, but we have some good news for them—they don’t rank as the most popular Thanksgiving food in any state. (Hosting this year? Downloading our free Thanksgiving Planner with recipes, a timeline, jokes and more, is an absolute must.) General Mills broke down the most popular and unusual food by state, using search data from Betty Crocker.com and Pillsbury.com. Their research showed a lot of you are serving up that other bird, the chicken. Think Buffalo Chicken dip (Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virgina), chicken and dumplings (Arizona and Kentucky), chicken pot pie (Maine), and chicken spaghetti (Mississippi and Texas). Then there are crabs. Maryland, known for its blue crabs and crab cakes, and New Jersey like featuring crab cakes as part of their Thanksgiving spread. And what about monkeys? Monkey bread that is. Rhode Island, Iowa, and Nebraska all have a thing for this crescent roll sweet treat that oozes caramel and cinnamon but has nothing to do with creatures that swing from trees or munch on bananas. See what dish is most popular in your state above, then read on to find out the best craft beer in every state.Share this with a friend Hey, I saw this on ScoopWhoop and think it's great. Submit Email has been sent successfully to your friend! Fuck Holi. There, I said it. I know, I know. Some of you might say that this is THE most fun festival in India but honestly, Holi is easily the worst festival there is. In the name of Bura na mano holi hai, everyone - from a random stranger to that middle aged pervert uncle of your colony - feels it is absolutely appropriate to smother you in gulaal because, duh, it's Holi. They feel as if they have a legitimate excuse to touch you inappropriately and cover it up in the name of the festival. Image via Deepti Asthana Even if you don't intend to feel me up in the garb of celebrations, I still have an objection to this so-called celebration. Firstly, I hate colours. Your skin gets itchy, they get inside your eyes and it just feels unhygienic to get smothered in a substance that takes hours to get off. But those who play with colours are saints in comparison to those who decide to throw eggs on passerbys. How is that fun? But my biggest complaint with Holi is the nuisance that is created on the roads. In the garb of colours, it's difficult to identify anyone and people seem to enjoy this because anonymously creating havoc is certainly their best bet and who's going to catch you when everyone around looks exactly the same. SRK and Juhi Chawla in Darr \| Source: blogspot With people going crazy in your colony and on the road, your safest bet is to stay locked inside your room. Because somehow, it is very difficult for people to understand that you don't enjoy the incessant pichkari sprays and loads of grease being smothered on your hair. Some people may not want to play Holi. Bura na mano, don't force them!The Kansas City Chiefs have finished OTAs and now take a break before training camp begins on August 1. Let's take a peek at the Chiefs offensive line position battles heading into camp. Right guard is wide open Left guard appears to be set with Ben Grubbs. But right guard.... From Jeff Allen to Zach Fulton to Mitch Morse to Paul Fanaika, the Chiefs right guard position appears to be wide open right now. Jeff Allen started and ended the offseason at right guard so if there is a leader in this then it would have to be him. But Fulton started at right guard for 16 games last year. Morse was a second round pick. Fanaika is here on a multi-year deal. Eric Kush holding down center If the offseason is any indication, the center job is Eric Kush's to lose. He lined up with the first team during the offseason but I suspect the Chiefs will work Morse in during training camp to get a better idea of what they've got. It's difficult to make any bold statements about the offensive line considering they're not even in pads yet. Right tackle is Donald Stephenson... probably? If Jeff Allen gets the right guard job, then it's easier to slide Stephenson into right tackle. But what if Allen doesn't win that job and he's competing for Stephenson's spot? This one depends on how things shake out across the offensive line in other spots. Jarrod Pughsley is another name that will be in the competition at tackle. Ben Grubbs is your left guard Along with Eric Fisher, this is one of the spots on the offensive line that seems to be all but confirmed. Grubbs is a former Pro Bowler and an eight-year veteran. It's hard to see him losing this spot. This will be a big upgrade over Mike McGlynn. Eric Fisher is your left tackle Don't think there's any question about this. Let's see how a new left guard helps him.Like this article? rabble is reader-supported journalism. Chip in to keep stories like these coming. There's a little burst of colour emerging from an alleyway near Vancouver's 8th Ave. and Main Street. Giraffes and chickadees poke their heads out from a riot of magnolia blossoms in Vancouver's newest mural. It's the work of artist Ilya Viryachev, who has been painting outdoor murals in Vancouver since 2014. This latest piece, In Bloom, was completed two months ago. "We have a lot of alleyways in Vancouver which are a little grungy, a little dirty. I think art like this brings a positive vibe," said Viryachev. Vancouver has had a longstanding reputation as a "no fun city," and the swift removal of unsanctioned street art has added to that image. "Getting street art on walls in Vancouver is a bit of a challenge," says Chris Bentzen, owner of Hot Art Wet City art gallery. "The city tends to cover it up pretty quickly… Part of street art is that surprise of finding it, if you ever get to see it at all." Thanks to the revitalization of the mural program, alleys across the city have blossomed with art, and it looks like there's a lot more to come. However, some artists dislike the restrictions of the program and those on creative freedom. Artists, the city and business associations team up Scott Edwards, manager of street activities with the City of Vancouver, said the mural program was revitalized in 2012 after artists and businesses expressed concern over the degradation of existing murals. "They wanted something back. They were seeing them tagged, they were seeing them defaced. Some were being defaced to the point where the city needed to remove them," Edwards said. "We wanted to be able to re-engage the community and get the muralists and the artists and everyone excited about putting something back up without worrying about it getting damaged." Over the past two years, the city has made further changes to the mural program in response to feedback from artists and businesses, who said they wanted the approval process to be faster and easier. The streamlined process has resulted in permits for 60 new murals in the last two years. The city has also been actively commissioning more artists to paint utility boxes around the city. The city's mural program, Edwards said, is aimed at beautifying neighbourhoods and building strong communities. Viryachev's In Bloom did just that. He teamed up with a youth group from the Mount Pleasant Community Centre to design and create the mural. "They really helped me out a lot," Viryachev said. "I've taught kids painting before and sometimes it can be a lot of attention and work. But in this case it was perfect." The first murals Viryachev painted were entirely his own initiative. He found walls, got permission from business owners and applied for permits with the city. The city paid for his paint, like it does for all approved murals. He said the mural program gives local emerging artists the chance to find an audience and get their name out. In fact he credits the exposure he earned from these early projects with getting him to where he is now -- being hired by business associations and paid for his time. Vancouver's business associations play an important role in the mural program. The Mount Pleasant BIA, in particular, has been active in securing permits and paying artists to create murals in their neighbourhood -- including Viryachev's In Bloom. For communities like Mount Pleasant, murals are a way to create a unique sense of place in a neighbourhood that's known for its artistic community. What's more, it's an effective way to fight graffiti. Discouraging graffiti Viryachev said the value of mural art as a graffiti deterrent should not be underestimated. "What people don't realize is the city would love artists to create more art because it's more rare that a mural would get tagged than a random wall," said Viryachev. Property owners in Vancouver are required to remove graffiti if it appears on their buildings -- likewise, the city is responsible for removing graffiti on its property. Viryachev says some business owners worry about the cost of creating and maintaining a mural, not realizing that the city pays for paint and covers the mural with a protective coating to make it easier to remove unwanted tags and graffiti. What's more, artists can be held responsible for upkeep. "For the next two years if this mural is tagged I have to come and clean it up, which I'm perfectly fine with," said Viryachev, adding that he's already had to get up at 5:00 a.m. to paint over a tag on his mural before his workday started. Rumours of a mural festival in the works Viryachev said that local musician David Vertesi of Hey Ocean! has been working to get a mural festival organized in Vancouver for this coming summer. "I hear that it's ramping up, that there's walls being chosen," he said. "It's a big push for local artists to be seen in the city." Edwards confirmed that the city has received an application to explore the idea of a mural festival but that nothing has been confirmed yet. Viryachev hopes a festival will help raise awareness about the city's mural program "Some businesses may be afraid of it, people might not want to deal with it. Once you see a lot of them people will hopefully realize how cool it is," he said. The thrill of unsanctioned street art Some artists, however, would rather not be restricted by the mural program. Graffiti artists like iHeart, whose stencil work was shared by Banksy in 2014, always have their work quickly removed by the city. In an interview earlier this year, iHeart said the city's mural program is overly restrictive. He doubts his designs would be approved and he'd rather continue creating unsanctioned street art. Other artists prefer to tread the middle ground between permitted murals and illegal spray paint art. Artists like Jenn "Slingshot" Brisson, wrk(less), Mega McGrath and M.W. Bowen use a technique known as wheatpasting to stick their art in alleyways and on boarded-up buildings around the city. The technique is fast, easy and impermanent. Artists create their work in studio and then use homemade flour-and-water glue to paste it up. Most wheatpaste art washes away during Vancouver's rainy winter. For M.W. Bowen, the slightly illicit nature of this artform is part of the thrill, as is the creative freedom it affords. "You really have complete freedom. There's no one giving you a theme or guidelines or materials you have to work with," he said. The immediacy of wheatpasting is another draw. "Getting into a gallery, becoming more well known in the art community -- that takes a long time. But this is something I could do right away," he said. Bowen doesn't rule out the idea of taking on a mural project of his own in the future. But regardless, he says the revitalized mural program is a boon for the city's artists. "I think this one thing will have a ripple effect that can only create positive energy in the city," he said. "It'll raise the community's awareness of public art," he said. Megan Devlin is a multimedia journalist and former rabble news intern. Right now she's based in Vancouver pursuing a Master of Journalism at the University of British Columbia Rachel Sanders is a Vancouver-based freelance writer and broadcaster. She is a Master of Journalism student at the University of British Columbia.Explore the pages of Tauck's travel brochures and you'll find a choice of distinctive and enriching travel possibilities across the globe. Request your brochures and receive a 2020 calendar. So where do you want to go? A great place to start is our brochures! Just complete the request form today and we'll also send you our beautiful, full-color, 2020 Tauck travel calendar, a year-round reminder of the wonders that await you on every Tauck journey. Travel Pioneers for 90+ years "Best Escorted Tour Operator" – Virtuoso, 2018 "Best Luxury Escorted Tour Operator" – Luxury Travel Advisor, 2018 "Best Tour Operator, North America" – Recommend Readers’ Choice Gold Award, 2018 "Best River Cruise Line – Service" – Cruise Critic Editors’ Choice Award, 2018 "#1 Tour Operator, Small Ship" – Signature Luxury Travel & Style Luxury Cruise Awards (AU), 2018 "Culinary Adventure Award (“Savoring France” river cruise)" – AFAR Traveler’s Choice Awards, 2018 "Best Excursion, “Rendezvous on the Seine”" – World of Cruising Wave Awards (UK), 2018 "Best River Cruise Line – Families" – Cruise Critic UK Editors’ Choice Award, 2017 & 2018During discussions surrounding Oklahoma’s House Bill 1549, which would prohibit women to seek an abortion in the case of a genetic abnormality, one Democratic lawmaker asked the author of the bill if he thought rape was “the will of God.” “Well, you know, if you read the Bible, there’s actually a couple circumstances where that happened,” Rep. George Faught (R) replied. “The Lord uses all circumstances. I mean, you can go down that path, but it’s a reality unfortunately.” “What about incest?” Rep. Cory Williams (D) pressed. “Same answer. Doesn’t deal with this bill,” Faught said. Williams’ point is that since Faught is unwilling to make exceptions for abortion in the case of rape or incest, the questions are relevant. “You are proffering a divine intervention as the reason why you won’t do that and so I think it is very important,” Williams said. “This body wants to know — and myself personally — whether you believe rape and incest are actually the will of God.” “It’s a great question to ask,” said Faught. “And, obviously if it happens in someone’s life, it may not be the best thing that ever happened, but — so you’re saying that God is not sovereign with every activity that happens in someone’s life and can’t use anything and everything in someone’s life and I disagree with that.” Watch the video below: Featured image: George Faught via YouTube. To follow Sky Palma on Facebook, click here.Bitcoin bulls looking to diversify can now put money in a Crypto-index fund. Bitwise Asset Management closes a $4 million funding round backed by investors including Keith Rabois, David Sacks and Naval Ravikant. The Bitwise’s Hold 10 index fund is now the world’s first crypto-index fund. Did you miss the Bitcoin ‘gold rush’? Here is another opportunity for you to join the best bitcoin staking, mining and investment programme. Sign up here and start earning today For people looking to get in on cryptocurrencies without having to bet on a single one, the Hold 10 index fund is supposed to make crypto-investing as easy as buying the S&P 500. Bitwise Asset Management started accepting investors into Hold 10. In a recent statement by the CEO of Bitwise, Hunter Horsley he said “We and our investors believe that a vehicle like this, or passive index investing as an approach, is a great way for many people to participate in cryptocurrency”. The Hold 10 index is the latest investment vehicle to launch in the cryptocurrency space. Right now investors have to be U.S-based and accredited since it’s a private investment vehicle and not an ETF. The minimum investment is $10,000 – which is generally much less than a crypto-focused hedge fund would require. Going forward they’re planning on launching a Cayman Island vehicle so international investors can participate. Like this: Like Loading...Saints forward Jay Rodriguez has revealed that he is progressing well in his recovery from a long-term knee injury and hopes to rejoin his teammates on the training ground soon. The 25-year-old has been sidelined since last April, when he suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, but he appears confident that he is nearing a return. Rodriguez wrote on Twitter this morning: "Training is going well and not long till I get back with the lads." My new #f50 boots from @adidas.Training is going well and not long till I get back with the lads. #therewillbehaters pic.twitter.com/PRVvnqK7nD — Jay Rodriguez (@JayRodriguez9) February 6, 2015 Saints manager Ronald Koeman has insisted there is no time pressure on Rodriguez when it comes to a return date. When asked if he thinks last season's top scorer can still play a meaningful part in this campaign, Koeman said: "I hope, because he’s a very good player. "Maybe you know that better than I know, but we don’t put pressure on Jay. "He has to be back fully to fitness and if that is in the last part of the season I am very pleased, because that brings quality in the team to be successful, if not next season. "The fitness of the player is the most important. It is more important in my opinion than the position on the table."Things to do in Saskatoon During January 2015 Posted on by Carter Toni Posted in: Events in Saskatoon Shows, Exhibitions & Other Events Expedition: Arctic Date: July 8, 2014 - January 15, 2015 Location: Diefenbaker Canada Centre LUGO Date: January 10, 2015 Location: Mendel Art Gallery Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival Date: January 12, 2015 Location: TCU Place Marc Emergy "The Prince Of Pot" Speaking Tour Date: January 13, 2015 Location: Broadway Theatre Mock Wedding Date: January 17, 2015 Location: Prairieland Park A Conversation with Former U.S. Secret of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Date: January 21, 2015 Location: TCU Place Frosted Gardens Date: January 30, 2015 - February 13, 2015 Location: Delta Bessborough Live Music Pimpton Date: January 3, 2015 Location: Capitol Music Club Heidi Monroe Date: January 6, 2015 Location: Bon Temps 3 Strings Fretless Date: January 6 - 7, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Apollo Cruz Date: January 8, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway BC Read Big Band Date: January 9, 2015 Location: The Bassment Wenches and Rogues with Stone the Witch, Violent Betty Date: January 9, 2015 Location: Amigos Crooked Creek with guests Date: January 9, 2015 Location: Capitol Music Club RipperTrain Date: January 9 - 10, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Martin Janovsky Orchestra Date: January 10, 2015 Location: The Bassment Silent Sea with Bombargo Date: January 10, 2015 Location: Amigos University of Saskatchewan Amati Quartet Date: January 10, 2015 Location: Knox United Church The Blue Mules Date: January 10, 2015 Location: Bon Temps Irene Elliott Trio Date: January 12, 2015 Location: Bon Temps Heidi Monroe Date: January 13, 2015 Location: Bon Temps Eddie Robertson Date: January 13 - 14, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Undercover Pirates Date: January 15, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Outside the Wall Date: January 15 - 16, 2015 Location: The Bassment Winter in the West featuring Evil Ebenezer and Factor, Cquel, Noah the Mind Date: January 16, 2015 Location: Amigos Screamer Date: January 16 - 17, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Jazz Singer Fest Date: January 17, 2015 Location: The Bassment Blackalicious with Kay the Aquanaut, Stone Cold Party Rockers Date: January 17, 2015 Location: Amigos Mo' Marley Date: January 17, 2015 Location: Bon Temps Dark Tranquility with Insomnium Date: January 18, 2015 Location: Louis' SSO Chamber Players Date: January 18, 2015 Location: Delta Bessborough 17 Seconds of Fuel Date: January 20 - 21, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Jazz Jam with The Brett Balon Trio Date: January 21, 2015 Location: The Bassment Madchild with Demrick Date: January 22, 2015 Location: Capitol Music Club Soul Picnic Date: January 22, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Penny Reign Date: January 23, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Jack Semple Band Date: January 23, 2015 Location: The Bassment SWITCH Benefit Show with The Spencer Vaughn band and guests Date: January 23, 2015 Location: Amigos David Braid, Michael Davidson, Peripheral Vision Date: January 24, 2015 Location: The Bassment Northern Lights - Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra Date: January 24, 2015 Location: TCU Place Seven Strait Date: January 24, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Acronyms with Mario Lepage Date: January 24, 2015 Location: Amigos Death From Above 1979, Metz, PS I Love You Date: January 26, 2015 Location: O'Brians Event Centre Flathead Date: January 27 - 28, 2015 Location: Buds on Broadway Fiddle Feast featuring Gordon Stobbe, JJ Guy, Karrnnel, Daniel Koulack Date: January 28, 2015 Location: The Bassment Brewster & the Roosters Date: January 29, 2015
change the settings. She won't replace it or upgrade it. She just wants people to leave it alone. She is trying to hold on to her memories of a friend, to the piece of Poissant embedded in Japanese electronics, to the virtual identity that Poissant herself helped construct through respiration and perspiration and the burning of calories and the achieving of goals. A short, muscular woman with brown hair and a ready smile beneath her rectangular eyeglass frames, Favreau is nonetheless cautious about even turning it on, and not because her 14-month-old baby is sleeping in the next room. A few months earlier, her 6-year-old son accidentally deleted six months of Poissant's Wii Fit workout data. "I'm supposed to transfer everything over (to newer versions), but I'm scared to," she says. "I'm scared she's going to get lost in the switch, and I don't think I'll handle that too well." That said, Favreau grabs the remote and pushes the power button, because it's a way to reveal a little bit of who her friend was. What comes to life onscreen is a large brunette head, wearing eyeglasses nearly identical in style to Favreau's. The head sprouts from a cartoonishly tiny body, because this is, after all, a cartoon, an anime-style avatar. Favreau watches as the avatar jumps around on the screen and smiles. Then her animated arms gradually droop and the rest of her comes to a standstill in front of a graph showing Poissant's workouts, her calories burned, her weight loss. And at this point, Favreau launches into the story. Before Bechard's wedding in August of 2011, when Favreau and Poissant were bridesmaids, the three close friends, all mothers with young children, had talked about getting fit. Pregnancies added pounds, and the demands of child-rearing and work made them difficult to shed. Snapshots on Favreau's bedroom walls and on her phone show three happy, but out-of-shape, friends at Bechard's wedding. By the summer of 2012, Poissant and Bechard began going on long power walks together. Favreau never joined them; she had just given birth to her second child, Alyssa. But on the first day of school in September, Poissant called Favreau. "You know how we were talking about working out?" Poissant asked. "Yeah," Favreau replied. "When did you want to do it?" Jokingly, Favreau said, "How about today?" Poissant hung up the phone and was at Favreau's house "in like two seconds flat," Favreau recalls. Favreau weighed 224 pounds in the summer of 2012, Poissant almost forty pounds less. "I was heavy, she was heavy — and she was driven," Favreau says. "She really, really wanted to lose weight." The two friends would work out as long as two hours at a time as often as six days a week. Jane Favreau (left) and Ashley Poissant. Rather than fad diets, the two friends went for the burn. Within months, they had sweated through all manner of workout videos, from Jillian Michaels to Billy Blank's Tae Bo. Poissant would come over during the baby's morning nap, and the two friends would work out as long as two hours at a time as often as six days a week. Pounds melted off. Muscles toned up. They even mustered the courage to try Shawn T's notorious "Insanity" program. For months, it had been like a dare, a forbidding mountain. "Just wait till we do Insanity," the two friends would tell each other. And Poissant was always more insistent. One day, she found an Insanity workout on YouTube, and they went for it. Favreau threw up. Poissant, who could pepper her sense of humor with a dash of mean, couldn't help laughing at her friend. "She definitely was enjoying the moment." She enjoyed all the moments they were working out, except when her weight loss graph would flatten. "For a while we were losing pounds and pounds per week, but then it leveled off and it was just ounces, or nothing," Favreau says. "She didn't like that." But Poissant's plateaus never lasted long, and she loved how the new regime made her feel. She'd talk about how much more energy she had, and all the goals she was meeting. And those goals weren't just about fitness. Her world was opening up. She was born Ashley Reynolds across the border in Quebec, in a bilingual household, and moved to Clinton County when her parents divorced. She worked various jobs, met Matthew Poissant, and fell in love. She was funny and energetic when people got to know her, but that wasn't easy. "She took a long time trusting people," Favreau says. Eventually, though, she let her guard down, first with Bechard — who worked with Matt Poissant at a local dairy farm — and then with Favreau, who got to know Poissant at McDonald's. And in the last 18 months of Poissant's life, the three hung out all the time, getting together with their husbands and kids, going to movies — Ashley couldn't get enough of the "Twilight" saga — and hitting malls and big box stores 20 miles south in Plattsburgh. That last year or so, Poissant grew more assertive and ambitious. She had quit McDonald's in 2011 to stay home with kids, occasionally working babysitting jobs. But she wanted more, Favreau says, and in an area with few other career opportunities, she knew she could achieve it at McDonald's, and returned to work in late 2012. With her cross-border background, she spoke fluent French, an asset at a store with so many customers from Quebec. And she was meticulous, sometimes to the point of irking co-workers. "She was by the book," Favreau says. "I liked to joke around at work. She never did." She set her sights on a management job, and within a few months of rejoining the staff she was named "Employee of the Month." A few months after that, she earned her promotion and, literally, the keys to the store. In mid-May, Favreau took a phone call from her friend. "You will never guess what I just got today," Poissant said. "Your keys," replied Favreau. "How did you know?" "You've only been waiting for how long?" Favreau said. "And I can hear them jingling." "But to her it wasn't just a job. It was, I guess, becoming something bigger." Poissant's friends can't overstate what the promotion meant to her. "She loved everything about it," Favreau says. "People would look at her and be like, ‘You work at McDonald's. What is so great about it?' But to her it wasn't just a job. It was, I guess, becoming something bigger." Her fitness ambitions grew, too. Favreau's living room couldn't contain them. About the same time she started on the Wii Fit, Poissant began ramping up her activity with Bechard. "Wanna go for a walk?" she'd say. They'd been taking walks for a while. Bechard was a smoker and wanted to exercise to help her quit. The first walk they took, Poissant made them go 7.9 miles. "I was like, are you kidding me?" Bechard says. By the spring of 2013, walking turned to running. "She bugged me on the phone every day: ‘Are you going to come for a run?'" Bechard says. "And I'm like, Ashley, I just got home from the barn, I am sweating, I am stinky, I have all these things to do. I have this appointment or something going on, you know? And I just didn't say it clearly, I guess, so, it'd be, ‘Enough is enough — I'm just going to go.'" Over time, they fell into a rhythm, running three or four times a week. As the spring days lengthened, they'd come home from their jobs, help their kids finish homework, fix supper and take off, first through the village of Champlain, then, as their stamina increased, out on the country roads, making sure to be back on sidewalks before dark. Poissant never gave a thought to entering races, or running formally, Bechard says. It was too expensive, and competing with somebody else wasn't really the point. "Anything that made her sweat, she liked it." Bechard says. "She would say, ‘You wait until the summer and it's 90 degrees. We're going for a run of like five miles, and you're going to be sweating your butt off.'" In that spirit, Favreau and Poissant kept sweating through the winter and early spring, nearing their target weights. They planned their celebration — a guilt-free steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Plattsburgh. With about 15 pounds left to their goal, they started a Les Mills Combat Workout. They'd been at it for six weeks, and by mid-May, Poissant had made it — 129 pounds. Favreau had just a few pounds left, and Poissant insisted that the sirloin and potatoes and cornbread should wait until they'd both earned it. "We never went," Favreau says. "We should have just gone when she made it..." She trails off and fights, unsuccessfully, the tears forming beneath her glasses. She looks at the Wii Fit screen, points to an entry on the chart. May 14, exactly a week before her friend passed away. "That was the last workout I did with her." * * * A memorial marks the spot on Perry Mills Road where Ashley was killed. The report estimates the driver had 5.2 seconds to swerve to avoid a collision. For prosecutor Andrew Wylie, the case against Ronald Trombly is obvious. He alleges that a defendant too intoxicated to drive failed to act with proper care to avoid what investigators say was an easily avoidable collision. Wylie grants that Poissant and the Bechards should have been running against traffic. But the State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) report, based on measurements at the scene, says that given the lighting at that time of day, Trombly would have been able to see the joggers from a distance of 525 feet to 615 feet, as much as two full football fields. Factoring in reaction and braking time at 45 miles per hour, the speed Trombly said he was driving, the report estimates the driver had 5.2 seconds to swerve to avoid a collision. Some 300-pound NFL linemen can run 40 yards in that time. There was no indication of oncoming traffic, Wylie says, or evidence that Trombly drove with his lights on. Trombly never hit his brake hard enough to leave a skid mark on the road, let alone deploy his airbag; the Buick's electronic data recorder, which measures things like sudden pressure against the driver's seatbelt, registered no abrupt change. The CRU report doesn't mince words. "While clearly in violation of the statute regarding pedestrian use of the highway," it says of the joggers, "they remained sufficiently conspicuous with regard to the sight distance that they could have easily been observed and avoided. The primary cause is the failure of Ronald Trombly to observe the runners on the roadway." Clinton County has little violent crime. But there is a long history of driving drunk in New York's North Country. Not so long ago, in a tradition called the "River Run," participants would have one drink at each of a series of taverns from Loon Lake in the Adirondacks all the way into Plattsburgh, without the benefit of a designated driver. Wylie highlights DWI enforcement as a centerpiece of his election campaigns, and he and local law enforcement say mechanisms like random checkpoints, as well as changing social attitudes, are succeeding. "Our numbers in the county for DWI arrests have gone down in the county each of the last three years," he says, "and we're very proud of that." Still, a sizeable number of locals hold a cavalier attitude toward drinking and driving. "I think juries in particular still view DWI as a casual occurrence crime, and it's not looked at as seriously as it should be," Wylie says, adding that some jurors simply won't convict. ‘They just feel like, ‘It could have been me.'" There's no way of knowing whether those attitudes came into play in Trombly's first grand jury proceeding. But when only 16 of 22 possible jurors showed up for duty that day, prosecutors couldn't convince the required 12 members to vote for an indictment on any of the counts. "Had we had 20 members present at the first grand jury," Wylie says, "then in all likelihood the outcome would have been different." Wylie's anger was evident after the grand jury came back with no bill. "Justice wasn't served," he said at the time, and vowed to try again. He succeeded, and now Trombly could spend what remains of his life in a state penitentiary. * * * Every criminal case has two sides, and Stanley Cohen is adept at telling his. Not a shy man, the Manhattan attorney, a former colleague of radical attorney William Kunstler, has spent his whole life loudly defending what are often, in America, unpopular and sometimes high-profile causes. On his web page, he features a clip of himself jousting with Sean Hannity on FOX over his work with the Hamas government in Palestine, and he's represented a member of Anonymous who hacked into PayPal, and Osama bin Laden's son-in-law. He's currently under indictment in two federal jurisdictions for failing to file income tax returns, charges he denies, and which he says stem from his political activism. Nobody disputes his skill as a lawyer. "Stanley's been around a long time, and he's an extremely well-respected criminal defense attorney," says Earl Ward, a leading Manhattan defense and civil-rights lawyer who represented Roger Clemens' trainer-turned-steroid-accuser Brian McNamee. "He is a zealous advocate for his clients." Cohen's résumé doesn't scream "rural," but he's practiced frequently in this corner of the state, working on everything from Native American activism to criminal traffic charges — like the one he's handling for Ronald Trombly. "I've been doing cases in the North Country for 25 years," he says. "My significant other is from the Mohawk reservation up there." "It was an accident in which the joggers contributed to it. Their own conduct was if not reckless certainly negligent." He knows the area, and he's not afraid to speak frankly about local mores — especially as they pertain to his case. "I daresay," he says, "if you were to jail everyone in the North Country, forget about accidents, who has two beers driving around on their way home after work, you'd probably have, I don't know, 20,000 people on a Saturday night in prison." In an omnibus motion filed on Trombly's behalf, he tells a different story than Wylie. His main point: "It was an accident," he says. "It was an accident in which the joggers contributed to it. Their own conduct was if not reckless certainly negligent." The motion asked the presiding judge to throw out the case; the court rejected it in January. But it remains a road map for Trombly's defense. From the introduction on through the 31-page filing, Cohen says Poissant and her companions "were recklessly running in the middle of a winding unlit narrow lane after sunset cast against the backdrop of very dense and dark woods." He insists there's no causal link between alcohol and the collision. The motion claims the runners were lined up "across the road." The motion also argues at length that giving Wylie "a second bite at the apple," after the first grand jury failed to indict Trombly, violates established law, stating, "... the District Attorney's unhappiness with the outcome cannot be viewed as a lawful basis upon which to seek leave from the Court to re-present the case to a new, second grand jury." Cohen also claims Wylie's anger with the first grand jury, plus the outpouring of support for Poissant in local media and on the Internet, may have influenced the second grand jury to indict his client. Beyond that, Trombly's defense will fight hard against admitting the blood alcohol test, arguing that in his dazed state after the crash, the defendant was coerced into going to the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital for a blood draw. "There's a real issue of consent there," Cohen says. The attorney also questions why, if Trombly committed a crime, police let him go so soon after the crash. "It's interesting that after an investigation that night, they gave him his license and then said, ‘Goodbye,' and he left." A prison term for Trombly won't serve justice, Cohen says. The defense rejected one plea offer in late January calling for a three-year sentence. "A reasonable resolution in my mind for an 85-year-old man with no criminal record to speak of at all does not include jail. If the DA's office agrees, we'll dispose of the case in a way that the family will be able to get some — there will be some civil consequences." That means a monetary settlement. "But if not," Cohen says, "we'll go to trial." You can't predict trials. "One grand jury already bounced this case," Cohen says. "It's conceivable a trial jury could bounce this case, too." * * * We designed the places we live with one prime directive: an automobile's inalienable right to travel at least 30 miles per hour. Participation in fitness and recreation is growing, but America really runs on gasoline and inertia. For much of the past 75 years, we designed the places we live with one prime directive: an automobile's inalienable right to travel at least 30 miles per hour. In upstate New York, that's the minimum possible speed limit, except for school zones. Driver sightlines are the reason suburban homes are set back so far from the street. On roadways, space for cars takes precedence over space for bicycles or people. And in cash-strapped rural areas, locals howl at the idea of spending highway funds to widen paved shoulders for cyclists or pedestrians on places like Perry Mills Road. Most Americans believe streets are for cars. Period. For generations, people who don't use cars have been suspect, either yuppies with too much time and money on their hands, or poor people unworthy of an American dream machine. Drivers feel entitled to more than the road. A car on a highway feels like its own libertarian utopia, where you're free to shut out the world and listen to hip-hop or classical or Rush Limbaugh and control your own destiny at a high rate of speed. It's your life. You can do what you want. For a long time, you could even be drunk while doing it. Through the 1970s, according to Dr. Barron H. Lerner's 2011 book, "One for the Road," a history of drunk driving, the blood alcohol legal limit in most states was 0.15 percent — about eight drinks on an empty stomach -— some 20 years after Scandinavian countries had set the limit at 0.05 percent. That freedom isn't free. Victims of drunk driving-or their survivors-live in every community. Nora Montanaro is a longtime lecturer in communications at SUNY Plattsburgh. In early 2006, her oldest son, Albert Montanaro III, was training for the state trooper's fitness test, jogging on a sunny afternoon near his home in Ausable Chasm, about 30 miles south of Champlain. A drunk driver named Steven Baker — with a suspended license and 16 beers in his car — crossed the fog line at high speed and killed Montanaro, 20, who was running more than four feet off the pavement and facing traffic on a long straightaway. Albert Montanaro took every precaution, his mother says, but "a runner or cyclist has no protection when it comes to a moving automobile armed with a drunken driver." Nora Montanaro now heads the Northern New York Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, turning her tragedy into a crusade. "People treat drunk driving like an accident. They even use the term ‘accident,'" she says. "It's never an accident." Today, Montanaro counsels survivors. She tells them not to expect too much, from the driver, the justice system, or the media. But she also tells them to do everything they can to preserve the victim's memory. That's what Bechard and other friends of Ashley Poissant will do in Champlain on April 27 when they hold a 5K run for a woman who never ran one of her own. Proceeds will go toward education funds for Poissant's sons, Logan, Ethan and Owen, three young boys who now know their mother through memories, photographs and a tribute video the family posted on YouTube. On a "Justice for Ashley" Facebook page, Karen Poissant, Ashley's mother-in-law, posted in November that her 6-year-old grandson Ethan recently asked his aunt Stacey why the people in heaven aren't "able to come down and talk with him.... Stacey said in heaven there are rules everyone has to follow... he turned to look up at her and said... ‘Well I sure hope Mommy is following the rules because she is a New Angel'.... He wants mommy so bad each day...." On Feb. 1, a few days after Trombly rejected a plea agreement that would have sentenced him to three to nine years, Karen Poissant revealed her frustrations — and those of Ashley's kids. "I am with these little guys every day," her Facebook post says. "... I know the pain and anger they are going through..." Mostly, though, reminders of Ashley Poissant bring sadness. Favreau and Bechard do their best not to bring up the crash when they talk to each other. But it's never far away. It's there as Bechard plans the memorial run, and it's there when Favreau goes to the doctor, and her physicians marvel at how much weight she's lost. "Did you do it alone?" they ask. "No, I had a partner," Favreau answers. "But she's not here anymore." Ashley Poissant isn't here anymore in part because she wanted to be healthy. She did it the easiest, cheapest way she knew how — by running on public roadways. She was new to it, and she probably didn't know all the rules, because this society doesn't bother to make them clear. When Ronald Trombly's Buick hit her, she lost any chance to learn. And now the McDonald's up by the border has lost a manager, and its Quebecois customers have lost a welcoming host who spoke their language. Jane Favreau and Angie Bechard have lost their friend. Matthew Poissant has lost his wife. And three little boys don't have a mother. Because even in out-of-the-way places, there's not enough room on the road. Producer: Chris Mottram \| Editor: Glenn Stout \| Copy Editor: Kevin Fixler Photos courtesy of Jane Favreau and Angela Bechard Photos courtesy of Jane Favreau and Angela BechardThe Shwack Beach Grill in Dana Point has taken “surf and turf” dining to the extreme. Its new $600 Surfboard and Burger Combo includes a hamburger with up 10 patties, unlimited fries and a custom-designed board from Nation Surfboard in San Clemente. “They pick up the board, get a burger and some fries and do a photo shoot. It’s a great gift,” said Max Fisher, owner of The Shwack. Fisher, who hits the waves at least three times a week himself, conceived the combo meal to help promote his friend and board shaper Ryan Engle, owner of Nation Surfboard. They grew up together, and Engle is one of The Shwack’s best customers. “We love The Shwack and are very stoked to have Nation Surfboards involved in the combo of all combos,” Engle said. Engle will shape each shortboard individually, down to the color and the cut of the fins. “It’s about getting someone their dream board,” Fisher said. Fisher said just four people have ordered the combo so far. The pricey new menu entry is a drastic departure from the restaurant’s other offerings, most of which are sub-$15 combos featuring burgers and other sandwiches. The Surfboard and Burger Combo melds both of Fisher’s biggest interests. He grew up surfing and became a contractor to earn a living. His restaurant is named after a surf move and riffs on the word “shack.” It is his first foray into the dining business. “The next best thing to being a pro surfer is owning a surf-town beach shack,” Fisher said. The Shwack Beach Grill is at 24502 Del Prado Ave. in Dana Point. Call 949-218-2731 or email contact@theshwack.com. Contact the writer: fshyong@ocregister.com or 949-492-5135Ever since the first time I saw Michael Jackson do his infamous gravity-defying lean in Moonwalker, it’s remained a total mystery as to how he and his dancers did it. I hopelessly attempted it in front of the television screen for years. But today, the mystery came to an end today and it feels ever so slightly similar to when I found out Santa wasn’t real. So it turns out Michael Jackson actually invented a special shoe for creating an anti-gravity illusion which he even had patented in the United States. Along with two other inventors, Michael L. Bush and Dennis Tompkins, the late Michael Jackson filed the patent in 1993 detailing the rather complex design of a shoe with a specially design heel slot. The full documents are available on Google. via Retronaut ::: SOMETHING ELSE THAT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU: .Arshad Sami Khan (Urdu ارشد سمیع خان); (January 8, 1942 – June 22, 2009) was a Pakistani diplomat, bureaucrat and soldier.[1] He started his career as a Pakistan Air Force fighter pilot and later served 3 Presidents of Pakistan as their aide-de-comp (A.D.C.) and later went on to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he served 3 Presidents and 4 Prime ministers as chief of protocol. He was later appointed as a diplomatic ambassador of Pakistan to 14 countries. This was followed by his appointment as the first Commissioner General of Pakistan. He was also Federal Secretary of Culture and retired as a top Grade-22 bureaucratic officer. He was also the father of singer and music composer Adnan Sami.[2][3][4] Contents Personal life Edit Pakistan Air Force Edit Ambassador Edit Author Edit Khan wrote a book about his experience as an Aide-de-camp entitled "Three presidents and an Aide" which was released in March 2008 and went on to become a best-seller in South Asia.[9] The book is a candid eyewitness account of historical events, seen from within the 'ring-side' that occurred during the reign of the 3 presidents- Presidents Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. No Publisher in Pakistan was willing to publish the book. It was therefore published and released in India, launched by former Indian Prime Minister I.K. Gujral to rave reviews and sales. Illness Edit Khan was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1989. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had him flown to London where he was operated at Cromwell Hospital. However, within 3 months of the operation thereafter, he resumed working in the Foreign Office continuing his Ambassadorial Assignments around the world, whilst battling cancer for 20 years. He died on 22 June 2009 at 'Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani' Hospital in Mumbai. His burial ceremony took place in Islamabad with profound Military Honours including a 21-Gun Salute.[citation needed] Awards Edit Sitara-e-Jurat Sitara-i-Imtiaz (posthumous; 2012) Best Fighter Pilot's Trophy Military Medal of Honour from King Hussain of Jordan Military Medal of Honour from the Shah of Iran Military Medal of Honour from Turkey Special Medal for Services to Humanity from the United Nationsamped. Today, the country will experience its first total solar eclipse in nearly 100 years. And people are Unfortunately, the total eclipse (of the heart; sorry, I can’t help myself) will only be visible in a 70-mile-wide path of land from Oregon to South Carolina. However, a partial eclipse will be visible from everywhere else in the contiguous United States. If you’re not one of the many buying special eclipse goggles and traveling hundreds of miles to the ‘path of totality’, or if you have to be at your desk working on a Monday, don’t despair. NASA is live-streaming the whole event, starting at 11:45am ET and ending around 4:15pm ET. The eclipse itself will begin in Oregon around 1:15pm ET and will leave the U.S. around 2:45pm ET. We’ll be embedding the live stream here as soon as it’s available. You will be introduced to some of the leading experts in the field of Heliosphysics and learn all about the Sun-Earth Connection. Lunt Solar Systems will be providing high resolution and stunning imagery of the eclipse in three different wavelengths of light: Hydrogen-Alpha, Calcium-K, and white light. Oh by the way, you will experience a scientific balloon launch from inside Saluki Stadium, observe several science demonstrations, learn how you can become a citizen scientist, and engage with subject matter experts through social media. So if you’re unable to view the eclipse in person, don’t worry. Sit back, relax and let NASA EDGE turn your location into the best seat in the house! This should be obvious, but: do not stare at the sun, even for a second, even during the eclipse. Stare at the live stream, however, for as long as you’d like. The live stream is available on UStream YouTube and Facebook. There is also a live stream on Twitter, if you prefer. Thanks to Jordan Crook for the amazing post. Share thisImage copyright Getty Images Image caption Iain Duncan Smith quit on Friday, saying the latest planned cuts to disability benefits were "not defensible" Iain Duncan Smith's resignation was really about the EU, pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann has said. On Friday, Mr Duncan Smith said he was quitting as work and pensions secretary in protest at disability benefits cuts. But Lady Altmann, who described her ex-boss as "exceptionally difficult" to work for, accused him of wanting "to do maximum damage to the party leadership" to help his campaign to leave the EU. Sources close to Mr Duncan Smith insist his resignation was not about the EU. Meanwhile, former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind has told the BBC he finds Iain Duncan Smith's behaviour "bizarre". He said it was "difficult to believe that someone committed to welfare issues would resign on them", 'Not defensible' Mr Duncan Smith is due to give his first interview since resigning on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show at 09:00 GMT. Stephen Crabb was appointed as Mr Duncan Smith's replacement on Saturday. In his resignation letter, which many commentators have interpreted as an attack on Chancellor George Osborne, Mr Duncan Smith said the latest changes to benefits for the disabled were "not defensible in the way they were placed within a Budget that benefits higher earning taxpayers". But Lady Altmann said she was "shocked" by the resignation saying her former boss had "championed the very package of reforms to disability benefits he now says is the reason he has resigned". In a statement, Lady Altmann said: "This really seems to be about the European referendum campaign. "He seems to want to do maximum damage to the party leadership in order to further his campaign to try to get Britain to leave the EU. "As far as I could tell, he appeared to spend much of the last few months plotting over Europe and against the leadership of the party and it seemed to me he had been planning to find a reason to resign for a long time." Image copyright Getty Images She also said she had found him "exceptionally difficult" to work for and said he had "often been obstructive to my efforts to resolve important pension policy issues". Former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said that Mr Duncan Smith "quite clearly knew" before the chancellor's statement how his department would be affected. He should have made it clear he wanted to resign before the budget was announced, Mr Rifkind said. 'United government' But another of Mr Duncan Smith's junior ministers, employment minister Priti Patel, praised Mr Duncan Smith as a "great social reformer". "Since coming to office in 2010, he has made a real difference to the life chances of people throughout the country by reforming the welfare system to ensure that work always pays," she said. And Justice Secretary Michael Gove, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, called Mr Duncan Smith "an inspirational social reformer" who has been "guided throughout by a clear sense of noble moral purpose". However, Mr Gove, who like Ms Patel and Mr Duncan Smith, is campaigning for the UK to leave the EU, wrote that a "united and resolute government" was needed. He wrote that he also "hugely" admired Mr Osborne and said that "I can't - and won't - take issue with either of them in the areas they've championed and led". In his Budget on Wednesday, Mr Osborne said the government would be spending an extra £1bn on the disability budget but changes to benefits announced a few days earlier had suggested the government would save £4.4bn on this by 2020-21. They included changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIP), due to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in January 2017, that were expected to save £1.3bn a year, but sparked an outcry from opposition parties and some Tory MPs. But on Friday, before Mr Duncan Smith resigned, a government source had said the planned changes would be "kicked into the long grass". Replying to Mr Duncan Smith on Friday, David Cameron said he was "puzzled and disappointed" that Mr Duncan Smith had decided to go when they had agreed to have a rethink about the policies.Its reputation has already been tarnished by iPhone 4 antenna problems, but now Apple faces a new PR nightmare as iPhone 3G owners say their handsets are barely usable after Apple pushed out a software update. The iOS 4.0 update was recently delivered to iPhone 3G users when they connected the device to their computers. Many users have said their phones now regularly lock up and take an eternity to perform basic tasks such as web browsing. Anthony Agius, founder of the popular Australian MacTalk community website, described the update as a "disaster" for iPhone 3G owners. "It's just so slow, apps don't run properly; to launch the SMS app for example might take 30 seconds, Safari chugs... the OS [operating system] itself will freeze," he said, adding the problems persisted even with the recent minor iOS 4.0.1 update. "Apple blocked it so you can't go back to version 3, so if you don't like it you're stuck with it. Personally I think they just made a bad choice by releasing iOS 4 for the 3G without checking it properly."Attempts to bail out the Irish banking sector via multinational loans will only increase debt burdens in Europe and lead to a nightmarish scenario there, says New York University economist Nouriel Roubini. There is too much private debt in Ireland, and aid from the International Monetary Fund, the European Union or whoever merely amounts to pushing the payday down the road and ultimately increasing the total amount owed in the end. "Now you have a bunch of super sovereigns – the IMF, the EU, the eurozone — bailing out these sovereigns," Roubini tells CNBC, adding nobody "from Mars or the moon" will bail out the IMF or the eurozone once Ireland's debt is socialized. "At some point you need restructuring," he told CNBC. "At some point you need the creditors of the banks to take a hit — otherwise you put all this debt on the balance sheet of government. And then you break the back of government — and then government is insolvent." Greece, Portugal and Spain will need aid as well, with Spain causing a huge concern. "If Spain falls off the cliff, there is not enough official money in this envelope of European resources to bail out Spain. Spain is too big to fail on one side — and also too big to be bailed out." Ireland is coming under pressure from other European countries to accept billions of euro in loans to help its banking sector, sparking fears of contagion to other European countries. "We are now at a point where decisions have to be taken," says George Papaconstantinou, Greece's finance minister, according to Reuters. "Time is of the essence." © 2019 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.Our team at Student Loan Hero works hard to find and recommend products and services that we believe are of high quality and will make a positive impact in your life. We sometimes earn a sales commission or advertising fee when recommending various products and services to you. Similar to when you are being sold any product or service, be sure to read the fine print understand what you are buying, and consult a licensed professional if you have any concerns. Student Loan Hero is not a lender or investment advisor. We are not involved in the loan approval or investment process, nor do we make credit or investment related decisions. The rates and terms listed on our website are estimates and are subject to change at any time. Please do your homework and let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Editorial Note: This content is not provided or commissioned by any financial institution. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the financial institution. Bottom line: We’re here for you. So please learn all you can, email us with any questions, and feel free to visit or not visit any of the loan providers on our site. Read less How do we make money? It’s actually pretty simple. If you choose to check out and become a customer of any of the loan providers featured on our site, we get compensated for sending you their way. This helps pay for our amazing staff of writers (many of which are paying back student loans of their own!). We’ve got your back
: Get rid of them! There isn’t enough time in your life to waste on people who want to take away the shine on your face that says, “I genuinely love myself and life”. You will love and respect yourself more. It’s important to protect yourself from the people who are going to harm you in some way. For example, this week I took stock of a lot of the people in my life and recognised that there are a few who have been…unhealthy for me. The people who encourage behaviours in myself that I’m unhappy with, or aren’t respectful of my time. Choosing not to engage with them made a big difference. I don’t believe in cutting people out of your life just because they’re not going to make you successful or whatever. That’s a crappy way to look at the people around you, and if you do that — you’ll wind up a pretty unhappy person, I think. What I do believe in is cutting people out of your life who bring you down, hurt you, don’t respect you etc. It’s harsh but it’s sometimes incredibly necessary. 6. …And Forgiving Yourself Forgive yourself. We humans can be so hard on ourselves. The downside of taking responsiblity for our actions is punishing ourselves too much for mistakes in learning and growing. You have to accept your humanness (the fact that you are not perfect), before you can truly love yourself. Practice being less hard on yourself when you make a mistake. Remember, there are no failures, if you have learned and grown from your mistakes; there are only lessons learned. This was always going to need to happen. When you set out to improve yourself, and make changes, you’re going to fall down and fail from time to time. It’s inevitable. We aren’t perfect. We can’t be perfect. Not you, not me, not anybody. Forgiving myself for the failings that took place over the week I was following these steps wasn’t easy though — I kept feeling like I was letting myself down, and that sucked. One strategy I did apply came from Tony Robbins, in his book Awaken the Giant Within. Tony recommends a mental diet, wherein you have to limit how much you let yourself respond to emotional spikes and drops. For example, he recommends that you allow yourself to feel the low moods for no more than 2 minutes before you ask yourself what the solution to the low mood is, what’s great about that low mood etc. This helped me a lot. It made me more open to forgiving myself because it highlighted that the low mood wasn’t the end of the world — and neither was failing to practice self care. 6. Living Intentionally Live intentionally. You will accept and love yourself more, whatever is happening in your life, when you live with purpose and design. Your purpose doesn’t have to be crystal clear to you. If your intention is to live a meaningful and healthy life, you will make decisions that support this intention, and feel good about yourself when you succeed in this purpose. You will love yourself more if you see yourself accomplishing what you set out to do. You need to establish your living intentions, to do this. Living intentionally is such a vague concept. It is. I know it turns up on a lot of these lists, but it’s almost impossible to define unless you’re already doing it. It’s about considering the implications and the wider effects of your actions. I’ll be honest — it’s something that I struggle with to do this day. I don’t have an actionable piece of advice here…just the thought that hey, it’s going to be okay if you fuck this one up, I did throughout the past week. If you’re interested in getting to know me and what I do more, I recommend checking out these links: www.jonwestenberg.com www.creatomic.co www.reachgenius.com PS. I’m not a billionaire guru. I’m not burning around in a Ferrari or working on ascending to be an entity of pure light. I’m a guy from Australia who’s working his ass off as an entrepreneur, writer, dreamer and creative. Me with my sensible family car. If you enjoyed reading, please spread the word by hitting that little heart! Jon is the founder of Creatomic. If you want one piece of free advice about your business, your creativity or your career, send me a 💡 on SnapchatAnother week, another great day of SEC football. The SEC East had a mixed bag of results with two games between SEC East opponent. Georgia and South Carolina engaged in another classic in Columbia, while Kentucky and Florida needed three overtimes to decide the winner in The Swamp. Missouri looked strong again, Tennessee lost in Norman and Vanderbilt was…well they were just Vanderbilt. Here’s what we learned about each SEC East team following Week 3’s action. Florida Gators Week 3 result: Defeated Kentucky, 36-30 (3OT) What we learned: Here is what we know for sure about the Gators at this point. Sophomore wide receiver Demarcus Robinson is the real deal (15 receptions, 216 receiving yards and two touchdowns last night) and the Gators’ defense is one again top-caliber. Everything else is kind of up in the air about the Gators. Quarterback Jeff Driskel looked good when he threw it to Robinson, but not so great when throwing to everyone else. Credit the Kentucky defense for making him feel uncomfortable all night, but the redshirt junior quarterback clearly still has a lot of improvements to make before this Florida offense can really take off. Right now, the Gators are in first place in the SEC East, but in actuality the Gators are probably behind the likes of Georgia, South Carolina and maybe even Missouri in terms of the top teams in the division. Until Driskel improves and Florida works on becoming a much more disciplined team, it’s tough to imagine them any higher in the division than that. Georgia Bulldogs Week 3 result: Lost to South Carolina, 38-35 What we learned: Once again, the Georgia Bulldogs blow a prime opportunity to take down the Gamecocks in Columbia. All week, Georgia had been hearing about how good they were and how they were a trendy pick for the College Football Playoff, but the Bulldogs were unable to live up to the billing last night in a 38-35 loss to South Carolina. Running back Todd Gurley continues to do Todd Gurley things – kicking butt and taking names as he plows down the football field. In the end, however, it was a boneheaded intentional grounding by quarterback Hutson Mason and a subsequent missed FG that led to the loss for Georgia. They’ll be one of the top teams in the SEC East this season, but you have to wonder if the play-calling blunders last night will come back to haunt them come December. Kentucky Wildcats Week 3 result: Lost to Florida, 36-30 (3OT) What we learned: There’s arguably not a more impressive performance in yesterday’s SEC action than what the Kentucky Wildcats did in The Swamp against the Gators. Coming into the game, everyone knew Kentucky boasted more speed and athleticism than in the past, but not many people believed they could hang with Florida for 60 minutes. UK sure proved them wrong. Quarterback Patrick Towles showed great poise and maturity leading the UK offense down the field, thanks to some more explosive plays by the Wildcats skill players. Defensively, Kentucky’s defensive line is one of the best in the country and their blitz packages really did a number on the Gators’ offensive line and quarterback Jeff Driskel. One could argue that Kentucky was the better team in last night’s three overtime thriller, despite the loss in the end. Regardless, Kentucky turned a lot of heads last night and this is clearly not the Wildcats team of old. Missouri Tigers Week 3 result: Defeated UCF, 38-10 What we learned: For the second straight week, Missouri defeated a quality non-conference opponent in a very convincing way. UCF hung around for about three quarters until the Tigers took over in the final quarter, scoring 24 unanswered points. Missouri’s defensive line looked explosive once again, led by Markus Golden and Shane Ray. Quarterback Maty Mauk continues to improve. He passed for only 144 yards, but he threw for four touchdowns, including a clutch 21-yard touchdown pass to Bud Sasser to go up by 11 points. Not many people consider Missouri a real threat in the SEC, but there’s no reason the Tigers can’t repeat as SEC East champions this season, especially with the talent they have across the board. South Carolina Gamecocks Week 3 result: Defeated Georgia, 38-35 What we learned: The Gamecocks showed resiliency last night. After hearing for nearly two weeks about how overrated they were following the blowout loss to Texas A&M, South Carolina stepped up big time against a top-five ranked Georgia Bulldogs team and delivered a convincing win. With the victory, South Carolina showed its more than capable of competing in the SEC East this season. Quarterback Dylan Thompson threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns and the defense stepped up in clutch situations after a rough couple weeks to start the season. The Gamecocks played their way right back into the wide-open SEC East discussion. Tennessee Volunteers Week 3 result: Lost to Oklahoma, 34-10 What we learned: I don’t feel like we learned a whole lot about Tennessee from last night’s loss. It wasn’t close enough to say they proved to be a much tougher opponent than originally though, but it also wasn’t a big enough of a blowout to disregard the Vols as a contender in the SEC East. In the end, it’s clear the Vols are much better than a year ago. Last year’s Tennessee team probably gets blown out by even more in Norman, but behind a strong game from true freshman running back Jalen Hurd, the Vols kept it close for nearly three quarters. They’re probably another year or two away from being a serious threat in the SEC, but they won’t be going away anytime soon. Vanderbilt Commodores Week 3 result: Defeated UMass, 34-31 What we learned: The final score may say Vanderbilt won this game, but they lost. They lost this game no matter what the final score indicates. The Commodores had to storm back after trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter, but there weren’t too many positives for Vanderbilt yesterday. Running back Ralph Webb continues to be the only bright spot in the Vanderbilt offense as he ran for 116 yards and one touchdown. The Commodores’ defense once again looked good, scoring another touchdown on a fumble recovery and also blocking a punt and returning for a score. However, quarterback play continues to be an overwhelming disappointment for Vanderbilt. Patton Robinette threw for just 147 yards and one touchdown after starter Wade Freebeck burned his redshirt to throw just two passes for three yards and an interception. If it wasn’t for a shanked chip shot by UMass, the Commodores could have very well lost this game in overtime. There just isn’t much to celebrate in Nashville right now with this football team.A movie pirate who pleaded guilty to a count of forgery for camcording in a local cinema, is now suing the Somerset County police and the MPAA after his leg was broken during the arrest in 2009. The 23-year old Timothy Epifan of Manville, New Jersey, has filed a lawsuit against the parties involved for using deadly force to apprehend him for a non-violent crime. During the summer of 2009 two Martinsville brothers were arrested in connection with the camming of the movie Bruno at a cinema in Manville, New Jersey. Tipped off by the MPAA, the police claimed the pair had been recording first-run movies and selling the copies on the Internet. As the brothers left the cinema, detectives stopped them and allegedly announced that they were under arrest. Paul Epifan complied without a struggle, but according to the prosecutor his brother Timothy fled and was pursued by police. After a short chase of 20 seconds, during which Timothy Epifan lost his flip-flops and was running barefoot, the suspect stopped at the sight of two marked police cars. But while he was standing still, a third and unmarked police car ran into him. For this arrest with deadly force, Timothy Epifan has now sued both the police and the MPAA, seeking thousands of dollars in damages. According to the complaint filed at the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, Timothy Epifan was hit from behind and dragged 10 feet into the parking lot. In a statement the plaintiffs claim the collision “left a 10-foot trail of skid marks, bone, blood and skin,” and as a result “Epifan sustained severe leg fractures, has undergone multiple surgeries, incurred hundreds of thousands in medical bills and now walks with a cane.” Among other things, the defendants are accused of using deadly force when there was no indication it was needed. “Using a police motor vehicle to apprehend a suspect who is fleeing on foot by physically striking the suspect to disable and arrest the suspect constitutes deadly force,” the complaint reads. Epifan, who was sentenced to a year in county jail and three years of probation after pleading guilty last year, hopes to be compensated for the emotional, physical and economical damages he suffered as the result of the violent arrest.True story: I once asked my parents to buy me a Porsche 911 for Christmas. Amazingly, they did, only it was a lot smaller than the one I wanted. They bought me a toy car. I should have just made one, like this amazing pedal-powered Porsche, the Ferdinand GT3 RS, aka the World's Slowest Porsche. The car-bike is an art project, perpetrated by Hannes Langeder of Austria. It took a year to build, and cost as much as a real car: 13,000 euro, or $17,700. Inside, as you can see from the extensive photos (there are even more on the project's Flickr page), the main structure is steel. This was then built out using a toy 911 as a model, covering the skeleton in plastic tubing and then skinning the whole thing with packing-tape and gold foil. Thanks to these simple materials, the entire car weighs in under 100 kilos [220 pounds]. That's not exactly light for a bike, but you probably wouldn't want to take the Ferdinand out for a spin on a windy day. The car debuted in June 2010, as Autopia's Keith Barry reported, but we got our hands on some additional photos, and the project's pretty outlandish, so we think it's worth a reprise. The car looks fantastic on the road. Even though there's a bike inside, it has the presence of a car. I'll bet the rider gets a lot more respect from car drivers just because he looks like one of them. Even if he is tootling along at just 10 mph. Ferdinand GT3 [Ferdinand Johannes L via Core77] Ferdinand GT3 RS BikePorsche/Flickr Artist Creates the Slowest Porsche in the World [Daily Mail]Deepika Padukone. (AP) [Update: Bollywood star drops event with Ivanka Trump amid death threats over film] The release of a highly anticipated Bollywood blockbuster has been delayed after a politician from India's governing party offered a bounty of $1.5 million for the heads of the movie's star and director amid outcry that the film distorted Hindu legend. The movie “Padmavati” — depicting the life of legendary 14th-century queen Padmini — sparked the latest in a string of flash points from right-wing groups that perceive more clout under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has courted Hindu nationalists as part of his political base. Often Hindu outrage is stoked by little more than rumors, including deadly riots and vigilante violence over false claims that Muslims were killing cows sacred to Hindu culture. But this time with the film, the reason for the outrage is even more puzzling. Members of the Rajput Karni Sena, a group associated with the warrior Rajput caste, claim it misrepresents history by depicting a love affair between the queen and a Muslim invader. The group is further upset that the queen's midriff is exposed in a song sequence. They have called for a nationwide strike and backed the death threats against star Deepika Padukone and the film's director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. But Bhansali insists that the plot has no such love scene. And the movie trailer pays ample homage to Rajput bravery and their role in resisting Muslim armies. The death threats — against one of India's most popular actresses and a prominent filmmaker — brought quick backlash. They were sharply denounced by leaders of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, and the home minister in the southern Karnataka state, Ramalinga Reddy, ordered protection for Padukone and her family. Also at stake are the boundaries for the world's most prolific film industry, in which some directors have increasingly tried to push back against decades of film censorship for political reasons. Chief ministers of a number of states demanded that controversial scenes be removed before the film is screened. The movie's producers have indefinitely delayed the film's release. The news agency ANI reported that Surajpal Amu, a state-level media coordinator of the BJP, told a rally Sunday: “We will reward the ones beheading [Padukone and Bhansali] with Rs 10 crore, and also take care of their family’s needs.” A crore signifies 10 million rupees. Amu repeated the statement to the Indian Express. Video from the rally also showed Amu saying, “There's no need to discuss making cuts to the film. We won't allow it to play in theaters at all.” An official from the BJP condemned Amu and said the party was considering taking legal action against him. “It’s absolutely appalling. What have we gotten ourselves into? And where have we reached as a nation?” said the actress Padukone, who plays the leading role of Queen Padmavati and who recently appeared in “XXX: Return of Xander Cage” alongside Vin Diesel. “We have regressed,” she added. “The only people we are answerable to is the censor board, and I know and I believe that nothing can stop the release of this film.” A member of the Rajput Karni Sena group, Mahipal Singh Makrana, responded in a self-made video, saying, “Rajputs never raise a hand on women, but if need be, we will do to Deepika what Lakshman did to Surpanakha,” referring to a Hindu epic in which a man cuts off a woman's nose. The group has also vandalized cinemas, burned posters and threatened to break the legs of actor Ranveer Singh, who plays villainous Muslim invader Alauddin Khilji. The violent reaction to the film's release further suggests a groundswell of conservatism in Modi's India. Bollywood films in the 2000s were known for breaking taboos, as they increasingly began to show on-screen kissing, live-in relationships between unmarried couples and interreligious romances, most famously in the 2008 historical drama "Jodhaa Akbar." Some members of Modi's party have made efforts to minimize Muslims' role Indian culture and history. Recently, members of the governing party misleadingly said that the Taj Mahal was built on the site of an old Hindu temple and that it “did not represent Indian culture.” The Taj Mahal was built by the Muslim Mughal king Shah Jahan. Alhough members of right-wing groups have been briefly arrested for making threats in the past, the government rarely pursues legal action against them. Ironically, the movie's trailer shows no sign of an interreligious romance and depicts the Muslim king as brutish and evil. Bhansali issued a video statement saying that the protests were caused by a misunderstanding and that there was no romance between the Muslim king and the Hindu queen. “We have made this film very responsibly, keeping in mind the Rajput dignity and respect. I would like to reiterate once again that our film has no dream sequence between Rani Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji or any other scene which will hurt anyone,” he said. Read more New Delhi’s pollution problem is so bad that some diplomats are packing their bags Ivanka Trump’s impending visit to India prompts roundup of beggars 5 years after the gang rape that shocked a nation, reporting assault in India is still ‘a nightmare’The executive director of the NFL Referees Association said Friday he is hopeful the organization and the league will complete a new labor deal before the upcoming season. The current labor agreement between the two sides expires at the end of this month. The league has taken a first step toward identifying possible replacement officials who would work games if an accord is not completed. But Tim Millis, a former NFL game official now in charge of the referees association, said there are no insurmountable issues in the negotiations. He is optimistic a deal will be struck. “We’ll continue until we get it done,” Millis said in a telephone interview. “Contrary to what I’ve read in some places, we are not at an impasse. Sometimes it takes shorter. Sometimes it takes longer. It’s part of the process.” Talks on a new deal began in October. Millis said he expects another negotiating session to take place this month. League attorney Jeff Pash is in charge of the negotiations for the NFL. “Our negotiations with the referees association are continuing and we are optimistic that there will be a successful resolution,” the league said in a written statement. A person familiar with the situation confirmed a report by Fox that the league instructed its officiating scouting department to begin identifying potential replacement officials in case negotiations fall apart. The league portrays that move as simply taking proper precautions. The NFL used replacement officials late in the preseason and for one week of regular season games in 2001 before reaching a labor deal that brought its officials back to work. The two sides completed another labor agreement in 2006. “It’s been done before,” Millis said Friday. “It’s a little earlier this time. If anything made me wonder, it’s the timing of it…. [But] we’re still negotiating.... I’m sure the action [in negotiations] will pick up.” The league locked out its players for 4-1/2 months last offseason before completing a 10-year labor agreement with the NFL Players Association without losing any regular season games.It should come as no surprise that Oslo, the Norwegian capital has the most expensive taxi fares in the world, according to the UBS Prices and Earnings report, 2015. Fares in New Delhi, Kiev, Bogotá, Mumbai, Bangkok, and Cairo are among the lowest. The most expensive estimated three-mile (5-kilometer) taxi fares during the daytime are $32 in Oslo, $27.59 in Zurich, and $22.34 in Luxembourg. The cheapest? The least-expensive estimated three-mile taxi fare is a mere $1.54 in New Delhi and $1.59 in Kiev. Methodology: Prices for a taxi include a five-kilometer ride during the day within city limits, including a service tip. Cities With The Most Expensive Taxi Fares In The World, 2015: Rank Cities Taxi fare (in USD) 1 Oslo $32.1 2 Zurich $27.59 3 Luxembourg $22.34 4 Geneva $20.58 5 Auckland $19.72 6 Stockholm $18.56 7 Montreal $17.57 8 Milan $17.3 9 Amsterdam $16.22 10 Toronto $15.88 11 Los Angeles $15.65 12 Copenhagen $15.45 13 Helsinki $15.24 14 Frankfurt $14.97 15 Berlin $14.78 16 Miami $14.43 17 Vienna $14.42 18 Rome $14.24 19 Munich $14.02 20 Chicago $12.75 21 Brussels $12.72 22 Paris $12.43 23 Lyon $12.04 24 New York City $11.67 25 Sydney $11.52 26 Dublin $11.35 27 Madrid $11.35 28 Tel Aviv $10.98 29 Barcelona $10.25 30 London $10.09 31 Nicosia $8.38 32 Lisbon $8.11 33 Manama $7.96 34 Moscow $7.88 35 Tokyo $7.31 36 Budapest $7.28 37 Nairobi $7.14 38 Santiago de Chile $7.08 39 Riga $6.74 40 Tallinn $6.54 41 Sao Paulo $6.48 42 Lima $6.42 43 Johannesburg $6.34 44 Bratislava $6.31 45 Dubai $6.26 46 Prague $6.00 47 Istanbul $5.66 48 Warsaw $5.64 49 Ljubljana $5.51 50 Rio de Janeiro $5.07 51 Athens $5.01 52 Buenos Aires $4.75 53 Taipei $4.63 54 Vilnius $4.52 55 Seoul $4.45 56 Beijing $4.42 57 Doha $3.66 58 Mexico City $3.66 59 Hong Kong $3.65 60 Bucharest $3.31 61 Shanghai $3.13 62 Sofia $3.04 63 Manila $3.00 34 Kuala Lumpur $2.79 65 Jakarta $2.66 66 Cairo $2.4 67 Bangkok$ $1.85 68 Mumbai $1.81 69 Bogotá $1.71 70 Kiev $1.59 71 New Delhi $1.54 Leave a ReplyYou may have heard whispers about a Gearogs marketplace launching in April. Today we’re proud to announce the public beta version of the Gearogs Marketplace is now open for sellers around the world! Gearogs started as a site to catalog and track your collection of audio gear, like turntables, speakers, mixers, headphones, synthesizers, effects pedals and more. As more Community members started cataloging their gear and using the site, we received numerous requests to start a marketplace, until these requests could no longer be ignored. Our Community is what we value most at Discogs, so when you ask for something, we do our best to deliver. As with Discogs and the Discogs App, this public Beta of the Gearogs Marketplace is the essentials, and we’ll continue to evolve by listening to the community. We’ll be tweaking, adding features, knocking out bugs along the way. If there’s something you feel particularly strongly about including, let us know in the forums, and we’ll strive to make this the best Marketplace for Gear online. To all our users and contributors, we appreciate all your contributions and support for Discogs over the years. We hope you’ll enjoy cataloging your gear and equipment, maybe picking up some sweet new gear, and selling that old gear to make room for the new stuff on the way! Thanks, KevinMembers of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) engaged in clashes with ISIS militants in Manbij. Photo: ARA News ARA News MANBIJ – The anti-ISIS battle for Manbij border pocket continued on Monday, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have captured key areas inside the city of Manbij after clashes with militants of the Islamic State (ISIS), military sources reported. Local sources told ARA news that a large number of civilians are still stranded inside the war-torn city, adding that the ISIS radical group has been using them as human shields by keeping them inside the combat areas. “For this reason, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) kept avoiding the use of heavy weapons in the clashes, in order to guarantee the safety of civilians,” SDF spokesman in Manbij Abu Hassan told ARA News. “We are just 400m from the central market of Manbij where many civilians are stranded and being used by ISIS as human shields. ISIS militants currently rely on their snipers, and we cannot use heavy weapons to avoid civilian casualties,” the official said. Accordion to the military leadership of the US-backed SDF, their forces will soon liberate the city, and they’re evacuating hundreds of civilians everyday from the clashes areas. Speaking to ARA News, SDF fighter Ahmed Hussein said: “We are now stationed here next to the Manbij silos, which has been a strategic location for ISIS before we liberated it. We are at the entrance of Manbij city. ISIS has suffered heavy losses in the clashes, and we’re preparing to storm their headquarters downtown.” “We have already expelled ISIS militants from nearly 70% of the city, and soon we’ll liberate it completely,” Hussein said. Reporting by: Enwer Omer Source: ARA NewsRegency Personalities Series In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables. Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings 11 February 1806 – 5 July 1839 Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings was born to Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1754–1826) and his wife, Flora Mure-Campbell, 6th Countess of Loudoun (1780–1840). Her siblings were George, Sophia, Selina and Adelaide. The unmarried Lady Flora was alleged to have had an affair with John Conroy, the “favourite” and also suspected lover of the Duchess of Kent. The Duchess’s daughter, Alexandrina Victoria (later Queen Victoria), detested Conroy, while Flora disliked the queen’s adored friend and mentor, Lady Lehzen, as well as the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. As the Duchess of Kent’s lady-in-waiting, Hastings was party to Conroy’s infamous Kensington System by which he colluded with the Duchess to keep Victoria isolated from her Hanoverian uncles. For these reasons, the young Victoria hated and suspected Hastings, and was open to any accusation that could be laid at the feet of Conroy or his aides. Once she ascended the throne in June 1837, Victoria made every attempt to keep her mother’s household, including Hastings and Conroy, away from her in distant parts of Buckingham Palace. It was only later, after Conroy’s departure and the birth of Victoria’s first child, that Prince Albert was able to effect a reconciliation between Victoria and the Duchess of Kent. Sometime in 1839, Hastings began to experience pain and swelling in her lower abdomen. She visited the queen’s physician, Sir James Clark, who could not diagnose her condition without an examination, which Hastings refused. Clark assumed the abdominal growth was pregnancy, and met with Hastings twice a week from 10 January to 16 February. As Hastings was unmarried, his suspicions were hushed up. However, her enemies, Baroness Lehzen and the Marchioness of Tavistock (better known as the inventor of afternoon tea) spread the rumour that she was “with child”, and eventually Lehzen told Melbourne about her fears. On 2 February, the queen wrote in her journal that she suspected Conroy, a man whom she loathed intensely, to be the father. Lady Flora felt that she had to defend herself in public, publishing her version of events in the form of a letter which appeared in The Examiner, and blaming “a certain foreign lady” (Lehzen) for spreading the rumours. The accusations were proven false when Lady Flora finally consented to a physical examination by the royal doctors, who confirmed that she was not pregnant. She did, however, have an advanced cancerous liver tumour, and had only months left to live. With only two months to live, Lady Flora wrote in 1839 to her mother on the subject of the upcoming Eglinton Tournament, expressing her concern that one of the knights might be killed in the violent sport. Queen Victoria visited the now emaciated and clearly dying Lady Flora on 27 June. Lady Flora died in London on 5 July 1839, aged 33. She was buried at Loudoun Castle, her family home. Conroy and Lord Hastings, her brother, stirred up a press campaign against both the queen and Doctor Clark which attacked them for insulting and disgracing Lady Flora with false rumours and for plotting against her and the entire Hastings family. Published in the Morning Post, their campaign also condemned the queen’s “fellow conspirators”, Baroness Lehzen and Lady Tavistock, as the guilty parties who had originated the false rumour of pregnancy. These attempts fell far short of their goals of discrediting the queen and forcing her to appoint Conroy to some post close to her person. Victoria remained adamant that Conroy should never be close to the throne in any fashion. The next year, her marriage and subsequent pregnancy restored her to popular favour. Victoria remained haunted by guilty memories of Lady Flora, having nightmares about her for years afterwards. Hastings was also a poet; her work, Poems by the lady Flora Hastings, was published posthumously in 1841 by her sister Sophia (mother of the 3rd Marquess of Bute). AdvertisementsUnless the feds can somehow challenge California's authority, the state may hold both the White House and car companies over a barrel. The Clean Air Act gives California a waiver to set its own emissions standards, and 12 other states (including New York and Pennsylvania) follow those standards. If a conventional car maker wants a reasonable chance of success in the US, it has to honor California's guidance -- effectively, one state is frequently determining the rules for everyone else. The approval is likely to please those concerned that automotive standards would slide backward under a federal leadership determined to protect the fossil fuel industry. However, it's definitely not going to make car companies happy, and might create issues if you're a driver. The Obama administration's speed in locking in standards pre-Trump caught automakers off-guard -- they think officials gave them too little time to think about the impact. And the new standards are estimated to raise the price of a car by about $1,000 in 2025, which isn't trivial for most buyers.Medical professionals in Vermont won't be forced to participate in physician-assisted suicide. Four years ago, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed Act 39, which legalized doctor-assisted suicide. Furthermore, the Vermont Board of Medical Practice and Office of Professional Regulations interpreted the law to mean healthcare professionals would be required to counsel patients on assisted suicide as an option and refer them to physicians who would write prescriptions for the lethal drugs. The Christian Medical Association and the Vermont Alliance for Ethical Healthcare filed suit, and Alliance Defending Freedom took on the case. After the lower court ruled in favor of the doctors, an assisted-suicide advocacy group, Compassion & Choices, appealed to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. ADF attorney Steven H. Aden tells OneNewsNow that the suicide group has since surrendered and withdrawn from the appeal. A consent agreement is now in place between the state of Vermont and the plaintiff doctor groups that doesn't force conscientious professionals to ensure that "terminal" patients are informed about the availability of doctor-prescribed death. Aden says the medical personnel just want to follow their convictions without fear of government punishment. "Conscientious Vermont healthcare professionals are in agreement with the state," explains Aden, "that the law doesn't force them to participate in this heinous process, and they are pleased that the nation's foremost advocate of assisted suicide – Compassion & Choices – has abandoned its effort to force them to do so."Witnesses told police no one was standing near a Rockdale County man when he fell 85 feet to his death at Turner Field, investigators said Tuesday. Ronald Lee Homer, 30, of Conyers, landed in the players’ parking lot outside of the stadium when he fell from the fourth level around 8:30 Monday night, Atlanta police said. “Atlanta Braves event EMS arrived on scene to an unconscious, unalert, not breathing Mr. Homer,” the police report, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, states. Paramedics administered CPR on Homer, who was transported to Atlanta Medical Center, where he later died, Officer John Chafee with Atlanta police said. The cause of death was blunt force trauma, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office said Tuesday. Routine toxicology tests were conducted, but the results of those will not be known for several weeks. “At this time, there is no indication of foul play and the fall appears accidental,” Chafee said in an emailed statement. Investigators remained at the scene late Monday trying to determine what led to the fall. There are not surveillance cameras in the area, police said Tuesday. The start of Monday night’s game vs. the Phillies was delayed due to rain, and the game started just prior to the man’s fall, shortly before 9 p.m. The death is believed to be the second fatal fall at the stadium and the third at a major sports facility in the city. In May 2008, a spectator died after falling 150 feet inside Turner Field. Justin Hayes, 25, of Cumming, fell from the upper deck concourse to the field level concourse behind home plate. Last year, a college football fan fell 45 feet to his death at the Georgia Dome. On Aug. 31, Isaac Grubb, 20, of Lenoir City, Tenn., fell during the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game between Tennessee and North Carolina State, Georgia World Congress Center Authority officials previously said. Grubb, who suffered head trauma, died after being transported to the hospital. His death was ruled accidental. — Staff writer Mike Morris contributed to this article.Labour and Conservative MPs have called for tighter restrictions on the use of vaginal mesh implants, in a parliamentary debate that heard how the lives of women had been avoidably blighted by complications linked to the surgery. Labour has called for an immediate suspension of the use of the controversial implants, which are used to treat incontinence and prolapse, with the shadow health minister, Jon Ashworth, arguing that thousands of women have been exposed to unacceptable health risks. Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, a former GP and chair of the health select committee, said “an absence of data and cavalier practice” had exposed women to unacceptable risks and meant it had taken a decade for problems with mesh to be acknowledged. Labour MP Emma Hardy, who called the debate, told MPs that the trials conducted before the introduction of mesh implants had been inadequate, and that pending a review of the evidence their use should be suspended. Vaginal mesh implants: 'I really thought I was dying' Read more Hardy urged the government to launch an independent inquiry into the “ongoing public health scandal” of serious complications suffered by many women who have been treated for urinary incontinence and pelvic prolapse. More than a dozen MPs relayed
you can get this podcast. You can also go to Stitcher, YouTube or SoundCloud. There are a lot of places where you can get AviatorCast. If in doubt, just google it, you’ll find it. We’d also love to get an honest review from you on iTunes. This is the primary way of people learning about AviatorCast and us getting new listeners and new people to inspire. So if you can, please reach out on AviatorCast, leave a review so people know that this episode and this podcast is worth listening to. If you’d like to check out any of our training products at Angle of Attack which we don’t mention a lot during our podcast because we want to just focus on the people that we are working with and topics we are working with, but if you want to check out any of our training products, head to FlyAOAmedia.com. Start with the basics for free with Aviator 90, learn instrument flying and more with Aviator Pro, or even fly many of the world’s most popular jets virtually with our training products for the 737, 747, 777 and MD-11. Again at FlyAOAmedia.com. Many thanks also go out to the Angle of Attack crew for all of their hard work that make each and every episode of AviatorCast possible and all of the great work that they do behind the scenes outside of AviatorCast. They do a fantastic job so huge probs to them. And last but certainly not least, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of AviatorCast. We are truly grateful to have you here, part of our community and so engaged in this wonderful passion for flying things. Until next time, throttle on! Related [/transcript]Find out which roads will be closed as Metro Manila carries out a metro-wide earthquake drill Published 12:30 PM, June 21, 2016 MANILA, Philippines – The 2nd Metro Manila Shake Drill will be held on Wednesday, June 22, 9 am, as part of the government's efforts to promote a culture of awareness for the so-called "Big One." The drill is in preparation for a powerful earthquake predicted to hit Metro Manila when the West Valley Fault moves. The first Shake Drill, conducted July 30 last year, had been praised by international observers. Several roads will be closed for this year's drill. Motorists are advised to expect heavy traffic and take alternate routes. Makati City Road closures 6 am - 12 nn Guadalupe Bridge up ramp to EDSA (Northbound) EDSA Guadalupe Bridge (Northbound) East Cloverleaf (Northbound) Road closures 8:30 am - 12 nn Right lane of JP Rizal, from E Zobel Street to Antipolo Street. Leftmost lane will remain open to one-way traffic bound for Manila. From JP Rizal to Osmeña Street: Cardona Street, Angono Street, and F Zobel Street From Hormiga Street, Morong Street, Zenaida Street, Maria Aurora Street, and Buencamino Street Rerouting of vehicles Take EDSA (Southbound) and U-turn at Buendia or Ayala Avenue going to destination Take C5 via Kalayaan Avenue and McKinley Road From Manila going to EDSA, take Antipolo Street, turn right to Osmeña Street, and right again to E Zobel Street JP Rizal (Eastbound) to EDSA: Take a right turn to San Jose Street, then Burgos Street, and then to EDSA towards destination JP Rizal (Westbound) to EDSA: Take a left turn to Lawton Avenue, and then a right to Kalayaan Avenue towards destination Pasig City According to an advisory, the city will conduct an earthquake simulation exercise along the streets of Valle Verde I. Five streets – Kaimito, Mabolo, Suha, Macapuno, and Macopa – will be completely closed to traffic from 9 to 11 AM. Kaimito Gate will be the only access point for the drill participants. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority partnered with MovePH's Agos for the quake drill. – Rappler.com Katrina Crista M. Artiaga is a student from the University of the Philippines Diliman and an intern at Rappler.The growth within the 3D printing space has been spectacular. You can’t turn on the news or open up a magazine without reading something about the industry. It’s amazing that just two to three years ago the phrase “3D printing,” was hardly ever uttered out of anyone’s mouth, even the tech geeks out there (I’m one of them, by the way). I love Google Trends. It’s a great way to look back and see how often words and phrases are used by everyday Google users like you and I. There are over 100 billion Google searchers each month alone, so Google Trends is a pretty strong indicator of what, and how often, things are on people’s minds. I’ve decided to use Google Trends to highlight the amazingly fast progress we have seen in the development of the 3D printing space. Below you will find graphs provided by Google for certain keywords and phrases. The graphs’ y-axis’ ranges from ‘0’ at their lowest point, to ‘100’ at their highest point, with equal space between each point. A keyword or phrase, which has gone from 50 to 100 over time, indicates a doubling of search volume. One that has gone from 10 to 100 indicates a 1000% increase in search volume, and so on. So let’s look at some of the trends. You may use your mouse to place it over any line on the graph, which will indicate search volume: “3D Printer Filament” Filament is the PLA, ABS or other material, that is wrapped into spools and fed into FDM based 3D printers. It is then melted, and used as a general printing material. According to Google Trends, prior to December of 2011 there were virtually no searches for “3D printer filament”. I’m sure a few searches trickled in every now and then, but for all accounting purposes, the search volume for the phrase was nearly zero. The peak search volume for the phrase was actually last month, indicating that searches for “3D printer filament,” are currently at an all time high, which makes sense considering the market is quickly expanding. “Additive Manufacturing” Additive manufacturing is the process of 3D printing that is used in the manufacturing industry. It’s just a fancier way of saying “3D printing”. Although several companies have been using additive manufacturing to some extent for decades, only recently has the general public become interested in it, at least according to Google Trends. Up until July of 2009, the phrase was virtually never searched for. From 2009 to the end of 2010 it remained only seldomly searched, but at the start of 2011 search volume picked up and steadily grew to a peak which was also reached last month. Last but not least we will look at a Google Trends graph for three phrases, all combined. Below you will find “3D Printer,” “3D Printing,” and “3D Print” represented by different colored lines over time. What is apparent is that things really started to take off, search volume wise, in July 2011 for all three key phrases. This was sparked by the world’s first 3D printed aircraft being flown. What is also interesting is that, unlike the other terms we have evaluated, the peak for all three of these did not occur last month. Even though the trend lines one can draw for each graph indicate that we are clearly in an upward trend, the peak for all three phrases happened to be in May of 2013. Can anyone guess why? It was the first ever 3D printed plastic gun What we can learn from Google Trends is that sometime between the middle to end of 2011, is when the 3D printing phenomenon emerged, slowly growing for several months before seeing almost an exponential increase in search volume. It will be interesting to look back at these charts each month to see if we continue to hit new peaks, which I expect will be the case for the next few years. For your information, you may bookmark this story and come back, as the graphs are all dynamic and will change each month as new search data comes into Google. Discuss the increasing popularity in 3D printing in the 3D Printing Google Trends thread on 3DPB.com.Pink slip loans Thеrе аrе vаrіоuѕ mеаnѕ by which уоu can get a loan. Car title lоаn is one оf thеm; widely familiar рrосеѕѕ, rеѕultіng in аррrоvаl оf a lоаn, uѕіng a саr tіtlе аѕ a соllаtеrаl. Thіѕ іѕ possible only whеn a person hаѕ a car title аnd full ownership оf thе car. Car title loans are аlѕо knоwn as аutо tіtlе lоаnѕ. Thеrе іѕ ѕоmе rеԛuіrеmеnt thаt уоu nееd tо satisfy bеfоrе your loan саn bе approved, ѕuсh аѕ: уоur car nееdѕ tо bе раіd оff or nеаrlу раіd оff, уоu have to bе іn possession of a tіtlе certificate оf уоur car, vаlіd drіvеr’ѕ lісеnѕе, ѕосіаl ѕесurіtу іdеntіfісаtіоn саrd. You аlѕо hаvе tо show thаt уоu are capable to mаkе monthly payments fоr thе lоаn. Thе car саnnоt bе ѕаlvаgеd. Auto tіtlе loans аrе аlѕо саllеd ріnk slip lоаnѕ, since уоu borrow money аgаіnѕt a ріnk slip оf a саr. Nowadays, various fіnаnсіаl lеndеrѕ оffеr іnѕtаnt loan for your саr title. Sоmе оf them might аlѕо rеԛuіrе a duplicate kеу to your саr. You nееd tо be аt lеаѕt 18 уеаrѕ оld tо qualify for thе lоаn. Credit hіѕtоrу is nоt an іѕѕuе fоr this loan аррrоvаl. Pеорlе wіth bаd credit аnd nо credit history саn ѕtіll gеt an іnѕtаnt approved оf the loan wіthоut a hassle. Thіѕ lоаn is fullу accessible tо people wіth good, bad or nо сrеdіt hіѕtоrу. Yоu саn gеt quick cash fоr рауmеnt of urgеnt bіllѕ lіkе utіlіtіеѕ, grосеrу, рhоnе, school fееѕ as wеll as mеdісаl bіllѕ оr any other еmеrgеnсу еxреnѕеѕ. Loans secured on уоur car hаvе become a рорulаr орtіоn today’s, as people look tо get ԛuісk саѕh to gеt оut оf a fіnаnсіаl bіnd thеу might fіnd themselves during thеѕе hаrd tіmеѕ. Thе lоаn approval саn tаkе рlасе wіthіn 24 to 48 hours. Tо get pink ѕlір lоаnѕ уоu can apply wіth lending fіrm online, оvеr соuntеr оr рhоnе. Pіnk Slip Loans саn bе used аѕ bаd-сrеdіt іnѕtrumеnt that gіvеѕ іnѕtаnt саѕh tо tackle financial emergencies. Yоu dоn’t nееd go to a раwn ѕhор іn оrdеr to pawn уоur саr. Yоu саn apply fоr аn auto pawn lоаn оnlіnе, get approved wіthіn mіnutеѕ and keep drіvіng your саr. The lеndеrѕ wіll аllоw you multірlе wауѕ tо mаkе payment, еvеn wіth роѕt-dаtеd сhесkѕ. If you make уоur payment on ѕсhеdulе, ассоrdіng tо thе ѕtrісt rеgulаtіоnѕ оf loan аgrееmеnt, іt gives a роѕіtіvе іmрrеѕѕіоn оn уоur credit score and could еvеn аѕѕіѕt уоu tо reestablish your сrеdіt. Make ѕurе уоu hаvе a рlаn tо rерау thе lоаn before уоu tаkе іt. Aѕk уоur lеndеr whаt hарреnѕ аftеr thе tеrm іѕ оvеr, hоw muсh уоu wіll bе еxресtеd tо рау аnd whеn. Knоw уоur rіghtѕ аѕ a соnѕumеr аnd ѕее thаt thе аgrееmеnt dоеѕ nоt рrеvеnt уоu frоm tаkіng lеgаl асtіоn іn саѕе your rіghtѕ аrе vіоlаtеd. If уоu dеfаult оn уоur саѕh саr tіtlе lоаnѕ, іt саn further lоwеr уоur сrеdіt ѕсоrе аnd dеvаѕtаtе уоur fіnаnсеѕ. Hоwеvеr, іf уоu rерау thе lоаn оn ѕсhеdulе, іt соuld even hеlр уоu rееѕtаblіѕh сrеdіt аnd еmроwеr уоu tо bоrrоw a lоw-іntеrеѕt bаnk lоаn tо tіdе оvеr уоur fіnаnсіаl сrіѕіѕ.Go Workflow My web development workflow in Go is not much different than how I used to work with PHP, but it is slowly shifting in subtle ways. When I first started learning how to program, using PHP years ago, I would work in short feedback loops. I would hit F5 to refresh my work all the time. Often with the smallest change I would refresh just to see what would happen. Such a short feedback loop helped me learn specifically what each little change would do and how it would affect my website. As I progressed in learning I would code longer between F5 refreshes. Feedback loop In PHP I work in a short feedback loop. I look at the outcome requirements and I plan a way to get there. What code will I have to update, what new code will I have to write, and how will they interact. For larger blocks of code I plan how to modularize them, what are the inputs and outputs, then I code up a working example as fast as possible. Once any new business logic code has been completed I wire it into the front end. I code, tweak and adjust, then F5 to see my website updates. I love seeing how my application shifts and morphs as I refresh and refresh as I update code. The short feedback cycle helps guide me. The positive and negative emotions I feel as things start to work or fail to act nudges me ever so slightly in the right direction. With Go my feedback loop isn't too different. I develop using vim and tmux. I keep my compile and run command in window 0 and edit code in the rest. I have apache setup to proxy non-existing requests to localhost, where my Go binary is listening. DEV listens on a different port than LIVE. With Go I have the same requirements process as with PHP. I start coding on the core functionality that is changing the most. Then I move onto wiring it into the existing functionality. I don't refresh in Go as often as I do with PHP, but it's just about as easy. I switch to tmux window 0, ^C to kill my running process, then go install, and run the new binary. Then F5 in my browser and I'm looking at my updated changes. Most of the time Go is done compiling by the time I switch to my browser and before I even have a chance to refresh. Easy transition The feedback loop is not much longer than when using PHP. There is the extra step to kill and recompile the binary, but doesn't slow me down. Which is then why I find it curious that I find myself using this refresh/feedback loop less and less. With Go I find that I plan more and wait longer between feedback refreshes. There are also times when all the feedback I want is to see if the binary will compile. The similarities in feedback loop between Go and PHP helped me become comfortable with learning Go. I was able to see my changes as fast as I had before, which helped me learn the eccentricities of Go. Without having to greatly modify my development process I was able to learn Go.Miss A member Suzy is the seventh celebrity, and the 791th overall, to become a member of the Honor Society, an organization comprised of big-sum charity donors, Yonhap reported. Community Chest of Korea said Wednesday the young singer/actress has donated about $100,000 over five years — the minimum required for membership — toward helping children suffering from incurable diseases. She also gave about $45,000 anonymously last year to help the victims of the Sewol ferry sinking. “I wanted to provide even small help to those who need it, so I registered,” she said. The society requires that members donate at least $20,000 to charities annually. Suzy is the second K-pop girl group member after Girls’ Generation’s Yoona to join the society. Since its inception in 2007, the society has donated about $79 million toward charities and the needy. Miss A’s new album, “Colors,” was released this week and has topped South Korean music charts with the song “Only You.”1098T Tuition Statements are now available on BOSS. Click HERE for access instructions and other information. College is worth every penny you invest in it. Your diploma will open doors and opportunities that will change your life. So, keeping up with tuition and fees is important. By exploring the Bursar’s Office website, you’ll find your student fee information and general payment guidelines; and you can go to your BOSS account, where you can view your account detail, pay your fees and charges online, sign up for the Installment Payment Plan, and sign up for direct deposit for fastest receipt of excess financial aid/scholarships. For more information on any of these topics, check out our site, or come see us at the Bursar’s Office! Our offices are located on the first floor of the Student Services Center – the Cashier’s Office is in the lobby and Student Accounts is in Room 120. Our office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.The Republican candidate for an open House seat in Montana, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, allegedly assaulted a reporter before a TV interview. Greg Gianforte, the Republican candidate for the open House seat in Montana, allegedly just physically assaulted a reporter. Ben Jacobs of The Guardian tweeted, “Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses.” In a follow-up, he noted that a television crew was present. Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017 There was a local TV crew there when Gianforte body slammed me. Audio is posting soon at @GuardianUS — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017 The Guardian released audio of the incident. On the recording, Gianforte is asked about the recent CBO score of the Republican health care bill, then a loud crash can be heard and a man says he is “sick and tired of you guys.” Jacobs then says, “You just body slammed me and broke my glasses.” Buzzfeed reporter Alexis Levinson was at the scene of the incident, and described it on her Twitter account. “Ben walked into a room where a local tv crew was set up for an interview with Gianforte,” she wrote, adding, “All of a sudden I heard a giant crash and saw Ben’s feet fly in the air as he hit the floor.” Levinson said she then heard “angry yelling” that “sounded like Gianforte.” Further, another witness caught Gianforte in a vehicle speaking to sheriff’s deputies, and also noted that one person (identity unknown at this time) had been transferred to the hospital. Gianforte sitting in a Jeep. Sheriff's deputies were talking to him earlier. Now a medic is at the window talking with him. #bdcnews #mtal pic.twitter.com/JsT4tTYt82 — Whitney Bermes (@wabermes) May 24, 2017 One person was transferred from the scene to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital, Hyalite Fire Chief confirms with me. #bdcnews #mtnews #mtal — Whitney Bermes (@wabermes) May 24, 2017 A local reporter said that Gianforte refused to answer his questions, but was overheard speaking to his lawyer. Gianforte is running against Democrat Rob Quist in the closely watched race, and has been criticized for his donations to anti-LGBT hate groups, and for discriminating against disabled employees at his business. And he was recently endorsed by Donald Trump, who recorded a robocall for his campaign, urging voter, “Get to the polls and vote for Greg. That’s Greg Gianforte, you’ll be very proud of him for years to come.” While Trump won Montana by 20 percent in 2016, Gianforte has been forced to spend in the state to defend against Quist’s strong campaign. And an incident like this surely won’t do Gianforte any favors at the ballot box on May 25.Rumors of an all-women’s tournament in WWE have been quietly batted around for the last few months, but now it looks like it’s going to become a reality. Much like they scouted for the Cruiserweight Classic, WWE has been on the lookout for independent female talent to bring on board for a showcase tournament highlighting the best female athletes pro wrestling has to offer. WrestlingInc shared the news that the tournament could take place as early as the first quarter of 2017. If they manage to pull this off, it could be one of the most exciting things WWE has done in a long time. WWE changed up how they approach the use of outside talent, allowing wrestlers like Samoa Joe and James Storm to perform on television without being under an official contract. Once that precedent was set, it paved the way for the critically adored Cruiserweight Classic. Not only did that tournament introduce viewers to some of the biggest names in independent wrestling, but helped set the standard for what WWE hopes to accomplish with their new Cruiserweight division. By doing the same kind of thing, but with unsigned female talent, it will help further put the stamp on the direction the company is trying to take in equalizing their women’s divisions.Talesh is a 200,000 inhabitants county in Gilan Province, Iran. Its capital, Hashtpar (also called Talesh), is situated 140 km north-west of Rasht, on the south-west coast of the Caspian Sea. The region, a mountainous area, outstands with its virgin ant intact nature. Photos of the first snowfall in Talesh: The Talysh are one of the oldest inhabitants of the western littoral Caspian Sea and are amongst the native inhabitants of today Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan. Generally speaking, the land of Talesh has been divided in three regions: Gaskarat, Foumanat and Azerbaijan Taloshian. In Gaskarat, the majority of people speak Taleshi and/or Azeri, Farsi. In Foumanat, most speak Taleshi. Lastly, Talysh from neighboring Azerbaijan are often bilingual and trillingual, consisting of Taleshi, Azeri and Russian speakers. Taleshian people at present are mostly Sunni and Shia Muslims. Sources: ISNA, Wikipedia \| Talesh CountyThe Order of the Arrow is recruiting 700 youth Arrowmen to serve on the Project 2013 corps at the jamboree which includes the Jamboree Trek Guides, the OA Service Corps, and the Day of Service Guides. The corps will provide support to the 2013 National Scout Jamboree working in subcamps, program areas and at the arena shows. The Order will also host the OA Indian Village providing an opportunity to engage Scouts in the American Indian culture including regalia and dance of tribes from around the country. In the evenings, the Order will lead the staff recreation area providing evening events, programs, and recreation for the jamboree staff. The Jamboree Trek is an all-day adventure beginning at the troop campsite. On each of five days of the Jamboree, 200 troops, each led by a Guide, will take a four-hour, four-mile hike to the top of Garden Ground Mountain, with interpretive program points along the way. The troops will have lunch at the top, followed by an afternoon of games and demonstrations including the OA Indian Village, Buckskin Games, Civil War presentation, etc. The day ends with a barbeque and bonfire, followed by a bus trip back to camp. The OA Service Corps creates an environment conducive to servant leadership, cheerful service and a memorable experience while facilitating the needs of the 2013 National Scout Jamboree. The OA Service Corps lives the obligation daily and represents the true meaning of servant leadership. The 2013 National Scout Jamboree is our time to show the nation that we are fulfilling our obligation and are putting its meaning into practice. The OA Service Corps will support many of the program and administrative areas at the Jamboree. The Jamboree Day of Service is where each Scout will participate in a day of service, either in the local community, in the National River and, perhaps, on the Summit site. On each of five days of the Jamboree, 200 troops will leave their campsites for a project lasting most of the day. The Day of Service Guides will help facilitate and provide leadership to the many projects undertaken by the Scouts. At the 2013 National Scout Jamboree, Scouts will be able to visit the OA Indian Village during the Jamboree Trek at the top of the Garden Ground Mountain. The OA Indian Village will include in depth view of the American Indian culture, regalia and dance of tribes from around the country. Skilled dancers and craftsmen will be needed to provide an unforgettable experience to the Scouts. The Order of the Arrow will be taking the lead on providing evening recreation opportunities for all jamboree staff. The recreation staff will host cook outs, game nights and will plan fun activities each night. Project 2013 Adult Corps Members: There will be a limited amount of adult staff positions with the Project 2013 Corps. Staff Registration Instructions: Arrowmen seeking to serve on OA Staff at the Jamboree, must register with the Summit Registration System and pay the required fees by the due dates. Click here for the Summit 2013 Jamboree Staff Page. Once on the Summit Web Site, you will then need to click on the "Registration" link on the right menu and then click the "Register Today" link. Arrowmen must be willing to attend Session 1 (July 11 to July 25, 2013). Arrowmen should select one of the following positions as their first position: Day of Service OA Guides Jamboree Trek OA Guides Arrowmen may then select other OA Staff Positions for their second and third choices. Arrowmen must pay the registration fees to be considered for OA Staff. There is no late fee if creating a new registration.Sen. Al Franken thinks the big tech companies may not be up to challenging of policing their services. Joe Raedle/Getty Images In the wake or revelations that groups linked to Russia used their sites to influence last year's election, Facebook, Google, and Twitter have tried to reassure public policymakers that they can be trusted to police their services. Color Sen. Al Franken dubious. In a speech on Wednesday, Franken offered up a damning critique of the companies, charging them with having unchecked influence that even they don't know how to control. "These companies may not be up to the challenge that they've created for themselves," he said. The business model of Facebook in particular is predicated on amassing "massive troves of information" about its users, Franken said. That's given the company untold power. "We are not their customers, we are their product," he said in his speech to the Open Markets Institute in Washington. Instead of simply trusting the big tech companies to police how their services are being used and abused, Franken suggested that regulators need to step in. Lawmakers should take a closer look at the influence technology plays in the everyday lives of Americans by conducting "vigorous oversight in the form of investigations and hearings to fully understand current practices and the potential for harm," the Minnesota senator said. "I'm hopeful that recent events will encourage regulators, as well as a broader contingent of my colleagues — on both sides of the aisle — to give this issue the attention it deserves," he said. Franken's speech comes little more than a week after representatives of Facebook, Google, and Twitter testified at congressional hearings looking into Russia's alleged use of their sites to influence the election. At those hearings, the companies' representatives promised to do a better job of regulating themselves. This isn't the first time Franken has expressed doubts about Silicon Valley's products. In September, he wrote a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, raising questions about the privacy implications of the iPhone X's new facial recognition feature as well as whether that feature might be tainted by racial bias. You can watch the full video of Franken's speech below:Amazon this morning rolled out a new store called Amazon Exclusives which will introduce “up-and-coming” brands and other new inventions across a variety of categories, including products that have been previously featured on the TV show Shark Tank. The idea here is that Amazon wants to capitalize on the attention these new products receive when they hit the market (or the TV airwaves), and then give the online retailer a piece of the action. The name “Exclusives” refers to the fact that outside of being sold on the creators’ own websites or in their own physical stores, the only other destination where you’ll be able to buy these items is on Amazon. Some of the products are kind of odd but interesting – like the Zackees LED Turn Signal Gloves that allow cyclists to communicate with others on the road, or the customized Mary Jane shoes with tie dye designs. From Shark Tank, there are the Tower Paddle Boards, but Amazon is sort of overselling it by saying this new shop includes Shark Tank products. They are still few and far between. (We’ve asked Amazon if more are in the pipeline, however. Update: the company has responded, explaining that it will add more products to the store. “Many entrepreneurs that go on Shark Tank decide to be small business sellers on Amazon and go direct to consumer,” a spokesperson vaguely added.) The company says the products are fulfilled by Amazon, and will be eligible for free, two-day shipping for current Prime members. This isn’t the first time Amazon has rolled out a specialized store dedicated to new innovations that are capturing consumers’ attention. For example, in the past, the company debuted a “Smart Home” store that included home automation products, smart thermostats, smart locks and more. It also previously launched a 3D printing store that included customizable goods.Scientists at University College London (UCL) and Nanion Technologies in Munich have developed synthetic DNA-based pores that control which molecules can pass through a cell’s wall, achieving more precise drug delivery. Therapeutics, including anti-cancer drugs, are ferried around the body in nanoscale carriers called vesicles, targeted to different tissues using biological markers. The new DNA-based pore design is intended to improve that process. DNA Lock-and-key drug delivery In operation, a drug-delivery vesicle (white in diagram above) carries the drug to a target cell for release. The pore is designed as an open barrel made of six DNA-strand staves (blue and gray). The pore is kept closed by a DNA-strand “lock” (red) until the vesicle is prepared to release a drug. At that time, a “key” DNA-strand key (green) is released to hybridize (combine) with the lock DNA strand (forming the red-green helix on right), causing the pore to open and release the drug.* The pore’s 2-nm-wide channel allows for selectively releasing small organic molecules, which include many medically important drug compounds. This design for releasing drugs from vesicles improves on previous designs, in which drug release is triggered by temperature-induced leaky vesicle walls or with inserted peptide channels, both of which are less rigid and predictable than the new DNA mechanism. The study was published Monday (Jan. 11) in Nature Nanotechnology. According to lead author Stefan Howorka, PhD., of UCL Chemistry, the researchers plan to test the synthetic pores in release of a variety of pharmaceutically active biomolecules, including anti-cancer drugs. The research was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Leverhulme Trust and UCL Chemistry. * Drugs are usually hydrophilic (water-loving), so pores are also designed to be hydrophilic, but that makes it difficult to attach pores to a vesicle membrane (which is hydrophobic, or fat-hating), so a hydrophobic cholesterol-based membrane (orange) was used to anchor the pore (blue and gray) to the membrane. Abstract of A biomimetic DNA-based channel for the ligand-controlled transport of charged molecular cargo across a biological membrane Biological ion channels are molecular gatekeepers that control transport across cell membranes. Recreating the functional principle of such systems and extending it beyond physiological ionic cargo is both scientifically exciting and technologically relevant to sensing or drug release. However, fabricating synthetic channels with a predictable structure remains a significant challenge. Here, we use DNA as a building material to create an atomistically determined molecular valve that can control when and which cargo is transported across a bilayer. The valve, which is made from seven concatenated DNA strands, can bind a specific ligand and, in response, undergo a nanomechanical change to open up the membrane-spanning channel. It is also able to distinguish with high selectivity the transport of small organic molecules that differ by the presence of a positively or negatively charged group. The DNA device could be used for controlled drug release and the building of synthetic cell-like or logic ionic networks.MELVILLE, N.Y. – Today, Nikon Inc. announced the addition of two new lenses to the legendary NIKKOR lineup, the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VRand the AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR lenses. The new 18-300mm VRlens is a versatile and compact 16.7X all-in-one super zoom DX-format lens, while the new 24-85mm VR lens is an ideal standard zoom for any FX-format photographer. These optics were designed to meet the needs of all types of photographers, from those looking to capture everything from family outings to elusive wildlife and stunning landscapes.The new 18-300mmand 24-85mm lenses deliver the performance and superior image quality that photographers of all levels have come to expect from NIKKOR lenses whether capturing still images or HD videos. To capture stunningly sharp images with excellent clarity and color reproduction or HD video that exhibits sharp critical focus with a dramatic depth of field, the new 18-300mm VR and 24-85mm VR lenses will empower photographers with a variety of exclusive core NIKKOR technologies. Both lenses are equipped with Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR) II image stabilization system which provides the equivalent of a shutter speed approximately four stops faster. The built-in Vibration Reduction will help photographers create blur-free images and video while shooting handheld and in challenging lighting conditions. Two focus modes, manual-priority autofocus (M/A) and manual focus (M), are easily selected in both lenses as well. When either lens is in manual-priority autofocus (M/A) mode, users will be able to instantly switch from autofocus to manual focus operation by simply rotating the focus ring, even during AF servo operation. Additionally, both lenses feature an internal focusing system, providing fast focus without changing the length of the lens while retaining working distance through the focus range, and Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor (S
. And so her story is now our latest national media crisis. During her sophomore year, Jackie became prominent in the struggle on campus against rape culture. But the patriarchy struck back brutally last spring, using its favorite tool of violence, the glass bottle. Outside a bar at the Corner: One man flung a bottle at Jackie that broke on the side of her face, leaving a blood-red bruise around her eye. That’s horrifying … assuming it happened. Or are we deep into Gone Girl territory now? (There’s nothing in the article about anybody calling the police over this presumably open-and-shut case.) Erdely continues: She e-mailed Eramo so they could discuss the attack”and discuss another matter, too, which was troubling Jackie a great deal. Through her ever expanding network, Jackie had come across something deeply disturbing: two other young women who, she says, confided that they, too, had recently been Phi Kappa Psi gang-rape victims. A bruise still mottling her face, Jackie sat in Eramo’s office in May 2014 and told her about the two others. … (Neither woman was willing to talk to RS.) Eramo had been listening to Jackie’s stories for a year at this point: As Jackie wrapped up her story, she was disappointed by Eramo’s nonreaction. She”d expected shock, disgust, horror. Erdely attributes this widespread ho-hum reaction among Jackie’s old friends and confidantes to a second massive conspiracy, this one to cover up the first conspiracy in order to protect that bastion of the right, UVA. Erdely‘s explanation for why those who know Jackie best didn”t rush her to the hospital or call 911 or even pay much attention to her claims over the next two years is that the University of Virginia is an alien, hostile, conservative country club with an … aura of preppy success, where throngs of toned, tanned and overwhelmingly blond students fanned across a landscape of neoclassical brick buildings. The Rolling Stone writer is bothered by how UVA students look up to founder Thomas Jefferson (a notorious rapist of a black body, I might add). Erdely finds offense in the campus honor code, by which students promise not to cheat on papers. By the way, how conservative is UVA? In 2008, Barack Obama carried Charlottesville, home of UVA, by a sizable 11,600 votes. But Charlottesville is probably less extremely liberal than, say, Penn. So to Erdely, UVA is, basically, the Other. Pay to Play - Put your money where your mouth is and subscribe for an ad-free experience and to join the world famous Takimag comment board.FARGO – A nude woman blocked traffic on Interstate 94 Thursday afternoon, lying down in the center eastbound lane and then casually walking to her parked car on the side of the road, according to a witness and police. Leah Goetz was on her way to pick up her daughter from preschool when the drivers in front of her suddenly slammed on their brakes. “People were swerving into the left hand lane, and it got to be my turn to move,” Goetz said, “and I saw a woman lying on the road naked.” “Then all of a sudden, she gets up and just starts walking normally to her car,” Goetz said. “Like nothing ever happened.” Police caught up with the woman, who was not identified, after she wandered off the interstate, Fargo police Lt. Joel Vettel said. Police were first called for a welfare check on a woman with a medical condition shortly before 4 p.m., Vettel said. Five minutes later, a second caller reported a nude woman walking across I-94 near the University Drive exit, he said. The woman then walked to the 1400 block of 25th Avenue South, where police gave her aid and waited for an ambulance to arrive. “She was obviously cold,” Vettel said. “She needed assistance.” An ambulance transported her to a local hospital for treatment of a medical condition, Vettel said. He said the woman cooperated with officers, and he did not know if alcohol was a factor. The woman almost caused an accident by lying on the Interstate, said Goetz, 25. “I was almost rear-ended,” she said. Vettel said police are not aware of any accidents caused by the incident.Brian Snyder/Reuters Boston Bruins forward Shawn Thornton hardly seems fazed by the J-shaped gash over his right eye, or the 40-plus stitches it took to close it. He was the last player off the ice during Boston’s skate ahead of the Bruins’ game Monday night against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, and for the most part, he had a smile on his face. “I feel great,” Thornton said, his injury glistening with sweat and ointment. “Obviously, it looks doubtful for tonight. I took the visor off this morning. I was happy to get rid of that.” Thornton has not played since he was cut by Fernando Pisani’s skate blade during the second period of Boston’s 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. If the cut had been about an inch lower, his eye could have been damaged. Hoping to have the stitches removed by Tuesday or Wednesday, Thornton said he was aiming to play Wednesday night when the Islanders visit TD Garden. “I don’t like sitting out, but the season is a long grind,” he said. “I was really hoping to be able to play all 82, but rest isn’t a bad thing, either. I am taking some time to go out there and work on some things with the coaches and get back hopefully ready for Wednesday.” When Thornton does return, he will be wearing a helmet that covers more of his forehead to protect the cut. What he will not be wearing is a bandage or a visor. He is, after all, a tough guy in a sport in which scars are counted like trophies. “For me, I fight a lot and I think it’s more dangerous to land on my head when I am wrestling somebody a lot bigger than me,” he said. “If you have a visor on, you’ve got to take your own helmet off. The odds are with me landing on my head more so than getting cut. This is unfortunate and scary, but on the other side of it with my job, I’d rather have the helmet on.” N.H.L. players can be penalized for instigating a fight while wearing a visor, and Thornton has no plans to back down. “I’ll have to talk to the doctor about it, but I’m planning when I come back to be 100 percent,” he said.Friday April 7th, 2017 is the One Year Anniversary of the death of Luis Góngora Pat at the hands of the SFPD. Luis was a 45 year old indigenous Mayan Mexican, an immigrant worker and a family man who for a decade and a half supported his wife and three children in the small town of Teabo by sending remittances from his dishwasher and line cook earnings. In 2014, he and his brother were illegally evicted from their home in the Mission District during the peak housing crisis of San Francisco, after which they became homeless. Extended family helped his brother José get back on his feet, and the plan all along was to help Luis next, but his life was brutally ended before then; a victim of police terror in the Sanctuary City of San Francisco. Originally published at Facebook Note: Enough is Enough is not organizing any of these events, we are publishing them for people across the US and Europe to be able to see what is going on. On the one year anniversary of his death, Luis’s family will March Against Police Terror in The Sanctuary City of San Francisco. Your participation in the march is humbly requested. We will address Luis’s unjust killing, and heighten awareness of the systemic oppression that regularly takes the lives of people of color in the City of San Francisco through evictions, homelessness, discrimination, deportations, police violence, and other injustices. March Schedule & Stops, (approximate times) • 10:00 a.m.—Shotwell and 19th—Memorial Altar at location of shooting. Spiritual ceremonies for Luis Góngora Pat, then march to: • 11:00 a.m.—Valencia and 17th—Mission Police Station. Rally against police violence, then march to: • 12:00 p.m.—Market and Valencia—Luis’s Stolen Home. Rally for housing rights, immigrant rights, and rights of the unhoused/ homeless, then march to: • 1:00 p.m.—Polk and McAllister—City Hall, front steps. Key moment. A visceral comment by José, brother of Luís, press conference, and rally for Justice and Honor for Luís Góngora Pat, then cross the street to: • 2:00 p.m.—Polk and McAllister—Civic Center Plaza. Healing Circle for Families Hurt by Police Violence. SFCOH will be providing a meal! Please march with us against Police Terror in the Sanctuary City! The family of Luis Góngora Pat is reaching out to you for support. They would like as many people as possible to attend the march. RSVPs already include California families of victims of police murder; Asociación Mayab; Coalition on Homelessness; Causa Justa; Answer Coalition; The National Brown Berets; Poor Magazine; members of the Shambhala Meditation Center of SF; Idriss Stelley Foundation; the Coalition for Justice For Amilcar Perez Lopez, and many more. The march will include indigenous ceremonies and be led by Aztec dancers. Jaranero dancers from Yucatán will join us too! We will hear from speakers against SFPD violence and for civil rights, housing, immigration, and homeless rights. The family lawyer Adante Pointer will present on the Góngora Family lawsuit, and more! This is going to be a very large event, and mainstream media will be present. A march against the systemic violence against black and brown in San Francisco is long overdue! Bring your signs, banners, and voices! How can you help: • Please save the date for this very special day, and please outreach to all friends and colleagues! • Please circulate the attached image flyer and this Facebook Event Page as widely as possible! • If your organization would like to co-sponsor this event, please write to justice4luis@gmail.com and we will add your name to a flyer for circulation and our flyer on our website event page to be posted on www.justice4luis.org. • If you can help us with media outreach, or would like to offer other support, please send an email to justice4luis@gmail.com. • Please also stay tuned for an upcoming fundraising campaign to gather support for Luis Góngora Pat’s family in the Yucatán peninsula on this terrible date. Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit Tumblr Pinterest LinkedIn Print Email Pocket Telegram WhatsApp Skype Like this: Like Loading...How do tweets map onto the Brexit vote? Neatly, it turns out. Stefan Bauchowitz (left) and Max Hänska collected more than 7.5m Brexit-related tweets in the run-up to the referendum. They found Leavers were more active than supporters of Remain, despite the younger profile of social media users. Both in print and online, voters were exposed to more Eurosceptic than pro-EU messages. How did Eurosceptic (Leave) and pro-European (Remain) activity compare on social media in the run-up to the EU referendum, and was there a relationship between social media users and votes? To find out how Leave and remain compared, we collected more than 7.5 million Brexit-related tweets during the 23 days leading up to the referendum through Twitter’s streaming API. We used a support vector machine to identify which tweets clearly supported the Leave or Remain camp (and manually coded a random sub-sample of those to ensure our allocation was reliable). Given the polarity of the issue this worked well, and the model correctly identified most tweets. We used the result of this exercise to assign each user in our sample to one of the two camps. We collected tweets containing the terms ‘Brexit’, ‘EUref’ and ‘EU Referendum’, which were all frequently used to refer to the referendum. While the term Brexit has great currency across both camps, it was used more often by users who wanted to leave the EU as it lends itself more easily to positive slogans (e.g. “Can’t wait for #Brexit to win!” or “Brexit to save Europe”, also echoed by “Brexit means Brexit”). Even though EURef and EU Referendum are more neutral terms, in both sub-samples we find that support for leaving, measured by number of tweets, outstripped support for remaining by a factor of 2.3 and 1.75 respectively. The margins confirm a slight bias in the term ‘brexit’, where the strength of leave over remain was more pronounced. Overall it is clear that the army of Leave users was larger in numbers and more active in tweeting their cause (see Figure 1). Other researchers examining Google search trends, Instagram posts and Facebook found a similar tendency: Eurosceptic views were being communicated with greater intensely by a greater number of users. Researchers from Loughborough University revealed that, weighted for circulation, 82% of newspaper articles were pro-Leave. Both in print and on social media, Britons had more exposure to Eurosceptic than pro-European opinions. We also mapped Twitter activity to local authority districts. To do this, we used Google’s and Bing’s geocoding services to translate user-provided location information to geographical coordinates which we then matched with local authority districts. This is not an exact science, both because many users provide no or fictitious location information in their profiles, and because the finer the granularity of geo-location required, the more error-prone the result. As many users specify their location as ‘London’ rather than its constituent boroughs, we aggregated all tweets from users located there. We plotted the share of users supporting Remain against share of the Remain vote. We excluded districts where we identified fewer than 200 users, giving us usable data for 100 local authorities. There is clearly a pattern in the way the referendum campaign unfolded on Twitter, with those wanting to leave communicating in greater numbers and with greater intensity. Districts with a greater share of Twitter users supporting Leave also tended to vote for leaving the EU, so that Twitter activity correlates with voting in the referendum. Yet we must be careful to avoid over-interpretation, in particular regarding claims that social media can predict election outcomes, the problems of which have been pointedly enumerated. Finding a pattern in the data post hoc is quite a different thing than confidently identifying and interpreting the pattern ex ante – Leave leads on social media by a much larger margin than it did in the vote, so it is not at all clear how one should have interpreted results from a Twitter analysis before the vote. The problem is, we lack demographic descriptors of social media users according to which we may weight or interpret results. Nevertheless, given that Twitter users are generally thought to be younger and young people tended to vote Remain, the result is surprising either way. It seems plausible that Leave voters were more motivated, and consequently more active on Twitter. It also seems likely that slogans such as Vote Leave, take control, or even Brexit better lent themselves to a simple message (particularly useful given the constraints of a tweet), and allowed different interpretations such that users could project their desired meaning onto the slogan. This post represents the views of the authors and not those of the Brexit blog, nor the London School of Economics. Stefan Bauchowitz holds a PhD from the London School of Economics. Max Hänska is a lecturer (Assistant Professor) at De Montfort University, where his research interests centre on social media, political communication and collective decision-making.Per previously reported schedule, Microsoft has started its Minecraft: Education Edition beta testing on time. And while the school-related spin off is only officially available to schools and educators, links to official provisioning packages (version 0.14.2) were posted to Twitter via keen-eyed Microsoft enthusiast @WalkingCat. With some clever hackery, we were able to get the game fully operational for an early look. If you’re familiar with Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition, this will all look very familiar. Because it is. But there are some subtle differences, such as the availability of Education Skins (which are free, by the way), the notion of Classmates instead of Friends, and the removal of Realms and Achievements — not exactly something that belongs in a classroom focused client. Tucked away in the backend code were the notions of VR and Holographic modes, which presumably tap into compatible devices. But it’s unclear how those features work or if they’ll be in this edition, as they weren’t immediately available for test. Of course, we’ll keep you updated as game development progresses. Stay tuned! Tagged with Minecraft, Minecraft Education EditionYour first name People are really not looking forward to Amy Schumer’s new movie “Snatched” with Goldie Hawn, and are sharing on Twitter everything they’d rather do than watch the upcoming flick. The movie, which was released in theaters today, is about a mother and daughter duo who get kidnapped while on vacation, but people don’t seem to care too much about the plot. I’d rather smoke John Madden’s belly button lint out of an 8 foot bong. https://t.co/30kCxfIJnO — ScottlnSC (@ScottlnSC) May 12, 2017 The film currently has 38 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 2.5/10 stars on IMDB. @Cinemark @amyschumer @goldiehawn I’m going to be busy giving myself multiple paper cuts in the eye and soaking them in lemon juice instead. Maybe another time. — Robert_Taylor (@robo_taylor) May 12, 2017 @Cinemark @amyschumer @goldiehawn no thanks, gonna roll around in broken glass and salt instead — Scrappy (@vonscrappy) May 12, 2017 @amyschumer I’d rather have my eyelids ripped off than take my mom to that movie. — LaMarcus Stainton (@ELwhiteLaMarcus) May 12, 2017 I would rather burn my money than to watch Amy Schumer. Thanks but no thanks pic.twitter.com/sMrH025uXO — Joseph Hammad (@Hammad_26) May 10, 2017 Rt if you hate Amy Schumer and would rather cheese grate your eyeballs than watch anything she’s starred in — saetin (@dietaesthetic) May 12, 2017 i would rather poke both of my eyes out w/ a fork than watch the new amy schumer movie — r kelly (@kellyricee) May 12, 2017 @lenadunham @amyschumer I’d rather pay @MikeTyson to repeatedly punch me in the face than see that trash — Jadam Zase#FinsUp (@DolphinsHope) May 12, 2017 I’d rather live in the woods the rest of my life than watch @amyschumer ‘s new movie “Snatched” — Andrew Strzesynski (@andystrzes) May 11, 2017 Do you think Amy will blame this failure on “alt-right trolls,” too? Follow Amber on TwitterOver the span of the last nineteen years, since he was five years old, Reid has been a player, a deck builder, a collector, and a lover of the Magic world. Today, he’s a full-time professional Magic player and writer. "So what is Magic?" They ask me. You know, they. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, girlfriends, boyfriends, coworkers, strangers, everyone—they. This is destined to be a universal question because Magic: The Gathering is so much different from, quite frankly, everything else. They know chess, but Magic isn't quite chess. They know playing-card games like bridge, but again, Magic isn't quite one of those either. Even for gamers, the small details about Magic—and more importantly, their consequences—are difficult to grasp. For the majority of the people who make up our they, Magic is a completely different world. "So what is Magic?" Is a question that I'm setting out to answer—in short today, and in depth in this ongoing column. Magic is the greatest game on Earth. I feel comfortable making this bold claim in part because Magic: The Gathering can suit itself to the needs of so many different people. Magic is for the collector, the deck builder, the lover of the game's lore or art, and—of course—the player. It's just as well-suited for players like myself, who play every day of their lives, as it is for players like so many of my friends, who only get to play on occasion, once every year or two. Along those lines, I suppose I ought to introduce myself. My name is Reid Duke, and over the span of the last nineteen years (since I was five years old), I've been all of the people above: the player, the deck builder, the collector, and the lover of the Magic world. Today, I'm a full-time professional Magic player and writer. This column won't feature much about Magic storyline, art, or collecting. Nonetheless, my writing will be for absolutely anyone, at any level of expertise, who might one day aspire to play competitive Magic. The goal is to take you from the most basic concepts of Magic all the way up to playing at a competitive, Pro Tour Qualifier (PTQ) level. Starting here. So without further ado, let's take a look at the gameplay of Magic. What Makes Magic, Magic? It's not particularly scientific, but when I can only give a one-sentence, cocktail-party answer to their question, I might say, "You can think of Magic as a cross between chess and playing-card games." Magic shares some similarities with chess, but it also features some very key differences. Both are one-on-one strategy games; at the simplest level, your creatures are your chess pieces and your spells are simply one extra layer of support for them. Both games require strategic thinking, long-term planning, and an eye for advantageous openings. However, in chess, the whole game is laid out clearly on the table, where in Magic there is uncertainty. Act on Impulse \| Art by Brad Rigney Variance While there are a number of variables in tournament Magic, far and away the most prominent is simply that you can't know what card will be coming off the top of your library (or your opponent's) next. Chess is about thinking several moves ahead. The same is true of Magic, but with the extra challenge of considering possibilities. What can happen if you draw a land next turn? What if it's a creature? What if the opponent draws a way to take out one of the creatures you left back as a blocker? Playing the game without knowing exactly what the future will bring adds a layer of complexity. It also means that every game will be different, even between the same two players using the same two decks. It would be difficult to memorize openings in Magic, because you won't know exactly what you'll have to work with until the game starts. Let's say that in chess I always move my knight first. Well, in Magic I might not even draw my "knight" at all! What's more, my decision to move my knight first is based on the way it matches up against my opponent's pieces. In Magic, you also don't know for sure what "pieces" your opponent will have. Hidden Information In addition to the variance aspects of the game, there's also uncertainty in that you don't know what cards your opponent has in his or her hand or library. Often, you'll face situations where one choice is better if your opponent has a removal spell, while another choice is better if he or she does not. You might have a powerful spell to cast, but you'd rather wait on it if your opponent has Dissipate. Cases like these can feel largely like a guessing game, but there are, in fact, a number of techniques you can employ to help you work toward making the best possible decision. What Skills do You Need to Play Magic? The "Playing-Card Game" Skills In the aspects of variance and hidden information, Magic more closely resembles games played with a standard deck of playing cards, like bridge. In the movies, Wild Bill Hickok might see the tiniest twitch of another cowboy's eyelash and immediately know, with mortal certainty, that he's holding exactly the Ace and Eight of Spades. Moments like this (at least to my knowledge) are the things of fiction. While there are certainly times when a variety of factors can combine to give you an educated guess about what's in your opponent's hand, you do not need any mystical powers to be great at Magic or at other games of hidden information. In my experience, it's rare for two Magic players to engage in a deadly staredown in the wake of a game-changing bluff. Similarly, the times when you want to pull out your calculator and pinpoint your odds of drawing a certain card are also few and far between. If you're a wizard at reading your opponents, then great! If you're a lightning-fast and razor-sharp mathematician, that's a skill you should bring to the table! These things will come up from time to time, and they may accelerate your growth as a player. However, for my money, they aren't the most important skills in Magic. Handling uncertainty in Magic is less of an exact science and more a matter of simply being aware that these possibilities exist. Some games, you won't draw as many lands as you like. Other games, you'll draw far more than you can use! Sometimes, your opponent will have Flesh to Dust for your powerhouse creature and other times he or she won't. These uncertainties are in the background of every game of Magic, and that's the point! All you can do is be aware that not everything is under your control. The "Chess" Skills The first and foremost skill in Magic's gameplay is simply the ability to play your own cards well. To truly master the game, it can be helpful to learn to read your opponents and to brush up on your probabilities. However, these things should come after (long after) learning how to best deploy the resources that your deck gives you. In short, focus most on the "chess" aspects (the board, the information you have), and simply be aware of the "playing-card game" aspects (variance and hidden information) that underlie everything. As this column moves forward, I'll be going into substantial detail about a number of ways to improve the way you play your cards in a game of Magic. For today, though, let me leave you with the number one, most important skill for Magic's gameplay. Military Intelligence \| Art by Craig J Spearing Focus Other names for the same thing would be "thoughtfulness," or "presence in the game." This is not a natural talent that some people are born with and some are not. Every single person reading this can force him- or herself, the next time he or she plays a game of Magic, to slow down a little bit; to minimize your distractions; to keep thinking about the game during your opponent's turn, instead of letting your mind wander. If you want to play good Magic, focus is the most important thing. It will lower your chances of making silly mistakes and raise your chances of seeing winning plays. It will provide you with more hints about what cards your opponent might be holding. Perhaps most importantly, it will accelerate your learning process, because you'll have a better understanding of what's going on, and you'll be better able to pinpoint where things are going right or going wrong. To recap, here's a short list of skills a Magic player can cultivate in order to improve his or her game. "Chess Skills" General strategic thinking: How can you win? How can you stop your opponent from winning? Looking for opportunities: Is your opponent vulnerable to an attack? Is this a good time to get in some damage? Patience: Is this not the time to attack? Sometimes in Magic, waiting is best. Don't feel like you need to make a big play, just for the sake of making a big play , waiting is best. Don't feel like you need to make a big play, just for the sake of making a big play Thinking a move or two ahead: Is the game going to come down to a damage race? If so, how can you make sure you win that race? "Playing-Card Game Skills" Factoring in variance: Remember, you don't need to be a math wiz; if you can count, you can be good at Magic. Just remember that you don't have total control of what comes off the top of the library, and try to make the most of any situation. . Just remember that you don't have total control of what comes off the top of the library, and try to make the most of any situation. Considering hidden information: And you don't have to be a mind reader either. You're not meant to know every card in your opponent's hand at all times. However, sometimes you might get a hint or two. What are the likely possibilities? What is your best play for each of these possibilities? Focus: Be present in the game, be aware of everything on the board, take it slow, and don't jump in without thinking. "So what is Magic?" That's my short answer to a complicated question. Check back next week when I'll begin to explore some more advanced concepts in Magic. Until then, take it a little slower, think things through a little more, and remember to focus!Associated Press If anyone had doubts that President Obama would speak out against Michigan’s new “right to work” initiative, he set them to rest during an event in that state today. Here’s what he said: “What we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages. These so-called right to work laws — they don’t have anything to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is, giving you the right to work for less money. You only have to look to Michigan, where workers were instrumental in reviving the auto industry, to see how unions have helped build not just a stronger middle class but a stronger America. […] “We don’t want a race to the bottom. We want a race to the top. America’s not going to compete based on low skills, low wage, no workers rights. That’s not our competitive advantage. There’s always going to be some other country that can treat its workers even worse.” Obama hit all the right notes. He pointed out that “right to work” laws are not about boosting the economy, but about crippling the political opposition; that they are not about freedom, but about weakening workers’ ability to organize for better pay; that unions have long played a critical role in providing a path to the middle class; and that investing in a trained, well represented work force is the way to produce a broadly shared prosperity — rather than a “race to the bottom” — that is better for the country as a whole. It’s unclear how much of an impact this will have on the ongoing battle in Michigan. There were already signs that Governor Rick Snyder didn’t fully understand how unions work and what the “right to work” laws speeding towards his desk actually do. In a private meeting today, top Michigan Democrats reiterated to him that labor and Dems simply want to ensure that unions have the right to collect fees from non-union members who benefit from their collective bargaining along with union members. And word is that Governor Snyder prides himself on being a pragmatic problem solving type, rather than an ideologue. So it can’t hurt to have the President come into his state and tell the truth about these laws in such a high profile way, arguing that “right to work” isn’t really about budgeting and won’t help us innovate, compete, or move the country forward. So: Good for Obama for saying what needed to be said. We’ll see if it makes a difference.Each January we like to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments and to share a roadmap of our plans for the coming year. Our 2017 roadmap talked about switching to free downloads for all our products; shipping OmniOutliner 5 for Mac; and introducing OmniGraffle 3 and OmniOutliner 3 for iOS with slide-in information panes and powerful JavaScript automation. This year’s roadmap also talked about our plans for OmniFocus. About how its new sync format lets us make fundamental improvements to the data it keeps track of—enabling faster syncing of databases with large attachments, supporting multiple tags per item (replacing contexts), and improving the system for notifications and repeats. And how our iOS app can take some design cues from the Mac app to make it easier to see the information you care about and work with multiple tasks more efficiently. As always, though, our roadmap for the year isn’t the same as the actual journey we end up taking! It indicates the direction we’re headed in, but the future is never certain—and if we actually want to get where we’re trying to go, our plans need to adapt as circumstances change. This year, iOS 11 gave us a huge opportunity to make all of our apps much better, with strong support for Drag and Drop between apps, Files app integration, and—of particular interest to OmniFocus—Siri integration. With Siri support, we were finally able to add things directly to an OmniFocus list by saying things like “Add dry cleaning to Timely Actions in OmniFocus,” and later to check them off by saying “Mark dry cleaning complete in OmniFocus.” So we put our other plans on hold, worked our tails off, and had some great updates to our apps ready to go the day iOS 11 shipped. OK, so, what next? Now that our iOS 11 work has shipped, where does that leave us with respect to our roadmap for the rest of the year? We’re still planning to ship OmniOutliner 3 for iOS this quarter; it will start its public TestFlight within the next few weeks. The OmniFocus features discussed in this year’s roadmap will debut next quarter (Q1, 2018) with the public TestFlight of OmniFocus 3 for iOS. We’ll have a lot more to say about OmniFocus 3 as we get closer to that public TestFlight, but for now let me just reassure anyone who’s contemplating a purchase of OmniFocus that if you purchase version 2 today (for either iOS or Mac), you’ll receive a free upgrade to version 3 on the same platform when it ships. (And, as usual, anyone who already owns OmniFocus will be eligible for a 50% upgrade discount.) (Feedback? I’d love to hear from you! You can find me on Twitter at @kcase, or send me email at kc@omnigroup.com.)Two squat brick buildings near Tires Plus on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul would be demolished to make room for 60 market-rate apartments under a proposal from a Forest Lake-based developer. The Union Park District Council’s land-use committee reviewed preliminary plans this week. The developer, Gaughan Cos., and the architect, BKV Group, have proposed parking on the first floor and underground, according to the district council. The building at 304-308 N. Snelling Ave. would be four or five stories, stepping back toward Carroll Avenue. Related Articles Ordway 2019-20 season has ‘The Color Purple,’ ‘Groundhog Day,’ ‘Once on This Island’ Highland Park Middle School online threat began with argument at school, police say Minnesota United will have company. Here’s what’s up with 5 tenants moving in near Allianz Field. Chai Lee, Kris Fredson among 17 members chosen for Met Council St. Paul company develops Uber-like service for disabled passengers The west end of Carroll Avenue is one-way headed westbound, and some on the land-use committee have suggested asking the city to reconfigure the street so that it is two-way to allow better ingress. Retail is not part of the proposal. The two-story commercial structure at 304 Snelling Ave. was constructed in 1913, according to Ramsey County property records. Information about the adjoining structure was not immediately available.Both Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes are no longer employed by the UFC. The legendary MMA fighters were recently among another group of employees laid off by new owners, WME-IMG, MMA Fighting has confirmed. According to multiple sources, approximately 10-15 employees were let go this week. None more famous than Liddell and Hughes, though. Liddell, considered one of the greatest light-heavyweight champions ever, retired from the sport in 2010 following his third-straight knockout loss. He was subsequently named UFC executive vice president of business development. In addition to being one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the UFC, Liddell is a long-time personal friend of UFC president Dana White. As is Hughes, also considered to be one of the greatest champions (welterweight) in the sport's history. Hughes retired from the sport in 2013 following two knockout losses in a row and promptly accepted a position within the company as vice president of athlete development and government relations. "The UFC has been great to me," Hughes told MMA Fighting Friday night. "Times change, and I understand the decision that was made. I will move on. My family and I are fine. "I do love adventure, and who knows what's next for me." Liddell couldn't be reached for comment when contacted by MMA Fighitng. The recent layoffs come a little over a month after the company fired approximately 70-80 employees, including some of its top executives.Producing a few pounds of weed can have the same environmental toll as driving across America seven times – harming cities’ and states’ plans to curb emissions As he opens the steel door to the jumble of his office, located in a cloistered warehouse on the west side of Denver, Paul Isenbergh is barking down the phone about a duplicitous business rival. He’s wearing a shirt and rust-colored tie. Yards from his desk, rows of drying cannabis plants are strung up on two clothes lines. Isenbergh spent 30 years as a real estate broker in Florida. When he moved to Denver in 2011, he didn’t even know medicinal marijuana was legal in Colorado. “I had been doing my own research and development, you could say, since the 1970s, but I didn’t really know anything about it until I came here,” he said. Canadian province gambles future on marijuana's 'extreme growth potential' Read more He now owns three cannabis-growing facilities, all housed in what were shuttered Denver warehouses
30 June on the back of higher petrochemical margins and one-time gain from sale of African asset. Net profit in the April-June quarter of current fiscal at Rs9,108 crore (Rs30.8 per share) was 28 per cent higher than Rs7,113 crore (Rs 24.1 a share) in the same period of the last financial year, RIL said in a statement. (PTI) ■ Reliance Industries Ltd today announced one bonus share for every share held—the first such issue after 12 years, and a dividend of Rs13 a share. Announcing the 1:1 bonus share, RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said this is the country’s largest bonus issue. The last time India’s largest private sector company gave bonus shares to its shareholders was 12 years ago. As many as 39 companies have this year announced bonus shares. Indian Oil Corp (IOC) had announced a 1:1 bonus issue last month. (PTI) ■ As we march toward the Golden Jubilee of Reliance in 2027, I can confidently say that the Golden Decade of Reliance has begun. Today I assure the people of India that Reliance will do everything, and more, to meet the nation’s expectations. My father also taught us to be humble. And to never forget that the nation expects a lot more from us in the future: Mukesh Ambani. ■ Jio’s business and societal value will grow immensely over the next decade. Jio will become India’s largest provider of data service, products and application platforms: Mukesh Ambani You may download RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani's 40th AGM speech here.https://t.co/sDGQ4FhjY5 — Reliance Jio (@reliancejio) July 21, 2017 ■ I now want to share with you my vision for value creation at Reliance over the next decade. India at 80 should aspire to become–and can certainly become–one of the three largest economies in the world. Reliance at 50 will aspire to become–and will certainly become–one among the Top 50 companies in the world. Reliance’s future value-creation strategy will support tens of thousands of small and medium businesses. Over the next decade, India has the potential to move from a $2.25 trillion economy to a $6 trillion economy. I am confident that Reliance’s own growth over the next ten years and our contribution to the Indian economy will surpass what it has achieved in the past 40 years: Mukesh Ambani #RILat40 What took the West 300 years and China 30 years, India can achieve in just about a decade or two: Mukesh Ambani — Reliance Jio (@reliancejio) July 21, 2017 ■ What took the West 300 years and China 30 years, India can achieve in just about a decade or two. Our energy & materials businesses constitute a strong platform to reach EBITDA of Rs100,000 crore in next few years: Mukesh Ambani ■ Reliance Foundation has emerged as the largest corporate Foundation in India and reaches out to 12 million people. Reliance Foundation has improved productivity of land for over 50,000 families and made 131 villages water-secure. Reliance Foundation’s Education for All initiative now impacts the lives of 100,000 children. Reliance Foundation is committed to creating opportunities for the youth to pursue a career in sports. In its first year, Reliance Foundation Youth Sports reached 8 cities and reached over 2 million children: Mukesh Ambani. ■ In fuel retail, we re-commissioned 142 new outlets during the year: Mukesh Ambani. ■ We are proud to say that one in every ten Indians shops with us. This year, Reliance Retail crossed Rs33,000 crores. 371 new retail stores were opened last year, an unprecedented expansion in India by any retailer: Mukesh Ambani. ■ On such an occasion and in keeping with our founder to share prosperity with all shareholders the Board of Directors has decided to recommend a bonus issue in the ratio of 1:1. This is the largest bonus issue, ever, in India: Mukesh Ambani ■ We have commissioned our Paraxylene complex, making Jamnagar world’s largest manufacturing facility of Paraxylene. Our projects will place Reliance as among the top 10 Petrochemical producers globally. Our refining business continues to demonstrate exemplary performance. ■ We, at Reliance, congratulate the Government on its historic step of introducing the GST regime. The GST brings uniformity in tax rates and enables India to fulfil One Nation One Tax, resulting in one unified market: Mukesh Ambani. ■ Reliance paid ₹ 9,637 crore of customs and excise duty during the year, almost 5% of India’s total. Reliance is the highest income tax payer in the private sector in India and paid ₹ 8,880 crore as during the year: Mukesh Ambani ■ Reliance remains India’s largest exporter with 8% of total merchandise exports with a value of Rs147,755 crore: Mukesh Ambani. ■ We will always live by your ideals, vision & values and build a New India of Dhirubhai’s dream. This is our solemn commitment. And this is my promise to all of you. The net profit of Rs29,901 crore is the highest in the Indian corporate sector: Mukesh Ambani. ■ As Reliance marches towards its Golden Jubilee, today we commence our Golden Decade: Mukesh Ambani. ■ Reliance Industries board recommends 1:1 bonus issue, says RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani. This is the largest bonus issue, ever, in India, he adds. Also read \| For Reliance Jio, free services did wonders, ‘effectively free’ will have its limitations ■ I want to publicly thank all Jio employees and applaud their contribution to our company, and our nation: Mukesh Ambani. ■ Jio is a young organization and Akash and Isha, our Directors, both 25, lead a large contingent of highly talented professionals. ■ Jio phone to be available for pre-booking from 24 August. All Jio phones will be made in India from last quarter, says Mukesh Ambani. #RILat40 The JioPhone will be available for user testing in beta from 15th August and for pre-booking from 24th August: Mukesh Ambani — Reliance Jio (@reliancejio) July 21, 2017 ■ A full refundable deposit of Rs1,500 to be paid for Jio phone to prevent misuse. Money to be refunded after 36 months on return of phone, says Ambani. ■ Jio phone to cost effectively Rs0 as against Rs3,000-Rs4,500 for a smartphone price, he said. ■ Mukesh Ambani says: This is “protection from extortionist data charges". “This is how Jio will end digital exclusion in India," he said. ■ Jio will be integrated with all major e-commerce platforms, says Ambani. Also read \| There is method in the Ambani madness ■ To protect against misuse—a fully refundable one-time security deposit of Rs1,500 which will be returned after three years. ■ Mukesh Ambani also announced the features of the new Jio phone 1) Free voice 2) Unlimited data at Rs153 a month (at prevailing 2G data rates, this would cost Rs4,000 with other operators) 3) TV cable to connect it to antenna TV (including CRTs) and pack of Rs309 for watching on TV 4) A weekly data plan of Rs54 or two-day plan of Rs24. ■ From 15 August, digital freedom for all feature phone users. Jio will give access to unlimited data on Jio phone. Reliance dedicates JioPhone to the nation on the joyous occasion of India at 70, 70th anniversary of India’s Freedom: Mukesh Ambani. ■ Jio phone truly revolutionary; on Jio phone, voice will always be free. ■ Jio phone to be “most intelligent, affordable phone" in the world—a 4G LTE phone supporting all 24 Indian languages, says Mukesh Ambani. ■ Mukesh Ambani announces launch of Jio phone, a feature phone loaded with smartphone features. Also read \| Reliance Jio seeks to shake up telecom market further with virtually free phone ■ Market cap has expanded 50,000 times in 40 years, says Ambani. ■ Out of 78 crore mobile phones in India, 50 crore feature phone users left out of digital revolution, says Mukesh Ambani. ■ India has overtaken US and China in mobile data usage, says Mukesh Ambani on his telecom venture Reliance Jio. ■ Mukesh Ambani says data consumption in India has grown to 120 crore GB from 20 crore GB in 6 months. ■ Reliance Jio users consistently make more than 250 crore minutes of voice and video calls every single day, says Mukesh Ambani. ■ Reliance Jio has 125 million customers today, added 7 customers per second every single day, says Mukesh Ambani. ■ Reliance Jio is the fastest adoption of technology service anywhere in the world, says Mukesh Ambani. ■ Mukesh Ambani says a person who invested Rs1,000 in 1977 has earned Rs16.5 lakh in 40 yearsStory highlights Police: The girl's father, stepmother are charged with murder A man calls 911, says he might kill himself and his daughter has died He says she drank a chemical and her body was with him, police say The man shows police the girl's burned body in a trash can Georgia police discovered a badly burned body of a 10-year-old girl Saturday in an apartment complex's trash can -- pointed out by her father, who was standing nearby. The grisly episode began with a 911 call around 3:40 a.m. Saturday by a man who said he wanted to commit suicide, the Gwinnett County Police Department said. While talking to dispatchers, the man indicated there was a dead body with him at the location -- his young daughter, he explained, had drank some type of chemical and died. Gwinnett County police headed to the family's residence in Lawrenceville, a city of about 29,000 people some 30 miles northeast of Atlanta. They found the man who'd apparently made the suicide call standing outside a building in an apartment complex. Police said he then directed officers to a trash can in a recreation area. That's exactly where the body of the girl was found. Police subsequently went inside the man's apartment, but didn't find anyone else inside. The slain girl's father and her stepmother were subsequently arrested. Gwinnett Count police announced Saturday evening that both are being charged with felony murder, first-degree cruelty to children and concealing a body.The Associated Press TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reassurance to the International Olympic Committee that contaminated water leaks from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant are "under control" has backfired at home. Just hours before Tokyo was chosen Sept. 7 to host the 2020 Olympics, Abe gave an emphatic speech declaring that radioactive contaminants from the leakage had no impact to waters outside the bay near the plant and "will never do any damage to Tokyo." The Japanese media and opposition lawmakers have suggested that Abe's comments were overkill. "Contaminated water 'control' running astray," the nationwide Asahi newspaper said in its front-page top story Saturday. "Credibility of prime minister's message to overseas is shaking." Hikariko Ono of the prime minister's office defended Abe's pledge, citing offshore monitoring results showing undetectable radioactivity. The government has stepped up efforts to contain the leaks. In a meeting with opposition Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers Friday, senior TEPCO official Kazuhiko Yamashita said the water situation was "not under control," appearing to contradict Abe. DPJ leaders said they will demand Abe clarify his IOC speech. TEPCO later issued a statement to explain that what Yamashita meant was isolated incidents such as tank leaks and did not dispute Abe's comment. Japanese officials have acknowledged that the ground water contaminated with radioactive leaks from the melted reactors has been seeping into the ocean since soon after the March 2011 disaster. Recent leaks from storage tanks holding radioactive water have also added to concerns. The plant has been reporting spikes in radioactive tritium from underground water samples near a major tank leak last month. TEPCO said Saturday tritium in the latest sample measured 150,000 becquerels per litre, more than twice the limit allowed for release into the ocean. Experts generally agree that overall impact from the contamination gets diluted becomes negligible as it further spreads into the sea. Lake Barrett, a former US nuclear regulator and an outside advisor to TEPCO, agrees with Abe. "Now, to get into a little, tiny detail about it, is there a little, tiny bit of runoff that may have cesium in it? The answer is, yes there is, but that's still under control from a public health and safety and environmental protection point of view," he told the Associated Press.Five years ago I stood in the Mural Hall of Parliament House to speak at a bipartisan event hosted by MPs pushing for a national system of marine parks. Most of those present believed it was an idea whose time had finally come. Polling supported it. But with Julia Gillard's minority government just barely clinging to power, it was a tough time to be asking parliamentarians for an act of courage. Yet that was basically my line. Because back when the nation was younger and poorer, it took great vision and mettle for our forebears to reserve country for the first national parks. It was that sort of gumption I sought to foster. I believed we still had it in us. Australians have always loved the ocean, but now, more importantly, we understand how vital the sea's health is to the future of our island home. In the corridors of Parliament House that day, as I met MPs of every stripe, I felt a great sense of promise, even pride. And it seemed for a while such hope was not misplaced. In 2012, after an exhaustive scientific process and wide community consultation, Tony Burke declared a system of marine national parks, one of the biggest and best in the world, the most significant conservation gain in Australian history. That took courage. Because it put science before politics, prudence ahead of expediency. And it was popular. But as soon as he came to power in 2013 Tony Abbott announced an immediate moratorium on these parks and instigated a review. The purpose was purely political. To delay implementation, corrode consensus and deny the science. A move straight out of the culture warrior's playbook.CATHAOIRLEACH Kevin Sheahan says he is “speechless” over opposition to his offer to erect a cross in the council chamber. CATHAOIRLEACH Kevin Sheahan says he is “speechless” over opposition to his offer to erect a cross in the council chamber. The council leader wants to donate a cross once the council chamber is refurbished later this year. He has already engaged a wood turner in East Limerick to do the work. But there has been opposition from many councillors, including Mayor Michael Sheahan and Cllr Daniel Butler, who reportedly tweeted he was “embarrassed” at the plan. The chief argument being made from some is they feel the chamber should represent all the people. However, Cllr Sheahan has come out fighting - and urged the Limerick public to lobby their local councillor to get the cross erected. “I understand some councillors are opposed to the idea. They are talking about their constituents being Muslims, and other religions. Muslims would have no issue with the cross in their faith. The Jewish faith would not object to a cross. There are crosses and grottoes on the landscapes of Ireland and I have never heard an atheist objecting to them,” he said. He said he makes no apology for planning to donate a cross, saying: “I thought it would be nice to donate something to the chamber, to the members. There is no Christian emblem of any description in the chamber.” However, some councillors would prefer it would remain this way, including Cllr Butler, whose tweet about his feeling “embarrassed” was later deleted, according to Live 95FM. He said: “We are living in a secular society, and councillors are there to represent the people. So we need to be a reflection of the people. Our practices need to reflect this. I think the erection of a cross is inappropriate.” In a brief statement, Mayor Michael Sheahan added: “As there has been no display of any religious object in the chamber up to now, I am not in favour of creating a precedent for this.” But Cllr Sheahan appears to have found some support in the former county areas, with party colleague Noel Gleeson backing his idea, alongside Cllr John Sheahan. But the cathaoirleach says he is surprised at the level of opposition to his plan. “I cannot understand how somebody of any faith, or no faith, would say I am embarrassing anybody. It was never intended to embarrass anybody. I am not a Bible-thumper. Many friends have a much stronger faith than I have, I want to give a gift of a cross, and it’s an embarrassment? That leaves me almost speechless: the choice of words are almost confrontational”. It has been reported elsewhere that the cathaoirleach is to offer a four-foot cross made of Irish oak. While the emblem will be made of Irish oak, Cllr Sheahan dismissed suggestions it would be four foot tall. However, he said: “It is a big chamber with a high ceiling. I would like us to have a decent sized cross”. And he suggested Ireland may have gone too far to appease minority faiths. “I was very annoyed last year when I read that Christmas cribs had to be removed from some hospitals in Dublin. I ask myself, as a Christian country, how far are we going to go,” he asked. “Have we gone too far already?” He added: “In the Islamic part of the world, they have strong Islamic laws, and if you went there, you wouldn’t have them blushing behind their religious beliefs.” He also recalled how one nurse in a Limerick hospital was not allowed to leave early on a Holy Day of obligation to attend Mass - while the same building had a room to allow those of the Islamic faith to pray five times daily. Sinn Fein councillor Maurice Quinlivan accused Cllr Sheahan of “bouncing” the issue on councillors. Anti-Austerity Alliance co-ordinator Cian Prendiville rejected the idea, and said: “All the crosses in the world can’t hide the cruel and uncaring austerity policies carried out by the government and this council.” But Cllr John Sheahan said: “I have no problem with it. I am a Roman Catholic, and I’d like to think the chamber could take in all persuasions of faith and none”.REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nintendo is dropping the Wii console to a suggested retail price of $129.99 U.S. in advance of the busy holiday shopping season. The new configuration is beginning to arrive in stores now, and will be broadly available in the U.S. by Oct. 28. This high-value configuration includes a black Wii console and both Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort on a single game disc, as well as a Wii Remote Plus and a Nunchuk controller – both black to match the console. This configuration replaces the current black Wii that comes with New Super Mario Bros. Wii.“Nearly six years after it launched, people are still attracted to the pure, inclusive fun of the Wii console,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “A new suggested retail price and the inclusion of two great games make it an easy choice for families looking for a great value this holiday season.”Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort represent two iconic games that helped pioneer the industry move toward motion-controlled video games. The games include a wide variety of sports that use the controllers in unique ways. Players can try their hand at sports like bowling, tennis, baseball, archery, table tennis and basketball, all while simulating real-life motions using the Wii Remote Plus controller. For the first time, both games are included on a single game disc.Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/wii Source: Nintendo PRThree months ago, Derek Khanna was fired from his job at the Republican Study Committee for publishing a paper advocating copyright reform that wasn't approved by his bosses and which many said differed from the party line. This week, the stars have drastically realigned for Khanna, who got a response Tuesday from the White House on an issue he's been pushing for the last month: that people should be able to use their cell phones on whatever carriers they want without breaking the law. Back in January, a regulation went into effect that made unlocking phones illegal. Since then, Khanna has written more than a dozen articles decrying the law, reached out to members of Congress asking for help, pestered tech organizations to get onboard, drawn the support of groups like the National College Republicans, and started a White House petition along with fellow technology policy advocate in California Sina Khanifar that garnered more than 114,000 signatures. On Tuesday, the White House said Khanna was right. Cellphones may soon be able to self-destruct by dissolving. (iStockphoto) "The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties," wrote R. David Edelman, the White House's Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, & Privacy. "In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones.... It's common sense." Khanna says he was hoping the White House would respond, but wasn't expecting that level of support. "It seemed like it was a strong, full-throated endorsement," he tells Whispers. "That was a pretty surprising reversal. I haven't witnessed a reversal like this since the [Stop Online Piracy Act]." SOPA was anti-piracy legislation that was dropped after hundreds of websites went dark in protest of the criminal penalties associated with it. Hours after the White House responded to Khanna Tuesday, Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah said he was working on legislation to unlock mobile phones. "It's a freedom issue. You own the phone, you should be able to unlock it," Chaffetz wrote on Twitter, and added Khanna's name at the end of his tweet. Khanna, of course, hopes his efforts keep spreading. Last night, unbeknownst to him, a separate petition was started on the White House We the People website calling for consumers to be able to unlock e-books as well. "I think it's the beginning of something new, something exciting," said Khanna. "But I also feel like it's the continuation of my same work. It's smart tech policies. I tried it out on the Hill, and now I'm trying it outside the system." More News:In recent weeks, my colleagues here on the features team have written on the visual strengths of Mob Psycho 100, including its animation and its visual direction. And the show certainly deserves praise in these two areas; it stands out from its peers for the quality of each. However, what I’d like to propose is that Mob Pyscho 100’s most fascinating and laudable characteristic is neither that it has strong animation from a talented group of animators nor that it has creative, diverse, and flexible direction—but rather, that it has both simultaneously. I want to make clear that I’m not necessarily arguing Mob Psycho 100 is unique or completely consistent on these terms. Certainly, plenty of other shows have sakuga (more on that here) and lots of anime are well-directed and even a small number are successful in both those categories, as Mob Pyscho 100 is. However, there is are particular traits in Mob’s animation (the sheer quality of craft, and formal experimentation) and direction (a self-consciously cinematographic nature) that make them stand out amongst the crowd—and the combination of them is why I find it worthwhile to discuss Mob Psycho 100 as not just a good “sakuga show” or “well-directed show,” but as an anime that combines both of these in a way that breaks down the barrier between animation and cinematography. To further explain what I mean, consider this cut from the final battle of One Punch Man. In particular, pay attention to the way the cut is shot. While there’s plenty of motion going on throughout the duration of the clip, the way the motion is framed is pretty standard for an sequence like this in that the camera only shoots from the point that allows particular moments of action to be highlighted as they occur—thus, the frame becomes nothing more than a container into which the admittedly impressive motion occurs. Note that I don’t mean this as a criticism of the cut, per se. For what it’s doing—an action scene—it’s perfectly appropriate and serviceable. However, by way of contrast, check out this cut from the third episode of Mob Psycho 100. As you can see in the screencaps above the previous paragraph (all taken from this cut), there’s a decidedly more elaborate cinematographic quality to this cut—that is, it looks as good in stills, in single images as it does in motion. While a substantial portion of the appeal is in the delight of the colors and the abstracted shapes used by the animator to portray motion, a great deal of the still images' quality is derived from the way the motion is framed. In this cut, the cinematography is not just a vessel in which animation happens, but an active partner in creating a particular visual effect. The storyboards and animation complement each other, and the end result is something special. This cut, as with many others in Mob Psycho 100, is demonstrative of a joint product between animation and cinematography—as I like to call it: cinematic motion. The individual “shots” and the ornate layouts (which appear to me to be self-conciously cinematographic in that they call attention to themselves by way of their obvious flair) that make them visually excellent are linked together not by editing techniques, but by animation. The transitions between shots, rather than being through the static cut, are created via motion. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Mob is one long take—there are plenty of cuts throughout—but it does mean that the cuts, rather than being used to frame individual shots, are used to frame the motion. Cinematography and animation become so intertwined that it becomes difficult to separate them. When we pause the animation and find within it an evocatively frame shot, we have found cinematic motion. Likewise, when we press play and the still shot flows into frame after frame of moving images, we have found cinematic motion. I said before that Mob Psycho 100 isn’t necessarily unique on these terms—the unification of still shots and motion has been something Yutaka Nakamura, the famous BONES action animator, has been experimenting with since Blood Blockade Battlefront all the way through Concrete Revolutio. However, I don’t think there’s any aruging that the addition of director Yuzuru Tachikawa’s direction to animation director Yoshimichi Kameda and co.’s animation has resulted in a far more polished product. And as Mob Psycho 100 continues to blur the lines between what is cinematography and what is animation, it draws close to the fundamental nature of animation itself. In creating moving pictures notable for their appearance as both still images and moving sequences, the frame itself becomes animation. It’s like having your cake and eating it too, except in this metaphor the cake is a bunch of pictures that you eat with your eyes. What do I mean by the fundamental nature of animation? Well, that’s the reason I think all of this stuff in Mob Psycho 100 is worth talking about. This is perhaps an arguable point, but the element of animation as a medium that seems to be most defensible as its distinctive trait is the fact that in any given cut, there’s the potential for a single animator to have complete control of the frame. And this is where we turn our attention to the formal experimentation of Mob’s animation. Here, the best example is unequivocally the paint-on-glass animation of Miyo Sato (from episode one). Sato’s work, including another cut in episode 3 and the entirety of the show’s ending sequence, is a distilled display of animation’s capacity for displaying a single creator’s vision of artistic motion; it doesn’t matter that the animation itself was created by paint on glass as opposed to pencil on paper, it’s still animation. Although the method within the form changes, the form itself remains. To return to the point about animation and cinematography working in union, the majority of Mob Psycho 100’s cuts are, in a sense, a deconstruction of the purity of Sato’s animation as “animation in its most fundamental form.” Tachikawa may have storyboarded most of the show so far, but he’s not animating the whole thing by himself at the same time—others are working alongside him. But the aesthetic division that normally exists between “good direction” and “good animation,” to use to the broadest terms, is very nearly erased in Mob’s best cuts because of how tightly the cinematographic shot and the shot-in-motion work together. Even beyond Sato’s additions, there’s plenty of experimentation going on in Mob and Tachikawa’s direction allows that experimentation to be more than just motion, just as the animation under Kameda’s supervision, well... animates Tachikawa’s storyboards fully. So, that’s my case for why Mob Psycho 100 is possibly the most exciting anime that I’ve ever seen from a visual/animation perspective. It’s a joy to see a show that pushes the limits of the animation medium and succeeds in as flashy a way as Mob does. Whether or not it’ll be able to keep it up for its whole run and continue to succeed with its experiments remains to be seen, but with the staff of the show reportedly on a quest to show up One Punch Man, I’m hoping for the best! So, it’s time for you guys to weigh in! What do you think about Mob Psycho 100’s crazy animation and its overall visual style? Are you a fan? Not a fan? Let your voice be heard in the comments! ----- Isaac eases his compulsive need to write about anime on his blog, Mage in a Barrel. He also contributes to the Fandom Post and sometimes hangs out on Tumblr. You can follow him on Twitter at @iblessall or on Facebook.After a body was found Thursday believed to be that of “August: Osage County” actress Misty Upham, filmmaker friend and family spokesperson Tracy Rector confirmed that the body has been identified as Upham. She was 32. Upham was found dead in Seattle suburb Auburn in a wooded area. Rector told Variety that she and the family believes the Auburn Police Department could have done more to locate the actress. “We just want to make it clear that the Auburn police had nothing to do with looking for her or finding her,” she said. “It was friends and family that led the search and rescue teams that found Misty.” Rector says friends and family confirmed her body at 6 p.m. Thursday, and that no cause of death has been revealed yet. A statement on the Auburn Police Department Facebook page said it took five hours and a 10-person team to recover the body. “The Auburn Police Department states that there is no initial evidence or information to indicate foul play; however the Medical Examiner will make the final determination,” the statement read. Upham was nominated, along with fellow cast members of “August: Osage County,” for an ensemble SAG Award earlier this year, and SAG-AFTRA president Ken Howard said in a statement, “I was very sorry to hear of the tragic death of Misty Upham. Like her family, friends and fans, I hoped she would be found safe, and the untimely death of someone so young and talented is heartbreaking.” Related Actor-Playwright Tracy Letts Started His Career With a 'Bang' Chicago Theater Review: Tracy Letts' 'Linda Vista' SAG-AFTRA Native Americans Committee Chair DeLanna Studi paid tribute to Upham, stating “Misty was a trailblazer in her own right, who was able to defy stereotypical roles for Native Americans and bring to life complicated and beautiful universal characters. Her contributions to our industry made her a role model for all indigenous peoples.” Upham, also known for roles in “Frozen River” and “Django Unchained,” was reported missing by her family on Oct. 6, a day after they told police she was suicidal. Her father, Charles Upham, noted that she had stopped taking her medication for anxiety and bi-polar disorder. Upham had moved to Seattle to help care for her father, who was recovering from a stroke. Charles Upham said that he didn’t believe his daughter would commit suicide, saying she “just decided to leave home for awhile.” “She doesn’t believe in killing herself,” he told KIRO-TV. “She believes that is a sin and she would never do that.” Upham’s breakthrough role came in 2008, when she starred in “Frozen River” alongside Melissa Leo. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for the performance. Upham would go on to play housekeeper Johnna Monevata in “August: Osage County” last year, the cast of which was nominated for a 2014 SAG Award. She worked alongside Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, and she told Variety that the experience was a dream come true for the up-and-comer. “I never once in my life thought I would ever hear Julia Roberts call my name,” she laughed at the American Film Institute Festival screening of film. Recently, Upham appeared in “Cake,” starring Jennifer Aniston, which premiered last month at the Toronto Film Festival.Electronic cigarette maker Blu is set to release e-cigarette packs that detect other e-smokers nearby to prompt potential social interactions, according to a report this week by The New York Times. The Charlotte, N.C.-based maker of battery-powered e-cigarettes that vaporize nicotine rather than burning it is equipping $80 e-cigarette packets with sensors that can detect other Blu Smart Packs within 50 feet. The new product is set for a June release, according to The Times. Why? To enhance the social connection of "vaping," according to Blu founder Jason Healy. Smart Packs vibrate and flash a blue light when they pick up the radio signal of another Smart Pack. That supposedly will spark a social exchange between people who discover that there's another person with a really expensive and geeky smoking habit nearby. "Customers were always telling us how social Blu e-cigs were—they'd be in a bar or outside, and someone would see this blue light and what looks like smoke," Healy told Fast Company in an interview about the new product line last month. Healy puts a lot of emphasis on the product's reported ability to break the ice between the sexes. "In a dating sense, your Pack is laying the groundwork for you. It's almost like a little wing man, from a guy's perspective. You don't have to go up to a girl with a cheesy pick-up line. It's doing all the talking for you because you're too chicken-sh*t to do it yourself," he told Fast Company. The sensors on the reusable packs also detect retail outlets that sell Blu cigarettes. And Blu's social networking plans for its Smart Packs go far beyond the sensor technology. The company is integrating Smart Packs with sites like Facebook and Twitter so that e-cigarette users can exchange information easily after connecting via their flashing packs. There will also be a desktop app that allows users to track their interactions with other e-cigarette users, the company said. Future plans include tethering the packs to a smartphone and a monitoring system to report to users how much they smoke. For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.The daily act of living is the act of chiseling destiny through choice — from the bedrock of all possible lives we could have had, we sculpt with our choices the one life we do have. Those choices can be difficult or easy, conscious or not, made for us or made by us, but whatever their nature, they require a leap into the unknown. “The job — as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy — of the artist,” Dani Shapiro wrote of the central task of the creative life, “is to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it.” Because every life is an act of self-creation, such is the job of each one of us, whether or not we self-identify as artists. We choose whether to be blunted or honed when we choose whether to hide behind false certitudes — for any understanding that claims to be final is inherently fraudulent in its finality — or to thrust ourselves into the open air of not-knowing, naked and vulnerable, and wear our goosebumps like a constellation of tiny medals awarded us for living with courageous curiosity. Artist Ann Hamilton, a rare philosopher of forms, celebrates that choice and the vitalizing power of not-knowing as the mightiest fuel for creative work in an extraordinary essay titled “Making Not Knowing,” adapted from her 2005 commencement address at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Hamilton writes: One doesn’t arrive — in words or in art — by necessarily knowing where one is going. In every work of art something appears that does not previously exist, and so, by default, you work from what you know to what you don’t know. You may set out for New York but you may find yourself as I did in Ohio. You may set out to make a sculpture and find that time is your material. You may pick up a paint brush and find that your making is not on canvas or wood but in relations between people. You may set out to walk across the room but getting to what is on the other side might take ten years. You have to be open to all possibilities and to all routes — circuitous or otherwise. But not knowing, waiting and finding — though they may happen accidentally, aren’t accidents. They involve work and research. Not knowing isn’t ignorance. (Fear springs from ignorance.) Not knowing is a permissive and rigorous willingness to trust, leaving knowing in suspension, trusting in possibility without result, regarding as possible all manner of response. The responsibility of the artist … is the practice of recognizing. Much of that recognition, Hamilton argues, happens in moments that bear no outward sign of productivity
's all for this week's news update - seen anything else you want to highlight? Feel like your news has been missed out? Let us know in the comments! This article discusses games developed and published by members of the Slitherine Group with which we share an affiliation. For more information, please see the About Us page.Google+ Opens Its API To Flipboard, Users Will See Google+ Integration Soon Google+ honcho Bradley Horowitz announced one more Google+ partner at LeWeb today, tablet news app Flipboard. Flipboard joins Buddy Media, Hootsuite, Context Optional, Hearsay Social, Involver and Vitrue as a Google+ “trusted” partner. The API will soon allow Flipboard users to Google+ comment on and +1 Flipboard items, in addition to sending individualized pieces of content to Google+ Circles. “It works like it should,” said Horowitz, “Flipboard has done an amazing job. ” Google+ has been infamously slow in opening its API to the public, so this is a small, but monumental baby step in the history of the product. When asked what was taking them so long, Horowitz was defensive, “We squeezed a decade of social networking history into 11 months.” So will it be a year before they have a full public API? We’re assuming that Google will probably announce an exact date for all access at Google i/o, instead of (yet) another partner.Googler Kirill Grouchnikov likes to show off the little UI flourishes in the Play Store, sometimes even before they are live for users. We like the small stuff, and you probably do too. So you'll be happy to know there are two subtle UI tweaks incoming with the next Play Store update. One is in the kids "character" section and the other is in the What's New box we all know and love. The character screen now has a sliding animation when you tap on an icon. It's more like the rest of the Play Store now, except the icons slide to the middle of the resulting page. It's the same on developer and user landing pages, but they don't have this nifty animation. The other change revealed by Grouchnikov is a new theme for the changelog text. The box is still green, but it's slightly lighter. The text is now dark green instead of black. I know what you're thinking—green on green text doesn't sound good, but it looks fine-ish. See above. There's also an explosion (?) icon. Judging by the file name of the GIF above, this will be v5.7.10, or something like that. As usual, we'll let you know when it's out.Marijuana law reform advocates finally got some potentially good news out of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team this week following a series of ardent legalization opponents being named to Cabinet-level positions. Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that Jim O’Neill, a marijuana legalization proponent, is being considered to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Trump administration. If O’Neill is formally appointed and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate as commissioner of food and drugs, it could bode extremely well for future efforts to reform federal marijuana laws. The FDA is responsible for conducting the scientific analyses of cannabis’s harms and medical benefits that rescheduling rulings are based on. Before the most recent denial of a rescheduling petition by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in August, FDA concluded that marijuana has a “high potential for abuse” and “no currently accepted medical use in treatment.” But there is in fact a lot of scientific research showing marijuana to be medically beneficial and relatively safe. Presumably, under O’Neill’s leadership, FDA would more seriously consider and weigh that literature before making future reclassification recommendations. O’Neill, a close associate of tech financier and Trump transition team member Peter Thiel, has been active in the movement to reform marijuana laws. For example, he was a founding member of the board of directors of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform, a California-based legalization advocacy organization. (Full disclosure: The author of this article served alongside O’Neill on the CCPR board.) On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly pledged to respect state marijuana policies. But he has already named several ardent cannabis law reform opponents to his Cabinet. For example, he selected U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who recently said “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” to be attorney general. He picked Congressman Tom Price of Georgia, who has regularly voted against medical cannabis amendments, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. And this week Trump signaled that Gen. John Kelly, another critic of legalization, would lead the Department of Homeland Security. He also tapped Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general who led a federal lawsuit against neighboring Colorado’s marijuana law, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. With O’Neill at FDA, however, marijuana law reformers would have a key ally in position to help shape the Trump administration’s position on cannabis policy. O’Neill, who is not a medical professional, previously served in the Department of Health and Human Services under the George W. Bush administration. According to Bloomberg, he is a proponent of a concept called “progressive approval” for drugs, through which substances could be available on the market as soon as they are deemed safe for use even if there isn’t clear data showing them to be effective in treating any particular condition. “We should reform FDA so there is approving drugs after their sponsors have demonstrated safety — and let people start using them, at their own risk, but not much risk of safety,” he said in a 2014 speech. “Let’s prove efficacy after they’ve been legalized.” Medical cannabis advocates are hopeful that O’Neill would apply his consumer freedom philosophy to natural, plant-based medicines in addition to synthetic pharmaceuticals. Mike Liszewski of Americans for Safe Access told Marijuana.com that FDA’s current approval process for botanicals is “unworkable” and that as a result, very few have been approved. “O’Neill’s appointment could lead to an overhaul of rules pertaining to botanical medicine, which could create a much friendlier environment for research and approval of cannabis and other botanicals,” he said. But alluding to possible conflicts that could arise if marijuana’s status under the Controlled Substances Act is changed and it becomes legally available with doctors’ prescriptions, Liszewski said it would remain a key question as to whether existing state-legal cannabis businesses would be protected from harassment by the Justice Department. “It’s important that whatever positive reforms are made at FDA under the Trump administration should not justify a crackdown on state medical cannabis programs by other parts of the federal government,” he said. At this point, however, O’Neill’s name is only being informally floated in the press, and the Trump transition team has not officially signaled intent to place him in the FDA post. If he is formally nominated early next year, he would sit for a confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions before facing a vote by the full body. Photo Courtesy of Allie Beckett.Nothing has been made official just yet, but Golden Boy is working on finalizing all the deals to announce the expected December 14 Showtime pay-per-view event to be headlined by Adrien Broner defending his WBA welterweight title against Marcos Maidana from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Today, it was reported at BoxingScene.com that Leo Santa Cruz will likely be on that show, defending his WBC super bantamweight belt against Cesar Seda Jr, a former super flyweight title challenger. Santa Cruz (25-0-1, 15 KO) had been trying to secure a fight against Cristian Mijares for November 2, but that isn't going to happen. Seda (25-1, 17 KO) had been scheduled to fight on October 26 on the Hopkins-Murat card, but will now pass on that to face Santa Cruz in December. Also likely for the show, it appears, is a welterweight fight between Keith Thurman (21-0, 19 KO) and Jesus Soto Karass (28-8-3, 18 KO). Thurman, who pointlessly holds the WBA interim title, which you can see definitely needs to exist given that he'll be fighting on the same date as the guy who holds the full title, is coming off of an exciting win over Diego Chaves in July. That same night, Soto Karass upset Andre Berto in the main event from San Antonio. After the hits from Mayweather-Canelo, Bradley-Marquez, and Pacquiao-Rios, will you be buying this show, especially given that it's right in the panicky heart of the Christmas shopping season?Quirks mode and strict mode Quirks mode and strict mode are the two ’modes’ modern browsers can use to interpret your CSS. This page gives a short overview of the reasons for and the differences between these two modes. The problem When Netscape 4 and IE 4 implemented CSS, their support did not match the W3C standard (or, indeed, each other). Netscape 4 had horribly broken support. IE 4 came far closer to the standard, but didn’t implement it with complete correctness either. Although IE 5 Windows mended quite a lot of IE 4 bugs, it perpetuated other glitches in CSS (mainly the box model). To make sure that their websites rendered correctly in the various browsers, web developers had to implement CSS according to the wishes of these browsers. Thus, most websites used CSS in ways that didn’t quite match the specifications. Therefore, when standards compliancy became important browser vendors faced a tough choice. Moving closer to the W3C specifications was the way to go, but if they’d just change the CSS implementations to match the standards perfectly, many websites would break to a greater or lesser extent. Existing CSS would start to show odd side effects if it were suddenly interpreted in the correct way. So moving closer to standards compliance would cause problems. On the other hand, not moving closer to standards compliance would perpetuate the general confusion of the Browser Wars Era. The solution Therefore any solution to this problem had to allow web developers who knew their standards to choose which mode to use. continue displaying old pages according to the old (quirks) rules. In other words, all browsers needed two modes: quirks mode for the old rules, strict mode for the standard. IE Mac was the first browser to implement the two modes, and IE Windows 6, Mozilla, Safari, and Opera followed suit. IE 5 Windows, as well as older browsers like Netscape 4, are permanently locked in quirks mode. Choosing which mode to use requires a trigger, and this trigger was found in ’doctype switching’. According to the standards, any (X)HTML document should have a doctype which tells the world at large which flavour of (X)HTML the document is using. Old pages written before (or in spite of) the standardization wave don’t have a doctype. Therefore ’no doctype’ would mean quirks mode: show according to old rules. Contrarily, if the web developer was savvy enough to include a doctype, he probably knew what he was doing. Therefore most doctypes trigger strict mode: show according to pure standards. Any new or unknown doctype triggers strict mode. The problem was that some pages written in quirks mode did have doctypes. Therefore each browser has its own list with doctypes that trigger quirks mode. See this browser comparison chart for an overview of these lists. Note that your page does not have to validate according to the chosen doctype, the mere presence of the doctype tag is enough to trigger strict mode. On this site I use this doctype in most pages. In addition to declaring my pages XHTML 1.0 Transitional, it also triggers almost strict mode in all browsers. <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> Good solution? Personally I’m not terribly happy with doctype switching. A doctype carries information about the flavour of (X)HTML you’re using, in other words, about document structure. In my opinion it shouldn’t carry any information about document presentation, because that violates the separation of structure and presentation that CSS is all about. But the browser vendors were not to be denied: browser after browser implemented doctype switching, and nowadays all modern browsers support it. Complication: almost strict mode In the early days, experiments with strict mode invariably raised the comment that images suddenly got an odd bottom margin that couldn’t be removed. The cause was that in strict mode <img /> is an inline element, which means that some space should be reserved for possible descender characters like g, j, or q. Of course an image doesn’t have descender characters, so the space was never used, but it still had to be reserved. The solution was to explicitly declare images block level elements: img {display: block}. Nonetheless browser vendors, Mozilla especially, thought this was such a confusing situation that they introduced "almost strict mode". This was defined as strict mode, but with images continuing to be blocks, and not inline elements. Most common doctypes, including the one I use, trigger almost strict mode. The treatment of images is by far the most important difference between almost strict mode and really strict mode. IE Windows special: the xml prolog In IE 6 Windows, Microsoft implemented one extra rule: if a doctype that triggers strict mode is preceded by an xml prolog, the page shows in quirks mode. This was done to allow web developers to achieve valid pages (which require a doctype) but nonetheless stay in quirks mode. This is the xml prolog. You should put it on the very first line of your document, before the doctype. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> Note that this behaviour has been removed from IE 7. The differences What, exactly, are the differences between the two modes? There are a few more differences that can trip up the unwary web developer. The table below summarizes a few of the most important ones. IE Quirks Mode is IE5.5, by the way. IE6, 7 and 8 all switch back to 5.5 when they encounter a Quirks Mode page. Always Always supports standard Never Never supports standard Depends Standards support depends on rendering mode; see text for details Further information can be found at Jukka K. Korpela’s Quirks Mode features page.Jewish settlers threw stones at the cars of a delegation of American diplomats, who came to inspect suspected vandalism of nearby Palestinian-owned trees in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police said Friday. The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and U.S. consulate in Jerusalem had no immediate comment on the incident, which occurred outside the Adei Ad settlement and incurred no casualties. Washington has been vocal in its disapproval of Israeli settlement policy, though such attacks against the U.S. are rare in Israel. An Israeli police spokeswoman said the delegation arrived at Adei Ad in U.S. diplomatic cars without first having coordinated the visit with Israeli authorities. She said the purpose of the trip was to inspect nearby trees that had been uprooted in what their Palestinian owners suspect was vandalism by Jewish settlers. "Rocks were thrown at them by residents of Adei Ad," the spokeswoman said. "We are investigating. Arrests have yet to be made." She did not know of any damage to the vehicles and had no further information on the delegates' identities. An Adei Ad settler who was not present during the incident told Reuters that U.S. delegates came within 50 yards of the settlement in two diplomatic cars, accompanied by local Palestinians. He said someone in the delegation showed a weapon, but that report could not be confirmed. Asked about this account, the Israeli police spokeswoman said, "We have no indication that anyone in the U.S. delegation brandished weapons." Approximately 40 families live in the settlement. About 500,000 Israelis live in settlements among 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and could be part of a future Palestinian state. The settlements are considered illegal under international law. Even the United States, Israel’s staunchest backer, cites their growth among the major reasons for long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israel has insisted that it would keep blocs of settlements under any Palestinian statehood deal. Wire servicesHOUSTON – One of the downsides to professional sports is that players do not always get the swan song they imagine. Brian Ching thought his career would end with a final season in a new stadium in front of the Houston Dynamo fans he loves. Instead, his selection in November’s Expansion Draft has him headed to the Montreal Impact. His dream vanished, Ching originally stated he would prefer to retire than play for Montreal. It was an emotional outburst. After the dust settled, he mulled it over. Time and reflection, he said, made him realize that wasn’t the way he was going to go out, and that while he may not get the end he pictured, he wanted to control how it happened. “I decided that I want to retire on my own terms,” Ching said at a press conference on Friday. “I don’t want to be dictated into retirement and, honestly, I feel like I have another year of good soccer left in me.” So Ching will head to Montreal after all, where he’ll join the expansion club and a head coach in Jesse Marsch with whom he has a checkered history, both on and off the field. The pair of hard-nosed competitors clashed as part of a brief rivalry between Houston and Chivas USA, one Marsch carried into the media by calling Ching a “diver,” which did not sit well with Ching. Does that relationship need repair now that the two are reunited in Quebec? “Yeah, I think so, based on the history we’ve had,” Ching said. “I’ve told him this and he’s called me and he’s told me he wants me up in Montreal to help the team out. The things that have gone on in our past makes me question that to some degree, but I’m open to going up there and seeing and having him prove to me that he wants me up there.” Compounding Ching’s transition is the specter of a potential trade back to Houston that seems to stay in the eye of the national media. But while the discussions play out, the 33-year-old forward is resigned to putting those rumors out of his mind to help facilitate his move. “I see it as a cat and mouse game that I’m caught in the middle of,” Ching said. “I’m disappointed with how things went down and I’m disappointed where I’m sitting today, but I’ve come to accept it and at this point I’m focused on going to Montreal and playing for my teammates and fans up there, especially the ones who’ve reached out and are excited for me to come up there.” So as Ching prepares for his move, he is ready to embrace a new challenge and playing with players – such as Davy Arnaud, Donovan Ricketts and Justin Braun – that he has a great deal of respect for. But while he is preparing for a French-Canadian chapter in his storied MLS career, Ching was clear that he maintains the hope things will stray back to their original course and his retirement comes in front of his Houston fans and with a tinge of Orange. “Eventually I’d like to retire in Dynamo colors,” Ching said. “Be it a trade tomorrow or when the year’s done, I’d love nothing more than to retire in a city that I’ve given my heart and soul to. And I’d like to thank the Dynamo fans for everything they’ve given to me. … Hopefully, whenever it is I come back to Houston, we’ll continue with the great relationship that we’ve had.” Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com. Follow@DarrellLovellThe Tulsa Golden Hurricane have hired Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery to be their next football coach. Montgomery has been calling the plays for one of the most prolific offenses in college football. Baylor is the only team in FBS to be ranked in the top four in the country in total offense each of the last four seasons. The Bears averaged 48.8 points and 581.3 yards per game this season under Montgomery, who just completed his seventh season and also served as the quarterbacks coach. "I've always wanted to be a head coach, but my family and I knew that it would take the right opportunity to get me to leave Waco. Tulsa is that special opportunity," Montgomery said in a statement. "There is a lot of work to get done and trust me, I'm already on it. Get ready for some fun, fast and physical football." The 42-year-old Texan has spent most of his career as an assistant to Baylor coach Art Briles, first at Stephenville (Texas) High School and then at Houston (2003-07) and Baylor. "We are extremely pleased to have Philip Montgomery as our head football coach," said Tulsa athletic director Derrick Gragg said in a statement. "Coach Montgomery has an outstanding background as a collegiate coach and recruiter. He is one of the bright offensive minds in college football and has coordinated explosive offenses at both Houston and Baylor." Montgomery was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation's top assistant coach, in 2013. He replaces Bill Blankenship, who was fired Dec. 1 after a 2-10 season in 2014 and a 24-27 record at Tulsa over four seasons. Tulsa went to eight bowls between 2004-12, played in the Conference USA championship game four times and won a championship twice. Since their last title in 2012, the Golden Hurricane have won five games. The Associated Press contributed to this report.Jeff Goodman explains why LaVar Ball opted to pull his son LiAngelo from UCLA and whether his youngest son, LaMelo, will still attend the school in the future. (1:41) LaVar Ball told ESPN that he has pulled his son LiAngelo out of UCLA. "We are exploring other options with Gelo," LaVar Ball said on Monday. "He's out of there." "I'm going to make him way better for the draft than UCLA ever could have." LaVar Ball LiAngelo Ball, a freshman, is one of three UCLA basketball players who were indefinitely suspended after a shoplifting incident in China in November. Ball, the middle Ball brother, did not play a single game in college after being suspended from the team -- along with teammates Cody Riley and Jalen Hill. "I'm not sitting back and waiting," LaVar Ball told ESPN. "He wasn't punished this bad in China." "We get back over here, and the consequences were even stiffer than China. So basically they're in jail here." UCLA coach Steve Alford issued a statement later Monday. "We learned today of LiAngelo Ball's intention to withdraw from UCLA," he said. "We respect the decision he and his family have made, and we wish him all the best in the future." Ball told ESPN he hasn't decided where LiAngelo will play this season. "I'm going to make him way better for the draft than UCLA ever could have," he said. "He's not transferring to another school. The plan is now to get Gelo ready for the NBA draft." LiAngelo's plan to withdraw his son from school was first reported by TMZ. "That's a long time of doing nothing," LiAngelo told NBC's "Today" on Tuesday of his suspension at UCLA. "I just want to play, period. I'm not worried about money." LaVar Ball told ESPN before the season that LiAngelo would stay at UCLA for only one season, even if he wasn't projected as a draft pick. His brother Lonzo played one season with the Bruins before being drafted No. 2 by the Lakers. LiAngelo Ball is regarded as a long shot to be drafted in June, and that was before his arrest in China. "He's not on any of our scouting lists -- even the extended lists," one GM told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. LaVar Ball said earlier Monday that he hadn't informed the UCLA coaching staff that he was pulling LiAngelo. "I haven't told any of those guys,"Lavar told ESPN. "They didn't tell me anything, so why am I gonna tell them?" The three players are subject to review for violating the university's student conduct code, which includes a section on theft. As part of their indefinite suspensions, the players haven't been allowed to suit up, practice or travel with the Bruins. "They had him there just to use the Ball family name. They were going to keep the best shooter on the team coming off the bench? That's like telling the Clippers back in the day not to play JJ Redick," LaVar Ball said. LaVar Ball said that that the plan is still for LaMelo Ball -- ESPN's seventh-ranked player in the class of 2019 -- to go to UCLA. LaMelo committed to attend UCLA in two years. However, a source at UCLA told ESPN's Arash Markazi that this is probably the end for the Ball family at the school. There are questions about whether LaMelo would even be eligible, because he has his own signature shoe as part of the family's Big Baller Brand. The NCAA was asked by ESPN about the matter and said, "Generally speaking, a college athlete or prospect paid for use of their athletics reputation or ability risks their future eligibility in that sport." ESPN's Darren Rovell contributed to this report.There is a lot of talk in the political media about the "invisible primary," which is the lining up of big donors and establishment endorsements. On the Democratic side, the winner of this invisible primary so far is Hillary Clinton, who has gathered many endorsements and has collected a healthy amount of major Democratic donor money. On the Republican side the invisible primary is almost as fractious as the campaign itself, with Bush, Walker, Kasich, Rubio and the rest of the allegedly establishment candidates wooing and being wooed by Republican billionaires of all stripes -- conservative, ultra-conservative and extreme. Trump is already a big winner of his own invisible primary; at yesterday's Iran rally he promised even more declaring, "I'll win so much, you'll get bored with winning". But there's another invisible primary going on as well and it's an important one: the Evangelical primary. I've written here before about how important this constituency is to the GOP base. Indeed, one might even say that white Evangelical voters and the churches to which they belong are as important to the Republicans as the unions are to the Democrats. They are the footsoldiers. And as much as the elites may want to keep them under control and out of sight when the national zeitgeist shifts against conservative morality (it goes back and forth), since at least 1980 they know they cannot alienate them. And any conservative politician who is building himself or herself a long career needs to cultivate them carefully. Advertisement: So, in this hugely populated race for the GOP presidential nomination, this invisible Evangelical primary could be more salient than usual. While the field is full of religious-right candidates -- like Scott Walker, Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal, just to name three also-rans -- it is Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Ben Carson who are the clear favorites. (Walker polls in the middle of the field but he's been having problems with Christian conservatives for some time, despite his impressive evangelical bona fides.) Trump is currently polling well among Evangelicals, but it's unlikely that a serial divorcer with a shaky record on abortion can hold this whole group no matter how many times he declares that the Bible is his favorite book. But as I wrote here, it won't be for lack of trying. Trump has been doing outreach with the Christian right since 2012 and spent a lot of money and time cultivating their support. Nonetheless, Ben Carson leads the invisible evangelical primary in Iowa at the moment. Polls show him gaining significantly on Trump there and with such a large contingent of religious right voters, the very pious Carson is a natural favorite. He is a political extremist, but then so are they. The big question has been if Carson could do as well in evangelical circles in southern states. If the new PPP poll is correct, he's certainly doing better than any of the others in South Carolina, so that's a good sign. Trump has almost double his support though, which is perhaps why Carson challenged the sincerity of Trump's faith yesterday. But what of the other two big Christian right contenders, Huckabee and Cruz? Well, they seem to be going head to head, fighting for pre-eminence among the more militant of religious conservatives. This week we saw quite a spectacle with Cruz nearly coming to blows with a Huckabee staffer at the Kim Davis rally when Cruz tried to join the group onstage. Huckabee's campaign had reportedly done all the leg work for the rally and perhaps they thought that Cruz was crashing their event like some Code Pink protester. In any case, the little contretemps showed just how important it is for candidates of the Christian right to be seen as warriors for family values and religious liberty. Kim Davis and her stand against gay marriage was an excellent way to show fealty to the cause. Unfortunately, there was only room for one Christian soldier on that stage, and Huckabee used all of it, strutting around unctuously begging the authorities to let Kim Davis go and take him instead -- even though Davis was a free woman standing right there on the the side of the stage. Judging by the response at right-wing Twitter aggregation site Twitchy, conservatives were divided on who won that round, with some calling Huckabee disgraceful and others saying "if Ted Cruz can't stand up to Mike Huckabee..." Cruz pouted for a bit and then headed back to Washington to join the rally against the Iran peace agreement and once again call the president “the world’s leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism.” He seemed a bit overshadowed at that event as well, as Trump and Sarah Palin took the spotlight and competed for who could serve the best word-salad for lunch. Advertisement: However, Cruz did have some very good news yesterday, which may just put him over the top of the invisible Evangelical primary when all is said and done: David Barton, an influential Christian author and activist, is taking charge of the leading super-PAC supporting Ted Cruz. The super-PAC, Keep the Promise PAC, is the umbrella for a group of related pro-Cruz political committees that raised $38 million in the first half of the year, more than the super-PACs supporting any other candidate with the exception of Jeb Bush. Barton's appointment highlights the role that Evangelical Christians are playing in the Cruz campaign. The Texas senator is the son of a preacher and announced his presidential bid at Liberty University, a Christian institution founded by the televangelist Jerry Falwell. Barton is a self-taught historian, former school administrator and the founder of Wallbuilders, a group dedicated to the idea that the U.S. was established as a Christian nation and should embrace those roots. Time Magazine named him one of the country's top 25 most influential Evangelicals in 2005. There is no one more responsible than David Barton for the vast amounts of misinformation and downright lies the evangelical right believes about the fundamental nature of the U.S. constitution and the founders' intentions. He has quite literally written a parallel history, using phony documents and misconstrued facts to prove that the American Revolution was a religious crusade for the express purpose of creating a Christian nation. He was most recently exposed as a fraud when constitutional scholars of all political persuasions proved that his book "The Jefferson Lies" was riddled with errors and his publisher withdrew it from the shelves. Not that it mattered. As usual in these cases, Barton insisted he was a persecuted martyr and his stock among the Christian conservatives went way up. If Mike Huckabee thought he won a battle by keeping Cruz off the stage down there in Tennessee, Cruz knew he won the war. Barton is not only a Christian right superstar; he also has a huge boatload of money to spend on him. His "Keep the Promise" PAC is is funded by some extremely wealthy conservative energy billionaires from Texas and one hugely wealthy hedge fund billionaire from New York, who mainly wants to abolish the IRS. Their investment makes the statement announcing Barton's appointment downright hilarious: "From the outset, the Keep the Promise PACs made their mission to provide a voice for the millions of courageous conservatives who are looking to change the direction of the country. Barton's involvement is an important step signaling that the effort will not be run by a D.C. consultant but by a grassroots activist." Nothing says "grassroots" like fracking billionaires and hedge-fund tycoons. But in a way it's a perfect amalgam of the invisible donor primary and the invisible Evangelical primary. Big money and big Christian Right cred. It's probably too early to declare that Cruz has scored a win -- after all, "the Evangelicals love Trump" too and Carson remains a threat. But he's definitely a player. And whatever happens in the presidential race, that makes Cruz an even more powerful figure on the right.Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa introduced legislation on Tuesday that apparently attempts to prohibit the Supreme Court from citing its Obamacare decisions in future opinions. The bill list the names of major lawsuits the Affordable Care Act has faced at the Supreme Court and bars them “from citation for the purpose of precedence in all future cases.” The itself bill states: Under Article 3, Section 2, which allows Congress to provide exceptions and regulations for Supreme Court consideration of cases and controversies, the following cases are barred from citation for the purpose of precedence in all future cases after enactment: Nat’l Fed’n of Indep. Bus. v. Sebelius, 132 S. Ct. 2566, 2573, 183 L. Ed. 2d 450 (2012), King v. Burwell, 135 S. Ct. 2480, 2485, 3 192 L. Ed. 2d 483 (2015), Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751, 2782, 189 L. Ed. 2d 675 5 (2014). LawNewz.com reached out to a pair of well-known constitutional law experts and asked them for their opinion on the constitutionality of the proposed bill. Lets say, neither were confident the proposed law would pass constitutional muster. Prof. Rick Hasen from the University of California-Irvine School of Law tells LawNewz.com that he “cannot imagine that such a bill is constitutional as it infringes on the powers of the judiciary.” By that he means, “It presents a classic separation of powers problem, telling another branch of government how to do its job.” Hasen even questioned whether it was serious proposal, rather he expects “it did get Rep. King some attention, which was probably the point.” Prof. Eugene Volokh, who runs the Washington Post‘s legal blog, Volokh Conspiracy blog, and teaches at the UCLA School of Law, agreed that the bill was likely unconstitutional. “Congress can’t prescribe a rule of decision for courts (except by changing the law on which the decision was based), see United States v. Klein, 80 U.S. 128 (1871),” he explained. “Likewise, Congress can’t try to strip precedents of their precedential value (again, except by actually changing the law on which the precedents were based). Article III, section 2 gives Congress the power to limit courts’ jurisdiction, but not the power to constrain the courts’ reasoning.” He added: On top of that, it’s surprising to me that Rep. King would want to limit citation of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, which was an important victory for religious objectors to the ACA. Congress could, if it wanted to, reverse that holding, just by amending RFRA (since the Hobby Lobby holding was just a statutory holding). But I assume Congressional Republicans wouldn’t want to do that, no? And if I’m right, why would they want to limit Hobby Lobby’s precedential force? In light of the professor’s remarks, we reached out to Congressman King’s office for further explanation of his intention behind the bill. We will update this story when we hear back. [image via screengrab]Former Pac-12 coordinator of officials Ed Rush talks to ESPN's Shelley Smith about the comments about Arizona coach Sean Miller that led to his resignation. (4:00) Ed Rush, who resigned Thursday as Pac-12 coordinator of officials following comments that he made about Arizona coach Sean Miller during internal meetings with his officials before the league tournament, said that his remarks were "absolutely, 100 percent said in jest" and were said at the "wrong place, wrong time, wrong audience." Rush, a longtime NBA referee, told The Associated Press his comments were part of an overall "point of emphasis" to curb coaches' sideline misconduct. Rush said that during the meeting he called out officials Michael Greenstein, Tony Padilla and Brett Nansel -- who worked Arizona's 79-69 Pac-12 quarterfinal win over Colorado on March 14 -- for not disciplining Miller and Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle. "I said, 'The game cried out for a bench warning. It would have been very simple to take care of that. It cried out for bench warnings,'" Rush told the AP in a phone interview. "Another crew was waiting in there, getting ready for the next game. I would say there was a level of tension in the locker room, just because the disappointment that they worked this game, but they didn't take care of something that was a point of emphasis. "So in an effort just to lighten the mood, I said to them, 'Hey, guys. What's it going to take? Do you think we could give you a trip to Cancun or maybe $5,000? Or who wants what? And now they're all laughing, which is basically what I wanted to do. So I said, 'I know you guys, you probably want $5,000, you want the money, you won't take the trip to Cancun.' So I'm going around, 'What would you take?' At that point, I said, 'By the way, you know my wife's not going to go for this. I'm going to have to pull this off the table.' They all laughed, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, bud.' That was it, and I walked out." Rush's decision to resign came less than a week after CBSSports.com first reported the accusation of a bounty on Miller and creating an atmosphere of fear among his officials. The report said Rush offered $5,000 or a trip to Mexico for giving Miller a technical, which a number of officials in the room at the time confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. Rush's comments were seen as a strike at
of collaborative work between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and the American University of Sharjah (AUS). Its intended purpose is to provide opportunities and hands-on experience for Emirati engineering students, as well as developing expertise in the designing, building, testing and operating of nanosatellites. And then there’s the Hope Spacecraft, a project which was commissioned in 2015 by the Emirates Mars Mission. This project calls for the creation of a compact, hexagonal spacecraft that will reach the Red planet by 2021 and spend the next two years studying its atmosphere and weather. Not only is this mission designed to provide the first truly global picture of the Martian atmosphere, it will also be the first orbiter deployed by an Arab country. Meanwhile, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed – the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces – said that the objective of the project is to develop the skills and capacities of the UAE’s space program. He also indicates that the project will benefit research institutions and advance the fields of transportation, energy and food production here on Earth. The “Mars 2117” project will develop an Emirati and international team of scientists to push the human exploration of Mars in years to come. pic.twitter.com/5ujxvyC8As — HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) February 14, 2017 “Mars 2117” is a seed we are sowing today to reap the fruit of new generations led by a passion for science and advancing human knowledge. pic.twitter.com/IExtnpiO2B — HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) February 14, 2017 “The Mars 2117 Project is a long term project, where our first objective is to develop our educational system so our sons will be able to lead scientific research across the various sectors,” he said. “The UAE became part of a global scientific drive to explore space, and we hope to serve humanity through this project.” Elements of the project were showcased at the Summit by a team of Emirati engineers, scientists and researchers – which included a concept for a human city that would be built by robots. It also showcased aspects of the inhabitants’ lifestyle, like the transportation they would use, how they would generate power, how they would grow food, the infrastructure they would build, and the materials that would be used to construct the colony. Given the long-term nature of this project, it will be broken down into multiple phases that will take place over the next few decades. Phase One will focus on preparing the scientists who will attempt to address all the challenges and concerns of sending human beings on a one-way trip to Mars. At the same time, the project calls for the creation of an Emiratis science team that will work with the international scientific community to speed up the research efforts. Particular areas of concern will include creating spacecraft that are fast enough to ferry people to and from Earth in a respectable time frame. Then there’s the task of creating a working model of what the settlement will look like, and how the needs of its inhabitants will be met. Naturally, this will include methods for growing food and seeing to the health, safety, transportation, and energy needs of the colonists. In the future, the UAE also anticipates that uncrewed missions will be mounted to explore the surface of Mars and locate a possible site for the future colony. In short, they are not only joining the “Mars or Bust” club, but also the international community of space explorers. Further Reading: Government of DubaiIt's 6:15 A.M. as I approach the home of one of the world's greatest athletes. His name is Tony, and he lives in a tiny plywood shack about 30 miles outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. By all rights, he should be exhausted. He got up at four and ran 22 miles in a mid-September, pre-dawn chill, and he wasn't running on nicely paved roads. He ran across fields and through muddy ruts on dirt trails while he and a few teammates tugged against harnesses attached to an ATV. By any measure, it was an absurdly tough workout, and it was even more remarkable because this was Tony's first hard run in months. So I'm amazed to see him standing outside his door, looking refreshed and eager. Researchers have found that the fittest sled dogs actually get stronger as a race wears on. Dogs wait in their cages prior to an exhibition dog sled race. At an exhibition race in Spain As you may have guessed, Tony is a sled dog, which means he's a mutt, with a little Siberian husky in the mix, who's been specially bred for speed, desire, and resilience. When Tony's in peak condition, his VO2 max a measure of his ability to take in and use oxygen in the bloodstream tops out at more than 200 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. (Back when Lance Armstrong was racking up multiple Tour de France wins, his famously high VO2 maxed at around 85.) Tony may be a little flabby now, but in a few months, when he's competing in the Iditarod, he'll be able to run an average of 100 miles a day over eight or nine days, working at 50 percent of his VO2 max for hours on end. As part of a team, he can run sub-four-minute miles for 60 or 70 miles. "When it comes down to sheer capacity for prolonged exercise," says Ken Hinchcliff, an Australian veterinary physiologist who's done more research on sled dogs than any other scientist, "there is no other animal, including humans, that comes close to competing." Some might argue the point by bringing up birds that can migrate for thousands of miles. But migratory birds aren't racing or pulling weight, and, more important, birds don't make good comparative models for human physiological studies. Tony and his mammalian kennel mates do, and they're helping scientists answer fundamental questions that could, in the near future, lead to new ways to enhance the performance of two-legged athletes like you and me. THAT MAY SOUND far-fetched, since dogs and humans are so different, but Mike Davis, an Oklahoma State University veterinarian and exercise physiologist, thinks otherwise. Davis has brought me here, to the home of mushers Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore, to show me the dogs up close and explain his complicated research. As he and I wade into a pack of 50 yelping, howling animals, he points out that dogs are large mammals, just like people. On the level of genes and regulatory proteins, we're surprisingly close cousins. "When we figure out how dogs are regulating muscle proteins to accomplish what they do," he tells me, "it is possible we can get human muscle to do the same things." Davis, 46, has been engaged in a multiyear quest to do just that during which he's gone into debt, mortgaged his house, scraped together government and foundation grants, and endured frozen equipment and logistical nightmares all in an effort to give people the same physical powers that Tony has. Today, he and three colleagues Ray Geor, from Michigan State; Pauline Entin, from Northern Arizona University; and Shannon Pratt, from North Carolina State are here thanks to funding from the Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation, which wants to know more about how the dogs regulate glucose and insulin, the stuff that powers the bodies of both canine and human athletes. That work is of a piece with broader research that Davis began years ago, when the U.S. military's blue-sky science outfit, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), realized that studying sled-dog performance could help them improve the performance of human beings. "One place that always concerned us was special-operations soldiers," says Joe Bielitzki, a veterinary scientist and biotechnology researcher who was once in charge of DARPA's soldier-enhancement effort and now works at the University of Central Florida. The agency wanted to give an Army Ranger or Navy SEAL the ability to, say, drop into Tora Bora and perform rigorous physical feats for days on end with little sleep or rest, all while keeping his mental composure. But while DARPA knew it wanted to enhance the troops, it didn't know how. Bielitzki was aware that some of the most radical science to affect human medicine like in vitro fertilization and cloning had roots in the world of veterinary research. So in 2003 he toured university vet schools around the country to introduce DARPA to scientists, many of whom knew nothing of the agency and its grant program. "There was a meeting of that nature at Oklahoma State, but I was not invited to it," Davis recalls. "I was just a wet-behind-the-ears junior faculty member." Davis, a burly, dark-haired guy with a cocky streak, decided to crash the meeting. "The faculty were pitching ideas to Joe, and he wasn't that impressed, because they weren't grasping the nature of DARPA, which isn't interested in incremental advances," he says. "They want orders-of-magnitude advances. Finally, he said, 'Look, let me give you some examples of stuff we're thinking about on our own,' and one was finding a way for soldiers to operate at 50 percent of aerobic capacity for days on end. Well, then it was my turn to be unimpressed, and being young and uncouth I kinda snorted out, 'We already know how to do that.' Joe swiveled in his chair and said, 'Really?' " DESPITE THE FACT that Tony came home just 20 minutes ago, he doesn't even look tired. He's standing on his hind legs pawing my T-shirt, shaking his muddy tail at egg-beater speed. He thinks my arrival means something exciting is about to happen, preferably another run. Right now he's willing to go out and post another 22 miles. The fitness and desire among these dogs is legendary, but until recently little was known about how their bodies work. The first brief flurry of investigation happened back in the late sixties, when medical researchers Robert Van Citters (University of Washington) and Dean Franklin (Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, in San Diego) began a systematic inquiry into sled-dog physiology. Using teams from Fort Wainwright, near Fairbanks, Van Citters and Franklin implanted measuring devices and flow meters inside the dogs' major blood vessels. Then they had them pull sleds for several hours along the Chena River, sometimes covering 30 miles. If a man performed anything close to such extreme exercise, he'd have to recruit every drop of blood his body could muster, sending it through the lungs and to the muscles. That blood would be rerouted from other organs, such as the kidneys, the liver, and the gut. But that requires those organs to virtually shut down, which you can do for only so long before you start to damage them. The dogs in Van Citters and Franklin's experiments, however, didn't have to draw blood from their gut organs, partly as a result of their incredible adaptation to training. According to Ken Hinchcliff, in just several months of workouts a dog like Tony can boost the size of his heart by 50 percent. Van Citters and Franklin were driven by curiosity, not long-term practical application. They moved on, and nobody picked up the string until the early nineties, when Hinchcliff got involved. "I was doing my Ph.D. in exercise physiology and became interested in endurance," he says. "I came across these dogs and thought it was fascinating. Apart from Van Citters and Franklin, there wasn't really any recent stuff. But one of the principles of physiology is that if you want to understand a system, you study the extreme expression of that system, and the sled dogs are the extreme expression of endurance exercise." Starting in the early nineties, Hinchcliff began traveling to Alaska to study racing dogs, often with the help of musher Rick Swenson, the only five-time winner of the Iditarod. Research performed by him and others revealed that sled dogs aren't just extreme in their aerobic capacity; they possess a variety of souped-up systems. For example, sled-dog muscle cells are jammed with mitochondria, the energy-producing units. The dogs have about 70 percent more of them per cell than humans have. In addition, sled dogs like all dogs and some other animals like bears don't sweat. They dissipate heat by thermal exchange through paws, noses, and tongues. People can run long distances in hot weather, unlike dogs, but our system of evaporative cooling costs us water, electrolytes, sugars, and proteins. The sled dogs conserve theirs by relying on a cool environment. The day before visiting Zirkle's dogs, I barely hung on the back of an ATV belonging to Iditarod musher Judy Currier as she took her team on an afternoon training run. The temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit hot for sled dogs and every time the team came upon puddles they belly-flopped into them. The most important difference between the dogs and people, though, may have to do with energy how sled dogs get it and how they use it. Physiologists refer to energy sources as "substrates," and there are three basic kinds: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Fats have big advantages over carbs. First, they contain about twice the caloric density, so a gram of fat can supply a lot more energy than a gram of carbs. Second, they burn "cooler." But human muscle relies primarily on glucose, a carbohydrate that's stored in muscles as glycogen, becoming glucose again when it's used. Glucose burns "hot" compared with fat. "It's like the difference between regular ethyl and nitro fuel in a hemi," Bielitzki says. "You can use nitro once in a while, but you can't go forever without burning out the engine." Fast-twitch muscles like those used in sprinting tap glycogen reserves in the muscles, turning it into glucose and burning that as an organic compound called pyruvate. That burning can work anaerobically, without oxygen, which is good because people are not as aerobically efficient as dogs and our systems can't deliver that much oxygen to muscle cells. But we can't burn up all the pyruvate, so it "overflows," leading to a buildup of lactic acid. In other words, the human strategy for using energy becomes unsustainable much more quickly. Even at slower paces, as in a marathon, we use up the muscles' stores of glycogen in about three hours. After a day's rest, we're still depleted. Sled dogs just keep on going. GIVING PEOPLE the powers of the Energizer Bunny is what DARPA hopes to do, but Zirkle's garage, where I've brought Tony or, rather, where Tony has dragged me doesn't look like an incubator for augmented humans. It's filled with the detritus of life in central Alaska sled runners, parkas, mukluks, fishing rods, ropes, a dried wolf pelt. The air reeks of wet dog. Tony is sitting, wedged between my knees, though his tail is still whipping. Davis injects the hypnotic agent propofol Michael Jackson's insomnia drug of choice into one of Tony's leg veins. In seconds, he falls asleep. Davis carries him to a brown table, where Ray Geor is waiting with a biopsy needle. As Davis monitors Tony's vital signs, Geor shaves some fur away from his upper hind leg, slides in the needle, and pulls a trigger that snaps off a tiny plug of muscle. Shannon Pratt places the tissue in a small tube while Geor seals the wound with surgical glue. Later, they'll mash up the sample and look at its RNA (the stuff that relays orders from genes to the cell's protein factories), enzymes, proteins all things that might help explain how the dogs react to a single day of intense exercise. Fifteen minutes later, Tony is sitting up, a little woozy but once again wagging his tail. The other half of the study is more difficult. Some of Tony's kennel mates will be placed in carriers, and the scientists will insert ports into their leg veins for a test called a "glucose clamp." They'll pump glucose and a set amount of insulin through the ports to see how much glucose it takes to keep the dogs at a baseline blood-sugar level. The more glucose they can give them without zooming their blood sugar, the more "insulin sensitive" the dogs are, or the better they are at packing sugar away in their muscle cells. But performing a clamp on a hyperactive sled dog is a struggle, not least because you have to keep them still so they don't rip out the port even while you take blood-sugar readings every few minutes. Zirkle, a former Ivy League hammer thrower who in 2000 became the first woman to win the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest, has an enormous amount of time, money, and affection invested in these dogs. Allowing Davis to poke holes in them requires trust. Establishing that trust was his first hurdle. A native of Texas who read "too many dime-store novels about the West," Davis grew up wanting to be the world's greatest horse vet. But while working toward his Ph.D. at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins, he got interested in respiratory problems, specifically in a condition called "exercise-induced asthma," which can afflict both humans and horses, especially in cold weather. For a variety of reasons, his research was faltering, and he feared he'd never find a way to get the cold-weather-exercise animal data he needed. Then, in 1999, he says, "I was driving down the road and thought, Of course I can do it, because there are dogs who do it on their own all the time: sled dogs. Then I drove another half-mile and I thought, Why screw around in the lab at all? Why not do it on sled dogs in Alaska?" At first he got nowhere. Mushers and the vets they trusted wanted no part of a stranger from the lower 48 knocking out their dogs and sliding an endoscope into their airways, especially at a time when the Iditarod was taking PR hits over dog deaths during the race. (On average, about three dogs die during each Iditarod, from causes that include heart failure, pneumonia, and sled injury.) The dog deaths, however, proved to be Davis's salvation. Necropsies on several dogs showed evidence of bleeding gastric ulcers. The mushers needed to know if the dogs were developing the ulcers while racing. The best way to find out was to anesthetize and scope them after they'd either completed or dropped out of the race. Davis offered to do the work for free if he could be allowed to scope their airways at the same time. During the next two Iditarods, Davis and endoscopy expert Mike Willard were able to confirm that nearly half of the sled dogs developed gastric ulcers during the race but most never showed outward signs. Those findings and a recommendation by Davis and colleague Kathy Williamson to use a drug that reduces stomach acids appear to have greatly reduced the problem, so Davis won the mushers' trust. Unfortunately for Davis, his finances were melting, because he was paying for all the research trips. "I was naive," he recalls. "I was having fun, both as sort of an adventure doing all this stuff up in Alaska and just intellectually discovering things. It was intoxicating." So intoxicating that he'd run up $30,000 in credit-card debt. Then, in 2003, Davis told Bielitzki about how far and how long sled dogs can run. A few weeks later, Bielitzki issued a call for grant proposals that seemed custom-tailored for Davis. Davis and Hinchcliff pounded out a pitch, and DARPA awarded them $1.5 million and the assignment to widen what Hinchcliff calls "bottlenecks" in human performance. Davis bought a truck, a trailer to serve as a mobile lab, and started making more trips to Alaska. YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IT to look at Tony, because he's pretty slight, but he's fed a diet that's mostly fat up to 60 percent. "You'd kill a pet dog with that," says Erica McKenzie, a professor of large-animal medicine at Oregon State University who's studied sled dogs with Davis. If people ate such a diet, we'd all be diabetics living not for long on Lipitor."In sled dogs we have a model where they exist continuously on a high-fat diet and are highly insulin sensitive," says Davis. "It raises the question of whether all those associations [between fatty diets and diabetes] are just an association and not a cause and effect. Or is there something else that goes along with a high-fat diet in humans that causes insulin resistance? Or maybe there's something you can do while eating a high-fat diet that prevents you from developing insulin resistance." Fat, it turns out, is likely the key to the dogs' remarkable endurance.When dogs are dropped from the Iditarod, it usually happens during the first few hundred miles. Some show signs of severe fatigue and muscle soreness, just like a person would. But something allows the rest of the dogs to finish the race. Zirkle herself is amazed, she says, that her own dogs seem more eager to run when they've finished the race than they did one or two days in.In fact, as Davis and his colleagues discovered, the fittest dogs are actually able to repair themselves as the race goes on. "You take dogs out and you run them 100 miles per day today and tomorrow and the next day, and they come back, sleep, eat, do it again without having any outward sign of it mattering," Davis explains. "You would assume they're achieving homeostasis," a condition of optimal operation. "You'd never think that they're at the furthest thing from homeostasis. They're damaging tissues, depleting energy stores, their oxidative stress is through the roof, and all those things are supposed to make you crater." Yet the dogs don't crater. "What they showed us is that there is an ability to adapt to that stress in a matter of days so that it is no longer stressful," Davis says. Davis has seen signs that even the gastric-ulcer damage appears to be under repair by the end of a marathon race. Most important, though, the dogs rebuild their glycogen stores. It's likely that they manage this miracle by literally switching much of the fuel they use from glucose to fat. No cell burnout, no lactic-acid buildup, no long-term depletion of stored glycogen.In a journal article, Davis and colleagues used scientific understatement, calling the discovery "a novel finding." In fact, Bielitzki recalls, the news "shocked everybody."Nobody knows exactly how the dogs make the switch, except that the ability must be under genetic control. So the quest is on to figure out what those genetic signals are. THE PAYOFFS TO THIS kind of research can often appear so far away that they live only in the dreams of sci-fi aficionados, but giving athletes and soldiers the abilities of sled dogs may not be as distant. The program has already had some small "deliverables," in DARPA parlance. Stanford researchers have developed a cooling device, now marketed by a company called Avacore Technologies, that lets athletes and soldiers cool their core body temperature the way dogs do. It's being used by college football teams at Stanford and Miami and by the San Francisco 49ers. Lance Armstrong has been drinking a sports supplement based on quercetin, a plant-based flavonoid that's supposed to increase production of mitochondria. Applying Davis's findings on how sled dogs use energy doesn't necessarily have to wait for some gene-modification breakthrough. Davis thinks it's possible humans already have some capacity to use large amounts of fat as a primary fuel. Within the next five years or so, dietary and training interventions like diets high in the right fatty acids or training methods that exploit whatever latent abilities people have to push past the initial damage stage of endurance could be developed in a way that will give humans greater ability to adapt to exercise. Once the genetic switches the dogs use to flip from carbs to fats are revealed, he tells me, people might be screened for human analogs as part of the selection process for extremely demanding sports or military duties. According to the Army, Davis's "work is expected to provide the foundation for construction and prospective testing of appropriate training conditions for the induction [of] fatigue resistance in animals and, eventually, humans." None of that seems outlandish. But Bielitzki doesn't believe in thinking conservatively. He considers it likely there'll be a pill, maybe in about a decade, that will allow people to do what sled dogs do. "That was the intent," he says. "That is still the hope." There's plenty of incentive. Any company that developed such a so-called small-molecule drug could attack "metabolic syndrome," the constellation of symptoms surrounding much cardiovascular disease and diabetes. A drug like that would immediately become a global blockbuster. "We're just starting to get where molecular techniques associated with the genome and the metabolome are altered according to cues," he says. "The next ten years are going to be a magical period. We're gonna learn a lot." When it happens, don't forget to thank Tony.Manny Sub Roller Power Head conversion first impressions So I’ve finally done it, I’ve gone roller. After interviewing Emmanuel Bova from Manny Sub and shooting my mate Champ’s roller gun it was time to give it a go. So here are my first impressions after unboxing, fitting and one dive with the Roller Power Head Conversion. What I ordered Roller Power head conversion Pre made 18mm rubber 16mm clip on assist rubber 7.5mm stainless steel spear with triple loading fins (two of) 8mm stainless steel spear with triple loading fins First and foremost I want to start with the ordering process. What I like about the Manny Sub process is that the kit is customisable. You choose the length of your gun or desired length if you’re cutting it down, the thickness of the rubber 14mm, 16mm or 18mm to suit your strength and conditions, and the diameter of your barrel so that you get the correct conversion plug. Manny Sub have taken a lot of the guess work out of it which I really liked as there are a few nuances to roller guns that are best left to the pro’s in my opinion. For me I just wanted to fit the kit and start shooting fish. The Roller Power Head [easy-image-collage id=2826] I’ve looked at a couple of different models but I like this one the best so far. It’s simple, robust and finished off nicely with glass bearings that won’t corrode in the marine environment. I have used other rollers without bearings that use bushes and the bearings definitely make a big difference. The roller bearings make for extremely smooth loading and spin easily when flicked. The molding of the head is simple and provides good line of sight. All of the line guides work and there’s even a bit of carbon fibre which looks nice. The Rubbers I ordered 18mm pre-made rubbers. First of all they look fast because they’re red, everything red is fast but besides being red the rubbers are a work of art and everything works beautifully. Manny Sub have taken a lot of pride in getting these right. The knots are neat, the dyneema is of a high quality and the rubbers are tapered to fit into the roller head around the rollers. It’s plug and play at it’s best. This gun is powered up to shoot blue-water pelagic’s so I also ordered the 16mm clip on power assist band. The end of the power assist bands have a small loop of dyneema which attaches over the ends of the roller axel. I liked this as it means I can take them on and off when needed with ease making the gun very versatile. Keep in mind that the Roller Power Head kit usually comes with the rubber and dyneema kit so you can make your own rubbers as per the instructions. Champ did this and it was really quite a simple process and a good skill to learn. The tri-cut on the 7.5mm Manny sub Spear is extremely sharp and I have not seen a better tuned flopper. The Spear Spears, I’ve had good ones and bad ones in both stainless steel and spring steel and until now I’ve been hard pressed to find something as good as the Rob Allen spring steel shafts. So how do the Manny Sub spears stack up? The new Manny Sub stainless steel shafts are by far the nicest spear I have ever seen or used. It’s a big call but I just can’t fault them in any way. The tri-cut tip is extremely sharp, the shaft has a super smooth polished surface, all of the line connection points are rounded and smoothed to prevent line damage. The flopper is tuned to perfection and locks off solidly. The flopper is thick and strong with no sharp end, and the pin is fitted perfectly. What I really like is the loading fin arrangement. Manny has really thought about this and how to place the fins to suit roller guns. Traditionally loading fin tabs are stacked three in a row towards the back end of the gun. Manny Sub have changed this up with the first loading fin placed half way down the spear, the second one in more of a traditional location towards the back and the third right at back of the spear just before the flat section enters the trigger mech. This means loading can be done in stages and I have the option of powering the gun up and down depending on what loading tab I choose. It’s a simple yet elegant improvement to a piece of equipment that has seen little improvement in a long time. First Impressions, I’ve been happily using a Rob Allen 1.2m Tuna for a long time and it’s suited my needs perfectly so I really took some convincing to change. I used my mates 1m roller gun with 16mm bands last year on a reef trip and loved it. I got to experience the power, range, maneuverability and lack of recoil. Also on literally my first go I took one shot and nailed a Coral Trout, I never loaded the gun or had much to do with the setup though so my experience was somewhat incomplete. With my setup I have found a few points worth mentioning. Roller guns particularly longer guns of 1.1m and up with larger bands are somewhat different and harder to load as the rubber is under tension direct from the muzzle. This took me a bit to get used to and ultimately change my loading technique. With this setup I hip load to the first loading notch then re-position the gun to my chest to finish the load. It’s not a major change and I find this method quite easy. I don’t think this would be necessary on shorter guns or guns with smaller bands. The next thing I noticed was once I’d shot the gun, was loading it and dealing with the double wrap. I’ve never used double wrap before and in the beginning it’s messy. Once again it’s something that can be overcome easily with time and by the end of the day wasn’t much of an issue for me. I don’t think anything will be as fast to load as a single wrap, single rubber gun but then again a single wrap, single rubber gun will never perform as well as a roller gun. The muzzle itself doesn’t seem to impede the view of the fish and the accuracy is fantastic. The complete lack of recoil means the shaft flies true. The fish that I shot on our testing day were small but both were strung on the shooting line demonstrating the range of the gun. This is further exemplified by the spear reaching the end of the double wrap and then taking line off the reel! I didn’t even have the rubber at full pre-tension yet it was still outperforming my standard 1.2m Rob Allen and it’s clear Roller Power Head has the power to penetrate big fish even at long range. So, is all the hype true? Well yes, it’s night and day in performance. My gun now shoots further, is more accurate due to lack of recoil and is shorter than it was before so it tracks better. I’m very impressed and I can’t wait to really get to know this gun on our Coral Sea trip. Thanks for reading I hope this helps you make the plunge into roller guns and I’d love to hear your opinions on Roller spearguns. Stay tuned for part two of these roller speargun post’s where I will review the gun after a week in the coral sea. Also if you want to convert your own conventional speargun into a roller speargun watch my video guide here I would love to hear about your experience with Roller Guns, hit me up in the comments and if you would like to get yourself a Manny Sub Roller Power Head you can get one here. Just remember to use the noobspearo code at checkout to save $20 on purchases over $200. Cheers Turbo.In this BBC World Service report, Mark Whittaker explores Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and, especially, its potential in India. Use the embedded player or link below to listen: (Source: Audioboo via Tarmo Tanilsoo on Facebook) You’ll note the BBC World Service fails to mention that DRM has been in use now for over a decade. The report ends by suggesting that portable DRM receivers will be on the market in a few months. Even if DRM radios start appearing, whether or not they’ll be effective and inexpensive remains to be seen. So far, portable DRM radios have been mediocre performers (at best) and relatively expensive. Don’t get me wrong: I would love to see DRM take hold, I just have my doubts. DRM might stand a chance if a manufacturer like Tecsun were to build an inexpensive portable radio, with a form factor much like that of their other portables. If they made a DRM version of the PL-380, for example, it could be a winner for both the company and the medium/mode. By the way, if you’ve never heard what DRM sounds like over the shortwaves, I just posted a fifty eight minute recording of All India Radio on the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. Contributor, Mark Fahey, recorded the broadcast from his home in Australia. I’ve embedded a link to the audio below, but you can listen to the broadcast and read Mark’s notes on the shortwave archive (click here). RelatedWhen you have a friend with low self-esteem, it can be hard to know the right thing to say. Is it better to commiserate? Encourage? Show some tough love? According to a new study, for people who have overall low self-esteem, certain attempts by others to boost self-esteem may actually backfire. "People with low self-esteem always feel more comfortable and prefer to interact with people who see them as they see themselves," says study researcher Denise Marigold, Ph.D., an assistant professor in social development studies at the University of Waterloo's Renison University College. "If I'm speaking negatively about my life, I don't want someone to argue with me." To people with low self-esteem, phrases like "No you're wrong, I think you're great!" or "Life is good!" can feel false and as if no one understands or accepts them for who they are. When "other people try to lift their spirits, it could feel invalidating," Marigold tells HuffPost. "They could feel there's something wrong with the way [they're] feeling or thinking." People who are low in self-esteem tend to be more vulnerable and sensitive and are more aware of their environment, explains Celeste Gertsen, Ph.D. a Long Island-based psychologist in private practice, who was not involved in the new study. "They often magnify the negative statements which people say to them versus the positive statements or events which come their way," Gertsen explains to HuffPost. So, if someone says something hurtful to a person with low self-esteem, that person will internalize it more than a person who has a higher sense of themselves. While everyone goes through moments in life that completely tear us down (break-ups, layoffs, etc.), people who are overall high in self-esteem have a more resilient self-image -- thereby making them more receptive to positive reframing than people with low self-esteem. But what do you say to your friends who are overall low in self-esteem, who are going through a tough time? Here are some phrases to steer clear of: In the aftermath of a break-up... "You're so wonderful, you'll find someone else soon." When a person isn't feeling particularly optimistic after a break-up, an expression of optimism may not be so welcome. If your friend is upset about being apart from Joe, or Dave, or Marie, in particular, then saying "You'll find someone else soon" isn't going to help. "There's something that can feel dismissive and false about that," Marigold says. "It's not that big of a deal, you'll move on before you know it." Again, a phrase like this can come off as dismissive. "It's minimizing the significance of it," Marigold says, even if you were only trying to put things into perspective. "It was a great learning experience." Sure, trying to find the silver lining in an experience might seem like it would be helpful. But even if it's true, "that's not necessarily something you want or need your friend to point out," Marigold says. After a layoff... "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find another job soon." But do you really know that your friend will find another job soon? "You don't know that, actually -- you don't know if another great partner or job is just around the corner," Marigold explains. To that effect, saying this "can feel kind of false and dismissive." When feeling lonely... "Well you could try joining this activity to meet new people." This is surely well-intentioned -- you're encouraging your friend to be proactive by offering some solutions to the loneliness problem! But sometimes your friend is "not necessarily looking for solutions," Marigold says. "They can come up with those themselves. They can figure out how to meet people if they were motivated." All your friend may really want from you is someone to commiserate with him or her. After receiving a bad grade on a test... "It's just one test, it doesn't matter." Just because you say something doesn't matter, doesn't mean it doesn't matter to the person who's affected by it, Marigold says. So what should I say instead? Sometimes, it may not involve saying much at all. "Just being there and letting them talk and lead the conversation" can be the best route of action, Marigold says. That can sometimes be hard on the receiving end -- especially if someone is spewing a lot of negativity -- but just letting someone talk can be exactly what they need. Plus, "if you have your own sort of similar experience, you can say, 'I related to that," or '
possible mechanism for this is that by constantly pushing the boundaries of conduct and discourse, Trump shifts the Overton Window (the range of policies and behaviors that are considered politically acceptable) in his direction. In that sense, he’s always playing a home game, since he’s redefined politics on his own terms while others — especially the mainstream media — are struggling to catch up. During the late stages of the Republican nomination race, Trump’s adversaries decided it was easier to join him than to beat him, and voters who were on the fence about him came along. It’s possible that something similar could eventually happen with the general electorate. Group II: Trump changes direction. These scenarios imagine that Trump shifts his approach, whether because what he was doing before just wasn’t working or because the challenges of the presidency reshape his habits. 4. Trump mellows out, slightly. This is the mildest course change. In this case, after an up-and-down first three to six months, Trump gradually gets better at the job of being president, not necessarily because of a concerted effort to pivot but because he learns through trial and error that he needs to pick his battles. Steve Bannon and other more incendiary advisers lose stature, and Trump’s bonds with Republican leaders in Congress strengthen as he somewhat faithfully carries out their agenda. There are still many profoundly weird moments, but Trump gradually comes to govern more like a conventional Republican. Like most first-term incumbents, he enters 2020 as a slight favorite for re-election. 5. Trump cedes authority. I rarely see this possibility discussed, but it has several historical precedents among presidents who found the job mentally or physically overwhelming. The key aspect is that within a year or two, Trump would have effectively relinquished day-to-day control of the government to Vice President Mike Pence and to his Cabinet, instead focusing on the more ceremonial aspects of the presidency and perhaps exploiting it for personal enrichment. There are several variations on this scenario, which range from Trump being surprisingly popular as a sort of celebrity-in-chief to Trump largely withdrawing from the public spotlight. 6. Trump successfully pivots to the populist center (but with plenty of authoritarianism too). This is Frum’s scenario. To recap, it involves Trump becoming more of a true populist, remaining hard-line on immigration and trade but calling for significant infrastructure and social welfare spending. His new direction earns plaudits from the media, which is eager to tell a “pivot” story, and is genuinely popular with independents and Rust Belt Democrats. At the same time, Trump continues to erode the rule of law by using strong-arm tactics with the media, the judiciary and private business, and he collaborates with Republicans to restrict voting rights. Trump’s presidency is fairly successful as far as it goes, but he moves the country in the direction of being an illiberal democracy. 7. Trump flails around aimlessly after an unsuccessful attempt to pivot. In this scenario, Trump is like George Steinbrenner running the 1980s New York Yankees, firing his managers and changing course all the time without ever really getting anywhere. Instead, he churns through advisers and alienates allies faster than he makes new ones. In one version of the scenario, Trump attempts a Frum-ian pivot to the center but it fails — Congressional Republicans don’t go along with with the program, and it costs him credibility with his base more quickly than it wins him new converts. By early 2019, there are impeachment proceedings against Trump, and several Republicans are considering challenging him for the 2020 nomination. Trump winds up being something of a lame duck despite being in his first term, drawing comparisons to Jimmy Carter. Group III: The three horsemen of the presidential apocalypse: war, recession, scandal. When presidencies fail, it’s usually for one of three reasons — because of an economic downturn, an unpopular war, or a major scandal. So we should consider how these might play out for President Trump. Of the three, war is the most uncertain case, as armed conflicts can sometimes produce an initial boost to a president’s popularity. 8. Trump is consumed by scandal. On the one hand, the threshold for what it takes to make the public truly outraged about Trump is likely to be higher than it would be for almost any other politician. On the other hand, perhaps no president has had such high potential for scandal. Between his business dealings (and potential conflicts of interest), his treatment of women, and his long tenure in the public spotlight, Trump is a target-rich environment, and news organizations are ramping up their investigative teams in hopes of breaking a story. 9. Trump is undermined by a failure to deliver jobs. Although the U.S. economic outlook is fairly bright in the near term, macroeconomic conditions are largely unpredictable more than about six months in advance. Some of Trump’s economic policies, such as imposing tariffs, could also contribute to the likelihood of an economic downturn. Presidents usually see their popularity suffer amidst a declining economy, and Trump could be especially vulnerable after having promised to create so many jobs. 10. Trump’s law-and-order agenda is bolstered by an international incident or terrorist attack. It’s all too easy to envision this scenario, since the tactics Trump might use if this happened are similar to the ones he used on the campaign trail. A terrorist attack or an international conflagration initially boosts Trump’s popularity because of the so-called rally-’round-the-flag effect, which we saw with Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks. Trump uses his popularity boost to promote nationalism, curtail civil liberties, erode the rule of law and demonize minority groups such as Muslims. The long-term effects of are less certain: The public is more war-weary than it was in 2001, and initially-popular wars can turn into quagmires. And if Trump is too clumsy in seeming to exploit the incident for political gain, the public could turn on him quickly. Still, many aspiring authoritarians (see scenario No. 11 below) have used war as a pretext to expand their powers. Group IV: Things fall apart. Here are what most of us would consider the worst-case scenarios — or at least the worst cases short of Trump starting a nuclear war. 11. Trump plunges America into outright authoritarianism. While Frum imagines a gradual eight-year drift toward authoritarianism, there are other precedents (such as in Turkey and Russia) for a more abrupt shock to the system. Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, spoke in 2013 of wanting to “bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.” If Trump feels the same way, he could decide that there are lots of advantages to moving quickly while his opponents are still disoriented, and while he has a Republican Congress that has not yet shown much appetite to resist him. How many indicators of authoritarian and anti-democratic behavior has Trump checked off so far? In our opinion, this is a hard question to answer because Trump hasn’t been on the job for very long. But if you started out with the view that Trump represented an existential threat to American democracy, there hasn’t been a lot to reassure you so far. 12. Resistance to Trump from elsewhere in the government undermines his authority but prompts a constitutional crisis. Have you ever heard talk about the “deep state” or the “military-industrial complex”? We may soon see how much power it actually has. Traditionally, we think of Congress and the judiciary as providing a check on the president’s powers. But there are lots of people within the executive branch (including the military and the federal bureaucracy) who have the potential to stymie Trump, whether by expressly refusing to carry out his orders or by what amounts to sabotage (i.e. by leaking to the press, foot-dragging, etc). We’ve already seen several examples of this, such as Acting Attorney General Sally Yates (a holdover appointee from President Obama) declining to defend Trump’s executive order on immigration and then being fired by Trump. State and local governments could also challenge federal authority. I often see liberals rooting for outcomes like these — and they might, in fact, be effective in subverting Trump. But in this case, people should be careful what they wish for. It’s one thing if people in the chain of command are nobly refusing to obey illegal or unconstitutional orders, or are serving as whistle-blowers against a corrupt administration — it’s quite another if they are behaving extralegally against a democratically elected president. Group V: Trump Makes America Great Again. By “Makes America Great Again,” I don’t merely mean that Trump is an effectual president, in the sense of becoming fairly popular or achieving most of his goals. I mean that he actually becomes a great president and is regarded as such by a broad range of historians. Intellectual humility demands that we consider this possibility. So how might it happen? 13. Trump becomes Governor Schwarzenegger. Trump may be feuding with former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Schwarzenegger is one of the better precedents for Trump. (To a person in 2002, the phrase “Governor Schwarzenegger” would have seemed every bit as surprising as “President Trump.”) After a rough first couple of years on the job, Schwarzenegger dropped his tough-guy act and shifted significantly to the center, winning re-election in a landslide in 2006. Could Trump do something similar? As Frum notes, Trump doesn’t have a longstanding commitment to the GOP platform; in fact, he embraced a very different set of policies — including a single-payer health care program — when he considered making a presidential bid with the Reform Party in 1999. Meanwhile, he has bent the Republican Party to his will to a certain extent. (Could Trump persuade Republicans to go along with a more centrist agenda? I have no idea. But he’d have a better chance of it than Obama ever did.) Unlike in Frum’s scenario, however, Trump wouldn’t necessarily be looking to pivot to the center as a cover for authoritarian impulses. Instead, one can imagine him becoming obsessed with his approval ratings and deciding fairly early in his term that a bipartisan approach would be the best way to improve them. The desire to be popular can do unexpected things to even the most stubborn-seeming politicians. 14. Trump’s button-mashing works because the system really is broken. Another possibility is that it turns out that the elite consensus is in fact wrong in many areas — on the economic benefits of free trade and open borders, for instance. In that case, Trump does fairly well with a somewhat contrarian approach that “shakes up the system.” It’s not that all of his ideas are brilliant, necessarily, it’s just that deviating from the status quo is a good default because the status quo isn’t working very well. Many voters supported Trump for something like this reason; he defeated Clinton 82-14 among voters who said bringing about change was the quality that mattered most to them in a candidate. Can the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump be wrong? Well, sure. You can poke all sorts of holes in this argument (for instance: that 66 million Americans voted for Clinton), but let’s at least allow for the possibility that they were onto something. VIDEO: Nate Silver on Trump’s criticism of the court systemThe Braves will promote top shortstop prospect Dansby Swanson tomorrow, according to a team announcement. President of baseball operations John Hart says that the youngster will be in the starting lineup tomorrow, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Swansons promotion comes on the heels of the team’s trade of shortstop Erick Aybar to the Tigers. That deal brought in a prospect and also opened a spot for Swanson to receive his first taste of the majors. For the time being, at least, he won’t be accompanied by hopeful future double-play partner Ozzie Albies. Mid-season top-prospect lists all agreed that Swanson is one of the ten best pre-MLB assets in baseball. MLB.com (#5), Baseball America (#7), and Baseball Prospectus (#10) all concurred in that regard. Regardless of his precise placement, Swanson looks to be a key future piece for the rebuilding Braves, who acquired him — along with outfielder Ender Inciarte and righty Aaron Blair — in an offseason swap for righty Shelby Miller. That trade seemed like a score at the time and has further tilted in Atlanta’s favor as Miller has struggled. Still, it remains to be seen how the trio of quality assets will perform for the Braves — though they have plenty of seasons to come to provide value. [Related: Updated Braves Depth Chart] Swanson was always seen as the headliner of that deal. The number one overall pick of the 2015 draft out of Vanderbilt, he came to Atlanta with expectations of both a swift rise and strong future value. Both he and Albies are shortstops by trade, though it seems the latter will likely end up playing second when both reach the majors. Though he has moved as quickly through the system as had been forecasted, Swanson hasn’t dominated the minor league ranks to the extent of Alex Bregman of the Astros — another SEC shortstop who was taken one pick behind Swanson but beat him to the majors. Swanson made short work of the High-A level, but owns a solid but not overwhelming.261/.342/.402 slash in his 377 plate appearances thus far at Double-A. Still, the Braves felt that Swanson was ready to skip the highest level of the minors altogether. And prospect watchers seem to agree with the optimism, grading him as an above-average future big leaguer in virtually all aspects of the game. An advanced approach, good pop, some base stealing ability, and a sure glove with good physical tools give Swanson a full arsenal with which to work. Though he isn’t a true standout in any area, he comes with both a solid floor and the ceiling of a perennially above-average regular. By making the move now, the Braves will allow Swanson to accumulate 47 days of service time. Assuming he is able to play well enough to lock down the starting job at short for the 2017 campaign — which is surely the club’s hope — then he’d first reach arbitration eligibility in advance of the 2020 season while qualifying for free agency after 2022. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.Some 10,000 people rallied against "the erosion of German culture" but not against Islam in itself. However, the protests in parts have attracted neo-Nazi elements. © East News / Hermann Bredehorst German Muslims Not Considered Properly German: Study MOSCOW, December 9 (Sputnik) — Around 10,000 people took to the streets of Dresden on Monday night to protest against the increasing Islamization of Germany. Police estimate that 10,000 took part in the demonstration which was organized by "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West" (PEGIDA), a group founded by former apolitical Dresdeners, Jacksonville news outlet reported. PEGIDA's protest was met by a 9,000-strong counter-protest. Both protests were staged peacefully, the news outlet said. The protesters rallied against what they perceive as the erosion of German culture and said they had nothing against Islam in itself. They are also concerned about possible abuse of the German asylum system, The Telegraph reported. The demonstrators were shouting the familiar “Wir sind das Volk” and “We are the people”, protest cries heard in protests against the former East German regime, the London-based newspaper stated. The Telegraph also pointed out the timing of the demonstrations; coming just as the ruling collation-party Christian Social Union (CSU) attempts to alienate itself from a leaked suggestion that immigrants use German at homes in addition to public places. Meanwhile, according to Deutsche Welle, members of the PEGIDA have recently toned-down their protest slogans, trading the stark "Foreigners out!" for vague slogans such as "Against religious wars on German soil" and "For the preservation of our culture". The PEGIDA protests are gradually spreading to the rest of Germany and attracting neo-Nazi elements, according to Jacksonville. Marches are reported to have taken place in other German cities, although the numbers have been lower than those seen in Dresden, where the movement originated. Around 600 people and another 450 gathered in Berlin and Dusseldorf respectively to take part in similar protests.Each year, Americans consume about 5,250 tons of aspartame in total. 86 percent of this aspartame (4,500 tons) is from the consumption of diet sodas. Diet soda is the largest dietary source of aspartame in the U.S. A study recently published at the beginning of December 2012 links the consumption of Aspartame to increased risk of Lymphoma and Leukemia. The study was conducted by the Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA and Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. The study was a follow up after a 22 year period of data collection including frequent dietary and health check ups of the study group. We have covered the subject of aspartame on several occasions that included findings that deomstrate how aspartame damages the brain. This new study suggests that as little as a single 355ml can of diet soda daily greatly increases the risk for cancers in men and women. It can also increase the risk of multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in men. The results of this study forces us to really look at the effects of aspartame as there has never been a more comprehensive, long term study ever done on the topic. It is important to note that this can also reveal many more serious diseases and illnesses as data is observed even further. The Most Comprehensive Study to Date on Aspartame This study tracks over two million person-years giving it a huge pile of data to generate results from. Researchers prospectively analyzed data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study for a 22-year period. A total of 77,218 women and 47,810 men were included in the analysis, for a total of 2,278,396 person-years of data. It is not just the sample size of this study that makes it impressive, it is also the thoroughness with which aspartame intake was assessed in comparison to previous studies. Over the course of the study, every two years participants were given a detailed dietary questionnaire, and their diets were reassessed every four years. Shockingly, previous studies done on aspartame who revealed no link between aspartame and cancer in humans, only assessed participants’ aspartame intake at one point in time. This poses a major weakness in the accuracy of previous studies. The combined results of this new study showed that just one 12-fl oz. can (355 ml) of diet soda daily leads to: – 42 percent higher leukemia risk in men and women (pooled analysis) – 102 percent higher multiple myeloma risk (in men only) – 31 percent higher non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk (in men only) This is a powerful set of results as it leaves little to ponder about when it comes to the long time talked about risks of aspartame on our health. The results were based on multi-variable relative risk models, all in comparison to participants who drank no diet soda. It is important to note that it still remains unknown why only men drinking higher amounts of diet soda showed increased risk for multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, but the continuation of this study may reveal these results later. Most of the past studies showing no link between aspartame and cancer have been criticized for being too short in duration and too inaccurate in assessing long-term aspartame intake. This new study solves both of those issues. The study in fact shows a positive link to cancer and it should come as no surprise given that a previous best-in-class research study done on animals (900 rats over their entire natural lifetimes) showed strikingly similar results back in 2006. More worrying is the follow up mega-study, which started aspartame exposure of the rats at the fetal stage. Increased lymphoma and leukemia risks were confirmed, and this time the female rats also showed significantly increased breast (mammary) cancer rates. This raises a critical question: will future, high-quality studies uncover links to the other cancers or diseases in which aspartame has been implicated? My Own Thoughts I have been researching aspartame and other health related ilnesses for a few years now and have found a lot of different information as it relates to effects of various substances on health. This study stands out from many as it illustrates the importance of conducting research that is of quality and done over time. While we cannot confirm with 100% accuracy that this was the key factor in these ilnesses, we can confirm that it does play a big role. Also, when we look at what exists today as studies that are in favor of Aspartame being safe, we find that there are many weaknesses behind them that would produce poor results in accuracy. Of course we can always go back to what feels natural and what would make sense when we look at our foods and I think this is something that we dont require a scientific analysis to observe. Of course this is my opinion but, when we are adding chemicals that are synthetic and created in a lab to our food, it does not reflect naturally occurring elements that we are designed to consume. The human body was not designed to take in these types of substances through nature, which makes perfect sense as to why the majority of chemicals found in foods today have numerous links to serious health affects. This isn’t to say the body can’t handle all synthetics, but instead just shows that we should not be surprised to find out results like this. If previous research on the subject was not enough, there is now undeniable evidence that suggests we should not be consuming aspartame at all in our diet. Switching over to sugar sweetened soda is also not a good alternative as this study also found that men consuming one or more sugar-sweetened sodas daily saw a 66 percent increase in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It has become clear that having no soda at all in our diet is the ideal way to go. This would not only remove the aspartame and sugar risks, but it will also help in keeping your body in a more alkaline state. Sources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16507461 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23097267 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17805418Three moms in Pittsburgh are creating ‘Hello Hijab’ Barbie-compatible Islamic headscarves to encourage “inclusivity” and fight racism, presumably unaware of the fact that the hijab is a symbol of Islam’s brutal oppression of women. Gisele Fetterman, Safaa Bokhari and Kristen Michaels are re-purposing hijabs to create veils for Barbie dolls so that children become more comfortable with being surrounded by veiled Muslim women. “They will see it as a kind memory from their playtime, and then they will grow into a kinder generation, being used to playing with dolls that look different to them,” Fetterman explained. She said the idea came to her after realizing none of her daughter’s dolls looked like her Muslim friends. The hijab represents Islam’s patriarchal oppression of women. Efforts by leftists to re-characterize it as a feminist symbol, which intensified during the recent “womens’ march,” are not just laughable, they’re despicable. Throughout modern history, actual Muslim feminists have tried to dispense with the hijab as part of their desperate struggle for liberation, notably Huda Shaarawi, who founded the Egyptian Feminist Union in 1922, which encouraged Muslim women to discard their veils. Video footage from liberated areas of Syria and Iraq also shows Muslim women discarding and burning the veils they were forced to wear by ISIS jihadists. As Asra Q. Nomani, founder of the Muslim Reform Movement writes, the hijab is a “symbol of a dangerous purity culture, obsessed with honor and virginity, that has divided Muslim communities in our own civil war, or fitna, since the Saudi and Iranian regimes promulgated puritanical interpretations of Sunni and Shia Islam, after the 1970s Saudi oil boom and the 1979 Iranian Revolution.” Nomani lists numerous recent examples of how the hijab purity culture “covers, segregates, subordinates, silences, jails and kills women and girls around the world.” Recently, in Bareilly, India, a father killed his daughter, 4, smashing her head against the floor when her scarf slipped from her head during dinner. In Ontario, a few years ago, a man strangled his 16-year-old sister when she defied their father, including by refusing to cover her hair. In November, a former University of Missouri instructor dragged a female relative, 14, out of school “by the hair” when he discovered she hadn’t covered her hair. Today, in Iran, friends of the journalist Masih Alinejad dodge batons as they shoot photos of themselves, hair bare, in a campaign Alinejad started, #MyStealthyFreedom, to protest Iran’s mandatory headscarf law.” But despite admitting that they have received criticism, the ‘Hello Hijab’ crew remain undeterred, remarking that the negativity “just continues to validate the need for a project like this.” According to the ‘Hello Hijab’ website, the dolls will be available on April 1st (no, unfortunately, this is not an April Fools joke), and “100% of proceeds support organizations that protect and honor our multicultural communities.” “The $6 handmade hijabs come with a card explaining what a hijab is, reports RT. In other words, they come with a card denying that the hijab is exactly what it is – an international symbol of the oppression of women courtesy of the most misogynistic belief system on the planet. “Barbies are played with all over the world,” Michaels said. “And there are Muslim women in America that are American who wear hijabs and also Muslim women in America who aren’t American and wear hijabs, and they should be welcome here.” What’s next? Are they going to produce a line of “acid attack” Ken dolls to further ingratiate themselves with Islam? Maybe the moms can re-package Barbie dolls to include miniature stones so children can practice barbarically executing female rape victims? Maybe an expansion pack could include a group of male dolls so children can re-enact “taharrush gamea,” otherwise known as the rape game, where women, particularly those not wearing hijabs, are targeted for gang rape. Is that “inclusive” enough? At least it won’t be necessary to produce a line of ‘female genital mutilation’ Barbies given that they have no genitals to begin with. Be thankful for small mercies. SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: Follow on Twitter: Follow @PrisonPlanet Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71 ********************* Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.Former Lockheed Martin engineer from Texas: I met aliens at Area 51 A YouTube video featuring Texas man Boyd Bushman, a former Lockheed Martin and Texas Instruments employee who died Aug. 7 at age 78, describing his encounters with aliens while working at Area 51. A YouTube video featuring Texas man Boyd Bushman, a former Lockheed Martin and Texas Instruments employee who died Aug. 7 at age 78, describing his encounters with aliens while working at Area 51. Photo: Fechter, Joshua I, YouTube Photo: Fechter, Joshua I, YouTube Image 1 of / 34 Caption Close Former Lockheed Martin engineer from Texas: I met aliens at Area 51 1 / 34 Back to Gallery In death, everyone can hear you ramble on YouTube. A video featuring Texas man Boyd Bushman, a former Lockheed Martin and Texas Instruments engineer who died Aug. 7 at age 78, describing his encounters with "aliens" while working at Area 51 has been making the rounds on social media and news sites. In the video, shot by an aerospace engineer named Mark Q. Patterson and posted Oct. 21, Bushman shows several out-of-focus and blurry photos taken with a disposable camera of what he claims are aliens. "There are two groups of aliens," said Bushman, who has more than 25 patents registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, most of which are held by Lockheed Martin. "They divide them into two groups. One group are wranglers, and the others are rustlers – the ones who are stealers of cattle. The two groups act differently. The ones that are wranglers are much more friendly, and have a better relationship with us." Bushman claimed the "aliens" — which definitely share no resemblance to the common conception of extraterrestrials shown in, say, this alien prop on Amazon or any B-movies from the 1950s — are about five feet tall and use telepathy to communicate with others while flying saucer-shaped aircraft. The Lewisville native described most of the "aliens" he encountered as "friendly" while showing photos of their dead bodies. A biography accessed through Internet archiving site Wayback Machine says Bushman worked at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, working in "advanced aircraft concepts" and developing laser, electro-optical sensor and power systems. He also purportedly worked at Texas Instruments to create "laser guided smart bombs, Tank Mounted Infrared FLIR systems, focal plane arrays and GPS Systems." jfechter@mysa.com Twitter: @JFreportsLately, I’ve had a number of emails from new readers that read something like this: “I just purchased a new portable shortwave receiver, but I can’t seem to hear anything on it other than the strongest of stations. Should I return this radio? Am I doing something wrong?” The SWLing Post attracts a lot of new shortwave listeners–which is terrific–but there’s nothing worse than being excited about a new hobby (and new radio) only to find that you can’t hear much of anything. But right now, it may not be your fault–nor your radio’s. There are many factors that influence what you can receive, so I typically send new listeners to this article, which is full of tips to help you get the most out of your radio. But lately, even if you follow all of these handy tips, you may still find it difficult to receive distant stations–especially during daytime hours. The fact is, for the past few weeks, we’ve been experiencing fairly dismal shortwave radio propagation conditions. How can we tell? Well, the K index–a scale from 0 to 9 which indicates the magnitude of geomagnetic storms–“K0” equating a quiet magnetic field, while “K9” indicates extreme storms–has risen to K6 and even K7 for the past two days, unusually high, indeed. The result? In radio terms, such unsettled conditions mean that shortwave signals simply can’t effectively propagate across the globe. To add insult to injury, sun spot numbers–which can indicate effective radio propagation–have also been somewhat low. I understand how Post readers are feeling. I’ve been particularly sensitive to the crippling effects of the geomagnetism during this weak cycle, as I’ve been attempting to hear the elusive Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel in Antartica…alas, not really possible right now. Should we just give up, then, letting the sun and geomagnetism rule the day–? Not at all! Typically, these periods come and go within a matter of weeks. No worries, readers; you’ll soon find that your radios work just fine. In fact, at the conclusion of poor solar conditions, there are often excellent band openings… The take-away here? Just stay tuned! Better listening conditions await. RelatedPhoto WHERE’S the flood, guys? Judging by the number of bared ankles appearing on the streets this summer, the rolled cuff look of 2009 appears to have become the rolled cuff epidemic of 2010. Legions of young men, including ones who are not bicycle messengers, are rolling up their pants legs to such high-water lengths that one is tempted to inquire where exactly the auditions for the Huckleberry Finn revival are being held. A style born on the shores of the Mississippi has been reinvented for the streets of Bushwick. “It’s almost like a masculine shabby chic,” said Tom Julian, a fashion consultant and the author of two men’s style books with Nordstrom. Every five years or so, the fashionable male discovers some styling trick to make the same old thing wearable in a dandy new way — the deep jeans cuff, the double-flipped shirt-sleeve cuff — and the next thing you know, men are trying it in Midtown. Photo The newest look, a lightly pinched cuff that should fall about an inch or two above the ankle, is likely a result of two factors. First, the skin-baring shrunken-suit style popularized by Thom Browne has, by now, become as acceptable to the mainstream as flat-front khakis. And second, the glorified boat shoes and retro canvas sneakers on the market seem to cry out to be worn with pants that will show them off. (A third, less likely factor might be the heat.) Advertisement Continue reading the main story “As cropped pants have become such a style, this is an easy way to get around shortening your pants by three inches,” said Josh Peskowitz, the style editor of Esquire.com, who had rolled up his pants that very morning. “It’s noncommittal.”A few weeks ago, Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying an unmanned Dragon capsule destined for the International Space Station (ISS) exploded. The explosion was likely caused by a failed strut. In October of last year, Orbital Sciences had a rocket destined for the ISS explode for unrelated reasons, just after they were awarded a $1.9 billion contract with NASA. In the wake of these incidents, it may be time to assess the implications of private sector involvement in state-sponsored space programs. Over the past few years, private companies such as Space X and Virgin Galactic have been hailed as the new major players in space. Indeed, they are effectively changing how space exploration is conducted and how related technology is developed and implemented. From an operational point of view, private companies are able to implement decisions and fund projects much faster than most governments can. These companies have been able to complete missions that only governments had been able to previously, and have garnered major contracts with NASA. But although this takes pressure off of governments and introduces a more competitive environment for space-related innovation, outsourcing government projects can lead to complications, or at the very least, a shift in how space exploration is conducted. The most cited benefit of the shift to private space exploration is cost. These companies must bid for NASA contracts, which lowers the taxpayer cost of these missions, as some research and development R&D costs are absorbed by the company. Governments and private companies also function differently in terms of the different interest groups to whom they are responsible. NASA is beholden to the government and the taxpayer, while private companies must deal with a more complex web of investors/shareholders, the bottom line, and the need to keep a secure contract. Yet with these benefits, there are new challenges that must be addressed; perhaps the greatest of which is “what happens when something goes wrong”? Rocket missions and space travel are inherently difficult and risky; it’s only a matter of time before this becomes a bigger issue. Government space programs are no strangers to failed launches, or to human casualties. In fact, the only space program which has no known casualties to date is China’s. Private companies have yet to amass significant casualties, with the only death occurring during a failed Virgin Galactic test flight in 2014. But because that flight was not part of a mission to the ISS and was not tied to any government contract, the implications were different. If an astronaut from NASA were killed in a launch orchestrated by a private company, there may be far-reaching effects both for NASA and for the company in question. As aforementioned, governments are most likely not held accountable to the same degree as private companies are, as a government can control to some degree how transparent it wants to be. Furthermore, because there were no alternatives to government space programs, accidents were seen to some degree as par for the course. For instance, while the Challenger and Columbia disasters affected NASA’s operations (including an over two year hiatus form launching shuttles), it did not halt the space program. By comparison, private companies actually have a far more difficult set of issues to face in the case of a mishap. In a worst case scenario, a private company could make an easy scapegoat if ever a government’s legitimacy were to be threatened due to a mishap. So far, Space X has had a practically flawless track record: under contract with NASA, it has already made seven trips to the ISS. NASA has a strong vested interest in these companies, even geopolitically speaking, as they end the Russian monopoly in supplying the ISS. Space X plans on sending humans to space in 2017, and NASA has publicly said that this last incident will not hinder that goal. So far, so good. While these companies remain private, they still have to answer to their investors, and to governments, but otherwise have quite a large amount of freedom. What will happen when they go on the market? Overnight, the company would have to answer to its shareholders and function in a very different dynamic. The bottom line for a company is arguably more intensely scrutinized than where a government is investing its tax dollars. Given the benefits of private space exploration, it would behoove the government to stand behind such companies when things do go wrong. Whether in the form of subpar profits or launch explosions, the government should remain supportive of these companies. Either way, the shift to using private companies is well underway, and both companies and governments have a lot to gain from such a partnership. Still, it is important to forsee the change in dynamic that will undoubtedly occur once the going gets tough. Prof. Nayef Al-Rodhan is an Honorary Fellow at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, UK, and Senior Fellow and Head of the Geopolitics and Global Futures Programme at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Switzerland. He is the author of Meta-Geopolitics of Outer Space: An Analysis of Sapace Power, Security and Governence (Basingstoke:Palgrave Macmillan 2012). Additional publications can be found at www.sustainable-history.com This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License For more information on issues and events that shape our world, please visit ISN Security Watch or browse our resources.The initial War for the Atlas expansion went really well barring a few small hiccups that we worked to resolve as quickly as possible. The team is now focusing on improving other aspects of the expansion where possible. As we lead up to the holiday season many of the developers will be taking leave to spend time with their families and enjoy the New Zealand summer. We will still, however, be maintaining a skeleton crew of developers to tend to things over this
of foreigners who were waging the Syrian civil war and suddenly decided to launch an invasion of neighboring Iraq. If that narrative were true, it would suggest that a pure (and immediate) military response were warranted since such a group would have a great deal of difficulty holding territory conquered in Iraq. It would obviate the need for far-reaching political changes, which Maliki seeks to avoid. Consequently, it is critical to understand that ISIS is as much an Iraqi group as it is Syrian or anything else, and its success is largely a product of its ability to capitalize on Iraq’s political problems and to be accepted (if only grudgingly) by many Iraqi Sunnis as a champion in the fight against what they see as an oppressive, partisan Shia regime. These are Militias First and Foremost, Terrorists only a Distant Second. Here as well, Prime Minister Maliki and his apologists like to refer to the Sunni militants as terrorists. Too often, so too do American officials. Without getting into arcane and useless debates about what constitutes a “terrorist,” as a practical matter it is a mistake to think of these groups as being principally a bunch of terrorists. The problem there is that that implies that what these guys mostly want to do is to blow up buildings or planes elsewhere around the world, and particularly American buildings and planes. While I have no doubt that there are some among the Sunni militants who want to blow up American buildings and planes right now, and many others who would like to do so later, that is not their principal motivation. Instead, this is a traditional ethno-sectarian militia waging an intercommunal civil war. (They are also not an insurgency.) They are looking to conquer territory. They will do so using guerrilla tactics or conventional tactics—and they have been principally using conventional tactics since the seizure of Fallujah over six months ago. Their entire advance south over the past week has been a conventional, motorized light-infantry offensive; not a terrorist campaign, not a guerrilla warfare campaign. And right now, they are completely consumed with continuing to wage this conventional offensive against the Shia forces arrayed against them. That is likely to remain their pre-occupation for some time to come. Somewhere down the road, they probably will begin to mount terrorist attacks against other countries from their secure areas in Iraq and Syria, precisely as the intelligence community warned. But that will be an adjunct to their waging of the new Iraqi civil war. That is important because defining the Sunni militants as terrorists implies that they need to be attacked immediately and directly by the United States. Seeing them for what they are, first and foremost a sectarian militia waging a civil war, puts the emphasis on where it needs to be: finding an integrated political-military solution to the internal Iraqi problems that sparked the civil war. And that is a set of problems that is unlikely to be solved by immediate, direct American attacks on the Sunni militants. Indeed, such attacks could easily make the situation worse. The Combatants, Part II: The Shia Coalition A few points are also in order regarding the other side of the fight, the Shia. Of greatest importance, we need to recognize that the Iraqi Security Forces are fast becoming little more than a Shia militia. This trend began 3-4 years ago when Prime Minister Maliki began to push Sunni and Kurdish officers out of the armed forces, to replace them with loyal Shia officers. As a result, even before the current debacle, the ISF had become far more Shia than it had been, with fewer and fewer Sunnis and Kurds. Even before the dramatic events of last week, most Sunnis and Kurds referred to the ISF as “Maliki’s militia.” Since last Tuesday, we have seen large numbers of Sunni Arab and Kurdish soldiers desert the ISF, leaving an even more homogeneously Shia force. There are still Sunnis and Kurds in the ranks and in the officer corps, but that seems likely to dissipate over time. This is a trend that is common to these kinds of intercommunal civil wars. The “Syrian Armed Forces” of today are nothing more than the Asad regime’s militia, heavily comprised of Alawis and other minorities aligned with the regime. All throughout the Lebanese civil war, there was an entity called “the Lebanese Armed Forces” (LAF) that wore the uniforms, lived on the bases and employed the equipment of Lebanon’s former army. But they had become nothing but a Maronite Christian militia (after all of the Muslims and Druse deserted in the late 1970s), and their commanders nothing but Maronite Christian warlords. The same is already happening with the ISF and that trend is likely to continue. This is important because one of the worst mistakes the United States made in the 1980s was to assume that the Lebanese Armed Forces were still a neutral, professional armed force committed to the security of the entire state. That was a key piece of the tragic U.S. mishandling of Lebanon. When the Reagan Administration intervened in Lebanon in 1983, one of its goals was shoring up the LAF so that it could stabilize the country. Everyone else in Lebanon—and the Middle East—recognized that the LAF had devolved into a Maronite militia and so they saw the U.S. intervention as the (Christian) United States coming to aid the (Christian) Maronite militia. That is why all of the other warring groups in Lebanon immediately saw the American forces not as neutral peacemakers, but as partisans—allies of the Maronites—and so started to attack our forces. It led directly to the Beirut barracks blast and the humiliating withdrawal of our troops. There is the same danger in Iraq. If we treat the ISF as an apolitical, national army committed to disinterested stability in Iraq, and provide it with weapons and other military support to do so, we will once again be seen as taking a side in a civil war—even if we are doing so inadvertently, again. Everyone else, including our Sunni Arab allies, will see us as siding with the Shia against the Sunnis in the Iraqi civil war. That perspective will only be reinforced by the ongoing nuclear talks with (Shia) Iran. It is why any American military assistance to Iraq must be conditioned on concrete changes in Iraq’s political structure to bring the Sunnis back in and limit the powers of the (Shia) prime minister, coupled with a thorough depoliticization of the ISF. That is the only way we may be able to convince the Sunnis that we have not simply taken the side of Maliki and the Iranians. What happened to the ISF? Many have been asking what happened to the Iraqi Security Forces that brought them from the successes of 2007-2008 to the collapse of their units in northern Iraq last week. Obviously, a definitive answer to that question will only be provided by historians at some future date, but a number of factors have been known about the ISF for some time and these undoubtedly caused the collapse in part or whole. First, it is important to recognize that the ISF built by the U.S. military in 2006-2009 had only very modest military capabilities (primarily in counterinsurgency/counterterrorism/population control operations). Throughout the modern era, Arab militaries have never achieved more than middling levels of military effectiveness and on most occasions, their performances were dreadful. Iraq was no exception. (Those looking for additional information on this may want to read the chapter on modern Iraqi military history in my book, Arabs at War.) This was largely a product of factors inherent in Arab culture, education and economics. With enormous exertions, a small number of Arab militaries overcame these problems to perform at a mediocre level. However, whenever Arab regimes politicized their armed forces to try to prevent a military coup against themselves, the performance of their armies dropped from bad to abysmal. American military trainers and advisors were able to marginally improve the military effectiveness of the ISF by introducing rigorous, Western-style training programs and partnering closely with Iraqi forces in ways that allowed U.S. personnel to get to know their Iraqi counterparts. As a result of this familiarity, over the course of many months, the Americans figured out who were the good Iraqi soldiers and who were the bad, who was connected to the terrorists or militias, who was connected to organized crime, who was smart and brave, and who was lazy or cowardly. And the U.S. military then went about systematically promoting the best Iraqis, and pushing out the bad ones. The greatest impact of these American efforts with the ISF in 2006-2009 were to depoliticize it, both to modestly increase its combat effectiveness and to make it professional, apolitical and therefore accepted as a stabilizing force by all Iraqis. Again, this was largely performed by promoting professional, patriotic Iraqi officers and removing the sectarian chauvinists. The U.S. also pressed Baghdad to accept more and more Sunni and Kurdish officers and enlisted personnel into the ranks. As a result, the ISF became a far more integrated force than it had been, led by a far more apolitical and nationalistic officer corps than it had been before. Indeed, in 2008, when Prime Minister Maliki sent heavily Sunni brigades from Anbar down to Basra to fight the Shia militia, Jaysh al-Mahdi, the Shia of Basra welcomed the ISF brigades and fought against the Shia militiamen. Unfortunately, despite the boost it gave him, Prime Minister Maliki saw this largely apolitical and professional military as a threat to himself. He feared that it was overrun by Ba’thists (he sees far too many Sunnis as closet Ba’thists), unwilling to follow his orders (despite the fact that it had always done so), and looking to oust him at the first excuse. So, beginning in 2009-2010, he began to remove the capable, apolitical officers that the United States had painstakingly put in place throughout the Iraqi command structure. Instead, he put in men loyal to himself, often because they had been the ones passed over or removed by the Americans. The result was a heavily politicized and far less competent officer corps. Perhaps not surprisingly, Maliki’s officers saw little need for the rigorous training programs the Americans had put in place. They closed many of the training facilities we built and allowed training to fall by the wayside. Not surprisingly, when these formations got into action again—both in some skirmishes with the Kurds and more bloody fights against Sunni militants—they did very poorly, undercutting morale. Finally, beginning in 2011 immediately after the departure of the last American soldiers, Maliki began to use his new, politicized ISF to go after his political rivals, many of them leading (moderate) Sunni leaders. This was a critical element in his alienation of Iraq’s Sunni community, and further demoralized the Sunni Arab, Kurdish, and other minority personnel in the ISF. It also disappointed many of the Shia soldiers and officers who preferred to be part of an apolitical, national military and had never wanted to become part of “Maliki’s militia.” Not surprisingly, when this force came under tremendous stress, it fractured. As noted above, it is now being rebuilt, but not as a national army: as a Shia militia. And the U.S. should only be providing it with aid if we are given the right and the ability to turn it back into an apolitical, national army.President Donald Trump. Getty Images/Pool The American Health Care Act passed in the House of Representatives on Thursday in a major win for President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan after a series of fits and starts for the bill. The legislation to overhaul the US healthcare system passed 217 to 213, with 20 Republicans and all Democrats voting against it. The lead-up and the vote were contentious. After the vote, Democratic representatives chanted, "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye," apparently suggesting to their Republican counterparts that their votes would cost them control of the chamber. GOP representatives also walked out of the Capitol after the vote to chants of "Shame!" Republican leaders celebrated as they left the House floor. "As difficult as it was, we never gave up," Rep. Steve Scalise said. "It sets us up to do even bigger things in the future." Right before the vote, Trump said GOP representatives would come to the White House for a celebration if the bill passed. The president delayed his trip to New York City on Thursday. "If victorious, Republicans will be having a big press conference at the beautiful Rose Garden of the White House immediately after vote!" Trump tweeted. The AHCA succeeded after a last-minute amendment on Wednesday night won over some moderate holdouts who had expressed concerns about changes to the bill that experts said would undermine protections for Americans with preexisting conditions. The House Republicans' victory comes over a month after the original version of the AHCA was yanked from the House floor before a vote after a cohort of moderates and conservatives said they would oppose it. It now heads to the Senate.A.R.T. is available now on No., the label run by Atom TM and Material Object. Tracklist A new full-length from German producers Tobias Freund and Max Loderbauer's NSI. project has just dropped.is the first full release from NSI.—which stands for Non Standard Institute, and is also sometimes referred to as nsi.—since their 2010 album, which was issued on Freund's Non Standard Productions imprint. In the interim, the duo were recruited for appearances on Stroboscopic Artefacts, Ostgut Ton and Scissor & Thread. The new LP marks their debut on No., the experimental label run by Atom TM and Material Object, and it's described as a "true genre tourist." Like most other music on No.,looks to be a digital-only release, for now at least.It's a good time to be a fan of any of the parties involved with this one. Plans have just been revealed for an upcoming album from Loderbauer and Ricardo Villalobos on Perlon, and over the past couple months, Loderbauer's group ambiq has seen their self-titled 2014 LP reissued and remixed by both Freund (as Tobias.) and Villalobos. Villalobos also processed the recent collaborative EP Ridges from Loderbauer and Jacek Sienkiewicz (which also features an "accidental bassline" from Freund). On the No. front, a mix CD from Atom TM and Material Object, celebrating the label's first year of operation, will come out in late May.For more on Loderbauer, have a look at this RA feature from last month.01. A.R.T. I02. A.R.T. II03. A.R.T. III04. A.R.T. IV05. A.R.T. V06. A.R.T. VI07. A.R.T. VII08. A.R.T. VIII09. A.R.T. IXA.R.T.Introducing the long-awaited “reboot” of miniDSP’s best-selling 2x4 digital audio processor: the miniDSP 2x4 HD! This tiny powerhouse is jam-packed with miniDSP’s tried and proven audio processing functionality: flexible para-metric EQ, Butterworth and Linkwitz-Riley crossovers, advanced biquad pro-gramming, and delay on each output channel. miniDSP’s “one hardware many plugins” concept allows for many interesting future applications! The upgraded on-board 400 MHz Analog Devices SHARC processor also ena-bles substantial processing upgrades previously available only on more ex-pensive platforms, such as 96 kHz internal processing for true high-resolution audio capability and assignable FIR filter taps for sophisticated equalization, crossover, and room correction capabilities. All to be accessed and programmed with miniDSP’s easy-to-use interface software. I/O capabilities get an upgrade too, with the addition of USB audio streaming up to 192 kHz and a TOSLINK digital input. The miniDSP 2x4 HD will find application in full-sized hifi and home theater systems, on desktops, in cars, in recording studios — anywhere a compact, simple, yet surprisingly powerful DSP audio processor is needed. Features ADSP21489 400MHz Sharc DSP floating point engine XMOS Xcore200 for USB control and bidirectional audio streaming 24 bit ADC/DAC resolution Unbalanced inputs switchable with a jumper between 4Vrms and 2Vrms Toslink digital input Unbalanced outputs: Max 2Vrms USB Audio Class 2 Bidirectional streaming with ASIO drivers, driverless under MAC OSx 4 preset configuration, recallable via IR, Software Plug&Play USB driver and real time Software configuration using miniDSP plug-ins Device does not required a PC once configured External single 12V supply Product Downloads Control plugin (Included in purchase) The download will automatically become available under your UserDownloads section once the product purchased. Please make sure to read the user manual for more details What's in the box? 1 x MiniDSP 2x4 HD, board assembled and ready to use 1 x 12V power supply with UK/EU/US/AU plugs 1 x shielded USB cable 1 x plugin automatically included in the user downloads Optional Accessories UMIK-1, unique calibration file mircophone for accurate acoustic measurements WI-DG for Wifi/Alexa voice control of your unit miniDC for Car Audio Comparing the miniDSP 2x4HD to the 2x4 basic board.Former California Gov. Pete Wilson of California endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz for president during a surprise appearance at the California Republican Party convention on Saturday. Wilson made the case for Cruz starting with foreign policy: The most urgent threat facing our next president will be the dangerous national security legacy of the Obama administration.... Ted Cruz does not need any tutoring on the clear and present dangers to America’s national security. He noted that Cruz has proven himself a champion of our strong national defense as a “seasoned member” of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Wilson the moved on to argue that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton cannot be trusted with Supreme Court appointments: The next president of the United States will have as many as five Supreme Court vacancies in his or her first term. We know what kind of Justice’s Hillary Clinton would nominate. Heaven knows what justices Donald Trump would pick. What we know with certainty is that Ted Cruz will choose judges who will interpret the law and not legislate it. His sterling record as the brilliant clerk to Chief Justice Rehnquist and as Solicitor General of Texas are ample evidence that he is committed to preserving our constitutional liberties. We can’t afford a wildcard when it comes to a president who will be making critically important Supreme Court appointments.... Ted Cruz does not need tutoring to understand the Constitution of the United States. Wilson then moved on to immigration, a signature issue of his governorship. Wilson’s support Proposition 187 — the 1994 ballot initiative to deny health care, public education and other social services to illegal immigrants, is widely credited by the main stream media and the Establishment as having damaged the California Republican Party’s ability to win statewide elections. Wilson highlighted the fact that Cruz is “not anti-immigrant” and “not anti-Latino”: And by the way, something that you and I know but the mainstream media just won’t write. He is not anti-immigrant. He is, as am I, for legal emigration of the kind that has made this country great. And I might point out that he is hardly anti-Latino. There is more. Wilson also warned of the damage Trump will do to down ticket Republican candidates — pointing out Trump’s problem with women. You can watch Wilson’s entire speech below: Trending Steve Berman Acknowledging Wilson’s endorsement Cruz said, I am honored to have the support of Governor Wilson, a solid Republican leader whose lifetime of public service demonstrates how Republicans focused on providing solutions to the challenges facing the American people can win in blue states as well as red. The Cruz statement focused on Wilson’s foreign policy argument: The most urgent challenge facing a President in 2017 is confronting and changing the dangerous national security legacy of Barack Obama who has invited aggression and contempt from our enemies and distrust and disaffection from former allies. We dare not suffer a third Obama term. Ted Cruz is the winning candidate we need. Gov. Wilson is the latest California Republican leader to endorse Ted Cruz, who has earned the support of more than 50 current and former California Republican elected officials.Two-time and reigning NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Pro Stock champ Erica Enders will double her driving duties at 8-10 NHRA Mello Yello national events this season, racing in her Super Gas while also competing in her Elite Motorsports Dodge Dart. Enders, whose first national event victory came in 2004 in Houston in a Super Gas car, will drive the ORTEQ Energy Technologies Super Gas entry of Buddy Wood and Cody Ortowski at select races yet to be named "ORTEQ has been a big part of our success with the Pro Stock car the last few years, and when Buddy and Cody asked if I wanted to drive their Super Gas car I jumped at the chance," Enders said. "It'll be great to get back to my Sportsman roots a little and to visit with and race all my friends that run Super Gas. I'm just going to have some fun with it. The car is good, it can win any race we enter, so I'll do my best to put it in the winner's circle." Wood is longtime friends with owner Richard Freeman, car owner of Enders' Elite/Mopar Dodge Pro Stock Dart. The Wood Racing shop is 15 minutes from Elite's headquarters in Wynnewood, Okla. "It's pretty awesome to have a driver of Erica's caliber get behind the wheel of our car," Wood said. "She's a killer on the Christmas Tree, and we have no doubt she'll be great in our car. It'll be great to see what Erica can do." "We are ecstatic to have Erica drive our ORTEQ hot rod," Ortowski said. "When I think about success, I think about character and execution. Erica displays both, week in and week out. We are proud to be aligned with the future of drag racing." Sportsman ace Tommy Phillips drove the same car to one national event and two divisional race victories in 2015. "It won't be easy; the Super Gas category is very tough and I'm sure my competition will be more than ready for me every race," Enders said. "It'll be no different than what we see every round in Pro Stock. You have to earn everything. "My teammate, Jeg Coughlin Jr., has run two cars a number of times in the past, and he said it makes for a busier weekend for sure but that it also allows you a better chance to lock in on the Tree and make a bunch more passes, which keeps you in race mode," she added. "By doubling up I'll actually be cutting down on the distractions we all face at national events. I'll be too busy."Shortly after Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte allegedly attacked a reporter in Montana, some of his supporters began suggesting the real problem was that the reporter, Ben Jacobs, didn’t automatically fight back. Conservative pundit Laura Ingraham tweeted, “But what would most Montana men do if ‘body slammed’ for no reason by another man?” This kind of macho talk isn’t uncommon. But speaking from personal experience, Reason writer Mike Riggs argued on Twitter that this message is bad for men. As he notes in one of his tweets, “That toughness that people seem to admire from a distance makes people fear you up close.” Here’s the full thread: I say this as someone who was much bigger than other humans starting at around age five, and who used his first from an early age. — Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 25, 2017 By the time I hit adolescence, my aunt told me on day that my family had considered sending me away because if how violent I was. — Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 25, 2017 It makes people who love you think you are dangerous. Pushing leads to punching, and punching can cause brain damage and facial deformity. — Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 25, 2017 Our prisons are full of "real men." — Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 25, 2017 The sons of "real men" grow up to be emotionally stunted, confused, and poor. — Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 25, 2017 Real men do everything they can to avoid hurting others and themselves. Self-restraint and wisdom are not weak, they are powerful. — Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 25, 2017 I will never, ever forget the fear I inspired in the eyes of my mother, my little brother, and my classmates. The memory of it makes me ill. — Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) May 25, 2017 That any of this needs to be said is alarming. We live in a society that is supposed to abhor violence — punishing it through some of the harshest prison sentences in the world. People are supposed to solve disputes through rational talk, negotiations, and, if necessary, the legal system. That’s how civilization works. Even then, America still suffers from the worst levels of gun violence of any nation in the developed world. So to encourage more violence — especially after a violent act by a politician, of all people — seems contrary to what America should strive for. Then again, maybe these assumptions are wrong. On Thursday night, before finally issuing an apology for his actions, Gianforte won the special election for Montana’s US House seat.That's not what this article is about. Some art isn't just "bad" like a carton of sour milk is bad; it's curiously bad like the smell of a mosh pit, or a bank-tellers' weird attempt small talk. Its badness is its defining quality, and it becomes like a force of nature, inspiring other people to pursue their own strange creations that end up actually being pretty damn good. What the balls am I talking about? These balls, dear reader. So there are good movies. We all know those exist. Then there are mediocre ones, which are most movies. Below that, we get the bad movies. We don't like those very much. But if you keep moving that finger down this massive list of art, somehow organized by objective quality, you eventually reach "so bad it's good" territory, where you find stuff that's so shockingly inept that you can't help but build a fanbase around it -- take a look at Sharknado and the entire Asylum filmography. 6 An Awful Fan-Fiction Inspires A Collaborative Monument Of Mockery My Immortal The Webseries Continue Reading Below Advertisement My Immortal is a Harry Potter fan-fiction involving vampires, goth teenagers, and what we can generously call "creative" sex scenes. At no point is it clear whether the person writing this is just having fun, trying to be made fun of, or making fun of you for daring to read it. Look at this fucking shit: And then............... suddenly just as I Draco kissed me passionately. Draco climbed on top of me and we started to make out keenly against a tree. He took of my top and I took of his clothes. I even took of my bra. Then he put his thingie into my you-know-what and we did it for the first time. Oh! Oh! Oh! " I screamed. I was beginning to get an orgasm. We started to kiss everywhere and my pale body became all warm. And then.... "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU MOTHERFUKERS!" It was.............................................................Dumbledore! The whole goddamn book is like that: When Harry Potter shows up, he changes his name to "Vampire" because he's so "goffick." A lot more sex happens, there's some time travel, and at one point Dumbledore sews the words "Avril Lavigne" into the back of his cloak. Continue Reading Below Advertisement The Reaction My Immortal joins movies like The Room and Plan 9 From Outer Space by having an entire community built around directly mocking it: There's dramatic readings, fan art, songs, and even a live-action webseries loosely based on it. But that's not all -- dig deep enough into this, and it starts getting weird.Note: By submitting this form, you agree to Third Door Media's terms. We respect your privacy. Get the most important digital marketing news each day. Sign up for our NEW daily brief. Earlier this month the FTC updated its online advertising disclosure rules. They’re intended to protect the public from online promotions that may be “deceptive or unfair” in the absence of clear disclosures that they’re compensated advertising. Advertising and promotional messaging on social and mobile media are at least partly responsible for the update of the guidelines, which is the first such update since they were originally issued in 2000. Some commentators (e.g., Fox Business) complain that the US is now trying to regulate the Internet in new ways that will impede online advertising. The FTC says it’s merely trying to ensure compliance with existing law and protect consumers against new types of advertising that would otherwise be “deceptive or unfair.” In the report are highly specific examples of ads that are compliant as well as some that are non-compliant — and why. It discusses “space constrained messages” (i.e., Twitter) at some length. Below is an example of a disclosure-compliant Twitter post. The FTC says this message works because it uses the term “Ad” in the tweet, while it also doesn’t mislead readers about likely success (“Typical loss: 1lb/wk”). Below are examples of non-compliant tweets: In the first case above, there’s an initial promotional message (bottom tweet) and a disclosure (top tweet). However, the separation of the two messages makes it possible that consumers won’t see the disclosure along with the ad and think the statement was an unpaid endorsement. In the example below, the disclosure resides on another page behind a link. In such cases, the FTC fears that consumers will simply read the message and ignore the link — thus never being exposed to the disclosure. Accordingly, the agency strongly advises against using links to support disclosures on separate pages. In the context of social media, the rules and examples seem aimed particularly at celebrities such as Kim Kardashian who derive large sums to promote products on social media. Indeed, Kardashian was reportedly getting $10,000 per promotional tweet at one time (it still may be true). Her relatively naive fans could easily and uncritically misconstrue these tweets as personal recommendations — which is precisely the point from the sponsor’s point of view. There are many more concrete examples of non-compliant and acceptable social and mobile ads in the report, which is embedded below. It can also be downloaded here. 130312dotcomdisclosures from gesterling fromMolyneux teams up with newcomer Payne for 2017 Isle of Man TT Races campaign Seventeen time TT Race winner Dave Molyneux has teamed up with newcomer Harry Payne for his 2017 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy campaign. Payne, 24, from Colchester, has moved to the Isle of Man to prepare for his TT debut in the two sidecar races. Payne’s career began in sidecar motocross before switching to road racing in the BEMSEE championship. He impressed at Oliver’s Mount this year at the Spring Cup and Cock of The North meetings, as passenger to Dave Wallis and has also competed in the British Championship, partnering last year’s TT runner up Alan Founds to second place finish in the F2 British Championship round at Brands, narrowly outside Dave Molyneux’s 2015 lap record. Molyneux’s record-breaking TT career began in 1985 with his first win coming in 1989 and his last race win in 2014. His career included double race wins in 1993, 1996, 2004, the centenary TT meeting in 2007 and 2012. The Birchall Brothers beat his outright lap record of 116.875, which was set in 2015. Commenting on his new teammate, Dave Molyneux said: “Harry is mad keen to do the TT. He’s the right build, the right weight and, for a passenger, the right age. It’s very physical on the Mountain Course these days, especially for a passenger.” He continued: “I’ve been really impressed with Harry’s commitment and that’s why I wanted to race with him. He’s already proved he’s incredibly dedicated to preparing for the TT and I have no doubt that despite being a newcomer he will be ready to race.” Harry Payne said: “I was all set to race last year before my plans fell through which was really disappointing but I’ve now been given an incredible opportunity with the best racer in the paddock. It will be a real honour for me and I’m determined to make the most of it and be as prepared as I possibly can for next year’s TT.” The team will shortly begin an extensive testing programme at Jurby and have a number of race meetings planned for 2017 including the first two British Championship rounds. The DMR outfit will be Yamaha powered with backing from a number of Isle of Man based businesses including A&J Groundworks, Beaumanx Productions, Andreas Meat Co, Full Factory Menswear, CBG, Silkolene and Evo Motors with notable support from the Isle of Man Yamaha dealer Road and Track. It will be the first time since 1996 that Molyneux has used Yamaha engines. Added by Simon CrellinWASHINGTON - A man was killed after apparently hitting a turtle with his motorised bicycle in a freak traffic accident in Florida, reports said. Mr David Kervin, 51, was found on the road near the motorised bicycle, and the turtle was seen a short distance away. Investigators told Florida Today that the man lost control of his bicycle and was thrown off. They said the accident, which happened at around 3.15am on Wednesday (Nov 30) in Indian Harbour Beach, was "rare". Mr Kervin, a waiter, apparently suffered a head injury. It is not known if he was wearing a helmet. There was no evidence that another vehicle was involved, the report said. The small turtle, described as a box turtle, survived the crash with a small crack in the bottom of its shell. It crawled away with minor injuries. A spokesman with the Florida Highway Patrol Kim Montes told Florida Today of another crash involving a turtle. "Somehow the driver clipped the turtle at such an angle that it tossed the turtle into the windshield of another car," Ms Montes said. "The troopers got there and pulled it out of the windshield and put it in a nearby body of water. "It happens, but it's very rare.""The World Series Defense" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The Gang describes the trials and tribulations they went through during Game 5 of the World Series, hoping that the judge will clear them of all the citations they received. Contents show] Recap Edit 11:00AM on a Tuesday The gang is called in front of a judge to explain why they racked up over $1,000 in parking fines. Dennis presents the case that they should not be held liable on account of the Phillies winning the World Series. In 2008 The Gang had tickets to Game 5 of the World Series. Mac and Dennis prepared riot punch while they explained their strategy of getting Dee on the field to kiss a player: starting a fight to distract the security guards. Charlie complains about the Philly Phrenetic holding a monopoly on the mascot scene. Frank realizes he left the tickets at home. Dennis and Charlie go to the stadium to begin cooking out but worry about finding other tickets, so they try jumping in front of cars to exploit the drivers out of their tickets. Charlie pushes Dennis in front of a car but the driver sees him, so they don't get tickets. Charlie sees the Phrenetic, decided to turn into Greenman, and tries to talk to him mascot-to-mascot to acquire tickets but ends up in a fight with fans. Meanwhile, Mac, Frank and Dee arrive at Charlie's apartment to find that it is being bug bombed for bed bugs. Frank tries to crawl in using a hose to pump in fresh air while Dee reads Mac's love letter to Chase Utley. They then rush in to rescue Frank. At the stadium, everybody, slightly wounded or sick from bug bomb gas, agrees to try to break into the secret tunnel that leads to the stadium from a nearby hotel. The enter a linen closet in the basement where they get trapped for the next six days. Because of this, they missed the game, tailgate, and parade so they felt their emotional stress releases them from their parking tickets. The judge was not impressed and ordered them to pay the tickets and leave her courtroom. Alliances Edit Charlie and Dennis try to get tickets by jumping in front of cars. Dee, Frank, and Mac try to break into Charlie's apartment building to get the tickets. Cast Edit Starring Edit Guest Starring Edit Patricia Belcher as Judge John Ponzio as Philly Phrenetic Dennis Hogan as Fan #1 Dennis Hart as Fan #2 Uncredited Edit Shaun Paul Costello as Dude Trivia Edit The gang drinks "riot punch" ( grain alcohol ) while tailgating. ) while tailgating. In the show they have Game 5 beginning on October 28, 2008. The game actually started October 27th and wasn't completed until the 29th because of the rain delay. Dennis Hogan and Dennis Hart were both previously seen in the episode "Charlie Has Cancer" where they say they will "hammer the shit" out of Mac for his intolerance. Their " hate crime " lines are a reference to the aforementioned episode. " lines are a reference to the aforementioned episode. According to Dee, Chase Utley (who's born in 1978) is "five Years" younger than Mac. But this is incorrect, because we know his age in 01x03 Mac was 28 (which means that he was born in 1977 - just like Rob McElhenney himself). The Phillies' mascot is actually called the Phillie Phanatic. However, Major League Baseball rejected the script, and the name "Phillie Phrenetic" had to be used in the show. This is alluded to in Charlie's rant that closes the episode, when he says "First of all, I had to call him the 'Phrenetic', his name's the 'Phanatic', but I'm gonna get sued by Major League Baseball if I call him the Phanatic". The Gang's plan for the game is for Mac and Dennis to start fighting
our investigations are complete.”ES News Email Enter your email address Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in or register with your social account A cyclist has been rushed to hospital after a collision with a car in south London. Emergency services arrived at 3.40pm to reports of an injured man on Streatham High Road. The driver stayed at the scene and no arrests have beeen made, according to a Met police spokesperson. The cyclist's injuries are not thought to be life-threatening, while another person was also treated at the scene and taken to hospital. Streatham High Road has been cordoned off from Pinfold Road while the incident is being dealt with, with severe delays expected. A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 15:38pm, 28 September to reports of a road traffic collision at Streatham High Road. "We sent two ambulance crews, a single responder in car, an incident response officer and London Air’s Ambulance to the scene. "We treated two patients at the scene and took them both as a priority to a hospital in south London.” A Met Police spokesperosn said: "Officers in Lambeth came across the cyclist at 3.40. There had been a collision between a cyclist and a car. The cyclist has gone to hospital but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening." "The driver stayed at the scene and there have been no arrests."American Spirit Number One for Freebasing by tobaccofreeweld While nicotine is what gets people addicted and gives them the buzz to keep using, it is not easily extracted from the plant form of tobacco. In order for it to release chemically, ammonia and other freebasing items are added to the products. American Spirit has often claimed to have no additives or preservatives, but recent research has shown it to have the highest level of free basing ability which indicates higher levels of ammonia. Maybe it’s just made from natural sources…like urine. Adding ammonia to cigarettes increases the amount of easily absorbed “freebase” nicotine released by smoking, which may make some cigarettes more addictive than others depending on their formulas, the Independent reported July 28. Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University looked at 11 U.S. cigarette brands and found that some had up to 20 times more freebase nicotine — a form of the drug that is quickly absorbed and transmitted to the brain and central nervous system. Cigarettes with high levels of freebase nicotine probably are more addictive, researchers said. American Spirit cigarettes, for example, had 36 percent freebase nicotine, compared to 1 percent in a benchmark cigarette, 2.7 percent in Camel, 5-6.2 percent in Winston, and 9.6 percent in Marlboro. “During smoking, only the freebase form can [evaporate] from a particle into the air in the respiratory tract,” said study leader James Pankow. “Gaseous nicotine is known to deposit super-quickly in the lungs. From there, it’s transported rapidly to the brain. Since scientists have shown that a drug becomes more addictive when it is delivered to the brain more rapidly, freebase nicotine levels in cigarette smoke are thus at the heart of the controversy regarding the tobacco industry’s use of additives such as ammonia and urea.” The study was published in the January 2003 issue of the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. Pankow, J., Barsanti, K., & Peyton, D. (2003) Fraction of Free-Base Nicotine in Fresh Smoke Particulate Matter from the Eclipse “Cigarette” by 1H NMR Spectroscopy. Chemical Research in Toxicology, 16(1): 23-27. AdvertisementsA visitor walks past North Korea's Russian made Scud-B ballistic missile (C in grey) and South Korea's U.S. made Hawk surface-to-air missiles at the Korean War Memorial Museum in Seoul February 15, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Files SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has moved what appears to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on Thursday, quoting multiple government sources privy to intelligence from U.S. and South Korean authorities. It was not clear if the missile was mounted with a warhead or whether the North was planning to fire it or was just putting it on display as a show of force, one South Korean government source was quoted as saying. “South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities have obtained indications the North has moved an object that appears to be a mid-range missile to the east coast,” the source said. The Musudan missile is believed to have a range of 3,000 km (1,875 miles) or more, which would put all of South Korea and Japan in range and possibly also the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. North Korea is not believed to have tested these mid-range missiles, according to most independent experts South Korea’s defence ministry declined to comment. North Korea has threatened a nuclear strike on the United States and missile attacks on its Pacific bases, including in Guam. Those threats followed new U.N. sanctions imposed on the North after it carried out its third nuclear test in February. The missile was moved to the coast by train. The North has a missile launch site on the northeastern coast, which it has used to unsuccessfully test-fire long-range rockets in the past. The Yonhap report did not say if the missile had been moved to the missile site. Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper issued a similar report on Thursday, saying the North had moved what appeared to be a long-range missile to its east coast.When the gunfire slowed enough for laughter and hooting to become audible, I crawled out from under my bed, smoked several cigarettes, and went to sleep. The next morning, while brushing my teeth, I saw that my previously brown lip-bristles had lost all color from root to tip. My canities subita cannot be medically authenticated, since no doctors were around to see it. Nevertheless, I reached out last week to Des Tobin, a leading expert on cell pigmentation and director of the Center for Skin Sciences at the University of Bradford. Over the phone from Ireland, Tobin patiently explains why my account is logically impossible: “There are no living cells in the hair. Psychosocial stress can’t affect the hair fiber that’s already formed, it can only affect the fibers as they’re forming.” He suggests that what I thought was canities subita may have been an occurrence of alopecia areata, a stress-linked autoimmune reaction that causes sudden hair loss. Because it often targets pigmented hair while leaving de-pigmented strands in place, this form of alopecia is the leading explanation for the appearance of sudden hair-whitening in people with salt-and-pepper locks. The pepper falls out, the salt remains. I interrupt that my mustache is as thick as it’s ever been. And it was sparse enough before the incident that I would have noticed any white hairs that were already there. For good measure, and to demonstrate the extent of my Googling on the matter, I add that I have also not experienced any skin-whitening vitiligo, which sometimes accompanies the sudden appearance of white hair. Tobin next inquires about my genetic background, my age, and the condition of my mustache at the time of the blanching. I was 30 years old in October 2013, I tell him, and inherited my hirsute upper lip from the Iberians on my father’s side. A salon professional had last depilated said upper lip roughly one week prior to the event, meaning the hairs were wispy, but present. At the mention of my salon routine, Tobin points out that depilation itself can make hair more susceptible to blanching, by inflicting “microtrauma” on the follicles and rendering them more porous. “In rat studies,” he offers, “they showed if you pluck the rats’ whiskers, they grow white more quickly.” For my whiskers to whiten all at once, Tobin says I would have had to be in direct contact with some external agent—a detergent used on the hotel’s sheets, perhaps. My years of upper-lip microtrauma and the resulting porosity of those follicles would make them more susceptible to being bleached, and would explain why no other hairs were affected. If so, the stumper remains that the hairs are still white, nearly three years after the fact. “Whatever has happened managed to affect the melanocytes inside the root of the follicle, and caused them to shut down completely,” Tobin muses, referring to the skin’s pigment-producing cells. I offer to mail him some clippings from my mustache so he can analyze the hair shafts for himself. He politely declines and our phone-consult ends there.If I said to you, “Describe Anna Karenina,” perhaps you’d mention her beauty. If you were reading closely you’d mention her “thick lashes,” her weight, or maybe even her little downy mustache (yes—it’s there). Matthew Arnold remarks upon “Anna’s shoulders, and masses of hair, and half-shut eyes … ” But what does Anna Karenina look like? You may feel intimately acquainted with a character (people like to say, of a brilliantly described character, It’s like I know her), but this doesn’t mean you are actually picturing a person. Nothing so fixed—nothing so choate. Most authors (wittingly, unwittingly) provide their fictional characters with more behavioral than physical description. Even if an author excels at physical description, we are left with shambling concoctions of stray body parts and random detail (authors can’t tell us everything). We fill in gaps. We shade them in. We gloss over them. We elide. Anna: her hair, her weight—these are only facets, and do not make up a true image of a person. They make up a body type, a hair color … What does Anna look like? We don’t know—our mental sketches of characters are worse than police composites. Visualizing seems to require will … … though at times it may also seem as though an image of a sort appears to us unbidden. (It is tenuous, and withdraws shyly upon scrutiny.) I canvass readers. I ask them if they can clearly imagine their favorite characters. To these readers, a beloved character is, to borrow William Shakespeare’s phrase, “bodied forth.” These readers contend that the success of a work of fiction hinges on the putative authenticity of the characters. Some readers go further and suggest that the only way they can enjoy a novel is if the main characters are easily visible: “Can you picture, in your mind, what Anna Karenina looks like?” I ask. “Yes,” they say, “as if she were standing here in front of me.” “What does her nose look like?” “I hadn’t thought it out; but now that I think of it, she would be the kind of person who would have a nose like … ” “But wait—How did you picture her before I asked? Noseless?” “Well … ” “Does she have a heavy brow? Bangs? Where does she hold her weight? Does she slouch? Does she have laugh lines?” (Only a very tedious writer would tell you this much about a character. Though Tolstoy never tires of mentioning Anna’s slender hands. What does this emblematic description signify for Tolstoy?) Some readers swear they can picture these characters perfectly, but only while they are reading. I doubt this, but I wonder now if our images of characters are vague because our visual memories are vague in general. * * * A thought experiment: Picture your mother. Now picture your favorite literary character. (Or: Picture your home. Then picture Howards End.) The difference between your mother’s afterimage and that of a literary character you love is that the more you concentrate, the more your mother might come into focus. A character will not reveal herself so easily. (The closer you look, the farther away she gets.) (Actually, this is a relief. When I impose a face on a fictional character, the effect isn’t one of recognition, but dissonance. I end up imagining someone I know.* And then I think, That isn’t Anna!) I recently had the experience while reading a novel wherein I thought I had clearly seen a character—a society woman with “widely spaced eyes.” When I subsequently scrutinized my imagination, I discovered that what I had been imagining was the face of one of my coworkers, grafted onto the body of an elderly friend of my grandmother’s. When brought into focus, this was not a pleasant sight. Often, when I ask someone to describe the physical appearance of a key character from their favorite book they will tell me how this character moves through space. (Much of what takes place in fiction is choreographic.) One reader told me Benjy Compson from William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury was “lumbering, uncoordinated … ” But what does he look like? Literary characters are physically vague—they have only a few features, and these features hardly seem to matter—or, rather, these features matter only in that they help to refine a character’s meaning. Character description is a kind of circumscription. A character’s features help to delineate their boundaries—but these features don’t help us truly picture a person. * * * It is precisely what the text does not elucidate that becomes an invitation to our imaginations. So I ask myself: Is it that we imagine the most, or the most vividly, when an author is at his most elliptical or withholding? (In music, notes and chords define ideas, but so do rests.) Or is it that comprehensiveness is not an important factor in the identification of anything? William Gass, on Mr. Cashmore from Henry James’s The Awkward Age: We can imagine any number of other sentences about Mr. Cashmore added … now the question is: what is Mr. Cashmore? Here is the answer I shall give: Mr. Cashmore is (1) a noise, (2) a proper name, (3) a complex system of ideas, (4) a controlling perception, (5) an instrument of verbal organization, (6) a pretended mode of referring, and (7) a source of verbal energy. The same could be said of any character—of Nanda, from the same book, or of Anna Karenina. Of course—isn’t the fact that Anna is ineluctably drawn to Vronsky (and feels trapped in her marriage) more significant than the mere morphological fact of her being, say, “full-figured”? It is how characters behave, in relation to everyone and everything in their fictional, delineated world, that ultimately matters. (“Lumbering, uncoordinated …”) Though we may think of characters as visible, they are more like a set of rules that determines a particular outcome. A character’s physical attributes may be ornamental, but their features can also contribute to their meaning. (What is the difference between seeing and understanding?) Take Karenin’s ears … (Karenin is the cuckolded husband of Anna Karenina.) Are his ears large or small? At Petersburg, so soon as the train stopped and she got out, the first person that attracted her attention was her husband. ‘Oh, mercy! Why do his ears look like that?’ she thought, looking at his frigid and imposing figure, and especially the ears that struck her at the moment as propping up the brim of his round hat … Karenin’s ears grow in proportion to his wife’s disaffection with him. In this way, these ears tell us nothing about how Karenin looks, and a great deal about how Anna feels. Ishmael.” What happens when you read the first line of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick? You are being addressed, but by whom? Chances are you hear the line (in your mind’s ear) before you picture the speaker. I can hear Ishmael’s words more clearly than I can see his face. (Audition requires different neurological processes than vision, or smell. And I would suggest that we hear more than we see while we are reading.) If you did manage to summon an image of Ishmael, what did you come up with? A seafaring man of some sort? (Is this a picture or a category?) Do you picture Richard Basehart, the actor in the John Huston adaptation? (One should watch a film adaptation of a favorite book only after considering, very carefully, the fact that the casting of the film may very well become the permanent casting of the book in one’s mind. This is a very real hazard.) * * What color is your Ishmael’s hair? Is it curly or straight? Is he taller than you? If you don’t picture him clearly, do you merely set aside a chit, a placeholder that says, “Protagonist, narrator—first person”? Maybe this is enough. Ishmael probably evokes a feeling in you—but this is not the same as seeing him. Maybe Melville had a specific image in mind for his Ishmael. Maybe Ishmael looked like someone he knew from his years at sea. But Melville’s image is not ours. And no matter how well illustrated Ishmael may or may not be (I can’t remember if Melville describes Ishmael’s physical attributes, and I’ve read the book three times), chances are we will have to constantly revise our image of him as the book progresses. We are ever reviewing and reconsidering our mental portraits of characters in novels: amending them, backtracking to check on them, updating them when new information arises … What kind of face you assign to Ishmael might depend upon what mood you are in on a particular day. Ishmael might look as different from one chapter to the next as, say, Tashtego does from Stubb. Sometimes, in a play, several actors perform a single role. In these instances, the cognitive dissonance aroused by multiple actors is evident to the theatrical audience. But after reading a novel, we think back on its characters as if they were played by single actors. (In a narrative, multiplicity of “character” is read as psychological complexity.) Another question: As a character develops throughout the course of a novel, does the way this character “looks” to you (their appearance) change … as a result of their inner development? (A real person may become more beautiful to us once we are better acquainted with their nature—and in these cases our increased affection isn’t due to some closer physical observation.) Are characters complete as soon as they are introduced? Perhaps they are complete, but just out of order; the way a puzzle might be. Levin gazed at the portrait, which stood out from the frame in the brilliant light thrown on it, and he could not tear himself away from it … It was not a picture, but a living, charming woman, with black curling hair, with bare arms and shoulders, with a pensive smile on the lips, covered with soft down; triumphantly and softly she looked at him with eyes that baffled him. She was not living only because she was more beautiful than a living woman can be. —Anna Karenina Peter Mendelsund is the associate art director of Alfred A. Knopf and a recovering classical pianist. His designs have been described by The Wall Street Journal as being “the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in contemporary fiction.” He lives in New York. This is an excerpt from What We See When We Read, by Peter Mendelsund. Copyright © 2014 by Peter Mendelsund. With permission of the publisher, Vintage Books. All rights reserved. This Wednesday, August 22, 192 Books is hosting a discussion with Peter Mendelsund and Leanne Shapton in honor of What We See When We Read and Cover.Ever since I discovered “00” flour, I’ve been smitten with the way it produces a perfectly soft and silky dough every single time I use it. So when I came across this fabulous pizza dough recipe that called for “00” flour, I knew I wanted to try it, and decided I’d use it make calzones. After I kneaded the dough, I placed it on top of one of our radiators for about an hour, which allowed it to double in size perfectly. When I initially formed and stuffed these, they were a bit imperfect and lopsided, but came out of the oven looking really rustic and beautiful. One of the best parts about making these was the aroma that’s emitted during the baking time, which lingered throughout our house through the following morning. (It was kind of nice to wake up once or twice during the early morning hours and inhale a strong and bready aroma each time.) And these taste fabulous: the rich vegan cheese and sausage kind of melt into the other components here during the baking time, and slicing into it reveals an amazing array of flavors and textures. I was surprised at how easy these were to make, and how close they tasted to the calzones I used to order many years ago at restaurants. Although I used leftover homemade vegan sausage and cheese to stuff these, prepared Field Roast sausage and Daiya or Follow Your Heart cheese would work nicely here as well.No Gmail?! It hardly bears thinking about... Don’t get me wrong, Google sails a mighty fine ship and Gmail is an impressive achievement but should anything ever go wrong with your Gmail account you could find yourself in a world of problems. Say, for example, a hacker guesses your password, gets into your account, and starts sending spam. Eventually, if the hacker is ambitious and spams enough, your account will get suspended and you will have all sorts of problems getting your account back (should you doubt this, just search Google; a lot of people have gone through this agony). One of the best ways of preventing a hacker from accessing your digital assets on Google is to enable Two Factor Verification which, while it’s a bit of a drag to set up and occasionally have to deal with, it is worth every second you spend on it … think of it as digital security belt and braces. Even then, I don’t trust Google to never, ever have a problem; Google’s good but only the superhuman can be perfect and I haven't noticed an "S" on Sergey's chest. As a result I back up my Gmail account so that I have a safe and secure local archive and to do this I use Gmail Backup. Gmail Backup is a simple, free, open source tool written in Python and available for OS X, Linux, and Windows. It’s not a big program and takes hardly any time to install; just make sure that the directory you select to store the messages is writable. The latest release is, as of writing, version 0.107 dated February 20, 2009. Mark Gibbs Gmail Backup in operation To use Gmail Backup you need to make sure IMAP is enabled in your Gmail account and, if you’re using the Gmail Labs, make sure that you have enabled IMAP access for the “All Mails” folder. You then enter your credentials in Gmail Backup and wait; you’re likely to see data rates of around 25KB/s so you’re in for a long wait if, like me, you have accumulated a serious amount of email. After one hour of run 9,700 messages totaling 173MB had been downloaded into 105 folders; an estimated 3.3% of my total saved messages. At the end of a successful run Gmail Backup will have created a folder for each year and within those, a folder for each month all under the chosen archive subdirectory. To backup only the newest messages (those that have accumulated since your last backup) you can set “Before” and “Since” dates. That’s it. You can also use the downloaded email to migrate to another account using the Restore feature and run the application from the command line (which also allows you to specify the switch “clear” which permanently deletes the messages). So, before Gmail for whatever reason barfs and ruins your life, use Gmail Backup to make a backup at least every week... although just imagine how many important messages could go missing in seven whole days! Or even a day... it really does hardly bear thinking about.Keto Thanksgiving Recipes I’m a huge fan of the Food Network and I really enjoy the show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” I asked my favorite keto food bloggers what their favorite Thanksgiving recipes are and I received some amazing ones! APPETIZERS: From Carol at Ditch the Wheat: Avocado Salsa with Carolyn at All Day I Dream About Food: Homemade Chicharrones! I picked these two because I love both recipes so much! From Judy at Carb Wars: Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings! Judy writes, “Thanksgiving is the most under-appreciated of holidays. The stores have barely cleared away the spiders and witches before the poinsettias move in. It is a uniquely American holiday that celebrates our history, our families, and our native foods, like pumpkin, turkey, and cranberries. It takes us back home with memories of warm fires, home cooking, and Grandma’s hugs. Slow down, have another piece of pie, and be grateful for the brief respite before the frantic spend-fest of Christmas starts all over again.” From me: Baked Brie I picked this recipe because it was a labor of love. Craig and I made about 400 batches of this bread recipe and too many bags of blanched almond flour to get the perfect bread. It was a very expensive recipe to create, but totally worth it! From Kyndra at Peace, Love and Low Carb: Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms! SIDE DISHES: From Kyndra at Peace Love and Low Carb: Green Bean Casserole! Kyndra writes: “I love this recipe because it always reminds me of special occasions and family get togethers. For years, my family has made this on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Their variety included all canned ingredients. I set out on a mission to recreate a family classic in a healthier version.” From Martina at the Keto Diet: Candied “Yams” with Marshmallows! Martina writes: “This recipe has become the ultimate autumn treat in my house. When I got a request from one of my readers to make “Candied yams with marshmallows”, I knew that it would be a challenge to make low-carb marshmallows. It was easy to substitute the yams with pumpkin but I was struggling to find the right balance for the marshmallows. I’ve tried several ingredients until the marshmallows were just right – fluffy and amazing! The consistency is similar to meringue but a lot firmer. Best of all, they can be grilled!” From Carolyn from All Day I Dream About Food: Spicy Sausage and Cheddar Stuffing! From Kelly at the Spunky Coconut: Cauliflower Mash Potatoes! From Elana at Elana’s Pantry: Kale with Gomasio. Elana helped me when I first started my blog and I am very grateful! Elana’s says this is her favorite because, “My boys love both kale and gomasio and this classic kale dish with an Asian twist has been a staple at our Thanksgiving table since they were little.” From me: Green Bean Bundles. I chose this recipe because I still remember making these for the first time on Thanksgiving morning at my parent’s house and my mom told me to only make a few of them because no one would want them. HA! I showed her! The were the first things gone! From me: The Best Brussels Sprouts One of my favorite things to do on my morning runs is to listen to food podcasts. I really love KCRW Good Food based in California. Every week they do the “Market Report” from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. Oh, how I wished I lived in a warm climate right about now! But anyway, the last one I listened to discussed how to properly cook Brussels Sprouts. I never really understood why you would need to buy UNsalted butter if the butter you were getting used a high quality sea salt. They explained there are 2 reasons: 1. Is for you, the chef, to control the amount of salt. 2. Another important reason is that it changes if you FRY veggies or STEAM them. The tip they gave was to put the unsalted butter in the pan and heat until a bit of golden flecks appear (also called ‘brown butter’). Add your Brussels sprouts (cut in 1/2) and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. THEN add salt to taste. From me: Cheesy Scallop “Faux”tatoes MAIN DISHES: From Karen at Holistically Engineered: Roasted Turkey with Pan Gravy! BREADS: From Carol at Ditch the Wheat: Grain Free Herbed Biscuits! From me: KFC Biscuits My family always has crescent rolls at Thanksgiving. When these came out of the oven, the smell reminded me of a buttery roll on Thanksgiving morning…they tasted great too. The flavor reminds me of my past life of KFC buttermilk biscuits. DESSERTS From Carolyn from All Day I Dream About Food: Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars! From me: Pumpkin Pie Sorbet Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake Pecan Pie Leftovers From me: Leftover Turkey Tetrazzini I picked this recipe because the only way I will eat turkey is if it is drowning in a tasty sauce! From Sooze at Fluffy Chix Cook: Sour Cream Enchiladas Sooze writes: We’re from Texas, and everyone who’s anyone knows, the best part of Thanksgiving is the day AFTER Thanksgiving because that’s the day we all either go out to eat Tex-Mex–or, if you’re a sharp thinking low carb keto pro, make Tex-Mex at home. Olé! We’re all so tired of traditional turkey and dressing by that time, we’re ready to chow down on gooey, cheesy, insanely awesome queso, salsa and chips and a plate of gooey enchiladas with a side of guac (aka guacamole) thrown in for the hayull of it. (Texan for hell.) But holy guacamole! That’s not exactly low carb keto friendly. Or, is it? Out of sheer necessity and orneriness, the Fluffys developed an entire cache of Tex-Mex taste treats to extinguish the need to feed on high carbage nonsense. Try one of our TNT (tried n true) family classics like Fluffy Chix Cook’s Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas (Enchilada Suizas by any other name), and buy life insurance; cuz you’ll be so happy, you could just lay down and die. (Pssst, if you’re looking for a way to disguise the leftover turkey into non-turkular form, sub out the chicken and add the leftover turkey in the recipe. Turkey never had it so good as when it’s disguised as Tex-Mex Enchiladas!)” Testimony of the Day 30 Day Accelerated Testimony: “Hi Maria! I just had to write and tell you the coolest thing I just noticed! I am still lying on my driver’s license about my weight… BUT now I am 10 pounds lighter than what it says! Thanks for the comforting phone call last month. It helped me put everything together. Have fun with those cute little boys!” Sara If you want to get started on a path to health and healing, click HERE. You will not regret it!At the close of 2007, Jake Sigal had a choice to make. He was a product manager at automotive supplier Delphi’s consumer electronics group, which manufactured XM Satellite Radio portable players. Then XM and Sirius Satellite Radio announced a merger and Sigal “saw the writing on the wall.” “I always wanted to start a business,” says Sigal. “My background is in consumer electronics and there’s not a lot of consumer products that are made here in Detroit, and I figured, hey, it’s time to start my own company.” So, he took a buyout at Delphi and in January 2008, in the guest bedroom of his home in suburban Ferndale, MI, Sigal launched what would become Livio Radio, a developer of standalone Internet radios. His flagship products are two specially branded radios—one plays National Public Radio programs and the other plays Pandora, the personalized online radio service that announced yesterday it has hit the 60-million-user mark. Just a little more than two years later, Sigal has 10 employees, has moved the business out of his home and into an office down the street, and is the recipient of an investment from Beringea, one of Michigan’s largest venture capital firms. The secret, Sigal says, is really no secret at all. It’s just to focus on what customers tell you they want, rather than trying to create a need where none existed. People want to listen to Internet radio without being tethered to their computers. Livio provides that service. “We don’t invent technologies here,” Sigal says. “We only make the current technologies that people love more accessible.” Sigal is 28 years old, but looks even younger, with an athletic frame—he bikes to work every day—and a faux hawk hairstyle. We sat down a few weeks ago in his office, along with a newly hired marketing person who comes to Livio straight from the Detroit Red Wings. Up until now, though, Livio has not really needed any marketing help. Even before the Beringea investment, word of the products has spread through customers and early media coverage that occurred kind of organically. NPR approached Sigal at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2009 and asked if it was … Next Page » Trending on XconomyGoyder's Line moving south with climate change, SA scientists say, forcing farming changes Updated Climate change is moving a line drawn across South Australian maps 150 years ago to indicate the northern boundary of the state's good agricultural land, scientists have said. Farmers have used that imaginary boundary to determine where productive land ends and marginal land starts, but agricultural scientists say climate change is shifting the line south. Goyder's Line was first drawn by the state's surveyor-general in 1865, but the amount of arable land in SA is now decreasing. Farmers, such as Kym Fromm, who live near the edge of Goyder's Line have been watching and measuring as their regional climate changes. "A special interest for me, since I live a mile south of Goyder's Line, is that if the climate does change we're very sensitive to that change because we could quite easily end up in almost pastoral country... if it creeps down south," he said. That would mean a big farming change for Mr Fromm, at Orroroo, where he had been growing wheat for 40 years. He said most farmers were already adapting their cropping practices due to their expectation of hotter, drier conditions in future years. "Ninety per cent of them would say, 'No, climate change isn't real, especially human-induced climate change'," he said.. "But they're still adjusting their farming practices based on what they see so from my point of view I don't really care why they're doing it. "The fact is that they're doing it. They're adjusting their farming practice to what they see." Mr Fromm said farmers were keen to stay ahead of the shifting line. "If it does happen that we are in a changing climate that's actually not going to change back to normal, that's going to have huge implications on the financial status of farmers around here," he said. "That's probably my main concern. So far, when I've seen the changes that farmers have made and the way that they've been able to adapt so quickly already. I'm actually a lot more hopeful now." Climate scientist warns on rainfall reliability Goyder's Line stretches across maps of South Australia from Ceduna in the west, across to Spencer Gulf, north to Orroroo, then south and east across to the Victorian border at Pinnaroo. Climate scientist with Primary Industries SA Peter Hayman said farmers living close to the line had good reason to be worried. "If we were to say that would a warming, drying trend in the future put a downward shift on Goyder's Line, I think that's definitely the case," he said. "Climate science is less clear about trends for rainfall. There's really worrying aspects about the future for rainfall, but in coming decades there's a bit of uncertainty about how that will exactly play out." Despite rainfall questions, he expressed greater certainty about temperatures. "What there's more confidence in is the change in temperature, which would mean that wheat would grow faster," he said. "That can be dealt with to an extent, but if the change in temperature is delivered in more heat events — so these spring heat events like we've had this last year — if get more of those then that's a major concern." Further south and closer to Adelaide, the Clare Valley is known for its premium wines. Grape growers such as Malcolm Parish are searching abroad for new varieties they can plant which will better cope with hotter weather. "We're looking to different European countries now for what we're planting because we're looking for something that can handle the warmer temperature," he said. "Rather than perhaps the old French Bordeaux varieties that we've hung our hat on, we're thinking we're going to have to have a percentage of these newer varieties that will actually handle this different weather." While he said it was unlikely Goyder's Line would creep as far south as Clare, a changing climate could still threaten the varieties of grapes grown in the region and their delicate flavour profile. "Our Riesling here would be very susceptible to climate change because that is a soft-skin white, and Clare has made its name on Riesling," he said. "If you get a warmer year the grapes will create their sugar earlier, they'll develop a sweetness but they don't necessarily develop the fruit character you're looking for." Goyder's work remains important 150 years later The locals of Orroroo unveiled a corrugated iron statue of George Goyder in their town recently, indicating how seriously they take his calculations made during drought conditions in 1864-65. The imaginary line was first drawn by the surveyor-general to indicate that graziers north of that line would need government support to be able to farm and later became considered the rainfall line across SA. Goyder made extensive expeditions across rural areas of the state and mapped 19th century changes in the vegetation. Adelaide now has a Goyder Institute, where water research is done. One of its researchers, Professor Simon Beecham, said of Goyder: "When you think what he did back in those times, it is quite phenomenal. It's proven to be very, very accurate even though it was done purely on observation rather than any numerical analysis. Prof
The sensible Rutilianus lost no time, but sent for the maiden at once, celebrated the nuptials, a sexagenarian bridegroom, and lived with her, propitiating his divine mother-in-law with whole hecatombs, and reckoning himself now one of the heavenly company. His finger once in the Italian pie, Alexander devoted himself to getting further. Sacred envoys were sent all over the Roman Empire, warning the various cities to be on their guard against pestilence and conflagrations, with the prophet's offers of security against them. One oracle in particular, an autophone again, he distributed broadcast at a time of pestilence. It was a single line: “Phoebus long-tressed the plague-cloud shall dispel.” This was everywhere to be seen written up on doors as a prophylactic. Its effect was generally disappointing; for it somehow happened that the protected houses were just the ones to be desolated. Not that I would suggest for a moment that the line was their destruction; but, accidentally no doubt, it did so fall out. Possibly common people put too much confidence in the verse, and lived carelessly without troubling to help the oracle against its foe; were there not the towards fighting their battle, and long-tressed Phoebus discharging his arrows at the pestilence? In Rome itself he established an intelligence bureau well-manned with his accomplices. They sent him people's characters, forecasts of their questions, and hints of their ambitions, so that the had his answers ready before the messengers reached him. It was with his eye on this Italian propaganda, too, that he took a further step. This was the institution of mysteries, with hierophants and torch-bearers complete. The ceremonies occupied three successive days. On the first, proclamation was made on the Athenian model to this effect: “If there be any atheist or Christian or Epicurean here spying upon our rites, let him depart in haste; and let all such as have faith in the god be initiated and all blessing attained them.” He led the litany with, “Christians, avaunt!” and the crowd responded, “Epicureans, avaunt!” Then was presented the child-bed of Leto and birth of Apollo, the bridal of Coronis, Asclepius born. The second day, the epiphany and nativity of the god Glycon. On the third came the wedding of Podalirius and Alexander's mother; this was called Torch-day, and torches were used. The finale was the loves of Selene and Alexander, and the birth of Rutilianus' wife. The torch-bearer and hierophant was Endymion-Alexander. He was discovered lying asleep; to him from heaven, represented by the ceiling, enter as Selene one Rutilia, a great beauty, and wife of one of the Imperial procurators. She and Alexander were lovers off the stage too, and the wretched husband had to look on at their public kissing and embracing; if there had not been a good supply of torches, things might possibly have gone even further. Shortly after, he reappeared amidst a profound hush, attired as hierophant; in a loud voice he called, “Hail, Glycon!”, whereto the Eumolpidae and Ceryces of Paphlagonia, with their clod-hopping shoes and their garlic breath, made sonorous response, “Hail, Alexander!” The torch ceremony with its ritual skippings often enabled him to bestow a glimpse of his thigh, which was thus discovered to be of gold; it was presumably enveloped in cloth of gold, which glittered in the lamp-light. This gave rise to a debate between two wiseacres, whether the golden thigh meant that he had inherited Pythagoras' soul, or merely that their two souls were alike; the question was referred to Alexander himself, and King Glycon relived their perplexity with an oracle: “Waxes and wanes Pythagoras' soul: the seer's Is from the mind of Zeus an emanation. His Father sent him, virtuous men to aid, And with his bolt one day shall call him home.” I will now give you a conversation between Glycon and one Sacerdos of Tius; the intelligence of the latter you many gauge from his questions. I read it inscribed in gold letters in Sacerdos' house at Tius. “Tell me, lord Glycon, ” said he, “who you are.” “The new Asclepius.” “Another, different from the former one? Is that the meaning?” “That is not lawful for you to learn.” “And how many years will you sojourn and prophesy among us?” “A thousand and three.” “And after that, whither will you go?” “To Bactria; for the barbarians too must be blessed with my presence.” “The other oracles, at Didymus and Clarus and Delphi, have they still the spirit of your grandsire Apollo, or are the answers that now come from them forgeries?” “That, too, desire not to know; it is not lawful.” “What shall I be after this life?” “A camel; then a horse; then a wise man, no less a prophet than Alexander.” Such was the conversation. There was added to it an oracle in verse, inspired by the fact that Sacerdos was an associate of Lepidus: “Shun Lepidus; an evil fate awaits him.” As I have said, Alexander was much afraid of Epicurus, and the solvent action of his logic on imposture. On one occasion, indeed, an Epicurean got himself into great trouble by daring to expose him before a great gathering. He came up and addressed him in a loud voice, “Alexander, it was you who induced So-and-so the Paphlagonian to bring his slaves before the governor of Galatia, charged with the murder of his son who was being educated in Alexandria. Well, the young man is alive, and has come back, to find that the slaves had been cast to the beasts by your machinations.” What had happened was this: The lad had sailed up the Nile, gone on to a Red Sea port, found a vessel starting for India, and been persuaded to make the voyage. He being long overdue, the unfortunate slaves supposed that he had either perished in the Nile or fallen a victim to some of the pirates who infested it at that time; so they came home to report his disappearance. Then followed the oracle (indicting the slaves with murder), the sentence, and finally the young man's return with the story of his absence. All this the Epicurean recounted. Alexander was much annoyed by the exposure, and could not stomach so well deserved an affront; he directed the company to stone the man, on pain of being involved in his impiety and called Epicureans. However, when they set to work, a distinguished Pontic called Demostratus, who was staying there, rescued him by interposing his own body; the man had the narrowest possible escape from being stoned to death—as he richly deserved to be; what business had he to be the only sane man in a crowed of madmen, and needlessly make himself the butt of Paphlagonian infatuation? This was a special case; but it was the practice for the names of applicants to be read out the day before answers were given; the herald asked whether each was to receive his oracle; hand sometimes the reply came from within: To perdition! One so repulsed could get shelter, fire or water, from no man; he must be driven from land to land as a blasphemer, an atheist, and—lowest depth of all—an Epicurean! In this connection Alexander once made himself supremely ridiculous. Coming across Epicurus's Principal Doctrines, the most admirable of his books, as you know, with its terse presentment of his wise conclusions, he brought it into the middle of the marketplace, there burned it on a figwood fire for the sins of its author, and cast its ashes into the sea. He issued an oracle on the occasion: “The dotard's doctrines to the flames be given.” The fellow had no conception of the blessings conferred by that book upon its readers, of the peace, tranquillity, and independence of mind it produces, of the protection it gives against terrors, phantoms, and marvels, vain hopes and insubordinate desires, of the judgment and candor that it fosters, or of its true purging of the spirit, not with torches and squills and such rubbish, but with right reason, truth, and frankness. Perhaps the greatest example of our rogue's audacity is what I now come to. Having easy access to Palace and Court by Rutilianus' influence, he sent an oracle just at the crisis of the German war, when M. Aurelius was on the point of engaging the Marcomanni and Quadi. The oracle required that two lions should be flung alive into the Danube, with quantities of sacred herbs and magnificent sacrifices. I had better give the words: “To rolling Ister, swoln with Heaven's rain, Of Cybelean thralls, those mountain beasts, Fling ye a pair; therewith all flowers and herbs Of savor sweet that Indian air doth breed. Hence victory, and fame, and lovely peace.” These directions were precisely followed; the lions swam across to the enemy's bank, where they were clubbed to death by the barbarians, who took them for dogs or a new kind of wolves; and our forces immediately after met with a severe defeat, losing some twenty thousand men in one engagement. This was followed by the Aquileian incident, in the course of which that city was nearly lost. In view of these results, Alexander warmed up that stale Delphian defense of the Croesus oracle: the god had foretold a victory, forsooth, but had not stated whether Romans or barbarians should have it. The constant increase in the number of visitors, the inadequacy of accommodation in the city, and the difficulty of finding provisions for consultants, led to his introducing what he called night oracles. He received the packets, slept upon them, in his own phrase, and gave answers which the god was supposed to send him in dreams. These were generally not lucid, but ambiguous and confused, especially when he came to packets sealed with exceptional care. He did not risk tampering with these, but wrote down any words that came into his head, the results obtained corresponding well enough to his conception of the oracular. There were regular interpreters in attendance, who made considerable sums out of the recipients by expounding and unriddling these oracles. This office contributed to his revenue, the interpreters paying him 12.5 talents each [~8,300 troy ounces of silver]. Sometimes he stirred the wonder of the silly by answers to persons who had neither brought nor sent questions, and in fact did not exist. Here is a specimen: “Who is't, thou askst, that with Calligenia All secretly defiles the nuptial bed? The slave Protogenes, whom most thou trustest. Him thou enjoyedst: he their wife enjoys The fit return for that thine outrage done. And know that baleful drugs for thee are brewed, Lest thou or see or hear their evil deeds. Close by the wall, at they bed's head, make search. Thy maid Calypso to their plot is privy.” The names and circumstantial details might stagger a Democritus, till a moment's thought shod him the despicable trick. He often gave answers in Syriac or Celtic to barbarians who questioned him in their own tongue, though he had difficult in finding compatriots of theirs in the city. In these cases there was a long interval between application and response, during which the packet might be securely opened at leisure, and somebody found capable of translating the question. The following is answer given to a Scythian: “Morphi ebargulis for night Chnenchicrank shall leave the light.” Another oracle to someone who neither came nor existed was in prose. “Return the way thou camest,” it ran; “for he that sent thee hath this day been slain by his neighbor Diocles, with aid of the robbers Magnus, Celer, and Bubalus, who are taken and in chains.” I must give you one or two of the answers that fell to my share. I asked whether Alexander was bald, and having sealed it publicly with great care, got a night oracle in reply: “Sabardalachu malach Attis was not he.” Another time I did up the same question—“What was Homer's birthplace?”—in two packets given in under different names. My servant misled him by saying, when asked what he came for, a cure for lung trouble; so the answer to one packet was: “Cytmide and foam of steed the liniment give.” As for the other packet, he got the information that the sender was inquiring whether the land or the sea route to Italy was preferable. So he answered, without much reference to Homer: “Fare not by sea; land travel meets thy need.” I laid a good many traps of this kind for him; here is another: I asked only one question, but wrote outside the packet in the usual form, So-and-so's eight Queries, giving a fictitious name and sending the 120 drachmas [~13.6 troy ounces of silver]. Satisfied with the payment of the money and the inscription on the packet, he gave me eight answers to my one question. This was, “When will Alexander's imposture be detected?” The answers concerned nothing in heaven or earth, but were all silly and meaningless together. He afterwards found out about this, and also that I had tried to dissuade Rutilianus both from marriage and from putting any confidence in the oracle; so he naturally conceived a violent dislike for me. When Rutilianus once put a question to him about me, the answer was: “Night haunts and foul debauch are all his joy.” It is true his dislike was quite justified. On a certain occasion I was passing through Abonutichus, with a spearman and a pikeman whom my friend the governor of Cappadocia had lent me as an escort on my way to the sea. Ascertaining that I was the Lucian he knew of, he sent me a very polite and hospitable invitation. I found him with a numerous company; by good luck I had brought my escort. He gave me his hand to kiss according to his usual custom. I took hold of it as if to kiss, but instead bestowed on it a sound bite that must have come near disabling it. The company, who were already offended at my calling him Alexander instead of Prophet, were inclined to throttle and beat me for sacrilege. But he endured the pain like a man, checked their violence, and assured them that he would easily tame me, and illustrate Glycon's greatness in converting his bitterest foes to friends. He then dismissed them all, and argued the matter with me: he was perfectly aware of my advice to Rutilianus; why had I treated him so, when I might have been preferred by him to great influence in that quarter? By this time I had realized my dangerous position, and was only too glad to welcome these advances; I presently went my way in all friendship with him. The rapid change wrought in me greatly impressed the observers. When I intended to sail, he sent me many parting gifts, and offered to find us (Xenophon and me, that is; I had sent my father and family on to Amastris) a ship and crew—which offer I accepted in all confidence. When the passage was half over, I observed the master in tears arguing with his men, which made me very uneasy. It turned out that Alexander's orders were to seize and fling us overboard; in that case his war with me would have been lightly won. But the crew were prevailed upon by the master's tears to do us no harm. “I am sixty years old, as you can see,” he said to me; “I have lived an honest blameless life so far, and I should not like at my time of life, with a wife and children too, to stain my hands with blood.” And with that preface he informed us what we were there for, and what Alexander had told him to do. He landed us at Aegiali, of Homeric fame, and thence sailed home. Some Bosphoran envoys happened to be passing, on their way to Bithynia with the annual tribute from their king Eupator. They listened kindly to my account of our dangerous situation, I was taken on board, and reached Amastris safely after my narrow escape. From that time it was war between Alexander and me, and I left no stone unturned to get my revenge. Even before his plot I had hated him, revolted by his abominable practices, and I now busied myself with the attempt to expose him; I found plenty of allies, especially in the circle of Timocrates, the Heracleot philosopher. But Avitus, the then governor of Bithynia and Pontus, restrained me, I may almost say with prayers and entreaties. He could not possibly spoil his relations with Rutilianus, he said, by punishing the man, even if he could get clear evidence against him. Thus arrested in my course, I did not persist in what must have been, considering the disposition of the judge, a fruitless prosecution. Among instances of Alexander's presumption, a high place must be given to his petition to the Emperor: the name of Abonutichus was to be changed to Ionopolis; and a new coin was to be struck, with a representation on the obverse of Glycon, and, on the reverse, Alexander bearing the garlands proper to his paternal grandfather Asclepius, and the famous scimitar his maternal ancestor Perseus. He stated in an oracle that he was destined to live to a hundred and fifty, and then die by a thunderbolt; he had in fact, before he reached seventy, an end very said for a son of Podalirius, his leg mortifying from foot to groin and being eaten of worms; it then proved that he was bald, as he was forced by pain to let the doctors make cooling applications to his head, which they could not do without removing his wig. So ended Alexander's heroics; such was the catastrophe of his tragedy; one would like to find a special providence in it, though doubtless chance must have the credit. The funeral celebration was to be worthy of his life, taking the form of a contest—for possession of the oracle. The most prominent of the impostors his accomplices referred it to Rutilianus' arbitration which of them should be selected to succeed to the prophetic office and wear the hierophantic oracular garland. Among these was numbered the gray-haired physician Paetus, dishonoring equally his gray hairs and his profession. But Steward-of-the-Games Rutilianus sent them about their business ungarlanded, and continued the defunct in possession of his holy office. My object, dear friend, in making this small selection from a great mass of material has been twofold. First, I was willing to oblige a friend and comrade who is for me the pattern of wisdom, sincerity, good humor, justice, tranquillity, and geniality. But secondly I was still more concerned (a preference which you may be far from resenting) to strike a blow for Epicurus, that great man whose holiness and divinity of nature were not shams, who alone had and imparted true insight into the good, and who brought deliverance to all that consorted with him. Yet I think causal readers too may find my essay not unserviceable, since it is not only destructive, but for men of sense, constructive also.The impacts of the Great East Japan Earthquake on people living in the Tohoku and Kanto districts and on Japanese society in general were, in many ways, beyond description. The earthquake and the accompanying tsunami destroyed many cities along the east coast of the Tohoku and Kanto districts. However, an additional long-lasting disaster was the nuclear pollution caused by the collapse of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). This event was the second worst nuclear accident in the world, next to the Chernobyl accident. At the time of the collapse of the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP, Japanese government and TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) could not evacuate people efficiently from the area around the NPP, in part because they did not want to release information on the disaster. From the outset, it appeared that the Japanese government and TEPCO were making every conceivable effort to save the nuclear industry (but not to help people living in Fukushima and vicinity) and to minimize the financial damage and negative publicity resulting from this accident. To achieve their goals, the authorities concealed information that would have put them in a worse position if it had been released. This governmental behavior is not unexpected; similar behavior was seen in the former Soviet Union at the Chernobyl accident. This is understandable in the sense that nuclear policy is strategically sensitive and is involved with making a nation strong militarily and economically. Such restriction of information for political reasons in connection with the governmental alignment with the nuclear industry is, in my opinion, the worst aspect of the use of nuclear energy to produce electricity in any country. Withholding important information hampers the public from making democratic decisions, and it violates the people’s right to know and scientists’ academic freedom. When the shock of the Great East Japan Earthquake hit the country, we were studying butterflies “peacefully” at the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. (I wrote “peacefully”, but Okinawa is the place where the worst ground battle took place between the United States and Japan during World War II, with a massive number of deaths of Okinawan people. Okinawa was formally under United States control from soon after the end of the war until 1972. Even now, most US military bases in Japan are located on Okinawa.) One of our favorite butterflies is the pale grass blue, which is the most abundant butterfly in Japan (including Okinawa but excluding Hokkaido). Although I was trained in olfactory neurobiology at Columbia University, New York, I had been interested in butterfly biology as an amateur lepidopterologist and butterfly physiologist since I was a little child. Thus, I have had a strong interest in using Japanese butterflies for molecular physiological studies. Immediately after returning to Japan from the University of Cambridge, U.K., more than a decade ago, I started working on the pale grass blue butterfly at Kanagawa University and then at the University of the Ryukyus. Originally, I focused on the pale grass blue butterfly from developmental and evolutionary perspectives, i.e., how wing color patterns are determined, constructed, and changed over time, and this is still an important core topic in my laboratory. We have established the standard rearing method for this species. Our methodology was published in 2010, approximately one year before the NPP accident (Hiyama et al., 2010). In this modest but important accomplishment and also in subsequent studies of this butterfly, my student Atsuki Hiyama was a major player. The idea that this butterfly may be useful for environmental monitoring accompanied our previous evolutionary study on this butterfly at the northern margin of its range (Otaki et al., 2010; Hiyama et al., 2012a). Fortunately, this research was appreciated by highly respected and prominent evolutionary biologists (Buckley et al., 2010). When the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred, I believe that everyone felt deeply sorry for people who lived in highly polluted areas. At the same time, everyone was thinking of ways in which they could help. Shortly after the accident, one graduate student of mine, Chiyo Nohara, felt that she wanted to do something. She and A.H. together discussed the possibility of using the pale grass blue. In a regular lab meeting, they proposed to me that the pale grass blue might be used to examine the possible biological impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident. I agreed instantly because that was what I had been thinking about and because there seemed to be no technical difficulty associated with this project. The technical problems of rearing the butterfly had already been solved by A.H.. Moreover, active students’ proposals based on high motivations are my priority for deciding on research directions in our laboratory. We are not in a research institute, but we are in a university. As expected, we received a variety of opinions, comments, and advice on this matter from other students in our laboratory and from other professors in our university even before starting this research. Many of them discouraged us. Some worried about us because radioactive materials are hazardous to health. Some worried that our research might annoy people living in the polluted areas, the nuclear power industry, and Japanese government, implying that the research would politically dangerous. However, over and above theses considerations, we were terrified by the pollution itself and by the continuing release of radioactive materials. We are also terrified by the possibility of additional earthquakes and further breaches of the NPP. However, we convinced ourselves that we as scientists should contribute to something that provides biological truth on this issue. We soon noticed that we had to collect the first-voltine butterflies that will emerge at the beginning of May 2011. Otherwise, we might miss the real impact of the pollution. The first-voltine individuals were overwintering larvae at the time of the collapse. Most surely, they received massive doses externally. In April, larvae eat new leaves for growth. Therefore, they surely ate radioactive materials on the surface of leaves and inside leaves, resulting in internal exposures. They then pupated and eclosed at the beginning of May. We had to catch them! At that point, I did not know that insects had been characterized as being highly resistant to radiation. A professor who formerly worked at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences advised us that our research plan would be futile, because insects are generally highly resistant to radiation. I thought it over and considered readings on the topic that had been suggested but I came to the conclusion that such a “common sense” conclusion in radiation biology was not supported by solid experimental evidence. As a lepidopterologist, I know that the pale grass blue is quite resilient to environmental stress on the population, but it is also highly sensitive to environmental changes at the individual level. Moreover, if we could not detect anything abnormal after a thorough examination, this would be welcome news for the public because it might mean that the pollution level could be safe, at least for this butterfly. At that point, we also thought that many ecologists and other biologists in Japan would study the biological impacts of this accident because this issue is probably the single most important one in the Japanese ecosystem. In retrospect, a very limited number of laboratories studied this aspect of the Fukushima nuclear accident. In a sense, this is surprising, but in a different sense, this is not unexpected. Most of us are “professional” scientists who live on a particular research topic defined by a study field. I believe that science should be driven, at least partly, by “social demands for knowledge” sensu lato. (People worldwide wanted to know what really occurred in Fukushima.) In short, the Fukushima accident revealed a very discouraging fact; most scientists today in Japan do not care much about their social responsibility except for doing their institutionalized research. Luckily, another graduate student, Seira Kinjo, agreed with us and joined us to work on this project. We had no financial support, but we at least had sufficient human resources. We made a detailed plan for our fieldwork, which would last for a week. When these three graduate students of mine (A.H., C.N., and S.K.) and I entered the polluted areas to collect butterflies approximately two months after the accident, the overall radioactivity was still very high, and highways were physically wavy in some areas. However, we managed to complete our first mission, which covered Tokyo, Ibaraki Prefecture (Tsukuba, Mito, and Takahagi), Fukushima Prefecture (Iwaki, Hirono, Koriyama, Motomiya, and Fukushima), and Miyagi Prefecture (Shiroishi). We subsequently performed several experiments (i.e., morphological examination of the collected butterflies, morphological and physiological examinations of the next generation of butterflies, an internal exposure experiment, and an external exposure experiment) to show the correlation and causality of the NPP accident in relationship to observations of morphological abnormalities and deaths in the butterfly. These experiments were primarily based on the concept that we would reproduce, in the laboratory, what might have occurred in the field. We have been studying butterfly color pattern evolution with this approach. That is, we have been trying to reproduce evolutionary changes in the laboratory at the phenotypic level using Vanessa, Junonia, and Zizeeria butterflies. We have applied this approach to this case of environmental pollution by radioactive materials. We also completed our second mission in September 2011 to obtain information that would allow the results for May and September 2011 to be compared. We published our results without delay on August 9, 2012 in a new open access journal, Scientific Reports (Hiyama et al., 2012b) to allow free access to our article and contribute to the understanding of the biological status of Fukushima. Coincidentally, the date of publication was the anniversary of the A-bomb attack on Nagasaki. (I am originally from Nagasaki.) Immediately after the publication of this paper, we received a massive number of responses from media, scientists, and the public worldwide. The paper has now 331,433 page views as of March 28, 2015. Some scientists criticized us politely, pointing out some points that we could not demonstrate in the paper. I appreciate their comments. However, other responses were sharp criticisms that lacked any scientific basis. Most likely, these critics firmly believe that nothing biological should happen because of the Fukushima NPP accident. Some of them appear to have read the paper intelligently and to have understood what wepresented, but they still tried to discredit the paper by offering trivial or non-scientific criticisms. The critics likely followed a program of attacking any suggestions that appeared to oppose ideas about the use of nuclear energy. Because free discussion is the core idea in science, I believe that personal attacks in science are inappropriate. Scientific discussion in this sense requires love of others in addition to love of truth. In other words, open discussion is the heart of science, and such discussion should not be personal or political, at least ideally. Otherwise, open discussion would be impossible. Open discussion on Fukushima seems to be rather difficult now. Fortunately, we received many appreciations from international media. The BBC was the very first to e-mail me and covered our story, at least on the Internet and worldwide radio. I was particularly surprised to know that a French newspaper, Le Monde, and a French popular science magazine, Science & Vie, covered our story extensively, given that France is promoting the use of nuclear energy. It was like the experience of a great difference between a fully developed self-governed nation (i.e., France) and an immature nation that is always influenced by other international pressures (i.e., Japan). I simply believe that politics must be built on open knowledge, whether it is for or against nuclear reactors. At the end of 2012, Nature announced its high-scoring papers based on the Altmetrics framework. To our real surprise, our paper was ranked top in the world (Noorden, 2012). I believe that it is a good idea to evaluate papers in terms of multiple aspects, in addition to the conventional impact factors, and in that sense, I welcomed the Altmetric score. In 2013, I presented our results in the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution in Chicago. Nature covered our story in the news section (Callaway, 2013). Above all, we were generously helped and encouraged by some researchers who logically understand our research (e.g., Møller and Mousseau, 2013; Akimoto, 2014). I note two peculiar aspects of radiation biology. It appears that the basic philosophy of biology is not understood well in this field. (This criticism may only apply to a handful of radiation biologists.) First, in science in general, it is quite difficult to prove “nothing happened”. To prove this proposition, the experimental system should be well defined and investigated thoroughly. Simple failure and rough investigations almost always result in “no results” or “nothing happened”. On the other hand, it is relatively easy to disprove “nothing happened”, because all one has to do is to find anything that happened. Second, there are many simulation studies in radiation biology, and such studies are considered “facts” in this field. In general, biologists are notoriously unconvinced by simulation and other theoretical studies. This is because any simulation may be correct but may be incorrect. That is, any kind of phenomena can be simulated. To be sure, simulations themselves are admissible and often very important, but they should be treated as simulations, not as facts. Nuclear policy is one of the most important types of policy for any modern nation. The Manhattan Project during World War II was a component of the defense effort against Nazi Germany, and numerous nuclear bombs have been produced since then. The nuclear materials are also intended for “peaceful purposes” to justify the development of the nuclear power technologies. Richard Feynman, who was involved in the Manhattan Project and was a Nobel laureate in physics, has stated in a critical essay that nuclear power plants are just enormous machines for boiling water. It is well known that Japan is the only nation in history to be attacked with atomic bombs, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki are famous. Officially, Japan cannot have nuclear bombs on its soil due to a constitutional ban. Therefore, the Japanese government has made many efforts to build and maintain nuclear power plants (instead of producing nuclear bombs explicitly) throughout the nation and, furthermore, to advocate the absolute safety of nuclear power, although Japan has frequent earthquakes. In my opinion, Japan has numerous time bombs waiting to go off that will be triggered by earthquakes or volcanic activity in the future. In this sense, the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP is just the first bomb to be triggered. In retrospect, we contributed to the knowledge of what really occurred at Fukushima. Our work had the chance to be highlighted because other scientists are so frightened that they ignored the public demand for knowledge. Many more scientists should have become involved in this issue because it was potentially a great accident that might have shaken the entire nation. (Most radioactive materials were dispersed to the Pacific Ocean, and Tokyo was not heavily polluted. We should recognize that Japan was simply lucky; an unlucky situation could have destroyed Tokyo and Japan almost entirely.) Science and technology should not lose the core value that all stems from academic freedom and open discussion. Science should not be used to restrict people’s view of life. Rather, science should open up a new world for people. We are making further progress on this issue now. We responded to comments from all over the world in a correspondence paper (Hiyama et al., 2013). We discussed philosophical aspects of this issue (Taira et al., 2014). We reported how genetic mutants resemble Fukushima aberrations (Iwata et al., 2013). We further evaluated the impacts of ingested radioactive materials for two generations (Nohara et al., 2014a, b). We reported the spatiotemporal dynamics of the impact from 2011 to 2013 (Hiyama et al., 2015). Luckily, we now have a very supportive graduate student from Okinawa, Wataru Taira, who has a good knowledge of butterflies. We also have a few more graduate students, Mayo Iwasaki from Tochigi, Ko Sakauchi from Fukushima, and Masaki Iwata from Miyagi. They are from the Tohoku and Kanto districts. However, I do not know how far we can go in this line of research. We have a very limited financial ability and workforce. University of the Ryukyus was built by the United States when Okinawa was still a part of it, and the University is now one of the local national universities. It seems that the Japanese government is now making a major step toward minimizing the financial ability and academic freedom of local national universities. Please watch us to see how far we can defend academic freedom in Okinawa and Japan in this early phase of the 21st century. References Akimoto, S. 2014. “Morphological abnormalities in gall-forming aphids in a radiation-contaminated area near Fukushima Daiichi: selective impact of fallout?” Ecology and Evolution no.4: 355-369. doi: 10.1002/ece3.949 Buckley, J., J. R. Bridle, A. Pomiankowski. 2010. “Novel variation associated with species range expansion.” BMC Evolutionary Biology no. 10: 382. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-10-382 Callaway, E. 2013. “Fukushima offers real-time ecolab.” Nature no. 499: 265-266. doi: 10.1038/499265a Hiyama, A., M. Iwata, J. M. Otaki. 2010. “Rearing the pale grass blue Zizeeria maha (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae): Toward the establishment of a lycaenid model system for butterfly physiology and genetics.” Entomological Science no. 13: 293-302. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-8298.2010.00387.x Hiyama, A., W. Taira, J. M. Otaki. 2012a. “Color-pattern evolution in response to environmental stress in butterflies.” Frontiers in Genetics no. 3: 15. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2012.00015. Hiyama, A., C. Nohara, S. Kinjo, W. Taira, S. Gima, A. Tanahara, J. M. Otaki. 2012b. “The biological impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident on the pale grass blue butterfly.” Scientific Reports no. 2: 570. doi: 10.1038/srep00570 Hiyama, A., C. Nohara, W. Taira, S. Kinjo, M. Iwata, J. M. Otaki. 2013. “The Fukushima nuclear accident and the pale grass blue butterfly: evaluating biological effects of long-term low-dose exposures.” BMC Evolutionary Biology no. 13: 168. doi: 10.
how are we able to say the same thing from one occasion to the next. The puzzle becomes clearly important when we consider a population who can’t say the same thing from one occasion to another. And if extended to thought, so we wonder how we can think the same thought on different occasions, then again, not being able to do so would put paid to memory. So it’s a capacity that is unremarked upon but remarkable, and you develop your theory of ‘semantic relationism’ to explain it. This theory is designed to replace a view that resemblance is the key to understanding how we can repeat ourselves. Can you tell us what your theory is and why it is far better than the resemblance view? KF: Take two lines and suppose they are parallel. Then in virtue of what, if anything, are they parallel? One possible answer is that they are parallel in virtue of having the same direction. In other words, there is a certain feature of lines, their direction, and two lines are parallel in virtue of having this feature in common. This is the resemblance view. Now it is not at all clear that it is correct. One might well have thought that lines do not possess an ‘intrinsic’ direction and that far from understanding parallelism between lines in terms of their direction one should understand direction in terms of parallelism, that direction is what is common to parallel lines. Now consider the analogous case of synonymy, or saying the same thing. You say ‘Obama is president’ and I say ‘Obama is president’ and we are thereby same-sayers. But in virtue of what, if anything, are we same-sayers? Almost every philosopher who has considered this question has wanted to adopt the resemblance view. They have wanted to say that we are same-sayers in virtue of saying the same thing. In other words, there is something I say and something you say and it is in virtue of this thing being the same that we are same-sayers. The basic idea behind semantic relationism is that this tempting thought is mistaken, that, just as in the case of direction, what is said is to be understood in terms of same-saying rather than the other way round. One advantage of the relationist view over the resemblance view concerns the question of why the sentence ‘Hesperus is Phosphorus’ is informative while the sentence ‘Hesperus is Hesperus’ is not, given that they appear to say the same thing. viz. that a given planet is the same as itself. The relationist can admit that they say the same thing in the sense of having the same intrinsic meaning, while denying that they stand in the same-saying relation. Just as two lines intrinsically the same in terms of length can be relationally different in terms of parallelism, so two sentences intrinsically the same in meaning can be relationally different in terms of same-saying. 3:AM: Some journalists and non-philosophers have been rather carping of certain types of philosophy, saying that its trivial, nit-picking and no longer doing what philosophers of old did. They also complain that they can’t read it anymore because it is technical and difficult to grasp what is at stake. Reading your work, what can seem philosophical abstruse issues and technically dense arguments open up startlingly fresh and new imaginative vistas don’t they? How would you characterize the point of doing philosophy? KF: Philosophy is no more interesting than its questions. What is the nature of space of time? What is the relationship between mind and body? How do we know it’s not all a dream? If you’re not interested in the questions then you’re not going to be interested in the subject and you might as well turn to something else. It might appear surprising that these questions, which we can all appreciate, should lead to work that is so difficult to understand. But consider Fermat‘s Last Theorem. All of us with a modicum of mathematics can understand the theorem but very few of us can follow the proof. I am not suggesting that the disconnect between the questions and the answers is as great in philosophy as it is in mathematics, but I do not think one should be surprised if seemingly innocent questions should lead, step by step, into ever greater levels of complexity and difficulty. 3:AM: Eric Schwitzgebel argues that metaphysical theories at some point must part company with common sense. He labels this position ‘crazyism’. Are you a crazyist in this sense? KF: No, I’m a non-crazyist. I’m firmly of the opinion that real progress in philosophy can only come from taking common sense seriously. A departure from common sense is usually an indication that a mistake has been made. If you like, common sense is the data of philosophy and a philosopher should no more ignore common sense than a scientist should ignore the results of observation. A good example concerns ontology. Many philosophers have wanted to deny that there are chairs or numbers of the like. This strikes me as crazy and is an indication that they have not had a proper understanding of what is at issue. By recognizing that these things are crazy we can then come to a better understanding of what is at issue and of how the questions of ontology are to be resolved. 3:AM Experimental philosophy asks that philosophers leave their armchairs. So they would ask perhaps whether maths really is a priori, say, or whether principles of abstraction do work like Frege said they did, and then they’d experiment on the folk to find out. So what is your view about the role of non-a priori approaches to metaphysics? KF: I am not especially enamored of my armchair and would be happy to leave it if I thought that it would be of help in answering the questions of interest to me. But I fail to see how it could be. Consider the question of whether mathematics is a priori or whether principles of abstraction of the sort proposed by Frege might provide a foundation for a significant part of mathematics. How could asking the folk possibly be of any help in answering these questions? Physicists don’t ask the folk to look down telescopes and mathematicians don’t ask folk to assess the plausibility of their axiom. And so why should it be any different for philosophy? Or, take another analogy. We don’t ask the folk to read X-rays since it takes skill and training to know what to make of them – to understand whether a particular blotch, for example, has any real significance. It is no different, it seems to me, in regard to the intuitions of philosophers. One needs skill and training to know what to make of them and it would be a terrible retrograde step to rely instead on the untutored judgments of ordinary folk. 3:AM: You’re also concerned to pursue questions that you think we’ve got the right tools for. You give as an example the case of economics where they started to use the tools of physics in order to get precision and went disastrously wrong until Keith Arrow sorted out the mess. So are there areas in philosophy at the moment which you think are pretty futile to pursue, or examples from the past to illustrate what you think? KF: Yes, you have to know when to ask a question. Until recently, there was no point in trying to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem. The mathematical tools were not available. And similarly in philosophy. But great judgment is required in order to know when is a good time to ask a question. You have to match the tools available against the difficulty of the problem; and it is very easy to over-estimate the power of the tools and to under-estimate the difficulty of the problem. In my opinion, many of the questions philosophers currently consider are not worth pursuing – not because they are of no interest but because we do not yet possess the tools to make any real progress with them. These include the mind-body problem, the problem of free will, and the problem of skepticism. I feel that contemporary philosophers asking these questions is like the ancient Greeks asking about the constitution of matter or the nature of the cosmos. Good questions, to be sure but no point, at the current stage of inquiry, in trying to answer them. 3:AM: Have you ever changed your mind on a significant point through thinking hard about something or listening to someone else’s argument? It seems rare in philosophy and this is rather peculiar isn’t it if philosophical enquiry is about being open minded? KF: Yes, I have changed my mind on a number of issues and one thing that has surprised me is that I have become more Kantian in my thinking. I used to hate Kant and everything he stood for, while recognizing that he was one of the greatest of philosophers. But I have now come round to some of his ideas, especially in the philosophy of mathematics. Yes, it is relatively rare for philosophers to change their minds – and perhaps somewhat disturbing. Perhaps one reason is that decisive refutation is so unusual in philosophy and most of us have the tendency to stick to our opinions unless we are given some pretty compelling reasons to change them. A related reason is that good ideas in philosophy are like good wine; it needs to mature to be at its best. So we spend a lot of time letting our ideas mature and, before you know it, it’s too late to do anything else! 3:AM: After the low period of the Positivist attack on metaphysics, the subject seems to be in the ascendency again. Is this your feeling about the subject and how do you account for its resurgence? KF: Yes, it is in the ascendent. Why? Perhaps the main reason is that you cannot keep a good question down. You can be told that certain questions are meaningless and even be given apparently compelling arguments for thinking that they are, but if they strike you as meaningful then you are not going to be convinced. Suppose that a friend of yours has been in a serious accident and you wonder whether they have died. A philosopher then tells you that it is a meaningless question and even gives you apparently compelling arguments (where do you draw the line between life and death etc etc). Are you going to stop worrying? Of course not. And the same is true for many of the questions of metaphysics. I personally could not care a toss for the many arguments that philosophers have presented for thinking that certain metaphysical questions are meaningless, even if I could not see what was wrong with them. If, on a careful reflection, a question just struck me as meaningful, then this intuitive evidence of meaningfulness would far outweigh any philosophical argument to the contrary. 3:AM: Having said that, there seems to be a kind of philosophy envy coming from the physicists these days. So Hawking recently said that philosophy is dead because physics explains it all which I took as an act of desperation on behalf of a scientific community that doesn’t do well in drawing very sophisticated inferences from their data. What do you think about this? KF: I haven’t read Hawking on this but I assume (or, at least, I hope) he just had cosmology in mind and not the whole of philosophy. Perhaps he is right that there are certain questions in cosmology that were once thought to be belong to philosophy but should now be thought to belong to physics. But even here, I suspect that philosophy can be of great help – not, of course, in doing physics – but in interpreting physical theories and relating them to the questions of interest to us. 3:AM: Are there any books or films outside of philosophy that you have found illuminating for your work? KF: No. 3:AM: And finally are there any books on metaphysics that our smart but not necessarily philosophically trained readers at 3:AM would benefit from reading, on top of yours of course? KF: Saul Kripke, Naming and Necessity, though it is as much on the philosophy of language as metaphysics. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Richard Marshall is still biding his time.The Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft is nearing fleet service with the U.S. Navy (USN). USN VP-16 is approaching completion of a training syllabus at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida and is expected to reach IOC (initial operational capability) in Feb. of 2013. Five Poseidon aircraft, serials 168428 through 168432, are being used for pilot and mission operator indoctrination. The aircraft are augmented by an extensive suite of synthetic trainers, including Level D equivalent flight simulators and mock mission crew workstations. Image credit: Drewski2112/Flickr The introduction of the P-8A marks an important milestone for the USN, which has operated various versions of the legacy P-3 Orion turboprop patrol plane for over five decades. The Poseidon is a derivative of the Boeing 737, incorporating a 737-800 series fuselage mated to 737-900 wings and featuring raked winglets to improve low-altitude fuel burn. The aircraft can carry the Mk-54 airborne ASW torpedo and the Harpoon anti-ship missile. The P-8A offers greatly improved communications and connectivity in comparison with the P-3C. Additionally, the open-architecture mission systems allow for simple and relatively inexpensive software upgrades to quickly introduce growth capabilities. The USN plans to operate the Poseidon in conjunction with the MQ-4C Triton UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), itself based on the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk. Current budgets call the purchase of 117 P-8 model aircraft. Test flights of the P-8A are still in progress at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Flight characteristic evaluation is being conducted by VX-20 while operational weapons and test evaluations are being carried out by VX-1. Michael Glynn for TheAviationist.com Related articlesMalwarebytes has launched its Anti-Malware Mobile application to protect mobile devices from the same threats that plague us through email and our PCs. The anti-virus software maker announced on Tuesday that after months of testing, Malwarebytes developers have built an Android-based application that links up to the company's database and both scans & protects your smartphone or tablet. Following the lead of other anti-virus software firms including Avast and AVG, the free app offers protection against threats including threats installed via phishing emails, malicious applications accidentally downloaded, and malware including backdoors and trojans. The app is equipped with an anti-virus scanner, database updates and other features including a privacy manager which lets you know which applications are "violating your privacy" in ways including tracking your physical location or if an app is employing premium services without your consent. When you open emails on your mobile device, the app also automatically scans files for malware and spyware. "Since computer software has been around, people have been finding ways to attack it by through vulnerabilities or through targeting users," said Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes. "The Android mobile operating system is no different. Its success in the consumer space -- and its openness -- has made it a huge target for malware authors." According to Trend Micro, there are over one million malicious applications currently available for download in the Android ecosphere, as hackers seek to cash-in on mobile devices. Threats include premium service abusers, advertisement pushers, and malicious apps that mimic popular, legitimate versions in order to steal data or financial information. The app can be downloaded on Google Play.Mumbai celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi with colour and culture Highlights The 12 day Ganesh Chaturthi festival is highly celebrated in Mumbai Nearly 7,610 Ganeshotsav pandals have been set up across the city Police has increased security by using CCTVs, drones and bomb squads Idols of Lord Ganesh are prepared for the 12 day festive period Lord Ganesh is famous for his fondness of modaks Today marks the beginning of Ganesh Chaturthi. The 12 day festival is highly celebrated in Mumbai. The festival, which will end on September 5, celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesh.Many families install clay statues of Lord Ganesh in their homes, as he is said to be a harbinger of good fortune.Apart from the festivities at homes, nearly 7,610 Ganeshotsav Mandals, or pandals, have been set up across the city.On the 12th day, on the occasion of Ganesh Visarjan, the idols are immersed into the sea.But apart from its religious roots, Ganesh Chaturthi is also a cultural celebration that brings people out on the streets. The pandals, apart from being sites to go and pray, also host a variety of cultural events, with song, dance and theater being regular features.Food is also a major part of the festivities. Lord Ganesh's favourite snacks are prepared across the cities, with some of the finest Marathi dishes cooked across homes.The modak, which is a sweet dumpling made with rice flour and stuffed with a mix of coconut shavings and jiggery, is a Ganesh Chaturthi favourite. With Lord Ganesh being known as "modapriya" due to his fondness of modaks, different versions of the sweet are prepared over the course of the celebrations.Apart from modaks, bananas, laddus and puffed rice are popular during the festival.With huge crowds expected to participate in the colourful celebrations in the city, police have also increased their security.From CCTV cameras in pandals, to the use of drones, the cops are taking serious measures to avoid any mishaps. Bomb squads, dog squads and anti-terror units have also been deployed, and holidays of all police personnel on the day of Ganesh Visarjan have been cancelled.Bethenny Frankel is fighting mad, but is losing the boozy label battle, squaring off with her Real Housewives of New York co-star, Sonja Morgan. Morgan announced her new Prosecco product on the last episode of the show, under a brand dubbed “Tipsy Girl.” Viewers know that Frankel’s claws are out over the soundalike moniker, but many don’t know that the 45-year-old mogul made a move to snatch it, filing to trademark the catchy name. Frankel was stopped in her tracks, and the roadblock had nothing to do with her Bravo cast-mate. Frankel’s sneaky move to trademark “TipsyGirl” was suspended on April 11, 2016 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, because it was already trademarked in June 2015, by Tipsy Girl’s CEO, Peter Guimaraes. Sonja came into the picture long after Guimaraes solidified the moniker. Peter spoke to OK magazine last month, about the contention that triggered the reality catfight. Morgan’s business partner states that he didn’t bring in the reality star until November of 2015, adding, “Sonja Morgan did not come up with the concept Tipsy Girl.” Peter explains that Tipsy Girl was never meant to compete with Frankel’s low calorie spirits concept. “They are in no way similar,” he said. “Tipsy Girl is all about high quality, well-priced alcohol and restaurants with a fun atmosphere, and high quality food.” Guimaraes continues. “I’ve been in the business far longer than Bethenny and been using the name Tipsy Girl back in my 20’s when girls would come to my bar. I never even heard of her or the brand until I met Ramona [Singer] and Sonja. No one is trying to copycat her.” Peter had Frankel served with a cease and desist, in January. He also said that Tipsy Girl alcohol will be available in stores in early May along with “the first of many Tipsy Girl restaurants.” The first location is expected to open on West 8th Street, in NYC. It’s relevant to note Bethenny’s snapping defensive reaction to an aired nod to the similarity between the brand names “Skinnygirl” and “Skinny Cow.” A preview clip of the upcoming episode shows Bethenny blasting Sonja, citing her label as a “cheater brand,” when referencing her connection with “Tipsy Girl.” Colorful vocabulary maybe—but a quick search turns up no such industry term. Bethenny appears to be bullying Morgan with self-righteous and imaginary accusations, in her obsessive need to conquer and possess the whole darned intoxicated universe. Give it a rest, Skinnygirl. “Like” us on Facebook “Follow” us on Twitter and on InstagramMitch Marner, like many small and skilled forwards before him, has officially been branded with the “bad defensively” iron. He’s been on the ice for eight goals against at even strength through seven games (and just three goals for), and has found himself demoted to the fourth line and playing greatly reduced minutes. On Wednesday against the Red Wings, Marner played 11:21, the lowest total of his NHL career that didn’t involve injury. His TOI has declined in four straight games from when he played 16:21, a number he still surpassed over half the time last season. Needless to say, he’s fallen a little out of favor with the coaching staff. One thing that’s tough to argue, is that his linemates through the first seven games (or, say, their entire careers) haven’t been great defensively either. Combined, it’s a talented unit with an affinity for red lights, regardless on which end they show up. So, with Marner getting the demotion, I thought it would be...The return of the school year brings with it a few weeks of transportational chaos as thousands of new residents appear in Athens, many of whom are learning how to navigate campus and town for the first time. Though everyone can use a refresher, it’s for that group that I present this guidance on how to get yourself around without a car. But before my motorized readers skip this article, texting and driving is illegal in Georgia, and that includes doing it while your car is stopped in traffic. People in a crosswalk have the right of way, and if you’re turning at an intersection, you have to let them cross first. There is a 3-foot passing law in Georgia, which means that the driver of a motor vehicle must leave 3 feet of space between their vehicle and a person on a bicycle when passing. If you can’t safely pass with 3 feet of clearance, then, as Gandalf says, you shall not pass. There—glad we got that out of the way. By Bus According to 2014 data, Athens-Clarke County has the fourth busiest transit system per capita in the country, when looking at combined ridership between the UGA and Athens-Clarke County transit systems. Campus Transit handles the vast majority, with about 12 million rides per year. Campus Transit buses are free for anyone to use, and they stop at every stop on the route. You can hop on and hop off at any stop. There’s more space out than in, so just remember to step back and let people get out of the bus first, and take your backpack off if it’s crowded. Athens Transit buses are free for anyone with a valid UGA ID card, which riders swipe at the farebox when entering at the front of the bus. UGA Transportation and Parking Services uses the student transportation fee to pay the county a discounted fare per swipe. County buses do not automatically stop at every stop on the route, so you have to pull the stop request cord that runs along the windows. The UGA Mobile App has extremely useful transit maps and bus trackers that work with both the Campus and ACC Transit systems. Use it to find stops near you, which routes go where, and how soon the next bus will arrive. Bus stops are also visible on Google Maps, thanks to a project by the 2015 LEAD Athens civic leadership class. Both systems have maps and bus tracking available on their respective web sites, as well: transit.uga.edu and athensclarkecounty.com/transit. County buses have had bike racks on the front of them for years, but starting this semester UGA buses will have them too. This allows people with bikes to have much more flexible transportation options and cover a broader range. The bike racks are easy to use but may be intimidating the first time. Luckily, they are the same as the ones used by Transit Authority of River City (Louisville, KY), which produced an awesome video about them. By Bike A bike is by far the fastest way to get around campus. I once raced notable Athens music scenester and biological engineer Dan Geller on his scooter from the Driftmier Engineering Center to the Arch (the southern and northern extremes of campus). While I won’t say who won, I will say that I made it on my bike in 10 minutes without breaking any laws, and I didn’t have to pay for parking. For those new to biking for transportation in an urban environment, it is important to know that bikes are considered legal street vehicles in Georgia and must be operated according to the same applicable rules of the road as a car. That means stopping at red lights and stop signs, yielding to pedestrians when they have the right of way and signaling turns. It is illegal to ride on the sidewalk in Athens, but there are wide multi-use paths throughout campus, as well as the Greenway, where bikes are allowed. Know that when you ride at night, you must have at least a white headlight and red rear reflector (though a red taillight is better), and it’s a $150 ticket if you’re caught without them. Georgia Bikes is a great resource to learn more: See georgiabikes.org for bike laws and safe riding tips. You can also pick up a copy of their Bicyclist Pocket Guide from the UGA Office of Sustainability, or from BikeAthens at 1075 W. Broad St. BikeAthens also offers Traffic Skills 101 classes and other educational opportunities (see bikeathens.com/education). A well maintained bike is a safe bike, and now that you’re away at school, you’re the one responsible for keeping your bike rideable. There are four FixIt stations with pumps on campus (you can find them in the UGA Mobile App) and one on College Avenue outside of the parking deck downtown. Keeping air in your tires is a fundamental way to keep your bike happy, but to do more, you can bring your bike to BikeAthens on Thursdays for Fix Your Own Bike nights to learn basic to advanced maintenance and repair skills (see bikeathens.com/fyob). Students without bikes who want to take a ride can check out a Bulldog Bike from one of the UGA libraries. See sustainability.uga.edu/bulldogbikes to register. (Psst: While this program is only available to active students and employees, UGA is investigating options to make bike-sharing available at more campus locations and for any campus visitors.) If you don’t remember anything else about riding a bike here, remember this: Be Visible, be predictable, and be courteous. For more information about biking at UGA, visit sustainability.uga.edu/bike, or email questions to bike@uga.edu. On Foot If you visit the UGA subreddit this time of year, there are a lot of people asking if they can walk from building A to building B within a 15-minute class change. The answer is usually yes, but thanks to the new centralized classroom scheduling that may put your biology class in the Fine Arts building, sometimes no. To give you a sense of scale, it takes this average adult about 35 minutes to walk the full north-south length of campus. Most people can walk a quarter-mile in five minutes, but be sure to account for time getting in and out of buildings when you decide on your own travel strategy. If you have been here for orientation, then you probably experienced the “pedestrian scramble” at Baxter and Lumpkin, where the pedestrian crossing cycle allows people to walk in any direction while cars wait. This is a great solution for this busy intersection, but don’t assume that this is the norm: There are very few pedestrian-only cycles elsewhere on campus or in town. Also, some intersections in Athens have automatic pedestrian crossing signals, while others won’t activate unless you push the “beg button.” If you see a button, push it, or be left awkwardly waiting. As the most vulnerable road users, people on foot paradoxically wield the most power, as they have the ultimate right of way at crosswalks. With great power comes great responsibility, so—I can’t believe I have to tell you this—look both ways before you step off the curb, and don’t assume bikes and cars will be able to stop in time for you. Crosswalks are not force fields, and unfortunately people do get hit in them here. Finally, I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a grumpy old dude, so I’ll just say it: Put your damned phone away while you’re walking, especially when crossing the street. If you must look at your phone, take a step out of the way and do it. Everyone around you will appreciate it. Watch for Dawgs Day Sept. 8, Tate Plaza, 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m. UGA Auxiliary Services is teaming with campus and community partners for a transportation safety event to launch the Watch for Dawgs campaign. It will feature hourly prize giveaways, safe cycling demonstrations, bike tune-ups, a Campus Transit bus with a bike rack to practice on, UGA’s Taqueria 1785 food truck and other activities.New police figures for England and Wales have revealed nearly 900 Syrians were arrested for offences including rape, death threats and child abuse in a single year. The figures come as the Government rushes to bring an extra 20,000 Syrian migrants into the UK by the end of 2020, under its so-called Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement scheme. By the end of March 2016, official statistics showed that 1,602 people had already been resettled in the UK under the scheme. It states: “Syrian nationals were the sixth-largest group of asylum applicants in the year ending March 2016, 2,539 main applicants. “87 per cent of initial asylum decisions in Syrian cases gave permission to remain in the UK. “The UK Government continues to commit a significant amount of international aid to assistance programmes in the regions neighbouring Syria, arguing that this is preferable to encouraging Syrian refugees to make dangerous journeys to Europe. “The UK has committed over £2.3 billion to helping refugees in Syria and the region, making it the second largest bilateral donor to the Syrian refugee crisis.” However, UKIP MEP Ray Finch challenged this claim. He told the Daily Express: “The Government seems have not to have vetted those it has invited into the country.” In June of this year, a Syrian who was featured on BBC Newsnight was charged, along with three other Syrian migrants, with sexually assaulting two 14-year-old girls. Omar Badreddin, 18, Mohammed Alfrouh, 20, and Mohammad Allakkoud, 18, all pleaded not guilty at Newcastle Crown Court. A 16-year-old was also charged. Earlier this year, UKIP leader Nigel Farage question the mass migration policy after the mass, organised sex attacks by migrants in Cologne on New Year’s Eve. He said: “Serious questions need to be asked about both the vetting of those the Government are allowing into the country, and of the authorities, including the BBC, who appear to have been involved in a conspiracy of silence over the case. “When did they know what was happening, and why is it only coming out now?”[back] What doctors say about Chemo Therapy? Scientists based at McGill Cancer Centre sent a questionnaire to 118 lung cancer doctors to determine what degree of faith these practicing cancer physicians placed in the therapies they administered. They were asked to imagine that they had cancer and were asked which of six current trials they would choose. 79 doctors responded of which 64 would not consent to be in any trial containing Cisplatin - one of the common chemotherapy drugs they were trialling, (currently achieving worldwide sales of about $110,000,000 a year) and 58 of the 79 found that all the trials in question were unacceptable due to the ineffectiveness of chemotherapy and its unacceptably high degree of toxicity When the cancer patient hears the doctor say "effective," he or she thinks, and logically so, that "effective" means it cures cancer. But all it means is temporary tumor shrinkage. Chemotherapy usually doesn't cure cancer or extend life, and it really does not improve the quality of the life either. Doctors frequently make this claim though. There are thousands of studies that were reviewed by Dr. Moss as part of the research for his book -- and there is not one single good study documenting this claim. What patients consider "good quality of life" seems to differ from what the doctors consider. To most it is just common sense that a drug that makes you throw up, and lose your hair, and wrecks your immune system is not improving your quality of life. Chemotherapy can give you life-threatening mouth sores. People can slough the entire lining of the intestines! One longer-term effect is particularly tragic: people who've had chemotherapy no longer respond to nutritional or immunologically-based approaches to their cancers. And since chemotherapy doesn't cure 96% to 98% of all cancers anyway...People who take chemotherapy have sadly lost their chance of finding another sort of cure. It's especially telling that in a number of surveys most chemotherapists have said they would not take chemotherapy themselves or recommend it for their families. Chemotherapy drugs are the most toxic substances ever put deliberately into the human body. They are known poisons, they are designed poisons. The whole thing began with experiments with "mustard gas," the horrible chemical-warfare agents from World War I. Dr. Moss' position on chemotherapy is supported by many major students of the study of cancer treatment. Following are some examples: Dr. John Bailar is the chief of epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal and was formerly the editor of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In 1986 the New England Journal of Medicine published an article by Dr. Bailer and Dr. Elaine Smith, a colleague from the University of Iowa. Bailer and Smith wrote: "Some 35 years of intense and growing efforts to improve the treatment of cancer have not had much overall effect on the most fundamental measure of clinical outcome - death. The effort to control cancer has failed so far to obtain its objectives. Dr. John Cairns, a professor of microbiology at Harvard, published his view in Scientific American in 1985, "that basically the war on cancer was a failure and that chemotherapy was not getting very far with the vast majority of cancers." As far back as 1975, Nobel Laureate James Watson of DNA fame was quoted in the New York Times saying that the American public had been "sold a nasty bill of goods about cancer." In 1991, Dr. Albert Braverman, Professor of Hematology and Oncology at the State University of New York, Brooklyn, published an article in Lancet titled "Medical Oncology in the 1990s," in which he wrote: "The time has come to cut back on the clinical investigation of new chemotherapeutic regimens for cancer and to cast a critical eye on the way chemotherapeutic treatment is now being administered." Dr. Braverman says that there is no solid tumor incurable in 1976 that is curable today. Dr. Moss confirms this and claims that the greatest breakthrough in the objective study of chemotherapy came from a biostatistician at the University of Heidelberg, Dr. Ulrich Abel. His critique focused on whether chemotherapy effectively prolonged survival in advanced epithelial cancer. His answer was that it is not effective. He summarized and extended his findings and concluded that chemotherapy overall is ineffective. A recent search turned up exactly zero reviews of his work in American journals, even though it was published in 1990. The belief is that this is not because his work was unimportant -- but because it's irrefutable. With the extensive documentation in Dr. Moss' book, and all the statistics developed by the experts, why is chemotherapy still pushed by the large majority of oncologists? Dr. Moss feels that "there's a tremendous conflict going on in the minds of honest, sensitive, caring oncologists." They're in a very difficult position because they've been trained to give these drugs. And they've devoted many years to reaching a very high level of expertise in the knowledge of poisonous, deadly compounds. They're really in a bind, because they went into oncology to help the cancer patient, yet the tools they've been given don't work. And they see what happens to physicians who "step out of line" and treat cancer with alternative means. Armed raids, loss of licensure, professional smearing and ostracism are some of the consequences. These could all be related to the quotation in the book made by Dr. Lundberg, editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association. At a recent National Institute of Health meeting, he said of chemotherapy: "[It's] a marvelous opportunity for rampant deceit. So much money is there to be made that ethical principles can be overrun sometimes in a stampede to get at physicians and prescribers." You never heard that on the evening news. The economics of cancer treatment are astounding. Cancer treatment is close to $100 billion annually ($100,000,000,000). The chemotherapy part of that by 1995 will be up to $8.5 billion. Looking from another angle: the Bristol Myers company owns patents on twelve of the nearly forty "FDA-approved" chemotherapeutic drugs. The president, past president, chairman of the board, and a couple of the directors of Bristol Myers all hold positions on the board at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Moss' book details the failures (and very few successes) for chemotherapy with more than fifty types of cancer, includes a complete description of the major chemotherapy drugs, and has a section about questions to ask your doctor. All of Dr. Moss' books and Cancer Chronicles newsletters are available from Equinox Press, 1-800-929-WELL or 718-636-4433 Not Only is Chemo Ineffective... By shrinking tumors, chemotherapy encourages stronger cancer cells to grow and multiply and become chemo resistant. Then there are the new cancers caused by chemotherapy, or secondary cancers. This quaint side effect is often overlooked in the lists of side effects in a drug's accompanying literature, though you can find this information quite easily at the National Cancer Institute. We pride ourselves in America for being technologically advanced and that our technology is rooted in a foundation of good science. Wrong. When it comes to medicine, little at all is based upon science. Again we shall point to the Office of Technological Assessment’s paper: Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Medical Technologies in which we are told that fewer than 20% of all medical procedures have been tested, and that of those tested, half were tested badly. Medicine in America is not about healing. When you are diagnosed with cancer, you are suddenly worth $300,000.00 to the cancer industry. Most telling, according to Ralph Moss in his book Questioning Chemotherapy, is that in a good number of surveys, chemotherapists have responded that they would neither recommend chemotherapy for their families nor would they use it
a second car filled with gas canisters was found near the southern city of Montpellier, according to local paper Midi Libre. related stories AMERICAN SNIPER US-trained marksman named ISIS ‘minister of war’ - as it emerges thugs RAPE kids to shame them into fighting Exclusive THE END OF AL-QAEDA? 15yrs on from 9/11 terror attack Osama bin Laden's jihadi group is in disarray and eclipsed by ISIS AI there me hearties Robot spy boat designed to hunt down terrorists takes to the River Thames Video JIHADI PRISON HELL Shocking footage inside the filthy ISIS jail where sex slaves were raped and tortured by terror fanatics Four other suspects – two brothers and their girlfriends – also remain in custody over the alleged Notre Dame plot. A 34-year-old man and a 29-year-old woman have been held since Tuesday after being caught at a motorway service station close to the southern city of Orange. The man’s brother and his girlfriend, both aged 26, were arrested late on Wednesday. Seven gas canisters were found inside the Peugeot, as well as three containers petrol which could have been used to set the car on fire. Reuters 11 Three women - including the driver of the gas cylinder-filled car - were arrested Reuters 11 The suspects were described as 'fanatical and radicalised' AP 11 Two of the suspects are being quizzed, while a third remains in hospital after being shot The Peugeot had no number plate but forensics experts are said to have found DNA belonging to the suspects. Investigators have spent the past week raiding the homes of anybody who might be linked to them. ISIS has threatened Notre Dame as part of its violent campaign against France for sending warplanes to bomb its bases in Syria and Iraq. In May, Patrick Calvar, the head of France’s DGSI internal security agency, said he was confident the terror group would “reach the stage of car bombs”. We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration took an unusual step on Friday in its efforts to defang the U.S. financial consumer watchdog created after the banking crisis, with the executive branch of the federal government telling a court that one of its own agencies is violating the U.S. Constitution. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts The Justice Department filed a brief opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s appeal of a ruling that its single-director structure does not hew to the constitution. The decision that the bureau appealed also said the president should have the power to fire the agency’s head at will. Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law that created the CFPB to protect individuals against fraud in lending, the president can only fire the agency director for cause. The CFPB director is currently Obama appointee Richard Cordray, hailed by consumer advocates for taking action against payday lenders, credit card companies and debt collectors. Many bankers and Wall Street executives, along with Republican lawmakers, have said his authority to both write and enforce regulations is too wide. The agency can represent itself in court cases except for those before the Supreme Court, putting President Donald Trump in a rare predicament: he cannot direct the Justice Department to withdraw the appeal. Instead, the Justice Department could only file a brief supporting the CFPB’s opponent, mortgage company PHH Corp. “A single-headed independent agency presents a greater risk than a multi-member independent commission of taking actions or adopting policies inconsistent with the President’s executive policy,” the Justice Department argued, saying a commission must compromise, while a single director does not answer to anyone. The department also said that because CFPB directors hold five-year terms, a president may not get a chance to appoint someone who agrees with him. Cordray’s term expires next year. The department argued the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit should allow Trump to fire the director at will, upholding the original decision reached by a three-member panel of its judges in October. No U.S. president has ever dismissed an independent agency’s director for cause. Republican lawmakers say Cordray’s history provides Trump with cause for dismissal, although some are seeking a legislative path to fire him. The rare inter-agency legal fight was widely expected. After Trump’s election win, some states’ attorneys general and Democrats in Congress sought permission to represent the CFPB in the appeal, anticipating Trump would try to undermine the agency.Beer, by all accounts, has been around for a very long time. In fact, it appears that people have been brewing and drinking beer since more or less the beginning of recorded human history. What that means, among other things, is that you, dear reader, no matter how old you are, are a pipsqueak in comparison. You were born into a world in which beer was a well-established beverage; a thriving, mature industry; and a cultural touchstone. If your parents didn’t drink beer, then your uncle or your friend’s parents probably did. Absent that, you saw people drinking beer at sporting events, on TV, and in the movies. Unless you’re an outlier (not that there’s anything wrong with that), it was almost inevitable that you were eventually going to take your first-ever drink of beer. That’s what I’m interested in today: your origin stories. Eno shared his last summer, and I think we should revisit the topic. Were you one of those kids whose dad snuck you a sip or two when you were five? Did you grow up in a super-conservative home where even the mention of Demon Liquor incited shrieking and gnashing of teeth; and did you, the intrepid rebel, sneak out one night to a bonfire party where some Matthew McConaughey look-alike had, in a grand gesture of bro-down benevolence, wheeled in a keg for you rascally intitates? I also want to know what you thought of your first taste of beer. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Were you indifferent to it? Some of my friends swear that, for them, it was love at first sip. Not me. For me, beer was an acquired taste. I think I was six or seven when I had my first tiny little sip of beer, courtesy of a friend’s dad at a Super Bowl party I was at with my family. I thought it was disgusting. Since neither of my parents really drank much, and since they never had beer in the fridge, I didn’t get much of a chance to dispute that initial impression. The result was that until I was about 17, beer was just a bitter, nasty beverage that some people drank. Even then, I really just tolerated it; it was probably a few more years before I started to actually like beer. Much of that, I’m sure, can be chalked up to an issue of access: I was underage, couldn’t buy my own beer, and had to make do with whatever cheapo stuff my friends and I could get our hands on. As I crossed the threshold of legal drinking age, and was able to stride up to checkout counters, and into bars, with confidence, I began to understand that there was much more to beer than Milwaukee’s Best, Bud Light, and Genny Cream Ale. So there you have it – that’s my story. What’s yours? Nathan's on Twitter & Untapp'd @nategismotNote: Infographic is longer than my Christmas list, hit the jump to see the whole thing. This is a giant infographic depicting everything Bill Gates has done with his fortune to help combat disease and make the world a better place. According to the statistics, he's helped save almost 6,000,000 lives by bringing vaccinations to children AND DONATED ALMOST HALF HIS $59-BILLION NET WORTH TO THE CAUSE. He...makes all the other rich people look like giant, greedy assholes (which they are). Now I'd like to THINK if I had that much money I'd be just as philanthropic, but God knows I'd wind up cloning dinosaurs and building a giant laser to blow up the sun. Hit the jump for the whole thing. Redefining Action Hero: Bill Gates is Better Than Batman [frugaldad] via Since 2007 Bill Gates has given away 48 percent of his net-worth for charity [inquisitr] Thanks to lloyd, Scrapple and Jen, who claim they'd give half the money away if they won the lottery but you and I both know they'd just buy monster trucks.Yesterday, the Islanders closed out the first half of their season with a 7-4 victory over the Flyers. This win brought them to 31-14-1, good for first in the eastern conference as well as the metropolitan division. What are some of the bigger surprises of the first half that have brought the Islanders to this point? MVP in Net Coming out of last season, Garth Snow knew he had to upgrade in net for his team to have a chance night in and night out. Knowing that, he wasted little time filling that void as in early May he acquired Jaroslav Halak from the Washington Capitals for a 4th round draft pick and just a few short weeks later the Islanders had their goalie. While he didn’t have a great start, Halak has settled in to arguably be the teams MVP to this point. He has brought them stability in net that the Islanders have been searching for, for nearly a decade. To this point in the season, Halak has a 2.41 GAA and a.910 save percentage. That was good enough to get him elected to his first all-star game this weekend in Columbus. Kids Emerging Another huge element of the Islanders success has been the emergence of their young forwards. By now you know them as Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson and Anders Lee. All three, draft picks of the Islanders during their rebuild have paid dividends for the Islanders this season. Nelson got off to the hot start leading the team in goals for a while. He has now cooled off a bit but is still having an impressive second season. Meanwhile, Ryan Strome didn’t get off to the same hot start as Nelson did, but he has sure made up for it the last few weeks. In that time, fans have seen Strome take the next step in his development as a player and it has been a treat to watch. Lastly, Lee who was the one that was left off the opening night roster has really earned his spot since getting called up at the end of October. Two key elements that really provide value for Lee are his net front presence and his clutch goal scoring. Lee has made the front of the net his office, much in the way of Matt Moulson and Mark Parrish and it has really proved to be beneficial for him. Additionally, while his stats might not jump off the page, they have come at key times. Lee has 13 goals this season which is near the top of the league in rookie scoring. Of those 13 goals though, 5 of them are game winners. When the game is on the line, Lee is proving that he is someone who you want out there. Head Coaching Improvements? This may come as a surprise to some as a lot of fans still aren’t huge advocates of Islanders coach Jack Capuano. While I admit he certainly has numerous flaws, it can’t be denied what he has done with this team this season. While he still makes you bang your head on the wall sometimes, if it is the recent treatment of Jaroslav Halak, or playing Brian Strait early in the season instead of playing Matt Donovan, to say he hasn’t also made improvements would be incorrect. You have seen multiple times this year that he has corrected things that in the past he maybe wouldn’t have been as quick to fix. Additionally, he isn’t coddling players as much as he once did. In the past, fans criticized Capuano for being to easy on the players and not holding them accountable. This season, in some respects it has been different as Capuano has shown a willingness to give mention about certain players lack of performance in the media which is something he never would’ve previously done. He has also showed emotion a lot more with the media than he used to which is a refreshing change for the coach. While he still might not be the perfect coach for the Islanders, the fact that he has made improvements along with the team is encouraging. Penalty Kill Struggles For all the positives of the Islanders first half, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I ignored the enormous struggles of the penalty kill. The Islanders penalty kill struggled last season and following the season they saw coach Brent Thompson who was in charge of the penalty kill return to coach Bridgeport. With the opening, the Islanders brought in Greg Cronin from Toronto to take the spot. From the moment it was announced it seemed like a typical Islanders hire to me because he had history with the team and he had history in Maine and for some reason the Islanders bring in a lot of people from there. Anyway, Cronin was in charge of the Maple Leafs penalty kill the last few seasons and while it finished better than the Islanders, there wasn’t a huge difference. In fact, last season, the Maple Leafs penalty kill finished just one spot ahead of the Islanders. While it is fair to be surprised at the struggles, should it be that big of a surprise considering Cronins recent history coaching the penalty kill elsewhere? You might be right to expect the players to play better, but in some respect I feel as though the Islanders signed up for these struggles when they brought in Cronin back in June.BILL MAHER, HOST OF "REAL TIME" ON HBO: Obama made a speech a couple of weeks ago -- remember that speech he made about the War on Terror, that wars have to end? He quoted James Madison. He said, 'no nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.' And now we have to get into another one? Can't we sit one of them out? Does every time the bat signal go off we have to answer it? KELLYANNE CONWAY, POLLSTER: James Madison was no competition for Bill Clinton. I think Bill Clinton helped goad President Obama into taking this action. JONATHAN ALTER, AUTHOR: No. CONWAY: Yes. The red line was crossed, he said. MAHER: He looks more like a pussy doing it. When a guy says you don't do something, you're a wuss and then the next day you do it, it's like your mother coming to school and beating up bullies. CONWAY: This is an evil man using gas against his own people. MAHER: Oh, for fuck's sake. ALTER: The Bill Clinton part is like a talk radio talking point. It's not what actually happened. What actually happened is that the government, Assad's government, made military advances. They're about to take Aleppo, a key strategic city, and that would be the end of the rebels. MAHER: You mean al Qaeda? Because we're basically arming al Qaeda. I don't understand this -- ALTER: There's a peace conference. If they don't go into that peace conference with at least some victories on the rebel side, the rebels won't show up. So the president is trying to bolster them enough so they can get to the peace conference. MAHER: It's like picking sides in Game of Thrones. ALTER: His policy is to get rid of Assad, that's American policy. MAHER: But haven't we learned -- isn't the lesson we learn in the Middle East wars, the easy part is getting rid of the bad guy, it's what happens next? (HBO's Real Time, June 14, 2013)Who knows what finally made Tom Friedman come around. Maybe it was watching the live stage version of Tod Browning's Freaks -- otherwise known as the 2012 GOP Primary -- for the past year. But he finally stopped writing those "We need a third party that's exactly like Obama's Democratic Party" columns and correctly identified the problem for once: ...when all the Republican candidates last year said they would not accept a deal with Democrats that involved even $1 in tax increases in return for $10 in spending cuts, the G.O.P. cut itself off from reality. It became a radical party, not a conservative one. And for the candidates to wrap themselves in a cartoon version of Ronald Reagan — a real conservative who raised taxes, including the gasoline tax, when he discovered his own cuts had gone too far — is fraudulent. Until the G.O.P. stops being radical and returns to being conservative, it won’t provide what the country needs most now — competition — competition with Democrats on the issues that will determine whether we thrive in the 21st century. We need to hear conservative fiscal policies, energy policies, immigration policies and public-private partnership concepts — not radical ones. Would somebody please restore our second party? The country is starved for a grown-up debate. Some of us have been saying this since, oh, about twenty years. A party that refuses to raise taxes on anyone, ever, when taxes are at historic lows isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that wants to roll back successful programs like Social Security that have been a bedrock of American society for nearly three quarters of a century isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that's openly at war with Progressive Era reforms like unions and child labor laws isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that refuses to make cuts in defense when the U.S. currently spends more than the next 14 countries in the world combined isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that denies the scientific consensus of climate change isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that seeks to repeal a law that was decided by the Supreme Court nearly four decades ago isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that advocates the forced deportation of 12 million immigrants isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that denies basic facts about the deficit isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that wants to pull out of landmark treaties the United States helped write isn't conservative, it's radical. A party that invites white supremacists and fringe organizations like the John Birch Society to its most important conferences isn't conservative, it's radical. A party whose leaders compare the President of the United States to Adolf Hitler and Stalin on the floor of the House, who threaten impeachment if they don't get their way, and who sow doubt about the President's citizenship isn't conservative, it's radical. A party whose presidential candidates claim that states should be able to ban contraception and that the Civil Rights Act was unconstitutional isn't conservative, it's radical. And so on. You're a little slow on the uptake -- but better late than never, Tom.One Filmer, defending witches in England, is said to have made this ingenious defense. His clients were charged, as was usual, with being accessory to the devil. Under the common law there could be no accessory unless there was also a principal; and no accessory could be convicted until the principal was convicted; for if the principal be acquitted there is no guilty principal and hence can be no accessory. Consequently until the principal be convicted the accessory cannot be tried. Taking advantage of this state of the law, Filmer argued that his clients could not be tried until their alleged principal had been tried and convicted, and how could this be done? Only according to the law of the land. In the first place how could the devil be summoned? The officer serving the precept would either be obliged to go to the devil and summons him personally, or, failing that, would be obliged to leave a copy of the precept at his usual place of abode. Although admiring friends of the officer may from time to time have advised him to do both, yet the practical application of such advice is an impossibility. Then assuming the respondent to be duly summoned, he would be entitled to a trial by a jury of his peers. But His Satanic Majesty has no peers, and even if he had, they would be certain to be in collusion with the respondent and would certainly acquit him. Under any circumstances therefore how could his accessories be tried?PARIS (Reuters) - France’s government, overriding street protests and rebels in its own ranks, invoked special powers on Tuesday to impose labor legislation by decree that will make it easier for employers to hire and fire staff. General view of French trade union employees who march with banners during a demonstration against plans to reform French labour laws in Marseille, France, July 5, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Laurenson President Francois Hollande’s government hopes the labor reform will cut stubbornly high unemployment. But less than a year from elections, the decision to ram through the contested reform without parliamentary support is a political gamble for the unpopular Hollande and a Socialist government targeted by mounting left-wing violence. Thousands marched through Paris and other cities under heavy police presence in what labor unions say will be the last of a dozen such demonstrations before a summer holiday hiatus. Turnout estimates varied - 45,000 according to the CGT union but no more than 7,500 according to police - but were in any case lower than in previous rallies. Right-wingers walked out of the National Assembly and rebels in his own party watched, stone-faced, as Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced he would use constitutional powers to bypass the lower house of parliament during a second review of the reform. “My government is determined to move forward, because the tactics of some... cannot be allowed to block the country,” Valls said in a swipe at Socialist rebels who refused to vote for the law. At issue are reforms designed to cut a 10 percent jobless rate by making it easier to hire and fire. It would also allow firms tailor pay and work terms to company needs more easily. “This is sad,” said Laurent Baumel, one of 30 or more Socialists who contend the law betrays left-wing principles. “Valls seems to have refused out of customary intransigence.” The dissidents narrowly failed to muster enough sponsors in May to table a vote of no confidence in their government during the first reading of the labor reform. They were weighing options on Tuesday. A no-confidence bill is unlikely to pass. Related Coverage French PM to force labor law through parliament: party spokesman “This move is an admission of failure,” Philippe Martinez, the head of the hardline CGT union that has led the protests, said of the government’s decision to bypass parliament. Violence during months of street protests resulted in almost 2,000 arrests and left hundreds of riot police hurt in running battles with gangs of ultra-violent youths, many of them chanting anti-capitalist slogans. That violence on the fringe of street marches has coalesced with other anti-government acts. Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said on Tuesday 30 Socialist party buildings had been attacked in recent weeks, including one sprayed with gunfire.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 Shocking claims have resurfaced today about "jellyfish babies" born "looking like a bunch of grapes" after their mothers were contaminated with radioactive fallout. A bomb 1,300 times the force of the Hiroshima atomic bomb was dropped on the remote Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean on March 1, 1954. The testing of atomic bombs by the US during the 1950s is well documented, but this particular case is back in the public eye after the archives of one of world's most famous feminist publications - Spare Rib - were released by the British Library. An interview with Marshall Islands teacher Lemoyo Abon, and midwife Katerine Jilej, in a 1988 issue of the magazine contains the shocking details as to what happened to the islands' inhabitants after the bomb testing. Midwife Jilej described 'through her tears' to the magazine that 'jelly fish' babies were born on the island of Rongelap "looking like a bunch of grapes", only recognisable as humans "because we could see the brain". Katerine Jilej also gave an account of her own experience of losing a child: "My own baby was born in October 1960. He was born with a big lump on his head and died very, very young. "I wasn't even on Rongelap (one of the Marshall Islands) the day the test happened but I went back there in 1957 (when the US told the Rongelapese it was safe to go back) and I was irradiated from eating the food. I think that's why my son died." Rongelap is close to Bikini Island, where the bomb was dropped. Wind carried fallout from the blast over to Rongelap, dropping up to 1.5 inches of ash, which contaminated the food chain in the island. (Image: British Library) "By far the most contaminated place in the world" The 'Bravo' bomb test on March 1, 1954, was the largest nuclear bomb test ever conducted by the US, and the United States Atomic Energy Commission later labelled the Marshall Islands "by far the most contaminated place in the world". The islanders have subsequently received hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation, but health problems continue, and the Marshall Islands have been changed forever, with one island wiped out entirely by the dropping of an atomic bomb. And when the compensation fund was exhausted by the US, they simply stopped paying the islanders the money they had promised. The Guardian reported last year that residents of Bikini, the island on which the 'Bravo' bomb was dropped, are still unable to return to their homes 60 years on, and are still living in exile.Share. The upcoming DC film is featuring Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. The upcoming DC film is featuring Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy. At San Diego Comic-Con 2017, we got a chance to chat with Suicide Squad director David Ayer about his upcoming Netflix film Bright, and we took that opportunity to ask him a few questions about his next DC movie, Gotham City Sirens. When we asked Ayer why he chose to tell this story, as opposed to a direct sequel to Suicide Squad, he responded, "It's a story about three fantastic women who're trying to find their way in the world, and realize that they have more power together than they do individually." He added, "I have daughters, and I want to create something that might be able to help them get along in the world a little bit." DC Extended Universe: Every Upcoming Movie 10+ IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 23 Click through the slideshow for DC’s entire planned slate of films. Some are scheduled and have release dates while others are still in development and subject to change -- or may not happen at all. 01 OF 23 Click through the slideshow for DC’s entire planned slate of films. Some are scheduled and have release dates while others are still in development and subject to change -- or may not happen at all. DC Extended Universe: Every Upcoming Movie Download Image Captions ESC The Gotham City Sirens comic, written by Batman: The Animated Series' creator Paul Dini, follows the trio of Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy, and their adventures around Gotham City. We pressed him on whether Harley Quinn, who will once again be played by Margot Robbie, will switch up her iconic look. Ever the professional, Ayer replied, "Let's put a pin in that. Maybe next Comic-Con." He did tease a bit, adding, "Everybody evolves." David Ayer signed on to Gotham City Sirens back in December of 2016. Though the question of whether or not Jared Leto will reprise his role as The Joker is still up in the air, recent rumors point to Black Mask being the film's main villain. The film doesn't have a release date yet, but Warner Bros. Pictures has set two dates in 2020 for unspecified DC films. Additional reporting by Terri Schwartz. Marty Sliva is a Executive Editor at IGN. A girl he was dating once stepped on his PlayStation 4, and now he no longer owns PT. But don't worry, they broke up. Follow him on Twitter @McBiggitty.by Cath Elliott I disagreed with a whole heap of stuff in Ellie Levenson’s “The Noughtie Girl’s Guide to Feminism” when it came out last year (see my Mswoman comments under this CiF piece for specific examples). But apart from her odious assertion that “we do women an injustice when we say that rape is the worst thing that can happen to a woman. It is, after all, just a penis.” top of the list was her claim, repeated in the Independent, that in some contexts so-called rape ‘jokes’ can not only be deemed to be acceptable, but they can also in fact be funny. Because they’re not. Ever. They never have been and they never will be. They’re not funny when Ricky Gervais tells them, and they’re not funny when a Tory Councillor tells them either. Here for example is Eddie Wake, a charming man who, up until Monday evening, was a Conservative councillor at Sunderland City Council (and who’s still a school governor at Oxclose Community School): Wake was expelled from the Conservative party on Monday after word got out that a few weeks ago, at the end of a meeting where councillors had been discussing rape prevention measures with police, he decided to crack a rape ‘joke’, to a senior police inspector no less. A rape joke that was so cutting-edge and side-splittingly fucking hilarious that it led to a female councillor leaving the room in tears. Interestingly, actually no, not interestingly, more like boringly soddingly predictably, Wake refused to apologise at the time. Instead, when he was challenged about his comments by Labour Councillor Dianne Snowdon, he whined “Come on, Dianne, you can’t joke about anything these days” and proceeded to tick off the list of oh-so-funny subjects the pc gawn maaad brigade have banned him from pointing and laughing at: like women and black people for instance. It’s only now, now that he’s suddenly found his name splashed all over the papers and his fellow Conservatives treating him like he’s just stepped in something really really noxious, that Wake’s decided to come over all repentant. Except that he hasn’t, not really, not when you look at the actual content of his pathetic apology: “I made the remark when the meeting had closed, to a colleague.” That’s not an excuse, as anyone who holds public office should know. “It was an old joke and not a very good one and I bitterly regret the offence it has caused.” This just comes across as an apology for telling a crap joke, not an apology for the offensive subject matter of the joke. And if he was really sorry for causing offence, then why didn’t he apologise at the time to the person who clearly was offended, instead of justifying it with all that pc gawn maaad Daily Mail shite? “I am an effective councillor who asks awkward questions and I am not politically correct in any way but this time I have allowed that to cloud my judgment” Translation: “I’m a bit of a tosser and I don’t intend to change, but in future I’ll try to be more careful about who I tell my sexist racist little anecdotes to. Maybe a council meeting where I’m likely to be overheard by a humourless femnazi isn’t the best place, but I bet the lads down the pub’ll still appreciate them.” Or in other words “I’m sorry I was caught out this time” not “I’m sorry to any rape survivors out there who may have been upset by my crassness and complete insensitivity” So anyway, to get back to Ellie Levenson and her view that so-called rape ‘jokes’ help break down the “rape taboo”, and that “humour is one of the natural ways humans work through their thoughts and feelings about difficult issues”: as I made clear at the beginning of this piece, I fundamentally disagree. After all, people like Eddie Wake aren’t interested in breaking down taboos, they’re only interested in demeaning and insulting women: rape jokes to men like them are just another weapon in an already vast arsenal. As any survivor of sexual violence will tell you, there’s nothing funny about being raped. There’s also nothing funny about listening to yet another sexist bore trying to make light of it. And one of the last things we need in this context is alleged feminists giving the green light to such twisted misogynist bullshit. But anyway, I’ve got a joke now, stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a man walks into a council meeting and spouts a load of sexist tripe. Next thing he knows he’s been expelled from his party and is being investigated by the council’s standards committee. What? What do you mean that’s not funny? Personally I think it’s fucking hilarious!COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The United States remains the fourth best country in the world to live in, but adjustment for inequality drops it into 23rd place, according to an annual U.N. ranking of nations’ development released on Wednesday. A new U.S. citizen holds an American flag during a naturalization ceremony beneath the Statue of Liberty, October 28, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Segar The ranking came in a human development index, a gauge of well-being published by the U.N. Development Program for the past 21 years that combines economic prosperity with education levels and life expectancy. The UNDP published the inequality-adjusted index for the second time this year after introducing it last year, and aims to make it a standard component of its annual Human Development Report alongside its main, unadjusted index. A number of other rich countries also scored considerably lower when adjusted for equality. Canada, which was sixth in the overall human development index, was 12th in the inequality-adjusted measure. South Korea, 15th overall, came 28th out of 187 nations when scored for equality. The inequality-adjusted index is adjusted for inequalities in the three areas of human development covered by the UNDP’s human development index — life expectancy, education and standard of living in terms of income. The discrepancies in some countries’ adjusted and unadjusted index rankings were highlighted by some other nations whose rankings did not differ much or at all on the different scales because they were deemed to have a high degree of equality. Oil-producing Norway, which again grabbed the top rank in the overall index — its ninth top placement in the past 11 years — was also No. 1 in the adjusted index. Australia, second in the overall human development index (HDI), was also second in the inequality-adjusted index. The Netherlands ranked third and fourth in the different measures. Some nations fare better when the equality of their society is taken into account. Sweden, which ranked 10th in the overall development index, was third in the adjusted index, and Denmark climbs from 16th to eighth place with such adjustment. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), torn and impoverished by more than a decade of war, was ranked worst in 187th place in the overall development index and 134th in the adjusted index. African nations Niger, Burundi, Mozambique and Chad were just above the DRC at the bottom of the overall index and somewhat higher when adjusted for inequality except for Burundi on which adjustment data were missing. The UNDP’s new Human Development Report focused on the relationships between environmental sustainability and equity, a term that the agency uses for fairness and social justice and access to a good quality of life. Distribution of income has grown more unequal over the past several decades at the country level in much of the world though gaps in health and education have narrowed, it said. Increasing evidence points to widespread environmental degradation around the world and potential future deterioration, the UNDP said. “Forecasts suggest that continuing failure to reduce the grave environmental risks and deepening social inequalities threatens to slow decades of sustained progress by the world’s poor majority — and even to reverse the global convergence in human development,” UNDP administrator Helen Clark warned in the report.Picture the largest, most dominating and highest valued private residences around the University of Kansas campus — they are greek houses. Representatives from KU’s most well-established fraternities have formed a business league to help protect those sizable investments, the Kansas Fraternity Landlords’ League. “We are only successful if we have good houses as tenants,” said Aaron Racine, executive director and legal counsel for the League. “They are big, expensive assets. Let’s say a chapter gets disbanded or suspended, or whatever happens to them, what do you do with this big multimillion-dollar property?” At this time, the League represents landlords for 10 KU fraternity houses that are home to nearly 1,000 students. The 10 members’ real estate is worth an estimated $35.7 million, based on a combination of assessed valuations and market appraisals, Racine said. Member houses currently pay about $306,000 in property taxes, he said. Racine said the Kansas Fraternity Landlords’ League, a nonprofit organization akin to trade associations and business leagues, is the only such group for fraternities that organizers know of in the region or country. At KU, the university recognizes fraternities and sororities as student organizations but all their houses are located off campus and aren’t owned or operated by the university. Most of KU’s greek houses are owned and operated by corporation boards, primarily populated by alumni. Racine, of Overland Park is not a KU alumnus — that’s one of the reasons he was picked as director, he said — but was in a fraternity at Stanford University. He went to law school at the University of Illinois. Fraternities have a lot of assets, and they must ensure their business models support them, Racine said. The League represents the fraternities’ landlords, not the undergrads who live in the houses. Some goals intersect, and at other times undergrads might not like what the League is pushing, Racine said. “We want academically successful, well-behaved tenants in our houses, because if kids want to be there and parents want to pay for them to be there, then our business model flourishes,” Racine said. The League’s plan for helping protect fraternity landlords’ investment is multipronged. A major issue the group plans to lobby against, if it emerges, is the possibility of KU requiring all freshmen to live in on-campus dorms and delay fraternity pledging until second semester freshman year. That would hurt KU fraternities’ business model because most freshmen live in the houses and houses depend on their rent income, Racine said. Those were among formal recommendations of the KU Sexual Assault Task Force, which met during the 2014-15 school year. KU administration said
Americans back on the moon by 2020 PA:Press Association 0 The report claims US should bag 'property rights' on earth's nearest neighbour Documents reveal Trump's business team is looking to put 'private' astronauts back on the moon within three years. It also wants to kick-start a programme developing private space stations, according to internal documents obtained by Politico. "NASA's new strategy will prioritise economic growth and the organic creation of new industries and private sector jobs over 'exploration'," reads the NASA action plan. "Done correctly, this could create a trillion-dollar per year space economy, dominated by America." This new 'business' focus would financially benefit the tech billionaires who have already invested fortunes probing the opportunities space offers.The Foxconn industrial campus in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will be the world's most advanced and largest of its kind, the company says. (Photo: Debby Wu/Nikkei Asian Review) Terry Gou — chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, the self-described largest electronics manufacturer in the world — envisions a sprawling factory complex that will become his "strategic base" in the global race to supply next-generation flat-panel screens with such ultra-high resolution they don’t exist yet. The industrial campus will be the world’s most advanced and largest of its kind, the company says. Its engineers and designers “will develop innovative display screens, smart TV’s, electronic whiteboards and other cutting edge display products.” It will boast advanced automation, create 15,000 jobs and spawn a massive halo of additional industries across the region to supply specialized glass and parts. These ambitions, however, are not meant for southeastern Wisconsin. Instead, they are meant for southern China — Gou’s home turf for manufacturing. It’s a region where Foxconn's existing stable of factories already ship products like iPhones, Kindles and PlayStations to the rest of the world on behalf of his outsourcing clients such as Apple, Amazon and Sony. READ THE DOCUMENT: Terry Gou's plans in Guangzhou ARCHIVES: China's economic boom hits home Nor is Gou’s vision merely a proposal. He already broke ground earlier this year in the industrial megacity of Guangzhou, and plans to be up and running in 2019. That’s a year earlier than an industrial complex proposed for Wisconsin, where Gou promises to manufacture identical or near-identical screens. And that’s presuming the state’s politicians approve the terms of the nonbinding three-page "memorandum of understanding," iron out all the details, draw up a final contract and settle on a production site. The two sister sites would operate on opposite spheres of the globe, serving different hemispheres — at least that's the idea. In terms of capabilities and products, the proposed Wisconsin facility, if it’s fully built out, “should be an exact copy of the GZ fab,” said Yasuo Nakane, head of global technology research at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, speaks at a March 1, 2017, groundbreaking ceremony in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. (Photo: Nikkei Asian Review) However, on the day the Wisconsin facility opens its doors, the state's competitiveness would be tested as never before. Industry analysts in Asia suggest the two sites will have jarringly dissimilar production costs and economic ecosystems. In essence, one of Gou's production sites — the one in China — could dramatically undercut another — the one in Wisconsin — on costs, prices, wages and benefits. RELATED: Business coalition forms to lobby for Wisconsin Foxconn deal RELATED: Foxconn tied to internet of things, a technology that's changing all of our lives — but with risks RELATED: How would the Wisconsin Foxconn deal work? Here are some answers FULL COVERAGE: Foxconn updates From his boardroom in Taipai, Gou will know exactly what every screen and paycheck in Wisconsin cost him compared to what they cost in Guangzhou. Further, both sites come with incentives from their respective state authorities, allowing Gou to analyze whether Wisconsin's record-setting package of $3 billion in taxpayer subsidies helps offset any potential competitive disadvantages. In Guangzhou, wages at existing Foxconn facilities average $2.50 an hour – including benefits and social entitlements, according to New York-based China Labor Watch, a politically independent nonprofit. Breaking out Foxconn's China wages under a different metric, Japan's Nikkei Asian Review found that iPhone assembly workers in Zhengzhou, another industrial Chinese city, earn a monthly salary of up to $670 (4,500 yuan) plus benefits and after overtime, which comes to $8,000 a year. In its memorandum of understanding with Wisconsin, by contrast, Gou promised to create "up to 13,000 jobs" with an estimated average salary of $53,875 over a phased-in expansion that could take six years or longer. Wages are not the biggest cost component in highly automated flat-panel factories, analysts note. Even so, costs to outfit the Wisconsin plant with production equipment will be higher than in China, as will ongoing costs to supply it with special glass, materials and electronic components, not least because the entire chain of panel-production supplier industries are based in Asia, Nakane said. The costs to outfit the Wisconsin plant with production equipment will be exponentially higher than in China. (Photo: Debby Wu/Nikkei Asian Review) Just politics? The construction of the Guangzhou campus underlines how geopolitical calculations — not necessarily economic logic — appear to be driving Gou's strategy. "The location in Wisconsin only makes sense if you are concerned about a trade war," said Einar Tangen, a Beijing-based Chinese economic expert. At stake is Gou’s access to the consumers of the United States amid a political climate of heightened anti-trade and America-first political rhetoric. President Donald Trump, a vocal critic of U.S. trade relationships, claims that Foxconn wouldn’t consider coming to the United States “if I didn't get elected.” Gou's overriding motivation in considering Wisconsin is to avert and avoid protective U.S. trade tariffs and import restrictions, according to a consensus of Asian analysts contacted by the Journal Sentinel. That would keep open the torrent of Foxconn’s other electronic imports into the country. The trade stakes are not just high for Foxconn; penalties on the company’s U.S. imports would inflate what Americans pay for brands such as Apple, Amazon and Sony. If not for the threat of trade sanctions, Gou presumably could use Guangzhou to supply American consumers with made-in-China products that are identical to anything made in Wisconsin – just as he does with all his other products. As for future investments and expansion, Gou undoubtedly will have to weigh the costs — financial and political — before deciding whether to make them in Guangzhou or Wisconsin, or both. Gou, known as a savvy and diplomatic but hard-knuckled negotiator, effectively is in a no-lose situation in Wisconsin. Such investment conflicts could begin early because the specialized high-precision equipment needed to produce next-generation panel displays, made in Asia and costly to install, already "is in extremely short supply," possibly causing delays in outfitting the Wisconsin facility, Nakane said. Reached for comment, Hong Kong-based Foxconn spokeswoman Ellin Choy said: "Our investment decisions are driven by the local needs of our current and future customers in the markets where we seek to operate." The statement added that the two facilities "will serve entirely different customer groups." A groundbreaking ceremony was held March 1 in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, where Foxconn founder Terry Gou is building what he calls the world’s biggest factory complex to manufacture next generation flat-panel screens. The Guangzhou factory will open before a proposed industrial park in Wisconsin, which would produce identical or near-identical products. (Photo: Debby Wu/Nikkei Asian Review) Aware of footprint Supporters say the Foxconn deal represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring a new industry to the United States and site it in Wisconsin, along with a large number of suppliers and ripple-effect jobs. The Guangzhou industrial site has not figured prominently into Wisconsin’s deliberations over the Foxconn project's merits and costs. Earlier this month, the state Assembly voted to approve the $3 billion package of state subsidies, which is 46 times more than the previous record subsidies offered to recruit a manufacturer to Wisconsin. Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, concedes he knows little about the Guangzhou site although he said he was active in the Foxconn recruitment efforts from the beginning. “I haven’t spent the time to understand exactly the kind of plants they are building there (in China) or its specific purpose," said Sheehy, who also is a senior planner in the seven-county Milwaukee 7 economic strategy consortium of southeastern Wisconsin. But Sheehy isn't surprised that Gou would have dual facilities. NEWSLETTERS Get the Business Watch Delivered newsletter delivered to your inbox We're sorry, but something went wrong Get todays business headlines delivered to your inbox. Please try again soon, or contact Customer Service at 1-844-900-7103. Delivery: Mon - Fri Invalid email address Thank you! You're almost signed up for Business Watch Delivered Keep an eye out for an email to confirm your newsletter registration. More newsletters "It's hard to find a manufacturer today that doesn’t have a multi-country footprint," Sheehy said. "The classic example here in Wisconsin is A.O. Smith. They make hot water heaters in China for the Chinese market and they also make hot water heaters here in the U.S." In Madison, one of the lead negotiators was Scott Neitzel, secretary of the state Department of Administration. "Since the beginning of our discussions with the company, we have been aware of Foxconn’s intention to build a facility in Asia to serve the Asian market," Neitzel spokesman Steve Michels said in an email. Fierce competition All the while, the flat-screen panel industry is in flux. Screens in the future will be flatter, lighter and bigger with more than twice as many pixels and far higher resolution than current products. Like nearly all consumer electronics, however, they also become commodity products with falling prices and a continuous technology race to develop new innovations. Even before the sister factories in Guangzhou and Wisconsin would go on line, the global market for flat-panel displays already is under fierce price pressure. A spate of rival Chinese flat-panel manufacturers with names like CSOT and BOE are crowding the field of suppliers, driving prices lower, said Charles Annis, an industry analyst in Tokyo at the IHS Markit (CQ) research firm. Nor are Guangzhou and Wisconsin Gou's only flat-screen factories. When Foxconn acquired Japan's Sharp Corp. last year, it also took ownership of a modern flat-panel factory in western Japan, adding to its global capacity for flat screens. "This is a mature industry, which is more akin to a commodity than an innovation model," said Tangen, who was active in economic development in Milwaukee before he moved to Beijing 12 years ago to write books on China’s economic development and appear on Chinese state television as a commentator. “Industry insiders in Taiwan are worried about whether the company can turn a profit on the planned Wisconsin facility, faced with higher labor costs, falling panel prices and the lack of a comprehensive supply chain,” according to an analysis this month by the Nikkei Asian Review. Shareholder pressure Gou, 66, created, grew and guides Foxconn's $135 billion-a-year manufacturing operations. The 43-year-old company is publicly listed and Gou is under shareholder pressure to contain costs. Gou might be banking on the consumer novelty of made-in-American television sets. “As they explain to us, there are 36 million TVs sold in the U.S. and not one is made here (in the U.S.),” Sheehy said. Japan’s Toyota and Germany’s BMW appeal to consumers with the same strategy, building passenger cars in Georgetown, Ky., and Spartanburg, S.C., respectively. In terms of labor costs, however, pay levels in both Japan and Germany are on a par with the U.S. — all developed world economies. "We caution that assembling TVs in the U.S. at a cost that would make them competitive with TVs assembled in China would likely require the adoption of even more advanced automation, which would seem to work against the aim of creating jobs," Nakane wrote. In Wisconsin, some wonder how far Gou will go in his expansion and the job creation meant to go with it. Even legislators in Gov. Scott Walker’s Republican Party this month faulted the proposal for a lack of benchmarks on job creation. "What if later on, a year from now, nothing’s happened? Two years from now, still nothing’s happened and the jobs aren’t coming?" Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said in a radio interview earlier this month. Home base There is less ambiguity in southern China, where Gou has been detailed in his ambitions to create an $8.8 billion “strategic base.” Gou has hitched his fortunes to the region around Guangzhou, a city of 14 million people in the Pearl River Delta, the cradle of China's manufacturing revolution over the last 40 years. The highest echelon of Communist Party leaders in the region were on hand when construction of the industrial complex began in March. The China Post, a Taiwanese newspaper, called the new factory the "the largest industrial investment Guangzhou has seen.” In 1988, Gou launched Foxconn’s first manufacturing base in the Pearl River Delta, which is roughly the size of the Texas panhandle. The region is already home to many of the world's electronics components supplier industries. And of Foxconn's 12 industrial sites scattered in China, four already are based in the delta, where Gou feels at home and speaks the local language. “In the last 30 years, we have continuously invested in expanding our operations in the Pearl River Delta — from Shenzhen to Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and Guangzhou today,” Gou said in the Guangzhou press release. “Our goal is to support the building of an information technology highway across the Pearl River Delta, similar to Silicon Valley’s Highway 101, and to develop an industry supply chain that generates a multiplier effect of five to seven times on GDP for every dollar of output.” The Guangzhou site is majority owned and controlled by Gou under a subsidiary called Sakai Display Product Corp., or SDP, which calls Gou its “majority shareholder.” What's more, the Guangzhou development enjoys local government support and “is being built in partnership with the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality,” the press release said. Gou's Guangzhou campus also has the backing of Beijing under a larger national effort, called "Made in China 2025," meant to automate and upgrade vast segments of Chinese industry. All of that leads back to the question of comparative costs. Asked if Guangzhou — in the long run — can produce parts more cheaply than Wisconsin, and whether that gives Foxconn a disincentive to expand in Wisconsin, Annis replied: "Many people are wondering the same things. There are many unanswered questions about this story." As for the role of national politics, Annis said: "Keep in mind, both of these factory plans have highly political motivations. The logic is also difficult for us on the outside to fully understand." Annis grew up in Wisconsin before he earned a master's degree in business in the Japanese city of Kyoto, and then joined the flat-panel industry as a manufacturing executive. Since 2014, he's researched the flat-panel industry for IHS Markit in Tokyo. "So for me this story is doubly interesting," he said in an exchange of emails. "Keep in mind the Wisconsin factory is, to-date, simply an announcement," the Wisconsin native said. "We do not think it is yet 100 percent going to happen." Read or Share this story: https://jsonl.in/2xyVyNNWhile participating in a panel discussion during the Urban Land Institute’s annual Miami Condo Market Symposium, Related Group CEO Jorge Perez had a sobering take on the city’s booming real estate market. “While we are here to promote Miami, it is not yet a global city,” Perez said. “We are highly dependent on buyers from New York, Europe and South America. We have very few local buyers even for condos going for $500 a square foot.” On Thursday morning at downtown Miami’s Epic Hotel, Perez joined fellow developers Ugo Colombo, Eduardo Costantini and Richard LeFrak, along with Douglas Elliman chairman Howard Lorber, for a discussion on the latest trends in the Miami market. Perez said Miami lacks a young, strong middle class and still has a hard time attracting Fortune 500 companies to open offices in the city. “We have done a poor job attracting high-paying jobs in comparison to Atlanta or Houston,” Perez told the standing room only crowd. “We have a long way to go.” LeFrak, the New York real estate mogul who is developing 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach, echoed Perez’s comments. “I was recently speaking to the CEO of a New York financial company,” Lefrak said. “He told me all his employees over 55 want to relocate to Miami. But he doesn’t know if he can convince those under 55 to move.” The symposium also featured a discussion with commercial lenders on the resurgence of construction financing for Miami condo projects. Panel participant Jonathan Roth, president of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, and Michael Wadler, vice president of real estate finance for HSBC Bank USA, noted banks and nontraditional lenders are willing to loan money to developers who have a proven track record of finishing projects and have a substantial number of presold units.Youtube is the most popular video streaming website. YouTube has thousands of streaming videos on nearly every topic. Which are free to watch.Certain videos that contain nudity, explicit, or violence content are put under 18+ category and you can’t watch these videos on YouTube unless you are logged into your YouTube / Google account.In this post I will show you a simple hack on how to see those videos 😉 The following message appears while you try to watch 18+ Video, “This content may contain material flagged by YouTube’s user community that may be inappropriate for some users.” “To view this video or group, please verify you are 18 or older by signing in or signing up. If you would instead prefer to avoid potentially inappropriate content, consider activating YouTube’s Safety Mode.” Watch 18+ Videos Without Youtube Account or Loggin in Here is a simple hack for seeing those videos, Just replace “watch” in the YouTube URL with “watch_popup” and the 18+ video will play on your screen without restrictions. Example: I am trying to see Gangster loses fight to next karate kid (real fight) video, The URL is, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O07u7KdRVo0 Now just replace “watch” in URL with “watch_popup” http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=O07u7KdRVo0 Cool. 🙂 Now this video plays without signing into account 😉 Checkout Most Popular Articles Did You Know? YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. It was launched on February 14, 2005. It was written on Java,Python and proprietary JavaScript. Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, but media corporations including CBS, the BBC, Vevo, Hulu, and other organizations offer some of their material via YouTube, as part of the YouTube partnership program.Tripods are like lenses, if you buy a good one you will keep it for a long time. I don’t recommend getting cheap tripods for video. If you shoot video and stills then I highly recommend a good tripod. For stills, having a stable tripod is extremely important. Having a sharp image for still photography is more important than it is for video. If your take a picture of something and the image is blurry because your tripod shakes, then you are going to focus on the poor quality of the image rather than the subject matter. The same cannot be said for video because it is usually shot at 24 frames per second with a 1/48 shutter speed resulting in a fairly blurry image. You can shoot video and it can be really grungy, and people will still watch it (if the story is interesting). And if your video is shaky you can usually fix it in post. If you are just using a DSLR with a few lenses and you are not mounting anything too heavy, you can get by with a fairly cheap tripod for video. But I don’t recommend this. Anyway, keep in mind that it is really hard for one person to write an in depth article about all the tripod models because individuals usually only have experience with a few tripods. So I hope this guide doesn’t come off too vague. Here is my case for why you should opt for something a bit more robust than a cheap tripod: Build Quality When you buy a really cheap tripod, you are skimping out on engineering, quality materials, and quality control. The engineering is pretty darn important because if it cuts down on the frustration that goes hand and had with tripods. Lets be honest, tripods can be a nuisance to work with. If you have ever worked with a cheap tripod it can be the most frustrating thing ever because it is most likely poorly engineered. Instead of focusing on the shot, you are usually preoccupied with trying to get the tripod to function adequately. It obviously goes without saying that cheaper tripods use cheaper materials. Cheap tripods are flimsy, have lots of parts that don’t feel rugged, and have a looming aura of failure. Basically they are the polar opposite of rugged. If you buy a cheap tripod, be prepared to deal with replacements parts. Also make sure to coddle the tripod with extreme care because it will not be able to withstand everyday stress for very long. Leg Stability Cheap tripod are usually less stable than expensive tripods. Now, when I say “cheap tripods” I am not talking about old Bogen tripods that are cheap on Ebay because they are old, used, aluminum and heavy. I am talking about new tripods you may find on Amazon that sell for cheap prices and have decent reviews because people who have never owned a real tripod write glowing reviews about them. These cheap tripods really suck when you extend the legs and the center column. So if you end up buying one of these, it will be fairly flimsy and you will want to weigh down the legs and center column with sandbags or some sort of weights. Tripod Dampening Time A loosely assembled tripod is going to have longer dampening times. Furthermore if the material is flimsy it’s going to vibrate more. Dampening time is a big deal when you shoot stills at long focal lengths. For video it is not a big deal if you shoot at normal focal lengths, but if you shoot at over 100mm on a crop sensor, dampening time will come into play. Carbon fiber tripods have much lower dampening times than aluminum tripods. If you don’t believe me check out this excellent review of the popular Manfrotto 055cxprob, just scroll down to the bottom third of the page and read the Manfrotto 055CXPRO3 Vibration results. If you are too lazy to read, just watch this video instead. Load Capacity Load capacity on cheap tripods usually maxes out at 15 lbs. Most have a load capacity of 7-10lbs. Generally, the load capacity doesn’t mean much because there is no industry standard by which manufacturers abide. If I was debating between two tripods, one rated for 24lbs and the other for 30 lbs, other variables would more important to me in the decision making process. Usually, you can overload your tripod. But I don’t recommend that. Which tripod would I expect to handle weigh better, a tripod rated for 42lbs or a tripod rated for 7 lbs? Well, that is a pretty obvious answer. Weight Lightweight tripods cost more. Lightweight tripods are not necessarily better. Buying a tripod that is light in weight is a luxury, and not necessary. However, when you buy a lightweight tripod (by the way, you can interchange the word lightweight with carbon fiber) you actually get better dampening times because of the carbon fiber material. So in my opinion it is worth going light weight because you lighten the weight of camera setup, plus you get better dampening times because your lightweight tripod is made out of carbon fiber. If your tripod is lightweight but it is not made out of carbon fiber then that means you have a lightweight aluminum tripod. Lightweight aluminum tripods are usually cheap and not suitable for semi serious work. Extra Tripod Features When you get a quality tripod, you often get improved features: Illuminated leveling bubble Twist locks (some people prefer flip locks) Top plate locking Weight hook Ratcheting legs Offset leg joints Anti rotating legs Bowl mount Foot spikes Ball feet Improved aluminum and carbon fiber (at least that’s what they claim) All that stuff listed above is designed to improve performance and make your experience more enjoyable. Bowl mount support is particularly useful for video, and I will talk about that later. If you get a decent tripod right off the bat, you will save yourself a lot of headaches and be more motivated to go out into the field with your tripod. If your tripod sucks, you will be less motivated to use it and you will most likely end up buying a good tripod down the road anyway. Recommended Brands: Really Right Stuff The best sub $1,000 tripods are made by Really Right Stuff (RRS). The engineers at RRS basically looked at the Gitzo design and figured out how to improve every aspect of the Gitzo. If you buy a Really Right Stuff Tripod, you are buying and amazing piece of gear that will last you a lifetime. Really Right Stuff tripods are completely built in America, and carry a five year warranty. RRS tripods are lighter than gitzo and are rated for more weight. They have a more compact design, better engineered carbon fiber legs, and come with a locking plate that better secures your tripod head. RRS tripods are not mass produced, so if you want to buy one you often have to wait since they are back ordered. All of the Versa 3 series RRS tripods can be adapted with leveling bases. If you plan on using video equipment with a fluid head, a leveling base or bowl adapter is very important. The reason you want a leveling base is because leveling a fluid head is not as easy as leveling your typical ball head or 3 way pan/tilt head. A leveling base will allow you to attach flat base fluid heads to your tripod. A bowl adapter will allow you to attach bowl versions of fluid heads to your tripod. Most fluid heads only move up/down (tilt) and left/right (pan), which means leveling becomes problematic because you would need to be constantly adjusting your tripod legs. A bowl mount allows you to circumvent this problem because you are able to adjust your fluid head in any position without having to fiddle with the tripod legs. You can buy many fluid heads in bowl mount format, so you would not need an extra leveling base, you would just place the head into the bowl (often requiring an adapter). A leveling base would be needed if you want to attach a non bowl mount fluid head to a tripod bowl. Well, technically you can attach your fluid head to a typical flat plate that comes with your tripod, but that would make leveling much more cumbersome. I know I have explained this poorly, but later on in this guide you will see a video of a fluid head with a bowl mount being operated. All RRS Vers 3 series tripods use a 75mm bowl which is a commonly used bowl size for many of the smaller fluid heads. For instance, the bowl version of Manfrotto’s 502HD fluid head is designed for 75mm bowls. All you have to do is buy a Really Right Stuff Versa Video Bowl adapter and you are ready to go. If you are looking to spend $800-$1100 on a tripod, I would suggest getting a RRS, specifically a 3 series carbon fiber model. Checkout this page to see why RRS beats out the competitors: http://reallyrightstuff.com/WebsiteInfo.aspx?fc=68 Gitzo Gitzo 3 series, 4 series, and 5 series Systematic series models can be used with video bowl mounts via an adapter. So I would recommend getting a 3 series as a minimum. Keep in mind that the adapter is going to add an extra $100 to your cost (alternatively you can get a cheaper RRS adapter that works for Gitzo tripods as well as RRS tripods). And if you have heavy photo or video gear that you want to use without a bowl, you will most likely want to buy a safety plate so that your gear stays secure. One weakness of Gitzo tripods is that the top plate is not as secure as the RRS plate, which is why many people opt to buy a safety plate. It’s not a big deal if your camera gear is very light, but if you are using video gear chances are you will want a safety plate so that your head does not come loose. Other than the plate issue, you can’t really go wrong with Gitzo. They make a great line of tripods and they are manufactured in Italy. Yes, you heard me right; made in Italy, not China. If you are willing to drop $600+ on a tripod, I don’t see why you wouldn’t go with a RRS or Gitzo. Used RRS tripods go for as low as $700 on Ebay, which is around the same ballpark that new Systematic 3 series Gitzos cost. Gitzo comes with a base + 5 year warranty extension. Many people go with Gitzo over RRS because of brand loyalty. Gitzo has been making excellent tripods for a very long time, while RRS is a bit more of a new kid on the block when it comes to carbon fiber tripods. Manfrotto Even though Manfrotto is manufactured by the same company as Gitzo, the quality in product is completely different. Many people buy Manfrotto tripods because it is the standard for entry level photographers or videographers. Manfrotto tripods are better than average. They are mostly made in Italy, but some of the lower budget stuff is manufactured in Italy and China. So if you buy something made by Manfrotto that is very cheap, don’t expect Gitzo quality. Manfrotto makes some excellent carbon fiber tripods with bowl mounts for their video series tripods. The video tripods are a bit heavy by carbon fiber standards, but they are rated for a lot of weight and they extend very high. Most Manfrotto products are covered 2-5 years, but in some cases the 2 years warranty is extended to 10 years with registration. Benro/Induro Benro and Induro or basically the same thing, so I will just refer to these legs as Benro. Benro is the poor man’s Gitzo. They are very popular because they are well engineered and cheaply priced. These tripods are engineered in America, but are manufactured in China. Benro makes bowl mount carbon fiber tripods called the Combination series which is equivalent to the Gitzo Systematic series. If you can’t afford Gitzo or RRS, I would suggest going with Benro, Manfrotto or Fesiol. Only one word of caution; avoid buying any Benro tripod heads. Unlike the Benro tripod legs, the heads are complete garbage. If you buy a Benro, hope you get a good one because the US warranty is only 1 year. The good thing about Benro is that their customer service is very helpful. Also a very trusted ebay seller (dc-photo-stuff) provides a 5 year warranty when you purchase through them. If you buy the Induro brand name, you can get a warranty from Induro/Benro for up to 10 years. Feisol This brand is similar to Benro: a poor man’s Gitzo. Lots of people choose Benro over Feisol and lots of people choose Feisol over Benro. Fesiol has very good customer service, something that cannot be said about Manfrotto and Gitzo (their customer service is inconsistent). An advantage Feisol has over Benro is that it is easier to attach fluid heads to the tripod. Feisol has more options than Benro when it comes to bowl mounts and leveling bases. Feisol ships with a 3 year warranty. These brands that I have listed above are standard tripod choices for professional and amateur photography. They are not the industry standard for professional video. If you want more professional legs, then look at brands like O’Conner, Vinten, Cartoni and Miller. These manufacturers are overkill if all you are mounting is a small DSLR rig. There are other brands that are similar to Benro and Feisol that I have omitted from this guide. I guess I had to draw the line somewhere. If you are curious to see what’s out there, just do a search on Adorama or B & H. Conclusion about manufacturers: There are a bunch of professional tripods that are very heavy and provide excellent stability for video equipment. I don’t think these tripods are very practical for amateur filmmakers. Of the manufacturers I discussed, Really Right Stuff is far and away the best. The next best option is Gitzo. If you get the right legs from either of the manufacturers, you will be a very happy person. After Gitzo there is a slight drop off in quality and you are left with Manfrotto, followed by Feisol, and Benro. You still get a decent tripod from those brands but they are not as polished and they may not hold up for as many years. Your tripod of choice needs to reflect your needs. First, figure out how much weight you will be putting on the legs. Here is an example: Canon 7D (820g) Canon 50mm 1.4 (290g) BG-E7 Battery Grip (340g) (2) LP-E6 Battery Weight (~180g) Anamorphic Lens (~500g) Miscellaneous (350g) Fluid head (1,600g) Zoom H4N (280g) This comes out to about 10lbs. Now using an old rule of thumb that I have picked up from the astronomers from my favorite astronomy forum, I take that 10lb value and multiply it by 2. Astronomers are very hesitant in accepting the manufacturer specs when it comes to using astronomy equipment on tripods design for photography, so I figure it’s not a bad idea to extend that rule towards video equipment. Maybe I am paranoid, but I think it’s better to under mount a tripod than to over-mount a tripod. Plus you future proof yourself in case you decide to get heavier gear. So now, I am looking at a tripod that support a minimum weight of 20lbs. But, I figure I should get something a bit more sturdy because I plan to get a follow focus system and a 5 inch LCD monitor. So maybe I need a tripod that supports 30lbs. My next decision is carbon fiber vs non carbon fiber. That’s easy, I want carbon fiber. Four section versus three sections: If you travel a lot, you might want 4 sections so that the tripod folds down more compact. Furthermore, if you are very tall a 4 section tripod will likely extend higher than a three section tripod. On most tripods extending legs means less stability. So if you extend all four sections the tripod should, in theory, be less stable than if it had only 3 sections extended. Personally, I prefer the three section design over 4 sections.; less knobs to twist, shorter dampening times and added stability. I should note that Really Right Stuff claims that their tripods don’t exhibit performance loss when all the leg sections are extended. Center columns: Avoid center columns, they introduce a bunch of vibration when extended. If you need extra height, get some longer tripod legs. Using a cheap tripod without the center column will usually result in better image quality than a decent tripod with the center column extended. So personally, I don’t require a center column. But if you want a center column for the added height or ease of use, go for it. Read this excellent series of tests to learn about the hazards of using center columns. Disassembly: How important is it for you to be able to take your tripod apart so that you can clean it or lubricate it? If you are always in a controlled environment then your tripod won’t need much cleaning. But if you are outdoors amidst rocks, dust, dirt, sand and saltwater, you will most likely want to clean your tripod. All modern day Gitzo and RRS tripods can be disassembled easily. Most Benros and Feisols can be disassembled as well. In general, carbon fiber is a higher maintenance material than aluminum, so if you have carbon fiber legs try to get a design that is easy to disassemble. The best way to learn about the disassembly and maintenance procedures for specific tripods is to google the tripod model with a key word added like “disassemble” or “maintenance”. I take my gear to the beach and snow a lot. The snow does not pose many problems but the beach does. I don’t know how it happens but sometimes sand gets into the legs. So for me, easy leg disassembly is a nice bonus. If you go into dusty areas the dust will get into your tripod as well, often getting deposited in areas with grease. Flip lock vs twist locks: For years we have asked the question and for years our questions have not been answered. Go try out some tripods and see which system you like more. Either way you will get used to whatever system your tripod uses. Both have pros and cons. Twist locks are easier to operate in the cold, flip locks get caught on random stuff more often. Some people claim that they are more confident that their system is secure when they use flip locks. It’s honestly all preference. Twist locks look more professional, so if you care about what others think of you get twist locks… and a sports car. If it was up to me, I would use screw locks. Screw locks need to be twisted like a screw into a thread to apply pressure and keep your legs locked. This system is not very popular today, so you will not find modern carbon fiber tripods with screw locks. Personally, I prefer twist locks over flip locks. I don’t know why, I just do. Bowl Mount: I have discussed the importance of having a bowl system. It is not a deal breaker by any means, but it does make leveling a fluid head easier. If you don’t understand the difference between flat base heads and bowl heads, check out this video of a bowl head being demonstrated. If you have never used a 3 way pan head before (

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