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For information on how to beat the banks visit our donate page. For further information on the banking blockade against WikiLeaks download this PDF. A kit with full information on the blockade and tools to assist WikiLeaks through it can be downloaded here. Created: 24th October, 1pm GMT WikiLeaks has published the biggest leaks in journalistic history. This has triggered aggressive retaliation from powerful groups. Since 7th December 2010 an arbitrary and unlawful financial blockade has been imposed by Bank of America, VISA, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union. The attack has destroyed 95% of our revenue. The blockade came into force within ten days of the launch of Cablegate as part of a concerted US-based, political attack that included vitriol by senior right wing politicians, including assassination calls against WikiLeaks staff. The blockade is outside of any accountable, public process. It is without democratic oversight or transparency. The US government itself found that there were no lawful grounds to add WikiLeaks to a US financial blockade. But the blockade of WikiLeaks by politicized US finance companies continues regardless. As a result, WikiLeaks has been running on cash reserves for the past eleven months. The blockade has cost the organization tens of millions of pounds in lost donations at a time of unprecedented operational costs resulting from publishing alliances in over 50 countries, and their inevitable counter-attacks. Our scarce resources now must focus on fighting the unlawful banking blockade. If this financial attack stands unchallenged, a dangerous, oppressive and undemocratic precedent will have been set, the implications of which go far beyond WikiLeaks and its work. Any organization that falls foul of powerful finance companies or their political allies can expect similar extrajudicial action. Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and other international NGOs that work to expose the wrongdoing of powerful players risk the same fate as WikiLeaks. If publishing the truth about war is enough to warrant such aggressive action by Washington insiders, all newspapers that have published WikiLeaks’ materials are on the verge of having their readers and advertisers blocked from paying for their subscriptions. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has openly criticized the financial blockade against WikiLeaks, as have the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. The blockade erects a wall between us and our supporters, preventing them from affiliating with and defending the cause of their choice. It violates the competition laws and trade practice legislation of numerous states. It arbitrarily singles out an organization that has not committed any illegal act in any country and cuts it off from its financial lifeline in every country. In Australia, a formal, US triggered investigation into our operations found that WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange have no case to answer. In the US, our publishing is protected by the First Amendment, as has been repeatedly demonstrated by a wide variety of respected legal experts on the US Constitution. In January 2011 the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy C. Geithner, announced that there were no grounds to blacklist WikiLeaks. There are no judgements, or even charges, against WikiLeaks or its staff anywhere in the world. The most powerful players in the banking industry have shown themselves to be a politicized arm of Washington. This collusion has occurred outside of any judicial or administrative process. The reach of these companies is global and violates the most basic principles of sovereignty. In Europe, VISA and MasterCard together control 97% of the card payment market. Alternatives have been aggressively opposed by VISA and US embassies. The European Central Bank announced plans in 2008 to introduce a European card system. A similar 2010 proposal in Russia together with a bill banning individualized VISA transaction records from going to the US were met with intervention by the US Embassy in Moscow. VISA calls itself the world’s largest currency, but every transaction is controlled by the VISA corporation and the groups that influence it. VISA is a national security problem and a threat to state sovereignty. No state, individual or organization has full economic autonomy or privacy if they rely on VISA. It is able to provide significant intelligence on not only individual behaviour and economic relationships but on large sections of the entire microeconomy and the movement of labour. The Bank of America is one of the principle promoters of the WikiLeaks financial blockade; it is also the creator of VISA, which until 1976 was called the “Bank Americard”. In February this year, it was revealed in detail that the Bank of America had commissioned, through Washington lawyers Hunton & Williams, a consortium of three US intelligence contractors, including HBGary, to propose a systematic US $2 million/month multi-pronged attack to hack and smear WikiLeaks. HBGary was referred to the bank’s lawyers by contacts within the US Department of Justice. The correspondence and proposals, which include plans to target journalists and lawyers supporting WikiLeaks, are now public. An extract from the proposal to sabotage WikiLeaks can be found on page 16 of plan 6: Feed the fuel between the feuding groups. Disinformation. Create messages around actions of sabotage or discredit the opposing organizations. Submit fake documents and then call out the error. Create concern over the security of the infrastructure. Create exposure stories. If the process is believed not to be secure they are done. Cyber attacks against the infrastructure to get data on document submitters. This would kill the project. Since the servers are now in Sweden and France putting a team together to get access is more straightforward. Media campaign to push the radical and reckless nature of WikiLeaks activities. Sustain pressure. Does nothing for the fanatics, but creates concern and doubt among moderates. In order to ensure our future survival, WikiLeaks is now forced to temporarily suspend its publishing operations and aggressively fundraise in order to fight back against this blockade and its proponents. We have commenced pre-litigation action against the blockade in Iceland, Denmark, the UK, Brussels, the United States and Australia. We have lodged an anti-trust complaint at the European Commission and expect a decision by mid-November as to whether the European Competition Authority will open a full investigation into the wrongdoing of VISA and MasterCard. Our battles will be costly. We need your support. A handful of US finance companies cannot be allowed to decide how the whole world votes with its pocket. Graph Showing Donations Successfully Transferred to WikiLeaks: Financial Blockade: Chronology - 27 November 2010: United States - US State Department intentionally and wrongfully imply (but do not formally state) illegal conduct by WikiLeaks in a letter to lawyers for Julian Assange, which they then immediately leak to the press - 29 November 2010: Global - Cablegate publication starts with New York Times, Der Spiegel, El Pais & the Guardian, expanding eventually to over 90 publications in over 50 countries. - 29 November 2010 and following days: United States - Assassination calls and declarations of war by US senators, pundits and media against WikiLeaks. - 1 December 2010: United States/Global - Amazon stops hosting WikiLeaks - 2 December 2010: United States/Global - EveryDNS stops wikileaks.org domain service - 3 December 2010: United States/Global - Paypal discontinues service - 4 December 2010: Germany - PayPal blocks Wau Holland Stiftung’s (WHS, the foundation receiving donations for WikiLeaks) access to its account and freezes remaining money for 180 days. The money is released immediately by PayPal after a WHS lawyer intervenes. - 6 December 2010: Switzerland - Swiss Post Finance freezes Julian Assange Defence Fund account in Switzerland - 7 December 2010: United States/Global - Visa and MasterCard stop processing payments to WikiLeaks. Germany - A letter from the FA Kassel (Kassel tax department) to WHS Foundation, which receives donations for WikiLeaks, asked whether donations have been transferred to WikiLeaks. WHS responded promptly, with data detailing transfers to WikiLeaks - 8 December 2010: United States/global - Updated Statement about WikiLeaks from PayPal General Counsel - 9 December 2010: Global - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemns blockade - 12 December 2010: Iceland - Icelandic Parliament Considers Revoking Visa/MasterCard Licenses For Wikileaks Ban - 15 December 2010: Germany - FA Kassel (tax department) announces WHS (the foundation that receives donations for WikiLeaks) charitable status may be revoked (pending investigation). - 16 December 2010: Global - Amnesty International examines Human Rights at stake when blocking WikiLeaks payments - 18 December 2010: United States/global - Bank of America discontinues any services intended for WikiLeaks - 20 December 2010: United States - Apple removes WikiLeaks application for iPhones - 21 December 2010: United States/Global - Western Union adds WikiLeaks to 'Interdiction List' Global: UN and OAS Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Expression issue a Joint Statement Condemning the Blockade against WikiLeaks - 26 December 2010: United States: New York Times Editorial Condemns Blockade - 30 December 2010: Denmark/Global - Denmark-based contractor for VISA Europe and MasterCard, Teller AS, reports that WikiLeaks has not violated any VISA regulations, Icelandic or Danish laws. - 1 January 2011: Germany – WHS Foundation, which receives donations for WikiLeaks moves its office from Kassel to Hamburg - 13 January 2011: United States - US Treasury finds no grounds to blacklist WikiLeaks - 17 January 2011: UK - WikiLeaks Press conference with Rudolf Elmer - 19 January 2011: Switzerland - Elmer is handed suspended sentence. He is the arrested without charge in connection with WikiLeaks press conference. - 9 February 2011: United States/Global - Bank of America, who hired data intelligence firms HBGary, Palantir Technologies and Berico Technologies, is revealed to have commisioned a proposal of a systematic attack against WikiLeaks. The proposal is leaked. - 24 February/1 March 2011: United States – Ethics complaint filed at the DC Bar against law firm Hunton&Williams and members of Congress call for probe into illegal conduct by the firm (hired by Bank of America to sabotage WikiLeaks and target WikiLeaks’ supporters) - 14 February 2011: Germany: FA Hamburg-Nord (tax department) drops Kassel investigation into WHS Foundation’s (which receives donations for WikiLeaks) charitable status, but initiates a new investigation on different grounds. - 9 June 2011: EU - WikiLeaks & Datacell announce prospective EU Commission Complaint against VISA and Mastercard - 7 - 8 July 2011: Iceland/Global - DataCell: Credit card donation to WikiLeaks is accepted again but VISA closes payments hours after - 14 July 2011: EU - WikiLeaks & Datacell file a Complaint to the European Commission for infringement of the EU Anti Trust Laws - 25 July 2011: Switzerland - Rudolf Elmer is released after 187 days in detention. He had not been charged. - 24 October 2011: Global - WikiLeaks suspends publication to invest all resources in fighting the blockade. Germany - Decision on revoking WHS (the foundation that receives donations for WikiLeaks) status is still pending; WHS has been prevented from opening new bank accounts in Switzerland and Germany for the past 9 months. For information on how to beat the banks visit our donate page. For further information on the banking blockade against WikiLeaks download this PDF. A kit with full information on the blockade and tools to assist WikiLeaks through it can be downloaded here.
BAGHDAD -- Ahmed Chalabi, the onetime U.S. ally, is in the limelight again, and his actions are proving no less controversial than they did years ago. On the eve of Iraq's parliamentary elections, Chalabi is driving an effort aimed at weeding out candidates tied to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. Chalabi is reprising a role he played after the U.S.-led invasion -- which many critics believe he helped facilitate with faulty intelligence -- and, in the process, is infuriating American officials and some Iraqis, who suspect his motive is to bolster his own political bloc. Chalabi, a Shiite, has defended the work of the commission he is leading as legal and crucial during a period of transition to Iraq's first sovereign government. But his reemergence on the political scene has rankled U.S. officials and fueled concerns that Sunnis and other secular Iraqis will be marginalized. Some Iraqi and U.S. officials think Chalabi might have his eyes on the ultimate prize, however unlikely he can attain it. "Even if it kills him, he's going to stay in Iraq to try to become prime minister," said Ezzat Shahbandar, a Shiite lawmaker from a competing slate who has known Chalabi for more than 20 years. "This issue is the only tool he has, because he has nothing else going for him." Chalabi fell out of favor with the Americans in 2004, after they accused him of spying for Iran. The year before, though, he had been appointed to head a U.S.-formed commission to rid the government of officials tied to Hussein's regime. The hasty, wholesale purge that the commission conducted is now widely seen as a catalyst of the insurgency and Iraq's sectarian war. Today, however, Chalabi remains at the helm of a similar "de-Baathification" panel, the Justice and Accountability Commission, because parliament has not appointed new members. When the commission recently announced the disqualification of nearly 500 candidates from the March 7 parliamentary elections, critics noted that candidates from Sunni-led and mixed secular coalitions were disproportionately targeted. Many of those ousted were rivals of Chalabi's bloc. A court impaneled to review the cases carried out a cursory review behind closed doors. Candidates were allowed to submit written appeals but were never told the specific nature of the allegations against them. The court disqualified 145 candidates; most others dropped out or their parties replaced them. Now the disqualifications are widening sectarian and religious divides in Iraq, even as it continues to reel from decades of authoritarian rule, occupation and bloodshed. This week, in an apparent attempt to allay some of the bitterness, the government said it would reinstate 20,000 former army officers ousted because of their ties to Hussein. But the political disqualifications threaten to undermine the elections, overshadowing campaign issues such as security, unemployment and basic services. At the center of it all is Chalabi.
A Japanese man and woman, who met through a suicide website, have apparently killed themselves after forming a death pact. The 46-year-old dentist and the 25-year-old woman got to know each other through a chat room on the suicide website about a month ago. They met for the first time a few days before taking their lives at the dentist's home in Fukui prefecture, central Japan, according to reports. Japanese newspapers said the pair had exchanged numerous e-mails in which they asked for the support of the other in committing suicide. "If we have a common purpose, we have nothing to fear," the national daily Yomiuri Shimbun quoted one e-mail saying. Autopsies showed they had died after swallowing lethal quantities of sleeping pills. Reports said suicide notes were found at the scene. Websites The dentist, who was separated from his wife, had serious health problems and family trouble, according to news agencies. The woman, who had recently resigned from her job, was also thought to be worried about family problems. Reports said they were found by the dentist's wife on Wednesday, but details of the case have only just emerged. The website where they met provides information on different ways to commit suicide and a bulletin board with messages from people wishing kill themselves. Police said there were several such sites in Japan. Cyanide In December 1998, a young Tokyo woman died after swallowing potassium cyanide acquired from an internet suicide service. Investigations showed the poison packs, on offer for between $258 and $430, had been ordered by eight people. Reports said the man who provided the cyanide had stocked enough to kill 3,000 people. He has since killed himself. Last year another Japanese woman was found unconscious in a hotel room after she posted a message on the internet requesting a suicide drug. A suspect was later arrested for allegedly sending her 100 sleeping pills. One of the most popular recent films at the Japanese box office uses a plot twist about a suicide website.
Salvatore Cambria (left) and Eric Onyango said they bought a $1 million winning Powerball ticket in New Jersey, and threw it in the garbage when they read the wrong winning numbers. (Credit: CBS 2) Remember the New Jersey man who made headlines after winning the jackpot in the Lottery last year As it happens, it turns out there were a couple of men who claim they were winners too, but threw their ticket away. The men have now filed a lawsuit against the New Jersey Lottery, CBS 2’s Hazel Sanchez reported. Erick Onyango and Salvatore Cambria, both of Suffern, Rockland County, claim they had a million-dollar lottery ticket in their hands, but they threw it away. “I was very upset — Mad, angry, hurt — everything. I’m like, this is my ticket out of here,” Cambria said. The two friends bought three Powerball tickets from a Mahwah, New Jersey 7-Eleven last year. Onyango said he checked the winning numbers on his phone 15 minutes after the drawing and was convinced they didn’t have a winner. “I’m like this, this, this while he’s checking and, like, ‘Oh, no. It’s not the one,'” Onyango said. “I crumpled it up, put it inside of an empty cigarette pack, and put it in my garbage can,” said Cambria. But it turned out the numbers Onyango was reading were from the previous Powerball drawing. Days later, when Onyango said he realized he bought a winning ticket that matched five numbers and was worth $1 million, the ticket was already buried in a garbage dump, Sanchez reported. Glady Gannon said she’s confident she sold the winning ticket to Onyango. “I remember that night he was in here and I sold it to him — three individual tickets on the Powerball,” Gannon said. The two men said the serial numbers on the tickets they kept prove they bought the winning ticket. “There’s two serial numbers per ticket — 89, 90. The third ticket is 93 and 94. So the middle ticket, 91 and 92, is gone,” Cambria said. The pair is suing the New Jersey Lottery Commission for their winnings, arguing they never would have thrown away the ticket if the correct numbers were posted online. The commission could not comment on the pending lawsuit. But other lottery players told Sanchez they think the men are out of luck. “You threw away the lottery ticket. You’re not getting it,” one person said. “He should’ve confirmed the data before he threw the ticket out,” another weighed in. All in all, it was a painful lesson for Onyango and Cambria, who said before they toss another ticket, they’ll stop and ask, as a sign in the store reads, “Are you throwing away a million dollars?” Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:
The Israeli military shelled a United Nations Relief Works and Agency (UNRWA) school today, killing and injuring some of the Palestinians who had gathered there after fleeing their homes following Israeli messages to do so. CNN‘s Ben Wedeman, who is reporting from Gaza, said that medical sources told him 30 people were killed. Other reports put the death toll lower; the Associated Press reports that at least seven were killed, while Agence France Press reports nine dead. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness has confirmed that there are “multiple dead and injured at designated UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanoun.” He said on Twitter that the Israeli military had been given “precise co-ordinates of the UNRWA shelter in Beit Hanoun.” The first reports came in on Twitter from Palestinians in Gaza, and were then confirmed by CNN’s Ben Wedeman, who is reporting from the coastal strip. [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_small”,”fid”:”581566″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”}}]] [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_small”,”fid”:”581568″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”}}]] As Israel’s assault on Gaza intensified last week, they dropped leaflets in Palestinian neighborhoods urging them to flee ahead of heavy bombardment. Tens of thousands of people heeded the call, with UNRWA sheltering 140,000 people in 83 different schools. SPONSORED UNRWA has been pulled into the conflict by both sides. On Tuesday, the agency for Palestinian refugees announced that they “discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip” for the second time. The agency condemned “the group or groups responsible for this flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under international law.” Israel has also hit other UNRWA schools multiple times. The agency’s spokesman, Chris Gunness, reported that “UNRWA’s had 3 direct hits from Israeli fire on 2 schools in 3 days,” injuring five Palestinians in one of the incidents. During Israel’s 2008-09 assault on Gaza, the military bombed UNRWA facilities multiple times, a war crime under international law. Editor's note: Since this article was published, the death toll has written to at least 15.
Photo by Simone Becchetti via Stocksy I found biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher at just the right time in my life: I was 23 years old and had just been dumped. And not just dumped, but blindsided and broken by "my first love." That kind of heartbreak that can only happen when you're young, inexperienced, and grossly stubborn. If classic novels, rock music, and the best scenes in High Fidelity taught me anything, it's that the first break-up is the big one. In trying to avoid cutting off my ear and overdosing on Hank Williams songs, I found Dr. Fisher and her extensive scientific research on "the brain in love." I was looking for some logic to desensitize my emotions; I was sick of drinking myself stupid every night and thought that reading might be a better idea. Fisher spun me back into reality. Dr. Fisher is a research professor in the anthropology department at Rutgers University, the chief scientific advisor and consultant for Match.com (since 2005), and America's leading researcher on the human brain and cross-cultural patterns of romantic love, mate choice, marriage, divorce, adultery, and brain differences. On top of all that, she has published five best-selling books on her research (with a sixth coming in February 2016) and maintains that romantic love is a universal phenomenon with mechanisms that have been established over evolution. Now in her late 60s, the New York native continues to study the thing she claims is the thing we all want most in this world: love. Photo by Asa Mathat via Flickr user PopTech Fisher first gained international fame when she and her colleagues put 49 people into a brain scanner (fMRI) to study the brain circuitry involved in romantic love. Fisher and her neurological experts concluded that romantic love is basic drive, like hunger or thirst, that operates below all cognitive thinking and feeling; she equated the concept with cocaine. You get addicted to a person, defying logic and risking a lot to get more of them. This made her a big hit in America, getting the one thing we all uncomfortably feel down to a literal science. Lately, she has turned her research to how we find love in the modern world. Through her annual Singles in America studies with Match.com—as well as through her own research—she has conducted studies of thousands of single and coupled Americans trying to figure out how our biology, evolution, and neurological systems play a part in how we date and find love in the context of today's changing gender and economic roles. Right now, she is working on her latest hypothesis which she calls "fast sex/slow love." "I am extremely optimistic for some very large reasons," she tells me over the phone from her friend's home in New York. (Her house is be remodeled.) "We are shedding the last 10,000 years of our agrarian background and moving forward to a lifestyle that was actually much more similar to our hunting-and-gathering past." What she means by this is that economic equality between women and men has changed the way we now look at relationships. In our once hunting-and-gathering society, women came home with 60-80% of what would be eaten, and they were considered just as economically and sexually powerful as men. They left bad relationships when they wanted to, because unlike in the agrarian culture and in the industrial revolution (which found women in the home and out of the work force, stuck at the mercy of their husbands), no one was stuck. "The belief that a woman's only place is in the home is pretty much gone, and I'm all for it," says Fisher. "I think this is a great hope for humanity." If you don't have regular intercourse, then most people see this as a barrier to intimacy. "These days people are terrified of divorce," she continues. "A recent study cited that 67% of people who live together are afraid to get married because of the possibility of divorce and its economic, social, psychological implications and personal consequences. I think now we are marrying later for a reason. I think what we are doing now—with hookup culture, friends with benefits, and living together before marriage—is [wanting] to know everything about another human being before we tie the knot." Fisher believes that even though this culture of promiscuity is viewed as reckless, it is in fact cautious. "We've got a long period of early adulthood to experiment, or what I call 'commitment lite', to see what works for us by hanging out, sleeping together, and getting to know someone before committing to them entirely. By the time we marry, we should have picked quite correctly." Fisher also says that we have abolished a general value in virginity. "Over 30 percent of people told me they would not date a virgin," she says, and it makes sense in her theory of fast sex and slow love. (The actual statistic, from her 2013 Match.com study, is much higher: around 42 percent. And women are much less likely to date a virgin than men.) "If you don't have regular intercourse, then most people see this as a barrier to intimacy. They need time and experience to get to know that person through sex and perfect their sex life together before committing long term." Though she has spent much research dismantling myths about women in love (especially in her 1999 book The First Sex: The Natural Talents of Women and How They Are Changing The World), she firmly believes that men have yet to undergo the same analysis when it comes to the ways they interact in love. The last 50 years have been devoted to understanding how women actually behave in relationships, yet when it comes to men, we stick to same stereotypical notions that men are commitment-phobic, adulterers, hyper-sexual, and insensitive. "I have data to show [that] is not true," Fisher laughs. "In my studies, questioning 25,000 American people, I have found that men fall in love more often. They fall in love sooner; when they meet someone they are in love with, they want to introduce her to friends and family sooner; they want to move in sooner." She says this goes for both gay and straight men in love. Furthermore, when I ask her about how sexual orientation or things like gender fluidity affect the brain in love or dating patterns, she is quick to answer. "Scientists have put LGBT people into the brain scanner and found that their brain circuitry is exactly the same. I study romantic love, and those parts of the brain are not connected with who you love but how you love, and they won't change," she says. Fisher also notes that she has started studying trans people taking hormones to understand how testosterone and estrogen doses affect the brain and the way these things play out in common gender traits. Men transitioning to women and taking estrogen may experience more vivid colors or emotional sensitivity, while biological women taking testosterone "see better in the light or feel more skeptical and assertive" in their daily lives. But despite her optimism about the ways we now find love, she has one fear: drugs. Namely, FDA-approved anti-depressants (SSRIs). "Over 100 million people in America are taking anti-depressants," she says. "As you boost the serotonin system, you are dampening the dopamine system, which of course is connected to romantic love. I get emails from people around the world saying stuff like, 'My sister has been on Prozac for 20 years and has never had a date.' It doesn't shock me. We know these drugs harm the sex drive. Men fall in love more often. They fall in love sooner. "I can really see, down the road, that on dating services people will have to disclose the kinds of medication they take," Fisher continues. "'Hi, my name is Nancy. I take drugs that drive up my serotonin and affect my natural dopamine.'" This Friday, a documentary by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Christian Frei called Sleepless in New York will be available to the general public. At its core is Fisher and her theories about rejection in romantic love; the documentary follows three New Yorkers who have recently been dumped. "I have never seen a film capture that amount of pain and rethink how to show true rejection and loss," says Fisher. "That's much more interesting to me. The happiness is no big deal—it's great. But when you have been rejected, that is when people stalk, get clinical depression, kill somebody else, or kill themselves...they just lose it."
A Russian man has become the talk of the town since he posted an image, titled “Putin scratched women voters’ breasts,” on YouTube.In the 19-minute and 23-second image posted by “myducksvision,” an actor, named Sam Nikel, shakes hands with Putin at an event.Nikel said, “Putin is too busy to meet with potential voters. So I will touch on the breast of women voters and then shake hands with Putin to convey my tactual experience to him.”In the clip, Nikel touched the breasts of as many as 1,000 women for 30 days before shaking hands with Putin.What Nikel did surprised or angered women who appeared in the video. Some of them touched Nikel on his breast, while others slapped his face.In an interview, Nikel said, “I met 70 to 300 women per day. I asked them to allow me to do so one by one. Of them, at least 13 women said OK.”He said that 1,000 women have so far allowed him to touch their breasts, adding that the figure accounts for only 15-20 percent of women he asked.
(ATR) Rio police today arrested IOC Executive Board member Pat Hickey in connection with the Olympic tickets scalping scandal.Hickey, who heads the European Olympic Committees and the Olympic Council of Ireland, is accused of being involved in illegal ticket sales for the Games.He was arrested at the Windsor Marapendi, the official IOC hotel in Barra da Tijuca. Police said Hickey was then taken to hospital after he complained of feeling ill and due to a heart condition he made them aware of, according to Irish media reports.The news was broken this morning by Jamil Chade, a well-respected Olympic correspondent for O Estado de Sao Paulo. Chade said on Twitter that Hickey was taken to hospital after feeling sick soon after he was arrested and his credential taken from him.Civil police confirmed Hickey's arrest in a statement sent to ATR, saying evidence had been uncovered of his involvement in the ticketing scam.He faces three charges: ticket scalping, forming a cartel and illicit marketing.IOC spokesman Mark Adams faced a barrage of questions about Hickey at the IOC’s daily briefing in Rio. He said the IOC does not want to comment until legal action against Hickey is confirmed to them.The Olympic Council of Ireland have yet to comment.Since the start of the Games, Rio police have arrested around 40 ticket touts operating outside the Olympic Park. More than 1,000 tickets destined for the black market were seized by police. Kevin James Mallon, the director of sports hospitality company THG Sports, and his interpreter Barbara Carnieri were arrested in Rio for ticket touting.The Olympic Council of Ireland recruited THG as its official ticketing agent for the London 2012 andSochi 2014 Olympics. But the NOC’s authorized ticket reseller for the Rio Games is Pro10.On Aug. 8, the Olympic Council of Ireland denied any involvement in the ticketing scam, despite photos of some of the tickets showing they were an allocation from the NOC. The tickets, including some for the opening ceremony priced $442, were being sold on the black market for inflated prices.The Irish NOC has launched its own investigation into how the tickets sold by Pro10 came to be in the hands of ticket scalpers.On Sunday night, Hickey held a “fairly tense, fairly frank” meeting with Irish sports minister Shane Ross about the ticketing scandal, according to the Irish Times.The IOC official is reported to have rejected a request to include an independent person on the OCI’s probe into the ticketing scam.“We just met a brick wall,” Ross was quoted by the newspaper.Written by Mark Bisson For general comments or questions, click here
BEIRUT, May 2 (Reuters) - The death toll from an air strike by U.S.-led forces on the northern Syrian province of Aleppo on Friday has risen to 52 including seven children, a group monitoring the conflict said on Saturday. U.S. and Arab forces have been carrying out almost daily air raids against hardline Islamist militant groups in Syria such as Islamic State since last September, and U.S.-led forces are also targeting the group in Iraq. The British-based Observatory for Human Rights said the air raid on Friday had mistakenly struck civilians in a village on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River in Aleppo, killing members of at least six families. The group said at least 13 people remain missing. The United States has previously said it takes reports of civilian casualties from the U.S.-led strikes seriously and says it has a process to investigate each allegation. (Reporting by Mariam Karouny; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Illustration: The Pew Charitable Trusts Advertisement Global investment in clean energy fell 11 percent in 2013. Despite the downward shift, there are still some bright spots that highlight the future of the world’s clean tech industries. Investment in solar, wind, biofuels, biomass, energy efficiency and energy storage was US $254 billion in 2013, according to a new report [PDF] from Pew Charitable Trusts. While the stars of the market, wind and solar, have slipped, the unused kilowatt—aka energy efficiency—saw a 15 percent growth in the past year. Investment might be down overall, but 2013 was still a record setting year that also saw energy storage take a foothold in the market. Solar and wind, with more than $170 billion in investment combined, still make up the lion’s share of the clean tech industry. But energy efficiency, which includes smart meters and energy storage, was the only sector that saw increased investment, with a total of nearly $4 billion in 2013. Most of the efficiency investment was in the United States, where there is an increased focus on saving energy at the state and federal level. “While there was an overall decline in investment, there are signs that the sector is reaping the rewards of becoming a more mature industry,” Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew's clean energy program, said in a statement. “Prices for technologies continue to drop, making them increasingly competitive with conventional power sources. Key clean energy stock indexes rose significantly in 2013, with public market financing up by 176 percent.” Although the United States led in energy efficiency, Asia is leading the clean tech charge overall with 10 percent growth. China dominated with more than $54 billion in investments in 2013, including a near four-fold increase in solar growth. “With extensive manufacturing capacity in the solar and wind sectors, growing domestic markets, and unequaled national targets for renewable energy, China is poised to be a leader in the world’s clean energy marketplace for many years to come,” the report authors wrote. Even so, China’s investment was down 6 percent from 2012. China’s slight decline was offset by the growth in the Japanese market, which is driven by feed-in tariffs for wind and solar. Those incentives were presented as a way to advance renewables as an alternative to nuclear power that went offline in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Japanese clean tech investment was up 80 percent in 2013 to nearly $30 billion, putting it third behind China and the United States. Overall, the European clean tech market has dropped considerably, driven by tighter investment in Germany and Italy in particular. The U.K. is one bright spot for clean energy in Europe, with 13 percent growth in 2012. Most of the growth came in the wind sector, but the UK is also second in the G-20 in terms of “other renewables” because of its investment in biomass. In the Americas, Canada jumped ahead with a nearly 50 percent growth in investment, also mostly driven by wind. Ontario, in particular, has a goal of completely shutting down its coal-fired electricity generation. But solar was up too, attracting $2.5 billion of the country’s $6.5 billion investment. Canada, the U.K., and Japan were the only G-20 countries that saw growth, but non G-20 markets grew by 15 percent overall. “Markets for clean energy technologies in fast-growing developing countries are prospering, because these economies view distributed generation as an opportunity to avoid investments in costly transmission systems,” said Pew's Cuttino. Distributed solar is expected to keep growing in the United States and Japan. Mexico and Turkey each have legislation that could jump start the clean tech industries, according to the report. South Korea is investing in efficiency to manage peak demand. China will continue to lead, however, with goals of 18 gigawatts of wind and 14 gigawatts of solar in 2014. “In view of industry maturation,” the Pew authors wrote, “Bloomberg New Energy Finance projects a 2014 rebound in worldwide investment and installation of renewable energy.” Image: Pew Charitable Trusts
Will of Fire, Heart of Stone Chapter One Edited 3/14/09 A/N: I just finished a story with a wishy washy Sandaime who gets redeemed at the end. Writing the epilogue to that story made me want to work on this one again. This is a stronger, more resolute Sandaime Hokage, but his world won't be an easy one. As you shall see. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X A week after the demonic disaster named Kyuubi almost leveled Konoha, notices went out to the ANBU. Several senior ninja now had new, internal duties. For some reason, the three Hyuuga ANBU began spying on the Uchiha. Two Uchiha spied on the Hyuuga. The Inuzuka ANBU members were tasked with the Ino-Shika-Cho clans. The Nara clan spied on the Inuzuka. Hatake Kakashi was pulled from his grief over the death of his sensei to start surveillance on the civilian council members. No one knew why they were tasked away from reconstruction or intensified border patrol. Internal spying was usually a matter for ROOT, wasn't it, or the Counter-Espionage group. A few people tried to get the Hokage or even Jiraiya to explain what was going on. Orders were orders; the Hokage sat resolute and said nothing. Indeed, most of the ANBU didn't question their orders. The Hyuua were naturally suspicious of the Uchiha; the Uchiha loathed the Hyuuga. A few ANBU were now getting paid by the Hokage to do what their clans would normally have them do in their off hours. Reports flowed in to the Hokage. The information he wanted to know was so strange. Were the Uchiha talking with people outside of their compound more often? Did the Yamanaka clan ninjas talk with a lot of civilians? It was a full week later that notices went out to the clan heads and the elder counselors. There was a meeting at nine…that night…less than two hours distant. The newly reinstated Hokage wasn't known for being dramatic, so the counselors and clan heads showed up expecting either great or terrible news. Two weeks after the Kyuubi disaster, they were expecting more dire news. They were proven correct when an unspeakably angry Sarutobi Hiruzen stormed into the room. Normally a genial sort, an angry Hokage had the council nervous. The news was going to be terrible…had Iwa resumed the war? It wasn't every day that the most powerful ninja in the Fire Country seemed like a raging volcano. Disquieting thoughts bubbled up in the minds of everyone present. "Sit," he said at barely a whisper, still everyone fell into their seats. A rather dour-looking Toad Sannin, Jiraiya, followed the Hokage into the room. Then, ominously, the doors were shut and sealed from the outside. This was a rare sort of security precaution. All the evidence pointed to war. "How many of you in this room like living in a Hidden Village?" the Hokage asked. The assembled elders and clan heads of the village were surprised at the question. A lot of shrugging and confusion followed. This wasn't the way Sarutobi usually spoke. He was direct and to the point. "Raise your hands if you like living in Konoha." The barked command shocked the listeners. Everyone raised a hand. This was embarrassing to them, like being back in the Ninja Academy. "Raise your hand," the angry Hokage said, "if you love that we're nestled into a vast forest. A forest our Shodai Hokage endowed to us…his greatest and most incredible work, something that could never be replicated, not with all the Earth and Water users in Fire Country." The counselors and clan heads did nothing. That just made the Hokage angrier. "If you like living in a forest, raise your hand." Again, all the hands went up. "And who here had donated their time to helping those injured in the disaster? To making life a bit better for your neighbor, for the man who sells you daikon, or the woman who bakes your bread. All of you, right?" Some hands went up without a thought. The more snobbish clan leaders reluctantly raised theirs, as if they had difficulties remembering ever helping anyone. "I can assume everyone here wants their children, their heirs, to grow up among the leaves, right?" This was an easy one. All the hands rose up as one. "Yes. Many of you have just had children. Some are the new clan heirs. Some will, unfortunately, have to replace clan heirs who died during those horrible events when the hospital was damaged and part of a village wall caved in." That sad history had been discussed among the clans. Why did Sarutobi bring up such a painful subject now? The Yamanaka's had lost a son, the designated heir. The Aburame had lost two children and their clan head, extinguishing that branch of the family. The Uchiha had lost almost ten percent of their ninja, including the third in line to be clan head behind Fugaku's own two sons. "Yes, it's a fine thing to live in a village like this one. A fine thing. Three Hokages to date have died to keep this place alive; I checked the rolls and another eighteen hundred jounin-ranked ninja have died in our decades of skirmishes, intrigues, and wars. A beautiful forest we have grown from blood, sweat, and ground bone. A beautiful place to raise children…." The clan heads, in particular, had no idea if Sarutobi had lost his mind. The words coming out of his mouth, this anger, what had happened? If it wasn't war, what was it? Sarutobi stopped for a moment, looked at Jiraiya, and took a deep breath. "Fine. Everyone in here is loyal to the Leaf. So you attest. Now tell me if you'd all like to have Stone ninjas attack us in a week…. Anyone?" The elders looked confused. What the Hokage said wasn't a declaration of war, was it? "No one wants that, Hokage-sama," said the acting head of the Aburame clan. (With the previous head's death, the internal politics of selecting a new permanent head would take time.) "No one says they want that," Jiraiya said, his tone even angrier than the Hokage's. "But that's what you clout-headed fools almost caused." "What," the Uchiha Clan head shouted. A number of other people jumped to their feet to defend their patriotism. "Sit," the Hokage said, barely constraining his rage. "All of you return to your seats. We have much to discuss." Sarutobi was usually so mild mannered that it was odd to see him stand and begin pacing the way a caged tiger might…and the council knew that this aged man was more deadly than any tiger. "Because of the devastation from the Kyuubi's attack, we are at our weakest right now," the Third Hokage said, his weariness only exceeded with the vigor of his anger. "You all know this. It's vital we keep this truth secret. Right? We must repair ourselves as fast as possible giving our enemies as small an opportunity as possible…to learn of our distress." The assembled elders all agreed. Who knew what Stone or Cloud might do if they had accurate information as to what had happened. Even their ally Hidden Sand might get some fool-headed ideas given the chance. The main wall hadn't been completely repaired yet and Konoha's surviving ninja forces were mostly injured or despondent in grief at the present moment. Battle-hardened ninja knew what it was like to fight in battle. But to fight the unstoppable, the juggernaut of a bijuu…that was something else entirely. Some of the ninja on the battlefield might never be right in the head again. "Secrecy. We all know the importance. It's common sense. It's been discussed in this very chamber two times since the attack. So how is it that one or more traitors sit on this council, traitors who would draw the Stone army to us?" That prompted more outcry, of course. The look on the Hokage's face was enough to put down this eruption of self-preservation. "You, all of you in this room save the Aburame and two of the minor clans now present, were told eight days ago of this village's most recent S-class secret. I even formed a special law to protect this information…to keep Konoha and also the young sacrifice safe." Danzo, along with Homura, finally understood what this was about. The Head of ROOT began trying to figure out how he was going to survive this. Sarutobi would assign a slap on the wrist, right? Perhaps a loss of political power or a forced retirement. But a retired ninja can maintain unofficial power for a very long time. Danzo's mind churned through his options. "Less than a week later, what do I find? Defiance; passing of the secret through the clans; even civilians discussing military secrets on the street corner. For a normal secret, I would be angry but dismiss it as a bit of venting, dangerous but potentially necessary. But not for this secret. Now you shall know why I am so angry, so furious: a team of chuunin out patrolling seven days ago discovered something that chilled my blood." The angry face of Sarutobi became fixed. "A spy, a spy from Stone, rushing back to Earth Country as quickly as he could." Cold horror bloomed in the minds of not a few clan heads present. The greater part of the room now saw where this story was going…and they were too weak to keep Sarutobi and Jiraiya from doing what they had now resolved had to do. "This spy was taken down easily – by surprise – and sent to interrogation. Do you want to know what this spy had learned just from walking our streets? He knew the classified details of what had happened to Kyuubi, even the name of the jinchuuriki; he knew the specifics of the sealing array used; he knew even how long the seal had to be in place – nine years – before we could be absolutely sure that Kyuubi would die when his jailor died. He knew details I released to this council only one day before the spy heard them. These details I only released to this Council under great duress…and under my special law. Why then did a spy learn them so quickly…a spy so green he was taken down by chuunin eating their dinner while out on patrol!" The Uchiha head had grown paler and paler. "I protest…." "Sit down, you blowhard. You and your ilk have almost brought a war upon us at the time we're least able to cope with one. To think I thought this Council was worth the frustration; that the idea of participation and semi-representative democracy was valuable; that it would keep us from becoming monstrous and corrupt; that we were different from Stone and Cloud and Hidden Mist because our clans and our villagers could be involved in governance…. "I was a fool. I considered some of you as adversaries or as annoyances. But I was wrong. As a body this council is worthless except to bring down ruin upon us. You can't keep your mouths shut! So many treasonous things have begun in the minds of people who had the privilege of sitting in this room. I should strike these betrayers down as I speak…." The Uchiha shut up midway through that vitriol. He was a formidable ninja, but 'The Professor' could knock him to pieces in minutes, having developed now-forbidden techniques that negated the Sharingan's predictive and copying abilities. "You all expected me not to notice you were violating military intelligence protocol; that you were spreading vital, classified information so freely that a green spy from Stone, here on a simple training mission, could learn our most critical secrets within hours of entering our village. I am not a doddering fool; I have not forgotten my job in the all-too-brief time that the Yondaime took the leadership of Konoha. I am the Fire Shadow; I have the will of fire, but today I must also harden my heart and perform a most painful duty. "For one week I have had my ANBU spying on all of you. I preyed on old hatreds and no one questioned why I was spying on my own people so soon after a disaster. I have a good deal of evidence, enough to pass judgment. "For breaking the special Kyuubi law, this Council, per my powers as Hokage in a time of disaster or war, is dissolved. All of you will submit to 'informal' questioning as to what you know of this security leak. Those of you responsible will spend time with the ANBU interrogators. Those who maliciously broke the law will receive the full sentence, death; those who are merely stupid or gossips will be removed as ninjas. None of the guilty will ever hold positions of prominence in this village again…." At this the Head of the Uchiha Clan attacked. It was either he assassinate the Hokage now…or die a traitor later. The Hokage had expected it. The Hyuuga ANBU had provided evidence that suggested nearly every Uchiha knew of the jinchuuriki – and it was clear that news was passing to civilians from several Uchiha. Perhaps they expected for village mobs to deal with the jinchurriki, not caring that the seal needed time to bind the Kyuubi's soul to the young boy's. Not caring that it was entirely likely that this act of vengeance would give Kyuubi back all his power. The Uchiha would destroy anything…even a baby…that had the potential to become more powerful than even their greatest prodigies. It was the Uchiha way. Konoha had always gone along, turning a blind eye, in the past. (Well, save for when the Shodaime and Uchiha Madara got into a battle over their tactics and goals….) The Hokage batted away the Fire attack as he leveled a massive Killer Intent at the only Uchiha in the room. This attack was one the Professor had used very rarely…but it worked. The amount of fear generated within the hate-filled Uchiha's mind caused a blood vessel to burst. The man fell over, incapacitated and slowly dying. "Anyone else care to challenge me?" The Hokage looked over the cowering morons with disgust. "I may be old, but I can kill the strongest of you just by glaring at you." The quivering mass of the dying Uchiha Clan leader on the floor gave testament to that. "All of you will be taken for questioning by several people I trust implicitly. The traitors will feel the talents of the ANBU torture squad. You will reveal the name of every person you informed of this secret…and why. This is not a gossipy shougi parlor…this is a military village. Secrets, even one you hate, can kill us if known to a wide audience." Jiraiya, usually a goofball, looked as severely angered as the Hokage. He finally spoke up. "My greatest student gave his life to save this pissant village…and all of your pettiness nearly took that and threw it away. I counseled against sharing any information with you…I had a more hard-nosed understanding of what many of you were. Sensei decided to trust in your military instincts, your self-preservation instincts. He has already admitted his folly. "Stone could have mobilized and been here within a week…and they would have known exactly which child to secure. They'd have killed the poor tyke, because they are truly heartless bastards, and Kyuubi's chakra would have been free to reform a demonic body. All of us would have died. We've let you spoiled princesses poke your noses into things for too long. I'm going to start my interrogation with the Hyuuga." The Hokage just nodded. "As of now, I am sole leader of the village. All of the special dispensations for clans are void…as several clans have brought us to war and should feel the pain of what they did…and I will appoint special advisors to deal with trade, reconstruction, relations with the Daimyo, and other matters. We're done." The Hokage and Jiraiya left through what had been a sealed door. The other door to the room opened…and a variety of ANBU who did not come from clans poured into the room and overwhelmed the mostly elderly council members. Some of these people had once been fighters, but they couldn't easily stand up to men thirty or forty years younger. Some hadn't even trained regularly in a decade or longer, so used to sitting in the Council chambers and meddling in things not within their purview. The civilian counselors, who had not been invited to this meeting, were dragged from their homes by masked ANBU. The kinder ANBU used pressure points to knock them unconscious. A few of the ones who'd experienced Council politics before were a bit more…aggressive. The Hokage had approved all of this in advance; after all, he did understand the power of a bit of theatre for the general populace. Inside and outside the council chamber, the guiltiest struggled the hardest. They had caused the Hokage to invoke the penalty clauses of his law; they had caused the power of the clans to be somewhat broken. It was possible that none of the clans would be trusted for a long time to come after all the revelations came out. None of the ANBU seemed at all concerned when they broke arms or had to stab a person to keep him from escaping. The bloody scene inside the room would keep it from being used as a meeting space for a long time. The Hokage did not have it remodeled for nearly a decade, as he considered it an honest, vicious blot – one that should be remembered – on the Village Hidden in the Leaves. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X The ANBU began the interrogation of Danzo a few minutes after three o'clock in the morning. The man had been a rival for years…but Sarutobi had enjoyed the sparring for a good long while. He had never thought his…perhaps-friend was so deep in corruption. The more of these interrogations Sarutobi listened to, the more out of touch he felt. All of this…all this vile, beastly plotting inside his village walls! Minato had asked Sarutobi two months ago what he should do about Danzo; the young Hokage had been considering forcing the aged ROOT commander on a suicide mission just to be rid of him. Sarutobi had counseled against it…a foolish effort. Sarutobi steeled himself and stood behind the one-way mirror. It was nearing four o'clock in the morning, but Sarutobi subsisted on anger right now. "Now, Danzo," the interrogator said, one of the few interrogation specialists who weren't compromised in some way by ROOT's blackmail or coercion schemes. "Tell me the names of those you informed about the Kyuubi aftermath." "You're going to kill me anyway. I have confessed my crimes; fallen on my sword for a once-great, now wasting away village. That is enough, I think." The interrogator, one of the few remaining who was trained during the Nidaime's reign as Hokage, leaned forward. "You know my reputation, Danzo. Do you really want to see my…technique with your own eye?" Sarutobi stifled a laugh at the little joke. Mocking Danzo for his infirmities was wrong… Huh? Sarutobi hadn't stayed up for this many continuous hours in a good many years. The hours were wearing on him. "You wouldn't…. That bastard Sarutobi signed a warrant, didn't he? It's bad enough you're going to kill me…but torture?" "The kind I practice…well, it doesn't leave much in the way of a mark." "Do your worst…." Sarutobi closed his eyes and rubbed them. Danzo's holding out like this said that he knew something important. He was being stubborn to demonstrate something, to win a concession…or maybe to be a bastard until the bitter end. Yakogi would find the information. The number of failures the man had could be counted on two hands – all due to his subjects' hearts giving out under stress. Less than ten died from the more than one thousand who had 'chatted' with this legend. Sarutobi watched as the barrel of water was carted into the room. "Is there nothing I can do to prevent this?" the interrogator asked his subject. "Die," Danzo spat. "Not today. Not because of you. You should feel lucky I am your lowly interrogator. Had you been before the Shodai Hokage himself, you would feel living wood piercing under your finger and toenails, growing millimeter by millimeter until you begged for death. My technique…is less refined. Well…we shall begin." The old interrogator formed some handseals and a thin column of water erupted from the tank. The first bit form up a collar around Danzo's neck. He was immobilized. The next bit splashed against the man's lips and teeth, prying them open and continuing down his throat. The water hung there, holding Danzo and suffocating him. As Danzo's eyes lit up in horror at feeling a technique that should never have been invented, Yakogi performed another set of handseals…and the water from his throat, esophagus, lungs, and stomach began to draw back…slowly. By the time the water was gone, Danzo was nearly passed out. It was a pain, Sarutobi knew from watching Yakogi work, the inevitable black outs this technique caused. But Yakogi was always cautious to begin and quick to stop once a subject had broken. "The names, Danzo. Tell me the names." "The Leaf is rotten," Danzo's damaged vocal cords rumbled. "The branches are rotting. When the fire comes, the Leaf will burn." Yakogi made more handseals and the process repeated itself. Sarutobi left the room and let Yakogi ply his trade. He had other conversations to observe. The Uchiha elders had been taken as a group a few hours ago. Jiraiya had one of them now. "You can't do that to us. You can't…." That was a female voice. Fugaku's wife, Mikoto. Sarutobi stepped into the viewing area and fully closed the door. "You are mistaken," Jiraiya said. "The clan laws have been repealed by a wartime decree; the village council has been disbanded, too. Now…you will tell me how you were told the true details of the Kyuubi attack." "I have rights. I demand to speak with my husband." Sarutobi was surprised that she didn't already know. Jiraiya must be saving that information for a reason…. "Right now, you are suspected of treason. I don't think the Hokage cares much about your rights." "Fugaku would never permit this…." Sarutobi recognized that the woman had entered a kind of fugue state. Her brain just wasn't processing the questions Jiraiya asked anymore. "Your husband is dead." That got a reaction. It wasn't a scream or tears or even shock. The only thing Sarutobi noticed was her lip beginning to quiver. She was a trained kunoichi, after all, and could mask her emotions. "How?" "He attempted to assassinate the Hokage with a fire jutsu. The Hokage…well, he proved why he was Hokage then. Your husband died a minute or two later." "We are broken, then?" "All the Uchiha elders are in cells like this one. None of you will ever leave, not until we understand the full extent of this treason…." "All this, the destruction of our clan, for one simple little baby! He should be dead…." "I care not for a discussion of policy with a traitor like yourself. I care only for information. Now…speak." "The Hokage wouldn't kill the child…so the Uchiha Elders, all of us, we decided to…plant the seed of an idea. A bit of overheard gossip here…and eventually some civilian makes an attempt and gives everyone else the idea. That 'child' should be dead." "Names…now." Sarutobi had heard enough of this. All the Uchiha Elders, six ninja in number now that Fugaku was dead, all conspiring. They would have to be killed. Minato thought he was ending the chaos and destruction…saving the village. But the method of salvation he chose was now ripping the Hidden Leaf to shreds, exposing the rot that was far more widespread than Sarutobi had feared to imagine. Sarutobi walked out and picked up a clipboard. The preliminary results were in. Of the twenty-one council members and minor clan advisors, fourteen had broken the law. Of the civilian council members who were informed of the Kyuubi details, all of them had broken the law. Sarutobi had long debated with himself whether there more danger sharing military information with civilians who did not…and could not…understand the importance of discretion or in allowing only ninja to get restricted information. The answer was still unclear. He flipped a few pages on the clipboard. Many of the other councilors knew that the law had been violated and did nothing. They would receive lighter sentences, but they were not innocent. Right now, the ANBU had warrants to apprehend more than forty civilians. The days of the Uchiha-led Konoha Police Force were over. Civilians would need to get used to being handled by the ANBU. That reminded Sarutobi to have the Police Force records audited and examined…hopefully there would be no irregularities. It was just another blow. How much of the village would revolt? Would it lead to a civil war…over something like this…over a baby who kept the raging chakra of a demon held back? Were trained ninja so blind – leaving aside civilians – so given to their passions? Sarutobi set down the clipboard. He knew that Ebisu, the former head of Ninja Force Internal Affairs, an oft hated figure for his role in policing…well the police and the ninja and anyone else who worked for the Hokage. He was an honest sort, but his days as a line ninja were over. He'd be 'accidentally' killed by teammates while on a mission. Sarutobi mulled this over as he settled in to listen to another interrogation. Perhaps Ebisu should go into training the young. It would be nothing at all to make him a Special Jounin…a pity for a talented ninja. It was hard to get someone to take a role in Internal Affairs, but necessary. Ebisu had done a great service then…as he was doing now. Yamanaka Inoichi was likely innocent, but Ebisu would find out for sure. Sarutobi wanted to make damned sure that his lead interrogation specialist was trustworthy. The ANBU would spend weeks on these detailed interviews if Sarutobi could only trust Yakogi. (He had been retired and living outside the Hidden Leaf during the Kyuubi disaster. Sarutobi had only recalled him a day ago…and was positive the man hadn't been caught up with Danzo or anyone else.) He settled in to watch Ebisu and Inoichi spar. He had hours to go and his bones were weary. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X Three weeks after Kyuubi's defeat, the Sandaime Hokage felt every one of his sixty-five years of life. He walked out onto the balcony overlooking a wide avenue. It was packed with people: villagers and shinobi. He didn't have to fake the dire look on his face. "Today, people of Konoha, I must relate a tale of treason to you." The gathered individuals standing outside the Hokage Tower were understandably nervous. The Hokage hadn't called for a general gathering like this one since Iwa had declared war on the Leaf. Treason had to be at least as bad as a bunch of Earth Country scum. "A military secret was revealed to the Village Council about two weeks ago…and they were informed that the information was subject to our highest secrecy ranking. Within the week, the majority of them were freely discussing the secret within their clans. All of the civilian members also violated the military secrecy law. "This was supremely dangerous, as a young spy from another Hidden Village had just infiltrated our village as part of a training mission. He learned the complete details of our military secret within hours…and it was only luck that a group on patrol caught him before he crossed the border. Our council's loose lips with one of our most important military secrets nearly brought us to war…and at a time we could least expect to deal with it. Instead of repairing the walls and tending to the wounded today, we would have been fighting an enemy force looking to crush us at our weakest point. "Each person who was told this military secret was questioned…and those who broke the secrecy laws were interrogated to the fullest extent. Twenty-three civilians have been convicted of treason, as have forty-one shinobi. Those convicted of the most minor offenses are currently serving time in our special military prison; those convicted of major offenses will be executed today…." That brought a gasp from the crowd. Military executions were almost always done in secret, after secret trials, the village at large never permitted to know of what had happened. Moments later, thirty one people, including seven of the Uchiha Clan, were dragged from an unmarked door on the side of the Hokage Tower. Their guards brought them in front of the city wills near just to the left of where the Hokage was speaking. "As Hokage, I must protect the people of the village from threats foreign and domestic. These traitors have revealed secrets that only through luck did not end in a bloody war. May you wail for all eternity in the guts of the Shinigami." A masked man to the side of the condemned let loose a Fire Dragon which seemed to gobble up each person. It was a powerful spectacle with an unmistable message: military secrets will cost you your lives should you ever betray them. The Hokage continued with his speech. "The Uchiha Clan compound and several other properties belonging to clans and civilians have been confiscated. These Uchiha lands were originally gifts to lure that clan here…and they have been taken back for cowardly, treasonous conduct. Shortly, we will turn those spaces into affordable housing for those adversely affected by the attack. Likewise, we will be moving our orphanage into new quarters there, seeing that we have a massive increase in the numbers of children without living parents…" "What will happen to the remaining Uchiha?" Predictably it was a civilian shouting out the question. Why the people loved the cold hearted Uchiha Sarutobi couldn't understand. "Some will choose to resign as shinobi of the Leaf and leave the village…and will be bound with a new protective seal to prevent them from ever attacking Konoha. Some have already gone nukenin…they will be hunted down and killed after I finish teaching my anti-Sharingan tactics to our Hunter Ninjas. Those who remain loyal to Konoha will remain welcome to live with us. However, they will no longer have the right to control our police force nor a right to sit on a council should it ever be reformed. Traitors, among them all the Uchiha Elders, should never prosper from their acts." The Hokage's speech continued…and the village's opinion of the man changed. While he had cultivated a laid back reputation, he now demonstrated why he was the strongest ninja in the village, even at his advanced age. Those few who had escaped detection even after learning about the Kyuubi being sealed into a child knew they had to keep the knowledge secret. The Hokage was willing to follow through on his law. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X "This is intolerable, Lord Hokage," Hyuuga Hiashi said. He had become clan head only two years earlier after his father retired and joined the Hyuuga Elders. "None of my clan has been convicted of anything. None of us were responsible for letting the secret escape." "You personnaly followed the letter of the law, Hiashi. But you broke its spirit. Some in your clan, like the two executed Elders, openly flouted my decree after they got the information from the Uchiha or others. Remind me, Hiashi, of how much you knew about the whispering of the other clans…and what you did to stop it." Hiashi remained stone faced. "Correct. It is a shinobi's task to maintain secrets, his own, his village's. Your clan failed in that respect. You heard the whispers, your clan associates heard them…and most had enough sense to not pass them along. Why did you not come to me, tell me…my few remaining ANBU have been severely taxed with their reduced numbers, severely wounded comrades, and greatly increased duties. The clans needed to step up…and didn't. This is conduct I should reward? Encourage?" "Aside from those disgraced old men, who have paid the ultimate price, my clan did nothing wrong." The young Jonin kept trying to argue but a single opinion. It wasn't a strong case to make and Hiashi was still a relatively poor negotiator. "It is not commission I blame you for, but omission. You did not act to stop this. You are as guilty as any of the fools burnt to cinders for almost bringing us to war. This argument will not wash." Hiashi, as collected as ever, nodded. "Then I must inform you, Lord Hokage, that the Hyuuga will be asserting the right of severing from the Hidden Leaf." "You will follow the traitorous Uchiha? The confused Akimichi? The decimated Kentoru? It is solely within your discretion. I will not even attempt to oppose or delay you. But answer me a question: what do you hope to gain?" Hiashi had not moved during this exchange, but now he looked a bit…irresolute. "We must maintain a position within a village where we are respected. That is no longer the case here, Lord Hokage. We will seek a powerful new alliance." Sarutobi just nodded his head, not terribly surprised at the continuing Hyuuga arrogance. Their remaining Elder Council was filled with fools who had not held a kunai in decades…and they dictated policy to the clan head. Hiashi seemed to at least recognize the futility of what he was forced to do today. After all, where would they go? Hidden Mist, the place where the Bloodline Wars were in full swing? Hidden Cloud, which had several times before attempted to capture, not kill, Byakugan users out on missions? Hidden Stone, which had only been deterred from a continuing war after Minato savaged their last, largest armed attempt at invasion? Hidden Sand? Hidden Grass? Hanzou's Hidden Rain? Maybe petition a Daimyo to form a new Hidden Village… No, none of these would kowtow to the Hyuuga. Hiashi likely already knew this…but his 'honor' – as defined by the Hyuuga Elders – would demand prominence and privilege. "I wish you the best of luck then, Hiashi. Be careful." "The Hyuuga need no luck." Sarutobi frowned after Hiashi left his office. This would not end well. But he could not…would not return to coddling of the clans, letting them trample through the village as if no one else mattered. The Great Unravelling was in full swing. That would be his terrible legacy. But at least the Hidden Leaf might have the opportunity to grow stronger from his difficulty. "Good bye, Hyuuga Hiashi. May the Kami guide you safely…and may you hide from the hungry eyes of the Shinigami." X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X Sarutobi Hiruzen, the famed Ninja Professor, could barely keep a civil tongue in his head. The remaining teachers in the Academy – comprising those not killed by the Kyuubi and not withdrawn from Hidden Leaf by departing clans and minor families – had the…gall to present these records. It was a disgrace. The ANBU would have another task to sort out very soon. Retired school teachers would soon be visiting Inoichi. Sarutobi thought he himself might be due for a torture session, as well, for not spotting this mess sooner. "Let me see if I understand this. The Academy had an 'unofficial' policy of handling disciplinary matters differently depending upon who the student's sponsor was?" An abashed chuunin named Seiko Noda nodded, unable to form up words. He had never expected to be interrogated by the Hokage of all people concerning the Academy and its running. "So, if I were to sponsor a student who was disruptive, causing havoc with the other students' learning…how would it be handled?" "Delicately." "And if a similar student spent his time painting classrooms green or planting traps for the teachers, but came from a civilian family?" "Expulsion." "The Jounin I entrusted to oversee the Academy was a fool then. Best for him that he's now dead. We will rebuild the walls of the building soon enough…but we will not reimplement all the old policies. Do you all understand me?" He got back a chorus of discouraged "Hai, Hokage-sama." The Hokage turned to question an ANBU who had been tasked with examining odd caches of paperwork found in the homes of the traitor council members. "And these papers you wished to discuss? What relevance do they have with schooling?" "I believe," the masked ANBU cautiously began, "that council members would from time to time pay a visit to certain chuunin at the Academy." "To what end?" "To make suggestions, especially on team formation." "That is my job…." The ANBU nodded, pausing to think his way through a mine field. "Correct. But the Lord Hokage listens to advice, if I'm not mistaken. Especially the teacher-generated commentary on each student's progress and assessment of strengths and weaknesses." The Hokage nodded. He turned to look back at Seiko Noda. "Is it true? Was pressure applied?" The chuunin nodded. "Were the comments always accurate? Complete and accurate?" The chuunin shook his head and let out a long-held breath. "Were favors or money exchanged for these…considerations?" The terrified chuunin nodded again. The Hokage looked at the other teachers. That none of them would meet his eyes was proof enough. "ANBU, what was the end result of these contacts, aside from team placement?" "I haven't finished reviewing the documents, but the pile I have reviewed suggest a…troubling pattern." "Yes?" "If Lord Hokage would care to review team composition for the last decade, I am sure he would find that clan team members often find themselves on teams with other clan members…." "Yes, I agree with that." "And that the teams formed by civilian or orphan children rarely passed their jounin-sensei's personal examinations…." "You've got to be kidding me…." It was so obvious now…now that someone else had unraveled this mess. The Hokage felt like a fool, but he spent so little time on the Academy. Not with wars looming and jounin to oversee and manage in A- and S-ranked missions. He had felt comfortable delegating most of the Academy issues to people he thought trustworthy…which now seemed misplaced. "So…the clans look better if their children always 'perform' better than other student ninja, get on better teams, pass out of the Academy earlier. This is ridiculous. Half the Hokages have come from no clan…and the other two came from the same one and were ridiculously talented in their own right, not from long maintained bloodlines. Namikaze Minato, our greatest Hokage, was completely untaught until he reached the Academy…and then he grew like a weed. I confess to having excellent 'tutors' early in life. But…this kind of sabotage. Making the clans look powerful by literally making everyone else fail and look weak. Am I hearing this right?" The masked ANBU just nodded. "This sounds like treason to me. Subversion of the village's military strength for favors and money. Have them all taken to Interrogation. Let's get the whole picture." The masked ANBU nodded…and a few chuunin, fearing this conclusion, tried to escape. One found out it was not possible to shunshin from this room – Sarutobi knew more about sealing than anyone else in Konoha save for his student Jiraiya – and the others found out that an ANBU could subdue several weak chuunin at the same time. Sarutobi watched with his anger finally ebbing away. Had he been sleeping all these long years? Not paying attention? Not questioning what he was told? All of these findings made his village seem like something else, something foreign and revolting. Had his conception of the Hidden Leaf always been a lie? Or had he let corruption eat away at it? Sarutobi pondered. Hatake, strong clan and exceptional warriors. But that new jounin Maito Gai was easily Kakashi's equal…and was an orphan. For every powerful clan jounin Sarutobi could think of, there were two or three non-clan ones who were as good or better. Almost all the remaining ANBU were non-clan. Uzumaki Kushina had come from a clan in Whirlpool Country. She had been the last clan ANBU Captain. Sarutobi would need to dig deeper. Had the early compromises necessary to fuse Senju and Uchiha – which made Konoha attractive to other clans – rotted the village this way? Could it have been possible for things to have gone differently, for Sarutobi to have managed things differently. These last weeks had severely disarranged nearly everything he thought he knew. He hoped there were few more surprises in store…for him or the village. In a fit of anger his hand snaked out and plucked up one of the many folders discussed in this room in the past few days. The Hyuuga. He flipped it open and began reviewing the report. Graduated one or two genin every year from the Academy. Had 17 active chuunin at the time of their leaving – and 62 'retired' chuunin. Only 7 jounin – four of whom were 'retired.' More of this 'clan first' garbage, Sarutobi realized. These retirements at chuunin level – it permitted the ninja to be trained at the village's expense and then to be used for the clan's benefit. Many of these 'retired' chuunin had trained hard and long enough to take and pass a jounin examination…but instead they remained behind the clan walls. The other shinobi had to pick up the slack: the non-clan shinobi. "There cannot be villages within villages…if the goal is to have a wholly united village. I cannot and will not permit this to happen," he vowed. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X "I said no," Jiraiya reiterated. "Why not?" "I have my reasons." "That's not good enough." "You know, I never was good enough for you, Sensei. Wonder why I'm the only one of your students who still talks to you." Sarutobi sighed. "And, again, the past intrudes upon the present. Why, in my dotage, does everyone see fit to remind me of my more youthful failings? It would have been better to correct me back then…" "Correct the Professor? Surely you jest. He knew everything. Just ask him; he'd tell you." "Very funny." "I'm not smiling." Jiraiya was being…difficult. This was a conversation the Sandaime Hokage had long been bracing himself to have…and now Jiraiya had been in the village to help with the final reconstruction of the village walls. Sure the masonry had been up for some time. But it had taken three weeks to reinscribe all the sealing arrays and then activate them. Jiraiya hadn't been happy to be stuck in-village for three weeks, but he'd done it. The man claimed he was born for a life of wandering, women, and worship. The Hokage agreed with the first two, but wasn't sure what Jiraiya meant by the last. His student was a most profane, if amusing, person. "If you are not willing to become Godaime Hokage, Jiraiya, I must ask you to state your reasons. If it is simple resentment towards me, I am afraid that won't cut it." "No. No, it's more than that." The Hokage nodded, waiting. "I do not trust myself." "I trust you…." "No, stop doing that. Just listen to me, would you?" The Hokage just nodded. This was obviously important to his student. "I do not trust myself. I thought myself at the pinnacle of my craft a few years ago. I had just trained a ninja to exceed my own remarkable feats. I had a name. I had money. I had a woman in every village and two in every city. I felt happy. But, it wasn't to be. It was all a lie. "My teammate, I distrusted him but I did not see him for what he was, what he was doing. My student, I taught him to be great, but I taught him too well. His knowledge of sealing came to exceed my own. So when I tried to take his place, to offer my life to the Shinigami to save Konoha, I found I could not. I did not have the skill to create and understand and control the arrays. People seem to think it was a simple matter to call down the Death God and get him to do what you want…but, after he was called, his actions were all guided and controlled by the seal. Every bit of it. A man made seal instructing and leading a God…it is as momentous an accomplishment as I make it sound. "Minato created the arrays out of whole cloth in less than four days. Arrays to guide the Death God; arrays to restrain the Kyuubi once inside of the boy; arrays to leech off the Kyuubi's power to make a true powerhouse of a child; arrays to tie the Kyuubi's lifeforce to that of the host. It has taken me eight months since then – every day since his death – just to begin to unravel it. He was a genius. I gave him knowledge and power as a ninja, he exceeded me by age twenty, he eclipsed me by age twenty four, the self-sacrificing bastard. "I was ready to knock him unconscious and do this myself, but I felt like a toddler attending a physics convention when I tried. I now know that what he did just isn't theoretically possible. No other jinchuuriki was created this way. All of them required a quirk of the Shodai's genetics to even capture them. "It wasn't possible…as I said…and Minato did it anyway. It would be like me calling down Kami, giving her a corporeal body, having my way with her to her ever increasing pleasure, and then letting her take my soul in payment. It is the stuff of dreamers and poets and mystics. "I trained and lost the most valuable person this village has ever known. I permitted the most horrible person this village has created to betray us for years…and then leave without a scratch because of your order to 'let him go.' I suspected my teammate a lot longer than you did. For a decade or more, I watched him and told you to watch him. "I feel that I am both not strong enough to have my warnings believed and not strong enough to step in and take the fatal swing of a katana should my village ever demand it. I cannot be Hokage. Not now. Not ever." Sarutobi Hiruzen looked for a place to begin unraveling this mess inside his student's mind. But, he realized that Jiraiya wouldn't listen. He had convinced himself to feel unending guilt…and nothing would shake that loose. "I will honor your statement, my student. But I will ask again in one year's time…." "You may, but I don't see how my answer will be any different." "I have failed you then, my student. I should have struck Orochimaru down myself. That is my failing, not yours. I trained him; I knew he was powerful and a bit twisted; I allowed him to grow unrestrained, like a cancer. It fell to me to end him…but my heart was too soft. This is my shortcoming, not yours." Jiraiya nodded, but said nothing. Sarutobi was stuck. He had the same feelings of guilt – for not seeing the rot in his village for so long – but he couldn't just call himself 'unfit to be Hokage' and leave. He had held the office on and off for all of his adult life. There was, by definition, no one more fit to be Hokage than Sarutobi. He wanted to smoke, but just sat there, trying to think his way through this problem. The trouble was there was no easy or simple solution. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X Three Years Later The fire was everywhere. His family was expelling fireball after fireball, not caring that they hit the tents or the fragile wooden buildings. The boy looked for his younger brother…and bit back a sob when he saw the boy crushed under a fallen log. He wasn't moving at all and the fires were almost on top of him. Sasuke had only been three. He did not deserve this. None of the Uchiha did. Little Itachi scrambled away from the fighting. He had activated his Sharingan almost two years ago, on his seventh birthday. He was now nearly nine and skilled, but…he had never seen a fight before. He was utterly terrified and slunk into the shadows. Soon the ninjas stopped and someone began to douse the flames. A pale man rode on a snake into the area where his adoptive parents' dead bodies lay. Itachi knew they were actually his aunt and uncle…but they had encouraged him to call them 'mother' and 'father.' The pale man jumped down from his snake and pulled out a surgical knife. The moment he saw his mother's severed eyeball in that man's hand, Itachi clamped down a groan. His brain felt like it was filled with stabbing kunai. And his eyes, he'd never felt so much pain. It would be days later when Itachi, all alone, realized that his Sharingan had changed. It was what the old scrolls had called Mangekyo. He had salvaged very little from the fires, but he had managed to bury his disfigured mother and father…and what the fires spared of his little brother. He vowed vengeance that day. He vowed he would be stronger than that pale man. He vowed he would step on that man's neck and carve his eyeballs out of his living head. He was Uchiha. Nothing would stop him. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X Two Years Later (5 Years After the Great Unraveling) It felt like she was flying. Yes, definitely flying. She opened her eyes, realized she wasn't dreaming, and began to struggle against whatever was keeping her arms and legs bound. The flying stopped. The darkness around her head disappeared. "You're awake." Hyuuga Hinata blinked. "Yes. Where is my mother?" "She couldn't take of you anymore. I have adopted you." That didn't make sense to her. Her father was really strong. "Where's my father?" "He was hurt with your mother. If they get better then you can go live with them again." "Okay." "Well, I'm going to put this hood back on you so you can sleep. It'll be getting light out soon." Hinata didn't like the dark, but she didn't argue. "Thank you." She was back in the dark, and flying again, and the story she had been told made no sense. Where were her mother and father? They were ninja. They were powerful. X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X Sarutobi tried to clear his mind from all the awful news he'd gotten. Jiraiya had reported in that the entire Hyuuga had been slaughtered in Wave Country, where they'd been petitioning to form a hidden village. The Wave Daimyo had apparently decided that his country's future lay not in ninja, but in shipping. He'd made a deal instead with the Gato Corporation. Sarutobi knew that man had a…less than shining reputation. But the Hyuuga were slaughtered to a child. The eyes removed, the bodies charred beyond recognition. Just like the Uchiha two years earlier in their makeshift private village in Lightning Country. All dead, all the known Sharingan possessors with their eyes cut out. Jiraiya was sure that that was Orochimaru's work The Hyuuga…not even Jiraiya could guess at. There was too little evidence left behind. Orochimaru had left shed snake skin, like he didn't even care who knew. He turned and began to walk through a park. Nature was good for restoring mental balance. This was a civilian park, rather than a military training ground, so it was filled with children. He hadn't expected it, but he saw a bright shock of yellow hair near the swings. Uzumaki Naruto. Just another orphan tucked in among so many others. Leading a happy life, as far as Sarutobi could tell. And he was watching. Every active duty chuunin now did a regular shift at the orphanage every few weeks. The children had competent watchers, in addition to the full time civilians, and got to be exposed to ninja every day. It was an unorthodox recruitment method, as many little boys and a few girls declared they would become ninja, but it wasn't primarily done for that reason. The Hokage wanted Naruto – and the other children – kept safe. The village was smaller now. After the Great Unravelling nearly fifteen thousand civilians had left, almost a quarter of the village population. In the elapsed time, around five thousand new civilians had moved in. It was a different place. For the clans who'd remained in the Leaf, life was more integrated. The Aburame had mostly stayed as had the Yamanaka. All of them had integrated more into the overall Hidden Village. The few remaining Akimichi – those who had broken with the rest of their clan – didn't even bother living next to each other. (Instead, they had a favorite restaurant in town that served as a communal meeting hall.) The Nara, predictably, found it too troublesome to leave, but had largely taken over the top positions in the ANBU division that dealt with civilian matters. Their clan techniques were quite effective in detaining any errant civilians…and without the cost of much effort. The Inuzuka loyalty had kept them in Hidden Leaf, too. They filled many of the top spots among the Hunter-nin. Indeed, they had prospered by joining in with the community. Three Inuzuka had made small fortunes opening up public veterninary practices. The people of Konoha and Fire Country – not least the Fire Lord's wife – loved their animals. However, for every 'clan ninja' working in Konoha, there were five or six non-clan ninja now. The head of ANBU, the top three in charge of the hospital, the jounin in charge of the academy…all non-clan. Since they'd reformed some of the older practices of the Academy – namely 'graduating' 30 or so genin a year only to immediately fail 21 of them out of the shinobi lifestyle, claiming they were too old to rejoin the Academy – they had a lot more ninjas to go around. The Hidden Leaf finally had the strength, in pure numbers if not talent, it had before the Kyuubi's attack. Sarutobi, over loud protest and several forced retirements, had declared that no jounin-sensei would be permitted to test and fail out a team. Instead, they would all witness a common skills test held for all potential genin. (The terrible practice of favoring clan members hadn't quite faded yet, but team compositions had shifted. There were no more 3-clan-member teams and 3-nobody teams. That much the Hokage could ensure.) The Hokage felt embarrassed at all those years of wasted shinobi. Potential genin who'd been forced into a civilian life or to enroll in the samurai training program in Fire City. That was a lot of wastage ended…so many potentially excellent shinobi tossed out after all those years of training. Sarutobi sat on a park bench and enjoyed the sun's warmth on his face. His head was covered with his special hat, but his eyes were fixed on the boy. He really looked like the Yondaime had when he was a boy. Over the years that boy grew and grew, like an out of control weed. Naruto was still a bit on the short side, but he made friends easily, it seemed, and enjoyed running, climbing trees, and causing chaos. This anonymity had served Naruto well. The villagers as a whole did not pay attention to the orphanage…and none of the spies who penetrated Konoha (Sarutobi didn't kid himself to think that infiltration didn't happen once a month or more often, even if they had tightened up security) would ever think to look in the new orphanage for the village's most precious military secret, the boy who saved them all every day from the Kyuubi. Naruto would start taking classes at the orphanage school in a few days…and would start at the Ninja Academy in two years. The orphanage school was much improved in the last five years. The visiting chuunin often helped manage field trips outside the village walls to look at trees and plants or try to walk local wildlife. Naruto would have a chance to learn reading and writing. Math and bits of history and pride in the Fire Country. He'd be ready to attend the Academy on time. The only thing that Sarutobi still wondered about was when Naruto should be told about his tenant. A part said just as soon as he started learning about chakra. If the Yondaime's seal worked as intended, and Jiraiya swore it would, the boy would have access to a massive store of chakra. Possibly, if he were trained correctly, an unlimited supply. Another part cautioned him to hold off on telling the boy for a while. Until he made genin at least. Sarutobi had already decided he would visit the boy personally – not just walk by or look at him in the park – when he began the Academy. He had had a good life so far it seemed. Sarutobi could give him a few more years of comfort. Given that Sarutobi had begun taking a more active role in the Academy the last few years, no one would think it odd for Sarutobi to visit with a few young students from time to time. The boy wasn't yet a hero to the village – as the only people who knew of the boy's sacrifice weren't telling – but he would be someday. Jiraiya had already stated he would be willing to train the boy in the future. Sarutobi was sure he would take to teaching the boy as well. Kami knew that the boy could become stronger then even the best jounin-sensei could handle. Yes, that was settled. Sarutobi would take on a new student; one last student. And teach him all that he could, leadership along with the skills of a ninja. Strong in body, mind, and soul. The new generation had the Will of Fire, Sarutobi would ensure it. One could only hope they wouldn't have to have a Heart of Stone. But…if it came to it, Uzumaki Naruto would be trained in that as well. After all, Orochimaru was still out there with a few dozen sets of Uchiha eyes…and someone had killed and mutilated more than a hundred Hyuuga bodies. The world would be heating up in a few years, wouldn't it? Uzumaki Naruto would need everything Jiraiya, Sarutobi, and anyone else could teach him. Everything.
The day cars drove themselves into walls and the hospitals froze. A scenario that could happen based on what already has. The Big Hack The day cars drove themselves into walls and the hospitals froze A scenario that could happen based on what already has. Illustrations by R. Kikuo Johnson On December 4, 2017, at a little before nine in the morning, an executive at Goldman Sachs was swiping through the day’s market report in the backseat of a hired SUV heading south on the West Side Highway when his car suddenly swerved to the left, throwing him against the window and pinning a sedan and its driver against the concrete median. A taxi ran into the SUV’s rear fender and spun into the next lane, forcing a school-bus driver to slam on his brakes. Within minutes, nothing was moving from the Intrepid to the Whitney. When the Goldman exec came to, his driver swore that the crash hadn’t been his fault: Moments later, on the George Washington Bridge, an SUV veered in front of an 18-wheeler, causing it to jackknife across all four lanes and block traffic heading into the city. The crashes were not a coincidence. Within minutes, there were pileups on 51st Street, the southbound BQE, as far north as the Merritt Parkway, and inside the Midtown Tunnel. By nine, Canal Street was paralyzed, as was the corner of 23rd and Broadway, and every tentacle of what used to be called the Triborough Bridge. At the center of each accident was an SUV of the same make and model, but as the calls came in to the city’s 911 centers in the Bronx and Brooklyn, the operators simply chalked them up to Monday-morning road rage. No one had yet realized that New York City had just been hit by a cyberattack — or that, with the city’s water system, mass transportation, banks, emergency services, and pretty much everything else now wired together in the name of technological progress, the _ real _ hacks The fictional account imagined here is based on dozens of conversations with cybersecurity experts, hackers, government officials, and more. An attack of such scope is unlikely, but each component is inspired by events that can, and in most cases have, happened. 1In 2015, carmakers began paying greater attention to the fact that some new vehicles, now connected to the internet, had become as hackable as laptops. In March, researchers found hackers were able to access the ignition on Audi, BMW, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Range Rover, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen cars. 2Homeland Security recently estimated that one major cyberattack — the NSA chief has said it’s a matter of “when, not if” — could cost $50 billion and cause 2,500 fatalities. A third-year resident in the emergency room at Columbia University Medical Center in Washington Heights walked through the hospital as a television was airing images from the accident on the George Washington Bridge; that meant several crash victims would soon be heading her way. When she got to her computer, she tried logging into the network to check on the patients who were already there, but she was greeted with an error message that read WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR BITCOIN THIS TIME. Columbia, like major institutions across the country, had spent the past few years fighting so-called ransomware attacks, in which hackers locked a hospital or city hall or police department out of its own network until a Hospital security teams had gotten wise to the problem, but every network’s defenses had the same vulnerability: For weeks, a group of hackers had been sending LinkedIn messages to employees at Columbia pretending to be recruiters from Mount Sinai. When an employee opened an attachment featuring the recruiting pitch — as ten of them did — and enabled the macros as prompted onscreen — four of them did — they unknowingly unleashed malware onto their computer and gave the hackers a beachhead. After months of , the hackers blocked Columbia’s doctors and nurses from accessing their network, including patient files. Doctors couldn’t access prescription records telling them which patients were scheduled to take which drugs when and resorted to improvised , which many of the younger doctors had never done before. In nearly every corridor, they were consulting with one another in a panic, asking how much of their own expertise was really stored in the cloud and had just disappeared. 3In February, a hospital in L.A. paid 40 bitcoins, or about $17,000, to get back into its system. Russian hackers have even set up English-language call centers to explain to victims how to acquire and send bitcoins. 4Hackers recently sent Pennsylvania drivers fake traffic tickets with malware, using GPS data so the tickets seemed to be from red-light cameras on their route home. 5The average data breach is only identified five months later; hackers were allegedly inside a Ukrainian utility network for six months before shutting off electricity. 6In March, a D.C.-area hospital system was hacked and forced to keep paper records. They got so overwhelmed they turned away cancer patients with radiation appointments. The crowd in the waiting room swelled and grew more tense as nurses ran by patients, unable to give updates on when they might be seen. Various procedures were taking longer than they should have — one man was kept on a powerful antibiotic for several hours, with serious side effects, before a delayed lab result came back reporting that he should go off the medication — and the staff was having trouble keeping track of patients. A little before noon, a man walked into the hospital looking for his wife, whom he had dropped off early that morning for a simple surgical procedure. A few minutes later, the nurse told him that it appeared his wife had been discharged. Most New Yorkers were proceeding with their day unaware. But the city’s had begun to connect the dots: Six hospitals had already informed him that their systems had been shut down, and the city had sent out warnings to all the others. One Police Plaza had just reported that it, too, was locked out of the programs it used to dispatch , which made responding to the traffic accidents around the city that much harder. 7New York’s first head of cybersecurity started the job earlier this year. 8In April, Newark’s police were locked out of their computer system for three days. After a few phone calls to friends in the private sector, the cybersecurity chief got more nervous. At the beginning of 2017, one friend told him, she had been called to investigate a mysterious occurrence at a water-treatment plant: The valves that controlled the amount of chlorine released into the water had been opening and closing with . An alarm had gone off, so none of the tainted water had reached consumers, and the company’s CEO brushed off the consultant’s request to make the news public so others could prepare for similar attacks. 9Investigators recently reported a similar incident at an undisclosed water company. At MetroTech, New York’s cybersecurity chief pulled out the Office of Emergency Management’s 42-page booklet on how the city should react to a cyberattack — a copy of which he had printed out and stashed in his desk drawer in case his department’s own network was compromised — and was flipping from page to page when he got a call from a reporter. At 12:30 p.m., the Times published a story reporting that “government officials” believed that the city was being hit with a wave of cyberattacks that appeared to be ongoing. A tipster claimed the hackers had caused at least a dozen car crashes and debilitated multiple hospitals and agencies — with more to come. If they could crash a car, could they crash a subway? The Times report included a line from a nurse at New York–Presbyterian who said that the initial message announcing that the network was blocked had included a link to a web page that was displaying a timer ticking down to 1 p.m. and text that read MORE PATIENTS WILL BE ARRIVING SOON. European who launched the attack against New York had spent much of the previous decade breaking into American corporate networks — credit-card companies, hospitals, big-box retailers — and sometimes just because they could. When those attacks became routine, the group moved into more politically inclined hacks, both and on of various governments, and fomenting dissent. In the summer of 2016, the hackers received an anonymous offer of $100 million to perform a cyberattack that would debilitate a major American city. The group’s members weren’t much interested in death and destruction per se, so they declined their funder’s request for a But to self-identified anarchists with a reflexively nihilistic will to power, the proposition had some appeal. Causing disruption was something that had been on their minds recently, as their conversations veered toward the problems with global capitalism, the rise of technocentrism, bitcoin, and the hubris required to nominate a man like Donald Trump. Their animus got more personal when American authorities arrested a well-respected white-hat hacker who had broken into an insulin pump in order to show the dangers of connecting without proper security. The black hats were on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum but had more empathy for their fellow hacker than they did for the American people, who, they felt, deserved a comeuppance — or at least a very loud “Fuck you.” The plan was to show how much of modern life in a city like New York could be disrupted by purely digital means. The hackers would get paid, but they also hoped their attack would dent America’s complacent faith in order and in the technology and political authority that undergirded it. As a bonus, their services would be in even greater demand. 10Hackers are often identified by the malware they use: One group is known as Sandworm, because references to the sci-fi series ‘Dune,’ which features giant desert worms, were embedded in its code. 11The hacker world divides into white hats, who are the good guys, and black hats, who are out to cause havoc or for personal gain. 12According to the FBI, those hit by cyberattacks have paid more than $200 million in ransoms so far this year, compared with just $25 million in all of 2015. 13Earlier this year, Congress was the target of a string of ransomware attacks. 14An Italian company called Hacking Team has been criticized for offering hacking services to dozens of countries, many with poor human-rights records. 15Andrés Sepúlveda, a Colombian hacker, recently told Bloomberg that he had helped rig elections in nine different Latin American countries, including by installing malware on campaign routers to spy on digital and phone communications. 16Last year, a researcher claimed he had hacked into a plane’s seat-back entertainment system and could then access the cockpit controls on a Boeing jet flying from Denver to Chicago. Boeing has said this is impossible. 17In 2014, a company tracking medical devices at more than 60 hospitals found malware in every hospital. Last year, another researcher was able to manipulate several drug-infusion pumps so he could, potentially, deliver a fatal dosage of medication. No one had pulled off an attack of this magnitude, but it was possible to piece together a plan from various hacks that had been executed before, which, taken together, were a sort of open-source blueprint available to anyone with an interest in remote-control terrorism (and the time and manpower it required). This group was small, relatively speaking, and benign, relatively speaking. ISIS, for instance, might have a more pronounced bloodlust but not (yet) the technical capabilities; Chinese or Russian hacking operations would have many more resources and a much more sophisticated strategy that could bring even more targets, into play. 18It took several years for hackers allegedly working for the U.S. and Israel to develop Stuxnet, a computer worm that disabled an Iranian nuclear reactor in 2010. These hackers decided to start with cars. The team’s members found a particular automaker’s flagship SUV bought one to test their work (to help fund the operation, they had pulled from the millions they had made in several attacks against financial institutions, including a recent hack of the ), and, within a month, could shut off the ignition, turn off the brakes, and cause the steering wheel to jerk to the left. 19In 2015, for an article in Wired, two hackers in St. Louis took control of a Jeep traveling 75 mph, sprayed wiper fluid so the driver couldn’t see, then cut the transmission. 20In February, hackers stole the credentials of several employees in the Bangladeshi Central Bank using malware that tracked keystrokes as the employees entered passwords and were then able to transfer $81 million into private accounts. (They might have stolen more had they not misspelled the word “foundation” in one of the transfers, triggering an alarm.) The underlying system of financial transactions, known as SWIFT, has since come under scrutiny after similar attempted attacks at other banks. If you don’t think the threat of hacking is real, take a look at these eight examples of real, terrifying hacks that have happened right under our noses. Several other members of the team spent months trawling Shodan, a free search engine, launched in 2009, that allows savvy users to find devices with unprotected connections to the internet, from to Wi-Fi-enabled baby monitors. As they looked for ways to demonstrate vulnerability — to show just how many mundane features of urban life had been opened up to hackers in recent years — they found themselves focusing on something most New Yorkers use every day. The vast majority of the 70,000 elevators in New York City are not connected to the internet, but building managers had begun taking elevator manufacturers up on their offers to install remote-control systems as a way to cut costs. And so, an hour after the SUVs started crashing, a resident who had recently moved into a new tower in Hudson Yards was riding up to her 22nd-floor apartment when her elevator suddenly jerked to a halt. Across town, a bank of elevators in a Downtown Brooklyn office building that had installed the same software stopped working, with several members of a new-media start-up onboard one car. It didn’t take long for them to begin sharing their lighthearted grievances on social media. One of them pointed out a remarkable coincidence on Facebook: His friend in a different building had gotten stuck in an elevator too. 21In 2014, an Ohio man remotely accessed the thermostat in the home of his ex-wife, who’d left him for another man. “Since this past Ohio winter has been so cold I’ve been messing with the temp while the new love birds are sleeping,” the man wrote in a review of the thermostat on Amazon. “Doesn’t everyone want to wake up at 7 a.m. to a 40-degree house?” He gave it five stars. By now, officials at U.S. Cyber Command were monitoring the situation in New York. Both the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA had conducted practice operations to see how they would respond to a cyberattack, but this was the first time anyone in the government had been called to respond to a major incident, and American intelligence had long suspected that this particular group of Europeans might have more-than-indirect ties to the Russian government, but Putin wasn’t saying so, and the Russians quickly denied any involvement, as did the the and the If they were all to be believed, there were just a few hacker groups with both the expertise and the resources to pull off a multipronged cyberattack, and this one was near the top of that list. But there was only so much the government could do. The group’s members worked separately, and the Defense Department had only the vaguest sense of where they might be. 22In April, the Government Accountability Office reported that the Pentagon lacked a defined “cyber incident” chain of command. 23Chinese hackers are suspected in many attacks, such as the 2015 Office of Personnel Management breach, which disclosed the personal information of 21.5 million people. 24In 2013, seven Iranians allegedly got enough control over a Westchester dam to potentially open the sluice gate. 25North Koreans have been blamed for both the 2014 Sony hack and an attack on a South Korean nuclear-energy company in 2015. 26The U.S. has killed two ISIS hackers in airstrikes. One of them allegedly gave up his location by clicking a link he shouldn’t have. Their networks dark, hospitals fell into chaos. Illustration: R. Kikuo Johnson By the time the FDNY rescued the woman in Hudson Yards from her stalled elevator, and she had walked up seven flights of stairs to her apartment, grabbed a beer, and turned on the television, she found CNN airing footage of Wolf Blitzer stalking around the network’s midtown newsroom as befuddled members of the IT department, which didn’t have any better ideas, began unplugging every nonessential device they could. Companies started urging their employees to take the stairs, while many simply sent employees home. The mayor decided to continue running the subways, but at a delay to stagger trains and prevent accidents. Some people didn’t feel like risking it and trudged home through the snow instead. No one wanted to drive, and Uber, which had a number of drivers who used the targeted model of SUV, added a warning to its app that it couldn’t guarantee rider safety. (Still, demand drove surge pricing up to its maximum of 2.8 times the normal fare.) The security consultant who’d found the mess with the water-treatment plant went on TV to tell people that it appeared cyberterrorists had tried to hack the water supply. False reports of attacks on the and Amtrak and and a shot around Reddit and Twitter, until nobody wanted to do much of anything but get home, unplug their wireless router, and hope for the best. “With cyberattacks confirmed against cars and several hospitals, it’s impossible to say what might happen next — ” Blitzer said, before televisions around the city went blank. 27A 2013 report found that more than half of the world’s securities exchanges had been hit by a cyberattack. 28In 2008, hackers allegedly caused a pipeline in Turkey to explode by breaking into the network through surveillance cameras, which connected to the pipeline’s controls; the hackers were able to raise the pressure in the pipeline until it blew up. 29Several years ago, a German steel mill was hit with an attack that prevented its blast furnace from shutting down properly, resulting in significant damage. When the power went out, at 1 p.m., hundreds of subway cars carrying thousands of passengers who had decided to one group that got trapped in an L train under the East River had to walk more than half a mile underground to get to First Avenue, using the light of their dying cell phones to navigate. Many of them said later they were expecting another threat — a bomb, a gas attack — figuring whatever sinister group was behind all this was sophisticated enough to coordinate that, too. 30When the 2003 blackout hit, there were more than 400,000 passengers trapped on 413 trains throughout the subway system. It took nearly three hours to evacuate the cars and 36 hours to resume full service. Aboveground, traffic lights were out, so anyone willing to drive a car was crawling slowly through the snow. Many of the stranded were worried that the hackers had targeted their bank accounts, spiriting away their savings to some untraceable, block-chain account, possibly to fund future attacks — which were surely coming, according to the panicked chatter on the street. But all the ATMs were down, which made it hard to check. Credit-card readers didn’t work, and neither did Apple Pay, so anyone who’d gone cashless couldn’t buy anything. Stores around the city closed, and sporadic bouts of looting cropped up, along with rumors exaggerating the extent of it and the violence associated with it. Wall Street kept trading on backup generators, although most people wished it hadn’t: Within minutes of the outage, the Dow had plunged. For the hackers, getting access to the power grid had been simple enough. They mailed a to engineers at several companies that operate power-generating facilities in the New York area, with an attached letter saying the stick included an explanation of their benefits package for the upcoming year. Most of the engineers plugged the thumb drive into a home computer, but several took it to work and opened the document there. 31A recent study found that nearly half of us will pick up a random USB stick on the street, plug it in, and open whatever we find. Knowing what to do once they had was, for the hackers, a more difficult matter. In preparation, they had filled out the team with several electrical engineers who had been involved in a 2015 attack that knocked out power for several hours to a region in Ukraine the size of After the team got inside the utility’s networks, the electrical engineers spent several months poring over the code, examining the particular system and equipment that the utility was using, and chatting online with an engineer from one of the utilities whom they had found grousing about his job on a Reddit forum. After six months of trial and error, working on a mirror system they had built themselves for testing, the engineers were able to develop several pieces of malicious code that, once inserted, were capable of damaging transformers and generators throughout several parts of the 32Most major utilities are required to follow a set of cybersecurity regulations, considered reasonably robust. (For instance, many require two-step identification to access control systems.) But smaller utilities are often not held to the same standard. 33Two days before last Christmas, a worker at the Prykarpattyaoblenergo control center, in western Ukraine, watched as the cursor on his monitor began moving, then proceeded to shut down 57 different substations, leaving more than 230,000 Ukrainians in the dark. The hackers had used malware called BlackEnergy — common enough that it comes with its own “help” file. The U.S. government has acknowledged that a version of BlackEnergy has already been found inside domestic industrial systems. 34Last year, the Associated Press reported that, about a dozen different times, hackers had gained enough access to control portions of America’s power grid. Power companies are used to handling outages with a variety of causes — — but given the events of the day, had already deployed members of its Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team to New York by the time the power went out. As the DHS teams fanned out to the control centers at various utilities, reports had begun to trickle back from engineers who were in the field. While some had simply been knocked offline, one worker called back with worse news: Several transformers at one substation Workers at other facilities called back with similar news. The control center had noticed nothing amiss, which didn’t make sense, until the team from the DHS realized that the attackers had manipulated the displays on the control-center computers so that they were presenting information from 24 hours earlier, when everything had been fine. It was just a few lines of code, but the would last: Transformers are expensive pieces of equipment, and the utilities hadn’t stockpiled enough to replace every one. Getting certain parts could take 35Just a week before the Ukraine attack, a power plant in Westchester was knocked off-line when some equipment was hit by a particularly large bird dropping. 36The Department of Homeland Security has 691 people working in cybersecurity but has said that it needs many more and that it has difficulty attracting talent. 37In Ukraine, the utility was able to get the power back on by switching to manual operation, something that would be much more difficult in the more modernized American grid. 38In 2007, American hackers working in a government lab were able to destroy a generator simply by writing 21 lines of malicious code that caused it to spin out of control. Some of the generator’s parts were found 80 feet away. 39Only three incidents of physical damage caused by cyberattack have been publicly reported: the government-sponsored generator hack, Stuxnet, and the German steel mill. 40Electrical transformers, most of which are built overseas, can weigh more than 200 tons and have to be transported on railcars and barges. One transformer can take as many as 18 months to acquire. As night fell, the New York City sky was an inky black. Every building with a backup generator became a gathering place, while everyone else curled up with candles at home. (The FDNY had its busiest night of house fires since the ’70s.) Several people who lived in homes neglected by slumlords, with only electric heaters to keep them warm, were found suffering from hypothermia, and several more died of carbon-monoxide poisoning from a portable generator. The uncertainty over who was doing the attacking, and what the next attack might be, sent many people to bed with a looming dread. Something worse was coming, they were all sure, and every device they owned could be turned against them and was now a threat. When the power went out, so did the subways, stranding riders. Illustration: R. Kikuo Johnson As those who were able to sleep began to wake up the next morning, the attacks seemed to have stopped — though no one could say for certain. Security teams at every company and government agency had worked through the night to safeguard their systems, and the Pentagon, joined by intelligence agencies around the world, was trying to track down the offending hackers, who seemed to have decided to stand down and withdraw for a while. Traffic was light in and out of the city, and the subway remained closed as power came back on in spurts: Parts of the city had electricity within 24 hours, but it took days for other areas to come back online. When the subway finally started running again, it did so with delays and was filled with passengers who glanced anxiously at one another whenever the train unexpectedly hit its brakes. The city’s head of cybersecurity was fired, as were several of the engineers who had plugged in the USB sticks. Only a dozen people had died in the attack, but the city had undeniably changed. No buildings had been destroyed, no bombs had exploded, no money had been stolen, but each scenario now seemed not just possible but imminent. The direct was sure to be significant — the Dow dropped a thousand points by week’s end — and the personal trauma was still ongoing. The man whose wife had supposedly walked out of the hospital after having her surgery had spent all day and night searching for her, until his cell phone finally died. He went to the hospital the next morning and pleaded with anyone he could find. Eventually, one nurse, who hadn’t slept in 24 hours, found his wife in cardiology, lying down in a hospital bed with an 41In 2015, Lloyd’s of London published a report imagining a cyberattack in which 93 million people along the East Coast were left without power for days — a threat it judged to be within the once-in-200-year probability that insurers should prepare for. Such an attack, Lloyd’s estimated, could set back the American economy by more than a trillion dollars. 42A similar incident happened earlier this year at the D.C.-area hospital that was hit with a ransomware attack. But the worst damage was psychological. Because the grid that powers New York is connected with a larger regional grid, the outage affected tens of millions of people and set off a national debate that was more unhinged than most — a fearful swirl of xenophobia, Luddism, and political grandstanding. Everything that had looked like progress over the previous two decades now looked more like a Trojan horse: “Smarthome” devices and driverless-car initiatives became political footballs. For every measure to increase funding for there was a congressman demanding that even who tried to probe systems as a way to point out vulnerabilities before the bad guys got to them, be thrown in jail. The president’s domestic agenda was shelved, as the next 18 months required convincing the American people that their government was capable of protecting them from their own devices, even as security experts acknowledged that there was no way to build a world of interconnected systems that was completely secure. Americans had spent the past decade and a half gradually coming to terms with the fact of mostly by comforting themselves that the perpetrators were far away, separated by not only geography but the massive buffer of America’s national-security apparatus. Now even that apparatus seemed vulnerable to malicious redirection. Air-traffic control, a local bank, the that came with an electroshock function — cracking those seemed suddenly like child’s play. 43President Obama has proposed spending $19 billion on federal cybersecurity funding, an increase of 35 percent from last year. 44Some companies have launched “bug bounty” programs, in which third-party hackers are invited to attack a company’s system to probe it for vulnerabilities. After starting such a program earlier this year, General Motors reportedly got more than 100 submissions in three days. Soon after, the Pentagon launched a similar program. 45In March, a Justice Department representative said the Islamic State was “actively attempting” to cause major damage in the U.S. by means of cyberattack, and last month, the U.S. government acknowledged that it was conducting cyberattacks against ISIS. A loose coalition of hackers affiliated with ISIS recently announced that they were organizing under the banner of the United Cyber Caliphate. But most of the group’s attacks have been rudimentary: This spring, it published the names and addresses of 3,602 of New York’s “most important citizens,” which turned out to be a seemingly random list of names. 46iPhones are actually relatively secure, as evidenced by the difficulty the FBI had accessing information on the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone, which makes them unlikely targets for hackers. It was hard to blame people for their anger when they had been told to trust that the devices they brought into their lives were safe, only to find that many of them weren’t. Parents who had done their Christmas shopping on Cyber Monday returned anything with a Wi-Fi connection. Everyone had to be reminded again of all the incredible benefits of a connected world. Doctors had to convince people that their implantable couldn’t be hacked. Americans begrudgingly accepted the inconveniences experts said were necessary — triple verification, firewalls between firewalls, encrypted encryption — but the phrase cybersecurity theater soon joined its airport predecessor in the lexicon of nanny-state policies. Copycat attacks sprang up around the world: trains going haywire in Japan; smart thermostats freezing pipes in Minneapolis; Chinese hackers noodling around a water utility in San Francisco. Americans suddenly realized that, although they had spent plenty of time anguishing about how to protect the country’s physical borders, with every device they bought, they had been letting more and more invaders into their cities, their homes, and their lives. They had moved everything they did online, thinking they were moving into the future; they woke up the morning after thinking they’d moved into a war zone instead. What frightened people most wasn’t the attack itself, but rather what it foreshadowed. The day after, the hackers had sent a drone flying over the city dropping leaflets with a simple message: WE’LL BE BACK. It almost didn’t matter whether they would. 47In 2014, security researchers found that they could hack into certain types of Bluetooth-enabled defibrillators and deliver shocks to a patient’s heart. *This article appears in the June 13, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
A WAYWARD Wicklow Labrador found himself at the long paw of the law on Sunday night (August 7), after he was handed into Bray Garda Station. The full grown adult male dog was handed over to the Bray division of An Garda Síochána at 9pm on Sunday after meandering the Greystones to Bray cliffs. It's understood he followed cliff walkers from the Greystones harbour area, over Bray Head and into Bray Garda Station. The official An Garda Síochána Facebook page uploaded pictures of the worn out pooch, sopping wet, and splayed across the station floor and issued a plea in the hopes of returning the Labrador to his owner. The plea read, "Lost male white Labrador dog currently at Bray Garda station, handed in at 2130hrs 07/08/2016. Possibly from the Greystones area as he followed cliff walkers from the harbour area in Greystones over Bray Head and into Bray Garda Station. Not reported missing locally." Advertisement An Garda Síochána also said that it was their role to "protect life and property." They continued on to say they were helping this lost dog as, "somebody owns this dog, we want to return the property to the owner. We also have a role under the animals act to prevent cruelty. It would be cruel not to help this lost dog." Many people praised the Gardaí for their efforts in returning the dog to his owner, and hoped he would have a safe return. Thankfully, after spending a night in the station the Labrador, whose real name is Bailey, was returned to his waiting family.
MAKE senior editor Phillip Torrone reviewed NOVA's Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial. When the advocates of Intelligent Design during the trial said that the book “Of Pandas and People” had nothing to do with creationism, they lied; it turned out the original drafts were all about Creationism. After the drafts were subpoenaed (thousand of pages) it was discovered that a simple search and replace was used to change the text from creationism wording to something, well, less creationism sounding. It was changed because the Supreme Court in 1987 ruled it was unconstitutional to teach creationism in public schools. When I say “search and replace” I really mean they found examples of where the words didn’t exactly get changed enough. You can see it here… Wherever the word “creationists” appeared it was replaced with “cdesign proponentsists” - that’s merely creationists without the “reation” and with “design” and “proponents” replaced in.
The Central Board of Film Certification’s website does not have any information about the films it has certified for the last one and a half years. No censorship data for films released after mid-2015 is indexed on the Board’s website. Before then, the Board had been uploading the “cut-list” for films that it had been certifying on its website. In response to an RTI application filed, the CBFC denied this, and said that “Information is being uploaded on [the] website,” and the fact that this information is not available for titles released after mid-2015 is “not true”. Interestingly, the Board also declined to give the censorship data it is claiming to be uploading, saying that the “data [is] not available”. Right before this story went live, the censor board’s website announced that all data will be uploaded next month, in February. When Pahlaj Nihalani took office as CBFC chairman in early 2015, he placed an embargo on censor certificates being made available online for two weeks after certification, according to a report by the Hindustan Times. In the same report, which came out on October 2016, he is quoted as saying that the embargo was later lifted, and that all certification data was now being uploaded online immediately. As of 8th January 2017, no information on titles certified after July 2015 is available on the CBFC website. This is contrary to the CBFC’s response to the RTI application and the chairman’s claim. Just days after the Board replied to the RTI application falsely claiming that information was being uploaded on the website, it seems to have backtracked. Since March last year, the censor board has been discussing the revamp and redesign of their website going live next month, according to minutes of a meeting published by the Board last year. Other digitisation efforts that they are undertaking include getting encrypted versions of all films they certify to prevent piracy from their end. *** Here are the questions asked the RTI application: Please provide the following information. Concerned authority is Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). i) Whether a digital database of all certification records exists. ii) If not, whether CBFC has any plans to create such a database. iii) Reason for non-availability of any certification records after beginning of 2015 on CBFC website. iv) Whether there are any plans by CBFC to upload the information of these records on the website. v) Whether CBFC has any IT officer to manage digital records of CBFC, including certificate details. vi) Physical location of certificate data on the website–whether it is in NIC server or CBFC server. vii) Please provide full copy of all available digital certificate records that are available on the website in the form of a CD. The responses from the CBFC are provided below:
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The women and men were reported to be condemned when video footage showed them singing and dancing at a wedding, as Orla Guerin reports. Officials in Pakistan are travelling to a remote north-western region to find out if four women, who apparently sang and watched as two men danced, have been murdered in an honour killing. Video footage of the men and women, who gathered as part of a wedding celebration, has been widely seen. Villagers say the women were later killed. Local officials deny this. The men in the video appeared in court on Wednesday charged with creating conditions for tribal violence. Local officials not only failed to produce the women in the court on Wednesday but were also unable to produce any proof they were still alive, as directed by the court earlier. Tribal elders' decree? The video, first circulated about two months ago, shows four women sitting on the floor of a room, chatting and singing wedding songs while clapping their hands. A fifth woman is said have been an accomplice. A decree was allegedly issued by tribal elders for them to be killed because it was thought their actions brought dishonour to their community which frowns on men and women fraternising or dancing together. Also seen in the video are two young brothers, one of whom dances to the sound of the women's song. The other films the video, at one point turning the camera to himself. The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that there is no shot of the men and women together, and it is unclear if they were in the same place at the same time. On Wednesday, the Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province - where the incident in Kohistan district is alleged to have happened - argued that local custom did not allow women to travel in male company or face questions from male members of a judicial bench. He said this could lead to local legal complications. He suggested that a commission be constituted, including officials and human rights activists, to conduct an inquiry in Kohistan and submit its report to the court. But the court ordered that the women, if they were alive, should be brought to Islamabad. It suggested that the authorities should take some women activists with them who could provide the Kohistani women with female company during their journey. The village is at least two days' journey on foot from the nearest highway, and only helicopters can reach the area quickly.
Powerhouse crab pulsar MAGIC telescopes detect extremely energetic photons The Crab Pulsar has set a new record: it is sending out the most energetic light radiation that has ever been measured from a star. This observation could challenge our current understanding of pulsars. Moreover, a new mechanism, little understood up to now, appears to play a role in accelerating the particles to such high energies. These findings were reported by a research team associated with the MAGIC telescopes. Bundle of energy: with its strong magnetic field (white lines), the Crab Pulsar spins around itself nearly 30 times per second injecting energetic electrons in the space region around it. The green and blue shaded regions depict different particle acceleration zones from where the detected photons could originate. The green zone lies in the vicinity of the pulsar's magnetosphere, whereas the blue zone could be as far as 100,000 km away from the pulsar. © Patricia Carcelén Marco Bundle of energy: with its strong magnetic field (white lines), the Crab Pulsar spins around itself nearly 30 times per second injecting energetic electrons in the space region around it. The green and blue shaded regions depict different particle acceleration zones from where the detected photons could originate. The green zone lies in the vicinity of the pulsar's magnetosphere, whereas the blue zone could be as far as 100,000 km away from the pulsar. © Patricia Carcelén Marco The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova explosion that was observed on Earth in the year 1054. The neutron star has a diameter of just around ten kilometers and rotates around its own axis approximately 30 times per second. Thus, it emits light pulses like a lighthouse, and these pulses stretch across the entire electromagnetic spectrum — from long radio waves to visible light and beyond, to the short waves of energetic gamma rays. Magnetic fields: Dynamo for light energy With the help of the MAGIC telescopes, scientists have discovered photons — that is, particles of light — with energy many times higher than what has been seen before. Until just a few years ago, the highest energy observable from the Crab Pulsar was thought to be at 6 GeV (gigaelectronvolts). In 2008, the MAGIC telescopes recorded an energy spectrum of more than 25 GeV. The observatory trumped its own result in 2012 with measurements of 400 GeV. Since then, MAGIC has measured gamma rays up to 1.5 TeV (teraelectronvolts). However, the researchers are not yet able to explain how the charged particles are accelerated to these extremely high energies. “In the production of high-energy particles, a central role is played by the enormously strong magnetic field typical for neutron stars, which generates extremely strong electrical fields,” says Razmik Mirzoyan, speaker of the MAGIC collaboration and project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Physics. “In the magnetically charged, complex atmosphere of the neutron star, electrons and their antiparticles, the positrons, are accelerated to nearly the speed of light before they annihilate each other. In this model, gamma ray energies up to a few gigaelectronvolts can be explained as synchrotron and curvature radiation. To account for the gamma pulses of more than 1.5 TeV that have now been observed, however, there must be another mechanism. Where on the neutron star is the highly energetic radiation produced? Mirzoyan elaborates: “We can only observe extremely energetic gamma rays if these electrons somehow succeed in escaping the complex topology of the neutron star’s magnetic field and accelerating themselves in the electric field. Then they join together with the lower-energy radio waves and X-rays to form the pulsar’s cone of light.” For the “escape” of the gamma rays, an indirect path is considered a possibility: In this process, it is the electrons and positrons emerging directly from the pulsar that escape, but rather the second or third generation of their accelerated “offspring.” These arise at the outermost edge of the magnetic field, at a height of approximately 1500 kilometers. Here, simply put, energy-rich charged particles interact with ultraviolet radiation and X-rays as well as with the magnetic field. Subsequently, the secondary particles transfer their energy to lower-energy photons, thereby transforming them into highly energetic gamma quanta — which then exit the magnetic field. This energy transfer is known as the inverse Compton mechanism. By means of the inverse Compton effect, gamma photons could also form far away from the pulsar, in the pulsar wind region — where, likewise, the accelerated particles can encounter X-rays. However, the extreme gamma rays arrive at the MAGIC telescopes simultaneously with lower-energy radio waves and X-rays — indicating that they are produced within the magnetic field. “That would mean that all of the radiation is produced in a relatively small region at the edge of the magnetic field, or that the high-energy gamma rays retain a kind of ‘memory’ of radiation at lower energy. At this point in time we can hypothesize that the inverse Compton mechanism is capable of explaining the existence of such energy-rich gamma rays from the pulsar. In the long run, however, we need new, detailed theoretical models that describe this phenomenon,” Mirzoyan concludes. BW / HOR
By Robert Waldmann. Originally published at Angry Bear Via Steve Benen and Greg Sargent. The Washington Post/ABC News pollsters asked “Do you think the federal government should or should not pursue policies that try to reduce the gap between wealthy and less well-off Americans?”. 62% of respondents answered yes. This should be very unsurprising as it is roughly the same as the fraction who have been telling Gallup that high income people pay less than their fair of taxes for two decades now. It is also similar to the number who support higher taxes on high incomes to pay for the ACA and (in another poll) to prevent exaustion of the social security trust fund. I have been, partly ironically, referring to this solid majority opinion as “class war” but Benen mentioned something which tends to unermine the class war interpretation/joke What’s more, support for action in this area is quite broad. A majority of Americans regardless of race, for example, support actions to reduce the wealth gap. A majority of Americans regardless of age agree. Indeed, across the board – gender, level of education, household income, geographic region – there’s a broad consensus that this is an issue worthy of national action. Wait a majority in the highest income sub group (income over $ 100 thousand a year) answered yes ? That sure doesn’t sound like class war does it ? In fact, 63% of those respondents answered yes which is actually a tiny insignificant 1% higher than the overall fraction 62%. Now I think the class war hypothesis can be saved if the vast majority of even the highest income subset don’t consider themselves “wealthy”. I sure wouldn’t consider a family of 5 with income of $101,000 and a mortgage wealthy (even though they are by world standards and very wealthy by the standards of almost all of human history). The class interest based struggle could be between the bottom 99% and the top 1% who are too few to show up noticeably in polls. update: the vast majority of households with income over $ 100K are not in the top 1%. In fact almost 22% of US households had income over $ 100K back in 2012. What I meant to type is that the results of the poll can be reconciled with the idea that we are all selfish if the vast majority of houeholds with income over 100K don’t think they are “wealthy” but rather think the wealthy are the top 1%. To get in the top 1% a family needed $388,905 already in 2011. The idea I was trying to present is that someone struggling along with $ 120k might want to take from the wealth with $ 400k per year. I’d rather think that people who consider themselves wealthy are willing to share their wealth with the rest of the US (provided other wealthy people do too). end update Still the result is nice and potentially very useful to Democratic candidates who can argue that they are not advocating class warfare but proposing that we deal with a national problem as a majority of Americans regardless of their income think we should. The strategy has the additional advantage that Republican candidates and operatives will have trouble resisting the argument that the poll is meaningless because many people with income over $ 100K* are absurdly poor takers and not like the job creators at all. Some will not hide the fact that families with income of $110,000 per year are much too poor to be in the class whose interests they serve.
During his farewell speech last week in Chicago, President Obama said that “race relations are better than they were 10, or 20, or 30 years ago, no matter what some folks say. You can see it not just in statistics, you see it in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum.” While Obama’s electoral victories themselves were an important chapter in the advancement of race relations in America, especially poignant during the week that we celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., it’s worth noting that the president’s assessment doesn’t match polling evidence from Gallup that shows a steep erosion of race relations in America, worse than at any point under George W. Bush, beginning with the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. This erosion was felt by both black and white Americans. Advertisement: Many Donald Trump voters appear to be reacting to the perceived spread of political correctness and the posturing of Black Lives Matter protesters, whose "Hands Up Don't Shoot" meme was deeply misleading — according to President Obama's Justice Department and even liberal columnist Jonathan Capehart. To quote Lena Epstein, a 35-year-old, Harvard-educated Jewish businesswoman who was co-chair of Trump's Michigan campaign, Trump voters were "sick and tired of being sick and tired." Whether Epstein knew it or not, she was using a line previously made famous by African-American civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer. Trump’s extreme rhetoric throughout his campaign — condoning violence at his rallies, calling for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., questioning the capabilities of a Latino judge and so on — can be viewed, from his supporters' perspective, as a mirror image of the racially tinged extremism of some Black Lives Matter activists. It was the yin to the yang of President Obama’s superficial assessment of the tragic death of Trayvon Martin that “if I had a son he would have looked like me.” This line, and other Obama administration actions, did not tangibly advance the lives of African-Americans. In my view, it advanced divisive identity politics instead. Sadly, President Obama chose to support policies like the Dodd-Frank Act, which accelerated the demise of black-owned banks. He pushed for an increase in the minimum wage, despite the racist origins of the minimum wage, which was originally intended to disproportionately harm minority workers and disproportionately benefit wealthier, whiter workers. President Obama's Justice Department sued to block vouchers for families desperate to escape failing public schools in Louisiana and resulted in the dashing the educational dreams of minority children. Both “sides” in the conflict surrounding Black Lives Matter are calling for quick and easy answers — either extreme policing or not enough policing. Both fixes are what my Harvard Kennedy School leadership professor Ronald Heifetz has called “technical fixes for adaptive challenges.” Rather than addressing deeper issues related to the depressingly high premature mortality rate of African-Americans, both sides are fixating on the police. Conservatives would argue that cops are merely treating the symptoms of cultural and policy erosions created by white liberals, such as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s inaccurately named “Great Society” programs. As African-American writer Jason Riley has pointed out in his book "Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed," increased policing and more severe sentencing came at the desperate plea of black leaders, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, fed up by the neglect of their communities. Despite the overwhelmingly white mainstream media’s anti-police hysteria, black and brown communities tend to favor broken-windows policing. White liberals' attacking of the police is like blaming blood-thinning medication for the side effects of treating high cholesterol created by enforced lifestyle choices. These lifestyle choices usually occur for a host of reasons, largely self-selected, rational responses to economic incentives created by white liberals like LBJ. For example, Black Lives Matters protesters routinely cite economic factors for the high rates of criminal conviction and incarceration among young black men; yet Riley also reported that the violent crime rate was much lower among these men during the days of the Great Depression, when per capita income across all races was vastly lower. Riley and other conservative critics often point out that the collapse of the black family is a far greater variable that negatively affect blsack lives. Advertisement: Research by Harvard’s Raj Chetty reported the breakdown of the nuclear family as the strongest impediment to social mobility. His recent findings echo those of social scientist and former Democratic senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan more than 50 years ago. (Moynihan himself was a child of poverty, raised in the rough-and-tumble Irish-American ghetto of New York's Hell's Kitchen.) While white liberals did not heed the calls of Moynihan or black conservatives, white conservatives have largely ignored black voters, ever since after GOP presidential nominee Barry Goldwater opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Black Lives Matter began after a series of shocking shooting deaths of unarmed black men by police captured the imagination of the mainstream press. These journalists, overwhelmingly white liberals, fanned the flames of conflict by focusing attention on these tragic cases that, in truth, represent an aberration, not only from the way most police behave but also from the most important causes of black deaths. The media chose to create a narrative that didn't comport with the reality that black suspects are no more likely than those of other races to be killed by cops. Black Lives Matter protests, which sometimes tipped over into rioting, ignored the vastly more significant factors endangering black lives in America. Yes, racism is a real and present factor in American life. Too often white Republicans don’t recognize this or fail to develop what writer Ta Nehisi-Coates calls “a muscular empathy” for our fellow citizens suffering in black communities. Yet there are far too many counter examples to believe that black Americans cannot live the American Dream in full. There are far too many support systems — civic, cultural, educational and faith-based — that exist to help motivated people of all races rise above their circumstances. Scientific evidence suggests that people can create their own luck; the reverse is true, too. If you see oppression and racism everywhere, this will affect your cognitive processes and ultimately your life’s trajectory. Advertisement: “Understanding that our goal is to thrive despite racism is, in fact, the central ideological plank of people deemed black conservatives,” wrote the editors of the Black Conservative. Under Trump's presidency, the downtrodden black conservative movement may finally have its chance to bring our country toward a place of healing and to address the deeper causes of the social ills highlighted by Black Lives Matter. The question is whether Republican leadership will give black conservatives the prominence they need to become the cultural antibodies, as poverty warrior Bob Woodson, an adviser to House Speaker Paul Ryan, outlined in our work with OpportunityLives.com, to turn the tide of dystopia. America might perhaps have chosen a more traditional Republican if Obama had been a more traditional Democrat. President Obama clearly was stunned by Trump’s victory. But as president, Obama never lived up to the soaring, inspiring rhetoric of his 2004 convention speech about overcoming the divide between blue and red. As I see it, Obama did not govern America through a purple lens. He was a blue stater to the core and aggressively sought to move the country to the left instead of center left, in the Bill Clinton vein. A purple President would not have ignored his co-equal branch of government in Congress, and would not have so often sought to expand his own power through unconstitutional means (as evidenced by the widespread judicial rebuke of Obama). A purple President would not have responded to the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro with laudatory and morally ambiguous words. A purple President would have taken a balanced approach to the forces underpinning Black Lives Matter. Advertisement: “All the great teachings reveal the way of the center, the way of balance,” writes Michael Singer, guru of media mogul Oprah Winfrey (a Black Lives Matter skeptic), in his best-seller "The Untethered Soul." “Constantly look to see if that’s where you are living or if you are lost in the extremes. The extremes create their opposites; the wise avoid them. Find the balance in the center and you will live in harmony.” Despite his sometimes irrational rhetoric, Trump has spent his business career donating to Democratic candidates and is the most socially liberal Republican president in recent history. His life prepared him to govern more from the center than President Obama’s pre-White House choices. The question now is whether Trump can see beyond the limits of his own ego and find his balance point.
Way back in the spring, Mitt Romney called Donald Trump "a fraud" who "lacks the temperament to be president." What a difference a couple of months makes. On Tuesday night, he was spotted at four-star restaurant Jean Georges in New York City having dinner with the president-elect. (On the menu: frog legs, scallops and sirloin.) Romney is in the running to become Trump's secretary of state. The awkwardness of having to dine with a man you once called "a phony" was written all over Romney's face. In fact, it brings to mind a certain paper salesman who also had to endure the crude jokes of an oafish man who, somehow, found himself in a position of power. When Jim looks directly into camera pic.twitter.com/F6sJuFmQQk — Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) November 30, 2016 The photo of a resigned Romney inspired plenty of other jokes, too. Mitt Romney is me every time I go on a first date pic.twitter.com/659nSst6rg — Hunter Schwarz (@hunterschwarz) November 30, 2016 I don't know what he's just agreed to do for Trump but it looks bad: pic.twitter.com/ysVSRROBDH — Murtaza Hussain (@MazMHussain) November 30, 2016 record scratch freeze frame Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation ... pic.twitter.com/VC9XZblMGY — Hunter Walker (@hunterw) November 30, 2016 I found the uncropped version of that Trump and Romney photo. pic.twitter.com/VdeLh3QnB1 — neontaster (@neontaster) November 30, 2016 Romney having dinner with Trump. It's even more awkward than a stop-and-chat. I had to see pic.twitter.com/h47bpJfar2 — Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) November 30, 2016
Mike English of the Blaze shoots during their round one NBL match against the New Zealand Breakers. CJ Bruton of the Breakers shoots during the round one NBL match against the Gold Coast Blaze. Gary Wilkinson of the Breakers takes a shot on goal under pressure from Larry Davidson of the Hawks during their round one NBL match. Mika Vukona of the Breakers clears the ball under pressure during their round one clash with the Wollongong Hawks. Joevan Catron of the Hawks drives to the basket under pressure from Gary Wilkinson of the Breakers during their round one NBL match. Guard CJ Bruton waves to the Vector Arena crowd as the Breakers leave the court after warm-ups. Coach Andrej Lemanis talks to his team during a first half timeout. Breaker Tom Abercrombie tries to drive by Kings guard Luke Cooper. Breakers guard Cedric Jackson tangles with Sydney's Luke Martin going for a loose ball. Out in the open, Alex Pledger drives to the hoop, being blocked by the rim on a one-handed dunk. In a New Zealand basketball record crowd 6383 filled Vector Arena to watch the Breakers and Kings. Breakers forward Tom Abercrombie throws down as easy dunk during the first quarter against the Sydney Kings at Vector Arena. Breakers guard Cedric Jackson in action, defended by Nathan Crosswell during NZ Breakers v Adelaide 36ers basketball match at the North Shore Events Centre. Breakers guard CJ Bruton shoots a three pointer against the Wollongong Hawks at North Shore Events Centre. Breakers player Tom Abercrombie looks to get past Hawks forward Oscar Forman. Breakers guard Cedric Jackson tussles for the ball against Glen Saville (left) and Dave Gruber of the Hawks. Breakers Forward Gary Wilkinson fires up after colliding with Hawks player Glen Saville on the way to the hoop. Breakers forward BJ Anthony and Hawks forward Dave Gruber scramble for the ball. Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis appeals to the referees for a call. Tom Abercrombie soars over Townsville's Michael Cedar to block his shot. Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis gets his message across against the Melbourne Tigers. Breakers guard Cedric Jackson looks for a way through the Tigers defence. Breakers guard Thomas Abercrombie completes an impressive slam dunk against the Melbourne Tigers. Both teams erupt into an all out brawl. Blaze's Anthony Petrie is ejected from the match. Breakers Mika Vukona in action against the Gold Coast Blaze. Tom Abercrombie of the Breakers under pressure from Chris Warren of the 36ers. Cedric Jackson of the Breakers goes for the basket against the Adelaide 36ers. Diamon Simpson (L) and Daniel Johnson (R) of the 36ers competes with Dillon Boucher (C) and Tom Abercrombie of the Breakers. Mika Vukona of the Breakers competes with Diamon Simpson of the 36ers. Gary Wilkinson of the Breakers reaches for the basket against the Adelaide 36ers. Cedric Jackson drives to the basket during the Breakers game against the Perth Wildcats. Jesse Wagstaff of the the Wildcats and Breakers' Benny Anthony Jnr. compete for the ball. Tom Abercrombie of the Breakers drives past Ayinde Ubaka of the Melbourne Tigers. CJ Bruton goes up for the lay-up. Cam Tragardh of the Melbourne Tigers tries to get past the Breakers' Alex Pledger. Breakers forward Dillon Boucher puts up a shot against the Adelaide 36ers. Breakers forward Thomas Abercrombie hangs off the hoop against the Adelaide 36ers. Breakers forward Mika Vukona helps up guard Cedric Jackson against the Melbourne Tigers. Breakers forward Thomas Abercrombie flies at the basket against the Melbourne Tigers. The North Shore Events Centre crowd gets behind the Breakers during their top-of-the-table defeat of the Perth Wildcats. Breakers centre Alex Pledger grasps possession during the 73-67 win over the Perth Wildcats in Auckland. Leon Henry shows his emotion after Breakers team-mate Cedric Jackson sunk a buzzer-beating shot against the Perth Wildcats. CJ Bruton fights for posession during the Breakers clash with Wollongong at the NSEC. A bemused Andrej Lemanis jokingly applauds the referee after a foul is called on Mika Vukona. Tom Abercrombie rises above Glen Saville of the Wollongong Hawks. Dillon Boucher tussles for position during the Breakers win over the Wollongong Hawks. Gary Wilkinson of the Breakers wins the ball against the Adelaide 36ers. CJ Bruton of the Breakers surges forward against the Adelaide 36ers. Dillon Boucher of the Breakers celebrates after the match against the Adelaide 36ers. Cedric Jackson of the Breakers goes for the basket against the Adelaide 36ers. The teams are seperated by the ref after an unsportsman foul against Gold Coast Blaze forward Stephen Hoare. Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis during the match against Gold Coast Blaze. Gary Wilkinson of the Breakers beats Ben Allen of the Crocodiles to the rebound. Peter Crawford (centre) of the Crocodiles looks to get past Dillon Boucher (right) and Tom Abercrombie of the Breakers. Alex Pledger (right) of the Breakers contests for the ball with Elvin Mims of the Townsville Crocodiles. Dillion Boucher of the Breakers in action against the Blaze. Morgan Natanahira of the Breakers shoots against of the Blaze at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Jason Cadee of the Blaze shoots during their match against the Breakers at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Breakers point guard Cedric Jackson finished with 17 points and seven assists as the Breakers rolled by the 36ers 91-76 in Adelaide. Jason Cadee of the Blaze passes against the New Zealand Breakers at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Leon Henry of the Breakers in action against the Gold Coast Blaze. If there was any doubt these New Zealand Breakers are something special it was removed tonight in a pulsating, dramatic overtime opening game of the Australian NBL's grand final series. The Breakers somehow, some way were able to take the best shots of a very, very good Perth Wildcats side and - on the back of some overtime heroics from CJ Bruton and Mika Vukona - nail a pulsating 104-98 victory to begin this best-of-three series in the perfect fashion. They did so without getting a single minute out of arguably their best, certainly their most explosive, player in Thomas Abercrombie who had to sit and watch the best game of the season from the comfort of the bench. 1 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Tom Abercrombie holds the championship trophy aloft. 2 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Rio Bruton shows his dad is number one after CJ collected the grand finals MVP award. 3 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Alex Pledger shows off his championship ring. 4 of 57 Photosport Cedric Jackson delivers the ball to centre Gary Wilkinson as Perth's Shawn Redhage attempts a block. 5 of 57 Getty Images Dillon Boucher jumps for joy as the Breakers win their second straight Australian NBL title. 6 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ CJ Bruton of the Breakers ducks through the arms of Matt Knight and Brad Robbins of the Perth Wildcats. 7 of 57 Getty Images CJ Bruton gets the crowd going after hitting a three pointer in the grand finals decider. 8 of 57 PETER MEECHAM/Fairfax NZ Dan Carter and Jerome Kaino show their support for the NZ Breakers. 9 of 57 Getty Images New Zealand Breakers' coach Andrej Lemanis with the ANBL championship trophy. 10 of 57 Photosport New Zealand Breakers' Dillon Boucher participates in the championship-winning tradition of cutting down the nets. 11 of 57 Photosport The New Zealand Breakers' celebrate their victory in the ANBL finals series. 12 of 57 Jason Oxenham/Fairfax NZ Breakers' guard Cedric Jackson takes the ball to the hoop in game three of ANBL finals series against the Perth Wildcats. 13 of 57 Jason Oxenham/Fairfax NZ Breakers' Alex Pledger climbs high for a dunk. 14 of 57 Photosport The New Zealand Breakers and the Perth Wildcats get involved in an altercation in game three of the ANBL finals series in Auckland. 15 of 57 Peter Meecham/Fairfax NZ Breakers' forward Mika Vukona avoids the attention of Perth Wildcats' forward Shawn Redhage. 16 of 57 Peter Meecham/Fairfax NZ Breakers' guard CJ Bruton goes past Perth Wildcats' point guard Brad Robbins. 17 of 57 Getty Images Breakers and Wildcats players get involved in an altercation. 18 of 57 Peter Meecham/Fairfax NZ The crowd cheers as the Breakers take to the court during the third and deciding game of the ANBL finals series against the Perth Wildcats. 19 of 57 Getty Images Leon Henry and Dillon Boucher of the Breakers look on from the bench during game two. 20 of 57 Getty Images Shawn Redhage of the Wildcats celebrates with supporters at the end of the game during game two. 21 of 57 Getty Images Breakers playing discuss tactics during a break in play of game two of the ANBL finals series in Perth. 22 of 57 Getty Images Kevin Lisch of the Wildcats and Cedric Jackson of the Breakers contest for a loose ball during game two. 23 of 57 Getty Images Breakers and Wildcats players get involved in an altercation. 24 of 57 Getty Images Breakers big man during game two of the ANBL finals series in Perth. 25 of 57 Getty Images Leon Henry of the Breakers lays-up against Matt Knight of the Wildcats during game two. 26 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Cedric Jackson gets amongst the front-row fans after making a basket and being fouled. 27 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Mika Vukona looks to score down low under pressure from Luke Nevill. 28 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Small forward Leon Henry defends Perth's Cameron Tovey. 29 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Tom Abercrombie gingerly runs onto the court during player intros. 30 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Gary Wilkinson gets the Breakers fired-up pre-game. 31 of 57 Getty Images Dillon Boucher celebrates the Breakers win over Perth Wildcats in game one of the ANBL finals series. 32 of 57 Getty Images Leon Henry of the Breakers lays the ball up over Luke Nevill of the Perth Wildcats in game one of the ANBL finals series. 33 of 57 Getty Images Alex Pledger of the Breakers battles with two Perth Wildcats players for the ball in game one of the ANBL finals series. 34 of 57 Jason Oxenham/Fairfax NZ Breakers guard CJ Bruton on the ball. 35 of 57 Jason Oxenham/Fairfax NZ Breakers centre Gary Wilkinson drives into Perth Wildcats centre Luke Nevill in game one of the ANBL finals series. 36 of 57 Photosport Tom Abercrombie is treated on the floor while team-mates go after the referee. 37 of 57 Photosport Tom Abercrombie lies on the court in agony after severely straining ligaments in his left ankle. 38 of 57 Photosport The moment before Tom Abercrombie was taken out by Townsville's Peter Crawford on a breakaway dunk. 39 of 57 Photosport CJ Bruton raises his arms after a crucial fourth quarter three-pointer in the game three win. 40 of 57 Photosport Cedric Jackson hits the hardwood to grab possession for the Breakers. 41 of 57 Photosport MAKE OR BREAK: The Breakers are getting ready for a do-or-die match against Perth tonight. 42 of 57 Getty Images The Breakers celebrate after winning game two of the NBL Finals series against the Townsville Crocodiles. 43 of 57 Getty Images Eddie Gill of the Crocodiles passes the ball past Tom Abercrombie of the Breakers during game two. 44 of 57 Getty Images Russell Hinder of the Crocodiles looks dejected in game two of the NBL Finals series against the New Zealand Breakers. 45 of 57 Getty Images Dillon Boucher of the Breakers drives past Jacob Holmes of the Crocodiles during game two. 46 of 57 Getty Images Dillon Boucher of the Breakers makes a lay-up during game two. 47 of 57 Getty Images Michael Cedar of the Crocodiles attempts a jump shot over Cedric Jackson of the Breakers during game two. 48 of 57 Getty Images Mika Vukona of the Breakers drives past Todd Blanchfield of the Crocodiles during game two. 49 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers forward Thomas Abercrombie keeps the ball in play. 50 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers head coach Andrej Lemanis talks to his players. 51 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers forward Dillon Boucher scoots around Townsville Crocs forward Jacob Holmes. 52 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ High-fives for the Breakers in the NZ Breakers. 53 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers guard Cedric Jackson scoots around Townsville Crocs point guard Eddie Gill. 54 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers forward Thomas Abercrombie charges into Townsville Crocs forward Todd Blanchfield. 55 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers forward Dillon Boucher battles with Townsville Crocs forward Peter Crawford. 56 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers forward Dillon Boucher on the fast break chased by Townsville Crocs guard Michael Cedar. 57 of 57 JASON OXENHAM/Fairfax NZ Breakers guard Cedric Jackson passes under pressure from Townsville Crocs centre Luke Schenscher. Without Abercrombie, the Breakers did extremely well to go toe-to-toe with this rugged Wildcats outfit and their outstanding MVP guard Kevin Lisch. That they were able to come from six down late in regulation to nail a brilliant overtime win was the icing on the cake. The Breakers now head to Perth for game two in eight days' time able to play with the freedom of a side one up knowing at worst they'll be coming home for the decider. Getty Images MAKING THE PLAY: Matthew Knight of the Perth Wildcats lays the ball up under pressure from Cedric Jackson of the New Zealand Breakers. A second straight championship is now just one tantalising win away for a club who simply do not know when to quit. What a game it was. And at the end, even though there was the usual Perth chippiness, both sides can hold their heads high. A record crowd of 9125 was treated to an instant classic between two clubs who do tend to produce the memorable when they meet. In a game of runs, it had looked as though the Wildcats' steaming third quarter had put them in position to seal victory. They got their noses in front in the final period and looked like they were on their way with an 85-79 lead with just under two and a-half minutes remaining. But key buckets down the stretch to Cedric Jackson and Vukona and some outstanding defence helped the Breakers force overtime as the referees put their whistles in their pockets over a frantic finale. Then in the five minutes of overtime, first Vukona and then Bruton stepped up splendidly to make nerveless plays to enable the Breakers to take the final grip on proceedings. Vukona was a monster early, grabbing rebounds, powering inside; then when his body finally wore down up stepped Bruton to nail a pair of triples that sealed the deal. Jackson had a huge game for the victors, finishing with 25 points and eight assists as he slipped back into his best form. But Bruton was not far behind him, going five-of-12 from deep, six-of-15 overall for 20 points to go with three assists and two boards. Of course no one loves the big moment like the veteran Aussie, and down the stretch it was clear to all that the Breakers had the game-winner in their midst. Daryl Corletto added 16 points (5/10 FG, 4/6 3PT) for the winners, Gary Wilkinson had 12 points and seven boards and Dillon Boucher nine points, seven rebounds and four assists as he continued to make big plays when it mattered. Vukona came good late to finish with 14 points and five rebounds. Alex Pledger weighed in with a solid eight points and four boards and made two huge free-throws in overtime when Vukona had to retire with cramp. Lisch led the Cats with a game-high 27 points and had quality backup from Matt Knight (17 points/five rebounds) and Shawn Redhage (15 points/five boards). But they will be cursing letting this one slip through their grasp after a magnificent third-quarter fightback that put them in the box seat. The signs hadn't looked good early when the Cats, perhaps buoyed by Abercrombie's absence, got off to an explosive 14-2 start inside the first four minutes. But then the home team exploded on a 22-4 run of their own to roar into the lead, 28-24 at the end of the first. The Breakers knocked down five triples in this period, a pair apiece to Bruton and Corletto as they showed they were here to play - even without their classy Tall Black Abercrombie. That intensity continued in the second quarter when the Breakers held the Wildcats to just 11 points and, on the back of some inspirational play from Jackson, forged out to a 15-point lead. Jackson, playing like the MVP he perhaps should have been, was magnificent in the first half, knocking down six of his eight shots for a game-high 14 points to go with four assists. Corletto weighed in with 11 points as he nailed three of his four looks from deep, while Bruton and Wilkinson added eight and seven points respectively. The Breakers also did a great job of restricting MVP Kevin Lisch to just five first-half points, as the Cats offence cooled off after their fast start. But the men from the wild west, chasing their sixth NBL title in their 26th consecutive playoff appearance, are nothing if not fighters. Back they came in the third quarter, a 17-2 run early in the third erasing the deficit and leaving us with a thriller on our hands. NZ Breakers 104 (Cedric Jackson 25, CJ Bruton 20, Daryl Corletto 16, Mika Vukona 14, Gary Wilkinson 12), Perth Wildcats 98 (Kevin Lisch 27, Matthew Knight 17, Shawn Redhage 15, Luke Nevill 13, Jesse Wagstaff 12). 1Q: 28-24; HT: 50-35; 3Q: 68-66; FT: 84-84.
Medical advances are allowing more people to live with obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. The 2012 America's Health Rankings show troubling levels of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and sedentary behavior. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images) Story Highlights U.S. life expectancy is now 78.5 years Americans are living longer, with fewer deaths from heart disease and cancer, but more chronic illnesses, an annual snapshot of the USA's health shows. The 2012 America's Health Rankings highlight troubling levels of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and sedentary behavior. Medical advances are allowing more people to live with those conditions. The bottom line: Americans "are living longer, sicker" with more chronic illness, says Reed Tuckson of theUnited Health Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation that sponsors the report with the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention. STORY: Living to 100: 80% are women, report shows For the sixth consecutive year, Vermont tops the list of healthiest states, says the report, which uses data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Medical Association, Census Bureau and even the FBI. It looks at 24 measures of health, including tobacco and alcohol abuse, exercise, infectious diseases, crime rates, public health funding, access to immunizations, premature birth rates and cancer and heart disease rates. States that are most successful on the rankings "have good results in a majority of the conditions we evaluate," Tuckson says. But states such as Mississippi and Louisiana, which tied for last place, "are over represented in key measures like tobacco consumption, lack of exercise and obesity — the fundamentals," he adds. Although socioeconomic factors play an important role in some states' consistent low rankings, "we know it is possible to improve; states are capable of doing that," says Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. Key to that effort is "taking lessons from things they do well and applying them more vigorously to the things they are not doing well." Louisiana has low rates of binge drinking and a high rate of childhood immunization, but it ranks in the bottom five states on 13 of 24 health measures, including obesity and diabetes. But "we don't have to accept those" indicators, says Karen DeSalvo, health commissioner for New Orleans. She says an extensive effort is underway "to get us to the place we need to be … to be a healthy state." States that showed the most substantial improvement in rankings include New Jersey (up nine places on the list); Maryland (up five). Alabama, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island each moved up three. Among the unhealthy behaviors the report cites: More than a quarter (26.2%) of all Americans are sedentary, defined as not doing any physical activity outside of work for 30 days. But it's 36% in Mississippi, and 35.1% in both Tennessee and West Virginia. 27.8% of U.S. adults are obese, defined as being roughly 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight. That's 66 million people — more than the entire population of the United Kingdom. In even the least obese state, Colorado, more than 20% of the population is obese. The percentage of adults with diabetes is 9.5% nationally, but it's 12% or higher in West Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi. 30.8% of U.S. adults have high blood pressure, but that ranges from a low of 22.9% in Utah to a high of 40.1% in Alabama. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a primary risk for cardiovascular disease — problems related to the heart and the blood vessels. "There's no way that this country can possibly afford the medical care costs and consequences of these preventable chronic illnesses," says Tuckson. "We have two freight trains headed directly into each other unless we take action now." "People have to be successful at taking accountability for their own health-related decisions." Life expectancy in the USA is now 78.5 years; premature deaths have dropped 18% since 1990, and deaths from cardiovascular disease are down 34.6%. Cancer deaths are down 7.6%. Vermont has been ranked as the healthiest state, according to the United Health Foundation. (Photo: Toby Talbot, AP) How states stack up 1. Vermont 2. Hawaii 3. N.H. 4. Massachusetts 5. Minnesota 6. Connecticut 7. Utah 8. New Jersey 9. Maine 10. Rhode Island 11. Colorado 11. North Dakota (tied) 13. Oregon 13. Washington (tied) 15. Nebraska 16. Wisconsin 17. Idaho 18. New York 19. Maryland 20. Iowa 21. Virginia 22. California 23. Wyoming 24. Kansas 25. Arizona 26. Pennsylvania 27. South Dakota 28. Alaska 29. Montana 30. Illinois 31. Delaware 32. New Mexico 33. North Carolina 34. Florida 35. Ohio 36. Georgia 37. Michigan 38. Nevada 39. Tennessee 40. Texas 41. Indiana 42. Missouri 43. Oklahoma 44. Kentucky 45. Alabama 46. South Carolina 47. West Virginia 48. Arkansas 49. Louisiana 49. Mississippi (tied) Source: United Health Foundation, 2012 Unhealthy conditions Percentage of U.S. adults* who are obese: 27.8% Percentage who are physically inactive: 26.2% Percentage who smoke: 21.2% *18 and older Source: United Health Foundation, 2012 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/S0G7bb
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann WarrenSanders: 'Damn right' I'll make the large corporations pay 'fair share of taxes' House to push back at Trump on border GOP Sen. Tillis to vote for resolution blocking Trump's emergency declaration MORE (D-Mass.) said Monday that she has no intention of backing a contender in the Democratic presidential primary just yet. “No endorsements now,” she said before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses that night, according to MassLive.com. ADVERTISEMENT “We’ll see,” the progressive lawmaker added when asked if she would announce a pick following the contest’s results. An endorsement by the popular senator is seen as a key prize in the Democratic race. Warren also praised the Democratic presidential field for conducting a policy-oriented race in comparison to their GOP counterparts. “I think that what the Democrats are doing is terrific,” she said. "We’re out talking about the issues. I look at the Republican debates and the difference between what they’re doing and what the Democrats are doing that really shows who’s on whose side.” Warren then refused comment on whether Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s past ties with Wall Street trouble her. “[I have] concerns about everybody’s relationships with Wall Street,” she said in Springfield, Mass. "This is a rigged game, and it’s rigged because Wall Street makes sure that in every decision that gets made they’re there. They make sure they’ve got their lobbyists and their lawyers so that everything tilts just a little more in their direction. This is what I’m fighting every day in the United States Senate.” Warren has notably remained silent on who she supports for her party’s presidential nomination. She has refrained from picking fellow progressive Bernie Sanders but also remains the only female Democratic senator to not back Clinton. She has praised proposals of both candidates — Sanders for his plan to to rein in big banks and Clinton for her call to block Republicans from chipping away at banking reform. Clinton and Sanders remain locked in a virtual tie in Iowa early Tuesday. Sanders trails Clinton by less than 1 percent there. The Democratic presidential field also shrank Monday evening following Martin O’Malley’s exit from the race. The former Maryland governor announced he is suspending his Oval Office bid after a lackluster showing in the Hawkeye State.
Updates: 25 May - Info added Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities, Number of breakups/divorces, Number of possible fatalities, Number of characters leaving town, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of time warps/jump, Number of nuclear disasters 25th May - Number of couples reuniting increased from 9 to 10, Number of fatalities increased from 51 to 53, Number of breakups/divorces increased from 8 to 9, Number of possible fatalities increased from 27 to 42, Number of characters leaving town increased from 17 to 19, Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 31 to 34, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes decreased from 36 to 35, Number of time warps/jump increased from 7 to 8, Number of nuclear disasters increased from 1 to 2 24th May - Number of characters leaving town increased from 13 to 17, Number of time warps/jump increased from 6 to 7 24th May - Info added Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of new pregnancies, Number of fatalities, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of time warps/jump 23rd May - Info added Number of breakups/divorces, Number of characters leaving town,Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of new pregnancies, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of weddings and Number of fatalities 22nd May - Info added Number of possible fatalities 21st May - Number of fatalities increased from 44 to 46 21st May - Info added Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities 19th May - Number of fatalities increased from 34 to 44, Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 26 to 30, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from 34 to 38 19th May - Info added Number of characters giving birth, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of new pregnancies, Number of fatalities, Number of breakups/divorces, Number of characters leaving town, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes 18th May - Number of possible fatalities increased from 23 to 27, Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 24 to 26, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from 29 to 34, Number of time warps/jump increased from 5 to 6 18th May - Info added Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of possible fatalities, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes, Number of time warps/jump 17th May - Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from , 22 to 29, Number of couples reuniting increased from 9 to 11, Number of fatalities increased from 30 to 34 17th May - Info added Number of possible fatalities, Number of characters leaving town, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of couples reuniting 16th May - Info added Number of weddings, Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities, Number of characters leaving town,Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes, Number of engagements/question poppings 16th May - Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased from 22 to 29, Number of weddings increased from 7 to 8, Number of characters leaving town increased from 10 to 13, Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 17 to 24, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from 24 to 25, Number of engagements/question poppings increased from 5 to 6 14th May - Number of engagements/question poppings increased from 3 to 5 14th May - Info added Number of fatalities, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes, Number of engagements/question poppings, Number of time warps/jump 13th May - Info added Number of characters leaving town, Number of resurrections and/or big returns 12th May - Info added Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of weddings, Number of Fatalities, Number of breakups/divorces, Number of possible fatalities, Number of characters leaving town, Number of resurrections, Number of engagements/question poppings and/or big returns and Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes 12th May - Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased from 22 to 27, Number of Fatalities increased from 27 to 30, Number of breakups/divorces increased from 7 to 9, Number of characters leaving town increased from 8 to 10, Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 14 to 17 11th May - Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 12 to 14, Number of new pregnancies increased from 3 to 4, Number of fatalities increased from 26 to 28, Number of characters giving birth increased from 2 to 3 11th May - Info added Number of possible fatalities, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of characters giving birth, Number of new pregnancies, Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities 10th May - Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from 21 to 24, Number of new pregnancies increased from 2 to 3, Number of weddings increased from 6 to 7, Number of fatalities increased from 24 to 26 10th May - Info added Number of breakups/divorces, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of weddings, Number of fatalities 9th May - Info added Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes, Number of time warps/jump, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time 9th May - Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 9 to 12, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from 19 to 21, Number of time warps/jump increased from 4 to 5, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased from 19 to 22 8th May - Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased from 16 to 19, Number of new pregnancies increased from 1 to 2, Number of weddings increased from 5 to 6, Number of fatalities increased from 23 to 24 8th May - Info added Number of characters giving birth, Number of fatalities, Number of weddings, Number of new pregnancies, Number of resurrections and/or big returns and Number of nuclear disasters 6th May - Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from 14 to 19 6th May - Info added Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time 5th May - Info added Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of fatalities, Number of characters leaving town, Number of resurrections and/or big returns and Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time and Number of possible fatalities 5th May - Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased from 13 to 14, Number of fatalities increased from 19 to 23, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased for 14 to 16 4th May - Number of couples reuniting increased from 7 to 9, Number of time warps/jump increased from 3 to 4, Number of fatalities increased from 16 to 19, Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 8 to 9 4th May - Info added Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities, Number of breakups/divorces and Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes 2nd May - Number of resurrections and/or big returns increased from 6 to 8, Number of engagements/question poppings increased from 2 to 3 2nd May - Info added for Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of weddings, Number of fatalities, Number of resurrections and/or big returns, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes 1st May - Info added for Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of weddings, Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes, Number of time warps/jump 1st May - Number of characters giving birth increased from 1 to 2, Number of weddings increased from 4 to 5 30th April - Info added for Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time, Number of characters leaving town and Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes 30th April - Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased from 11 to 13, Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes increased from 11 to 14 28th April - Info Added for Number of weddings, Number of couples reuniting, Number of fatalities and Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes. 28th April - Number of breakups/divorces increased from 6 to 7. 22nd April - Number of possible fatalities increased from 20 to 23 19th April - Number of weddings increased from 2 to 4, Number of breakups/divorces increased from 5 to 6, Number of possible fatalities increased from 11 to 20, Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time increased from 6 to 11, Number of fatalities increased from 14 to 16 14th April - Number of weddings increased from 1 to 2, Number of fatalities increased from 13 to 14 13th April - Number of time warps/jump increased from 2 to 3, Number of possible fatalities increased from 5 to 11, Number of fatalities increased from 11 to 13 Number of characters giving birth: 3 1. AIRED May 7: Erica gave birth to daughter Dawn/The Last Man on Earth 2. AIRED May 10: Bow gave birth to son DeVonte/black-ish 3. AIRED May 18: Kelly gave birth to Lucifer’s son/Supernatural Number of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time: 32 1. AIRED April 27: Sandra and Jerry kissed/Superstore 2. AIRED April 28: Greer and James kissed/Reign 3. AIRED April 28: Narcisse and Nicole had sex/Reign 4. AIRED April 29: Holly and Frank said “I love you” (in their own way)/Training Day 5. AIRED April 30: Gail and Erica’s relationship revealed/Last Man on Earth 6. AIRED May 1: Paige and Walter said “I love you”/Scorpion 7. AIRED May 1: Alex and Maggie said “I love you”/Supergirl 8. AIRED May 2: Joe and Cecile said “I love you”/The Flash 9. AIRED May 2: Severide and Anne said “I love you”/Chicago Fire 10. AIRED May 3: Adam and Jackie kissed/The Goldbergs 11. AIRED May 4: Arizona and Eliza had sex/Grey’s Anatomy 12. AIRED May 4: Jonah and Amy kissed/Superstore 13. AIRED May 5: Freya and Keelin kissed/The Originals 14. AIRED May 7: Jay and Sofia had sex/Madam Secretary 15. AIRED May 8: Jane and Fabian had sex/Jane the Virgin 16. AIRED May 8: Alba and Jorge said “I love you”/Jane the Virgin 17. AIRED May 8: Chuck told Petra “I love you”/Jane the Virgin 18. AIRED May 8: Clark and Emma kissed/The Great Indoors 19. AIRED May 9: H.R. and Tracy kissed/The Flash 20. AIRED May 9: Julian said “I love you” to Caitlin/The Flash 21. AIRED May 11: Betty and Jughead said “I love you”/Riverdale 22. AIRED May 11: Archie and Veronica had sex/Riverdale 23. AIRED May 11: Ethan and April/Chicago Med 24. AIRED May 11: Connor said “I love you” to Robin/Chicago Med 25. AIRED May 17: Ray has first kiss/Speechless 26. AIRED May 17: Jane and Weller said “I love you” and had sex/Blindspot 27. AIRED May 18: Aram and Samar kissed/The Blacklist 28. AIRED May 19: Elizabeth has sex with the Archduke/Reign 29. AIRED May 22: Kara told Mon-El she loves him/Supergirl 30. AIRED May 23: Liv and Justin shared first kiss/iZombie 31. AIRED May 23: Lincoln and Sheba shared first kiss/Prison Break 32. AIRED May 23: H.R. said “I love you” to Tracy/The Flash Number of new pregnancies: 6 1. AIRED May 7: Daisy/Madam Secretary 2. AIRED May 9: Delilah/NCIS 3. AIRED May 10: Cat/Criminal Minds 4. AIRED May 18: Quinn/Scandal 5. AIRED May 22: Darci/Jane the Virgin 6. AIRED May 23: Gina/Brooklyn Nine-Nine Number of weddings: 9 1. AIRED April 27: Cheyenne and Bo/Superstore 2. AIRED April 30: Todd and Melissa/Last Man on Earth 3. AIRED May 1: Toby and Happy/Scorpion 4. AIRED May 7: Emma and Hook/Once Upon a Time 5. AIRED May 9: McGee and Delilah/NCIS 6. AIRED May 11: Matt and Colleen/Life in Pieces 7. AIRED May 15: Clay and Maxine/Quantico 8. AIRED May 22: Rogelio and Xiomara/Jane the Virgin Number of couples reuniting: 10 1. AIRED April 27: Catherine and Richard/Grey’s Anatomy 2. AIRED April 30: Jeanette and Carson/American Crime 3. AIRED May 10: Jane and Weller/Blindspot 4. AIRED May 15: Rafael and Petra/Jane the Virgin 5. AIRED May 15: Alex and Ryan/Quantico 6. AIRED May 16: Mack and Elena/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 7. AIRED May 16: Michael and Sara/Prison Break 8. AIRED May 17: Oliver and Felicity/Arrow 9. AIRED May 19: Catherine and Narcisse/Reign 10. AIRED May 24: Cookie and Lucious/Empire Number of fatalities: 53 1. AIRED April 27: Joshua/Supernatural 2. AIRED April 27: Dagon/Supernatural 3. AIRED April 30: Roy/Elementary 4. AIRED May 1: Gabe/Gotham 5. AIRED May 1: Frank/Gotham 6. AIRED May 2: Sid/Prison Break 7. AIRED May 2: Anna/Chicago Fire 8. AIRED May 3: Ilian/The 100 9. AIRED May 3: Roan/The 100 10. AIRED May 3: Luna/The 100 11. AIRED May 3: Cassie/Criminal Minds 12. AIRED May 3: Jason/Designated Survivor 13. AIRED May 4: Peus/Scandal 14. AIRED May 4: Ruland/Scandal 15. AIRED May 4: Cliff/Riverdale 16. AIRED May 7: Pat/The Last Man on Earth 17. AIRED May 7: Shinwell/Elementary 18. AIRED May 7: Michelle/NCIS:LA 19. AIRED May 9: Omar/Prison Break 20. AIRED May 9: Cyclops/Prison Break 21. AIRED May 10: Jasper/The 100 22. AIRED May 10: Pellington/Blindspot 23. AIRED May 11: Eileen/Supernatural 24. AIRED May 14: The Black Fairy/Once Upon a Time 25. AIRED May 15: President Roarke/Quantico 26. AIRED May 16: Aida/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 27. AIRED May 16: Kishida/Prison Break 28. AIRED May 16: Stone/NCIS: New Orleans 29. AIRED May 17: Tariq/Empire 30. AIRED May 17: Lozano/Designated Survivor 31. AIRED May 18: Luna/Scandal 32. AIRED May 18: Mr. Kaplan/The Blacklist 33. AIRED May 18: Laurel/The Blacklist 34. AIRED May 18: Castiel/Supernatural 35. AIRED May 18: Crowley/Supernatural 36. AIRED May 18: Ketch/Supernatural 37. AIRED May 18: Toni/Supernatural 38. AIRED May 18: Dr. Hess/Supernatural 39. AIRED May 18: Rowena/Supernatural 40. AIRED May 18: Kelly/Supernatural 41. AIRED May 19: Elijah/The Originals 42. AIRED May 19: Rizzio/Reign 43. AIRED May 20: Wallace/Training Day 44. AIRED May 21: Julia/Shades of Blue 45. AIRED May 22: Rhea/Supergirl 46. AIRED May 22: Kathryn/Gotham 47. AIRED May 23: Vivian Still/iZombie 48. AIRED May 23: Savitar/The Flash 49. AIRED May 23: H.R./The Flash 50. AIRED May 24: Malcolm/Arrow 51. AIRED May 24: Adrian Chase/Arrow 52. AIRED May 24: Kovar/Arrow 53. AIRED May 24: Captain Boomerang/Arrow Number of breakups/divorces: 9 1. AIRED April 27: Jonah and Kristen/Superstore 2. AIRED May 3: Lucious and Anika/Empire 3. AIRED May 4; Sarah and Joey/Chicago Med 4. AIRED May 9: Fitz and Ophelia/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5. AIRED May 9: Blaine and Peyton/iZombie 6. AIRED May 11: Will and Nina/Chicago Med 7. AIRED May 18: Aram and Janet broke up/The Blacklist 8. AIRED May 22: Rafael and Petra/Jane the Virgin 9. AIRED May 24: Lucious and Giuliana/Empire Number of possible fatalities: 42 1. AIRED May 4: Brett/Superstore 2. AIRED May 10: Prentiss/Criminal Minds 3. AIRED May 10: JJ/Criminal Minds 4. AIRED May 10: Rossi/Criminal Minds 5. AIRED May 10: Walker/Criminal Minds 6. AIRED May 10: Tara/Criminal Minds 7. AIRED May 10: Alvez/Criminal Minds 8. AIRED May 11: Colleen/Life in Pieces 9. AIRED May 11: Fred/Riverdale 10. AIRED May 11: Dr. Charles/Chicago Med 11. AIRED May 16: Gibbs/NCIS 12. AIRED May 16: McGee/NCIS 13. AIRED May 16: Mouch/Chicago Fire 14. AIRED May 16: Casey/Chicago Fire 15. AIRED May 16: Severide/Chicago Fire 16. AIRED May 16: Stella/Chicago Fire 17. AIRED May 16: Otis/Chicago Fire 18. AIRED May 16: Herrmann/Chicago Fire 19. AIRED May 16: Kannell/Chicago Fire 20. AIRED May 17: Reade/Blindspot 21. AIRED May 17: Patterson/Blindspot 22. AIRED May 17: Zapata/Blindspot 23. AIRED May 21: Woz/Shades of Blue 24. AIRED May 21: Harlee/Shades of Blue 25. AIRED May 24: Felicity/Arrow 26. AIRED May 24: Diggle/Arrow 27. AIRED May 24: Thea/Arrow 28. AIRED May 24: Curtis/Arrow 29. AIRED May 24: Dinah/Arrow 30. AIRED May 24: Slade/Arrow 31. AIRED May 24: Rene/Arrow 32. AIRED May 24: Quentin/Arrow 33. AIRED May 24: Nyssa/Arrow 34. AIRED May 24: Samantha/Arrow 35. AIRED May 24: Talia/Arrow 36. AIRED May 24: Black Siren/Arrow 37. AIRED May 24: Evelyn/Arrow 38. AIRED May 24: Abby/The 100 39. AIRED May 24: Octavia/The 100 40. AIRED May 24: Indra/The 100 41. AIRED May 24: Jaha/The 100 42. AIRED May 24: Kane/The 100 Applies to characters whose fate is left up in the air at the end of the season finale Number of characters leaving town: 19 1. AIRED April 28: James/Reign 2. AIRED April 28: Adrian/Rosewood 3. AIRED May 4: Jeff/Chicago Med 4. AIRED May 11: Ben/The Catch 5. AIRED May 11: Margot/The Catch 6. AIRED May 11: Tessa/The Catch 7. AIRED May 12: Kono/Hawaii Five-0 8. AIRED May 15: Alex/Quantico 9. AIRED May 15: Ryan/Quantico 10. AIRED May 16: Robbie/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 11. AIRED May 18: Fitz/Scandal 12. AIRED May 22: Mon-El leaves Earth/Supergirl 13. AIRED May 23: Barry/The Flash 14. AIRED May 24: Raven went to space/The 100 15. AIRED May 24: Bellamy went to space/The 100 16. AIRED May 24: Murphy went to space/The 100 17. AIRED May 24: Monty went to space/The 100 18. AIRED May 24: Harper went to space/The 100 19. AIRED May 24: Emori went to space/The 100 Number of resurrections and/or big returns: 34 1. AIRED May 1: Lina/Jane the Virgin 2. AIRED May 1: Anezka/Jane the Virgin 3. AIRED May 3: Cat/Criminal Minds 4. AIRED May 3: William (aka Matthew)/Arrow 5. AIRED May 4: Lady Toni/Supernatural 6. AIRED May 7: Pamela/The Last Man on Earth 7. AIRED May 8: Victor Fries/Gotham 8. AIRED May 8: Bridgit “Firefly” Pike/Gotham 9. AIRED May 9: Ghost Rider/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 10. AIRED May 10: Derek/Criminal Minds 11. AIRED May 10: Bunny/Chicago P.D. 12. AIRED May 10: Sinclair/The 100 13. AIRED May 11: Maya/Scandal 14. AIRED May 12: Davina/The Originals 15. AIRED May 15: Barnes/Gotham 16. AIRED May 15: Strange/Gotham 17. AIRED May 15: Cat/Supergirl 18. AIRED May 15: Superman (Clark)/Supergirl 19. AIRED May 16: Snart/The Flash 20. AIRED May 17: Nyssa/Arrow 21. AIRED May 17: Malcolm/Arrow 22. AIRED May 17: Slade/Arrow 23. AIRED May 18: Megan/Grey’s Anatomy 24. AIRED May 18: Tom/The Blacklist 25. AIRED May 18: Bobby/Supernatural 26. AIRED May 18: Jody/Supernatural 27. AIRED May 18: Alex/Supernatural 28. AIRED May 20: Artemis/Training Day 29. AIRED May 20: Lina/Training Day 30. AIRED May 20: Menjivar/Training Day 31. AIRED May 22: M’gann/Supergirl 32. AIRED May 23: Jay/The Flash 33. AIRED May 24: Captain Boomerang/Arrow 34. AIRED May 24: Samantha/Arrow Number of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes: 35 1. AIRED April 27: Luna Vargas appointed VP of USA/Scandal 2. AIRED April 28: Lord Darnley is crowned King of Scotland/Reign 3. AIRED April 30: Kimara quits social-worker job to work for Abby/American Crime 4. AIRED May 1: President Haas impeached/Quantico 5. AIRED May 3: Kimble Hookstraten resigns as SOTH, named Sec of Ed/Designated Survivor 6. AIRED May 4: Noah gets matched with emergency medicine/Chicago Med 7. AIRED May 4: Jeff Clarke took a job in Honolulu/Chicago Med 8. AIRED May 4: Amy gets summer gig at Princeton/The Big Bang Theory 9. AIRED May 4: Stephanie suspended/Grey’s Anatomy 10. AIRED May 5: Mayor Poole resigned /Blue Bloods 11. AIRED May 5 Lord Bothwell is Mary’s new bodyguard/Reign 12. AIRED May 5 Rizzio is Mary’s new adviser/Reign 13. AIRED May 8: Donna quits school nurse job/Kevin Can Wait 14. AIRED May 8: Chale loses start-up gig before it even starts/Kevin Can Wait 15. AIRED May 9: Henry promoted/Prison Break 16. AIRED May 9: Cruz suspended/Chicago Fire 17. AIRED May 9: Pride’s team suspended/NCIS: New Orleans 18. AIRED May 11: Quinn named head of OPA/Scandal 19. AIRED May 11: Marcus resigns as press sec, takes job running Fitz’s foundation/Scandal 20. AIRED May 14: Hook appointed deputy sheriff/Once Upon a Time 21. AIRED May 15: Owen took Matthew’s job at the CIA/Quantico 22. AIRED May 15: Shelby is teaching at Quantico/Quantico 23. AIRED May 16: Mouch announces he’s retiring/Chicago Fire 25. AIRED May 16: Casey steps down as alderman/Chicago Fire 24. AIRED May 16: Pride’s team reinstated/NCIS: New Orleans 25. AIRED May 17: Thirsty fired/Empire 26. AIRED May 17: Whitaker (presumably!) fired/Designated Survivor 27. AIRED May 17: Aaron returns to White House/Designated Survivor 28. AIRED May 17: Lindsay gets a job offer from the FBI/Chicago P.D. 29. AIRED May 18: Stephanie quits/Grey’s Anatomy 30. AIRED May 18: Eliza is fired/Grey’s Anatomy 31. AIRED May 18: Mellie sworn in as POTUS/Scandal 32. AIRED May 18: Olivia becomes the new head of B-613/Scandal 33. AIRED May 18: Abby named head of OPA/Scandal 34. AIRED May 20: Kyle promoted from “trainee” to partner/Training Day 35. AIRED May 22: Luisa takes ownership of the Marbella/Jane the Virgin Number of engagements/question poppings: 6 1. AIRED May 1: Rogelio and Xiomara/Jane the Virgin 2. AIRED May 11: Sheldon proposed to Amy/The Big Bang Theory 3. AIRED May 14: Kensi and Deeks/NCIS: LA 4. AIRED May 14: Robin proposed to the Evil Queen/Once Upon a Time 5. AIRED May 15: Mon-El and Lena/Supergirl 6. AIRED May 22: Alex proposed to Maggie/Supergirl Number of time warps/jump: 8 1. AIRED April 30: Six-month time jump/Last Man on Earth 2. AIRED May 1: Five-week time jump/Scorpion 3. AIRED May 8: Three-week time jump/Scorpion 4. AIRED May 14: “Some years later”/Once Upon a Time 5. AIRED May 17: Two-year time jump/Blindspot 6. AIRED May 23: Two-month time jump/Brooklyn Nine-Nine 7. AIRED May 24: Three-month time jump/Empire 8. AIRED May 24: Six-year, seven-day time jump/The 100 Number of people trapped in an alternate world: 2 1. AIRED May 18: Mary/Supernatural 2. AIRED May 18: Lucifer/Supernatural Number of nuclear disasters: 2 1. AIRED May 7: The Last Man on Earth 2. AIRED May 24: The 100 Source: Read More on TVLine • Lastly, keep in mind that, if it’s on the Scorecard, it occurs during May Sweeps, which this year begins Thursday, April 27 and ends Wednesday, May 24.Number of characters giving birth: 31. AIRED May 7: Erica gave birth to daughter Dawn/The Last Man on Earth2. AIRED May 10: Bow gave birth to son DeVonte/black-ish3. AIRED May 18: Kelly gave birth to Lucifer’s son/SupernaturalNumber of couples having sex, kissing or saying “I Love You” for the first time: 321. AIRED April 27: Sandra and Jerry kissed/Superstore2. AIRED April 28: Greer and James kissed/Reign3. AIRED April 28: Narcisse and Nicole had sex/Reign4. AIRED April 29: Holly and Frank said “I love you” (in their own way)/Training Day5. AIRED April 30: Gail and Erica’s relationship revealed/Last Man on Earth6. AIRED May 1: Paige and Walter said “I love you”/Scorpion7. AIRED May 1: Alex and Maggie said “I love you”/Supergirl8. AIRED May 2: Joe and Cecile said “I love you”/The Flash9. AIRED May 2: Severide and Anne said “I love you”/Chicago Fire10. AIRED May 3: Adam and Jackie kissed/The Goldbergs11. AIRED May 4: Arizona and Eliza had sex/Grey’s Anatomy12. AIRED May 4: Jonah and Amy kissed/Superstore13. AIRED May 5: Freya and Keelin kissed/The Originals14. AIRED May 7: Jay and Sofia had sex/Madam Secretary15. AIRED May 8: Jane and Fabian had sex/Jane the Virgin16. AIRED May 8: Alba and Jorge said “I love you”/Jane the Virgin17. AIRED May 8: Chuck told Petra “I love you”/Jane the Virgin18. AIRED May 8: Clark and Emma kissed/The Great Indoors19. AIRED May 9: H.R. and Tracy kissed/The Flash20. AIRED May 9: Julian said “I love you” to Caitlin/The Flash21. AIRED May 11: Betty and Jughead said “I love you”/Riverdale22. AIRED May 11: Archie and Veronica had sex/Riverdale23. AIRED May 11: Ethan and April/Chicago Med24. AIRED May 11: Connor said “I love you” to Robin/Chicago Med25. AIRED May 17: Ray has first kiss/Speechless26. AIRED May 17: Jane and Weller said “I love you” and had sex/Blindspot27. AIRED May 18: Aram and Samar kissed/The Blacklist28. AIRED May 19: Elizabeth has sex with the Archduke/Reign29. AIRED May 22: Kara told Mon-El she loves him/Supergirl30. AIRED May 23: Liv and Justin shared first kiss/iZombie31. AIRED May 23: Lincoln and Sheba shared first kiss/Prison Break32. AIRED May 23: H.R. said “I love you” to Tracy/The FlashNumber of new pregnancies: 61. AIRED May 7: Daisy/Madam Secretary2. AIRED May 9: Delilah/NCIS3. AIRED May 10: Cat/Criminal Minds4. AIRED May 18: Quinn/Scandal5. AIRED May 22: Darci/Jane the Virgin6. AIRED May 23: Gina/Brooklyn Nine-NineNumber of weddings: 91. AIRED April 27: Cheyenne and Bo/Superstore2. AIRED April 30: Todd and Melissa/Last Man on Earth3. AIRED May 1: Toby and Happy/Scorpion4. AIRED May 7: Emma and Hook/Once Upon a Time5. AIRED May 9: McGee and Delilah/NCIS6. AIRED May 11: Matt and Colleen/Life in Pieces7. AIRED May 15: Clay and Maxine/Quantico8. AIRED May 22: Rogelio and Xiomara/Jane the VirginNumber of couples reuniting: 101. AIRED April 27: Catherine and Richard/Grey’s Anatomy2. AIRED April 30: Jeanette and Carson/American Crime3. AIRED May 10: Jane and Weller/Blindspot4. AIRED May 15: Rafael and Petra/Jane the Virgin5. AIRED May 15: Alex and Ryan/Quantico6. AIRED May 16: Mack and Elena/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.7. AIRED May 16: Michael and Sara/Prison Break8. AIRED May 17: Oliver and Felicity/Arrow9. AIRED May 19: Catherine and Narcisse/Reign10. AIRED May 24: Cookie and Lucious/EmpireNumber of fatalities: 531. AIRED April 27: Joshua/Supernatural2. AIRED April 27: Dagon/Supernatural3. AIRED April 30: Roy/Elementary4. AIRED May 1: Gabe/Gotham5. AIRED May 1: Frank/Gotham6. AIRED May 2: Sid/Prison Break7. AIRED May 2: Anna/Chicago Fire8. AIRED May 3: Ilian/The 1009. AIRED May 3: Roan/The 10010. AIRED May 3: Luna/The 10011. AIRED May 3: Cassie/Criminal Minds12. AIRED May 3: Jason/Designated Survivor13. AIRED May 4: Peus/Scandal14. AIRED May 4: Ruland/Scandal15. AIRED May 4: Cliff/Riverdale16. AIRED May 7: Pat/The Last Man on Earth17. AIRED May 7: Shinwell/Elementary18. AIRED May 7: Michelle/NCIS:LA19. AIRED May 9: Omar/Prison Break20. AIRED May 9: Cyclops/Prison Break21. AIRED May 10: Jasper/The 10022. AIRED May 10: Pellington/Blindspot23. AIRED May 11: Eileen/Supernatural24. AIRED May 14: The Black Fairy/Once Upon a Time25. AIRED May 15: President Roarke/Quantico26. AIRED May 16: Aida/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.27. AIRED May 16: Kishida/Prison Break28. AIRED May 16: Stone/NCIS: New Orleans29. AIRED May 17: Tariq/Empire30. AIRED May 17: Lozano/Designated Survivor31. AIRED May 18: Luna/Scandal32. AIRED May 18: Mr. Kaplan/The Blacklist33. AIRED May 18: Laurel/The Blacklist34. AIRED May 18: Castiel/Supernatural35. AIRED May 18: Crowley/Supernatural36. AIRED May 18: Ketch/Supernatural37. AIRED May 18: Toni/Supernatural38. AIRED May 18: Dr. Hess/Supernatural39. AIRED May 18: Rowena/Supernatural40. AIRED May 18: Kelly/Supernatural41. AIRED May 19: Elijah/The Originals42. AIRED May 19: Rizzio/Reign43. AIRED May 20: Wallace/Training Day44. AIRED May 21: Julia/Shades of Blue45. AIRED May 22: Rhea/Supergirl46. AIRED May 22: Kathryn/Gotham47. AIRED May 23: Vivian Still/iZombie48. AIRED May 23: Savitar/The Flash49. AIRED May 23: H.R./The Flash50. AIRED May 24: Malcolm/Arrow51. AIRED May 24: Adrian Chase/Arrow52. AIRED May 24: Kovar/Arrow53. AIRED May 24: Captain Boomerang/ArrowNumber of breakups/divorces: 91. AIRED April 27: Jonah and Kristen/Superstore2. AIRED May 3: Lucious and Anika/Empire3. AIRED May 4; Sarah and Joey/Chicago Med4. AIRED May 9: Fitz and Ophelia/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.5. AIRED May 9: Blaine and Peyton/iZombie6. AIRED May 11: Will and Nina/Chicago Med7. AIRED May 18: Aram and Janet broke up/The Blacklist8. AIRED May 22: Rafael and Petra/Jane the Virgin9. AIRED May 24: Lucious and Giuliana/EmpireNumber of possible fatalities: 421. AIRED May 4: Brett/Superstore2. AIRED May 10: Prentiss/Criminal Minds3. AIRED May 10: JJ/Criminal Minds4. AIRED May 10: Rossi/Criminal Minds5. AIRED May 10: Walker/Criminal Minds6. AIRED May 10: Tara/Criminal Minds7. AIRED May 10: Alvez/Criminal Minds8. AIRED May 11: Colleen/Life in Pieces9. AIRED May 11: Fred/Riverdale10. AIRED May 11: Dr. Charles/Chicago Med11. AIRED May 16: Gibbs/NCIS12. AIRED May 16: McGee/NCIS13. AIRED May 16: Mouch/Chicago Fire14. AIRED May 16: Casey/Chicago Fire15. AIRED May 16: Severide/Chicago Fire16. AIRED May 16: Stella/Chicago Fire17. AIRED May 16: Otis/Chicago Fire18. AIRED May 16: Herrmann/Chicago Fire19. AIRED May 16: Kannell/Chicago Fire20. AIRED May 17: Reade/Blindspot21. AIRED May 17: Patterson/Blindspot22. AIRED May 17: Zapata/Blindspot23. AIRED May 21: Woz/Shades of Blue24. AIRED May 21: Harlee/Shades of Blue25. AIRED May 24: Felicity/Arrow26. AIRED May 24: Diggle/Arrow27. AIRED May 24: Thea/Arrow28. AIRED May 24: Curtis/Arrow29. AIRED May 24: Dinah/Arrow30. AIRED May 24: Slade/Arrow31. AIRED May 24: Rene/Arrow32. AIRED May 24: Quentin/Arrow33. AIRED May 24: Nyssa/Arrow34. AIRED May 24: Samantha/Arrow35. AIRED May 24: Talia/Arrow36. AIRED May 24: Black Siren/Arrow37. AIRED May 24: Evelyn/Arrow38. AIRED May 24: Abby/The 10039. AIRED May 24: Octavia/The 10040. AIRED May 24: Indra/The 10041. AIRED May 24: Jaha/The 10042. AIRED May 24: Kane/The 100 Applies to characters whose fate is left up in the air at the end of the season finaleNumber of characters leaving town: 191. AIRED April 28: James/Reign2. AIRED April 28: Adrian/Rosewood3. AIRED May 4: Jeff/Chicago Med4. AIRED May 11: Ben/The Catch5. AIRED May 11: Margot/The Catch6. AIRED May 11: Tessa/The Catch7. AIRED May 12: Kono/Hawaii Five-08. AIRED May 15: Alex/Quantico9. AIRED May 15: Ryan/Quantico10. AIRED May 16: Robbie/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.11. AIRED May 18: Fitz/Scandal12. AIRED May 22: Mon-El leaves Earth/Supergirl13. AIRED May 23: Barry/The Flash14. AIRED May 24: Raven went to space/The 10015. AIRED May 24: Bellamy went to space/The 10016. AIRED May 24: Murphy went to space/The 10017. AIRED May 24: Monty went to space/The 10018. AIRED May 24: Harper went to space/The 10019. AIRED May 24: Emori went to space/The 100Number of resurrections and/or big returns: 341. AIRED May 1: Lina/Jane the Virgin2. AIRED May 1: Anezka/Jane the Virgin3. AIRED May 3: Cat/Criminal Minds4. AIRED May 3: William (aka Matthew)/Arrow5. AIRED May 4: Lady Toni/Supernatural6. AIRED May 7: Pamela/The Last Man on Earth7. AIRED May 8: Victor Fries/Gotham8. AIRED May 8: Bridgit “Firefly” Pike/Gotham9. AIRED May 9: Ghost Rider/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.10. AIRED May 10: Derek/Criminal Minds11. AIRED May 10: Bunny/Chicago P.D.12. AIRED May 10: Sinclair/The 10013. AIRED May 11: Maya/Scandal14. AIRED May 12: Davina/The Originals15. AIRED May 15: Barnes/Gotham16. AIRED May 15: Strange/Gotham17. AIRED May 15: Cat/Supergirl18. AIRED May 15: Superman (Clark)/Supergirl19. AIRED May 16: Snart/The Flash20. AIRED May 17: Nyssa/Arrow21. AIRED May 17: Malcolm/Arrow22. AIRED May 17: Slade/Arrow23. AIRED May 18: Megan/Grey’s Anatomy24. AIRED May 18: Tom/The Blacklist25. AIRED May 18: Bobby/Supernatural26. AIRED May 18: Jody/Supernatural27. AIRED May 18: Alex/Supernatural28. AIRED May 20: Artemis/Training Day29. AIRED May 20: Lina/Training Day30. AIRED May 20: Menjivar/Training Day31. AIRED May 22: M’gann/Supergirl32. AIRED May 23: Jay/The Flash33. AIRED May 24: Captain Boomerang/Arrow34. AIRED May 24: Samantha/ArrowNumber of onscreen firings/resignations/major job changes: 351. AIRED April 27: Luna Vargas appointed VP of USA/Scandal2. AIRED April 28: Lord Darnley is crowned King of Scotland/Reign3. AIRED April 30: Kimara quits social-worker job to work for Abby/American Crime4. AIRED May 1: President Haas impeached/Quantico5. AIRED May 3: Kimble Hookstraten resigns as SOTH, named Sec of Ed/Designated Survivor6. AIRED May 4: Noah gets matched with emergency medicine/Chicago Med7. AIRED May 4: Jeff Clarke took a job in Honolulu/Chicago Med8. AIRED May 4: Amy gets summer gig at Princeton/The Big Bang Theory9. AIRED May 4: Stephanie suspended/Grey’s Anatomy10. AIRED May 5: Mayor Poole resigned /Blue Bloods11. AIRED May 5 Lord Bothwell is Mary’s new bodyguard/Reign12. AIRED May 5 Rizzio is Mary’s new adviser/Reign13. AIRED May 8: Donna quits school nurse job/Kevin Can Wait14. AIRED May 8: Chale loses start-up gig before it even starts/Kevin Can Wait15. AIRED May 9: Henry promoted/Prison Break16. AIRED May 9: Cruz suspended/Chicago Fire17. AIRED May 9: Pride’s team suspended/NCIS: New Orleans18. AIRED May 11: Quinn named head of OPA/Scandal19. AIRED May 11: Marcus resigns as press sec, takes job running Fitz’s foundation/Scandal20. AIRED May 14: Hook appointed deputy sheriff/Once Upon a Time21. AIRED May 15: Owen took Matthew’s job at the CIA/Quantico22. AIRED May 15: Shelby is teaching at Quantico/Quantico23. AIRED May 16: Mouch announces he’s retiring/Chicago Fire25. AIRED May 16: Casey steps down as alderman/Chicago Fire24. AIRED May 16: Pride’s team reinstated/NCIS: New Orleans25. AIRED May 17: Thirsty fired/Empire26. AIRED May 17: Whitaker (presumably!) fired/Designated Survivor27. AIRED May 17: Aaron returns to White House/Designated Survivor28. AIRED May 17: Lindsay gets a job offer from the FBI/Chicago P.D.29. AIRED May 18: Stephanie quits/Grey’s Anatomy30. AIRED May 18: Eliza is fired/Grey’s Anatomy31. AIRED May 18: Mellie sworn in as POTUS/Scandal32. AIRED May 18: Olivia becomes the new head of B-613/Scandal33. AIRED May 18: Abby named head of OPA/Scandal34. AIRED May 20: Kyle promoted from “trainee” to partner/Training Day35. AIRED May 22: Luisa takes ownership of the Marbella/Jane the VirginNumber of engagements/question poppings: 61. AIRED May 1: Rogelio and Xiomara/Jane the Virgin2. AIRED May 11: Sheldon proposed to Amy/The Big Bang Theory3. AIRED May 14: Kensi and Deeks/NCIS: LA4. AIRED May 14: Robin proposed to the Evil Queen/Once Upon a Time5. AIRED May 15: Mon-El and Lena/Supergirl6. AIRED May 22: Alex proposed to Maggie/SupergirlNumber of time warps/jump: 81. AIRED April 30: Six-month time jump/Last Man on Earth2. AIRED May 1: Five-week time jump/Scorpion3. AIRED May 8: Three-week time jump/Scorpion4. AIRED May 14: “Some years later”/Once Upon a Time5. AIRED May 17: Two-year time jump/Blindspot6. AIRED May 23: Two-month time jump/Brooklyn Nine-Nine7. AIRED May 24: Three-month time jump/Empire8. AIRED May 24: Six-year, seven-day time jump/The 100Number of people trapped in an alternate world: 21. AIRED May 18: Mary/Supernatural2. AIRED May 18: Lucifer/SupernaturalNumber of nuclear disasters: 21. AIRED May 7: The Last Man on Earth2. AIRED May 24: The 100 Thanks to A for the heads up.
A recent paper (pdf) by Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page is getting a lot of attention, and deservedly so. Gilens and Page look at a number of issues over the past 30+ years where polling data let us identify public policy preferences, which can be compared with elite and interest-group preferences. And what they find is that politicians don’t seem to care very much about what the public thinks: when elite preferences and popular preferences are different, the elite almost always wins. This is an important insight — and it gains special force these days, when the elite’s views not only favor the elite versus the rest (duh) but have also been systematically wrong, on issues from invading Iraq to giving deficits a higher priority than jobs. But there is a danger here of going too far, and imagining that electoral politics is irrelevant. Why bother getting involved in campaigns, when the oligarchy rules whichever party is in power? So it’s worth pointing out it does make a difference. Yes, Democrats pay a lot of attention to plutocrats, and even make a point of inviting Patrimonial Capitalism: The Next Generation to White House galas (I would have missed that, even though it’s in my own paper, but for Kathleen Geier. Thanks!). But it’s quite wrong to say that the parties’ behavior in office is the same. As Floyd Norris points out, Obama has in fact significantly raised taxes on very high incomes, largely through special surcharges included in the Affordable Care Act; and what the Act does with the extra revenue is expand Medicaid and provide subsidies on the exchanges, both means-tested programs whose beneficiaries tend to be mainly lower-income adults. The net effect will be significant losses for the super-elite — not crippling losses, to be sure, and hardly anything that will affect their elite status — and major gains to tens of millions of less fortunate Americans. If you’re waiting for a revolution, or even a new New Deal, this may seem disappointing. But it matters a lot all the same.
Italian airport is letting travellers take as much as 500g of the sauce in their carry-on luggage, exempting them from the 100ml rule for liquids The Italian port city of Genoa has taken pride in its famed pesto sauce to new heights by granting special airport waivers for those who can’t get enough of the basil and pine nut pasta sauce. Trevi levy: Rome imposes fines for frolicking at famous fountains Read more Genoa’s airport is letting travellers take as much as 500g of pesto in their carry-on luggage, exempting them from the 100ml rule for liquids in carry-on baggage. The catch: passengers must make a donation of 50 cents or more to a charity that airlifts sick children to hospitals. The airport said this week that €500 had been raised in the first 20 days of the initiative, which was inspired by the anguish of so many foodies having their pesto confiscated when trying to get through security.
Rand Paul. (AP Photo) Raising government spending beyond the levels set by sequestration would be a nonstarter in a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling, three Republican senators said on Sunday. "If you break the spending caps, you're not going to get any Republicans in the Senate," Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.) said on ABC News's "This Week." When asked whether there were any terms he couldn't accept in a compromise, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also cited spending increases. "I think the one thing I cannot accept and the one thing that I think is really not even a compromise at all is the Democrats want to exceed the sequester caps,” Paul said on CNN's "State of the Union." "It's funny they're all about Obamacare being the law of the land, but so is the sequester." Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) also said on "Fox News Sunday" that his party would be unlikely to accept any deal that included increasing spending beyond the levels set under sequestration, a slate of across-the-board reductions in spending intended to be so bad that both parties would be forced to compromise on a budget "grand bargain." Such a deal was never brokered, so sequestration went into effect earlier this year.
While legendary sound designer and game composer Bo was not apparently part of the round-table interview, the book appended a short word from him at the end, which I have also included here. This long interview with the original Phantasy Star development team (except Yuji Naka, sadly) was found in the 1993 “World of Phantasy Star” book. It’s filled with interesting anecdotes and trivia about the seminal RPG, and the by-now common theme of freedom in the early days of Japanese game development is also sounded. Phantasy Star 1993 Developer Interview From the “World of Phantasy Star” book Rieko Kodama: Phantasy Star I and II character designer, Phantasy Star IV team leader. Editor for the Sega publication “Spec.” Champion Boxing, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Zillion, Miracle Warriors, Hoshi o Sagashite, Fantasy Zone II, Altered Beast, Shadow Dancer, Sonic the Hedgehog, and more. Miki Morimoto: Game Designer. Phantasy Star Series, Hoshi o Sagashite, Sorcerian, and others. Kotaro Hayashida: Game Designer. Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Phantasy Star, and others. Kazuyuki Shibata: Graphic Designer. Phantasy Star I and II, Pyramid Magic, Surging Aura, and others. Toru Yoshida: Graphic Designer. Super Thunder Blade, King Colossus, Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star IV, Phantasy Star Text Adventure, and more. Tokuhiko Uwabo, aka “Bo”: Sound and music. Alex Kidd, Fantasy Zone, Space Harrier, many more. Miki Morimoto, game designer. —Why did you choose the Phantasy Star title? Did it simply mean something like “a planet/star of fantasy”? Morimoto: That’s basically right, but the origin was different. The main programmer, Yuji Naka, was a fan of the idol singer Noripii (Noriko Sakai), and her liked her new song “Nagisa no Fantasy” (Beachside Fantasy). From that he took the word Fantasy, and played around with it till he came up with Phantasy Star. It ultimately ended up matching the image of the game. —That reminds me of the story of the Advanced Daisenryaku sample rom, where you can find the hidden graphic of idol Chisato Moritaka dressed up in a military uniform. Hayashida: Yeah, the designer Minami liked Chisato Moritaka so he just added that in there. If you don’t know about it and it suddenly comes up, it’s like, what the hell? Anyway, naming things is always tough. Even after thinking and thinking it’s very common to just come up blank, and sometimes you get hints from strange places. I’m sure it’s the same with people who have to think of titles for movies or songs. —Even today the original Phantasy Star has many passionate fans, with the Tokuma Published strategy guide having been reprinted many times. What do you think is the enduring appeal and charm of Phantasy Star? Morimoto: There’s a lot of elements in RPGs today that seem rigidly defined, almost cliches. For example, getting a boat, getting an airship… with an airship you can cross the mountains, but can’t destroy them or anything like that. In Phantasy Star, we had the audacious idea of the Ice Decker vehicle where you could actually enjoy mowing down icebergs on the terrain. Mowing down mountains with the ice-digger. Then there’s the spaceship which lets you fly to other planets. It’s a more free, unrestrained world. In most RPGs there’s only one world, right? In Phantasy Star the story straddles three planets, and I think that kind of freewheeling sense of adventure is one of its main charms. The fact that it’s a science fiction RPG also sets it apart, but since we mixed sword and sorcery into the science fiction, it’s a really open, wild world. —Can you tell us about the origins of Phantasy Star? Morimoto: Phantasy Star came into being when, during the Master System era, Sega decided that it also needed to create an RPG. So they started soliciting game design ideas from us, and Chieko Aoki had this story idea she’d been mulling over for awhile. We used that and worked it into what became the original story draft for Phantasy Star. Even at that early stage, almost all the dialogue was already written–that was how much Chieko loved Phantasy Star. Kodama: In the original draft for Phantasy Star there were four planets. But we realized it would be very difficult to properly depict four planets. There was also an issue with memory limitations, so we changed it to three planets. Today you can use a lot of memory for a game, but back then even 4 megs was a huge amount. —Speaking of the memorable characters in Phantasy Star, Lutz had quite an impact with players, didn’t he? Kodama: Actually, when I created the first draft of the characters for Phantasy Star II, I made Lutz the main character. By the way, since so many people have asked whether Lutz is male or female, let me say a little about that. In the original story drafts of Phantasy Star, Lutz was a hermaphrodite, and as Alisa grew up, Lutz could become male or female. I thought that was interesting so I depicted Lutz that way. Early concept art for Lutz from PSII. Yoshida: In the earliest drafts for Phantasy Star II, the main character is Lutz, and it opens with him awakening from cryosleep. In the 1000 years since Phantasy Star, his abilities have changed. He’s more of a warrior now, and he sets out to wander the world. There was also a part where he warps back in time and has to save Alisa at the time of her birth. In the end he defeats his enemies and vanishes again. Kodama: We even brought him back for PSIV at first. We didn’t have any ideas and just started playing around with the characters. —Please tell us how the dungeons in Phantasy Star were designed. Shibata: You originally scrolled through the 3D dungeons in Phantasy Star much quicker. But we couldn’t have done them in 3D without Yuji Naka. Kodama: Regarding the 3D, we would get an image of the dungeon in our head and draw them out on paper, but there were little details that bugged us and it wasn’t getting across to the programmers as we had envisioned it. Yuji Naka learned of this and, on his own, made a wireframe 3D imaging program expressly for us. That program was also the start of Shibata learning to draw 3D graphics. That was what was amazing about Yuji: he would never just say “that can’t be done” to a planning or design idea. He thought about our wishes seriously and would always figure out some ingenuous way to make our ideas possible. He was very considerate of the designer’s vision, in other words. Hayashida: Right, and it was Yuji who fixed the speed of the dungeons. The scrolling was originally so fast they made your head spin, like some high-speed STG. Morimoto: They went so fast you got dizzy, like you were drunk or something. Rieko Kodama, PSI/II character designer. Kodama: We got many requests to make the dungeons in Phantasy Star II 3D too. But to make dungeons that would look satisfying to us, with rotating floors and other features, would have taken up too much memory on the Megadrive. It would have been almost impossible. Hayashida: And 3D dungeons aren’t really the essence of Phantasy Star, anyway. By the way, being able to save your game in the dungeons led to a huge problem. If you were deep in a dungeon and very close to death after a battle, you could then save your game. But in doing so, you’d always start out in that weakened state, and if you encountered an enemy you would never win, thereby getting trapped in the dungeon forever. It was especially tragic if it happened in the latter part of the game. With tears in your eyes, you’d have no choice but to start a new game. Kodama: Back then, we developers didn’t know much about RPGs. (laughs) —Just before Phantasy Star was released, I remember hearing that it would have both battery backup saves and a password system… Hayashida: Yeah, we did have those plans, but we had to cut the password feature out due to memory problems. Yoshida: With RPGs today it’s almost impossible to implement a password-save feature. If we had tried to add one for Phantasy Star IV, first, it would have to be absolutely perfectly entered (just having one character off would mean it wouldn’t work), and the password would be so long it would take two screens to write out–not the kind of thing you can just write down on a notepad. Anyway, compared with the original Phantasy Star, the sequels have many more party members and the amount of data isn’t even comparable. —One of the most memorable things about Phantasy Star was the ending. Making your way through the brutal final dungeon, beating the boss, and thinking the game is over… suddenly the screen scrolls up and you’re dropped back into the dungeon! I remember seeing that text on the wall and thinking, “who is that?! is there a true final boss?” My heart started racing. Whose idea was it to do that for the ending? Kodama: I don’t actually remember who suggested it. Who could it be… Hayashida: After you cleared it and the final pictures were shown, I remember being like, what shall we do for the ending staff roll? Someone came up with the idea of using the 3D dungeons, and we thought it would be cool to put the staff’s names up there. Toru Yoshida, graphic designer. Kodama: Yeah, I think it just came about in one of our random conversations. Though I remember the decision to just drop you back into the dungeon came at the very end of the development. We were thinking about how to get the player back there to show the credits, and we decided to just plop you back down in there. Hayashida: There was a routine in the program for falling through pitfalls, so it was easy to do. But the result was that surprising ending, so for its psychological impact I would call it a success! —Can you tell us any interesting stories or episodes about creating the monsters of Phantasy Star? Morimoto: We all thought the Zombie looked funny, so one time we tried to see how many we could put on-screen at once. It turns out you could have 8 of them there. But could they animate? They did, and everyone was completely grossed out by it! But the weirdest of all was the “Lich” character (spelled “Rich” in Japanese katakana). Despite his name this guy dropped no money when he was defeated! By the way, the Luveno spaceship was actually the very first mecha graphic that Kodama, our team leader in PSIV, had ever drawn. She had never drawn anything like that before, so I was wondering if she’d be nervous about it, and what kind of image she’d come up with. But I remember she was really relaxed about it. Back then when people came to visit our development room, it wasn’t like today where you have a more systemized organization of departments and such; rather, it was more like there’d be a teacher and pupil working together. It lent the development area a special atmosphere. —What do you mean by “teacher” and “pupil”? Kodama: Yeah, there were “teachers” for music, graphics, all the different aspects of development at Sega. That’s how I learned to do graphics, from Yoshiki Kawasaki, who now works in the PR department. The “gross-out” Zombie animation… now imagine 8 of them at once! —What, really? Kodama: Yes! Kawasaki did the sprites for Flicky and other older games. He’s extremely talented. That’s how I learned all these things: from the know-how passed down from older employees. Yoshida: Now you’ve got some people with Famicom experience, some with Megadrive experience, and just a whole variety of people joining the company. That old apprentice system is fading away, and I suppose you could say something of the old Sega is disappearing too. Morimoto: Maybe the Sega-ness of our games was nothing other than the humanity imparted by the apprenticeship system… —In Phantasy Star, there were some extremely powerful enemies in the last dungeon and last planet. They were stronger than the boss, Dark Force, weren’t they? Hayashida: That would be Mammoth and Golem. Mammoth, especially–if he appeared in a group, your heart started racing. I seem to remember they were really hard to flee from, too. Morimoto: I did all the enemy stats, and the flee percentage parameter was actually an enemy stat. You could run easily from monsters in the first half of the game, but by the second half it was very difficult. (laughs) Hayashida: Monsters sometimes appear in unexpected areas too, like the Serpent inside that one house of the Air Castle. Speaking of weird things, in the backstory the Centaur enemies are supposed to be these knights under Lashiec’s control, but when you use Telepathy on them and talk to them, they sometimes give you information. There’s a part of them that’s very “human.” Even the monsters in Phantasy Star were something unique. Morimoto: Yeah, and they weren’t monsters, but the village of lying Dezorians and truthful Dezorians was also different. Hayashida: We had a lot of fun designing the monsters and events for Phantasy Star. Ah, that reminds me… one of the most difficult things about this game was how hard it was to get money. Mixed in with the standard necessities were some surprisingly expensive items, if you tried to save up money for them. —Was the chemistry between the development staff a large part of the excellent balance Phantasy Star achieved? If the staff doesn’t get along, it seems like any good ideas would just disintegrate in that hostile atmosphere. Kotaro Hayashida, game designer. Hayashida: I think the success of Phantasy Star lies in the fact that the development staff was given the freedom to make the game we wanted, without restrictions or control. I wanted to create something that the Famicom wouldn’t have been able to do, so I wanted the dungeons to be in 3D. When I think back on the story now, there were a lot of ridiculous things in it, but we were able to do it how we wanted, had fun while we were doing it, and the result was a good game. After all, if you’re having fun, you can give it your all even when things gets tough. I think that synergy resulted in a good game. However, until the game was completed, there were a lot of unknowns. We had to give our full effort to the very, very end. RPGs have especially long developments, so by the latter half everyone is just run-down, you know? But if you relax and slack off at the very end, your game will feel sloppy regardless of all the previous work you did. In that sense, the difference between a good game and a bad game really depends on whether the staff can maintain their efforts in that final stretch. The deadlines are bearing down on you, and it’s very common for people to experience utter exhaustion at the end. There will be a difference between the image the designers had for the game, and the game you actually created, and figuring out how to adjust that gap at the very end is an important point. —I’d like to talk about Chieko Aoki, who created the backstory and world of Phantasy Star (and was a game designer for Phantasy Star II). What was she like? Morimoto: She was a very quiet, shy person, but she also had a strong inner core. During the development, when everything was getting crazy, she’d be unfazed, working steadily at her own pace. I think she had a lot of attachment to the story and world of Phantasy Star. That reminds me, I hardly ever stayed over at the company office, but one time we had to work on bug checking late into the night, so Chieko and I made some makeshift beds out of office chairs and spent the night there in a conference room. It felt just like a field trip. There would also be questions about the game circulating around the development room, and Chieko would often answer them. So we gave her the nickname “Otegami Chie” (Letter Chie). Letters from fans to “Gamer Miki.” —And what were the origins of the other nicknames for the development staff, like “Gamer Miki” and “Choko Oneesan” ? Morimoto: “Gamer Miki-chan” refers to me. I got that nickname because I did a lot of the playtesting and bug checks. Sega’s publication “SPEC” featured a manga called “Hataraku Kaihatsu-san” (the hardworking developers), and there’s an interview with “Gamer Miki” there too. I got a lot of postcards from fans addressed to that name. As for Choko Oneesan, there used to be a Telephone Answer line Sega ran called “Joy Joy Telephone.” She was the “Oneesan” from that early period. She was really popular with the kids and would receive a lot of fan letters. You know, it makes me wonder, in Phantasy Star, why was I the only one to be found in such a strange place as the jail??? Anyway, speaking of characters, I wonder if any Sega fans today remember “Professor Asobin” and “Doctor Games” ? They were characters who appeared in the back of Sega game manuals, and they’d give you hints and tips… —Can you tell us a bit about the sound/music development for Phantasy Star? Morimoto: Since Phantasy Star was made at the time of the Sega Master System, it was very difficult to create sounds for it. In that sense, you can’t talk about this game without mentioning its sound and music. Sometimes we’d ask Bo to create a certain songs, but if the image didn’t match up he’d have to rewrite it. After reworking it, he’d bring something to us all excited, but everyone would say “maybe the old version was better…” while Bo quietly wept. (laughs) Despite all that, Bo and the rest of the staff had a lot of love for this game. Back then we all worked together in the same room: sound, planning, programming. That was also where Bo made nearly all his music and sounds. It must have been tough. SST band plays the PSIII opening theme. Speaking of music, I think the SST band, a group composed of Sega Sound Staff, was formed just around the time Phantasy Star was released. They did a show at a park outside the east exit of Ikebukuro station, and I remember they were worried if people would even come. It was a big turnout though. Many things didn’t go right because it was their first live show, but it was a rare sight back then to see a video game sound team form a band, and the park was packed with people. It was a huge success. At that time the SST Band was using sequencers for the live show. A sequencer is something that lets you play back music you’ve programmed into it, and since they used sequencers in their early days, you often saw pictures of the band just standing there, not appearing to do anything. (laughs) Hayashida: With video game music, whether the songs are poppy or more complex, they need to have catchy melodies you could easily hum to yourself. Then the music has to match the development team’s ideas (graphically and otherwise), so it’s really quite difficult work. If the songs are too long they may not get fully heard in-game, or they’ll eat up too much program memory… it’s no easy job. —Are there any plans to port Phantasy Star? Morimoto: We often get requests from fans who never got to play the Master System Phantasy Star and want us to port it to the Megadrive. But the truth is, if you do a thorough search you can find toy stores where they’ve still got copies of the original game for sale. I’ve seen people write on message boards stuff like “I found a copy at XXX-store,” but when I went the next day myself to check, it was sold out. So it seems there’s still some left in some small, out-of-the-way places, but if you find one you had better snatch it up, or they’ll all soon be gone. However, as part of the promotional campaign for Phantasy Star IV, we’re giving out copies of the original Phantasy Star as a present. Make sure you enter! —One of the weirder events in Phantasy Star involves the cake selling girl in the middle of the dungeon. What was that about? Dungeon Bakery. Hayashida: People ask us a lot about that, even today. When Yuji Naka got back from America after finishing Sonic 2, I remember he saw that and said, “Why the hell is someone selling cake in that dungeon.” Yeah, everyone thought it was weird. Well, I’ve forgotten who exactly came up with the idea originally, but I believe it was a girl. I remember we talked about the event in the story where you go to meet the Motavian governor, and someone pointed out that since the governor is such an important person, you should probably bring him some kind of souvenir. Then we asked what it should be, and a girl said cake was good, so that’s what we did. But then the question came of where the cake shop should be located, and we agreed that it would be boring if it was in some normal or easily accessible place, and I think that was how we decided to put it in the dungeon. I think the woman who suggested it was probably Morimoto or Aoki, but whoever said it probably no longer remembers themselves. But yeah, that event reflects the large number of women on the Phantasy Star development staff. Message from Bo, Phantasy Star Composer Bo: Today there’s almost 20 people working as Sega Sound Staff, and I’m focusing on producing. But back then all our console game sound was done by me and one other person. And when I say “sound,” when you include things like sound effects, it means having to create over 100 sounds for each game. When we were busy I had to work on nearly 16 titles at the same time. For each game the image and world were different, so you couldn’t just put out shoddy knock-offs, nor could you expect to finish everything if you only worked at the office. All day, every day, I had to be constantly thinking about writing music: if I woke up in the morning with a melody in my head and could remember it through the train ride to work, then I figured it was a good melody and I’d end up using it. Time management was key to finishing everything. I’d parse out my time in blocks, working on songs for each game in a given period, then moving to the next. Bo and his sound studio at Sega, circa 1993 Phantasy Star was made during the Master System era, so there were restrictions in both the sounds available and the memory available. It was very difficult, but also very fun. The sounds from that game were a result of experimenting, trying this and that… not the kind of sounds you could create if you just relied on your theoretical knowledge. Even today Phantasy Star stands out as some of the most memorable work I did. Another aspect of the Phantasy Star development was that we all shared the same room: game designers, programmers, and sound. That meant everyone could peek in on everyone else’s work. I could check out where the game designers were at, and the designers could look over and see how the sound was going. It made for a very different atmosphere from what you see today in game development. The fans then also had a very refined appreciation for the sights and sounds of video games, too. I’d get letters from fans expressing support, or sharing their thoughts on the music. It was a real motivator for writing music. There were no sound tests in our games that time, and a fan once even sent me a tape she had made with all the game music carefully recorded on it. I was so surprised–she even recorded all the sound effects!
OTTAWA—The Harper government will not mount another campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council after Canada’s historic defeat last year, says Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. “It’s not something I envisage,” Baird told The Canadian Press, when asked whether he planned another bid for a two-year, temporary term on the powerful council in the coming years. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says the Conservative government will not mount another campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council after Canada's historic defeat last year, says Baird. ( Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) The often-combative rookie foreign minister was defiant and cutting in his reasoning for the decision. “Listen, I mean, we don’t go along to get along. That’s just not a phrase,” said Baird, using the oft-repeated mantra that has morphed into the mantra for his first six months as Canada’s top diplomat. Canada was trounced by Portugal last year for the second of two temporary two-year, non-veto-wielding seats on the United Nations’ top body. It was the first time in the six-decade history of the UN that Canada failed to win a seat for which it made a bid. Article Continued Below The loss sparked criticism in many quarters about whether Canada’s foreign policy under the Conservative government — perceived tilts in policy toward Israel and away from Africa and an unpopular policy on climate change, among them — may have cost the country support among a majority of the UN’s 190-plus member countries. Baird shot back at critics on all fronts in an interview shortly before Christmas. “Maybe if we had shut up, and not talked about gay rights in Africa; maybe if we had shut up and been more quiet about our concerns about Sri Lanka; maybe if we hadn’t been so vocal against the deplorable human rights record in Iran, maybe Iran might have voted for us,” Baird said. “But we didn’t and I don’t think we regret anything. Iran probably voted against us; North Korea probably voted against us; Gadhafi probably voted against us. I think those are all badges of honour.” Baird said he is especially proud of his stand against Sri Lanka’s government for not adequately investigating alleged atrocities by its military forces when they defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009. Critics say Baird and the Tories are playing what has been called “diaspora politics” by taking positions that may win them support in large blocs of newly arrived Canadians. Tamils, for example, number in the hundreds of thousands in key Toronto-area ridings, the population’s largest concentration outside Sri Lanka. Baird rebutted the criticism, saying: “We didn’t do it before election day.” Article Continued Below On Israel, the Conservatives have incurred the ire of Muslim and Arab-Canadian groups with what is seen as their unqualified support of Israel. Baird dismissed that as unfounded, suggesting it was a creation of the media. “It’s a principled position. If you look at our position on Israel — in my riding we have 2,800 Jews and 11,500 Muslims and Arabs. We don’t do it for political gain; we do it because we think it’s right and we believe in it.” Baird said he plans to go to Israel and the Palestinian territories in early January. He heaped praise on Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, after meeting him earlier this year. “He is probably the world’s quietest success story. The security situation in the West Bank has improved immeasurably under his leadership,” said Baird. “We’ve been working very closely with him on that with a lot of Canadian support. On the security side, their transparency and getting rid of corruption is a gigantic accomplishment for him and the Palestinian people. The economic growth rate has improved considerably, so it’s been good news.” As for Canada being a laggard on climate change, a topic Baird raised without being asked, he said: “Travelling almost twice around the world, I’ve only had two foreign ministers raise climate change with me.” Baird added: “It’s a big issue for some; it certainly hasn’t been one that I’ve heard a lot about.” Baird said Canada remains committed to helping the Arab Spring countries — Libya and Egypt in particular — to build democratic societies that respect the rule of law. But the minister could offer few specific examples of programs. Baird reiterated the rights of Arab and Muslim women should not be trounced in the months ahead. “It’s funny because I’m not a natural champion of feminism but the role of women in North Africa, and the Middle East and the Arab Spring is tremendously important because I think it leads to not just equality, which is a Canadian value, but I think it leads to a more civil society,” he said. Read more about:
Gun-control advocates and their allies in the state legislature are gearing up for another battle in 2014 in hopes of making New Jersey gun restrictions, already among the toughest in the nation, even more stringent. Last year, during a tumultuous legislative session following the murder of 20 children in a Newtown, Conn. elementary school, the legislature passed 22 new pieces of gun legislation. About a dozen became law, while the balance were struck down by the governor's veto pen. Advocates for more limits on guns say important legislation was left on the table. TIMELINE: 2013 was a big year for gun legislation It's those measures — in particular, a restriction on ammunition magazine size, a ban on .50-caliber rifles, stricter limits on children’s access to firearms and mandatory safety training for gun owners — that will be their focus in the coming year. "Our top priority is a 10-round limit on magazine size," said Bryan Miller, executive director of Heeding God's Call, a faith-based organization focused on preventing gun violence. "Nobody needs a 15-round ammunition magazine unless they are a domestic terrorist or a gangster," Miller said. "We expect the legislative leadership to get behind this and the governor to see some sense." In last year's session, the magazine restriction never made it to the governor's desk. Instead, it was the Senate and president Steve Sweeney who stood in its way. The state currently restricts clips to 15 rounds, a limit Sweeney described last year as "effective." But Miller said he is confident the Senate president is on board with the 10-round limit this time around. For the families of the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, the 10-round magazine has become a rallying cry. "We do a lot of studying and research and we speak to gun owners and people all over the political spectrum," said Mark Barden, advocacy director for Sandy Hook Promise whose son Daniel was among the children murdered. "We hear universally for hunting, home protection and sport shooting that a 10 round magazine is certainly plenty." Barden said to back up the claim that the limit would save lives, you need only look to the number of shootings that are halted when the shooter stops to reload. For their part, Second Amendment advocates say the magazine restriction is arbitrary and does nothing to prevent gun violence. What it does, gun advocates say, is limit only the firepower of those who follow the law. "For the most part this is the same feel-good, do-nothing legislation that the New Jersey legislature is so fond of sponsoring," said Frank Fiamingo, president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society. "As usual, the legislation targets the law-abiding gun owner who has purchased a gun legally and does not address the gangs and the career criminals who are committing the crimes." Likewise the ban on .50 caliber rifles, a weapon gun advocates say is irrelevant to the discussion because it's used only by wealthy hobbyists and has never been used to commit a crime in the state. Last year, Gov. Chris Christie himself advocated for its ban but later reversed course with a veto of the measure. The governor hinted that the veto was punishment for Democratic overreach; however, gun-control advocates believe he also was pandering to a New Hampshire pro-guns group that urged its members to contact the Christie and warn him against signing various gun-control measures. Miller said he's hoping the governor makes good on the ban this year. "Both houses of the legislature and the governor himself supported the ban prior to passage and then, just to teach Democratic leaders a lesson, he vetoed it," Miller said. "Is this leadership? And who was he really talking to, the citizens of New Jersey or the right wing pro-gunners of New Hampshire." Mandatory safety training was part of Sweeney's centerpiece bill, passed by both houses of the legislature last year but conditionally vetoed by the governor. The bill would have changed the way the state issues firearms licenses, made background checks instant and included private sales in the law. It also would have required proof of safety training prior to the issuance of a gun license. Training was among the elements altered by the governor's veto. After the conditional veto, Sweeney abandoned the measure. "It's the most logical of the group," Miller said. "You need safety training to drive a car. Everybody who owns a gun should know how to store it and use it safely." But Fiamingo said the devil is in the details. If the legislation is aimed at providing free common-sense training on gun storage and other safety factors, his group could back it. The problem, he said, is the parameters are always left out of the bill. If it's true training and it's provided free, he could back it, Fiamingo said. But if it's just a financial barrier erected to make it harder to obtain a gun permit, he said, it's a non-starter. Sweeney already has reintroduced the bill in the current session. Asked about specifics of this year's agenda, however, Sweeney issued only a broad comment. "The governor vetoed common-sense gun-safety reforms, including legislation I sponsored that would have made New Jersey a national model on background checks," he said. "We will be examining these issues again during the new term." As he was last year, Assemblyman Lou Greenwald is a strong advocate of gun-control measures, including the magazine restriction. "I made a personal commitment to the families of Newtown that we would not stop fighting, no matter how long it takes until we get the magazine limit passed," Greenwald said. "In talking with the families, they will tell you, the single most important piece of legislation to stop this kind of insanity in the future is that magazine limit." While gun-control supporters ask "Why not?" when it comes to the magazine-size limit, pro-gun advocates say that's the wrong question. "The question is, what is the statistical evidence that shows that reducing the limit on a clip from 15 to 10 rounds will reduce gun crime?" Fiamingo said. "If this passes, are the Latin Kings or the Bloods or the Crips going to reduce their magazine capacity to 10 rounds?" Despite objections from gun-rights groups, polls taken in the aftermath of Newtown showed nearly 60 percent of New Jersey residents favored stricter controls on guns, and a year later, public opinion remains on the side of gun control. And while the political climate in the state has changed significantly over the past year, it's too soon to tell if it will result in a sea change on gun control. Christie, though he's fresh off a landslide reelection victory, is politically wounded. Once the frontrunner for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, the dual scandals surrounding lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and Hurricane Sandy recovery funding in Hoboken have cast a pall — at least for now — over his viability as a national candidate. Whether that will mean he'll focus on a more Jersey-centric agenda or move more to the right remains to be seen. Sweeney also faces an altered landscape. His own reelection in the 3rd Legislative District, where gun owners and sportsmen are commonplace, will no doubt allow him more freedom to navigate the issue. He has his own sights set on the governor's office, so he will likely adopt a more statewide focus on a host of issues, gun control being among the most obvious. Barden and others plan to attend a press conference with the state's legislative leaders later this month in hopes of finishing what was started here last year. NJ.com reporter S.P. Sullivan contributed to this report.
13 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Reddit Tumblr Digg Linkedin Stumbleupon Mail Print Over the last few weeks, the events this fall have shown on what side of history the security apparatus of the United States stands. While one hand will jump on its international soapbox and praise the virtue of civil rights loudly, the other hand savagely represses even the most basic freedoms. The cold and swift press crackdown in NYC during the OWS raids was only a recent and highly publicized event, in a sea of similar incursions. It would seem, to the casual observer that the Constitution is only invoked in cases that favor the state, and is all but forgotten otherwise. Henceforth, the casual observer would not be wrong if he assumed that document to be as dead as dead could be. The security forces have undergone a slow transformation from a community orientated force of protection according to the ideals of a social contract, to the armed force of the higher powers. It does not take much to draw the lines between corporate money and the people that “control” the actions of the police, the state. Obviously the state has much to gain by keeping the status quo, and is using the police forces of various cities to suppress the Occupy movement in it’s whole. This is illustrated best when campers in line for the newest Twilight book can construct elaborate tent cities on public land, but campers in line for free speech and direct democracy are shot, gassed, Db’d, attacked, arrested and injured. Thus, for one to suggest a “reform of the police” without taking into account the framework that controls the police, is pointless. Are police needed? I think so, but in a way to allow full transparency and accountability to the communities they served, under the laws that community has issued, and being a voluntarily society. The police of today use violence to enforce laws voted on only by the powers on high, and often these “crimes” are punitive, victimless, or in most cases, both. As was proved in Nuremberg and as will be proved later here in this country I believe, simply “following orders” will not be a defense to your crimes against your communities. So, I ask you, when you see a “friendly cop” please, don’t wave. – Joey 13 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Reddit Tumblr Digg Linkedin Stumbleupon Mail Print EPN
Kevin Yakes spends so much time trying to keep his Golden Valley construction firm staffed, he sometimes feels like a full-time recruiter. During a recent family getaway in Florida, Yakes hopped in the car and drove more than an hour to have beers with a refrigeration technician he wanted to attract to Minnesota. “It’s like dating,” Yakes said. “I’ve never, ever, had such a hard time trying to find people.” Nearly a decade after the U.S. economy collapsed and construction workers fled the industry, Twin Cities builders and contractors are in the midst of one of their busiest years. But a shortage of skilled workers means that new projects — from modest office renovations to soaring new apartment towers — are costing more and taking longer to complete. The situation has contributed to a housing shortage in the region. Even last year’s completion of U.S. Bank Stadium, a project that kept thousands of workers busy for nearly three years, hasn’t fully replenished the pool of construction help. “We have more work than we know what to do with,” said Robert Heise, president of the Minnesota-North Dakota chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors. As of May, there were more than 125,000 construction workers in Minnesota, the most for that month since 2006. And the latest tally of construction job openings was the highest in at least a decade. Electricians, carpenters and plumbers are among the most scarce. Labor leaders say the industry has struggled to attract young people to replenish the pool of workers drained by the 2008-2009 recession, even though construction jobs pay above-average wages and most require just a high school diploma. One reason for that, says Tim Worke, chief executive of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota, is that vocational training has been devalued. “Everyone has been told that you have to have a four-year degree to be prosperous at life,” Worke said. But it’s a fine line, he added, because the old notion that construction is a field only for those with a “strong back and a strong body” isn’t the case anymore. The work is more technical and workers need advanced training, Worke said. James Mahler, a 35-year-old project manager for River City Tile & Underlayment in Chanhassen, joined the trades at age 19. “College was never something that appealed to me,” he said. “I was eager to begin working and making my own career path.” In the recession, as others fled the industry, he stayed the course and is glad he did. He has never been without work and has been able to pick and choose jobs. “We make extremely good money, work reasonable hours, get to be active and build actual communities within the Twin Cities,” he said. “I want young people to realize that it is not a step down to go into construction.” With costs and job openings on the rise, the industry is getting more creative. This summer a consortium of industry groups will launch one of its most comprehensive efforts yet to help fill jobs: Project Build Minnesota, a marketing campaign aimed at “making construction sexy again,” said David Siegel, executive director of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. The goal is to sweep as many trainees into both union and nonunion jobs. The consortium plans to raise $800,000. Earlier this year, a collective of labor unions launched its own PR campaign dubbed Elevate Minnesota to promote union construction jobs. A third group called the Twin Cities Construction Sector Initiative, which includes the Associated General Contractors, the Minnesota Building Trades Council, educational institutions and other stakeholders, is taking a higher-level look at workforce needs. That group hopes to roll out a multiyear plan by end of the summer. Until those efforts gel, the effects of the tight labor market are rippling through Twin Cities property markets. Commercial construction costs are increasing two to five times the rate of inflation, local analysts say. Jim Durda, executive vice president of the local office of Zeller Realty Group, which manages the Fifth Street Towers and LaSalle Plaza in Minneapolis, said that 10 years ago it might have cost $25 per square foot to build out or remodel a commercial space. Today, it’s $35 to $50 per square foot, partly because of labor costs. Such increases can be even more detrimental for new buildings, which employ hundreds of workers from many trades. Last month, plans to build a Hy-Vee store in White Bear Lake were scuttled. High labor costs contributed to the decision not to build, according to both John Johannson, a manager in the local development company on the project, and Tara Deering-Hansen, a spokeswoman at Hy-Vee’s Des Moines headquarters. Homebuilders are facing similar issues. Some builders have painted “help wanted” and phone referral numbers on their trucks. Two weeks before the start of a luxury house tour in the Twin Cities, Scott Busyn and several other custom homebuilders were scrambling to finish in time for it. Busyn paid overtime and offered other perks to discourage subcontractors from jumping ship to work with other companies. At CPM Cos., one of the biggest apartment developers in the Twin Cities, the situation is making it difficult to finish buildings on time. Construction manager Troy Wenck of Reuter Walton Commercial said that he’s spending valuable time trying to recruit employees, and the company has had to turn away projects. Mark Scherer, an owner of the one of the largest lumberyards and truss-building plants in the region, has managed to keep his staffing levels steady by regularly raising wages. At a plant in Albertville, he gave workers a nearly $1 an hour raise last fall. “That seemed to take care of the problem,” he said. He hasn’t, however, been able to solve a more serious problem: Timing. He said it normally takes 90 days to build a house, but it’s now taking 120 to 180 days in some cases. Houses are also more expensive. Scherer said an upscale house used to cost $175 per square foot, but increases in labor and other inputs means the price is now $250 to north of $300 per square foot. For Yakes, the chief executive of Summit Commercial Facilities Group, a fix couldn’t come soon enough. He has a handful of openings to add to his current staff of 30 — and he wasn’t able to persuade the Florida technician he met for drinks to join his company. “It is a whole lot of work,” Yakes said. “You just always have to be ready to hire that next top talent.” Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495 Twitter: @nicolenorfleet Jim Buchta • 612-673-7376 Twitter: @JustListedBlog
Foto: Index VIŠE građana Zagreba posljednjih je dana primilo SMS poruku u kojoj ih se pita za koga će glasati na lokalnim izborima, nepoznati anketar danas je predstavio i rezultate svoje ankete prema kojem je najviše glasova osvojio Milan Bandić. Isto tako objavili su i brojeve telefona građana koji su im odgovarali na sms anketu s njihovim odgovorima. No, krenimo redom. Objavili odgovore s brojem telefona S telefonskog broja 0996330278 građani su dobili poruku u kojoj je stajalo: "SMS anketa. Na izborima za gradonačelnika Zagreba glasovat ću za; 1. M. Bandić 2. D. Bernardić 3. A. Mikulić 4. D.Prgomet 5. S. Švaljek 6. A.M. Taritaš". Danas su s mail adrese smsankete@gmail stigli i "rezultati" ankete i to zbog "velikog interesa javnosti". "Šaljemo vam rezultate sms ankete koja je provedena u subotu i nedjelju", stoji u mail poruci. U dnu email poruke navedeni su odgovori koji su stizali s brojeva mobitela, a nedostaje tek zadnji broj. Tko stoji iza ove ankete te objave brojeva građana koji su u istoj sudjelovali nije poznato. Naime, broj s kojeg se građanima slao upit više nije aktivan, a na s maila smsankete@gmail.com nismo dobili nikakav odgovor. Navodno je u anketi sudjelovalo 14491 građana. HAKOM: Ne odgovarajte na pozive U HAKOM-u odgovarajući na upit Indexa kažu kako je ovakve poruke najbolje zanemariti. Tekst se nastavlja ispod oglasa "U konkretnom slučaju radi se o anketiranju korisnika koje nije regulirano Zakonom o elektroničkim komunikacijama jer ne predstavlja promidžbu ni prodaju, ali bi se ono moralo provoditi na način da se zna tko provodi anketu, odnosno ne bi se smjelo provoditi s neregistriranih brojeva. U navedenim slučajevima, ako građani ne žele odgovarati na postavljena pitanja, predlažemo da zamole anketare da ih se više ne kontaktira, odnosno takav poziv se može jednostavno prekinuti, a u slučaju zaprimanja SMS poruke istu treba zanemariti", stoji u odgovoru HAKOM-a. Ukoliko se radi o promidžbenim ili prodajnim porukama uporabom automatskih pozivnih i komunikacijskih sustava bez pribavljene prethodne privole korisnika isto predstavlja kršenje Zakona o elektroničkim komunikacijama, odnosno neželjene elektroničke komunikacije te HAKOM na temelju prijave korisnika o navedenim radnjama donosi mjere kako bi se spriječilo daljnje kršenje Zakona i kažnjava prekršitelja. Istraga zbog zlouporaba "Naime, ukoliko se utvrdi da ne postoji prethodna privola korisnika za primanje promidžbenih ili prodajnih poruka, protiv prekršitelja će sukladno Zakonu biti pokrenut odgovarajući postupak, a daljnje slanje takvih poruka zabranjeno i onemogućeno. HAKOM je vezano za političku promidžbu u siječnju i rujnu ove godine pokrenuo inspekcijske nadzore te je utvrđeno kako su poruke ovakvog i sličnog sadržaja dolazile s većeg broja neregistriranih „pre-paid“ brojeva koji su ugašeni od strane operatora zbog zlouporabe", kažu nam na kraju iz HAKOM-a.
Inquiry will hear from men abused as boys at Northern Ireland children’s home and allegations that perpetrators were protected by working as spies An inquiry into child abuse across a range of institutions in Northern Ireland will focus on Tuesday on the Kincora boys home scandal including allegations that MI5 blackmailed a paedophile ring which operated there in the 1970s. The historical institutional abuse inquiry will hear evidence from men who were abused at Kincora when they were children and their allegations that the perpetrators were protected because they were state agents spying on fellow Ulster loyalists. A number of Kincora abuse victims have tried through the courts to force the scandal to be included in the national investigation into allegations of establishment paedophile rings operating in Westminster. Gary Hoy tried and failed last month to force the home secretary to include Kincora in the Westminster inquiry. Hoy and others fear that the Kincora inquiry, which is based in Northern Ireland and taking hearings at the court in Banbridge, County Down, will not have access to sensitive MI5 intelligence files on the people who ran Kincora. Amnesty International has described the Kincora scandal as one of the most disturbing to emerge from the Ulster Troubles. Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty’s director in Northern Ireland, said: “Nothing less than a full public inquiry – with all the powers of compulsion which that brings – can finally reveal what happened and the role that the security services may have played in the abuse of these vulnerable boys.” At least 29 boys were sexually abused by Kincora housemaster and prominent Orange Order member William McGrath and others at the east Belfast home. One boy is said to have committed suicide following years of abuse by jumping off a ferry into the Irish Sea in the late 1970s. Another of the abuse victims at Kincora, Clint Massey, told the Guardian last year that he even tried to file a report at a local police station in east Belfast about what was happening to him and other boys at the home in the mid-1970s. However, Massey said he was forcibly marched out of the RUC station by police officers and that his complaint was not recorded. Former army intelligence officer and whistleblower Colin Wallace has consistently claimed that MI5, RUC special branch and military intelligence knew about the abuse going on at Kincora and used it to blackmail the paedophile ring to spy on hardline loyalists. In 1980, Wallace was arrested and convicted of manslaughter. He spent six years in jail despite suggestions he had been framed. His conviction for manslaughter was quashed in 1996 in the light of fresh forensic evidence and shortcomings at his trial. In 1990, Margaret Thatcher was forced to admit that her government had deceived parliament and the public about Wallace’s role. An independent investigation by David Calcutt QC found that members of MI5 had interfered with disciplinary proceedings against Wallace. As a result, Wallace was awarded £30,000 in compensation. Three men were jailed for their part in abuse at Kincora in 1981, but attempts to establish the truth about British state involvement have been blocked. It has persistently been alleged that McGrath, who was a leader in an extreme evangelical Protestant group called Tara, was an informant for British intelligence. McGrath was jailed for sexual offences in 1981 and is now dead. Theresa May, the home secretary, has insisted that the chairman of the Banbridge-based inquiry, retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, will have full access to government and intelligence files relating to Kincora. The historical institutional abuse inquiry is investigating 22 orphanages, care homes and other institutions where child sexual abuse took place. The inquiry team is expected to hear from around 450 witnesses, some of whom have travelled from as far as the United States and Australia to give evidence.
On Jan. 12, Metro faced yet another crisis. Smoke flooding a stopped train on the Yellow Line had left one passenger dead and dozens of others in the hospital. So the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Agency did what any other huge institution does went it has a disaster: They hired some spin doctors. As the public and media fumed at another fatality on the transit line, Metro contracted with two crisis firms, O’Neill and Associates and Hill + Knowlton Strategies. Documents obtained by LL through an open records request show the agency and its consultants scrambling to respond to the January smoke incident—and, for some reason, keeping tabs on a critical Twitter account along the way. The work didn’t come cheap. In March, for example, Hill + Knowlton’s work alone cost more than $60,000. WMATA spokeswoman Sherri Ly says that the firms cost Metro roughly $250,000, all of which was paid out of the transit agency’s insurance policy. WMATA staff didn’t intend to provide LL with all this information. Earlier this month, the agency mailed LL a CD that held some files that were redacted and open, along many more that were password-protected. After WMATA staff gave LL the passwords for the restricted files, they realized too late that they contained unredacted files. Earlier this week, WMATA asked LL to return the CD in exchange for redacted copies of the files. No thanks, said LL. The unredacted files provide a look at how the agency struggled to recover from the smoke death while also not violating National Transportation Safety Board rules about discussing details of the accident while the investigation was ongoing. That limited WMATA’s ability to push back on the bad news. As Hill + Knowlton’s presentation to the agency noted in fluent PR-speak, news about WMATA “continues to progress unfettered into negative spaces.” It didn’t help, the firm noted, that Metro had such a bad reputation even before the smoke fatality. Or that, just as the system had killed one of its passengers, WMATA was ready to raise fares and reduce service for the rest. The presentation noted that the smoke incident wasn’t so abnormal in passengers’ estimations, just “what many have come to expect from Metro.” In response, Hill + Knowlton offered a plan where “media volume and negative tone [would be] reduced.” That meant “daily monitoring” of social media and “media and competitor analysis,” plus establishing interim WMATA General Manager Jack Requa as “a leader in control.” O’Neill and Associates, which tried to win WMATA’s business by showing how it had previously helped spin for a Chinatown bus line that had been shut down by the Department of Transportation, offered its own form of Internet pushback for the embattled agency. The firm could, according to its presentation, help WMATA with “adverse search results” and follow Metro discussion on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and, uh, Google+. (WMATA might want its insurance money back on that last one.) O’Neill and Associates had something else to offer: Peter Goelz, the former managing director of the NTSB, works there. At an hourly rate of $350, Goelz helped WMATA staff navigate the NTSB investigation. Most curiously, the crisis response involved taking an interest in at least one individual Twitter user. One of Hill + Knowlton’s staffer, compiling her work on a time sheet, noted that she had “researched and provided analysis on @fixmetro blogger.” That’d be Chris Barnes, the prolific Metro watcher who tweets as @fixmetro. When LL reached Barnes, he was surprised to learn he earned personal notice from WMATA’s spinmeisters. “What a fricking waste of money,” Barnes says. Barnes is puzzled that the transit agency would have to spend money analyzing him, given that he says he regularly exchanges emails with Metro spokesman Dan Stessel. In other words, he says, figuring him out didn’t exactly require extensive research. “I’m happy to sit down and answer whatever questions they’ve got,” Barnes says. “And that’ll be free.” Hill+Knowlton's Proposal: View on DocumentCloud O'Neill and Associates' Proposal: View on DocumentCloud Hill+Knowlton Timesheet: View on DocumentCloud File photo by Darrow Montgomery
So yesterday I got told I was removed from BEASTS. Actually came as quite a shock, as we were playing well and was all getting along up until then… 3 of the team went to epicLAN with a mix and won it, whilst they were there they decided that they wanted to pick up surreal. (even though I got told that wasn’t the reason) But I was told they was speaking about it at the LAN and then neilzinho made a phone call to neil_M and said we’re going to do it. Lost all the respect I had to those players now and was really quite surprised that neilzinho allowed it to happen, known them all for about 5 years and at the first opportunity they decide to make a change even though it wasn’t needed. Especially neil_M who I thought had my back in the team as had to convince the guys to get him in, just goes to how shit the scene is really. Funny thing is that I thought I was playing at a good level and was performing as one of the best in the team, but oh well. Just proves that UK CS won’t be improving much anytime soon with the attitudes the players have. Not sure what I will be doing in terms of competitive cs anymore, think the UK cs dream is dead only hope will be an EU team which is unlikely.
Pin Reddit Share +1 2K Shares So you want to learn the art of picking locks? Well, look no further than our quick and dirty infographical guides to lock picking! The goal behind these visual guides was to extract only the fundamental and necessary components involved in successfully picking a lock, no more — no less. If you are looking for more comprehensive guides that cover the entirety of lock picking, be sure to check out the Academy and our Complete Beginner’s Guide to Lock Picking. Single Pin Picking The first of our techniques in this series of graphical guides is Single Pin Picking. Every technique of lock picking uses two tools — a tension wrench and a lock pick. The tension wrench is used to place rotational tension on the plug of the lock, much like a key does. This aids us in both setting pins and turning the plug when the pins are all set. Single pin picking uses a hook style pick. This pick is specially designed to push and manipulate each pin individually — hence the name “single pin picking.” Raking The next technique in this series is Raking — also known as Scrubbing. Raking is the art of using both luck and skill to open a lock. To rake a lock we need the use of both a tension wrench and a rake type lock pick. These rakes style picks come in a variety of shapes, but all accomplish the same goal — to manipulate multiple pins at once. Rake picks have several peaks and are used by inserting the pick into the lock and scrubbing the pins back and forth — much like brushing your teeth, except much more fun. In theory, the more peaks a rake has, the more pins it can manipulate and the better chance you have of bumping each pin to the shear line. Let’s take a look! Improvised Lock Picking Infographics Utilizing the proper lock picking tools will not only aid in your success but also in the development of your skills. However, we don’t always have these little tools on hand and thus we must improvise. Lock picking can be accomplished with anything that is both small enough to fit into the keyway and malleable enough to form into the proper tools. Bobby Pin Lock Picking Bobby pins have always had this strange subtle link to lock picking. This is likely because they work fantastic on lower level locks and their availability surpasses any other item like them — being found in just about any purse. To pick a lock with a bobby pin, we must first forge our tools. Like any variation of lock picking, we will need both a tension wrench and a pick — hence we need two bobby pins. To make our wrench we need only to bend our first bobby pin into the shape of an “L.” Simple enough! Our pick requires a few extra steps. First strip off the rubber cap on the straight end of the bobby pin. This can be done easily by using fingernails, pliers, or even your teeth. Once the rubber end is removed we can begin making our bends. Start by pulling the bobby pin apart and straightening it. Next, stick the straight end of the bobby pin about 1/3 of an inch into the keyhole of your lock and apply enough pressure to bend the end of the pin into a hook. Other Lock Picking Infographics The art of lock picking, like every craft and skill, involves much more than originally meets the eye. So many questions and concerns arise when venturing into a new craft. To conclude this infographical series, we will touch on the subjects unrelated to the actual techniques of lock picking, starting with applicable laws. Us Lock Picking Laws Before you consider buying a set of lock picks, it is always preferred that you check your state or country laws regarding the legality of owning locksmithing tools. In the United States, there are only five states that do not allow possession of lock picking tools. These states are Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia, and Tennessee. Any other state is free game! For more information on the legality in your state or country check out LockWiki. Taking Your Lock Picking Skills Further! [quads id=”2″] While this simple guide is enough to get anyone’s feet wet, the craft of lock picking doesn’t stop here. Not by a long shot! These were but simple steps for anyone to mimic. By learning the basic theory and techniques behind lock picking, your success at picking locks will skyrocket. And the best part is, it’s not a terribly difficult skill to acquire. Within hours you could be picking locks with a seemingly innate knowledge of not only how locks work, but what exactly you are manipulating within them. If you wish to develop your lock picking skills beyond mere mediocrity, take a look at our comprehensive beginner’s guide to lock picking! Beginner Lock Picking Sets Owning and using the correct tools is vital to any lock picking venture. They not only aid in your success, but they help you develop the “feel” and consistency required to become proficient at the craft. A quality set of lock picks is a relatively low-cost investment and will always be there in your time of need. Be sure to take a look at our most demanded lock pick set below or visit our store for more lock picking sets! As always, Happy Picking! 5/5 (1 Review)
× Manufacturing facility to expand, create 210 jobs in McNairy County SELMER, Tenn. — A local manufacturing facility will soon be expanding, creating new jobs and investing millions of dollars in McNairy County. Monogram Refrigeration, LLC announced its plans on Monday along with Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and the Department of Economic and Community Development. The company’s Selmer location currently makes refrigerators, freezers and similar products. Now it wants to add an additional 120,000 square feet to the building to house the assembly of a new line of refrigerators and freezers as well as the new packaged terminal air conditioners. Overall, the company is expected to invest $9.3 million and create 210 new jobs. Monograms Refrigeration Operation’s Vice President Raymond Deming said the jobs will range from production associates to skilled trade and professional employees. The new products will begin being produced later this year.
Last year, University of Pennsylvania researchers Alexander J. Stewart and Joshua B. Plotkin published a mathematical explanation for why cooperation and generosity have evolved in nature. Using the classical game theory match-up known as the Prisoner’s Dilemma, they found that generous strategies were the only ones that could persist and succeed in a multi-player, iterated version of the game over the long term. But now they’ve come out with a somewhat less rosy view of evolution. With a new analysis of the Prisoner’s Dilemma played in a large, evolving population, they found that adding more flexibility to the game can allow selfish strategies to be more successful. The work paints a dimmer but likely more realistic view of how cooperation and selfishness balance one another in nature. “It’s a somewhat depressing evolutionary outcome, but it makes intuitive sense,” said Plotkin, a professor in Penn’s Department of Biology in the School of Arts & Sciences, who coauthored the study with Stewart, a postdoctoral researcher in his lab. “We had a nice picture of how evolution can promote cooperation even amongst self-interested agents and indeed it sometimes can, but, when we allow mutations that change the nature of the game, there is a runaway evolutionary process, and suddenly defection becomes the more robust outcome.” Their study, which will appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examines the outcomes of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a scenario used in the field of game theory to understand how individuals decide whether to cooperate or not. In the dilemma, if both players cooperate, they both receive a payoff. If one cooperates and the other does not, the cooperating player receives the smallest possible payoff, and the defecting player the largest. If both players do not cooperate, they both receive a payoff, but it is less than what they would gain if both had cooperated. In other words, it pays to cooperate, but it can pay even more to be selfish. Stewart and Plotkin’s previous study examined an iterated and evolutionary version of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, in which a population of players matches up against one another repeatedly. The most successful players “reproduce” more and pass along their winning strategies to the next generation. The researchers found that, in such a scenario, cooperative and even forgiving strategies won out, in part because “cheaters” couldn’t win against themselves. In the new investigation, Stewart and Plotkin added a new twist. Now, not only could players alter their strategy — whether or not they cooperate — but they could also vary the payoffs they receive for cooperating. This, Plotkin said, may more accurately reflect the balancing of risk and reward that occurs in nature, where organisms decide not only how often they cooperate but also the extent to which they cooperate. Initially, as in their earlier study, cooperative strategies found success. “But when cooperative strategies predominate, payoffs will rise as well,” Stewart said. “With higher and higher payoffs at stake, the temptation to defect also rises. In a sense the cooperators are paving the way for their own demise.” Indeed, Stewart and Plotkin found that the population of players reached a tipping point after which defection was the predominant strategy in the population. In a second analysis, they allowed the payoffs to vary outside the order set by the Prisoner’s Dilemma. Instead of unilateral defection winning the greatest reward, for example, it could be that mutual cooperation reaped the greatest payoff, the situation described by a game known as Stag Hunt. Or, mutual defection could generate the lowest possible reward, as described by the game theory model known as the Snowdrift or Hawk-Dove game. What they found was that, again, there was an initial collapse in cooperative strategies. But, as the population continued to play and evolve, players also altered the payoffs so that they were playing a different game, either Snowdrift or Stag Hunt. “So we see complicated dynamics when we allow the full range of payoffs to evolve,” Plotkin said. “One of the interesting results is that the Prisoner’s Dilemma game itself is unstable and is replaced by other games. It is as if evolution would like to avoid the dilemma altogether.” Stewart and Plotkin say their new conception of how strategies and payoffs co-evolve in populations is ripe for testing, with the marine bacteria Vibrionaceae as a potential model. In these bacterial populations, the researchers noted, individuals cooperate by sharing a protein they extrude that allows them to metabolize iron. But the bacteria can possess mutations that alter whether they produce the protein and how much they generate, whether and how much they cooperate, as well as mutations that affect how efficiently they can take up the protein, their payoff. The Penn researchers said a “natural experiment” using these or other microbes could put their theory to the test, to see exactly when and how selfishness can pay off. “After this study, we end up with a less sunny view of the evolution of cooperation,” Stewart said. “But it rings true that it’s not the case that evolution always tends towards happily ever after.” The study received support from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Army Research Office and the Foundational Questions in Evolutionary Biology Fund
President Donald Trump, who spoke at a closed-press fundraiser in Greensboro, did not pinpoint any lawmakers for criticism. \| Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Trump vents to wealthy donors about failure to repeal Obamacare President Donald Trump told a gathering of wealthy donors in North Carolina on Saturday evening that he is determined to push forward on health care reform — but acknowledged that he is facing serious obstacles in doing so. At a time of widespread frustration in the Republican Party about its repeated failure to repeal Obamacare, the president said he wants to restart the talks. But, according to two people present for the remarks, he underscored the challenges of getting a majority of support for any legislation in the Senate, noting that a small group of GOP holdouts opposed the repeal efforts. Story Continued Below The president walked the group through what had been attempted so far. No matter how you approached it, Trump said, getting to the 50-vote threshold was tough. Trump, appearing at the Greensboro home of Republican Party donor Louis DeJoy, did not pinpoint any lawmakers for criticism, as he has done previously with Arizona Sen. John McCain and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, both of whom have balked at getting behind the specific repeal efforts. Trump also chose not to attack Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, another past target of his frustration, the two attendees 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 White House didn’t respond to a request for comment. Trump touched on a variety of topics during the fundraiser, including the looming fight over tax reform, his past experiences on the campaign trail, and hurricane relief efforts. At one point, the president attacked the media for his recent trip to Puerto Rico, expressing frustration over its coverage of him tossing paper towels, basketball-style, to storm victims. But he spent much of the evening discussing health care reform. Several people in attendance said the president did not rule out the possibility of working with Democrats to get something done. Trump earlier on Saturday had tweeted that he had called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Friday to see whether Democrats wanted to work together on “a great HealthCareBill.” Schumer later said in a statement that Trump had suggested another Obamacare repeal-and-replace effort, a non-starter for Democrats. The issue is a sensitive one for Republican Party donors, many of whom spent the past eight years cutting checks to the GOP in hopes of repealing Obamacare. Some influential contributors have said they will not open their wallets until the party passes something. The North Carolina event raised about $2 million for the Republican National Committee and Trump’s reelection efforts. It drew a number of prominent GOP figures in the state, including former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory.
Ross Taylor-Douglas is leaving the Michigan program, and will look to transfer to another school. Taylor-Douglas will graduate this spring, and be eligible to play immediately per NCAA rules. The former three-star recruit from Avon (OH) obtained his release from Michigan after meeting with head coach Jim Harbaugh Tuesday morning. Taylor-Douglas played runningback and cornerback for the Wolverines. "I will be leaving Michigan and looking to transfer to another school," Taylor-Douglas reported. "I loved my time at Michigan, and my degree will benefit me the rest of my life." "I appreciate Coach Harbaugh, and know he's going to do great things at Michigan," he added. "I just want to play football the next two years, so that's why this decision was made." "I wish nothing but the best for my teammates and the coaching staff at Michigan," he concluded. Scout will continue to track Taylor-Douglas over the coming months, and will report on any visits he takes. He is looking to play cornerback at his next school.
Today, HM is proud to premiere Emery’s newest single, “The Less You Say,” as part of the band’s inventive plan to release their entire new album, You Were Never Alone, via podcast. All in all, there are 12 tracks on the band’s upcoming full-length album, due out May 19 from the label they own, BC Music. Emery band members Matt Carter and Toby Morrell are in the midst of a new podcast launch called Break It Down (iTunes), dedicated to the stories behind the songs, with the first 12 episodes the premieres of every track on the band’s sixth studio release. Carter and Morrell both agree on one thing: This is the best song on the album. Carter spoke with HM about their favorite track. You might not believe me, but I am so thankful to have people enjoying this podcast. I was nervous about trying something this different and am overwhelmed by the response. What’s more, this song is actually my favorite on the entire album. Toby says it is his as well. It feels like an old school me song and something we would have tried to write in 2000. It has the perfect blend of Toby’s and Devin’s vocals, and it has some guitar parts that just plain tickle me to listen to and play. I hope you enjoy it at least partly as much as I do. As the members of Emery wrote, recorded and toured, some of them remained committed to their call-it-like-it-is Bad Christian podcast (and accompanying brand), which had skyrocketed out of the gate after its launch in 2013. They were able to begin BC Music with the infrastructure they created with Bad Christian, also dipping their toes into publishing and remaining committed to a cutting edge approach to the music industry.
There's been tons of speculation about what everyone will dress up as for Halloween. Will it be the kids from Stranger Things? A rainbow-haired unicorn? Or will you keep it classic as a witch or a hippie? Polyvore revealed data on the top searches for Halloween costumes this season, and it seems as though the general public has another idea in mind. As it turns out, the top spot goes to Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad. The choice totally makes sense: it incorporates the best parts of all of the costumes we love: It’s a little daring, with fishnets and hot pants, a little sporty with a bomber you’re sure to wear long after Halloween is over, and — to finish it off — you can die your hair a rainbow of colors (at least for one night!). Harley was followed by the below list of top ten contenders. So now the only question is: Who will you be? Courtesy of Polyvore Related: How to Dress Like the Kids of Stranger Things for Halloween
Carly Fiorina, who is running for political office whether she knows it or not, does not want to answer your stupid liberal elitist so-called gotcha “political questions” even if you work for Fox (video below). WALLACE: But forgive me, Miss Fiorina, where are you going to cut entitlements? What benefits are you going to cut? What eligibility are you doing.. FIORINA: Chris, I have to say, with all due respect, you’re asking a typical political question.[…] WALLACE: It may be a typical political question but that’s where the money is. The money is in Medicare and Social Security. We have baby-boomers coming. There will be a huge explosion of entitlement explosion and you call it a political question when I ask you to name one single entitlement you are willing to cut. FIORINA: Chris, I believe to deal with entitlement reform, which we must deal with, we ought to put every possible solution on the table, except we should be very clear we are not going to cut benefits to those nearing retirement or those nearing retirement or those in retirement.[…] WALLACE: I’m going to try one last time, and if you don’t want to answer it, Miss Fiorina, you don’t have to. FIORINA: It’s not a question of not wanting to answer it!
Interview Fatah insisted that the idea of Pakistan ended in 1971 when the "majority of its people said we do not want Pakistan and created Bangladesh". Mohd Asim Khan Pakistan-born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah (he objects to being called a Pakistani) is offending and entertaining in equal measure. From Partition to the interpretation of Islam, he has views that verge on the extreme, and even when speaking on serious topics he glides from the sombre to the ludicrous, blurting out profanities now and breaking into a childlike giggle the next moment. At times, he contradicts himself. Such is the charm of the man that you may disagree with him on all that he is saying, but you just can't dislike him. This is because whatever he says has that tinge of sincerity you can't ignore, even if it is outright controversial. For example, he said communal riots in India would not happen if Indian Muslims forgo their personal law, and objects to names like Taimur (as Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has named his son) and Aurangzeb. Fatah is proud of his roots in India and his Hindu ancestry. He eulogises the great Indian civilisation and calls Pakistan an "abstract idea". But his snide remarks are not reserved only for Pakistanis or Muslims; he also takes India's Hindu right to task over love jihad and their perceived fondness for Hitler. "India is a civilisation that has a past and a future. It's the only civilisation that has that. In spite of being assaulted and attacked and plundered over a thousand years, it has risen up again," Fatah, whose books include "Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State" (2008) and "The Jew Is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism" (2010), told IANS in an interview. "On the other hand, Pakistan is not a nation, it's just a state of mind. There is no such people as 'Pak', like we have Afghans in Afghanistan, Kazakhs in Kazakhstan and Balochs in Balochistan. Where are the Pak people?" he asked. Fatah insisted that the idea of Pakistan ended in 1971 when the "majority of its people said we do not want Pakistan and created Bangladesh". Asked why he doesn't like to be called a Pakistani, Fatah said: "India is a republic rooted in 5,000 years of Indus Valley civilisation, the other (Pakistan) is a concoction of hatred. Pakistan is merely a military enterprise for the jihadis." Fatah went on to say that all the proponents of Pakistan were "Hindu hate mongers", including the celebrated Urdu poet Allama Iqbal. "Iqbal's ancestors were Hindus but he was a Hindu hater. He went to the extent of plagiarising his own poetry to attack the Hindus. I would call people in India who are still celebrating Iqbal and singing his tarana (anthem) as idiots," Fatah said. However, despite calling Partition a tragedy, Fatah has little tolerance for the idea of Pakistan -- or any of its component territories -- merging with India. "Why should Pakistan merge with India. Bhutan is an independent country; so why not Balochsitan or Sindh? What is this obsession with territories? It's a very feudal concept," he said. Although he believes that Balochistan and Sindh should be independent countries, he dismisses separatist movements within India such as that for Khalistan or Azad Kashmir or Bodoland as "ideas drawn up in Pakistan's boardrooms". On Kashmir, he said that although the Kashmiris fit his definition of a nation, like the Balochs, they can't be given independence as "Kashmiris themselves opted to join India in 1947". Fatah also has an objection to Indian Muslims naming their children after kings and Sultans such as Aurangzeb and Taimur. "Indian Muslims have made people like Aurangzeb their heroes. That's why Saif Ali Khan has named his son Taimur. His wife says my husband is a historian. Is this what they got in history?" Fatah asked. So what should have been the baby's name, in his opinion? Pat came the reply: "Hitler rakh lete jee, toh Hinduon ko bhi thand par jaati. (They should have named him "Hitler" instead, so that even Hindus would have liked it). Because the (right wing) Hindus are so fond of Hitler. It's only in India that Hitler's books sell like hot cakes." The Canada-based writer has no love lost for Indian Muslims who flaunt surnames which show their Arab lineage such as Hashmi, Naqvi and Bukhari. "By flaunting surnames like Hashmi and Qureshi, they are saying 'we are not Indians, we are Arabs'. Only the Muslims who have converted from Hindus are Indians," he said. "But this phenomenon plagues all Indians. Even Hindus who have made money take fancy names. So Namrita becomes Nikki Haley and Piyush becomes Bobby Jindal. They are all liars," Fatah said. While slamming the mullahs for stopping inter-religious marriages -- which he said happened quite frequently in undivided India -- Fatah does not spare the Hindus. "The mindless Hindus are talking of love jihad. What nonsense is this? It is the fundamental human right of a man or woman who they choose to marry," he said. Fatah said that Indian Muslims are to be blamed for communal riots in India. "You end Muslim personal law, the communal riots would end. Muslims want communal riots and blame Hindus," he said. (Mohd Asim Khan can be contacted at mohd.a@ians.in)
House OKs small biz jobs bill NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- One week after the Senate passed a $42 billion bill aimed at helping small businesses, the House voted Thursday to send the bill to President Obama's desk. The measure, which passed the House in a 237 to 187 vote, is aimed at creating 500,000 jobs, according to a Senate summary of the bill. The Small Business Jobs Act also is intended to make credit more available for Main Street and enacts about $12 billion in tax breaks. The president will sign the bill into law on Monday. "The small business jobs bill passed today will help provide loans and cut taxes for millions of small business owners without adding a dime to our nation's deficit," said Obama in a statement. Not only is Obama under pressure to create jobs, but he started talking about getting cheap capital to small businesses nearly a year ago. The House first passed a version of the legislation about 3 months ago, but the bill met stiff Republican opposition in the Senate. After months of debate and significant pressure from the White House, the Senate finally passed the bill in a 61 to 38 vote last week. The president chided Congress for the politicking even as he celebrated the passage. "After months of partisan obstruction and needless delay, I'm grateful that Democrats and a few Republicans came together to support this common-sense plan to put Americans back to work," he said. The Financial Services Roundtable, a group of the nation's largest financial institutions, supports the bill. "Small businesses are the linchpin of our nation's economic growth and well-being," said Steve Bartlett, president of the Roundtable. Republicans have largely opposed the bill: The votes in both the House and the Senate have fallen nearly on party lines. "Unfortunately, this bill does nothing to help end the uncertainty that is crippling job creation and hurting small businesses," said House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "Instead it puts taxpayers on the hook for even more bailouts." What is in the bill: The Small Business Jobs Act authorizes the creation of a $30 billion fund run by the Treasury Department that would deliver ultra-cheap capital to banks with less than $10 billion in assets. The idea is that community banks do the lion's share of lending to small businesses, and pumping capital into them will get money in the hands of Main Street businesses. Another provision aims to increase the flow of capital by providing $1.5 billion in grants to state lending programs that in turn support loans to small businesses. The state programs have proven themselves to be efficient, targeted and effective, but with many states struggling to balance their budgets, the programs are going broke. The bill would also provide a slew of tax breaks that will cost $12 billion over a decade, according to a preliminary estimate from the Joint Committee on Taxation. The breaks aim to encourage small businesses to purchase new equipment, to incentivize venture capital firms to invest in small businesses, and to motivate entrepreneurs to start their own business. Another provision of the legislation increases the loan limits on government-backed loans. It also extends the popular loan sweeteners for Small Business Administration loans through the end of the year. The sweeteners, initiated with the 2009 Recovery Act, have been a ,stimulus success story, and small businesses have been in line waiting for more funding. There are quite a few tax breaks, but here is a rundown of five that have the potential to be game changers for the small businesses that are affected: 100% exclusion of capital gains: The bill would eliminate capital gains taxes on investments in qualifying small businesses. To qualify for the tax break, a small business needs to be a C corporation - sorry, LLCs and S-corps - with assets of less than $50 million. The investor must buy the stock at "original issue," meaning it's purchased directly from the company, and has to hold it for at least five years. Carry back provision extended to 5 years: When a business books a profit, it pays income tax on its earnings. But if the business then turns a loss in later years, tax rules allow the business to "carry back" its loss and deduct the money from earlier profits. By filing an amended tax return for the earlier, profitable year, the business can claim an immediate refund on the taxes it paid. The bill allows certain small businesses to extend the carryback for 5 years. Increase of Section 179: To motivate companies to go spend money on equipment, "Section 179" of the tax code allows businesses to write off capital expenditures immediately, putting cash in a company's pocket quickly. Thanks to the Recovery Act, businesses can write off up to $250,000 worth of equipment through 2009. This bill extends the benefit through 2011 and the maximum increases to $500,000. Bonus depreciation extension: Businesses can also opt to recover the cost of capital expenditures by writing off a bit of the cost of the purchase over a number of years, following a depreciation schedule. Temporarily, businesses can front-load that deduction by writing off 50% of capital expenditures made in 2008 and 2009. This bill extends that first-year depreciation for qualifying property that is put in service in 2010. Help for start-ups: Currently, entrepreneurs can deduct up to $5,000 in start-up expenses. That amount is reduced by the amount that the start-up's expenses exceed $50,000. The bill would increase the deduction to $10,000 for 2010, and the deduction would be reduced by the amount that an entrepreneur exceeds $60,000.
That year, Mr. Corley was in a visiting room with his wife when Simon Prindle, a New York State corrections officer, ordered him to leave the room and stand against a wall with his legs spread because he wanted to make sure Mr. Corley did not have an erection, according to the complaint. Officer Prindle, the complaint says, then “paused to fondle and squeeze Mr. Corley’s penis,” and threatened Mr. Corley when he objected. Mr. Corley had nightmares after the episode, and filed a grievance, but did not get anywhere with it, according to the complaint. Four days later, the complaint says, Officer Prindle stopped Mr. Crawford as he left the prison’s dining hall after lunch. While searching him, Officer Prindle “grabbed” Mr. Crawford’s penis, asking “What’s that?” According to the complaint, Mr. Crawford said: “That’s my penis, man. What the hell are you doing?” Officer Prindle continued to press Mr. Crawford against the wall, “squeezed and roamed” with his hands around the inmate’s genitals, and threatened to send him to solitary confinement if he resisted. Mr. Crawford subsequently went to a therapist to report the episode and seek treatment. Inmates at the prison filed more than 20 grievances against Officer Prindle, saying that he had sexually abused or harassed them by, among other things, directing prisoners to bend over and spread their buttocks for a proper anal-cavity search, said Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma and Adam D. Perlmutter, lawyers for Mr. Corley and Mr. Crawford. In 2014, Norman A. Mordue, a federal judge in the Northern District of New York, dismissed the men’s case. He cited a 1997 Second Circuit opinion, Boddie v. Schnieder, as establishing the standard for the sexual abuse that must occur for prisoners to claim a violation of their Eighth Amendment rights.
College students love socialism, just look at how Bernie Sanders captivated the youth vote during the Democrat Primaries. However, if you were to ask them to define it, you might not be able to get a straight answer. Campus Reform visited Washington D.C to ask college students “Do you like socialism?” and then asked “What is socialism?” Many students expressed favor for socialism, though when they were asked what it was, had trouble articulating an answer. If these kids can’t even define socialism, you can hardly expect them to recall the tens of millions who have been slaughtered under socialist and Marxist regimes throughout the 20th century. Hopefully they get a chance to take Econ 101 next semester. Via Campus Reform: Last year, a poll was released showing 53 percent of Americans under age 35 are dissatisfied with our nation’s current economic system and think socialism would be good for the country. “I guess just, you know, getting rid of that wealth gap in the United States?” The same poll found that 45 percent of young Americans would be willing to support an openly socialist Presidential candidate. The findings of this poll coincide with the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders, an avowed “Democratic Socialist” from Vermont who received millions of votes in the 2016 Democratic Primary, many of them from millennials. While it’s clear that young people increasingly view socialism in a positive light, it’s also clear that many of them are uneducated about what it entails, or the impact it’s had throughout history. The same poll found many millennials are unfamiliar with historical figures often associated with socialism, such as Che Guevara, Joseph Stalin, and Karl Marx.
Gay man who tried to poison lesbian neighbours with slug pellets over three-legged cat feud walks free Gary Stewart leaves Minshall St Crown Court after being sentenced for attempting to poison his lesbian neighbours A gay man who attempted to poison his lesbian neighbours by pouring slug pellets into their curry after they accused him of kidnapping their three-legged cat has walked free from court. Gary Stewart, 37, had fallen out with his neighbours, Ann Marie Walton, 38, and Beverley Sales, 36. But in an apparent bid to restore cordial relations with the pair he offered them a curry from a local Indian takeaway. When the couple went to eat the meal they found the curry sauce was laced with dozens of tiny blue slug pellets. Afterwards Stewart said he had done it after he had found the tyres to his car had been slashed with a knife. He texted a friend saying: 'It was them next door, the f******* fat lesbians, I'm glad I've poisoned them and yes it was slug pellets.' He was sentenced to a six month suspended jail sentence at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester after pleading guilty to attempting to poison the two women on September 22 last year. The court was told Mr Stewart, who is HIV positive, was devastated after his partner Paul Kleisier, 43, died of an Aids related illness last summer. He had previously got on well with his neighbours in Denton, Manchester, Miss Sales, an HGV driver, and Miss Walton, a full-time mother, but fell out with them last year after a series of petty arguments Then last summer they were involved in a furious row after Stewart told the council they were neglecting their eight-year-old son, Jack, and social workers were called to carry out an investigation. After that Stewart is alleged to have kidnapped the family's three-legged cat, Amber, and dumped her in a village miles away. Beverley Sales (left) and Ann Marie Walton called police when they found blue pellets in the curry The cat was eventually found after posters showing a photograph of her led to her discovery at the home of a woman who had taken her in about three miles away. On September 22 Stewart called Miss Walton and offered her a takeaway curry as a peace offering. He claimed he had been given the curry by a friend but claimed he was going out for the evening and was unable to eat it all. Miss Walton said she would collect the curry but fell asleep, so Stewart brought it round to the house and handed it to Miss Sales, telling her to ensure she shared some of the meal with Miss Walton. Robert Smith, prosecuting, said: 'Both examined the curry later that evening and noticed it had a chemical smell. On closer inspection it looked as though there were blue pellets in it.' The police were called and tests found the curry had been laced with toxic metaldehyde slug pellets. Slug pellets are poisonous and can be extremely dangerous to animals and children. The chemical is classed as 'moderately hazardous' by the World Health Organisation and would not normally kill an adult. But last year vets had to destroy more than a dozen dogs and scores of cats after they ingested the pellets. There have been no known deaths of children or adults from eating slug pellets. Philip Barnes, defending, said: 'He does not offer any excuse for his behaviour. The defendant was given the food in question as a thank you but brought the curry round, because of his own illness he was unable to eat it. 'This can be seen as an act of thoughtlessness and stupidity by a man troubled by his own grief.' Sentencing him, Judge Jonathan Foster QC said: 'This was a mean offence. I fail to understand precisely what you thought you were doing. 'In any event I am prepared to accept that you realized you would not cause any serious harm even if this food was consumed.' Detective Constable Graham Masheter, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'What Stewart did was premeditated and totally shocking. 'He has known the victims for several years and for no apparent reason has decided to try and inflict the misery he felt in his own life on them. 'Had either woman eaten the curry they would have become quite ill - thankfully they noticed and contacted police.'
OREGON'S OLDEST AMA CHARTERED ROAD CLUB ROSE CITY OREGON 500 Saturday, May 11, 2019 The Rose City Oregon "500" is a tour rally for motorcycles of approximately 500 miles in length. Now in its 46th year, the "500" is a great way to spend your day in a long tour through beautiful Oregon. Here is an ENTRY FORM that you can print. Just fill out the form and include a check that covers $19.00 for each person pre-entry, and mail it to: Rose City Motorcycle Club Oregon 500 P.O. Box 91339 Portland, OR 97291-1339 NO PRE-ENTRIES ACCEPTED AFTER May 4th EVENT SCHEDULE: Sign-in will be between 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. at the Beaverton Motorcycles located at 10380 S.W. Cascade Blvd., Tigard, Oregon . The starting time will be between 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Want directions to the Beaverton Motorcycles ? Here is a MAP The finish cut-off time is 8:00 p.m. and awards will be presented between 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. The winning time and mileage will be established by averaging all the times and mileages of all the finishing motorcycles. The entrant finishing nearest the official average time and mileage, plus or minus, will be declared the winner of each class. Unclaimed awards will not be forwarded. Participation Classes for Time and Mileage are: 4 places AMA, non-AMA rider; 4 places AMA, non-AMA passenger; 2 place AMA, non-AMA sidecar/trike. In addition there are awards for Youngest and Oldest Passenger on a motorcycle, Oldest Motorcycle, Smallest Motorcycle, Sweepstakes. Entrants will receive the ROSE CITY OREGON 500 tour pin and/or year bar, official route instructions and route card. The checkpoints on the course will be manned. All participants are urged to strictly observe all State and Local traffic laws. THIS IS NOT A RACE SUGGESTIONS FOR ENJOYING THE TOUR . . . DON'T RIDE ALONE Ride in groups of two to four motorcycles. A large group will slow you down at gas stops, rest stops and checkpionts. STAY DRY WITH RAIN GEAR. This is Oregon in May. Dress WARMLY. You can always take it off, but you can't put it on if you don't have it with you. Rose City Motorcycle Club believes that motorcycling is a family sport and we welcome children and young adults at our events. For this reason, we will provide a Notary Public for your convenience. A NOTARY PUBLIC WILL BE PRESENT AT SIGN-IN. Page was last updated on :
Sources say decision to stop broadcasting controversial channel is not connected to Fox’s £11.7bn takeover bid for Sky Rupert Murdoch has taken the rightwing US channel Fox News off the air in the UK after 15 years. His US media group 21st Century Fox said it would withdraw Fox News from Sky in the UK on Tuesday because it no longer regarded the service as commercially viable. The decision came as Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, is set to return her verdict on whether to ask the competition regulator to launch an investigation into the Murdochs’ adherence to broadcasting standards in the UK as part of an inquiry into Fox’s £11.7bn takeover bid for Sky. However, sources said the decision to stop broadcasting Fox News, which went off air at 4pm, was not connected to the takeover bid, arguing that the channel attracted only about 2,000 viewers a day in the UK. “[Fox] has decided to cease providing a feed of Fox News Channel in the UK,” a spokeswoman for the company said. “Fox News is focused on the US market and designed for a US audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the UK. We have concluded that it is not in our commercial interest to continue providing Fox News in the UK.” Fox News has become increasingly troublesome for the Murdochs as they attempt to buy Sky. The channel is embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal that led to a string of high-profile figures leaving, including the chairman Roger Ailes, who has since died, and leading presenter Bill O’Reilly. It has also been accused of colluding with Donald Trump’s White House on a discredited story about a murdered Democrat activist, which critics of the Murdochs have compared to the News of the World hacking the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Ofcom, the UK media regulator, has also made a number of rulings against Fox News broadcasts in the last year, adding to the total of 22 breaches by Fox of its licence and Ofcom’s codes and rules in the last decade. Of those, Fox News was responsible for seven, including four last year, one of them being a programme which featured a guest who said Birmingham was a city “where non-Muslims just simply don’t go”. Tom Watson, the deputy Labour leader and shadow culture secretary, said the disappearance of Fox News from British screens should not affect the government’s decision on whether 21st Century Fox should be allowed to buy Sky. “Fox News has breached Ofcom’s rules over and over again, so 21st Century Fox clearly thought it was easier to pull it from the UK altogether than to clean up its act,” Watson said. “But the ongoing corporate governance and sexual harassment scandal at Fox News is still deeply relevant to the question of whether 21st Century Fox should be allowed to take over Sky, whether the channel is broadcast here or not.” Fox News was taken off air between 5am and 11pm on election day to avoid any issues with Ofcom. UK fans of Fox News will not be able to turn to the internet to watch the channel as it is not streamed online. Only clips of Fox News programming are available online. Sky, which is 39% controlled by 21st Century Fox, continues to fund Sky News, which loses tens of millions of pounds a year. Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader and long-time Murdoch critic, said: “This decision shows the Murdochs panicking about their bid for Sky. It amounts to an admission that despite having broadcast here year after year, Fox News is not fit for UK broadcasting in the standards and ethics of its journalism. It’s yet more proof that the Murdochs can’t be trusted to own 100% of Sky. “Stopping broadcasting in the UK changes nothing. Fox News in the US is the Murdochs’ channel, they are responsible for its broadcasting standards and the appalling racial and sexual harassment that happened on their watch. The Murdochs can’t run from their record at Fox News.”
Gov. Scott Walker is asking for donations to pay off his campaign debt. Credit: Associated Press By of the Facing an estimated $1 million in debt from his failed presidential campaign, Gov. Scott Walker is now soliciting donations to pay it off. "As things changed dramatically in the presidential race, 'Walker for America' incurred a campaign debt and it is my hope that you and all of our supporters will chip in and make an online contribution of $10, $35, $50, $100, $250, or more so we can end this campaign in the black," Walker wrote in a fundraising email sent this week. "It is a lot to ask, I know, but we feel personally obligated to make sure that every small business that extended us their good faith and credit is repaid." The Wisconsin governor dropped out of the 2016 presidential race in September, and campaign finance reports released last month showed his short-lived campaign raised $7.4 million but spent money as quickly as it came. Those reports showed the campaign burned through about $90,000 a day, in part due to exorbitant salaries paid to a massive staff. Walker's email noted that the race "didn't turn out the way we wanted" but stressed that he is back at work in his office in the state Capitol. "While we are disappointed, there are always new ways to serve others and plenty of conservative reforms to enact in Wisconsin," Walker wrote. "For a kid who grew up in small-town America, whose family didn't have a lot of money, the opportunity to run for president of the United States is an experience I will never forget." On Friday, Walker said that while he wouldn't be on the stage when Republican presidential candidates descend on Milwaukee for Tuesday night's debate, he plans to be in the audience with his family. "Tonette and I and the boys will be there. We wanted to participate in it because it's here in Wisconsin. And because we know not just the candidates, we know a good chunk of the families," the governor said Friday. "A number of the governors, in particular, our families have known each other for years. We've gotten to know some of the senators along the way. And so it will be nice to welcome them here to the state of Wisconsin." Walker will also make appearances on Monday with two 2016 hopefuls, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. Walker is scheduled to join Bush at a charter school event at La Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha, and attend a campaign fundraiser Rubio is doing for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester). The governor spoke with reporters at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Friday after addressing a young professionals convention there. In his fundraising email, Walker briefly addressed questions about his political future. "When God closes one door, another one opens," he wrote. "While I don't know exactly what the future holds, trust me, we will continue leading the fight for big, bold conservative change in Wisconsin and across America." The liberal group One Wisconsin Now slammed Walker for doing fundraising rather than focusing on economic problems in the state, such as the announcement this week that the Oscar Mayer plant in Madison would be shuttering, resulting in the loss of 1,000 jobs. "Wisconsin families are being thrown into chaos and losing their jobs because Scott Walker was more focused on chasing his own presidential ambitions than doing his job as governor," One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross said. "And now, instead of taking even one iota of responsibility for his failure, he's shaking down donors to pay off the debt he rang up on the campaign trail paying bloated salaries to political operatives and even his own family." On Friday, Walker said the decision by the corporate parent Kraft Heinz Co. to close Oscar Mayer in Madison was "part of a global corporate decision" that was "not a reflection of Wisconsin." He added that he was still trying to meet with the Kraft Heinz CEO. Walker had faced criticism from Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, who said he was mystified that the state had apparently not done anything to keep the plant in Wisconsin. Walker responded Friday by voicing concern about people pointing fingers but added that he couldn't understand why Soglin didn't contact him if he was concerned about a possible plant closure. "I think just about any other mayor we've dealt with in the state would immediately respond by reaching out to us. We had no communication from the mayor or his office to our office or to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.," Walker said. "That's a little surprising to us."
In the 2012 lockout shortened NHL season, fans of hockey saw a few outbreak performances from some unknown goalies. Household names like Henrik Lundqvist and Jonathan Quick continued to be great netminders, while others like Sergei Bobrovski and Craig Anderson almost came out of nowhere and stole the show. Storylines from Bobrovsky winning the Vezina trophy, to Marc-Andre Fleury falling apart in the playoffs made this season a unique one for goaltending. The goalie may not just be the single most important position in hockey, but in all of sports, which is why this list of the top 30 goalies in hockey is so valuable. There are many goalies in this upcoming season that can move up or move down on this list. Lists like these are always subject to change, and rightfully so. Finding a consistent goalie in this league is difficult, but if you can, he will be the backbone of the team. Note: This list is the best 30 goalies in hockey, not just starting goalies, which is why you may see two goalies representing the same fortunate team. Today I present you with #30 through 16. Be sure to check back tomorrow as we start at #15 and countdown to the #1 goaltender in the NHL. 30. Semyon Varlamov You may have seen his mug in a commercial, but more importantly he’s coming off of easily his worst season to date. If Varlamov can’t turn it around this season, Colorado may be looking elsewhere in net. He’s still young, and has time to turn it around, but with a young Avalanche team, he will need to find a way to play consistent goaltending. 29. Ondrej Pavalec, Winnipeg Jets Pavelec has been very inconsistent in net for Winnipeg, and i seriously considered leaving him off this list. His .905 Save % was the lowest of his career last season, and this up coming season will be make or break for the Czech netminder. 28. Ray Emery, Philadelphia Flyers Emery filled in for an injured Corey Crawford in Chicago and went 17 – 1. Although playing behind such a great team, it gave him the opportunity to sign as a free agent where he will hopefully provide stability in net for Philly. Can it happen? For the Flyers sake, let’s just hope so. I don’t know if Ray is the definitive answer at goaltender, as many questions will need to be answered. 27. Jaroslav Halak, St. Louis Blues Halak’s season was shortened by injuries, but if he can get back to his 2011 form (just like as with Elliot), St. Louis will have the dynamic pairing in net they once had. Halak has had success, but will have to win the starting job back from Brian Elliot. 26. James Reimer, Toronto Maple Leafs If not for a third quarter collapse in game seven against the Bruins, Reimer may have found himself a bit higher on this list. But alas, the Maple Leafs traded for Jonathan Bernier to bolster up goaltending, and Reimer has some real competition for playing time. I like Reimer, and since he is so young i expect to find him on this list come next season. If not, you know who won the starting job. 25. Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning Bishop is very similar to Pekka Rinne in terms of size (6’7″), and the comparison is often made. Going in to a full season with one team will help him and Tampa can groom him for long term success.He and Andres Lindback will fight for the number one spot for the Lightning. 24. Devan Dubnyk, Edmonton Oilers Dubnyk has been highly criticized by many Oilers fans, but is young and can grow as the team should make the playoffs this season. This next Edmonton season is a deal breaker with Devan, and if he doesn’t improve will have to look elsewhere for a goalie. 23. Evgeni Nabokov, New York Islanders Nabokov was asked to carry almost 100% of the workload last year in net. In an 82 game season, that cant happen. Nabokov is still a good goalie, but the days of him starting 65 games a year are long gone. 22. Jonathan Bernier, Toronto Maple Leafs Even though I’m high on Bernier, I believe there are many good goalies and it shows in his ranking. He can be a number one goalie, and this season is his time to shine. This may have been the only good move Toronto made this off season (It was). 21. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins Fleury proved to be the most impossible player to rank on this list. If he can recapture his last 2000’s form, he can help Pittsburgh to another title. If he can’t, you wont find him on this list next season. There are no excuses this season playing behind such a star-studded lineup. 20. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals Holtby had an all-around solid 2012 season. After being thrust into a 2011 playoff series versus the Rangers, he took over the reigns as the starting goalie in D.C. Holtby has the potential to shoot up the rankings this season. 19. Brian Elliot, St. Louis Blues Elliot took over for Jaroslav Halak as the starting goalie in St. Louis due to an injury. Coming off of a Jennings trophy the season prior, the goaltending for the Blues took a big hit. Elliot had a decent performance, but it’s not close to his 2011 season. If he can get back to playing that way, he will earn his nineteenth slot on this list. 18. Mike Smith, Pheonix Coyotes Smith has the potential to end this upcoming season as a top-10 goalie, but has shown throughout his career than consistency has been an issue. If he can find success behind an amazing Coyotes defensive system, and stick with it, Phoenix will be back in the playoffs. 17. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks Luongo’s tenure in Vancouver has been odd to say the least. Management promises a trade, then trade’s the other guy. Either way, new coach JohnTortorella hopes to rejuvenate Roberto’s career, and get him back to Stanley Cup form. It can happen, it’s just remained to be seen. 16. Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild Backstrom has been the starter in Minnesota since 2007. He has been a good goalie, quite steady and dependable, but not elite. Perhaps the product of a good system, Backstrom has had some success in Minnesota. That said, I don’t believe he is a top-15 goalie, and he will have much to prove with the strongest Wild team since he’s been there. Remember to check back tomorrow beginning with #15 on our list, culminating in the #1 goalie in the NHL. Thanks for reading, please feel free to follow me on twitter – @Larry_Scotti. Give the rest of the hockey department a follow while you’re at it – @LastWordBigMick, @ddmatthews, @dasimonetta, @CanuckPuckHead, @lastwordBKerr, @CMS_74, @TheHockeyMitch, and @LastWordOnNHL, and follow the site @lastwordonsport. Interested in writing for LastWordOnSports? If so, check out our “Join Our Team” page to find out how. Main photo credit: bridgetds via photopin cc
At the last minute, when it seemed that a break was inevitable, the Greek government made a new proposal which included substantial additional concessions to the demands of Europe’s bankers and capitalists. It is not only that the Syriza government has been forced to abandon substantial points of its own election program, but even the famous “red lines” have been crossed. This is not what one would normally understand as a “negotiation”, in which both parts come together at a middle point. Rather, the Syriza government has been forced to accept and agree to every demand of the troika. The latest Greek proposal amounts to 8bn euro worth of austerity measures over 2 years. Summary of measures - click to enlarge Most of these are in the form of increases in the rate of VAT for different products and services. This accounts for 2bn euro and includes an end to the special VAT rate for Greek islands (which is likely to be opposed by Syriza’s government partner ANEL (Independent Greeks). VAT of course is a regressive tax, which hits working people harder. An additional 1.5bn is to be saved through cuts in pensions. These are not actual cuts in the amount pensioners receive, but they are cuts nevertheless as pensioners’ health and other contributions will be raised. There will be also a phasing out of early retirement schemes and an increase in the retirement age to 67 years by 2025. This breaks yet another of the government’s self imposed “red lines” and comes after cuts in pensions of up to 48% in the last 4 years. Another 1.7bn will be raised through taxing companies. This includes a 410 million increase in corporation tax next year, as well as a one-off 1.3bn profits tax for companies with profits over 500,000 euro. These are the only really progressive taxation measures in the whole package. Other aspects of the proposal which were already included in the document presented by Varoufakis to the troika last week are the maintenance of the regressive property tax (ENFIA) introduced under the Memorandum, as well as the continuation of the privatisations program. An end to privatisations and the immediate abolition of ENFIA were two key points of the Thessaloniki program on which Syriza stood in the election. Five months later, very little is left of the popular mandate which Syriza got on January 25 to put an end to austerity policies and the Memoranda signed by previous governments. One is justified in asking, even from the point of view of the supporters of the government’s negotiating tactics, whether it was worth waiting all this time, if in the end the demands of the troika have been met. What was the point of the report by the official Audit Committee on Public Debt which was presented last week by Parliament speaker Zoe Konstantopoulo which declared Greece’s public debt as “odious, illegitimate and illegal”? The report was very clear in its conclusions: ““All the evidence we present in this report shows that Greece not only does not have the ability to pay this debt, but also should not pay this debt first and foremost because the debt emerging from the Troika’s arrangements is a direct infringement of the fundamental human rights of the residents of Greece. Hence, we came to the conclusion that Greece should not pay this debt because it is illegal, illegitimate and odious.” (Link). Now the government has committed itself to further austerity measures in order to continue paying this very same debt. Not only this, but as many observers have commented, this is an austerity package which will knock off the already battered economy 1.51% of GDP this year and 2.87% next year (which is in fact slightly more than the 1.5 and 2.5% demanded by “the institutions” (as the troika is now known). This will have a severe recessionary impact on the already fragile Greek economy, which in turn is likely to prevent the agreed targets for primary budget surplus from being met. This is an unmitigated disaster and the continuation of the failed policies of the last 5 years. Even despite all the concessions which the troika has extracted from the Greek government by using extreme pressure and blackmail, the deal has not been closed. A new meeting of the Eurogroup has been convened for Wednesday evening to iron out the last details. It is still possible that they will demand even more detailed commitments (read concessions) from the Greek government. Even this morning, the German Vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel declared “We will see if the Greek proposals are sufficient. If not, we’ll have to keep talking.” The deal, or proposed deal, means that Greece continues to be shackled to the chains of austerity and cuts. The question now is, how will society react to this? The great expectations created by the election of Syriza have been progressively dissipating over the last five months of endless negotiations with the troika which every day have brought ever greater concessions to its demands. There are already reports of opposition by pensioners who have called a demonstration against the deal this afternoon, as well as the Communist trade union front PAME. There is also opposition from within Syriza. Left Platform supporters within the government will now be faced with a stark choice: to oppose these measures and be kicked out of the cabinet, or cave in and backtrack on their earlier promise not to vote for austerity. There are media reports that even before the latest concessions, a prominent member of the Syriza leadership Vassilis Chatzilamprou, who was until recently a member of the majority faction supporting Tsipras, said: “We cannot accept strict, recessionary measures. People have now reached their limits.” Central Committee member Stathis Kouvelakis, from the Left Platform, commented: “The list of the measures of the new austerity package proposed by the Syriza government is absolutely depressing… Will this downward spiral stop before it's too late! It's more than time for the social movements and the combative forces of the Left to wake up and fight!” The Communist Tendency has correctly described the latest Greek offer as a new “Memorandum” and urged “members of parliament, officers and members of SYRIZA and all other trends and components to take a clear position and to resist the flagrant breach of popular mandate from the government and the party leadership. The party's MPs should commit to vote against the Memorandum agreement.” (Link) There is now talk by the European Union of providing Greece with 35 bn euro worth of aid programs, perhaps with the aim of softening the blow and helping the government get these measures passed. The truth is that this climb down is the result of the relentless pressure imposed by the troika, the representatives of the bankers and capitalists, on the Greek government for the past 5 months. All sorts of blackmail, threats, withholding of funds and dirty tactics have been used in order to force the Greek government to capitulate to their demands. Syriza was elected on the basis of a program of putting an end to austerity and the Memorandums, but European capitalists could not allow it to implement it. In reality, what this means is that within the limits of capitalism, there is very little room for implementing any other policy, other than cuts and austerity. From the very beginning, Syriza’s Communist Tendency warned that the Thessaloniki program was based on the false idea that the troika would agree to make substantial concessions. Now this has been proven to be a correct assessment. A sharp change of course is required, and this can only come from the mass mobilisation of the Greek working people, those who voted for Syriza together with the Syriza members and activists against this latest deal imposed by the troika. But we must speak clearly and honestly. The conditions for such mobilisation are now much worse that they were five months ago. At that time the government could count on rates of popular support of up to 80% and there were spontaneous mass demonstrations. Now there is a mood of shock, anger and confusion. Support for the government has slowly evaporated and there have even been sizeable anti-government demonstrations in Syntagma Square over the last few days, something which would have been unthinkable before. In reality, the only way to effectively mobilise Greek workers, pensioners, youth, the unemployed, is to offer a clear alternative to austerity policies. That can only be done on the basis of a program which would include the immediate repudiation of the debt, the nationalisation of the banks and key levers of the economy, the reversal of all austerity measures and a shock program of social emergency dealing with housing, healthcare, education and other basic needs - a socialist program. What the experience of Greece in the last five months demonstrates is that if one accepts the logic of capitalism then that is a slippery slope towards implementing austerity policies which make workers pay for the crisis of capitalism. The only way to break with austerity and cuts, to put an end to the Memoranda, is to break with capitalism.
Yesterday, news broke of a settlement and a sealed ruling by jury in the case initiated by Ray William Johnson against Jukin Media. At the outset, Johnson sued Jukin Media for inappropriately flagging his content and hitting him with copyright claims for clips used in his highly popular show “=3”. Jukin Media countered but did not win its attempts at getting a summary judgement from the presiding Judge Stephen V. Wilson. Summary judgement is a particular ruling in the courts that is decided upon by the judge according to terms of the law versus factual or evidentiary support, i.e. a judge can determine if an action was unlawful versus sending it to trial. In the Fall of 2015, Judge Wilson ruled against summary judgement pushing the case to trial. And so it commenced, this past Tuesday, March 1st in downtown Los Angeles. As we previously reported, Johnson and his legal team had the burden of proving that each of the 40 clips in question fell under the terms of Fair Use, specifically, as Johnson’s legal lead, Tom Vidal, noted during opening statements “in the comments and criticism” section of the Fair Use law, also citing parody as a reason Fair Use applied to Johnson’s show. (See below for a full list of Fair Use considerations that the jury had to follow). While on the opposing side, Jukin Media’s lawyer Jessica Grant pushed the jury to see Johnson as a thief who, despite claiming that his show was for entertainment and not for profit, was making money on the backs of individuals whose rights for revenue were being compromised by Johnson’s thievery. “This is a case where the creator takes a video, makes money from it and doesn’t pay a penny [to the owner],” she said in her opening statements. “Without these videos, his show wouldn’t even exist.” And that is the kicker to the entire case. Effectively, with this settlement, Ray William Johnson could no longer have a viable show format unless he decides to pay a licensing fee to every owner of the clips he uses in the show, going forward. His entire business model revolves around low production budget, high views, and in turn, high dollar margins from ad revenues. License fees cut the profits, not to mention the legal team needed to execute those agreements on behalf of the show. Since premiering the show, Johnson estimates that he’s used over 2000 clips in “Equals Three”, meaning he could also face dozens of residual suits for copyright violations for videos not sourced from the Jukin Media library. Further, as was presented in evidence from Jukin Media’s cross examination of Johnson in court, Jukin gave Johnson the option to pay a $350/clip license fee and he declined, noting that if he had to pay Jukin, he’d have to pay everyone else appearing on “=3”. Now, who’s the =3? (Sorry, had to. On we go.) “What this case should not become is who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy. Whether he has good intent or bad intent is irrelevant,” said Judge Wilson in court. To a degree, especially for the jury purposes, Wilson was right. But Johnson is simply one example of a creator taking liberties to exploit the law and perhaps he’ll become the cautionary tale the open-web needs to finally put pressure on rampant violators. Take, for instance, SoFlo Antonio, a prankster who has generated quite a bad wrap amongst the YouTube community for stealing content and reposting as his own (see below video, or check out this Reddit thread, or speak to any MCN that represents YouTube creators). SoFlo has even been said to give source video owners fabricated contracts saying he owns rights to re-publish, monetize, and re-distribute those source videos anywhere on the web, according to one source who works at an MCN and has seen the fabricated contracts. What’s more is that when angry YouTubers tried to game SoFlo at his own pirating mastery, on Facebook no less, Facebook flagged the fake page, took it down and reallocated the views accumulated from that fake page to SoFlo’s authenticated fan page, according to one creator H3 Productions. Backwards? Seems so. And, for the often-times average Joes, who are having their content taken from SoFlo, it can be disarming to fight for rights, or to stand up to a “big creator.” According to one executive at an MCN, these situations happen all the time, especially within the prank category on YouTube. A creator knows the holes in YouTube’s system, and can not only exploit them, but also the source video creator. As YouTube, and other major media companies, have come forth to make statements in favor of backing creators, violators like SoFlo have begun to backoff. Various MCN’s in the space also confirmed that SoFlo has reached out to retain back-licenses for clips he’s used without permission. SoFlo’s videos have resulted in over 85 million views on YouTube and an estimated $20K a month in ad revenues. “Viral video owners get frustrated when they see their clips used without permission, and Jukin is here to help. We always try to work out a compromise when business disputes like this arise,” said Jonathan Skogmo in a statement. As the outcome of Ray William Johnson’s case against Jukin Media ripples across the YouTube creator community, one can only hope that he will become a legend in a new way — not as one of YouTube’s first mega-stars, but as one who had his business model jeopardized after misusing the Fair Use clause in the law. ____ FAIR USE CONSIDERATIONS:
Have you ever found yourself watching a cartoon and noticing the illustrations behind the characters? Those backgrounds can often be prettier than the action in the foreground. If only those pesky mice and long-nosed boys would get out of the way! If so, the upcoming Beverly Hills Animation Art Signature Auction is for you. On a serious note, I've always admired how classic, hand-drawn animation is born. Watching early animators flipping those cels back and forth to create the illusion of movement is amazing, and painting a detailed background for every single scene is probably one of the most important artistic tasks in the highly complex process of making an animated cartoon. Advertisement Background artists usually painted these backdrops wide and tall (depending on the camera panning), in gouache, acrylic paint, watercolor, oil paint, or even crayon. The resulting still backdrops are nothing short of art—but in the actual cartoons, we seldom get to enjoy the whole image, due to the camera movements. The following examples from the Animation Art Signature Auction on November 20 show just how beautiful these artworks can be—I know I wouldn't think twice about putting some of them on my walls. A background illustration from Two Pan Goofy. It was painted for the 1952 Walt Disney short, but wasn't actually used. Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions This pan background showcases the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan, including the World Trade Center and the Manhattan Bridge. It was painted for The Real Ghostbusters (DIC, 1986). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A great Art Deco-style production background of the Batcave from Batman the Animated Series (Warner Brothers, 1995), created by Bruce Timm. Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions This breathtaking pan production background of a detailed medieval staircase located within Maleficent's castle was hand-painted by Eyvind Earle, color stylist and chief background painter for Sleeping Beauty (Walt Disney, 1959). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Magnificent vertical pan production background painting for Sloppy Jalopy (UPA, 1952). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A stylized view of Las Vegas with all the famous hotel signs, for Aesop and Son in Sick Lion (Jay Ward, 1962). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A background illustration by Paul Julian for The Tell Tale Heart, a cartoon adaptation of the classic short story written by Edgar Allen Poe (UPA, 1953). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Cap'n Crunch cereal commercial production background (Jay Ward, c. 1960s) by Bill Hurtz and Pete Burness. Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A beautiful landscape background from Scrambled Eggs (Walter Lantz, 1939), painted by legendary Art Nouveau illustrator Willy Pogany (1882-1955). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Belle's Magical World master background of the Beast's Castle (Walt Disney, 1998). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Dinotopia: The Mini Series background color key (Walt Disney, 2002). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A very detailed background color key of the haunted bedroom for Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (Hanna-Barbera, 1998). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A wide angle view of the Calcutta airport for The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (Hanna-Barbera, 1996). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions The Man on the Flying Trapeze background by Paul Julian (UPA, 1954). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions The Smurfs (Hanna-Barbera, 1984). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Two backgrounds from Buford and the Galloping Ghost (Hanna-Barbera, 1979). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Two SWAT Kats hand-painted background color keys (Hanna-Barbera, 1993). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A spooky view of Gotham City's imposing Arkham Asylum from The New Batman Adventures (Warner Brothers, 1997). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions The Simpsons (Fox, 2002). A 12-field production background, hand-painted on celluloid, from the 13th season episode, "The Lastest Gun in the West," which was originally aired on February 24, 2002. Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Two Famous Studio backgrounds from The Sixties, done by famed book illustrator and animation artist Anton Loeb. Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A deserted saloon in Ghost Town (Terrytoons, 1944). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions A Mighty Mouse background from the 1940s (Terrytoons). Advertisement Photo: Heritage Auctions Top image: Pinocchio production pan background (Walt Disney, 1940). This film's backgrounds were masterfully painted by Claude Coats, Merle Cox, Ed Starr, and Ray Huffine, to name a few – Heritage Auctions
Tech Article Title Author Date Home Guide to Wheel Scuff Repair NASA Racer 2002 Note that although this is a Porsche painted wheel, the WURTH wheel paint (silver) is used for ALL German painted wheels. Same techniques apply for an S4: Well, there I was...backing into a parking space against a curb and I was in a hurry and I heard it...SCRAPE! One fraction of a second...barely moving. Got out and looked at the rim...OOOOOOWWWWW! Well, no need to fear...I've done this enough times to have a easy way to do home repairs with a few simple items. Note that this ONLY covers light scuffs, this isn't meant to be used to repair a DAMAGED wheel or one where the scuffs cause significant damage to the rim. This is only for those annoying superficial scuffs like happened to me more times than I care to admit. Now there are PLENTY of GOOD services which can do this for VERY reasonable money...most folks will happily do this but I'm inpatient and have the free time (generally) to spend a couple of hours doing this and it REALLY takes the edge off donking my wheels when I know I can simply fix it myself. So if you are interested...here's what you need: I have a can of scratch-filler primer, the WURTH wheel paint and clear (got mine at Performance Products), some paint thinner, Bondo spot putty (or equivalent), sand paper and some 240 and 400 grit sandpaper (if you are REALLY anal...get some 600 grit). Step 1. Clean...clean...clean...and did I mention CLEAN! This is one of the most important steps. Use paint thinner to THOROUGHLY clean the ENTIRE area around the damage...you need to get ANY wax or polish or anything off the wheel...I'm going to remind you EVERY step...I probably end up wiping down these surfaces 10 or more times before painting...if you don't do this, the rest is pointless. Also, we want to work ONLY on the area that's damaged...don't go nuts and try to paint half your wheel on the car...for this technique to succeed we want to sand and paint the area only IMMEDIATELY around the damage. 2. Sand and Putty I like to START by masking the tire from the wheel...get the masking tape WELL behind the rim. Next, sand the area to a nice "feather" with 240 grit sandpaper and wipe some spot putty on. IMPORTANT...this ENTIRE project will work best if the wheel is in the sun and its a nice warm day...the drying time of spot putty is minutes but if it's cold or damp, this project is likely to not work out too well. Remember...keep your sanding to the IMMEDIATE area around the damage. Trust me on this. So once you've done the first round of putty, switch to the finer of your sandpaper (400 grit in my case) and sand and putty until it FEELS and LOOKS flush. Note that I use the paper wrapped around a piece of wood to make a flat sanding block. It's best to sand with a flat block to get the smoothest finish: Note that up to this point...including waiting 5 to 10 minutes between coats of putty that the whole project has taken about 40 minutes. 4. Masking and primering: Okay, here's where a bit of laziness is going to create an entire new clay-bar project. This metallic paint will GET EVERYWHERE. I'm talking permanently attached to the fender on the opposite corner of the car...mask CAREFULLY and COVER THE WHOLE CAR with a sheet or equivalent. I've used the thick scratch-filler primer and sanded it and put a bit more putty on. Note that this is the first place where I use the NASA technique. Immediately after I spray the primer (or paint) I clean ALL the overspray off the spokes of the wheel (clean rag and paint thinner) and the area around the inside of the rim...I do NOT want to try to get paint to smoothly adhere to the entire wheel! We just want to paint the REPAIR. Only the clear coat will be sprayed without wiping off the overspray. Wait for the primer to fully dry and lightly sand it with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper. 5. Painting VITAL: READ THE CAN...if you try to use this paint in cold temperatures (or in damp conditions) it's going to be a mess...shake the can for a minute at LEAST and push the spray nozzle as you sweep across and release at the end. This is roughly the distance I used the can from the wheel...I HIGHLY recommend painting some scrap something to get used to the distances and thickness this paint sprays. Now we SHOULD be nearly done BUT (as always) Pete got inpatient and sprayed the clear WAY too soon and lifted the paint and messed it all up. This is NO BIGGIE...take a deep breath, get out your rag and the paint thinner and take it all off. The thinner I used did not eat into the primer so I simply cleaned the wheel (again) and got to respray the silver. Here's the paint lifting because of the clear being sprayed too soon. Okay, fast forward a few minutes...I had to roll the car forward a bit to keep it in the sun and I had cleaned (and let fully dry) the wheel and RE-sprayed the silver. Now I'm using the NASA technique on the silver paint and CAREFULLY removing the overspray: AND here's the nicely painted wheel. I'm going to not be an idiot and let the paint dry OVERNIGHT (like I knew I should) and do the clear coat and I'll post that tomorrow.
Dr. Thorsten Kramp, research staff member and co-developer of Mote Runner at IBM Research - Zurich, holds a mote programmed with Mote Runner to detect movement and light. In IBM's planned future, everything will communicate with everything. The company has now announced a new software development kit, Mote Runner, that will allow programmers to put anything from coffee makers to environmental monitoring systems on the "Internet of things." Mote Runner -- nicknamed for motes, wireless sensor nodes that gather information and refer it back to a network -- can interlink any hardware equipped with wirelessly connected sensors. The extremely lightweight software is made to run on sensor chips tiny enough to be built into almost anything. IBM Research, which built Mote Runner, aims to increase adoption of such wireless sensor networks by making them easier to program and use. Mote Runner apps can live in a tiny 64K of memory, and be written in standard languages like Java or C#. The apps can be debugged and deployed on simulated motes that run on a host computer. In theory, motes can be connected across large or remote areas like agricultural fields, multi-story buildings, rainforests or glaciers, IBM says. Eventually, using chips that can connect any gadget, you could "talk" to all your home appliances from afar. Mote Runner uses an 8-bit processor, 8 KB of RAM and a tiny 64 KB of flash memory storage. Its minimalist needs will allow it to run on small, inexpensive chips, which can be integrated into practically any device. With the right app, Mote Runner could check on the status of elderly people at home, monitor agricultural processes, check building maintenance and security, and a host of other functions, Fast Company notes. MEMSIC, a micro-electromechanical systems and sensor manufacturer, plans to offer Mote Runner on its popular IRIS sensor. [IBM Research via Fast Company]
Some people simply don’t understand the phrase, “No, you can’t do that.” Alex Zanardi, Alessandro Nannini and Robert Kubica are just some of those people. All three suffered potentially career-ending injuries, yet successfully climbed back into competition. All three had different injuries to overcome, but they did. By Andy Hallbery Zanardi’s situation is well documented, especially here on Motorsport Retro , returning to racing – and winning – after the sickening Indycar accident that cost him both legs, and oh-so-nearly his life. Kubica’s accident came in a rally, the metal barrier shearing his car, and but for a sinew or two, his arm with it. At the time, the Pole, with one Grand Prix win to his name, was on the verge of the big time. He too desires a return to F1, and a test in a DTM car proved that the speed is still there, but not – yet – in the confines of a single-seater. “If all the races were at places like Barcelona, yes,” he says of his recuperation. “But Monaco? No way, not yet.” An accident in 1990 severed Nannini’s right arm completely just below the elbow when he was thrown from his helicopter as he crashed while landing at his home in Siena. Like, Zanardi, we thought his racing career was well and truly over. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Groundbreaking microsurgery allowed doctors to sew Nannini’s right arm back on, the nerves were reattached, and all this happened to Sandro without barely the blink of an eye or a second thought. There were doubters who at the time thought the then-ground-breaking surgery would not work, among them his former Benetton teammate and very good friend Nelson Piquet. The Brazilian was one of the first to visit Sandro in hospital, and advised that his arm would be better gone. “Yes, that’s true,” admits Nannini. “Nelson had a friend who had lost a limb, a leg I think, and had it sewn back on. Since, he regretted doing that, feeling that he would be better with a prosthetic limb. I wouldn’t even let myself think about what Nelson was saying. The doctors had rescued my arm, I was going to race Formula 1 again, and that was that. I didn’t want anybody to fill me with the slightest doubt.” Nannini’s will saw him not only in the cockpit of a Formula 1 car just over a year later, it was his beloved Ferrari, the team he was – as the story goes – already signed to for 1991 when his accident happened. In the adapted #27, the helicopter crash was a memory. Just two years after his accident the happy Italian was back at Monza, and this time he was racing. It wasn’t a single-seater like the Grand Prix winner had been used to, but that didn’t matter. Sandro was back doing what he loved, and the car was red. He was racing in Italian Touring Cars in an Alfa 155 GTA – and winning! Many years later we are sitting talking in one of his Nannini cafés and with the espressos, the ever-present smile and cigarette. This is trademark Nannini, the driver the fans loved. The only give away was his right hand which was now naturally curled up in a ball that he constantly tried to straighten, and that he now smoked using his left hand instead of is right one. A short puff and he is smiling his way down memory lane. “You can’t imagine what kind of emotion coming back was for me,” he laughs. “I remember before the start my heart was pumping like crazy. I felt like I was a kid in my first Fiat Abarth races. But all those feelings vanished when the race started. By the time we hit the brakes for the first corner, I was grinding my teeth and slamming on the door of those trying to overtake… “It was like waking up from a dream, “ he continues, “and I restarted acting like a racing driver, as if I’d never been away.” To those outside too, including family, Sandro was the old Sandro, save for his new technique of holding his cigarette with his curled up hand. The muscles had withered, and it was a deal smaller than it had been, but first and foremost, he was a racing driver. At races, he kept the glove on, one less thing to worry about. There was however, a slightly new mindset. “Nobody really thought I could come back from the accident,” he recalls. And without saying it, his demeanour suggests that he felt very much alone during his recovery. “Nobody really thought I could do it,” he smiled. “Neither the doctors nor my family. When I talked about my plans, they just listened to me almost condescendingly, just to keep me ‘up’, and thinking positively. But I didn’t want to give up, because I knew I could do it.” And he did, that season led to an offer from Alfa for a works car in the DTM and subsequently the ITC. His teammates included Nicola Larini, Michele Alboreto, Christian Danner, Giancarlo Fisichella, Gabriele Tarquini and others. His rivals included Keke Rosberg, Klaus Ludwig, Bernd Schneider, Dario Franchitti, Alex Wurz, Yannick Dalmas and others. These were no second-rate championships, far from it. It was the cream of touring car and F1 drivers. Nannini’s 13 wins showed that his spirit and speed were undiminished, the talent of the Grand Prix winner still there. And the smoking humour came at his expense, courtesy of German TV, Vox. Another coffee arrived as we began our photo shoot in his café. While not quite ‘embarrassed’ about his hand, it was rarely on display, usually in his pocket or behind his back. The smile though is constant, even when talking about the difficulties. “There was a moment in those years where things weren’t going so well for me and I thought ‘what am I doing here if I’m not able to compete to win? Wouldn’t it be better to leave?’ “Once you are used to fighting for victory, when you don’t obtain it you feel like you are missing something,” he says, “and even behind this so-called smiling face’ I suffer if I am only second. However I can’t say I’m unsatisfied because it’s almost a miracle that even now I am still racing, although not at that level. It’s still normal to aspire to the maximum.” Photo: Charles Best/motorsportretro.com Handicap or not, both Zanardi and Nannini beat world class racers on their returns, and Kubica is still aiming at the very top. Does this sound familiar? “Frankly I cannot imagine that I won’t return to F1,” Kubica told my colleagues at Autosport. “Quite the contrary. I am convinced I will go onto the startline again.” Kubica is working hard on his strength, and his speed is not in any question. “If it was just about power, I could fix it in the gym. But it is more than that, nerves and muscles, which are much more complicated.” He knows that while not in the near future that return is still in his sights (“unless they make F1 cockpits 20cms wider tomrrow!”), but that goal is tempered with realism. “Last year after the accident, I said that I was happy I survived,” he adds. “Then when you go to the hospital and see people who have no chance at all, you start to take life differently. “Very often we do not appreciate what we have. When all is well and everything is in order with us, we find the opportunity to complain about the bad weather. But when you are attached to a hospital bed and you can’t even get up, you don’t care if it’s raining outside or not. In those moments you start to appreciate what you have, even if it’s not what you dream of.” Photos: Bernard Cahier, Cahier Archive, http://www.f1-photo.com/ Charles Best. http://www.charlesbest.co.uk/tearsheets/23.html Follow @MotorsportRetro and @Hallbean on Twitter and join in the Motorsport Retro discussion on the site’s page on Facebook
In addition to our own research and benchmarking, we reached out to Edmund Li of Zalman for help understanding some cooler design elements, so a big thanks to him for his time and knowledge. Let's cover how a heatsink works before anything else. Picking the best CPU cooler / heatsink for your gaming rig is important if you're planning to keep things quiet or overclock your system; we'll cover noise level, cooling efficiency, and top-level thermal dissipation strategies for aftermarket coolers in this article. We briefly covered CPU cooler engineering in our Tuniq Tower 120 review , and in continuing that topic, this post will discuss various cooler designs that pervade the market and which are best for you. How Does a Heatsink Work? Effective heatpipe design is significantly more complex than gluing a copper brick to a semiconductor, of course. Most of the action within a CPU heatsink happens inside of the copper heatpipes, which often use material phase changes and capillary action to cool microprocessors, but before we get into the specifics, let's cover the basics: A heatsink's objective is to draw heat away from the hot, underlying chip, which generates heat as a result of its (relatively) high frequency and the electrical current coursing through the cores; improving core stability by amplifying voltage (in the form of vCore) will generate yet more heat, so in overclocking applications, aftermarket heatsinks are particularly noticeable. Stock heatsinks are much more simplistic than the aftermarket products we review, so we'll focus almost entirely upon aftermarket cooling technology for this article. The stock sinks tend to be a composition of a top-mounted fan, aluminum fins, and a flat copper base -- a far cry from the liquid-filled, sintered/grooved copper heatpipes that are used in aftermarket sinks. Using a fusion of these heatpipes, fan design that minimizes air resistance, aluminum or copper fins to maximize surface area, and high thermal conductivity interfaces, heatsinks and coolers are able to conduct heat from the surface of the CPU and escort it out the back or top of the case. Much of this comes down to thermodynamics and sciences pertaining to thermal conductivity and materials engineering, which we'll cover on a very top-level in a section below (see: Materials & Thermal Conductivity). We've put together the below image to help familiarize you with the inner-workings of a CPU heatsink and its related terminology: The anatomy of a heatsink. This is NZXT's Respire T40 - click to enlarge. The primary elements of a CPU cooler are all covered in this graphic. For the most part, the action happens in the heatpipes, but we're also faced with the actual heatsink, the overall surface area, the contact technology used to transfer heat to the pipes, and fan positioning. The cooling pipeline for a heatsink is pretty straight-forward, here's what we're usually looking at: - The CPU generates heat; this heat is absorbed through a conductive baseplate or directly touching heatpipes on the heatsink. - The heat causes liquid within the heatpipe to undergo a phase change, resulting in its transition to a gas. A significant amount of energy is consumed during this phase change (in the form of heat), this is responsible for a lot of the heat reduction we experience. We then move to the dissipation stage... - The heat (gas) travels up the pipe and eventually reaches the condensor, which condenses the gas back into liquid form and uses capillary action to transport it back to the evaporator. - During its trip through the pipe, heat is absorbed by the adjoining (hopefully large) heatsink, where it is dissipated through the fins and cooled by the new, cool air being injected by the fan. - The liquid is guided back down to the evaporator section of tubing (atop the CPU) through sintered, grooved, mesh, or composite tubing (explained further below), called a "wick" or "capillary structure." Capillary pressure is created by the wick, forcing coolant to return to the evaporator where it can be re-used. Pretty cool stuff, right? Yeah, yeah. What Makes a Good CPU Cooler / Heatsink for my purposes? All of this information can be used in buying decisions to help weed through the ever-increasing amount of heatsinks available. Understanding the basic physics behind a heatsink's functionality helps us determine what design and engineering elements govern a quality product; as always, if you'd like more direct input from us on your system building endeavors, feel free to comment below or post your question on our hardware forums! Let's expand on each of the previous topics: Materials & Thermal Conductivity Materials have everything to do with the efficiency of your heatsink. Starting with a basic chart of relevant materials makes sense: Material Thermal Conductivity (W/mK) at 25C Air, atmospheric 0.024 Water 0.058 Thermalpaste (Avg) ~5.3 - 8.5 Aluminum 205 Copper 401 Given air's low thermal conductivity, it's evident why we can't just blow air past a CPU to achieve performance-grade cooling. Copper and aluminum, on the other hand, make excellent heatsink materials for our purposes: Copper is objectively the best material for gaming-grade PC heatsinks, but aluminum tends to be the most cost-friendly option and can still exhibit considerable cooling capacity given solid enough design. However, that doesn't change the fact that copper has the best conductive heat transfer potential; it's commendable to search for heatsinks that use copper heatpipe structures and copper fins, though copper fins are not required by any means -- we do always recommend copper heatpipes, though. Conductive heat transfer is expressed through Fourier's Law as: q = k A dT / s, where A = heat transfer area, k = the material's thermal conductivity, dT = temperature difference across the material, and s = material thickness. (Read more about this at Engineering Toolbox). Despite copper and aluminum differences, we're still limited in cooling efficiency by the fan, the case airflow, and the surface area of the heatsink and surface roughness of the contact plate. As a sort-of side note, a lot of manufacturers use nickel plating or other aesthetic-only materials to cover up copper and aluminum, so don't just use looks to determine whether something is aluminum or copper. Cooler Master's T812 is an example -- it uses a copper base, but is coated in a way that almost makes it appear aluminum. Always check the specs for the final word. Surface Area & Surface Roughness Surface area was rated by our Zalman contact (Edmund Li) as one of the most important aspects to a cooler's functionality, and it makes sense: A larger chunk of grooved/finned metal provides more area for the heat to distribute itself. This is largely bolstered by fin designs that are optimized to maximize surface area, further enabling the unit's ability to cool. Luckily, this is one of those items that's pretty simple to shop for - big being better, in this case - just make sure you choose something that makes sense for your system. Grabbing the heaviest heatsink out there won't matter if it doesn't fit in the case and puts too much strain on the CPU or motherboard. Just grabbing any massive aluminum heatsink is probably not for the best, of course, given the importance of heatpipes, surface smoothness, and copper's place in the world. Surface roughness is a measurement of the base plate's smoothness (measured in microinches) and overall ability to connect directly with the surface of the CPU. In a perfect world, there would be no thermalpaste and the copper base plates would come in direct, flush, perfectly smooth contact with the CPU... but we don't live in a perfect world, and if we did, I'd be playing games while floating in a tube of water, not writing about heatsinks. The reason we even need thermalpaste, as we explained in this previous post, is because microscopic divets in the surface of the connecting materials create air pockets. Air gets trapped in these pockets at high temperatures, causing uneven thermal distribution and resulting in hotter core temps. A thermal interface, while significantly lower thermal conductivity than pure copper or aluminum, provides an air-tight sealant between the divets that allows heat to cleanly migrate from the CPU surface to the cooler base plate. Smoother is better. Thermalpaste's thermal conductivity will impact the temperature moderately, but not normally enough where it's justifiable to spend lots of money on thermal compound. If you're doing serious overclocking and need every single degree you can muster, then by all means, consider a tube of MX-4. But for most of us, 5.3W/mK - 6.x W/mK is more than enough to keep things under control. And it's affordable. Heatpipe Exposure and Wick / Capillary Design And now we're back to heatpipes! There are two prevailing chamber designs in the CPU heatsink market: Vapor chambers and traditional capillary heatpipes. We'll cover the latter first due to their dominance. Source. As this image shows so well, a heatpipe contains a very small amount of coolant or liquid (normally a mix of ammonium and ethanol or distilled water) which undergoes chemical phase changes - this is the catalyst for our reduced temperatures. The evaporator (CPU surface region) evaporates the liquid, where it travels in gaseous form toward the condensor. The condensor then—you guessed it—condenses the gas back to liquid form, where it travels down grooved, sintered, metal mesh, or composite tubing as a result of capillary action. The grooved wick design looks precisely like you'd think -- it's grooved cleanly down the interior of the tube, meanwhile the sintered design carries a more foamy and porous look. Metal mesh designs are more common among consumer heatsinks and vaguely resemble a basket's woven pattern. Thermolab cut open some heatpipes to reveal their insides, which makes the explanation a bit easier. Left to right: Sintered, Grooved, Mesh Weave. Source: Thermolab. Zalman uses a fourth design—composite heatpipes—which mix copper powder inside of the pipe to help aid in thermal transfer (the steam travels faster). Composite and sintered heatpipes have much higher production cost than grooved pipes; as for which makes a "better" heatsink, it really comes down to individual product testing due to the many other variables -- but composite and sintered heatpipes are preferable, albeit rare. Heatpipes connected directly to the surface of the CPU will cool it more efficiently for a short period of time (we were told "about an hour" by Zalman), but as heat builds and time progresses, that tends to equalize; direct touch heatpipes are not often noticeably more effective than polished base plates when it comes to endurance cooling. What is noticeable, though, is a copper base versus an aluminum one -- you'll want copper exposed directly to the CPU for best heat wicking potential. Polished copper baseplates will give off a "mirror finish" shine, like the one on this 9900Max. Vapor changes are a little bit different and aren't quite as common, but are still worth a quick mention: Vapor chambers are used for disproportionately high, localized heat generation by processing units; a vapor chamber helps spread this additional heat more evenly across the fins within the heatsink (rather than favoring fins in close proximity to the hotspot). Cooler Master's 812 uses both vapor chambers and heatpipes, and they created this image to help explain their usage: It's effectively the same as a heatpipe in its functionality, they just use a slightly different design to attract location-specific heat. Fan Positioning & Noise Reduction Noise levels are always going to be a problem with small fans, but fan positioning and cooling optimization can help reduce the requirement of high RPMs and high decibel levels. Fans generate noise within a CPU cooler for a few primary reasons: Bearing type, fan size and RPM, and rattling within the cage. Of these, only rattling is unique to CPU coolers -- the rest are covered by our fan bearings overview / guide. Rattling is normally a result of poor fan positioning and design. The Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme cooler we reviewed had rubberized screws to prevent rattling, Zalman uses a centralized fan that is detached from the fins (theoretically the quietest design), and other coolers use a mix of brackets and mounting mechanisms that may or may not vibrate under load. The centered fan design is interesting -- by placing the fan directly over the CPU and surrounding it with the fins (but not touching the two), the fan still pulls air cleanly through the entire unit without the added fun of rattling the cage. Aside from isolated fans, it's good to look for units with rubberized mounting plates/screws or otherwise stable brackets that can better withstand high RPMs. More fans are always going to be beneficial for cooling, of course, as they'll pull more air into the system and will more evenly cool the fins, but they aren't necessary; we saw a 3C decrease in temperature between the NZXT Respire T40 with one fan and the T40 with two fans -- so it is noticeable -- but the noise level will obviously increase as a result (though you could arguably just run them at lower RPMs). Decibels are calculated on a logarithmic scale (10*log(x) equates the difference in dB, where x is the number of fans of the same decibel level), so adding more fans to the system will always increase noise marginally for the most part. Top Things to Look For in a CPU Cooler Now that we have a thorough understanding of how coolers work, let's recap the most important design elements to look for; we're assuming a standard performance / gaming-grade build for this article's purposes: Surface area. The larger the heatsink, the more readily it can dissipate heat. On this note, a larger base plate surface area means better transfer of heat from the CPU to the pipes and more room for mounting error. Materials. Copper has about twice the thermal conductivity of aluminum and simply makes a better heatsink. Number of heatpipes and their diameter. As a general rule, more heatpipes means better cooling. Additional vapor chambers may aid in heat diffusion for some units, but are not as common as traditional heatpipes. Fan positioning and number of fans. More fans means better cooling, but potentially more noise. Find a balance between performance and noise that works for you; remember that you can always decrease the RPMs across the fans to neutralize some of the noise. And there's one more thing: Aesthetics. It's silly, but if we're honest, a lot of the mid-range to high-end heatsinks will offer almost identical cooling performance. For performance and enthusiast applications, mounting an ugly piece of copper to your otherwise beautiful rig isn't preferable. Given negligible performance difference between coolers, pick the one that you think fits your rig's personality the best. Let us know if you are debating between two heatsinks and need some help! - Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke, with thanks to Edmund Li of Zalman for insight. Special thanks to Tim "Space_man" Martin for his physics engineering insight.
There’s hardly a week that goes by without Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, saying something offensive and incendiary; whether it’s giving bad marital advice through his latest book, trashing his definition of “effeminate” worship leaders, or demonizing sex and sexuality by associating pornography with Ted Bundy, this guy tops my Official Douchecanoe List. He delivered again this week, when an ex-member of Mars Hill tentatively shared the horrifying story of his brutal excommunication from the church. To be fair, Driscoll himself was not the perpetrator of this particular injustice, but I cry foul on the leader of any organization who would choose to represent itself by such principles. Part of the reason that Christianity can be so divisive is the belief that, as a Christian, fellow church-goers are appropriate partners and friends, while you are to distance yourself from non-Christians so as to not “fall into temptation.” As I’ve written before, my own youth group (and my husband’s, too, in a completely separate church three hours away) illustrated this by having a kid stand on a chair and then seeing if it was easier to be pulled down from the chair or to pull another person up. This was supposed to show us the danger of consorting with non-believers, and the potential for us to be dragged downward into their life of sin. I wish I was joking. For this reason, many sects of Christianity are incredibly insular, placing enormous pressure on the believers to stay within the church network, and punishing those who dare to stray. Of course, this also means that removing or being removed from that network can have devastating effects on human lives, as an individual may find themselves literally alone, abandoned by the very people they loved, respected, and spent years developing relationships with. So it is with Andrew, who made a major mistake by physically fooling around on his fiancé. He felt awful about the situation, confessed to his fiancé (the daughter of one of the church’s elders), and when that failed to resolve the hurt, confessed to an acquaintance, part of a small group at Mars Hill in which he was involved. They called him a “predator.” Why? “Because Pastor Mark teaches that women are “weaker vessels,” and therefore, when a girl and boy engage in consensual sexual activity, it is always assumed that it’s the man’s fault because he failed to lead the woman (or “weaker vessel”) toward righteousness.” The church began a grisly process of ostracizing the guy, forcing him to go to meeting after meeting with church leaders, forcing him to confess the minutiae of his “sexual sin” –- including any physical parts of his relationship with his fiancé –- and pressured him into signing a “Church Discipline Contract”: Disciplinary procedures are quite common for church leaders –- pastors, elders, and deacons, but this is the first I’ve heard of such an extensive, invasive, and ugly method for church attendees. And it just gets worse. After being emotionally manipulated and abused by the very group members he was supposed to trust, Andrew came to the painful conclusion that he could no longer continue attending Mars Hill. He sent them this email, explaining why he would forego signing the disciplinary contract: “After extensive prayer and careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that Mars Hill is not the place that God has for me to be right now. Therefore, I respectfully decline your help in this next stage of my life. I will not be returning to [name of community group leader’s] CG, and will not be attending Mars Hill anymore. Thank you for your continued prayers.” In the most respectful way possible, Andrew removed himself from a destructive, abusive environment. In response, group leaders informed him that they would have to “escalate” the church’s disciplinary proceedings, in essence saying, “wait, we’re not through punishing you yet!” The email that Andrew received in response said this: “If this is your final decision, you will also need to know this will not be our final communication as this is not an instance where you can walk away from the mess you have helped create and leave many issues unaddressed.” In a disgusting turn, their apparent idea of further communication consisted of a back-biting document posted to The City — what Andrew describes as the “Facebook for Mars Hill members.” However, his login information had been blacklisted from The City, and he only discovered the letter after a friend from Mars Hill had informed him. How’s that for Christian love? And you can probably just imagine, if believers and church members are treated with this sort of bullying and manipulation, what they think of us atheists. Andrew, I’m glad you’re out of that toxic environment. You deserve much, much better. We all do.
So, you've always had a passion for games. Now you have a few CS or art classes under your belt and you're serious about getting into the indie game development scene. But what's the next step? Allow me to recommend a game jam. What's a Game Jam? Every jam is a little different, but in general, it's an opportunity for a diverse set of game developers to come together in one place and make game prototypes during a 24-48 hour time window. Most jams cater to all skill levels. In most cases, teams of 4-6 members are randomly chosen at the start of the jam in a way that insures that each team has at least one experienced programmer and one artist. In most cases, you can choose the development environment you want to work with (Flash, C#, Unity, C++, Java,...) and game ideas are constrained by a theme that's usually announced the day of the competition to prevent participants from planning too much in advance. While some jams will give awards for the favorite games, you shouldn't think of a jam as a competition. It's an environment where everyone wants everyone else to succeed. In short, if you want to participate, there's no need to do any advance planning. In fact, it's discouraged. Just show up with a computer and get ready to have some fun. Can you really build a game in 24-48 hours? There are dozens of game jams every year, collectively producing thousands of prototypes. If you get a motivated team, you'd be shocked at what you can do in such a short time. Here are a couple example games I worked on during the 2009 and 2010 Global Game Jams. M.O.N.K. (Multiplicitous Observable Navigational Killerator) is a 2-person 1-keyboard Flash game made at the 2010 Global Game Jam. Coopetition is a fully 3D game with dynamic lighting and shadows built in C# and XNA for the 2009 Global Game Jam. With such strict time constraints, there may be times when a game engine just doesn't come together during the alloted time. But of the ~20 teams that I've seen in the past, everyone always at least had something to show at the end of the weekend. And if you do fail, it can still be a valuable learning experience. It's far better to learn a harsh lesson about team dynamics or game engine construction during a 48-hour jam than it is to learn the same tragic lesson after six months of development. Where do I sign up? There are several game jams that are just around the corner. If you know of others, drop me a line and I'll add them to the list.
Portland, Oregon (CNN) He sat in a German brewpub in Southeast Portland for more than an hour without being recognized. Wearing Levi's, boots, and a light-blue dress shirt, he ate a Reuben sandwich and chatted up the waitress. While looking at the menu, he quipped that it was "criminal" to use words like "notes" — as in "lovely banana-fruity notes"— in the beer descriptions. It wasn't until the waitress ran his credit card and brought back the check that she realized she'd been serving one of Oregon's two US senators. "Sen. Merkley, oh my gosh," she said, as she handed him his receipt. "I'm star struck. I didn't have context for your face. I'm so proud that you represent us." Jeff Merkley, the soft-spoken Democrat, has a way of sneaking up on people, both in casual settings and more formally in his political career. He may not be the most bombastic personality in the room, but he's managed to maneuver his way from a blue-collar neighborhood in Portland — where he still lives — to the Oregon House to the US Senate, without losing a race. And as 2020 approaches, he might be quietly mounting a bid to run for president in what will likely be a crowded Democratic primary. "If Jeff doesn't feel that there is a strong progressive voice in the race, it would motivate him to get in," said a source close to the senator. "He's committed to making sure Democrats have a progressive choice." Merkley, 60, has seen his profile rise in the past year, in part because he was the only senator to endorse Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary, but also because of his biting attacks against President Donald Trump. JUST WATCHED How realistic are Sanders' promises? Supporter Sen. Merkley responds Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How realistic are Sanders' promises? Supporter Sen. Merkley responds 05:32 He's not up for re-election until 2020, and he plans to hit the trail for colleagues fighting to keep their seats in the midterm elections, a move that will further raise his name recognition. Asked at the brewpub if he was interested in a presidential bid, the senator said his mind is "completely in the 2018 battle" but acknowledged a lot of Democrats will be angling to take on Trump. He alluded to the old joke that every senator wakes up in the morning and sees a future president in the mirror. "Right now, every elected Democrat in the nation knows they'd be a better president than Donald Trump," he said. "And I'm not just talking the House and the Senate, I'm talking every city council member, mayor, and county commissioner knows that they would be a better president," he continued. "So I'm sure we'll have many people sharing their thoughts and considering participating in the effort to make sure Donald Trump's damage to this country is limited to this four year period." Merkley having a moment Indeed, the progressive lane alone could have some stiff competition. Potential contenders include Sanders again, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota -- three household names in Democratic politics and three of Merkley's good friends in the Senate. Merkley has neither the charisma nor the attention-grabbing flare of any of them, but one Democratic Senate aide argued voters may be looking for a softer style in 2020. "After four years of Trump, that could be a huge asset." The senator, now in his second-term, has been actively working with progressive groups and building a reputation as a leading voice in the grassroots movement. "I would say he has a rising national profile," said Sarah Badawi, co-leader of legislative affairs work with the Warren-aligned Progressive Change Campaign Committee. "Obviously, he's well-known on the West Coast, but whenever something is happening on a progressive issue, Jeff Merkley is not far behind. People are recognizing that and more and more are coming to see him as a leading champion on the Hill." Badawi described him as being "at the tip of the spear" when it comes to progressive rallying cries like the public option in the health care debate, debt-free college, and the expansion of social security benefits. Merkley was one of several Democrats who spoke last month at a daylong event hosted by the liberal think tank Center for American Progress , which was widely seen as the first big cattle call for the 2020 Democratic primary. Standing out among Trump critics He made national headlines when he launched a 15-hour plus talkathon on the Senate floor against the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court earlier this year, something he joked was "more uncomfortable" than the Ironman triathlon he completed last year. JUST WATCHED Senator: SCOTUS nominee is far extreme right Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Senator: SCOTUS nominee is far extreme right 01:17 Also on the Senate floor, he got national attention when he backed up Warren in February after she was censured for reading a 1986 letter from Coretta Scott King against the then-nomination of Jeff Sessions to a federal court. In support of Warren, Merkley came to the floor that night to read the same letter. Despite his gentle demeanor, he's become one of the fiercest critics of Trump and his administration in the Senate, particularly when it comes to anything related to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, whom Merkley early on labeled a "white supremacist." And after the stabbings in May of three men -- two fatally -- who came to the defense of a pair of African-American teenage girls on a light-rail train in Portland, Merkley told CNN he felt Trump was responsible for a larger wave of violence and hate crimes in the country. He voted "no" against 18 of 22 Trump Cabinet and other top administration nominees , tying with Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California. The only senators who voted against more nominees were Warren, Sanders and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York. And the left-leaning magazine The Nation named him "the most valuable senator" in its 2016 Progressive Honor Roll , calling him an "essential opposition leader" who "knows how the Senate works and pulls no punches when it comes to taking on racism, sexism, economic inequality, climate change, and Trumpism." A history of long shots Jeff Mapes, a senior political reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting, noted that even though Merkley lacks charisma, the senator has a long history of defying expectations. "The guy does have a lot of ambition, and he is somebody who is willing to take long shots," said Mapes, who has covered Merkley for years. Merkley was born in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, where his father worked as a mechanic at a lumber mill. The first in his family to attend college, he muses that he ended up at Stanford almost by "pure accident," saying he applied to elite schools at the last minute simply because his vice principal gave him the names of schools and told him apply. "So I showed up on Stanford's campus not knowing a damn thing about the school," he said. He went on to get a graduate degree at Princeton and got a job as an analyst at the Pentagon and in the Congressional Budget Office. He then returned to Oregon to head up the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Portland and also served as president of the World Affairs Council there. In 1998, he ran for the Oregon House of Representatives. An article in Portland Monthly describes Merkley's state house bid as an unlikely endeavor, with no staff or polling in a crowded four-way primary. Merkley, the article said, would jog from house to house, asking people to put his campaign sign in their yards since political signs were banned on bigger streets, even though his opponents didn't follow those rules. Merkley won. During his next four terms in the Oregon House, he would work to help Democrats win the majority. They found victory in that pursuit in 2006, and soon after that, Merkley became Speaker. Boosted by his political wins, Merkley set his eyes on another challenge and successfully unseated Republican Gordon Smith from the US Senate in 2008. "His history is being willing to take gambles like that," Mapes said. His time as senator Since being in the Senate, Merkley has risen to a low-level leadership position as chief deputy whip in the Democratic caucus. He sits on four committees: Budget, Appropriations, Foreign Relations, and Environment and Public Works. Democratic leadership aides describe Merkley as a smart, under-the-radar senator who has his pulse on the grassroots movement. "He's quiet but doesn't have to be loud to make his point heard," one top Democratic aide said. Frustrated by Republican obstructionism when Democrats held control of the Senate, Merkley became a big backer of filibuster reform, calling to eliminate the 60-vote threshold to advance legislation and nominees. He also wanted to restore the tradition of a talking filibuster, where senators had to literally stand on the floor and keep talking to hold up key votes. Merkley did however blast Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's recent move to remove the 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees as a "dark deed," which led critics to accuse him of hypocrisy. Legislatively, Merkley also put himself on the map with his push to get breastfeeding rights included in Obamacare, and he's continued to introduce legislation to expand those rights to cover salaried workers. That initiative mimics a law he got passed in Oregon in 2007. He authored provisions against predatory mortgages in the Dodd-Frank bill, and was active on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which the Senate passed in 2013 when Democrats still had control of the Congress; the legislation prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Furthermore, Merkley is adamant about legislation he co-introduced that would aim for 100% renewable energy use by 2050 to fight climate change. A day in Portland Merkley might seem tranquil in comparison to some larger-than-life politicians, but he's nonetheless engaged and smiles often -- as exemplified during a recent day he spent in his home state. He answered one question about his record for 17 minutes at the brewpub, growing more animated as time went on and speaking loud enough to drown out Lionel Richie's "Don't Stop," which was playing in the background. While on tours of a vinyl record factory and a knife factory in the Portland area, he was inquisitive, asking detailed questions about the products and recalling his own time working in a factory as a young man. He next spoke to a group of locally elected officials sitting in a circle of chairs. Hunched over in his seat, he offered assurances that Trump's budget, which had just been announced days earlier, wouldn't end up as "dramatic" as proposed and spoke as fluently about questions over public lands and timber issues as he did about appropriations. At a town hall in Clackamas, Oregon, he fielded questions from constituents for an hour, then spent another 45 minutes talking one-on-one with people afterward. One Washington-based Democratic strategist, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely, argued it's going to be a challenge for Merkley to turn up the heat if he runs for president, noting the range of other potential contenders includes some who have celebrity status like Sen. Cory Booker or billionaire Mark Cuban. "You're going to have to have a really loud voice to cut through a crowded field," the strategist said. What he lacks in volume, however, could be made up for with his blue collar appeal, his supporters argue. "When I think about Jeff, I think of someone who has a unique ability to channel a lot of what Bernie Sanders' supporters are looking for in a candidate, while also having a unique ability to speak to Trump supporters, as well," said a former Merkley staffer, who also asked not to be named. "He doesn't have to fake it to speak to the concerns of working class voters, because that's who he is." Blythe Nordbye, a voter who attended Merkley's town hall, was intrigued at the idea when asked how she felt about a potential Merkley White House bid. "I'd have to think about that," she said as she began to seemingly think out loud. "He's got experience. He's got good principles. He doesn't represent money, he represents people." Still, voters at the town hall were quick to point out that it's very early to start talking about possible 2020 candidates. "I hesitate to start floating names," said Margy Lowe of Rhododendron, Oregon. "They become lightning rods."
Now that Virtual Reality is becoming more mainstream you begin to see games that were previously meant for traditional 2D being resigned and ported over to VR systems. Personally I am EXTREMELY excited to see developers taking popular 2D games and bring them back to life in a fully 3D VR environment. Indie game ‘Please, Don’t Touch Anything’ (PDTA) originally released on March 26th, 2015 and was a HUGE hit for those who tried it out, leaving it with over 1000 positive reviews on Steam. This hidden gem will SOON be available on Oculus Home (MAY 19th) for the Oculus Rift ($14.99) and Gear VR! ($8.99). The game has been developed by Escalation Studios and Four Quarters based in Texas in partnership with Oculus. Published by Bulkypix based in France. *The remainder of the article may contain mild spoilers included in text, pictures, & video. “over 1000 positive reviews” When I first started the game I was immediately struggling to figure out my purpose as I had never previously played this game and I was not familiar with any of the objectives. I find it extremely satisfying when you have to slowly figure out things for yourself as opposed to being given too many hints and obvious paths to follow at the beginning of the game. Even so it wasn’t long before I was getting into the groove and creating plenty of chaos! The developers of this game have done an amazing job at creating a seamless atmosphere that looks and feels like a legitimate work space all the while concealing the fact that almost each and every object is a potential clue that must be looked at, studied, and deciphered for it’s proper meaning within the puzzle. What I really love is the fact that you don’t WIN the game as much as you PLAY the game. It’s about doing things differently and making sure you troubleshoot properly. You could say this is a creative troubleshooting simulator set in a warped reality! VR SPECIAL FEATURES! (escalation.com) 30+ mind-bending enigmas with Virtual Reality enhanced endings Fully re-imagined 3D environment built specifically for Virtual Reality Innovative interaction systems for investigating objects in the room A newly-composed chiptune soundtrack with new tracks for VR Don’t worry I didn’t forget about the video! Just in case the article wasn’t enough, I have a semi-playthrough ‘Let’s Play’ video available for you to watch! I worked hard on it so please take a look! I played the game for just about an hour an managed to get through about 6 of the 30+ endings! Thanks a lot for checking out this article! I hope you found it interesting and informative! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments either below or on one of my social outlets! I really appreciate it. Also, if you think that you have something article worthy let me know! I love collaborating with the community! Thanks again! If you’d like to see more in-game pictures click here! *Mild Spoilers VRGAMERDUDE PLAYS IN HIS GEAR VR! UKRIFTER PLAYS WITH HIS CV1!
This year I received a gift of ukiyo-e prints and another of Japanese poems. I was taking an Eastern art history class this semester, so it'll be great to have another resource for some great prints. :) I haven't had a chance to look at the poems too closely yet but it has the romaji transcript and the author's signature for each poem, which is amazing! Thanks for another great year of exchange. Happy holidays! P.S. To my Santa: I'm sorry for taking so long to post! I definitely, 100% THOUGHT I had posted, but as per usual brainfarted and forgot. Seriously though, thank you so much for another awesome year! I can only hope that this continues to be as awesome as it has been the last couple times.
Court's 'Temporary' Rule Changes Protect Bad NYPD Cops And Stack Deck Against Plaintiffs from the where-lady-justice-is-not-only-blindfolded,-but-gagged-as-well dept The New York Police Department doesn't have a great track record when it comes to civil rights. As Reason points out, claims against the department leapt 71% over the past decade, with $135.8 million in settlements paid out in 2010 alone. While any number of internal investigations and policy changes may be taking place at the NYPD in an attempt to lower the number of rights violations, the Southern District Court of New York made its own proactive, and actively terrible, efforts. Concerned about the number of federal civil rights lawsuits filed against New York City police officers, a subcommittee of judges in the Southern District of New York adopted a temporary set of rules two years ago "designed to promote the just, speedy and inexpensive resolution" of many of those lawsuits. Among other things, the rules increased the amount of time defendants have to respond to lawsuits in Manhattan and the Bronx that accuse police officers of excessive force, false arrest or malicious prosecution, and provided for what its authors called "limited discovery" while establishing a strict timetable for settlement demands and mediation. While the city is required to produce some evidence quickly, most of it is postponed, and all discovery can be halted if a defendant moves to dismiss the suit. Plaintiffs are required to authorize the release of medical records and sealed arrest records related to the lawsuit. They must also provide a list of all previous arrests, sealed or unsealed, although the city is only obliged to turn over indexes of previous complaints about officers that are similar to those in the lawsuit or that could raise questions about the officer's credibility. If a case is not settled within three months of the city's initial response, both sides are required to attend a mediation session. And if there has been no resolution at the end of the plan's process, which lawyers said can take about six months, cases proceed with full discovery. By February 2012, Ms. Weber (attorney for the woman filing the suit) said would generally emerge during the discovery process. But because of the limited discovery, lawyers for the city were not obliged to quickly identify the unnamed officers. "If this case remains within the ambit of the plan, it is quite likely that the statute will expire before plaintiff can identify all possible defendants," Ms. Weber wrote to a judge, calling that possibility "utterly unfair" and asking that her case be exempted from the plan and handled under standard rules. The judge, Denise L. Cote, refused the request. A month later, the case settled without the names of the unidentified officers being revealed. That's a nice thought, but at least two of those terms deployed are incorrect. The rules enacted by the court have little to do with "justice" or "speed." But it may have nailed the last term. Stacking the deck against plaintiffs may ultimately be more "inexpensive."How this subcommittee arrived at the conclusion thatthe mandatory response time to filed suits from 21 days toserves either "justice" or "speed" is beyond me. In the real world, if you give a student the choice of three weeks or three months to finish writing a paper, chances are it will be completed the night before its due. The only thing that's changed is the amount of dead time. Same thing here. Giving the NYPD four times the grace period before response means most (if not all) responses will take four times as long to be filed.And the discovery process is a nightmarish train wreck of travesty traveling down a one-way street (to pile on excessive metaphors) if you're the plaintiff. These "relaxed" rulesfavor law enforcement.The NYPD can apply the brakes on discovery at any time, something that will at least speed up responses in some cases. On the other hand, the plaintiff is expected to provide an open book for the defendant to page through.The city is allowed to knowabout the plaintiff, whether it's relevant to the lawsuit or not. Plaintiffs are only allowed to access what the city deems "similar" to the subject matter of the complaint. With these rules in place, an officer's disciplinary file can be cherry-picked by the defense to present the court with the case of Scumbag Citizen With Priors vs. Officer Good Guy With A Couple Of Judgement Errors On His Record.And if the officer's misdeeds are altogether too awful/too similar to be withheld? No problem. The court allows for the automatic adoption of protective orders to designate certain evidence as confidential. Either side can take advantage of these orderseither side can attempt to exempt the case from the automatic protection, but a judge can overrule any of these requests. A brief glance at the stacked deck gives a pretty good indication as to which side will receive more favorable rulings.Here's where the court attempts to obtain the "speedy" resolutions it claims the rule changes enable."Speedy" means settlements, but settlements rule out "inexpensive," and nothing in the process indicates "justice" is the intent. The plaintiff's bar has opposed the recommendation to make this temporary rule set permanent, stating that that "months of limited discovery pressures plaintiffs to settle without seeing all relevant evidence." That's one way to keep settlement costs lower -- keep the plaintiff and the evidence separated, as happened to a woman who brought a suit against the NYPD after being shoved to the ground by police officers and detained for hours before being released without charges.There's nothing speedy or just about "resolutions" like this. The temporary rule changes that were enacted with the stated intent of streamlining the process and serving justice do nothing of the sort. Now, with the court planning on making these changes permanent, police who violate citizens' rights will have an ally within the justice system, one that allows them to duck their accountability to the public. Filed Under: bad copys, law enforcement, nyc, nypd
Examples For Using io.Pipe in Go Much has been written and said about the work of art that are the io.Reader and io.Writer interfaces. Simple, yet powerful - just as Go itself. In this post I want to showcase another part of the Go standard library that I find to be both simple and powerful - io.Pipe. pr , pw := io . Pipe ( ) According to the docs, io.Pipe creates a synchronous in-memory pipe, which can be used to connect code expecting io.Reader with code expecting io.Writer . Upon invocation, io.Pipe() returns a PipeReader and a PipeWriter . They are connected (hence the pipe), so that everything written to the PipeWriter can be read from the PipeReader . The following three examples show use-cases of io.Pipe , its versatility and the way of thinking and composing I/O it enables us to do. Let’s get started! Example 1: JSON to HTTP Request This is the go-to example one usually sees when it comes to io.Pipe . We encode some data as JSON and want to send it to a web endpoint via http.Post . Unfortunately (or rather fortunately), the JSON encoder takes an io.Writer and the http request methods expect an io.Reader as input, so we can’t just plug them together. Of course we could always create intermediate []byte representations, but that is neither memory efficient nor particularly elegant. This is where io.Pipe comes in: pr , pw := io . Pipe ( ) go func ( ) { // close the writer, so the reader knows there's no more data defer pw . Close ( ) // write json data to the PipeReader through the PipeWriter if err := json . NewEncoder ( pw ) . Encode ( & PayLoad { Content : "Hello Pipe!" } ) ; err != nil { log . Fatal ( err ) } } ( ) // JSON from the PipeWriter lands in the PipeReader // ...and we send it off... if _ , err := http . Post ( "http://example.com" , "application/json" , pr ) ; err != nil { log . Fatal ( err ) } First, we encode some struct PayLoad to JSON and write the data to the PipeWriter created by invoking io.Pipe . Afterwards, we create a http POST request, which gets its data from the PipeReader . That PipeReader gets filled with the data written to the PipeWriter . Important to note here is that we have to encode asynchronously to prevent a deadlock, because we would write without a reader if we didn’t. This practical example showcases the versatility of io.Pipe very well. It really incentivizes gophers to build components using io.Reader and io.Writer , without having to worry about them being used together. Example 2: Split up Data with TeeReader I found another very cool way of using io.Pipe together with TeeReader (read: T-Reader) in @rodaine’s great blog post about asynchronously splitting an io.Reader . In Solution #4, he describes the use-case of using a video-file and simultaneously transcode it to another format and uploading that, while also uploading the original file. All with minimal overhead and completely in parallel. Based on this solution, I tried to capture the gist of it with the following example: pr , pw := io . Pipe ( ) // we need to wait for everything to be done wg := sync . WaitGroup { } wg . Add ( 2 ) // we get some file as input f , err := os . Open ( "./fruit.txt" ) if err != nil { log . Fatal ( err ) } // TeeReader gets the data from the file and also writes it to the PipeWriter tr := io . TeeReader ( f , pw ) go func ( ) { defer wg . Done ( ) defer pw . Close ( ) // get data from the TeeReader, which feeds the PipeReader through the PipeWriter _ , err := http . Post ( "https://example.com" , "text/html" , tr ) if err != nil { log . Fatal ( err ) } } ( ) go func ( ) { defer wg . Done ( ) // read from the PipeReader to stdout if _ , err := io . Copy ( os . Stdout , pr ) ; err != nil { log . Fatal ( err ) } } ( ) wg . Wait ( ) My example is of course simplified in that it doesn’t use channels for propagating errors and results, but the underlying concept is quite similar - we have some kind of input io.Reader , a file in this case and create a TeeReader , which returns a Reader that writes to the Writer you provide it everything it reads from the Reader you provide it. Now we start two goroutines, one which just prints the data to stdout and another one which sends it to an HTTP endpoint. The TeeReader uses the io.Pipe to split up the given input. When the TeeReader is consumed, those same bytes are also received by the PipeReader . Pretty cool, ha? Example 3: Piping the output of Shell commands I stumbled over this gist recently, which combines io.Pipe with os.Exec in a nice way. Basically, it does what most task runners in CI services like Jenkins or Travis CI do, which is execute some shell command and show its output on some website. I tried to encapsulate the general pattern behind it in this short snippet here: pr , pw := io . Pipe ( ) defer pw . Close ( ) // tell the command to write to our pipe cmd := exec . Command ( "cat" , "fruit.txt" ) cmd . Stdout = pw go func ( ) { defer pr . Close ( ) // copy the data written to the PipeReader via the cmd to stdout if _ , err := io . Copy ( os . Stdout , pr ) ; err != nil { log . Fatal ( err ) } } ( ) // run the command, which writes all output to the PipeWriter // which then ends up in the PipeReader if err := cmd . Run ( ) ; err != nil { log . Fatal ( err ) } First, we define our command - in this case, we just cat a file called fruit.txt , which will just spit out the contents of the file on stdout . Then, and this is important, we set the command’s stdout to our PipeWriter . So we redirect the output of the Command to our pipe, which, as before, will make it possible to read it through our PipeReader at another point. In this rather contrived case, that point is just a goroutine where we dump the results of cat to stdout (which it would have done anyways), but I think it’s easy to imagine doing something nifty here like exporting the results of the command somewhere or flushing it to a webpage as seen in this gist, where we’d need an io.Writer as input. Conclusion I hope these examples helped to convince you of the many opportunities opened by using io.Pipe together with nice abstractions which expect either io.Reader or io.Writer . Not only does io.Pipe enable seamless composition of components based on best practices, it’s also quite flexible with the use of TeeReader , which points the vast possibilities of using io.Pipe in custom-made I/O handling pipelines in both a readable and scalable way. Of course this post only scratched the surface on this topic, as it didn’t handle the inherent gotchas with this approach nor error handling, but I plan to remedy this by a post or two on these and some more advanced topics in the future. Have fun pipin’! :) Resources
When most people see the name Jack Daniels, they picture a whiskey bottle. But runners will think about the renowned coach and exercise physiologist. At 81, Daniels has had a bigger influence on training-for-running than anyone. Indeed, he might be considered the Albert Einstein of the sport. His 1998 book, Daniels' Running Formula, unlocked the mystery of appropriate training paces for runners of all abilities. His philosophy was simple: Do the minimum amount of work for the maximum payoff. Daniels attended Sequoia Union High School in Redwood City, California, and found he was drawn to the school's competitive fitness programs. After a stint in the Army, and between two Olympic medals—silver and bronze—as a member of the men's U.S. modern pentathlon team, he attended a sports-coaching school in Sweden. He decided to make exercise physiology his career and returned to the States to write his Ph.D. thesis on exercise and altitude. Thank goodness he did. When it was announced that Mexico City would host the 1968 Olympics, the first Summer Games to be held at altitude—7,350 feet above sea level—American runners needed a crash course. "Jack was the only one who knew anything about the physiology of altitude exercise," says the great American miler Jim Ryun. "Everyone else said the altitude was all in our heads. Without Jack, we couldn't have performed as well as we did." Ryun won silver in the 1500 meters. Years later, Daniels was running a Nike research lab when a panicked Joan Benoit showed up. She'd just had arthroscopic knee surgery, couldn't put weight on the leg, and was worried about losing fitness before the 1984 Olympic Marathon Trials, just two weeks off. Daniels told her to lie down on the lab treadmill, face up. He then suspended an exercise bike, upside down, from the ceiling, and told her to pedal it with her arms. "It didn't do her legs any good," he says, "but it got her heart rate up, and was mainly for her head." Benoit recovered to win both the Olympic Trials and the first women's Olympic Marathon. It was in the 1980s that Daniels began a 17-year stretch of coaching and teaching at SUNY Cortland. His athletes won 130 Division III All-American awards. While he's continued working with elites, working with college kids has brought him as much or even more satisfaction. One of his runners, Vicki Mitchell, began her Cortland career as a 2:39 800-meter runner. By the end, she ran 2:31 for the last 800 of a 10,000-meter win in 33:01. "Runners with less talent have more room for improvement," says Daniels. "How much fun is that?" These days, he teaches online classes for A.T. Still University and coaches part time at Wells College in New York. With his penchant for numbers, you might think Daniels is an aggressive taskmaster. Nope. He's soft-spoken, a gifted storyteller, and a believer that less often is more. "My runners are always telling me they can run faster than the paces I give them," he says. "I say, 'I know that, but we're not trying to run fast workouts. We're trying to run smart workouts that lead to fast races.'" In September, two-time U.S. Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall announced he would be coached by Daniels. Hall hopes to bounce back from several sub-par years. "My dad and I first met Jack at a Jim Ryun Running Camp in 1999," says Hall. "The next year, with our new training knowledge, I dropped to 4:05 in the mile. I'm confident he can get me back as a runner." How will Daniels do that? "The key is to help Ryan believe he still has the talent he's always had. My job is to provide an environment where we don't do anything stupid, and where we bring Ryan back to his full potential." Don't do anything stupid. Wise words from running's Einstein. *** Read more inspiring stories from the runners who are changing the sport in the Heroes of Running: 2015. And check out Amby Burfoot's 2011 one-on-one interivew with Daniels on everything from running form to lactate threshold:
The proposal to include async function in ECMAScript has reached stage four; that means it’s on track to be in the 2017 release of the standard. But what does that mean for JavaScript developers? There’s a lot of interest in async, the capabilities JavaScript will need to easily execute multiple functions in parallel. “Because JavaScript is single-threaded, that means if you have any long-running work it has to happen asynchronously for your app to remain responsive or it would just block and your browser would freeze,” said Anders Hejlsberg, the lead architect of C# and now also a core developer for Microsoft’s TypeScript transpiler for JavaScript. So the JavaScript runtime libraries and all the frameworks are designed such that they only have asynchronous ways of doing things. If you want to do an expensive operation like an XML HTTP request, you don’t get to block and await for the result; you get to supply a callback that calls you back later with the result.” “There’s a huge amount of excitement out there; people are looking forward to when they can use async functions without transpilation,” said Brian Terlson, from Microsoft’s Edge team, who is the editor of the ECMAScript standard as well as “champion” for the async proposal on the TC39 committee that standardizes ECMAScript. When he tweeted that the async proposal had reached stage four, it got more retweets than anything else he’s tweeted. Async functions are now stage 4 and will be included in ES2017! — Brian Terlson (@bterlson) July 29, 2016 “Async programming models allow developers to ask all their questions at once. Developers then react to the answers as those answers are provided. The application is constantly adjusting to the information as it comes in. The user experiences a dynamic application that updates itself instead of being forced to wait an unbounded time for a perfect completed view,” said Naveed Ihsanullah of Mozilla’s platform engineering team, and partly because it’s going to make code more understandable. “Asynchronous programming is very important for developing the best user experiences. Information is in many places and modern applications seek to seamlessly integrate all those disparate sources into one cohesive view. The instantly loaded and completed web page is all illusion, however. Behind the scenes, numerous requests for information are made on the user’s behalf. Some of these are answered quickly and some may take longer. Some may go unanswered altogether,” he said. The whole web platform is moving in this direction, pointed out Terlson. Async going into ECMAScript 2017 is “a reflection of the fact that more and more things in the platform are asynchronous, so your code ends up having to deal with more asynchrony. Talking to a web worker is an asynchronous kind of thing, as is any kind of networking. Storage APIs are asynchronous. Service workers are doing a bunch of network stuff, so they’re asynchronous. The new Streams API has a lot of asynchronous pieces in it. As new APIs are added, we’re just discovering more and more sources of asynchrony as the platform grows in capability, so it permeates your code.” The growth of APIs that add asynchrony means JavaScript needs better ways of handling that in code than callbacks. “If you have just one source of asynchrony a callback is OK but if you’re got a lot of them it sucks, and it’s also painful for performance reason with lots of functions created and thrown away.” Essentially, notes Terlson, reiterating over the HTML Document Object Model (DOM), again and again, isn’t efficient. Making Async Bearable He views async as a ‘vast improvement’ over callbacks because “there’s no pyramid-of-doom nesting callbacks” and Ihsanullah agreed. “While async programming has many benefits, writing applications in this style is often complex and tedious. The JavaScript language has had low-level async facilities, such as XMLHttpRequest, for years. These lower level callback-based constructs were very difficult to work with, difficult to maintain and difficult to debug. They could degenerate the source code to Callback Hell as multiple nested requests were made. Asynct has the potential for greatly decreasing the barrier to writing high quality maintainable asynchronous code. These developer benefits translate directly to more responsive applications for users as more async is used.” In many ways, this is JavaScript catching up with other languages, like C# which pioneered asynchronous programming, and the way asynchrony will work in JavaScript is very similar to how it’s handled in C#, Hejlsberg said. That makes code easier to read and to think about. “JavaScript is a single-threaded execution environment. If you want anything to happen as a result of asynchrony, you’ve got to do through callbacks or someone has to call you, because only there’s one thread of execution. If someone else has it, they’ve got to give it up and let you run. So from day one, JavaScript always had callbacks like setTimeout or like DOM events; all that happens by someone calling you back. The problem is how complex the code structure becomes with a lot of callbacks, and how hard that makes it to work with, Hejlsberg said. “The logic often becomes more complex; what if you have to have conditional branching or you have to have the equivalent of a for loop but with async calls in middle of the loop? You can try to do that mapping yourself, where you have to lift your state into shared object or shared variables and maintain that, but you basically have to write a state machine yourself. State machines are something computers are very good at reasoning about and humans are horrible at reasoning about!” Async takes care of that, he explained. “It turns out that you can mechanically transform code that’s written in the regular sequential style into asynchronous code using CPS, Continuation Processing Style code rewrites. You can rewrite any program that uses synchronous function calls with returns and turn them into functions that take callbacks — and that’s what powers async. You get to write your code as if it is synchronous and then the compiler rewrites it into asynchronous callback-based code for you and turns your code into a state machine.” That’s the best way to think about the new async/await feature, he suggests. “The places where you use the await operator to await an asynchronous piece of work, the compiler automatically makes a callback out of the rest of your code.” “The big benefit is you get to write your code the way you always have. If you need an if statement, you write an if statement, if you need a for loop you write a for loop, and inside those you can say await and then have control return and then come back whenever the async work completes. People are very excited about that, because it makes your code look a lot cleaner and it’s a lot it’s easier to reason about your code.” As Terlson notes, “For the most part you don’t have to worry about the fact that you’re calling an asynchronous API; you just await it and go about your day. If the promise is rejected you get an exception thrown by async, so you can write asynchronous code that looks like synchronous code and handle errors with normal synchronous imperative code.” You still have refactoring to do. “When you make a function an async function, code that calls it gets a promise instead of a value, so you do need to change the calling code to async as well, and await the result.” But that’s far easier to do with async because the code itself is less complex. “You can even await non-promises. There are some APIs that return promises but sometimes if they know a value synchronously they just return it, so if you await the API result the right thing will happen.” Being able to write code using these familiar, synchronous patterns while getting all the benefits of asynchrony “greatly simplifies writing code for dynamic and responsive web applications” said Ihsanullah. He suggests thinking of it as a “syntactic wrapper over JavaScript promises and generators” and points out that “understanding these features will greatly facilitate a developer’s understanding of async” and “experience with promises is probably mandatory.” Understanding that async and its related function await is based on generators and promises will help you deal with more complex asynchronous code, he said. “Await currently only allows waiting on one thing a time. A developer recognizing that these async functions are promises, however, could then use await Promise.all(…) to wait on several actions.” Browsers Getting Ready for Async At one point, async seemed a slightly controversial proposal. “There was some concern around whether blessing promises as the async pattern is the right choice or something more like tasks that could swap out other things under the covers,” Terlson explained. But at that stage there hadn’t been many implementations beyond Microsoft’s Edge browser (starting as an experimental feature in Edge 13.10547 back in September 2015 and moving to an unprefixed version in the Windows Insider preview build 14986). “Then Google V8 started implementing it and as we got more implementation experience, and people were convinced there were not problems for performance and so on, that helped.” Plus, explained Ihsanullah, JavaScript needed those building blocks of async: promises and generators. “While promises, by virtue of being implementable in JavaScript, have been usable in browsers for a few years, generators are a more recent addition to the language.” And getting the syntax to reflect the way developers use functions is important. “It started with arrows. Then generators. And now async functions. To the standards committee and to the community, ergonomics of the language matters.” Now async functions are enabled by default in Chrome, since Chrome 55 (Google’s Jake Archibald called them “quite frankly marvelous”) and they’ve been in the Firefox nightly releases since November 2016 (the plan is to support them in Firefox 52). Opera 42 and later support async, and it’s under development in Safari. Transpilers And with transpilers like Babel and TypeScript, you can even write async code and have it run in older browsers, as well as being confident it will work in the latest browsers as they add support. It’s a lot more work to support async without generators, which is why it used to only be possible to transpile async code to ECMAScript 2015 in TypeScript, and Babel has different techniques depending on which version of ECMAScript you want to target. But now TypeScript 2.1 lets you go all the way back to ECMAScript 3, said Hejlsberg. “Once you rewrite your code into a state machine, if you have generators then the transformation is relatively simple — rewriting an async function with awaits in it into a generator is almost trivial. But if you don’t have generators it is much more complex — because now you have to wrap a state machine around your code and effectively every place you see await, the function has to return and then when control comes back it has to jump back there and continue executing. And since there are no gotos in JavaScript, that’s complicated. So you have to write a while loop with a switch statement with a bunch of machine-invented states that you then maintain. The rewrite that happens to your code is complex and getting that rewrite correct is not simple. “With TypeScript 2.1 we switched to a new emitter; this is the backend of the compiler. It’s a tree writer that rewrites your syntax trees to make these new state machines and the other fancy stuff you have to make, so we now natively support rewriting async await to ECMAScript 3. And it’s not just doing the simple cases where you can only use await at the top level not in the middle of an initialise or for a property of an object literal — no, it’s an operator like any other, so just like you can say plus, you can say wait.” Browsers and transpilers aren’t the only place async needs to be supported for it to become mainstream of course; frameworks and libraries also need to support it. “If you want to write async style code but you have a bunch of frameworks that weren’t written in that style, those frameworks are still going to do callbacks,” he points out. “Async works fantastically if you have a promise based library that you’re coding against. Often, though, libraries are not promise-based and then you have to promisify them or find a promisified version of that same functionality. That will be the challenge, because that’s the glue that connects you from the callback to the async world.” Expect that to take time to happen. “As with anything, it’s not happening overnight but there’s going to be an increasingly gradual shift and modern frameworks getting written now will use promises for all their async — and that means it will be a lot easier to consume them with async code. It’s going to be this wave that slowly washes over as opposed to something that happens overnight.” Announcing that async will be in ECMAScript 2017 will help with this. “Library authors will have to transpile async for some time,” Terlson predicts, “but they can now be confident it’s a future direction for JavaScript so they can use it and not be concerned it’s going to be broken by future language changes.” And of course, writing asynchronous JavaScript will be new to many developers. “If you’re not using a transpiler today, you haven’t used async functions,” Terlson points out. Anyone already using async is an early adopter, but as ECMAScript 2017 moves towards ratification, now is the time to start looking at how it can improve your code. Feature image via Pixabay.
.- The cardinals and bishops who attended Pope Benedict XVI’s last big public appearance made sure to show him their love and respect, but it was a hard moment as well. “There was a touch of sadness as when one sees a person for the very last time,” said Archbishop Rino Fisichella after the Pope’s last general audience. “Bishops and cardinals have shown a lot of respect, love and affection towards him here today,” he told CNA Feb. 27. Around 200,000 people from all over the world came to St. Peter’s Square to see Pope Benedict for the last time before he steps down as Pope tomorrow evening. Archbishop Fisichella, who is president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of New Evangelization, said that the audience was important in two ways. “The first is the great humanity of the Holy Father because he has spoken about his suffering in taking this decision, but it has also been a big experience of faith,” the archbishop observed. “The living Church embraces the Holy Father and manifests its love, but it’s an experience of faith. “We have the certainty that the Holy Spirit is with us, and so is the Holy Father with his resignation, but he is present among us with his prayer and his presence. Archbishop Fisichella sees Pope Benedict has given “a testimony of faith and big hope to the whole Church” during his papacy. “With his testimony and his teaching, which has a very rich deepness, and with his live presence, prayer, and silence – which talks about true prayer that we need to give to God – he will continue to help the Year of Faith,” he affirmed.
Yuuta Banda poses for a photo with OriHime, his robot avatar. Image: OryLab When Yuuta Banda was just four years old, he suffered a car accident that left him paralyzed, connected to a respiratory machine, and confined to bed for life. But almost two decades later, he's been able to experience different places, and even find a job thanks to OriHime, his robot avatar. "At first I couldn't understand what was so great about OriHime, but I gradually learned through using it that [the robot] afforded people with a sense of presence," Banda told me in an email. "I felt a greater sense of satisfaction as I spoke with people in different places to me through the robot." OriHime, created by Japanese startup OryLab, is a portable robot about the same height as a laptop screen that acts as an avatar for a human operator. When I first saw it in OryLab's Tokyo office, it looked like a cross between a power ranger and a sea creature. Its creators argue that screen-on-wheels type telepresence devices like the one that projected US whistleblower Edward Snowden's face during a 2014 TED Talk can sometimes make it seem like you're talking with someone far away through a window. Their robot, they say, makes it feel like the person you're speaking to remotely is actually by your side—embodied through the robot. OriHime looks at the author reflected in the smartphone that is controlled by Akirahime. Image: Emiko Jozuka The startup, which has been supported by angel investors since its founding in 2012, is in the midst of securing its first round of venture capital for its product, which it wants to be used in everything from social settings like parties to serious business meetings. OryLab CEO Kentaro Yoshifuji initially dreamt up the robot when he was unable to attend school for three years owing to an illness. Years later, he met Yuki Akirahime, OryLab CFO, who shared a similar experience when she was confined to a hospital bed for six months as a high school student. The experience led her to miss out on giving a presentation in the US when she won a prize at the Japan Science and Engineering Challenge (JSEC) in 2006. "Yoshifuji and I both had a period where it was hard for us to go outside due to both our physical and psychological states," explained Akirahime. "If I had had an alter ego, then it could have gone to the US on my behalf, and I could've just given the presentation from the hospital in Japan." OriHime the robot demoes one of its ten poses. Image: Emiko Jozuka Banda, who connected with OryLab CEO Kentaro Yoshifuji via Facebook, has been using the robot for almost two years. He currently performs secretarial duties full-time for OryLab from his home in northern Japan. To control his robot counterpart in the Tokyo office, Banda either speaks directly into a microphone or selects commands by moving a pen connected to a mousepad with his chin. I'd really like this robot to be used by people [who can't move] owing to incurable diseases, and for it to provide these people with a sense of purpose within society" The Wi-Fi-connected, battery-powered, and app-controlled robot has an onboard camera that acts as the eyes for its human operator, flippers that move to reflect its user's moods, and a microphone that projects the user's voice. OriHime—whose name comes from a fairytale about a goddess who can only see her beloved, Hikoboshi, once a year—currently has ten moves that range from a nod to show agreement, a side-to-side head movement that means no, and a flipper tap denoting a special phrase (nandeyanen) unique to the Kansai region in the south of Honshu, Japan's main island, to indicate affectionate disagreement when someone says something a bit dumb. "I'd really like this robot to be used by people [who can't move] owing to incurable diseases, and for it to provide these people with a sense of purpose within society," said Banda, who mentioned how people in similar situations to him could also find a way to enter the labor force through the robot. The idea of telepresence robots has always been big in Japan, with veteran researcher Susumu Tachi spending over 30 years perfecting his concept, roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro giving lectures via a lifelike doppelganger android, and entrepreneur Tatsuki Adiyana creating a VR headset that lets people see the world through the eyes of an avatar teddy bear. Yet these ideas have yet to make it commercially—one thing OryLab is trying to change with OriHime. So far OryLab—which has nine employees—has made close to 100 OriHime robots. Fifty have been rented out; some for free and others at a charge of 300,000 YEN ($277) per month. The rest are undergoing testing. The company is aiming to have made at least 300 robots by the end of this year, and want to produce close to 1,000 in 2017. It also wants to bring the robot's rental fee down to 10,000 YEN ($92) per month. Akirahime explained that the startup prefered renting out its robots as opposed to selling them as the software is constantly being improved based on user feedback. OryLab co-founder and CFO Akirahime with OriHime in Tokyo. Image: Emiko Jozuka For Banda, who initially worked his way from an internship to a full-time position at OryLab, OriHime has levelled his experience of the workplace, making it a more democratic space where all can participate. "Even now, I'm having my presence felt in OryLab's office in Tokyo through OriHime. I take part in meetings, attend lectures with the team," said Banda. "I'm really just in the middle of making up for 20 years worth of hospitalization and experiencing the world." Cool Japan is a column about the quirky and serious happenings in the Japanese scientific, technological and cultural realms. It covers the unknown, the mainstream, and the otherwise interesting developments in Japan.
Japan Airlines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic Japan Airlines passenger flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Osaka International Airport, Japan. On August 12, 1985, a Boeing 747SR operating this route suffered a sudden decompression twelve minutes into the flight and crashed in the area of Mount Takamagahara, Ueno, Gunma Prefecture, 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Tokyo thirty-two minutes later. The crash site was on Osutaka Ridge, near Mount Osutaka. Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission officially concluded that the rapid decompression was caused by a faulty repair by Boeing technicians after a tailstrike incident during a landing at Osaka Airport seven years earlier (1978). A doubler plate on the rear bulkhead of the plane had been improperly repaired, compromising the plane's airworthiness. Cabin pressurization continued to expand and contract the improperly repaired bulkhead until the day of the accident, when the faulty repair finally failed, causing the rapid decompression that ripped off a large portion of the tail and caused the loss of hydraulic controls to the entire plane. The aircraft, configured with increased economy class seating, was carrying 524 people. Casualties of the crash included all 15 crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers. Among the dead passengers some survived the initial crash but subsequently died of their injuries hours later, mostly due to the Japan Self-Defense Forces’s decision to wait until the next day to go to the crash site, after declining an offer from a nearby United States Air Force base to start an immediate rescue operation. It remains the deadliest single-aircraft accident in aviation history.[1] Aircraft and crew [ edit ] The accident aircraft was registered JA8119 and was a Boeing 747-146SR (Short Range). Its first flight was on January 28, 1974. It had more than 25,000 airframe hours and more than 18,800 cycles (one cycle equals one takeoff and landing).[1] At the time of the accident the aircraft was on the fifth of its six planned flights of the day.[2] There were fifteen crew members, including three cockpit crew and 12 flight attendants. The cockpit crew consisted of the following: Captain Masami Takahama ( 高浜雅己 , Takahama Masami ) from Akita, Japan, served as a training instructor for First Officer Yutaka Sasaki on the flight, supervising him while handling the radio communications. [3] [4] [5] A veteran pilot, having logged approximately 12,400 total flight hours, roughly 4,850 of which were accumulated flying 747s, Masami Takahama was aged 49 at the time of the accident. from Akita, Japan, served as a training instructor for First Officer Yutaka Sasaki on the flight, supervising him while handling the radio communications. A veteran pilot, having logged approximately 12,400 total flight hours, roughly 4,850 of which were accumulated flying 747s, Masami Takahama was aged 49 at the time of the accident. First Officer Yutaka Sasaki ( 佐々木祐 , Sasaki Yutaka ) from Kobe was in line for promotion to the rank of Captain and flew Flight 123 as one of his training flights. Sasaki, who was 39 years old at the time of the incident, had approximately 4,000 total flight hours to his credit and he had logged roughly 2,650 hours in the 747. from Kobe was in line for promotion to the rank of Captain and flew Flight 123 as one of his training flights. Sasaki, who was 39 years old at the time of the incident, had approximately 4,000 total flight hours to his credit and he had logged roughly 2,650 hours in the 747. Flight Engineer Hiroshi Fukuda ( 福田博 , Fukuda Hiroshi) from Kyoto, the 46-year-old veteran flight engineer of the flight who had approximately 9,800 total flight hours, of which roughly 3,850 were accrued flying 747s.[6] Passengers [ edit ] The flight was around the Obon holiday period in Japan, when many Japanese people make yearly trips to their hometowns or resorts.[7] Around twenty-one non-Japanese boarded the flight.[8] By August 13, 1985, Geoffrey Tudor, a spokesman for Japan Airlines, stated that the list included four residents of Hong Kong, two each from Italy and the United States, and one each from West Germany and the United Kingdom.[9] Some foreigners had dual nationalities, and some of them were residents of Japan.[7] The four survivors, all female, were seated on the left side and toward the middle of seat rows 54–60, in the rear of the aircraft.[10] The four survivors were: Yumi Ochiai ( 落合由美 , Ochiai Yumi ) , a 26-year-old off-duty JAL flight attendant who was jammed between seats; , a 26-year-old off-duty JAL flight attendant who was jammed between seats; Hiroko Yoshizaki ( 吉崎博子 , Yoshizaki Hiroko ) , a 34-year-old woman; , a 34-year-old woman; Mikiko Yoshizaki ( 吉崎美紀子 , Yoshizaki Mikiko ) , Hiroko's 8-year-old daughter--Hiroko and Mikiko were both trapped in an intact section of the fuselage; and , Hiroko's 8-year-old daughter--Hiroko and Mikiko were both trapped in an intact section of the fuselage; and Keiko Kawakami ( 川上慶子 , Kawakami Keiko) , a 12-year-old girl who was rescued from under the wreckage.[11] Air Disaster Volume 2 stated that she was wedged between branches in a tree.[12] Kawakami's parents and younger sister died in the crash, and she was the last survivor to be released from the hospital. She was treated at the Matsue Red Cross Hospital in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture before her release on Friday, November 22, 1985.[13] Among the dead was singer Kyu Sakamoto, who was famous for the hit song known in the United States under the title "Sukiyaki." Sequence of events [ edit ] Route of Japan Airlines Flight 123 The aircraft landed at Haneda from New Chitose Airport at 4:50PM as JL514. After more than an hour on the ramp, Flight 123 pushed back from gate 18 at 6:04 p.m.[6] and took off from Runway 15L[2] at Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, at 6:12 p.m., twelve minutes behind schedule.[14] About 12 minutes after takeoff, at near cruising altitude over Sagami Bay, the aircraft's aft pressure bulkhead burst open due to a pre-existing defect stemming from a panel that had been incorrectly repaired after a tailstrike accident 7 years earlier. This caused a rapid decompression[15] of the aircraft, bringing down the ceiling around the rear lavatories, damaging the unpressurized fuselage aft of the bulkhead, unseating the vertical stabilizer, and severing all four hydraulic lines. A photograph taken from the ground confirmed that the vertical stabilizer was missing.[16] The pilots set their transponder to broadcast a distress signal. Afterwards, Captain Takahama contacted Tokyo Area Control Center to declare an emergency, and to request to return back to Haneda Airport, descending and following emergency landing vectors to Oshima. Tokyo Control approved a right-hand turn to a heading of 90° east back towards Oshima, however the plane did not follow the directions and continued to fly a westerly course. It was at this point that the pilots became aware that the aircraft had become uncontrollable, and the Flight Engineer reported that the hydraulic pressure was dropping. Seeing that the aircraft was still flying west away from Haneda, Tokyo Control contacted the aircraft again. After confirming that the pilots were declaring an emergency, the controller requested as to the nature of the emergency, which the pilots did not respond to. Only after Tokyo Control repeated the direction to descend and turn to a 90° heading to Oshima did the Captain report that the aircraft had become uncontrollable. Heading over the Izu Peninsula, the pilots managed to turn towards the Pacific Ocean, then back towards the shore; Captain Takahama declined Tokyo Control's suggestion to divert to Nagoya Airport 72 miles away, instead preferring to land at Haneda. Hydraulic fluid completely drained away through the rupture. With total loss of hydraulic control and non-functional control surfaces, the aircraft began up and down oscillations in phugoid cycles lasting about 90 seconds each. The lack of stabilizing influence from the vertical stabilizer and the rudder removed the only means to dampen yaw. Consequently, the aircraft also began to exhibit Dutch roll, simultaneously yawing right and banking right, before yawing back left and banking left, with the banks in large arcs of approximately 50° back and forth in cycles of 12 seconds. [12] In response, the pilots exerted efforts to establish stability using differential engine thrust, and they managed to slowly turn the plane back towards Haneda. Shortly after 6:40 PM, the landing gear was lowered in an attempt to dampen the phugoid cycles and Dutch rolls. This was somewhat successful, as the phugoid cycles were dampened. However, lowering the gear also interfered with control by throttle, and the aircrew's ability to control the aircraft deteriorated.[12] Shortly after lowering the gear, the plane began a right-hand descending turn from 22,400 feet to 17,000 feet, then continued north while still descending. Upon descending to 13,500 feet (4100 m) at 6:45 PM, the pilots again reported an uncontrollable aircraft. Moments later, the aircraft began to turn to the left, despite efforts by the crew to get the plane to continue to turn right and avoid the mountains. The aircraft after rapid decompression, with its vertical stabilizer missing As the aircraft continued west, they descended below 7,000 feet (2100 m), then entered a rapid climb and nearly stalled the plane at 8,000 feet, before returning to an unsteady climb. At 6:51 PM, the Captain lowered the flaps 5 units via an alternate electrical system as an additional attempt to exert control over the stricken jet.[12][2] The aircraft reached 13,000 feet (4000 m) at 6:53 PM, at which point the pilots reported an uncontrollable plane for the third time. At approximately 6:54 PM, the crew lowered flaps to 10 units, but this began to cause the plane to bank increasingly to the right. One minute later, the flaps were extended to 25 units, which caused the aircraft to bank further to the right beyond 60°, and the nose began to drop.[2] Captain Takahama immediately ordered the flaps to be retracted, and was heard on the cockpit voice recorder desperately requesting for more power to be applied in a last-ditch effort to raise the nose. [17] However the plane continued to enter an uncontrollable right-hand descent into the mountains and disappearing from radar at 6:56 p.m. at 6,800 feet (2100 m). In the final moments, the wing clipped a mountain ridge. During a subsequent rapid plunge, the plane then slammed into a second ridge, then flipped and landed on its back.[2] The aircraft's crash point, at an elevation of 1,565 metres (5,135 ft), is located in Sector 76, State Forest, 3577 Aza Hontani, Ouaza Narahara, Ueno Village, Tano District, Gunma Prefecture. The east-west ridge is about 2.5 kilometres (8,200 ft) north north west of Mount Mikuni.[18] Ed Magnuson of Time magazine said that the area where the aircraft crashed was referred to as the "Tibet" of Gunma Prefecture.[4] The elapsed time from the bulkhead failure to the crash was 32 minutes.[19][2](pp123,127) Delayed rescue operation [ edit ] United States Air Force controllers at Yokota Air Base situated near the flight path of Flight 123 had been monitoring the distressed aircraft's calls for help. They maintained contact throughout the ordeal with Japanese flight control officials and made their landing strip available to the aeroplane. The Atsugi Naval Base also cleared their runway for JAL 123 after being alerted of the ordeal. After losing track on radar, a U.S. Air Force C-130 from the 345th TAS was asked to search for the missing plane. The C-130 crew was the first to spot the crash site 20 minutes after impact, while it was still daylight. The crew sent the location to Japanese authorities and radioed Yokota Air Base to alert them and directed a Huey helicopter from Yokota to the crash site. Rescue teams were assembled in preparation to lower Marines down for rescues by helicopter tow line. Despite American offers of assistance in locating and recovering the crashed plane, an order arrived, saying that U.S. personnel were to stand down and announcing that the Japan Self-Defense Forces were going to take care of it themselves and outside help was not necessary. To this day, it is unclear why U.S. forces were denied permission to begin their intended search and rescue missions.[citation needed] Although a JSDF helicopter eventually spotted the wreck during the night, poor visibility and the difficult mountainous terrain prevented it from landing at the site. The pilot reported from the air that there were no signs of survivors. Based on this report, JSDF personnel on the ground did not set out to the site the night of the crash. Instead, they were dispatched to spend the night at a makeshift village erecting tents, constructing helicopter landing ramps and engaging in other preparations, 63 kilometers (39.1 miles) from the wreck. Rescue teams did not set out for the crash site until the following morning. Medical staff later found bodies with injuries suggesting that individuals had survived the crash only to die from shock, exposure overnight in the mountains, or from injuries that, if tended to earlier, would not have been fatal.[12] One doctor said "If the discovery had come ten hours earlier, we could have found more survivors."[20] Off-duty flight attendant Yumi Ochiai, one of the four survivors out of 524 passengers and crew, recounted from her hospital bed that she recalled bright lights and the sound of helicopter rotors shortly after she awoke amid the wreckage, and while she could hear screaming and moaning from other survivors, these sounds gradually died away during the night.[12] Cause [ edit ] The official cause of the crash according to the report published by Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission is as follows: Correct (top) and incorrect splice plate installations The aircraft was involved in a tailstrike incident at Osaka International Airport seven years earlier as JAL Flight 115, which damaged the aircraft's rear pressure bulkhead. The subsequent repair of the bulkhead did not conform to Boeing's approved repair methods. For reinforcing a damaged bulkhead, Boeing's repair procedure calls for one continuous splice plate with three rows of rivets.[21] However, the Boeing technicians carrying out the repair had used two splice plates parallel to the stress crack.[22][23] Cutting the plate in this manner negated the effectiveness of one of the rows of rivets, reducing the part's resistance to fatigue cracking to about 70% of that for a correct repair. During the investigation, the Accident Investigation Commission calculated that this incorrect installation would fail after approximately 10,000 pressurization cycles; the aircraft accomplished 12,318 successful flights from the time that the faulty repair was made to when the crash happened.[24] Consequently, after repeated pressurization cycles during normal flight, the bulkhead gradually started to crack near one of the two rows of rivets holding it together. When it finally failed, the resulting rapid decompression ruptured the lines of all four hydraulic systems and ejected the vertical stabilizer. With many of the aircraft's flight controls disabled, the aircraft became uncontrollable.[25] Aftermath and legacy [ edit ] Flight 123 accident monument in Fujioka The Japanese public's confidence in Japan Airlines took a dramatic downturn in the wake of the disaster, with passenger numbers on domestic routes dropping by one third. Rumors persisted that Boeing had admitted fault to cover up shortcomings in the airline's inspection procedures, thus protecting the reputation of a major customer.[12] In the months after the crash, domestic traffic decreased by as much as 25%. In 1986, for the first time in a decade, fewer passengers boarded JAL's overseas flights during the New Year period than the previous year. Some of them considered switching to All Nippon Airways as a safer alternative.[26] JAL paid ¥780 million (US$7.6 million) to the victims' relatives in the form of "condolence money" without admitting liability. JAL president, Yasumoto Takagi (高木養根), resigned.[12] In the aftermath of the incident, Hiroo Tominaga, a JAL maintenance manager, killed himself to atone for the incident,[27] while Susumu Tajima, an engineer who had inspected and cleared the aircraft as flightworthy, committed suicide due to difficulties at work.[28] In compliance with standard procedures, Japan Airlines dropped the flight number 123 for their Haneda-Itami routes, changing it to Flight 121 and Flight 127 on September 1, 1985. While Boeing 747s were still used on the same route operating with the new flight numbers in the years following the crash, they were replaced by the Boeing 767 or Boeing 777 in the mid-1990s. The 747s continued serving JAL until their 2011 retirement. March 2 of the same year saw the retirement of the airline's final two 747s, which were -400 series. In 2009, stairs with a handrail were installed to facilitate visitors' access to the crash site. Japan Transport Minister Seiji Maehara visited the site on August 12, 2010, to pray for the victims.[29] Families of the victims, together with local volunteer groups, hold an annual memorial gathering every August 12 near the crash site in Gunma Prefecture.[30] The crash led to the 2006 opening of the Safety Promotion Center,[31][32] which is located in the Daini Sogo Building in the grounds of Haneda Airport.[33] This center was created for training purposes to alert employees to the importance of airline safety and their personal responsibility to ensure safety. The center has displays regarding aviation safety, the history of the crash, and selected pieces of the aircraft and passenger effects (including handwritten farewell notes). It is open to the public by appointment made two months prior to the visit.[34] The captain's daughter, Yoko Takahama, who was a high school student at the time of the crash, went on to become a flight attendant for Japan Airlines.[35] Diana Yukawa, who was born after the crash, and her older sister Cassie, were the daughters of English ballet dancer Susanne Bayly and married Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa. Yukawa died in the crash, and Bayly received a £340,000 settlement to sign papers effectively disinheriting her daughters and to remain silent, preventing embarrassment to Yukawa’s family. The sisters received an undisclosed payout from the airline in 2002.[36] In popular culture [ edit ] See also [ edit ] Similar accidents involving loss of flight controls: United Airlines Flight 232 – caused by a catastrophic engine failure, 1989 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident – caused by a surface-to-air missile striking the left wing, 2003
Nintendo Switch Surprise Australian Launch Line-Up – 9 Unannounced Games The Nintendo Switch launch games in Australia aren’t what the locals expected. The Nintendo Switch launched at midnight in Australia, with lucky fans already well and truly deep into games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is the big system seller of the launch window, and what we’ve played thus far has been truly incredible - a fantastic gaming experience and a must-own. You can read more about it in the Nintendo Switch Magazine. It is not alone at launch, of course. In all 12 games were set to launch alongside the Switch, the lowest in 21 years. However, when Australians opened up the eShop for the first time, they weren’t greeted with the list of titles they expected. The announced launch-line-up was: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Super Bomberman R 3. 1-2 Switch 4. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment/Treasure Trove 5. Just Dance 2017 6. FAST RMX 7. Snipperclips – Cut It Out Together 8. I am Setsuna 9. World of Goo 10. Little Inferno 11. Human Resources Machine 12. Skylanders: Imaginators The actual line-up is: 1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2. Super Bomberman R 3. 1-2 Switch 4. The King of Fighters ’89 5. Waku Waku 7 6. Shock Troopers 7. World Heroes Perfect 8. Metal Slug 3 9. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment/Treasure Trove 10. New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers 11. Othello 12. Voez 13. Vroom in the Night Sky 14. Just Dance 2017 15. FAST RMX 16. Snipperclips – Cut It Out Together 17. I am Setsuna So we have an additional nine games we didn’t know where coming to Australia, and four games that are missing. It’s typical of the confusion surrounding the launch of this system, but more games is hardly a deal breaker. Especially given the big guns are still there. What is the Nintendo Switch magazine? If you want to learn more about the launch of the Switch, with exclusive reviews of the console, accessories, online service and 24 games, get the Nintendo Switch Magazine. Go direct to Amazon or iTunes if you prefer. New comment Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. Disqus
It may be time to install some solar panels on your roof to counter that electricity bill that is through the roof. Here is a brief guide to solar panels and solar electricity systems. How do solar panels work? Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. Today, thousands of people take advantage of this process by using individual solar PV systems to power their homes. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the solar panels used for homes are made up of modules of about 40 solar cells. The average home will need 10 to 20 solar panels. What are the benefits of solar power? The U.S. Department of Energy reports that most solar electric systems usually pay for themselves in four to five years. They tend to last up to three decades, and can increase the value of your home. There are also federal and state incentives that come along with solar installations. Find out what kind of tax credits and utility rebates are available in your state. And then there are the environmental benefits of switching to solar power. Solar electric systems reduce greenhouse gas emission, as well as the dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil. How do I decide which solar panels to buy? There are two main types of solar panels: crystalline silicon and thin film. Dan Bedell, the executive vice president of marketing and corporate development at Principal Solar, says to keep in mind that, while thin film panels may be less expensive than silicon-based ones, they usually produce less electricity. When selecting solar panels, Bedell says that you should pay attention to the price per watt calculation (divide the price of the module by the number of watts it is rated to produce). You should also consider your location, the amount of sunlight your home receives and the average temperatures for your area. "The best module for Boston might not be the best module for Phoenix," Bedell says. Other factors to think about when you are picking out a system include your budget, the available space on your roof or in your yard for the solar panels, and the degree to which you want to offset conventional power with solar power. Can I install the panels myself? No. Bedell says that installing a solar electricity system is not a do-it-yourself project. You will need a licensed electrician or certified solar installer. Consult the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) for a list of certified systems installers. Ask any solar energy dealer or installer if he or she handles the tax incentive paperwork. Your system will require a certain level of maintenance. Review the maintenance instructions in your system manual so you are aware of these requirements. Make sure to check with your city, county or homeowner association to see if there are any restrictions and whether you need to get permits before you can install the system. Your installer should be able to help you out. Bedell says that the engineering of the installation is important to the functionality of your system. "Orienting a very high quality hardware installation in the wrong direction, or in a partially-shaded area will likely result in far worse electricity production than orienting a very low quality hardware installation in the right direction and free of shade," he says.
The Policy Report The Policy Report is published by Adam Haverstock and Igor Kagan. It was started on September 8, 2008 when the two discussed the need for an outlet to express their opinions on California Politics in a state where very few people understand the makeup of the government, let alone debate how to make it effective. As the project progressed, it became clear that their mission should be to develop a site where regular people can receive information about what is happening in their state in terms they can understand and without the political spin and rhetoric. We are based in the San Fernando Valley, CA and most of our discussions focus on Los Angeles, the State of California and, of course, the United States. We always welcome comments. This blog is intended to be a place where voters and share their opinions about issues that affect them. Mission Statement The purpose of The Policy Report is to inject common sense debate and analysis on public policy issues into a world of spin and extreme partisanship. Our contributors come from opposite sides of the political spectrum, but agree that most difficult problems can only be solved by working together. In the end, we are all fighting for a better world. The Policy Report is a place to argue about the best ways to get there. Can I repost The Policy Report articles on my site? Yes, as long as you link back to The Policy Report. This site is licensed under a Creative Commons License. This means it can be reproduced as long as you give credit to The Policy Report and link to the article. Go to the Creative Commons website for more information about content distribution.Can I contribute content? Sure! We are always looking for concerned citizens who would like to write about local, state or federal politics. There are a few conditions: You must live in California or have a working knowledge of the California Government. You must have good writing skills including grammar and spelling. This is a part-time project and we don’t have time to proofread all of your writing. including grammar and spelling. This is a part-time project and we don’t have time to proofread all of your writing. You cannot be extremely partisan. We pride ourselves on being moderates who encourage bipartisan solutions to problems. If you are too liberal or conservative, you just won’t fit in. If you feel you meet the qualifications above, email your article (including photos) to Adam for review. Can my company/campaign advertise on your site? The publishers of the site want to keep it from being a minefield of advertising. That being said, a few advertisements placed in the sidebar would help offset the cost of the domain, hosting, etc. If you are interested contact Adam for details. Contributors Adam Haverstock Adam is a 24-year-old registered Republican. He considers himself a center-right political orientation. A social moderate, he supports policies that allow individuals their human rights without paying for those allowances with other citizens’ tax dollars. He considers fiscal issues to be his area of interest and is a member of the Club For Growth, an anti-tax advocacy group. He has spent several years visiting Sacramento and Washington DC lobbying in support of Higher Education and in support of various pieces of legislation. He has worked on campaigns for candidates in and around the San Fernando Valley, California. He holds a BA in Psychology from California State University, Northridge. He currently works as a researcher in the recreation and hospitality industry. Igor Kagan Igor is a 23-year-old registered Democrat. Politically, he leans left, but argues that he is objective. In his perfect world everyone would have equal opportunity to reach their full potential. This goal informs and motivates his political beliefs. When not debating politics, Igor enjoys sports, reading, and nature. An engaged citizen, Igor sits on the executive board of the San Fernando Valley Young Democrats and volunteers for Grid Alternatives, a non profit that installs solar panels for low income homeowners. During the day, he works as a clean air advocate for a large public health organization. Igor holds a BA in Public Policy and Communication Studies from California State University Northridge. Born in Ukraine, Igor now proudly calls Los Angeles his home. This Archived Content Is Underwritten By CleanItSupply.com: Mop Buckets https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-442/mop-bucket-wringer-combos.aspx Dish Soap https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-480/dish-soap-dishwashing-detergents.aspx Paper Towels https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-12/paper-products-dispensers.aspx Trash Bags https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-455/trash-bags-can-liners.aspx Janitorial Supplies https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-2306/janitorial-supplies.aspx Toilet Paper https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-499/toilet-paper.aspx Janitorial Services http://www.ddcleanitjanitorialservices.com This Archived Content Is Underwritten By CleanItSupply.com: Mop Buckets https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-442/mop-bucket-wringer-combos.aspx Dish Soap https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-480/dish-soap-dishwashing-detergents.aspx Paper Towels https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-12/paper-products-dispensers.aspx Trash Bags https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-455/trash-bags-can-liners.aspx Janitorial Supplies https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-2306/janitorial-supplies.aspx Toilet Paper https://www.cleanitsupply.com/c-499/toilet-paper.aspx Janitorial Services http://www.ddcleanitjanitorialservices.com +++ Dear Reader, Thank you for your interest in my website. I take great pride in developing quality content that appeals to readers with both a sense of Fiscal Conservatism — a leaner California government with lower taxes and less involvement– and a belief in Social Centrism — that every individual can do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t affect the rights or wallet of anyone else. Hopefully the same interest in California Politics that brought you to the site will inspire you to both comment on the site and to contribute your own work. You will notice some changes coming to the site in the coming weeks. My hope is to make it more than “just a blog”, but rather a community where users can exchange opinions. Feel free to Register as a member and begin posting your own opinion on California public policy or comment on someone elses. Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks again for your interest in California Politics and The Policy Report. Adam Haverstock Editor +++ Resource Page The Political Resources Page is designed to serve as a resource for the political novice. It has links to government websites that can give you information on candidates, propositions, or analysis of both. It also includes anything that we thought might be useful to the political researcher who wants impartial information. Do you know a resource that isn’t listed here that probably should be? We would love to hear about it. Please Email Adam and let him know about it! Election Results Archive November 4, 2008 - California Propositions 1A thru 12 - California Propositions 1A thru 12 March 2, 2009 - City of Los Angeles Election General Resources / Non-Profit Organizations Register to Vote - The site is a page in the California Secretary of State’s Website that will mail you a voter registration form already filled out for you to sign and mail. - The site is a page in the California Secretary of State’s Website that will mail you a voter registration form already filled out for you to sign and mail. Project VoteSmart - This site is a great resource to see an elected official’s voting record. Rather than hearing what they say on an issue, view how they voted on that issue. Actions speak louder than words. - This site is a great resource to see an elected official’s voting record. Rather than hearing what they say on an issue, view how they voted on that issue. Actions speak louder than words. Govtrack.us - This site allows you to look up the voting record of members of congress and track bills as they go through committees in the US Senate or House of Representatives. - This site allows you to look up the voting record of members of congress and track bills as they go through committees in the US Senate or House of Representatives. FactCheck.Org - This site is a non-partisan organization that does research on claims made in political ads, speeches and the like. - This site is a non-partisan organization that does research on claims made in political ads, speeches and the like. Public Policy Institute of California - Similar to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, except this one isn’t government run and is funded privately. These guys provide inpartial analysis of State Public Policy. - Similar to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, except this one isn’t government run and is funded privately. These guys provide inpartial analysis of State Public Policy. The Rose Institute - A research center at Claremont College that focuses on California Public Policy. Advocacy Organizations California Forward - An advocacy organization that focuses on bipartisan government reforms including redistricting and the California budget process. - An advocacy organization that focuses on bipartisan government reforms including redistricting and the California budget process. California Business Roundtable - A non-profit, nonpartisan organization composed of chief executive officers of leading California businesses . - A non-profit, nonpartisan organization composed of chief executive officers of leading California businesses California Clean Money Campaign - A non-profit organization that advocates for public campaign financing. - A non-profit organization that advocates for public campaign financing. National Popular Vote - An advocacy organization that supports the elimination of the Electoral College and using the national popular vote to elect the President. Blogs and Websites BlogNetNews - A regionally based syndication of political and current event blogs. A regionally based syndication of political and current event blogs. Fullosseous Flap’s Dental Blog - A Ventura County based political blog. Political Parties California Republican Party Website United States Republican Party Website California Democratic Party Website United States Democratic Party Website City of Los Angeles Resources City of Los Angeles Website - This site has links to Mayor Villaraigosa’s website, and links to the City Council’s Website. You can watch tapings of public hearings online and get information about your City Councilman. State of California Resources California Bill Lookup Service - This website allows you to see the actual text of a bill, from when the bill was introduced to the current incarnation of the bill. Amendments are stricken out so you can see what text was removed. The site quality is fair, but it is a great resource. This website allows you to see the actual text of a bill, from when the bill was introduced to the current incarnation of the bill. Amendments are stricken out so you can see what text was removed. The site quality is fair, but it is a great resource. California Campaign Finances Website - This site lists the contributions to political candidates or campaigns as required by law . This site lists the contributions to political candidates or campaigns as required by law California Secretary of State Website - The Secretary of State is charged with the facilitation of impartial and fair elections for the State of California. Here you can get the language of propositions and information about candidates. It also tells you when elections are and can register you to vote online. - The Secretary of State is charged with the facilitation of impartial and fair elections for the State of California. Here you can get the language of propositions and information about candidates. It also tells you when elections are and can register you to vote online. Legislative Analyst’s Office Website - This office reviews all legislation that is proposed in California, including proposed bills in the Assembly and Senate and State Ballot Initiatives and provides impartial, independent analysis. A good resource to get the straight talk on legislation. - This office reviews all legislation that is proposed in California, including proposed bills in the Assembly and Senate and State Ballot Initiatives and provides impartial, independent analysis. A good resource to get the straight talk on legislation. ElectionTrack.com - This site keeps track of campaign contributions that state candidates declare including how much the donation was and who contributed it. You can see who contributes to specific campaigns. It can even notify you of exceptionally large contributions by email. - This site keeps track of campaign contributions that state candidates declare including how much the donation was and who contributed it. You can see who contributes to specific campaigns. It can even notify you of exceptionally large contributions by email. California State Assembly Website - This is the website for the lower house of the California Legislature. It has assembly rosters, and agendas for committee and assembly hearings. Updated Daily. This is the website for the lower house of the California Legislature. It has assembly rosters, and agendas for committee and assembly hearings. Updated Daily. California State Senate Website - This website is similar to the Assembly Website, but is for the State Senate of California . - This website is similar to the Assembly Website, but is for the State Senate of California California Governor’s Website - The site for the Governor of California. Has features including links to government resources and an archive of signed and vetoed bills. It also has the latest announcements issued by the Governor. Federal Government Resources The House of Representatives Website - This site has information on committee assignments, hearing dates and times, house bill lookup and other helpful features. It also helps you find your congressman and view their website. This site has information on committee assignments, hearing dates and times, house bill lookup and other helpful features. It also helps you find your congressman and view their website. Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives - Here you can look up information regarding the specific text of bills and laws, see how representatives voted in roll call votes and other similar information. - Here you can look up information regarding the specific text of bills and laws, see how representatives voted in roll call votes and other similar information. The US Senate Website - This is the official site of the Senate. It has similar functions to the House of Representatives website, including links to individual senator’s websites. - This is the official site of the Senate. It has similar functions to the House of Representatives website, including links to individual senator’s websites. The President’s Website - The official site of the President of the United States. 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Can a prime minister or ruling party be faulted for stuffing a ‘caged bird’ with men they trust, notwithstanding their public pronouncements to the contrary? The answer lies in the shrugs and knowing smiles CBI insiders give you in response to the appointment of Y.C. Modi as additional director and Arun Kumar Sharma as joint director at India’s “premier investigation agency” in the last two months. Belonging to the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Y.C. Modi was part of the CBI team which investigated the Haren Pandya murder case. Pandya, a former home minister of Gujarat and a political rival of Narendra Modi, was gunned down in a park in Gandhinagar by alleged extremists in 2003. Pandya’s family, however, pointed fingers elsewhere and accused the CBI of derailing the investigation. The Gujarat High Court in 2011 acquitted 12 persons in the Pandya murder case and criticised the CBI for a “botched-up and blinkered investigation”. The judgement went on to these scathing words: “The investigating officers concerned ought to be held accountable for their ineptitude resulting in injustice, huge harassment of many persons concerned and enormous waste of public resources and time of the courts”. The officer’s Gujarat connection was renewed in 2010 when he was inducted into the Special Investigation Team headed by former CBI director R.K. Raghavan to investigate the Gujarat riots. Giving a clean chit to the then Gujarat CM, the SIT felt there was not enough evidence to prove that Narendra Modi had either not done enough to stop the post-Godhra riots or had given oral instructions to officers to do nothing to stop the rampaging mobs. In a curious coincidence, Y.C. Modi investigated the three most important cases involving the post-Godhra riots, namely Gulberg Society, Naroda Patiya and Naroda Gam. Sharma, IG (intelligence) when Snoopgate broke, is serving his first stint at CBI and tipped to be JD (policy). The amicus curiae appointed by the Supreme Court, senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, was not convinced. After meeting members of the SIT, including Y.C. Modi, Ramachandran asked whether the SIT could ignore the fact that two cabinet ministers were positioned in the control room but claim to have given no instructions during the rioting. Ramachandran also asked whether the SIT was entirely right in dismissing the deposition of Sanjeev Bhatt, ips, who claimed to have been present at a meeting when the chief minister was said to have given the oral instructions. Gujarat cast a shadow on yet another appointment made in April 2015 when Arun Kumar Sharma was posted to the CBI as joint director. Sharma, an ips officer, was IG (Intelligence) in the state in 2013 when Cobrapost and Gulail.com reported on what came to be known as ‘Snoopgate’. Audio tapes released in the public domain claimed that the Gujarat Police conducting illegal surveillance on the movement of a young woman, a Bangalore-based architect of Gujarati origin, on orders. Over 239 conversations between the then home minister Amit Shah and Gujarat police officers were released to show Shah was not only monitoring the surveillance but was also perturbed that ‘Saheb’ seemed to be receiving more information than the sleuths brought to Shah and ahead of him too. In 39 more audio tapes released later, it was claimed that the IG (Intelligence) Sharma could be heard telling his own people to conduct a parallel surveillance of the woman not just in Gujarat but also in Karnataka. The appointment of Sharma as a CBI joint director, therefore, was greeted with knowing smiles. But the drama was far from over. While the ips officer joined the CBI headquarters in April, he was not allocated any work till the middle of July. The buzz that the director, CBI, was under pressure to make Sharma JD (policy) became stronger as weeks passed. JD (policy) is a crucial posting at the CBI headquarters, because that officer is the agency’s interface with the Central Vigilance Commission, different ministries and other agencies, besides overseeing coordination and correspondence. The argument that such a sensitive post required an officer who had served the CBI earlier and knew the functioning appears to have prevailed eventually. Sharma, for whom this is his first stint with the CBI, was finally asked to look after a different division. But bets are on that it’s a matter of time before he takes over as JD (policy). After the NDA swept to power last year, the CBI, in a matter of weeks, repatriated the then JD (policy), Javeed Ahmed, back to Uttar Pradesh. Ahmed was widely tipped inside the agency for a promotion as additional director and was credited with the arrest of the nephew of the railway minister of the UPA days, Pawan Kumar Bansal, in an appointment racket concerning the railway board. Agency insiders, therefore, were taken by surprise when he was asked to pack up. The corridors were soon abuzz with whispers that the officer had paid the price for being a distant relative of retired Supreme Court judge Aftab Alam. The retired judge had presided over a hearing in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case and had ordered the trial to be held outside Gujarat. While a crestfallen Ahmed, recall friends, had pleaded in vain for any posting in New Delhi, he was apparently told by the home secretary that BJP president Shah wanted him out. As Y.C. Modi and Arun Kumar Sharma take charge, with the former already being tipped as the next director, things will remain much the same.
Be on the lookout for these 15 fugitives from Harris and Montgomery counties Santiago Gonzalez, 32, is wanted in Harris County on a charge of capital murder. Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Santiago Gonzalez, 32, is wanted in Harris County on a charge of capital murder. Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Be on the lookout for these 15 fugitives from Harris and Montgomery counties 1 / 30 Back to Gallery Harris County authorities are looking for five fugitives, including four men and one woman. One of the men, Santiago Gonzalez, 32, is wanted on a charge of capital murder for his alleged involvement in a fatal shooting at a game room. At about 7:30 a.m. Aug. 5, 2012, Gonzalez was with two other men at a game room in the 7300 block of Interstate 10 in East Harris County. A witness told sheriff's deputies that she saw Gonzalez shoot a security guard in the head in the course of stealing money from the game room. He has not been arrested, according to law enforcement records. Other Harris County fugitives of the week include Ines Rocha, 28, who is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and Julio Davila, 32, who is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child. Also on Harris County's list are J.C. Pratt, 42, wanted on a charge of robbery and threats, and Mark Martin, 20, charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Anyone with information on the Harris County defendants is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip though iWatchHarrisCounty. Montgomery County is seeking 10 fugitives, some of whom have been featured in earlier weeks. Shane Michael Dunn, 39, is charged with injury to a disabled individual; Robert Marion Russell, 25, is charged with possession of a controlled substance; and Buffy Marie Jacobs, 42, is charged with forgery from an elderly individual. Montgomery County is also looking for Dawn Slach-Campbell, 35, wanted on a charge of theft; Danielle Latrey Taylor, 30, is charged with murder; Eliud Xavier Garza, 22, is charged with injury to a disabled individual; and Amanda Destiny Milo, 18, is charged with burglary of a residence. Other Montgomery County fugitives are Michael Perry, 48, is wanted on a charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; Judy Ann Harrison, 40, is charged with possession of a controlled substance; and Shakola Antoinette White, 25, is charged with theft, with two or more previous convictions.
Image copyright PA Have you prayed for Fabrice Muamba today? His family are exhorting the country to believe in the power of prayer, and I suspect many millions of Britons, whether they have faith or not, will have felt moved to offer a silent appeal to an invisible power asking that the young footballer pull through. The front page of today's Sun newspaper is devoted to the headline "God is in Control" below the subheading "Praying for Muamba". "In God's Hands" says the Daily Star. Chelsea defender Gary Cahill pulled off his shirt after scoring yesterday to reveal a vest encouraging supporters to "Pray 4 Muamba", his former team-mate. Bolton Wanderers and Muamba's friends and relatives have said they have been touched by the out-pouring of goodwill towards the player. His club manager Owen Coyle said: "Everybody is praying for Fabrice, which is very important, and that has been a real source of strength to the family." The dreadful sight of a young, apparently healthy athlete collapsing in front of tens of thousands of football fans is a sharp reminder of the unpredictability of all our lives. We can never be in total control of our destiny and so, like generations before us, at times of stress or crisis we look to the heavens in the search for meaning and hope. Image copyright AP Image caption Chelsea defender Gary Cahill asks fans to pray A BBC survey in 2004 suggested roughly six out of 10 people in the UK believe in some sort of divine being and research concludes that there is a basic human desire for supernatural involvement in matters of health and wellbeing. In the Christian tradition, the New Testament states that "prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well" (James 5.15). It is a claim that pits medical rationalism against religious conviction and for centuries scientists and preachers have argued over the evidence that prayer works. In 1872, Sir Francis Galton's classic paper Statistical Inquiries into the Efficacy of Prayer was published in The Fortnightly Review. He reasoned that, if praying was effective, then monarchs should live longer than comparable groups. Galton set about examining the mean age attained by men who had survived beyond the age of 13 between 1758 and 1843. The data excluded deaths by accident or violence. The group who tended to live longest were the gentry (roughly 70 years) and the lowest mean was among members of royal houses (64 years). From this, Galton concluded that "the sovereigns are literally the shortest-lived of all who have the advantage of influence. The prayer has, therefore, no efficacy." However, trust in the power of prayer remained. That pioneer of nursing Florence Nightingale was a believer, writing that "often when people seem unconscious, a word of prayer reaches them". A number of scientific experiments have been conducted over the years to try and demonstrate what effect, if any, intercessionary prayer might have. Whatever you might think about its links to a supernatural being, intercessory prayer is a straightforward way for an individual to focus the mind on their capacity to think nice thoughts A book entitled The Power of Prayer on Plants published in 1959 detailed the results of research involving 150 people and 27,000 seeds and seedlings. The author Franklin Loehr concluded that plants for which people prayed showed a better rate of survival and growth than plants which did not enjoy the benefit of prayer. In 1988, the American doctor Randolph Byrd recruited some born-again Christians to pray outside a San Francisco coronary care unit for a randomized group among 400 patients. The remainder were not subject to prayers. His paper in the Southern Medical Journal concluded that patients in the intercessory prayer group had "a significantly lower severity score" than the control group. "These data suggest that intercessory prayer to the Judeo-Christian God has a beneficial therapeutic effect in patients admitted to a CCU," he concluded. In 2007, researchers at Arizona State University decided to do a systematic review of all the literature on the efficacy of prayer to see what picture emerged. In setting out its findings, the paper states that "although it is theoretically possible that a transcendent being exists and responds to prayer, it is also possible that prayer taps into presently undiscovered natural mechanisms that produce change". The study looked at 17 previously published papers and found that "patients who received intercessory prayer demonstrated significant improvement" in seven of those. However, there were questions about the validity of some of the research and the evidence was not sufficient for "prayer" to meet the criteria required for an "empirically supported treatment" in the United States. "Intercessory prayer offered on behalf of clients in clinical settings is a controversial practice, in spite of its apparent frequent occurrence. The topic is one that engenders both support and opposition, often passionately held," the research concluded. "Thus, at this junction in time, the results might be considered inconclusive. Indeed, perhaps the most certain result stemming from this study is the following: The findings are unlikely to satisfy either proponents or opponents of intercessory prayer." The evidence, however, is stronger in terms of the apparent efficacy of prayer on those who are doing the praying. A much-cited American paper from 1983 entitled "Are religious people nice people?" attempted to plot links between people who prayed and pro-social behaviour. The author concluded that "those who pray frequently" tend to be more cooperative and friendly. A study in Britain of 4,000 12-15-year-olds conducted in 1992 by the academic and Anglican priest Leslie Francis found that "as many as one young person in every three who never has contact with church nonetheless prays at least occasionally". The frequency of personal prayer, he concluded, is "an important predictor of perceived purpose in life". Whatever you might think about its links to a supernatural being, intercessory prayer is a straightforward way for an individual to focus the mind on their capacity to think nice thoughts. Anyone can close their eyes and make a wish that bad things do not happen. Right now, Britain is praying that Fabrice Muamba makes a speedy and full recovery.
Going into Election Day, few industries seemed in worse shape than America’s private prisons. Prison populations, which had been rising for decades, were falling. In 2014, Corrections Corporation of America, the biggest private-prison company in the U.S., lost its contract to run Idaho’s largest prison, after lawsuits relating to understaffing and violence that had earned the place the nickname Gladiator School. There were press exposés of shocking conditions in the industry and signs of a policy shift toward it. In April, Hillary Clinton said, “We should end private prisons.” In August, the Justice Department said that private federal prisons were less safe and less secure than government-run ones. The same month, the department announced that it would phase out the use of private prisons at the federal level. Although most of the private-prison industry operates on the state level (immigrant-detention centers are its other big business), the news sent C.C.A.’s stock down by thirty-five per cent. Donald Trump’s victory changed all that: within days, C.C.A.’s stock had jumped forty-seven per cent. His faith in privatization is no secret, and prison companies aren’t the only ones rubbing their hands. The stock price of for-profit schools has also rocketed. Still, the outlook for private prisons is particularly rosy, because many Trump policies work to their benefit. The Justice Department’s plan to phase out private prisons will likely be scrapped, and a growing bipartisan movement for prison and sentencing reform is about to run up against a President who campaigned as a defender of “law and order.” Above all, Trump’s hard-line position on immigration seems certain to fill detention centers, one of the biggest money spinners for private-prison operators. The boom in private prisons in the past two decades was part of a broader privatization trend, fuelled by a belief in the superior efficiency of the private sector. But privatizing prisons makes little economic or political sense. Some studies find private prisons to be less cost-effective than government ones, some more, and further studies suggest that any savings are likely the result of cutting corners. In a study of prisons in nine states, Chris Petrella, a lecturer at Bates College, found that private ones avoid taking sick and elderly inmates, since health care is a huge expense for prisons. They employ a younger, less well trained, and less well paid workforce and have higher inmate-to-guard ratios, all of which saves money but also makes prisons more dangerous. When you consider that the government still spends money monitoring private prisons, and that it’s stuck running the parts of the system that private companies thought were money losers, the case that private prisons save money looks shaky. Even if they did, the ethical cost would be too high. Imprisoning people is one of the weightiest things that government does, yet outsourcing imprisonment means that treatment of inmates is shaped by bottom-line considerations. This has led to understaffing, inadequate mental-health care, and, in some cases, inadequate meals. Worse, private prisons have an obvious incentive to keep people inside as long as possible. Last year, Anita Mukherjee, an assistant professor of actuarial science at the University of Wisconsin, studied Mississippi’s prison system, and found that people in private prisons received many more “prison conduct violations” than those in government-run ones. This made it harder for them to get parole, and, on average, they served two to three more months of prison time. The perversities of profit-driven prison policy don’t end there. The need for inmates leads companies, in effect, to lobby state and federal governments to maintain the current system of mass incarceration. Government-run prisons aren’t blameless here—prison-guard unions lobby for longer sentences and tougher laws—but the private companies know how to throw their weight around, and they benefit from strong local support, as they are often in rural towns without many other sources of jobs or tax revenue. Since the mid-aughts, the industry has spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying on the state and federal levels. Its successes include an Arizona law that required cops to stop suspected undocumented immigrants, major increases in spending on immigration enforcement, and the blocking of congressional efforts to ban private prisons. It’s become common to speak of “the prison-industrial complex,” and the analogy to the military-industrial complex is a good one: in both cases, government spending helps fund very profitable businesses, which, in turn, lobby legislators and regulators to keep the funds flowing. Just as we spend billions on weapons systems that we may not need, so, too, we jail more people than we need for longer than necessary, because it keeps someone’s balance sheet healthy. In recent years, an unlikely coalition of conservatives and liberals had made some progress in weakening this system, going after policies like mandatory sentences. Trump’s election will make it much harder to sustain that progress. Private prisons, he said earlier this year, “work a lot better,” and he’ll doubtless look to expand their reach. And he has a simple and grim answer to how many people we should put in prisons and detention centers: More. ♦
Copyright by WPRI - All rights reserved Rochelle Lefebvre - PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - More than a quarter of a million people braved the harsh winter to attend events in Providence. The Rhode Island Convention Center Authority says the Rhode Island Convention Center, The Dunkin' Donuts Center, and Veterans Memorial Auditorium saw more than 355,000 event-goers this year. "We are pleased with the number of events and people we have had in the buildings this winter." said James McCarvill, Executive Director of RICCA. "Our staff worked diligently to keep the sidewalks cleared and accessible, keeping the parking facilities open and despite it all we only had to reschedule one hockey game, one basketball game and a performance at The VETs." The three facilities hosted more than 80 events from January 1 to March 25. "When you have that many people coming downtown to attend our events that means the restaurants, retail owners, and parking garages are busy as well," McCarvill continued. "The weather just didn't cooperate but thankfully people still came downtown to enliven the city." Some of this year's events included the Auto Show, Spring Flower & Garden Show, the Home Show, Festival Ballet Providence, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, the PC Friars and the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
Protesters in Egypt during the 2011 Arab Spring demonstrations. (Alisdare Hickson / CC 2.0) A June 12 report published by The Guardian exposes what many Americans have long feared: United States military strategists are setting their sights on social movements. The report, written by Nafeez Ahmed, explains how a program under the Department of Defense, the Minerva Initiative, has begun to utilize social science to develop better “operational tools.” Ahmed writes: The multi-million dollar programme is designed to develop immediate and long-term “warfighter-relevant insights” for senior officials and decision makers in “the defense policy community,” and to inform policy implemented by “combatant commands.” … Among the projects awarded for the period 2014-2017 is a Cornell University-led study managed by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research which aims to develop an empirical model “of the dynamics of social movement mobilisation and contagions.” The project will determine “the critical mass (tipping point)” of social [contagions] by studying their “digital traces” in the cases of “the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the 2011 Russian Duma elections, the 2012 Nigerian fuel subsidy crisis and the 2013 Gazi park protests in Turkey.” Twitter posts and conversations will be examined “to identify individuals mobilised in a social contagion and when they become mobilised.” Another project awarded this year to the University of Washington “seeks to uncover the conditions under which political movements aimed at large-scale political and economic change originate,” along with their “characteristics and consequences.” The project, managed by the US Army Research Office, focuses on “large-scale movements involving more than 1,000 participants in enduring activity,” and will cover 58 countries in total. According to its website, the Minerva Initiative, created by the secretary of Defense in 2008, seeks “to define and develop foundational knowledge about sources of present and future conflict with an eye toward better understanding of the political trajectories of key regions of the world.” Ahmed attempted to contact the initiative’s developers, but received either “bland” responses or no responses at all. One of the most startling aspects of the initiative is its conflation of peaceful activism with terrorism. “[S]upporters of political violence” are “different from terrorists only in that they do not embark on ‘armed militancy’ themselves,” Ahmed explains. And although university researchers were told that the initiative was a “basic research effort” with no real application, Ahmed cites an email that clearly shows “that DoD is looking to ‘feed results’ into ‘applications.’ ” RT provides other examples of the Minerva Initiative’s university projects. The University of Washington received $2 million to study children involved in terrorist movements, resulting in a report titled “Understanding the Origin, Characteristics and Implications of Mass Political Movements.” Another project at the University of Denver seeks to understand “instability in middle-income countries” and “the Tunisias and the Libyas and the Ukraines.” The Social Science Research Council notes potential problems of the project, writing that the initiative “prompts concerns about the appropriate relationship between university-based research programs and the state, especially when research might become a tool of not only governance but also military violence.” According to its website, some of the areas of focus within the Minerva Initiative are “[s]ocial and political dimensions of beliefs;” “[g]roup-internal narratives and their role in driving strategic priorities;” “[a]nalyses of the topology, power structure, productivity, merging and splitting, and overall resilience of change-driven organizations;” and “[m]echanisms of (and factors inhibiting) mobilization at individual and group levels.” “Minerva is a prime example of the deeply narrow-minded and self-defeating nature of military ideology,” Ahmed concludes. Read the entire article here. —Posted by Emma Niles
Hi,I tried googling my answer, and some said it was related to encryption, but my drives are not encrypted so the jails should be able to auto reload to my limited understanding. When setting it up I followed this guide here:My goal was to just create a FreeNAS server to host my plex media server from. So after a few hours I had more or less everything working, I was able to access all the plugins I needed externally, things were auto DLing and copying over but when I was adding a password to headphones I put the external IP address in and it wouldn't turn back on after the service shut off. A few hours later after my data transfer finished and I tried restarting the whole server. When I restarted the server now none of my previously installed plugins will boot. When I try to enable a service it says "Some error occured" and just won't turn on. At the end, I would like to to be able to reboot and auto enable these jails since I do not plan on keeping this server somewhere I can easily access it, so I want to get it configured than be more or less hands off.Thanks for the help!
Two new bills have been introduced and referred to the House Education Committee tackling the science curriculum currently taught in public schools in New Hampshire. Rep. Jerry Bergevin is serving his first (and hopefully last) term and introduced the first bill, which would require schools to teach evolution as a theory, and would include “the theorists’ political and ideological viewpoints and their position on the concept of atheism.” I’m not sure why this would be relevant or anyone’s business, but I’m sure he’ll clarify and explain his reasoning coherently… “I want the full portrait of evolution and the people who came up with the ideas to be presented. It’s a worldview and it’s godless. Atheism has been tried in various societies, and they’ve been pretty criminal domestically and internationally. The Soviet Union, Cuba, the Nazis, China today: they don’t respect human rights.” Phew For a minute there, I thought he might say something asinine, offensive, and totally false. There are so many things wrong with that quote and it begs me to wonder how, yet again, the most ignorant among us continue to infiltrate government positions. Bergevin also made this statement: “As a general court we should be concerned with criminal ideas like this and how we are teaching it… Columbine, remember that? They were believers in evolution. That’s evidence right there.” Are we really going to do a head count for who has done more harm based on their religious or non-religious ideations. Some bad people might be atheists, but they aren’t bad because they are atheists and most bad people who are atheists aren’t doing bad things in the name of atheism. Reps. Gary Hopper and John Burt introduced the second bill, which has a slightly higher probability of actually being passed but is equally as obnoxious. Basically, they are challenging science as a field altogether, even going so far as to say: “I want the problems with the current theories to be presented so that kids understand that science doesn’t really have all the answers. They are just guessing.”… Hopper wants Intelligent Design taught in classrooms, but hasn’t yet been able to find an example of it being successfully legislated into schools… Um, maybe that’s because there isn’t a shred of real evidence to support such a theory and one might even make the claim that Intelligent Design is one step short of a guess. He then attempts to tug on the heartstrings by claiming to care about the students’ sense of purpose in life. “But more and more scientists are coming to the conclusion that it was not even remotely possible that it happened by accident. I want to introduce children to the idea that they have a purpose for being here.” Thank goodness there is at least one voice of reason out there. Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education, speaks out: “Yes, it is the case that scientific explanations change with new data, but at some point you reach the stage where there is an agreement among scientists… You’re not improving science education for young people by pretending that well-established ideas are up for grabs. The idea of evolution, that living things have common ancestors, is not being challenged in science today,” she said. She added that Bergevin’s bill “should be obviously unacceptable to legislators on its face. They ought to be able to see pretty quickly that this bill is just silly.” Oh, how I hope Scott is right. This topic goes round and round, with a different ringleader each time and usually — hopefully — the same results. Intelligent design has no place being taught in public schools and is, at best, a farfetched and highly implausible theory that counters everything that science represents (and not in an “intelligent” and challenging kind of way). Let’s hope common sense and reason are plentiful in New Hampshire on voting day.
Preston goalscorer Callum Robinson began his career with Aston Villa, Birmingham's great rivals Preston North End gave their hopes of a late play-off push a boost with victory over Birmingham City, who had Craig Gardner sent off with 10 minutes to go. Blues, who have won once in 13 games under Gianfranco Zola, fell behind when an unmarked Callum Robinson headed in. Che Adams levelled with a fierce, bouncing strike after half-time. But Jordan Hugill tapped in from Daryl Horgan's square ball to win it, moments before Blues captain Gardner was sent off for a second bookable offence. Preston climb to 10th, seven points below the play-off places, while Birmingham slipped to 14th, a further eight points behind. Blues, without injured quartet Clayton Donaldson, Michael Morrison, Ryan Shotton and Jacques Maghoma, and suspended midfielder David Davis, have now lost five of their seven away games since Zola's arrival on 14 December, conceding 14 goals on their travels in that time. Gardner - captaining Birmingham for the first time - was dismissed for a late tackle on Greg Cunningham just moments after Hugill's winning goal, having been booked earlier in the second half for a foul on Horgan. After Preston's Hugill was denied by a brilliant save from Tomasz Kuszczak early on, Robinson had space to head in the opener from close range when Aiden McGeady was given time to cross from the left wing. Zola's side had hope when Adams latched on to Lukas Jutkiewicz's fine knock-down to lash in from outside the area with his left foot, netting for the first time since November, but Hugill evaded the Birmingham defence to earn Preston a second successive win. Preston manager Simon Grayson: "We dominated from start to finish, created some real good chances and there was some outstanding individual performances. "We just needed a couple more goals to warrant that first-half performance. "You always know if you don't take those chances, the opposition are going to have some spell in the game. "We've shown a lot of character to stay in a game in the second half; we dug in and took our chances when they came along." Birmingham boss Gianfranco Zola: "I don't want to talk about luck any more, I'm fed up of using that. The reason we keep losing games like this is not because we are unlucky, at the moment we are very poor, simple as that. "I'm the first person responsible, we can do much better than this. We had total control in the second half. We were just waiting to score. "The players are very edgy at the moment, the confidence is not there. I am sorry, I am very frustrated at the moment. "Now is the moment we stop talking and just start acting a little better than we are at the minute."
The manufacturer of the diet candy Ayds is seeking a new name for its product because publicity about the deadly disease AIDS is hurting sales, the chairman said today. The diet suppressant has been on the market for 47 years and remains a profitable product for the the Dep Corporation, but sales have dropped by as much as 50 percent in recent years because of the name association, Robert Berglass, the chairman, said. Since January, Ayds has been marketed in Britain as Aydslim. If sales show signs of recovery, the appetite-suppressant candy may be sold in the United States under that name later this year, Mr. Berglass said. So far, reaction from retailers has been positive, he said, but consumer reaction has not been determined. Consumer reaction could be available within a few months becuase most people go on diets in the spring, he said. Federal health officials believe about 40,000 Americans have been stricken with AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
But Pete Coors was quietly sitting on a gold mine all this time. While competitors continue to gut the authenticity of their brands, Coors Banquet enters this competitive market with a brand that's gone largely unnoticed, and therefore unscathed, for a long time. The beer that once drove fans to load up their trunks in Colorado and peddle it across the country is taking another shot at going national almost 30 years since it disappeared in the shadow of light lagers. There's nothing new about Banquet—same flavor, same family, even the same packaging since returning to its heritage stubby bottle and a "commemorative can." But that's precisely the point for the Coors team. Alongside the return of brands like Genesee, there's a distinct "heritage" trend gaining steam in American brewing. It's not craft. It's not quite retro. But it's working. Double-digit growth for Banquet in Chicago proves it. And now Pete's in town to back it up. His perspective on the industry is a unique one, having the longevity many newer brewery owners can only hope for. He tells a good story, and he's pushing a beer that he believes is "in a perfect place" in the market. And he has craft brewers and consumers to thank...for some of it.
cheese-like substance made without animal products Store bought vegan shredded cheese Vegan cheese is a non-dairy or plant cheese analogue aimed at vegans and other people who want to avoid animal products, including those who are lactose-intolerant.[1] As with plant milk, vegan cheese can be made from seeds, such as sesame and sunflower; nuts, such as cashew,[2] pine nut, and almond;[3] and soybeans, peanuts, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, tapioca,[4] and rice, among other ingredients. Vegan cheese is cholesterol-free and may be a good source of soy protein.[5] Availability [ edit ] Several brands of vegan cheese advertise as closely mimicking the way dairy cheese melts. Popular vegan cheese brands include Daiya, GoVeggie, Follow Your Heart, Treeline Tree-nut Cheeses, Teese, and Tofutti. As these brands continue to grow in popularity they are becoming more readily available in major American supermarkets such as Whole Foods, Kroger, and Meijer. [6][7] History [ edit ] Non-dairy cheese became commercially available in the 1980s,[8] but at that time and into the 1990s,[when?] the vegan cheeses available weren’t as good quality as regular cheese having a waxy, chalky or plasticky texture[9]. From the early 1990s,[when?] a high-quality vegan cheese called Sheese has been available in Scotland and is distributed worldwide. In the United States, the only brand of vegan cheese available at the time was Soymage.[10] Since then, the variety and taste of vegan cheese have improved significantly.[8][10] Market [ edit ] As of 2018, the current market for vegan cheese continues to grow and develop on a global scale. This is speculated to be due to the continuance of growing health concerns, dietary restrictions, and popularity in veganism. This market increase can be seen directly in regions within the United States and Canada. The growth can also be seen reaching all the way to market economies across the world in places such as China, Japan, Australia, Germany, France, and Brazil. The more popular types of vegan cheese being manufactured, distributed, and produced through this market are those mimicking Mozzarella, Parmesan, Cheddar, and Cream Cheese dairy based cheeses. These vegan cheeses are most popularly being applied to the general area of food itself, be it via restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, or personal cultivation. Vegan cheese is expanding and projected to continue to grow greatly into the mid 2020s.[11][12] Controversies [ edit ] In February 2019, a Vancouver, British Columbia vegan cheese shop, Blue Heron Creamery, was ordered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to stop calling their products cheese as it was 'misleading' to consumers, despite the Creamery stating that their cheese was always labelled as "dairy-free" and "plant-based."[13] The CFIA later reversed the rejection and stated that they have no objection to the Creamery using the nomenclature “100% dairy-free plant-based cheese” provided that "it is truthful".[14] In the same month, a Brixton vegan cheese shop, La Fauxmagerie, was ordered by Dairy UK to stop describing products as cheese because it 'misleads shoppers'. Sisters Rachel and Charlotte Stevens, owners of the cheese shop, stated that it is not misleading as their "products were clearly marked as dairy-free."[15] Production [ edit ] Some of the success in the vegan cheese market can be attributed to the continuing development of plant based proteins in substitution for cow’s milk among dairy products. Plant based proteins or vegetable proteins are derived from edible sources of protein such as soybeans. These proteins are used to help mimic texture and overall structure of the food product they are attempting to replicate in a non-dairy version. Plant based proteins are partly responsible for vegan cheeses being able to imitate the stretching and melting property that dairy cheeses possess.[16] A difficult challenge for food scientists is creating vegan cheese that melts and stretches like real cheese. Dairy cheese, and many lactose-free cheese analogues, melt and stretch because of the protein casein, which is a milk protein and therefore not vegan, so food scientists use a "blend of gums, protein, solids and fats" to attempt to duplicate the mouthfeel and melt of real cheese.[17] A project called Real Vegan Cheese aims to solve this difficulty by making cheese with casein produced by yeast rather than by cows. This cheese would have real casein, but would be vegan because the casein would not be animal-derived.[18] As of 2018, there are a few different approaches to making vegan cheese, but one of the more intricate and scientific processes involves fermentation. In this approach the “cheese” maker would typically start with some type of tree nut and allow the desired amount of nuts to soak in a small amount of water for circa 36 hours. The soaking of the raw nuts allows bacteria to develop and then ferment. The natural sugars produced by the tree nut and the bacterial development are how the fermentation happens. The length of time involved in the before mentioned fermentation is what gives vegan cheese its variance in tangy flavor.[19] References [ edit ] Collection of primary sources [ edit ]
Turkey’s Ministry of Education has introduced a school text book which Christian Solidarity Worldwide says encourages discrimination of the country’s small Christian community, despite growing international concern over increasing violence against non-Muslims in Turkey.The book, Primary Education, History of Republic Reforms and Ataturkizm, Lesson Book 8, is aimed at thirteen year olds and was published this year by Devlet [State] Books.The controversial text describes missionary activity as a threat to national unity by destroying national and cultural values through converting people to another religion. The text accuses missionaries of using natural disasters, such as earthquakes, to serve their own interests and warns children of the subversive aims of missionaries as well as tips on how to recognise their activities.A spokesperson for the Alliance of Protestant Churches of Turkey said: "To the Turkish State and society, the words ‘missionary activity’ encapsulates not only the work of foreign missionaries, but all Christian activity in the country."The state and various groups have for years, through endless disinformation, spread the belief that Turkish Christians are part of a secret foreign plot to destroy Turkey."This is the same twisted mindset that has led to numerous attacks on our churches by young people who are convinced that we are CIA agents or similar."Local Christian communities form less than one per cent of Turkey’s population of 70 million people. Concerns are growing that the education system is further marginalising the indigenous Christian population.The Turkish Government has used state-initiated campaigns to influence public opinion over Muslim apostates and Christian activities in Turkey since the year 2000. The authorities have informed security and military forces about missionary activities, sponsored and disseminated reports, conducted seminars, preached sermons in mosques, published sensationalist articles in the press and ordered state officials to speak publicly about the dangers posed.In 2006 and 2007 there were a number of fatal attacks against Christians, including the grotesque murders in April 2007 of two Turkish Muslim-background Christians and one German missionary in Malatya. Shortly after these murders, Niyazi Guney, from the Ministry of Justice, declared before the Justice Commission at the Turkish Grand National Assembly that missionary activities in Turkey were more dangerous than terrorist attacks and likened their activity with the end times of the Ottoman Empire.CSW’s Advocacy Director Alexa Papadouris said she was "deeply concerned" over the "destructive content" of the compulsory school text book."It is extremely distressing to see that the Turkish Government has not taken proactive steps to address increasing attacks on Christians, but instead continues to promulgate disinformation about the small Christian community," she said."CSW calls on the European Union to urge the Turkish authorities to respect and promote religious freedom for all, at every level in Turkish society, particularly in the media and in educational material."Moreover, we call on the European Union to continue to address with Turkey the issue of violent attacks against religious minorities, seeking guarantees that the perpetrators of violence will be brought to justice through the courts in accordance with due process of law.”
Charlotte power forward Mike Thorne has received a scholarship offer to play basketball for Kentucky next season, and he would be eligible immediately. Thorne already has announced that he plans to transfer after he graduates from Charlotte next month. The 6-foot-11, 270-pound prospect averaged 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in 26.1 minutes a game for the 49ers this season. Trinity Christian (N.C.) head coach Heath Vandevender told the Herald-Leader that he spoke to UK Coach John Calipari on Monday afternoon. Calipari is trying to arrange a visit with Thorne and his father in Charlotte before the player visits Lexington. Thorne also is considering Pittsburgh, Illinois and Kansas. He visited Pitt this past weekend and has trips to Illinois and Kansas planned for the next two weekends. A visit to UK would probably happen after that. Vandevender said that playing time would be a major factor in Thorne’s decision, because he has only one year of eligibility remaining. UK’s losing seven players to the NBA Draft — including four in the frontcourt — should help the Wildcats’ chances. The stay-or-go decision of Kansas forward Perry Ellis also could affect Thorne’s recruitment. Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee are expected to return to the UK frontcourt next season, and they’ll be joined by five-star 7-footer Skal Labissiere. UK also is recruiting Stephen Zimmerman, Cheick Diallo and Thon Maker for the class of 2015.
Source: U.S. Navy, used with permission Note: Above, clockwise from left: Fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187), aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93), and cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59). Great Green Fleet demonstration, July 2012. Recently the Department of Defense (DoD) released its annual procurement for bulk fuels to be delivered to its facilities in the eastern and inland United States and Gulf Coast. For the first time, this procurement requests military-specification diesel fuel and jet fuel that are blended with biofuels. The biofuels components, however, are optional and will only be accepted if certain cost and performance requirements are met. A similar procurement for the Rocky Mountain and West Coast regions is expected to be released later this year. The U.S. Navy's interest in biofuels is part of its goal to generate 50% of its energy from alternative sources by 2020: nuclear energy, electricity from renewable sources, and biofuels. The Navy currently sources about 17% of its energy supplies from renewable and nuclear sources of electricity. No biofuels are currently included in that percentage. The Navy's interest in biofuels is limited to those fuels that can be used as direct replacements for petroleum-based gasoline and distillate fuels, also known as drop-in biofuels. These fuels require no modification or operational changes to distribution infrastructure, aircraft, or ships. Although biodiesel blends readily with diesel fuel or jet fuel, and is compatible with most diesel engines, it is not a drop-in fuel. Certain properties limit biodiesel blends from being used in some applications: potential fuel system clogging and poor performance at low temperatures prevent its use in jet fuel for civilian or military use, and water separation problems prevent its use as a marine diesel fuel. Drop-in biofuels are available today on a limited commercial basis, and operable U.S. production capacity is about 210 million gallons per year. Drop-in biofuels tend to be more expensive than petroleum fuels. The 2014 National Defense Authorization Act prohibits DoD from paying prices for alternative fuels that are higher than it would pay for traditional fuels. To address these economic issues, the Navy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the Farm-to-Fleet program in December 2013. The program intends to increase the production of drop-in biofuels in the short term to allow producers to improve yields and lower feedstock costs through experience, and to achieve economic competitiveness by 2020. Firms wishing to offer drop-in biofuels under the current solicitation can apply to the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation for grants to offset the cost of feedstocks used to produce the biofuels. Some drop-in biofuels may also qualify for Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which can be used to comply with the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) or sold to other parties. The RFS has encouraged the production and import of drop-in diesel that can meet DoD's requirements. It remains to be seen whether the combination of the USDA grants and RIN value is enough to bring drop-in jet fuel to market at a price comparable to traditional jet fuel. For this year's fuel procurements, there are two acceptable sources of drop-in biofuels: hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) liquids. HEFA biofuels are produced through the reaction of vegetable oil or animal fat with hydrogen to yield hydrocarbons that are nearly identical to those found in petroleum-based diesel fuel or jet fuel. FT liquids are hydrocarbons produced from coal-, natural gas-, or biomass-based synthesis gas and are suitable for blending into diesel fuel and jet fuel. In the near term, EIA projects that HEFA fuels likely will be used in much greater quantities than FT liquids. Unlike with HEFA, the United States has no commercial-scale production of FT fuels. Other nations produce FT liquids, but their production is more often based on coal and natural gas, not biomass. The U.S. therefore does not import large volumes of FT liquids, because coal- and natural-gas based fuels do not qualify for credit under the RFS or the California Low Carbon Fuels Standard. Principal contributor: Tony Radich
The chief financial officer with Anglo Irish Bank in 2008 expressed surprise at the amount of interbank loans to Irish Life & Permanent, the trial of four senior bankers has heard. The interbank loans allegedly involved money being transferred by Anglo to ILP and then being put back on deposit with Anglo via ILP's life assurance division. Matt Moran, Anglo's chief financial officer at the time, told Paul O'Higgins SC, prosecuting, that on 30 September, he became aware that the interbank loans amounted to over €7bn. He said he remembered Mr Bowe telling him at the time and that the amount was very significant. He said he expressed his surprise at the amount. Mr Bowe told him that the government bank guarantee, introduced overnight on 29 September, had "given ILP comfort", the witness testified. He said he did not become aware that the transactions were "cash for cash" until the end of January 2009. He said the previous day there was a request from Anglo for emergency overnight funding. He said in the weeks before this there had been a significant outflow of cash from the bank. Anglo's former head of finance Willie McAteer, 65, and former CEO of Irish Life and Permanent (ILP) Denis Casey, 56, and two others are accused of conspiring to mislead investors by using interbank loans to manipulate Anglo Irish Bank's balance sheets. The transfer would allegedly appear as corporate deposits and not an interbank loan so the bank's corporate funding figure would appear bigger for the bank's year-end figures on 30 September, 2008. ILP's former director of finance Peter Fitzpatrick, 63, of Convent Lane, Portmarnock, Dublin; John Bowe, 52, from Glasnevin, Dublin, who had been Anglo's head of capital markets; Mr McAteer of Greenrath, Tipperary Town, Co Tipperary; and Mr Casey from Raheny, Dublin have all pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to conspiring together and with others to mislead investors through financial transactions between 1 March and 30 September, 2008. The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.
.@BPShomrim alerted me that stones @ Washington Cemetery are down. I’ve spoken w/ the NYPD who are investigating. I'll be there in the am. pic.twitter.com/j3wHa1dzEp — Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) March 5, 2017 The New York Police Department says no evidence of vandalism has been found at a predominantly Jewish cemetery where more than 40 tombstones were toppled over.The NYPD says after consultation with the management of the Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, it was determined the 42 tombstones came down as a result of a number of factors. Those include long-term neglect or lack of maintenance, as well as environmental factors such as soil erosion.Assemblyman Dov Hikind tweeted photos Saturday night showing some headstones on the ground.There has been a rash of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries and 122 bomb threats against Jewish organizations in three dozen states since early January.A $69,000 reward has been offered for an arrest and conviction in the vandalism of Mt. Carmel Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia.Authorities said Friday that Juan Thompson, a former journalist fired for fabricating details in stories, made at least eight threats against Jewish institutions nationwide as part of a campaign against his ex-girlfriend.----The Associated Press contributed to this report.------
The poor you will always have with you. Yet as a society we can have more or less poverty. And it’s a depressing fact that British poverty has been on the rise again in recent years. A new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) highlights that a long period of reduction in poverty (defined as those living on less than 60 per cent of median incomes after housing costs) came to an end around 2010. The child poverty rate fell from 33 per cent in 1996 to 27 per cent in 2010. But it has now risen again to 30 per cent. Pensioner poverty two decades ago was 30 per cent. It dropped to 13 per cent in 2012 but has since crept up to 16 per cent. For the population as a whole the poverty rate glided down from 24 per cent in 1995 to 21 per cent in 2014. But it has now edged back up to 22 per cent. Join Independent Minds For exclusive articles, events and an advertising-free read for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent With an Independent Minds subscription for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month Get the best of The Independent Without the ads – for just £5.99 €6.99 $9.99 a month The poor, with more essentials in their regular outgoings, have faced higher effective inflation rates than the more prosperous over the past decade. For those on the breadline, the latest above-inflation increase in rail fares announced by the train operating companies will feel like yet another kick in the teeth. To a large extent this increase in poverty is a consequence of benefit cuts in the years of coalition and Conservative austerity. And the real-terms cuts in tax credits still in the pipeline, which the Chancellor Philip Hammond declined to alleviate at last month’s Budget, are set to increase the numbers in Britain living in poverty still further. Yet government cuts are not the whole story when it comes to underlying UK poverty trends. It probably sounds rather odd to hear about a rise in UK poverty given that, as government ministers frequently remind us, more people than ever are in work. But dig into the detail and it emerges that employment is by no means the shield from poverty in modern Britain that we might imagine it to be. As the JRF research shows, 2.7 million of the four million children in poverty in the UK live in households where an adult works. In fact, of the 13.9 million people in this country who are in poverty, some 3.7 million (a quarter) are actually in employment. Some say poverty in working households reflects the fact that the adults don’t work enough hours. It's true that work by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has identified a surge in part-time employment by low-income working-age men over the past two decades. In 1995 only 5 per cent of men on low hourly wages worked part-time. Today 20 per cent do. What explains this dramatic shift? The truth is we don’t fully understand it. But it seems unlikely this group has decided, en masse, to put their feet up and accept the financial consequences of a deep decline in weekly take-home wages. If they could do more hours they probably would. Moreover, other IFS work suggests that the prevalence of poverty among working families with children stems from weak earnings among full-time male earners in single-earner households, rather than an explosion of part-time work. The labour market does not seem to be providing the opportunities and rewards it used to, particularly for lower earning men. The tax and benefits system has taken up a degree of the slack by boosting the incomes of the low-paid through tax credits. The minimum wage has helped too. But the underlying problem of a labour market that is not delivering for those at the lower end is significant and seems to be getting bigger. What’s the answer? Halting the working-age welfare cuts is an obvious imperative. Ramping up social-housing construction should alleviate this group’s punishing housing costs (as a share of their income). Further increases in the minimum wage are useful, although they cannot be the dominant lever of assistance. For the long term, a serious step-up in public and private investment in skills is sorely needed. To some extent the poverty problem today is chickens coming home to roost; underspending on education and training has almost certainly contributed to weak productivity and low pay. For the immediate term, more stimulative government fiscal policy to support demand would likely help. The surge in part-time work among low-income working-age men is further evidence of a degree of hidden slack in the economy. Perhaps the first job, though, is to change our public discourse. Despite propaganda to the contrary, poverty in 21st century Britain is not the consequence of a feckless or work-shy section of the population. It is the consequence of work that does not pay enough and a labour market that is not providing the opportunities that we need it to. 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 now
In a full-page advertisement in the Sunday October 23, 2016 edition of the Los Angeles Times, the union representing Los Angeles teachers, challenged the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) to a "public debate on key educational issues relating to equity, access and accountability." United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) also posted the challenge in Spanish in Hoy and La Opinion. The advertisement, written as an open letter to parents, attacks CCSA for "indefensible tactics, such as trying to shield charters from financial accountability and lobbying to defeat a bill protecting charter students from unfair expulsion." According to Alex Caputo-Pearl, UTLA President. "We believe it is time for the community and parents to hear CCSA explain why they oppose financial transparency, student equity and access, open meeting laws and a democratically elected oversight body in schools that are funded by taxpayers. While charter schools use taxpayer money, they are privately run. This has led to documented cases of financial malfeasance, self-dealing and profiteering." Groups associated with the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) are pouring money into legislative campaigns trying to elect a pro-charter majority in California. According to California's Secretary of State pro-charter forces spent more than $3 million on contested races. More than $1 million is being used to influence voters in just one state senatorial district. According to Colin Miller, acting Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at the CCSA, the group's top legislative priority is to make it easier to open new charter schools and expand existing schools. With support from private philanthropy, the number of charter schools in the L.A. Unified school district has exploded to 225, the most in any American school system, attracting about 16% of enrollment. Many educators in traditional schools worry that this expansion could force L.A. Unified into bankruptcy, hurting public school students. CCSA is a lobbying organization for the charter industry. UTLA charges that it "promoted an environment that is rife with discriminatory enrollment practices and biases against special needs students and English language learners at many charters across the state." CCSA is funded by Eli Broad, the Waltons of Walmart, and other wealthy privatizers. CCSA and its Super PAC spend millions each year to promote the unchecked expansion of charter schools at the expense of neighborhood schools and the public education system. Charter school operators in Los Angeles have recently come under fire from elected oversight agencies. On Oct 18, the Los Angeles Unified School Board refused to renew operating agreements for five charter schools, three campuses operated by Magnolia Public Schools and two others run by Celerity Educational Group. Some district officials were concerned with Magnolia's past practice of importing teachers from Turkey with their families and using taxpayer funds to pay their immigration fees. Magnolia officials also have ties to a controversial Turkish cleric implicated in a failed coup in Turkey last summer. Other Los Angles charter schools have also been in trouble recently. Alliance College-Ready Public Schools (Alliance), the largest charter school chain operating in Los Angles, California faces an investigation for using public funds to while trying to defeat a teacher-led union drive at its schools. State Senator Tony Mendoza (D), who initiated the move against Alliance charged, "The purpose of those funds is to educate children inside the classroom -- not to intimidate teachers and parents." The LAUSD Board is now pushing for the resignation of the executive director of El Camino Real Charter School for misuse of school funds. In spring 2016 In spring 2016 The Los Angeles Times published a list of the 100 lowest performing high schools in Los Angeles County based on student performance on SAT tests. Eight of the ten worst performing schools, including one that has already been closed, were charter schools. This included the Animo Locke Charter High School #1 operated by the Green Dot Corporate Charter Schools chain whose founder, Steve Barr wants to run for mayor of Los Angeles in 2017 based on his record of educational "success." The advertisements are part of UTLA's "We Are Public Schools" campaign to hold charter schools accountable and to fight to build community schools. The campaign web site includes a petition to get CCSA to debate UTLA representatives in a public forum. Carol Burris, Executive Director of the Network for Public Education, and Valerie Strauss have produced a four-part in-depth expose of problems with California charter schools for the Washington Post. Among other findings, the South California branch of the ACLU and a group called Public Advocates charge that more than 20% of California charter schools have enrollment policies that violate state and federal law.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice today expressed outrage as her Russian counterpart, Vitaly Churkin, called for a UN Security Council probe of NATO’s killing of civilians in the Libyan War. “This is something of a cheap stunt to divert attention from other issues and to obscure the success of NATO,” insisted Rice. NATO officials have maintained that there were no civilian casualties in their multi-month bombing campaign. Russia urged the probe on the grounds of that claim and a New York Times article from last weekend in which the newspaper investigated allegations and confirmed a minimum of 40 civilians killed by NATO’s bombings, and likely many more. NATO launched the bombing campaign after a UN Resolution authorized a no-fly zone to “protect civilians” and the revelation that large numbers of civilians were killed when NATO bombed them in the middle of the night is particularly inconvenient for Western officials looking to tout it as an epic military triumph. French officials accused Russia of seeking the probe to distract attention from the death toll in Syria. Indeed while Russia has opposed UN action against Syria the probe seems particularly on-topic for the Syria issue with a number of Western nations, notably France, pushing for Libyan-style war in Syria as well. Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz
Over last weekend, more than 50 cases of sexual assault were reported across two Swedish festivals. At one – Bravalla – five women said they had been raped and another 12 reported sexual assault, while at the other – Putte i Parken – there were a further 35 reports of assault, the youngest from a girl aged 12. In a statement on the Värmland regional police’s website, the Putte i Parken assaults were attributed to “foreign young men”. “There is no doubt,” the statement said plainly, “about who takes these liberties”. Except it turned out that there was doubt. Within a few hours the statement had been taken down. The police later admitted that only two of the seven men or boys arrested for the Putte i Parken incidents were from HVB homes – residential homes for young people, often refugees without parents. There’s even less evidence to suggest the rapes at Bravalla were carried out by immigrants – but the two were instantly lumped together. “The wording was unfortunate,” read a second statement, “and we will take that to heart.” To paint the perpetrators of sexual assault as some monolithic group also makes it easy to continue the victim-blaming It was too late by then, of course. The buzzwords had already been unleashed, seized and extrapolated upon until they had become the main story. Reporting from the UK, the MailOnline’s news story cited authorities as identifying the perpetrators of the assaults as “young men, who are foreigners.”; the Telegraph’s headline warned of “reports of rapes by ‘migrants’”. And so an inaccurate, retracted police statement, and one victim’s speculation that they were “probably immigrants” turned into fact. However much the media (and sometimes the police, it would seem) like to suggest otherwise, the threat of rape and sexual assault at festivals does not simply come from some easily pigeonholed “other”. It’s wrong to lay the blame, as we do for so many of the world’s problems, on a faceless foreign mass. To do so is to derail an issue that badly needs addressing. Because it’s not as though these were isolated incidents, confined only to Swedish festivals where foreigners are present. Far from it. Glastonbury's female-only area doesn't marginalise – women need a safe space Read more In 2009, a woman was raped at Reading festival. In 2010, a 16-year-old boy was found guilty of attacking a 12-year-old girl at Secret Garden Party and two women were raped – in unrelated incidents – at Latitude. In 2013, two women were assaulted at Wilderness festival. Last year, a man was arrested on suspicion of raping a woman at V festival. In the early Swedish news reports, Patricia Lorenzoni, a researcher and lecturer at Linköping University, was one of the few dissenting voices. Does she feel migrants were disproportionately blamed for crimes such as these? “Yes,” she says, “and there is plenty of statistical data showing this. Racist and rightwing populist groups have for years tried to create a climate of fear around the image of the ‘immigrant’ rapist. What is worrying now is that this language is becoming part of more general media reporting.” If we allow this trend to continue, then we fail to examine our own culpability when it comes to rape culture. A Swedish police report on sexual assault in the country, for example, referred to the damage caused by ideas of “masculinity”, as well as the normalisation of sexual harassment in schools. But these nuanced analysis and deep-rooted causes don’t make for quite such exciting headlines. Swedish police identify seven males suspected of assault at festival Read more To paint the perpetrators of sexual assault as some monolithic, easily identifiable group also makes it easier to continue the victim-blaming. Because it should be easy to avoid being assaulted at a festival, right? Just avoid the men who have “attacker” practically written on their foreheads. In 2010, after the attack at Reading, festival organiser Melvin Benn spoke of a plan to “inform young girls in particular about the danger of sexual predators”. There was no mention of how the festival planned to deal with the sexual predators themselves. The same year, Hop Farm festival founder Vince Power said a festival was essentially a small town, “and in a town you wouldn’t leave your door open”. In doing so, he painted the women who’d been assaulted as victims of nothing but their own carelessness. As long as we continue to put the onus of responsibility on the victims in this way, and paint the perpetrators as a foreign threat miring what could otherwise be some festival utopia, that door will remain open. In a more measured statement following the weekend’s attacks, Swedish police admitted that “the descriptions [of perpetrators] are diverse”. There is, they said, just one common denominator: “These are all young men.” However much we try and twist the narrative, there is no homogenous, easily recognisable perpetrator of violence – least of all at festivals. The sooner we realise that, the sooner we might be able to stop it from happening.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- At least three Israeli missiles hit the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza early Thursday, hours after Palestinian militants fired more than 40 Qassam rockets into southern Israel. One of those rockets struck near a college, killing one person, according to the Israeli military and emergency medical services. The Palestinian rockets are a near daily occurrence but have only occasionally injured or killed people. The strike at the ministry injured several people, according to Palestinian sources. Another rocket hit the building several minutes later, the sources said. A six-month-old child was struck by shrapnel and killed, the sources said. The ministry strike was part of a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in retaliation for the rocket attack. They included one outside Gaza City that killed two children, Palestinian medical sources said. The Israeli military confirmed eight airstrikes in Gaza. The targets were rocket manufacturing and launching sites and a headquarters building, the Israelis said. Palestinian sources said two militants were killed. The continuing violence came as an opinion poll in a leading Israeli paper suggested most Israelis think their government should negotiate with Hamas -- the militants in control of Gaza -- for a cease-fire and the release of a captured soldier. The poll, conducted by the newspaper Haaretz and the polling company Dialog, found 64 percent of Israelis in favor of talks. "It now appears that this opinion is gaining traction in the wider public, which until recently vehemently rejected such negotiations," according to the newspaper. "According to the findings, Israelis are fed up with seven years of Qassam rockets falling on Sderot and the communities near Gaza, as well as the fact that [Gilad] Shalit has been held captive for more than a year and a half," the newspaper said. Shalit was 19 when he was captured June 25, 2006, by Palestinian militants who tunneled into Israel and attacked an army outpost near the Gaza-Israel-Egypt border. Apart from the one death and one injury Wednesday by Palestinian rockets that hit Sapir College, near Sderot, no other injuries were reported from the rockets. Another Israeli airstrike -- targeting a rocket cell in northern Gaza -- killed one civilian and injured three others just outside Jebalya, Palestinian medical and security sources said. Five Hamas members were killed in an earlier airstrike in Gaza, the sources said. The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the airstrikes in northern Gaza, but offered no details. Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resisted pressure to launch a broader military operation against Palestinian militants in Gaza after a rocket attack seriously wounded an 8-year-old boy in Sderot. The boy's leg was amputated. Instead, Israel retaliated with troops carrying out airstrikes in Gaza against Hamas targets. Olmert has vowed not to "slacken" against the ongoing attacks on Israel, which he described as an "almost daily war." "We will continue to struggle in order to reduce to nil the threat that is upsetting the quality of life of residents of the south," he said. As part of that struggle, Olmert said, Israel will continue its military operations and its blockade of "materials that could serve the terrorist organizations, including energy." Israel has allowed some fuel and medical supplies into Gaza, but has kept the border crossings closed except to meet emergency humanitarian needs. The block on food, fuel and medicine has led to long lines at stores and left hospitals without heat. Human rights groups have protested against the blockade, accusing Israel of collectively punishing civilians along with the territory's Hamas leadership. On Monday, thousands of people formed a human chain along Gaza's roads in a Hamas-led protest over the blockade. Hamas does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and Israel and the United States consider it a terrorist organization. "This may not always be loved but it is an important part of counterterrorist activity," Olmert said. He also said the Israeli government is building 13 new schools in Sderot and surrounding areas that will be reinforced to protect them from the salvo of rockets. It is part of a $14 million plan approved by the Knesset in January. The poll figures were obtained in a Haaretz-Dialog poll conducted Tuesday under the supervision of Professor Camil Fuchs of Tel Aviv University. E-mail to a friend All About Israel • Hamas
After tracking asteroid 99942 Apophis with NASA's giant Goldstone radar dish, astronomers are now certain that the threatening asteroid has essentially no chance of striking Earth in 2036. Astronomers surely enjoy dramatic stories as much as the rest of us. But today they played spoilers with the welcome announcement that the sizable Earth-crossing asteroid 99942 Apophis will pose no threat when it comes near our planet in 2036. [fw-embed-media url="https://s22380.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Apophis_encounter_2013.jpg" url_large="" alt="Orbits of Apophis and Earth" caption="The asteroid Apophis passed within 9 million miles of Earth on January 9, 2013 — a preview of a very-much-closer encounter in 2029. Click here for an interactive version of this orbital view." credits="NASA / JPL" width="" height="" align="right"]Right now Apophis is in the midst of a rather distant yet much-awaited pass in Earth's vicinity, coming within 9 million miles (14½ million km) earlier today. It's been tracked for about 2½ weeks by NASA's 230-foot (70-m) Goldstone radio/radar dish in California, and those observations have given astronomers the confidence to issue an "all clear" for the foreseeable future. "Goldstone single-pixel observations of Apophis have ruled out the potential 2036 Earth impact," says Jon Giorgini, a dynamicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Based on revised orbit calculations, he says Apophis will then come no closer than about 14 million miles — and more likely miss us by something closer to 35 million miles. Moreover, the radar data have improved the asteroid's positional uncertainty so much that dynamicists can now accurately predict its trajectory decades into the future. "We're observing it at 75-meter resolution, which is better than we expected," notes Lance Benner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), who's leading the radar effort. "The signal-to-noise ratios [of the radar echoes] are a bit stronger than we thought they'd be, so the radar astrometry is more precise than we expected." Apophis was discovered in 2004 by observers Roy Tucker, David Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi. At first, orbital computations suggested that this near-Earth asteroid, initially designated 2004 MN 4 , had a 3% chance of striking our planet in 2029. About a year later, it was named Apophis, for the Egyptian god of evil and destruction. (An apt name, don't you think?) Fortunately, by then prediscovery observations had led to a revised orbit, which ruled out an impact in 2029. [fw-embed-media url="https://s22380.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Apophis-2029-flyby.jpg" url_large="" alt="Apophis and Earth in 2029" caption="On Friday the 13th in April 2029, a 1,000-foot-wide asteroid named Apophis will pass close enough to Earth (within 20,000 miles) to briefly appear as a 3rd-magnitude star in the night sky." credits="Dan Durda" width="" height="" align="right"]But we weren't out of danger yet. A collision remained possible in 2036, and the chance of that hinged on the near-miss flyby in 2029, when Apophis will zip by just 20,000 miles (32,000 km) away. Were that to occur at a particular spot in space, what dynamicists call a keyhole, an impact would become very likely on the return visit in 2036. The problem is that the orbital specs of Apophis weren't known accurately enough to predict exactly where it would fly past in 2029. Adding to the uncertainty is the extent to which a subtle force, known as the Yarkovsky effect, might be altering the asteroid's orbit. This effect is caused by the uneven way that a spinning body absorbs sunlight and then reradiates it back to space. Ground-based observers determined that Apophis rotates in 30½ hours, but it likely has more than one period involving multiple spin axes. The object's shape and spin orientation are unknown — and might remain open questions until 2029. "We might get coarse-resolution images that barely resolve the object and indicate its orientation," explains Benner, "but even that could be optimistic." Conceivably, gentle but persistent nudging from the Yarkovsky effect might have pushed Apophis straight through the 2029 keyhole. But again, says Giorgini, there's no longer any chance of that. The Goldstone observations have "shrunk the orbital uncertainties so much that, regardless of what the still-unknown physical parameters of Apophis might be, radiation pressure can't be enough to move the measurement uncertainty region enough to encounter the Earth in 2036." Were this asteroid to hit us, very bad things would happen. Apophis is an estimated 900 feet (270 m) across, and it would strike with the kinetic-energy equivalent of roughly 500 million tons of TNT. [fw-embed-media url="https://s22380.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Apophis_Herschel_model.jpg" url_large="" alt="Temperatures on Apophis" caption="Using infrared observations from the Herschel space telescope, astronomers have estimated the range of temperatures on the surface of Apophis (350 Kelvins corresponds to about 170°F). However, the asteroid's shape is most likely elongated, not spherical." credits="ESA / T. M?ºller" width="" height="" align="right"]Just-released infrared observations from the European Space Agency's Herschel spacecraft suggest that the diameter of Apophis might be some 20% larger . "“The 20% increase in diameter, from 270 to 325 m, translates into a 75% increase in our estimates of the asteroid’s volume or mass,” says Thomas Müller (Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics), who is coordinating the Herschel observations. However, his team's modeling assumes that Apophis is spherical — and the actual shape is thought to be elongated. We haven't heard the last word on this little interplanetary demon. Goldstone radar observations of Apophis will continue through January 17th, and additional tracking is planned next month with the giant Arecibo radio dish in Puerto Rico. All that pinging should yield super-accurate positional data and, perhaps, reveal the asteroid's shape and spin state. But the worry about Apophis has only been postponed, not eliminated. Its orbit is not all that different from Earth's, and some day in the distant future the two bodies will either have a catastrophic collision — or an encounter so close that Earth's gravity will yank Apophis onto a new and significantly different interplanetary path. In fact, "The 2068 impact probability for Apophis is now one in 189,000," notes Rusty Schweickart (cofounder of the asteroid-monitoring B612 Foundation), "which is higher than the 2036 impact probability was."
Runaway real estate speculation has been filling global capitals with vacant homes, creating artificial shortages in the world’s most sought after cities. The “shortage” has made local home owners wealthy overnight, but it comes at the cost of turning lively cities into empty shells. The city of Paris has decided it’s had enough, and implemented a tax in 2015. They didn’t quite get the results they wanted, so they’re now tripling the tax to 60%. Paris’ Empty Home Problem Paris has been trying to deal with vacant property owners for some time. Despite warnings that the city will have to take action, the number of vacant homes is growing. There’s now 107,000 vacant homes, representing 7.5% of all residential dwellings in the city according to France’s INSEE. Deputy Mayor Ian Brossat told Le Monde that 40,000 of those vacant homes aren’t even connected to the electrical grid. Local developers have argued that more new construction is the solution. However Brossat argues “In a city as dense as Paris, where it is very difficult to build, controlling the occupancy of housing is strategic.” It appears the city believes they have 107,000 reasons more construction is not the solution. Vacant Home Count Total number of vacant homes, as reported by local governments. Paris’ Vacant Tax Increase Paris implemented a tax recently, but it didn’t quite produce the desired outcome. Starting in 2015 the city elected to tax vacant homes the equivalent of 20% of the fair market value of rent. On January 30 this year, they decided to triple that amount to 60%. The idea isn’t to punish those fortunate enough to own a second (or twelfth) home. They’re trying to discourage speculation and promote a healthy rental market. Vacancy As A Percentage Percent of homes vacant as a percentage of total homes as counted by local governments. Empty Homes Across The World Paris’ 107,000 empty homes might seem like a lot, but it’s becoming strangely normal around the world. New York City had a whopping 318,831 vacant units in 2015. It’s a hot topic in Sydney, where 118,499 vacant units were counted in 2013. Heck, London considers it a critical issue, and they “only” have 22,000 empty homes. There’s a massive numbers of vacant homes across the globe, but only Paris has decided to take aggressive action to tackle it. Growing populations have barely put a dent in the vacant homes in global real estate capitals. The amount of speculation has been scaling with demand, which is a curious paradox. This signifies an issue that’s more complex than just a basic supply and demand problem. Is the Paris’ tax going too far, or not enough? Tweet us your thoughts. Over the next few weeks we’ll be exploring the issue of vacancies around the world. Want to keep up to date? Like us on Facebook for the next post right in your feed.
While it’s good to see that number of obese and overweight children has (slightly) fallen for those starting school, one in 10 children is still entering reception obese or overweight, rising to one in five at the start of secondary school. More startlingly, the figures from the Health & Social Care Information Centre show that 25% of children in poorer areas are obese, compared to about 11% in more affluent areas. Let’s absorb that disturbing fact – right now, Britain’s poor children are more than twice as likely to be obese or overweight. Responses to these statistics have included calls for a ban on junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed, but is this really the most productive way forward? What if it’s not so much about “junk food”, as we define it, but, rather, that all too often these days the junk is the food and the food is the junk – and that sometimes, for people on tight budgets, this is all that’s reasonably achievable? Once poverty enters the equation, it’s simply not about junk food as we understand it anymore. Say junk food and an image springs to mind of people allowing their children to scarf down crisps, sweets, and the now notorious fizzy drinks, or burgers, pizzas and fried chicken from overflowing buckets. The implication is that the problem lies with the treats and extras, consumed on top of real meals and that children are being overindulged, to the detriment of their health. However, this image of feckless, uncaring, underprivileged Britons encouraging their fat children to over-snack simply doesn’t ring true, especially considering that these are households where, by definition, money is tight. On the contrary, it seems obvious that the actual meals are contributing hugely to the problem – and that this is where austerity is having a terrifying and sustained impact. While healthy food is often prohibitively expensive, less healthy options are relatively as cheap as, well, chips. When parents have to find the cheapest food available for their family, it’s nearly always going to be less likely to be fresh; more likely to be highly calorific (therefore “filling”), as well as packed with additives whose addictive and metabolism-skewing properties should not be discounted. You also have to factor in how exhausting poverty is. Often the last thing that stressed, skint parents need at the end of the day is to start a meal from scratch. This is why, however well meant, the “why not buy some veg from the local market and make a lovely stew?” rationale so often takes on the shrill ring of Marie Antoinette’s fabled suggestion about the poor eating cake. That’s the cruel thing about cooking. It’s not all about “lazy proles” and their lost culinary skills. Something that’s a hobby, a stress release, in an affluent household, too easily becomes an extra source of tension in an impoverished one. Moreover, “real” cooking can be expensive – from the ingredients, and the herbs and spices, to the equipment, even the gas or electricity. Hence the microwave, the ripping open of the packet, the easier solution. Who’s to judge? Plenty of people do. Perhaps it could be acknowledged that the very concept of junk food has become absurdly dated and misleading. That shifts in fundamental food culture (the creep of junk into normal meals) appear to be a much more profound problem than merely overindulging in signposted treats. Kids eating rubbish has always been with us but it is only now that the staples, the dietary cornerstones, are also unhealthy, that their weight problems are escalating. Nor is the problem confined to junk food advertising – if only it were that simple. Like with most things that become uncontrollable in life, money lies at the core. Poverty isn’t only exhausting and limiting, it’s also highly fattening. Coe did the right thing. But why did it take so long? Facebook Twitter Pinterest Better late than never. Sebastian Coe has walked away from his Nike contract. Photograph: Lionel Cironneau/AP Even though Sebastian Coe has finally resigned from his £100,000-a-year role as Nike ambassador, he still insists that there was no conflict of interest with his position as president of the IAAF. Is he on another planet or am I? Coe’s resignation doesn’t prove that there was any wrongdoing, even with the email that surfaced relating to Eugene (birthplace of Nike) winning the right to stage the 2012 World Athletics Championships without others being allowed to bid. As things stand, Coe’s conduct appears to have been above board. Nevertheless he has to stop this ludicrous sulking as if a big fuss is being made about nothing. This is a prime example of a big fuss being made about… something. Obviously, it is not feasible for the president of IAAF simultaneously to be signed up as an ambassador to a major international sportswear company. Likewise, Coe’s main argument concerning the longevity of his association with Nike (38 years) is resentful, entitled nonsense. It’s time for Coe to be philosophical. This was a blatant conflict of interest and the only mystery is how it wasn’t dealt with when he became president earlier this year. Let Katie Hopkins damn herself Facebook Twitter Pinterest Katie Hopkins: the face of unreason. Photograph: Dan Kennedy/Discovery Communications/Dan Ken It seems as though every week now there is a terrible darkening of the skies as a giant candlesnuffer slams down over the flickering wick of free speech. This time, it happened at Brunel University, where Katie Hopkins was spouting her usual informed, enlightened views on welfare. (Oh sorry, I went a bit funny there.) Hopkins wasn’t banned from speaking. Instead, just as she began to talk, a large bunch of students stood up, turned their backs on her and walked out of the hall. It was an action that was widely billed as a wonderful compromise protest, but it wasn’t really. Of course it was better than banning – but only because anything is better than banning. It wasn’t spontaneous, and therefore looked staged and just a little pompous. Nor, crucially, did it respect one of the foremost principles of free speech. Free speech is not just about someone being allowed to talk, it is also about them being properly heard and debated, and this holds true, even when that someone is as idiotic and offensive as Hopkins. Especially then. For free speech to work, you have to let people speak first, and then challenge them via debate, which means no bans or, indeed, back-turnings and walk-outs. Otherwise, all that happens is that people such as Hopkins remain wedded to the delusion that they’re fearless speakers of truth. Ideally, they should have their arguments brusquely shredded in a public forum. The Brunel University walk-out was not a compromise protest, it was just a way of banning without actually banning. Everyone has to stop panicking and just allow people to be annoying bigots. Last time that I checked, the good people of Britain could cope.

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