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Sports, and particularly combat sports, have often offered the disabled a chance to compete and prove their perceived limitations are just that: imagined difficulties that ultimately do not affect performance. That assumes, however, those in power allowed all athletes an equal chance to compete on a proverbial level playing field.
In the case of Nick Newell, the XFC lightweight champion missing a portion of his left arm after a congenital amputation as a child, argues while some in the MMA industry have given him a chance, many of the most important power players keep slamming the door in his face.
And as he continues to get better, he's beginning to wonder aloud: how much longer is this going to continue?
Newell is honest with himself. He knows his condition is rare and a subject of curiosity, even among the well-intended. Even people with an open mind take time to be influenced that he can do what sounds impossible. It's even part of his identity.
"No matter how much I accomplish in this sport, it's always going to be something that gets brought up. I've come to terms with that," he told Ariel Helwani Monday on The MMA Hour. "People will always look at me as being the guy with one hand," he admitted.
But just as quickly as he is to be candid about the reality behind how he's perceived, he is pivoting to the changing dynamic of going from a novelty to a respected, proven competitor. This change has been happening slowly, but took a big leap when he beat Eric Reynolds in December to capture the XFC lightweight crown.
Reynolds, a fighter with a professional record of 16-6, has lost to Eddie Alvarez and Jorge Masvidal, but both fights went to the third round. Newell, by contrast, put Reynolds away in a mere minute and twenty-two seconds in the first round. "I feel like people are starting to look at me more as a talented fighter. I'm not just a guy who fights with hand. I'm a very talented fighter that happens to have one hand," Newell argues.
Still, as well as things are going in Florida with XFC, recent statements made by UFC President Dana White reminded Newell there are still hurdles to climb in overcoming the limitations others place on him.
"As much as I would like to be known and looked at for my fighting skill, it will always be an issue like with the whole Dana White interview. It's always going to be something that gets brought up."
After the pre-fight press conference for UFC 155 in December, White threw cold water on the idea of ever giving a UFC contract to a one-handed fighter despite Newell's obvious progress in the sport. "Never, no," White said of the possibility. "It's hard to fight here with two arms. It's tough. There's guys that we bring in that are considered top guys on The Ultimate Fighter that don't ever really pan out and make it. Will the state of Nevada let him fight? Will the state of California let him fight? Would some of these bigger athletic commissions let him fight? Maybe he can get away with that in some of these other states. I don't know, fighting with one arm is just craziness to me."
In Newell's mind, White has concerns about matters that aren't even in play. "I've already been licensed in Nevada, so that's not really an issue. At all," Newell said. "It kinda disappoints me that someone that's such a powerful figure in this sport feels that way or looks at me that way."
Newell knows his major issue in proving his worth is his resume. He needs to beat someone to answer the question of, well, who he has defeated. Reynolds was a step in the right direction, but not nearly enough. Yet, until he gets a chance to compete against the UFC's finest, Newell wonders how he is going to be able to demonstrate what he can do and some others think he can't.
"[The UFC] is where you can test yourself against the best guys in the world," he said. "I want to see where I stand among the world's elite fighters and I feel like I've earned my shot. Anyone else with my track record would be getting looked at, but it's due to outside circumstances," he lamented.
"I don't get discouraged too much about things like that. I'm not going anywhere in this sport. I'm good. A lot of those guys in the UFC, just because they're in the UFC doesn't mean they can beat me. I think I match up really well with a lot of people in there.
"[White] wants to talk about how he wants to give people equal opportunity - to women, to gay fighters and stuff like that. Well, I'd like my equal opportunity as well."
While the UFC has not dealt with many fighters with a wide range of disabilities, they have promoted and, for a time, prominently featured Matt Hamill, a fighter deaf since birth.
Newell has one fight left on his XFC contract, and believes he'll fulfill that final obligation sometime in April. In assessing his options, he is content to stay with XFC just as much as he is to test the waters elsewhere. He obviously would appreciate a crack at the UFC. And while Bellator has yet to express interest in his services, Newell said he'd be honored to fight against the Rick Hawn's and Michael Chandler's of the world.
More than anything, though, Newell just wants a chance to prove his mettle. And to get that, he needs the power players to honestly assess his record of achievement, not what others believe is missing.
So, for now, he waits. Newell is going to continue banging the drum for his case all the while. He maintains his happiness and light-hearted attitude through self-confidence and awareness of his own worth. The achievements of others who faced similar challenges in circumstances conventional or otherwise also keep a smile on his face and help him to know the barriers can be broken if you push hard enough.
"The MLB gave a shot to Jim Abbott, he did great," Newell said. "Even that chick on [ABC's] The Bachelor. They're giving her a shot." |
WikiLeaks released audio recordings Wednesday apparently hacked from the Democratic National Committee’s servers, including a message from an irate Hillary Clinton supporter demanding the party stop “bending over backwards” for Bernie Sanders.
Links to the 29 recordings were posted on Twitter a few hours before US President Barack Obama took the stage in Philadelphia to address the party’s national convention, a meeting that formally nominated Clinton as the Democratic candidate for the White House.
The confab was meant to be a show of unity, but instead has exposed the raw anger of Sanders supporters who feel disenfranchised by the primary process.
The WikiLeaks files seemed timed to embarrass the party and Clinton, although the audio recordings did not appear to contain any bombshell revelations.
They came after the anti-secrecy website on Friday leaked 19,000 emails from the accounts of several top Democratic party leaders.
At least two email messages suggested an insider effort to hobble Sanders’ upstart campaign against Clinton -- including by seeking to present him as an atheist in deeply religious states.
The uproar following the leak forced party chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz to abruptly announce her resignation on the eve of the convention she was meant to preside over.
In one audio recording, the angry Clinton supporter said in her minute-long voice mail that she was “furious” about what she perceived as party support for Sanders and giving the self-described democratic socialist “too much influence.”
“Bernie is the worst person in the world to even be running in the Democratic Party because he’s not a Democrat,” said the unidentified woman, who noted she was on a fixed income and had donated $300 to Clinton.
“Quit acquiescing to this person who likes to play the victim card and who also has been attacking Hillary, which gives Trump all his talking points. I will leave the Democratic Party if the Democratic Party continues to coddle Bernie Sanders,” she said.
It was not known which party official the woman was trying to reach.
In another recording, a woman -- possibly the same person in the earlier call -- was upset the party was letting Sanders supporter Cornel West serve on the platform committee, calling him “trash.”
The audio files also provided a small glimpse of the daily inner workings of the party, with a staffer from an ambassador’s office calling to make sure her boss received an invitation to a St. Patrick’s Day reception at the White House.
Former ambassador to Austria William Eacho left a message to get details on an invitation from Wasserman Schultz to attend a dinner with Obama.
It was not immediately clear if the audio recordings were part of the original cache of 19,000 emails and attachments released by WikiLeaks on Friday.
First Published: Jul 28, 2016 12:01 IST |
The Latest: Sen. Ayotte rejects Trump statements about Khans
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):
6:40 p.m.
One of the more endangered Republican incumbents says she's appalled that Donald Trump would belittle the parents of a U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq with his insults and disparaging comments about Muslims.
Khizr Khan, father of fallen US Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan and his wife Ghazala speak during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Thursday, July 28, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte said in a statement Sunday that Capt. Humayun Khan made the ultimate sacrifice and was a "true American hero." Ayotte said his family deserves support, respect and gratitude and has every right to express themselves any way they choose.
Ayotte she was "appalled that Donald Trump would disparage them" and that the GOP presidential nominee "had the gall to compare his own sacrifices to those of a Gold Star family."
In the firestorm over Trump's comments, the two Republican leaders in Congress — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan — issued statements praising Capt. Khan. But neither made any mention of Trump or backed off their endorsement of the nominee.
Ayotte has said she supports Trump. She is locked in a tough race with New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan.
___
6:30 p.m.
The Senate's Democratic leader, Harry Reid, is calling on the top Republicans in Congress to revoke their endorsements of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in the wake of his criticism of the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan have praised the sacrifices of the Khan family and Muslim Americans in the U.S. armed forces. While calling for Americans to honor the Khans, both McConnell and Ryan stopped short of criticizing Trump by name.
In a statement issued Sunday, Reid says anything short of revoking their endorsements of Trump is "cowardice" on the part of the Republican leaders.
Reid says "this shouldn't be hard" and calls Trump "a sexist and racist man who insults Gold Star parents, stokes fear of Muslims and sows hatred of Latinos." The Nevada Democrat says Trump shouldn't be president and that "Republican leaders have a moral responsibility to say so?."
___
4:55 p.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan says Muslim Americans who serve in the U.S. military should be honored — "period" — and that he would reject any proposal that would require a religious test for entry into the U.S.
The House speaker made the comments in a written statement issued Sunday. He also praised a U.S. Army captain, Humayun Khan, who was killed in a suicide bombing in Iraq in 2004.
The captain's parents have come under criticism from GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump for speaking out against his candidacy during the Democratic National Convention.
The bereaved father, Khizr Khan, has called on Ryan to withdraw his support for Trump after the candidate's remarks about the family.
In his statement, Ryan doesn't mention Trump but says Capt. Khan's sacrifice and that of his parents should always be honored.
___
3:50 p.m.
Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch (Coke) is refusing to support Republican Donald Trump. But he wants his network's biggest donors to know that, contrary to rumor, he won't be supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton, either.
Koch on Sunday called such a rumor "a blood libel" as he addressed his network's top donors at a luxury resort in Colorado.
The 80-year-old billionaire describes his policy and political network's first priority as "to preserve the country's financial future, and to eliminate corporate welfare."
Koch says that since it appears that neither presidential candidate is likely to support his network in those efforts, they are focusing on what he calls "maximizing the number of principled leaders in the House and Senate who will."
The three-day Koch donors conference ends on Monday.
_____
3:25 p.m.
Hillary Clinton's campaign is disputing Donald Trump's claim that she and other Democrats have rigged the presidential debate schedule so that two of the three match-ups would occur at the same time as NFL games.
Vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine says he's "mystified" by what he calls Trump's "bizarre" allegations. Kaine asks, "Is Donald Trump complaining that the framers of the Constitution put the election in the NFL season?"
The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates says no political party or campaign was consulted about the dates chosen last year for this fall's debates.
Clinton is promising to attend all the debates, which have been scheduled for September and October.
Clinton and Kaine are in the midst of a three-day bus tour through the battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
___
3:10 p.m.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is stopping short of calling out Donald Trump for his criticism of the parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain who was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.
But McConnell says in a statement Sunday that "all Americans should value the patriotic service of the patriots who volunteer to selflessly defend us in the armed services."
The bereaved father, Khizr Khan, has called on Congress' top Republicans, McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, to withdraw their support for Trump after the candidate's remarks about the family.
McConnell isn't going that far. But he says he agrees with the Khans that a travel ban based on religion — one idea previously floated by Trump — is "simply contrary to American values."
___
1:35 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is defending the bereaved parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain, saying Donald Trump has a "total misunderstanding" of American values and has inflamed divisions in American society.
Clinton tells parishioners in a Cleveland church that Trump's character is questionable because he repaid a family that made the "ultimate sacrifice" with "nothing but insults" and "degrading comments about Muslims."
Khizr Khan (KY'zer KAHN'), who lost his son in Iraq, gave an emotional anti-Trump speech at the Democratic National Convention; Trump responded by suggesting his wife didn't speak because she wasn't allowed.
Clinton said: "I do tremble before those who would scapegoat other Americans, who would insult people because of their religion, their ethnicity their disability. That's just not how I was raised."
___
10:50 a.m.
Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday morning to continue his criticisms of Khizr Khan (KY'-zer KAHN'), the father of a Muslim U.S. Army captain who was killed in 2004 by a suicide bomber in Iraq.
"I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!" Trump tweeted.
The tweet came just minutes after interviews with Khan aired on NBC's "Meet The Press" and CNN's "State of the Union." Khan thanked Trump for calling his son a hero, but said the Republican presidential nominee is being "disingenuous" because of his campaign rhetoric.
Khan gave an emotional tribute to his son last week at the Democratic National Convention that was also heavily critical of Trump. Khan's son, Humayun, earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
___
10:45 a.m.
Hillary Clinton says controlling her emotions was her biggest concern walking on stage at the Democrat National Convention to become the first woman to lead a major party ticket.
Clinton says she was afraid she might cry after seeing her daughter, Chelsea, on stage. Clinton says also in her mind was how proud her own mother would have been of her. Clinton's mother died in 2011.
In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Clinton said the moment was "over-the-top emotional" and that "I was pretty concerned whether I'd make it through the speech."
___
10:25 a.m.
Hillary Clinton says she has "work to do" to earn voters' trust and move past the "caricature" many people have of her.
In a wide-ranging interview on "Fox News Sunday," Clinton said the majority of voters approved of her work as a U.S. senator and as secretary of State under President Barack Obama. But upon running for any office, she said, "all of these caricatures come out of nowhere, and people begin to undermine me."
Polls have indicated that voters question Clinton's trustworthiness. Clinton said: "I think it's fair for Americans to have questions." But unlike her rival Donald Trump, "I have a long record of public service I can point to that's actually produced results for people."
___
10:10 a.m.
The father of a Muslim U.S. Army captain killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq says he appreciates that Donald Trump called his son a hero, but says he finds the Republican presidential nominee disingenuous because of his policies and his rhetoric.
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Khizr Khan says Trump showed disrespect toward his wife and that the country needs to be run by someone with a "moral compass."
Khan addressed the Democratic National Convention last week as his wife, Ghazala, stood quietly by his side.
Trump's comments that maybe she wasn't allowed to speak sparked backlash. On Saturday, Trump called their son, U.S. Capt. Humayun Khan, a hero but said the issue was about terrorism and the ability of leaders of the current administration to eradicate it.
___
9:34 a.m.
Retired Gen. John Allen says Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has "no credibility" to criticize him about the U.S. battle against Islamic State militants.
Last week, Trump called Allen a "failed general," saying he hadn't done so well in fighting IS.
Allen is a former commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and also was the president's former special envoy for the global coalition to counter IS. In that job, he worked to assemble a group of nations to counter Islamic State militants.
Allen says he doesn't think he has to justify himself to Trump, who has never spent time in Afghanistan or Iraq and has never served in the military.
___
9 a.m.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is suggesting the U.S. accept Russia's annexation of Crimea if it would lead to better relations with Moscow and stronger cooperation in fighting Islamic State militants.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Trump suggested that the people of Crimea would rather be part of Russia. That runs counter to the Obama administration, which imposed economic sanctions against Russia for annexing the territory in Ukraine two years ago.
The United Nations doesn't want countries to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, and some top Republicans are staunchly defending Crimea against what they say is Russian aggression.
FILE - In this photo May 22, 2012 file photo, Charles Koch speaks in his office at Koch Industries in Wichita, Kansas. Billionaire industrialist and conservative benefactor Koch is hosting hundreds of the nation's most powerful political donors this weekend in Colorado. The exclusive gathering at the foot of the Rocky Mountains is open to donors who promise to give at least $100,000 each year to Koch-approved groups. The Koch network has avoided supporting Donald Trump's presidential campaign so far. (Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle via AP, File)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks on her campaign bus after visiting Imani Temple Ministries in Cleveland, Sunday, July 31, 2016. Clinton and running mate Sen. Tim Kaine are on a three day bus tour through the rust belt. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at Imani Temple Ministries in Cleveland, Sunday, July 31, 2016. Clinton and running mate Sen. Tim Kaine are on a three day bus tour through the rust belt. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives to speak at Imani Temple Ministries in Cleveland, Sunday, July 31, 2016. Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine are on a three day bus tour through the rust belt. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, at the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum, in Denver, Friday, July 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at an event at East High School in Youngstown, Ohio, Saturday, July 30, 2016. Clinton and Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., are on a three day bus tour through the rust belt. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) |
Editor's Note: "Destination Unknown" typically features posts regarding Pacers play-by-play radio broadcaster Mark Boyle's life on the road, basketball insight, and general musings. This entry follows a different route, taking a personal turn that's put Mark on a different type of journey away from the basketball court. As always, Mark's take is uniquely his own and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.
My brother is dying.
Not in the way most of us are dying, where death is merely a concept, and even though we know it’s inevitable we rarely think about it. No, my brother Scott is dying in a way that is tangible and bitter, like a dark cloud hovering on the horizon, waiting to unleash a torrent of pain and agony.
My brother has terminal liver cancer.
I’ve written about Scott before, so I won’t go into the specifics again here, except to say that I’ve more or less assumed for a long time that he would die before I did, even though he’s younger than I am. Still, when my dad called to tell me the news about my brother’s diagnosis (5:52 PM, October 13, 2014; you don’t forget stuff like that), it hit hard. I don’t show my emotions easily or often, but I was enjoying a cup of coffee at a local establishment when I got that call, and I cried in public for the first time in my life. The lady sitting next to me, a total stranger, gave me a big hug, told me her own sister was a cancer survivor, and assured me that everything would turn out all right.
But it won’t.
And it’s not just because Scott is nearing the end. That’s a big part of it, obviously, but I’ve always wondered if I could have been a better and more supportive brother. When we were kids, it wasn’t enough to beat him in our various competitions, I had to humiliate him. When I got A’s in school, I would ruthlessly taunt him about his C’s and D’s. I know part of that is about brothers being brothers. But, still, you wonder. What if I’d been more supportive? What if I’d been more empathetic when he started having his problems with drugs and alcohol, instead of wondering why he didn’t have his act together? Yes, I was 17 years old then, but I cringe now when I recall how disgusted I was at his lack of willpower and self control.
And that’s not all I’m feeling guilty about. I’m finding out is that this is as much about how it affects me as it is about my brother dying, and this seems stunningly narcissistic to me. Am I really that selfish? That can’t be a normal feeling, can it? Do others feel that way when they know loved ones are on borrowed time? Do you?
I think about my family. My dad is in his 80s, and I know he's struggling with the idea of burying one of his children. And my sister, who is probably the most caring, supportive person I’ve ever known, is showing a strong front. But she feels things in a way that I never have, and I know she's devastated. What do I do for them?
The doctors say the clock is running, and that Scott’s remaining time can be measured in weeks, or maybe months, not years. And they say that he can expect to suffer through excruciating pain as the days pass. He’s been shot, stabbed, robbed, and homeless. He’s endured surgeries that have, among other things, left him attached to a colostomy bag for months. That’s not enough? Apparently not, and some days this agnostic thinks like an atheist. Can’t he even make it to the finish line pain free?
I’m planning on going to Arizona before too much more time passes to see my brother one last time. He’s an alcoholic and a substance abuser, but if he needs a fifth of Jack to ease the pain, I’ll bring him two. Or three. Or a case. Yeah, I know that there are moral and ethical questions here that might interest some of you. They don’t interest me, because I haven’t done a damn thing to help my brother. Ever. Whatever it takes to help him, even if it’s only for a moment or two, I will do.
Love is a powerful emotion. Scott and I have never been close, and I’ve been really surprised at how profoundly this has affected me. My mom passed several years ago, and while that was difficult, it didn’t come close to impacting me like this. I’m ashamed to admit that while I felt all the normal emotions – sadness, loss, and the like – I grieved more when my beloved cat died than I did when my mom passed. Does this make me a bad guy? Unfeeling? Weird? All of the above? I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m in my 50s and I don’t understand myself any better now than I did when I was in my 20s.
So. My brother is dying, and I’m lost. I don’t know what to do, for him, for my dad, for my sister. Or, for that matter, for myself.
Would you? |
Rockstar has put together some of the most impressive game worlds we’ve ever romped through in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. With GTA V on the horizon and its locale set in stone, a recent interview has shed light on what Rockstar may have in store for fans of the franchise beyond Los Santos.
In a recent interview with Digital Trends, Rockstar North president Leslie Benzies explained that the developers have been throwing the idea around of giving players an even bigger open world to explore, one that houses all of the Grand Theft Auto settings.
“Of course at some point we would like to have one big world containing all our cities and let the player fly between them and revisit their favorite areas, and in that context re-imagining Vice City would be very interesting.”
With GTA V yet to see a release, it’s hard to tell if this idea has been put into motion at this point. The next Grand Theft Auto title will revisit Los Santos, the fictional city from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas based on Los Angeles. With many believing that the next generation of consoles will afford developers the technology and storage to make even bigger games, this all-encompassing Grand Theft Auto world could become a reality. |
According to Salinas police, the man on the left tracked down his estranged wife in Salinas and shot her and three of her family members. (Aug. 27, 2015)
Advertisement Salinas police: Estranged husband stalked and shot wife; killed 2 others Share Shares Copy Link Copy
Two people are dead and two others are critically wounded after a domestic violence shooting unfolded in Salinas outside a federal office building.It happened at 8:45 a.m. Thursday outside the U.S. Social Security Administration office on the 900 block of Blanco Circle."This incident was purely domestic violence," Police Cmdr. Vince Maiorana said.VIDEO: 2 dead, two wounded in Salinas shootingMaiorana said an estranged husband and wife who live in Garden Grove, Calif. were having marital conflicts.The 32-year-old woman wanted to get away from her 50-year-old husband, so she drove to Salinas to stay with her aunt, uncle, and cousin, he said."The wife had come up to Salinas get away from martial difficulties they were having in Southern California," Maiorana said.The husband decided to follow and stalk his wife, police said. He found her Thursday morning outside the Social Security office while she was with her family.The husband argued with his wife until he pulled out a 9mm handgun and opened fire on everyone.The 51-year-old aunt and 64-year-old uncle died at the scene. The wife and her 28-year-old cousin were also shot and rushed to a trauma center in critical condition.Witness Mark Keszler told KSBW that the gunman showed very little emotion immediately after the shooting. "The scariest part of it was that he was so stoic. He just didn’t have any kind of emotion, anything in his face. That was really chilling. It was like watching a horror film," Keszler said.More than 10 people called 911. Officers surrounded and locked down the area. The suspected shooter was pointed out to officers by witnesses, and he was taken to the police station."(Witnesses) assisted us and directed us to the identity of the suspect. The cooperation we got from witnesses out at the scene was extraordinary," Maiorana said.Police declined to release the names of the victims and suspected shooter. He was still being questioned at the police station late Thursday afternoon."Our suspect completely confessed to what he did. We’re having a very candid conversation now on why he did what he did. We don’t know yet if there was premeditation, or if it was a spur of the moment thing," Maiorana said.Police do not believe the wife had a court-issued restraining order against her estranged husband. When asked what people who feel trapped in an physically abusive relationship should do, Maiorana answered, "If you’re in a domestic violence situation and you have a spouse who is stalking you, contact your local police department. Get a restraining order. You gotta make that step and do it."The suspected shooter will be booked into the Monterey County Jail on two counts of murder, police said.Police Chief Kelly McMillin thanked allied agencies that assisted in securing the crime scene Thursday, including, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, Salinas Fire Department, California Highway Patrol, Monterey County Sheriff's Office, and Monterey County District Attorney's Office. |
Hugo Lloris has discussed Mauricio Pochettino's first season at Tottenham.
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has told The Star Online that manager Mauricio Pochettino has helped everybody at White Hart Lane.
Lloris, 28, joined Spurs from Lyon in 2012, and has already played under three managers in North London with Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood and now Pochettino all taking charge during his time at the club.
The French international is widely considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, and he has enjoyed another superb season, this time under Pochettino.
Tottenham may have won just one of their last six games, but many will still believe that this has been a positive first season in charge for the Argentine, who made the move from Southampton almost a year ago.
A top six finish is still on the cards for Pochettino and Spurs, but last weekend's 3-0 defeat away at Stoke City has seen some criticise the Tottenham boss for allowing his side to slack off towards the end of the season.
Despite that, goalkeeper Lloris has told The Star Online that his manager has a clear plan for the club, and that everyone associated with Tottenham should be confident under his stewardship - even if it can be difficult to achieve goals in the first year at a new club.
"He has helped everyone at the club," said Lloris. "He has a proper philosophy for football and knows where he wants to go, and where he wants to take the club. I think we can have total confidence in him. It’s difficult to build success in one year but we know where we want to be and the next step is to get there."
Pochettino will now be looking to add more quality to his squad this summer, as well as keep hold of Lloris, who may be a target for some of the top clubs in the world after a strong season - and if he can achieve both, Tottenham may be on course for a great campaign next season. |
TOP STORY
Peer Arrested, Charged With Resetting Connections
SEATTLE, WA - An exhaustive eight month cyberhunt ended shortly before dawn on January 14th, 2000, as FBI agents and Washington State Troopers apprehended the elusive chatroom terrorist known only as Peer.
The IRC menace was brought to justice after a decade-long connection resetting spree that plagued chatters around the globe. FBI officials said the number of reset connections numbered in the "millions".
Connections being reset by peer were the number one cause of interupted chat sessions on all major IRC networks in 1999.
Undernet ChanServ Committee member Morrissey told IRCNews.com, "What set peer apart was the element of suprise. With ping, you kinda knew you were gonna time out. You could tell. Peer totally got you out of nowhere."
Leland, another bigshot on the Undernet IRC network, praised the FBI for their work, "How many idle times must be ruined? How many cybersex sessions must be cut short before we put an end to Peer and his shinanigans?"
Peer's lawyers criticized Leland's use of the word "shinanigans".
Peer's lead defence attorney responded, "Really, I think we can come up with a better term than that. We're all adults here. Besides, it's 'alleged' shinanigans."
Federal Prosecutor Sarah Evans told IRCNews.com she intends to "throw the book" at Peer. If convicted on all counts, Peer could spend up to the next three years on probation.
"His ass is mine.", claimed a motivated Evans. "With any luck, we'll get that judge who handled the Mitnick case."
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When was the last time you forgot something and didn't turn to Google, or some similar search engine, to find the answer? If you're like me, you've probably already visited Google several times today. We all know that with a click of mouse, just about any piece information can be unearthed in a matter of seconds. And because we spend much of our time on computers and smart phones, this information is accessible to us whenever we want it.
But is our reliance on search engines making it harder for us to remember information? This is the question psychologists are trying to answer. According to new research published in the most recent issue of Science, psychologists say they have confirmed what people have long suspected, namely, that the Internet is being used as a personal bank for information, a phenomenon referred to as the "Google effect."
The evidence is based on a series of four different experiments that were carried out by Betsy Sparrow and her colleagues at Columbia University. Sparrow and her colleagues tested how people remember information when such information is stored somewhere accessible, like say the Internet. According to these researchers, people are more likely to look for information on the Internet, and when easy to find, they're more likely to remember where they found it, rather than the information itself. On the flip side, information that is less accessible online is more easily remembered.
If you're interested in seeing real life examples of the "Google Effect," click here to see Ken Molestina's of WUSA-9 news interview people on the streets of Washington, DC. Mr. Molestina asked people three trivia questions and then observed how they arrived at their answers.
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Tyger Latham, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist practicing in Washington, DC. He counsels individuals and couples and has a particular interest in sexual , development, and LGBT concerns. His blog, Therapy Matters, explores the art and science of . |
A Turkish protester wearing a gas mask and a hard hat takes cover during clashes with riot police who tried to prevent demonstrators from reaching Taksim Square in Istanbul for a May Day rally on May 1, 2014.
May Day demonstrators defied a protest ban and took to the streets around Istanbul’s Taksim Square Thursday, prompting clashes with police sent in preparation for what's known around the world as a day of protest.
Police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators, including a mix of trade unions, opposition activists and far left groups celebrating what has been dubbed International Workers’ Day, Turkish state news reports. Some protesters threw fireworks and stones at police.
Several unions had said earlier that they would ignore Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s warnings not to march on Taksim Square.
“We will be in Taksim despite the irrational and illegal ban. All roads will lead to Taksim on May Day, and our struggle for labour, equality, freedom, justice and peace will continue," top unions said in a joint statement , Reuters reports.
Roads and streets leading to Taksim Square were closed off Thursday, and authorities deployed nearly 40,000 police in Istanbul ahead of the protests.
The square’s iconic status is linked to its history as a hotspot for protests. A sit-in against urban development plans snowballed into weeks of mass anti-government protests in the area last year. And on May 1, 1977, 36 people were killed after unidentified gunmen fired on a massive May Day demonstration in the square.
May Day demonstrations took place around the world on Thursday, with some leading to clashes with police. Nearly 1,000 workers and opposition supporters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia ignored a protest ban and clashed with security forces.
[ Anadolu Agency ] |
The Mandelbrot set (black) within a continuously colored environment
Progressive infinite iterations of the "Nautilus" section of the Mandelbrot Set rendered using webGL
Mandelbrot animation based on a static number of iterations per pixel
Mandelbrot set detail
The Mandelbrot set is the set of complex numbers c {\displaystyle c} for which the function f c ( z ) = z 2 + c {\displaystyle f_{c}(z)=z^{2}+c} does not diverge when iterated from z = 0 {\displaystyle z=0} , i.e., for which the sequence f c ( 0 ) {\displaystyle f_{c}(0)} , f c ( f c ( 0 ) ) {\displaystyle f_{c}(f_{c}(0))} , etc., remains bounded in absolute value.
Zooming into the Mandelbrot set
Its definition and name are due to Adrien Douady, in tribute to the mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot.[1] The set is connected to a Julia set, and related Julia sets produce similarly complex fractal shapes.
Mandelbrot set images may be created by sampling the complex numbers and testing, for each sample point c {\displaystyle c} , whether the sequence f c ( 0 ) , f c ( f c ( 0 ) ) , … {\displaystyle f_{c}(0),f_{c}(f_{c}(0)),\dotsc } goes to infinity (in practice -- whether it leaves some predetermined bounded neighborhood of 0 after a predetermined number of iterations). Treating the real and imaginary parts of c {\displaystyle c} as image coordinates on the complex plane, pixels may then be coloured according to how soon the sequence | f c ( 0 ) | , | f c ( f c ( 0 ) ) | , … {\displaystyle |f_{c}(0)|,|f_{c}(f_{c}(0))|,\dotsc } crosses an arbitrarily chosen threshold, with a special color (usually black) used for the values of c {\displaystyle c} for which the sequence has not crossed the threshold after the predetermined number of iterations (this is necessary to clearly distinguish the Mandelbrot set image from the image of its complement). If c {\displaystyle c} is held constant and the initial value of z {\displaystyle z} —denoted by z 0 {\displaystyle z_{0}} —is variable instead, one obtains the corresponding Julia set for each point c {\displaystyle c} in the parameter space of the simple function.
Images of the Mandelbrot set exhibit an elaborate and infinitely complicated boundary that reveals progressively ever-finer recursive detail at increasing magnifications. The "style" of this repeating detail depends on the region of the set being examined. The set's boundary also incorporates smaller versions of the main shape, so the fractal property of self-similarity applies to the entire set, and not just to its parts.
The Mandelbrot set has become popular outside mathematics both for its aesthetic appeal and as an example of a complex structure arising from the application of simple rules. It is one of the best-known examples of mathematical visualization and mathematical beauty.
History [ edit ]
The first published picture of the Mandelbrot set, by Robert W. Brooks and Peter Matelski in 1978
The Mandelbrot set has its place in complex dynamics, a field first investigated by the French mathematicians Pierre Fatou and Gaston Julia at the beginning of the 20th century. This fractal was first defined and drawn in 1978 by Robert W. Brooks and Peter Matelski as part of a study of Kleinian groups.[2] On 1 March 1980, at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, Benoit Mandelbrot first saw a visualization of the set.[3]
Mandelbrot studied the parameter space of quadratic polynomials in an article that appeared in 1980.[4] The mathematical study of the Mandelbrot set really began with work by the mathematicians Adrien Douady and John H. Hubbard,[1] who established many of its fundamental properties and named the set in honor of Mandelbrot for his influential work in fractal geometry.
The mathematicians Heinz-Otto Peitgen and Peter Richter became well known for promoting the set with photographs, books,[5] and an internationally touring exhibit of the German Goethe-Institut.[6][7]
The cover article of the August 1985 Scientific American introduced a wide audience to the algorithm for computing the Mandelbrot set. The cover featured an image located at -0.909 + -0.275 and was created by Peitgen, et al.[8][9] The Mandelbrot set became prominent in the mid-1980s as a computer graphics demo, when personal computers became powerful enough to plot and display the set in high resolution.[10]
The work of Douady and Hubbard coincided with a huge increase in interest in complex dynamics and abstract mathematics, and the study of the Mandelbrot set has been a centerpiece of this field ever since. An exhaustive list of all who have contributed to the understanding of this set since then is long but would include Mikhail Lyubich,[11][12] Curt McMullen, John Milnor, Mitsuhiro Shishikura and Jean-Christophe Yoccoz.
Formal definition [ edit ]
The Mandelbrot set is the set of values of c in the complex plane for which the orbit of 0 under iteration of the quadratic map
z n + 1 = z n 2 + c {\displaystyle z_{n+1}=z_{n}^{2}+c}
remains bounded.[13] That is, a complex number c is part of the Mandelbrot set if, when starting with z 0 = 0 and applying the iteration repeatedly, the absolute value of z n remains bounded however large n gets. This can also be represented as[14]
z n + 1 = z n 2 + c , {\displaystyle z_{n+1}=z_{n}^{2}+c,} c ∈ M ⟺ lim sup n → ∞ | z n + 1 | ≤ 2. {\displaystyle c\in M\iff \limsup _{n\to \infty }|z_{n+1}|\leq 2.}
For example, letting c = 1 gives the sequence 0, 1, 2, 5, 26, ..., which tends to infinity. As this sequence is unbounded, 1 is not an element of the Mandelbrot set. On the other hand, c = −1 gives the sequence 0, −1, 0, −1, 0, ..., which is bounded, and so −1 belongs to the Mandelbrot set.
The Mandelbrot set M {\displaystyle M} is defined by a family of complex quadratic polynomials
P c : C → C {\displaystyle P_{c}:\mathbb {C} \to \mathbb {C} }
given by
P c : z ↦ z 2 + c , {\displaystyle P_{c}:z\mapsto z^{2}+c,}
where c {\displaystyle c} is a complex parameter. For each c {\displaystyle c} , one considers the behavior of the sequence
( 0 , P c ( 0 ) , P c ( P c ( 0 ) ) , P c ( P c ( P c ( 0 ) ) ) , … ) {\displaystyle (0,P_{c}(0),P_{c}(P_{c}(0)),P_{c}(P_{c}(P_{c}(0))),\ldots )}
obtained by iterating P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)} starting at critical point z = 0 {\displaystyle z=0} , which either escapes to infinity or stays within a disk of some finite radius. The Mandelbrot set is defined as the set of all points c {\displaystyle c} such that the above sequence does not escape to infinity.
M. A point c is colored black if it belongs to the set, and white if not. Re[c] and Im[c] denote the real and imaginary parts of c, respectively. A mathematician's depiction of the Mandelbrot set. A pointis colored black if it belongs to the set, and white if not. Re[c] and Im[c] denote the real and imaginary parts of, respectively.
More formally, if P c n ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{n}(z)} denotes the nth iterate of P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)} (i.e. P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)} composed with itself n times), the Mandelbrot set is the subset of the complex plane given by
M = { c ∈ C ∣ ( ∃ s ∈ R + ) ( ∀ n ∈ N ) ( | P c n ( 0 ) | ≤ s ) } . {\displaystyle M=\left\{c\in \mathbb {C} \mid (\exists s\in \mathbb {R} ^{+})(\forall n\in \mathbb {N} )(|P_{c}^{n}(0)|\leq s)\right\}.}
As explained below, it is in fact possible to simplify this definition by taking s = 2 {\displaystyle s=2} .
Mathematically, the Mandelbrot set is just a set of complex numbers. A given complex number c either belongs to M or it does not. A picture of the Mandelbrot set can be made by coloring all the points c {\displaystyle c} that belong to M black, and all other points white. The more colorful pictures usually seen are generated by coloring points not in the set according to which term in the sequence | P c n ( 0 ) | {\displaystyle |P_{c}^{n}(0)|} is the first term with an absolute value greater than a certain cutoff value, usually 2. The list of colors used are always predefined by the program used or created by the user, the next color in the list is chosen when the iteration count rises. See the section on computer drawings below for more details.
The Mandelbrot set can also be defined as the connectedness locus of the family of polynomials P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)} . That is, it is the subset of the complex plane consisting of those parameters c {\displaystyle c} for which the Julia set of P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} is connected.
P c n ( 0 ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{n}(0)} is a polynomial in c and its leading terms settle down as n grows large enough. These terms are given by the Catalan numbers. The polynomials P c n ( 0 ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{n}(0)} are bounded by the generating function for the Catalan numbers and tend to it as n goes to infinity.
Basic properties [ edit ]
The Mandelbrot set is a compact set, since it is closed and contained in the closed disk of radius 2 around the origin. More specifically, a point c {\displaystyle c} belongs to the Mandelbrot set if and only if
| P c n ( 0 ) | ≤ 2 {\displaystyle |P_{c}^{n}(0)|\leq 2} n ≥ 0. {\displaystyle n\geq 0.}
In other words, if the absolute value of P c n ( 0 ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{n}(0)} ever becomes larger than 2, the sequence will escape to infinity in a short amount of time.
The intersection of M {\displaystyle M} with the real axis is precisely the interval [−2, 1/4]. The parameters along this interval can be put in one-to-one correspondence with those of the real logistic family,
z ↦ λ z ( 1 − z ) , λ ∈ [ 1 , 4 ] . {\displaystyle z\mapsto \lambda z(1-z),\quad \lambda \in [1,4].}
The correspondence is given by
c = λ 2 ( 1 − λ 2 ) . {\displaystyle c={\frac {\lambda }{2}}\left(1-{\frac {\lambda }{2}}\right).}
In fact, this gives a correspondence between the entire parameter space of the logistic family and that of the Mandelbrot set.
Douady and Hubbard have shown that the Mandelbrot set is connected. In fact, they constructed an explicit conformal isomorphism between the complement of the Mandelbrot set and the complement of the closed unit disk. Mandelbrot had originally conjectured that the Mandelbrot set is disconnected. This conjecture was based on computer pictures generated by programs that are unable to detect the thin filaments connecting different parts of M {\displaystyle M} . Upon further experiments, he revised his conjecture, deciding that M {\displaystyle M} should be connected. There also exists a topological proof to the connectedness that was discovered in 2001 by Jeremy Kahn[15].
External rays of wakes near the period 1 continent in the Mandelbrot set
The dynamical formula for the uniformisation of the complement of the Mandelbrot set, arising from Douady and Hubbard's proof of the connectedness of M {\displaystyle M} , gives rise to external rays of the Mandelbrot set. These rays can be used to study the Mandelbrot set in combinatorial terms and form the backbone of the Yoccoz parapuzzle.[16]
The boundary of the Mandelbrot set is exactly the bifurcation locus of the quadratic family; that is, the set of parameters c {\displaystyle c} for which the dynamics changes abruptly under small changes of c . {\displaystyle c.} It can be constructed as the limit set of a sequence of plane algebraic curves, the Mandelbrot curves, of the general type known as polynomial lemniscates. The Mandelbrot curves are defined by setting p 0 = z, p n+1 = p n 2 + z, and then interpreting the set of points |p n (z)| = 2 in the complex plane as a curve in the real Cartesian plane of degree 2n+1 in x and y. These algebraic curves appear in images of the Mandelbrot set computed using the "escape time algorithm" mentioned below.
Other properties [ edit ]
Main cardioid and period bulbs [ edit ]
Periods of hyperbolic components
Upon looking at a picture of the Mandelbrot set, one immediately notices the large cardioid-shaped region in the center. This main cardioid is the region of parameters c {\displaystyle c} for which P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} has an attracting fixed point. It consists of all parameters of the form
c = μ 2 ( 1 − μ 2 ) {\displaystyle c={\frac {\mu }{2}}\left(1-{\frac {\mu }{2}}\right)}
for some μ {\displaystyle \mu } in the open unit disk.
To the left of the main cardioid, attached to it at the point c = − 3 / 4 {\displaystyle c=-3/4} , a circular-shaped bulb is visible. This bulb consists of those parameters c {\displaystyle c} for which P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} has an attracting cycle of period 2. This set of parameters is an actual circle, namely that of radius 1/4 around −1.
There are infinitely many other bulbs tangent to the main cardioid: for every rational number p q {\displaystyle {\tfrac {p}{q}}} , with p and q coprime, there is such a bulb that is tangent at the parameter
c p q = e 2 π i p q 2 ( 1 − e 2 π i p q 2 ) . {\displaystyle c_{\frac {p}{q}}={\frac {e^{2\pi i{\frac {p}{q}}}}{2}}\left(1-{\frac {e^{2\pi i{\frac {p}{q}}}}{2}}\right).}
This bulb is called the p q {\displaystyle {\tfrac {p}{q}}} -bulb of the Mandelbrot set. It consists of parameters that have an attracting cycle of period q {\displaystyle q} and combinatorial rotation number p q {\displaystyle {\tfrac {p}{q}}} . More precisely, the q {\displaystyle q} periodic Fatou components containing the attracting cycle all touch at a common point (commonly called the α {\displaystyle \alpha } -fixed point). If we label these components U 0 , … , U q − 1 {\displaystyle U_{0},\dots ,U_{q-1}} in counterclockwise orientation, then P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} maps the component U j {\displaystyle U_{j}} to the component U j + p ( mod q ) {\displaystyle U_{j+p\,(\operatorname {mod} q)}} .
Attracting cycles and Julia sets for parameters in the 1/2, 3/7, 2/5, 1/3, 1/4, and 1/5 bulbs
Cycle periods and antennae
The change of behavior occurring at c p q {\displaystyle c_{\frac {p}{q}}} is known as a bifurcation: the attracting fixed point "collides" with a repelling period q-cycle. As we pass through the bifurcation parameter into the p q {\displaystyle {\tfrac {p}{q}}} -bulb, the attracting fixed point turns into a repelling fixed point (the α {\displaystyle \alpha } -fixed point), and the period q-cycle becomes attracting.
Hyperbolic components [ edit ]
All the bulbs we encountered in the previous section were interior components of the Mandelbrot set in which the maps P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} have an attracting periodic cycle. Such components are called hyperbolic components.
It is conjectured that these are the only interior regions of M {\displaystyle M} . This problem, known as density of hyperbolicity, may be the most important open problem in the field of complex dynamics. Hypothetical non-hyperbolic components of the Mandelbrot set are often referred to as "queer" or ghost components.[17][18] For real quadratic polynomials, this question was answered positively in the 1990s independently by Lyubich and by Graczyk and Świątek. (Note that hyperbolic components intersecting the real axis correspond exactly to periodic windows in the Feigenbaum diagram. So this result states that such windows exist near every parameter in the diagram.)
Not every hyperbolic component can be reached by a sequence of direct bifurcations from the main cardioid of the Mandelbrot set. However, such a component can be reached by a sequence of direct bifurcations from the main cardioid of a little Mandelbrot copy (see below).
Each of the hyperbolic components has a center, which is a point c such that the inner Fatou domain for P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)} has a super-attracting cycle – that is, that the attraction is infinite (see the image here). This means that the cycle contains the critical point 0, so that 0 is iterated back to itself after some iterations. We therefore have that P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} n ( 0 ) = 0 {\displaystyle (0)=0} for some n. If we call this polynomial Q n ( c ) {\displaystyle Q^{n}(c)} (letting it depend on c instead of z), we have that Q n + 1 ( c ) = Q n ( c ) 2 + c {\displaystyle Q^{n+1}(c)=Q^{n}(c)^{2}+c} and that the degree of Q n ( c ) {\displaystyle Q^{n}(c)} is 2 n − 1 {\displaystyle 2^{n-1}} . We can therefore construct the centers of the hyperbolic components by successively solving the equations Q n ( c ) = 0 , n = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . {\displaystyle Q^{n}(c)=0,n=1,2,3,...} . The number of new centers produced in each step is given by Sloane's OEIS: A000740.
Local connectivity [ edit ]
Topological model of Mandelbrot set without mini Mandelbrot sets and Misiurewicz points (Cactus model)
Thurston model of Mandelbrot set (abstract Mandelbrot set)
It is conjectured that the Mandelbrot set is locally connected. This famous conjecture is known as MLC (for Mandelbrot locally connected). By the work of Adrien Douady and John H. Hubbard, this conjecture would result in a simple abstract "pinched disk" model of the Mandelbrot set. In particular, it would imply the important hyperbolicity conjecture mentioned above.
The work of Jean-Christophe Yoccoz established local connectivity of the Mandelbrot set at all finitely renormalizable parameters; that is, roughly speaking those contained only in finitely many small Mandelbrot copies.[19] Since then, local connectivity has been proved at many other points of M {\displaystyle M} , but the full conjecture is still open.
x direction. The display center pans from (−1, 0) to (−1.31, 0) while the view magnifies from 0.5 × 0.5 to 0.12 × 0.12 to approximate the δ {\displaystyle \delta } Self-similarity in the Mandelbrot set shown by zooming in on a round feature while panning in the negative-direction. The display center pans from (−1, 0) to (−1.31, 0) while the view magnifies from 0.5 × 0.5 to 0.12 × 0.12 to approximate the Feigenbaum ratio
Self-similarity around Misiurewicz point −0.1011 + 0.9563i.
The Mandelbrot set is self-similar under magnification in the neighborhoods of the Misiurewicz points. It is also conjectured to be self-similar around generalized Feigenbaum points (e.g., −1.401155 or −0.1528 + 1.0397i), in the sense of converging to a limit set.[20][21]
Quasi-self-similarity in the Mandelbrot set
The Mandelbrot set in general is not strictly self-similar but it is quasi-self-similar, as small slightly different versions of itself can be found at arbitrarily small scales.
The little copies of the Mandelbrot set are all slightly different, mostly because of the thin threads connecting them to the main body of the set.
Further results [ edit ]
The Hausdorff dimension of the boundary of the Mandelbrot set equals 2 as determined by a result of Mitsuhiro Shishikura.[22] It is not known whether the boundary of the Mandelbrot set has positive planar Lebesgue measure.
In the Blum-Shub-Smale model of real computation, the Mandelbrot set is not computable, but its complement is computably enumerable. However, many simple objects (e.g., the graph of exponentiation) are also not computable in the BSS model. At present, it is unknown whether the Mandelbrot set is computable in models of real computation based on computable analysis, which correspond more closely to the intuitive notion of "plotting the set by a computer". Hertling has shown that the Mandelbrot set is computable in this model if the hyperbolicity conjecture is true.
A zoom into the Mandelbrot set illustrating a Julia "island" and a similar Julia set.
Relationship with Julia sets [ edit ]
As a consequence of the definition of the Mandelbrot set, there is a close correspondence between the geometry of the Mandelbrot set at a given point and the structure of the corresponding Julia set. For instance, a point is in the Mandelbrot set exactly when the corresponding Julia set is connected.
This principle is exploited in virtually all deep results on the Mandelbrot set. For example, Shishikura proved that, for a dense set of parameters in the boundary of the Mandelbrot set, the Julia set has Hausdorff dimension two, and then transfers this information to the parameter plane.[22] Similarly, Yoccoz first proved the local connectivity of Julia sets, before establishing it for the Mandelbrot set at the corresponding parameters.[19] Adrien Douady phrases this principle as:
Plough in the dynamical plane, and harvest in parameter space.
Geometry [ edit ]
Components on main cardioid for periods 8–14 with antennae 7–13
For every rational number p q {\displaystyle {\tfrac {p}{q}}} , where p and q are relatively prime, a hyperbolic component of period q bifurcates from the main cardioid. The part of the Mandelbrot set connected to the main cardioid at this bifurcation point is called the p/q-limb. Computer experiments suggest that the diameter of the limb tends to zero like 1 q 2 {\displaystyle {\tfrac {1}{q^{2}}}} . The best current estimate known is the Yoccoz-inequality, which states that the size tends to zero like 1 q {\displaystyle {\tfrac {1}{q}}} .
A period-q limb will have q − 1 "antennae" at the top of its limb. We can thus determine the period of a given bulb by counting these antennas.
Pi in the Mandelbrot set [ edit ]
In an attempt to demonstrate that the thickness of the p/q-limb is zero, David Boll carried out a computer experiment in 1991, where he computed the number of iterations required for the series to diverge for z = − 3 4 + i ϵ {\displaystyle -{\tfrac {3}{4}}+i\epsilon } ( − 3 4 {\displaystyle -{\tfrac {3}{4}}} being the location thereof). As the series doesn't diverge for the exact value of z = − 3 4 {\displaystyle -{\tfrac {3}{4}}} , the number of iterations required increases with a small ε. It turns out that multiplying the value of ε with the number of iterations required yields an approximation of π that becomes better for smaller ε. For example, for ε = 0.0000001 the number of iterations is 31415928 and the product is 3.1415928.[23]
Fibonacci sequence in the Mandelbrot set [ edit ]
It can be shown that the Fibonacci sequence is located within the Mandelbrot Set and that a relation exists between the main cardioid and the Farey Diagram. Upon mapping the main cardioid to a disk, one can notice that the amount of antennae that extends from the next largest Hyperbolic component, and that is located between the two previously selected components, follows suit with the Fibonacci sequence. The amount of antennae also correlates with the Farey Diagram and the denominator amounts within the corresponding fractional values, of which relate to the distance around the disk. Both portions of these fractional values themselves can be summed together after 1 3 {\displaystyle {\frac {1}{3}}} to produce the location of the next Hyperbolic component within the sequence. Thus, the Fibonacci sequence of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, and 21 can be found within the Mandelbrot set.
Image gallery of a zoom sequence [ edit ]
The Mandelbrot set shows more intricate detail the closer one looks or magnifies the image, usually called "zooming in". The following example of an image sequence zooming to a selected c value gives an impression of the infinite richness of different geometrical structures and explains some of their typical rules.
The magnification of the last image relative to the first one is about 1010 to 1. Relating to an ordinary monitor, it represents a section of a Mandelbrot set with a diameter of 4 million kilometers. Its border would show an astronomical number of different fractal structures.
Start. Mandelbrot set with continuously colored environment.
Gap between the "head" and the "body", also called the "seahorse valley"
Double-spirals on the left, "seahorses" on the right
"Seahorse" upside down
The seahorse "body" is composed by 25 "spokes" consisting of two groups of 12 "spokes" each and one "spoke" connecting to the main cardioid. These two groups can be attributed by some kind of metamorphosis to the two "fingers" of the "upper hand" of the Mandelbrot set; therefore, the number of "spokes" increases from one "seahorse" to the next by 2; the "hub" is a so-called Misiurewicz point. Between the "upper part of the body" and the "tail" a distorted small copy of the Mandelbrot set called satellite may be recognized.
The islands above seem to consist of infinitely many parts like Cantor sets, as is[clarification needed] actually the case for the corresponding Julia set J c . However, they are connected by tiny structures, so that the whole represents a simply connected set. The tiny structures meet each other at a satellite in the center that is too small to be recognized at this magnification. The value of c for the corresponding J c is not that of the image center but, relative to the main body of the Mandelbrot set, has the same position as the center of this image relative to the satellite shown in the 6th zoom step.
Generalizations [ edit ]
Animations of the Multibrot set for d from 0 to 5 (left) and from 0.05 to 2 (right).
A 4D Julia set may be projected or cross-sectioned into 3D, and because of this a 4D Mandelbrot is also possible.
Multibrot sets [ edit ]
Multibrot sets are bounded sets found in the complex plane for members of the general monic univariate polynomial family of recursions
z ↦ z d + c . {\displaystyle z\mapsto z^{d}+c.\ }
For an integer d, these sets are connectedness loci for the Julia sets built from the same formula. The full cubic connectedness locus has also been studied; here one considers the two-parameter recursion z ↦ z 3 + 3 k z + c {\displaystyle z\mapsto z^{3}+3kz+c} , whose two critical points are the complex square roots of the parameter k. A parameter is in the cubic connectedness locus if both critical points are stable.[24] For general families of holomorphic functions, the boundary of the Mandelbrot set generalizes to the bifurcation locus, which is a natural object to study even when the connectedness locus is not useful.
The Multibrot set is obtained by varying the value of the exponent d. The article has a video that shows the development from d = 0 to 7, at which point there are 6 i.e. (d − 1) lobes around the perimeter. A similar development with negative exponents results in (1 − d) clefts on the inside of a ring.
Higher dimensions [ edit ]
There is no perfect extension of the Mandelbrot set into 3D. This is because there is no 3D analogue of the complex numbers for it to iterate on. However, there is an extension of the complex numbers into 4 dimensions, called the quaternions, that creates a perfect extension of the Mandelbrot set and the Julia sets into 4 dimensions.[25] These can then be either cross-sectioned or projected into a 3D structure.
Other, non-analytic, mappings [ edit ]
Image of the Tricorn / Mandelbar fractal
Image of the burning ship fractal
Of particular interest is the tricorn fractal, the connectedness locus of the anti-holomorphic family
z ↦ z ¯ 2 + c . {\displaystyle z\mapsto {\bar {z}}^{2}+c.}
The tricorn (also sometimes called the Mandelbar) was encountered by Milnor in his study of parameter slices of real cubic polynomials. It is not locally connected. This property is inherited by the connectedness locus of real cubic polynomials.
Another non-analytic generalization is the Burning Ship fractal, which is obtained by iterating the following :
z ↦ ( | ℜ ( z ) | + i | ℑ ( z ) | ) 2 + c . {\displaystyle z\mapsto (|\Re \left(z\right)|+i|\Im \left(z\right)|)^{2}+c.}
Computer drawings [ edit ]
There are many programs used to generate the Mandelbrot set and other fractals, some of which are described in fractal-generating software. These programs use a variety of algorithms to determine the color of individual pixels and achieve efficient computation.
Escape time algorithm [ edit ]
The simplest algorithm for generating a representation of the Mandelbrot set is known as the "escape time" algorithm. A repeating calculation is performed for each x, y point in the plot area and based on the behavior of that calculation, a color is chosen for that pixel.
The x and y locations of each point are used as starting values in a repeating, or iterating calculation (described in detail below). The result of each iteration is used as the starting values for the next. The values are checked during each iteration to see whether they have reached a critical "escape" condition, or "bailout". If that condition is reached, the calculation is stopped, the pixel is drawn, and the next x, y point is examined. For some starting values, escape occurs quickly, after only a small number of iterations. For starting values very close to but not in the set, it may take hundreds or thousands of iterations to escape. For values within the Mandelbrot set, escape will never occur. The programmer or user must choose how much iteration, or "depth", they wish to examine. The higher the maximal number of iterations, the more detail and subtlety emerge in the final image, but the longer time it will take to calculate the fractal image.
Escape conditions can be simple or complex. Because no complex number with a real or imaginary part greater than 2 can be part of the set, a common bailout is to escape when either coefficient exceeds 2. A more computationally complex method that detects escapes sooner, is to compute distance from the origin using the Pythagorean theorem, i.e., to determine the absolute value, or modulus, of the complex number. If this value exceeds 2, or equivalently, when the sum of the squares of the real and imaginary parts exceed 4, the point has reached escape. More computationally intensive rendering variations include the Buddhabrot method, which finds escaping points and plots their iterated coordinates.
The color of each point represents how quickly the values reached the escape point. Often black is used to show values that fail to escape before the iteration limit, and gradually brighter colors are used for points that escape. This gives a visual representation of how many cycles were required before reaching the escape condition.
To render such an image, the region of the complex plane we are considering is subdivided into a certain number of pixels. To color any such pixel, let c {\displaystyle c} be the midpoint of that pixel. We now iterate the critical point 0 under P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} , checking at each step whether the orbit point has modulus larger than 2. When this is the case, we know that c {\displaystyle c} does not belong to the Mandelbrot set, and we color our pixel according to the number of iterations used to find out. Otherwise, we keep iterating up to a fixed number of steps, after which we decide that our parameter is "probably" in the Mandelbrot set, or at least very close to it, and color the pixel black.
In pseudocode, this algorithm would look as follows. The algorithm does not use complex numbers and manually simulates complex-number operations using two real numbers, for those who do not have a complex data type. The program may be simplified if the programming language includes complex-data-type operations.
For each pixel (Px, Py) on the screen, do: { x0 = scaled x coordinate of pixel (scaled to lie in the Mandelbrot X scale (-2.5, 1)) y0 = scaled y coordinate of pixel (scaled to lie in the Mandelbrot Y scale (-1, 1)) x = 0.0 y = 0.0 iteration = 0 max_iteration = 1000 while (x*x + y*y <= 2*2 AND iteration < max_iteration) { xtemp = x*x - y*y + x0 y = 2*x*y + y0 x = xtemp iteration = iteration + 1 } color = palette[iteration] plot(Px, Py, color) }
Here, relating the pseudocode to c {\displaystyle c} , z {\displaystyle z} and P c {\displaystyle P_{c}} :
z = x + i y {\displaystyle z=x+iy\ }
z 2 = x 2 + i 2 x y − y 2 {\displaystyle z^{2}=x^{2}+i2xy-y^{2}\ }
c = x 0 + i y 0 {\displaystyle c=x_{0}+iy_{0}\ }
and so, as can be seen in the pseudocode in the computation of x and y:
x = R e ( z 2 + c ) = x 2 − y 2 + x 0 {\displaystyle x=\mathop {\mathrm {Re} } (z^{2}+c)=x^{2}-y^{2}+x_{0}} y = I m ( z 2 + c ) = 2 x y + y 0 . {\displaystyle y=\mathop {\mathrm {Im} } (z^{2}+c)=2xy+y_{0}.\ }
To get colorful images of the set, the assignment of a color to each value of the number of executed iterations can be made using one of a variety of functions (linear, exponential, etc.). One practical way, without slowing down calculations, is to use the number of executed iterations as an entry to a look-up color palette table initialized at startup. If the color table has, for instance, 500 entries, then the color selection is n mod 500, where n is the number of iterations.
Histogram coloring [ edit ]
A more complex coloring method involves using a histogram, which keeps track of how many pixels reached each iteration number, from 1 to n. This method will equally distribute colors to the same overall area, and, importantly, is independent of the maximal number of iterations chosen.
First, create an array of size n. For each pixel, which took i iterations, find the ith element and increment it. This creates the histogram during computation of the image. Then, when finished, perform a second "rendering" pass over each pixel, utilizing the completed histogram. If you had a continuous color palette ranging from 0 to 1, you could find the normalized color of each pixel as follows, using the variables from above.
total = 0 for ( i = 0 ; i < max_iterations ; ++ i ) { total += histogram [ i ] } hue = 0.0 ; for ( i = 0 ; i <= iteration ; ++ i ) { hue += histogram [ i ] / total // Must be floating-point division. } color = palette [ hue ]
This method may be combined with the smooth coloring method below for more aesthetically pleasing images.
Continuous (smooth) coloring [ edit ]
This image was rendered with the escape time algorithm. There are very obvious "bands" of color This image was rendered with the normalized iteration count algorithm. The bands of color have been replaced by a smooth gradient. Also, the colors take on the same pattern that would be observed if the escape time algorithm were used.
The escape time algorithm is popular for its simplicity. However, it creates bands of color, which, as a type of aliasing, can detract from an image's aesthetic value. This can be improved using an algorithm known as "normalized iteration count",[26][27] which provides a smooth transition of colors between iterations. The algorithm associates a real number ν {\displaystyle
u } with each value of z by using the connection of the iteration number with the potential function. This function is given by
ϕ ( z ) = lim n → ∞ ( log | z n | / P n ) , {\displaystyle \phi (z)=\lim _{n\to \infty }(\log |z_{n}|/P^{n}),}
where z n is the value after n iterations and P is the power for which z is raised to in the Mandelbrot set equation (z n+1 = z n P + c, P is generally 2).
If we choose a large bailout radius N (e.g., 10100), we have that
log | z n | / P n = log ( N ) / P ν ( z ) {\displaystyle \log |z_{n}|/P^{n}=\log(N)/P^{
u (z)}}
for some real number ν ( z ) {\displaystyle
u (z)} , and this is
ν ( z ) = n − log P ( log | z n | / log ( N ) ) , {\displaystyle
u (z)=n-\log _{P}(\log |z_{n}|/\log(N)),}
and as n is the first iteration number such that |z n | > N, the number we subtract from n is in the interval [0, 1).
For the coloring we must have a cyclic scale of colors (constructed mathematically, for instance) and containing H colors numbered from 0 to H − 1 (H = 500, for instance). We multiply the real number ν ( z ) {\displaystyle
u (z)} by a fixed real number determining the density of the colors in the picture, take the integral part of this number modulo H, and use it to look up the corresponding color in the color table.
For example, modifying the above pseudocode and also using the concept of linear interpolation would yield
For each pixel (Px, Py) on the screen, do: { x0 = scaled x coordinate of pixel (scaled to lie in the Mandelbrot X scale (-2.5, 1)) y0 = scaled y coordinate of pixel (scaled to lie in the Mandelbrot Y scale (-1, 1)) x = 0.0 y = 0.0 iteration = 0 max_iteration = 1000 // Here N=2^8 is chosen as a reasonable bailout radius. while ( x*x + y*y <= (1 << 16) AND iteration < max_iteration ) { xtemp = x*x - y*y + x0 y = 2*x*y + y0 x = xtemp iteration = iteration + 1 } // Used to avoid floating point issues with points inside the set. if ( iteration < max_iteration ) { // sqrt of inner term removed using log simplification rules. log_zn = log( x*x + y*y ) / 2 nu = log( log_zn / log(2) ) / log(2) // Rearranging the potential function. // Dividing log_zn by log(2) instead of log(N = 1<<8) // because we want the entire palette to range from the // center to radius 2, NOT our bailout radius. iteration = iteration + 1 - nu } color1 = palette[floor(iteration)] color2 = palette[floor(iteration) + 1] // iteration % 1 = fractional part of iteration. color = linear_interpolate(color1, color2, iteration % 1) plot(Px, Py, color) }
Distance estimates [ edit ]
One can compute the distance from point c (in exterior or interior) to nearest point on the boundary of the Mandelbrot set.[28]
Exterior distance estimation [ edit ]
The proof of the connectedness of the Mandelbrot set in fact gives a formula for the uniformizing map of the complement of M {\displaystyle M} (and the derivative of this map). By the Koebe quarter theorem, one can then estimate the distance between the midpoint of our pixel and the Mandelbrot set up to a factor of 4.
In other words, provided that the maximal number of iterations is sufficiently high, one obtains a picture of the Mandelbrot set with the following properties:
Every pixel that contains a point of the Mandelbrot set is colored black. Every pixel that is colored black is close to the Mandelbrot set.
Exterior distance estimate may be used to color whole complement of Mandelbrot set
The distance estimate b of a pixel c (a complex number) from the Mandelbrot set is given by
b = lim n → ∞ 2 ⋅ | P c n ( c ) | ⋅ ln | P c n ( c ) | | ∂ ∂ c P c n ( c ) | , {\displaystyle b=\lim _{n\to \infty }2\cdot {\frac {|{P_{c}^{n}(c)|\cdot \ln |{P_{c}^{n}(c)}}|}{|{\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}P_{c}^{n}(c)|}},}
where
P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)\,} complex quadratic polynomial
complex quadratic polynomial P c n ( c ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{n}(c)} n iterations of P c ( z ) → z {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)\to z} z 2 + c → z {\displaystyle z^{2}+c\to z} z = c {\displaystyle z=c} P c 0 ( c ) = c {\displaystyle P_{c}^{0}(c)=c} P c n + 1 ( c ) = P c n ( c ) 2 + c {\displaystyle P_{c}^{n+1}(c)=P_{c}^{n}(c)^{2}+c}
iterations of ∂ ∂ c P c n ( c ) {\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}P_{c}^{n}(c)} P c n ( c ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{n}(c)} ∂ ∂ c P c 0 ( c ) = 1 {\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}P_{c}^{0}(c)=1} ∂ ∂ c P c n + 1 ( c ) = 2 ⋅ P c n ( c ) ⋅ ∂ ∂ c P c n ( c ) + 1 {\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}P_{c}^{n+1}(c)=2\cdot {}P_{c}^{n}(c)\cdot {\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}P_{c}^{n}(c)+1}
The idea behind this formula is simple: When the equipotential lines for the potential function ϕ ( z ) {\displaystyle \phi (z)} lie close, the number | ϕ ′ ( z ) | {\displaystyle |\phi '(z)|} is large, and conversely, therefore the equipotential lines for the function ϕ ( z ) / | ϕ ′ ( z ) | {\displaystyle \phi (z)/|\phi '(z)|} should lie approximately regularly.
From a mathematician's point of view, this formula only works in limit where n goes to infinity, but very reasonable estimates can be found with just a few additional iterations after the main loop exits.
Once b is found, by the Koebe 1/4-theorem, we know that there is no point of the Mandelbrot set with distance from c smaller than b/4.
The distance estimation can be used for drawing of the boundary of the Mandelbrot set, see the article Julia set.
Interior distance estimation [ edit ]
Pixels colored according to the estimated interior distance
It is also possible to estimate the distance of a limitly periodic (i.e., inner) point to the boundary of the Mandelbrot set. The estimate is given by
b = 1 − | ∂ ∂ z P c p ( z 0 ) | 2 | ∂ ∂ c ∂ ∂ z P c p ( z 0 ) + ∂ ∂ z ∂ ∂ z P c p ( z 0 ) ∂ ∂ c P c p ( z 0 ) 1 − ∂ ∂ z P c p ( z 0 ) | , {\displaystyle b={\frac {1-\left|{{\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})}\right|^{2}}{\left|{{\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}{\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})+{\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}{\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0}){\frac {{\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})}{1-{\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})}}}\right|}},}
where
p {\displaystyle p}
c {\displaystyle c}
P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)} complex quadratic polynomial P c ( z ) = z 2 + c {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)=z^{2}+c}
complex quadratic polynomial P c p ( z 0 ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})} p {\displaystyle p} P c ( z ) → z {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)\to z} P c 0 ( z ) = z 0 {\displaystyle P_{c}^{0}(z)=z_{0}}
z 0 {\displaystyle z_{0}} p {\displaystyle p} attractor of the iterations of P c ( z ) → z {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)\to z} P c 0 ( z ) = c {\displaystyle P_{c}^{0}(z)=c} z 0 {\displaystyle z_{0}} z 0 = P c p ( z 0 ) {\displaystyle z_{0}=P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})}
attractor of the iterations of ∂ ∂ c ∂ ∂ z P c p ( z 0 ) {\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}{\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})} ∂ ∂ z ∂ ∂ z P c p ( z 0 ) {\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}{\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})} ∂ ∂ c P c p ( z 0 ) {\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial {c}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})} ∂ ∂ z P c p ( z 0 ) {\displaystyle {\frac {\partial }{\partial {z}}}P_{c}^{p}(z_{0})} P c p ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}^{p}(z)} z 0 {\displaystyle z_{0}}
Analogous to the exterior case, once b is found, we know that all points within the distance of b/4 from c are inside the Mandelbrot set.
There are two practical problems with the interior distance estimate: first, we need to find z 0 {\displaystyle z_{0}} precisely, and second, we need to find p {\displaystyle p} precisely. The problem with z 0 {\displaystyle z_{0}} is that the convergence to z 0 {\displaystyle z_{0}} by iterating P c ( z ) {\displaystyle P_{c}(z)} requires, theoretically, an infinite number of operations. The problem with any given p {\displaystyle p} is that, sometimes, due to rounding errors, a period is falsely identified to be an integer multiple of the real period (e.g., a period of 86 is detected, while the real period is only 43=86/2). In such case, the distance is overestimated, i.e., the reported radius could contain points outside the Mandelbrot set.
3D view: smallest absolute value of the orbit of the interior points of the Mandelbrot set
Optimizations [ edit ]
Cardioid / bulb checking [ edit ]
One way to improve calculations is to find out beforehand whether the given point lies within the cardioid or in the period-2 bulb. Before passing the complex value through the escape time algorithm, first check that:
p = ( x − 1 4 ) 2 + y 2 {\displaystyle p={\sqrt {\left(x-{\frac {1}{4}}\right)^{2}+y^{2}}}} x ≤ p − 2 p 2 + 1 4 {\displaystyle x\leq p-2p^{2}+{\frac {1}{4}}} ( x + 1 ) 2 + y 2 ≤ 1 16 {\displaystyle (x+1)^{2}+y^{2}\leq {\frac {1}{16}}}
where x represents the real value of the point and y the imaginary value. The first two equations determine that the point is within the cardioid, the last the period-2 bulb.
The cardioid test can equivalently be performed without the square root:
q = ( x − 1 4 ) 2 + y 2 , {\displaystyle q=\left(x-{\frac {1}{4}}\right)^{2}+y^{2},} q ( q + ( x − 1 4 ) ) ≤ 1 4 y 2 . {\displaystyle q\left(q+\left(x-{\frac {1}{4}}\right)\right)\leq {\frac {1}{4}}y^{2}.}
3rd- and higher-order buds do not have equivalent tests, because they are not perfectly circular.[29] However, it is possible to find whether the points are within circles inscribed within these higher-order bulbs, preventing many, though not all, of the points in the bulb from being iterated.
Periodicity checking [ edit ]
To prevent having to do huge numbers of iterations for points in the set, one can perform periodicity checking. Check whether a point reached in iterating a pixel has been reached before. If so, the pixel cannot diverge and must be in the set.
Periodicity checking is, of course, a trade-off. The need to remember points costs memory and data management instructions, whereas it saves computational instructions.
However, checking against only one previous iteration can detect many periods with little performance overhead. For example, within the while loop of the pseudocode above, make the following modifications.
while (x*x + y*y <= 2*2 AND iteration < max_iteration) { xtemp = x*x - y*y + x0 ytemp = 2*x*y + y0 if (x == xtemp AND y == ytemp) { iteration = max_iteration break } x = xtemp y = ytemp iteration = iteration + 1 }
Border tracing / edge checking [ edit ]
Edge detection using Sobel filter of hyperbolic components of Mandelbrot set
It can be shown that if a solid shape can be drawn on the Mandelbrot set, with all the border colors being the same, then the shape can be filled in with that color. This is a result of the Mandelbrot set being simply connected. Boundary tracing works by following the lemniscates of the various iteration levels (colored bands) all around the set, and then filling the entire band at once. This can be a good speed increase, because it means that large numbers of points can be skipped.[30]
A similar method operating on the same principle uses rectangles instead of arbitrary border shapes. It is usually faster than boundary tracing because it requires fewer calculations to work out the rectangle. It is inefficient, however, because boundaries are not rectangular, and so some areas can be missed. This issue can be minimized by creating a recursive algorithm that, if a rectangle border fails, will subdivide it into four smaller rectangles and test those, and either fill each or subdivide again and repeat the process.
However, this only works using discrete colors in the escape time algorithm. It will not work for smooth/continuous coloring.
Symmetry utilization [ edit ]
The horizontal symmetry of the Mandelbrot set allows for portions of the rendering process to be skipped upon the presence of the real axis in the final image. However, regardless of the portion that gets mirrored, the same number of points will be rendered.
Advanced bailout method [ edit ]
Simple programs and scripts generally tend to set the escape value to two. This process can be improved by utilizing the distance from the origin and the point being rendered with the Pythagorean theorem by summing the squares of the real and imaginary portions of z {\displaystyle z} and then escaping if the value is larger or equal to four. The result of this optimization is a faster rendering of the image.
Perturbation theory and series approximation [ edit ]
Very highly magnified images require more than the standard 64–128 or so bits of precision that most hardware floating-point units provide, requiring renderers to use slow "bignum" or "arbitrary-precision" math libraries to calculate. However, this can be sped up by the exploitation of perturbation theory. Given
z n + 1 = z n 2 + c {\displaystyle z_{n+1}=z_{n}^{2}+c}
as the iteration, and a small epsilon and delta, it is the case that
( z n + ϵ ) 2 + ( c + δ ) = z n 2 + 2 z n ϵ + ϵ 2 + c + δ , {\displaystyle (z_{n}+\epsilon )^{2}+(c+\delta )=z_{n}^{2}+2z_{n}\epsilon +\epsilon ^{2}+c+\delta ,}
or
z n + 1 + 2 z n ϵ + ϵ 2 + δ , {\displaystyle z_{n+1}+2z_{n}\epsilon +\epsilon ^{2}+\delta ,}
so if one defines
ϵ n + 1 = 2 z n ϵ n + ϵ n 2 + δ , {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n+1}=2z_{n}\epsilon _{n}+\epsilon _{n}^{2}+\delta ,}
one can calculate a single point (e.g. the center of an image) using high-precision arithmetic (z), giving a reference orbit, and then compute many points around it in terms of various initial offsets delta plus the above iteration for epsilon, where epsilon-zero is set to 0. For most iterations, epsilon does not need more than 16 significant figures, and consequently hardware floating-point may be used to get a mostly accurate image.[31] There will often be some areas where the orbits of points diverge enough from the reference orbit that extra precision is needed on those points, or else additional local high-precision-calculated reference orbits are needed. By measuring the orbit distance between the reference point and the point calculated with low precision, it can be detected that it is not possible to calculate the point correctly, and the calculation can be stopped. These incorrect points can later be re-calculated e.g. from another closer reference point.
Further, it is possible to approximate the starting values for the low-precision points with a truncated Taylor series, which often enables a significant amount of iterations to be skipped.[32] Renderers implementing these techniques are publicly available and offer speedups for highly magnified images by around two orders of magnitude.[33]
An alternate explanation of the above:
For the central point in the disc c {\displaystyle c} and its iterations z n {\displaystyle z_{n}} , and an arbitrary point in the disc c + δ {\displaystyle c+\delta } and its iterations z n ′ {\displaystyle z'_{n}} , it is possible to define the following iterative relationship:
z n ′ = z n + ϵ n {\displaystyle z'_{n}=z_{n}+\epsilon _{n}}
With ϵ 1 = δ {\displaystyle \epsilon _{1}=\delta } . Successive iterations of ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} can be found using the following:
z n + 1 ′ = z n ′ 2 + ( c + δ ) {\displaystyle z'_{n+1}={z'_{n}}^{2}+(c+\delta )}
z n + 1 ′ = ( z n + ϵ n ) 2 + c + δ {\displaystyle z'_{n+1}=(z_{n}+\epsilon _{n})^{2}+c+\delta }
z n + 1 ′ = z n 2 + c + 2 z n ϵ n + ϵ n 2 + δ {\displaystyle z'_{n+1}={z_{n}}^{2}+c+2z_{n}\epsilon _{n}+{\epsilon _{n}}^{2}+\delta }
z n + 1 ′ = z n + 1 + 2 z n ϵ n + ϵ n 2 + δ {\displaystyle z'_{n+1}=z_{n+1}+2z_{n}\epsilon _{n}+{\epsilon _{n}}^{2}+\delta }
Now from the original definition:
z n + 1 ′ = z n + 1 + ϵ n + 1 {\displaystyle z'_{n+1}=z_{n+1}+\epsilon _{n+1}}
It follows that:
ϵ n + 1 = 2 z n ϵ n + ϵ n 2 + δ {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n+1}=2z_{n}\epsilon _{n}+{\epsilon _{n}}^{2}+\delta }
As the iterative relationship relates an arbitrary point to the central point by a very small change δ {\displaystyle \delta } , then most of the iterations of ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} are also small and can be calculated using floating point hardware.
However, for every arbitrary point in the disc it is possible to calculate a value for a given ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} without having to iterate through the sequence from ϵ 0 {\displaystyle \epsilon _{0}} , by expressing ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} as a power series of δ {\displaystyle \delta } .
ϵ n = A n δ + B n δ 2 + C n δ 3 + … {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}=A_{n}\delta +B_{n}\delta ^{2}+C_{n}\delta ^{3}+\dotsc }
With A 1 = 1 , B 1 = 0 , C 1 = 0 , … {\displaystyle A_{1}=1,B_{1}=0,C_{1}=0,\dotsc } .
Now given the iteration equation of ϵ {\displaystyle \epsilon } , it is possible to calculate the coefficients of the power series for each ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} :
ϵ n + 1 = 2 z n ϵ n + ϵ n 2 + δ {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n+1}=2z_{n}\epsilon _{n}+{\epsilon _{n}}^{2}+\delta }
ϵ n + 1 = 2 z n ( A n δ + B n δ 2 + C n δ 3 + … ) + ( A n δ + B n δ 2 + C n δ 3 + … ) 2 + δ {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n+1}=2z_{n}(A_{n}\delta +B_{n}\delta ^{2}+C_{n}\delta ^{3}+\dotsc )+(A_{n}\delta +B_{n}\delta ^{2}+C_{n}\delta ^{3}+\dotsc )^{2}+\delta }
ϵ n + 1 = ( 2 z n A n + 1 ) δ + ( 2 z n B n + A n 2 ) δ 2 + ( 2 z n C n + 2 A n B n ) δ 3 + … {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n+1}=(2z_{n}A_{n}+1)\delta +(2z_{n}B_{n}+{A_{n}}^{2})\delta ^{2}+(2z_{n}C_{n}+2A_{n}B_{n})\delta ^{3}+\dotsc }
Therefore it follows that:
A n + 1 = 2 z n A n + 1 {\displaystyle A_{n+1}=2z_{n}A_{n}+1} B n + 1 = 2 z n B n + A n 2 {\displaystyle B_{n+1}=2z_{n}B_{n}+{A_{n}}^{2}} C n + 1 = 2 z n C n + 2 A n B n {\displaystyle C_{n+1}=2z_{n}C_{n}+2A_{n}B_{n}} ⋮ {\displaystyle \vdots }
The coefficents in the power series can be calculated as iterative series using only values from the central point's iterations z {\displaystyle z} , and do not change for any arbitrary point in the disc. If δ {\displaystyle \delta } is very small, ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} should be calculable to sufficient accuracy using only a few terms of the power series. As the Mandlebrot Escape Contours are 'continuous' over the complex plane, if a points escape time has been calculated, then the escape time of that points neighbours should be similar. Interpolation of the neighbouring points should provide a good estimation of where to start in the ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} series.
Further, separate interpolation of both real axis points and imaginary axis points should provide both an upper and lower bound for the point being calculated. If both results are the same (i.e. both escape or dot not escape) then the difference Δ n {\displaystyle \Delta n} can be used to recuse until both an upper and lower bound can be established. If floating point hardware can be used to iterate the ϵ {\displaystyle \epsilon } series, then there exists a relation between how many iterations can be achieved in the time it takes to use BigNum software to compute a given ϵ n {\displaystyle \epsilon _{n}} . If the difference between the bounds is greater than the number of iterations, it is possible to perform binomial search using BigNum software, successively halving the gap until it becomes more time efficient to find the escape value using floating point hardware.
References in popular culture [ edit ]
The Mandelbrot set is considered by many the most popular fractal,[34][35] and has been such referenced several times in popular culture.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ] |
A procedural mistake made during the latest OUSA Executive meeting (Monday 8 May) has provided Critic with an unintended and exclusive insight into Otago University’s controversial plans to drastically increase the amount of closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV), the large majority of which will be located outside of the University’s campus.
These plans involve implementing 60 extra CCTV cameras through four phases at a total cost of over $1.2 million, a figure that does not include ongoing maintenance.
The first of the of four phases to be implemented (see map) will see 17 cameras being installed in the ‘north zone’, with five on Castle Street and seven on Leith Street North among others; the second, ‘south zone’, will total 10, spreading along Albany Street, Hyde Street and Frederick Street; the eastern zone, with 14 in total, include four cameras as far east as Harbour Terrace; the fourth, most numerous, and the last phase to be implemented, will involve 18 cameras, which will be spread from the top of Albany Street to the corner of Warrender Street and George Street.
Although the university has been working on this plan since at least 2015, Otago University have stated they “are still waiting to hear back from OUSA, what form they wish this to take. However, we are also looking at other ways to communicate with a potentially wider body of students who may not be represented by OUSA...Discussing this plan with Critic is one step in this process.”
Despite several meetings with Proctor Dave Scott, Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne, and weekly communication with the Otago University Communications Office, Critic has not been approached nor spoken to in relation to this plan at any stage this year or last year. The only information we have received is that which we requested last week.
Apart from President Baird, OUSA Executive members had not heard of these plans until the meeting on Monday 8 May, with complaints being levelled at Baird for not having informed them of what Deputy Proctor Andrew Ferguson would be speaking about in the meeting.
Additionally, when asked to outline “specifically what form(s) of student consultation will be undertaken?” the university’s response was: “So far, the consultation discussions we have had have been with yourself, Joe [Higham], and also with Hugh and the student reps on council [of which the OUSA President is the only one]. We are currently trying to work out a way that students can have input – probably via student media, but also further discussion with student reps is welcome.”
“We would like to see what students think about the plan before we consider what we will do as a result of their feedback. At this stage, we are unsure what that feedback is, apart from a Facebook survey that has shown students may be in majority support of this initiative.” Critic informed Andrew Ferguson of this survey on Wednesday last week, the day before his response.
Now that their plan to increase CCTV cameras has been revealed, the sudden willingness for transparent student consultation has been called into question by some people given the wider picture.
The university claim that “following a long hiatus during most of 2016”, the final procedural step in this process was taken by the Vice-Chancellor’s Advisory Group (VCAG), who “approved the plan in principle” according to Andrew Ferguson. He went on to say that this “enabled further consultation to occur with the DCC, Police and ultimately students when they returned for the academic year.”
“The day of the [university] Council meeting, the Deputy Proctor also met informally with the President of OUSA, and outlined the concept, kicking off a consultation process with OUSA and students”, according to Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne. That Council meeting occurred on 11 April, and though it began the consultation process with OUSA and students, Critic understands that nothing further was discussed with OUSA or students until Ferguson spoke at the Executive meeting almost a month later.
Additionally, the OUSA Executive called an emergency meeting to add a referendum question in order to gauge whether students approve of the implementation of CCTV cameras or not.
Critic spoke with former OUSA President (1979-1980) Paul Gourlie who disputes the claim that the university has been in contact with the DCC, claiming himself that he has spoken with a “handful” of councillors “who have not heard anything about this plan at all.”
He went on to say the failure to consult the student body before agreeing on this plan cannot possibly be true because, “It’s not credible in 2017 that the university would not consult students on this issue. If this is true, it shows a small, greedy, fear-driven group have taken control of our community” and wished to remind the university that “students are not demanding this.”
The group who approved this plan, VCAG, is, according to the university’s website, an “Advisory Group which comprises the Senior Management Team.” The group “meets twice monthly to consider strategy, policy and current projects and issues.”
The information provided on the University’s website for VCAG is minimal, with meeting minutes not being available publically. When Critic requested the VCAG minutes for the meeting in which this CCTV proposal was discussed and voted on, a screenshot was provided of the one agenda item, which read: “Received and Discussed. Endorsed a recommendation from the Chief Operating Officer that formal consultation commences covering the project as a whole”.
What The Next Week Holds
OUSA held an emergency meeting on Friday 12 May, in which they drafted a question to be included in the upcoming OUSA referendum. Once the meeting was over, the executive were seen walking over to the Clocktower to speak with Harlene Hayne altogether. What the OUSA Executive spoke to her about is currently unknown.
The added question is: "Should OUSA oppose the implementation of CCTV monitoring of the student residential area by the University of Otago?"
OUSA President Hugh Baird said that their reasons for adding this question were that: “As an executive it’s our intention to take the matter to the student body in the upcoming referendum to declare a clear mandate of the position of the students in regards to the cameras and to hopefully gauge the students’ concerns.”
Where Do They Stand On The Effect of CCTV Cameras On Crime Reduction/Deterrence?
The jury is seemingly still out among experts on the correlation between CCTV cameras and the decline of crime rates in that surveilled area.
University of Otago Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne herself has said that “We are confident the cameras just by themselves will have a preventative effect on crime, and will provide a sense of safety, as reported in other cities where CCTV is deployed.”
During Baird’s presidential campaign he spoke out on several occasions about how, if elected, he would “work hard to ensure Otago students rights and freedoms” and that “North Dunedin does not succumb to liquor bans, party registers or CCTV cameras.”
The only insight into the student body’s views on this issue is an OUSA straw poll conducted in 2016, which revealed that from 466 total votes, 52 percent were in favour of the cameras, while 48 percent were opposed to them, meaning an extra 18 people voted for the cameras than against them.
The Campbell Collaboration, in a review of 44 research studies on CCTV schemes, found that “they do have a modest impact on crime overall but are at their most effective in cutting vehicle crime in car parks, especially when used alongside improved lighting and the introduction of security guards.”
An article in the Guardian Newspaper on this research said: "The review of 44 research studies on CCTV schemes by the Campbell Collaboration found that they do have a modest impact of crime overall but are at their most effective in cutting vehicle crime in car parks, especially when used alongside improved lighting and the introduction of security guards."
"The authors, who include Cambridge University criminologist, David Farrington, say while their results lend support for the continued use of CCTV, schemes should be far more narrowly targeted at reducing vehicle crime in car parks." That article can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/may/18/cctv-crime-police
According to British Home Office-funded research, “the use of closed-circuit television in city and town centres and public housing estates does not have a significant effect on crime.”
An earlier independent report conducted by the British Home Office in 2005 stated: “It has been shown that the CCTV schemes produced no overall effect on all relevant crime viewed collectively.”
Inspector Jason Guthrie, Otago Coastal Area Commander explained that “Police support the use of CCTV, whether they are in public areas and managed by the Council, or if business owners and private citizens use them to protect their property.”
New Zealand University Students’ Association President Jonathan Gee explained that “the University should be extremely cautious when planning any form of extensive surveillance, particularly in student living quarters. I would expect that the university ensures students are meaningfully consulted and made specifically aware of the purpose of the surveillance and how it might be used by the university or third parties like the police.”
New Zealand Council of Civil Liberties media spokesperson Thomas Beagle said that having numerous CCTV cameras in an area worried him, explaining they are likely to cause “constraints on people”, making them act in a ‘middle of the road’ fashion because “people behave differently when they’re being watched.”
The DCC were unable to respond to Critic’s questions before the article went to print. |
Earlier this month, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough made a big show of leaving the Republican Party because of his disdain for President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday's episode of "Morning Joe," Scarborough took his dislike of Trump a step further by claiming that he is the “antithesis” of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
"You look in Matthew, and go through the Beatitudes. Every single Beatitude. You go through Jesus’s teaching. What he says he wants people to be. Donald Trump is the antithesis of just about every single thing that Jesus Christ said on the Sermon on the Mount. Go read it. None of us are perfect, but he goes out of his way it seems to thumb his nose at all conventions. Including the basics of the Beatitude.”
Scarborough using Christianity to attack Trump is a low blow that is incredibly uncalled for. Trump claims to be a practicing Christian and who is Scarborough to question that? Can you imagine what would happen if Scarborough cited Islam in an attack on a Muslim president? The mainstream media would immediately slam the MSNBC host as a bigot, and his show would likely be cancelled. However, since Scarborough's sentiments were anti-Christian and anti-Trump, he has been given a free pass for this rant.
What do you think about this? Sound off in the comments section below. |
With the news of longtime Springfield music store, CD Warehouse, we got to thinking about the other closed businesses in town that we miss. There are so many great Springfield businesses that were important to the people who live here, just like CD Warehouse was to lots of music lovers in town. It’s been a fun trip down memory lane to recall the places we used to hang out, shop, do business and enjoy in the Queen City. Here are 50 businesses we really miss. Please let us know which business you miss most in the comments on Facebook!
Note: A huge shoutout to the folks in the Love My Ozarks Facebook group for providing so many great ideas for this article!
Red’s was a staple of Route 66 for many years. It’s also credited as being the first drive-through restaurant in the United States. It was a little before our time as a company, but we still wish it were still around! It looked so cool and we’ve heard the food was great.
Dillon’s
In 2014, Dillon’s announced the closing of all of its Springfield stores. The grocery chain was a long time provider of foodstuffs to Springfield residents. Most of the Dillon’s location were purchased by Price Cutter after the closing.
Cowboys 2000
This night club was the home to many a honky tonks throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century as well. Lots of big name performers came through town to play at this club. It closed its doors for good in 2007, but people associated with the club have opened a new country-themed spot called Club Rodeo on Bennett.
Merle’s Downtown Hotdoggery
Merle’s Hot Dog Emporium was a favorite spot of downtowners for many years. It was located on Walnut Street between the Mudlounge and what is now the Hotel Vandivort. Merle’s was known for its speedy and friendly service and its tasty hotdogs and hamburgers.
The Ozark Mountain Ducks Baseball Team
From 1998 to 2003, the Ozark Mountain Ducks played in the Central Baseball league from their stadium in Ozark, Price Cutter Park. The Central Baseball league shut down in 2005, but the Ducks left in 2003 to join the Frontier League. Once the Springfield Cardinals came to town the next year, the team folded.
TAG SGF
This magazine/radio/podcast/website was a great celebration of Springfield’s culture for a five year stretch, ending in 2014. It was created by Springfield News-Leader alum and current Des Moines Register reporter Allen Vaughan and Springfield Arts Council’s Brett Johnston. The magazine covered everything from music to fashion to sports and tons of other topics. It was a really fun and creative endeavor, but the founders have passed the torch to the rest of Springfield.
Aunt Martha’s
One of Springfield’s favorite spots for breakfast for many, many years, Aunt Martha’s Pancake House was known for its fantastic pancakes and for being a favorite spot of country music legend Willy Nelson. It closed in 2015 after more than 55 years in operation in Springfield.
Shakey’s Pizza
This Midwest Pizza chain had a string of stores in the state that were owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Over the years, Shakey’s were all turned into Stogies for a brief period and then disappeared entirely. There are still a lot of locations in Southern California in the Long Beach/Los Angeles area. So if you’re ever out west, you can have a nostalgic meal!
Trolley’s
Trolley’s Park Central Pub and Grill was a hot spot in the early 2000s. It was perhaps best known for its connection to Bachelor star Aaron Buerge. Buerge owned the restaurant, which opened in 2003. The restaurant is also known for the loft above it, where the Bachelor star reportedly lived during its hey day.
Busy Bees
This was a local department store for 88 years in Springfield that closed in 2010. It was known for its discount apparel and other goods. Due to the growing competition with internet sales and the prominence of the Battlefield Mall, Busy Bee closed seven years ago.
Wimpy’s
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a photo of this Willard restaurant. Wimpy’s was a favorite of Willard residents for many years near the Cotner’s Corner General Store. It had a robust breakfast menu and was known for it’s cheeseburgers of course!
Mr. Quick
Mr. Quick’s hamburgers was a staple of Springfield cuisine on West Bypass and Chestnut. The restaurant had great deals like 6 hamburgers for $1! Wish they were still around!
Queen City Drive In
The Queen City Drive-In was open for eight years in the 1970s and 1980s. It had two screens and room enough for 800 cars!
Surplus City
For more than 50 years, Surplus City sold military style equipment and other survival goods in Springfield. It was a favorite spot for military enthusiasts and preppers alike. It unfortunately closed in 2016.
Hamby’s
One Murney agent said Hamby’s had the best fried chicken and the best rolls in town. It also had one of the most prolific servers in Springfield history, as documented by Ozarks Alive right here.
Swensen’s
Swensen’s is a global chain of ice cream stores that had a location on Fremont and Sunshine in the Southern Hills Shopping Center during the 1980s. The chain still has many stores around the country and overseas, so you can still go where happiness never melts! Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a photo of the Springfield store.
Rosati’s Chicago Style pizza
Photo by Branson Ticket and Travel
Rosati’s was a Chicago Deep-Dish pizza restaurant in Springfield up until a few years ago. It was located just to the west of Buffalo Wild Wings. The pizza was like a giant cake of saucy, cheesy goodness. So good.
Bonanza
The actor who played Hoss on Bonanza started the steak house chain in 1963 to capitalize on the TV show’s success. The Springfield location was operated by John Royal and had its hey day in the 1980s. We were unable to find a good image. If you have one, send it over! We’ll put it up!
Levy-Wolf
Women’s Clothing store on the square that was the go to place for fashion in Springfield in the 1950s and 1960s.
New York Pizzeria
This was a Big Apple-inspired pizza place with multiple locations in the early aughts. They sold pizza by the slice and delivered to lots of pizza lovers in the Queen City. This was the kind of pizza you had to fold to eat. It was great stuff. Fear not, though. You can still get awesome NY style pizza at Big Slice on Sunshine and at Jax and Gabe’s on Republic Road.
Heer’s
Heer’s has a special place in Springfield’s history. The original store was destroyed in a fire in 1913 and two years later, Francis X. Heer opened the Park Central Square location. The first day more than 21,000 people visited the store. Heer’s success lasted well into the 20th century, maintaining it’s momentum through the 1970s and 1980s until filing for bankruptcy in 1990. By 1995, the store was closed for good, but has since been refurbished into luxury apartments in Downtown Springfield.
Duck’s Beer Garden
Duck’s was a hot spot for night life in the 1970s. It was also a dance club at one time, but was known for it’s outdoor beer garden.
Rubenstein’s
Rubenstein’s started out in 1924 in Springfield, offering clothing to locals at its location on College and Campbell. In 1948, Rubenstein’s underwent a major makeover, making it one of the cutting edge stores in the area. It was the place to find local fashion for many years before eventually closing in 1985.
Service Merchandise
Service Merchandise was a chain of retail stores, dating back to 1934. The Springfield store was located right next to the Battlefield Mall’s current location and it opened in 1974. The store was a great spot to pick up jewelry, toys, sporting goods and much more!
Lilly Tulip/Solo Cup factory
Oh, the giant cup. We miss this iconic building’s entrance. It was taken down in 2015 because the new tenant didn’t have an association with cups. It started as Lilly Tulip in 1954 and went on to become Solo fifty years later. Here’s a great story on the history of the cup from the Springfield News-Leader.
TJ Sales
Local businessman TJ Loudis started TJ Sales in 1978 when he was in college. The businesss sold t-shirts and other apparel for 31 years in Springfield and had one of the most memorable jingles in Springfield advertising history. You’re Talkin’ T-Shirts, You’re Talkin’ T-J-Sales! It closed in 2009.
Toy-O
Toy-O was one of the premier places for kids to find toys in Springfield. The photo above shows the building where Toy-O eventually occupied. It also had a location where Hobby Lobby currently resides.
Heritage Cafeteria
The Heritage Cafeteria unfortunately closed last year after many decades of serving meals to Springfield residents. It was originally located on Glenstone and Meadowmere in the lower photo above. The building was owned by Murney broker Harry Chalfant and his wife Nancy! It then moved to it’s familiar location on Battlefield and Fremont where it stayed for many years. The most recent owners are now working on a cookbook of the dishes that were served in the restaurant, so keep an eye out for that in the future!
Skate Corral
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, roller skating was one of the most popular leisure activities in the area. There were several different venues to lace up and skate, but none more popular than Skateport. Olympic ice skater Emily Scott credit Skateport as the place where she honed her skills to eventually lead her to compete for the stars and stripes on an international stage. Check out her story in this piece by Kansas City news station KSHB.
News-Leader reporter Greg Holman recently broke the news that CD Warehouse would be closing its doors. This place was a cornerstone of youth for Generation X. It’s where they explored their musical tastes and found the soundtrack of their younger years. We will certainly miss having this store in town.
To see more historical photos of the Queen City, join the Springfield, Missouri History, Landmarks & Vintage photography group on Facbeook and also check out the Love My OZARKS group! |
A worker is pictured behind a logo at the IBM stand on the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover February 26, 2011. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz
(Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp said on Monday it launched Linux-only mainframe servers called LinuxONE.
The severs include LinuxONE Emperor for large enterprises and Rockhopper for mid-size businesses.
IBM said LinuxONE Emperor can scale up to 8,000 virtual machines or thousands of containers, which would be the most for any single Linux system.
The Linux One Emperor system will be based on IBM’s z13 mainframe computer, which had been designed for high-volume mobile transactions.
IBM said the LinuxOne system will work with open software such as Apache Spark, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and Chef.
The company also said it partnered with UK-based Canonical Ltd to distribute its Ubuntu open source software on LinuxONE and z systems.
(The story was refiled to correct the name of the server to “Emperor” from “Empire” in paragraph 4 and names of software to “MariaDB” and “PostgreSQL” from “Maria” and “Posture” in paragraph 5) |
9-month-old Connor Richardson (Facebook.com)
A 9-month-old boy with an aggressive brain tumor received a letter from his family’s insurance company explaining that treating the cancer would be too expensive and therefore “not medically necessary.”
‘Dear Connor Richardson,” the letter said, according to The Daily Beast, “As HIP Health Plan of New York, we try hard to provide you with access to quality health care services that meet your needs. When we decide to deny coverage for treatment or service, we want to make sure you know why.”
Connor’s father — retired NYPD officer Wayne Richardson — told The Daily Beast’s Michael Daly that at 7 months old, his son had a frightening crying jag late one night. The baby’s eyes popped open, wide and staring.
“Not like a regular baby, like when somebody dies,” Richardson said.
Connor was diagnosed with a rare aggressive teratoid rhabdoid brain tumor that was blocking blood flow to his spine. Doctors removed the tumor, but the cancer returned.
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN opted to place the baby on a combination of four drugs plus an experimental medication in a desperate bid to save his life.
“He’ll die if you don’t do it,” said Richardson.
However, the family’s insurer has deemed that the lifesaving treatment is “not medically necessary” and warned Connor, “If you decide to have this service you may have to pay it yourself.”
“When we reviewed the information given to us about this request, we have decided to deny coverage of the following medical service(s) or item(s) that you or your provider asked for: Inpatient Hospitalization to St. Jude Hospital from 10/4/2017-10/10/2017. We have determined that the service(s) are not medically necessary,” the letter explained. “This letter is your Initial Adverse Determination. This means we are denying your quest for coverage of the requested service(s).”
Then, in a bold-typed section, the company explained to Connor — as if he were his own child:
“Your child is a 9 month old boy who was diagnosed with a high grade brain tumor. Your child was treated with surgical removal of his tumor at Stony brook Hospital. After your son was discharged you enrolled him in a clinical trial at St. Jude’s hospital. The principal investigator has requested medications including methotrexate, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine in combination with an investigational medication, alisertib. This combination of medications is not the standard of care for this type of cancer, and is considered experimental and investigational at this time, as evidence-based guidelines do not exist to confirm its effectiveness for his brain tumor. Therefore, this request for clinical trial treatment at St. Jude’s hospital is not medically necessary and is denied.”
Because the treatment is a clinical trial, it may not reverse the cancer’s growth. Therefore, HIP sees no reason to pay for it.
Fortunately for the Richardsons, St. Jude’s does not charge patients for medical treatment, said Daly, and even provides families with transportation to and from the hospital as well as food vouchers during their stay.
Wayne Richardson said that he believes St. Jude’s should be paid the denied funds, however, because it will aid the hospital on its mission to help children and fuel further research.
“You’re taking away from them and their research…because the insurance doesn’t want to pay,” he told Daly.
“Wayne plans to contest the denial, and the letter does tell him how to file an appeal,” Daly said. “Meantime, the insurance company will not pay for the chance to save Connor’s life. And the money the company saves will go in its coffers rather than toward treating and maybe curing catastrophically sick kids.” |
[This essay by Karlo Mikhail Mongaya was originally posted at the author’s blog, Hello Lenin! It is a follow up to a previous essay which was also posted at Anti-Imperialism.org.]
A “radical” who chooses to close his eyes to prevailing social conditions is only delusional. A “radical” who proves incapable of arriving at the roots of the fundamental problem is a charlatan. But a “radical” who markets utopian fantasies and reactionary fallacies as revolutionary is a dangerous demagogue.[1] In the US-based online forumKasama Project I was criticized for writing a supposedly “wooden critique” of Slavoj Žižek.[2]Singled out as an example of a captive of “theories of orthodoxy,” I was chastised for being blind to the “contribution of theory produced by people like Žižek.”[3] Apparently, some fellows in the Kasama Project took offense to my calling “comrade” Žižek an apologist of the ruling order.[4]
But is there anything wrong with criticizing this so-called “Academic Rock Star” for his whimsical pronouncements on the nature of the world capitalist system? Are assertions of the supposed “total failure” of 20th Century revolutionary experiments now beyond reproach? Is this not the same kind of “unwritten Denkverbot (prohibition against thinking)” that Žižek himself complained about in reference to the liberal dread of the so-called “totalitarian threat”?[5]
In some of his works, Žižek – following Alain Badiou – has insisted on the “eternal” Idea of Communism, namely “strict egalitarian justice, disciplinary terror, political voluntarism, and trust in the people.”[6] Following his very own injunction for such a politics, should we not take Žižek to task for statements that promote wrong readings of the present conjuncture and misleading assessments of the great revolutionary upheavals of the past?
While it may indeed be more fruitful to read Žižek as a philosopher that can provide an unorthodox account of consciousness via a reworking of the notion of ideology through Lacanian psychoanalysis,[7] would it do to simply leave him to present himself as a worthy “radical” even as he rehashes some of the vilest anti-communist propaganda and propagate pessimism and defeatism?
One of the charges levelled against me in the Kasama Project is my clinging to Lenin’s theory of imperialism as opposed to Žižek’s own formulations. Changes in the way the globalized capitalist order is organized, particularly “the increasing integration and penentration [sic] of capitalism,”[8] has supposedly made Lenin’s prognosis of imperialism as the highest and last stage of capitalism obsolete.
At first glance, it would seem that I am indeed “uncritically upholding everything about the past,” dogmatically clinging to an outmoded conceptual framework that I use to bludgeon new thinking and more up to date analysis of the present situation, including Žižek’s. After all, the world capitalist system has passed through various changes since the death of Lenin.
Žižek’s Multinational Capitalism
In “Multiculturalism, or the Cultural Logic of Multinational Capitalism,”[9] Žižek presents the world capitalist system as having gone beyond imperialism with its opposition between imperialist countries on the one side and the subjugated colonies and semi-colonies on the other side.[10] For Žižek the entire world has become the colony of multinational corporations: “there are only colonies, no colonizing countries—the colonizing power is no longer a Nation-State but directly the global company.”[11] He makes this argument in order to provide the basis for his corollary point that “the ideal form of ideology of this global capitalism is multiculturalism.”[12]
While it is not directly stated in Žižek’s In Defense of Lost Causes, the same premise informs his characterization of the slum dweller in the book as living in blank spots “from which the state has withdrawn its control.”[13] The rise of a global urban poor “excluded” from the so-called “normal functioning of capital” is presented as the consequence of the new dynamics of multinational capital.
Of course, this argument is offered as his own sequel to the old Western Marxist fixation with the search for the new revolutionary subject that will replace the working class after it supposedly failed to deliver the promised revolution envisioned by Marx. For Žižek, “the new proletarian position is that of the inhabitants of slums in the new megalopolises.”[14]
But in his 2009 response to the outbreak of the global financial crisis of 2008, which continues today as “the worst economic depression since the Great Depression,”[15] Žižek reverts to the more “old-fashioned” idea of the US and European powers keeping developing countries “in a state of postcolonial dependence” through the International Monetary Fund-World Bank structural adjustments.[16]
For sure, he makes this contention in First as Tragedy, Then as Farce in order to make a case for the introduction of his own brand of “communist utopia” as an alternative to the subjugation of the underdeveloped countries in the world capitalist peripheries to the whims of “market fluctuations” as a result of their full integration into the global market.[17]
Is Imperialism Passé?
First, it is interesting to catch a glimpse of the same Žižek who declared “Whatever I say, you can make me say the opposite!”[18] in these passages where he tackles the nature of the capitalist order. Often fanciful, this is symptomatic of the way Žižek superimposes the imperatives of an eclectic metaphysical dialectic robed as “a blizzard of ideas” over an actual analysis of concretely existing conditions. It simply varies according to the “philosophical” provocation that Žižek wants to emphasize in a given text.
Nonetheless it is easy to see that it is not merely a case of Žižek simply blurting out “stupid shit” about the nature of contemporary capitalism “for shock value.” Žižek’s interview with Ahmed and Cutrone wherein he states that the whole world has become “colonies” of a multinational capital that is not anymore connected to any national base[19]simply rehashes the pronouncement he makes in his “primary texts.” I singled out this interview because Žižek’s views about the world surpassing the stage of imperialism are quite simply crystallized in a brutally intense fashion in this particular piece.
But is Lenin’s theory of imperialism really passé? Writing in Zurich in 1916, Lenin defined imperialism as the monopoly stage of capitalism, the highest and last stage of capitalism. In this era, monopolies have fully dominated the economy, politics, and the entire social field of the wealthiest capitalist nations. The crisis of overproduction in these imperialist centers has reached gargantuan proportions that it can only be alleviated through “the oppression and exploitation of other nations and peoples abroad through the export of surplus products and surplus capital.”[20] The nations and peoples of the world have become divided between a few imperialist powers on the one side and many colonies, semi-colonies, and dependent nations on the other side.
But the rise of imperialism, Lenin noted, is also the death knell of the world capitalist system which has already reached its moribund stage. By intensifying the basic contradictions of capitalism, imperialism ushers in a period of never-ending inter-imperialist rivalries, wars of national liberation, and revolutionary upheavals. It is, as Lenin declared, “the period of the eve of the socialist revolution.”[21]
There would be no big debate about the first two characteristics of imperialism outlined by Lenin about the domination of monopolies and the emergence of finance capital.[22] Are these observations not truer today than it was when Lenin was still alive? If anything the massive rise of an enormous speculative economy and the rapid development of information and communication technologies have only made these features of contemporary monopoly capital all the more intense.
The contentions would come with Lenin’s definition of the third, fourth, and fifth features of contemporary capitalism, namely the export of capital by the monopoly capitalist states to the backward nations, the economic division of the world by international monopolies, and the completion of the territorial division of the whole world by the imperialist powers.
Imperialist “Globalization”
As opposed to the abovementioned analysis, many trendy “radicals” agree with the popular concept of “globalization” as a supra-class and universal process of inevitable flattening of the world into a “global village” governed by a borderless and stateless global capitalist octopus through transnational corporations and multilateral agencies like the UN, IMF-WB, and WTO.[23] But is this really the case? Are we now really seeing the homogenization of the world capitalist system with its collection of a few monopoly capitalist powers and a far larger majority of dependencies and semi-colonies into a single seamless international capitalist mode of production operating at a truly global scale?
By the end of the 19th century, free competition capitalism has transformed into monopoly capitalism. The economic division of the world was achieved mainly in the form of cartels, organizations, agreements, and partnerships of the most powerful monopolies. Direct colonial subjugation of the backward nations was the preferred mode of the territorial division of the world.
This arrangement was eventually replaced by the rise of the multinational corporation (MNC) as the new form by which the world is divided economically by the international monopolies after the Second World War. This came alongside the use of neo-colonialism as the imperialist response to the powerful national liberation movements that defeated old-style direct colonialism. Instead of directly subjugating them, the imperialist powers keep backward nations as semi-colonies that are indirectly dominated politically, economically, and culturally despite formal trappings of independence.[24]
The crisis of overproduction has constantly fired the struggle to re-divide the world among the imperialist powers as in the First World War and the Second World War in the first half of the 20th Century and after this, the Cold War between US imperialism and Soviet social-imperialism. However, in the mid-1980s, the collapse of the revisionist states and the success of neo-colonialism in subverting many movements of national liberation led to a condition where the monopoly capitalists on a grand scale have united against the oppressed peoples and nations of the world.
This led directly to the present period of imperialist globalization[25] marked by the ascendancy of neoliberal market fundamentalism as the dominant economic paradigm. With the fall of the former Soviet Union, the US has emerged as the sole world superpower that functions in the main “to guarantee, with armed forces, the reproduction of the world capitalist system.”[26]
Nevertheless, the national character of monopoly corporations and banks persist as the imperialist powers continue to reinforce their own economic domination, compete with each other, and struggle to economically re-divide the world through the agency of these multinational firms. MNCs destroy the national industrial base of other countries, avail of cheap labor that can be relocated at the flick of the finger once wage levels increase, while keeping the knowhow and core processes of the latest high-technology advancements in their own home countries.[27]
The ravages of the Great Depression of the 1930s led to the rise of the welfare state as a means of containing the working classes in the metropolitan centers. Against this, the neoliberal doxa that rose to prominence in the mid-70s and 80s orders the reduction of the role of the government to that of the pure ground zero level of reproducing the conditions for the consolidation and expansion of private property, free markets, and free trade.[28] Social services like education and health are cut down while government interventions to increase wages or control prices in favour of the toiling majority are proscribed – all in accordance with the neoliberal tenet teaching that the social good will be maximized by maximizing the reach and frequency of market transactions.[29]
But notwithstanding these neoliberal “reforms,” the nation-state continues to be central to the reproduction of capital. In fact, the states in the imperialist centers now encompass even wider tasks in the management of the economy for the interests of monopoly capital. The only place where this does not seem to hold true is in the backward nations wherein the “states were radically weakened and… were subdued to become more and more open, and almost without any state mediation”[30] as a result of rapacious neo-colonialism.
Far from simply disappearing, the monopoly capitalist state continues to play a decisive role in ensuring the steady flow of superprofits from the global peripheries to the metropolitan centers by repressing social movements, instituting programs favourable to the wealthy, reinforcing the military-industrial complex, and as we saw in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, “bailout” the monopolies from difficulties which they find unable to manage by themselves.[31]
The existence of the UN, IMF, WB, WTO, and so on does not at all mean the elimination of national loyalties or the end of monopoly rivalry between competing imperialist powers since these multilateral agencies are precisely controlled by the imperialist states according to their relative strengths and at the expense of the rest of the world.[32] These global institutions are the deadly weapons used by the imperialist powers to retain their domination wherein “the process of deepening international economic integration actually increases some aspects of fragmentation and inequality between nations.”[33]
Economic policies imposed on the backward nations as conditionalities for the renegotiation of loans and official aid “transforms countries into open economic territories and national economies into ‘reserves of cheap labor and resources.”[34] Far from homogenization, the main trend is towards the worsening of uneven development under the world capitalist system:
So far, without losing their national basing and instrumentation of their states, the monopolies have “globalized” most such aspects as finance capital, trade and the use of high-tech communications rather than productive capital. There is no such thing as the limitless internationalization of the capitalist mode of production as to dissolve the far more numerous semifeudal economies and the lesser number of dependent capitalist economies and the so-called newly-industrializing economies.[35]
Indeed, under a world capitalist system beset by an ever-worsening crisis of overproduction, the monopoly capitalists cannot expand their markets without “concurrently undermining or destroying the domestic productive base of developing countries, – i.e. through the disengagement of domestic production geared towards the internal market.”[36] As Panitch and Gindin points out, the imperialists have “used their advantages in new sectors of production, as well as in research and development, design, marketing, business services, and finance, to sustain their overall place in the global hierarchy”[37]:
Despite the enormous volume of manufacturing production taking place in [the “Third World”] by the first decade of the twenty-first century , the advanced capitalist countries, with one-sixth of the global population, still accounted for over 70 percent of world manufacturing production by value, and over 60 percent of the value of manufactured exports. Most MNC production and sales still took place in the developed world, which in 2007 was still the recipient of 70 percent of FDI.[38]
The export of surplus capital and the placing of the backward countries in the orbit of international capital, Lenin perceptively anticipated, do not improve their forces of production to the level of making them potential competitors. Foreign direct investments are at the outset predicated on the prevention of a backward country’s full development into a national capitalism. The export of capital is “utilised not for the purpose of raising the standard of living of the masses in a given country, for this would mean a decline in profits for the capitalist…”[39]
“Ultra-Imperialism” Revisited
The concept of “globalization” as promoted by the imperialists, the multinational firms and banks, bourgeois academicians, and today’s trendy “radical” intellectuals is but a rehash of Karl Kautsky’s theory of “ultra-imperialism” which postulated “the joint exploitation of the world by internationally united finance capital in place of the mutual rivalries of national finance capitals.”[40] In essence, this “ultra-imperialism” thesis glosses over the fundamental contradictions inherent in capitalism and misrepresents imperialism as a benevolent force that brings industrialization to the backward nations.
In fact, present-day imperialist globalization is characterized by the intensification of the same lust for domination that characterized the rudimentary monopolies and finance capital from the time of Lenin. Far from peacefully transforming the entire world into industrialized urban enclaves, imperialist globalization has only hastened the concentration of capital in a limited number of industrial capitalist cores while destroying the forces of production in the rest of the world in order to cope with the ever worsening crisis of overproduction.[41]
For sure, the astronomical expansion of the speculative economy, the enormous growth of the service sector, and rapid advancements in information technology has modified the way imperialism operates today. In fact, finance capital has reached an unprecedented level of concentration that is perhaps unimaginable during Lenin’s day. This has as its corollary the rise of a “casino economy” that is propelled by “the ups and downs of the speculative gambling in financial instruments, a sector of the economy that is no longer reflective of the real economy.”[42]
Yet a more meticulous investigation of present-day capitalism would show that changes in its particular forms and methods has not actually led to a transformation of its general content as imperialism, which essentially remain the same. We are still in the era of imperialism at the turn of the 21st Century with the US remaining the most powerful military superpower and the main enemy of all the oppressed and exploited peoples of the world. The weakening of US power due to the sheer insolubility of the severe economic crisis suggests a turn towards a multipolar world and a resumption of more intense inter-imperialist rivalry.[43] But the imperialist system will not collapse by itself unless it is smashed to pieces by a victorious proletarian revolution.[44] As the Indian revolutionaries stress:
The worst impact of imperialist globalization is on the backward countries of the world thereby intensifying the contradiction between imperialism and the people of the backward nations and countries of the world. It is this contradiction that continues to be the principal contradiction in the world arena with the backward countries being the storm centres of the world revolution.[45]
In short, the Kautskyites work precisely to prevent such an upheaval from happening by peddling “a most reactionary method of consoling the masses with hopes of permanent peace being possible under capitalism…”[46]By embracing this thesis of a transnational capitalist mode of production, a “global state,” or any such variant, they are floating the illusion of the impossibility of radical social change by the toiling masses in the backward nations. By accepting such a proposition, it is only a matter of time before overtures are made to the powers that be in the guise of fine-tuning strategy and tactics.
The experience of the Communist Party of the Philippines-led revolutionary movement in the 1980s proves to be instructive here. A wavering in the analysis of the dynamics of imperialism led to some elements within the movement to imagine that the US-Marcos dictatorship has developed the Philippine forces of production to an extent that it has shed off its backward, foreign-dominated, agrarian and essentially semi-feudal character to become semi-capitalist or even industrial-capitalist already. Forgetting the fundamentally rapacious and parasitic character of the imperialist system, they fancied that foreign direct investments by monopoly capital in the country have led to the industrialization and the extensive urbanization of the country.[47]
This subjectivist misreading of the objective situation prevailing in the international and national field was used to push for “Left” opportunist lines of premature urban insurrectionism and military adventurism and Right opportunist lines of purely legal struggle and reformism as opposed to the strategic line of encircling the cities from the countryside wave upon wave in a protracted people’s war.[48] These grave errors led to serious setbacks and immense disorientations. It was only the launching of the Second Great Rectification Movement from 1992 to 1998 that thwarted the total disintegration of the revolutionary movement and its recent revitalization and resurgence.
Indeed, the objective appraisal of the imperialist system, of its fundamental contradictions and how it would continue to sink into even greater crisis and hence spark militant and revolutionary struggles on an ever wider scale is one of the bases for the confidence of the Philippine revolutionary in not only defeating the Oplan Bayanihan[49] counter-insurgency campaign of the US-Aquino regime but more importantly in advancing the people’s war to a new and higher phase from the strategic defensive to the strategic stalemate within the decade.[50]
Against Empty “Radical” Rhetoric
Indeed, it is of great importance for all partisans of radical social change the world over to stand for active ideological and political struggle against incorrect views and counter-revolutionary remarks. Avoiding this, as the great revolutionary leader Mao Tse-Tung saw, “stands for unprincipled peace” and only gives “rise to a decadent, philistine attitude and bringing about political degeneration…”[51]
Žižek is exemplary of the currently fashionable petty bourgeois obsession with wishful thinking about “eternal communist Ideas,” “communist hypotheses,” and “communist desires” as one form of response to the worsening crisis of the world capitalist system. What we have in Žižek’s concept of revolution is the taking of categories from psychoanalysis and Continental philosophy followed by the superimposition of these eclectic notions on readings of concrete social conditions or phenomenon:
In place of the economic contradictions that force changes in capitalist relations of production, Žižek emphasizes an ideological impasse or double bind from which escape is only possible through a violent “passage à l’acte,” that is, a destructive or self-destructive outburst through which one attempts to break out of a restricted, unbearable situation.[52]
Following this logic, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is conceived as an eternal Idea that “survives its defeat in socio-historical reality” and “haunts the future generations” with the spectre of recurrence.[53] But what seems like a spirited defence of the legacy of the Cultural Revolution is actually a bankrupt rehashing of the idealist notion of the material world and historical experiences simply as the concrete embodiment of an “absolute idea.”
On the other hand, Žižek also endorses the slander about Mao’s Great Leap Forward supposedly “causing the greatest famine in history by exporting food to Russia to buy nuclear and arms industries” in order to paint Maoist China as the realization of the “industrial production of corpses.”[54] Jung Chang and Jon Halliday’s biography of Mao which forms the basis of this fantastic account is, of course, a complete hoax refuted even by bourgeois scholars who are unsympathetic to Mao.[55]
To argue that it is not a matter of stand but of an “uncomfortable style of writing” is to forget about the dialectical relation between motive and effect. Claiming that his intentions are good but his mode of expressions leads to a bad turn out is to forget that the question of effect is in fact already a question of stand. As Mao points out: “A person who acts solely by motive and does not inquire what effect his action will have is like a doctor who merely writes prescriptions but does not care how many patients die of them.”[56]
We have already noted Žižek’s apologia for imperialism before.[57] We have also seen how he explicitly judges the socialist revolutions in Mao’s China and the former Soviet Union under Stalin as purely negative episodes: “The lessons are only negative: We learn what not to do.”[58] This goes to show that Žižek’s idealism in his theoretical edifice is complemented by an aversion for the revolutionary upheavals of the past Century and present-day revolutionary movements in more practical discourse.
Žižek’s idealistic political philosophy that apparently endorses revolutionary terror stands side by side with a generous use of counterrevolutionary clichés when discussing actual revolutionary experiences or contemporary events. In short, what we have in Žižek is the shunning of scientific analysis, of historical materialism, of social investigation and class analysis to uphold a nebulous but “hip” philosophizing that is presented as a “fresh,” “non-dogmatic,” and “creative” application of Marxism.
But if what we aim for is the overthrow of the present ruling order then what is needed is a real understanding of the historical circumstances and characteristics of the present juncture. What is needed are not “conceptions of justice and injustice held by an armchair philosopher” but “a revolution which will put an end to all class distinctions.”[59]
For this we need to grasp firmly Marx and Engel’s summation of the proletarian dialectical materialist vantage point, its extension to the study of society and history as historical materialism, and its application to the study of political economy. We need to identify the contours of imperialism as defined by V.I. Lenin and how its particular features continue or cease to operate into the present era.
Regardless of Žižek’s seemingly “revolutionary” phraseology that calls for a demystification of violence[60] and an open endorsement of “concrete terror,”[61] we must as Lenin warns remain wary: “judge people, not by the glittering uniforms they don or by high-sounding appellations they give themselves but by their actions and by what they actually advocate.”[62]
Notes [1] With apologies to Aimé Cesairé, Discourse on Colonialism, Trans. by Joan Pinkham (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2000), 31. [2] Mike Ely, “Zizek is wrong: Previous socialism was not just failure,” in Kasama Project, January 25, 2013,http://kasamaproject.org/threads/entry/on-zizek-previous-socialism-was-not-just-failure. [3] Mike Ely, “Should we debate bad ideas,” in Kasama Project (January 27, 2013),http://archive.kasamaproject.org/theory/4385-why-debate-bad-ideas. [4] Karlo Mikhail Mongaya, “Slavoj Žižek: A Radical Apologist for Imperialism,” in Hello.Lenin, February 15, 2012,http://karlomongaya.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/slavoj-zizek-a-radical-apologist-for-imperialism. [5] Slavoj Žižek, Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism: Five Interventions in the (Mis)use of a Notion (London: Verso, 2001), 3. [6] Slavoj Žižek, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce (London: Verso, 2009), 125. [7] See Slavoj Žižek, The Sublime Object of Ideology (London: Verso, 1989), Žižek, For They Know Not What They Do: Enjoyment as a Political Factor (London: Verso, 1991), and Jodi Dean, Žižek’s Politics (New York: Routledge, 2006). [8] Ely, “Zizek is wrong,” in Kasama Project, January 25, 2013. [9] Slavoj Žižek, “Multiculturalism, Or, the Cultural Logic of Multinational Capitalism,” in New Left Review, 225 (1997): 28–51. [10] For all his caveats against Antonio Negri’s theory of the world capitalist system transforming itself into transnational “Empire” centered on multilateral institutions like the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, Žižek’s own framing of global capitalism runs very close to Negri’s “imperialism without an address.” This view is thoroughly debunked in Atilio Boron, Empire and Imperialism: A Critical Reading of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Trans. by Jessica Casiro (London: Zed Books, 2005). [11] Žižek, “Multiculturalism, Or, the Cultural Logic of Multinational Capitalism,” 44. [12] Ibid. [13] Slavoj Žižek, In Defense of Lost Causes (London: Verso, 2008), 426. [14] Ibid., 424. Yet far from being “liberated territories,” slums are increasingly subjected to violent intrusions by the state from demolitions of shanties to make way for big business and the conscious dispossession of its inhabitants of basic social services. Far from being sites where “the reign of the system is suspended,” the existence of the slums is precisely the condition for the normal functioning of the system. [15] Communist Party of the Philippines (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) Central Committee, “Seize the initiative in all forms of struggle and intensify the offensive against the enemy: 44th Anniversary Message of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines,” in Ang Bayan, December 26, 2012, 2,http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/archives/2012/original/20121226en.pdf. [16] Žižek, First as Tragedy, 82. [17] Ibid., 85. [18] Jodi Dean, Žižek’s Politics (New York: Routledge, 2006), xi. [19] Haseeb Ahmed and Chris Cutrone, “The Occupy Movement, a renascent Left, and Marxism Today: An Interview with Slavoj Žižek,” in The Platypus Review, December 1, 2012,http://platypus1917.org/2011/12/01/occupy-movement-interview-with-slavoj-zizek [20] Amado Guerrero, Philippine Society and Revolution, Fourth Edition (Central Luzon, Philippines: Central Publishing House, 1996), 66. [21] V.I. Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism: A Popular Outline (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), 7. [22] The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (SFIT), incidentally also in Zurich, conducted a computer-based study and found out that of 43,060 multinational corporations worldwide, there is a global core consisting of only 1,318 companies that siphon 80 percent of global revenues.[22] In the same study, the researchers discovered that 147 gigantic corporations, which were mostly banks and financial institutions like Barclays PLC, Capital Group Companies, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Merrill Lynch & Co, Deutsche Bank AG, etc., control 40 percent of the wealth of this global core. What is this if not the intensifying domination of monopolies and finance capital to an extent unseen in Lenin’s days? See Stefania Vitali, James Glattfelder, and Stefano Battiston, “The Network of Global Corporate Control,” September 19, 2011. [23] CPP (MLM) Central Committee, “Hinggil sa Monopolyo-Kapitalistang ‘Globalisasyon,’” in Rebolusyon, No. 4 (October-December 1996): 11-39,http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/rebolusyon/archives/1996/original/199610-12pi.pdf?1344848612. [24] See Communist Party of China, “Apologists of Neocolonialism: Fourth Comment on the Open Letter of the Central Committee of the CPSU,” in The Polemic on the General Line of the International Communist Movement(Peking: Foreign Languages Press), 185-219, http://www.marx2mao.com/Other/ANC63.html. [25] CPP (MLM), “Hinggil sa Monopolyo-Kapitalistang ‘Globalisasyon,’” in Rebolusyon, 18. [26] Francois Houtart, “The Functions of US Imperialism in the Global System”, in International Festival for Peoples’ Rights and Struggles: A Reportage, July 2-6, 2011, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City (Quezon City: IBON International, 2011), 139. [27] CPP (MLM), “Hinggil sa Monopolyo-Kapitalistang ‘Globalisasyon,’” in Rebolusyon, 27-28. [28] David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 1-4. [29] Ibid. [30] Boron, Empire and Imperialism, 79. [31] See John Bellamy Foster and Fred Magdoff, The Great Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences (New York: Monthly Review Press, 2009). [32] CPP (MLM), “Hinggil sa Monopolyo-Kapitalistang ‘Globalisasyon,’” in Rebolusyon, 19. [33] Kim Moody, Workers in a Lean World: Unions in the International Economy (London: Verso, 2001), 6. [34] Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalization of Poverty: Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms (Manila: Institute of Political Economy, 1997), 37. [35] CPP (MLM), “Hinggil sa Monopolyo-Kapitalistang ‘Globalisasyon,’” in Rebolusyon, 18. [36] Chossudovsky, The Globalization of Poverty, 17. [37] Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin, The Makings of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American Empire, (London: Verso, 2012), The Makings of Global Capitalism, 327. [38] Ibid., 326. [39] Lenin, Imperialism, 59. [40] Karl Kautsky, Quoted by Lenin in Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism: A Popular Outline (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975), 109. [41] CPP (MLM), “Hinggil sa Monopolyo-Kapitalistang ‘Globalisasyon,’” in Rebolusyon, 18. [42] Antonio Tujan, “RESIST Forum Keynote Speech”, in International Festival for Peoples’ Rights and Struggles: A Reportage, July 2-6, 2011, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City (Quezon City: IBON International, 2011), 139. [43] CPP (MLM) Central Committee, “Further Strengthen the Party to Advance the People’s War: 43rd Anniversary Message of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines,” in Ang Bayan, December 26, 2011, 5, http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/archives/2011/original/20111226en.pdf?1324730259. [44] Communist Party of India (Maoist) Central Committee, “Paper Presented by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) on the Occasion of the International Meeting of Maoist Parties & Organisations,” in The Worker, No. 11 (July 2007): 39-47, http://www.bannedthought.net/India/CPI-Maoist-Docs/Nepal/CPIM-Paper2007W11.htm. [45] CPI (Maoist), “Paper Presented by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) on the Occasion of the International Meeting of Maoist Parties & Organisations,” in The Worker, No. 11 (July 2007): 39-47. [46] Lenin, Imperialism, 110. [47] Jose Maria Sison, “Ang Ikalawang Dakilang Kilusang Pagwawasto,” in Josemariasison.org, December 13, 2012, http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=11675. [48] Jose Maria Sison, “Development, Current Status and Prospects of Maoist Theory and Practice in the Philippines,” in Josemariasison.org, September 5, 2012, http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=11334. [49] See Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights), Oplan Bayanihan for Beginners, December 2011, http://www.karapatan.org/files/OpBay%20for%20Beginners%20complete.pdf. [50] CPP (MLM), “Seize the initiative in all forms of struggle and intensify the offensive against the enemy,” in Ang Bayan, December 26, 2012, 17. [51] Mao Tse-Tung, “Combat Liberalism,” in Selected Works of Mao-Tse Tung, Volume 2 (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1967), 31-33, http://www.marx2mao.com/Mao/CL37.html. [52] Dean, Žižek’s Politics, 187. [53] Žižek, In Defense of Lost Causes, 207. [54]Slavoj Žižek, “Introduction: Mao Tse-Tung, The Marxist Lord of Misrule,” in Slavoj Žižek Presents Mao On Practice and Contradiction (London: Verso, 1997), 10. [55] See Was Mao Really a Monster? The Academic Response to Chang and Halliday’s Mao: The Unknown Story, Eds. Gregor Benton and Lin Chun (New York: Routledge, 2010). [56] Mao Tse-Tung, “Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature,” in Selected Works of Mao-Tse Tung, Volume 3 (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1967), 93, http://www.marx2mao.com/Mao/YFLA42.html. Hello.Lenin, February 15, 2012. [57] Mongaya, “Slavoj Žižek: A Radical Apologist for Imperialism,” in, February 15, 2012. The Platypus Review, December 1, 2012. [58] Ahmed and Cutrone, “The Occupy Movement, a renascent Left, and Marxism Today,” in, December 1, 2012. [59] Frederick Engels, Anti-Dühring: Herr Eugen Dühring’s Revolution in Science (Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1976), 201. [60] Slavoj Žižek, “Foreword: The Dark Matter of Violence, or Putting in Terror in Perspective,” in Sophie Wahnich,In Defence of the Terror: Liberty or Death in the French Revolution (London: Verso, 2012), xi-xxix. [61] Žižek, In Defense of Lost Causes, 175. [62] V.I. Lenin, What is to Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement (New York: International Publishers, 1969) 10-11. |
The St. Paul City Council today settled two police brutality claims stemming from arrests in 2006 and 2010.
The city denied the allegations in both cases.
Harold Shirley accused police of excessive force and violating his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure while he was outside St. Joseph’s Hospital in January 2010. The city agreed to pay him $10,000.
He was a patient at the hospital at the time and had authorization from his doctor to enter the hospital to use the bathroom, according to the federal lawsuit, also naming St. Joseph’s Hospital as a defendant. He was “accosted” by security guards and denied access to use the bathroom.
After he eventually gained access and left the hospital, he said security guards, including an off-duty St. Paul police officer, beat him.
J. Refugio Garcia and his wife Isabel Garcia sued the city over his 2006 arrest. The city settled for $11,500.
He was on his way home from a bar when a police officer spotted him driving recklessly, according to a federal court document. He was in his driveway when the officer confronted him. The officer tried to get him to return to his car, but he went into his house.
The officer followed him into the home, according to the document. A struggle followed, and the officer called for backup. Isabel Garcia also called 911.
Garcia accused police officers of beating him unconscious and using pepper spray. He reported he suffered two broken ribs.
Brady Gervais can be reached at 651-228-5513. Follow her at twitter.com/bgervais and twitter.com/ppUsual Suspects. |
One of the most promising and underrated defensive players in the NFL will not be available for the first four games of the 2013 season.
The evolution of the NFL:
Take a look at how the NFL has evolved from its humble roots, and the efforts being made to ensure it continues to grow.
The Cardinals announced Wednesday that inside linebacker Daryl Washington has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2013 regular season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. Washington can participate in all offseason and preseason activities.
Washington is coming off a breakout season. Few linebackers possess his versatility. It's an early blow to new coach Bruce Arians.
"Adversity and dealing with it is part of the business but when it's avoidable like this was, it's particularly tough," Arians said in a statement. "One of the biggest things we preach is accountability; Daryl knows that and our team knows that. We will deal with this and others will have to step up until he's back. I'm confident they will."
It's unclear how Washington violated the policy; that information is confidential.
"I was always taught that when you make a mistake, you admit it, learn from it and face whatever consequences there are," Wallace said in a statement. "I take full responsibility and I understand that I let down my teammates, the organization and fans. I apologize for that and promise that no one will work harder to make up for it."
The Cardinals expect to retain a 3-4 defense under new coordinator Todd Bowles. Free-agent pickup Jasper Brinkley figures to take one of the starting spots with Washington out, but the Cardinals are very thin at linebacker after that.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal. |
Veteran animation director Lionel Gallat (Despicable Me, The Lorax, Flushed Away) has launched an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign for a game he created titled Ghost of a Tale. Gallat has already done most of the project’s heavy lifting, including designing, modeling, animating and rendering everything by himself. He now needs some financial support to finish the job.
The third-person video game, which is slated for an early 2014 release, allows players to pretend they’re a little mouse in a dangerous world. Gallat counts as his inspirations Disney’s Robin Hood, the fables of La Fontaine, Redwall, Winnie the Pooh, The Secret of NIMH, The Dark Crystal, the paintings of Alan Lee, John Howe, Paul Bonner and John Bauer.
“My goal is to craft a small yet beautiful game with environments that look a bit like movie sets and characters that have a sense of stylization in their design, while retaining a certain simplicity and immediacy as far as gameplay is involved,” he writes on his game’s Indiegogo site. “I know it sounds hockey but I’m really trying to recapture the sense of wonder I felt as a kid when I discovered the games from the ’80s and early ’90s. But with a AAA quality (as far as I’m able) that’s very much up-to-date. You play as a mouse on an adventure set in a medieval world. At the beginning of the game, you get to the Island of Periclave. Now what is the mouse looking for? What happened on the island? Why are there undead rats roaming around? That will be up to you to discover.”
Of course, if you contribute to his campaign, you’ll receive awesome premiums like shirts, hats and cool figurines (as well as bragging rights). You just have to do it soon, because the campaign has less than two weeks left and the goal is to raise 45,000 euros (about $59,230).
To learn more about the crowd-funding campaign, go to: www.indiegogo.com/projects/ghost-of-a-tale?c=home
You can also learn more at www.seithcg.com/wordpress.
Here’s an early trailer for the game: |
On December 19, the National Hockey League celebrates the 100th anniversary of its on-ice debut — but it’s a safe bet that the man most responsible for the league’s existence won’t receive any special tributes. Yet, had it not been for the sheer animosity that surrounded Toronto sportsman Eddie Livingstone, fans might be enjoying games hosted by the National Hockey Association instead of the NHL.
“A combative, sanctimonious and generally difficult personality,” according to hockey history enthusiast (and former prime minister) Stephen Harper, Livingstone “expected others to live rigidly by the rules while he would skirt their spirit. He regularly denounced those with whom he clashed, while demanding apologies for the thinnest of slights.” Another hockey historian, D’Arcy Jenish, observed that Livingstone was “a slight, bespectacled man who had the gentle demeanour of a pastor but the fastidious personality of a tax collector or a customs inspector.”
Eddie Livingstone entered the NHA in 1914 and was ousted just a few years later.
Livingstone, who worked as assistant sports editor for the Mail and Empire, feuded with other owners from the moment he entered the NHA in 1914. In particular, he and Sam Lichtenhein, of the Montreal Wanderers, had it out for each other — each man threatened to buy the other out, and the two even came close to blows on several occasions. When Livingstone, who already owned a team called the Shamrocks, bought another club, called the Blueshirts, the league quickly enacted a new rule, prohibiting any person from owning more than one franchise. Livingstone complained constantly about irregularities he perceived on and off the ice — from questionable refereeing to questionable business practices by the other owners — leading the league to devise ways of getting rid of him.
Things came to a head in early 1917. To help the military recruit more fans, the NHA admitted a team representing the Canadian Expeditionary Force’s 228th Battalion for the 1916-17 season. Livingstone disputed their claims to two of his Toronto Blueshirts players who’d enlisted in the military; as a result, the 228th to threaten to pull out of the league if Livingstone continued to play them.
When the 228th Battalion withdrew from the NHA in February 1917, having been called up to fight in Europe, the other owners saw their chance. The league held a meeting three days later. Livingstone declined to attend, due to illness; instead, he sent a private telegram to league president Frank Robinson indicating that he supported a five-team circuit for the rest of the season. The other owners, whose teams, like Livingstone’s, had been decimated by the First World War, wanted to divide the Blueshirts among themselves to replenish their own teams’ lineups and run with just four teams. And so it went: Toronto was suspended for the rest of the season, and Livingstone was not compensated for the cancelled Blueshirts games or for the players he was compelled to loan out.
Livingstone launched a series of lawsuits against the NHA and its teams. The writs he served in person during the league finals in Ottawa weren’t taken seriously — the Ottawa Senators (no relation to the current franchise) left them in their locker room for an entire weekend.
As the 1917-18 season loomed, the NHA considered dealing with the Livingstone problem by simply forming a new league without the cantankerous owner. After a series of meetings, the National Hockey League was officially established on November 26, 1917. Apart from the name change and lack of Livingstone, little distinguished the NHL from the NHA. “Livingstone was always arguing,” observed Senators part-owner Tommy Gorman. “Let’s make money instead.”
The announcement was delayed by dithering over the future of the Quebec Bulldogs, who decided to sit out the season (they returned in 1919, played one lousy season, then moved to Hamilton). The Bulldogs were replaced by a temporary Toronto franchise, the Toronto Hockey Club, which would play until the legal issues with Livingstone were resolved. The new team, operated by the owners of the Arena Gardens rink, leased its players from Livingstone and agreed not to release, sell, or trade any of them without his consent. It lacked an official nickname, which has caused confusion over the years — the press called them the Blueshirts, while the league retroactively called them the Arenas when it updated the Stanley Cup in the late 1940s.
Related:
Several mishaps befell the league over the first few weeks of its existence. The financially shaky Wanderers demanded the rights to all the Bulldogs’ players, then demanded other teams loan them skaters, then threatened to drop out. In Toronto, the man initially hired to manage the team dropped out due to illness and was replaced by Toronto Daily News columnist and Arena Gardens hockey booker Charlie Querrie. A week before the season began, the Toronto Daily Star printed a list of 15 tips from Querrie to his players, including this gem: “Don’t knock your fellow players. Remember they might also have a hammer concealed somewhere and might be tempted to use it.”
The first game on December 19 saw Toronto play the Wanderers at Montreal’s Westmount Arena. Only 700 people showed up, despite an effort by Wanderer management to offer free tickets to wounded soldiers (who, to qualify, had to have been injured in battle, and had to be accompanied by an officer). Wanderer Dave Ritchie scored the NHL’s first goal. The Toronto Daily Star felt he was the star of the evening, “tearing loose with sparkling runs galore.” Ritchie’s teammate Harry Hyland scored five goals, while Toronto’s Reg Noble scored four. The game was a nail-biter — the score was tied several times — but the Wanderers pulled out a 10-9 victory. The Montreal Gazette felt the game reflected “the scarcity of players, as men who would not have been used as substitutes a year ago were on the benches of both teams.”
In Ottawa, the opening matchup between the Senators and the Montreal Canadiens was delayed by contract disputes that plagued the home team. Frank Nighbor, who’d scored 41 goals the previous year, refused to report — he was serving with the flying corps in Toronto and wanted to be traded there. Jack Darragh and Hamby Shore refused to play until their issues with Ottawa management were fixed (they felt their salaries should be higher, since the new league’s season was two games longer than the old league’s). Following a 15-minute delay, the game went ahead without the pair, and by the time they’d hit the rink in the second period, the Senators were behind. They lost 7-4; the press blamed poor ice conditions for the defeat.
The NHL’s first Battle of Ontario occurred three nights later, when the Senators travelled to Toronto. It was an 11-4 blowout for the home team. “While it was not a particularly good game so far as closeness of play and competition is concerned,” the Globe observed, “it was one of those fast, free-scoring, hammer-and-tongs affairs that delight seventy-five percent of the spectators.”
Toronto would win the 1918 Stanley Cup (the same franchise would later win one more as the St. Patricks, and another 11 as the Maple Leafs). When the league awarded the franchise permanently to Arena Gardens, Livingstone threatened more injunctions and unsuccessfully tried to form a new league. Livingstone took his efforts to secure compensation all the way to the highest appeal court in the British Empire, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. When his last appeal was exhausted in 1926, he was awarded $10,000 (that’s more than $140,000 in today’s money).
Livingston remained active in amateur hockey in Toronto and outlived many of those who forced his ouster. “All that Eddie Livingstone ever wanted out of a sports deal was fair play,” Globe and Mail columnist J.V. McAree reflected upon Livingstone’s death in 1945, “and that is what he essentially failed to get for himself.”
Sources: A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & the Rise of Professional Hockey, by Stephen J. Harper (Toronto: Simon & Schuster, 2013); Deceptions and Doublecross: How the NHL Conquered Hockey, by Morey Holzman and Joseph Nieforth (Dundurn: Toronto, 2002); The NHL: A Centennial History, by D’Arcy Jenish (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2013); Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945, by J. Andrew Ross (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2015); The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club Official Centennial Publication, by Kevin Shea and Jason Wilson (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2016); Lords of the Rinks, by John Chi-Kit Wong (Toronto: U of T Press, 2005); the December 20, 1917 and December 24, 1917 editions of the Globe; the February 4, 1944 and September 19, 1945 editions of the Globe and Mail; the December 20, 1917 edition of the Montreal Gazette; and the December 13, 1917 and December 20, 1917 editions of the Toronto Daily Star.
Jamie Bradburn is a Toronto-based writer/researcher specializing in historical and contemporary civic matters. |
Total Perspective Vortex
Platinum
1.3%
Ultra Rare 7.74%
Very Rare
A Scanner Darkly
Attain ‘Naturalist’ status in Planet Zoology Scanned
21.1%
Rare 31.31%
Uncommon
The Stars, Like Dust
Attain 'Trailblazer' status in Space Exploration
48.0%
Rare 62.05%
Common
Foundation
Attain ‘Entrepreneur’ status in Most Units Accrued
61.1%
Common 75.85%
Common
Babel-17
Attain ‘Confused’ status in Words Collected
61.3%
Common 77.38%
Common
Contact
Attain ‘Known’ status in Alien Colonist Encounters
73.3%
Common 86.19%
Common
Use of Weapons
Attain ‘Novice’ status in Ships Destroyed
53.4%
Common 66.68%
Common
The Star Beast
Attain ‘Archivist’ status in Planet Zoology Scanned
3.9%
Ultra Rare 11.75%
Rare
The Longest Voyage
Attain 'Pioneer' status in Space Exploration
11.1%
Very Rare 19.35%
Rare
The Space Merchants
Attain ‘Trader’ status in Most Units Accrued
36.6%
Rare 48.63%
Uncommon
The Languages of Pao
Attain ‘Interpreter’ status in Words Collected
36.6%
Rare 53.81%
Common
Who Goes There?
Attain ‘Diplomat’ status in Alien Colonist Encounters
35.9%
Rare 49.60%
Uncommon
Pattern for Conquest
Attain ‘Notorious’ status in Ships Destroyed
11.8%
Very Rare 18.55%
Rare
Stranger in a Strange Land
Attain ‘Robust’ status in Extreme Survival
4.2%
Ultra Rare 11.01%
Rare
Symphony For A Lost Traveler
Attain ‘Nomad’ status in On-foot Exploration
46.3%
Rare 60.20%
Common
Galapagos
Attain ‘Encyclopedia’ status in Planet Zoology Scanned
2.6%
Ultra Rare 10.10%
Rare
A Space Odyssey
Attain ‘Discoverer’ status in Space Exploration
5.2%
Very Rare 12.07%
Rare
The Diamond Age
Attain ‘Magnate’ status in Most Units Accrued
26.0%
Rare 36.05%
Uncommon
Citizen of the Galaxy
Attain ‘Babelfish’ status in Words Collected
15.6%
Rare 28.32%
Uncommon
What Mad Universe
Attain ‘Ambassador’ status in Alien Colonist Encounters
21.1%
Rare 31.47%
Uncommon
The Forever War
Attain ‘Legend’ status in Ships Destroyed
7.6%
Very Rare 14.12%
Rare |
Russia has denied as "absolute nonsense" claims by Kiev that Moscow has sent two contingents of its troops into war-ravaged eastern areas of Ukraine.
A spokesman for Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that claims by Kiev about the alleged deployment of troops on the Ukrainian border are “absolute nonsense” and hallucination.
"Yesterday's accusations from Kiev of the alleged deployment of Russian army contingents across the Russian-Ukrainian border do not stand up to any criticism," Major General Igor Konashenkov said.
Authorities in Kiev on Monday accused Russia of sending around 700 troops to an area in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk to bolster the pro-Russia forces fighting against the government forces.
More than 4,800 people have been killed in a conflict in east Ukraine with Western governments continuing to accuse Russia of having a major hand in it. Moscow, however, denies any involvement in the unrest, saying Kiev continues to suppress the ethnic-Russian population living in east of Ukraine.
Russia has also repeatedly denied sending troops or weapons to the militants fighting the government in east Ukraine.
Fresh fighting erupted in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russia fighters and government forces on Tuesday, leaving at least three civilians dead.
Also on Tuesday, Moscow accused Ukraine of undermining peace prospects by deliberately increasing its military activity in the east.
Efforts are underway for arranging a multilateral peace summit attended by leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. One such meeting was hoped to take place last week in Kazakhstan, but plans failed as the warring sides could not reach a compromise on remaining differences.
MS/HMV/SS |
(Reuters) - China’s barriers to imports of some U.S. genetically modified crops are disrupting seed companies’ plans for new product launches and keeping at least one variety out of the U.S. market altogether.
Agrochemicals maker Syngenta's logo is seen in front of the company's headquarters in Basel February 6, 2013. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
Two of the world’s biggest seed makers, Syngenta AG and Dow AgroSciences, are responding with tightly controlled U.S. launches of new GMO seeds, telling farmers where they can plant new corn and soybean varieties and how can the use them. Bayer CropScience told Reuters it has decided to keep a new soybean variety on hold until it receives Chinese import approval.
Beijing is taking longer than in the past to approve new GMO crops, and Chinese ports in November 2013 began rejecting U.S. imports saying they were tainted with a GMO Syngenta corn variety, called Agrisure Viptera, approved in the United States, but not in China.
The developments constrain launches of new GMO seeds by raising concerns that harvests of unapproved varieties could be accidentally shipped to the world’s fastest-growing corn market and denied entry there. It also casts doubt over the future of companies’ heavy investments in research of crop technology.
The stakes are high. Grain traders Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] and Archer Daniels Midland Co, along with dozens of farmers, sued Syngenta for damages after Beijing rejected Viptera shipments, saying the seed maker misrepresented how long it would take to win Chinese approval.
In the weeks since Cargill first sued on Sept. 12, Syngenta’s stock has touched a three-year low. ADM in its lawsuit last week alleged the company did not follow through on plans for a controlled launch of Viptera corn.
Syngenta says the complaints are unfounded.
Bayer, told by Beijing in September that the new soybean seed, LL55, had not been approved for imports, says it will keep on trying, seven years after the company first filed its request. In the meantime, it will withhold the new seed. China granted its last import approval for any GMO grain in June 2013.
TEN YEAR EFFORT
“Our objective is to get the approval and the clearance from the Chinese authorities so that we can go into a full commercial launch as soon as possible,” said Frank Terhorst, global head of seeds for the company.
It can take up to 10 years and $150 million to develop new GMO seeds and further delays in Chinese approvals will raise concerns about Bayer’s future investment in new GMO products, Terhorst said.
The slowdown in Beijing’s regulatory process comes amidst growing consumer sentiment against GMO food in China and concerns amongst some government officials about excessive dependence on U.S. food supplies.
China is a key market for the $12 billion U.S. agricultural seeds business and for global grain traders and accounted for nearly 60 percent of U.S. soybean exports and 12 percent of corn exports two years ago. Nearly 90 percent of corn in the United States is genetically engineered, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as farmers embrace technology that helps kill weeds and fight pests.
It is a common practice to mix different corn varieties in storage and during transportation, so a lack of approval for one GMO variety can put at risk of rejection large shipments that include approved GMO grains.
The controlled releases by Dow and Syngenta aim to bring new GMO seeds to the U.S. market while assuring U.S. farmers and exporters that the harvests will not be rejected by countries that have not approved the GMO grain.
Dow AgroSciences this month said it will limit sales of its new genetically modified corn and soybeans next year while it waits for China’s approval. Farmers who grow the new Enlist corn must maintain isolation areas around their fields, use the corn only as livestock feed, and submit to audits of their compliance.
When Syngenta released its Agrisure Duracade corn this year, which is approved in the United States but not by China, it contracted grain handler Gavilon, owned by Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp, to oversee the launch. Gavilon assigned as many as six workers at its Omaha headquarters to keep Duracade out of markets where it had not been cleared, said Greg Konsor, general manager for grain operations.
At harvest, growers have to fill out canary-yellow tracking agreements where they identify themselves, their trucking firms and the destinations for their Duracade corn. The bright color is meant to tell buyers the shipments require special attention.
Iowa farmer Gary Vetter said that after he planted 240 acres of Duracade last spring, he received calls and certified mail from Gavilon checking on his compliance with restrictions aimed to keep the grain out of unapproved markets.
“No matter what, they want to know where the corn goes,” he said.
Controlled launches, however, are at best a temporary fix because they are costly, complicated and risk accidental contamination of other export grains, said Jim Sutter, chief executive of the U.S. Soybean Export Council.
“The long-term solution is to work with our partners in China and build confidence in the process in the way we want it to work,” he said. “Easier said than done.” |
Britain's biggest ever 'fatberg' has been removed from a London sewer.
Thames Water say a "bus-sized lump" of food fat mixed with wet wipes formed in drains under London Road in Kingston upon Thames.
The blockage was discovered after residents in nearby flats complained they couldn't flush their toilets.
Thames Water believe if it wasn't removed it could have led to sewage flooding homes, streets and businesses.
Gordon Hailwood, Waste Contracts supervisor for Thames Water said: "Given we've got the biggest sewers and this is the biggest 'fatberg' we've encountered, we reckon it has to be the biggest in British history.
"While we've removed greater volumes of fat from under central London in the past, we've never seen a single, congealed lump of lard this big clogging our sewers before."
He added: "The sewer was almost completely clogged with over 15 tonnes of fat. If we hadn't discovered it in time, raw sewage could have started spurting out of manholes across the whole of Kingston.
"It was so big it damaged the sewer and repairs will take up to six weeks."
CCTV investigations in London Road found the mound of fat had reduced the sewer to just five per cent of its normal capacity.
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Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign event in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Credit:AP Clinton's numbers are firming as Trump implodes. But in recent time, close to 70 per cent of Americans have marked her down as dishonest. She can't make too much of Trump's worst-ever favourable ratings as a presidential candidate, because hers are the second worst. We get plenty of frightening professional analysis on why Trump behaves as he does – Clinton gets less time on the analyst's couch. Though in 1996, there was quite a kerfuffle when William Safire, self-styled "libertarian conservative" columnist and one-time supporter of Bill Clinton, denounced the then first lady in print as a "congenital liar" and an "habitual prevaricator" - to which her husband responded by saying that were he not the president, he'd have punched Safire on the nose. Despite being caught out repeatedly, Clinton is seen as consistently bending and breaking facts, whether it's about her past; about what she knew or didn't know about the 2012 Benghazi attack in which four Americans, including an ambassador, were killed; or about what she did or didn't do with the private email server stashed in her basement. Clinton was sensational in 2008, claiming to have landed in Bosnia as first lady "under sniper fire … with our heads down". No – the only welcome she received was from smiling schoolchildren waiting on the tarmac, eager to present Clinton with their poems.
Donald Trump speaks during a coal mining roundtable in Virginia. Credit:AP At Politifact, the fact checkers were underwhelmed by her claims to have helped usher in peace in Northern Ireland; to have negotiated border opening for Kosovars fleeing into Macedonia; and to have stood up to the Chinese government on women's rights. Only one of her grandparents, not all four, were migrants to the US. No, she and Bill were not "dead broke" when they left the White House; and it's unlikely that she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, because she was six years old when he climbed Everest. Biden on the presidential election campaign trail with Hillary Clinton in August last year Credit:AP For many the issue of the email server is a drag. But Clinton's conduct in the several investigations into her use of the server while serving as secretary of state is revealing.
First, the State Department investigation revealed that what she publicly claimed was "allowed" had never been sanctioned; and that while claiming publicly to be co-operating with the investigation, she had refused to be interviewed. If Clinton prevails, this will be the third election in a row in which Democrats prevailed with young voters. Credit:AP Second, the FBI stopped short of charging Clinton for mishandling classified material, but bureau director James Comey gave her a tongue-lashing for being "extremely careless … negligent" as he demolished her oft-stated claims that no classified material had gone through the server and that "all" her work-related emails had been handed over to the department. Despite the humiliation of Comey telling a congressional committee that she had been untruthful, Clinton doubled down at the end of July, telling Fox News: "Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people". Clinton's carefully controlled public image has not helped her build trust. Credit:AP
In disagreeing, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler awarded Clinton four Pinocchios, which rated her claim that Comey had judged her to be truthful as "a whopper". And Americans balked at Comey's decision not to charge Clinton – almost 60 per cent wanted to see her in the dock. Asked in February if she had ever lied, Clinton replied with a lawyer's caution: "I don't believe I ever have. I don't believe I ever will." Robert Reich, US labour secretary under Bill Clinton, believes that Hillary Clinton has to break the habits of a lifetime to win a real mandate. Credit:Bloomberg But in damage-control mode upon being sprung, she has sometimes excused herself for having "misspoken" or, as in the case of her whopperish misrepresentation of the FBI director's words, that she "may have short-circuited". Inside Clinton, there's a lawyer that considers the meaning of individual words and of the gaps between them. So she often sounds long-winded, defensive and obtuse. When TV host Charlie Rose challenged her on Comey's charge that she was "careless", Clinton went into obfuscating overdrive: "Well, I would hope that you like many others would also look at what he said when he testified before Congress, because when he did, he clarified much of what he had said in his press conference."
Rose had checked the congressional transcript, so now he raised another of Comey's critiques: "But he said it was sloppy?" "No," Clinton hit back, "he did not." But that's precisely what Comey said. Then there's the God-awful mess of the Clinton Foundation, which seems beyond firewalling, and Clinton's acceptance of multimillion-dollar fees for speeches to the big end of town – her stubborn refusal to share their contents is read as proof that she does indeed have something to hide. Meredith McGehee, policy director for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, describes the foundation as "a walking conflict-of-interest problem".
It now seems likely that Clinton will win by default. There is no substantive campaign debate. Clinton conducts herself as the serious, qualified candidate, but the speeches that her campaign bills as "major" add little by way of substance or detail that might help voters to make an informed choice. Instead she plays whack-a-mole with Trump. The GOP candidate can hardly complain about the unrelenting media attention and analysis - he only ever got this far by manipulating the media. Happy to go under the radar if she can, Clinton doesn't complain either. There is a rising fear in the Democratic Party that Clinton could end up as a president without a mandate – and an echo of agreement from the Republican Party says Democrats are right to worry. Clinton administration labour secretary-turned-Bernie Sanders supporter Robert Reich warns that a relentless focus on Trump's temperament "doesn't give you a mandate to do anything". And on the Republican side, former Ted Cruz campaign aide Rick Tyler agrees: "Clinton is not likely to emerge with a legislative mandate – she'll have to start from zero in terms of selling all her policy proposals. They will not have been sold through this [election] process."
For Republicans with half a brain, a hassle-free dash to the White House for Clinton could be catastrophic – they obsess about the long-term implications of her likely opportunity to appoint as many as three liberal judges to the Supreme Court, and many in the GOP have yet to realise that in allowing a Democrat to scoop up young voters for the third election in a row - a first since the early 1950s - the political allegiance of America's biggest generation may be set for some time. Reich wonders if Clinton can break through the sentiment barrier with voters who like what she might do, but not who she is. Setting out decades of critiques and challenges to her and her husband – some deserved, others less so – Reich argues that for Clinton to give any ground brings fear of yet another attack, to the point of her refusing to hold press conferences or speak off the cuff. He sees that impulse as understandable but also self-defeating, as revealed by the level of public distrust in her. He offers a cure and a warning in the event that she does not take her meds: "It is critically important that she recognises this, that she fight her understandable impulse to keep potential attackers at bay, and that from here on she makes herself far more open and accessible – and clearly and fearlessly tells all." |
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Friday submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) a four-phase plan for the removal of illegal slums in the capital.
The plan will be executed with the help of Pakistan Rangers, Islamabad police and the district administration soon after Eidul Fitr. The plan requires the assistance of 700 employees of the CDA, 20 reserves of the police, one company of the Rangers besides assistant commissioners, magistrates and other officials.
Illegal structures in the slums will be removed by 10 bulldozers, five excavators and five tractor trolleys. The civic agency will also deploy five fire vehicles and a similar number of ambulances during the operation.
As many as 42 slums in different parts of Islamabad will be removed while allocating two-10 days for each katchi abadi.
As part of the pre-operation activities, the civic agency proposed the disconnection of all the allied facilities of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) and the CDA.
Four-phase plan to remove 43 illegal katchi abadis in the capital to begin after Eidul Fitr
The authority also proposed that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should register FIRs against the slum dwellers for having illegal connections. For this, it also requires the support of the district administration and the police.
Under the plan, the directorate of the municipal administration, CDA, will launch an awareness campaign in the illegal slums asking the dwellers to vacate the land. As part of the awareness campaign, notices and banners will be displayed at different locations.
The special branch of the police will also be assigned the task of monitoring the katchi abadis before, during and after the operation.
In the report, the city managers said the slums had been illegally constructed on the CDA land. The dwellers have also established illegal connections of utility outlets. The report claimed: “many crimes have been traced to the inhabitants of these abadis” and the slums also provide ‘hideouts’ to criminals.
In the phase-I to be launched soon after Eid, the civic agency proposed the removal of slums in the greenbelts of 1-10, H-10, H-11, I-12, Bari Imam katchi abadi, Mohalla Dari Bagh, Maskeen Colony and Shopper Colony in G-7.
Phase-II included katchi abadis in Chak Shahzad, Dhoke Pattan, Khanna Pull Road, New Shakrial and Shams Colony.
Phase-III is about slums of Bheka Syedan, Sumbol Karok, G-12, F-12, and some parts of E-12.
Phase-IV is against katchi abadis in sector G-7/1, G-7/2, G-7/3-2, F-6/2 and F-7/4.
The CDA stated before the court that it required two to 10 days for the removal of each katchi abadi and may require massive relocations of the inhabitants.
The civic agency also sought the shifting of a graveyard from Sector I-11/2. The job, however, was assigned to the DMA.
As part of the action plan, a control room will be established, consisting of the representatives of the CDA, district administration, police and other departments concerned.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC on April 16, 2014, ordered the CDA to remove the illegal slums. On June 4, 2015, the IHC directed the secretary interior, CDA chairman and the inspector general of police to evolve a plan to remove the illegal slums.
On Friday, representatives of an alliance of katchi abadis urged the court to revisit its order against the slums. Justice Siddiqui, however, observed that the representatives were neither a party to the petition nor aggrieved by the order.
The CDA counsel informed the court that the inhabitants of the illegal katchi abadis had encroached upon several developed plots, greenbelts and even nullahs.
After the CDA submitted the action plan, the court adjourned the hearing of the matter till after Eid.
Published in Dawn June 27th, 2015
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Updated Sept. 12, 2014 to change “GiveWell Labs” to “Open Philanthropy Project,” in line with our August 2014 announcement.Throughout the post, “we” refers to GiveWell and Good Ventures, who work as partners on the Open Philanthropy Project.
In our work on the Open Philanthropy Project, we’ve consistently found that the level of interest we show in a cause – including our perceived willingness to provide funding within it – is a major driver of what sorts of giving opportunities we’re able to find.
This dynamic has been one of the major factors in the grants we’ve made so far, and it’s also a major reason that we’re eager to “commit” to causes, as mentioned earlier this year. We believe that there’s a limited amount we can learn about a cause when presenting ourselves as “potentially interested in providing moderate amounts of funding” rather than “strongly interested in providing major funding.”
We’ve come to believe in the importance of committing to causes in order to investigate them, and in the importance of “giving to learn” for the Open Philanthropy Project, via the following process:
We initially envisioned a process that first gathers information on giving opportunities and then identifies which grants should be made.
However, from observing the behavior of potential grantees and other funders, we came to believe that a funder must be highly prepared (and likely) to make grants in an area in order to find giving opportunities in that area. Many people will only make the relevant referrals, propose relevant ideas, etc. once they are convinced of a philanthropist’s serious interest in providing funding.
As such, we have in many cases tried offering funding in an area – or at least expressed strong interest in the area – before knowing what giving opportunities would turn out to be available. This approach has led to multiple cases in which much of the learning value of a grant (from our perspective) comes from the process leading up to the grant.
“Giving to learn” can mean multiple things. It can mean (a) funding research in order to gain specific knowledge; it can also mean (b) funding a project in order to learn from following the project’s progress. The dynamic laid out in the above bullet points represents perhaps the most counterintuitive meaning: “giving to learn” can mean (c) offering funding in order to learn from the process of finding grantees.
This post lays out:
An overview of the paths we’ve taken in the last few years to find giving opportunities for the Open Philanthropy Project. More
Examples of where showing strong interest in a cause, and particularly in making grants within it, led to information that we couldn’t have gathered in any other way. More
The implications of this dynamic – including why we do not believe (contrary to what some have suggested) that funding research is necessarily the best way to gather more information relevant to our work (more) and why we think it is important to commit to specific causes fairly soon (more).
Approaches we’ve taken to finding giving opportunities for the Open Philanthropy Project
Early on in our work on the Open Philanthropy Project , we spoke to a broad array of people and organizations – including academics, funders and nonprofits – and asked them for their opinions on the best giving opportunities, broadly speaking. (We also asked for referrals to other people who might be able to help us with this question.) As noted in a previous post , this approach generally didn’t yield much in the way of actionable ideas (and was often met with responses like “That question is too broad” or “First I need to know what causes you’re passionate about”).
We gravitated toward assessing “causes”, which helped us to ask more focused questions (rather than “What is the best giving opportunity you know about?” we could instead ask something like “What would you do if you were a funder seeking to make progress in solving problem X?”) But as we conducted shallow (and even medium) investigations, we still encountered relatively few “shovel-ready” giving opportunities. We encountered organizations seeking more funding generally, but we didn’t see many cases where we had a clear sense that more funding would play a crucial role in allowing particular promising work to go forward.
At the same time, we were speaking with major foundations and trying to understand how they go about finding giving opportunities. We explored the possibility of co-funding projects with them, and we encountered ideas – such as a project combating malaria drug resistance in Myanmar (with the Gates Foundation) and the Service Delivery Indicators (with the Hewlett Foundation) – that seemed like interesting and relatively tangible (in the sense of understanding what activities were made possible by the funders’ support) giving opportunities.
In addition to these co-funding conversations, we devoted substantial time to exploring the cause of meta-research and observing how funders in that space were finding giving opportunities. We noticed that:
The “meta-research” ideas we saw, such as a registry for randomized controlled trials, were brought straight to the funders who already were known for supporting relevant research, and it seemed to us that the projects might get sufficient support this way without needing a broader search for funds. These funders seemed to us to be well-connected to the people best positioned to come up with ideas for working toward “meta-research” related goals.
A similar dynamic seemed like it might apply more broadly. We knew that as a grantee ourselves, we had been connected to the Hewlett Foundation by someone who knew of their interest in improving philanthropy; if not for that connection, it wouldn’t have occurred to us to approach them. Generally, it seemed to us (both from our reading of philanthropic success stories and from our conversations regarding “co-funding”) that funders encounter many opportunities via being approached, such that their reputation for being interested in one cause or another directly affects what opportunities they come across.
While investigating meta-research broadly, we sourced the proposal for a meta-research-oriented center at Stanford that we wrote about previously. This was a clear-cut case in which actively expressing an interest in funding certain kinds of projects led to discovery of a giving opportunity we couldn’t have encountered otherwise.
We started to feel that we might need to “invert” our investigative process: rather than (a) first “exploring” a cause, finding potential giving opportunities, and then deciding whether we were interested in providing funding, we should perhaps (b) pick a few causes and definitively express an interest in providing funding, before knowing of any particular giving opportunities. Our initial thinking that led to this idea was outlined in a 2013 post, Challenges of Passive Funding.
This shift led to a noticeable improvement in our ability to source tangible giving opportunities.
Examples of the “giving to learn” dynamic
The first cause we chose for a relatively deep investigation – including some grants – was criminal justice reform . Of the causes we were interested in, it seemed to offer the best odds of quickly finding “shovel-ready” giving opportunities, based on the comments of Steven Teles . We told Prof. Teles that we were interested in making some initial grants in this cause, and he quickly connected us to Mark Kleiman and Angela Hawken, each of whom sought funding. We also informed the relevant team at Pew Charitable Trusts that we were actively looking for giving opportunities, and discovered that this team was seeking funding (something that hadn’t come up in the first conversation we conducted with this team). We have since begun a thorough investigation of this organization’s track record in this space, with their help – something that wouldn’t have been as feasible if we hadn’t seriously been considering providing the requested funding.
Over time, we’ve seen more giving opportunities come up. We’ve been approached by multiple groups with confidential proposals to work toward reducing incarceration. In addition, Prof. Hawken contacted us when her organization, BetaGov, came across a seemingly unique and temporary opportunity to study the impact of changing marijuana policy in the state of Washington (more details forthcoming). These are giving opportunities we’re convinced we couldn’t have come across without expressing strong, credible interest in funding work on criminal justice reform (and in some cases, particularly Prof. Hawken’s, actually providing such funding).
In the meantime, Prof. Teles has continued to think actively about the topic of criminal justice reform, and has come up with multiple new ideas for things a funder might do. We are currently seeking to pause our work in this space, as we try to investigate other causes to a similar level of resolution; however, we’ve now gotten multiple people and organizations to see us as a potential source of funding and to start thinking about more work that would align with the aspects of the space we’re interested in.
Similar dynamics have applied to the other causes we’ve explored:
Malaria control and elimination. We commissioned Dr. Steve Phillips to explore this space for us and identify giving opportunities. We had substantial discussion with Dr. Phillips around setting expectations appropriately – in particular, what to say about the likelihood of funding – which he found important in order to have conversations about possible projects. In this particular case, we did not commit any funds to malaria control and elimination projects, but we wouldn’t have been able to conduct this project if we hadn’t seen a legitimate possibility of doing so, and we’d be hesitant to dig further on these proposals (or to do a similar project in another area of global health) without having a relatively strong expectation of following up with funding.
We commissioned Dr. Steve Phillips to explore this space for us and identify giving opportunities. We had substantial discussion with Dr. Phillips around setting expectations appropriately – in particular, what to say about the likelihood of funding – which he found important in order to have conversations about possible projects. In this particular case, we did not commit any funds to malaria control and elimination projects, but we wouldn’t have been able to conduct this project if we hadn’t seen a legitimate possibility of doing so, and we’d be hesitant to dig further on these proposals (or to do a similar project in another area of global health) without having a relatively strong expectation of following up with funding. Labor mobility. We did a shallow investigation of the cause of labor mobility that included a conversation with Michael Clemens, a researcher on the global economics of migration who has been a leading voice on the humanitarian benefits of labor mobility.. However, it wasn’t until we communicated an intent to fund labor-mobility-related work that Dr. Clemens approached us with giving opportunities, including support of his own work as well as another project that we will be writing about in the future. We find the project both promising and unlikely to get funded without our involvement, and believe that we wouldn’t have been able to find out about it without specifically communicating an intent to provide funding. In addition, Dr. Clemens offered to introduce us to a person who might consider leaving their current post in order to pursue work in this area, but wouldn’t want this information widely disseminated.
We did a shallow investigation of the cause of labor mobility that included a conversation with Michael Clemens, a researcher on the global economics of migration who has been a leading voice on the humanitarian benefits of labor mobility.. However, it wasn’t until we communicated an intent to fund labor-mobility-related work that Dr. Clemens approached us with giving opportunities, including support of his own work as well as another project that we will be writing about in the future. We find the project both promising and unlikely to get funded without our involvement, and believe that we wouldn’t have been able to find out about it without specifically communicating an intent to provide funding. In addition, Dr. Clemens offered to introduce us to a person who might consider leaving their current post in order to pursue work in this area, but wouldn’t want this information widely disseminated. New top charities. We have also been interested in making grants to increase the supply of evidence-backed charities serving the global poor. Here too, we have started conversations with research organizations that we wouldn’t have been able to have without a strong interest in (and high likelihood of) providing funding.
Why expressing stronger interest can lead to better giving opportunities
People are often hesitant to ask for funding, or even mention that they’re seeking it, until and unless they perceive a strong specific interest on the part of the person they’re talking to. (Just knowing that the person they’re talking to is a funder and “open to many possibilities” is often not enough.) Part of this may be a fear of being perceived as “unsuccessful” if they are public about having an idea that they can’t find funding for.
People are often hesitant to put time into fleshing out an idea until they see a potential path to getting it funded. This seems rational, especially since different funders will often have different preferences in terms of what information they find most important, what sorts of proposals they want to see, and what aspects of the work are most important to prioritize from their perspective.
Many people seem to seek funding primarily by going through their networks, and seeking out people who are clearly interested in what they’re doing (rather than by publicly disseminating their ideas).
Without pretending to know exactly how the dynamics work, it seems to us that:
In theory, it seems possible to have a world in which funding ideas are written up and posted publicly for anyone to browse. In reality, funding ideas are often not even internally fleshed out (much less written up) until specific interest is perceived. Because of this, asking someone for giving opportunities often means asking for substantial amounts of their time and energy, and it can be inappropriate to do so except when one has a high probability of following through with funding.
The approach we’re taking
Be very thoughtful and careful about how we spend our time, and realize that making grants will almost always have implications for how we spend our time (by signaling our interests, by causing more people doing similar work to approach us, by forming relationships with grantees, etc.)
When we’re interested in an area, be willing to express strong interest in providing funding and to follow through with high probability.
Fund projects we come across that seem reasonable, that we’re willing to spend some time following up on, and that fit within our interests in terms of what areas we want to learn more about and see more proposals from.
Our basic heuristics for deciding what and how much to fund has been:
Our priority at the moment is asking what sorts of giving opportunities might exist in different causes (and, along with this, learning about meta-issues such as the “giving to learn” dynamic described in this post). We think of this as an learning/information-gathering agenda, supported by “giving to learn” grants whose informational value comes from (a) following through on initial expressions of interest; (b) signaling our further interests; and (c) giving us opportunities to follow up over time and learn about the relevant people and organizations and their progress.
We’ve seen a few comments that we don’t seem to place much value on “value of information,” since we’re primarily funding direct work of various kinds rather than research projects aiming to identify the best causes. I disagree with comments along these lines. Our work is a research project aiming to identify the best causes, and funding projects in causes of interest is an important tool for carrying this project out. This sort of “giving to learn” provides certain kinds of information (e.g., “what are the giving opportunities in cause X like?”) relatively quickly and efficiently; more broadly, it is a form of “learning by doing” that has already yielded insights about grantmaking (such as how the “giving to learn” dynamic works) that would have been difficult to pick up in any other way. By contrast, funding studies would introduce the management challenge (costly in terms of person-hours, our scarcest resource) of trying to align researchers’ work with our own interests, and could take years to produce actionable information.
The importance of committing to causes
Network more extensively, get to know the relevant people and organizations, and communicate the nature of our interests.
Encourage people to come to us with ideas, without having to caveat that our interest is preliminary and we may not be able to provide stable/renewable funding over time.
Generally do more investigation and learning about the cause, leading to refinements in the specific types of projects we’re looking to fund – which in turn would affect the types of projects that would come to our attention.
To date, we’ve quite deliberately limited our involvement in – and commitments to – any given cause. We believe that this has placed limits on how well we’re able to get to know the fields in question. If we were to make a substantial “commitment” to a cause – intending to allocate a substantial number of person-hours to it for the next several years, accompanied by a substantial potential budget – we would be able to:
We believe these activities would lead to deeper understanding of the few causes we investigate, which would likely inform how we approach our lower-depth investigations of all causes. Accordingly, we see a great deal of value in making such commitments relatively soon, rather than trying to be comprehensive in doing lower-depth investigations of every possible cause of interest. |
WHEN: Today, Monday, May 18th
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with AT&T Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000380320
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
JOE KERNEN: AT&T HAS SAID THAT THE COMPANY EXPECTS TO CLOSE THAT BIG DEAL, THAT $48.5 BILLION ACQUISITION OF DIRECTV BY THE END OF THE SECOND QUARTER AND KAYLA TAUSCHE IS AT THE ANNUAL JPMORGAN TECH MEDIA AND TELECOM CONFERENCE IN BOSTON. SHE IS JOINED BY SQUAWK NEWSMAKER AND AT&T CHAIRMAN AND CEO RANDALL STEPHENSON. TAKE IT AWAY KAYLA.
KAYLA TAUSCHE: THANKS SO MUCH, JOE. RANDALL STEPHENSON IS A FACE THAT IS VERY FAMILIAR TO "SQUAWK BOX" VIEWERS. CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF AT&T AND WE'RE SO GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH US THIS MORNING.
RANDALL STEPHENSON: GOOD TO BE HERE. THANK YOU.
TAUSCHE: TODAY IS THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY ACTUALLY –
STEPHENSON: DOESN'T SEEM POSSIBLE.
TAUSCHE: OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DIRECTV DEAL. I KNOW YOU GUYS JUST RECENTLY EXTENDED THE TERMINATION DATE FOR THE DEAL. PEOPLE EXPECT IT WILL GET DONE, BUT GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS.
STEPHENSON: WE'RE IN THE SAME PLACE. WE THINK THE DEAL GETS DONE. THE CONVERSATIONS HAVE BEEN PRODUCTIVE. WHAT'S HAPPENED RIGHT NOW AS YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A STAY REQUEST FOR THE TITLE TWO RULES THAT WAS FILED LAST WEEK BY THE INDUSTRY AND THE JUDGE PUT A PRETTY TIGHT TIME HORIZON ON THE FCC TO RESPOND TO THAT. SO THAT'S PROBABLY GOING TO TAKE A LOT OF THEIR ATTENTION OVER THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO. I THINK THAT'S DUE ON FRIDAY. SO THERE'S NOT GOING TO BE A LOT DONE OVER THE NEXT WEEK AND ANYTHING OTHER THAN TITLE TWO. BUT WE FEEL LIKE THIS THING WILL PROGRESS AND WE STILL FEEL LIKE WE ARE ON TARGET TO HAVING IT CLOSED IN THE SECOND QUARTER.
TAUSCHE: YOU TOOK THE TACK OF CHOOSING TO SUE THE FCC OVER THE NET NEUTRALITY RULES. AND THERE IS A QUESTION OVER WHETHER THAT IS A STRATEGY YOU WILL HAVE TO ABANDON TO GET THE DEAL DONE. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU ARE PLANNING TO ADDRESS?
STEPHENSON: WE'VE BEEN REAL CLEAR FROM THE BEGINNING THAT TITLE TWO WAS NOT PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO REGULATE THIS INDUSTRY. THIS IS AN INDUSTRY THAT IS CHANGING REALLY, REALLY FAST, IT IS ATTRACTING A LOT OF INVESTMENT. AND TO TAKE AN INDUSTRY LIKE THIS, MOVING THIS QUICKLY AND PUT IT UNDER RULES FORMULATED IN THE 1930s, TO REGULATE THE BLACK DIAL TELEPHONE DIDN'T SEEM TO MAKE A LOT OF SENSE TO US. AND SO WE HAS BEEN CLEAR THAT WE INTENDED TO CHALLENGE THOSE RULES. BUT REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE COURTS MODIFY THE RULES OR REVERT THIS BACK TO THE FCC, WE DO THINK THERE IS GENERAL WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF CONGRESS TO PASS LEGISLATION. THAT'S PROBABLY A MORE SUSTAINABLE PATH TO GET NET NEUTRALITY WITHOUT DUMPING IT INTO TITLE TWO. AND THEN DON'T FORGET THERE IS GOING TO BE A NEW FCC PROBABLY 18 MONTHS, 20 MONTHS FROM NOW, AND YOU'RE A 3-2 VOTE AWAY FROM THOSE RULES CHANGING. SO TO US, IT'S A MORE SUSTAINABLE PATH IS A LEGISLATIVE PATH.
TAUSCHE: BUT IN THE MEANTIME, WE'RE IN THIS GRAY AREA WHERE THE INDUSTRY IS CHANGING SO MUCH. AND BIG COMPANIES ARE NEEDING TO DO DEALS TO GROW REVENUE, TO GET ACCESS TO CONTENT AND DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS THEY DIDN'T HAVE BEFORE. WE JUST SAW COMCAST DROP ITS BID FOR TIME WARNER CABLE AFTER OPPOSITION. YOU'RE DOING A BIG DEAL WITH DIRECTV. VERIZON JUST BOUGHT AOL. HOW CAN YOU PURSUE THESE BIG DEALS WITH SO MUCH IN WASHINGTON UNCLEAR RIGHT NOW?
STEPHENSON: WELL, LACK OF CLARITY IN THE RULES IS ALWAYS A BIG ISSUE FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE INVESTING A LOT OF CAPITAL. THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WE DID FILE THE LAWSUIT. WE NEED TO BRING CLARITY TO THIS AND SEE IF WE CAN BRING A MORE SUSTAINABLE PATH AND CLEAR RULES ON HOW TO INVEST. THAT IS REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT. I WILL TELL YOU, THOUGH, THAT BASED ON OUR READING OF THE TITLE TWO ORDER THAT CAME OUT, AS I POINTED OUT, WE'RE OPERATING AND WE'RE INVESTING UNDER THE SCENARIO THAT THESE RULES WILL PROBABLY BE CHANGED. WE DON'T THINK THIS RULEMAKING IS SUSTAINABLE FROM A LEGAL STANDPOINT, BUT THE COURTS WILL DECIDE THAT. BUT IRRESPECTIVE, THE CONGRESS SEEMS INCLINED TO MAKE A CHANGE HERE, SO WE REALLY THINK THAT THESE RULES WILL BE MODIFIED INTO A FORMAT THAT WILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR INVESTMENT IN THE LONG HAUL.
TAUSCHE: JOE KERNEN, LET'S BRING YOU INTO THE CONSIDERATION.
KERNEN: THANKS. SO RANDALL, IF YOU'RE INVESTING AS IF THE RULES DON'T STAND UP, DOES THAT MEAN THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO NECESSARILY PAIR BACK CAPEX IN THE BUILD-OUT OF BROADBAND NOW? THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU SAID MIGHT BE THE RESULT OF THIS RULING IS THAT YOU AND OTHERS WOULD SLOW DOWN ON THESE BIG CAPITAL EXPENDITURES, BECAUSE YOU AREN'T GUARANTEED A RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT. IF YOU THINK THEY'RE NOT GOING TO HOLD UP, DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE STILL INVESTING?
STEPHENSON: YEAH, JOE, THE EXACT COMMENT I MADE WAS WE'RE GOING TO PUT A PAUSE ON OUR NEW BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT PLANS UNTIL WE SEE HOW THESE RULES CAME OUT. WE HAVE SEEN HOW THE RULES CAME OUT AND THE TITLE TWO ORDER THAT CAME OUT OF THE FCC AND AS WE READ THOSE RULES, WE DO BELIEVE THEY ARE SUBJECT TO MODIFICATION BY THE COURTS AND REMAND BY THE COURTS OF THE FCC TO ADDRESS THEM. BUT EVEN IF THEY DON'T, I'LL SAY IT AGAIN, BASED ON HOW THE RULES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN AND HOW WE'RE READING THE TONE IN CONGRESS, WE'RE ACTUALLY FAIRLY CONFIDENT THAT BY ONE MEANS OR ANOTHER, THAT THE RULES ARE GOING TO BE MODIFIED. THIS DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO REGULATING THIS INDUSTRY. WE'VE SAID WE'RE GOING TO INVEST AROUND $18 BILLION THIS YEAR. THAT WILL ALLOW US TO DEPLOY A WIRELESS BROADBAND A SOLUTION TO 13 MILLION HOMES ACROSS THE U.S., AND 2 MILLION FIBER TO THE HOME DEPLOYMENTS THIS YEAR. WE'RE GOING TO STAY ON TRACK WITH THAT AND CONTINUE AT ABOUT AN $18 BILLION LEVEL. THAT COMPARES TO ABOUT $22 BILLION LAST YEAR.
TAUSCHE: BUT WE LEARNED RECENT THAT BROADBAND – BECKY? BECKY WE WILL LET YOU IN HERE.
BECKY QUICK: JUST A QUICK FOLLOW-UP ON THAT, KAYLA. RANDALL, WHEN YOU SAY READING THROUGH THIS YOU FIND THINGS THAT YOU THINK WILL BE MODIFIED BY THE COURTS, ANYTHING SPECIFICALLY YOU CAN POINT TO? SOMETHING YOU THINK CLEARLY DOESN'T LIVE UP TO EXPECTATIONS?
STEPHENSON: WELL, THE THING THAT WE HAVE SAID WAS PROBLEMATIC ALL ALONG WAS THE PROCESS THAT WAS USED TO PUT THESE RULES IN PLACE. AND THAT IT WAS DONE WITHOUT A FULL DATA GATHERING, WITHOUT A FULL REVIEW, AND SO WE THINK THAT BY ITSELF WILL PROBABLY BE CHALLENGED BY THE COURTS. SO JUST TO GO AT THIS FROM A MORE RATIONAL RULEMAKING STANDPOINT WOULD BE THE ONE THING WE COULD SEE REMANDED BACK, AND SO THERE HAD TO BE A FULL GATHERING OF DATA, A REVIEW OF THIS AND A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH. SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS. BUT THEN ONCE AGAIN, JUST THINKING ABOUT REGULATING THE INTERNET END TO END, AS KAYLA POINTED OUT A MOMENT AGO, AN INDUSTRY THAT IS CHANGING THIS FAST, THAT IS THIS DYNAMIC, I THINK JUST FROM A LEGISLATIVE STANDPOINT, OR FROM A NEW ADMINISTRATION STANDPOINT, ONE WOULD HAVE TO ASK, IS THIS REALLY HOW WE WANT TO REGULATE THIS INDUSTRY? KEEP IN MIND TITLE TWO WAS PUT IN PLACE WITH A 3-2 VOTE BY THE COMMISSION. TITLE TWO COULD BE CHANGED BY A 3-2 VOTE FROM ANOTHER COMMISSION. SO THERE'S JUST A LOT OF MOVING PARTS HERE THAT WE THINK IT'S REALLY UNLIKELY THESE RULES STAY IN PLACE LIKE THEY ARE IN THE LONG TERM.
TAUSCHE: YOU TALK ABOUT BUILDING OUT THE WIRELESS BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE THAT YOU HAVE, BUT IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS BROADBAND HAS BECOME A DIRTY WORD. THAT BECAME A LIGHTNING ROD OF SORTS IN THE COMCAST/TIME WARNER DISCUSSIONS. I BELIEVE THAT DIRECTV/AT&T WILL ONLY HAVE, WHAT, A 17% SHARE IN BROADBAND? BUT HOW LIMITED IS YOUR ABILITY TO GROW THAT SHARE WITH ALL OF THE FOCUS ON BROADBAND AND COMPETITION THERE?
STEPHENSON: THE AREA WHERE WE HAVE STRUGGLED THE MOST WAS OUR TV PRODUCT. AND IF YOU WANT TO GAIN BROADBAND SHARE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A VIABLE TV PRODUCT. OUR TV PRODUCT TODAY IS SUBSCALE, IT'S U-VERSE. IT'S A GREAT PRODUCT, IT SELLS TERRIFIC. BUT IT IS LIMITED IN TERMS OF SCOPE AND WHERE WE HAVE BUILT. WE DO DIRECTV, AND WE CLOSE THAT TRANSACTION. WE GO FROM A TV PRODUCT THAT'S LOSING MONEY TO A TV PRODUCT THAT'S PROFITABLE. I MEAN, DAY ONE, OVERNIGHT THAT HAPPENS. AND NOW YOU PAIR THAT WITH THE BROADBAND PRODUCT AND YOU HAVE A MUCH MORE ROBUST PRODUCT OFFERING IN THE MARKETPLACE, AND WE THINK WE'LL BE VERY SUCCESSFUL IN COMPETING AGAINST THE CABLE GUYS AND TAKING SHARE FROM CABLE.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: HEY, RANDALL, JUST WANTED TO JUMP IN WITH A DIFFERENT QUESTION ON TV AND ON BUNDLING, AND YOUR VIEWS ON WHAT THIS FIGHT GOING ON, THIS BATTLE BETWEEN VERIZON AND DISNEY/ESPN. THIS IDEA OF TIERING THESE VIDEO SERVICES. YOU'RE ABOUT TO GET INTO THE TV BUSINESS EVEN MORE THAN YOU ARE ALREADY IN. YOUR TAKE ON WHAT'S GOING ON?
STEPHENSON: IT'S AN INTERESTING TIME, RIGHT? THE INDUSTRY IS CHANGING FAST. THE OVER-THE-TOP MODEL IS GAINING MOMENTUM. YOU'RE SEEING NETFLIX AND THE HULUs GAINING A LOT OF MOMENTUM. AND WHAT IT IS DOING IS IT'S CHANGING NOT JUST THE TV DISTRIBUTORS LIKE VERIZON OR COMCAST OR AT&T AND HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE BUSINESS, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY AFFECTING HOW THE CONTENT DEVELOPERS ARE THINKING ABOUT THE BUSINESS. WHAT HAPPENS AS PREMIUM CONTENT MOVES FROM TRADITIONAL LINEAR STREAM TO OVER THE TOP? THE ADVERTISING MODELS CHANGE, AND THIS UNBUNDLING OF CONTENT, IT CAUSES A CHANGE IN THAT AS WELL. SO, YOU'RE SEEING A LOT OF STRESS IN THE ECOSYSTEM AND THE ENVIRONMENT. THESE MODELS ARE CHANGING REALLY, REALLY FAST.
TAUSCHE: BEFORE WE GO, YOU DID A DEAL WITH HULU LAST WEEK? IS THAT THE BEGINNING OF AN AT&T OVER THE TOP STRATEGY, YES OR NO?
STEPHENSON: A YEAR AGO WE DID A DEAL WITH PETER CHURNING GROUP TO DEVELOP UNIQUE CONTENT FOR THE WIRELESS MODEL. AND THAT WAS OUR BEGINNING. HULU IS JUST ADDITIVE TO WHAT WE HAD DONE THERE.
TAUSCHE: RANDALL STEPHENSON, CHAIRMAN & CEO OF AT&T, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
STEPHENSON: THANK YOU, KAYLA.
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It was a rock concert without the guitar. Skrillex jammed on a computer rather than a keyboard, playing a synthetic bass rather than a drum set. His avatar on the LED screen behind him made Skrillex seem larger than life, as if he were a puppeteer controlling the audience, which was sprinkled with neon, glow sticks and flashing finger lights. During his 300+ shows this year, Sonny Moore — as Skrillex — commanded the attention of a rock star but played the electronic music of an underground rave.
“That’s what people are into, the rock star DJ,” said Alex Lin, DJ and light producer with student company EasyLove Records at UC Santa Barbara. “It’s more about the experience, the rock star DJ that puts on a good show.”
Americans enTRANCEd
And people are into it. Skrillex is the first-ever dance artist to be Grammy-nominated for Best New Artist. He received four other Grammy nominations, and three went to house music producer deadmau5. Although the artists have been around for a few years, the difference is that in 2009 deadmau5 was confined to Lollapalooza’s electronic tent, Perry’s, and in 2011 he headlined the main stage. Like deadmau5, Electronic Dance Music (EDM) — though some people still mistakenly call it “techno” — has graduated from the kiddie table.
“Perry’s tent used to be small, but this year it was massive. Every year it gets bigger and bigger,” said Chris Miller, who works at WaveMachine Labs, a Chicago-based music software company, and graduated from Northwestern University’s now extinct music technology major.
EDM is gaining momentum, especially with the 18-21 crowd. Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) drew an audience of 230,000 this summer in Las Vegas, and this spring, the first-ever electronic music spring break for college students, Electro Beach, will take place in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. For the first time in history, EDM is in the American youth mainstream.
The EDM Dictionary EDM: Electronic Dance Music (NOT techno).
Techno: One genre of EDM, characterized by a more minimalistic and repetitive production style.
House: Another style of EDM with a faster tempo, usually between 120 and 130 beats per minute.
Trance: Style of EDM with slower, melodic build-ups and hypnotic qualities (hence the term “trance”). It is usually between 130 and 150 bpm. There are many subcategories of trance, as with most genres of EDM.
Dubstep: Genre of EDM characterized by around 70 bpm with heavier, abrasive bass and the notorious “wobble” sound. It has more harsh build-ups and drops. Its origins lie in the UK’s original style of “dub,” which is much slower than American dubstep.
Drum and Bass: Category of EDM that focuses on fast-tempo percussion. It is usually above 140 bpm with primarily electronic drums and bass, and it sounds more instrumental than dubstep.
History: When it was “rave” instead of “rage”
Skrillex is leading EDM into the public arena, but he’s only the cherry on top, the peak of the wave. What of the force supporting him, pushing him to success?
It all started with the development of a little thing called the “rave,” a crazy colored, drug-infused party that featured—or included, as the culture necessitated a platform of equality —EDM, like “techno,” “trance” or “house.” Though its roots lie in the 1960s counter culture, the American rave went through all sorts of transformations, hitting its peak in the 1980s as private dance parties held in gay clubs and lasting until the 1990s and early 2000s. By then, the “rave” had become a subculture of American youth, characterized by a “peace, love, unity, respect” mentality that accepted members from the fringes of society. But it still held on to the music.
So, where is the rave now? It has disseminated across the American landscape. Some of it still exists in abandoned city warehouses, drawing participants from Facebook and other connections. Other aspects of the rave are right under your nose, in Chicago’s Congress Theater, at festivals like EDC or Miami’s Ultra and in college fraternities across the country. The rave has paved the road for the rave-like concert.
“The grassroots-organized rave events from yesteryear have given way to about six different types of parties today,” explains Dr. Tammy Anderson, author of Rave Culture: The Alteration and Decline of a Philadelphia Music Scene. “One of those is a superstar one-off, where deadmau5 is the main act, the sole act, at a night club. It’s billed and promoted ahead of time and he’s portrayed as the superstar.” The other five types of parties she describes are music festivals, underground parties, corporate raves, monthlies and weeklies.
The difference between today’s “superstar one-off” and the traditional rave, which Anderson argues cannot be found in its totality, is in their zeitgeists. The overarching goal of a one-off, or concert, is to make money by selling tickets. This is “against the peace, love, unity ethos of the past,” she said. The rave’s participants were once “glued together by an ideology” — an egalitarian principle — that would have prohibited the idea of a “superstar” in the first place.
“Artists are popular and some of the songs are popular. What I’m not seeing is peoples’ endorsement of a collective scene, a coordination of an aesthetic,” Anderson said.
This can be confusing. With all the neon, glow sticks and drugs that are, indeed, found in today’s EDM “superstar one-off,” it can look like a rave. For most, though, it’s just a party and opportunity to rage. “The joke among DJ’s is that it’s rave, not rage,” said Lin.
What we are seeing, though, is a new kind of concert experience influenced by both rave history and rock shows, which, unlike raves, have always promoted the idea of a “superstar.”
“DJs are the new rock stars, dance music is the new rock,” said Ryan Russell, 21, who was a Resident DJ at Ruby Skye, the “holy-grail of DJing in San Francisco,” and whose DJ career took him as far as Ibiza, Spain, “the Mecca of dance music.”
Of course, a rock concert looks a little different from an EDM show. One has instruments, and the other features none — at least not in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, it has, well, everything else…
Bass in your face: Inundating the senses
“We drop BASS in your FACE!”
“Bass head.”
“Is the bass high enough?”
Throughout the soundscape of Electronic Dance Music, lyrics reflect what makes the genre unique: shows that completely overwhelm their audiences with sound, lights, images and heavy bass.
“The difference now is that you go crazy," said Dave Sumberg, who studies music theory and electrical engineering at NU. "EDM today is utilizing a principle of music that has been around for centuries: tension and resolution. With Mozart, you thought, what’s going to happen next? And he’d land on a perfect authentic cadence. But now, instead of a perfect authentic cadence, it’s heavy shit in your face.”
In addition to providing the audience with sounds they cannot receive on personal listening devices, artists are capitalizing on the “full experience” mentality.
“Artists are definitely focusing on production a lot more so than ever before as a way to create a special live experience for fans,” said Hunter Williams, manager for artists such as Pretty Lights, MiM0SA and 3LAU.
It’s more about the unique experience, the rock star DJ that puts on a good show, said Lin. Take Steve Aoki, for example. “He started a successful record label and event company in Hollywood, but is famous for pouring alcohol on people while he’s DJing. He’ll just pour Grey Goose on people, and that’s the iconic Steve Aoki," said Lin. "He doesn’t DJ that intensely. He’ll let a song play for 7 minutes, he’ll go out into the crowd, crowd surf in a kayak, or lately he’s been pie-ing people in the face. He’ll rage on stage. He’ll do everything but DJ."
The EDM Dictionary (cont.) Synthesizer: An audio generator at its basic level. It is an oscillator that produces electronic waves, which then get converted by speakers into sound waves.
DJ: A “Disc Jockey” is someone who performs electronic music live, using turntables or computer software. He or she mixes and blends two or more tracks at a time. This is distinct from a live performance, which does not necessarily involve the act of DJing.
Producer: Someone who makes electronic music in a studio (or bedroom) setting and distributes it.
Sample: To take a portion of an already existing piece of music to create a new work.
Mashup: Using two or more already made songs to create a new track.
Remix: Adding original musical and stylistic choices to an already existing song, generally only using bits of the original to create a new feel for the old track. : An audio generator at its basic level. It is an oscillator that produces electronic waves, which then get converted by speakers into sound waves.: A “Disc Jockey” is someone who performs electronic music live, using turntables or computer software. He or she mixes and blends two or more tracks at a time. This is distinct from a live performance, which does not necessarily involve the act of DJing.: Someone who makes electronic music in a studio (or bedroom) setting and distributes it.: To take a portion of an already existing piece of music to create a new work.: Using two or more already made songs to create a new track.: Adding original musical and stylistic choices to an already existing song, generally only using bits of the original to create a new feel for the old track.
The lights are also a huge component of today’s rave-rage concert. “You can go to any room and listen to loud music, but when you have lighting, it heightens the emotions and the energy,” said Kyle Kegan, lighting director currently on tour with Michal Menert and Gramatik, both signed under the Pretty Lights record label.
EDM concerts today provide more than a show to audiences. They encourage dancing, new friends, light shows, heavy bass and new sounds—in other words, a big, fat party.
“Going to an electronic music show is like participating in a collective celebration with people who share your passion. Your passion for good beats, spectacular visuals, physical expression,” said Jennifer Piemonte, who has been to raves and EDM concerts.
The collision of rock, rave and bass has made its way into the mainstream concert circuit.
“Popular music is not a genre but a tornado that meanders through genres," said Sumberg. "This stop is really about the experience. The ideal situation is not listening to dance music on headphones. It’s being around people, being there and being fucked up."
Although EDM has enjoyed popularity in the past — in raves and European clubs, for example — it has never hit the American mainstream until now.
A mainstream artist, David Guetta, is in the number one slot on DJ Mag’s “Top100 DJs” list. “This year was the first time we've seen a mainstream artist win, knocking Armin van Buuren to number two for the first time in five years,” said Russell.
However, EDM still has a ways to go. Russell looks forward to the day when the public can navigate the scene to learn the correct lingo and find good music. To those who already do, he says: “Thank you for not calling it techno.” |
I MET PASTORS Harvey, Alton, Charles, and Joel in Houston’s 5th Ward, a black neighborhood that in 1979 earned the title of “the most vicious quarter of Texas.” I was drawn there by a sermon I’d preached on Psalm 23 called “An experiment in crossing borders.” In it I asked my congregation, “What border is God leading you to cross? And who is waiting for you on the other side?”
Little did I know the profound impact that sermon would have on me.
Nearly five years later, I remember when these men stopped being “pastors at black churches on the other side of the 5th Ward border” and became “my people,” deeply connected as members of the body of Christ.
It was a moment of profound truth-telling, when I realized I was controlled more by the values of Western “racialized” culture than I was by the liberating gospel of Jesus and the alternative community to which I had given my life. It became clear to me that I’d affirmed myself and my identity through the lies of racial privilege, and done so at the expense of my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Michael Emerson, a sociologist from Rice University, provides us helpful language to understand how race works. Rather than analyzing racism (concretized for most of us through powerful images of slavery, hooded white supremacists, separate drinking fountains, and individual acts of hate), he invites us to analyze how our society is racialized. |
Building a startup is marathon, not a sprint. A marathon that doesn’t have a definitive route, and no roadmap for what you’ll encounter on your way. In many ways, founding a startup requires the same training strategies as running a marathon.
1. Take long runs on the weekends
Marathon runners take long runs on the weekends, in addition to their training throughout the week, just like many startups begin as part-time weekend projects while the founders are still working full-time. There’s a passion burning that’s driving them to pursue it, but making the exit from corporate without a well thought-out plan is scary, unsustainable, and perhaps even foolish.
You want to shape your project enough so that you don’t to end up with buyer’s remorse. Quitting your job and then feeling that you’ve made a huge mistake will not result in good things for you, and especially for your startup. You wouldn’t buy a car without test driving it, and you wouldn’t buy a house without making sure the foundation is stable. You want to find out if your idea has traction, and what better way than to pretend you’re running the marathon on the weekends.
2. Go slow
When training for a marathon, runners usually go slower than their marathon pace. This is because consistent training at a slower pace results in better running. Even during the race, runners start slow so that they don’t tire out too quickly. In building a startup, it’s important to keep this pace to avoid burnout. Burnout has negative effects on everything from your health to your job performance. While building a startup, you want to be focused and clear headed, not running on fumes. And going slow also allows you to notice opportunities that come up on the way that you might otherwise miss if you only had the finish line in mind. Go slow and refine your ideas because you have a long way to go.
3. Train on hills
Marathon runners train on hills because the incline helps them prepare better. They intentionally create resistance just so that running the actual marathon will feel easier. In a startup, you simply need to embrace hills because there will be a lot of them along the way. Each challenge is an opportunity for learning, and the learning never stops. Of course, the learning curve will be steeper in the beginning, but just when you think you’ve solved one problem, there will be another one that comes up. Instead of becoming frustrated, take the resistance as a training opportunity that will give you an advantage in the race.
4. Rest and hydrate
This one you is quite literal, although there is more to it than sleeping and drinking water. When you’re working 18 hours a day for at least your first year, it’s easy to forget to take care of yourself. Getting the work done becomes more important than yourself, yet you are the one who is fuelling the work.
Long distance running requires rest and hydration. Building a startup requires stamina, a clear mind and creativity. To fuel these things, you need good sleep and water, but you also need to ‘hydrate’ your mind with knowledge and take care of your health so that you can maintain high energy levels.
5. It gets easier with time
Training for a marathon and building a startup are both very hard at first, but get easier with time. Even though you will constantly be learning, your startup ‘muscles’ will adjust and it will become easier to respond to the challenges that come up as you’re perfecting your technique. But exactly because it gets easier with time, it’s important to constantly work harder, push the boundaries and not become complacent.
6. The race will start with a sea of runners, but few will make it to the finish line
You start the marathon together with many runners - some of them your friends, some of them just other runners, but you will find a feeling of camaraderie like in few other places. Here at Sandglaz, we learned this during our time in TechStars. And because you’re around people who are going through the same things as you, knowing your limitations and knowing when it’s time to ask for help will become skills vital to your survival.
Finally, while it’s important to stay flexible, don’t undermine the need for a good action plan. Training for a marathon requires a hydration plan, a nutrition plan, a pace plan. It requires you to have enough energy to go the whole distance. If you have a plan on how to use the scarce resources that you have, you will be more likely to cross the finish line.
How are you training for the startup marathon? Share your tips with us in the comment section below. |
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian state news agency on Friday attacked U.S. military plans to train and equip Syrian rebels, saying they amounted to support for terrorists.
The plan is part of the U.S. strategy to roll back the Islamic State group that has seized much of eastern and northern Syria. Senior U.S. officials met Syrian opposition and civil society leaders in Istanbul this week to discuss the program.
A Pentagon spokesman told Reuters on Thursday the U.S. military is planning to deploy more than 400 troops to help train the Syrian rebels. “Washington continues supporting terrorism in Syria and announces its intention to send 400 soldiers to train the terrorists,” the state news agency SANA said.
The Syrian government has depicted the entire armed opposition as terrorists since civil war erupted in 2011.
The insurgency is today dominated by hardline Islamist groups including Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. The non-jihadist opposition has little presence.
The United States has not yet said exactly which elements of the opposition it plans to train, though it says the support will go to moderates.
Syria has said it is ready to be part of an international effort to fight Islamic State. But the United States, which is leading a coalition in air strikes against Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq, has said President Bashar al-Assad is part of the problem. |
Seven songs, three debutants, four returnees but only two acts advancing direct to the final. It’s game on at Melodifestivalen 2017!
On Thursday, Swedish broadcaster SVT finally shared a sneak peak of the acts competing to sing for Sweden at Eurovision. As in previous years producers shared 30-second rehearsal clips. But this year — and for the first time ever — they also shared one-minute cuts of the studio versions of each song. In the past they’ve waited until Saturday.
In addition to determining two finalists, Saturday’s heat in Gothenburg will also result in two acts heading to the Andra Chansen (or Second Chance round). The remaining three acts will be left in the cold. Dreams crushed. But iTunes release on!
We’ve already debated the merits of each entry in our Semi-Final 1 preview video, which you can watch below. But we want to know: Who are your favourites to win based on the first set of clips? You can vote for as many of your favourite(s) as you want, but you can only vote one time. Be sure to click the box next to each of your favourites before pressing submit.
Melodifestivalen 2017: Semi-Final 1 Preview
Melodifestivalen 2017: Deltävling 1 Gothenburg
1. Boris René – “Her Kiss”
Read the “Her Kiss” lyrics
2. Adrijana – “Amare”
Read the “Amare” lyrics
3. Dinah Nah – “One More Night”
Read the “One More Night” lyrics
4. De Vet Du – “Road Trip”
Read the “Road Trip” lyrics
5. Charlotte Perrelli – “Mitt liv”
6. Ace Wilder – “Wild Child”
Read the “Wild Child” lyrics
7. Nano – “Hold On”
Read the “Hold On” lyrics
Poll: Who should win semi-final 1 of Melodifestivalen 2017?
Photo: Janne Danielsson/SVT, collage by wiwibloggs |
In a letter to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, who has prioritised job growth in his latest strategy report, Italy said “the time has come to rethink strategy”, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Italy urged the EU to “change its political and economic agenda in order to boost jobs and growth” and called on the European Commission’s new president to be “bold and innovative” with ""respect for EU rules but capable of thinking outside the box”, ANSA reported.
The letter comes a week ahead of Italy taking over the presidency of the Council of the EU.
Van Rompuy will present his EU strategy report at a summit in Brussels later this week. After years of austerity, he has prioritized growth, especially when it comes to creating jobs and fighting youth unemployment, according to a draft statement of the report on Monday.
“Several important challenges await our society,” the statement said. “Although economic recovery is gaining ground in Europe, unemployment is still at high levels, especially among young people.”
Establishing a common policy on migration, and managing emergency situations as a community, is also on the agenda.
More than 50,000 people have arrived on Italy’s shores since the start of the year, equalling the total number for all of 2013, according to figures from the Italian government. Some 2,200 have arrived in nearby Malta.
Energy efficiency is also an area of concern for the EU, with Van Rompuy calling on the union to come up with better policies for reducing waste and investing in green and renewable energy sources. |
— Impacts from diverting traffic would be “overall negligible” – report.
— Sight loss charity says shared areas should not be used.
— Boardwalk option would include walking/cycling conflicts.
An alternative solution for the Liffey Cycle Route, Option 8, will cost up to €3 million extra than the ‘safer’ Option 7, which diverts cars off Ellis Quay. Both options strive to solve the issue of dealing with walking, cycling, buses and general traffic at pinch-points on the north quays near Smithfield.
The Dublin City transport committee on May 3 agreed to request that Dublin City Council management prepares a report on the environmental, financial, and traffic impacts of both Option 7 and 8, by October at the latest.
Brendan O’Brien, head of technical services in the transport section of the council, said “The boardwalk is probably to going to add €2.5 to €3 million onto the cost of the project.”
He said that the a proposed shared surface between the James Joyce Bridge and the Rory O’More Bridge would include a painted line on the surface separating walking and cycling.
This would mean that there would be a 2 metres wide two-way cycle lane against the quay wall, with a 0.85 metre footpath surface between the cycle route and the traffic lane. Both areas would be sub-standard compared to widths outlined in Irish design guidance. The details are outline in a draft drawing available on the council’s website.
O’Brien said Option 7 is “a much better option” with less conflicts, but said Option 8 was designed to offer “a way forward.” The boardwalk design would also include cutting into the structure of the James Joyce Bridge.
Because of the two proposed boardwalks, Option 8 would likely require an Environmental Impact Assessment, research to test the strength of the quay wall, flood modelling work, and will require a foreshore licence which would need to be approved by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Councillor and groups have mixed reaction
Cllr Ray Mc Adam (FG), who was a guest at the meeting, said he did not believe option 7 was the correct route to take. He said: “I understand that it is a significant cycling project, but it is much more than a cycling project, if Option 7 was advanced it would represent a significant change to the management of traffic in this city.”
Cllr Mannix Flynn (independent) said he was against Option 7 and that Option 8 was “very good, fine solution.”
Cllr Ray McHugh (SF) said he would support Option 7 because Option 8 would create a bottleneck and also create conflict between cyclists and pedestrians. He said Option 7 would be the safer solution.
Despite a Dublin City Council report stating that the air quality changes would be “overall negligible” and “at worse minor”, the lord mayor, Cllr Brendan Carr (Labour), a guest at the meeting, said that Option 7 would be detrimental to residents because of extra fumes “and that’s my full understanding of it”. Cllr Carr claimed that Option 8 would give cyclists “everything they want”.
Cllr Ciarán O’Moore (SF) said in Clontarf that there was a €6 million cycle route and it’s “only families” who use it and there are “lunatics in lycra gear” staying on the road. He said he wanted to defer a vote until September when the Luas works were finished.
Richard Guiney, CEO of DublinTown, said: “Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but I think Option 8 is one we could support.” As we already reported, DublinTown said that the sub-standard shared pedestrian and cycling path will make for a “good compromise” and “excellent cycle route”.
Cllr Paddy Smyth (FG) said: “We should never let perfect be the enemy of good but Option 8 stretches that credo to its limit… If half the predicted increase in cyclists appears, there’s going to be a huge amount of conflict with pedestrians.”
“I want to get it straight in my head, the manager is recommending an option which is markable substandard compared to the previous design… when the impacts are ranked as negligible,” added Cllr Smyth.
Cllr Paul Hand (independent) said: “I think it’s a bit strange to spend an extra €2.5 to €3 million on a proposed Option 8 when Option 7 is better value for money and I think the concerns that people have are not necessarily true — there may be short-term increases in traffic but you’re also providing a world-class piece of cycling infrastructure which will see a long-term reduction in traffic volumes. That’s the point why you build cycling infrastructure.”
Fiona Kielty, a representative of the sight loss charity NCBI, said that a white line separating the walking and cycling spaces between two bridges in Option 8 would not be enough for a person who is visually impaired.
Kielty said: “Regardless of which option goes ahead, accessible pedestrian crossing should be provided where you are not sharing a crossing in such a way that a visually impaired person will have to cope with cyclists crossing when they are trying to cross. And getting in each other way.”
Cllr Jane Horgan-Jones (Labour) said that she is going to support Option 7 but said she her contribution to the meeting might sound confused as she has concerns about traffic diversions. She said: “I’m supporting Option 7 because after comparing the two options, it’s the safer for cyclists. We’ve had a spate of cyclists deaths in the city, one of whom was a former colleague of mine.”
Keith Gavin of the Irish Parking Association said: “For what it’s worth, We’d give a less than wholehearted welcome to Option 8. It is an improvement in our opinion to what was on offer in Option 7, in that it is less punitive to private car user who have already been clobbered by the other [planned traffic] measures.”
Gavin objected to a report showing low impacts from Option 7 being released shortly before the meeting and he said these were “completely subjective” and using them to argue for Option 7 was “completely bogus”.
Colm Ryder of the Dublin Cycling Campaign congratulated the council staff on their initiative approach, but said Option 8 was like “trying to put a square peg into a round hole”.
He said the conflicts in Option 8 of mixing cycling and pedestrians would be off putting to commuters cycling along the quays. He also questioned why further studies, including a proper traffic impact assessment, on Option 7 were not progressed as had been promised.
Ryder said: “We also have to remember that the Liffey is not just a commuter route, it’s the city. Anna Livia (the personification of the River Liffey). It’s the historic context that we need to consider and where we’re going as a city into the future.”
Cllr Ciaran Cuffe said: “I think many of us, particularly the local councillors, are caught between a rock and a hard place.” The air and noise report, he said only “came to light at the 11th hour” and he had yet to fully digest it.
He said there are real concerns from some residents of the area and the report could include looking at “area-wide traffic calming because there’s huge variation between the fears and concerns of some people and perhaps the actual scientific evidence on what the implications would be.”
Brendan O’Brien said the air and noise modelling report (which was referred to in a report issued the previous week) was issued after councillors requested it, not an attempt to issue information at the last minute.
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The NFL has tweaked once again the rules regarding the pre-snap positioning of the official in charge of keeping his eyes on the trenches.
The league has announced that the umpire will remain behind the offense with the referee when the football moves inside the defense’s five yard line.
Previously, the umpire moved from behind the offensive line to a position behind the defensive line except during the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters, and when the offensive had moved inside the five. Now, the umpire will be behind the defensive line only in the final two minutes of either half.
The change also applies to the two-point conversion attempt, and the release from the league acknowledges that an increase in two-point tries is expected given the move of the one-point kick to the 15.
“It specifically addresses game action when the offense gets close to the goal line,” the league said, “which effectively shrinks the field, giving the umpire less room to maneuver among the players and increasing the chances of the official getting hit.”
Five years ago, the league moved the umpire to the offensive backfield to take him out of the zone of potential accidental contact. It was noted then that changes of this nature can be made at the direction of the Commissioner and without ownership approval. |
Black Pepper May Give You A Kick, But Don't Count On It For Weight Loss
Is black pepper the new secret weapon against fat? A recent paper in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry claims that the piperine, an ingredient in black pepper, has the power to stop the body from making new fat cells, and could be used to treat obesity.
Enlarge this image toggle caption iStockphoto.com iStockphoto.com
Now before you run out and buy yourself a pepper grinder and a pint of ice cream, it's worth noting that the studies were done on cells grown in a petri dish. And not even human cells — mouse cells — loaded with concentrations of piperine 100 times higher than what one might ever achieve in the bloodstream.
"That's not to say that pepper might not have some really interesting effects," Michael Jensen, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, tells The Salt.
Turns out there is some limited evidence that pepper, ginger- and other spicy foods might actually benefit your metabolism. There are a number of studies showing that capsaicin — the stuff that gives chili peppers their heat — can rev-up the motor of our metabolism – and some of them have even been done on humans. Even mild peppers contain it, as we've reported before.
But the effects are modest at best. At least one study suggests that the function of capsaicin may be to suppress appetite, rather than increase calorie or fat burning.
Still, those modest benefits are enough to spark claims that extracts of these spices are the next weight loss miracle. Capsules of cayenne or piperine extracts can be found online or in the nutritional supplement section of your local drug store, and dozens of manufacturers include them in products that claim to promote weight loss.
But researchers at Purdue University have found some evidence that it may not be enough to just take a pill — you have to actually taste the pepper to make it effective. That same research showed that the metabolic effects are strongest in people who don't normally eat spicy food, and the effects may only be temporary.
With regard to the current study, Mike Jensen says that even if black pepper can prevent new fat cells from forming in humans the same way it prevents mouse fat cells from forming in a petri dish, that might not be such a good thing.
"I'm not poo-poo-ing pepper. It may have some beneficial effects. Just maybe not through the mechanism they are proposing," says Jensen.
So the next time the attentive wait staff at your favorite bistro asks you if you'd like some freshly ground pepper on your fifteen dollar Caesar salad, should you say yes?
"If you like it," says Jensen, "But it's probably not going to make you skinny."
Apparently, in the war against fat, saying no to the freshly grated Parmesan cheese is going to be more effective than saying yes to the black pepper. It's a cruel, cruel world. |
Questrade Offers Commission Free ETFs and Weekend Links
Seems that the competition is rising among the low cost stock brokerages in Canada! The hot ticket these days seem to be free ETF trades which started with Scotia iTrade followed by Virtual Brokers. Both brokerages have their own selection of ETFs available for free trades.
It was only a matter of time before low cost provider Questrade got into the game – which they have, but have stepped it up a notch. Questrade is offering no commissions on purchases of any ETFs, however, there will be their regular $4.95 commission on selling. For those of you unfamiliar with Questrade, here is my Questrade review.
How Does it Work?
This is straight from the Questrade website:
You’ll pay the ETF commission at the time of purchase, but we’ll rebate you in two business days There are no minimum number of shares you have to buy. Hold them for as long as you’d like Buying ETFs for free is only available if you’re trading on one of the Questrade IQ platforms ECN fees or any other incidentals charged by the markets are your responsibility Your standard commissions will apply when you sell an ETF
Who benefits?
I can see this new incentive working best with index investors who buy, but rarely sell. This is a great way to keep portfolio fee drag as low as possible. Perhaps the biggest advantage of this offer is that investors can choose any ETF without restriction. Here is an example of a low cost index ETF portfolio using Vanguard and iShares ETFs.
I’m not sure if this deal is enough to convince an investor to switch from their current brokerage, but it’s a great deal for current account holders like me!
Weekend Links
Sony points collector? Sign up for the free Mastercard for 10k points @ Canadian Money Forum
Housing Affordability Metrics @ Michael James on Money
3 Ways Larger Families Can Save on Accommodations When Vacationing @ Sustainable Personal Finance
The proper use of RRSPs: the one formula approach @ Retire Happy Blog
3 Golden Rules to Rid Yourself of Debt @ My Own Advisor
Is Your Portfolio Truly Diverse? @ Canadian Finance Blog
Group RESP Plans are Loaded with Fees @ Canadian Capitalist
How Mobile Technology Can Improve Your Health @ Boomer and Echo
Can You Make Money from Survey Sites? @ Financial Highway
Buying Time @ Canadian Dream Free at 45
How To Eat Healthy & Inexpensively @ The Digerati Life
Easy Things You Can Do to Save You Money @ Lazy Man and Money
What to Do After Paying Off Debt @ Money Smart Life
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If you would like to read more articles like this, you can sign up for myweekly money tips newsletter below (we will never spam you). |
Season Finale! It was a hum-dinger!
The definitive comic moment tonight, and the one that’s a BIG, crazy moment from the comics, is the attempted rape of Carl by bandits. The players and situation have changed a bit, but a lot of the action and the fall out is the same.
In the comic (issue 57, Volume 10: What We Become), Rick, Abraham, and Carl take a side trip to Rick and Carl’s hometown to check for supplies at the police station and the check on Morgan and Duane. Their first night out, they’re held at gunpoint by a small group of men.
When Carl is endangered, Rick fights back, but ends up in a bear hug, his arms trapped at his sides.
Rick goes full savage, ripping Joe’s throat out like a walker.
With just Carl’s attempted rapist left, Rick insists on killing him himself, and it’s not pleasant.
You can see that in the show, Rick’s actions are almost identical. Granted, this time it’s “The Claimers” (as the fans have been calling Daryl’s group) and not some nameless bandits. Also, it’s Michonne who Rick is with, not Abraham (whom he has yet to meet).
It changes Rick in both cases, but in the comic, Abraham is the one who ends up confessing a troubled history of his own ruthlessness. In the show, Rick confesses his fears about his humanity to an understanding Daryl. In both cases, Carl listens in.
The last big thing that we’re able to show you is the very end of the show, which hopefully was VERY familiar to comic readers, even if the setting and situation isn’t exactly the same. This is from the final panel of issue 64 from Volume 11: Fear the Hunters.
What did we miss, or what do you THINK we missed? We can’t give everything away, you know. 😉 |
Stephen Werther, the retail entrepreneur who is one of Mr. Bourdain’s partners in the venture, was more succinct: “People want Tony’s shows to come to life.”
New York has had an explosion of megamarkets and food halls over the last five years, but this one promises to be different for several reasons, starting with its epic size: 155,000 square feet, dwarfing the city’s other food markets. The project’s ambition and risks are formidable, most notably the task of securing visas for scores of small overseas vendors, then transporting and housing them here.
“It’s going to involve a lot of visas, a big challenge,” Mr. Werther said.
Still, some question whether the city, with its wealth of recent immigrants, and their foods, needs to import new options.
“What about the tiny storefronts here, little places with delicious hand-cut noodles in Chinatown?” said Clark Wolf, a restaurant consultant. “It will be interesting to see how the cultures connect: hawkers from the Far East and workers from Queens. Is the endgame to help immigrant hawkers everywhere, or is it just an entertainment for wealthy New Yorkers?”
The project is envisioned as a public market, patterned after models like Pike Place Market in Seattle. Such markets are economic engines for their communities, drawing locals as well as tourists and serving as incubators for small businesses that may move on to bigger stages. They do not allow chain or franchise operations.
Image Victor Churchill butcher shop in Australia is among the planned vendors. Credit Paul Gosney
Madelyn Wils, the president of the Hudson River Park Trust, which oversees use of the pier, said she had expected the property to be put to commercial use. “But there would be no mall, no food court,” she said. “It has to be democratic and serve the community; what they’re doing fits perfectly with our vision. We don’t really have a true public market in New York anymore.”
Pier 57, a shipping terminal built in 1952 and vacant since 2003, is owned by the city and the state, which have leased it to Youngwoo & Associates, a real estate developer, and RXR Realty. The Bourdain market has a binding agreement with the two. |
LAS VEGAS – Ford wants to make AppLink the Android of automotive app architectures.
In an unprecedented move for the auto industry, Ford is giving the system underpinning its Sync AppLink to any automaker who wants it, at no cost and with no restrictions on what they do with it. That would help automakers quickly and easily advance their infotainment systems, bring countless new developers into the automotive sector and provide consumers with more apps and options.
Ford’s motives aren’t entirely altruistic. It wants to dominate the emerging infotainment space by leveraging the success of AppLink and Sync, much like Google used Android in the smartphone sector.
"We want to create the highest-volume architecture in the industry," Doug VanDagens, Ford’s director of connected services, told Wired. "The ease at which [developers] can develop is important to them, and we believe we’re leading in tools and implementation."
Automotive app developers find themselves in much the same position smartphone developers did a few years ago. Not long ago, Apple’s iOS was the top priority, Android was just coming to the fore and everyone else was an afterthought because it was simply too big a hassle to develop a product for every OS.
The automotive app space is following a similar pattern. Every automaker features a different consumer-facing platform, so developers must work with a variety of APIs and SDKs. It's annoying but doable for a massive outfit like Pandora, but damn near impossible for small developers. That’s where AppLink comes in. By offering AppLink to any automaker or Tier 1 supplier (the folks who build the hardware) and providing a universal API and SDK, Ford expands an app’s footprint across the industry and brings more developers into the Ford fold.
"It’s a bold move by Ford, which may lead to faster industry adoption of in-vehicle applications," said Thilo Koslowski, an auto industry analyst at Gartner. "But it also underlines the challenge for automakers to attract application developers. No developer can afford to do custom work for every automaker."
The fly in the ointment is the fact many automakers have invested great time and money developing their own app platforms. They want to control and maintain their own ecosystem, just like Google, Apple and Microsoft. A General Motors exec, requesting anonymity to speak frankly about Ford’s plan, said adopting AppLink would be immensely risky because of the resulting loss of control.
"Will we get the latest updates or will we have to wait until Ford is willing to share?" he said.
That is one of many questions competing automakers have. The other big issue is how AppLink will fit into current architectures. If it has access to core vehicle services such as vehicle diagnostics, it won’t gain any traction. Automakers don’t want a competitor’s nose that far into their business. And of course, there’s the issue of branding. No one but Ford wants Ford’s logo on a product.
Ford says AppLink can be platform-agnostic and insists that it has no interest in contributing branding, only the underlying architecture.
Developers have shown plenty of interest in AppLink. Well over 4,000 have registered for access, and that undoubtedly will climb as Ford’s pushes to make AppLink an industry standard. To that end, Ford is extending its API support, bringing multiple languages to market, and will even offer an emulator so coders can test apps without having to get an infotainment system – or an entire vehicle – from Ford.
And then there’s the aftermarket, which with the exception of Pioneer, has been slow to integrate apps into their head units. That could change with a more robust architecture, but Ford will wait until others get on board. That may be a conservative first step, but courting the aftermarket has the potential to get even more developers into the fray.
"Ford’s move could allow other automakers, [consumer electronics] companies and developers to stop reinventing the wheel," says Koslowski. "But those automakers that want to achieve strong brand differentiation with mobile apps will likely continue with their own effort."
That would be a shame for consumers, but the automotive OS war is just heating up, and only a handful of platforms will win out in the long-term. |
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came out swinging Wednesday night, but it's going to take more than just fighting words to win over the independent and undecided voters who hold the election in their hands.
Gov. Sarah Palin's speech Wednesday night fired up Republican delegates.
Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention marked her first major address as the Republican vice presidential candidate.
The Alaska governor tore into Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as two-faced, arrogant and unable to lead while she painted Republican candidate John McCain as courageous reformer who is ready to take charge.
Her prime time address was full of humor and sarcasm. Her tone was a hit with delegates watching in St. Paul, Minnesota, but it didn't resonate well with everyone outside of the Republican circle.
"She came across as angry and overconfident," said Kuntal Warwick, an independent voter from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Palin had little to say about policy, and her speech was full "of smugness and mockery," Warwick said.
Independents like Warwick, combined with voters who have yet to make up their mind, are the ones who could decide who ends up in the White House. Watch what iReporters think about the speech »
"The base of the Democratic and Republican parties -- their votes are predictable," said John Avlon, author of "Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics." "It's the swing voters who decide who's going to carry the balance of power, who will ultimately win that election state-by-state and even nationwide."
Avlon didn't have a problem with Palin's tone. He said her humor and confidence will probably appeal to the independents, but it's the lack of substance that will leave that group in search of something more. Grade the speech »
Independent voters tend to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal, and they usually vote for the more centrist candidates. iReport.com: What do you think of Palin?
Palin's speech touched on her fiscal record, but her far-right stance on social issues, which Avlon says "could be a real wedge with independent voters," were largely unmentioned. Watch analysts discuss the good, the bad and the ugly »
"I think she has really helped close the enthusiasm gap which existed and really energized them," Avlon said, but "there is a substance gap that still exists, things we don't know about Sarah Palin in terms of what policy she supports."
Palin's zingers got the crowd on its feet. The Republican delegates watching at the convention crowned her the "quintessential American."
Kansas state Sen. Karin Brownlee said Palin "can do a one-two punch better than Muhammad Ali," and Utah state Sen. Mark Madsen said the speech would leave Obama and running mate Joe Biden "quaking in their boots."
Even the Obama campaign gave her kudos for delivering a "tremendous speech," but the campaign said her bare-knuckled approach could come at a cost.
"A lot of people came in not knowing who she was, and I think whenever a political candidate makes a speech that is heavy with contrast like last night's was, that is going to move people to your side, and it's going to move people away from you. That's not a zero-sum game," said Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications chief.
Instead of running a "NoBama" campaign, Avlon says, McCain and Palin need to remind independents why they liked McCain so much during his 2000 presidential run. This time around, they need to sell the story of a team of mavericks, unafraid of charging into Washington as independent reformers, he said.
During his last White House run, McCain was known as a maverick who challenged the Republican-led Congress on overspending, corruption and campaign finance reform.
CNN contributor Paul Begala said that Palin is the "new hero of the Republican right" but that her attack-dog style wasn't what the independents and swing voters want to hear.
"They're very impressed with Barack Obama's appeal for healing and unity. And what they really want to vote on is health care, jobs, the economy; basic middle-class kitchen-table issues," he said.
But Stephen Hayes, a senior writer with The Weekly Standard, said she might have what it takes to woo voters to her side.
"You look at the kinds of arguments she was making last night. A lot of the arguments went back to the narrative that Republicans are trying to battle about Barack Obama being elitist, about him being too -- caring too much about himself, not enough about his country.
"It could be a pretty effective line of attack, especially if she can deliver it with a smile," he said.
But looking back to the last election, it's not a method that worked well for John Kerry. His attempts to motivate people on the basis of being anti-Bush backfired, and Avlon says the same thing will happen to McCain and Palin if they fuel their campaign with negativity.
Her impact on the independents and undecideds will depend on what storyline those voters believe, Avlon said.
"Will they see this as just a political selection on the part of McCain?" he asked. "Or will they see this appointment as I think the McCain camp would like to see it, which is a reform governor who is a fiscal conservative who rooted out corruption in her own party?"
CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand contributed to this report.
All About Sarah Palin • John McCain • Republican Party |
An American military airstrike in Yemen has killed Abu Khattab al-Awlaqi, a “trusted and experienced” emir of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and two of his colleagues, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced.
Citing a statement from CENTCOM, the Pentagon notes:
Al Awlaqi was a senior leader responsible for planning and conducting terrorist attacks against civilians… He had significant influence throughout al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula’s terrorist stronghold, had ties and access to the group’s other senior leaders, and was implicated in planning and leading efforts to exacerbate instability in southern Yemen… Al Awlaqi’s death removes a trusted and experienced terrorist leader from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula’s ranks.
The U.S. military killed the AQAP chief on June 16.
CENTCOM reports:
U.S. forces conducted an airstrike against three al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula militants in Shabwah Governorate, Yemen, June 16, to disrupt terrorist compounds, and attack networks in Yemen. Abu Khattab al Awlaqi, the emir for AQAP’s terrorist stronghold in Shabwah Governorate, was killed in the strike along with two of his AQAP associates.
President Donald Trump’s administration has escalated U.S. military efforts against Yemen’s AQAP, considered the most potent al-Qaeda branch that poses the biggest threat to the United States.
U.S. troops, in coordination with the Yemeni government, have been carrying out a series of counterterrorism operations against AQAP to degrade the terrorist group’s ability to hold territory and conduct external terror attacks, according to CENTCOM.
Since Trump took office, the U.S. military has launched an excess of 80 airstrikes against al-Qaeda, more than double the average of those carried out over the past five years, points out Fox News.
The recent airstrike killed the AQAP emir in Yemen’s Shabwah governorate where the jihadist group has established a stronghold that allows it to plot attacks against the United States and its allies across the world.
AQAP has capitalized on the security and political chaos in Yemen to recruit fighters, expand its influence, and capture territory.
Moreover, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s nearly single-minded focus to defeat the Iran-allied Shiite Houthis in Yemen has allowed the Sunni AQAP group to flourish.
AQAP claims it receives support from the U.S.-backed Saudi-led Sunni alliance.
“In recent years, AQAP has taken advantage of ungoverned spaces in Yemen to plot, direct and inspire terror attacks against the U.S., its citizens and allies around the world,” notes the Pentagon.
The Saudi-led alliance has been fighting in Yemen since March of 2015. AQAP is “building an emirate” in Yemen, Thomas Joscelyn from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) told lawmakers in March.
Echoing the claims from the terrorist group, the FDD expert noted that “some of AQAP’s leaders are also partnered with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and [U.S.-backed Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour] Hadi’s government in the war against the Houthis.” |
: The Election Commission is yet to declare the dates when the Gujarat Assembly goes to polls, but the parties have already entered the yatra mode. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi completed the first phase of his Navsarjan Gujarat Yatra earlier this week, and BJP president Amit Shah kicked off party's Gujarat Gaurav Yatra on Sunday.Shah started the campaign from Karamsad, the birthplace of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It's not just about the Yatras anymore in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state. The BJP is countering Congress' "Vikas Gone Crazy" slogan with "I am Vikas, I am Gujarat", an attempt to connect state's development with its pride and identity.Flagging off the Gujarat Gaurav Yatra, BJP president Amit Shah told the gathering, "A lot of developmental work and people-oriented progress has been done by the Narendra Modi government in the past three years. It is the duty of our karyakartas to go and explain this to the people."Shah, then, took potshots at Rahul Gandhi, saying, "You are asking us to give an account of the progress made by us. What about the injustice that three generations have done to Gujarat."Also speaking on the occasion, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said: "For the Congress, development, and growth must be a matter of joke, but for the BJP, it is a matter of pride. A matter of Gujarati pride."Quite clearly, Rupani was referring to the onslaught of "Vikas Gone Crazy" memes on social media that have rattled the BJP leadership over the past one month or so.State BJP president Jitu Vaghani said that since 2002, the Congress had been trying to derail progress and development in Gujarat. "But the people of Gujarat have rejected the Congress over and over again, and these elections are not going to be any different," he said.Meanwhile, a group of Patidar youth tried to disrupt the speech of BJP President Amit Shah at Anand. They raised slogans - 'Jay Sardar Jay Patidar' - before the police stepped in and took them away. A fortnight ago, Patidars had protested against the Narmada Rath Yatra as well in various parts of Saurashtra and North Gujarat.Four such Gujarat Gaurav Yatras will begin from Central Gujarat, Saurashtra, North Gujarat and South Gujarat and culminate in Ahmedabad in a massive BJP rally that is likely to be addressed by Prime Minister Modi later in October. |
Alisa Vox, formerly a singer in the Russian rock band Leningrad, released a new music video on Monday, titled “Baby Boy.” In the song, Vox mocks a young man for participating in political protests, describing him as a naive underachiever who should focus on his studies, rather than “get into politics.”
“Baby Boy” follows several classroom scandals in recent months, where teachers and lecturers at Russian high schools and universities have been filmed berating students for attending nationwide anti-corruption demonstrations organized by Alexei Navalny on March 26.
In late March, for example, a lecturer at Tomsk State University called his students “freaks” for going to the protests. Two days later, a nearby high school teacher told his classroom that “liberalism is freedom for subhumans.”
Alisa Vox performed in the band Leningrad from 2012 until her stormy exit in March 2016, two months after the group’s smash hit “Eksponat” (Exhibit), where she sang lead vocals. In July 2016, she released a solo album called “On My Own.”
While Leningrad’s founder and lead member, Sergey Shnurov, is generally viewed as a Putin critic, Vox’s “Baby Boy” insults the protesters who marched against corruption on March 26, implying that they are “puppets” being manipulated by Alexei Navalny with promises of “gold and euros.”
Not one to avoid promises of her own, Vox concludes her song by offering Russia’s angry young men “freedom, money, women, and even power,” so long as they cut out the anti-government activism.
The Moscow Times offers a complete, rhyming translation of Vox’s song, punctuated with memorable moments from the musical video. |
Apple wants to have major Hollywood films available in ultra-high definition on the new device, expected to go on sale later this year. However, it wants to charge $19.99 for those movies—on par with what it sometimes charges for new HD movies, the people with knowledge of the discussions said. Several Hollywood studios want to charge $5 to $10 more for 4K movies, the people said.
Apple is said to be "scrambling" to strike deals with movie studios in Hollywood regarding the exact prices of 4K movies in the iTunes Store, taking places just weeks ahead of the rumored debut of the new 4K Apple TV in mid-September While the talks have been ongoing for some time, discussions have been recently hampered by disagreements over the pricing of 4K movie purchases, according to sources close to the talks (via The Wall Street Journal ). Apple wants to charge $19.99 for 4K movie purchases in its digital iTunes Store, the same price it currently charges for newly-released HD films.However, many Hollywood studios it has talked with are pushing back on that price point and are looking to charge customers a premium for the new 4K content: $25 to $30 for a 4K movie in iTunes.Apple is said to be trying to finish these discussions well before September 12, the currently rumored date that will see the unveiling of the new 4K Apple TV, iPhone 8, iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, Apple Watch Series 3, and more software-related announcements. As iTunes loses market share to companies like Amazon and Comcast, Apple is hoping that a revitalized Apple TV streaming box with 4K content -- which many rival devices have already supported -- will help boost iTunes sales into the last half of 2017 and the new year.In other Hollywood-related talks, earlier this month it was reported that multiple studios were pushing forward with a plan to offer digital movie rentals mere weeks after they appear in theaters. Studios like Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. were said to be in talks with partners, including Apple, to offer movies in iTunes as early as 17 days after their theatrical debut for about $50, or four to six weeks from release for $30. |
The Senate rejected a proposal Wednesday that would have repealed major parts of the Affordable Care Act, but Republican leaders were growing more confident about their chances of passing a more modest overhaul of the health care law later this week.
Republicans appeared to be coalescing around a "skinny repeal" that would abolish the individual and employer insurance mandates and perhaps just one tax in an attempt to sustain their seven-year quest to unwind President Barack Obama's health-care law. But even if they succeed – and start negotiations with the House - they will face significant obstacles in accomplishing anything more substantial.
Top Republicans such as Sen. John Thune, S.D., the chamber's third-ranking Republican, said that although leaders have not yet found "the sweet spot" between conservatives and centrists, they had picked up support for a more modest plan because it did not include deep cuts to Medicaid. Some Republican senators were simply open to any legislation that could keep alive the roller-coaster push for an overhaul.
"We're edging closer and closer" to getting 50 votes for a bare-bones plan, Thune said. He said leaders were betting that some Republicans who defected on votes this week would feel more pressure to support any bill that emerged from negotiations with the House to face a final vote in the Senate.
"Voting on something at the end of the process when it's the only train leaving the station ... I think that's a different vote for a lot of people," he said.
More than half a dozen centrists from states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act objected to the original Senate draft that was considered on Tuesday night. It would have cut the program for low-income Americans by $772 billion over 10 years and curtailed its long-term growth rate.
Yet even if Republicans agree on a minimalist plan to alter the ACA, uniting with their House colleagues to enact a bill would be far more challenging. On Wednesday - even before the skinny repeal came up for a vote - some House conservatives were calling it untenable.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, center, is followed by reporters as she arrives to vote on Capitol Hill on July 25, 2017. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, center, is followed by reporters as she arrives to vote on Capitol Hill on July 25, 2017. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP) (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus and a key player in negotiating the House-passed bill, told reporters recently that a skinny repeal would be "dead on arrival" in the House and that a conference committee would have to be convened to work out a compromise.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., overcame serious opposition from his rank-and-file members to begin debate on health care - a prospect that seemed dim just last week. President Trump has taken to Twitter and made public statements challenging Senate Republicans to support an overhaul or take ownership of the ACA's failure.
But in two votes over the past 24 hours, lawmakers rejected differing approaches to rewriting the landmark 2010 law. The open voting process – which is likely to drag on for the rest of the week – has laid bare the fact that Senate Republicans haven't been able to find a comprehensive replacement for the law they have relentlessly lambasted.
Republicans on Wednesday lacked answers for how or even whether they can break their gridlock by simply extending their endeavor, but appeared determined to press ahead.
"I think it's a good idea to start with what we agree on and see how big we can get the bill from there," said Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., who has pushed for a repeal of the law and has repeatedly clashed with GOP leaders.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., said that a scaled-back bill "is not a solution to the problem" the American health-care system is facing, but that there did not appear to be another option.
GOP leaders have little room to navigate when it comes to crafting a bill, as just three defections within their ranks would deprive them of the 50 votes they need to pass legislation with the assistance of Vice President Pence, who can break a tie.
And in each of the two most important votes the Senate has cast since taking up the bill, at least 13 percent of Republicans defected to join Democrats in opposition.
"This certainly won't be easy. Hardly anything in this process has been," McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
In an effort to muster enough votes for a narrow bill, GOP leaders suggested that even some proposals that have died in the Senate could come up again once they enter negotiations with the House.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, Texas, said proposals offered by Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that were rejected Tuesday as part of a broader rewrite measure could resurface. Graham, meanwhile, said he is willing to go along with the skinny repeal - but only if he is assured that a plan he has offered would be reconsidered.
Portman's measure calls for adding $100 billion in federal funding to help consumers with out-of-pocket medical costs and allowing states to provide cost-sharing assistance to low-income people who transition from Medicaid to private insurance with a federal tax credit. Cruz's amendment would let insurers offer health plans on the ACA market that do not provide the full benefits required under the law, as long as they offer at least one option that does.
A total of 57 senators, including nine Republicans, voted against the measure that included both of those provisions. But Cornyn said that passing a skinny repeal would buy time for the Congressional Budget Office to score those two plans, which may be revisited in a conference committee.
Senate Democrats announced late Wednesday afternoon that a preliminary CBO estimate found that 16 million people would lose coverage if Republicans enacted a handful of the policies floated for the pared-down repeal bill. The analysis was based on the assumption that the GOP wants to repeal the individual and employer mandates, end a 2.3 percent tax on medical device manufacturers, ban funding for Planned Parenthood and repeal prevention health funds.
In a sign of how the prospect of a spike in the uninsured rate continues to worry governors, a bipartisan group of 10 of them – including Republicans Brian Sandoval of Nevada and John Kasich of Ohio - urged Senate leaders late Wednesday to work together with governors in developing a new plan and to reject a skinny repeal, which they said "is expected to accelerate health plans leaving the individual market, increase premiums, and result in fewer Americans having access to insurance."
Senate Republicans hope that once their members are faced with enacting an imperfect measure, or not accomplishing one of their chief legislative goals, they will decide that some progress is better than none.
That sort of thinking prompted Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to say Wednesday that a skinny repeal is a "Trojan horse" that would lead House conservatives to push the plan back to a much more aggressive attack against the ACA. |
Tipperary captain Brendan Maher will start at midfield for Sunday's game against Dublin at Parnell Park.
Tipperary captain Brendan Maher will start at midfield for Sunday's game against Dublin at Parnell Park.
TIPPERARY AND DUBLIN have named their teams for Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1A game at Parnell Park (2.00pm).
Tipp manager Eamon O’Shea has included 10 of the team that started last September’s All-Ireland final replay defeat to Kilkenny.
Joe O’Dwyer starts at corner-back for his league debut, alongside cousin and corner-forward John O’Dwyer.
Paul Curran and Conor O’Mahony return to the team at full-back and centre-back respectively, while there are also starts for wing-forward Denis Maher and corner-forward Jason Forde.
TIPPERARY
1. Darren Gleeson (Portroe)
2. Cathal Barrett (Holycross-Ballycahill)
3. Paul Curran (Mullinahone)
4. Joe O’Dwyer (Killenaule)
5. Kieran Bergin (Killenaule)
6. Conor O’Mahony (Newport)
7. Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields)
8. Shane McGrath (Ballinahinch)
9. Brendan Maher (Borris-Ileigh)
10. Denis Maher (Thurles Sarsfields)
11. Patrick Maher (Lorrha & Dorrha)
12. James Woodlock (Drom & Inch)
13. John O’Dwyer (Killenaule)
14. Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch)
15. Jason Forde (Silvermines)
New Dublin manager Ger Cunningham’s team for his first competitive game in charge shows seven personnel changes to the side that was beaten by Tipp in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
DUBLIN
1. Alan Nolan (St Brigid’s)
2. Cian O’Callaghan (Cuala)
3. Michael Carton (O’Toole’s)
4. Paul Schutte (Cuala)
5. Shane Durkin (Ballyboden St Enda’s)
6. Peter Kelly (Lucan Sarsfields)
7. Chris Crummy (Lucan Sarsfields)
8. Danny Sutcliffe (St Jude’s)
9. Ross O’Carroll (Kilmacud Crokes)
10. Conal Keaney (Ballyboden St Enda’s)
11. Eamonn Dillon (St Finbarr’s)
12. Colm Cronin (Cuala)
13. Paul Ryan (Ballyboden St Enda’s)
14. Liam Rushe (St. Patrick’s)
15. Mark Schutte (Cuala) |
RALEIGH, NC - The National Hockey League today announced that the Carolina Hurricanes vs. Detroit Red Wings game originally scheduled for Dec. 19, will be played on Monday, March 27.
Individual-game purchasers who had tickets for the game on Monday may use that same ticket for admission to the make-up game on March 27. If they cannot attend the game on March 27, they may exchange the ticket at the box office for any remaining regular-season home game, with the exception of Dec. 23, Dec. 30 and Jan. 20. Fans also may exchange their parking receipts or hang tags from Monday's game for complimentary parking along with their tickets to any valid future Hurricanes regular-season home game.
Season ticket members will receive a bonus voucher for any future Hurricanes home game (excluding Dec. 23, Dec. 30 and Jan. 20), in addition to their original ticket being good for the make-up date. March 27 has also been deemed a Season Ticket Member Appreciation Night, featuring discounted concessions for all season ticket members.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL TICKET AND PARKING EXCHANGE DETAILS
Season ticket members with additional questions or concerns may call their Hurricanes ticket representatives at 1-866-NHL-CANES, and individual-game buyers can contact the PNC Arena box office at 919-861-2323. |
While yesterday the world was ogling over the iPhone 3G black body, some people were just awing over black balls. 400,000 of them. Black balls everywhere, bouncing, swinging, cavorting, happily hopping down the side of the Ivanhoe Reservoir with two objectives. First, to fight bromate by stopping sunlight, which forms this carcinogenic component mixing the chlorine and bromide in the water. Second, to let me use "bouncy black balls" in a headline.
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It took 30 minutes to unload all the balls from 190 giant bags into the 10-acre, 58-million gallon water reservoir that serves 600,000 people in downtown and South L.A.
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The move to deploy the balls—3,000,000 will follow soon—comes after Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials registered high levels of bromate between June and October 2007. Although these weren't dangerous enough to put the population in risk or call Jack Bauer, the department thought that it would better to be safe than sorry.
Head to the Los Angeles Times to watch the full video. [Nelson Environmental via LA Times—additional photos by Curbed] |
More Than 2K Barrels Of Oil Will Continue To Flow, Even With Cap On
BP’s successful capping of the damaged wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico is yet another temporary solution to the 12,000 – 30,000 or more barrels per day that have been spewing unto the ocean since April 20.
According to the Deepwater Horizon respond command center, BP will be able to capture 90 percent of the oil with the new cap. The other 10 percent of the oil will flow unto the water. Ten percent is a low percentage estimate being made by BP — who has a bad reputation at presenting factual numbers. When the math is done, however, the number of gallons that will continue to spew with the cap on will be: 2,000 to 4,000 barrels of oil per day. That’s still quite significant.
Originally, the American people were led to believe that only 5,000 barrels of oil per day were being poured on the Gulf. But, the estimate went much higher as pressure to BP from environmental advocates forced the oil giant to explain why the spill was growing at the rate it did. Scientists and BP later admitted that the damaged wellhead was spewing as much as 12,000 to 30,000 barrels of crude per day. Some estimates put the leak at 56,000 to 84,000 barrels a day!
Having succeeded at placing the cap on the damaged blowout preventer, has given BP some relief since this bit of “good news” could ease tensions with the White House and the people on the Gulf. However, there are still unresolved issues that need to be dealt with which require continuous news coverage:
1) The continued flow of 2,000 to 4,000 barrels of crude per day
2) The fast moving oil sheen to the beaches at four states
3) The death of sea life and migratory birds
4) The oil trapped in the marshes of Louisiana
5) The economic impact that will continue to take a toll on Gulf communities and businesses.
6) The potential health impacts on the fishermen who continue to lay boom.
7) The future health of oysters, shrimp, and fish from Gulf waters.
This spill has become the biggest environmental disaster in US history and it is now almost three times bigger than the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. It will not be until August that this nightmare will be over. That’s when two relief wells will cement shut the damaged well. |
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Tucson shooting rampage suspect Jared Lee Loughner pleaded not guilty on Monday to federal charges of attempting to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and attempting to murder two of her staff members.
An artist's depiction shows Jared Lee Loughner (L), the Arizona man accused of shooting 20 people while trying to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords over the weekend, and his attorney public defender Judy Clarke during a court appearance in Phoenix, Arizona January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Joan Andrew
The 22-year-old college dropout is accused of opening fire on Giffords and a crowd of bystanders outside a grocery store on January 8, killing six people, including a federal judge, and wounding 13. Giffords was shot in the head but survived.
Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and wire-rimmed glasses, the hair on his shaved head starting to grow, Loughner said nothing as the not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf by the judge at his lawyer’s request in a federal court in Phoenix.
The shackled defendant was earlier seen smiling, nodding and chatting quietly with his attorney, Judy Clarke, as the proceedings were about to begin. She patted Loughner on the shoulder as the hearing ended.
Authorities have said Giffords, who remains hospitalized, was his primary target.
The rampage renewed a national debate over gun control in the United States and whether the vitriolic tone of U.S. politics had encouraged violence against elected officials, though the motives for the attack remained unclear.
In the meantime, investigators for the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department in Arizona are pressing ahead with parallel criminal investigations.
The plea of not guilty was entered for each of the three charges contained in a federal grand jury indictment returned last Wednesday — the attempted assassination of Giffords and attempted murder of two aides who also were struck by gunfire.
Loughner could face up to life in prison for trying to kill the lawmaker and the other two attempted murder charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REVIEW
The indictment did not include any murder charges for two other federal employees who were slain — Judge John Roll, the chief federal judge in Arizona who had stopped at the supermarket to talk to Giffords, or Gabe Zimmerman, the lawmaker’s director of community outreach.
Before federal prosecutors can charge Loughner with murder, they must first seek a review of the case by the Justice Department, and ultimately by Attorney General Eric Holder, on whether to seek the death penalty.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns set March 9 as the next court date in the federal case.
Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst said evidence that included statements from some 250 interviews and dozens of tapes from Loughner’s computer had been shared with the defense. The FBI has said investigators also have video of the rampage.
Burns, normally based in San Diego, California, was appointed to the case after Roll’s colleagues on the Arizona federal bench recused themselves.
In a motion filed on Sunday, prosecutors sought to shift any future proceedings against Loughner to Tucson, citing the principle that defendants stand trial in the jurisdiction where their alleged crimes took place.
A van escorting Tucson shooting rampage suspect Jared Loughner leaves U.S. Federal court after Loughner appeared for a preliminary hearing in Phoenix, Arizona January 24, 2011. REUTERS/Joshua Lott
Prosecutors also argued that the 19 people struck by gunfire in the rampage, and the “vast majority” of witnesses to the shooting, all lived in the Tucson area.
Clarke said she did not object to moving the proceedings to Tucson but sought clarification on where Loughner would be housed.
Last Friday, Giffords was transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Houston, Texas, following life-saving surgery and intensive care at the University Medical Center in Tucson in the days after the shooting. |
BJP’s election office in Ramnagar, Coimbatore is buzzing with activity. Numerous volunteers, full of enthusiasm, are going about doing their assigned work in a methodical manner. It appears that every volunteer is clearly aware of his role, for nobody seems to be shooting any instructions to anyone. I am told that the candidate, Smt. Vanathi Srinivasan, was at a television studio for a recording.
A volunteer quickly came forward to take me to the said studio. He introduced himself as Rajan. An advocate who practices at Tirupur, Rajan said he is volunteering from the last one month in Vanathi’s campaign. His reasons for supporting Vanathi is clear: in addition to being a candidate of ‘Modi’s party’, Vanathi is also a fellow lawyer.
As we sit in his car, the FM Radio starts playing in full volume. A Tamil movie song comes to an end and an election advertisement starts playing. Vanathi is heard making a fervent appeal to the voters to give a chance to Modi’s party, immediately followed by a long message by ‘Amma’ asking people to re-elect her party.
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Rajan tells me that in Coimbatore South, the fight is only between the BJP and the AIADMK. “It is a straight fight between Akka and Amma”, he quips. Like many other Coimbatoreans I spoke to, he is confident that this may be a bright spot in the BJP’s scheme of things in Tamil Nadu for 2016. As we reach the studio, I see Vanathi Srinivasan talking to a small group of volunteers outside the studio. On seeing me, she welcomes me with her characteristic smile. We sit chatting inside the studio with a glass of Kammangkul, a traditional Tamil summer drink in hand. Excerpts from the conversation:
Tejasvi Surya (TS): I have been in Coimbatore for the last few days. You seem to be everywhere—radio, Facebook, posters, local TV channels. Many are talking about a possible BJP victory in Coimbatore South. I also spoke to the correspondents of some of the major dailies like The Times of India and The Hindu. All of them are saying that this is a bright spot for the BJP. How do you see the turnaround that is happening on the ground?
Vanathi Srinivasan (VS): First of all, this constituency already has a good BJP support base. We stood first in the last Parliamentary election. People are already aware of Modiji as a symbol of development, as a national icon. The challenge is the Assembly election. Normally in the Dravidian political culture, in assembly elections people choose either of the two big Dravidian parties. But this time, things seem to be different.
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In fact, we are focusing on the Smart Cities Scheme given by Modiji, the Skill Development scheme and youth-related schemes of the Central Government. I am told by people about their civic and infrastructure problems whenever I visit their homes, in cities and villages. Traders and industrialists speak about the need for international airport, train connectivity and other things. In a way I am assuring people that with the help of Modiji’s Smart Cities scheme all our civic amenities and infrastructure problems can be solved.
I am assuring them that as a representative from Modiji’s party - a person who is able to relate the dream of Modiji to the city – I can solve all their problems.
TS: But do you really think this message of Smart Cities and economic empowerment will gain sufficient political momentum in a political culture of freebies and doles?
VS: I tell people that unlike other parties, we are not treating them as beggars. We, from the BJP, are not relying upon these freebies to garner votes. We want to assure the future generation good jobs, good education and smart cities in the industrial areas. I hope that my assurance of giving jobs to people will bear fruit: whether they are graduates or school dropouts, they ought to, should be able to, and will be able to, get a job. We want to grow industries and jobs simultaneously. This is also Modiji’s dream.
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After 50 years of Dravidian party rule, we are still not able to get drinking water daily! This is the situation.
TS: True. After talking to people here and following local news I feel that with the exception of the AIADMK, which is promising freebies with no full stops, other parties, even the DMK, is speaking about education, health, public infrastructure and such other things. Do you think a new culture is slowly but surely coming to bear in Dravidian politics? Marking a move away from freebies and political populism?
VS: Yes, I hope! Certainly the younger generations, especially those born after 90’s do not want freebies. They want good education. Good Jobs. Change. And I am sticking to that. I think that is why youngsters are backing my candidature. One singular point - empowerment. That they have to stand on their legs. Our message is clear: We should not treat our fellow citizens as beggars.
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TS: And parasites of the State..
VS: Yes.
TS: This brings me to the promise of prohibition –something that is a common theme in all manifestoes. What is the BJP’s stand on this?
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VS: Yes, we are already insisting on total prohibition. In fact, that is the BJP’s policy here. In fact, for me also, personally, I have even earlier demanded the closing of alcohol shops; and in fact, I had filed a public interest litigation at the High Court. I got two TASMAC shops closed. I tell people, particularly women voters, that for the last 25 years that I have been working in the public field, I have been incessantly fighting against this menace.
TS: But don’t you think prohibition will throw open underground sale of liquor and mafias? Also, liquor is a major revenue earner for the State. Which Government will forego such revenue?
VS: Yes, that problem is there. But it is ultimately up to the Government and the officials particularly to enforce prohibition. If the Government is willing to take a firm decision with a higher hand, then definitely that can be solved. But the fact is that the Dravidian parties, their supporters, their money power, all comes from liquor. It is not possible for them to bring in prohibition.
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They have ruled this state for more than 50 years. They were the ones to introduce the phenomenon of Government selling liquor through its own shops. Because now women are turning against liquor, they (Dravidian parties) are appeasing the people with promise of prohibition. And I believe that youngsters are not believing them.
TS: Hmm.. Many political observers say that the political spectrum in Tamil Nadu is very monochromatic. That there is not much to differentiate between the BJP and the other Dravidian parties. How would you react to this? If you have to give me two things which differentiate the BJP from the Dravidian parties, what would those two things be?
VS: First is nationalism. Our idea of the nation is very different from that of the Dravidian parties. Second, we are truly a democratic party. The DMK, the oldest party, is a senior citizen’s party. AIADMK is a one woman party. True, opportunity may come to any newcomers or youth in ADMK, but on what basis? Servility to Amma?
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But I shall tell you about my case. At the age of seventeen I joined the Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Later, step by step the RSS and the Vidyarthi Parishad have moulded me for a career in public life. And here in the Coimbatore district the average age of all BJP candidates is between 40 and 50. We are a real democratic party. Youth are getting attracted towards this. They are not fooled by dynasty politics and family politics. I think slowly the Tamil Nadu political trend is changing.
TS: So one is nationalism, and the second is intra party democracy–
VS: Second thing is that the political parties here, particularly the Dravidian parties, talk about self-respect. What is the self-respect that they are giving to their own party members? In the name of self-respect they had come to power. But who has self-respect? People are watching ministers bending and bowing… The DMK also. Except that family, nobody can be a leader there!
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TS: Alright. This brings me to the next question. There has been a pronounced feeling among many BJP sympathisers that the BJP has not taken up any Hindu issues in the elections. For example, the investigation into the murders of Hindu/ BJP leaders have led nowhere. No arrests have been made. Is it not strange that the BJP has not taken this up in a big way? Also, there has been a lot of corruption and mismanagement in Hindu temples in TN. I was told that a Governemnt-run temple was recently closed in Coimbatore. The BJP has not taken up this issue as well. Many feel that if BJP had taken these issues it would have further differentiated the BJP from the Dravidian parties.
VS: Yes, of course, there is the issue of the Hindu leaders’ murders, etc. In fact, the party has been taking up this issue repeatedly. And even in our manifesto we are insisting about this, about the need for speedy investigation.
TS: But this has not been central to the campaign.
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VS: Yes. Considering the overall political scenario of TN, I think there is a different campaign strategy in some places. I think that was not a core issue for all people. But definitely that is an issue for the BJP.
TS: You are saying that it is not a very important electoral issue.
VS: I do not say or suggest that by any means. The BJP has been speaking about it. But there are some more important issues that are cropping up.
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TS: Alright. Let me not press that further. Lastly, if people are going to vote you to the assembly, what are the three things that will change in their life as Coimbatoreans?
VS: Wherever I go I meet street vendors, small shop owners. They tell me that they are not aware of the Central Government schemes - Mudra Yojana, Start-up India, among others. My first endeavour, therefore, is that all Central Government schemes have to be implemented here.And the next thing is youth - their jobs, their skills.
For these I have to create lot of facilitation work. Working with industries and institutions especially. In each institution with the help of the Skill Development Ministry, we will provide an environment such that after college a youth will secure a job, or some assurance for his own Start-Up.
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The third is, women. Their physical and mental health, their empowerment.
TS: Great! You have grand plans to usher in a new political culture in Dravidian politics. I wish you the very best and I hope that Coimbatore makes a smart choice when it goes to vote in the next few days from now. Thank you so much.
VS: Thank you Tejasvi. Thank you. |
The conference in Shenzhen, China, was attended by local officials
It's the first time the jetpacks have been introduced to the Chinese market
Ever dream of flying like a bird? Or perhaps just James Bond?
Well now you can thanks to the first commercially viable jetpacks soon to be available.
The prototype was unveiled at Kuang-Chi International Innovators Conference in Shenzhen, southern China, reported People's Daily Online.
The grand unveiling of the jetpack took place in the afternoon on July 20.
Martin Jetpack had its debut in China at Kuang-Chi International Innovators Conference on July 20
Liu Ruopeng, Board Chairman of research company Kuang-Chi Science, presented the high-tech equipment to the audience, which included important local officials.
It was showcased as an alternative to traditional modes of travel, including as a cost-effective personal helicopter.
The company hopes to attract interest from local investors.
In particular, they were looking for potential members for the Kuang-Chi Iron Man Club.
Liu Ruopeng , Board Chairman of KuangChi Science, present his product to an audience in Shenzhen, China
They also hoped to attract individuals and industry decision makers who might be interested in the technology.
It is not clear what the jetpacks will cost but there is already great interest in the project.
Liu revealed that the company's online sales portal is 'virtually paralysed' by the demand and lots of people are signing up for the pre-order.
The company hopes that the first batch of the jetpacks will be made available to the emergency services industry from 2016 while private models could be delivered by 2017.
The jetpack is sold as an alternative mode of travel. It is more cost efficient and smaller than helicopters
The technology is not new of course. First mentions of the technology appeared as far back as 1919.
Kuang-Chi Science has been collaborating with New Zealand innovators Martin Jetpack Company since December 2014.
The Martin Jetpack took its first untethered flight back in 2005 and has been working with private investors to develop the technology. |
That little pooch you shower with love and affection knows how to get what it wants.
A new study published in the journal Animal Cognition has found that our canine companions are able to deceive us in order to get something they desire. And they can figure out how to do it quite quickly.
Researcher and lead author of the paper Marianne Heberlein was curious about her own dogs' behaviour. Like many dog owners, Heberlein had a nighttime routine: let the dogs out to relieve themselves and then give them a treat when they came back inside.
However, one day she noticed that one of the dogs would just pretend to pee in order to get the treat. This spurred her curiosity as to what was really going on and if the dog was purposely attempting to deceive her.
In order to study the behaviour, Heberlein and her research team from the University of Zurich conducted an experiment. Using 27 dogs, the team paired each one with two human partners: a co-operative one who allowed the dogs to eat treats, and a competitive one who withheld the treats.
After the dogs learned which was which, the dogs then had the chance to lead them to one of three boxes: in one there was a sausage; in another was a less appetizing dog treat; and the last one was empty.
It's tactical deception, basically. - Marianne Heberlein, University of Zurich
On the first day, the dogs led the co-operative partners to the sausage box more often than expected by chance and more often than the competitive partner. On the second day that increased in both cases.
By leading the competitive partner to the incorrect box, this meant that the dog had a chance to keep the delicious sausage for itself later on, when the experiment was repeated with a co-operative partner. Hence, the apparently deceptive behaviour.
This ability, the researchers say, was learned quite quickly compared to other studies involving primates, which can take upward of a hundred trials before the animals made this association and acted accordingly.
Tell me lies
The findings did surprise Heberlein somewhat.
"They really have the capacity from the cognitive aspect to use such a strategy to have a benefit in their lives," Heberlein said. "It's tactical deception, basically."
Daphna Buchsbaum, assistant professor at the University of Toronto's department of psychology, said that this is a good step in studying the social reasoning abilities of dogs.
Humans tend to think of themselves as unique, and cognitive abilities is one of those things that some believe sets us apart — and above — other animals. But more and more, this belief is being challenged as other species are found to be making cognitive choices.
Still, the speed at which the dogs learned was notable.
"I do think it's impressive that they got the co-operative/competition task quite quickly," Buchsbaum said. "It's promising that they're solving the problem and not just gradually learning more simple association."
Your dog likely understands that it can trick you into providing treats for good behaviour. (Jameslee/Pixabay)
However, she believes there needs to be more study in order to definitively say that the dogs are being deceptive.
"You'd want to see them being similarly flexible in similar situations," she said.
As well, since it's unclear if this cognitive ability developed out of the domestication of dogs, a study on other canines, such as wolves, would also lend itself to support the findings, something that Heberlein also acknowledged.
As for the age-old battle over which is smarter, cats or dogs, Buchsbaum laughed, saying, "I think one of the biggest differences is that the dogs care and the cats don't. The argument is: are dogs smarter than cats because they understand our communication and they do what we tell them to, or are cats smarter because they don't do what we tell them to and we feed them anyway?" |
Copyright by WPRI - All rights reserved FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2014, file photo, Carlos Rafael talks on the phone at Homer's Wharf near his herring boat F/V Voyager in New Bedford, Mass. The U.S. fishing magnate known as "The Codfather" who pleaded guilty to evading fishing quotas and...
Copyright by WPRI - All rights reserved FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2014, file photo, Carlos Rafael talks on the phone at Homer's Wharf near his herring boat F/V Voyager in New Bedford, Mass. The U.S. fishing magnate known as "The Codfather" who pleaded guilty to evading fishing quotas and...
BOSTON (AP) — A U.S. fishing magnate known as The Codfather who pleaded guilty to evading fishing quotas and smuggling money to Portugal was sentenced on Monday to nearly four years in prison.
Carlos Rafael, who owns one of the nation's largest commercial fishing operations, falsely claimed his vessels caught haddock or pollock when they had actually caught other species subject to stricter quotas, federal authorities said. He then sold the fish for cash, some of which was smuggled overseas.
Rafael pleaded guilty in March to false labeling and fish identification and tax evasion, among other charges. He was sentenced in federal court in Boston to 46 months behind bars, the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts tweeted.
Rafael's fishing operation includes a fleet of more than 30 vessels, 44 commercial fishing permits and the Carlos Seafood business in New Bedford.
Prosecutors asked for more than four years in prison. Rafael's attorneys sought two years of probation in community and home confinement.
An attorney for Rafael didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Monday. His attorneys said in court documents that he "accepts full responsibility for the crimes he committed." |
Around 100 Dalits were detained by Ahmedabad City police Tuesday after they blocked the road outside Ahmedabad Collector’s office, protesting to press for their demand to get actual possession of land allocated to them. Hundreds of acres of land have been allocated to Dalits of Saroda village in Dholka region under the provisions of Agriculture Land Ceiling (ALC) Act, which has remained on paper so far.
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Ahmedabad Collector Avantika Singh Aulakh said, “It is not true that the land measurement has been discontinued. It is almost over and now some table work is required, following which a committee headed by Additional Collector will make its recommendations. The matter is also sub judice. So, we have to take all that into consideration. We have conveyed all this to them (Dalits) and are in constant dialogue with them. There was a protest today. But it’s a long procedure and the matter does not get resolved immediately.”
Last month, the Dalits had blocked the road with the demand, following which the district revenue authorities had started measuring the plots in Saroda village.
However, after some days, the measuring procedure was allegedly stopped by them which has not resumed till date.
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Raman Maheriya, a resident of Saroda and a member of Rashtriya Dalit Adhikar Manch, which is organising the protest, said, “They measured the land for giving us physical possession for some days last month. But then, they stopped it with a promise to resume the same after Dussehra due to staff crunch. However, it has not restarted yet. We protested today and the police detained us.” He added: “We are not going to stop our protest till we physically get the land allocated to us.” Around 40 women also participated in the protest and were among those detained. |
Because of its status as a major theater for proxy conflicts during the cold war, Latin America has a long history of leftist insurgencies. Over the past two decades, however, these left wing groups largely abandoned armed struggle as a means of gaining power, turning instead to peaceful electoral politics. In some countries they have been immensely successful. Indeed, the current ruling parties of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Brazil, and Uruguay can all trace their roots -- at least in part -- back to guerrilla insurgencies of the 1970s and 80s.
Nevertheless, a handful of guerrilla movements persist in the region. The most well-known examples are in Colombia, which is home to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Army of Liberation (ELN). In Peru, two factions of the Shining Path still carry out deadly attacks on security forces, though the group is not the threat that it was at its peak in the early 1990s.
These three are generally cited as the most relevant insurgent groups in Latin America, and they have worked hard to maintain this status. All three have adopted illicit means of obtaining funding, including drug trafficking, bank robbery, kidnapping, and extortion.
In this context, the high profile of Mexico’s largely indigenous Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) is incongruous. Although much of the organization’s social and political work is supported by international and domestic NGOs, the full nature of its funding is unclear. What is clear is that despite rising up in arms in the southern state of Chiapas in 1994 and having since declared sizable parts of southern Mexico autonomous from the government, the EZLN has largely managed to refrain from criminal activity to support itself.
When criminal allegations have been leveled against them, such as when the group was suspected of carrying out the kidnapping of Mexican politician Diego Fernandez de Cevallos last year, the Zapatistas have vehemently denied them, and a congressional commission even acknowledged that the kidnapping didn’t fit the Zapatistas’ profile.
Their eschewal of crime is due largely to the fact that the EZLN is not a traditional guerrilla army. After their initial uprising in 1994, and the resulting San Andres peace accords in 1996, the group has largely refrained from illegal activity. Instead, they have become more of a grassroots social movement, establishing EZLN-affiliated autonomous communities in Chiapas and attempting to link far-left community organizations throughout the country under the banner of a nationwide movement called the "Other Campaign."
Indeed, the Zapatista’s most public spokesperson, alias “Subcomandante Marcos,” has actively denounced armed groups which have attempted to ally themselves with the EZLN. Through well-publicized letters and communiques, he has castigated groups like the FARC and Spain’s ETA for killing civilians. Marcos has voiced aversion to armed struggle inside Mexico’s borders as well, distancing the EZLN from the small, Guerrero-based People’s Revolutionary Army (EPR), which is known for carrying out attacks on security forces and bombings of infrastructure targets in southern Mexico.
The fact that the EZLN refrains from armed and criminal activity likely has as much to do with self-preservation as it does with the group’s ideology. Since the 1994 uprising, the Mexican government has drastically increased its military presence in Chiapas. According to a 2004 study by the Center for Political Analysis and Social and Economic Research (CAPISE), there are at least 91 military bases in the state, many of which are located near Zapatista communities.
In more recent years, the military presence has increased even more in response to President Felipe Calderon’s crackdown on drug trafficking organizations. The Sinaloa Cartel and Zetas are deepening their activities in neighboring Guatemala, a trend which Mexico is fighting by increasing the number of military checkpoints along the southern border (with mixed success).
Considering the high level of militarization of armed forces in the Zapatistas’ main area of influence, their cessation of military activity is not surprising. If they were to attempt another uprising, it would doubtlessly end in a devastating defeat.
The disincentive for the EZLN to mix itself up in criminal activity is just as strong. The Calderon administration’s security strategy has given the government a powerful policy narrative to justify dismantling drug traffickers’ community control. If provoked, the state could easily turn it against the Zapatistas.
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By turning away from armed struggle, the group has also been afforded a certain amount of political legitimacy. Unlike their guerrilla cousins in Colombia and Peru, the Zapatistas have widespread support both from the Mexican left and on the global stage, where they are known as a spearhead of the anti-globalization movement. It should also be noted that the Zapatistas eschew conventional politics with the same ferocity. Ever since their inception they have rejected the notion of joining the Mexican political system, which they view as hopelessly corrupt.
--- Geoffrey Ramsey is a writer for Insight – Organized Crime in the Americas, which provides research, analysis, and investigation of the criminal world throughout the region. Find all of his research here. |
In the wake of the near panic over the launch of Sputnik in 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed James Killian, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to become the first special assistant to the president for science and technology. Ever since, the relationship between the nation’s chief executive and the White House’s resident authority on nuclear fission, the workings of DNA and the greenhouse effect, among an array of topics, has had its highs and lows.
To be sure, advice has flowed freely at times. Eisenhower consulted frequently with Killian and other scientists, and in the Kennedy years Jerome Wiesner, another M.I.T. president, helped to coordinate the government’s response to the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a book that spurred a national grassroots environmental movement by pointing out the dangers of pesticides.
Just as often the adviser’s position has tilted toward irrelevance. Richard M. Nixon went so far as to abolish the job altogether, along with the President’s Science Advisory Committee, which had recommended against going ahead with a supersonic transport program, advice that the ill-fated 37th president did not want to hear. (The U.S. Congress restored the position in 1976.)
The tenure of George W. Bush marks a new nadir. On the few science-related issues the administration has cared about—stem cells and climate change were on the short list—it had largely set its course before the arrival of its new science adviser John H. Marburger III some nine months after Bush first took office. The administration, moreover, stripped the job of the title “special assistant to the president,” a reminder that the adviser would never be part of the inner circle.
Nevertheless, hopes rose with the appointment of the well-regarded physicist and former head of Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory. “As both scientist and administrator, John H. Marburger III tries to bring needed perspective into a White House not thought to be particularly interested in science,” read a headline for a profile published in Scientific American in June 2002.
In the ensuing years, Marburger has disappointed. Much of his public persona has been as an apologist for the Bush team, trying to rebut charges from scientists, Congress and the media that the administration has engaged in a “war on science” by systematically distorting or suppressing science-related reports and politicizing federal advisory committees.
Bush’s first appointed EPA administrator, former New Jersey Republican governor Christine Todd Whitman, resigned in 2003, amid this politically charged atmosphere. Mystifyingly, the ever dutiful Marburger, a registered Democrat, has spent more time as science adviser than any of the dozen or so men who have served before him.
Marburger continues to plow ahead with elaborate rationales that acknowledge in one breath the reality of global warming and in the next explain why “adaptation” to rising temperatures (think pineapple farming in North Dakota) needs to receive more attention. He has also assumed the role of the disembodied, neutral voice that quietly corrects the boss’s gaffes. Yes, evolution is the “cornerstone of modern biology.” No, intelligent design is not a scientific concept (comments he made the day after Bush twice said that both should be taught in schools).
We can only hope that the next president, whether Democrat or Republican, will not relegate the science adviser—and the entire scientific endeavor—to the status of afterthought. Once elected, the new chief executive should hire a leading scientist, perhaps one with Marburger’s credentials though not with his compliant, technocratic demeanor. In collaboration with the rest of the community, the official should be allowed to assume a prominent, unimpeded role in helping to influence the crafting of policies that address climate change, missile defense and stem cells. The war on cancer—and a host of other research initiatives—should once again take precedence over the war on science.
Editor's Note: This story was originally printed with the title "Taking Heed" |
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Following his recent participation in the Subvert the city project last month UK based artist Eyesaw is once again working in the street. From what we can recall we last saw something from the artist in person back in 2012 when a number of subvertising artworks were installed on the street - the burger / King one on Hackney Road in London comes to mind.( We know we have a photo of this and will upload it once we find it!)Returning to London yesterday afternoon we spotted one of EYESAW's bus stop advert subversions on our way home. Dropping our bags off we headed back out with our camera to grab a picture of the new work from the artists. After a quick walk around the neighbourhood we discovered two additional works in this new series from Eyesaw. In all three of the works we founds the corporate logos and brand identities have been cut away from the original bus shelter advertising posters and juxtaposed with Eyesaw’s silhouette figures to produce what he calls 'images of ironic truth'.Using phenomenology, Eyesaw has said he aimsEYESAW on Instagram — @eyesawart Related Stories: |
Several smash and grabs have been reported to Dublin police.
They're not just targeting shopping centers. They're also being reported in neighborhoods.
Police said six cars were broken into last week, several car windows were smashed and hundreds of dollars worth of items were stolen. One victim said her neighbors were targeted in the same night.
She said she left her car door unlocked and when she woke up she realized her wallet and a necklace that her husband bought her weren't inside the car.
"It was all the same night. I went to send a group text to all of my neighbors to let them know and it seemed that I got a lot of responses back saying that they had also heard of other people within the neighborhood that had their cars broken into the same night," said Whitney Berrien
Three of the break-ins happened inside the parking lot of the Dublin Village Center. Police said all of the car windows were smashed and several items were stolen from inside the cars.
At this point, police do not have any suspects but they do encourage citizens to keep their car doors locked and not to leave anything valuable inside the car. |
Americans’ median pay packets have been flat since 1973, even though the vastly expanded federal government has justified its own salaries and its many massive spending and policy programs as a sure-fire way to boost education, productivity, and wages.
The colossal 44-year failure of the federal government to help grow American men’s wages — or even to reduce poverty rates — is laid bare in the latest report from the Census Bureau, “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2016.”
The dense report includes myriad detailed tables of data around one shocking chart, which reveals no growth in men’s wages for the past 44 years, or since President Richard Nixon was beginning his second term in office.
The sudden flatline followed a 31 percent rise in all men’s median wages from 1960 to 1972.
During the 44-year period since 1973, income among women grew by roughly 30 percent as more skilled and trained women entered the market, gained experience, and were promoted to better-paying jobs. Those opportunities and contributions are good news — but they do not change the reality that men’s income has been flat for 44 years.
In fact, the report notes that “the real median earnings of full-time, year-round working men were 1.1 percent lower in 2016 than in 2007.”
There are many explanations for the flat income, such as the massive growth in the labor supply when 30 million additional American women and roughly 30 million immigrants joined in the marketplace competition for good jobs. For example, a pro-immigration panel at the prestigious National Academies of Science estimated in 2016 that the huge government-imposed inflow of immigrants since 1965 has imposed a hidden 5 percent “immigration tax” on Americans’ pay packets.
Technology has made many individuals workers more productive but also sidelined many others, such as newspaper printers and steelworkers. Peaceful international trade has allowed men to sell more products overseas but also allowed employers to hire foreign workers instead of Americans. Whatever the combinations of reasons, the mid-point for men’s income has been flat for 44 years, according to the Census Bureau.
The flat-earnings chart needs some explanation:
It shows only inflation-adjusted, pre-tax pay packets, so it excludes the impact of inflation, company benefits, or taxes and government benefits, such as food-stamps and tax-breaks for children, or of Obamacare’s subsidies and spending obligations. It shows median income, which is the midpoint of the income scale. Half the people earn above the line, half the people earn below the line. Average income would be higher, but less revealing, because a higher share of income is going to the highest earners, compared to back in the 1970s. The chart shows the income of year-round, full-time workers, excluding part-workers or seasonal workers, or those who work on-and-off under contracts. The chart does not make distinctions by race. The chart shows individuals’ income, not the income of households, which has fluctuated as the average number of children or adults has declined. The chart only shows income, but not the quality of goods in the stores, such as Starbucks coffee, cheap products imported from China, high-tech music players, improved autos or better health-care. That rise in product quality from competing companies — not claimed policy improvements from federal agencies — has provided the vast majority of material gains for Americans amid flat incomes.
The details are provided on Table A-4, on page 49 of this PDF.
The median earnings for all men employed year-round was $51,640 in 2016, which is still far below the $54,030 earned by full-time men in 1973. It is also below the $51,938 earned in the 2000 Internet boom, or the $52,222 earned in the 2007 property bubble when large-scale legal and illegal immigration provided employers with millions of alternative imported workers.
The post-1973 reality of flat income is a huge contrast to the rapid growth from 1960 up to the 1973 oil shock and the reopened inflow of immigrant labor after 1965. During the twelves years 1960 to 1972, the median average wages for all males — including minorities, seasonal workers, and contract workers — rose from by 31 percent, from $31,926 to $41,013.
When the income of all men is gauged, the Bureau concluded that all men’s median income in 1973 was $41,935. It dropped after 1973 and rose back up to $43,360 in 1999 as companies competed for the few unemployed workers during the first Internet boom. Income crashed in 2008 to a depression-low of $39,636 in 2012 once the federal government’s real-estate bubble burst. Since then, income has slowly climbed back to $42,220 in 2016 amid the continuous public protest against the federal government’s cheap-labor economic strategy, which is exemplified by the bipartisan 2013 “Gang of Eight” amnesty legislation.
Other data in the report shows that the nation’s poverty rates have barely budged since the 1960s, although many people in the United States are wealthier than many people n Europe. For example, the percentage of American said to be in poverty was 11.1 percent in 1973 and 12.7 percent in 2016.
That national poverty rate climbed, in part, because of the population of Latinos spiked from 10.8 million in 1973 to 57.6 million in 2016. Poverty among Latinos was 19 percent in 2016, little changed from 1973.
The report also noted that:
The official poverty rate decreased by 0.8 percentage points between 2015 and 2016. At 12.7 percent, the 2016 poverty rate is not statistically different from 2007 (12.5 percent), the year before the most recent recession. In real terms, median earnings of full-time, year-round working women in 2016 were 2.3 percent higher than their 2007 median, the year before the most recent recession. The real median earnings of full-time, year-round working men were 1.1 percent lower in 2016 than in 2007. In 2017, the number and percentage of shared households remained higher than in 2007, the year before the most recent recession. In 2007, 17.0 percent of all households were shared households, totaling 19.7 million households. In 2017, 19.4 percent of all households were shared households, totaling 24.6 million households.
Read it all here. |
Currently, Mars has a thin atmosphere dominated by carbon dioxide, with pressures at most of the planet's surface so low that liquid water will immediately boil. But a variety of features we've discovered argue that the planet has once supported copious amounts of water, indicating that the planet's atmosphere must have differed considerably in the past. Using radar data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists have now found a potential resting place for some material that was once in the Martian atmosphere: a huge deposit at the south pole that holds nearly as much CO 2 as the planet's current atmosphere.
Mars' south pole has extensive ice deposits, but most of that material is thought to be water, with only a thin coating of carbon dioxide on top. However, the MRO's radar instrument identified several reflection-free zones, where most of the radar signal went entirely through the icy material to the planet's surface itself. Based on the authors' calculations, this can't be water ice, but it does have very similar reflective properties to dry ice, or frozen carbon dioxide. The area also has features that indicate that some of the dry ice has sublimated to a gaseous form, resulting in areas where the surface has collapsed.
If the area is dry ice, then the total amount present is huge. The authors estimate the total volume of the non-reflective material at somewhere between 9,500 and 12,500 cubic kilometers. That's 30 times more than had previously been estimated to reside at the poles, and is about 80 percent of the current CO 2 content of the entire atmosphere. If all the dry ice were heated up, Mars' atmospheric pressure would nearly double.
Like the Earth, Mars undergoes orbital variations that alter the distribution of sunlight across the planet. One of these involves changes in the orientation of its axis of rotation relative to the plane of its orbit, called the obliquity. Mars undergoes more dramatic changes in obliquity than Earth and, as a result, its poles see more significant changes in sunlight at the extreme. The authors argue that this can help explain why the reflection-free zones lack any material from the planet's famous dust storms, which should reflect the radar effectively.
Mars' atmosphere needs to be above a certain density to support the particles that make up its dust storms. As the poles undergo extended cold periods, the authors suggest "the atmosphere collapses onto the polar caps." So much of the planet's dry ice winds up frozen at the poles that the atmosphere becomes even thinner than it is at present, and incapable of supporting dust storms.
As of now, however, the amount of sunlight at the poles is increasing, leading to the loss of some of the material from these areas, which is bulking up the atmosphere. The authors run a simplified global circulation model of Mars' atmosphere to see what happens as the planet reaches the opposite extreme, and all of the polar dry ice is liberated into the atmosphere. Pressure on the surface would nearly double, and the increased CO 2 would enhance the planet's existing greenhouse effect. However, it would also increase the formation of seasonal dry ice deposits that reflect sunlight and offset this warming, leaving Mars slightly cooler.
However, the simplified model leaves out some other factors. For one, the denser atmosphere could support more significant dust storms, changing the planet's ability to absorb sunlight. Some of the water ice at the poles would probably also melt, adding water vapor to the atmosphere and further enhancing the greenhouse effect. However, the increased atmospheric pressure would allow some of the liquid water to remain on the surface without boiling, meaning we could see some pools of water on Mars.
Sorting out exactly what would happen will apparently require a more complete climate model for the red planet. "Given the complex interplay between the dust, water, and CO2 cycles, additional changes in the climate system are very likely," the authors conclude. Still, even with the possible melting of the polar ice caps and enhanced greenhouse effect, the total of the changes don't seem to be sufficient to get us to anything like Mars' watery past, which suggests that some of the planet's carbon dioxide and water may now be trapped in geological features.
Science, 2011. DOI: 10.1126/science.1203091 (About DOIs). |
Food Color in Salmon
Three large supermarket chains are facing a lawsuit for selling farm-raised salmon with artificial chemicals that was not labeled as such.
Eight consumers are behind the unprecedented lawsuit, which charges Albertsons, Safeway and the Kroger Co. with “deception, unfair business practices, breach of warranty and negligent misrepresentation in the sale of farm-raised salmon”.
The consumers said they would not have purchased the salmon had they known about the chemical additives. Wild salmon eat creatures like shrimp and krill, which contain chemicals that make salmon pink. Since farm-raised fish do not eat a natural diet, their flesh would be gray if not for artificial additives.
The chemicals used to turn farm-raised fish pink–canthaxanthin and astaxanthin–are found in nature and are not harmful, according to an industry official. The salmon are turned pink to make them more marketable, since many consumers prefer fish with the traditional pink color.
Federal and state law requires that farm-raised salmon be labeled as such, however the grocery chains named in the suit allegedly failed to list the chemical additives on the label.
Further, there is “significant controversy” over the effects of canthaxanthin, as it has been associated with retinal damage in the human eye. |
North Two: Port Moody Blues
Video by Jeremy Pettit
Year 2004 Length 32 minutes Country Canada Views 28177 Category Independent Added by Markus Rate this video 1 - Poor 2 - Nothing special 3 - Worth watching 4 - Pretty cool 5 - Awesome! 3.42 (90 votes)
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Soundtrack
intro - Radiohead - Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong Tony Ferguson - Steely Dan - Do It Again Geoff Dermer - Magnolia Electric Co. - I've Been Riding With The Ghost Mitch Charron & Mike McDermott - The Animals - Please Don't Let Me Be Miss Understood Brett Stobbart, Quinn Starr & Keegan Sauder - The Pink Mountain Tops - Can You Do That Dance? Arron Johnson - Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Cowgirl In The Sand Sheldon Meleshinski - The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again montage - Gary Numan - Me! I Disconnect From You Ben Demoskoff - Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug Sean Hayes & Paul Machnau - Pink Floyd - The Nile Song Mike Chalmers - Elliott Smith - Son of Sam Wade Fyfe - The Beatles - Come Together Russ Milligan - Sniff 'n' the Tears - Driver's Seat credits - The Pink Mountaintops - Tourist in Your Town bonus - montage - Steely Dan - FM bonus - Seattle - Pink Floyd - Dramatic Theme bonus - Montreal - The Pink Mountaintops - Bad Boogie Ballin' bonus - indy track - Pink Floyd - Party Sequence bonus - RDS park - Kanye West - Gangsta Gangsta ©Skatevideosite.com.
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BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday suggested the Centre to file a contempt petition against former Home Minister P Chidambaram for allegedly filing a wrong affidavit in the Ishrat Jahan case.
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“I will request the Centre to file a contempt petition against Chidambaram. If it does not file it, I will do so,” Swamy told reporters.
Citing the then home secretary G K Pillai, Swami said as Home Minister in 2009, Chidambaram had got the Centre’s affidavit changed in the Ishrat Jahan case to drop any reference to her Lashkar-e-Taiba links.
[related-post]
“If Chidambaram says he had got the affidavit changed on the directions of Sonia Gandhi, she can also be made a co-accused,” he said.
On daily hearing of Ayodhya Ram Temple case, Swamy said he had spoken to All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s Shahabuddin Ansari and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and they are ready for it.
“If it is started, hearing will be completed within a month and decision would come. I hope the Supreme Court will go by the Allabahad High Court decision. Former PM Narsimha Rao had given an affidavit that if it is proved there was temple on the disputed site, it would be given to Hindus,” Swamy said.
He also praised HRD Minister Smriti Irani’s speech in Parliament and said she was being criticised for the “good speech”.
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Reiterating his demand for renaming JNU after Subhas Chandra Bose, Swamy said the university should be closed for four months after examinations. |
The word logo was first used in the mid-1930s. We will examine the definition of the word logo, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
A logo is an emblem or graphic that represents a company or organization. Logos are used in advertising and branding uniforms, products, labels or other items in order to be quickly recognizable as belonging to a particular company or organization. Sometimes a logo involves the name or initials of a company, such as the FedEx logo. Other times a logo is some sort of abstract symbol or a graphic, such as the NBC peacock. The word logo is an abbreviation of the word logotype or logogram, from the Greek logo- meaning word, and typos meaning mark or image, or gram meaning a letter of the alphabet. The word logo was first used in advertising in the 1930s. The plural form is logos.
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Posted May 20th at 12:00am.
Welcome to the latest and greatest career mode in Madden NFL 25, Connected Franchise. There are a lot of cool upgrades and new features this year, so let’s quickly hit the highlights.
BUILD YOUR EMPIRE
The biggest and most notable change in Connected Franchise is the introduction of Owner mode. Take control of your franchise and manage all aspects of the day-to-day operation of your team. Create yourself as an owner or take on the persona of one of the NFL’s 32 current head honchos. Hire and fire personnel, set prices on everything from parking to concessions, manage stadium upgrades or even build a new one if your current facility just isn’t cutting it. Or, if you’d prefer a truly fresh start for your team, you can relocate your franchise to a new city and try to build a new fanbase from scratch. This is the perfect mode for those who want ultimate control.
Owning a team and managing it well is going to be challenging, so check out Owner mode’s features in more detail. Learn more about managing your people, marketing your team, improving your cash flow and more, all in the name of creating a true juggernaut organization.
EXPEDITING THE PATH TO STARDOM
Last year in Connected Careers, Madden NFL 13 introduced the idea of XP and skill progression for players and coaches. This year, the logic has been tuned to help you upgrade faster and get on the field sooner. You’ll see a substantial boost in the amount of XP earned in both practice and during games, allowing you to upgrade your player or coach faster than ever. This year, if you enter a practice session but don’t achieve the set goal, you’ll still get a good chunk of XP just for completing the drill. The XP enhancements don’t apply to just your player, however. CPU players will also show bigger changes in progression or regression.
Another significant upgrade this year is that whenever you create a player or coach you’ll be able to see your overall rating and where you’ll factor into the depth chart (player only) before you commit to a team. This lets you put your created character in the ideal situation, either starting right off the bat or patiently sitting behind an established starter while you build up your ratings and try to earn your roster spot through old-fashioned hard work and practice. All the info is provided at a glance, and you can quickly scroll through all 32 teams and find your landing spot at each. On the first day of practice, you’ll know exactly where you are in the pecking order and how many other players stand between you and your shot at cracking the starting lineup.
EVERYTHING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
Connected Franchise sports a brand new user interface that makes navigation a breeze. Available actions are laid out in tiles on the home screen, making it simple to jump into a game, upgrade your player or coach, check out the league news and more. There are still separate tabs for the various actions for when you want to dig in at a bit more depth, but it’s nice to be able to take in everything at a glance.
Complementing the new menu is a revamped trade screen that allows players to easily see the trade block and the offers from other teams. The new interface makes it easy to see what’s on the table and allows for quick comparisons between offers.
On the topic of drafts and trades, Madden NFL 25 also features retuned logic for the draft, trades and free agency, which was another major topic of community discussion. The team has been able to account for fan feedback and adjust to ensure that all parties gain the greatest possible benefit from every transaction.
One of the best-received features of Madden NFL 13 was the ability to play as legendary players and coaches in Connected Career. This year, Randall Cunningham, Mike Ditka, William “Refrigerator” Perry and many more will be joining the ranks of the immortals. Cunningham was one of the first true running quarterbacks, a mantle he has passed down to the likes of Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III. Now fans can experience Cunningham’s blazing speed firsthand as an Eagle, Viking or on any other NFL team.
There’s a great deal of debate both within the EA SPORTS offices about whether Mike Ditka was a better player or coach, and Connected Franchise lets you decide for yourself. Madden NFL 25 includes both player and coach versions of Ditka, so you can have him lay the lumber on the field or demonstrate his prowess with a clipboard and a headset on the sidelines.
Also included this year is William “Refrigerator” Perry, a truly intimidating player. Football historians may know that not only did was The Fridge a fierce defensive end, but he actually also started his career at fullback. In Connected Franchise it’s up to you to decide if you want to utilize Perry’s brute strength coming out of the backfield or disrupting it.
In addition to the new players and coaches, there are also several new members of the media who will follow your progress and heap praise or scorn upon you via social media. Expect Peter Schrager to offer his unique insight into your performance, while Matthew Berry may chime in to encourage followers to pick up your player in their fantasy football leagues.
THE FEATURES YOU ASKED FOR
Madden NFL 25 also includes several fan-requested features, including full 32-team control, new commissioner tools, and a league transaction log. Also, fans of the NCAA Football franchise will be pleased to hear that they’ll be able to import their draft classes from NCAA Football 14 into Madden NFL 25.
We’ve just scratched the surface of what’s coming to Connected Franchise, and look forward to providing much more info in the coming days. Also, be sure to check out Part 2 of this extensive Playbook.
Madden NFL 25 will be available on Tuesday, August 27, for Xbox 360 and PS3, and fans can learn more at the Madden website. Pre-order today to receive exclusive Franchise Packs for your Connected Franchise and Madden Ultimate Team! |
A senior State Department official raised concern Monday that “freedom of expression is being stifled” in Egypt, where recent days saw authorities detain and question a popular television comedian on charges of insulting Islam and the nation’s former Muslim Brotherhood president.
While talk-show host Bassem Youssef — often described as Egypt’s version of U.S. comedian Jon Stewart — has been released from custody, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland described his brief detention over the weekend as “disturbing.”
“This, coupled with recent arrest warrants issued for other political activists, is evidence of a disturbing trend of growing restrictions on the freedom of expression,” Mrs. Nuland told reporters at the State Department.
“There does not seem to be an even-handed application of justice here,” said Mrs. Nuland.
She said Egyptian authorities appeared to be pouncing on cases such as Mr. Youssef’s while being “slow or inadequate in investigating” other matters, such as complaints about restrictions on journalists and investigations of attacks on demonstrators outside the Egyptian presidential palace in December 2012.
While the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has for months faced criticism from secular and liberal activists over the government’s posture on religious freedom and treatment of opposition figures, Mr. Youssef’s case has made international headlines.
According to media reports, more than two dozen complaints were filed against the comedian under an Egyptian law that once allowed former dictator Hosni Mubarak to crack down on citizens accused of ridiculing his government.
Mr. Youssef, who has gained prominence as a talk-show host since the revolution that ousted Mr. Mubarak from power in 2011, has a reputation of making fun of the Muslim Brotherhood leadership that arose after Mr. Mubarak’s fall.
According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Youssef has portrayed Mr. Morsi as a pharaoh prone to verbal gaffes, such as when the new president spoke out against drunken driving by saying, “Gas and alcohol don’t mix.”
The newspaper also reported that after Mr. Morsi granted himself sweeping powers in November, Mr. Youssef dubbed him “Super Morsi” and “Morsi, the unifier of authorities,” a play on the president’s inability to unify Egyptians.
When he heard of the comparisons last June, Mr. Stewart invited Mr. Youssef on as a guest of the show in New York.
During the appearance, Mr. Stewart asked what it was like to host a political comedy show in Egypt while the nation was still struggling to achieve stability in the post-Mubarak era.
“Sometimes I get beaten,” Mr. Youssef deadpanned in response.
But he quickly added: “No, no, no. Just kidding.”
“Actually, it’s been quite all right,” Mr. Youssef said. “We broke ground in television programming because now people say, ‘Ahh, oh, he actually says what we want to say.’ And we’re trying to be funny.”
Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. |
In a bid to prevent identity fraud, the Home Ministry on Friday made quoting one’s Aadhaar number necessary for the registration of death with effect from October 1. The government stated that it would be applicable for the residents of all states except Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Meghalaya, for which a date would be notified separately. “An Applicant applying for death certificate is required to provide Aadhaar number or Enrolment ID Number (EID) of the deceased and other details as sought in the application for death certificate for the purpose of establishing the identity of the deceased,” the PIB release said.
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Those not aware of the Aadhaar number or Enrolment ID Number (EID) of the deceased have to provide a certificate that the deceased person does not possess the number to the best of their knowledge. “Applicant’s Aadhaar number shall also be collected along with the Aadhaar number of the spouse or parents,” the release added.
“An Applicant applying for death certificate is required to provide Aadhaar number or Enrolment ID Number (EID) of the deceased and other details as sought in the application for death certificate for the purpose of establishing the identity of the deceased.”
The use of Aadhaar will result in ensuring accuracy of the details furnished by the relatives or dependents or acquaintances of the deceased, said the office of the Registrar General, which functions under the home ministry. Any false declaration given by the applicant in this regard will be treated as an offence as per the provisions of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 and also Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969.
“It will provide an effective method to prevent identity fraud. It will also help in recording the identity of the deceased person. Further, it will obviate the need for producing multiple documents to prove the identity of the deceased person,” the ministry said.
With PTI inputs |
Palestinians at the Gaza border fence, June 2, 2010 AP
Like a robot lacking in judgment, stuck on a predetermined path - that's how the government is behaving in its handling of the aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip. The announcement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the security cabinet meeting Tuesday that the blockade of Gaza will continue and that Israel will keep on using force to prevent ships from entering Gaza's port suggests that the foolishness continues and no lessons have been learned from this week's incidents.
The Netanyahu-Ehud Barak government is oblivious to the impact of the failed takeover of the Turkish ship the Mavi Marmara, which ended with the killing of nine passengers. It is oblivious to the international condemnation of this country's actions - Israel once more finds itself isolated. Most serious of all, it is oblivious to the damage it is causing to Israel's strategic interests.
The lethal operation is making it difficult for the U.S. administration to rally a majority in the UN Security Council for new sanctions against Iran and is eroding the international front against the Islamic Republic, which the United States has put together with great diplomatic effort. The naval operation challenges the negotiations with the Palestinians and weakens the bargaining ability of Netanyahu vis-a-vis U.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The operation also ruins essential relations with Turkey and will cost Israel in lost tourists and export deals.
Instead of taking the initiative and developing a political exit strategy from the crisis, Netanyahu and Barak are digging themselves deeper into the quagmire. The government apparently believes its own public relations, according to which Israel was the victim of "Al-Qaida supporters." If this is the case, it must immediately dismiss the heads of the security and intelligence services who failed to issue warnings in time and did not prepare accordingly to meet this new and dangerous enemy. How does Israel plan to deal with the Irish ship the Rachel Corrie, which is on its way to the Gaza Strip? Will it also argue that the Irish government, which has given this ship its backing, is a member of Al-Qaida?
Instead of insisting on continuing a policy that has failed, Netanyahu should pull himself together and minimize the damage of the naval operation. He must appoint a commission of inquiry that will investigate what happened and lift the damaging and unnecessary blockade on the Gaza Strip, while developing a response to arms smuggling. Statesmanship is measured by the ability to distinguish between what is important and what is not. Netanyahu and Barak, who dragged Israel into a foolish struggle of prestige with Hamas and its supporters, erred by selecting a violent and damaging form of action. They failed in this week's test of statesmanship. |
Lawyer and human rights activist Stanislav Markelov murdered in Moscow
By Vladimir Volkov
23 January 2009
On January 19, Stanislav Markelov was shot in the head and killed in central Moscow by a masked man using a silencer. The assassination took place in broad daylight not far from the Kremlin. The 34-year-old lawyer and human rights activist was president of the Institute for the Supremacy of Law.
Anastasia Baburova, a 25-year-old student in the journalism department at Moscow State University and correspondent for the liberal opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta (New Gazette), tried to shield Markelov from the killer but was also shot in the head. Later that evening, she died in the hospital.
The specific reason for the murder of Markelov and who ordered it have not yet been established. But it is clear that this savage and cold-blooded killing is bound up with efforts to eliminate those who, regardless of their views and political connections, have sought to shed light on the many murky aspects of the actions of the Russian authorities in the Caucasus and in Russia itself. Both victims of this assassination were open opponents of the Russian nationalists.
The attack on Markelov occurred after a press conference in which he spoke about the case of Colonel Yuri Budanov. Markelov had filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation over Budanov's early release from prison.
Budanov was released from prison on January 15, having served eight-and-a-half years of a ten-year sentence. His parole caused outrage in Chechnya, where the Budanov case had become a symbol of the tyranny and violence inflicted by the Russian army in the province.
In March 2000, a few months after the start of the Second Chechen War, Budanov kidnapped from her home and then killed the 18-year-old Chechen girl Elsa Kungayeva. After he killed her, he ordered his subordinates to bury her body. After an autopsy was performed on the girl's corpse, it was established that she had been raped and severely tortured.
As in many similar instances, Budanov would certainly have gotten away with his crime if it had not been the object of wide publicity. Nevertheless, the Russian authorities did everything possible to prevent his conviction. At first, the court exonerated him, and only under public pressure both in Chechnya and Russia did Budanov finally end up in prison.
Budanov is the kind of professional killer, sadist and rapist often found in the Russian army. But among Russian nationalists, the colonel in the tank corps was glorified as a "hero of Russia."
Visa Kungayev, the father of the girl Budanov killed, reported that Markelov had been threatened shortly before his murder. In one text message that the lawyer received, Budanov was directly named and Markelov was told to stop defending the Kungayev family.
Izvestia, which is de facto the official organ of the Kremlin, was forced to acknowledge that "The version that the lawyer's murder is connected with the release of Colonel Budanov comes quickly to mind. In actual fact, various forces who sympathise with the convicted colonel (and there are many) could have thereby tried to block the appeal of the decision to free him."
Nurdi Nukhazhiev, human rights representative in Chechnya, insists on the "Budanov version" of Markelov's murder. "With this shooting, the defenders of former Colonel Budanov celebrated the release of their idol," said the Chechen ombudsman on January 20 in the newspaper Kommersant.
Other explanations of the motives behind the murder of Markelov have been offered.
Frederika Beyer, representative of Amnesty International, suggested in Kommersant that Chechen authorities may also have taken part in eliminating Markelov, since clients of the murdered lawyer include residents of Chechnya who have disappeared, becoming victims of the authoritarian, pro-Moscow regime of Ramzan Kadyrov.
This version is supported by Vyacheslav Izmailov, a reporter for Novoya Gazeta. He recalled the case of the Chechen Magomedsalikh Masayev, who told Russian journalists that Ramzan Kadyrov's people had kidnapped him. Soon after, he disappeared. Markelov took up his case and tried to reveal the fate of the missing man.
Markelov also worked with the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in Moscow on October 7, 2006, in investigating the case of Sergei Lapin, who was in the OMON (military police).
Lapin, whose nickname was Cadet, was a senior lieutenant from Khanty-Mansiisk who tortured to death the 26-year-old resident of Grozny, Zelimkhan Murdalov. Anna Politkovskaya wrote about this incident in Novaya Gazeta, and Markelov defended the parents of Murdalov. As a result, Lapin was sentenced to eight years in prison.
One of Markelov's clients was Mikhail Beketov, chief editor of the newspaper Khimkinskaya Pravda. Beketov criticised the administration of the Moscow region of Khimki. In particular, he fought to preserve the Khimki forest, which was about to be cut down in order to build a road. In November 2008, Beketov was severely beaten by unknown persons and remains to this day in serious condition in a hospital.
Markelov represented Beketov in a slander case connected with the journalist that was launched by the head of the Khimki administration, Vladimir Strelchenko.
It has also been noted that Markelov defended members of the left-radical movement "Antifa," one of whom, Aleksei Olesin, has been charged by the authorities with hooliganism.
On January 20, the day after the lawyer's murder, meetings in his memory were held in three cities: Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. About 150 people gathered on Prechistenka Street in Moscow. Among them was Vladimir Lukin, representative of Human Rights in Russia. People decorated the site of the murder with flowers, candles and photographs of Markelov and Baburova. The action had not been approved by the authorities, but the police did not prevent it from occurring.
That evening in Moscow, there was one other unsanctioned meeting in which about 200 young leftists who consider themselves anti-fascists participated. Their banners and slogans proclaimed, "Fascists Kill—the Authorities Cover Up." After being dispersed by the OMON, they regrouped at another location and engaged in acts of vandalism. They smashed the windows of several stores and banks, as well as the McDonald's near the metro station Tretiakovskaya.
In Petersburg, about 100 people gathered at the site where the student Timur Kacharava had been killed. He was the victim of an attack by members of a nationalist group on November 1, 2005.
In Grozny, about 3,000 people gathered and demanded that the authorities find and punish Markelov's killers. They adopted an appeal to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, demanding "an objective investigation of all crimes committed on the territory of the Chechen Republic, including war crimes."
Markelov's death is being compared to the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, which caused an international uproar and has not been solved to this day. There was also the murder on July 10, 2004, in Moscow, of the American journalist Paul Khlebnikov, and the death in November 2006 of the former Russian special services officer Alexander Litvinenko. The latter was the co-author of a book that linked the explosions in apartment buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk in the fall of 1999 (which killed about 300 people and served as the pretext for launching the Second Chechen War) with activities of the FSB, successor to the KGB.
Russia has one of the highest levels in the world of murdered journalists. In the last several years, their number has reached into the dozens.
The Russian Internet is filled with speculation about the participation of the Kremlin in encouraging and supporting ultra-right nationalist movements. Such theories are advanced, for instance, with regard to the DPNI (Movement Against Illegal Immigrants). This movement calls for the expulsion from Russian territory of all guest workers from Central Asia, the Caucasus and other republics of the former USSR. Russian businessmen use these workers as a source of cheap labor.
Today's Russian authorities openly preach Russian nationalism. An illustration of this is what Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at the beginning of March last year, soon after the election of the new president, Dmitry Medvedev, who had been handpicked by Putin. In describing the views of the newly elected president, Putin said that he is "no less a Russian nationalist, in the best sense of the word, than I am."
One can anticipate that as the economic crisis deepens in Russia, the burden will fall on the broad layers of the working population and deepen the mood of social protest. Under these conditions, the Kremlin will encourage an atmosphere of nationalist hysteria in order to frighten and persecute people who oppose its policies. |
*UPDATE* Our friend JD has made a one-click install for Android apps. Read more about it here.
If you installed the recently leaked Android app player for your BlackBerry PlayBook, you’re probably wondering “So, how do I get apps?” Here’s a quick rundown of the necessary steps to get Android apps on your PlayBook, while using the leaked beta version of the Android app player. We’re sure RIM will make it much easier to download Android apps once this thing officially releases.
Software you’ll need to download:
Android SDK – install platform tools (first option)
Java JDK
You will need to have your PlayBook set to development mode. You can set this by going to the security options.
tools Let us first start with the Netflix app. You’ll need to download the .APK file here . Once you’ve downloaded all the appropriate software and installed the platform tools, then launch cmd and cd to: C:\Program Files\android\android-sdk\
Now follow these command prompts:
C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\ platform-tools>adb connect 169.254.0.1:5555 connected to 169.254.0.1:5555 C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\ platform-tools>adb root
restarting adbd as root C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\ platform-tools>adb connect 169.254.0.1:5555 connected to 169.254.0.1:5555 C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\ platform-tools>adb install com.netflix.medi
aclient.1.3.apk
2533 KB/s (7378353 bytes in 2.843s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/com.netflix. mediaclient.1.3.apk
We can’t guarantee all apps will load correctly. Some users have reported that they don’t work just yet. Nonetheless, if you’ve got the time and know-how you may want to see if you can get some shiny new Android apps on your PlayBook. |
PANAJI: The long line of patients waiting outside the grubby one-room clinic of a 'multispecialty doctor' in Sakhali, who claims to have cures for everything from diabetes to warts and chapped lips, is proof enough of the stranglehold of trust that quacks have on people in parts of the state.The 'homeopath' flaunts boxes of vaccine vials arranged on his desk, unworried about the cold chain storage that the immunizations require, or the fact that he has no business administering allopathic vaccines to his patients.Doctors in the state estimate that around 500 quacks practice allopathic medicine in Goa. "It's like fighting a losing battle, as these fraudsters are very well-connected," laments Dr Ulhas Karpe, member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).In 2008, Karpe was chairman of the Goa Medical Council 's Disciplinary and Ethics Committee when he launched a campaign to weed out the menace of quackery in the state. "We formed special committees to identify quacks practicing three different specialties-ophthalmology, pathology and radiology. After months of investigation, a detailed report was submitted, and then all hell broke loose," he recalls.Practitioners of the Indian systems of medicine took offense to the report that pulled up a few Ayurveda and Homeopathy practitioners for illegally practicing modern medicine, calling them 'cross-practice' quacks. Karpe was sacked from the post, and the council's report was forwarded to the union health ministry and forgotten about."In the meantime, the number of quacks-from hakims with no education at all, to qualified vaidyas with an affinity for prescribing allopathic medicines-has increased," claims Karpe. "Very often, the quacks are unintentionally bred by doctors, when they employ graduates and even school dropouts as 'helpers'," he adds. Many quacks he has come across were originally compounders or paramedics who have worked in Maharashtra and Karnataka, who after a few years' 'experience', moved to Goa to open their own 'clinics'.A senior surgeon, who recently spoke at a medical conference, also hinted at a 'nexus' between top corporate hospitals and quacks in Goa. "The problem of quackery is still prevalent because the medical fraternity itself shelters these people, who help their business by referring their 'untreatable' patients to corporate specialists," he said, pointing out that the patient is ultimately the scapegoat."The most common hazard of being investigated and treated by a quack is wrong diagnosis and wrong medication. The quacks prescribe steroids that initially show a miraculous benefit to the patient, without really treating the disease. Wrong doses of antibiotics, drug resistance and drug reactions are other dangerous consequences we have seen," Karpe says.Among the anti-quackery campaigners though, a feeling of helplessness has set in. "Every time we identify a quack and try to take up the issue, we receive a dozen calls from different politicians, asking us to back off. The Goa Medical Council has clear laws to penalize quacks, but no one seems interested in implementing them," says Dr Gladstone D'Costa, president of the IMA-Goa. |
Apple is expected to replace current 3D Touch technology with a new design based on thin film sensors when it introduces a next-generation iPhone with OLED display, according to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
iPhone X 5.8-inch Super Retina OLED display
A11 Bionic chip with Neural Engine
3D-sensing TrueDepth front camera
Dual rear 12-megapixel cameras with TrueTone flash
Face ID replaces Touch ID
Home button removed
Glass back, stainless steel band
Wireless charging
IP67 water, dust resistance
Starting from $999 without contract
Ships November 3 More info: iPhone X
In a note to investors obtained by AppleInsider, Kuo says the forthcoming iPhone will feature a 3D Touch module located beneath an OLED panel, a layered arrangement first introduced with iPhone 6s in 2015 Instead of using a sensor design involving flexible printed circuit boards, however, Apple is predicted to make the switch to thin film, a component package promising enhanced sensitivity over existing implementations. The increased should provide a better overall user experience than the now two-year-old 3D Touch design, perhaps paving the way for gestures more complex than home screen quick actions and system-wide " peek and pop " previews.Fitting a film sensor beneath an OLED panel is not easy, Kuo notes. Whereas current 3D Touch iterations integrate a rigid metal conductive plate as part of the layered sensor design, film sensor stacks do not, leaving the flexible OLED screen susceptible to deformation. To avoid potential damage from regular operation, a passive metal component will be placed under the film sensor to provide structural support, Kuo says.The new sensor materials and design inevitably require a more involved lamination process that will drive up per module costs, which the analyst estimates will increase 10 to 20 percent compared to current 3D Touch sensors. Module suppliers GIS and TPK are expected to split orders and begin shipping out supply in March or April.An evolution of Force Touch technology deployed in Apple Watch and MacBook trackpads, 3D Touch was originally billed as "the next generation of multi-touch" when it debuted on iPhone 6s.Unlike Force Touch, which uses sensors deployed under the perimeter of an Apple Watch display to detect finger pressure, 3D Touch employs an array of capacitive sensors integrated with an iPhone display's backlight. The system measures the distance between iPhone's flexible cover glass and the sensor array many times per second, then translates the results into granular force and location data.Film sensors operate under the same working principles, but offer more accurate deflection readings in a design that takes up much less internal space.Apple is widely rumored to unveil its first OLED iPhone later this year alongside a pair of "s" model upgrades for the iPhone 7 series. The 10th anniversary edition, as some are calling the OLED variant, is expected to feature a stainless steel " glass sandwich " design and incorporate exotic technologies like wireless charging, an "invisible" under-panel home button and more. Most recently, rumblings from within Apple's supply chain suggest the OLED version will sport a wraparound 5.8-inch OLED "flex" screen with embedded sensors. |
by
“Most Frequently Charged Offenses” in Fairfax County
Brought to You by our:
Fairfax Criminal Defense Attorney
Our Fairfax criminal defense attorney analyzed a total of:
1,738 criminal charges, pursuant to…
217 distinct Virginia laws and local ordinances
The data was collected from public arrest records provided by the Fairfax County Police. These records reflect roughly a 3 month period during the year 2013.
If you live in Northern Virginia, this information may be of interest. This data analysis is provided to the public, courtesy of our Fairfax criminal defense attorney – Brenton D. Vincenzes. Feel free to share this study with friends and family. If you are a journalist or media outlet, you may submit inquiries here.
18 Categories: Arrest Frequency Chart from Fairfax Criminal Defense Attorney
Our Fairfax criminal defense attorney sorted arrests into the 18 broad categories below. They are listed in order from least frequently charged category of offenses to the most frequently charged category of offenses.
Percentages Chart Courtesy of our Fairfax Criminal Lawyer
As you can see, the least commonly charged offenses fell into the category of operation of boats, barely registering with less than a half of one percent. At the other end of the spectrum, offenses related to driver’s license problems, lack of insurance, and other related charges accounted for more than a quarter of all offenses charged in the given period. The next section contains our main infographic, followed by interesting notes and observations, some of which surprised even our Fairfax criminal defense attorney himself.
Infographic:
Fairfax County Arrest Frequency Comparison and Analysis,
brought to you by: our
Fairfax Criminal Lawyer
In addition to the broad categories as depicted above, the infographic reveals the most frequently charged Code sections for each of the 18 main criminal offense categories. Don’t forget: our Fairfax criminal lawyer lists his ten most interesting findings following the infographic.
Our Fairfax Criminal Lawyer was Surprised by these 10 Findings:
Surprising: Schedule III and IV drugs are rarely implicated in an arrest in Fairfax County. Only 2 arrests out of 1,738 involved a schedule III substance, and likewise, only 2 arrests involved a schedule IV substance. Well-known Schedule III substances include the drugs Ketamine, Buprenorphine, and opioid painkiller, Hydrocodone (Vicodin), in limited quantities. Schedule IV substances include anti-anxiety drugs Alprazolam (Xanax) and Clonazepam (Klonopin). Surprising: When it comes to distribution or possession with intent to distribute offenses, it surprised our Fairfax criminal lawyer that there were more schedule I and II drugs implicated than Cannabis. Note: the Code of Virginia uses the word, Marijuana, but the correct term (politically and scientifically), is Cannabis. Not Surprising: Possession of Cannabis (as a first time offense), was the most common drug charge. Arrests for Cannabis possession (first offense) occurred around three times more frequently than the next most charged drug offense, which was distribution or possession with intent to distribute a schedule I or II drug, not including Cannabis. Surprising: More people were arrested for an alleged assault on a family or household member than for assault on a non-family or household member. This is actually not surprising, but to a person who is not used to practicing criminal defense, it might be a shock. Surprising: More grand larceny offenses were the basis for arrest than petit larceny. We would have expected more larceny charges predicated upon a petit larceny allegation (less than $200, and not from a person), but grand larceny ($200 or more), very slightly edged petit larceny out by a few arrests. Surprising: There were a surprisingly large number of DWI charges against drivers alleged to have had a child in the car, as well as a BAC between .15 and .20. This offense was charged only slightly less frequently than refusal of a blood or breath test after DWI arrest, and also slightly less than the offense, “driving with a revoked license” (as a result of a DWI). Surprising: While it is not surprising that the charge, Drunk in Public – Profane Language, was the most frequently charged alcohol related offense, it was surprising that it so greatly dwarfed other alcohol offenses. 130 such arrests were made, compared to the next most frequently charged alcohol offense of possession of an open container, coming in at just 18 arrests in the same period. Not Surprising: While these next two offenses are very different, our Fairfax criminal defense attorney was not surprised that they were the basis of arrest at an equal rate: unintentional destruction of property valued at over $1,000 due to a vehicular accident (and where the driver left the scene), and intentional destruction of property (not involving a car accident). Somewhat surprising: Most people are aware of how serious a Virginia reckless driving charge is. Part of this public awareness is due to the frequency Virginia police charge drivers with this offense. It was somewhat surprising, however, that only 3 arrests were made for aggressive driving, compared to the 118 reckless driving charges in the given period. Somewhat surprising: 223 people were charged with driving without a valid license. This offense is known to be a frequent reason for arrest, but the volume of charges is somewhat surprising. It was the most frequently charged criminal offense by almost 100 arrests…making it the number one criminal offense committed by people in Fairfax County.
notes on this data analysis conducted by our Fairfax criminal defense attorney
While we have made all efforts to be as accurate as possible, our Fairfax criminal defense attorney and team behind the analysis does not guarantee 100% accuracy. The data should not be relied on, and is for informational purposes only.
The main point of this study and analysis was to compare the frequencies of criminal arrests in a given period. Please note:
date range is not relevant for purposes of data analysis
analysis does not include offenses committed by minors
a single person may have been charged with more than one violation
data was gathered from publicly available arrest records
We refer to broad categories of offenses, and at times, specific law arrests. For example, one broad category is drug offenses. A single offense within this broad category is possession of marijuana.
About Vincenzes Law, PLLC and our Fairfax Criminal Lawyer
Our Northern Virginia firm primarily focuses on criminal defense matters, including (but not limited to)
criminal traffic offenses such as reckless driving DWI
traffic infractions, such as speeding
non-traffic criminal charges, such as theft, drug crimes, assault and domestic violence, property damage, and much more.
We serve adults and juveniles, and often our Fairfax criminal lawyer — Brenton D. Vincenzes — can be found at the Fairfax County General District and Circuit Court, the City of Alexandria’s General District and Circuit Court, Prince William County General District and Circuit Court, and many other Northern Virginia jurisdiction’s courthouses.
Our Fairfax criminal defense attorney takes pride in offering clients modern day technological conveniences that you may not find at other law firms. For example, our clients are allowed to:
login to a secure, client-only website unique and private, for each individual client
access any documents and records
transfer such files to our legal team
view upcoming court dates
opt to receive reminders by email or phone
pay for their legal bills via our secure system online
use most major credit cards
We make the entire process of finding and obtaining legal representation as hassle free as possible. From the first meeting, all the way through the matter’s resolution. If need be, we also will work to expunge a record if that is our client’s wish. We believe that by leveraging technology, the experience our firm provides is significantly more customer-service oriented than most have come to expect from traditional law firms…and more importantly, our clients are best served.
For a free no-obligation fee quotation, you may call our Fairfax criminal lawyer and our legal team at 888.695.6565, or, message us online for a case evaluation. We will meet with you at no cost and with no strict time limit imposed, in order to get to know you, and for you to get to know us. We believe in: fostering relationships; excellent communication; and, passionate representation. Our Fairfax Criminal Law Firm and Fairfax Criminal Defense Attorney has an office in Fairfax, Virginia, but offers legal services to the entire Northern Virginia area.
Comments |
[Editor's Note- 27th Sept. is Bhagat Singh's birthday. We all will see a barrage of facebook shares and pictures that thursday and some of us might also go ahead and click on share. But do we really understand what did Bhagat stand for? This year, we wanted to do something different. We wanted to learn and spread the thought process which changed the course of our freedom fight. In this series, author tries to put forward those thoughts and tries to explain, in a minimalist fashion, what they mean. Please feel free to draw your own inferences and share with us.]
Some people leave their footsteps so prominent that one cannot overlook them; Shahid Bhagat Singh was one of them. This legendary martyr was one of those sons of our motherland who didn’t let her down. One of the few crazy ones for whom notion of getting educated and finally getting settled like society wanted him to was not worth the try.
You may have 250 plus followers on twitter who follow every single word you say, but do you really do something that significant which make people listen to you, make them follow you in REAL WORLD? We are part of that generation where majority of the youth consider bollywood & hollywood heroes as real heroes. In this part of the series, we are presenting Bhagat ji’s thoughts which inspired the youth at that time; but every word stands true for today as well.
Even at the age of 18, Bhagat was a greater visionary than most of the leaders of that we have today. He truly understood the power of youth and knew how important it was to unite youth for the cause of Independence. Following excerpts are from the manifesto of Naujawan Bharat Sabha founded by him in the year 1926:
“Those who want to be free must themselves strike the blow. Young men, awake, arise; we have slept too long! We have appealed to the young only. Because the young bear the most inhuman tortures smilingly and face the death without hesitation. Because the whole history of human progress is written with the blood of young men and young women. And because reforms are ever made by the vigour, courage, self sacrifice and emotional conviction of the young men who do not know enough to be afraid and who feel much more than they think”
Name 5 leaders who can speak such inspiring words today? It is our misfortune that the answer is blank. Further addressing the youth of the nation he stated:
“The task before the young is hard and their resources are scanty. A great many obstacles are likely to block their way. They must see the hard and difficult path that lies before them, the great tasks they have to perform. Young men, do not get disheartened when you find such a great battle to fight single handed, with none to help you. You must realise your latent strength. Nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be thrown overboard to swim or sink for himself”
Isn’t it glorious to read such fiery words written back in 1926 by a teenager? At the same time please realise that today in the name of youth icon we have a 43 years old man who is clueless and directionless over national issues. No, we are no fools to compare Bhagat Singh ji with Rahul Gandhi 'ji'. But can he speak such encouraging words to the youth of nation? Can he unite the youth of nation and use their energy in a constructive work? Bhagat Bhai, we truly miss you.
“Were it not the young man of japan who came forth in the hundreds to throw themselves in ditches to make a dry path to Port Arthur? And Japan is today one of the foremost nations in the world. Were it not the young Polish people who fought again and again and failed, but fought again heroically throughout the last century? And today we see a free Poland. Who freed Italy from the Austrian Yoke? Young Italy.”
If given a serious thought one can see that the fire is always there in young hearts that untapped potential should be out there focussing on the cause the young Indian believes in. If one young boy could bring so much fire to the entire nation, imagine tens, hundreds or thousands of Bhagat singh in 2012.
Towards the end, again focussing on the youth of the nation, he stated -
“Let, then, young men think independently, calmly, serenely and patiently. Let them adopt the cause of Indian independence as the sole aim of their lives. Let them stand on their own feet. Let them remember that ‘the making of a nation requires self sacrifice of thousands of obscure men and women who care more for the idea of their country than for their own comfort and interest, than their own lives and the lives of those who they love.”
Undoubtedly, we miss him. We miss such words. We miss inspiration. We miss that spark to make us sacrifice for our nation. We miss that fire. We don’t know how to bring back all this but Bhagat Bhai, we assure you that we will not step back when it come to sacrifice our lives for the nation.
Jai Hind
P.S:- Next part in the series will showcase Bhagat Singh's thought after killing J.P. Saunders. |
UPDATE: There are so many respondents (thank you) and since it is clear that about 97% of WUWT readers hadn’t seen/participated in 2010 Lewandowsky survey, that we’ve added a second thread to get the most important part of the data.
You can still record your participation/non-participation below in the question form, but if you DID PARTICPATE in 2010 please also see this new thread:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/14/the-lewandowsky-participation-census-re-booted/
People who previously answered that they DID participate in 2010 are encourage to drop a note in comments at that new thread.
At the suggestion of Steve McIntyre, I’m posting this request because we know that both AGW proponents and skeptics alike read WUWT daily. It therefore is the most broad reaching venue to ask this simple question:
Did you participate in the Lewandowsky conspiracy opinions survey anywhere in the year 2010 on any blog? (if you are unfamiliar with it and don’t know if you did/did not, read Lewandowsky’s paper here)
There are two steps: First I ask you to do the poll below, then leave a comment with your usual handle in the comment section signifying your answering the question.
Note that unlike the Lewandowsky poll, safeguards are in place to prevent vote stuffing.
Step 1: Answer the question below
Step2: Leave a comment in your usual handle/name below stating your answer in Step 1 (note Steve’s re-boot at the top of WUWT to leave a comment in the other thread if you did participate).
This will be a sticky top post for a few days. Please ONLY LEAVE COMMENTS ABOUT YOUR PARTICIPATION YES/NO. Most others will be deleted. Thanks for your consideration – Anthony
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“An ancient sapphire ring.
It subdues your presence, making it difficult to be detected by enemies.”
The description for the Thief’s Ring in Demon’s Souls is innocuous enough, but it’s one of the most useful items in the game.
When I first obtained it, I scoffed at its effects. I generally tend to be underwhelmed by “ancient and powerful artifacts” that serve as nothing more than marginal stat modifiers. I also wasn’t playing a stealthy character, so it seemed like a fairly useless trinket.
Demon’s Souls is a game where a small boost can have an enormous effect, though, and a few deaths later I quickly discovered the benefits of donning the Thief’s Ring.
There’s nothing magical about it, really — it simply does what it says — but its effects are very deliberately tied into the game world and its design.
Here a few examples:
Isolating Enemies
Unlike many 3rd person brawlers, the enemies in Demon’s Souls do not patiently wait for their turn to attack the player. As a result, it’s often important to draw away individuals from a group to take them on one-on-one.
The Thief’s Ring facilitates luring enemies by preventing the player from being pelted with projectiles during the approach. What’s more, the combat in Demon’s Souls requires a lot of movement, and the Thief’s Ring makes it less likely to draw the attention of more enemies while battling a solitary opponent.
Avoiding the Dragons
The ramparts of Castle Boletaria are patrolled by hostile dragons that roast anything in their sights. These sections are quite unforgiving, but the Thief’s Ring expands the window of safety between the dragons’ fiery onslaughts.
Slaying the Geckos
Crystal Geckos are timid creatures that are almost impossible to catch with a melee attack. They can spot the player from very far away, and if they do, they skitter back and fade out of existence. The Thief’s Ring slightly dulls their awareness, making it easier to catch them and the large quantities of minerals (used to upgrade armour and weapons) that they drop.
Boss Runs
Chances are that during most everyone’s first playthrough at least a few of the boss battles will not end in victory, but the Thief’s Ring makes it easier to give ’em another shot. Simply running past enemies is often a valid option, and equipping the ring lowers the duration/distance they’ll take into account when chasing the player.
Backtrack-Farming
Upon defeating a boss, the player can warp back to the boss’ lair from the Nexus hub. This not only provides a shortcut going forward, but it also allows the player to go back through a completed area in order to obtain more items and souls (the game’s equivalent of gold and experience).
What makes this backtracking different from playing through the same area from the start is that enemies tend to face only one direction. Combined with the Thief’s Ring, this makes it quite easy to sneak up on them and unleash a backstab, a special attack that deals extra damage and yields more souls.
Scaling the Shrine of Storms
Equipping the Thief’s Ring is practically the only way to travel up narrow mountain paths without being shredded by flying Storm Beasts.
Defeating the Old Hero
The blind boss of the Adjudicator Archstone is quite a fearsome opponent, but it’s actually quite easy to stay out of his reach with the Thief’s Ring equipped.
Invading Other Worlds
Player vs. Player combat is not greatly affected by the Thief’s Ring, but it does partially obscure the invader. This makes it more likely that the battle might begin with a sneaky backstab.
Even without any significant gameplay mutators, though, it’s still quite unsettling to see a swirling, red aura make a beeline for the player’s character. |
Fez II is no longer in active development, according to developer Polytron and its designer, Phil Fish. That’s the word from Fish, who dropped his mic this weekend.
“FEZ II is cancelled,” said Fish in a statement on Polytron’s website. "i am done.i take the money and i run. this is as much as i can stomach. this is isn’t the result of any one thing, but the end of a long, bloody campaign. you win.”
For the record, I don’t believe him, even though I’ve “confirmed” the news with Fish myself over email. I suspect we will, at some point, see (and play) the sequel to Fez, but this weekend’s events provide an opportunity for Fish to leave the spotlight and protect his sanity from the world and, well, himself. Fish speaks too passionately about games to leave them behind. That isn’t some subtle hint, either. It’s my gut feeling.
But how did we get here? It begins with the latest episode of Invisible Walls, a Game Trailers podcast, featuring a lengthy rant from Marcus Beer, a longtime member of the industry now commentating under the named “Annoyed Gamer.” The podcast was discussing the recent turn of events regarding Xbox One self-publishing, and how both Fish and Braid designer Jonathan Blow used Twitter to criticize the press for running towards both of them for quotes about what was, then, still a rumor coming from Game Informer about the news. A rumor with some legitimacy? Sure, and while it eventually proved true, Blow was upset reporters were asking for commentary without more information (for example, the revenue share ratio) and Fish lamented the press seeking a quote before everything was confirmed. Fish's divisive nature is easy traffic.
Cue Beer:
“But, of course, the press, wanting to get reactions, they went to a couple of indie developers. In this case, Jonathan Blow and Phil Fish, because those guys are the self-styled kings of the indie genre. They’ve been on Indie Game: The Movie, and they’ll turn up and quote for anything and everyone. And Ms. Fish and Blow, or BlowFish as I’m going to call the two them right, because while they may be moderately tasty, they’re also kind of lethal. [They] decided to go bananas and bitch and moan to Game Informer, in particular about “How dare you, how dare you ask us questions about this story! I’m sick of you guys wanting my opinion on this story!” Both of them, both bitching away. And I’ve just got a little message for the BlowFish. Gents, you are the guys who did Indie Games: The Movie, and some of you looked relatively normal in it, one of you looked like a total tosspot in it. You can’t have it both ways. You’re successful game designers, you’re indie game designers--hurrah, good for you, you fucking hipsters. Let’s get something out of the way. If you are successful and you want people to promote your games, and you go to the press and give them quotes for anything that pertains to your shilling your next title, when the press, then, come to you and say “this is something that’s pertinent to the indie scene, let’s talk to BlowFish because BlowFish are successful and they are, you know, supposedly these pioneers” don’t get fucking snicky about it, alright? Jesus, you should be grateful that these guys consider what you say something of use.. Me? I think the both of you are a pair of tosspots. You may make good games. Well, Blow makes...Blow makes a good game. Fez, I’m just not into at all. I’m just not into it. I respect people that do [enjoy it]. My own personal opinion, though? Having seen these wankers over and over again, bitch and moan--Phil Fish in particular, though.
Other Commentator: He does come across as whiny.
Beer: Whiny? He’s a fucking asshole most of the time. I’m an asshole, but that’s what I am, that’s what I do. I suck it up. But what I’m saying is that if you guys want the promotion the next time around on your Fez 2 or...what’s the follow-up to Braid, The Witless? Witless? Whoa! Yeah, c’mon. I would like to say to every outlet who got dismissed by BlowFish, fuck ‘em. Next time they have something to shill, say “yeah, not so much interested.” It is a two-way street, it’s a symbiotic relationship. You guys are out there, you have to suck it up.”
Game developers do not owe us anything, and I don’t owe them anything. It’s archaic to view the press-developer relationship as strictly symbiotic, and is indicative of an old view of the press-developer relationship. Do I often rely on developers to open up and allow me to tell their stories? Yes, but it’s an optional dance we do the tango to. No one is indebted to the other once that exchange has run its course, and that's the end of the road. If you're on a writer/journalist making this argument, that's really bad.
Anyway.
Fish caught wind of Beer’s comments, and exploded on Twitter.
("Compare your life to mine and then kill yourself" is a Futurama quote, but that's a bit besides the point.)
That’s just a taste. Beer eventually responded, and offered Fish an opportunity to discuss his commentary on camera, but Fish wasn’t interested. Over the next hour or so, Fish continued to vocally express his displeasure, speaking more broadly about his feelings about people slinging crap his way, and the toll it takes on psyche. It ended with Fez II’s abrupt cancellation, despite having been announced only recently.
I spent the weekend largely disconnected from the Internet. Like Fish, I’m a public figure, someone who puts themselves out there and deals with what comes back--the good and the bad. I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve grown a thick enough skin to deal with rape threats targeted at my wife simply because I’ve had the audacity to talk about sexism in video games. Nor am I proud of being able to withstand pot shots from anonymous jerks about my deceased father. These are not traits that will ever be mentioned in my resume.
We all handle criticism, especially the vitriolic kind, differently. I stopped responding to jerks, and ask people to come in my direction through email, private messages, or questions over Tumblr. Over time, it's produced excellent results, but not pulling the trigger and snarking back at a jerk is hard. Vocal game designer Hideki Kamiya tells people to fuck off. Fish responded by yelling, stirring the pot, and unironically latching himself to a photo of known troller (he probably would have hated that term) and comedian Andy Kaufman.
Some of his comments are indefensible, and some, I suspect, he wishes he could take back.
But I know the good of the Internet, too, and I wish Fish had, either, seen more of it or reminded himself of what it produces. I’ve had my moments with the Giant Bomb community, but so much has been tremendous.
I mean, look at this stuff.
When my father passed, the Giant Bomb community started a thread with well wishes about my work and anonymous comments about my father, a person none of them had ever met. I kept that thread bookmarked on my phone during the first week of my father’s passing, and would often head into the bathroom, page through the thread, not really reading anything, and cry. It was a showing of genuine compassion by a group of people who only knew me from what I put out there. When I needed them, they had my back.
And that's to say nothing of how we pulled together for during the passing of the irreplaceable Ryan Davis.
Whenever someone gets under my skin, I reach into my bag. Tucked into a pocket are a series of letters, private thoughts from people who have reached out over the years, thanking me for one thing or another that I've been involved in. Most of them bring a tear to my eye, and each reminds me why I'm still doing this.
99% of the Internet has been nothing but nice to me, even when it’s a backhanded compliment. It’s easy to focus on that 1%. That 1% is vile, hateful, spiteful, jealous, mean, and would likely be as venomous in a public place as they are with a badge of anonymity. Many are probably teenagers who will grow up and learn to regret their ignorant actions, but some of them aren’t, and those are the people who scare me the most. But I can’t spend my day worrying about the 1%. I wake up every day trying to make the other 99% happy.
I hope I’m doing an okay job of that. |
Picture by Swiss Metro Soon Switzerland could get holes like the famous Swiss cheese: If everything works out for the planners of the "Swissmetro", than by middle of this century the metropolitan areas Zürich, Bern, Lausanne, Geneva und St. Gallen should be connected through a Tunnel system, that is breathtaking in the true sense of the word. A maglev train without wheels should, similar to the already activated Transrapid in Shanghai release the aboveground commuter traffic in a low pressure-duct of 6 meters. The advantages of the idea are evident: Traffic jams, accidents, weather capers and a lot more force the traffic planers to perennially new extensions. Bigger tunnels have to be dug for the traffic, bridges are rebuilt or broadened. Speedier railway systems are run, which have to be protected by game fences and only save a few minutes time as well. All of that is becoming more and more costly through environmental regulations, mile long winding detours and abutter oppositions. A long-distance-subway would not only be environmentally sound compared to present traffic systems, it could also be dug dead straight, like an air-line distance of a plane in a depth of a 100 meters (under the groundwater table), because neither mountains nor difficult site would present an additional barrier. Swissmetro-Vice President Dr. Vincent Bourquin in the Interview: "Digging such a tunnel system over hundreds of kilometers is naturally not so cheap. But according to an international study the Swiss metro system is more beneficial over long distances than freeways and railway lines with all their constructional and legal problems."
Picture by Swiss Metro Once built, such a subway could not only snow-and ice-free outrank the traditional Swiss railway, but also rank before aircrafts with half of a sonic speed on short distances. Dr. Vincent Bourquin: "Our Vacuum-Metro and the aircraft are quite alike in many points: During normal air pressure in the tunnel sections our wheel-less Railway-Torpedo would be on the way with approximately 200 km/h. If one reduces the air pressure, lowers the air resistance, in such a way that a partial-vacuum is produced, the train can be much faster – with up to 600 km/h. Airplanes take advantage of the same trick by ascending into huge height, because the air pressure is lower there. There aircrafts fly speedier and save more fuel as well. Therefore the Swissmetro would be provided with the same over centuries proved pressurized cabins for passengers as an airplane." Austria is not as dense populated as Switzerland, but also here such an idea could be interesting, especially because in the alpine-area it is hard to make extensions, yet the area is protection-worthy. Already some years ago they started thinking about such a project, to unburden the Transit route on the Brenner to Italy. But it failed because of the little interest of investors. Now, the Swiss have the edge on here probably. (www.swissmetro.com).
Picture by Swiss Metro Vincent Bourquin: "Technically neither the tunnel nor the subway are a problem nowadays: Circa every 15 kilometers there would be a small station for the vacuum pumps, which provide the low pressure in the thermion system. The necessary preventive maintenances would be less, since the magnetic system is working contact-less in suspension. Austria has yet very excellent tunnel construction experts, who for example accomplish superior work in the course of the subway extension in Vienna now. Naturally we hope, Austrian engineers take part and share their know-how in building the Swissmetro, if we are ready for takeoff so far. Such a new project needs courage beside money. – Courage to rethink and a good deal of pioneering spirit. Nowadays that is not so easy to find anymore, as in times, as here in Switzerland the legendary Gotthard-Tunnel was dug." The inhabitants of Serfaus (Tirol) already showed courage and pioneering spirit on the mole's traces, when they decided to build a subway on air-bag basis through the place, in order to relief traffic during winter tourism. Many a mountain farmer then shook his head, and the cows in the barn didnt stand the drilling noise. Since then village roads that are blocked up by tourist-cars belong to the past finally. Over four stations the village-subway is able to transport 2000 persons per hour today. And at the beginning of the year, one already celebrated the 20-years jubilee of Austria's second subway system (after Vienna). |
One of the great gifts of being a teacher is that you get to learn from your students. This is especially useful when your students take your teachings and find new framing to express them. In the Strategic Sorcery group students are always cheering and challenging each other. Yesterday Student A.M. threw down the glove in a way that struck me as particularly useful, and I wanted to share it here on the blog so that others can pick it up and do it.
Its a very simple idea, and here is A.M. expressing it in his own words:
I’ve got a christmas challenge I’d like to set – conjure something that you want, but think you don’t deserve. Maybe it’s a raise that you think you haven’t worked for, or the attention of someone special that you think is out of your league, or just some fun or pretty gift you’d like to give yourself.
This has been a pretty powerful mental short-circuit trick for me – a lot of the time I get distracted by thoughts of whether or not I’ve ‘earned’ (in mundane or spiritual terms) the result that I’m summoning. Doing this every once in a while helps me remember that it doesn’t really matter who ‘deserves’ success or not. What matters is whether or not we make it happen for ourselves.
Those of you that have taken the course or read Financial Sorcery know about Set Point theory already – what better way to shift that point than by doing this?
The degree to which people who are ostensibly dedicated to causing change in strange and subtle ways are often trapped by ideas of what they do and don’t deserve has always amazed me.
Fuck what you deserve or don’t deserve: just go get it because you want it.
Don’t come up with some faux cosmic “it is my true will” justification; go for it just because you want it.
Don’t invent some reason you “need” it. Just do it because you want it.
If there is some kind of karmic-rewards point system that monitors what shit people get based on their actions, trust that it is FAR too complicated for your slightly evolved monkey brain to figure out, and assume that if you want it, it’s ok to go for it.
If you are concerned about God or Gods having a destiny for you, than let them worry about that. Assume that your desire for a car with third row seating is in fact part of that plan.
I am NOT saying to just do whatever you want and screw the consequences. That’s a whole other ball of wax. I am not suggesting you screw people over, swindle your neighbors, or in any way act rampage through the world less ethically than you normally would.
I am also not saying to drain your bank account of crap you can’t afford. This is not about treating yourself because you deserve it.
It is about blaspheming against the idea that you do or don’t deserve anything. |
Darrell Arthur, a versatile big who has developed three-point range, has opted out of his contract with the Denver Nuggets and hitting the open market and will be on the Wizards' short list of targets, league sources tell CSNmidatlantic.com
Darrell Arthur has officially opted out of his contract w/Nuggets - I have a mess of updates to make - he's one https://t.co/O1iZ2R9cOU — Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) June 24, 2016
Arthur, 28, has been a reserve in the NBA since his 2008-09 rookie season and can be an occasional starter when needed. He was scheduled to make $2.9 million but opted out with the salary cap rising to $94 million this summer.
Currently, the Wizards have Markieff Morris as their starting power forward and a player with Arthur’s skill set behind him would make sense.
Arthur, at 6-9, is a good defender and had averages of 7.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 38.5% three-point shooting in 70 appearances last season. He had a career-high in makes (45) from three and takes (117).
He has earned a raise. Arthur has never made more than $3.5 million for a season in the NBA. That's about to change, and to get him shouldn't require the type of bump in salary that's going to eat a hole in the salary cap.
RELATED: WALL SPECULATES ON WHAT MAY HAVE TURNED OFF DURANT |
An Athens court sentenced blogger Filippos Loizos to ten months prison suspended for 3 years, after found him guilty of “insulting religion”. The blogger was known as Elder Pastitsios, who was making fun of the almost mythical monk Elder Paisios.
Philippos Loizos, 27, was arrested in September 2012 on charges of “malicious blasphemy and insulting religion” through Facebook. The arrest came “after thousands of e-complains from residents of different countries of the world”, so the police press release. The 27-year-old had created a page on Facebook named “Geron Pastitsios” (Elder Pastitsios), an mock name for Greek Athos monk, Elder Paisios (1924-1994), famous about his prophecies on Greece, the Greek nation and the Orthodox Christianity.
Pastitsio is a Greek dish with pasta, minced meat and bechamel sauce. The arrest triggered an outcry on internet and thousands of people speak of unprecedented censorship and blame Samaras’ government for complying with the demands of extreme-right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn). On twitter there has been talks that ”Geron Pastitsios trolled Greek nationalist blogs, planting hoax accounts of ‘miracles’ which they reproduced without questioning”. According to news portal NewsIt, last Tuesday (Sept 18), GD posed a question at the Parliament complaining about the Facebook page where the administrator insults, mocks and tries to humiliate the sacred figure of Greek Orthodoxy, Elder Paisios”. As thousands protest against this censorship on the internet, the hashtag #FreeGeronPastitsios became a world trending. A petition was created asking the Greek parliament to immediately release the man and abolish anti-blasphemy laws in Greece.
After the sentence became known many internet users complain about the censorship and some even compare Greece with Iran.
PS “rumors that an international warrant has been issued against Monty Python and the Life of Brian are not confirmed” (stolen from @YBoyio on Twitter) |
Google Opinion Rewards is now live in India, Singapore, and Turkey, allowing customers from these markets to participate in surveys to get Play Store credit.
In the U.S., customers get up to $1 in credit for a survey, and in India the payout starts from ₹10. That's what I received for the survey I completed, but the figure should change based on the survey.
The launch is a win-win as it gives customers the ability to pay for digital content they normally wouldn't (piracy is rampant in India). The platform is cost-effective for advertisers as well, and gives them valuable feedback from millions of users from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
Eager to get started? Download the app from the Play Store, select your Google account, and answer a few basic questions about yourself.
Let us know how you're liking Google Opinion Rewards in the comments. |
The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during the period 14–25 February 1956. It is known especially for First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev's "Secret Speech", which denounced the personality cult and dictatorship of Joseph Stalin.[1]
Delegates at this Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were given no advance warning of what to expect. Indeed, proceedings were opened by First Secretary Khruschev's call for all to stand in memory of the Communist leaders who had died since the previous Congress, in which he mentioned Stalin in the same breath as Klement Gottwald. Hints of a new direction only came out gradually over the next ten days, which had the effect of leaving those present highly perplexed. The Polish communist leader Bolesław Bierut died in Moscow under mysterious circumstances shortly after attending the 20th Congress.
The congress elected the 20th Central Committee.
Secret speech [ edit ]
On 25 February, the very last day of the Congress, it was announced that an unscheduled session had been called for the Soviet delegates. First Secretary Khrushchev's morning speech began with vague references to the harmful consequences of elevating a single individual so high that he took on the "supernatural characteristics akin to those of a god." Khrushchev went on to say that such a mistake had been made about Stalin. He himself had been guilty of what was, in essence, a distortion of the basic principles of Marxism-Leninism.
The attention of the audience was then drawn to Lenin's Testament, copies of which had been distributed, criticising Stalin's "rudeness". Further accusations, and hints of accusations, followed, including the suggestion that the murder of Sergey Kirov in 1934, the event that sparked the Great Terror, could be included in the list of Stalin's crimes. While denouncing Stalin, Khrushchev carefully praised the Communist Party, which had the strength to withstand all the negative effects of imaginary crimes and false accusations. The Party, in other words, had been a victim of Stalin, not an accessory to his crimes. He finished by calling on the Party to eradicate the cult of personality and return to "the revolutionary fight for the transformation of society."
The speech shocked delegates to the Congress, as it flew in the face of years of Soviet propaganda, which had claimed that Stalin was a wise, peaceful, and fair leader. After long deliberations, in a month the speech was reported to the general public, but the full text was published only in 1989. Not everyone was ready to accept Khrushchev's new line. Albanian Communist leader Enver Hoxha, for instance, strongly condemned Khrushchev as revisionist.[2] The speech was also seen as a catalyst for 1956 uprisings in Poland and Hungary, and was seen as a "major stimulus" to the Sino–Soviet split.[3]
See also [ edit ] |
Pro-Iraq ad buyers turn to lobbying Nick Juliano
Published: Friday November 16, 2007
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Print This Email This Group tells Raw it will reach out to both parties Freedom's Watch, a pro-Iraq war interest group populated by prominent Republicans and former Bush administration officials, swept into the debate over the war this summer with a series of slickly produced, emotional TV ads. Now the group wants to take its arguments straight to the Capitol Hill lawmakers who are debating how and whether to continue funding America's nearly five-year occupation of Iraq. Freedom's Watch filed papers on Sept. 17 to lobby lawmakers, as noted this week by CQ Moneyline, a campaign fundraising and political advocacy tracking service. The group says it plans to reach out to members of both parties on a variety of issues, including troop funding and "winning the war on terror." "We won't narrow our scope in terms of who we're going to be talking to," Matt David, a spokesman for the group, tells RAW STORY . The lobbying disclosure form lists three Freedom's Watch officials, who are joining the pro-war lobbying effort, including Bradley Blakeman, a former deputy assistant to President Bush, and David, a former Bush-Cheney campaign aide. Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer is a founding board member of Freedom's Watch, although he is not listed as a registered lobbyist. David says Fleischer won't be involved in the lobbying effort, and the group will not be coordinating its actions with the Bush administration. "By law we're not allowed to coordinate with the White House, so we are following the law," he said in an interview Friday. "We are not coordinating with the White House." As RAW STORY reported last month, Freedom's Watch appears to be part of a revolving door between the White House and outside public relations groups trying to bolster support for the unpopular occupation of Iraq. David said Freedom's Watch plans to announce an expansion of its advocacy efforts to include issues beyond the war and hopes to become a force in Washington. "This is an organization with the goal to be a perpetual operation for years and years to come," he said. In August, Freedom's Watch began a $15 million ad campaign in 20 states urging members of Congress to stay the course in Iraq. Those ads, which aired just before Gen. David Petraeus's progress report on the "surge" in Iraq, conflated the Iraq invasion and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, despite the fact that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with the plot to fell the World Trade Center. Just this month, Freedom's Watch purchased newspaper ads in vulnerable Democrats' districts, although the ads didn't seem to shake their targets. "If people want to advertise that he's advocating a position different than President Bush, we welcome that,"a spokesman for Rep. Harry Mitchell, an Arizona Democrat whose constituents saw the Freedom's Watch ad in the Arizona Republic, told the Huffington Post's Michael Roston. It is unclear whether the highly emotional ads helped sway any votes, although Congress has continually failed to force a change of course in Iraq. Whether such arguments will be just as convincing when presented in person remains to be seen. |
Although I'm deep into the reporting of my next story about the Silicon Valley Techtopus, it’s hard for me not to get distracted by events in Ukraine and Russia.
I haven’t lived in that part of the world since the Kremlin ran me out of town, so I’m not going to pretend that I know as much as those on the ground there. Still, I’ve been driven nuts by the avalanche of overconfident ignorance that stands for analysis or commentary on the wild events there. A lethal ignorance, a virtuous ignorance.
Virtuous ignorance about world affairs used to be the exclusive domain of neo-con pundits, but now it’s everywhere, especially rampant on the counter-consensus side — nominally my own side, but an increasingly shitty side to be on.
Nearly everyone here in the US tries to frame and reify Ukraine’s dynamic to fit America-centric spats. As such, Ukraine’s problems are little more than a propaganda proxy war where our own political fights are transferred to Ukraine’s and Russia’s context, warping the truth to score domestic spat points. That’s nothing new, of course, but it’s still jarring to watch how the "new media" counter-consensus is warping and misrepresenting reality in Ukraine about as crudely as the neocons and neoliberals used to warp and Americanize the political realities there back when I first started my Moscow newspaper, The eXile.
So, yes, I wanted to comment on a few simplifications/misconceptions about Ukraine today:
1. The protesters are not "virtuous anti-Putin freedom fighters," nor are they "Nazis and US puppets"
In fact, the people who are protesting or supporting the protesters are first and foremost sick of their shitty lives in a shitty country they want to make better—a country where their fates are controlled by a tiny handful of nihilistic oligarchs and Kremlin overlords, and their political frontmen. It’s first and foremost a desire to gain some control over their fate. Anger at Kremlin power over Ukraine is not necessarily anti-Russian—although the further west you go in Ukraine, the more this does become about nationalism, and the further east you go—including Crimea and Odessa—the more the politics are a fearful reaction against west-Ukraine nationalism.
This is kind of obvious to anyone who’s spent time in that part of the world. I’ll quote from Jake Rudnitsky’s great piece about the Orange Revolution published in The eXile nearly a decade ago, which aptly describes both what an awful political figure Yanukovych is, what role the US played in that "revolution," and the aspirations of most Ukrainians who took to the streets. It’s amazing how little has changed in this dynamic:
"Almost all of Ukraine’s oligarchs are from the east or Kiev, and they almost exclusively lined up in support of Yanukovych, a Donetsk native. There are a few exceptions, notably Petro Poroshenko, the owner of car and candy factories and a ship-building yard. He also owns Channel 5, which was an invaluable tool in helping Yushchenko [the pro-West leader of the Orange Revolution] compete....A large part of [Channel 5] programming consists of watching Yanukovych’s team make asses of themselves. They often repeat a speech Yanukovych gave where he was gesturing with his fingers in the air, "paltsami," a classic bandit gesture. Still, the biggest and most powerful clans are still behind Yanukovych, who is their man.
"Yanukovych is a truly loathsome character. Most Ukrainians agree that if a more palatable candidate had been given the nearly unlimited access to "administrative resources" that Yanukovych had, he would have won handily. But Yanukovych twice served jail time in the Soviet Union, he has no charisma, and is obviously a tool of powerful Russian and Ukrainian interests. Yushchenko, on the other hand, is considered by most western Ukrainians to be something between Gandhi and Christ, while many people in the east worry he has it in for everyone who speaks Russian. Many people who voted for Yanukovych did so out of suspicion of Yushchenko, not because they like Yanukovych (except perhaps in his home turf, Donetsk)." As for the US role in the Orange Revolution, what Rudnitsky wrote in 2004 applies to the US/EU role today:
"The protests have come under fire as an American-funded coup, particularly in the Russian media. And there’s some truth to it — the US has been bringing in Serbs and Georgians experienced in non-violent revolution to train Ukrainians for at least a year. One exit poll — the one finding most heavily in favor of Yushchenko — was funded by the US. The smoothness and professionalism of the protest, from the instant availability of giant blocks of Styrofoam to pitch the tents on to the network of food distribution and medical points, is probably a result of American logistical planning. It’s certainly hard to imagine Ukrainians having their act together that well. The whole orange theme and all those ready-made flags also smack of American marketing concepts, particularly Burson-Marstellar.
"But the crowds in Kiev, which can swell up to a million on a good day and are always in the hundreds of thousands, are there out of their own homegrown sense of outrage, not because some State Department bureaucrats willed them there. The meetings that happen every day in virtually every city in Ukraine (and in literally every western Ukraine village) are not the result of American propaganda. Rather, they are the result of the democratic awakening of a trampled-on people who refuse to be screwed by corrupt politicians again." 2. About Ukraine’s neo-fascists:
They’re definitely real, they’re a powerful minority in the anti-Yanukovych campaign—I’d say the neo-fascsists from Svoboda and Pravy Sektor are probably the vanguard of the movement, the ones who pushed it harder than anyone. Anyone who ignores the role of the neo-fascists (or ultranationalists, take your pick) is lying or ignorant, just as anyone who claims that Yanukovych answered only to Putin doesn’t know what they’re talking about. The front-center role of Svoboda and the neo-fascists in this revolution as opposed to the Orange Revolution is, I think, due to fact that the more smiley-face/respectable neoliberal politicians can’t rally the same fanatical support they did a decade ago. Eventually, even the co-leader of the Orange Revolution, Viktor Yushchenko, moved from "respectable" pro-EU neoliberalism to rehabilitating western Ukraine’s fascist mass-murderer, Stepan Bandera, which I wrote about in The Nation.
What role the neo-fascists and descendants of Bandera will play in the near-term future is the big question. Their role in the protest’s vanguard is definitely scaring a lot of people in the east of Ukraine and Crimea, and could precipitate a violent split. On the other hand, by far the most likely scenario is that the neo-fascist/ultranationalists in Svoboda will be absorbed into the pro-West coalition and politics, as they’re still a minority in the coalition. Neoliberalism is a big tent that is happy to absorb ultranationalists, democrats, or ousted president Yanukovych.
The power that the neo-fascists already have is bad enough, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a ton of bullshit hype and propaganda about the neo-fascist threat. A perfect example of fascist-hype propaganda was recently published in Ha’aretz, headlined: "Ukrainian rabbi tells Kiev’s Jews to flee city":
"Fearing violence against Ukraine's Jews, the Jewish community asks Israel for assistance with the security of the community.
"Ukrainian Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman, called on Kiev's Jews to leave the city and even the country if possible, fearing that the city's Jews will be victimized in the chaos, Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday.
"‘I told my congregation to leave the city center or the city all together and if possible the country too,’ Rabbi Azman told Maariv. ‘I don't want to tempt fate,’ he added, ‘but there are constant warnings concerning intentions to attack Jewish institutions.’" Sounds scary in a Schindler’s List sorta way, doesn’t it?
Later that day, Ha’aretz published this correction, admitting it’d been duped by a Kremlin tool:
"Correction (Feb. 22, 4:20 P.M.): An earlier version of this report incorrectly described Rabbi Azman as the chief rabbi of Ukraine. Azman is not the country's chief rabbi, but one of two rabbis challenging the official chief rabbi, Yaakov Bleich, in Kiev, and like most Chabad rabbis, is aligned with the Kremlin."
(If you want to read more about Chabad, read Yasha Levine’s investigative report on the right-wing Jewish cult, and its role in Cory Booker’s rise to power.)
The point is this: What’s happening in Ukraine is not a battle between pro-fascists and anti-fascists. There are fascists on both sides; the opposition happens to like fascist costume parties more, but watch this video of Yanukovych’s snipers murdering unarmed protesters and tell me who the real fascists are in this fight... [WARNING: BRUTAL VIOLENCE]:
3. Everything you think you know about Ukraine is wrong.
Everyone looking for a proxy side to support or oppose in the Ukraine political dynamic will be disappointed. Ukraine politics go by their own rules. Today’s neoliberal ultranationalist could be tomorrow’s Kremlin ally, and visa-versa. Just look at what happened to the Orange Revolution—nothing. To wit:
a) One Orange Revolution leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, wound up turning against her partner Viktor Yushchenko and allying with Yanukovych to strip Yushchenko of presidential powers; later, Tymoshenko allied with the Kremlin against Yushchenko; now she's free from jail and the presumptive leader of the anti-Yanukovych forces.
b) The other Orange leader—the pro-EU, anti-Kremlin Viktor Yushchenko—wound up allying with pro-Kremlin Yanukovych to jail Yulia Tymoshenko.
c) John McCain has been the big driving force for regime change against Yanukovych, but McCain’s 2008 campaign chief’s lobby firm, Davis Manafort, managed Yanukovych’s political campaigns and his lobbying efforts in the US.
d) Anthony Podesta, brother of President Obama’s senior advisor John Podesta, is another Yanukovych lobbyist; John Podesta was the chief of Obama’s 2008 transition team.
4. Yanukovych was not fighting neoliberalism, the World Bank, or oligarchy — nor was he merely a tool of the Kremlin.
There’s another false meme going around that because the World Bank and IMF are moving in to "reform" Ukraine’s economy — for the umpteenth time — that somehow this means that this was a fight between pro-neoliberal and anti-neoliberal forces. It wasn’t.
Yanukovych enthusiastically cooperated with the IMF and pledged to adhere to their demands. Six months after Yanukovych was elected president, the headline read "International Monetary Fund approves $15 billion loan to Ukraine". As the AFP reported,
"President Viktor Yanukovych had made restoring relations with the IMF a major priority on taking office."
Later that year, the Wall Street Journal praised Yanukovych's neoliberal reforms as "truly transformational" and gushed that Yanukovych "may soon become Europe's star economic liberalizer."
The problem was that last November, the Kremlin offered Yanukovych what he thought was a better deal than what the EU was offering. He bet wrong.
The point is this: Ukraine is not Venezuela. This is not a profoundly political or class fight, as it is in Venezuela. Yanukovych represents one faction of oligarchs; the opposition, unwittingly or otherwise, ultimately fronts for other factions. Many of those oligarchs have close business ties with Russia, but assets and bank accounts—and mansions—in Europe. Both forces are happy to work with the neoliberal global institutions.
In Ukraine, there is no populist left politics, even though the country’s deepest problem is inequality and oligarchy. Memories of the Soviet Union play a big role in turning people off to populist-left politics there, for understandable reasons.
But the Ukrainians do have a sense of people power that is rare in the world, and it goes back to the first major protests in 2000, through the success of the Orange Revolution. The masses understand their power-in-numbers to overthrow bad governments, but they haven’t forged a populist politics to change their situation and redistribute power by redistributing wealth.
So they wind up switching from one oligarchical faction to another, forming broad popular coalitions that can be easily co-opted by the most politically organized minority factions within—neoliberals, neofascists, or Kremlin tools. All of whom eventually produce more of the same shitty life that leads to the next revolution.
[Image credit: Public domain] |
Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is still being paid by the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s campaign while simultaneously drawing a salary as a CNN contributor to discuss the candidate on-air, according to the network.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo and host Don Lemon noted that Lewandowski is “still receiving severance from the Trump campaign” while introducing him in July 11 and July 12 segments.
These references appear to be the first time CNN has disclosed the severance payments even though Lewandowski was hired nearly three weeks ago, raising questions about when the network became aware that its commentator was still being paid by his former employer.
Media observers have harshly criticized CNN over Lewandowski’s hiring pointing to his non-disclosure and likely non-disparagement agreements with the Trump campaign as “profoundly disturbing” ethical conflicts. Since his hiring, Lewandowski has by his own admission continued to advise the Trump campaign, even pushing a camera away from the candidate during a campaign stop.
In his on-air appearances, Lewandowski has acted more like a spokesman for the campaign than as an independent commentator, defending all of Trump’s actions in a way that, as one Washington Post reporter noted, indicates he “has not yet transitioned out of his role as a Trump employee.”
That pattern continued during the segments in which CNN revealed that he is receiving severance from the campaign. In his New Day appearance on July 11, Lewandowski defended Trump from criticism of his reference to a perceived supporter as “my African-American” by stating, “The way Mr. Trump talks, anybody who knows him, and I know him very well, he'd say, my Corey. You're my Corey. That's a term of endearment. It's not a pejorative term.” In his CNN Tonight appearance on July 12, his statements about Trump’s beliefs about race in America led Lemon to interject, “don’t give me talking points.”
The network’s defenders have pointed out that political operatives regularly join the ranks of paid on-air pundits, and noted that CNN also employs contributors with ties to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. But employing a contributor who continues to be paid by the candidate whose performance and positions he is being asked to analyze appears unprecedented. |
Syrian refugees are warning others to avoid the Hungarian border with Serbia after images emerged of the aftermath of an alleged dog attack on multiple people.
The attack is alleged to have been carried out by dogs owned by Hungarian border control police. It is unclear when the attack took place, but the images began appearing online on August 27. Hundreds of refugees have shared the images of the attack on dozens of private Arabic-speaking refugee Facebook groups, Vocativ discovered.
The images, showing body parts with bloody, and sometimes deep, wounds, have caused hundreds of mostly Syrian refugees to warn one another against using Hungary’s border with Serbia to travel deeper into Europe. Hungary shares borders with several other countries, including Romania, and Croatia.
Refugees, and human rights groups, have repeatedly complained of Hungarian police harassment at the border with Serbia. Reuters reported that the brother of a man who drowned while swimming to Hungary via the Tisza river in June claimed police sent attack dogs, threw rocks, and sprayed gas when they reached the Hungarian side, forcing them to turn around. A police spokesperson said at the time that police only use “humane treatment” to deter refugees.
Hungary built a fence on its border with Serbia and Croatia last year, spanning more than 300 miles. The fence has helped create a drop in refugees arriving in Hungary, from 400,000 in 2015, to under 18,000 this year, Al Jazeera reported. Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced plans last week to build a “massive defense system next to the existing line of defense” as well as increasing the number of police stationed at the border.
Warning: Some of the images below include graphic details.
Facebook
Facebook
“There’s new, not surprising barbaric behavior from Budapest, although this time is even more barbaric,” wrote one user on a closed Facebook group for refugees. “The Hungarian security forces used every violent means they have against the refugees, including women and children. They tried to cross from Serbia to Hungary but they were beaten, attacked by police dogs sent at them and now the wounded are in Belgrade (Serbia) receiving medical treatment.”
The user also complained of the “media’s silence” in response to the incident, and added: “Stay away from Hungary, brothers. The road is closed, don’t torture yourself.”
Another asked: “How much more do we have to warn you of the smugglers ‘promises’…” They claimed: “This incident led to bad injuries of some migrants, seven of which were women and children. They evacuated themselves to the hospital due to the bad injuries.”
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ORLANDO (July 21, 2017) – Tickets for the U.S. Men’s National Team’s World Cup Qualifier against Panama, presented by Volpi Foods, on Oct. 6 at Orlando City Stadium will go on sale Thursday, Aug. 10, at 12 p.m. ET.
Season ticket members for Orlando City SC’s three teams will have priority access to purchase tickets before the public on-sale. Further details on how to purchase tickets will be shared via email to all season ticket members.
Non-season ticket members can purchase tickets for the game through ussoccer.com. Ultimate Fan Tickets (special VIP packages that include a premium ticket, a custom-made official U.S. MNT jersey with name and number, VIP access, and other unique benefits) are also available exclusively through ussoccer.com.
Coaches Circle and Presidents Circle members supporting the U.S. Soccer Development Fund can receive individual customer support and concierge services for their ticketing needs. Click here or contact [email protected] for more information.
The match will be televised on ESPN2 and Univision networks. It’s the last home match for the U.S. MNT in the Final Round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Four days later, the U.S. MNT will play their final qualifying match away against Trinidad & Tobago.
The U.S. MNT is 11-1-6 all-time against Panama, with an 8-1-3 home record and an undefeated 5-0-2 mark in World Cup qualifiers. The U.S. MNT drew with Los Canaleros in their first meeting of the Final Round, a 1-1 tie in Panama City on March 28. The teams also drew 1-1 in a group stage match of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup on July 8 in Nashville, Tenn.
Currently in the third and final automatic qualifier position, the U.S. has four matches remaining in the six-team Final Round of 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifying. In addition to the home tie with Panama and the away match at Trinidad & Tobago, the U.S. will host Costa Rica in Harrison, N.J., on Sept. 1 and play at Honduras in San Pedro Sula on Sept. 5. |
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP Is First US President Invited to Dine in China’s Forbidden City
President Trump arrived in China on the third leg of his Asian tour.
President Trump and First Lady Melania were treated like royalty during their visit to Beijing.
#WhatILearnedToday unlike Obama President Trump is being treated like a royal during his visit to China.He’s also the first U.S. President to be given a state dinner in the Forbidden City, an elaborate palace in the center of Beijing used for centuries by China’s ruling dynasty pic.twitter.com/2tipuJvWuj — CindyForTrump (@immigrant_legal) November 8, 2017
China shut down the Forbidden City for President Trump.
China shuts down Forbidden City in top-level personal welcome for the Trumps https://t.co/BrPJ1O4GN4 pic.twitter.com/cqiL58Dz2R — SoCalGal (@SoCal1956) November 8, 2017
President Trump became the first US President to dine in the historic Forbidden City.
Trumps and Xis at the Forbidden City in Beijing. pic.twitter.com/lvABp0roRk — TRUMP News 24/7 (@MichaelDelauzon) November 8, 2017
At forbidden city w opera performers pic.twitter.com/BFmOvmYEAH — Stella_Basham (@Stella_Basham) November 8, 2017
CNN reported:
Donald Trump will receive an honor in Beijing not granted to any US President since the founding of the People’s Republic of China: official dinner inside the Forbidden City. When Trump and his wife Melania land in the Chinese capital Wednesday, they will join President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for a tour of the Forbidden City, the historic palace that housed Chinese emperors and their families for almost 500 years. Trump is expected to dine with Xi inside the Jianfu Palace, although the exact location of the dinner hasn’t been confirmed. The building dates back to the eighteenth century and was fully restored in 2005, making it one of the most well-preserved parts of the palace complex.
And then there’s this… |
New Delhi: Spiritual figure Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Tuesday blamed the government and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for permitting his NGO Art of Living (AOL) to hold the World Culture Festival on the Yamuna river bed and said they should be held responsible if any environmental damage was caused.
The AOL head said the foundation had obtained all necessary permissions, including from the green panel, and the event could have been stopped in the beginning itself if river Yamuna was so fragile and pure.
“If, at all, any fine has to be levied, it should be levied on the Central and state governments and the NGT itself, for giving the permission. If the Yamuna was so fragile and pure, they should have stopped the World Culture Festival," Ravi Shankar said in a Facebook post.
He accused the NGT of defying all principles of natural justice and said “a historic programme deserving of applause and appreciation is unjustly projected as a crime". “World over, cultural programmes are held on riverbanks. The whole idea was to bring awareness to save the river. The Art of Living that has rejuvenated 27 rivers, planted 71 million trees, revived several ponds is being projected as destroying a dead river. What a joke," he said.
Also Read: Art of Living’s Yamuna event: NGT panel says rehabilitation to cost Rs42 crore
“The AOL had obtained all the necessary permission including the NGT’s. The NGT had the application file for two months and they could have stopped it in the beginning. It defies all principles of natural justice that you give permissions and slap a fine for not violating any rules," AOL founder read.
In a statement AOL spokesperson Soumya Ghosh said “the NGT can never get over the blot it has bought on itself by delaying natural justice to AOL and allowing its own committee to malign the law abiding organisation in the press."
An expert committee had told the NGT that a whopping Rs42.02 crore would be required to restore Yamuna floodplains which was ravaged due to a cultural extravaganza organised by AOL last year. The expert panel has suggested that there would be two components of rehabilitation plan—physical and biological, and they would cost Rs28.73 crore and Rsl3.29 crore respectively, besides additional ancillary expenses. |
56% Think Constitution Should Be Left Alone
Most Americans continue to believe the U.S. Constitution should be left as is and remain the nation’s fundamental law.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% of American Adults think the Constitution should be left alone. Thirty-three percent (33%) believe minor changes are needed in the nation's foundational document. Just four percent (4%) feel major changes are necessary. Two percent (2%) think the United States should scrap the Constitution completely and start over. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The national survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on June 19-20, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
OR |
People walk on the rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike in the rebel held area of Aleppo's Baedeen district, Syria, May 3, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish and U.S.-led coalition forces struck Islamic State targets north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing 27 fighters, state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported.
Turkish artillery and rocket launchers fired into Syria while warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition carried out three separate air campaigns, Anadolu said on Monday, citing military sources.
Five fortified defense posts and two gun posts were destroyed, while 27 fighters were killed in areas less than 10 km (6.2 miles) from Turkey’s Syria border.
Turkish and coalition forces have carried out a series of such strikes recently to prevent further attacks on the Turkish border town of Kilis, which lies just across the frontier from Islamic State-controlled territory in Syria, and has been regularly struck by rockets in recent weeks.
The United States and Turkey have for months discussing a military plan to drive Islamic State from the border. |
Obama Meets Privately With the Dead
Musicians Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the band The Dead perform in NYC, March 30, 2009. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images )
The surviving (and formerly feuding) members of the Grateful Dead had a secret impromptu meeting Monday evening with the man they credit with reuniting them: President Obama.
The president welcomed all the members of The Dead, who are performing tonight at the Verizon Center in Washington, to the Oval Office just before dinner last night. They didn't talk music as much as they did history - history about the Oval Office, and the president's desk.
Apparently the band was quite taken with how tidy the president keeps his desk. And how down-to-earth he seemed, according a source who was there.
"The president was so gracious. Really, really nice and so welcoming. It hit you: you're in the Oval Office, but it was so normal," the source told us.
The entourage included the four surviving members of the Grateful Dead - Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann - plus keyboardist Jeff Chimenti (from Weir's Ratdog) and Warren Haynes, who is joining the Dead on their 2009 spring tour as lead vocalist and guitarist. Some of them had their wives in tow.
As if chatting with the president in the Oval Office weren't cool enough, something remarkable happened on their way out. Just outside the Oval Office, Phil and his wife, Jill Lesh, spotted a vase full of Scarlet Begonias sitting on a table.
For the uninitiated, "Scarlet Begonias" is one of the late Grateful Dead band leader Jerry Garcia's most famous songs. (Check out a youthful looking Jerry Garcia singing "Scarlet Begonias" in this 1977 video, and be sure you have a tissue.)
After admiring the Scarlet Begonias, the band went next door to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to meet with the most prominent Deadheads in the Obama White House: senior advisors David Axelrod and Pete Rouse, and deputy chief of staff Jim Messina. All three are planning to go to tonight's one and only Dead show in Washington, we're told.
After leaving the White House, the members of the Dead - none of whom, surprisingly, wore tie-dyed t-shirts to the Oval Office - walked over to their favorite Washington restaurant, the Old Ebbitt Grill, for dinner.
Given that the Dead sparked the "Deadheads for Obama" movement when they reunited during the 2008 presidential campaign to play a fundraiser for Obama, we expect to see plenty of happy Deadheads at the show. We'll give you a full update, so check back. |
ANKARA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan spoke on Saturday and agreed to continue to work toward stronger ties and regional security, Erdogan’s office said, a day after he lashed out at U.S. authorities for indicting one of his ex-ministers.
U.S President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the entrance to the West Wing of the White House in Washington, U.S. May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Ties between the United States and its NATO ally have been strained by Washington’s support for the YPG Kurdish fighters in the battle against Islamic State in Syria. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group.
Ankara has also been frustrated by what it sees as Washington’s reluctance to extradite the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey blames Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999, for last year’s failed coup.
“Noting the strategic partnership between Turkey and the United States, the two leaders emphasized the importance of continuing to work together to further strengthen bilateral relations and increase stability in the region,” the Turkish Presidency said in a statement.
The two leaders agreed to meet in New York at the United States General Assembly, scheduled for this month.
The call was notable for its timing, coming a day after Erdogan described a U.S. prosecutor’s indictment against Turkey’s former economy minister as being politically motivated and tantamount to an attack on Ankara.
The former minister, Zafer Caglayan, and the ex-head of a state-owned Turkish bank were charged this week with conspiring to violate Iran sanctions by illegally moving hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on Tehran’s behalf.
The indictment marked the first time an ex-government member with close ties to Erdogan had been charged in the on-going U.S. investigation, which has strained ties between the two countries.
“For the moment, it is impossible to evaluate this within legal logic,” he told reporters on Friday. “I see this step against our former economy minister as a step against the Turkish Republic.
He had also called on Washington to re-think the charges.
“I hope we’ll get a chance to discuss this issue in the United States. You may be a big nation, but being a just nation is something else. Being a just nation requires the legal system to work fairly.” |
Purity Ring Come Together
Photo by Marina Chavez
Published Mar 18, 2015
"Begin again, begin again, begin again."Megan James's words float overtop brooding washes of synths crafted by her musical partner Corin Roddick. The phrase, from the song of the same name, reappears, mantra-like, throughout the track, offering humble reassurance to its heartbroken protagonist that this too shall pass.Where the songs on Purity Ring 's debut, Shrines , channelled the body-horror imagery of early David Cronenberg, the theme of renewal runs through "Begin Again," and their anticipated sophomore album, Another Eternity, as a whole. "[It's about] flipping a life or a phase around," confirms James. After touring duties for Shrines were completed, the singer left Halifax — where she'd lived since before she and Roddick started swapping files of the band's early tracks via email — and returned to Edmonton, their hometown.James calls "Begin Again" the most positive song on the record and fittingly, it provides the album with its title. "Another eternity captures that sense of the songs and the record as a whole. Being transported to another place. It's a way to express otherworldliness, or what isn't in front of you."That theme of rebirth was mirrored by the duo's creative process. After writing Shrines in geographic isolation from one another, James and Roddick decided to actually sit down in a room and write its followup together. "We hadn't even tried to write together," says Roddick. "We didn't have a plan, and a plan never came. We thought it would.""It was like we started over," says James, "like we were a new band."In the run up to Another Eternity's release, Purity Ring have been spending the winter in Los Angeles. "We've been living here the past couple of months, finishing the record and getting ready for tour," explains James, via Skype. "It's like a bucket list type of thing."Their days are filled with interviews; sometimes, they're the ones asking the questions, as they assemble a crew for their upcoming tour . Otherwise they're in the spotlight, spilling the details from the last few years of their lives. Despite the barrage of requests, they make a concerted effort to do any major press obligation together. That way both members can feel comfortable that the true face of the band is being reflected. "Being a boy-girl electronic duo is so typical right now," says James. "But there are ways that we can feel and appear like we aren't just a producer and singer. Those are our roles, but it also shifts and we are a team."That's truer than ever for Purity Ring, although they took a circuitous route to making Another Eternity. They had made no attempt to write new music while on the road supporting Shrines. "We had thought that we would have to have a spark before we started," says Roddick. But inspiration never hit and by the fall of 2013, they realized it was time to get down to business.On the advice of their lighting designer, the Edmonton natives decamped to Harper, Texas, two hours west of Austin, in between appearances at that year's Austin City Limits festival. Landau's friend was the full-time sound engineer for the Wheeler Brothers, an Austin-based, roots-rock family band who owned a studio on a 3,000 acre ranch in the area, not exactly the environment one pictures when listening to Purity Ring's dark future pop. "That was us being like, 'We need to get our shit together and go somewhere we can focus and get started,'" says Roddick."It was a totally self-sufficient paradise," James adds. "They had solar-powered everything, spring-fed water and the best mattress I'd ever slept on."Paradise had its distractions. "There was a whole two days where we didn't really do anything," admits Roddick. "We set up a lot of mics. We set up a vocal mic and the piano mics and that was it for two days," says James. "We made a lot of guacamole, rode around on ATVs and took a really long time making breakfast."Once the two finally did get down to work, they quickly had the beginnings of what became "Sea Castle," the closest sonic link between Shrines and Another Eternity, laying to rest any doubts about their creative faculties. "That was a great beginning point," says Roddick. "We were able to build off that."Recording continued in Brooklyn and Montreal, where Roddick lived between tours. But the bulk of Another Eternity came together at the Audio Department in Edmonton. Roddick flew back and forth between the two cities, coming out for a week of work once a month.Like the studio in Texas, the duo chose Audio Department in the hopes it would provide a relatively distraction-free environment. The place was also filled with top-of-the-line studio gear, none of which the band used. "That amount of gear doesn't have anything to do with what I'm trying to make," says Roddick. "It's still just a laptop set on top of a fancy mixing board."The Audio Department also happens to be the studio where Edmonton polka band the Emeralds recorded their famous version of "The Chicken Dance.""There's a plaque on the wall," says James."We're really hoping to be the next plaque," adds Roddick."We need to write a song comparable to 'The Chicken Dance,'" says James. "The ultimate wedding song."Following the release of " Push Pull ," in December, the first new Purity Ring music fans had heard in two-and-a-half years, word started circulating that Another Eternity would be the duo's pop album. Both members acknowledge that the record pairs tighter arrangements with clearer and more spacious production that pushes James's voice to the forefront. But labelling it "pop" when compared to Shrines ignores the band's raison d'être."We've always made pop music," says James."With the first album, we were trying to make the most immediate, banging pop songs that we could," adds Roddick. "The way that it turned out was what our idea of what that was at the time."There was little communication shared between the two while making Shrines, an album famously created without either member ever being in the same place at the same time. "We just felt it out and did it," says James. This time, the immediate back-and-forth between the two enabled Roddick and James to hone their compositions into fully formed songs that more closely adhere to a traditional verse-chorus-verse pop structure. "Big picture, conceptual stuff" was never discussed, and the duo are always quick to dismiss the role of external influences on their music. But "we were able to talk about what things were working and what things weren't. It was a much more streamlined way to make music," says Roddick, laughing. "It makes sense why bands do that."Still, the pair never found a consistent process. Some tracks were written in a manner similar to Shrines, with James singing over top of Roddick's finished compositions. Others started with her vocals, or a few chords on the piano. "I think having a different approach every time helps us feel like we're doing something we want and it's spontaneous and exciting," says James.Many of the new songs went through multiple iterations before both parties were happy. "Sometimes they just work right away," says Roddick. "Sometimes by the time they're finished they hardly resemble what they were in the beginning."One of his favourite tricks was playing with a track's tempo. "I kind of have a comfortable tempo range that I fall into. Everything ends up having a slow sluggish feeling. I don't know why that is. It's just easier for me to produce that way." To break out of that box, Roddick speeds up or slows down finished tracks, usually by only five or ten BPM, although "Repetition" was drastically different in its original form. "I think it's a cool thing to do when producing, changing the main parameters," he says. "It reveals things that you might not have noticed [before] and that might become a new focus and centre of the track."With each member bringing drastically different skill sets to the table — Roddick, his production knowledge; James, her words and her voice — the first time out, each half of Purity Ring was forced to "submit" to the creative whims of the other. Now they each have input on what their other half is up to and, surprisingly, neither side reports any conflict. "We both wanted the same thing in the end," says Roddick. "We wanted a great song. It didn't feel like we were trying to pull things in opposite directions."Lyrics, however, are the one area that James maintained sovereignty. "I'm pretty much hands off with the lyrics," says Roddick. "That's Megan's domain."Almost all of her words begin life in a dream journal in which she draws and writes poetry, something she's done for most of her life. "It's very personal, emotional things that are true." The lyrics that appear in Purity Ring's songs are often lifted verbatim from the book, with the exception of pronouns, with which she frequently plays around. "Like I'll say 'you' when I really mean 'I.' I do that because it writes and reads better and it's easier to express something when it's in the third person. It's like telling a story to someone rather than talking about yourself."Hiding behind pronouns might also be James's way of shielding herself from the personal thoughts she's laying bare for the world to hear. Inside the physical version of Shrines, the lyrics were printed in the smallest font possible while still being legible. They were also posted on the band's website, but you had to click on an unidentified circle to get to them. "They were as hidden as they could be while still being there."Many of Another Eternity's lyrics are a reaction to the disillusion of a long-term relationship. When asked about it, James immediately snaps in shock: "Oh my God, where did you read about that?" before quickly realizing she'd mentioned it in an interview with another publication. Asked why she demurs from discussing the catalyst for a record that many people are certain to hear, she responds plainly, "He's going to read it. That will be weird." Writing those words was James's way of processing emotional turmoil and "that's not the same as talking about them in interviews."Some of [the lyrics] are 'fuck that part of my life,' but not all of them," she explains. James doesn't explicitly state that the split was the impetus for her return to Edmonton, but she does admit that "there were huge life changes in the past three years." Paired with the album's overarching themes, a picture starts to form.Last fall, James listened to Shrines for the first times since it was made. "It was weird," she says. "I feel like we were doing something that was very much us, but it was definitely a throwback. I don't feel out of place when I listen to Shrines, but we've definitely come a long way from it."Roddick, who only listened to a single song, agrees. "It feels really nostalgic. It feels like a certain time in my life that I don't remember that well. Music is weird like that. As time goes by, it's this weird preserved piece of your life that becomes any other piece of music. It just feels like something else you're listening to. It's nice to have that perspective."Another Eternity, on the other hand, is still fresh in the duo's minds. "We just made it, it's right there," he says. "But I'm excited to listen to it in three years and feel differently about it." |
Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning, who announced a five-year, $21.875-million contract extension for the newly-acquired Brandon Sutter on Tuesday, is satisfied with the look of his center corps - for the time being, at least.
Benning acknowledges he'll soon need to think about replacing two-thirds of his top line, as center Henrik Sedin and brother Daniel Sedin - the twin faces of the franchise - get set to turn 35 in September.
"At some point we have to make plans and get the pieces in place to survive and be successful after the Sedins decide to retire," he said, according to Ben Kuzma of The Province.
"We’re going to still work to get a high-end centre, but these guys don’t grow on trees. You have to draft and develop them. But I’m comfortable for the next little while with our centres."
As for Sutter, Benning believes he'll be an effective presence down the middle over the course of the next five years.
"He’s a solid two-way player and throughout his career he’s been pretty resilient and hasn’t had a lot of injuries," Benning said. "And he’s always played against top players in Pittsburgh and Carolina and has always been a matchup guy. He has a mature game and is always on the right side of the puck.
"He’s the type of player and has the type of game where he can play into his mid-30s and be an effective player."
While Bo Horvat has already made the jump to the big club, young centers Jared McCann and Cole Cassels remain a few years away from making an impact at the NHL level. The Sedins are under contract for three more years, with Sutter and Derek Dorsett now the only forwards with deals that run past 2017-18.
Change may be afoot for the Canucks, but for now, they're putting their best foot forward, with Sutter now cemented as a foundation piece. |
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