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To say Wolverine 's comics debut was run of the mill is a tad offensive to all those mills out there, running. It wasn't until he was added to the roster of the X-Men that Wolverine gained any kind of status in the Marvel Universe, let alone among fans. Still, the Canadian mutant's history can all be traced back to his one-off appearance in the Incredible Hulk in 1974, and as such, the Hulk and Wolverine have been tethered to one another throughout their histories.
The battle between the pint-sized pugilist and the green goliath has been well-documented in a number of mediums, but never before have we seen artist Ariel Olivetti capture it. Nor have we seen him capture it in statue form. Until now!
Sideshow Collectibles is bringing the art of Olivetti to life in the form of a massive new maquette featuring Wolverine versus the Hulk just the way you remember them from Incredible Hulk #181. Well, mostly anyway. The basic version of the statue will feature Wolverine in his more modern, massive-finned mask. Sideshow's exclusive, however, will come with an alternate portrait that stays true to the original whiskered design. Hulk is just as big, emerald and angry as he was 30 years ago. So there's that at least.
We got a glimpse of the prototype back at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and it's a real stunner. It's huge too, as it's basically two statues in one, but that largess comes with a lot of great detail. The muscle and sinew are practically popping off both characters, and seeing Olivetti's art transformed to 3D is a real treat. He's always captured the brutish mass of characters like the Hulk quite well, and seeing it in physical form gives you a great idea of a "real" Marvel Universe from Olivetti's perspective.
The Sideshow Collectibles Hulk vs. Wolverine Maquette will be available for $649.99 . Pre-orders will open sometime today. |
As technology propels us even further into the stuff Black Mirror's nightmares are made of, the issues we face in the offline world seem inevitably destined to be replicated in the new frontier. Jordan Belamire had an unwelcome taste of this recently when she was subjected to what she calls a "virtual reality groping". The writer was being introduced to the VR game QuiVr by her brother-in-law when the incident occurred – and though it might initially be hard to wrap one's head around the concept of how such an assault can occur in a virtual world, it isn't that hard to understand if you're willing to open your mind a little.
If we don't act to stop attacks on women in VR, it will become yet another exclusionary, male-dominated space. Credit:Stocksy
In brief: Belamire entered the VR landscape of QuiVr and quickly marvelled at the awe-inspiring nature of the game. When she stared over the virtual cliffs at what appeared to be a very real 100-foot drop, her fear of heights was triggered. The feeling was so intense she was afraid to follow her brother-in-law's direction to walk off the ledge, despite her rational mind understanding she was standing in a living room and could not fall to her death.
Still, the game was a fun and unique experience for Belamire. That is, until she entered the multiplayer-verse and encountered a real-life player going by the name BigBro442. Belamire – who shared the same genderless avatar as her co-players but whose voice made her identifiably female – recalls the incident. "In between a wave of zombies and demons to shoot down, I was hanging out next to BigBro442, waiting for our next attack. Suddenly, BigBro442's disembodied helmet faced me dead-on. His floating hand approached my body and he started to virtually rub my chest." |
UK grandmaster provokes anger and derision with suggestion we should ‘gracefully accept’ that men are more able to play at high competitive level
Nigel Short, one of the UK’s greatest chess players, has incurred the wrath of the female chess community after claiming men are “hardwired” to be better at the game than women. Short, who won his first grandmaster title when he was 19, told New In Chess magazine that we should “gracefully accept it as a fact” that men possess different skills to women that make them better able to play chess at a high level.
Asked about his thoughts on the lack of women competing in chess, Short, 49, said: “Why should they function in the same way? I don’t have the slightest problem in acknowledging that my wife possesses a much higher degree of emotional intelligence than I do.
Chess is a wonderful game, but it’s no life coach | Stephen Moss Read more
“Likewise, she doesn’t feel embarrassed in asking me to manoeuvre the car out of our narrow garage. One is not better than the other, we just have different skills. It would be wonderful to see more girls playing chess, and at a higher level, but rather than fretting about inequality, perhaps we should just gracefully accept it as a fact.”
The comments have been derided as both sexist and ignorant by those in the chess community. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Amanda Ross, who runs the Casual Chess club in London, said it was “incredibly damaging when someone so respected basically endorses sexism”. “Judith Polgar, the former women’s world champion, beat Nigel Short eight classical games to three in total with five draws,” she said.
“She must have brought her man brain. Let’s just hope Nigel didn’t crash his car on those days, trying to park it. At least this resolves the age-old debate as to whether there’s a direct link between chess-playing ability and intelligence. Clearly not.”
Short responded on Twitter, claiming that Ross seemed “to suffer from incomprehension”.
Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) @CasualChess @NewInChess No. You seem to suffer from incomprehension. Men and women do have different brains. This is a biological fact.
He wrote: “Men and women do have different brains. This is a biological fact. Furthermore, I never said women have inferior brains. That is your crude and false attempt to caricature me.”
Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) @CasualChess @NewInChess Furthermore I never said women have inferior brains. That is your crude and false attempt to caricature me.
Short also elaborated on his comments on Sky News, reiterating his belief that “it’s quite easy to demonstrate there is a fairly substantial gap between men and women”. “Women have all sorts of skills where they are superior to men” he said, adding that the fact Polgar had once beaten him was irrelevant to his general point.
“The fact that I have one bad score against an individual doesn’t prove anything” he said. “I’m talking about averages here … statistically women don’t [compete] in the same numbers. The average gap is pretty large and that is down to sex differences … Those differences exist.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nigel Short interviewed by Sky News on Monday
Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess) @KayBurley @Newsagentprovoc Of the top 100 chess players, 98 are men. It will be 99 when @GMJuditPolgar falls off the list in August. #facts
Rita Atkins, a British International chess master, described Short’s comments as “damaging”. She said: “I completely disagree with him and he should not say things like that. It is a fact that there are many more men than women playing chess at a very high level but it is nothing to do with the way our brains work or our mental ability.”
Atkins said her experience as both a chess player and now a teacher had given her insight into the reasons why such a gender gap remains in chess. “I teach a lot of chess to schoolkids and I think it is to do with the fact that girls shy away from aggressive competitiveness at a young age whereas young boys are very competitive. I think that is the main reason why girls don’t get into it as much when they are young, and so don’t get to competition level.”
This is not the first time issues of sexism in the world of competitive chess have arisen. There has never been a female World Open chess champion, nor a female British Open champion.
Sue Maroroa, a British women’s international master, said there was general attitude within the chess community that women were worse at the game than men.
She said: “Sometimes when I go to a new chess club, I can tell the guys don’t think I can play, so that kind of attitude I can relate to. There is an attitude within the chess community that women are worse than men. It’s just like any old boys’ club which is dominated by older men who still have that attitude, ‘Oh, she’s a girl, so she can’t play.’ But I know my capabilities, so I just take it within my stride.”
She was echoed by Sabrina Chevannes, a British women’s international master, who said that an entrenched culture of sexist jokes and overbearing male superiority had led to a huge dropout rate among female players. “Unfortunately, I do think there is a lot of sexism at every level of chess, from beginners right the way up to the top. We have to admit that it’s there. It has been been present throughout my entire chess career and will be present for years to come. Nigel’s views are pretty representative of most of the men who are competing in chess.
“Generally when I’ve gone to a tournament, they’ll ask me if my child is playing because they presume I’m the mother of a player, or even ask if I’m the wife of someone playing. God forbid I would actually be there to play. And if they did find out I was a player, they’ll always assume I’m in the beginners section. They assume I’m terrible because I’m female and it is completely infuriating.”
Writing on Twitter, Polgar simply said: “Men and women are different but there are different ways of thinking and fighting still achieving the same results.”
Judit Polgar (@GMJuditPolgar) Men and women are different but there are different ways of thinking and fighting still achieving the same results :) http://t.co/IPsiP8NJJ1
Short’s comments also prompted Chess Club Live, a website for the chess community, to publicly condemn the remarks. Writing on Twitter, they said: “Most people in the chess world respect Nigel Short as much as he respects women.
Chess Club Live (@ChessClubLive) Most people in the chess world respect @NigelShortChess as much as he respects women.
“What’s even more ridiculous about Nigel Short’s derogatory comments about Women in Chess is that he has a daughter.”
Chess Club Live (@ChessClubLive) What's even more ridiculous about @NigelShortChess derogatory comments about Women in Chess is he has a daughter. #GodHelpHer
It is not the first time Short has been accused of making sexist remarks in relation to chess. In a column in New in Chess magazine in 2012, he described a 1992 chess Olympiad in Manila in the Philippines thus: “All Olympiads have their volunteers, but Manila 1992 was unsurpassed in the sheer volume of totty,” he wrote. “There were literally hundreds of smiling and invariably polite 18-20-something-year-old [Filipina] hostesses. Not a few liaisons were struck up during the course of two weeks.”
Short acknowledged the problem of sexism, but insisted his comments were not making it any worse. He told Sky News: “I think probably sexism is an issue in chess and I wouldn’t try and escape from that.” |
- D.C. police are investigating after a double shooting in the Barracks Row area of southeast Washington. Investigators say three men walked into a barber shop and started shooting in what they believe to be a targeted attack.
The shooting happened inside a barber shop located near 8th and L Street, SE at around 2 p.m. Friday FOX 5's Tom Fitzgerald spoke to police, who said three men wearing masks went inside and started firing. There were several people inside the business when the shooting happened.
Police said a father and his 2-year-old son were wounded in the shooting. The man was shot in both legs while the child was grazed by a bullet. They were both transported to local hospitals where they were treated and released.
Police has issued a lookout for a white SUV with four people inside headed west down L Street following the attack. |
Part 1 of article
Nobody knows whether a war will break out in Lebanon this summer. Yet what is completely clear is that a war in the north – if and when such war breaks out – will not be like the war that took place there in 2006. Hezbollah is growing stronger every day, in terms of the number of fighters, quantity of missiles, and capabilities. And what’s even more significant: The way this military power will be utilized will be vitally different.
Every few weeks, another piece of information finds its way to the media and hints to the new face of the confrontation taking shape in Lebanon. Both sides prepare for the next round in full force, yet the lay citizen doesn’t understand much of it. Well, another rocket was smuggled to Hezbollah, but it already has 40,000 anyway, so what’s the difference, people say. All the rockets are the same, the average Israeli thinks.
Close Encounter Time examines Hezbollah's war preparations Ynet American weekly's journalist visits south Lebanon to find Shiite group ready and waiting for next conflict with Israel. 'Next war is coming, 100%, but we don't know when', one fighter says Time examines Hezbollah's war preparations
Meanwhile, our defense establishment does not bother to inform the public about the kind of confrontation it should be preparing for. Israeli citizens had already been stunned by the scope of the damage that the other side can cause and rightfully asked: How come we didn’t know? How come we didn’t prepare? And who’s responsible for this failure? Yet this is precisely what’s happening now too.
Defense officials and academic experts see a very clear picture of the new battlefield in Lebanon, but the average citizen, who will be a full party to the fighting in the next war, has no idea. Nobody tells him anything.
Coincidently, a foreign professional newspaper recently published an item about the M-600 missiles supplied by Syria to Hezbollah. Yet someone in Israel finds it convenient to hide this information, just like the transfer of Scud missiles to Lebanon was a secret in Israel, until it was uncovered by an Arab newspaper. Here and there, someone hints something about tensions on the northern border. Occasionally, Arab media report about unusual Air Force over-flights. Yet for the average Israeli all this activity is out of bounds, on the order of authorities.
So why didn’t Israel prevent the transfer of missiles and rockets into Lebanon? That’s a good question. We may get the answer for it in the history books to be written in the future.
Terrorizing civilians
It’s important that we understand that M-600 missiles in Hezbollah’s possession are not just another item in its arsenal. That’s the DNA; the code that exposes the new pattern of the group’s preparation for the next confrontation.
Let’s start from the fact that the M-600 is not a rocket, but rather, a much more accurate and effective weapon with strategic capabilities in Mideastern terms. Theoretically, Hezbollah would be able to hit the IDF headquarters in central Tel Aviv in the next war should it wish to do so. In 2006, it did not possess this ability.
Does it mean that what we saw in the Second Lebanon War – hundreds of short and medium range rockets fired at northern Israel every day – will not repeat? Not at all. Most of Hezbollah’s 40,000 rockets are still of this type, and next time it will again use them in an effort to sow destruction in northern communities and hit IDF troops before they enter Lebanon.
Based on the last war’s experience, these rockets are a “statistical weapon”: The fire is inaccurate, most rockets land in unpopulated areas, and the number of casualties and extent of damage isn’t great. However, in the next war, and in addition to the barrages we know, Hezbollah will have the option of firing dozens of accurate missiles simultaneously from dozens of launch sites across Lebanon – while directing them at one specific target.
Not only will the damage caused by these missiles be much more accurate and graver, it’s much more complicated to spot and destroy dozens of single missiles that will appear simultaneously at different sites.
The accurate missiles possessed by Hezbollah are meant to destroy strategic targets in central Israel. Such missiles are already deployed in southern Lebanon, with Hezbollah apparently intending to fire dozens of missiles daily for many days. At the same time, the group plans to fire thousands of other rockets, and through this combined attack destroy national infrastructure and various facilities.
The objective of the thousands of long-range missiles accumulated by Hezbollah would be to sow pure terror among civilians and undermine our willingness to fight. However, at this time, according to Hezbollah too, the group still does not possess enough accurate missiles in order to put this doctrine into action. This is precisely the junction that calls for much more intensive international and Israeli activity, in order to curb the flow of accurate arms into Lebanon, before it’s too late.
Part 2 of article to be published Saturday |
If you are honest with yourself, you probably have to admit you have not seen much game footage of the Pacers newly-acquired lottery prospect Domantas Sabonis, whether in college or in the pros, and your perception of his value as a player may be shaped mostly by his end of the season statistics and the plethora of salty fans wishing for future draft picks.
That would put you in good company (I was there!). However, digging a little deeper into this player revealed why the Pacers wanted him and why you should be skeptically optimistic about what he might do in his second year and beyond in the NBA.
In college, Sabonis was one of the best low-post players in the country who showed a potential ability to stretch the floor with limited opportunities (>35% from 3; 22-45 on jump shots). He hustled, had a great feel for the game, and though he did not display elite athleticism, he did show his agility, strength, footwork and ability to finish through contact.
However, projecting him into the pros, scouts were concerned about his average physical tools (he’s got short arms, played below the rim in college) which would make him a liability on defense and offense, especially if that ability to hit jump shots did not continue to improve with more attempts. Still, within his weaknesses, nothing was glaring. Mostly, the concern from scouts could be summed up like this: “He does X thing (slide his feet, challenge shots, etc.) okay, but he has to improve to be an effective NBA player and not just a hustling big off the bench.”
Oklahoma City decided they liked what they saw and drafted him (through Orlando) with the 11th pick of the 2016 NBA draft. He was an opening day starter and had his first double-figure game against Golden State eight days into his rookie season.
In fact, he was on fire through his first two months of the season until he hit the proverbial rookie wall and his consistency fell off a cliff.
In November, he shot 46% from the field and 45% from 3; in December, he shot 39% from the field and 32% from 3. From there, his averages ebb and flow, ultimately ending the season shooting a shade under 40% at 39.9% for the year, which is concerning for any player that is 6’10”. For someone who ranked 3rd in true shooting percentage (66%) in the DraftExpress top 100, this was surprising and disappointing.
If you are interested in checking out his full strengths/weaknesses as a pro prospect coming out of Gonzaga, check out this link and this link…oh and this link (see bottom for scouting chart).
However, a dive into those numbers show he has the ability to develop into a strong jump shooter for a big man. According to Basketball Reference from 16ft to a step inside the 3pt line, Sabonis shot 47% on 55 shots (By comparison, Thaddeus Young shot 35% on 49 attempts). From 3, he only shot 32% on 160 attempts (Thaddeus Young shot 38% on 123 attempts). Sabonis needs to get comfortable one more step away from the basket, and I believe he will, especially when considering this was the first season where he was asked to shoot that deep of a shot.
Beyond the expectation that Sabonis will improve as a shooter, growing through his time in the NBA and his time with the Lithuanian national team, his motor, which I loosely define as a player’s give-a-damn-ness, is unquestioned.
He ran the floor, finished through contact, and made hustle plays, and this kept him in the starting lineup for 66 games despite his poor shooting. In a modern NBA power forward, you need someone who can shoot and someone who will not quit in-game—someone who will battle for rebounds and fight for position in the post. Also, if they can dribble and get to the rim, that’s a plus, and that is his skill that intrigues me most.
At 6’ 10”, Sabonis deploys pump-fakes and hesitation moves to get to the rim. Though he lacks elite speed at his position, if he creates an angle, his strength allows him to keep his driving lane to the basket once the defender recovers. Looking through his top 50 plays, you will find examples again and again of creating angles and attacking the rim. Discount the dunks in this video and focus on what might make Sabonis special: his jump shot, his power on the drive, and his positioning in transition.
In OKC, he didn’t see a lot of opportunities in the post, which was his bread and butter at Gonzaga. While he won’t be able to overpower opponents in the post like he did in college, his shooting percentage may rise with more opportunities down low.
Now, I have been very positive here, so let’s pause to be really, really negative for a moment and think worst-case scenario that does not involve injury or scandal, based on what one season has shown us: if Sabonis does not follow a standard rookie progression and improve elements of his game, he becomes a reserve big man joining the contingent and borrowing the combined skillsets of Lavoy Allen, Spencer Hawes, Luis Scola, and Taj Gibson to become a poor man’s version of these players.
If he is able to improve his consistency and become the starting power forward counterpart to Myles Turner, the Pacers could have a formidable front court for the next ten years (both players are 21). The Pacers are hoping the ~4 million dollars a year bet on Sabonis over the next three seasons returns a promising starting power forward—and you should too.
It is easy to dream about the potential of draft picks outside the lottery who might develop into starting-level talent and get upset with Sabonis, but avoid dreaming and realize he was last year’s 11th pick and the Pacers now have two lottery-level talents in their frontcourt. |
Four more Android apps officially arrive on ChromeOS – VLC could be coming soon too.
Since Google announced that Android apps would be arriving on ChromeOS at Google I/O last year, there’s been a slow crawl of apps. Four more apps have now appeared, bringing the total to 28.
You can view all the Android apps that have been ported over to ChromeOS on the Chrome Webstore. Google has created a new category called ARC compatible apps, which lists all 28 apps.
All the Android apps released so far use the Android Runtime for Chrome (ARC) extension which enables Android apps to run on ChromeOS. If you haven’t installed any of the ARC compatible apps previously ChromeOS will automatically install the ARC extension for you before you install any of these new apps.
The four new apps are also listed here, but if you can’t trawl through looking for the new apps, the new ones listed are :
Baby Blocks – Wooden blocks are a favorite childhood game for children. Try out this fun educational learning app with your little ones.
Math Friendzy – Math Friendzy is the most revolutionary math educational program designed to help students excel in math. It includes several patent pending features and all the fun, excitement and social networking components of popular video games that kids love.
Flashcards [::] – Looking for a powerful and easy-to-use flashcards app to help you study? This app allows you to create or download millions of flashcards on hundreds of subjects created by both experts and novices.
Photo Editor – Photo Editor is a simple and easy application for photo manipulation.
There’s no big names here, it’s pretty lacklustre in fact, but it’s progress. If you’re looking for some big name apps, you may find that VLC may be the one you’re looking for. According to Anandtech, the Android version of the media player will be ported over using ARC and hopefully be released in the coming months – you can bet we’ll be all over it when it does. |
This is a writeup of a shallow investigation , a brief look at an area that we use to decide how to prioritize further research.
In a nutshell What is the problem? Industrial agriculture in the United States involves billions of animals each year. The information we’ve seen suggests that these animals are often treated in ways that may cause extreme suffering over the course of their lives.
Industrial agriculture in the United States involves billions of animals each year. The information we’ve seen suggests that these animals are often treated in ways that may cause extreme suffering over the course of their lives. What are possible interventions? Efforts to address the harms of industrial agriculture on animals typically focus on advocacy to individuals (to reduce their meat consumption), corporations (to reduce consumption or improve animal welfare conditions), or governments (to ban particular practices deemed especially harmful), though there are a number of other potential activities as well.
Efforts to address the harms of industrial agriculture on animals typically focus on advocacy to individuals (to reduce their meat consumption), corporations (to reduce consumption or improve animal welfare conditions), or governments (to ban particular practices deemed especially harmful), though there are a number of other potential activities as well. Who else is working on it? Although the overall field of animal welfare receives a large amount of support from donors, relatively little funding appears to go to addressing the significant impacts of industrial agriculture on animal welfare.
Published: September 2013
What is the problem?
There are over a billion animals in the United States being raised for food. Animal advocates report that the vast majority of them are raised on factory farms where they are treated in ways that may cause them extreme suffering. For example, of the 291 million egg-laying hens in the U.S., roughly 95% are raised in battery cages, which restrict motion and prevent hens from engaging in natural behaviors.
We have not yet vetted animal advocates’ claims about the extent to which industrial agriculture practices inflict harm upon chickens and other farm animals and how much they suffer as a result. Vetting these claims would be one of our top priorities were we to investigate this area further.
What are possible interventions?
Most work to advance farm animal welfare falls under the general rubric of advocacy, whether targeting individuals, corporations, or governments. Farm animal advocacy interventions we have heard about include:
Legislative advocacy, lobbying, or ballot initiative campaigns to encourage state governments to ban particularly harmful practices.
Advertising to individuals to encourage them to reduce their meat consumption (e.g. by becoming vegetarian or vegan).
Maintaining farm animal sanctuaries that are open to the public, to enable people to interact with farm animals with the intention of increasing empathy for them.
Outreach to large institutions, such as school districts and hospitals to encourage the adoption of “Meatless Mondays” (to reduce overall meat consumption).
Pressuring large food sellers (e.g. fast food or grocery chains) and corporate animal producers to improve animal welfare practices in their supply chains.
Investigative reporting that exposes and raises the profile of abuses of animals in industrial agriculture.
Litigation against corporations (to compel compliance with laws) or government agencies (to compel them to enforce laws).
Outside the realm of advocacy, a funder may be able to support groups that evaluate the treatment of farm animals by different producers to enable consumers to make more informed choices with regards to animal welfare.
We do not have a strong sense of the likely costs or returns to any of these strategies.
Who else is working on this?
For this investigation we focused on organizations based in the United States.
The Humane Society of the United States, which has a budget of roughly $140 million/year, is the largest national animal welfare advocacy organization by a wide margin. However, its Farm Animal Protection team has only 11 staff members and an annual budget of around $1 million/year (though resources from other parts of the organization that are directed to improving farm animal welfare may raise the total allocation to 5-10% of the annual budget).
A number of other large animal protection organizations do some work on farm animal welfare:
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)
Animal Legal Defense Fund
PETA
However, none of these groups are primarily focused on farm animals, and we are unable to say with precision what portion of their budgets are directed towards efforts on farm animals.
We also heard about six considerably smaller advocacy organizations, with annual budgets in the approximate range from $500 thousand/year to $2 million/year, and Farm Sanctuary, which has a budget of ~$9 million/year but is not exclusively focused on advocacy.
The relatively small field of factory farming groups we heard about from advocates contrasted with our initial impression that animal issues tend to receive significant attention from a large number of advocacy groups. Our current understanding is that issues affecting stereotypically “cute” animals, such as cats and dogs, tend to receive disproportionate attention from most animal welfare advocates and donors, but that the treatment of animals in industrial agriculture may be relatively neglected.
Questions for further investigation
Our research in this area has been relatively limited, and many important questions remain unanswered by our investigation.
Amongst other topics, our further research on this cause might address:
What does the existing scientific literature indicate about the magnitude of harm imposed upon animals by industrial agriculture, and about the extent to which chickens and other farm animals are capable of suffering?
How effective and cost-effective are the various advocacy strategies outlined above? How much funding is currently allocated to each of them?
Animal welfare improvements may generate less significant flow-through benefits than efforts in other causes because animals, unlike humans, are unable to use their improved welfare to further empower others. How important is this consideration?
Our process
We initially decided to investigate this issue because of our perception that animals involved in industrial agriculture in the U.S. are subject to significant harm.
The investigation that went into this report has been quite limited, consisting primarily of conversations with three individuals:
Jon Bockman, Executive Director, Effective Animal Activism (notes)
Paul Shapiro, Vice President, Farm Animal Protection, The Humane Society of the United States (notes)
Adam Sheingate, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University (notes)
Sources |
Dear Supporter
The Save Our Bank campaign was set up with two main aims. To make sure the Co-op Bank sticks to its ethical policy, and to return it, ultimately, to majority co-operative ownership. Our campaign, and your support, has secured promises from the bank that it won’t drop its ethics policy. Their statement to us (see below), and the recent TV ad (love it or loathe it…) are further proof of that. It’s time for us to gear up for phase two.
We know that dragging the bank back to majority democratic control will be no easy task. The Co-operative Group, having sold off 80% of the bank to private investors, is not about to buy shares back in significant numbers. But we think there is real potential to build a new stake in the bank that belongs to and is controlled by customers and employees.
What’s more, it’s not just ownership that brings power. Customers - if united and well organised - could have immense influence. Over 10,000 customers have signed up as supporters of Save Our Bank. Our aim is to turn that into just such an organised group that can call the bank to account and increase the co-operative stake - working together with investors and employee unions.
The idea is to form a kind of union of Co-op Bank customers. We don't think anything like it has been tried before - but we believe it can be done and at a relatively low cost. If enough people join.
Tell us your views
Would you join a union of Co-op Bank customers to keep the bank ethical? Would you be willing to pay a small annual subscription fee to support a union – a collective voice to advance co-operative values at the bank? Would you be able to persuade an organisation you are part of – like your work or a charity - to join up or help support us?
Please complete a short survey to tell us your views.
Policy launch in January
The bank has given us a statement:
“Our revised Ethical Policy is now ready to launch but as this is such an important step in the Bank’s fight back we have decided to communicate it to customers in January away from the busy run up to Christmas. We want it to be a public statement of intent so that our customers, colleagues and wider stakeholders will clearly see that we are serious about our commitment to values and ethics and how integral it is to our future strategy. We believe the New Year is the best time to do this.”
They have stressed that existing commitments will be retained or built on and that the policy will cover new areas. Well, we’ll have to wait and see what that means exactly, but we think that this is encouraging news and a sign that our campaign has been worth it.
Other Co-op Bank News
Here is a quick round-up of other news from the Co-op Bank since our last newsletter.
Please help us reach further by talking to friends and family about our plans. Forward this email, use social media channels and tell your friends.
Will you help take back control of the Co-op Bank? Share your views on a customers’ union http://saveourbank.coop/union-survey #saveourbank
If you’re a Co-op Bank customer, take a look at this – a customers’ union to take back control of the Co-op Bank http://saveourbank.coop/union-survey
Thank you, and please don’t forget to complete the survey.
The Save Our Bank Team |
Saturday, November 27th marked a milestone in Afghanistan - after that day passed, the United States and its allies have now been in Afghanistan longer than the Soviet Union had been when it withdrew in 1989. Recent announcements by the U.S. appear to show that it plans to remain at least another four years. In the south, U.S. forces are increasingly encountering abandoned buildings that are heavily booby-trapped as they pursue the Taliban, leading them to systematically destroy the structures. Arghandab district governor Shah Muhammed Ahmadi said "In some villages where only a few houses were contaminated by bombs, we called the owners and got their agreement to destroy them, In some villages like Khosrow that were completely empty and full of IED's, we destroyed them without agreement because it was hard to find the people - and not just Khosrow, but many villages. We had to destroy them to make them safe." Collected here are images of the country and conflict over the past month, part of an ongoing monthly series on Afghanistan . ( 43 photos total |
That's according to language in Senate Bill 2003, the higher education budget.
UND will choose the latter, said spokesperson Peter Johnson.
"We believe the Nickel Trophy should be sent to the Heritage Center, where the entire state can enjoy the trophy and celebrate its history," Johnson said on Wednesday, April 26.
Since 2003, UND has housed the 75-pound trophy, which depicts a bison on one side and a Native American on the other like a 1930s nickel.
UND won that 2003 game in overtime before the teams took a 12-year hiatus from playing each other. When the rivalry returned in 2015, then Nickel Trophy was no longer up for grabs as UND ditched its Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, and athletic director Brian Faison said it was being retired.
The next scheduled football game between the teams is in 2019. Then, they will move into the same conference and they're expected to play annually.
UND has brought the Nickel Trophy out at various times for events and fundraisers throughout the years, but it hasn't left Grand Forks since it traveled around the state as part of UND's 125th anniversary celebration in 2008.
It had a penchant for being stolen by fans during the 1990s.
In 1997, NDSU students donned UND janitor shirts to steal the Nickel Trophy from the players' lounge in Memorial Stadium. A year later, UND students swiped it back by obtaining the security codes for the NDSU Memorial Union alarm system, hiding above the ceiling tiles and communicating via walkie-talkies.
The amendment in the higher education budget, brought by Rep. Roscoe Streyle, R-Minot, reads:
"To promote national recognition and statewide enthusiasm, the legislative assembly encourages the University of North Dakota and the North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Science to play for the Nickel Trophy during the course of a National Collegiate Athletic Association football game. If the athletic director or president of either institution elects not to play for the Nickel Trophy, the Nickel Trophy must be permanently displayed in the Heritage Center." |
The 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Tibetan lama who, it has been widely speculated, will succeed the Dalai Lama as the figurehead for Tibetan Buddhism has told the Telegraph that he believed that Tibetan cause was environmental issue as well as political one.
The Himalayas, sometimes called the world's "third pole", aree covered with thousands of glaciers. It is water from those glaciers helps feed some of the world's most important rivers, such as the Ganges and the Indus.
"When you are telling people about the Tibetan cause, people immediately think this is a political issue. Lots of people don't want to touch a political issue and also lots of nations don't want to touch a political issue," he said.
"But when you are talking about the environmental issue of Tibet, it is different. The Himalayan glaciers are a water source of Asia. It is an environmentally very important area." |
A former FBI special agent ripped President Trump Donald John TrumpHouse committee believes it has evidence Trump requested putting ally in charge of Cohen probe: report Vietnamese airline takes steps to open flights to US on sidelines of Trump-Kim summit Manafort's attorneys say he should get less than 10 years in prison MORE's criticism of the intelligence community in an article published Saturday.
Frank Montoya Jr. told Business Insider that the intelligence community is frustrated the president does not rail against Russia to the same degree he shares his criticism of the Justice Department and intelligence agencies.
"There is a lot of anger in the FBI (the entire intelligence community, for that matter) over how this president will say nary a negative word about the Russians, but will insult us every chance he gets," Montoya said.
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Montoya also served as the the Director of the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive.
The former special agent's comments come as special counsel Robert Mueller continues to probe alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia's election meddling.
Trump last week tore into the FBI on Twitter, saying it was in tatters.
“After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History!” Trump said, referencing former FBI Director James Comey, whom he fired in May.
“But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness.”
After years of Comey, with the phony and dishonest Clinton investigation (and more), running the FBI, its reputation is in Tatters - worst in History! But fear not, we will bring it back to greatness. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017
The president's tweet came days after ousted White House national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Flynn announced he would cooperate with Mueller's probe. |
Among mammals, autotomy seems to have evolved several times, but is taxonomically sparse. Documented autotomy is typically restricted to the tail and occurs through loss of the tail sheath (false autotomy) or through breakage across the vertebra (true autotomy)2,5. In addition to tail autotomy, casual reference has been made to mammalian species with weak or fragile skin, although whether these animals are capable of skin autotomy remains unknown. Thus, we first sought to investigate anecdotal evidence that two species of African spiny mouse (Acomys kempi and Acomys percivali) readily shed portions of their skin as a predator escape behaviour.
To test the hypothesis that A. kempi and A. percivali are capable of skin autotomy, we live-trapped individuals on rocky outcroppings (kopjes) in central Kenya. In addition to guard hairs, species in the genus Acomys are notable for the presence of spine-like hairs on the dorsum (Fig. 1a, b). Handling both species in the field confirmed that vigorous movement often led to tearing of the skin. Tearing resulted in large open wounds or skin loss ranging from small pieces to areas approximating 60% of the total dorsal surface area (Fig. 1c). In addition to integumentary loss, both species exhibited autotomy of the tail sheath as previously reported for other Acomys species, and individuals were often captured with missing tails2. Among captive individuals, we observed severe skin wounds to heal quickly, and rapid regrowth of spiny hairs totally obscured the wounded area (Fig. 1d, e). Field-captured individuals showed similar healing and, in some cases, patterned hair follicles in anagen (growth phase) that seemed to have regenerated in wounded areas (Fig. 1f).
Figure 1: A. kempi and A. percivali exhibit skin autotomy and subsequent rapid healing. a, b, A. kempi (a) and A. percivali (b) possess stiff, spine-like hairs on the dorsum. c, A. kempi after loss of dorsal skin. d, e, Scab formation after full-thickness skin injury visible at D3 (d). The same wounds in d are no longer visible at D30 (e), and new spiny hairs cover the damaged area at D30 (e). f, Healing wound in field-caught specimen showing new hair follicles within the wound bed. Scale bars, 1 cm. Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
To evaluate how Acomys skin tears so easily, we asked whether the mechanical properties of Acomys skin might underlie its observed weakness. On the basis of experiments investigating skin autotomy in geckos3, weak skin (that is, skin possessing uniform structural properties that fails or breaks under relatively low induced loading) can be differentiated from fragile skin (that is, skin possessing specific morphological characterizations such as a fracture plane that allows the outer layers to be released). To assess skin weakness, we compared mechanical properties of Acomys and Mus skin. During mechanical loading, Mus skin displayed elastic properties before breaking, whereas Acomys skin was brittle and began tearing shortly after load was applied (Fig. 2a). We derived stress–strain curves from dorsal skin to determine the mean tensile strength (σ m ) and found that Mus skin was 20 times stronger than Acomys skin (2.3 ± 0.19 MPa and 0.11 ± 0.03 MPa (mean ± s.e.m.)) (Fig. 2a, b). Lastly, by calculating mean toughness (W), we found that nearly 77 times more energy was required to break Mus skin relative to Acomys skin (Fig. 2b). These results demonstrate that Acomys possess skin that tears (or breaks) easily in response to low applied tension and provide a mechanical basis for the weakness of their skin.
Figure 2: Acomys skin is weak, tears easily, and during repair develops a porous ECM rich in collagen type III. a, b, Stress–strain curves for M. musculus (n = 6), A. kempi (n = 5) and A. percivali (n = 5), depicted up to the failure strain (a) and for one individual (b) approximating the real mean tensile strength (σ m ) and mean toughness (W) (represented as shaded area). c, d, Masson’s trichrome staining of unwounded back skin from M. musculus (c) and A. percivali (d). e, f, The proportion of adnexa (hair follicles and associated glands) in the dermis (yellow shading) of M. musculus (e) and A. percivali (f). g, Cytokeratin-stained keratinocytes (yellow arrowhead) just beginning to migrate in small wounds at D3 in M. musculus. h, Completely re-epithelialized wounds in Acomys at D3. WM, wound margin. Insets show relative wound position of the pictured tissue. i–l, Picrosirius red staining of small wounds in M. musculus (i, k) and A. percivali (j, l). Bifringence of picrosirius stain (k, l) differentiates thick collagen type I fibres (red/orange) from thin collagen type III fibres (green). Collagen fibres in M. musculus are predominantly type I, densely packed and run parallel to the epidermis (k). Collagen fibres in A. percivali are more porous with a greater proportion of collagen type III (l). Scale bars, 100 μm. Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
To evaluate whether structural properties of Acomys skin contributed to its mechanical weakness, we examined cellular features of A. percivali skin and found that it was anatomically comparable to that of Mus and other rodents, albeit with much larger hair follicles (Fig. 2c, d). We found no evidence of a fracture plane, which is the mechanism of skin autonomy in geckos and skinks3. Examining elastin fibres, which enhance skin elasticity, we found all three species possessed a similar distribution and abundance of elastin in the dermis and beneath the panniculus carnosus (Supplementary Fig. 1a–f). We tested whether larger hair follicles in Acomys skin reduced the total dermal area occupied by connective tissue by examining the proportion of adnexa (that is, follicles and associated glands) within the dermis and found it was greater in A. percivali (55.61 ± 4.28%) compared with M. musculus (43.65 ± 4.62%) (t = 1.9, P = 0.043) (Fig. 2e, f). These findings suggest that although the basic tissue structure of Acomys skin is similar to Mus, the space occupied by adnexa in the dermis reduces the absolute connective tissue content, potentially contributing to the decreased elasticity and lower tensile strength when the skin is placed under tension6. The lack of a fracture plane underscores this finding and supports an inherent structural difference underlying the observed weakness of Acomys skin.
Given its inherent structural weakness and propensity to tear, we assessed the ability of Acomys to heal skin wounds using small (4 mm) and large (1.5 cm), full-thickness excisional wounds. Scab formation and haemostasis was rapid in wounds of both sizes and the wound area in large wounds was reduced by 64 ± 3.1% 24 h after injury (Supplementary Fig. 2a). During scar-free healing in terrestrial salamanders7 and mammalian fetuses8, the wound bed is re-epithelialized within several days, whereas a 4-mm wound in adult rat skin takes between 5 and 7 days to re-epithelialize9. In Acomys, we found that five out of six 4-mm wounds had completely re-epithelialized by day 3 after injury (D3), whereas Mus wounds failed to re-epithelialize this quickly (Fig. 2g, h). After re-epithelialization, loose-skinned mammals (such as rodents and rabbits, for example) rely primarily on contraction to heal their wounds10. Similarly, we observed high contraction rates, which accounted for 95% of wound closure after 17 days (Supplementary Fig. 2a–c). In contrast to scarring, in which collagen fibres organize into a dense network parallel to the epidermis, during scar-free healing collagen fibres assume a pattern similar to unwounded dermis10. Examining the extracellular matrix (ECM) at D10, we observed scarring in Mus, whereas in Acomys, collagen fibres were less densely packed and contained a more porous structure (Fig. 2i, j). Using picrosirius red we found collagen type I predominated the wound bed at D10 in Mus, whereas collagen type III was in greater abundance in Acomys (Fig. 2k, l). This difference was even more pronounced in 1.5-cm wounds (Supplementary Fig. 3a–b’). Together, these data show that rapid re-epithelialization and wound edge contraction greatly reduce the size of open skin tears in Acomys. Our findings, that wound ECM is deposited slowly, has a porous configuration and is dominated by type III collagen, suggest that this composition favours regeneration over fibrosis during skin repair in Acomys.
To test the regenerative capacity of the wound environment we sampled large healing wounds for evidence of hair follicle neogenesis and dermal regeneration. In association with the more porous ECM, we observed folliculargenesis of normal pelage hairs and large spiny hairs in the wound bed between D21 and D28 and we could distinguish old, large follicles near the wound margins from newly regenerated follicles within the wound bed (Fig. 3a–d and Supplementary Fig. 3c–e). New follicles seemed to regenerate throughout the uncontracted portion of the wound bed not just in the central region (Fig. 3c and Supplementary Fig. 3e), and we observed regenerating hair follicles in various stages of development (Fig. 3a–m and Supplementary Fig. 4a–c). A localized and highly proliferative population of epidermal cells drives hair follicle development and we observed a similar phenomenon during follicle regeneration (Fig. 3e and Supplementary Fig. 4a–c). To investigate whether embryonic signalling networks used during hair follicle development were used during hair follicle regeneration, we examined keratin 17 (KRT17), which is diffusely expressed within the epidermis during skin development and becomes progressively restricted to developing hair follicles11. After re-epithelialization, KRT17 was highly enriched throughout the neoepidermis overlying the wound bed at D14, and as new hair follicles formed in the wound bed, KRT17 became restricted to follicular epithelium (Fig. 3f and Supplementary Fig. 5). During wound repair in Mus, we found KRT17 was also highly upregulated in the re-epithelialized epidermis at D14 (Supplementary Fig. 5), and although KRT17 localized to some basal keratinocytes in Mus epidermis at D21, these sites failed to aggregate into placodes or new hair follicles such that KRT17 was completely absent from the new epidermis by D26 (Fig. 3f). The disappearance of KRT17 from basal keratinocytes in Mus, together with our observation of continued localization in new placodes and hair follicles in Acomys, suggests the underlying dermal signals required to induce placode formation in Mus are lacking.
Figure 3: Acomys exhibit de novo hair follicle regeneration in wounded skin. a–d, Hair follicles regenerating in A. percivali (yellow arrowheads) between D21 and D28 in large skin wounds. New hair follicles (yellow arrowheads) are present throughout the wound bed (red dotted area) at D28 (c, d). Green arrowheads indicate old follicles. e–k, Regenerating hair follicles express proteins associated with development and differentiation. Ki67 labels proliferating hair germ (e). KRT17 (yellow arrowheads) is present in Acomys but absent in Mus at D26 (f). Nuclear-localized LEF1 is present in follicle placodes (g) and later in dermal papilla cells (DP) and surrounding matrix cells (MX) (h). Phosphorylated SMAD1, 5 and 8 (as a readout of Bmp-signalling) is present in epidermal hair germ cells (i) and later in dermal papilla and matrix cells of regenerating follicles (j). SOX2 is present in dermal papilla cells (k). Scale bars, 100 μm (a–d, f–k) and 50 μm (e). Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
Although the precise signal for placode formation remains obscure, there is an absolute requirement for Wnt-signalling during normal follicle formation12. Nuclear localization of LEF1 protein has been used as a readout of this inductive signalling13. We detected nuclear accumulation of LEF1 in regenerating epidermal placodes, condensing dermal fibroblasts beneath the hair germ, and in dermal papilla and matrix cells (Fig. 3g, h and Supplementary Fig. 6a). We also detected nuclear LEF1 staining at low levels in some non-placode basal keratinocytes, whereas we did not detect nuclear LEF1 in the epidermis during wound healing in Mus, suggesting epidermal Wnt-activation in Acomys may partially underlie our observation of hair follicle regeneration (Supplementary Fig. 6b, c).
Regulation of canonical Bmp-signalling also has a role during hair follicle induction and differentiation of follicular progenitor populations into the mature hair follicle (reviewed in ref. 14). Phosphorylation of SMAD proteins 1, 5 and 8 (pSMAD1, 5 and 8) is a robust readout of canonical Bmp signalling. We detected pSMAD1/5/8 (the antibody detects the phosphorylated forms of all of these proteins but does not exclusively differentiate any particular one) at low levels during follicle induction and later at higher levels in dermal papilla and matrix cells undergoing differentiation in the hair bulb (Fig. 3i, j). Furthermore, we detected SOX2-positive dermal papilla in some regenerating hair follicles, which is consistent with its role in specifying various hair types during mouse hair follicle development15 (Fig. 3k). Taken together, these results demonstrate that regenerating hair follicles in Acomys progress through defined stages of hair follicle development, exhibit high rates of proliferation, and reuse molecular pathways used during embryonic hair follicle development to regenerate new hair follicles.
Adult mammal skin is normally unable to regenerate epidermally-derived structures in response to wounding (for example, glands and hair follicles). An exception to this is the observation of spontaneous folliculargenesis in large excisional wounds in rabbits, and more recently in laboratory mice (C57BL6/SJ, SJL or mixed strain)16,17,18. Rabbits are also one of the few mammalian species that can regenerate large ear punch wounds19. We proposed that the regenerative capacity observed in Acomys might extend to their ear tissue as well. To test this we made 4-mm punches through the ears of both Acomys species and, to our surprise, found that they were able to close these large punches (Fig. 4a–c and Supplementary Fig. 7a–c). Uninjured ear tissue contains skin (epidermis and dermis), associated hair follicles, adipose cells, muscle and cartilage; we found that Acomys were capable of completely regenerating all of these tissues with high fidelity except muscle (Fig. 4b, c). Twelve days after injury we observed an accumulation of cells around the circumference of the wound beneath the epidermis, and, although regeneration of new tissue was centripetal, cells accumulated to a greater degree on the proximal side of the punch. Hair follicle and cartilage regeneration proceeded in a proximal to distal wave (Fig. 4d, e) and similar to the skin, follicular epidermis in the ear activated Wnt-signalling (Supplementary Fig. 6d, e). In contrast to Acomys, we found Mus were incapable of regenerating 4-mm ear punches and instead formed scar tissue (Supplementary Fig. 8a, b). Notably, despite scar formation, Mus ear repair resulted in the de novo formation of cartilage condensations distal to the cut cartilage suggesting Mus might initiate, but not maintain, a regenerative response after ear wounding (Supplementary Fig. 8b).
Figure 4: Acomys regenerate hair follicles, sebaceous glands, dermis, adipose tissue and cartilage in 4-mm ear punches. a, A regenerated 4-mm ear punch in A. percivali. b, Unwounded tissue in Acomys ear pinna. c, Regenerated dermis, hair follicles, cartilage and adipose tissue within biopsy punched area. White circle denotes the original punch area. d, Regenerating hair follicles (yellow arrowheads) and cartilage (green arrowheads) differentiate proximal to distal. e, Safranin-O and fast green staining indicates chondrogenesis (green arrowheads). f–i, Proliferating cells (Ki67+) in early (f, g) and late (h, i) Acomys and Mus ears. Proliferation is restricted proximal to the wound epidermis (WE) (red arrowheads) in Acomys (f) and is continuous in basal keratinocytes of Mus (g). Proliferation is maintained in Acomys at D32 (h) with very few proliferating cells persisting in Mus (i) (red arrowheads). j–l, Collagen-IV-stained mature basement membrane is absent beneath the wound epidermis (E) in Acomys (j), but is present near the amputation (k) and distally in Mus (l). Yellow arrowheads indicate basement membrane, and white lines indicate epidermal thickness. m, n, Almost no αSMA-positive fibroblasts are present in Acomys (m), whereas αSMA-positive myofibroblasts are present in healing Mus ear (n). Inset shows stress fibres in individual myofibroblasts. o, TN-C disappears where new cartilage differentiates (white arrows) in Acomys. Yellow/green cells (j–o) are autofluorescing blood cells in the green fluorescent protein (GFP) channel. Scale bars, 100 μm. Full size image Download PowerPoint slide
It remains unclear whether mammalian regeneration proceeds through formation of a blastema, or is instead an exaggerated version of hyperplastic growth20,21,22. Blastema formation is considered a hallmark of epimorphic regeneration. One characteristic of a regeneration blastema is that it contains proliferating cells and maintains proliferation during regeneration23. We observed widespread proliferation throughout the ear regenerate in Acomys and surprisingly, throughout healing ear tissue in Mus (Fig. 4f, g). However, we noted a lack of proliferation in the distal epidermis of Acomys, whereas we detected proliferation throughout Mus epidermis extending to the distal tip (Fig. 4f, g). Although proliferation was maintained in Acomys ears, we observed almost no proliferating cells in later-staged Mus ears (Fig. 4h, i).
A second characteristic of a blastema is the formation of a specialized epidermal signalling centre (the wound epidermis), which is required for proliferating blastemal cells to remain in the cell cycle24 and is characterized by a loss of epidermal stratification, loss of basal keratinocyte polarity, and lack of a mature basal lamina25. After re-epithelialization in Acomys, we noted a thickening of the distal epidermis, disorganization of basal keratinocytes and absence of a mature basement membrane (Fig. 4j). Comparatively, the epidermis near the amputation plane exhibited normal stratification and possessed a prominent basement membrane (Fig. 4k). By contrast, Mus seemed to form a wound epidermis only transiently after re-epithelialization, with a proportionately smaller distal area exhibiting these characteristics for a short time (data not shown). By D12 in Mus, collagen type IV staining revealed a mature basement membrane beneath the entire epidermis of the healing ear (Fig. 4l). In addition, the epidermis exhibited normal stratification and proper apical-basal polarity of the basal keratinocytes (Fig. 4g, l).
In addition to sustained proliferation and formation of the wound epidermis, ECM molecules have a key role in supporting proliferation and directing subsequent differentiation during regeneration26. By contrast, molecules such as laminin and collagen type I, which favour differentiation, are downregulated in the blastema during amphibian limb regeneration and are expressed as differentiation of the musculoskeletal system proceeds26,27. Histological examination of Acomys ears at D12 revealed high levels of fibronectin, some tenascin-C (TN-C) surrounding densely packed cells, but very low levels of collagen type I (Supplementary Fig. 9a–c). Collagen type III was also more abundant than collagen type I during regeneration (Supplementary Fig. 9d–d’). TN-C became restricted from areas where new cartilage began differentiating and within these differentiating cells we found activation of the Bmp-signalling pathway in cells giving rise to new auricular cartilage (Fig. 4o and Supplementary Fig. 10). During hyperplastic growth in Mus ears, the ECM initially displayed high levels of fibronectin and low levels of TN-C as did Acomys ears, but produced relatively higher levels of collagen type I (Supplementary Fig. 9e–g). Collagen production in Mus was not only faster and more abundant, but also exhibited a higher ratio of collagen type I to type III (Supplementary Fig. 9h, h’). Given the exuberant production of collagen type I in Mus, we asked whether resident fibroblasts were differentiating into myofibroblasts, which contribute to scarring in lieu of regeneration (reviewed in ref. 28). Using α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), we found myofibroblasts in high abundance throughout ear tissue in Mus, whereas they were almost completely absent in Acomys ears (Fig. 4m, n). These data corroborate the importance of the wound ECM to promote proliferation while antagonizing differentiation and support previous work showing precocious collagen type I formation antagonizes appendage regeneration27.
Our data suggest that reparative ear regeneration in Acomys is a balance between premature reformation of the dermis (scarring) and maintenance of cell proliferation within a pro-regenerative environment. By contrast, Mus fails to form (or maintain) a wound epidermis, which is coincident with precocious formation of the basement membrane and stratification of the epidermis. This leads to a loss of cell proliferation, increased collagen type I deposition (in lieu of collagen type III), myofibroblast activation and ultimately, scar formation. Although our data suggest ear regeneration shares similar characteristics with blastema formation, understanding the molecular signals required to organize and maintain a wound epidermis and identifying the lineage of regenerating cells is crucial to address how regeneration occurs in these animals. Future work investigating how Acomys can control fibrosis will shed light on how regeneration and scarring can be balanced in the face of infection and inflammation in wild mammals, and provides an ideal model system in which to examine epimorphic regeneration in mammals. |
Skyrim Special Edition version available here.
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Discuss this mod on the Posts tab, /r/EnaiRim or the Enairim Discord
"You want a real fight, eh?"
What does this mod do?
a participant is struck by a weapon (except fists), hostile spell, shout or scroll
the player casts a spell, uses an ingredient or uses a potion
MQSkyHavenSparring: BladesSparringScript
BladesSparringScript CompanionsSingleCombatQuest: CompanionsSingleCombatantScript
CompanionsSingleCombatantScript MS11: MS11CalixtoScript
MS11CalixtoScript C00: C00VilkasScript
C00VilkasScript C00VilkasTrainingQuest: C00TrainerScript
C00TrainerScript DGIntimidateQuest: DGIntimidateAliasScript
DGIntimidateAliasScript DGIntimidateQuest: DGIntimidatePlayerScript
DGIntimidatePlayerScript C00JorrvaskrFight: C00JorrvaskrFightAthisScript
C00JorrvaskrFightAthisScript C00JorrvaskrFight: C00JorrvaskrFightNjadaScript
Load order and conflicts with other mods
To other mod authors
Brawls are poorly implemented in Skyrim. Any magic effects applied to either participant will cancel the brawl and may cause the opponent to pull out their weapon. Depending on your load order, you may experience the infamous "" that prevents you from completing any brawls.Most people are familiar with the popular Brawl Bugs Patch . Unfortunately, it is several years old and some users are still suffering from the brawl bug anyway due to several errors in its implementation. It also has the potential to generate significant script load. Because its permissions do not allow redistribution, I made an improved fix from scratch.This mod replaces the Brawl Bugs Patch. You can safely update from it to the Modern Brawl Bug Fix.The Modern Brawl Bug Fix updates the following 9 scripts. In the vanilla game, brawls (and certain other controlled combat scenarios) are cancelled when either participant is struck by a magic effect. This mod updates these events to trigger only whenor (added in version 1.02) whenduring the brawl."This mod overwrites files from mod X, is it compatible?"Many mods that were found to trigger the brawl bug come with an included copy of the. Load the Modern Brawl Bug Fix after them, preferably at the end of your load order to be sure there is nothing overwriting it. (This will not impede the functionality of said other mods.)Most of my other mods (Imperious, Ordinator, Wildcat, Apocalypse, Sacrosanct, etc) come with a copy of the. Those files are identical to the ones in this mod.The Modern Brawl Bug Fix comes with a "Resources" folder that contains the source scripts. Feel free to distribute them with your own mods! |
Lancaster and Antelope Valley Edit
Dedmon attended Lancaster High School in Lancaster, California. Although tall and athletic, Dedmon did not play high school basketball until his senior year due to his mother's religious objections. His mother, a devout Jehovah's Witness, refused to allow him to play organized basketball, believing it might affect his religious devotion.[2] After turning 18, Dedmon, who had already grown to 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), decided to exercise his age of majority rights and begin playing.[2] After graduating from Lancaster in 2008, Dedmon attended Antelope Valley College as a part-time student and did not play basketball during the 2008–09 season.[3]
As a freshman at Antelope Valley in 2009–10, Dedmon, who had grown to 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) tall, helped the Marauders to a 17–14 record while averaging 6.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He also had 46 blocks and tied the school record with seven blocks against Chaffey College on January 22, 2010. Five days later against Victor Valley, he sustained a broken bone in his forehead and an injured nasal cavity when he was hit by an errant elbow. The injury forced Dedmon to miss the final seven regular season games, but he returned for the playoffs where he recorded 5 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back, a win against Miramar College on February 24.[3]
USC Edit
On April 14, 2010, Dedmon signed with the University of Southern California and subsequently redshirted the 2010–11 due to NCAA transfer regulations. He completed one final semester at Antelope Valley but did not play for Marauders in order to keep three full seasons of eligibility. He began practicing with USC in the second semester of 2010–11 when he transferred from Antelope Valley.[4]
As a redshirted sophomore for USC in 2011–12, Dedmon battled with numerous injuries which curtailed his development but still managed to average 7.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 20 games (all starts). He led the team with a .551 shooting percentage and made 50 percent or more of his shots in 14 of his 20 starts. He had a season-high 18 points against Oregon on January 19, 2012 and followed that up with eight points and eight rebounds against Oregon State on January 21. Five days later against Colorado, he suffered a season-ending injury with a torn left MCL.[3]
As a junior for USC in 2012–13, Dedmon led the Trojans with 7.0 rebounds to go with 6.7 points in 31 games (29 starts). After struggling to score in the early part of the season, Dedmon had the best stretch of his career toward the beginning of USC's conference slate, averaging 10.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and three blocks per game in a five-game stretch. He tied his career-high of 18 points against Washington on March 6 but was suspended indefinitely on March 12 following a reported Saturday night incident in downtown Spokane between USC players and local bar patrons. USC lost 69–66 to Utah in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament, two days after the suspensions were announced, with Dedmon and also-suspended senior center James Blasczyk not making the trip to the tournament. The Trojans finished the season with a 14–18 record. Dedmon also averaged 2.1 blocks per game in 2012–13, good for second in the Pac-12 and the sixth-best single season total in USC history, and finished the season ninth in program history with 85 career blocks.[5][6]
On April 24, 2013, Dedmon declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.[7] |
Code:
- Fixed a bug preventing some people from building new trade posts - Fixed some instability issues on the Mac and Linux versions - Fixed bug where taking over the last duchy or higher title from a Merchant Republic could give you Patrician vassals - Blocked "Offer Vassalization" for one Merchant Republic vs another - Fixed a tooltip bug for the succession type in secondary kingdoms and empires held by Merchant Republics - When a regular lowborn Mayor forms a Merchant Republic, he should get a dynasty and become a Patrician - The Patricians in newly formed merchant republics now get some starting money - Homosexual characters no longer get the ambition to get married - Exported PATRICIAN_PRESTIGE_RESPECT_FACTOR and PATRICIAN_AGE_RESPECT_FACTOR to defines - Doubled the effect of Prestige on Patrician Respect for Doge elections - Tutorial: Fixed a crash in Realm View - Fixed a bug where you would end up at war with your liege if beating him to victory in a claim war - Added text warnings for Independence wars and factions for Patricians, if it would mean Game Over - Made Ultimogeniture possible for anyone to take, should they be so inclined - Added the Barony of Altenburg to Meissen - Gave Ultimogeniture to the Ilkhanate, the Golden Horde and the barony of Altenburg - Fixed some issues with sound freezes - Fixed a bug with the "coastal_county_republic" CB that could make vassals of merchant republics independent - Fixed missing description for Trade Post garrison building - Fixed issue where a feudal liege could burn a vassal Patrician's Trade Post - The correct event picture is now shown when Aztecs sacrifice prisoners - Fixed flag issues for players who don't own Sunset Invasion - Fixed issues with the Romeo & Juliet event chain - Added cooldown before the Seize Trade Post plot can be used on the same character again - Republic random trade events are now slightly less likely to occur - Lowered the cost and buildtimes of all Family Palace buildings - Fixed an issue where the Seize Trade Post plot wasn't properly cancelled - Fixed a bug where your children in foreign courts would not accept being educated by you - Added a check for negative fertility on either parent to prevent impregnation of or by celibate characters, eunuchs, etc - Fixed a bug where culture name lists with more than 100 entries would be cut off at 100 entries due to a low random number - Fixed a problem where a vassal of a vassal who takes an outside would become a vassal of the enemy rather than the old liege's liege - The Trade posts of Patricians who become independent should no longer be lost in most cases, but taken over by a replacement family - Fixed bug making Republic capitals immune to some CBs, like Holy War - Fixed a bug where a betrothed character who married a different person than they were betrothed to could retain the betrothal even when they were not permitted to have another spouse - Fixed a bug where the educate child menu would be unavailable in foreign courts - Fixed a bug where children abroad would not show up in the education menu - Muslims can now never marry matrilineally under any circumstances - Fixed a bug where the AI would repeatedly unassign and assign a child the same tutor - Fixed a bug where a deposed ruler would die on the next day - The Ecumenical Patriarch's pentarchy will now function correctly - Pentarchs defined in history files for non-titular titles will now always override Autocephaly - Titular realms will now use their capital when determing religious head for religions with Autocephaly - Army AI: Fixed an issue with stupid long range land movement - The Bishopric of Rome will no longer be renamed to the Lateran if the Move Capital to Rome decision is taken - Gaining a title you are fabricating a claim on via plot will now abort the plot - The Anti-Pope opinion bonus towards liege will now be properly inherited when liege dies - Added field to cultures: [used_for_random = yes/no]. Blocks the culture from being available for characters created with random culture. - Made it more likely that the Mongol Hordes convert to Islam - Faction View: The Faction labels are no longer capitalized - Fixed bug with early holders of Family Palace holdings not showing up in the history - Increased the random factor in doge elections - Marcella Ziani now has the correct gender - No longer possible for close relatives to become a married character's mistress - AI Patricians are now far more likely to upgrade their Family Palaces - Multiple assassination events should no longer appear when plotting to kill someone - The province of Ar'Ar has been renamed to Shaka - When transfering a vassal, the selected vassal will now be shown on the map - Can no longer ask to join wars against a ruler who is imprisoning you - You can now always transfer the vassalage of a duke to the de jure liege of their primary title, even if they hold multiple duchies - Fixed a bug where a landed vassal who inherited their liege's title would remain in their previous factions - Duplicate independence factions gained from conquering or inheriting titles will now be disbanded - Fixed a bug where you would not be able to marry the courtiers of Holy Orders and Mercenary Companies despite them showing up as eligible - Fixed a bug where the add_spouse command would have undesirable results for Muslims - Improved Jihad notification event to include the religion and portrait of the Caliph - Fixed a bug with Tanistry that could cause Game Over - Anti-Pope will now remain as an Emperor's vassal if you press his claim to the Papacy - Fixed a bug that was causing characters over 1000 years old not to receive events properly - Exported is_holy_war to cb_types, this determines whether neighbouring AIs of the same religion will consider joining defensively against the attacker - Can now ask to join Muslim Invasions - AI will now ask to join Muslim Invasions when appropriate, and is slightly more inclined to defend neighbours against a Muslim Invasion than a Holy War - Improved duchy distribution AI - Fixed a bug where you would not be able to ask a character to stop backing a plot if their answer was no, depriving you of just cause to imprison them - AI: Will now value Kiev more highly and be more inclined to use it as their primary Duchy - AI: Will now value prestige effects of marriage at a more reasonable level - The Muslim Invasion CB now requires either a foothold in or border with the target kingdom - AI: Fixed a bug where countries with a vassal merchant republic would refuse to embargo _any_ republic - Fixed a bug where a country who had vassal merchant republics could lose them when _winning_ a war against another merchant republic - Fixed a bug with the Jizya tax modifier for Muslim merchant republics |
The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23A was a contender in the bid for an advanced tactical fighter to replace the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in US Air Force service. The first of two prototypes flew in August 1990, the second aircraft being powered by General Electric YF120-GE-100 turbofan engines. The YF-23A was designed to be ultra-stealthy and incorporated many of the stealth features of the Northrop Grumann B-2 bomber, and all its planned weaponry was to be housed in an internal bay to reduce the radar signature. The two YF-23s successfully completed their flight test programme, but the Lockheed YF-22 was selected to meet the USAF requirement. Robert Jackson "The Encyclopedia of Aircraft", 2004 SEE ALSO Wikipedia 3-View A three-view drawing (1673 x 1257)
Specification MODEL YF-23 CREW 1 ENGINE 2 x Pratt & Whitney YF119-PW-100, 155.7kN with afterburner WEIGHTS Take-off weight 29030 kg 64001 lb Empty weight 16783 kg 37000 lb DIMENSIONS Wingspan 13.2 m 43 ft 4 in Length 20.5 m 67 ft 3 in Height 4.2 m 14 ft 9 in Wing area 87.8 m2 945.07 sq ft PERFORMANCE Max. speed 2080 km/h 1292 mph Ceiling 19800 m 64950 ft Range 1200 km 746 miles Comments 1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81-100 Richard Hood , 26.07.2017 I just found out recently about the F23. I agree that it is a much better fighter than the F22. How about compared with the F35? That's my favorite one now. Da Gunny , 08.08.2016 There were many in the Marine Corps Aviation community who wanted the F-23, because of it's performance abilities and it's structural strength/adaptability for carrier and expeditionary airfield operations. Pentagon politics blew it for the Corps and Navy. Besides, the agreement was who ever lost the fighter contract would be subcontracted anyway. They are still trying to unscrew the lack of inter-service operability the f-22/35 has suffered. Public specs on the f-23 are much lower than that aircraft's true capabilities. Tom , 28.01.2016 Check-out...F-22 (real speed),, then scroll down! Amazing if true, and somehow the "Real" stats were disclosed! Then it was disclosed, by one of the Test Pilots, that the F-23 was the "Fastest" plane he ever flew? Now, the intimation was that the F-23 was faster than the F-22! Wait until you see the F-22 speed results? I can understand the fast speed as the thrust to weight ratio is over 2 to 1 in the F-23, while the Ration for the F-22 is less than that!! Dfens , 29.12.2015 Since Northrop Grumman won the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRSB) program, the F-23 might get a second shot at life. Had NG lost LRSB, they probably would have been bought by Boeing or Lockheed. Now they should be around for a while and will very likely propose a version of the F-23 for the Navy's F-18 replacement program. I can't imagine the Navy turning this airplane down, even if just for the reason of rubbing the Air Force's nose in their mistake of choosing the F-22 over it. Favi�n Perea , 22.08.2014 We need to overhaul our F-15 and F-16 fleet and supplement a combat hardened airforce with the YF-23. The YF-23 should number in the hundreds as to be able to supplement the U. S. Combat proven airforce msgt [usaf ret.] b. laput , 11.08.2014 instead of waisting hundreds of billons on the f-35 spend much less and purchase the yf-23.I just can't understand why our stupid defense department can't buy a fighter that is outstanding for once. No instead we have to satisfy some corrupt Politian who is most likey on the take! Michel Sirois , 23.02.2014 I thing the F23 Widow is the best between what we have today and better then F22.for me the speed is very important and F23 specialist says: F23 is very Fast more then F22.anyway God bless America.Michel a.machia , 25.08.2013 It is rumored that the US Navy may be interested in the F-23. I read this in an aviation magazine approx. 6 mos. ago. cleo p landry , 11.07.2013 we must be the best in the air reuben , 21.03.2013 only the Aurora "if its real"could beat. my Blackwidow! Bill , 16.03.2013 Northrop lost the F-23 contract for one reason...........They had the B-2. Lockheed was fading. HyperSonic , 29.03.2012 EVERY TIME ..(almost)an opportunity presents our country with a golden ticket to do the right thing, push the envelope a bit and demonstrate to the world we ARE as smart as we THINK we are, a couple idiots are allowed to be King & Adviser for a day and take full advantage of their new positions.Either some corrupt politicians or A sewing circle of "Depends" wearing "old Money" Geezers that disregard ALL the facts, better aircraft - the lack of conclusive WMD data, mass public opposition.Because their minds are made up David P.Curcione , 27.02.2012 1 Note: We Need to Build more Yf23-A Fighters passed all it tests too! Agreed! We need to build 2880 Yf23-A Fighters,Planes for the U.S.A.F too! Or the Air National Air Guard,Divsion of all in fifty States too!I agreed to hired moe people to get to work immeadly soon as possable too!c This Means more people needto go to work immeadly agreed! Message to the U.S.A.F Joint Chief of Staff Generals in charge too! There is alot of Air Force F-15s need to be replaced immeadly to replaced the old F-16s Jet Fighters are 4th Gerations Planes are 30 Years old to true They need to be Replaced Imeadly soon as possable newer Jet Fighters Jet Are YF-23_a Black widow 5th Gerations Faster Jet Fighters are needed for Defence of the U.S.A. & Nato Allies too! To keep world Piece too! And Law en order By Training Police in other Trouble Nations don"t want Piece too! This True!! This needs to Looked into true!! Sone of the Arabes Nations are Smaller Nations in the World too! I agreed!! Law Need to addressed in those areas immeadly by International Court of World Other Counties of Nations do Bleaved in Law enorder by Trained Police Foreign Officers of those trouble Nations too! Iagreed!! Let those Nations Take Care of there Responables in there own house in foreign Nations too! Agreed!!! The U.S.Forces should pulledout of those Nations to get on there Feets too! I agreed!! Get to work and Finished thoses Jopbe in other Nations And Get out of there Nations By Closing American Bases out those coountiesimmeadly as soon as possable too! Let"s Go Now Get going now!!! Agreed!! William Neff , 17.01.2012 Basic defence strategy 101(for dummies)
When deciding on the platform for advanced military technology, create a competition and narrow the competitors down to two or three. Then mothball the winning plane and go with the runner-up for actual application. A military should always have an "Ace in the Hole" so to speak. That way, if a war breaks out and you are matched by enemy technology, you already have a working, ready to go into production counteroffensive weapon at your disposal. The f-23 will see it's day in the sun with newer modern updates like advanced vectored thrust, more powerful engines, a stronger, more advanced skin allowing for earth re-entry, and most importantly... the ability to escape earth atmo and return safely thus providing a platform for the future of space-born fighters and cargo vessels. Both prototypes have been kept in storage while these advancements in technology are being studied for further use. I presume that they will be the only two made for quite some time. Edwin L. Tan , 29.12.2011 I think your new gerneration plane to replace the F-15 is so impresive but, can you inject the harrier tech on that plane i think it will be give more edge against the enemy can you send me a model of the plane coz i am a collector of new fighter jets more power and God bless Happy new year Abe , 25.10.2011 Being a former fighter pilot and engineer. I was writing technical manuals for and during the fly off. There was enough political influence in the fly off to make it one sided. As usual, Northrop lost. Now, in saying that... There were a few obvious problems with the F-23 that the F-22 did not have. Such as the wing tip vortices which would allow the airplane to be seen on radar for a brief second while in extreme maneuvering. The F-22 did not have these problems. The F-23 required more skilled personnel to maintain the airplane. The F-22 could be maintained by a typical F-15 ground service crew. Unfortunately, all the talking in the world about an airplane that has been parked is a mute point. Because, the corruption, politics, and policies of big business in coordination with the DoD and federal government events such as these will continue to occur. Remember: When a government gets bigger, and more and more people are being prosecuted as law breakers, that means that the government is afraid of its people and trying to keep them in line through fear. This kind of government never works and never stays for too long. We (the united states) are an empire like all others in history. And, we will fall like all of the other empires of history. It took Rome 2000+ years to accomplish the same things that we accomplished in 200. Look at history...we have the same problems, just in a new time. a.machiaverna , 27.09.2011 F-23 is a better airplane than the F-22. Politics? David , 20.07.2011 1.The Fifth Geration Fighter Jet Will Cruised at (M) 2.1 + too. ERIC , 07.07.2011 Taiwan,japan,south korean and many asean countries interested to buy YF23. Why USA refuse to sell them YF 23.
YF23 for usa friends and allies.
Good money and create more Jobs for USA. David P.Curcione National Mili , 18.04.2011 1.The YF-23A is Steath Fighter Jet is 5th Geration Fighters Jets for 2011 A.D. & Beyond too! We Need replacements immmedly now soon!! F-22s ,Yf-23s & F-35s too! There Speeds should be over Crusing is Mack-2.6 too! Top Speed is over Mack 2.7 + too! 1-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 81-100 Do you have any comments about this aircraft ? Name E-mail |
In August of 1970, 80 killer whales from L-25 pod were encircled by a net at Penn Cove in Puget Sound, Washington.
Herded together by a sophisticated operation involving speed boats, planes and explosives, the young whales were then lassoed and literally dragged out of the water and away from their families.
All told, seven killer whales, also known as orcas, were captured in the Penn Cove operation and five died, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
In an effort to limit bad press – and because dead animals counted towards the team’s capture quota – the deceased animals were subsequently hidden at the bottom of the ocean.
“They had us cut the animals that were already dead open and put rocks inside their cavity and anchors around their tails and sink them,” recounts John Crowe, a participant in the hunt, in the documentary film The Killer Whale People. “It was because of publicity and the money.”
Unfortunately for the whale hunters, three of the cetacean carcasses would eventually float to the surface and wash up on Whidbey Island.
The incident remains one of the most infamous in the decades-old history of North America’s live killer whale captures and was a turning point that contributed to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 in the US, which marked the beginning of the end of live cetacean captures in America.
While to many in the West, the idea of rounding up whales, plucking them from their aquatic home and sentencing them to lifelong incarceration may seem archaic (particularly in the wake of the 2013 documentary film Blackfish), public opinion on the other side of the Pacific, here in China, is much more open towards to the subject.
As of June 2016, there were at least 39 ocean theme parks spread across the People’s Republic, with 14 under construction. The majority of these attractions are located on the country’s populous eastern coast.
According to numbers provided by the China Cetacean Alliance (CCA), these facilities house an estimated 491 cetaceans representing 11 species, of which belugas and bottlenose dolphins are the most common.
Guangdong province is home to the most aquatic facilities in the country, boasting five parks and 122 captive cetaceans.
There are currently believed to be 15 orcas held in captivity in China, nine at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, four at Shanghai Haichang Polar Ocean World and two at Linyi Polar Ocean Park.
Unlike their North American counterparts, marine parks in China have yet to master the ability to breed cetaceans in captivity, something that has allowed parks like SeaWorld to avoid the controversial undertaking of capturing live whales repeatedly over several decades.
Of the 39 marine entertainment facilities located in China, only six claim to have bred cetaceans in captivity, although, according to the CCA, in at least two of these cases the calves are known to have died.
But without established breeding programs, how do Chinese marine parks feed their increasing demand for animals?
It turns out the answer is as dark and troubling as the infamous Penn Cove cull.
The Last Legal Hunting Ground
To tell the story of China’s captive killer whales, we must venture beyond the borders of the Middle Kingdom to Russia’s far eastern Okhotsk Sea.
With the practice of hunting wild orcas now banned in Canada, the United States and Europe, the Okhotsk Sea is one of the last areas where it’s still legal to capture killer whales.
American environmental journalist Todd Woody explored the Russian killer whale hunting operations in a 2016 article for takepart.com titled 'China's Marine Park Boom Is Driving the Capture of Whales and Dolphins.' In the story, he speaks with orca hunter turned anti-captivity advocate Jeff Foster about a 2011 phone call from a European animal broker looking to recruit him to capture eight orcas off Russia’s Pacific coast.
In addition to helping orchestrate the whales’ capture, the job would also include basic training of the wild animals. The payout? A whopping USD7 million.
“The Chinese were the buyers, and the Russians had the permits. They wanted to bring me in to do the capture and transport and initial training of the animals,” Foster is quoted as stating in the article. “The Russians had been trying to capture killer whales for 15 years, and they just didn’t have qualified people showing them how to do it.”
“There are no Chinese boats [involved in cetacean hunts], they are actively buying these animals from Russia or Japan.”
Despite the fact that the identity of the Chinese buyers was never revealed to Foster from the animal broker, we can be confident they had money to burn. On top of the USD7 million offered to Foster, Woody’s story suggests the buyers would have had to fork over somewhere between USD25-80 million for the orcas in addition to the cost of shipping the giant cetaceans thousands of miles.
Foster ultimately turned down the USD7 million payout, but it didn’t matter: the hunt would go on regardless. In October of 2013, seven killer whales were pulled from the the Sea of Okhotsk, followed by at least five more animals in 2014 and 2015.
Although the main buyers of Russia’s whales appear to be people living or doing business in China, there is no evidence that Chinese boats or hunters are actively involved in catching the orcas that end up in the country.
According to Woody, the culling of killer whales in the Sea of Okhotsk is “strictly a Russian operation.”
Environmental activist and Sea Shepard Conservation Society Founder Paul Watson affirms this view. “There are no Chinese boats [involved in cetacean hunts], they are actively buying these animals from Russia or Japan.”
According to Watson, China gets only 20 percent of their cetaceans from Russia, and the other 80 percent come from Japan.
Once captured, the whales are transported more than 900 kilometers by truck to small holding cages in the Russian port city of Nakhodka. From there, their journey to an aquarium may be undertaken again by truck or plane.
“They go a long way from the capture area to where they are held, and then they are held in these small pools and transported to China,” Woody told That’s. “It costs a lot of money to fly a killer whale and it’s much easier if you want to avoid attention from anti-captivity groups to use a truck.”
Florida-based marine mammal consultant Mitchel Kalmanson is quoted by Woody as stating the journey to China by truck takes between seven and 10 days, something he knows from experience. According to 'China's Marine Park Boom Is Driving the Capture of Whales and Dolphins,' Kalmanson was hired back in 2014 by a London insurance company to oversee the prep work for the transport of orcas from Russia to China.
As one would expect, transporting an orca by truck for such a long period of time poses a number of risks to the animal. Firstly, cetaceans live their entire lives in water, which delivers uniform support through even distribution of pressure over the animal’s body. This, according to the CRC Handbook of Marine Mammal Medicine, results in a “functional weightlessness” that allows the mammal virtually effortless breathing. Take a cetacean out of the water and problems with respiration will follow.
To combat this, modern orca transport utilizes giant fabric slings suspended in water-filled transport boxes – something that allegedly mimics the weightlessness the animals experience while fully submerged in water.
“He [Kalmanson] wouldn’t be surprised if animals died in transport.”
Despite the use of slings and water in transport units, it’s difficult to deny that putting an orca in a box and then driving for a week cannot be a pleasant experience for the mammal.
Kalmanson’s assessment of road transport, when quoted by Woody, is that it puts far more stress on the animals than other methods.
“In a truck, you have road hazards, you have to change the water in the container, you have to filter out urine and feces, and you have to have a lot of ice. And the animals can only lay down so much. You have to go over mountains on narrow roads.”
While it is unknown how many of China’s captive orcas entered the country via long-distance truck, through testimony from first-hand witnesses like Mr. Kalmanson, we can be sure at least some of the marine mammals arrived by road and endured the journey.
What we may never know though is how many animals didn’t live through the traumatic transport experience. Erich Hoyt, a senior research fellow with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, told That’s via email that he is unaware of any animals dying in transport, although he added “I am not sure I would hear that information if it happened.”
According to Woody, through his interviews with Kalmanson, he was told “he [Kalmanson] wouldn’t be surprised if animals died in transport.”
While China’s marine parks are getting their orcas from Russia, another Asian nation is responsible for the vast majority of the PRC’s cetacean imports: Japan.
Every year, from September until the end of February, fisherman in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, begin the notorious dolphin drive hunt, which leads to the capture of over 1,000 cetaceans annually for meat or sale to aquariums. The hunt was most famously depicted in the 2009 Academy Award-winning documentary The Cove.
This year’s cull ended on March 1, and, according to statistics from the Dolphin Project, saw the slaughter of 293 striped dolphins, 235 Risso’s dolphins and 41 pilot whales. A total of 235 cetaceans were captured for sale to marine parks, including 20 Pacific white-sided dolphins, 179 bottlenose dolphins, 35 pantropical spotted dolphins and one pilot whale.
As earlier stated, Sea Shepard Conservation Society Founder Paul Watson estimates that a confounding 80 percent of China’s captive cetaceans come from Japan, with many – if not most – coming from Taiji.
American activist Richard O’Barry, who famously trained the dolphins used in the TV series Flipper and starred in 2009’s The Cove, has previously stated that many Chinese aquariums, including the Beijing Zoo Aquarium, host dolphins that came from that small, bloody cove in the land of the rising sun.
According to a 2015 article in The Guardian, between September 2009 and August 2014, 354 live dolphins were exported to 12 countries. Of the 354 cetaceans exported abroad, 216 were brought to China.
It is currently unclear how many of the cetaceans captured in the 2016-17 Taiji dolphin hunt are bound for China.
Popularity Wanes in the West, Rises in the East
In March of last year, SeaWorld bowed to years of pressure from activists and announced it would be scrapping its orca breeding program and no longer make the animals perform tricks for live audiences.
Some attributed the move to the public backlash against the company in the wake of Blackfish, which has been credited with hurting attendance at the chain of marine theme parks, while SeaWorld framed the change as moving with changing social attitudes.
"Society's attitude toward these very, very large, majestic animals under human care has shifted for a variety of reasons, whether it's a film, legislation, people's comments on the Internet," said SeaWorld Entertainment CEO Joel Manby in a 2016 Bloomberg article.
It would seem, at long last, that orca – and cetacean captivity as a whole – is on the verge of defeat in America.
“Many countries copy the United States, particularly when it comes to making money,” said Watson. “We have the captivity industry on the ropes here and SeaWorld has lost money every year since Blackfish came out.
“Amusement parks make a lot of money, I don’t know what tickets cost in China, but they make millions of dollars.”
But with falling revenues at SeaWorld and orca shows being phased out, many trainers are now looking for work in new markets, the most booming and obvious of which is, you guessed it, China.
Almost all of the experts we spoke with in assembling this story agreed that former SeaWorld employees, as well as staff from SeaWorld-affiliated Loro Parque in the Canary Islands, are popping up at theme parks in China.
The great fear now is, with orcas making their China debut, more and more marine mammal parks will be looking for a blackfish of their own – fueling the demand for more captured whales from Russia’s Okhotsk Sea.
With the legacy of live orca captures firmly in the rearview mirror in America, China’s demand for cetaceans may mean the next ‘Penn Cove incident’ happens on this side of the Pacific.
[Images via allevents.in, National Geographic, Outside Magazine, Captive Cetaceans Tragically Sad, Haichang Polar Ocean Park] |
Inspired by a contest hosted by We Love Fine , I chose to hop into a popular meme spawned by a typically lovable episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic . Making Fluttershy a vampire has since become a pastime, so I was certain that I had a shot at getting this put on a T-Shirt . Last I checked, though, that shot was off by a mile. I guess my Flutterbat came just a few thousand Flutterbats too late to be notable.But, y'know, I do like it. Sure the subject matter's been done to death and back again, but from a design perspective I think it's pretty solid. And hey, I don't care what anyone thinks, I love the damn ponies. Fluttershy's so effing cute.Heck, knowing how popular pony art is in general, it's high time I threw more of this stuff into my DeviantArt gallery. It's good business sense. |
Total global debt crossed a troubling event horizon by going past the $200 trillion mark last year. Given the latest figures we are likely well above a total global debt of $230 trillion based on a comprehensive study done by ING last year. The banking sector rummages for every possible way of accessing debt. Global central banks from the Fed to the ECB to the Bank of Japan are now fully engaged in a digital printing end game. It isn’t so much the startling debt figures that are presented but the GDP that is actually backing up this insurmountable level of debt. The latest data shows that total world debt is running above 313 percent of annual GDP. To put this into perspective the US meltdown occurred when household debt reached about 120 percent total debt to annual GDP. The only way to keep payments current is with a low rate environment. There is no choice. So central banks will do everything they can to print this debt into oblivion. In many ways this is a reason that we have seen a rush into assets from commodities, real estate, art, Bitcoins, and anything that isn’t just a bunch of 1s and 0s on a central bank computer easily changed by the whims of politicians and those connected to them.
Total debt recall
One of the more interesting figures that I came across was that in 2000, every $2.4 of debt creation produced $1 of GDP growth. Today that figure is up to $4.6 for every $1 of GDP growth. In other words, the impact of debt creation is having less and less of an impact on real economic growth. Unless you live in the digital cloud, you care about the real economy.
Ultimately the health of an economy should be measured by good paying jobs and income growth. Since the recession ended in 2009 we have seen more growth in low wage jobs and income growth is not to be found. At the same time, the Fed has expanded its balance sheet to a whopping $4 trillion.
Total debt is also growing in our own system at home:
Source: Federal Reserve
The total US debt market is close to $60 trillion. So the US alone is a big chunk of the $230 trillion in total global debt outstanding. Central banks at this point are stuck in a rut. For large economies like the US and Japan having interest rates rise is simply unacceptable given the massive amount of debt carried by these countries. This of course assumes that central banks have full power over the economy.
Take for example the US public debt:
Source: US Treasury
The US currently owes $17.25 trillion. What is important to note is that the US is borrowing at a ridiculously low interest rate:
For total marketable debt, the average interest rate is 1.998 percent and for non-marketable debt it is 3.401 percent. Blended the average rate is 2.477 percent. Even at this historically low level our interest payments are well above $400 billion per year:
Even if rates went up to historically low levels of say 5 percent, this would bring annual debt servicing to close to $1 trillion. To put this in perspective the government collects about $2.9 trillion so that $1 trillion is no small amount in relationship to what is being generated on the tax side.
The US is no exception here. We recently started seeing a mad dash to the exits in developing countries. Why? Interest rates are higher for an emerging economy for obvious reasons:
Very little is financed by the private-sector in developed countries as would be expected. As financial markets develop these things can change but given the low rate environment, people have chased yields all across the globe. Hence a total of $230 trillion and more in public, private, and corporate liabilities. Yet what we are seeing is a large amount of rent seeking and more debt being needed to generate $1 of GDP.
There is such a thing as too much debt. Short of incomes rising we are merely setting up a different sort of debt crisis. We already got a bit of a taste of that early in the year in many emerging markets.
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3 Exercises To Help You Squat Deeper. Without a Single Mobility Drill
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Today’s guest post comes courtesy of fellow Cressey Sports Performance coach, Tony Bonvechio (AKA: the other Tony). He’s got some excellent pointers on squat technique and how you can go about improving squat depth without mention of a single mobility exercise.
Enjoy!
I didn’t like hip-hop music until I met Tony Gentilcore. I’m more of a heavy metal guy, but when TG handles DJ duties during staff lift, I can’t help but get amped up to the sounds of the 90’s Hip Hop or Dirty South Pandora stations.
Note From TG: Tribe Called Quest Radio. You’re welcome.
So when Ludacris poses the esoteric question, “How low can you go?” during a heavy squat workout, it gets me thinking how I can get my clients to safely improve their squat depth.
TG is right when he says not everyone should (or needs to) squat as low as possible. But outside of our baseball players at CSP, I deal primarily with powerlifters who need to squat below parallel in competition. If they can’t get low enough, their squats won’t count, so we prioritize hitting depth in training.
When we combine deep squats with heavy loads and we know not everyone can hit depth (defined as the hip joint passing below the top of the knee joint) easily, how do we get there in the best position possible.
Well, you could stretch, foam roll and mobilize every joint head to toe. Or you could just learn how to squat.
The second option is my favorite. In my experience, nine times out of 10, a person’s inability to squat to depth is NOT a mobility issue but rather a squat strategy issue. Simply picking the right squat accessory exercises to hammer home an optimal squat pattern will almost always improve depth and strength. Here are my three favorite squat exercises to help you drop it low and crush heavy weights.
Squatting: Upright vs. Hip Hinge
First, here’s a harsh reality: an upright squat will always be the most mechanically efficient squat. If you’re pointing your nipples at the floor to use “hip drive,” you’ll never maximize the contribution of your legs and abs. There’s a reason every 1,000-pound squatter (raw or geared) stays almost perfectly vertical through their torso instead of leaning forward.
Are YOU gonna tell Malanichev to lean forward with 1,036 pounds on his back? Didn’t think so.
Here’s what happens far too often when people try to squat: they puff their chest up (thoracic extension), which pulls the ribcage up. They take a big breath, which is entirely ineffective because you can’t get good intra-abdominal pressure with a poor rib cage position. Then, they push their butt back as they squat down (lumbar extension, anterior pelvic tilt and hip flexion simultaneously).
Like a seesaw, as one side drops (the chest), the other side must go up to maintain balance (the hips). Not surprisingly, you can’t hip depth if your hips are shooting up and back to keep you from falling forward.
This scenario also effectively minimizes the space the head of the femur has to glide in the hip socket while limiting the contribution from your anterior core to keep your torso upright. What happens? Your hips get stuck so you fall forward to try to get lower. All bad news if you want to squat low and heavy safely.
That said, the optimal squat pattern is going to have an upright torso, knees out and slightly forward of the toes and the hips between the knees. This is much preferred to leaning forward with a vertical shin and over-arched lower back if greater depth is desired.
Here’s how to dial in that optimal pattern:
1. Front Squats
Front squats can cure your depth woes by teaching you to sit straight down between your knees instead of sitting behind your knees. You simply can’t sit back and dump your pelvis forward or you’ll dump the bar, so you internalize proper positioning. Carry this same strategy over to your back squat and you’ll be in business.
That’s why we use so many front squat variations at CSP. It immediately dials in a solid ribcage position and forces you to stabilize with your anterior core instead of your lumbar extensors.
I’ve lost count of the number of athletes who get stuck above parallel with a back squat or body weight squat but can magically sit their butt to their heels with a front squat. Kind of throws the mobility excuse out the window, huh?
By learning to keep the ribs down, chest up and knees out, you create proper alignment for nailing a deep squat. If you struggle with depth, try front squatting for a few weeks before returning to the back squat and I’m confident your depth will improve.
2. High-Bar Pause Squats
Also called Olympic squats because of their popularity with weightlifters, high-bar squats bridge the gap between front squats and a powerlifting-style back squat.
A low-bar position (i.e. holding the bar across the rear deltoids instead of the traps) has ruined many a squatter’s depth. You might be able to handle more weight because it keeps the bar closer to your hips, but it doesn’t matter one bit if you can’t hip depth because it pitches you forward too much.
Switching to a slightly higher bar position has helped many of my lifters get lower. Similar to the front squat, it lets you stay more upright so you can lock the ribcage down and stabilize with your abs instead of your lower back.
Adding a brief pause at the bottom position builds confidence in the hole, which eliminates much of the fear associated with squatting low. This also forces the lifter to initiate the reversal by staying tall and driving the knees out.
Try high-bar pause squats as your second exercise on a squat day. Pause anywhere from 1 to 5 seconds and do sets of 3-8 reps. You can pause at the lowest position, right below parallel, or even on the way back up to target specific sticking points.
Note From TG: These suck donkey balls. You’ll hate life, but they work. Get it done.
3. Squat to Pins
Not to be confused with an Anderson squat where the bar starts on the pins, squatting to the pins hammers home the same technique points as a front squat but is even more sinister and unforgiving.
By lowering the bar to the pins and pausing, you’ll have virtually no room for error in torso position. If you sit back and lean forward, you’ll immediately get stuck as you try to squat back up. Only by staying tall, driving the knees out and keeping the bar over the mid-foot will you be able to stand up.
Few exercises build control and confidence like squatting to the pins. These not only cured my falling-forward problem, but also eliminated my knee cave issues by forcing me to spread the floor and keep tension in my hips.
Cues to Cure Your Squat Woes
Remember these useful cues as you practice these squat variations:
“Belt buckle toward your chin” – This prevents unlocking the pelvis as you sit down.
“Take all the air out of the room” – This stabilizes your spine by filling your belly and lower back with air.
“Bend the bar around your traps” – This locks in the lats to help you tay upright.
“Spread the floor apart” – This tenses up your hips and glutes to keep your knees out.
Notice there’s not a single instance of “chest up” or “sit back” on that list. Ditch these antiquated strategies for the ones above and you’ll be hitting depth more consistently while getting stronger.
Optimizing the “Big 3.”
Want to learn these strategies in person? Come see me and Greg Robins at our Optimizing the Big 3 seminar at Warhorse Barbell in Philadelphia on September 19.
There are only a few spots left, so sign up today.
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Clinton’s election memoir is entitled What Happened.
On September 18, Hillary Clinton will kick off the book tour for What Happened, her memoir about the 2016 presidential election, in Washington, D.C. The crowd at the Warner Theatre will, no doubt, be filled with many representatives of Pantsuit Nation and other pro-Clinton factions of the Democratic Party. But, as Politico found out by talking to Democratic lawmakers and other Clinton allies, there will be plenty members of the minority party staying home on the 18th, preferring to stick toothpicks in their eyes than relive the nightmare of the 2016 elections.
“There is a collective groan whenever there’s another news cycle about this,” said California Democratic representative Jared Huffman, who added that Clinton’s tour comes at “maybe at the worst possible time.” It’s not just the distraction the book will provide from a party fighting for issues such as DACA, Huffman said, but the party fissures that could be reopened by Clinton’s critiques.
“I’ve always been a looking-forward kind of a guy,” Democratic senator Ron Wyden said when Politico asked about the tour. “I think I’ll leave it at that.” His colleague from Missouri, Senator Claire McCaskill, was even less charitable.
Asked whether she was excited about Clinton’s book tour, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), one of Republicans’ top 2018 targets, responded first with, “Beg your pardon?”
Asked again, she started shaking her head, walking away.
Some Democrats asked for anonymity in order to say how they really feel.
“I think she should just zip it, but she’s not going to,” one said. Former Clinton staffers, meanwhile, reacted to the tour by saying “Oh, God,” “I can’t handle it,” and calling it “the final torture.” No wonder some Republicans are so happy to see her back in the news. |
"The fact that the SEP was hidden behind a key worries me," said xerub. "Is Apple not confident enough to push SEP decrypted as they did with kernels past iOS 10?" He added that while SEP is amazing tech the fact that it's a "black box" adds very little, if anything to security. "Obscurity helps security — I'm not denying that," he said, but added that relying on it for security isn't a good idea.
"I think public scrutiny will add to the security of SEP in the long run," xerub said, noting that was also his intention with releasing the key.
"There are a lot of layers of security involved in the SEP, and access to firmware in no way provides access to data protection class information," they said. "It's not an easy leap to say it would make getting at customer data possible."
A hacker released what he claimed to be a firmware decryption key for Apple's Secure Enclave on Thursday, initially sparking fears that iOS security had been compromised.Apple's Secure Enclave Processor (SEP) handles all cryptographic operations for the Apple Watch Series 2, the A7 processor that powers the iPhone 5s, the iPad Air, the iPad mini 2 and 3, and subsequent A-series chips. The encrypted SEP is completely isolated from the rest of the system and handles Touch ID transactions, password verifications, and other security processes on a separate OS to maintain data protection integrity even if the kernel has been compromised.One of the ways the SEP does this is by generating a Unique ID (UID) for each device for authentication purposes. The UID automatically changes every time a device is rebooted and remains unknown to other parts of the system, further enhancing its security.Beyond that, little is known about how the SEP actually works outside of Apple, but that's by design – the enclave's isolation serves to obfuscate it from the rest of the system, preventing hackers from rifling through its code to make it as secure as possible.The decryption key posted on GitHub yesterday would not enable hackers to access data stored inside the Secure Enclave, but it could allow hackers and security researchers to decrypt the firmware that controls it and potentially spot weaknesses in the code.Speaking to TechRepublic , the hacker that released the key claimed that Apple's effort to obfuscate the code was itself cause for concern.Xerub claimed it's theoretically possible that the decryption key could be used to watch the SEP do its work, which could potentially allow hackers to reverse-engineer its process and gain access to its contents, including passwords and fingerprint data. However, he admitted that a lot of additional work would need to go into exploiting the decrypted firmware.It's still unclear what the longer term repercussions could be, but an Apple source who wished to remain anonymous told TechRepublic that the release of the SEP key doesn't directly compromise customer data.More accurately, it makes research into the structure of the SEP possible, which could allow hackers to find flaws in its workings. Apple said it did not plan to roll out a fix at this time. |
The German criminal police (BKA) is receiving between 25 and 30 reports about war crimes per day from refugees arriving in the country, a regional broadcaster reported on Monday.
The BKA's specialist war crimes division, based in the small town of Meckenheim, near Bonn, told the "Hessische Rundfunk" that they "weren't prepared for this mass traffic," and that additional officers had had to be called in to deal with all the reports from refugees.
Some 2,800 testimonies have already been registered in Germany, with most of the evidence coming via the routine interviews that all asylum seekers give to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) when applying for asylum in Germany.
But the BKA also admitted that only a fragment of the reports came with hard evidence - corroborated by photos or other witnesses - and that many reports amounted to no more than rumors. Nevertheless, the BKA confirmed to DW that it has launched 13 investigations based on testimony from refugees.
A Syrian national thought to have commanded a militia in Aleppo has been arrested by German police
War crimes division
The BAMF's standard questionnaire for all asylum seekers from Syria includes questions on whether the refugee fought in the Syrian army or used to be a member of the country's security forces, whether they have witnessed any potential war crimes, including the use of chemical weapons, and whether they possess any documentary evidence to back this up.
Answering these questions is optional; the BAMF automatically passes on any answers to the German police.
Some of these police investigations are already producing results. Last Wednesday, the Syrian national Ibrahim Al F. was arrested in the Westphalia region on suspicion of committing war crimes. The 41-year-old is believed to have been the leader of a 150-strong militia in Aleppo that fought as part of the Free Syrian Army from at least 2012 onwards and looted neighboring districts of the city.
He is accused of having supervised the torture of several prisoners - personally torturing at least two of them - and demanding ransom for their release.
Authorities across Europe have also been hunting down potential war criminals among the hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving in Europe from the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq and other parts of the world.
At the end of February, the Dutch Justice Ministry said it had identified 30 suspects - including 10 Syrians - among the refugees, though many of the suspects were from other countries, including Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Georgia.
The AFP news agency reported that a similar Dutch investigation in 2014 had identified 50 war crimes suspects.
Rumors on social media
Hundreds of rumors and gruesome images from the Syrian war have been circulating on social media - and by extension in refugee homes - since the conflict began five years ago. But many human rights activists are attempting to gather concrete evidence.
Abdul Karim Rihawi, currently head of an organization called the Syrian Human Rights League, gained asylum in Germany after being tortured in the custody of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and initially fleeing to Egypt.
Rihawi, who has lived in Frankfurt for over a year, even handed the BKA a list of 150 potential war criminals. According to a report by German public broadcaster ARD, a suspected member of "Islamic State" was arrested in December 2015 as a result of Rehawi's information. But the suspect was released following an interrogation.
"The Germans have welcomed many Syrians, and must be protected from allowing these people to commit crimes again," he told ARD. |
Education chiefs have been urged to launch a formal investigation after primary school teachers allegedly told pupils their parents should vote Labour in the General Election.
A county councillor accused teachers of “potential indoctrination” after her god daughter was handed Labour Party campaign literature for a homework project, while eight-year-olds were taught an “anti Nick Clegg” song.
Fran Oborski said the teachers involved were in “clear breach of professional standards” and urged the Conservative-controlled council to call in Ofsted, the schools inspectorate.
Sources confirmed the school was Bewdley primary school in Bewdley, near Kidderminster.
The school was rated "good" by Ofsted in its most recent report, with inspectors commenting: "Teachers use imaginative methods and resources ... to spark pupils' imagination."
Mrs Oborski, a Liberal, said: "During the recent election campaign my 10-year-old god daughter's homework consisted of Labour Party campaign literature on which she was asked to comment as to why her family 'should vote Labour'.
"Her eight-year old brother came home from the same school and told his parents that 'you must vote Labour, they are the only party that wants us to live'.
• Gove attacks 'failure' of left-wing educational establishment
"The same child was also taught the anti-Nick Clegg 'I'm sorry' song by his teacher.
“This is potential indoctrination.”
The Nick Clegg song refers to a humorous remix of a 2012 broadcast by the former deputy prime minister, viewed three million times on YouTube, in which he apologised for breaking pledges on university tuition fees.
Mrs Oborski, a former teacher and education adviser, said: "School pupils, especially those in the primary phase, are extremely trusting of members of the teaching profession and really do believe everything their teacher tells them.
"This puts a very great responsibility upon teachers, especially at election time, to maintain professional standards and not seek to impose their personal political beliefs upon vulnerable, trusting young children.”
• Left-wing thinking still prevails in schools
John Campion, the county council’s cabinet member for children and families, moved to defend the school’s activities as part of a class which examined “topical literature”.
He insisted it was "an isolated case".
Mr Campion said: “This was an example of using topical literature to aid pupils' learning.
"We've no problem with the principle behind it.
"It was an isolated case. The important thing is that common sense has to prevail, we're pretty confident this was the case here.
“This homework was set as part of a wider Key Stage project and there was no intention to seek to politically influence children or their parents.”
Mr Campion added: “The school understands the need to provide pupils with a balanced view on subjects such as this and the majority of this project has been received positively by parents and carers.
“The school are investigating the complaint through their usual procedures."
But Mrs Oborski said: “The cabinet member said the school told him the analysis of the Labour leaflet was in the context of them doing political literature in general.
“But the children say it was only Labour literature that was shown.
“My view is that the teachers who have done this have clearly breached the professional standards for teachers and should be at least in receipt of a written warning.
“But this is a matter for the governing body and the headteacher initially but it may well be that this school should be referred to Ofsted for immediate investigation.”
A county council spokesman also refused to answer questions about the school.
UPDATE: Allegations of 'bias' were later retracted by the county councillor. |
The National Housing Authority (NHA) has issued a notice to terminate and a show cause order against contractor JC Tayag Builders following its failure to meet the timetable for the construction of resettlement houses for victims of Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Samar.
Engineer Grace Guevarra, officer-in-charge of Visayas Management of the National Housing Authority, revealed Tuesday that the agency has terminated its contract after the construction company missed its timetable.
"We have already issued a notice to terminate and show cause order," Guevarra said at the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
Guevarra said JC Tayag had a negative slippage in its construction by 82 percent, therefore missing its construction timetable.
"Negative slippage it varies from -11 from the highest of 82," she said.
Committee chair and Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said NHA should have rescinded its contract.
"Dapat nirescind na ninyo yan. Once a project reaches 15% or more than, that's already a basis for the agency to rescind the contract and blacklist the contractor," Committee chair Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said.
"Why didn't you take moves to rescind the contract? We cannot use terminate. Terminate that's a mutual termination. When a contract is rescinded the contractor is banned or blacklisted for one year," he added.
The investigation is a joint probe of the House Committees on Good Government and Public Accountability and Housing and Urban Development regarding House Resolution 599 authored by Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone.
Last month, the House Committee on Housing claimed to have found substandard housing projects in relocation areas for the victims of super typhoon "Yolanda" in 2013.
ABS-CBN News has reached out to JC Tayag Builder's lawyer for comment. |
The average Arsenal first team star earns over £77,000 a week, according to new research undertaken by Sporting Intelligence.
The 2015 Global Sports Salaries report, compiled in association with ESPN The Magazine, claims that the Gunners top the £4 million mark per player on annual remuneration; a figure that puts them 10th in world sports franchise wage spend.
Eight European football teams and two MLB sides, LA Dodgers and New York Yankees, make up the top ten with Ligue 1’s Paris Saint Germain deemed the biggest spenders, ahead of La Liga’s Real Madrid and the Premier League’s Manchester City. Manchester United (6th) and Chelsea (8th) also spend more than the Gunners.
Interestingly, Arsenal’s owner Stan Kroenke – reportedly worth $6.3bn – has a second outfit in the top 20. The Denver Nuggets reportedly spend £2,939,555 on wages per player annually.
Unsurprisingly, the Premier League is the best paying football league in the world, with average annual pay at a whopping £2.23m per player – that’s before endorsements, sponsorships or any other cash earned by extra-curricular means.
To put that figure context, it works out at nearly 83 times the UK’s average full time annual wage of £27,000.
The full 120-page study – downloadable here – includes an analysis of 333 teams in 17 major pro leagues, covering seven sports, 13 countries and 9,731 athletes who are making a combined £11.53 billion ($17.94 billion).
If you’re feeling a little sick about the above, here’s a link to a picture of Charlie Adam, feel free to print it off before pointing to it and asking your boss for a pay rise. Good luck! |
Second Yangjiang unit enters commercial operation
11 June 2015
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Unit 2 of China General Nuclear's (CGN's) Yangjiang nuclear power plant in Guangdong province has entered commercial operation.
Yangjiang units 1 and 2 (Image: CGN)
The company said that 168 hours of demonstration runs were completed at Yangjiang 2 on 5 June meaning the unit had met the required conditions to start commercial operation.
A "pre-operating" certificate signing ceremony was held on 8 June.
Yangjiang 2 is the second of four CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors being built at the site by CGN. Construction of unit 1 started in December 2008, with work on unit 2 beginning in 2009, unit 3 in 2010 and unit 4 in late 2012. The first unit began commercial operation in March last year. The loading of fuel into the reactor of Yangjiang 2 began in late January and the unit was connected to the grid on 10 March.
Construction of two further units at Yangjiang - both ACPR1000 reactors - began in 2013. All six units are scheduled to be in operation by 2019.
With Yangjiang 2 in commercial operation, CGN now has 12 power reactors in operation with a combined generating capacity of 12.7 GWe. The company has a further 11 units in various stages of construction with a combined capacity of 13.4 GWe.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
Related topics |
OMAGH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) - Irish nationalists may force a prolonged collapse of Northern Ireland’s devolved government and a return to direct rule from London if they cannot agree a new government with unionists, the leader of the British province said on Friday.
DUP leader Arlene Foster is interviewed by Reuters at the DUP office in Omagh, Northern Ireland February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
First Minister Arlene Foster told Reuters such a scenario would be “very damaging” for a province recovering from three decades of sectarian violence and now facing the upheaval of Britain’s exit from the European Union.
The province’s cross-community government - a forced coalition between Irish nationalists and Foster’s pro-British Democratic Unionist Party - collapsed last month after Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister.
Sinn Fein has detailed a number of red line issues it says must be met before it governs with the DUP again, including legislation to give equal status to the Irish language.
Sinn Fein has, however, not called for direct rule. Neither side has made any indication of compromise and decision-making would automatically return to Westminster if the deadlock persists.
“Sinn Fein seems to be saying if they don’t get what they want then they are prepared to live with direct rule,” Foster said in an interview.
Northern Ireland’s economy had prospered in the 10 years since devolved power was transferred to the Northern Ireland Assembly, she said.
“We will lose that if we have direct rule and that is very dangerous,” she said.
The two parties supported opposite sides of a three decade conflict between Irish nationalists who wanted a united Ireland ruled from Dublin and pro-British unionists who wanted the province to remain British, which ended with a 1998 peace deal.
Neither side is showing signs of blinking first ahead of next week’s election, which was triggered by McGuinness’ departure. Sinn Fein says he quit over the alleged abuse of a green-energy scheme, which could cost the Northern Ireland Executive nearly £500 million.
But Foster said the breakdown was “caused by Sinn Fein wanting to push ahead on their own agenda.”
‘CRITICAL’ ELECTION
Some political commentators have suggested Sinn Fein wants a collapsed administration to minimize the influence of the DUP during Brexit negotiations, a charge Sinn Fein has denied.
The province could be the region hardest hit by Brexit due to the loss of significant European Union funding and the risk of border controls that are fiercely opposed by Irish nationalists.
“To deal with Brexit ... we need to have a voice at the table and at the moment we don’t have an executive to have that voice,” Foster said.
Foster has rejected the proposed Irish language act, saying it would be too costly to operate and that the Irish language should not have equal status with English in the United Kingdom.
Sinn Fein is also demanding an investigation into the green-energy heating scheme. While a public enquiry has been established to probe Foster’s role, it has not started sittings and the first minister has refused to contemplate standing down.
Most opinion polls indicate the DUP will remain the largest party, but that Sinn Fein may make gains.
Foster described the March 2 vote as the province’s most important in two decades due to the possibility that Sinn Fein could become the largest party and push for Irish reunification just as Britain is negotiating its exit from the European Union.
Slideshow (4 Images)
Under the terms of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, Britain’s Secretary of State to Northern Ireland is obliged to order a referendum if it appears likely that a majority would seek to form part of a united Ireland.
Even if it was not successful, just holding a vote would be destabilizing to Northern Ireland, Foster said.
“That would be disastrous for Northern Ireland in terms of the divisive nature of such a campaign and indeed the instability that would cause,” she said. |
When people make jokes demanding to know why, in the year 2017, they still haven’t gotten their flying cars and jetpacks, they’re probably referencing The Jetsons. Since its debut in 1962, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon has become synonymous with the gleaming utopia promised by technology. The world where George, Jane, Judy, and Elroy Jetson lived, with robot housekeepers and ozone-scraping luxury smart homes that can dress and groom you by themselves, was a vertical manifest destiny, one where audiences could hang their starry-eyed hopes about the future.
But as history and literature have taught us, one person’s utopia is another’s dystopia, and The Jetsons is no exception. Thus far, the series has been more or less taken at face value as the happy-go-lucky “misadventures” of a wholesome nuclear family living a life of innovative luxury a few centuries into the future. But as anyone familiar with H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine or the Fritz Lang classic Metropolis knows, there are often ugly truths lurking beneath the cloud cover of a futuristic paradise. A new Jetsons comic, out this week from DC Comics, finally broaches the question of why the Jetsons and their community live their lives in the upper atmosphere, and the answers it offers aren’t pretty.
The rebooted series updates several glaring outdated elements from the original series. Once a housewife, Jane Jetson is now a brilliant NASA scientist who commutes into space for work. Rosie the sentient robot maid, once a de facto slave, has become the synthetic carbon body that holds the consciousness of George Jetson’s 124-year-old mother. It’s also not as glaringly homogeneous; where all of the characters in The Jetsons were previously white, now-teenaged Elroy Jetson has an Asian-American love interest, Lake, and some of Jane’s unnamed colleagues appear black.
Its biggest retcon, though, is the revelation of exactly what sent humanity to settle the stratosphere in the first place. The comic informs us that a few decades before the rebooted series begins, a 200-mile-long ice meteor crashed into the Pacific Ocean, causing massive worldwide earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and rising ocean levels that completely submerged the planet. A fraction of humanity was able to escape to space stations built in orbit as insurance for just this sort of disaster, and they waited there until floating dwellings could be built for survivors in the upper atmosphere. That’s how the Jetsons ended up in their swanky hover-recliners and brightly colored space cars: because an environmental apocalypse killed billions.
When Elroy and Lake decide to go for a deep-sea dive to recover art from what was once the Museum of Modern Art, we get a bone-chilling look at the ruins of New York City at the bottom of the ocean: the most populous city in America, transformed into one immense shipwreck.
As series writer Jimmy Palmiotti explained, these choices ground the franchise more firmly in our current and future realities, and bring the series into more believable territories. But the new take also unintentionally confirms a darker truth that has lingered at the margins of the series since it debuted in 1962: the future of The Jetsons is defined not just by what it shows us, but by what it doesn’t.
For years, viewers and critics of color have half-joked that the countless all-white casts of science fiction entertainment could be the result of some unnamed bitter race war or genocide, an event so terrible that even mentioning it has become taboo in polite society. Placed in the context of a speculative future, The Jetsons’ all-encompassing whiteness suggests a similarly ominous explanation: people of color either died, or were killed off, in the intervening centuries.
It’s an undertone that grows even more malevolent in the shadow of a catastrophic extinction event, especially one where only a privileged few were given the opportunity to escape. In an address to her colleagues, Jane Jetson notes that “the number of people left behind was staggering, but nothing could be done.” Clearly some decisions were made about which survivors got a spot on the escape ships. So who got to make those choices, and what does the world of The Jetsons tell us about who they valued and who they deemed disposable?
The Jetsons is a perfect dystopia, built on the corpses of a billions-strong underclass deemed unworthy of a life in the clouds.
In the present, chillingly dismissive statements like “nothing could be done” are already used — if not literally, then implicitly — to shrug away the devastation that has struck poor countries and communities as a result of climate change. Historically, impoverished groups and developing countries tend to be the the most vulnerable to death and destruction when catastrophic environmental disaster strikes. So let’s be honest: though long held up as the quintessential utopia, The Jetsons is a perfect dystopia, built on the corpses of a billions-strong underclass deemed unworthy of a life in the clouds.
But the seamy underbelly of The Jetsons doesn’t end with grim survival-of-the-fittest implications. It also explores labor in a world where technology has replaced huge swathes of human labor. In the original cartoon, the artificial intelligence industry is booming, and despite their apparent sentience, AI beings like Rosie the Robot are still indentured for life. Corporations like George’s employer, Spacely's Sprockets, and its primary competitor, Cogswell’s Cogs, dominate modern life in ways that feel easy to swap out for Google or Amazon. They’ve outsourced their factories to asteroids in outer space, and they relentlessly abuse their remaining human employees. In the cartoon, CEO Cosmo Spacely fires George repeatedly; in the new comic, George is tasked with uncommonly dangerous electrical repairs, as the “only person that can still do this type of work.”
Unskilled workers no longer seem to exist. Their jobs, like those of today’s working class, seem to have been automated and outsourced to corporate robots. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that they are largely absent from the world of Orbit City; it’s hard to imagine that someone so economically disposable would merit a seat in the escape pods. The high-tech lifestyle the Jetsons and their friends enjoy has undoubtedly come at a great cost, particularly to the poor and marginalized — already at the doorstep of the real-life tech industry. With so much familiar darkness lurking under the surface, here’s hoping the ominous origins of this reimagined Jetsons are only the beginning, and that they teach us to think twice before wishing for flying cars again. |
Leon Trotsky
For Grynszpan
Against Fascist Pogrom Gangs and Stalinist Scoundrels
(1939)
Source: Socialist Appeal [New York], Vol. III No. 7, 14 February 1939, p. 4.
Translated: Socialist Appeal.
Transcription/HTML Markup: David Walters.
Public Domain: Leon Trotsky Internet Archive 2005. This work is completely free to copy and distribute.
It is clear to anyone even slightly acquainted with political history that the policy of the fascist gangsters directly and sometimes deliberately provokes terrorist acts. What is most astonishing is that so far there has been only one Grynszpan. Undoubtedly the number of such acts will increase.
We Marxists consider the tactic of individual terror inexpedient in the tasks of the liberating struggle of the proletariat as well as oppressed nationalities. A single isolated hero cannot replace the masses. But we understand only too clearly the inevitability of such convulsive acts of despair and vengeance. All our emotions, all our sympathies are with the self-sacrificing avengers even though they have been unable to discover the correct road. Our sympathy becomes intensified because Grynszpan is not a political militant but an inexperienced youth, almost a boy, whose only counselor was a feeling of indignation. To tear Grynszpan out of the hands of capitalist justice, which is capable of chopping off his head to further serve capitalist diplomacy, is the elementary, immediate task of the international working class!
All the more revolting in its police stupidity and inexpressible violence is the campaign now being conducted against Grynszpan by command of the Kremlin in the international Stalinist press. They attempt to depict him as an agent of the Nazis or an agent of Trotskyists in alliance with the Nazis. Lumping into one heap the provocateur and his victim, the Stalinists ascribe to Grynszpan the intention of creating a favorable pretext for Hitler’s pogrom measures. What can one say of these venal “journalists” who no longer have any vestiges of shame? Since the beginning of the socialist movement the bourgeoisie has at all times attributed all violent demonstrations of indignation, particularly terrorist acts, to the degenerating influence of Marxism. The Stalinists have inherited, here as elsewhere, the filthiest tradition of reaction. The Fourth International may, justifiably, be proud that the reactionary scum, including the Stalinists, now automatically links with the Fourth International every bold action and protest, every indignant outburst, every blow at the executioners.
It was so, similarly, with the International of Marx in its time. We are bound, naturally, by ties of open moral solidarity to Grynszpan and not to his “democratic” jailers, or the Stalinist slanderers, who need Grynszpan’s corpse to prop up, even if only partially and indirectly, the verdicts of Moscow justice. Kremlin diplomacy, degenerated to its marrow, attempts at the same time to utilize this “happy” incident to renew their machinations for an international agreement among various governments, including that of Hitler and Mussolini, for a mutual extradition of terrorists. Beware, masters of fraud! The application of such a law will necessitate the immediate deliverance of Stalin to at least a dozen foreign governments.
The Stalinists shriek in the ears of the police that Grynszpan attended “meetings of Trotskyites.” That, unfortunately, is not true. For had he walked into the milieu of the Fourth International he would have discovered a different and more effective outlet for his revolutionary energy. People come cheap who are capable only of fulminating against injustice and bestiality. But those who, like Grynszpan, are able to act as well as conceive, sacrificing their own lives if need be, are the precious leaven of mankind.
In the moral sense, although not for his mode of action, Grynszpan may serve as an example for every young revolutionist. Our open moral solidarity with Grynszpan gives us an added right to say to all the other would-be Grynszpans, to all those capable of self-sacrifice in the struggle against despotism and bestiality: Seek another road! Not the lone avenger but only a great revolutionary mass movement can free the oppressed, a movement that will leave no remnant of the entire structure of class exploitation, national oppression, and racial persecution. The unprecedented crimes of fascism create a yearning for vengeance that is wholly justifiable. But so monstrous is the scope of their crimes, that this yearning cannot be satisfied by the assassination of isolated fascist bureaucrats. For that it is necessary to set in motion millions, tens and hundreds of millions of the oppressed throughout the whole world and lead them in the assault upon the strongholds of the old society. Only the overthrow of all forms of slavery, only the complete destruction of fascism, only the people sitting in merciless judgment over the contemporary bandits and gangsters can provide real satisfaction to the indignation of the people. This is precisely the task that the Fourth International has set itself. It will cleanse the labor movement of the plague of Stalinism. It will rally in its ranks the heroic generation of the youth. It will cut a path to a worthier and a more humane future.
Last updated on: 20 November 2015 |
Intro
It has bin a while since my last post so I figured it’s time to write something. Recently I Stumbled on a piece of malware called Ponmocup which is a interesting strain of malware, but since there is plenty written about it I wont go into it’s details. While analyzing the malware I noticed that all the strings it uses are encrypted and decrypted at runtime. The decryption loops are all over the code(inline) and it seems to use various methodes to decrypt the strings, where other malware use the same routine/algorithm most the time since programmers are lazy(fact!). Normally I would make a IDA script to decrypt them but this time I choose a different approach by using the Unicorn emulator.
String decryption loop
1000B7C1 > \B9 30897B61 MOV ECX,617B8930 1000B7C6 . 898D 90F1FFFF MOV DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-E70],ECX 1000B7CC . 33C0 XOR EAX,EAX 1000B7CE > 8985 88F1FFFF MOV DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-E78],EAX 1000B7D4 . 83F8 1D CMP EAX,1D 1000B7D7 . 73 1E JNB SHORT 1100_300.1000B7F7 1000B7D9 . 81C1 5F6BA82E ADD ECX,2EA86B5F 1000B7DF . 898D 90F1FFFF MOV DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-E70],ECX 1000B7E5 . 33D2 XOR EDX,EDX 1000B7E7 . 8A1445 14070110 MOV DL,BYTE PTR DS:[EAX*2+10010714] 1000B7EE . 03D1 ADD EDX,ECX 1000B7F0 . 885405 C4 MOV BYTE PTR SS:[EBP+EAX-3C],DL 1000B7F4 . 40 INC EAX 1000B7F5 .^ EB D7 JMP SHORT 1100_300.1000B7CE
This is an sample snippet of such decryption loop, it has a pretty simple code flow where some registers are initialized at the beginning, it then enters a loop based on a unconditional jump upwards and having a conditional jump to leave the loop. The encrypted data is loaded from 10010714.
Concept
So the idea is to use the Capstone disassembler library to analyze the decryption loop starting from a given Virtual address and locating the first unconditional jump backwards and also keeping track of write operations where a EBP base register is used, whenever such instruction is found we log the displacement value(offset to stack) which helps us to locate the decrypted string later.
Once we traced to code with the disassembler library we map the target binary into memory at it’s known imagebase and copy each section to memory so virtual addresses in the binary match up with whats in memory.
Code analyzer
def code_analyzer(pe, virtualaddress, max_instructions=128): # get the raw offset from the virtualaddress a_off = pe.get_offset_from_rva(virtualaddress - pe.OPTIONAL_HEADER.ImageBase) # init disassembler lib caps = Cs(CS_ARCH_X86, CS_MODE_32) caps.detail = True # init vars code_len = 0 stack_offsets = [] jmpfound = False # disassemble code and analyze the instructions for ins in caps.disasm(pe.__data__[a_off:], virtualaddress, max_instructions): # increase code_len with current instruction size code_len += ins.size if verbose: print format_disasembly(ins) # process operands if ins.operands: for ops in ins.operands: # memory access operands if ops.type == X86_OP_MEM: # ebp base register and disp value not 0 if ops.value.mem.base == X86_REG_EBP and ops.value.mem.disp != 0: disp = abs(ops.value.mem.disp) # add new disp value if disp not in stack_offsets: stack_offsets.append(disp) # process groups if ins.groups: # jump types if ins.group(CS_GRP_JUMP): # JMP backwards if ins.id == X86_INS_JMP and int(ins.op_str, 16) < ins.address: jmpfound = True break # return types elif ins.group(CS_GRP_RET): break # false if max instructions reached if not jmpfound: print "End decryption loop not found" return 0,[] # paranoid mode if len(stack_offsets) == 0: print "No stack offsets found" return 0,[] # ... for offset in stack_offsets: if offset > stacksize: print "Stack offset 0x%08x is larger then the stacksize 0x%08x" %(offset, stacksize) return 0,[] # return code length and stackoffsets sorted descending return code_len, sorted(stack_offsets, reverse=True)
This code returns the amount of bytes of all instructions till the jmp and a list with all displacement values where a EBP register was involved eq. MOV DWORD PTR SS:[EBP-E78],EAX
Emulator
# Initialize emulator emu = Uc(UC_ARCH_X86, UC_MODE_32) # map memory at the imagebase and copy each section # data to it's virtualaddress emu.mem_map(imagebase, imagesize + stacksize) for section in pe.sections: emu.mem_write(imagebase + section.VirtualAddress, section.get_data()) # initialize stack registers ebp and esp emu.reg_write(UC_X86_REG_ESP, stackaddress + stacksize) emu.reg_write(UC_X86_REG_EBP, stackaddress + stacksize) # start emulator emu.emu_start(virtualaddress, virtualaddress + code_len) # use the largest stack_offset value to define the min. # ammount of stack data to read ebp_addr = stackaddress + stacksize - stack_offsets[0] # read stack memory, largest stack_offset as size data = emu.mem_read(ebp_addr, stack_offsets[0])
The next code snippet maps the target binary into memory as explained earlier, it set’s up some stack memory and registers and then starts the emulator and once done it reads the stack memory and processes it by trying to locate strings at the known displacement offsets.
Some results
C:\>pomno_decrstr.py 1100.3002.dll 0x1000b7c1 1000B7C1 B930897B61 mov ecx, 0x617b8930 1000B7C6 898D90F1FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0xe70], ecx 1000B7CC 33C0 xor eax, eax 1000B7CE 898588F1FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0xe78], eax 1000B7D4 83F81D cmp eax, 0x1d 1000B7D7 731E jae 0x1000b7f7 1000B7D9 81C15F6BA82E add ecx, 0x2ea86b5f 1000B7DF 898D90F1FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0xe70], ecx 1000B7E5 33D2 xor edx, edx 1000B7E7 8A144514070110 mov dl, byte ptr [eax*2 + 0x10010714] 1000B7EE 03D1 add edx, ecx 1000B7F0 885405C4 mov byte ptr [ebp + eax - 0x3c], dl 1000B7F4 40 inc eax 1000B7F5 EBD7 jmp 0x1000b7ce offset type length content ================================ 00003c ASCII 29 %u.%u.%u.%u.%u.%u.%u.%u.%s.%i C:\>pomno_decrstr.py 1100.3002.dll 0x1000b547 1000B547 BA0F000000 mov edx, 0xf 1000B54C 899520E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17e0], edx 1000B552 B8EB000000 mov eax, 0xeb 1000B557 898524E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17dc], eax 1000B55D B9E5000000 mov ecx, 0xe5 1000B562 898D28E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17d8], ecx 1000B568 898D2CE8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17d4], ecx 1000B56E C78530E8FFFF19000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17d0], 0x19 1000B578 C78534E8FFFF23000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17cc], 0x23 1000B582 C78538E8FFFFE1000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17c8], 0xe1 1000B58C 89853CE8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17c4], eax 1000B592 C78540E8FFFFEA000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17c0], 0xea 1000B59C 898544E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17bc], eax 1000B5A2 C78548E8FFFFA1000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17b8], 0xa1 1000B5AC 89854CE8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17b4], eax 1000B5B2 C78550E8FFFFE6000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17b0], 0xe6 1000B5BC C78554E8FFFF2F000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17ac], 0x2f 1000B5C6 C78558E8FFFFF3000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17a8], 0xf3 1000B5D0 C7855CE8FFFFDE000000 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17a4], 0xde 1000B5DA B848840000 mov eax, 0x8448 1000B5DF 898560E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17a0], eax 1000B5E5 32C9 xor cl, cl 1000B5E7 888D9EE8FFFF mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x1762], cl 1000B5ED 899518E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17e8], edx 1000B5F3 3ACA cmp cl, dl 1000B5F5 732F jae 0x1000b626 1000B5F7 0FB7C0 movzx eax, ax 1000B5FA 8BF0 mov esi, eax 1000B5FC C1EE04 shr esi, 4 1000B5FF C1E00C shl eax, 0xc 1000B602 0BC6 or eax, esi 1000B604 898560E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17a0], eax 1000B60A 0FB6F1 movzx esi, cl 1000B60D 33DB xor ebx, ebx 1000B60F 8A9CB524E8FFFF mov bl, byte ptr [ebp + esi*4 - 0x17dc] 1000B616 03D8 add ebx, eax 1000B618 885C35D4 mov byte ptr [ebp + esi - 0x2c], bl 1000B61C FEC1 inc cl 1000B61E 888D9EE8FFFF mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x1762], cl 1000B624 EBCD jmp 0x1000b5f3 offset type length content ================================ 00002c ASCII 15 /images2/%s.swf C:\>pomno_decrstr.py 1100.3002.dll 0x1000b20d 1000B20D C685A7E8FFFF1C mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x1759], 0x1c 1000B214 33C9 xor ecx, ecx 1000B216 898D74E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x178c], ecx 1000B21C BF3F000000 mov edi, 0x3f 1000B221 89BD14E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x17ec], edi 1000B227 0FBFC7 movsx eax, di 1000B22A 3BC8 cmp ecx, eax 1000B22C 7D36 jge 0x1000b264 1000B22E 0FB685A7E8FFFF movzx eax, byte ptr [ebp - 0x1759] 1000B235 8BD0 mov edx, eax 1000B237 C1EA02 shr edx, 2 1000B23A C1E006 shl eax, 6 1000B23D 33D0 xor edx, eax 1000B23F 33C0 xor eax, eax 1000B241 8AC2 mov al, dl 1000B243 8885A7E8FFFF mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x1759], al 1000B249 33D2 xor edx, edx 1000B24B 8A144D60C40010 mov dl, byte ptr [ecx*2 + 0x1000c460] 1000B252 2BD0 sub edx, eax 1000B254 88940D44FFFFFF mov byte ptr [ebp + ecx - 0xbc], dl 1000B25B 41 inc ecx 1000B25C 898D74E8FFFF mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x178c], ecx 1000B262 EBC3 jmp 0x1000b227 offset type length content ================================ 0000bc ASCII 62 %u&%04X&%02X&%u.%u&%u&%s&%s&%u.%u&%u&%x.%x.%x&%s&%04x.%04x&%s& C:\>pomno_decrstr.py 1100.3002.dll 0x1000afe5 1000AFE5 B9B8690000 mov ecx, 0x69b8 1000AFEA 894D84 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x7c], ecx 1000AFED 32C0 xor al, al 1000AFEF 8845A7 mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x59], al 1000AFF2 3C39 cmp al, 0x39 1000AFF4 7326 jae 0x1000b01c 1000AFF6 0FB7C9 movzx ecx, cx 1000AFF9 8BD1 mov edx, ecx 1000AFFB C1EA0E shr edx, 0xe 1000AFFE C1E102 shl ecx, 2 1000B001 0BCA or ecx, edx 1000B003 894D84 mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x7c], ecx 1000B006 0FB6F0 movzx esi, al 1000B009 33D2 xor edx, edx 1000B00B 8A14B530060110 mov dl, byte ptr [esi*4 + 0x10010630] 1000B012 03D1 add edx, ecx 1000B014 885435A8 mov byte ptr [ebp + esi - 0x58], dl 1000B018 FEC0 inc al 1000B01A EBD3 jmp 0x1000afef offset type length content ================================ 000058 ASCII 57 Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; en-US) C:\>pomno_decrstr.py 1100.3002.dll 0x1000ae47 1000AE47 B8BF1293F9 mov eax, 0xf99312bf 1000AE4C 8945AC mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x54], eax 1000AE4F 32C9 xor cl, cl 1000AE51 884DBE mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x42], cl 1000AE54 33D2 xor edx, edx 1000AE56 8A150C060110 mov dl, byte ptr [0x1001060c] 1000AE5C 81F2BF000000 xor edx, 0xbf 1000AE62 8855BF mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x41], dl 1000AE65 3ACA cmp cl, dl 1000AE67 7329 jae 0x1000ae92 1000AE69 8BD0 mov edx, eax 1000AE6B C1EA19 shr edx, 0x19 1000AE6E C1E007 shl eax, 7 1000AE71 0BC2 or eax, edx 1000AE73 8945AC mov dword ptr [ebp - 0x54], eax 1000AE76 0FB6F9 movzx edi, cl 1000AE79 33D2 xor edx, edx 1000AE7B 8A147D0E060110 mov dl, byte ptr [edi*2 + 0x1001060e] 1000AE82 33D0 xor edx, eax 1000AE84 88543DC0 mov byte ptr [ebp + edi - 0x40], dl 1000AE88 FEC1 inc cl 1000AE8A 884DBE mov byte ptr [ebp - 0x42], cl 1000AE8D 8A55BF mov dl, byte ptr [ebp - 0x41] 1000AE90 EBD3 jmp 0x1000ae65 offset type length content ================================ 000040 ASCII 16 jAhX4n4xQfx8p9P3
I coudnt find a unicode sample, but those are handled aswell(dont mind my string lookup code, it sucks, I know)
Finally
I fell in love with the Unicorn emulator library, I tried a few other in the past and this one is by far the best out there currently. This malware sample was a simple example of the usage of such emulator in a rather simple way to reach your goals.
The full script can he found here
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An American building materials company was forced to edit its Super Bowl ad to meet NFL standards, according to a new report.
84 Lumber produced a commercial showing a Mexican mother and daughter heading to the United States.
The two come across a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border — similar to the one proposed by President Trump.
But Fox Sports wouldn’t let the wall itself into the commercial. The company’s director of marketing said Fox cited “concerns about some elements,” according to The Washington Post.
The NFL typically requests ads not to be overtly political during the Super Bowl. The company ran an edited version on TV, but encouraged viewers to see the full version — which is more than three minutes long — online.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Ignoring the border wall and the conversation around immigration that’s taking place in the media and at every kitchen table in America just didn’t seem right,” Rob Shapiro, the chief client officer at the agency that worked with the company on the ad, told the Post.
“If everyone else is trying to avoid controversy, isn’t that the time when brands should take a stand for what they believe in?”
The ad that ran during the Super Bowl encourages viewers to “see the conclusion” of the journey on its website, Journey84.com.
Airbnb skirted around directly political messages in its ad promoting acceptance that aired at the Super Bowl on Sunday night as well.
Watch the full version of the 84 Lumber ad above, and the edited version below: |
For the encouragement of the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts, see consumerism
Consumerist (previously The Consumerist) was a non-profit consumer affairs website owned by Consumer Media LLC, a subsidiary of Consumer Reports, with content created by a team of full-time reporters and editors. The site's focus was on consumerism and consumers' experiences and issues with companies and corporations, concentrating mostly on U.S. consumers. As an early proponent of crowdsourced journalism, some content was based on reader-submitted tips and complaints. The majority of the site's articles consisted of original content and reporting by the site's staff. On October 30, 2017, Consumer Reports shut down Consumerist, stating that coverage of consumer issues would now be found on the main Consumer Reports website.[3]
History [ edit ]
Gawker Media established the site in December 2005,[4] with Joel Johnson as editor.[2] Johnson had previously edited Gizmodo for Gawker. Consumerist was an idea from Gawker Media owner Nick Denton and managing editor Lockhart Steele; according to Johnson, "they knew they wanted a shopping blog—but not a shopping blog—and that they wanted to address the issues that consumers really find the most frustrating on a daily basis."
The idea of the site was based on a similar Hungarian blog called Tékozló Homár ("Wasteful Lobster" in Hungarian), which was initiated by Nick Denton's Hungarian friend, László Szily. "Tékozló Homár" is part of the Hungarian leading portal Index.[5]
In creating Consumerist, Denton established its slogan and initial focus on readers' complaints, "consumer-oriented news nuggets, funny pictures and shopping tips — all with the same snarky tone that characterizes Gawker properties like Wonkette and Defamer.".[2] Gawker hired Ben Popken to take over as site lead in February, 2006. Johnson left Gawker in July 2006, citing a "disagreement about [his] role within the company."[6]
Gawker put the site up for sale in November 2008, at the same time it announced the closure of one of its other blogs, Valleywag. Consumerist was purchased by Consumers Union, the publishers of Consumer Reports, in December 2008.[7] The site's two editors, site lead Ben Popken and senior editor Meghann Marco, were retained through the sale. Following the acquisition, Marco and Popken shared the title of Co-Executive Editor, and contributors Chris Walters and Carey Greenberg-Berger, who had been laid off by Gawker, were reinstated.[7]
Due to potential conflict of interest concerns, Consumerist does not run display ads for outside advertisers; while owned by Gawker, all display ads linked to other Gawker sites, although the Consumerist sold text ads through the Google AdWords program. As such, the site was considered a loss leader, whose primary business role was to help drive traffic to other revenue-producing Gawker sites. As an ad-free publication, Consumerist "has some freedom" to take on major national advertisers such as Comcast.[8]
Consumer Reports laid off Managing Editor Ben Popken in November 2011.[9] The departure was announced in a final blog post by Popken on Consumerist.[10] Other editors have since joined the site, including Deputy Editor Chris Morran, Senior Editor Mary Beth Quirk, Assistant Editor Laura Northrup, Content Editor Kate Cox, and Special Projects Editor Ashlee Kieler.[11]
Consumerist's traffic remained steady throughout most of its existence. At the time it was acquired from Gawker, it had monthly traffic of approximately 10 million pageviews, and had similar levels as of 2014.[8]
On August 30, 2017, The Wall Street Journal announced that it had appointed Meg Marco as its Editor, Digital Content Strategy, citing her history at Consumerist, which it called "the innovative digital arm of Consumer Reports."[12]
On October 30, 2017 it was announced that no further posts to Consumerist.com would be made.[13]
Features [ edit ]
"Friday Flickr Finds"
Usually the first post of every Friday consisting of reader submitted photos.
"Great Moments In Commercial History"
A popular past feature was known as "Great Moments In Commercial History", which focused on strange and entertaining local commercials. Past feature "moments" have included Moo and Oink grocery stores (Chicago, Illinois) and Mr. Appliance (Eugene, Oregon).
"Christmas Creep"
This feature publicized photos or stories of retail stores advertising Christmas sales, displaying Christmas decorations, or playing Christmas music far before the traditional holiday season, and often appeared between September and early November.
"Above and Beyond"
In a post introducing "Above and Beyond", Creator Carey Greenberg-Berger said: "Occasionally, corporations do something right. Not all the time. Not most of the time. Occasionally. When they do, we want to give credit where credit is due."[14]
"Worst Company In America"
Consumerist ran an annual "Worst Company In America" contest with the winner determined by a series of reader polls. The single-elimination tournament was similar in format to college basketball's March Madness being held simultaneously. Companies that have advanced to the final four are included in the table below. The winning company was sent a "Golden Poo" trophy. In recent years, silver and bronze poos have been sent to the other finalists.[citation needed] This tournament was last held in 2014.
Highlights [ edit ]
Stories reported on Consumerist have been featured in national media such as CNN and The New York Times.[15] Consumerist often posts phone numbers and contact information for CEOs and upper level corporate customer support, and provides information on how to execute an "Executive Email Carpet Bomb".[16]
Vincent Ferrari and AOL [ edit ]
On June 13, 2006, Vincent Ferrari posted an audio file of himself speaking with an AOL representative, allegedly named John, as Ferrari tried to cancel his AOL account. The AOL representative initially resisted Ferrari's request by attempting to keep the discussion focused on Ferrari's reasons for wanting to cancel. Vincent asked the customer representative several times to close the account until the conversation became confrontational, at which point Ferrari adamantly stated, "Cancel the account!", repeatedly until John complied with his request. After recording this call, Ferrari both posted it to his blog and submitted it to Consumerist tip line. The AOL representative whom Vincent spoke to was fired from his job.[17][18] Consumerist called the story "[t]he best story we ever posted."[19]
"The Grocery Shrink Ray" [ edit ]
The "grocery shrink ray" is a term Meghann Marco coined to describe the trend for groceries to be reduced in size while being sold at the same price point.[20] Manufacturers perform these reductions to reduce their own costs but do not pass any savings on to the customer. Installments of these articles usually included user submitted photographs of the product in question on the shelf, being sold along with a newer and slightly smaller version of the same product. Local and national media outlets such as WTVT-TV FOX 13 in Florida, and National Public Radio have interviewed Popken regarding the trend and his attempts to inform the public at large.[21][22]
Facebook terms of service [ edit ]
On February 15, 2009, Consumerist broke the news of a terms of service clause that gave Facebook the right to "Do anything they want with your content. Forever."[23] Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, Inc., later claimed that a paragraph was accidentally left out saying that the license to your content was exclusive to one's privacy settings and that the license expired when an account was closed. This event instigated much media coverage over the controversy of the terms of service.[24]
Closure [ edit ]
On October 30, 2017, Consumerist announced it was shutting down, and that coverage would be handled by Consumer Reports in the future.[25] |
From the strange to the serene, here are some last words by kings, queens, saints, warriors and other people from the Middle Ages.
“Shoot, you devil! Shoot, in the devil’s name! Shoot, or it will be worse for you!” ~ William II, King of England (d.1100) had gone hunting with Walter Tirel and was shouting at him to shoot at a deer. The arrow missed, then ricocheted and hit the king in the heart.
“One of the miseries of princes is to have flatterers even around their deathbed.” ~ Pope Pius II (d.1464)
“Let it alone, for it is the devil!”…”I am coming. I am coming. It is just. But wait a little.” ~ Pope Alexander VI (d.1503): The infamous Pontiff also known as Rodrigo Borgia was on his deathbed when he saw an ape running around his room. A Cardinal offered to catch the imaginary beast, but the Pope declined, saying it was the Devil. He then turned to the hallucination and uttered his final words.
“Today, on the day of His Epiphany, my Lord Jesus Christ will appear to me, either for glory, as I in my repentance, should like, and as I hope, or for condemnation, as others would like, and as I fear.” ~ Berengar of Tours, theologian (d.1088). Some of his writings had been condemned by the Pope as being heretical.
“So there is no Christian who wishes to free me from this life?” ~ Constantine XI Palaeologus (d.1453): The last Byzantine emperor crying out while the Ottoman Turks storm into Constantinople.
“Remember that your business is only with those who carry arms. The churchmen, the poor, the women and children are not your enemies…I commend to the king my wife…my brother…Farewell, I am at an end.” ~ Bertrand du Guesclin (d.1380) – The French military leader to his comrades.
“Wrap my bones in a hammock and have them carried before the army, so that I may still lead way to victory.” ~ Edward I, King of England (d.1307). He dies just before his army is about to invade Scotland.
“Draw up a chair for the radiant lady in white who is coming! … O Mary, Mother of Grace!” ~ Elizabeth of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d.1336). The pious queen talking with her attendants.
“When you see that I am brought to my last moments, place me naked on the ground, just as you saw me the day before yesterday, and let me lie there, after I am dead, for the length of time it takes to walk one mile unhurriedly.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi (d.1226): After he said this to his fellow friars, they laid him on the ground and he spent his last few moments in contemplation.
“I have loved justice and hated iniquity. Therefore I die in exile.” ~ Pope Gregory VII (d.1085). The pontiff, often at war with the Holy Roman Empire, had been exiled from Rome and was living in Salerno.
“Let the rest go as it will. Now I care not what becomes of me. Shame, shame on a conquered king!” ~ Henry II, King of England (d.1189). While his son were in rebellion against him, Henry learns that John, his favourite son, had joined the revolt.
“I always wanted to possess, at death, nothing but a bedsheet. And now this sheet can be given to the poor!” ~ John the Almsgiver (d.619). The patriarch of Alexandria, known for his charity.
“I have offended God and mankind in not having labored at my art as I ought to have done.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci (d.1519). Speaking to King Francis I during his final illness, the Renaissance artist clearly did not hold himself in high esteem.
“Remember, my son, that kingship is a public charge, for which you will have to render a strict account in another world.” ~ Louis VI, King of France (d.1137). Speaking to his son.
“Fie on the life of this world! Do not speak to me more about it.” ~ Margaret of Scotland (d.1445). She was 20 when she died, after being rejected by her husband, Louis XI of France, for failing to produce children.
“I am dying. I commend you to God. I can no longer be with you. I cannot defend myself against death.” ~ William Marshal (d.1219). The famous English knight speaking to his family and supporters.
“If it is God’s will, nothing can be more pleasant to me than death.” ~ Lorenzo de Medici (d.1492): The Florentine ruler’s response when his sister tells him how serious his illness is.
“I am curious to see what happens in the next world to one who dies unshriven.” ~ Perugino (d.1523): The Italian Renaissance painter on refusing to see a priest and making a final confession.
“Leave the doors open, so that everyone may enter and see how a pope dies.” ~ Pope Urban V (d.1370). To his aides in the Papal palace.
“Make my skin into drum-heads for the Bohemian cause.” ~ Jan Zizka (d.1424). The Czech military leader to his troops.
“Well, is Gunnar at home?” “Find that out for yourselves, but I’ve found out one thing – that his halberd’s at home.” ~ Thorgrim the Easterling: In Njal’s Saga, Thorgrim and others go to attack Gunnar Hámundarson. Thorgrim goes up on the roof, but Gunnar stabs him with his weapon and he comes down. Gizur asks “Well, is Gunnar at home?” Thorgrim answered, “Find that out for yourselves, but I’ve found out one thing – that his halberd’s at home.” Then he fell down dead.
“Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” ~ Bridget of Sweden (d.1373)
From the book Last Words: A Dictionary of Deathbed Quotations, by C. Bernard Ruffin (1995). Keep in mind that in many cases we have multiple accounts of how a person died, so that you mind find other versions of these last words.
See also:
Quiz: A Medieval Who Said That?
20 Great Medieval Quotes
20 Great Quotes from Ancient Greece
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CFO Jay Rasulo just told analysts that the company is “disappointed” in the film’s performance and likely will take a charge of anywhere from $160M to $190M next quarter. The company isn’t ready to be more specific because the film is only open in 40% of its markets; it hits Japan in September. But CEO Bob Iger says he hasn’t lost faith in making expensive tentpole films, even though “there has been a lot said about the risk…and we certainly can attest to that given what happened to The Lone Ranger.” He says that overall Disney had “an excellent summer” especially with Iron Man 3, which should end up being Marvel’s top performing film after The Avengers. Tentpoles provide the company with a way to “rise above the din and competition.” He says it’s still important to make good films, not just big ones. “If there are more tentpole films being made, then there’s more risk in the marketplace. But we’ve known about that risk for quite some time.” And he’s confident in the ability of Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilms to break through — on the screen, games, publishing and Disney’s theme parks. With its different studio brands, “there’s substantial potential not only to increase sales, but to increase royalties.” |
DURHAM, NC—Noting he had been caught off-guard by the question on first dates in the past, area 32-year-old Logan Firks told reporters Monday he is confident he will be ready to answer this time if the woman he is meeting for dinner asks about his siblings. “The last date I went on was going pretty well for a while, but then she just asked me point-blank if I had any brothers and sisters and I totally froze up—I didn’t know what to do,” said Firks, adding that while he had anticipated conversations about his career, background, and personal interests, he stuttered and “drew a total blank” when it came to saying anything specific in regard to his siblings. “The night was pretty much all downhill from there. This time, though, I’m gonna nail it: I have a younger sister, Sarah, who goes to law school at Duke. I have an older brother, Darren, who’s a pharmaceutical sales rep in Phoenix with a wife and two kids.” At press time, Firks had ruined the date by overeagerly blurting out the information about his siblings in a brisk and heavily rehearsed manner.
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Elizabeth Warren questions Ben Carson at a Senate confirmation hearing (screen grab)
Under questioning from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Wednesday, Ben Carson mistakenly asserted that he would not “do anything to benefit any American.”
At Carson’s confirmation hearing for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Warren noted that President-elect Donald Trump will be uniquely positioned to benefit from HUD contracts due to his real estate business. During a press conference a day earlier, Trump had revealed a controversial plan to allow his sons to run his business instead of putting his assets in a blind trust as other presidents have done.
“My concern is that among the billions of dollars that you will be responsible for handing out in grants in loans,” Warren said to Carson. “Can you just assure us that not one dollar will go to benefit either the president-elect or his family?”
“It will not be my intention to do anything to benefit any American,” Carson declared boldly. “It’s for all Americans.”
Although Carson most certainly did not mean to imply that he would not try to help Americans, the remark struck a chord with some viewers.
“It will not be my intention to do anything that will benefit any American” — Ben Carson, with an all-time great gaffe.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 12, 2017
Ben Carson tongue tied when asked about Trump benefiting from HUD $ 'It will not be my intention to do anything to benefit any American' — Andrew Rafferty (@AndrewNBCNews) January 12, 2017
In the end, Carson declined to promise that federal dollars would not be funneled into the pockets of the Trump family.
“You can take it to mean that I will manage things in a way that benefits the American people,” Carson insisted. “If there happens to be an extraordinarily good program that’s working for millions of people and it turns out that someone that you’re targeting is going to gain $10 from it, am I going to say, ‘No, the rest of you Americans can’t have it’? I think logic and common sense probably would be the best way.”
Warren replied: “The problem is that you can’t assure us that HUD money — not of $10 varieties, but of multi-million dollar varieties — will not end up in the president-elect’s pockets.”
“And the reason you can’t assure us of that is because the president elect is hiding his family’s business interests from you, from me, from the rest of America,” the senator said. “And this just highlights the absurdity and the danger of the president-elect’s refusal to put his assets in a true blind trust.”
“He knows what will benefit him and his family financially but the public doesn’t.”
Watch the video below. |
Ottawa’s Canadian Football League history has included its share of playoff highlights.
Sometimes the old Rough Riders won, sometimes they lost, but at least they got to play divisional or conference contests that determined qualifiers for the Grey Cup game. The Renegades never got that far during their 2002-05 stint on the CFL landscape.
The Redblacks are 1-for-1 in East playoff action after stunning the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 35-28 in last year’s East final at TD Place stadium, where they’ll battle again Sunday against the Edmonton Eskimos for a berth in the Grey Cup showdown at Toronto’s BMO Field on Nov. 27.
Last year’s classic merits a spot on a subjective list of the top six Ottawa CFL playoff contests of all time. The collection was compiled with assistance from columnist Wayne Scanlan, former beat writer and sports editor Tom Casey, long-time radio broadcaster Dave Schreiber, sports historian Jim McAuley and former Rough Riders player Ted Smale.
Even those believing other individual matchups have been undervalued should agree with the overall assessments. Grey Cup games are not included, so there’s no mention of Clements to Gabriel in 1976 or Russ Jackson riding off into the sunset after he led the Rough Riders to the 1969 title.
Here are the super six in chronological order.
1. Nov. 20, 1960, East final: Ottawa 21, Toronto 20
After defeating the Argos 33-21 at home in the opening leg of the two-game, total-point Eastern Conference final, the Rough Riders ventured to Toronto.
Smale, who played both defensive and tight end between 1956 and 1962, wasn’t in the lineup that day because he was still recovering from a September knee injury, but he was on the sidelines at Exhibition Stadium.
The way Smale tells the tale, it was in the fourth quarter when quarterback Ron Lancaster urged Rough Riders offensive teammates to huddle up quickly. Running back Dave Thelen noticed split end Bobby Simpson was on the field, but still near the sideline after blocking on a short run by Joe Kelly.
Thelen tried to alert Lancaster to Simpson’s absence from the huddle, but the quarterback had already caught Simpson’s signal. “Get your ass in here!” Lancaster told Thelen. “We’re trying to run a play fast!”
Thelen complied, the Rough Riders snapped the ball and Lancaster threw it to Simpson, who after hiding from Argos defenders, ran 80 yards to help set up Joe Kelly’s go-ahead touchdown.
The CFL outlawed the “sleeper play” soon after that.
“It was a great thing to witness and the fans just went wild, as you can imagine,” Smale said.
2. Nov. 22, 1969, East final: Ottawa 32, Toronto 3
The second-place Argonauts beat the Tiger-Cats 15-9 in the division semifinal, then upset the top-ranked Rough Riders 22-14 in Game 1 of the final at Toronto.
“Nothing can beat us now except an act of God,” Argonauts head coach Leo Cahill said before Game 2.
Cahill would have to eat those words. Faced with icy field conditions at Lansdowne, the Rough Riders obtained broomball shoes from Ritchie’s Sports Shop and all but a couple of players used them to great advantage against the slip-sliding Argos. Linebacker Wayne Giardino scored three touchdowns as an injury replacement at running back and Ronnie Stewart scored one as the Rough Riders triumphed in the final home game of Hall of Fame quarterback Russ Jackson.
“Act of God, eh? … Meet God,” defensive back and returner Billy Cooper said, indicating Jackson.
Added defensive back Gene Gaines: “What he forgot when he said that is we are (all) God’s children.”
Jackson visited the visitors’ locker room after the contest. He shook hands with players and with Cahill, who conceded he had said many things, hoping to motivate the Argos. Then the Ottawa Journal reported Cahill told Jackson, “You’re a helluva football player.”
3. Nov. 19, 1978, East final: Montreal 21, Ottawa 16
Two years after winning the Grey Cup, the Rough Riders remained a powerhouse, with 11 Eastern all-stars leading them to an 11-5 record and first place.
However, the Alouettes shocked them in the division final at Lansdowne. Tom Clements completed 23-of-34 pass attempts, but the Rough Riders produced just 53 yards rushing, while the Alouettes ground out their five-point victory in what had become a one-game showdown for a Grey Cup berth.
“We’d play like tigers and then we’d fall asleep for two or three plays,” head coach George Brancato said that day. “You can’t afford those lapses and expect to beat Montreal.”
Casey, who covered the game for the Citizen, said former Rough Riders linebacker Chuck Zapiec played a key role for the Alouettes.
“Zapiec was a really, really smart football player. He wasn’t just one of those big, tough guys,” Casey said. “He said the whole game plan was not to put a rush on Tom Clements because, when his feet were stationary, he wasn’t an accurate passer. He had to be rolling out and moving all the time. So Montreal came up with this super-passive pass rush and really clogged up the secondary and it just got (Clements) off.
“Nobody thought that Ottawa could be beaten by these guys.”
4. Nov. 15, 1981, East final: Ottawa 17, Hamilton 13
The Rough Riders won just five of 16 regular-season contests, but somehow managed to finish second in the East. They downed the Alouettes 20-16 in the semifinal at Lansdowne for the right to battle the favoured Tiger-Cats (11-4-1) in Hamilton.
The Ticats also led 13-10 and had the Rough Riders pinned deep in their own territory well into the fourth quarter when rookie quarterback J.C. Watts avoided onrushing defenders and threw a short pass to Pat Stoqua. After two Hamilton defenders collided, Stoqua rumbled 104 yards for a game-winning touchdown.
“It was just an innocent-looking play and it went 104 yards. Unbelievable,” Casey said. “That was a team that was 5-11. The expectations were just so friggin’ low.”
Tiger-Cats running back Rufus Crawford said then: “The worst part was that Pat Stoqua couldn’t run a seven-second-flat in the 40-yard dash … but we couldn’t catch him.”
5. Nov. 15, 1992, East semifinal: Hamilton 29, Ottawa 28
The Rough Riders had great hopes forged on a strong defence, reliable quarterback Tom Burgess and a 9-9 record that represented the most regular-season victories by an Ottawa CFL team in 14 years. On a snow-covered field in Hamilton, though, they suffered one of the most excruciating playoff losses in franchise history.
With fewer than seven minutes remaining, the Riders led 28-13, prompting a large contingent of Ottawa fans in the stands to sing, “Na-na-na-na, hey-hey, goodbye!” Bad idea.
Two Hamilton touchdowns and several Riders miscues later, the Tiger-Cats trailed by two as kicker Paul Osbaldiston lined up a 46-yard field-goal attempt with 11 seconds to go. Stepping carefully on the slippery surface at Ivor Wynne Stadium, he launched a low, wobbly kick that started straight, broke left and just cleared the crossbar.
“Travelled 47 yards,” he said, dryly, after the game.
Asked how many times out of 10 he could make that field goal. Osbaldiston replied, “Four. You just go out there thinking this is going to be one of the four.”
Adding to the pain of the Riders and their fans, former Ottawa players Ken Evraire, quarterback Damon Allen and running back Orville Lee played for those Tiger-Cats.
Long-time Rough Riders receiver Stephen Jones called it the toughest loss of any football game he played. He wasn’t alone.
6. Nov. 22, 2015, East final: Ottawa 35, Hamilton 28
Henry Burris had thrown a pass that should have been intercepted and J’Micheal Deane was penalized for a chop block, so it was second-and-25 from the Redblacks’ 17-yard line with the score tied and 85 seconds remaining.
A shotgun snap nearly sailed over Burris, but he tipped and caught the ball, avoided a pass rusher and heaved one down the field.
Greg Ellingson jumped and caught the ball near mid-field, watched Tiger-Cats defensive back Ed Gainey fall, eluded Emanuel Davis and sprinted to the end-zone for a touchdown. The Redblacks were Grey Cup-bound in only their second CFL campaign and one year after going 2-16.
“I’ll remember this game for the rest of my life. I’ll remember all these guys for the rest of my life,” Deane said.
Head coach Rick Campbell joked that the winning play turned out “just how we drew it up, huh?” A day later, Campbell added he had relived the moment by watching a video recording with his wife Jeri.
“When my wife and I got home, we sat on the couch and we said, ‘Let’s watch the good parts.’ It was pretty cool to see it on replay. It’s fun to run it back and watch it four or five times, knowing something good is going to happen.”
— With files from Wayne Scanlan and Tim Baines |
A group of homeowners in the U.S. launched a class-action suit against some of the world's largest banks, claiming the institutions' manipulation of the benchmark LIBOR rate made their mortgages more expensive than they should have been.
Lead plaintiff Annie Bell Adams and four others filed suit in a New York court, claiming Barclays, UBS, Bank of America and other lenders are liable for their mortgage rates being artificially higher because of illegal manipulation of the LIBOR rate, the Financial Times reported.
An acronym for the London Interbank Offered Rate, LIBOR is a benchmark for trillions of dollars worth of loans and investments globally. Ostensibly a moving gauge of how much banks pay to borrow different amounts of money from each other, an investigation earlier this year revealed widespread manipulation of the rate.
Traders manipulated rates
Barclays has agreed to pay more than $500 miillion US in fines after internal emails revealed traders were claiming borrowing rates that were higher or lower than what they were actually having to pay in reality.
Although it has limited impact in Canada, variable-rate mortgages tied to LIBOR are common in the United States, and the lawsuit alleges the banks' actions caused borrowers to pay more than they should have done.
There are almost one million U.S. mortgages tied to LIBOR, with a total loan value of more than $275 billion outstanding, official data shows.
Pension plans and municipalities have launched similar lawsuits attempting to recoup LIBOR-related costs, but it's believed this lawsuit is the first time a person on the level of the individual homeowner has taken legal action in the unfolding story.
The total number of affected borrowers could number in the hundreds of thousands, each being owed thousands, John Sharbrough, the Alabama-based lawyer heading up the lawsuit was quoted as saying.
Beyond noting that they dispute the claims, none of the banks named in the lawsuit had any comment.
More to come |
Abeem Live Technologies has released Rack Performer 1.0 – a modular environment hosting VST plugins and internal modules (over 100 and counting), with MIDI support, multi-channel audio I/O and internal processing, automatic patch-delay compensation, sample accurate sequencing, low jitter and latency.
Rack Performer lets you create custom patches using internal modules and VSTs that can be saved and recalled. Up to 32 inputs and outputs are supported for audio and up to 128 inputs and outputs are supported for MIDI.
Features:
High-level modular host
Over 100 internal modules
VST plugins support
Scene Snapshots
Virtual Screens
Low jitter sample-accurate sequencing engine
Multichannel audio processing
Multichannel HD recording
Dedicated audio monitoring
Audio: up to to 32 inputs and up to 32 outputs, full-duplex
MIDI: up to 128 inputs and up to 128 outputs + routing
MIDI Clock / MTC / MMC / MSC external sync
Rack Performer is available for €139. |
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Hitting theaters today is The Help, a movie based on Kathryn Stockett’s bestselling novel about white women and their African-American servants in early 1960s Mississippi — and critics are debating whether the film's portrayal of racial tensions and violence at the dawn of the Civil Rights era rings true. Is The Help, as one commentator put it, little more than a "Disneyfied version of the Jim Crow South"? (Watch a trailer for the movie.)
It's too Hollywood: Despite its noble intentions, The Help suffers from an often unavoidable byproduct of Hollywood-ization, says Glenn Kenny at MSN. It patronizes its audience, serving up "one entertaining diversion or other whenever its story line threatens to turn a corner into the valley of The Real." The movie tries to "confront the ugly truth of our nation's history with both a clear eye and some genuine compassion," and succeeds on occasion (for instance, when civil rights activist Medgar Evans is killed), but too often it's mired in soapy subplots.
"The Help has trouble getting real"
It glosses over the violence of the time: The Help would seem to have "us believe that the racism of the time was the stuff of bridge clubs," says Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe. We meet a number of bigoted white women, but their husbands are typically absent. Who knows what these men are up to off-screen with the stink of white supremacy in the air? Curiously, the most violent man in the film is an abusive black husband.
"The Help"
It's well done, but tailored to white people: The Help is "a stirring black-empowerment tale aimed squarely at white [audiences]," says Peter Debruge in Variety. It "personalizes the civil rights movement" and serves as a "deeply affecting exercise in empathy" for those who've never really pondered the black experience during that period. Sure, it "somewhat patronizingly seeks to understand" the black community and leaves out key details from the book, but, given the progress we've made as a country since the time, it optimistic ending can't be contested.
"The Help"
Viola Davis saves the film: The film is "at times bizarrely buoyant" given the subject matter, but Viola Davis, as the quiet maid Aibileen, injects it with a "gravity it frequently seems to want to shrug off," says Manohla Dargis in The New York Times. Davis makes Aibileen more dimensional than the book's depiction, and keeps the film focused on the black maids' struggles. Still, the novel's central conceit — "that the white characters, with their troubled relationships and unloved children, carry burdens equal to those of the black character" — ultimately remains problematic.
"The Help (2011)" |
The fact that it doesn't support T-Mobile's 2100MHz band leads us to believe this won't be popping up in T-Mo shops
Just because next week's joint Samsung and Google event has been postponed doesn't mean the leaks have to end. A Sammy handset with the model number I9250, which matches up nicely with the baseband version in the Galaxy Nexus shots that popped up, just made an appearance at the FCC packing a GSM radio compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile's HSPA networks. It's also boasting dual-band 802.11n, Bluetooth and NFC. Despite suggestions that the next Nexus device would be a Verizon exclusive , we could be looking at the AT&T version or at least the unlocked GSM model.. It appears that T-Mobile AWS is included. Noticeably missing, however, is any mention of LTE -- that particular feature could still be the sole realm of Big Red. Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer to find out all the details. One more image after the break.[Thanks, Samer] |
Union of Concerned Scientists The U.S. nuclear industry is facing yet another worry today, with a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists suggesting that there's been a leak at the facility since "at least 1993 (via Zero Hedge)."
The leak is in a lining that is meant to provide protection in the event of an earthquake.
From the Union of Concerned Scientists:
However, NRC inspectors at Indian Point recently found that the liner has been leaking 2 to 20 gallons per minute since at least 1993 (NRC 2010v), and that the plant owner has not yet delivered on repeated promises to fix the leak. That means the device installed to prevent leakage after an earthquake is leaking before an earthquake even occurs. The liner has no other safety function. Yet NRC managers have dismissed the longstanding problem, not- ing that the refueling cavity leaks only when it is filled with water (NRC 2010o).
If anyone in the U.S. was alarmed about the nuclear power industry before, they're likely to be more so going forward.
Don't miss: The 13 countries most exposed to a nuclear industry backlash > |
TGS 2016 – NieR: Automata Getting a Demo With a Target Release of End 2016
Square Enix has announced that NieR: Automata will get a playable demo towards the end of this year.
Back in August, producer Yosuke Saito told Famitsu in an interview that he wants players to get their hands on the game for a good 30-40 minutes to get a taste of what it has to offer. “Rather than have users experience it within a short 10 or 20 minutes, I want users to properly experience NieR: Automata,” he said.
In addition to this, Square Enix also announced a “Black Box Edition” of the game for Japan costing 25,800 yen, which you can check out below. We’re not told if this edition will release in the West.
Last but not least, you can check out almost 24 minutes of gameplay from Tokyo Game Show 2016 courtesy of YouTube user GamersPrey HD.
NieR: Automata is scheduled for release worldwide on the PlayStation 4 and PC in 2017, with Japan getting the game on February 23. |
Share. The new series is expected to debut during the 2017-18 TV season. The new series is expected to debut during the 2017-18 TV season.
FOX has ordered 13 episodes of a "new hour-long, live-action comedic drama series" created by and starring Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, network chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman announced today. MacFarlane also wrote the pilot and will executive produce the currently untitled series.
Targeting the 2017-18 TV season, the new MacFarlane series takes place 300 years in the future and follows a "motley crew of space explorers" on a "not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship" named the Orville.
Exit Theatre Mode
"I've wanted to do something like this show ever since I was a kid, and the timing finally feels right," said MacFarlane in a statement.
Walden and Newman added: "Seth has one of the most original voices – in every sense of the word – and we’ve been waiting for him to bring us a project as special as this one. It’s classic Seth – fresh and funny, incredibly smart, wickedly subversive and undeniably FOX."
In addition to countless voice acting credits, MacFarlane starred in A Million Ways to Die in the West, the 2014 comedy western which he also directed and co-wrote.
Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @jdsirani. |
by Sandra Ivanov. Sandra Ivanov is from New Zealand with a postgraduate education in Peace and Conflict Studies. She is currently an editor of the blog “Conflict and Security”, and primarily works in the non-government sector. You can find her through Linkedin or follow her updates on Twitter.
Transnistria (Transdniester Moldovan Republic/TDMR or in Russian, Pridnestrovskaya Moldovskaya Respublika/PMR) – popularly referred to as a Soviet open air museum, is a strip of land holding de facto independence sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine in Eastern Europe. Not recognised by any sovereign state, it has split from the Republic of Moldova and operates with its own government, police, and military forces. Transnistrian citizens even hold their own passports, albeit only being able to use them internally. However, Transnistria would not be able to maintain its political bargaining power without heavy support from Big Bear Russia. In light of recent events in Crimea, and in Ukraine, Transnistria becomes an interesting historical case to explore how Russia’s strategic interests are injected into vulnerable territories.
Brief history: Lost without the hammer and sickle
The name Transnistria (literally translating to ‘over the River Dniester‘) was born out of an armed conflict in 1992. Before this time, the identity of ‘Transnistrian’ people did not exist. The crumbling of the Iron Curtain left Moldova divided. The right side of the bank felt that the end of the Soviet Union corresponded with deprivation and humiliation. Split into mainly three nationalities (Russian, Ukrainian, Moldovan), no group prominently stood out in society. Seeking to preserve the ideals of the Russian powers, the Moldovan declaration of sovereignty in 1990 made the Transnistrian leaders weary. They feared that Moldova, previously a region of Romania, would reunite because of common historical and linguistic roots. In response to the declaration, a separate congress convened declaring a ‘Transnistrian Republic’.
The approximate four month war in 1992 is a ‘sacred’ event in Transnistrian history. The war is viewed as the justification for its separation from Moldova and a collective memory is perpetuated in society as “a war for truth, justice and independence“. This, with a combination of economic instability, military invasion and the Romanian issue, has been the official reason for violence. But behind the curtain, certain leaders at the time wanted to make the communist ideology thrive, entrenched in opposing democratic reform, an impetus for keeping the status quo dominated.
The 14th Soviet Army based in Transnistria at the time intervened, defeating Moldovan forces, and initiating a Russian brokered peace. From this point on around 1.000 – 1.500 peacekeepers have kept permanent positions securing borders between Chișinău and Ukraine. This allowed a continuation of Russian support in all areas of Transnistrian life – politics, economics and law enforcement systems. A type of Russian satellite state was born.
Interestingly, however Transnistria remains international. Russians, Ukrainians, and Moldovans, all take roughly a third of the population pie. At the time of ‘independence’, the urban population in Tiraspol was heavily Russophone. To take a sample, the birthplace of parliamentary deputies from the 2005-2010 legislatures shows this split. Out of the 42 officials, 11.9% were born in Moldova, 30.95% in Transnistria, 21.45% in Russia, and 19.05% in Ukraine. Even with its proclaimed ‘independence’, Transnistria remains unrecognised by the international community and is still part of the Republic of Moldova formally.
Russia’s Transnistria
Transnistria’s quest for sovereignty strengthens Russia’s strategic interests in Eastern Europe. A valuable base in the region, close to allies Serbia, and the Black Sea watching over Ukraine from two sides, Transnistria offers a position of power.
Russia has sponsored the birth of a regime by building parallel state structures and institutions – a dream come true for those leaders in Tiraspol. From economic, political, and military support, the region has experienced the luxury of operating as a separate entity. Big Bear has provided this cub, a ‘state’, but also the existence as a recognised ‘compatriot’ of the Russian Federation. In return, Transnistria can only offer its loyalty, adopting a Russian educational curriculum, where generations have been conditioned to see their region as part of a Slavic civilisation.
The military interventions carried out by Big Bear in the post-Soviet space do not intend to achieve clear victories, but to keep breakaway regions in a state of limbo. Transnistria is one of many regions where the Russian Federation has involved itself to maintain international presence and power – South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and now Crimea. As an important foothold in the region, Russia has no intention of recognising Transnistria as its own state.
The economy of Transnistria has been sustained solely through the heavy support of Russia. Russia has granted privileges to businesses, allowed concessions for energy and gas consumption, and paved the way for strategic privatisation – but this has also comes with a price for Transnistria. The installation of political aides, and replacing local elites with the direct management of Russian intelligence forces has given Russia a direct hand into the operation of the region. The process of privatisation began in 2000 centred on the main beneficiaries being Russia. Everyone is a winner! Russian oligarchs buy local Transnistrian enterprises, they benefit from Russian subsidies to enrich themselves, and at the same time boost their profile by supporting ‘compatriots’.
While arbitrarily both sides seem to profit, a grim picture prevails for those that do not hold power. With over two decades of isolation, no scrutiny, and no public rights and freedoms, an economic and military conclave run by corrupt leaders with almost no counterbalancing measures has been created. If Transnistria is an example to go by, the conflicts of 2014 could fall into the very same black hole.
The Ukrainian relationship
The borders of Transnistria are infamous for their fluidity. Organised criminal groups and cunning leaders and business people exploit this loophole to smuggle goods and people to various places. It is used as a trade point into Western Europe from places such as Ukraine, through to Romania, and then to Turkey. Transnistria also gains counterfeit products from Ukraine, as well as being known to allow contraband in through the Ukrainian port of Illichivsk. Ukraine has made use of Transnistria to ship weapons for decades, and throughout the 1990s, Ukrainian weapons intended for illegal or politically sensitive markets were either airlifted to their destinations, or shipped from Odessa under Transnistrian custom seals.
However Ukraine’s stance on Transnistria changed after Viktor Yushchenko came into power following the Orange Revolution in 2005. Tough custom controls and new custom posts were put in place, which Transnistrian officials condemned as economic blockades or embargoes. Manned by Ukrainian and Moldovan officers, a deal was initiated which required Transnistrian companies to have official Moldovan stamps before exporting goods.
Ukraine is increasingly aiming towards joining the European Union, changing its foreign policy approaches to Transnistria accordingly. It is known for taking a stance of benevolent neutrality , and decisions towards Transnistria are dependent on if the government of the day is pro or anti-Russian. For example, relations between Ukraine and Transnistria relaxed when pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych assumed office in 2010. However, Ukraine has its intent clear on preserving Moldova’s territorial integrity. A few months into the Orange presidency, the ‘Yushchenko Plan’ was proposed as a solution to resolving the disputes in the Moldovan Republic. Interestingly, the plan did not mention the military presence of the Russians specifically, but it did suggest that the ‘peacekeeping’ forces presently stationed be replaced with an international force of military and civilian observers. It also did not directly allude to the federative status of Transnistria, and advised that the part of the territory be reintegrated with the same level of autonomy as previously done with Gagauzia
More recently, Ukraine has seen Transnistria as a security threat. The annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the outbreak of conflict in Eastern Ukraine by the pro-Russian ‘Donetsk People’s Republic‘ (DPR) movement have left Ukrainian officials weary about the Russian forces manning the border with Transnistria. Fears of potential Russian infiltration from Crimea and Eastern Ukraine through Transnistria could cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea and destabilise the region. In response to this uncertainty, Ukrainian defence forces have been deployed to the Odessa region. As a result, Transnistrian officials now travel abroad through Chisinau in the Moldovan territory, rather than Odessa as done previously. It is uncertain what approach Ukraine will take towards Transnistria, but it seems likely they will continue to use economic cooperation and diplomacy to leverage their influence in the region.
The place to be for ‘conflict experts’
An interesting way to examine the roots and importance of what is happening currently in Eastern Europe is by investigating some of the leaders in the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’. The following Russian officials have had some form of involvement with Transnistria. Mapping their movements to different regions of Europe which correspond with Russia’s strategic interests reveals some quite remarkable networks.
A former Soviet OMON police major, Vladimir Antyufeyev began using the name Vadim Shevtsov in 1991 after Latvia opened a criminal case against him for being part of a coup against the government. From 1992 to 2012, Shevtsov was the head of Transnistria’s ‘Ministry of State Security’, or ‘KGB’ as it is known. He was one of the closest people to the long-time ‘President’ of Transnistria, Igor Smirnov Shevtsov recounted his time in Transnistria saying : “I think that I had accomplished my task over there. I single-handedly created from the ground a security structure, and it was the most effective one in the region”.
Shevtsov has played key roles in other places such as Ossetia, Chechnya, Abkhazia, and Crimea. Most recently, he held the post of ‘Deputy Prime Minister‘ of the ‘DPR’ between July and September 2014.
Igor Girkin or ‘Strelkov’ is a man with a history of taking part in secessionist military operations. He has participated in the wars in the former Yugoslavia, Chechnya, as well as Transnistria. From 1996 until March 2013, Girkin was in the FSB as a reserve colonel and intelligence officer. Involved in the annexation of Crimea, Grikin is also an assistant on security issues to self-proclaimed ‘Prime Minister’ of the ‘Republic of Crimea‘, Sergey Aksionov.
As one of the military leaders responsible for the insurgency of the Russian separatists in Ukraine, revelations of his thoughts were leaked through hacked emails. In 2010, Girkin mentioned that some of his friends were engaged in the ‘Ukrainian project’ and if they put in the effort, a Transnistrian scenario would be possible – referring to an option of secession without annexation. Girkin was the ‘DPR Minister of Defence’ from May until August 2014.
Alexander Borodai is the first ‘Prime Minister’ of the self-declared ‘DPR’, Borodai went over from Russia in the 1990s to fight in Transnistria’s war to safeguard the ethnic Russian population. He fought alongside with Girkin, and both of them have been closely tied with Shevtsov since the conflict. Before joining East Ukraine, he was a pivotal political strategist involved in the annexation of Crimea.
Olga Kulygina is also an interesting character to note here. A close personal friend of both Girkin and Borodai, she is a Russian agent who was involved in secret services operations in places such as Transnistria and Georgia, and was involved in the planning of the Ukrainian insurgency, as well as personally fighting in Sloviansk.
Aleksandr Karaman is currently the ‘Deputy Prime Minister’ for Social Issues of the ‘DPR’. Working closely with Shevtsov, Karaman was the ‘Vice-President’ of Transnistria between the years 1991 – 2001. He is also the protégé of Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin.
Andrey Pinchuk and Oleg Bereza both associates of Shevtsov, were in the Transnistrian Ministry of State Security. Pinchuk holds the position of ‘State Security Minister’, and Bereza is the ‘Internal Affairs Minister’ of the ‘DPR’. These two ministries were created under Shevtsov, and the pair has recruited former officers working in Kyiv who resigned or defected from positions in Ukraine’s ministries to join the ‘DPR’ movement – they have hired more than 1.000 new personnel to ‘maintain internal order’.
Questions of security: Back in the USSR
Transnistria is not just a concern for Russia and Ukraine, but its activities have potential international impacts on security. Most prominently are the region’s fragile and unmonitored borders. There is a lack of hard evidence, but the production and transport of weaponry in Transnistria has allegedly been supplied to conflict zones in Chechnya, the Balkans, and even to parts of Africa. The largest weapon stockpile left from the Soviet era in Southeast Europe is in fact located in Transnistria. Russian information reveals that the Russian 14th Army stationed in the region has 21.000 tonnes of equipment from such stockpiles.
Moldova’s lack of control over its breakaway region is affecting the country’s progress. There are no external security agencies operating in Transnistria, and INTERPOL has no influence making it an unpredictable stadium for organised crime. Prostitution has become a specific dilemma – it has affected surrounding countries such as Romania and Bulgaria in terms of their European Union membership.
Moldova has been labelled the poorest country in Europe, and the region of Transnistria performs significantly higher economically than the state which legitimately exists. Transnistria is sustained by criminal activities which serve specific leaders. The prime example is former ‘President’ Igor Smirnov’s ‘Sheriff’ firm – this one company owns a chain of supermarkets, gas stations, a publishing house and mobile phone network, and even has its own sports arena costing twice the annual budget of Moldova.
The continual presence of Russian ‘peacekeepers’ is ironically one of the main barriers to fruitful negotiations over resolving what has been termed a ‘frozen conflict’. Transnistria is strategically invested and sustained by Russian Federation economic and political assistance, which without would all crumble. The current minimal level of international monitoring and oversight over Transnistria is worrying. There is a distinct lack of media attention on public opinion, or recordings of how people live their daily lives. The people in the region have different perspectives over the state of their region – to reintegrate with Moldova, to join Russia, or to become truly independent. In 1992, the separatists took over Moldovan police and government buildings to bring about a new regime. This is a similar scenario to what has happened in Crimea and the unfolding situation in Ukraine, and if Transnistria is a case to review, the international community will need to take action before Russia adds another de facto region to its list. For Transnistria, involvement from surrounding states and the European Union will be necessary to reduce Russia’s influence. But in order to change the course of the region’s history, the current military presence and loaded stockpiles will need to be the first thorns removed. |
Proving, among other things, that Jewish identity is primarily racial, not religious — even to rabbis.
RABBIS from Israel and Ukraine opened an office in eastern Ukraine that will help prospective immigrants to Israel prove they are Jewish. (ILLUSTRATION: Jewish immigrants from Ukraine arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, December 22, 2014)
The office, which opened last week in Dnepropetrovsk, aims to facilitate the process for those seeking to immigrate to Israel under its Law of Return for Jews and their kin. It is a joint initiative of the Jewish Community of Dnepropetrovsk, the Israeli organizations Tzohar and Shorashim, and the Triguboff Institute of Australia.
“It will prevent situations in which there is no ability to prove a Jewish origin once aliyah to Israel was made and the documents were left behind,” representatives of the groups involved in the office wrote in a joint statement published Tuesday. Aliyah is the Hebrew word for Jewish immigration to Israel.
The process of proving a Jewish ancestry has become especially difficult for thousands of Jews from eastern Ukraine, where a stagnant civil war has resulted in loss of access to documents that may help to establish such a family connection.
At the office’s opening, the delegation of rabbis from Israel included David Stav, chief rabbi of the city of Shoham and chairman of Tzohar, a rabbinical organization that helps to involve non-religious couples and their families in religious wedding ceremonies and other life-cycle events.
“There is no bigger aid for a Jew than helping him to prove his Jewish status and consequently his identity as a Jew,” Stav said at a meeting with Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, the chief rabbi of Dnepropetrovsk and one of Ukraine’s most influential rabbis.
Kaminezki said the new office will be “saving lives,” adding that he will refer many applicants to the office and “supply an abundance of work” to its staff.
Aliyah from Ukraine totaled 5,840 individuals in 2014, a 190 percent increase over 2013, when the unrest that led to the fighting began. More than 6,000 people from Ukraine have come in 2015.
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Source: Haaretz |
This article introduces the special issue on “Blood–Brain Barrier and Epilepsy.” We review briefly current understanding of the structure and function of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), including its development and normal physiology, and ways in which it can be affected in pathology. The BBB formed by the endothelium of cerebral blood vessels is one of three main barrier sites protecting the central nervous system (CNS). The barrier is not a rigid structure, but a dynamic interface with a range of interrelated functions, resulting from extremely effective tight junctions, transendothelial transport systems, enzymes, and regulation of leukocyte permeation, which thereby generates the physical, transport, enzymatic, and immune regulatory functions of the BBB. The brain endothelial cells are important components of a “modular” structure, the neurovascular unit (NVU), with several associated cell types and extracellular matrix components. Modern methods have helped in identifying a range of proteins involved in barrier structure and function, and recent studies have revealed important stages, cell types, and signaling pathways important in BBB development. There is a growing list of CNS pathologies showing BBB dysfunction, with strong evidence that this can play a major role in certain disease etiologies. The articles that follow in this issue summarize in more detail reports and discussions of the recent international meeting on “BBB in Neurological Dysfunctions,” which took place recently at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Desert Campus (Beer-Sheva, Israel), focusing on the link between experimental and clinical studies, and the ways in which these lead to improved drug treatments.
The brain and spinal cord (central nervous system, CNS) are the control centers of the body, generating central programs and strategies, processing sensory input, regulating motor output, and coordinating many of the individual and concerted activities of tissues. Moreover, networks of CNS neurons use a combination of chemical and electrical signals, which involve precise ionic movements across their membranes. Hence, to work effectively it is crucial that the CNS maintains a stable internal microenvironment. The active “neural” cells of the CNS, including neurons, macroglia (astrocytes, oligodendrocytes), and microglia contribute to local “housekeeping” maintenance of their bathing medium, the interstitial (or extracellular) fluid (ISF, ECF), whereas cellular barriers at the interfaces between the CNS and the circulating blood act as key regulatory sites, by controlling molecular flux into and out of the CNS (Abbott et al., 2009). Thus essential nutrients are delivered, waste products removed, and entry of potentially toxic or neuroactive agents and pathogens is severely restricted. The barrier layers also form the interface between the central and peripheral immune systems and act as crucial “checkpoints” to regulate CNS access of leukocytes (Engelhardt & Coisne, 2011; Greenwood et al., 2011).
The following are the three main sites of CNS “interface” barriers: the endothelium of the brain microvessels (forming the blood–brain barrier, BBB); the epithelium of the choroid plexus (specialized ependyma), which secretes cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) into the cerebral ventricles; and the epithelium of the arachnoid mater covering the outer brain surface above the layer of subarachnoid CSF. The choroid plexus and arachnoid form the blood–CSF barrier (BCSFB) (Abbott et al., 2009). At each of these sites, tight junctions between adjacent cells restrict diffusion of polar solutes through the intercellular cleft (paracellular pathway), and solute carriers on the apical and basal membranes together with ectoenzymes and endoenzymes regulate small solute entry and efflux. In brain endothelium, mechanisms of adsorptive and receptor-mediated transcytosis allow restricted and regulated entry of certain large molecules (peptides, protein) that have particular growth factor and signaling roles within the CNS. Finally, the barriers help regulate the innate immune response as well as the recruitment and entry of leukocytes, and are hence involved in both the surveillance and the reactive functions of the central immune cell population. Thus the three interface layers function as physical, transport, enzymatic (metabolic), and immunologic barriers. The barrier functions are dynamic (not fixed), and they are able to respond to a variety of regulatory signals both from the blood and the brain side, and capable of being significantly disturbed in pathology.
The brain capillaries supply blood in proximity to neurons (maximum diffusion distances typically 8–25 μm), and the brain endothelium forms the largest interface for blood/CNS exchange; therefore, the activities of the BBB are key to brain homeostasis. It is now recognized that the brain endothelium of the BBB acts within a cellular complex, the “modular” neurovascular unit (NVU) ( ), which is composed of a capillary segment with its associated pericytes, basement membranes, perivascular astrocytes, and microglial cells (Mäe et al., 2011), subserving the needs of the small number (typically < 8) of “client” neurons within that particular NVU module (Iadecola & Nedergaard, 2007; Abbott et al., 2009). Several functions of the BBB can be listed and their role in CNS homeostasis highlighted (Abbott et al., 2009). The ability of the BBB to regulate molecular traffic and keep out toxins is essential to preserve longevity of neurons and the health and integrity of neural network connectivity; ion homeostasis is essential for normal neural signaling; restricting protein entry limits the brain’s innate immune response and the proliferative potential of the CNS microenvironment; separating CNS and peripheral nervous system (PNS) neurotransmitter pools controls “cross-talk” interference between signaling networks using the same transmitters, but also allows “nonsynaptic” specific signaling by agents capable of diffusing within the protected ISF compartment; regulating entry of leukocytes allows immune surveillance with minimal inflammation and cellular damage, and the system is well organized for self-repair involving minor maintenance and correction of defects (Liu et al., 2010; Tian et al., 2011). In many of these activities, the brain endothelium is supported by the other cells of the NVU, especially the astrocytes and pericytes, with the involvement of the components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), the “endothelial” basement membrane (BM) of the endothelium/pericyte layer and the “parenchymal” BM of the perivascular astrocyte end-feet. Given the key role of circulating cells in patroling, surveillance, and repair of the CNS, it has been proposed that these cells, plus the glycocalyx at the endothelial surface (Haqqani et al., 2011), should be included in an “extended NVU” (Neuwelt et al., 2011). This reflects our improved and growing understanding of the complexity of the system and the range of cell–cell interactions involved.
The molecular basis underlying barrier functions are becoming clearer (Pottiez et al., 2011; Redzic, 2011), through application of many powerful techniques, including biophysical investigation of the lipid membranes, quantitative proteomics, imaging at close to the level of individual molecules, and use of genetic mutants and shRNAs to test the roles of individual components. The plasmalemma of the brain endothelium has a particularly tight packing of phospholipids and cholesterol (Seelig, 2007), permitting flux of small gaseous molecules (oxygen, CO 2 ), but restricting permeation of certain hydrophobic molecules including many drugs, and regulating access to particular membrane proteins such as ABC (ATP-binding cassette) efflux transporters, P-glycoprotein (Pgp) (Aänismaa et al., 2008), and breast-cancer resistance protein (BCRP). The tight junctions involve interactions of cytoskeletal molecular complexes including the zonula occludens (ZO) proteins, coupled to transmembrane cleft-spanning proteins occludin and claudins 3 and 5; and junction-associated molecules (JAMs) (Paolinelli et al., 2011). The rapid turnover of many of the junctional proteins means that they show considerable dynamic activity (Shen et al., 2008), while maintaining overall junctional integrity and selectivity. Many modulators from both the blood and the brain sides can cause junctional opening (Abbott et al., 2006), perhaps to facilitate repair and removal of debris; however, in healthy conditions this is local and transient and does not significantly disturb the homeostatic function of the barrier.
The inventory of identified BBB solute carriers (SLCs) with relatively tight substrate specificities continues to grow (Abbott et al., 2009; Neuwelt et al., 2011; Parkinson et al., 2011; Redzic, 2011), mediating entry of major nutrients such as glucose, amino acids, nucleosides, monocarboxylates, and organic anions and cations, and efflux from the brain of some metabolites. Among the group of ABC transporters, Pgp (ABCB1) and/or BCRP (ABCG2) are the dominant players on the apical (blood-facing) membrane, especially Pgp in rodents and BCRP in primates, but the expression levels, localization, and roles of the multidrug-resistant associated proteins (MRPs, ABCC group) are less clear (Shawahna et al., 2011). These transporters have broader substrate specificity than the SLCs, making analysis of their structure-activity relationship (SAR) difficult (Demel et al., 2009). Synergistic activity between Pgp and BCRP has been observed (Kodaira et al., 2010), and ABC transporters and cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes together generate an active metabolic barrier within the NVU (Decleves et al., 2011). The array of transporters includes considerable overlap in function/apparent redundancy, possibly reflecting their evolutionary history and ensuring back-up provision in case of loss or defect of a single transporter.
Nonspecific fluid-phase endocytosis and transcytosis is downregulated in brain endothelium compared with non-brain endothelium, but for certain peptides and proteins, two main types of vesicle-mediated transfer have been documented in the BBB: receptor-mediated transcytosis (RMT) and adsorptive mediated transcytosis (AMT) (Abbott et al., 2009). There appears to be some overlap in function between caveolar- and clathrin-mediated vesicular routes, and likely involvement of other types of molecular entrapment, engulfment, and transendothelial movement that are less well characterized. Finally, although transendothelial traffic of leukocytes is restricted under normal conditions (Greenwood et al., 2011), their entry into the CNS can be facilitated in certain pathologies, both via paracellular and transcellular routes (Engelhardt & Wolburg, 2004; Muller, 2011).
Many of the routes across the endothelium described can be used for drug delivery; several classical CNS drugs including many antiepileptic agents are sufficiently lipid-soluble to diffuse through the endothelial cell membranes to reach the brain ISF, but entry for some can be significantly reduced by efflux on ABC transporters (Löscher et al., 2011). A complicating issue is that both barrier tightness and transporter expression may be altered in pathology (Potschka, 2010; Potschka et al., 2011), hence it is often difficult to predict pharmacokinetics of particular drugs in individual patients affected to different degrees by any specific CNS pathology.
Study of the development and maintenance of the NVU can give insights into changes in pathology. From the evolution of CNS barrier layers, traced back to their origin among invertebrate and lower vertebrate groups, it is clear that the first barriers were formed by specialized glial cells at the vascular-neural interface, later supplemented with pericytes and endothelium (Bundgaard & Abbott, 2008). In mammalian development, a basic barrier is formed in the endothelium of the ingrowing vessel sprouts, closely linking angiogenesis and barrier genesis with barrier induction signals likely originating from neural progenitor cells (NPCs) (Liebner et al., 2008; Daneman et al., 2009). Subsequently pericytes refine the barrier by downregulation of the “default” nonbrain endothelial features; then astrocytes upregulate the full differentiated barrier phenotype (Armulik et al., 2010; Daneman et al., 2010). Some of the signaling mechanisms involved in this induction are known including the Wnt/β-catenin (Liebner et al., 2008) and hedgehog pathways (Alvarez et al., 2011), and some of them may be involved in maintaining barrier integrity in the adult. In turn the endothelium “sculpts” the expression of channels, receptors, and transporters in the end-feet of the perivascular astrocytes to create the optimal differentiated phenotype for their role in the NVU (Abbott et al., 2006). It is likely that pericytes and microglia are also involved in this sculpting and maintenance of the NVU, but the details are still unclear.
The BBB is altered in many CNS pathologies including epilepsy (Abbott et al., 2006; van Vliet et al., 2007; Abbott et al., 2010; Marchi et al., 2012; Raabe et al., 2012). Changes can include upregulation of luminal adhesion molecules, increased adhesion and transmigration of leukocytes, increased leakiness of tight junctions and extravasation of plasma proteins, and altered expression of drug transporters and channels on endothelial cells and glia (Potschka, 2010; and see Kovacs et al., 2012, in this special issue). Given the importance of the BBB in CNS homeostasis, it is clear that gross barrier dysfunction is likely to be associated with disturbance of neural signalling. Rapid changes in neural functions appear to result from equilibrium between serum and brain electrolyte levels, leading to increased K+ and decreased Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the brain ISF. Delayed and long-lasting alterations are due to activation of the brain immune system once serum proteins leak into the brain ISF (Heinemann et al., 2012). In many pathologic states, a combination or sequence of events may make the barrier vulnerable, including trauma, hypoxia, infection, and activation of the clotting system and inflammation, but also components of the diet and environmental toxins, and perhaps genetic factors as well (Shlosberg et al., 2010). Inflammation and involvement of free radicals are proving to play major roles in many or even most of the pathologies with BBB disturbance, but the etiology and sequence of changes is generally unclear, and in many cases it is not known whether changes occur simultaneously or as part of an inflammatory cascade (Friedman, 2011; and see Kim et al., 2012, in this special issue). Certain brain regions are more often affected, including the hippocampus and cerebral cortex gray matter, but again the reasons are uncertain.
For minor damage, the cells of the NVU aided by recruitment of leukocytes may affect a repair, and short-and long-term changes in protective mechanisms including upregulation of efflux transporters and enzymes may be involved. Certainly several types of altered cell–cell interaction can be detected in pathology, particularly between endothelium and astrocytes, but also with powerful roles played by microglia, changing from a relatively quiescent and static process-bearing morphology to a more ameboid and migratory form, secreting a different repertoire of cytokines and chemokines (Saijo & Glass, 2011; Smith et al., 2012). Agents released from most of the cells of the NVU in pathology can modulate brain endothelial tight junctions, with several inflammatory mediators increasing barrier permeability, and a few agents able to counter or reverse this (Abbott et al., 2006). Potentiating effects of several cytokines including inter-leukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) on the “first line” of inflammatory mediators (e.g., bradykinin) have been documented (Fraser, 2011), and there may be a system of global control of the permeability of the cerebral microvasculature via the cholinergic nervous system (Meshorer et al., 2005). Evidence suggests tight direct interactions between the cholinergic and immune systems in both the peripheral and the central nervous systems (Tracey, 2009; Gnatek et al., 2012). At the molecular level, a great many signaling pathways can be identified, regulating both the expression and activity of barrier features, particularly well documented for the effects of xenobiotics, neurotransmitters, and inflammation on Pgp (Miller, 2010). Recent identification of a number of microRNAs (miRNAs) shown to influence angiogenesis (Caporali & Emanueli, 2011) and vascular functions (Hartmann & Thum, 2011) adds a further level of complexity, and new information on a whole family of secreted and information-carrying extracellular vesicles including exosomes (György et al., 2011) adds to the repertoire of ways in which a cell or group of cells can influence other cells nearby or further away. Indeed the flow pathways allowing circulation of the brain ISF have suitable properties for this kind of nonneural communication (Abbott, 2004), and could play an important part in the dissemination of CNS pathologies that start at a relatively restricted locus.
This special issue summarizes new insights and discussions evolved during a workshop on “Blood–Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Neurological Disorders: Clinical Studies, Underlying Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications” held in January 2012 at Ben-Gurion University Campus for Desert Research. We present summaries of clinical evidence for BBB involvement in epilepsy and other brain disorders, and cellular mechanisms critical to BBB function and dysfunction. Advances in understanding BBB function in pathology coming from a variety of experimental models, both in vivo and in vitro, help to identify the cell–cell interactions and the molecules involved, and progress is being made to link these with clinical observations. Understanding the clinical course of patients with BBB dysfunction is essential (see Shocknecht & Shalev, 2012, in this special issue); a key requirement for progress is identification and quantification of biomarkers, which will help to identify at-risk individuals, give further insights into disease etiology, and serve as indicators of disease progression and response to therapy. Part of this effort is the development of new imaging methods for analyzing vessel permeability in the human brain (Wunder et al., 2012, in this special issue). Better understanding of the roles of cells of the NVU in CNS homeostasis, and their distinct and collaborative contributions in repair, will reveal additional potential targets for therapy (see Kim et al., 2012, and de Vries et al., 2012, in this special issue). This should make it possible to design staged “cocktails” of several drugs with particular cellular and molecular targets, each given at a low dose to minimize side effects, but together providing effective therapy at critical points in the disease process.
The Workshop gave many striking examples of similar mechanisms acting across a range of CNS disorders, as well as individual features that act as hallmarks for particular pathologies, and emphasized the tremendous advantages and insights to be gained from bringing together scientists and clinicians of different disciplines. |
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood up in front of the US Congress and listed plans to build 100 new "smart cities" as one of his top priorities for India.
Mr Modi is far from alone. Few buzzwords raise as much excitement among leaders in the emerging world, who hope to turn their traffic-clogged megacities into pristine recreations of Singapore or Barcelona.
Unfortunately, egged on by swarms of technology companies and management consultants, these visions of technological utopia face a real risk of turning into expensive delusions.
LURE OF CITY LIFE
India announced the names of a dozen more smart cities last month, bringing to 33 the number of urban areas that will now spend a reported US$12 billion (S$16.3 billion) installing everything from traffic-management technologies to smart electricity grids.
More such cities are expected to be identified later this year.
Other countries are equally keen.
Nations like India, whose cities are beset by slums, yearn for a prosperous urban future. But getting there will require major governance and policy changes. This is because their cities, such as India's New Delhi (above), are places where traffic crawls, electricity supplies are patchy and drinkable water a pipe dream. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Chinese municipalities from Nanjing to Yinchuan have re-christened themselves as smart, and are spending heavily on Internet and energy networks.
Excitement about smart cities tends to rest on the misapprehension that digitising something makes it smart. Technology can play a role in making cities more liveable, but it is a means to that end, not an end in itself.
Last month, Sri Lanka signed a deal with Siemens, the German technology group, to help turn the capital Colombo into a smart "megapolis".
The idea of smart cities looks especially attractive to politicians in poorer Asian and African nations, as they try to tame urban areas dogged by weak governance, corruption and poor public services.
And in countries like India, the current smart cities PR blitz has proven helpful as a means of both focusing political energy on urbanisation, and ending a damaging rural bias dating back to national founder Mohandas Gandhi.
Leaders across emerging Asia now know they will have to cope with massive future migration to cities.
In India, an estimated 250 million will move away from rural villages over the two decades to 2030.
The share of gross domestic product generated by cities in countries like India is expected to rise to more than 70 per cent by 2020, according to Barclays.
These cities - where people and firms collocate, encouraging the spread of ideas - will be the wealth creation engines of the Asian century.
Poverty in China, for instance, is now almost entirely a rural phenomenon.
Less than 2 per cent of city dwellers live below the minimum income line, adjusted for purchasing power parity, according to the China Household Income Project.
Nations like India, whose cities are beset by slums, yearn for a similarly prosperous urban future. But getting there will require major governance and policy changes, as any visitor to Bangalore or New Delhi will quickly realise.
These are places where traffic crawls, electricity supplies are patchy and drinkable water a pipe dream, and that is before all these new people arrive. Such areas badly need well-planned urban expansions.
Yet, it is far from clear that smart cities - with their visions of super-fast broadband access and streets criss-crossed by neat cycle paths - are the best way to answer this challenge.
MISPLACED PRIORITIES
The problem begins with the term itself, which has become an unhelpful catch-all.
It is perfectly sensible for advanced cities like Singapore to spend heavily on sensors monitoring everything from flood levels to parking spaces.
In cities like Chennai or Jakarta, with more basic requirements for sanitation or transport, such expenditure often make less sense.
This is partly because plans for smart cities in poorer countries tend to over-focus on glass and chrome buildings and gee-whiz technology, while saying little about the people who already live there.
They also rarely seem to understand how places like Singapore became wealthy in the first place, long before the advent of digital technologies, largely by focusing on basic services and infrastructure.
At a deeper level, excitement about smart cities tends to rest on the misapprehension that digitising something makes it smart. Technology can play a role in making cities more liveable, but it is a means to that end, not an end in itself.
It is as if Medellin went from being one of the crime capitals of the world to Colombia's fastest growing city by installing sensors, rather than grappling with the difficult business of law and order or providing better urban transport.
STAYING REALISTIC
The upshot is that countries like India have to be more realistic about what smart cities can deliver.
Meanwhile, technology companies like Cisco and IBM, alongside exemplar nations like Singapore, must be a little more modest in their claims that the circumstances of rich urban areas can be easily recreated in developing economies.
Instead, all involved should emphasise simpler urban renewal projects, such as renovating existing "brownfield" developments or making it much easier to develop new neighbourhoods with easy land acquisitions rules.
Such plans may well involve rolling out high-speed broadband, but they are more likely to focus on improved waste collection, better air and water quality, and affordable housing.
Working on basic urban planning and clean political governance is just as important, albeit not as sexy as installing smart grid technologies.
India, in particular, has long failed to help its cities develop sensible plans for expansion, or to combat corruption.
As a result, most urban areas suffer higgledy-piggledy growth and are riven by graft - problems that technology alone cannot now fix.
Technology has a role to play in enabling Asia's urbanisation, but it is unlikely to provide the first step or the final answer.
Smart cities too often offer a false hope, that the hard work of making cities function can be avoided. You need to have passable public transport in the first place before talking about free Wi-Fi in buses.
There is no shame in saying that being a less dumb city is the first and most important step to becoming smart.
•Mr James Crabtree is a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Dr Reuben Abraham is chief executive at the IDFC Institute, a Mumbai-based think-tank focused on political economy issues. |
Hobbes2 wrote:
I'd respond with the fact that this map in itself isn't actually that complex. The difficulty itself comes from the high bpm + jumps more than anything. The play-ability concerns I had were addressed in my mod.
hii'm vetoing this because i think it doesn't fit the ranked section, this map has proven to be unplayable while being in the loved section and it's pretty clear that even though people can pass it, its playability is far from being acceptable.i do agree that the map concept is cool and i liked how you managed to structure your irregular shapes to represent the tougher sections of the music, but at the same time, i dislike how overdone the map is. you might be thinking that distance is subjective, and there's no limit to express the song intensity, which is in part true. what most of people would agree with, though, is that 280~ bpm full screen jumps aren't approachable even for the top part of the playerbase.i find this argument really basic because everything can be treated as "jumps" or "streams" or whatever thing that comes to your mind. under those ways of thinking, we could promote 500 bpm streams as official content because it would be a very basic stream at 500 bpm (i'm obviously exaggerating for the sake of making the explanation clearer) maps are meant to be played after all.nothing more to add i guess. |
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed concern on Friday that EU sanctions against Moscow for its actions in Ukraine could destabilize Russia and warned against "turning the screw" any further.
The comments to German weekly Der Spiegel suggest a possible softening in the stance of Steinmeier, a member of the traditionally Russia-friendly Social Democrats (SPD) who has stuck closely to Chancellor Angela Merkel's tough line with Moscow until now.
Steinmeier said the dramatic fall in the rouble currency and falling energy prices had created an economic and financial crisis in Russia, which would affect the political landscape there.
"It cannot be in our interests that this runs out of control," he said. "We need to keep this in mind in our sanctions policy."
Asked if he feared detribalization in Moscow if Europe didn't ease sanctions he said, "I have that concern." He added that the crisis in Russia would only create more uncertainty, and that was why he opposed further penalties.
European Union leaders on Friday warned Moscow they are ready to "stay the course" in a long confrontation if President Vladimir Putin refuses to pull back from Ukraine.
Some in the EU have said they should switch focus away from supporting Ukraine to seeking a detente with Moscow. But leaders voiced their determination to stick together as they have over the past year, while brandishing at Putin the stick of more sanctions and carrot of renewed cooperation.
Germany has taken the lead in trying to convince Putin to engage with the West but to no avail. Steinmeier visited Kiev on Friday seeking to bring new momentum into the peace process.
(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Noah Barkin) |
Why we object to the K–3 Core Standards
The core standards address the fact that students are graduating from high school ill prepared for college or careers. Even in the best universities a shockingly large number of students need remedial help with basic language arts and math skills. We support the idea of a national effort to address this problem, but to let that concern shape kindergarten and early elementary education is short-sighted.
Young children are entering their school years, not exiting them. They need support and encouragement to become strong, motivated learners for their whole lives—in school and beyond. That strength begins with active hands-on learning. Current state standards have already led to long hours of didactic instruction, scripted teaching, a narrowing of the curriculum, and overuse of standardized tests with young children. The new standards will almost certainly intensify those inappropriate practices. (See Crisis in the Kindergarten for data on current practices in public kindergarten education.)
The new standards call for kindergarten children to master over 90 skills related to literacy and mathmatics. Is this necessary for children to succeed in school? Experts know of no research showing that children who read at age five do better in the long run than children who learn at six or seven. The proposed standards will almost certainly add to the stress already afflicting many children in kindergarten and the early grades—stress associated by clinicians with growing problems of aggressive behavior in young children and with burnout by third or fourth grade.
An added burden for children and teachers is the extensive testing required to assess mastery of these skills. Alliance research indicates that kindergartens already devote 20 to 30 minutes per day for testing or test preparation. A Milwaukee teacher reported having to give over 150 tests to her kindergarten children last year.
Effective learning in the early years requires a very different starting point than the one presumed in the core standards. The federal Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services are working together to develop a fresh look at how children learn best from birth through age eight. New research points to the indivisibility of physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. The core standards are based on a narrow and flawed focus on subject matter in isolation, overemphasizing cognitive skills at the expense of all others.
The writers of these new standards did get one thing right in relation to young children. They use the word ‘play’—something that most other standards writers have scrupulously avoided. In the section called “What is not covered by the Standards,” the document says, “[T]he use of play with young children is not specified by the Standards, but it is welcome as a valuable activity in its own right and as a way to help students meet the expectations in this document.”
The core standards do not provide for ongoing research or review of the outcomes of their adoption. The entire K–12 standards initiative is flawed by this omission, which is especially egregious in relation to the youngest students. It is urgent that the federal goverment require research of the long-term effects of the standards and related testing on children in K-3.
What you can do: The standards were finalized in June. Each state will need to decide if it will adopt them. Tell your own governor, chief state school officer, and state early childhood specialists about the need to promote play and play-based learning in Kindergarten and the need to protect young children from testing. Click on the links in this section to find the addresses of your state officials. Let your voice be heard.
For more information: Read our press release, our statement on the standards, signed by hundreds of leading educators and health professionals, and signers' comments. Also see public comments by Alliance Senior Researcher Ed Miller presented at an April 23 meeting on early learning at the U.S. Department of Education. You can read commentaries by early childhood educators, Eric Gidseg and Carla Horwitz, on the likely effects of the core kindergarten standards. |
This wave introduced a new line of amiibos .. the Splatoon series. This series is a great addition to Nintendo's lineup and certainly adds to the release of Splatoon. The figure itself is very high quality. You will notice nice little touches to this figure along with the Inkling Girl and the Squid. The major one which adds to the appeal is the ink that is splattered on the base. You will also see that the ink container on the boy's back is filled with ink.. not just a sticker or paint on the outside. A good little touch. I have yet to remove my figure from its packaging, but I have read that using this amiibo in Splatoon adds a considerable amount to the game, such as additional missions and weapons. One negative to this item for collectors: packaging size. You will notice right off the bat that the plastic for this amiibo is not as large as the Smash and Super Mario amiibos. Depending on how you display your new-in-box amiibos, it may look strange. The way I have mine shelved though, you can't even tell.
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Marc Connolly, left, the second-in-command on President Obama's security detail, is one of the two Secret Service agents being investigated. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Two Secret Service agents suspected of being under the influence while striking a White House security barricade drove through an active bomb investigation and directly beside the suspicious package, according to current and former government officials familiar with the incident.
These and other new details about the March 4 incident emerged Thursday from interviews and from police records obtained by The Washington Post.
The revelations spurred fresh questions Thursday from lawmakers about whether the newly appointed director of the Secret Service, Joseph P. Clancy, is capable of turning around the troubled agency.
Among lawmakers’ questions was whether Clancy, a 27-year Secret Service veteran appointed to his job last month after a string of embarrassing agency missteps, has been aggressive enough in his handling of last week’s incident.
Clancy placed the two senior agents involved in the incident in new “non-supervisory, non-operational” jobs pending an investigation — a less stringent approach than the service has taken in the past, when staffers suspected of misconduct were put on administrative leave or pressed to resign or accept demotion. Also, Clancy did not take action against a senior supervisor on duty that night who, according to officials briefed on the incident, ordered Secret Service officers to let the agents go home without giving them sobriety tests.
Through a spokesman, Clancy declined to comment on the case, saying he had referred the matter to be investigated by the Department of Homeland Security inspector general.
Clancy has told lawmakers he learned of the allegations Monday, according to people familiar with the discussions. That is five days after the incident, which involved two of his most senior agents, including a top member of President Obama’s protective detail.
Lawmakers did not learn of the episode, however, until it was reported by The Post on Wednesday.
On Thursday night, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and the panel’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (Md.), sent Clancy a letter asking for a detailed briefing on the incident, which they called “extremely serious” and said raised concerns about the path to reforming the agency.
“This incident also raises important questions about what additional steps should be taken to reform the agency and whether the problems at the USSS run deeper than the recently replaced top-tier of management,” they wrote.
The lawmakers also cited the “zero tolerance” policy the service said it followed when it immediately moved to recall agents suspected of drinking during the job on presidential trips to the Florida Keys and Amsterdam in 2014, saying that standard “should apply to USSS managers and leadership just as it does to rank-and-file personnel.” The statement of zero tolerance was made in April 2014 by the agency’s then-spokesman, George Ogilvie — one of the agents now under investigation in connection with the incident last week.
Chaffetz said Thursday he was concerned that the events of March 4 suggest some in the Secret Service feel they are above the law. “The director needs to send a message. He needs to signal there is going to be new accountability in the agency,” he said. “We’re still learning all the facts, but I’m still not very impressed by how this is going.”
From a White House intruder to exploits with Colombian prostitutes, here’s a look at various scandals that have rocked the Secret Service. (Gillian Brockell and Jackie Kucinich/The Washington Post)
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Thursday that the president retains full confidence in Clancy. Schultz said Obama learned about the incident “earlier this week” before The Post’s report and was “disappointed” by the news.
The March 4 incident unfolded on a hectic night for Secret Service officers guarding the White House.
About 10:25 that night, a woman hopped out of a blue Toyota near the southeast entrance of the White House on 15th Street NW and, holding a package wrapped in a green shirt, approached an agent.
“I’m holding a [expletive] bomb!” she yelled, according to a government official with knowledge of the incident.
The woman then put the object on the ground and retreated to her car, the official said. The agent ran to the car and opened the front passenger-side door and ordered the woman to get out. But she then put the car in reverse and accelerated, striking the agent with the open door. The agent reached inside the car and forced it into park, said the government official, but the woman was able to shift it back into drive and drive forward, again hitting the agent and forcing him to jump out of the way.
The woman then sped off.
Police quickly secured the area with tape and called an inspection team to check the package for potential explosive materials or other dangers.
But shortly before 11 p.m., the two high-ranking Secret Service agents, returning from a work party at a Chinatown bar about eight blocks from the White House, drove their government car through the crime scene. According to people familiar with the incident, they drove through police tape and then hit a temporary barricade, using the car to push aside some barrels. An agency official said Thursday that the car was not damaged.
The episode was caught on surveillance video. Investigators who reviewed the video of the incident initially said they could not be sure whether the pair drove very close to or over the suspicious item wrapped in the shirt, one law enforcement official said. But after reviewing more video later Thursday afternoon, the official said, they concluded that the agents’ government car drove directly next to the package.
Secret Service officers on duty that night considered the agents’ behavior to be erratic and suspected they were drunk, according to current and former officials familiar with the incident.
The officers wanted to arrest the agents — but a more senior supervisor at the complex told them to let the agents go, the officials said.
At 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, the police explosives team determined the suspicious item was not a threat and gave the complex the all-clear. The item was a book.
Secret Service officers found the woman they suspected in the incident two days later to question her about the threats on the White House, an agency official said. A police record said that she is from Pennsylvania and has had contact with the Secret Service in the past and that the agency had her photo on file.
On Thursday, a government official said a warrant for the woman’s arrest had been issued through a D.C. court, charging her with assault with a dangerous weapon, the car. The warrant remains sealed, and it was unclear Thursday whether the woman was in custody.
The Secret Service agents under investigation are Marc Connolly, the second-in-command on Obama’s detail, and Ogilvie, a senior supervisor in the Washington field office. Both men have declined to comment.
Alice Crites, David Nakamura and Eddy Palanzo contributed to this report. |
CLOSE Millions of little girls and young women have been subjected to a painful rite of passage that involves cutting their genitals — often without anesthesia — for centuries in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Detroit Free Press
The defense in the case has always maintained that there was no cutting involved in the procedure, just a minor scraping.
A courtroom sketch shows U.S. Magistrate Judge Mona Majzoub, center, and Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, right, recently in Detroit. (Photo: Jerry Lemenu, Special to the Free Press)
The defense in Michigan's historic genital mutilation case is demanding the government turn over "the most significant piece" of evidence: Photos and videos of the genitalia of the young girls who are listed as the victims in the case.
The photos are key evidence because the defendants have always maintained that there was no cutting involved in the procedure, just a minor scraping. The government alleges it was more than that.
With trial two months away, the defense is claiming that prosecutors have either "failed or refused" to turn over crucial information that was requested months ago.
"Namely, the government has failed to provide the most significant piece of discovery in this case — the video and photographs of medical examinations conducted by the government's expert," defense attorney Matt Newburg wrote in a Tuesday filing that has drawn support from all of the accused.
Read more:
Genital mutilation victims break their silence: 'This is demonic'
Religious defense planned in landmark Detroit genital mutilation case
Newburg is representing Farida Attar, who along with five others is accused of subjecting numerous girls to genital cutting procedures at her husband's Livonia clinic as part of a religious practice. Attar is accused of holding the girls' hands to keep them calm while a doctor performed the procedure.
The six defendants — including two doctors, a physician's wife and and two mothers — are all members of a small Indian Muslim sect known as the Dawoodi Bohra.
So far, the government has identified six minor victims: four from metro Detroit; two from Minnesota. Federal prosecutors have said the chief suspect in the case, Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, may have performed the procedure on up to 100 young girls over the past dozen years.
But the defendants maintain they never engaged in any actual cutting, but rather only scraped membrane from the genitalia as part of a religious practice. They believe the government has exaggerated the case and are now demanding to see the government's photographs and videos of the alleged victims' genitalia so they can prepare for trial.
According to court documents, the photos and videos will be shown at trial. They were taken by Dr. Dena Nazer, who performed medical exams on 13 minor Bohra girls based on concerns that they were victims of genital cutting.
According to court documents, Nazer used a video colposcopy to magnify the genitalia up to 15 times its actual size. Based on her observations, court records state, she concluded that genital mutilation procedures had been performed on the girls, triggering indictments.
But the defense doesn't trust her findings, claiming Nazer has falsely diagnosed some of the girls as having been victims of genital mutilation "when in fact they have not."
One of the key issues in this case, the defense maintains, is whether or not female genital mutilation actually took place. The defense argues it did not; the government disagrees, saying it has medical proof that it did occur and statements from the victims who said they cried during and after the procedure and were told to keep it a secret.
The government, meanwhile, has offered to let the defense see the videos and photos — but not copy them. Specifically, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Woodward has offered to let the defense view the photographs and video in an FBI office, but without any recording devices, including cell phones. And if the defense wants a medical expert to review the materials, the government says, it must confirm that the expert is a licensed medical professional and has a specialty in either child abuse, pediatrics, obstetrics or gynecology.
The defense believes that's too restrictive.
"The defense is not only entitled to inspect the photographs and videos, but also to copy them," attorney Newburg writes, stressing the pictures and photos could offer information helpful to the defendants.
"The value of these videos and photographs cannot be underestimated," Newburg wrote.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman will ultimately decide the issue.
Attar's husband, Fakhruddin Attar, 53, of Farmington Hills is accused of letting Nagarwala use his clinic to perform the procedures on minor girls.
Except for Nagarwala, the defendants are free on bond. The trial is scheduled for Oct. 10.
If convicted, Nagarwala and Attar face up to life in prison; Farida Attar faces up to 20 years.
Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2vQyi1d |
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The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has refused to allow Microsoft to renew its Killer Instinct trademark. In a government filing, the office said it would not allow it due to the possibility of confusion with Fox's since-ended television series Killer Instinct.
"In the present case, applicant’s mark is Killer Instinct and registrant's mark is Killer Instinct. Thus, the marks are identical in terms of appearance and sound," a line from the statement reads "In addition, the connotation and commercial impression of the marks do not differ when considered in connection with applicant's and registrant's respective goods and services."
"Thus, upon encountering Killer Instinct for 'video game software' and 'entertainment services, namely, providing online video games' and Killer Instinct for 'entertainment services in the nature of a television series featuring drama,' consumers are likely to be confused and mistakenly believe that the respective goods and services emanate from a common source."
Fox's crime drama Killer Instinct aired in 2005 and spanned just one season.
Microsoft applied to renew its Killer Instinct trademark in September, sparking a belief that the company may have been in some way interested in reviving the '90s fighting franchise.
Though the USPTO has refused to allow Microsoft to renew its Killer Instinct trademark, Microsoft is allowed to respond to the refusal by submitting evidence and arguments to support its claim. |
On October 13th, CNN will live stream the US Democratic presidential debate in virtual reality. Anyone with a Samsung Gear VR headset will be able to drop in via VR streaming company NextVR's portal in the Oculus store. CNN says viewers will get a "front-row seat" from the perspective of an audience member, with the immersive stream allowing people to "hold a gaze on a particular candidate, catch off-screen interactions, and more."
Limited access to VR headsets means that not many viewers will actually be able to tune in this way, but the falling price of VR (Samsung recently halved the cost of its Gear headset to $99) means that CNN might be ahead of the curve. The broadcaster has already dabbled in this area by recording in virtual reality — but not streaming live — the Republican debates earlier this month, and it says that VR offers viewers "the opportunity to experience these historic political events through their own lens."
problems of frame-rate and and resolution still dog live-streaming virtual reality
Whether or not live-streamed virtual reality is a good enough experience right now is still up in the air. Earlier this year, NextVR operated trials live-streaming a soccer game between Manchester United and Barcelona FC in VR, with Recode's Vjeran Pavic describing the experience as mostly positive: "The screen resolution was crisp, and the action was easy to follow... However, the fisheye lens made players seem farther away than they actually were when the action drifted. Still, I was able to watch a match from angles I have never seen before."
Others think the technology isn't ready yet. Discussing early implementations of live-streamed virtual reality fashion shows, NextVR competitor Jaunt told Racked it would be at least a year until the image quality was good enough. "I think 16 to 18 months is a fair prediction of when the technology will be capable," said Jaunt's Scott Broock. "Right now, it's in its very early stages, so it would still be lower-resolution and be subject to dropped frames, but no question, when it's ready to happen, everyone will be doing it." Until then, we'll just have to be happy with virtual reality gaming. |
In Indiana last Tuesday, at the same time Trump was winning the presidential primary, a candidate named Todd Young won a race for the Republican Senate nomination. Young, a three-term congressman from Bloomington, was the establishment candidate, backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. His opponent, fellow Representative Marlin Stutzman, was an archetypal Tea Partier—a Freedom Caucus member who voted against Boehner for speaker. (During the shutdown, Stutzman memorably declared, “We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.” ) What did it mean that Trump and Young both won, and that other incumbent and establishment candidates have also won primaries this year? If Trump voters are mad as hell, why are they voting to preserve the Washington status quo?
Another group working to elect Young was the Republican Main Street Partnership, a coalition of pragmatists that styles itself as the moderate counterweight to the Freedom Caucus. Its president, Sarah Chamberlain, was in Indiana working on Young’s behalf, and she told me it was not a coincidence that Trump and Young both prevailed. In the group’s polling, the two candidates rose and fell in tandem, she said. “If Trump came up, Todd Young came up with him,” she said. “When Cruz went down, Stutzman went down.” I asked why she thought that was. The voters, she said, saw both Young, a former Marine, and Trump as men of action who would get things done. “People like the idea that Trump can actually do something—get the wall built, get the trade deals redone—because they’re seeing not a lot get done by the current administration and D.C.,” she said.
For Republican leaders like Boehner and McConnell, who have been accused of having little agenda beyond obstructing Obama, it will have been a rich irony indeed if the rise of Trump actually represents an uprising of Republican pragmatism against the conservative wing of the party. At Trump rallies, I frequently meet voters who tell me they consider themselves moderates or independents. Indeed, Trump has long polled best with liberal and moderate Republicans, and on Sunday he told George Stephanopoulos, “This is called the Republican Party. It’s not called the Conservative Party.”
At the same time, plenty of members of the Republican establishment are horrified by Trump, just as plenty of Tea Partiers are. (It’s possible, here, to get lost in Talmudic parsing of who and what constitutes “establishment”; There are ambiguities, but a good rule of thumb is that the Republican in question opposed the 2013 shutdown, or has the last name “Bush.”) That Trump has found allies and enemies in both wings illustrates the way his nomination constitutes a third way for the GOP. He redrew the old battle lines, combining the passionate anger of the grassroots and the win-at-all-costs pragmatism of the elites. And now he’s managed a feat of unity few thought possible, bringing such usual antagonists as Glenn Beck and Lindsey Graham together against him. |
The Ebola hysteria raises questions about how a free society would handle contagious diseases. Critics of freedom argue: libertarian principles, like the right against involuntary confinement, means that half the people on the planet could literally die from a lack of centralized state control. Left to their own devices, average people cannot solve their own problems.
The opposite is true. In writing of quarantine policies, the economist Robert Murphy astutely observed, "In a free society where pieces of property are all assigned ownership to specific individuals, there would be no such thing as a person having his 'right to walk around' revoked — because there's no such thing as a 'right to walk around' in the first place." Property owners would decide. Only because government usurps this decision do airlines 'need' a concerted policy or state approval on whom to transport. "In a free society, to be 'quarantined' would simply mean that most owners (of roads, sidewalks, malls, hotels, factories, etc.) would refuse access, and so a contagious person would have few choices outside of treatment facilities."
Yet appeals to government ring out. Never mind that it is the biggest Keystone Cop in the room, at least, if that room is America. But it is futile to merely lambast state blundering. It prompts cries for more tax money, more control. The best way to explain how freedom would handle Ebola is to point to examples of where and when it has done so. And done it incredibly better than government.
Firestone, "where the rubber meets the road"
A headline in Medical Daily (Oct. 13) declared, "Firestone Keeping Ebola Away From Employees In Liberia Through Low-Tech Intervention Program." The article asks and answers the question, "In a country where cases of Ebola are doubling every three weeks, how exactly has Firestone Liberia withstood the viral storm?" The town employed by the tire company is free of ebola except for outsiders who migrate in for treatment. It wasn't always that way.
Firestone Tire & Rubber Company founded a factory in the Liberian town of Harbel in 1926. The town was named after Harvey and his wife Idabelle Firestone. The current population is estimated at 25,500 with approximately 8,000 working for the company. (NPR claims that "Firestone workers and their families make up a community of 80,000 people," presumably including surrounding towns.) Sanitation and infrastructure is unusually good by Liberian standards because Firestone built and maintains a hydroelectric power plant, roads, schools, a telephone system… But the enhanced living conditions are only part of why Firestone succeeded with Ebola where so many governments have failed.
The first case arrived on the company doorstep on Sunday, March 30. The wife of an employee was diagnosed. The managing director, Ed Garcia, tried to find a hospital that would take the woman but none would accept her. As he said, "[W]e quickly realized that we had to handle the situation ourselves." By the next day, the company's medical team had set up a primitive but effective clinic using storage containers for quarantine and plastic wrap to contain the infection. By Tuesday, the woman was in voluntary isolation under the constant care of medical personnel who wore hazmat suits intended to deal with chemical spills. The woman died. But no one else – including her family – became infected.
Four months passed. The company's measures ensured there were no more outbreaks. But, in a nearby city, Ebola was rampant and the ill flocked to the several clinics now established by Firestone. The flow began in August and the facilities were filled by mid-September. Firestone converted the schools that had been closed by government decree into quarantine areas. It sent local teachers from door to door to discover who was ill and to provide information. Janitors were taught how to properly bury the dead. In all, approximately seventy-two cases were documented with 18 people surviving treatment. Hundreds were isolated. NPR reported (Oct. 06), "As of this weekend, however, only three patients remained: a trio of boys age 4, 9 and 17." All the boys came from outside the Firestone community. This means, "even as the worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded rages all around them, Firestone appears to have blocked the virus from spreading inside its territory."
The secrets of Firestone's success? One is speed. The company acted immediately to prevent contamination. Another is a constant monitoring of patients and the isolated; agricultural surveyors used their talents to map the spread of infection. Another is very, very basic medical care such as ensuring people do not become dehydrated. Added to the mix was "voluntary" quarantine; those who suspect they are ill do not avoid seeking a treatment that would resemble a prison sentence.
Firestone approached Ebola in a free-market manner: it responded quickly, it monitored changing circumstances, it took care of the basics, first and foremost, and all interactions were voluntary. The company may have more organizational skill and money per capita than does the Liberian government; that advantage cannot be dismissed. But what excuse does the U.S. government have?
Forced Quarantine Based on Politics, Not Science
Much of the medical profession also favors the lifting or lightening of mandated quarantines. On October 17, the nongovernmental Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) issued a statement that condemned the practice for discouraging volunteers. "Forced quarantine of asymptomatic health workers returning from fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is not grounded on scientific evidence and could undermine efforts to curb the epidemic at its source …." Dr. Joanne Liu, international president of MSF, stated, "We need to be guided by science and not political agendas."
It should also be guided by the free market. What's the difference in approach? The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 06) explained: "As Liberian senators argued about whether Ebola was a scam to solicit more foreign aid, Firestone quietly built its own corporate health infrastructure. It converted pickup trucks to ambulances. Firestone's company police, normally tasked with chasing rubber thieves, were given orders to enforce a 'No Visitors' policy." The article continued: "The heads of payroll, maintenance and special projects created an Ebola war room, where they field calls from nervous workers living in the forest. The in-house radio station broadcasts interviews with survivors, who entertain their fellow employees with stories of their ordeals." While politicians argued about funding, people took care of themselves.
When asked how to turn around the Ebola crisis in West Africa, Dr. Brendan Flannery – head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control – answered, "More Firestones." I would add, "Less Government"…as in "none."
UPDATE: Recent criticisms of Firestone claim the company is now turning away Ebola cases that are not connected to employees. I don't know the truth or circumstances in the wake of so much publicity being shone on the company. But the criticism is unfounded. Firestone should be applauded for providing a successful model of containing contagion instead of being condemned for not acting as something it never claimed to be. Namely, a charity that functions indefinitely at no profit. Or, worse, a government agency that purports to serve "the public" while acting solely in its own interests.
You don’t have to play by the rules of the corrupt politicians, manipulative media, and brainwashed peers. When you subscribe to The Daily Bell, you also get a free guide: How to Craft a Two Year Plan to Reclaim 3 Specific Freedoms. This guide will show you exactly how to plan your next two years to build the free life of your dreams. It’s not as hard as you think… Identify. Plan. Execute. Yes, deliver THE DAILY BELL to my inbox! |
It's rare to see an organization throw in the towel on a first-round quarterback before 16 NFL starts.
That appears to be exactly what the Buffalo Bills are doing with EJ Manuel.
Although his team was eliminated from playoff contention this week, coach Doug Marrone has no intention of playing Manuel in the season finale at New England.
"I can understand the question, but the game means a lot to me," Marrone said Tuesday, via The Buffalo News. "We're going to play the players who we feel give us the best chance to win. That's just the way that I'm wired and that's what my responsibility is to the team."
Orton has devolved into an inaccurate checkdown machine over the course of the season, failing to record a QBR rating over 30.0 in five of the past seven games. Over the past month, he has managed just 6.2 yards per attempt to go with a 5:7 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Marrone believes Orton is still superior to Manuel "from the standpoint of efficiency, control and things of that nature."
The Bills are stuck in NFL purgatory, with the quarterback position holding a top-five defense hostage. Absent a first-round draft pick due to the Sammy Watkins trade, there's no solution in sight.
Orton is due to count $7 million against the salary cap in 2015, including a base salary of $5.4 million.
Marrone's refusal to give Manuel a look-see in a meaningless Week 17 game suggests the Bills have little choice but to stay the course with Orton next season.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast previews the biggest matchups in Week 17 and makes its picks for the last week of the season. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW. |
The world authority on chemical nomenclature is preparing to scrap the familiar hydrogen bond definition, in light of recent evidence about its true nature. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s (Iupac’s) Physical and Biophysical Chemistry Division has now published its proposal for the revised definition, and the chemical community has until the end of March 2011 to respond. Barring significant objections, it will be adopted shortly thereafter.
Two key factors are motivating the bonding interaction’s redefinition. One is a shift in the traditional view that a hydrogen bond is a purely electrostatic attraction between dipoles or charges on a hydrogen and another, electronegative, atom. Elangannan Arunan, who co-chairs the Iupac group assigned to categorise hydrogen bonds and other intermolecular interactions, highlights that there is a variety of evidence, including nuclear magnetic resonance data, that some electron density is shared between them. ’This shows that the hydrogen bond has a covalent nature,’ he says.
The current classification also concentrates on fluorine, oxygen and nitrogen, which Arunan says research has been shown as too simplistic. ’Most existing definitions insist hydrogen is connected to the most electronegative atoms,’ he tells Chemistry World. ’That is far from complete now.’ Arunan points out that Richard Nelmes at the University of Edinburgh, UK discovered that solid hydrogen sulfide has a hydrogen bonding structure resembling ice. ’That’s what really shocked chemists,’ he says.
Arunan’s own research, at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has demonstrated that hydrogen sulfide molecules can hydrogen bond with ethylene. He also notes that methane, noble gases like krypton, and unpaired-electron radical species have been seen as hydrogen’s bonding partner.
A 14 member group including hydrogen bonding textbook authors like Utah State University’s Steve Scheiner and Arunan’s Bangalore colleague Gautam Desiraju has been developing the latest classification since 2004. Arunan hopes that their combined contribution will help minimise any controversy. ’Hydrogen bonding is not string theory or gravitons, which no-one has ever seen yet,’ he emphasises. ’There are plenty of experimental and theoretical results available.’
Slawomir Grabowski, a hydrogen bonding expert at the University of the Basque Country in Spain underlines that Nobel laureate Linus Pauling originated the best-used current definition in 1960. ’The change of definition is needed,’ he tells Chemistry World, ’but because of the broad spectrum of interactions which exist in nature I am slightly sceptical it’s possible to propose a definition that satisfies the whole community of chemists.’
Andy Extance |
Su-24 flight recorder confirms Russian aircraft did not violate Turkish airspace
The Russian Defense Ministry held an open briefing devoted to the results of the decoding of flight recorders of the Su-24 bomber aircraft that was shot down by Turkish Air Force.
AP photo
As it was said at the briefing, Russia has all evidence to prove that the warplane of the Russian Air Force did not violate Turkish airspace.
Also read: Scenarios of real war between Russia and Turkey
"We have all the necessary evidence to confirm the absence of facts to establish violations of Turkey's airspace by the Russian aircraft,"Sergei Dronov, Deputy Commander of the Russian Air Force said, RIA Novosti reports.
He added that the Russian bomber was carrying out its mission in the mountainous area of Syria and did not pose any danger to Turkey and its citizens.
The analysis of the data of flight recorders of the downed Russian Su-24 will be conducted openly. The use of special equipment allows to conclude that the decoding of the data was conducted as usual.
None of the countries that have been following the investigation of the incident with the downing of the Russian military aircraft has denied the information voiced by officials of the Russian Air Force, Defense Ministry and the President of Russia.
"No one, but Turkey, has refuted the data of objective monitoring of air conditions in the specified area of Syria," said Sergey Dronov, Deputy Commander of the Russian Federation Air Force.
First data of the decoding of the Su-24 flight recorders will be exposed on Monday, December 21 at the session of the Interstate Aviation Committee.
Pravda.Ru
Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru |
This post is an overview of the smart pointers available in Boost, TR1, and C++x0. It also touches on the availability and portability of the last two options when it comes to various C++ compilers.
General-purpose smart pointers can be divided into two categories: shared pointers and unique pointers. With shared pointers there could be multiple instances of the smart pointer pointing to the same object. Shared pointers normally use some form of reference counting to manage the lifetime of the object they point to. Unique pointers have the restriction of only one instance of the smart pointer managing the object.
Shared pointer implementations are normally differentiated by the location of the reference counter. The two most commonly used approaches are having the counter embedded into the object itself (intrusive reference counter) and allocating the counter separately, normally on the heap. Another, less frequently used approach, is to allocate the counter in the same block of memory as the object itself.
Unique pointer implementations are normally differentiated by the way they handle pointer copying and copy assignment. C++-98 std::auto_ptr is a unique pointer that transfers the ownership of the object from the source pointer to the newly created pointer in case of the copy construction or to the left hand side in case of the copy assignment.
Boost
Boost includes an assortment of smart pointers which are grouped into the header-only smart_ptr sub-library. The current release contains the following variants:
scoped_ptr <boost/scoped_ptr.hpp> intrusive_ptr <boost/intrusive_ptr.hpp> shared_ptr <boost/shared_ptr.hpp> weak_ptr <boost/weak_ptr.hpp>
Boost scoped_ptr is a unique pointer implementation that does not support copying or copy assignment. Nor does it support returning a scoped_ptr instance from a function. intrusive_ptr provides support for objects with an embedded reference counter. This pointer calls the intrusive_ptr_add_ref(T*) and intrusive_ptr_release(T*) functions to manage the object’s lifetime. You are expected to provide suitable implementations of these functions for your object types.
Boost shared_ptr is a shared pointer implementation that uses a separate reference counter allocated on the heap. weak_ptr is a companion pointer which points to the object owned by shared_ptr without having an increment in the reference counter. It is primarily useful to resolve cycles in an object ownership graph that would otherwise prevent the objects in the graph from ever being deleted.
One common criticism of implementations with separate reference counters such as Boost shared_ptr is the performance and memory usage penalty incurred by the separate allocation of the reference counter. To mitigate this issue Boost shared_ptr provides two helper functions, make_shared() and allocate_shared() , that allow you to allocate the reference counter and the object itself as a single memory block. There are, however, other penalties and limitations associated with this approach.
Firstly, if you have a weak_ptr instance pointing to an object that has already been deleted (that is, there are no more shared_ptr instances pointing to this object), then that weak_ptr will prevent the memory that was used for the object from being freed. This is because the reference counter used by shared_ptr and weak_ptr is only freed when there are no more instances of either pointer type. And since the counter and the object are allocated as a single block of memory, they can only be freed together.
The other drawback of the make_shared() implementation is the increase in the object code size. Due to the way this optimization is implemented, an additional virtual table as well as a set of virtual functions will be instantiated for each object type that you use with make_shared() .
Finally, make_shared() will need access to the object’s constructor. This, for example, breaks the canonical object factory implementation where the object’s constructor is made private to prevent direct construction and the factory is made a friend of the object’s class. Making make_shared() a friend is not easy either since it is actually a set of overloaded function templates.
To make use of Boost smart pointers in your application, you will need to add an external dependency on Boost. Since the smart_ptr library is header-only, you or users of your application won’t need to build anything in Boost. Boost is also fairly portable and can be used with most modern C++ compilers. The smart_ptr library in particular has been around for a while so even if all of Boost cannot be built with your compiler of choice, chances are you will be able to use the smart pointers.
TR1
Technical Report on C++ Library Extensions, commonly referred to as TR1, adds the shared_ptr smart pointer implementation to the std::tr1 namespace. The TR1 shared_ptr has the same interface as Boost shared_ptr . The only part that is not available in TR1 are the make_shared() and allocate_shared() functions discussed above.
If TR1 shared_ptr is the same as (or, more precisely, slightly “less” than) Boost shared_ptr , you may be wondering why would anyone use the TR1 version. You may prefer to use TR1 shared_ptr because its implementation comes with the C++ compiler and your application does not need to have any extra dependencies. However, if you are already using Boost, then it doesn’t make much sense to use shared_ptr from TR1. Another potential advantage of the TR1 version are the compiler and platform-specific optimizations that can be implemented by the compiler vendors. The thread safety of the reference counter operations is one area where such optimizations can make a big difference. However, in practice and at this time, most implementations of the TR1 shared_ptr are copies of the code from Boost.
The following table summarizes the support for TR1 shared_ptr in widely-used C++ compilers:
GNU g++ since 4.0.0 MS Visual Studio (VC++) since 2008 (9.0) with Feature Pack or SP1 Sun Studio (Sun CC) not available in the latest release (12 Update 1) IBM XL C++ since 9.0 HP aCC not available in the latest release (A.06.25) Intel C++ uses TR1 headers from GNU g++ or VC++
The TR1 specification requires that if new declarations are added to existing headers (and shared_ptr is added to <memory> ), such declarations should not be visible to the application code by default. Instead, the application developer must take some special action to enable TR1 declarations. With current implementations you are either required to define a special macro or include the TR1 versions of the headers from a different directory. This can be a major hurdle in writing portable applications that use TR1.
From the above list, GNU g++ uses the separate header approach and requires that you include headers with the tr1/ prefix in order to get the TR1 declarations. Visual Studio disregards the TR1 specifications and enables TR1 by default for all applications. IBM XL C++ requires you to define the __IBMCPP_TR1__ macro. And Intel C++, since it uses the C++ standard library from GNU g++ on Linux/Mac OS X and from Visual Studio on Windows, will behave like one of the two compilers, depending on the platform. The following code fragment shows how we can include the TR1-enabled <memory> header in a portable manner:
#include <cstddef> // for __GLIBCXX__ #ifdef __GLIBCXX__ # include <tr1/memory> #else # ifdef __IBMCPP__ # define __IBMCPP_TR1__ # endif # include <memory> #endif
Boost also provides an implementation of TR1 (since version 1.34.0) which is just a thin wrapper around other boost libraries. So if the compiler version that you are using does not yet support TR1, you can fall back on the TR1 implementation from Boost. Note, however, that there are some compiler-specific issues that you may have to resolve if you want to include the TR1 headers using their standard names, for example <memory> . On the other hand, using Boost-specific headers, for example <boost/tr1/memory.hpp> , should work consistently across different compilers. See the Boost TR1 library documentation for details. The following code shows how to include the TR1-enabled <memory> header if the compiler provides one and how to fall back on the boost implementation otherwise:
#include <cstddef> // __GLIBCXX__, _HAS_TR1 // GNU C++ or Intel C++ using libstd++. // #if defined (__GNUC__) && __GNUC__ >= 4 && defined (__GLIBCXX__) # include <tr1/memory> // // IBM XL C++. // #elif defined (__xlC__) && __xlC__ >= 0×0900 # define __IBMCPP_TR1__ # include <memory> // // VC++ or Intel C++ using VC++ standard library. // #elif defined (_MSC_VER) && (_MSC_VER == 1500 && defined (_HAS_TR1) || _MSC_VER > 1500) # include <memory> // // Boost fall-back. // #else # include <boost/tr1/memory.hpp> #endif
C++-0x
C++-0x moves the std::tr1::shared_ptr smart pointer to the std namespace and adds support for make_shared() and allocate_shared() .
C++-0x also deprecates auto_ptr and adds a new unique pointer implementation called unique_ptr . The new implementation disables the copy constructor and copy assignment operator and instead provides the “move” constructor and assignment operator that use rvalue-references as their arguments. This still allows you to return a unique_ptr instance from a function with the ownership of the pointed-to object being automatically transferred from the function body to the caller. However, if you want to transfer the ownership from one instance of unique_ptr to another, you will have to do it explicitly with the std::move() call, for example:
struct s {}; std::unique_ptr<s> a (new s); std::unique_ptr<s> b (std::move (a)); a = std::move (b);
At this point only a few C++ compilers support C++-0x and this support is incomplete and experimental. Currently only GCC g++ (4.3 or later), VC++ (10.0) and Intel C++ (11.0) provide enough C++-0x language support to be able to implement shared_ptr and unique_ptr as specified in the draft of the standard.
So which smart pointer implementation should you use in your application? If you have the luxury of using C++-0x, then the choice is pretty straightforward: use std::shared_ptr for shared pointers and std::unique_ptr for unique pointers. The rvalue-aware implementations of these pointers are too good to ignore. For the rest of us who cannot yet use C++-0x, the unique pointer is the old faithful std::auto_ptr and the choice for a shared pointer is between using the compiler-provided one from TR1 or the Boost implementation. If your application is already using Boost, then the choice seems pretty straightforward as well: use Boost and forget about different compiler versions, etc. On the other hand, if your goal is to minimize the external library dependencies, it may be worthwhile to try to use the native TR1 implementation on modern (and thus more popular) C++ compilers and fall back on Boost when TR1 is not available.
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Lyon ease to a 2-0 victory over Sochaux in Ligue 1, thanks to second-half goals from Clement Grenier and Yoann Gourcuff.
Lyon have eased to a 2-0 victory over Sochaux in Ligue 1 this evening, thanks to second-half goals from Clement Grenier and Yoann Gourcuff.
© Getty Images
Cedric Bakambu created the game's first real chance as he let fly with a long-range effort, which had to be kept out of the bottom corner by the Lyon goalkeeper.
Bakambu wasted a great chance minutes later when he headed over from Cedric Kante's cross, before Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette lashed a shot just wide of the post as the hosts looked to respond.
Lyon picked up the pace after the break and took the lead through Grenier, who was able to convert from a free kick with a right-footed shot into the top-left corner.
The hosts then doubled their advantage in the 75th minute as midfielder Gourcuff crashed home a right-footed shot from the left side of the box, leaving the final score to end 2-0. |
In this age of nanos and neighborhood-geared breweries, many brewing companies’ beers will only ever be available at their tasting rooms or, at best, on draft. In the case of the latter, most of those accounts will be spots not too far from the breweries where the beers were birthed. Right now, only about a third of San Diego’s brewing companies bottle or can their beers, but that number is on a rapid rise. In the past two months, four companies have moved into the packaging phase of their operations.
Helm’s Brewing Company 5640 Kearny Mesa Road, Suite C/N , Kearny Mesa
Belching Beaver Brewery 980 Park Center Drive, Suite A, Vista
The first to get its beers in portable containers was Helm’s Brewing Company. Three of that Kearny Mesa-based business’ beers— Captain’s Pale Ale, Wicked As Sin Rye IPA, and Hop the RIPA (red India pale ale) — are being self-distributed in 22-ounce bottles. Twenty-two ounce water mammal-adorned bottles from Vista’s Belching Beaver Brewery are also trickling their way into the market. Available brews include Me So Honey honey ale, Hop Highway 78 India Pale Ale and Dammed! Double IPA.
Twisted Manzanita Brewing Company 10151 Prospect Avenue, Santee (No longer in business.) (No longer in business.)
BNS Brewing & Distilling 10960 Wheatlands Avenue #101, Santee
Several weeks ago, Mobile West Canning, a mobile canning operation, dropped by Manzanita Brewing Company to package all of the Santee company’s core beers in 12-ounce aluminum cans. The first beer to be packaged was Chaotic Double IPA, with Riverwalk Blonde and New Horizon Red Ale following shortly after. Depending on beer style, the canned brews are available in four- or six-packs at Manzanita’s tasting room. Just a mile north, Santee newcomer BNS Brewing & Distilling Company is moving forward with plans to bottle its beer. Expect to see its Ma Deuce Double IPA sometime in March. |
Bethany Lindsay, ctvbc.ca
Police and the B.C. SPCA are investigating "horrific" reports that the general manager for a Whistler tour company slaughtered at least 100 healthy sled dogs last year, dumping their bodies into a mass grave.
The employee at a dog-sledding company now owned by Outdoor Adventures Whistler filed a WorkSafe BC claim for post-traumatic stress in May 2010 after shooting dozens of dogs to death.
"It's horrific," Marcie Moriarty, general manager for SPCA cruelty investigations, told ctvbc.ca.
"I've seen some pretty terrible things, but reading this [claim], I had to put it down at times."
The slaughter was conducted on April 21 and 23. In his claim, the worker wrote that he had killed 70 dogs, but the company corrected that number to 100.
The dogs were killed because of a "slow winter season" after the Winter Olympics, according to WorkSafe BC documents.
Whistler RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve LeClair said police are investigating the allegations, and criminal charges are possible, including cruelty to animals and injuring or endangering animals.
Outdoor Adventures Whistler says the cull was conducted by the manager of its subsidiary company Howling Dog Tours.
"It was our expectation that it was done in a proper, legal and humane manner. We only learned otherwise on Friday, January 28 when we read the WCB ruling for the first time," Outdoor Adventures Whistler said in a release.
The company says that it is also investigating the mass killing, and the employee no longer manages the dog business.
"This employee continues to get our support as he heals from his injuries and illness," the company said.
Outdoor Adventures Whistler has had a financial stake in Howling Dog for four years and took over complete control of the company in May 2010.
Gruesome details contained in claim
In WorkSafe BC documents, the worker describes chasing after a dog that survived a shot to the face: "Although she had the left side of her cheek blown off and her eye hanging out, he was unable to catch her."
Another apparently dead dog was dumped into the grave. "‘Nora,' who he had shot approximately 20 minutes before, was crawling around in the mass grave he had dug for the animals. He had to climb down into the grave amidst the 10 or so bodies already there and put her out of her misery."
According to the claim, the dogs panicked as they watched their compatriots being killed, and attacked the worker as he finished his job.
At one point during the slaughter, he ran out of ammunition and had to kill an aggressive dog with a knife.
"By that point he wanted nothing more than to stop the ‘nightmare' but he continued because he had been given a job to finish," according to the documents.
"He stated that he felt ‘numb.'"
The worker told WorkSafe BC he had worked for the company for years, lived on a farm with the dogs, "and had developed a strong emotional bond of mutual love and trust with them."
He said that he consulted a veterinarian after being told to get rid of 100 animals, but they refused to euthanize healthy dogs. He had previously killed, at most, four or five dogs at once.
Vet-supervised lethal injections would have been the humane way to cull the dogs, Moriarty said. "It is technically legal to shoot an animal, as long as it dies instantly. That most certainly did not happen in this instance."
Moriarty said the SPCA will have to dig up the mass grave to complete its investigation, which will include the possibility of criminal charges.
Ban on sled-dog tours?
The Vancouver Humane Society is now calling for a ban on sled-dog tours.
"The details of how these dogs were killed are absolutely shocking," VHS spokesman Peter Fricker said in a release.
"This is what happens when animals are exploited for profit and become surplus to requirements when business is bad."
Moriarty said the SPCA isn't impressed with most sled-dog businesses, either.
"I've had a huge problem with the sled-dogging industry for years," she said, adding that some dogs are tied up all day on short tethers, with little chance for exercise, rather than being taken out on tours.
"In B.C. we come across far more dogs in horrible conditions in the name of quote-unquote dog-sledding operations."
But she stopped short of calling for an all-out ban on dog-sledding tours.
"It's hard given stories like today for me to say this, but there are good sled-dogging operations out there. I have seen them," Moriarty said.
She added that the best businesses tend to have between 20 and 30 animals raised by a single family.
Changes at Outdoor Adventures
Outdoor Adventures Whistler says that since it took control of Howling Dogs, it has made "significant" changes to the business to ensure the humane treatment of its animals.
Those changes include giving away 75 dogs, neutering males and creating an open-pen kennel rather than tethering the dogs. Guns are no longer allowed on site and the company's new policy is that euthanasia must be performed at a veterinary office. |
Welcome to Part 1 of our Exclusive Interview with Opie Ortiz. Part 2 of this lengthy interview will be published April 29th, 2014. I spoke with Opie Ortiz on the phone for about an hour and he couldn’t have been a more humble person to speak with. We talked about his days hanging around Sublime to designing all of their artwork as well as the rise & fall of Long Beach Dub Allstars.
Opie Ortiz is the visual artist that we associate the music of Sublime and Long Beach Dub Allstars with. He designed the 40oz to Freedom cover, his actual face is on the cover of Sublime’s Robbin’ The Hood and in addition to being a vocalist, he provided all of the tattoo-styled artwork for Long Beach Dub Allstars. He’s as much a member of Sublime than most would give him credit for. It’s his artwork and imagery that Sublime fans represent with t-shirts, posters, lighters etc., all showcasing that 40oz Sun and iconic Sublime art.
While preparing for this interview, I saw that there’s not much out there on Opie Ortiz and his connection to Sublime. He hasn’t spoken much to his background with meeting Brad Nowell, Bud Gaugh, Eric Wilson, Marshall Goodman or Miguel Happoldt. I had a hard time finding anything with regards to his transition into Long Beach Dub Allstars or how his face came to be on the cover of Robbin The Hood. With all of these questions, read Opie’s answers below. Come back April 29th for Part 2 of this interview discussing Sublime with Rome, today’s reggae-rock music and what he has planned for the future…
You Can Read Part 2 of this Interview by clicking HERE
The Pier: There’s a lot of excitement coming up for the Skunk 25th Anniversary Show at Cali-Roots. How were you personally approached to be a part of this & is there anything you have planned for Cali-roots specifically?
Opie Ortiz: We were in the midst of recording some stuff & we had been talking about doing some actual shows based on this newer material we have. It was weird because we were talking about something similar to this and then all of the sudden it was happening. What I’m bringing, is I have 2 new songs that I’ve written and just some flavor of how we like the Skunk thing. Playing with some guys who are affiliated with us and have been affiliated with us for a long time and just playing some good music.
Yeah! Fans are excited for your return to the stage, especially now that there’s new material! Before we get into that, a little background, can you tell me about the first time you met Miguel Happoldt & Brad Nowell?
I actually knew Eric Wilson & Bud Gaugh before I met Brad. I was in school with Eric Wilson at Rodgers Junior High and we had a science class together. And then later, we both got kicked out & went to Jefferson Junior High together. But I was good friends with Eric and witnessed his first band, this punk band that he had, I think it was a band called Contraband. They opened up for Social Distortion in LA a couple times and they were a pretty good punk-rock band. Later on, he started jamming with Brad, who I met later. They had a band and they would jam. I think it was the beginning of them starting to play some covers and some Ska stuff, but they were mostly punk-rock. That’s how I met Brad and later on, Miguel came in the picture and that was the beginning of Skunk Records, basically.
Okay. Would that be the same time period in which you met Marshall Goodman as well?
No, we had all gone to school together; Marshall was always in the picture as a drummer. We had mutual friends. We were always real cordial. I don’t know if it was our ethnic backgrounds that made us closer or whatever, but we were always really tight. I think it was because we had a mutual friend that was really close to both of us, so we just became friends automatically. When Marshall started drumming for Sublime, I think that was like a musical venture that they needed to go on because they weren’t all really synced together. They weren’t really all from the same background; Eric & Brad were, but Marshall was from a different background. They all became good friends and jamming together and we were just all friends. It wasn’t like anything was forced, you know? They needed a drummer and Marshall was a drummer.
How did you fit in musically? I mean, you were referenced on ‘Robbin the Hood’, singing. Were you doing music with Sublime at the time?
I was just a ‘hang-around’, you know what I mean? I was just always there. When no one was on the drum kit or whatever, I would pick up the drums & play drums. I had to play a show one time. Bud didn’t show up and they had a show lined up in Santa Barbara. I pulled up and Eric was like “You ready to play drums?” and I think I played like 3 songs and that was it. I played drums for Sublime and it was a really weird feeling. I wasn’t really that good at drums. I could keep a straight forward beat, but the fills and all that other shit was on me. I was just always hanging around and singing with Brad and doing free-styles with him and stuff like that. Our appreciation for Reggae music made that. It’s not because we wanted to be in the lime light and we wanted everyone to know about what we were listening to, it’s because we just loved reggae music and we loved the feeling. We loved the unknown of what they were singing about, trying to figure it out.
And it seems like you were a pretty big part of that whole movement with Sublime. You were on the first 2 cover arts with designing 40oz to Freedom and then you’re on the cover of Robbin the Hood with a still shot of you from the “STP” music video. How did that still-shot come to be the cover?
Yeah, ask Miguel (haha!) — You know you’re searching for something that you want to be cool and I think that’s where Miguel comes in where his ideas are different from ours! Like me coming from tattoo, I mean you’ve seen the covers I do, that’s the style of art that I like to do! Obviously, Miguel had a different feeling; he wanted Robbin the Hood to be more underground looking, I guess. When I saw that, I was bummed, I was like “Oh, I’m going to be on the cover?” I didn’t even want that.
Well I’m sure as an artist, you’d rather use your artwork rather than your face. Did that take some adjusting when you started to see it printed and promoted everywhere?
Yea I got kind of mad. I was just like “Oh they’re just using me,” or whatever. But I think later I appreciated it. If they didn’t have that cover, what would the cover have been?
Possibly some of your artwork?
Yeah I think the artwork that I was doing at that time – it was a weird period of time where I wasn’t really creating stuff like that. It was more just painting kind of stuff. There were some images that are in that album that are from that era. Me & Miguel put the 40oz (artwork) together at Kinkos! We did that with Slightly Stoopid’s first album too. We did the whole album layout at Kinkos! So they show me Robbin the Hood and my initial response was like: “Fuck that!” But I didn’t give a full ear to that album until later. I love 40oz to Freedom, that period of time and that whole sound but my favorite album, and not because I’m on the cover, is Robbin the Hood! It developed the rawness of what Brad’s ideas were. You can hear him raw on those 4-track recordings. To me, it means more than the computerized re-mastered remix. It holds more weight to me because I’m old school! I don’t like the over-effects and all that shit. I don’t like modern stuff, I like old stuff.
Do you think that may have turned you off towards writing music, with the evolution of everything going digital?
Yeah, we were right in the whole mix of that and it just made me turn away from music. I still like to create music and if I can create music on old analog shit and make it sound the way I want then so be it, that’s the way I’ll do it.
Talking about the 40oz cover – Did you design the 40oz Sun specifically for that album or was it something that you had, that they decided to use later? How did that design come about?
I was air-brushing t-shirts as a form of income as a young artist growing up. You kind of find avenues to make money. So I had air-brushed a t-shirt and if you look in the 40oz to Freedom (booklet), you see the picture of Sublime standing in the street & Brad is wearing an air-brushed t-shirt that I did a long time ago around that era and that’s the image where we got the idea for the sun for 40oz.
I read somewhere, with regards to the sun, that its symbolism of Decay and the different ways to get there, is that right?
No, not really, it’s just imagination. I had like Mexican Aztec images in my mind when I was doing that, but I had to put it in a modern day twist. So it’s just like, life & death! You look at the flames and they’re kind of like black & white & they look like sperm almost. Inside is death and life and rebirth and all of that. It’s just a combination of images to form a central image.
When I think of Sublime or Long Beach Dub Allstars, the first visuals that come to my mind, is every bit of your artwork. Were you the guy that was also tattooing the members? Is that how you came to be the visual presence of Sublime?
I was just always there and if you’re homies that’s what you do. You have your homies do it instead of going out and having someone else do it who doesn’t know you. I feel like they were comfortable with me relaying an image that represented them. Miguel and Brad saw that in me! Eric always saw that in me and was always a good friend. Even when I got my tattoo equipment, I was like: “Lets tattoo you guys!” He was like: “I’ll just wait until you’re good.” It’s not saying “No”, but he’s saying “I’ll wait until you do a couple tattoos before you tattoo me.” (haha!) When I did that sun, it was like a verbal agreement. That’s what I was going to paint and then I painted it. In a sense, it was like the icing on the cake for that album for me.
And people can’t think of Sublime without visualizing that sun — you see it everywhere! That’s got to be a huge nod to you as an artist! People who love Sublime want it tattooed on them, they want the shirts, the lighters, they just want to embody all of that because it represents Sublime and you provided that visual presence…
Yea I think I just if it wasn’t me it probably would have been some other artist, you know what I mean? But in a different visual way. I don’t know, it was a definitive piece that, for me artistically, I have to create more! Visually, I just think I’ve come a long way since that was done. I’m totally admirable to them for giving me that stage to do that art.
I want to talk about Long Beach Dub Allstars – I know it started with the Enough Already Benefit Show and with ‘Dub Allstars came your visual presence, as well as being a vocalist. How did all of that transpire? How were you approached to be a part of ‘Dub Allstars?
It was weird; after Brad had passed we were all devastated. Our arms were open for all the homies and we were all just hanging out and jamming to help with the remorse. That was the only way Bud & Eric could deal, was to keep playing. I really don’t remember how it all came about, but it was the Enough Already Benefit show; that’s what we were practicing for. I think we just started getting calls to play, so we just did a mini tour for Cali. I don’t know if it was just therapy for them or all of us, but we all came together and we kind of figured it out. The first shows were really rough, especially the Enough Already Benefit Show. If you listen, it just sounds so rough. But we worked out a lot of the kinks and we started sounding really good live. When we started really nailing it live, getting a really good response from the crowd and feeling good about it, I think that’s what music’s about.
You hung out with Sublime early on, then you lose a brother in Brad and you guys do this Enough Already concert & all the sudden you start to get a lot of attention, catching that wave of success with ‘Dub Allstars, that Sublime missed. How is it for you to go from being behind the canvas, hanging out, to being on stage with a microphone, singing in front of hundreds to thousands of fans?
It was cool and then the whole realization would always rear its head of: “You’re doing this because your friend died.” I mean that’s the only real reason I was doing it, other than my love of music. Brad, he knew that I loved Reggae music and he would come over to my house and record my mom’s albums. I’d be like “Oh I got this album” and he’d come over and record. And then I’d hear direct snippets of him listening to that music and it would play into his writing.
I felt it sucked in the beginning, because it was real hard for me to just take on that whole thing. After awhile, you kind of just let it go and try not to get too wasted in that environment. Eventually it was working out, but I think I had other issues in me; I was ailing. We pulled through, we did 2 albums, we did some tours and luckily no one else died. Obviously, drug problems are relevant in music and stuff like that. I’m glad we pretty much all learned from that and we can say we went to Europe, we went to Japan playing music!
Is that something you hope to continue doing now with LBDA after reforming back in 2012? You guys were recording some music and you have some new songs — is that something you hope to do again with taking the band on the road and producing new music?
Yea it’s straight out of doing it for the love of music! When Miguel talked about it, I told him “I don’t want to make music to try and make money! If I make money, so be it.” But good music is just good music! It doesn’t fuckin’ matter what label it’s on, it doesn’t matter about any of that bullshit! I can’t stand the way music is going. I’m not like Justin Timberlake or Bob Dylan or anybody like that; you know what I’m saying? I just like good music. I was raised on real good music with Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, soul, and funk – all of that stuff! You can’t play this new stuff and tell me this is good music.
You Can Read Part 2 of this Interview by clicking HERE
Opie Ortiz Links:
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Interview by: Mike Patti
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Watch: Sublime – “STP”
Listen: Long Beach Dub Allstars – “My Own Life” |
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My dad was nationalised 70 years ago this week. Or at least on January 1, 1948, his job was, along with those of other fellow railway workers.
It was a new dawn for the nation’s biggest industrial “family” and they had great expectations from public ownership. Railwaymen had demanded nationalisation as far back as 1894. It was the Holy Grail of their unions.
Train drivers looked forward to a “Utopia” where they’d work for themselves, their fellow workers and their country. Even David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill spoke in favour.
“Now, in 1948, our impossible dream was about to come true,” said footplate union Aslef. It did – but the dream was crushed by John Major’s ideologically driven Tory government 50 years later.
Today, the political drama is on replay. Who owns the railway, who runs it and for whose benefit is back up the agenda after 20 years of failed privatisation.
Driven by passenger dissatisfaction and rocketing fares, Jeremy Corbyn ’s pledge to renationalise the railways has huge public support.
The failure of Virgin’s flagship East Coast Mainline from London to Leeds and Edinburgh, which made a profit in public ownership, showed clearly that 1948 was the right solution.
Labour plans to unite track and trains under a single public company. They should look back at how hard the private companies fought to prevent nationalisation – and won higher compensation. That battle will have to be refought.
It’s hard to believe but nationalisation was something of an anti-climax. “There were no great ceremonies,” said historian Hamilton Ellis, “no striking of colours and hoisting of new ones. The only musical honours were the traditional ones of locomotive whistles screaming the old year out and the new year in.”
(Image: Getty)
(Image: Getty)
Clement Attlee’s postwar Labour regime was delivering on his vow to take the commanding heights of the economy, including coal, steel and rail, into public ownership. The mines came first, on January 1, 1947.
But the railway was different, a myriad trades, from signalman to sous-chef, ship’s captain to shunter. It reached every corner of the country, a uniformed workforce dedicated to making trains run.
But the new British Railways faced a daunting task uniting the Big Four firms – Great Western; London and North Eastern; London, Midland and Scottish; and Southern.
The system was run-down after the war, and Chancellor Dr Hugh Dalton called it “a poor bag of assets” to buy. A churlish understatement. BR inherited 19,863 miles of track, 7,000 stations, 20,000 locos, 56,000 coaches, 1.2 million freight waggons, 54 hotels, 7,000 horses, 130 steamships, 96 miles of harbours, 51,000 houses, engineering works and vast tracts of property.
My railway clerk father Harry, working in Yorkshire for the LMS, was one of a vast army of “nationalised” employees, so big nobody knew how big – but estimates varied up to 649,000. Not all employees greeted public ownership with the enthusiasm of union leaders. Families had served the industry for generations and had strong company loyalty.
The Big Four bosses warned: “Many members of staff will feel sad they will no longer be associated with a company whose achievements and tradition they may feel proud of.”
Recognising this esprit de corps, BR divided the system into regions that mirrored the old firms. On the Great Western, very little changed. Even the carriages retained a unique livery, and locos their brass numberplates. Initial optimism soon gave way to scepticism, if not downright cynicism. As early as May 1948, driver DN Smith of Norwich moaned: “The set-up savours too much of the old system. The same managers, operating the same way.”
(Image: Getty)
(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
These were challenging times. During the war, the railways had a virtual monopoly but the 1950s brought competition from the private car and lorries. So poor old BR became synonymous with inefficiency: slow, late services, dirty stations, strikes, operating losses.
A 1955 Modernisation Plan was a costly failure, paving the way for the Beeching Plan. ICI boss Dr Beeching was appointed by the Tories to bring BR back into profitability. His 1963 report led to the closure of thousands of stations and route miles, and huge job losses.
Despite being the arch-privatiser, even Margaret Thatcher had no appetite for selling off the railways. Her successor, John Major, had no such qualms. He set about the most-botched privatisation by any Tory government. BR was split between track-owning, train operating, rolling stock and maintenance firms: more than 100, all with legions of executives, all clamouring for subsidies – which went up fivefold. And ticket prices soared to the highest in Europe.
(Image: Daily Herald)
Worse still, with job cuts and lower safety standards came fatal crashes. Southall, 1997, seven dead; Ladbroke Grove, 1999, 31 dead; Hatfield, 2000, four dead; and Potters Bar, 2002, seven dead.
Public confidence collapsed. Despite rising numbers of travellers, the story since has been one of systemic failure. Bungling train operators have come and gone, handing back franchises because they can’t make them pay.
East Coast Mainline is getting out of its contract in 2020, three years early – at a cost of £2billion to the taxpayer. The business model is a fake. The industry has not been privatised but inter-nationalised, with state-owned foreign firms responsible for one in two of our 1.7 billion annual train passenger journeys.
The governments of Germany, France, the Netherlands and even Hong Kong have a bigger stake than UK investors.
(Image: Getty)
(Image: Daily Record)
Aslef’s Mick Whelan says: “The Tories say they don’t believe in state control, yet they’re happy to allow Britain’s train companies to be run by state-owned railways – as long as it’s another state.
“We can all see rail privatisation hasn’t worked. We need a Labour government committed to putting our fragmented railway back together as a modern, integrated, publicly owned system fit for the 21st century.”
A Mirror reader poll found 86% back public ownership. Among the general public, it’s two to one. This is a vote-winner for Labour.
I can’t help wondering what Dad would have made of this. He was no Labour supporter but he was a committed man of the railway until his death at 54.
He joined the LMS in the 1930s, when the job had genuine respect and the industry was a vital part of the economy, not a political plaything.
A bright future beckons for the railway. Yet 20 years after flogging off the industry’s silver, the politicians still don’t know where the train is going. I’m sure Dad would say: “This is no way to run a railway.” |
7 years. Barring a miracle, this April the Buffalo Sabres will again miss out on the NHL playoffs making it seven years since the underwhelming 2010-2011 first round exit.
What gives? How have other teams gone on to rebuild and find success and the Sabres have not?
Some people start at the top and blame ownership. Others blame the coaching. While those factors may contribute, this article will exam the draft picks.
The Sabres drafts from 2010 until 2015 were brutal. That is why the Sabres have been so bad the past 7 years. Without a strong draft, the whole franchise becomes inept. Free agency misses were another reason for the abysmal trajectory of the franchise. But, there is reason to be excited about the drafts of 2015, 2016, and 2017. The problem, draft prospects take time and are never a sure fire thing. Hopefully, come 2019 and beyond, the Sabres roster will be ready to compete. In the meantime, have a few beers and embrace the tank 2.0??
2010
Possibly the worst draft in Buffalo Sabres history.
1 player from that draft is still in the NHL: Mark Psysk
While some may like the player, his contributions to the Sabres were limited. He played a total of 125 games for the Sabres over the course of four years and contributed 26 points.
Big misses: no other player selected by the Sabres in that draft ever played in an NHL game.
Sure, the rest of the NHL draft class may not have been stellar, but there were big contributors found in late rounds.
Notable names:
John Klingberg, round 5 131st overall, Dallas
Brendan Gallagher, round 5 147th overall, Montreal
Dalton Prout, round 6 154th overall, Columbus
Jesper Fast, round 6 157th overall, Rangers
Mark Stone, round 6 178th overall, Ottawa
Biggest blunder: the Sabres selected Mark Psysk 23rd overall, three spots ahead of stud Evgeni Kuznetsov
2011
Another really tough draft year.
Total number of NHL games played by the five Sabres picks: 119
First round pick Joel Armia (16th overall) never panned out to the hype
Guys the Sabres missed out on:
Boone Jenner (2nd round)
Brandon Saad (2nd round)
Nikita Kucherov (2nd round)
J-G Pageau (4th round)
Johnny Goudreau (4th round)
Andrew Shaw (5th round)
Ondrej Palat (7th round)
2012
Better, but still tough considering we had two first round picks. Who did we select: Mikhail Grigorenko and Zemgus Girgensons
Linus Ullmark could make this a better draft if he breaks into the Sabres lineup
Guys the Sabres missed out on and could have selected:
Tom Wilson (16th overall)
Thomas Hertl (17th overall)
Olli Maata (22nd overall)
Mike Matheson (23rd overall)
Colton Parayko (86th overall)
Frederik Anderson (87th overall)
Biggest Miss: selecting Mikhail Grigorenko
Biggest positive: Jake McCabe in the 2nd Round
2013
Sabres finally selected a building block that is a big part of the future: Rasmus Ristolainen
Jury is still out on if he is the big D man we all hope he is
Our other first rounder Nikita Zadorov did not work out. Justin Bailey could have a future on the team. Nicholas Baptiste is still lurking in the shadows as are NCAA studs Anthony Florentino and Sean Malone.
Overall not a bad draft.
Players the Sabres missed out on:
Andre Burakovsky (23rd overall)
Brett Pesce (66th overall)
Oliver Bjorkstrand (89th overall)
Anthony Duclair (80th overall)
Ryan Hartman (30th overall)
Biggest regret: Not signing goaltender Cal Petersen. Could be a real tough pill to swallow if he turns into an NHL goaltender. Petersen refused to sign and walked. He has a .939 save % for the Ontario Reign in the AHL in 6 games (that was a tough stat to even type given the Sabres goaltender fiasco)..
2014
The Sabres thought they got a prized possession. Samson Reinhart was a consensus top 5 pick. Unfortunately, it does not look like he is part of the long term future. He is a smart, crafty player. He just does not have the skating speed to be as effective as he could be. Unfortunately, players drafted later have had a better start to their career, and it looks like the Sabres will move on from their 2nd overall draft pick.
No other player drafted by the Sabres has even played for Buffalo. Brendan Lemieux received a lot of hype and he was a trade piece for the Sabres. He finally touched NHL ice this season for the Winnipeg Jets. He could develop into a solid NHLer.
Players the Sabres missed out on:
Leon Draisaitl (3rd overall… ouch!)
William Nylander (8th overall)
Dylan Larkin (15th overall)
David Pastranak (25th overall)
Brayden Point (79th overall)
Viktor Arvidsson (112th overall)
Biggest takeaway: In hindsight, Leon Draisaitl is a much more explosive hockey player than Samson Reinhart. Sam will forever be compared to Leon and Sabres fans will always feel they missed out on an NHL stud.
2015
Tank! The next one…. and nope.
The Sabres lose the draft lottery once again. Of course, we all said that Jack Eichel was not a consolation prize. Yet, he will never be Conor McDavid. Conor is an all-time guy. Eichel could be the next Modano or Toews, but we are still waiting to take over games the way Conor does. Maybe Jack needs better teammates. That may be so; we are waiting on a true left winger that can play the way Jack does. Too many times he sets guys up and they don’t finish. His point total should be greater than it is. But, McDavid took a failing Oilers franchise and made it relevant once again. Keep grinding though, Jack. Until we get a better roster, we cannot fairly judge you or criticize you.
Brendan Guhle may be the guy we are hoping on. It is smart of Sabres GM Jason Botterill not to rush him. He is still so young and the roster is not to the point where we need him to take the next step right away. Allow him to learn what it takes to be a professional.
Will Borgen could be a real solid NHLer too. He is killing it in the NCAA at St. Cloud State. He looked the part on the 2016-2017 USA World Junior Team. Only a 20 year old junior at St. Cloud State, perhaps he will turn into that steadying presence on the blue line the Sabres so desperately need. Maybe he will leave school early to join the professional ranks after this year? Perhaps it is the realist in me that wonders whether he will sign with the Sabres. I sure hope he does.
Cannot yet evaluate the rest of the crop given the age of the prospects and how soon it is after the draft.
Biggest takeaway: Sabres fans we got a stud. Jack Eichel has 131 points in 164 games. Imagine if he had a better roster with true finishers. He is here for the long haul. Allow him to have his growing pains without calling for his head on a silver platter. He is the franchise. The plays he makes are far beyond much of the current Sabres roster.
2016
The year of Nylander, Asplund, and Pu.
Sabres fans are high on all three prospects. Without being too optimistic and celebrating something that has not even happened yet, there are plenty of reasons to be excited.
Only time will tell. Alexander Nylander is just coming off his injury and currently playing for the Rochester Americans (AHL). Nylander tore up the World Juniors in 2016-2017. He is even eligible to play in this year’s WJC in Buffalo. At 19 years old, he clearly needs time to develop. Rather than compare him to his brother and complain that he is not NHL ready like his older brother William, we need to be patient with him. He clearly has the skill. He needs time. Maybe he won’t be what he think he is, but regardless don’t jump to a conclusion until he grows and gets more mature.
Rasmus Asplund is promising. He is producing in the professional SHL as he has 13 points (4 g, 9 a) in 22 games. He is potentially NHL ready and may be ready to join the Sabres after this year. At only 19 years old, he is playing against grown men and playing well. This is his third year in the SHL. He should also play in the WJC this year in Buffalo. A complete player, he looks like a solid 2nd or 3rd line center.
Possibly the most exciting and fan favorite Cliff Pu. The third round pick was signed by the Sabres and is still back with his Junior club the London Knights. At only 19 years old he is tearing up the OHL. The London Knights are known for pumping out NHL superstars (Pat Kane and John Tavares among others). While Pu may never reach that level, he pumped out 86 points in 63 games last year and has 28 points in 22 games this year. A natural goal scorer, it looks like he has a bright future. Hopefully he makes Canada’s highly competitive World Junior team and Buffalo fans get to see him shine in his future hometown.
Casey Fitzgerald gives the Sabres even more reason to be excited about the 2016 draft class. He is a stud defenseman and the current Captain of Boston College where he has 9 points in 13 games. A true warrior, he showed what he could do on the World Junior stage in 2016-2017 where he helped the Americans to a gold medal. At 5’11” he is a little undersized, but he could thrive if given the right opportunity. We can only hope he signs with the Sabres and develops into a solid blue liner. He has all the intangibles and the fight to make up for his lack of size. Pretty impressive that he was named captain of BC as a junior.
Overall: a lot to like from Tim Murray in this draft. Murray’s legacy may change if this class produces the NHLer’s that it could. In a few years we may be thanking him for his drafts, especially given the drafts in years before he was named GM.
2017
The future? Casey Mittelstadt could be that guy. Mr. Minnesota Hockey, Mittelstadt is a natural goal scorer and playmaker. Silky hands and great vision. Often double and triple teamed in high school at Eden Prairie (Ma.), he still produced 64 points in 25 games. The big story was that he returned to his high school from the USHL in order to win a HS State Championship. While Eden Prairie was upset, you cannot knock him for returning to his best friends and chasing a dream that they had since young kids. Minnesota’s hockey darling, he of course signed to play at the University of Minnesota. The U lucked out with his commitment to his state and family. He currently has 12 points in 13 games for the 6th ranked Gophers. The biggest question is when will he leave NCAA for the NHL. If the Gopher’s win the National Championship and he continues his success, maybe he would consider it after this year. If they don’t win, perhaps he will try to return for unfinished business? Counting down the days until we see Casey Mittlestadt in a Buffalo Sabres uniform. He should be a lock on the USA World Junior Team in Buffalo.
Marcus Davidsson is another professional SHL pick. With professional experience, his transition time should not be as long. A solid two-way center, he has all the tools to be a possible option at the second and third line in the coming years. While in no way is he Jonathan Toews, he has a similar defensive zone awareness and presence around the net. He has 8 points in 18 games in the SHL.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen could be what the Sabres need desperately, a stud goaltender. While it is very hard to project whether goalie’s can make it in the show, he has a lot of tools that can make a goalie into an NHL number 1 netminder. At only 18 years, he should only get better. At 6’4” he is a large butterfly goaltender that covers a lot of the net. He could follow in the line of dominant, big Finnish NHL goaltenders (Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinna come to mind). Here’s to hoping he can be similar to them.
Oskari Laaksonen and Jacob Bryson are also interesting prospects that could burst onto the scene in the coming years. Too soon to tell, however, and not enough body of work to say one way or the other. Bryson is undersized, but he is assistant captain and has 9 points in 12 games as a sophomore.
By: Matthew Benedict
Stats provided by eliteprospects.com and hockeydb.com
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Broadcast's most stable schedule revealed its annual touch-ups on Wednesday morning. The last of the Big Four networks to publicly solidify its fall lineup, CBS revealed that it's actually shaking things up quite a bit.
A duo of two-hour comedy blocks will air on Monday and Thursday, with The Big Bang Theory being used to launch both Kevin Can Wait and The Great Indoors. With a slightly different football schedule this season — the network splits Thursday Night rights with the NFL Network and NBC — the second comedy block will launch at the end of October.
Monday sees some of the most change. With Big Bang pinch-hitting until the NFL is off the lineup, it will open the night before Kevin Can Wait, Two Broke Girls, The Odd Couple and Scorpion. The latter moves into the 10 p.m. slot, as NCIS: Los Angeles heads off to Sunday. When Big Bang moves back to its Thursday roost, Kevin Can Wait will move to 8 p.m. and lead into fellow freshman Man With a Plan.
Changes on Tuesday are modest, and natural considering the star of its new entry. NCIS vet Michael Weatherly will get an intro from his former series when his new vehicle, Bull, launches at 9 p.m. That shifts NCIS: New Orleans to 10 p.m. Survivor, Criminal Minds and Code Black maintain their slots from last fall, making Wednesday the only night not to see any change for CBS.
When Thursday Night Football wraps for the network, Big Bang will intro The Great Indoors (9:30 p.m.), Mom, Life in Pieces and new medical drama Pure Genius. (Historically, the 10 p.m. Thursday slot set the high bar for medical dramas. E.R. was a ratings juggernaut for NBC in the same hour for over a decade.)
Friday sees some new scripted blood, a rare move for CBS. The reboot of MacGyver will open the night, while Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods stay put. Sunday's shifts are similarly minor, with NCIS: Los Angeles moving into Madam Secretary's slot and pushing the drama into The Good Wife's old slot.
On deck for midseason are Katherine Heigl drama Doubt, Training Day, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Undercover Boss and Amazing Race.
CBS' Complete 2016-17 Fall Schedule
new shows in bold
*New time slot
Monday
8 p.m. — The Big Bang Theory/Kevin Can Wait
8:30 p.m. — Kevin Can Wait/Man With the Plan (October)
9 p.m. — 2 Broke Girls*
9:30 p.m. — The Odd Couple*
10 p.m. — Scorpion*
Tuesday
8 p.m. — NCIS
9 p.m. — Bull
10 p.m. — NCIS: New Orleans*
Wednesday
8 p.m. — Survivor
9 p.m. — Criminal Minds
10 p.m. — Code Black
Thursday (through Oct. 20)
8 p.m. — Thursday Night Football
Thursday (starting Oct. 27)
8 p.m. — The Big Bang Theory
8:30 p.m. — The Great Indoors
9 p.m. — Mom
9:30 p.m. — Life in Pieces*
10 p.m. — Pure Genius
Friday
8 p.m. — MacGyver
9 p.m. — Hawaii Five-0
10 p.m. — Blue Bloods
Saturday
8 p.m. — Crimetime Saturday
Sunday
7 p.m. — 60 Minutes
8 p.m. — NCIS: Los Angeles*
9 p.m. — Madam Secretary*
10 p.m — Elementary
Keep up with all the renewals, cancellations and new series pickups with THR's handy scorecard and follow the pilot crop status here. For full Upfronts 2016 coverage, go to THR.com/upfronts. |
The National Parks Service is offering free admission across the country in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
The NPS says it is the first of 10 days offering free entry to its 120 parks that charge an entry fee in celebration of the service’s 100-year anniversary.
Entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees are all being waved during the free admission days.
There are several sites run by the NPS that celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King. They include his birthplace in Georgia, the 45-mile-long Selma-to-Montgomery trail where he led the famous Freedom March, and the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C., in addition to several other sites related to his work.
The National Parks Service has provided an event calendar website to make it easier to find services related to the holiday near you. |
Planetkey Dynamics have announced that they have secured the services of Casper "cadiaN" Møller.
With just days left before the start of EPS Germany Spring, Planetkey Dynamics have announced their first roster change since bringing in four new players as a result of their post-EPS finals exodus.
Florian "fl0w" Sos, who played alongside Dimitrios "stavros" Smoilis in TCM-Gaming in the early days of CS:GO, has been forced to step down the active line-up due to personal issues that would prevent him from playing an active part within the team.
cadiaN to play for a German team once again
To fill the last spot, Planetkey Dynamics turned to former Copenhagen Wolves member Casper "cadiaN" Møller, who recently played for eXes in the European pre-qualifiers for ESL One Katowice.
The Danish player will be hoping to finally make his mark in the German scene following a brief spell in mousesports last year.
"We would like to thank "fl0w" for his time on the team and pleasant teamwork," a statement from Planetkey Dynamics director Björn "Riokat" Zschaler read. "Furthermore, we are excited to see how the team will do with cadiaN, in whom we have full trust as the team around stavros picked him specifically."
Planetkey Dynamics now have:
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6 Free Internet Marketing Tools That Every Business Owner Must Know
Sajiv Kumar Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 12, 2016
For any type of business, small or medium, requires marketing campaigns to boost their business growth. There are various internet marketing tools that are only for enterprise-level businesses, as well as requires a budget that somehow did not justify the ROI. Here are some of the interesting internet marketing tools that every small business should have in their tool box.
1. Open Site Explorer
Understanding your link profile, as well as your competitors link profile at the time of building the Domain Authority, is really difficult. The simplest way to use this, is to copy and paste the competitor’s URL into OSE and figure out all the sites that are linking to them, but not linking to your url.
2. Answer The Public
The tool ‘Answer The Public’ is totally free, and has become an essential part of the content strategy. By using the tool, you can consider all the relevant topics and questions surrounding the primary keywords that you want to rank for. Then try to answer questions as much as possible, with the content. Later, when Google is looking for the relevant websites who have the best information regarding the topic, you will be on top in the search results. Even, you can convert a large number of visitors towards your website, as you have answers of the most important questions they want to know.
3. Screaming Frog
Screaming Frog is the Go-To Crawl Tool available for everyone in the industry. It has a paid version, but for users convenient, it allows usage up to 500 pages for free. It is an exceptional tool which helps in auditing the redirects, searching broken links, finding pages that are missing metadata, and finding duplicate content at a URL level.
4. Siteliner
For analysis of quick and dirty duplicate content, Siteliner is a best tool. Though, they limit the amount of pages that a user can crawl, but for small businesses comes as a free version. To use this tool, simply put the URL into their search bar and press go, and in result you will get a huge data, like:
Unique content
Common content
Duplicate content
Number of words per page
Average page load time
Average page size
Internal links
External links
Text-to-HTML ratio
5. Google KeywordPlanner
A small business that wants to start a pay-per-click campaign for them, Google’s keyword tool is a great resource for them. With Adwords campaign, this tool provides an uncountable opportunities of it usage. One of the most usable feature of this tool is the search volume calculator. In this feature, by entering a keyword, you can explore the number of people search for it each month for the past year. Through search volume metrics feature, you can find out the competition level and suggested bid for any keywords you want to know about.
6. Keyword.io
For every small business SEO campaign, Keyword Research plays an important role. With the help of this tool, you will find out the essential keywords that help you understand, which keywords you should target and what topics to use to create content around. But, at the free level, you will not get any important metrics like search volume or keyword competitiveness.
Conclusion:
Whether you run a small business or new to the market, these free tools surely will help you by adding expertise and vision into your internet marketing campaigns. But if you have any online marketing campaign and did not know how to use these valuable tools, then take Internet Marketing Services India. As the service provider are from India, they will deeply understand your requirement, and provide appropriate solutions for it. |
If there weren't enough news to pass along from the LSU beat, Monday took another unexpected turn.
LSU junior defensive end Davon Godchaux has been arrested for domestic abuse battery/child endangerment and false imprisonment, The Advocate's Ross Dellenger reported. Godchaux has since been suspended from the team indefinitely, team spokesman Michael Bonnette confirmed.
Godchaux has been released from jail following an arrest by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, WAFB reported. Godchaux was released on a $3,000 bond.
Here's an excerpt from Dellenger's report.
The mother of Godchaux’s 10-month-old child is the victim in the case, but, because of “conflicting stories,” she was also arrested for domestic abuse battery/child endangerment, the police report notes.
The victim alleges that Godchaux and her were involved in a “tussle” at his apartment on Nicholson Drive over “infidelity” in their relationship. Godchaux expressed that the two should separate, the victim told police.
She then attempted to leave his apartment with the child before Godchaux grabbed her by the hair and then later grabbed her by the shoulder and “tossed (her) backwards near the couch,” the report says.
Police observed the victims’ lip to be swollen and red marks on her throat. Godchaux, who has braces, had cuts on the inside of his mouth, the report says.
In four games this season, Godchaux has started in every game and ranks tied for fourth on the team with 20 total tackles.
Stay tuned for more from this developing news story.
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From Siri to Alexa, voice interfaces are becoming increasingly common, but for all their recent advances, they often struggle with one of the most basic characteristics of human speech: accents. The problem is so prevalent that computer scientists have identified the existence of a "machine voice," a standardized way of speaking that individuals with accents adopt in the hope of being understood. Researchers even warn about the existence of a "speech divide" that ostracizes individuals whose accents differ from those the machines have been trained on.
As is often the case with technology built on large data sets, the problem begins with the input. If you only train your interface using a narrow selection of voices, then it won't know how to respond to accents that fall outside of its frame of reference. According to Marsal Gavalda, the head of machine intelligence at Yik Yak and an expert on speech recognition, academics have been studying the problem since the '80s.
Speech recognition's lack of diversity is rooted in data sets collected decades ago
"Historically, speech recognition systems have been trained from data collected mostly in universities, and mostly from the student population," Gavalda tells The Verge. "The [diversity of voices] reflect the student population 30 years ago."
For example, a project in the early '90s known as Call Home gave students credits to make free, long-distance phone calls. Their calls would be recorded, transcribed, and annotated, then sold as data sets to research teams and computer scientists. "It was the easiest place to collect these samples," says Gavalda. He adds that researchers also collected audio from news broadcasters — but again, this meant selecting only the most neutral accents.
There's an easy way to fix this, though: collect more data. Companies like Google have been doing exactly that as their voice interfaces become more integral to their software and hardware, and the internet has made this collection pretty straightforward. As was first spotted by Quartz, the search giant has been using a third-party company, Appen, to corral a diverse array of accented audio samples from the website's users.
recruiting at /r/beermoney
Contractors for Appen have been posting on a number of subredddits, including those dedicated to part-time work (/r/slavelabour, /r/WorkOnline, /r/beermoney, etc) as well as individual cities. /r/Edinburgh was where the request for samples was originally spotted, presumably to iron out understanding of the underserved Scottish accent.
"I'm currently recruiting to collect speech data for Google," reads one typical request. "It requires you to use an Android to complete the task. The task is recording voice prompts like 'Indy now,' 'Google what's the time.' Each phrase takes around 3-5 seconds." Adults are paid £27 ($35) to record 2,000 phrases, while under-17s can record 500 phrases and earn £20 ($26). Neither Appen nor Google would confirm that they were involved in the project, but a well-placed source told The Verge that the search giant regularly collects voice data to improve its services — it's just usually not so visible.
We talked to a number of Redditors who completed the task, and asked them about their experiences with voice interface tech. There were regional accents from the UK and America, as well as Indian and Chinese-accented English, with most users saying they'd had difficulty with tech like Siri and Alexa in the past. All said they went through the same process of being directed to a mobile webpage where there was a record button to tap, and a number of phrases to read out.
These voice samples were mostly addressed to Google (beginning "OK Google," "Hey, Google," etc.), but some just asked for the names of popular TV shows, toys, and video game (including a number of YouTube channels, like Sky Does Minecraft). Others spanned a range of typical Google searches, including hunting for recipes ("how to make a birthday cake"), understanding idioms ("hey Google, get cold feet"), beating pub quizzes ("presidents in order"), and looking for that perfect karaoke number ("you'll be in my heart just music").
"I need to annunciate a ton and use simple phrases."
One respondent told The Verge by email: "[I'm] originally from China, but I've lived in the US for about a decade, so I speak pretty much understandable English. The closest description of my accent would be US northeast with a hint of Singaporean newscaster. However, I do need to enunciate a ton and use simple phrases for applications like Siri and Google Now to work. I can't really 'converse' with my phone."
After audio samples are collected by Appen they're annotated by the company's in-house linguists, with longer sentences broken down grammatically, and contextual information added (was the sample recorded on a phone? Inside? Outdoors?). Mark Brayan, the company's CEO, wouldn’t comment on the company’s work with Google, but told The Verge that the firm collects and annotates (a process it refers to as "decoration") audio samples from around the world, with employees able to translate some 130 languages.
Brayan says demand for the company's services has increased massively in recent years, especially as voice interfaces become more common and users expect more out of them. "To go from understanding 95 percent of words to 99 percent, the recognizer has to digest infrequently used words, of which there are millions," says Brayan.
companies often request audio samples for specific vocabularies
Sometimes the company has to produce samples of specific vocabularies, related to, for example, a sport or a hobby. "One of the big challenges is what we call named entity recognition," says Brayan. "That's brand names, product names, individual names, and so on." Companies can ask for specific accents, or they can just say where they're hoping to launch a product and Appen will produce the relevant voices. "So if you're launching in Canada, for example, you need not only the French language but also French-accented Canadian English."
Incorporating unrepresented English-speaking accents will be a big step forward for voice interfaces, says Gavalda. "You could argue that the majority of English speakers are not even native speakers." He compares the situation to clinical trials for pharmaceutical companies that only recruited white men. It wasn't until an Act of Congress in 1993 that it became illegal to exclude women and minorities from such vital research. "If you think about it you're developing a of medicine," he says, "So it stand to reason you would make it work equally well with all different types of people."
Being able to ask Siri or Alexa questions obviously isn't as important as having access to effective medicine, but it is exclusion all the same. Thankfully, as Google's trawling for accents on Reddit shows, it's relatively easy to remedy. Just collect the audio samples, and let the machine learning systems process them. After all, a computer doesn't really "hear" accents — there are just sounds it recognizes and those it doesn't. It just needs the data.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated that "Appen employees" had posted to Reddit. It was third-party contractors Appen had hired who to do so. We regret the error. |
This is the latest dust up between Democrats and Republicans on the Oversight panel. Cummings: Copy me on Issa letters
The top Democrat of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants copies of letters sent to the GOP majority, and since Republicans won’t share them, he’s taking matters into his own hands.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) is sending letters to many of the same 160 or so companies, trade associations and think tanks that panel Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) approached in December, asking which regulations they feel will harm jobs.
Story Continued Below
“I fully support bipartisan efforts to improve federal regulations to increase job growth while preserving the core safeguards these regulations were intended to protect,” Cummings said in a statement. “But since Chairman Issa has refused to provide Democrats with copies of the industry responses he has received to date, we have no choice but to request them ourselves.”
Cummings says he is contacting organizations independently to request copies of their responses to Issa, because the Republican has been reluctant to share the documents he’s received. Cummings also asked that any future correspondence to Issa be sent simultaneously to Democrats.
The panel has a Feb. 11 hearing to discuss the economic impacts of regulations.
This is the latest dust up between Democrats and Republicans on the Oversight panel.
Cummings has accused Issa of mucking around with subpoena rules by keeping the door open to issuing them unilaterally — Republicans say they are keeping the same guidelines in place that Democrats used. In addition, Issa and Cummings have butted heads over office space, among other things.
Issa has said that the correspondence - which occurred when he was still ranking member before the Republicans officially took control of the House this month - is private but will be made publicly available in some form before the hearing.
Cummings has countered that it is an official committee request for information and should have already been shared with he and other Democrats under House rules.
“Withholding Committee records is not only a violation of House rules, but a waste of time that could have been avoided with the smallest degree of bipartisan cooperation,” Cummings said.
The goal by Issa is to investigate the Obama administration’s promise through the 2009 economic stimulus bill and other measures to create jobs. At the same time, Issa is getting his cue from and a voice to a chorus of largely disgruntled industry groups and companies that have collectively groaned about regulations in the pipeline and on the books.
“As a trade organization with members that must comply with the regulatory state, I ask for your assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth in your members’ industry,” Issa wrote in a Dec. 8 letter to NAM. “Additionally, suggestions on reforming identified regulations and the rulemaking process would be appreciated.”
Issa’s staff declined to comment on the record for this story. |
AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato is coming to America next week. Unlike Eddie Murphy, the Brazilian star is not looking for a bride. He wants answers.
A chronic thigh injury has wrecked his season, and he will seek the advice of a specialist in Atlanta, Ga., according to Football Italia.
"Pato will undergo medical tests and a specialist consultation with Professor Frederick Carrick at the Life University of Marietta," Football Italia reports AC Milan said in a statement.
When healthy, the 22-year-old is one of world soccer's shining lights. But muscular problems have slowed him since March 2010. He has reportedly suffered at least 13 injuries — mostly in the muscles in his legs — during the last two years.
Pato has played 17 games this season, but lasted the entire 90 minutes just three times. He has one league goal to his name, after scoring over 50 since making his Serie A debut in 2008.
Carrick is a world-renowned chiropractic neurologist, who has treated a number of world-class athletes over the years. He has recently helped hockey star Sydney Crosby fight his battles with concussion symptoms.
Have a question for Marcus Kwesi O'Mard? Send it to him via Twitter at @NESNsoccer, NESN Soccer's Facebook page or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
Photo via Flickr/Jan S0L0 |
Destiny Update 1.1 Live Today, Patch Notes Reveal Exotic Weapon Buffs & Much More (Update)
Update 2:
If you don’t see the above image when starting Destiny, Bungie says to shut down and restart the game.
Update:
With the update expected to be fully rolled out by 11am/2pm ET today on all platforms, Bungie revealed all the patch notes for the latest Destiny update, which brings Exotics weapon buffs, additional acquisition paths for destination upgrade materials, additional changes to exotic gear node upgrading in preparation for The Dark Below, and more.
Here’s all the details for update 1.1:
Weapons
Exotics
Exotic Weapons are designed to look, feel, and sound overpowered. At the same time, they are not supposed to break the balance of the game. We hope these weapons challenge the way players think about their loadouts. Exotics will be a constant work in-progress!
General
In preparation for the Dark Below, Exotic Armor and Weapons no longer require Ascendant Materials to upgrade
The final upgrade node of all Exotic Gear will require an Exotic Shard
Exotic Shards can be obtained by one of the following means: Dismantling unwanted Exotics; Purchased from Xur for 7 Strange Coins
Exotics now start at a higher base Attack value and have a narrowed upgrade range to compensate
Thorn
Projectiles now briefly highlight targets on impact
Mark of the Devourer DoT (damage-over-time) upgrade increased against PvE enemy targets
Reload Speed increased
Magazine Size increased
Ammo inventory size increased
Stability and Weapon Handling increased
Bad Juju
Magazine Size increased to 8 bursts (was 5)
Ammo inventory size increased
String of Curses now also decreases the cooldown of your Super on kill
Adjusted effects to not block first person reticle
Hard Light
Stability increased
Perfect Balance upgrade replaced by Fitted Stock (increases maximum possible weapon Stability)
Suros Regime
Lowered total damage at the end of the mag on SUROS Regime upgrade to be more in line with the Glass Half Full perk on Legendary Auto Rifles
Monte Carlo
Stability increased
Range slightly decreased
Monte Carlo Method upgrade now also has a chance to fully charge melee ability on kill
MIDA Multi-Tool
MIDA rounds now have increased knockback against targets in both PvE and PvP
Hawkmoon
Send It upgrade (which was redundant) replaced by Speed Reload
Red Death
Rate of Fire increased slightly, but Burst Damage reduced to compensate
Plan C
Weapon Handling speed increased
Player Speed increased while Plan C is in hand
Pocket Infinity
Speed Reload upgrade replaced by Extended Clip which allows the option to increase magazine size (5 bursts)
Vex Mythoclast
Attack Power increased to 323 (from 300)
Base Damage increased, fixing bug we introduced in previous patch
Enhanced Battery upgrade by Extended Mag (this change still allows for a significant upgrade to Magazine Size, but less than before)
Invective
Reload Speed increased significantly, auto fires slightly slower
Ice Breaker
Send It upgrade replaced by Lightweight (which was redundant as Icebreaker already had maximum range)
New effects for enemies killed by Ice Breaker upgrade
Patience and Time
Snapshot upgrade replaced by Custom Optics (provides a lower zoom option)
Super Good Advice
Stability increased
Truth
Magazine Size increased to 3 (was 1)
Activities
Raid
Fixed an issue we introduced in a previous patch, in which Atheon did not correctly send 3 players through the time gates
Fixed an exploit where the Templar could be forced off its platform
Daily Heroic Story
Destination Materials now drop from completing the Daily Heroic
Bounties
Removed the ‘Relic Hunter’ Bounty
Destination Materials now drop from completing the Daily Patrol Bounty
Vendors
Reduced Cryptarch reputation gain from Engrams, but reputation reward packages now have an increased chance for Legendary Engrams
Players will now be able to use Vanguard Marks and Crucible Marks to purchase Spinmetal, Relic Iron, Spirit Bloom, and Helium Filaments from the Vanguard and Crucible Quartermasters in the Tower
Xur now sells a new material, Exotic Shards, to upgrade the final node of Exotics for 7 Strange Coins
Faction Class Items (ex: FWC Cloak, Dead Orbit Mark, etc.) are now replaced by Faction Emblems in the rank-up reward packages from Faction Vendors
Technical
Networking fixes, which should reduce the instance of the Bee family of KTOs
Fixed an issue in which using Xbox One party chat induced a slower frame rate
The Dark Below goes live on December 9.
Original Story:
After announcing it on Sunday, Bungie has updated their forums to confirm that the new Destiny update is rolling out now.
If you’re currently playing Destiny, Bungie warns that you will be kicked to the title screen to download the update:
Pardon our dust! We are pushing a patch live today. Players will be returned to the title screen from their activities and then be required to log in to Destiny again after installing the patch.
Next week in Destiny, The Dark Below DLC goes live, and Luke Smith talked a bit about it and the next Raid:
“Crota’s End, the next Destiny Raid will begin at Level 30 (Normal) when it goes live on 12/9.” “In The Dark Below there will be other ways to get to Light 30 – and Crota’s End – beyond running [Vault of Glass].”
If you’ve downloaded the update already, feel free to let everyone know in the comments how much space it takes up.
[Source: Bungie Forums, Luke Smith (Twitter 1, 2), Bungie, Bungie Twitter]
Essential Reading: |
LEIGH GRIFFITHS could face disciplinary action from the SFA for criticism of referee Craig Thomson after Celtic’s 2-1 defeat by Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
The Celtic striker claimed Thomson favoured the home side when he only booked Aberdeen defender Andrew Considine for the foul which conceded a first-half penalty.
Griffiths converted the spot-kick to put the Scottish champions ahead but Aberdeen stormed back with a penalty equaliser of their own through Adam Rooney and a late winner by Paul Quinn to move two points clear at the top of the Premiership table with a game in hand.
On an afternoon of contentious decisions by Thomson, including a straight red card for Aberdeen winger Jonny Hayes when the score was 1-1, Griffiths insisted the official was wrong not to send off Considine for the foul on him.
“I was very surprised it was only a yellow,” said Griffiths. “I was going to score, there was no doubt about. I was about to whip it around the ’keeper. I was only three or four yards from goal, so he has got to be sent off.
“If it was up the other end of the park, I’d put my mortgage on it that Craig would send one of our players off.
“What makes me say that? It’s what happens. If it’s up the other end, the Aberdeen players would have surrounded him and you can guarantee he sends him off. That’s 100 per cent.
“The ref said I was going away from goal, but I was going to whip it round and put it to the goalie’s left-hand side. But he grabbed a hold of my shirt, I came back inside him and he birled me around.”
SFA compliance officer Tony McGlennan may have a busy Monday morning assessing the fall-out from a raucous contest. As well as Griffiths’ comments, he may look at a kick by Aberdeen midfielder Kenny McLean at the head of Celtic defender Mikael Lustig.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes, who thought Hayes’ dismissal for a foul on Lustig was “harsh”, felt there could be no debate over the merit of his team’s success.
“It’s nice to get the reward. There’s no question the better team won,” said McInnes. “It was tough to accept being behind at half-time. To win it like we did, a lot of people probably thought we weren’t capable of that.
“It is not a result I am surprised about. I felt confident we could get a result the same as I was confident last season and the season before when we played Celtic.
“I am really pleased with everyone but it is only three points.”
Celtic manager Ronny Deila was unhappy at the manner his team conceded another late goal from a set piece, which has been a damaging theme for them this season. “We’ve worked on it but need to do more work,” said Deila. “We’re leading in games, then getting lazy and teams are all over us.”
Celtic must now regoup for Thursday’s Europa League tie against Ajax in Amsterdam. |
Jezebel writer Lindy West reading out the hideous comments she received after she spoke about rape jokes. Photo: Jezebel.com
It’s not that I’m not used to hearing jokes about rape thrown about like confetti at a wedding. Hell, it’s not like they haven’t been thrown at me. As Jezebel.com writer Lindy West so brutally demonstrated earlier this week, when you’re a woman who uses the internet to write about feminism and gendered violence, rape threats - sorry, jokes - go with the territory.
West had appeared on FX’s Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell with comedian Jim Norton to discuss that industry’s tendency to excuse and celebrate rape ‘humour’ as edgy and dangerous, and what effect this ultimately has. As she wrote afterwards:
I don't believe that previously non-raping audience members are going to take to the streets in a rape mob after hearing one rape joke. That's an absurd and insulting mischaracterization. But I do believe that comedy's current permissiveness around cavalier, cruel, victim-targeting rape jokes contributes to (that's 'contributes' not causes) a culture of young men who don't understand what it means to take this stuff seriously.
Unfortunately, many viewers disagreed. And they wasted no time in employing the typical methods used by that portion of men aggrieved by a woman encroaching on their sacrosanct freedoms to behave as they want, when they want.
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And how did they try and prove me wrong? How did they try to demonstrate that comedy, in general, doesn't have issues with women? By threatening to rape and kill me, telling me I'm just bitter because I'm too fat to get raped, and suggesting that the debate would have been better if it had just been Jim raping me.
You can watch the video of West reading some of the comments here. They include the charming, “Noone [sic] would want to rape that fat, disgusting mess’, ‘Jaba has nothing to worrie [sic] about, not even a prison escapee would rape her’, ‘That big bitch is bitter that no one wants to rape her’ and, somewhat ironically considering West’s apparent unrapeability, ‘There is a group of rapists with over 9000 penises coming for this fat bitch.’
In the past, West has been clear about the fact she doesn’t believe rape is an off limits topic for comedy and I agree with her. The presence of rape in a joke is not in and of itself an offensive act. But as Molly Ivins asserts, jokes that position victims as the punchline aren’t just lazy, they’re vulgar. So while it’s possible to craft good comedy out of the blackest of topics (yes, including rape) it requires a level of skill and/or experience found in only the most clever practitioners.
Unfortunately, that’s not quite reflected in the sheer number of below average comedians out there who confuse laziness with edginess, or who think mentioning Louis CK is a universal hall pass. Controversial topics are seen as clever by proxy, despite the pedestrian attempts to broach them and the staggering regularity with which they occur. In fact, the idea that rape is a dangerous territory into which only the most courageous of comics are prepared to wade is perhaps the only thing funny about this. Rape jokes - especially the bad ones - are a dime a dozen.
As West’s experience shows (and Anita Sarkeesian, Rebecca Watson and all the other women who dare to have an opinion on the internet), women are expected to applaud the casual invocation of sexual violence as a tool for comedy or discourse lest they become the victims of it.
Faced with the weight of that unspoken threat - that this is what awaits you if you speak up - it’s not difficult to understand why so many women chuckle along. If I laugh at the joke about the woman being raped in the park, or at the girl being carried around unconscious around the party, or at the woman being heckled by the comedian on stage, then maybe I can let this guy/these guys know that I’m on their side - and then they won’t target me.
It makes it even more difficult when other women join the chorus of people criticising 'sensitivity', as Roseanne Barr did following West's posts. In a string of bizarre tweets, Barr accused West of advocating censorship. As Marianne argues over at XO Jane, it's not that Barr is expected to side with West because they're both women - but her wilful misunderstanding of West's argument (which has nothing to do with censorship and everything to do with viewing violence in a framework of cultural normalisation) seems at odds with her self identification as a feminist kicking up, not down.
If violence occurs on a continuum, then that cultural normalisation is key. I think back to the number of times I’ve laughed at things that made me uncomfortable - the jokes where I knew that I wasn’t just the listener but also the punchline, and that part of the enjoyment for the teller was that he got away with turning me into both. I’ve acquiesced to that palpable male energy around me, and complied because I’ve been afraid of being called ‘difficult’ or worse, ugly. I’ve been afraid to have the undercurrent of that bubbling wrath turned on me when it turns out I wasn’t so willing to play the part of the dutiful subjugate, so instead I’ve laughed and told myself it’s not so bad. They didn’t mean it that way, so why cause a fuss?
Get upset over being told (as West was) that someone’s going to rape you with a traffic cone - even though they don’t even find you attractive - and you’re being ‘sensitive’ and taking things too personally. But tell a man you don’t like his joke about rape and it’s like Stonewall all over again. You might as well call him a RAPIST, which is like, the worst thing you can ever say to a man EVER. He’s not a rapist! He just thinks rape is funny! Not in real life, silly. Just fake life. Anyway, stop being so mean :(
There’s a deep irony in the fact that the comedy fraternity sees the rights of women to feel safe as theoretical, yet their own rights to joke about raping them a cornerstone of freedom of expression. Honestly, I've never seen anyone with thinner skins than the comedians who claim to need freedom to explore all topics, no matter how they might hurt others. That the industry is overwhelmingly dominated by men is a huge problem; the vast majority of rape victims are women and the vast majority of perpetrators are men. This isn’t about freedom of speech. It’s about one group using the pain of another group (which has traditionally been inflicted by the first group!) to further their own careers because in the swag of tools available to the average comic, rape isn’t seen as traumatic but ‘taboo’.
But as West’s experience shows, this isn’t even about what’s funny anymore. It’s about the fact that women are still expected to view their own existence as a joke; to put up with jokes about being raped or being fat or being fat AND raped, or being too fat to be raped, or needing to be raped in order to be punished for being fat or opinionated or just there.
That we’re expected to laugh at them, to keep our concerns and anger to ourselves and to dismiss them as harmless fun is just the pesto on a spectacularly bad sh-t sandwich. When the most dangerous thing about rape humour is not that it attempts to silence and degrade women but that protesting it makes some men feel bad, then it's time to take a good hard look at ourselves and ask whether or not we deserve all this freedom in the first place. |
[Kolab-announce] Valentine's? Kolab 3.2 Release Day!
Normally, today's just that one day you are a little bit more attentive to those you admire. In secret, or outspoken, it doesn't really matter. Anonymous, or with an email address -- whatever floats your boat goes, really. Today however also marks the day that Kolab is being that little bit more attentive to you, whom we secretly admire. We are proud to announce the immediate availability of Kolab 3.2! This is for you, yours and everyone else, for this release marks another milestone in the Kolab story, as previously seen on the Internet. As you may remember, between Kolab 2.3 (now 4 years ago) and Kolab 3.0 (development started over 3 years ago), the entire stack has been refactored. Some of you have noticed more up close and personal, others from a distance, but like with any piece of software under active development, not everything has always been functioning as well as it might have. After Kolab 3.0 came the development cycle for Kolab 3.1. A few big important features were added, largely demand-driven, and dare I say, largely customer- driven. You may have noticed Kolab 3.1 was overdue, released way too late according to our original 6-month release cycle, but overall our collective experiences have been positive, I would say. We have literally supported thousands and thousands of individual users, up to and including users using Mutt. That said, I'm sure you appreciate our time was spent a hundred-fold during this period. I'm very proud of what our team has achieved during this long period of busy- work, with continued, ongoing development combined with customer support. You should probably take a moment to let them know you appreciate as well. The bug-fixing has gone beyond the explicit application error and on to major performance enhancements, which -- I can tell you from personal experience -- is a difficult topic to tackle. For your comparison, 94% of the commits authored over the last 12 months is contributed by Kolab Systems employees. Over all time, current Kolab Systems employees have contributed to a total of 55% of all commits that ever existed in relation to the Kolab server. Over a history of longer than a decade, that is not a small feat. Read more of the complete profile on our Ohloh pages. Long story short -- We did the refactoring. We did the stabilization. We did the performance optimizations. What's next, you might wonder? Well, Kolab 3.2 marks this major milestone -- we're open for business! Nothing stops any of you from doing with Kolab what you like -- and we want our percentage to go down, yeah? This is the era for Kolab that we re-engage with exciting developments, back on the roadmap: * XMPP integration Your instant messaging at your fingertips, one click away from reading your email and re-scheduling your appointments. The basis for this has already been provided by our Thomas Brüderli in a mailing list post, but will be fully integrated in to Kolab Groupware. We're making the packages available, the documentation to go along with them, and hope you find some time to implement wishlist items we have ;-) * Event Notifications With Cyrus IMAP 2.5, we ship a version of IMAP that is able to broadcast events that happen in an IMAP session. In and by itself, this may not sound too interesting, so please read on. * Archival, Backup & Restore, e-Discovery and Live-Interception The four holy grails of electronic communications, these four topics currently tend to require four different solutions. Most of such solutions are simply not available as Free Software solutions, and therefore imply a great duplication of data, metadata and relations. For those that are available as Free Software solutions, such as Archival and Backup/Restore, you would wish the user could more autonomously restore a context-oriented set of messages, and have a real- time, online representation of what might already be stored on tape. Using the aforementioned Event Notifications, we seek to develop a singular solution to the four topics. We see no reason to distinguish between at least the first three, being Archival (because of regulatory requirements on retention of business records), Backup/Restore (because your users press delete too soon too often, and in disaster recovery scenarios), e-Discovery (where the questions tend to be of a legal nature). Live Interception then -- I know you were wondering about this -- is a topic that relates to parties providing electronic communications to third parties. As a matter of legislation, for any communications, a means for authorities to "wire-tap" a given user must be available -- when such duly authorized authority knocks on a provider's door. While not supported in the community edition of Kolab at all, we seek to use the aforementioned Event Notifications to address this much requested feature as well. * XCONVERSATIONS Again with thanks to Cyrus IMAP 2.5, and particularly the hard work of FastMail -- yes, that is a competitor of Kolab Systems-operated MyKolab.com, at some level, but credit where credit is due -- the XCONVERSATIONS capability will provide a set of IMAP commands to clients, to facilitate a more contextual view on communications, across folders. One might navigate by contact, topic or thread reference even though individual messages are stored in different folders, or conversations with contacts had other contacts involved. This is such new, leading technology, that no RFC has been drafted, let alone accepted, so Kolab 3.2 will be the platform we (co-)develop this technology. * Message Annotations The availability of message-level annotations are likely to be used in Kolab in the (near) future. For example, you may or may not be aware of the fact that an appointment in a shared calendar is legible in full detail, to everyone the calendar is shared with. So how would you make the fact you have this meeting with the boss public (summary: Meeting with boss), but keep the details of the event (the agenda) secret? Well, you might encrypt the payload of the agenda, and store the decryption key in a private message annotation -- so that your web client, and mobile device, and desktop clients, can all read the full details, but no-one else can. We're seeking your opinions and ideas for more implementations! Get engaged now (mail to devel at lists.kolab.org). * Full-Text Indexing Where previously email's message body has had to be searched without an index for the message body, the full-text indexing feature to Cyrus IMAP 2.5 implements RFC 6203, IMAP4 extension for Fuzzy Search (using Xapian). This is relatively new technology for us, so Kolab 3.2 will be the platform on which we develop the client's capabilities to make full use of this feature. * Cross-Folder Searches in the web client Roundcube has developed the basic implementation of cross-folder searches. A very difficult feature to achieve, but important to many people (who all have too many mail folders). It still requires a little bit of work, but this feature is scheduled for inclusion with Kolab 3.2 nonetheless. It needs a little bit of work still, but it's soon to arrive in a YUM or APT repository near you. Mind you that, combined with Full-Text Indexing, and perhaps also XCONVERSATIONS, the opportunities are limitless. Why not say out loud what you would like to have? * Birthday Calendar A feature requested so often we almost feel blue in the face, we now have a birthday calendar available in Kolab 3.2. The birthday calendar will be an extra optional calendar for you to select, and displays the birthdays of all contacts (including those in the global address book). * Collaborative Text- & Document Editing (scheduled) Based on our file storage, and integrated in to the web client, we seek to provide you with bleeding edge, next-generation, WebODF-based technology to enable collaborative editing of text and documents. This technology is so new, and so unstable (currently), that we can only estimate that we need about a week's worth of development time before it is ready for consumption -- as such it is the properly caramelized onion for a French onion soup, no cheating by adding sugar is allowed ;-) That said, we won't actually be ready to release it next week, for we have our developers working on other stuff as well, and so once more we could not afford to postpone the release of Kolab 3.2 just for this feature. I would say... stay tuned! * Two-Way IMAP Replication You've never been able to run two active Cyrus IMAP servers has a high- availability cluster providing load-balancing as well -- well, now you can. Two-way replication is what one might call eventually consistent though (a page I'm lending from the NoSQL book), meaning that hitting one server to mark a message as read to then hit the other server for a new folder status report does not guarantee the message you marked as read is immediately reported as having been marked as such. Your environment will have to adhere to specific topology deployment -- I'm sure Kolab Systems would be more than happy to sell you some consultancy on that. So -- that's Kolab 3.2. I have to admit we're throwing nice, brand spanking new technology out there, and as such this is the release that is a full- featured groupware solution on the one hand, and a development platform for new exciting features as well. Get to the Installation Guide [1]! PS: It's 2 AM, and packages are still building -- all 1600 of them. If you are traveling further, please check the monitors for the departure gate, which may have changed [2]. Kind regards, Jeroen van Meeuwen [1] http://docs.kolab.org/installation-guide/ [2] https://obs.kolabsys.com/project/monitor?project=Kolab%3A3.2 -- Systems Architect, Kolab Systems AG e: vanmeeuwen at kolabsys.com m: +44 74 2516 3817 w: http://www.kolabsys.com pgp: 9342 BF08 Kind regards, Jeroen van Meeuwen -- Systems Architect, Kolab Systems AG e: vanmeeuwen at kolabsys.com m: +44 74 2516 3817 w: http://www.kolabsys.com pgp: 9342 BF08 -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 198 bytes Desc: This is a digitally signed message part. URL: <http://lists.kolab.org/pipermail/announce/attachments/20140214/82b91fb4/attachment.sig> |
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Latest and Greatest On a recent trip to China, our fearless leader encountered a very special mobile device. It has a shape like none other, It's in a weight class of its own, and it has a camera and flashlight that you normally wouldn't find on a cellphone. On top of all that, it's solid like a... well... like a brick. And as we took it apart we were greeted by all kinds of surprises! Join me as I find out what space-age technology is hidden within this mighty chunk of phone!
"Features" and "Accessories" Before we tear into this beauty, let's take a moment to explore the bells and whistles. The box advertises large "streo" speakers and a strong flashlight that "can as 30 meters." Not only that, but it "suppore Multi-languagse," and, most importantly of all: " sbook." Pop open the box and you're presented with the following: On the left, you'll notice this phone comes with its own very sporty headset. Featuring two hard plastic earbuds, something vaguely microphone shaped and a buttonesque protrusion. Whereas many phones would try to squeeze all of this functionality through a useless audio jack, the X900 rather cleverly (mis)uses a USB mini-B connector. You may be thinking, at this point, "if that USB mini-B port is for the headset then how do I charge it?" No worries! Provided you have access to a wall outlet and the proper adapters for your country, the included charger fits snugly into the tiny barrel jack connector just above the USB port. And finally we come to the phone: I can hear you. You're saying, "Please tell me that's a massive, but somewhat dim, LED flashlight." Oh, you're darn skippy it is. And turning it on is as easy as pressing the "Unique flashlight push switch" into the on position or, one imagines, leaving the phone in your purse or pocket. Just below that, you'll notice a full-on USB-A charging port. Not so you can charge the phone but so that the phone can charge other things... not a bad trick if you have the battery to back it up. Speaking of which, let's have a look at that battery: Sliding off the back cover, you notice that the battery is a massive brick. You're quickly distracted, however, by the strange mess underneath: Oh yes. Two SIM card slots and one SD storage slot. This is a spy phone, for sure, just like 007 might carry. But finally I think it's time to get to the important part: the operating system. Okay, it isn't without its quirks but a little bit of exploration will turn up the games directory: The phone comes with only one game, because you only need one game. And that game is... well, I don't really know what it's called or how to play it. It features a Panda that doesn't like bugs one single bit: Okay, enough of this. There must be more to this phone and the only way to find out is to get it open!
Heavyweight Chump The first thing that you'll notice when you pick up an X900 is the immense weight. This phone feels solid, and parts of it really are. But where is all of that weight coming from? Let's find out: As you can see, the phone and battery together weight a whopping 8.45 ounces. By comparison, the iPhone 5s in its entirety weighs only 3.95 ounces. Perhaps this weight discrepancy can be explained by the massive "8000 mAh" battery brick: Uh... hmm... Let's start pulling the phone apart then and see if maybe the unusually large and capable flashlight is responsible for the added mass: Well it isn't in there... But wait that only leaves one place that the weight could be hiding... That's right. The front panel of the X900 is cast from pot metal and weighs, on its own, a quarter of an ounce more than the iPhone 5s. This isn't looking good. In fact, now that I think about it that battery seems really light. What was the capacity on that thing? Well, it says 8800mAh at 3.7V but I've handled quite a few batteries and I just don't see that being true. Normally, I wouldn't advise tearing into a cellphone battery but I had a really good feeling that as soon as the sticker was torn away I might be presented with... well... this: That's an 18650! It's a common cylindrical Li-ion battery, it is indeed rechargeable, but it packs only 2000mAh. That's less than a quarter of the advertised capacity. Close enough. Let's dig a little deeper, this is getting interesting...
The Naughty Bits Now that we know the dumb bit on the right is much much heavier than the smart bit on the left, let's find out just how smart that "smart bit" is. After snipping a few wires, the main board of the phone frees itself from the frame without much trouble. You'll notice that the main board is wired to all sorts of things including the antenna, the flashlight and the USB charging port using some flimsy bits of wire. It's worth mentioning at this point that the flashlight is really just an LED with some heatsink material behind it wired directly to the power rail through a slide switch. If this is the speaker that the box brags about then the box is half right. It's a 'large speakers' but it is most definitely not a 'streo speakers.' Let's flip it and check out the keypad. That's definitely a pretty standard keypad, but wait a second... what's this underneath? What the heck? It's a secret keypad. I told you this was some kind of spy phone. I'm assuming what happened is that the fine folks at DDC Mobile bought a bunch of phone boards and a bunch of rubber keypads but they weren't compatible... so they had to stuff in another board to match them up. So... there's a sticker. I was really hoping it would hold some clues for me but I don't know how to decipher this at all. This is V2.0 of the board, though, so there must have been one worse. That's progress of a sort.
Bag of Chips I guess we've seen the dirty truth, but we can't know the whole story until we get a handful of datasheets. Let's start looking for part numbers: Found one! The silkscreen on this camera module turned up the datasheet for an image sensor called the GC6123. An image sensor that must be in demand these days with its whopping 240x320 pixel resolution. That's a small fraction of a megapixel! Ah ha! The brains of the operation! Both of the ICs pictured above are made by the same company: RDA microelectronics. This is the first time I've ever had trouble searching for a datasheet because the part number brought back more forums than anything. Forums full of people trying to get tools and firmware to reprogram the chips in order to make cheap phones and clone IMEIs. Apparently, the RDA8851C is a very popular controller in these inexpensive Chinese cellphones. And why wouldn't it be? Integrated flash on chip, camera interface, keypad scanner, quad-band integrated transceiver... in a way, this thing is the phone. The only component that doesn't seem to be integrated? The front-end RF module. That's where the RDA6625 steps in. Okay, we kind of get how the phone works now but let's revisit the battery. Truth be told, that 18650 wasn't the only thing in the battery enclosure. I also found this: A board containing a pair of battery protection ICs: The S8205, which protects multiple cells from overcharge, over-discharge and over-current. And the DW01 which seems to do exactly the same thing only for a single cell... which this is. This leads me to believe that the battery board is used in multiple batteries, you'd probably find the same board in 40% of li-po batteries in China. |
Donald Tusk has appeared to blame the UK electorate for causing “anxiety and uncertainty” for millions of British and EU citizens living abroad, in an extraordinary letter that immediately embroiled him in a row with Conservative MPs.
The president of the European council wrote to a group of 80 mainly Tory MPs arguing that EU politicians could not be blamed for the impact of the Brexit vote and saying the real cause of the problems was the referendum result on 23 June.
He accused the British parliamentarians of making an argument that “has nothing to do with reality” after they claimed in a letter that the lead EU negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, was “worryingly indifferent to securing reciprocal rights for our and your resident citizens”.
Tusk hit back in a letter he published on Twitter by pointing to the decision of the British public to back Brexit as the cause of uncertainty, and said the problem could be solved by Theresa May triggering article 50 as soon as possible.
The 'Canadian model': why Ceta isn't a blueprint for Brexit Read more
“In your letter you state that the European commission, and in particular [Michel] Barnier, are attempting to prevent negotiations, thereby creating ‘anxiety and uncertainty for the UK and EU citizens living in one another’s territories’,” he said.
“It is a very interesting argument; the only problem being that it had nothing to do with reality. Would you not agree that the only source of anxiety and uncertainty is rather the decision on Brexit? And that the only way to dispel the fears and doubts of all citizens concerned is the quickest possible start of the negotiations based on article 50 of the treaty?”
Tusk said the EU “stands ready” to negotiate Britain’s exit from the EU, including reciprocal rights, but could only do so once the process formally begins. “Let me reiterate, however, that the decision about triggering article 50 belongs only to the UK, which we fully respect,” he said.
His response was to an earlier letter, organised by the Tory MPs Michael Tomlinson and Steve Baker, and signed by MPs including Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith, that suggested that the issue of reciprocal rights was too important to wait until article 50 was triggered.
Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) My reply to the UK MPs on the status of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens living and working in Europe: https://t.co/NR0KC80j3k pic.twitter.com/lBRQfv7rr5
“[Barnier’s] attempts to prevent negotiations taking place on this issue between the democratically elected governments of EU member states are making it harder to achieve what is in everyone’s interest: ending the anxiety and uncertainty for UK and EU citizens living in one another’s territories,” it said.
Tomlinson then hit out at the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, accusing her of having “quit the moral high ground” over the issue.
The Conservative MP’s attack was in response to reports suggesting Merkel would not guarantee reciprocal rights for UK citizens living in Germany until formal Brexit negotiations had begun, and that she had told May as much during a bilateral meeting.
Tomlinson accused Merkel of having “entered the fray with the implication that human beings will be traded ‘tit for tat’ in a political playground”.
“I read with dismay the article on Politico that Angela Merkel, in common with Michel Barnier, refused to engage in a civilised way on reciprocal rights and failed to give assurances that UK citizens living in Europe would remain entitled to live and work there,” said Tomlinson, who is the deputy chair of the European research group of MPs.
The former environment secretary Owen Paterson also criticised the German leader, suggesting that other countries were willing to try to reach an early deal. “Angela Merkel is wrong to be intransigent. She must act now to reassure millions of UK and EU resident citizens,” he said.
Minister dismisses 'have cake and eat it' Brexit notes Read more
Reacting to Tusk’s letter, the former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: “EU politicians should stop playing politics with people’s lives. They should agree to end the speculation and take away the anxiety that people feel about their futures. The EU yet again puts systems above people.”
Baker said: “The EU is doing the wrong thing, being defensive. It is on the back foot through sheer dogmatism, and now in the wrong.”
Tomlinson sent Tusk a direct message on Twitter saying his “response to my letter is disappointing and wrongheaded. He is putting EU process above and beyond human beings”.
The Tory MP Julian Knight said: “So I can now tell the worried EU citizens who do come to my surgery on this issue that it is the EU which is holding them to ransom.”
The row comes after the prime minister of Malta said Britain might not be in a position to trigger article 50 to begin leaving the EU by the government’s deadline of the end of March 2017.
Joseph Muscat, whose country takes over the EU’s rotating presidency in January, said he would not be surprised if legal proceedings resulted in the divorce between the UK and the EU being delayed.
Next week, the UK supreme court will hear a government appeal against a high court ruling that parliament must be consulted before article 50 can be invoked.
Muscat also said European leaders were “not bluffing” when they insisted that Britain would not retain the single market access it currently has if UK politicians also wanted to curb immigration, adding that the European parliament could veto any deal. |
Three House Democrats have proposed a resolution that criticizes the teaching of creationism and the denial of man-made global warming as anti-science.
The resolution from Reps. Rush Holt Rush Dew HoltWho should fund US research and development? Trump’s choice for science adviser should be confirmed The Nunes memo’s biggest casualty: Credible congressional oversight MORE (D-N.J.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Mike Honda (D-Calif.), H.Res. 467, proposes the designation of Feb. 12 as "Darwin Day" to recognize Charles Darwin's contributions to science.
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The resolution says Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection "provides humanity with a logical and intellectually compelling explanation for the diversity of life on Earth." It also says teachings to the contrary go against established science."[T]he teaching of creationism in some public schools compromises the scientific and academic integrity of the United States education systems," it reads. It adds that the validity of Darwin's theory of natural selection is "strongly supported by the modern understanding of the science of genetics."The resolution also takes a shot at global warming skeptics, by saying the advancement of science "must be protected from those unconcerned with the adverse impacts of global warming and climate change."Febr. 12 is the anniversary of Darwin's birth in 1809, and it says the House supports the designation of that date as "Darwin Day." It also says the House recognizes Darwin as a "worthy symbol on which to celebrate the achievements of reason, science, and the advancement of human knowledge."Holt proposed a similar resolution last year, which won the support of five additional House Democrats: Reps. Mike Capuano (Mass.), Jared Polis (Colo.), Charles Rangel (N.Y.), Louise Slaughter (N.Y.) and now-Sen. Ed Markey (Mass.). |
It is uncontroversial to call Ontario's energy situation a disaster. As Premier Kathleen Wynne has herself conceded: Ontarians are now having to "choose between paying the electricity bill and buying food or paying rent."
Wynne's polling numbers suggest that most Ontarians know where to square the blame, with a pitiful 15 per cent approval rating and 58 per cent of the electorate believing she should resign.
However, Wynne alone shouldn't bear the burden for the fact that hydro bills for the average consumer have skyrocketed over recent years; it was former premier Dalton McGuinty and his Liberal team from 2003 to 2012 — including his former principal secretary and "policy guru" Gerald Butts — who set Ontario on this financially bleak, dead-end road. And now, Butts is headed on the same path, leading not the premier, but the prime minister, on the way down.
'The brains behind the operation'
Butts was, according to the Toronto Star, "the man they call 'the brains behind the operation'" and the "policy architect of the Liberal government since 2003." Butts departed from McGuinty's government in 2008, but not before he and the Ontario Liberal team set the stage for the ill-fated Green Energy Act, in part, by signing onto dubious wind power projects and its cripplingly inefficient Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP).
For those thinking Butts cannot be held responsible for the Ontario hydro plights of today and tomorrow, many past articles give — and Butts himself takes — credit for initially enacting and seeing through those energy policies. As the Toronto Star reported in 2012: "On his biography page at the WWF website, Butts cites how he was 'intimately' involved with the McGuinty government's environmental initiatives." Another Canadian Press article made it clear that Ontario's energy policy was Butts' design: "McGuinty's plan, which called for replacing coal with a combination of conservation, renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear power, came from his senior adviser, Gerald Butts."
Butts has himself taken credit for McGuinty's energy plan. (Canadian Press)
Butts has graduated to the halls of Parliament Hill as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's own principal secretary, leaving behind a province still paying the price, literally, for his tenure. His promise to eliminate coal, for example — a worthy gambit, if done fiscally responsibly— cost Ontario consumers an extra $37 billion between 2006 and 2014, according to an auditor general, and is expected to cost another $133 billion from 2015 to 2032.
Now he's doubling down, via the prime minister, on his green energy gambit by promising to enact carbon pricing regimes (read: tax) on all provinces by 2018 and phasing out coal by 2030, even as our neighbour and biggest competitor moves in the opposite direction. How team Trudeau sees a carbon-priced Canada competing against the U.S. on an off-kilter playing field confounds most people's common sense.
The incoherence of the federal government's energy plans is further evidenced by its approvals of the Pacific Northwest liquefied natural gas project — with a cap of 4.3 million tonnes of emissions per year — as well as Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline and Enbridge's Line 3, combining to pump out about a million more barrels of cheap oil a day into the world market. Although the approval of these projects is great news for Alberta's anaemic economy in particular (especially if they all actually come to fruition), they also create a conundrum: how can the government at once pledge to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, while simultaneously increasing them through new pipeline infrastructure? Does it not undermine the government's lofty goal of helping reduce overall emissions on the planet?
Running deficits
The federal Liberals, under the stewardship of Butts, has already run a projected $30 billion deficit in its first year in office. Phasing out all coal by 2030 will have a cost that will add to that deficit. (This sounds awfully familiar, no?) Forcing carbon taxes on all Canadians by 2018 will, in theory, be a revenue generator for Canada, yet it also promises to eat up more of Canadians' paycheques, and potentially trigger businesses to flee to greener (and cheaper) pastures down south — a phenomenon that is of real and pressing concern for Ontario's government.
The architects of Ontario's energy fiasco are now stationed in the PMO. The whole country should be wary of the financial disaster of that province being replicated nationwide.
This column is an opinion. For more information about our commentary section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ. |
The Harper government has poked the Newfoundland bear again and the consequences could be profound for Canada’s giant trade deal with the European Union.
Two Newfoundland and Labrador government ministers, Keith Hutchings and Darin King, are heading to Ottawa next week to visit the embassies of various European Union nations. They will tell the Europeans, including EU ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx, that the province will not abide by the provisions of the trade deal unless the Harper Conservatives pay the hundreds of millions of dollars they say was pledged to a fund to help transition the fishery in the province.
While Paul Davis’ government cannot derail Ottawa’s ability to ratify the European trade deal, this represents a messy and embarrassing political spat that will suggest to the Europeans, and other potential trading partners, that Canada cannot deliver on its promises.
The disagreement is rooted in the terms of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). As part of the negotiations, the Newfoundland government agreed to phase out minimum processing requirements, a policy that allows the province to set the minimum amount of processing that must occur on fish products before they can be exported.
The policy is protectionist and shields inefficiency, but it has guaranteed jobs in areas of rural Newfoundland and the proposal that it be eliminated has been hugely controversial.
The policy is protectionist and shields inefficiency, but it has guaranteed jobs in areas of rural Newfoundland
The provincial government calculated the opening of European markets to Canadian shrimp and cod, with the gradual elimination of 20% tariff barriers on shrimp and 7.5% on cod, would take the sting from ending minimum processing requirements (MPR).
As part of the deal, the government in St. John’s negotiated an agreement with Ottawa to set up a $400 million Fisheries Fund, cost-shared 70/30. That agreement was reached in June 2013 and it seems at that time, everyone believed that this was a “transition fund,” aimed at helping the industry adjust to new conditions, as well as worker displacement from the end of MPR.
Certainly, that seems to have been the impression of Bill Hawkins, chief of staff to Trade Minister Ed Fast (and now the prime minister’s principal secretary), in an email he wrote to the Newfoundland government on Oct. 23, 2013. In the email, he talked about a “transitional program of up to a combined total of $400 million that would address fish and seafood industry development and renewal, as well as workers whose jobs are displaced in future.”
In January 2014, the file was handed on to Rob Moore, the minister of state for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and as recently as early October, he suggested the fund was a “fishery transition initiative.”
However, by late October, ACOA officials said that the province would have to demonstrate damages to the federal government as a result of the elimination of MPR before any funding would flow. The money could only be used to assist displaced workers, rather than for industry development and renewal, as Mr. Hawkins had suggested.
This position was confirmed by the prime minister in a meeting with Premier Davis last month, leading the latter to suggest the federal government could not be trusted.
You can see his point. Nowhere in the literature I have seen does it suggest this was a compensation fund. The $280 million from the feds, which is already baked into the budget, was earmarked clearly by the Newfoundland and Labrador government for marketing, development and research, as well as worker adjustment. Under the revised terms suggested by the ACOA officials in October, funding, which was due to start flowing upon the implementation of the CETA, would not be available until around 2020.
A statement that emerged from the Prime Minister’s Office following the meeting with Mr. Davis said the fisheries fund was “always intended to compensate hard-working Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for demonstrable losses. It was never intended to be a blank cheque.” But this reads like revisionist history.
Arguably, the deal to provide the $280 million should never have been struck. The point is, though, it was.
It seems clear that there was a change of heart at cabinet level sometime in October. Why? We can only speculate, but it seems logical that other provinces, specifically Prince Edward Island, did not like the transition deal (Gail Shea from P.E.I. is the Fisheries Minister).
What is clear is the Davis government is following in the honourable tradition of Newfoundland premiers Brian Peckford, Roger Grimes and Danny Williams who have taken a big stick to their federal counterparts.
The solution is simple. The Harper government should stump up the $280 million it agreed to pay
There are no seats at risk for the federal Conservatives; they have none. But the reputational damage of a province careering around the capital telling foreigners not to trust the federal government will be considerable. Not to mention, it could start the gradual unravelling of the fragile CETA deal.
Lawrence Herman of Toronto-based international trade lawyers Herman and Associates said he regrets that Newfoundland and Labrador feels the need to “make a fuss” with foreign governments. “It impedes the view that Canada is solidly behind the CETA,” he said. “This is an internal Canadian dispute.”
He pointed out that the tactic may well rebound on the Newfoundlanders.
If the provincial government does not live up to the requirements of the trade deal, the EU could take counter-measures for breach of treaty. “The EU could apply tariffs to fish products from Newfoundland,” he said.
That circumstance could yet be averted. In response to the Post‘s inquiries and presumably having gotten a whiff of the impending action, Mr. Moore appeared to extend an olive branch. “As we have indicated to the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, we remain open to a transition initiative that addresses compensation to displaced workers, research and development and innovation.”
The solution is simple. The Harper government should stump up the $280 million it agreed to pay on implementation of CETA. And ministers Hutchings and King should stay home and save their breath to cool their porridge.
Mr. Herman is right: This is a Canadian matter and the CETA is too important to jeopardize.
National Post
• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: IvisonJ |
The congressman who said he "would love to invalidate" the Endangered Species Act is closing in on his goal.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, recently shepherded five bills out of the Natural Resources Committee he chairs that would dismantle the law piece by piece. Many Republicans on the panel say the proposals are necessary changes that would modernize the 1973 law. Democrats and conservationists say the bills would whittle away the law's ability to save wildlife from extinction.
One measure would force the federal government to consider the economic impact of saving a species rather than make a purely scientific call. Another would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the act along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to defer to data collected by states as the "best scientific and commercial data available," although state funding related to the act accounts for a small fraction of that supported by the federal government.
Under a third proposal, citizens and conservation groups would be stripped of a powerful tool that allows them to file court claims against the government when they believe its protections fall short. Among other actions, the remaining bills would also remove protections for gray wolves in Midwestern states and block courts from ruling on the validity of the government's decisions.
The legislation is setting up a titanic clash over a law that forms the foundation of American wildlife protection and has been copied around the world.
"This will be a battle royal," said Bob Dreher, vice president for conservation programs at Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C. "You're going to see a strong, strong movement opposing cuts to the ESA. I don't want to sound overly confident or cocky that we're going to defeat this. It's going to be the fight of my conservation career."
Unlike earlier GOP attempts to weaken the act, Bishop is poised to realize his ambition because of Republicans' control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. A Senate committee that previously held hearings on modernizing the act is preparing companion legislation, and a president who favors oil-and-gas development on federal land is more likely to sign it into law.
Bishop, who declined requests to comment for this story, exuded confidence about the bills' prospects before the committee acted in July. "Hopefully, working with our colleagues in the Senate and the administration, we can lay a foundation for ESA reform that will do us well," he said.
All of the measures, approved almost completely along party-line votes Oct. 4, are awaiting consideration by the full House.
Their passage would mark Bishop's most significant legislative victory since the former high school teacher and debate coach entered politics in Utah, where he served as a charismatic leader of the state Republican Party and co-founded the Western States Coalition.The eight-term congressman has long been an opponent of the law, which is credited with saving the bald eagle, humpback whale, grizzly bear, California condor and the Florida manatee.
"It has never been used for the rehabilitation of species. It's been used for control of the land," Bishop said this year. "We've missed the entire purpose of the Endangered Species Act. It has been hijacked."
Bishop's disdain was clear in the hearings, Democrats say. On witness panels, they charge, farmers, dam operators, state wildlife managers and others opposed to the act got their say about its supposed shortcomings, without comparable opportunities for scientific and federal government experts to check those claims. The Interior Department even barred Fish and Wildlife staff members from meeting with the minority caucus' staff members as they attempted to gather information for hearing preparations, according to lawmakers such as Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, Ariz.
"The bias and the setup begins at the hearing," said Grijalva, the Natural Resources Committee's ranking Democrat. "We get one witness, they get three or four, and the drumbeat begins with the onerous things that are wrong with the act: It's too cumbersome, it allows too many radical lawsuits, the states can do a better job, let them make the scientific and biological opinion of when wildlife should be listed."
The law was essentially 73 years in the making. It followed the Lacey Act of 1900 that was passed to conserve wildlife after carrier pigeons that once filled America's skies went extinct and bison nearly disappeared. Other conservation acts that preceded it were the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1929 and Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966.
Seven years later, that preservation act was strengthened to become the Endangered Species Act. The new legislation was approved by overwhelming and bipartisan margins - 355 to 4 in the House and 92 to 0 in the Senate. President Richard Nixon made it official with his signature that December.
The law gives the federal government control over regulating use of land that serves as habitat for endangered species, with assistance from states. It specifies that decisions should be based on only science, without consideration of the economic effect. The law also helps people sue for the protection of animals or plants through the Equal Access to Justice Act, which pays the attorney fees of individuals and organizations that take the government to court and win.
Today, more than 2,000 species are listed as endangered or threatened, including Loggerhead sea turtles in parts of the Atlantic Ocean, whooping cranes in the West and the Texas golden gladecress.
Over time, some lawmakers began to argue against the law's species management and protection. Protecting animals such as the spotted owl and blue whale cordoned off enormous chunks of forest, ocean and desert. Private landowners were sometimes restricted or blocked from certain activities on their property, from logging and oil or gas drilling to cattle grazing and housing development.
This year, Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla., noted that of the total species listed since 1973, only about 3 percent have been delisted. "As a doctor, if I admit 100 patients to the hospital and only three recover enough to be discharged, I would deserve to lose my medical license," he said.
Peter S. Alagona, author of "After the Grizzly: Endangered Species and the Politics of Place in Southern California," says some concerns about the law have never been sufficiently addressed. He thinks it is due for "an update," but he disagrees with what he calls Republicans' "false pretenses."
"If the complaint is (that) the recovery of a species takes too long, the question is for whom," he said. The agencies responsible for the effort "have lacked resources" to address critical issues, "and part of the reason is they have been starved by the politicians who are now claiming it takes too long."
GOP lawmakers argue that states better understand species within their borders and should take a leading role in protecting them. But Alagona and others say animal populations have withered over the decades because of neglect by states.
A 2016 study by the University of California at Irvine showed that state spending to protect endangered and threatened wildlife over the 10 years ending in 2014 was "negligible" compared with federal spending - a collective $57 million vs. more than $1.1 billion.
Most state regulations cover fewer species than the federal government does, and 17 states do not bother to protect plants. West Virginia and Wyoming have no legislation protecting species, the study said, although Wyoming allocates more than most states on species management. Half of the states do not require any scientific evidence as a basis to list species or remove them.
Conservationists are worried about the ESA bills now before the House, but they are especially concerned about the proposal that would require federal wildlife officials to consider the "likelihood of significant, cumulative economic effects" of listing an animal or plant. Its author, Rep. Pete Olson, R-Texas, who has characterized the act as "a political weapon for extreme environmentalists," said potential revenue and job losses as a consequence of species protection can no longer be ignored.
Olson's bill would demolish a tenet that historically set U.S. species protections apart from those of other countries: Science should be a much stronger factor than money.
Dan Ashe, a Fish and Wildlife director under the Obama administration who is now president and chief executive of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, warns that putting economic interests first would be a serious blow to the law. The 2008 protection of polar bears under the George W. Bush administration, he said, is just one example of action that probably would not have happened.
"What a hard decision that was," Ashe said. "If (agency officials) were required to consider the economic impact of the polar bear listing, would they have listed it? I think not."
The drive to weaken the Endangered Species Act is coming at a crucial time, Ashe said. "Wide scientific consensus is that we're living amid another great extinction crisis - people are calling it the sixth mass extinction," he said. "Looking at these five bills, I see no sign that there's a concern for improving the implementation of the Endangered Species Act." |
It's about time the administration began taking on the ogres of the left's imagination seriously. Attorney General Eric Holder has formed the "Oil and Gas Price Fraud Working Group to Focus on Energy Markets" to expose the speculators, the gougers, and those fat cat millionaires. And if we can't confront make-believe distractions with "working groups," well, we are surely a nation in decline.
But of course, Holder will find the biggest frauds right in his administration, which—as a matter of policy, as a matter of faith—believes the price of fossil fuels ought to be extortionate and has done all it can to ensure it.
The left's "energy" initiatives of the past decade—the entire purpose of energy policy, in fact—have been aimed at artificially driving fossil fuel prices up to incentivize the bitter clingers to embrace the government's Utopian energy schemes. No secret has been made of it. In 2008, candidate Barack Obama was asked by CNBC's John Harwood, "So could the (high) oil prices help us?" Obama: "I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment." Sudden spikes are bad (politically speaking), but gradual price spikes? Helpful. That same year, current U.S. "Energy" Secretary (then just a zany professor) Steven Chu clarified that "somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."
Who says this administration doesn't get things done?
What we need are clean energy investments, properly inflated tires, Chinese-style rail systems—all free of the distraction of capitalism. Also, we must rid the nation of oil subsidies. This I completely support, as long as the funds are reinvested into projects beneficial for the struggling American worker, say, bike paths or public service announcements.
We all, you see, have to make adjustments. As President Obama explained, "if you're complaining about the price of gas and you're only getting 8 miles a gallon ... you might want to think about a trade-in." What kind of trade-in, sir? Let me guess. A $41,000 economy-class government-made Chevy vehicle (a real cost of 100K-plus without taxpayer support) that plugs into expensive government-subsidized energy produced by the sweet howling wind? Yes, these are the serious people.
Then, of course, there is all the profit-mongering we keep hearing about. The Congressional Budget Office reported that in January, federal and state fuel taxes sucked in about 48 cents per gallon for gasoline and 53 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. Government typically sees more profit per gallon of gas than the oil companies. At least the fossil fuel oligarchs—smart enough to control the entire world market but too dumb to do it more often—have the decency to provide a product before taking carnal advantage of us at the pumps.
Let's not forget the Environmental Protection Agency, which, as we speak, is in the process of rolling out the "the most far-reaching environmental regulatory scheme in American history," according to Time magazine. Using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases—so, all useful energy—the EPA is trying to initiate cap and trade by fiat. It has to because even a Democratic monopoly in Washington was unable to muster the courage to launch this kind of assault on prosperity.
Complaints about our "dependency on foreign oil"—considering the fungibility of the commodity, where we get it from and how long it takes to increase production—seem to be nothing more than crowd-pleasing bipartisan talking points. Surely, there could be a useful debate on the topic, if this administration cared one whit about increasing production at home. The de facto moratorium on offshore oil drilling and the regulatory burdens placed on new production prove that any "dependency" on oil, not just the Middle East variety, is the real problem.
The administration, of course, isn't at fault when oil prices spike; it just seems to make matters worse. Or better, if you happen to be an environmentalist. So why isn't it celebrating? Though the left may be wary of the political consequences, it has been pining for high fuel costs for decades. So here they are. Let's see how the economy responds.
David Harsanyi is a columnist at The Blaze. Follow him on Twitter at davidharsanyi.
COPYRIGHT 2011 CREATORS.COM |
With the two leading the championship, there have been suggestions that they could be exploiting loopholes in the regulations to try to gain a performance advantage.
Such fears were the catalyst for an FIA clampdown on the fuel systems in the Spanish Grand Prix as the governing body moved to stop teams trying to store petrol beyond the flow meters to try to get a power boost.
Now, the focus has shifted to oil systems and whether or not some teams have been adding performance-boosting chemicals to the auxiliary oil tank so that they can be used in the engine to help add horsepower.
Detailed checks
The FIA confirmed that following free practice and qualifying in the Canadian Grand Prix, oil samples from Lewis Hamilton's and Sebastian Vettel's cars were taken away for detailed forensic analysis.
A report issued by the FIA afterwards said: "The viscosity analysis showed a slight reduction in the viscosity of the oil in the main tank compared to that of the equivalent auxiliary tank in both cars and the differences can be attributed to fuel dilution, as expected under normal operating conditions.
"The InfraRed analysis showed no significant difference between the oil in the main tank and the one in the equivalent auxiliary tank in both cars.
"Further the GC analysis showed no differences between the oil in the auxiliary tank and the one in the main tank for both cars. It also showed no difference between the oil in the main tank on Friday FP2 and Qualifying for both cars.
"Headspace analysis at 120°C confirmed the presence of fuel in the main tank oil samples (both FP2 and Qualifying), whereas none was detected in the auxiliary tank oil samples.
"This, again, is due to the expected fuel dilution of the used lube oils under normal operating conditions"
All clear
The FIA made it clear that following the analysis, it was satisfied that neither team had been in breach of the rules.
"From these results, it can be concluded that the auxiliary oil tank is not being used to add performance-boosting components, either to the main oil tank or to the combustion chamber via the sump breather into the air intake," the report added.
The oil system investigation shows the lengths that the FIA is going to to ensure that all teams comply with the regulations, and that it addresses concerns rivals have about their competitors. |
The fire suppression system when crazy at the Albany International Airport on Tuesday evening. The fire suppression system when crazy at the Albany International Airport on Tuesday evening. Photo: Albany County Sheriff's Office Photo: Albany County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Foam spill at Albany airport could cost 'millions,' sheriff says 1 / 8 Back to Gallery
COLONIE - A fire suppression system at Commutair malfunctioned Tuesday afternoon, spewing tons of foam throughout the hangar area of the Albany International Airport, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said.
Mountains of foam blanketed the area around 4 p.m., likely causing millions of dollars in damage, the sheriff said.
Photos of the scene made it look like that part of the airport was hit with a severe snow storm.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation was en route to the airport around 7 p.m., Apple said.
While the spill is not considered toxic, the foam is an eye irritant, he said.
"It's a big, big mess," Apple said. |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France and Luxembourg lost their battle to apply reduced VAT rates to ebooks on Thursday when a top European court agreed with EU regulators that only paper books qualified for lower taxes.
Ben VanderWerp demonstrates the features of a Nook e-reader for a customer at a Barnes and Noble store in Boston, March 18, 2011. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
EU rules allow member states to set lower rates of value-added tax on printed books but the European Commission decided two years ago that the 5.5 percent and 3 percent rates imposed by France and Luxembourg respectively, were illegal.
The EU executive said reduced VAT rates did not apply to ebooks as they were an electronically provided service and were not in the list of goods and services granted this privilege.
The vast majority of the EU’s 28 countries levy VAT rates ranging from 18 to 25 percent, according to Commission data.
VAT on paper books in contrast ranges from 0 to 10 percent, with the exception of three member states.
Judges at the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) rejected France and Luxembourg’s argument that ebooks should be considered a good rather than a service.
“The court finds that the VAT Directive excludes any possibility of a reduced VAT rate being applied to ‘electronically supplied services’,” they said.
“The court holds that the supply of electronic books is such a service,” the ECJ ruled.
Amazon, which dominates the ebooks market, has said that lower priced ebooks sell more and ultimately generate more revenue and more royalties for authors.
According to data provider Statista, ebook sales in Europe are expected to account for just over a fifth of book sales in Europe in 2017 compared with 4.5 percent in 2013.
The Commission is now reviewing the VAT rules as part of a revamp of the current transitional VAT system to switch over to a definitive VAT regime, a spokesman said before the court ruling.
French publishers and booksellers said the policy of having higher VAT rates for ebooks than for printed ones ran counter to the goal of encouraging e-reading and urged the Commission to change the VAT rules.
“We call on the European Commission to quickly take the initiative to amend the law to reflect technological progress and eliminate a serious obstacle to the development of the ebook market,” they said in a statement.
The case is C-479/13 Commission v France and C-502/13 Commission v Luxembourg. |
Image credit: sxc.hu
Time twins
Columnist: Peter Fotis Kapnistos Posted on Thursday, 16 August, 2012 | 9 comments Columnist:
Article Copyright© Peter Fotis Kapnistos - reproduced with permission.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg looks like a painting of Philip IV, king of Spain and Portugal in the 1600s. Hollywood star Nicolas Cage bears a striking resemblance to an amazing 140-year-old photo of a man believed to have lived in Tennessee at the time of the American Civil War. In folklore, a doppelganger or “double walker” is the psychic double of a living person. Is it perhaps an indication of cloaked time travel, reincarnation, or just a matching coincidence?One of the spirited 2012 end-of-time caution symbols is the chance of a new planet going through the middle of our solar system. The conventional press rebuffs every Planet X report, but Pentagon scientists have said since the 1980s that a gravitational body does in fact linger beyond the edge of our solar system and it has a measurable effect on the outer planets. Some have claimed “Nibiru” is not a planet after all but a brown dwarf star with its own active satellite system. Yet, the most mind-boggling outlook (confirmed in 1994) is that a dwarf galaxy - SagDEG - is merging with our Milky Way galaxy at over a million miles per hour. But don’t be troubled. They don’t smash (except in reactors). Neutrinos and possibly “God particles” from the mingled Sagittarius dwarf galaxy are passing right through your body every day.The FBI recently launched an online document archive they call “The Vault.” Inside those is a memo written by Guy Hottel, special agent in charge of the Washington Field Office, to the FBI Director on March 22, 1950, concerning flying saucers. With this file the FBI ostensibly admitted out of the blue that aliens are here. Aggravated by the Hollywood thrill of technological innovation and the well-timed savvy of German rocket discipline, some folks frankly think the Fuehrer of Nazi Germany may have been an alien double-cross. Even so, before we get to that explanation let’s look at the doppelganger quandary of political decoys.Some forensic investigators lately claim to have stumbled upon an “Illuminati family album.” Masked as a conservative Germanic family circle, it is allegedly a fictitious household to conceal the identities of ardent Nazi scientists who were brought to America through Project Paperclip.Project Paperclip was the formal recruitment of German space scientists and their families into the United States at the end of the Second World War through an ambiguity of the Witness Protection Program. They were given new identities.The Witness Protection Program provides for the relocation and protection of a witness or potential witness of the federal or state government in an official proceeding concerning serious offenses. Witnesses and their families typically get new identities with authentic documentation. Housing, subsistence for basic living expenses, and medical care are provided to the witnesses.Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purpose of gaining information or evidence. Traditionally it is a technique employed by law enforcement agencies around the world. A person who works in such a role is commonly referred to as an undercover agent.In 1967, during the Six Day War, Paperclip scientists allegedly supplied Israel with ballistic missiles designed by former Nazi rocket engineer Wernher von Braun and helped the Mossad intelligence agency to indoctrinate the Israeli Special Forces. They boldly infiltrated every vulnerable rank in the Israeli military and government just as they did in the US when they were brought there under Operation Paperclip. Another alleged goal was to increase lebensraum or "living space" and to make certain that the world’s most influential Jews continued to be secular and of Germanic origin.As rumor has it, diverse members of the so-called Paperclip family are talented undercover TV actors who appear in mock witness protection news broadcasts to stage-manage public opinion. As said by a few exploratory sources, the succeeding generation of this homespun organization is divided on allegiance at this point in time. Some have purportedly taken up various covert identities to argue for or against their own hegemony. The Junior Illuminati presumably consist of politicians, well-known celebrities, and guardians of society. The founder or patriarch of the family circle was said to be Josef Mengele, escaped German SS officer and physician of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, also known as the Angel of Death.Imagine being told that your “in vitro” grandfather was the ghastly doctor Mengele. His wicked twin experiments to alter eye colors and genetically produce a unique master race were sinister enough. Perhaps less known was his involvement with the hermaphrodite, a person having both male and female reproductive organs. Medical study discovered genetic gradients of extent in both genders that led to the possibility of sex change operations.Botox is used these days for various cosmetic and medical procedures. It is a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It relaxes muscles and transforms facial lines.Before it was available to the public for special cosmetic procedures, the “Botulinum Mask” was a restricted technique used by government and law enforcement agencies to temporarily disguise their agents’ identities.The undercover agent was calibrated a mask with holes precisely where the botulinum surface effects were desired. Saturating exact protein amounts into the skin through the holes would generate a one-of-a-kind disguise that could be repeatedly reproduced. The protein shape shifting effects typically disappeared after a few days (or weeks) and the agent’s face returned to its normal semblance.In the 1970s and early 1980s journalists occasionally discussed the shifting face of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. While plastic surgery generally takes months to set right, his countenance appeared to alter more frequently.In recent times, independent investigator Ed Chiarini (Dallasgoldbug) in Texas has carried out composite studies based on the biometrics of the human ear. Even though ear-based identification is nowadays considered more accurate than fingerprints, Ed Chiarini’s photographic studies of politicians and well-known celebrities have shocked and even outraged many of his viewers. Take for example the confusing doppelganger link between the late Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. and special agent John Capano.Ed Chiarini has also spread an uncommon view concerning chief negotiators of the New World Order. Maurice "Hank" Greenberg is an American industry executive. He is former chairman of American International Group (AIG) and is ranked among the world's richest individuals. Herman Van Rompuy is a Belgian policy-maker. He is the first long-term (un-elected) President of the European Council and commands the armed forces of the European Union. The bureaucratic contacts sandwiched between the desks of Greenberg and Rompuy are high up. The reserved likeness is interesting.The modern doppelganger myth tells of undercover agents using assumed or stolen identities and applying specialized cosmetic disguise techniques. It speaks of cryonics and hibernation, and miracle drugs with longevity therapies granting senior citizens youthful bodies.But it also gives an inkling of jump rooms, quantum entanglement and teleportation. The Montauk Project purportedly was a twin soul of the Philadelphia Experiment that unlocked a space-time vortex from the 1940s to the 1980s. It was said to be a series of secret United States government projects conducted at Camp Hero or Montauk Air Force Base near New York City.Numerous people have come forward describing fragmented memories of a lifetime conveyed between the Second World War and some forty years later. Throughout that experience, they felt being observed and evaluated, perhaps by an alien intellect.The Sagittarius dwarf galaxy merging with the Milky Way galaxy may function similar to a parasite or foreign body in an organism. At the sub-atomic level, the mix or boundary condition of two galaxies merging together produces a state of quantum decoherence. This disorder in a living organism appears as biological entropy and displays general symptoms of inflammation.Life in a dwarf galaxy could abide by rules far different from our own. The area may possibly even appear unlawful to us and would therefore need to be concealed. The evolution of a dwarf galaxy could be based on severe efficiency principles that seem problematical or immoral to us.Astrobiologists at Cambridge University have reported that our frequent missile launches have perforated the atmosphere and that might allow microorganisms to shuttle to the Earth. Sickness from space could be trying to find human containers. It might also shuttle through a quantum jump room or space-time vortex. Ridley Scott’s “chestburster” may seem to be a medieval reptilian demon, but some uncommon tropical parasitic infections could actually prove to be diseases from outer space. Valiant Thor was said to be an alien gentleman who visited the Pentagon in 1959.Life in a dwarf galaxy could be so devoted to exigency that it seeks to redesign genes according to its own family terms and recycle the remains of its rivals as industrial lubricants. On June 5, 1944, United States Army General George S. Patton made a stark assertion to his troops that the Industrial Revolution had decayed into an industrial-military craze that uses blood and guts to grease the wheels of tanks.For many people, the Hollywood role with actor George C. Scott is the distinct face of General Patton. But he was in point of fact the matching image of US Vice President Joe Biden. There is an incidental ghost story to this parallel.General George Patton was reportedly killed in an automobile accident (hit by a truck) at the end of the Second World War. One that same day, his daughter had a dream of him in full uniform sitting in front of a window. His other daughter was awakened by a phone call at night. She heard his voice saying: “Are you all right?” Then the line was cut off.The wife and daughter of United States Vice President Joe Biden were killed in an automobile accident (hit by a truck) in 1972. “I had not known I was capable of such rage... I felt God had played a horrible trick on me.” He once said he considered the Violence Against Women Act the single most significant legislation that he crafted.Life in the dwarf galaxy SagDEG could be so overbearing that its leaders gather myriad bodies in underground caverns and recycle them into manufactured fat. Trains pass behind barricades. Withered prisoners talk about a lone individual in their midst as the messiah. The one of Israel the leaders don’t want to recognize. At the edge of a galactic merger, an atomic particle can be in two galaxies at once.Would General George Patton have dared to go through the space-time vortex of the Montauk Project? Did the spirit of “Old Blood & Guts” transport forty years into the future to overpower the Fourth Reich?According to the Mayan calendar, the dwarf galaxy will pull out of the station on Friday, December 21, 2012, at 11:11 A.M. The Casimir effect will snap out, and quantum vacuum fluctuations will displace the net force with massive solar flares.The Mayan calendar is said to be more accurate than the Gregorian calendar. There is no need for the concept of a leap year in the Mayan calendar system. It would be rather impolite to allow the passengers of a dwarf galaxy to leave the station without their rightful baggage. Disorder, entropy, disease, death… these possibly are the decoherence effects that technically belong to the reality of a dwarf galaxy.Of course in the end we could allege that our doppelganger resemblances are merely photographic coincidences. We could also make a case that disorder and disease are perfectly natural in the Milky Way galaxy. As natural as an a-bomb mushroom beneath a twinkling sky. |
Three Toronto FC players walk in to a bar — and leave in handcuffs.
As first reported by the Sun, TFC’s Miguel Aceval, Nick Soolsma and Luis Silva were arrested in Houston for public intoxication early Monday morning.
Set to meet the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night, local police confirmed the TFC trio were taken into custody at Club Escobar following what officers described as a drunken altercation outside the establishment.
“There was a large disturbance outside the club,” a Houston Police spokesman told the Sun. “Our officers tried to disperse the fight at which time (the TFC players) refused to leave. (They) began to have verbal altercations with the officers.”
After multiple requests, MLSE issued a brief statement Monday afternoon acknowledging the charges.
“We are aware of the charges filed against Miguel Aceval, Luis Silva and Nick Soolsma in Houston earlier (Monday),” the statement read. “The players are presently with the team and we continue to investigate this matter. As such, the team will not provide any further comment at this time.”
Police at the scene said Silva, Aceval and Soolsma were given an opportunity to walk away from the situation before refusing. When officers attempted to handcuff one of the Reds “one of (the players) ran and so the officer ran and “¦ took him into custody,” the spokesman said.
Silva was later reported to have been the player that attempted to flee on foot — something that could have elevated his misdemeanor charge.
Resisting arrest in Texas carries a fine of up to $4,000, as well as a potential prison term. As a result, it’s safe to assume the player decided running wasn’t the best option. That, or TFC is loaded with players that are so unfit they can’t escape the pursuit of an American policeman.
The players, who were released from the Houston Police Department’s Central Jail after posting $267.00 bond, later confirmed to police they were in Texas for a match against the Houston Dynamo.
At least they were honest.
But from the looks of Luis Silva’s disheveled appearance, this wasn’t exactly a one or two-beer night.
While the crime itself is childish and miniscule, the optics couldn’t be worse. Professional athletes in the midst of a stretch of three games in a week can’t afford to be pie-eyed days before a match during a season that is on the verge of going down as one of the worst in league history.
As details continue to trickle out, there will be questions as to whether Silva, Soolsma and Aceval ignored team curfew and language in their contracts.
Will the club send a strong message, or will they simply brush it under the rug while bewildered supporters watch on in disbelief? Does it even matter this season?
After ditching former head coach Aron Winter two weeks ago, the Reds (1-10-0) failed to show well under Paul Mariner in a 2-0 loss at Kansas City on Saturday — a defeat that saw them drop an astonishing 29 points behind league-leading Real Salt Lake.
For those who continue to be passionate about soccer and MLS in this city, it’s yet another painful reminder of just how bad things are at BMO Field.
If it already isn’t an expectation, TFC’s dysfunctionality has moved from shocking to depressing. It really can’t get any worse.
[View the story “TFC Trio arrested in Houston” on Storify] |
The ShellExView utility displays the details of shell extensions installed on your computer, and allows you to easily disable and enable each shell extension.
ShellExView can be used for solving context-menu problems in Explorer environment. For more information, read the following article: Right-click is slow or weird behavior caused by context menu handlers
Date Version Description
30/08/2015 1.97 Fixed the 'Restart Explorer' option to work properly on Windows 10.
07/08/2015 1.96 Fixed bug: When the 'Hide All Microsoft Extensions' option was turned on, ShellExView didn't display it as checked.
Fixed bug: ShellExView failed to detect some shell extensions.
02/07/2015 1.95 Added 'Hide All Microsoft Extensions' option.
Added 'Missing File' column (Displays 'Yes' if the shell extension file is missing).
26/05/2014 1.90 Added 'Thumbnail Handler' and 'Preview Handler' shell extensions that ShellExView failed to locate in previous versions.
05/09/2013 1.86 Fixed bug: ShellExView failed to extract the digital signatures on some systems.
19/08/2013 1.85 Fixed issue: Microsoft shell extensions displayed as non-Microsoft if the company name was 'Microsoft Corp.'
Added 'Digital Signature' column, which displays the signer name if the shell extension dll is signed with a digital signature. This column is active only when 'Read Digital Signatures' option (Under the Options menu) is turned on. (by default it's turned off)
Added 'Auto Size Columns+Headers' option.
13/06/2013 1.81 Added secondary sorting: When clicking the column headers of 'Type', 'Company', and other columns , the list is sorted by the selected column first, and then by the 'Extension Name' column.
31/05/2013 1.80 Added 'Show 32-bit Shell Extensions' option, under the Options menu, available only on 64-bit systems. When it's turned on, ShellExView loads the 32-bit instance of installed shell extensions. (Similar to the /wow64 command-line option)
25/09/2012 1.76 Fixed issue: The properties window opened in the wrong monitor, on multi-monitors system.
09/09/2012 1.75 Added 'Restart Explorer' (Ctrl+E) option, under the Options menu, which allows you to easily restart Windows Explorer if the disabling/enabling a shell extension doesn't affect Explorer immediately (Very useful for Windows 7/2008/Vista).
19/03/2012 1.70 Added 'Put Icon On Tray' option.
24/10/2011 1.68 Added shell extensions under LibraryFolder\Background key.
03/10/2011 1.67 You can now drag one or more files from the window of ShellExView into Explorer window or other application.
18/05/2011 1.66 Added 'Show Time In GMT' option.
10/03/2011 1.65 Added support for 3 types of shell extensions: Disk Cleanup Handlers, Icon Overlay Handlers, and Property Handlers
26/02/2011 1.60 Added /enable and /disable command-line options, which allow you to disable/enable shell extensions automatically from command-line without displaying any user interface, by specifying the CLSID of the shell extension.
14/02/2011 1.55 Fixed bug: ShellExView failed to detect some shell extensions (When the CLSID was specified as Registry key instead of Registry value).
Added .NET detection - When there is a .NET extension, ShellExView now detect the real shell extension dll instead of displaying the .NET core dll (mscoree.dll)
Added .NET column, which displays 'Yes' if the shell extension was created in .NET
21/11/2010 1.50 Added 'Google Search - Filename' and 'Google Search - Extension Name' options, which allows you to easily search for information about the selected shell extension in Google.
20/09/2010 1.48 Added 'Add Header Line To CSV/Tab-Delimited File' option. When this option is turned on, the column names are added as the first line when you export to csv or tab-delimited file.
18/05/2010 1.47 Fixed ShellExView x64 to require to run as admin under Windows 7/Vista, like the 32-bit version.
03/05/2010 1.46 Added 'Preview Handler' shell extensions.
07/11/2009 1.45 On x64 systems, ShellExView now always shows the shell extensions for x64 applications, even on the 32-bit version of ShellExView. If you want to get the shell extensions list for 32-bit applications, use ShellExView with /wow64 command-line option.
Added /remote command-line option, which allows you to view/enable/disable shell extensions in a remote computer on your network.
29/08/2009 1.41 Changed the definition of 'Suspicious Shell Extensions' - In previous versions, Every shell extension with read-only attribute marked as Suspicious, which confused some users, because there are many legitimated shell extensions that set a read-only attribute, probably to protect them from delete by the user. However, if a shell extension has an hidden attribute, it'll still be marked as suspicious.
22/08/2009 1.40 Added option to submit a report about a shell extension that you disabled to http://shellfix.nirsoft.net.
05/04/2009 1.37 ShellExView now displays a special warning when trying to disable a shell extension of shell32.dll
07/01/2009 1.36 Fixed bug: ShellExView crashed when using it with the save command-line options.
24/11/2008 1.35 Added support for using ShellExView with external drive (by using /external command-line option).
10/11/2008 1.30 Added 'Filter By Extension Type' option - Allows you to select which type of shell extensions you want to view.
24/10/2008 1.25 New restriction: ShellExView won't allow you to disable at once more than 15 shell extensions created by Microsoft. The reason for this restriction is that recently there were a few cases of people that disabled most of their shell extensions, including system extensions that installed as a part of the operating system, and then found themselves with a system that cannot boot properly.
02/10/2008 1.24 Fixed bug: Exception window appeared when starting ShellExView in some systems.
08/07/2008 1.23 Fixed bug: The dates displayed in system locale format, instead of user locale.
14/05/2008 1.22 Added shell extensions under "My Network Places", "Entire Network", and "Remote Computer" Registry keys.
Added 3 columns: "My Network Places", "Entire Network", and "Remote Computer" (which tells you whether the Shell Extension was added into these folders)
03/05/2008 1.21 Fixed bug: The main window lost the focus when the user switched to another application and then returned back to ShellExView.
24/04/2008 1.20 Added support for saving as comma-delimited text file
22/11/2007 1.19 Under Vista, ShellExView now requires to run as administrator.
21/09/2007 1.18 Configuration of ShellExView is now saved to a cfg file instead of the Registry.
04/08/2007 1.17 Added support for properly enabling/disabling shell extensions under Windows Vista. (The disabled shell extensions are added to 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Blocked' key in the Registry)
Added x64 version (as a separated download) for using under Windows Vista x64.
Added shell extensions under SystemFileAssociations key.
16/02/2007 1.16 Fixed bug: When a filename was enclosed with quotes, ShellExView failed to display the properties of the file.
12/08/2006 1.15 A tooltip is displayed when a string in a column is longer than the column length.
30/12/2005 1.14 Added shell extensions under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background
15/07/2005 1.13 New columns: File Attributes and File Size.
New option: Mark Suspicious Shell Extensions - mark in red color shell extensions with unusual file attribues (hidden attribue) or with unusual file extensions.
21/06/2005 1.12 New shell extension types: InfoTip Handler, Shell Link, Structure Storage, MetaData.
Multiple shell extensions with the same CLSID are now displayed in separated entries.
Added support for Windows XP style.
27/02/2005 1.11 New shell extension type: URL Search Hook.
Open the CLSID key of the shell extension in RegEdit.
New column: File Extensions.
25/11/2004 1.10 New columns: File Created Time, CLSID Modified Time, Microsoft.
New extensions types: Browser Helper Object, IE Toolbar, Explorer Bar, IE Extensions.
Choose columns dialog-box.
Auto-Size columns.
Find dialog-box.
HTML Reports.
Save as XML file.
Mark disabled items in gray color.
Mark non-Microsoft extensions in pink color.
Ability to translate to other languages.
23/08/2003 1.01 Critical bug from previous version (1.00) was fixed: In some circumstances, after disabling a shell extension and then enabling it again, the shell extension continued to be disabled, even if ShellExView show that it's enabled. |
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A minister in Ghana has reportedly ordered the arrest of all gays and lesbians in the country’s Western Region.
Paul Evans Aidoo, the minister for the region, has directed the Bureau of National Investigations and other agencies to find gay people and bring them before the courts.
He has also called on landlords and tenants to inform on those they believe to be gay.
According to Ghanaian news reports, he said: “All efforts are being made to get rid of these people in the society.”
Mr Aidoo also said that he did not believe estimates of 8,000 gays and lesbians living in the West Region.
According to Joy News, he said: “I don’t believe it; nobody believes it. We do not see them.”
In Ghana, homosexuality is still considered a moral aberration, or even a myth.
The Constitution guarantees the protection of human rights regardless of “race, place of origin, political opinion, colour, religion, creed or gender”, but does not mention sexuality.
In practice, few people in Ghana have been convicted of homosexual acts.
Homophobic violence, however, remains a real problem, and gay Ghanaians are generally forced to hide their sexuality behind closed doors. |
In a recent episode, of My Big Fat Fabulous Life, the protagonist visits her alma mater where she gives a talk about body positivity and then fields questions from students. Who knows what really went on in that auditorium, but if we take the video at face value, she did a fine job of responding, especially for a layman who was put on the spot. With time and expertise on our side, we took our own stabs at answering two of the questions that arose.
He Said
“The medical community actually agrees that obesity can lead to a shorter life span. Do you think that your No BS [No Body Shame] campaign, which emphasizes feeling confident and beautiful at any size, do you think that that can coexist along with the very real facts that they do cause legitimate health concerns?”
The premise of this question is faulty in a few different ways.
No, the medical community does not agree that obesity can lead to a shorter life span.
Research actually suggests that other factors have a greater impact on mortality than does body size. For example, a 2012 study by Matheson et al. looked at the impacts of consuming five or more fruits and vegetables daily, exercising regularly, consuming alcohol in moderation, and not smoking and found that mortality was virtually identical across all studied body mass index groups when subjects had all four healthy habits. In other words, when it comes to our risk of dying early, behaviors are a better predictor than is body size.
In his 2010 study, Fogelholm found that physically active obese individuals had better cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risk than sedentary “normal weight” people, again suggesting that when it comes to matters of life span, behavior is a more important factor than is body size.
The entire body of research is bigger than just two articles, and of course, not every study reaches the same conclusion, which reinforces how much we still have to learn and underscores how inaccurate claims of universal agreement within the medical community are regarding this complex topic.
Size acceptance and health are two separate issues.
“The mission of the No Body Shame campaign,” according to its website, “is to help every individual overcome the debilitating effects of societal-induced shame. Supporters of No Body Shame have named weight, height, skin color, sexual orientation, gender, different abilities, and specific physical attributes as causes of shame. Whitney believes that when we commit ourselves to living our best lives now, accepting ourselves as we are even if others do not accept us, real changes in confidence and quality of life are not only possible, but imminent.”
Note that nowhere in the mission statement does health appear. No BS is part of the size acceptance movement, which is related to, but not synonymous with, initiatives like Health at Every Size (HAES®) that promote a paradigm shift within the medical community to focus on actual health instead of weight.
In explaining size acceptance, Ragen Chastain writes, “Everybody deserves basic human respect and civil rights and that should never be up to show of hands or vote of any kind. Fat people have a right to exist, there are no other valid opinions about that. Our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not someone else’s to give, they are inalienable. SA [Size Acceptance] activism is not about asking someone to confer rights upon us but rather demanding that they stop trying to keep them from us through an inappropriate use of power.”
HAES, on the other hand, can be succinctly encapsulated as a weight-neutral approach to health. The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) elaborates by saying, “The framing for a HAES approach comes out of discussions among healthcare workers, consumers, and activists who reject both the use of weight, size, or BMI as proxies for health, and the myth that weight is a choice. The HAES model is an approach to both policy and individual decision-making. It addresses broad forces that support health, such as safe and affordable access. It also helps people find sustainable practices that support individual and community well-being.”
While size acceptance and HAES are different concepts, clearly they relate. The situation is more complex than I am about to make it seem, but for the sake of brevity, consider how weight stigma pushes people into weight-loss pursuits that are most likely to worsen their health. If we as a society are more accepting of people of all sizes, we free each other up to instead focus on our actual health.
The implication that feeling unconfident or unbeautiful at certain sizes inspires better health is the exact opposite of what tends to actually happen.
Tomiyama and Mann conducted a study in which they posed two sets of questions to different subject groups. One set of questions was designed to make the subjects aware of weight stigma while the control questions asked about ecofriendly behaviors.
After subjects answered their questions, researchers presented them with a variety of foods and gave them permission to eat whatever and however much they would like. The people who had just responded to questions about weight stigma consumed significantly higher amounts of sugar and calories than those who answered neutral questions.
Their findings mirror our clinical observations and experiences. People often believe that self-dissatisfaction will somehow inspire better health, when in reality the individuals who love and accept themselves as they are tend to be the ones motivated to take better care of themselves.
Correlation is not synonymous with causation.
The questioner ended her inquiry with, “the very real facts that they do cause legitimate health concerns.” The context suggests that she misspoke when she used the word “they” and was actually referring to obesity.
If that presumption is indeed correct, then she is confusing correlation and causation. Earlier this month, I watched a fireworks display one evening and then a parade the next morning. Did the fireworks cause the parade, or did these events occur in close proximity to each other due to another factor, say, Independence Day?
Similarly, when we consider the diseases linked to obesity, we must remember that correlation does not equal causation. The link, in other words, might not be a causal relationship, but rather an association due to other factors. Many examples exist, but for the sake of brevity, consider just one: stress. Cardiovascular disease, which is often blamed on obesity, is also associated with life stress.
If you are not obese yourself, do your best to put yourself in those shoes for a moment: You live in a society where the government has declared war on your body size; where fat hate and bullying are prevalent online and in real life; where you might fear going to the doctor because you are more likely to receive a judgmental directive to lose weight rather than an actual evidence-based medical intervention; where commercials, memes, advertisements, talk at the gym, the grocery store, and over the dinner table hammer at you repeatedly throughout the day, every single day, that something is wrong with you and it is your fault. Tell me, how is your stress level?
She Said
“My father passed away this past April. He was severely overweight, he was diabetic, and he was an avoider, right. Do you think there is an ethical concern in folks who view you as a health and fitness expert or at least a public figure and use that body positivity message as an excuse to avoid actually addressing their real health concerns?”
While the second sentence of this audience member’s question is not a question at all, I think it needs to be addressed. Although he didn’t specifically say so, this statement reads as though the questioner believes that his father’s weight was to blame for the development of his type 2 diabetes (T2D). As we have discussed numerous times before, weight and health are two very different things and that while being “overweight” or “obese” might be correlated with certain health conditions, such as diabetes, there is no evidence that being “overweight” or “obese” causes these conditions.
In a 2012 interview for the Health at Every Size blog, author Linda Bacon explains, “while it’s true that the majority of people with T2D are in the BMI categories of ‘overweight’ or ‘obese,’ that’s at least in part because the insulin resistance that underlies most cases of T2D often causes people to gain weight. In fact, weight gain may actually be an early symptom—rather than a primary cause—of the path toward diabetes.” In addition, Bacon cites a “review of controlled weight-loss studies involving people with T2D” which showed that while “overweight” or “obese” individuals with T2D had initial improvements in their blood sugar levels with weight loss, those levels eventually returned to baseline within 6 to 18 months, even for those few individuals who had managed to keep the weight off.
I also think it is important to look at the way that the questioner described his dad: as an “avoider.” That tells me that this man believes that his father did not take care of himself to the extent he could have in order to have prevented his untimely death; that if his father had not “avoided” his health issues by presumably eating better and losing weight, he might still be here today. That seems like a very serious assumption. Sometimes even when people take all the right steps in dealing with their health condition, they will still pass away. We all like to think that if we eat perfectly, don’t smoke, don’t drink, and do all the “right things” (i.e., healthy life behaviors), we will live forever. Unfortunately, none of us is immortal.
Now to address the actual question that was asked. I find this question problematic for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t think that Whitney (the protagonist of MBFFL) has ever tried to portray herself as a “health and fitness expert.” Over the first 3 seasons, she has consulted with a registered dietitian who practices Health at Every Size® (HAES®), has seen a cardiologist, and has been working with a personal trainer in addition to other health professionals. She herself admits that she struggles with the health and fitness part of her life, particularly in that she battled an eating disorder for much of her teens and twenties. She has never presented herself as an expert in nutrition, fitness, or medicine.
The second reason I find the question problematic is that the questioner assumes that the message of body positivity is being used as an excuse for people of size to avoid dealing with their health issues. This is simply untrue. Body positivity is about seeing all bodies as “good” bodies, that no one body type is the “ideal,” regardless of what our society (particularly the media) likes to tell us. In other words, the body positivity movement says “there is no wrong way to have a body.” It also recognizes that “good health” is not a requirement to have a body and that sometimes (due to circumstances outside of one’s control) our bodies might not be healthy. This does not mean, however, that these bodies are any less good.
At the end of the day, I think the best way to think about this question is through the lens of the “Underpants Rule,” coined by the brilliant blogger Ragen Chastain of Dances with Fat. Ragen defines the rule as such: “everyone is the boss of their own underpants so you get to choose for you and other people get to choose from them and it’s not your job to tell other people what to do.” This means that others do not have a right to tell you how you should take care of your body and vice versa. Whitney has never told her viewers (at least to my knowledge) how they should be treating their health conditions – she is only focusing on her own body and health issues.
Body positivity does not assume that everyone is actively trying to be living their healthiest life. It is more about helping people realize that skinny bodies are not the only bodies that are worthy or beautiful. Yes, some individuals might show love for their bodies by trying to take care of them by eating a varied, nutritious diet, being physically active in an enjoyable way, getting enough sleep, and managing stress. But not everyone is able to engage in all of these behaviors. The body positivity movement says that even if one is not in the best of health, their body is still valuable. |
BERLIN - German firefighters on Sunday evacuated hundreds of passengers at Hamburg Airport after 50 people were injured by an unknown toxin that likely spread through the airport’s air conditioning system.
All flights were halted for several hours due to the evacuation, airport spokeswoman Karen Stein said.
“We have cancelled all flight at least until 2 p.m. (1300GMT) and most parts of the airport have been evacuated,” she said.
More than 50 people complained about breathing problems and burning eyes and firefighters were examining them to find out whether they had to be taken to the hospital, the German news agency dpa reported.
Those who were evacuated from the airport had to wait outside the terminals in freezing temperatures.
Firefighters designated special areas outside the airport building where physicians were examining those injured by the unknown toxin. |
Why is ‘w’ pronounced ‘double u’ rather than ‘double v’?
English uses the Latin alphabet of the Romans. However, this had no letter suitable for representing the speech sound /w/ which was used in Old English, though phonetically the sound represented by /v/ was quite close. In the 7th century scribes wrote uu for /w/; later they used the runic symbol known as wynn. European scribes had continued to write uu, and this usage returned to England with the Norman Conquest in 1066. Early printers sometimes used vv for lack of a w in their type. The name double-u recalls the former identity of u and v, which you can also see in a number of words with a related origin, for example flour/flower, guard/ward, or suede/Swede.
(Based on the Oxford Companion to the English Language)
See other FAQs about language.
Take a look at: What words in the English language contain two u's in a row? |
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