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Photo LONDON — A few weeks ago, a friend explained to her 8-year-old son that when she was his age, you could only make phone calls from those old-fashioned telephones at home, or phone booths on the street. “He was shocked,” she said. “Then he looked at me half-pityingly and half-contemptuously as though I was some sort of decrepit dinosaur.” Lots of once familiar objects and habits must now seem equally prehistoric — to 8-year-olds, at least. Paying by check. Listening to music on CDs. Videoing TV shows. Planning a journey with a road atlas. Calling a telephone helpline to check a train timetable or airline schedule. Being awoken by an alarm clock, and everything else that has been rendered redundant by digital technology. After decades of being an evolutionary process of incremental improvements, design is now revolutionary. Just think of how quickly we have come to depend on once unimaginable innovations like cellphones, the Internet, BlackBerries, iPods, Bluetooth, satellite navigation and iPhone applications. That’s just the start. Advances in technology are accelerating, and the social and political pressure on businesses to develop environmentally responsible alternatives to existing products is increasing. Over the next few years, many more familiar objects will be reinvented. Here are a few possibilities. 1. CARS You don’t need a crystal ball to guess that more and more of us will soon be dumping our gas guzzlers for energy-efficient electric cars. The first of the forthcoming crop of electric models, like the Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi i-Miev, have looked (disappointingly) like their predecessors. But the electric car is a thrilling opportunity for designers to develop a new type of vehicle that could have as dramatic an effect on this century as the Model T Ford did on the last one. “I just wish someone would let me try,” said Yves Béhar, founder of the San Francisco-based design group, fuseproject, whose Mission One superbike broke the land speed record for electric motorcycles last month by tearing along at 150.059 miles per hour, or about 240 kilometers an hour, for one mile. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Another change is the trend for consumers to share their cars, rather than own them. This will create more sharing services, like the Zipcar network in the United States, and also has implications for design. Chris Bangle, former head of design at BMW, reckons that sharers will put greater emphasis on the styling of their car interiors, possibly encouraging the development of modular interior components, which can be easily replaced when a new “sharer” takes over. Conversely, he expects them to be less concerned about the exterior of their vehicles, which could be used to display advertising, like buses.
It’s high time that the United States military stop being a testing ground of the social justice warrior crowd (Christian Post) The U.S. Army is instructing its female soldiers to “accept” having men in their showers and changing areas who are “transitioning” but still have their male genitalia, according to training documents that have been released. (snip) On Wednesday, James Hasson, a former Army captain, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and law student at University of Virginia, wrote in a piece published by The Federalist that he has obtained a “Tier Three Transgender Training” PowerPoint and accompanying lesson plan being used by the Army in mandatory transgender training sessions. “The active-duty officer who sent the materials completed the training with 40 other soldiers last week instead of conducting their morning physical training as usual,” Hasson wrote. “The force-wide presentation sheds quite a bit of light on the implications of the rule change on transgender service members. The policy prioritizes subjective feelings over combat-readiness and inverts military order by placing the needs of individuals over the well-being of their units.” All that’s necessary to change “gender” is a bit of paperwork, to go along with the mental insanity. No actual sex change is required A PowerPoint slide titled “Vignette Four” outlines what types of changes soldiers can expect to see in “barracks, bathrooms and showers.” “Following her transition from male to female (which did not include sex reassignment surgery) and gender marker change in DEERS, a transgender soldier begins using female barracks, bathroom and shower facilities,” the slide reads. “Because she did not undergo a surgical change, the Soldier still has male genitalia.” “All soldiers must use the barracks, bathroom and shower facilities associated with their gender marker in DEERS,” the slide added. “Understand that you may encounter individuals in barracks, bathrooms and shower facilities with physical characteristics of the opposite sex despite having the same gender marker in DEERS.” In other words, female soldiers must suck it up and have the gender confused in their showers, locker rooms, changing rooms, and baracks. And if they do not like it, they can resign or receive a courts martial. Share this: Tweet Email Pocket If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds.
It was only a fortnight ago that T-Mobile announced it would be carrying Samsung’s Galaxy Note. Pink subscribers everywhere rejoiced in the confirmation — we’d suspected the Note’s arrival for quite a while, and a tweet from T-Mobile sealed the deal. Now, however, it appears that T-Mobile is discontinuing the device, just a few weeks after it put the phablet on store shelves. Android Police reports that a trusted source has confirmed the EOL status of the Galaxy Note, which has been removed from T-Mobile’s website. Update: A T-Mobile rep has just reached out to clarify the reports. The Galaxy Note is still available through T-Mobile retail outlets, and is out of stock online. She didn’t make mention of the phone’s EOL date, which Android Police reports to be November 1. As uncomely as it looks for Tmo to flip flop at this rate, it actually makes much more sense to dump the old and bring in the new. Remember, word of an even bigger Galaxy Note II is spreading around the web. Rather than sell a device released nearly a year ago internationally, and more than half a year ago in the States, T-Mobile (and its subscribers) are much better off waiting for the new new thing. [via UberGizmo]
A gunfight between two groups erupted on Sunday in a New Orleans park where hundreds of people were gathered for a block party and the filming of a music video, leaving 16 people wounded, police said. Advertising Circumstances surrounding the shooting in the city’s Upper Ninth Ward, and details of what precipitated the violence, were not immediately clear, but New Orleans Police Department spokesman Tyler Gamble told Reuters no fatalities were reported. Asked whether gang activity was thought to be involved, Gamble said it “was still too soon to say.” “We know, by speaking with some of the victims, that there were two groups of people shooting at each other,” Gamble said. Advertising Witnesses told police that both groups involved in the gun battle fled the park on foot immediately after the shooting, police said in a statement. No arrests were immediately reported. According to the statement, 10 gunshot victims were taken to area hospitals by ambulance, and six more arrived at emergency rooms “via private conveyance.” Gamble said each of the 16 victims suffered either a “direct gunshot wound” or a “graze wound” and all were listed in stable condition, though the full extent of their injuries was still to be ascertained. Police said they did not have the age or genders of the victims. The incident unfolded at about 6:15 p.m. Central Time at the Bunny Friend playground, following a community “second line” parade that ended a few blocks away earlier in the day, police said. Several hundred people were gathered in the park at the time for an unpermitted block party and the impromptu filming of a music video, according to police. New Orleans police Commander Chris Goodley, speaking in a video clip posted by the New Orleans Times-Picayune website, said the crowd at the park remained “orderly” after the shooting. “But we were trying to preserve the crime scene as best as we could and tend to the victims,” he added. New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison also was quoted by the Times-Picayune as saying, “no one has died at this time.” Three witnesses told the newspaper they saw a man with a silver-colored machine gun, and also heard more gunshots coming from within the crowd as he ran away. Several people were lying on the sidewalk after the shooting, it said. Advertising WVUE-TV said police believed the shooting stemmed from a fight.
Simple, fresh and flavourful, the rural Thai approach to cooking pays great attention to aroma and balance of flavours, as seen in our new resident’s dish of steamed fish, clams and nam jim dressing... Twelve days and eight plane rides into our trip, we arrive in a little village near Ubon, where northern-eastern Thailand borders Laos. Wannida – a waiter at my restaurant, Smoking Goat, and impromptu guide since we landed on Thai soil – has brought our little restaurant team to her family home, where a ceramic tao barbecue has been lit in anticipation of cooking. A few generations of the family sit outside, working pestles and mortars in preparation for the meal. The plants surrounding the house reveal turmeric, galangal, chillies, papaya ... more or less the entire contents of our walk-in fridge in Soho growing wild. As I taste a few of the hot mint leaves, I remember being taught by a vegetable farmer, far away on a seaside hill in Cornwall, that plants need to struggle to develop good flavour. I’d never really understood what he meant, but here I can see it. Despite the oppressive heat, and ground that’s dry, red and cracked, these plants look proud and taste bright. They’ve worked hard to turn out this way. This is what lemongrass is supposed to taste like. When the cooking begins, I gather there’s some animated discussion over who makes the best laab (a spicy roasted rice and chopped meat salad, when to start grilling the pla pao (a salt-crusted river fish) and who, therefore, should talk us through it. Uncle Pwan prevails, and it’s his recipes we learn. Their absolute simplicity and the high quality of their ingredients were a turning point for me and have become the rudder that guides my cooking. I started cooking a few years ago, having meandered through previous lives in art galleries, music and interior design. I’d not cooked much before, but Thai flavours had always spoken to me, and when I tried cooking Thai food, I just found I could do it. It’s the only food I really know how to cook. It taught me to understand produce more deeply, and about things such as seasoning, heat, and the distinction between flavour and aroma. For this residency, I’ve tried to pick recipes that pinpoint these areas of understanding for me: the Thai approach as a prism through which to view any food. Over the past few years, the order of the day among chefs has been to get the best ingredients you can and to do as little to them as possible. While I believe in this approach, it wasn’t until that trip to Wannida’s family that I really understood how it could apply to Thai food. At Smoking Goat, we’ve always made great produce a priority, but any we had were very exotic – so a long way from the kind of simplicity championed by chefs cooking modern British food. What’s more, for a long time, doing “as little as possible” to ingredients didn’t seem very compatible with Thai cooking – until Ubon, it had always felt relatively complicated. But then came Uncle Pwan’s cooking. Everything was so fresh, distinct and purposeful, infused with ginger root pulled straight from the ground and fragrant makrut lime leaf plucked from an adjacent tree. He focused on the flavour of good rural ingredients, with little regard for what I had understood as traditional Thai recipes. His laab contained a fraction of the ingredients of the recipe I’d learned (no cumin, macquen warming spices as found in northern Thai laabs), but it tasted incredible. He seasoned less and allowed the produce to shine; his “recipe” was more a loose guide to be adapted around what was good at the time. In rural Thai food, I’d found a style of cooking that combined a preference for simplicity with the Thai flavours I loved – pungency, aroma, spice and heat. This idea became our second restaurant, Kiln. Asian-Iberian recipes for Spanish sofrito and Basque pork belly Read more Thais think about flavour and aroma differently to westerners. There are numerous Thai dishes savoured for their aroma before their taste, which I can’t see happening in the UK. Furthermore, Thai recipes tend to focus largely on balancing flavours, where we are often more orientated towards adjusting seasoning and texture. This is most noticeable when cooking fish: where we tend to prefer the taste of “fishiness” to be in the background, Thais tend to prize it. Generally speaking, this is achieved by grilling the fish more slowly, wrapping it in a banana leaf parcel, or steaming. For a long time I had a faint, unfulfilled idea of what really good, fresh fish tasted like. Does a brill actually have a different flavour to a turbot, or even to a bass? Or do they just vary in texture, in “meatiness”, in how the flesh flakes? Exploring Thai cuisine has brought me to realise it’s as much about the scent as it is actual flavour. The salt-baked freshwater fish we ate in Ubon is made by encrusting a fish stuffed with lemongrass with salt and then slowly grilling it. The salt seasons the fish, of course, but it also prevents moisture from escaping during cooking, thus effectively steaming the flesh on the bone inside. Even when surrounded by a meal of very strongly spiced plates of food, the fish flavour was noticeably pronounced and delicious. For me, a penny had dropped. I’ve been a convert to the slower cooking of fish ever since and have since found the Thai style of steaming to be the most rewarding. Thai food is naturally fish-heavy and recipes require you to cook the fish beyond what would be considered correct in the west. Our kitchen team are all now converts to the Thai approach and we try to use recipes that allow us to give the seafood a little more time on the heat to extract all the flavour locked in the bones, sinew and fatty bits. Steaming is a fantastic way of doing this, cooking the fish more slowly to retain the moisture. This steamed bass recipe reveals just how uniquely delicate but satisfying bass can be. The accompanying clams and green chilli seafood dipping sauce recipe is extremely simple, but no less tasty for it. Steamed seabass with soy You can use any white fish to make this recipe, but you’ll need to get a good one, otherwise you’re better off just roasting it instead. Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Look for a fresh fish with a firm body. At this time of year I would recommend bass,’ says Ben. Photograph: Elena Heatherwick for the Guardian Serves 3-5 For the dressing 300ml light chicken stock 50ml light soy A dash of fish sauce A pinch of palm sugar (or caster sugar) To steam A small to medium-size seabass (or similar white fish) 1 lemongrass stalk, crushed 3 slices of ginger (3-5cm long) 4 spring onions, bulbs gently crushed with side of a knife 2 fresh makrut lime leaves A small handful of oyster mushrooms, trimmed 1 Make the dressing by gently heating the stock with the soy, fish sauce and sugar. It will need to be slightly over-seasoned to complement the fish. 2 Stuff the fish with the crushed lemongrass, ginger, spring onion, mushrooms and makrut lime leaves. 3 Wrap the fish in baking paper and add a few tablespoons of the dressing (it’s OK if it’s a little loose). 4 Steam the fish in a steaming pan over a boiling saucepan for 15 minutes, or until very fragrant. 5 Transfer to a dish and taste the hot dressing: it will have been diluted a little, so add any remaining sauce to your taste. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ben Chapman: Thai cooking ‘taught me to understand produce more deeply, and about seasoning, heat, and the distinction between flavour and aroma.’ Photograph: Elena Heatherwick for the Guardian Clams or cockles Serves 4 400g live clams or cockles 1 Fill a pan with about 2cm of water and bring to the boil. Tip the cockles in, put a lid on the pan and steam for about 8 minutes, or until they’re all open and bright orange. 2 Serve with the green nam jim dressing, see below. Green nam jim dressing You’ll have a lot of nam jim dressing left over from the cockles. We like to use it to dress freshly shucked oysters. Makes about 560ml (1 pint) 3 or 4 garlic cloves, whole 3 coriander roots, washed and finely chopped (omit if you can’t find them) A pinch of coarse salt 5 or 6 fresh bird’s eye green chillies, chopped 2 tbsp palm sugar (or caster sugar) 300ml freshly squeezed lime juice – about 6 limes 50ml fish sauce 1 Pound the garlic and coriander root to a paste, adding a pinch of salt to the pestle and mortar to act as an abrasive. 2 Add the chillies and continue pounding into a paste. Then add the sugar and start pounding again. Keep going until it’s smooth. 3 Add the lime juice and fish sauce. Taste and adjust to balance as you go. The dressing should taste sweet, sour and hot, with a salty edge.
It’s hard to believe it’s already been more than a decade since Interpol released its stunning debut album, Turn On The Bright Lights, bursting out of a vibrant New York indie rock scene that also spawned The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, and The National. Since then, the group has released four other acclaimed albums of deliciously dark and melancholy rock, translating the influences of Joy Division and The Cure for a newer generation. Interpol has weathered a few storms in recent years, both literally and figuratively—the group’s tour bus was trapped for two days in a November 2014 blizzard, and original bassist Carlos Dengler abruptly quit the band prior to the release of its self-titled 2010 record. After Dengler’s exit, singer/guitarist Paul Banks, guitarist Daniel Kessler, and drummer Sam Fogarino elected to place Interpol on a brief hiatus. Each of the remaining members delved into his own side project—Fogarino formed EmptyMansions with Brandon Curtis of Secret Machines and Duane Denison of Jesus Lizard, Banks released a solo album, and Kessler launched Big Noble. With batteries recharged, the guys reconvened Interpol and created El Pintor, as Banks handled bass duties himself. Released in September 2014, El Pintor has been praised by many critics as the band’s strongest work since its early albums. Interpol has toured hard in support of El Pintor, including sets at Glastonbury, Coachella and Austin City Limits, but nowhere is the band more embraced than on its home turf of New York City. The next homecoming gig takes place on July 21, as the group performs in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. The Aquarian Weekly recently caught up with Fogarino as Interpol prepared for its summer tour. The affable drummer gave us his thoughts on battling the blizzard, the merits of El Pintor, and wearing suits during hot-weather concerts. Your show at Celebrate Brooklyn is coming up—for a New York City-based band, are these hometown concerts considered extra special? Yeah, I think they are. It’s always nice when you can find a different approach to a show, in a city where you probably have more fans than anywhere else. When we started touring for this record, we played a show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And now to do Prospect Park, which is a beautiful place and quintessential Brooklyn, it’s exciting. Interpol is a band with a definite sense of style, and always wears suits onstage. But when you’re playing outdoor shows in the summer, and it’s 90 degrees out, do you ever think, “I should be wearing shorts and a T-shirt right now?” Sometimes I wonder, what the fuck are we doing? (Laughs) What is this art that we’re suffering for? Years ago, I remember doing a show at Bowery Ballroom, and I ended up taking off my shirt, and I had a sleeveless T-shirt on underneath it. A friend of mine told me, “You can’t do that anymore, man. You’ve got to stick to your presentation.” At this point, it’s kind of like putting on a uniform, in the best of ways. This is what we wear, it’s like putting on a second skin. I’ve seen Daniel mention in interviews that he doesn’t just wear suits onstage, it’s what he wears every single day. Yeah, I don’t think he owns anything else. He’s like Mickey Rourke in 9½ Weeks—when you look in his closet, it’s all black suits and white shirts. That’s Daniel’s wardrobe (laughs). El Pintor has been out since last September. Now that you’ve lived with these songs for a while, where do you think the record sits in terms of Interpol’s career? I think it’s done rather well, in terms of its place in our body of work. I think when it first came out, there was a notion of a comeback, in a way. And I don’t think any artist likes that phrase associated with him or her and any kind of art that they do. But in a way, I kind of agree, in terms of the transition that the band went through. You don’t always want to place so much weight on it, but we did lose a pivotal member. As a band, we just did what we had to do and kept moving. But you do have to realize that people will have questions—Carlos was in the band for all these years, and now he’s not there, what is that all about? That’s kind of how I viewed the comeback notion, is as a return to form, in a way. Because we did kind of dial down the indulgences he did. Carlos got very much into keyboard textures and lost his appreciation for bass guitar, and was way more into layering keyboard sounds and fake symphonic sounds. I’m not saying that was good or bad. It just so happened that he took us in that direction, and then we were able to decide that we didn’t want to go there anymore. People have drawn parallels between the first few records and El Pintor, and I kind of agree. I think the notion that “the band is back” is kind of a compliment. So, I’m pretty happy with how things turned out. After you released the self-titled LP, four years passed until the release of El Pintor. I know that you guys toured extensively for the Interpol album, and also had some solo projects going on. Did you also feel you needed a break? Definitely. You always need a break. And we had such a big change too, with Carlos leaving the band. He left when we were mixing the self-titled record, and we really didn’t have time to process that whole thing because we needed to go on the road to promote the record. We didn’t get to do that until well beyond a year after he left. And getting away from everything, doing outside projects and whatnot, just kind of clears the air. And by the time we got back together in the same room, it was easier to just think about the music, and not about how people are perceiving us, and what happened and why. It was all sorted out. The laundry had been done. At that point, there’s nothing left to do but to make some music and write a great record. Do you guys still keep in touch with Carlos at all, or have any relationship with him at this point? No. I haven’t talked to him since he quit the band. I know that he’s been an actor and done some stage stuff. If I saw him on the street, I’d say “hi,” but it’s kind of like a breakup with a partner. I have no ill will, but my life has to keep moving on. And you ultimately move in polar opposite directions. And at the time, I also became a father, and I didn’t have time for band drama, as I needed to be a dad. The band had quite an interesting experience last year when your tour bus got stuck in a blizzard near Buffalo, New York. How long were you guys trapped out there in the snow? It was two days. More than 48 hours stuck in the snow, outside of a fire station. The firefighters let us use the bathroom, and they gave us walkie talkies, in case they needed to reach us. And I think our bus driver actually helped out the firefighters, because people were trying to go down the street that the firehouse was on, thinking that there would be an outlet, but it was a dead end. And they asked our bus driver to kind of block the street. But otherwise it was just kind of a waiting game. We weren’t in any danger. We had plenty of water and burritos (laughs). There’s nothing you could really do. If we had to, we could have walked a couple of miles to downtown Buffalo. And we didn’t have to do that, because like I said, there was food, and there was water. It was kind of weird getting a lot of attention, when other people were really in dire straits, and probably in close proximity to us. People had no electricity. We were fine; we were on a generator. It was better than what other people were going through. You must have gone a little stir crazy though, being stuck in there for so long. We watched a bunch of movies; we read books. You could just pretend that you were on a really long ride. The band could have written a double-album while it had all that time together on the bus. Yeah, a missed opportunity! I’ve heard that you’re also a talented chef. Is that true? I’m reluctant to say yes. I like to cook sometimes. But especially in this day and age, when everyone is a food critic sometimes, I tend to shy away from the term “chef.” I like to cook when I can. I guess there was a time when I was doing it a lot. It’s kind of hard to do it on the road. But when I’m in the mood, I’ll just go to town and cook a lot of things from scratch. Typical Italian food. But I’ve kind of shied away from talking about my culinary prowess. Now it’s more of a secret. Although now, this interview will be revealing your secret to the world. You’ll have fans asking you for recipes after Interpol concerts. Right. I guess I shouldn’t tell a secret to a journalist (laughs). The band made some interesting music videos for El Pintor. I know that Paul Banks directed the boxing-inspired clip for “Twice As Hard.” You don’t normally think of boxing when you think of Interpol, but it works really well. Yeah, he co-directed the videos for “All The Rage Back Home” and “Everything Is Wrong” too. So, he revealed other hidden talents. But “Twice As Hard,” he went and made that on his own, with his own money. And it wasn’t the single or anything like that. He just wanted to see that project through, and he did a really good job. He’s been into boxing for quite a few years now, and it does kind of translate rather well with the song. The “human condition” aspect of that video kind of shines through for me. The whole thing of will and perseverance, I find it quite beautiful. And it’s kind of cool to break away from what’s expected of the band, like “All The Rage Back Home” having all the surfing clips in it, and then doing the boxing video. It’s nice to finally break away from what would normally be presented to the band in terms of a video treatment, which would usually be kind of dark and dour and mysterious. It was nice to change that and still have the same impact. You’ve played a lot of huge festival shows in the past year, and I know you previously opened up for U2 on their 360° Tour, in massive stadiums. What’s it like to play those types of gigs? Is it a challenge to project yourselves in such an enormous setting? You really can’t think about it too much, you just have to do what you do. It’s almost like an autopilot type of thing—you can’t overthink it. If people see you being natural, despite the fact that you’re playing to 10 times the amount of people that you normally play in front of, I think that’s what does it. Opening for U2 and playing festivals, it’s not your show. U2 has that massive stage setup, and at a festival you’re sharing the stage with many other bands. You can’t rely on nighttime and a dynamic light show and projections. You have to rely on the fact that people will like it because you enjoy what you’re doing. It’s great exposure for the band. You’re playing to people who might not be familiar with Interpol, and you might gain some new fans. Exactly. As established as we are, we still have a chance to be new to a lot of people. That’s a good thing. Hopefully it expands your career a little bit if you end up turning some people on at festivals and whatnot. The next time that you do a headlining tour, hopefully it grows a bit. Where do you stand in terms of the next Interpol record? I think it’ll be a little while. It’s kind of hard to say. We don’t write together as a band. Everybody kind of collects their inspirations, and stockpiles ideas and concepts. I think after this tour, there will be the obligatory break, and then the process will start again. I don’t think it’ll be four years again that people will have to wait. We’re all looking forward to it, I can say that. Interpol performs at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn, NY on July 21 and Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia on July 25. El Pintor is available on Matador Records. For more information, go to interpolnyc.com.
When you mix an incredibly elegant with some gorgeous palazzo culottes and an enormous hat, the result is bond to be a success! I felt super chic in this beach outfit! bandeau bikini Isla as my secret weapon, Truth is, with the gorgeousas my secret weapon, everything was possible! I choose a 28FF and XS panties and I couldn't feel better in it! The cups were deep enough for my projected shape, while not too wide for my narrow roots! (If you're clueless about these bra/bikini fitting terms, this post !) and wanna know some more, check!) I felt very safe to jump around while wearing Isla: everything stood in place! Bra-holic talk aside, this is probably my favorite shoot from my Days of Summer series (which is almost ending!), so I hope you enjoy them! They were taken at "Porto de Mós" beach, at Lagos!
Sunday night's full slate of MLS action heated up the race in the East – and left plenty of questions for how things will shake out in the West on Decision Day. While other teams are battling for seeding in the post-season, a few are done for the year. But that's okay! There are still some bragging rights on the line – with our Best-Dressed MLS Coaches bracket. The stakes here are ... low, for sure, but let's all enjoy having yet another thing to argue about, this time off the field. Here's how it works: we'll move to a 16-man bracket tomorrow. But we have 20 teams, naturally, so today's poll counts as a play-in round. Vote for your favorite, and we'll eliminate the four lowest-scoring dressers before moving on to the round of 16. Voting runs until noon ET on Tuesday.
When FIFA president Sepp Blatter took the mic Monday on the eve of the Under-20 Women's World Cup in Canada, he was spared some of the toughest questions that trail him everywhere: those concerning the alleged rampant corruption in FIFA biddings and the labor rights violation in Qatar, hosts of the 2020 World Cup. But the sparsely attended press conference did get him talking about the one thing that should be most obvious at an international women's soccer tournament: Why aren't there more women in FIFA? When asked about what FIFA is doing to be more gender equal, not just for its players but behind the scenes as well, Blatter, far too familiar with controversial public gaffes, made an outrageously sexist statement. "Football is very macho," he said. "It's so difficult to accept [women] in the game. Not playing the game, but in the governance.” If this is his response — a mere shaking of the head and accepting and succumbing to deep-seated institutionalized gender bias — then how can he claim to be promoting equality in the sport? When the most influential man in the sport says that it's hard to accept women in soccer governance, it doesn't do the reputation of FIFA as a sexist body any good. "It's easy in basketball, it's easy in volleyball, it's easy in athletics. It is no problem. But in football, I don't know. There's something very reluctant," Blatter went on to add about the challenges of having more women. USA's Kelly O' Hara (R) during the gold medal match at the London Olympics. Image Credit: AP This comparison with other sports brings to mind Blatter's infamous history of sexist remarks. A decade ago, he had said that women soccer players should wear tighter shorts to help promote the game. "Female players are pretty," he said. "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball." And even on the occasion of welcoming Burundi's Lydia Nsekera, FIFA's first full-term woman executive committee member, he remarked to the congress in Mauritius last year: "Say something, ladies! You are always speaking at home, say something now!" In the same session, he had casually introduced another co-opted board member, Australia's Moya Dodd as "good and good-looking." Unlike those inexcusable situations of sexism and his infamous "gay fans should refrain from sexual activities in Qatar" quote, this time he gave quite the explanation for why he's not the one to blame for the lack of female representation in the soccer body. "If you look at the organization of FIFA, the president is elected by the congress, and all the other members of the executive by the confederations," Blatter explained. "And the confederations never would have proposed a lady.” But people aren't accepting that as an excuse to his statement. .@farenet @WomeninFootball @SeppBlatter If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Address institutional sexism now. August 5, 2014 Sepp Blatter says 'something reluctant' blocks women from FIFA leadership roles. Neglects to mention that he's the 'something reluctant.' August 5, 2014 All Dinosaurs are extinct.... oops my mistake there is one hanging on in there @SeppBlatter http://t.co/gsbjUBpaUU August 5, 2014 To be fair to Blatter, he has mentioned in the past that he'd want more women in the world governing body, but when it comes to those women going beyond the glass ceiling and making it to the executive committee, he has pleaded helplessness. "I want to give women more positions inside FIFA, although when it comes to the FIFA Executive Committee it is not easy because they are elected by national federations," he said. He can be praised for being honest and candid about the challenge but it's far too late in his 16th year as FIFA president to applaud him for merely recognizing the problem. His responsibilities lay beyond just accepting that there's an institutionalized gender bias in FIFA's participating countries. Just like he helped in the nomination of FIFA's first female executive committee member, probably more efforts need to be initiated if he really wants to back his claim that "football is for all."
Didi Chuxing, China’s top ride-hailing firm, is set to raise up to $6 billion with a fresh injection of capital from investors including Softbank Group (sftby), valuing the company at over $50 billion, sources said. Other investors in the fund raising round include private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, China Merchants Bank and Bank of Communications, two people familiar with the matter said. They declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Didi Chuxing declined to comment. The last valuation for Didi was $34 billion in August when it agreed to acquire Uber Technology’s China business following a drawn-out rivalry between the two firms. The deal gave Uber a one-fifth stake in Didi. Get Term Sheet, Fortune’s daily email about deals and deal-makers. At $50 billion, Didi’s valuation is propelled well above that of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, which held the title of China’s most valuable startup after a 2014 funding round put it at $46 billion. Ant Financial, China’s most valuable private internet finance firm and an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding (baba), is valued upwards of $60 billion. The people said that part of the latest capital investment in Didi would be used for international expansion. Didi has sealed several overseas partnerships, focusing on intelligent driving, such as making use of artificial intelligence, as well as similar ride-hailing services. The firm is ramping up overseas activity as regulatory changes are set to take a toll on their local service. Draft rules released in October would slash the number of eligible drivers and double fares for users in major cities, the company has said. Since Uber exited the Chinese market last year, Didi has sought to expand in Latin America, leading a $100 million investment in Brazilian ride-hailing service 99 in January. Last month it officially opened a lab researching artificial intelligence-related driving technologies in Silicon Valley in the United States. The company has previously entered a range of strategic agreements with U.S. tech firms including Lyft, TripAdvisor (trip), and Udacity.
It’s been a good week for Jay Z: the rap star chatted court-side with visiting royalty at a Brooklyn Nets game and, hours earlier, vanquished a sleazy shakedown artist that had been demanding royalties for Jay Z’s use of the word “oh” in the hit song “Run this Town.” As a federal court opinion explains, Jay Z does not have to pay for sampling the syllable “oh” from a 1969 track called “Hook and Sling” by the late pianist Eddie Bo (you can hear both tracks below). Advertisement In the 15-page ruling issued on Tuesday, the judge stressed that there is little relation between what the copyright owner described as Bo’s “exuberantly-shouted” syllable “oh,” and the 2009 hit that features Rihanna and Kanye West: (my emphasis added) Run This Town bears very little and perhaps no similarity at all to Hook & Sling Part I. The melody and lyrics are entirely different. The lyrics do not contain the word “oh.” .. [It appears] only in the background and in such a way as to be audible and aurally intelligible only to the most attentive and capable listener. The decision is significant since it slams the door once again on so-called “sample trolls,” which are companies that acquire recordings and then use music-parsing technology to seek out people to sue. It comes after a different New York judge last year threw out a similar case brought by the same sample troll, known as Tuf America, against the Beastie Boys. As critics have observed, the trolls have been deleterious for hip-hop as a whole since they ensnare musicians in legal thickets over tiny sound samples, meaning that landmark albums like the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique could not have been made in today’s copyright context. In siding with Jay Z, the court sidestepped the issue of whether Eddie Bo’s “oh” could be covered by copyright in the first place, and instead relied on a lack of similarity between the works. You can read the whole ruling below (I’ve underlined the relevant bits) or just check out the two tracks and see if you can hear the “oh.” Jay-Z Sample Troll
Legalizing marijuana Issue 3 would legalize recreational and medical marijuana in Ohio. Issue 3 would legalize recreational and medical marijuana in Ohio. Click here for more information about the proposal. And click here for an updated list of supporters and opponents. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The state's largest pro-medical marijuana group has endorsed Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize medical and recreational marijuana sales and use in Ohio. The Ohio Rights Group has been collecting signatures for its own ballot issue, which would legalize medical marijuana only, since May 2013. Issue 3, on the ballot this fall, would legalize recreational and medical marijuana, but commercial marijuana could only be grown on 10 sites belonging to investors bankrolling the initiative. The organization was an outspoken opponent of Issue 3 and ResponsibleOhio, the political action committee bankrolling the initiative. Ohio Rights Group even filed an elections commission complaint claiming ResponsibleOhio leaders "infiltrated" their campaign and undermined Ohio Rights Group's petitioning efforts. The group had said it collected more than 150,000 signatures of registered Ohio voters through volunteer collections -- far short of the 305,591 needed to qualify for the ballot. ORG Vice President John Pardee said the group would likely never receive the funding to pay for signature collectors and qualify for the ballot. Pardee said other legalization proposals planned for 2016, including one by Ohioans to End Prohibition, also lack the support needed to qualify for the ballot. Pardee said ORG would be doing patients a disservice to campaign against Issue 3 without a viable alternative and called Ohioans to End Prohibition's campaign "an absolute farce." Sri Kavuru, president of Ohioans to End Prohibition, said Pardee must have been talking about his own group. "In about five months, we've achieved almost as much as they have," Kavuru said. "He knows nothing of what is going on in our organization and we have plenty of time to make it to the ballot." Kavuru said many of ORG's members have been collecting signatures for his group's amendment, which would legalize recreational and medical marijuana. The amendment would not limit commercial growers, similar to laws in Colorado and Oregon, where recreational marijuana is legal. Pardee said no money or financial benefits were promised in exchange for ORG's support, but the group did seek concessions from ResponsibleOhio. Pardee said ORG has agreements with four of the 10 growing sites to lease space for "artisanal" marijuana growers and a plan to appoint an ombudsman to lobby on behalf of patients while the industry is established. Neither aspect is in the proposed amendment, but Pardee was confident in agreements made with ResponsibleOhio. "It wasn't a perfect plan but politics is never the art of the perfect, it's the art of the possible," Pardee said. ORG made its announcement Tuesday with a video telling voters to "save someone you love" by voting "yes" on Issue 3. Curt Steiner, a public relations consultant and spokesman for anti-Issue 3 group Ohioans Against Marijuana Monopolies, wasn't surprised by the announcement. Steiner said many pro-marijuana groups and individuals oppose Issue 3 because it would create a monopoly for its rich investors. "A number of people that support legalization of marijuana are publicly opposed to Issue 3 and that remains the case," Steiner said. "We're delighted to have the support of businesses and chambers and labor and doctors and others." The latest groups to join the broad coalition against Issue 3 include the Ohio Bankers League, Catholic Bishops of Ohio, and anti-abortion organization Ohio Right to Life. Ohio Rights Group joins national NORML and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio as the major proponents of Issue 3.
This article appears in the Nov. 28 "One Day, One Game" issue of ESPN The Magazine. HERE COMES YOUR HOST, kissing little old ladies' cheeks, working the stadium like a politician on overdrive. He has a beefy security guard tailing him. But why? Robert McNair, billionaire owner of the Houston Texans, is going to stop for anybody -- a complete stranger or the guy with his face painted holding a Bud Light -- and shake a hand or slap a back. "I like to press the flesh," McNair says. "I'm a toucher." He has the suit and the gait of an important man, someone who needs to be elsewhere but can't quite pull himself from the party. He drinks cranberry juice on the rocks, sans the twist, and has been up since 5:30 a.m. on this October Sunday because that's when Sparky, his English cocker spaniel, wanted outside. On the surface, McNair's game-day mornings probably aren't too different from yours. He drinks a cup of coffee, reads the newspaper and watches the pregame shows on TV. There is one slight difference. On this particular morning, he receives a phone call from overseas. Seems his filly, Elusive Kate, has just won a race in France. McNair turns to Janice, his wife of more than 50 years, and says it's a sign. This is going to be a good day. Just after 9:30 a.m., the McNairs are preparing to leave their 12,124-square-foot Houston manse for Reliant Stadium's 3,620-square-foot owner's suite, which is big enough to house a small jet. But before the 15-minute drive, McNair makes his first executive decision of the day. The Texans have a 50-80 rule: If the temperature outside is below 50 degrees or above 80 degrees, the stadium roof is closed. Today is expected to be a picture-perfect south Texas afternoon, with the thermometer climbing above 80 degrees. McNair makes the call to shut the roof. Most of the decisions McNair makes on Sundays go unnoticed, and that, he will tell you, is the idea. Where football is concerned, McNair believes in hiring the best coaches and front office staff and letting them do their jobs. But the game-day experience -- the temperature inside the stadium, whether glare from an open roof will impede fans' views or the tailgate parties in the parking lots -- are his baby. It's one of the burdens of ownership these days. Fans don't just demand a winner. In exchange for their high-priced tickets and parking, they expect creature comforts, such as the 72-foot-tall high-definition scoreboard at Cowboys Stadium and amenities such as the 1.3-million-square-foot Patriot Place retail and dining area at Gillette Stadium. The defending-AFC-champion Steelers are in town, and the city of Houston and the entire NFL will learn whether the upstart Texans are finally for real or, once again, paid too much for this party. Some important people will be at Reliant Stadium -- the house that McNair built -- to witness this clash of 2-1 conference foes. Houston's mayor, the president of Baylor College of Medicine and former Secretary of State James A. Baker are all on hand. George H.W. and Barbara Bush would be here, but they don't arrive in Houston until later in the fall, when they migrate back from Kennebunkport, Maine. Still, 74-year-old McNair is the most important man in the room. Even so, he's humble enough that security guards feel comfortable approaching him. He's willing to sit with his suite open to the fans, some of whom are just feet away waving Terrible Towels. He's also sitting next to Baker, one of the most important political figures of the last century. A few years ago, McNair's loyal executive assistant Becky Virtue remembers, Jerry Jones visited McNair's suite when he was collecting ideas for the rich man cave he was developing. Virtue has been with McNair for 13 years. She couldn't tell you Arian Foster's stats, but she knows everything about her boss, like that he avoids sweets every day but Sunday. That day he likes ice cream, win or lose. What Virtue remembers about Jones is that he once said his Cowboys were about glitz and glitter and that things like checkered tablecloths, boots and 10-gallon hats should be left to the Texans. But this is no hoedown. Everything in McNair's suite is first class. There's a piano in the corner for when country star Clay Walker comes to visit or when team staff has its midweek Bible study. There's a glass-enclosed phone room for when Bush 41 or other visiting dignitaries need to break away and make a private call. The Sunday menu covers just about everything, with made-to-order omelets with all the fixings, jalapeno grits and bacon-wrapped hors d'oeuvres. The servers have been given advance notice, in caps, on how to display the jumbo Texas shrimp. BE SURE THE SHRIMP IS FRESH AND ISN'T ODOROUS AND BE SURE THAT IT IS SERVED ON ICE TO KEEP FRESH. Sticking with his game-day routine, McNair decides to take the elevator to the field an hour before kickoff to watch the players warm up. A former college athlete, he still feels a bond with those who sweat for a living and wants to know how they're feeling. Janice McNair is on the field on this day too. It's the start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Janice, a survivor of the disease, will partake in the coin toss. After the Texans win the flip and pound the Steelers' defense with a 19-play, 95-yard drive that eats up 10:55 and ends in a touchdown, AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" plays, the guitar chords rippling like waves through the crowd. McNair's stadium vibrates. Still standing on the sideline, the owner raises his fists halfway. Time to go back to his suite. IN THIS WORLD of winnowing information and access, where jammed thumbs are treated like national secrets, McNair lays down just one hard rule after allowing a reporter, a photographer and a photo assistant to trail him on such an important Sunday: He does not want to be bothered during the game. McNair shares a hug with linebacker Brian Cushing after the big victory. Robert Seale His guests are mindful of this three-hour chatter-free zone and let McNair be while he's hunkered in the first row of his suite next to general manager Rick Smith. This team is not a toy for a man who, according to Forbes, is worth $1.5 billion -- a fortune that was decades in the making. McNair was the first person in his family to go to college. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs out of high school in 1954 but wound up playing basketball at the University of South Carolina, leaving the team after his freshman season. In 1960, he started a Houston car-leasing company with $700, then later a trucking company. When the latter nearly failed, almost forcing him into bankruptcy in the 1980s, McNair had enough resilience to start Cogen Technologies, which owned power cogeneration plants. It became the largest privately held firm of its kind in the world and, in 1999, was sold to Enron for $1.5 billion. That proved two things about McNair: He had impeccable timing, and he understood that building good things takes time. McNair is so calm and cordial that critics wonder whether he, or his team, lacks a killer instinct. But he wants to win. Desperately. He believes that whatever happens with this franchise will help define his life. "Bob won in business," says Texans vice chairman Philip Burguieres, "and eventually, we're going to win on the football field." McNair lives a few doors from Bud Adams, who owned the Houston Oilers before moving that team to Tennessee after the 1996 season. On Sundays, McNair would walk to his house to get a ride to the Astrodome, where the Oilers played, and the two would sit in Adams' suite. McNair loved those days. After the Oilers became the Tennessee Titans, McNair says his civic duty prompted him to pursue an NFL team. He couldn't fathom the idea of the country's fourth-largest city being without one. When the league announced in 1999 that it was expanding to 32 teams, McNair led a group that plunked down $700 million for the new franchise and patiently waited for two competing bids from LA to fizzle. Like a prize from a big-game hunt, a framed blue No. 32 jersey with the words LOS ANGELES crossed out is on display in the suite. The Texans, now in their 10th season, are the only current NFL team never to make the playoffs. This isn't Green Bay or New England, where a couple of losses launch the fan base into crisis mode. There is a forced patience in Houston; this city knows what it's like to lose its team. But patience is waning. At the end of last season, another mediocre one, many fans were ready for McNair to blow the team up and start over without coach Gary Kubiak. McNair felt the urgency, but the coach kept his job. Two days before the Steelers game, McNair was asked what he'll do if the Texans don't make the playoffs. He barely pauses. "I don't worry about the playoffs because we're going to make the playoffs," he says. "I don't consider what would happen if we don't." HOW DO YOU SHADOW A ROCK? McNair's emotions over an up-and-down second half are well in check. He stares down at stat sheets, sips his cranberry juice, leans in, leans back. He gets up at one point, flashing an anxious smile. With 6:09 to play and the Texans clinging to a 17-10 lead, Mario Williams sacks Ben Roethlisberger, and the suite starts rocking. McNair raises his fists in the air. A few minutes later, he hustles to the elevator and pushes the down button twice. "Boy that was great, Mario coming up with that stop!" McNair says to his GM. After a short ride, the elevator doors slide open to the field-level crush outside, and McNair walks faster. He'll spend the rest of the game in a five-yard space on the sideline not far from the end zone. With 19 seconds left, Texans cornerback Jason Allen intercepts Roethlisberger, and McNair can finally exhale. He shakes the hand of his son Cal. He shakes his GM's hand. He backslaps or bearhugs linebackers, linemen and basically anyone else not wearing black or gold. Before the reporters enter the locker room, McNair stops by every stall and congratulates each player, from the stars to the ones who didn't suit up. "They're part of the team," McNair says. By 4 p.m., he's ready to go home. It's been an emotional day, a huge win for a franchise so hungry to take the next step. McNair is spent. After working the locker room, he heads up to his suite. Ever the host, he asks whether anyone needs anything. Then he says, "I'm going to go eat ice cream. And then I'm going to go home and pass out." Elizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Follow The Mag on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
Micro Service Architecture is an architectural concept that aims to decouple a solution by decomposing functionality into discrete services. Think of it as applying many of the principles of SOLID at an architectural level, instead of classes you've got services. Conceptually speaking MSA is not particularly difficult to grasp but in practice it does raise many questions. How do these services communicate? What about latency between services? How do you test the services? How do you detect and respond to failure? How do you manage deployments when you have a bunch of interdependencies? So lets expand on some of these throughout this post and see if MSA really is worth the effort. Anatomy of a Micro Service First things first what actually is a micro service? Well there really isn't a hard and fast definition but from conversations with various people there seems to be a consensus that a micro service is a simple application that sits around the 10-100 LOC mark. Now I realise that line count is an atrocious way to compare implementations so take what you will from that. But they are small, micro even. This means you're not going to find hundreds of tiny services built on top of large frameworks, it's simply not practical. No, simplicity and lightweightyness (not a real word) is the order of the day here. Small frameworks like Sinatra, Webbit, Finagle & Connect do just enough to allow you to wrap your actual code in a thin communication layer. In terms of a footprint these services will be small, you're potentially going to run a lot of them on the same machine so you don't want to be holding on to memory or resources that you aren't intending to use. Once again simple libraries over large frameworks will win out, you'll also find less of a reliance on 3rd party dependencies. This decoupling at a service level also offers another interesting option. We've pushed a lot of the old application complexity down to infrastructure level. We are no longer bound to a single stack or language. We can play to the strengths of any stack or language now. It's entirely possible to have a system built out with a myriad of languages and libraries, though as we will touch on later this is a double edged sword. You're also not going to find any true micro service based architectures that are hosted in an application server, that kinds of defeats the point. To this end micro services self host, they grab a port and listen. This means you'll lose any benefits your typical enterprise application server may bring and your service will need to provide some of the more essential ones (instrumentation, monitoring etc.). Communication This is an interesting one. How do your services communicate? There really isn't a single answer for this, even in a single solution. The most basic approach across the board would be to expose all services over HTTP and pass JSON back and forth. Service discovery (how one service knows where to find another) can be as simple as putting the endpoint details into a configuration file (or simply hardcoded). You may discover, in certain circumstances, the cost of serialising and deserialising JSON payloads through an entire transaction is causing bottlenecks. Perhaps JSON isn't suitable at all (binary formats) and so you'll want to look at different protocols, like Protobuf But hardcoded urls kind of imply a certain strict coupling and A-B-C workflow. In a layered application this makes sense but moving into a service based architecture means you're not bound by this (potential) constraint. Some communications between services can be completely decoupled, in fact some services could publish events or data blindly. They can just throw it into the ether (or at least a message bus) and maybe one day some service can come along and start listening. Alternatively maybe parts of your system could operate in a batch/offline process, feeding off a queue and flipping bits many hours later. A micro service approach gives you this kind of flexibility without major architectural rework. Monitoring & Metrics Components of a monolithic, layered solution don't typically fail silently - it either fails to compile or throws exceptions when something is wrong (unless you go out of your way and silently swallow exceptions like some insane person). In a service based approach a service might drop off the face of the earth and it's very easy for no other service to notice (especially in a pub/sub model). This means it's imperative that services are properly monitored and orchestrated. In fact just knowing a service is alive is seldom good enough. Is it providing enough business benefit? Is it even being used anymore? Is it acting as a bottleneck for reliant transactions? Monitoring is always important but more so in a service based architecture where failure is often less obvious. Good examples of this from the JVM world are Metrics and Ostrich these libraries not only allow for collection of metrics but provide a means of integrating and reporting that data into other services like Nagios or Ganglia. Testing There is nothing particularly special about testing services in a micro service based system but the point I want to raise here is that you've reduced the need to have a full suite of tests for every service. Because a service does one thing, and should do it well the risk of introducing a system breaking bug is significantly reduced thanks to the natural behavior of a service based system. Now writing tests for the sake of it, or just in case, holds little to no value but still require the same amount of care or attention during refactoring. I'm not saying don't test but I am recommending you think before you use the old "No. of Tests" as a value of code quality. In fact lets go one step further and change the way we test entirely. You've got monitoring in place, at any given time you can know what services are broken and recover. But also why not monitor key business metrics on each service and use them as indicators to know if we've broken something. This is commonly known as a production immune system. If conversions are dropping, or sales have halted then you can make it so your system rolls back to a known stable state and gives you nasty looks until you fix the problem. The same approach can be used for A/B testing and Dark Launching new features and services. Micro Service Architecture actually makes a whole lot of sense when it comes to ensuring you have a stable system at any scale. Applications of Micro Service Architecture MSA has a number of interesting applications. Obviously green field solutions of a given size is an obvious use of this approach. Though I say "given size" because the cost incurred at an infrastructure level required to support micro services could outweigh the benefits and, for small systems, a simple web app would be totally acceptable. Micro Services also have an interesting application in large legacy systems. Working with legacy code is risky at best. For systems that have been running for decades there is a chance there is limited knowledge in how the systems actually works internally. Working with this code can be like working with a house of cards and a simple mistake in one place can have adverse affects elsewhere. These systems are typically mission critical so mistakes can be costly. So just don't touch it. The micro service approach lets you do this. Rather than diving into the legacy code base, write a small service that does what you need (yes you may be duplicating legacy code) and proxy service calls through it (e.g. via nginx/apache etc or purely within code). Now imagine doing this regularly as part of your maintenance and support program. You'll be turning off the old system bit by bit and perhaps eventually be able to turn it off completely. Issues Micro Service based systems aren't without their problems of course. For one there is a greater need to better understand non-development areas. In days of old before DevOps was a broadly misunderstood marketing term developers would deliver working systems over the wall to operations who would deploy it to production and everything would fail. Of course this was the ops team fault, don't they know anything? Jeez. It was entirely possible for a developer to know only code, running the entire application from their IDE without thinking about how this would work in real life. MSA forces the developers hand to actually be more responsible and actually get involved in scripting of deployments and understanding integration requirements etc. Another issue that I touched on earlier is the fact, left unchecked you could have hundreds of small services written in hundreds of languages. Simply managing that sort of estate of languages and platforms with their different installations, package managers and requirements can stop a project dead in its tracks. An anti-pattern has emerged from the MSA approach - often called the Nano-Service architecture. These are systems built on services that are so small that duplication of effort is prevalent and it becomes almost impossible to reason about any particular area of a system easily. Macro Post for Micro Services The irony of a large wall of text to introduce the concept of micro services is not lost on me but there is lots to consider. Micro Service based systems can produce scalable, fault tolerant systems on fairly low cost hardware. MSA promotes good practices of keeping things lightweight, emerging systems and business monitoring but as with everything should be approached with a rational mindset and solid understanding of what you need to achieve.
CHARLESTON, WV JANUARY 11, 2014: Workers walk behind the fence at the Freedom Industries building in CharlestonCharleston, West Virginia on Saturday, January 11, 2014. Around 5000 gallons of a chemical, used in the coal cleaning process, leaked into the Elk River from the West Virginia American Company and has stopped the usage of tap water for 300,000 West Virginia residents in nine different counties. Ty Wright for the Washington Post The company behind the massive chemical spill that made tap water unsafe for more than 300,000 West Virginians has filed for bankruptcy, according to documents obtained by The Huffington Post. According to bankruptcy filings, Freedom Industries, wholly owned by Chemstream Holdings Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday. Freedom Industries owns the storage facility responsible for leaking up to 7,500 gallons of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (a coal-cleaning chemical also known as crude MCHM) into West Virginia's Elk River. A representative for Freedom Industries told HuffPost that the company would not be commenting on the bankruptcy. Despite the filings, the U.S. attorney's office in West Virginia told HuffPost that the new development would not have any effect on its ongoing investigation into the leak. Freedom Industries currently owes $3.66 million to its top 20 creditors, including more than $2.4 million in unpaid taxes to the IRS.
At Climate Audit, Something odd has been discovered about the provenance of the work associate with the Marcott et al paper. It seems that the sharp uptick wasn’t in the thesis paper Marcott defended for his PhD, but is in the paper submitted to Science. Steve McIntyre writes: Reader ^ drew our attention to Marcott’s thesis (see chapter 4 here. Marcott’s thesis has a series of diagrams in an identical style as the Science article. The proxy datasets are identical. However, as Jean S alertly observed, the diagrams in the thesis lack the closing uptick of the Science. Other aspects of the modern period also differ dramatically. Here is Figure 1C of the Science article. Now here is the corresponding diagram from the (Marcott) thesis: The differences will be evident to readers. In addition to the difference in closing uptick, important reconstruction versions were at negative values in the closing portion of the thesis graphic, while they were at positive values in the closing portion of the Science graphic. I wonder what accounts for the difference. Read the full report at Climate Audit =========================================================== This story just got a lot more interesting. I wonder if we don’t have a situation like with Yamal, and sample YAD06 which when included, skewed the whole set. Perhaps there was some screening in the thesis and that didn’t include part of the proxy datasets, or later for the Science paper maybe there was some Gergis sytyle screening that made hockey sticks pop out. It might also be some strange artifact of processing, perhaps some Mannian style math was introduced. Who knows at this point? All we know is that one paper is not like the other, and one produces a hockey stick and the other does not. Some additional detective work is sorely needed to determine why this discrepancy exists and if anyone in the peer review process asked any similar questions. Advertisements Share this: Print Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit
LAS VEGAS – Motorola launched its third Android smartphone, an attractive, compact device with some surprising hardware innovations and a user interface that aggregates social networking feeds, e-mail and contacts. The phone called Backflip has a 3.1-inch touchscreen, a QWERTY physical keyboard that opens up in an unexpected way, a touch-sensitive navigation panel on the back and a nifty mode that allows it to be positioned on the tabletop to act like an alarm clock. The device is expected to hit the market in the first quarter of the year, but the company did not disclose pricing or a telecom partner for the device. "This is a phone with a great keyboard, a big screen and integration with social networking," says Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha. Since Google debuted the open source Android operating system in October 2008, Android devices have flooded the market. More than 10 Android handsets are currently available with more waiting to burst into the spotlight. AT&T announced Wednesday that it will offer five new Android smartphones this year. On Tuesday, Google introduced its own Android handset, the HTC designed Nexus One running the latest version of the Android OS, Android 2.1 Motorola is trying to stay a step ahead, says Ross Rubin, an analyst with The NPD Group. "We have seen a lot of Android models appear quickly on the market," he says. "So it's starting to become more important for manufacturers to differentiate themselves." An eye-catching phone Like the Motorola Droid, the Backflip has a physical keyboard and a touchscreen. But Motorola seems to have listened to complaints about the Droid's difficult-to-use keypad. The Backflip's keypad feels solid and has generously spaced buttons that ensure you don't end up hitting the wrong keys. The keyboard also opens up differently. "Most people are used to a forward flipping keyboard or an upward slider," says Paul Nicholson, global marketing director for Motorola. "The Backflip's keyboard opens up in the reverse direction." That allows the phone to fold up and sit on a tabletop like a horizontally placed picture frame. In that mode, the Backflip displays a clock, turning it into a bedside timepiece. Another interesting innovation is a 1-inch touch-sensitive swatch on the back of the phone. That trackpad supports gestures such as swipe and double-tap. So users can browse the internet or flip through the device's seven home screens by touching the back of the phone. The idea works well enough, and it won't be long before other handset manufacturers offer the feature. Beyond that, the Backflip has all the usual features – Wi-Fi connectivity, 3G, a 5-megapixel camera and a video recorder. Motorola did not disclose what kind of processor is powering the phone. With the 1-GHz Snapdragon processor (included in the Google Nexus One) setting the standard for speed, much will depend on how powerful the innards of the Backflip turn out to be. Chanelling the Cliq When it comes to the user interface, the Backflip is identical to Motorola's first Android phone, the Cliq. The Backflip has Motorola's custom skin called MotoBlur that combines information from social networking feeds such as Twitter and Facebook with e-mail contacts and the phone address book. It also offers free online backup of the data on the device and a find-my-phone service for lost devices. Models of the Backflip at the Motorola event were running Android 1.6, but the company says it hasn't decided which version it will ultimately ship with. Overall, the Backflip is a gorgeous piece of hardware and cements Motorola's position as a handset manufacturer that can create phones strong enough to stand out from the clutter. Though Motorola hasn't announced the pricing for the Backflip, NPD's Rubin says it could cost about the same as a Cliq – $100 with a two-year contract. And being a GSM phone, it is likely this device could end up on AT&T. See Also:
Gary O’Neill was voted SWAI/LOI Player of the Month for march 2014. It’s the striker’s first such award and the 13th award won by a player from Drogheda/Drogheda United. Here’s the full list of winners with Drogheda/Drogheda United. Season Month Player 1975/76 April Martin Donnelly 1976/77 November Martin Donnelly 1977/78 September Cathal Muckian 1978/79 December Mick Leech 1982/83 February Martin Murray 1988/89 February Paddy Dunning 2006 March Paul Keegan 2006 April Jason Gavin 2007 April Brian Shelley 2007 September Guy Bates 2007 October Brian Shelley 2008 July Ollie Cahill 2013 March Gary O’Neill Here’s a breakdown of awards won by each League of Ireland club. Only 7 current LOI players have won 2 or more awards. Jason Byrne leads all with 6. Multiple Winners 6 Jason Byrne Bray Wanderers (3), Shelbourne (3) 3 Mark Quigley St Patrick’s Athletic, Dundalk, Sligo Rovers 3 Danny North St Patrick’s Athletic, Sligo Rovers (2) 2 Raffael Cretaro Sligo Rovers (2) 2 Joseph Ndo Shelbourne, Sligo Rovers 2 Karl Sheppard Galway United, Shamrock Rovers 2 Killian Brennan Bohemians, St Patrick’s Athletic Advertisements
I don’t know if I’m going to make a series out of this, but I might as well set my self up just in case. Anyways, this should be a quickly. The Covenant system is both one of the biggest differences between Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls, but also one of the least polished parts of the game. While everything functions to a somewhat acceptable degree, there is clearly room for a lot of improvement. That said, it was probably time rather than effort that lead to such a flawed covenant system and I’m sure many of the things I mention were at one point planned or talked about. Doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it, though! Also before anything else, let me just say that every covenant would benefit from the changes I suggested in my in-depth review. Lower level cap, better matchmaking, etc. So I’m not going to bother talking about any of that unless it’s extremely relevant. Way of the White Lets start with the most boring. Clearly this is the least spectacular covenant. You gain nothing material — simply matchmaking and, by virtue of the dedicated server-less lobby system, less of a chance to be invaded. The covenant has no rank and little purpose, outside being the baby version of the Warriors of Sunlight. Perhaps this is fine, as it is the first covenant that you encounter and can be seen as a way to coddle new players. I would speculate that the coin Petrus gave you would have been a covenant item in the same way as the sunlight medals would be. Due to the complete emptiness of this covenant, it could be improved any way someone wanted (sunbros-lite, story based covenant where you level up by doing things like getting the rite of kindling and kindling bonfires, etc etc). Any of these would work. Personally and fluff wise, kindling bonfires seems like the best way to level up this covenant. Princess’s Guard Almost, but not quite as unspectacular. This covenant gives us some direction. I would imagine both the miracles that are exclusive to this covenant would have been given as covenant items (perhaps using the gold coins, but that is entirely speculation). Clearly the way to improve such a covenant would be more support miracles (a spell like the channeler’s dance, mayhaps!), but the question remains: How do they gain covenant items? In a way this is the same problem that plagues Way of the White. Do we need three different sunlight warriors? Perhaps they were to function in the same way as the darkmoon ring, before it was decided that it was a better fit for the Blades of Darkmoon (probably due to them having a hard time getting matches). That said, I think, assuming the way of the white had a non co-op leveling system, that it would be okay to have a second style of Sunbro. While the Sunlight Warriors gain offensive spells, the Princess’s Guard gains healing. Blade of the Darkmoon These guys are so broken. They have a naturally hard time finding matches and their covenant rewards require an absurd amount of kills. Obviously that can be fixed, but that’s not mechanical. Two things would particularly help though – the level cap I said I wouldn’t get into (but it would make being summoned into Dark Anor Londo less of a joke), and, humorously, making it easier to be a Darkwraith (but we’ll get to that later). Blades of the Darkmoon SHOULD be able to invade and be summoned to any sinner, anywhere, but that clearly doesn’t work well with the lobby system. Perhaps another system that might be workable would be using the book of the guilty to display players that are currently playing and then selectively invade them. Problem there is while it is probably possible (in the same way the lobbies share messages with each other) but would probably be too much of a network burden. Invading darkwraiths who are alive, regardless of whether they defeated the areas boss is probably the best solution, though that could create a chilling effect among darkwraiths. Perhaps what would be the funnest, but most technically challenging solution is ALSO having the ability to “counter-invade” and come to a phantom’s aid. The biggest difficulty would the host getting offed before you can connect, so the idea is sadly probably not workable. To make the ‘invading darkwraiths anywhere’ thing work, I think it would have to be linked to the Darkwraith invading. Perhaps a way to do both is that an invading Darkwraith leaves a mark (or may, depending on their current level of sin?). By touching the mark, the Darkmoon can either invade the Darkwraith OR whatever game the darkwraith is currently invading. Perhaps a little difficult to implement, but it would certainly be fun. Warriors of Sunlight One of the few fully functional covenants in my opinion. The Sunbros are pretty great. They have great rewards, a great requirement and are all gold and awesome. No changes required, outside of more rewards for later covenant levels (Solaire’s stuff without having to kill him plz). Jolly Co-operation is apparently its own reward, though. The Forest Hunters I always have mixed feelings about the Forest Hunters. The forest is one of the goofiest and most unreliable PVP zones as far as ‘fairness’ is concerned and the only places that the zone attracts is trolls. That said they have some of the best rewards and an amazing merchant. I think the best way to make the covenant work would be to make it possible to invade players who are hollow and nonhollow and to have the invasions occur regardless of the state of Sif. If you litter some more goodies throughout the zone and make it an even better place to farm souls, then it should receive the attention it needs from non-troll characters. Chaos Servants Clearly a lot was planned that never came to fruition. Straight forward leveling mechanic with only sporadic rewards, a lot of room for more fluff an d a servants roster with no particular purpose. If I were to guess, an original purpose of the covenant would have been to infect online players with eggs. Instead of having another redundant PVP covenant, they made it a rather lackluster one. You pay 30 humanity and get two spells and a shortcut. Linking it to Queelana may have helped make it more valuable but would make less sense for fluff. Perhaps another zone like the Forest and Dark Anor Londo would be good, where infection gives the rewards of humanity. It could almost be seen as taking Queelag’s place. Though what this covenant more needs is a bit more story progression and more spread out rewards. Temporary plot driven covenants seem like they would be both fun and a good alternative for players who aren’t much interested in the online elements of the game. Gravelord Servants Ouch, if only this covenant worked as well as everyone hoped. The concept is so cool, yet it has no tactile feedback. This is the first issue. Originally everyone thought you gained souls by having people die in other worlds and this should be brought back. It gives tactile feedback and could come with a message (“Player XXXX was defeated at the hands of your minions”). The sign should also be visible and show how many worlds you have infected, just to let the gravelord know it’s working. I have a suspicion though that gravelord infections and invasions are not perfectly interconnected. I think it may be possible that if you invade a gravelord through a symbol, you might invade ANY gravelord in the area, not the one that was infecting you. Upon success, you would get a flag that you’ve successfully defeated a gravelord (thus stopping any BP enemies). If this is the case, giving you souls would be extremely difficult. Gravelords in an area would either have to help communally or we’d have to deal with the broken system we have now. Perhaps Form feared that such a system would plunge the game into permanent “Pure Black World Tendency”. If these limitations are true, that’s a shame, because this covenant NEEDS tactile feedback to be successful. One way to also do this would be to let the gravelord lay down multiple signs that each spawn BP enemies in their vicinity. Since we know how White Soap Stones work, we can assume this method would also work. This would add to the level of planning a Gravelord could do and make sure that gravelords weren’t ‘hiding their summoning sign’. What would make this a homerun would be if the Gravelord then could go to his symbols, collect the souls and eyes they collected by killing players and perhaps then even watch a bloodstain of that players death. I’m sure From would have loved to do something like that, so we can only hope they succeed at it in some other game (or.. in DLC D:). Path of the Dragon The Path of the Dragon functions and gives some of the coolest rewards. If the game threw in a few dragon weapons in the covenant rewards, things would be perfect (outside of matchmaking issues). While those matchmaking issues can be problematic, for the most part this covenant works as intended. Darkwraiths Mechanically, Darkwraiths work great. They even have a full reward tree! The problem is, they don’t work for everyone else per-say. To re-iterate what I said in my in-depth review (since it IS extremely important here), being a Darkwraith SHOULD be easy. This makes it so worse players are invading. This makes more sinners, for the Darkmoon Blades, and this leads to less curb stops. Combine this with a reasonable level cap (so Darkwraiths also don’t get mercilessly stomped themselves) and you create a healthier ecosystem with less incentive to twink (again, if you beat the four kings at a low level, you’re ALREADY twinked, so why would you ditch your gear?). This still isn’t the perfect world where gear factors into matchmaking, but it helps. Anyways, that might not be the most interesting thing I ever wrote, but it only took a little bit and was fun to think about.
It sucks to be a villain. Not just because you're destined to lose to the hero but because when you do lose, you lose everything, including your stupid awesome villain hideout slash lair slash headquarters. Why couldn't you just lose a little bit and get to keep rolling around in the Death Star? Why can't I live in my Dr Evil Volcano with all of its amenities? The secret headquarters of villains are always amazing. Here's a pretty list showing you which one was biggest and baddest. Movoto recently cooked up an interactive infographic (you can find the interactive-ness part over there) that shows all the details of a famous villain's hideout like what movie or TV show it appeared on, which villain it belonged to, the size of it, a brief description and the features and functions of it. Advertisement Here's a taste of some of the description cards for each villain's lair: Advertisement Advertisement And here is the infographic showing the full 40. If you want to see the individual cards detailing the hideout, head over to Movoto's site. And yes, the baddest villain hideout is the Death Star. Advertisement Advertisement SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to rip up the legacy of Barack Obama’s eight years in office. Obamacare? Consider it repealed. The Iran nuclear deal and Paris climate accords? Dead. The Clean Power Plan, Dodd-Frank regulations, renewal of diplomatic relations with Cuba and protections for millions of undocumented kids? All gone. Obamas’ staffers, and the architects of his achievements, braced to see their work erased. But six months into Trump’s presidency, Obama’s legacy is proving more resilient than even some in his administration expected. Trump has taken symbolic stands against many of Obama’s biggest policy achievements, but has unwound few of them. Just this week, he recertified that Iran was complying with the nuclear deal—a necessary requirement to keep the deal in place. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans struggled to reach an agreement on any kind of health care repeal, leaving Obamacare so far intact as the law of the land. Even where Trump has appeared to strike significant blows to Obama’s legacy, the details tell a different story. He withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal—but Congress had never actually ratified the deal, and Hillary Clinton also intended to withdraw from it. Trump did announce that he would exit the Paris climate accords, but that exit is unlikely to actually happen until after the next presidential election; in the meantime, the rest of the world remains committed to the pact. In June, Trump flew to Miami for a high-profile announcement rolling back Obama’s historic opening to Cuba but it wasn’t much of a rollback; the main pillars of the agreement remain in place. “So far, the signature achievements of the Obama administration seem very much alive and well,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). So how much of Obama’s policy legacy is surviving? That’s inherently a subjective question: Trump’s bellicose, culturally inflammatory rhetoric has certainly changed the domestic political conversation, and his agencies have begun to roll back much of Obama’s regulatory legacy. But it is possible to assess some of Obama’s biggest stand-alone achievements: Obamacare. No issue defined Obama’s presidency more than his health care law, which Republicans have spent seven years promising to repeal. But so far, those promises have come up empty. GOP leaders wanted to repeal and replace Obamacare in the first few months of the year. But they underestimated the political support for the law and overestimated their members’ ability to come to basic agreements on what they wanted instead. At this point, the chances that Trump signs a health care bill look slim, although conservatives say they are confident that something will eventually pass, even if it leaves chunks of Obamacare still in place. “I’m disappointed we haven’t seen Obamacare repealed and a tax cut passed,” said Steve Moore, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation who was an informal economic adviser to Trump during the campaign. Moore still thinks Republicans could pass a repeal bill, and if he’s right, the former president’s legacy will look far different. Paris climate deal. After the United States completed negotiations of the Paris climate agreement in December 2015, Obama knew his work wasn’t done: He also wanted to make sure enough countries ratified it so that it came into force. At that point, according to the terms of the agreement, the U.S. would be unable to withdraw until November 2020. This guaranteed that if a GOP president announced that he intended to withdraw from the pact, climate would become a top campaign issue in the 2020 election. That’s exactly what Trump did on June 1 when he announced he did intend to withdraw, delighting many conservatives and angering Democrats who said it was a rejection of global leadership. Despite his announcement, the U.S. is likely to remain in the deal for the next three years. Trump does have one other option to remove the U.S. from the Paris deal immediately: Pull out of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the umbrella agreement under which all these negotiations take place. But he hasn’t taken that step, so the U.S. technically remains in the Paris deal even as other countries take on the mantle of leadership on climate change. Iran. Over and over on the campaign trail, Trump called the Iran nuclear agreement the “worst deal ever.” But since taking office, he appears to have decided that ending the deal would be worse than keeping it. Twice—first in April and then again on Monday—Trump officially certified that Iran is upholding its responsibilities under the deal. But the Trump administration has also taken a tough line with Tehran, imposing new sanctions on individuals connected with Iran’s ballistic missile program and publicly blasting the Islamic Republic for its human rights abuses. Such actions mark a break with Obama’s policy, but the nuclear agreement remains in place. The Clean Power Plan. The focal point of Obama’s domestic climate legacy is the Clean Power Plan, which he announced in August 2015. The regulation is aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants and requires states to meet certain emissions targets, but due to lawsuits the rule never took effect. So far, Trump hasn't rolled back Obama's plan, though he's strongly signaled he intends to repeal it, and the administrative gears are turning: He directed the Environmental Protection Agency to review the plan; the EPA has already finished that review and sent its resulting rule, which is expected to recommend repeal, to the White House for review. If Trump follows through and repeals the Clean Power Plan, it will be a real blow to Obama’s climate legacy. Immigration. Obama has a complicated history on immigration, having deported more people than any other president, infuriating activists who labeled him the “deporter-in-chief.” But later in his presidency, he implemented a new immigration directive under which nearly 90 percent of undocumented immigrants weren’t considered priorities for deportation. And he also created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has protected millions of undocumented kids from deportation. Trump has partially reversed that legacy by directing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to draw up new priorities that cast a much wider net and stepping up the number of deportations. But the president has also disappointed immigration hard-liners in one key way: He’s left DACA in place. Cuba. Over the last few years of his presidency, Obama renewed diplomatic relations with the island, relaxing rules on travel and commerce. Trump vowed to end those policies as president and made a big show of doing so in a June speech in Miami. Only one problem: Much of Obama’s opening is unaffected by Trump’s executive order; he isn’t closing the embassy in Havana or stopping the burgeoning relations between the countries. Wall Street regulations. Obama’s legacy also includes Dodd-Frank, the financial regulatory law passed in the wake of the financial crisis that imposed new rules on banks and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While Trump promised during the campaign to dismantle Dodd-Frank, the law was never at risk of repeal since many changes would require Democratic votes to overcome a filibuster. But Trump has also backpedaled on his disdain for the law. In June, the Treasury Department released its first of a series of reports on financial regulations, proposing to make targeted changes to Dodd-Frank but leaving its broad structure in place. The law isn’t exactly safe: Republicans are still looking to change the law through reconciliation, which allows them to make tax and spending changes with just a simple majority, and regulators have some authority to weaken some Obama-era financial regulations on banks. But the law isn’t at risk of being “dismantled.” It’s here to stay. NOW WHAT? TRUMP can’t abolish Obamacare from the White House, but as president, he still has the power to unilaterally blow up many of Obama’s biggest achievements. He could cut off the cost-sharing subsidies for low-income Americans, which health care experts say would almost certainly cause the Obamacare markets to collapse. He could pull out of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, stop the DACA program and end the historic opening to Cuba in its entirety. Each of these actions would be extreme, akin to pressing a nuclear button for the given issue, but they are entirely within Trump’s power. So far, though, he has declined to press the button. Democrats and Republicans alike attribute that to the realities of governing. It’s easy to make promises on the campaign trail, but following through on those promises is a different story: It means taking responsibility for the human consequences and political fallout from those moves. “President Trump has encountered something that many presidents encounter in their first year,” said Josh Earnest, Obama’s former press secretary. “There’s a big difference between promising to do something at a campaign rally and actually dealing with the consequences of it when you are sitting in the Oval Office.” These kinds of changes also require attention from the administration and a willingness to navigate the government bureaucracy, attributes that have been lacking in the first six months of the Trump administration. Said Earnest, “It’s clear that the Obama legacy would have faced a much greater threat from a much more competent and disciplined president.” There is one major area where Trump has succeeded in undoing Obama’s legacy: the regulatory state. Congressional Republicans passed—and Trump signed—14 bills rolling back Obama-era regulations using the little-known Congressional Review Act, which allowed Senate Republicans to repeal recently issued regulations with a majority vote. The Federal Communications Commission has begun rescinding Obama’s net neutrality rules, the Labor Department appears poised to undo the fiduciary standard and the EPA has targeted dozens of Obama climate regulations. Other Obama rules that are likely dead include the DOL’s overtime rule and the Department of Education’s rules targeting for-profit colleges. In addition, the regulatory state itself has nearly come to a standstill, with the White House regulatory office approving few significant regulations. Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform, trumpeted those rollbacks as major achievements for the Trump administration, a death by a thousand cuts to Obama’s regulatory legacy. “These were huge, multibillion dollar rollbacks,” he said of the 14 CRA bills. Obama’s legacy was also expected to include a third Supreme Court justice pick, after Antonin Scalia died suddenly in early 2016. But in perhaps Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s biggest gift to him, Trump got the pick instead—and chose Neil Gorsuch for the high court. In just a few months, Gorsuch has proven to be one of the most conservative jurists, siding with the right on guns and gay rights; in comparison, Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland, would have likely given the court a liberal lean. The stakes are huge: As Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.). said: “A Supreme Court appointment lasts well beyond the length of any presidency.”
Image caption BP has changed its chief executive since the oil spill Oil giant BP has announced a return to profit in the three months to September after last quarter's record loss. The firm said its replacement cost profit for the period was $1.85bn (£1.15bn), as against the $17bn loss recorded from April to June. The previous loss reflected the massive costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis, which followed an explosion on a drilling rig in April. BP said the cost of the oil spill had now risen by $7.7bn to $39.9bn. Bob Dudley, who led the clean-up, became BP's chief executive last month. He replaced Tony Hayward, who was criticised for his leadership during the crisis. BP said the $39.9bn cost of the oil spill included $20bn set aside under pressure from the US government for compensation payments. Eleven workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig were killed by the explosion on 20 April and hundreds of miles of coast were polluted. The well was finally capped on 15 July, after an estimated 4.9m barrels of oil (171m gallons) had leaked into the sea, and fully sealed in September. 'Safety first' BP's $1.85bn third-quarter profit compares with a $5bn profit for the same period in 2009. Analysis BP's return to the black shows quite how strong and profitable it is. BP has taken a further $7.7bn (£4.8bn) of charges relating to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill - bringing to almost $40bn the total provision that it has made for the ultimate costs of the debacle. BP has benefited from a higher oil price, which boosted earnings in its giant exploration and production division by more than $2bn, offsetting a fall in the amount of oil produced. That division is being broken up, as part of comprehensive efforts by the new chief executive Bob Dudley to rehabilitate this battered business. His cure also includes shrinking BP, selling off up to $30bn of assets by the end of the year, to cover those huge oil spill costs. BP and Lloyds: We all pay for their recovery The news was well received by the markets, which sent the company's share price up more than 1% by early afternoon. "The update provides a stark reminder that the fallout from the spill will follow BP for some considerable time to come," said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers. "In the meantime, BP has refocused itself with safety as a priority and, in terms of its normal operations, the company continues to generate enormous amounts of income." In another development, Japanese firm Mitsui said on Tuesday that one of its subsidiaries, Moex Offshore, had been billed $1.9bn by BP to cover costs from the oil spill. Moex owns 10% of the Macondo oil well project operated by BP. Mitsui said it had withheld payment, because it said there was uncertainty about the amount due. Last week, US investigators said cement used to seal the Macondo well may have contributed to the blow-out that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Both BP, which owned the well, and Halliburton, the contractor responsible for the cement, were aware of tests showing it was unstable, they said. Halliburton has denied the claims, saying the tests were invalid as they were on a different kind of cement.
Enlarge Image Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET Sun watchers at the US Naval Research Laboratory spotted a so-called "sungrazing comet" heading toward its imminent doom on Friday. The newly spotted comet doesn't yet have a name, and it might never get one as it may cease to exist very soon. "This comet will not survive," NRL astrophysicist Karl Battams wrote on Twitter. "It'll vaporize loooong before it even nears the solar surface." Sungrazers are exactly what they sound like: comets that pass very close to the sun on their trips through the inner solar system, often disintegrating in the process. You can actually watch this new comet's final hours in near real time via NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). To use the interactive SOHO movie theater tool to follow the comet's suicidal path, just go to this link, choose "LASCO C3" in the "image type" field and "1024" for your resolution, and enter "10" under "latest n images." Then press search. You can also play around with different start and end dates if you're reading this long after March 3. The resulting time-lapse shows the comet in the lower left flying towards the sun and oblivion. The sun is actually blocked out in the image by an occulter disk that's seen as a dark blue circle, which is what allows nearby objects to be seen by the observatory. You can also see Mercury hanging out on the right. There's about a 12-minute gap between each frame. Happy trails you brave space snowball, we barely knew you. Then again, maybe that's better as things don't often end up well when comets try to shake hands with the Earth. Crowd Control: A crowdsourced science fiction novel written by CNET readers. Solving for XX: The industry seeks to overcome outdated ideas about "women in tech.
The Eyeborg Project, a collaboration between Rob Spence, a filmmaker who lost his right eye in an accident, and Kosta Grammatis, an unemployed engineer, combines biomedical engineering and art in a device that not only seeks to revolutionize ocular prostheses, but also will record the world in a perspective never seen before. The Eyeborg is a prosthetic eye equipped with a tiny video camera. It isn’t meant to replace Rob’s vision like a retinal prosthesis, but allows him to “lifecast” the world around him to the public. As a filmmaker and an inventor whose innovative device falls at the intersection of biomedical sciences and art, Rob was approached by video game producer Square Enix to help promote their upcoming game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. In the game, Adam, the main character, has been equipped with various prostheses, implants, and other futuristic biomedical technology to make him a superior fighter. Rob has produced a short documentary that explores just how far biomedical engineering is from the futuristic technology presented in the video game. You may recognize a lot of devices that we’ve covered here at Medgadget! Take a look at the documentary below: Be sure also to check out the Eyeborg Project website
Over the past year, we here at the Brew Review Crew have been spreading the good word on Toledo, Ohio’s newest craft brewery; Black Cloister Brewing Company. We were one of the first to bring you the news of the inception of the idea of Black Cloister and then were thrilled to bring you an update when Black Cloister secured their building. Now, after months of anticipation and excitement, we are pleased to announce that the Black Cloister Brewing Company has opened their doors to the yearning public of Toledo, Ohio! Last night, I was lucky enough to attend the private VIP party for those who contributed to the Black Cloister KickStarter Campaign. Stepping into Black Cloister for the first time was an amazing experience. Knowing all of the hard work, trials and tribulations, and all of the exhaustive pouring-out of passion that went into making this brewery a possibility, an overwhelming sense of pride and admiration for the city of Toledo and the owners/supporters washed over me. Simply based on esthetics of Black Cloister Brewing Company alone, the brewery is a resounding success. Simply put, Black Cloister is beautiful. Black Cloister is housed in the first building in Toledo to receive electricity, and the century-old architecture found inside is a perfect pairing with the ‘Middle-Ages’ European theme of Black Cloister Brewing Company whose namesake is derived from the order of monks that reformer Martin Luther rose from. Beautiful brick-carved arches lace throughout and an oversized mural that simply stuns spans the entirety of the back wall. Behind the tap-handles lays beautiful wooden backdrop that is reminiscent of an age-old abbey where monks would end their long-days enjoying the only safely consumable liquid available; beer! Much like the 95 Theses Martin Luther nailed to the doors of the Catholic church, Black Cloister Brewing Company has erected a list of their ’95 Heroes’; the first 95 individuals who contributed to the Black Cloister KickStarter campaign (a list that I am honored to be on!) They even received a gift-package from the ACTUAL Black Cloister in Germany; a congratulatory message with prayerful hopes to a long and successful endeavor). Lest I forget to mention the most important aspect of Black Cloister Brewing Company, as of this writing (two days before the official grand opening), Black Cloister has three craft offerings to thirsty patrons: Rose of Shannon; a malt-forward Irish Red, Pale Rider; a Pilsner/Pale Ale hybrid packed with Saaz hops, and Marty; a Belgian Blonde that is similar to the style of beer that Martin Luther himself would have enjoyed! According to Black Cloister, there will be at least six craft beer offerings in the March-April season, with more sure to come as they get settled. Rest assured that the three initial offerings span a wide-range of flavors and are nothing short of delicious, especially my personal favorite, The Marty. We are so happy to finally have Black Cloister Brewing Company open in our community, and we urge you to come to Toledo, Ohio and see what is happening here in the world of craft beer. We will be happy to see you enjoy amazing craft beer in the Glass City. As always, Cheers!
The Serbo-Bulgarian War or Serbian–Bulgarian War (Bulgarian: Сръбско-българска война, Serbian: Српско-бугарски рат, Srpsko-bugarski rat) was a war between the Kingdom of Serbia and Principality of Bulgaria that erupted on 14 November [O.S. 2 November] 1885 and lasted until 28 November [O.S. 16 November] 1885. Serbia took the initiative in starting the war but was decisively defeated. Austria demanded Bulgaria stop its invasion, and a truce resulted. Final peace was signed on 3 March [O.S. 19 February] 1886 in Bucharest. The old boundaries were not changed. As a result of the war, European powers acknowledged the act of Unification of Bulgaria which happened on 18 September [O.S. 6 September] 1885.[1][2][3] Background [ edit ] Bulgarian unification and Serbo-Bulgarian War On 18 September [O.S. 6 September] 1885, Bulgaria and the semi-autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia declared their unification in the city of Plovdiv. Eastern Rumelia, whose population was predominantly ethnic Bulgarian, had been an artificial creation of the Berlin Congress seven years earlier. The unification took place against the will of the Great Powers, including Russia. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had been expanding its influence in the Balkans and was particularly opposed. Bulgaria's western neighbor Serbia also feared this would diminish its position in the Balkans. In addition, Serbia's ruler Milan I (1868-1889) was annoyed that Serbian pro-Russian opposition leaders like Nikola Pašić, who had stirred up the Timok Rebellion, had found asylum in Bulgaria after the suppression of the rebellion by the Serbian Army.[4] After the declaration of unification massive protests broke out in Greece, in fear of the creation of a greater Bulgarian state in the Balkans, calling upon the Greek government to declare war on Bulgaria. Serbia proposed to Greece a joint military action against Bulgaria but Greece rejected the proposal. Lured by Austria-Hungary's promises of support and territorial gains from Bulgaria (in return for concessions in the Western Balkans), Milan I declared war on Bulgaria on 14 November [O.S. 2 November] 1885. The military strategy relied largely on surprise, as Bulgaria expected an attack from the Ottoman Empire and had moved its troops near the Turkish border, to the southeast. The pretext was a minor border dispute, known as the Bregovo Dispute. The river Timok, which formed part of the border between the two countries, had slightly changed its course over the years. As a result, a Serbian border guardhouse near the village of Bregovo had found itself on the Bulgarian bank of the river. After some denied requests from Bulgaria to evacuate the guardhouse, Bulgaria expelled the Serbian troops by force. As it happened, the Ottomans did not intervene and the Serbian army's advance was stopped after the Battle of Slivnitsa. The main body of the Bulgarian army traveled from the Ottoman border in the southeast to the Serbian border in the northwest to defend the capital Sofia. After the defensive battles at Slivnitsa and Vidin (the latter's defence was organized by Atanas Uzunov), Bulgaria began an offensive which took the city of Pirot. At this point, the Austro-Hungarian Empire stepped in, threatening to join the war on Serbia's side if the Bulgarian troops did not pull back. No territorial changes were made to either country, but the Bulgarian unification was recognized by the Great Powers. However, the relationship of trust and friendship between Serbia and Bulgaria, built during their long common fight against Ottoman rule, suffered irreparable damage. Serbian army [ edit ] The Serbian army's infantry weaponry stood up to the most modern standards of the time (Mauser-Milovanović single fire rifles with excellent ballistic characteristics). However, the artillery was ill-equipped, still using muzzle-loading cannons of the La Hitte system. Breech-loading cannons of the De Bange system had been ordered and paid for, but did not arrive in Serbia until 1886. The total number of Serbian armed forces expected to take part in the military operation was about 60,000. King Milan I divided his force into two armies, the Nishava and Timok armies. The first took the main objective, i.e. to overcome the Bulgarian defences along the west border, to conquer Sofia and advance towards the Ihtiman heights. It was there that the army was supposed to encounter and crush the Bulgarian forces coming from the southeast. Serbia's main advantages on paper were the better small arms and the highly educated commanders and soldiers, who had gained a great deal of experience from the last two wars against the Ottoman Empire.[7] However, internal Serbian problems supplemented by king Milan's conduct of the war, nullified most of these advantages: In order to claim all the glory for the victory he considered imminent, King Milan did not call the most famous commanders of the previous wars (Gen. Jovan Belimarković, Gen. Đura Horvatović and Gen. Milojko Lešjanin) to command the army. Instead, he took the position of army commander himself and gave most of the divisional commands to officers chosen primarily for their loyalty and not war records like Petar Topalović of the Morava division who had previously commanded the troops suppressing the militarily poorly organized Timok Rebellion. Furthermore, underestimating the Bulgarian military strength and fearing mutinies for conducting such an unpopular war (and having indeed experienced the Timok Rebellion two years before), he ordered the mobilisation of only the first class of infantry (recruits younger than 30 years), which meant mobilising only about half of the available Serbian manpower. In doing so, he deprived the Serbian army of its veterans of the previous wars against the Ottoman Empire. The modern rifles, despite being among the best in Europe at the time, still had issues of their own: they were introduced only two years before the outbreak of the war, and as such many of the soldiers were not well-trained in their use. More importantly, the theoretical capabilities of the rifle often misled the Serbian officers, who still lacked experience with it, into ordering volleys from distances of half a mile or more, wasting precious ammunition for negligible results. Furthermore, the quantity of ammunition purchased was based on the consumption of bullets by the previous, much older and slower-firing rifles. The situation was made worse still by the contemporary Serbian tactics, which emphasized firepower and downplayed hand-to-hand fighting, which contributed to heavy casualties in the fight for Neškov Vis in defense of Pirot.[8] Condition of the Bulgarian Army [ edit ] Bulgaria was forced to meet the Serbian threat with two serious disadvantages. First, when the Unification had been declared, Russia had withdrawn its military officers, who had until that moment commanded all larger units of Bulgaria's young army. The remaining Bulgarian officers had lower ranks and no experience in commanding units larger than platoons (causing the conflict to be dubbed "The War of the Captains"). Second, since the Bulgarian government had expected an attack from the Ottoman Empire, the main forces of the Bulgarian Army were situated along the southeastern border. In the conditions of 1885 Bulgaria, their redeployment across the country would take at least 5–6 days.[9] Bulgarian advantages [ edit ] The main Bulgarian advantage was their strong patriotic spirit and high morale, as well as the feeling among the men that they were fighting for a just cause. The same could not be said about the Serbs. Their king had misled them in his manifesto to the army, telling the Serbian soldiers that they were being sent to help the Bulgarians in their war against Turkey, and the Serbian soldiers were initially surprised to find that they were fighting Bulgarians instead[citation needed]. Presumably, lying to his army was King Milan's only means to mobilise and command his troops without experiencing disobedience and unrest. Furthermore, while Bulgarian small arms were inferior to the Serbian, its artillery was greatly superior, featuring modern steel, Krupp-designed breech-loading cannons. Bulgarian strategic plan [ edit ] There were two views on the Bulgarian strategy: the first, supported by Knyaz Alexander I, saw the general battle on the Ihtiman heights. The drawback of this plan was that in that case, the capital Sofia had to be surrendered without battle. This could very well cause Serbia to stop the war and call in the arbitrage of the Great Powers. For this reason, the strategic plan that was finally selected by the Bulgarian command expected the main clash to be in the area of Slivnitsa. Captain Olimpi Panov had an important role in this final decision.[10] Military activities [ edit ] 16–19 November [ edit ] Monument in memory of officers and soldiers fallen in border skirmishes near Tran and Vrabcha. Knyaz Alexander I arrived on the evening of 16 November to find a well prepared defensive position manned by 9 battalions, plus some 2000 volunteers and 32 guns, commanded by Major Guchev. The position consisted of nearly 4 km of trenches and artillery redoubts on either side of the main road on a ridge in front of Slivnitsa city. To the right was steep mountainous terrain whilst the left wing had the easier Visker Hills towards Breznik.[11] The three Serbian centre divisions also arrived on 16 November and halted to recover after the fierce Bulgarian delaying action in the Dragoman Pass. The Morava division was at some distance from its objective Breznik which lay to the south. The northern advance was bogged down along the Danube. Counteroffensive of the Bulgarian Army (22-27.XI.1885) The morning of 17 November came with rain and mist but not the expected Serbian attack. By 10 in the morning, Alexander ordered three battalions to advance on the right. They surprised the Danube division, who eventually rallied and pushed them back. The main Serbian attack began on the centre largely unsupported by artillery which had insufficient range. The weight of Bulgarian fire forced them back with some 1,200 casualties. A relief column led by Captain Benderev recaptured the heights on the right and forced the Danube division back to the road. At daybreak on 18 November the Serbians attacked the weaker left flank of the Bulgarian line. Just in time two battalions of the Preslav Regiment arrived to shore up the position. Further attacks in the centre were repulsed with heavy Serbian casualties and Benderev captured two further positions in the mountains. On 19 November the Serbians concentrated two divisions for an attack on the Bulgarian left near Karnul (today Delyan, Sofia Province) in an attempt to join up with the Morava division. However, three battalions of Bulgarian troops led by Captain Popov from Sofia had held the Morava division in the Visker Hills and the flanking move failed. Alexander now ordered a counterattack which pushed the Serbians back on both flanks although nightfall prevented a complete collapse. 19–28 November [ edit ] Slivnitsa was the decisive battle of the war. The Serbians fought only limited rearguard actions as they retreated and by 24 November they were back in Serbia. The Timok Division in the north continued the siege of Vidin until 29 November.[12] The main Bulgarian army crossed the border in two strong divisions (Guchev and Nikolaev), supported by flanking columns, and converged on Pirot. The Serbian army dug in on the heights west of the town. On 27 November the Bulgarian Army flanked the right of the Serbian position with Knyaz Alexander personally leading the final attack. The Serbians abandoned Pirot, retreated towards Niš and called a general mobilization of their military reservists, but they did not arrive at the front before the cease-fire. End of war and peace treaty [ edit ] The Serbian defeat made Austria-Hungary take action. On 28 November, the Viennese ambassador in Belgrade, Count Khevenhüller-Metsch, visited the headquarters of the Bulgarian Army and demanded the cessation of military actions, threatening that otherwise the Bulgarian forces would face Austro-Hungarian troops. The ceasefire was signed on 28 November, , but that did not stop the Serbians from continuing unsuccessful attempts to conquer Vidin with the idea to use it in negotiations later, even after military activities had stopped on demand of their ally. On 3 March 1886 the peace treaty was signed in Bucharest. According to its terms, no changes were to be made along the Bulgarian-Serbian border. The war was an important step in the strengthening of Bulgaria's international position. To a large extent, the victory preserved the Bulgarian unification. The defeat left a lasting scar on the Serbian military, previously considered by the Serbian people to be undefeated. Ambitious reforms of the army were carried out (which later, in part, contributed to the end of the Obrenović dynasty).[15][16] In popular culture [ edit ] See also [ edit ] Greco-Bulgarian War References [ edit ] Sources [ edit ] Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs . Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Crampton, Richard. Bulgaria 1878–1918 (1983). (1983). Grogan, Ellinor F. B. "Bulgaria under Prince Alexander" The Slavonic Review 1#3 (1923) pp. 561-571 online 1#3 (1923) pp. 561-571 online Hertslet, Edward (1891). The Map of Europe by Treaty . IV (1875-1891) (First ed.). London: Harrison and Sons. Public domain) Jelavich, Charles. Tsarist Russia and Balkan nationalism: Russian influence in the internal affairs of Bulgaria and Serbia, 1879-1886 (U of California Press, 1958). (U of California Press, 1958). Kennan, George Frost. The Decline of Bismarck's European Order: Franco-Russian Relations, 1875-1890 (1979) pp 103-222 (1979) pp 103-222 Khristov, Khristo Angelov. The unification of Northern and Southern Bulgaria in 1885 (Sofia Press, 1985). (Sofia Press, 1985). MacDermott, Marcia. A History of Bulgaria, 1393-1885 (1962). (1962). Taylor, A. J. P. The Struggle for Mastery in Europe: 1848–1918 (1954) pp 304–24. (1954) pp 304–24. von Huhn, Arthur Ernst. The Struggle of the Bulgarians for National Independence Under Prince Alexander: A Military and Political History of the War Between Bulgaria and Servia in 1885 (John Murray, 1886). online
Many hardcore Widespread Panic fans consider the three-and-a-half hour April 3, 1996 show the Georgia jam-band played at Huntsville's Von Braun Center one of the group's most epic ever. And this is a band that's been trafficking in improvisational onstage magic since 1986. Asked if he recalls that gig, which Widespread Panic released in 2009 as the archive series live album "Huntsville 1996," the group's percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz says, "I remember the show. But you have to take into consideration that for us, we look at every show as an epic. The fans they tend to have a different perspective. One of the things that is real hot right now, and I use 'hot' as a starting point, whenever there is a recording with Mikey, Mike Houser (original Widespread Panic lead guitarist who died of pancreatic cancer in 2002), on it, I think the true fans really want to hear that epic Panic with Mikey." Ortiz adds, "I love every single show because, as you know, no show is the same." That 1996 night in Huntsville, Widespread ran through fan-beloved Panic cuts, such as "Can't Get High," "Arleen," "Porch Song" and Love Tractor," as well as covers of Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain," Dr. John's "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" and Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home." Widespread Panic returns to the Von Braun Center Propst Arena, address 700 Monroe St., 8 p.m. Oct. 10. All tickets are $48 (floor general admission standing, reserved seating elsewhere) and available via the VBC Box Office, ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster location or by calling 800-745-3000. Widespread also features singer/guitarist John Bell, keyboardist JoJo Hermann, guitarist Jimmy Herring and bassist Dave Schools. A few days after this phone interview with Ortiz, who checked in from the basement studio of his Georgia home, Widespread Panic announced drummer Duane Trucks would be filling in for original member Todd Nance, who according to a post on widespreadpanic.com is "is taking time to attend to personal matters." Duane Trucks is a member of blues-rock combo Hard Working Americans, which also features Schools, is the younger brother of Allman Brothers Band guitarist Derek Trucks and has toured with jam-band icon Col. Bruce Hampton. Duane made his debut with Widespread at the opening show of their fall tour in Charleston, S.C., where the set list balanced vintage Panic originals ("Space Wrangler," "Driving Song") with covers such as ZZ Top's "Waitin' For The Bus" and JJ Cale's "Ride Me High." Sunny, Widespread Panic is known for dropping interesting cover tunes into the set. Which of those covers do you enjoy playing percussion on the most? I love the Talking Heads songs. The "Papa Legba." "Burning Down the House" is one we started playing. I like some of the Neil Young that we play. The JJ Cale songs that we play. We don't do any Santana songs because there's just multiple, multiple layers of percussion going on there. It's tough to replicate for one percussion player. The Little Feat songs that we've learned over the past few years have been some of my all-time favorites because (Little Feat keyboardist) Bill Payne was from Texas. Drummers playing a standard kit will occasionally break a snare drum head in the middle of a show. How often do you break a conga head or any other percussion equipment onstage? What I usually break are timbale sticks. Never broken a conga head or torn a timbale head but I've broken many, many a drumstick, and my tech usually finds those pieces of the drumstick and hands them out to some random person at the end of the night along with a copy of that night's setlist. You just keep on playing. Fortunately for us we have a bunch of really good people on our crew that as soon as something breaks it gets replaced pretty damn quick. Within seconds. That's a luxury. Widespread Panic has been releasing vinyl reissues of some of the band's early studio albums. What's your fondest memory of the sessions for the 1988 debut LP "Space Wrangler"? Well number one was going into (producer) John Keane's small studio back in '88, and back then our budget was limited. I think we tracked in maybe two days and I think we had the final product within seven days. Total completion. John Keane had just started working with bands, and he was getting bands in and out of there, left and right, as quickly as they could because that was his life, how he puts food on the table for his family. I remember ordering takeout because we couldn't take a break because time was of essence for us. And I guess the other fond memory I have is being able to play in the same room as the boys because nowadays you're in isolation booths and you're really not playing in the same room, so that was definitely a treat. If you could have any musician, dead or alive, sit-in with Widespread Panic that's never played with the band, who would you pick? Carlos Santana. Miles Davis. And Jack DeJohnette. And Ornette Coleman. What's the total number of songs in Widespread Panic' current repertoire, a couple hundred or so? Oh, I'm thinking more like 450. Wow. Yeah. And that includes the cover songs too and that includes our songs that haven't been recorded, haven't been on a product. The last Widespread studio album was 2010's "Dirty Side Down." What's the status of a new studio album? Have there been discussions? Has there been writing? Has there been recording? There's always writing. Constantly. And there's always discussion. There's just the matter of when can we fit it within our schedules, within everyone's side-project and not considering the downtime individuals take after finishing our tour. It's just a matter of scheduling of when we can find that right studio and get into that right frame of mind to come out with a new project. In 1987, after you moved from Austin, Texas to Athens, Ga., you began going to Widespread Panic's regular Monday night Uptown Lounge gigs, which is where you first started sitting-in with the band and joined soon after. What made you want to play with Widespread in the first place? The thing that connected me to Widespread Panic was the communication that the boys had onstage amongst each other. Complimenting what each individual person was doing. Not so much being a leader or stepping out or being aggressive or being a showman. The communication going on onstage intrigued me, to the point where I wanted to interact. And that's why at the set break I said, "Hey man, can I sit-in with you?" and they didn't know who I was from Adam. Fortunately my buddy who owned the club they were playing at knew me from Texas because he was also from Texas. He said, "Yeah man, you got to let this guy play with you. He can really play," and so that solidified it. Trust me, back then in those days we were lucky if we could get 10, 15, 20, 25 people in a club. But it was a thing to do, you know? Updated: Duane Trucks is the younger brother of Derek Trucks not Butch Trucks, who is his uncle.
I imagine the horrified shrieks that rose from the streets outside the Supreme Court on Monday as the decision in the Hobby Lobby case began to filter out into the crowd of liberal observers was reminiscent of those poor souls who watched helplessly as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire claimed the lives of 146 young, female garment workers. In fact, the similarities are eerie. It seems that liberal commentators have convinced themselves that, just as was the case in 1911, the courts and the country have deemed women to be of lesser value than their male counterparts. The distinction between these two eras, of course, is that while that argument could be supported in 1911, it exists only in the heads of progressives in 2014. NBC News journalist Pete Williams, an accomplished reporter who is not prone to indulge in speculation, went out of his way to insist repeatedly that the Court’s decision in this case was a narrow one. He noted that the decision extends only to the specific religious objections a handful of employers raised about providing abortifacients (as opposed to contraceptives). Williams added that Justice Anthony Kennedy allowed in his concurring opinion that the federal government can pay for and provide that coverage if employers would not. The Federalist published a variety of other observations about this ruling which indicate that it was narrowly tailored to this specific case. The Court ruled that Hobby Lobby and other employers could not simply drop health coverage in order to avoid mandates. This decision does not apply to other government mandates like those requiring employers cover vaccinations. Finally, if the will of the public in the form of an electoral mandate creates a groundswell of support for a government-funded program which provides access to abortifacients, then that would be perfectly constitutional. Williams’ MSNBC colleagues nodded along and, when asked for their contribution, proceeded to display none of this NBC reporter’s caution. “I think we’ve seen a real goal post-moving here,” MSNBC.com’s Irin Carmon said. “We may say it is a narrow ruling because Taco Bell and Wal-Mart can’t opt out, but it is still an enormous expansion of corporate rights and of the refusal from the laws that are passed to create benefits for everybody.” “The larger doctrinal implication here is potentially significant,” MSNBC host Ari Melber agreed. “For the first time, the Court is going and taking the First Amendment rights that we’ve seen long established for certain corporate entities and extending them to the religious idea.” “Just because it was only restricted to women’s health access doesn’t mean that it doesn’t create a devastating precedent which says that women’s health care should be treated differently,” Carmon added. She added that the Republican Party is the biggest beneficiary of today’s ruling. “So, the context of this is an all-out assault on access to contraception and access to other reproductive health care services.” HotAir’s Karl has accumulated some of the best examples of liberal “schadenfreude,” as he’s dubbed it, in which the left utterly and intentionally misconstrues the scope of this ruling. Incidentally, their reaction also helps to service what appears to be a widely shared victimhood fantasy. We’ve seen indications that the left believes this decision is a prelude to theocracy: The Supreme Court #HobbyLobby ruling proves once again that Scalia Law is a lot like Sharia Law. — John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) June 30, 2014 "So as not to insult Allah, this accounting firm requires that all female employees wear the hijab." — southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 30, 2014 We’ve seen liberal journalists and commentators rending garments over the implications of this ruling which exist only in their own minds: This isn't a win for religious liberty it's an affirmation of privilege for advocates of conservative sexual morality http://t.co/ctb1FwXIWk — Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) June 30, 2014 What Hobby Lobby means is there are now two separate classes of women in America: those who work for privately-owned corps and everyone else — Jimmy williams (@Jimmyspolitics) June 30, 2014 Even poor SCOTUS Blog, an organization which merely reports the news out of the Supreme Court, has endured an torrent of misdirected liberal outrage: Finally, and expectedly, we’ve seen liberal politicians stoking ire, generating enthusiasm, and soliciting donations: It's time that five men on the Supreme Court stop deciding what happens to women. — Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) June 30, 2014 Pelosi on Hobby Lobby: "Supreme Court took an outrageous step against the rights of America’s women" — Jim Acosta (@JimAcostaCNN) June 30, 2014 Can't believe we live in a world where we'd even consider letting big corps deny women access to basic care based on vague moral objections. — Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) June 30, 2014 And this, via John Podhoretz’s inbox: It is interesting that there seems to be more outrage over this decision from the left than there was when the Court struck down dated portions of the Voting Rights Act. Though that decision had much farther reaching legal and political implications, this is the issue that has captured the passions of the left.
Photo gallery: Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson in Norwich? UEA transformed into set for new Avengers film Film crew setting up at the SCVA on the UEA campus. Photo: Bill Smith Archant Â© 2014 No photos please! Part of the University of East Anglia campus has been turned into a “secret” movie location, with cast and crew filming part of what is thought to be the next Avengers film. Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. The cast of the film Avengers Assemble. The cast of the film Avengers Assemble. Robert Downey Jr is thought to have arrived by helicopter for the filming which is taking place throughout today at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Security is tight around the centre, but excited onlookers are being allowed to watch from a distance, providing their mobile phones and cameras are put away. One sneaky student tried to snatch a few photos from a hall of residence - only for security to pay him a visit and make him delete his photos. A giant green screen has been put up outside the centre, and this morning groups of actors dressed in blue were repeatedly filmed running backwards and forwards in front of screen. Film crews at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts on the University of East Anglia campus setting up for the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. Picture: www.EnjoyNorwich.com Film crews at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts on the University of East Anglia campus setting up for the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. Picture: www.EnjoyNorwich.com A large “A” sign for the Avengers could also be seen on the Sainsbury Centre building which had four performance cars positioned outside. Hollywood A-listers Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr and Samuel L Jackson are among the stars said to be in the Avengers: Age of Ultron cast according to film website IMDb. The Marvel Studios film – said to be scheduled for release next April – sees The Avengers reassemble to battle the sentient robot known as Ultron and is being directed by Joss Whedon, who also directed the first Avengers movie. A UEA spokesman confirmed that the Sainsbury Centre had been booked out until the end of Friday but said they were unable to comment further. However there are reports online of students being invited to audition last month for Afterparty, which is thought to be the code name for Avengers: Age of Ultron, and across the UEA campus there are currently orange signs directing people to “AP Loc” and “AP Techs,” and others directing people to “crowd makeup and costume”. Notices on the front of the Sainsbury Centre state the venue will be shut today due to a “private booking” and that the centre’s Modern Life Café has been closed since Monday and will reopen on Sunday. Have you been involved in the filming of Avengers: Age of Ultron? Email arts correspondent Emma Knights at [email protected]
Veteran Southern California real estate analyst G.U. Krueger’s commentary on the housing market … No jobs in California? No hope for housing? Depends on perspective. Yes, the unemployment rate in California was a terrible 11.9 percent in April, just barely below Nevada’s 12.5 percent — and quite a distance from the Texan 8 percent. But underneath, the California job markets are stirring, thanks to our geekiness. Now can that be? Isn’t California uncompetitive? Here are April job highlights, which may befuddle some California nihilists. In terms of annual job changes, juggernaut Texas, of course, had No. 1 gain of 254,000 nonfarm workers. No. 2? California with 144,200 new gigs. As for annual percentage change, California put on a decent show: 1.1 percent increase, on par with the nation. California’s private sector added 211,800 positions — a 1.9 percent annual increase. Good news extended to manufacturing, up 0.9 percent led by old-fashioned metal-banging industries and computer making. Better yet, information — truly high-tech – was growing 7 percent year-over-year and gaining 29,200 jobs. Professional and business services registered a 3.1 percent annual increase — a whopping 63,000 extra gigs. Big gainers were science-related jobs. Psst! In Texas, information jobs fell, by a lot; and professional, scientific and technical services grew half as fast as California. What have we learned? First, send your kids to science classes. Second, California has competitive edges – like “the geek advantage.” We have a smart, entrepreneurial business class who knows the U.S. competes best globally with brainpower — still in ample supply in California. No wonder venture capital spending is tops in the Silicon Valley and fourth in LA/Orange County. Where is Texas? Err, seventh … but they don’t have income tax. For California housing, these job numbers are good news of the eventual kind. But the big question for home and apartment developers may become: “What homes do our geeks want?”
The mother of a 12-year-old California girl is demanding justice after video surfaced of her daughter being beaten up not just by a fellow student, but two adults. “I’m beyond mad,” the girl’s mother told KTLA-TV on Saturday. “I just see red. Everything you see in the video is like a hate crime.” According to the station, the girl, identified by her first name, Tia, and another female student had planned to settle their existing differences in a fistfight near Dana Middle School in San Pedro, California. However, the other girl allegedly showed up with two adults, one of whom can be seen grabbing Tia by the hair, punching her, and holding her for the other student and another woman to attack. Tia also told the station the woman who first attacked her used a racial slur against her. The person filming the video has not been identified, but the footage was allegedly posted on Facebook. Tia’s mother, who refused to be identified, told the station she has contacted the Los Angeles Police Department regarding the attack. Authorities have reportedly promised to investigate on Monday. Watch KTLA’s report on the attack, aired Jan. 19, 2013, below.
Scientists Channel Tesla & Einstein To Invent New Double-Glazed Solar Panel December 9th, 2017 by Steve Hanley Let’s begin by saying this is a story about a laboratory experiment that may be good news for renewable energy advocates in the future. It has no practical industrial application at the present time. But how a technological breakthrough in solar panel design came to be is fascinating. Dr Gavin Bell and Dr Yorck Ramachers are researchers in the physics department at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. They recognized that conventional photovoltaic solar panel technology has reached a practical limit when it comes to improving efficiency and lowering manufacturing costs. Any gains from this point forward are likely to be incremental at best. So, the pair went back to the research and writings of Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein to see if the work those pioneers did could point the way to a better panel design. A present, a solar panel relies on a vacuum between the outer surface and the solar cells inside. What if, Bell and Ramachers asked themselves, they used a gas like argon to fill that space? What they envisioned was really a variation of a modern double-glazed window. In the prototype the scientists built, the outer pane is transparent and conducts electricity. The inner pane is coated with a special material developed in the lab which releases electrons when illuminated by sunlight. They call that layer a “photocathode.” In the presence of sunlight, electrons are kicked loose from the photocathode, travel through the gas. and are collected by the outer pane. Dr. Bell says, “It’s satisfying to find a new twist on ideas dating back to the start of the 20th century, and as a materials physicist it is fascinating to be looking for materials which would operate in an environment so different to standard photocathodes.” Bell and Ramachers hope their work will act as a catalyst for further investigation by materials engineers. The optimum composition of the photocathode layer is yet to be determined. Although, they think a thin diamond film would be very durable. They also think the photocathode layer could have variable transparency, making it suitable for solar windows. Filling the inside of the panel with an inert gas like argon could also cost less to manufacture than creating a vacuum. “We think the materials challenge is really critical here so we wanted to encourage the materials science community to get creative,” says Bell. “Our device is radically different from standard photovoltaics, and can even be adapted for other green technologies such as turning heat directly into electricity, so we hope this work will inspire new advances.” We know you get tired of hearing news of potential breakthroughs in the lab that promise better electric car batteries, better solar panels, or better ways to make hydrogen from water. Most of those developments never make it out of the laboratory. There is no information available yet on how much electricity one of these gas-filled double-glazed solar panels can generate, how efficient it might be, or what it might cost. All those answers are yet to be supplied or discovered. What deserves our attention, though, is the willingness of two scientists to go back and do a total rethink of solar panel technology. Maybe nothing will come of their work. But then again, they may have just made a quantum leap in renewable energy technology. This is one story of an advance made in a laboratory worthy of following. Source: University of Warwick
For many NFL fans, the end of the regular season marks the beginning of preparations for the NFL draft. Not so for NFL coaches, who often have to first figure out who they'll be working for this year, and once that is clear they get down to grading the performances of the last season. Jason Garrett has consistently argued that talent acquisition is a year-round process. From a fan perspective, the highlights of that talent acquisition process consist of free agency, the draft, UDFA's, and trades. But from a team perspective the current roster is just as important a source of talent - especially when you consider that the Cowboys have 23 players who could become free agents this year. Some of those players already are franchise cornerstones, some of them could become such cornerstones. Making the right calls on who to retain and who to let go may be some of the most important personnel decisions the front office and coaching staff will make this year. I have no insight into how those decisions are made behind closed doors at Valley Ranch, and what kind of grading system the Cowboys use to arrive at their choices. But we can try to do a similar job here on BTB by quantifying and assessing the Cowboys performances of the last season. One way of doing that is by looking at how the individual Cowboys players have performed relative to other players at their positions across the NFL. To do that, we'll look at their positional rankings (or percentile rankings) for the 2014 season. The idea behind positional rankings is to find a metric that makes all players in the league comparable. Currently, the only service that offers a metric for every single player in the league is Pro Football Focus (PFF), but instead of looking at the grades they assign to the players, we're going to look at where a given player is ranked relative to the other players in the league at his position. Example: PFF ranks wide receivers by the cumulative regular season grade. That ranking lists all 110 wide receivers who played at least 25% of the snaps for their teams in 2014. Dez Bryant is ranked as the 2nd-best wide receiver in the league, Cole Beasley the 48th, and Terrance Williams as the 61st. Because each position group has a different number of qualifying players (e.g. the QB list only features 39 players, most other position groups have more), to make the rankings comparable across all positions, I've converted all positional rankings to a scale of 0 - 100. The highest ranked player at a position gets 100 points; the lowest ranked player gets 0. By that logic, Beasley gets a 56 positional ranking [(1-48/110)100], Bryant gets a 98, and Williams gets a 45. I repeated that calculation for all Cowboys players based on the overall ranking scale provided by PFF, and divided the results into quintiles, which delivers the following positional ranking groups Positional Ranking Description 100-81 Blue-Chip Cowboys Players 80-61 NFL starter quality at position 60-41 Average to slightly below average player 40-21 Underperformer 20-0 Red Flag A player marked in blue is ranked in the top 20% of players at his position group; a player marked in green is ranked in the top 40% of players at his position, and so on. In the next table, I've summarized the results for all 32 Cowboys players who've played on at least 25% of the snaps in 2014. As you review the figures and charts in the rest of this post, keep in mind that the numbers give a directional indication of how a player performed, but shouldn't be seen as a definitive statement of a player's quality. While I'm confident that a player marked in blue had a better season than a player marked in yellow, there is probably less of a difference between players with a value of, say, 75 and 85 than the numbers and the color code would seem to indicate. This is the fourth time we're going through this exercise here on BTB, so you may also want to look at the same data for the 2011, the 2012 team, or the 2013 team to get a better feel for how the team has developed over the years. And with all the preliminaries out of the way, let's get started with your 2014 Dallas Cowboys blue-chip players: Blue-chip Players Player POS Snaps Rank/Total Positional Ranking Dez Bryant WR 917 2/110 98 Jason Witten TE 1071 2/67 97 Travis Frederick OC 1082 2/41 95 Dan Bailey K - - 4/57 92 Tyron Smith T 1082 6/84 92 DeMarco Murray* RB 800 5/57 91 Zack Martin OG 1076 7/78 91 Orlando Scandrick CB 885 10/108 91 Rolando McClain* ILB 654 8/60 87 Tony Romo QB 988 6/39 85 Tyrone Crawford DT 536 13/81 84 Henry Melton* DT 433 14/81 83 Unrestricted Free Agent Blue-Chips: You shouldn't be surprised too much by the names at the top of this quintile. The top seven players here feature five Pro Bowlers and two Pro Bowl snubs (Witten and Bailey). Scandrick would also have been a Pro Bowler had he not lost his eligibility due to his suspension, and Romo also made the Pro Bowl. Four of the players here, Bryant, Murray, McClain and Melton are unrestricted free agents, which is quite a high number. Teams don't usually let that many blue-chippers hit free agency at the same time. Having said that, the Cowboys did make a conscious choice on Bryant and Murray to wait until after the season, and that McClain and Melton would rank this high was not expected. But it does leave the Cowboys in a bit of a conundrum. After the 2013 season, the Cowboys had Jason Hatcher and DeMarcus Ware ranked as Blue-chippers, but let them leave anyway. The same could happen to DeMarco Murray, as the Cowboys may not want to match offers he'll get from other teams. The Cowboys will re-sign Rolando McClain, and should find a way get Henry Melton back, provided his "deep bone bruise" allows him to play in 2015. Nobody is going to pay Melton the $9 million he'd get if the Cowboys were to pick up his option. And neither should the Cowboys, but there is a reasonable middle ground that both sides can agree on. It is worth noting that in 2011 and 2012 the Cowboys had a combined total of nine blue-chip players. In 2013, that number increased to eight. This year they have twelve blue-chip players, and what's perhaps most remarkable is that outside of Romo, Witten, and Scandrick, all of those blue-chippers were joined the team in 2010 and later. Starter-quality Players Player POS Snaps Rank/Total Positional Ranking Sterling Moore* CB 713 22/108 80 Jermey Parnell* T 388 20/84 76 Ronald Leary*** OG 1013 19/78 76 Doug Free* T 716 21/84 75 Jeremy Mincey DE 724 16/59 73 James Hanna TE 337 21/67 69 Anthony Spencer* DE 384 21/59 64 Unrestricted Free Agent * Restricted FA, *Exclusive Rights FA Starter-Quality: The three remaining offensive linemen all narrowly miss making the blue-chip quintile, but their ranking here shows just how strong that line was last year. Getting Leary back is a no-brainer, and the Cowboys will want Doug Free back, provided he returns healthy from his foot surgery. That leaves Jermey Parnell as the odd man out. Despite only playing significant snaps in six games in Free's absence, PFF grade Parnell as the seventh-best right tackle in the league. Other teams will have noticed this as well, especially those needing a right tackle, and they'll offer Parnell starter money where the Cowboys are only willing to pay him backup money. The Cowboys will likely try to sign Spencer and Moore to moderate contracts, though neither are the long-term solutions at their positions. Nice to see James Hanna show up this high on the ranking after showing up as a red flag in 2013. Hanna caught just four passes last year, but the PFF graders like what he did as a run blocker. Average Performers Player POS Snaps Rank/Total Positional Ranking Chris Jones P - - 15/37 59 Terrell McClain DT 329 34/81 58 Justin Durant* OLB 336 17/40 58 Cole Beasley** WR 443 48/110 56 Terrance Williams WR 830 61/110 45 Unrestricted Free Agent * Restricted Free Agent Average Performers: With the way the PFF grading works, most of the players in each quintile are just a few positive plays away from moving up into the next group. Another factor to consider are the snap counts. Justin Durant's season was over after Week 8, and he had earned a +3.0 grade up until then. In a hypothetical scenario in which had not been injured, he potentially could have earned a +6.0 grade if he had continued playing the way he had for the rest of the season. That hypothetical +6.0 grade would have ranked him as the No. 12 OLB and given him a positional ranking of 70. Sure it's hypothetical, but those are the types of hypotheticals you'll have to play through as you decide which player to sign, and Durant will get an offer from the Cowboys, just as Beasley will. Chris Jones will also get an offer, but I'm not sure he'll make it to the roster of the 2015 season opener. The Cowboys will bring in a punter or two to compete for the punting job, and those guys will be more than just camp legs, they'll get a shot at the job. The most worrying player on this list is Terrance Williams. He had a positional ranking of 36 in 2013 and didn't improve much on that in 2014, and the promise he showed in 2013 didn't materialize in 2014. Sure, you can blame the running game for fewer opportunities, but a player of his pedigree can't let himself be outplayed by Slot Machine Beasley. Which brings us to another challenge for the front office: Beasley is unlikely to morph into the No. 2 receiver, Williams hasn't played like one, and Devin Street played in 16 games but caught all of two passes. Don't be surprised if the Cowboys bring in another WR to compete for that No. 2 spot. Underperformers Player POS Snaps Rank/Total Positional Ranking Barry Church S 916 55/88 38 George Selvie* DE 515 37/59 37 Unrestricted Free Agent Underperformers: This list is mercifully short, but highlights two key issues for the Cowboys defense: the sub-par safety play, especially in coverage, and the sub-par pass rush. The Cowboys are likely to look for additional talent for both units via the draft or via free agency - or both. That probably makes Selvie the odd man out at defensive end, and it's unlikely the Cowboys will offer him anything beyond the veteran minimum, and no guarantee that he'll make the team come September. Even after a seven-sack season in 2013, Selvie only had a 44 positional ranking. That's okay for a bridge player, but not a long-term solution. The Cowboys will also have to decide whether an improved pass rush will improve the pass coverage from the safety spots or whether they'll need to find a true free safety, leaving Church and Wilcox to fight it out for the strong safety spot. Red Flags Player POS Snaps Rank/Total Positional Ranking Tyler Clutts FB 163 19/23 17 Brandon Carr CB 1,028 90/108 17 Bruce Carter* OLB 453 34/40 15 Anthony Hitchens OLB 455 35/40 13 J.J. Wilcox S 997 77/88 13 Nick Hayden* DT 585 81/81 0 Unrestricted Free Agent * Restricted FA, *Exclusive Rights FA Red Flags: The key question the front office and coaches have to answer as they look at the red flag list is whether these players are salvageable and offer any hope of improvement in 2015. Bruce Carter had a positional ranking of 9 last year and 15 this year. In each of the last three seasons, he's had stretches where he's played brilliantly, and stretches where he was dowright awful. For some reason, he's never been able to put it together in Dallas, and it's time for a change of scenery for Carter. Like Martellus Bennett, he'll probably go on to be a strong player for somebody else. These things happen. Time to move on. In his three years in Dallas, Carr has never had a positional ranking above 50. He's not suddenly going to get better in 2015. Carr is a good dude and all, but it's time to move on. Perhaps the Cowboys can get something in a trade for him (even though such a trade would incur a $12 Million cap hit in 2015), if not, make Carr a June 1 cut and start rebuilding the secondary. Getting Carr to take a pay cut may sound like a good thing to do from a salary cap point of view, but it only delays the inevitable cut that will come at some point. Keeping Carr means playing another season with an average to below average corner and only delays the overdue rebuilding of the secondary. In Hayden and Clutts, the Cowboys know exactly what they're getting, which in itself has a certain value. Both are try-hard players with zero upside. Offer them one-year deals at the vet minimum and see if somebody else comes along who can force them off the roster during camp. Anthony Hitchens will be fine, but J.J. Wilcox didn't progress as expected. Will that improvement come in 2015, or should the Cowboys start looking for extra safety help? One of the reasons for the low grades for both Church and Wilcox is that PFF takes a pretty dim view of missed tackles, which is understandable when you're talking about safeties, because a missed tackle will almost inevitably result in a big play, if not a touchdown. Both safeties have 15 missed tackles. As a starting duo, that combined total of 30 missed tackles is only surpassed by the Jaguars, whose two starters combined for 42 missed tackles. Summary: Keep in mind that these rankings are based on the PFF player grades, and not some hard, quantifiable and verifiable set of stats. For example, many of the rankings would likely change if we excluded the grades for penalties, disregarded the pass blocking grade for wide receivers or sorted defensive ends only by their pass rushing grade. As such, there are probably good arguments to be made for why a given player should be ranked higher or lower, and this is especially the case for borderline players who are just short of the next quintile. But overall, I think it's a good approximation of where the team, and each individual player, stands - based on the performance over the entire 2014 regular season. Overall, I don't think these rankings provide any shocking new insights. But they do provide a template for some of the Cowboys' offseason activities. I'd expect the Cowboys to focus on retaining their above average contributors as far as the salary cap allows. Then it's on to improving their pass rush, addressing some of the holes apparent in the positions that graded out below average, and above all, figure out a strategy for their secondary. To qualify for the ProFootballFocus rankings, players have to have played at least 25% of their team's snaps on either offense or defense, which means there are a number of Cowboys players who don't show up in any of the tables above. And since there are bound to be questions about these role players, I've included a table below showing which quintiles those players would belong to if they had played in at least 25% of the team snaps - and if their grade had remained as it is. Keep in mind that the PFF grades are cumulative - if two guys were to get the same grade for each game, but one guy has 16 games to the other guy's 6, the player with 16 games will have the higher total grade. In the table below, I show the 'projected position rank' for each of those role players. Let's take Joseph Randle as an example. Over 94 snaps, Randle accumulated a +3.7 grade. That grade corresponds to the 17th best grade among qualifying running backs, and gives Randle a projected position rank of 70. Backups & Role Players Player POS Snaps Projected Positional Ranking Joseph Randle RB 94 70 Lance Dunbar RB 140 68 Gavin Escobar TE 263 64 DeMarcus Lawrence DE 223 61 Dwayne Harris* WR 160 61 Tyler Patmon CB 74 56 Mackenzy Bernadeau OG 75 47 Brandon Weeden QB 94 46 Ken Bishop DT 66 44 Davon Coleman DT 53 41 Devin Street WR 150 35 Cameron Lawrence*** LB 80 33 Jeff Heath S 130 31 Kyle Wilber LB 216 30 Jack Crawford DT 143 25 Morris Claiborne CB 151 22 C.J. Spillman* S 74 22 Unrestricted Free Agent * Restricted FA, ***Exclusive Rights FA Most of the players on this list have a limited snap count because they are backups at their position. And for a list of backups, these are pretty good results overall.
Major airports face ash cloud shutdown Posted The nation's two major airports face the prospect of being shut down for up to 48 hours as the ash cloud from a Chilean volcano continues to drift across southern Australia. Thousands of passengers have been stranded as the lingering cloud forces airlines to cancel some domestic and international flights. Transport Minister Anthony Albanese says the Federal Government backs the cancellations in the interests of safety. He says the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Airservices Australia are working with the airlines to ensure safety procedures are being followed. Mr Albanese says the Bureau of Meteorology estimates Adelaide will be affected for 24 hours, Canberra and Sydney for around 36 to 48 hours, and Melbourne for 36 to 48 hours from tomorrow morning. The ash cloud from Chile's Mount Puyehue Cordon Caulle volcano is circling the Earth for a second time, after last week delaying flights across Australia and New Zealand for several days. CASA spokesman Peter Gibson says he hopes the ash cloud will have dissipated by then. "Obviously we've got hundreds of thousands of passengers today disrupted right around the country," he said. "When you take out major centres like Sydney and Melbourne, the knock-on effects of that are huge, and that's unfortunate, but safety has to come first. "When it's safe to go flying, the airlines will go back, but not until then." Virgin's domestic cancellations alone affect 170 flights and 120,000 people. Virgin spokeswoman Danielle Keighery says all flights from Canberra were to cease from 1.00pm, and the cancellations will also affect Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour and Newcastle from 4.00pm. "The ash plume is at a very low level. Last week we cancelled operations where the plume was low, and we are seeing that again," she said. "We are hopeful it won't last long, but it is a moving feast." The ash cloud earlier forced the cancellation of all domestic flights to and from Adelaide for the day. Flow-on effect Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has said delays are likely, and spokeswoman Leonie Vandeven says travellers should keep in contact with their airline for any changes. "Quite simply if Sydney Airport sneezes, we're going to catch the cold, so we're expecting some significant delays into and out of Brisbane airport," she said. "We're not sure what's going to be happening with this volcanic ash cloud other than it will be affecting us if it's affecting flights in other states." In Sydney, one passenger aiming to get to Port Lincoln said he had been waiting for hours. "The original plan was to fly out early this morning to Adelaide and then drive to Port Lincoln, but obviously we couldn't get to Adelaide," he said. "I left home at 3.00am and I can't get anywhere, can't get to Adelaide, and I'm pretty much camping out waiting for news. "We asked to be transferred to a 5.00pm flight this afternoon but they told us that they're not accepting any bookings, so we're here until we can get on a flight pretty much." Another traveller trapped in Melbourne said he checked the Tiger website before leaving for the airport, but no information was available. "We checked the website and we didn't see anything on the website," he said. "It seems everyone else is flying. I don't know why they're not." Alternative transport Other travellers were happy with the response by airlines. "What can you do - safety first I reckon," one traveller said. "It's disappointing, but all things considered it's better to have it like this than have it crash because of the ash," another traveller said. The flight disruptions have had knock-on effects in the west, with many passengers in limbo and unable to reach Perth due to a lack of connecting flights. Bus company Greyhound Australia say it expects services to triple over the next two days. The company says it is putting on extra services for people affected by the ash cloud. The head of Greyhound, Tony Hopkins, says extra services will operate between Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. Mr Hopkins says the extra services will run until the ash cloud passes. Topics: air-transport, business-economics-and-finance, industry, weather, adelaide-5000, act, canberra-2600, australia, nsw, sydney-airport-2020, qld, brisbane-airport-4007, sa, port-lincoln-5606
About This Game Play your own songs to three different game modes on, newly updated to, eight different maps, or fight the three unlockable bosses! Play on four different difficulties to get a range of challenge or create your own with the new custom difficulty! Keep track of your stats and compare them to your friends! Earn all the achievements by playing and getting better at it! Play more songs on harder difficulties to rank up faster! It is easy to grasp but hard to master! Play any song you want by just dragging them into a folder! The game reads MP3s, OGGs, and WAVs!Play "FOLLOW" to follow a line that fluctuates with the song while dodging objects spawning with the beat of the song!Play the classic mode "DODGE" and dodge obstacles that spawn with the beat of the song!Play "FIGHT" to follow the line and kill waves of enemies that spawn with the beat of the song!
*Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout. DAPHNE, Ala. — Ted Cruz's presidential campaign is opening a residence for volunteers in New Hampshire as it continues to build out its ground game in the early voting states. The residence, which sleeps 40 people every night, will be housed in an old college outside Manchester, Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe told reporters before a rally here. The volunteer hub will be up and running from Jan. 4 through the Feb. 9 primary. The residence will be similar to one the campaign opened earlier this month in Iowa, where it is housing a "strike force" of volunteers, mostly from Texas. The New Hampshire site is expected to draw from volunteers in the Granite State and surrounding states. The Texas Tribune thanks its sponsors. Become one. The effort in the Hawkeye State has already drawn so much interest that the campaign has obtained a second building to house additional volunteers, Roe said. The second building will have a similar capacity as the initial one — 24 rooms and 48 beds — and open for the final two weeks before the Feb. 1 caucuses. In recent days, the campaign of one of Cruz's chief GOP rivals, Marco Rubio, has questioned Cruz's commitment to New Hampshire. Cruz and his aides have insisted they are "all in" across the map. In an interview Friday on Fox News, Cruz — who is No. 1 in Iowa, according to some polls — raised his own questions about Rubio's viability. Cruz is currently No. 1 in Iowa, according to some polls. "If you look at the early primary states, Marco is not leading in any state," Cruz told host Greta Van Susteren. "He's not leading in any state." Cruz has not visited New Hampshire in more than a month but is expected to return to the state in January.
More adoption, higher price please ! …..right? So we have seen a bit of uncertainty in the market of late focused around the Bitcoin Price and why its not moving higher on news of further adoption; particularly news focused around this recent deal with Dell Inc adoption: CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Drops Below $600 After Relative Stability http://www.coindesk.com/market-monthly-stable-bitcoin/ WSJ BitBeat: Bitcoin Price – Curiously – Gets No Boost From Dell News http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/07/22/bitbeat-bitcoin-price-curiously-gets-no-boost-from-dell-news/ So myself as a decentralized economist that helped design a free market system (Quark) I thought i’d help explain to people why they have not seen the expected desired effect of a higher price with further adoption. It comes down to a few key parameters and effects that some economists have a hard time getting their head around in reference to Cryptocurrency I will explain both : Mining for production – the means and the technology. Exponential mining difficulty equation. Both scary difficult sounding parameters right? So I am going to explain these so anyone can understand them and thus understand why Bitcoin actually needs bad news not good news for probable further immediate price increases. Bitcoin is an effective monopoly of production But the monopoly can’t be maintained indefinitely this causes a “catch 22” or “Paradox” The fact that very few people and corporations control the production of Bitcoins into the market in effect means that Bitcoin is Price controlled. to explain these misunderstood parameters lets use a traditional means, because without understanding how the monopoly works I can’t explain the “Catch 22”. Welcome to planet Crypto currency. (explaining difficulty) On this planet lets say there is a particular element lets call it “liquid Gold” and it is only available in a fixed amount on the entire planet; But there is an important difference – if one tries to mine this element it affects all the other parts of the element, so in effect all mining location have a relationship. So at location A you have a “liquid gold” mine, but the difference is on this planet all of the “liquid gold” mines on the planet are linked together and have a relationship with each other. we have another Mine on the other side of the planet at location B. The miners at location A start to mine the “liquid Gold” and also the miners at location B. but due to and advance in technology the miners at location A can extract 100% more than the miners at B now remembering that all mines have a relationship on this planet (because “liquid Gold” is linked all across the planet) this in effect makes mining more difficult for the mine at location B because “liquid Gold” is now harder to extract in proportion to how much better the miner at location A can mine it. furthermore the hardware and advance of technology is unavailable to many on the planet, and the initial sales of the “liquid Gold” allows the miners at location A to keep this technology monopoly. the net result is that as long as “liquid Gold” is still purchased by the market the miners at mine A can continue to increase their technology monopoly and drive the other mines effectively out of business. Bitcoin mining monopoly. This is in effect the Bitcoin story, the net result is that the market of Bitcoin producers is very small in numbers terms of people, many people talk about “Network hash-rate” or “power consumed” this is a complete misrepresentation of participation. more power and hash rate does not equal more participant in fact it equals less net participants it equals better technology that fewer people have. but because of the increase in “hash power” “Computing hash power” this drives difficulty out of reach for the majority of the market just like our example : “Catch 22” The “Paradox” So if only a very few people are producing all of the new Bitcoins and a very few produced it before the market knew about it, who decides the Bitcoin price? the answer is “not the free market” (at the moment) , and here is the catch, because if “Bitcoin” wants further adoption it needs to flow in the free market, i.e the few people holding it need to sell it into the market or that market needs to want to buy it from them at their non market manipulated price. And a few guys can only buy so many Dell computers, furthermore if the Dell corporation trades the Bitcoin sales back into USD on the open market this will then put downward free market pressure on the manipulated price. As a functional “money” Bitcoin’s parameters are actually pretty bad, but we can cover that at a later date perhaps. Bad News is Good news ! So in effect the one sure thing that could save the Bitcoin price is another 08 financial crisis, or a Fiat Bank “Bail in” event – but in this case Quark crypto that floats freely in the free market is just as good; (if not a better) investment as a wealth transfer vehicle. Advertisements
The Energy Networks Association and CSIRO proposed to do just that in their Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap, which aims to shift $1.4 billion of network costs from non-solar customers (households and firms) onto solar and battery customers by 2027, and at the same time pay solar and battery households $1.1 billion to export energy to the grid at times of high demand. The figures out to 2050 are much larger. By doing this the networks hope to save themselves billions of dollars in network investments and persuade the 10 per cent of customers that CSIRO reckons might leave the grid altogether by 2050 - the "death spiral" - to stay. But if these tariff changes are not very finely tuned - they might just have the opposite effect and accelerate the death spiral. Leaving the grid isn't practical for most customers yet, but it may be so sooner than anyone expects. Solar battery households have unexpected bargaining power and might start to feel the boot is on the other foot, says Bruce Mountain, director of Carbon + Energy Markets. Chief Scientist Alan Finkel is grappling with the rapid evolution of the energy system in a review of how electricity system stability and security of supply can be maintained with more intermittent renewable energy and less "synchronous" coal generation in the supply mix. Fairer tariffs can save customers money and provide incentives for solar + battery households to export energy to the grid at times of high demand Energy Networks Australia / CSIRO Network Transformation Roadmap The review was ordered by federal and state energy ministers after South Australia's earlier, statewide blackout on September 28, and Professor Finkel will present an interim report to federal, state and territory leaders on Friday. The federal government is also releasing terms of reference for a review of climate policies to be completed next year, and the imminent flood of new information seems to be moderating its tone when it comes to renewable energy – despite former Prime Minister Tony Abbott's plea to his successor, Malcolm Turnbull, to harden up on the issue. Advertisement The results can be a little confusing. Mr Turnbull and Mr Frydenberg relentlessly attacked South Australia's wind power plunge after the September blackout – when the Australian Energy Market Operator says it wasn't an issue. But last week in the lead-up to Thursday's outage they were more even-handed – even though wind generation failed to step up after South Australia's energy lifeline to Victoria (the Heywood interconnector) shut down because the wind wasn't blowing. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Energy Prime Minister Josh Frydenberg want rules changed to encourage the building of high tech power stations which have lower carbon dioxide emissions Andrew Meares The caution is sensible. Raising fixed charges to rebalance the burden of network costs as between solar and non-solar households has long been debated. Network charges already account for about two-fifths of electricity bills for solar households, about twice the proportion for non-solar households, says Mr Mountain says. This is a higher proportion than in other countries. Retailers also charge fixed fees that are about three times higher than network fixed charges, and in competitive markets are unlikely to want to push this further for fear of losing the customer altogether. Wind turbines failed to step up when South Australia's energy lifeline to Victoria went down last Thursday morning Supplied Advertisement "Increasing the proportion of the bill that is fixed might backfire by stimulating entrepreneurs to find ways to help customers completely abandon the grid," Mr Mountain says in a commentary to be published in Britain by Cornwall Energy Associates. Batteries a 'godsend' "Is this really what distributors and retailers would want? A diminished role as provider of back-up supply might not be a role that retailers and distributors covet, but they might think it preferable to losing the customer altogether." Batteries can already guide a single household or company through a blackout and the price-per-kilowatt hour has already fallen to the point where they make economic sense at the household level. Grid scale storage would be half the cost or less, Mr Mountain says. Still, penetration is very low and it will take time to reach significant levels, he writes. "But if they do, and if they stimulate further distributed production, the impact on distributors, retailers and large-scale producers will be severe. "For Australia's governments concerned to keep the lights on at affordable prices, the rise of batteries might be seen as a godsend, at least for those customers able to take advantage of them."
Northern Virginia bureau chief Julie Carey reports on a child drowned in a pond in South Riding, Virginia. (Published Thursday, April 6, 2017) After powerful storms tore through Northern Virginia Thursday afternoon, parents found that their young son had drowned in a pond. A 3 1/2-year-old boy died after he was found facedown in a pond near his family's townhouse in South Riding, Virginia, officials and neighbors said. The child, who was not identified immediately, slipped out of the house as his mother went to retrieve a garbage can that had blown away during the storm, neighbors told News4. When the family discovered the boy was missing, they began searching for him. A neighbor joined in the effort. He and the boy's father found the little boy facedown in the shallow water about 2:15 p.m. "The father pulled the boy out of the water," neighbor Sasi Gopinadam said. "The boy was lying on the ground, and they were trying to do the CPR by pressing 30 times on the chest." Another neighbor called 911, and the dispatcher gave instructions to try to save the child. The boy was rushed to a hospital, but it was too late. The child was pronounced dead. Neighbors said he is survived by a twin sister. "It's a very sad day," Gopinadam said. Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.
Katarxis Nº 3 TOWARDS A BIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM: LESSONS FROM STEVEN PINKER Nikos A. Salingaros Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas 78249, USA. [email protected] Architecture is indeed linked to biology. This observation is intuitively true from a structural perspective, since human beings perceive a kinship between the different processes -- natural and artificial -- that generate form. Nevertheless, the broadness of the claim might appear surprising, considering that it comes from architects holding radically different ideas about what buildings ought to look like. The idea of a biological connection has been used in turn by traditional architects, modernists, postmodernists, deconstructivists, and naturally, the "organic form" architects. One might say that architecture's proposed link to biology is used to support any architectural style whatsoever. When it is applied so generally, then the biological connection loses its value, or at least becomes so confused as to be meaningless. Is there a way to clear up the resulting contradiction and confusion? Up until now, architects and those scientists interested in architecture have focussed on the morphological imitation of nature. Sometimes explicitly, more often implicitly, natural forms, including biological forms, have inspired the constructions of human beings. (This topic is being studied by the architect and author Lucien Steil in a major project now underway). Nevertheless, I believe that an understanding of the biological roots of architecture and urbanism requires another component that is independent of structural imitation. This more elusive aspect of the problem is concerned with how we connect and perceive form to begin with. As such, it has more to do with our own internal structure as human beings than with more general biological structures. The answers are to be found in cognitive processes, perception, and neurophysiology. In order to begin a search for how biology influences architecture and urbanism, we must establish some overall map of the problem. Because this is a vast subject, it is useful to divide it into a series of questions like the following. This is not meant to be a complete set of questions; only a starting point for an investigation. Why do some built forms resemble biological forms? What types of built forms correspond more closely to biological prototypes? Are human beings predisposed to like and feel comfortable with certain types of forms? Are human beings also predisposed to build certain types of forms? Is it worthwhile mimicking biological forms in what we build? Do we gain more than just aesthetic pleasure -- such as physical and psychological benefits, for example -- from an environment that captures the essence of biological structure? Can we damage ourselves by living in and around forms that contradict biological forms? Do we really understand biological structure well enough to mimic anything other than its superficial appearance? These questions can hopefully provide researchers with an impetus to resolve long-standing problems in how mankind relates to its natural and built environments. I would like to focus here on the connection between architecture and urbanism, on the one hand, and inherited structures in the human brain that influence the function of "mind", on the other. A group of innovative architects and thinkers are beginning to formulate the basis for a new architecture that arises out of human needs, and which is supported by an improved understanding of biological structure. Our cognition makes us human; it is certainly responsible for how we perceive structure. Human neurophysiology is therefore essential for answering at least some of the above questions. For guidance in this task, I turn to the work of Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at MIT, a world authority on cognitive neuroscience, and the author of "The Language Instinct" and "How the Mind Works". Steven Pinker's most recent book, "The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature" [1], raises issues that are central to our discussion. (Pinker has also given an interview on his new book [2]). He posits that the modernist movement permeating the arts, architecture, urbanism, philosophy, and the social sciences propagated a monumental deception about the nature of the human mind -- namely, that the mind has no "hard-wired" components, hence everything that defines it is socially imprinted. This assumption is called "the blank slate", referring to the notion that a human being starts with no inborn preferences, and thus acquires all neuronal structures exclusively from external sources. This assumption, upon which so much in the twentieth century has depended, is demonstrated to be false. Pinker argues that, believing it was true, architects, planners, politicians, and others gave themselves permission to try and reshape our world according to their own ideology. That meant ignoring what human beings really need from a biological point of view. In a book of 500 pages, Pinker devotes only about a page or so to architecture and urbanism, but the point is that he is scathingly critical of the modernist, postmodernist, and deconstructivist approaches. This is moreover not a philosophical discussion, but a biologically-based refutal of the intellectual underpinnings for a significant and entrenched establishment. "The belief that human tastes are reversible cultural preferences has led social planners to write off people's enjoyment of ornament, natural light, and human scale and force millions of people to live in drab cement boxes. ... the conviction that humanity could be reshaped by massive social engineering projects led to some of the greatest atrocities in history." [1] (pages x-xi). Pinker underlines the disastrous consequences of turning against human nature. In particular, he examines the arrogant state of mind that makes that possible, arguing for a connection between modernist planning and totalitarianism. "Inborn human desires are a nuisance to those with utopian and totalitarian visions, which often amount to the same thing. ... Authoritarian High Modernism [is] the conceit that planners could redesign society from the top down using 'scientific' principles. The architect Le Corbusier, for example, argued that urban planners should not be fettered by traditions and tastes, since they only perpetuated the overcrowded chaos of the cities of his day. ... Le Corbusier was frustrated in his aspiration to flatten Paris, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro and rebuild them according to his scientific principles. But in the 1950s he was given carte blanche to design Chandigarh, the capital of the Punjab, and one of his disciples was given a clean tablecloth for Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. Today, both cities are notorious as uninviting wastelands detested by the civil servants who live in them. Authoritarian High Modernism also led to the 'urban renewal' projects in many American cities during the 1960s that replaced vibrant neighborhoods with freeways, high-rises, and empty windswept plazas." [1] (pages 169-171). This accuses architects, urbanists, and legislators for acting contrary to the biological nature of human beings. As such, it helps to solidify the arguments of anti-modernist critics such as Jane Jacobs [3], Christopher Alexander [4,5], and Léon Krier [6,7], by providing them with a biological foundation. "City planners believed that people's taste for green space, for ornament, for people-watching, for cozy places for intimate social gatherings, were just social constructions. They were archaic historical artifacts that were getting in the way of the orderly design of cities, and should be ignored by planners designing optimal cities according to so-called scientific principles. Le Corbusier was the clearest example. He and other planners had a minimalist conception of human nature. A human being needs so many cubic feet of air per day, a temperature within a certain range, so many gallons of water, and so many square feet in which to sleep and work. ... Ornamentation, human scale, green space, gardens, and comfortable social meeting places were written out of the cities because the planners had a theory of human nature that omitted human aesthetic and social needs." [2] While Pinker's book [1] is not about architecture and urbanism, it does open the door to what is inevitable; namely, a scientific debate of what type of architecture is more in tune with biological precedent. By focussing on how the human mind reacts to form and environment, the investigation turns away from the imitation of nature, and complements those studies in an important fashion. We need further research to reveal the biological basis for architecture. That is a monumental task, yet an important first step has now been made. When the job is finally accomplished, and we understand how architecture depends on the structure of our own mind, we will be in a better position to tie together many of today's non-mainstream movements in architecture and urbanism. These encompass practices such as New Urbanism, traditional and neoclassical architecture, the work of Christopher Alexander and Léon Krier, and the work of many other thinkers, developers, and builders who have instinctively pursued a more humane architecture. It is becoming increasingly clear that architectural value is indeed founded on shared aspects of the human mind. Such a universality relies on innate neural circuitry common to all human beings [2]. That's the opposite to what has been proposed in the architectural literature of the past several decades -- namely, that value rests strictly on individual preferences. Those arguments are part of an intentional deception meant to justify the careers of certain architects (who have become prominent thereby). Architectural value is definitely not in the mind -- and the eye -- of the beholder, as defined by one's personal idiosyncrasies. For the last twenty years, design based on human needs has had to compete against the more intellectually-based design of the deconstructivist school. The latter, moreover, lately brings with it the claimed support of the "new sciences", such as fractals, nonlinearity, emergence, and complexity theory [8,9]. Formal concerns have taken both architectural theory and practice into more rarefied designs that are far removed from the early modernist canon. Their proponents claim that these architecturally unusual forms are in fact more organic. Pinker, however, argues that the deconstructivist philosophy upon which those architects depend is totally unscientific. It is thus unlikely that following deconstructivist thought could possibly bring architecture any closer to biology. Some reviewers of this seminal book have brazenly stated that "no modern scientist believes in the blank slate anymore", as if to imply that Pinker is arguing about outdated topics. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our society tries to understand its own structure, and builds its physical extensions on the earth's surface, guided by the blank slate hypothesis. This conceptual error is therefore mirrored not only in our societal structure, but most importantly in the built environment. It is there that one has to look for the greatest damage this mistaken idea has wrought to our civilization. It is also here -- in the physical form of new buildings and regenerated urban fabric -- that the first corrective steps will be most helpful. "The denial of human nature has spread beyond the academy and has led to a disconnect between intellectual life and common sense. ... The problem is not just that these claims are preposterous but that the writers did not acknowledge they were saying things that common sense might call into question. This is the mentality of a cult, in which fantastical beliefs are flaunted as proof of one's piety. That mentality cannot coexist with an esteem for the truth, and I believe it is responsible for some of the unfortunate trends in recent intellectual life. One trend is a stated contempt among many scholars for the concepts of truth, logic, and evidence." [1] (page x). Pinker is referring to contemporary philosophical trends such as deconstructivism, now popular in academia. He exposes them in a debunking that is just as effective as that of Sokal and Bricmont [10], but coming this time from neurophysiology and cognition rather than from physics. References. [1] Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, Viking-Penguin, New York, 2002. [2] Steven Pinker, "A Biological Understanding of Human Nature", Edge September 2002. Available from <www.edge.org> [3] Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Vintage Books, New York, 1961. [4] Christopher Alexander, "A City is Not a Tree", Architectural Forum, vol. 122, pp. No. 1, pages 58-61 and No. 2, pages 58-62, (1965). Reprinted in: Design After Modernism, Edited by John Thackara, Thames and Hudson, London, 1988, pp. 67-84. Available from <http://www.rudi.net/bookshelf/classics/city/alexander/alexander1.shtml> [5] Christopher Alexander, S. Ishikawa, M. Silverstein, M. Jacobson, I. Fiksdahl-King, and S. Angel, A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press, New York, 1977. [6] Léon Krier, "The City Within the City", A + U, Tokyo, Special Issue, November 1977, pages 69-152. Reprinted in: Architectural Design, volume 54 (1984), Jul/Aug pages 70-105. Available from <http://applied.math.utsa.edu/krier/city.html> [7] Léon Krier, Architecture: Choice or Fate, Andreas Papadakis, Windsor, Berkshire, England, 1998. [8] Nikos Salingaros, "Charles Jencks and the New Paradigm in Architecture", Katarxis III <www.katarxis.com> March 2003, available from <http://applied.math.utsa.edu/~salingar/newparadigm.html>. [9] Brian Hanson and Nikos Salingaros, "Death, Life and Libeskind", Architectural Record Online -- In the Cause of Architecture (February 2003), approximately 10 pages. Available from <http://applied.math.utsa.edu/~salingar/libeskind.html> [10] Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont, Fashionable Nonsense, Picador, New York, 1998. European title: Intellectual Impostures. Katarxis Nº 3
As Giving Tuesday approaches on Dec. 2, marking the third annual global effort to kick off the holiday giving season, people around the world are deciding how to donate their money and time to causes, charities and nonprofits. According to a recent Harris Poll on charitable donations in the U.S., overall giving increased in 2013 — the first time since the 2008 recession. One in four Americans feel it's their personal responsibility to help make the world a better place by being actively involved in causes and issues, while an additional 17% believe it's important to volunteer and donate to charity. When it comes to specific causes, 18% of Americans say they care most about youth and families, followed by animals (12%), medical research (12%) and education (11%). There are some discrepancies, however — one could argue education is an important facet of youth and families-related causes. The following chart, created by statistics portal Statista, shows the top eight causes to which Americans say they're most likely to donate. You can read the entire report from Harris Interactive here.
The Republican attorneys general of Texas, Oklahoma and West Virginia say the Obama administration hasn't given schools around the country enough guidance on how to handle transgender students, and said more details are needed so schools can understand what specific actions, or non-actions, will put their federal funding at risk. "The so-called 'significant guidance' issued by the Obama administrations raises more questions than it answers, just as it creates concerns among anyone who believes sex is a biological fact and not a personal preference," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement announcing the letter Tuesday. "As billions of dollars appear to be at stake based upon schools' compliance with this guidance, the Obama administration must be extremely clear about what is and isn't allowed, and explain how their actions do not add requirements to the law, as their letter claims," he added. Paxton was joined by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in their letter, which asked the Justice and Education departments whether refusing to follow the new guidance will put the federal education funding their respective states receive in jeopardy. The Justice and Education departments sent a guidance to schools nationwide last week directing them to allow transgender students to use the restroom facility that corresponds with their gender identity. The federal guidance was issued in response to North Carolina's new law that mandates transgender individuals use the restroom facility that corresponds with their birth gender, and prevents local municipalities from passing legislation allowing for anything else. The attorneys general asked several specific questions, including whether the Obama administration believes an entity receiving federal funding follow "must" follow the guidance in order to be in compliance with Title IX and be eligible for federal funding. It asked whether a school still be "in compliance" with Title IX despite "noncompliance" with the guidelines. According to Paxton, Pruitt and Morrisey, the federal guidance uses the word "must" 15 times, and the words "required" and "requirement" 10 times. The letter said those words are confusing and asked if recipients of federal funding must satisfy the requirement to "treat a student's gender identity as the student's sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations." The guidance also said it does "not add any requirements to applicable law." But the attorneys general asked what "existing statute, regulation, or binding court decision mandates that schools receiving federal funding must 'treat a student's gender identity as the student's sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations?'" When it comes to gender identity, the attorneys general also want to know if it is now a Title IX requirement that schools administer all programs according to "each student's subjective 'internal sense of gender.'" And finally, they asked if a school must require that students can "use only the bathroom/locker room for the gender with which that student identifies?" Paxton, Pruitt and Morrisey told the Obama administration they want answers by May 24.
Big changes may be coming to the NHL’s overtime format, which will be reevaluated at this week’s general manager meetings in Toronto. And for several Bruins players, a few adjustments would be welcome. The league’s current system of one five-minute overtime period followed by a shootout has been debated at great length since its adoption in 2005, with some likening deciding a game by shootout to determining the outcome of an NBA game with a 3-point contest. Several options are reportedly on the table for discussion at the meetings, including extending the extra session to 10 minutes or even adding an additional five-minute period of 3-on-3 hockey after the currently used 4-on-4 session. Bruins winger Milan Lucic played under a similar format during his time in the British Columbia Hockey League — which used the added wrinkle of adding a skater for penalties during the 3-on-3 period rather than removing one — and he said Wednesday that it would be a great fit for the NHL, as well. “You feel like it’s almost fitting that it ends that way, rather in the shootout. It’s definitely something I would be in favor of,” Lucic said, according to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE.com. “A five minute 4-on-4 and then a five minute 3-on-3 would be really exciting, and cool to watch. Hopefully they do something where we can get it done in overtime rather than a shootout. “I remember that nobody ever came off the ice and was like ‘that’s so stupid that we lost it 3-on-3’ [when they got back to the dressing room]. Your chances were always pretty good to score. It was just a matter of who was going to score first.” Playing hockey with only six total skaters on the ice has a tendency to yield wide-open scoring chances, making the 3-on-3 system something goalies, including B’s netminder Tuukka Rask, aren’t incredibly keen on. But as he has mentioned many times before, Rask is no fan of deciding a game on penalty shots. “I wouldn’t mind [getting rid of the shootout,]” he said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the game you just played. It’s just so dramatic when you lose. As a goalie it’s tough to accept that it’s not all your fault if you lose. I don’t know. As a viewer I’m a fan of the shootout, but when you’re in it, it’s not that cool, especially when you’re on the losing end. A five- or 10-minute overtime? I’d be OK with that. But going to 3-on-3 [in overtime] … that sounds a little crazy to me. “They’re trying to make these new rules every year, it seems like. Whether it’s goalie pads or [smaller] nets, or whatever. I wouldn’t be surprised if we play 2-on-2. It’s not good for the fans if teams are playing it safe at the end of the game just to get to the shootout, so I’m all for overtime and going 4-on-4 to try and go for it.”
A man sells newspapers last month in Nuevo Laredo, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. A former Tamaulipas governor accused of money laundering and other crimes was captured in Italy last Sunday. (Rodrigo Abd/AP) MEXICO CITY — When Italian police captured a fugitive Mexican ex-governor this week, Mexicans joked that his arrest lowered the number of governors on the lam from four to three. Tomás Yarrington, who ran the now hyperviolent state of Tamaulipas on the Texas border from 1999 until 2005, was detained after dining out in Florence on Sunday, ending five years as a fugitive. Yarrington, 60, is accused in the United States and Mexico of money laundering, racketeering and taking bribes from the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas — criminal organizations that have battled over Tamaulipas and turned a strip of Mexican border cities along the Rio Grande into no-go zones. Yarrington also joins a long list of Mexican former governors who have been busted for bad behavior. At least 41 governors were accused of corruption between 2000 and 2013, according to the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), a think tank, with just 16 facing criminal investigation and four being arrested. In comparison, all nine U.S. governors accused of corruption in the same period were arrested. Critics blame the phenomenon of governors going rogue as an unexpected byproduct of Mexico's democratic opening, which has seen authority decentralized and public-spending decisions sent to the state and local levels. Once peons of the president — who hired and fired them at his pleasure during the days of one-party rule — governors have amassed power and privileges in the country’s 31 states, where counterweights such as courts, auditors and legislators offer little resistance. Former governor Tomás Yarrington in Mexico City in May 2005. (Daniel Aguilar/Reuters) “Some Mexican states look more like fiefdoms than democracies,” said Manuel Molano, deputy director of IMCO. “In some states the press is completely controlled, congress is completely controlled.” Yarrington once aspired to the presidency, running as a primary candidate for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in 2006. He also hails from the early generation of governors to confront competitive elections, a 1990s development critics in Tamaulipas said led politicians in the state to tap organized crime for money, manpower and muscle for close campaigns. Yarrington denies any wrongdoing. A decade or so later, the PRI fielded younger candidates, including the current president, Enrique Peña Nieto, who were presented as fresh faces in a party commonly lampooned as a dinosaur. But the newcomers were often worse than their elders, critics contend, ignoring some time-honored rules. An axiom of Mexican politics posits: I rob, but I build. The new wave of governors, from all political parties, “forgot the part about building,” said Ilán Semo, a historian at the Iberoamerican University here. The scale of the alleged corruption is staggering and came to be symbolized by Javier Duarte, the portly, bespectacled governor of the Gulf Coast state of Veracruz between 2010 and 2016. The state gained notoriety during his term for the slayings there of 20 journalists and the discovery of mass graves, including one containing more than 250 skulls. Separately, investigative reporters uncovered schemes in which Duarte and his alleged accomplices siphoned millions of pesos from the public purse into shell companies. Further investigations exposed his wife’s shopping sprees, while his successor in office announced the finding of a warehouse full of the Duartes’ alleged loot, including portraits of the first couple, furniture and even wheelchairs presumably taken from the state’s health service and intended for use as giveaways in elections. Duarte, 43, resigned shortly before his term ended last fall and fled in a government helicopter. It turned out he wasn’t the only governor of that name to come under scrutiny. Chihuahua state prosecutors last month accused former governor César Duarte of embezzlement and evading justice by residing in El Paso Duarte, 53, denies the charges and called the actions against him “political persecution.” The Justice Department and Mexico’s attorney general’s office issued a joint statement Tuesday, saying they were “working together on a legal strategy which will allow Tomás Yarrington to face justice in both countries.” Some Mexicans, including members of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), expressed hope that Yarrington would face U.S. justice — “to avoid the entire network of complicity that he had,” PAN congressional spokesman Jorge López Martín told reporters — and voiced doubts about Mexico’s commitment to capturing fugitive governors. Mexican media also aired accusations that the Tamaulipas government had until recently supplied Yarrington and his successor, Eugenio Hernández (also a fugitive, accused of money laundering by a Texas court, but not in Mexico), with security details, at state government expense. “You still get a lot of corruption in the U.S. with gerrymandering, logrolling and pork-barrel politics, but if you are a criminal and you take the cash for purposes other than what it was earmarked for, then you will end up in jail,” Molano said. “In Mexico, that just doesn’t happen.”
The EU imposed sanctions yesterday (12 May) on a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the commander of Russian paratroopers, as well as two confiscated Crimean energy companies, raising pressure on Moscow over its actions in Ukraine. EU ministers also discussed the “triggers” for the next stage of sanctions, which would hit business. Putin’s first deputy chief of staff, Vyacheslav Volodin, and Vladimir Shamanov, the commander of Russian airborne troops that took part in Russia’s occupation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in March, were among 13 people added to the EU’s sanctions list. Volodin, a wealthy former lawyer and veteran political strategist, is already on the US sanctions list. The latest additions bring to 61 the number of Russians and Ukrainians the EU has targeted with asset freezes and visa bans. The Ukrainian press reported that the new sanctions are not yet part of the “phase three”, which is due to include economic sanctions. For the first time, the EU’s latest sanctions list included two companies, after EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to broaden the scope of sanctions, making it easier to freeze the assets of firms involved in the Ukraine crisis. The companies are a Crimea-based gas company, Chernomorneftegaz, and a Crimean oil supplier, Feodosia. The EU said both companies had been effectively confiscated by the new authorities in Crimea following the Russian takeover. The United States had already imposed sanctions on Chernomorneftegaz on 11 April, effectively making it off limits to Russia’s state-controlled energy giant Gazprom, which was expected to bid for a stake in the company. US officials said at the time that Washington’s move aimed to make it impossible for Gazprom to have dealings with Chernomorneftegaz. For now, EU sanctions are limited to firms or other organisations linked to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The EU will not target high-profile firms such as Gazprom. Separatists targeted Also on the EU’s new list of individuals facing asset freezes and visa bans were several pro-Russian separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine, including Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the rebel mayor of Slaviansk, who said earlier on Monday that his eastern region needed Russian troops to provide stability. Other persons targeted include Roman Lyagin, head of the electoral commission in Donetsk region, and Alexander Malykhin, head of a local election committee in Luhansk. Both were involved in organising self-rule referendums in their areas on Sunday that the EU has called illegal. Russia criticised the EU for expanding sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, and urged it to respect self-rule votes in two eastern Ukrainian provinces. ‘EU undermines trust in itself as a partner’ “By continuing its faulty, anti-Russian sanctions logic, the European Union undermines trust in itself as a partner and casts doubt on its claim to an objective role in supporting a resolution of Ukraine’s internal conflict,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Even after the latest additions, the EU sanctions are less far-reaching than those imposed by the United States. The EU’s reticence to go further and impose tough economic sanctions on Russia over its support for separatist groups in Ukraine reflects concerns among many of its member states about trade and industrial ties and heavy reliance on Russian energy. Underscoring such concerns, diplomatic sources said France planned to press ahead with a €1.2 billion contract to sell Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia because scrapping it would do more damage to France than to Russia. Sanctions triggers EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday did, however, discuss possible triggers for tougher sanctions, with big EU powers Germany, France and Britain all suggesting that Russia must be punished if it undermined Ukraine’s presidential election on 25 May. A joint statement after the meeting said the EU would “pay particular attention to all parties’ attitude and behaviour towards the holding of free and fair presidential elections when deciding about possible future measures”. The ministers also held talks with Didier Burkhalter, head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who has drawn up a peace plan for Ukraine. Several ministers denounced the independence referendums held in parts of eastern Ukraine on Sunday as illegal. “These do not have credibility or international acceptance or recognition. I think the votes in the Eurovision song contest really were more credible,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters. Despite Hague’s joke, the separatist region of Donetsk appealed to Moscow on Monday to consider its absorption into the Russian Federation [read more]. The EU ministers said they backed “a swift convening” of another ministerial meeting between Ukraine, Russia, the United States and EU to ensure an April agreement aimed at defusing the Ukraine crisis was fully implemented. Ministers also asked EU officials to draw up plans for a possible EU mission to advise Ukraine on rebuilding its police and legal system. Britain, Poland and Sweden have proposed sending hundreds of judicial and police advisers to Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he would travel to Kiev today (13 May) and possibly to eastern and southern Ukraine to try to convince people there that building bridges between different sides was the only solution. “We have to be prepared for what to do if someone prevents the elections on 25 May. It that is going to happen […] then we have to think about further sanctions,” he said. But Austria’s Sebastian Kurz opposed tougher sanctions. “We should not yearn for economic sanctions, as they would not only hit Russia but also definitely hit us … If we went a step further with our sanctions with every provocation, we would already have war,” he said. Some EU governments fear that trade sanctions against Russia could undermine their own economies, just recovering from the financial crisis, and provoke Russian retaliation. Among those most reluctant to intensify sanctions are Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Spain. Van Rompuy visits Kyiv, Arsenyuk comes to Brussels Council President Herman Van Rompuy visited Kyiv yesterday. The Ukrainian press quotes Van Rompuy saying that the EU does not recognize the “so-called referendums” which he called “illegal, illegitimate, and not credible,” as well as the annexation of Crimea. He also said the EU was prepared to take “additional, far-reaching steps” if Russia failed to take steps that help resolve the conflict. “Further steps by Russia to destabilise the situation in Ukraine will bring additional far-reaching consequences with respect to a wide range of players in the economic sphere. Preparatory work in this respect is ongoing,” Van Rompuy said. Asked about the agenda of the visit of Ukrainian Prime minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, who will meet with Commission President José Manuel Barroso in Brussels today, Commission spokesperson Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen listed a long range of issues including the signature of a memorandum on the release of €1 billion of macro-financial assistance. Another issue to be discussed she said was the preparation of a new trilateral meeting involving the EU, Ukraine and Russia “at political level” to discuss gas supplies to Ukraine and gas transit through the country to the EU. A first such meeting held on 2 May produced no concrete results [read more].
MONTREAL -- There’s an outbreak right now and no NHL team is safe. It’s out there and it’s spreading. With a pair of shutouts in 24 hours, Jaroslav Halak couldn’t have chosen a better time to transform himself into league’s most feared force. While his goal crease has somehow not begun to melt from his mere presence, Halak has gone from fighting for every start in the Habs’ crease to one of the hottest goalies in the NHL.Even after joining Cristobal Huet who was the last Habs goalie to post shutouts on consecutive nights in February 2006, Halak was, well, himself in the dressing room after his 3-0 win over the Sabres.“I think everyone deserves credit for these two shutouts,” said a humble Halak, who was named the night’s first star after turning aside all 29 Buffalo shots. “We just played two tough games and the guys didn’t give the Flyers or the Sabres any good scoring chances. They were constantly blocking shots; they didn’t give them anything.”Opponents hoping to steer clear of being stricken with Halaknophobia by hoping that the Habs’ goalie’s recent success will go to his head are out of luck.“You’re only as good as your last game. Tomorrow’s another day,” warned Halak, who hasn’t allowed a goal in 144:41 of play and counting. “I’m definitely going to enjoy the moment, but there’s always some luck involved, too. The Sabres did hit a few posts.”If Halak was unwilling to swig let alone sip his own Kool-Aid, his teammates were toasting pints filled with it after strengthening their hold on the No. 6 spot in the East.“Having your goalie play the way Jaro is right now is big for all of us but especially for a defenseman,” explained Ryan O’Byrne, who notched the game-winner in the first period. “Knowing how strong he’s been back there allows us to just make plays and not worry about him making saves. His confidence has seeped into all of our games I think.“At this time of year strong goaltending can transform a team,” continued O’Byrne. “A team with struggling goalies can’t help but walk on egg shells out there and seeing your goalie give up weak goals is a total momentum killer. All I know is we’ve got a brick wall back there right now and we’re all feeding off of that. ”Clearly determined to earn their goalie his second-straight shutout, the Canadiens appeared to pull out all the stops in the dying moments of the game. Hal Gill however had other plans.“Umm, don’t tell Jaro this, but I wasn’t even thinking about that,” smiled Gill, who may have bigger aspirations for he and teammates after winning the Stanley Cup with the Penguins last spring. “I was more focused getting our hands on these two huge points.”
They must be slapping high-fives at the Heritage Foundation right now. Just two years after that right-wing think tank, heavily funded by the oil lobby, dedicated itself to undermining support for green jobs they scored the ultimate coup: getting Jon Stewart to repeat their deceptions in an attack on Seattle’s energy efficiency program. It was something of a master stroke for the Right’s communications machine—and worth studying for it’s diabolical effectiveness. I’m related to someone close to Seattle’s program, so I’ve been biting my tongue since the attacks first flared up in August. But now that The Daily Show has been taken in, it’s time to get the facts straight. Here’s what happened. In 2009, then-Mayor Nickels applied for a federal energy efficiency grant as part of Obama’s new stimulus program. That money was awarded to Seattle in 2010, after Mayor McGinn had taken office, to fund a program called Community Power Works. It funds or finances energy retrofits in six building sectors: single-family residences, hospitals, large commercial buildings, city buildings, small businesses, and multifamily buildings. The residential program launched in April 2011 and quickly became a target for right-wing attacks. Just four months after the residential program began, seattlepi.com reporter Vanessa Ho published a mediocre article with an egregiously inflammatory headline (“Seattle ‘green jobs’ program a bust“) that seemed to entirely misunderstand the program. (Ho does good reporting on a range of issues, but this one was a dud.) That article sparked a burst of sniping locally and then gave rise to highly distorted coverage on national Fox News, as well as Rush Limbaugh and other right-wing outlets. Then, earlier this week, The Daily Show ran a segment beating up on federal green jobs efforts, including the grant to Seattle. Stewart’s sole source for the bit? Fox News. Nice going, Heritage. Cue the high-fives. I’ll even give you a slow clap. Finding this article interesting? Donate now to support our independent research! It would be one thing if the critiques were accurate, but they’re not. The facts are all a matter of public record (updated online monthly). Leaving aside the other five building sectors in the program—hugely important sectors, I might add—here are the basics about the 6-month-old residential program: As of yesterday, 486 homeowners had applied to participate. 181 homeowners are in the bidding process, 29 are in the process of receiving energy upgrades or have already completed an upgrade of their home. (It typically takes a homeowner 2-4 months to complete the program.) 168 people have logged 20,000 hours of paid work for the program. All the contractors working on energy upgrades are local, including 18 percent that are minority-owned businesses; 18 percent that are veteran-owned businesses; and 10 percent that are woman-owned businesses. All the upgrades are performed by contractors paying living wages. So far, Community Power Works has barely touched the federal grant funding, which lasts through June 2013, so it’s reasonable to expect more retrofits to come. Will all of the program’s original promises come to fruition? I have no idea. In fact, no one knows yet because it’s much too early to tell. Van Jones, no stranger to the Right’s hit men, got this point exactly right in his ringing defense on Sightline’s blog, “Community Power Works Is Just Getting Started.” Yet maybe the most intelligent way to think about green jobs is by way of the smart visual depiction that Alan Durning provided to illustrate the cycle that these things go through: inflated expectations, disillusionment, and ultimately productivity. It feels like we’re in the so-called “trough of disillusionment” now, but the worst mistake we can make is letting fossil fuel-funded hacks convince us that this is the end of the story. Whether or not green jobs can deliver everything we hope—and I do think there’s some reason for caution—we’re dupes if we let Heritage and Fox News write the obituary now.
As Russia threatens Crimea, one of the Ukraine’s main export routes for the millions of tonnes of grain the country exports every year, there is more at stake than regional sovereignty. The cost of the loaves on our tables could shoot up should supplies from Europe’s breadbasket be effectively choked off in the Crimea’s strategic port of Sevastopol or the Black Sea port of Odessa, experts have warned. Ukraine is of vital importance to global food supply, ranking only behind the US by some estimates in global grain production. However, the Ukraine’s grain has the shortest distance to travel on average before it is shipped to international markets, making it especially critical to meeting short-term global food supply. “Crimea is extremely important as it is where most of Ukraine’s grain is exported by ship from its ports,” said Kona Haque, head of agricultural commodities research at Macquarie. “Ukraine is very important and by some counts it is already the second-largest grain exporter.” Due to its major ports on the Black Sea, the Crimea retains the same kind of strategic importance for world powers that prompted Queen Victoria to dispatch Lord Raglan and the British army to challenge Russia in the region in 1854. Commodity-trade media recently reported that China signed a strategic deal in January to establish its port facilities to export grain from the region as part of Beijing’s global push to secure agricultural and food assets. A week after the fall of the deposed Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovich, Ukraine’s parliament late last week declared Russia’s reported seizure of airports in the region as “foremost foreign interference”. Ukraine’s acting president has also accused Russia of using its Black Sea Fleet troops based in Sevastopol without permission from the new Ukrainian authorities in Kiev. “If there is a stranglehold placed on that region, then it would have a very big impact on the global grains market,” said Ms Haque. Agricultural production is of vital importance to the Ukraine, accounting for 24pc of the country’s total exports and bringing in more than 5pc of total gross domestic product annually. Ukraine is expected by Macquarie to produce, in the growing season that will end in 2015, around 44.5m tonnes of grain – mainly corn and wheat – nearly 16pc lower than last year. The Ukrainian ministry of agriculture forecasts the crop at 51.4m tonnes but Macquarie expects corn output to fall, as it is no longer as profitable as in the previous season. “Prices are rising but maybe a little more than they would normally because of the political risk. There is a premium attached to Ukrainian grain exports right now, which puts the pressure back on the US,” said Ms Haque. According to Macquarie, the increase in export prices, together with problems in Ukraine’s bank financing of future deals, have weakened the foreign appetite for Ukrainian commodities, especially for corn. This has also contributed to higher than expected export demand for US-origin corn. Prior to the downfall of Mr Yanukovich, Bloomberg had reported that spot corn prices climbed to about $225 (£134) a tonne in the Ukraine, about $7 higher per tonne than in the first week in February. Despite concerns over Ukrainian supply and the security of Crimean ports, grain prices are still expected to fall on an expected surge in US output. Recently released official US government estimates have forecast that grains could fall to a 10-year low. Meanwhile, as the worst floods on record ruin prime farmland across southern England, and Brazil is hit by drought, commodities analysts are revising their forecasts for 2014. Coffee prices have rallied almost 50pc in the past few weeks due to the drought in Brazil, which grows 40pc of the world’s beans. “Suddenly, out of nowhere we have seen weather risk creep back into the market,” said Ms Haque. Gas alert If Putin turns off the taps over Crimea, expect fuel costs to rocket Before US president Barack Obama warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin against a further escalation in Ukraine, his advisers would have been wise to explain just how crucial Russia has become to the global economy through its supply of commodities, especially gas. From its mines deep in the Urals to oil wells across Siberia, pictured left, Russia now has the ability to choke off international markets from key resources such as oil, gas and minerals. In any confrontation with Europe and the US over Ukraine’s Crimea region, Moscow could simply halt shipments. In the UK, the immediate effect would be dramatic, probably causing a sudden rise in petrol and gas heating prices. Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia and the US, giving it the power to dramatically influence crude prices. But it is in gas supply where Russia holds all the cards. The US Energy Information Administration says Moscow dominates Europe’s gas supply market, shipping 76pc of its exports of the heating fuel to the region last year. The UK, Germany, Italy and France were the main recipients of that gas. In 2009, the last time Russia locked horns with Ukraine and disrupted gas piped to Europe, UK prices jumped by 17pc in just two weeks. Although stockpiles are now higher, the impact of Russia turning off the gas would still result in electricity prices rising overnight. US oil gains continue Oil traded in the US completed its second consecutive month of price gains last week amid tighter supplies from the Bakken shale region of North Dakota, where most of the crude is carried by rail freight lines, not pipelines. Crude in the US ended the week about 1pc higher at $102.59 (£60.90) a barrel. In Europe, Brent held firm at around $109 a barrel, but analysts at Investec are warning that prices may begin to ease amid signs that a mild winter in northern Europe has led to higher stockpiles. This week, the market will also be closely monitoring Russia’s dispute with Ukraine for signs of any supply disruption.
This is a list of Philippines' representatives and their placements at the Big Four international beauty pageants, considered the most important in the world. Philippines has won in all four pageants with a total of fifteen victories: The Philippine franchise holders of the four major beauty pageants are the following: The criteria for the Big Four inclusion are based on specific standards such as the pageant's global prominence and prestige approved by worldwide media; the quality and quantity of crowned delegates recognized by international franchisees and pageant aficionados; the winner's post pageant activities; the pageant's longevity, consistency, and history; the sincerity of the pageant's specific cause, platform, and advocacy; the overall pre-pageant activities, production quality and global telecast; the enormity of internet traffic; and the extent of popularity amongst pageant fans across the globe. Philippines' Big Four titleholders Color Key Ended as Runner-up Ended as Runner-up Ended as one of the Finalists, Semi-finalists or Quarter-finalists Placements Name of Pageant Placements Best Result Miss Universe 23 Winner (1969 • 1973 • 2015 • 2018) Miss World 19 Winner (2013) Miss International 32 Winner (1964 • 1970 • 1979 • 2005 • 2013 • 2016) Miss Earth 15 Winner (2008 • 2014 • 2015 • 2017) Total 89 15 WINNERS Hostings See also
Share Tweet reddit Email Welcome to our newest section “Odds & Ends” where we report on real news that looks like it could be satire but it’s really, truly, seriously not. Potential Democratic presidential candidate and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu continues to rack up awards as he heads into the homestretch of his final term and into the spotlight of his city’s monumental upcoming tricentennial celebration. The Aspen Institute, the organization that hosted a “security conference” in Aspen, Colo. this past August for which Landrieu famously stayed for a full day despite New Orleans experiencing significant flooding after a major rainstorm, will present the mayor with the Preston Robert Tisch Award in Civic Leadership for 2017. The award is presented to an individual who has had a positive impact on his/her community, who embodies the broad Aspen Institute ideal of values-based leadership, and who has exemplified this ideal in innovative ways that can serve as models for other leaders. According to The Aspen Institute: The 2017 Robert Preston Tisch Award for Civic Leadership will honor Mitchell J. Landrieu, Mayor of the City of New Orleans. Presentation of the award will be followed by a discussion a conversation between Mayor Landrieu and Walter Isaacson, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. Mitchell J. Landrieu became the 61st Mayor of New Orleans in 2010 with a clear mandate to turn the city around following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. He was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term in 2014. Under Landrieu, New Orleans became one of the fastest growing major cities in America, adding over 15,000 new jobs and securing more than $6 billion in private development. To combat the city’s notoriously high murder rate, Landrieu launched NOLA FOR LIFE in 2012, a murder-reduction strategy that has brought about a nearly 20% decrease in murders, the lowest level in the city in decades. Prior to serving as Mayor, Landrieu served as Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana for six years and as a State legislator for 16 years, where he earned a reputation as a reformer. A graduate of Catholic University in Washington, DC, he also holds a law degree from Loyola University. Other awards and recognition recently received by Mayor Mitch Landrieu:
Israel says it will cut $6 million in funding to the United Nations this year. Photo: AFP The move is part of its protest at a Security Council resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building on land Palestinians want for an independent state. The United States abstained from the 23 December vote, allowing the 15 member Security Council to adopt the resolution with 14 votes in favour. The resolution, put forward by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal, was passed after the US refused to veto it, breaking with long-standing American practice. Washington has traditionally sheltered Israel from condemnatory resolutions. Israel and US President-elect Donald Trump had called for Washington to wield its veto. Israel's mission to the United Nations said funding would be cut to UN bodies it described as "anti-Israel," including the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights. "It is unreasonable for Israel to fund bodies that operate against us at the U.N.," Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement. "The U.N. must end the absurd reality in which it supports bodies whose sole intent is to spread incitement and anti-Israel propaganda." The Israeli mission said it would move ahead with further initiatives aimed at ending anti-Israel activities at the United Nations after Trump takes office on 20 January. The Palestinians want an independent state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. Most countries and the United Nations view Israeli West Bank settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Israel disputes that settlements are illegal and says their final status should be determined in any future talks on Palestinian statehood. The last round of US-led peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed in 2014. The Security Council last adopted a resolution critical of settlements in 1979, with the United States also abstaining. - Reuters
Aniplex of America outlined its Blu-ray Disc release of Kabukimonogatari (the second arc in Monogatari Series Second Season) and limited-edition DVD release of Oreimo 2 at its A-Kon panel on Saturday. The English-subtitled Kabukimonogatari set will have four television episodes on two Blu-ray Discs for US$64.98 (US$49.98 at retail). The August 26 box will feature: Video Contents "“Omnibus 2” Video (About 25 Minutes Long) Textless Opening and Ending Promotional Video & Commercial Collections Packaged Bonuses Deluxe Booklet Pinup Postcard Set Package Illustrated by Character Designer Akio Watanabe The English-subtitled complete Oreimo 2 box will have all 13 television episodes and 3 original video anime episodes on four DVDs for US$99.98 (US$79.98 at retail). The August 5 box will feature: Video Contents Textless Openings Textless Endings of all 16 episodes Preview Videos by SD Characters Special Short Movies by SD Characters "Gal-ge" Style Short Movies Web Version Previews Packaged Bonuses
Heath Ledger met with Christopher Nolan about the part of Batman and Bruce Wayne. Before you get too excited, Nolan said, as is routine, he met with many young actors for the part. And while Ledger took the meeting, he immediately said he wasn't interested. “He was quite gracious about it, but he said, 'I would never take a part in a super hero film.' " Nolan said. The filmmaker said he thinks Ledger changed his mind eventually because, “I explained to him what I wanted to do with 'Batman Begins' and I think maybe he felt I achieved it.” - indiewire After that initial rejection from Ledger Nolan was not deterred and he sought out the young actor for the role of Joker in. "He didn't like to work too much," Nolan said. "He liked to do a character and then stop working and let enough time go by until he was hungry for it again. And that's what happened when he came in; he was really ready to do something like that."had convinced Ledger that Nolan's films were a cut above the usual comic book movies and signed on tobefore a script was finished. "Heath spent months and months [preparing],we cast him even before the script was written so he had a very long time to obsess about it, think about what he was going to do, to really figure it out.”Nolan fed into Ledger's obsession by sending him material that might be helpful for his research into The Joker. He gave him Anthony Burgess's novel "A Clockwork Orange" and had him look at artwork from Francis Bacon, the painter.Nolan acknowledge that Ledger did a lot of experimenting with pitch and tone of The Joker's voice. He even spent a lot of time trying out different hairstyles and picking from an assortment of rubber knives."Like a lot of artists, he would sneak up on something," Nolan said. "So you couldn't really sit and go, 'Okay, you're going to do the Joker. You're going to show me what it's going to be.' You had to sort of say, 'Let's read this scene. Don't act it, just read.' And he'd sit with Christian and there would be a line or two where his voice was a little different, throw in a little bit of a laugh. And then we would film hair and makeup tests and try different looks, and in that, he'd start to move, and we'd have these rubber knives and he'd choose what weapon and explore the movement of the character. We weren't recording sound, so he felt quite able to start talking and showing some of what he was going to do. And in that way he sort of sneaked up on the character."
James Bass is a Texas transportation veteran, but in his new capacity as TxDOT’s executive director he is encountering a changing environment. Despite voters approving additional money for roads with some notable strings attached, oil and gas revenues and push-back against tolling have made state funding a little less certain. Lawmakers – chief among them Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a former longtime state representative – argue that the transportation department needs to be acting a little less like the highway department. It should strive to reduce the need for more freeway lanes, they say, not just build more of them. With funding from various sources and lawmakers coming to Austin with differing perspectives, Bass – promoted from his role as the chief financial officer for TxDOT – said transportation officials largely work with what they’ve got. “TxDOT is not an independently created entity,” Bass said on a statewide conference call with reporters Thursday. “We are a creation of the state of Texas.” Texas, incidentally, is where "people either want to own a horse or a car," Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack told the Chronicle's Mike Morris. Bass said the department can provide information and perspective, but ultimately it implements policy rather than sets it. State lawmakers and voters do that. “What they have spoken recently is we want that focus to be on adding capacity,” he said. Voters and lawmakers spoke, however, after listening to TxDOT and others describe cities choking on traffic caused by lack of capacity. Critics say that is precisely the problem: The discussion is framed around adding capacity, rather than on identifying why so many solo drivers need to get on the freeway in the first place. When lawmakers and voters approve hundreds of millions of dollars for congestion relief and specify that it can’t be used for transit or tolls, TxDOT puts together a plan to spend the money to widen or make freeways more efficient. Both Prop. 1 in 2014 and Prop. 7 last year passed with more than 80 percent of the vote, with many voters fully aware the money was just for highways. Transportation officials, incidentally, identified $447 million in new freeway work in the Houston region at the same meeting where Turner tried to flip the funding script. So the money for Turner’s “paradigm shift” that emboldened sprawl opponents will have to come from other sources. Given that transit funding proposals don’t enjoy a freeway-level of support with voters statewide or even in the Houston area, that could be a tough sell as taxes and revenue decline and workers fret about their own finances. Still, Bass said the conversation is needed and it is important Turner touted options. “We think it is a great conversation for policymakers to have,” Bass said. “We believe we have something to add to that conversation. We would welcome the opportunity to be part of that discussion.”
GETTY A young migrant was killed by a high-speed train in Italy while trying to cross over into France The illegal immigrant, who was not carrying an ID card and who is yet to be formally identified, was found lying near the rail tracks less than one kilometre from the French border. The twenty-something immigrant was struck by a high-speed train that was travelling in the opposite direction, from France to Italy, the French daily Europe 1 reports. GETTY Italian police said the migrant was found dead on Sunday morning in the town of Ventimiglia Italian police said the migrant was found dead on Sunday morning outside a rail tunnel in the Italian town of Ventimiglia. More than 180,000 illegal immigrants landed on Italy's shores in 2016 - a record number that proves that the EU migrant crisis is far from over. 13 pictures that will make you STOP and THINK Sun, February 5, 2017 Shocking pictures show the true devastation caused from the migrant crisis. Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 13 A Turkish gendarmerie carries Aylan Kurdi's body after he drowned in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos GETTY A boat loaded with illegal immigrants off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy in 2015
Below is a new, detailed critique by Dr Ted Trainer of the simulation studies by Elliston, Diesendorf and MacGill on how eastern Australia might be run off 100% renewable energy. The summary: Three recent papers by Elliston, Diesdendorf and MacGill (2012, 2013a, 2013b) elaborate on a proposal whereby it is claimed that 100% of present Australian electricity demand could be provided by renewable energy. The following notes add considerations arising from the last two papers to those discussed in my initial assessment of the first paper. My general view is that it would be technically possible to meet total Australian electricity demand from renewables but this would be very costly and probably unaffordable, mainly due to the amount of redundant plant needed to cope with intermittency. This draft analysis attempts to show why the cost conclusions EDM arrive at are probably much too low. Ted has also updated his critique of the Zero Carbon Australia’s report on 100% renewable energy by 2020. The original BNC post is here, and the updated PDF here. Ted notes the following: These efforts have taken a huge amount of time and I am still not clear and confident about my take, mainly because neither party will cooperate or correspond. Thus I have not been able to deal with any misunderstandings etc. I have made. Both critiques are strengthened by information I have come across since circulating previous commentaries, but they are essentially elaborations on the general line of argument taken in earlier attempts. I find this unwillingness to engage on these criticisms by the primary authors disappointing, but typical. Introduction I think these three papers are valuable contributions to the considerable advance that has occurred in the discussion of the potential of renewables in the last few years. My understanding of the situation is much improved on what it was three or four years ago and I now think some of my earlier conclusions were unsatisfactory. EDM take the appropriate general approach, which is to look at how renewable technologies might be combined at each point in time to meet demand, or more accurately, to estimate how much capacity of each technology would be required, especially to get through the times when solar and wind input is minimal. EDM put forward a potentially effective way of coping with the problem of gaps in their availability via biomass derived gas for use in gas turbines. My earlier analyses did not consider this. It is not difficult for an approach of this kind to show that electricity demand can be met, and many impressive 100% renewable energy proposals have been published. (For critical analyses of about a dozen of these see Trainer, 2014), but a great deal of redundant capacity would be needed, and the key questions are, how much, and what would it cost? My present uncertain impression is that Australia might be able to afford to do it, but if it could it would be with significant difficulty, i.e., with major impacts on lifestyles, national systems and priorities, and on society in general. A major disappointment with the EDM analyses is that for some crucial elements no data, evidence or derivations are given and as a result the proposal can only be taken as a statement of claims. We need to be able to work through the derivations in proposals such as this to see if they are sound or what questionable assumptions might have been made etc. Consequently I have had to spend a lot of time trying to guestimate my way to an assessment of the cost conclusions and it is not possible to confident about the results. Required capacity? A merit of the EDM approach is to take as the target the present demand. This avoids the uncertainty introduced when attempting to estimate both future demand and the reduction in demand that conservation effort etc. might make. Two of the plots given in EDM 1 (Elliston, Diesendorf and MacGill, 2012), set out the contributions that might be combined to meet daily demand over about 8 days in 2010, in summer and winter. In my first discussion of the proposal it seemed to me that when these contributions were added the total capacity needed would be much more than the paper stated. The total amount of plant required to supply an average 31 GW was stated as 75.5 GW of peak capacity. (In his response to Peter Lang, Mark Diesendorf said their total requirement is 84.9 GW.) However in EDM 2 (Elliston, Diesendorf and MacGill, 2013a) the total has been significantly raised, to 104 GW. (The proposal from Hart and Jacobson 2011, for 100% renewable supply in California, also involves a large multiple of average demand, greater than four, and in the proposal by Budischak , et al. 2013 for California it is around 8.) Unfortunately this is one of the crucial numbers and claims in the proposal which it is not possible to assess because the derivation and the necessary background data on weather patterns are not provided. The following discussion is in terms of present capital costs, as stated by AETA. The figure that seems to me to be of most use is the capital cost of sufficient capacity to deliver I kW, at distance, in winter, net of embodied and other costs and losses. This is much higher than the usual figure for capacity to generate 1 kW in peak conditions. Wind EDM assume that wind will meet 58% of demand in one of their scenarios, but there is no discussion about whether this is possible (although there is a sentence recognising that 50% would set significant problems.). Lenzen’s review (2009, p. 19) concluded that the general limit before problems arise is likely to be around 20%, and possibly under 20%. More recently Kuchinski (2013) states 20% as the extreme upper limit and 10% as the norm. It is difficult to generalise as there are studies where higher penetrations have been achieved, but these are typically for unusually favourable regions such as Denmark which is able to export large surpluses easily. (This export capacity also enables Germany to have such a large PV component.) The complicating factor is that higher penetrations bring problems such as grid instability, back-up needed, and power dumping, which “technically” can be solved, but at a significant cost in equipment such as the interconnectors that have to be built to make exporting possible. (South Australia is contemplating the construction of two, at a possible cost of $4 – 10 billion…which would pay for up to 3 coal-fired power stations and these would deliver several times as much power as the whole wind sector in SA. Miskelly, p. 1249.) This assumption of large dependence on this relatively low cost technology among the renewable options is a major determinant of the questionably low final capital cost sum arrived at by EDM. If the quantity limit is only half that assumed then much more of the more expensive PV and ST plant would have to be used. It is not possible to assess how adequately EDM deal with the intermittency of wind. The recent CSIRO study of intermittency (Sayeef, 2012) makes clear the magnitude of the integration problem, and the many difficulties it sets, even for penetration levels around 25%. Miskelly’s analysis of Australian wind power around 2010 and 2011 makes the magnitude of the integration problem clear, even for the present Australian situation where penetration is low. In one year output from the whole 1.9 GW peak capacity network was negligible 156 times, for a total of 6.5 days. In May 2010 there was virtually no wind anywhere in Australia for three days. It is generally assumed that adding widely distributed farms reduces intermittency of aggregate supply but when Miskelly compared the situation before and after the installation of much capacity he found that this did not “smooth” aggregate input. These findings mean that the entire wind capacity has to be backed up by fossil fuelled generation capacity, and almost none of the previously existing fossil fuelled capacity can be retired. As Palmer points out the German PV sector has added some 30% to power generating capacity without adding to power consumed, so this is added capacity that can be substituted for fossil fuelled capacity from time to time, but it is not capacity that adds to power provision. Even more problematic are the implications of the associated ramp rate problem. Miskelly documents the frequent precipitous rises and falls in total output. He says this means that for a large scale wind sector the back up can’t be the existing coal-fired plant but would have to be newly built gas-fired plant. (The EDM proposal aligns with this conclusion as backup would be provided by the very large biomass-gas-electricity sector they assume.) As noted above, the estimate of system capital cost offered below will focus on the present capital cost of sufficient plant to send out to the grid (or deliver to users) an average kW in winter conditions. It is not clear what an appropriate winter wind capacity factor would be. AETA (p. 46) assumes 38% as the annual average but inspection of the NEM wind data shows that in July 2010 the average capacity factor was in fact well under 28%. The world annual average is around 25%. The examination of data from the whole Australian wind sector carried out by Miskelly shows that in one winter month in 2010 capacity averaged 24%. Surprisingly for South Australia where wind resources are unusually good, Miskelly and AEMO (2012) both document winter capacity lower than summer, and in some months it is 60% lower. However for working purposes the winter figure assumed below will be a very generous 38%. This would make the capital cost of the capacity to send out 1kW in winter $6,660, based on the AETA present capital cost figure of $2,250/kW(p).. (2012, p. 46.) Next we need to take into account the assumption that the lifetime for wind turbines is only 20 years compared with 30 assumed for the other renewable technologies involved here, (and 50 for coal, AETA, 2012 p. 27.). Given that the estimation below considers a 30 year period, the assumed lifetime for PV and ST, this makes the 30 year capital cost figure $9,987 for the amount of plant needed to send out a 1 kW flow in winter. (Wind capital cost is not expected to fall much if at all in future; see AETA, 2012, p. 76.) A thorough analysis would have to increase this figure to take into account the embodied energy costs of wind plant and the “downstream” energy costs and losses. Within the latter would be Jefferson’s recent finding that wind systems operate for fewer hours than has previously been assumed. (Jefferson, 2012.) (Hughes found that UK turbines are lasting only about 12 years, but this could be due to retirement of older units, so will be disregarded here.) Weisbach et al. (2013) and others state an ER of around 16 for wind but do not seem to have taken into account all upstream embodied energy factors or downstream losses (as Pietro and Hall have attempted for PV, below.) However Lenzen and Munksgard (2001) did take at least some of them into account and arrived at an ER of 6. These findings leave the issue unsettled but suggest an all-in embodied energy cost of 6% – 17%. No account of wind embodied energy cost will be included in the estimations below. The problematic PV component PV is assumed to contribute c. 17 – 20% of electricity. This seems to be an appropriate assumption. Denholm and Margolis (2007) see 10 – 20% as the limit and believe it is not likely to be more than 15%. This seems to be valid because if in each day PV was to contribute 20% of the average 23 GW then it would have to generate 0.2 x 23 GW x 24 h = 110 GWh/day. But it would have to do this during the c. 7 hours in which there is significant solar energy, so its output then would have to average 16 GW, meaning that the wind, solar thermal and hydro sectors would have to be cut back to only a combined 30% of total output in that period. (Also grids would have to be strengthened to enable 70% of demand to come from PV sites for some hours, then to draw around 100% from other sites. This suggests that PV would not be allowed to contribute more than about 15%. It is not generally realised that PV can’t make much difference (unless the storage problem is solved.). If it provides 15% of electricity that’s less than 3% of present rich world energy consumption. A related problem is that supply does not align well with demand, indicating that its contribution would be limited without extensive storage capacity. In summer air conditioning use often makes electricity demand peak late in the afternoon. Palmer reports a study in NSW finding PV input to be zero at this time. AEMO reports Victorian PV contributing at a rate of 1% of capacity when power demand peaks in winter. (Below.) Palmer says, “… PV is not suited to taking on a primary network role or delivering sufficient surpluses of energy when a fuller account of embodied energy is included.” ( 2013, p. 1407.) EDM assumes PV modules on rooftops in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Adelaide, eliminating distribution losses. Their total capacity corresponds to around 2 kW(p) per household, or 15 modules, which would not seem to be plausible. However winter global radiation in these four latitudes averages around only 2 kWh/m2/d in some months. Presumably wind and inland solar thermal sources are to make up for rooftop PV in winter, but we are not able to see how this is to be done or whether there is sufficient capacity assumed to do it, especially through difficult periods. Embodied energy costs There is no discussion of embodied energy costs or “downstream” losses or the resulting EROI for PV (or any other of the renewables), yet these are crucial considerations. For PV EROI has been commonly assumed to be around 10 (Fthenakis, undated, says up to 60), but only recently has attention been given to attempting to estimate an all-inclusive value. It is now clear that two major and previously neglected categories of energy cost and loss have to be taken into account. The first is to do with the “upstream” factors, such as the relevant fraction of the energy it took to construct the aluminium plant that made the material for the module frames. A few studies have attempted to do this seem to have arrived at a figure of around 33% for the total energy cost of production for PV. (Crawford, 2011, Crawford, Treloar, and Fuller, 2006, Lenzen, 1999, Palmer, 2013, Prieto and Hall, 2013, and Lenzen, Dey, Hardy and Bilek, 2006.) A recent and detailed study, by Weisbach, et al., (2013) arrives at an ER of 3 to 4.8, and they say that the studies by Battisti et al., (2005), Ito et al., (2008), Meije et al, (2003),Raugeri et al., (2010), and Alsema (2000) are in good agreement. (I’m not sure about this.) Inquiries to AEMO in 2014 found that it does not have evidence on embodied energy costs of PV and although it discusses the “payback period” this is calculated only in dollar terms, i.e., time to repay the monetary investment. In other words it is surprising and disappointing that AEMO’s statements and statistics do not take embodied energy costs into account. The “downstream” factors include costs and losses after the plant has been installed and which accumulate over its lifetime, such as losses in wires, connections and inverters, invertor failure and replacement, accidents that damage equipment (e.g., rats or possums that cause shorts), badly aligned panels (which seems to me must be a significant factor, from observation of the many less than ideal rooftop mountings), shading of panels (a tiny amount of shading can cut output dramatically), dust and bird droppings on panels, corrosion at terminals and connections, heating of panels (which can cut midday input by more than 25%), poor maintenance by householders, and deterioration of panel efficiency due to age. Prieto and Hall (2013) list 15 such factors and estimate that these cut output to 65% of rated capacity. Previous discussion has recognised some of these loss factors and have used the term “performance factor” to refer to the reduction they cause. For PV this has been thought of as around 0.75 – 0.8. What Palmer, Crawford, and Prieto and Hall are saying is that the previously assumed models for ER calculation have not included all relevant factors and have used “boundary” assumptions that have been too narrow, and have therefore produced a performance factor that is too generous, Power dumping must be accounted as a different kind of energy loss affecting EROI. (My stand alone homestead PV system dumps most of the power it produces in summer, yet is not big enough to meet winter demand reliably, despite 800 ah of battery capacity.) Palmer’s Figure 3 shows that about 10% of German PV output in a summer period was exported. This was possible because neighbouring countries did not have as much PV as Germany and were not experiencing output gluts when Germany wanted to export. If they all had as much PV the Germans would have to dump in summer. Australia could not export. There is another category of “downstream” costs/losses attributable to PV and most other renewables but not previously subtracted from embodied energy and “downstream” accounts. The recent OECD report (2013) discusses the significant costs of “grid adjustment” to accommodate renewables, including the cost of strengthening grids to be able to cope with variation in amounts of power coming from differing regions. When centralised coal fired sources provide all power relatively simple networks can be built, e.g., to deal with a fairly regular and stable voltage drop from power station to distant consumers. But with renewable sources much power might be coming from one region today and from another tomorrow. This seems to be a factor additional to those Prieto and Hall deal with. It would become more problematic if the contribution of wind to a system is assumed to be high, and again EDM assume up to 58%. There is not yet agreement about definitions and boundaries in the discussion of EROI (e.g., do you include the energy cost of security services at the PV farm, or of workers travelling to the module factory, or those associated with financing? These are necessary costs; there could be no PV output if they were not paid.) Palmer (2013) and others use the term “extended EROI” when all these upstream and downstream factors are taken into account. For PV systems Palmer arrives at a remarkable 2.1 – 3+ for the extended EROI of rooftop PV systems in Melbourne. This means payback time might be taking 15 of the 30 year lifetime of the system (p. 1434), and in its lifetime a module could only produce enough energy to pay for its own production plus that of one more. Even more surprisingly a similarly very low figure has also been arrived at by Prieto and Hall (2012) for actually functioning Spanish utility scale systems, where one would assume many of the factors associated with roof top systems would not be problematic, such as quality of maintenance. This recently opened cluster of issues will take time before confident conclusions emerge. It must be remembered that ER values depend significantly on a particular set of conditions especially the location of the modules and its typical level of solar radiation, and the size of system assumed (e.g., small penetration might involve no backup provision or dumping loss.) It is very important to recognise that we seem to have no clear idea how rooftop PV is performing, or what contribution to the grid is being made by each kW of installed capacity. The first point that is usually overlooked is that if you install a 3.5 kW capacity system you will almost certainly never get more than about 2.5 kW out of it; even before taking into account all the above “downstream” loss factors. The peak rating refers to ideal conditions and a radiation level few if any house roofs ever get. (See for instance Damn The Matrix, 2013.) My efforts (e.g., via communications with AEMO) to get information on the actual amount being generated by PV in Australia or anywhere else, and the proportion of this that is fed into the grid, have found that no data is available. The relevant data probably cannot be collected because neither the amount of power a household produces nor the amount it uses before sending the surplus to the grid are generally recorded. These would be very difficult factors to get good data on. AEMO admits that it does not know how much power rooftop PV in Australia generates, and that its estimate that 50% of what is generated is fed in is a guess. (Personal communications, Jan. 2014.) It seems therefore that we actually have little idea what a given amount of rooftop PV capacity will contribute to the grid. AEMO’s lengthy and detailed discussions (2013a, 2013b) are based on assumptions and theoretical models involving highly uncertain estimates for some of the key factors for which there seems to be no evidence, and they completely ignore embodied energy costs and “downstream” losses. AEMO does however state a figure for the amount PV contributes when demand peaks. They say that in winter the 426 MW installed PV capacity in Victoria contributes a mere 4 MW (…and this too seems to be an estimate, not a measured observation.). However this is late in the day and it would be more meaningful to know what PV contributes during the whole of a typical winter day. Unfortunately personal communications found that AEMO does not have this data. The important point from all this is that we seem to be in no position to make assumptions about what contribution rooftop PV can make at what cost, or how much plant would be needed to achieve a chosen contribution. EDM like AEMO and the rest of us can only deal in terms of peak ratings and thus theoretical outputs in ideal conditions and these are likely to be quite misleading indicators of actual achievements in the field, especially at less than ideal sites in winter. As Palmer, and Hall and Prieto stress, many factors then detract from those theoretical figures, leaving us highly uncertain about how much PV capacity we would have to build and pay for in a proposal designed to deliver a certain net amount to the grid. What we can be sure about is that if we calculate in terms of the commonly stated dollar cost per kW(p) of capacity, and commonly quoted ER figures, we will seriously underestimate the cost. These considerations make it very difficult to assess the EDM proposal as it is not possible to work out confidently how much PV energy can be sent to the grid net of the above costs and losses, at what capital cost. We won’t know until the new uncertainty over PV embodied costs and other losses is resolved, and until actual input data is available, but given that these factors have previously been ignored it is plausible that the general net ER for PV will be half or less of the value previously assumed, effectively at least doubling previously assumed sector capital costs. Estimating costs AETA reports the present capital cost for fully installed PV at $3,800/kW(p) (p. 43, but $3,380 on p. 87?). (However much higher 2010 figures are given by Black and Vetch, 2012. NREL states a much higher figure, $(US)7,690/kW(p) for rooftop and $4,790 for commercial scale.) EDM use the AETA future cost of $1,677, which is one-fifth of the NREL figure for present cost (and it is present cost that matters for affordability; see below.) Because costs have recently fallen rapidly a confident assumption cannot be made here but the AETA figure will be used below. It is stating what it would cost to have a sufficient area of PV panels etc. to produce 1kW in peak radiation at (I assume) 15% efficiency. If that area received peak radiation for 24 hours, i.e. 24 kWh/m2/d, it would produce a constant 1 kW, but in winter radiation in the Sydney region only totals about 5 kWh/m2. (Melbourne or Tasmanian winter radiation is around half this level.) So we would need 24/5 = 4.8 times as big an area to produce an average 1kW in winter. Therefore the capital cost of sufficient PV panels etc. to produce the equivalent of a constant average 1 kW in winter (i.e., ignoring the storage issue) would be around $18,240. (Wilson, 2011, states the annual average as $20,000, so his winter figure would be considerably higher than $18,240.) This is a gross output figure and to it we should add the cost added by all the embodied energy costs and the downstream loss factors referred to above. If Hall and Prieto, and Palmer are right in claiming an ER of 2 – 3 these costs and losses add to around half the lifetime energy produced, so would more or less double the above cost figure. It is not possible to make a confident ER assumption so I will assume an ER two to three times as high, i.e., 6. This would seem to be generous compared with the commonly stated ER of about 8 – 10 which does not take in any of the upstream embodied costs or downstream loss factors discussed above. The capital cost figures then become, $21,900 for the capacity to deliver a constant 1 kW in winter. Of course none of these figures take in the cost of the storage (or back up) to enable the 1 kW to be sent constantly, but that is not relevant to the EDM proposal. The solar thermal component Output issues The solar thermal capacity is assumed to be 9.4 to 13.3 GW in the two EDM 2 scenarios, contributing 8.3 – 12.5% of power. Again it is not possible to assess the acceptability of these low percentages (for the most costly sector) but they seem to be much too low given the above points made re wind and PV. If the wind limit is 20% (not 50+%), the PV limit is 15% (not 20%), biogas 7% (as assumed), and hydro 5% (as assumed, plausibly) then the costly solar thermal sector would have to contribute around 53%, which is 4 – 6 times the amount EDM assume. Again this would greatly increase total system capital costs. Fig 2 in EDM 1 representing combined inputs for each of a number of days enabled some visual confirmation of capacities needed. The ability to see these combinations is crucial in assessing the plausibility of such proposals, but this is not possible with the second and third papers. Thus we can’t check whether the following apparent problem evident in that figure has been resolved. It is stated in the paper that 15.6 GW of solar thermal capacity would be needed, but Fig. 2 seems to show that at times the solar thermal component will be sending out perhaps 27 GW. There would be much worse days than the one represented in Fig. 2, suggesting that on those days the amount would be greater still. Whether the 9.4 – 13.3 GW of solar thermal capacity stated in EDM 2 would be sufficient would depend on long-term weather patterns, and again we are not given evidence on these. How often would there be no wind or sun for several days in a row, requiring electricity to come mainly from hydro and biomass-gas-generation? (See below.) My recent attempt (Trainer 2013a) to analyse the AEMO weather data for its implications for solar thermal power has increased my concerns about the potential of solar thermal in less than ideal conditions. I took six widely distributed good sites from central Australia to Mildura and found that in the 92 day period at the end of 2010 there were 12 (non-overlapping) periods each lasting 4 days or more, including 48 days in all, in which DNI averaged across the sites did not reach 500 W/m2 at any time during the day. Reference to power curves (mostly available for dish-Stirling systems but also somewhat evident for central receivers…and apparently much worse for troughs) indicates that almost no power would have been generated on these days. It seems that if daily radiation received is under 6 kWh/m2 day solar thermal output will be poor, and possibly very poor. This is also stated for troughs by Odeh, Behamia and Morrison, 2003, Fig. 14, and is evident in the plot by Elliston et al. (undated), and other sources discussed in Trainer (2013a). In the slides from Elliston (2012) there is considerable evidence on this issue, and it is not clear why this does not seem to have been integrated into the papers. As Elliston says the slides document “Some very long low irradiance events.” Some of these exceed 5 days of negligible radiation. A 6 day event is noted for Roma in 2000. A simulated solar thermal plant output for Cobar indicates no output for almost 4 consecutive days. It is said that in the south of the continent these events are most frequent in winter, which is the time of highest demand. It would seem that energy production from dish-Stirling units in the rather high latitudes ZCA assumes (Wright and Hearps 2010), e.g., Mildura, could be around only 10% of what might be expected given an annual average daily DNI/m2 of 4.3 W/m2. (Central receivers would do somewhat better than dishes, but I cannot get much power curve data for them so can’t say how much better.) The above study (Trainer 2013a) also explored the possible effects of low DNI on the efficiency of solar thermal power generation. It seemed that as average DNI goes down towards 500 W/m2 or the daily total goes towards 6 kWh/m2/day, efficiency is markedly reduced. For some dish-Stirling systems it is clearly reported that when DNI is down to 400 W/m2 efficiency and output fall to zero. This has profound implications. It seems to mean that although solar thermal systems are excellent contributors in summer they will make little contribution in winter even in ideal regions, and that at other times they will be subject to frequent periods of no output for periods of 3 or more days. It also means that calculations of the embodied energy cost and pay back time for solar thermal need to be rethought, because these have been based on the mistaken assumption that annual average DNI for a site can be multiplied by a single, constant plant efficiency figure (which refers to performance in peak radiation) to yield annual or winter output, when in fact much of the DNI making up that average will be too weak to generate any power. In other words it is a mistake to simply take a DNI/m2 figure for a site and multiply it by a constant efficiency figure (ZCA assumes 17%) to arrive at a figure for power produced, because if the DNI figure is middling to low plant efficiency will be disproportionately lower, and it is possible that in winter in some locations which are satisfactory in summer no power at all will be produced. For instance ZCA assume solar thermal located at three sites where winter DNI averages under 5 kWh/m2/d. This means that at the Mildura site where DNI is 4.5 kWh/m2/d, about half the time it will range down to well under that value. At 4 kWh/m2 DNI is not likely to rise above 400 W/m2 for more than 2 hours a day, meaning that power generated on that day would be negligible. More recently I have found that total output from the Australian wind system was close to zero on two occasions within the periods I identified above in which there was negligible solar radiation (i.e., 5th October and 20th November 2010.). Thus for the EDM proposal there would very likely be times when total demand has to be met by biomass-gas-electricity plus hydro, so if EDM are intending to provide for a 37 GW peak demand, the biomass-gas-electricity capacity would have to be much greater than the 23 GW they assume (see below.) It is stated in EDM 1 but not explained that to use more than 6 hour solar thermal storage would not be viable. However EDM 2 assumes 15 hour storage and why this is now regarded as viable is not explained. Embodied energy costs for solar thermal do not seem to have been taken into account. I am not aware of any satisfactory studies of this factor to date, dealing with all upstream embodied energy costs, as for PV above. (Dale’s review, 2013, lists only 8 studies, with no reference to upstream or downstream costs and losses.) The few figures in the literature indicate a 6 – 11% cost, and none seem to have included upstream embodied energy costs or possible downstream losses. In my analyses I assume a 10% embodied energy cost but when thorough analyses are available the figure is likely to be higher. Note that higher Solar Multiples and storage capacities (discussed below) add to embodied costs and reduce ERs, because they do not increase the amount of energy produced, they only increase the delivery period possible. The evidence below suggests that this factor might increase embodied energy costs by more than 50%. Similarly there seems to have been no study of downstream costs and losses for solar thermal. Many of the 15 factors Prieto and Hall take into account for PV would be relevant, such as losses in connections to the grid, energy used by workers and vehicles, and in plant security and in construction financing. Capital costs The Solar Multiple issue This seems to me to be confused in both the EDM and Zero Carbon Australia (Wright and Hearps, 2010) analyses. EDM assume 15 hour storage and refer to this as a SM of 2.5. ZCA assume 17 hour storage and refer to this as involving a SM of 2.5. However it seems that these figures should be 3.5 and 3.83. If the SM is 1 there is no storage and the field is just big enough to drive the turbine at more or less full power for the approximately average 6 hours equivalent that the sun is shining at full strength. If the SM is 2 the field is twice as big to enable collection of twice as much energy and thus to store for 6 hours operation, if there is 12 hours storage the SM is 3, and if there is to be 15 hours storage the SM will have to be c. 3.5. This is the usage explicitly discussed in Lovegrove et al., (2012), James and Hayward (2012, p. 12), and Trieb, et al. (2009) who state, correctly it seems to me, 18 hours storage means the SM is 4. The IRENA review of solar thermal power (2012) makes this use at a number of points, e.g., pp. 8, 14, 18 and 30. The US DOE (2012) more or less corresponds, saying that for 11 hour storage the SM would be 2.5; i.e., a little larger than the above references would suggest. In EDM 2 on p. 8 the apparently correct figure is quoted from AETA: “The AETA provides cost data for CST plants with six hours of thermal storage and a solar multiple of 2.” But the next sentence says, “As the simulations are based on CST plants with 15 hours storage and a solar multiple of 2.5 …the capital cost of the simulated CST plant was derived by scaling the solar multiple by 1.25 and the storage by 2.5.” The ratio seems to have been arrived at by dividing 2.5 by 2 but the ratio of total plant cost is not the same as the ratio of the SMs. It is produced by the costs of the additional field and storage added to the other costs, such as for the tower. This is not simply a matter of definition; it affects field and storage cost estimates. AETA (2012 p.37) gives cost estimates for central receivers without storage and with 6 hour storage, but not for longer periods. They say that adding field and storage to enable 6 hour operation from storage increases plant cost from $5,900/kW(p) to $8,308, i.e., by 41%. For a plant with 15 hour storage this amount of field and storage would have to be added to the cost of a plant with 6 hour storage another 1.5 times. Thus the total cost would be 60% higher than the cost of the plant with 6 hour storage, a multiple of 1.6 not 1.25. Lovegrove et al., (2012) give figures for LCOE which seems to imply a higher multiple. They indicate that 15 hour storage would involve raise the LCOE to 1.8 times that for 6 hour storage. Trieb (2010) indicates a similar figure. It will be assumed below that a SM of 3.5 adds 50% to plant cost. Capital cost estimation Following is an imprecise derivation of a figure for the capital cost of sufficient plant to deliver at distance a net 1kW in winter. It will be based on the information given in the NREL (2010, 2011) Solar Advisory Model for a (theoretical/modelled) example 100 MW central receiver. This is located at Blytheside River, Southern California USA, the estimate assumes 6 hour storage and air cooling, and provides for interest charges. The cost estimate is $658 million and therefore is $6,580/kW(e)(peak). (However NREL says this figure has been set at lower than actual present construction costs; Turchi, 2014.) The average annual rate at which power would be sent out is estimated at 40% of peak capacity, and the winter rate is 28 % of peak, indicating that the capital cost for the capacity to send out each 1 kW on average would be $16,250, and to do so in winter it would be $23,214. A number of considerations would greatly increase this figure. • The energy loss of 10 – 15% for long distance transmission, e.g., from the Sahara to Northern Europe, or from the distant sites that are ideal in Australia. • The capacity to collect and store for 15 hours might multiply the cost of the NREL example by 1.5+. • The embodied energy cost of the plant might take 10% of energy produced. • The increased cost of construction in remote areas. The best situation for solar thermal plant is in desert areas, especially North Africa for European supply. According to Lovegrove et al. (2012) this might multiply total costs by a factor of 1.3+. Taking these factors into account (assuming 10% for transmission loss and a factor of only 1.5 for the SM item) would multiply the above figure by 2.4 to $55,900/kW. The figure does not include the energy costs of plant O and M. (Nor does it take in the dollar or embodied energy costs of building, operating and maintaining the long distance transmission lines but these might best be kept separate, as EDM do.). This cost figure is likely to appear to be extreme, and mistaken. It is not put forward here with great confidence but the above discussion makes the derivation clear, along with the assumptions etc. that would need to be revised if a significantly lower figure is to be established. The cost of locally sited coal-fired plant capable of delivering 1 kW in mid-winter, and requiring no long distance transmission lines, assuming a .8 capacity factor, would be c. $3,700. (AETA, 2012). Adding fuel costs might bring the total to $5.7 billion, which is around one tenth of the above solar thermal cost. (This does not include an embodied energy cost for coal-fired plant but this would be relatively low as the 50 year life AETA assumes makes the ER for coal-fired power generators high.) Gas fuelled costs would be significantly lower. Gemasolar However the capital cost reported for the recently completed Gemasolar plant in Spain are far higher than the commonly stated solar thermal cost estimates, such as those given by NREL’s SAM. This 20 MW plant has 15 hour storage capacity, which the EDM proposal assumes. It has been reported as having a capital cost of $(A)548 million, which is $(A)27,400 /kW(p). (Solar Australia, 2011.) Some sources state 200+ million euro, including AETA. The plant is claimed to send out 110 million kWh/y, so the capital cost per annual average kWh sent out (as distinct from peak) could be around $41,000, whereas for coal-fired capacity it would be $3,100 according to AETA. If a 50 year plant life for coal fired power is assumed, as AETA does, p. 27, the annual capital cost per kW sent out for Gemasolar would be around 20 times that for coal. (Figures on what Gemasolar actually does send out are not made public. NREL publishes a graph but it does not enable monthly figures to be derived, and personal communications with NREL confirm that data is not released.) Taking into account embodied energy costs would raise these numbers further. Above all, these are average annual figures –what it sends out in winter, and the capital cost of sufficient plant to send 1 kW then, would be significantly lower. Of course Gemasolar is the first of its kind with 15 hour storage, so the cost is likely to fall significantly eventually. However estimates of future capital costs generally assume only a 33% reduction for solar thermal units built in Australia (the expectation in AETA, (2012, p. 71), and AETA expects Gemasolar capital cost to only fall by 20% (p. 37.) Also relevant is the fact that 15 hour storage does not mean approximately 24 hour supply or 100% capacity. Gemasolar’s capacity factor has been reported as 63%. (Wilson, 2011.) Solar Thermal Conclusions? It would not seem to be possible to state confident conclusions regarding capital costs for the actual amount of power delivered by the solar thermal sector. No large commercial scale central receivers have been built. NREL and all other sources approached confirm that operators will not release performance data. We do not know whether real world costs will be close to the theoretical estimates such as those given by NREL. More importantly we do not know what delivered figures would be, net of embodied, upstream and downstream costs and losses. And we do not know what these values would be in winter when it seems that for solar thermal power annual average values for efficiency and output do not apply. Note also that not all cost estimates are as low as those from AETA and it should not be confidently assumed that costs will fall. The most quoted of the (few) estimates ventured expect falls, but some do not. (Guielen, 2011, Hayward, 2012.) Indeed it is likely that energy and materials costs will rise steeply in future. Lovegrove et al. note the recent jump in the price of steel. (2012, p. 190.) (The NREL cost is lower than the AETA cost but NREL points out that the SAM statements deliberately under-state present costs. Turchi, 2014.) Another cost concern is that the value of the Australian dollar has been falling since the minerals boom. When the main capital cost estimates quoted at present were made it was around equal to the US dollar but early in 2014 it had fallen to around 80 US cents. If this is a return towards the long term level of around 70+ US cents, the cost of imported elements (all wind turbines, PV modules, and solar thermal turbines) might have to be multiplied by 1.4. The efficiency of plant with SMs above 2 also needs to be considered. Some believe a solar multiple of 2.5 is about the limit because of the distance to outer reflectors (increasing the “cosine effect” loss as the average angle between mirrors and sun increases, and increasing heliostat spacing due to increased shading.) It would be interesting to know how the efficiency of Gemasolar is affected by these factors. Again unfortunately the picture is obscure. The $55,900/kW figure above is at first site difficult to believe, and critical revisions of the derivation are invited, but there would seem to be reason to assume that present capital cost of delivering a net 1kW in winter would be a significant multiple of the figure EDM assume for future cost. The biomass-gas-electricity sector One of the significant recent advances in the discussion of renewable energy and the storage problem seems to have been the realisation that this might best be done by use of biomass to produce gas that can be delivered and stored via the existing gas supply system, and used to generate electricity when needed. Discussion of this option is a major merit of the EDM proposal, but again the quantities assumed cannot be verified, and sector costs assumed seem to be much too low. In addition it is not clear that the technology is viable in view of the difficulties it involved. The proposal is intended to cope with a 37 GW peak demand. Given the above discussion of big gaps there would be periods in which the biomass-gas-electricity sector would have to provide total demand minus the hydro component which is assumed to be a maximum of c. 7 GW. Therefore it seems there would have to be at least 30 GW of biomass-gas-electricity generating capacity on hand, not the 23 GW stated. Very few biomass-gas-electricity systems have been built and the viability of the technology has not been established. Significant uncertainties are expressed in the literature. The Grattan Report (Wood et al., 2012) on renewables notes the problems. Lenzen (2009) and other technical discussions say that cleaning several kinds of impurities out of the gas sets a “major technical difficulty”. The gas is at low pressure and has to be compressed, which would affect net energy output. One source says “…no viable technology has been available to produce refinery grade syngas from biomass.” (Syngas Technology, 2013.) EDM use the conclusions on various renewable technologies from the AETA review but that source reinforces doubts about the viability of the biomass-gas-electricity path and does not attempt to estimate capital costs. It gives only seven lines to the technology, including the words, “No significant progress has been made on full scale development of such plants and none is anticipated in Australia in the near future.” (p. 53.) Weisbach et al. say, biogas-fired plant are “…clearly below the economic limit with no potential of improvements in reach.” (2013, p. 24.) It seems clear that the proposal takes into account only the (very low) capital cost of the gas turbines. (They state c. $730/kW, which is the approximate figure AETA gives on p. 34 in the section on gas generation. This is not a section on the complete biomass-gas-electricity generation process or its costs.) But biomass-gas-electricity capital costs would add to the turbine cost the costs for the gas producing plant, including removing impurities and compressing and pumping, and all the machinery going into biomass production, harvesting, drying, and transportation. Kendry (2002) says biomass-gas producing plant capital costs are around 2/3 those of gas-electricity generating plant but Worley and Yale from NREL (2012) state higher figures for gas production than for gas turbines. Their biomass input and plant cost figures mean that plant capable of producing gas for a 1000 MW gas turbine would cost $1,005 million, 50% more than the cost EDM state for the gas turbine, assuming 60% efficiency for both gas production and electricity generation. It is not possible to state a confident figure here. Biogas backup Depending on how often how much gas would be required for back up, it could be that relatively little gas producing plant would be needed because it could be continually restocking storage at a constant rate. Again the amount can’t be determined without detailed analysis of weather patterns and gaps. However the EDM proposal does involve a considerable use of gas, generating up to 7.1% of power supplied. This suggests that the gas production rate would have to be sufficient to average an electrical output of 7.1% x 23 GW = 1.63 GW and therefore that the relevant capital cost figure would be for plant and other equipment capable of providing biomass at a rate of greater than 3.26 GW (if conversion efficiency via gas turbines is 50%, but more than twice as much if steam via biomass burning has to be used). This means the energy content of the biomass input flow would have to be at least 103 PJ/y corresponding to c. 5.7 million tonnes p.a. (None of this includes embodied energy etc. costs.) Estimates of biomass potential vary greatly but Australia would have no great difficulty providing the amount needed according to this estimate. AETA’s figures on available landfill, sugar and other woody waste biomass material indicate that these could generate around 5% of present electrical energy used, i.e., 34 PJ/y (pp. 50 – 51), corresponding to a biomass input flow of c. 100 PJ/y. Milibrandt and Overend (2008) state a higher figure; all collectable waste might produce 293 PJ/y in fuel corresponding to 36% of Australian petrol consumption. If necessary a relatively small amount of plantation biomass could be used, but it must be kept in mind that to meet transport demand via ethanol or methanol would draw heavily on his potential. ABARE and Geoscience Australia say our total biomass potential is only c. 480 PJ/y. Transport now takes over c. 1,800 PJ/y of fuel, and if all this was to be provided in the form of ethanol c. 4,000 – 5,500 PJ/y of biomass would have to be going into its production. The lower figure would require a daunting 250 million tonnes p.a., from perhaps 35 million ha. (These numbers rule out meeting global transport demand via biomass; around 16 billion ha of plantations would be needed…on a planet with only about 10 billion ha of productive land. The IPCC, 2011, estimates total plantation plus waste potential at c. 420 EJ/y, which would give 9 billion people an average liquid fuel budged around 20% of the present Australian figure…and there are several reasons for thinking the IPCC figure is too high; see Trainer 2012a. The 2014 IPCC Working Group 3 report states a much lower global potential, up to 270 EJ/y of primary energy. Lang points out that the availability of biomass year after year in a land prone to severe and protracted droughts, and floods, is highly variable and uncertain.) Given AETA’s above doubts about producing gas by pyrolysis the system might have to be based on biomass burning to generate power via steam, which is the only path AETA discusses. Crawford (undated) reports the capital cost of biomass CHP at $5,500/kW, and AETA (p. 52) states $5,000/kW. In other words if gas generation is not feasible the capital cost of the generation link alone might be almost 7+ times that which EDM seem to be assuming for the whole sector. In addition this approach would have slower ramp rates than a gas system and would therefore be less adept at plugging sudden gaps. Then there are energy efficiency considerations. Gas turbines can be quite efficient but when the efficiency of the gas production system (potentially 67% at best, according to Van der Meiden, Veringa and Rabou, 2010, and Mardon, 2012), and the energy costs/losses in producing the biomass, trucking it, drying, and returning ash to the fields, and in producing, cleaning and compressing the gas are all taken into account the overall energy efficiency of biomass-gas-electricity component is likely to be well under 30%. In their CSIRO study for AEMO James and Hayward (2012) say the energy efficiency of gas production from biomass is under 50%, If this is so the biomass-to-gas efficiency would be around 25%. However Thodey (2013) says the yield is only 0.7 – 1 kWh of gas per kg of woody biomass, i.e., an energy efficiency of biomass-to-gas conversion of around 13 – 20%. He also says that because of the difficulty of removing the tars etc. mixed in the gas it can be preferable to produce gas by fermentation at even lower yield. Thodey also raises the issue of plant size. He says generators running on biogas have to be large to be efficient. If they are in the 2 – 5 MW range efficiency is only c. 20 – 25%. Because of the problem of trucking distance it is generally assumed that biomass fuelled operations would have to be small and numerous, distributed throughout biomass producing areas. These figures probably refer to within-plant efficiencies and are very unlikely to have subtracted embodied figures, or other energy losses and costs such as for producing and trucking the biomass. It seems therefore that the overall sector energy efficiency would probably be no higher than around 20%. This low figure would mean that a lot of plant and equipment would be required to produce the amount of biomass and gas needed. The low efficiency would also increase the amount of biomass required. All this would also have a cost in embodied energy. It might be preferable to store via hydrogen, which has low overall efficiency.. Again confident conclusions are elusive, mainly because we can’t be clear about the amount of gap-filling power that would be needed, nor about the efficiency and cost, or indeed the viability, of plugging gaps by biomass-gas-electricity. It would seem however that the sector’s capital cost would be much greater than is assumed by EDM 2. Hydroelectricity It should not be assumed that there are no problems or limits regarding use of hydroelectric generating capacity and pumped storage capacity to plug gaps. Lang (2009) discusses these, including the limit that might exist on the amount of water that can be released into a river over a short period. EDM assume c.12 TWh, 5.9% of demand, from 7.1 GW of capacity. Using surplus wind and solar energy for pumped hydro storage involves the problem of whether the surplus rates are sufficient, continuous and lasting. Lang points out that pumps getting large volumes to start moving long distances might have to run for three hours to be efficient. The dumping issue It is puzzling that the amounts of plant stated in EDM Table 5 would generate only and no more than (approximately) the amount of power stated in column 3, which adds to the actual 200 TWh annual Australian demand. That is there seems to be no need to dump any surplus generated because when normal capacity assumptions are applied to those amounts of plant we arrive at the quantities of power listed in the relevant column of the table. For instance Table 5 says that 34.1 GW of wind plant is going to contribute 94.8 TWh/y. But for that much plant to provide that much useable power over a year it would have to achieve an average capacity factor of 31.7% (a plausible annual average figure), provided that every Watt produced was used. Similarly the 29.6 GW PV sector is assumed to provide 41 TWh of useable power. It could produce this amount if its capacity factor was 15.8%. This is about the generally accepted figure for PV, meaning that in a year that much PV plant would indeed have an accumulated output of 41 TWh, but it is very likely that much of it would be produced when it was not needed. Thus the assumption seems to be that almost all power generated can be used when it is being generated. The gaps left by wind and solar will be filled by the large biogas component. (It has capacity equal to total average power demand, 23 GW.) This could well be a sound strategy, but the lack of dumped wind energy in particular is confusing. Whether these claims are sound cannot be seen without access to the weather patterns assumed. However I one scenario it is claimed that the biomass-gas-electricity sector will only need to contribute 2.6% of total power demanded. This means that the four sources are being claimed to be capable of combination throughout varying weather patterns and demand patterns to almost always provide almost exactly the amount of power needed. Table 5 EDM 2, (p. 23) states that only 4% of energy produced would have to be dumped. This is a surprisingly low figure. Huva, Dargaville and Caine’s exploration of renewable supply for Victoria (2013) found that for almost half of the time shown in their Fig. 7 the amount of wind capacity needed for wind to contribute its share would be putting out around two and a half times the total amount of power needed at those times. Only about 65% of power produced by wind could be used. (This is only an exploratory study indicating the approach being taken by a more detailed analysis that is underway, so its findings can’t be taken as conclusive. However the weather assumptions it is based on are highly favourable to renewables, involving a 20 day average, not winter, period containing only one difficult half day.) In the ZCA proposal it appears that almost half of the solar thermal output is to be dumped. Remember that one of the EDM scenarios assumes that more than 50% of power is assumed to come from the highly variable wind sector. If at times this 34.1GW of capacity was running at 80% of peak it would be generating 27.3 GW… which is considerably more than total demand. (In the 10% discount scenario wind capacity is 47.1 GW and at 80% this would be generating 38 GW.) Clearly much of the time 34.1GW of wind capacity could be expected to be generating much more power than is needed given that the other 42.9 GW of solar would also be contributing. To summarise, the claim seems to be that almost all power generated by wind, sun and hydro can be used, and almost never will their combined output fall short of demand. From the numbers given this does not seem to be possible, but the information given does not seem to enable the situation to be understood. Perhaps judgment should be reserved until the derivation from underlying weather data is made available. Transmission losses and costs EDM 2 advances on EDM 1 by including an estimate for transmission line costs, but again this is presented to the reader as a bald statement and despite lengthy and obscure discussion (of “genetic algorithms”) it is not shown how the figure is derived or that it is plausible. It is said that a simplified system is assumed and actual costs would probably be higher. Again this would require detailed access to weather patterns and the occurrence of low inputs and gaps, enabling assessment of the sufficiency of the transmission infrastructure claimed. The total system cost? Following is a rough attempt to compare only the capital cost sum (for the EDM 2 “least cost” and 5% discount rate scenario), with alternative conclusions derived from the above figures. The exercise is not precise or confident but it is a transparent indication that the capital cost sum for the amount of plant to deliver the power EDM assume would probably be several times that arrived at by EDM. Table 1a sets out the capital costs for the amount of plant EDM 2 says is required in GW. This seems to align with EDM estimates (they do not give separate figures for capital costs.) Their lowest cost total, $19 billion p.a., adds O and M costs and a 5% discount rate. Because we cannot see whether the EDM conclusions re the amount of plant needed are sound, the alternative capital cost estimate in Table 1b is derived from the percentages of power contributed, as stated by EDM 2. It sets out the costs of these amounts of plant derived from the above conclusions re the amount of plant and capital required to deliver I kW at distance in winter. N.B. EDM use estimated future capital costs whereas the alternative cost estimates in Table 1b use AETA’s estimated present costs. As will be discussed the crucial issue for renewables is affordability and in the early decades of the build-up period present costs will have to be paid, not the costs to which plant are predicted to fall by 2030 or 2050. The difference is considerable. For Wind the ratio is 1.4, for PV it is 2, and for Solar thermal 1.5. The above EDM sum arrived at in Table 1a does not include the transmission cost. The alternative table 1b below (unrealistically) assumes a transmission cost only for solar thermal. This annual sum is around 2+% of Australian GDP. Present world investment in electricity supply, including distribution, is around .28% of GDP. (McCollum et al., 2012, , Rahai, et al., 2012, IEA, 2011, IPCC, 2014,Ch. 16.) There are several reasons why the real world multiple would be much higher than this $32 billion figure. As discussed re dumping above, Table 1 b assumes that the power can be produced when it is needed and there will be no dumping. But to deliver the quantities in column 1 of the table there would probably have to be much more generating capacity than would produce these amounts, because much of the output would not be being produced when it was needed. If significant dumping would occur this would affect sector ER and thus raise the capital cost per delivered kW assumed in Table 1b. The PV, wind and solar thermal capital costs assumed in the above alternative derivation are likely to be much lower than those that will eventually be arrived at following thorough accounting of embodied and downstream costs and losses, and of the solar multiple and low DNI/efficiency issues. EDM do not include or discuss these factors. (Note again the high Gemasolar cost from the real world, as distinct from predictions from theoretical modelling, and the fact that the NREL rooftop PV cost estimate is double AETA’s figure, which is double the figure EDM use.) We cannot assess whether the amount of plant assumed is sufficient to cope with gaps in the wind and solar resource, and there are reasons for thinking that it is not. The winter wind capacity factor assumed, 38%, could be 60% higher than it should be. In the alternative costing the embodied energy costs of the long distance transmission systems have not been included. These must be deducted from system output. A realistic cost for the biomass-gas-electricity sector would include all the elements in addition to the turbines, and none of these have been included in the alternative costing. If the biomass has to be burned the capital cost for generation would probably be 6 – 7 times as high as EDM assume. No account has been taken of the energy costs of O and M within the various sectors, including for the transmission system. These reduce power delivered and thus raise the capital cost per kW delivered. Energy is a major input into the production of energy producing plant. If its price rises significantly then this will multiply the dollar cost of all inputs into the building of renewable plant. In addition the cost of raw material inputs will probably rise greatly in future, due to increasing scarcity, especially of rare materials for wind generators and PV modules. Lower ore grades will require greater quantities of energy to process. Some analysts do not believe there are sufficient crucial materials for renewables to scale up significantly. These many interactions and positive feedback loops will surely play havoc with the common expectations and “learning curves” re the future capital cost of renewable energy plant. EDM say the cost of the renewable system would be lower than the cost of a fossil fuelled generating system. It is difficult to see how this makes sense. Their EDM 2 Table 5 states that the lowest annual cost estimate is $19 billion, but taking the AETA cost figure for coal-fired plant, (beginning at c.$3,100/kW p), the annual capital cost of 37 GW of coal-fired plant, lasting 50 years, would be about $2.3 billion. The fuel cost for a 23 GW average supply would add perhaps $1.6 billion p.a., and adding the O and M cost estimate from AETA would bring the production cost for power sent out to around $5+ billion p.a., which is approximately only 25% of the lowest stated EDM 2 cost for a renewable system (although no discount rate has been included in this fossil fuel cost estimate.) EDM do not point out that their lowest cost figure, $19 billion p.a., is about twice the wholesale amount Australians pay to purchase power from the generating companies at present. Their figure does not include several items such as company taxes, insurance, profits, and energy use by the generating company. This aligns with the above indication that at present production costs are a small fraction of what they would be from the EDM proposal, even taking their capital cost conclusions. Note also that there is the big difference between the wholesale cost of power and the price we end up paying for it. The wholesale price of power at present is only about one-fifth of the price purchasers pay. What would the retail price be derived from a production cost several times those which EDM claim? “But all this has been in terms of present capital costs. These will fall.” Reasons for caution about this have been noted. Wind costs are not likely to fall. PV cost is assumed to go on falling but this is questionable if Chinese subsidies to the industry cease. Solar thermal costs are likely to fall but the commonly quoted Australian estimate for the latter is only about one-third. Much more importantly, the falls are expected by 2030 to 2050, and during the first decade of the building period present costs would have to be met. That is why this analysis has been carried out in terms of present capital costs, because these will determine whether it is affordable to make the very large financial commitment to 100% renewable supply.. As has been stressed there can be little confidence in the alternative cost numbers arrived at here, and the solar thermal figure is especially uncertain. The annual $32 billion investment cost is not to be taken as a realistic estimate. The point is only to show that this approach to the issue provides grounds for thinking that the cost conclusions EDM arrive at are probably a small fraction of what the costs would be. It cannot be concluded here that the cost will be greater than Australia can afford, but if some of the above possibilities become realities, at best paying the price is likely to be very difficult and disruptive. What about the remaining 80% of energy demand? Electricity makes up only one-fifth of energy used in Australia. From where and in what form will the other 80% come in a 100% renewable economy? Especially problematic is where will the one-third of energy going into transport come from. Australia is highly atypical in having much land that could be put into plantation biomass production (Europe has relatively little) so ethanol/methanol might be the most promising solution here. However this would require a lot of land, and ERs for biofuel production are low (Weisbach, et al., 2013, rate these as well under the ER of 7 they think is needed for viability.) If transport and all other possible functions were to be converted to electricity then some of the above problems would be intensified. For instance how much storage or biomass back up would be required to deal with big gaps if 80% of energy is to be supplied in the form of electricity? Conclusions These have been very rough and uncertain figures but they indicate the magnitude of the challenge which this proposal seems to face. The general EDM approach seems to be the right one, e.g., combining renewable technologies at every point in time and attempting to solve the storage problem via biomass, and it represents significant progress in our understanding of the issue. Grappling with it has helped me to a better grasp of important issues (and of where some of my previous analyses can be improved on), but I think the account falls a long way short of showing that 100% renewable power supply is achievable at an affordable cost. This has been an attempt to make some progress on the 100% renewable issue and I am not confident it is correct in all major detail. Critical feedback is being requested. 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SSH-audit is a standalone open source tool for auditing and fixing SSH server configurations. It has no dependencies and will run wherever Python is available. It supports OpenSSH, Dropbear SSH and libssh, and reports on every detail of the tested SSH server, including detailed information about used algorithms and security related information. “For each algorithm, it will state the security level (warning or failure), reasoning behind the assigned state, and historic information about the algorithm’s availability. The security section will show assigned CVEs and any other relevant information for recognized software and specific versions. Taking into account the recognized version, the tool will recommend the removal or addition of specific algorithms,” SSH-audit creator Andris Raugulis explains. How SSH-audit came to be “In order to choose the best security settings for OpenSSH, one has to carefully read the release notes and act accordingly, but things change from version to version. In order to harden deployments where upgrade isn’t possible (e.g. embedded devices), or point out flaws in a SSH server configuration (e.g. for a security audit) one has to re-read old release notes. But even more annoying is the fact that release notes and information provided in the manual do not always reflect the real situation,” he explained the frustration that lead to the creation SSH-audit. Keeping on top of these changes and discrepancies required a huge effort, and vulnerability scanners like Nessus offered no relief, as their SSH checks were relatively superficial and they did not offer features he needed. So, he opted for creating his own standalone tool. Challenges and future plans Working on this project is not hard, Raugulis says, but it does take up a lot of his time. He wants to be sure of everything he adds to the tool, and that means a lot of learning about OpenSSH, Dropbear SSH and libssh releases, a lot of compiling and testing, a lot of checking regarding security related issues (and not all have CVEs assigned to them). His short term plans include adding security information related to OpenSSH and improving key fingerprinting. “Currently, the tool can fingerprint SSH1 server keys, but lacks support for SSH2 servers, as it requires a successful key exchange. The base code for this feature is already in code tree, but it is not finished yet,” he says. Next he will be adding support for checking SSH client configurations, and the option to choose a new output type (JSON/XML), so that it can be easily imported in other software or used by custom wrappers. Latest version Version 1.6.0, released today, comes with fixes for minor bugs, but also two new, important features:
Donald Trump calls for “closing that Internet up” due to the rise of Islamic extremism, Hillary Clinton says the same thing, just a bit more diplomatically, asking the great disrupters to go to work disrupting the so-called Islamic State. Given that it is impossible to shut down the Internet in the United States, even if Russian submarines were to cut transatlantic cables, this move by Trump to enter the arena of information security demonstrates one of the most pernicious challenges in our digital era: the rise of cyber repression. Even The New York Times is exploring challenging the First Amendment in the age of digital extremism, which suggests Trump’s ideas are not at all fringe. While the actions of the Islamic State and other malicious actors online pose security problems, especially in their ability help recruit and promote offensive ideologies, the rush to react to this threat may harm civil liberties, or as Trump says “oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech.” The great hope of the Internet as a path to digital freedom has quickly given way to the reality of the structural control imposed by states on activists in cyberspace. The danger posed by digital threats is not severe enough to warrant a challenge to the freedoms and liberties inherent in Western political ideologies. There has been a precipitous rise in malicious hacking but it is not exhibited between states, rather it is from within them by governments seeking to maintain control over their populations. There is increasing utilization of cyber technology to silence dissent, often in direct contradiction with human rights law. The dramatic rise of digital control by the state is a development that has been relatively overlooked by both mainstream media and the United Nations compared to the concern exhibited for the as of yet mythical cyberwar. The latest Citizen Lab report exposes the efforts of an espionage team named Packrat to silence dissent in Ecuador, Venezuela, and Argentina. The group used malware, phishing and disinformation, even going so far as to threaten an investigator looking into their activities. The scope, funding, and targets suggest this group is either directed or serves as a proxy for state interests. Governments can leverage these tools to suppress dissent. The story of Hacking Team, which made headlines earlier this year, also illustrates the ability of governments to use malicious code to target activists. Based in Italy, Hacking Team is an information technology company that sells intrusion and surveillance capabilities to governments, law enforcement agencies, and corporations. While it claims to not sell to governments with poor human rights records, evidence from a counter hack points to the contrary. Hacking Team software was found on the office computers of Mamfakinch, an award-winning Moroccan news website that is critical of the Moroccan government. The Hacking Team’s products have also surfaced in Ethiopia, a country notorious for its repression and strict governmental control over all channels of communications, as well as in Sudan, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. Digital tools clearly have as much potential for harm as good because governments, with their many resources, can leverage these tools to suppress dissent as described. As well, the ability of social media to facilitate rapid organization or protest, or to share video or photo footage is tremendous but not foolproof. Governments have been known to respond to digitally organized protests with traditional weapons. For example, agents of the Thai government killed dozens of protesters after the Red Shirt uprising, which was coordinated largely via Twitter. There are similar examples from Iran and Belarus. This kind of digital repression may not seem as dire, dramatic, or tragic as other crimes that occur regularly against civilians, but it does constitute a human rights violation. This is largely based in Article 19 of the UN International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.” The question then is, what must be done to help activism flourish and protect civil liberties? The first step should be collect better data to obtain a realistic picture of how and when cyber repression happens. Valeriano and Maness catalog attacks between states but now the focus must shift towards collecting data on domestic attacks perpetrated by states and their proxies. Data collection should start with defining a list of actions that constitute cyber repression, the perpetrator, target, degree of severity, goal of operation, and method of attack. This goes beyond Freedom on the Net‘s ranking of countries based on Internet openness or the former OpenNet Initiative’s measuring of information controls, instead we must catalog specific abuses and methods. Once this information is collected, like any human rights abuse, action can be taken. Parties cannot be credibly named and shamed without evidence. Repression by digital means deserves attention and action. Our future is not one of constant cyber war between countries, tracing dots as they bounce around the digital map between countries, but rather one of digital violence and repression directed at both internal and external enemies. To address digital repression, we first need better awareness of the extent of the problem, followed by actions seeking to end the harm. This is a call for a control over the digital arms of repressive regimes, and the need to construct a digital society that even Russia, China, and the United States could agree to. This article is part of Quartz Ideas, our home for bold arguments and big thinkers.
SteamOS brewmaster update 2.40 released freetype - CVE-2014-9745 [cve.mitre.org] CVE-2014-9746 [cve.mitre.org] CVE-2014-9747 [cve.mitre.org] CVE-2014-9746 CVE-2014-9747 steamos-base-files - Fixed auto-repair cases where an update could be interrupted during package configuration or DKMS driver building and result in the system not rebooting. steamos-autoupdate - don't apply updates on shutdown until the user has requested it debian-installer-utils - fix Debian bug 799117 - NVMe devices are not offered by list-devices grub-installer - latest grub-installer for NVMe support ghostscript - update version number ijs - update version number jbig2dec - update version number libiptcdata - update version number libselinux - update version number libsemanage - update version number libshout - update version number libtheora - update version number opencv - update version number openjpeg - update version number This is the same content that was pushed to brewmaster_beta last Friday.This update changes how future SteamOS updates are applied. We used to always apply pending SteamOS updates at shutdown. Now the user will have to explicitly acknowledge the Steam alert in order to apply the updates.With this release, installation on NVMe drives is now supported.A few packages have had their version numbers change to fix a bookkeeping problem.
As it turns out, Marcgravia may not be the only plant out there to have evolved a specialized sonar dish. Growing in the dense tropical forests of Borneo is another completely unrelated plant species that is interacting with bats in some pretty interesting ways. In keeping with this week's trend, I introduce to you Nepenthes hemsleyana (formerly Nepenthes rafflesiana var. elongata). Typical of most Nepenthes, N. hemsleyana produces dimorphic pitchers based on their location on the plant. Pitchers produced closer to the ground in this species are typical of what you would expect form a plant specialized in eating insects. They are scented, slippery, and full of viscous digestive fluids. These stand in stark contrast to pitchers produced further up in the canopy. These "high altitude" pitchers are considerably narrower, less scented, contain less digestive fluids, and are 7 times less likely to capture insects. What's more, there is a very obvious parabolic shaped structure in the rear wall of the pitcher. This initially confused researchers for months. Why was the plant producing seemingly useless traps? Then one day they found a bat roosting in one of these odd pitchers. It suddenly all made sense. N. hemsleyana is yet another plant which has formed a mutualistic relationship with bats. The bats in question here are Hardwicke's woolly bats (Kerivoula hardwickii). It would seem that the upper pitchers of this plant provide a wonderful roost, perfect for a couple of bats to fit snuggly within. The narrowness of the pitchers coupled with the low levels of digestive fluids mean the bats are safe from falling in and becoming a meal themselves. As a form of rent, the bats regularly defecate down into the pitcher, providing the plant with a nitrogen-rich meal of predigested bugs. It is estimated that the plant receives upwards of 33% of its nitrogen needs in this way. It was found that the bats were also much more likely to roost in the pitchers of N. hemsleyana than they were in the other endemic pitcher plants in the area, N. bicalcarata. This is due to the frequency of the bats echolocation, which is the highest of any bat species known to science. The researchers feel that this is in response to that parabolic dish produced by the pitchers of N. hemsleyana. Studies show that its has strong echo-reflection for the frequency that they bats are using. It is likely that this helps the bats find the pitchers among the dense vegetation of the Bornean rain forest. Photo Credit: Merlin Tuttle (http://www.merlintuttle.com/) Please make sure to visit his website and consider donating to help further bat research and conservation! Further Reading: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/7/3/436 http://www.seabcru.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ibrc_2013_abstracts.pdf
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader who has final say on the nuclear program, spoke unusually directly about the nuclear negotiations and the inspections of nuclear sites May 20 during a speech at the Imam Hossein military academy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “Just as I’ve said, no inspections of any military centers or talks with nuclear scientists and other sensitive fields will be permitted,” Khamenei said. “I will not give permission for foreigners to come and speak and interrogate scientists,” adding, “The brazen and insolent enemy expects us to allow them to talk to our scientists and researchers about our substantial domestic and national progress, but absolutely no such a permission will be given.” In a rare direct message to all sides in the nuclear negotiations, Khamenei said, “The enemies of the Islamic Republic and all those who are waiting for the decision of the system on this issue should [now] understand clearly. “The dear officials of the country are acting with bravery in this sphere, they should know that the only method for confronting an insolent enemy is through resolution and lack of passivity.” He also said, “The officials and negotiators must show the message of the greatness of the Iranian people in the negotiations.” While Khamenei’s speeches are often dissected for clues toward the direction of the nuclear talks, he often leaves room for interpretation, allowing various sides to debate openly their preferred take. However, these unequivocal comments suggest that this issue was raised in the nuclear negotiations and Khamenei sensed the need to address the issue in a manner that leaves little room for interpretation. Hard-line Raja news noted that Khamenei’s comments follow statements by International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano, who said May 13, “In many other countries from time to time we request access to military sites when we have the reason to, so why not Iran? If we have a reason to request access, we will do so, and in principle Iran has to accept it.” The problem with Amano’s comments, according to Raja News, which is affiliated with the hard-line Endurance Front, is that nuclear negotiator Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi have all confirmed Amano’s position on inspections on military sites by referencing the Additional Protocols to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Hard-liners are opposed to inspections of military sites and immediately condemned Iran's nuclear negotiators after Amano's comments. Raja News wrote, “It’s natural that with these dangerous statements from members of the nuclear negotiation team that it would result in the supreme leader once again to state in front of all the news cameras that 'We will not allow for any military center or any inspections from foreigners to take place.'” Khamenei’s previous comment on inspections came April 9 when he said: “No kind of unconventional inspection that turns Iran into a special case as far as inspections are concerned is acceptable. And inspections must be limited to conventional inspections that are conducted everywhere in the world, nothing more.”
When I was invited to Dark Messiah developers Arkane to see a “secret title”, I assumed it'd be The Crossing - the game that Raphael Colantonio's company was developing with Valve in 2006, and got put officially on hold in 2009. Turns out something far more interesting is going on in Lyon. Something more in keeping with Arkane's history of immersive, single-player, first-person role-playing combat titles. Looking at the talent behind Dishonored helps you to understand what it is. Co-created by Colantonio and Harvey Smith, the lead designer on the original Deus Ex, the art direction is courtesy of Viktor Antonov and Sebasian Mitton. Antonov was the art director for Half-Life 2, a game he describes cheerfully as his freak baby. Those European sensibilities have gone into making the location of the Kingdom, a heavily-modded retro-future industrial London that, according to Mitton, “avoids the clichés” of steampunk and Jack The Ripper. That's what Dishonored is. A game with the options and rich complexity of Deus Ex, the varied combat and intimate melee of Dark Messiah, and the beautifully coherent Europe-centric world design of Half Life 2. Your character - at this stage, working without a name - is a supernatural assassin, the bodyguard to the Empress. The game opens with her dying in your arms, and people completely misinterpret the whole assassin/dead-body thing, and you're wrongly accused of her murder. Your mission, according to your playing tastes, is to return the Kingdom to its former state, or to get revenge on the person who framed you. Colantonio says that you can play through the entire game without killing anyone, although he admits it'd be a pretty hardcore playthrough. But that's not a matter of good and evil - both Smith and Colantonio flinch from binary morality. The system that replaces it is less value-laden. Killing people adds chaos to the land. In a chaotic land How you choose to progess is up to you - like a velvet ghost or a slobbering Tasmanian Devil. However you progress, you'll be using a broad palette of abilities. “We could talk about any aspect of the game for hours,” says Smith. “But encouraging player creativity is the most important thing. We offer the player powers and systems that interact.” That's a fairly vague mission statement, but I'm shown some pretty solid examples. It starts with a basic ability interaction - double jump, and blink. Blink is a line-of-sight instant teleportation ability - lay down a target, and you'll appear there. Double jumping gave playtesters a line of sight on platforms that weren't originally intended to be explorable, but instead of blocking them Arkane added to the game, rewarding clever use of the tactics. But there's a commitment at Arkane to make these sloppy interactions king. For example, the power of possession. Possessing people gives you access to areas that person can enter. Possessing rats gives you access to small tunnels. When Colantonio says that you can also possess fish, the natural question is... well, why? The answer: because it wouldn't make sense if you couldn't. It's a fantastic brand of logic that makes the ability to possess fish inevitable. The most impressive combination of abilities combines four powers. The Arkane employee who's giving the demo summons a pack of rats (as plague-bearers, this power contributes to the chaos of the city). Rats move quickly, so he freezes time. Then approaches a rat, and plants a proximity-triggered razor spring trap on its back. Releasing time, he possesses the rat, and walks it around like a remote-controlled bomb. In true Deus Ex style, objectives will have several methods of completion. In our mission to discover and deal with a corrupt lawyer, we overhear a conversation about a previous attempt to break into the building, which gives us a clue as to the whereabouts of a key. Instead, we possess a guard, taking advantage of Dishonored's curious form of possession, in which your body physically enters your host, and can pour out of it, through whatever orifice, in its new location. This will traumatise the host - the guard doubles up, vomiting, as we leave him. We discover that the lawyer, Arnold Timsh, is turning over a tidy racket falsely certifying families as plague carriers, forfeiting their property to the authoritarian state. You can kill him, but like Colantonio said earlier, there's always another way. We're just not allowed to see what that is, in the demo. If you want to get your weapons dirty, the up-close combat is a development of Dark Messiah's physical blend of parries, counters and brutal finishing moves. It's difficult to imagine anyone playing the game through without killing anyone when the melee combat looks so satisfying. Either your blades are extremely sharp, or heads simply aren't as comprehensively attached to their bodies in this world. Something you'll have noticed from the screenshots - Dishonored is set in a brilliantly realised world. Antonov decribes the research that went into building this place, that's a collision of influence from different centuries, countries, and realities. “The renaissance in England didn't come through France,” he says. “It was a weird renaissance that went through Italy, Austria and Germany.” Almost apologetically, Antonov describes this as “nerdy stuff”. But there's no need to apologise. It's nerdy stuff like this that's building a brand new world for us to mess about in, possessing fish and stabbing vomiting men.
Two weeks ago, we released Firefox Quantum to the world. It’s been a big moment for Mozilla, shaping up to be a blockbuster release that’s changing how people think and talk about Firefox. It’s also a cathartic moment for me personally: I’ve spent the last two years pouring my heart and soul into Quantum’s headline act, known as Stylo, and it means a lot to see it so well-received. But while all the positive buzz is gratifying, it’s easy to miss the deeper significance of what we just shipped. Stylo was the culmination of a near-decade of R&D, a multiple-moonshot effort to build a better browser by building a better language. This is the story of how it happened. Safety at Scale Systems programmers have been struggling with memory safety for a long time. It is virtually impossible to develop and maintain a large-scale C/C++ application without introducing bugs that, under the right conditions and input, cause control flow to go off the rails and compromise security. There are those who claim otherwise, but I’m quite skeptical. Browsers are the canonical example here. They’re enormous - millions of lines of C++ code, thousands of contributors, decades of cruft - and there’s enough at stake to create large incentives to find and avoid security-sensitive bugs. Mozilla, Google, Apple, and Microsoft have been at this for decades with access to some of the best talent in the world, and vulnerabilities haven’t stopped. So it’s pretty clear by now that “don’t make mistakes” is not a viable strategy. Adding concurrency into the mix makes things exponentially worse, which is a shame because concurrency is the only way a program can utilize more than a fraction of the resources in a modern CPU. But with engineers struggling to keep the core pipeline correct under single-threaded execution, multi-threaded algorithms haven’t been a luxury any browser vendor could afford. There are too many details to get right, and getting any of them even slightly wrong can be catastrophic. Getting details right at scale generally requires the right tools. For example, register allocation is a tedious process that bedeviled assembly programmers, whereas higher-level languages like C++ handle it automatically and get it right every single time. But while C++ effortlessly handles many low-level details, it just wasn’t built to guarantee memory and thread safety. Could the right tool be built? In the late 2000s, some people at Mozilla decided to try, and announced Rust and Servo. The plan was simple: build a replacement for C++, and use the result to build a replacement for Gecko. In other words, Boil the Ocean - twice. Rust I am a firm proponent of incrementalism. I think the desire to throw everything away and start from scratch tends to be an emotional one, and generally indicates a lack of focus and clear thinking about what will actually move the needle. This may sound antithetical to big, bold changes, but it’s not. Almost everything successful is incremental in one way or another. The teams behind revolutionary products succeed because they make strategic bets about which things to reinvent, and don’t waste energy rehashing stuff that doesn’t matter. The creators of Rust understood this, and the language owes its remarkable success to careful and pragmatic decisions about scope and focus: They borrowed Apple’s C++ compiler backend, which lets Rust match C++ in speed without reimplementing decades of platform-specific code generation optimizations. They leaned on the existing corpus of research languages, which contained droves of well-vetted ideas that nonetheless hadn’t been or couldn’t be integrated into C++. They included the unsafe keyword - an escape hatch which, for an explicit section of code, allows programmers to override the safety checks and do anything they might do in C++. This allowed people to start building real things in Rust without waiting for the language to grow idiomatic support for each and every use case. They built a convenient package ecosystem, allowing the out-of-the-box capabilities of Rust to grow while the core language and standard library remained small. These tactics were by no means the only ingredients to Rust’s success. But they made success possible by neutralizing the structural advantages of C++ and allowing Rust’s good ideas - particularly its control over mutable aliasing - to reach production code. Servo Rust is a big leap forward for the industry, and should make its creators proud. But the grand plan for Firefox required a second moonshot, Servo, with an even steeper path to success. At first glance, the two phases seem analogous: build Rust to replace C++, and then build Servo to replace Gecko. However, there’s a crucial difference - nobody expects the Rust compiler to handle C++ code, but browsers must maintain backwards-compatibility with every single webpage ever written. What’s more, the breadth of the web platform is staggering. It grew organically over almost three decades, has no clear limits in scope, and has lots of tricky observables that thwart attempts to simplify. Reimplementing every last feature and quirk from scratch would probably require thousands of engineer-years. And Mozilla, already heavily outgunned by its for-profit rivals, could only afford to commit a handful of heads to the Servo project. That kind of headcount math led some people within Mozilla to dismiss Servo as a boondoggle, and the team needed to move fast to demonstrate that Rust could truly build the engine of the future. Rather than grinding through features indiscriminately, they stood up a skeleton, stubbed out the long tail, and focused on reimagining the core pipeline to eliminate performance bottlenecks. Meanwhile, they also invested heavily in community outreach and building a smooth workflow for volunteers. If they could build a compelling next-generation core, they wagered that a safe language and more-accurate specifications from WHATWG could allow an army of volunteers to fill in the rest. By 2015, the Servo team had built some seriously impressive stuff. They had CSS and layout engines with full type-safe concurrency, which allowed them to run circles around production browsers on multi-core machines. They also had an early prototype of a full-GPU graphics layer called WebRender which dramatically lowered the cost of rendering. With Firefox falling behind in the market, Servo seemed like just the sort of secret sauce that could get us back in the game. But while Servo continued to build volunteer momentum, the completion curve still stretched too far into the future to make it an actionable replacement for Gecko. Stylo Whenever a problem seems impossibly hard, tackling it incrementally is a reliable way to gain traction. So near the end of 2015, some of us started brainstorming ways to use parts of Servo in Firefox. Several proposals floated around, but the two that seemed most workable were the CSS engine and WebRender. This post is about the former, but WebRender integration is also making exciting progress, and you can expect to hear more about it soon. Servo’s CSS engine was an attractive integration target because it was extremely fast and relatively mature. It also serves as the bridge between the DOM and layout, providing a beachhead for further expansion of Rust into rendering code. Unfortunately, CSS engines are also tightly coupled with DOM and layout code, so there is no clean API surface at which to cut. Swapping it out is a daunting task, to say nothing of the complexities of mixing in a new programming language. So there was a lot of skepticism and some chuckling when we started telling people what we were up to. But we dove in anyway. It was a small team - just me and Cameron McCormack for the first few months, after which point Emilio Cobos joined us as a volunteer. We picked our battles carefully, seeking to maintain momentum and prove viability without drowning in too many tricky details. In April 2016, we got our first pixels on the screen. In May, we rendered Wikipedia. In June, we rendered Wikipedia fast. The numbers were encouraging enough to convince management to launch it as part of Project Quantum, and scale up resourcing to get it done. Over the next fifteen months, we transformed that prototype into the most advanced CSS engine ever built, one which harnesses the guarantees of Rust to achieve a degree of parallelism that would be intractable to replicate in C++. The technical details are too involved to get into here, but you can learn more about them in Lin Clark’s excellent writeup, Manish Goregaokar’s release-day post, or my high-level overview from last December. The Team Stylo shipped, first and foremost, thanks to the dedication and passion of the people who worked on it. They tackled challenge after challenge, pushing themselves to the limit and learning whatever new skills or roles were required to move things forward. The core team of staff and volunteers spanned more than ten countries, and worked (quite literally) around the clock for over a year to get it done on time. But the real team was also much larger than the set of people working on it full-time. Stylo needed the expertise of a lot of different groups with different goals. We had to ask for a lot of help, and we rarely needed to ask twice. The entire Mozilla community (including the Rust community) deeply wanted us to succeed, so much so that almost everyone was willing to drop what they were doing to get us unblocked. I originally kept a list of people to thank, but I gave up when it got too big, and when I realized the countless ways in which so many Mozillians helped us in some way, big or small. So thank you, Mozilla community. Stylo is a testament to your hard work, your ingenuity, and your good-natured, scrappy grit. Be proud of this release - it’s a game-changer for the open web, and you made it happen.
Diplomacy is the key to solving the North Korea problem, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says. Merkel believes an agreement with North Korea that's similar to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Germany helped orchestrate, could be the answer for convincing North Korea leader Kim Jong Un to disarm, Bloomberg News reported. “We must now develop similar activities with an eye on North Korea,” Merkel said. North Korea's recent missile tests should “spur us further to move forward with disarmament efforts.” Merkel’s comments came Saturday during her weekly podcast. She asserted that her stance on North Korea aligns with that of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. President Donald Trump, however, believes that “talking is not the answer.” "The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!" Trump tweeted just one day after Pyongyang launched a missile over Japan. Mattis struck a different tone on Twitter, writing that “we’re never out of diplomatic solutions.” Click here for more from Bloomberg News.
It's a solution for Scarborough's rapid transit woes that no one has talked about — buses. Toronto councillors spent hours in a marathon session July 13 debating the merits of a one-stop subway extension to Scarborough Town Centre versus the light-rail project that was originally slated for that route.. They chose the subway — a project estimated to cost as much as $3.2 billion. But instead of spending billions on new transit infrastructure, an urban planner at the University of Toronto says the city should repurpose what it already has: a complex, well-used network of buses. A bus rapid transit network — known as a BRT — could build on the eastern suburb's wide arterial roads, redrawing the lanes so that public transit gets its own thoroughfare that's essentially traffic-free, Steven Farber said in an interview before the transit vote. "It can be turned on with a very low level of capital investment," the professor of human geography said. "It's a huge, huge opportunity that, right now, isn't even being looked at in the current plan." Brampton, Mississauga on board with BRTs To get an idea of the cost, Toronto need only look at its neighbours. Brampton and Mississauga both adopted BRT networks within the last five years, paying $285 million and $259 million respectively in startup costs — less than 10 per cent of the Scarborough subway extension's pricetag. The capital costs depend, of course, on what the system looks like: Brampton's Zum operates on a four-corridor network, while Mississauga built an 18-kilometre, 12-station system that operates on a raised and traffic-free lane. But it could certainly be built for a fraction of the proposed subway's estimate, Farber said, citing the main costs as painting lanes and installing traffic signals that give buses the right of way at intersections. BRT means different things to different municipalities. In Bogota, Colombia, considered to be one of the cities that's been most successful in implementing the concept, the buses run along raised central lanes that are off-limits to other vehicles. Raised platforms dot the landscape much like those along stretches of the Spadina streetcar's route in Toronto. Farber said the city could start small: redrawing existing lanes and designating one lane "bus only" before investing in raised roads. Toronto city council did not consider the option of a BRT. Instead, they voted to continue with plans to extend the Bloor-Danforth subway line to Scarborough Centre. (THE CANADIAN PRESS) The idea also comes with a built-in ridership. About 304,000 people ride the roughly 20 bus routes in Scarborough each weekday. While it's unlikely that each of those routes would be a candidate for a dedicated transit lane, most of the main corridors — like Lawrence, Sheppard, Eglinton, Finch, Kennedy and McCowan — are wide enough to do so. The capital investment required by the subway is a bad deal. - Steven Farber , University of Toronto human geography professor The subway extension, meanwhile, won't hit its peak number of passengers until 2031 — an anticipated 7,300 people per hour — about one-third of the daily capacity of the buses. "I think the capital investment required by the subway is a bad deal compared to being able to use that money to just be able to ramp up this service," Farber said. "We have tons of buses … we just need to get them out of traffic and given better priority." Buses 'not a desirable option': city A city report released in June, however, found that replacing the aging Scarborough RT with buses is "not a desirable option," saying it would mean buying 63 new buses, creating slower and less reliable service and would not encourage growth around Scarborough. It did not, however, address the specific possibility of a BRT. The city had considered a BRT network for the Eglinton Crosstown LRT line that's now under construction, but a 2009 municipal report found that light rail would better suit the demand in the area. There's no mention in the report of BRT as a replacement for the Scarborough RT. "Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would not provide the capacity or the level of service needed for connecting Scarborough Centre to the rapid transit network," said an emailed statement from James Perttula, the city's acting director of transportation planning. "The introduction of BRT may be appropriate for some other heavily used transit corridors as the planning for Scarborough's rapid transit network is further refined and developed."
This article is over 4 years old Police in Scotland are making inquiries after complaints over a Twitter outburst about Ebola by the controversial TV personality Katie Hopkins. Hopkins was berated online after she wrote on the site about “little sweaty jocks”, adding: “Sending us Ebola bombs in the form of sweaty Glaswegians just isn’t cricket.” In a separate message, she tweeted: “Glaswegian ebola patient moved to London’s Royal Free Hospital. Not so independent when it matters most are we jocksville?” Police Scotland confirmed it was looking into complaints it had received but did not reveal how many had been made. DI Glyn Roberts said: “We have received a number of complaints regarding remarks made on Twitter. Inquiries are ongoing into the nature of these tweets and to establish any potential criminality. “Police Scotland will thoroughly investigate any reports of offensive or criminal behaviour online and anyone found to be responsible will be robustly dealt with.” PA
Welcome to, a fansite dedicated to theand your source for all things related to it! Here you can stay updated on upcoming films and shows, potential news, and edits and gifs of the franchise. About the Site Established Online Users Total Visits Theme by Disclaimer : May 2014: This site is run by fans and is not affiliated with Marvel in any way. We do not claim to own any content published on this site, unless stated otherwise. No copyright infringement is ever intended and all media is used for non-profit purposes only, under laws of Fair Use. Picture copyright is owned by the respective photographers. If anything on this site is posted without the permission of the owner, please contact us before taking any action and we will remove the specified content. Thank you.
Buffalo Wild Wings will roll out its long-awaited Game Changer craft beer on tap at all of its 925-plus locations on July 15. The beer is a pale ale with an amber color, and it will be available only on tap at Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants. However, a brand representative clarified that the beer, developed with Buffalo Wild Wings’ customers in mind by Woodinville, Wash.-based Redhook Brewery, could possibly be sold at Redhook’s other accounts in the future. “We’re all about wings, beer and sports, and we are always looking for new offerings to enhance the guest experience at our restaurants,” Kathy Benning, the chain’s executive vice president of global marketing, brand and business development, said in a statement. “Our guests, above all, are sports fans, and they’re looking for that social environment to enjoy the game with their friends. We’re excited to offer the Game Changer, knowing that it was created with them in mind.” As one of the largest beer-focused casual-dining brands in the United States, Buffalo Wild Wings offers more than 50 brands of beer, including 30 craft labels, the company said. Company officials have previously discussed their intentions to sell more craft beers, citing favorable price points and growing popularity among consumers. Buffalo Wild Wings first disclosed the beer’s development during its first-quarter earnings call in April. At the time, chief executive Sally Smith noted that the chain had expanded its draught beer tap handles from 24 to 30 in many restaurants to accommodate customers’ demand for more national and regional craft beers. While profit margins on Game Changer are not expected to rise higher than normal draught beer margins, the brand hopes that producing its own craft variety with Redhook would allow it to price the beer competitively, she added. “Certainly part of our goal is improving beer margins, which has been difficult in the last couple of years with continued price increases from manufacturers and distributors,” Smith said. “The thought is that we can price this somewhere between domestic and imported draught beer with probably similar margins to our domestic draft beer.” During the NRA Show in May, Buffalo Wild Wings’ director of beverage and guest experience, Patrick Kirk, said servers would be trained extensively on the facets of Game Changer in order to suggest it and up-sell it to customers. “With so many craft beers now that have hit the market and the attention to quality, that’s a lot of things you want your consumers to know and understand,” he explained. “In this case, we are going to be blitzing our customers with every single aspect of this beer. … We’re still managing the basics, but we’re hoping that people really get into this and really drive trial of this.” Game Changer’s 4.6-percent alcohol-by-volume content also would allow customers to enjoy several draughts during a visit to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch a sporting event, Andy Thomas, president of commercial operations for Redhook parent Craft Brew Alliance Inc., said in a statement. “It’s an approachable craft beer that’s not too heavy or too high in alcohol, so people can enjoy drinking it responsibly over the course of a whole game,” he said. “Game Changer’s unique story gives sports fans a new craft beer with the authenticity of a Redhook brew." Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. operates or franchises restaurants in 49 states and Canada. Correction: July 2, 2013 An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the Game Changer beer as proprietary to Buffalo Wild Wings. A brand representative clarified that Redhook Brewery could sell the beer to other accounts in the future. Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN
Vietnam and Historical Forgetting Tyler Cowen blogs about Nick Turse’s recent book on the US-Vietnam war, Kill Anything That Moves. I’ve been reading it too over the last couple of weeks during infrequent breaks, and have found it extraordinary and horrifying. Turse managed to get access to internal files generated by investigations into possible crimes committed by US troops in Vietnam, and combines this with interviews both with US army veterans and Vietnamese people. The record is partial (it’s clear from Turse’s account that the US archives have been weeded for embarrassing material and that he’s lucky to have found what he did) but damning. My Lai was closer to being the rule than the exception. Casual murder by US troops of women, children and old people as well as young men, torture, rape and collective reprisals were endemic, even before one gets into the more impersonal forms of slaughter. Turse links this both to the systematic dehumanization of Vietnamese people by US troops (beginning in training) and, more importantly, to the fetishizing of kill counts. Soldiers’ leave and privileges and officers’ promotion chances depended on how many enemy troops were killed. The combination of depicting Vietnamese people as subhuman, ambiguous rules of engagement and organizational incentives to kill as many ‘enemies’ as possible often led soldiers to goose the numbers by killing defenseless civilians or prisoners (for example, one incident after Four Tet in which a US officer ordered prisoners shot in cold blood to improve the kill count). It also led a more general criminal indifference to the consequences of US action at the micro level (e.g. tossing grenades into crude home made bunkers crammed with civilians, on the off chance that there was someone dangerous in there) and the macro (devastating saturation bombing and shelling). What’s remarkable is how little discussion there is of this. Turse has uncovered emphatic and undeniable evidence, much of it from the US military’s own archives, that US war crimes in the Vietnam war were not only endemic but systematic. If you were unfamiliar with US politics, you’d expect this to cause a major public scandal, soul searching and all of that. Similar crimes have certainly caused a scandal in the UK, which has its own vicious history of colonialism, and is now starting to confront the crimes committed by UK troops during their suppression of the Kenyan revolt (mind you that UK officers’ self-glorifying accounts of this conflict were a direct inspiration for the counter-insurgency tactics of Petraeus and others in Iraq). As far as I can see Turse’s book has inspired very little public debate. In general, the right seems committed to some mixture of denying the atrocities in Vietnam, claiming that everyone did it or the misdeeds were somehow justified by what the North Vietnamese did, and blaming the hippies. Latterday liberals acknowledge that bad things happened, but mostly don’t want to open up the can of worms, for fear that they’d be accused of being unpatriotic and hating the troops or something. The result is a strange form of historical forgetting, where there’s a general sense that bad things happened, but no understanding of how general these bad things were, nor desire to hold people accountable for them.
Nowadays, kids are hooked onto their iPads and Playstations as opposed to running and jumping In today’s day and age, many of us who are no longer children find that everything is now electronic or digital. Children today don’t play actual physical games or participate in sports like running, jumping, cricket, hockey and football and so on as much as they play all these games on the X-box, iPad or the mobile phone. It was different when those in their 30s and 40s were growing up; just a generation ago, games played often entailed vigorous physical movement and exercise, which is much more preferable than sitting on the couch all day long and playing a video game. Here are 11 Desi childhood games that today’s kids are unlikely to play: 1. Carom PHOTO: DHAKA TRIBUNE At one time, teenagers would play at carom ‘clubs’ specifically set up for this purpose, especially in Karachi and Lahore — you would have to get boric powder for the board and learn the intricacies of how to take as many ‘goatees‘ in one ‘baari‘. 2. Kho kho PHOTO: SPORT KID NET A team game that would involve a lot of running around. 3. Baraf paani PHOTO: APP Literally ‘Ice, Water’. In this game, there would be one ‘den’ who would set out to ‘freeze’ his opponents. 4. Pitthu PHOTO: ONLINE You would have to first find a ‘gamla‘ (with apologies to Imran Khan), break it into several pieces and then stack these up in towers of seven. You would also need a tennis ball and then play by making two teams. 5. Dark Room PHOTO: ONLINE How many of you remember playing this as a kid? This was basically hide-and-seek but adapted to playing in a room that was pitch dark. 6. Ludo PHOTO: ONLINE A classic that maybe our parents even played when growing up — kids, if they play it at all, these days, usually do it on the iPad. 7. Oonch Neech PHOTO: INDIA DAILY (Literally ‘Up Down’) This involved one person catching the others who all could take refuge on a surface that was above the ground. Could even be played in the bedroom, with the bed, chairs, furniture etc being used as ‘oonch’ by players. 8. Langri Pala PHOTO: REUTERS Catching others with one leg raised. 9. Pakran Pakrai PHOTO: APP A game that involved a lot of running around and basically catching others. 10. Safe Safe PHOTO: AFP Two teams — one would catch the other team and take them to a place called ‘Safe’ — other teams members not caught could raid the ‘Safe’ and free others by saying ‘Safe Safe’. 11. Chhupan Chhupai PHOTO: STORY BABA The desi kids version of ‘hide and seek’. Read full story
A derivative of cholesterol is necessary for the formation of brain cells, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The results, which are published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, can help scientists to cultivate dopamine-producing cells outside the body. The study was led by Professor Ernest Arenas and demonstrates that the formation of dopamine-producing neurons during brain development in mice is dependent on the activation of a specific receptor in the brain by an oxidised form of cholesterol called oxysterol. Dopamine-producing nerve cells play an important part in many brain functions and processes, from motor skills to reward systems and dependency. They are also the type of cell that dies in Parkinson's disease. The scientists have also shown that embryonic stem cells cultivated in the laboratory, form more dopamine-producing nerve cells if they are treated with oxidised cholesterol. The same treatment also reduced the tendency of the stem cells to show uncontrolled growth. "Oxysterol contributes to a safer and better cultivation of dopamine-producing cells, which is a great advancement since it increases the possibility of developing new treatments for Parkinson s disease," says Professor Arenas. It is hoped that one day it will be possible to replace dead cells in the brains of Parkinson's patients with transplanted cultivated dopamine-producing cells. Such cells can also be used to test new Parkinson's drugs.
Wow! Thank you for all your Support - we hit our first target of £2k in 24 hours and passed £6k last week! We want to push on for £10k so we can do some really high quality air to air photography. We hope you'll support us and share the link with friends in the gliding community. Thanks again! - Gliding is an amazing, exciting, spectacular sport but has an ageing population. We all know that the general public has little idea of what we can do. We want to rectify that and we need your support! The more funds we raise the better the project will be and the more widely we'll be able to promote Gliding in the UK. The project is already funded by the British Gliding Association (BGA) & 13 participating glider clubs across the UK and will take place between the 15th and 30th July 2017. The Kickstarter campaign funds will be used to fund additional photography & video production costs and be used to pay for the costs of the Glide Britain Book, T-shirt and Postcards. We have also secured funding from a number of sponsors. By backing the project as a Founder you'll receive a signed copy of the exclusive Glide Britain Book (photo book) and be personally listed as a Glide Britain Founder in the book and on the website, you’ll also be directly contributing to growing awareness of gliding in the UK and be part of making something really great happen. Glide Britain is a project to raise the general awareness and understanding of gliding among the public at large. The project is supported financially by the British Gliding Association with 13 clubs also making a contribution in terms of both cash and time. Dave Latimer, who is a member of the BGA Exec and Chairman of the BGA Development Committee is overseeing the project. We are also looking for sponsorship and for support from the gliding population. We want to engage as broadly as possible to build a community that will promote our sport, largely via social media. Specifically Glide Britain has the following objectives. i) to produce a series of videos for use by the gliding community introducing all aspects of gliding from different launch methods, types of lift, vintage, aerobatics and cross country flying. ii) an exclusive hardback coffee book with stunning photos of gliding across the UK iii) a series of videos introducing participating gliding clubs iv) a broadcast quality documentary of the gliding tour of these clubs. To do this we're going to be flying a K21 glider on over a 1200km journey across the UK, visiting 13 gliding clubs over a 2 week period starting on 15th July 2017. We'll be posting videos, photos & interviews as we go and will be sharing stories of what makes gliding great. We will be looking to our supporters to share these posts with their network to extend the viewing population beyond just glider pilots. All of this will provide an online resource so next time you are trying to explain gliding you can simply refer them to Glide Britain. a series of videos introducing all aspects of gliding from different launch methods, types of lift, vintage, aerobatics and cross country flying. a hardback coffee book with stunning photos of gliding across the UK a series of videos introducing participating gliding clubs a broadcast quality documentary of the gliding tour of these clubs. Jago Roberts (20) Jago started gliding when she was 15 and recently completed her Bronze Stage. She is an enthusiastic member of Ridgewell Gliding Club and is planning on becoming an airline pilot. Alex O’Keefe (29) Alex was born into flying, taking to the skies for the first time in a light aircraft with his Father at just a few months old. He has been gliding since he was 11 and is now the Chief Flying Instructor at Rattlesden Gliding Club. Alex is well respected in the gliding community and is an active member of the Junior Gliding movement in the UK. Simon Grice (47) Simon has been gliding for just over 2 years and went solo last summer. He is the marketing secretary at Rattlesden Gliding Club and is the instigator of Glide Britain after realising that gliding as a sport needs much more general awareness. Ben Jacobson (43) Ben is an award winning independent filmmaker who has been making TV programmes, films (both drama and documentary) and business videos for a range of public and private sector clients for over 20 years. He was an active Air Scout and Air Cadet as a teenager and this project has awoken his love of flying. Dave Latimer (55) Dave is a member of the BGA Exec and Chairman of the BGA Development Committee is overseeing the project. £5 - be a Friend of Glide Britain and get your name in the Friends page on the website. We'll also send you a Glide Britain postcard during the trip. £25 - be a Glide Britain Supporter and receive a Glide Britain t-shirt in addition to your name on the Supporters page on the website. £50 - become a Glide Britain Founder and receive a signed copy of the stunning Glide Britain coffee book with your name and photo (optional) in the Founders Page. The book will be a unique and amazing photo book of gliding in the UK. You'll also receive the Glide Britain T-shirt, the Glide Britain Postcard and premier access to all video content.
Despite the damage to its reputation, Shell insists on continuing its controversial Arctic campaign. The company says that the world needs the oil and gas resources of the Arctic. But according to Energy Post’s editor-in-chief Karel Beckman, it’s really Shell itself that needs those resources. Shell’s annual shareholders meeting last Tuesday (19 May) in The Hague seemed almost like a climate conference, some observers reported. Activist shareholders lined up to ask Shell to embrace the energy transition, or at least, as one of them put it, to “invest profits from oil and gas in new energy instead of more fossil energy”. Most of all, they urged Shell to desist from drilling in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska, which Shell got permission to do from the US government just a week earlier (on 11 May). And the activists were not in a minority this time. At the meeting, 98.9% of the shareholders supported a resolution for the company to report henceforth on the climate risks of its business, which Shell has agreed to do starting next year. Some institutional investors also weighed in. Dutch pension management fund APG, which manages investments for the largest Dutch pension fund ABP and controls some $1 billion in Shell stock, explicitly asked Shell to halt its activities in the Arctic. According to portfolio manager Jags Walia, Shell’s activities in the Arctic present not only unacceptable environmental risks, but also risks to the value of the company. Walia referred to the fate of BP after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. If a disaster like that were to happen in the Arctic, said Walia in radio and newspaper interviews, after all the warnings, the reputational damage to Shell would be “huge”. Walia made the point that the risk Shell is taking in the Arctic far outweighs the possible reward. The company, he said, can only expect to start making profits around the middle of the next decade at the earliest, and then only if the oil price is at least $80 per barrel. Much better, said Walia, would be for Shell to invest in other projects, for instance in Brazil and Australia and in its new acquisition, BG. The Chukshi Sea can supply the world’s oil needs for just two months But Shell remained deaf to all these pleas. CEO Ben van Beurden said Shell was managing the risks of Arctic drilling “down to the levels that we think are acceptable and indeed negligible”, according to the Wall Street Journal. He has no intention to leave the Arctic. So why does Shell find it necessary to press on in the Arctic region, despite the risks and reputational damage it’s already suffering? Why doesn’t the company simply to decide to put its money elsewhere? Vital resources Shell’s Sustainability Report 2012 contains an interview with Marvin Odum, Upstream Americas Director, who is asked this very same question:“Why does Shell want to explore off the coast of Alaska?”. His answer: “The world’s population is increasing, living standards are rising and economies need energy to grow. Yet in many regions, easy-to-access energy resources are scarce. To meet growing demand we need a mix of strategies, and we must develop all forms of energy, traditional and renewable. To make up for the decline in conventional oil and gas resources, we have to develop resources in new, more challenging locations.” In Shell’s Sustainability Report 2014, Ann Pickard, Executive Vice President Arctic and Alaska, is also asked this question. She replies: “Exploration of the Arctic is important as future generations may have to depend on it for a significant amount of their energy, especially as the world’s population grows from seven billion to nine billion by 2050. Today, about 10% of the world’s oil and 25% of our natural gas come from Arctic regions. Since 1918 the world has consumed roughly 25 billion barrels of Arctic oil and 550 trillion cubic feet of Arctic gas. As much as a quarter of the world’s remaining energy source remains there.” Pickard makes a similar point in the 2013 Sustainability Report, where she notes that “Alaska oil and gas represents a potentially enormous and vital energy resource for the world”. In other words, Shell justifies its Arctic campaign with reference to the world’s growing energy needs. How credible is this? According to the famous US Geological Survey (USGS) report of 2008 (see also this press release), the Arctic contains an estimated 90 billion barrels of “technically recoverable” oil and 1670 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of technically recoverable natural gas. According to the USGS, this is “13 per cent of the undiscovered oil and 30 per cent of the undiscovered natural gas” in the world (though I have to confess I don’t understand how anyone can claim to know how much “undiscovered” oil and gas there is in the world). Note that USGS refers to “technically recoverable” oil and gas, which is not the same as economically recoverable. How much oil can be economically recovered depends on many factors, not the least of which is the oil price. If we take a very high recovery rate, say 33%, and we just look at oil, it means that 30 billion barrels of oil could be produced from the Arctic region. That may sound impressive, but annual world oil consumption currently stands at about 32 billion barrels of oil. Hence, if we assume consumption stays level despite population growth, the Arctic resource is not even enough to supply the world with one year of oil. (For gas the calculations are similar.) Tthe Alaskan waters where Shell wants to drill are very shallow, just some 150 feet, compared to the 5,000 foot depths in the Gulf of Mexico This applies to the resources of the entire Arctic region. If we just look at the Alaskan part, this is estimated to contain 27 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil. Slightly more than half of this, some 15 billion barrels, are in the Chukchi Sea, where Shell is going to be active. According to this report from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, at an oil price of $60 per barrel, about a third of these 15 billion barrels could be produced, i.e. 5 billion barrels. Thus, if Shell makes a success of its Arctic campaign, the Chukshi Sea can supply the world’s oil needs for just two months. In other words, to say, as Ann Pickard does, that “exploration of the Arctic is important as future generations may have to depend on it for a significant amount of their energy”, seems off the mark. The world can do without Arctic oil and gas – indeed, it will have to, because Arctic oil and gas will never be able to supply more than a fraction – or a very short period – of the world’s energy needs. Heartlands and frontiers But if the Arctic is a small step for mankind’s energy needs, it is a large step for a company like Shell. The real reason for Shell’s continued interest in the Arctic can be found in the company’s Investor Handbook 2014, on page 16, where this graph is shown: This graph illustrates Shell’s “conventional exploration” strategy. Shell distinguishes between four types of resources that it wants to exploit in future: near-field resources (small profitable plays near Shell’s existing assets) heartlands (new plays within Shell’s existing major fields) frontier positions (acreage in under-explored areas) and – an entirely separate category – “Arctic”, which Shell describes as “growth options for the long to very long term” What is key here is the “prospect size” of these four types of resources. As can be seen from the graph, the Arctic resources represent by far the greatest prospect size, twice as much as the frontier positions, four times as much as the heartlands, and twenty times as much as the near-field resources. For a company like Shell, as long as it does not radically change its business model, it is essential to maintain its proved oil and gas reserves. That is what most of the value of the company is based on. In 2014 Shell produced 3.1 million barrels of “oil equivalents” (oil and gas together) per day (2% of global oil production and 3% of gas production), i.e. 1.13 billion barrels per year. The company’s total proved oil and gas reserves at the end of 2014 stood at 13 billion barrels, i.e. good for just 11.5 years of production. This means Shell constantly has to find (or buy) new oil and gas, if it is to stay in business as an oil and gas company. Roughly over 1 billion barrels per year. The question for Shell is where to find these new resources. It doesn’t have a whole lot of options. Most major oil and gas producing countries, like Brazil, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the like, prefer to retain ownership of their own resources. What is left are politically risky areas such as in Africa or Iraq, or highly competitive regions like the Gulf of Mexico. And then there is of course Alaska: an oil state that is 90% dependent on fossil fuel revenues and lets private companies own resources. Some have questioned the profitability of oil production in the Arctic. Shell has already spent some $7 billion on preparatory activities (including $2 billion to purchase the licenses in the Chukchi Sea). It will have to spend many billions more before even molecule of oil or gas is produced. But last year Shell invested $37 billion; it does that roughly every year. So the investment is not prohibitive. “The people who live in the Arctic nations such as Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the USA own these natural resources and it’s their decision alone whether or not they should be developed” As to production costs, an interesting article in Fortune back in 2012, “Why Shell is betting billions to drill for oil in Alaska”, notes that “some analysts estimate the price of offshore Arctic production at $70 to $80 a barrel”, but adds that “one scientist who has been involved in the Shell project says he expects the cost to be closer to $30”. As Fortune notes, a 2011 report from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), referred to above, “appears to support the lower, $30-a barrel assessment. The BOEM estimates the oil ‘hurdle price’ necessary to justify the cost of Arctic drilling at $38 a barrel for Chukchi oil and $29 a barrel for the Beaufort.” And Shell may know more about the Chukchi sea than we do: the company already drilled wells offshore in Alaska in the 1980s and 1990s. These efforts were abandoned when oil prices collapsed to $20 a barrel. In addition, although climatic conditions may be daunting in the region, the Alaskan waters where Shell wants to drill are very shallow, just some 150 feet, compared to the 5,000 foot depths in the Gulf of Mexico. This makes operations there much simpler and therefore cheaper. Not without reason did Ann Pickard state, in Shell’s 2013 Sustainability Report: “We believe that Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas are the most promising undeveloped hydrocarbon basins in the United States.” Next 75 years It is clear, then, that for Shell the Arctic is not just any other project. Its Arctic campaign lies at the heart of the company’s long-term strategy. Successful development of the region may be another 10 to 15 years away, but as Pete Slaiby, Shell’s Vice-President for Alaska, says in the Fortune article: “Shell is going to be here for the next 50 to 75 years.” What is interesting is that this implies that Shell’s decisions in the Arctic will demonstrate, like no other activity, the business model the company is committed to. If Shell were to decide to leave the Arctic, that would be a significant step indeed. But it’s not just Shell that is faced with a choice. Time and again in Shell’s Sustainability Reports, the company’s executives stress that it’s not Shell that is taking the lead in exploiting the Arctic. It’s the Arctic nations themselves that do so. “The nations of the Arctic have taken the decision to open up the region for offshore development and trust companies such as Shell to do it responsibly”, says Pickard in the 2013 Sustainability Report. (Marvin Odum says literally the same in the 2012 Report – they must have talked about it to each other.) In the 2014 Sustainability Report, Pickard says: “The people who live in the Arctic nations such as Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the USA own these natural resources and it’s their decision alone whether or not they should be developed. These nations have asked Shell and other companies to help explore this vital, long-term source of economic security.” Van Beurden clearly does not believe that 25 years from now supply and demand of energy will look fundamentally different from today Leaving aside Pickard’s somewhat dubious assumption that “the people” are identical with their governments, she does have a point. If these nations decide they need or want to get their hands on the oil and gas in the Arctic, they will do so – and then it hardly matters who does the drilling. It might as well be a relatively responsible and competent company like Shell. In that sense, the activists and shareholders who are demanding that Shell leaves the Arctic, are aiming at the wrong target. They should be targeting the governments of the Arctic countries first of all. Yet this does not remove the responsibility for Shell to make its own strategic decision about where it wants to go. When asked, in Shell’s 2014 Sustainability Report, “What impact does Arctic drilling have on climate change and the melting sea ice?”, Pickard answers: “The Arctic is especially vulnerable to the effects of global warming. Scientific measurements show that the thickness and extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic have declined over the past 30 years. The loss of sea ice has the potential to accelerate global warming and to change world climate patterns.” And she adds: “Climate change is a key issue for Shell. The scientific evidence shows that the rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere is the main cause of climate change. It is the effect of cumulative emissions around the world, rather than being caused by Arctic drilling.” If Shell really believes this, isn’t it time that the company should at least start to alter its course? Nothing in the company’s utterances indicates that it is doing so, as critics like John Ashton and Adriaan Kamp have recently pointed out on Energy Post. At the annual general meeting last Tuesday, defending Shell’s course, CEO Ben van Beurden said: “If there will be no further investments in oil production, the gap between supply and demand could be 70 million barrels per day by 2040 [i.e. we will virtually have no oil production left!]… we will need sustained and substantial investment just to meet the demand to fuel economic growth especially in the developing world.” Van Beurden clearly does not believe that 25 years from now supply and demand of energy will look fundamentally different from today.
Documentarian Morgan Spurlock is lending his voice to the Me Too conversation, but not the way you’d expect. In a long letter posted to Twitter called “I am Part of the Problem,” the filmmaker laid out incidents from his own past where he has participated — knowingly or otherwise — in a culture that systematically disenfranchises women. He talks about his chronic infidelity, harassment and assault claims that he has fielded from women, and his own history of sexual abuse as a child. You can read the letter in its entirety below. As I sit around watching hero after hero, man after man, fall at the realization of their past indiscretions, I don’t sit by and wonder “who will be next?” I wonder, “when will they come for me?” You see, I’ve come to understand after months of these revelations, that I am not some innocent bystander, I am also a part of the problem. I’m sure I’m not alone in this thought, but I can’t blindly act as though I didn’t somehow play a part in this, and if I’m going truly represent myself as someone who has built a career on finding the truth, then it’s time for me to be truthful as well. I am part of the problem. Over my life, there have been many instances that parallel what we see everyday in the news. When I was in college, a girl who I hooked up with on a one night stand accused me of rape. Not outright. There were no charges or investigations, but she wrote about the instance in a short story writing class and called me by name. A female friend who was in the class told be about it afterwards. I was floored. “That’s not what happened!” I told her. This wasn’t how I remembered it at all. In my mind, we’d been drinking all night and went back to my room. We began fooling around, she pushed me off, then we laid in the bed and talked and laughed some more, and then began fooling around again. We took off our clothes. She said she didn’t want to have sex, so we laid together, and talked, and kissed, and laughed, and then we started having sex. “Light Bright,” she said. “What?” “Light bright. That kids toy, that’s all I can see and think about,” she said … and then she started to cry. I didn’t know what to do. We stopped having sex and I rolled beside her. I tried to comfort her. To make her feel better. I thought I was doing ok, I believed she was feeling better. She believed she was raped. That’s why I’m part of the problem. Then there was the time I settled a sexual harassment allegation at my office. This was around 8 years ago, and it wasn’t a gropy feely harassment. It was verbal, and it was just as bad. I would call my female assistant “hot pants” or “sex pants” when I was yelling to her from the other side of the office. Something I thought was funny at the time, but then realized I had completely demeaned and belittled her to a place of non-existence. So, when she decided to quit, she came to me and said if I didn’t pay her a settlement, she would tell everyone. Being who I was, it was the last thing I wanted, so of course, I paid. I paid for peace of mind. I paid for her silence and cooperation. Most of all, I paid so I could remain who I was. I am part of the problem. And then there’s the infidelity. I have been unfaithful to every wife and girlfriend I have ever had. Over the years, I would look each of them in the eye and proclaim my love and then have sex with other people behind their backs. I hurt them. And I hate it. But it didn’t make me stop. The worst part is, I’m someone who consistently hurts those closest to me. From my wife, to my friends, to my family, to my partners & co-workers. I have helped create a world of disrespect through my own actions. And I am part of the problem. But why? What caused me to act this way? Is it all ego? Or was it the sexual abuse I suffered as a boy and as a young man in my teens? Abuse that I only ever told to my first wife, for fear of being seen as weak or less than a man? Is it because my father left my mother when I was child? Or that she believed he never respected her, so that disrespect carried over into their son? Or is it because I’ve consistently been drinking since the age of 13? I haven’t been sober for more than a week in 30 years, something our society doesn’t shun or condemn but which only served to fill the emotional hole inside me and the daily depression I coped with. Depression we can’t talk about, because its wrong and makes you less of a person. And the sexual daliances? Were they meaningful? Or did they only serve to try to make a weak man feel stronger. I don’t know. None of these things matter when you chip away at someone and consistently make them feel like less of a person. I am part of the problem. We all are. But I am also part of the solution. By recognizing and openly admitting what I’ve done to further this terrible situation, I hope to empower the change within myself. We should all find the courage to admit we’re at fault. More than anything, I’m hopeful that I can start to rebuild the trust and the respect of those I love most. I’m not sure I deserve it, but I will work everyday to earn it back. I will do better. I will be better. I believe we all can. The only individual I have control over is me. So starting today, I’m going to be more honest with you and myself. I’m going to lay it all out in the open. Maybe that will be a start. Who knows. But I do know I’ve talked enough in my life … I’m finally ready to listen
Students gather for lunch in the foyer of the School Without Walls in the District in 2011. New research suggests that schools should consider teaching boys and girls differently because of their different pace of brain development. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) Among the more thought-provoking discoveries in the emerging science regarding the teen brain is the fact that the pace of brain development differs in males and females. [Why are teens oblivious to the pile of dirty clothes on the bedroom floor?] In her best-selling book, “The Teenage Brain,” Frances Jensen discusses how the part of the brain that processes information grows during childhood and then starts to pare down, reaching a peak level of cognitive development when girls are between 12 and 13 years old and when boys are 15 to 16 years old, generally speaking. “The girls have a level of organization where they’re doing complex scheduling and social arrangements, and making lists,” Jensen said. “Meanwhile, boys at that same age, you’re lucky if they remember to bring their books home from school.” That means boys and girls may be ready for challenging subjects — like complex math and science — at different points. It also could mean that schools are missing the right time to teach those subjects. Schools ought to consider some gender-based curricula, Jensen said. But beyond gender differences, if every student were given a neurological evaluation, educators would have powerful clues as to the best way to personalize learning, she said. “Brains are in such a different state from person to person, they should be taught differently,” she said.
Why has the BBC become the official propaganda arm of the Vatican? The Vatican is desperate to rehabilitate its reputation. And well it might be. The past two years has seen one scandal after another come knocking on Benedict’s door. The child abuse crisis is, of course, the worst of them. Tens of thousands of children have been casually used and abused by Catholic priests around the world. The scale of this horrific sexual exploitation is only now becoming apparent. There are few checks and balances in the developing world, so there is little knowledge yet of the scale of abuse there. Last week, the chapter of the Ryan Report that had been suppressed pending a court case was published. It revealed yet again a catalogue of deliberate and carefully orchestrated cover ups by the Church, both locally and in the Vatican. Children who might have been spared the trauma of sexual abuse were sacrificed in order that the Church could spare itself further criticism. Yet another report about abuse in the diocese of Cloyne has been presented to the Irish Government, and soon there will be another extensive list of victims and another account of the Vatican’s contempt for them. But it is not only child abuse that the Pope should be made to answer for. The Vatican bank is under investigation (again) for money laundering. It is a bank that is excused the regulation that any other bank is bound to observe. But there are strong suspicions that it is hand in glove with the mafia. Last week we revealed that the Vatican is in negotiation with Belarus over the signing of a pact that will give the Catholic Church numerous privileges in that country. A country that is, at present, ruled with an iron fist by “Europe’s last dictator”, the despotic Alexander Lukashenka who has now gained the nickname “Europe’s Mugabe”. He fixes elections, jails opponents and suppresses dissent with ruthless violence. Just the sort of man the Vatican likes to do business with. Just as it did with Hitler. And it is still enjoying the fruits of that concordat, with millions of euros flowing into the Vatican’s coffers from the German taxpayer. Similarly with the concordats it signed with Mussolini in Italy, with the tyrannical Franco in Spain and his counterpart Salazar in Portugal. And with just about every foul dictator that has infested South America. Why is this never questioned? And now we have to ask about the Vatican’s relationship with the BBC. What is going on here? In September the BBC committed huge resources and much air time to covering the Pope’s visit to Britain. Opinion polls showed the British public to be massively indifferent to the visit and yet a huge, fawning, over-the-top propaganda exercise was mounted by the Corporation to ensure that the Pope had a clear run. No difficult questions were asked, no awkward commentators were allowed to appear and a completely skewed and, when looked at objectively, ridiculous, exercise in whitewashing was achieved. Now the Pope follows up this little coup with another as he gains access to the unquestioned, unchallengeable Thought for the Day slot. Who knows what he will say – whether he will renew his attack on secularism (with no opportunity for secularists to answer back) or whether his target will be gay people or the equality laws or the rights of women to control their own fertility. Why is the BBC doing this? Could it possibly be the work of the Director General Mark Thompson who personally negotiated the coverage of the Pope’s visit while at the Vatican? Mr Thompson is a high-ranking Catholic. He would be a very useful feather in the Pope’s hat. Let us hope that is not what Mr Thompson is. But if we next hear that he has been awarded a papal medal for services to the Vatican, we will know precisely what it is for. See also: The BBC has disgraced itself with Pope’s Thought for the Day More blatant religious propaganda from the BBC
“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has opened strongly, taking flight with $7 million on roughly 5,900 international screens on Wednesday. Warner Bros. reported that Spain saw the best results with a 62% share of the top five films, with $1.8 million from 702 screens, ranking as the biggest opening in 2016, ahead of “Deadpool.” France came in second, grossing $1.7 million with 196,000 admissions on 822 screens for 65% of the gross from the top five films. Italy pulled in $1.1 million on 768 screens, capturing 66% of the gross from the top five films. Sweden drew $428,000 on 210 screens and for what’s become the biggest March opening of all time. The film’s debut in Norway marked the top launch of 2016 with $501,000 on 190 screens, while in Finland the film earned $120,000 on 120 screens. Despite the effect on the overall market of the terrorist attacks and closures of several cinemas, Belgium opened to “very good” results with $191,000 on 150 screens. Germany, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Australia open on Thursday. The film launches in the U.S. on Thursday night. Forecasts have pegged a worldwide weekend opening of at least $300 million.
With the big February patch hitting servers yesterday, we’re not slowing our pace. It’s time to continue dancing our way on to the next set of Scrolls, and we want your help. Flavor of the week Starting today, each week we’ll be introducing a new scroll from the next set here on the blog. We’ll be showing one scroll from each faction. There’s one problem: They’ll be missing their flavor text. That’s where you come in. Say hello to Battle Dance: See that big empty space at the bottom? We want you to fix that. We’re opening a thread on the Scrollsguide forums for one week where you will have the chance to pitch your best flavor at us. We’ll choose one winner. Guidelines? There are none. Use your best imagination and shape the lore which ever way you want. If we like what we read, you’ll get your text in the game, be awarded the horrifying Design Contest head, and receive a Tier 3 copy of the scroll that you added the tastiest flavor to (once it’s released). Announcing the new Tournament Heads Speaking of avatar rewards, we have something that is probably long overdue: New tournament reward heads. Remember the old ones? They’re gone. Retired. Kaput. Congratulations to everyone who was awarded them previously, but there’s a new head in town- and it looks like this: These heads are exclusively reserved for placing high in tournaments. There’s some tough competition out there, so you’ve got your work cut out for you if you’re thinking about styling this noggin. These new heads are in effect starting now, so that means this weekend’s Oum Lasa tournament will be the first opportunity to earn one! More avatar goodness A large amount of avatar pieces were introduced yesterday with the live patch. While the availability of them is random and unique to each player, you should know that we added two sets (male and female) of ten full avatars, and two sets (male and female) of ten unique heads, spread across several price brackets. That’s forty new items for purchase from the store. Content overwhelming! You can check back each week to see what new avatar pieces are available for you to buy, so start saving that gold. Take a look at our Facebook galleries for the female and male sets… wait, does that guy have grasshoppers in his hands? While you’re over there, give us a Like! Tournaments This Saturday’s Oum Lasa Open is looking to be big. Over 200,000 gold in prizes will be handed out, spread all the way out to the top 16 finishers. There are even random prizes being awarded to those who simply participate! The winner of course will be the first to receive the new tournament head mentioned above. Sign up for it here, and look for it to be streamed on our Twitch channel! Oh – almost forgot. Ugster is up to his old ways again and has set up a gold betting booth for this tournament. Find more info on that here. The current ESL series continues this Sunday, and you can sign up for it here. Remember the prizes announced in this news post? The avatar head rewards are now the new ones mentioned above. Finish in the top 4 over the entire series to earn one. Good luck, it won’t be easy! These two tournaments will be especially interesting, considering that the balance changes are still fresh on player’s minds. Who knows what we’ll see? My prediction: Beetle Stones. Have a good weekend! -Gary(@Atmaz)
Stutthof concentration camp where small quantities of soap are believed to have been made from the bodies of human victims. During the 20th century, there were various alleged instances of soap being made from human body fat. During World War I it was claimed in the British press that the Germans had a corpse factory in which they used the bodies of their own soldiers to make glycerine and soap. During World War II it was believed that soap was being mass-produced from the bodies of the victims of Nazi concentration camps located in German-occupied Poland. During the Nuremberg trials evidence was presented that German researchers had developed a process for the production of soap from human bodies.[1][2] The Yad Vashem Memorial has stated that the Nazis did not produce soap from Jewish corpses on an industrial scale, saying that rumors that soap from human corpses was mass-produced and distributed were deliberately used by the Nazis to frighten camp inmates.[3][4][5] It is now known that Nazi Germany did produce soap from human corpses, but not on an industrial scale.[6] History [ edit ] 1786 [ edit ] In 1780, the former Holy Innocents' Cemetery in Paris was closed because of overuse. In 1786, the bodies were exhumed and the bones were moved to the Catacombs.[7] Many bodies had incompletely decomposed and had reduced into deposits of fat. During the exhumation, this fat was collected and subsequently turned into candles and soap.[8] World War I [ edit ] The claim that Germans used the fat from human corpses to make products, including soap, was made during World War I. This appears to have originated as rumor among British soldiers and Belgians. The first recorded reference is in 1915 when Cynthia Asquith noted in her diary (16 June 1915): "We discussed the rumour that the Germans utilise even their corpses by converting them into glycerine with the by-product of soap."[9] It became a major international story when The Times of London reported in April 1917 that the Germans had admitted rendering the bodies of their dead soldiers for fat to make soap and other products.[10] After the war John Charteris, the former head of army intelligence, was reported to have claimed in a 1925 speech that he had invented the story. He subsequently insisted that his remarks had been misreported. The controversy led the British Foreign Secretary Sir Austen Chamberlain to officially state that the government accepted that the "corpse factory" story was untrue.[11] The belief that the British had deliberately invented the story was later used by the Nazis.[12] World War II [ edit ] Rumours that the Nazis produced soap from the bodies of concentration camp inmates circulated widely during the war. Germany suffered a shortage of fats during World War II, and the production of soap was put under government control. The "human soap" rumours may have originated from the bars of soap being marked with the initials RIF, which was interpreted by some as Reichs-Juden-Fett ("State Jewish Fat"); in German Blackletter font the difference between I and J is only in length. RIF in fact stood for Reichsstelle für industrielle Fettversorgung ("National Center for Industrial Fat Provisioning", the German government agency responsible for wartime production and distribution of soap and washing products). RIF soap was a poor quality substitute product that contained no fat at all, human or otherwise.[13] Rumors about the origins and meaning of "RIF" soap extended into the concentration camps themselves. Naphtali Karchmer, in his book Solitary in the Overwhelming Turbulence: Five Years as Prisoner-of-War in East Prussia, describes his years in captivity as a Jewish-Polish POW. The author writes about gray, rectangular, low-quality pieces of soap he and other POWs received with the letters "RIF" inscribed on a center depression. When one of the POWs complained about the low-foam, smooth soap, the lady of the household answered it was made of "Rein Juden Fett" (pure Jewish fat), when asked "out of human fat?", she answered "No, just Jews". A version of the story is included in The Complete Black Book of Russian Jewry, one of the earliest collections of firsthand accounts of the Holocaust, assembled by Soviet writers Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman. The specific story is part of a report titled "The Extermination of the Jews of Lvov" attributed to I. Herts and Naftali Nakht: In another section of the Belzec camp was an enormous soap factory. The Germans picked out the fattest Jews, murdered them, and boiled them down for soap. Artur [Izrailevich] Rozenshtraukh—a bank clerk from Lvov, in whose words we relate this testimony—held this "Jewish soap" in his own hands. The Gestapo thugs never denied the existence of a "production process" of this kind. Whenever they wanted to intimidate a Jew, they would say to him, "We'll make soap out of you."[14] Raul Hilberg reports such stories as circulating in Lublin as early as October 1942. The Germans themselves were aware of the stories, as SS-chief Heinrich Himmler had received a letter describing the Polish belief that Jews were being "boiled into soap" and which indicated that the Poles feared they would suffer a similar fate. Indeed, the rumours circulated so widely that some segments of the Polish population actually boycotted the purchase of soap.[15] Joachim Neander, in a German paper presented at the 28th conference of the German Studies Association, cites the following comment by Himmler from a letter of November 20, 1942 to the head of the Gestapo, Heinrich Müller. Himmler had written to Müller due to an exposé by Rabbi Dr. Stephen Wise, which mentioned the soap rumor and had been printed in The New York Times: You have guaranteed me that at every site the corpses of these deceased Jews are either burned or buried, and that at no site anything else can happen with the corpses. Müller was to make inquiries if "abuse" had happened somewhere and report this to Himmler "on SS oath"; Himmler hence did not from the outset exclude the possibility that such had taken place. Neander goes on to state that the letter represents circumstantial evidence that it was Nazi policy to abstain from processing corpses due to their known desire to keep their mass murder as secret as possible.[16] Danzig Anatomical Institute [ edit ] A memorial tablet in Gdańsk , Poland, chronicling Rudolph Spanner's experiments. During the Nuremberg Trials, Sigmund Mazur, a laboratory assistant at the Danzig Anatomical Institute (modern Gdańsk), testified that soap had been made from corpse fat at the camp, and claimed that 70 to 80 kg (155–175 lb) of fat collected from 40 bodies could produce more than 25 kg (55 lb) of soap, and that the finished soap was retained by Professor Rudolf Spanner. Eyewitnesses included British POWs who were part of the forced labor that constructed the camp, and Dr Stanisław Byczkowski, head of the Department of Toxicology at the Gdańsk School of Medicine. Holocaust survivor Thomas Blatt, who investigated the subject, found little concrete documentation and no evidence of mass production of soap from human fat, but concluded that there was evidence of experimental soap making.[17] Testimony was given both by Nazis and by British prisoners of war about the development of an industrial process for producing soap from human bodies, the production of such soap on a small-scale basis, and the actual use of this soap by Nazi personnel at the Danzig Anatomic Institute.[1][2][18] The prosecutor: The experiments of the Anatomical Institute in the production the soap from the corpses and tanning of human skin for industrial purposes were conducted on a wide scale. I submit a document ... to the tribunal, which consists of the testimony of Sigmund Mazur, one of the direct participants of the production of soap from the human fat, he was helper-laboratory assistant at the Danzig Anatomical institute. ... The question: Please tell us how soap was produced from the human fat at the Danzig Anatomical institute? The answer: In summer of 1943 in the yard of the Anatomical institute a two-storey stone building containing three chambers was built. This building was designed for the purpose of utilizing corpses and cooking the bones, as the professor Spanner officially declared. The laboratory was defined as the institution of taking down skeletons, burning meat and superfluous bones, but in the winter 1943-1944 he the year of the prof Spanner instructed us to collect the human fat which was not to be thrown away any more. This order was given to Reichert and Borkmann. Prof Spanner gave me the recipe for the production of soap from the human fat in February 1944. According to this recipe 5 kg (11 lb) of the human fat appertained to be mixed with 10 litres (2.2 imp gal; 2.6 US gal) of water and 500 to 1000 grams of the caustic soda. This mixture was cooked for two up to three hours, then it was allowed to cool. Then the soap rose to the surface, while water and settlings were under it. To this mixture a pinch of salt and soda was added and it was cooked again for two up to three hours. After cooling the soap was poured into a mould. In his book Russia at War 1941 to 1945, Alexander Werth reported that while visiting Gdańsk/Danzig in 1945 shortly after its conquest by the Red Army, he saw an experimental factory outside the city for making soap from human corpses. According to Werth it had been run by "a German professor called Spanner" and "was a nightmarish sight, with its vats full of human heads and torsos pickled in some liquid, and its pails full of a flakey substance—human soap".[19] Jasenovac concentration camp [ edit ] In the Independent State of Croatia, a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany and Italy established in part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia, in the Jasenovac concentration camp a small factory for converting human remains into soap was also established by members of the Ustasha movement. Parts of the "soap factory" still exist and can be seen in memorial zone "Donja Gradina".[20] Postwar [ edit ] The idea that "human soap" was manufactured on an industrial scale by the Nazis was first published after the war in 1946 by Zofia Nałkowska in her seminal Medallions (see Rudolf Spanner). It was not refuted for dozens of years in Polish official historiography.[21] Alain Resnais, who treated the testimony of Holocaust survivors as fact, continued the accusation in his noted 1955 Holocaust documentary film Nuit et brouillard. Some postwar Israelis — in the army, schools, etc. — also referred disdainfully to Jewish victims of Nazism arrived to Israel with the Hebrew word סבון (sabon, "soap").[22] In fact, this offensive word was not linked to the rumors about the Nazi crimes and the human soap, but had the sense of "soft", "weaklings".[23] Though evidence does exist of small-scale soap production, possibly experimental, in the camp at Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig/Gdansk,[24] mainstream scholars of the Holocaust consider the idea that the Nazis manufactured soap on an industrial scale to be part of World War II folklore.[3][4][5][25][26][27][28] Historian Israel Gutman has stated that "it was never done on a mass scale".[24] In Hitler's Death Camps: The Sanity of Madness Konnilyn Feig concludes that the Nazis "did indeed use human fat for the making of soap at Stutthof", albeit in limited quantity. Holocaust historian Robert Melvin Spector writes that "her analysis seems sound, given the known fact that the S.S. used everything it could obtain from its prisoners", including hair, skin and bones.[29] In 2006 a sample of the soap archived at the International Court of Justice in The Hague was given for analysis to Andrzej Stołyhwo, an expert in the chemistry of fats from the Gdansk University of Technology in Poland. He concluded that some of the fat in the sample tested was of human origin. The sample of soap had previously been used as evidence in the post-World War II Nuremberg trials, but at the time the technology was unavailable to determine whether the soap had been produced from human fat. The human remains used to make the soap were believed to have been brought from Bydgoszcz and Stutthof concentration camp.[30][31] Today Holocaust deniers employ this controversy to criticize the veracity of the Nazi genocide.[32] Legacy [ edit ] In the wake of the second world war, Rabbi David Polish wrote a poem, speaking of the Jewish soap: And on that day it will be, and one to one they shall gather in the valley of the bones: Human ashes from the furnaces, human vapor from Auschwitz, human parchments from the library of Satan himself, human soap, human unborn fetuses still without the human image... The master of all winds will command and bring forth a peddler to the world, who will gather us one to one, who will wander around the world, and sell us for money, like precious ornaments, and not a high price shall he request. He shall announce his wares and call: "Who wishes to buy a souvenir—a memory from my memories? Little boys made of soap, or a rare parchment from the skin of the head of one of the biggest sages of Ashkenaz?" Rabbi David Polish[33] The BBC documentary about the death camps found during the end of the war shows similar atrocities including shrunken prisoner heads and preserved tattoos, recorded at a display in Buchenwald before the German people from Weimar after the camp's liberation.[34] Several burial sites in Israel include graves for "soap made of Jewish victims by the Nazis". These are probably bars of RIF soap. Following a heated discussion on the media about these graves in 2003, Yad Vashem publicized Professor Yehuda Bauer's research saying that RIF soap was not made of human fat, and that the RIF myth was probably propagated by the Nazi guards to taunt the Jews.[35][36] Yad Vashem includes an image of an emotional funeral and burial of "Jewish" soap in Romania.[37][38] A small bar of soap was on display at the Nazareth holocaust memorial museum in Israel, and a similar bar of soap was buried in the "holocaust cellar" live-museum in mount Zion in Jerusalem, Israel, during the museum's inception in 1958. A replica was on display there. Following Professor Yehuda Bauer of Yad Vashem publicizing his conclusion that soap was not made in industrial quantities from the bodies of Jews or other Nazi camp inmates, Tom Segev, a "new historian" and anti-establishment Israeli author, wrote in his book "The Seventh Million" about the Holocaust-Cellar soap that it was "idol worshiping in Jerusalem".[39][40] See also [ edit ]
The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson. It is to some extent a bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, focused on a young girl named Nell, set in a future world in which nanotechnology affects all aspects of life. The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence. The Diamond Age was first published in 1995 by Bantam Books, as a Bantam Spectra hardcover edition. In 1996, it won both the Hugo and Locus Awards,[1] and was shortlisted for the Nebula and other awards.[1] In 2009, a six-hour miniseries adapted from the novel was slated for development for the Syfy Channel,[2][3][4] although the adaptation did not ultimately emerge. Setting [ edit ] The Diamond Age depicts a near-future world revolutionised by advances in nanotechnology, much as Eric Drexler envisioned it in his nonfiction book Engines of Creation (1986). Molecular nanotechnology is omni-present in the novel's world, generally in the form of Matter Compilers and the products that come out of them. The book explicitly recognizes the achievements of several existing nanotechnology researchers: Feynman, Drexler and Merkle are seen among characters of the fresco in Merkle-Hall, where new nanotechnological items are designed and constructed. The book contains descriptions of various exotic technologies, such as the chevaline (a mechanical horse that can fold up and is light enough to be carried one-handed), and forecasts the use of technologies that are in development today, such as smart paper that can show personalized news headlines. Major cities have immune systems made up of aerostatic defensive micromachines, and public matter compilers provide basic food, blankets, and water for free to anyone who requests them. Matter compilers receive their raw materials from the Feed, a system analogous to the electrical grid of modern society. The Feed carries streams of both energy and basic molecules, which are rapidly assembled into usable goods by matter compilers. The Source, where the Feed's stream of matter originates, is controlled by the Victorian phyle (though smaller, independent Feeds are possible). The hierarchic nature of the Feed and an alternative, anarchic developing technology, known as the Seed, mirror the cultural conflict between East and West that is depicted in the book. This conflict has an economic element as well, with the Feed representing a centrally-controlled distribution mechanism, while the Seed represents a more flexible, open-ended, decentralized method of creation and organization. Phyles [ edit ] Society in The Diamond Age is dominated by a number of phyles, also sometimes called tribes. Phyles are groups of people often distinguished by shared values, similar ethnic heritage, a common religion, or other cultural similarities. In the extremely globalized future depicted in the novel, these cultural divisions have largely supplanted the system of nation-states that divides the world today. Cities in The Diamond Age appear divided into sovereign enclaves affiliated or belonging to different phyles within a single metropolis. Most phyles depicted in the novel have a global scope of sovereignty, and maintain segregated enclaves in or near many cities throughout the world. The phyles coexist much like historical nation-states under a system of justice and mutual protection, known as the Common Economic Protocol (CEP). The rules of the CEP are intended to provide for the co-existence of, and peaceful economic activity between, phyles with potentially very different values. The CEP is concerned particularly with upholding rights to personal property, being shown to provide particularly harsh punishment for harming the economic capability of another person. The role of the CEP in the world of the novel could be seen in comparison with the roles of real-life international organizations such as the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. "Thetes" are individuals who are not members of any phyle and are often socially disadvantaged and economically poor, being similar to second-class citizens under the CEP. In the novel, the material needs of nearly all thetes are satisfied by freely-available food and clothing, albeit of low quality; thetes without the political connections of a phyle are entitled to similarly low-quality "free justice." The book distinguishes three Great Phyles: the Han (consisting of Han Chinese), the Neo-Victorian New Atlantis (consisting largely of Anglo-Saxons, but also accepting Indians, Africans and other members of the Anglosphere who identify with the culture) and Nippon (consisting of Japanese). The novel raises the question as to whether Hindustan (consisting of Hindu Indians) is a fourth Great Phyle, or a "riotously diverse collection of microtribes sintered together according to some formula we don't get." Internally, the New Atlantis phyle is a corporate oligarchy whose "equity lords" rule the organization and its bylaws under allegiance to the vestigial British monarchy. Other phyles are less defined – some intentionally, as with the CryptNet group or the mysterious hive-mind Drummers. Over the course of the story, the Common Economic Protocol sponsors the investigation of clandestine Seed technologies in order to preserve the established order from subversion, using the justification that unrestricted access to Sources would lead to the proliferation of high tech weapons and result in anarchy. It is also hinted that property rights are so expansive that the Protocol recognizes children as the economic assets of their parents. Plot summary [ edit ] The protagonist in the story is Nell, a thete (or person without a tribe; equivalent to the lowest working class) living in the Leased Territories, a lowland slum built on the artificial, diamondoid island of New Chusan, located offshore from the mouth of the Yangtze River, northwest of Shanghai.[5] At the age of four, Nell receives a stolen copy of an interactive book, Young Lady's Illustrated Primer: a Propædeutic Enchiridion, in which is told the tale of Princess Nell and her various friends, kin, associates, &c.,[6] originally intended for the wealthy Neo-Victorian "Equity Lord" Alexander Chung-Sik Finkle-McGraw's granddaughter. The story follows Nell's development under the tutelage of the Primer, and to a lesser degree, the lives of Elizabeth and Fiona, girls who receive similar books. The Primer is intended to steer its reader intellectually toward a more interesting life, as defined by "Equity Lord" Alexander Chung-Sik Finkle-McGraw,[7] and growing up to be an effective member of society. The most important quality to achieving an "interesting life" is deemed to be a subversive attitude towards the status quo. The Primer is designed to react to its owner's environment and teach them what they need to know to survive and develop. The Diamond Age is characterized by two intersecting, almost equally-developed story lines: Nell's education through her independent work with the Primer, and the social downfall of engineer and designer of the Primer, John Percival Hackworth, who has made two illegal copies of the Primer for his own young daughter, Fiona. (One copy is stolen by Nell's brother.) His crime becomes known both to Lord Finkle-McGraw and to Dr. X, the black market engineer whose compiler Hackworth used to create the copy of the Primer, and each man attempts to exploit Hackworth to advance the opposing goals of their tribes. A third storyline follows an actress, Miranda, who plays the voice of Nell's Primer and has almost become Nell's surrogate mother, in her attempts to find Nell. Later Miranda's storyline is taken over by Miranda's associate Carl Hollywood after Miranda disappears. Diamond Age also includes fully narrated educational tales from the Primer that map Nell's individual experience (e.g. her four toy friends) onto archetypal folk tales stored in the primer's database. Although The Diamond Age explores the role of technology and personal relationships in child development, its deeper and darker themes also probe the relative values of cultures (which Stephenson explores in his other novels as well) and the shortcomings in communication between them. Title [ edit ] "Diamond Age" is an extension of labels for archeological time periods that take central technological materials to define an entire era of human history, such as the Stone Age, the Bronze Age or the Iron Age. Technological visionaries such as Eric Drexler and Ralph Merkle, both of whom receive an honorary mention in The Diamond Age, have argued that if nanotechnology develops the ability to manipulate individual atoms at will, it will become possible to simply assemble diamond structures from carbon atoms, materials also known as diamondoids.[8] Merkle states: "In diamond, then, a dense network of strong bonds creates a strong, light, and stiff material. Indeed, just as we named the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Steel Age after the materials that humans could make, we might call the new technological epoch we are entering the Diamond Age".[9] In the novel, a near future vision of our world, nanotechnology has developed precisely to this point, which enables the cheap production of diamond structures. Characters [ edit ] Cover of the 1998 Penguin edition. Nell (Nellodee) – The story's protagonist, from the viewpoint of the novel as a coming-of-age story. She is born to Tequila, a lower-class single mother, and, with the help of the nanotech Primer, grows up to become an independent woman and the leader of a new phyle. (Nellodee) – The story's protagonist, from the viewpoint of the novel as a coming-of-age story. She is born to Tequila, a lower-class single mother, and, with the help of the nanotech Primer, grows up to become an independent woman and the leader of a new phyle. Harv (Harvard) – Nell's older brother, who plays an important role in the beginning as her protector; he obtains the Primer for his sister by mugging John Percival Hackworth. Harv is forced to leave Nell when she joins the Neo-Victorians. (Harvard) – Nell's older brother, who plays an important role in the beginning as her protector; he obtains the Primer for his sister by mugging John Percival Hackworth. Harv is forced to leave Nell when she joins the Neo-Victorians. Bud – A petty criminal and "thete", or tribeless individual, Bud is Tequila's boyfriend and Nell and Harv's father. He is obsessed with his muscular body, and possesses a cranial weapon implant (known as a "skull gun"), which he uses to mug a member of the Ashanti phyle. He is executed for this crime early in the novel. – A petty criminal and "thete", or tribeless individual, Bud is Tequila's boyfriend and Nell and Harv's father. He is obsessed with his muscular body, and possesses a cranial weapon implant (known as a "skull gun"), which he uses to mug a member of the Ashanti phyle. He is executed for this crime early in the novel. Tequila – Nell and Harv's neglectful thete mother. After Bud's death, she has a series of boyfriends who abuse the children. – Nell and Harv's neglectful thete mother. After Bud's death, she has a series of boyfriends who abuse the children. John Percival Hackworth – The novel's second protagonist. He is a Neo-Victorian nanotech engineer, and develops the code for the Primer. He makes an illicit copy of the Primer for his daughter Fiona, who is Nell's age. When his crime is detected, he is forced to become a double agent in a covert power struggle between the Neo-Victorians and the Chinese Celestial Kingdom. Hackworth is forced to spend ten years with a colony of "Drummers," using their distributed intelligence (similar but not identical to distributed artificial intelligence) for the development of a new form of nanotech, known as the Seed. – The novel's second protagonist. He is a Neo-Victorian nanotech engineer, and develops the code for the Primer. He makes an illicit copy of the Primer for his daughter Fiona, who is Nell's age. When his crime is detected, he is forced to become a double agent in a covert power struggle between the Neo-Victorians and the Chinese Celestial Kingdom. Hackworth is forced to spend ten years with a colony of "Drummers," using their distributed intelligence (similar but not identical to distributed artificial intelligence) for the development of a new form of nanotech, known as the Seed. Fiona Hackworth – Hackworth's daughter, and his motivation for stealing a second copy of the Primer. During Hackworth's decade-long exile with the Drummers, he is able to maintain a connection with his daughter through the Primer, and when he returns she joins him, eventually choosing to stay with a surrealistic acting troupe in London. – Hackworth's daughter, and his motivation for stealing a second copy of the Primer. During Hackworth's decade-long exile with the Drummers, he is able to maintain a connection with his daughter through the Primer, and when he returns she joins him, eventually choosing to stay with a surrealistic acting troupe in London. Gwendolyn Hackworth – Hackworth's wife and Fiona's mother, who divorces Hackworth after he joins the Drummers. – Hackworth's wife and Fiona's mother, who divorces Hackworth after he joins the Drummers. Lord Alexander Chung-Sik Finkle-McGraw – A Neo-Victorian "Equity Lord" with the Apthorp conglomerate, who commissions the development of the Primer for his granddaughter Elizabeth. – A Neo-Victorian "Equity Lord" with the Apthorp conglomerate, who commissions the development of the Primer for his granddaughter Elizabeth. Elizabeth Finkle-McGraw – Lord Finkle-McGraw's granddaughter. It was for her that the project to develop the Illustrated Primer was begun. However, she never became as engrossed in the stories created by the Primer as Nell, and later rebelled against her Neo-Victorian upbringing due in part to the abuse of Miss Stricken. Elizabeth runs away from her wealthy aristocratic family to join the secretive CryptNet phyle. – Lord Finkle-McGraw's granddaughter. It was for her that the project to develop the Illustrated Primer was begun. However, she never became as engrossed in the stories created by the Primer as Nell, and later rebelled against her Neo-Victorian upbringing due in part to the abuse of Miss Stricken. Elizabeth runs away from her wealthy aristocratic family to join the secretive CryptNet phyle. Judge Fang – A Chinese Confucian judge who sentences Bud to death in the beginning of the book. He also investigates Hackworth's mugging by Harv after he had illicitly had a second edition of the Primer created. As a civil official abiding by deep Confucian principles, his decision to let Nell keep the stolen primer is one of the pivotal plot elements that allows Nell's story to unfold. The fallout from that choice leads him to question his allegiances to the Coastal Republic (which rules Shanghai and the surrounding area), and he eventually joins the inland Celestial Kingdom. – A Chinese Confucian judge who sentences Bud to death in the beginning of the book. He also investigates Hackworth's mugging by Harv after he had illicitly had a second edition of the Primer created. As a civil official abiding by deep Confucian principles, his decision to let Nell keep the stolen primer is one of the pivotal plot elements that allows Nell's story to unfold. The fallout from that choice leads him to question his allegiances to the Coastal Republic (which rules Shanghai and the surrounding area), and he eventually joins the inland Celestial Kingdom. Chang and Miss Pao – Judge Fang's assistants. and – Judge Fang's assistants. Dr. X. – A mysterious character who evolves from being an illicit technology specialist and hacker to being a powerful Confucian leader and nefarious force. His name comes from the fact that most westerners cannot pronounce his Chinese name; he encourages people to instead call him by the first letter of his name, 'X'. – A mysterious character who evolves from being an illicit technology specialist and hacker to being a powerful Confucian leader and nefarious force. His name comes from the fact that most westerners cannot pronounce his Chinese name; he encourages people to instead call him by the first letter of his name, 'X'. Constable Moore - Constable of the Dovetail community, semi-retired soldier, and Nell's adoptive father/guardian. - Constable of the Dovetail community, semi-retired soldier, and Nell's adoptive father/guardian. Miranda Redpath – A "ractor" (actor in interactive movies) who, by performing in the stories of Nell's Primer, effectively becomes a mother figure for Nell. – A "ractor" (actor in interactive movies) who, by performing in the stories of Nell's Primer, effectively becomes a mother figure for Nell. Carl Hollywood – A ractor and performance artist, Miranda's friend and adviser. He becomes more important towards the end of the novel, when he is involved in the battle between the Celestial Kingdom and the Coastal Republic. – A ractor and performance artist, Miranda's friend and adviser. He becomes more important towards the end of the novel, when he is involved in the battle between the Celestial Kingdom and the Coastal Republic. Miss Matheson - The head teacher at the academy where Nell, Fiona and Elizabeth attend. She instructs Nell to find her own path. - The head teacher at the academy where Nell, Fiona and Elizabeth attend. She instructs Nell to find her own path. Miss Stricken- An authoritarian teacher at Miss Matheson's Academy who frequently uses corporal punishment on the students for minor infractions. During a confrontation with Nell, Stricken attempts to strike her with the ruler only to be immediately disarmed due to Nell's physical training by the Primer, this leads to her Elizabeth and Fiona all being placed in detention where they are forced to mindlessly copy from textbooks. Allusions to other works and genres [ edit ] Charles Dickens [ edit ] The novel's neo-Victorian setting, as well as its narrative form, particularly the chapter headings, suggest a relation to the work of Charles Dickens.[10] The protagonist's name points directly to Little Nell from Dickens' 1840 novel The Old Curiosity Shop. Judge Dee mysteries [ edit ] The novel's character Judge Fang is based on a creative extension of Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee mystery series, which is based around a Confucian judge in ancient China who usually solves three cases simultaneously.[11] The Judge Dee stories are based on the tradition of Chinese mysteries, transposing key elements into Western detective fiction. Cyberpunk [ edit ] Nell's father, Bud, is presented as an archetypal cyberpunk character. He is a career criminal (though not a particularly skilled or high-ranking one) with various surgically implanted devices to aid him in his 'work'. Stephenson attempts to establish The Diamond Age as a "postcyberpunk" book by killing this character early on, while acknowledging the influence of the cyberpunk genre. The Wizard of Oz [ edit ] When Nell enters the castle of King Coyote in the Primer's final challenge for her, she encounters an enormous computer apparently designed to think and placed in charge of the kingdom. The computer is named "Wizard 0.2", a typographical allusion to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In that book, the Wizard puts on a grand appearance but is later revealed to be merely a man hiding behind a curtain. In similar fashion, Wizard 0.2 creates an impressive light show as it apparently processes data, but it is then revealed that the computer's decisions are in fact made by King Coyote himself. Snow Crash [ edit ] The Diamond Age can be seen as a sequel to Snow Crash, set many years later. This reading is based on a connection between Y.T., a major character in Snow Crash, and the aged neo-Victorian Miss Matheson in The Diamond Age, who drops oblique references to her past as a hard-edged skateboarder. This would set The Diamond Age some 80–100 years after Snow Crash. Further supporting evidence to connect these two novels include: Stephenson's short story "The Great Simoleon Caper" which refers to both the Metaverse seen in Snow Crash and the First Distributed Republic seen in The Diamond Age (another short story which fits in the Diamond Age milieu and even shares a character is "Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of Tribes of the Pacific Coast "). and the First Distributed Republic seen in (another short story which fits in the milieu and even shares a character is "Excerpt from the Third and Last Volume of "). references to Franchise-Organized Quasi-National Entities (FOQNEs) in both novels. "The Great Simoleon Caper" depicts a United States in which rising inflation encourages people to use an untraceable relay system that makes it impossible to enforce taxes on online transactions (which was later used as a plot element in another of Stephenson's works, the 1999 novel Cryptonomicon). By the setting of Snow Crash the United States and most other nation-states have collapsed because of hyperinflation; in The Diamond Age, one character tells Miranda that they collapsed from the lack of tax revenue. Small, voluntary governments like the burbclaves depicted in Snow Crash replaced nation-states. Both novels deal with an almost "primitive tech" replacing a current, worldwide use technology, in the sense of the reprogramming of the mind through ancient Sumerian chanting in Snow Crash (which also uses allusions to Babylonian prostitutes passing an information virus like a sexually transmitted disease), and the idea of nanotechnology propagating and communicating through sexual intercourse, passing from body to body like a virus. Both novels use an ancient, almost primitive threat to modern, "Western" technology and ideology (The Raft in Snow Crash and The Fists of Righteous Harmony in The Diamond Age). Stephenson explores the idea of the tech divide and its social and economic ramifications to the extreme using these violent, but not surprising, social revolutions. Proposed television adaptation [ edit ] In January 2007, the Sci-Fi Channel announced that it would be making a six-hour miniseries based on The Diamond Age. According to a June 2009 report in Variety, Zoë Green had been hired to write the series, with George Clooney and Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Productions as executive producers on the project.[4] However, as of 2018 , no further news on the project has emerged. See also [ edit ] References [ edit ]
Hundreds of legal proceedings across the province are stalled until at least 2 p.m. today as result of a widespread technical problem. All internet connections are down, restricting access to information including files and registries. Even photocopiers are not working since they connect to the internet. The Ministry of Justice has not offered any explanation. Rénald Beaudry, a defence lawyer of 34 years, told CBC News he hasn't seen this in all his years in the Quebec judicial system. People are waiting in hallways until the courts reopen. Le Min. Justice tente tjrs de trouver la nature de la faille informatique. Couloirs du palais sont bondés. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rcqc?src=hash">#rcqc</a> <a href="https://t.co/dvPAKGHh5q">pic.twitter.com/dvPAKGHh5q</a> —@jeylegault A judge in Quebec City wouldn't go ahead with a case this morning because it required playing a recording from the Internet, which was down. Entire internal system is down & no hearings bc even court recordings are linked to internet, not even possible to make photocopies. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbcQC?src=hash">#cbcQC</a> —@CatouCBC The major technical problems began early Monday morning.
We haven’t heard too much from Karen Berger since she left DC Comics, where she had worked for decades, running the Vertigo imprint and forming it in her own image. And she had been at the birth of John Constantine in Swamp Thing. So when Slate published an article about the state of the character on the eve of his new TV show, they got a comment, first from the last writer of Hellblazer and writer of Justice League Dark, Peter Milligan. “When [New 52 Constantine] became the only incarnation of this character, he just becomes some British geezer that does some magic,” Milligan said. While Berger, who is rumoured to be working on a new graphic novel boutique imprint with Judith Regan, is quoted, “They’ve taken the character and put him in a place that’s Constantine-lite,” said Karen Berger, who left DC last year. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s not the real Constantine.” When the midwife starts to cast doubt on the parentage, it might be worth paying attention. About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist. (Last Updated ) Related Posts None found
The country witnessed a momentous occasion after the Rajya Sabha today passed the historic Goods and Services Tax Constitutional Amendment Bill. The country witnessed a momentous occasion after the Rajya Sabha today passed the historic Goods and Services Tax Constitutional Amendment Bill. The tax, upon rollout, will replace almost all state and central indirect taxes and levies such as excise, service tax, sales tax, VAT and octroi. The most vocal proponent of the bill, Adi Godrej, believes the tax's rollout will add at least 1.5-2 percent to the country's growth rate. GST's benefits are many: it will widen the tax base by easing compliances, boost ease of doing business, reduce the overall tax rate in the economy and thus help investment and boost growth. Being value-added in nature, it will also eliminate the economically-negative practice of levying tax on tax. Further, by doing away by differential tax structures in various states, GST will for the first time create a national market and boost inter-state trade. "The biggest positives from the GST is that it will lower the tax rate and make tax evasion very difficult," Godrej said. The general expectation is that the GST rate would be closer to 18 percent. Currently, manufacturing is tax at around 30 percent while services are at around 14 percent. Further, the GST will also level the playing field between the unorganized and organized sector, as the former could get away from paying taxes and enjoyed a tax advantage. "The industry will benefit tremendously," said Godrej. "Overall, consumption, production and investment, all will get a boost." Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava said that while the Bill has been passed, effective implementation of the tax will be equally important. After all, the minutae of the Bill -- the standard GST rate, which items will qualify for the standard, concession and luxury/sin tax rates -- will all be thrashed out later the GST Council comprising the state and central officials. M&M's Pawan Goenka said that the transition period around the time GST is rolled out will be important. "The transition will be fairly complex. GST's success will depend on the complexity of the documentation processes. The model law as it stands needs finetuning," he said. The tax's rollout will, however, give a fillip to credit growth, Yes Bank chief Rana Kapoor said. "This is the second take-off of the economy. It will rebuild private sector confidence in investments. and unleash several multipliers of growth." Kapoor, who said GDP growth could hit double digits post GST rollout, added that logistics and transporation sectors will gain the most. "Post the strong monsoon, this is icing on the cake," he said.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Disruption is a core tenet of the tech industry. Presumably, this is why billionaire entrepreneur and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has embarked on a new project to disrupt solid ground. Over the weekend, Musk began digging a big-ass hole on SpaceX properties to start testing out how to build a high-speed tunnel underneath Los Angeles. Advertisement It all began in December, when Musk took to Twitter to complain about Los Angeles traffic. “Traffic is driving me nuts,” he wrote. “Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging... I am actually going to do this.” And unlike the rest of us, Musk follows through on his Twitter promises. But as any good mole person could tell you, boring a tunnel is no simple task. “We have no idea what we’re doing—I want to be clear about that,” Musk said at a SpaceX hyperloop design competition on Sunday. Advertisement Musk has been in publicity mode over the last week, actively using his Twitter account to support Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State, DM with journalists, and crowdsourcing suggestions on how to amend Trump’s “unlawful” immigration ban. Last week, Musk told The Verge that “without tunnels, we will all be in traffic hell forever,” calling his idea to bore tunnels underneath Los Angeles “the key to solving urban gridlock.” He told WIRED, “If you think of tunnels going 10, 20, 30 layers deep (or more), it is obvious that going 3D down will encompass the needs of any city’s transport of arbitrary size.” Advertisement On Sunday Musk elucidated on the concept of “going 3D down”: You have tall buildings, they’re all 3D, and then everyone wants to go into the building and leave the building at a same time. On a 2D road network, that obviously doesn’t work, so you have to go 3D either up or down. And I think probably down. Is 3D down the future of tech? Some urban planning experts aren’t quite on board with Musk’s twisted underground vision. An urban planning researcher at UCLA told WIRED, “Our recent experience with tunnels in the US is that neighbors worry, you run up against various environmental laws, and you just never know what’s underneath the Earth.” Advertisement But Musk maintained, “better tunneling tech improves everything: road, subway, Hyperloop.” As of now, Musk’s boring tests are restricted to company property, meaning an underground Los Angeles superhighway won’t happen in the near future. If Musk wants to build a high speed tunnel to LAX, as he’s previously suggested, a spokesperson for the LA Department of Public Works told WIRED that it would require approval from the LA City Council. If Musk’s tunnel dream never gets realized, he need not worry. Since Trump was elected, things have been going pretty well for the tech god. He’ll be fine! Advertisement [WIRED]
Hi loves!! I’m not sure how many of you tuned into Kaitlyn’s Off the Vine podcast yesterday (if you missed it, give it a listen here!) … we shared a bottle of wine, exchanged stories, did a little gossiping, laughed our asses off … AND … I dished a secret about Bachelor, Bachelorette, and Bachelor In Paradise!! Nope, it’s not about who ends up together, or who breaks up … but rather … GULP… that I don’t actually WATCH IT!! ? I know, I know, some of you may be thinking … “WTF?! But you write about it and tweet about it … YOU LIAR!” While we do have an amazing team of funny witty writers (ok, by “Team” I mean Mindy and Shay lol), we work collectively. Sometimes I write the blog and Mindy edits it, sometimes Shay writes it, I tweak it and Mindy Posts it, sometimes I narrate the blog over the phone while driving around looking for vegan cheese, and the girls write it … It is always my voice and I am always involved and ALWAYS read and approve. It all started late in the last season of the Bachelor. I was finishing the house, had my handful with a new baby, was filming two shows, running the site, attending appearances, and travelling and I was EXHAUSTED. I would TRY SO hard to stay awake for the show but kept falling asleep. I mean I couldn’t even watch my own damn show!! LOL … Mindy would call me the next day to get my recap and I just started to tell her … I can’t. I can’t do it. I fell asleep!!! Every time I put any kind of TV on … I fall asleep!!! So she would say, “It’s ok, I watched it, I will write it” … and it was GOOD!! By the time the Bachelorette started, It was summer, we were in our house and the last place I wanted to be was in front of the TV. We didn’t really know what we were doing but Mindy knew my voice, she knew EVERYTHING about my opinion on the show and was quick to pick her favourite hunks out in the season … even if they turned out to be a bit wishy washy … cough DEAN cough. Mindy was in love with him for the longest time. Jokes on her! LOL…. DEAN. She also saved me time with Leo, to shower and actually get more than 4 hours of sleep and I LOVED her blogs and thought they were so funny and we just kind of went with it! But lately, I’ve been thinking … this is wrong. (SORRY GUYS, PLEASE don’t hate me!) … and it wasn’t until my podcast with Kailtyn that I realized what I needed to do… I NEEDED TO INTRODUCE YOU GUYS TO FUNNY, WITTY, BACHELOR FRANCHISE LOVING MINDY!!!!!! In case you don’t know about Mindy yet, she’s been full time with the team since last December but I’ve known her since she was about 6 years old. Our moms were BFF’s and later in our adult years she found me and we had some things in common, social media and good old Albertan humour!!! She worked for a digital marketing company which was actually doing well, but I wanted someone to help Shay out badly … the poor girl was burning the candle at both ends … I just loved her energy and KNEW she would be perfect for the team, so I lured her over to the bright side … So from here on … Miss Mindy, will be leading the way!!!! Though she might have me make some guest appearances! LOL … We have decided, that there will be some days that I can pry my dry ass eyelids open, drink just the perfect amount of wine and stay awake and watch the show, and then maybe sometimes I can’t … I will always be involved but now, this is Mindy’s gig! I hope you guys LOVE her, and please be nice, God knows this world of blogging can be cruel … But love this girl, because she is PURE GOLD! Ok. So without further ADIEU … ( and YES I actually wrote the above LOL) … herrrreeeeessssss MINDY!!!!!!!!! Hey, guys … Mindy here!! Is this awkward now?? Lol. It almost feels like we just broke up and now we’re working on getting back together! Will you accept my rose?? I hope you’ll still follow along with me through this whirlwind of a season!! And yes, Jill is right … I was crushing on Dean HARD … but he’s realllllly not winning me over anymore after how he treated Kristina, I wanted to go all bat shit crazy on him for her!! Good thing there was a TV and thousands of miles in between us so I couldn’t give him a piece of my mind!! Wait. Who am I kidding?? I’d probably get lost in those blue eyes of his no matter how mad I was. Dammit Dean. You and your dreamy blue eyes can just turn around get out of here … slowly. Lol. Ok. I’m done with that. On a positive note though, I WAS impressed with how Dean stayed committed to Danielle and didn’t accept a date with Emily. Is he possibly … L-E-A-R-N-I-N-G?? I guess better late than never … right?? Can we actually just address the twins for a moment here?? They came in like wrecking balls last night and were out to destroy everything and anything that got in their way … I was REALLY convinced they were going to stir some sht up and while they certainly TRIED, it didn’t work in their favour!! They were also WAY MORE feisty this time around than they ever have been!! Anyone else notice that?? Some of the things that came out of their mouths were pretty harsh … and the throwing of the scallops … YIKES. I’m actually still trying to wrap my head around everything they did within a matter of hours. LOL!! They came, they attempted to mess things up … and they left with their middle fingers high in the air. LOL. However, speaking of stirring things up … Jaimi successfully did this and Diggy was DIGGING it (sorry, I had to, I know it’s lame but I looove corny jokes) … he didn’t hold back one bit when getting in there for a kiss … or maybe that was mouth to mouth?? It was a looong makeout session either way and I’m not sure I could ever hold my breath for that long, but they did. While Jaimi and Diggy were enjoying their time together Dominique wasn’t a happy camper … and while I feel for her … I ALSO remember when she came in and stole Diggy from Lacey … sooooo karma?? Gah. I actually have no idea how everyone deals with all the drama on this show, I would be a hot mess the whole time. LOL!! photo credit I have to admit, I’m honestly still shocked that Derek and Taylor hit it off RIGHT from the beginning and are such a solid couple!! It blows me away every time I think about it! I think it’s because I remember her from Nick’s season and she was soooo closed off and a little bit bitchy (for lack of a better word!) BUT she has really opened up … I think Derek really helps to bring this side out of her … he is falling HARD and so is she!! I’m super excited for both of them and pleasantly surprised! I can’t believe next week is the last episode!! These two nighters have made this season fly by! Anyway … my predictions are below … make sure to share your thoughts with us in the comments section!! Taylor & Derek: They will get engaged! Jaimi & Diggy: I think Diggy will be SUPER confused and won’t know what to do but in the end I THINK he might pick Jaimi butttt I don’t know if they would last because I think Diggy is too mellow for her … Dean & D-Lo: I don’t think this will last … I mean, have you SEEN Becca Tilley’s Instagram?? I know she recently posted not to assume that when she shares a photo of her and a guy that it doesn’t mean they are together (and I should PROBABLY listen to her) but that just made me assume even more. I SWEAR Dean and Becca are an item. Go look … let me know what you think. I’m so curious!! LOL! Robby & Amanda: I THINK this is going to end up going somewhere!! He might just propose … he seems pretty smitten but I’m not entirely sure Amanda is there yet … it could be a delayed proposal … or maybe they date first for a while!! Jack Stone & Christen: I don’t think this one will last … I just can’t see them together forever?? Can you??? Raven & Adam: Something tells me this is another one that will fizzle out …I HOPE not but I get the feeling it might be. Lacey & Daniel: Lacey really likes Daniel and I’m not sure if the feeling is 100% mutual butttt they kind of make sense together. Ben Z: I know he is gone but PLEASE tell me WHY none of the girls scooped him up?! I don’t understand. What do you think of my predictions??? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!! Ps. Did you hear they announced the NEW BACHELOR this morning?! It’s Arie Luyendyk Jr. Do you have a puzzled look on your face like I did?! Well, he was a runner up on Emily Maynard’s season and I totally forgot about him until now. I’m so BUMMED it’s not Wells … and surprised it’s not Peter!! photo credit What are YOUR thoughts on Arie as the next Bachelor?? xo Mindy
It’s fashionable to dislike Return Of The Jedi these days, and dismiss it as the weakest of the original trilogy. That’s unfair. Without Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back has no ending, and Han remains frozen in carbonite forever. The trilogy closer has many elements that everyone agrees are outstanding, from the cross-cutting between the three battles that finish the film to the escape from Jabba’s sail barge to any scenes involving Leia’s bikini. The sticking point, it seems, are the Ewoks. They’re second only to Jar Jar Binks in the list of many Star Wars fans’ pet peeves. But it’s time to cut the cuddly critters a break because they really did take down the Empire. For those who have forgotten, or tried to forget, the teddy-bear like Ewoks live on the forest moon of Endor. Perhaps three feet tall and noticeably roly-poly, they are hunters with a relatively primitive society, threatened by endless, bigger monsters and, in the years just before we meet them, the Galactic Empire. They teamed up with the Rebel heroes of Star Wars after befriending Princess Leia and under the impression that C-3PO was one of their gods, and then played a key role in bringing down the shield around the second Death Star and, in turn, the Empire. Some of the hatred of Ewoks stems from that unlikely-seeming victory. How could the all-powerful Empire be brought down by these tree-dwelling teddies? How can sticks and rocks trump blasters and speeder bikes? It seemed an insult to every fan who had come to see the Empire as the ultimate evil in the Star Wars universe. Of course, that’s one important reason for George Lucas to invent these creatures in the first place: the Ewoks help us to believe in the Rebellion. If the Empire had been beaten solely by a similarly organised force aboard their own massive starships, one would have to wonder if the system had truly changed, or if it was more a case of The Emperor is Dead, long live the Emperor (Emperor Mon Mothma? Emperor Ackbar?). The Ewoks’ involvement is the best evidence we have that the Rebellion is fundamentally different in character from its enemy, and that they might offer a more inclusive government for the galaxy. Narratively, if the Empire had been brought down by the equally organised, similarly technological Rebellion, there would be nothing to truly cheer. It’s the underdog that truly inspires us – and Ewoks are almost literal underdogs given their furriness and short stature. There’s a poetry to their story, that of a put-upon people rising up against their oppressor with no weapons beyond their immediate environment. It’s a story that’s come up again and again in human history, albeit with often tragic results. Still, the Ewoks’ victory is not quite as unlikely as it seems. From the Battle of Britain to Rorke’s Drift, there’s a long and glorious history of determined but tiny groups out-fighting their opponents. One such was an explicit reference for the whole Battle for Endor. If the first film’s space battle was inspired by World War II dogfights against the Nazis, Return Of The Jedi takes its model from the Vietnam War. The Ewoks are – stay with us here; Lucas is on the record about this – a fuzzy, furry version of the Vietcong. Theirs is a hardwood forest rather than a true jungle, but like the Vietcong they face a more technologically advanced enemy who fatally underestimates their ability to use the environment to their advantage. The parallel to that war goes even further: the Emperor even has an oval-shaped headquarters. And if you want to really stretch the comparison, he’s keeping secrets from those around him like Nixon, and spying secretly on those he thinks are working against him. It all adds up! Admittedly, any real-world parallels run into the most legitimate criticism of the Ewoks, that they perpetuate a rather patronising attitude to ‘noble savages’. Their name was inspired by the Miwok tribe who once inhabited the area of Redwood National Park where their scenes were shot, and elements of their behaviour (including whispers of cannibalism) are clearly inspired by other Earth cultures – which makes the often condescending attitude of the three main heroes arguably racist by proxy. But only the terminally politically-correct object to Ewoks on that basis. Their real dislike is prompted by something, or someone, else. A shot from the Ewoks spin-off movie Battle for Endor Most people who dislike Ewoks are grown men, big Star Wars fans, and most claim they hated the teddy-bear like savages even when they originally saw the film as kids. This is almost always total nonsense. It would be hard to imagine anything less likely to dismay children. Ewoks are irrepressible and ridiculous, squabbling like toddlers themselves and cheering each other along. Through two spin-off TV films – Caravan Of Courage and Battle For Endor, both of which saw the Ewoks save two tow-haired kids from evil magicians – and a cartoon series, the Ewoks became breakout stars. Kids almost universally love them on first viewing, and anyone who claims otherwise is lying. What these hardcore fans really object to is the fact that the Ewoks are designed to appeal to kids, and that, as kids, they fell for it. The Ewoks are proof that these grown fans were once susceptible to George Lucas’s more whimsical inventions – and that became unthinkable on May 19, 1999. The dislike of Ewoks mushroomed into hate with The Phantom Menace, and it’s inextricably tied to the universal fan hatred of Jar Jar Binks. Like the Ewoks, Jar Jar was clumsy and spoke in a nonsensical, sing-song tone. He had the same knack for defeating vast numbers of technologically-superior enemies (at least the Ewoks did it on purpose) and spent time with the film’s main characters when they could, presumably, be better engaged in discussing the taxation of trade routes or whatever. It was as if a million voices cried out in horror as they realised that the films they loved had always been aimed at children, and were suddenly silenced as they reassessed their lives. If Jar Jar Binks was terrible, and their children loved him, had they once been equally lacking in taste? Would they, too, have fallen for Jar Jar if the Gungans had appeared instead of Ewoks? Did Lucas manipulate them as he did the next generation? Such fans had to hate the Ewoks. It was the only logical way to comprehensively reject Jar Jar. The fact is that the Ewoks would eat the Gungans for breakfast. Despite inflexible eyes and mouths they’re better designed, and Warwick Davis’ charmingly awkward Wicket is vastly more appealing that the mutant combination of Ahmed Best’s voice and ILM’s then-groundbreaking Gungan effects. And serendipity played a role in that character’s success. A huge Star Wars fan, the 11 year-old Davis had replied to the casting call for small actors to fill the heavy, hot Ewok costumes. His boundless energy put him first in line when Kenny "R2-D2" Baker got sick on the day set for the big scene with Leia, and Wicket got a sudden promotion (Baker still played reckless Ewok Paploo). Credit should go to all the 66 actors who played the Ewoks in Elstree Studios, for the village scenes, and in action in the redwood forests of California. The costumes were essentially personal saunas, so assistants stood by with fans and drinks between every take. By the end of the day only the irrepressible Davis was still bouncing, kept lively by the mere presence of his hero, Luke Skywalker. A 'wokling' Amid that heat and chaos, the performers gave the Ewoks a vivid, realistic energy. While they’re adorable – watch out for the baby "woklings"– they’re also nervous, sensitive creatures . In fact, their mixed-up psychology gives a clue that the Ewoks are more than just teddies. They are hunters, trappers and schemers of some skill (witness their cunning efforts to draw the guards away from the bunker that the rebel troops need to infiltrate) but have the twitchiness you might expect of prey animals. Those highly-strung nerves are the result of years or even decades under threat from the Imperial forces. Wider Star Wars lore has it that Ewoks have been captured and sold into slavery by the Empire. These sentient creatures have even been hunted for meat; the Clone Wars TV series showed one diner offering “Ewok jerky” on its menu. That may explain the never-confirmed rumours that they return the favour and eat some of the dead Stormtroopers at the end of Jedi. So maybe the fans should cut the Ewoks some slack. They were enslaved, abused and even eaten by the Empire; they have gone from predators to prey and back. As characters, and in the wider story, they earned their place in the Star Wars pantheon. After all that, they deserve to use Stormtrooper helmets as bongos – and to a little more respect from fans.
Sweden's most visited pirate streaming site will close this week, forever. The administrator of the site, whose identity is now public, has revealed that police carried out a raid against him earlier this month and detained him for almost four days. This Friday, five years of pirate activity will come to an end. While millions associate Sweden with BitTorrent through its connections with The Pirate Bay, over the past several years the public has increasingly been obtaining its content in other ways. Thanks to cheap bandwidth and an appetite for instant gratification, so-called streaming portals have grown in popularity, with movies and TV shows just a couple of clicks away in convenient Netflix-style interfaces. Founded in 2011, Swefilmer is currently Sweden’s most popular streaming movie and TV show site. Research last year from Media Vision claimed that 25% of all web TV viewing in the country was carried out on Swefilmer and another similar site, Dreamfilm. According to Alexa the site is currently the country’s 100th most popular domain, but in the next three days it will shut down for good. The revelation comes from the site’s admin, who has just been revealed as local man Ola Johansson. He says that a surprise and unwelcome visit made it clear that he could not continue. In a YouTube video posted yesterday, Johansson reports that earlier this month he was raided by the police who seized various items of computer equipment and placed him under arrest. “It’s been a tough month to say the least. On 8 July, I received a search by the police at home. I lost a computer, mobile phone and other things,” Johansson says. While most suspects in similar cases are released after a few hours or perhaps overnight, Johansson says he was subjected to an extended detention. “I got to sit in jail for 90 hours. When I came out on Monday [after being raided on Wednesday] the site had been down since Friday,” he explains. The Swede said he noticed something was amiss at the beginning of July when he began experiencing problems with the Russian server that was used to host the site’s videos. “It started when all things from OK.ru disappeared. That’s the service where we have uploaded all the videos,” Johansson says. While the site remains online for now, the Swede says that this Friday Swefilmer will close down for good. The closure will mark the end of an era but since he is now facing a criminal prosecution that’s likely to conclude in a high-profile trial, Johansson has little choice but to pull the plug. The site’s considerable userbase will be disappointed with the outcome but there are others that are welcoming the crackdown. “We are not an anonymous Hollywood studio,” said local director Anders Nilsson in response to the news. “We are a group of film makers and we will not give up when someone spits in our faces by stealing our movies and putting them on criminal sites to share them in the free world. It is just as insulting as if someone had stolen the purely physical property.” Aside from creating a gap in the unauthorized streaming market, the forthcoming closure of Swefilmer will have repercussions in the courtroom too, particularly concerning an important legal process currently playing out in Sweden. Last November, Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Nordisk Film and the Swedish Film Industry filed a lawsuit in the Stockholm District Court against local ISP Bredbandsbolaget (The Broadband Company). It demands that the ISP blocks subscriber access to The Pirate Bay and also Swefilmer. Even after negotiation Bredbandsbolaget refused to comply, so the parties will now meet in an October hearing to determine the future of website blocking in Sweden. It is believed that the plaintiffs in the case were keen to tackle a torrent site and a streaming site in the same process but whether Swefilmer will now be replaced by another site is currently unknown. If it does, Dreamfilm could be the most likely candidate.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (WHNT) - New technology aimed at improving security is being added at entry points to Redstone Arsenal. That's also the reason for the heavy delays going into the gates Thursday morning. Gate guards have started to use the new equipment which Redstone Arsenal leaders say will help ensure each person seeking to enter the installation has the proper credentials. “Our gate procedures aren’t at an acceptable level to keep our Arsenal secure," said Redstone Arsenal Garrison Commander Col. Bill Marks. "While employee convenience is important, safety and security are our top priorities." Arsenal officials say the technology will help guards spot counterfeit badges or expired credentials. The use of new equipment and procedures is something Redstone Arsenal commanders say is important to reduce predictability for those seeking to harm the United States. "Every day, those who would do us harm are changing their tactics and techniques,” said Col. Marks. “We have to adapt as well. As new technologies become available to us, we must take advantage of them to maintain our security posture.” Arsenal leaders advise workers seeking entry to adjust their travel routine, have their credentials ready for inspection as they approach a gate and be patient.
Binny's, Culver's Set for Redeveloped Bank Building; Aldi, Starbucks Out View Full Caption PORTAGE PARK — A long vacant former bank building on the western edge of the Six Corners Shopping District is set to be transformed into a Binny's Beverage Depot and the first Culver's restaurant on the Northwest Side, the owner said Friday. Binny's has agreed to lease the first floor of the former Bank of America building at 4901 W. Irving Park Road, said lawyer Charles Cui, who owns the nearly 50-year-old building that has been vacant since 2011. "It is coming along quite well," Cui said of the effort to redevelop the bank building, which has progressed in fits and starts for the last several years. In addition, Wisconsin-based Culver's — known for its "butter burgers" and frozen custard — has signed a letter of intent to open a restaurant with a drive-thru window just west of the former bank building where a tire shop used to operate, according to Culver's spokesman Paul Pitas. Hilary Jurinak, Binny's communications coordinator, said the company could not comment on the Irving Park Road location but hoped to have "information available soon." Binny's and Culver's interest in the site means grocery chain Aldi and coffee behemoth Starbucks are no longer considering opening stores in the building, Cui said. Both Aldi and Strabucks signed letters of intent — a step short of signing a lease — before scrapping plans to open in Portage Park. The 50,000-square-foot building is more than 70 percent leased, and will also feature the first Retro Fitness gym in Chicago, Cui said. A 300-seat theater on the second floor, which was once home to the Northwest Chicago Film Society, will be restored, and offices for medical services and nonprofit arts groups will be created, according to the plans, which received a warm welcome from Portage Park residents at a community meeting in March. Cui said he's still looking for a non-profit group to manage the theater. Ald. John Arena (45th) supports the $16-million development, which promises to reshape half a city block between Lamon and Lavergne avenues on the western edge of Six Corners. It will benefit the community by "filling a hole in our shopping district," the alderman has said. But Cui said he was still negotiating with city officials about the amount of money the project will receive from the city's Portage Park Tax Increment Financing District. While Arena endorsed the development group's request for $2.5 million from the TIF fund, city officials have been pressing the team to make the project work with $2 million or less in public money, Cui said. Without public money, the project is not feasible, Cui said. "The TIF money is the final piece that we are waiting for," Cui said. "It is crucial." The tax money is needed to preserve the theater and completely renovate the building built in the 1960s that was gutted by vandals four years ago and make it environmentally sensitive and efficient, officials said. If approved by city officials, construction could start this fall, with the first stores opening in summer 2016, officials said. The project would create between 75-100 construction jobs and 100-150 full-time jobs and generate $300,000 in sales tax revenue for the city, Bossy said. The proposed development "honors the intent" of the master plan approved by the city in 2013, Arena said. Efforts to revitalize the area around Irving Park Road and Cicero and Milwaukee avenues, which was once Chicago's premier shopping district outside the Loop, hinge on the redevelopment of the former bank building, according to the master plan. For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Andre Berto and Shawn Porter both made names for themselves with aggression and a willingness to fight. Now, the former welterweight titlists will pair their exciting styles against one another. Berto and Porter will meet April 22 in a Showtime Boxing main event in Brooklyn. They announced the fight on Saturday at the Barclays Center in a news conference before the start of the 147-pound unification bout between Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia. The 12-round bout will be a title eliminator for the WBC belt held by Garcia. Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs), a native of Akron, Ohio, who fights out of Las Vegas, outpointed Devon Alexander to win the IBF title in 2013 before losing it to current titleholder Kell Brook the following year. “The only thing on my mind right now is the WBC title,” Porter said. “That is the only thing on my mind. I turned pro a long time ago, and not long after, I made it a goal of mine to win that WBC title, and I feel that’s about to happen.” Porter, 29, looks to rebound from his close title loss to Thurman last June by unanimous decision. That fight, also in Brooklyn, was a 2016 fight of the year candidate. “I’m not looking past or through you at all, Andre Berto,” Porter said. “I respect you as a man; I respect you as a fighter. We are friends, but like you all saw with me and Keith Thurman, we are friends, too. The night of the fight, it’s all about the business.” Berto (31-4, 24 KOs) has been largely inactive since his wide September 2015 loss in the final bout of Floyd Mayweather’s career. He returned just once in 2016, when he blew away Victor Ortiz via fourth-round knockout to avenge a loss in their all-action 2011 welterweight title bout. “Andre Berto is never in a boring fight,” said Stephen Espinoza, the executive vice president of Showtime Sports. “He never has been and he never will be.” Berto, 33, a native of Winter Haven, Florida, is just 4-4 since 2010. “My team and I have already been putting in a few weeks at the gym,” Berto said. “We are dialed in; we are focused. I’ve already had the WBC [title] before, and I’m itching, itching to get it back. I already took out the man [Ortiz] who took it away from me in my last fight, and I’m looking forward to taking out everybody in front of me.” The bout will be part of what Espinoza called “an unofficial welterweight tournament,” which includes Thurman-Garcia and Brook’s upcoming title defense against unbeaten phenom Errol Spence Jr. That bout will also air on Showtime at a date to be announced.
While meeting with Al Gore calmed some warmist nerves, the actions of the Trump transition team at the Department of Energy are eliciting hysteria. Darius Dixon of Politico reports: The global warming con may finally be facing a true reckoning. For many years, the warmists have behaved as if they are hiding something, as the Climategate emails, among many other signs, revealed. But so long as the greedy and power-hungry pols, lusting after taxation and regulation of all human activity via carbon taxes, could be reinforced by cowards afraid to buck the so-called scientific consensus (that doesn’t really exist) everything could remain hunky-dory. Donald Trump’s transition team wants the Energy Department to provide the names of any employees who have worked on President Barack Obama’s climate initiatives — a request that has current and former staffers fearing an oncoming “witch hunt.” The president-elect’s team sought the information as part of a 74-point questionnaire that also asked for details about how DOE’s statistical arm, the Energy Information Administration, does the math on issues such as the cost-effectiveness of wind and solar power versus fossil fuels. POLITICO obtained the document Friday, after Trump’s advisers sent it to the department earlier in the week. These are perfectly reasonable requests. If your data cannot stand scrutiny, it should not be used. That is one level of threat. But this is what has got the bureaucrats and autocrats worried: Coupled with calls by congressional Republicans to relax civil-service protections so that it’s easier to fire federal employees, the transition team’s demand that the Energy Department name names has some current and former workers fearing the worst. “Sounds like a freaking witch hunt,” one former DOE staffer wrote in an email. Needless to say, Democrats are spreading the hysteria: Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, denounced the questions as "environmental McCarthyism," calling them "a witch hunt and a loyalty test all rolled into one." “The transition team should reconsider these apparent attempts to intimidate Energy Department employees who were simply working to fulfill the climate objectives of the Obama administration,” he wrote. To quote the current POTUS: “Elections have consequences.” Those policies are subject to change, by administrative means and by changes to the law. I can hardly wait to see the results of the questionnaire when they are released. (Please, let them be released! Judicial Watch, take note.) I hope for the appointment of a presidential committee to evaluate the evidence for and against the global wamring hypotheses. In the open. Sunshine is what warms the Earth, and it is what disinfects junk science.
Calling it a "big step forward," Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman laid out preliminary plans on Monday for a $132 million football stadium renovation. The upgrades will take place on the south horseshoe and east side of Memorial Stadium and are expected to be completed by 2020 without interrupting the home football schedule. The project will include a new home for all football operations, including locker rooms in the south end zone, training, recovery and sports medicine facilities, meeting and office space and new recruiting areas. This facility will be located inside a new south grandstand. Whitman compared the grandstand to Nebraska's Memorial Stadium, where fans sit much closer to the field near the end zone. The east-side stands will feature new restrooms, concessions and elevators, as well as wider aisles. "Facilities attract people," Whitman said. "They demonstrate an institutional commitment from our athletic program, from out institution, our university to field and sustain that championship football program. That goes for attracting coaches. That goes for attracting student-athletes. It helps us develop and improve the performances of our current student-athletes and coaches." Illinois is working on selecting an architect for the project. Demolition to the south end zone seating could change some seating for fans in the 2018 season, Whitman said, with it reopening for 2019. The east side is projected to be finished for the 2020 season. While he declined to provide specific numbers, Whitman said the project has received "several seven-figure" donations. He emphasized that the project will include no state money. He said it will be entirely funded by the athletic department's resources, including donations, ticket revenue, sponsorship revenue and Big Ten membership financial distribution. Whitman nixed the idea of selling naming rights, like Illinois did with the basketball arena, now known as the State Farm Center. "We would never put a corporate name on the football facility," he said. "We will always be Memorial Stadium." Coach Lovie Smith said while he knows the project completion date is years away, he's excited to see the upgrades. "It's very important," he said. "You're a recruit, you're going to compare us with other teams. That's part of the comparison, facilities. Can't wait to move into the new facilities." Extra points: Illinois is 1-3, 0-1 in the Big Ten, but Smith said he's hopeful the Illini's improved play in their loss to Nebraska can carry over to Saturday's home game against Purdue (2-2, 0-1). …. He deflected a question about the demotion of running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn preferring instead to discuss new starter Reggie Corbin and Kendrick Foster. Vaughn, who was projected as a key to the offense this season, carried just once in the second quarter against Nebraska for 1 yard. Corbin (72 yards on nine carries) and Foster (46 yards on seven carries) drew praise from Smith. "Very pleased with those two running backs," he said. .. Defensive end Carroll Phillips is improving and his injury is not long term, Smith said, declining to elaborate on the injury that caused him to leave the game against Nebraska. [email protected] Twitter @sryantribune
Schizophrenia and Street Drugs The use of street drugs has very important implications for people suffering from schizophrenia. Over half of all those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia in the UK have a diagnosed drug or alcohol abuse problem running alongside their mental illness and a recent US study found that around 26% of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia use street drugs.6 In addition there is considerable debate at the moment around the issue of whether street drug use in the early years can actually cause schizophrenia to develop later on. Below we consider some of these issues and ask whether street drug use has any place in recovery from schizophrenia. Street Drug Use and Psychotic Symptoms A number of drugs used illicitly for recreational purposes do cause symptoms similar to those experienced in psychosis. For instance cocaine and methamphetamine can both cause paranoia and amphetamine and LSD can cause visual hallucinations. Cannabis can cause both auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) and paranoia. It is thought that this is caused by the primary active constituent of cannabis; a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.11 Although there have been attempts made by researchers to differentiate between the psychotic symptoms caused by street drugs and the symptoms of the schizophrenia itself they have had mixed results. It is in practice very difficult to say which symptoms are caused by the illness and which by the drugs.9 However in these cases, if the drug alone is to blame, then these symptoms will usually pass off when the drug use stops Cannabis and Schizophrenia At the time of writing (December 2015) this is probably one of the most hotly debated subjects in the mental health field. It is true to say that the spotlight has very much fallen on cannabis use as a cause of schizophrenia and much research work is currently being carried out. It has been suggested that cannabis use in early life (young teen age) increases the likelihood of the person going on to develop schizophrenia later. It has also been suggested that with the newer forms of stronger cannabis that have become available in recent years this risk has increased. Whilst the proponents of legalisation of cannabis argue that cannabis has few adverse health effects when compared to alcohol or tobacco use, there is a developing weight of scientific research that suggests that there is a link between cannabis use and schizophrenia. Although it would be true to say that at this stage the evidence is not yet conclusive, the accumulating weight of evidence does currently implicate cannabis as a cause of schizophrenia. There have now been a number of authoritative studies that have shown a link between cannabis use in adolescence and the onset of schizophrenia later, for instance the recent South London study1 by Sir Robin Murray and colleagues from the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London which looked at over 400 people with schizophrenia and found that use of Skunk (a type of cannabis produced from genetically modified plants) increased the risk of developing psychotic illness threefold. This more or less confirmed the findings of previous work done in the UK and overseas and was very close to the 2.4 times increased risk reported in one of the earliest studies carried out on this subject which looked at over 45,000 soldiers in Sweden.2 It also supported the findings of a three year study of over 4,800 people carried out in the Netherlands. However these studies do not answer all the questions. For instance, is it the case that the people most likely to resort to cannabis in adolescence are also those most prone to developing schizophrenia later? That is young people who have already started to develop the prodromal symptoms. But here again there is a weight of research evidence that suggests that cannabis use will lead to schizophrenia even in those who have not yet developed any prodromal symptoms (symptoms that can appear in the very earliest stages of the illness)3. It is still the case though that the mechanism by which cannabis acts on the brain to produce this higher risk is still not fully understood and some researchers have suggested that rather than causing an increase in the risk in the general population the risk is limited to that group in the population who already have a genetic risk of developing the illness. That is to say that if you already have a genetic predisposition to the illness, cannabis use will act as a trigger. This has implications for people who have family members who have already been diagnosed with schizophrenia and serve as a warning to stay away from street drugs and ensure that their children do the same.10 There may be something in this since, as critics of this research are quick to point out, the epidemiology does not confirm the research work in as much as the incidence of schizophrenia in the general population has remained fairly constant over the past 50 years whilst the use of cannabis has increased during that time. There have also been studies that have connected the amount of cannabis consumed with the likelihood of developing schizophrenia and have found that the more you use cannabis the higher the risk of developing schizophrenia4. It is also likely that people who continue to use cannabis after the onset of schizophrenia will experience a worsened outcome, having more severe negative and depressive symptoms5 This runs counter to the belief that many people working in mental health in the UK particularly those working in third sector organisations hold that people with schizophrenia use cannabis to “self medicate”. It is unlikely that cannabis use has any beneficial effect on either the positive symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations or the negative symptoms such as social withdrawal and apathy and that young people with schizophrenia (and most of them are young) who use street drugs do so for much the same reason that sane young people do: because it makes them feel good and helps to relieve the enormous feeling of despair and hopelessness that is so often a feature of this cruel illness. Other Effects of Street Drugs There is also the link between street drug use and dangerous behaviour in schizophrenia which has now been well established. Between 10 and 23% of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia will exhibit violent behaviour at some point during their illness7 and around 10% of people with schizophrenia will die by suicide. The research evidence and the experience of mental health workers tell us that there are three clear predictors to dangerous behaviour in schizophrenia.8 These are: a previous history of dangerous behaviour, failing to take anti-psychotic medication and concurrent drug or alcohol abuse issues. So use of street drugs must be a major influence on the likelihood of dangerousness. There are other adverse effects. One thing that is certain about street drug use is that it impacts adversely on people’s finances and the more frequent the use the greater the impact. This can be very serious for people with schizophrenia who may not be very skilled at managing their financial affairs prudently or may already have debt problems (around 36% of people with mental health issues also have severe or crisis debts according to a recent study carried out by the Money Saving Expert website). Use of street drugs will also impact adversely on the person’s reputation. It is true that an episode of schizophrenia in itself will do considerable harm to a person’s reputation given the climate of myth and misunderstanding around the illness in our society today however if we add drug abuse to that we can see that much more damage will be done. There is really no point in increasing the amount of stigma that we, as people living with schizophrenia have to face simply to achieve a short term relief from our problems. Using street drugs will also serve to distract the person with schizophrenia from their everyday problems and reduce their motivation to overcome and deal with them. Problems with housing, benefits debt, etc affect most people with schizophrenia at some time in their recovery and need a clear head and strong motivation to cope with them. If the first reaction to these problems is to seek short term relief by taking street drugs then the problems will endure and probably get worse over time. So it can be seen that whichever side you take in the debate around whether cannabis causes schizophrenia, street drug use after you have been diagnosed with schizophrenia has many adverse effects and so the only satisfactory way forward is to abstain from street drug use altogether. Beating a Drug Habit If you do have a problem with use of street drugs then it is important that you get help and the sooner you act the better. The first step is to tell your GP or psychiatrist and ask them to refer you to services locally which can help you give up. It is important to appreciate that your chances of a successful recovery are made immeasurably better by getting your drug problem dealt with and that beneficial aspects of recovery such as finding and holding down a job will be next to impossible if you are still drug addicted. Many employers now ask their employees to undergo random drug testing with a zero-tolerance approach to street drug use. There are very few employers who will tolerate illicit drug use in their staff: If you use drugs and are found out you will most likely lose your job. The NHS Choices website has advice for people who want to beat their addiction and further information about the effects of street drugs is available on the government’s Frank website. Also on NHS Choices is a handy listing of drug and alcohol services available in your area that you can access by keying in your postcode. You may also like to try Narcotics Anonymous (known as NA), a not-for-profit organisation of recovering drug addicts that helps people beat their addiction through regular meetings and a recovery programme. Whilst many have found NA to be beneficial it should be noted that there will be some variability between meetings in different areas. In addition some people have found NA’s approach to be a little confrontational and some groups hold the line that abstinence from all drugs including antipsychotics is a good thing. Such an approach is unsuitable for people with schizophrenia. Family and Friends Support from family and friends is vital in schizophrenia but where drug abuse is present the first requirement is to ensure that the person with schizophrenia receives clear and unambiguous messages about the dangers that drug abuse presents and that in general street drug use is not compatible with a successful recovery. References 1. Marta Di Forti, Arianna Marconi, Elena Carra, Sara Fraietta, Antonella Trotta, Matteo Bonomo, Francesca Bianconi, Poonam Gardner-Sood, Jennifer O’Connor, Manuela Russo, Simona A Stilo, Tiago Reis Marques, Valeria Mondelli, Paola Dazzan, Carmine Pariante, Anthony S David, Fiona Gaughran, Zerrin Atakan, Conrad Iyegbe, John Powell, Craig Morgan, Michael Lynskey, Robin M Murray, 2015, Proportion of patients in south London with first-episode psychosis attributable to use of high potency cannabis: a case-control study, Published in the Lancet 2. Zammit S, Allebeck P, Andreasson S. 2002, Self reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts, Published in the BMJ. 3. Machielsen M, Sluis SVD, Haan LD.. 2010, Cannabis use in patients with first psychotic episode and subjects at ultra high risk of psychosis: impact on psychotic and pre-psychotic symptoms. Published in Australia and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 4. Hall W and Degendhardt L, 2008, Cannabis use and the risk of developing a psychotic disorder, published in World Psychiatry. 5. Van Dijk, D Koeter M, Himan R et al, 2012, Effect of Cannabis Use on the Course of Schizophrenia in Male Patients. A Prospective Cohort Study, published in Schizophrenia Research. 6. Torrey E, 2013, Surviving Schizophrenia, Harper Perennial, P239. 7. Fazel S, Reinharth J, Serper M, Singh J, 2011, Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Schizophrenia and Other Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review of the Validity, Reliability, and Item Content of 10 Available Instruments, Published in Schizophrenia Bulletin September 2011. 8. Torrey E, 2013, Surviving Schizophrenia, Harper Perennial, P271 9. Tsuang M, Faraone S, Glatt S, 2012, Schizophrenia: the Facts, Oxford University Press p21. 10. Fleming N, Mental Health Warning for Cannabis Users, reported in The Telegraph, 2/12/2004. 11. Cortes-Briones J, Cahill J, Skosnik P, Mathalon D, Williams A, Sewell R, Roach B, Ford J, Ranganathan M, D’Souza D. 2015, The psychosis-like effects of delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol are associated with increased cortical noise in healthy humans, published in Biological Psychiatry December 2015. Copyright © December 2015 LWS (UK) CIC. Share This
COLOMBO (Reuters) - The United States urged on Wednesday Sri Lanka’s government to hold anyone responsible for wartime rights violations accountable and warned that an international investigation could be an option if it failed to do so. Robert Blake, U.S. Assistant Secretary of States for South and Central Asian Affairs, speaks to reporters during a news conference in Colombo July 21, 2010. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte The Indian Ocean nation is under renewed pressure to address allegations its troops killed thousands of civilians and committed war crimes in the last stages of a quarter-century war with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas. Sri Lanka has repeatedly called the allegations baseless and fronted by LTTE supporters, and has rejected the findings of a panel appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as biased and a threat to its post-war reconciliation efforts. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, ending a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, said Washington wanted Sri Lanka’s own institutions to deal with the allegations raised in the report. “We look first to host governments, in this case the government of Sri Lanka, to take responsibility for these issues, and we hope they do so,” said Blake, who was Washington’s envoy to Colombo from 2006 through to the war’s end. “International mechanisms can become appropriate in cases where states are either unable or unwilling to meet their obligations,” Blake told a news conference. President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government has been furious with Washington’s pressure over the alleged rights violations in Sri Lanka’s battle against a group the United States has listed as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997. It regularly points to the thousands of civilian deaths attributed to U.S. forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, carried out as part of the campaign against al Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden, whom U.S. troops killed on Monday. BIN LADEN VS PRABHAKARAN Asked if Washington was applying a double standard in the case of bin Laden and Sri Lanka’s killing of LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran, Blake said the United States had consistently backed efforts against the LTTE. “I think they will both go down as two of the worst terrorist leaders in history,” he said. “Certainly no one in the United States, certainly not in my government, mourns the passing of Prabhakaran.” During his trip, Blake met opposition parties, External Affairs Minister G.L Peiris and Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president’s brother who was the architect of the LTTE’s defeat. Blake, and the United States, were at the forefront of Western efforts to get a ceasefire in place to protect the nearly 300,000 civilians the LTTE kept in the war zone as human shields in the final months of the war. Sri Lanka rejected the call, pointing out that the LTTE had in the past manufactured civilian crises to build pressure for a truce when it was at a military disadvantage, which it in turn used to re-arm to fight again. The United States and Britain have welcomed the U.N. panel’s work, while fellow U.N. Security Council members China and Russia have criticized it, a similar geopolitical split seen when Sri Lanka fought of the ceasefire calls. Blake praised the efforts of Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which has yet to present its findings. Sri Lanka has blasted Ban’s panel for trying to pre-empt the LLRC’s work and implementation of its findings. The U.N.-appointed panel said the LLRC, like all other Sri Lankan commissions of inquiry created since the first of three violently suppressed insurgencies broke out in 1971, did not meet international standards and would not produce results.
Get the biggest Swansea stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Shaven headed and giving sieg heil salutes, these are the images that show neo-Nazis gathering in Wales’ sleepiest communities. Our snaps were taken from footage filmed in 2012 at the Valley Commandos Motorcycle Club in Abercynon – the venue racist Christopher Philips was snapped in last March hanging a man-sized golliwog doll while dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit. Philips, of Wednesfield in the West Midlands, who had been previously thrown out of the National Front because his far-right views were too extremist, was this week jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to stirring up racial hatred. His actions at the Valleys club – the logo of which can be seen in the background of footage from the 2013 gig – were described as “abhorrent” by judge John Warner. Bikers from the club have told Wales on Sunday of their shock at the gig’s booking. Insisting the Valley Commandos club is not racist, they said they were hoodwinked into letting their hall out to the right-wingers. “It was a f****** mistake, it should not have happened,” one member, who asked not to be named, said. “It was just a bit of a let down for us, it was something that should not have happened. “We are a motorcycle club and that is all we are.” Another, Gwyn Davies, insisted he had “heard of Combat 18, but I had not heard of Blood and Honour”. Blood and Honour is the musical wing of far-right thugs Combat 18. Their banners were draped in the Valley Commandos clubhouse, in Abercynon, in the Cynon Valley, alongside those of the bikers at both events. “Everyone was cringing and embarrassed because we have got black people in the club and I have got black friends,” Gwyn said. “They would be run out of town if they tried to come back.” He admitted he now knew “these people have hired the room twice”. “But there were no reports from the first function,” he said. That night was a memorial to Andrew “Stinko” Lewis the dead bass player of far-right rockers Celtic Warrior, whose tracks included Fatherland and White Resistance. “The second time this came out,” Gwyn said. “We didn’t know they were a massive Nazi group or whatever. “I don’t know what name they booked it under.” Wolverhampton Crown Court heard footage from the gig emerged online on March 12, when three videos showing a man in a KKK outfit hanging a 6ft golliwog doll were posted to the media sharing website YouTube on Philips’ account, named Ultimate Dazzler. Philips, 24, also posted weblinks and video stills from that footage on his social media websites, including his own personal Facebook account. Prosecutor Simon Davies told the court Philips had just a few days prior – on March 9 – travelled to a “White Pride Worldwide” demonstration in Swansea, which had “links with the far-right extremist organisations including the National Front and the English Defence League (EDL)”. Philips had then travelled to the “Blood and Honour” event in Abercynon, where he was photographed and filmed in the KKK outfit, dancing, and posing with the doll. On March 26, following an investigation into the videos and other related images posted on Facebook, police from the West Midlands counter terrorism unit raided the house of Philips’ parents where he lived. The officers seized a laptop, a National Front membership card in the name of Darren Clifft, and a white KKK outfit. Meanwhile, a document on welshmotorcycleclubhistory.com insists the Valley Commandos is “non-political and does not care about the colour of your skin or your football shirt.” Abercynon councillor Rhys Lewis told WalesOnline he was “shocked” a mock lynching had happened on his doorstep. “I am aware of the motorcycle club and that it has been there for the past few years,” he said. “It used to be the railway canteen for the rail workers. “I was never aware that these type of functions were happening there though. I thought bikers just met up and rode from there.” Neither was anyone else. One local praised the bikers because “they do a lot of work for charity”. Mr Lewis was unsure whether he could stop future neo-Nazi events happening in the area. “I will look into it now,” he said. “I find it disgusting that this sort of thing has been going on in my ward.” Fellow councillor Albert Davies visited the clubhouse after hearing what happened there. It was shut. He had only been inside before the bikers took over. “I used to go there now and again to see a show,” he said. “There would be a comedian or a singer or a band and they used to play.” He never met any neo-Nazis there. “It was a drinking club and I would go and have a pint of beer,” he said. “The last thing we want here is trouble.” Civil Liberties lawyer Adam Chapman said the matter raised questions over who owned the land and whether permission had been given for events to be staged. And he claimed organisers should have considered whether the police should be advised of upcoming shows. “But there is no general free standing power to ban assembly just because one disapproves of what is going on,” he said. Julian Kirby is assistant chief constable at South Wales Police. He insisted the force aimed “to be ever vigilant and to utilise police powers to disrupt the activities” of law breaking groups. “In Wales I am very proud to say that our communities are appalled by this sort of behaviour and readily report concerns to us,” he said. “This allows us, in conjunction with agencies across the UK to act together to ensure there is no hiding place for the peddlers of this kind of hatred. “We are also proactive in investigating the activities of a number of groups and individuals and always take tough action wherever there is evidence that offences have been committed. “It is important always to appreciate that the numbers involved in this abhorrent behaviour are incredibly small and they have no standing whatsoever in the wider community.” * * * * * During his sentencing on Wednesday Philips, previously known as Darren Clifft, and who has Asperger’s syndrome, was told by Judge Warner: “It does not require advanced education or knowledge of history to know what you were seeking to convey might cause offence.” The judge said the publication of the videos was “highly inflammatory”, adding: “On March 9, you went with others to a ‘White Pride Worldwide’ demonstration at Swansea, taking with you a Klansman outfit purchased from America. “You later travelled to another event where you were photographed and filmed dressed in the outfit, and hanging a life-sized golliwog.” He went on to describe Philips’ “admiration for the notorious figures” of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as “abhorrent”. During the trial it was also revealed how police discovered a copy of a letter from the Norwegian far-right extremist and mass-murderer Anders Breivik written to a mutual acquaintance from Germany, and a hard-line manifesto penned by Philips himself. Judge Warner also referred to the suicide of Philips’ father shortly after his son’s arrest in March last year, and said: “I don’t for one moment hold you responsible for his death – but I have no doubt your behaviour caused him a great deal of concern and heartache.” Philips told police he admitted posting the video footage, filmed by a friend, and then sending the links so that the footage could be seen by other people who shared his own extremist views. Philips was said to have been “excited” by having attended the Blood and Honour music event “as it was the first one he had been to” and he wanted to show his online friends. In interview, Philips told detectives he “didn’t even think about anybody who might be offended” but had just wanted to “impress his friends”, said prosecutor Simon Davies. The prosecutor added that in September 2011, Philips had been banned from attending another local church and also reported to police “for his right-wing views”. Philips, who also belonged to a group called the West Midlands Infidels, was described as a man with “no friends” and a loner, by his own defence barrister Theresa Starr. She said a psychiatric report had confirmed he had Asperger’s syndrome, which meant he struggled to make friends and build relationships. However, she said Philips – who had no previous convictions or cautions – now attended church and had a girlfriend who had brought stability to his life. She said he now had “no problem with race”, adding he was living alongside a gay lodger stopping at his mother’s house without any issues. Ms Starr said her client expressed remorse for what he had done, had apologised for what he had done and “deeply regretted” his actions. Philips was made subject of an anti-social behaviour order banning him until further notice from contacting three named individuals, barring him from attending any extremist displays, posting or distributing extremist or racist material, putting up racist posters or making any racist gestures. After sentencing, Bethan David, a specialist lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service’s special crime and counter terrorism division, said Philips was guilty of “an act with very clear racist connotations”. She added: “While people are entitled to hold extreme opinions which others may find unpleasant and obnoxious, they are not entitled to distribute those opinions in a threatening manner intending to stir up hatred. “Behaviour inciting bigotry and hatred undermines the freedom of law-abiding individuals and it will not be tolerated in our society.”
On a bright Thursday afternoon in 2007, Jennifer Boatright, a waitress at a Houston bar-and-grill, drove with her two young sons and her boyfriend, Ron Henderson, on U.S. 59 toward Linden, Henderson’s home town, near the Texas-Louisiana border. They made the trip every April, at the first signs of spring, to walk the local wildflower trails and spend time with Henderson’s father. This year, they’d decided to buy a used car in Linden, which had plenty for sale, and so they bundled their cash savings in their car’s center console. Just after dusk, they passed a sign that read “Welcome to Tenaha: A little town with BIG Potential!” They pulled into a mini-mart for snacks. When they returned to the highway ten minutes later, Boatright, a honey-blond “Texas redneck from Lubbock,” by her own reckoning, and Henderson, who is Latino, noticed something strange. The same police car that their eleven-year-old had admired in the mini-mart parking lot was trailing them. Near the city limits, a tall, bull-shouldered officer named Barry Washington pulled them over. He asked if Henderson knew that he’d been driving in the left lane for more than half a mile without passing. View more No, Henderson replied. He said he’d moved into the left lane so that the police car could make its way onto the highway. Were there any drugs in the car? When Henderson and Boatright said no, the officer asked if he and his partner could search the car. The officers found the couple’s cash and a marbled-glass pipe that Boatright said was a gift for her sister-in-law, and escorted them across town to the police station. In a corner there, two tables were heaped with jewelry, DVD players, cell phones, and the like. According to the police report, Boatright and Henderson fit the profile of drug couriers: they were driving from Houston, “a known point for distribution of illegal narcotics,” to Linden, “a known place to receive illegal narcotics.” The report describes their children as possible decoys, meant to distract police as the couple breezed down the road, smoking marijuana. (None was found in the car, although Washington claimed to have smelled it.) The county’s district attorney, a fifty-seven-year-old woman with feathered Charlie’s Angels hair named Lynda K. Russell, arrived an hour later. Russell, who moonlighted locally as a country singer, told Henderson and Boatright that they had two options. They could face felony charges for “money laundering” and “child endangerment,” in which case they would go to jail and their children would be handed over to foster care. Or they could sign over their cash to the city of Tenaha, and get back on the road. “No criminal charges shall be filed,” a waiver she drafted read, “and our children shall not be turned over to CPS,” or Child Protective Services. “Where are we?” Boatright remembers thinking. “Is this some kind of foreign country, where they’re selling people’s kids off?” Holding her sixteen-month-old on her hip, she broke down in tears. Later, she learned that cash-for-freedom deals had become a point of pride for Tenaha, and that versions of the tactic were used across the country. “Be safe and keep up the good work,” the city marshal wrote to Washington, following a raft of complaints from out-of-town drivers who claimed that they had been stopped in Tenaha and stripped of cash, valuables, and, in at least one case, an infant child, without clear evidence of contraband. Outraged by their experience in Tenaha, Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson helped to launch a class-action lawsuit challenging the abuse of a legal doctrine known as civil-asset forfeiture. “Have you looked it up?” Boatright asked me when I met her this spring at Houston’s H&H Saloon, where she runs Steak Night every Monday. She was standing at a mattress-size grill outside. “It’ll blow your mind.” The basic principle behind asset forfeiture is appealing. It enables authorities to confiscate cash or property obtained through illicit means, and, in many states, funnel the proceeds directly into the fight against crime. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, cops drive a Cadillac Escalade stencilled with the words “This Used To Be a Drug Dealer’s Car, Now It’s Ours!” In Monroe, North Carolina, police recently proposed using forty-four thousand dollars in confiscated drug money to buy a surveillance drone, which might be deployed to catch fleeing suspects, conduct rescue missions, and, perhaps, seize more drug money. Hundreds of state and federal laws authorize forfeiture for cockfighting, drag racing, basement gambling, endangered-fish poaching, securities fraud, and countless other misdeeds. In general, you needn’t be found guilty to have your assets claimed by law enforcement; in some states, suspicion on a par with “probable cause” is sufficient. Nor must you be charged with a crime, or even be accused of one. Unlike criminal forfeiture, which requires that a person be convicted of an offense before his or her property is confiscated, civil forfeiture amounts to a lawsuit filed directly against a possession, regardless of its owner’s guilt or innocence. One result is the rise of improbable case names such as United States v. One Pearl Necklace and United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins. (Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson’s forfeiture was slugged State of Texas v. $6,037.) “The protections our Constitution usually affords are out the window,” Louis Rulli, a clinical law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading forfeiture expert, observes. A piece of property does not share the rights of a person. There’s no right to an attorney and, in most states, no presumption of innocence. Owners who wish to contest often find that the cost of hiring a lawyer far exceeds the value of their seized goods. Washington, D.C., charges up to twenty-five hundred dollars simply for the right to challenge a police seizure in court, which can take months or even years to resolve. The tangled nature of the process became clear when I spoke to Nelly Moreira, a stout, curly-haired custodian who lives in Northwest D.C. Moreira relied on her 2005 Honda Accord to drive from her early-morning job, cleaning Trinity Washington University, to her evening job, cleaning the U.S. Treasury Department. In March, 2012, her son was driving her car when he was pulled over for a minor traffic violation, and, after a pat down, was found to have a handgun. He was arrested, and her car was seized. Moreira, who grew up in El Salvador, explained in Spanish that she received a letter in the mail two months later asking her to pay a bond of one thousand and twenty dollars—which she took to be the fee to get her car back. Desperate, she borrowed cash from friends and family to cover the bond, which is known in D.C. law as a “penal sum.” If she hadn’t, the car would have been auctioned off, or put to use by the police. But all that the money bought her was the right to a complex and slow-moving civil-forfeiture court case. She was left struggling to make her car payments each month as her Honda sat in a city lot, unused and unsheltered from the elements. The bond, the loans, and the public-transportation costs added up. “There were days I didn’t have a good meal,” she told me in February, sitting beneath her daughter’s quinceañera portrait in her narrow fuchsia-painted row house. The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia won the release of Moreira’s car last summer, and in May filed a lawsuit against the city on behalf of approximately three hundred and seventy-five car owners like Moreira. Describing the policy as “devastating for hundreds of families who depend on their cars for many of the urgent and important tasks of daily life,” it called for higher standards of proof and the end of penal-sum fees. At a public hearing on July 11th, D.C.’s attorney general, Irvin Nathan, acknowledged “very real problems” relating to due-process rights. But he warned that millions of dollars raised by forfeiture “could very easily be lost” and “an unreasonable burden” placed on his office if the reforms supported by the Public Defender Service were enacted. He proposed more modest changes that would leave the current burden of proof untouched. “We all know the way things are right now—budgets are tight,” Steve Westbrook, the executive director of the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, says. “It’s definitely a valuable asset to law enforcement, for purchasing equipment and getting things you normally wouldn’t be able to get to fight crime.” Many officers contend that their departments would collapse if the practice were too heavily regulated, and that a valuable public-safety measure would be lost. But a system that proved successful at wringing profits from drug cartels and white-collar fraudsters has also given rise to corruption and violations of civil liberties. Over the past year, I spoke with more than a hundred police officers, defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and forfeiture plaintiffs from across the country. Many expressed concern that state laws designed to go after high-flying crime lords are routinely targeting the workaday homes, cars, cash savings, and other belongings of innocent people who are never charged with a crime. When Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson complained to the county in the hope of retrieving their savings, they got another surprise. Lynda Russell, the district attorney, told them she had warned “repeatedly” that they did not have to sign the waiver, but, if they continued to contest it, they could be indicted on felony charges. “I will contact you and give you an opportunity to turn yourself in without having an officer come to your door,” she wrote in a letter mentioning the prospect of a grand jury. Once again, their custody of the kids was threatened. Boatright and Henderson decided to fight anyway. When out-of-town drivers who felt victimized by a Tenaha forfeiture called local lawyers for help, their business wasn’t always welcomed. “That’d be like kicking a basket of rattlesnakes,” one defense lawyer warned a forfeiture target. Often they were referred to a defense attorney named David Guillory, in nearby Nacogdoches. Guillory is a broad-faced man with blue eyes and the gregarious, cheerful disposition of a Scoutmaster. (He is, in fact, an assistant Scoutmaster of local Troop 100, and keeps the “Handbook of Knots” by his desk, near heaps of legal briefs.) He moved to Nacogdoches seventeen years ago and set up shop as a small-town civil-rights lawyer. He specialized in cases around the state that made neither friends nor profits: mostly, suing policemen for misconduct. By the time Boatright and Henderson spoke with Guillory, he was already acquainted with what he refers to as “the Tenaha operation.” Several months earlier, he’d received a call from a plump-cheeked twenty-seven-year-old man named James Morrow, who worked at a Tyson plant in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, slicing chicken strips for prepared foods. “He told me a pretty startling story,” Guillory recalls. In August, 2007, Tenaha police pulled Morrow over for “driving too close to the white line,” and took thirty-nine hundred dollars from him. Morrow told Guillory that he was on his way to get dental work done at a Houston mall. (The arresting officers said that his “stories of travel” were inconsistent, as was his account of how much money he had; they also said they detected the “odor of burned marijuana,” although no contraband was found in the car.) Morrow, who is black, was taken to jail, where he pleaded with authorities to call his bank to see proof of his recent cash withdrawal. They declined. “They impounded my car, and they impounded me, too,” Morrow told me, recalling the night he spent in jail. When he finally agreed to sign away his property, he was released on the side of the road with no money, no vehicle, and no phone. “I had to go to Wal-Mart and borrow someone’s phone to call my mama,” he recounted. “She had to take out a rental car to come pick me up.” For weeks, Morrow said he felt “crippled,” unsure of what to do. He says that a Tenaha officer told him, “Don’t even bother getting a lawyer. The money always stays here.” But finally he decided “to shine a big ol’ light on them.” After Morrow was steered to Guillory, he took a day off from his job and arrived at Nacogdoches with stacks of old bank files to prove where his money came from. “He knew how hard he’d worked for that money,” Guillory told me, “and every dime was taken from him.” Guillory decided to find out if what had happened to Morrow was more than a fluke. He was taken aback by the scale of what he uncovered. It was a baroque small-town scandal, but it was also a story with national reach. He wondered how many people across the country felt “crippled,” as Morrow did, by statutes so little known yet so widely used. In West Philadelphia last August, an elderly couple named Mary and Leon Adams were finishing breakfast when several vans filled with heavily armed police pulled up to their red brick home. An officer announced, “We’ll give you ten minutes to get your things and vacate the property.” The men surrounding their home had been authorized to enter, seize, and seal the premises, without any prior notice. “I was almost numb,” Mary Adams, a sixty-eight-year-old grandmother with warm brown eyes and wavy russet hair, recalled. When I visited her this spring, she sat beside her seventy-year-old husband, who was being treated for pancreatic cancer, and was slumped with exhaustion. A little earlier, he had struggled to put on his embroidered blue-and-yellow guayabera shirt; his wife, looking fit for church in a green jacket, tank top, and slacks, watched him attentively as he shuffled over on a carved-wood cane to greet me. Leon explained his attachment to their home in numerical terms. “1966,” he said. “It’s been our home since 1966.” Mary had been working as a truck-stop cook in segregated South Carolina when she met and married Leon—a man from “way out in the woods, just a fireplace and a lamp”—and followed him north. Leon had been hired as a cook at the Valley Forge Music Fair, outside Philadelphia, where James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and the Kingston Trio would one day perform. After renting a room in the city, the Adamses found a sweet little two-story house within their budget, five miles from Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. It had a narrow covered porch that reminded Mary Adams of the country. The home served the Adams family well over the next half century, as Leon took a job as a steel-plant worker, and later as an elementary-school janitor, and Mary worked as a saleswoman at Woolworth and, eventually, as a patients’ care assistant at Bryn Mawr hospital. (“I treated every patient as a V.I.P., whether you were in a coma or not!”) More recently, the home has helped the couple ease into their retirement. “I love digging in the dirt,” she said, referring to their modest, marigold-lined front yard, and “sitting on the porch, talking to neighbors.” Their home also proved a comfortable place to raise their only son, Leon, Jr.—so comfortable, in fact, that the young man never quite flew the nest. At thirty-one, slender and goateed, Leon, Jr., occupied a small bedroom on the second floor. When his father, who had already suffered a stroke, fell ill with cancer, he was around to help out. But, according to a report by the Philadelphia Police Department, the younger Leon had a sideline: on the afternoon of July 10, 2012, he allegedly sold twenty dollars’ worth of marijuana to a confidential informant, on the porch of his parents’ home. When the informant requested two more deals the next week, the report said, he made the same arrangements. Both were for twenty dollars, purchased with marked bills provided by police. Around 5 p.m. on July 19th, Leon, Sr., was in his bedroom recovering from surgery when he was startled by a loud noise. “I thought the house was blowing up,” he recalls. The police “had some sort of big, long club and four guys hit the door with it, and knocked the whole door right down.” swat-team officers in riot gear were raiding his home. One of the officers placed Leon, Jr., in handcuffs and said, “Apologize to your father for what you’ve done.” Leon, Jr., was taken off to jail, where he remains, awaiting trial. The police returned about a month after the raid. Owing to the allegations against Leon, Jr., the state was now seeking to take the Adamses’ home and to sell it at a biannual city auction, with the proceeds split between the district attorney’s office and the police department. All of this could occur even if Leon, Jr., was acquitted in criminal court; in fact, the process could be completed even before he stood trial. Mary Adams was at a loss. She and her husband were accused of no crime. Instead, the civil case was titled Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. The Real Property and Improvements Known as [their address]. For years, Mary had volunteered for the Philadelphia More Beautiful Committee, and as a block captain she always thought that civil forfeiture was reserved for crack houses and abandoned eyesores. Now her own carefully maintained residence was the target. The Adamses had a lucky break on the morning of their eviction notice: when an officer observed Leon’s frail condition, he told them that they could stay in the house while the forfeiture proceedings advanced. This gave them some time to figure out how to fight. “We had no money,” Mary told me, so they couldn’t hire a lawyer. But they learned of a free “Civil Practice” clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, run by Louis Rulli, where students help indigent homeowners challenge civil-forfeiture claims. “It was an area of the law that was under the radar and very prone to abuse,” Rulli told me when we met at his clinic, in a wing of the law school with a separate entrance and an air of potted-plant competence reminiscent of a doctor’s office. Beside him sat Susanna Greenberg, a colleague, and Julia Simon-Mishel, who had worked on the Adamses’ case as a law student. Rulli noted that the system is designed to defeat anyone who isn’t an expert in navigating its intricacies. “These are affirmative defenses—you lose them if you don’t raise them,” he said. “Even lawyers don’t know about these defenses unless they’ve worked on forfeiture specifically.” The public records I reviewed support Rulli’s assertion that homes in Philadelphia are routinely seized for unproved minor drug crimes, often involving children or grandchildren who don’t own the home. “For real-estate forfeitures, it’s overwhelmingly African-Americans and Hispanics,” Rulli told me. “It has a very disparate race and class impact.” He went on to talk about Andy Reid, the former coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, whose two sons were convicted of drug crimes in 2007 while living at the family’s suburban mansion in Villanova. “Do you know what the headline read? It said, ‘The Home Was an “Emporium of Drugs.” ’ An emporium of drugs!” The phrase, Rulli explained, came directly from a local judge. “And here’s the question: Do you think they seized it?” Beth Grossman, the chief of the city’s Public Nuisance Task Force, which includes the forfeiture unit, says she’s seen the statute used to transform drug-ridden communities that had few other means of recourse against dangerous local dealers. “Our mission is not to take houses and to auction them,” she told me. Although the city auctioneer reports that about a hundred properties are successfully seized and sold each year, Grossman says the city prefers to work out settlements that would allow families to stay in their homes. “Our mission comes from a place of public safety and providing a good quality of life for our law-abiding citizens in Philadelphia.” The Philadelphia D.A.’s office has declined to comment on the specifics of the Adamses’ case, but Tasha Jamerson, its spokesperson, told me, “It’s not us making decisions, willy-nilly. . . . It’s the law. We’re following the law.” Whether this should be the law—whether, in the absence of a judicial finding of guilt, the state should be able to take possession of your property—has been debated since before American independence. In the Colonial period, the English Crown issued “writs of assistance” that permitted customs officials to enter homes or vessels and seize whatever they deemed contraband. As the legal scholars Eric Blumenson and Eva Nilsen have noted, these writs were “among the key grievances that triggered the American Revolution.” The new nation’s Bill of Rights would expressly forbid “unreasonable searches and seizures” and promise that no one would be deprived of “life, liberty, or property, without due process.” Nonetheless, Congress soon authorized the use of civil-forfeiture actions against pirates and smugglers. It was easier to prosecute a vessel and seize its cargo than to try to prosecute its owner, who might be an ocean away. In the ensuing decades, the practice fell into disuse and, aside from a few brief revivals, remained mostly dormant for the next two centuries. Forfeiture in its modern form began with federal statutes enacted in the nineteen-seventies and aimed not at waitresses and janitors but at organized-crime bosses and drug lords. Law-enforcement officers were empowered to seize money and goods tied to the production of illegal drugs. Later amendments allowed the seizure of anything thought to have been purchased with tainted funds, whether or not it was connected to the commission of a crime. Even then, forfeiture remained an infrequent resort until 1984, when Congress passed the Comprehensive Crime Control Act. It established a special fund that turned over proceeds from forfeitures to the law-enforcement agencies responsible for them. Local police who provided federal assistance were rewarded with a large percentage of the proceeds, through a program called Equitable Sharing. Soon states were crafting their own forfeiture laws. Revenue gains were staggering. At the Justice Department, proceeds from forfeiture soared from twenty-seven million dollars in 1985 to five hundred and fifty-six million in 1993. (Last year, the department took in nearly $4.2 billion in forfeitures, a record.) The strategy helped reconcile President Reagan’s call for government action in fighting crime with his call to reduce public spending. In 1989, Attorney General Richard Thornburgh boasted, “It’s now possible for a drug dealer to serve time in a forfeiture-financed prison after being arrested by agents driving a forfeiture-provided automobile while working in a forfeiture-funded sting operation.” There were high-profile success stories. The federal government seized a four-hundred-acre Montana ranch tied to the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, and laid claim to the bank accounts of assorted Wall Street con men. But tales of abuse also emerged. In 1992, a California drug task force shot and killed a reclusive millionaire named Donald Scott during a raid of his Malibu ranch; by some accounts, police were searching for marijuana plants (none were found) as a pretext to seize Scott’s two-hundred-acre property. “Unfortunately, I think I can say that our civil-asset-forfeiture laws are being used in terribly unjust ways,” Henry Hyde, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, declared in 1997, “and are depriving innocent citizens of their property with nothing that can be called due process.” Three years later, Congress passed the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act (CAFRA), requiring that federal prosecutors prove “a substantial connection between the property and the offense,” and allowing people who can prove themselves “innocent owners” to keep their property. But civil-forfeiture statutes continued to proliferate, and at the state and local level controls have often been lax. Many states, facing fiscal crises, have expanded the reach of their forfeiture statutes, and made it easier for law enforcement to use the revenue however they see fit. In some Texas counties, nearly forty per cent of police budgets comes from forfeiture. (Only one state, North Carolina, bans the practice, requiring a criminal conviction before a person’s property can be seized.) Often, it’s hard for people to fight back. They are too poor; their immigration status is in question; they just can’t sustain the logistical burden of taking on unyielding bureaucracies. Victor Ramos Guzman, a Pentecostal Church secretary from El Salvador, who lives in the U.S. under temporary protected status, is typical in all these respects. A year and a half ago, he and his brother-in-law were driving along Interstate 95 near Emporia, Virginia, en route, documents show, to buy a parcel of land for their church. When a state trooper pulled them over for speeding, Guzman and his brother-in-law disclosed that they were carrying twenty-eight thousand five hundred dollars in parishioners’ donations. Although the trooper found no contraband, he seized the cash. By reporting the case to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Guzman was in the country legally, but he spoke little English), the state police could gain up to eighty per cent of the seizure through the federal Equitable Sharing program. “We could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the money was church money from parishioners’ donations,” David Smith, who was a deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Office during the Reagan Administration and now defends the policy’s targets pro bono, told me last January. Only after he intervened were the funds returned. “But these were people who didn’t have the means to fight back. They weren’t well-to-do. They didn’t know any senators or congressmen, they weren’t citizens. They had no voice.” For the people who hoped to take on the Tenaha operation, the challenge was to bring claims like these into public view. David Guillory started his research by driving his cluttered red Volkswagen Jetta to the Shelby County courthouse, in Center, Texas, where he examined the ledgers that listed the past two years of the county’s legal cases. He wanted to see “any case styled ‘The State of Texas versus’ anything that sounds like a piece of property.” The clerk began hauling out one bulging accordion file after another. “The eye-opening event was pulling those files,” Guillory told me. One of the first cases that caught his attention was titled State of Texas vs. One Gold Crucifix. The police had confiscated a simple gold cross that a woman wore around her neck after pulling her over for a minor traffic violation. No contraband was reported, no criminal charges were filed, and no traffic ticket was issued. That’s how it went in dozens more cases involving cash, cars, and jewelry. A number of files contained slips of paper of a sort he’d never seen before. These were roadside property waivers, improvised by the district attorney, which threatened criminal charges unless drivers agreed to hand over valuables. Guillory eventually found the deal threatening to take Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson’s children unless the couple signed away their money to Shelby County. “It’s like they were memorializing the fact that they were abdicating their responsibility to fight crime,” Guillory said. “If you believe children are in sufficient danger that they should be removed from their parents—don’t trade that for money!” Usually, police and prosecutors are careful about how they broker such exchanges. But Shelby County officials were so brazen about their swap-meet approach to law enforcement, he says, “they put it in the damn document!” Patterns began to emerge. Nearly all the targets had been pulled over for routine traffic stops. Many drove rental cars and came from out of state. None appeared to have been issued tickets. And the targets were disproportionately black or Latino. A finding of discrimination could bring judicial scrutiny. “It was a highway-piracy operation,” Guillory said, and, he thought, material for a class-action lawsuit. But that was a daunting prospect. “Class actions involving race discrimination are extremely hard to win,” Guillory said. “Most of them go down in flames.” What’s more, the Tenaha case wasn’t against a private concern. It involved, in Guillory’s analysis, “a government entity that enjoys the benefit of most doubts, and a D.A. who enjoyed the most gold-plated kind of immunity there is: absolute prosecutorial immunity.” That was why, he thinks, authorities in Tenaha had managed to keep their dirty work largely obscured from public view—“shitting in high cotton,” he calls it. Still, Guillory liked the idea that the case could shed light on broader public-policy issues. At the University of Texas, in Austin, where Guillory attended college and law school during the nineteen-eighties, he had been eager to get involved in electoral politics; his roommate was Paul Begala, who became a prominent Democratic political consultant. Guillory worked where he felt his labors were needed, far from the public eye. But he was drawn to litigation that could help spark reform, even if the odds were not in his favor. Guillory began exchanging notes with his weekly lunch buddy, a slender, scruffy-bearded fellow civil-rights lawyer named Tim Garrigan. Garrigan, who is taller, grayer, and less salty than Guillory, suspected that Tenaha’s roadside deals reflected a broader trend of “policing for profit.” Over Szechuan chicken, he agreed to join Guillory in bringing a lawsuit, and, on July 24, 2008, the two men filed a class action against Shelby County and Tenaha authorities, with James Morrow listed as the lead plaintiff. Within a few weeks, the lawyers had received calls from other Tenaha forfeiture victims. In addition to Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson, the suit was joined by a handful of others—among them an African-American woman from Akron, Ohio, named Linda Dorman, who had forty-five hundred dollars taken from her and a passenger; and a young Mexican-American, Javier Flores, who turned over twenty-four hundred dollars. The suit accused the mayor of Tenaha and other town and Shelby County officials of operating “an illegal practice of stopping, detaining, searching, and often seizing property from citizens,” and doing so “not for any legitimate law enforcement purpose but to enrich their offices and perhaps themselves.” The practice was discriminatory, the suit alleged, and in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, “at least.” Tenaha, population 1,170, is a sleepy stretch of East Texas that smells of its three main industries: cattle, timber, and poultry. The only sit-down restaurant for miles, the Whistle Stop, has a Texas Narcotics Officers’ Association sticker on the front door, along with a sign that reads “We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to Anyone.” Inside, when a newcomer sits down to order lunch on a workday afternoon, locals crane their necks to get a better look. Next door is the town’s main tourist attraction, the Tenaha Antique Mall, where a cashier spends her days staring at a rusty “Barry Goldwater for President” sign and stacks of vintage Coca-Cola bottles; she sells her own tea cakes on the side, in small ziplock bags. The town’s racial geography feels like a throwback, too. White residents live in homes that range from sturdy brick façades to ramshackle trailers; black residents tend to live in “the Quarters,” where the roads are a lumpy mess of silt and rocks, and some houses have limited access to the sewage system. For years, young people of both races have been emptying out of Tenaha. “There’s not much for our children to do but leave,” Marie Crawford, a genteel former city councilwoman, told me recently, as we drove around town in her burgundy van. She has a silver-straight bob and wore a graceful maroon shawl. When we reached the stretch of U.S. 59 that runs into Main Street, we found ourselves trailing a truck stuffed with chickens, which shed tiny white feathers on Crawford’s windshield like a sudden snowfall. “I take it that’s abandoned?” I asked, pointing to a shack with splintery boards for windows. “People live there,” she said. “That’s what kills me.” Tenaha’s mayor and city marshal were understandably receptive when, in the fall of 2006, Barry Washington, a former state trooper from Carthage, Texas, arrived and told them that his drug-interdiction skills could be put to good use along its section of Highway 59. As he later explained at a town-hall meeting, money from thugs could pay the town’s bills. Handsome and imposing in cattle-rancher boots, Washington was, at age fifty, among the most decorated officers in state history. One of the first black troopers to rise to prominence, he had helped pioneer drug-interdiction programs along Texas highways in the nineteen-nineties, earning grip-and-grin photos with George W. Bush and other politicians, and a congressional tribute in 1996. It wasn’t immediately obvious why a man so accomplished—a two-decade veteran of the Department of Public Safety—was interested in taking a sleepy job in a sleepy town. His explanation was simple. He’d been lying in bed one night in Carthage, soon after leaving his old job, when he looked up to see a light burst through his bedroom ceiling. “And it’s like I’m in a trance,” he later recalled. “And God tells me, ‘Go to Tenaha, Texas.’ And I get up the next day, and I laugh about it, until I find out that God may be serious, so I end up in Tenaha.” The town was well placed for an interdiction program. Although U.S. 59 hardly seems like a highway when it goes through Tenaha (the speed limit changes from seventy to thirty-five), the route connects Laredo, on the U.S. border with Mexico, to Houston, and then stretches fifteen hundred miles to the Minnesota border with Canada. Each year, millions of pounds of drugs make their way north, and millions more flow back down in cash. Much of this goes to support Mexico’s brutal drug cartels—the sort of organized criminal networks known to decapitate innocents and dissolve rivals in vats of lye. At the Texas Department of Public Safety, Washington was among the first officers in America to use new techniques to sniff out cash, which resourceful smugglers were concealing inside dolls, bowling balls, piles of rotting fish, and all manner of cunningly hidden compartments. In Tenaha, Washington quickly began bringing in drug money. According to a former colleague, he made heavy use of “pretextual traffic stops,” focussing on out-of-state rental cars. Early on, he caught a man driving a sleek motor home filled with five hundred pounds of pot. The district attorney confiscated the vehicle, and the town auctioned it off for twenty thousand dollars. Locals still describe with awe a stop Washington made nine days before Christmas in 2006. He pulled over a blue Nissan driven by a droopy-faced, curly-haired woman with big brown eyes, for “following too closely” behind a large truck. “She talked slow,” Washington jotted in his police report, “and . . . batted her eyes very sleepy like.” She also seemed, in the face of interrogation, “very nervous.” Washington noticed that festive red-and-green Christmas packages sat stacked on the back seat. “Children’s toys,” the woman said. But, when the gifts were unwrapped, Washington found an early holiday present for the city: more than six hundred and twenty thousand dollars in cash. Within six months, the program had amassed almost $1.3 million in seized profits, some of it taken from so-called “smurfs”—often well-dressed, friendly-looking people who carry money for cartels, depositing it at banks in small amounts to avoid detection. A profit-sharing agreement was drawn up to split the proceeds among the district attorney’s office, the Tenaha marshal’s office, and the county constable. But Marie Crawford, the councilwoman, had begun to notice a few things that didn’t sit right with her. “The lady with the Christmas packages, she was in jail for one night, and then they let her right out,” Crawford told me. It affronted her sense of justice that someone who appeared to be a major money launderer was swiftly released and never hit with criminal charges. Something similar happened with a Nashville man found to be transporting more than eighty-one thousand dollars and a large stash of cocaine in the trunk of his Chevrolet, and another mule hauling ninety-five thousand dollars. “Hey, I’ve got kids and grandkids, I want drugs off the street,” Crawford said. “But all we were doing was taking their money and sending them on down the road.” At the same time, the new forfeiture corridor seemed also to ensnare people who had no involvement with the drug trade. After speaking to a local judge, Crawford learned that letters of complaint had been arriving from drivers across the country. She sent copies along to Tim Garrigan and David Guillory, whose class-action lawsuit was well on its way. “Dear Honorable Mayor,” wrote an Arkansas man who described having his car torn apart on the roadside in a futile search for drugs. “I felt humiliated, helpless, and painful for the way I was treated.” He enclosed photographs showing his car’s ravaged interior. A man described how, on his way back from a grandchild’s preschool graduation in Louisiana, he “had been violated, stripped of my dignity before my daughter and grandchildren.” Another driver said that he was stopped so often on his monthly drive through Tenaha to visit a sick relative across state lines that he kept a tape recorder in the car, hoping to capture police misconduct. The lawyers figured that such misconduct had already been recorded. In Tenaha, the police station and cars were outfitted with video-surveillance equipment. And Boatright, for one, said that on the night of her detention Washington told her that the whole thing was being captured on film. Garrigan had requested footage of traffic stops made by Washington and his partner, along with related video from the station, but got nowhere. Then, after the Tenaha lawsuit caught the attention of the national media, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice launched its own criminal investigation into the alleged abuses. Several months later, in October, 2009, large stacks of optical disks were finally turned over. Garrigan and Guillory now had hundreds of hours of digital footage to sort through. Garrigan hired a colleague’s adult son to sit at a large oval wood-veneer table with a laptop and a supply of Starbucks, sorting through it all. (He’s still at it.) Curiously, most of Barry Washington’s traffic stops were absent from the record. In those instances where Washington had turned on his dashboard camera, the video was often of such poor quality as to be “useless,” Garrigan says. There was hardly any footage of his clients, including Jennifer Boatright and Ron Henderson. In James Morrow’s case, a sliver of video was identified from Constable Randy Whatley’s camera feed, which captured part of the man’s detention by the side of the road. Washington could be heard instructing Whatley, “Would you take your K-9? If he alerts on the vehicle, I’m gonna take his mama’s vehicle away from him, and I’m gonna take his money.” “Oh, yeah,” Whatley replied. “O.K.” “I’m gonna take his stuff from him,” Washington repeated. The rest of the video was mostly muted, and a judge later deemed it “somewhat obscured by the placement of Washington’s car between the camera and Morrow’s car.” Some useful footage turned up that involved one of their original plaintiffs, a soft-spoken man named Dale Agostini, who was born in Guyana and was the co-owner of an award-winning Caribbean restaurant in Washington, D.C., called Sweet Mango. In September, 2007, he and his fiancée had had their infant son taken from them hours after Barry Washington pulled them over for “traveling in left lane marked for passing only,” according to the police report. No evidence of drugs or other contraband was found, and neither parent had a criminal record. Even so, Washington seized a large sum of cash that Agostini, who has family in the area, said he’d brought with him to buy restaurant equipment at a local auction. Lynda Russell, the district attorney, then arrived at the scene, sending Agostini and his fiancée, a nursing student at the University of Maryland, to jail for the night. In police surveillance footage, Agostini can be heard pleading with Russell, “Can I kiss my son goodbye?” Afterward, Russell dryly recounted to a colleague, “I said no, kiss me.” “I hope you won’t paint it like it’s all bad,” Simon Porter, a former East Texas narcotics officer based in Titus County, implored when we spoke. More than seventy per cent of seizures in Texas are “administrative” cases, which means that they are never contested by the owner—owing to guilt, Porter maintains, more than to the difficulties of fighting back. “When it’s done right, civil forfeiture is one of our most valuable tools,” he said. The rise of civil forfeiture has, in some areas, proved of great value. It allows the government to extract swift penalties from white-collar criminals and offer restitution to victims of fraud; since 2012, the Department of Justice has turned over more than $1.5 billion in forfeited assets to four hundred thousand crime victims, often in cases of corporate criminality. Federal agents have also used forfeiture to go after ruthless migrant smugglers, organized-crime tycoons, and endangered-species poachers, stripping them of their illicit gains. Global Witness, the anti-corruption group, recently cheered the Justice Department’s civil-forfeiture action targeting the son of Equatorial Guinea’s dictator, which sought his Malibu mansion, Gulfstream jet, and some two million dollars’ worth of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including a bejewelled white glove. Yet only a small portion of state and local forfeiture cases target powerful entities. “There’s this myth that they’re cracking down on drug cartels and kingpins,” Lee McGrath, of the Institute for Justice, who recently co-wrote a paper on Georgia’s aggressive use of forfeiture, says. “In reality, it’s small amounts, where people aren’t entitled to a public defender, and can’t afford a lawyer, and the only rational response is to walk away from your property, because of the infeasibility of getting your money back.” In 2011, he reports, fifty-eight local, county, and statewide police forces in Georgia brought in $2.76 million in forfeitures; more than half the items taken were worth less than six hundred and fifty dollars. With minimal oversight, police can then spend nearly all those proceeds, often without reporting where the money has gone. “When you allow the profit incentive, that’s when you start getting problems,” Porter said. “It’s like the difference between serving in the Army and working for Blackwater.” The Blackwater model wasn’t endemic just in Tenaha. In Oklahoma, a Caddo County district attorney hired a private company, Desert Snow L.L.C., to train a local drug-interdiction task force. Although the company’s contractors were not certified law officers, they reportedly interrogated drivers and took up to twenty-five per cent of the seized cash, even in cases where no contraband was present. Last month, after a county judge denounced the contractors’ role as “shocking,” the district attorney suspended the practice. During my time in East Texas, a police officer told me that if I ventured beyond Shelby County I’d learn that Tenaha was far from an outlier in the region. When I looked through courthouse records and talked with local interdiction officers in nearby counties, I saw what he meant. In Hunt County, Texas, I found officers scoring personal bonuses of up to twenty-six thousand dollars a year, straight from the forfeiture fund. In Titus County, forfeiture pays the assistant district attorney’s entire salary. Farther south, in Johnson County, I came upon a sheriff’s office that had confiscated an out-of-state driver’s cash, in the absence of contraband, in exchange for a handwritten receipt that gave the traveller no information about who had just taken his money, why, or how he might get it back. If the war on drugs was an immense boost to forfeiture programs, the post-9/11 era has also seen the practice—and the profits—reach into the domestic war on terror. One of the lesser-known provisions of the Patriot Act was a section overturning several of CAFRA’s protections for property owners when they are the subject of terror investigations, however preliminary. Local jurisdictions followed suit. Shamoon Yousif, an Iraqi-American grocery-store owner in Maricopa County, Arizona, knows what this can mean, having had the contents of his life seized as “substitute assets” for shoplifting and related crimes initiated by his brother, after an investigation started by the F.B.I. Joint Terrorism Task Force. A Coptic Christian who left Iraq at the age of nineteen, Shamoon Yousif thought he was living a classic American immigrant story: after years of saving, he managed to open a grocery store, in Mesa, Arizona, and then a second, in a rougher neighborhood. When his wife learned that she had metastatic breast cancer, he asked his brother Sami to take charge of the second store. According to investigators, his brother, who had a gambling habit, took to shelving goods purchased at a steep discount from “boosters,” mostly addicts who shoplifted liquor, cigarettes, and clothing like jeans and sweaters from big-box stores. Early one morning in May, 2008, police charged into Shamoon’s house, and began the government seizure of most significant items the family owned—Shamoon’s home, his car, his two stores, his bank accounts, the jewelry of his recently deceased wife, his children’s cell phones, and more. The fact that the dirty money in Sami’s store was “co-mingling” with clean money from legitimate sales justified the charge of “money laundering.” What’s more, reliance on a steady group of boosters and Sami’s stashing of several bottles of liquor in the house elevated the case to “racketeering,” which opened up Shamoon’s home to civil forfeiture under the Arizona Racketeering Act. Because civil suits do not come with the right to a lawyer, Shamoon would have no money with which to defend himself. Did he know what his brother was up to? “I thought it possible Shamoon Yousif was being deceived,” the lead officer on the case, Sarah Thrower, of the Phoenix Police Department’s Homeland Defense Bureau, conceded. But she and her colleagues concluded that, because Shamoon was a competent businessman who, as she wrote in a police report, “took all legal responsibility” for the income generated by both stores, he “knew or had reason to know” about his brother’s dealings. Eventually, a recent law-school graduate named Jean-Jacques Cabou heard about the case, found the details galling, and offered his services. “Forfeiture cases like these are almost impossible to fight,” he told me earlier this year, after he’d devoted hundred of hours to the case. “It’s the Guantánamo Bay of the legal system.” As he sorted through Shamoon Yousif’s case records, Cabou noticed something odd. The investigation had drawn on resources from the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center—a so-called “fusion center” in Maricopa County meant to integrate mundane local crime data with federal intelligence streams, in search of clues about terrorism plots. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano once hailed the fusion-center initiative as “one of the centerpieces of our counterterrorism strategy.” It has since lost lustre. Last fall, a Senate report concluded that these centers have produced mostly “irrelevant, useless or inappropriate intelligence reporting.” A Senate aide involved in the report told me that investigations prompted by the local centers often veer toward prospects with lucrative cash-seizure potential. This may be how a case that involved petty thefts of sweaters, jeans, and bottles of Jack Daniels gained the aura of a counterterrorism investigation. Shamoon Yousif, with Cabou’s help, finally reached a settlement with the state attorney general, which allowed him to keep his home and stores as a debtor to the state. Shamoon says, “Why’d we settle? Because I’ve got no money left. I owe thousands and thousands to my cousins, to my friends, to the bank.” Today, he works fourteen-hour days, and turns over the bulk of his monthly salary to a RICO fund. In recent years, Maricopa County’s fund has been censured for its controversial outlays. It sponsored an anti-immigrant radio host’s book tour promoting “Another Man’s Sombrero: A Conservative Broadcaster’s Undercover Journey Across the Mexican Border.” It also helped to support Christian evangelist programs like the “Missionettes,” which aims to “win girls to Jesus Christ . . . to teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded.” About a year after the Tenaha suit was filed, its lawyers got a major break. On a quiet July afternoon in 2009, a woman entered the foyer of Garrigan’s one-story law office, which was situated beside a liquor store and a car wash touting “Good Looking Girls for a Good Cause.” She held an unmarked manila envelope in her hand and asked to speak with Garrigan. When he came out, moments later, the woman was gone, but she’d left behind the envelope. Over the previous year, Garrigan—a vintage-motorcycle enthusiast who can be found wearing New Balance sneakers, Levi’s, and soft old T-shirts on days when he has no court appearances—had received a handful of letters from tipsters with pen names like A Concerned Citizen and A Pissed-Off Voter. “I am just a citizen who knows right from wrong,” one note began, accompanied by seventeen pages of documents about the forfeiture program. “People don’t have the money, or are afraid to fight [Lynda Russell] because they will be put in jail and lose their jobs,” another read. But Garrigan was particularly struck by the contents of the unmarked manila envelope. It included chain e-mails that Russell had forwarded. “Be proud to be white! It’s not a crime YET . . . but getting very close!” one read. A second joked, “Danger: you are entering a no Obama Zone. Mention his name and I’ll drop you where you stand!” More revelatory was a nine-page spreadsheet listing items funded by Tenaha’s roadside seizures. Among them were Halloween costumes, Doo Dah Parade decorations, “Have a Nice Day” banners, credit-card late fees, poultry-festival supplies, a popcorn machine, and a thousand-dollar donation to a Baptist congregation that was said to be important to Lynda Russell’s reëlection. Barry Washington, as deputy city marshal, received a ten-thousand-dollar personal bonus from the fund. (His base salary was about thirty thousand dollars; Garrigan later confirmed reports that Washington had received a total of forty thousand dollars in bonuses.) This material could provide crucial background as the lawyers prepared to depose Washington. What was happening in Texas was consistent with a larger pattern. States that place seized funds in a neutral account, like Maine, Missouri (where proceeds go to a public education fund), North Dakota, and Vermont, have generally avoided major forfeiture-abuse scandals. Problems seem to arise in states—such as Texas, Georgia, and Virginia—with few restrictions on how police can use the proceeds. Scandals, too, emerge from the federal Equitable Sharing program, which allows local police to skirt state restrictions on the use of funds. In Bal Harbour, Florida, an upscale seaside village of thirty-three-hundred residents, a small vice squad ran a forfeiture network that brought in nearly fifty million dollars in just three years. The squad travelled around the country, helped to arrange money-laundering stings in far-flung cities, then divided the cash with the federal agencies involved. Last year, the Department of Justice shut down the operation, ordering the village to return millions in cash. But much of it had already been spent: on luxury-car rentals and first-class plane tickets to pursue stings in New York, New Jersey, California, and elsewhere; on a hundred-thousand-dollar police boat; and on a twenty-one-thousand-dollar drug-prevention beach party. Another case involves a monthly social event that had been hosted by the Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit. In the midst of festivities one evening in late May, 2008, forty-odd officers in black commando gear stormed the gallery and its rear patio, ordering the guests to the ground. Some in attendance thought that they were the victims of an armed robbery. One young woman who had fallen only to her knees told me that a masked figure screamed at her, “Bitch, you think you’re too pretty to get in the mud?” A boot from behind kicked her to the ground. The officers, including members of the Detroit Police Department’s vice squad and mobile tactical unit, placed the guests under arrest. According to police records, the gallery lacked proper city permits for after-hours dancing and drinking, and an old ordinance aimed at “blind pigs” (speakeasies) and other places of “illegal occupation” made it a crime to patronize such a place, knowingly or not. After lining the guests on their knees before a “prisoner processing table” and searching them, the officers asked for everyone’s car keys. Then the raid team seized every vehicle it could find, even venturing to the driveway of a young man’s friend nearly a mile away to retrieve his car. Forty-four cars were taken to government-contracted lots. Most of those detained had to pay more than a thousand dollars for the return of their cars; if payment wasn’t made promptly, the car would become city property. The proceeds were divided among the offices of the prosecutors, police, and towing companies. After the A.C.L.U. filed a suit against the city, a district court ruled that the raid was unconstitutional, and noted that it reflected “a widespread practice” by the police in the area. (The city is appealing the ruling.) Vice statutes have lent themselves to such forfeiture efforts; in previous years, an initiative targeted gay men for forfeiture, under Detroit’s “annoying persons” ordinance. Before local lawyers challenged such practices, known informally as “Bag a Fag,” undercover officers would arrest gay men who simply returned their glances or gestures, if the signals were deemed to have sexual connotations, and then, citing “nuisance abatement,” seize their vehicles. Detroit Police Department officials have said that raids like the one on the Contemporary Art Institute are aimed at improving “quality of life.” The raids certainly help address the department’s substantial budgetary shortfalls. Last year, Detroit, which has since filed for bankruptcy, cut the annual police budget by nearly a fifth. Today, “blind pig” raids around the city routinely result in the confiscation of dozens, sometimes hundreds, of cars. Because forfeiture actions tend to affect people who cannot easily fight back, even those who feel wronged seldom contest the seizures or seek public notice. “There’s no telling how many Tenahas there are,” Vanita Gupta, a deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, told me. Early on, she took an interest in the suit that Guillory and Garrigan were putting together, and her office joined in the effort. “It’s very hard to document,” she said, noting that many people targeted by the practice are too intimidated to talk. “These cases tend to stay in the dark.” The deposition of Barry Washington was scheduled for May 3, 2010, at the Nacogdoches County Courthouse, a squat, red-roofed building with all the grandeur of a budget motel. Tim Garrigan would be handling it. In the grand-jury room, Washington was flanked by a team of defense lawyers whom Garrigan and Guillory had confronted dozens of times, often in cases involving prisoner abuse. The deposition was critical for the case, but Garrigan had no confidence that it would go well. The previous night, preparing in his office surrounded by large stacks of pretrial exhibits, he had felt encouraged by the evidence they had. But he and Guillory knew, from decades of suing police for alleged misconduct, that evidence could be hard to deploy. On the witness stand, Garrigan felt, law-enforcement officers tended to “look like choirboys, Boy Scouts.” He’d compiled a basic outline of questions he wished to ask, but his main goal was to remain fluid, adaptive and attentive to Washington’s testimony. Things started out on a friendly note. Washington, who wore his Tenaha deputy city marshal’s uniform—faded bluejeans, a khaki Western shirt, a silver belt buckle, and a glittering badge—spoke of his twenty-four years of service with the Department of Public Safety, and his long-term work as a mentor of high-school youth. When asked about the many awards he’d won as a state trooper, Washington said, “Do I have to name them all?” Soon, he was listing accolades; over the years, he’d received letters of praise from Senator Phil Gramm, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Janet Reno, and others. But, as the morning wound on, the deposition turned a corner. “God didn’t make me a piece of junk,” Washington said. “He made me to go out there and do my job.” He explained his interdiction strategy, which relied on pulling over out-of-state cars for minor traffic violations, then looking for indicators of drug trafficking. “And what are these indicators?” Garrigan asked. “Well, there could be several things,” Washington explained. “The No. 1 thing is you may have two guys stopped, and these two guys are from New York. They’re two Puerto Ricans. They’re driving a car that has a Baptist Church symbol on the back, says ‘First Baptist Church of New York.’ They’re travelling during the week, when most people are working and children are in school. They’ve borrowed this car from their aunt, and their aunt is back in New York.” Profile factors like these, Washington explained, could help justify the conclusion that the two men’s money was likely tainted by crime. But also, he said, “we go on smells, odors, fresh paint.” In many cases, he said he smelled pot. In other cases, things smelled too fresh and clean, perhaps because of the suspicious deployment of air fresheners. Later, the discussion turned to specific traffic stops. Garrigan asked about Dale Agostini, the Guyanese restaurateur who wanted to kiss his infant son goodbye before being taken to jail for money laundering. Why did Washington think he was entitled to seize the Agostini family’s cash? “It’s no more theirs than a man on the moon,” Washington said. “It belongs to an organization of people that are narcotics traffickers.” “Do you have any evidence, any rational basis to tell us that this money belonged to an organization of narcotics traffickers?” Garrigan asked. “Or is that more speculation?” “I don’t have any evidence today,” Washington said. Garrigan asked about an iPod that was also taken from Agostini’s car. “What was your basis for taking that away from them?” “Well, it’s in the car, and all those things can be looked at,” Washington explained. “Because if they’re using any of those items in the process of travelling to do something that’s illegal, then you can take all of those things. Even if it’s a pillow that they lay their head on.” “Is there any limit?” “No. President Reagan says there’s no limit. It’s time to get serious about this thing. And I think that’s how some of our laws are the way they are, is because it’s time to fight the war on drugs and say, ‘Let’s fight them,’ instead of just saying we’re going to do it.” Garrigan was relieved. Washington, rather than hiding behind legalistic justifications, proudly outlined his vision of forfeiture: that its scope was boundless, that mere “indicators” were enough to trigger it, and that warfare was an apt analogy for the pursuit of cash, cars, and even iPods from drivers whom he deemed suspicious. If that were a fair characterization of Texas policy, a judge’s sympathy for the plaintiffs seemed likely. So did a public outcry for reform. “Did you find any drugs?” Garrigan asked. “No.” “Is there any evidence that they were buying drugs, instead of looking at restaurants in Houston?” “No, not yet.” “Do you, for some reason, think people driving up and down 59 owe you an explanation for why they might have money?” “Sure they do.” After the deposition, Garrigan was elated. “If I could bottle up the feeling I had when I left, and use it for bad days?” he told me. “That would be great.” Over the next year, legal proceedings taking place far from Shelby County were threatening the case. The Texas district judge presiding over the suit said that he wouldn’t certify the class of plaintiffs until the United States Supreme Court had announced its decision in the case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes, a class-action suit pressing claims of sex discrimination on behalf of the retail chain’s 1.5 million current and former female employees. Wal-Mart’s position was that the class of plaintiffs was impractically broad. In June, 2011, the Supreme Court agreed, tossing the class of plaintiffs out of court. Two months later, the Texas district judge issued a fifty-six-page ruling that certified the Tenaha plaintiffs after all. In light of the Wal-Mart decision, the judge would not allow the plaintiffs as a class to ask for money: compensatory or punitive damages were out. But the plaintiffs could at least seek “declaratory and injunctive relief”—a legal finding of fact in their favor, and a reform of the forfeiture program. Garrigan remembers beginning to read the opinion, then jumping up in excitement, pacing around his big oval table, laughing, and reading more. “I couldn’t sit still. I had to read a paragraph, walk around with a crazy grin on my face, and then sit down and read another paragraph.” It wasn’t just that the judge had certified the plaintiffs; his description of the facts indicated that he would be receptive to their complaints. Facing the prospect of a long, arduous trial, Tenaha and Shelby County officials agreed to settle, though they denied wrongdoing. Earlier this month, the settlement was examined for fairness by a district judge, and upheld. “What we’ve asked the court to approve is a deal that requires the defendants to basically clean up their act,” Guillory told me, and have “better training in place to insure people’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.” Recently, I met with Guillory at his new office, at Lone Star Legal Aid, a nonprofit run out of an old clapboard house that used to be a bordello, and he took me through the settlement’s details. The town and the county have agreed to twenty-one policy changes, including using video and audio recordings to capture “all traffic stops,” allowing canine sniffs only “when a police officer has reasonable suspicion of criminal activity,” and training police in “compliance with racial profiling laws.” Inspired in part by the class action, Texas legislators banned the use of roadside waivers and modestly restricted the use of forfeiture funds: no more poultry-festival supplies, unapproved bonuses, or popcorn machines. Still, neither the settlement nor the law reduces the formidable obstacles for owners who want their property returned, or changes the fact that law-enforcement budgets can depend upon forfeiture revenue. The victory was distinctly partial. “As soon as the news hoopla died down, so did the debate,” Guillory told me. “What stands out to me is the nature of how pervasive and dependent police really are on civil-asset forfeiture—it’s their bread and butter—and, therefore, how difficult it is to engage in systemic reform,” Vanita Gupta, of the A.C.L.U., says. As plaintiffs from around the country waited to learn whether the settlement was to be upheld, they travelled back to East Texas to offer depositions and make individual claims. Some returned simply to watch Barry Washington give his own account of what took place on Highway 59. Earlier in the spring, Dale Agostini, the restaurant owner, flew in from D.C. to hear Washington being deposed in an action to decide whether he would enjoy immunity from individual lawsuits. “It was the most heart-wrenching thing,” he told me, of his travels back to East Texas. “I had to pay for a friend to fly down and drive me there. I just don’t want to be driving there alone.” James Morrow, the poultry-plant worker, drove over from Arkansas. “I feel kind of proud,” Morrow told me. “After I got started, there wasn’t any stopping. It’s been long and tedious. But now they can’t go around doing that to people.” Today, Barry Washington works as a safety supervisor for Shell Oil. He is building a chapel on his own time, and plans to launch a ministry camp for kids there. He seems to have no regrets about any of his roadside seizures. A friend and drug-interdiction colleague named Cleve Williams told me, “With everything that I know about Barry as a person, what he stands for, I don’t believe for a minute that he’s done anything wrong.” Although Washington declined to be interviewed at any length for this story, he did say that he “provided a great service to this nation,” and stressed the importance of taking drug trafficking seriously. “There’s a good side and a bad side, and the good side will always win,” he told me. “Jesus knows who’s done what, and what was fair and what was unfair. And I would never do anything to embarrass Him. And that’s it. That’s the end of the story.” Lynda Russell, meanwhile, has consistently refused to testify, pleading the Fifth, and declined to be interviewed. Her faith in the power of forfeiture, too, appears unshaken. After the county and the state decided not to provide her with legal representation, she asked to use the county’s forfeiture fund to finance her own defense.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)– Get ready to cringe. Parents may want to check their kid’s sippy cups after finding out what some people have found in the lids. A popular brand of sippy cups has a nasty surprise lurking, but you wouldn’t know it unless you slice open the mouthpiece. “Just disgust, I mean I probably wouldn’t have bought them, clearly, if I knew they had this problem,” one father told CBS2’s Alice Gainer. The problem: mold. And in some cases, not just a little bit. “And I was like, oh my gosh I can’t believe it’s just been sitting in there and we were shocked that it would even be that much,” Sarah Wright, a concerned mother, told CBS2. Parents from all over have been taking to social media to post pictures of their moldy sippy cup valves. The company that makes them, “Tommee Tippee,” is now taking action, saying it’s launching a new sippy cup in the next few months. The new cup will have a two piece valve that can be used with different types of liquid, and is easier to clean. In the meantime, they’re making transparent valves immediately available to parents. But some parents are already concerned about their children’s health. “My kids have been kinda having colds lately, well maybe that’s why or are they going to get sick from this? Because we’ve only had them for four months,” Wright said. “My first thought is the mold is disgusting to look at,” Dr. Laura Popper, a pediatrician, told CBS2. Popper said parents shouldn’t be too worried. “We eat cheese and all kinds of things that are, in fact, made of mold,” she said. “The mold in homes that is usually a problem is that which is inhaled. We have mold all over the place, but drinking this will probably have little effect.” The mold grew despite parents washing the cups. Tommee Tippee has a video on their website explaining how to properly clean the valve, noting it should be hand-washed only. The company also advises using only milk, water, and juices without pulp.
The story of the father and son who practically invented the modern game of golf in the mid-19th century from the then-isolated outpost of Prestwick on the Ayrshire coast; a comic paean to the “water of life” after a ship full of whisky hits the rocks and crafty locals do their best to hang on to the cargo. Few films would seem more archetypally Scots than Tommy’s Honour, a biopic of pioneering golf champion Young Tom Morris, and Whisky Galore, the remake of the classic Ealing comedy featuring Gregor Fisher (aka Rab C Nesbitt). As the films occupying the high-profile opening and closing gala slots at the Edinburgh international film festival, their cultural capital is entirely appropriate. If you go to any festival you want to see what's happening in the domestic cinema Mark Adams, EIFF artistic director The film festival’s fondness for showcasing Scottish cinema is not a new phenomenon, but appears to have become a serious commitment. Last year, the opening and closing slots were again occupied by Scottish films: The Legend of Barney Thomson, directed by and starring celebrated Scots actor Robert Carlyle, and Iona, the second film from nascent auteur Scott Graham and set on the Hebridean island of the title. “There’s a logic to it,” says the festival’s artistic director Mark Adams. “If you go to any festival you want to see what’s happening in the domestic cinema; and so we always said: if we found good films that were appropriate then they would be contenders for the gala spots – and that’s just what happened.” Edinburgh will also be dribbling other Scots-connected films through its programme: theatre director Graeme Maley is bringing two Icelandic-produced features, Pale Star and A Reykjavik Porno, while Mike Day’s award-winning Faroes whale-hunter documentary The Islands and the Whales is receiving its European premiere. Braveheart actor Angus Macfadyen is turning up with his directorial debut with Macbeth Unhinged, while Dougray Scott is the lead in zombie horror The Rezort (though its director, Steve Barker, is English). Animation team Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson, graduates of the Edinburgh College of Art, get a min-retrospective of their work to date, which includes the Bafta-winning The Making of Longbird. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tommy’s Honour, starring Peter Mullan, left, and Jack Lowden, leads the opening night gala. Photograph: Neil Davidson Adams is keen to talk up Scotland’s film-making, which you would expect to be in a confident, self-assertive state after the seismic cultural and political changes of the past few years. “It’s a good time in lots of ways,” he says. “There are lots of strong films coming out on a regular basis, there’s a really great talent base, of actors and technicians – that’s what shows through. Like any national film industry, these things go in cycles – you get something that clicks with audiences, does well internationally, and things go from there.” Adams also points to the ongoing success of the US TV series Outlander, which has been shooting in a Cumbernauld studio since 2013, and the recent return of the cast and crew of Trainspotting – arguably the most recognisably Scottish film of all – to Edinburgh to film the sequel. (That, unfortunately, is one film that Adams won’t get his hands on, as it is already locked into a January 2017 release date, far too early for next year’s festival.) “Things take a long time to percolate through the film industry, but there is definitely a sense of confidence, of films getting made and getting out there. People are busy, crews are busy; these things feed off each other, and give everything a buzz.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Spotted … Jonny Lee Miller, centre, filming a scene in Edinburgh for the forthcoming Trainspotting 2. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA Adams may be right about the buzz, but not everyone is convinced Scotland’s film-making is on the crest of a wave. Screen International’s chief film critic Fionnuala Halligan suggests that, compared to the likes of, say, Ireland, Scotland looks a little “moribund”. “The difference between Ireland and Scotland seems to be a lack of a studio space and a lack of facilities,” Halligan says. “Ireland and Northern Ireland have taken a lot of filming – Star Wars on Skellig, Game of Thrones in Belfast – and they have been very proactive.” We won’t have a proper industry here if all we do is entertain the Americans. We've got to make stuff ourselves Chris Young, producer It’s also fair to say that, on the evidence of this year’s festival at least, Scottish cinema is suffering a little from the absence of the kind of dominant creative personalities that have sustained it in the recent past. Lynne Ramsay appears to be moving into American cinema, Peter Mullan has concentrated on acting since 2010’s Neds, and Kevin Macdonald is currently working on his second music documentary (about Whitney Houston). Halligan approvingly notes the achievements of Shell and Iona director Graham (“a great, singular vision”) and former Beta Band member John Maclean, whose debut feature Slow West impressed audiences in 2015. Other recent films – Under the Skin, Macbeth, Sunshine on Leith, Sunset Song – are impressive interactions with Scots culture and landscape, she suggests, but sit somewhat awkwardly as fully Scottish films. “Things are going OK; there’s plenty happening but, to be honest, there’s little sense there’s a new wave of Scottish film-makers bubbling under, about to come down.” Chris Young, the Skye-based producer who scored an immense hit with that very English comedy The Inbetweeners Movie is also less than convinced that an Indyref dividend has yet arrived. As someone at the coalface of Scottish film production, Young’s central issue is over the matter of domestic film-making. “We won’t have a proper industry here if all we do is entertain the Americans,” he says. “We’ve got to make stuff ourselves. If you think of movies made in Scotland in the last five years, most of the directors or producers have come in and used it as a location. That is a pity.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest The view from here … Gaelic-language TV drama Bannan. Photograph: BBC If ever there was a time for Scotland to be succeeding as a product, it should be now Young has spent the past few years concentrating on his Gaelic-language TV drama Bannan (three new episodes of which are to screen at Edinburgh) and has a clutch of feature projects about to go before the cameras – including an adaptation of Neil Gunn’s celebrated Scottish novel The Silver Darlings, a drama about the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing, and a comedy about Donald Trump’s Scottish golf course. Young is convinced he can see the root problem, and it’s not the lack of studio space (“I’ve never believed in buildings”). For him, “the British film industry is based entirely on the British television industry, and at the moment in Scotland television is not supporting film enough. What needs to happen is a strategic partnership between [funding agency] Creative Scotland and the television companies, STV and the BBC. I am optimistic about the future but it’s taking a very long time.” Young says he has a lot of time for Holyrood culture secretary Fiona Hyslop, and “the threat of separation has forced everyone to be a bit less London-centric, but we haven’t yet seen the results”. “The one thing that’s really happening in Scotland is Outlander – it’s employing loads of people – but it’s American. If Sony think it’s worth putting five years of TV production in Scotland, why doesn’t Britain? “If ever there was time for Scotland to be succeeding as a product, it should be now. In the last two years, we’ve had our moment. I’m a bit disappointed as I don’t think it’s delivered yet.”
Verstappen was embroiled in an intense battle for position with Kvyat - the man he replaced at Red Bull - for several corners before he had to give up and pit to try to undercut the Russian. Although Verstappen expressed some frustration on the radio at Kvyat's defence, the Dutchman insisted team orders were not necessary. When asked if Kvyat should have been asked to let him through, Verstappen said: "No, I should get past by myself. [Kvyat's defence] was good. He was fighting for his position." When asked why he had shouted "Come on, man" on the radio, he said: “It was getting quite intense at one point, going a bit off the track. We were just losing a lot of time and of course after such a bad start you are a bit disappointed." Kvyat made it clear that at no point was he asked to let his rival overtake him - neither early on in the race, nor later, when Verstappen finally worked his way around Kvyat on fresher tyres. "Absolutely not," he said. "I think you saw that I tried to pass [Sergio] Perez, it was very hard to pass him because the straight line speed advantage is massive. "I tried a really late braking manoeuvre, and went with four wheels [outside the track] at Turn 7. Also Max passed him, and I had to let Verstappen by to let Perez back, otherwise I would get a 10-second penalty." He added: "I loved racing today. I feel this passion again." Verstappen got stuck behind Kvyat after having made a terrible start which included a scare when he nearly made contact with Nico Hulkenberg's spinning Force India. The Red Bull driver recovered to sixth position, which he felt was the maximum. "Considering the start, I think we did the best we could. It's just very difficult and as soon as you stay behind for three or four laps and you try to get past, you just destroy your tyres. "As soon as I was in clear air it was fine, I could manage my tyres. But unfortunately I didn't have that many free laps. It was all compromised by the start, unfortunately." Additional reporting by Andrew van Leeuwen
Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission (we’ll get back to that in a second) wants to remind his followers of what they ought to look for in a President. A strong resume? The ability to reach across the aisle? None of that matters. Cass only wants to know two things about you before he votes: Are you Christian? And do you have a penis? What should be look for in our elected officials?… The first qualification is they must be a Christian… What a candidate professes about God is absolutely critical. It will profoundly shape his leadership. Genuine reverence for the Lord is the foundation of knowledge… So we need a leader who is alive spiritually and who will lead in the fear of God. The biblical biological requirement for office is you must be male. Civil leadership should be conceived of as an extension of the family and God’s created order. God established man as the head of the woman and woman as his helpmate… In society, the same roles apply as is ordained in the family and in the church. … The ministry of justice that God has given to the state is generally a man’s job. Yet, there are exceptions in the Bible where God has raised up women like Deborah to judge and even deliver Israel. But it’s considered an indictment when there’s no strong, godly men to lead and protect their families and society. Ability and character also matter, Cass says, but not unless those first two requirements are met. If you bring honesty into the fold, good luck finding anyone. Cass, by the way, has said that President Obama is not a Christian, that owning a gun is mandatory for all Christians, and that gay people are “spiritually worthless.” But remember: It’s Christians in the majority who have it so rough that an anti-defamation group is needed to defend them. (via Right Wing Watch and Joe. My. God.)

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