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The Minnesota Senate, after four hours of floor discussion Monday, joined the state House of Representatives in approving same-sex marriage.
The measure, which could be signed as early as Tuesday by Gov. Mark Dayton, means Minnesota will become the 12th state in the nation to permit gay marriages.
The Senate vote was 37 to 30. The Minnesota House passed the measure Thursday on a 75-59 vote.
Moments before the vote, chief author Sen. Scott Dibble read passages of a poem by Langston Hughes. “Let America be America again,” Dibble said. “Let it be the dream it used to be.”
The vote came after more than four hours of emotional and at times acrimonious debate. Near the end, the din from supporters and opponents sometimes threatened to drown out the floor speeches.
Inside the chamber, opponents prayed and held rosaries and Bibles while supporters held hands and blotted tears. Capitol staff packed the Senate floor as Dibble took up the microphone — a traditional signal under legislative protocol that a vote is imminent.
The action comes just six months after Minnesota voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as only between one man and one woman. And it takes place just one week shy of the second anniversary of the Legislature’s vote to place the proposed ban on gay marriage in the state constitution. |
Government delays Gonski review response
Updated
Prime Minister Julia Gillard says the Government will not be releasing its response to the Gonski review of school funding for a number of weeks.
The review recommended an extra $5 billion be spent on schools and found the funding model for public and private schools needs to be overhauled.
The Government's response had been expected this week.
Ms Gillard says school funding must drive better outcomes and higher standards in Australian schools.
"I am worried as Prime Minister that whilst our school reform work is gathering results because our schools were neglected for too long under the former government, [that we] are now slipping behind the education race in our region and in the world," she said.
"That's ultimately bad news for our economy."
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the delay is a "disaster" for the Government.
"It's another sign that this Government is both untrustworthy and incompetent," he said at a press conference in western Sydney on Sunday.
He says there will be no certainty about funding for schools until the Government releases its response to the Gonski review.
Mr Abbott says modelling on the review shows one third of Australia's 9,500 schools will be worse off.
"There is a new hit list and one third of Australian schools are on this hit list now," he said.
"It is absolutely imperative that the Prime Minister immediately release the Government's official modelling and until such time as she releases the official modelling, parents can have no certainty that their school's funding is safe."
The Greens also urged the Government not to delay its response.
Greens education spokeswoman Senator Penny Wright says the Government needs to implement the Gonski recommendations as a matter of urgency.
"Gonski is unequivocally clear that we have a broken and unclear funding system in Australia," she said.
"We know that we have a causal link between disadvantage and school performance. We know what is needed - much more investment in schools across the board and particularly those schools where there is great need.
"We need to just get on with it."
Topics: education, federal-government, australia
First posted |
Each of these failures will result in the Boost.Python system throwing boost::python::error_already_set . In general, Boost.Python reports all errors at the Python-to-C++ layer using error_already_set . This means that it’s much harder to ignore/not notice Python exceptions in C++. Some people might not like this as much as others, but, considering the ubiquity of exceptions in Python, it means that using Python code from C++ requires less mental translation.
In this example, the code inside the try block can fail in several ways that will result in Python exceptions:
Boost.Python makes it much easier deal with Python exceptions in a consistent and uniform manner with the boost::python::error_already_set exception. This C++ exception is thrown whenever a Boost.Python operation results in a Python exception being thrown. Consider the following code:
Clearly, handling Python exceptions from C++ code requires diligence and consistent checking of error codes, and, really, who wants to deal with that? (A: C programmers, apparently.) A more natural system is one in which Python exceptions are somehow converted to C++ exceptions at the Python-C++ boundary, and where exception propagation continues out of Python into C++.
When calling Python code from C++, one issue you will almost certainly have to deal with is handling exceptions thrown from the Python code. Python exceptions are not exceptions in the C++-language sense. That is, an exception thrown in Python code does not start stack unwinding in C++ or trigger catch blocks. Rather, a Python exception is generally indicated by an error return value from a C-API function call, and information about the exception can be retrieved by yet more calls to the Python C-API.
Translating to Concrete Exception Types
When using Boost.Python, the error_already_set exception means both
that it’s easier to catch Python exceptions in C++ and that you’re
more likely to do so (since they can’t easily be ignored.) Obviously,
though, this is of limited usefulness if you can’t determine the real
nature of the error. error_already_set is just a signal indicating
that something happened, and it doesn’t tell you what happened
(i.e. the type of the exception.)
In order to figure out the original Python exception, you’ll need to
use the Python C-API. There are three functions that are particularly
useful in this situation:
PyErr_Fetch: Retrieves the current error indicators (type, value, and traceback)
PyErr_Restore: Sets the current error indicators
PyErr_GivenExceptionMatches: Determines if an exception object is
of a specified type
A simple recipe for translating Python exceptions into C++ works like
this:
Catch error_already_set , indicating that a Python exception has
been thrown
, indicating that a Python exception has been thrown Use PyErr_Fetch to get the error indicators, Python objects
describing the Python exception
to get the error indicators, Python objects describing the Python exception Use PyErr_GivenExceptionMatches to determine the type of the
Python exception
to determine the type of the Python exception If the Python exception is not of a type that you want to
translate, you can keep the exception active with PyErr_Restore
and allow some other part of your code to handle it.
This is a very straightforward algorithm, and can form the basis for
more complex translation systems. However, it is not without its
complexities.
Specifically, you need to be cognizant of the reference-counting
associated with the PyObjects retrived with PyErr_Fetch . Each of these
references is owned by the caller after the call. That is, their
ref-counts have been pre-incremented for the caller, and it’s the
caller’s responsibility to decrement the counts when done with
them. This seems like a clear case where boost::python::object should
be used, right?
Not so fast. If you immediately wrap the results of PyErr_Fetch with
objects , you’ll run into trouble if you try to use PyErr_Restore ,
which takes ownership of the PyObjects you pass it. That is,
PyErr_Restore assumes that you have pre-incremented the ref-counts
on the objects you pass in. See the problem? A boost::python::object
will try to decrement its ref-count when it destructs, but
PyErr_Restore wants the ref-count left alone. The following code
shows the problem:
... catch (const error_already_set&) { PyObject *e, *v, *t; // get the error indicators PyErr_Fetch(&e, &v, &t); // wrap them in objects to // ensure ref-count decrementing object e_obj(handle<>(e)); object v_obj(handle<>(v)); object t_obj(handle<>(t)); // do some work . . . // We've determined that we don't // want to handle the exception, so // we reset it for later processing PyErr_Restore(e, v, t); } // BOOM!
The problem is that when the objects ( e_obj , v_obj , and t_obj )
go out of scope, they decrement their ref-counts, taking them to
zero. However, PyErr_Restore thinks that it owns the refs and
does the same thing, meaning that they get dec-ref’d too many
times, resulting in big problems in the Python garbage collector.
But What About borrowed ? A possible solution to the ref-counting problem above is to use
borrowed references when constructing the objects . A borrowed
reference actually increments the reference count on construction, meaning
that PyErr_Restore would
have clean shared ownership of the the objects
when it was called. However, this has the downside that you will have too many (i.e. 2) references to the
objects if/when the Python exception is converted into a C++ exception (or otherwise handled),
i.e. when PyErr_Restore is not called. |
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi addresses the reported deal Democrats made with President Trump on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. She says that both sides agreed it is most important not to have "two kinds" of residents in the U.S.
"It is not even second-class citizenship, because it isn't citizenship," she said about the current state of the DACA program. "It is about everyone in our country having the opportunity to earn the path to citizenship, it is an earned path to citizenship."
Partial transcript:
QUESTION: The president in Florida just said we are not looking at citizenship or amnesty.
REP. NANCY PELOSI: We're not looking at amnesty, never looking at amnesty.
QUESTION: But the citizenship, he said--
PELOSI: That's in the bill.
QUESTION: So he seems to not--
PELOSI: You know what? Maybe. I'm not here to respond to tweets, you asked me about the meeting. I'm telling you where we are after the meeting.
I think the issue of citizenship is not just about these young people, or about other undocumented immigrants in our country, who under a comprehensive immigration reform, should, in my view, be on a long term path, an earned path, towards citizenship. This is an earned path to citizenship, whether it is work, military service, education, it is not just about them though, as important as that is. It is about who we are as a country. We're not having two different kinds of people live here. It is not even second-class citizenship, because it isn't citizenship. It is about everyone in our country having the opportunity to earn the path to citizenship, it is an earned path to citizenship.
Full replay: |
Joni Earl may have been looking for a challenge when she left a big job in Snohomish County government to join Sound Transit in 2000. But what she walked into quickly became a matter of life-or-death for the Seattle area's hopes for a strong mass transit system.
It would take years of hard work, strong leadership and quiet resolve on Earl's part. And she had to maintain her calm in the midst of angry challenges from the public, media and state and federal officials to even begin to turn around an agency whose troubles launching light rail seemed nearly certain to leave the region more car-dependent than ever.
Earl’s quiet, sustained fortitude earned Sound Transit's longtime CEO this year's Crosscut Courage Award in lifetime achievement.
In May, the agency announced that Earl, 62 and a 1975 graduate of Washington State University, would take early retirement next year, after a new section of light rail opens from Downtown Seattle to the University District. She has continued to fight health and mobility issues in the wake of cerebral blood vessel leakage and brain surgery in April of last year.
Shortly after Earl came to Sound Transit as chief operating officer in 2000, questions about the agency's ability to manage the Seattle area's first light rail line grew into a crisis. State lawmakers complained about the transit agency, federal transportation officials launched a two-year audit and pulled back on a big financial commitment, and congressional leaders demanded officials come to D.C. to answer their questions. It was a crisis that might have spun into a death spiral.
As Sound Transit’s then-CEO and a host of other executives left under fire, the board turned to Earl in 2001, just months after her arrival, and asked her to take the helm. Within the agency, officials recall, she maintained morale, bucked up faith in value of rail transit and demanded much more careful staff work on budget, construction plans and costs. She went public with bad news, issuing sharply revised construction schedules, admitting that the agency could only complete some two-thirds of the rail work it had promised voters in 1996. And she said the limited work would cost more and take longer.
Figuring out the changes and making them work was no small task. "It was so intense," she would later say in an interview with WSU's magazine. "I went for five months without a day off. I had some 24 hour days in there where I just called my husband and he brought me some clothes. I look back now and I don’t know physically how some of us got through it. It was just adrenaline and fear."
By the middle of 2003, the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general had given the agency a clean bill of financial and management health, clearing the way for granting a half-billion dollars in federal aid.
It was a remarkable turnaround that was enabled, say those who know her, by her abilities to deal with finances, dig into a situation honestly (a favorite Earl saying around Sound Transit remains, “Optimism is not our friend”) and work well with people in the general public, political life and within the organization. But if people didn't deliver on their work commitments, she would let them know, and be prepared to fire them if it happened again. And she could be just as tough externally in protecting Sound Transit's commitments and finances, refusing, for instance, to add amenities sought by politicians for their neighborhoods.
Says her boss in Snohomish, former County Executive Bob Drewel, "Joni is just one of those remarkable public servants that actually believes and practices that she is working for the taxpayer."
And she built a team with similar values that helped guide the first light rail project to completion on time and under the estimates of the revised budget — something that seems to be happening again with work on the University Link project.
In an email this week, King County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Dow Constantine, said, "Joni Earl is the primary force behind light rail in Puget Sound. With her vision, her tenacity, and her diplomacy, she got Sound Transit out of the starting gate and on track, on budget, and delivering."
Earl would say later that her job was made easier by the fact that, while she was on the spot with the media and powerful politicians, at least she was seen as cleaning up after earlier mistakes.
Be that as it may, she came through, not just surviving but also building a better future for the region. |
EK is releasing a Plexi version of the popular EK-XRES Revo D5 Combo unit
EK Water Blocks, the world renowned premium liquid cooling manufacturer, is announcing the release of a new D5 pump reservoir combo unit. The ever popular, and very successful EK-XRES Revo D5 is getting a Plexi version. The volute – reservoir bottom for the new combo unit is made from CNC machined acrylic glass with very high level of transparency. To complete the whole Plexi experience, the reservoir is equipped with a see-through plexiglass end cap as well.
The EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM – Plexi comes with a 140mm tall reservoir and has all of its pump cables sleeved. A high-performance aftermarket pump top (volute) is integrated with the reservoir for Xylem D5 series water pumps. This top offers increased hydraulic performance (up to 15%) compared to stock solutions.
The EK-XRES Revo D5 – Plexi series features a fully rounded design which offers greater flexibility, allowing installation within 360° of rotation. A special rubber shock absorber is used to de-couple the main pump body from the mounting clip for silent operation, free of vibration induced noise. Additionally, the EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 – Plexi reservoir-pump combo can also be upgraded with either:
The Plexi volute (pump top) can give your PC a whole new look. With its crystal-clear design, it will catch any surrounding light within your case and give it a subtle shine while also allowing you to show off your coolant.
Availability and pricing
EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM – Plexi is made in Slovenia, and it is available for purchase through EK Webshop and Partner Reseller Network. In the table below you can see manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) with VAT included. |
On Monday's New Day on CNN, co-host Chris Cuomo dismissively suggested that supporters of the "bathroom bill" in North Carolina that would bar men from using women's public restrooms in government buildings in reality support the measure because they "don't like these transgender people getting what they want" as he began a debate with guest Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council.
But times change, and that's what this is really about. Are you ready to change in North Carolina? Are you ready to respect transgendered people for what they say they are? Because you can't point to any potential danger here. I know that's what you're doing and others are doing, saying there's a risk to women if the -- but we don't see that play out in any statistic that you can cite.
The segment almost seemed like a parody making fun of a liberal caricature as Cuomo seriously defended the idea of biological men choosing to identify themselves as women and using women's bathrooms. After Sprigg recalled that the bill preserves the universal cultural tradition "that we separate biological males and biological females for the purpose of certain intimate activities like bathing, dressing, and going to the bathroom," the CNN host dismissed possible dangers for women and girls and fretted that "We do see the risk to transgender people when they're called out and exposed to this kind of scrutiny." Cuomo began his response:
He added:
You know, I know you've been using the baker analogy that we saw with gay marriage, you shouldn't have these bakers having to bake cakes for people they don't want, you shouldn't have these girls having to go into bathrooms with people they don't want. We don't see that risk. However, we do see the reciprocal risk. We do see the risk to transgender people when they're called out and exposed to this kind of scrutiny.
After his guest recalled that he believes there are "legitimate fears" about safety, Cuomo jumped in and demanded, "How are they legitimate? How are they legitimate?" leading Sprigg to respond:
When you see someone who is obviously a man, regardless of whether they're wearing a dress or not, I think a woman in a restroom where she expects to only be with women or a girl who expects to be with girls has a right to feel uncomfortable about that and to feel like her privacy has been violated. It's a privacy issue, even if their safety is never violated in practice.
Ignoring the primary concern that biological men would be able to go into women's restrooms, Cuomo switched to the opposite case of a biological woman who identifies as a man being forced to go into a women's room and accused conservative supporters of the bathroom bill of "creating the problem." Cuomo:
But the point is, the reason it looks like a man is because the person identifies as a man, so they want to go into the man's bathroom. You're saying, "Yeah, but on the birth certificate, it still says that that person's a woman, so they have to go into the woman's bathroom." You're creating the problem, you're not solving it.
Cuomo then dismissed the idea of men "pretending" to be women as he and his guest went back and forth:
SPRIGG: No, no, the transgender people are creating the problem by pretending to be the opposite of their actual biological sex, even when people can see they are their biological sex.
CUOMO: See, but that's the pretending part, though, Peter, right? Because that's the concern. You're saying they're pretending, they're saying they're not pretending, and this is part of cultural evolution. You seem unwilling to embrace that.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Monday, April 4, New Day on CNN: |
Bernie Sanders may endorse a candidate in the Seattle mayor's race. We can't confirm who, but Sander’s group Our Revolution tells KUOW that it's taking a look at Seattle. That kind of endorsement could be huge. With incumbent Ed Murray dropping out and more than a dozen candidates vying to replace him, endorsements may matter more than ever this year. Former King County Executive Ron Sims calls an endorsement "an affirmation by other people that you're respected because you can keep your word and get the job done." Sims' endorsement is itself sought after in this city, and this year he’s backing former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan for mayor.
Sponsor
But Sims knows there are many more endorsements to come, including backing by labor, which can be seen as “a big stamp of approval.” Before he dropped out, incumbent Mayor Ed Murray racked up endorsements from around 20 unions. Now many of those endorsements are up for grabs. So how does a candidate earn labor's backing? Sims said based on his experience it's a combination of things. The biggest questions are: What are your priorities and can you get the job done? "People think getting labor endorsements is easy," Sims said. “Oh, no. Every labor union has its issues. Are you going to build? Are you going to be good on transportation issues? Are you going to respect the right for people to organize your labor force?” With so many different unions and people to woo, the endorsement contest is a lot of work for candidates. And in many cases the voters haven't even heard of the individuals or groups that are doing the endorsing. So why do candidates bother?
Sponsor
In the case of labor unions, even as membership numbers decline, their endorsements can help with fundraising. And labor helps turn out the vote. David Rolf, head of SEIU 775, said labor's backing in this city still matters a lot. Rolf stood behind Murray as the mayor announced he would not be running. "Within the city of Seattle, probably 25 percent of the workforce belongs to a union," Rolf said. "Seattle's a very strong union town with a very strong working-class history, and probably five out of the last six mayors got elected with substantial union support." Whether it’s from Bernie Sanders or a local union, an endorsement can matter in a crowded field, said Margaret O'Mara, a history professor at the University of Washington who writes about American politics. Also factored in is low name recognition for some candidates. "When you have these third-party validators attesting to someone's qualifications for mayor, that can be a guide," O'Mara said.
Sponsor
But O'Mara also said the power of endorsement can be diluted when there are lot of candidates. "Where endorsements will be interesting is whether you have all of the people and organizations endorsements that lined up behind Ed Murray all going en masse to one candidate," she said, "or if they will get spread out across a number of candidates." There are more than a dozen candidates in the Seattle mayor's race. The list includes: Former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan
State Representative Jessyn Farrell
State Senator Bob Hasegawa
Former Mayor Mike McGinn
Urban planner Cary Moon
Attorney and community activist Nikkita Oliver One person who won't be on the list: City Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez, who had been widely mentioned as a possible candidate. She said Tuesday that she'll seek re-election to her council seat, not the mayor's office.
Sponsor |
Treasury Secretary Geithner is not happy the Republicans have held the debt ceiling hostage to budget negotiations. In response, Geithner has embarked on a fear mongering campaign via a Debt Limit Letter to Congress promising financial Armageddon if the debt ceiling is not raised.
Here are a few of Geithner's fear-mongering snips from the letter:
The Honorable Harry Reid
Democratic Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Mr. Leader:
I am writing to update you on the Treasury Department’s projections regarding when the statutory debt limit will be reached and to inform you about the limits of the available measures at our disposal to delay that date temporarily.
In our previous communications to Congress, we provided regular estimates of the likely time period in which the debt limit could be reached. We can now make that projection with more precision. The Treasury Department now projects that the debt limit will be reached no later than May 16, 2011.
If the debt limit is not increased by May 16, the Treasury Department has authority to take certain extraordinary measures, described in detail in the appendix, to temporarily postpone the date that the United States would otherwise default on its obligations. These actions, which have been employed during previous debt limit impasses, would be exhausted after approximately eight weeks, meaning no headroom to borrow within the limit would be available after about July 8, 2011. At that point the Treasury would have no remaining borrowing authority, and the available cash balances would be inadequate for us to operate with a sufficient margin to meet our commitments securely.
If Congress does not act by May 16, I will take all measures available to me to give Congress additional time to act and to protect the creditworthiness of the country. These measures, however, only provide a limited degree of flexibility—much less flexibility than when our deficits were smaller.
As the leaders of both parties in both houses of Congress have recognized, increasing the limit is necessary to allow the United States to meet obligations that have been previously authorized and appropriated by Congress. Increasing the limit does not increase the obligations we have as a Nation; it simply permits the Treasury to fund those obligations that Congress has already established.
If Congress failed to increase the debt limit, a broad range of government payments would have to be stopped, limited or delayed, including military salaries and retirement benefits, Social Security and Medicare payments, interest on the debt, unemployment benefits and tax refunds. This would cause severe hardship to American families and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests. In addition, defaulting on legal obligations of the United States would lead to sharply higher interest rates and borrowing costs, declining home values and reduced retirement savings for Americans. Default would cause a financial crisis potentially more severe than the crisis from which we are only now starting to recover.
For these reasons, default by the United States is unthinkable. This is not a new or partisan judgment; it is a conclusion that has been shared by every Secretary of the Treasury, regardless of political party, in the modern era.
Identical Letters to House Speaker, Others
Unfortunately, No Serious Repercussions Until July 8
Polite Way of Saying "Go to Hell"
Scrap Davis Bacon and all prevailing wage laws. Pass national right-to-work laws Reduce the budget deficit by $5 trillion in 8 years
Balance the budget in 10 years |
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, known to be a fan of rocker Bruce Springsteen, was spotted sporting some moves at The Boss's concert Monday night.
Multiple people shared images on social media of the former Republican presidential candidate dancing to the beat at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
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Christie, whose love of the musician has not always been reciprocated, was spotted pumping his fist and air drumming at the concert.
Yes it's Chris Christie at @springsteen. God bless him. pic.twitter.com/0AX2uLueOb — Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) April 26, 2016
"Trapped: The Saga of Chris Christie and the George Washington Bridge" pic.twitter.com/gddbEZN0ju — Jon Schwartz (@jonlschwartz1) April 26, 2016
GUYS CHRIS CHRISTIE COULDNT BE CUTER IF HE TRIED AHHHHH CHRIS CHRISTIE FOR CHAIRDAD OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF DADDDD pic.twitter.com/yd4g3o63UA — Derek Simon (@DerekSimonID4) April 26, 2016
I mean the guy is rocking out like no ones watching. pic.twitter.com/vo3Pm7UAZV — Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) April 26, 2016 |
On February 10th, an eclectic assortment of conservatives streamed into a ballroom in Washington to hear Rick Santorum speak. One woman handed out packages of Government Cluster Fudge (“Cut through the ‘RED TAPE’ and order today!”). Bloggers slung red N.R.A. tote bags over their shoulders. Tea Party supporters arrived, dressed in Colonial regalia and tricorn hats. Dozens of College Republicans took their seats. The occasion was the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, where the fifty-three-year-old Republican Presidential candidate from Pennsylvania was the star attraction. Three days earlier, Santorum’s supporters, mostly evangelical voters, had upended the G.O.P. race by powering his victories in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri. Santorum immediately jumped ahead of his rival in the national polls, making him the eleventh Republican leader in the past year. In previous years, Santorum likely wouldn’t have survived his dismal showing in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida, three states that held primaries in January. But two developments this year have transformed the race: Romney’s unreliable conservatism, and the ability of rich benefactors to fund Super PACs that can keep campaigns alive. Santorum’s sugar daddy, Foster Friess, a wealthy Wisconsin businessman, introduced the candidate to the CPAC throngs. He began with a joke that elicited knowing guffaws: “A conservative, a liberal, and a moderate walk into a bar. The bartender says, ‘Hi, Mitt.’ ” Santorum, flanked by his wife and two of their daughters, had the glow of a man who had gone from Party runt to alpha male in a matter of weeks. He had a more serious message than the one Friess had delivered. “As conservatives and Tea Party folks, we are not just wings of the Republican Party,” he said. “We are the Republican Party.” Santorum’s CPAC declaration has the ring of truth. As Geoffrey Kabaservice writes in “Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, from Eisenhower to the Tea Party,” his careful new history of moderate Republicanism, “The appearance of a Republican Party almost entirely composed of ideological conservatives is a new and historically unprecedented development. It is only in the last decade or so that movement conservatism finally succeeded in silencing, co-opting, repelling, or expelling nearly every competing strain of Republicanism from the party.” The polls back up Santorum and Kabaservice’s claim. In the past ten years, as self-proclaimed conservatives have increased from sixty-two per cent of the Republican Party to seventy-one per cent, the percentage of Republicans describing themselves as moderates has declined from thirty-one per cent to twenty-three per cent. The number who call themselves “liberal” is now close to the number who describe themselves as Aleut or Eskimo. The shift to the right has brought new, highly energized voters into the Party, which took over the House and gained six seats in the Senate in 2010. But it has also brought risks. In 2010, the Tea Party helped nominate oddball ideologues in Colorado, Delaware, and Nevada who probably ruined the Party’s opportunity to control the Senate; in 2011, brinkmanship by the new class of House Republicans nearly brought about a government default. This year, conservative forces have pushed the Presidential candidates to extremes. Santorum has talked about “the dangers of contraception” and criticized prenatal testing for women. He has called the President a “snob” for wanting every American to go to college. He said that he “almost threw up” when he read the 1960 speech in which John F. Kennedy declared that “the separation of church and state is absolute.” On immigration, the issue that will define the Republican Party’s relationship with Hispanics, the harsh rhetoric of Romney, Santorum, and Newt Gingrich has alarmed senior Republicans. Rudy Giuliani recently said that the candidates’ statements on some social issues “make the Party look like it isn’t a modern party.” Jeb Bush has lamented that the candidates were “appealing to people’s fears and emotion,” and wondered if he is still a member of the same tribe. “I used to be a conservative,” he said. Political parties aren’t supposed to act suicidal. For decades, the reigning theory held that politicians, not activists, defined the parties. These politicians were rational people who cared only about winning office. In his 1957 book, “An Economic Theory of Democracy,” Anthony Downs argued that candidates, in their Darwinian struggle to get elected in a two-party system, would cater, inevitably, to what Downs called “the median voter.” Even in a primary campaign, the powerful incentive of having to win over centrists in the general election should keep a candidate’s ideology in check. But, in the current Republican race, if the so-called median voter were mentioned at a debate, he would surely get booed. A more recent theory about parties better explains the G.O.P. race. In 2008, John Zaller, a political scientist at U.C.L.A., and three co-authors—Marty Cohen, David Karol, and Hans Noel—published an influential book, “The Party Decides,” in which they claim that Downs had it all wrong. The activists, not the candidates, are the crucial players who define and control a party. Interest groups and partisans, like the ones who organize and attend CPAC, care a great deal about policy and ideology, not just about electability, and they decide who gets nominated. Zaller and his colleagues dub them “intense policy demanders,” which, in today’s G.O.P., includes all the familiar factions: religious leaders, gun enthusiasts, business élites, anti-tax activists, foreign-policy hawks. Their mission is to find the most extreme candidate who can win. The ideal candidate is someone like George W. Bush. Party activists saw him as a conservative ally; swing voters, who, Zaller points out, aren’t sophisticated at detecting a candidate’s ideology, regarded him as a moderate. But sometimes activists don’t have a candidate like that, and they’re willing to risk defeat by backing someone far outside the mainstream. (This strategy can have its own payoff: in 1964, Barry Goldwater lost in a historic landslide, but he changed American politics.) “Parties want to be optimally extreme,” Zaller says. “They are like the frequent air traveller who believes that if he never misses a flight he is getting to the airport too soon.” This dynamic may help explain the ups and downs of the Republican primaries. Backing Mitt Romney is like showing up four hours early and sitting at Cinnabon; backing Rick Perry would have been like arriving at Newark International in the early evening for a flight that left LaGuardia at noon. And maybe, just maybe, backing Rick Santorum is like getting on the plane right before the doors close.
On a nearly cloudless day in late January, Newt Gingrich stood in front of the P.G.A. Museum of Golf, in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and addressed a modest crowd assembled on a putting green. Gingrich discussed unemployment and housing, then moved on to something closer to his heart. “I want to talk briefly about space,” he said. He gave a short history of the heroism of exploration, mentioning Sir Francis Drake, the sixteenth-century Englishman who circumnavigated the globe; Christa McAuliffe, who was killed in the 1986 Challenger explosion; the American astronaut Buzz Aldrin; and “self-orbital flight.” It was a typical Gingrichian tangent, but his review of America’s journey to the moon and beyond had a point. “Under the élites, the people who oppose me, some in the Democratic Party, some in the Republican,” he said, “under these élites we’ve become the America that couldn’t.” Soon, he was discussing the Panama Canal, overregulation, and the Second World War. As he linked his improbable candidacy to the defeat of the Nazis, a local man in the rear of the crowd, who said his name was Jim Balsade, began to shout that Gingrich was a “yellowbelly” and a “nut ball,” who was “making crazy statements.” These days, obnoxious hecklers are a feature of nearly every campaign speech. But a few feet away from Balsade stood three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives, who were regaling reporters with descriptions of Gingrich that were only mildly less flattering than Balsade’s. The Romney campaign had sent Mary Bono Mack, who since 1998 has represented the Palm Springs district formerly served by her late husband, Sonny Bono; Connie Mack, a Florida representative and Mary’s husband since 2007; and Charlie Bass, a moderate pro-choice Republican from New Hampshire, to follow Gingrich around Florida and remind reporters what an awful Speaker of the House he had been. A crucial faction of the Republican establishment had descended on Gingrich’s campaign in Florida, with the intent of destroying it. I asked Representative Bass if Gingrich had any redeeming qualities. “His greatest strength is he’s entertaining,” Bass said. “We just heard a speech in which, for thirty minutes, at least thirty different subjects were covered. He’s a wellspring of information. But this is a Presidential election.” He shook his head as he recounted a House Republican meeting about medical costs in the nineteen-nineties, in which Gingrich abruptly decided that the most important priority for the Party would be the elimination of diabetes. “Another time, we had a whole recess”—the period when members are back in their districts, usually armed with Party talking points—“devoted to ice buckets,” Bass said. “We were going to eliminate buckets of ice delivered to our congressional offices, because that was going to symbolize fiscal discipline. There are bigger issues in America than eliminating buckets of ice.” As Gingrich’s speech ended, Connie Mack politely excused himself. “I want to see what MC Hammer is saying,” he said, referring to Gingrich’s spokesman, R. C. Hammond, a genial young staffer who made a point of confronting the pro-Romney members of Congress after each Gingrich appearance. The encounters had become a ritual, and they sometimes left Hammond shaking with rage. Mack approached Hammond, clearly primed for his first debate of the day. Reporters moved into place, unholstering their cell phones and their mini-recorders. “Has Newt answered the question about Freddie Mac yet?” Mack demanded. “Is he going to? Is he a lobbyist?” As the confrontation escalated, Hammond sputtered something about a lobbyist tied to the Romney campaign who was “peddling influence,” but Mack talked over him: “Peddling is what Newt did when he was paid $1.6 million. He hasn’t answered the question. Why was he hired by the lead lobbyist, why was he hired as a lead lobbyist?” The two sides broke up. Hammond walked over to the Gingrich campaign bus, and the Macks were escorted to their vehicle by a young Romney staffer who was coördinating their travel to the next event. Meanwhile, Clay Walker’s country tune “All American” blasted over the loudspeakers. “I had a best friend with a funny last name and a weird accent,” he sang. “Now he’s an astronaut. We’re all American.”
More than ninety per cent of the ads that Mitt Romney and his allies ran in Florida were negative, though none were as pointed as Gingrich’s final phone campaign, in which he accused Romney of denying kosher meals to Holocaust survivors. In the end, Romney beat Gingrich by fifteen points, and Santorum by thirty-three. But, two weeks later, Santorum was the new leader in the national polls. At CPAC, when I ran into Connie Mack I pointed out that his work in Florida attacking Gingrich seemed to have paid off. “Now we just have to do the same thing to Santorum,” he said. Fratricidal primary campaigns have become so commonplace that it’s easy to forget that they are a relatively recent phenomenon. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a small group of party leaders gathered at the quadrennial Conventions. They usually controlled the delegates, and negotiated over each party’s nominee, based on whatever mixture of electability, ideology, and politics they saw fit. One study of the 1952 election showed that eighty per cent of delegates to the two Conventions were selected by party insiders, with no participation by rank-and-file party members. Primaries were introduced at the turn of the century by Progressive reformers who wanted to open up the process. But only about a dozen states used them, and they were not always binding when they occurred. Candidates mainly entered them strategically, hoping to show strength to party bosses. The most famous primary victory of the mid-twentieth century probably took place in 1960, when John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, defeated Hubert Humphrey in West Virginia, which was heavily Protestant. “Could you imagine me, having entered no primaries, trying to tell the leaders that being a Catholic was no handicap?” Kennedy said at the time. The tumultuous Democratic Presidential campaign of 1968 changed the nominating process for both parties. Senator Eugene McCarthy entered and won most of the primaries, which Humphrey, who was the Vice-President at the time, avoided. He intended to win the old-fashioned way: by courting the Party elders. At the Convention in Chicago, Humphrey won the nomination on the first ballot, even as McCarthy supporters were being beaten by police outside the hall. In an attempt to unite the Party, Humphrey endorsed a commission to reform the nominating system. The commission’s recommendations, which the Democratic Party quickly adopted, required every state party to open up its delegate-selection process to ordinary voters through caucuses or primaries. The changes soon spilled over to the Republican Party as well. The impact, especially on the Democratic side, was both immediate and short-lived. In 1972, George McGovern seized his party’s nomination by blitzing the primaries and the caucuses with young antiwar voters. In 1976, Jimmy Carter, a little-known one-term governor, won Iowa and then wrapped up the nomination before anyone knew what had happened. When Averell Harriman, the former governor of New York and a longtime Party stalwart, was informed that Carter would likely be his party’s nominee, he replied, “Jimmy Carter? How can that be? I don’t even know Jimmy Carter, and as far as I know none of my friends know him, either.” On the Republican side that year, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford engaged in an ugly contest that may have cost Republicans the general election. Some political observers were alarmed by the manner in which McGovern and Carter had won, and in which Reagan challenged President Ford. In 1983, the political scientist Nelson Polsby published an influential treatise, “Consequences of Party Reform,” in which he argued that the reforms were crippling political parties by transferring power over the party’s most important function—nominating a Presidential candidate—to an unholy alliance of the press and media-savvy candidates. The rise of primaries would lead to nominees who mobilized small factions, rather than to those who knit together broad coalitions. Parties, Polsby insisted, had to have some “consensus-forcing institution,” like the deliberative Conventions. For some time, Polsby’s fears seemed overblown. The parties quickly adjusted to the new rules, and, in the eighties and nineties, a clear pattern emerged: the candidate favored by the establishment always won. There were no more insurgent nominees who hadn’t dined with the Averell Harrimans of the day. Zaller’s explanation for this trend, which has gained a significant following among political scientists, is that the “intense policy demanders,” who define the establishment in modern parties, have learned to master the new system by uniting behind the scenes in favor of one candidate. The new process was essentially an invisible and more complicated version of what took place in the old smoke-filled rooms at the Convention. In the months before voting begins, the most influential elements of each party’s coalition reach a rough consensus on their preferred nominee. Then, by means of endorsements, donations, media campaigns, and personal political networks, they steer voters toward the anointed candidate. It’s called the invisible primary: the yearlong campaign before Iowa, when candidates raise money, woo operatives, court elected officials, and try to win the loyalties of state political organizations. The invisible primary replaced the Convention as the consensus-forcing institution that Polsby insisted was necessary. Since 1980, according to Zaller’s book “The Party Decides,” the single best predictor of who wins the nomination has been the number of endorsements from Party officials that each candidate received in the months before voting began. The theory, however, appears to be breaking down. Hillary Clinton won the invisible primary in 2008 but lost the nomination. John McCain won the nomination without the backing of the conservative establishment. This year, the G.O.P.’s invisible primary was as unsettled as the actual primaries, and people have begun to wonder if the race will only be resolved at the Convention in Tampa, in August. What happens when a party can’t decide?
On the morning of February 4th, the day of the Nevada Republican caucuses, Republicans from Precinct 6665 gathered in a classroom decorated with characters from “Harry Potter” and Dr. Seuss at Spring Valley High, on the west side of Las Vegas. Caucuses bring out a minority of a minority to participate, and only thirty-eight people showed up. They were equally divided between men and women, and thirty-six of them were white. The precinct covers a slice of a community known as the Lakes, which consists of single-family homes nestled around man-made lagoons. The Romney forces were led by Erven T. Nelson, an attorney who had come with his wife, Lisa, and one of their seven children. The family has lived in the Lakes for twenty-five years and they are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which has a substantial presence in Nevada, and strongly encourages its members to participate in politics. Nelson argued, essentially, that Romney could appeal to the median voter. “Governor Romney has the best chance of taking Republican principles to the White House, and also appealing to the independent vote, which is probably going to swing this election,” he said. At the back of the room, Maria Sullivan, who is ninety-one, made a gagging sound. “Romney is like a wilted flower,” she shouted. Her daughter Phyllis tried to silence her with an elbow—“Don’t start that!”—but Sullivan wouldn’t be quieted: “He’s just like a wilted flower. Unless you give him some water, he’s just like—” Sullivan, who is originally from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and still sounds like it, stuck out her tongue and gagged again. “I like Gingrich, because he fights,” she said. The Gingrich faction was emboldened. “Look at the ads that are on television about Gingrich,” one man said. “Romney hasn’t taken them off, and I think they’re despicable. They’re only geared for a non-thinking-type person. And the non-thinking-type person has a lot of votes, especially in this town.” The Romney backers, who had largely remained silent, started to speak up. A woman raised her hand and asked politely if she could speak negatively about Gingrich. “I agree with one thing you said,” she continued. “Washington is full of slimeballs, and we need to get rid of them. But we don’t need to put them in the White House.” Romney won twenty-four votes to Gingrich’s eight, Santorum’s three, and Ron Paul’s three. Phyllis, who backed Santorum, told me that Romney won because of his religion. “This is L.D.S. territory, and Romney is L.D.S.,” she said. “They’ll support their own no matter what.” It was just the sort of caucus that critics of the system, including the late Polsby, feared. It had broken down into factions, based partly on religion. It had devolved into name-calling. Romney is often described as the establishment candidate in the Republican race, and he does lead his competitors in endorsements. But he has garnered them at a much slower pace than previous nominees, and one of the most significant parts of the Republican coalition, non-Mormon religious conservatives, has refused to get behind his candidacy. The shadowy establishment that is supposed to cue the voters has failed. When that happens, all the drawbacks of the post-reform primary system become more acute. Media stars like Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain have streaked across the political sky. The primaries have become more negative and personal. The potential nominees have been forced to adopt extreme positions. Some conservatives, reviewing this history and watching the 2012 race with a degree of horror, argue that the Party should scrap the current system—the spawn of turn-of-the-century Progressives and nineteen-sixties antiwar leftists—in favor of a deliberative Convention. “The sad truth is that Americans who lived and died 150 years ago—who didn’t have modern medicine, personal computers, cars, airplanes, easy access to higher education, ‘sophisticated’ manners and all the rest—had a much better party system than we do today,” Jay Cost, a writer at the Weekly Standard, recently wrote. “And the Republican Party is paying the price for this right now.”
Last Tuesday, on the eve of the Michigan and Arizona primaries, Santorum was searching for votes in the rural and religious precincts of western Michigan. This was the state in which Romney was born, and Santorum believed that he could transform the race by winning it. Hundreds of people queued up in below-freezing weather outside the Heritage Christian Academy, in Kalamazoo, to hear Santorum speak. Hundreds more were turned away when the school’s gymnasium filled up. A pastor named Paul Davis led the crowd in prayer. “We pray that you would give us a President who would defend the voiceless and the unborn,” Davis sermonized. “We pray that you would give us a President who would defend marriage the way you invented it. And, Lord, we pray that you would give us a President who would do what is right and not what is popular.” Santorum told the devout in Kalamazoo that the Obama Administration was a threat to their liberties, but that Romney would be only a minor improvement. “There’s this angst in America,” Santorum said. “Our freedoms are being taken away. Our economic freedom—Obamacare!” The crowd booed loudly. During the debate over Obama’s health-care bill, Santorum said, he bumped into the liberal broadcaster Juan Williams in the greenroom at the Fox News Channel studio in Washington. Williams, according to Santorum, said that he had just talked to someone at the White House, who told him why Obama was pushing so hard to pass the bill. “We believe Americans love entitlements, and once we get them hooked on this entitlement they will never let it go,” the unnamed Obama official allegedly confided. (A spokesperson for Fox says that this is quite different from what Williams actually told Santorum.) Santorum paused for a second to let the shock of this revelation settle in. “You see? That’s how they see you,” he said. “A group of people to be hooked. Like fish, like mindless fish who can just be snagged and then pulled around.” And, like Obamacare, Santorum explained, Romneycare was aimed at hooking fish and snuffing out religious liberty. “So much for freedom! Governor Romney imposed on Catholic hospitals a requirement that they have to provide the morning-after pill,” he said. The choice for Republicans, Santorum insisted, was just like the one they faced in 1980, when Ronald Reagan was ridiculed for being too extreme to defeat a sitting President. “The people in the Republican primaries realized that replacing Jimmy Carter with something just a little bit better wasn’t enough!” he shouted. “We are great. We’re Americans! We can do anything!” The crowd cheered. Santorum lost Michigan by three points, a margin that’s close enough to keep him competitive. The exit polls showed that the starkest divide among Republican voters was over the qualities they wanted in their nominee. Romney voters wanted someone who “has the right experience” or “can defeat President Obama”; Santorum voters desired someone who “is a true conservative” or “has strong moral character.” |
Police snap up mud crab thought to be intruder in West End home
Updated
A Brisbane teenager has been left red faced after mistaking a wandering mud crab for an early morning intruder.
Queensland Police Service officers attended the West End address with lights flashing and sirens blaring about 1:45am to calls of a break in.
The informant, a teenager, told police he woke to noises of someone in the kitchen, or what he believed to be someone in the kitchen.
Senior Sergeant District Duty Officer Todd Sucic said the teen was certain it was no other member of his family.
"He sought refuge in his bedroom and he requested to stay on the phone to police until they arrived because he was too scared to go out," Snr Sgt Sucic said.
I think they recommended he boil the offender as soon as possible so they don't get a repeat call for this type of incident Todd Sucic, Senior Sergeant District Duty Officer
"On arrival police were able to determine quickly that the offender responsible was actually a large mud crab that had escaped its box and was wandering around the kitchen.
"The person who called for help was slightly embarrassed and quickly secured the mud crab and all was good."
Snr Sgt Sucic said it was a "pretty hard case to crack".
"I think they recommended he boil the offender as soon as possible so they don't get a repeat call for this type of incident," he said.
Snr Sgt Sucic said all jokes aside, the teenager had done the right thing in calling police.
"If people are concerned that they could be in trouble or need help always give us a call. Better safe than sorry ... that's what we're there for," he said.
"It's not often you get a funny end to a serious call."
Topics: police, offbeat, brisbane-4000
First posted |
Alone, Britain can do nothing to reverse a Russian land-grab in Ukraine. In concert with other European countries and the US, London has some influence over Moscow but even then not much. A western military adventure on Vladimir Putin’s threshold is unthinkable. That leaves diplomatic opprobrium and economic sanctions as the only levers, over which David Cameron’s hand hovers uncertainly.
Putin is betting that a fiscally fragile European Union will not fancy taking on Ukraine as a dysfunctional client state, nor jeopardising its eastern gas supplies to make a point about sovereignty in the Black Sea. He is right. If Russia demands possession of Crimea and strategic dominance of eastern Ukraine, Cameron and others will acquiesce.
There is nothing new in the exposure of Britain as a mediocrity among powers. Our credentials as a nation that matters – a big economy, a professional army, nuclear weapons, a seat on the UN Security Council – are carried over from the 20th century. It is not clear how that elevated status will be sustained. Nor is it necessarily plausible for Britain to imagine itself as a global force distinct from the EU when other players – the US, China, India – are the size of continents.
Cameron touches on this when he talks about a “global race” but he has in mind a commercial rivalry played out within globally recognised boundaries of free-market capitalism. A lesson from Crimea is that some states don’t play by those rules.
There isn’t much point expecting a more sophisticated account of Britain’s role in the world from the Prime Minister. It isn’t in his nature to dwell on perplexing things. His friends present his short attention span as a healthy aversion to ideology; a very British pragmatism. The ungenerous interpretation that circulates among disappointed Tory modernisers and angry traditionalists alike is of a high-spec public school dilettante, clever and self-assured enough to busk an answer to most questions but disinclined to interrogate matters in depth.
That temperament is reflected in foreign policy. Cameron has handled relations with the EU – a vital strategic alliance – as a function of Conservative Party management. In opposition, it was a hazardous topic to be avoided. In government, when evasion became impossible, he switched to obstructing co-operation and calling that reform.
His attitude to overseas conflicts has also evolved ad hoc. In opposition, he rejected Tony Blair’s model of liberalising vigilantism, asserting in 2008, “We cannot drop democracy from 10,000 feet.” In Downing Street, the focus switched to economic expediency. He styled himself as salesman-in-chief of UK wares.
The limitations of diplomacy as mercantilist roadshow were exposed by the Arab spring. As brittle dictatorships crumbled in northern Africa, Cameron discovered a Blair-like capacity for human rights evangelism. In Libya, that became military support for a rebel insurgency. The relative success of that enterprise from Downing Street’s point of view – Colonel Gaddafi toppled without harm to UK troops – gave Cameron the confidence to offer support for prospective US strikes in Syria last summer. But he misjudged the readiness of his MPs to go along with that gamble. Their reluctance, combined with Labour’s visceral post-Blair suspicion of military impetuosity, snuffed out Cameron’s interventionist spirit. Normal insular service was resumed.
The Prime Minister’s humiliation would have been greater had a Tory spin operation, led by George Osborne, not changed the subject. Instead of Downing Street miscalculation, the Westminster conversation switched to a supposed crisis of national self-confidence, triggered by Ed Miliband infecting parliament with lefty pacifism.
There was a brief attempt to revive that partisan spirit in the context of Russia’s Ukrainian incursion. Tory MPs, including ministers close to Cameron and Osborne, suggested that Putin had somehow been emboldened by Labour’s new tendency to appeasement. That sniping was silenced when word came down from the Foreign Office that mining the current crisis for old mud to fling at the opposition was not serving the cause of government dignity or prime ministerial authority.
The impulse to play domestic politics in an international emergency was revealing. The Conservative side of the coalition has artfully reduced political debate in this parliament to the most parochial terms possible. A financial crisis born of global economic imbalances and systemic market failure has been truncated into a parable of wanton Labour spending. The challenge of running public services on tight budgets is expressed as a test of will to withdraw undeserved cash from idle layabouts.
Cringing fear of Ukip has prohibited any serious effort to defend a single European market, including free movement of workers, as a driver of future prosperity. What vestige there is of liberal migration policy in government is secretly supported by the Treasury and publicly blamed on the Liberal Democrats. Anything amiss in the country is ascribed to failure from Labour’s time in office.
This approach to politics as glorified parlour game yields petty victories that don’t add up to successful government. It gives no clarity about Cameron’s motive for being in Downing Street, aside from the recreational pleasure of winning and holding power. Since the Prime Minister struggles to express guiding principles in a domestic agenda that consumes most of his time, it seems unlikely he will articulate a coherent sense of strategic purpose in foreign affairs, to which he pays only occasional attention. He may talk about global challenges but his record is of ducking difficult issues and keeping politics parochial. |
Here's an important consideration for Europeans in light of the NSA dragnet surveillance revealed by the recent leaks: some of the amendments to the controversial new EU Data Protection Regulation would open the door to the secret transfer of EU citizens' private information to US intelligence agencies. The UK Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Ludford has advocated amendments that do this. The Open Rights Group and principled UK LibDems are calling on the Baroness to withdraw her support for these amendments and support transparency and accountability in the handling of sensitive personal information of Europeans.
For instance, the Baroness is behind amendment number 1210.
This removes the right to know if your data might be transferred to a third country or international organisation. It does this by deleting the following bit of the proposed Regulation:
Article 14 – paragraph 1 – point g
(g) where applicable, that the controller intends to transfer to a third country or international organisation and on the level of protection afforded by that third country or international organisation by reference to an adequacy decision by the Commission;
It hardly needs spelling out given the recent news about PRISM and state surveillance, but knowing which companies or countries your data might be moved to is likely to increasingly be a fundamental consideration for someone deciding whether to share personal data. |
Firefox fixes vulnerability that left Tor users exposed: FBI may be responsible
Mozilla has announced the rollout of an update to its Firefox browser that fixes a newly reported vulnerability, one that has left Tor users exposed. Not only has this vulnerability made it possible for Tor users to be deanonymized, Mozilla says the exploit is being actively used for this purpose. The vulnerability affects Windows, macOS, and Linux, though the exploit itself only works against Windows users.
According to Daniel Veditz writing on Mozilla’s blog, the company received the exploit code early yesterday — the same exploit was published on a Tor Project public mailing list by someone else soon after, making it publicly known. According to Mozilla, a Firefox bug allows the exploit to work, though the victim needs to load a Web page with malicious SVG and JavaScript code.
It is a serious vulnerability, with the exploit itself allowing spies or whomever else to collect both the MAC address and IP addresses of the victim. It’s not clear who is behind the exploit. However, Mozilla says it works in a manner very similar to the FBI’s network investigative technique for unmasking Tor users.
That has stirred up speculation that the FBI itself may be behind the exploit; or, perhaps, another government or law enforcement agency working from a similar foundation. As Veditz points out, anyone can now use this exploit to deanonymize Tor users who are running the vulnerable version of Firefox…meaning that even if the government did create this exploit in secret, it opened the doors for every other hacker and snoop in the world to do so, as well.
The Firefox vulnerability fix will be rolling out soon and will automatically be installed once available. If you use Tor with Firefox, avoid doing so until after you’re sure the fix (which is listed as critical) is installed on your system. As always, be sure to set up Tor properly to help avoid being detected.
SOURCE: Mozilla Blog |
United American Indians of New England
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-6626 E-mail: [email protected]
Website:http://www.uaine.org 284 Amory St.Jamaica Plain, MA 02130(617) 522-6626
ORIENTATION FOR 2009 NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING
WHAT IS NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING?
An annual tradition since 1970, Day of Mourning is a solemn, spiritual and highly political day. Many of us fast from sundown the day before through the afternoon of that day (and have a social after Day of Mourning so that participants in DOM can break their fasts). We are mourning our ancestors and the genocide of our peoples and the theft of our lands. NDOM is a day when we mourn, but we also feel our strength in political action. Over the years, participants in Day of Mourning have buried Plymouth Rock a number of times, boarded the Mayflower replica, and placed ku klux klan sheets on the statue of William Bradford, etc.
WHEN AND WHERE IS DAY OF MOURNING?
Thursday, November 26, 2009 (U.S. "thanksgiving" day) at Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 12 noon SHARP. Cole's Hill is the hill above Plymouth Rock in the Plymouth historic waterfront area.
WILL THERE BE A MARCH?
There will be a march through the historic district of Plymouth. Plymouth has agreed, as part of the settlement of 10/19/98, that UAINE may march on Day of Mourning without the need for a permit as long as we give the town advance notice.
PROGRAM: Although we very much welcome our non-Native supporters to stand with us, it is a day when only Native people speak about our history and the struggles that are taking place throughout the Americas. Speakers will be by invitation only. This year's NDOM is once again dedicated to our brother Leonard Peltier.
SOCIAL: We hope there will be a pot-luck social held after the National Day of Mourning speak-out and march this year. Please check back to the website to confirm. We anticipate that the hall may not be large enough to seat everyone at once. We may have to do two seatings. Preference for the first seating will be given to Elders, young children and their mother/caretaker, pregnant women, Disabled people, and people who have traveled a long distance to join National Day of Mourning. Please respect our culture and our wish to ensure that these guests will be the first to be able to sit and eat. With this understanding in mind, please bring non-alcoholic beverages, desserts, fresh fruit & vegetables, and pre-cooked items (turkeys, hams, stuffing, vegetables, casseroles, rice & beans, etc.) that can be easily re-warmed at the social hall prior to the social. Thank you.
TRANSPORTATION: Limited carpool transportation may be available from Boston. Contact the Boston International Action Center at (617) 522-6626.
There is transportation from New York City via the International Action Center, for more information call 212-633-6646.
Directions: National Day of Mourning is held by the statue of Massasoit at Cole's Hill. Cole's Hill is the hill rising above Plymouth Rock on the Plymouth waterfront. If you need directions, use Water Street and Leyden Street in Plymouth, MA as your destination at mapquest.com. That will bring you to within a few hundred feet of Plymouth Rock and Cole's Hill. You can probably find a place to park down on Water Street.
Donations: Monetary donations are gratefully accepted. Please make checks payable to the Metacom Education Project and mail to
Metacom Education Project/UAINE at 284 Amory Street, Boston, MA 02130.
download pdf orientation |
Now that every team in the United Soccer League has played at least one home game (and I have all the data points), here’s our first complete look at the attendance figures for the Division III league through the games of May 31:
Team G Total Average Median High Low Sacramento Republic FC 6 66,980 11,163 11,242 11,442 10,906 Louisville City FC 6 33,902 5,650 5,489 7,185 4,772 Tulsa Roughnecks FC 5 26,517 5,303 5,067 8,335 3,335 Rochester Rhinos 3 15,850 5,283 5,179 6,184 4,487 Saint Louis FC 5 24,154 4,831 4,994 5,280 4,096 Charleston Battery 6 24,649 4,108 4,253 5,455 3,026 OKC Energy FC 4 16,399 4,100 4,050 6,797 1,502 Arizona United SC 4 15,283 3,821 3,159 6,108 2,858 Portland Timbers 2 4 14,207 3,552 3,381 4,944 2,501 Richmond Kickers 6 18,833 3,139 3,059 4,683 1,632 Real Monarchs SLC 5 13,682 2,736 2,615 4,279 1,001 Austin Aztex 7 18,812 2,687 2,739 4,105 1,439 Wilmington Hammerheads FC 5 12,561 2,512 2,526 2,985 1,789 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 3 7,290 2,430 2,200 2,990 2,100 Harrisburg City Islanders 2 4,767 2,384 2,384 2,589 2,178 Seattle Sounders FC 2 5 11,823 2,365 2,304 2,951 2,043 Charlotte Independence 4 8,580 2,145 2,176 2,241 1,987 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 5 9,436 1,887 1,502 3,208 1,217 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 6 11,184 1,864 1,953 2,855 995 Orange County Blues FC 6 6,381 1,064 963 1,873 674 Toronto FC II 1 986 986 986 986 986 LA Galaxy II 8 7,240 905 845 1,352 533 New York Red Bulls II 8 4,736 592 503 1,028 355 FC Montreal 5 2,266 453 265 1,301 112 USL TOTAL 119 376,518 3,164 2,696 11,442 112
NOTES: |
About the Tool Lending Library
The Oakland Tool Lending Library currently offers over 5,000 tools available for loan, as well as books and how-to videos and DVDs. The tools can be used for a variety of purposes, including home improvement, remodeling and repairs, gardening and landscaping and seismic retrofit. This is a free service to Oakland, Emeryville, and Piedmont residents and property owners.
Using the Tool Lending Library
Before visiting the Tool Lending Library for the first time, please review the following guidelines and registration instructions:
Workshops
The Tool Lending Library (TLL) offers workshops based on the interests and needs of our patrons. Past classes have included plumbing repairs, power tool safety, working with the router, basic tiling, and basic electrical repairs.
For upcoming workshops, check the Library's calendar of events or sign up for the workshop email list. If you'd like to suggest a new class, feel free to call us at (510) 597-5089 with your suggestion.
Volunteer at the Tool Lending Library
Since our inception, volunteers have been an important part of our program. The TLL always has a variety of work to do. Jobs that need doing are engraving and marking, cleaning and sharpening tools, organizational tasks, label making, and even data input and vacuuming.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Tool Lending Library, please come in for an application or call (510) 597-5089 for more information.
Donations
The Oakland Tool Lending Library accepts donations of new and used tools in good working order.
We have the following restrictions on what we accept:
Tools must be in good working order and include all parts.
We do not accept any hardware or consumables (nails, screws, etc.).
We do not accept tools that need excessive cleaning or preparation.
The tool must be portable and small enough to fit in our storage space.
When and how to donate:
Smaller donations may be dropped off during library open hours at least 30 minutes before closing. Please understand that we need to help patrons waiting in line before we can look at your donation. For larger donations (more than a few items/boxes) or for special arrangements for assessment/pickup, please contact our Donation Coordinator, Ty Yurgelevic at 510-501-7938 or [email protected].
History of the Tool Lending Library
The Oakland Tool Lending Library is located in the basement of the Temescal Branch Library.
After the Oakland Hills Firestorm of 1991, the Temescal Branch established a small Home Resources Collection to help residents with their rebuilding and repair projects following this disaster. A tool-lending library was considered as an extension of these efforts, and was finally launched on January 8, 2000 thanks to seed money from a Community Development Block Grant.
The Tool Lending Library has grown over the years with City funding, and is now one of the Library's most popular and unique services.
Friends of the Tool Lending Library
Please visit the Friends of the Tool Lending Library at their website or sign up for their mailing list. |
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An Israeli MP has refused to respond to criticism – after referring to a Pride event as an “abomination parade”.
Earlier this month a 16-year-old girl died and five other people were wounded, after an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man went on a stabbing rampage during Jerusalem’s Pride parade.
However, rather than respond to the issue sensitively, right-wing MK Bezalel Smotrich of the Jewish Home party refused to stop referring to it as an “abomination parade”.
He also claimed that gay people control the media, saying: “Among those who hold the microphone and determine for all of us what we should think and what we should say, a very large number are [gay].”
However, according to Arutz Sheva, the politician has ardently refused to apologise for any of his comments.
After a complaint was filed with the Ethics Committee, he said: “I don’t think I need to respond to every piece of populist nonsense put out by an organisation looking for publicity.
“My only accountability is to the public and I can assure and promise it I will not be deterred in the future from expressing my views on any topic, including those that relate to the Jewish character of the state and the promotion of family values.”
It is not the first time the politician has been caught up in a homophobic controversy – he organised the anti-gay ‘Beast Parade’ in 2006 to protest a Pride march.
Thankfully, his disturbing approach to the stabbings hasn’t been mirrored elsewhere in Parliament.
Following the harrowing attack, MK Itzik Shmuli of the centre-left Zionist Union party came out as gay himself, writing: “The knife was raised against my community. We stayed silent; I stayed silent. No more.”
Meanwhile, MK Tzipi Livni has proposed a number of new LGBT rights laws, named in memory of murdered teen Shira Banki. |
The Pirate Bay is now the most-visited file-sharing site on the Internet, taking over the lead from prominent one-click hosting sites such as 4Shared and Mediafire. After a spectacular rise in the early years of this decade cyberlockers are quickly losing ground, while BitTorrent sites continue to grow. This shift in balance can be attributed to the Megaupload shutdown, and the changes in the cyberlocker market that followed.
Less than two years ago we published an overview of the most used file-sharing sites, covering both BitTorrent and traditional cyberlockers.
At the time one-click download sites were beating BitTorrent sites by a landslide. However, the cyberlocker business changed dramatically following the Megaupload shutdown last year and now the tables have turned.
The Pirate Bay, ranked sixth last time, has become the most-used file-sharing site. While the infamous BitTorrent site certainly gained some new visitors in recent months, it mostly owes its number one spot to the traffic decline of several major cyberlockers.
The most likely explanation for the traffic drop at these sites is the Megaupload shutdown. As covered extensively in the past, many cyberlockers removed their affiliate plans, disabled public sharing or implemented other measures to keep pirates at bay.
The result is a major shift in traffic patterns, with both winners and losers. Quite a few familiar names have fallen from the list, including RapidShare, FileServe and Hotfile. Others such as Uploaded and Putlocker picked up new visitors.
The overall pattern seems to be that BitTorrent sites have regained some of the “market share” they lost earlier. Half of all sites in the file-sharing top 10 are BitTorrent related, compared to only two in 2011.
With six newcomers in the list, it’s clear that the file-sharing ecosystem has been shaken up quite a bit.
Below is the full top 10 of the most-visited general purpose file-sharing sites that are available in English. We used several traffic comparison and analytic tools to compile this list, including Compete, Quantcast and Alexa. The alexa rank is shown in the table below, as well as the # in the 2011 list. |
A comedian who describes herself as a feminist has told Newsbeat her gig has been cancelled because of planned protests by feminists over her views on prostitution.
Kate Smurthwaite was due to perform at Goldsmiths University in London this evening.
But she says her show has been pulled because staff said they "could not guarantee the safety of students".
The Feminist Society denies it has anything to do with the decision.
A statement from the president of the Comedy Society said: "Despite many complaints from students about the content of Kate's act in the past we were planning to go ahead with the gig until Kate told me 24 hours before that there was likely to be a picket with lots of students and non-students outside the venue.
"I couldn't verify this. Up to this point we had only sold eight tickets so I decided to pull the plug."
Row over ticket sales
Kate says she understood the gig to be primarily aimed at members of the Comedy and Feminist Societies, who would not need tickets.
The ones on sale were intended to be a way for the societies to make some extra cash.
"I'm really angry at them trying to do this [referring to ticket sales]," Kate tells Newsbeat.
"This is them trying to undermine and discredit me and the professional work that I do."
She says the venue and organisers have a responsibility to market the event and that she would have been happy to do promotional work to draw audiences.
Kate has previously said she is a supporter of the "Nordic model" on prostitution - and had been debating with people on Twitter about the issue over the weekend.
This legal model decriminalises sex work but makes it illegal to pay for sex. In other words, it's the client who is the criminal, not the prostitute.
While supporters say this policy reduces prostitution, opponents say it actually makes it more dangerous by driving it underground - and wastes money on policing people who are engaged in consensual sex.
Ms Smurthwaite says she was told on Sunday that a vote had been held by Goldsmiths Feminist Society on whether they should support Kate's appearance, with around 70% voting in favour of it going ahead.
She was also told that people may come to the event "to pick a fight".
Although she was keen to still put on the show, she was told that because of the risk of a picket line, they couldn't "ensure the safety of students" and so the gig would be cancelled.
In a statement on her Facebook page, Kate says: "The strangest thing is that my show is not about prostitution.
"I find it very strange that anyone would feel they couldn't enjoy a comedy show unless they agreed with 100% of the political views of the person performing."
Kate Smurthwaite's Leftie Cockwomble is described as being about "free speech".
Other comedians have come out in support of Kate, including Jason Manford, who tweeted: "I'm angry for you."
A spokesman for Goldsmiths Student Union says: "The Goldsmiths comedy society is a small volunteer led group.
"They made this decision independently from the union and we support their right to decide who plays their gigs."
The Feminist Society has yet to release any further information.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube |
Thank you for providing NRA Members a special place of our own to shop and purchase items we couldn't purchase elsewhere. This especially makes me proud to shop the NRAstore because I know my purchases will fund our Mission to protect our Second Amendment Rights. You carry a very large selection of items from survival gear to patches or Instructor items; I have truly enjoyed the quality of the items I have purchased. Ronald Sloan Endowment Member / NRA Instructor
As a proud Member of the National Rifle Association I appreciate the one stop shop you have created. There is no better way to proclaim my support for the mission of the National Rifle Association than to proudly wear the branded apparel you provide. Knowing that every dime I spend at the NRAstore goes directly to forward the mission of the National Rifle Association makes the choice even easier. Thank you for the commitment to your Members, David Soward Life Member
A gift from the NRA store is a great way to support our 2nd amendment rights and to show my family that a gift can serve a dual purpose for those that give and receive. For example, the 'Don't Tread on Me' shirts that my wife and daughter wear and the NRA water bottle my son carries provides the NRA ammunition for our gun rights and gives our family the opportunity to show and tell others what we believe. Duke Hardway Member
My wife and I have been NRA Members for some time but only recently became familiar with the NRA Store and wide range of products available. We are very excited to be able to purchase the products we need and at the same time help support the never ending struggle to protect the Second Amendment. Thanks for a great store and buying experience. John McCoy Member
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the great organization that you are and represent. Without it we would not have any gun rights. I love the new website and I love that you have a lot more items for women. I have ordered from the NRAstore before and I love the products. Thank you for all that you do for our 2nd Amendment Rights. Miriela Saenz NRAstore Customer
As a member of the National Rifle Association, I am proud to know that my NRAstore purchases go toward the protection of our Second Amendment Rights. The NRAstore provides me a one stop shop where I can find all the NRA gear I need to keep my family safe. I am proud to support the National Rifle Association. Kim Thompson Member |
Rolling Stone contributing editor Sabrina Rubin Erdely, left, and Rolling Stone magazine Deputy Managing Editor Sean Woods, right, walk with their legal team to federal court in Charlottesville, Va., on Tuesday. (Steve Helber/AP)
CHARLOTTESVILLE — A federal court jury decided Friday that a Rolling Stone journalist defamed a former University of Virginia associate dean in a 2014 magazine article about sexual assault on campus that included a debunked account of a fraternity gang rape.
The 10 member jury concluded that the Rolling Stone journalist was responsible for defamation, with actual malice, in the case brought by Nicole Eramo, a U-Va. administrator who oversaw sexual violence cases at the time of the article’s publication. The jury also found the magazine and its publisher responsible for defaming Eramo.
The $7.5 million lawsuit centered on the 9,000-word article written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely titled “A Rape on Campus.” The article appeared online in late Nov. 2014 and on newsstands in the magazine’s December 2014 issue.
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The story opened with a graphic depiction of a fraternity gang rape that went viral online and sent shock waves across the U-Va. campus community. But within days of the article’s publication, key elements of the account fell apart under scrutiny. The magazine eventually retracted the story in April 2015.
Eramo’s lawsuit came a month later, alleging that the magazine’s portrayal of her as callous and dismissive of rape reports on campus was untrue and unfair.
University of Virginia administrator Nicole Eramo leaves federal court after closing arguments in her defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine on Tuesday in Charlottesville, Va. (Steve Helber/AP)
The jurors reached a verdict Friday after deliberating across three days.
The trial began on Oct. 17. In the following 16 days the jurors heard testimony from 12 witnesses along with 11 hours of video statements and more than 180 exhibits of evidence.
Both Eramo and Erdely took the stand in the case. The jurors also saw video testimony from Jackie, the U-Va. student whose allegations of a 2012 gang rape at Phi Kappa Psi were later cast into doubt.
Eramo’s lawyers wrote in their complaint that the magazine defamed her by casting the former associate dean as a villain in the article, portraying her as the public face of an administration indifferent to rape victims.
In court, lawyers representing Erdely, Rolling Stone and its corporate parent company, Wenner Media, argued the opposite. The lawyers contended that while the magazine acknowledged its mistakes it had not acted with actual malice, the high bar set for defamation cases involving public figures like Eramo.
Tom Clare, one of the lawyers representing Eramo, said in a closing statement Tuesday that his client was “collateral damage in a quest for sensational journalism.”
Former UVA dean speaks out for first time about Rolling Stone's rape story Embed Copy Share Play Video 2:52 ABC News interviewed Nicole Eramo, the former University of Virginia administrator who is suing Rolling Stone magazine over a November 2014 story about a sexual assault. That story was discredited. (ABC News and 20/20) ABC News interviewed Nicole Eramo, the former University of Virginia administrator who is suing Rolling Stone magazine over a November 2014 story about a sexual assault. That story was discredited. ABC News interviewed Nicole Eramo, the UVA administrator who is suing Rolling Stone magazine over story about a student's account of being gang raped on campus. (ABC News and 20/20)
Reading from a Columbia University Journalism School report on the Rolling Stone article, Clare said that the magazine made basic errors in reporting and the result was “a story of journalistic failure that was avoidable.”
Clare noted that Jackie’s account to Rolling Stone was brutal and so vile that it seemed unbelievable.
“It had all the elements of a perfect story,” Clare said. “And when something appears too perfect it usually is.”
In fact, it was.
An investigation by The Washington Post showed that aspects of Jackie’s account were not true, including that no one in the fraternity matched the name or description she gave for the person who allegedly was the ringleader of her assault. A person she had described to friends at the time as her assailant was a complete fiction, according to Eramo’s lawyers, and the Post found that a photo she shared of her alleged attacker was actually of someone she knew from high school and who attended a different school out of state.
Eramo’s lawyers presented evidence that Erdely had a predetermined notion of what her story would be, discussing the concept of the story that became “A Rape on Campus” well ahead of her reporting, including a note describing how college administrations can be “indifferent” to rape survivors.
Eramo’s lawyers said that Erdely had “a preconceived story line,” and acted with “reckless disregard,” by ignoring conflicting information in her reporting.
“Once they decided what the story was going to be about, it didn’t matter what the facts were,” Clare said.
Clare noted that despite Rolling Stone’s reporting, Eramo had indeed cared for Jackie in the aftermath of her alleged assault, counseling her and organizing a meeting with police detectives to help bring her attackers to justice. But Jackie refused to participate in any police investigation.
Scott Sexton, a lawyer for Rolling Stone, told the jurors in his closing statement that the magazine “acknowledges huge errors in not being more dogged. . . . It’s the worst thing to ever happen to Rolling Stone.”
Sexton said that the article’s retraction cost Erdely her job at Rolling Stone and her reputation as a journalist.
“She hasn’t written a classified since then,” Sexton said.
Sexton said that in effect Erdely and Rolling Stone had fallen victim to what he called at points a “hoax,” a “fraud,” and a “perfect storm.”
The magazine’s editorial staff was no match for Jackie, Sexton said, noting that the magazine was not sure what exactly had happened to her, but admitted “she deceived us and we do know it was purposeful.”
“This young woman was very good at telling this story,” Sexton said. “Dean Eramo believed her. . . .Yet we are the ones being tried, in a sense, for having believed her.”
The case continues this week as the jury will consider damages and hear additional evidence from Eramo and her lawyers about how she was affected by the actions of Rolling Stone. Eramo originally asked for $7.5 million but can ask for a different sum after the verdict. |
February 18, 2012
Obama recently defended his controversial "drone campaign" in Pakistan as a "targeted, focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists," adding that it "has not caused a huge number of civilian casualties." Now, a shocking new report not only disputes that claim, but also reveals that the CIA has been using drones to deliberately target civilians, including rescuers and mourners at funerals.
Since Obama took office in 2009, "between 282 and 535 civilians have been credibly reported as killed, including more than 60 children," writes Chris Woods of the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism. "A three-month investigation including eyewitness reports has found evidence that at least 50 civilians were killed in follow-up [drone] strikes when they had gone to help victims. More than 20 civilians have also been attacked in deliberate strikes on funerals and mourners."
Woods claims that the highest single civilian death toll occurred in South Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan,on the afternoon of June 23, 2009, during a funeral for Khwaz Wali Mehsud, a mid-ranking Taliban member whom the CIA had killed earlier in the day. According to the report: "They planned to use his body as bait to hook a larger fishBaitullah Mehsud, then the notorious leader of the Pakistan Taliban."
Eyewitness accounts estimate that up to 5,000 people were in attendance that day when the drones returned for a follow-up strike. Mehsud managed to escape unharmed, while up to 83 people were killed. As many as 45 of them were civilians, including 10 children and four tribal leaders. Six weeks later, the CIA killed Mehsud and his wife in an attack.
During a recent interview on Antiwar Radio, Woods told host Scott Horton that his research had found that all of the drone attacks that resulted in the deaths of rescuers and funeral goers occurred in Pakistan between May 2009 and July 2011.
"They seemed to have stopped happening when Leon Panetta stepped down from the CIA," says Woods. "There was a defined period when these types of drone strikes were acceptable."
Woods goes on to say he has presented the CIA with the names of approximately 100 Pakistani civilian victims of drone strikes. "You would hope the CIA would look at that and say that they need to start investigating these claims," says Woods.
But that didnt happen. Instead, the government responded to Woodss findings through The New York Times reporter Scott Shane, who wrote on Feb. 4: "A senior American counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, questioned the reports findings, saying . . . 'One must wonder why an effort that has so carefully gone after terrorists who plot to kill civilians has been subjected to so much misinformation. Lets be under no illusionsthere are a number of elements who would like nothing more than to malign these efforts and help al Qaeda succeed."
In other words, Woods and his organization are helping terrorists by criticizing the CIA for its murder of innocent civilians, in the view of the CIA.
Keith Johnson is an independent journalist and the editor of "Revolt of the Plebs," an alternative news website that can be found at RevoltofthePlebs.com. |
The rate of prescriptions that doctors write for painkillers varies widely by state, with states in the South having some of the highest rates, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The report highlights the urgent need to change prescribing practices in states with particularly high rates of painkiller prescriptions, because the overprescribing of these drugs can result in fatal overdoses, the CDC said.
In 2012, there were 259 million prescriptions written for opioid painkillers in the United States, which is enough for every adult in the country to have a bottle of pills, the report said. [How 8 Common Medications Interact with Alcohol]
Southern states — particularly Alabama, Tennessee and West Virginia — had the most painkiller prescriptions per person, the report said. For example, in Alabama, there were 143 prescriptions for opioid prescriptions written for every 100 people. That's about three times the rate seen in Hawaii, which had the lowest rate among U.S. states, with 52 prescriptions per 100 people.
The rate of prescriptions for oxymorphone, one type of opioid painkiller, was about 22 times higher in Tennessee than in Minnesota, which had the lowest rate of prescriptions for that drug, the report said.
Prescription rates for long-acting/extended-release painkillers, and for high-dose painkillers, were the highest in the Northeast, particularly in Maine and New Hampshire, the report said.
Such wide variations in prescriptions for painkillers cannot be explained by differences in the health of people in different states — that is, pain-related health issues don't vary much by region, the CDC said.
Rather, the differences may indicate a lack of consensus about when it is appropriate to prescribe painkillers, the report said.
"We're not seeing consistent, effective, appropriate prescribing of painkillers across the nation, and this is a problem because of the deaths that result," Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said at a news conference today (July 1). "All states, but especially those whose prescribing rates are highest, need to examine whether the drugs are being used appropriately."
Opioid medications can be dangerous because they are very addictive, and can suppress breathing and result in death, Frieden said. In 2011, nearly 17,000 deaths involved overdoses of opioid painkillers, the CDC said.
One way in which states can address the overprescribing of painkillers is to increase their use of databases known asprescription-drug monitoring programs, which track patients' painkiller prescriptions, the CDC said. These databases can help identify prescribing problems, such as when multiple doctors are prescribing painkillers to the same patient.
Since 2012, when New York State started requiring that doctors check the state's prescription-drug monitoring program before prescribing painkillers, the state saw a 75 percent drop in patients who were seeing multiple doctors to obtain the same painkillers, the CDC said. And since 2010 when Florida started to regulate pain clinics, to stop doctors from dispensing prescription painkillers from their offices, the state saw a more than 50 percent decrease in overdose deaths from the opioid oxycodone.
States can also find ways to increase access to substance-abuse treatment for people addicted to painkillers, Frieden said.
Moreover, doctors can discuss the risks and benefits of pain treatments with patients, including treatments that do not involve prescription painkillers, Frieden said.
"Some conditions are best treated with opioid, but they are not the answer to every time someone has pain," Frieden said.
Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
Russia has given Iran its bear hug and warns Israel and the West that an attack on Tehran would be considered an attack on Moscow.
Russia has given Iran its bear hug and warns Israel and the West that an attack on Tehran would be considered an attack on Moscow. The threat heightens the prospect of World War III in the event of a military strike on Iran.
“Iran is our neighbor,” Russia's outgoing ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, told reporters in Brussels. “And if Iran is involved in any military action, it’s a direct threat to our security.”
Kremlin Security Council head Nikolai Patrushev accused Israel of provoking the United States towards war against Iran, the Russian Interfax news agency reported Friday. “But at the same time, we believe that any country has the right to have what it needs to feel comfortable, including Iran," he added.
Rogozin warned on Friday that more attacks on Iran could cause "a scorching Arab Summer."
Russia also has come to the defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, warning Western nations not to intervene in Syria with military forces. Russia is a major arms supplier to Syria and has a heavy investment in Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Japan also is drifting towards Iran, backtracking from its promise last week to back American sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to halt its unsupervised nuclear development.
Last week’s assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist has aroused more “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” protest rallies in Iran, where the scientist was buried on Friday.
Iranian state radio said the 32-year-old scientist was involved with enriched uranium, a key ingredient for a nuclear weapon. |
THUMOS: The First International Workshop on Action Recognition with a Large Number of Classes, in conjunction with ICCV '13, Sydney, Australia.
*THUMOS 2014 (featuring TEMPORALLY UNTRIMMED videos)
to be held in conjuction with ECCV 2014 *
Rank Submission Overall Accuracy Split 1 Acc. Split 2 Acc. Split 3 Acc. 1 ID39_INRIA 85.900% 84.734% 85.862% 87.105% 2 ID40_Florence 85.708% 85.319% 86.642% 85.164% 3 ID35_Canberra 85.437% 84.761% 86.367% 85.183% 4 ID38_CAS_SIAT 84.164% 83.515% 84.607% 84.368% 5 ID25_Nanjing 83.979% 83.111% 84.597% 84.229% 6 ID34_UCF_BoyrazTappen 82.829% 82.640% 83.352% 82.496% 7 ID36_UCSD_MSRA_SJTU 80.895% 79.410% 81.251% 82.025% 8 ID28_USC 77.360% 76.154% 77.704% 78.222% 9 ID31_NII 73.389% 71.102% 73.671% 75.393% 10 ID44-UNITN 70.504% 70.446% 69.797% 71.270% 11 ID42-UEC 66.261% 65.157% 66.726% 66.899% 12 ID26_UMD 65.948% 65.218% 65.385% 67.240% 13 ID47_UNAL 65.675% 65.313% 65.480% 66.231% 14 ID32_Buffalo 64.296% 63.405% 65.365% 64.118% 15 ID29_TNO 63.457% 62.007% 63.461% 64.904% 16 ID37_ECNU 54.738% 54.764% 55.162% 54.287%
**Detailed Results and notebook papers available HERE.**
THUMOS Challenge:
For action recognition to operate in realistic conditions, the vision community needs to make a concerted effort to go beyond datasets with limited number of action classes, such as KTH, Weizmann and IXMAS. The goal of our workshop is to encourage researchers to develop novel methods for action recognition that scale to large numbers of action categories captured in natural settings, both in terms of classification accuracy and computational complexity.
To enable direct comparisons of proposed approaches, we will encourage workshop participants to evaluate their methods on the newly released UCF101 dataset, which is currently the largest action dataset both in terms of number of categories and clips, with more than 13000 clips drawn from 101 action classes.
Since UCF101 dataset contains more than two million frames, we recognize that computing features may itself be a challenge for those workshop participants who lack access to cluster computing resources. Therefore, in order to encourage broad participation, we made available a variety of pre-computed low-level features, such as STIP, SIFT and DTF (Dense Trajectory Feature). While participants are encouraged to employ their own features, the provided features may serve as a useful resource, particularly for computationally-constrained participants. In addition, we will make frame-by-frame bounding box annotations for humans in 24 action classes as well as class-level attribute lists.
Important Dates
submission deadline:
Evaluation results (competition track): November 7, 2013
Papers (research track): November 7, 2013*
*The authors who wish to have their papers published in the ICCV proceedings should submit their papers by the early deadline of September 7.
Competition results announcement: November 28, 2013
Review results and author's notice: October 7, 2013 (early deadline submissions)
Camera ready: October 11, 2013 (early deadline submissions)
Publication date: As per conference schedule
Workshop date: December 7, 2013
[ Downloads | Submission | Call for Papers | Competition Evaluation ]
News:
[11/2013] Detailed challenge results and notebook papers available Here.
[11/2013] Challenge results are now available.
[11/2013] The notebook paper instructions are now available.
[11/2013] The program of the workshop is now available.
[9/2013] The submission website is now open.
[8/2013] We will accept submissions by November 7.
[8/2013] The bounding box annotations of humans are now available for download.
[8/2013] The class-level attributes are now available for download.
[8/2013] The predefined splits for training-testing (recognition) are now available for download.
[7/2013] The low-level features (STIP, DFT) are now available for download.
[7/2013] The workshop benchmark dataset can be downloaded at UCF101.
[7/2013] website launched. |
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Less than 10 percent of funds spent to help poorer communities adapt to climate change impacts and adopt clean energy are reaching the people most in need of the money, finance researchers say.
A boy stands in front of wind turbines at the Ashegoda Wind Farm, near a village in Mekelle, Tigray, 780 km (485 miles) north of Addis Ababa October 25, 2013. Africa's biggest wind farm began production in Ethiopia on Saturday, aiding efforts to diversify electricity generation from hydropower plants and help the country become a major regional exporter of energy. Picture taken October 25, 2013. REUTERS/Kumerra Gemechu (ETHIOPIA - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX14PA1
In part, that is because international climate funds, under pressure to get donated funds into action, are opting to work with development banks and other big international agencies that can quickly spend millions - rather than with smaller-scale local governments and projects, said researchers at the London-based International Institute for Environmental and Development (IIED).
Weak local ability to design and evaluate projects, and to fill out complicated forms to access money are another problem, the report said, as is the smaller scale of local projects, as vetting each one takes more time.
Another obstacle is the lack of a specific target in the Paris Agreement on climate change to spend more finance at the local level, the researchers said in a report released this week.
“Understanding how to get money where it matters is the challenge of the moment,” said Clare Shakya, climate change director at IIED and one of the report’s authors.
Today, donors have given only 11 percent of the climate funds they promised, in part because of the obstacles, she said.
Richer nations have promised to donate or otherwise mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 to help poorer countries switch to clean energy and adapt to problems such as worsening droughts, flooding and sea level rise.
But getting that money raised and flowing has proved challenging.
The United States, for instance, has promised $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund and so far delivered $1 billion. But President Donald Trump has suggested he would not make any additional contributions, and may pull the United States out of its international climate agreements.
The lack of international finance is a problem for countries such as Ethiopia, which has estimated it needs $7.5 billion a year to switch to clean energy and adapt to climate change, but is so far receiving between $100 million and $200 million a year in international support, said Saleemul Huq, a senior fellow at IIED.
ETHIOPIA PUSHES AHEAD
Ethiopia is nonetheless moving ahead with a large-scale national push toward hydropower and wind, solar and geothermal energy, and on projects to adapt to climate change, including worsening drought, said Gebru Jember Endalew, the program coordinator for Climate Change Forum-Ethiopia and the new chair of the Least Developed Countries group in international climate change negotiations.
The east African nation is saving money by incorporating its clean energy projects into its national plans, rather than carrying out each piece of the effort as a separate internationally funded project, he said.
Such work “needs to be part of the development plan of the country,” he said. “It needs to be managed there. It’s much less costly than using consultants.”
Endalew said poor countries have little option but to push ahead on climate change adaptation efforts as much as possible on their own because the impacts of climate change “are already more severe” than anticipated, with the world just 1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial temperature levels.
“Imagine when they’re 3 to 4 degrees” higher, he said. He said the Least Developed Countries group would continue to push for swift action on climate change because “our main goal is for the world to remain safe”.
LOCAL LEVEL FINANCE
Some examples of how international climate finance could reach local level – and the most vulnerable people – are emerging, however.
In Mali and Senegal, a three-year effort by IIED and the Near East Foundation has led to the creation of six $700,000 funds to help local communities build resilience to climate variability and extreme events.
The funds, administered by local governments, allow communities to choose the actions they think will most help them. In Senegal, for instance, a salt harvesting community has used money to plant salt-resistant trees to help protect the estuary where they work.
The effort, part of the UK-funded Building Resilience to Climate Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) project, aims to help local governments and communities develop better skills to manage climate funds and to use money in a transparent and cost-effective way.
“We really need to focus discussion on making sure that (climate finance) gets to the right places,” said Archie Young, the UK’s lead climate negotiator, during a discussion at IIED. |
In 1916, the Congress and the Muslim League signed the Lucknow Pact, stoking hopes that they would bridge the chasm dividing them and mount a ferocious campaign against the British colonial rule. This hope was soon to be belied. The gulf between the two parties, as also between Hindus and Muslims, widened even further, ultimately leading to Partition. Indeed, what we jubilate over today can lead to sorrow and tragedy tomorrow. And the worries and problems of the present can fire us to create a new India a century later.
In 2016, India marches towards what is recognised as the new dawn of economic prosperity and political power. In this interview with Ajaz Ashraf, renowned political psychologist Ashis Nandy speaks on the future of India, based on his reading of its past and present. Excerpts:
The opening lines of your book, Regimes of Narcissism, Regimes of Despair, are: “These essays are about an India that is no longer the country on which I have written for something like four decades. Many things have changed drastically in recent years....” What do these changes presage for India’s future?
Let me take a broad sweep of things. First of all, India no longer has a vision of its own. Its vision is the vision of many developing societies around the world. It is a homogenised, predictable future which has been sold to us as a universal cure for poverty, indignity and backwardness in general. In other words, our own futures have been stolen.
All developing societies, including China, have now accepted that they are backward. Our future is exactly the same as the future of all standardised nation-states. It is a new vision for them as well, except that their vision is 300 years old. We have now joined the bandwagon. India, therefore, doesn’t have a distinctive future.
When you talk of India having accepted the universal vision, are you referring to what you call the “urban-industrial vision”?
Yes. It is an acceptance that is not even a critical acceptance. In fact, it is an unqualified acceptance. Mind you, this was not the creation of the Bharatiya Janata Party. India had already changed before it came to power.
Perhaps the BJP’s rise is a result of India having changed.
That’s right. They can deliver the urban-industrial vision more ruthlessly, or at least seem to do so. To repeat, the vision of all ambitious, so-called Southern countries—Brazil, India, China etc—is exactly the same.
Our hero is (Singapore’s first prime minister) Lee Kuan Yew. He’s so popular that one is afraid of saying he was one of the last despots, the last votary of “developmental authoritarianism”. Take the East Asian Tigers. I have argued that they were not only tigers but also man-eaters. All of them had despotic regimes. If you want spectacular development, then be prepared for a high degree of authoritarianism.
Is India headed that way?
In India, this movement began with Mrs Indira Gandhi in the mid-’70s. But what we did by default—not because we had thought through it—we do now (by design). When C.N. Annadurai (one of the architects of the Dravidian movement and former Tamil Nadu chief minister) declared that Tamil Nadu wanted to be a separate country, nobody called him a traitor or attacked him in Parliament or organised countrywide protests. Not even the Jan Sangh (the BJP’s earlier incarnation). They knew that when people are angry, in distress, they say things which must be ignored.
The same thing happened with Mrs Gandhi, who ultimately had to sign an agreement with Laldenga. He died when he was Mizoram’s chief minister. He was given a state funeral. One who used to call himself Gen Laldenga and led a rebel army against India became patriotic Laldenga.
These defaults are no longer available to us, because someone or the other is going to take political advantage of it. My second point is that not only have our visions been stolen, the range of politics in India has narrowed drastically.
Will it get even narrower, say, by 2050 or 2100?
It can’t get narrower than this.
Is it because there are no alternative visions available to us?
That is right. Whatever alternative visions there are, these are confined to the margins. In one sense, people like Medha Patkar or Claude Alvares or Vandana Shiva don’t feel defeated because they are powerful men and women who hold on to their visions. But apart from a fringe element, hardly anyone thinks of them as visionaries. Nor does anyone think of them as even politically relevant.
Are we then trapped in a peculiar circumstance in which we don’t have choices, but only the chance to examine the consequences of having a homogenised vision?
Choices? Well, I often say that if a person in India or China dies after living a virtuous life, he doesn’t go to heaven—he goes to New York.
We can’t even talk, as we used to earlier, of many of the environmental problems we encounter. We don’t have the courage to admit that most of our mega-dams have not delivered. Only four of the eight dams planned under India’s first multipurpose dam project, the Damodar Valley Corporation, were built. It costs us more to maintain the DVC than what it delivers. Take Bihar, where, without dams, only 15 per cent of it would get flooded every year. With dams, the percentage has grown to more than 30 per cent.
Ecological sensitivity was built into our lives over the centuries. Nobody talked of ecology or environment, but the traditional fear of it, the magicality attributed to nature, protected us (by preventing us from disturbing nature). All these have been declared as mere superstition—and shelved.
We no longer have the concept of future generations. We are now like that American wit who said, ‘Why should I think of the future. What has the future done for me?’ Every Indian wants to have his or her life—whether your car guzzles petrol or releases particulate matter, it doesn’t matter. The superior courts are taking a position. They have some vision. But everyone else is only thinking of how to beat the laws and find loopholes in them.
One of the consequences of mega-dams has been the displacement of tribals. Do you think the India of 2100 will go the way of the US, where indigenous Indians have been packed off to reserves?
We are waiting to do that. Actually, wherever they are not concentrated in numbers, as in Nagaland and Mizoram, we will just finish them off. One-third of all tribes in India are tribes only by name. They have been dispersed, atomised, and individualised. They have joined the proletariat. In fact, the programme of proletarianisation of tribals, directly or indirectly, is built into the manifesto of every party, including the Left. They want equality for the tribes, not separate existence. They want justice—but what is their concept of justice is very different from that of the tribals.
One of the results of this is the Naxalite movement. The second Naxalite movement, unlike the first one, is not an urban phenomenon. It is the rebellion of tribals, only some urban youths have joined them.
Do you think that by 2100, India will be more like America than India?
By 2100, India will be more like an American slum to the nth degree, a poor man’s America. Even to become that, we will have to pay a price in terms of shrinkage of our liberties.
In what sense?
“The vision of all ambitious, developing nations is the urban-industrial vision. Our hero is Lee Kuan Yew, one of the last despots.”
Even in universities you are now facing difficulties in saying what you want to. It is becoming difficult to deviate from the developmental vision even in newspaper columns. It has become difficult to articulate radical diversities, for which India was known. Even our traditions are diverse. For instance, there are millions in Tamil Nadu and north Bengal who are Ravana-worshippers and who observe Ramnavami as a day of mourning. What is wrong about it? In Sri Lanka, Ravana’s brother, Vibhishana, is worshipped. Himachal Pradesh has temples to Duryodhana, the villain of Mahabharata. Nobody took offence.
But we are now being homogenised in the manner of Protestant Christianity—(that is akin to saying) ‘Let us have a religion’. We didn’t have a religion as such. What we had were dharmic traditions.
That reminds me of what you once wrote, “Hindutva is an attack on Hinduism, that Hindutva is an ideology for those whose Hinduism has worn off, and that Hindutva’s triumph will mark the end of Hinduism”. Are we headed in that direction?
Yes, the Hinduism that we see around us today is not 2,000 or 4,000 years old. It is just 150 years old. It was born in urban India, under the new political economy that the British Raj introduced. The reference point was Protestant Christianity, not Catholicism, which is relatively more open. I come from a Protestant family. I know today’s Hinduism is that.
The first generation of RSS pracharaks—men like (Hindu Mahasabha leader) B.S. Munje and (RSS founder K.B.) Hedgewar—took their inspiration from the Ramakrishna Mission (which was influenced by Christianity). Swami Vivekananda (Ramakrishna Mission’s founder) was himself a very different person. He did not speak of Islam and Muslims as villains.
What are the basic attributes of this new Hinduism? A homogenised religion?
“The Hinduism we see is just 150 years old and was born in the urban India of the Raj. Its reference point is Protestant Christianity.”
Once you endorse nationalism (typically, one country, one religion, one language), you don’t even have to discuss it (religion). I think it was (Ernest) Gellner who said you don’t have to read the texts of nationalism because all nationalisms are the same. Savarkar recognised it. He did not believe in anything (religious). He refused to give a Hindu funeral to his own wife and said that there was nothing sacred about the cow. He also made fun of (RSS’s second sarsanghchalak) Golwalkar’s fondness for rituals. Savarkar is the real father of the emerging India. Gandhi is now the stepfather.
Getting back to your essay, do you think Hinduism will fight its battle with Hindutva?
Yes. There is always a tacit force in Hinduism which rebels against this kind of disjunctive imposition. Civilisation never bends down, it always incorporates and digests (what is sought to be imposed on it). Civilisation can destroy a state without saying a word. It must be remembered that the Indic civilisation is different from the Indian nation-state, which is a European concoction just 300 years old.
I have this confidence that it is just not possible to mobilise India into a homogenised nation. Tagore said there is no nation in India. That is why he wrote the English word ‘nation’ in Bengali. But he had 12 to 15 Bengali words for patriotism. Indians are patriotic. But patriotism is often confused with nationalism.
The nation is a demand for homogenising the people, leaving the individual face-to-face with the state. There is no interface—no community, no religion, no sect, no caste, no trade union, simply no intermediary structures. There is just the individual and the state in the ideal nation-state system. I don’t think Indians will go for this beyond a point.
So you feel a challenge to this idea of nation-state will emerge from Hinduism itself.
Yes.
Do you think caste could be fighting Hinduism’s battle?
Caste has been so discredited and so heavily politicised that you shouldn’t be talking of how caste is influencing politics, but how politics is influencing caste. But caste does resist Hindutva. That is why Hindutva-wallahs are against caste also. But a wider vision, an alternative vision, will come through sects and diversified belief systems.
Do you see signs of it now?
Every believing Indian is a sign of that. Hindutva has flouted some of the fundamental canons of Hinduism. For instance, each person has private gods and goddesses, his family has its gods and goddesses, his community has its gods and goddesses, his village has its gods and goddesses, his sect has its gods and goddesses.
In addition, they have their personal preferences—and though they may not worship some gods and goddesses, they don’t wish to antagonise them. Whether they identify with them or not, whether they believe in them or not is irrelevant. For instance, Hindus like to go to dargahs and the Golden Temple. This Hindutva can’t stop. This is a completely different game.
If Gandhi were to come to India in 2050 or 2100....
“There is just the individual and the state in a nation-state system. It’s not possible for India to be a homogenised nation.”
Major philosophical positions don’t simply die out. They automatically emerge in some situations. Do not forget that the major heroes of the post-World War II world have been Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Dalai Lama—they are the people who approximated, directly or indirectly, to the image of Gandhi. They did not necessarily read Gandhi to take the position they did. Nor did Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa, whom the Poles called, “Our Gandhi”. You can’t efface or kill the Gandhian strand. It will continue as a minority stand. Perhaps a catastrophe will produce...
Gandhi?
Not Gandhi, but hundreds of variations of him. Then only can it become a mass movement. You will not have to wait till 2100. It will come earlier. This is because we have entered the last cycle of climate change. Some kind of limits to human greed and consumption will have to be put in place. Once I tried to count the number of shades of lipstick available. I stopped after counting till 1,200; I just couldn’t handle it. I don’t think our retina is capable of even registering 1,200 shades. Yet we continue to produce more shades.
Personally, I don’t think we can return to a pastoral way of life. But the limits of the urban-industrial vision have been crossed. It is not reversible. It is as bad as that. When the crunch comes, you will have to impose limits on using the resources of the Earth for the survival of at least your children and grandchildren, even if you are not thinking of the future.
In 2100, what would Ambedkar be like?
Unfortunately, even though Ambedkar opted for a religion that has tremendous congruence with the Gandhian past, he was a very modern man. He definitely wanted some version of the urban-industrial vision. He certainly did not look beyond it.
You wrote an essay on happiness. Will Indians in 2050 be happy?
It will be demanded of them to not be unhappy.
So how happy India will be in 2100?
Right now, Indians are mostly happy. Poorer countries generally are. Bangladesh was quite high on the list of happy countries, so was Nigeria. Indians are on the higher side too. The current figures will not change so easily. Therefore, there will be a public demand to be happy. So if you are unhappy, you are a traitor. If you are unhappy, you will become a class enemy, as it happened in the Soviet Union. Unhappy people there were sent to psychiatrists.
Are we headed that way?
I am afraid there are efforts to push India in that direction.
(Ajaz Ashraf is a journalist in Delhi. His novel, The Hour Before Dawn, has as its backdrop the demolition of the Babri Masjid) |
For many people who hear the words “sour beer,” the first thing that comes to mind is Belgium—with the most famous, of course, being the Lambic. But styles extend well beyond that. Brewing the tart, fruity, complex, and unique flavors is a difficult—often unpredictable—process and, as a consequence, the beers have been hard to find in recent years.
In a short period of time, though, things have changed, and it’s become common to find sour beers on beer menus and store shelves. As of right now, sour beers may still be just slightly unpopular enough for hipsters to drink, but not for long. Major brewers like Sam Adams are releasing sours and, to be honest, we’re pretty happy about it. Sours are the funkiest beers around and a welcomed change from time to time.
In this post, we’re going to run down four things you should know about sour beers, so you’ve got something to talk about the next time that tang tickles the back of your throat.
1. Every beer used to have some element of sourness to it
People have been brewing beer for millennia. And at some point in history, nearly every batch of beer had an element of sourness to it. Brewers just didn’t have access to the pure yeast cultures that are available today.
As Sarah Zhang said in a Gizmodo article last year, “In the old days, they inoculated a new batch with the dregs of the old one—undesirable bacteria and yeast and all. These unwanted microbes made acid, giving the beer a distinct sour note.”
But as she went on to explain, a major development happened over one hundred years ago. In 1883, “Emil Christian Hansen managed to isolate a single cell of yeast in his lab at the Carlsberg Research Institute in Copenhagen (yes, that Carlsberg). By serially diluting a solution, he got single cells of yeast that he then grew in sugar-rich wort. Give it time, and you've a got pure yeast culture.”
Apparently, the yeast Hansen isolated was for a lager, and he was more than willing to share his new discovery with others in Europe. We can thank Hansen for many of those lagers that have dominated the store shelves for so many years.
Image source: German Beer Institute
2. Three main microbes are responsible for most sour beers today
Most non-wild beer is fermented with one yeast strain—saccharomyces. And as mentioned above, any beer may be “soured” by introducing wild yeast or bacteria into the brewing process. But a whole subset of sour beer styles has arisen over time with specific guidelines for using three microbes. Kate Bernot shared a few facts about these microbes in Draft Magazine earlier this year:
Brettanomyces (“Brett”): Similar to saccharomyces, brett is strain of yeast used to ferment beer. However, it works at a significantly slower rate. For instance, a beer that would take days or weeks to ferment with saccharomyces would take weeks or months to get to that degree of character. It can be unpredictable, and has a number of strains which produce unique flavors. According to Bernot, “Brett is the microbe responsible for funk.”
Similar to saccharomyces, brett is strain of yeast used to ferment beer. However, it works at a significantly slower rate. For instance, a beer that would take days or weeks to ferment with saccharomyces would take weeks or months to get to that degree of character. It can be unpredictable, and has a number of strains which produce unique flavors. According to Bernot, “Brett is the microbe responsible for funk.” Lactobacillus (“lacto”): Unlike the yeast brett, lacto is a bacteria that converts sugars into lactic acid, which lowers the pH level. You may have heard of it, because it can be found in lots of everyday foods like yogurts. The sourness it creates is much crisper and cleaner, and according to Bernot, “It’s responsible for the tang of German styles like goses and Berliner weisses.”
Unlike the yeast brett, lacto is a bacteria that converts sugars into lactic acid, which lowers the pH level. You may have heard of it, because it can be found in lots of everyday foods like yogurts. The sourness it creates is much crisper and cleaner, and according to Bernot, “It’s responsible for the tang of German styles like goses and Berliner weisses.” Pediococcus (“pedio”): Like lacto, pedio is a bacteria that creates lactic acid, and taste of sourness as a result of a lowering pH level. Some people, though, think pedio creates a much more intense sourness than lacto. As Bernot explaind, “While lacto produces a clean sourness, pedio can contribute other funky aromas and flavors to the mix. It gives Brett more fuel to work with, so they’re often used together.”
Outside of these main critters, some brewers allow wild bacteria and yeast to enter the fermentation process simply by leaving open vats of wort exposed to the natural air. This can be more unpredictable, but there are brewers that swear by the ingredients living right in their breweries. For instance, Paste Magazine shared an example:
“Some brewers are so scared to mess with the natural balance of their brewhouses—and consequently the flavor of their beer—that they’ll leave cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.”
an open fermentation tank at high krausen
3. Signs indicate the sour beer market is growing
The U.S. and many other areas of the world are on board with the craft beer craze. Average beer drinkers’ palates are maturing, and at the same time options beyond those offered by the traditionally dominant “big beer” companies are expanding rapidly. To validate that, we can look to recent news from the National Brewers Association, which released data showing that for the first time craft brewers reached double-digit volume of market share—11%—in 2014.
Driving lots of that growth, IPAs were the most popular craft beer style in 2014. Craft Brewing Business listed out the top five craft beer styles of 2014 based on retail scan data:
IPA …………. 22.7 dollar share………… 46.9% volume growth
Seasonal…… 16.8 dollar share………… 9.9% volume growth
Pale Ale……. 10.6 dollar share………… 10.1% volume growth
Variety……… 7.8 dollar share…………. 20.3% volume growth
Amber ale…. 5.7 dollar share………….. 11.8% volume growth
This leaves little room for sours, but our own experiences show that they’re making their way onto many beer lists and are significantly easier to find today than in the past. There’s a small but growing cult following around sours—especially among bars and beer stores that are destinations for avid craft beer drinkers.
Although sour beers have been around forever, a quick look at Google Trends shows people only recently started even talking about them a lot (the flat line doesn't mean nobody was talking about them prior to 2008, it just means there weren't relatively many Google searches):
What’s more, earlier this year, we asked seven different Boston-area brewers for their thoughts on evolving beer tastes and many of them mentioned sours. Dann Paquette, Brewer at Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project and industry veteran put it into perspective.
He said, “I'm not sure tastes are evolving but because of the internet beer drinkers are well aware of all of their possibilities. To be honest, I don't really know or care where this is going next. Hopefully it can get back to using the great raw materials beer gives us, rather than the gimmicked-up beers that really don't do anything to promote this brilliant beverage. I'm certain sour beer will continue to grow in market share, as will hoppy beer.”
4. It is possible to brew sour beer at home
As mentioned above, brewing sour beer is a -somewhat- unpredictable process that typically takes much longer than brewing a standard batch of beer, but that doesn't mean you can't do it yourself.
According to Tomme Arthur, Director of Brewery Operations for Port Brewing in California, some brave homebrewers use dregs of yeast cultured from previous batches. Though, those cultures typically contain a variety of critters that may interfere with the souring strain (most notably, saccharomyces itself, which can dominate the fermentation process) which makes separating each type for fermentation not an option. Homebrewers interested in obtaining isolated cultures can find them at Wyeast or White Labs.
It's also suggested that you have a dedicated set of equipment for fermenting sour beers, since these strains are hard to get rid of and can survive between batches in the nooks and crannies of your brewing equipment and could potentially sour your next beer inadvertently. And finally, beware of bottling too early - since sour yeast strains can ferment for a long time and might put your bottled sour under a lot of pressure. Depending on your timing and choice of yeast, you may have some bottle bombs to contend with. That's not something you want to wake up to in the middle of the night (just ask Agent Hank Schrader).
More info on brewing sours here and check out our list of micro-brewing kits here.
A few sour beers to try
There are many different styles of sour beers, from lambic to American wild ales, flanders red ale, Berliner weisse, gose, and more, so if you’re just starting your sour journey, keep that in mind. The typically fruity flavors vary wildly with dominant tones of vinegar to earthiness to tang. But here are a few (maybe local for you) picks from us to get you started:
Duck Duck Gooze, The Lost Abbey
Supplication, Russian River Brewing Company
La Roja, Jolly Pumpkin Ales
Prolegomena, Hill Farmstead Brewery
Oude Tart, The Bruery
Serenity, Wicked Weed
Sour Golden Ale, Backacre Beermakers
Atrial Rubicite, Jester King Brewery
Nightmare on Brett, Crooked Stave
Sang Rouge, Cascade Brewing
Craft beer is such an exciting thing to explore. As a craft beer lover, you’ve got to be willing to let go of the railing (probably your IPAs) and discover what’s out there. Breweries are doing some very cool things right now—especially in the realm of sour beers. Let us know what your favorite sour beers are by tweeting to @boxbrewkits. |
Ruby is in many ways a better Perl, and it inherits a lot of its culture from the Perl community. One of the lessons I remember being hammered into my head early in the Perl community was the importance of putting Perl into verbose warnings mode:
Thou shalt use perl -w before moaning about Perl.
In fact, the Perl manpage goes on to list among Perl’s “bugs”:
The -w switch is not mandatory.
Perl was a very “loose” language, especially for its time; it would let you do stuff like refer to variables you hadn’t properly declared yet. -w was there to remind you that just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should. Putting Perl in warnings mode could save you from a multitude of careless mistakes, like misspelling a variable.
Ruby has a similar warnings mode, but sadly the practice of enabling verbose warnings by default has fallen by the wayside. This is unfortunate. Not only does it lead to avoidable bugs, it also forces folks like me who do make some effort to write warning-clean code to turn off verbose warnings because of the flood of warnings pouring out of common Rubygems.
Mislav wrote a post yesterday about Ruby’s warning system. I found parts of it helpful and informative, particularly the beginning, which contains a useful breakdown of Ruby’s assorted debug and verbosity flags and global variables. I think many of the issues cited, however, are better viewed as Ruby helpfully pointing out questionable coding practices—just like good old -w in Perl.
Lets go through them in order:
Undefined instance variable
The problem with instance variables that aren’t required to be explicitly declared and initialized is that it’s very easy to misspell them. Consider the following:
@recieved_message # => nil 1 @recieved_message # => nil
Is that variable nil because no message was received? Or because the programmer misspelled “received” and is accidentally referencing the wrong variable? Verbose warnings mode would tell you:
@recieved_message # => nil # !> instance variable @message_recieved not initialized 1 @recieved_message # => nil # !> instance variable @message_recieved not initialized
As Mislav points out, modules complicate instance variable initialization. But perhaps not as much as he thinks. A good general rule for writing modules is to encapsulate every module-specific instance variable in its own idempotent auto-initializing accessor:
Module RoleSystem def role @role ||= :no_role_set end def set_role(role) @role = role.to_s end def is_role?(role) self.role == role.to_s end end class Person include RoleSystem end Person.new.is_role?('admin') # => false 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Module RoleSystem def role @role || = : no_role _ set end def set_role ( role ) @role = role . to _ s end def is_role ? ( role ) self . role == role . to _ s end end class Person include RoleSystem end Person . new . is_role ? ( 'admin' ) # => false
Here, the job of making sure that @role is initialized is encapsulated in the #role method—no need for redundant checking in every method that references it. Ruby is lenient with regard to the ||= defaulting operator: it doesn’t print a warning when the variable being defaulted is undefined.
If that’s still too much code for your tastes, you can use a souped-up attributes library such as Ara T. Howard’s “fattr” to make it even more concise:
require 'fattr' module RoleSystem fattr(:role) { nil } # attribute accessor for @role, defaulting to nil def set_role(role) @role = role.to_s end def is_role?(role) self.role == role.to_s end end class Person include RoleSystem end Person.new.is_role?('admin') # => false 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 require 'fattr' module RoleSystem fattr ( : role ) { nil } # attribute accessor for @role, defaulting to nil def set_role ( role ) @role = role . to _ s end def is_role ? ( role ) self . role == role . to _ s end end class Person include RoleSystem end Person . new . is_role ? ( 'admin' ) # => false
As a side note, I consider having module-specific state to be an indicator that decoration/delegation may be called for rather than a mixin module; but that’s a post for another day.
Method redefined warning
In verbose warnings mode, Ruby warns you when you redefine a method. Considering the consternation that can ensue when methods are unexpectedly redefined, this is probably a Good Thing.
As it turns out, there is almost never a good reason to override methods in Ruby. Even in Rails, where it was once common practice, its use was stamped out once the maintainers realized that there were more robust techniques which achieved the same ends without any need for method redefinition.
About the only common reason to redefine methods is for short-lived kludges to get around some yet-to-be-patched third-party library defect. Arguably, such kludges should emit warnings, if only to encourage the developers to find a better solution post-haste.
However, as Mislav notes, it is occasionally desirable to redefine a method in certain metaprogramming scenarios. He gives the following example of the lengths you have to go to for a warning-free method redefinition that works in both 1.9 and 1.8:
undef :name if instance_methods.map {|m| m.to_sym }.include? :name def name # ... end 1 2 3 4 undef : name if instance_methods . map { | m | m . to _ sym } . include ? : name def name # ... end
But there is a less ugly form that is equally portable and warning-free:
class Person attr_accessor :name undef :name if method_defined?(:name) def name @name.to_s.capitalize end end p = Person.new p.name = "avdi" p.name # => "Avdi" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 class Person attr_accessor : name undef : name if method_defined ? ( : name ) def name @name . to_s . capitalize end end p = Person . new p . name = "avdi" p . name # => "Avdi"
As I said, however, this is rarely needed. It’s a lot cleaner to simply inject a module where you need to override methods:
class Person attr_accessor :name end module CapitalizedName def name super.to_s.capitalize end end p = Person.new p.extend(CapitalizedName) p.name = "avdi" p.name # => "Avdi" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 class Person attr_accessor : name end module CapitalizedName def name super . to_s . capitalize end end p = Person . new p . extend ( CapitalizedName ) p . name = "avdi" p . name # => "Avdi"
As you can see, this has the added benefit of giving easy access to the original method via super —no aliasing necessary.
Too verbose for you? Try this variation on for size:
class Person attr_accessor :name end p = Person.new p.extend(Module.new do def name super.to_s.capitalize end end) p.name = "avdi" p.name # => "Avdi" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 class Person attr_accessor : name end p = Person . new p . extend ( Module . new do def name super . to_s . capitalize end end ) p . name = "avdi" p . name # => "Avdi"
“Useless use of == in void context”
This one crops up a lot in RSpec examples. There’s a simple fix, but it’s surprisingly little-known:
describe "equality" do let(:obj) { 42 } let(:other) { 24 } specify { obj.should_not be == other obj.should be == obj } end 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 describe "equality" do let ( : obj ) { 42 } let ( : other ) { 24 } specify { obj . should _ not be == other obj . should be == obj } end
Note the addition of “be” to the equality assertions. Just like that, no more warnings. As an added perk, this version reads better, especially for operators other than “==”:
value.should > 23 # "value should greater than 23" value.should be > 23 # "value should BE greater than 23" 1 2 value . should > 23 # "value should greater than 23" value . should be > 23 # "value should BE greater than 23"
“Interpreted as argument prefix”
This refers to the case where Ruby notifies you that in code such as the following:
process *orders 1 process * orders
The * operator will be interpreted as a “splat” rather than a multiplcation operator. Considering that the addition of a single space would completely change the meaning of the statement:
process * orders # process.*(orders) 1 process * orders # process.*(orders)
I’m going to have to just plain disagree with Mislav on this one: that’s a good warning to have.
EDIT: José Valim objects that there are lots of places in Ruby code where inserting a space would break code, so why make a special case for & and * ? The answer, I’d hazard to guess, is that in just about any other C-like language, whitespace around those operators is irrelevant. Ruby is making a special case for the operators most likely to be accidentally misused by programmers coming from other languages. That is, it’s compensating for a case where Ruby arguably does not adhere to the Principle of Least Surprise.
Lint versus verbose
Mislav sums up by saying that the real issue is that Ruby confuses its “lint” mode with “verbose” mode, and that it really should have two different modes: one where Ruby prints verbose programmer-inserted warnings, and another where it checks for common code issues. The thing is, Ruby does have these exact two modes; it’s just that by default it is already in the first mode. Consider the following code:
puts "Here we go..." @not_defined warn "This is a warning" 1 2 3 puts "Here we go..." @not_defined warn "This is a warning"
Let’s execute it with default interpreter options:
➜ ruby debug.rb Here we go... This is a warning 1 2 3 ➜ ruby debug.rb Here we go... This is a warning
Now in “quiet” mode:
➜ ruby -W0 debug.rb Here we go... 1 2 ➜ ruby -W0 debug.rb Here we go...
And now in “lint” mode:
➜ ruby -w debug.rb debug.rb:2: warning: useless use of a variable in void context Here we go... This is a warning 1 2 3 4 ➜ ruby -w debug.rb debug.rb:2: warning: useless use of a variable in void context Here we go... This is a warning
As far as I can understand him, this is exactly the breakdown Mislav wants.
Me, I still tend to agree with the Perl manual: the fact that “-w” isn’t on by default is a bug. Here’s a challenge for you: start running your code under “-w”. You might just turn up a few latent bugs! |
As U.S. Justice Department prosecutors begin to bring the first criminal charges against global banks since the financial crisis, they are facing dire warnings of uncontainable collateral damage from none other than the sell-side's banking analysts... "Don’t play with matches," warned Brad Hintz, bringing up the specter of Enron (somehow suggesting we would better if that had not been prosecuted?) “The mere threat of requiring a hearing could cause customers to lose confidence in the institution and could cause a run on the bank,” warns a banking lawyer (well isn't that how it's supposed to be?). Too Big To Prosecute is starting to tarnish a little as Preet Bharara begins to bring the heat, adding, somewhat humorously that, banks have a "powerful incentive to make prosecutors believe that death or dire consequences await."
It seems Eric Holder's words - as we noted here...
"But I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy. And I think that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large. Again, I'm not talking about HSBC. This is just a -- a more general comment. I think it has an inhibiting influence -- impact on our ability to bring resolutions that I think would be more appropriate. And I think that is something that we -- you all need to -- need to consider. So the concern that you raised is actually one that I share."
But now, as Bloomberg reports,
Stung by lawmakers’ criticism that multibillion-dollar settlements have done too little to punish Wall Street in the wake of the financial crisis, prosecutors are considering indictments in probes of Credit Suisse Group AG and BNP Paribas SA, a person familiar with the matter said.
And that has led to significant backlash from the industry - how dare he!!
The 2002 collapse of Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm indicted in the Enron scandal, “should be a lesson” for prosecutors, Brad Hintz, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Don’t play with matches.” ... Criminal action would have to be handled so that any review of a bank’s charter wouldn’t spook customers or revoke a firm’s license, said Gil Schwartz, a partner at Schwartz & Ballen LLP and a former Federal Reserve lawyer. “The mere threat of requiring a hearing could cause customers to lose confidence in the institution and could cause a run on the bank,” Schwartz said.
And as Preet Bharara somewhat comedically notes...
“Companies, especially financial institutions, will do almost anything to avoid a tough enforcement action and therefore have a natural and powerful incentive to make prosecutors believe that death or dire consequences await,” he said. “I have heard assertions made with great force and passion that if we take any criminal action, the skies will darken; the oceans will rise; nuclear winter will be upon us; and the world as we know it will end.”
But the threats arnd fears of what is clearly TBTF's contagious effects remain...
“You can’t do a guilty plea of a systemically important financial institution without first getting the regulators on board a commitment that the conviction won’t put the bank out of business,” he said in an e-mail. “That seems to be going on here, not surprisingly.”
And this is with stocks at record highs and the entire farce of opaque bank balance sheets now a dim and disatnt memrory for all but the sanest.
“These are test cases,” said Phan. “There’s a pragmatism behind this. You look for a target that’s small enough and that will send a message.” Prosecuting banks would break with a practice of brokering settlements with companies that are considered integral to the financial system. Previous probes were resolved through so-called non-prosecution and deferred-prosecution agreements, which have been criticized by U.S. lawmakers for failing to hold banks accountable. “It’s about time,” said Buell, who was part of the prosecution team at the trial of Arthur Andersen, whose indictment put about 85,000 people out of work. “The argument that we can’t have guilty pleas because of debarment provisions that are written into various regulatory codes has always seemed to be a case of the tail wagging the dog.”
So, to summarize, regulator is actually taking a crack at the TBTFs for fraud they committed and the industry is in full Mutually Assured Destruction threat mode should it actually be forced to admit guilt... well played Fed... more leveraged, more interconnected, and more TBTF in the world's economy... |
HEATHER SEELEY
MIDDLEBURY — A clear majority of Middlebury residents support legalizing marijuana in Vermont and believe the town should receive tax benefits from its sale and have a say in where it could be sold locally.
That’s the general takeaway from results of Middlebury’s recent online survey on the marijuana legalization issue.
The informal poll drew responses from 773 people — making it the most successful web-based opinion survey that Middlebury has ever engineered. The selectboard launched the survey on Aug. 14 to get guidance on whether it should support the Vermont League of Cities and Towns’ (VLCT) position on marijuana legalization during the upcoming 2018 legislative session.
The VLCT’s current position, as stated in its Draft Municipal Policy and Municipal Guiding Principles, is “marijuana should not be legalized for recreational purposes until all public safety concerns are adequately addressed.”
Middlebury selectboard members won’t take an official position on the VLCT’s marijuana stance until it next meets on Sept. 26. But a majority of the board on Tuesday appeared to be in the VLCT’s camp when it comes to the cannabis question.
“Are all the pieces in place to make (marijuana legalization) happen the way it should?” Selectwoman Heather Seeley asked. “I’m not convinced.”
But many of those who took the town survey seem to think their state is ready to legalize recreational marijuana, a move the state Legislature and Gov. Phil Scott have considered, but have not green-lighted. The Legislature is likely to debate the question again this winter.
Middlebury’s marijuana survey was available online, and in hard copy at the town offices, from Aug. 14 to Sept. 8. Almost 78 percent (599 respondents) were Middlebury residents, with another 138 residing in other Vermont communities. The remaining 32 respondents were from outside of the state.
Slightly more than half of those who answered the survey (51.43 percent) identified themselves as women. The poll drew responses from people age 18 to at least 75, with the 25-to-44-years-old demographic garnering the most responses (281).
See more highlights from the survey in the box on this page. A copy of the survey results can be found online by clicking here
Some respondents submitted comments. Among them:
• “As we’ve seen from the national trend, the legalization of marijuana is quickly becoming accepted, both as a recreational and medical drug. The residents of Middlebury deserve to have access to this long-demonized and now welcome tool for alleviating all sorts of pains.”
• “I have concerns about minors finding and eating edibles, siting businesses in the more residential areas of town, and traffic safety issues. I do believe that responsible use and taxation of marijuana would be fine.”
• “I’m inclined towards legalization ONLY IF it is done in a careful, thoughtful, incremental, inclusive way. Law enforcement, the medical community, educators, and our legislators need to be at the table together to consider the ramifications of any proposals, and I think incremental steps towards legalization gives all of these stakeholders time to evolve appropriately… ”
• “As a mother of a young child, I fear for her safety if it is legalized. There are no concrete ways to test for ‘intoxication’ levels and I don’t want a bunch of people who are high driving on the roads. We are a small town with multiple schools on the main road. I say emphatically NO.”
• “Addison County has enough issues with substance abuse and impaired driving already; please don’t bring more drugs into our town.”
Selectboard members were very pleased with the response rate for the survey and were thankful that many took time to offer personal comments.
“It was pretty well-publicized in a short time-frame,” Seeley noted, referring to pre-publicity from media that included the Addison Independent. “We had a good range of older and younger (respondents). It makes the information more valuable than if it was skewed in one direction.”
Now selectboard members have to reconcile the survey findings with their own views on how to best serve their constituents. The VLCT has raised public safety-related concerns about legalization of marijuana — including whether police agencies currently have enough tools to flag drivers who might be “drugged driving.”
“I think regardless of how people feel about the legislation itself, our job is to look out for Middlebury, and I think the VLCT does a good job looking out for municipalities,” Selectboard member Susan Shashok said.
Selectman Victor Nuovo said the board should err on the side of public safety, and he offered some of his personal views on marijuana.
“I’m opposed to legalization as a cultural matter, as well as a public safety matter,” Nuovo said. “There are large issues here. We have an expression of sentiment and we have a policy the VLCT has articulated that says, ‘We’re opposed unless the public safety issues can be addressed.’ Obviously, that should be the selectboard’s concern, too: Public safety.
“My sense would be that what the VLCT is proposing is prudent,” he added.
Seeley said she believed a board vote in favor of the VLCT position would not be a vote against legalization at a later date.
“If we support the VLCT, we’re not necessarily going against what the survey is saying,” she said. “We want to have everything in place.”
But Selectwoman Laura Asermily noted some legalization advocates argue that police are already screening for drugged drivers.
“What I have also heard is that … we’re paying for the policing of it now; it is already costing us something,” Asermily said. “They already have to know whether you’re under the influence or not, so this idea there’s going to be additional cost — is it? And how much more? We are already having to train our (police) about this substance.”
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected] |
Researchers empower robot to fold towels
Play Researchers empower robot to fold towels Researchers empower robot to fold towels
Who wouldn’t want a robot that could make your bed or do the laundry? A team of Berkeley researchers has brought us one important step closer by, for the first time, enabling an autonomous robot to reliably fold piles of previously unseen towels.
Robots that can do things like assembling cars have been around for decades. The towel-folding robot, however, is doing something very new, according to the researchers, doctoral student Jeremy Maitin-Shepard and assistant professor Pieter Abbeel, both of UC Berkeley's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences.
Robots like those who assemble cars are designed to work in highly structured settings that allow them to perform a wide variety of tasks with mind-boggling precision and repeatability—but only in these carefully controlled environments, Maitin-Shepard and Abbeel explain. Outside of such settings, their capabilities are much more limited.
Automation of household tasks like folding laundry is somewhat compelling in itself. But more significantly, according to Maitin-Shepard, it involves a task that’s proved a challenge for robots: perceiving and manipulating “deformable objects”—things that are flexible, not rigid, so their shape isn't predictable. A towel is deformable; a mug or a computer isn't.
The video of the robot in action tells the story best. It features a robot built by robotics research laboratory Willow Garage, running an algorithm developed by the Berkeley team and faced with a heap of towels it has never “seen” before. The towels are of different sizes, colors and materials. The robot picks one up and turns it slowly, first with one arm and then with the other. It uses a pair of high-resolution cameras to scan the towel to estimate its shape. Once it finds two adjacent corners, it can start folding. On a flat surface, it completes the folds, smoothing the towel after each fold and making a neat stack.
“Existing work on robotic laundry and towel folding has shown that, starting from a known configuration, the actual folding can be performed using standard techniques in robotic manufacturing,” Maitin-Shepard says.
TEACHERS OF MACHINES: From left, assistant professor Pieter Abbeel and doctoral student Jeremy Maitin-Shepard of UC Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences led the research on the laundry-folding robot. (Photo by The Researchers.)But there’s been a bottleneck: getting a towel picked up from a pile where its configuration is unknown and arbitrary, and turning it into a known, predictable shape. That’s because existing computer-vision techniques, which were primarily developed for rigid objects, aren’t robust enough to handle possible variations in three-dimensional shape, appearance and texture that can occur with deformable objects, the researchers say.
Solving that problem helps a robot fold towels. But more significantly, it addresses a key issue in the development of robotics.
“Many important problems in robotics and computer vision involve deformable objects,” Abbeel says. “The challenges posed by robotic towel-folding reflect important challenges inherent in robotic perception and manipulation for deformable objects.”
The team’s technical innovation is a new computer vision–based approach for detecting the key points on the cloth for the robot to grasp. The approach is highly effective because it depends only on geometric cues that can be identified reliably, even in the presence of changes in appearance and texture.
The robot succeeded in all 50 trials attempted on previously unseen towels with wide variations in appearance, material and size, according to the team’s report on its research, which was presented last month at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2010 in Anchorage. Their paper, Cloth Grasp Point Detection based on Multiple-View Geometric Cues with Application to Robotic Towel Folding, is posted online.
The system was implemented on a prototype version of the PR2, a mobile robotic platform developed by Willow Garage, using the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS) software framework. Two undergraduates, Marco Cusumano-Towner, a junior in EECS, and Jinna Lei, a senior math major, assisted on the project.
Located in Menlo Park, California, Willow Garage develops open source software and hardware to further robotics applications. Just last month, the lab awarded several research centers a prototype robot on two-year loan for developing and testing new applications. Out of a total of 78 submissions, UC Berkeley will be one of 11 institutions to receive a Willow Garage robot on loan. Moving beyond the laundry-folding application, the Berkeley team plans to next tackle the challenge of actually doing laundry, from dirty piles to neatly folded clothes, as well as other tasks like hierarchical planning, object recognition and furniture assembly.
Maitin-Shepard's research focuses on artificial intelligence, computer vision and machine learning. He studied computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and earned a bachelor's degree in 2008 before coming to Berkeley.
Abbeel focuses on robotics, machine learning and control. He earned his doctorate in computer science at Stanford and joined Berkeley’s EECS faculty in 2008. As part of his doctoral work, Abbeel and collaborators developed machine-learning algorithms that enable helicopters to learn to fly by watching an expert pilot fly—resulting in the most advanced autonomous helicopter aerobatics to date.
Topics: EECS, Robotics & AI |
About "The Run"
The world’s most notorious drivers on the country’s most dangerous roads. In Need for Speed The Run, you’ll weave through dense urban centers, rocket down icy mountain passes and navigate narrow canyons at breakneck speeds, all the while evading a relentless police force prepared
Need For Speed is the name which is mainly knows for provider of best racing games which is played all over the world.As Need For Speed Created very big games in the history of racing games like Shift2,Most Wanted,Undercover world and many more .And today they added another name in the list of racing game which is announced to be as Need For Speed:The World.The world’s most notorious drivers on the country’s most dangerous roads. In Need for Speed The Run, you’ll weave through dense urban centers, rocket down icy mountain passes and navigate narrow canyons at breakneck speeds, all the while evading a relentless police force prepared
Need For Speed:The World is Another Upcoming Racing game by Need for speed which is officially announced today .Since the release of Undercover, Black Box has been working on another entry to the franchise, presumably continuing the action focused street-racing gameplay of Black Box's previous titles. This game has an extended development window to give the developers a chance to create a game that "could really blow the doors off the category".It is confirmed that the game will feature a fictional storyline and characters .
The Run also consist of some Autolog feature,which is main reason for the popularity of last year's Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. And i think we also expect Autolog's core features in friend-tracking and matchmaking to stay in The Run.Also like other previous games by NFS The Run will be provide cool 3DS Experience.
Release:-It is expected that Need For Speed:The Run will hit gaming Market in November 15 not confirmed,You can also set your :-It is expected that Need For Speed:The Run will hit gaming Market in November 15 not confirmed,You can also set your Preorders for "The Run"
Platform: -Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, Nintendo 3DS
You might love to see the first teaser of game shown below:
Source:Official Website |
It has been five years, my friend.
Five short years since you taught us how to die with wisdom and wit. And five long ones, wherein the world taught us how deeply we would miss you.
Syria. Safe spaces. President Trump.
What would you have made of these horrors?
More times than I can count, strangers have come forward to say, “I miss Hitch.” Their words are always uttered in protest over some new crime against reason or good taste. They are spoken after a bully passes by, smirking and unchallenged, whether on the Left or the Right. They have become a mantra of sorts, intoned without any hope of effect, in the face of dangerous banalities or lies. Often, I hear in them a note of personal reproach. Sometimes it’s intended.
You are not doing your part.
You don’t speak or write clearly enough.
You are wrong and do not know it—and it matters.
There has been so much to say, and no one to say it in your place.
I, too, miss Hitch. |
America’s new favorite defense attorney is still fighting to win justice for Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, man Steven Avery, the subject of Netflix’s hit docuseries Making a Murderer.
Speaking with The Daily Beast Wednesday night from Milwaukee, Avery’s former counsel Dean Strang challenged the supposedly damning evidence used to convict Avery in 2007 for the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach, despite the plethora of holes that have outraged viewers since the series’ debut.
“This is a case where I think substantial, real, and reasonable doubts remain about whether an innocent man got convicted,” declared Strang.
Earlier in the day, the bespectacled attorney found himself sparring with former Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz on Fox News as both men argued over the case they debated, in and out of court, a decade ago.
Among the contested items of evidence: the bleach-stained jeans of Avery’s then-16-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey, who told investigators in a controversially obtained confession that he helped Avery rape, kill, and burn Halbach’s body; bones identified as Halbach’s found in Avery’s burn pit—but which were most likely burned elsewhere, then moved; leg irons and handcuffs supposedly purchased by Avery which were never admitted as evidence in Avery’s trial; and *67 calls made from Avery to Halbach, who had requested she return to the Avery salvage yard after previously photographing the family’s vehicle for Auto Trader Magazine.
Kratz, meanwhile, emphasized what he described as the case’s “most persuasive evidence”: that investigators found Avery’s DNA on the hood latch of Halbach’s RAV4, which had been discovered on the Avery property concealed in branches. The only problem: None of Avery’s fingerprints were found in or on the car.
Speaking with The Daily Beast, Strang scoffed at Kratz’s conclusion.
“Mr. Kratz feels aggrieved that the evidence of Steven’s DNA on the hood latch, or under the hood, is left out of the film. But there were also no fingerprints there. If the DNA transfer was from his skin to the hood, where are the fingerprints? And you have, probably, both hands on the hood—potentially eight or 10 fingers that could leave at least a partial print.”
The fingerprint issue also raises questions about one of the prosecution’s primary pieces of physical evidence, he says: Avery’s blood, found smeared inside Halbach’s car, supposedly from a cut on his finger—and yet, no fingerprints.
“You have a problem because if he’s wearing gloves, how’s he bleeding?” said Strang, incredulous. “How’s he bleeding externally? And where are the bloody gloves? That became a problem for the state because if he’s wearing gloves, that explains why there’s no fingerprints. But then, how is there blood? If he’s not wearing gloves, blood could be dripping from a cut, okay. But then why are there no fingerprints?
“Look, there aren’t always fingerprints,” he continued. “But that is a problem, because the state thinks he drove the car. You can’t do that without grabbing the steering wheel. You can’t turn the key in the ignition without potentially touching things. You can’t open a car door without using your hands and leaving a fingerprint, potentially.”
Unfortunately for Avery and co-counsel Jerry Buting, the defense’s framing theory—that Avery’s blood had been planted inside the car by overeager law enforcement officers trying to ensure his conviction—was stymied in turn by four letters: EDTA. If Avery had been framed, the anticoagulant used for storing blood in vials should have been detected in the blood sample. An FBI test for the preservative, however, came back negative.
“Initially we were told that the tests hadn’t been done since the O.J. Simpson trial, that they couldn’t be done, it would take weeks or months,” said Strang of the FBI laboratory test the prosecution used to argue that there had been no tampering with Avery’s blood sample.
“We had to have a hearing out of the jury’s presence to see if it was going to be admissible,” he said. “We had no chance at that point to do independent testing, or even to react terribly well to it because we’re being handed the report during trial and then, boom—[expert witness] Mark Lebow is on the stand the next morning.”
At the time of Avery’s trial, Wisconsin state law did not require a Daubert test to hold expert testimony to a higher level of scrutiny—a standard he notes that the state did begin enforcing in the last few years.
“Jerry did try to show that this wasn’t even relevant evidence—that it didn’t clear Wisconsin’s low bar [of admissibility],” Strang explained. “But the judge ruled against us on that. Jerry, in front of the jury, then tried to establish that there were reasons to view the FBI’s hasty work as unreliable.
“I think it was a point at which momentum shifted,” he sighed. “And maybe not fairly.”
Strang and Buting also found their hands tied when they attempted to introduce four alternate possible suspects who might have killed Halbach. But Wisconsin case law requires defense to prove motive in said suspects, which they could not do.
“That is a significant asymmetry, because the prosecution in a murder case and most other cases in Wisconsin never has to prove motive against the person on trial,” Strang said. “But Steven Avery didn’t have any motive, either! He had nothing against [Halbach]. She hadn’t done anything to him. There was nothing to suggest he had any motive or some reason to want her dead—and the state doesn’t have to prove motive.”
Strang declined to identify the four unnamed possible suspects he and Buting proposed in their motion, or confirm that they were the quartet Avery later named in a 2009 appeal filing pointing to Dassey’s brother Bobby, stepfather Scott Tadych, and Avery’s own brothers, Charles and Earl.
“I’ve never seen that filing,” said Strang, who admits he “unplugged” soon after the Avery conviction citing the exhausting seven-week trial. It was prudent, then, for new lawyers to take up Avery’s cause post-trial. “I don’t want to undermine him,” Strang said, declining to comment on Avery’s accusations.
Like every Making a Murderer obsessive, Strang took note of the revelation this week by filmmakers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi that an unidentified juror believes Avery was framed, and that said juror feared for their own safety if they did not vote to convict during the 2007 trial. He declined to comment on whether that juror’s story might help spur a second chance for Avery.
He confirmed that he and Buting had concerns about the juror revealed to be the father of a Manitowoc County sheriff’s deputy—but not as much as they had over the six potential jurors they struck during jury selection, exhausting their maximum strikes. “You don’t pick a jury. All you can do is unpick the people you think are least fit to serve on the jury,” he explained. “But the concerns about six other potential jurors were greater.”
Although he vividly remembers details of the Avery case, Strang discovered material he’d never before seen regarding the Dassey case that clearly now troubles him. In the documentary, he expresses guilt over seeing Dassey drown in the legal system that would eventually send him to prison for life. The teenager’s story is Making a Murderer’s more heartbreaking thread, as taped phone calls to his mother and footage of his confessional sessions with investigators indicate he has no concept of how badly he’s incriminating himself.
Strang was particularly shocked, he says, watching video of Dassey’s session with the investigator hired by his own defense. That attorney, Len Kachinsky, has since admitted to screwing up his own client’s case by serving him up to federal investigators, whose taped interrogations of Dassey also alarmed Strang.
“Why do we allow the police to pull a developmentally disabled, immature, unsophisticated boy out of class without his parents and take him off and interview him in a manipulative, psychologically sophisticated way with two intelligent adult men—teamed up against a developmentally delayed 16-year-old, naïve boy?” Strang demanded.
How possible was it that Dassey, as the film suggests, instead fabricated the Halbach rape and murder scenario used to convict him because he’d seen the movie Kiss the Girls? “I think there’s a good chance of that,” said Strang. “And the similarities are eerie. That’s a movie I think that would have made a pretty graphic impression on somebody his age. He probably shouldn’t have been watching it.”
There is one answer for the kinds of questions and inconsistencies that plagued both the Avery and Dassey cases, he says: reasonable doubt.
“Guilt has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If there is reasonable uncertainty, we err on the side of liberty. There is a question here of whether that standard was really, faithfully applied—or whether the jury could, because of all the awful and largely inadmissible pre-trial information they heard over and over and over again in the more than a year leading up to this trial.”
Strang hinted that he and Buting may return to Avery’s side to fight for a new trial that could exonerate Avery—again.“Jerry and I both have always been in touch with Steven, on and off,” said Strang, who now leads his own law firm, Strang Bradley LLC in Madison. Buting is a partner in Buting, Williams & Stilling, S.C., an hour away in Brookfield, Wisconsin. “It’s clear that he probably needs formal legal representation [for] the specific, concrete things that a lawyer can do in the coming weeks and months.
“It would depend on what he wants, for one, and two, whether any future legal steps might involve examining whether Jerry and I dropped the ball in some way—whether we were inadequate or the legal term is ineffective, in some way. If some possible avenue of relief might be raising questions about our performance or criticizing our performance then we shouldn’t be the ones to do that.
“He’s not going to be able to pay anybody,” he added. “Money isn’t in the equation. But what is, right now in our eyes, is, what’s best for Steven?”
Strang readily admits he thinks it’s possible that Avery is guilty. But, he argues, “If our system worked on convicting people on maybes, then everybody could pat themselves on the back and go out and have a beer, convicting a man on a maybe. Our system isn’t supposed to work on convicting people on maybes.
“In our system, if we live the values we profess, that means you get to keep your liberty,” he continued. “That means you don’t spend the rest of your life in a cage. Could he be guilty? Sure, he could. Do I think he was proven guilty? No. Do I think there’s a real strong chance he could be innocent? Yes. But that’s just me. I wasn’t asked to decide.” |
On a typical day, two protesters stand outside Choices Women's Medical Center in Jamaica, New York. The man hands out antiabortion flyers; a nun passes out rosary beads. For the most part, things are calm. Since Nov. 8, that is no longer the case.
Since the election, aggressive protesters have been flocking to the clinic, which provides abortions as well as gynecology, prenatal services and STD testing. On Saturdays dozens of protesters spread out half a block in either direction of the doorway, holding signs, screaming at women entering the clinic and impeding on the 15-foot buffer they are legally required to adhere to beyond the clinic doors.
"Their behavior has become incredibly more aggressive to the point we've had to call the police the last three to four weeks," said Camille Barbone, vice president of operations at the clinic. "There's much more condemnation than I've ever seen before. They're pushing cellphone cameras into patients' faces." |
About a week ago, a handful of lawmakers who call themselves the “Congressional Cannabis Caucus” announced that they intend to introduce legislation that would help protect the cannabis industry from a Department of Justice run by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Their announcement was just prior to his confirmation – but they believe that his being Attorney General could actually help push some lawmakers into feeling the same urgency to pass such legislation.
As promised, one of those congressmen – Dana Rohrabacher of California – has introduced the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2017. This bill was previously introduced twice before, in 2013 and 2015, and didn’t gain enough support either time to make it very far. This time, however, with the uncertainty surrounding how the federal government is going to move forward in handling the cannabis industry – the bill may find more support.
“This is commonsense legislation that is long overdue,” said Robert Capecchi, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. “It is time to end marijuana prohibition at the federal level and give states the authority to determine their own policies.
There is hope that more legislators will be more inclined to protect an industry that improves lives for patients in medical marijuana states and has entirely ended prohibition in others. Both types of industries have created countless jobs and brought in millions in tax revenue that would have gone straight into the black market otherwise. If the government isn’t ready to change their minds on prohibition, they should at least protect the states’ rights to enact their own laws.
“States throughout the country are effectively regulating and controlling marijuana for medical or broader adult use,” Capecchi said. “Federal tax dollars should not be wasted on arresting and prosecuting people who are following their state and local laws.”
Basically, the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act would prevent the Department of Justice from pursuing cannabis-related cases in states where marijuana is legal, as long as people are operating within the laws in their respective state. With everything that’s going on, many of us are hoping that this piece of legislation will gain the support it needs to be passed – and that, if it does pass, Trump would be ready and willing to sign it into law.
If that were to happen, states could continue to operate as they have – and others would be able to consider legalization with less worries since there will be something binding in place that says the federal government will keep their opinions to themselves and let the states make their own decisions when it comes to cannabis. |
Two men were arrested at a Costa Mesa Chuck E. Cheese for allegedly smoking heroin in the bathroom.
Costa Mesa Police say they found Daniel Lubach, 27, and Collin Zborowski, 28, smoking heroin in the bathroom of the only establishment where a kid can be a kid at around 7 p.m. Tuesday night after responding to a tip, L.A. Times reports.
Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Patrick Wessel, who referred to the men as "knuckleheads," said the men met their dealer at the Chuck E. Cheese and then decided, for some inconceivable reason, to try out their purchase in the restroom.
The men did not have any children with them, and it's not clear whether or not men were attempting to sell drugs, or just popped in to get high and perhaps catch the Rock-afire Explosion show. Which, on heroin, probably looks a lot like this: |
Image copyright AP Image caption Some compare President Putin's intervention in Crimea to Adolf Hitler's land grabs in the 1930s
Crimean MPs' controversial call for a referendum on joining Russia has reminded some observers of previous acts of aggression in Europe.
Some well-known politicians and commentators around the world are drawing parallels with other countries where an ethnic minority's interests were once backed by a powerful neighbour, with far-reaching consequences. Adolf Hitler's plebiscite in the Sudetenland is often mentioned in this connection.
So what happened in the Sudetenland in 1938?
The Sudetenland was the name for northern, southwest, and western areas of pre-war Czechoslovakia, which - until 1945 - were inhabited mostly by German speakers.
The Sudeten crisis began in February 1938 when Hitler demanded self-determination for all Germans in Austria and Czechoslovakia. The Sudeten Nazi Party called for union with Germany and started rioting. Such was the unrest that the Czechs had to send in the army. German newsreels showed what they called "evidence of Czech atrocities against the Sudetens".
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ethnic Germans remove the Czechoslovakian border sign in the town of Kaplice in October 1938
The Czech government mobilised its army twice that year, in May and again in September, thinking that the Germans were about to invade. But then came the Munich conference, at which Britain and France, in an attempt to appease Nazi Germany, gave the Sudetenland to Germany. Hitler sent his troops into the Sudetenland in October 1938 - and before long Europe was plunged into World War Two.
Nazi-style land grab?
Czech Senate Speaker Milan Stech recently compared the Crimea crisis to Hitler's annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938.
That comparison was echoed by Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird. Speaking to the CBC TV channel, he said: "Sudetenland was mainly occupied by Germans, but this did not give Germany the right to do what they did... in the 1930s."
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also compared Russian President Vladimir Putin's intervention in Crimea with Hitler's actions in the 1930s.
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who was backed by the US, remains bitter about the war in which Russia smashed his forces in 2008. So it is not surprising that he too made the Hitler comparison.
Writing in The Washington Post, Mr Saakashvili said: "Watching recent events and the global response, I keep thinking about history repeating itself - and other instances of aggression in Europe.
"In the 1930s, Nazi Germany occupied part of neighbouring Czechoslovakia under the pretext of protecting ethnic Germans. Today, Russia is claiming to protect ethnic Russians… in Crimea or Georgian territories… Many in the West are talking about the need to reach some kind of compromise with Russia, an option that smacks of Munich 80 years ago."
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland was an ominous sign of things to come
Similar sentiments are being expressed by some Ukrainians. Thousands of Ukrainian demonstrators have picketed Russian embassies around the world, often brandishing Ukrainian flags and banners depicting Vladimir Putin as Adolf Hitler, and telling Russia to keep its "hands off Ukraine".
Different era
There are important differences too, of course.
Crimea has been a battleground throughout its history. Russian empress Catherine the Great annexed it in 1783 and the peninsula was then ruled by Russia until it was transferred to Ukraine - then part of the Soviet Union - in 1954, by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
In Soviet times that transfer appeared uncontroversial, but all that changed with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, when Crimea became part of independent Ukraine.
Only after years of negotiations did Russia and Ukraine agree on the terms for the Black Sea Fleet to continue using its base at Sevastopol.
Unlike Crimea's centuries-old links with Russia, the Sudetenland was for centuries an undisputed part of the Czech Kingdom - long before Germany staked a claim.
The Czech Kingdom itself belonged to the multinational Holy Roman Empire and subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where German was predominantly spoken. When Czechoslovakia came into being in 1918, the German-speaking minority demanded autonomy. Czechoslovakia did not recognise their right to self-determination.
After Germany was defeated in 1945, millions of ethnic Germans were driven from their homes in Sudetenland as the Czechs made the Sudeten German minority pay for the brutal Nazi occupation.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook. |
police lights at night
A robber shot a 63-year-old man in eastern New Orleans Tuesday morning (Oct. 13) after he told the gunman he had nothing of value to hand over, NOPD said.
A robber in eastern New Orleans shot a victim with empty pockets Tuesday morning (Oct. 13) after the man said he had nothing of value to hand over. The unidentified 63-year-old victim is in critical condition at a local hospital, according to Officer Garry Flot, spokesman for the NOPD.
The would-be holdup occurred just before 5 a.m. near the intersection of Morrison Road and Read Boulevard. The man told officers the robber, who was in a gray truck, approached him, pulled out a gun and demanded his property, Flot said.
When the victim told the robber he had nothing to give, the robber shot him twice and fled. The man was taken to the hospital where he was in surgery as of 6:30 a.m. No other information was available.
. . . . . . . .
Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll-free at 877.903.7867. Tips can be texted to C-R-I-M-E-S (274637); text TELLCS then the crime information. |
Want to read the rules? They're available right here!
Want ACCESS to the PRINT AND PLAY FILES? Back this project for as little as $1, then go to this backers-only post!
STILL CONFUSED and want us to paint a picture so you can figure out your pledge? Check out Update #13!
About Zeppelin Attack!
2-4 Players • Ages 12 & Up • 45-60 Minutes • 112 Cards • Designed by Eric B. Vogel
Conquer the world with a flip of the cards!
Indulge your megalomania in Zeppelin Attack!, a deck builder card game by Eric B. Vogel. Set in the world of Evil Hat Productions' Spirit of the Century, you play villainous masterminds bent on world domination.
Deploy your zeppelins, command your minions, and do whatever it takes to destroy your rivals. Zeppelin Attack! contains everything you need to play this high-flying, fast-paced card game.
There’s only room for one ultimate criminal overlord: you. Bring your zeppelins.
How to Play
You can grab a copy of the rules right now! Check them out here.
We also have a video that teaches you how to play the game:
Zeppelin Attack! is a deck building game featuring targeted player combat. You play as one of the villainous masterminds from the Spirit of the Century pulp setting: Der Blitzmann, Gorilla Khan, Jacqueline Frost, or the Walking Mind, bent on subjugating the world with a flotilla of machine-age airships.
At the beginning of the game, your deck contains a rich mix of zeppelins, armaments, defensive measures, and operatives. Deploy your Armada—a face-up display of Zeppelin cards—to gain the ability to play other cards. Gain victory points by launching fiendish attacks against rival players to force their zeppelins into retreat. Use defensive counter-measures to deflect your enemy’s attacks. Send your minions on cunning operations to enrich yourself with fate points. Spend your gains on more powerful mercenary cards while purging weaker cards from your deck.
Unlike many deck-building games where the main emphasis is on buying cards every turn, the main action of Zeppelin Attack! is combat. Buying cards requires careful resource management over multiple turns. Zeppelin Attack! uses Eurogame-style mechanics inside of a pulp-fiction theme. The world of Spirit of the Century is woven throughout the gameplay, brought vividly to life by the artwork of Christian St. Pierre and the graphic design of Daniel Solis.
Our Timeline
The game design is completely done; all art is acquired; all graphic design, rules layout, and editing is complete. We're ready to roll as soon as this campaign concludes. Still, this stuff takes time to make!
Roughly, our timeline works as follows:
March 1, 2014: Handoff art and files to the manufacturer.
April 1, 2014: Tooling samples created and approved; production begins. (Toolin', no foolin'!)
June 1, 2014: Production concludes; testing and manufacturer-to-USA-based-warehouse shipping commences.
August 1, 2014: Product should be at our warehouse by this point, giving us this month to ship out all orders. (Ideally we'll get all these shipped before GenCon on August 14th so we can make the public debut happen there, but our backers take first priority.)
Your Rewards
The Game: We're producing Zeppelin Attack! in a slim, portable box similar to the Silver Line games put out by Fantasy Flight Games. The base game box will contain 112 cards and a printed rules booklet, with enough room for you to put in more cards for an expansion. MSRP is set at $20.
The Print & Play Downloadable Set: Any backer of this project at $1 or higher gets access to the backers-only post containing a download of the digital files for the base game. Print these PDFs on cardstock at home, grab a copy of the rules, and get playing!
Zeppelin Conquest Print & Play Game: Also designed by Eric B. Vogel, Zeppelin Conquest is a fun 2-player game where Rocket Red and Princess Cyclone duke it out across the globe using their soldiers and zeppelins to claim an inevitably short-lived victory as queen of the world!
Other rewards may manifest as the campaign progresses. Stay tuned!
Our Goals
To get to this point, we've already spent several thousand dollars on the art, graphic design, and rules development of the game.
To take the game to print, we need your help in three key ways.
Your pledge: Your pledge money will go towards covering the cost of manufacturing the game. We're planning on printing at least 5,000 copies of the game (the minimum), which is the biggest cost. We'll also need to cover any tooling costs for creating the box and inserts, digital films, and more. Every dollar counts! With shipping and manufacture costs combined, we believe our initial target is right on the money.
Your head: That is, we need to count it! Along with funding, data is one of the most important things a Kickstarter campaign provides. By backing this project you'll help us gauge interest in the game and ensure that we're printing enough copies, helping us avoid stock outages as we bring the game to the market. You'll also help us determine how our reach in board and card games is growing, which will play into our plans for determining what other games we might produce in the future.
Your voice: We're giving you access to the rules and the print and play set so you can explore the game as deeply as you want, right away, without having to wait for the thing to get printed & shipped. As you explore Zeppelin Attack!, we ask that you talk about it, wherever it is you happen to spend your time online — your blog, social media, Board Game Geek, and elsewhere. Best of all, when you talk about this Kickstarter, you're creating an opportunity for more people to discover it, increasing the project's chances of success. Thank you!
We do have a stretch goal or two in mind if this project hits its target early (see below). We'll talk more about those when the time comes!
Stretch Goals
The first stretch goals have been announced! Check Update #4 for the details. And feast your eyes on the pretties here!
Every copy of the base game that we ship to you will also get a Robotic Promo Pack.
If you want to add a copy of the expansion, see this next section!
Add-Ons
If you want additional copies of the game, they're priced at $20 per game. Add $20 to any shipping pledge level to add another copy of the game.
If you want to add a copy of the Doomsday Weapons expansion, add $10 per copy to your pledge, at any shipping pledge level.
Check out update #13 if you still need help figuring out your options!
We won't charge you additional shipping when you add more items to your pledge.
After the campaign wraps up, we'll be sending you over to Backerkit a week or two later to configure your shipping particulars and any other items you want to add. If you need to save up while the project is running, Backerkit will give you an option to purchase add-ons after the campaign is over.
Credits
Salvage Man (Game Design & Videographer): Eric B. Vogel
Eric B. Vogel Savage Mentalist (Artwork): Christian St. Pierre
Christian St. Pierre Manic Mechanic (Layout & Graphic Design): Daniel Solis
Daniel Solis Commandant (Editing): Karen Twelves
Karen Twelves Silverback (Creative Director & Rules Layout): Fred Hicks
Fred Hicks Treasure Hunters (Business Development & Marketing): Chris Hanrahan, Carrie Harris
Chris Hanrahan, Carrie Harris Hellbent Navigator (Project Manager): Sean Nittner
Sean Nittner Deep Cover Agent (Conceptual Development): Jeff Tidball
Jeff Tidball Resourceful No. 2’s (Special Contributions): Chris Ruggiero, P.K. Hanrahan
Chris Ruggiero, P.K. Hanrahan Voice of the Hat: Paul Tevis
Questions?
We love answering questions! If you have any for us, please ask in the comments, and we'll do our best to give you an answer quickly. You can also follow us on twitter at @EvilHatOfficial and on Facebook.
And now, the FAQ!
Explain your numbers! Is this some kind of insane psychic plot by the Walking Mind?
No, dear reader, no! These are merely the depths of numerical madness one is driven to by the dread specter of shipping costs! (Cue musical stinger.)
NOTE: A much more detailed breakdown of all our numbers can be found in Update #2 and Update #3. Check 'em out!
All of our tiers are based on the idea that the game will have a suggested retail price of $20, with projected costs of shipping added. It's entirely likely we'll still be picking up a few extra bucks per shipment here and there. If you care to add more copies of the game, your cost of shipping won't increase beyond what's already factored into the base.
Shipping costs aren't just about the cost of postage, though that's a big part of it. We also need to pay pick & pack handling fees (packing costs labor; picking each item to go into a box has a surcharge too) to our shippers, as well as supply costs like boxes, tape, and labeling. And since this isn't a book, we can't use Media Mail. It adds up!
Plus, you'll get all of the digital assets from the DIGITAL DESTROYER tier to help take some of the bite out of that cost. :) We also won't increase the shipping charge to you if you end up with more items in your box.
You fiend! That still doesn't do enough to explain the International tier's pricing!
Well, it does, but to get to why, we must dig deeper.
In the case of international shipping the costs are even worse, which is why our international options are basically: go low for digital, or go high to buy in bulk. The math for that tier is built around the idea that the ratio of the pledge that goes towards shipping (about 20%) should be similar to the ratio as it exists for the domestic scenario. And since most international shipping scenarios start in the mid-$20 cost range, and quickly jump to $40 and above once you hit a particular weight limit, we've arrived at the $150—$120 for 6 games, $30 (20%) for shipping.
Preserving the ratio is important because Kickstarter has no means for separating dollars pledged for shipping from dollars pledged that will actually fund the project. If we allowed for a reward tier that shipped a single copy internationally, with over half of that reward tier's money going towards shipping (thank you, US postal service), and it took off, we could end up hitting our funding goal while still actually coming in thousands of dollars under target.
It's possible we could open up a single-copy international reward tier after every stretch goal is hit, as by that point all costs should be covered if we're doing our math right. We'll need to tread lightly and with careful consideration, to make sure we don't accidentally defund a stretch goal in the process. Stay tuned! |
“My response to the “I am not a feminist” internet phenomenon….
First of all, it’s clear you don’t know what feminism is. But I’m not going to explain it to you. You can google it. To quote an old friend, "I’m not the feminist babysitter.”
But here is what I think you should know.
You’re insulting every woman who was forcibly restrained in a jail cell with a feeding tube down her throat for your right to vote, less than 100 years ago.
You’re degrading every woman who has accessed a rape crisis center, which wouldn’t exist without the feminist movement.
You’re undermining every woman who fought to make marital rape a crime (it was legal until 1993).
You’re spitting on the legacy of every woman who fought for women to be allowed to own property (1848). For the abolition of slavery and the rise of the labor union. For the right to divorce. For women to be allowed to have access to birth control (Comstock laws). For middle and upper class women to be allowed to work outside the home (poor women have always worked outside the home). To make domestic violence a crime in the US (It is very much legal in many parts of the world). To make workplace sexual harassment a crime.
In short, you know not what you speak of. You reap the rewards of these women’s sacrifices every day of your life. When you grin with your cutsey sign about how you’re not a feminist, you ignorantly spit on the sacred struggle of the past 200 years. You bite the hand that has fed you freedom, safety, and a voice.
In short, kiss my ass, you ignorant little jerks.“ |
There are rebuilding projects ... and there's what the Astros are trying: an unprecedented burn-the-house-down overhaul. Can it work? By October 2017, it might seem silly to ask
There are rebuilding projects ... and there's what the Astros are trying: an unprecedented burn-the-house-down overhaul. Can it work? By October 2017, it might seem silly to ask
In the late 1980s, when people got too drunk and were kicked out of the other casinos in Lake Tahoe, they ended up at High Sierra, a place where there was no such thing as being too drunk. Sometimes they staggered over to a blackjack table manned by a young dealer named Sig Mejdal.
Mejdal was an undergraduate at UC Davis, studying mechanical engineering and aeronautical engineering. During the summers he'd head 120 miles west, clip an oversized bow tie to his collar—"Looked like a dead cat around your neck," he says—and sling cards at Tahoe's seediest betting house. He loved the job. It was fun, it was social, and he learned things that he could not back in the lab at Davis. He learned that human beings do not always make decisions that serve their own long-term self-interest, even when they are equipped with a wealth of experience and knowledge of the mathematical probabilities that ought to guide their choices.
Blackjack is a probabilistic game. For any combination of cards, the player's and the dealer's, there is an optimal action for the player to take to increase his chances of winning—or, as is generally the case, of losing less. Sometimes the course of action is obvious: You hit a 10 no matter what the dealer is holding. Often, though, players know what they ought to do—but they do something else because their intuition has told them to. "Hitting a 16 against a dealer's seven, it doesn't feel right," Mejdal says. "With a hundred-dollar bet, it feels even less right. But that doesn't mean it isn't right."
Sometimes players would ask other dealers what they ought to do with a difficult hand. The dealer would, without meaning to, offer the wrong advice. "This person sees a million hands a year, with immediate feedback," Mejdal says. "I thought that illustrated well the limitations of human capabilities"
Mejdal, who is now 48 and married with a stepson, would go on to earn two master's degrees from San Jose State, in operations research and cognitive psychology. He would perform research for NASA in which, essentially, he disproved the perceived utility of napping. All along, though, Mejdal's mathematically driven career had stemmed from his passion for the most mathematically driven of sports: baseball. In 2003, when he was 37, he read Michael Lewis's Moneyball, and he realized that there might be a place in the game for someone like him.
Soon Mejdal was sending out résumés and proposals in an attempt to land his dream job. He traveled to the 2003 winter meetings, in New Orleans, hoping to get a general manager's attention. Finally, in '04, one of his pitches caught the eye of a baseball executive whose CV was almost as unusual as his: Jeff Luhnow, who had joined the front office of the Cardinals the year before.
Like Mejdal, Luhnow had two undergraduate degrees (in chemical engineering and economics, from Penn), as well as a master's (an M.B.A. from Northwestern) and a varied professional career. He had designed suits intended to protect troops from nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. He had helped start an Internet business, PetStore.com, and another that produced customized apparel on a large scale. He had also spent five years as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, and he believed that one engagement (in the company's parlance) he'd worked on there had prepared him for his job in baseball more than any other. The project involved advising one of the world's largest casino operators.
"I learned a lot about how the gaming industry works, and about probabilities," says Luhnow, a trim 48-year-old with neat gray hair. "How if you have a large number of occurrences, even though luck is involved, you can still make things pretty predictable. For the player, when you do start to follow your gut, or you've had a couple drinks and think you've seen a lot of 10s, you're just basically giving the house back some money. The odds are the odds."
Luhnow hired Mejdal to run the franchise's new analytics department in 2005, around the same time that Luhnow was elevated to director of amateur scouting. Over the next seven seasons the Cardinals would draft more players who became big leaguers than any other organization. Of the 25 players on the team's World Series roster last October, 16 were drafted under Luhnow's watch. But he was not in St. Louis to see the Series, because in December '11 the new owner of the Astros, Jim Crane, hired him to be Houston's general manager.
Luhnow brought Mejdal aboard to be his director of decision sciences. The new director of amateur scouting was Mike Elias, a 31-year-old Yale graduate who had worked in the Cardinals' scouting department. The new assistant GM would be David Stearns, a 29-year-old Harvard graduate who had most recently worked for the Indians. The new director of pro scouting would be Kevin Goldstein, who had been a respected writer for Baseball Prospectus but had never worked in pro baseball.
The job facing Luhnow was different from the one he'd faced in St. Louis. There he had to keep a healthy organization healthy. In Houston he was asked to figure out how to defibrillate a club that was dying.
The Astros reached the World Series in 2005, but in '10 they finished at least 10 games below .500 for the third time in four years. In '11 they went 56--106, their worst record to that point. Their club's longtime core was gone—Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt had been traded; Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio had retired. Worse, the farm promised no quick replenishments. Before the 2010 season, Baseball America ranked Houston's minor league system as the game's worst.
Luhnow and his men envisioned a decision tree, with that 56-win team at its roots and a sustainable championship club at its tip. Their only goal, with Crane's blessing, was to reach the top as quickly as they could. That meant every decision they made, no matter how painful, would be based upon the probability that it would be helpful in the long term. They would, in other words, hit on 16 against a seven every time. "We didn't want to be mediocre for a decade," says Elias. "We wanted to be really good as soon as possible."
They would not make cosmetic decisions, such as wasting money on a free agent or hanging on to a veteran who might instead be converted into future assets, in an effort to keep up appearances. This was partly a financial decision: When Crane bought the team from Drayton McLane, it was running, sources say, an annual deficit in the tens of millions. Crane was not driven to spend more than necessary while the team was losing—a period he planned would last no longer than a few years.
"You look at how other organizations have done it, they've tried to maintain a .500 level as they prepare to be good in the future," says Luhnow. "That path is probably necessary in some markets. But it takes 10 years. Our fans have already been on this decline, from 2006 to 2011. It's not like we're starting fresh.
"Would it be the right strategy for somebody else who had a great farm system and up-and-coming players already at the big league level? No. But for us, it was. When you're in 2017, you don't really care that much about whether you lost 98 or 107 in 2012. You care about how close we are to winning a championship in 2017."
It is one thing to commit to only making decisions that will lead to a long-term goal, and another to figure out how to make those decisions. Blackjack is an exercise in hard probabilities. Evaluating baseball players is something else. Some information you can gather about a baseball player is hard: how fast he can throw a fastball, how quickly he can reach first base. But much of it is soft: how diligently he will work, how his power stroke might develop, how likely he is to become injured. "How do you combine the soft information with the hard information in a way that allows you to make the best decisions?" asks Luhnow. "That is the crux of what we're trying to do here."
They are trying to do it in a way that synthesizes quantitative and qualitative information about players. This represents an evolution from the processes that Billy Beane's A's used a decade ago—at least as they were described in Moneyball. "For all the wonders that the book did, the portrayal was a dichotomous one," says Mejdal. "It's either the scouts or the nerd in the corner of the room. But from the very beginning in St. Louis, Jeff framed it as an and question. The question was not which one to use, but how to combine them." The goal is to use all that information to produce a metric that will render a decision on a player as simple as the one in blackjack: hit or stay.
To that end Mejdal and his analytics team—which has grown to four and occupies a room in the Astros' offices that they have named the Nerd Cave and decorated with a Photoshopped image of scientists examining Vladimir Guerrero in mid-swing—created an evaluation system that boils down every piece of information the Astros have about prospects, and about every player for that matter, into a single language. The inputs include not only statistics but also information—much of it collected and evaluated by scouts—about a player's health and family history, his pitching mechanics or the shape of his swing, his personality. The system then runs regressions against a database that stretches back to at least 1997, when statistics for college players had just begun to be digitized. If scouts perceived past players to possess attributes similar to a current prospect, how did that prospect turn out? If a young pitcher's trunk rotates a bit earlier than is ideal, how likely were past pitchers with similar motions to get hurt?
The end result is expressed as a numerical projection which roughly translates into how many runs a player can be expected to produce compared with what the team is likely to have to pay him—a single value partly derived from a player's stats but mostly from scouting reports. "They're not asking us to be sabermetricians," says Ralph Bratton, a Texan with a thick white mustache who has spent a quarter century as an Astros scout. "They're asking us to do what we've always done." The twist is that Luhnow's front office processes that information differently and makes decisions largely based on the result—even when that result, like a directive to hit a 16, feels wrong.
The Astros' decisions since the end of 2011 seem to have genuine promise. The farm system is now ranked among the game's best. The major league team, buoyed by recent promotions of top prospects like outfielder George Springer (who energized the club with both his constant dance moves and his 13 home runs in his first 58 games) and first baseman Jon Singleton, went 15--14 in May, its first winning month since September 2010. Springer and Singleton have complemented holdovers like diminutive second baseman Jose Altuve (who is batting .336 with an AL-leading 26 steals), but more impressive has been the improvement of the young staff. Since May 1 the Astros have an ERA of 3.75, the league's sixth lowest, behind suddenly maturing starters like 26-year-old Dallas Keuchel (2.45), 24-year-old Jarred Cosart (2.84) and 24-year-old Brett Oberholtzer (3.32).
The progress made in the last few years, however, has come at a cost. The Astros are not a restaurant that, when faced with dwindling returns, can shut down, renovate, hire a new chef, reimagine the menu and relaunch. They had to stay open for business. Business has been bad.
In Luhnow's first two seasons in charge, the Astros were 106--218. They drew a combined 3.3 million fans to Minute Maid Park—an attendance figure they had nearly reached in 2007 alone, when they topped three million. Several games have gotten local TV ratings of 0.0. The franchise has been accused of violating the most basic element of a baseball team's social compact—that it tries its best to win every game—and has angered the players' union with its low payrolls ($22 million as of Opening Day 2013, the lowest in the majors; $44 million this season, the second lowest). The team has even been made fun of by Alex Trebek, on Jeopardy! The answer, last November: "The large valve used to control wellbore fluids on oil rigs is this 'preventer'; the Astros could have used one." The question: "What is a blowout preventer?"
One result of their poor performance was that the Astros this year became the first team to have the first pick in three consecutive amateur drafts. This was never a goal, they insist, but a by-product of their long-term plan. Even so, it represented an opportunity. The right player might be the finishing piece on the championship teams they envision. They dreaded making the wrong decision.
TO CLUBS picking first overall—one-one, in baseball shorthand—high school pitchers are terrifying. They have displayed a greater chance of flaming out, due to injury or a failure to develop, than any other category of player. "There have been some wild successes," says Elias, "but the list of those picked high is littered with injuries and disappointments."
Between 1965, the first year of the draft, and 2013, clubs picked a high school hurler one-one just twice. In 1973 the Rangers chose a lefthander from Houston named David Clyde. Arm injuries ended Clyde's career when he was 26; he had a record of 18--33 and an ERA of 4.63. The Yankees tried again in 1991, when they selected a southpaw from North Carolina named Brien Taylor. Taylor tore up his shoulder in a fight in 1993. He would become one of three one-ones to never play in the majors at all.
The Astros had decided on less volatile categories of players with their two previous one-one picks. In 2012 they selected a 6'4" high school shortstop from Puerto Rico named Carlos Correa. The pick surprised the industry, but Elias had deep convictions about Correa from scouting him extensively when he was with the Cardinals, Mejdal's system liked him, and Correa had indicated that he would sign a contract that would be relatively cheap for a one-one. This year Correa was rated by Baseball America as the sport's seventh-best prospect, although he is now on the DL with a leg injury. Last year the Astros went with Stanford righthander Mark Appel, considered as risk-free a pitcher pick as has ever been made. This spring Appel was BA's 39th-rated prospect, though he has an 10.48 ERA through 221/3 innings in Class A this year. He has had tendinitis in his right thumb and an appendectomy, underscoring that the ride isn't always smooth even for the safest of prospects.
As 40 members of the Astros' front office staff—including Luhnow, Elias, Stearns, Goldstein, Mejdal and the other inhabitants of the Nerd Cave, all of their scouts and certain special assistants like Biggio—assembled in a conference room on the second floor of Houston's old Union Station, which abuts Minute Maid Park and contains the club's offices, they knew this year could be different. It was 10 a.m. on June 4, the day before the draft, and the men were there to provide their expert opinions on the six players who were still in the running for one-one. Two of the prospects were high school pitchers. "All right," said Elias, who was running the meeting, "this is your opportunity to air it out."
For the next 100 minutes the room discussed the prospects one by one. As each player's name was announced, his video clips were projected on a screen. First, the area scout who was responsible for the player would introduce him. Then anyone else who had seen him—Elias, national cross-checker David Post, special assistants—would chime in. Luhnow, who had also seen each of the six in person, would ask questions. Analyses of the player's swing or pitching mechanics, to which coaches within the organization contributed, would be read aloud. Finally, Mejdal's team would weigh in with its statistical projections.
It became clear that while the room liked each of the players very much, they were narrowing their focus to four: Carlos Rodon, a lefthander from N.C. State; Alex Jackson, a slugger from Rancho Bernardo High in Southern California; and Brady Aiken and Tyler Kolek, the high school pitchers.
A year ago Rodon had been considered almost a sure thing to go one-one, but a slightly down junior season had engendered some doubts in the industry about his command and efficiency. You wouldn't have known it based on the report that Tim Bittner, the area scout who had covered him, delivered. "The big thing for this guy is he has a pitch you don't see normally: it's a 70-grade slider"—out of 80—"at 88 to 91 miles an hour," Bittner said. "It's a weapon. It's a weapon now, it's a weapon on all levels." Mejdal's team revealed that one of the players to whom their metrics suggested Rodon was comparable was Chris Sale, the White Sox' ace and an annual Cy Young candidate.
You could sense the scouts' views of Jackson before the discussion of him had even begun. He had hit 47 home runs in high school. "Mmmm," they grunted, each time he unleashed his violently powerful swing on the video screen. "Mmmm." "Physically, he looks like Magglio Ordoñez," the area scout said. "A three or four hitter. Potentially hits 30 homers, with a .300 average."
"What about his swing?" Luhnow asked.
"Graded 80 out of 80," came the reply.
Area scout Brad Budzinski was similarly unequivocal about Aiken, a 6'4" lefty from San Diego's Cathedral Catholic High who had committed to play at UCLA and who threw a mid-90s fastball to go with a plus curveball and changeup. "I love everything about this kid," Budzinski said. "To me, we're getting possibly the next Andy Pettitte. Makeup-wise, I feel like it's Peyton Manning on a surfboard. A lot of people say they want to be a Hall of Famer, but I believe for this kid it's a realistic goal."
"If the stuff stayed the same as it is right now," said Post, "it's more than enough to pitch and have success in the big leagues."
Though Mejdal's department does not incorporate high school statistics into its formula—they are too misleading—it recited Aiken's stats anyway: "K's per nine of almost 17."
"Did he say 17?" one of the scouts in the back of the room whispered.
Kolek was also an attractive option. He stands 6'5" and weighs 260 pounds, and his fastball touches 102 miles an hour. "The stuff is as good as we've ever seen from a high school kid," Elias said. "I think we can all agree this is as seriously as we've considered taking a high school righty, and with good reason."
Kolek had attended Shepherd High, less than an hour northeast of Minute Maid Park, and the allure of drafting a local boy was considerable. "They've got a cool setup out there on their ranch," Elias told the room. "They've got a pond to fish in. They've got tractors that they drive around, chasing animals."
Elias grew up in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, the son of a Secret Service agent, and his novice description of hunting drew laughs from the outdoorsmen in the room. "Now, where are you from, Mike?" boomed a deep Texan voice. It belonged to Nolan Ryan, who is the father of Astros president Reid Ryan and serves as an executive adviser to the club.
"Nolan, how hard did you throw at his age?" a scout asked the alltime strikeout king, who had watched Kolek pitch in person.
"There weren't radar guns in those days," Ryan said. "But I can tell you, Nolan Ryan wasn't even close to what this kid is as a senior in high school. "
The meeting drew to a close at 11:40 a.m. "All right, it's a good group," Luhnow said to his 39-man brain trust. "Flip a coin now, or later?"
"If we take one of the high school pitchers, we have to be really [convinced] that this guy is the guy, and that's not real easy to settle on," Elias said later. "Especially when you've got other good options." The Astros' decision engine had one more day to make its choice.
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The Astros anticipated backlash against the rebuilding effort they planned to conduct with a purity that to their knowledge had never before been attempted. They have received it. It came most fiercely at the end of last season, after they had traded away the last of their mature assets in closer Jose Veras, outfielder Justin Maxwell and starter Bud Norris. They finished out the season with a 15-game losing streak. Their record, 51-111, tied for the majors' worst in a decade.
Before the season they'd hired a manager they felt was the right man to guide their players through such a stretch. Bo Porter understands the necessity of losing, or at least he professes to. "We had to go through that," says Porter, who is 41. "The biggest mistake organizations can make is the misevaluation of their own players. Had we not gone through what we went through last year, we wouldn't be where we're at today, because we'd still be trying to figure out who can we move forward with, who do we need to cut ties with. "
Even though Luhnow intellectually understands why his Astros must lose, he maintains that doesn't make it any easier. "The hardest part for me is when people think we don't care," he says. "We desperately care. Would I prefer to be able to do this with losing 70 games a year instead of 100? No question about it. Do I think it's possible? I really don't."
As for concerns about the payroll, "we feel we're going to have the resources we need to add the appropriate players to complement what we have to win when we need to win," Luhnow says.
Other criticisms have surfaced more recently. In an article published in the Houston Chronicle on May 25—the day, as it turned out, the Astros began a seven-game winning streak—beat writer Evan Drellich detailed the ways in which, as the headline read, RADICAL WAYS PAINT ASTROS AS 'OUTCAST.' "They are definitely the outcast of major league baseball right now, and it's kind of frustrating for everyone else to have to watch it," Norris, who was traded to the Orioles last July 31, told Drellich. "When you talk to agents, when you talk to other players and you talk amongst the league, yeah, there's going to be some opinions about it, and they're not always pretty."
The criticisms fell into two categories. The first was that the Astros' analytics-based approach dehumanizes players. "It was a difficult thing for me to read, because I spend so much time personally getting to know our players, and so does our staff," says Luhnow. "There is a perception that anybody who is doing analytics in a serious way is doing that at the expense of the human element. It's just not true, in our case."
Adds Mejdal, "We realize these are human beings, not widgets. As far as assigning a number to a person—well, I assume you get a salary? Do you feel dehumanized because your boss has put a number on you?"
The other criticism stemmed from the Astros' use of new competitive tactics, such as a heavy reliance on extreme defensive shifts. The club's proprietary database—christened Ground Control by Elias's wife, Alexandra—contains not just projections of the future value of every player but also spray charts for every hitter on every count against every type of pitch thrown by every type of pitcher, as well as the probabilistically optimal way to position defenders in each scenario. This sometimes leads to shifts in which, say, the Astros' second baseman plays well to the left of second base against a pull-happy righthanded hitter—a violation of traditional baseball norms, though one that's becoming more common across the game.
Mejdal puts the Astros' tactics into perspective. "A year ago, with the defensive positioning that was going on, we were in the top half dozen, and there was tremendous pushback," he says. "Well, the rate at which we shifted last year, that would be below average in the major leagues now. Innovation, by definition, suggests change will be taking place. If there's change taking place, it's not likely going to feel right at first. If it felt right, it would have been done a long time ago."
The Astros' leadership bristles at the notion that it thinks it knows how to operate better than anyone else. All it knows is what it believes to represent best long-term practices, based on the information it has acquired and processed. "We're far from perfect," Mejdal says. Even what they believe to be optimal decisions often don't work out. Sometimes a righthanded pull hitter goes the other way. Sometimes players they discard, or decline to draft, turn into stars. "Sometimes you hit on a 16," Mejdal says, "and if you stayed, you would have won."
AS 6 P.M. Central approached on the evening of Thursday, June 5, the majority of the Astros' scouting and analytics staff milled around the club's draft room. The metal walls were covered with magnets, each bearing the name of an amateur player. The staffers were waiting, like the rest of the baseball world, to see who the team's leadership would pick one-one. The day before they had dressed in khakis and oxford shirts, but now they wore suits and ties. If there was any need to remind them of the caliber of player they hoped to draft, there was the dinner they had just been served: Nolan Ryan Beef Brisket and Nolan Ryan Jalapeño Sausages.
Finally, at 6:05, Elias emerged from Luhnow's office, where he had been huddling with the GM, Stearns and Mejdal. He nonchalantly slapped the magnet bearing their pick's name at the top of the draft board. Minutes later commissioner Bud Selig announced the pick from the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J. On the fuzzy big-screen TV mounted at the front of the room the Astros' scouts watched as the player, whose reaction the network's cameras were covering live from his home, buried his face in his hands.
"Oh, no!" a scout called out. "I don't want him to cry!"
There would be no tears from Brady Aiken, whose name was printed on Elias's magnet. Soon, Brad Budzinski, the young scout who had followed Aiken since he was 15, was accepting congratulations—"That's your guy, Budz!"—and handshakes. "A lot of seasoned scouts have never even had a first-rounder, let alone a one-one," Budzinski would say.
Luhnow tried to call Aiken on his cellphone, but Budzinski had given him the wrong number. "How well do you really know this guy?" a smiling Elias teased the scout. Then Luhnow appeared to connect. "Hey, Brady, it's Jeff Luhnow with the Astros," he said, as everyone listened in expectantly. Luhnow paused for dramatic effect. "Give me a call back when you get this." Laughter reverberated off the room's metal walls.
The decision to select Aiken over Kolek, Rodon and Jackson—who would be picked second, third and sixth, respectively—had not been a last-minute one. "We decided the morning of the draft," Elias says. "The mere fact that we were willing to take a high school pitcher one-one for the third time in history, even though the first two didn't pan out, showed us how strongly we agreed. We feel good enough about our farm system, that there's enough coming, that we don't want to look back in 10 years and say, 'We passed on the best high school lefty ever just to get something a little quicker.' "
Years of scouting reports, regressed in Mejdal's system, all suggested that Aiken was the draft's best player. Picking someone else simply because he was not a high school pitcher would have been the equivalent of staying on 16 against a dealer's seven. That is not something Luhnow's Astros do.
Luhnow knows there is a chance that Aiken—and, indeed, his own venture in Houston—might not work out. "There are injuries and declines in performance," says Luhnow. "Then there's the luck of playing games. Still, with all those unpredictable variables, I feel pretty good that we're putting ourselves in a situation where if we were to do this a million times, the odds would be in our favor to succeed."
Luhnow, however, does not discount the value of simple fate. "A memorabilia collector gave me the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED from my birth week in 1966," he says. "The issue came out on June 6. My birthdate is June 8. You know who's on the cover? The Houston Astros. ASTROS IN ORBIT, it says. Unbelievable."
In the draft room there were more immediate matters at hand. Not only did the Astros have 40 more picks to make, but they also were at the moment playing against Albert Pujols and the Angels. "We're losing 1--0," Craig Biggio announced, holding his smartphone aloft.
"Already?" said Luhnow. "How'd that happen?"
"Albert hit a sac fly."
It wasn't long before the Astros started scoring themselves—three RBIs came off the bat of Springer—and were on their way to their ninth win in their last 12 games.
"Oh, good, more points!" Mejdal deadpanned, glancing up at a TV.
"They're not points, Sig," said Kevin Goldstein.
Mejdal, like Luhnow, knows that even a long string of correct, intricately considered decisions might not turn out favorably. "What if we don't have good results?" he says. "I love my job in baseball. It would be terribly disappointing. But all we can control is the process, and I'm confident we're creating good processes and making good decisions.
"The rest," Mejdal says, "is hope." |
Ryszard Kapuscinski disappeared in the dead of winter, January 2007, half as well known as his influence would lead one to expect. He went into the beyond Nobel-less, like Joyce and Proust and Nabokov, but to many who read him he was as exalted: “deity” was used, more than once, in his assorted funeral songs. While such desperate formulations as “world literature” conjure up bongos, beads and sitting Indian-style, the books Kapuscinski wrote may actually qualify, as evocative and singular in English as they are in their native (and what is said to be austerely fine) Polish. For many of us, the day of his death was a dark, cold day.
Until 1983, most Western readers would have mistaken the man for Polish espresso. Kapuscinski’s first book to appear in English, thanks to the translation of the husband-and-wife team of William R. Brand and Katarzyna Mroczkowska-Brand, was “The Emperor” (originally published in Polish in 1978), a spell-casting oral history of Haile Selassie’s rule over Ethiopia. “The Emperor” was followed in 1985 by what many believe to be Kapuscinski’s masterpiece, “Shah of Shahs” (originally published in 1982), a short, tense, fragmentary account of the 1979 Iranian revolution. In 1987 came “Another Day of Life” (originally published in Polish in 1976), his bizarre and shattering reportage from Angola as its former Portuguese overlords fled for their lives. These three books brought Kapuscinski acclaim in the West as perhaps the world’s leading literary journalist. The acclaim was rather tardy, seeing that for the past three decades Kapuscinski had been filing dispatches from the Indian subcontinent, Asia, Latin America and, most often, Africa, initially in the service of a Polish youth journal as its first and only foreign correspondent and later for the Polish Press Agency. As his now famous about-the-author note from “The Shadow of the Sun” (2001) informs us, Kapuscinski “witnessed 27 coups and revolutions” and “was sentenced to death four times,” a biographical précis many nonfiction writers would do anything, short of earning it, to have.
Kapuscinski’s African dispatches largely made his name. Like his countryman Joseph Conrad, to whom he is often compared and to whom he bears almost no resemblance, Kapuscinski has become embedded in the continent’s literary firmament. Upon Kapuscinski’s death, however, the young Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina attacked “the racist writer Kapuscinski” as being the author of some of his “all-time classic lines about Africa,” such as “In Africa, the notion of abstract evil — evil in and of itself — does not exist.” It is hard to blame those angered by some of Kapuscinski’s more careless statements about Africa. His risky generalizations may suggest a seeming lack of recognition of Africa’s varied and heterodox cultures, but that seems a minor sin in light of how deeply he attempted to understand it and how much of his life he spent there. Kapuscinski knew, of course, how complicated his subjects were. “The European in Africa,” he wrote in “The Shadow of the Sun,” “sees only part of it” and can only fall short when attempting to describe “the immense realm” of African psychology. His subject matter was local but his tone was cosmic, dislocated and sometimes surreal. His miner’s light lingered deep in recesses of totalitarianism, mysticism and revolution — places where truth begins to lose access to the photosynthesis of fact. A coloration not often noted by those in opposition to Kapuscinski is that his is the Africa of a man from a subject country who discovered it just as its nations were snapping the leashes of their colonial masters. In the end, great nonfiction writing does not necessarily require any accuracy greater than that of an honest and vividly rendered confusion. The limits of human perception cruelly bind us all.
Kapuscinski’s final book, “Travels With Herodotus,” is about the Father of History, a man so bound by his fifth-century-B.C. perception and experience as to appear by modern standards almost intellectually comatose. “He had never heard of China,” Kapuscinski writes, “or Japan, he did not know of Australia or Oceania, had no inkling of the existence, much less the great flowering, of the Americas. If truth be told, he knew little of note about western and northern Europe.” He also believed that Ethiopian men ejaculated black semen. Yet, to Kapuscinski, Herodotus was “the first globalist” and “the first to argue that each culture requires acceptance and understanding.” How much Herodotus actually traveled we cannot know, and a good deal of “Travels With Herodotus” is occupied with Kapuscinski’s ceaseless wonderings about his early life (“Did he build sand castles at the edge of the sea?”), family history (“Might Herodotus’s father have been a merchant himself?”) and personality (“Perhaps he had a naturally inquiring mind?”). The book’s true nature, however, is that of an unabashed memoir, the author’s first, and it opens with Ryszard, age 19, studying Greek history at Warsaw University. Although a Polish translation of Herodotus was not available until 1955, shortly after Stalin’s death, Kapuscinski became a lifelong pupil of Herodotus’s time, “a world of sun and silver, warm and full of light, populated by slender heroes and dancing nymphs.” It was also a world that seemed determined to destroy itself through internecine warfare.
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Kapuscinski graduated and became a journalist. After being censured, hounded, and then exonerated by the authorities for writing an exposé of a grisly Polish factory intended to be a Communist showcase — a story curiously unmentioned here — Kapuscinski was rewarded with his first foreign assignment. He had asked for Czechoslovakia, the strangest place he could then imagine. He was given India. His editor presented the young journalist with a gift: “It was a thick book with a stiff cover. ... On the front, stamped in gold letters, was Herodotus, THE HISTORIES.”
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Kapuscinski took the book with him everywhere — to India, to Afghanistan, to China, to Cambodia, to Rangoon. “Sometimes,” he writes, “when the offices emptied in the evening and the hallways grew quiet ... I reached for The Histories of Herodotus, lying in my drawer.” We are thus intended to believe that Herodotus served as Kapuscinski’s lifelong companion and was, in some ways, his intellectual hero. Yet one will search in vain for any mention at all of Herodotus in Kapuscinski’s previously published books in English. Is it all a device? If so, similar slipperiness has earned Kapuscinski no small amount of criticism from the sheriffs of nonfiction, most recently Slate’s Jack Shafer, who plucked the press tag out of Kapuscinski’s fedora earlier this year in a piece titled “The Lies of Ryszard Kapuscinski.” But calling Kapuscinski a liar is akin to one of the Pharisees investigating Jesus’ story of the prodigal son and proclaiming that the young man in question never left home at all. (As for the recent revelation that in the early 1970s Kapuscinski agreed to report to the secret police — though not on his fellow Poles — in exchange for some freedom to travel, it is intensely disappointing, of course. Much of what Kapuscinski wrote concerned the distortive and corrupting power of totalitarianism. If the allegations are true, then his personal life gave way where his art held firm. We can lament and condemn his weakness without completely forgetting his strength.) Obviously, one should not set out to consciously deceive in a piece of writing that purports to be true. From this understanding the gradations begin. |
Twins are a rare occurrence in any family. What makes Lauren and Hayleigh Durrant such a unique set of twins though, is that while identical, their skin and hair colors are in fact different. While Lauren is light skinned, with blue eyes and red hair, like her mother; her sister Hayleigh has dark skin and dark hair like their father. It's believed that different sperm carrying genes for lighter or darker skin tones fertilized two of the eggs, resulting in the difference in skin, hair and eye color. The phenomena is believed to be so rare that there's no real data to determine the probability.
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That being said, when the girls' parents, Allison and Dean, were expecting again, it became a running joke that they might again end up with twins on opposite ends of the skin color spectrum. However, they were shocked when this became a reality and Allison gave birth to yet another set of twins, Miya and Leah, who both had differing skin and hair colors, just like their older sisters. While everyone else seems to be making a fuss over the girls' varying colors, Hayleigh and Lauren don't think much of it. They're just happy to have their siblings and to "have more people to care about in your family." |
In some ways, it’s tough—and in others, not tough at all—to be Brendan Wayne. On the one hand, he co-stars in the new Jon Favreau–directed sci-fi blockbuster Cowboys & Aliens, which was a hit at last week’s Comic-Con in San Diego and opens tomorrow (July 29) pretty much everywhere. Despite being the lowest rung in an all-star cast, Wayne has received almost as much press coverage as his more famous co-stars, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, and Daniel Craig. But on the other hand, he is incessantly asked questions about his grandfather, who happens to be American cowboy icon John Wayne. It’s not just that Brendan Wayne has big shoes to fill; he might as well be an amputee and the shoes are the Grand Canyon. He would literally have better luck doing anything else in the world besides acting in a cowboy movie. It’s why Bob Dylan’s grandson, Pablo Dylan, recently announced that he’s making a hip-hop album. What was he going to do, record an album of folk protest songs? Good luck with that! I called Brendan on the set of his new movie, The Red House, as he was sitting in the makeup chair and having fake blood applied to his face. For somebody who gets asked about his grandfather approximately every 30 seconds, he was remarkably funny and gracious.
Eric Spitznagel: Did you ever tell a reporter, just to fuck with them, “I don’t want to talk about my grandfather”? Brendan Wayne: I did, actually. I said it to somebody last week. I was like, “Could we not talk about John Wayne so much? We were never on good terms.”
No you did not.
I did! And the guy was like, “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry.” He got pretty flustered by it. And I finally broke and said, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” I do like doing that from time to time. Sometimes when people ask what he was like, I’ll catch them by surprise. “He was a bastard. Don’t let anybody tell you different.”
“He punched me when I was a baby.”
Right, you think you had a rough childhood? Try having a gun pointed to your head by John Wayne.
Did you ever consider saying no to Cowboys & Aliens, just because doing it would lead to a lot of John Wayne questions and comparisons?
Not for a second. There’s a two-fold answer to that. With the John Wayne association, you get to a certain point in this business and you realize that you have to be marketable to a studio. How do they justify keeping me in the film? I’m in a cast that includes Keith Carradine, Clancy Brown, Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Sam Rockwell, and Olivia Wilde. Why, exactly, do they need me? You know what I mean? I want to be a part of this group, so how do I make myself valuable? Also, there was no way I was saying no to being in a Western like this, even before I knew who was in the cast. Like most other kids, I grew up wanting to be a cowboy, playing the sheriff or whatever. So playing a cowboy in this movie was the easiest thing for me to tap into imaginatively. I can ride a horse, and I can do stunts on a horse. At least I found out I could do stunts on a horse.
You found out? I assumed you came out of the womb on a horse.
[Laughs.] No, I waited until I was a little older. I thought I was pretty good at riding horses until I got on this film and I was working with guys who were rodeo champions. That’s a different type of riding.
I can’t imagine getting on a horse at all. I have Christopher Reeve anxiety.
Oh, God, I understand.
I can't get over the fact that it's a live creature that hates me and wishes I would get off its back.
That’s true. If it senses any trepidation at all, it will try to own you. My biggest advice is to be next to people who know how to ride. When that accident happened to Christopher, he was riding out alone with a horse. Nobody was on his left or right, and horses feel better in packs.
The few times I’ve ridden a horse, I was convinced they could smell the city on me. They get a whiff of museums and three a.m. taco places and it makes them angry.
You do have to be careful with horses. When I got on the set of Cowboys & Aliens, they asked me, “So you can ride?” And I said, “Nope!” I made it very clear that I wanted a lazy, slow horse. And if he’s old, all the better. You don’t want to tell wranglers you can ride, because those guys will put you on the best stud out there. I’m not having any of that. You’re right, a horse can smell the city and they can smell fear.
I heard Jon Favreau say in an interview about Harrison Ford, “He’s our generation’s John Wayne.” Did that piss you off?
Not at all. I get it. But I have to be honest with you: I think it’s unfair to Harrison and what he’s accomplished. It was meant as a compliment, but I think Harrison Ford has done enough in his career to be our generation’s Harrison Ford. It’s like comparing Kobe Bryant with Michael Jordan. It’s like saying, “Obama is our generation’s Washington.” Just let him be Obama.
I feel like you need to get back at Jon. Is it O.K. if I refer to you in this interview as “our generation's Jon Favreau”?
I’m fine with that. Yes, by all means, please write that.
Did you call your grandfather “Grandpa,” or did he make you call him “Duke”?
You know what’s funny? Of all the affectionate names we could’ve called him, all the masculine versions of “Grandfather,” what do you think he preferred? He wanted to be Granddaddy. That’s just amazing to me in hindsight. My dad is Dad, but my grandfather wanted to be Granddaddy.
Was he always wearing that eye patch from True Grit when you visited?
Just over Christmas. [Laughs.] No, actually, he was a suit-and-tie guy off the set. And then on the boat, he was always about shorts and no shirt and no hairpiece—basically the exact opposite of his movie image. My memories of him are of being on his boat and fishing with him, which I know is a very different visual image than the rest of the world has. They think of him in the cowboy hat or the eye patch or riding a horse, and I think of him shirtless on a boat.
They did a True Grit remake recently. Did you at least get an audition?
I did, yeah. But I think at the end of the day they wanted to distance themselves from the original. The Coen Brothers wanted to make it their own film and not remind people about the John Wayne movie. They didn’t want that attachment, and they certainly didn’t need my pedigree. At least I hope that’s the reason, and not because I just had a really terrible audition.
Did you audition for the part of Rooster?
No, they were looking at me to play the lawyer who grilled Rooster in the beginning. I really wanted to be Rooster, but they got some guy named Bridges. He seems like a talented kid. I think he might do something in this business.
Can you do a John Wayne impression?
Not one you’d want to hear.
How bad could it be? It’s like a Jack Nicholson impression; anyone can do it.
It’s not for lack of trying, but I’m pretty awful at it. I can do the cadence, but I can’t do the depth of his voice.
He had that grumbling baritone.
Yeah, that deep.... [Doing a surprisingly good John Wayne impression.] “I'm not gonna hit you, partner. The hell I'm not!”
Oh Jesus, that was good. Add a “pilgrim” at the end and it’d be transcendent.
[As John Wayne.] “I haven't lost my temper in 40 years, pilgrim . . .”
[As John Wayne.] “But you caused a lot of trouble this morning!”
[As John Wayne.] “I’m gonna blow your head off. It’s as simple as that.”
This is too much fun. It’s like dueling John Waynes.
The problem with mine is that I just end up sounding like I’m drunk. And I’m not implying anything, I’m just saying.
You were in the cast of another remake of one of your granddaddy’s movies, 2009’s Angel and the Badman.
We made a valiant effort. When they first asked me, I was like, “There’s no way I’m playing one of my grandfather’s iconic roles. I just can’t do it.” And they were like, “Don’t worry, we’re not considering you for Quirt Evans.”
They gave that to Lou Diamond Phillips.
That’s right, yeah.
And this is the part of the interview where we make fun of Lou Diamond Phillips.
Feel free. I’ll let you, and I’ll just be here when you do it.
You're John Wayne's grandson, and his only qualification is being the guy from Young Guns.
I’m not saying anything.
Did he at least acknowledge you? That had to be intimidating, doing the Duke in front of the Duke's own flesh and blood.
Not that I know of. I did overhear him doing an interview, and he said something like, “You know, the Duke was just the Duke. He kind of just played that character. I’m going to bring something a little bigger, a little darker to it.” And I about lost my temper. My mom was in my ear, saying, “Don’t do it, don’t do it.” To be overlooked by critics is one thing, but when another actor doesn’t recognize John’s ability to be subtle and powerful. Watch the original Angel and the Badman, and you’re going to see a guy who’s got range. It’s one of the greatest acting performances I’ve ever seen, period.
I’m just impressed that John played a guy called Quirt with a straight face. That name didn’t really catch on, did it?
It didn’t, no. If I have another kid, I’ll name him Quirt. I think it has potential.
Your uncle Ethan was named after John’s character in The Searchers. It’s a miracle that your mom didn’t name you after one of her father's characters. You could’ve easily been Ringo Kid Wayne or Davy Crockett Wayne.
I was very nearly called Daniel Boone Wayne.
You’re joking.
I’m not at all. It was really, really close to happening. It was like a Johnny Cash song waiting to happen. Instead of “A Boy Named Sue,” I could’ve been a boy named Daniel Boone. I dodged a bullet with that one.
Your granddaddy had a reputation for fighting. When was the last time you were involved in fisticuffs?
Not long ago. And I have the scars to prove it. If we ever meet in person, I’ll show you the ring cut I have under my right eye that I acquired in Mexico. I beat the guy in front of me, but I didn’t see the guy who was behind him.
Did you start the fight, or just finish it?
I actually thought I was going in to finish something. Little did I know, I wasn’t the final act. I woke up later and I thought I was sweating and my buddies were like, “Dude, that’s blood.”
That’s pretty badass. Your grandfather would be proud.
Maybe. I try not to get into fights too often. I do like boxing. I box three days a week at the greatest gym in Los Angeles, the Fortune Gym. As a matter of fact, that’s how Sam Rockwell and I bonded when I was on the set of Cowboys & Aliens. We both box at the same gym and now we work out together, which is bizarre.
Do you remember that famous story about your granddaddy and Frank Sinatra’s bodyguard?
It’s been told to me. He and Sinatra ended up being friends after that, but I don’t know what happened to the bodyguard. I feel bad for the guy. I remember, as a kid, my granddaddy’s hands were as big as my chest. I don’t think I’m exaggerating, I really don’t. They were the biggest things I’ve ever seen.
Here’s a hypothetical scenario. You’re at a hotel. Frank Sinatra Jr. is hosting a party in the room directly below you. It’s so loud that you can’t sleep, so you go downstairs and ask them to keep it down. Frank Sinatra Jr.’s bodyguard gives you some guff. What do you do?
If somebody’s willing to give me guff, they better be willing to take my fist to their chin, because I’m going to do it.
Damn, bitch, I guess you do have the Duke’s blood in you.
I’m not a hothead. I’m not running around like a young Sean Penn. But if I see other people being wronged, that tends to make me want to fight. I’ll give you an example. I was in Westwood with two of my brothers, and a bunch of college kids who thought they were really cool were messing with this shop owner. They ran him out of his own store. Before I even knew what was going on, I ran up to them and I said, “Back off!” And my language wasn’t that PG. One of them was like, “You got a problem?” And before he could finish the word “problem,” I hit him square in the mouth. His two buddies went to jump on me, and thank God my brothers are built like our grandfather, because they took them down. It was a beautiful moment. The cops came and took them away, and I probably shouldn’t say this, but they were like, “I can’t believe this kid fell down and banged up his face on the pavement.” I was like, “No, that’s not what happened.” But they cut me off. “He hit. His face. On the pavement.”
Did they know you were John Wayne’s grandsons?
We refused to acknowledge any of that. We didn’t give our names, and they didn’t ask for them.
Did you call any of them “pilgrim”?
Are you kidding? That would’ve been a dead giveaway. It’s funny, my mom always portrayed my granddaddy as somebody who was willing to stand up for the little guys. But he also just liked to fight. He and [frequent co-star] Ward Bond used to fight all the time. There’s a famous story about them that I can’t tell you, but if you ask around, somebody will tell you, if they’re still alive.
Can you give me a hint?
He and Ward Bond were fighting at the Hollywood Athletic Club, back when it was a place where guys stayed in between fights with whoever they were loving. Ward threw a cue ball at John and it went through the window. And . . . O.K., I guess I’m telling you the whole story anyway.
Who am I going to tell?
The cue ball hit a car that was driving by. Thank God it didn’t happen today, because it’d still be in litigation. They ran outside to make sure nobody was hurt, and the guy in the car whose windshield was smashed was screaming, “You sons of bitches!” But then he looks up and it’s Ward Bond and John Wayne, and he’s like, “Could I keep this cue ball?”
Didn’t John Ford once catch your granddaddy taking a piss in Ward Bond’s whiskey flask?
Yes! He was like, “Duke, what are you doing over there?” And John is like, “I’m just filling up Bond’s flask.” And they didn’t tell him! That’s what kills me about it. That’s the best part of that joke.
And this provides the perfect segue to ask the question I’ve been waiting to ask this entire interview: Exactly how much of your urine did Harrison Ford drink on the set of Cowboys & Aliens?
I can honestly say that I decline to answer. |
The offseason has begun for the Seattle Sounders and we're back to discuss the latest news coming out of the Annual Business Meetings. There's a new (sort of) majority owner, no change at the head coach position, along with several other tidbits that are worth of discussion. Jeremiah and Aaron spend some time discussing all the news and offering their thoughts.
There's also listener questions to be answered, so we did that too.
Download | Duration 1:11:25 | iTunes | Stitcher | RSS feed
First Segment: Annual Business Meeting Review / Offseason Talk (0:00 - 42:46)
Second Segment: Listener Questions (46:05 - 1:11:25)
This week's music: Traveling Wilburys - "End of the Line", Prince - "Purple Rain", Woody Guthrie - "Roll on Columbia".
Want to hear the music from the show in their glorious, full versions? Check out the Nos Audietis playlist on Spotify! |
In less than two months' time this millennium will be finished. There will be festivities and fireworks in the parish I am a part of. I shall not go near any of that. I will stay at home with Lyra, perhaps go for a walk down to the lake to see if the ice will carry my weight. I am guessing minus ten and moonlight, and then I will stoke the fire, put a record on the old gramophone with Billie Holiday's voice almost a whisper, like when I heard her in the Oslo Colosseum some time in the 50s, almost burned out, yet still magic, and then fittingly get drunk on a bottle I have standing by in the cupboard. When the record ends I will go to bed and sleep as heavily as it is possible to sleep without being dead, and awake to a new millennium and not let it mean a thing. I am looking forward to that.
In the meantime, I am spending my days getting this place in order. There is quite a lot that needs doing, I did not pay much for it. In fact, I had been prepared to shell out a lot more to lay my hands on the house and the grounds, but there was not much competition. I do understand why now, but it doesn't matter. I am pleased anyway. I try to do most of the work myself, even though I could have paid a carpenter, I am far from skint, but then it would have gone too fast. I want to use the time it takes. Time is important to me now, I tell myself. Not that it should pass quickly or slowly, but be only time, be something I live inside and fill with physical things and activities that I can divide it up by, so that it grows distinct to me and does not vanish when I am not looking.
Something happened last night.
I had gone to bed in the small room beside the kitchen where I put a temporary bed up under the window, and I had fallen asleep, it was past midnight, and it was pitch dark outside. Going out for a last pee behind the house I could feel the cold. I give myself that liberty. For the time being there is nothing but an outdoor toilet here. No one can see anyway, the forest standing thick to the west.
What woke me was a loud, penetrating sound repeated at brief intervals, followed by silence, and then starting again. I sat up in bed, opened the window a crack and looked out. Through the darkness I could see the yellow beam of a torch a little way down the road by the river. The person holding the torch must be the one making the sound I had heard, but I couldn't understand what kind of sound it was or why he was making it. If it was a he. Then the ray of light swung aimlessly to right and left, as if resigned, and I caught a glimpse of the lined face of my neighbour. He had something in his mouth that looked like a cigar, and then the sound came again, and I realised it was a dog whistle, although I had never seen one before. And he started to call the dog. Poker, he shouted, Poker, which was the dog's name. Come here, boy, he shouted, and I lay down in bed again and closed my eyes, but I knew I would not get back to sleep.
All I wanted was to sleep. I have grown fussy about the hours I get, and although they are not many, I need them in a completely different way than before. A ruined night throws a dark shadow for many days ahead and makes me irritable and feel out of place. I have no time for that. I need to concentrate. All the same, I sat up in bed again, swung my legs in the pitch black to the floor and found my clothes over the back of the chair. I had to gasp when I felt how cold they were. Then I went through the kitchen and into the hall and pulled on my old pea jacket, took the torch from the shelf and went out onto the steps. It was coal black. I opened the door again, put my hand in and switched on the outside light. That helped. The red-painted outhouse wall threw a warm glow across the yard.
I have been lucky, I say to myself. I can go out to a neighbour in the night when he is searching for his dog, and it will take me only a couple of days and I will be OK again. I switched on the torch and began walking down the road from the yard towards where he was still standing on the gentle slope, swinging his torch so that the beam moved slowly round in a circle towards the edge of the forest, across the road, along the river bank and back to its starting point. Poker, he called, Poker, and then blew the whistle, and the sound had an unpleasantly high frequency in the quiet of the night, and his face, his body, were hidden in the darkness. I did not know him, had only spoken to him a few times on the way past his cottage when I was out with Lyra most often at quite an early hour, and I suddenly felt like going back in again and forgetting all about it; what could I do anyway, but now he must have seen the light of my torch, and it was too late, and after all there was something about this character I could barely make out there in the night alone. He ought not to be alone like that. It was not right.
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'Hello,' I called quietly, mindful of the silence. He turned, and for a moment I could not see anything, the beam of his torch hit me straight in my face, and when he realised that, he aimed the torch down. I stood still for a few seconds to recover my night vision, then I walked to where he was, and we stood there together, each with our bright beam pointing from hip height at the landscape around us, and nothing resembled what it looked like by day. I have grown accustomed to the dark. I cannot remember ever being afraid of it, but I must have been, and now it feels natural and safe and transparent - no matter how much in fact is hidden there, though that means nothing. Nothing can challenge the lightness and freedom of the body; height unconfined, distance unlimited, for these are not the properties of darkness. It is only an immeasurable space to move about inside.
'He's run off again,' said my neighbour. 'Poker. My dog, that is. It happens. He always comes back. But it's hard to sleep when he's gone like that. There are wolves in the forest now. At the same time, I feel I can't keep the door shut.'
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He seems a bit embarrassed. I probably would be if it were my dog. I don't know what I would do if Lyra had run off, whether I would go out by myself to search for her.
'Did you know that they say the border collie is the most intelligent dog in the world?' he said.
'I have heard that,' I said.
'He is smarter than I am, Poker, and he knows it.' My neighbour shook his head. 'He's about to take charge, I'm afraid.'
'Well, that's not so good,' I said.
'No,' he said.
It struck me that we had never really introduced ourselves, so I raised my hand, shining the torch on it so he could see it and said:
'Trond Sander.' That confused him. It took him a moment or two to change his torch to his left hand and take my right hand with his, and then he said:
'Lars. Lars Haug. With a g.'
'How do you do?' I said, and it sounded as bizarre and strange out there in the dark night as when my father said 'Condolences' at a funeral in the depths of the forest many, many years ago, and immediately I regretted saying those four words, but Lars Haug did not seem to notice. Maybe he thought it was the proper thing to say, and that the situation was no odder than it might be whenever grown men greet each other in a field.
There was silence all around us. There had been days and nights of rain and wind and incessant roaring in the pines and the spruce, but now there was absolute stillness in the forest, not a shadow moving, and we stood still, my neighbour and I, staring into the dark, then I felt certain there was something behind me. I could not escape the sudden feeling of sheer cold down my back, and Lars Haug felt it too; he directed his torchlight at a point a couple of metres past me, and I turned, and there stood Poker, quite stiff and on guard. I have seen that before, how a dog can both sense and show the feeling of guilt, and like most of us it was something it did not like, especially when its owner started talking to it in an almost childlike tone of voice, which did not go well with the weather-beaten, lined face of a man who had undoubtedly been out on a cold night before and dealt with wayward things, complicated things in a contrary wind, things of high gravity - I could tell that when we shook hands.
'Ah, where have you been, Poker, you stupid dog, been disobedient to your daddy again? Shame on you, bad boy, shame on you, that's no way to behave,' and he took a step towards the dog, and it started growling deep down in its throat, flattening its ears. Lars Haug stopped in his tracks. He let his torch sink until it shone directly on the ground, and I could just pick out the white patches of the dog's coat, the black ones blending with the night, and it all looked strangely at odds and unsymmetrical as the growl low in the animal's throat went on from a slightly less definite point, and my neighbour said:
'I have shot a dog once before, and I promised myself then that I would never do it again. But now I don't know.' He had lost his confidence, it was clear, he could not work out his next move, and I suddenly felt desperately sorry for him. The feeling welled up from I don't know where, from some place out in the dark, where something might have happened in a different time entirely, or from somewhere in my own life I had long since forgotten, and it made me embarrassed and ill at ease. I cleared my throat and in a voice I could not wholly control I said:
'What kind of dog was it that you had to shoot?' Although I do not think that that was what I was interested in, I had to say something to calm the sudden trembling in my chest.
'An Alsatian. But it was not mine. It happened on the farm where I grew up. My mother saw it first. It ran around at the edge of the forest hunting roe deer: two terrified young fauns we had several times seen from the window grazing in the brushwood at the edge of the north meadow. They always kept close, and they did so then. The Alsatian chased them, encircled them, bit at their hocks, and they were exhausted and didn't stand a chance. My mother could not bear to look any longer, so she phoned the bailiff and asked him what to do, and he said: 'You'll just have to shoot it.'
Excerpted from Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson Copyright © 2003 by Per Petterson. Excerpted by permission.All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. |
Dr. Lazarus
Doctor Lazarus of Tev'Meck Vital statistics Rank Advisor; Science Officer Gender Male Species Mak'Tar Nationality Tev'Meck native Status Alive Actor Alexander Dane
"By Grabthar's hammer, by the Sons of Warvan, you shall be avenged!" ―Dr. Lazarus
Dr. Lazarus is the deuteragonist of the Galaxy Quest series, the scientist of the NSEA-Protector, and the only known survivor of genocide on Tev'Meck. He is portrayed by Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman). (DEAD BIBLE GUY)
Contents show]
History Edit
Dr. Lazarus is the alien member of the crew. He is a Mak'Tar, an alien race known for their super intelligence and psionic powers. Being the show's central alien protagonist, he is a very popular character on the show.
His catchphrase is "By Grabthar's hammer, by the Sons of Warvan, you shall be avenged!".
In the sequel series, Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues, Alexander Dane reprises his role as Dr. Lazarus.
Alexander Dane Edit
Being the show's alien character, Alexander is the most bitter and regretful for his role in the Galaxy Quest series. He is a trained Shakespearean actor, mentioning that he played Richard the Third on stage, with "...five curtain calls". But after Galaxy Quest, he barely considers himself an actor anymore. He hates his character and being typecast to that character. And he is especially sick of his character's catchphrase. He doesn't care about his character's popularity or his devoted fans the way Jason Nesmith does.
And as much as he hated having played on the show, he also hated always being second to the scene-stealing Jason Nesmith, whom he mentioned had stolen all of his best lines.
During their real adventure in space, he was the last actor to embrace his character. But the devotion and loyalty of the Thermians, especially Quellek, who idolized him, and the need to save them, eventually won him over, and he joined the rest of his co-stars and became a real hero, much like their characters on the show.
When he and his friends return to Earth, he was more happy than he was before to have been part of the crew, and returned with the rest of the cast in the sequel series, Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues.
History Edit
Childhood Edit
Dr Lazarus's planet was destroyed by Meethans.
Galaxy Quest Edit
Dr Lazarus joined the Galaxy Quest Crew.
Galaxy Quest: the Journey Continues Edit
Lazarus continued on The Crew.
Notes and gallery Edit |
THE Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) has issued a circular to its staff advising them not to use a shortcut leading from Biopolis to Commonwealth MRT station, after one of its researchers was slashed there last Saturday night.
It stated that the 27-year-old woman was assaulted by an "unknown assailant" along a dim and derelict path linking Biomedical Grove to Commonwealth Drive.
The path cuts through the rail corridor, then passes through the vacant Tanglin Halt HDB estate, and is deserted at odd hours.
Police confirmed that a case of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon had occurred at about 10.15pm that night.
A spokesman said the victim was admitted to the National University Hospital for treatment.
It is understood that she had not been robbed.
The police have put up a "Crime Alert" board appealing for witnesses.
The suspect is still at large and investigations are ongoing.
An A*Star spokesman said yesterday that the victim is recovering from the attack. "We are deeply concerned for the safety of our staff and have advised them to avoid using the public footpath until further notice."
In its e-mail circular on Monday, A*Star encouraged staff to walk to Buona Vista MRT station instead of Commonwealth MRT station.
When The Straits Times visited the scene at about 6pm yesterday, there was a steady stream of office workers leaving Biopolis - a research and development hub - for the Commonwealth MRT station. Just over an hour later, the area was deserted.
A*Star researcher Li Wenhe, 29, told The Straits Times that his colleagues and others who work at Biopolis use the path because it provides a shortcut to Commonwealth MRT station. "But because nobody lives here now, it's very quiet and eerie," he said.
He hopes the authorities will install surveillance cameras or have police patrol the area.
His sentiment was echoed by many others, including Mr David Louey, 32, who runs the nearby Move to Live fitness gym.
"I finish at 9pm or 9.30pm, and I never go down there - I always walk to Buona Vista," he said.
"There are a lot of office workers who use that area - the Government has to do something."
[email protected] |
Part of the joy of being a fan is finding odd and obscure gems that you end up falling in love with. For every Star Wars, there is a Garzey’s Wing. For every Batman, there is the Spirit. Here at Fandom, we like to go hunting for some offbeat and off-the-wall films and television shows that might just become your own secret treasures.Strap yourself in and expect the unexpected, because this week’s Weird Watch is the 1967 spy comedy Casino Royale. (Last week: The Visitor)
One of the great things about Weird Watches is that recurring thumping question: “what were they thinking??” There are movies like Southland Tales which simply refuse to make sense. You watch that jaw-dropped, utterly lost by what director Richard Kelly was going for. There’s plenty of weird to be found in the arthouse genre. Those movies go out of their way to be as inscrutable and fascinating as possible. Nobody will ever figure out Richard Kelly except Richard Kelly, that’s what makes him so interesting, and his movies so confounding.
But this week’s Weird Watch is not at all mysterious, the filmmaker’s goals were obvious. Casino Royale was a major studio release, probably the most mainstream movie we’ve ever covered. It was the 13th most popular film of 1967 in fact. Columbia Pictures poured millions into this production, getting stars like Woody Allen, Peter Sellers, Orson Welles, and Ursula Andress to appear. Plus it’s a James Bond movie! You cannot get further from standard commercial filmmaking than 007, can you?
And yet despite trying to be only a spoof the 1967 Casino Royale is as bizarre and experimental as anything you will find in the Indie scene. It’s more jarring than Jodorowsky, it’s madder than Malick, it’s trippier than Von Trier. Yet while all those directors go out with their singular vision to create the Weird, Casino Royale was an accident.
For those used to the 2006 gritty serious Casino Royale starring Daniel Craig, you should know that the 1967 version has almost nothing in common with that movie. Grit was the last thing on anybody’s mind in the ’60s, when Adam West’s Batman ruled the airwaves. Producer Charles K. Feldman was the closest thing to a leader to that this circus of a movie would ever have. He happened upon the rights to Ian Fleming’s book Casino Royale in 1960. Knowing he could not compete with the EON Productions Sean Connery series, which by the mid-’60s was already a massive landmark of cinema, Feldman wanted to make a spoof of the 007 films. Simply take the EON movies, make them silly, that was all he wanted.
That could have easily been done. The 1967 Casino Royale should have been simply a mediocre ’60s predecessor to today’s lazy parody films such as The Starving Games and A Haunted House 2. However, production went wrong, forcing Feldman to shove together whatever he had into the utterly inexplicable mess of a movie we have today.
The core script of the film was to be set around Peter Sellers’ character. He played Evelyn Tremble, a normal guy who is accidentally thrown into a James Bond adventure thanks to a case of mistaken identity. The Tremble portions of the film vaguely follow the actual story of Casino Royale: he meets the beautiful Vesper Lynd, he plays cards against the evil Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), he gets kidnapped. But that plotline never finishes and both Evelyn Tremble and Le Chiffre are killed off inexplicably. Why? Because Sellers was playing his role too straight and got into arguments with his director. He was not being funny enough, they thought. Sellers’ scenes were then spliced almost randomly around Casino Royale, often out-of-order. Missing scenes were then filled-in with obvious outtakes and B-roll filler.
In fact, nearly all of Casino Royale is filler. That’s assuming you can call something filler in a movie that actively does not have a plot.
So with the main James Bond gone, Charles K. Feldman came up with a new idea: instead of just one Bond, why not tons of Bonds? A new star was found in David Niven, who would play an older British gentleman named ‘Sir James Bond’. Sir James is horrified by the slutty behavior of his successor, who is implied to be the Sean Connery 007. (This is never outright stated for obvious legal reasons.) A new strategy for MI:6 to fight SMERSH is invented: rename every one of their agents ‘James Bond’ to confused the enemy, even the female ones. This allowed Feldman to order his half dozen separate directors to film basically whatever scenes they felt like. Then it was all edited together into some kind of amorphous last-minute attempt at a storyline.
With this kind of structure there was no way Casino Royale was going to make any sense. And it doesn’t. Characters go off on their own little mini-plots to eventually return to the “main” story. Then we switch gears to another character doing an unrelated adventure. Often enough both side-adventures add up to nothing and you realize you spent the last twenty minutes watching something utterly pointless. Casino Royale feels like a hack-job of three or four different Bond satires squeezed together crudely, leaving plotholes everywhere.
Contradictions and mistakes riddle the movie. MI:6 boss M is featured in a gag involving mortar shells. Then we’re told he actually died in the pratfall. Woody Allen’s character, Jimmy Bond, is featured briefly as a spy in Cuba, then disappears. Allen returns later as SMERSH’s evil mastermind with no explanation how this fit into what we saw earlier. Peter Sellers talks normally until he randomly does a bad Pakistani accent in a racecar which is clearly a stand-in for a chase scene they never filmed. Lines of dialog do not connect to each other. Peter Sellers was obviously rarely in the same room as Orson Welles. Their dialog runs past each other as they read from completely different scripts. It’s Sir James’ daughter who the villain kidnaps in a spaceship (which never reappears), yet in the climax, Jimmy Bond wants more time out of a minor character.
Unsurprisingly the comedy tone is all over the place. Some scenes are bawdy, some are bad ’60s slap-stick, some aim for meta-humor, a lot of scenes follow tired cliches, and then a lot of jokes are so abstract that it’s hard to find the line between the ‘gag’ and the joke on the audience. Peter Sellers spends a non-comedy romantic scene dressing up in weird costumes. Orson Welles does magic at the poker table because… Orson Welles really liked doing magic. The director just let the actor do whatever he wanted. Most of Casino Royale, to nobody’s shock, is not very funny on the intended level. But in a weird Adult Swim ironic way the movie is hilariously strange. The gags fail but the production’s incoherence becomes the real joke.
Ultimately the main artistic motivation for Casino Royale seems to be simply indulgence. Then movie continues onward for over two hours before finally going for broke with the loudest, zaniest climax ever put to the screen. Cowboys, Indians, French legionnaires, monkeys, bubbles, Frankenstein’s monster, and god only knows what else all cavort on the screen in a dance party of an action scene, until the titular Casino Royale is blown up by a nuclear bomb and everybody dies. Good guys go to heaven, Jimmy Bond goes to Hell, Peter Sellers is crudely spliced into the final shot, and the movie just ends.
Now is Casino Royale any good? Not entirely. David Niven is the only thing that seems to hold the movie together in any way. He was enough of a professional to walk through the madness of the movie and remain a rock of sanity for the audience. Niven plays his character straight enough but still is emotive with expressions to add comedy. He has a captivating warmth, and can even add dramatic weight to his scenes. A bad actor can come off Oscar-worthy in a great movie but it takes a great actor like David Niven to remain solid in a movie that has no substance of any kind. But even with Niven Casino Royale suffers through dull stretches. Total unpredictability can only get a movie so far.
In aiming for typical ’60s camp Charles K. Feldman had in fact veered his movie off into an avant garde postmodern satire of itself. He wound up getting closer to the Monkees’ Head, a metafictional act of career suicide, than he did to the crowd-pleasing comedy he intended. Then again, it is hard to say that this is the work of any single artistic vision. Rather, it was the complete lack of vision that created Casino Royale. There is no author to this curious piece of art. It simply appeared on its own as the collage of random bits of other things.
Read more in our regular Weird Watch series here. |
There’s both inspiring and troubling news for holiday worshippers.
Unlike other historically Christian Western nations, the United States is not losing its religion, say sociologists Landon Schnabel of Indiana University Bloomington and Sean Bock of Harvard University. But America is becoming as polarized religiously as it is politically, the researchers report online November 27 in Sociological Science.
Intense forms of religion, such as Christian evangelicalism, have maintained their popularity for nearly 30 years, Schnabel and Bock find after analyzing almost 30 years of U.S. survey data. At the same time, moderate forms of religion, such as mainline Protestantism, have consistently lost followers.
Religious moderates’ exodus from their churches stems partly from a growing link between religion and conservative politics, exemplified by the rise of the religious right in |
Jammu: The District Magistrate of Jammu Simrandeep Singh on Monday banned transportation of bovine from Jammu district to other districts of the state.
The District Magistrate in exercise of the powers vested upon him under Section 144 CrPC has directed that no bovine animals such as cow, oxen, bulls, calves etc. be transported from Jammu to other districts, except with written permission from the District Magistrate or Additional District Magistrate Jammu, an official spokesman said.
This order shall come into force with an immediate effect and shall remain in force for a period of two months from the date of its issue or if the order is rescinded which ever be earlier, he said.
PTI
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The trouble at Mt. Gox and the broader downward slide of Bitcoin lately has raised public skepticism about virtual currency and made it an inauspicious time to launch a new one.
But the creators of Einsteinium, a Bitcoin-like currency with a philanthropic side goal of funding scientific research, claim they’ve worked out the kinks to make a cryptocurrency with the potential for longevity and stability.
Einsteinium the currency (not to be confused with the element), made it’s debut just this week. At 6 pm GMT on March 1, the first block was quietly made available for mining. Since then, it’s cultivated a smattering of interest from those on the leading edge of the virtual currency movement.
Perhaps the defining characteristic of Einsteinium is its purported charitable mission. Einsteinium the coin is connected to the Einsteinium foundation. On its website, the foundation claims that 2.5 percent of all mined Einsteinium coins will be given to the foundation, which will then let community members vote on which worthwhile scientific research projects the proceeds should be awarded too.
“Scientific research it is [sic] a long-term investment in our future, and the future of our planet,” the foundation claims. “Funding around the world for the ‘big ideas’ has fallen dramatically in recent years.
“Ideas that would fundamentally change our lives, like nuclear fusion, are woefully under funded, advancement is stifled, promising projects abandoned for the simple lack of money.”
So far, eight different projects have been nominated to receive funding from the first round of Einsteinium mining. The projects range from creating a Sickle Cell Disorder monitor to marketing a science learning kit for children to harnessing the power of ocean waves to create energy.
At the end of every month, the foundation will cull through all the nominations looking for projects they “think are worthy of support” and put them up for a general vote. The winner of the monthly poll then gets the proceeds for that month. The foundation says there is no restriction on eligible projects other than that the “science involved is pushing our understanding forward and could build us a better, safer future.
One area of concern, however, is that it’s not clear who is behind the project. The foundation’s webpage lists a team of two programmers, one systems specialist, a designer, a web developer, a marketing expert and one researcher as the team backing the foundation. However, none of these team members are identified on the site. Multiple attempts by the Daily Dot to contact the foundation went unanswered.
The other major concern is one universal to all cryptocurrencies. Can Einsteinium generate value? It’s a question that continues to dog Bitcoin even as that currency enters its fifth year of existence.
The creators of Einsteinium have made it their mission to keep the currency in steady circulation and avoid some of the pitfalls of Bitcoin that have lead to hoarding.
“To reach a wider audience than just the mining community it is essential that Einsteinium is freely traded on the exchanges and used for purchasing goods and services,” the foundation writes. “Einsteinium should be as available as possible to as many people as possible to enable that trading.”
To help ensure that, the block rewards for Einsteinium are set to decrease after the first year or so to keep “high hash miners” from dominating the system, ideally allowing exchanges to stabilize and the currency to trade more freely. However, to continue incentivizing miners and keep small miners in the game after this initial period, the Einsteinium system is designed with so-called “wormholes” – randomly occurring events where the block rewards for miners suddenly spike. Like a slot machine, the program that automatically generates new Einsteinium is designed to keep people playing the game.
However, what is arguably one of Bitcoin’s biggest faults is already being replicated by Einsteinium. Both currencies are programmed to produce only a finite amount of the coins. Around 2064, Einsteinium will stop being produced all together. Economists have warned about the dangers of finite currencies due to their tendency to exhibit deflationary traits that incentivize hoarding.
Whether or not Einsteinium can make inroads into a rapidly crowding field of cryptocurrencies is a question that only time can answer. However, the makers of Einsteinium, like the supporters all burgeoning virtual currencies, exude a heady confidence about their own prospects.
“We believe we have create a solid, steady, reliable cryptocurrency that will attract miners at the outset and have long term appeal for the smaller miner,” the foundation claims.
We shall wait and see.
Photo by David Sadler/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) |
The Power of Stand Up Comedy - Creating Mental Health Awareness and Reducing Stigmas
On Saturday, June 4th, 2016, Spokane Youth 'N Action will host its first ever Stand Up for Mental Health (SUFMH) comedy show at the Modern Theater, 174 S. Howard St., Spokane, WA from 6 - 8:30PM. Youth will share their experience of mental health recovery through comedic performances. Stand Up for Mental Health utilizes humor to provide a sense of control and give youth the courage to take risks. The performance also aims to encourage attendees to re-evaluate their perceptions of and prejudices against people who have mental health challenges. The event will include a resource booth providing community based resources, as well as a gift basket raffle with all funds raised supporting Spokane's local Youth 'N Action program. |
Large segments of the environmental movement declared a win on Jan. 18, 2012, the dawn of an election year in which partisan fervor reigned supreme.
On that day President Barack Obama kicked the can down the road for permitting TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline’s northern half until after the then-forthcoming November 2012 presidential election.
“Northern half” is the key caveat: just two months later, on March 22, 2012 – even deeper into the weeds of an election year – President Obama issued Executive Order 13604. Among other key things, the order has an accompanying memorandum calling for an expedited review of the southern half of Keystone XL stretching from Cushing, Okla. to Port Arthur, Texas.
The day before, March 21, Obama flew on Air Force One to a pipe yard in Cushing – the “pipeline crossroads of the world” – for a special stump speech and photo-op announcing the executive order and memorandum.
Dubbed the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project by TransCanada – 95 percent complete and “open for business” in the first quarter of 2014 – the 485-mile tube will ship 700,000 barrels of tar sands crude per day from Cushing to Port Arthur, where it will then reach Gulf Coast refineries and be exported to the global market. It will eventually have the capacity to ship 830,000 barrels per day.
The subject of a large amount of grassroots resistance from groups such as Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance and the Tar Sands Blockade, the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project – when push comes to shove – is only the tip of the iceberg.
That’s because Obama’s order also called for expedited permitting and review of all domestic infrastructure projects – including but not limited to pipelines – as a reaction to the Keystone XL resistance.
A months-long Mint Press News investigation reveals the executive order wasn’t merely a symbolic gesture.
Rather, many key pipeline and oil and gas industry marketing projects are currently up for expedited review, making up for — and by far eclipsing — the capacity of Keystone XL’s northern half. The original TransCanada Keystone pipeline – as is – already directly connects to Cushing from Alberta, making XL (short for “extension line”) essentially obsolete.
Keystone XL’s northern half proposal is key for marketing oil obtained from the controversial hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) process in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale basin.
Dubbed the Bakken Marketlink Pipeline, the segment has lost its importance with the explosive freight rail boom for moving Bakken fracked oil to market and other pipeline proposals. One of those pipelines, in fact, has received fast-track approval under the March 2012 Obama Executive Order.
Feeling the pressure from protest against the Keystone XL from groups such as the Tar Sands Action, Indigenous Environmental Network and others, Obama pulled a fast one: “wait and see” for XL’s northern half – which many claimed as a victory – and expedited approval of everything else via executive order.
Breaking down the Keystone XL executive order
Obama’s Keystone XL southern half March 2012 memo reads like Big Oil talking points.
“[W]e need an energy infrastructure system that can keep pace with advances in production,” Obama states in the Memo. “To promote American energy sources, we must not only extract oil — we must also be able to transport it to our world-class refineries, and ultimately to consumers.”
A metaphorical slap in the face to environmentalists who spent months working on opposing Keystone XL, Obama argued a more efficient, less bureaucratic means of approval was compulsory.
“[A]s part of my Administration’s broader efforts to improve the performance of Federal permitting and review processes, we must make pipeline infrastructure a priority … supporting projects that can contribute to economic growth and a secure energy future,” the memo reads.
Though the order issued an expedited permitting process for Keystone XL’s southern half, it also foreshadowed that expedited permitting would become the “new normal” going forward for all domestic oil and gas pipeline projects.
“To address the existing bottleneck in Cushing, as well as other current or anticipated bottlenecks, agencies shall … coordinate and expedite their reviews … as necessary to expedite decisions related to domestic pipeline infrastructure projects that would contribute to a more efficient domestic pipeline system for the transportation of crude oil,” the memo states in closing.
The memo also notes all projects placed in the expedited permitting pile can have their statuses tracked on the online Federal Infrastructure Projects Dashboard, with 48 projects currently listed.
Little time was wasted building the XL’s southern half after Obama issued the Order and within a slim two years, TransCanada will have its first direct line from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries in southern Texas.
Muted opposition: “eco-terrorists,” SLAPP lawsuit threats
It’s not as if the Keystone XL southern half expedited permit has gone unopposed. It’s just that activists who have chosen to resist the pipeline have paid a heavy price for doing so.
A case in point: opposition to Keystone XL’s southern half has earned many activists the label – on multiple occasions – as potential “eco-terrorists,” named as such by TransCanada, the U.S. FBI and Department of Homeland Security’s Nebraska-based “fusion center” and local undercover police.
Other activists were threatened by TransCanada with a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP), all of whom made an out of court settlement in January 2013.
Activists agreed to “no longer trespass or cause damage to Keystone XL property including the easements within private property boundaries,” explained FireDogLake’s Kevin Gosztola in a January 2013 article.
The agreement was a quintessential “lesser of two evils” choice, given activists could have found themselves bogged down in legal fees from TransCanada and may have eventually owed the corporation big bucks.
“The activists had a choice: either settle or face a lawsuit in court where TransCanada would seek $5 million for alleged financial damages … that could have much worse consequences,” Gosztola further explained.
Beyond SLAPP threats, key lawsuits aiming to fend off TransCanada have also failed.
Texas lawsuit highlights expedited permitting corruption
One of those lawsuits in particular – filed on April 25, 2013 by a Douglass, Texas-based citizen named Michael Bishop representing himself in court – paints a picture of what President Obama meant when he said he would fast-track permitting for infrastructure projects going forward.
Before filing the lawsuit, Bishop penned a four-part series for EcoWatch in February and March of 2013 on his experiences as a landowner living a mere 120-feet from pipeline construction and dealing with TransCanada in Texas.
“I am amazed by the lack of understanding about this project by the general public and even more amazed that people in other parts of the country are so focused on the ‘northern segment’ while the pipeline is actually being laid right here in Texas and will begin transporting diluted bitumen, tar sands crude oil, to Gulf Coast refineries by the end of the year,” Bishop wrote in Part III. “So many seem oblivious to this fact.”
Bishop alleges in his Complaint for Declaratory Relief and Petition for Writ of Mandamus that on-the-books bread-and-butter environmental laws were broken when fast-tracked permitting for Keystone XL’s southern half unfolded.
The permitting mechanism utilized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – following Obama’s March 2012 executive order and memorandum – was a Nationwide Permit 12.
Nationwide Permit 12 has also been chosen for fast-tracked permitting of Enbridge’s Flanagan South Pipeline. That pipeline is set to fill the gap – and then some – for Keystone XL’s northern half, bringing tar sands crude along the 600-mile long, 600,000 barrels per day pipeline from Pontiac, Ill. to Cushing, Okla.
A 2012 document produced by the Army Corps of Engineers explains Nationwide Permit 12 is meant for permitting of utility lines, access roads; foundations for overhead utility line towers, poles, and anchors: pipelines carrying corrosive tar sands crude go unmentioned.
The Corps’ document also explains Nationwide Permit 12 exists to “authorize certain activities that have minimal individual and cumulative adverse effects on the aquatic environment,” further explaining, “Activities that result in more than minimal individual and cumulative adverse effects on the aquatic environment cannot be authorized.”
Bishop cited the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), arguing Nationwide Permit 12 as applied to Keystone XL’s southern half violated the spirit of that law because no environmental assessment was conducted and no public hearings were held.
“Given the fact that the Corps was involved in the preparation of the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline XL for the State Department … knowledgeable of the toxic nature of the material to be transported and massive public opposition to the project, public hearings should have been held in accordance with the law,” wrote Bishop.
Further, the pipeline crosses “nearly 1,000 crossings of bodies of water in Texas alone,” according to Bishop’s complaint.
In following the dictates of the March 2012 executive order and memorandum, Bishop argues the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acted in total disregard for long-established environmental law.
“The use of Nation Wide Permit-12 is not a substitute for following NEPA and the Corps, while having some degree of latitude, failed in its ministerial duty,” Bishop wrote. “There was a blatant disregard for established environmental law…which not only included public input, but also directed the agency to consider human health and safety.”
To date, the lawsuit has not been heard in court.
Hastening Bakken shale development
While the environmental community hones in on Keystone XL’s northern half, the business community has focused on expediting permits in the Bakken Shale and filling in the gap left behind by the lack of a TransCanada “Bakken Marketlink.”
Big Business has done so – in the main – by using pipelines to ship Bakken crude to key rail hubs.
One of the pipelines listed in the Federal Infrastructure Projects Dashboard is the Bakkenlink pipeline – not to be confused with the “Bakken Marketlink” – a 144-mile-long tube set to carry fracked oil from the Bakken to rail facilities that would then carry the product to strategic markets.
“Currently, crude oil from this region of the Bakken field is transported to rail facilities via truck,” explains the Dashboard. “The proposed BakkenLink pipeline provides an opportunity to eliminate a vast amount of overland truck traffic.”
Petroleum News Bakken, an industry news publication, explains Bakkenlink was proposed when the northern half of Keystone XL was put on hold by the Obama Administration.
“Originally the BakkenLink was intended to run all the way to Baker, Mont., where it was to connect to the Keystone XL pipeline, but when the Keystone XL project was put on hold in 2011, BakkenLink LLC modified its plan and opted to terminate the pipeline at the Fryburg rail facility,” Petroleum News Bakken explained.
The Bismarck Tribune explained Great Northern Midstream LLC – which wholly owns BakkenLink LLC as a subsidiary – has built capacity to load fracked Bakken oil onto 110-car unit trains via the Fryburg rail facility.
For sake of comparison, TransCanada’s Bakken Marketlink Pipeline – aka Keystone XL – was slated to bring 100,000 barrels per day of crude to market.
The freight trains scheduled to carry this oil are owned by Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNSF). BNSF itself is owned by Warren Buffett, the fourth richest man on the planet and major campaign contributor to President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
With plans to “spend $4.1 billion on capital improvements in 2013, a single-year record for an American railroad…BNSF says it is transporting more than half of the oil produced in the North Dakota and Montana regions of the Bakken,” according to a June 2013 Dallas Morning News article. “The boom would not be as big, nor would it have happened as fast, without BNSF.”
Recent investigative pieces on Buffett’s ties to the tar sands also shows he owns over $2.7 billion worth of stock in tar sands producers such as ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, General Electric and Suncor as of September 7, 2013.
Another key data point: a 70-unit train carrying 51,428 barrels of fracked Bakken Oil to a Canadian east coast export terminal owned by Irving Oil derailed and exploded in a fireball on July 2013, killing 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, located in Québec province.
Coming full circle, Irving Oil and TransCanada announced a joint venture to develop and construct an export facility in St. John, Canada on August 1, less than a month after the lethal Lac-Mégantic derailment. That facility would take tar sands crude shipped from the 1.1 million barrels per day proposed TransCanada Energy East pipeline and export it to the global market.
Bakken Federal Executives Group
Bakkenlink isn’t the only game in town for the March 2012 executive order’s impact on expedited permitting in the Bakken Shale.
Enter the Bakken Federal Executives Group – helped along by Obama’s Assistant for Energy and Climate Change Heather Zichal – the Obama White House’s industry-friendly liaison to Big Oil.
“Among Zichal’s tasks is wooing Jack Gerard,” explained a May 2012 article in Bloomberg. Gerard was thought to be one of the candidates for Chief-of-Staff for Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney if he became president.
“[I]dentified by the President as one of five priority regional initiatives under Executive Order 13604 … [the] [g]roup represents a dozen federal bureaus with review and permitting responsibilities that are working collaboratively to address common development obstacles associated with the Bakken boom…,” explains an August 7 U.S. Department of Interior press release.
Newly-minted U.S. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell – a former petroleum engineer for Mobil Oil Company – recently took a trip to the Bakken Shale oil fields to advocate for the dictates of the March 2012 Executive Order.
“The group’s Aug. 6 itinerary began with a tour of a rig operated by Continental Resources Inc., followed in the afternoon by a tour of facilities operated by Statoil, which has invested more than $4 billion in the Bakken,” explained the Oil and Gas Journal.
Continental Resources’ CEO is Harold Hamm, who served as energy advisor to Mitt Romney, the Republican Party presidential nominee for the 2012 election.
“Interior continues to be a leader in implementing President Obama’s vision for a federal permitting process that is smarter [and] more efficient,” David Hayes, Department of Interior Deputy Secretary said in a June press release. “By coordinating across the many federal agencies involved in the Bakken region … we are able to offer a better process for industry.”
Obama May 2013 memo: Cut it in half
On May 17, 2013, President Obama issued an updated memorandum titled, “Modernizing Federal Infrastructure Review and Permitting Regulations, Policies, and Procedures.”
Citing his March 2012 executive order as precedent, this memo called for cutting the time it takes to approve major infrastructure projects – pipelines included – in half.
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to advance the goal of cutting aggregate timelines for major infrastructure projects in half,” he states in the memo, with a final goal to “institutionalize or expand best practices or process improvements that agencies are already implementing to improve the efficiency of reviews.”
Scary math
Adding insult to injury, a recent story appearing in The Wall Street Journal explains Keystone XL’s northern half is no longer a priority for refiners, investors or the industry at large.
With a further delay in the cards due to conflicts of interest in the State Department’s environmental review process, it may start to matter less and less for Big Oil as it plans out its other options for getting its product to market going forward.
“U.S. companies that refine oil increasingly doubt that the controversial Keystone XL pipeline [northern half] will ever be built, and now they don’t particularly care,” explained the Journal.
Enbridge recently proposed an expansion for its Alberta Clipper pipeline (approved by Obama’s State Department in August 2009, now known as “Line 67”) from 450,000 barrels per day to 570,000 barrels per day to theState Department in a November 2012 application.
It upped the ante since the original Clipper expansion application — a move met with activist opposition — requested 800,000 barrels of tar sands run through it per day.
That’s on top of Enbridge’s recently proposed Nationwide Permit 12 – paralleling what TransCanada did for Keystone XL’s southern half – set to bring 600,000 barrels per day of tar sands to Cushing, Okla from Pontiac, Ill.
The reaction to pressure against building Keystone XL’s northern half has been – put simply – “build more and faster.” Simple math and geography shows – as The Wall Street Journal boasted – project permitting parameters have tilted more and more in Big Oil’s favor under President Obama’s watch.
With full-throttle expansion of the tar sands described as “game over for the climate” by now-retired NASA scientist James Hansen — and with fracked oil and gas found to be dirtier than coal when examined in its entire lifecycle according to a May 2011 Cornell University study — it makes for scary math indeed. |
Conquering as Communist America in Hearts of Iron IV - Part 2
In this series I attempt to change the course of world history in Hearts of Iron IV by turning the United States of America into a communist powerhouse of the 30s and 40s. There’s no telling what will happen when the Second World War kicks off and how my new nation will cope.
I’ve already altered the political scene in the US by kicking out Franklin Roosevelt in favour of Earl Browder, leader of the American Communist Party. Now I move to cement my control in North America.
***
“We cannot, and will not, accept the dominion of imperialistic empires over nations that should, by rights, be free!”
- Earl Browder, General Secretary’s Address to the Nation, March 1938
Two things happen after the Communist States of America (CSA) announces its birth to the world. The first is the re-invigorated workforce of the the American people doubling their efforts, effectively sending the country’s materiel production into overdrive. The second is Canada crapping its pants. Mere days after the announcement, Canadian troops are flooding to their southern border, ringing the Great Lakes with divisions on standby.
The dockyards of the US continue to pump out more and more ships. The coasts of the country are patrolled steadily by great armadas of naval power, bristling with heavy guns and loaded with countless aircraft. On the mainland, Dwight D. Eisenhower, now a stalwart general of the American Red Army, arrays his troops along the Canadian border to put an even greater fright to our northern neighbours.
The sleeping giant is now truly beginning to awaken, due in no small part to a hefty trade deal conducted between the CSA and the Soviet Union. Factories across the country are being collectivised and industrial output surges as a result. ‘Uncle’ Joe Stalin - as he is now known to the American people - is unfathomably pleased with the news, declaring Comrade Browder a hero of the people and granting him an honorary Hero of the Soviet Union award. Browder, not one to be outdone, reciprocates by sending a specialised hammer and sickle Medal of Honour back to the Soviet leader.
As 1938 rolls around, I work on a new set of National Focus goals aimed squarely at annoying Great Britain. The US has a number of “War Plans” at the start of Hearts of Iron IV that range from the historically accurate (war with Japan and Germany) to the ahistorical, yet more exciting, alternatives (war with the Soviet Union, alliances with Hitler, invading the UK’s colonies). The latter is one I’m very interesting in pursuing. There are few nations out there can match the naval power that the CSA is currently producing, but Great Britain is one of them. If I can wear away her Royal Navy then I will be unmatched at sea.
Things are moving nicely in Canada. Without attracting attention, special units of the Communist States’ secret service have infiltrated The Great White North and begun sowing the seeds of communism. As 1938 turns into 1939 Canada is facing the prospect of a communist revolution in its midst. What's more, the CSA’s raw recruits raised over the last year have been sent to garrison the western seaboard. I put a pugnacious general named George S. Patton in charge of them and draw up some (preliminary at this stage) lines of advance into the weakly-defended side of Canada.
Imperial Japan continues its advance through China, now occupying more than half of the ailing Republic. I send my Pacific Fleet, numbering some 200 vessels, to patrol around the South China Sea in a show of power to the Japanese in case they start looking towards Hawaii. The CSA’s technological advancement continues unabated - the military is now a full year ahead of its time. Hearts of Iron IV gives factions hefty penalties for researching technology ahead of time to keep things fair, yet the advisors and manufacturing deals I’ve procured are giving the CSA enough of a bonus to even negate these penalties.
In Europe everything is progressing along the usual historical lines. Hitler has annexed Austria and marched into Czechoslovakia without France or the United Kingdom doing anything. The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact has been signed and it looks like the newly-formed German Reich will find no enemies from its eastern frontiers. As the days tick forward to September 1939 I’m eagerly awaiting the spark that lights the global fires of war. Then it happens: Hitler marches the Wehrmacht into Poland and the Second World War kicks off. Of course, it’s not the Second World War yet. It’s just the Germano-Polish war at this stage.
The denunciation of Great Britain and its colonial ideals has left a great impression with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. What had once been seen as a grand alliance in the making - between an old empire and a rising one - has soured into name-calling and mudslinging. The American people are by now fully indoctrinated into the utopian ideals of communism. The CSA model has its differences with the Russian one. Free trade is encouraged and still flows between America and Europe. Political freedoms are pronounced, though the Communist Party has the rather irregular support of 98% of the population. An enormous mural of Comrade Browder is hefted over Times Square, fluttering in the Autumn breeze.
France and the United Kingdom honour their agreement to Poland and finally realise that sending strongly-worded letters to the Fuhrer is not working as well as they intended. Both declare war on the German Reich, sparking a number of skirmishes across the entirety of the Maginot Line. A few weeks later Germany invades Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland, bypassing the French defences and plunging towards Paris.
Meanwhile, across the border from Canada, Eisenhower notices Canadian troops melting away from their posts. A few days later the news is brought to Comrade Browder in the Oval Office. A communist revolution has erupted in Montreal. Quebecers, in a glorious re-imagining of their revolutionary forefathers in France, have taken arms against a government they don’t recognise as legitimate. Quebec is in open rebellion and immediately volunteer troops from Eisenhower’s army are sent across the border in secret to help them against a flailing Canadian army.
Slowly but surely I’ve been beefing up the CSA’s armed forces ready for the titanic clash to come. It is almost time for me to press the button that justifies war upon Canada, the United Kingdom and democratic fools the world over. In one final show of unity Joe Stalin and Earl Browder sign a pact that unites the Communist States of America with the Soviet Union - the two are now the superpowers of the Comintern and will back each other to the hilt in the event of war. A war that is around the corner. With Great Britain backed into a corner by Hitler, it’s time for America to liberate the colonies it so doggedly holds on to. |
The challenges of tax season are upon us, and if there’s one thing that novice and experienced taxpayers alike have to learn and relearn every year, it’s that lots of people want your money. The federal government, state and local governments, certified public accountants (CPAs), and the tax preparer advertising on TV all want a piece of the pie. By getting organized early and following these expert tips as April 15 approaches, you’ll avoid the rush and, in all likelihood, a lot of money.
Get ready
Financial institutions had until Jan. 31 to send out W-2s and 1099s in the mail, so you should have received the necessary forms by now. If you find that they are missing, contact your employer to find out why they haven't been mailed and make sure that they are being sent to the correct address.
Tax tip: Save money by filing sooner than your friends
In this first stage of tax season, take advantage of early bird deals that will disappear as the crunch date approaches. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can cash in on free or heavily discounted deals as tax-prep companies hope to front-load some of the rush to make space for more customers come tax day.
Tax tip: Determine your eligibility for IRS Free File
Even if you don’t quite make the early bird deals, you can still use the IRS Free File software to file your federal taxes if you make $57,000 or less a year. Regardless of income, all taxpayers are eligible to use Free File’s fillable forms.
Get set
Let’s face it: Not all tax preparers were created equal. Once you have your tax paperwork in hand, even if you don’t understand what all your documents mean yet, your next step is to find the best tax-prep option to get the job done for your needs, whether it’s meeting a CPA in person or purchasing online tax-prep software.
Tax tip: Check your preparer’s qualifications
If you want to check your tax return preparer’s qualifications, ask for his or her Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). You can also check with the Better Business Bureau to inquire if your preparer has any questionable history. In addition, you can ask your preparer if he or she has taken any continuing education classes to keep up-to-date on new tax laws.
Tax tip: Do the math on do-it-yourself tax software
If you are planning on preparing your own tax return by using DIY tax software, be sure to read the past customer reviews to see how satisfied they were when they used the tool. But don’t just trust other people's reviews, since experiences differ so . Do the math yourself. In this case, NerdWallet took the first step to do some of it for you in this comparison: TurboTax versus H&R Block software.
Go!
As you start preparing your tax paperwork and getting it ready to file, don’t forget to include any capital gains information if you’ve sold investments this year.
Tax tip: Be aware of capital gains changes
Due to new "fiscal cliff" legislation, capital gains and dividend tax rates are increasing from 15 percent to 20 percent for singles earning over $400,000 and couples earnings over $450,000. Also, don’t forget to expect an additional 3.8 percent capital gains tax applied to singles earning over $200,000 and couples earning over $250,000.
Tax tip: If you’re running late, reset the clock
If you already foresee a situation where you simply can’t get your taxes in on time, there’s an easy answer. File for an extension – Form 4868. You still have to pay what you think you owe by April 15. You'll have to pay an interest penalty if you end up underpaying, but you'll avoid the potential for more severe penalties if you don't file at all.
For more top 2013 tax tips, visit the official IRS Tax Tips for 2013 website.
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– Susan Lyon is an analyst with NerdWallet Investing, a financial literacy site that seeks to empower investors by providing unbiased and transparent access to investing and financial markets information. |
Senior citizens are yet another group the GOP is targeting with their disastrous health care bill.
The Republican plan to repeal health care is bad news for just about every American — especially the elderly.
If the repeal plan and its drastic cuts to Medicaid funding becomes law, that could affect the 1.4 million Americans living in nursing homes, more than half of whom rely on Medicaid to pay their expenses — and who represent the Republican Party’s most loyal voting bloc.
Federal law requires state Medicaid programs to cover the cost of nursing home care, but according to The New York Times, states could decide to “decrease the amount they are willing to pay or restrict eligibility for coverage.”
In other words, those older Americans living in nursing homes would have to make up the difference in cost. And if they can’t? Well, thanks to the drastic Medicaid cuts, they simply will not be able to get the care they need.
When Republicans first launched attacks to stop Congress from enacting Obamacare, they issued all kinds of ominous warnings about the harm it would do, especially to the elderly. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley shamelessly claimed in 2009 that voters had “every right to fear” the health care reform plan and perpetuated the repeatedly debunked lie that Obamacare included “a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma.”
The Republican plan now, however, certainly does give those same grandmas plenty of reason to fear what will happen to them.
According to Toby S. Edelman, a senior policy attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, cuts to Medicaid mean “states are going to make it harder to qualify medically for needing nursing home care.” Furthermore, with less money and less coverage, those older Americans will “have to be more disabled before they qualify for Medicaid assistance.”
And those patients who do qualify for assistance could see the quality of care they receive in such nursing homes go down, as those facilities are forced to cut staff and services.
As 65-year-old Nancy Huffstickler, a nursing home resident in Virginia, asked about the GOP plan, “It may save the federal government money, but what about us?”
Huffstickler describes herself as a “medical disaster,” with a number of ailments that have her undergoing daily physical therapy in the hopes that one day she will not need her wheelchair.
But the answer from Republicans to Huffstickler and other patients with disabilities like hers has been a resounding shrug of disinterest. When the Senate Republicans’ bill was released, a group of patients with disabilities gathered outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office in protest of the expected cuts to their care.
They were dragged from their wheelchairs and arrested.
Republicans have no answers to any of those patients who are asking what will happen to their care. Indeed, they refuse to even meet with such patients, and tell outright lies about what their bill will do.
Vice President Mike Pence even audaciously claimed in a tweet that the bill will “replace Obamacare w/ system based on personal responsibility.” As if those millions of Americans — including children, the poor, the elderly, and the disabled — who rely on Medicaid simply need to take “personal responsibility” for their care and all will be well.
It’s the kind of heartless, thoughtless claim that has no basis in fact and shows just how mean the Republican agenda to destroy health care truly is. |
ROME — Because Pope Francis’s Sweden visit on Monday and Tuesday will be mainly focused on the joint global Catholic-Lutheran commemoration of the Protestant Reformation in Lund, it is all too possible to overlook the country’s tiny but growing Catholic community, and its relationship to the majority Lutherans.
(Just how tiny can be pictured: If all Sweden’s 115,000 Catholics, less than one percent of its population, turned up in Rome, they’d struggle to fill St. Peter’s Square.)
It’s so easy to forget the Catholic footprint in Sweden, in fact, that for months after the papal visit was announced— the first in 30 years — the pope wasn’t even scheduled to say Mass with the country’s Catholics.
He had been due to go for one day only, in order to lead, jointly with the general secretary of the worldwide Lutheran World Federation, Rev. Martin Junge, two ecumenical events on Sweden’s southern tip: a prayer service in the Lund cathedral, and a justice-and-peace celebration with young people in Malmö arena.
But after local Catholics objected, Francis agreed to stay overnight and celebrate Mass with them on Tuesday morning at another stadium in Malmö which holds 26,000. The event is now close to being sold-out.
The decision has caused dismay in the Swedish Lutheran Church, which has been keen to downplay the Mass.
“It’s easy to perceive this as a papal visit when it’s not,” said Antje Jackelen, Lutheran archbishop of Uppsala, who is also Sweden’s first woman archbishop. “It’s about the meeting of Lutherans and Catholics.”
Reflecting the broader Swedish zeitgeist, the Lutheran Church is almost obsessively egalitarian. It has gay and women bishops (some are both) and marries same-sex couples, while upholding abortion as a human right.
“Sweden is a very special country, and in many ways extreme in its egalitarianism,” says Bitte Assarmo, who edits the country’s main Catholic monthly magazine and website, Katolkst Magasin. “Because the Lutheran Church in Sweden is so anti-hierarchical, they are not all that happy about the pope staying an extra day.”
Assarmo says equality has become a kind of “civil religion” in Sweden, creating a climate which can make it difficult to be Catholic.
“Catholic values don’t match the Swedish idea of equality,” she said.
One example is that Swedish Lutherans find it very hard to accept the Catholic Church’s rules on Communion, which is partly what lies behind the critique of Francis’s Mass on Tuesday.
Any ill-feeling is unlikely to affect Monday’s Reformation commemoration, because it is being hosted by the global Lutheran World Federation rather than the Swedish Lutherans. But the ecumenical tensions on the ground offer a glimpse of some of the obstacles to deeper Catholic-Lutheran unity in practice.
By most measures, Sweden, along with neighboring Denmark, is one of the world’s most secularized countries. Eight out of 10 Swedes said in a Gallup survey last year that they were either irreligious or convinced atheists, and when Pope St. John Paul II came to Sweden in 1989, reporters gleefully reported on the contrast between the tiny numbers that turned out for him in Scandinavia compared with the huge crowds elsewhere in the world.
(The world record for the worst-attended outdoor papal Mass is held by the nearby town of Tromso, Norway, where just 200 came out for John Paul II.)
The secularization is partly the result of a 1970s-80s backlash against Sweden’s authoritarian tradition of established religion. For most of the nineteenth century the Lutheran Church was so much part of the state that apostasy could be punished by banishment from the country.
Until 1951, every Swede had to be registered as a member of a religious denomination, and only in 2000 was the Church formally disestablished. Inbetween those dates, the collapse in religious belonging was spectacular: a mere 1.3 percent of the registered Swedish Lutherans nowadays attend church.
(This means, incidentally, that in terms of body count the Catholics and Lutherans are not so far apart, despite the huge disparity of wealth and size between the two institutions.)
But the picture is more complex than it might seem. Two-thirds of the nine million Swedish population agree to pay the voluntary subscription to the Lutheran Church. They may not go to Sunday services, but they expect the Church to be there for them in times of national crisis or for individual rites of passage such as christenings.
Sweden was the example given by British religious sociologist Grace Davie’s famous classification of much Europe as “believing without belonging.” It means that irreligiosity can go hand in hand with strong moral or civic values.
“Many people have a kind of contemplative feeling for God’s presence, or a more vague divinity, in nature,” the country’s only Catholic bishop, Anders Arborelius of Stockholm, told Crux.
“They like silence and solitude, and long for these even in their busy lives,” he continued, adding: “They believe in honesty, peace and justice for all people all over the world, while equality and universal fraternity are much valued things.”
The bishop believes that secularization has gone so deep and for so long that people are beginning to tire of it — which may explain why Catholicism has proved attractive to more educated Swedes. The lofty Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize, for example, has long had a disproportionate number of Catholics in its ranks.
The huge presence of refugees and migrants who are generally more religious than Swedes is also helping to change the national mentality. Their impact is particularly evident in the Swedish Catholic Church, which celebrates Mass on Sunday in Stockholm in a long list of languages.
Arborelius says he hopes Pope Francis’s Mass in Malmö — a gateway into Scandinavia for thousands fleeing the Middle East conflicts — both strengthens Catholic internal unity while helping to overcome the broader social division between Swedes and foreigners.
The bishop points to the embrace of migrants as one area where the Churches work and speak particularly well together within the Swedish Ecumenical Council, or SKR, which includes Free and Orthodox Churches as well as Catholics and Lutherans.
“Especially in social issues, like those regarding migrants, refugees, we can cooperate and speak with one voice in our dialogue with the authorities and with secular society,” he says.
Assarmo agrees, saying the Lutheran Church’s leadership on immigrants has been “fantastic,” and one area where the Churches give a powerful common witness — an obvious point for Pope Francis to stress.
But on moral issues such as gay marriage and abortion the gulf between the Swedish Lutherans and the other Churches, especially the Catholics, appears insuperable.
Assarmo says the Swedish figures for abortion — around 35,000 — are “totally outrageous,” especially given that Sweden is one of the countries with the highest proportion of contraceptive users.
In this context, for the Lutheran Church to insist on abortion as a human right presents a massive obstacle. “We are very divided there,” she says. “It’s really a problem.”
While Francis is very popular in Sweden, people tend to love his stances on poverty and refugees but ignore those on abortion or marriage, she says.
“I’m hoping that, as well as seeing Francis as a man of love and of mercy, that they also realize he’s a Catholic. I would love him to show that it’s possible and even natural to feel the same love for the children that are unborn as those who are born.” |
When the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced a press conference for a "Major Discovery" (capital letters in the original e-mail) involving an unspecified experiment, rumors began to fly immediately. By Friday afternoon, the rumors had coalesced around one particular observatory: the BICEP microwave telescope located at the South Pole. Over the weekend, the chatter focused on a specific issue: polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background left over from the Big Bang. With the start of the press conference, it's now clear that we've detected the first direct evidence of the inflationary phase of the Big Bang, in which the Universe expanded rapidly in size.
BICEP, the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization experiment, was built specifically to measure the polarization of light left over from the early Universe. This light, known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB), encodes a lot of information about the physical state of the cosmos from its earliest moments. Most observatories (such as Planck and WMAP) have mapped temperature fluctuations in the CMB, which are essential for determining the contents of the Universe.
Polarization is the orientation of the electric field of light, which conveys additional information not available from the temperature fluctuations. While much of CMB polarization is due to later density fluctuations that gave rise to galaxies, theory predicts that some of it came from primordial gravitational waves. Those waves are ripples in space-time left over from quantum fluctuations in the Universe's earliest moments.
Primordial gravitational waves remain one of the outstanding untested hypotheses of inflation, the most popular model that explains the incredible uniformity of the CMB. According to inflationary theory, the Universe expanded very rapidly in the first fraction of a second, filling the cosmos with gravitational ripples. While inflation so far seems to explain a lot about the Universe, we have no direct evidence for it. BICEP, as a dedicated CMB polarization observatory, could provide some hints about primordial gravitational waves—and by extension, inflation.
One press conference later...
Update (1:25pm CT): The earliest moments of the Universe's history are hidden from us: the Universe was opaque to all forms of light from the Big Bang until about 380,000 years afterward. However, we can still reconstruct much of what happened in the interim, thanks to radiation emitted when the cosmos became transparent. That light (the cosmic microwave background) encodes much of what happened before it formed, much as earthquakes reveal information about what's going on deep beneath the surface.
Now researchers with the BICEP2 (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) observatory have announced the first measurement of distortions in the cosmic microwave background light that could reveal what happened in the first tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang. Those distortions take the form of twisting of the light's polarization created by gravitational disturbances from inflation: the hypothetical rapid expansion of the earliest moments of the cosmos. If these results can be squared with other observations, they would become the best evidence for inflation, providing us the best picture of the Universe in the split-second after the Big Bang.
Inflation was originally predicted in 1981 and has undergone a number of refinements since. The idea, if it is borne out by observations, would help explain a huge number of observed phenomena in the Universe. However, all evidence for inflation is circumstantial, which is why the BICEP2 results are so important. While they do not constitute a direct detection of either primordial gravitational waves (the distortions causing the light polarization) or inflation, the BICEP2 results could provide the best evidence for both—evidence that could not be easily explained away by other theories.
This observation cannot be the end of the story, however. The measurement of polarization is significantly larger than prior observations have come up with, a difference that cannot be immediately dismissed. It's not clear whether the problems are with the interpretation and analysis of the BICEP2 data or if something more subtle is at work.
Inflation, in theory
Let's flush out this idea of inflation. According to the consensus theory in cosmology, the Universe expanded exponentially during its first moments. That inflation explains a lot of observed features of the cosmos, such as the remarkable uniformity of the CMB. However, inflation is less a theory than a set of models with differences in details; worse still, other theories produce similar predictions and match the observations we have so far.
One possible way to distinguish between models is the presence or absence of primordial gravitational radiation. Inflation would have created substantial fluctuations in the structure of space-time, with their strength and properties depending on the details of the particular inflationary model. However, though astronomers have known for decades that gravitational waves exist, the evidence for them is indirect, so few expect to measure primordial gravitational radiation directly in the foreseeable future.
A Polarizing Topic Light is a wave of electromagnetic energy. The polarization of light is the orientation of the electric field of that wave. While many light sources intrinsically produce unpolarized light—meaning it is a mixture of all possible polarization angles—a variety of things can twist the polarity or block certain polarization angles. Gravitational waves can rotate the polarization of light, providing an indirect means of detection.
Nevertheless, this gravitational radiation would affect any light passing through, curling its polarization in a unique way. Because the effect resembles the mathematical twistings of magnetic fields, which physicists perversely assign the letter "B," it is known as B-mode polarization. The distinction is important, because other phenomena can also polarize light, but without the telltale curling.
Because it bears a mathematical resemblance to electric fields, the non-twisting version is known as E-mode polarization. Gravitational radiation contributes to E-mode as well, but it is the only source of B-mode polarization. Only a small fraction of CMB photons are polarized, and of those, most are E-mode in any reasonable prediction. The goal of polarization observations involves measuring the ratio of the two modes, which would allow cosmologists to separate the contributions of gravitational waves from other effects. That ratio (written as "r") is known prosaically as the "tensor-to-scalar" ratio, where "tensor" refers to the B-mode and "scalar" to the E-mode. A ratio of 0 means no primordial gravitational radiation exists—a result that would potentially rule inflation out.
To B-mode or not to B-mode
Up until BICEP2, the tensor-to-scalar ratio could only be inferred indirectly, through measuring other CMB properties. Particularly, it could only be given an upper bound, meaning that the value must be between zero and a certain maximum value. BICEP2 measured the polarization spectrum directly, in principle allowing researchers to separate the E- and B-modes, yielding the ratio directly.
The BICEP2 research team confidently stated that they can exclude the possibility that the ratio is zero. That in itself is a significant find: if the minimum possible value of the ratio is greater than zero, then primordial gravitational waves—and inflation—are very likely. However, the most likely value of the ratio the team estimated was about twice as high as the maximum value estimated via indirect methods. (The earlier data came from the orbiting WMAP CMB observatory, along with the South Pole Telescope and Atacama Cosmology Telescope.)
That discrepancy is not easily explained away. The BICEP2 researchers proposed a relatively simple modification to the behavior of inflation to reconcile the two numbers and show why they don't agree, but we'll have to see if the cosmology community finds this modification acceptable.
Could aspects of the analysis of the BICEP2 data be in error instead? Polarization is challenging to observe, and there are many possible sources of confusion. Some of those include material in the foreground (dust and gas), Earth's atmosphere, and another type of gravitational distortion: the bending of light known as gravitational lensing. While the researchers are confident they have controlled for these phenomena adequately, the fit between BICEP2 data and the gravitational lensing signature in particular seems poor. If there is more lensing than their analysis provided, then gravitational radiation could contribute less than the researchers claimed—perhaps bringing the tensor-scalar ratio into line with other observations.
While it's premature to say the BICEP2 team has provided the "First Direct Evidence of Cosmic Inflation" (as the press release declared), these results shouldn't be dismissed. You can be sure that other researchers will consider many possibilities; the story of BICEP2, inflation, and primordial gravitational radiation is just beginning. |
When Prometheus stole fire from Zeus and gave it to us mortals, the mortals struggled to understand it. The power users of fire knew to fear and respect it, enjoying its benefits and working to minimize the risk of disaster. The newbies probably had a harder time with it.
Years ago, a network admin at Corey's company decided to extend the LISTSERV to the internal users. After all, the admin team had been using it and appreciated the flexibility it offered. Users could join a group by sending an email to it with a specific command in the subject line, and if they got tired of receiving emails from the group, they could simply remove themselves. To make it a bit easier, a page for users to manage their group memberships was built and put on the company intranet. After selling the business on the concept, documentation was sent out to various departments to walk them through basic use of the LISTSERV.
And things went well for years. Sure, as time passed some users forgot how to sign up or remove themselves from groups, but the only negative impact was the occasional unwanted email.
One Friday morning, Corey received a group email asking for customer references. It was a big group with more than 10,000 members. Corey really didn't have any information that the sender was after, so he just got back to his regular tasks, ignoring the slow trickle of responses, though one caught his eye:
please remove me from your list.
Since the LISTSERV had been in place for years and some users didn't know how to manage their group memberships, it was a reasonable request. After all, the page built to manage email group memberships was buried deep in the company intranet, and most users didn't even know it existed.
Before Corey could even get back to his work,
Please remove me, too.
Uh oh, Corey thought. I don't like where this is goi-
I'm not sure how I got on this list, please remove
And another:
me too
The number of responses was growing exponentially — each one triggered three more. It was growing faster than a contagious "shh" at a movie theater. Soon, savvier users started asking users to remove themselves from mailing lists.
people, I'm just another member to that mailing list. I believe you added yourselves, you should undo that.
The problem is that no one knew how to remove themselves, just tha-
STOP THIS! It's good to know, that you guys wanna be removed from the distr. list BUT please don't copy all other on this (I already received 10ths of mails...).
Corey was bewildered by the volume of email coming in.
To all of you spammers: You remove yourself from a mail list via self service. AND DEFINITELY NOT VIA SENDING REPLY ALL TO EVERYONE ON THE LIST: THIS SHOULD BE THE LAST MAIL ON THE TOPIC! If you do not know how, contact your manager.
And someone replied with " ". A single space.
That was apparently the final straw. Someone sent out this next message, and they meant business. It was in red.
ALL! Please stop using the REPLY button by responding to this mail. You are sending this out to over 11000 people who all are members of communities summed up in the distribution list [email protected] If someone would like to get removed from the mailing list from his/her community, please unsubscribe from the community (also means that you will receive no longer information regarding your community) and/or unsubscribe from the distribution list of your community via using the mailing system.
Finally, the instructions started getting more specific:
SELF-SERVICE REMOVE YOURSELF from the community's page NONE OF THE OTHER LIST MEMBERS WILL REMOVE YOU, IT IS NOT OUR JOB. IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW, CALL HELPDESK. DON'T CC THE WORLD.
The irony being that the sender had just "CC'd THE WORLD."
Everybody, Please note that you can call the Helpdesk to ask them to teach you on how to remove yourself from mailing lists. Nobody can do that for you except yourself. REGARDS
I SAID GOOD DAY! A few more replies came in, which were getting increasingly puzzling:
STOP WRITE THE MAIL!!!!!!!! - YOU BLOCK THE MAILBOX!!!
And, on a confusing note:
FYI
Corey eventually stopped reading so he could actually get some work done. After working late that evening and coming back after the weekend, he noticed the final email with the same subject line, sent at noon on Sunday. It bore the company logo and header.
Dear All, the distribution list [email protected] is being deleted to address the incorrect use of it. This distribution list provided an aggregated list of all industry communities globally However since this is currently being misused we will delete this list to avoid unwelcome email traffic that is not relevant to recipients. You DO NOT NEED TO UN-SUBSCRIBE FROM YOUR COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST . |
2. 6. 2014
Jenže neviditelná ruka trhu Brazílii zfackovala za její tvrdošíjnou demokratickou volbu. Brazilská měna přišla o 30 procent své hodnoty, 6 miliard dolarů horkých peněz opustilo zemi a některé agentury daly Brazílii nejvyšší rizikové hodnocení na světě. "Jsme ve vládě, ale nemáme žádnou moc," řekl Lulův blízký poradce, dominikánský mnich Frei Betto. "Dnešní moc je globální moc, moc velkých podniků, moc finančního kapitálu."
Omezená schopnost vlád států realizovat jakoukoliv politiku, kterou předem neschválil mezinárodní kapitál, je dnes křížem, na nějž jsme byli přibiti všichni. Národní stát je poslední zbývající primární demokratická struktura. Avšak vzhledem k intenzitě neoliberální globalizace už zjevně národní stát nesplňuje svou roli.
Z mnoha hledisek jsou korporace vlivnějšími hráči v globálních záležitostech než státy," píše Benjamin Barder v knize Jihad versus McWorld. "Říkáme jim multinacionální, ale jsou vlastně postnacionální, transnacionální nebo dokonce protinacionální. Protože odmítají samotnou myšlenku národů i veškerý ostatní provincionalismus, který je omezuje v čase či v prostoru."
Nedávné úspěchy ultrapravice v evropských parlamentních volbách jen dokazují, jak patologickými se tyto příznaky staly. Nacionalistické a otevřeně xenofobní strany zvítězily ve třech zemích - v Dánsku, ve Francii a v Británii - a získaly více než 10 procent v dalších pěti zemích. Toto vítězství ve volbách do parlamentu s velmi malou mocí s velmi malou účastí se samozřejmě nesmí přehánět. UKIP získala v Británii jen 9 procent podpory všech voličů, francouzská Národní fronta jen 10,6 procent a dánská Lidová strana 15 procent. Avšak tento trend se ani nesmí podceňovat. Za posledních třicet let se fašismus proměnil z marginálního v ústřední politický směr v evropské politické kultuře.
Když však popisujeme tyto strany jako rasistické, není to přesné. Jejich atraktivita spočívá v daleko širších obavách veřejnosti ohledně toho, do jak velké míry utvářejí naši politiku a ekonomiku síly, které nejsou kontrolovány nikým. Jsme všichni poháněni směrem ke kosmopolitanismu, v němž jsou občané, kteří se kdysi cítili bezpečně v rámci své národní totožnosti a finančních jistot, vyloučeni z jakéhokoliv rozhodování o svém osudu.
Reakce na tento strach jsou rasově problematické. Avšak ten strach sám je důvodný. Levice zápolí s týmiž problémy. V nedávných eurovolbách zaznamenala i tvrdá levice podstatné zisky. V šesti zemích EU získaly socialistické strany, kritické vůči neoliberální globalizaci, vice než 10 procent hlasů, včetně strany Syriza, která volby vyhrála v Řecku. Tyto strany jsou také euroskeptické. Avšak to je motivováno nikoliv antipatiemi vůči cizincům, ale touhou po větší demokracii v EU a po větší národní autonomii.
"Zdá se jasné, že ... nacionalismus není vyčerpanou silou," argumentoval nedávno zemřelý kulturolog Stuart Hall v eseji "Our Mongrel Selves (Naše míšenecké já)"."Politicky není nacionalismus nutně ani reakční, ani pokrokovou silou." Pravici se hodí skrývat svou rasistickou motivaci v těchto zamlžených rozdílech, aby vypadala umírněnější. "Naši lidí požadují jediný typ politiky: chtějí politiku Francouzů pro Francouze a s Francouzi," řekla Marine Le Penová ve svém projevu po svém volebním vítězství. "Nechtějí, aby je někdo vedl zvnějšku. To, co se děje ve Francii, se stane ve všech evropských zemích: je to návrat národa."
To je velmi nepravděpodobné. Je nejasné, jakým způsobem chtějí tyto strany vrátit hodiny zpět a do jakého roku. Ani pravice, ani levice nemají řešení pro tuto krizi. Avšak zatímco levice doufá, že bude v budoucnosti vytvářet inkluzivnější společnost, pravice si vybudovala svou populistickou popularitu na návratu do minulosti, v níž byla většina národa z rozhodování a z hospodářského prospěchu vyloučena.
Protože neexistuje žádná vážná strategie na ochranu demokracie, pravice se namísto toho rozhodla bránit "kulturu", kterou označuje jako "tradici", povyšuje ji na "dědictví" a představuje si ji jako neměnnou. Vyvolala mýtus národní čistoty a pak útočí na ty, kteří ji pošpiňují - nekvalifikované přistěhovalce, Romy, muslimy. Na tyto lidi je lehké útočit, zatímco neoliberální globalizace - ta moc bez tváře - je nehmotná a uniká.
"Menšiny jsou obětním beránkem v situaci nejistoty, ve vztahu mezi každodenním životem a jeho rychle se měnícím globálním zázemím," piše Arjun Appadurai v knize Far of Small Numbers (Strach z malých počtů). "Tato nejistota, která se zvyšuje v důsledku neschopnosti států uhájit si hospodářskou suverenitu v éře globalizace, se může proměnit v absenci tolerance jakéhokoliv kolektivního cizince." Nesnášenlivost vůči jiným lidem se mění podle kontextu: jsou to Romové v Maďarsku, Rumuni v Británii, Hispánci v USA a muslimové skoro všude na Západě. Avšak rétorika a skutečná podstata krize zůstávají konstantní. Je to globální ekonomika, která určuje náš příběh.
Kompletní článek v angličtině ZDE |
Image caption This image shows the first waters of the tsunami breaching the Fukushima power plant's buildings
Japan was unprepared for a nuclear accident on the scale of the one at the Fukushima plant, the government said in a report to be submitted to the IAEA.
The report says poor oversight may also have contributed to the crisis.
The authorities have pledged to make the country's nuclear regulator (Nisa) independent of the industry ministry, which also promotes nuclear power.
It comes after Nisa doubled its initial estimate of leaked radiation in the first week after the disaster.
The nuclear safety agency now says 770,000 terabecquerels escaped into the atmosphere following the 11 March disaster - more than double its earlier estimate of 370,000 terabecquerels.
Although the amount is just 15% of the total released at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 - the world's worst nuclear disaster - it suggests the contamination of the area around the plant is worse than first thought.
More than 80,000 local residents living within a 20km (12 mile) radius of the plant have been evacuated from their homes. A voluntary evacuation policy is operating in the area 20-30km from the plant.
Nearly three months into the crisis, the Fukushima Daiichi plant is still leaking radioactive material.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano says more evacuations are being considered. Monitoring shows the lie of the land and wind patterns may be causing a build-up of radiation in other areas.
Lessons learned
The government admitted that it was unprepared for a severe accident, in a report by Japan's nuclear emergency taskforce, to be handed in to the IAEA later this month.
''We are taking very seriously the fact... that consistent preparation for severe accidents was insufficient.
"In light of the lessons learned from the accident, Japan has recognised that a fundamental revision of its nuclear safety preparedness and response is inevitable,'' the taskforce said in an outline of the report.
The report also confirms that three reactors went into meltdown earlier than previously thought when the earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems and back-ups.
Earlier, Nisa said that in reactor No 1, molten nuclear fuel dropped to the bottom of the pressure vessel within five hours of the quake - 10 hours earlier than initially estimated by operator Tepco.
The safety agency also said a meltdown damaged the No 2 reactor after 80 hours, and the No 3 reactor after 79 hours of the twin natural disasters.
But the government says it is still on track to bring the reactors at Fukushima to a cold shutdown by January at the latest.
The government report comes as an independent 10-member expert panel begins an investigation into the causes of the nuclear accident.
An investigation by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has already pointed out a key failure - admitted by Japan - to plan for the risk of waves crashing over the sea wall and knocking out the plant's back-up generators.
Even though a major faultline lies just offshore, the sea wall at Fukushima was less than 6m (20ft) high. The height of the tsunami wave was about 14m.
In its draft report, the IAEA said continued monitoring of the health and safety of the nuclear workers and the general public was necessary.
The report also emphasised the importance of independent regulators in the nuclear industry. |
Covington is alive! Covington is a city of helping hands!
That's the messages behind the City of Covington's new branding initiative that will be celebrated Wednesday at what City Hall has dubbed a Throw Down House Party. The event kicks off at City Hall (22 West Pike Street) at 4 p.m.
The logo was created by Cincinnati-based branding firm Landor and was funded through the same grant that led to the Center City Action Plan that was finished in 2012. This is the image:
Read about city leaders' expectations and Landor's perspective on the branding: Click Here
The effort has inspired some light-hearted activities at City Hall including some of the administrators posing for selfies in front of Cov 200 murals:
City Manager Larry Klein flanked by Assistant City Manager Larisa Sims (left) and Director of Operations Lisa Desmarais
The unusual design is part of Covington's personality, Landor's project manager said. "We are real, raw, and refined. We’re not a cookie-cutter city and we would never fit with a cookie-cutter approach to branding," is part of the City's messaging with the brand. "We have an edge, a spark and we honor individualism. We need an identity that can celebrate all of our people and assets, helping us all come together yet challenge conformity."
"Covington doesn’t have to do things in the same way that other cities do. We don’t want to be everything for everyone, and we also don’t want to be something we’re not. We must be must be true to ourselves. And we think Covington is amazing today with incredible opportunity and momentum. This brand helps us come together with a hopeful and optimistic voice. It will help the City distinguish itself as a residential and business friendly environment."
So what happens to the historic seal? It goes away. At Tuesday night's city commission meeting, Assistant City Manager Frank Warnock said that the City expects people to mock and hack the image, and that's part of its development. The City hopes to see people's creative interpretations of what the logo can be used for, even if it's a negative reflection.
Covington, after all, is alive.
When the image first surfaced, some city leaders were not optimistic, but the image was bolstered by this accompanying video:
So, what do you think? Weigh in at The River City News Facebook page, Twitter, or email us! |
The review found that corporate donations — many of them previously unreported — went to groups large and small, dedicated to shaping public policy on the state and national levels. From a redistricting fight in Minnesota to the sprawling battleground of the 2012 presidential and Congressional elections, corporations are opening their wallets and altering the political world.
Some of the biggest recipients of corporate money are organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, the federal designation for “social welfare” groups dedicated to advancing broad community interests. Because they are not technically political organizations, they do not have to register with or disclose their donors to the Federal Election Commission , potentially shielding corporate contributors from shareholders or others unhappy with their political positions.
“Companies want to be able to quietly push for their political agendas without being held accountable for it by their customers,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which has filed complaints against issue groups. “I think the 501(c)(4)’s are likely to outweigh super PAC spending, because so many donors want to remain anonymous.”
Because social welfare groups are prohibited from devoting themselves primarily to political activity, many spend the bulk of their money on issue advertisements that purport to be educational, not political, in nature. In May, for example, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, a group co-founded by the Republican strategist Karl Rove , began a $25 million advertising campaign, carefully shaped with focus groups of undecided voters, that attacks Mr. Obama for increasing the federal deficit and urges him to cut spending.
The Internal Revenue Service has no clear test for determining what constitutes excessive political activity by a social welfare group. And tax-exempt groups are permitted to begin raising and spending money even before the I.R.S. formally recognizes them. Two years after helping Republicans win control of the House with millions of dollars in issue advertising, Crossroads GPS’s application for tax-exempt status is still pending.
During the 2010 midterm elections, tax-exempt groups outspent super PACs by a 3-to-2 margin, according to a recent study by the Center for Responsive Politics and the Center for Public Integrity, with most of that money devoted to attacking Democrats or defending Republicans. And such groups have accounted for two-thirds of the political advertising bought by the biggest outside spenders so far in the 2012 election cycle, according to Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group, with close to $100 million in issue ads.
The growing role of issue groups has prompted a rash of complaints and lawsuits from watchdog organizations accusing groups like the American Action Network, Crossroads and the pro-Obama Priorities USA of operating as sham charities whose primary purpose is not the promotion of social welfare, but winning elections. Efforts in Congress to force more disclosure for politically active nonprofit organizations have been repeatedly stymied by Republicans, who have described the push as an assault on free speech.
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“These groups are being used as a conduit to hide from voters the identity of people and corporations who are bankrolling these television ads, which are designed to influence the outcome of elections,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland .
But Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for Crossroads, said, “Individuals and organizations have a First Amendment right to promote their beliefs through advertising, be that advertising against the Iraq war, against climate change or, in the case of Crossroads, advocating for free markets and limited government.”
Labor unions — themselves among the beneficiaries of Citizens United — have also donated millions of dollars to national super PACs and state-level nonprofit groups involved in battles over government spending, collective bargaining and health care.
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Donations from corporations and unions alike must be disclosed if they go to expressly political groups like super PACs.
In April, for example, the air traffic controllers’ union contributed $1 million to a pro-Obama super PAC. But other contributions are harder to trace. Last year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees gave $100,000 to Advancing Wisconsin , a tax-exempt group that supported labor’s fight with Republicans in that state; the donation was reported nowhere in Wisconsin, but it emerged in an annual financial report that unions must file with the federal Department of Labor .
Among the largest beneficiaries of corporate donations in recent years have been trade organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which largely backs Republican candidates. As a nonprofit “business league” under the tax code, the chamber does not have to disclose its supporters, who helped finance its $33 million in political ads in the 2010 midterm elections.
But voluntary disclosures by corporations — usually at the prodding of shareholder advocacy groups — shed some light on the use of trade groups for lobbying or as pass-throughs for political spending. A search of voluntary disclosures, some collected by the Center for Political Accountability, which advocates for transparency in corporate political spending, found more than $6 million in chamber donations by 10 companies last year.
Two of the largest came from Prudential Financial and Dow Chemical, which each gave $1.6 million, while Chevron , MetLife and Merck each gave at least $500,000. Some of the donations were directed to the chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform, which lobbies for limits on liability suits.
Some contributions are disclosed by accident. Aetna’s check to the American Action Network, along with a $4.5 million contribution last year to the chamber, was mistakenly included in a filing with insurance regulators. The disclosure was first reported by SNL Financial, a trade publication. Even where companies pledge voluntary disclosure of political contributions, they often make an exception for donations to tax-exempt groups.
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In 2007, Aetna signed an agreement with the Mercy Investment Program, a shareholders group, to disclose trade associations to which it made large contributions. On regulatory filings, the company initially described its $3 million contribution to the Chamber of Commerce as a lobbying expense, but the company now says it was intended to finance “educational activities.”
An Aetna spokesman would not say whether the chamber donation would appear on the company’s 2011 voluntary disclosure. Sister Valerie Heinonen, the director of shareholder advocacy for Mercy Investment Services, said that a failure to do so would violate the company’s pledge.
Beyond the contributions to large, established nonprofits like the chamber and American Action Network, corporate money is also quietly shaping the political discourse through more obscure groups, none of which are required to disclose their donors.
In Minnesota last year, Express Scripts , a major drug benefit manager, gave $10,000 to a Republican-linked group, Minnesotans for a Fair Redistricting, involved in a partisan fight over redrawing legislative boundaries. Express Scripts made the donation, previously unreported, because the “electoral maps in Minnesota were in doubt and we supported efforts to bring certainty to Minnesota voters,” said Brian Henry, a spokesman for the company, which is based in St. Louis . He added that the firm has a facility in Bloomington, Minn.
The reasons behind American Electric Power’s $1 million contribution to the little-known Founding Fund are less clear. The company characterized it as “lobbying” in a corporate governance disclosure last year, but the fund says it does no lobbying. The fund, whose address is a mail drop in Alexandria , Va., would not make any of its directors available for an interview.
The fund’s treasurer, Frank Sadler, is a lobbyist who previously worked for Koch Industries advising nonprofit groups that support free market causes, although he said the Kochs, major Republican donors, were not involved in the group. In its public filings, the fund said it expected to raise about $10 million this election cycle, primarily from corporations, and use it to promote free markets and “the narrowing of the scope and reach of the federal government.”
A spokesman for American Electric Power, Pat D. Hemlepp, said the company supports organizations “with positions on issues that align with AEP’s positions” and strives to be transparent on political giving. “We also respect the positions of others, including some of the organizations that receive funding from AEP, to not publicly disclose funding or activities. That’s their right under the law.” |
After some hint of a launch in recent weeks our assumptions have come true with ANZ today announcing they have launched Apple Pay for their Australian customers. This could and should be the first now of many banks to turn on a feature which adds great value to the end user – their customer.
Where there is smoke there is fire we said, and that turns out to be true.
In CEO Tim Cook’s comments yesterday during Apple’s quarterly earnings call there was no mention of a launch, but certainly great talk of the growth of Apple Pay globally.
“The reach of Apple Pay also continues to expand, following a very successful launch in China in the March quarter and last week’s rollout in Singapore. Apple Pay is growing at a tremendous pace, with more than 5 times the transaction volume of a year-ago, and one million new users per week. There are more than 10 million contactless-ready locations in the countries where Apple Pay has launched to date, including over 2.5 million locations now accepting Apple Pay in the U.S., and more expansion of Apple Pay is coming soon.”
That “soon” is today for Australians, with ANZ customers now able to add their credit cards to Apple pay to enable swift mobile payments on their compatible iPhones or Apple Watches.
ANZ Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott said: “The introduction of Apple Pay is a significant milestone in our strategy to use digital technology to provide our customers with a superior experience and will be a watershed moment in the adoption of mobile payments in Australia.
“I’m proud we’re the first major Australian bank to offer Apple Pay and we are confident the convenience, security and privacy will be well received by our customers.
“With the high adoption rates of contactless payments in Australia, our customers will be world leaders in their ability to use their mobiles to make the vast bulk of essential payments,” Mr Elliott said.
This comes as VISA launches a direct mobile payment campaign which while not device specific will certainly generate great interest. Their social media promotion of the “Pay with your smartphone” will push mobile device payments on social as well as through search keywords and likely mainstream media.
This could also indicate the complexity of the behind the scenes deals over recent months is that the only cards accepted in Apple Pay by ANZ at this time are VISA. This means any ANZ MasterCard can’t be used and probably indicates some negotiation on rates and fees between the banks, VISA and Apple.
Certainly though you’ll need to check your specific ANZ card for compatibility before jumping in to add it to your iPhone.
UPDATE: EFTM have confirmed that ANZ issued AMEX cards are also accepted by Apple Pay now also.
“American Express welcomes the addition of ANZ as a provider of Apple Pay in Australia. This means that more Australians with American Express cards, those issued directly by us, and by ANZ, can enjoy the ease and convenience of paying with Apple Pay whilst earning rewards.”
“As the first issuer to introduce Apple Pay in Australia, we know that it’s becoming a popular payment option for our tech savvy Card Members, and are thrilled that more people can now use this digital wallet to make purchases.”
ANZ are going to take an aggressive stance on this too – despite being late to the party with AMEX in market for 5 months now, ANZ will be hammering the other banks in their marketing:
It’s good news as a huge leap forward for customers and if VISA itself is pushing it could see more banks follow soon.
I’m a man of my word, so I’ll stick to what I said In October last year – “Personally, I’m prepared to switch my normal bank accounts to the first bank to introduce Apple Pay.” I’ll find an ANZ branch within the week – your loss St George!
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head. He produces and hosts two popular podcasts, EFTM and Two Blokes Talking Tech. He also appears on over 50 radio stations across Australia weekly, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show each day and appears regularly on A Current Affair. Father of three, he is often found down in his Man Cave. Like this post? Buy Trev a drink!
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Ted Cruz, in his first major public appearance since exiting the 2016 presidential race, trashed the White House's recent public school guidance on transgender students as just the latest move by President Obama toward "politically correct lunacy."
"The president issued a decree to every public school in America demanding that they change their bathroom policies, demanding that every public school now allow grown men and boys into little girls' bathrooms," Cruz told a crowd at the Texas Republican convention in Dallas Saturday. "We have entered the world of politically correct lunacy."
Cruz was referring to new directives from the departments of Justice and Education that instructed public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms and locker rooms that corresponded to their gender identity, rather than the gender listed on their birth certificate. The Obama administration released the guidelines Friday, sparking the immediate ire of several conservative state officials and politicians.
White House guidelines on transgender rights at school
"There is nothing in the Constitution that gives the president the power to be the bathroom police for this country," Cruz said.
The Texas senator's remarks follow similar comments by the state's lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, when he said Friday that Texas "will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States."
Patrick went so far as to suggest that Mr. Obama was "probably paying back the lesbian, gay and transgender community that helped him defeat Hillary Clinton in 2008 or he believes in this policy."
While Cruz called for a "strong conservative president who will repeal common core and abolish the Department of Education," the former Republican primary contender gave no hints as to who he would like to see in the Oval Office.
Rather, his address to the Republican gathering focused on thanking the Texas supporters that had propped up his flagging presidential bid.
"It has been a privilege to run the campaign and stand with each of you," Cruz said. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you."
He added that his fight for conservative principles would continue into the Senate and encouraged the crowd to "have hope."
Earlier this week, Cruz filed paperwork to run for his Senate seat in 2018, but in Dallas, Cruz also left the door open for another possible presidential bid in 2020.
"I don't know what the future will hold," Cruz said Saturday. He also gave a nod to his early running mate pick, Carly Fiorina, saying "she would've made a phenomenal vice president."
"And," he added, "she just might someday in the future." |
The first of what may eventually be as many as 15 newly built green homes in Pilsen has sold at a price that set a new record for the gentrifying neighborhood. And two more that are soon to finish may raise the ante even further.
The three-bedroom, 3,200-square-foot house on Newberry Avenue sold for just under $685,000 in late October, according to the listing agent. It's the highest price for a home sold in Pilsen in at least the past six years, according to the records of Midwest Real Estate Data, and only the second above $600,000.
Two more homes by the same builder, Cill Dara Construction, are under contract to buyers, to be sold when construction is complete in the next few months. Their asking prices are $700,000 and $714,900. The listing agent for all three, Phillip Buoscio of Better Living Realty, could not disclose their contracted sale prices but said "they'll help prove our case for this market."
With Cill Dara's president, Patrick Buckley, Buoscio wants to make the case that green-built houses can raise the roof on home prices in Pilsen.
Based on Buoscio's research with homebuyers and appraisers, "we think people will pay a premium of about $50,000 for the green features that make a house healthier to live in," he said, "but they won't go for more than that."
He and Buckley chose green options that together would add $50,000 or less to the cost of the home. They included super-tight construction that eliminates cold air leaks, a
system that circulates fresh outdoor air inside the house year-round, finishes that have few or no volatile organic compounds and a type of drywall that "eats" VOCs to improve indoor air quality, according to the manufacturer. Two of the houses complete or underway are on Newberry Street and a third is on Cullerton Street.
"There are also nice, pretty things like bamboo floors," said Kimberly Galban, who with her partner, Erling Wu-Bower, bought the house on Newberry Street last month, "but we think the heart of it, the real green features, are more important." The couple also had solar panels installed on the roof, at an additional cost not in their purchase contract.
Galban said they didn't blink at paying a price that set a new high bar for the neighborhood. "Even with the green features, we paid less per square foot than we were seeing in Logan Square," she said.
Forty newly built homes have been sold in Logan Square in the past year, at an average of $264 per square foot, according to MRED. Galban, vice president of operations at One Off Hospitality, and Wu-Bower, chef de cuisine at Nico Osteria, paid $224 a foot for their house.
Starting with a lower land price makes tacking on $50,000 for green features a little easier to swallow. Last November, Buckley's firm paid $325,000 for the lot where he built Galban's new home. For a slightly larger lot on Maplewood in Logan Square, a builder paid $625,000 at about the same time. |
Non-native French speakers like myself have a hard time grappling with the French spelling system. It may seem arbitrary to write seconde and pronounce it segond, or frustrating that there is no rule to define why déçu has an accent on the e, but reçu doesn’t.
C'est la vie, mon ami.— say the French
Now that I live in French Guiana, I am trying to come up with strategies to make these words easier to learn.
Focus on the most common words
Dictionaries sort words by alphabetical order, which is convenient if you are looking for a definition, but masochistic if you are trying to figure out which words are the important ones.
One way is to sort them by frequency of usage. You take a bunch of French text and you count how many times each words appears, then you sort them by their frequency. Common words like de, je and le appear at the very top, and words like macarron, compétiteur and an antisportif show up at the bottom.
You have to do some trickery to combine words that share the same stem (for example: enchanté, enchantée, enchantés and enchantées) so they all add up as the same word, but it’s manageable. Here is my quick-and-dirty attempt to sort French words based on their usage (the file has four columns: stem, frequency, the most common word with that stem, that word without any accents (I use this column to play a guessing game)).
Once you have that file, you can start enjoying some seriously fun language-geekery.
Finding patterns amid the French chaos
The White Whale of French accents has to be the é. Every French student knows that the participe passé of -er verbs like chanter ends in é (chanté), but what are the rules governing words like préféré, élève, or fréquence?
Some sites can tell you the multiple spelling rules with their corresponding multiple exceptions, but they are not very helpful because our brains are not wired to deal with detailed rules and exceptions. Besides, native French speakers don’t study these rules. What we excel at is association and intuition. It’s much easier to memorize the lyrics of a song than 100 random words.
Divide and conquer
I have always wanted to know if I should accent words that begin with e. In the past, I grabbed my Petit Robert and tried making a list of words that began with é and another of words that began with e. I then promptly went on to forget everything from both lists.
A better approach is to focus on a few common words each day and reverse engineer the spelling rules. To add another layer of association, you can group them by type of word: words that begin with é, words that contain two és separated by a consonant, words that have an é in the second position. Pick whatever you are having trouble with.
Focus on the exceptions: words that begin with é
For example, I can use AWK to grab all the words that start with either é or e and show their frequency:
awk '$3 ~ "^é" && $2 > 500 {print $2, $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt 170230 était 28392 écoute 12778 étrange 12660 école 10824 équipe ... 561 élite 543 épingle 538 éclaté 518 épicerie 501 écureuil
In total, there are 123 words, but they are not all equally important: école is 25 times more common than épicerie.
Let’s see what words that start with e look like:
awk '$3 ~ "^e" && $2 > 500 {print $2, $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt 69775 encore 50094 entendu 42068 enfants 27877 entre 25380 elles ... 528 effraie 519 endommagé 509 edgar 508 estimé 506 endurer
There are around 200 commonly-used words that start with e. If we compare both lists we can see that no word that starts with é is followed by an x, an s, or a double consonant (ll, rr, ff).
awk '$3 ~ "^é[xs]|^é(ll|rr|ff)" && $2 > 500 {print $2, $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt | wc -l 0 # extra essai ellipse erreur effacer ...
We can also see that words that start with e seem to be followed by n or m, and that only a handful of words break this rule:
awk '$3 ~ "^e[nm]" && $2 > 500 {print $2, $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt | wc -l 108 # ex: entendu enfants entre ensemble endroit ... ... awk '$3 ~ "^é[nm]" && $2 > 500 {print $2, $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt 3661 énorme 3193 énergie 2474 énerve 2344 émission 2229 émotions
The words that break the n/m rule contain an é that is pronounced by itself (it forms its own syllable), unlike the rest of en/em words. You should focus your memorization efforts on these outcasts and assume that the remaining words follow the rule.
Guess wisely: words with é in the second position
We can use a similar approach to look at words that have é in the second position:
awk '$3 ~ "^.é" && $2 > 500 {print $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt | cut -c2 | sort | uniq -c | sort -k1,1gr 113 dé 64 ré 19 mé 16 sé 15 pé 10 hé 9 lé 8 gé 8 né 7 bé 7 té 7 vé 6 cé 6 fé
Holy Molly! This breakdown shows that words that begin with dé or ré make up 60% of the common words that have é in the second position ((113 + 64) / 300). Let’s focus on those two.
awk '$3 ~ "^de" && $2 > 500 {print $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt | wc -l 62 awk '$3 ~ "^re" && $2 > 500 {print $3}' fr_frequency_stems.txt | wc -l 152
Well, that’s interesting. There are twice as many dé words than de words, but there are twice as many re words as there are ré words. This means that if you are not sure how to accent a word you should guess dé and re.
Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any obvious rules that we can follow to determine if these words should have é or e, so we will have to come up with our own associations.
For example, memorizing words that look alike is easier if we focus on their differences rather than if we learn them independently:
début - debout désert - dessert démarrer - demander détruire - destruction déssigner - design
You can also make up memorable stories:
La secrétaire a gardé l'accent de secret
There are hundreds of little tricks but this post has gone on long enough. I hope this approach makes your studying more effective. Let me know how it goes and share your own strategies in the comments.
UPDATE: Regarding a few comments on Reddit The diacritics are there to change the pronunciation, but non-native speakers don’t always know if a word should be pronounced é or e. I don’t know if it’s because I’m Spanish, but I’m tempted to want to say sécret (just like sécurité) instead of secret. If I know how secret is written, I can make an effort to pronounce it properly; other times I will use my knowledge of how it’s pronounced to write it properly. It’s a two-prong approach. |
By HOSHMAND OTHMAN
The United States has conveyed to Ankara its concern about Turkey's oil companies' direct involvement in Iraqi Kurdistan Federal Region, raising Washington’s fear that the close tie between Ankara and the Iraqi Kurdistan regional capital, Erbil, could further push Baghdad towards Tehran or even lead to the partition of Iraq, Turkish media reported early January.
Although it is not clear how serious is the US warning, the recently announced project of linking Iraqi Kurdistan's oil and gas fields to Turkey and to the world market, through a network of pipeline to be completed by 2016, seems to be at the centre of the US concern.
If implemented, this project would mark a turning point in the growing cooperation between Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the field of energy, and will undeniably have significant geopolitical repercussions.
Turkish new regional role
In order to meet its growing ambitions to become a leading regional economic and political power, Turkey needs Iraqi Kurdistan's natural resources, as one of its major tools.
Turkey depends on imports for over 90 percent of its oil and natural gas. According to a Turkish foreign ministry paper published in 2012, by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic Studies, in about 130 million barrels of crude oil, which Turkey imported in 2011, close to 90 million barrels came from Russia and Iran. The same report indicates that Turkey’s principal energy demand is expected to rise by four percent per year until 2020.
Kurdistan's current political stability and security could become crucial for countries, which see this Region as a significant source of their energy security, including Turkey.
Kurdistan Region's oil and gas can significantly reduce Turkish energy reliance on its main suppliers, help diversify its energy sources and boost its domestic economy and its new growing regional policy.
Furthermore, with the two competing planned gas pipeline networks, Nabucco and South Stream projects, due to connect Caucasus and Russia's gas fields to Europe through Turkish territory and its maritime pathway, Turkey has become the unavoidable zone for a significant part of Europe's energy supply. Turkish new target seems to be including the Kurdish oil and gas pipeline as its third network of energy supply to the international market.
Such situation would also put Turkey in a strong position towards Europe, which currently witnesses a decline in its economic growth.
The 45 billion barrels which the KRG estimates as its oil reserves, and more than 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, have not left international oil companies and Western countries indifferent. Since the ratification of Iraq's new Constitution in 2005, recognizing the Iraqi Kurdistan self-administered region as a federal entity, the KRG has signed exploration contracts with several international oil companies, including giants such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Total and Gasprom.
Kurdistan's current political stability and security could become crucial for countries, which see this Region as a significant source of their energy security, including Turkey.
The rapprochement between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey, which, seemingly, has a new political vision for the region, recognizing the Iraqi Kurdish entity, and an important political openness towards its own Kurds, is a significant geopolitical development.
Turkey also plays an important role in the events in Syria, by supporting anti-Assad opposition forces and seeking to have a say in the future of this country. It has positioned itself in the same line as the Arab Sunni states aiming to reduce Shiite regional influence.
If the efforts to connect Kurdistan Region's oil and gas fields to Turkey, and from there to the world market, were crowned with success, it could consolidate Kurdistan Region's autonomy vis-à-vis Baghdad, and boost its economic development.
However, for the Kurds, this adventure with Turkey needs a solid political and economic alternative as backup in case of failure.
However, for the Kurds, this adventure with Turkey needs a solid political and economic alternative as backup in case of failure.
Iraq’s internal dynamics
This backup can come from Iraq itself.
The geopolitical conjuncture of the Kurdish issue in Iraq offers a better opportunity today than in the past century to secure alternatives in the event that any alliance with any neighbouring country, fails - in comparison to 1975 when the Shah of Iran broke his alliance with Iraqi Kurds, resulting in an immediate collapse of the Kurdish movement.
Today, more than seventy percent of Iraqi Kurdistan is recognized as a self-governing federal region by the Iraqi federal Constitution. It is the first time that Iraqi Kurdistan obtains such legal status, where a local parliament and government run the Region.
However, the ongoing tension between Baghdad and Kurdistan over the constitutionality of KRG’s contracts with international oil companies and over the disputed Kurdish areas, Arabized by the former Iraqi regime, has been continuing since 2006 with successive governments in Baghdad.
Baghdad considers KRG's unilateral deals with international oil companies illegal and has recently warned the Kurds against any attempt to export oil.
The KRG says the contracts are legal, based on the fact that the Iraqi federal Constitution "gives primacy to regional law except in areas listed under the exclusive powers of the federal authorities. Oil and gas are not listed under the exclusive powers of the federal government. All oil contracts in the Region fall within the KRG oil and gas law, debated and passed by the Kurdistan parliament in 2007 and fully in line with the relevant provisions of the permanent Constitution", the KRG stated on its website last January.
So far Iraq has not made any counter legal argument to explain how KRG contracts with international oil companies are unconstitutional.
The tensions seem to be more politically motivated than being a legal and constitutional issue. No matter who is prime minister in Baghdad, this state of instability may well continue and escalate furthermore, unless a new foundation for a new political and economic partnership is agreed between Iraq’s major political components, taking into account Kurdistan's growing political and economic reality.
In an editorial published last December, the Baghdad-based newspaper, Al Sabah, proposed that while continual dialogue to settle the current problems between Baghdad and Erbil has not produced any permanent settlement, the only solution might be Kurdistan becoming an independent state. The importance of this proposal comes from the fact that Al Sabah is the mouthpiece of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki.
There is no reason for the United States to be concerned that the Kurdish-Turkish pipeline project could push Baghdad further towards Teheran.
Whatever is the newspaper’s insinuation, Iraq's border dismantling at this stage could provoke unknown repercussions at a time when the political outcome of the Arab Spring conflicts is still not visible.
A confederation of independent entities
However, a confederation of equally independent entities within Iraq could introduce a medium, if not, long-term regional equilibrium, that can progressively make Iraq stable. This confederal status can go as far as granting Kurdistan the right to export oil and gas, control its air space and recognition of its international representations, among others.
KRG may be able to negotiate this status with Baghdad by becoming one of the major contributors to Iraq’s economy. Kurdistan can sell oil and gas at a special price to Iraq to export to Asian markets through the Gulf.
The foundation of this mechanism is actually already in place. According to an agreement reached between Baghdad and Erbil in 2011, and amended last September, the Iraqi government agreed to market between 175,000 to 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil produced in Kurdistan by international oil companies.
In addition, Kurdistan Region’s reserves in oil and gas can ensure its production capacity to more than two million barrels per day within three to four years. This amount is equal to two thirds of Iraq’s current production capacity of three million barrels per day.
While its confederal status could allow exporting oil and gas legally and independently to Turkey, and keep a close tie with this country, Kurdistan could at the same time enjoy a solid position inside Iraq.
Thus, securing both Baghdad and Ankara can provide political and economic security to Iraqi Kurds in case of failure of their alliance with Turkey or Iraq; and bring about a united confederation.
The first measure to take in this direction would be launching a trust-building process between Baghdad and Erbil to negotiate and settle the immediate outstanding issues: oil contracts and the disputed areas, under the auspices of the international community, above all the United States.
There is no reason for the United States to be concerned that the Kurdish-Turkish pipeline project could push Baghdad further towards Teheran.
Baghdad's refusal to abide by those Articles of the Constitution, which propose settlement for the outstanding issues, is one of the main reasons which have widen the gap between Baghdad and Erbil and, consequently, pushed the Kurdistan Region to get closer to Turkey.
Kurdistan can sell oil and gas at a special price to Iraq to export to Asian markets through the Gulf.
Regarding US fears that a close Kurdish-Turkish tie may lead to the partition of Iraq, it is to underline that a geopolitical settlement of establishing a confederation of independent entities in Iraq can bring about a united country and long-term regional equilibrium and stability.
Given the current Kurdistan Region’s political and economic development, such confederation remains the only viable solution to keep Iraq together.
Ten years after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the time has come for the United States to broker a permanent settlement of Iraq’s outstanding issues.
The time when many in the West believed that the only way to achieve stability was for a strong leader to keep the country and its people together with an iron fist, is, in principle, over. The Arab Spring has shown how devastating was that approach.
* Hoshmand Othman MA in Middle Eastern history and politics, EHESS, Paris, France. |
Dr Gorringe, a faculty in the School of Social and Political Science, has slammed Prof. Appa Rao for using force to suppress the students’ voice.
Hyderabad: Dr Hugo Gorringe, senior lecturer of sociology from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, has written an open letter to UoH vice-chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile saying that he and other members of the global community of scholars are reconsidering continuation of research links and ties with the university in view of its “high-handedness” with students.
Dr Gorringe, a faculty in the School of Social and Political Science, has slammed Prof. Appa Rao for using force to suppress the students’ voice.
“For a university to thrive, it requires a culture of open discussion, vibrant debate and tolerance of alternatives. All of these public virtues are currently being eroded on your campus. To try and win an argument by force is a clear admission of the weakness of your position,” said Dr Gorringe in the letter, which has now gone viral.
“We of the global scholarly community make an urgent appeal calling for an immediate halt to the violence unleashed against peacefully protesting students at the UoH. The heavy-handed and forceful repression of protest has no place in a democratic society, still less in a seat of knowledge and debate,” he said.
“In the face of such flagrant repression, we find ourselves compelled to ask whether we can any longer continue to sustain research links and ties with the UoH. Many of us have strong academic connections and affiliations to colleagues at the UoH and admire the work of the many scholars based there.”
Listen to the students, Hyderabad varsity V-C told
Slamming vice-chancellor Appa Rao Podile for using force to suppress the students’ voice, Dr Hugo Gorringe, senior lecturer of sociology from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in a letter to the UoH, said, “At present, the UoH in no way resembles an institution of higher education and erudition,” he added.
Dr Gorringe, a scholar in the area of social and political movements both in South India and Scotland, has appealed to Prof. Appa Rao to listen to the students instead of using the police to silence dissent.
Dr Gorringe, who was one of the many professors from across the world who had earlier written an open letter in January demanding justice after the death of Rohith Vemula, said: “Rather than trying to silence dissent, the university management would be much better advised to engage with and listen to their student critics. The tragic death of Rohith Vemula shocked the world and should have resulted in institutional reforms and learning. Instead, the situation is being exacerbated.” |
Introduction
Vitamins
Antioxidants
Trace elements
Aminoacids
Polyunsaturated fatty acids
Aging effects
Bioavailability
Circulation
The 10 top foods that are the foundation of healthy hair diet.
Patient education
References
Introduction
Healthy looking hair is in general a sign of good health and good hair-care practices. Most healthy individuals have adequate nutrients in their diet; however some people do not have access to good nutrition, others have medical illnesses that predispose them to nutritional deficiency which influence scalp / body hair.
Nutrition is a complex subject – the effects of correct nutrition are indirect and often slow to appear. Hair in particular is slow to respond to any stimulus. Trials have indicated that correct nutrition is instrumental in healthy hair growth, and conversely many deficiencies correlate with hair loss.
Hair nutrition is therefore a vital part of any treatment regime. A truly systematic and rigorous approach must be taken when formulating a nutritional supplement for hair due the many factors that affect the eventual efficacy of the treatment.
Malnutrition, congenital heart disease, neuromuscular disease, chronic illnesses, malignancy, alcoholism, and advanced age can cause hair to change colour, be weakened, or lost.
Genetics and health are factors in hair wellbeing. Proper nutrition is important. The living part of hair is under the scalp skin where its root is housed within its follicle. It derives its nutrients from blood. Health concerns e.g. stress, trauma, medications, medical conditions, heavy metals, smoking etc. can affect the hair.
Hair is the fastest growing natural tissue in the human body: the average rate of growth is 0.5cm – 1.7cm per month depending on ethnicity. Optimal growth occurs from age 15 – 30 and reduces from age 40 – 50. although men find beard hair grows faster beyond the age of 50 years. Hair products (shampoos or vitamin supplements) have not been shown to noticeably change this rate. The cycles of growth of each follicle consist of creation followed by self destruction. During each new cycle the follicle is partially recreated.
The speed of hair growth is based upon genetics, gender, age, hormones. It may be reduced by nutrient deficiency (i.e., anorexia, anemia, zinc deficiency) and hormonal fluctuations (i.e., menopause, polycystic ovaries, thyroid disease).
It is important to mention that many of the metabolic requirements of follicle cells (minerals and vitamins) must be satisfied for optimal hair growth (not always derived from fast foods and punishing work schedules).
Nutritionists confirm that people with certain nutritional deficiencies tend to have dry, stringy and dull hair, and sometimes experience hair loss. Fortunately the latter can be restored once the deficiency is addressed.
Crash diets cause temporary hair loss due to incumbent nutritional factors e.g. anorexia, bulimia and other medical conditions.
Diets should contain protein, fruits, vegetables, grains, and an appropriate amount of fat. Deficiency will typically show in the hair. A mild case of anemia can cause shedding of hair. B group vitamins are significantly important for healthy hair, especially biotin.
When the body is under threat it reprioritizes its processes – the vital organs will be attended first – hair follicles may not be considered a priority. While not all hair growth issues originate from malnutrition, it is a valuable symptom in diagnosis.
The essential omega-3 fatty acids, protein, vitamin B12, and iron, found in fish sources, prevent a dry scalp and dull hair color. Dark green vegetables contain high amounts of vitamins A and C, which help with production of sebum and provide a natural hair conditioner. Legumes provide protein to promote hair growth and also contain iron, zinc, and biotin. Biotin functions to activate certain enzymes that aid in metabolism of carbon dioxide as well as protein, fats, and carbohydrates. A deficiency in biotin intake can cause brittle hair and can lead to hair loss. In order to avoid a deficiency, individuals can find sources of biotin in cereal-grain products, liver, egg yolk, soy flour, and yeast. Nuts contain high sources of selenium and therefore are important for a healthy scalp. Alpha-linoleic acid and zinc are also found in some nuts and help condition the hair and prevent hair shedding that can be caused by a lack of zinc. Protein deficiencies or low-quality protein can produce weak and brittle hair, and can eventually result in loss of hair color. Low-fat dairy products are good sources of calcium, a key component for hair growth. A balanced diet is necessary for a healthy scalp and hair.
Healthy hair growth requires a complexity of nutrients and a ready supply of oxygen but comparatively few authoritive studies have trialled ingredients to maintain or promote hair growth. However a balanced, bioavailable formula to protect and maintain hair growth is vital. Dietary supplements marketed to thicken hair or make it grow faster may prove of nil value.
Vitamins
A good multivitamin can be a foundation of health and nutrition. Changes in skin and hair can provide clues to the presence of an underlying vitamin deficiency.
Hair ultimately reflects the overall condition of the body. In health problems or nutritional deficiencies hair may stop growing or become brittle. If a body is in good health, it is possible to maximize genetic growth cycle through taking the proper blend of amino acids and B-vitamins.
Certain vitamins, minerals and amino-acids are crucial to the metabolic pathways involved in keratin protein (hair) metabolism., leading to a potential loss of hair and substantial degradation of hair health. There is a rather adequate research basis to justify product effectiveness claims for a vitamin, mineral and amino-acid complex designed to supply the nutrients needed by healthy growing hair.
B5 (pantothenic acid) gives hair flexibility, strength and shine and helps prevent hair loss and greying. Vitamin B6 helps prevent dandruff and can be found in cereals, egg yolk and liver. Vitamin B12 helps prevent the loss of hair and can be found in fish, eggs, chicken and milk.
It is also important to include B6, biotin, inositol and folic acid in the supplemental program. It has been found that certain minerals including magnesium, sulfur, silica and zinc are also very important toward maintaining healthy hair.
Vitamins B1, B2, Niacin & Pantothenic acid
Reduced levels of thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin, and pantothenic acid can contribute to the undernourishment of hair-follicle cells. A dosage range of 25-50 mg daily is recommended.
Folic acid
A decrease in folic acid may contribute to decreased hair-follicle cell division and growth. Folic acid is also essential for the maintenance of healthy methionine levels in the body. Signs of folic-acid deficiency include anemia, apathy, fatigue, and graying hair. A therapeutic dose of 400-800 mcg daily is recommended.
Biotin
Biotin, part of the vitamin B complex, is another nutrient associated with hair loss. Biotin is required for a number of enzymatic reactions within the body, and is necessary for the proper metabolism of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Over time, poor metabolism of nutrients can contribute to undernourished hair follicle cells. Although rare, a biotin deficiency results in skin rashes and hair loss. A study conducted at Harvard University suggests that biotin is one of the most important nutrients for preserving hair strength, texture, and function.
People who are eating adequate amount of protein should not have a problem with biotin deficiency, though vegans may be at risk. Good food sources of biotin are eggs, liver and soy.
It’s not known if biotin supplements, which are marketed to help with male- and female-pattern baldness, can help with hair loss, and there are not any research indicating that the biotin in biotin hair products, such as shampoos, can be absorbed through the hair or scalp. The recommended dosage of d-biotin is 500-1000 mcg per day.
Vitamin C
One of vitamin C’s major functions is to help produce and maintain healthy collagen, the connective tissue type found within hair follicles. Vitamin C is also a strong antioxidant and protects both the cells found within follicles and cells in nearby blood vessels. A daily dose of 100-200 mg of vitamin C is recommended for hair and skin care. Vitamin C with bioflavonoids – one to two grams daily
Vitamin E
Vitamin E helps to maintain the integrity of cell membranes of hair follicles. The vitamin provides physical stability to cell membranes and acts as an antioxidant while promoting healthy skin and hair. A daily dose of vitamin E should be within the therapeutic range of 50–400 IU. Vitamin E and selenium work together to prevent attacks on cell membranes by free radicals by reducing peroxide concentration in the cell. Vitamin E – 400 to 800 IU daily
Beta-carotene
Beta-carotene is also important to hair growth. This is so because beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A as the body needs it, helps maintain normal growth and bone development, protective sheathing around nerve fibers, as well as promoting healthy skin, hair and nails. Dosage for Beta-carotene is 10,000 to 15,000 IU daily.
Antioxidants
Vitamins A, C and E are antioxidants that enhance skin cell turnover and collagen synthesis. When applied topically these vitamins protect against premature skin aging from the damaging effects of ultraviolet light and environmental pollutants.
Vitamin C helps reduce the damage caused by free radicals and UV exposure. Over time, free radicals can damage collagen and elastin, the fibers that support skin structure.
Vitamin E also helps reduce the skin effects of free radicals and UV exposure.
Selenium
Selenium is necessary for iodine metabolism. Case studies have indicated that selenium deficiency can lead to cancer, heart disease, and poor hair growth. Supplementation of 25-50 mcg of selenium per day is the recommended dosage.
Trace Elements
Calcium – a fraction of the body’s calcium stimulates cell mediators that act on cell-membrane phospholipids in hair-follicle cells. Most Americans fail to meet the recommended daily intake for calcium. Patients have to be advised to take magnesium with supplemental calcium to maintain healthy calcium levels in the body. Without extra magnesium to balance it, large doses of calcium may be harmful. The recommended dosage is 100-200 mg of calcium per day.
Zinc is essential for DNA and RNA production, which, in turn, leads to normal follicle-cell division. Zinc is also responsible for helping to stabilize cell-membrane structures and assists in the breakdown and removal of superoxide radicals. Zinc intake is generally low. Topical applications of zinc have been shown to reduce the hair loss activity of 5-AR type II. The recommended dosage is 15 mg of zinc (in the form of zinc amino acid chelate) per day.
Zinc deficiencies, and any associated hair health, may associate with low-calorie diets, especially young women. Zinc is found in meat, eggs and seafood.
Iron deficiency causes microcytic and hypochromic anemia. Moreover, most other organs including the skin and pilo sebaceous follicles are affected.
Iodine – Suboptimal thyroid functioning can lead to abnormal hair growth. Because iodine supports proper thyroid functioning, 112-225 mcg of iodine (in the form of kelp) per day is the recommended dosage.
Aminoacids
L-Methionine, one of four sulfur-containing amino acids, supports hair strength by providing adequate amounts of sulfur to hair cells. Sulfur is required for healthy connective tissue formation. Hair requires sulfur for normal growth and appearance.
L-Cystein – supports hair strength by the provision of sulphur. Skin, nails and hair are high in L-Cysteine. There is evidence that defficiency may be a factor in hairloss. Supplementing the diet accordingly may be helpful.
L-Lysine – It is interesting to note that male pattern baldness is less common in Asians than Americans. Is this in part due to he Asian diet being rich in L-Lysine -an enzyme inhibiting amino acid in vegetables and herbs affecting 5-alpha-reductase in some way.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
play an important role in cell structure, barrier function, lipid synthesis, inflammation and immunity. PUFAs help reduce dry, scaly skin. Most popular sources are walnuts, fish oil, flaxseed oil etc.
People on low-fat and non-fat diets are at risk for nutrition-related hair loss because hair needs essential fatty acids. Essential fatty acid deficiency causes a drying-up of the scalp and skin. These are vital nutrients that support follicular health. When the follicle is not healthy, hair loss or thinning occurs.
Ageing Effects
there is no solution for this. Even with outstanding nutrition, genetic blueprint is eventually going to take control and hair may change in colour, structure and density.
Contol of biological aging may be influenced by superfoods e.g. supergreen mixes, chlorella, spirulina, micro-algae extracts such as astaxanthin, broccoli sprouts fresh vegetables blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries etc also garlic, ginger and other culinary and medicinal herbs.
Water – is important in general bodily health and potentially good hair health. Water quenches thirst and aids food digestion.
Bioavailability
Many common vitamins and all amino acids exist as multiple isomers; however it is rare that these are equally available to human metabolism. The chirality of amino acids is well established, as is the dramatic difference between left and right enantiomers in the human body. On the whole, humans can only metabolise left or L enantiomers, such as L-Cysteine. R-Cysteine is not taken up or commonly metabolised, therefore commonly used racemic mixtures of the two forms are only half comprised of useful amino acids.
Vitamins, such as vitamin B6 also have several forms, pyridoxine is the form of vitamin B6 most commonly used in nutritional supplements, however it is not the bio-active form. Instead it must be phosphorylated to become pyridoxal-5-phosphate, which is active as an enzyme cofactor for many reactions, and is important for uptake of other nutrients as well. The phosphorylation reaction to activate pyridoxine takes energy and a certain set of conditions, and therefore not all the pyridoxine taken in a supplement is used. A more efficient alternative is to use pyridoxal-5-phosphate in the supplement, so the bio-active form is immediately available, requiring no energy, and minimal wastage.
Bioavailability is not just controlled by isomeric forms. Nutrient uptake is complex, and there are many surprising instances where one nutrient is dramatically affected – either negatively or positively, by a completely different nutrient in the formula.
Circulation
A final and often overlooked factor is the circulation of oxygen and nutrients to the hair. Even a perfectly balanced supplement would be ineffective without adequate blood flow to the hair. Hair loss may conceivably be caused or exacerbated by a deficient blood suppl,. therefore it may be beneficial to increase the circulation. This can be achieved through topical treatments that stimulate nitric oxide production or angiogenesis.
The stimulatory effects of caffeine and taurine on nutrient uptake and metabolism may also be beneficial. An added consideration is the possible effect of caffeine upon dihydrotestosterone and hair loss. Caffeine has been shown by several studies to reduce hair loss caused by dihydrotestosterone, the in vivo studies were successful topically, but the effects of oral caffeine have not been tested at this time. Taurine has also been shown by in vitro testing to protect the hair from TGFβ-1 induced apoptosis.
In spite of the paucity of clinical data in the area, it is possible through careful formulation to develop a potent, bioavailable, and balanced formula with combinations of ingredients that are likely to have good clinical outcomes. This is particularly true if supplements are used to support wider treatment regimes – even surgery.
The 10 top foods that are the foundation of healthy hair diet
Patients often ask a question – what food I really have to eat to have good hair?
Healthy Hair Food No. 1: Salmon
Salmon and Mackerel provide omega-3 fatty acids, protein, vitamin B-12 and iron.
Essential omega-3 fatty acids support scalp health. Deficiency can result in a dry scalp and dull hair.
Vegetarians may source plant-based omega-3 fats from ground flaxseed macadamia nuts and walnuts.
Healthy Hair Food No. 2: Dark Green Vegetables
Spinach, broccoli and Swiss chard, provide vitamins A and C used in sebum production (secreted by hair follicles)
Dark green vegetables provide iron and calcium.
Healthy Hair Food N. 3: Beans
Legumes (kidney beans and lentils) provide protein, iron, zinc, and biotin. Biotin deficiencies can result in brittle hair.
Healthy Hair Food No. 4: Nuts
Brazil nuts are a natural source of selenium. Walnuts contain zinc and alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid that may help hair condition. Pecans, cashews and almonds also contain zinc. Zinc deficiency can lead to hair shedding
Healthy Hair Food No. 5: Poultry
Poultry provides the high-quality protein and iron with a high degree of bioavailability.
Weak brittle hair may derive from protein defficiency.
Healthy Hair Food No. 6: Eggs
Eggs are sources of protein, biotin and vitamin B-12 – important beauty nutrients.
Healthy Hair Food No. 7: Whole Grains
Fortified whole-grain breakfast cereals, containing zinc, iron, and B vitamins are important.
Healthy Hair Food No. 8: Oysters
Provide zinc — a powerful antioxidant.
In addition to other sources e.g. whole grain, nuts, beef and lamb.
Healthy Hair Food No. 9: Low-Fat Dairy Products
Calcium, Whey and Casein are important minerals for hair growth sourced from skimmed milk and yogurt.
Healthy Hair Food No. 10: Carrots
Carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A.
For healthy hair and beauty, food variety may be the best option.
A balanced diet of lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and fatty fish (salmon) and low-fat dairy products are potential aides to hair.
Crash diets with rapid weight loss can affect the normal hair cycle causing increased shedding within 6-12 weeks. This temporary problem should recover with dietry improvements.
Patient education
People experiencing hair loss should take appropriate advice from a physician, registered trichologist and registered dietician to determine the cause and any appropriate treatment.
Whereas nutritional solutions may not currently cure hair loss, they may slowly assist its condition.
References
Blume-Peytavi, U. at all. Hair Growth and Disorders. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. 2008.
Goldberg, L.J. at all. Nutrition and hair. Clin Dermatol. 2010 Jul-Aug; 28(4):412-9.
http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/top-10-foods-for-healthy-hair?page=3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_care#Preventive_action_.E2.80.93_nutrition
http://www.naturalnews.com/001970.html#ixzz1eq502A51
http://nydailynews.healthology.com/hair-loss/article1586.htm
http://www.hchs.edu/literature/Hair.pdf
http://www.paulamee.com/paulamee/main/Health_Issues_Skin_Hair_Nails.htm
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/14982767/104264210/name/1405168072%2BNutritionA.pdf
http://www.nanogen.co.uk/documents/hair-retention-nutrition.pdf
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Nutrition and Hair Health
by Melissa Bent
Nutrition can have a big impact on the health of hair, Good nutrition can show in hair growth and hair fibre being thick, strong, shiny in appearance and poor or deficient nutrition typically correlates with hair loss symptoms, hair thinning, dull dry or brittle hair.
Nutrients for hair are received from the blood supply which brings both the nutrients and oxygen to the dermal papilla which are projections based at the bottom of the hair bulb which supplies blood to the epidermis through a network of sensory nerve endings to which it is connected.
Malnutrition can affect the hair cycle by slowing down the rate hair grows and by affecting the fragility of the hair shaft.
Nutrient Deficiency may occur by crash dieting, or eating disorders, medical conditions such as anaemia, thyroid disease or polycystic ovaries which will cause a diffuse hair thinning of the hair known as telogen effluvium.
Like any other cell within the body, hair cells need a balance of proteins, complex carbohydrates, iron, vitamins and minerals to function at their best.
The following vitamins are important for hair health;
Beta-carotene
Beta-carotene is converted to vitamin A as the body needs it. Vitamin A acts as a natural antioxidant and important to bone development and hair growth and forms a protective sheathing around nerve fibers, promotes healthy nails and skin. If taken as supplement, the recommended daily dosage of Beta-carotene is 10,000 to 15,000 IU.
Biotin
Is one of the most important nutrients for hair strength, texture and function. It is found naturally in a high protein diet such as Liver, eggs and soy. If taken as a supplement, the recommended daily dosage of d-biotin is 500 – 1000 mcg.
Vitamins B1, B2, Niacin & Pantothenic acid
A Reduced levels of vitamin B1 (thiamin) , vitamin B2 (riboflavin), niacin and pantothenic acid lack of these vitamins can leave the hair follicles under nourished.
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)
Contributes to hair strength, hair flexibility and lustre. This vitamin helps to prevent hair loss and contributes to the retention of melanin which stops hair from turning grey.
Vitamin B6
This vitamin can naturally be found in egg yolks, liver and cereals and helps to prevent seborrheic dermatitis (dandruff).
Vitamin B12
This vitamin can naturally be found in chicken, fish, milk and eggs and helps to prevent hair loss.
Vitamin D
Low vitamin D can affect the severity of patients with Alopecia Areata a non-scarring alopecia.
Vitamin E
This vitamin acts as a natural antioxidant to promote healthy hair and skin. It provides physical stability to cell membranes by maintaining their integrity to hair follicles and teaming up with selenium to prevent attacks from radical cells by reducing the amount of peroxide present in the cell to maintain the cell membrane.
If taken as a supplement, the recommended daily dosage of Vitamin E is 400 – 800 IU.
Selenium
This vitamin acts as a natural antioxidant and plays an important role in iodine metabolism which is mostly located in the thyroid gland. A deficiency in selenium can lead to poor hair growth, cancer or heart disease.
If taken as a supplement, the recommended daily dosage of selenium is 25 – 50mcg.
Inositol
Folic acid (Folate)
Folic acid is essential for the maintenance of methionine levels within the body. A lack of folic acid will result in a decrease in hair follicle cell division and growth. Other symptoms of low folic acid are fatigue, premature hair greying, apathy and anemia.
If taken as a supplement, the recommended daily dosage of folic acid is 400 – 800 mcg.
The following trace elements are essential for hair health;
Calcium
Cell mediators that act on cell membrane phospholipids in hair follicles are stimulated by a portion of the bodies calcium supply. High doses of calcium can also be harmful, therefore it is recommended that should you be calcium deficient and a supplement is required it is taken as magnesium with supplemental calcium as the magnesium creates a balance. If taken as a supplement, the recommended daily dosage of calcium is 100 – 200 mcg.
Zinc
Zinc plays an important role in mitosis as it is essential for DNA and RNA production. It also acts as a stabilizes for cell membrane structures and helps to break down and remove and superoxide radicals. Generally zinc intake is low, it can be found naturally in seafood, meat and eggs.
If taken as a supplement, the recommended daily dosage of Zinc in the form of zinc amino acid chelate is 15 mg.
Topical zinc applications have proven to be effective in the reduction of hair loss activity for 5 alpha reductase type 2 (5-AR type II), enzymes involved in steroid metabolism.
Low calorie diets are usually an indicating factor in young females that zinc levels maybe low.
Iron
Iron deficiency causes anaemia, which affects the most organs and pilosebaceous follicles. Hair loss caused by a deficiency of iron, appears in the form of male or female pattern baldness, however, hair loss due to iron deficiency is not permanent.
A ferritin level blood test is used to assess the ferritin (protein) levels which helps the body retain iron. Iron can naturally be found in; liver which should be avoided during pregnancy, meat, beans, nuts, dried fruit, wholegrains, soy, fortified breakfast cereals, dark green leafy veg such as kale.
Should levels be low then it can be taken as a supplement the
recommended daily dosage of iron is 8.7mg for males over 18 years, l14.8mg females 19 – 50 years, 8.7mg for women over 50 years.
Some patients may experience nausea, stomach pain constipation or vomiting.
Iodine
Iodine supports thyroid hormone production, any disruption can cause slower hair growth. If iodine is needed it can be taken in the form of kelp tablets, the recommended daily dosage of iodine is 112 – 225 mcg.
Amino acids
L-Methonine is one of four amino acids that contain sulfur. Sulphur is needed by the hair cells to support hair strength and growth. it promotes healthy connective tissue formation.
L – Cystein is one of the four amino acids that contains Sulphur. High levels of this amino acid play a vital role in hair, nails and skin. Should a deficiency occur, hair loss may be an indicating factor.
L Lysine is one of the four amino acids that contributes to males pattern baldness should a deficiency occur. A typical Asian diet is rich in L – Lysine therefore affecting the 5 – alpha-reductase enzyme levels which reduces the effects of male pattern baldness.
L-Taurine is one of four amino acids, this is regarded as one of the most important for hair health. It is a building block for proteins such as keratin which is what hair fiber is made of. L – Taurine can be found naturally in fish and meat. A deficiency in L -Taurine can causes hair to lose its colour, keratin strength and even result in hair loss.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
Fatty acids are vital nutrients essential for hair growth, thus finding low or non fat diets can result in hair loss as the lack of fat causes the skin and scalp to dry up. Bad fats can also encourage the production of DHT. DHT derives from testosterone, in large quantities it can attack the hair follicles, causing it to narrow and shrink which causes hair loss and or hair thinning. PUFA’S can be naturally found in walnuts, flax seed or fish oil, they play an important role in cell structure, barrier function, lipid synthesis, inflammation and immunity.
Complex carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates play a major role in converting protein into the hair cells that hair is formed from. They provide the energy in which is needed as hair is the second fastest growing cells in the body. Hair is regarded as a non-priority organ, so should carbohydrate levels drop the hair is fed last as it’s not seen as a priority and this may show externally by a premature shedding of hair.
Prolonged lack of carbohydrates may result in the body converting stored proteins such as muscle into energy, which causes stress on the kidneys and liver which can also result in hair loss.
Complex carbohydrates can be found naturally in; baked beans, whole grain cereal , peas, parsnips, Jacket potatoes, barley, oatmeal, brown rice, pasta, legumes, fresh fruit.
Once consumed energy to hair cells drops 4 hrs after eating, regular snacking on complex carbohydrates in between meals will sustain energy levels.
Ageing Effects
Aging is an inevitable process in which our bodies functions start to slow down in their processing and the body begins to become undernourished. Hair then becomes may change in colour, structure and density. It is important to get regular checks to maintain healthy levels use supplements where needed and gain nutrients from foods which have been suggested within this essay for optimal hair health. Water is also essential for a healthy body as it quenches thirsts and aids the digestion of food. Superfoods may be effective in the control of biological aging. Items such as blueberries, broccoli, sprouts, garlic, ginger, super green mixes or medicinal herbs are all beneficial to health.
Water – is important in general bodily health and potentially good hair health. Water quenches thirst and aids food digestion.
Treatment and Prognosis
A blood test combined with a clinical hair examination and questioning will ascertain which nutrients are deficient. It is a case of replacing those deficient to the levels in which they will function correctly. Once the optimal levels have been reached, the hair loss will cease, hair growth restored to normal functioning, hair will gain back it’s lutre, thicken and regain its strength. Should these levels relapse the hair loss, hair thinning, dull, dry or weakend hair will reoccur.
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Dawber, Rodney Pr. Neste, Dominique V (2004) Hair And Scalp Disorders. Oxford: Martin Dunitz
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The US government’s use of traffic checkpoints to gather drunk and drugged driving information from motorists has come under fire recently, so much so that some police agencies are withdrawing their participation.
These checkpoints, established by a subcontractor for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are co-manned by off-duty, uniformed officers and intended to ask people about their driving habits. Although participation is voluntary, the presence of uniformed officers has pushed many Americans to complain they feel compelled to comply with requests.
Fueled by mistrust of the government due to the burgeoning National Security Agency surveillance scandal, the fact that some checkpoint workers collect blood, saliva, and breath samples has only amplified concerns.
As RT reported in mid-2013, police in Ohio were criticized for setting up fake checkpoints in order to randomly stop cars and search them for drugs. Since it’s illegal for police to stop and search vehicles without probable cause, the sham checkpoint system has been criticized as unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating the issue and considering taking legal actions.
Meanwhile, police and checkpoint workers in Reading, Pennsylvania raised eyebrows in December when reports began surfacing that they were asking drivers to provide DNA samples as part of the NHTSA survey. One resident said he was never told what the sample would be used for and had to refuse to hand one over multiple times before he was finally allowed to go.
In the past, the NHTSA has said it does not collect DNA samples, but numerous reports have indicated police offer between $10 - $50 for cheek swabs and blood samples.
Already, law enforcement agencies near St. Louis, Missouri and Fort Worth, Texas have stated their intent to limit participation in future surveys of this kind due to backlash and fear of losing the public’s trust. Meanwhile, Alabama residents have also complained about the presence of uniformed officers at checkpoints, though they did not claim they were pressured to participate.
According to Mary Catherine Roper of the Pennsylvania chapter of the ACLU, the simple fact that uniformed police officers are pulling over pedestrians makes Americans think their participation is required.
"We have a whole bunch of rules about when police can pull you over," she told USA Today. "It looks like an exercise of official authority when a cop pulls you over. People assume it's mandatory, and of course you're going to stop. That's a constitutional problem right there."
Instead of pulling drivers over, Roper suggested various other venues for survey workers to request and collect data, such as highway rest stops or toll booths.
Despite the complaints, however, the NHTSA has defended its actions, citing the large number of Americans – nearly 10,000 – who are killed in drunk driving crashes every year.
"The survey provides useful data about alcohol and drug use by drivers, and participation is completely voluntary and anonymous,” read a statement by the agency to USA Today. “More than 60 communities across the country will participate this year, many of which participated in the previous survey in 2007. NHTSA always works closely with state and local safety officials and local law enforcement to conduct these surveys as we work to better inform our efforts to reduce drunk and drugged driving." |
Gimlet Media, which aims to be the HBO of podcasting, could likely become that. This is mostly great news for journalism and startups
While washing dishes on a Friday evening, happy to see that a brand new episode of the radio series StartUp was ready, this reporter heard the big news as she put her last cup on the drying rack: Gimlet Media, a podcast company that had only been around for a year and a half, had succeeded in raising a $6 million Series A at a $30 million valuation.
Where Sarah Koenig’s Serial, a long form spin-off of This American Life, made narrative radio storytelling into a mainstream art form, Gimlet Media’s co-founder Alex Blumberg — also an alum of This American Life and later, a co-host of Planet Money — made it into a business.
StartUp chronicles Alex Blumberg’s process of starting his own podcasting company, Gimlet Media. While most stories about founders focus on their success, StartUp is refreshingly vulnerable. In the first episode, you hear him make a fool out of himself in front of prominent Silicon Valley investor Chris Sacca and in many episodes, you hear earnest discussions with his wife Nazanin about the company and their future.
Gimlet Media has had an impressive run thus far. Within half a year of launching the StartUp podcast, which accumulated hundreds of thousands of listeners per episode, Blumberg and Co-Founder Matt Lieber raised a $1.5 million seed round. Since then they have started three new shows, Reply All, Mystery Show, and Surprisingly Awesome, all of which have garnered similar followings to that of StartUp.
Graham Holdings, the Washington Post’s longtime owner before Jeff Bezos bought it, led Gimlet’s Series A round, putting in $5 million alongside previous investors such as Chris Sacca. Gimlet supporters also took part, adding another $500,000 to the mix. Graham Holdings’ Chief Executive Tim O’Shaughnessy, who also was the co-founder of daily deals website Living Social, will join Gimlet’s board.
Radio’s economic future? Native advertising
But investors don’t just like good content. Gimlet also has an innovative business model built around native advertising.
Instead of doing standard radio ads, Gimlet plays their ads within the shows that are actually interviews with employees or customers of the advertised companies. The revenue from these original ad spots helped the company become profitable within its first year.
While almost every large media organization, including the New York Times, Atlantic, and BuzzFeed, has native advertising, it is not an ideal revenue stream. Also known as sponsored content or branded content, stories that companies pay for inherently blur the lines between editorial objectivity and advertising. While StartUp itself has tackled the ethical issues around native advertising, it’s a thorny source of income and content. Since Gimlet is not a nonprofit like NPR, it needs to play more ads during its shows to keep the lights on. Gimlet has succeeded in taking an otherwise annoying part of listening to a show, and turned it into an opportunity to do some great story telling while paying the bills. Still, it’s a compromise the company has made in order to succeed.
It is also risky to depend largely on advertising. As Geektime has written about a lot in the past six months, the adtech sector has been going through a downturn and its bubble likely has already popped: Public investors like Fidelity have severely devalued adtech startups in their portfolio such as content recommendation engine Taboola, which they downgraded by half.
Considering ad blockers have ruined the banner ad industry, one must also wonder when there will be ad blockers for all sorts of advertisements, including radio ads. Hopefully Gimlet will have found other sources of revenue when that day comes.
What can startups learn from the series ‘StartUp’? Co-host Lisa Chow speaks with Geektime
For Geektime readers, many of whom probably waste time perusing listicles like “These 10 tips will help you launch a successful startup” (this reporter is also guilty of this), StartUp is a candid peak into what happens when a company is flourishing rather than failing. Despite all the self-deprecating comments, semi-intimate conversations, and awkward pitches, StartUp’s first season is a shining example of why Gimlet is eventually able to succeed. The podcast itself demonstrates Blumberg’s ability to create captivating radio — what better a proof of product of than that?
We don’t want to share all of the show’s nuances here, but in Season 1, you’ll learn a lot about the three key ingredients for building a successful startup: deep experience in your field, a profitable revenue model, and most importantly, a service or product that is truly excellent.
While Blumberg was not able to provide a comment for this article, we were able to speak with Lisa Chow, Blumberg’s co-host for StartUp’s second season, which she largely produced. She kindly spoke to us soon after the birth of her son Eliot: also known as StartUp’s youngest fan.
In this season, they profiled Dating Ring, a dating app that early twenty-something founders Lauren Kay and Emma Tessler started in New York City. After receiving some media attention and participating in Y Combinator, arguably the most prestigious accelerator in Silicon Valley, the company was recommended to Chow as worthy of checking out.
And for those out there wondering, the simple answer is yes, sex sells better than e-commerce even on the radio.
Dating Ring’s mission is compelling. Dating apps, much like actual dating, are for the most part terrible. Almost everyone desperately wants to find true love, and the company promises to combine human matchmakers’ guidance alongside tech algorithms to churn out better matches.
When we asked Chow why she chose them, she focused on their vulnerability. “They’re kind of open to their detriment in some respects,” says Chow. “They’re very shockingly open, more than Alex and Matt were. Alex had the luxury of recording things in real-time.”
Not surprisingly, “There were things that we wouldn’t want revealed. When you cover yourself you have the luxury to pick and choose,” Chow explained, adding that, “They were putting a lot at stake with us.”
However, included in this openness were their limited tech capabilities, challenges in signing up the number of users they needed to grow, problems with advertising, and obstacles in raising funding.
Chow noted that she could not tell whether or not Dating Ring would succeed. “I had no clue. I was really looking for a compelling story. I wasn’t necessarily looking for a breakout success.”
Either way, she thought they were going to be “good tape.” She said, “I did play out this scenario: If they’re a success, this is how it could turn. If they were a failure, you rarely hear a failure story. There was a fear of mine that it could fail. But then I talked to Alex about it, and if they fail, that’s another story, we can tell that story.”
We won’t give away the big plot lines of the Dating Ring season because there are just so many lessons that can be draw from following their struggles. The show covers a wide range of topics, where you get to hear episodes about race issues in dating apps, what Dating Ring’s co-founders have to put up with as women in tech, and even own their personal romance sagas.
Ultimately, this season shows that a strong startup is not just based on a good idea, a hunch about what’s wrong in a market, and some decent press. With Dating Ring, you see all the struggles they encounter from raising money before doing the most important thing: making their product excellent.
Blumberg figured out his business, i.e. the secrets behind good radio, long before broadcasting his personal struggles to the world. Let that be a cautionary tale to whichever startup we meet next year when Season 3 finally hits the podcasting airwaves.
Featured Image Credit: Topher McCulloch / Flickr |
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— A 35-year-old Durham man being transported to a Winston-Salem psychiatric facility was shot and killed Sunday morning after, authorities said, he stole a Wake County sheriff deputy's cruiser and led authorities on a chase on Interstates 40 and 540 in Raleigh.
Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said Deputy Jeremy Pittman was carrying Jonathan Lee Cunningham to Old Vineyard Behavioral Health Services when Cunningham tried to overpower Pittman on Interstate 440 near Lake Boone Trail.
Pittman pulled over the car around 9 a.m., and both men got out of the car, where they continued to fight, Harrison said. Pittman slipped in mud, allowing Cunningham to get into the cruiser and leave the area.
Harrison said Cunningham, who had been involuntary committed to the Wake County Crisis and Assessment Center, had been sitting in the front seat and was not wearing handcuffs – a decision that is left up to deputies in such cases.
"That's the deputy's call," he said. "That's something we leave up to the deputy. If the person is calm, sometimes, handcuffs excite people."
Harrison added a review of the policy would be part of an internal investigation into what happened.
Authorities later located the cruise near the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, where Cunningham then led them on a chase, with speeds up to 80 mph on westbound Interstate 40 and I-540 until he crashed on I-540 near Leesville Road.
Cunningham then fled the scene on foot, and after another struggle with authorities, he was shot and killed, Harrison said.
The stolen cruiser was in the woods adjacent to the highway, and much of the area around the cruiser was blocked by crime scene tape. Eastbound I-540 was closed for several hours while authorities investigated.
Wake sheriff's deputies Matthew Johnson and Dusty Mullen have been placed on administrative duty while the State Bureau of Investigation investigates – standard protocol in an officer-involved shooting. Harrison did not indicate if Johnson and Mullen were the two officers who shot Cunningham.
Johnson has been with the sheriff's office since October 2010 and Mullen since 2004. |
Saudi women activists have petitioned the country's consultative council to back a demand to curb the "absolute authority" of male guardians over women in the kingdom, a signatory has said.
Activist Aziza Yousef told AFP news agency on Sunday that "rights activists have petitioned the Shura (consultative) Council on the occasion of the International Women's Day [on March 8] demanding an end to the absolute authority of men over women".
They demanded "measures to protect [women's] rights," in their petition to the Shura Council, she said.
Saudi Arabia imposes a strict interpretation of Islamic law, forbidding women to work or travel without the authorisation of their male guardians.
It is also the only country in the world that bans women from driving, and a woman cannot obtain an identification card without the consent of her guardian.
Laws in the kingdom enforcing such restrictions on women "are not based on religious" teachings, said Yousef.
The petition, signed by 10 female activists, also calls for allowing women to drive.
Three female members of the Shura Council presented a recommendation that women be given the right to drive in October, but the male-dominated 150-member assembly blocked the proposal.
Women in Saudi must obtain permission from a male guardian to perform "certain surgeries" and to "leave the university campus during study hours," she added.
She cited a recent case in which a pregnant student had to give birth on campus after a women-only university in Riyadh denied access to paramedics.
And a university student died in February after paramedics were prevented from entering her campus because they were not accompanied by a male guardian, a must according to the strict segregation rules in the Muslim kingdom.
The Shura Council is appointed by the king and advises the monarch on policy, but cannot legislate. |
The half guard is a sophisticated tool in the grappler’s toolbox that can be used to defend, sweep your opponents, or submit them outright.
But just because you’ve got a hammer doesn’t make the whole world a nail. And that means that you can’t rely on any one guard position as the be-all-and-end-all.
Even if you’re a half guard wizard you’ll still end up facing opponents who know all your tricks, or are particularly gifted at shutting down half guard. And if that’s the case it might not be the right thing to keep pushing, pushing, pushing with the half guard.
Instead it might be time to bail out of the position altogether!
Along these lines I found the subject choice of the video below particularly interesting. (It’s a Grapplearts Field Report filmed by my friend Mark Mullen with Roberto ‘Gordo’ Correia in Brazil.
Now Gordo is widely acknowledged as the originator of the offensive half guard in BJJ. A knee injury early in his career made it impossible for him to play in the regular guard, so he improvised and explored the half guard instead. He invented many techniques to sweep and submit his opponent from what had formerly been considered to be a very inferior position.
But now here’s a video with Gordo – the half guard master himself – showing how to get OUT of half guard and back into the closed guard.
Of course we’ve already talked about one good reason to bail out of half guard; namely if it just isn’t working for you against a certain opponent.
But there are additional reasons to drill and train the technique in the video below.
Using the butterfly hook in this way – to lift your opponent up and then drop him back down into your closed guard – ALSO trains your leg dexterity and the movements you’ll need to perform many more advanced sweeps and techniques from the half guard.
Once you master the ‘basic’ version of the technique below you’ll find ways to use that same butterfly hook lift to:
Sweep your opponent from half guard
Take your opponent’s back from half guard
Defend against armlock and Kimura attacks from the bottom
And more…
So if you’ve ever found yourself in half guard, regardless of whether you go to that position intentionally or find yourself pinned there by an opponent intent on smashing his way past your guard, you HAVE to learn this technique.
It’s one of those investments that you won’t be sorry you made!
Check it out.
Additional Guard Resources
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Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on Thursday an investigation on the possible link between destabilization plot by several members of the political opposition and the Marawi siege perpetrated by local terror group Maute should push through.
Aguirre said the information about the meeting and the photo – which turned out to be from a fake news item – did not come from him.
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He showed the photo to reporters on Wednesday, June 7. The photo shows Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, former Secretary Ronald Llamas, former Pampanga Gov. Mark Lapid, and Zamboanga del Sur Vice Govenor Ace William Ceriles in a coffee shop.
It turned out that the photo was taken in 2015, not weeks before the Marawi siege, which started on May 23, 2017.
“I’m not spreading fake news,” Aguirre said. “The photo did not come from me. And the information was just given to me so I am having it investigated.”
Aguirre was criticized for allegedly implicating members of the opposition as well as clans from Mindanao for plotting against President Rodrigo Duterte.
Aasked for his response to the call of Sen. Bam Aquino for a public apology, Aguirre did not give an answer. /atm
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By PETER WANYONYI
Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya chose an interesting moment to release the results of the 2009 population census – just when we were recovering from the prolonged feel-good bash that was the signing of the new Constitution.
But even as we recover from all the feasting, Mr Oparanya’s report calls for some soul-searching.
Kenya is growing at a million people a year. And, as religious leaders will say, large populations can be a good thing to have.
Economists swoon at the large internal markets that massive populations translate into. They look at China and India with envy, seeing in those giants’ growing economic power and increasing material prosperity a vindication for having many babies.
The religious leaders see, in the many new babies, future converts to their respective creeds – always, of course, with an eye on more converts. Too much of a good thing, it appears, is good. It isn’t.
It is not for nothing that China imposes a draconian one-child policy. Unfettered population growth is both dangerous and illogical – for the simple reason that nothing is infinite.
Our growing population has to be fed and housed, educated and given medical care, and needs to be provided with employment or business opportunities. It is not difficult to see that we are not doing anywhere near as good as we should in any of those sectors.
We cannot feed ourselves. In fact, the last time that Kenya had any sort of real food security was during, and in the years immediately after, the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta.
His successor, Mr Daniel Moi, introduced previously unheard-of levels of corruption and tribalism in the public sector, dangerously reducing the capacity of State institutions to monitor and respond to issues affecting food security.
The result was that, despite ample warning, the failure of rains in the Central and Western highlands in 1983 caused the 1984-85 famine. There is no telling how many million Kenyans died of starvation in that famine – Moi was allergic to public accountability – but Kenya’s food security was gone for good.
It did not help matters that Mr Moi destroyed the Kenya Farmers Association and also went off on political vendettas that nearly ended export crop production in Central, Western and Nyanza regions, drastically reducing purchasing power as soaring food prices and falling revenues exposed dangerous gaps in our ability to sustain ourselves.
This malaise has continued. This year, about five million Kenyans are surviving on food aid paid for principally by the West.
This sad state of affairs has extended to other sectors.
The housing sector in Kenya is an economic wonder – a largely do-it-yourself national exercise in which the well-off survive and the rest move to the slums.
But with a tiny middle class and very few people being in a position to build or buy their own houses, our urban population is some of the most poorly housed anywhere.
Similar stories can be seen in the health sector, where a lack of investment and a ruinous brain-drain has left Kenyans enjoying the same health facilities, as the migrating wildebeest of the Serengeti: none.
The government has its work cut out planning and catering for this burgeoning population. There is no silver bullet that will suddenly deliver food security or provide health and education facilities for the one million extra Kenyans we will produce this year.
But we certainly can’t avoid discussing the population growth rate, and the measures needed to contain it. The extensive family planning programmes that Moi inherited from Kenyatta were largely dead by the mid-1980s, as his appointees stole all the money.
President Kibaki needs to revive them, and he must contain the procreative enthusiasm of religious leaders who seem to be allergic to anything resembling planned parenthood.
More importantly, the government ought to increase its efforts to get more girls into school – by force, if need be – and keep them there for longer. Contraceptives also should be made widely available, despite the almost certain objections of the religious leaders.
This will be expensive, but Kenya has few other options right now. With such a high population growth rate and no food, we are fast growing into another Ethiopia. |
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance • Harper • 2016 • 272 pages • $27.99
The best-selling Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance, released in June to mostly positive reviews, was praised for treating lower-income white communities with sympathy—something reviewers believed had been in short supply in our literature. The conservative writer Rod Dreher said that the book “does for poor white people what Ta-Nehisi Coates’s book did for poor black people: give them voice and presence in the public square.” (Though it’s hard to see how poor black people were ever well-represented, or how working-class whites have ever been neglected as a group.)
The book bills itself as a “memoir of a family and a culture in crisis.” Poor and working-class white Americans have been the subject of many alarming reports over the past few years, from the rise of the heroin epidemic across rural, white America to the numerous studies detailing early deaths from suicides and drug overdoses in middle age; the least educated whites are dying at younger ages than the same group of people did a generation ago. (Although African Americans as a whole still have higher mortality rates.) It’s the white working class, especially men, who drove the candidacy and election of the Republican nominee, President-elect Donald Trump. So elites have turned their focus on what they assess to be a bewildering population, regarded alternately with empathy and scorn, that they were previously happy to ignore.
Elites have turned their focus on
a “bewildering” population, regarded alternately with empathy and scorn.
Vance’s book is, for the most part, a simple, straightforward recounting of his life. His maternal grandparents were economic refugees from Jackson, Kentucky, in the mountainous southeastern part of the state, who traveled the Hillbilly Highway north to the industrial town of Middletown, Ohio, soon after they were married as teenagers in 1947. Lots of other hillbillies made that same journey, creating satellite communities throughout the industrial Midwest. His grandfather worked there at a steel factory called Armco until he retired. Vance’s grandparents had a relationship that involved redneck rows, a divorce, and separate houses. They raised three children in Ohio, one of whom was Vance’s mother, Bev. Bev had several marriages throughout the 1980s and ’90s, and though she was a nurse, her economic security crumbled under the weight of drug addiction. Vance’s Mamaw stepped into the breach to serve as a mother figure to Vance and his older sister. But after graduating from high school in 2003, Vance escaped by joining the Marines, serving in Iraq and then enrolling at Ohio State University and, a coup for any country boy, Yale Law School.
As an author, Vance doesn’t spend much time in Jackson. He talks about his summertime trips to Kentucky to visit beloved uncles or to attend family funerals. He also describes a recent visit, where, during a walking tour, he notices that the town seems to have fallen on hard times. He describes passing a neighbor’s house: “Several ferocious, malnourished, chained-up dogs protected the furniture strewn about the barren front yard. When I asked [his second cousin] what the young father did for a living, he told me the man had no job and was proud of it.”
Vance is not a journalist, and he doesn’t conduct any actual interviews in Jackson. He doesn’t dwell much either on its demographics or character. He simply tells us that it is “a small town of about six thousand in the heart of southeastern Kentucky’s coal country. Calling it a town is a bit charitable.” I, myself, only know Jackson because, for two-and-a-half months, I lived as a reporter in Owsley County, right next door. My own experience with Jackson was that it was, first of all, the biggest town for miles. I interacted with it the way all the people of Owsley County did—when I needed to go to a Wal-Mart, I drove the 35 minutes down country highways to the one in Jackson, and when I had a minor medical emergency, the hospital there was where I sought care. Small as it is, Jackson really is big next to its neighbors, and is also a locus of political power in that tiny spot of southeastern Kentucky. Everything is relative.
Even when it comes to describing his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, a small city of just under 50,000 smack between Cincinnati and Dayton on Interstate 75, where his grandparents moved to raise his mom and her two siblings, he mostly leaves the landscape itself out of the story. Vance described a town that in the 1980s and ’90s was fueled by the factory’s middle-class jobs, company picnics, and well-kept parks that fell into disrepair over the years. Armco merged with a Japanese company in 1989, and so employment at the Middletown plant began to decline.
Vance touches on this and on other big events but without actually delving into them. And, except for a few asides on the occasional relevant study, he doesn’t do much to properly connect his own life to larger contexts and trends. The book is pinned to his mother’s drug addiction to painkillers and then to heroin, but it’s not really about her, and, in fact, we don’t actually hear from her at all. He tosses off observations about neighbors and former friends torn apart by drugs and poverty, but he doesn’t introduce them or interview them, so these asides don’t truly reveal all that much. Vance describes a few harrowing incidents from his childhood, but even then he leaves out important details, and he doesn’t do much investigating to find out more about them from the vantage point of adulthood.
The result is a book that’s broadly personal without being deeply so, and though it’s allegedly the story of a culture in crisis, it’s written from the point of view of a man who now seems far removed from any crisis at all. It provides the briefest window into the life of a hillbilly who made good. (He now works at an investment firm in Silicon Valley.) When he does make some broader observations about the white working class—which, in this instance, refers more to a rural cultural identity than to an economic one—they sound like clichés. He talks a lot about the hillbilly sense of “honor,” which requires him to go after a guy who breaks his sister’s heart. (What brother, though, wouldn’t pick a fight with someone who was mean to his sister?) As a grocery store clerk, he notices people who he claims “game the system.” And of food stamp recipients, he writes:
They’d buy two dozen packs of soda with food stamps and then sell them at a discount for cash. They’d ring up their orders separately, buying food with them food stamps, and beer, wine, and cigarettes with cash. They’d regularly go through the checkout line speaking on their cell phones. I could never understand why our lives felt like a struggle while those living off of government largesse enjoyed trinkets that I only dreamed about.
These are observations that are undoubtedly true in the micro sense, and we read and hear them often from conservative commentators. But what do any of these observations reveal? Like many right-leaning writers, Vance makes these broad assertions without spending much time defining them, or considering what, exactly, the alternatives are for someone in a place like southeastern Kentucky or deindustrialized Ohio. These aren’t just small areas with small economies. They’re areas that are losing their populations rapidly as the young and able flood into cities everywhere around the country. Many hillbillies come from the extremely rural areas that had subsistence economies well past the middle of the last century, and never fully transitioned into manufacturing before those well-paying jobs fled the country. They are the people who stayed behind while Vance’s grandparents left and built a middle-class life elsewhere. Even the bigger towns and smaller cities, like Middletown, were dependent on one large employer, and getting those jobs depended on knowing someone who could get you one, leaving out large swaths of the least well-off.
And, even in their best days, jobs in these areas were often limited to the ones only men could get, and white men at that. Working at a steel company, or mining coal, or logging trees, or putting together cars was always back-breaking labor, too, and aging baby boomers and their creaky, blue-collar bodies are a big driver of the increase in the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which is another “dole” conservatives like to complain about.
It is obvious that life in these areas presents important challenges, and that many things aren’t going well for too many people. This brings up several relevant questions about what progressives should do for people in these areas. But there are also considerations about what we shouldn’t do that this election has thrown into sharp relief.
I grew up in a town that is actually smaller than Jackson: Clinton, Arkansas, at the southern edge of the Ozark Mountain range. It now has a population of about 2,600, but was a bit smaller when I was growing up in the 1980s and ’90s, a few years earlier than Vance. During my childhood, Clinton had two factories: a plant that made electrical cords, and a chicken-processing plant, where my grandparents worked. When I was in high school, the cord plant moved to a shiny new building on the hopefully named Quality Drive, which had been newly paved through the woods. And a small boat factory took its old place, for a brief while.
It should be noted that only about 12 percent of the population in the county has a bachelor’s degree. The people I knew when I was growing up who had gone to college were the town’s handful of doctors, lawyers, dentists, one vet, and, of course, teachers, who were overwhelmingly women. Clinton has a small hospital, where my mother works, and a nursing home owned by the same company; both serve the smaller towns around Clinton, too, but the hospital struggles financially and previous owners have come close to closing it and the nursing home in the past.
Jobs are heavily segregated by gender. A handful of women, who usually have some college education, but not necessarily bachelor’s degrees, work as nurses at varying qualification levels. But many of the jobs held by women are the new factory jobs—dangerous, back-breaking, and relatively low-paying for the skills and education they require.
Almost everyone else who works either works at Wal-Mart, in fast food, or owns their own small business. For men, it’s in construction or related supply businesses—my dad was a plumber. Auto shops line the highway. Women, for their part, own beauty salons. There are a couple of clothing stores, one non-Wal-Mart grocery store that has struggled to compete and changed hands at least three times in the past few years, a couple of accountants, a dance school, and a local radio station. No one makes very much money—the county’s median annual income is $31,030, and the poverty rate is 26.5 percent.
Clinton is perhaps an extreme example of small-town life, but the pattern and experience is repeated in southeastern Kentucky, in small-town Ohio, and across the country. The rural population is depleting rapidly nationwide, and 81 percent of the country’s people now live in metro areas. By 2019, the rural population will reach its global peak, and will then start to drop in absolute terms. This is a trend that is clear even in Arkansas, as people my age drain to the urban areas around the state. Cities are thriving, diverse, and provide varied opportunities for jobs and education. They’re also expensive, and getting more so. The poor and the elderly can’t afford to access them, and are trapped in outer-ring suburbs and rural areas where the good jobs are gone. Cities are also where employers want to be.
So growth in jobs and in wages is unevenly distributed, and it’s broken up by geography, as it always has been. There are two economies, and the country’s least educated and poorest are in the worse one. They’re disproportionately African-American and Latino, but in raw numbers they include plenty of whites, too. These people aren’t just missing out because they have less education and training. They’re also missing out because they live in the wrong places. A recent study conducted by economists Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren found that a child’s chance of moving out of poverty was based strongly on where he or she grew up.
I’m sure that people in rural areas and small cities across the country would like to bring back jobs. But why would an employer locate itself in a city like Middletown, or a place like Kentucky? What kinds of jobs will stay there? The benefits of locating one’s self near a larger city—with an educated populace and the kinds of civic landscapes, vibrant downtowns, and public infrastructure that people want to live in—simply outweigh the costs. So what Trump did for these communities was turn their resentment, their panicked and justified feelings that their way of life was disappearing thanks to an urban, educated, better-off America, into a weaponized hate. As Rembert Browne wrote in New York magazine, he made hate intersectional, and he helped rural Americans direct it at everyone who wasn’t them.
Throughout the 2016 election season, contrary to Dreher, we’ve actually seen no end to the portraits of rural white America, Trump voters, or to the handwringing about their economic angst. This has only accelerated since Donald Trump was elected, in large part thanks to rural America, including a few former Democratic enclaves: states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Democrats, their allies, and various progressives are also obsessed with the white working class, what should be done for them, and how they might win them back to the Democratic coalition. “Donald J. Trump won the White House because his campaign rhetoric successfully tapped into a very real and justified anger, an anger that many traditional Democrats feel,” wrote Bernie Sanders in The New York Times on November 10.
Both he and Elizabeth Warren have pledged to work with Trump if the President-elect really does want to create jobs to help the suffering working- class. This may just be political posturing. So far, Trump’s only plan that would achieve that in any way is an infrastructure plan. The details are hazy, but it will cost $1 trillion and leverage public-private partnerships for rebuilding crumbling infrastructure like roads and bridges. This is a twist of the knife to any liberals that paid attention during the Obama Administration; $1 trillion is around the size of the stimulus plan that some in the Obama Administration wanted for their stimulus package after taking office, when the economy was truly in free fall. Republican lawmakers, howling about the deficit, were determined not to let this pass. The package was, in the end, smaller. So will the Republicans pass something like that now, and then take all of the credit?
On the surface, such a plan would be a no-brainer. Spending money on infrastructure would address the real problems our roads and bridges have, create well-paying jobs, and address rural America’s plight, especially if it included better and easier to navigate roads and newer types of infrastructure, like broadband access. Yet the warnings are already coming. To begin with, as David Dayen wrote in The New Republic, the financing scheme relies on private money in such a way that it would be designed “to funnel money to big investors and contractors by essentially letting them purchase public assets.”
And this is hardly the only concern. Not least among them, what are the real aims behind these plans? What kinds of jobs would be created, and for whom? As Democrats and progressives move to urge cooperation with his Administration on common-ground issues like infrastructure, especially when it comes to helping the rural white working class they apparently feel so tender toward, it’s important to keep in mind the totality of Trump’s proposals, and the totality of his rhetoric. It’s also important to ask why he inspired votes, what truly inspired them, and how he’ll actually be working to satisfy them.
All we know about the electorate, as of this writing, is what the exit polls tell us, and these always come with a lot of caveats. But, according to these polls, voters who made less than $50,000 a year made up 36 percent of the electorate, and 52 percent of these people voted for Hillary Clinton. Overall, turnout among the poorest Americans is never high: Fewer than half of voters in the lowest income brackets turned out in previous elections. Non-college-educated whites who voted this year voted for Trump, but overall, his support came from wealthier white people, especially white men. In fact, Jeff Guo, in The Washington Post, found that Trump improved on Mitt Romney’s 2012 margins most in places where unemployment had also dropped the most. So, truth be told, we don’t really know what the white voters who are suffering the most actually wanted. As is often the case, it was the wealthiest who really made their voices heard.
So why did all of these folks vote for Trump? When asked what they care about most, many voters will say the economy. (Though, according to exit polls, Hillary Clinton won the majority of voters who ranked the economy first among their concerns.) When you drill down further with Trump voters, however, another pattern emerges. Guo quotes Kathy Cramer, a political scientist who wrote a book about rural voters in Wisconsin and found that:
The economic woes people communicated to me. . . . were interlaced with their sense of who they are, who is a part of their community, what their values are, who works hard in society, who is deserving of reward and public support, and how power is distributed in the world. This complex set of ideas is the product of many years of political debate at the national level as well as generations of community members teaching these ideas to each other. This entwined set of beliefs was not something that any one politician instilled in people overnight—or even over a few months.
In Elegy, when Vance speaks to folks about the government, it is clear that he, and the people he talks with, think of it as something that creates dependency where it wasn’t previously, and that compounds poverty rather than reduces it. Of a friend who quit his job because he was tired of waking up so early—and later took to Facebook to complain about Obama’s economy—Vance writes:
[F]or him to make better choices, he needs to live in an environment that forces him to ask tough questions about himself. There is a cultural movement in the white working class to blame problems on society or the government, and that movement gains adherents by the day. . . . What separates the successful from the unsuccessful are the expectations that they had for their own lives. Yet the message of the right is increasingly: It’s not your fault that you’re a loser; it’s the government’s fault.
Government becomes a shorthand way for many people to refer to those who receive any sort of assistance from it. This includes many of these folks’ supposedly lazy neighbors. But it also includes, and has for at least 40 years, people in faraway cities they also characterize as lazy, largely African Americans and new immigrants. Trump made that clear when he said African Americans are “living in hell” and claimed, wrongly, that the black youth unemployment rate was at 58 percent. Talk of the “government” also denotes single moms in rural, conservative communities who, it is believed, should have gotten married or not had children. “Government” and “the dole” become, also, a shorthand for the kind of polyglot, humanitarian democracy that may have inspired many Clinton voters. When Donald Trump spewed hate, he threw it, indiscriminately, at all of these groups. And that is also what his voters voted for.
Even Warren—progressive champion Elizabeth Warren!—has come to the defense of Trump voters when, in a speech to the AFL-CIO, she said: “There are many millions of people who voted for Donald Trump not because of the bigotry and hate that fueled his campaign rallies. They voted for him despite the hate.” What cold solace is that? If voters didn’t embrace his bile, a claim I think some are accepting a bit too credulously, either these voters did not understand that what he said was racist—along with all of the other –ists and -ics that can be attributed to his public statements—or they didn’t care about it. Either way, the result is effectively the same.
Warren is far from the only person on the left to call for people not to vilify Trump supporters, suggesting that we try to understand them instead. But many have also asked: Are we really vilifying someone when we plainly state what they have actually done? Well, to that I would answer: If you comb the rural counties across the country and see how they voted, you would see that there are rare cases in which Trump won nearly 100 percent of the vote. Across deep red states that bent heavily Republican, like West Virginia and Mississippi, he won about 80 percent of votes in some counties, but only in those places where he had the biggest margins.
Even in my little home county, 21.7 percent voted against Trump. But that’s still something. My county is around 96 percent white, and so the 1,547 voters who cast their votes against hate almost certainly include white voters. They are certainly witnessing the same level of economic devastation as their neighbors. And yet they did not compromise their morals to “send a message to Washington.” Add up the voters like this in each town across the country just like Clinton, and they must total hundreds of thousands of people. They are a minority in these places, but their votes count no less than those cast against Trump in New York or California. I think we would be doing a disservice to them if we were to sugarcoat the gravity of what their neighbors did.
“Government” and “the dole” became shorthand for the polyglot, humanitarian democracy that inspired Clinton voters.
It’s worth noting that Vance himself basically elides race entirely. About the only time he touches on it is to dismiss it. “Many of my new friends blame racism for this perception of the president,” he writes about hillbilly distrust of Obama. “But the president feels like an alien to many Middletonians for reasons that have nothing to do with skin color.” He describes Obama as part of an urbane elite: exactly what rural America has come to loathe. But nearly every sociologist and political scientist who’s researched the voting habits of working-class whites in rural and depressed parts of the country has found that their views on race, elitism, class, and their own financial well-being are so tightly intertwined that they are hard to separate.
That is to say that all of the tender portraits of these workers shouldn’t shade what happened in November. With any effort to alleviate real suffering in these communities, progressives must also bear in mind that Trump’s election has made life tangibly worse for Muslim and Latino communities, for African Americans, for LGBT communities, and for women, whether they voted for Trump or not.
If progressives compromise on any plan that sounds good in theory, like an infrastructure plan, which would undoubtedly help rural America, they should be obligated to keep the big picture in mind. They should ask themselves how various communities will experience the benefits of better roads, or good jobs, if they’re being arrested and sent to jail after Trump doubles down on the worst policing practices his advisor, Rudy Giuliani, practiced in New York City. Or how much good jobs will help Latino and Muslim communities if their families are being harassed, deported, or investigated. Or whether women will benefit from any of it if protections against workplace harassment are diminished and reproductive rights come under assault.
The Southern Poverty Law Center counted more than 200 hate crimes in the three days after the election, and more have occurred since. After Trump is sworn in in January, we will continue to hear calls from those who tell us he is our President and we have to work with him. We will see Democratic lawmakers and their progressive allies trying to seek common ground. Many will do so in the name of the working-class whites experiencing economic anxiety, and in a cynical bid to try to bring those voters back into the fold. They may offer up numbers and theories to justify this bipartisan cooperation. The numbers and theories may be technically correct. But until all Americans, especially the historically disenfranchised, can feel safe, any such compromise will also be morally untenable. |
Re: UnderlyVerbose's overly verbose build thread - 2001 WJ Limited JCR Stage 3 Rock Sliders
Finally got the sliders painted and installed. I didn't get to test them out in Moab, but they sure are stout.
They were painted using
JCR Sliders come as bare metal out of the box, so the buyer is responsible for paint/coating. I'm really impressed with all the welds. Not only are they strong welds with great penetration, but they're great looking too. Not a spot of porosity, even in the tricky spots.
Makeshift paint booth...
First Coat:
Second Coat Sprayed. Ready for Install:
The sliders attach just the same as most. There's two frame mounts with four holes each that attach to the unibody rail, and a strip of flatbar that bolts to the pinch seam under the rocker.
Installed:
I'll post up some more shots of the sliders as I go through all the Moab pics.
Cheers! Finally got the sliders painted and installed. I didn't get to test them out in Moab, but they sure are stout.They were painted using 3M underbody coating , which I've become very fond of over the last few months. It's a very tough coating that's stood up to everything I've thrown at it so far. And the 15-20 minute dry time makes it really convenient for shooting multiple coats.JCR Sliders come as bare metal out of the box, so the buyer is responsible for paint/coating. I'm really impressed with all the welds. Not only are they strong welds with great penetration, but they're great looking too. Not a spot of porosity, even in the tricky spots.Makeshift paint booth...First Coat:Second Coat Sprayed. Ready for Install:The sliders attach just the same as most. There's two frame mounts with four holes each that attach to the unibody rail, and a strip of flatbar that bolts to the pinch seam under the rocker.Installed:I'll post up some more shots of the sliders as I go through all the Moab pics.Cheers!
2001 WJ -
fivewheeldrive.me
__________________ |
India's Deputy Consul general in New York Devyani Khobragade (File pic)
High-ranking Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was arrested and handcuffed in public in New York on Thursday for allegedly lying on the visa application for an Indian national who worked for her for less than four dollars an hour.Ms Khobragade, Deputy Consul General at the Indian Consulate in New York, was reportedly arrested on the street while she was dropping her daughter to school. She was later released on a $250,000 bail.She was arrested on the orders of Indian-born Preet Bharara, Manhattan's top federal prosecutor, who said Ms Khobragade had presented false documents for the woman who worked as a babysitter and housekeeper at her home in New York from November to June this year.He alleged the woman, Sangeeta Richard, had been exploited and made to work for "less than fair" wages. "This type of fraud on the United States and exploitation of an individual will not be tolerated," he said.Ms Khobragade, 39, who has two young daughters, is in charge of Political, Economic, Commercial and Women's Affairs at the consulate. The charges against her carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.India has asked the US to resolve the matter with "sensitivity", taking into account Ms Khobragade's diplomatic status. In a statement, the Indian embassy in Washington said Sangeeta Richard had been "absconding since June" and faces an arrest warrant for cheating and extortion. ( read Sangeeta Richard has alleged that she was to be paid $ 4,500 per month according to the employment contract furnished for her visa, but Ms Khobragade later changed it to $ 537 a month. She also complained that she was forced to work more than 40 hours a week. Ms Khobragade's lawyers argue that with her own salary of $ 4,000 a month, she can hardly pay her help more than that. They also said her arrest on the street, without being given a chance to explain, was "shocking and unprecedented." |
U17 MEN 2-0 round one of the FIBA World Championships
Zaragoza, Spain) - The U17 Men are undefeated 2-0 in the FIBA World Championships after tonight's victory against Finland. Canada had an impressive game winning 92-68.
Starting for Canada were Rowan Barrett JR, Danilo Djuricic, Andrew Nembhard, Ignas Brazdeikis and Simisola Shittu. Click here for full team roster.
"We came out with urgency on the defensive end which ignited our offense. We moved the ball well especially in the first half but we have to do it for two halves not just one."
"Tomorrow will be a tough game against China. They are physical, fast, and can shoot it well. We will have to contain their post and perimeter play."
Ignas Brazdeikis was a driving force for Canada's offensive power scoring 17 points, going 2/3 from the 3-point line and 71% from the foul line. Rowan Barrett had the game high for rebounds, securing 10 boards never allowing second chances and put up 16 points of his own.
In the first quarter, Canada came out strong creating a 15-point advantage against Finland going into the second 37-22. Ball movement was key this quarter offense looked easy and Finland struggled to shut them down.
During the second, Canada's defense began to match their offensive intensity. They only allowed Finland to score 9 points the full 10:00 minutes of play. Canada out rebounded Finland 26-15, and forced 7 turnovers.
Finland started to find their rhythm in the 3rd, Canada only outscored them 20-16. Finland's defensive pressure forced Canada to turn the ball over 10 times and allow 26 points in the paint. This run was not enough to catch up to Canada still trailing by 29 going into the fourth.
Canada momentum never slowed, ending the game with 42% from the 2-point range and 44% from the 3-point line. Winning the game 92-68. |
Tibetan spiritual leader was permitted by India to visit various areas in the north- east, including Arunachal Pradesh, +
BEIJING: China today warned that it would consider as a "major offence" if any country or foreign leader hosts or meets the Dalai Lama as it deems the Tibetan spiritual leader a "separatist" trying to split Tibet from it.China routinely protests world leaders meeting the Dalai Lama. It also makes it mandatory for all the foreign governments to recognise Tibet as part of China to have diplomatic relations with Beijing.It also protested that when thethis year.The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in his Himalayan homeland. He has been living in India in exile since then."Any country or any organisation of anyone to accept to meet with the Dalai Lama in our view is a major offence to the sentiment of the Chinese people," said Zhang Yijiong , Executive Vice Minister of the United Front Work Department of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC)."Also, since they have committed to recognising China as a sole legitimate government representing China it contravenes their attempt, because it is a serious commitment," Zhang said on the sidelines of the once-in-a-five-year congress of the CPC.Zhang said China would not accept the arguments of foreign countries and leaders to meet the 82-year-old Dalai Lama as a religious leader."I want to make it clear that the 14th Dalai Lama, the living Buddha handed down by history is a political figure under the cloak of religion," he said.Without naming India, he said Dalai Lama fled to the "other country" in 1959 "betraying his motherland and setup his so called government in exile".That "so called government" has the mission of a separatist agenda to split Tibet from China, he said."For decades, the group with 14th Dalai Lama as the leader never stopped to achieve that political agenda," he said.There is no legitimate government that that has recognised the Dalai Lama group, he said, adding that fewer countries and leaders are hosting him.Some countries may say the Dalai Lama is not a political figure but a religious figure and their officials meet him not in his political capacity."But that is not true and not right because every official represent their government and they are political figures," Zhang said."So we urge all to exercise caution and prudence to bear in mind the respect for China's sovereignty and for their relations and friendship with China," he said.Zhang also claimed that Tibetan Buddhism is originated from China."It is a special form of religion that originated within China. In the process of development of Tibetan Buddhism, it was influenced by other religions and other cultures, that is true but is not acquired religion," he said.Zhang said in Tibet, China is encouraging Tibetan Buddhism to reclaim its Chinese orientation."It is mainly about introducing or incorporating fine results of Chinese culture in the teaching of Tibetan religion," he said."Chinese culture can nurture teachings and tenants of Tibetan Buddhism, so that its teaching can take in the latest fine results of Chinese culture. It is also needed for the development of Chinese Buddhism itself," he said. |
At least, 36 tigers are said to be at Assam's Orang Tiger reserve.
The Orang reserve is situated 150 km from Guwahati.
All-night vigil is key to keeping poachers and illegal timber loggers away.
In Orang, protecting the wildlife means round-the-clock duty for forest guards.
About a 100 staff members with their limited resources have been doing a commendable job at managing the fledging tiger habitat in Assam's Orang Tiger Reserve. One of India's youngest tiger reserves, it also has the highest tiger density in the country, according to Assam forest department. At least, 36 tigers are said to be at the reserve.The reserve, about 150 kilometres from Guwahati, with a tiger density of 35.44 per hundred square kilometres, is scripting a new chapter in saving the big cats. If it continues to grow at this pace, soon it will have the highest tiger density in the world in only 80 square kilometres core area."This is due to an excellent protection mechanism that we have here. There was a time when there were only 10 tigers here," said Sunnydeo Choudhury, field director, Orang Tiger Reserve.Located on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra, Orang, like the world-famous Kaziranga National Park, has rhinos, tigers, elephants and a variety of wild animals and yet its conservation story is not known to many."We have lived here with tigers and we never had any problem from tigers. In fact, tigers are very gentle, perhaps the gentlest wild animal," said 55-year-old Ghanashyam Rajbongshi, who has served for over 20 years and has even written a book on Orang.In Orang, protecting the wildlife means round-the-clock duty for forest guards. With no electricity, the guards have to depend of solar energy. They lack good boots, jackets or rain coats, essential for their job in a reserve, and work for very low pay.They forest guards have to keep the tiger habitat healthy and safeguard rhinos from poachers. With over 100 rhinos, Orang is on poachers' hit list. All-night vigil is key to keeping poachers and illegal timber loggers away. The thick grasslands are also where tigers mate. But, more big cats mean bigger tests."Rhino poaching has been a problem in Orang for some time now, so we have to monitor the area 24X7. We are short-staffed but we make sure somebody is keeping a watch all the time," Chakrapani Roy, range officer, Orang told NDTV.Orang was declared a tiger reserve last year. Now over 400 square kilometres area would be added to the reserve and that is going to be a challenge. The buffer zones of the part already have human encroachments.While the increasing tiger population in Orang is great news for conservation, the biggest challenge is to avoid man-tiger conflict. "With increasing tiger population in the limited area, there is a spillover in the buffer zones leading to increased tiger attacks on cattle in fringe villages," Mr Choudhury added. |
I received an email the other day asking how long it took to get my coding chops back when I moved from management back to development. The author asked:
Once you adopted your ‘Write Code’ mantra, how difficult was it to reverse the ‘management lobotomy’ (an excuse a prior manager had when he no longer could provide detailed technical value). Did you find yourself struggling to get back into ‘for loops’, ‘if statements’, ‘datasets’, and the like?
Chops
Allow me to answer this simple question with a story only moderately related to software development.
I’ve played the guitar since college. I’ve played in several bands, written a few dozen songs, and performed in front of tens of people (not a typo). I haven’t played seriously in almost 4 years, but I can still pick up a guitar and sound pretty good. That’s the thing with the guitar – it’s easy to play; it’s hard to be good (sounds a bit like writing software).
If you compare my proficiency today with the “me” of 5 years ago, we are worlds apart. Five years ago I played at least an hour a day, and often practiced with other musicians. Playing the guitar every day has an amazing effect: the scent of the wood becomes tantalizing, the tone of your playing becomes warmer, strumming and picking becomes effortless, and your muscle memory allows you to play difficult pieces with no conscious thought. You begin to feel tied to your instrument, as if it’s an extension of your body instead of a big piece of wood and strings. It’s almost as if the guitar plays itself.
But these days it’s a struggle. My fingers and wrist hurt after about 5 minutes, my strumming is stiff, and my fret-hand feels like it has arthritis. But even as far as I’ve fallen, I could get back to my glory days with about 8 weeks of daily playing.
The similarities between guitar playing and coding are obvious so I’m not going to discuss them here. It’s one of the differences that I think is important: not playing the guitar for 4 years means you lose muscle memory and a few songs, but leaving programming for 4 years is like a death sentence to your technical knowledge. Not because you’ll forget what an if statement is, but because programming languages move so quickly that 4 years could include 2 or 3 new versions of your language. Think of a VB6 developer who took 4 years off between 2001 and 2005 and tried to pick up .NET 2.0 based on his existing VB6 knowledge. We still put DLLs in System32, right?
Returning to the guitar after 4 years is a lot like going back to programming after 4 months…all you’ve lost is muscle memory. But return to programming from management after 4 years and you’ve lost something else: first-hand knowledge of the new technology that’s released (seemingly) every few months. There’s a point around 12-18 months where returning to coding becomes exponentially more difficult.
This is good to know if you’re approaching the point where your technical skills are about to fall a full version behind. Realize you’re falling off a technology cliff that you will have to scale if you ever decide to code again.
The Real Answer
Back to the original question: the first time I returned to development was after a 7-month management hiatus, and it took 3-4 weeks to get back to full speed.
The second time was noticeably worse; I was a non-coding technical lead for nearly 2 years. When I emerged from my cave I was almost two .NET Framework releases behind, and not only did I face getting up to speed with new language features like Generics and LINQ, I ‘d missed out on a slew of new ASP.NET Controls, and concepts like ORM and MVC had started their rapid move to the forefront of the .NET development community.
As expected, I got back to full-speed coding within 6 weeks, but it was at least 6 months before I climbed back up the cliff.
[tags]programming, management, guitar[/tags] |
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CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - A longtime mainstay of Rhode Island nightlife is closing.
Mardi Gras Multi Club on Oaklawn Avenue will shut its doors after Nov. 30, owner John Readey Jr. told Eyewitness News on Thursday. He said the club will be open for the next three weekends as well as the final two days of November.
Larry Caron, a bartender at Mardi Gras for 28 years, said in an email he was saddened by the news but grateful for his time there.
"The outpouring of love and support on Facebook from our longtime customers has been overwhelming," Caron said. "People have met their significant others, had children, and brought those same children with them to the club when they turned 21!"
Mardi Gras' parent company, JHR Night Club Inc., was founded in 1989, according to the Rhode Island secretary of state's corporations database. Ready said the location that is now Mardi Gras originally operated as Mustang Sally's from 1989 to 1998 before it was rebranded and reopened.
"With nearly a dozen full-service bars and the sexiest, most generous bartenders around, you'll never have to wait in line to refresh your drink," Mardi Gras declares on its Facebook page. |
Installing a Bob’s F-100 Parts Four-Bar Setup |
A week or so ago I was running an errand for the missus when I happened to drive right by Bob’s F-100 Parts. As I did, it occurred to me that it’d been ages since I’d stuck my nose in Bob’s door, and if I didn’t do it now there’d be no tellin’ when I might get around to it again. So, the better half’s errand slipped to the back burner and I turned around and pulled into Bob’s.
As I stuck my head into the shop door I found Bob and Chuck (one of his crew members) underneath a bright-red F-100. Busybody that I am, I wandered under the pickup as well and asked what was goin’ on. As luck would have it I’d stopped by just as the pair was about to install one of Bob’s four-bar setups so I decided to hang around and watch somebody else work for once. Bob explained that the truck’s owner was less than pleased with the pickup’s ride quality and performance afforded by the old, OEM leaf spring suspension and he’d heard through the grapevine that Bob’s four-bar setup was the way to go. Bob was happy to oblige and I was just as happy to get it on film and share it with you. That said, follow along and see just how easy it is to upgrade those old, worn-out leaf springs for a Bob’s F-100 Parts four-bar setup. CT |
MANILA, Philippines – Technical divers have recovered the body of Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Transportation and Communication Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas said on Tuesday.
An emotional Roxas broke the “sad news” at a briefing at 9:15 a.m., saying that Robredo’s body was found 800 meters from the shore at a depth of 180 feet at 7:45 a.m .
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“The body has indications that it belongs to Sec. Jess,” said Roxas as he tried to fight off tears.
The remains of the Department of Interior and Local Government chief has been pulled from the fuselage and brought by rubber boat to one of Philippine Coast Guard’s vessels. It is now on its way to Naga City, Roxas said.
Recovery was difficult as the fuselage had overturned but operations continued to retrieve the bodies of the two pilots who were found inside the Piper Seneca plane. “Nakasubsob ‘yung dalawang piloto sa loob ng cockpit kaya si Sec. Jesse ang unang nakuha ng diver (The two pilots were inside the cockpit that’s why they recovered Sec. Jesse’s body first),” said Roxas.
“Sa pamilya nina Captain [Jessup] Bahinting and the Nepalese co-pilot [flight student Kshitiz Chand], tuloy po ang recovery operations. Hindi ito para lang kay Sec. Jesse (The recovery operations for the remains of Captain Bahinting and the Nepalese co-pilot are ongoing. This is not only for Sec. Jesse),” said Roxas.
President Benigno Aquino III has been told about the development and has personally informed the DILG chief’s wife, lawyer Leni Robredo.
“The President has already called Mrs. Leni,” said Roxas.
Roxas asked the media and the public to give the Robredo family time to cope with what has happened. He also told them not to disrupt forensic experts who will be examining the bodies.
The official confirmation came after four days of massive search and rescue operations headed no less by President Aquino. With a report from Jonas Soltes, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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Originally posted at 09:25 am | Tuesday, August 21, 2012
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With the country's mightiest music chain limping into oblivion, independent retailers in Edmonton are not ready to sing their swan song just yet.
HMV Canada has gone bankrupt. The retailer was hemorrhaging cash, losing $100,000 a day as customers turned towards digital media for their music and videos.
Though the timbre of the Canadian music industry has changed, its clear Peter Ferguson hasn't changed his tune about the future of his own business. Revolver Inc, which has two locations in Edmonton, specializes in hard-to-find and out-of-print DVDs, CDs and vinyl.
"This is the kind of model that's going to work going forward; the smaller, locally-owned record store instead of the huge chains," Ferguson said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
"It was probably too little too late. You're seeing it with all the department stores as well. I don't think that business model works anymore."
Ferguson expects smaller retailers like him will see an uptick in business when the remaining HMV stores across Canada close in three months.
"I would anticipate our business getting a spike, with no other place to buy new or used CDs or DVDs, so that would be positive," he said.
"But again, we need to see how the vacuum is going to be filled for new releases and that sort of stuff that we don't traditionally deal with."
The day the music died
Ferguson acknowledged that, like HMV, CD sales make up the bulk of his company's profits.
But he said there are small but important differences in their business models. And while big chains lost most of their customers to a surge in digital sales, they have not.
By offering hard-to-find items and a wide selection of vinyl, they've held on to older customers, instead of relying on youth to shell out their disposable incomes.
While CD and DVD sales have plummeted, the appetite for vinyl releases continues to grow. (David Donnelly, CBC News) And the appetite for vinyl continues to grow.
"Teenagers and people in their early 20s aren't spending their money on physical copies of DVDs and CDs, where people of the older generation still very much want physical copies," Ferguson said.
"When I was a teenager, that's what you did when you went to the mall, you went to the record store. I don't get any teenagers in here anymore. I think that's one of the main reasons why the HMV eventually did go under."
The latest report from Boarder City Media, a company that tracks music sales in Canada, shows vinyl sales grew by more than 50 per cent from 2015 to 2016. Vinyl and streaming audio are now the only two growing segments of the music sales business.
'I think we'll be OK for the foreseeable future'
Rich Liukko, owner of Freecloud Records, agrees — the appetite for vinyl shows no sign of waning. But he's more apprehensive about what the end of HMV means for the future of Canada's music industry, and consumer spending habits.
"Canada has just lost its mainstream retailer," he said. "The analogy I've been using is, imagine if the major chain grocery stores all went under tomorrow, where would you buy your food?"
Over the years, HMV has focused its sales on new releases and best-sellers. Liukko says he has no intentions on filling that void. The profit margins for CDs are too slim.
Liukko said the loss of the major retailer has caused "lots of confusion" in the industry. Manufacturers, distributors and record labels are apprehensive that with HMV gone, more Canadians will shop the internet for their music.
And once they've gone digital, those customers may never come back to the record store.
"A lot of people like owning music as a hard copy in Canada, which is really cool, although streaming is making a big impact," he said.
"I think we'll be OK for the foreseeable future, but if people are weaned from hard copy music and forced to go to streaming, it could have an impact on us."
Liukko said he's hoping the industry can pick up some of the slack.
"With an industry of that magnitude, hopefully someone steps up and sees the mainstream as a good business opportunity." |
The 30-year-old full-back, who arrived at Boro from Valencia last summer, returns to his native Spain in a loan arrangement.
Barragan has made 27 appearances with Boro, 26 of which were in the Premier League.
A string of injuries and absences along the Boro backline meant the former Liverpool, Deportivo La Coruna and Real Valladolid man made his club debut at centre-back in our opening-day fixture against Stoke City, while he was also occasionally deployed at left-back when needed.
But the majority of Barragan’s Boro appearances came in his customary right-back position, although he was himself subjected to a disrupted second half of the campaign owing to a troublesome hamstring injury.
Barragan's final match for the Teessiders last season was in April's 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth - he was replaced after just 23 minutes after Gaston Ramirez was shown a red card. |
Welcome!
If you could simply flick a switch and then begin to make lasting changes to your life, there would be no reason for this guidebook to exist.
The fact is, making lasting changes to your life is tough, which is probably why 92% of people fail at their New Year’s resolutions every year.1 That’s what drove me and a few friends to put together this guide. (Here’s who worked on this guide, and here’s a little about my A Year of Productivity project, which I started eight months ago.)
This guidebook will walk you through everything you need to do to keep your resolutions this year, including stepping back from your life to pick your resolutions, making a plan, and then working to keep that plan by clearing your mind, cutting out distractions, and getting it done. I’m so confident in what’s in these pages that I’ll make you a personal guarantee: if you follow everything contained within this book, you will keep your New Year’s Resolutions this year.
I can’t promise you that it will be easy to keep your resolutions, because to be honest, a lot of the time it won’t be. But if you are willing to put in the time and effort, I promise I will give you the tools you need to make the changes you want to make.
Alright, ready to jump in? Let’s do this. |
WASHINGTON — The man who exposed two sweeping U.S. surveillance programs and touched off a national debate on privacy versus security, has revealed his own identity. He risks decades in jail for the disclosures to reporters — if the U.S. can extradite him from Hong Kong where he has taken refuge.
Edward Snowden, 29, who says he worked as a contractor at the National Security Agency and the CIA, allowed The Guardian and The Washington Post
newspapers to reveal his identity Sunday.
He initially wanted to keep his name hidden, but later said he was certain to be exposed — and warned that both he and reporters could be in danger for publishing the information.
“I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, and that the return of this information to the public marks my end,” he wrote in early May, before making his first direct contact with reporters.
The U.S. intelligence community, he wrote, “will most certainly kill you if they think you are the single point of failure that could stop this disclosure and make them the sole owner of this information.”
Both papers have published a series of top-secret documents outlining two NSA surveillance programs. One gathers hundreds of millions of U.S. phone records while searching for possible links to known terrorist targets abroad, and the second allows the government to tap into nine U.S. Internet companies to gather all Internet usage to detect suspicious behaviour that begins overseas.
The revelations have reopened the post-Sept. 11, 2001, debate about individual privacy concerns versus heightened measures to protect the U.S. against terrorist attacks. The NSA has asked the Justice Department to conduct a criminal investigation into the leaks. Government lawyers are now “in the initial stages of an investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of classified information by an individual with authorized access,” said Nanda Chitre, Justice Department spokeswoman.
President Barack Obama said the programs are authorized by Congress and subject to strict supervision of a secret court, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says they do not target U.S. citizens.
But Snowden claims the programs are open to abuse.
“Any analyst at any time can target anyone. Any selector. Anywhere,” Snowden said in a video on the Guardian’s website. “I, sitting at my desk, had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president if I had a personal email.”
Some lawmakers have expressed similar concerns about the wide reach of the surveillance.
“I expect the government to protect my privacy. It feels like that isn’t what’s been happening,” said Sen. Mark Udall, a Democrat and a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Again, there’s a line, but to me, the scale of it and the fact the law was being secretly interpreted has long concerned me,” he said Sunday on CNN, adding that at the same time, he abhors leaks.
Senate intelligence committee chairman, Democrat Dianne Feinstein, contends the surveillance does not infringe on U.S. citizens’ privacy, and that it helped disrupt a 2009 plot to bomb New York City’s subways and played a role in the case against an American who scouted targets in Mumbai, India, before a deadly terrorist attack there in 2008. Feinstein spoke on ABC television’s “This Week.”
Clapper has decried the revelation of the intelligence-gathering programs as reckless and said it has done “huge, grave damage.”
The spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence Shawn Turner said intelligence officials are “currently reviewing the damage that has been done by these recent disclosures.”
The disclosures come as the White House deals with managing fallout from revelations that it secretly seized telephone records of journalists at The Associated Press and Fox News.
Snowden says he was a former technical assistant for the CIA and a current employee of defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, which released a statement Sunday confirming he had been a contractor with them in Hawaii for less than three months, and promising to work with investigators.
Snowden could face many years in prison for releasing classified information if he is successfully extradited from Hong Kong, according to Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer who represents whistleblowers.
Hong Kong, though part of China, is partly autonomous and has a Western-style legal system that is a legacy from the territory’s past as a British colony. A U.S.-Hong Kong extradition treaty has worked smoothly in the past. Hong Kong extradited three al-Qaeda suspects to the U.S. in 2003, for example.
But the treaty comes with important exceptions. Key provisions allow a request to be rejected if it is deemed to be politically motivated or that the suspect would not receive a fair trial. Beijing may also block an extradition of Chinese nationals from Hong Kong for national security reasons.
“The government could subject him to a 10 or 20 year penalty for each count,” with each document leaked considered a separate charge, Zaid said.
Any analyst at any time can target anyone. Any selector. Anywhere
Snowden told the Guardian newspaper he believes the government could try to charge him with treason under the Espionage Act, but Zaid said that would require the government to prove he had intent to betray the United States, whereas he publicly made it clear he did this to spur debate.
“My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them,” Snowden told the Guardian.
The government could also make an argument that the NSA leaks have aided the enemy — as military prosecutors have claimed against Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, who faces life in prison under military law if convicted for releasing a trove of classified documents through the Wikileaks website.
“They could say the revelation of the (NSA) programs could instruct people to change tactics,” Zaid said. That could add more potential jail time to the punishment.
Snowden told the Post he was not going to hide.
“Allowing the U.S. government to intimidate its people with threats of retaliation for revealing wrongdoing is contrary to the public interest,” he said in the interview published Sunday. Snowden said he would “ask for asylum from any countries that believe in free speech and oppose the victimization of global privacy.”
Snowden told The Guardian he lacked a high school diploma and served in the U.S. Army until he was discharged because of an injury, and later worked as a security guard with the NSA at a covert facility at the University of Maryland.
He later went to work for the CIA as an information technology employee and by 2007 was stationed in Geneva, Switzerland, where he had access to classified documents.
During that time, he considered going public about the nation’s secretive programs but told the newspaper he decided against it, because he did not want to put anyone in danger and he hoped Obama’s election would curtail some of the clandestine programs.
He said he was disappointed that Obama did not rein in the surveillance programs.
“Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world,” he told The Guardian. “I realized that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good.”
Snowden left the CIA in 2009. He said he spent the last four years at the NSA, briefly as a contractor with consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton and, before that, Dell.
The Guardian reported that Snowden was working in an NSA office in Hawaii when he copied the last of the documents he planned to disclose and told supervisors that he needed to be away for a few weeks to receive treatment for epilepsy.
He left for Hong Kong on May 20 and has remained there since, according to the newspaper. Snowden is quoted as saying he chose that city because “they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent”, and because he believed it was among the spots on the globe that could and would resist the dictates of the U.S. government.
“I feel satisfied that this was all worth it. I have no regrets,” Snowden told The Guardian. |
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As I already revealed in my list of lesser known Star Trek facts , in the early stages of Star Trek's production the USS Enterprise was called the USS Yorktown, this was possibly after the aircraft carrier of the same name that was commissioned by The United States Navy in 1937 - it also ties in with Roddenberry's career as a decorated combat pilot."These are the voyages of the star ship Yorktown." - It doesn't have the same ring, does it? In the same way that the word 'Enterprise' is now forever connected to the legacy of Star Trek, so are the two actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. However, neither of them were originally pursued for the series. Like many other television shows several different actors were considered for the leading roles first. So lets take a look at two of them, who, if they had accepted the parts, may have completely altered the feel of the entire show.Obviously Kirk ended up being played by Canadian actor William Shatner, but would you believe that Jack Lord (Hawaii 5-0) was initially considered to play the role? Lord, Who's real name was John Joseph Patrick Ryan, was a well known Broadway performer and film star around that time. He hadn't reached the level of lead actor, but he'd appeared in a number of Westerns, and also portrayed Felix Leiter in 'Dr No", the Big screen debut of James Bond. On the strength of these performances he was considered for the role of Eliot Ness in the Untouchables, narrowly losing out to Robert Stack.Lord was emerging as a bit of a pin up and his his personal profile was on the rise, thanks to a steady stream of job offers. In terms of the role of Kirk, it would appear that the main stumbling block was that Lord demanded 50% ownership of the show, which was unsurprisingly deemed as totally unacceptable. You can see why he would be considered for the role though, Lord had a powerful charisma and could have reflected the attributes of Kirk superbly well. Eventually, of course, he went on to find international Stardom in Hawaii 5-0 (1968-1980) playing Steve McGarrett. Had the Star Trek deal panned out we may well have missed out of that classic catchphrase "Book 'em Danno".Much more mystifying was the original casting of Spock, largely because it's difficult to imagine anyone other than Leonard Nimoy playing the part, but Martin Landau was in line to assume the role. He was also a familiar face to an American audience and had been in several successful stage productions before being cast in Hitchcock's classic 'North by Northwest' alongside Cary Grant and James Mason.Again there are certain aspects of the actors performance that could arguably fit with Spock's Character. He could seem distant and dispatch his lines without any hint of emotion. He seemed to revel in roles in which you never got beneath the first layer of skin (possibly a reflection of his capabilities or limitations?). It would appear that the only reason he did not accept the part, was the emergence of a new programme that caught his interest - Mission Impossible (1966-1973), where he was cast as a master of disguise - Rollin Hand.Having digested this information, you may want to consider how these appointments might have altered the complexion of the show, or if it would have made any difference at all. Perhaps Star Trek would have gone on to conquer the Galaxy with Jack Lord and Martin Landau as the two main players, and its astounding success is down to the uniqueness of the idea and visionary scripts. Others of you may think it highly unlikely, and that the chemistry between William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy gave the original series the edge to propel it to the hearts of fans worldwide.Whatever your view, it's an interesting one to ponder. For me personally, the casting of Shatner and Nimoy was absolutely perfect, I'm not detracting from the abilities of Lord or Landau but it seemed that fate intervened in one way or another to gift us with the perfect pairing - but I guess we'll never really know how it may have gone.Next time we'll take a look at the visionary behind Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry. |
Editor's note: Sarah Shourd was freed from prison in Iran 2½ months ago. Shourd, her fiancé, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal were hiking in the mountains in northern Iraq in July 2009 and were arrested by Iranian border guards, accused of spying and imprisoned. Shourd was released after 410 days in solitary confinement; her companions remain imprisoned. To learn more, visit freethehikers.org.
(CNN) -- When I was in Evin Prison in Tehran, a guard twice brought flowers to my cell. Each time, I'd hear the door open and look up to see her standing there with a huge smile and homegrown roses. I was speechless with gratitude.
When I broke down and cried, she would hold me in her arms, look me in the eyes and say, "God willing, Sarah, it's going to be OK."
Since my release, many people have wondered why I have not been more condemning of the country that kept me in solitary confinement for 410 days. They have wanted to know why I speak with such conviction about the need for an improved Iranian-U.S. relationship and highlight my love for the Middle East and respect for Muslim culture.
At a very personal level, I never would have been kept in jail for 14 months if Iran and the United States had a better relationship. My fiancé, Shane Bauer, and our close friend Josh Fattal would not still be in prison in Iran today on the baseless charge of espionage.
But there is more to my conviction than the merely personal. I don't believe that the animosity between Iran and the United States is an insuperable obstacle; it's the responsibility of all governments to engage diplomatically, regardless of their differences, and when they can't or don't, it is their people who suffer the most.
This week's nuclear talks in Geneva, Switzerland, involving Iran and the United States, the first in more than a year, are a hopeful sign that there can be a dialogue, as difficult as the challenges may be. Both countries have taken positive steps in recent months that offer some encouragement. Notably, the U.S. has officially designated the Iranian militant group Jundallah a terrorist organization, a decision applauded by Iran.
There is a long way to go toward overcoming the animosities of three decades, but now is the best time for dialogue. When I ask my government, and the Iranian government, to seize this opportunity, I'm thinking of the future. I'm thinking about the children I hope to have someday and about my children's children.
Shane and I had been living in Damascus, Syria, for more than a year before our fateful trip to Iraqi Kurdistan with Josh. I was teaching English to Iraqi refugees and Shane was working as a journalist. We hoped to use our work to counter the negative perceptions of the Middle East and Islam among many Americans and act as a bridge between our cultures. Josh, an environmentalist, was visiting us. He had heard about our experiences and came with an open, curious heart to share in our passion for the region.
How different our situation would have been if the United States had an embassy in Iran when Shane, Josh and I were arrested on the border with Kurdistan, where we had gone hiking. In the absence of a normal U.S.-Iranian relationship, we sat in our cells for two months before our families had any information about us, or we knew anything of what they were going through.
When Swiss diplomats, who represent U.S. interests in Iran, finally got to see us, I was so shellshocked by my isolation that I could barely utter a few words to pass on to my family. At the same time, over the course of my imprisonment, the belief that we could somehow emerge from a very painful experience better equipped to face the problems of our world helped Shane, Josh and I through the seemingly interminable days of loneliness, uncertainty and despair.
In prison, we gave ourselves a choice. We could come out as better people or we could let our experience crush the part of ourselves that we value the most -- the part that allows us to see beyond the differences that appear to divide us from people of other cultures and religions or with different points of view. This vision of religious pluralism and respect for knowledge is rooted in the ideals upon which our country was founded and is something all Americans can share.
More than anything, I want Shane and Josh to be free. I also do not want what happened to us to happen to other people, American or Iranian. I hope our leaders find the courage to begin to break from our nations' hostile past, just as the prison guard who brought me flowers was able to see past my nationality and recognize our common humanity.
The guard and I had very little to build on in terms of a common language, but I would say "one God" in Farsi and she would repeat the words with a solemn nod of the head.
When she found out that I was being released, the guard asked whether I would forget her once I got back to America. I told her I never would.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Sarah Shourd. |
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