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"Star Wars" director George Lucas said in a statement that Freeborn was "already a makeup legend" when he started working on "Star Wars."
"He brought with him not only decades of experience, but boundless creative energy," Lucas said. "His artistry and craftsmanship will live on forever in the characters he created. His "Star Wars" creatures may be reinterpreted in new forms by new generations, but at their heart, they continue to be what Stuart created for the original films."
Freeborn's granddaughter, Michelle Freeborn, said he died on Tuesday in London from a combination of ailments due to his age. Michelle Freeborn, who lives in Wellington, New Zealand, said her grandfather was "like a hero" to her and inspired her and her late father to get into the movie business, too.
"He was a really fun and imaginative individual." she said. "He gave you the feeling that if you wanted to achieve something, you should just get on and do it, and don't ever use excuses. He enjoyed life and the amazing world we live in."
Freeborn's six-decade career led him to work on many classics, including Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Born in London in 1914, Freeborn was the son of a Lloyds of London insurance broker. He told a BBC documentary last year that he resisted pressure to follow in his father's footsteps, because "I felt I was different."
He began his film career in the 1930s, working for Hungarian-born director Alexander Korda, and honing his makeup skills on stars including Marlene Dietrich and Vivien Leigh.
After air force service during the Second World War, he worked on British cinema classics including "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" and David Lean's 1948 version of "Oliver Twist." His transformation of Alec Guinness into Fagin -complete with a large hooked nose - was criticized by some as anti-Semitic, a matter of regret for Freeborn, who said he was partly Jewish.
Freeborn later worked with Kubrick, transforming Peter Sellers into multiple characters for "Doctor Strangelove" before designing the apes for "2001"'s "Dawn of Man" sequence, in which primates react to a mysterious monolith.
But he will likely be best remembered for his work on "Star Wars" - creating characters such as the 7-foot-tall wookie Chewbacca and the slug-like Jabba the Hutt.
LucasFilm said that Irvin Kershner, who directed "The Empire Strikes Back," would "note that Freeborn quite literally put himself into Yoda, as the Jedi master's inquisitive and mischievous elfin features had more than a passing resemblance to Freeborn himself." (Yoda's looks were also said to be partly inspired by Albert Einstein.)
Freeborn recalled being approached by "this young fellow" named George Lucas, who told him, "I've written a script for a film called 'Star Wars.'"
"He was so genuine about it, I thought, well, young as he is, I believe in him. He's got something. I'll do what I can for him," Freeborn told the BBC.
Nick Maley, a makeup artist who worked with Freeborn in the 1970s, called him a mentor who "ran his department like a headmaster."
"It was my years working with him that helped me learn how to think, how to solve problems, how to not take the most obvious path," Maley said. "Everybody will remember him for 'Star Wars,' but he did so much more than that. No one should overlook the groundbreaking work he did on '2001: A Space Odyssey.' That was really the forerunner of 'Star Wars' and used a lot of the same technology."
Freeborn's wife, Kay, died in 2012. Freeborn's three sons - Roger, Ray and Graham - also died before him.
In addition to Michelle, Freeborn is survived by six grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren.
Source: AP |
By Brennan Stark, Contributing Reporter
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – An estimated 300 Military Police accompanied by police helicopters began forcibly removing student protesters from the University of São Paulo (USP) at 5:10AM this morning. Around sixty students have detained thus far.
USP students began occupying the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Science (FFLCH) building, which houses the university president’s office, last Wednesday, November 1st.
The protest was sparked several days after a violent confrontation with police, reportedly during the arrest of three students for marijuana possession.
They had been demanding a reevaluation of university lawsuits against students, and an end to the regular Military Police presence on campus which started about two months ago.
The police presence was set into motion after the death of Felipe Ramos de Paiva, a 24 year-old USP student murdered on campus on May 18th this year.
The student protesters had been given until 11PM Monday night to vacate the building, but an estimated 350 chose to stay. Frustrations and anxieties intensified after the deadline, with reports of some students to begin pelting journalists in the area with sticks and stones.
The university had held negotiations with students and employees over the weekend and yesterday afternoon, but ultimately rejected their demands for removing the police presence.
In 2007, university students occupied the same building for 55 days.
Read more (in Portuguese).
* The Rio Times Daily Update is a new feature we are offering to help keep you up-to-date with major news as it happens. |
Can one be too boring to appear on reality TV? Too wet to go in the water? Too dumb to partake in a GMTV phone quiz? Despite the self-reflective, nay, almost Confucian quality to these questions, they are not a selection of titles from the self-help section of your local bookshop. Even more surprisingly, the answer to one of these questions turns out to be, actually yes. Best of all, the answer involves a Palin.
The Palin family has been busy of late, even by its own industrious standards. Sarah has been hard at work tweeting her horror at plans to build an Islamic centre near Ground Zero in New York and, in doing so, reinventing the English language and comparing herself to Shakespeare. All that and in under 140 characters, too. Even more shocking than the revelation that Palin has heard of Shakespeare has been her spirited, if unfortunately racist defence of New York City, that epicentre of her frequently invoked "East Coast elitism". To those of us who come from and/or live in New York, this is an interesting volte-face and one that we have had to get used to in recent years: to Palin, Fox News and the fun lovin' tea partyists, New York is generally the antithesis to some madey-uppy heartland demographic; when the chance arises to use 9/11 to indulge in casual racism, New York becomes America's vulnerable crown jewel.
But in a move of almost Greek-tragedy proportions, Palin has been overshadowed by her own daughter, Bristol. Last week Bristol announced her engagement to the father of her child, the adorable Levi Johnston, in the traditional Christian manner, on the cover of Us magazine. Judging from her terse press release ("Bristol is ultimately in charge of determining what is best for her"), Mama Palin was less than thrilled with this turn of events, but worse has transpired. Naturally, Bristol and Levi assumed that their marriage would be lovingly witnessed by God and His modern day equivalent, reality TV. However, according to reports "network honchos" have turned down the planned programme because "neither [Bristol nor Levi] have personalities". Now, to the five people who have been watching the current series of Big Brother, this doubtless makes Bristol and Levi sound like reality-TV naturals, but apparently not.
If Sarah was wary about her daughter's marriage being made into a TV programme, then surely her being turned down for one is even worse, considering so much of her political image has been based on personality and family. Only now it turns out that a member of her family doesn't even have enough personality for a country that has a TV programme called I Didn't Even Know I Was Pregnant (which, for the record, Bristol didn't appear on either).
Levi has reportedly offered to "bring in his sister and other relatives to make it work". This would be his drug dealing mother and his sister Mercede, author of a highly recommended blog.
This presents an interesting quandary for Sarah Palin, one even trickier to navigate than her love/hate affair with New York. Palin has always claimed that hokey ignorance and a "redneck" background are far more important qualifications for a politician than a basic knowledge of geography and the English language.
And yet, in the Johnstons, Bristol has found a family – going by her mother's criteria – more "real American" than her own. Thus, to criticise them would make her sound, well, elitist. That the Johnstons apparently have more TV appeal is just the lemon juice in the wound. This is the problem with celebrating stupidity, Sarah: stupid people win.
News that the Daily Mail's website, Mail Online, has had a 72% year on year growth of unique browsers comes as no surprise to this unique browser. There's something about the website's tangy tonal mix of a salacious uncle, a nosey passive-aggressive neighbour and a caller to John Gaunt's radio show that, ooh, just gives me the hit I crave whenever there is work to be done but I would rather procrastinate by giving myself a momentary lobotomy.
Yet even through the haze of my addiction I remain a loyal employee. So to help the Guardian boost its own numbers, I shall make use of my years of hard study of Mail Online by writing in the Mail's clearly irresistible style. However, because I do not have the access to paparazzi photos of unknown US reality TV stars and Katie Holmes, I must use my own humble self as the subject: "Not so glam now! Hadley dares to leave the house at 9am without any make up." "Hadley enjoys the sun in a denim miniskirt – but how old is TOO OLD to show one's legs? Our top writers discuss." "Shadow or cellulite? Hadley flashes some unfortunate mottling as she gets on the bus." "Tea for two? No, just one, actually: Sad Hadley cuts a lonely figure as she buys just one cup of tea in the office canteen." "Hadley wears this summer's 1950s trend, but at her age maybe she should think more about what flatters her instead of what's fashionable."
"TOO FAT" "Hadley and mysterious friend eat their sandwiches outside – but is there more to this friendship than meets the eye?" "Hadley and male colleague talk about 'work' at Hadley's desk. Our resident body language expert analyses what their looks REALLY say." "TOO THIN" "What a difference two decades make! The summer sun shows how much Hadley's skin has changed since this photo taken 20 years ago." "As Hadley tries to drink her cares away with friends after work we ask, why ARE women reaching for the bottle so much these days?" "TOO FAT" "Worse for wear, Hadley stumbles home after ANOTHER night out. But, warns a former self-described feminist, these not-so-young women will regret their selfish, irresponsible behaviour."
There. That should do the business. |
Businesspeople and those with political influence from Russia and Ukraine among hundreds granted citizenship for money
A leaked list of names of those who have benefited from Cyprus’s citizenship-by-investment programmes represents a detailed insight into the panoply of clients behind schemes providing passports to the super rich.
It also reveals the extent to which interest from the Russian and Ukrainian elite has driven the programme which, according to the Cypriot government, has generated more than €4bn in investment since 2013. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of beneficiaries.
Prior to 2013, Cypriot citizenship was granted on a discretionary basis by ministers, in a less formal version of the current arrangement.
“Golden visa” schemes, whereby countries sell passports or citizenship in exchange for investment, are almost universally carried out in complete secrecy. Only Malta has ever published the names of its applicants.
The ‘golden visa’ deal: ‘We have in effect been selling off British citizenship to the rich’ Read more
Several of the hundreds of names seen by Guardian are prominent businesspeople or individuals with political influence in their home countries.
Leonid Lebedev, a former member of the Russian parliament and the sole owner of the Sintez Group, is one of hundreds of Russian nationals named as having acquired Cypriot citizenship. His personal wealth is estimated by Forbes to be more than $1.2bn. Lebedev did not respond to requests for comment.
Another politically sensitive name is that of Alexander Ponomarenko, a Russian industrialist worth an estimated $3bn, who in 2011 reportedly paid $350m for a palace allegedly constructed for the private benefit of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Ponomarenko said “In 2016 I acquired the Cyprus citizenship by investment scheme and presently I am a citizen of the two countries - Russia and Cyprus.” He said the purchase of the palace was a “private deal”.
Gennady Bogolyubov and his former business partner Igor Kolomoisky founded PrivatBank in the 1990s, and were its biggest shareholders until it was nationalised by the Ukrainian government in 2016. The Ukrainian central bank alleged that the two partners had illicitly extracted £4.2bn from PrivatBank.
A lawyer representing Bogolyubov confirmed that he had been granted a Cypriot passport in 2010 “as a result of him having made substantial investments in the country (via certain companies) and being fully compliant with the legal requirements at the time”.
He said that the allegations concerning PrivatBank were “unsubstantiated, untruthful and defamatory” and that proceedings had been issued in relation to its nationalisation.
Jared Kushner's family criticised for touting cash-for-visas scheme in China Read more
A spokesman for Kolomoisky said: “He was granted citizenship of Cyprus, in recognition of his substantial investments in that country.” Kolomoisky is also bringing legal action in Ukraine with regards to PrivatBank.
Nikita Mishin, founder and commercial director at Severstaltrans and former member of the Expert Council of Russia, a non-governmental body of advisers, did not dispute that he had acquired Cypriot citizenship in 2015.
Konstantin Stetsenko is the managing partner of Invest Capital Ukraine, which was commissioned to advise former Ukrainian prime minister Petro Poroshenko on the sale of his confectionary business. A representative said that ICU had operations in Cyprus and that “Stetsenko’s citizenship is a helpful addition in those circumstances.” He acquired the citizenship this year.
Konstantin Grigorishin is the largest investor in the Ukrainian utilities firm Energy Standard Group and, according to Forbes, an avid swimmer with a $300m art collection. His opponents describe him as an oligarch based on alleged links to Poroshenko, which he denies.
He declined to comment on whether he had obtained Cypriot citizenship in 2010.
The billionaire Teddy Sagi obtained Cypriot citizenship in 2009. The majority shareholder of the company that owns Camden Market, he also founded the gambling software and services company Playtech. A representative for Sagi did not dispute his acquisition of citizenship, but questioned whether a Cypriot passport could be fairly called a “golden visa”.
Little-known outside wealthy circles, the golden visa industry first came into existence in 1984, when the tiny islands of St Kitts and Nevis decided to bring in additional foreign investment in exchange for passports.
Countries across the world followed suit, setting up schemes to provide foreign investors with passports, residency visas or citizenship in exchange for cash. Investment in real estate is often a key requirement of the schemes.
Boutique firms offering assistance to those potentially in need of a second or third passport advertise schemes in at least a dozen countries, including the UK.
Advocates of the industry argue that such programmes attract talent and wealth at a time when exchequers around the world are facing budget shortfalls. Some also argue that they grant those with ability and entrepreneurial spirit the chance to seek a better life outside repressive countries.
By contrast, critics attack them as greedy and cynical schemes that undermine the concept of citizenship. They also question the social value of a foreign investor buying property that is often never lived in.
Although secretive, the industry has suffered several scandals in recent years.
Eleven Portuguese civil servants and golden visa holders were arrested in 2013 after a police investigation codenamed Operation Labyrinth began examining whether golden visas had been issued corruptly. Earlier this year, the former immigration minister was officially designated a suspect in the Labyrinth investigation.
Portugal offers golden visas to rich foreigners Read more
Maltese politicians have been accused of involvement in an alleged kickback scheme relating to passports, which it has sold since 2014. In the US, the former company of Trump adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has recently been exposed as offering visas to Chinese investors who buy into one of the company’s construction projects.
Earlier this year the Guardian reported how the son of a Kazakh businessman accused of a multi-billion dollar fraud on his own bank was issued with an “investor visa” by the British government, despite informing them that the cash had been provided to him by his father.
Interest in the UK’s Tier 1 Investor visa crashed after new rules were put in place requiring more stringent financial checks.
Even St Kitts and Nevis, the original innovator behind the schemes, has been unable to escape scandal. In 2014 the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an advisory notice warning that criminals were buying St Kitts passports “for the purpose of engaging in illicit financial activity”.
Additional reporting by Craig Shaw and Micael Pereira
This article was developed with the support of the Journalism Fund. |
When the production designer John Myhre read the script for Bryan Singer’s original “X-Men” nearly 20 years ago, the first thing he did was draw a sketch on the back. It showed a room built by the telepath Charles Xavier, fit with a device that amplified his abilities by allowing him to locate fellow mutants across the globe.
“I drew a little head — just a circle,” Myhre recalls. “Then I went, ‘If the room helps to control it, it should always be the same distance away from his head.’ So I drew a bigger circle around that. Then I drew the wheelchair, and a ramp out from the doorway. And that became Cerebro.”
This was long before today’s superhero-saturated landscape. Beyond the then-dormant “Superman” and “Batman” franchises, there wasn’t a lot to point the way when it came to lifting the world of a comic book off the page and onto the screen. But with Myhre’s doodle, a grounded new direction for the genre took shape.
Indeed, terms like “grounded” and “reality” frequently come up when talking to key members of Singer’s crew. “Bryan wants clothes that function and are based in reality,” says Louise Mingenbach, the costume designer on Singer’s latest opus, “X-Men: Apocalypse.” Adds DP Newton Thomas Sigel, “Bryan’s aesthetic is very much one of realism and real-world logic.”
Related ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Cinematographer on the Visual Evolution of a Franchise
Both have worked with Singer on each of the four “X-Men” films he’s directed. (Myhre returned for “Days of Future Past,” in 2014.)
“Bryan wasn’t a comic-book geek as a child,” Sigel says. “He brought a modern filmmaker’s sensibility and storytelling. That led to a fresh way of doing a comic book.”
Back in 2000, Singer’s use of realism was far removed from, say, the circus-like atmosphere of Warner Bros.’ “Batman” series. And it would still be five years before Christopher Nolan’s hyper-realistic take on that character would build an aesthetic rally cry for DC Comics.
But more than aesthetics, Singer was interested in the corollary between Professor X and Magneto and luminaries of the 1960s Civil Rights movement like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. “My goal,” Singer says, “was to bring it to an audience in a more believable and serious way, opening it in the concentration camp, having Wolverine — who is cynical and doesn’t understand the X-Men — be the eye of the audience.”
Mingenbach recalls wrestling with all of this early on. “Bryan kept going back to, ‘This has to work; this has to look like they can walk down the street and not be made fun of,’” she says. “So we went into that protective motorcycle look from there. They hung together as a gang, but they had individuality. Theoretically, they could blend in.”
Myhre’s designs, meanwhile, often took their leads from the actors. For example, Myhre thought Patrick Stewart, refined, elegant gentleman that he is, would carry that quality through the bowels of Xavier’s School for Gifted Children, where the X-Men’s militaristic elements resided. He conceived a sophisticated, clean look — straight lines and a cool blue palette.
That look has carried through the franchise, and Myhre says he’s taken great pride in seeing the concept honored by other production designers such as Guy Hendrix Dyas (“Inception”) and Grant Major (the latest “X-Men,” plus three “Lord of the Rings” films).
They’ve had room to play along the way, particularly on “Apocalypse,” which takes place in the 1980s and folds a neo-Egyptian theme into the mix, with the addition of the eponymous villain.
“I had to do a lot of research on the Egyptian world, because ‘Apocalypse’ is from a very early phase,” Major says. “I had to recognize what period it was from and what the architectural styles were at that time. It was a big learning phase.”
Mingenbach, meanwhile, was tasked with outfitting actor Oscar Isaac as one of the X-Men’s most striking and recognizable foes.
“Basically, the silhouette, his cowl, his collar — these things that read ‘Apocalypse’ — were important,” she says. “Then, of course, you embellish it and give it texture. Comic books are great for shape, so we tried to incorporate some of those iconic shapes that would resonate with the fans.”
The result, Singer says, might hew closer to a “comic-book aesthetic” than any other entry in the franchise to date, but not without his baked-in philosophies.
“I think ‘Apocalypse’ is the closest I’ve ever gotten to the palette of the comic, but I did it very pragmatically,” he says. “I signed the deal to do ‘X-Men’ in 1996, so I’ve been involved in this universe for 20 years. I take great care, and I take it very seriously.” |
Both new movies in wide release were a bit disappointing, but neither of them can really be labeled as failures.
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials opened with $30M this weekend. That’s a bit down from The Maze Runner‘s $32M debut from exactly one year ago. That’s a bit disappointing for a number of reasons; one, this film was more anticipated than the last film. Two, it seemed as though it would have a higher opening given that the first film was a slow grosser than made most of its money after its opening weekend. Given that sequels for films in this genre are typically much more front loaded than their predecessors, Scorch Trials is probably only going to wind up in the $80-$90M range. That’s not a huge problem, however, given that the majority of its gross will come from overseas, where the film is already doing excellent business. It opened to $78M outside the US, bringing its total to $108M. Given those numbers it will likely top $300M worldwide by the end of its run.
Black Mass opened to $23M this weekend. That’s lower than expected given its Thursday and Friday numbers, but its not a bad opening. Having seen the film, it is certainly a hard sell. It’s brutally violent, has constant swearing and is not something that many wide audiences would enjoy. It seems like something that would’ve done better in an arthouse limited release and then gone wide later in order to build up buzz rather than simply go right for the big weekend, but given its $53M budget the studio was likely eager to get as much money as possible. What’s interesting is that it made the exact same amount of money on Friday and Saturday ($8.815M) followed by a sharp 35% drop on Sunday (estimates, of course) which isn’t great for an adult oriented film. In comparison, Gone Girl had a 15% jump on Saturday. If word of mouth is good, it could hold on well but probably won’t top the $100M mark domestically.
Everest had a limited release in IMAX and certain Large Format theaters and opened to a fantastic $7.5M. That’s way higher than expectations, though there’s really no other films that this could be compared to. The studio made the wise choice to get the film out in IMAX a week early not only to promote that it needed to be seen on the biggest screen possible, but also because if they did it normally on the 25th would’ve lost its big screens in just 5 days, as The Walk is pulling a similar strategy (opening in IMAX/LFT on the 30th and in wide release on Oct. 9) Even though this will take away a decent chunk from its opening weekend, Everest could end up being a big surprise next weekend. In comparison, Gravity made $11M in its opening weekend from IMAX, which represented a 21% share. If Everest follows a similar path, it will open with around $30M next weekend.
Among holdovers, The Visit was in first with $11M. That’s a perfectly reasonable 55% drop, which is fine for a found footage horror film. That brings its domestic total to $42M in two weeks, and could wind up with around $60M by the end of its run. Given the $5M budget, that’s a fine result. What’s funny is that even with such a small budget, The Visit may actually outgross Shyamalan’s last film After Earth domestically.
The Perfect Guy was down a sharp 63% from its opening weekend, bringing i
$9.6M this weekend. That’s hardly surprising given how front loaded films in this genre always are, but don’t look for this to make much more than $50M before disappearing from theaters.
Sicario opened in six theaters this weekend and took in a fantastic $390K, with a per theater average of $65K. Last years Birdman made $106K average at 4 theaters, but that had much more of an arthouse appeal with its meta premise and surrealist imagery, whereas Sicario is an action thriller. Whether or not this is going to be an indication of its wide release is yet to be seen.
War Room brought in yet another $6.2M, down just 20% from last weekend. Tristar keeps adding theaters every weekend, which seems to help fueling its excellent gross. It’s up to a whopping $47M domestic, making it one of the highest grossing Christian dramas of all time, behind Heaven is for Real, Son of God, The Nativity Story, God’s Not Dead and Passion of the Christ when adjusted for inflation.
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A loud bang heard across the News Shopper patch this afternoon was the result of Typhoon planes being launched to escort a plane in British airspace.
The bang was reported in Petts Wood, Chelsfield, Swanley, Gravesend and Wilmington.
It happened at around 4.45pm.
The bang has been described as "almighty", shaking windows and entire houses.
News Shopper tracked down RAF Wing Commander Martin Tinworth who told us: “I can confirm there was an aircraft in south London which lost contact with air traffic control.
“We launched some Typhoons from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire and escorted the aircraft to safety.
“Our aircraft did indeed go supersonic which would explain the boom.”
Meanwhile Stansted Airport said an Antonov-An 26 - a Russian-built Latvian cargo aircraft - was escorted to the airport and landed at around 5.15pm.
It was met by police who took it to a remote hangar and carried out a check and the incident was stood down with no issues.
Laura Adams, 30, from Farnborough, Bromley said: “We heard a loud bang.
“Friends on Facebook in Edenbridge, Tunbridge Wells, and Hadlow have also heard it - we don’t know what it was.”
Julia Parkes, from West Malling, said: "To start with I thought 'bloody hell the chimney has fallen off'.
"I went outside and the dogs were going mental.
"I couldn't see anything but it shook the whole house."
Kent police said earlier it was the sonic boom of a jet aircraft, while speculation on Twitter suggested it was substation "going boom".
Meanwhile there were reports of an explosion in Farnborough.
Did you hear the bang? Call the news desk on 01689 885 711 or e-mail [email protected] |
Having a soft spot for design entrepreneurship, we're always on the lookout for a regional paper telling the tale of their hometown son, or daughter, starting a design business from scratch. The latest we've found is Western Australia Today's story on Alon Tamir, a guy who just three years ago was working for his family's party supplies business, and who today runs a boutique ID firm out of Melbourne called Studio Proper. Most impressive is that Tamir had zero industrial design education or experience (though today the principal is surrounded by ID'ers).
In 2010, after the first iPad came out, Tamir got an idea for a versatile case that could physically support the iPad in a variety of ways. We'll jump ahead a bit to show you how the finished product, the Wallee, turned out:
Now let's back up a sec. Tamir had envisioned what you see in the video, but how did a guy who previously worked in party supplies and e-mail marketing turn that concept into a reality? When you don't know any industrial designers, how do you find them and figure out which you'd like to work with?
With no background in design or manufacturing, Tamir figured out that he would have to work with industrial designers to turn his rough sketches into a workable product. And with no contacts in industrial design, he simply searched on Google. "I Googled 'industrial designers', spoke to a bunch of them, socialised with them and then chose a couple who I wanted to work with."
...He never expected to immerse himself in prototyping and manufacturing. "I just soaked up everything the industrial designers were telling me," he says. "It was a huge learning curve. I soon realised how expensive it was going to be."
The industrial designers cost Tamir $10,000 and provided him with the designs and specifications he needed to create his dream wall-mounted iPad case. "They loved the concept but I think they may have treated the project with a dose of scepticism. They knew what a massive task it was going to be to design, manufacture, launch to market and then ship and deliver. At that point, for me, it was a case of ignorance is bliss."That was just the beginning. Next Tamir had to contend with prototyping, manufacturing, publicity, fulfillment, growing the business, et cetera. I definitely recommend you read the full, meaty tale here.
Today, by the way, Studio Proper designs and sells a variety of iDevice accessories, in both hard- and softgoods, and have recently branched out into child-friendly products. Check out their full line-up here. They sell in over 50 countries, and Tamir has set up fulfillment facilities in Asia, the U.S. and the U.K. Not too shabby for only having been in the business less than three years! |
Andrew McMahon is hanging out near the back of his tour bus in Tucson, Arizona. He’s already all packed for his summer tour, accompanying Weezer and Panic! At The Disco, that kicks off in a few days. The singer-songwriter just went for a coffee run with his dog, Doris. And in the 102-degree weather, it turned into an iced coffee run.
The Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier will be joining McMahon for his 37 performances on the 42-stop, two-month-long tour, along with his wife and their daughter
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Just shy of two years ago, McMahon announced his most recent project, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, and debuted the single, “Cecilia and the Satellite,” named after his daughter. The song received pop and alternative radio play and held spots across Billboard’s Adult Pop, Alternative, Rock, and Hot 200 charts.
“It’s been incredible for me,” McMahon tells New Times. “Obviously, you take a chance doing something new on the heels of projects that have been successful in their own right. It’s something I’ve done a couple times now because the mood struck me and I felt like that would be the right path.”
Previously, McMahon saw success with his high school band, Something Corporate, throughout the early 2000s, and later with his solo project, Jack’s Mannequin.
“Seeing that taking that chance led to what became my first traditional radio song and has gotten my name out to people that haven’t heard my music before, it feels like a win so far,” McMahon continues — and he’s not exaggerating. “Cecilia And The Satellite” reached eight Billboard charts, including the Hot 100, something his other projects didn’t do. His album, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, also reached the number 4 position for Billboard’s Top Alternative album.
“There’s no stopping in this game of music that we play. You’re always trying to write the best song and do the next thing and make more fans, and we’re certainly out here on that mission,” McMahon says. “But it’s been a pretty lovely road so far.”
We caught up with Andrew McMahon to hear more about touring with a family and trying to condense his musical history into a 35-minute set list.
New Times: You’ve toured with your wife and daughter before, and we saw pictures of your dog on the bus. Who’s riding the McMahon bus for this tour?
Andrew McMahon: Doris, my dog, she’ll be out here for the whole thing. We don’t really fly with her that often so we loaded her on the bus with the band, myself and the crew. Then, my wife and daughter will join us in about a week’s time. They’ll pop on and off for the first month, and in the beginning of July, they’ll be with me for the rest of the run. We’re like the Partridge Family out here or something.
Doris is at home wherever the people are. It’s fun to get these opportunities where we get to bring her out, these summer tours are the perfect time and I’m looking forward to getting to travel with her this summer. There’s something about just having kids and dogs on a tour bus it does something to lighten the mood and keep things fun, it’s a nice addition. You gotta wake up and take the dog out. You can’t do this sleep ‘til Tuesday thing when you have your responsibilities with you.
How does touring with your family compare to touring with a band like Something Corporate?
There’s a lot more that you have to be accountable to than yourself. There’s days on a tour when you’re alone and you forget to eat and you’re asleep ‘til five and wake up for soundcheck. Obviously that’s not the program when you’re on the road with your family. I think there’s this different energy that I find to be really motivating and inspiring with having sort of a fresh set of eyes on tour when you’ve been on the road for 15 years and then seeing a two-year-old look at all these cities and seeing amazing architecture and art and all these beautiful places for the very first time, it does something to wake you up and say ‘yeah, this city is beautiful,’ again. Having my family with me makes it possible to share these things with someone, but definitely seeing this perspective of a young person seeing the world for the first time, it’s pretty powerful.
How would you describe the progression of your music?
For me really, it’s been this progression of living and charting my life with these songs and these different projects. When I look at Something Corporate, that’s the sort of chapter of my life when I’m just barely out of high school and seeing my favorite band do this thing and dreaming about it and all of a sudden, I’m getting the keys to the castle so to speak. To tour the world and stuff, I think there’s a lot of that energy in those songs — this sort of youthful exuberance and getting to see so much for the first time.
I think of Jack’s Mannequin as the diary of my 20s which, needless to say, was wrought with some peculiar side roads. [In 2005 when he was 22-years-old, just before the debut Jack’s Mannequin full-length was released, McMahon was diagnosed with leukemia. He’s since beaten the cancer and started a non-profit charity, the Dear Jack Foundation, to raise money for cancer research.] It started in what seemed like a carefree way with the Everything in Transit record, but it moved from that into a lot more serious view of life and illness and all the things that came along with that. I can certainly hear that in those Jack’s Mannequin records.
And I look at this project as finally getting to a place where I can own all of that and say, "This is where you came from and this is what you’ve been through, but it’s not all of you." And I think the Wilderness was this chance to say, "What do you want to do with your life? What do you want to do with your music and how do you want to approach it? It’s some level of control of how that moves forward knowing that you have no control, but that’s how I see this project. Getting to a place where I finally felt comfortable with myself to take a big chance and sort of redefine who I was both personally and professionally.
How do you handle curating a set list when you have so much material?
It can be difficult. It gets harder when it’s a short set list because obviously I’ve put out a lot of records and when you only have, like this summer we’ll have 30 or 35 minutes to play for this opening slot for Weezer and Panic! At The Disco, and I think we are more or less are airing on the side of playing primarily newer music because we want to expose people to the new music and if you know my old music you’ve probably seen me play before. When it comes to a longer set I have a luxury of picking songs that have connected with my fans over the years and people in the audience who have been the core support for me between three projects of music. I like to throw a song in that may have been popular for them, so you’ll hear songs like “Dark Blue,” “I Woke Up in A Car,” “The Resolution,” “Watch the Sky” from the Something Corporate catalogue and it becomes fun to put those songs next to this new material and see what the thread is that connects those songs to one another.
What’s the best part about Florida tour stops?
The beach! The weather, for me, I’m a California boy so to get to the other coast and to get my feet in the Atlantic and get to see how the other coast lives is always a beautiful thing.
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
With Weezer and Panic! at the Disco, at Bayfront Park Amphitheater, 301 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; Tuesday, June 14, 7 p.m. Tickets range between around $39-$72 before fees. |
Borneo Orangutan dies with 40 pellets in her body: group
by Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) Dec 05, 2014
An orangutan has died after being found on a palm oil plantation in Borneo with 40 air-rifle pellets in her body, an animal protection group said Friday.
The adult female was found on Wednesday in a critical condition inside a palm oil plantation in the Central Kalimantan province, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation said in a press release.
The case is the latest example of one of the critically-endangered primates being killed by humans. Orangutans are faced with extinction from poaching and the rapid destruction of their forest habitat, driven largely by land clearance for palm oil and paper plantations.
"An x-ray result showed 10 pellets in the head, 8 pellets in the left leg and pelvis, 18 pellets in the right leg and pelvis, as well as six pellets in the chest and right hand," it said.
The primate's right upper leg was also broken and maggots were found inside her open wounds. She also very skinny due to malnutrition.
A team of medics operated on the orangutan in an attempt to save her life but she died on Thursday, the foundation said.
The group estimates that the attack took place three days before she was found.
"This added a long list of conflict between between industry and wildlife, as well as (the) practice of nature exploitation," it said, urging Indonesian government to take a real action to protect the primates.
"The BOS Foundation urged real commitment and action of government, private sector in protecting orangutan," it said.
Orangutans are native to the vast island of Borneo, which is shared among Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
Destruction of Indonesia's lowland rainforest and peatland for palm oil plantations and agriculture has led to a dramatic decline in the number of orangutans, Asia's only great ape. |
‘issue of importance’
“We call a recorded vote when it is an issue of importance for us,” Mr. Shore said. “We were elected to be accountable. And people judge us in part by our voting record.”
Relatively new technology in council chambers allows councillors to vote yay or nay on a computer pad in front of them when a recorded vote is called.
There are a number of items to iron out prior to recording each and every vote taken during council meetings, including whether or not the current voting system can be used to record every vote taken.
There are also procedural requests, such as adjourning or extending a meeting, receiving a presentation or deputation, proclamations and temporary bylaws for parking restrictions or street closures.
“Now, we ask to have a recorded vote,” Regional Councillor Jim Jones said. “What we should be asking, is if there are things that don’t need a recorded vote.”
Currently, after the councillor voting period closes, the results are read aloud by the clerk.
If each item is given a voting period and read aloud, it could delay proceedings, the city’s corporate services commissioner Trinela Cane said.
“This is a logical next step,” she said. “This is a great step to take, but we don’t want to cause undue delays in a council meeting.”
Mr. Shore also wants to see the existing technology used for recorded votes to be used for voting on all issues starting Nov. 1 as a trial.
The other idea is to have a searchable database of voting records where residents can search by date, keyword, councillor name and topic, Mr. Shore added.
The city is in the process of doing away with paper agendas and establishing an e-agenda system where councillors can read and make notes on an agenda and its reports using a tablet.
A searchable voting record database would have to be compatible with the e-agenda system.
City staff are expected to bring a report back to general committee in October, outlining logistics and costs of implementing a recorded vote system. |
Having fought and won against all odds in hostile battle fields like Kargil and Siachen, the Indian Army has had to retreat in the face of continued hostility it is facing at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to get Bachelor of Science and Commerce degrees for its soldiers.
In the past three years, the armed forces failed to get professional degrees for its soldiers, sailors and air men despite having signed an agreement, paying the fees and undergoing requisite training. The Army fought a losing battle since 2012 and has now decided to abandon trying to reason with the vice-chancellor of IGNOU, professor M Aslam.
Last-ditch effort
A decision has been taken by the Army Headquarters earlier this week to shift its soldiers seeking a professional degree to the Yashwant Rao Chavan Maharashtra Open University. The Army Headquarters is expected to sign an MoU with the Maharashtra Open University for professional certification for its soldiers and Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs). However, as a last-ditch effort the Army has once again reached out to HRD Minister Smriti Irani seeking her personal intervention for a permanent solution to the crisis.
"In the armed forces soldiers join at the age of 18 and after 17 years of service most of them retire at the age of 35. In the Army they learn various trades, from working in the Engineers branch to Signals to computers. We signed an MoU with IGNOU to provide them Bachelors of Science and Commerce degrees where two years of military certification and one year of IGNOU course would be treated as a three-year degree," top sources in the Army told MAIL TODAY.
Till February 2012, about 4.57 lakh soldiers got enrolled in the 'Gyandeep' scheme paying a fee of Rs 34.25 crore. "The vertical mobility scheme would mean as soon as soldiers retire after 17 years of service and enter the civilian street they would automatically be armed with a bachelor's degree. However, IGNOU unilaterally put the scheme on hold playing with the careers of literally thousands and thousands of retiring soldiers," sources added.
This effectively means an air warrior retiring from the Indian Air Force is out on the streets without a degree which could have enabled him to get a job in the civil aviation sector. Similarly, retiring Army personnel have been unable to get jobs commensurate with their knowledge and experience only because they lack necessary certification, despite having undergone training, education and having paid the fee for a degree at IGNOU.
The Army immediately sought a meeting with authorities in IGNOU. "The response of the vice-chancellor professor Aslam was most unfortunate. On July 4 of 2012, IGNOU put all activities related to community colleges on hold and set up a committee to review more than 500 community college schemes. Despite our submission to professor Aslam and authorities in IGNOU that the armed forces have stringent systems of checks and balances the matter was not addressed by an openly hostile IGNOU management," sources insisted.
"The IGNOU Board of Management accepted the committee recommendation for a review of the scheme and even though it said that a special scheme would be worked out for the armed forces and the MoUs would be honoured, the promise has not been honoured," sources added.
Major General AK Mudolkar, additional director general (personnel), Air Commodore SN Mukherjee, principal director (education) and Commodore Ghanshyam Ojha, principal director (naval education) wrote to IGNOU saying the future of retiring soldiers was at stake. But their plea fell on deaf ears.
MAIL TODAY contacted IGNOU for a response and was told professor Aslam was on leave and the matter was being handled by the ministry of HRD. |
Android 4.2's "daydreams" are neat little screensaver-like apps that can run when your phone or tablet is docked or charging. Out of the box, there are five stock daydreams available, but there's a hidden fifth one that's unlockable if you access the Jelly Bean "Easter egg" animation.
As we first revealed back at Google I/O, tapping several times on the Android version number under Settings > About phone will bring up a large Jelly Bean smiley face. Hold down on that for a few seconds, and you'll be taken to a screen filled with even more happy beans.
Once that's done, the "BeanFlinger" daydream will be unlocked. Find it with the rest under Settings > Display > Daydreams. This process should work on any Android 4.2 device that supports daydreams.
Happy bean-flinging, folks. We've got video after the break.
Thanks for the tip, @bsrubio! |
Four people have died and over 30 others have been injured in a shopping mall blaze in the Russian city of Kazan. Over six hundred people have been evacuated, while the cause of the fire is being determined.
“Some 4,000 square meters has been affected by the blaze, the fire doesn’t spread any further, and we’re putting out separate spot fires. The left part of the building has collapsed, the firefighters units can’t enter as there is a danger of further destruction,” Emergency Ministry representative Marat Rakhmatullin told TASS.
Казань, пожар в ТЦ "Адмирал" локализован.Открыта горячая линия. pic.twitter.com/ry2S1dkBnd — Наталья (@okej1950) March 11, 2015
A 28-year-old woman died in the blaze, according to the local Investigative Committee. Three people later died of their injuries in hospital, the region's Public Health Ministry reported.
Over 30 people have been injured in the fire, according to local law enforcement. Over 20 of the injured people have been hospitalized, while others have sought medical assistance. One person is still missing.
Five people have been pulled from the rubble. A rescuer was among those trapped under the debris of the collapsed entrance to the shopping mall, local media reported.
A gas leak has been addressed: all communications were turned off in time to prevent the fire spreading further. Three helicopters have joined the rescue operation. With a railway line near the scene, a firefighters’ train is also involved in tackling the blaze.
В результате сильного пожара в ТЦ «Адмирал» в Казани пострадали семь человек http://t.co/E7TLuXnaIFpic.twitter.com/7Oirnun0ps — RT на русском (@RT_russian) March 11, 2015
The fire started in a cafe on the ground floor of the mall, local emergency services reported, adding that exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined. "One of the main versions is electro-technical [failure]," spokesman Andrey Rodygin said, RIA Novosti reported.
The collapsed part of the building is being searched by trained sniffer dogs, as "more people may be trapped under the wreckage," Rodygin added, saying that some shop owners managed to rush back into the mall to save their goods after the fire started.
The ‘Admiral’ is essentially a clothing market. Riot police have been sent to the scene as vendors are storming the building to salvage their goods from the inferno, interfering with rescue and containment efforts, according to the Russian Interior Ministry.
The fire is the third in a series of similar incidents in Kazan in recent months, local media reported. In October, blazes at another shopping mall and a Vietnamese market took place in the city, with another big market blaze reportedly having occurred in the summer.
The most catastrophic fire in Russia in recent years occurred in 2009 at the Lame Horse night club in Perm, which killed 156 people. After a pyrotechnics display ignited the nightclub’s wooden ceiling, many in the audience were unable to escape to poor fire safety precautions. The club’s owner was jailed for 6.5 years over the blaze.
READ MORE: Nightclub owner jailed over deadly Lame Horse blaze
Eight people were charged in connection with the fire, including pyrotechnics experts, regional fire inspectors and the club’s managers. |
Here are the results, replay, and photos from The Oppositelock Forza 6 2.4 Hours Of Daytona. In addition, I have a few notes about the upcoming vintage F1 series in this post.
The Race
Here is the link to the replay, in case you missed the race. This is the most people we’ve had for a race like this since Daytona last year, which resulted in a lot of action and close racing. Special thanks to RoboRed for recording the race from a spectator’s point of view, everyone who also recorded the race and/or streamed it on Twitch, and to Little Black Coupe for being the pace car.
Results
Here are the results by class, as well as a picture of the car used by each driver.
LMP
1st: SrPhloofy: Mazda Lola B12/80
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2nd: Corey CC97: Ford Riley Mk XXVI Daytona Prototype
3rd: th4tjoshguy: Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype
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4th: NevadaHotDice: Mazda Lola B12/80
5th: KlossN: Nissan Deltawing-That-Totally-Isn’t-Actually-A-Nismo-GT-R-LM-Shut-Up
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6th: Dr CHAIR PHD: Nissan Deltawing-That-Totally-Isn’t-Actually-A-Nismo-GT-R-LM-Shut-Up
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7th: mackleroy45: Mazda Lola B12/80
8th: JA 37 Viggen: Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype
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9th: AreYouCereal32: Mazda Lola B12/80
10th: Rudi SRT4: Ford Riley Mk XXVI Daytona Prototype
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11th: admiralCB: Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype
12th: CAMAROBOY68SS: Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype (DNF)
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GT
1st: X Mr Plankton X: Nissan GT-R GT500
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2nd: Oo Bobbro oO: McLaren MP4-12C GT3
3rd: nichpsu: Ferrari 458 Italia GTLM
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4th: kiwichris1709: McLaren MP4-12C GT3
5th: Capirossi22: Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo
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6th: Kchrpm: Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
7th: Ray0241: BMW M3 GT2
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8th: Tellurium132: Audi R8 LMS ultra
The Trophies
As per the usual with major championships/races, the winners in each class shall receive desirable, expertly crafted trophies.
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For his 1st place finish in the Prototype class and the overall race standings, the trophy for 1st place is awarded to SrPhloofy!
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And for his 1st place finish in the GT class, the trophy for 1st place in GT is presented to X Mr Plankton X!
Photos
Here are some more photos from the race. If you have any pictures from the race that you want to share, post them in the comments.
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Thoughts And Comments
Personally, I think this race went very well. This is the best turnout we’ve had in awhile. We only needed 2 more people to fill the lobby. Racing was close in both classes, and with this many people there was a lot of racing going on. There were some cautions, and with 20 people and 2.4 hours of racing that was to be expected. There weren’t any major, race-breaking events though. So then, it was a mostly clean, fast paced, and close race.
Now, I had said that I was going to say some stuff about vintage F1. I’m confirming the track list, build rules, and start date now so you can all start practicing.
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Track List: 1. Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, 2. Watkins Glen Full Circuit Alt, 3. Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, 4. Le Mans Bugatti Circuit (Rain), 5. Long Beach Full Circuit, 6. Nurburgring Full Circuit, 7. Monza Full Circuit Alt, 8. Bernese Alps Stadtplatz Circuit, 9. Rio Full Circuit, 10. Laguna Seca.
Build Rules: Mclaren M23 (P906) (race brakes, race tires, street hood optional), Lotus 77 (P906) (race brakes, race tires), Ferrari 312 T2 (P906) (race brakes, race tires, street hood optional).
First race: February 4th, 4:30 PM EST.
Expect a full post with sign ups and all the details soon.
That’s it for the 2.4 Hours of Daytona! Until next year. Based on what went down, I’d say we’re looking at what will become a good year of racing. |
The great Isis may have called it quits, but they’re leaving fans with pretty much the best parting gifts anyone could ask for — namely, not one, not two, but FIVE killer, digital-only live albums, documenting performances from 2001 to 2006, which will be released every two-weeks through the end of July. May 31 saw the release of the first album; this Tuesday, June 14, the band will unveil its follow-up, ISIS Live II 03.19.03, which was captured (and “captured” is really the only appropriate word) in 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden.
But you don’t have to wait ’til Tuesday to hear the album — ’cause we’re streaming it below right now, this very second! Play it loud, play it proud, and then go here to pre-order it (and all the other Isis live releases) in one of a variety of attractive packages. And in case that isn’t enough of an Isis fix for you, we’ll have a new interview with the band in the very near future!
And now, without further ado, enjoy ISIS Live II 03.19.03…
[this streaming promotion has ended] |
Whether in the improvement of your room or at a total change of it, it must be seen all the aspects that are engaged in the reshuffle of the setting: the wallpaper ( with a heavy color or clean?); the lighting fixtures (use vintage and you win some points here) ; the accessories strategically used up in the sidetable or in the bed; and even the floor coverage. Concerning all these aspects, we selected some options that surely will inspire you during your redecoration challenge.
In the first image, take a look at the teak bed with canopy. The bedding in silk satin is from Zara home and curtain and canopy is sewn with Angela Syrovatkova in Barcelona. Italian mirror glass table with crystal lamp and desk in cherry.
With the roof tracks and many curtain material, you get a soft bed. Here is white silk with a geometrically patterned carpet.
Make the bedroom warm, soft and comfortable with the halp of genuine or imitation fur, a beautiful headboard and fine details.
This fluffy head of the bed of pillows can be seen in Martin Margiela’s white suite at the hotel Les Sources de Caudalie. |
Finding a mate is one of the basic instincts of all living beings, and in most of the animal and insect world, it’s all done by smell. Sniffing out gender is something that animals are built to do, both with the appropriate scent-releasing structures to perfume the air with sex pheromones, and the most sensitive odor-detecting organs on the planet.
Now scientists report in the journal Current Biology that people may have that ability as well, even if we aren’t always aware of it. Humans don’t have the same sophisticated olfactory organs as some of our animal counterparts, and while men and women do exude different scents, it’s been harder to confirm that people can pick up on these odors, or that they were working as sex pheromones to attract two people to each other.
MORE: Your Nose Can Smell at Least 1 Trillion Scents
In the latest study on the subject, researchers in China and at the University of Minnesota conducted a small study in which both men and women of different sexual orientation were exposed to male, female or neutral scents without their knowledge on three consecutive days while they viewed a series of computer dots representing a person walking.
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Heterosexual men thought the dots showed a more feminine gait when they were exposed to the female hormone estratetraenol. There was a similar effect among heterosexual women, who were biased to see the dots showing a more masculine gait when they smelled the male hormone androstadienone. Gay men responded more like the women to the two hormones, while bisexual or homosexual women showed more varied responses, between those of heterosexual men and women.
MORE: Can Your Smelly Shirt Land You a Better First Date?
“The study shows that people subconsciously extract gender information from chemosensory cues [that depend] on their gender and sexual orientation,” says Wen Zhou, the study’s lead author from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, in an email discussion about the findings.
Zhou isn’t quite ready to say that estratetraenol and androstadienone, which are steroid products of estrogen and testosterone, respectively, work as sex pheromones between men and women by acting as sexual stimulants, since the group did not test how smelling varying amounts of the agents affected people’s sensitivities toward gender.
But the findings provide the first hint that gender may have specific scents, and that the human nose and pick up on them. The study also suggests that the human nose may be relaying information about much more than smells that the brain processes on a conscious level. Recent studies, in fact, have confirmed that our olfactory sense is capable of picking up one trillion smells, and that we can pick up whiffs of illness when somebody’s immune system is activated. There’s even evidence that the human nose can smell age – an evolutionarily helpful skill that distinguished younger, more fertile mates from older ones. We are only beginning to understand what the nose knows, and we imagine ensuing research will continue to surprise and baffle us all.
Contact us at [email protected]. |
'Harry Potter-style' video ads to be run inside U.S. paper magazine
The animated newspapers of the Harry Potter books will come a step closer next month with the appearance of the world's first video magazine advert.
America's Entertainment Weekly will contain a wafer-thin screen and mini-speaker that will allow readers to watch a video when the publication is opened.
CBS, the US TV station paying for the advert, said the device would be tough enough to cope with the rough and tumble of printing, binding and delivery.
[caption]
The screens will be no bigger than two inches by 1.5 inches, roughly the size of a mobile phone screen.
The first wave of advertisements will be for American TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory and Two And A Half Men.
New shows will also be previewed, and the soft drink Pepsi will also light up the small screen.
Built-in buttons will allow readers to select which clips they want to watch.
[caption]
How much the screens cost to produce - and how much advertisers will be charged - has not been released, but until the technology becomes more widespread, and cheaper to produce, it is likely to be a costly exercise.
Paul Caine, president of the Time Inc. magazine group that includes Entertainment Weekly, said the ballpark dollar cost for one of the units is in the 'low teens', the Wall Street Journal reported.
He said the cost may come down before the issue comes out.
See video of the screens here
But for advertisers the premium might be worth it, as the adverts are likely to grab the reader's attention.
George Schweitzer, president of CBS's marketing group, said: 'As a rule, 90 per cent of people will say they heard about new programming on television.
'This is the first way we can get video samples into the hands of entertainment enthusiasts off the television screen.'
The screens will appear in selected copies of Entertainment Weekly's September 18 edition.
BBC correspondent Rajesh Mirchandani likened the technology to that used in the 'Daily Prophet' newspaper featured in the Harry Potter books.
Other examples from the world of fiction include 2002's Minority Report, where Tom Cruise goes on the run - and even has to hide from the adverts.
In reality, the world has been inching closer to moving screens - from e-book readers promising to revolutionise book-reading to e-ink screens promising digital newspapers that update constantly. |
The phrase ‘brutalist playground’ kind of sounds like a joke, emphasizing the great potential for injury that would seem inherent to a sharp, harsh play structure where kids are encouraged to roughhouse. But the very same rawness, heavy materials and stark shapes seen in the architecture that was built in this style after World War II was extended to quite a few playgrounds. Today, there are all sorts of laws about kids’ safety that would nix these designs before they were ever built, but as we all know, the ’70s were a different time.
The actual Brutalist playgrounds were demolished long ago, but a new installation at RIBA in collaboration with artist Simon Terrill and architecture firm Assemble brings them back in the form of full-scale replicas. Housed within the RIBA headquarters in London, these recreations look just like the real thing.
Being that they’re inside a museum – and meant for kids to actually play on – the replicas were made not of the original concrete, but of foam. The installation “encourages visitors to look at the materiality and visual language of now lost Brutalist landscapes in new ways through an immersive and conceptual landscape.”
“Although the value of brutalist residential buildings today is much debated, this exhibition shifts the focus to the equally important playgrounds found at the feet of these structures, offering a renewed understanding and critique of the architects’ original designs and intentions.”
The installation will be in place through August 2015, and the photographs of the originals are just as fun to look at. Like all Brutalist structures, they’re not exactly inviting. Says Terrill of the Churchill Gardens playground in Pimlico, London (pictured top in 1978,) “Before these postwar playgrounds were built, children would have been playing in the bomb sites left after the war. It’s possible the architects were referencing that in their design.” |
A Washington state man charged with plotting to blow up several buildings was found dead in federal custody Thursday, only days after being arrested during an elaborate FBI sting
By Mikael Thalen | Storyleak
According to federal agents, 53-year-old Larry Gillette, who was serving a sentence for identity theft, told several inmates that he planned to blow up a Walmart and two gas stations as a diversion for three bank robberies once he left prison. An anonymous federal law enforcement source speaking to reporters from Kiro Radio also stated that Gillette had plans to blow up Seattle’s iconic Space Needle, although the FBI has yet to comment on the claims.
Upon his release, Gillette unknowingly met with an undercover officer and received four inoperable pistols as well as a defective car bomb. Reports state that Gillette met with the officer a second time on April 28 and attempted to detonate the bomb before being arrested by the FBI.
“This certainly had the potential to be very devastating and dangerous and he was certainly the driving force,” Asst. U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Backhus told Komo 4 News last Thursday. “The FBI was in charge of the situation the entire time. There was no threat to the public that we believe of because they were in charge of the situation but certainly, potentially, there was a great chance for loss of life.”
Less than a week later, Gillette would be found dead in his cell at the Seatac Federal Detention Center. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons announced the death the following day, saying hospital workers were unsuccessful in their attempts to revive Gillette from a suspected suicide.
While no evidence currently points to foul play, the FBI’s history of executing people in their custody, most recently seen with Ibragim Todashev, who was shot 7 times execution style in his home, begs the question. Aside from Gillette’s death, the circumstances surrounding his initial arrest are nearly identical to every other FBI terror sting in one specific way.
In almost every plot foiled by the FBI, the agency itself was found to have supplied all the firearms and explosives after secretly coercing subjects into carrying out attacks. While those who attempt to engage in violent activities should be held accountable, the federal government has continually used their own plots to push civil-liberty eroding policies in the name of protection.
A 2012 report from the New York Times detailed some of the agency’s more well-know plots since 9/11, noting that such events were unlikely to occur without the FBI’s involvement.
“The United States has been narrowly saved from lethal terrorist plots in recent years — or so it has seemed,” the article states. “…all these dramas were facilitated by the F.B.I., whose undercover agents and informers posed as terrorists offering a dummy missile, fake C-4 explosives, a disarmed suicide vest and rudimentary training.”
That same year, the FBI successfully recruited five “anarchists,” three of whom were suffering from mental illness, to plant explosives on a bridge in Ohio. According to reports, one of the men had been talked out of committing suicide only one week before being contacted by an undercover agent.
“The FBI and the federal government seek out the mentally ill and other deluded souls who are easily tricked into engaging in illegal behavior,” noted Infowars’ Kurt Nimmo. “This is done because the domestic terrorist threat is virtually nonexistent in America. It is a transparent chimera engineered by the government to provide a pretext to attack legitimate and constitutionally protected activity and characterize it with the help of the establishment media as terrorism.”
Unknown to many, the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which took the lives of six people, is considered to be one of the agency’s most reprehensible sting operations. Reported by CBS News at the time, FBI agents secretly supplied informant Emad Salem with bomb making materials to cook an explosive for several Muslim extremists. Despite being assured by the FBI that the real bomb was replaced with a fake, the attack was successfully carried out. Salem, who recorded phone conversations with his federal handler, brought the tapes to the media following the explosion.
Although such operations are only carried out by small and corrupt units, a January FOIA request revealed that the entire agency has switched its primary mission from law enforcement to “national security.” Even with bee stings killing more Americans than terrorism each year, the change will undoubtedly allow the agency to put more resources behind the deceptive practice.
Regardless of the facts, the agency will undoubtedly rule the situation legitimate. Unfortunately, the agency’s statistics continue to point the other way.
This article originally appeared on Storyleak. |
Resident Evil 6 will be released in November 2012, Capcom have confirmed.
The games developer announced they are currently working on the new instalment of the popular zombie series.
An official trailer for the game was released on Thursday (19 January), and hinted that parts of it will be set in China.
Resident Evil 6 is due to be released on 20 November for consoles, with a PC version of the game to follow soon after.
Capcom said Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy - characters from previous games in the series - would star alongside a number of new characters in RE6.
A lot of fans thought Resident Evil 5 was too much action and not enough survival horror Matt Dahlgren Product Marketing Manager, Capcom
Speaking about the game's plot, the company said: "It has been ten years since the Raccoon City incident and the President of the United States has decided to reveal the truth behind what took place in the belief that it will curb the current resurgence in bioterrorist activity."
"Due to be by the President's side is his personal friend and Raccoon City survivor, Leon S. Kennedy, but when the venue suffers a bioterrorist attack, Leon is forced to face a President transformed beyond recognition and make his hardest ever decision."
Racism accusations
The series caused controversy in 2009 when the fifth instalment of the game was accused of racism.
Resident Evil 5 was set in Africa, with many of the game's targets native Africans.
A number of journalists and bloggers expressed concern that the game would encourage negative stereotypes.
In an interview with MTV after the release of RE5, producer Jun Takeuchi said there was a "misunderstanding" that occurred when the company published the first images of the game.
Speaking about accusations of racism, Takeuchi said: "We were quite surprised by the reaction that came out."
"I think everyone understands that we never set out to with the intention to make anything that was racist. That was never our intention."
Fans of the series also complained that Resident Evil 5 was too action-based, and had strayed too far from the game's original horror roots.
In 2010, Capcom's product marketing manager Matt Dahlgren commented: "A lot of fans thought Resident Evil 5 was too much action and not enough survival horror.
"After the original game shipped, we took a lot of fan feedback into account before creating the [later] episodes."
Despite the criticism, Resident Evil 5 became the best-selling game in the series so far according to Capcom, selling 5.6 million copies worldwide. |
Flight 714 to Sydney (French: Vol 714 pour Sydney; originally published in English as Flight 714) is the twenty-second volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The title refers to a flight that Tintin and his friends fail to catch, as they become embroiled in a plot to kidnap an eccentric millionaire from a supersonic business jet on an Indonesian island. This album, first published in 1968, is unusual in the Tintin series for its science fiction and paranormal influences. The central mystery is essentially left unresolved.
Synopsis [ edit ]
On a refueling stop in Jakarta on their way to Sydney, Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus chance upon their friend Skut (introduced in The Red Sea Sharks), now personal pilot for aircraft industrialist and eccentric millionaire Laszlo Carreidas. Tintin and his friends join the millionaire on his prototype private jet, the Carreidas 160, crewed by Skut, co-pilot Hans Boehm, navigator Paolo Colombani, and steward Gino. En route, Carreidas' secretary Spalding, Boehm, and Colombani hijack the plane and bring it to the deserted volcanic island of Pulau-pulau Bompa situated in the Celebes Sea, where the aircraft makes a rough landing on a makeshift runway made of interlocking metal strips, with a nylon barrier at the end. While disembarking from the plane, Snowy bolts from Tintin's arms, runs off into the jungle under fire by gunmen, and is apparently killed. The mastermind of the plot then reveals himself as Rastapopoulos, intent on seizing Carreidas' fortune. Captain Haddock's corrupt ex-shipmate, Allan, is present as Rastapopoulos's henchman, and Sondonesian nationalists have been hired as mercenaries.
Tintin, Haddock, Calculus, Skut and Gino are bound and held in a Japanese World War II-era bunker, while Rastapopoulos takes Carreidas to another bunker where his accomplice, Dr. Krollspell, injects the millionaire with a truth serum to reveal Carreidas's Swiss bank account number. Under the serum's influence, Carreidas becomes eager to confide his life of greed, perfidy, and theft, revealing every detail thereof except the account number. Furious, Rastapopoulos strikes at Krollspell, who is still holding the truth serum syringe, and is accidentally injected, whereupon he too boasts of past crimes until he and Carreidas quarrel over which of them is the most evil. In the process, Rastapopoulos reveals that nearly all of the men he recruited, including Spalding, the aircraft pilots, the Sondonesians and Krollspell, are all marked to be eliminated after Rastapopoulos gets Carreidas' account number.
Snowy, alive after all, helps Tintin and his friends escape, and they find the bunker where Carreidas is held prisoner. Tintin and Captain Haddock bind and gag Rastapopoulos, Krollspell and also Carreidas who has gone mad being injected by the truth syrum, and escort them to lower ground, intending to use Rastapopoulos as a hostage; but the serum's effect wears off, and Rastapopoulos escapes. Krollspell, intimidated by Rastapopoulos, continues to accompany Tintin and Haddock. After a run-in with Alan and some Sondonesians, Tintin, led by a telepathic voice, guides the other protagonists to a cave, where they discover a temple hidden inside the island's volcano, guarded by an ancient statue akin to a modern astronaut. Deeper inside the structure, Tintin and his friends reunite with Calculus and meet Mik Kanrokitoff, a writer for the magazine Space Week, whose guiding voice they have followed via a telepathic transmitter obtained from an extraterrestrial race, formerly worshipped on the island as gods and now in co-operation with Kanrokitoff to communicate with Earth's scientists. An earthquake and explosion set off by Rastapopoulos and his men triggers a volcanic eruption; but Tintin and his party (now reunited with Skut, Calculus and Gino) reach relative safety in the volcano's crater. Rastapopoulos and his henchmen flee the eruption outside the volcano and launch a rubber dinghy from Carreidas' plane.
Kanrokitoff puts Tintin and his friends under hypnosis and summons a flying saucer piloted by the extraterrestrials, in which all escape the eruption. Kanrokitoff spots the rubber dinghy and exchanges Tintin and his companions (except Krollspell, who is taken to Cairo — New Delhi in the French edition — under hypnotic-induced amnesia) for Allan, Spalding, Rastapopoulos, and the treacherous pilots, who are whisked away in the saucer to an unknown fate in the stars. Tintin, Haddock, Calculus and Skut awaken from hypnosis and cannot remember what happened to them; but Calculus retains a crafted rod of alloyed cobalt, iron, and nickel, which he had found in the caves. The cobalt is of a state that does not occur on Earth, and is the only evidence of a close encounter with its makers. Only Snowy, who cannot speak, remembers the hijacking and alien abduction. The story ends with Tintin, Carreidas, and companions catching Qantas Flight 714 to Sydney.
History [ edit ]
Hergé commented that with Flight 714 to Sydney, he wanted a "return to Adventure with a capital A... without really returning there." He sought to provide answers to two questions: "Are there other inhabited planets? And are there 'insiders' who know it?" Hergé had a longstanding interest in paranormal phenomena, and believed that a story with such elements would appeal to the growing interest in the subject. He was particularly influenced by Robert Charroux's Le Livre des Secrets Trahis ("The Book of Betrayed Secrets"), which expounded the idea that extraterrestrials had influenced humanity during prehistory. The character of Mik Kanrokitoff was based on Jacques Bergier.
A launch party for the publication of the book was held in Paris in May 1968, but was overshadowed by that month's student demonstrations and civil unrest.
Later, Hergé regretted explicitly depicting the alien space craft at the end of the story, although was unsure how he could have ended the story without it.
Carreidas 160 [ edit ]
Tintin magazine The Carreidas 160 cross-sectional view, as it appeared inmagazine
Hergé wanted the Carreidas 160 in Flight 714 to Sydney (1968) to have at least the same detailed attention that he had put into all of his fictional vehicles, from the Unicorn ship in The Secret of the Unicorn (1943) to the moon rocket in Explorers on the Moon (1954). The supersonic jet aircraft called for by the new Tintin adventure, while fanciful, could not be viewed as implausible and needed to meet the same exacting standards. Hergé, who had reached his sixtieth birthday and whose drawing hand had begun suffering from eczema, was happy to leave the drawing of the jet to Roger Leloup, his younger colleague at Studios Hergé. Leloup, a technical artist and aviation expert, had drawn the moon rocket, the de Havilland Mosquito in The Red Sea Sharks (1958), and all aircraft in the recently redrawn The Black Island (1966). Leloup was described by British Tintin expert Michael Farr as "the aeronautical expert in the Studios" and his design of the Carreidas 160 as "painstakingly executed and, of course, viable."
A "meticulous design of the revolutionary Carreidas 160 jet" was prepared, according to entertainment producer and author Harry Thompson, "a fully working aircraft with technical plans drawn up by Roger Leloup." Leloup's detailed cross-sectional design of the Carreidas 160 and its technical specifications were published in a double-page spread for Tintin magazine in 1966.
Critical analysis [ edit ]
Hergé biographer Benoît Peeters noted that the book "smacks somewhat of [Hergé's] hesitation" as he was unsure whether to include an explicit depiction of the extraterrestrial ship.
The literary critic Tom McCarthy believed that Flight 714 to Sydney exhibited a number of themes that recurred throughout the Adventures of Tintin more widely. He opined that the troubles faced by Tintin and Haddock aboard Carreidas' jet reflected the theme of the "troubled host–guest relationship". He believed that Rastapopoulos' activities below the area that he could be located by radar reflected the theme of eluding detection. In addition, he expressed the view that the flagging relationship of Haddock and Calculus, as it is depicted in Flight 714 to Sydney, is a form of the wider theme of strained relationships in the series. McCarthy also highlighted the scene at the start the story in which Haddock mistakes Carreidas for someone trapped in poverty and gives him some money accordingly; McCarthy drew parallels between this scene and a similar one from Charles Baudelaire's poem "La Fausse Monnaie", suggesting that Hergé might have been thinking of Baudelaire's scene when creating his own.
"Flight 714 may seem like a totally pointless adventure because the characters do not remember anything that happens and their stay on the island does not change them in any way. While showing us something of their daily lives and desire for roots, this adventure otherwise alienates the characters from their readers and encloses them in a fictional universe." Jean-Marie Apostolidès
In his psychoanalytical study of The Adventures of Tintin, the literary critic Jean-Marie Apostolidès expressed the view that the concept of "the void" appeared repeatedly in Flight 714 to Sydney, referring to the existence of World War II bunkers and the underground temple as reflections of that void. He added that whereas early Adventures of Tintin reflected a keen division between "Good and Evil", in this story this dichotomy has been replaced by a "meaningless void", with Rastapopoulos having degenerated from the role of criminal mastermind to that of "a mere hoodlum" who "sinks to the level of mere farce". Apostolidès further expresses the view that one of the "best scenes" in the story was that involving an interchange between Rastapopoulos and Carreidas, stating that "their opposition is merely superficial", in this way comparing them to the competing figures of General Alcazar and General Tapioca in Tintin and the Picaros.
Apostolidès believed that Flight 714 to Sydney exhibited many of the same themes as were present in Prisoners of the Sun and the Destination Moon/Explorers on the Moon story arc. He compares the character of Carreidas with that of Baxter from the moon adventure, yet notes that the former is "craftier, more childish and inhumane, less interested in research itself than in technological applications", working for profit rather than the good of humanity. Turning his attention to comparisons with Prisoners of the Sun, he highlights that both stories feature ancient temples, "weird animals", and dramatic natural phenomena, as well as the prominent inclusion of amnesia.
References [ edit ] |
BANGKOK -- Thailand expects to finish recertification of its major airlines by June ahead of a fresh International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) audit that it hopes will see it removed from the agency's blacklist after two years.
Thailand was red flagged by ICAO, an agency of the United Nations, in June 2015 over "significant safety concerns" that included lax inspections when granting air operator certificates. That led a number of countries, including Japan and the U.S., to bar Thai carriers from adding any new inbound services to their countries, and calls for Thailand to recertify its 28 international airlines.
Thai Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisiht
Thailand plans to ask ICAO for a new audit in June, but it could be one or two months before inspectors arrive, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisiht told the Nikkei Asian Review.
Thai Airways International, the national flag-carrier, and Bangkok Airways, a private regional airline, should have completed recertification by then. Both airlines are currently in the fourth part of a five-stage program of test flights with inspectors on board.
In a separate interview with the Nikkei Asian Review, Puttipong Prasarttong-osoth, the president of Bangkok Airways, said test flights started last week and that his company expects to enter the final stage with actual recertification by February.
For Thai Airways, which has a wider variety of aircraft, the test flight phase will take longer, but Arkhom said he expects the flag-carrier will be recertified in time for the ICAO audit.
According to the ICAO website, only eight among about 190 member states have been flagged on safety grounds. These include Angola, Djibouti, and Nepal. Within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Thailand is the only country to be on the list following the upgrade of the Philippines in 2015.
In late 2015, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration also downgraded Thailand to category two for failing to meet international standards. Indonesia had been stuck in category two since 2007 but was upgraded last August, leaving Thailand on its own from ASEAN.
Thailand hopes to rejoin its regional peers this year. Arkhom said recertification has been accelerated after the government decided to confine internal reporting and approval procedures to the transport ministry. The process historically involved the air force which had a large measure of control over Thai civil aviation. "I think we have made quite significant progress because now we have no interference from the military," said Arkhom.
Thailand has also been working on restructuring aviation oversight. Months after the ICAO red flag in 2015, the civil aviation department was dissolved into two organizations at ICAO's suggestion. This split civil aviation operators from regulators. |
"You got to have both, your balanced country. That's the way I look at it." Instead of clearing everything, Mr Yench has promised to keep almost 7000 hectares of forest on Bulgoo standing for 100 years. In exchange he receives carbon credits under the federal government's Carbon Farming Initiative. It has proved a healthy alternative revenue stream. Quietly, another 30-odd landowners in western NSW have promised to do the same or are exploring the option. Like Mr Yench, many are based around the mining and grazing town Cobar. It has quickly become an unlikely national centre for carbon farming. Mr Yench says the new income is turning around marginal farms in the western district, allowing landowners to reinvest in their properties. Mr Yench used his first tranche of carbon cash to buy The Meadows and put on new workers. But the Abbott government's repeal of the carbon price, and the political uncertainty surrounding its much-criticised replacement, direct action, could bring it all undone.
Under the carbon price, polluting companies bought the credits generated by Mr Yench and others. With the scheme repealed, the only immediate potential buyer is now the federal government through the $2.55 billion it has committed to pay for emissions cuts under direct action. That money is called the Emissions Reduction Fund. But the Coalition is struggling to win support for it in the Senate. If a way through cannot be found then 140,000 hectares of native box eucalyptus, cypress pine, acacia and other semi-arid woodlands in the western district will again be under threat of clearing. Behind the scenes a company called GreenCollar is responsible for almost all the western NSW forest projects. So far they say 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions have been saved and $25 million generated for farms. GreenCollar has been working with farmers in Cobar for almost three years. They do the technical grunt work and in return take a cut of whatever carbon credits are generated.
Before credits can be claimed under the carbon farming program a set of rules must be written and then ticked off by the government so all projects of one type - in this case avoided clearing of native forest - work to the same standards. Once a landowner is interested, and they hold an applicable land-clearing permit indicating a realistic threat of clearing, GreenCollar maps the type, size and density of the forest involved by surveying hundreds of plots. From there they calculate how much carbon is stored in the trees, and therefore how many credits the farm should claim. Land that would not have been cleared or does not meet a standard definition of forest is excluded. GreenCollar had kept its work relatively quiet, wary of the contested Australian climate debate. Agreeing to The Sunday Age's request to visit the projects reflects increasing agitation at the policy vacuum threatening their work. GreenCollar chief executive James Schultz says the carbon incentive is for the first time giving landowners an economic alternative to clearing. His fellow company co-founder, Lewis Tyndall, says that with the carbon price gone "the emissions reduction fund has the potential to keep these projects alive".
Mr Schultz says the focus has been western NSW because land clearing permits are more common there due to advantageous rule changes made last decade. Cobar grazier Robert Chambers advocated for those changes. He too holds a clearing permit for his property, but is leaving about 11,000 hectares of forest standing for credits. "Any income stream coming into a community is a good thing," he says. Mr Chambers bristles at the suggestion the forests are locked up. His sheep can still graze through the area and he is managing the forests for fire risk and feral goats. "This is not lock it up, walk away. There are no green desserts here," Mr Chambers says. Mr Chambers and Mr Yench both suggest they will need to again consider clearing the forests if they lose the carbon income stream. The economic incentive would again return to running more animals.
All up, there are 154 accredited carbon farming projects across Australia taking different approaches to cutting emissions from the landscape. Environment Minister Greg Hunt said it would be irresponsible for others to hurt this work by blocking the Emissions Reduction Fund. Opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler says the Carbon Farming Initiative - brought in by Labor - was designed to work with an Emissions Trading Scheme and direct action is no solution. Greens acting leader Adam Bandt says: "Given that direct action as it stands won't get through the Senate, the government now needs to come up with an alternative way of supporting carbon farming projects." Many of the crucial crossbench Senators have also been publicly lukewarm about direct action. Out in western NSW, those farming carbon are just looking for a lifeline, concerned their work, income and the native forests may become the next piece of collateral damage in the bitter Australian political war over climate change. |
Joshua Witt Arrested After Filing False Police Report
Sheridan, CO – A man who claimed he was stabbed because he looked like a Neo-Nazi was arrested on Thursday, August 24, after admitting that he had lied to police.
Joshua Witt, age 26, told Sheridan police on August 16 that a black male in his 20’s came up to him outside of the Sheridan Steak n’ Shake restaurant, and asked “Are you one of them neo-Nazis?”
He said the man tried to stab him, and that he received a defensive wound to his hand while trying to stop him. Witt said the man ran off afterwards, according to KJRH.
Witt also posted his story on Facebook, along with photos of his wound.
He claimed that his haircut, which has been adopted by many white nationalist, may have gotten him stabbed.
The Sheridan Police Department began an investigation based on Witt’s report, which included looking at surveillance video.
Police detectives reviewed the video, and never saw a black male running from that area. During the investigation, they also discovered a ‘transient’ man who lived chose by, who matched the description. They interviewed him, and ruled him out as a suspect.
Police then reviewed additional surveillance video from a nearby sporting goods store. That video, however, showed that Witt had bought a small knife just minutes before the alleged attack.
Detectives confronted Witt on Thursday, and he admitted that he had lied. Witt told police that he had accidentally cut himself with the knife, and then fabricated the story about being attacked.
Joshua Witt was arrested and is now being charged with one count of a false reporting to authorities. |
It looks like there won’t be any big beta events this weekend. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t new things on our list this week! Albion Online has started Alpha testing. Heroes of the Storm and Transformers Online have started taking beta applications. While Duty of the Sentinel and Black Desert in Korea have both started closed beta. The beta for Drakensang’s new Mac version has started. And lastly Year 0 has gone into open beta…or maybe they launched. It really is hard to tell the difference these days. Either way you can see all of those changes and more in the list below. The new additions to the list have next to them.
Pre-Alpha, Alpha, and Early Access
Games in Pre-Alpha, Alpha, and Early Access often require a purchase and/or access to Steam.
Albion Online Official Site
DayZ Official Site
Elite: Dangerous Official Site
Hex Official Site
Earthrise: First Impact Official Site
End of Nations Official Site Development on Hold. Site No Longer Available.
Everquest Next Landmark Official Site
Monster Madness Online Official Site
Project Gorgon Official Site
The Repopulation Official Site
Rust Official Site
Trove Official Site
Windborne Official Site
Closed Beta
MMOs in Closed Beta are those which require a key to participate in. These events are only for a limited number of people.
Black Desert [Korean]
Duty of the Sentinel Official Site
Elder Scrolls Online Official Site
Eclipse War Online Official Site Runs February 25 – March 11
Face of Mankind Official Site
Heroes of the Storm Official Site Registration Open
Legend of Slayers Official Site Begins February 17
Lego Legends of CHIMA Official Site Currently Between Beta Events
Lego Minifigures Online Official Site Registration Open
Line of Defense Official Site
Marvel Heroes Mac Official Site Mac Version of Marvel Heroes Begins end of February
MU Rebirth Official Site Currently Between Beta Events
Nosgoth Official Site
Origins of Malu Official Site Currently Between Beta Events
Pocket Gunfighters Official Site
Lost Saga Official Site Begins February 27
Velvet Sundown Official Site
Soul Master Official Site
Strife Official Site
Tales Runner Official Site Begins March 20
Titanfall Official Site
Transformers Universe Official Site
TUG Official Site
War Thunder Official Site
Wildstar Official Site
Open Beta
Open Beta is the phase in which anyone can take part. No key is required.
Dogs of War Official Site
Drakensang Mac Official Site Mac version of Drakensang
Hearthstone Official Site
Heroes & Generals Official Site
Holy Blade Official Site Begins February 18
Infinite Crisis Official Site Begins March 14
Lime Oddyssey Official Site
LinkRealms Official Site
Starbound Official Site
The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot Official Site
World of the Living Dead Official Site Open Event all February
World Tour Fishing Official Site Begins February 23
Year 0 Official Site Begins March 3
Giveaways
Grab beta keys, starter packs and more from MMOGames.
Lost Saga Closed Beta Keys
Treasure Island Item Pack Giveaway
Velvet Sundown Closed Beta Keys
Related: Alpha |
I really don't know where Daniel Anderson and these referees are taking the game. The NRL talks to broadcasters and say don't bag the referees. There are referees there that are interpreting a different game of football than other referees. It's just not consistent. They are the better team in the first half, the scoreboard says so, and all of a sudden it's 7-0 in penalty count. There were probably seven penalties there and probably more that we could have been penalised for. I'm not blowing up about that. But there's now way they were that clean. It's just wrong. It was unfair. But until the NRL gets it right, I just feel sorry for these blokes. That out there tonight was very, very obvious. Q: Did it decide the game Ricky? A: What do you think?
Q: But individually, you thought they were penalties? A: I'm not saying they weren't penalties. Over the last two weeks we've thrown two passes that were ruled forward but they were just too good for the refs. That wasn't a forward pass tonight to young Kelepi scoring under the posts. The pass was too good for the ref. Talk about first grade standards. Everybody has to get to first grade standards. We've got to sit here and front the media and I try to be as honest as I can. Get those referees in here to talk about their bullshit errors. Ask the refs about that. Ask Daniel Anderson about that. He'll give you the sheet we have to read that I don't understand. Obviously I'm not that intelligent. With their reviews, I'm no further advanced in regards to reading their review. Nobody has got any ownership of decisions about referee performance. It's right or wrong. And if it's wrong, it's not first grade standard. Put him back to Under 20s. Q: What do you do from here Ricky? Do you follow this up? A: No, I'm happy with the boys. We were the better team out there. We should have won tonight. We're improving. We got beat 50-0 two weeks ago. We handled it. We copped it on the chin. Tonight should have been our game. You can't have a seven-nil penalty count and win a game of football. And it shouldn't have been seven-nil.
Q: On Friday night, the referees missed the tackle count against the Broncos and North Queensland. Has the standard gone backward from last year? A: It's not for me to make a judgement. I've got to look after a footy team. And I feel sorry for them. We're growing. We're a young team. We're easy to penalise. We're easy to jump into. I'm up in the box and I'm hearing two referees saying ‘hand on ball, hand on ball', yet no penalty. Jarryd, Reni go to the ref and ask for an explanation. They get an explanation in frigging Spanish. There's no explanation. The game is turning into a surrender, dive on the ground, play the ball. It's getting into the Super League era. It's going backwards. They're not machines. You can't hit the deck, play the ball, play again, no matter how quick you are. It's an interpretation of the game. It's putting too much pressure on referees, referees are making mistakes. Out there tonight, there is no way my team is that ill-disciplined. Q: (To Reni Maitua, also at the press conference) Reni what was the talk among the players? A: (Stuart answers) You can't get an answer out of the referees. I've asked Reni.
Q: I was thinking more of the players themselves, what they were saying to each other to keep up morale. A: We work on it every week at training. You are going to be penalised. You're easy to penalise. These poor buggers have been kicked like brown dogs over the past two years. They're just easy to penalise. Penalise Parramatta, penalise Parramatta. It's happened for the past six weeks. We've got to keep learning and growing under adverse situations as to how they referee us. That wasn't right out there tonight. Q: The more high profile teams, Melbourne etc, get treated differently? A: I didn't say that. Q: You used the word ‘unfair' earlier though. Do you want to clarify that?
A: There's a lot of other words I'd like to use too. Unfortunately, the powers to be will come down and say that's a $10,000 fine there. They take the attention away from what the problem is. The problem is two football teams out there busting their arses in regards to preparing all week and have it decided not by the two football teams. That's what I get the shits about. Loading Q: You're saying they (the referees) are making mistakes, or they have a pre-conceived… A: I have to be careful what I say. I'd rather not answer that. |
If you listen to its Wall Street promoters, there’s nothing not to like about Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant set to issue possibly the biggest initial public offering ever this week.
Well, here’s one unsettling thing: An investment in Alibaba is also an investment on apparatchiks who often govern like Chairman Mao even as they get away with promoting China’s economy as if it’s being run by Adam Smith.
OK, Alibaba certainly has some real selling points: a virtual lock on the China’s fast-growing Web retail economy; management led by home-grown tech guru Jack Ma.
And no one expects Beijing, Alibaba’s CEO Jack Ma or any investment banker earning a cent from this deal to highlight China’s ugly history — from the bloody repression of Mao’s Cultural Revolution to the massacre at Tiananmen Square to the continued crackdown on just about any dissent, political or religious.
But the company also knows that one way to keep Wall Street quiet is to spread around a little green — which it did in spades in preparation for the IPO.
The players in the deal include all the big US banks, who’ll promote the offering as if it’s the next Google or Apple. After all, they’re splitting tens of millions of dollars in fees on an IPO likely to top $25 billion.
To ensure complete Wall Street buy-in, Alibaba went a step further, opting to have its shares listed to trade not in China but here at the New York Stock Exchange, where Ma on Friday will ring the iconic opening bell as Alibaba shares finally trade.
Wall Street will also tout Friday’s event as a massive step forward in China’s economic reforms — which is partly true.
Yes, the company will have to conform to US law on what it must disclose to investors, and to at least some of our corporate-governance rules. And, yes, capitalism has helped more people rise out of poverty than any economic system ever invented, as China’ market reforms have again proven.
And logic suggests that increased economic freedom will someday mean more political freedom in China. Except that, if China’s history is any guide, maybe not.
And let’s be clear: China is far from the free market in action. The Communist Party runs most major business, either through direct control or by fiat.
Don’t take my word; just read the fine print in the Alibaba “prospectus” (the official document for the IPO), which discloses “risks related to doing business in the People’s Republic of China.”
For instance: “The PRC economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects including the extent of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources.”
Plus, Aliababa’s “financial condition and results of operations are affected to a significant extent by economic, political and legal developments in the PRC. . . PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth by allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy, regulating financial services and institutions and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.”
In other words, doing business with Jack Ma is actually doing business with the People’s Republic of China.
And that’s a pretty big risk.
Plus, the corporate structure involves entities and controls with a rather Enronesque smell.
IPO investors, for example, won’t really own Alibaba’s Chinese assets, just a stake in a Cayman Island firm with “rights” to most of Alibaba’s China holdings (which are held by Ma and senior management).
And those rights are subject to the whims of a whimsical Chinese government.
Wall Street will tell you that Beijing wants Alibaba to succeed. And with relatives of Communist Party members littered through Alibaba’s executive ranks, there is a real profit motive — but it may just be a motive to get rich as dumb Americans buy shares at the inflated post-IPO price.
In fact, China’s government has ruled similar corporate structures to be illegal — and that trumps anything the Securities and Exchange Commission can render, since so much of Aliababa’s business isn’t here or in the Caymans, but where the Chinese Communist Party rules.
Feel free to ignore all this, jump aboard the latest e-commerce sensation and bet that China’s government — the same one that drastically limits all kinds of freedoms, including online ones — will leave Alibaba alone.
Or, if you’d rather rest at night, let Jack Ma and Wall Street have their fun — while you buy a nice, simple, US-focused mutual fund.
Charles Gasparino is a Fox Business Network senior correspondent. |
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A pilot was ordered a while back, and now Syfy has picked up a 13-episode season of the futuristic thriller Incorporated.
The series comes from producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and is set in a near future where corporations have unlimited power. The plot centers around Ben Larson (Reign’s Sean Teale), a young executive who conceals his true identity to infiltrate a very dangerous corporate world to save the woman he loves. But he’ll soon learn that he’s not the only one whose secrets may have deadly consequences.
“The most powerful science fiction holds up a mirror to our world,” said Dave Howe, President, of Syfy and Chiller. “Incorporated is exactly that type of smart, provocative series, delivering a fresh, edge of your seat thriller that challenges notions of the world we live in today. We look forward to working with the stellar teams at Pearl Street Films, CBS Television Studios and Universal Cable Productions to bring it to life for Syfy viewers this year.”
Along with Teale, the series will also star Eddie Ramos (Teen Wolf), Golden Globe nominee Dennis Haysbert (24) and Emmy winner Julia Ormond (Mad Men). The series was created by David and Alex Pastor (Selfless, The Last Days), who wrote and directed the pilot. Ted Humphrey (The Good Wife) will serve as showrunner, along with Damon and Affleck.
The project joins a growing lineup of original genre fare at Syfy (Corporate owner of Blastr -Ed.), along with ongoing series The Expanse, The Magicians, 12 Monkeys and Killjoys, plus upcoming projects like Hunters and Channel Zero.
Incorporated premieres this fall on Syfy. |
Breakfast in bed and a homemade card are nice. But for lots of Mums the best gift on Mother's Day is a cuddle and a kiss.
Red panda Eilish is sure to get plenty of those from her baby twins, who made their public debut at the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra on Thursday morning.
The yet-to-be-named pair let no one down on the cute factor, but like any young twins, organising them for a photo proved a challenge.
The male cub stayed elusive up in the trees, while his less shy sister joined mum Eilish down on the ground for photos and a nose rub.
The zoo is part of an international red panda breeding program and the latest pair continue a track record of success for Canberra.
The cubs are typically born in a den over summer and emerge in autumn with thick coats ready for the winter.
Natives of the Eastern Himalayas and south-western China, they are well prepared for Canberra's chilly winter, which will be their most active time of the year.
While a lot smaller than their cousins the Giant Panda, red pandas have a similar appetite for bamboo. |
It took former President Obama 10 days from leaving the White House before he spoke out against President Trump’s order to temporarily ban people from seven predominately Muslim countries.
The statement was from a spokesman, and it did not attack Trump directly. Rather it appealed to protesters.
“President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,” Kevin Lewis, a spokesman for the former president, said in a statement. “Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.”
Obama and his team are not ruling out a forceful challenge to Trump in the coming months, Politico, citing people in contact with the former president, reported.
There is debate on how to approach a Trump attack. There is fear that if Obama comes out too early against Trump it could lessen the effectiveness of the message. His team reportedly does not want Obama to be the face of the anti-Trump protests.
“I wouldn’t be opposed if he spoke out,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., told Politico. “I just don’t know what effect it would be.”
He continued, “In hindsight, I believe it was wrong for Barack Obama to normalize Donald Trump,” he said.
Sources told the magazine that Obama is likely saving a more assertive challenge because “knows he only gets one change at it being the first time that he takes on Trump himself.”
Polls show Obama left the office both popular and trusted.He had appeared more cautious about diluting his influence by quickly second-guessing Trump. Doing so could make it easier for Trump to dismiss critiques as predictable partisan nitpicking. And becoming the face of Trump's opposition could make it harder for the next generation of Democratic leaders to emerge.
Obama said nothing Monday when Trump fired his former appointee Sally Yates, who was serving as acting attorney general. He also won't opine on Trump's announcement of a Supreme Court nominee, former White House aides in touch with Obama said.
When Trump's White House claimed Obama, too, temporarily banned Iraqi refugees, the ex-president's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes shot back: "This is a lie."
Obama loyalists said the expressions of opposition aren't part of an organized campaign. They reported being energized by a series of group text messages, Facebook groups and email chains in which some of the thousands of one-time Obama staffers are sharing their dismay.
One notably silent figure: Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has yet to criticize Trump since leaving office. An aide said Biden planned to speak out on matters he cares most about, such as foreign policy and women's issues. The aide wasn't authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity. |
Time magazine says, "Regulations of electronic cigarettes are expected to be a top priority for states and cities in 2014." Indeed, many districts have placed or are considering placing bans on the tobacco-free nicotine delivery devices and the Food and Drug Administration plans this month to issue guidelines regulating e-cigarettes as a tobacco product. But Americans don’t want the government interfering with people’s ability to use e-cigarettes.
The new Reason-Rupe poll finds that 62 percent of Americans think the government should allow people to use tobacco-free electronic cigarettes in public places while 34 percent say the government should prohibit this activity.
Non-partisan independents (66 percent) and independents who lean Republican (68 percent) are more likely than Democrats (58 percent) to think government should allow people to use e-cigarettes in public places. Nevertheless, majorities of all political groups think electronic cigarettes should be allowed, including 63 percent of Republicans and 61 percent of Independents who lean Democratic.
Self-identified libertarians are 22 points more likely than self-identified liberals to say the government should allow this activity (77 percent to 55 percent).
Older Americans are much more opposed than younger Americans to e-cigarette use in public. Forty-two percent of people ages 55 and over favor a government ban on the public use of e-cigarettes while just 29 percent of Americans under age 35 agree.
Nationwide telephone poll conducted Dec 4-8 2013 interviewed 1011 adults on both mobile (506) and landline (505) phones, with a margin of error +/- 3.7%. Princeton Survey Research Associates International executed the nationwide Reason-Rupe survey. Columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Full poll results, detailed tables, and methodology found here. Sign up for notifications of new releases of the Reason-Rupe poll here. |
So this week we’re interviewing three publishers instead of three editors and we couldn’t have a more diverse mix of dark fiction presses. ChiZine has been doing this for a long time, and doing it very well. I’m a big fan of many of their authors (Craig Davidson, Brent Hayward, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, etc.) and even won a contest there a few years ago. They really are one of my favorite presses out there. Then you have Eraserhead, one of the largest and most respected publishers of bizarro and surreal fiction—an imprint for just about every variation on the bizarre and surreal. And then we have newcomer Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, who has been taking on eccentric anthologies and a wide range of new and emerging authors. So take a moment to read this and digest it, and if it feels like a good fit, send them some work.
ChiZine Publications
Brett Savory, Co-Publisher
BACKGROUND:
Year of inception: 2008
Genres they publish: Fantasy, science fiction, horror, surreal, weird, magical realism, and transgressive.
Titles for 2014: Get Katja by Simon Logan; Dead Americans and Other Stories by Ben Peek; The Door in the Mountain by Caitlin Sweet; Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly by Stephen Graham Jones and Paul Tremblay; Fearful Symmetries edited by Ellen Datlow; Irregular Verbs by Matthew Johnson; Haxan by Kenneth Mark Hoover; Shadow & Tall Trees, Volume 6 edited by Michael Kelly; Head Full of Mountains by Brent Hayward; and Dawn Song by Michael Marano.
What makes a novel, collection or story a “ChiZine” selection?
That’s one of those infuriatingly indefinable things, unfortunately. A sort of know-it-when-we-see-it kinda deal. We know it’s not helpful for writers because it’s so nebulous, but when we reject people, sometimes there’s no other reason besides “It just didn’t quite feel ‘ChiZine’ enough for us.” Aggravating, I know.
Please tell us about a recent manuscript (and author) you signed—what made it stand out, what surprised or fulfilled you as a reader, editor and publisher, what ultimately made you say YES.
Three of our more recent acquisitions were Almost Dark by Letitia Trent, Probably Monsters by Ray Cluley, and The Lady ParaNorma by Vincent Marcone (aka My Pet Skeleton). For all three, it was the strength of writing (and artwork in Vincent’s case). The ideas are cool, totally in our wheelhouse, and the execution is stand-out. Again, these are all subjective terms, and every editor has different ideas of what constitutes “stand-out,” and “cool,” which is maddening for anyone trying to sell us something. The best way to find out what we buy is to read one (or several) of our books. As the saying goes, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
What subjects and plots do you see way too often?
Vampires, zombies, torture porn, etc.—even typing the words makes me tired. Is bad writing a subject? We definitely see that way too often.
We have done a vampire book (Michael Rowe’s Enter, Night), and there’re a few CZP zombie titles, too (James Marshall’s Ninja Versus Pirate Featuring Zombies, and Zombie Versus Fairy Featuring Albinos, as well as Tony Burgess’s viciously nihilistic The n-Body Problem), but in those cases, something (indefinable, of course) elevated them in our opinion, and made them welcome in the CZP family.
What subjects and plots do you never see that you’d love for somebody to submit?
Again, it’s a know-it-when-we-see-it thing. If we could ask for a particular subject or plot to be covered, I would probably do just that: ask one of the writers we know—or even just put out a general call—for a book about subject/plot X, then sit back and watch the million$ roll in!
What one bit of advice would you give a new and emerging author—about craft, the process, submissions, the industry, etc.
Two things: 1) Always read and stick to the guidelines of any given publisher. The guidelines are there for a reason. 2) ALWAYS READ AND STICK TO THE GUIDELINES OF ANY GIVEN PUBLISHER. THE GUIDELINES ARE THERE FOR A REASON.
Eraserhead Press
Rose O’Keefe, Publisher
BACKGROUND:
Year of inception: 1999
Genres they publish: bizarro
Titles for 2014: We publish 3-4 books per quarter on each of our main imprints. In the first quarter of 2014, our releases are:
Eraserhead Press main line
Hungry Bug by Carlton Mellick III
Pus Junkies by Shane McKenzie
Bigfoot Cop by Kevin Shamel
Lazy Fascist Press
Witch Piss by Sam Pink
American Monster by J.S. Breukelaar
The Door That Faced West by Alan M. Clark
Deadite Press
Boot Boys of the Wolf Reich by David Agranoff
Clickers III by Brian Keene and J.F. Gonzalez
Technicolor Terrorists by Andre Duza
Suffer the Flesh by Monica J. O’Rourke
What makes a novel, collection or story an “Eraserhead” selection?
Eraserhead Press publishes under eight different imprints that each have a very distinct focus. What they have in common is that all of them appeal to the type of reader who likes unconventional, entertaining, weird fiction. We seek to bring readers the type of stories that they didn’t even know existed, but when they read, they absolutely love.
The Eraserhead Press main line focuses on high concept bizarro fiction and features authors such as Carlton Mellick III, Mykle Hansen, and Cameron Pierce.
Lazy Fascist Press focuses on innovative literary fiction and publishes authors such as Sam Pink, Stephen Graham Jones, and Noah Cicero.
Deadite Press focuses on extreme horror fiction and features authors such as Brian Keene, Edward Lee, and Wrath James White.
Fungasm Press focuses on smart, fun, irreverent fiction and features authors such as John Skipp, Violet LeVoit, and Laura Lee Bahr.
Fantastic Planet Books offers offbeat science fiction.
Spunk Goblin Press is our imprint for strange children’s books for adults or kids with open-minded parents
The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction publishes short fiction, non-fiction, interviews and book reviews.
The New Bizarro Author Series is our line of first books by new authors.
Please tell us about a recent manuscript (and author) you signed—what made it stand out, what surprised or fulfilled you as a reader, editor and publisher, what ultimately made you say YES.
A recent project that I’m very excited about is In Heaven Everything Is Fine: Fiction Inspired by David Lynch edited by Cameron Pierce. Released last summer, it is an anthology featuring authors Thomas Ligotti, John Skipp, David J (of Bauhaus), Ben Loory, Nick Mamatas, Amelia Gray, Kevin Sampsell, Blake Butler, J. David Osborne, Violet LeVoit, Jeff Burk, Kris Saknussemm and many others. As you probably have already guessed, Eraserhead Press was named after the 1977 film by David Lynch. In the early days of the press, referring to Lynch’s work was one of the best ways that we could describe the type of fiction we were looking for. A lot has changed for our company in the last 15 years, but we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mr. Lynch for inspiring us through his work. This anthology is a love letter to David Lynch and his fans. I hope people will read it and be inspired.
What subjects and plots do you see way too often?
I hesitate to list specific subjects and plots, because I believe that there are always ways to put a new spin on something that seems worn out. But I will say that I am sick and tired of seeing boring, plotless, random nonsense. Stories that have a bunch of weirdness thrown into them without having the weirdness serve a purpose do not entertain me. Authors sometimes try too hard to be unique, belaboring their point, sacrificing clarity in an effort to sound different. When instead, what they need to do is focus on how the weird elements of the story can build character, create conflict, and propel the plot.
What subjects and plots do you never see that you’d love for somebody to submit?
What I love is when someone is able to take a ridiculous over the top concept that is really weird and out there and take the reader by surprise by actually making them feel something with genuine emotional impact. It’s especially great when it combines more than one conflicting emotion. The stories I like best are the ones where I don’t know whether to be turned on or grossed out, I don’t know whether to become enraged with anger or laugh myself silly. I can think of a dozen examples of books like this that we’ve released, so it’s not exactly something we never see, but rather, something I want to see more of. One of those examples would be The Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick III. It’s a story about a guy who discovers that his girlfriend’s vagina is haunted so he shrinks down to a small size and goes exploring inside her. What he discovers is a gateway to another world and a love for a ghost girl that lives there. The story seems ridiculous and crazy on the surface, but it actually has a lot of heart. I would like to see authors focus more on developing compelling characters and creating interesting conflict with their weird concepts.
What one bit of advice would you give a new and emerging author—about craft, the process, submissions, the industry, etc.
Write the books you’d love to read. Write something that when you think about it makes you laugh, brings you to tears, or makes you sick with desire. Write a lot. Practice your craft through doing. Get involved with a community of writers who can help you learn about the industry and your craft. Believe in yourself and the value of your creativity. Never stop trying.
Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing
Max Booth III, Editor-in-Chief
BACKGROUND:
Year of inception: 2012
Genres they publish: Dark fiction, horror, science fiction, YA, neo-noir, crime, humor
Titles for 2014: Tales from the Holy Land by Rafael Alvarez (January), Long Distance Drunks: a Tribute to Charles Bukowski edited by Max Booth III (March), Gory Hole: a Horror Triple Bill by Craig Wallwork (April), Destroying the Tangible Illusion of Reality; or, Searching for Andy Kaufman by T. Fox Dunham (May), Neophyte by Eli Wilde and ‘Anna DeVine (June), The Green Kangaroos by Jessica McHugh (August), Truth or Dare? edited by Max Booth III (October).
What makes a novel, collection or story a “PMMP” selection?
It has to hook us in the first page. If the author cannot make us want to continue the book, then why would a reader? It takes less than thirty seconds to download a different book to your kindle. Our attention spans are short, and we have to cater to them. After that, just your basic stuff: good plot, good character, good voice, etc. We like ideas that haven’t been tackled before. We like surreal storylines that could be interpreted multiple ways. We want stories that seem natural, not forced. Strong characters staying true to themselves. Plots that fall in the right places. Exceptional dialogue is a must.
Please tell us about a recent manuscript (and author) you signed—what made it stand out, what surprised or fulfilled you as a reader, editor and publisher, what ultimately made you say YES.
Back in October I accepted Jessica McHugh’s new novel, The Green Kangaroos. I was hooked from the very first line (“Mama threw my junk out in the cold.”) and each line that progressed only made me want to devour it faster. I actually ended up reading the entire manuscript in one sitting while at work (shh, don’t tell my boss). Then the next day I read it again, just to be on the safe side, although I knew from the very first ten pages that this was a book I wanted to publish.
The Green Kangaroos is a magical book: it excels in all the requirements for a PMMP novel. Its voice is very similar to Chuck Palahniuk, although not as restricted. Its characters are raw and real, and McHugh really makes you feel for them. The plot takes a twist very early on, making you realize that anything is possible in this story. The novel is about a drug addict, an imperfect character, as all characters should be. It’s full of great ideas and unique quotes, and the whole atmosphere is so in your face, you can’t help but love it.
In my mind The Green Kangaroos is the perfect PMMP novel. Look for it this August.
What subjects and plots do you see way too often?
We get a lot of zombie fiction, and while that isn’t necessarily bad, none of it is ever very original. The majority of the zombie submissions we get cover the initial outbreak, and it almost always is about a man trying to travel across a great distance to save his woman. Very stereotypical. We also receive a lot of strange rape fantasy stories. Most of the time the stories will not contain much of a plot; it will basically consist of graphic details of someone raping someone else. We get quite a bit of bizarro stories that never seem to make sense, too. Stories that are strange for no reason, just random scenes of absurdity. Sort of like a child standing up and shouting, “HEY LOOK AT ME DO THIS TOTALLY CRAZY THING.” Other submissions we get a lot of are cheap knock offs of popular series, like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. (Note: Harry Potter and the Hunger Games would’ve been an awesome book.)
What subjects and plots do you never see that you’d love for somebody to submit?
More neo-noir fiction, definitely. Stuff similar to Palahniuk, Craig Clevenger, Will Christopher Baer, and Stephen Graham Jones. We also dig time travel stories, as well as (dark) coming-of-age tales. I also really like horror stories/books that involve a radio station, and I do not receive enough of them. So if you have a radio station horror story, send it to me ASAP.
What one bit of advice would you give a new and emerging author—about craft, the process, submissions, the industry, etc.
Getting published is very easy, if you’re willing to settle just to see what your name looks like in print. Always do you research before submitting your story/manuscript somewhere. Do not settle. Once your manuscript is published, be aware that you are your best publicist. The biggest mistake an author can make is believing that they do not have to do any promotion. And also, do not quit your day job after just one book. You will eventually starve to death. |
Recession? What recession? Luxury goods in Spain appear to by flying off the shelves despite the country’s economic woes, and it is all down to tourists.
Apparently the high end of the retail sector grew 25 per cent this year and analysts say it due to visitors from abroad mainly Russian and Chinese.
Luxury shop-owner, Luis Sans: “There are a great number of Russian people who have holiday homes here and they’ve become our regular clients. In contrast it’s very unusual to see a Chinese customer twice. However, they tell each other back home so that when they come they know exactly where to go.”
According to experts Chinese tourists are buying 20 per cent of all luxury goods worldwide.
With their own economy booming creating a generation of rich travellers the knock on effect abroad means 2012 is tipped as being luxurious for some. |
Americans in general, and American Jews in particular, must come to terms with the blatant hypocrisy that currently informs our political debate, on both sides of the aisle. Simply stated, we need to decide whether cloaking our political positions in religious principle is fair and legitimate discourse.
At a campaign event in Virginia last week, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders invoked his Judaism in response to a question about Islamophobia in the media. The exchange drew widespread attention, in part because Sanders has mostly avoided discussion of how his religion informs his politics.
The contrast between his approach and that of other candidates is striking. But whatever else we might say about the merits of his candidacy, Sanders’ reticence to don the cloak of sanctimony is refreshing.
Americans in general, and American Jews in particular, must come to terms with the blatant hypocrisy that currently informs our political debate, on both sides of the aisle. Simply stated, we need to decide whether cloaking our political positions in religious principle is fair and legitimate discourse. And if it is, we must ask if we are willing to extend those same rights to our political opponents.
For many years, the putatively solid Democratic Jewish coalition voiced vociferous objection each time those on the right invoked religion to oppose seminal policy issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. On those occasions, it was argued that religion is a decidedly private matter that has no place in the public square. Evangelicals were told to stay out of our bedrooms and keep their fundamentalist views to themselves.
Curiously, however, American Jewish progressives seem to have no problem incorporating their own religious language when advocating a decidedly liberal agenda, most notably through amorphous references to tikkun olam and social justice.
This same dynamic, albeit with tables turned, was brought into sharp relief recently when Christian conservatives suddenly decried papal declarations about global warming, Palestinian rights and the needs of the poor. The pope, whose religious leadership had to that point largely been lauded, was suddenly excoriated, told to stick to what he knows and stay out of politics.
No doubt, many American Jews can relate. Among our coreligionists, both liberals and conservatives appear to agree that when it comes to advancing a “Jewish” political agenda, we would prefer that our rabbis and organizational heads speak out when we agree with them, and stand down and know their place when we don’t.
The duplicity is striking. Such shameless cherry picking — in which we randomly select only those religious positions that conform to our political perspectives, discarding the rest as irrelevant or inconvenient — demands our honest evaluation.
If we are willing to hold up a mirror to our communal discourse, we would find that what often passes for religiously inspired politics is nothing more than the sin of Procrustes on a grand scale. American Jews would do well to recall the wisdom of our 16th president, who said: “In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. … It is quite possible that God’s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party.”
Almost exactly a hundred years later, Bob Dylan would challenge his listeners with a similar message in the song “With God on Our Side.” Both Lincoln and Dylan remind us that picking and choosing when and under what circumstance to admit religious thinking into our politics is a dangerous, albeit enduring, tendency.
Beyond the inherent hyp-ocrisy, American Jews must contemplate an even more important question. When American Jews couch their politics in religious terms, are they doing so based upon a thoughtful analysis of Jewish teachings? Or are they the sort of Jews whom Leonard Fein once noted would be hard-pressed to name the very Jewish values they purport to invoke?
Does a liberal Jew who uses religious principles to buttress his support for a pro-choice agenda do so because he understands Judaism’s complex teachings on abortion? Or is a Jewish conservative, who claims that her religious worldview obligates her to reject regulation and embrace an unbridled free market, truly conversant with Judaism’s intricate teachings about how to treat the poor?
What Jews do, or want to do, is not the same as what Judaism teaches. And categorical claims that Judaism is pro-this or anti-that do not make them so, however consistent those simplistic views might be with our personal political proclivities.
I do not suggest that every attempt to offer a religious context for a political position demands scholarly rigor. But the reality is, Jewish ethics, like Judaism itself, is far from a monolith. Judaism’s positions on most of the vexing social and political issues of our day are nuanced, and often have multiple understandings and interpretations. The Torah has 70 faces, the Midrash teaches. To suggest that Judaism has a singular perspective on issues of political contentiousness does a disservice to the breadth and depth of Judaism.
Broad categories of moral instruction — care for the poor, the value of human life, the sanctity of marriage, concern for the environment – are just that, broad categories. They are not sophisticated policy formulations, and they are fecund with the possibility of divergent, sometimes dueling political agendas.
As Dylan and Lincoln remind us, cloaking ourselves in nebulous religious principles, however lofty, to suit our political ends is disingenuous. Doing so while criticizing our adversaries for the selfsame behavior is self-righteous piety, whether it happens on the right or the left.
Hal Lewis is the president and chief executive officer of the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. His books include Models and Meanings in the History of Jewish Leadership and From Sanctuary to Boardroom: A Jewish Aproach to Leadership. |
It appears that another animal will have to take over the fight being waged by Naruto, an Indonesian macaque monkey who is the named plaintiff in a lawsuit weighing whether animals have a right to own property. In this instance, it's about whether animals can own US copyrights.
Naruto, via his self-appointed lawyers from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is in the process of dropping his lawsuit over the now infamous monkey selfies. That's according to a Friday legal filing with the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is being asked to hold off on issuing a ruling that everybody believes is going to go against Naruto.
About every conceivable joke has been made about this Planet of the Apes-styled litigation that we've been following for two years now. A lower court judge had already ruled against Naruto, stating that monkeys cannot own US copyrights even if they snapped the picture (which actually happened in this case).
Naruto, whose appeal is pending, snatched the camera from a British photographer in 2011 and in the process took a few pictures of himself on the Tangkoko reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The photographer, David Slater, published the photos in a book, Wildlife Personalities. Naruto and PETA sued him and the book's online publishing platform, Blurb, for copyright infringement. (Slater's ownership of the selfies are also in doubt because he didn't take them. Wikipedia has declared them to be a part of the US public domain—an assertion Slater disputes.)
But again, all of this strangeness is about to come to a close. The lawyers for Naruto, Slater, and Blurb told the appeals court (PDF) Friday that an out-of-court settlement was near and that the court should refrain from issuing a ruling.
"The Parties have agreed on a general framework for a settlement subject to the negotiation and resolution of specific terms. Given the current progress of settlement discussions, the Parties are optimistic that they will be able to reach an agreement that will resolve all claims in this matter," according to the filing.
Nobody would say publicly what the deal is, or why this is happening. But there's a quirk in US copyright law that explains some, if not all, the reasoning behind it.
US law allows the "prevailing party" in a copyright infringement action, whether they be the plaintiff or defendant, to seek legal fees and costs of the opposing side—but they're not always guaranteed to be awarded. And during oral arguments in the case last month, a three-judge panel of the court of appeals eviscerated Naruto's arguments.
Two years of litigation amounts to a boatload of legal fees and costs. PETA could be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars—a sum likely to be reduced or forgiven under terms of the upcoming settlement.
All of which means that PETA, which also made some outrageous arguments about online liability in this litigation, probably doesn't want to keep the cash meter running. After all, based on decisions and court statements thus far, nobody really expected Naruto to prevail.
PETA's lawsuit, however, prompted public discourse about the idea of animals owning property. And that's why this lawsuit may have been about nothing more than monkey business all along. |
Decentralized power enables greater policy experimentation. The monolithic federal bureaucracy of the United States makes these types of experiments less likely than they would otherwise be if the federal government had less power relative to the states.
Laboratories of Democracy
To stay experimentation in things social and economic is a grave responsibility. Denial of the right to experiment may be fraught with serious consequences to the nation. It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country. This Court has the power to prevent an experiment.[2] We may strike down the statute which embodies it on the ground that, in our opinion, the measure is arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. We have power to do this, because the due process clause has been held by the Court applicable to matters of substantive law as well as to matters of procedure. But, in the exercise of this high power, we must be ever on our guard lest we erect our prejudices into legal principles. If we would guide by the light of reason, we must let our minds be bold.
Justice Louis Brandeis, U.S. Supreme Court, 1932, New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann
Decentralization of power enables greater personal liberties in society. Although the U.S. has a federalist framework, since roughly the administration of Theodore Roosevelt administration and with a larger expansion under FDR, the federal government has been growing in size and scope far beyond what the original framers of the constitution ever intended.
Federalism
The framers of the U.S. Constitution created a framework useful for experimentation in public policy called Federalism. Federalism is one of the primary organizing principles of the U.S. Constitution.
The Tenth Amendment states the following:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The meaning of the term federalism is actually the opposite of what it suggests. Those hearing it for the first time might be tempted to think federalism implies a strong, powerful federal (central) government. In fact, it means just the opposite. It's the concept under which the central (federal) government shares powers with the states. And, in turn, the states share power with counties and municipalities. Allowing for a less centralized, more de-centralized method of governance. Many of the Constitution's framers believed de-centralization of power was critical to maximizing the freedoms of the people. And, relative to the OP's question, allowed for greater experimentations in democracy and public policy. |
The Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame Celebration is Friday in Cedar Rapids. (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
1. Friday night’s Hall of Fame Celebration in Iowa will be the first time the cast of five current Democratic presidential hopefuls has shared a stage.
The audience will be most interested in Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, predicted Bret Niles, chairman of the Linn County Democrats.
“The crowd reaction will be a big thing: How are people going to react to Bernie with Hillary there as well?” Niles said.
Niles speculated that ticket holders at the state party fundraiser would be a more monied, moderate crowd that might not be as receptive to Sanders as crowds at his solo events.
A strong performance by Sanders, a Vermont U.S. senator who is calling for a progressive people’s revolution, would go a long way to impress upon politics watchers that he’s not a flash in the pan but a real contender, said Democratic operative Grant Woodard.
2. Who will deliver the best-received anti-Republican line?
The Democratic candidates are unlikely to go after each other explicitly — it would be notable if they did — but will likely hit the Republicans hard.
Political operatives said they expect to see jabs toward: 1. Donald Trump. 2. Ted Cruz. 3. Steve King.
Those three Republicans have given the Democrats plenty of material.
Trump has taken heat since saying in his June 16 presidential announcement speech that Mexico is deliberately sending drug smugglers, rapists and other criminals illegally into the United States.
Cruz, the only presidential candidate to send a news release saying he was “pleased to welcome Donald Trump into the race,” later saluted Trump “for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration.”
And King, an Iowa congressman famous for his own remarks about canteloupe-calved Mexican drug smugglers, told the National Journal this week that Trump is “riding a good wave and right now if the caucus were held today, he’d probably come out on top.”
Trump topped the GOP field in a recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll of national primary voters, but fared the worst against Clinton among seven GOP competitors tested in a survey of adults nationwide last Thursday through Sunday.
Download the free Iowa Caucuses app: Now available on Android and iPhone or learn more.
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3. Can Clinton’s pre-event rally match the crowd size and energy that Sanders has been seeing?
Sanders has been making headlines nationally for attracting audiences of thousands, including a raucous crowd of 2,500 in Council Bluffs in early July.
The most Clinton has drawn so far was about 700 to her debut Iowa rally, held June 14, the same day as Iowa’s biggest gay pride parade.
For the Hall of Fame dinner, party officials capped the number of tickets each campaign could purchase at 200 to prevent any single camp from dominating the 1,200-seat room.
All the tickets sold out in less than three weeks, which left some activists locked out.
Clinton’s Iowa staff decided to do a free pre-rally, set for 3:45 p.m. Friday in the armory at the nearby Veterans Memorial Building, which can accommodate about 600.
“Hillary Clinton has some great supporters in Cedar Rapids, and we wanted to make sure they all got a chance to see her during Friday’s visit, regardless of whether they were able to buy a ticket to the dinner,” Iowa spokeswoman Lily Adams said.
Expectations are high for Clinton to have a packed house bursting with energy, since she’s the undisputed frontrunner in Iowa and has the largest campaign staff here. She has amassed more than 60 paid staff and a phalanx of volunteers.
4. Will either Jim Webb or newcomer Lincoln Chafee make a dent?
This is the first Iowa visit for Lincoln Chafee, a longtime Republican who served as a Rhode Island U.S. senator, then led the state as an independent-turned-Democratic governor.
Webb, a former U.S. senator from Virginia and secretary of the U.S. Navy under President Ronald Reagan, has done 25 events in Iowa this presidential election cycle, but remains little known.
Iowa Democrats, if they’ve even heard of them, said they’re mystified about why they’re running.
Cedar Rapids Democrat Linda Langston, a county supervisor, said she mentioned during a conference in Washington, D.C., that Iowa would feature all five candidates on one stage.
“People said, ‘Five? Five Democrats? Who else is in?’ And these are people in D.C.,” she said.
Webb, who was a Republican for most of his political career, said on “Fox News Sunday” last weekend that the Democratic party “has moved way far to the left. That’s not my Democratic party in and of itself.” And he made headlines recently for urging thoughtfulness during the emotional debate over Confederate flag symbolism, saying the Civil War had a “complicated history.”
“Webb’s comments regarding the Confederate flag are beyond odd coming from someone that showed so much promise in the party at one time,” Woodard said.
5. Will Martin O’Malley break through?
O’Malley, a former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor, will also have a pre-rally, at 5:15 p.m. at White Star Ale House in Cedar Rapids.
Webb and Chafee are “fringe characters who I don’t think will gain much traction — I just don’t think there’s a lane for them,” said Douglas Burns, an opinion columnist at the Carroll Daily Times Herald who frequently attends Iowa campaign events.
But O’Malley checks all the boxes: He’s viewed as less radical than Sanders, he appeals to populists and progressives, and he has some of Clinton’s establishment appeal, Burns said.
His organizers filled all of their 200 seats, an effort that could signal a foothold, Iowa insiders said.
6. Will the messages motivate Iowa activists worried about boredom?
Iowa activists said Clinton and the other contenders need to show they can overcome frustration with Democratic losses in 2014 and general boredom on the Democratic side in 2016.
“All of the candidates on the same stage? I want to say what’s on my mind and that’s: ‘So what?’” Steven Lynch, chairman of the Chickasaw County Democrats told the Register. “I mean, the caucuses are Feb. 1.”
Lynch said he doesn’t want to hear crowd-pleasing quips from the Democratic contenders; he wants them to reassure him they know how to fix the economy.
“The Republicans clobbered us statewide and nationally in 2014. I’m concerned that we have the right message on the economic growth of our nation,” he said.
Download the free Iowa Caucuses app: Now available on Android and iPhone or learn more.
7. Will the party chairwoman make inroads with activists looking for governor candidates?
The presidential candidate appearances will follow introduction of seven Hall of Fame inductees and other speeches, one of them from Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Andy McGuire.
McGuire is considered a possible candidate for governor in 2018, and this will be her first time publicly handling the reins of the party. If activists believe she’s organizing properly for the caucuses, it could boost her stature.
8. How will national and world news outlets showcase post-flood Cedar Rapids?
When the Cedar River swamped 10 square miles of the city in June 2008, it forced 22,000 people from their homes, and walloped about 1,100 businesses and 300 governmental facilities, causing more than $7 billion in damage.
The flooded convention center was replaced with the $76 million Convention Complex, where the Hall of Fame dinner is being staged.
“It’s a monument to coming back from the flood,” said Cedar Rapids Democrat Monica Vernon, who is making her second bid for Congress and is seeing key Democrats coalescing behind her.
A massive infusion of state and federal grants and disaster relief funding also gave Cedar Rapids a new $50 million library, two new fire stations for $35 million, a $36 million public works building, a $44.5 million school district headquarters, a $7.5 million riverside amphitheater and other projects.
Altogether, Iowa was awarded or eligible for more than $4.7 billion in flood recovery money.
Cedar Rapids’ Czech Village and the New Bohemia district, reached by going south on Third Street from the convention center, are areas that tell the post-flood victory story, said state Sen. Rob Hogg, a Cedar Rapids Democrat exploring a bid for U.S. Senate.
=====
About the event
What: Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame Celebration
Who: Five Democratic presidential candidates — former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Virginia U.S. Sen. Jim Webb — will speak in that order, alphabetically by last name. Each has been told they get 15 minutes. Iowa Democrats will also induct seven activists into their Hall of Fame.
When: 7 p.m. — 10 p.m. Friday. Party leaders are encouraging guests to arrive as soon as the doors open at 5 p.m. because they’ll need to pass through Secret Service security checkpoints. Clinton, as a former first lady, is the only candidate with this high-level protection at this stage of the race.
Where: Cedar Rapids Convention Center, 350 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids
Tickets: Sold out
News reporters expected: More than 100
Watch it live: Tune in to DesMoinesRegister.com/DemHallofFameLiveor C-SPAN for live coverage starting at 7 p.m.
Find coverage on the free Iowa Caucuses app: Now available on Android and iPhone or learn more.
Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/1J2862W |
I know you ship kristanna but i dont get it. it was so forced. if it werent for the trolls none of that would have happened i mean anna wasnt even interested in him. she was forced to like this guy she barely knew. its stupid
◥
Anonymous Anonymous
Oh no no, I totally get it I mean holy shit
Look at this, look at this burning hatred in her eyes, god she hates him so much, ugh. I can’t believe she was forced to smile at him like that while he wasn’t even looking, what monsters.
Such disgust.
ugh she’s just so happy to be rid of him, here. Look at her she’s elated. Fuck yes.
She’s- I mean she’s really struggling here, jesus. Look at it. Look at the disgust on her face, she absolutely hates this, don’t be fooled she’s actually trying to strangle him, yes, she’s getting closer to him so that she can literally eat his face off in the non romantic way. It’s so obvious. |
In an interview heavy on economic populism, Donald Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon told The Hollywood Reporter he wants to ditch the Republican Party establishment and start over. "Like (Andrew) Jackson's populism, we're going to build an entirely new political movement," he said. And that’s not all:
“Darkness is good. Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power. It only helps us when they (liberals) get it wrong. When they're blind to who we are and what we're doing."
Hurrah for honesty, at least. Even Dick Cheney, who certainly inhabited the dark side, didn’t—at least publicly—praise Satan. Bannon could have mentioned some others imbued with the darkness-is-good vibe: Silvio Berlusconi, Augusto Pinochet, Francisco Franco. But that would have been too honest.
The guy known for what NPR tepidly describes as “racially insensitive” remarks denies that he is a “white nationalist.”
"I'm a nationalist. I'm an economic nationalist," he said in the interview. "The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia. The issue now is about Americans looking to not get f---ed over. If (the Trump White House delivers), we'll get 60 percent of the white vote, and 40 percent of the black and Hispanic vote and we'll govern for 50 years. That's what the Democrats missed. [...] "It's everything related to jobs. The conservatives are going to go crazy. I'm the guy pushing a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. With negative interest rates throughout the world, it's the greatest opportunity to rebuild everything. Ship yards, iron works, get them all jacked up. We're just going to throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks. It will be as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution — conservatives, plus populists, in an economic nationalist movement."
If you experienced a bit of cognitive dissonance reading about that infrastructure idea because it sounds quite a bit like something heard for a decade from large portions of the left—originally from outside the Democratic Party, and subsequently from many prominent members in it—you’re right. |
Alec Ross, Former Senior Advisor to Hillary Clinton and the Author of The Industries of the Future:
In ten years, the deaf and mute will be able to speak, and everybody reading this article will be conversant in dozens of foreign languages, eliminating the very concept of a language barrier. Professional translators argue that local dialects, inflections, and nuance are too complex for computers to ever account for sufficiently. But they are wrong.
Today’s translation tools were developed by computing more than a billion translations a day for over 200 million people. With the exponential growth in data, that number will soon signify the number of translations made in an afternoon, then in an hour. Massive amounts of language data will go in and out. As the amount of data that informs translation grows exponentially, the machines will grow exponentially more accurate and be able to parse the smallest detail. Whenever the machine translations get it wrong, users can flag the error — and that data too will be incorporated into future attempts. We just need more data, more computing power, and better software. These will come with the passage of time and will fill in the communication gaps in areas including pronunciation and interpreting a spoken response. |
Ilias Panagiotaros is a large, gregarious man — and a leading member of the Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn. Panagiotaros owns a store that sells riot gear and T-shirts with far-right slogans; he has personally praised Hitler for having a "great personality" and endorsed the idea of a "one-race nation." He has been arrested at least twice on multiple charges, ranging from petty misdemeanors to murder. One prosecutor's report alleged that Panagiotaros and his colleagues were involved in recruiting young Greeks for neo-Nazi hit squads.
He's also a member of the Greek parliament, representing Golden Dawn — which has a substantial presence in Greece's legislature. And in the above video, a fan-edited clip from an official Golden Dawn broadcast, he finds a lot to like about Donald Trump.
"He doesn't fear to speak the truth," Panagiotaros says.
Of particular interest to Panagiotaros is the time that Trump accidentally used a Mussolini quote to describe himself and then defended it. ("What difference does it make if it was Mussolini or somebody else," Trump said. "It’s a very good quote.")
Panagiotaros also praises Trump's willingness to stand up to the pope on immigration. "The pope criticized him, saying it was not Christian to guard borders," Panagiotaros said. "And then Trump gave him a few answers … the man who calls a spade a spade becomes vindicated in the end."
This is far from an official Golden Dawn endorsement of Trump's candidacy. But it is telling that Trump's blustery, anti-immigrant rhetoric is getting praise from these guys — as it points to something important about Trump and the rise of right-wing populism around the Western world.
The far right and immigration
"I haven’t heard or seen Golden Dawn praising Trump often. I would imagine they don’t really like him, as he is pro-capitalist," Cas Mudde, a professor at the University of Georgia who studies the European far right, told me via email. "They are essentially a (neo-)Nazi party, which means that capitalism is associated with nihilism, internationalism, and, of course, Jews."
And yet a leading Golden Dawn figure is willing to look past those differences and praise Trump for his aggressive opposition to immigration.
Indeed, xenophobia has been Golden Dawn's biggest source of support, especially in the wake of Greece's economic collapse and the mass influx of refugees there.
"In Kos and Lesbos, the epicenters of the refugee crisis, the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party doubled its share of the vote, exceeding 10 percent in some places," Matthaios Tsimitakis wrote in the New York Times after Greece's September 2015 elections. "The absence of functioning government institutions in Greece — and the total lack of a collective European Union policy to address the crisis — have created the conditions that hateful ideologies need in order to grow. "
It makes sense, then, that Golden Dawn would find some affinity for Trump, as they sound similar on Golden Dawn's most important issue.
This points to something bigger: Across the Western world, in countries as diverse as France and Hungary and Sweden, far-right parties are gaining. While none are as extreme as Golden Dawn, they share one thing in common: a deep skepticism of mass immigration.
Elisabeth Ivarsflaten, a comparative politics professor at the University of Bergen in Norway, examined seven European countries with far-right parties in a 2008 paper. Specifically, she looked to see what drove people to the populist right: dissatisfaction with the economy, distrust in political institutions, or anti-immigrant sentiment.
"As immigration policy preferences become more restrictive, the probability of voting for the populist right increases dramatically," Ivarsflaten found. By contrast, voters with right-wing economic views were barely more likely to vote for the far right than an ordinary voter. Ditto those who expressed distrust of politicians, as the below charts make clear:
"This study therefore to a large extent settles the debate about which grievances unite all populist right parties," Ivarsflaten concluded. "The answer is the grievances arising from Europe’s ongoing immigration crisis."
In other words, immigration isn't one issue among many for the European populist/far right. It's the issue, the one that drives their support more than any other. And that's why a European neo-Nazi would see something to like in Donald Trump: They have their most recognizable issue in common. |
Photo by robin.elaine on Flickr.
Despite being one of the original stations in the Metro system, the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood station hasn’t reached the potential of so many others because of a lack of connections into the nearby communities. Simply improving pedestrian access to the station will invigorate otherwise disconnected neighborhoods.
In 1976, designers created a park and ride station, with pedestrians and pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods as an afterthought. Although it straddles 4 neighborhoods (Brentwood, Edgewood, Eckington, and Brookland), the station barely connects with 2, and it stands nearly 50 feet above Rhode Island Avenue.
The high elevation and a lack of neighborhood connections hinders the neighborhoods around the station from developing into the vibrant communities they could be.
Access points to the Rhode Island Avenue Metro. Image modified from Google Maps.
Today, there are only 3 ways of accessing the station:
The bus bays next to the former parking lot (labeled 1 on the map)
A winding pedestrian bridge (labeled 2)
A (temporarily closed) four-story staircase from Rhode Island Avenue (labeled 3)
Plans are in the works for an additional pedestrian and bicycle bridge (labeled 4), which will connect the station with the Rhode Island Avenue Center mall and the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Although this will improve station access, another connection is needed for the areas southwest of the station.
Riders from nearby Eckington must trek up Rhode Island Avenue, under an overpass on a narrow sidewalk where cars speed by, then go up the ramp or stairs to reach the station. Even for residents closest to the station, the circuitous walk can take up to 15 minutes and makes rail a less-appealing option for riders.
A ramp should be built from the station, across the CSX tracks and down W Street to better connect the station with Eckington (labeled 5 on the map). This will enable residents to access the station more readily and will lay the groundwork for future improvements along 5th Street NE.
In its vision for the Rhode Island Avenue corridor, the DC Office of Planning suggests turning the area around the rail overpass and 5th Street into a mixed-use district, containing shops, offices, and new residential structures. The report also calls for a new connection to the station, running along the 600 block of W Street NE (which is currently used as an alley for nearby warehouses) toward the station (labeled
6
5 on the map).
Making another pedestrian connection to the station would create a sense of neighborhood cohesiveness that does not currently exist, and help surrounding neighborhoods grow and prosper. |
Image caption The plane was escorted by two RAF Typhoon fighter jets to the airport following an what was described as an incident on board
An Egyptair plane from Cairo to New York has landed at Glasgow Prestwick Airport after being diverted.
BBC producer Nada Tawfik, a passenger on board, said she saw a note with the words "I'll set this plane on fire" and a seat number.
Egyptair flight 985 - which was travelling to JFK International Airport - touched down at around 14:30 BST.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that RAF Typhoon aircraft were called following an "incident on board".
Det Supt Alan Crawford, of Police Scotland, said he would not speculate on whether the threat in the note was credible.
He said the plane's captain and crew decided to divert from their normal flight path after seeing the note.
An eyewitness told the BBC he saw the two fighter jets escort the Boeing 777 into the airport in Ayrshire.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed in a statement that Typhoon aircraft were called from RAF Leuchars and that "a passenger aircraft was diverted following an incident on board."
The aircraft was carrying 326 passengers who were allowed to start to disembark three hours after the plane landed.
Police have been carrying out interviews with them.
'Pretty tense'
Ms Tawfik, who was travelling with her daughter, who was under two years old, said she saw the note, which was written on a napkin with a pencil.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption BBC producer Nada Tawfik who was on board said everyone was waiting for answers
"It almost looked like a child's handwriting or someone who has very sloppy handwriting, but it was very alarming especially these days when everyone is so concerned about safety on flights," she said.
She said it had been "very scary" and that the incident had created a tense situation on the flight, with passengers growing concerned - especially those with babies.
The plane has been moved to an isolated part of the airport, away from the passenger terminal.
Police Scotland confirmed a suspicious note had been found on the plane and that they would interview all passengers on board.
A spokeswoman said: "At around 1420 hours today an Egyptair aircraft flying from Cairo to New York was diverted to Prestwick Airport after a suspicious note was discovered on the aircraft.
"There are no reports of anyone injured."
A statement on the airport's website said there were no disruption to flights, which were operating as normal.
The A79 which had been closed in both directions next to the airport between the B739 Station Road junction and the Shawfarm Road junction, has now reopened. |
After the hit movie “Spotlight,” the world might be wondering how many predator priests are still members of the clergy.
The Boston Globe’s investigation busted open a massive Catholic Church scandal in the United States 14 years ago. But in remote parts of South America, the church practice of reassigning child abusers to another church, instead of defrocking them, has continued.
In 2014 and 2015, GlobalPost tracked down five priests who were accused of child sexual abuse in the United States and Europe, and who had transferred to parishes in South America where they continued to work in the church.
In the weeks after the publication of a multipart investigation, Fugitive Fathers, two of those priests were removed from their positions. A third was removed after an earlier GlobalPost story and a fourth had already left the church when we tracked him to rural Ecuador.
We’ve just learned that the fifth priest who was uncovered in the investigative project, Paul Madden, has retired. Madden, an admitted child molester, was reassigned in 2003 from Mississippi to a small church in Puerto Huarmey, a remote fishing village in the Diocese of Chimbote, Peru, where he worked as a priest until last month.
Reached by phone, a member of Madden’s parish says the priest had not appeared in church for three weeks. In an interview Monday, Madden’s superior, Vicar General Juan Roger Rodriguez Ruiz, says Madden has retired. He says the priest had not been under any pressure to step down.
Madden was accused of repeatedly molesting and raping a 13-year-old boy on a mission trip to Ireland when he was serving in the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1970s. The diocese settled a lawsuit with the boy’s family for $50,000 and Madden wrote a letter apologizing for the molestation.
When GlobalPost caught up with Madden in Puerto Huarmey, he also admitted the abuse. “Something happened, I was drunk,” was how he put it in the filmed interview.
He says his flock in Peru didn’t know about the abuse, and that they didn’t need to know about it because the case had been settled long ago.
When we asked Rodriguez about it, he also claimed to know nothing about the abuse, and promised an investigation into Madden. But then he defended the priest in subsequent phone interviews. Madden remained in his post until his recent retirement.
“This is good, this is a good thing that the priest will change. The town is content,” says Rosa Flores Vazquez, a mother who attends the Puerto Huarmey church where Madden used to preach. “We feel better.”
In Pope Francis’ homeland
Madden has retired from the church, but a journalist in Argentina now says he’s on the trail of a different priest accused of abuse — one who GlobalPost has confronted, too.
Carlos Urrutigoity was the subject of a GlobalPost investigation in 2014. He had left Pennsylvania in disgrace after accusations he molested a teenage boy, and his former superior described him as “a serious threat to young people.” Yet he was reassigned in 2006 to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, where he soon rose to the position of vicar general, the second-in-command of the diocese.
A few weeks after the story went online, Pope Francis sent a special envoy to Ciudad del Este. Shortly after that, both Urrutigoity and the bishop who had protected him were removed from their positions.
It is now unclear where Urrutigoity is.
A statement by his former diocese in Paraguay last year said he had transferred back to his native Argentina. A news organization in the Argentine city of Mendoza, Urrutigoity’s hometown, is trying to find out if the disgraced priest is working in the diocese.
The Mendoza Post published a lengthy story on Urrutigoity last week. Citing unnamed sources, author Christian Sanz wrote that he is trying to establish where Urrutigoity is and what his role is in the church.
Reached by phone in Mendoza, Sanz says he’s still working on locating the priest.
“I should know more in the next day or two,” he says.
We’ll continue to follow the story. |
Mar 15, 2016 Ξ Comments are off
By Ed Diokno
The choice of the next Bachelorette may have been more of a surprise than bachelor Ben Higgins’ final choice. Apparently, at the last minute last night (March 14), the producers changed their mind and went with Jojo Fletcher as the next Bachelorette instead of Filipina American Caila Quinn. If she was picked to be the star of the Bachelorette, she would have been the first non-white to be in the title role in that popular television franchise.
That’s too bad. It would have been a more interesting show if the producers had a bit more creativity and chose the road less taken. Caila’s selection could have opened the doors to new diversity possibilities in casting. Now we’re stuck with another ho-hum show.
Quinn was all set to be The Bachelorette. Filming had already started in her hometown. When articles began to appear that Caila was supposed to be the next Bachelorette, runner-up JoJo Fletcher’s fans started a Twitter campaign that seems to have affected the producer’s choice.
Reality Steve, the blogger who broke the story that Caila was the next Bachelorette a couple weeks back, said the hometown filming was a “red herring” to mislead fans. It’s a strategy the show employed in previous Bachelor/ette picks. His “scoop” was picked up by Us magazine and other tabloids.
“They led her to believe it was her, she was convinced it was her, they shot her intro package that day in Ohio, then they told her at pretty much the last minute, ‘We decided to go with JoJo,’” said the blogger.
Perhaps the producers think they can get away with passing Jojo Fletcher off as a person of color. “My mom is Persian, and my Dad was born and raised in Tennessee. I’m proud of my mother’s background despite what social opinions are. It’s important for me to stand up to people stereotyping Iranians.” I hate to break it to her and to the producers, but Iranians Persians are biologically Caucasian.
When it was thought that Caila was to be the next Bachelorette, one of the most interesting articles about her possible selection was by NPR’s Akemi Johnson, titled, What It Would Mean to Have ‘Hapa’ Bachelorette. I encourage readers to read it anyway to get an idea why we’re spending this much ink on this show. It’s a deep dive into the representation of people of color in our culture, on television, and The Bachelor/ette specifically.
Johnson’s article makes a clear case as to why diversity is more than just casting a person of color. It’s about how that person is portrayed to the audience and what stereotypes the editors and producers choose to reinforce or dismantle.
Oh, in case you were wondering, Higgins’ final pick was Lauren Bushnell (yawn!).
(Ed Diokno writes a blog :Views From The Edge: news and analysis from an Asian American perspective.)
(AsAmNews is an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. You can show your support by liking our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/asamnews, following us on Twitter and sharing our stories.) |
The Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska erupted on 28 May, sending ash clouds as far as 35,000ft up in the sky. The eruption resulted in the Aviation Color Code to be raised to red, the highest possible level by the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
The volcano has been active for almost six months now, and the eruption took place at 2.16 pm local time and lasted for a total of 55 minutes. Although the aviation alert code has been lowered to orange, the second highest level, now, a red warning for a volcanic eruption means flights could be grounded for several days until the ash is totally clears off the skies.
Trending: The long lives of Greeks could be attributed to a gene that protects their hearts
Ash from volcanoes can harm and even completely halt jet engines when it rises above 20,000ft. So far, however, there are no reports of any flight delays from the eruption.
Ash from the Sangeang Api volcano in Indonesia grounded all flights from Australia and south east Asia in 2014. In 2010, volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland resulted in the largest air-traffic shutdown since World War II.
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Bogoslof volcano is a submarine stratovolcano, and the size of the island has more than tripled in size as a result of frequent eruptions in the last six months.
The first of these eruptions took place on December 20, 2016, producing towering volcanic ash clouds and changing the geography of the island. The last major eruption occurred on 17 May, sending ash clouds 34,000ft high but the latest eruption marks the highest till date. The uninhabited island is rich in marine life and has been designated as a National Natural Landmark.
Unlike in the case of some other active volcanoes, there are no cameras or monitoring stations on the island, so the only way to predict or observe an eruption is through remote sensing.
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Pakistani textbooks are mostly anti-Hindu & anti-Indian under the influence of Quranic teachings.
Pak Textbooks are anti-Hindu… anti-Indian…
Pakistani textbook controversy: They think something, tell different and do harrowing.
“Any material considered ‘inflammatory’ or ‘discriminatory’ to religious minorities should be removed from the syllabus as the government should seriously take action on this matter”, say Salman Ali and Saira Ahmed in a co-written piece in Daily Times Pakistan. But all these dramatic write up and govt announcements come at the verge of extinction of Hindus from the Map of Pakistan! Actually, the textbook controversy & reformations etc. in Pakistan are nothing but an eyewash to prove Islam is not so bad.
Upendra Bharti | HENB | New Delhi | Dec 30, 2016:: On August 11, 1947, three days before the announcement of the independence of Pakistan- separated from India as two parts East and West Pakistan, the Father of the Nation Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his speech said, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State.”
Ridiculous. Sowing the seeds of Islamic communalism in the minds of Muslims of Indian subcontinent and through a holy war named- ‘Direct action’, Jinnah materialized the dream of Pakistan which took the lives of millions and uprooted the innocent people from their soil numerously.
When Pakistan was created in 1947, Hindus constituted about 16% of the population of West Pakistan+ (current Pakistan); by 2016 it is about 1.68% – the population has declined by about 90% in about 70 years. This decimation is the outcome of sustained legal and social discrimination ever since the creation of Pakistan. The situation of minority persecution in has not been stopped anyway. The overall situation of synchronized plights on Minority Hindus (mostly Dalit/ Scheduled caste and tribal categories) through physical torture, bonded labour, abduction, ransom, attack of religious places, rape and molestation of girls and women, forced conversion and marriage, murder, complete snatching all human and political-social-economic and human rights from the creation days of Pakistan was-is-will just a mockery of any pronounced policy of Pakistan.
So, “Any material considered ‘inflammatory’ or ‘discriminatory’ to religious minorities should be removed from the syllabus as the government should seriously take action on this matter” is nothing but a real farce in the pretext of analysing the communal resources in the curriculum of Pakistan Text books.
Students of government schools in Punjab and even other provinces are being taught, “Muhammad Ali Jinnah felt that Hindus wanted to make Muslims their slaves and since he hated slavery, he left the Congress.” At another place in grade-III, it says, “The Congress was actually a party of Hindus. Muslims felt that after getting freedom, Hindus would make them their slaves.” Moreover, Pakistani textbooks portray non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan as sympathetic towards its perceived enemies: Pakistani Christians as Westerners or equal to British colonial oppressors and Pakistani Hindus as Indians, which causes hatred for minorities among the Muslim population. Such history books are poisoning and brainwashing the young minds with systematic and institutionalised lies and bigoted teachings.
But, any eyewash to rectify the expressed communal teachings in Pakistani text books for mending the Pakistan policies or to run a process to secularize its ‘Father of the Nation’, will not give any chance to increase the minority population of Pakistan. Rather Pakistan is trying to propagate the ‘side of human rights’ or ‘reformation of textbook policies’, so that the state cannot be blamed with a charge of annihilating Hindu-Sikhs and other minorities from its map. The decline of Hindus in Pakistan as 16% (pre 1946) – 1.6% (present) -0% (in next 10 yrs) in an Islamic repression is possible, but the reverse is quite impossible.
Even then, the Sindh Textbook Board has included this part of Quaid-e-Azam’s speech in the eighth and ninth grade syllabus, but practically, students are not being taught in the real sense. The latest study in this regard made public by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended the review of the Pakistani textbooks, insisting that overemphasis on Islam as being the “only correct” faith in textbooks was against the Constitution of Pakistan, as well as the ideals of the Quaid-e-Azam.
The report titled ‘Teaching Intolerance in Pakistan — Religious Bias in Public School Textbooks’, claims that the foremost recurring trend in textbooks from all grade levels is an overemphasis on the glorification of war and war heroes. “In particular, the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim and 17 famous attacks by Sultan Mehmood Ghaznavi are included proudly in every textbook. Highlighting these two events as the beginning of civilisation in the Subcontinent, while ignoring the evolution of art, architecture, and culture, remains a key problem in textbooks,” the report said.
Another research study, conducted by the Pakistan-based Peace and Education Foundation (PEF), says that in the social studies, Pakistan studies, and history curriculums, students are taught a version of history that promotes a national Islamic identity of Pakistan and often describes conflicts with India in religious terms. The report says that the findings of the study substantiated much of the evidence found in the 2011 study and analysis that textbooks typically emphasise the concepts of communalism and Islam. “Conflation of these concepts is an attempt to build a nation-state anchored in religion, which was pursued by the Bhutto, Zia, Nawaz Sharif, and Musharraf governments from 1971 till 2008.”
Another report, prepared by a local non-profit organisation, National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), says that the government has failed to keep its promise to eradicate religious “hate material” from textbooks used in schools. The report, ‘Freedom from Suffocating Education’ claims that no curriculum reforms have been adopted at the school level, aside from the production of a few booklets — which I also highlighted in one of my previous articles titled “History at the alter of Dogma.”
The report, which focused on textbooks used in the 2015-16 school year, noted that “hate material” previously identified had not been removed from the curriculum. The NCJP study cited several passages from textbooks that teach falsehoods about other religions, or criticise or encourage animosity toward them:
The Sindh Textbook Board’s Class VII (ages 11-12) book on Islamic Studies teaches: “Most of the [other] religions of the world claim equality, but they never act on it. The Punjab Board’s Islamic Studies textbook for Class VIII (ages 12-13) reads: “Honesty for non-Muslims is merely a business strategy; while for Muslims it is a matter of faith.” The Punjab Board’s Class VI book on Islamic Studies says: “Though being a student, you cannot practically participate in jihad, but you may provide financial support for jihad.”
The History textbook for Class VIII students, published by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board, reads: “Sikhs used to do many brutalities to Muslims and did not allow them religious freedom. The British did not trust Muslims and the policy of injustice and brutality hurt economic and educational conditions of Muslims. And the discriminatory attitude of Hindu landlords further made their condition worse. Under the influence of Hindus, they adopted several heresies.”
We believe that the “Islamisation” policies introduced by General Ziaul Haq also included a complete revision of the curricula so that the entire content could be re-organised around a certain variant of Islamic thought to inculcate Islamic ideology in the young generation supposedly. Though political analysts have severely criticised the educational system of Zia era for creating the bedrock for militant extremism, no later administration showed any resolve to address the questionable content. That is why the biased material in the syllabus is one of the major aspects of growing religious intolerance and extremism secondly it is in contradiction with the constitution of Pakistan. Any material considered ‘inflammatory’ or ‘discriminatory’ to religious minorities should be removed from the syllabus as the government should seriously take action on this matter. Secondly, unless and until the young minds are encouraged to develop a critical mind, and the willingness and ability to research and reach for the truth and facts, a country’s national ethos cannot become progressive with social justice and economic development of the citizen as the primary priorities.
But all these dramatic write up and govt announcements come as easy eyewash at the verge of extinction of Hindus from the Map of Pakistan!
The continuing series of Pakistani textbooks controversies (not a new thing [1], [2], [3]…) show that they think something, tell other thing and do obviously very distressful and dangerous to others.
Experts say that the departmental heads and administrative heads related to education departments and ministry in Pakistan are under the influence of Islamic teachings based on Quranic hatred, intolerance, fanaticism and Jihad. They do not consider any secular thread above the Islamic content of Pakistan.
As a result of that the Pakistani text books are stuffed with Quranic teaching of hatred, intolerance, fanaticism and Jihad resulting it as mostly anti-Hindu and anti-Indian.
So, it is almost an impossible situation to delete the lines of great lies on Hindus and Indians containing hatred, intolerance, fanaticism and Jihad.
The textbook controversy & reformations etc. in Pakistan are nothing but an eyewash to prove Islam is not so bad.
..
__based on an article “Pakistani textbooks controversy” by Salman Ali and Saira Ahmed in Daily Times, Pakistan. |
This is my first attempt the baby frock, this is for the 3 months baby girl frock/dress. its very easy pattern not very difficult. it is very simple and easy to understand. Some time when i crocheted things for my own relatives so, I always want to share my friends also, this is very perfect item for yours babies. And also you gifted to others.
You have to need some different colors yarn for this bay girl frock, and a crochet hook to fit in the yarn gauge. I used worsted 4 ply yarns to fit gauge for this.
I need to share and clarify some about sweater that oftenly when we attempt to make a sweater then first we make upper piece of sweater independently or we make the neck line with a square shape, and increasing the stitches step by step.
Instructions: I made the neck line and arms in square shape together. The method for this example is simple. Here you have to make neck line and arms inside of one piece. You have not confronted trouble to making a neck line part. No doubt you will make easily. After that you have to begin underneath some piece of sweater, on the off chance that you need to make the dress open shape then make isolate the lines in front side. In the event that you need to make join, so proceed with your works. When you completed the top part starting work into the skirt.
I adjusted a new stitch in this pattern; I think you have easy to understand my new creation. I made some picture for easy to learn the stitch and the step by step instruction help you to easy the pattern and follow. |
Not everyone is so sold on Victor Von Doom's latest foray into the superhero world, and it's not like you can fault them for their distrust. That will be evident in Infamous Iron Man #2, where a certain Guardians of the Galaxy member has an ax to grind.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis with art from frequent collaborator Alex Maleev, Infamous Iron Man #2 will start to peel back the layers as to why Doom is doing this in the first place. In the meantime, Ben Grimm isn't the only person who can't believe Doom has turned over a new leaf. Turns out The Mad Thinker isn't that thrilled about the whole thing, but in his defense, Doom did try and take his stuff, and that never really goes well. |
Nestlé took its immensely popular instant-noodle brand Maggi off shelves across India on Thursday, amid a controversy over apparent high levels of lead found in the product.
The company said in a statement that although Maggi is completely safe, “recent developments and unfounded concerns about the product have led to an environment of confusion for the consumer,” the BBC reported.
Maggi was also undergoing tests for high levels of monosodium glutamate or MSG, a common but harmful chemical ingredient used as a flavor enhancer in packaged and fast foods worldwide.
The government in New Delhi had earlier issued a 15-day ban on the popular snack — a move several other states subsequently followed, according to the Wall Street Journal. Beyond the South Asian nation’s borders, Singapore also ordered that sales of Maggi imported from India be suspended, the Straits Times reported.
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Maggi, known for its tagline that says it can be cooked in “two minutes,” reportedly enjoys an 80% share of India’s instant-noodle market and is almost as ubiquitous as the rice and lentils that comprise much of the South Asian nation’s staple diet.
“We have decided to withdraw the product off the shelves, despite the product being safe,” Nestlé added, before promising that everyone’s favorite easy-to-cook meal would be back soon.
Write to Rishi Iyengar at [email protected]. |
Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) and Rigoberto Urán (Etixx-QuickStep) have all been named in Colombia’s 12-man long-list for the World Championships in Richmond next month. Sergio Henao (Team Sky) has also been named among a very strong looking long-list and is likely to be the country’s best hope at a medal in the road race. Related Articles Report: Uran signs with Cannondale for 2016
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Colombia is one of 10 countries to qualify nine riders for the competition after ranking third in the WorldTour nations’ standings. Henao has been one of the top performers for Colombia this season, making his comeback from a serious knee injury at the Tour de Suisse last season. The test event earlier this month showed that the rolling road race course is well suited to punchy climbers. Henao recently put in a good showing at the Tour de Pologne, going into the final day in the race lead after taking a stage win. He would eventually lose that lead in the time trial.
Quintana finished second at the Tour de France behind Chris Froome and claimed victory in the WorldTour classified Tirreno-Adriatico. The final climb is not tough enough for Quintana to distance his rivals and he will probably play a team role. Urán, who will race for the first time in a month when he takes part in the Canadian WorldTour races, is likely to compete in both the time trial and road race. Urán took a commanding victory in the Colombian time trial championships in February.
Chaves has enjoyed a great run of form lately at the Vuelta a Espana, winning two stages thus far and enjoying a spell in the leader’s jersey. His performance has no doubt secured a spot for him in the final nine, and the baby-faced Orica-GreenEdge rider could provide an outside shot at a medal.
Other names on the list are national road champion Robinson Chalapud, Winner Anacona and Julian Arredondo. Up-and-coming sprinter Fernando Gaviria will headline the Colombian Under-23 squad.
Colombia long-list for world Championships: Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), Rigoberto Urán (Etixx Quick Step), Sergio Luis Henao (Team Sky), Robinson Chalapud (Orgullo Antioqueño), Winner Anacona (Movistar Team), Járlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling), Daniel Jaramillo (Jami Hagens Berman), Alex Cano (Team Colombia), Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE), Carlos Quintero (Team Colombia), Brayan Ramírez (Team Colombia) and Julián Arredondo Moreno (Trek Factory Racing).
Colombia Under-23 team: Fernando Gaviria (Coldeportes - Claro), Jhonathan Ospina (GW Shimano), Juan Sebastián Molano (Team Colombia), Daniel Martínez (Team Colombia), Jonathan Restrepo (Coldeportes - Claro), Wilmar Paredes (Team Manzana Postobón), Álvaro José Hodeg (Coldeportes - Claro) and Juan Felipe Osorio (Team Manzana Postobón). |
PUTNEY, Vt. – They have developed strategies to stay focused when lectures get boring, picked up tips for staying on top of homework and brushed up on their rights as college students with documented learning disabilities.
Now, they are working on their handshakes.
"No wet dishrags. Look me right in the eye," Landmark College professor Roxanne Hamilton coaches her students, who would soon scatter to campuses across the nation to start their freshman year. She tells them that a firm grip will project confidence when they ask for what they need to succeed — be it extra time on tests, access to an instructor's notes or a distraction-free place to study.
A growing number of students with learning disabilities are enrolling in college, yet few are likely to get the level of support and encouragement available at Landmark College, one of a few small, private colleges that specialize in educating students who struggle with conditions such as dyslexia or attention-deficit disorder.
Nearly nine out of 10 of the nation's two- and four-year colleges enroll students with disabilities, and of the 86% of those that enroll students with learning disabilities, only 24% say they can help disabled students "to a major extent," says an Education Department report published in June.
That's why a growing number of short-term opportunities are cropping up to help college students with learning disabilities hone the skills they will need on a mainstream campus. Landmark, which runs three such boot camps on its campus here each summer, last year added a fourth, in Oregon. The non-profit College Internship Program this year offered similar residential programs on five campuses, up from one program three years ago. And a biopharmaceutical company awarded scholarships this year to 25 students with ADHD. Those scholarships include cash plus one-on-one coaching.
Through the programs, students learn to build on their strengths, navigate the terrain and, perhaps most of all, how to advocate for themselves.
By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY The sessions at Landmark made a difference for Brandon Tobasky, 18, who has an anxiety disorder. Now, as a first-year student at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H., he feels “a lot more confident and a lot more prepared."
Many students "don't have the ability to speak up for themselves, because their parents were advocating for them" in high school, says Robert Tudisco of the non-profit Edge Foundation, which pairs coaches with college students with ADHD. Even when students do speak up, he says, "colleges, to a certain degree, don't have a good handle on what these students need."
The sessions at Landmark have made a difference for Brandon Tobasky, 18, who has an anxiety disorder that sometimes impedes his ability to focus on schoolwork. Now, as a first-year student at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H., Tobasky says he feels "a lot more confident and a lot more prepared in general about just about every aspect" of college, both academically and socially.
While at Landmark, Tobasky worked on his note-taking, something he never had to do in high school for students with special needs because teachers gave study guides. He also fretted about whether he would make friends. Now, he says, "I'm thinking, wow, I have so many friends. I hope I don't have too much fun."
But students participating in another Landmark program warn that the transition can be bumpy. Ksenia Bradner, 19, a sophomore at Goucher College in Baltimore, says she had a professor last year who insisted "there's no such thing" as attention-deficit disorder or depression. "I was shocked because all my life people had been understanding," Bradner says.
"You feel under attack sometimes," says Benjamin Staton, 20, a George Washington University sophomore with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia. Last year, he says, one professor "was angry at me because I was asking for help. She had to go out of her way to help me." This semester, he says, he is communicating more effectively with faculty and staying on top of his course load. "It's really important to not, like, sink, which would have happened in the past," he says.
Rising numbers
The proportion of college students with any sort of disability has inched upward, to about 11% in 2008 from 9% in 2000, but the number who report learning-related disabilities is growing far faster, says a 2009 report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. Dyslexia and similar language-based disabilities increased from 5% to 8.9% in that period.
By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY "You only have one chance to make a first impression," Lucy Stamp, a professor and the director of Landmark's Transition to College program, tells students.
Students reporting attention-deficit and related disorders, which affect things such as the ability to organize thoughts or manage time, more than tripled to 19%, making it the most commonly reported disability after emotional, psychological or psychiatric conditions, which sometimes accompany learning disabilities. The GAO report identifies students with autism-spectrum disorders, which have to do with social skills, as an "emerging population." In contrast, the percentage of students with mobility problems dropped, from 29% to 15.1%; also down were reports of visual or hearing impairments.
"It's not about intellect — they're capable of doing high-level work," says Landmark professor MacLean Gander. Rather, he says, their brains are wired differently, so they learn differently. Here, it's not unusual to see some students doodling instead of taking notes, and some instructors hand out squeeze balls during class; both tools help some students concentrate. (But professors are not pushovers. Hamilton scolded several students on this afternoon for falling asleep during a talk by a guest speaker the previous day. "Do you know how annoyed your professor is going to be with you?" she asked. "They're going to think you don't care.")
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, all colleges are required to provide accommodations to college students. But they can decline to do anything they consider unreasonable. And, unlike grade schools and high schools, which are required by law to identify, evaluate and help students with disabilities, colleges don't have to do anything — unless a student asks for help and provides proof of a learning disability.
Some mainstream schools are catering to the special needs of this population. Sage and Excelsior colleges in Troy and Albany, N.Y., are taking applications for a new online bachelor's degree program for people with autism-spectrum disorders or other learning disabilities, to be launched in January.
Since 2006, the University of Alabama has offered a program for students with autism. The University of Arizona's Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques Center has been around since the 1980s.
Why colleges fall short
A number of factors help explain why many colleges may fall short. Colleges responding to the recent Education Department survey cite costs as the primary barrier to making more of those kinds of changes, along with a lack of incentives for faculty to make their coursework more accessible. Other research suggests that some disabilities-services offices, particularly at large institutions, are mired in bureaucracy, exactly the kind of thing that trips up students who struggle with things like memory and self-management skills.
"Right now, the burden really is on the student," says Marsha Glines, dean of a program for learning-disabled students at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., which is preparing to host its third annual conference aimed at helping high school students with learning disabilities explore their college options.
And therein lies another factor: Most learning-disabled students don't seek out the services available to them. Of about 67% of such students who pursued college or vocational school after high school, only 24% disclosed their impairment to college officials, a necessary first step toward getting accommodations, says a federally funded study that has tracked students from their teen years into young adulthood. Study director Lynn Newman says those students could be setting themselves up for failure.
"One of the reasons they were able to get into college in the first place (was) they got the support they needed in high school to succeed," says Newman, of Menlo Park, Calif., who hopes to compare completion rates between students who do and don't disclose their learning disabilities. Overall, her research shows, 40% of students with learning disabilities, about a fifth of whom pursued bachelor's degrees, complete their post-secondary programs, compared with about 52% of a similar population, but the data are limited. (By comparison, about half the students who come to Landmark full-time have failed or withdrawn from somewhere else, and 80% of those who graduate go on to earn bachelor's degrees.)
In some cases, students don't realize they needed help until it is too late. "I didn't reach out for support because I thought I was just lazy. I saw it as a moral and personal failure," says Taylor Burks, 25, of Jefferson City, Tenn., who has withdrawn from the University of Chicago but hopes to return.
The key reason many students don't disclose: They want a fresh start in college without the stigma associated with a disability, says the GAO report. One of the benefits of Landmark's program is that the stigma is taken away.
And that may be the biggest confidence-booster. "We're not that weird," says Morgan Behr, 20, who transferred this fall to Landmark from the University of Denver. "We're normal. We just learn differently." |
Won’t somebody buy Andy Sullivan an abacus?
According to Andy :
I’m struck by the generational dynamics in the latest Ipsos-Reid poll. The GOP has a huge lead among the young, especially men under 44. I wonder why. Could it be that September 11 was a more potent event for those with less life experience under their belts? Or is it that the young recognize that the Democrats are essentially a political operation designed to take money from the young and productive and give it to the old and rich and retired? Both possibilities are encouraging.
While I will allow that Andy is correct about the men’s numbers (although his reasons are specious at best), his main point:
The GOP has a huge lead among the young
is, how should I put this… lacking in those qualities that make it the truth. A quick check over at Ipsos-Reid shows this:
And if the election for Congress were held today, would you want to see the Republicans or Democrats win control of Congress?
Men 18-44 prefer Republicans to Democrats 53% to 35%
All well and good…but wait a minute…we all know that women are not Andy’s “preference”, but shouldn’t we at least take a look at how they would vote? Oh, let’s!
And if the election for Congress were held today, would you want to see the Republicans or Democrats win control of Congress?
Women 18-44 prefer Democrats to Republicans 53% to 36%.
Let’s check back with Andy again:
The GOP has a huge lead among the young
Now, I’m no Paul Krugman, but I see a 1% variance here.
So. What have we learned today? First, Andy Sullivan is not very good at math. Secondly, he “shades” the truth, and not very well. And lastly, if you come across one of Andy’s personal ads looking for you know what and he promises a huge package…expect a one percent increase above the norm. That’s hardly worth getting off the couch for. |
Challapata, Bolivia - The small village of Challapata hosts the main Quinoa black market in Bolivia. On its dusty streets, indigenous farmers unload dozens of blue, yellow and red sacks, each containing 46kg of the grain.
They had been growing Quinoa over the infertile steppes of the Andes - the continental mountain range stretching across South America - for more than 7,000 years before the UN considered its nutritive properties as a means to eradicate malnutrition globally, and proclaimed 2013 as the international year of Quinoa.
Rich in protein, minerals and vitamins, the grain has become a world renowned food, and its price has skyrocketed.
"Very soon we’ll sell Quinoa to the Pope," said Victor Hugo Vasquez, Bolivia's deputy minister of Rural Development and Land. "We’re establishing the arrangement to achieve the DOP classification in Europe and the trademark in the US."
Bolivia is the largest producer and exporter of this super-crop in the world. According to the Ministry of Rural Development and Land, in 2012 Bolivia produced around 58,000 tonnes , including 26,252 for export, generating a revenue of $79.9m.
"Thirty years ago, 46kg cost 20 Bolivianos ($2.90)," Juan Crispín, president of the National Association of Quinoa producers, said. "And we were cultivating only for our own consumption."
The Andes, and in particular the Southern Altiplano, have been an area of traditional poverty and deprivation. Four-thousand metres above sea level, the region is characterised by poor soil fertility, lack of rainfall and drastic temperature changes. Only Quinoa and a handful of other plants can survive here.
Growing interest
International appetite for the region's grain was supposed to improve the lives of local farmers. "Before we lived in thatched huts; now we have brick houses with tiles," said Hugo Choqui, a local Quinoa farmer. Some residents "have bought vehicles to bring the crops from the fields to the warehouses".
Although the production is still in the hands of small and medium sized farmers, Bolivia is trying to get the most from this unexpected asset, and the government aims to expand the cultivated area up to 1 million hectares.
Nevertheless, many concerns have arisen related to such an expansion. Researchers and activists have sounded the alarm over the lack of any regional or national planning, which could hurt traditional production organisations and lead to a drop in oil productivity.
These newcomers are getting back to their villages thanks to the subsides of the government, breaking the previous organisation of the community. Patricia Molino, campaigner
In the Southern Altiplano, Quinoa fields are communal properties administrated by their respective ancestral authorities, which decide about the exploitation of land parcels and any eventual enlargement. "Our organisation is based on our original authorities, which divide the land equally among every citizen," explained Crispin.
Many former rural residents turned city dwellers have grabbed the opportunity to start a profitable business, coming back to their original communities, and in some cases causing conflicts.
"These newcomers are getting back to their villages thanks to the subsides of the government, breaking the previous organisation of the community," said Bolivian Forum on Environment and Development campaigner Patricia Molino.
"They come, seed and go away, without taking part in the community assembly," said Vladimir Orsag, a researcher at San Andres Mayor University. Orsag underlines how the disruption of communal rules, the search for profits through the extension of cropland, and mechanisation can affect the percentage of nitrogen in the soil, which is a key aspect for the growth of Quinoa.
Unfortunately, Southern Altiplano lands are low in nitrogen and, according to UMSA engineer Roberto Miranda, their yields are already beginning to diminish.
To combat soil degradation, Orsag supports a return to older farming methods used in arid zones: traditional farming, vegetal protections, division of the land into several parcels, and rotation of the sowing. "There have been good practices as long as the institutions were on the field," Orsag said. "But when they left, farmers dropped these innovations."
Even the deputy minister Vasquez worries the explosion in exports could cause social problems in the countryside. "I believe a third of Bolivian farmers are still endorsing these ancestral methods, another third use them only partially," he said. "But the last third has abandoned our heritage, and we need to work with this last one."
'Too expensive'
Social and soil problems aside, the Quinoa boom has caused another social problem: local price increases.
Despite producing such a nutritious food, according to FAO’s State of food insecurity in the world 2012 report , Bolivia still faces a 24 percent rate of malnutrition among its population, which means more than two million people are regularly hungry. Stunting in children under five years old has remained at 27 percent nationally, and 37 percent in rural areas of the Andean country, according to a World Food Programme report .
The export-driven soar of Quinoa prices has lead to worries that many Bolivians won't be able to afford their traditional food. In 2000, 100kg of Quinoa cost 80 Bolivianos ($11.60), but prices have risen 10-fold to about 800 Bolivianos ($115).
On the streets of La Paz, Bolivia's mountain capital, it's quite normal to hear complaints about the price of Quinoa.
"I’m not buying it because it’s too expensive, but I always try to get some Quinoa for my little son, especially through the scholar breakfast programme," said Almendra Espinosa, a receptionist at a local hostel.
Five years ago, the National Association of Quinoapushed the government to finance prenatal and breastfeeding subsidies. "It was the first peasant’s product to enter into the subsidy," said Molina.
Following this programme, Bolivia's government has tried to introduce Quinoa into the daily diet of citizens through special subsidies intended for pregnant mothers and students.
For these reasons, deputy minister Vasquez said domestic consumption is growing, despite new export markets. "Three years ago, Bolivians were consuming 4,000 tonnes a year, now it has grown up to 12,000 and we plan to reach 20,000 by the end of this year."
The recent UNICEF report Bolivia: Una Victoria posible seemed to endorse Vasquez' claim: child malnutrition levels have been cut by half in the last 20 years, and the country could be one of the few to meet the UN's Millenium Goals. The importance of Quinoa’s consumption in this process is, however, difficult to quantify, but many Bolivian farmers are undoubtably happy their crop is getting so much attention. |
George W. Bush has shoved American politics into the dark realm of the lunatic right, zipping past Joe McCarthy into territory previously covered by historical accounts of Germany in the 1940s. We've lost our right to see an attorney, to confront our accusers, even to get a fair trial. Government agents have kidnapped thousands of people, many of whom have never been heard from again. Bush even signed an edict claiming the right to assassinate anyone, including you and me, based solely on his whims. Torture, the ultimate sign that civilized society has been replaced by a police state, was repeatedly authorized by government officials who smirked the few times reporters had the temerity to ask them about it.
The 2000, 2004 and 2008 presidential elections have been and will prove to be decisive moments in American history. In each case the American people were offered a stark choice between a future of freedom and one under tyranny.
We must elect--by an overwhelming, theft-proof majority--a candidate who promises to renounce Bush and all his works. A reform-minded president's first act should be to sign a law that reads as follows: "The federal government of the United States having been illegitimate and illegal since January 20, 2001, all laws, regulations, executive orders, and acts of commission or omission enacted between that infamous day and 12 noon Eastern Standard Time on January 20, 2009 are hereby declared invalid and without effect." Guantánamo, secret prisons, extraordinary rendition, spying on Americans' phone calls and emails, and "legal" torture would be erased. Our troops should immediately pull out of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Somalia; we should apologize to our victims and offer to compensate them and their survivors. Bush should never appear on any list of American presidents. When he dies, his carcass shouldn't receive a state funeral. It ought to be thrown in the trash.
Unfortunately, no one like that is running for president. To the contrary, most of the major presidential candidates want to accelerate America's slide into outright moral bankruptcy.
Inspired by what good people find appalling, America's Mayor has turned into America's Maniac. Torture, says Rudy Giuliani, is smart. He endorses the medieval practice of waterboarding, revived in CIA torture chambers after 9/11, in which a person is strapped to a board, tipped back and forced to inhale water to induce the sensation of drowning.
"It depends on how it's done," Giuliani said when asked about waterboarding and whether it is torture. "It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who does it." Giuliani used to be a federal prosecutor. Would he have used similar logic in the prosecution of an accused torturer?
The mayor-turned-monster even used a campaign stop in Iowa to mock the victims of sleep deprivation, long acknowledged by international law as one of the severest forms of torture. "They talk about sleep deprivation," he said. "I mean, on that theory, I'm getting tortured running for president of the United States. That's plain silly. That's silly."
Waterboarding causes pain, brain damage and broken bones (from the restraints used on struggling victims), and death. Survivors are psychologically scarred. "Some victims were still traumatized years later," Dr. Allen Keller, director of the Bellevue/New York University Program for Survivors of Torture, told The New Yorker. "One patient couldn't take showers, and panicked when it rained."
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin described the sleep deprivation he suffered as a captive of the Soviet KGB: "In the head of the interrogated prisoner, a haze begins to form. His spirit is wearied to death, his legs are unsteady, and he has one sole desire: to sleep...Anyone who has experienced this desire knows that not even hunger and thirst are comparable with it."
Giuliani isn't the only wanna be Torturer-in-Chief. Congressman Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, offered this Lincolnesque rhetorical gem at one of the debates: "What do we do in the response to a nuclear--or the fact that a nuclear device or some bombs have gone off in the United States? We know that there are--we have captured people who have information that could lead us to the next one that's going to go off and it's the big one...I would do--certainly, waterboard--I don't believe that that is, quote, 'torture.'"
In an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes," Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said the U.S. does and should torture: "We have received good solid information from [torture], and have saved American lives because of it."
Duncan Hunter made fun of the concentration camp at Guantánamo: "You got guys like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [a detainee victim of U.S. waterboarding], "who said that he planned the attack on 9/11. You got Osama bin Laden's bodyguards. Those guys get taxpayer-paid-for prayer rugs. They have prayer five times a day. They've all gained weight. The last time I looked at the menu, they had honey-glazed chicken and rice pilaf on Friday. That's how we treat the terrorists. They've got health care that's better than most HMOs...They live in a place called Guantánamo, where not one person has ever been murdered."
Three inmates have been found dead at Gitmo. (The military claimed they were suicides.) As of August 2003, at least 29 POWs had attempted suicide. Scores of hunger strikers are being force-fed.
Fred Thompson says he won't authorize waterboarding "as a matter of course" but likes to keep his options open. Mitt Romney punts questions about waterboarding: "I don't think as a presidential candidate it is appropriate for me to weigh in on specific forms of interrogation that our CIA would employ. In circumstances of extreme threat to the nation, where we employ what is known as enhanced interrogation techniques, we don't describe those techniques."
At a Democratic debate in New Hampshire, Barack Obama refused to rule out torture. "Now, I will do whatever it takes to keep America safe. And there are going to be all sorts of hypotheticals [presumably, Tancredo's hoary "ticking time bomb" fantasy] and emergency situations, and I will make that judgement at that time." Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden said they agree with Obama. Democrats Bill Richardson, John Edwards and Chris Dodd have offered unequivocal stances against torture. On the Republican side, only John McCain and Ron Paul have done so. Even McCain, himself a victim of torture in Vietnam, refuses to rule out voting to confirm Bush's attorney general nominee, Michael Mukasey. "If it amounts to torture," Mukasey said of waterboarding, "then it is not constitutional."
"If"?
_______
About author Ted Rall is the author of " Ted Rall is the author of " The Anti-American Manifesto ." His website is tedrall.com |
New Mexico’s Supreme Court on Thursday moved to legalize gay marriage in the state, capping a year that had already seen historic gains for marriage equality.
“Prohibiting same-gender marriages is not substantially related to the governmental interests advanced by the parties opposing same-gender marriage or to the purposes we have identified,” wrote Justice Edward L. Chávez in his opinion. “Therefore, barring individuals from marrying and depriving them of the rights, protections, and responsibilities of civil marriage solely because of their sexual orientation violates the Equal Protection Clause under Article II, Section 18 of the New Mexico Constitution.”
Six same-sex couples in New Mexico filed a lawsuit in March seeking the freedom to marry. In terms of marriage laws, New Mexico was unique in that it was the only state in the country that neither permitted gay couples to marry nor explicitly prohibited them from doing so. The state constitution had no legislation on the books either way.
Because of this ambiguity, Dona Ana County clerk Lynn Ellins began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples last August. Ellins had long been a gay-rights advocate, and wanted to speed up the process once he caught wind of the lawsuit. Other clerks soon followed, either at the direction of a district judge, or of their own volition. As of October, when the state Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, more than 900 same-sex couples had been married in New Mexico. The aforementioned plaintiffs wanted to make it so that every county clerk had to issue a marriage license to any two adults seeking one, regardless of sexual orientation.
Opponents argued that even though New Mexico did not expressly ban same-sex marriage it did have state statutes that contained a marriage license application using the terms “husband” and “wife.” The state Supreme Court bought that argument, stating that when taken as a whole, “the statutes have the effect of precluding same-gender couples from marrying and benefiting from the rights, protections, and responsibilities that flow from a civil marriage.” But the court also concluded those laws amounted to unconstitutional discrimination.
Eight states, including New Mexico, have struck down barriers to same-sex nuptials this year, and the U.S. Supreme Court in June cleared the way for the federal government to begin honoring gay marriages in the 17 states that currently allow them.
“The past few years have seen an amazing show of support for the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples,” said Elizabeth Gill – a staff attorney with the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs – in a statement. “Today’s victory in New Mexico brings us one step closer to the day when marriage equality is a reality nationwide.” |
Authorities said the incident unfolded Tuesday morning at the county's main jail, near Clarksburg. Later in the day, authorities questioned the suspect, Olukunle A. Oyekanmi, 41, at his residence, where they say in court filings that he admitted to the sexual assault.
Oyekanmi was charged with second-degree sex offense, assault, malfeasance in office and other counts, and booked into the county's intake detention center in Rockville, according to court records. He posted a $20,000 bond Wednesday and was released.
Oyekanmi could not be reached for comment. It is not clear from online court records whether he has an attorney.
Robert Green, director of the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, said Oyekanmi began working for the facility in December but is "no longer an employee of the department," an employment status that changed Wednesday.
Green said that after corrections officials learned of the inmate's allegations, they cooperated with detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department.
Olukunle A. Oyekanmi, 41, has been charged with second-degree sex offense, assault, malfeasance in office and other counts. (N/A/Montgomery County Police )
"We fully support investigations of this nature," Green said. "It does not reflect the values of the men and women of the department who do this work every day. . . . We have great correctional officers."
According to the inmate's account, Oyekanmi walked into her cell at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday. She was wearing pants and no shirt but was under the sheets in bed. Oyekanmi allegedly removed the sheet, fondled her and said he "wanted her now," according to an arrest affidavit filed by investigators.
The inmate "ignored Oyekanmi's statement," and he left the cell, according to court papers.
The inmate, identified only by initials in the court papers, said Oyekanmi returned to her cell a short time later and repeatedly ordered her to stand up. When she did, he grabbed her, she tried to pull away, and he directed her to sit on a toilet seat, where he sexually assaulted her, according to the affidavit.
"Oyekanmi then ordered [the inmate] to gather up her clothes and bring them down to the laundry," detectives wrote in court papers. While collecting her clothes, though, the inmate hid a pair of pants in her cell that contained possible evidence.
In their affidavit, detectives described information they say confirmed various parts of the victim's account.
The detectives said they watched video footage from the pod where the inmate was housed, and it showed Oyekanmi entering her cell several times — the last time for an extended period.
"When he exits," investigators wrote, describing the video footage, "the victim is seen exiting her cell and bringing what appeared to be clothing to the laundry located in the pod. Detectives had the victim's cell secured and documented, and collected items of evidentiary value."
The inmate was taken to a hospital for a forensic sex assault exam.
Green said his agency has about 360 uniformed staff members across its facilities.
Oyekanmi underwent a background check before he was hired. "Had there been any indication of such behavior, he wouldn't have been hired," Green said.
Green said the correctional facility in Clarksburg was one of the first local jails in the country to comply with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, and has worked to create a culture that supports the reporting of sexual assaults involving inmates or staff.
"Part of being a good organization is policing your own organization," he said. "You've got to get the facts, and the facts must prevail."
Eddy Palanzo contributed to this report.
Read more:
'I told you I would do it,' son tells mother after posting selfie with his slain stepfather
Lured to park with promise of sex, Md. man was stabbed 153 times at hands of MS-13
Thirteen days in the history of the accused leader of the Benghazi attack
Dan Morse covers courts and crime in Montgomery County. He arrived at the paper in 2005, after reporting stops at the Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun and Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He is the author of "The Yoga Store Murder."
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In reality, this would actually make life super easy for the suspect's defense attorney, but we digress. Riding high on Detective Chimp's success, the company then rolled out Angel and the Ape, a comedic story about a talking gorilla who was -- wait for it -- a private detective (which is completely different, you guys). DC also revised some of their old pulp heroes to better fit their new "all apes" vision, taking their jungle-trekking adventurer Congo Bill and making him a superhero that could take mental control of a giant golden ape named Congorilla.
DC Comics
"Yes! I could NEVER have done this as a human being!"
And as we mentioned, somehow Superman's friend Jimmy Olsen wound up in the body of a gorilla on two separate occasions:
DC Comics
"Superman, do you honestly not remember the last time this happened?"
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Presumably there was then a late-night session with the creative team, who decided that it was time to really take a risk and start adding ape villains to their stories. Thus we wound up with the Flash's enemy Gorilla Grodd, a superintelligent gorilla that can also use telepathy (because of course he can), and the Ultra-Humanite, a mad scientist villain whose brain is placed in the body of a giant albino ape. But perhaps the most ludicrous DC Comics gorilla baddy was Titano, an ape sent into space and bombarded with cosmic radiation, which increased his size and bestowed upon him the superpowers of convenience, like his sudden ability to shoot Kryptonite beams out of his eyes: |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel looks on during a joint news conference with Serbia's Prime Minister Alexandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia July 8, 2015. REUTERS/Marko Djurica The attack on Charlie Hebdo…
The near-bankruptcy of Greece…
The massive influx of refugees from Syria…
And the terror attack on the "City of Light"…
That's how a video begins on Time Magazine's website celebrating Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, the de facto leader of Europe, and their "Person of the Year."
As they put it, 2015 has been the most tumultuous year for Europe in recent memory. And Merkel, for all her "merkeling," embodies Europe's ideals of openness and solidarity in a time when both are being tested.
If it's been said that nobody gets rich off the news, then the same runs true that once the mainstream media catches onto you as a trend, or when your name becomes a verb, it's over!
By the time everyone and their dog knows a person's name, the S-Curve has already matured, so to speak. Their popularity is no longer on the upswing - it's already reached peak saturation. And no one stays on top forever.
It's like the human model of forecasting:
Economy & Markets
When everything's been great for a number of years, everyone thinks the coast is clear and that we'll never have a recession again.
Then when things start to go topsy-turvy, they all assume it'll be a soft landing and that no major damage will ensue. How bad could it be?
And then after the demolition when they realize it can and did get pretty bad, they think it'll never get better. Again, how could it?
People never learn from history and very obvious cycles!
We're at the top of a very long and massive boom since 1983, thanks to baby boom spending. And you know what that means.
Everyone's looking for a soft landing here, there, and even in massively overbuilt China.
So for Merkel to be on Time's cover is like Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos being on the cover in 2000 at the top of the tech bubble.
Of course, given that Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe, nobody sees the trouble brewing. They're oblivious to the incurable balances the euro has created in trade in Europe…
And even more blind to the fact that Germany will have the absolute worst demographic trends between now and 2022 - even worse than Japan from 1990 to 2003!
Look at this chart for Germany's spending wave ahead…
Economy & Markets
Now that's what I call falling off a demographic cliff!
It's so bad that Germany doesn't even recover into the next or subsequent generations! And notice this spending wave is already starting to decline.
And then there's the massive refugee problem which Merkel has had to reverse her position on, as I expected. There have been over 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, and a projected three million more wanting to come to Europe.
These people may one day become productive younger workers, but no time soon. In the meantime, they come at a huge expense to whoever brings them in. I mean nothing by it - it's just the hard, financial truth!
Then there's a slew of past due bank loans which I covered recently, and of course southern Europe leads the pack! Nothing has been done to restructure debt except to forgive loans in Greece. And that means Europe's debt problem is just begging to erupt again.
Make no doubt about it - the U.S. is going to have a major crisis, but nothing compared to what Europe is about to see with its strongest country, Germany, leading the way down in the years ahead.
Let's see how popular Merkel is then. |
This thorough, almost obsessive focus on sports makes sense, Jurenka says, not just because sports fans and gamers comprise a similar demographic, but because sports junkies are already using all manner of tech to follow along. "Fans are truly fanatic about scores and stats and buzz, and we use an insane number of devices and tools to keep tabs, any hour of the day." That would explain the approach Microsoft took with the Xbox One's ESPN app: users can now import their favorites from ESPN.com, kind of like how Windows 8 already roams your settings between different devices. So, it should be easier to personalize the app out of the box, weeding out teams and sports you don't actually care about. And the experience of using ESPN's website should feel a little more consistent between the Xbox and whatever else you're using.
Otherwise, this is the same experience WatchESPN already brings to other platforms. Assuming you've got a cable subscription, you can tune into ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. (You can also tune into ESPN3 for events like the Rose Bowl, though that doesn't require a cable connection. Neither does ESPN.com access, for that matter.) While you're watching a game, you can see a preview of another game as a picture-in-picture. You can also use voice commands through Kinect and see a scrolling banner of real-time scores (2-3 at the top of the 4th, let's say). And, of course, you can take advantage of the Snap feature from Windows to dock a game on the side of the screen while you do something else at the same time, like browse the web. Not too many surprises here.
Moving on to the NFL app, the fantasy football bit lets you view your roster, match-ups and fantasy reel. Throughout the application, you'll find that everything from stats to scores to fantasy football stuff lives in a pane on the right-hand side, ensuring that the actual gameplay takes up most of the screen. (You can also hit the 'B' button to watch at full-screen, or you can use Snap to allow for multi-tasking.) In addition to live games, the app also includes NFL's RedZone, so you can see highlight reels of the games you didn't get around to watching in full. Again, nothing too earth-shattering here: the biggest news doesn't seem to be that the app streams games, but that Microsoft and the NFL are putting out so many gosh-durn apps at once.
Speaking of the sort, Microsoft also detailed its two apps for coaches: eClinicalWorks (electronic medial records) and X2 (for diagnosing injuries on the field). All told, eight teams will be pilot-testing the apps in the coming season, though they'll eventually be made available to the whole league. Of the two, we'd say Sideline is more interesting, with a series of tests designed to gauge whether a player's concussed (coaches can have them repeat five words, for example, or list the months of the year in reverse). The electronic records app, meanwhile, is a repository for everything a physician should be aware of -- namely, open injuries, medications, allergies and the like.
Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions, we weren't permitted to film demos of the NFL or ESPN apps, and we could barely take photos either. For now, then, those screenshots will have to suffice, but hopefully we can show you a proper demo sometime soon. Then again, if you've got an Xbox 360 or Windows 8 device, you can just download the NFL app yourself and start poking around. |
LOS ANGELES -- Police officers shot innocent people during the frenzied manhunt for Christopher Dorner, a former cop suspected of murdering 3 people and shooting several more.
Officers from the Los Angeles and Torrance police departments engaged in two separate shootings Thursday morning in Torrance, Calif., reports KTLA. They had come across two different vehicles that were similar to the description of Dorner's getaway car, a gray 2005 Nissan Titan pickup.
The first shooting incident happened at 5:20 a.m. Officers from the Hollywood division of the LAPD shot two people who turned out to have no connection to Dorner's crimes. They were transported to the hospital with gunshot injuries.
The second incident occurred 25 minutes later and involved Torrance police. While shots were fired, there were no reported injuries.
In a press conference Thursday morning, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck confirmed that police shot innocent bystanders during the hunt for Dorner. He detailed the two victims' gunshot wounds:
"One has a minor gunshot wound and is in the process of being released. The second person is in stable condition, with two gunshot wounds," said Chief Beck. "Tragically, we believe this was a case of mistaken identity by the officers."
Sources tell the Los Angeles Times that the people shot by police were two women delivering newspapers. One was shot in the hand and the other in the back.
Dorner, a former LAPD officer and Navy reservist, is suspected of fatally shooting Cal State Fullerton basketball coach Monica Quan and her fiance, USC security officer Keith Lawrence. When Quan and Lawrence were found in their car Sunday evening, authorities publicly stated they had no known motive or suspects.
That changed Wednesday, when Dorner published a multi-page manifesto on Facebook implicating himself in the murders of Quan and Lawrence.
"I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty," wrote Dorner on his Facebook profile. The former cop blamed the LAPD for his termination, listing people he believed were responsible for his dismissal.
One of the people on the list included Quan's father, retired LAPD captain Randal Quan. Cpt. Quan had represented Dorner during his dismissal hearing before the police Board of Rights, reports Associated Press.
During a press conference that night, Irvine police Chief David L. Maggard announced a manhunt for Dorner, warning the public that he was armed and dangerous.
Thursday morning, Dorner is believed to have resumed his shooting rampage. More, from AP:
Early Thursday, the first shooting occurred in Corona and involved two LAPD officers working a security detail, LAPD Sgt. Alex Baez. One officer was grazed. Later, two officers on routine patrol in neighboring Riverside were ambushed at a stop light, said Riverside Lt. Guy Toussaint. One died and the other was in surgery. The officers shot were not actively looking for Dorner, Toussaint said.
Anyone with more information about Dorner's whereabouts is encouraged to call police at 213-486-5230. Reach the police during non-business hours at 877-LAPD-24-7.
This story is developing...
Learn more about the manhunt for former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner. |
“We don’t expect anything from Obama, whom we regard as a great hypocrite. But we hope and expect the American people — trade unions, professors’ associations, student unions, activist groups, to come out in support of us. What we want for the US government is to completely get out of the picture. We don’t want any sort of backing; just cut aid to Mubarak immediately and withdraw backing from him, withdraw from all Middle Eastern bases, and stop supporting the state of Israel. Ultimately, Mubarak will do whatever he has to do to protect himself. He will suddenly adopt the most anti-US rhetoric if he thought that would help him save his skin. At the end of the day he’s committed to his own interests, and if he thinks the US won’t support him, he’ll turn somewhere else. The reality is that any really clean government that comes to power in the region will come into open conflict with the US because it will call for radical redistribution of wealth and ending support for Israel or other dictatorships. So we don’t expect any help from America, just to leave us alone.”
— Egyptian blogger and activist Hossam el-Hamalawy talks to U.C. Irvine history professor Mark LeVine at Al Jazeera. |
Authorities arrested the UK security researcher known for stopping the WannaCry ransomware attack in May.
On Wednesday, 22-year-old Marcus Hutchins -- who runs a security blog called MalwareTech -- was arrested in Las Vegas for "his role in creating and distributing the Kronos banking Trojan," according to a spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The charges relate to alleged conduct occurring between July 2014 and July 2015.
According to an indictment provided to CNN Tech, Hutchins created the malware and shared it online. The Eastern District of Wisconsin returned a six-count indictment against Hutchins on July 12, 2017. It was unsealed at the time of his arrest.
Read the full indictment
The trojan stole credentials and personal information and put malicious code on victims' computers.
Earlier this year, Hutchins became an internet hero when he helped stop WannaCry, a cyberattack that targeted over 150 countries.
Related: The hero who accidentally stopped the cyberattack from spreading
The ransomware locked down computers and demanded $300 to get files back. Hundreds of thousands of computers were infected with the malware. The damage forced some hospitals in the UK to turn patients away, and crippled businesses worldwide.
Hutchins, who is also malware researcher at the Kryptos Logic security firm, created a killswitch that prevented the spread of the virus.
The news of the detention was first reported by Motherboard. |
Forest Hills Street Festival View Full Caption
QUEENS — It will be a day of fun on Austin Street this Sunday as the Forest Hills Festival takes over the busy commercial strip, featuring live music, samples of food from local restaurants, demonstrations from a local dance studio and numerous attractions for kids, organizers said.
The festival, which celebrates its 14th year, will take place this Sunday on Austin Street between 69th and 72nd roads. The seven-block stretch will be closed to traffic, the organizers said.
The free event will run from noon to 6 p.m. and will showcase merchandise from more than 200 vendors, offering jewelry, clothes, books and toys, according to Leslie Brown, president of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the festival.
Brown said the music lineup this year will feature artists playing blue grass, reggae, R&B, jazz and rock, including performances from rock band The Pin-Ups, Bruce Wayne & the Soul Messengers, who will perform an R&B and soul concert, and L.A. Blacksmith, who will play reggae and jazz.
There will be a space for dancing in front of the stage, which will be located on 70th Road, organizers said.
“We have people from little tiny kids to seniors, enjoying the music and dancing,” Brown said.
There will also be attractions for kids, including inflatable rides, face painting and balloon animals, as well as food stands serving kebabs, crepes and tacos.
“It will be fantastic,” Brown said. “Every year, we get over 25,000 people at this event. It’s completely packed all day long.”
For more information call the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce at 718-268-6565 or email: [email protected]. |
If you’re an atheist and you’ve ever spent time online, then this symbol probably looks very familiar to you:
That scarlet A has been the symbol for Richard Dawkins‘ Out Campaign and a sort of badge that identifies you as an atheist without necessarily broadcasting it to outsiders.
If you want to get more technical, it’s a capital A in the Zapfino font. That font was created in 1998 by Hermann Zapf — who also produced Palatino (which is used in many books) and Optima (used for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall).
Sadly, Zapf died a few days ago at the age of 96.
As far as I can tell, no one ever asked Zapf (on the record) what he thought about his font being used as a symbol for atheism or if he was an atheist himself. (It’s not like anyone needed permission for use of the symbol.) But we owe him an indirect debt of gratitude, because that symbol really took off:
(Thanks to Purdeep for the link) |
A Russian warship fires cruise missile at Syria on October 7. Russia, which released the footage, claimed it was targeting Islamic State positions.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday the four Russian cruise missiles fired at Syria from the Caspian Sea had reached their targets, Interfax news agency reported.
Unnamed U.S. officials told CNN the missiles had crashed in Iran, a claim the U.S. State Department later said it could not confirm.
"In contrast to CNN we do not talk with reference to anonymous sources," Interfax quoted Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov as saying. "We show the launch of our rockets and the targets they struck."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a 30-minute telephone call with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on Thursday to express concern that Russia's targets in Syria were not related to Islamic State.
"The Secretary repeated our concerns about the preponderance of targets that are being struck by Russian military forces that are not ISIL-related," said spokesman John Kirby on Thursday, using an acronym for the militant group fighting within Syria.
There were "no tactical level decisions" made during the call, Kirby added.
He also said he could not confirm report that Russian missiles had crashed in Iran.
"I can't confirm it but I think it points all the more towards the need to have proper de-confliction procedures in place."
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Drei Beamte in einer Dienststelle der Bundespolizei im Berliner Ostbahnhof sollen Strafanzeigen gefälscht und hauptsächlich betrunkenen Obdachlosen untergejubelt haben—um die Statistik ihrer „Fahndungserfolge" aufzubessern.
Wie der Spiegel berichtet, sollen die drei bei Patrouillen im Ostbahnhof und im Bahnhof Lichtenberg wiederholt willkürlich Ordnungswidrigkeiten und Straftaten aufgenommen haben, die nie begangen worden sind. Das LKA ermittelt nun wegen Verdachts auf Verfolgung Unschuldiger gegen die Beamten, von denen zwei bereits Teilgeständnisse abgelegt haben und suspendiert worden sind.
Das Präsidium der Bundespolizei wies die Begründung, die Beamten hätten so gehandelt, um ihre Beförderungschancen zu erhöhen, als „Schutzbehauptung" zurück—mehr Aufgriffe hätten keine Auswirkungen auf die Karriere. Das würde also bedeuten, dass die drei das Ganze ganz selbstlos allein zu dem Zweck veranstaltet haben, weil sie gerne Obdachlose quälen.
Die beschuldigten Beamten gaben allerdings an, Auslöser sei eine Zielvorgabe der Bundespolizeidirektion Berlin gewesen zu sein, in der die Anzahl von Fahndungserfolgen als ein wichtiges Kriterium für die Bewertung von Polizeiarbeit gilt. Die Bundespolizei bestreitet das: „Fahndungstreffer in polizeilichen Systemen generieren sich nur bei dort bereits notierten Fahndungsersuchen (wie z.B. bei offenen Haftbefehlen oder sonstigen Aufenthaltsermittlungen)."
Trotzdem könnte das zu einem Problem für Thomas Striethörster, den Chef der Berliner Bundespolizei, werden. Diese Zielvorgabe existiert tatsächlich seit April 2013—und das, obwohl der Bundespolizeipräsident bereits im Januar 2013 ausdrücklich verboten hatte, derartige Zielvorgaben zu machen. Die Bundespolizei plant jedenfalls eine „intensive Prüfung", ob es noch weitere solche Abweichungen auf Direktionsebene gibt. Die Ermittlungen gegen die drei Beamten, die den Auftrag ihres Chefs so übereifrig erfüllt haben, werden wohl demnächst vom LKA an die Staatsanwaltschaft übergegeben. |
Tim Leiweke’s fingerprints are all over the current regime at Toronto FC, but the former president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment isn’t taking credit for the Reds’ success this season. “We did good things,” Leiweke, who left last fall after about 2 1/2 years in Toronto, told the Star over the phone from California this past week. “(Current TFC president) Bill Manning came in here and did better things.”
Former MLSE boss Tim Leiweke says Toronto FC's rise would have been derailed after the failure of the Bloody Big Deal if the board hadn't agreed to take another risk, which paid off. ( Chris So / Toronto Star file photo )
General manager Tim Bezbatchenko was hired under Leiweke, now founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Oak View Group. Together, the two Tims dove into Major League Soccer’s designated player game, signing striker Jermain Defoe and current captain Michael Bradley — a $100-million package sold to the public as a Bloody Big Deal — before bringing in strikers Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco in the wake of the flop that was Defoe’s tenure. Coach Greg Vanney also started under Leiweke, as did the major renovation of BMO Field. “He really thrust this team into the spotlight, and I think if we go on to be a championship team, certainly he gets some credit for that, without a doubt,” Manning said before the season began.
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Still, it was Manning, brought in by MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum last October, who made the Reds better with crucial finishing touches, Leiweke said. They brought in defenders Drew Moor and Steven Beitashour, goalkeeper Clint Irwin and midfielder Will Johnson — players who thrive under pressure. “It’s the one thing we didn’t have last year, so I’m really a huge fan,” Leiweke said. “I think the very reason that Toronto’s (in the Eastern Conference final) is because Bill and Tim went out and found those four MLS veterans, the real character guys that came in and taught that organization how to win this year.” Winning was never something Leiweke shied away from during his time in Toronto. Within a month of taking over, the St. Louis native was already —famously — talking about the route the Stanley Cup parade would take when the Toronto Maple Leafs were crowned champions. There is hope for the future now, as the Leafs rebuild under president Brendan Shanahan, also brought in by Leiweke in April of 2014. And the Toronto Raptors won a seven-game playoff series for the first time last spring under president Masai Ujiri — yet another Leiweke hire. He says it’s for others to judge his track record, and credits MLSE’s board for approving the big moves. “None of that would have happened if the board wasn’t prepared to spend the money they’ve spent,” Leiweke said. “None of that would have happened if we wouldn’t have been able to go out and convince Brendan Shanahan to come back to Toronto. None of that would have happened if we weren’t able to go out and get Masai Ujiri to move to Toronto, and none of that would have happened if we weren’t able to get Tim, Greg, Robin (Fraser, TFC assistant coach) and then Bill.”
One major turning point, he added, came after the Defoe “experiment” blew up. Instead of losing faith, Tanenbaum and MLSE’s executive committee invested in Altidore, who has been a pillar for Toronto FC down the stretch. “I think that was a really key moment where we did not hide, we admitted our mistakes and we moved on. We went out and brought in another designated player. I think the fact that Larry and the board didn’t blink there, I think that was a real major moment — not just for that team, but for MLSE. It showed that this board and Larry, they wanted to win.”
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Defoe didn’t take well to Toronto, Leiweke said. The fact that Bradley, Altidore and Giovinco thrive on the pitch and love the city is special. “Toronto’s a really unique, special place and right now if you look at it, they’re arguably, within Major League Soccer, they’re the talk of the league,” he said, adding TFC’s devoted fans had waited long enough for a chance to celebrate. And with the Montreal Impact up next in the Eastern final starting Nov. 22, Leiweke believes the story is about to get even better. “A lot of people would argue not having a U.S. team in the Eastern Conference finals would hurt the league,” he said. “I’d argue this is the best thing to ever happen, because people don’t understand the competitiveness, the animosity, the rivalry between Toronto and Montreal.” While he said he’s caught as many Reds games as he could on TV, and stopped in to see the team after last Sunday’s 5-0 win over New York City FC at Yankee Stadium, Leiweke has yet to make it back for a game at BMO Field this season. That could change on Nov. 30, when he’s hoping to be in Toronto for the decisive second leg of the Eastern final. He did get a taste of The Six recently, when he was reunited with Drake for one of the 6 God’s tour dates in California. It was Leiweke who brought in the hometown sensation as the Raptors’ global ambassador. The team’s fourth Drake night is Wednesday, when the Golden State Warriors visit the Air Canada Centre. The two have remained friends. Leiweke said the rapper added three shows at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., at his request. “He loves Toronto and he loves all of these teams,” he said of Drake. If he makes it to BMO Field for the finale, Leiweke seems content to stay out of the spotlight. “You sit here and look at what’s going on and you kind of wish you were a part of it, but the fact is, I get the benefit of being a part of it because Larry was kind enough to invite me back. “They’re my friends, so I will celebrate for them. That’s good enough for me.”
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The Mariners have finally ended Steve Delabar's seemingly never ending voyages back and forth between Tacoma and Seattle. They have done by trading the reliever to Toronto in exchange for outfielder Eric Thames.
The first ever mention of Steve Delabar in Lookout Landing history was this minor league recap, written by Devin almost exactly seven years ago back when he was still in the Padres' system. As mentioned previously, Delabar washed out with the Padres and ended up in the Independent Leagues by 2008 and then wrecked his elbow and did not play professionally at all in 2010. He worked as a substitute teacher and also played slow pitch softball.
After a successful rehab, Delabar got himself a minor league contract with the Mariners on 30 April, 2011 that was so monumental that we didn't even note it at the time. In four months, Delabar was making his Major League debut. His career is a tremendous story and the Mariners are a little less interesting without him.
Eric Thames was a seventh-round pick by the Blue Jays back in 2008. He bats left-handed and has primarily played in left field in both the minors and majors so far. I mentioned in the series preview that the Blue Jays have an abysmally rated outfield defense this year, and Thames appears to be part of that, with multiple individual defensive metrics rating him poorly.
Thames (25, almost 26) shot through the minors with his bat, spending a half year in High-A, a full year in Double-A and a half year in Triple-A before getting the call last year to join the Blue Jays. He held his own, but slipped back this year and had returned to Triple-A and returned to hitting well. Thames. He has less than a full season worth of service time, so Thames will be the Mariners' property for quite some time should they so choose.
Without a scouting report and going just on the numbers, Thames' skillset at the moment profiles a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, but excellent at none. He can draw a walk, he can hit for power and he can hit for average. His rates are all around the league averages. For someone young and with little experience, that's encouraging. Hopefully there's growth potential still untapped. For a power relief pitcher with limited track record, this strikes me as a fair swap. |
Ubuntu 11.04, codenamed Natty Narwhal, rose from the depths last week. The update brings a number of significant new features to the Linux-based operating system. It includes a much-improved refresh of the Unity shell and a number of other significant improvements throughout the application stack.
This is the first version of Ubuntu to ship with Unity on the desktop. Due to the far-reaching nature of the changes that accompany the transition to a new desktop shell, this review will focus almost entirely on Unity and how it impacts the Ubuntu user experience. We will also look at how Unity compares with GNOME 3.0 and the classic GNOME experience.
Unity
Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth first unveiled Unity roughly a year ago during his keynote address at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Belgium. It was originally introduced as a lightweight shell tailored for netbooks and other small form-factor devices. It shipped as the default user interface in the Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition, but was met with a lukewarm reception. It showed a lot of promise, but its appeal at that time was diminished by performance issues and a general lack of maturity.
At the latest Ubuntu Developer Summit, which was held in Florida six months ago, Shuttleworth announced plans to bring Unity to the desktop. The goal was to unify Ubuntu's desktop and netbook experiences with a single software environment capable of holding its own against proprietary competitors. In order to meet that ambitious goal, Unity's developers spent the duration of the Natty cycle overhauling the shell. They have resolved the performance problems and have closed many of the feature gaps that detracted from Unity's quality in 10.10.
Ubuntu 11.04 pulls together years of Ubuntu usability enhancement efforts—including Unity and the much-improved panel system that has gradually emerged from the Ayatana project—and ties them together to deliver a rich and highly cohesive desktop experience. Although the result is compelling, there are still a lot of rough spots and limitations that chafe along the environment's edges. Some parts—such as the application lens—seem awkward, poorly designed, and incomplete.
The Unity dock
The default Ubuntu 11.04 desktop consists of a left-hand vertical dock and a top-mounted global menubar. The dock serves as a task management interface and a launcher for regularly used applications. It is functionally similar to the Mac OS X dock and Windows 7 task switcher.
The dock is dark and semi-transparent, like a sheet of black glass. A single column of colored tiles is displayed on top of the dock's surface. Each tile is adorned with an icon that indicates the tile's respective function. The tiles can represent launchers, running applications, or Unity lenses.
Clicking a launcher in the dock will bring forward the desired application or initiate it if it is not already running. A small sigil is shown to the left of tiles that are associated with applications currently running. Each application gets only one tile—multiple windows are signified by additional sigils next to the tile. An arrow will show up to the immediate right of the tile associated with the application that has active focus.
You can add a persistent launcher to the dock by dragging one in or by right-clicking a running application tile and toggling the "keep in launcher" option in the context menu. You can also use that context menu toggle item to remove something—you can't just pull an icon out to remove it like you can in OS X.
So far, all of this behavior is relatively obvious and intuitive to users who have had previous experience with dock-style task management interfaces. Where Unity starts to look different is in its approach to handling task overflow.
Task overflow
When the number of task tiles exceeds the available space in the dock, the bottom tiles will begin to collapse into a 3D pile. You can expand the pile by moving your cursor over the dock. When the collapsed tiles are expanded, you can position your cursor at the top or bottom to scroll up or down through the dock's contents. This collapsing mechanism works pretty well in practice and gives you good visual cues.
You can still sort of see the stacked tiles well enough to get a clear sense of how many total items there are in the dock. You can also move the cursor in at a specific point in the stack to make it expand out at that item, thus avoiding unnecessary scrolling. For example, to get quick access to the trash icon or the lenses when the dock is flattening out items, you can just move the cursor over the dock at the very bottom of the screen—this will make the dock contents expand up rather than down.
Managing applications with multiple windows
One of the weakest areas of the Unity dock in 11.04 is its poor support for managing applications with multiple windows. When you click a tile associated with an application that has multiple windows open, all of the application's windows will be brought to the front. If any are minimized, they will all be restored. There is no obvious way to activate or restore a single specific window—it's always all or nothing. This behavior ends up being tremendously frustrating during real-world use and will leave some users pining for the more flexible legacy task switcher in GNOME 2.x.
To work around that limitation, you will find yourself dumping windows on other workspaces just to keep them out of your way when you use the dock. You can also work around the problem by using the alt+tab keyboard combination for window switching. If you use that keyboard shortcut to select a specific window, it will be brought to the front by itself and won't drag forward all of its siblings.
Windows 7 and Mac OS X both provide tangibly better solutions for enabling management of applications with multiple windows from their respective docks. OS X will create a separate icon in the dock for each minimized window, making it really easy for you to restore one individually and see all of your minimized windows at a glance. Microsoft's solution is arguably even more elegant. When you hover your cursor over an icon in the Windows 7 taskbar, it will pop up thumbnails representing each associated window, allowing you to click one to bring it forward or click a thumbnail's "x" icon to close a window without even having to restore it or bring it to the front.
Now, it's worth noting that Unity also has a thumbnail window switcher that can be invoked on a specific application—but it doesn't solve all the same problems. When you click the dock tile of an application that is already active, Unity will initiate an Exposé-style display of all the windows associated with that application. You can click one to bring it to the front. It's a bit similar to the behavior that you get when you click and hold an application icon in the OS X taskbar.
The problem with this per-application Exposé mechanism in Unity is that it only works on the currently active application, which means that you have already brought forward and restored all of the application's windows before you even use it. It's a useful feature by itself, but it doesn't address the need to able to activate an individual minimized window without bringing forward and restoring all of the windows of the associated application.
There is also a global, Exposé-style window picker, but it doesn't help with the previously described problem case because it doesn't show minimized windows at all. It would be nice to see that rectified in future versions, perhaps by showing the minimized window thumbnails separately like Apple does in Snow Leopard.
Plush narwhal photo by caesararum. |
Ridley Scott: Aliens exist and they will come for us
Ridley Scott: Aliens exist and they will come for us
Ridley Scott (third from left) with some of the cast of Alien: Covenant at the SXSW Conference in Texas
Film director Ridley Scott has revealed he is convinced that aliens are really out there - and one day they will come for us.
The veteran filmmaker is preparing to release the sixth film in the Alien sci-fi horror series, Alien: Covenant, next month.
He said: "I believe in superior beings. I think it is certainly likely.
"An expert I was talking to at NASA said to me 'have you ever looked in the sky at night? You mean to tell me we are it?' That's ridiculous.
"The experts have now put a number on it having assessed what is out there. They say that there are between 100 and 200 entities that could be having a similar evolution to us right now.
"So when you see a big thing in the sky, run for it. Because they are a lot smarter than we are, and if you are stupid enough to challenge them you will be taken out in three seconds."
The new film - the second prequel which is set before the 1979 original starring Sigourney Weaver, Ian Holm, John Hurt and Yaphet Kotto - is set in 2104 on board a spaceship carrying 2,000 cryogenically frozen colonists to a distant planet.
On their journey, they chance upon an uncharted paradise, but it soon turns into a nightmare.
Scott, 79, said he has never tired of scaring moviegoers.
He said: "When I did the first Alien I had to get a sense of responsibility because the reaction to the kitchen ('chestbuster') scene with John Hurt was beyond anything I expected - and it was not good.
"But the film was very successful because people are perverse.
"Everybody was half underneath the seat watching by the time you get to the kitchen scene. There was a woman underneath the seat with her husband holding her."
The director, however, is not so easily scared.
He said: "Nothing scares me. I have a 9mm (pistol).
"If there is a problem I tend to close down into calm. When you walk in in the morning on a film and 600 people turn and all look at you, that is scary."
Scott, who was knighted in 2003, is about to make a film about the Battle of Britain during World War II.
:: Alien: Covenant opens on 10 May. |
There is a surreal goofiness to President Trump's relentless war on America's mainstream media. The disgruntled president responds to negative covfefe with cheesy hashtags and nicknames for his perceived adversaries: There's "psycho" Joe Scarborough and "low I.Q. crazy" Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC, the "failing" New York Times and The Washington Post (for the record, we're both doing pretty well in the age of Trump), and Trump's favorite target, "fake" or "fraud" CNN.
On Sunday, Trump, who was sitting at a golf course he owns in New Jersey, tweeted a childish clip of him wrestling down a person representing CNN.
At a time when a GOP politician has actually body-slammed a journalist, it wasn't funny. Brian Stelter, CNN's media reporter, tweeted a CNN statement saying it was "a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters."
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President Trump renewed his attacks against CNN, which he has repeatedly called "fake news," with a tweet on Christmas Eve. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)
But for Trump, the relentless drumbeat of anger against the press is a clear political tactic, designed to stoke his base and build up a narrative of victimization. The president has complained virtually nonstop since taking office about the supposedly unfair coverage surrounding the White House, casting journalists as the opposition. He has also repeatedly broken assumed conventions of decency in American politics, fanned the flames of right-wing extremism among his support, and shamelessly spouted numerous falsehoods on both trivial and consequential matters. His behavior has compelled the press coverage he now decries.
Of course, there's a legitimate conversation to be had about whether the media is "biased" against Trump, a president who radically reshaped the political climate in Washington. This week, for instance, CNN was forced to retract a botched investigative story on the Trump camp's Russian connections. The network even let go three senior journalists associated with the piece.
Trump and his supporters crowed about the mistake, but pointedly ignored CNN's willingness to hold itself accountable for its mistakes — a willingness Trump never has displayed over his own misstatements and incendiary remarks. The president instead keeps using his social media megaphone and his proxies in the right-wing media bubble to denounce the entire media establishment as enemies of the American people.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) warned Trump against "trying to weaponize distrust" of the media. But no matter the (softly spoken) censure from fellow Republican politicians, Trump can't seem to do any wrong in the eyes of his core supporters.
"They like him, they believe in him, they have not to any large degree been shaken from him, and the more the media attacks him, the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy on the side of the Trump supporters who fervently believe the media treat him unfairly," said Tony Fabrizio, the chief pollster for Trump's campaign, to my colleagues. "It's like, 'Beat me with that sword some more!'"
Trump is hardly the first politician to "weaponize distrust" of the media. In the wake of Trump's Sunday tweet, Richard Haass, the president of the indisputably bipartisan Council on Foreign Relations, likened Trump's rhetoric to that of a more practiced strongman president.
The stakes in Turkey are, of course, profoundly greater. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan withstood a violent coup attempt a year ago, which prompted his government to embark on a vast purge of state institutions and civil society. More than 100 journalists have been thrown into prison or forced into exile. Dozens of media outlets have been closed or taken over by state authorities. Newspapers that were once titans of the establishment have seen their editors criminalized and offices raided.
But there are some important similarities to bear in mind. Both Erdogan and Trump channel a kind of majoritarian nationalism anchored in grievance at cosmopolitan elites. And both paint their critics as threats to the nation. Over the weekend, Erdogan labeled a peaceful opposition protest march from Ankara to Istanbul as the work of "terrorist" sympathizers.
The echoes of Erdogan in Trump's political style offer an uncomfortable new reality for Americans, suggested Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman.
"It is that, given enough time, any democratic system is vulnerable to assaults from a determined, dictatorial leader," wrote Rachman earlier this year. "Mr. Erdogan became prime minister in 2003 and, over time, utterly changed his country. As one Turkish intellectual put it to me ... 'Things that I would once have thought impossible are now happening on a daily basis.'"
"Trump is not yet going nearly as far as Erdogan, who jails journalists, but the preliminary logic is the same — an attempt to undermine the credibility of those who hold power to account," wrote Brian Klaas, a fellow at the London School of Economics and author of a recent book on the erosion of democracies, in January.
The German newsweekly Der Spiegel put it most starkly in a February editorial: "Erdogan and Trump are positioning themselves as the only ones capable of truly understanding the people and speaking for them. It's their view that freedom of the press does not protect democracy and that the press isn't reverent enough to them and is therefore useless. They believe that the words that come from their mouths as powerful leaders are the truth and that the media, when it strays from them, is telling lies. That's autocratic thinking — and it is how you sustain a dictatorship."
Tellingly, the two leaders have defended the other from their critics. In the wake of Erdogan's purge, Trump said the United States didn't have much right to criticize the Turkish president's crackdown; in the wake of Trump's inauguration, Erdogan described protests against the new president as "disrespectful" and applauded Trump's singling out CNN as "fake news" during a testy exchange at a news conference.
That day, Erdogan congratulated Trump for putting the CNN reporter "in his place." It's the same sentiment many Trump supporters probably feel with every new hashtag and barbed insult hurled at journalists.
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Ishaan Tharoor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor and correspondent at Time magazine, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.
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This weeks episode of Smackdown Live featured a battle royal to determine the number one contender for Bray Wyatt’s Championship at Wrestlemania. The match ended in a draw when it was declared that both the feet of AJ Styles and Luke Harper hit the ground at the same time.
According to various rumors, the reason the 10-man battle royal ended in a draw is because of what WWE has planned for Luke Harper. As mentioned prior, it was obvious that Styles’ feet hit the floor first, which should have made Harper the winner. WWE didn’t show any other camera angles and declared the match a draw under some heavy criticism, including some from Mick Foley. Harper and Styles will face off this upcoming week on Smackdown Live to determine the number one contender.
The rumored reason why WWE decided to do it this way is because they want to give Luke Harper a big (singles) win against AJ Styles heading into Wrestlemania. It has been rumored for weeks that Wrestlemania would feature a triple threat between Harper, Orton and Bray. WWE has booked Harper in the past few weeks to become a legitimate main event level talent. In order for Harper to warrant his spot in the title match, he needs to pick up a big win. Beating someone like AJ in a singles match would cement Harper as a legit threat to win the title at Wrestlemania.
[irp posts=”21320″ name=”WWE Rumor: 2017 WWE Draft”]
AJ on the other hand is expected to face Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania. Expect that storyline to start developing as soon as next week. He could even end up costing AJ the match. We will have to wait and see.
Let us know what you think in the comment section below. Are you okay with Harper beating Styles and moving on to Wrestlemania? |
The political world is reeling that House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) was unseated by Tea Party challenger David Brat. Part of the reason that Eric Cantor might have lost to a candidate no one has ever heard of, said Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night, is that his campaign ads were bland and awful, a sharp contrast to the anti-immigrant mailer he sent to Republican households.
“Political ads are forever,” she said. Video is the closest thing we have to a real-time permanent record of the things politicians and candidates say and do and promise and allege.
David Brat attacked Cantor on immigration, accusing the 7-term House member of trying to grant citizenship to “illegal aliens.” The Tea Party base in Virginia responded enthusiastically, in spite of Brat’s lack of funding, shoestring campaign budget and failure to even put together a Facebook page.
When Brat gave an impromptu press conference denouncing Cantor from the steps of Cantor’s own home district office, “Eric Cantor — and I think this is important,” said Maddow, “He responded to this primary challenge in a two-track way.”
The first way was with his own ads, but, because he represented the establishment GOP, “He got very risk-averse in those ads.”
Maddow called the resulting campaign spots “the most milquetoast thing you’ve ever seen in your life.” She compared Cantor’s bland, pro-business ads to “pleated chinos. You’ve seen it and it just disappears immediately. ‘I want good things, not bad things. Join me!'”
Track two of Cantor’s response, she said, was a direct mailer sent to GOP voters in Cantor’s district accusing President Barack Obama and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) of wanting to “give illegal aliens amnesty.”
“He didn’t put it up in a video where it might end up on the ‘Inter-tubes’ and on TV, where, I dunno, Latinos or somebody might see it if they were noodling around, wondering about the views of the Republican Party leadership on immigration reform,” Maddow explained.
“This seems like the end of the road for him,” she said of Cantor.
“Watching how Eric Cantor was trying to publicly campaign one way and sort of secretly campaign another,” said Maddow, “should be just its own thing,” an isolated misstep by a powerful, if short-sighted congressman and not a hard shift to the anti-immigrant right by the GOP.
“This political shocker in Virginia tonight,” she said, “legitimately is shocking. And nobody quite knows what it’s going to do to national politics, Republican or otherwise.”
Watch the video, embedded below: |
Every pledge will now come with a ProtoZero GPIO sticker, as a little thanks for all the support.
Here's an image of what the sticker will look like - great for your laptop lid, toolbox, notebook, Pi case and other places:
The sticker design with GPIO pinout - handy!
What is the ProtoZero?
The ProtoZero is a breadboard-style prototyping board for the new Raspberry Pi Zero (and possibly the first ever Pi Zero based Kickstarter campaign?).
ProtoZero Front & Rear
Tell me more!
The ProtoZero is designed to make it easy to move your messy Raspberry Pi breadboard projects to a PCB.
Simply add your components to the prototyping area, connect GPIO, power and GND as required - solder it all up and away you go!
Let's show you the key features:
- Full breakout of the PiZero's 40-Pin GPIO header, ready to connect to your project
- 154 holes of prototyping area - set in lanes of 3+ to make it even easier to connect your components to the Pi
- Labelled GPIO numbers and printed lanes on both sides on the board
- High-quality ENIG (Electroless nickel immersion gold) PCB plating
- Female GPIO header included
- Kit form: requires soldering of the GPIO header
ProtoZero Front
ProtoZero Rear
ProtoZero Front-Side
ProtoZero Left-Side
Is it a HAT?
Not quite. Whilst it does have holes that align with the PiZero's mount holes, the board doesn't have an EEPROM or any of the other official HAT requirements.
It's also not something to wear on your head.
Which Raspberry Pi does it fit?
The name of course suggests that this board is for the new Raspberry Pi Zero, however it will fit any Raspberry Pi models with 40 GPIO pins. That's the Pi Zero, A+, B+ and Pi 2.
It will not fit any of the older 26-pin models due to the header being blocked by the composite video connector.
Of course this board was designed with the new Pi Zero in mind, which is obvious from the size and mount holes - but don't let that stop you using it as a neat little board for your other 40-pin Raspberry Pi models.
ProtoZero on a Raspberry Pi 2
ProtoZero on a Raspberry Pi A+
Example Project - LED Scanner
Let's say you were experimenting with some LEDs, writing code to make them flash in different patterns and sequences. You've probably wired it up with a breadboard like this:
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Wouldn't it be cool to make your very own 'add-on' style board for your project, that you can fit and remove again and again?
That's where the ProtoZero comes in. Simply spend a few minutes working out where you want your LEDs to sit on the PCB, and where resistors and wires will be placed, and then solder these to the ProtoZero.
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Here I decided to solder the resistors to the rear of the board to make the front even tidier.
ProtoZero 7 LED project
You could add different size or colour LEDs, buzzers, sensors, ICs, RTCs, headers and pretty much anything else that will fit!
Can I stack it?
Yes! The ProtoZero comes with a standard header, but if you decide to use a stacking header (available in most good maker stores around the globe) you can stack ProtoZero boards on top of each other.
Pledges come with a standard header as the design was intended to be small and low profile, just like the Pi Zero itself.
ProtoZeros stacked (stacking header not included)
Design Changes
Refinement
Unlike my previous Kickstarter campaigns where I had a finalised product at the time of launch, the ProtoZero is still being refined although 95% of the design is confirmed.
I will be refining the product during the course of the campaign to tidy up small things like the ambitiously tiny silkscreen print on the rear. I'll also look at other minor changes such as potentially changing the pads from circle to square to make soldering easier. I already have these prototype revisions on order.
Colour
I'm also reviewing the colour, looking at using the usual ProtoBoards black/gold theme to keep in line with my previous campaigns.
PCB Quality
The current prototype PCB you see in the images and videos is made by OSH Park - a renowned printed circuit board manufacturer in the USA.
ProtoZero PCB
I've used various PCB manufacturers previously but chose OSH Park for the prototypes due to the low-cost low-volume options they offer. This has allowed me to keep the initial pre-Kickstarter costs down.
The final boards that are included in your pledges will be made by one of a few different reliable board houses that I have used in my previous Kickstarter campaigns.
Below is a video showing my previous Kickstarter PCBs - I may use the same PCB manufacturer including the black/gold colour scheme again:
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Price
This is an interesting subject when making an add-on board for the Raspberry Pi Zero.
The clever people at the Raspberry Pi Foundation have done such a good job on making the Pi Zero as cost-effective as possible (and manufacturing MUCH larger numbers than a 1-man-band like myself) that it's very hard to price this product relative to the cost of the Pi.
So whilst I've tried to keep costs down as much as possible, there's only so much I can do at the low order quantities that the ProtoZero will be made at.
What you get?
Let's confirm what is included in the different pledge options:
(Remember: the ProtoZero is sold as a kit. You will need to solder the 40-pin header (the same soldering effort as you will have undertaken with the Pi Zero)
ProtoZero Personal Pack
A single ProtoZero kit for the curious makers out there: 1x ProtoZero PCB, 1x 40-pin GPIO header.
ProtoZero Twin Pack
Two ProtoZero kits, double the fun: 2x ProtoZero PCBs, 2x 40-pin GPIO headers (Pi Zero not included!).
ProtoZero Triple Pack
Three ProtoZero kits. Three's a crowd, but this is a good crowd: 3x ProtoZero PCBs, 3x 40-pin GPIO headers (Pi Zero not included!).
ProtoZero Quad Pack
Four ProtoZero kits. You're some kind of serious maker! 4x ProtoZero PCBs, 4x 40-pin GPIO headers (Pi Zero not included!).
ProtoZero Five Pack
Five ProtoZero kits. The top pledge, the gold standard! 5x ProtoZero PCBs, 5x 40-pin GPIO headers (Pi Zero not included!).
ProtoZero Draft Packaging (bag will likely be black in the final version)
When do you get it?
The campaign is aiming to post all pledges in March 2016. I'd like to say 'deliver' in March, but some of you guys live in far away lands so it might take a lot longer to get to you.
If all pledges are with the Royal Mail in March 2016, I'm calling it a success!
How much is postage?
All pledges from the UK have postage included - it's factored into the price.
For everywhere else in the world it's an additional £3. This is simply how much it costs, and there's no way of making this any cheaper. The price to different countries varies very slightly, but it's always around this mark.
Stretch Goals
In my previous two Kickstarter campaigns I avoided the use of stretch goals to keep things simple and avoid any possible complications. I simply wanted to deliver the product being kickstarted and do that on time, to quality and to cost.
Those projects both delivered on time and exactly as described, so I'm going to take the same approach here and avoid any stretch goals that will distract from the plan.
Why Kickstarter?
I really want to make this board and see it being used in projects all over the internet (and maybe the ISS one day - a man can dream!).
The Raspberry Pi Zero is a great design and its small form factor makes it ideal for small fun projects - especially ones you can clip on with a board like the ProtoZero!
Unfortunately I'm not one of those lucky people with hundreds of pounds spare to get a large batch made. This is why I'm here, presenting the product to you to gain funding to allow me to do this.
Where is the early bird?
Unfortunately there wasn't any room in the budget to add a decent size early bird. I really wanted this kit to be super affordable, which means things like early bird pledges have to be sacrificed.
Not in the shops (yet)!
At the time of launch there is currently no plan to supply this board to electronics stores - so you could call it limited edition, but there's no guarantee.
My primary focus is on this campaign and providing you good people with the product you've given your hard earned money for. Whilst I will make more boards than I need to cover myself for defects etc, I will only supply stores if requests come in during the campaign.
Who am I?
I'm Richard Saville, Also known as 'Average Man' from my popular Raspberry Pi blog AverageManVsRaspberryPi.com.
Average Man Vs Raspberry Pi - that's mine!
I'm not a programmer, teacher or any way linked to the Raspberry Pi other than my 'hobbyist' activity - generally making little projects and writing about them.
I'm 'nearly 30' and have a wife Claire and 18-month old little girl Evie. I live in Southend-on-Sea in Essex (UK) and commute to a day job in the city of London as a Business Analyst. Rock n' Roll huh?
I've got a 100% track record on Kickstarter so far, with 2 projects under my belt both of which delivered on time and with lots of positive feedback. I really hope to see some of those same names popping up on this campaign.
Questions?
If you have any questions at all, just ask. I'll respond to every comment made on this campaign, and I'll always be 100% honest and open.
If you haven't pledged but still want to ask something, try me on Twitter (@AverageManVsPi).
Share Share Share!
Sharing makes a massive difference and helps get the word out. I'd be very grateful if you have a minute or so to share this project on your social networks, with your friends, colleagues and even your dog! |
You'll see lots of tips and tricks this week for getting the best deals on Black Friday. This is a different kind of list -- the tricks to watch out for. Retailers have an arsenal of evidence-based strategies for making sure you walk out of their stores with far more than you intended to buy. Whenever you start your holiday shopping, see if you can spot these strategies. It's up to you whether you want to fall for them!
1. An inflated "suggested list price" clearly labeled next to the store's discounted price. Neuroscientists know that nothing lights up the brain's reward center faster than a bargain. (OK, maybe cocaine, but let's not quibble.) Discount stores show you the high "suggested price" so that when you see the real price, you'll automatically calculate how much money you're saving. Normally when you consider buying something, the brain registers a kind of pain response at the thought of spending money. But with these sneaky price labels, the brain feels the bliss of saving $40, not the pain of parting with $19.99.
2. Take a deep breath. What's that you ? Scents to put you in the mood for shopping, wafting at you from carefully hidden scent delivery systems. Retailers know that a tempting smell can be the fastest way to a shopper's wallet, and studies confirm that people spend more when the scent of a store triggers positive associations. Scent marketers take advantage of this by creating unique scent profiles designed to appeal to a store's typical customer, like this profile created by Scent Air for Bloomingdales: "The soft scent of Baby Powder speaks to a mother's in the infant department. The intimate apparel department is inviting with the soothing scent of Lilac, while Coconut wafts through the swimsuit department. And during the holiday shopping season the scents of Sugar Cookie, Chocolate and Evergreen create a warm and pleasant experience."
3. Food sales in stores that specialize in non-food products. More and more superstores are adding fast-food restaurants and snack bars. The goal isn't just to turn a profit on cinnamon buns and popcorn, or to keep you fueled for shopping. They're betting that the sight and smell of these treats will make everything-even wire-mesh trash cans-more tempting. And they have good reason to believe this: studies show that high-fat, high-sugar foods shift the brain into a state that makes you more likely to take financial risks and seek instant gratification. It doesn't matter if you indulge or not -- in fact, if you resist the snacks, you may have less willpower to resist the sales.
4.By putting a deadline on the best deals (think 4-6 AM specials), stores create a sense of urgency. You'll be less likely to think twice about a purchase and more likely to throw questionable buys into your cart. It also helps retailers pack the aisles with a little for the best deals. We are, in our evolutionary hearts, still hunters and gatherers. The challenge of beating other shoppers to a bargain can leave us just crazed enough to fill our carts with stuff we don't need -- but certainly don't want to lose out on because another shopper grabbed it first.
5. The give-away. Expect stores to advertise or prominently display an item so deeply discounted, they are probably taking a loss on it. They aren't doing this out of the holiday giving spirit. The trick here is to stun you with a price so low that you won't doubt the value of less steeply discounted items. carry a lot of weight, and if a store impresses you with the very first bargain you see, you'll trust the prices of other merchandise.
Kelly McGonigal is a psychologist at Stanford University. Her latest book is The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It. |
CLOSE Former Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher advicates officer-worn video camera systems at a Sharonville, Ohio, seminar. The Cincinnati Enquirer
Effective but expensive tool could bust some police budgets.
Former city of Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher talks to police chiefs, officers and safety administrators about the benefits of officer-worn video cameras at a seminar by Taser international in Sharonville, Ohio, on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. (Photo11: Glenn Hartong, The Cincinnati Enquirer) Story Highlights Some police camera models are as small as a cigarette lighter
High-end versions can cost $1,000 per officer, plus data-storage fees
Studies have shown officers and citizens tend to treat each other better if they know they're being videotaped
CINCINNATI -- Just as "cruiser cams" did, tiny cameras worn on officers' uniforms can make a big difference in police work -- if public safety agencies can afford the pricey little gadgets.
Cincinnati's former police chief, Thomas Streicher, calls the devices "the next giant step in the evolution of policing." Some models are as small as a cigarette lighter and can be worn on sunglasses, caps or lapels.
"Five years from now, I can't imagine being in this field and not having this equipment," said Streicher, now a public-safety consultant.
But the cameras cost more than some shrinking police budgets can bear.
High-end versions can cost $1,000 per officer, plus data-storage fees. Less-expensive units run as little as $100 or so.
But Streicher's convinced that the value of recording every police-citizen interaction far outweighs the cost.
"Identifying, collecting and preserving the best evidence about every encounter between the police officer and the community is a duty. It's an ethical, legal and moral responsibility," Streicher said. "You can't afford not to have it."
Flex camera made by TASER International. (Photo11: TASER International)
Ensuring that justice is served is the main reason to buy the cameras, says Delhi Police Chief Jim Howarth, who listened to an April 9 presentation Streicher made about the body cams .
Howarth, president of the Hamilton County Association of Chiefs of Police, says so far body cams haven't yet become a topic of discussion. He suspects that's because of budget constraints.
But after Streicher's seminar, "it's more on my radar now," he said.
"The videos don't lie," Howarth said. "The biggest positive would be to see any incident through the eyes of the officer."
In fact, the units could save money in the long run, Streicher contends.
Officers and citizens tend to treat each other better if they know they're being videotaped, studies have shown. After one year with the body cameras, police in Rialto, Calif., saw an 88 percent drop in complaints against officers -- and a 59 percent drop in use-of-force instances.
Such evidence suggests video technology can cut not only the number of lawsuits filed against police but any settlements paid out as well, Streicher said.
And if courts allow videos to replace officer testimony in some cases, that could cut overtime costs. In Cincinnati, as much as 65 percent of overtime comes from "officers sitting in court waiting for a case to be called," Streicher said, amounting to $4.5 million a year.
Despite the advantages, Streicher and other advocates concede that widespread acceptance of the body cams could take time -- and will require navigation of thorny legal, technical and practical issues.
Scott Greenwood, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, predicts that the tiny cameras will "be another disruptive technology when it comes to policing and enhancing accountability."
Nearly two decades ago, when dashboard-mounted cruiser cameras, or "dash cams," began popping up in police agencies across the nation, rank-and-file officers bristled, Greenwood said. "They called them 'indict-a-cams' because they thought they were going to be used to play 'Big Brother' to monitor what officers were doing," Greenwood said.
What happened instead: "Officers realized that dash cams usually supported what officers said was going on. And they vindicated them sometimes, when people would make false allegations about misconduct or discourtesy. So there was a sea change in opinion from line officers in acceptance of those cameras," he said.
The shift took a few years.
Since then, most Americans have equipped themselves with cellphones that take photographs and videos. "We know now that these devices are everywhere," Greenwood said, "and for better or worse, that's the reality."
As for officers being outfitted with body cams, "there are mostly positives," he said, "because we know most of what happens in policing isn't in front of a cruiser, and there might not be a better witness than the video camera."
The biggest concerns surround privacy, he said, because officers would be shooting videos inside people's homes. And safeguards would need to be in place to make sure that images aren't misused.
"You don't want these videos to be uploaded to YouTube," Greenwood said.
In Covington, police started using lapel cameras in 2011, thanks to a $10,000 donation from a businessman.
Police Chief Spike Jones is a fan -- sort of.
"The cameras, when they work, are wonderful," Jones said. "Unfortunately, the version that was purchased a number of years ago didn't turn out to be the rugged model we'd hoped it would be."
The units were "very fragile," he said, and "very susceptible to the effects of the weather."
"If you get in a foot pursuit and they fall off or they get wet, that's it," Jones said, adding that he's trying to buy upgraded models to equip his 102-officer force.
"The officers themselves want them; they're asking for them," he said.
Contributing: Enquirer reporter Terry DeMio
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/10kt3ke |
Over the weekend, Drupal 8.2 beta was released. One of the reasons why I'm so excited about this release is that it ships with "more outside-in". In an "outside-in experience", you can click anything on the page, edit its configuration in place without having to navigate to the administration back end, and watch it take effect immediately. This kind of on-the-fly editorial experience could be a game changer for Drupal's usability.
When I last discussed turning Drupal outside-in, we were still in the conceptual stages, with mockups illustrating the concepts. Since then, those designs have gone through multiple rounds of feedback from Drupal's usability team and a round of user testing led by Cheppers. This study identified some issues and provided some insights which were incorporated into subsequent designs.
Two policy changes we introduced in Drupal 8 — semantic versioning and experimental modules — have fundamentally changed Drupal's innovation model starting with Drupal 8. I should write a longer blog post about this, but the net result of those two changes is ongoing improvements with an easy upgrade path. In this case, it enabled us to add outside-in experiences to Drupal 8.2 instead of having to wait for Drupal 9. The authoring experience improvements we made in Drupal 8 are well-received, but that doesn't mean we are done. It's exciting that we can move much faster on making Drupal easier to use.
In-place block configuration
As you can see from the image below, Drupal 8.2 adds the ability to trigger "Edit" mode, which currently highlights all blocks on the page. Clicking on one — in this case, the block with the site's name — pops out a new tray or sidebar. A content creator can change the site name directly from the tray, without having to navigate through Drupal's administrative interface to theme settings as they would have to in Drupal 7 and Drupal 8.1.
Making adjustments to menus
In the second image, the pattern is applied to a menu block. You can make adjustments to the menu right from the new tray instead of having to navigate to the back end. Here the content creator changes the order of the menu links (moving "About us" after "Contact") and toggles the "Team" menu item from hidden to visible.
In-context block placement
In Drupal 8.1 and prior, placing a new block on the page required navigating away from your front end into the administrative back end and noting the available regions. Once you discover where to go to add a block, which can in itself be a challenge, you'll have to learn about the different regions, and some trial and error might be required to place a block exactly where you want it to go.
Starting in Drupal 8.2, content creators can now just click "Place block" without navigating to a different page and knowing about available regions ahead of time. Clicking "Place block" will highlight the different possible locations for a block to be placed in.
Next steps
These improvements are currently tagged "experimental". This means that anyone who downloads Drupal 8.2 can test these changes and provide feedback. It also means that we aren't quite satisfied with these changes yet and that you should expect to see this functionality improve between now and 8.2.0's release, and even after the Drupal 8.2.0 release.
As you probably noticed, things still look pretty raw in places; as an example, the forms in the tray are exposing too many visual details. There is more work to do to bring this functionality to the level of the designs. We're focused on improving that, as well as the underlying architecture and accessibility. Once we feel good about how it all works and looks, we'll remove the experimental label.
We deliberately postponed most of the design work to focus on introducing the fundamental concepts and patterns. That was an important first step. We wanted to enable Drupal developers to start experimenting with the outside-in pattern in Drupal 8.2. As part of that, we'll have to determine how this new pattern will apply broadly to Drupal core and the many contributed modules that would leverage it. Our hope is that once the outside-in work is stable and no longer experimental, it will trickle down to every Drupal module. At that point we can all work together, in parallel, on making Drupal much easier to use.
Users have proven time and again in usability studies to be extremely "preview-driven", so the ability to make quick configuration changes right from their front end, without becoming an expert in Drupal's information architecture, could be revolutionary for Drupal.
If you'd like to help get these features to stable release faster, please join us in the outside-in roadmap issue.
Thank you
I'd also like to thank everyone who contributed to these features and reviewed them, including Bojhan, yoroy, pwolanin, andrewmacpherson, gtamas, petycomp, zsofimajor, SKAUGHT, nod_, effulgentsia, Wim Leers, catch, alexpott, and xjm.
And finally, a special thank you to Acquia's outside-in team for driving most of the design and implementation: tkoleary, webchick, tedbow, Gábor Hojtsy, tim.plunkett, and drpal.
Acquia's outside-in team celebrating that the outside-in patch was committed to Drupal 8.2 beta. Go team! |
[+]Enlarge Experiments and computations suggest that oxygen-terminated edges of BN (green and gray) can abstract hydrogen from propane to begin to form propene (product not shown). Credit: Science
Boron nitride has made news repeatedly in recent years as a material with an appealing mix of structural and physical properties. But it hasn’t made news as a catalyst, and certainly not one with the potential to drive global-scale industrial chemical processes.
That all just changed. Researchers have demonstrated that boron nitride (BN) selectively catalyzes conversion of propane to propene, a valuable chemical used worldwide on the multimillion-ton-per-year scale (Science 2016, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf7885).
Researchers have mainly studied nanotube and one-atom-thick forms of BN that boast high strength, heat resistance, and unique electronic properties. A team at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, including Joseph T. Grant and Ive Hermans, have shown that BN unexpectedly works well as a catalyst that drives oxidative dehydrogenation of propane (ODHP). This process strips hydrogen from propane to form propene and oxidizes the hydrogen to form water.
Manufacturers typically produce propene by “cracking” large hydrocarbons in naphtha, a component of crude oil, with steam. But steam cracking plants have started to use shale gas instead of naphtha as a feedstock, a process that yields less propene. This has forced manufacturers to look for alternative ways to boost propene output.
Several dehydrogenation methods that do not use an oxidizer can drive the propane-to-propene reaction. But these methods gunk up the catalysts, shortening their lifetimes. Also, nonoxidative dehydrogenation and steam cracking are both highly endothermic, and therefore energy intensive.
In contrast, ODHP is exothermic and can run efficiently at hundreds of degrees lower than the other processes. According to industry estimates, a reaction running at relatively low temperatures such as these could reduce energy input by 45%. But the many ODHP catalysts that have been studied overoxidize propene, forming unwanted yet thermodynamically stable CO and CO 2 .
Not BN. The Wisconsin team finds that in the presence of oxygen, BN nanotubes and hexagonal-BN convert propane to propene and generate ethene, a valuable commodity, as the main by-product. Under one set of conditions, the reaction generated roughly 80% propene and 12% ethene.
“The discovery that boron nitride is not only a competent ODHP catalyst, but immediately takes the top position among all known catalysts, is absolutely remarkable,” says Henrique Teles, a senior research manager at BASF. “I would never have imagined that this material could be a competent catalyst for anything. I am positively sure, that this will open whole new avenues in catalysis.” |
Remember Lemmings? Odds are against it. Like the suicidal animals on which the classic video game drew inspiration, the Lemmings brand has in recent years gone off a cliff — the cliff of public awareness!
There is a chance that you do remember Lemmings, and that the game has very special nook in your heart, a comfy spot warmed by the fluffy blanket of childhood memories. Maybe it's you who is represented by the tiny hills and valleys on the right side of the graph. You're still searching "Lemmings + Game" every now and then, hoping for a big return that never comes. I do, sometimes.
I played Lemmings to death on my school's computer, and became academically obsessed with actual lemmings, writing a third grade report on the critters. As I learned, lemmings don't follow one another blindly to their deaths — as popularly believed. That notion was fabricated by none other than a Walt Disney film crew for the Academy Award-winning doc, White Wilderness. A CBC documentary, Cruel Camera, later revealed the Disney filmmakers flew a batch lemmings to a new location, where they were forced off a cliff with cameras rolling.
I digress. We must think happier thoughts on the 25th anniversary of the game's release on Amiga. Let's watch a 6-hour playthrough of the original game, before all its follow-ups, on DOS.
Correction: Lemmings was first released on Amiga. The original version of this article did not mention the Amiga hardware. |
On a night like Thursday, when President Trump was scheduled to headline a rally in West Virginia, you know the hot takes are going to be coming in fast from all directions, but who’ll go the extra distance to really stand out?
Stuart Rothenberg, senior editor at Inside Elections, went all out in sizing up the people of West Virginia, many of whom wouldn’t make it in as immigrants under the Trump administration’s policies, which are in clear violation of that Emma Lazarus poem.
Lots of people in West Virginia can't support themselves or speak English. — Stuart Rothenberg (@StuPolitics) August 3, 2017
This is extremely ignorant. — Katie (@KatieHellerWV) August 3, 2017
They hate you.
Remember that. https://t.co/DvrzWiOeYD — Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) August 4, 2017
I am from WV, teach at a major university and speak languages. Comments like this elected Trump. Proceed — Victor (@VictorConservat) August 4, 2017
We speak English quite well troglodyte. Let us demolish your overrated political quid pro quo industry and see how well you survive. — Kel Hughes (@lightsong77) August 4, 2017
Respectfully as someone who comes from the region that is incredibly bigoted — people from West Virginia are incredible hard-working folks https://t.co/ICpDhJIDGd — SalenaZito (@SalenaZito) August 4, 2017
@StuPolitics Yes – truly an offensive statement. — andysere (@andysere) August 4, 2017
This makes me so sad–this is exactly how folks from WV think the cosmopolitan class views them & then they prove it ?
please be nicer Stu https://t.co/ICpDhJr2hD — SalenaZito (@SalenaZito) August 4, 2017
All of my college classmates from WVA went home after school and supported themselves. Funny most from DC and suburbs went back and couldn't — William Bova (@endmoronism) August 4, 2017
Read this string to see how Libs/Dems really feel about people who need some help to get their feet firmly on the ground. https://t.co/0iqdDG4GX2 — ~Mamie Nickles~ (@MamieNickles) August 4, 2017
kudos to @SalenaZito for calling out this awful rhetoric https://t.co/dke2syOrhj — dan holler (@danholler) August 4, 2017
Hey, don’t take it personally, everyone. Rothenberg doesn’t disagree with Salena Zito’s assessment that the people of West Virginia are incredibly hard-working; they mean well, despite all of their many shortcomings.
Of course they are hard-working. They mean well. Just close-minded, provincial, angry & easily misled. My wife's dad was a coal miner in PA. https://t.co/9q5JJ3fq90 — Stuart Rothenberg (@StuPolitics) August 4, 2017
See, his wife’s father was a coal miner in Pennsylvania, so he knows what he’s talking about.
"My wife's dad was a coal miner in PA" and "some of my best friends are gay" — Immortal Mike (@michaelbayer1) August 4, 2017
Lol, I always love that kind of statement. "My opinion means more because (stupid fucking reason)" https://t.co/YFiqflYA1b — ©™® (@HesGoingtoScore) August 4, 2017
Translation – your wife's father thought you were a smug asshole. And he was right. https://t.co/ZzZxTpr8rG — Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) August 4, 2017
Have you ever reflected on your tendency to see people as a collective instead of as individuals? It could be illuminating. — Doc Washburn (@DocWashburn) August 4, 2017
They are "close-minded, provincial, angry & easily misled" because they didn't vote the way Stuart wanted them to vote. https://t.co/vtdfAGxwFS — ~Mamie Nickles~ (@MamieNickles) August 4, 2017
"Close-minded, provincial, angry, and easily misled." So I guess they're qualified to be D.C. political reporters? https://t.co/fFqWvwRsq4 — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) August 4, 2017
A legit #WhyTrumpWon pair of tweets right here. pic.twitter.com/Q4Un3X8CL5 — Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) August 4, 2017
Wow. This is how we got Trump. https://t.co/olG1NCLkF2 — Gingerific (@mchastain81) August 4, 2017
Why Trump won– Because Leftists talk about Americans outside of urban areas as if they were some lesser class of people. https://t.co/ru90pF2Z7Y — Erielle Davidson (@politicalelle) August 4, 2017
This is why we snort in derision when liberals say they are compassionate and the right is full of hate. Proven over and over to be a lie. — Baby Blues (@JudgeJanna) August 4, 2017
i feel like i tweet this once a day but Trump is going to win so unbelievably easy at this rate https://t.co/JA9hp7PbMP — Ben McDonald (@Bmac0507) August 4, 2017
The snide, nasty, dripping condescension is why we have Trump. I'm all in so please , keep it up. Thanks! — The Angriest Inch (@Qin_Jiushao) August 4, 2017
Your contribution to the Trump 2020 reelection campaign is greatly appreciated. Thanks! — David Rice (@bfmva7xsp) August 4, 2017
Trump definitely gonna be president forever. https://t.co/5hz9Pj5bNc — eric (@eriContrarian) August 4, 2017
I would never consider marking fun of an entire state of people who might be different than me-you need to come to West Virginia with me sir https://t.co/o6CFJumI4n — SalenaZito (@SalenaZito) August 4, 2017
* * * |
The 2001 Nisqually earthquake occurred at 10:54:32 local time on February 28, 2001. The intraslab earthquake had a moment magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The epicenter was in the southern Puget Sound, northeast of Olympia, but the shock was felt in Oregon, Canada, eastern Washington, and Idaho.[4] This was one of several large earthquakes that occurred in the Puget Sound region in the prior 52 years and caused property damage valued at between one and four billion dollars. One person died of a heart attack and several hundred were injured.
Earthquake [ edit ]
The Puget Sound area is prone to deep earthquakes due to the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate's subduction under the North American Plate at 3.5 to 4.5 cm a year[4] as part of the Cascadia subduction zone, which causes stress in the North American Plate as the Juan de Fuca Plate sinks into the mantle. Similar significant earthquakes occurred in the same general region on April 29, 1965 (magnitude 6.7, depth 59 km (37 mi)), and April 13, 1949 (magnitude 6.7, depth 50 km (31 mi)).
Damage [ edit ]
A large van was crushed by bricks in a Seattle parking lot.
Although there were no directly-related deaths, local news outlets reported that there was one death from a heart attack.[5] About 400 people were injured.[5] Most of the property damage occurred very near the epicenter or in unreinforced concrete or masonry buildings, such as those in the First Hill, Pioneer Square and Sodo neighborhoods of Seattle. The Trinity Parish Church on First Hill was severely damaged.[6] The air traffic control tower at Sea–Tac Airport was heavily damaged; it has since been replaced with a more earthquake-resistant tower. The quake splintered a buttress under the dome of the capitol building in Olympia, but previous earthquake-resistance work prevented more serious harm to the building.[7] Additionally, power outages affected downtown Seattle.[8] The U.S. Military's Ft. Lewis and McChord Air Force Base received damage and there was very slight damage in Victoria, British Columbia.[9]
The Fourth Avenue Bridge in Olympia was severely damaged. In the fore-ground is a piling for a temporary bridge.
Following the quake, many buildings and structures in the area were closed temporarily for inspection. This included several bridges, all state offices in Olympia, and Boeing's factories in the Seattle area. Various schools in the state also closed for the day. The Fourth Avenue Bridge in downtown Olympia was heavily damaged and was later torn down and re-built.[10][11] In Seattle, the Alaskan Way Viaduct and its seawall were damaged, forcing the viaduct to close for emergency repairs and ultimately factoring into the decision to replace the viaduct entirely.[12]
Approximately $305 million of insured losses and a total of $2 billion worth of damage was caused in the state of Washington. The area was declared a natural disaster area by president George W. Bush and was therefore able to receive federal recovery assistance. The number of businesses in the heavily affected region was relatively small.[13] At least 20% of businesses surrounding the heavily affected area took direct losses, while 2% had direct losses of over $10,000. None of these businesses received money for direct damage from federal aid or insurance.[13]
Many businesses did not receive any aid at all. Those that did receive aid had no help with indirect losses. Indirect losses varied from inventory or data corruption, disruption in the workplace, productivity, etc. Data and inventory losses were possibly the most damaging, especially for retail stores. Retail stores lost inventory as well as people's interest for a period of time after the quake. One of the vital elements to prevent damage and injury were well structured buildings. This can prevent the loss of life as well as inventory.[13] Businesses that did not sustain very much damage also gained a sense of security that may be unreliable as the moment magnitude was high but the hypocenter was deep under the earth. This earthquake was a 6.8 moment magnitude that caused $2 billion damage while the Northridge earthquake was a 6.7 moment magnitude, but caused more than $20 billion worth of damage as the hypocenter of the Northridge earthquake was much shallower and closer to the surface of the earth.[13][14]
Ground effects [ edit ]
Named after the Nisqually Delta, this earthquake hit the southern end of Puget Sound causing damage to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma.[15][5] In the month following the earthquake, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the USGS assembled a team to map the bathymetry of the deltas near the epicenter. This revealed multiple submarine failures on the Puyallup and Duwamish delta fronts. In other areas liquefaction, sand boils, landslides, and soil slumping occurred.[15] Liquefaction was also determined to be a main contributor to increased stream flows. With multiple stream gauges collecting data before and after the earthquake there was a regular pattern of higher increased stream flow around areas where liquefaction occurred.[16] Soil liquefaction was also observed at a wildlife refuge causing damage to the buildings within.[17]
Response [ edit ]
A rapid response plan was developed a year later. The region realized how they avoided a potential extremely damaging catastrophe. Many businesses, organizations, hospitals, etc. were asked to sign a regional disaster plan. This would allow disaster relief teams to locate and aid places much faster than before. It would also be able to direct limited resources to places with greatest immediate need.[4][18]
See also [ edit ] |
My 8-year old decided he needed to do some TinkerCAD and printing last night. Except for the few moments where I sped the process along (we were encroaching onto bed time), it was all his effort. His younger brother then decided he wanted to TinkerCAD, too.
This was very gratifying because, just earlier during the day, I was discussing the future of 3D printing and 3D modeling with a skeptic who was convinced that only the rarest person would use the technology.
In our conversation, I drew parallels between the evolution of 3D printers to that of 2D (inkjet/laser) printers. He argued that 2D printers are popular because everyone understands writing words and drawing on paper; but not everyone "gets" building things in 3D, so 3D printing would never be popular.
At the time, I didn't get a chance to respond directly to that point, but I'm convinced that future tools will make creating things in 3D far more accessible. It's just a matter of time before that happens.
And, as I pondered that point, I remembered a story I once heard (in the late 90's) about the introduction of word processing to a long-careered secretary.
The secretary would complain about the extra effort to learn and use software that she didn't need when she previously typed directly to paper. That went on for months until the day her employer had asked for a half-page addition early in a 50-page document. Before the word processor, she would have had to manually reflow and retype the entire document. Instead, she was able to make her additions and let the computer and printer do the rest of the work.
The word processor was essentially a rapid-prototyping tool for wordsmiths. Only a small group of people used such tools at first. But with time, the technology evolved and became more accessible to a wider audience.
The efficiency and productivity gains alone made the tools worthwhile. But the tools also unlocked gains in creativity. And those with the tools had an advantage over those who did not.
Can you imagine trying to survive today without knowing how to use a word processor?
In the same way, being able to create things in 3D will become an essential skill -- because if you can't do it, you won't be able to keep up with your peers. New techniques and better tools will come with time, because people will need them. It's not a question of if. It's when. |
A Palestinian-American’s ties to the Bush family may go a long way toward explaining why George W. Bush would listen to Grover Norquist and embrace leaders of Muslim Brotherhood front groups after 9/11. Norquist is still very much a power player in American politics as president and founder of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). This is so despite his verifiable connections to nefarious Muslim groups and individuals. As Shoebat.com has written about on more than one occasion, it simply didn’t make sense that Bush would get in bed with America’s enemies just days after the 21st Century equivalent of Pearl Harbor.
Sadly, it makes far more sense these years later.
One of Norquist’s partners was a man named Talat Othman, a Palestinian-American who served as Chairman of the Islamic Free Market Institute (Islamic Institute) for several years. When the 9/11 attacks happened, Othman’s connections to George W. and his father George H.W. had already gone back several years. Check out the opening two paragraphs of a Wall Street Journal article dated December 6, 1991, when George H.W. Bush was president:
Two years ago, Talat Othman didn’t have the president’s ear. But since August 1990, the Palestinian-born Chicago investor has attended three White House meetings with President Bush to discuss Middle East policy. Mr. Othman’s political access coincides with the remarkable ascendance of a little Texas oil company on whose board he serves alongside George W. Bush, the president’s oldest son. That company, Harken Energy Corp. — though it had never drilled a single well overseas or in water — recently won the rights to drill potentially lucrative offshore wildcat wells in a contract bestowed by the government of Bahrain.
At the 2000 Republican National Convention, Othman was introduced by RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson to deliver a Muslim prayer to close the first day’s proceedings. Take note of all the people in the audience bowing their heads:
In 2008, there were several figures tied to then candidate Barack Obama that the campaign of Republican Presidential nominee John McCain refused to go after. One of those individuals was Antonin “Tony” Rezko with whom Obama engaged in a shady land deal that should have ended Obama’s campaign. Another was Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian who used to serve as a media spokesman for the PLO and Yasser Arafat. Both Rezko and Khalid are connected directly to Othman.
According to a 2005 article that appeared in the Arab American Media Services, it was Othman who first introduced Rezko to Illinois politics:
Rezko also became an adviser to former Gov. George Ryan, who was later indicted on unrelated government corruption charges, and to Blagojevich. Rezko was introduced to state politics and Ryan’s predecessor, Jim Edgar, by Talat Othman, a longtime fundraiser for state and city government officials. Edgar is now an associate of the PR firm Rezko hired to represent him.
Years later, when the scandal involving an illegal land deal between Obama and Rezko was revealed as a perfect way to hurt Obama, there was very little focus placed on it. One reason why very well may have been that Rezko greatly aided Obama’s political career in a way similar to how Bush’s buddy Othman aided Rezko’s. There was this one ad which helped to explain the problem but once you see it, you’ll wonder why this wasn’t beaten on like a drum:
Another Obama colleague the 2008 McCain campaign seemed happy to avoid discussing was Rashid Khalidi, a former PLO spokesman for Yasser Arafat and college professor. In 2002, Khalidi and Othman attended an event in Chicago with Rezko. In this photo, Othman can be seen standing next to Khalidi:
Here is a photo of Othman with Rezko at a dinner honoring Rezko in 1999:
A year later, Khalidi was leaving Chicago to take a job at Columbia University. Obama, along with terrorist Bill Ayers, attended the dinner. In one of the more outrageous events of the 2008 presidential campaign, a videotape of Obama, Ayers and Khalidi at that dinner was confirmed to be in the possession of the Los Angeles Times. Despite it being on the eve of a presidential election, the Times refused to release the tape. Here is a photo from the dinner that shows Obama and Khalidi sharing a table:
Years later, when Sarah Palin was able to talk about her time on the 2008 campaign trail with John McCain, she explained to Greta van Susteren that during the campaign, she was not permitted to talk about Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright and other scandals:
Joining Norquist, Othman and co-founder Khaled Saffuri was another co-founder named Majed Tomeh. Tomeh, a Syrian, has expressed pro-Hamas views as Shoebat.com has reported.
On September 13, 2001, President George W. Bush became understandably very emotional when asked to discuss his thoughts about the largest terror attack on U.S. soil. It’s hard to believe that he did not consider his relationships with people like Grover Norquist and Othman. Nonetheless, the next day, Bush would share a podium with the President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) at the National Cathedral. A few days after that, he would join the co-founder of Norquist’s Islamic Institute and the Executive Director of CAIR Nihad Awad inside the Washington Islamic Center to tell the American people that ‘Islam is peace’.
Had the President come clean about his relationships then, there’s no telling where America would be today but one thing is likely; we’d probably be in a much better place than we are.
This is sad on many, many levels:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JOpGFjJg8A&t=1m27s
print |
We are super happy to officially release the long-awaited usability patch today!
This major patch brings a long list of usability and user interface improvements, more stability on Mac computers, better performance, new languages, many bug fixes, and several new features.
New features include the replace-vehicles-now functionality, railway double slip switches, track speed limit and street traffic layers, person names, vehicle cargo weight simulation and more.
In addition, several new modding features have been added, including a new camera tool to record keyframe camera movement as screenshot sequences. On top of that, we >fulfilled< the request of players who want to earn achievements also when mods are enabled.
Please find the complete release notes >here<.
We hope that you like our newest developments and send the best wishes from the whole Urban Games team! |
I have not played this game's Multiplayer, nor do I intend to do it. If you want a critical opinion of the Multiplayer you won't find one here. This will be a review of the Singleplayer campaign.
If I'm not mistaken, DOOM is the first FPS game I played that came out this year. As such, I am going to call it the best Singleplayer campaign of a FPS shooter this year.
This game is fun. Bloody (pun intended), glorious (also intended) fun. If you're a person who just cares about a stranger's opinion on if a game is fun or not, well, there's your opinion. I'll be going in a little bit more, though.
I have played through the game's campaign, about half in Ultra-Violence difficulty and the last half on Hurt-Me-Plenty difficulty. The difficulty switch was because the game got a bit too hard, for some reason... stupid me didn't get certain enemies had body armor and had to be hit on their weak spots in order to be damaged until much later in the game. Thank the last Mancubus codex for that :P
To get the garbage out of the way, this game is graphically beautiful, although a bit demanding, especially in the Foundry level. I ran the game on Ultra until the Foundry level with various FPS drops down below 30. It's not because it's badly optimized, not at all: it's because of the lighting. The lighting in this game is absolutely beautiful. Actually, the graphics are absolutely beautiful. It's a very pretty game, indeed. I have an old Radeon HD 7950, so that explains the FPS drops. Even then, though, I ran the game absolutely fine on the high pre-set, with a stable 60 FPS with only occasional drops to 30, never below it. Never tested it in the Foundry, though, which is, admiteddly, the prettiest level in the game. Sound quality is very high, as well, and the guns sound like guns. Apart from the pistol, every gun sounds like they have an impact and, coupled with the dismemberment and gore, makes them look really damn powerful. And with reason! You are really damn powerful.
Now, getting to the actual stuff that matters...
The story in this game is surprisingly good! Admittedly, you can ignore the whole thing and rip & tear your way through hordes of demons, but it's quite worth paying attention to. Also, unlike most silent protagonists, the Doom Marine actually has a personality that, instead of being protrayed through voice, is protrayed through actions. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but just know that he absolutely despises Hell and everything involved with it, and it's not because you make him despise it. Plus, the ending felt like there is a lot more to be explored, leaving open the possibility of a sequel but tying it up nicely if id never make one.
Unlike most shooters the past few years, this isn't focused around aiming and cover. In fact, you're ♥♥♥♥ed if you do any of those things. This game is heavily based around mobility, much like the original games, and you need to stay on the move in order to survive. The levels were made to fit this kind of movement, with battles happening mainly in arena-like zones with ample space and verticality. Sometimes there are also power-ups in the arena, like megahealth, haste, berserk, quad damage and I might be missing another one.
The levels are linear, but with various side-paths you can explore in order to find secrets. Secrets aren't just there for show, though; many of them offer you weapon or armor points which are used to improve your abilities and your weapons. There are also service bots around the place that will... ahm... "give you" (well, you steal them, basically) weapon mods that give your guns extra abilities. For instance, one weapon mod for the rifle allows you to fire rockets.
You generally have 2 weapon mods for each weapon (with exception of the pistol and the super shotgun, which have no weapon mods, and the BFG and chainsaw, which I'll be talking about in a minute) that you are able to switch between by pressing a key, default R. You also upgrade these mods with the weapon points you acquire, with the exception of the pistol and the super shotgun, where you upgrade the weapons themselves. There is also no reload button, and for a reason: you don't reload in this game. Technically, the only weapon that reloads is the super shotgun, but it's automatic every time you fire. With all other weapons you just fire until you're out of ammo. There are also two more weapons, special weapons, which are the chainsaw and the BFG.
The chainsaw you can bring out by pressing a specific button. Depending on the size of the demon, you might need more fuel to kill them, but an attack with the chainsaw is always an instant kill. Small demons only require one fuel to use, medium ones two fuel, and so on. Kills with the chainsaw, also, always drop a surplus of ammo, so if you're running out just bring out your old friend and slaughter someone and you'll have nearly all of your weapons refilled. Never counted the total amount of fuel you can have, though...
The BFG is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal, balanced by its limited and rare ammunition. The BFG fires a slow orb of argent plasma that, on impact, detonates with sort-of homing area of effect damage, killing any demon around the blast zone instantly. You only have 3 bullets, though, and they are rare to find, so it's really only used when you're in desperate situations.
The campaign has a nice feel of progress, and never gets repetitve. Throughout the game and at a very good pace, it throws new types of demons and new weapons at you. I was surprised, I thought many times I'd seen all the demons the game had and that I already had all the weapons. Many times, I was wrong. Eventually, when all the demons are known to you, you get hit with boss fights. First boss fight was 9 hours after I started playing, and there were 2 more until the end. They're not particularly hard... they're ok. The real meat of the game is the rest of it.
There are also different types of demons, from the week Possessed and Unwilling to the powerful Baron of Hell. Some of these demons have body armor: the Mancubus, the Cybermancubus and the Pinky, and they have to be shot in certain weak spots in order to be efficiently killed. If anything else has a head, though... yeah, that's their weak spot.
I also forgot to mention that, in your arsenal, there are 3 different accessories: a hand grenade, a hologram dummy thing and a grenade that syphons the life out of the demons and gives it to you. They aren't all that useful, though... so just use them whenever you feel like it, they don't make much of a difference.
Overall, DOOM is a very fun first person shooter, a good reboot (?) and posesses a good story that is well worth paying attention to. Play it, you'd be missing out if you didn't ;)
[b] I have not played this game's Multiplayer, nor do I intend to do it. If you want a critical opinion of the Multiplayer you won't find one here. This will be a review of the Singleplayer campaign. [/b] If I'm not mistaken, DOOM is the first FPS game I played that came out this year. As such, I am going to call it the best Singleplayer campaign of a FPS shooter this year. This game is fun. Bloody (pun intended), glorious (also intended) fun. If you're a person who just cares about a stranger's opinion on if a game is fun or not, well, there's your opinion. I'll be going in a little bit more, though. I have played through the game's campaign, about half in Ultra-Violence difficulty and the last half on Hurt-Me-Plenty difficulty. The difficulty switch was because the game got a bit too hard, for some reason... stupid me didn't get certain enemies had body armor and had to be hit on their weak spots in order to be damaged until much later in the game. Thank the last Mancubus codex for that :P To get the garbage out of the way, this game is graphically beautiful, although a bit demanding, especially in the Foundry level. I ran the game on Ultra until the Foundry level with various FPS drops down below 30. It's not because it's badly optimized, not at all: it's because of the lighting. The lighting in this game is absolutely beautiful. Actually, the graphics are absolutely beautiful. It's a very pretty game, indeed. I have an old Radeon HD 7950, so that explains the FPS drops. Even then, though, I ran the game absolutely fine on the high pre-set, with a stable 60 FPS with only occasional drops to 30, never below it. Never tested it in the Foundry, though, which is, admiteddly, the prettiest level in the game. Sound quality is very high, as well, and the guns sound like guns. Apart from the pistol, every gun sounds like they have an impact and, coupled with the dismemberment and gore, makes them look really damn powerful. And with reason! You are really damn powerful. Now, getting to the actual stuff that matters... The story in this game is surprisingly good! Admittedly, you can ignore the whole thing and rip & tear your way through hordes of demons, but it's quite worth paying attention to. Also, unlike most silent protagonists, the Doom Marine actually has a personality that, instead of being protrayed through voice, is protrayed through actions. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but just know that he absolutely despises Hell and everything involved with it, and it's not because you make him despise it. Plus, the ending felt like there is a lot more to be explored, leaving open the possibility of a sequel but tying it up nicely if id never make one. Unlike most shooters the past few years, this isn't focused around aiming and cover. In fact, you're fucked if you do any of those things. This game is heavily based around mobility, much like the original games, and you need to stay on the move in order to survive. The levels were made to fit this kind of movement, with battles happening mainly in arena-like zones with ample space and verticality. Sometimes there are also power-ups in the arena, like megahealth, haste, berserk, quad damage and I might be missing another one. The levels are linear, but with various side-paths you can explore in order to find secrets. Secrets aren't just there for show, though; many of them offer you weapon or armor points which are used to improve your abilities and your weapons. There are also service bots around the place that will... ahm... "give you" (well, you steal them, basically) weapon mods that give your guns extra abilities. For instance, one weapon mod for the rifle allows you to fire rockets. You generally have 2 weapon mods for each weapon (with exception of the pistol and the super shotgun, which have no weapon mods, and the BFG and chainsaw, which I'll be talking about in a minute) that you are able to switch between by pressing a key, default R. You also upgrade these mods with the weapon points you acquire, with the exception of the pistol and the super shotgun, where you upgrade the weapons themselves. There is also no reload button, and for a reason: you don't reload in this game. Technically, the only weapon that reloads is the super shotgun, but it's automatic every time you fire. With all other weapons you just fire until you're out of ammo. There are also two more weapons, special weapons, which are the chainsaw and the BFG. The chainsaw you can bring out by pressing a specific button. Depending on the size of the demon, you might need more fuel to kill them, but an attack with the chainsaw is always an instant kill. Small demons only require one fuel to use, medium ones two fuel, and so on. Kills with the chainsaw, also, always drop a surplus of ammo, so if you're running out just bring out your old friend and slaughter someone and you'll have nearly all of your weapons refilled. Never counted the total amount of fuel you can have, though... The BFG is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal, balanced by its limited and rare ammunition. The BFG fires a slow orb of argent plasma that, on impact, detonates with sort-of homing area of effect damage, killing any demon around the blast zone instantly. You only have 3 bullets, though, and they are rare to find, so it's really only used when you're in desperate situations. The campaign has a nice feel of progress, and never gets repetitve. Throughout the game and at a very good pace, it throws new types of demons and new weapons at you. I was surprised, I thought many times I'd seen all the demons the game had and that I already had all the weapons. Many times, I was wrong. Eventually, when all the demons are known to you, you get hit with boss fights. First boss fight was 9 hours after I started playing, and there were 2 more until the end. They're not particularly hard... they're ok. The real meat of the game is the rest of it. There are also different types of demons, from the week Possessed and Unwilling to the powerful Baron of Hell. Some of these demons have body armor: the Mancubus, the Cybermancubus and the Pinky, and they have to be shot in certain weak spots in order to be efficiently killed. If anything else has a head, though... yeah, that's their weak spot. I also forgot to mention that, in your arsenal, there are 3 different accessories: a hand grenade, a hologram dummy thing and a grenade that syphons the life out of the demons and gives it to you. They aren't all that useful, though... so just use them whenever you feel like it, they don't make much of a difference. Overall, DOOM is a very fun first person shooter, a good reboot (?) and posesses a good story that is well worth paying attention to. Play it, you'd be missing out if you didn't ;) Check this box if you received this product for free (?) Do you recommend this game? Yes No Cancel Save Changes |
To paraphrase a certain scruffy looking nerf herder, I’ve flown from one side of the galaxy to the other, and I’ve seen a lot of cool stuff… but nothing as cool as Star Wars Weekends. This year’s event is shaping up to be among the best, with a new show, new locations for merchandise and autograph opportunities and a galaxy of stars that includes returning favorites and luminaries making their first hyperspace jump to Star Wars Weekends!
So shall we dispense with the pleasantries?
Here are the celebrities scheduled to appear for Star Wars Weekends 2015 (entertainment is subject to change):
Weekend I (May 15 – 17)
Ian McDiarmid: Senator/Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Senator/Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi) Amy Allen: Aayla Secura (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
Aayla Secura (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith) Tiya Sircar: Sabine Wren (Star Wars Rebels)
Weekend II (May 22 – 24)
Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi) Silas Carson: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Nute Gunray (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
Ki-Adi-Mundi, Nute Gunray (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith) Vanessa Marshall: Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels)
Weekend III (May 29 – 31)
Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi) Daniel Logan: Boba Fett (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones)
Boba Fett (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones) Steve Blum: Zeb Orrelios (Star Wars Rebels)
Weekend IV (June 5 – 7)
Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) Jeremy Bulloch: Boba Fett (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Boba Fett (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi) Ashley Eckstein: Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Star Wars Rebels)
Weekend V (June 12 – 14)
Frank Oz: Yoda (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; Star Wars Rebels)
Yoda (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; Star Wars Rebels) Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) Peter Mayhew: Chewbacca (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; Star Wars: A New Hope; Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Chewbacca (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; Star Wars: A New Hope; Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi) Taylor Gray: Ezra Bridger (Star Wars Rebels)
Of course, Star Wars Weekends host James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels) will be appearing every week, and in addition to Ashley Eckstein’s Weekend IV guest spot, she will also be joining us every day of the event as host of “Padawan Mind Challenge – Family Edition.”
Details are still coming together for the event, but some of the highlights of what’s new for Star Wars Weekends 2015 include:
“Star Wars: Rebels” – Relive the adventurous twists and turns of the first exciting season of the Disney XD series “Star Wars: Rebels,” in an all-new show with Star Wars Weekends host James Arnold Taylor and a special guest from the show’s voice cast… along with a few surprises!
Relive the adventurous twists and turns of the first exciting season of the Disney XD series “Star Wars: Rebels,” in an all-new show with Star Wars Weekends host James Arnold Taylor and a special guest from the show’s voice cast… along with a few surprises! Autograph Opportunities – For the first time, autograph sessions with Star Wars celebrities will be held in an indoor location, just off Commissary Lane near Star Tours. For complete details about autograph opportunities, be sure to visit StarWarsWeekends.com prior to your visit.
For the first time, autograph sessions with Star Wars celebrities will be held in an indoor location, just off Commissary Lane near Star Tours. For complete details about autograph opportunities, be sure to visit StarWarsWeekends.com prior to your visit. Darth’s Mall – Can’t find the droids you’re looking for? Head over to this new complex of shops near Streets of America for the best selection of Star Wars merchandise in this galaxy or any other!
All this, plus dozens of Star Wars characters appearing throughout the park, yummy Star Wars-inspired treats and the spectacular fireworks finale, “Symphony in the Stars.” It just goes to show you that Star Wars Weekends is as close to the Force as you can get!
Believe it or not, we still have more to share with you in the weeks ahead, so keep checking Disney Parks Blog and StarWarsWeekends.com for updates, and keep the conversation going on social media using #SWW2015! |
Film London's production support schemes got another boost this week when Dartmoor Killing was greenlit for June 2014. The team behind the dark and atmospheric story of female friendship benefited from our Build Your Audience programme, as well as last year's inaugural Film London Micro-Market – a dedicated finance market for for financiers looking for great projects with a small price tag.
From Build Your Audience to Micro-Market: the road to production
A psychological thriller that reunites the team behind the Emmy Award-winning Pompeii and BAFTA-winning Nuremberg, Dartmoor Killing has started pre-production and will shoot in June 2014.
Momentum for the project built over the autumn when the team pitched to financiers at the Film London Micro-Market, launched in 2013 alongside the established Production Finance Market.
The Producers are now in advanced talks with a prominent film sales company and a number of UK distributors and strategic distribution partners.
Find out more about Film London Micro-Market
Addressing the rapidly changing face of feature film distribution across the globe, Build Your Audience provides participants with the skills, knowledge and networks to face the challenge of selling their film. Producer Jayne Chard and writer/director Peter Nicholson say that it:
"helped us develop a 'hybrid' distribution strategy, combining traditional partnerships, innovative digital media and event screenings. For example The Barn Cinema, Dartington, has proposed a spectacular 'outdoor' drive- in screening on Dartmoor as part of the film's launch."
Find out more about Build Your Audience
Film London's production support
Both Build Your Audience and Micro-Market are representative of Film London's approach to production support: they combine practical advice and on the ground experience with industry connections and mentoring.
Deborah Sathe, Head of Talent Development and Production at Film London, said "I am delighted Dartmoor Killing will be shooting this summer. We have very much enjoyed meeting the team and developing their project through our training programmes Build Your Audience and the Micro-Market".
Dartmoor Killing - a tense psychological drama
Co-written by BAFTA winning writer/director Peter Nicholson and Isabelle Grey, Dartmoor Killing tells the story of inseparable friends Susan and Becky. When, on a weekend trip to Dartmoor they encounter the charismatic Chris, they are led into a web of mind games, sexual deceit and betrayal.
The film has been financed through a mix of private SEIS/EIS investors and corporate equity and production partner Films@59 in Bristol. Arri Media and DUK have also given their support to the film. |
Michelle Obama fed her husband's feud with Donald Trump on Friday as she gave a gloomy description of the hopeless climate his election win has created.
The First Lady used her final interview in the White House to tell Oprah Winfrey that a 'grown up' should be in charge of the country.
Looking forward to president-elect Trump's looming inauguration, she said even though hope was lost, it was necessary to move on.
'Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like. Hope is necessary,' she said in her first direct response to the November 9 election result.
Mrs Obama's remarks come within hours of her husband's announcement Russian hackers interfered with the election to help his successor.
Trump, who is yet to accept the DNC hack was orchestrated by one of Putin's agencies, undermined the announcement on Twitter.
Michelle Obama gave her final interview as First Lady on Friday, telling Oprah Winfrey that the country had lost hope since Trump's election win
In her interview with Oprah, the First Lady said the president needs to be someone 'who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil: "hey, it's gonna be ok"'.
She said she was assured her husband had achieved his goal of setting a hope-fueled agenda because of the contrasting mood brought by Trump's victory.
'Your husband's administration, everything, the election, was all about hope. Do you think that this administration achieved that?' asked Winfrey.
In a lengthy reply, Mrs Obama said calmly: 'Yes. I do. Because we feel the difference now.
Mrs Obama maintained a firm quietness on Trump's win for weeks
'Now, we're feeling what not having hope feels like. Hope is necessary. It's a necessary concept.
'What else do you have if you don't have hope?'
In a glowing assessment of her husband's tenure, Mrs Obama likened him to the calming parent of the panicked toddler nation.
'Our children respond to crisis the way they see us respond. You know, it's like the toddler bumps his head on the table and they look up at you to figure out whether it hurts and if you're like (gasp) "oh my god" they're crying but if you're like "you know what, babe it's OK"...
'And I feel that way about the nation, I feel that Barack has been that for the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate.
'Having a grown up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil : "hey, it's gonna be ok", let's remember the good things that we have, let's look to the future, let's look at what we're building" - all of this is important for our kids to stay focused and to feel like their work isn't in vain and their lives aren't in vain.
'What do we do if we don't have hope, Oprah?
The one-on-one took place ahead of the first family's departure from The White House to Hawaii where they will enjoy a two-week Christmas break.
It will be shown on CBS on December 19 at 8pm.
On Thursday, The White House issued its first public acknowledgment that Russian hackers had interfered with the election to help Trump's chances.
Mrs Obama said hope was 'necessary' to move forward in the rare one-on-one
The interview is the First Lady's last in her current role. In it, she reflects on her time in the White House
President Obama promised there would be consequences for Vladimir Putin, one of Trump's most vocal international supporters, as he addressed the scandal.
'I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections ... we need to take action,' Obama said.
'And we will — at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be,' he told NPR News.
President-elect Trump is yet to accept publicly that the hack, which has been credited with tumbling Hillary Clinton's campaign, was orchestrated by Russian officials and designed to push him towards the White House.
He responded to the White House's announcement on Thursday by undermining it.
'If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?' he wrote on Twitter.
He then appeared to justify the breach by highlighting some of the damning information it revealed about his opponent.
'Are we talking about the same cyberattack where it was revealed that head of the DNC illegally gave Hillary the questions to the debate?'
Mrs Obama had maintained a firm quietness on the election result since November 9.
She claimed to have gone to bed early rather than stay up to watch the results and refused to be drawn on them afterwards.
On Thursday, President Obama publicly acknowledged the DNC hack had been orchestrated by Russian agencies to help push Donald Trump towards the White House. He said there would be consequences for Vladimir Putin (pictured together, above in September) as a result
Donald Trump is yet to accept the hack was orchestrated by Russian agencies, undermining the White House's announcement on Thursday on Twitter (top) before appearing to justify it with mention of the information it exposed (bottom)
In campaign speeches for Hillary Clinton, the First Lady gave passionate condemnations of the businessman's policies and principles.
She was widely lauded as Clinton's most valuable advocate and the appearances, all of which were applauded and well-attended, fueled speculation Mrs Obama has designs for her own presidency.
The First Family is yet to formally address the speculation.
At an event last week, Mrs Obama responded to one screaming request for her candidacy: 'Quiet back there!'
In his New Yorker interview, the president said they were looking forward to the next chapter of their political lives after leaving the White House.
President Obama has implored the country to get behind the businessman despite publicly admonishing him throughout the campaign.
'We are all now rooting for his success,' he said after the election result was made plain.
He told of his commitment to helping 'Donald' in his transition to power and met with the billionaire in the Oval office to discuss the handover. |
Leeds owner Massimo Cellino reveals that Cagliari sale has fallen through
Massimo Cellino: Leeds owner looking to sell his stake in Cagliari
Cellino, who also owns Leeds United, had expected an American investment group led by Italian businessman Luca Silvestrone to buy the club last week.
The two sides had agreed a reported 80million euro fee last week in a meeting in Miami with a 10million euro deposit expected to be made by Wednesday at the latest.
However, Cellino says no payment has been received and that there has been no further communication.
"There is no American investment group interested in acquiring Cagliari," Cellino said to Italian newspaper Unione Sarda.
"I have not seen or heard from anyone since last Wednesday's meeting with Silvestrone and Dan Meis in Miami.
"No down payment of 10million (euro) has been received.
"From what I can gather they only can be found through 'Missing'.
"I only decided to meet Silvestrone because I was asked by a number of fans to do so.
"I always had the impression that Silvestrone was just representing himself and not a group."
Cellino purchased Cagliari in 1992 and had been looking to sell the Sardinia-based club since acquiring a 75 per cent stake in Leeds earlier this year.
Cagliari finished 15th in the Serie A standings, seven points clear of the drop zone. |
Canuck Pale Ale Photo Contest – True Patriot Love
To say that Great Lakes Brewery is excited about the upcoming Canada Day long weekend is an understatement. This is our favourite time of year. The time for cottaging, for backyard get-togethers, ribfests, for getting outside and experiencing the vast beauty that this land has to offer… and doing so with our favourite son, Gordie Levesque and his Canuck Pale Ale.
That’s how we’ll be celebrating. All. Weekend. Long. But, we want to see how YOU celebrate Canada’s birthday. We want to see where you take Gordie, what kind of activities you all get up to, what kind of shenanigans you pull together.
Want to play? Here’s how you can…
Post your best Canadian themed Canuck Pale Ale images on your social media account(s), tagging @GreatLakesBeer and using the hashtag #TruePatriotLove. Tell us where you took the picture and how the beer tasted.
Acceptable social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
Tell your friends and see if you can one-up them over the long weekend.
The Prizes
GLB staff will pore over all the submissions on Thursday July 6th and select three winners – Gold, Silver, Bronze.
Gold – An unreal GLB swag package, personal tasting at the GLB tasting bar with staff, complimentary Street Food Fridays lunch with GLB staff and a high-five
Silver – An unreal GLB swag package and a high-five
Bronze – A collection of GLB glassware currently available at the retail store…and a high-five
The Rules
– No limits on photo submissions
– Must be resident of Ontario, Canada
– Must be 19 years of age
– Contest closes on Tuesday July 4th
– GLB not responsible for expenses related to travel for Gold winner
THE WINNERS |
Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press
BALI, Indonesia -- Talks on a trans-Pacific trade pact are forging ahead with hopes of meeting a year-end deadline, officials said Saturday, despite U.S. President Barack Obama's absence due to the government shutdown.
Obama had intended to thrash out issues with leaders of the 11 other trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, member countries on the sidelines of the Asian-Pacific regional summit in Bali on Monday and Tuesday.
Instead he ended up shelving the trip to focus on resolving the standoff over funding the U.S. government.
"I do want to make clear none of what is happening in Washington diminishes by one iota our commitment to our partners in Asia, including our efforts to promote trade and investment throughout the region," Secretary of State John Kerry, who is standing in for Obama, said Saturday.
Both Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said Saturday that ministers were determined to put together a framework for the U.S.-led TPP, a trading bloc that Obama considers a vital part of the "rebalancing" of U.S. strategy toward Asia.
"The TPP countries are strongly committed to working to conclude negotiations this year," Froman said.
The TPP has been billed as a "21st century" trade agreement: an attempt not just to slash tariffs but tackle nontariff barriers to trade, while protecting labour rights. Participants, which account for 40 per cent of world trade, include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.
Complex hurdles remain both in reaching consensus among the 12 nations and in persuading citizens and businesses in each country that the TPP is in their national interest.
Japan, which only formally joined the negotiations in July, is under pressure from the U.S. to open up its auto and insurance markets. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meanwhile, faces stiff domestic opposition, including from Japanese farmers who fear that foreign imports could drive them out of business.
Despite bipartisan support for the TPP in Congress, labour groups fear job losses, while digital rights activists say the ambitious standards likely to be required could compromise online privacy. |
KOIN 6 News Staff - PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) --- The FBI is looking for a serial bank robbery suspect who has been dubbed the "Bandaged Bandit."
The suspect has robbed 3 Chase Bank branches inside Fred Meyer stores in Portland, Salem and Albany since March 8. The FBI of Oregon said he walked in, demanded cash and left the bank.
He is called the Bandaged Bandit because he wrapped his face in bandages or a medical mask. He was also seen wearing gloves, a dark jacket with a large Nike logo on the back and silver sneakers. During the Albany robbery, he wore a rain poncho. In Salem, he wrapped his entire head in bandages and wore a sling on his arm and a baseball cap.
The stores the suspect hit are on Barbur Boulevard in Portland on March 8, Santiam Highway in Albany on March 14 and Commercial Street in Salem on March 24.
Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 503.224.4181 (Portland), 503.362.6601 (Salem) or 541.343.5222 (Eugene) |
© unknown
The most fatal mistake that any American can make is to call the police.
Police Violence Against The Public Soars
New tactic: Kill the dog
Who's the real danger
?
Armed for daily battle
The police have become like Wall Street and the federal government. The police serve no public interest.
Ferguson, Mo. is a small overwhelmingly black town whose government and police are white. The Ferguson police murdered an 18 year old black kid who has his hands over his head. Moreover, it is unclear that the kid had committed any offense. If you take a look at the photo of the three goon thugs pointing military rifles in his face at point blank range, any one of the over-sized goons unarmed could have restrained the small kid.So what did the police goons do? They shot him to death.This is murder. There is no question whatsoever that it is murder. But it will be covered up by the white government and the white police force if protests are limited to the black small town population of Ferguson. Who cares about them? Justice? That's only for the mega-rich.There is another astonishing aspect to the murder. Unarmed protesters in Ferguson are confronting a small town police force that is as well or better armed than America's combat troops on battlefields in countries invaded by Washington. The only reason there is any trouble in Ferguson is that the cops murdered in cold blood a kid without cause or justification, and the black community knows that the white murderer will be given a pass by the white government. The part-time black US Attorney General, Eric Holder, has not sent in the Feds to investigate.There are a huge number of murders by police in "the home of liberty and democracy." During the course of Washington's war in Iraq, American police murdered more innocent American civilians than America lost troops in the war!The American police murder so many civilians that it would take several thick volumes to record the police atrocities. The ones mentioned in this article are merely among the most recent that are reported.The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports that a white 37-year old woman having a reaction to prescribed medication tried to call 911 for help but got instead a police goon thug who shot her dead up against the wall in her own bedroom. The police have put out the fake story that the woman in medical distress threatened the goon thug with a weapon.The newspaper reports that the woman's husband also called 911, but fails to report that the husband said that he was headed home and would see that the emergency was dealt with only medically and not to send any police. But the goon thugs couldn't miss the opportunity to murder another innocent American civilian.Police victims have no rights, and in the vast majority of cases neither do the families of the murdered police victims. Compensation to the families of murdered police victims is rare as is accountability for the police murderers. In America a police badge is a license to murder.During the past decade, perhaps longer, the federal government has systematically militarized local and state police forces in all 50 states. The police have been trained by federally contracted trainers to regard the American public as the enemy. The police are trained that they must not take the risk of encountering members of the public on a trusting basis, but must regard the public as armed and determined to murder the police.I have observed on a number of occasions fully militarily equipped police training by 30 of them lining up and emptying high capacity magazines at the same target. Like most small towns in America, Doraville, Georgia, population 8,500, has a SWAT team armed with the weapons of the US military Congress should hold hearings to determine which federal budget was used to train state and local police to murder Americans. America has been at war for 13 years at vast costs against Muslims deemed to be a threat to our safety; yet American police have murdered more Americans than we lost in the Iraq war.We need to discover who trained our police to murder us, and we must hold both the criminals responsible for the "training" and the criminals in the government who financed the "training."With permission I republish my contribution to the summer issue of Gerald Celente's Trends Journal:In the 1960s, there was an effort in New York City to establish a civilian police review board. Complaints about police violence and harassment of black New Yorkers had grown to the point that the reality of the problem was obvious. New York Mayor John Lindsay was amenable, but conservatives led by William F. Buckley and the police rose up in arms. The conservative media called the police review board "the property of bleeding hearts and cop-haters." Fear-mongering was used to rally white voters, who were told that the review board would coddle criminals, demoralize the police, and lead to an upsurge in crime.Mayor Lindsay established a review board by executive order, but rising opposition forced the supporters of the review board to put it to a vote. Fear had done its job, and the review board was abolished by a vote of 63 percent against and 36 percent in favor. This from "liberal New York."In the half-century that has passed, gratuitous police violence has spread to the public in general. Today it is not only blacks and Hispanics who experience police brutality. Everyone suffers from it. Being white is no longer a protection. In a recent column, "Call the Cops at Your Peril," I reported a few of the recent atrocities police have committed against the public. Ninety-three-year-old Pearlie Golden was shot down in her front yard in Hearne, Texas. In Miami, 23 police officers fired 377 bullets, literally blowing away two men trapped inside a wrecked car. The police were under no threat whatsoever from the 93-year-old woman or from the two men trapped inside a wrecked car. In Cornelia, Georgia, a SWAT team made a no-knock entry at 3 a.m. and threw a concussion grenade into a baby's crib. The grenade blew up in the baby's face, leaving him disfigured, unable to breathe without a ventilator, and with a 50 percent chance of survival. According to the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, the raid produced no drugs, no weapons, no bundles of cash, and no suspected drug dealer. It was just another of the thousands of mistakes routinely made by SWAT goons who put American citizens at risk every time they break unannounced into a home, usually a wrong address.A police favorite is to murder the family's pets. When the Middletons, ranchers in Rains County, Texas, called the sheriff's department to report a burglary of their home and the theft of firearms, the first thing the deputy did when he arrived was to shoot the Middleton's three-year-old, 40-pound Australian cattle dog, Candy, in the head. In Prince George's County, Maryland, cops on a mistaken drug raid broke into the mayor's home and murdered his two non-aggressive black Labradors while holding the mayor and his mother-in-law at gun point.Another police favorite is to humiliate their arrested victim, especially women, by stripping them naked. The abuse of women has become routine. In a recent case, a 31-year-old white mother of four in New Albany, Indiana, was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after a fight with her estranged husband. In police parlance, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest mean that the woman protested the false arrest and raised her voice. As most Americans have no idea about the police, they are shocked and disbelieving when they experience a police encounter. Until they have an encounter with the police, they are big supporters of the police. Unable to believe what was happening to her, she was stripped of her clothing by two male and two female cops, paraded around the jail naked in front of the police, and thrown naked into a cell. She became hysterical as a result of this treatment. Enjoying their torment of their victim, the cops pepper sprayed her. The county sheriff said that he does not believe jail policies or procedures were violated. In other words, the sheriff admitted that abuse, humiliation and excessive use of force are routine As I write, I googled "videos of US police brutality" and 7,660,000 results appeared in 0.31 seconds. There are more cases of gratuitous police violence, almost always against the innocent, than a person can absorb in a lifetime. Police body slam elderly infirm people, taser cripples in wheel chairs, pepper spray, taser, and mace kids, young women, and mothers with babes in their arms. Just the other day police shot and killed a 13-year-old kid who was walking down the street with a toy rifle doing no harm to anyone. Only the goon cops regarded the 13-year-old as a threat. The goon cops simply couldn't let the opportunity pass to experience the thrill of killing a person.We see the same thing in the US military video released by Bradley Manning of the US helicopter gunship murdering journalists and citizens walking peacefully along a street and then murdering a father with two babies who stopped to help the wounded. Nothing happened to the murderers, but Bradley Manning was imprisoned for telling on them.We are at the point that the police try to murder teenagers making out in a parked car The cases of gratuitous police violence against the public are so numerous that it is impossible to report on them. All that can be done is to categorize them into types. The conclusion is that the police are a far greater danger to the public than are criminals.Moreover, the police are unaccountable. They can murder with impunity, but if you even accidentally or reflexively touch one of them, it is off to prison with you if you survive the beating. Cecily McMillan, about whom I recently wrote, was an Occupy protester. Her breasts were seized from behind by a cop. Reflexively, her elbow came up as she swung around and her elbow hit the cop. Recently a cowardly or corrupt jury, egged on by a corrupt judge and prosecutor, found her guilty of assaulting an officer and she was sentenced to prison. Nothing happened to the cop who sexually assaulted and falsely arrested her.Prosecutors are interested in convictions, not justice. Prosecutors routinely indict the innocent on the basis of the false charges brought by police, and judges often are complicit in the false convictions. No honest prosecutor would have brought the case against Cecily McMillan. Her trial was a political trial, and her conviction was a foregone conclusion. The purpose was to send the message that regardless of constitutional rights, protests against the Establishment are not permitted. The judge guaranteed her conviction by ruling that no evidence of the injury to her breast could be presented in her defense and that the jurors could not be informed of the arresting officer's record of excessive use of force and abuse of citizens. The jury was unwilling to stand up for an innocent person. Instead of serving justice, the jury served the corrupt purpose of the police state. The "war on terror" has removed any remaining constraints on police. The federal government has militarized state and local police and equipped them as if they were a military force. The police are trained to regard the public as a danger and to take no risk with their lives when confronting citizens. The police are taught that politely asking questions in order to arrive at an assessment of a situation could expose them to danger and that they should avoid all risk to themselves by dominating the situation with force just as an army or marine unit would do when confronting an enemy.I have witnessed training exercises at which 30 police officers line up and empty high capacity magazines at the same target. We are talking about 450 shots in a few seconds at one head-sized target. It was this type of training that resulted in 23 cops pouring 377 bullets into two men in Miami, one of whom was totally innocent of any charges.SWAT teams have become ubiquitous and they are armed with tanks, with MRAPs (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Armored Fighting Vehicles), and BearCat Ballistic Engineered Armored Response Counter Attack Trucks. These military vehicles are in routine use, and the SWAT team breaking down your door has replaced the policeman knocking to present a summons It once was the case that joining the police force implied low-level risk. An officer could, and occasionally did, die in performing his duty. Today no level of risk is acceptable for police. Therefore, all risk has been shifted to the public anytime members of the public have encounters, mistaken or not, with the police. Consequently, police kill far more innocent members of the public than criminals kill police.When I was growing up in the forties and fifties, we understood that the police force attracted bullies because of the power of the badge, but unlike today the police did not have carte blanche. In the forties and fifties the American people had not been reduced to powerlessness or to the sheeple that they are today. Newspapers were still independently owned and served as a constraint on police power. Blacks did not always get this protection, but in large southern cities, such as Atlanta, where Ralph McGill was editor and publisher of the Atlanta Constitution, blacks, too, had the protection of the press. I remember the first civil rights march in Atlanta. There were no police and no dogs set on the marchers. I know because I was there.Bullies were one thing, but there was not the hostility toward the public that is ingrained in police training today. Standing up for one's constitutional rights in a police encounter today is a perfect way to enrage a bully whose authority is questioned. The likely result is a beating and arrest. Subservience is the easiest way to survive a police encounter. You might be a brain surgeon or a former high government official and the cop might be someone who barely made it out of high school. But if you want to get out of it without damage to your body and charges on your record, act like a peasant confronted by a baron, earl or duke centuries ago. This is America today.Anything else and you might be history.So, are police review boards the answer? Apparently not. In 1993, 27 years after New York Mayor Lindsay's failed attempt to impose some accountability on police, Mayor David Dinkins established the largely powerless Civilian Complaint Review Board. The police rose up in opposition and were egged on by Rudy Giuliani, who when he became mayor gave the police carte blanche. White New Yorkers applauded Giuliani. Finally, they were safe again - as long as they did not have a run-in with the police or the SWAT team didn't go to the wrong address, perhaps a more likely occurrence than a criminal showing up at the door.A number of cities today have review boards. Some have powers. Most don't. Even those with powers have been made hesitant to use them. When terror is such a threat that the country remains on Orange Alert, one step below Red Alert, for years, only a terrorist-loving liberal-pinko-commie would want to restrain the police.As long as the US remains in the hands of the Establishment, police review boards will be ineffective. Wikipedia reports that in 2006, eight years ago, the NY Civilian Complaint Review Board received 7,699 complaints, approximately 6% resulted in a "substantiated disposition." In other words, 94% of the cases went nowhere.The police have been set loose on us by "law and order" conservatives and by the "war on terror." The police are doing us far more damage than are the criminals and the terrorists.It remains to be seen whether Americans survive their police.In the meantime the sheeple will continue to pay the salaries of those who pose the greatest threat to them.Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West and How America Was Lost |
The owner of a Wisconsin company invited to move to Minnesota in protest of its new “right-to-work” law says he plans to at least expand in the Gopher State — provided enough contracts come his way to support the business.
James Hoffman, owner of Black River Falls-based Hoffman Construction Co., which works mostly on highway construction projects, said his current plans are to more than double the size of his Lakeville office by the end of the year.
Hoffman said Monday night that the reason is twofold: he believes the right-to-work law will ultimately cost his company money, and he sees Minnesota’s proposal to increase transportation funding as offering greater business opportunities.
By the end of 2015, the Lakeville office would add at least another two salaried positions to the current two and add another 15 to 20 hourly positions to the current 10 to 12.
But the expansion would depend on being successful on competitive bids, Hoffman added.
Over the past year, the company has expanded more than 50 percent and added 200 workers. It now has 50 salaried and 300 hourly positions across Wisconsin and Minnesota, Hoffman said. Currently, 45 percent of Hoffman’s business comes from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and 15 percent comes from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
The Republican-led Wisconsin Legislature approved the fast-tracked right-to-work measure Friday, and Republican Gov. Scott Walker on Monday signed it into law. It prohibits organized labor from forcing all workers to pay union dues or fees.
In late February, Hoffman testified before the Wisconsin Legislature against the business-backed bill, saying it would create tension among his employees and would be an “unproductive distraction for our company.”
On Monday, Hoffman said the law will make it more difficult to gain skilled workers, which he depends on when calculating productivity in his bids.
“If I don’t get as productive a worker, it will ultimately cost me more. … In my opinion, there will be no savings to the owner, and no savings to the DOT in the long run,” Hoffman said.
According to its website, Hoffman works with the International Union of Operating Engineers Locals 139 and 49, along with some Minnesota unions.
Last week, Minnesota state Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, called Wisconsin’s right-to-work measure “heavy-handed and wrong” and said it would hurt business owners who want to work with unions.
He invited two Wisconsin companies that had spoken out against the bill to come to Minnesota, and he offered to help them make the move. One of them was Hoffman.
Garofalo declined to comment on the news late Monday evening.
Many Minnesota Republicans support right-to-work legislation, and some GOP lawmakers pushed for a right-to-work amendment to Minnesota’s constitution in 2012. It died in committee.
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger contributed to this report.
Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461. |
BY: Follow @cb0321
Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, said in a Fox News interview that if he runs for president in 2020, it will "probably" be as a Republican.
When asked in an interview with Harvey Levin on "Objectified" if he would run as a Democrat, Republican, or independent candidate, Cuban said, "probably Republican."
He added that his family is split on whether he should run for president.
"My kids love it, my wife hates it," Cuban said. "So that's an influencing factor. My family is everything to me."
When Levin asked how likely he was to run on a one to 10 scale, the billionare investor said "it's a four."
"If your wife says yes?" Levin asked.
"Five," Cuban said.
Cuban has talked previously about how he's considering a presidential run. The billionaire has said that for him to run, he would want to have solutions to offer voters—solutions on issues like tax reform that people could get behind.
"If it comes down to, ‘Do I think I can win because I can convince more people to vote for me?' Then no, I won't run," he said.
Watch the interview with Cuban here: |
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