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President Trump on Thursday blasted the media, saying it doesn't want to cover an Obama-era uranium deal with Russia. "Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn't want to follow!" Trump tweeted. Uranium deal to Russia, with Clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge, is the biggest story that Fake Media doesn't want to follow! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 19, 2017 ADVERTISEMENT The tweet comes after a report published by The Hill that the FBI had gathered substantial evidence of bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of the United States' uranium supply. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday sought permission to interview an FBI informant who helped agents uncover the scheme. Trump frequently targets the media, blasting networks for their coverage of his administration. Earlier this month, he said the broadcast licenses of networks should be challenged and revoked, if appropriate.
The jump follows a boom and bust in fine wines after the financial crisis, when Chinese buying exploded and then cooled. Now that prices have stabilized and the Chinese economy remains strong, buying has picked up again. Wealthy Chinese are not only scooping up the fine wines, but they've also developed a taste for vineyards, snapping up more than 100 chateaux in France's Bordeaux region. But wine prices are also being driven by strength from strong economies in the U.S., Europe and the rest of Asia. And Chinese buyers are becoming more expert buyers. "After the crisis, the Chinese buyers were buying high-value wines not because they liked them, but because they perceived those wines to be the ones to buy," said Andrew Shirley, who compiled the report for Knight Frank. "We saw that bubble pop. Now the Chinese wine buyers are more connoisseurs." Sotheby's led the global wine auction market last year, with total sales up 22 percent over 2015. It's sale of wines from the cellar of William Koch fetched $22 million, and a 10-bottle lot of 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild went for $343,000 – way above its $120,000 estimate. At the same time, classic cars are taking a spill. After dominating the collectible list for years, with hair-raising price increases, classic car prices grew only 2 percent over the past 12 months, according to Knight Frank. They fell to sixth place on the ranking of collectibles. "I think cars are in for a period of flatter growth," Shirley said. Art ranked second after wine, reporting growth of 7 percent. But given the recent strength of the market and some important masterpieces expected to come up for sale in the fall, art could end the year at the top spot. "Art buyers have become more selective," Shirley said. "But I wouldn't be surprised to see art end the year on top."
Trump Going in Wrong Direction by Reed Anfinson Publisher, Swift County Monitor-News Just when it appeared that Republicans were coming around to the reality of a changing climate and the role we all play in its devastating impact on our world, the party’s presumptive nominee Donald Trump chooses a climate skeptic as his new energy advisor. Trump named North Dakota’s Republican U.S. House Rep. Kevin Cramer to advise him on energy issues. Cramer has been a strong backer of oil and gas drilling. He has also been a big supporter of coal. When the Bakken oil was flowing, North Dakota saw substantial financial benefit from the unchecked expansion of wells across its northwest corner. He supports repealing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which is aimed at reducing America’s use of fossil fuels. “If in fact he (Obama) wants a more carbon-restrained energy policy, he ought to work with real scientists and work with Congress to come up with a better one,” Cramer said in a interview with Timothy Cama of Washington, D.C.’s The Hill. “The American public wants to see something done on climate change. But we don’t have to throw oil and gas and coal and fossil fuels under the bus to do that.” Those “real scientists” Cramer is referring to must be the 3 percent who deny climate change is caused by mankind, not the 97 percent who trust the irrefutable data that clearly shows the role we are playing by burning carbon fuels. Fossil fuels play a key role in providing energy to the country. They are reliable when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. But America, and the world, needs to invest more in clean energy power sources to slow the amount of carbon we spew into the atmosphere. Cramer also said that Trump might address global warming because “political populism believes that there needs [to be] some addressing of climate change.” In other words, his advice will be to do the minimal amount needed to placate popular sentiment among some of his supporters and critics. It’s a condescending pat on the head. Trump, who has been riding a wave of popular support among conservatives and people tired of the dysfunctional politics in Washington, is a firm non-believer in our role in the changing climate. One of the ways in which he communicates his thoughts on the issue, like many others, is through his constant Tweets. “Global warming is a total, and very expensive, hoax!” he Tweeted. “Any and all weather events are used by the global warming hoaxsters to justify higher taxes to save our planet!” another Trump Tweet said. “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” a third Tweet said. However, according to the Washington Post, he later said this one was just a joke. In a story for the web site Climate Wire, Evan Lehmann reported “the number of conservative voters who believe in climate change has almost doubled in the past two years, according to a new poll that attributes the rise in part to a lessening hostility toward the issue by Republican leaders.” Back in 2014, only two years ago, just 28 percent of Republican voters said they believed in climate change, but according to the new poll 47 percent now believe it. Yale and George Mason universities conducted the poll. Researchers attributed the change in attitude to fewer attacks on the science by Republican leaders, news of a record warm 2015, which is now being followed by a record warm 2016, and Pope Francis’ encyclical that clearly stated that mankind played a role in climate change and had a responsibility to address the problems it is causing. Continuing media coverage of the problems climate change is causing from the bleaching of the world’s coral reefs, to more severe storms, to the flooding of low-lying island nations, to higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, to longer droughts and more intense fire seasons, is also likely playing a role in the changing conservative voters’ attitudes. “In this presidential race, climate change hasn’t come up on the Republican side at all,” Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication told Climate Wire. “It means that none of the political discourse, the discussion among the Republican Party right now, is addressing climate change at all. That’s actually an improvement in the discourse.” While addressing climate is a back-burner issue for Republicans, and one they will likely continue to block progressive action on, it ranks high with Democrats. Climate Wire says that liberals see climate change as more important than “race relations, gun control, terrorism and Supreme Court nominations.” “I think the key number in this report is how it is a motivating issue for liberal Democrats,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) presidential campaign chair Christian Ferry. “I think if these trends continue, Republicans will find themselves out of step with voters who believe climate change is real,” he added. Climate change for many voters will not be the deciding factor in who they choose at the ballot box in November. But its role in how voters assess their support of a candidate is growing. Trump, however, continues to pander to a base that is clearly among the half of conservative voter who deny our climate is changing.
Reuters \| Jul 08, 2017 04:00 * Steel minister, SAIL execs to explore Teck mines in Canada * India seeks alternative supplies after Australia cyclone * SAIL exploring formula-based pricing deals with Teck By Neha Dasgupta NEW DELHI, July 8 (Reuters) - India is in talks with Canada's Teck Resources Ltd TECKb.TO , the largest North American producer of coking coal used to make steel, for long-term purchase agreements after a cyclonic disruption in Australia cut supplies earlier this year. India has joined top buyers China and Japan to scour new markets after a powerful cyclone hit Australia that knocked out rail lines carrying coking coal to ports for export, causing a surge in prices. Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh will be in Canada on Sunday along with executives of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) SAIL.NS for talks with Vancouver-based Teck over long-term, formula-based price deals, a top official in the steel ministry said, declining to be identified as the talks have not been made public. "Coking coal prices went haywire because of the natural calamity in Australia. There is every reason for India to not depend on only one source for coking coal," the official said, adding the Canadian government had called upon the Indian minister to visit the country's mines. SAIL and Teck may explore signing a preliminary agreement, the official said. At present, SAIL meets a little over three-fourths of its needs from BHP Billiton BLT.L , BHP.AX , the world's biggest shipper of coking coal, according to a second government official. India needs about 56 million to 57 million tonnes of coking coal every year, of which about 85 percent is imported. According to the government's newly-drafted National Steel Policy, India's coking coal requirements will more than double by the fiscal year ending in 2031. Executives from Teck Resources had visited India last month for preliminary discussions, said the two government officials. "Diversification is essential otherwise we are dependent on Australia and their supply sometimes becomes very volatile because of cyclones," said Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director at India's biggest steel producer, JSW Steel JSTL.NS . JSW sources 60 percent of its coking coal supplies from Australia and the rest from Mozambique, the United States and Canada. The steel minister's office and SAIL did not respond to Reuters' queries for comment. Steel plants use coking, or metallurgical, coal to fire blast furnaces and any shortfall can potentially close down production and risk damaging the furnaces. In 2016, India imported 46.7 million tonnes of coking coal, higher than China's 35.7 million tonnes but lower than Japan's imports of 53.4 million tonnes, according to Clarksons Research. India's steel policy, which aims to nearly triple the country's production capacity by fiscal year 2031, has also recommended measures to reduce the dependence on imported coking coal and develop domestic washeries.
This story has been updated to reflect events since it was initially published. A member of the grand jury that decided not to charge former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the August 2014 death of Michael Brown will not be able to share information about that experience. A St. Louis County judge dismissed the grand juror’s suit on Tuesday. Judge Ellen Ribaudo wrote that the juror had not shown why the state laws around grand jury secrecy should not apply in his or her case. And while prosecutor Bob McCulloch chose to make some evidence from the grand jury public, Ribaudo said, not every detail needed to be released. The unidentified juror wanted to speak about the experience to contribute to a dialog on race relations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, which is representing the juror, said it had not yet made a decision whether to appeal Ribaudo's dismissal, or bring the case in federal court. Last year, judge Rodney Sippel wrote that there was no need yet for a federal court to tackle the balance between the right to free speech and the tradition of grand jury secrecy. Our original story from May 2015, which was also updated as the story evolved. A grand juror is suing St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch in an effort to speak out on what happened in the Darren Wilson case. Under typical circumstances, grand jurors are prohibited by law from discussing cases they were involved in. The grand juror, referred to only as "Grand Juror Doe" in the lawsuit, takes issue with how McCulloch characterized the case. McCulloch released evidence presented to the grand jury and publicly discussed the case after the grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, then a Ferguson police officer, in the shooting death of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American. “In [the grand juror]’s view, the current information available about the grand jurors’ views is not entirely accurate — especially the implication that all grand jurors believed that there was no support for any charges,” the lawsuit says. (A grand jury's decision does not have to be unanimous.) “Moreover, the public characterization of the grand jurors’ view of witnesses and evidence does not accord with [Doe]’s own,” the lawsuit continued. “From [the grand juror]’s perspective, the investigation of Wilson had a stronger focus on the victim than in other cases presented to the grand jury.” Doe also believes the legal standards were conveyed in a “muddled” and “untimely” manner to the grand jury. In the lawsuit filed Monday in federal court, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri argues that this case is unique and that the usual reasons for requiring the jurors to maintain secrecy should not apply. In this specific case, “any interests furthered by maintaining grand jury secrecy are outweighed by the interests secured by the First Amendment,” the lawsuit says, adding that allowing the juror to speak would contribute to a discussion on race in America. As the grand juror points out in the lawsuit, the Wilson case was handled in a very different manner than other grand juries. Instead of recommending a charge, McCulloch's office presented thousands of pages worth of evidence and testimony before the grand jury. At one point, McCulloch's spokesman characterized the grand jury as co-investigators. “From [Doe]’s perspective, although the release of a large number of records provides an appearance of transparency, with heavy redactions and the absence of context, those records do not fully portray the proceedings before the grand jury,” the lawsuit says. McCulloch has done several interviews since the grand jury decision was announced on Nov. 24, but the grand jurors have been prohibited from speaking about the case. The county prosecutor admits that some of the witnesses were lying, but said the grand jurors were aware. The 12 people who could say for sure are currently sworn to secrecy. Although the county released redacted transcripts of witness and expert testimony, the grand jurors deliberated without a court reporter or member of the prosecutor’s office present. State law says that grand jurors shall not “disclose any evidence given” nor “the name of any witness who appeared before them,” adding that any juror who violates that is guilty of a misdemeanor. The ACLU is asking a judge to grant an injunction that prohibits enforcing those laws (or threatening to) in this case. The laws “prevent [the grand juror] from discussing truthful information about a matter of public significance,” the lawsuit says. “As applied in the circumstances of this case, the challenged laws act as a prior restraint on [Doe’s] expressive activity.” McCulloch's office declined to comment. Late Monday, the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund requested an investigation of the conduct of McCulloch's office. “Our review of these proceedings has raised grave legal concerns, including knowing presentation of false witness testimony, erroneous instructions on the law, and preferential treatment of Mr. Wilson by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office," Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF’s president said in a written statement. The organization is asking state Judge Maura McShane to look into the grand jury proceedings. "This process sets a bad precedent for our judicial system and diminishes the high standard that stewards of the law are supposed to uphold," Ifill said. Editor's note: In an unrelated case, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the ACLU were co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit with Chris McDaniel against the Missouri Department of Corrections for withholding public records. McDaniel is no longer an employee of the station, but wrote the original story. Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rlippmann
Web manga is booming in Japan and China, with many professional creators releasing their works online and mags like Shonen Jump using contests and web services to scout new talent. Now, you don't need to find a publisher or agent to get your work seen or bought, thanks to RegiMag's new manga service. RegiMag is a multimedia website allowing creators to sell ebooks, games, newsletters, professional advice, and more at their own price. The manga arm of the company opened officially this week, with pre-reg open to creators last May. More than 500 manga artists are already signed up, with a variety of original works ready to read. Creators have a lot of freedom when it comes to pricing, too. For example, they can make the first volume of a manga free and price the rest, or automate releases so that new chapters are free for the first week and then cost (with a minimum price point of 30 yen) going forward. Artists keep 70% of their income. Additionally, the website can analyze a reader's preferences and make regular suggestions, helping them find new creators to enjoy. RegiMag partnered with the college of Communication Arts in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka to help encourage and develop future manga artists. They aim to register 2,000 manga artists and release 10,000 titles in 2017. Check out their first crop of new titles at Manga RegiMag. Source: Anime! Anime! ----- Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, blogs and runs interviews for (Re)Generation Who and PotterVerse, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.
San Antonio's Manu Ginobili had to be vaccinated against rabies after catching a bat in a game on Halloween. He swatted the flying mammal out of the air with his left hand before casually scooping it up off the floor and giving it to an NBA court-side official. "When you can't dunk anymore, you've got to find some way to make it to the news," said guard Ginobili, who is one of the NBA's top trick-shot artists. The Spurs, who beat Sacramento 113-94, said the bat was unhurt and flew away. However, there are conflicting reports about its fate, with some suggesting it died. Ginobili, 32, claimed he had only stunned the animal but was put on a precautionary course of vaccinations because it was not tested for rabies before it disappeared. "We asked to see if it was dead," the Argentine stated. "They told me it flew away." 606: DEBATE What bizarre animal-related incidents have you seen at sporting events? BBC Sport's Peter Scrivener The bat interrupted the game in the first quarter before Ginobili, who scored 13 points in the victory, intervened. He added that he has learned something from his ordeal. "Kids, don't do this at home," he said. "Don't handle bats. Don't swat them. Don't do anything. Or raccoons." Only a small percentage of bats carry the rabies, which is generally transmitted through a bite - Ginobili was not bitten and has been showing no ill effects. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich commented: "Manu never ceases to amaze me and he just did it again. "The legend grows. It's incredible on Halloween night. You would call someone a liar if they told you that story." Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version
Among the Porsche crowd, early 356s – known as the Pre-A – are particularly desirable, as is often the case with cars closest to the start of a production run. Porsches like this 1953 356 here on eBay had a bent windshield, a rare sight among the plethora of 356s that have been parading across eBay recently in various states of disassembly and destruction. Now that we’ve established why this example is desirable in today’s market (as indicated by its $79,356 Buy-It-Now price), let’s look at the conundrum factor: this car is an original example done in the Outlaw style at some point in the ’80s, which only adds to its allure as a survivor, in my opinion. But in order to realize the huge return so many 356 collectors want to see, an early car like this would likely have to be restored back to original condition. That means eliminating the flared fenders, sourcing a numbers-matching engine, and essentially tracking down a boat-load of original parts. As the saying goes: is the juice worth the squeeze?
I’d argue the real dividing line is optimism. Consider this: Two-thirds of Hillary Clinton’s supporters think the next generation will be in better shape than we are today, or least the same, according to Pew Research. The reverse is true for Trump’s camp. Sixty-eight percent of his supporters think the next generation will be worse off. What’s more, the vast majority of Trump voters say life is worse today for people like them than it was 50 years ago. Only two percent —two!— think life is better now and that their children will also see improvement. What we’re seeing is a hope gap. And it turns out that hope isn’t necessarily linked to a person’s current circumstances. Folks living in a poor community can still believe their children’s lives will be better, and people working in a reasonably secure local economy can still despair for the future. Rothwell’s work suggests it’s the communities that have seen the least societal change that are most likely to support the New York billionaire—by and large, they have fewer immigrants, fewer lost jobs, fewer impacts from global trade. People who have lost something aren’t voting for Trump, at least not uniformly. It’s the people who think they’re about to lose something. For some time, I’ve mulled over why the poorly educated love Trump. The knee-jerk response from many (college-educated) Hillary Clinton supporters is simple: They’re dumb! Or more politely, we’re smart! Those Trump people just didn’t get enough schooling, the unspoken logic goes, to see through the billionaire’s bluster. This is demeaning and demonstrably false; Plenty of folks without college degrees support Clinton, after all. But I’ve always thought the lack of higher education was a proxy for something else, what a mathematician would call a “transitive property.” It doesn’t cause Trump support on its own. But it creates a situation where electing the Republican nominee makes sense. As it happens, high school graduates are the least hopeful Americans out there. Only a fifth think the next generation of Americans will have better lives, the lowest percentage of any demographic group, according to Pew. They’re also the most likely to think that they’d be better off living 50 years ago, when low-skill jobs in manufacturing were plentiful. And the picture for white high school graduates is probably even gloomier than Pew’s numbers show; their figures include black Americans, who are far more optimistic about the future and less nostalgic for the past. Could hope be the missing link between education and Trump? So maybe it isn’t about education, or poverty, or jobs. A voter’s choice may instead be more closely linked to how optimistic they feel about the future. Trump’s supporters view the global economic policies of the modern world as a Pandora’s Box: bright and shiny on the outside, disastrous when uncorked. But Clinton’s voters might better remember the end of the Greek myth. Once all the demons had escaped into the sky, the story goes, only one thing remained behind. It was hope, fluttering and fragile.
By By Kesavan Unnikrishnan Jun 5, 2015 in Environment A Montana camper saved a newborn moose and reported it to the park authorities so they could save the vulnerable creature’s life. But the authorities shot the newborn and blew it up with dynamite. Hohm wrapped the living calf in a blanket and took care of it and reported to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for its rehabilitation. He was later shocked to hear that forest service officials shot her dead, then blew up the carcasses with explosives to scatter the remains. Holm When I left the animal in their care... very shortly after, they shot it in the head. They didn't remove it from the premises, there were no tests taken, they simply waited for me to leave and they dispatched the animal.It's just unbelievable to me that that's how things are handled. It just sounds incredibly wrong.These guys are on our payroll to oversee the protection and well being of these animals and this is how we ‘manage wildlife. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks responded saying that they only followed protocol. Andrea Jones, spokeswoman of FWP We don’t move or rehabilitate moose.We rehabilitate bears but we are not staffed to take care of animals that transmit disease.The dead animals were then dynamited so that they wouldn’t draw grizzly bears to the campground.We are not grim reapers; we are in this business because we care about animals. In several other Josh Hohm of Bozeman,Montana spotted a newborn moose calf while on a trip to West Boulder Campground. The mother of the baby was found dead nearby along with another calf, both believed to have died during childbirth.Hohm wrapped the living calf in a blanket and took care of it and reported to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for its rehabilitation. He was later shocked to hear that forest service officials shot her dead, then blew up the carcasses with explosives to scatter the remains.Holm said that he was outraged and was saddened to see what his good intentions have led to.Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks responded saying that they only followed protocol. Andrea Jones, spokeswoman of FWP said In several other states , orphaned moose calves are often rehabilitated for release back into the wild with the help of private rehabs. More about Moose, Montana, Killed Moose Montana Killed
Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell believes running back C. J. Prosise can be an every-down back . . . if can stay healthy enough to play on Sundays. “Well we do have a definite role for him,” Bevell said of Prosise Tuesday. “My belief is that he can be an every-down back. But the proof is that he has to stay healthy. He hasn’t been able to do that yet. We got to have him for a 3-game streak last time, so we are looking for him to stay healthy.” Prosise was riddled with injuries his rookie season and only logged six games on the year. Sidelined now with an ankle injury, he has been inactive the past two games. In three games played this season, Prosise has managed eight carries for 20 yards and six receptions for 87 yards. The Seahawks’ run game, in general, has been inconsistent to start the season, and with running back Chris Carson lost to the injured reserve, has fallen flat. Last year’s starter, Thomas Rawls, battled an ankle sprain throughout the preseason, missed the opener against the Packers and was inactive against the Rams. Free agent acquisition, Eddie Lacy, a healthy scratch Week 2 against the 49ers, has just started to make a dent in the run game. J.D. McKissic has stepped up in Prosise’s absence and found success on the field. Is it time to give Prosise a shot in a bigger role if healthy? Perhaps, but Bevell is sticking with what he knows for now. “If he was able to do that, he definitely has the skill set to be able to be an every-down running back,” Bevell continued. “But as of right now, we are still using him in the 2-minute role, third-down back, and changeup kind of runner right now.” Related Player injury updates as Seahawks return from bye week
Just in case you forgot, Tom DeLay appeared on Hardball this afternoon to remind us just how much of a scumbag he is. Chris Matthews asks about the tone of the campaign and whether it's been appropriate. Of course not, Delay responds, McCain hasn't been assertive enough. Get that? McCain's campaign hasn't been sleazy enough according to this a$$hole. In order to make his case, DeLay goes down the laundry list of Obama smears, including but not limited to, he's a Marxist, a radical, a black liberation theologist, terrorist sympathizer, and Constitution-hater. Please don't watch this clip if you have high blood pressure. It should really go down in the Hall of Shame, something we can look back on in five or ten years from now and marvel at. "He must agree with the Marxist theology of black liberation theology." "I tagged Barack Obama as a Marxist months ago. [...] He's a Marxist, or a socialist at best." The AP, to their credit, does a great job of debunking DeLay's despicable smear of Obama re: his views on the Constitution. Whatever you may think of Tweety, he usually does a good job of smacking around wingnut Congressmen. For some reason, though, he always grovels at DeLay's feet. I just don't get it. I really don't get why any network (other than FOX, of course) would give this putz a platform to spew his crap.
Super T Offline Activity: 124 Merit: 100 Full MemberActivity: 124Merit: 100 Help spread the word - and read something interesting! October 23, 2013, 06:53:57 PM #1 So here's the deal, I work for Deloitte and I love Bitcoin. I have been trying to raise the profile of Bitcoin within the company for a while but for a global consultancy firm that actually works with most of today's largest banks, and which typically targets established market opportunities that offer a low risk profile - I gotta be honest it's a hard sell! Anyway - I've finally had an article approved for the Deloitte public blog, if I can drum up enough interest I might be able to convince the powers that be to let me write a white paper on Bitcoin, which in turn just might lead to a conversation happening between two people important enough to change the way a large organisation thinks about (or even uses) Bitcoin. I think that would be a good thing. My ask is this: 1. Read the blog: it's short, and you might even like it! 2. SHARE IT using the buttons on the page It is the SHARES that are measured, not the views, there is a quarterly in-house scoreboard and if I can top that list we'll be getting somewhere. http://blogs.deloitte.co.uk/customer/2013/10/bitcoin-currency-20.html?utm_source=email&utm_medium=social_media&utm_content=email1&utm_campaign=email_cus_to_bitcoin_virtual_currency I can't promise much in return, no children on the way any time soon but a possible cat on the horizon, if i can get 1000 shares i will name the cat Bitcoin. Thanks for your time So here's the deal, I work for Deloitte and I love Bitcoin.I have been trying to raise the profile of Bitcoin within the company for a while but for a global consultancy firm that actually worksmost of today's largest banks, and which typically targets established market opportunities that offer a low risk profile - I gotta be honest it's a hard sell!Anyway - I've finally had an article approved for the Deloitte public blog, if I can drum up enough interest I might be able to convince the powers that be to let me write a white paper on Bitcoin, which in turn just might lead to a conversation happening between two people important enough to change the way a large organisation thinks about (or even uses) Bitcoin. I think that would be a good thing.My ask is this:1. Read the blog: it's short, and you might even like it!2. SHARE IT using the buttons on the pageIt is the SHARES that are measured, not the views, there is a quarterly in-house scoreboard and if I can top that list we'll be getting somewhere.I can't promise much in return, no children on the way any time soon but a possible cat on the horizon, if i can get 1000 shares i will name the cat Bitcoin.Thanks for your time
Fort Smith police said Officer Scott Gordon was suspended without pay for a period 30 calendar days following a sexual harassment complaint from another officer. Advertisement Fort Smith officer suspended after sexual harassment complaint Officer told trainee he wanted to have sex with her Share Shares Copy Link Copy Fort Smith police said Officer Scott Gordon was suspended without pay for a period 30 calendar days following a complaint from another officer.According to the case files, a female officer in training made sexual harassment allegations against her training supervisor.Records state the female officer was on patrol with Training Officer Scott Gordon when Gordon told the trainee he "wanted to have sex with her and wanted to have an affair."The incident happened in September, and Lindsey said the suspension is the result of an internal investigation revealed that Gordon violated department rules."No sexual acts took place and nothing happened on duty. A request was made it was denied, and that was the end of it, " Chief Kevin Lindsey said. "This officer has been with the department since 2008 and up until this moment he has had a stellar record."Gordon has been with the department since April 2008.The release of this information is a result of the completion of the appeal process, according to Fort Smith police.Lindsey said his department has a zero tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment."Officers have to be held to a higher standard and for a sexual harassment charge, incidents of that nature, there is no tolerance for that," Lindsey said.But in this case, Lindsey said the no tolerance policy did not mean firing the patrol training officer.40/29 News has learned the 30 day suspension was actually 16 days.The police chief said since officers work four, 10-hour shifts each week, the unpaid work hours are equal to 30 calendar days.Lindsey said the unpaid suspension for that time period is the maximum penalty other than being fired.Gordon did not appeal the suspension.
Giants ‘impressed’ in meetings with Giancarlo Stanton, Shohei Ohtani Giancarlo Stanton loves to play at AT&T Park, and Shohei Ohtani loves Buster Posey’s “great aura.” Those were two of the takeaways in the Giants’ meetings with the two players they’re pursuing the most, according to general manager Bobby Evans in a Chronicle interview on Wednesday. Evans confirmed the Giants came to terms with the Marlins on a trade for Stanton that has contingencies, including the right fielder approving it. The Giants and Cardinals have been the most aggressive pursuers, though it’s believed Stanton, who has a full no-trade clause, is holding out for his hometown Dodgers to engage in serious talks. Evans also confirmed Stanton was in attendance when the Giants met with his camp last Thursday in Los Angeles. “He was very impressive,” Evans said. “Very attentive and responsive, and he had a good feel for what he wanted to hear from us. Obviously, this is a unique opportunity for him that he takes seriously and wants to do his homework. He commented on AT&T being one of his favorite parks, complimenting the fans and support we have here. He was very professional and very engaged.” Stanton, 28, is due $295 million over 10 years, and the Marlins want to move his contract while slashing payroll under a new ownership group that features Derek Jeter. Japanese pitcher-outfielder Shohei Otani arrives for a press conference at Japanese National Press Center in Tokyo, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Highly touted Japanese pitcher-outfielder Shohei Otani announced on Saturday he wants to move to Major League Baseball next season. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara) less Japanese pitcher-outfielder Shohei Otani arrives for a press conference at Japanese National Press Center in Tokyo, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017. Highly touted Japanese pitcher-outfielder Shohei Otani announced on ... more Photo: Koji Sasahara, Associated Press Photo: Koji Sasahara, Associated Press Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Giants ‘impressed’ in meetings with Giancarlo Stanton, Shohei Ohtani 1 / 5 Back to Gallery Asked about the belief Stanton prefers the Dodgers, Evans said, “I think he’s being very thoughtful about his decision, and it’s an important decision for him because he obviously has a lot vested here. He’s got to make a call on where he feels comfortable going. There are a lot of personal factors people don’t know about. We don’t necessarily know those personal factors as well.” Ohtani, 23, would be far cheaper. The team he chooses would pay a $20 million posting fee, and the Giants couldn’t pay more than a $300,000 signing bonus, according to international signing rules. The salary would be the major-league minimum of $545,000. Posey joined Evans, manager Bruce Bochy and other Giants executives for Monday’s Ohtani meeting, also in Los Angeles. “We scouted him back when he was 18 years old,” Evans said of the celebrated pitcher/hitter. “He was drafted, signed and developed as a player. He’s become a man, a very impressive young man with a great presence. “He was impressed by Buster’s great aura, and he and Boch had good, lighthearted exchanges. He’s clearly very thoughtful and taking this process very seriously and stepping up to make a big decision at a very young age.” The “great aura” line was delivered through Ohtani’s interpreter. “Just Buster’s presence,” explained Evans, “the fact Ohtani saw him play on TV and in the World Series, and there he is getting a chance to meet him. It was a very humble statement to make, but this kid is very humble and thoughtful.” Generally speaking, Evans envisions Ohtani initially being used as he was in Japan, where he made one start a week. That would require some adjusting by other starters, but the Giants are willing to make it work. Ohtani hasn’t played the outfield since 2014, serving mostly as a designated hitter, but Evans sees him getting time in the outfield and called him “very athletic with good foot speed.” After playing mostly right and a little left in Japan, Ohtani could also be viewed as a center fielder. “Some scouts see him being able to play all three very capably,” Evans said. “It’s a matter of what’s best for him.” Though Stanton and Ohtani might be on the front burner, the Giants continue to explore other options heading into next week’s winter meetings in Orlando. They need to reshape their outfield and find a third baseman and relief help while trying to improve their defense and power numbers. “We know it’s a long offseason,” Evans said. “All these things take time. Everything doesn’t get done overnight.” John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @JohnSheaHey Stanton at AT&T Giancarlo Stanton’s career stats at AT&T Park and his overall career stats:
The five heroic sex geckos sent into space on July 19 to study sexual reproduction in zero gravity died before returning to Earth on Monday, Russian officials said. It is unclear what they died of, or whether the intrepid geckos ever mated in space. Their tiny, partially mummified bodies were found within their enclosure aboard the small Foton-M4 spacecraft at the conclusion of their mission. "All geckos, unfortunately, died," the Russian Space Agency said in a statement. "The date and conditions of their deaths will be determined by specialists." See also: 12 facts about space that will rock your world The geckos gained international recognition in late July when Russia said it had lost contact with the satellite, raising the possibility that the experiments would be a failure and the geckos would orbit the earth for months before their food supply ran out. Communication was restored within a few days. But the satellite did change its orbital trajectory during that time, and it is unknown whether all of the life support systems remained functioning throughout the period. The satellite carried four female lizards and one lucky male. Russian scientists hoped the mating rituals of the lizards and characteristics of their eggs would allow them to learn more about how the lack of gravity affects sexual reproduction in space. The habitat for the Russian space geckos, seen before their launch in July. “The lizards died about a week before landing,” a representative of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biomedical Problems told the Russian news agency Itar-Tass. “It’s still too early to talk about the geckos’ cause of death,” the official added. According to a report in Russia's Interfax wire, the space agency will likely appoint an emergency commission to determine the animals' cause of death. The mission has, however, proved one kind of space sex can exist and thrive. The satellite was carrying other species, including fruit flies — which did successfully breed in space and survived the journey home. In addition, mushrooms and seeds were also aboard, according to The Guardian.
Jenn Nov 19, 2014 really liked it 's review spoiler alert Christopher Golden's "Bratva" is a fun ride. When I heard there was going to be a Sons of Anarchy novel, I knew I had to read it. I'm in my second viewing of the series, and once again obsessed with all things SAMCRO. This book read like a narrative episode. Set at the beginning of season 4, the boys have gotten out of prison and are just about to jump into the tumult that the cartel and Maureen Ashby's letters from John Teller bring to the club. Jax gets a frantic phone call from Maureen Ashby, telling him that Trinity, his newly discovered half-sister, has left home to be with her Russian mobster boyfriend in Nevada. This news is, of course, coming right after the club assassinates the entire Northern Cali wing of the Bratva, including Viktor Putlova, at Opie and Lyla's wedding. Worried about his sister's life and the possibility of her being used as leverage against the club by the Russians, Jax takes Chibs and Opie with him to Nevada in search of her, leaving their cuts at home to hide their affiliation with SAMCRO. The narrative perspectives shift mostly between Jax and Trinity, telling both sides of the story from two drastically different points of view. Golden really gets Jax, and we get a clear, deep understanding of where Jax is at at that crucial turning time as well as during the events of the novel. Trinity is basically a new character. Even when she was recurring in season 3, we didn't really get to know her. Golden does an amazing job of creating a deep, complex character with a sense of agency and ego. Trinity was raised around IRA violence, and she understands gangland loyalty and the rules of the underground, but she still maintains her compassion. Trinity was far and away my favorite part of the book. Despite the fact that the basic premise of the story is Maureen Ashby sending Jax on a fetch quest for her wayward daughter, Trinity manages to add depth and interest to the situation at hand. She isn't kidnapped, she willingly decides to stick with Oleg, her Bratva boyfriend. Her reasons for being there and her perspective on the trouble they get up to make reading her chapters extremely compelling. When the situation gets tough, she adapts. She knows the difference between what's necessary and what's gratuitous. She is, in short, a badass. I also really enjoyed diving into the Las Vegas charter of the Sons. The small charter has its own new characters and politics. Just a scene where a member is making eggs in their clubhouse kitchen, or the accommodation that traveling club members can expect was really interesting. Descriptions of it from Jax's perspective were fascinating to me, and their involvement in Jax's fetch quest both highlight and illustrate what the bond of brotherhood in the MC can really mean. My biggest problem was the suspension of disbelief. Trinity is a new character, and her personality is largely flushed out in this book. However, she's a girl who was born and raised in Northern Ireland by an IRA affiliated family. The IRA as it is portrayed in the show is extremely xenophobic and also street smart. Why would a girl from that world suddenly take up with a Russian mobster? Sure, you can't choose who you love, but surely she could have seen trouble written all over him. A lot can be attributed to the impulsiveness of youth, but she didn't seem to grow all that much in that way. Was she so desperately in love that she was willing to be an accessory to his organized crime lifestyle? We see her participating in their business and helping them with her Irish connections in the states. When I took her motivations and her reasoning at face value, I had no problem, but in the end the whole story happened because of her actions. As Jax would say, it was all "on her", yet no one really holds her responsible for the consequences. On the other hand, she's an independent adult who should be free to make her own decisions. How dare Jax agree to fetch her and send her back to Ireland? His commitment to her safety, his promise to her mother, and the possible threat to SAMCRO are apparently more important than Trinity's own wants and ambitions. Since Trinity's reveal as Jax's half-sister, I had hoped that she would return to the show in some capacity. There is so much untapped story potential in her and her relationship with Jax, and I am glad that she got to star in the first Sons of Anarchy novel. It was the Sons being the Sons, complete with everything one would expect that to entail. We got a little more back story on the Russians and a bit more insight into the last living child of John Teller. Fans of the show, especially those that miss Opie as much as I do, will find something to like in this book. I read it via audio book, which was narrated expertly - accents and all - by Peter Berkrot.
Two years in the making, alternative rock band Coldplay’s new album, essentially a concept piece about Chris Martin’s break-up with Gwyneth Paltrow, has certainly garnered a number of extremely favourable reviews. In today’s harsh critical climate when major groups can expect to be torn to pieces by a fearless music press regardless of the consequences, that’s remarkable indeed. It’s all the more remarkable given that all things considered, Ghost Stories is from its arse to its f*ing elbow, one, long stagnant fing pool of premium grade fing cockwash! I would rather chew off my fing scrotum than ever listen again to this boneless fing melange of morose fing piss-shit! I would rather eat an entire fing yurt, washed down with fing beige paint recently shat out of an incontinent yak’s anus! Put it this way; so remorselessly insubstantial is this album that if it were submitted to the fing British Homeopathic Association as a fing potential remedy, they’d fing knock it back, saying: “No good, mate. You’ve over-diluted it, you silly twat!” Never in human fing history, since fish first slithered onto the fing land and sprouted limbs has there been a more nondescript fing decade than the fing Noughties and never has there been a more nondescript fing group than those gelatinous clords Coldplay! They made Dido sound like Bessie fing Smith! They filled the giant fing void in pop culture in the early 21st century because they are a giant fing void! Somehow, Martin’s knack for trudging up and down a keyboard like a middle aged man in fing chinos strolling to the fing corner shop to buy the fing Daily Express while singing like he’d just been kneed in the fing bollocks caught the zeitgeist of the dullest, do-nothing, think-wishfully generation of all fing time! In the rock & roll hall of fame they sit near the fing exit like a fing birch veneer occasional fing table! Getting excited about fing Coldplay is like getting excited about the fing Liberal Democrat Spring conference! Anyway, Martin got married to fing Gwyneth Paltrow, that ghastly, gulping, giraffe-necked, sick-making long drink of carb-averse goop, they created their own fing hole in the fing ozone layer flying around the world with Martin warbling about how concerned they were about the fing environment, spawned a couple of sprogs and saddled them with life-ruining names, promoted every fing vapid strain of spiritual, anti-materialist New Age nonsense while raking in the fing ackers like whorehounds and then finally “consciously uncoupled”, though it’s a fing wonder either of them could stay fing conscious in each other’s company at all, given that they’re the two most testicle-achingly fing tedious people on earth! And now Chris is sad. He feels like shit. And he’s perfectly conveyed that unremittingly fing excremental condition on fing Ghost Stories! So, track one 'Always In My Head' sets the fing dolorous tone. “I think of you/I haven’t slept.”, whines Martin, while fing George, Ringo and Ringo or whoever the f* the other three are try not to fall asleep at their f*ing instruments. Next up, 'Magic'. No, sorry, it’s not about actual magic. Tommy fing Cooper retrieving the fing ace of spades from a pack using a fing blindfolded wooden duck, not that. Nothing remotely entertaining. No, as fing ever, Chris Martin’s here to suck all the fing joy out of the room like a giant fing Happiness Hoover! A wan swirl of keyboards, like that pink water you get at the fing dentist’s swilling down a fing metal hole, and Chris is all about how he fing “can’t get over” you know who. At which point you have to say: For f’s sake, why, man? Gwyneth Paltrow no longer being in your life is like having a 14 inch long celery stick that’s been stuck up your arse for years surgically removed! You should be fing delirious! This album should be a series of fing honky-tonk piano-driven upbeat bangers with titles like 'Wahoo!' and 'Thank F* Almighty, Free At Last!' and 'I Don’t Have To Knit My Breakfast No More!', all accompanied to the sound of six-shooters fired into the f*ing ceiling with both hands! All your fing friends hated her, were you not aware of that? But no, Chris is sad, so on we fing crawl through the cesspools of fing self-pity. “All I know is I love you/so much it hurts.” (yep, that stench coming from Stratford-Upon-Avon isn’t the drains, it’s fing Shakespeare shitting himself in his grave). I’d suggest you drown your fing sorrows, Chris, but it’d probably be best all round if you fing drowned yourself! Next up; 'True Love', to a tune akin to watered down elephant smegma slowly dripping into a fing plastic bucket. “I wish you could have let me know/What’s really going on below.” No, kids, he doesn’t mean genitalia. Martin and Paltrow are like 1930s Disney nymphs, they don’t fing have genitalia. He means fing feelings, the c. Cue also the worst, truncated fing guitar solo in fing history - like a dying kitten mewing for help, then remembering that this is a world with fing Coldplay in it and deciding not to fing bother. Now “Midnight” - and guess what? Chris is alone, alone. I’m not fing surprised. Any evening out with him’s gonna be a fing brief one, with mates making their excuses and back home in time for fing Channel 4 News! 'Another’s Arms' begins with an androgynous, anaemic yelp that is quite possibly the whitest moment in all of popular fing culture. Shirley fing Temple serenading the fing Ku Klux Klan with 'White Christmas' during a fing snowstorm could scarcely be any fing whiter. Next 'Oceans'. Seriously, just f* off, you insufferable f*ing streak of twatrot! 'A Sky Full Of Stars' breaks into a disco house groove but it’s funkless like a fing HSBC staff party - “wave your arms in the air, finish your fing mineral water and be back at your desks at 7.15 sharp tomorrow morning!” And so the album wends on - imagine Christ, instead of having to carry the fing cross to fing Calvary having to carry a giant, ten foot long flaccid penis instead - that’s how listening to this fing album feels by this stage! Finally, the fing title track itself. Chris wonders if he himself is “just a ghost”. Tell you what, Martin, you woeful fing waste of a snail’s time, here’s one way of fing finding out - why not run into that fing brick wall head first? Twenty times, just to be fing sure? There was another track but the fing CD physically fing evaporated before I could play it. Coldplay? Cgrey, more like! There’s only one fing substance on this earth more colourless and full of fing nothing than Ghost Stories and that’s f**ing Gwyneth Paltrow’s urine!
Get the biggest football stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email David Beckham is set to make a major announcement on the future of his Miami-based MLS franchise before the end of March, writes Tom Hopkinson in the Sunday People. The former England captain is finalising plans over club colours and his team's name, as well as ensuring the right sponsors and investors are all on board. A stadium site is still yet to be identified but the likelihood is that the franchise, which is due to come into existence in 2016, will groundshare for at least one season. Two proposed waterfront sites have been rejected by Miami officials and, as a result, Beckham could now look to the Florida International University campus while the franchise establishes itself. (Image: Miami’s Arquitectonica and 360 Architecture) One local politician, county commissioner Juan C. Zapata, who is a supporter of Beckham's, will push forward the idea of playing at the FIU Stadium. He said: "It makes it easier to sell a known product. And it doesn't look good for us to not be proactive. "Until we figure out a stadium plan, I think we've got to get a team on the field."
Lucas Jackson / Reuters A woman and child walk through an aisle, emptied in preparation for Hurricane Sandy, in a Wal-Mart store in Riverhead, N.Y. The biggest threat to the economy will come from flooding, experts say. It’s not the wind, it’s the water. The long-term, potentially catastrophic damage from Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the Northeast will most likely come from the unusually strong and potentially deadly storm surge that forecasters say will be much larger than past storms to hit the region. "If the forecasts hold true in terms of the amount of rainfall and the amount of coastal flooding, that's going to be what drives up the losses and that's what's going to hurt," said Susan Cutter, director of the hazards and vulnerability research institute at the University of South Carolina. But it's not all bad news, experts say. What the economy loses in the short term can often made up in the cleanup and the rebuilding afterwards. The surge is expected to threaten inland and coastal flood zones across most of the Northeast, including all of Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and Connecticut; most of Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont; and parts of northeastern Ohio, eastern Virginia, North Carolina, and western New Hampshire. About 50 million to 60 million people, along with trillions of dollars worth of property, are in the path of the storm. At Category 1, Sandy's winds are not unusually strong for a hurricane. The unusual energy propelling the surge, forecasters say, will come from storm’s large size, as it churns up a wide swath of ocean along with higher-than-normal tides that typically accompany Monday's full moon. The result is peak surge heights forecasted at 4 to 8 feet along the coast from North Carolina to Cape Cod. The surge may climb to 11 feet in bodies of water that concentrate its impact, including the Long Island Sound, Raritan Bay, and New York harbor, according to the National Weather Service. A tidal surge carries much more force, and produces more damage, than wind because water is so much heavier. The destructive power is compounded by the momentum of heavy objects like cars, boats, trees and other debris. In Manhattan, where flood walls are five feet above mean sea level, a near-record surge of 11 feet could inundate parts of the subway system, according to Air-Worldwide, an insurance consulting firm. (All public transportation in the region was suspended Sunday afternoon. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said two major arteries into the city -- the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Holland Tunnel -- would close as of 2 p.m. Monday.) The financial markets in New York also closed Monday, the first weather-related shutdown in 27 years. While the closing, by itself, is not expected to impact stock prices, uncertainty about the storm's aftermath could weigh on investors. CNBC: How Hurricane Sandy will affect investors With just a week left before the election, the storm also could leave political fallout in its wake, especially if the damage is severe and the response by President Barack Obama administration's draws criticism from his opponent, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney. The storm has yet to make landfall, so the potential cost of property damage is difficult to estimate. But the total value of insured coastal properties vulnerable to hurricane damage, in New York state alone, amounts to some $2.7 trillion, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Some 90 percent of natural disasters in the U.S. involve flooding, according to the National Flood Insurance Program. Though mortgage lenders require property owners to buy flood insurance, there were some 5.7 million flood insurance policies in force in 2010, according to the latest data available from the III. For those with policies, not all flood-related losses are covered. Total estimated losses for Hurricane Katrina came to $46.6 billion, but flood insurance payouts came to less than half that amount. Analysts say that, with $500 billion of capital, the global insurance industry is financially prepared to weather the storm. Wider economic losses are more difficult to estimate, but with offices, factories, refineries, stores, restaurants and transportation shut down along the eastern seaboard, the storm has already cost millions of dollars in lost output, productivity and consumer spending. That impact likely will be reversed once the clean-up and rebuilding begins, according to John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment firm. “We will probably see an employment surge in construction, skilled trades and other professions needed to help repair the damage,” he said. “There will also be an increase in business and consumer spending and companies and homeowners replace damaged equipment, household items, etc.” Some of that pickup in spending is already happening. “Obviously there's a lot of cash registers ringing and our stores are very, very busy,” said Douglas Spiron, head of Home Depot’s storm response. “It's good for the economy, absolutely.” More business news: Follow NBCNews.com business on Twitter and Facebook
A woman who accused the Internal Revenue Service of driving her husband to suicide said today that the agency had agreed to settle her $1 million lawsuit by eliminating her tax debt of more than $400,000 and letting her keep her home. ''What happened to me could have happened to any taxpayer,'' said the woman, Shirley Barron. ''I hope my story will influence lawmakers.'' The Barron case, one of the first lawsuits filed under a 1996 amendment to the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, was cited last fall during Senate hearings into abuses by the agency. The Senate is holding another round of hearings now. Mrs. Barron's husband, Bruce, a 47-year-old lawyer, killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage in 1996 after learning that a bank was foreclosing on the couple's home in Derry because the I.R.S. had placed a lien on it. Advertisement Continue reading the main story In a suicide note, he blamed the agency and the bank, saying they are ''bigger than me.'' He went on to write: ''One sits, does nothing, and watches you die. One needs to clear its books.''
Was chosen as the Best Villain for the highly anticipated "Batman Begins" (2005) at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards show held on June 3rd. Is a keen environmental and social worker in various organizations, such as Greenpeace, WWF, Ark Trust, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Redwings Sanctuary and Happy Child Mission. Is an outstanding horseman and keen reader. Backed out from formal acting lesson at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) when he was twenty and chose to focus on working only to regret it later. Decided not to perform his promotional interviews for the movie "Batman Begins" (2005) in his native mixed Welsh-British accent because Batman was such an 'American icon'. His two big roles, Bateman in "American Psycho" (2000) and Batman in "Batman Begins" (2005) differ in a single letter. Was a runner for the role of Dick Grayson aka Robin in "Batman Forever" (1995) but Chris O'Donnell eventually got it. Only consumed a single vitamin from a nutritionist, ate salads and apples, chewed gum, smoked cigarettes, and drank nonfat lattes for his role in "The Machinist" (2004). Was the seventh actor to play Bruce Wayne aka Batman, the youngest and the first non-American to portray the character. Was introduced to his wife, Sibi Blazic by Winona Ryder. Blazic was Ryder's personal assistant. Had a 10 weeks course of dancing for his act in "Newsies" (1992) and martial arts for his role in "Swing Kids" (1993). Used to have a house in Manhattan Beach, which he shared with his sister, Louise Bale. Loves animals and picks two stray dogs and three stray cats that become his pets. Has an ear for accents and had changed his accents throughout his different movies. His father suffered from brain lymphoma and died at the age of 62. His stepmother, Gloria Steinem is a feminist author. His sister, Louise Bale is an award-winning theatre director and actor and also appeared in "Newsies" (1992). His grandfather was a stand-up comic and children's entertainer while his great-uncle, Rex Bale, was an actor.
India Vs Pakistan World Cup 2015— The Big Game Analytics Sam Palani Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 12, 2015 If you follow Cricket in any form, you probably know that it does not get bigger than this — An India Vs Pakistan match, that too in a World Cup Tournament. Emotions run high both on and off the field, here however we will keep emotions aside and have a look at what the data has to offer. Prologue Data : Data includes all One Day Internationals played from 1975, roughly over half a million batting, bowling and fielding records. Where ever possible the complete data set is used without any sampling. Technology : As usual I have kept all the collection, aggregation and clean-up in Python & standard UNIX scripts. My choice of storage — mongoDB. All analytics and visualizations are in Python & R. Let’s just dig in. India Vs Pakistan Head-on ODIs The two teams don’t play each other that often, but when they do it’s everything but boring. Pakistan has a clear edge on this one, but in recent times India has done well at good closing that gap. I have deliberately not subsetted World Cup matches between India & Pakistan as that is highly skewed with India winning all of them. The Adelaide Now zooming into the matches played at the Adelaide based on the result and scores. Australia has played and won the maximum matches here. No surprises here with Adelaide being their home ground. Coming to India Vs Pakistan, India has done reasonably well here having played and won more matches than Pakistan. They also have a higher scoring rate compared to Pakistan at Adelaide. So this one goes to India. Batting First Vs Chasing Interestingly teams batting first have won more matches than when compared with chasing scores. So an importnat toss to win? Maybe, but first lets dig more. However let’s also look at how the batsmen from both the teams perform batting first Vs chasing. Indian batsmen seem to perform better chasing scores,while Pakistan batsmen seem to do well batting first. However the median score of the Pakistan batsmen is considerably lower when they bat first. Pakistan just might want to chase at a set total if they win the toss. India Pakistan ODI Scores at Adelaide Let’s look at how these two teams perform at Adelaide against the average. If you thought the two teams were inconsistent, the above proves that to an extent. However both the teams have been over the average score at Adelaide (around 220) most of the times. As far as edging out each other, they are pretty much even. India Pakistan ODI Results At Adelaide Now looking at the India Pakistan match outcomes at Adelaide against all the team. India has the edge here having won 7 of their matches as opposed to Pakistan who have won 5. Both the teams have played against each other here once before, a contest that India won. So the edge on this one goes to India. The Scoring Batsmen Now let’s go over the runs the batsmen from both the teams have scored during the current season. The current season here is the last 12 months. India is known for its strong batting line-up, so no surprises here that their batsmen have accumulated more runs over the last season compared to Pakistan. The top run getter for India — Rahane and the Ahmed Shehzad leading the race for Pakistan. The worry for Pakistan is variance between him and the others is high. In other words most of the Pakistan batsmen have not been among the runs during the current season. An Indian edge? perhaps. The Top Order Looking at how consistent the top order has been in the current season The top order for both the teams have been fairly inconsistent for the current season, however unfortunately for India their batsmen have been out of form leading up the big game. A slight edge to Pakistan specially after their sucessful chasedown of England during the warm-up game. The Bowlers Pakistan is known to be a better bowling side, but interestingly the data from the current season puts both the teams at level if you just go by the economy rate with Saeed Ajmal the top bowler Pakistan just doing marginally well compared to STR Binny who was India’s most economical bowler in the current season. Wickets stop scoring too, so let’s take a look at the leading wicket takers from both the teams. M Shami being the leading wicket taker for India, followed by R Ashwin and R Jadeja. For Pakistan suprisingly Afridi was the leading wicket taker for the current season. Summary If you look at the numbers alone then you would be tempted to give India the advantage, but an important factor here is that Pakistan did not play as many ODIs as India did during the current season. So if I were to place my money , I would say it’s pretty much an even contest and anything but boring or one sided with probably a very slight edge to India.
One of the nation’s most influential conservative groups is endorsing bipartisan Congressional legislation to give marijuana businesses a tax cut or, more accurately, to tax them just like any other business. Under an obscure federal tax provision known as 280E, cannabis providers are not allowed to take business expense deductions that are available to companies in other industries. But that could change under one of several proposals in Congress this year, and with the support of a top GOP-connected insider. “The fact is, marijuana businesses that are operating legally should be entitled to the same deductions and credits under the tax code as any other business,” Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, wrote in a letter to lawmakers. A bill sponsored by Congressman Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) would prevent the 280E penalty from being applied to cannabis businesses that operate legally in accordance with state law. The legislation currently has six other cosponsors, all Democrats. And Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY) filed a companion bill in the U.S. Senate, along with two other Democratic cosponsors. “Passage of the Small Business Tax Equity Act will remove the arbitrary and punitive measures of the tax code that treat legal marijuana businesses as illegal,” Norquist wrote, referring to the 280E bills. “All members of Congress should have no hesitation supporting and co-sponsoring this important legislation.” The anti-tax crusader suggested previously that a 280E fix could also be tacked on to broader tax reform legislation that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are expected to reveal this week. Norquist said he’s already discussed the issue with House and Senate leadership, and believes there’s a good shot to include the marijuana language in the comprehensive tax bill “if some of the libertarian Republicans made that a condition of voting for the whole package.” The 280E provision was enacted in 1982 in an effort to stop drug traffickers from taking tax credits and deductions on private yachts and the like. “Today, it is hitting legal businesses across the country resulting in federal income tax rates close to 90 percent,” Norquist wrote in a letter to Curbelo and Blumenauer last month.
Pioneer Dad was cooking crockpot stew last night, the all day version of course, and forgot about dinner rolls. It turned into panic time! Looking for a fast solution I found this in my trusty recipe box. It worked flawlessly. Tasty rolls in just an hour. The recipe is easy to prepare and doesn’t require a bakery chef. The rolls go from the pantry to the table in 60 minutes. They’re soft, fluffy, and actually taste superior to grocery store rolls. The 1-hour rolls are great as buns for sliders also. This recipe makes approximately 24 rolls, depending on how large you make them. Ingredients 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. dry yeast 1/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups warm milk (or half and half) 1 tsp. salt 1/4 cup melted butter 4 cups flour (King Arthur bread flour is my first choice) Directions 1. Pre-heat the oven to 375. 3. Heat the milk but do not scald. 4. Combine the yeast, sugar and warm milk, stir and let stand for 15 minutes. The yeast should be active and bubbling by now. 5. Stir in remaining ingredients until well blended (I use a Kitchen-Aid Artisan mixer) 6. Cover and let rise 20 minutes until doubled in size. 7. Pinch off egg sized pieces and roll between your palms to smooth. Or, roll the dough into a sheet and use a round pastry cutter to shape into rolls. 8. Place the rolls on a lightly greased half sheet cake pan (about 13” x 18”) and bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Variations For herb flavored rolls add 2 tsp. crumbled, dried rosemary, or 2 Tbsp. freshly chopped thyme or 2 tsp. Herbs de Provence all make a good alternative. Pioneer Dad secret tip; I prefer to take the Herbs de Provence add a pinch of rock salt and grind it into a powder with a mortar and pestle. This hides the texture and puzzles my dinner guests how I added the mysterious flavor.
Thirty U.S. companies — including software giant Adobe, TechCrunch owner AOL and SaaS CRM purveyor Salesforce.com — have been identified as in probable violation of a EU-US agreement aimed at safeguarding personal data transfers in a complaint filed with the FTC by US consumer privacy rights NGO the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD). The Safe Harbour agreement between the EU and the U..S governs the transatlantic transfer of personal data for commercial purposes — such as for cloud-based digital services where EU citizens’ data is stored and processed in the US. An agreement is necessary for personal data to flow from Europe to the US because the EU has a more formalised system of privacy legislation than the US. The FTC enforces Safe Harbour certifications in the US. The list of companies named in the filing includes: Acxiom, Adara Media, Adobe, Adometry, Alterian, AOL, AppNexus, Bizo, BlueKai, Criteo, Datalogix, DataXu, EveryScreen Media, ExactTarget, Gigya, HasOffers, Jumptap, Lithium, Lotame, Marketo, MediaMath, Merkle, Neustar, PubMatic, Salesforce.com, SDL, SpredFast, Sprinklr, Turn, and Xaxis. The named companies include data brokers, data management platforms and profilers and mobile marketers — in other words, companies who make it their business to join digital dots of personal information to flesh out detailed profiles of consumers to sell on to advertisers. The CDD says its filing provides “factual information and legal analysis on probable violations of Safe Harbor commitments that materially mislead EU consumers”. “The commercial surveillance of EU consumers by U.S. companies, without consumer awareness or meaningful consent, contradicts the fundamental rights of EU citizens and European data protection laws, and also violates the intention of the Safe Harbor mechanism to adequately protect EU consumers’ personal information,” the CDD notes in an executive summary of its filing. “The U.S. is failing to keep its privacy promise to Europe,” added Jeff Chester, CDD’s executive director in a statement. “Instead of ensuring that the U.S. lives up to its commitment to protect EU consumers, our investigation found that there is little oversight and enforcement by the FTC. The Big Data-driven companies in our complaint use Safe Harbor as a shield to further their information-gathering practices without serious scrutiny. “Companies are relying on exceedingly brief, vague, or obtuse descriptions of their data collection practices, even though Safe Harbor requires meaningful transparency and candor. Our investigation found that many of the companies are involved with a web of powerful multiple data broker partners who, unknown to the EU public, pool their data on individuals so they can be profiled and targeted online.” The Safe Harbour agreement dates back to 2000 and generally requires US companies to adhere to a set of E.U. personal data protection principles — such as informing citizens that their data is being collected and how it will be used. However the agreement has come under sustained criticism in recent times, especially since the Snowden revelations revealed the extent of US intelligence agencies’ dragnet surveillance programs. One problem is the Safe Harbour agreement allows for certain limitations in the interests of national security — a loophole which has evidently been massively exploited by the NSA and its ilk, calling the whole agreement into question. Critics have also argued Safe Harbour is lax and weak, since it allows US companies to voluntarily self certify and therefore hardly offers copper-bottomed data protection safeguards. The idea that Safe Harbour might not actually be so safe led the European Commission to review the agreement in November last year — and put forward a series of recommendations to improve it, with the ongoing threat of suspension of the agreement if the US does not take legislative action to shore up data issues. The CDD’s filing, which requests the FTC investigate the named companies, piles more pressure on for reform — given the scope of the problems it has apparently identified. “FTC should investigate these companies’ practices using its subpoena authority and other methods of investigation,” writes the CDD. “When FTC holds these data marketing and profiling companies’ practices up against their public statements to DOC and consumers, it seems likely (based on how these companies differently describe themselves to clients) that the agency will find numerous deceptive misstatements. If such violations are found, FTC should make sure these companies cannot continue in the Safe Harbor program without first addressing all violations, and submitting to active oversight.” The CDD argues that the activity of the named companies is putting EU consumers’ privacy at risk owing to their use of “unique identifiers and sophisticated tracking and analysis”. “They use such data sources as public records, census data, online tracking technologies, consumer trailing through mobile devices (following users both in the physical world and online), and many other sources. These companies add to this information through a variety of data sources, which can include sensitive information such as addresses, past purchase history, income, demographics, and family structure. A common feature of the business practices of nearly all the companies cited in this complaint is the involvement of an array of third-party data brokers and other information providers, who supply rich data sets used for the profiling and targeting of EU consumers. All of the companies, we believe, fall far short of the commitments they have made under the Safe Harbor,” it adds. Specifically, the filing lists three main “patterns of deception” common to the listed companies which it urges the FTC to investigate: firstly that the companies are misstating their actual purposes and practices of data collection and use — so being insufficiently transparent; secondly that they are misrepresenting legal facts of importance to EU consumers, such as by claiming they are not data controllers; and thirdly by merging with and acquiring other companies to expand their data collection and profiling abilities — but not updating their Safe Harbour disclosures. “FTC has a clear duty to enforce the framework against companies that demonstrate a pattern of violation despite self-certification and claims to abide by the principles. FTC should open investigations on these data marketing and profiling companies and stand by its enforcement commitments made when the Safe Harbor was first approved, as well as FTC commissioners’ ongoing assurances of the validity and importance of such enforcement,” it adds. We’ve reached out to AOL for a response to the filing’s claims and will update this post with any response. [Image by Philippe Teuwen via Flickr]
If you ever wanted to home brew your own wine but thought it seemed too complicated here is a great way to get a first batch going with very little fuss and very little cost. You won’t have to order anything special and in no time at all you will have about four bottles of wine that you made yourself. First let’s take a trip to the supermarket. Does this cheap, easy and fast recipe really work? It sure does. I got an email from somebody who tried it. Here is a quote of what he had to say about this process: " Will, After reading your page I was inspired to try making mead. It looked so simple. Besides the store bought mead that we can buy around Minneapolis doesn't even taste like mead. I just have to say that I used your suggested method of making mead and was shocked. I made sure I bought only things available in my local Cub super market and I created 3 one gallon batches, one with vanilla, one with mint and one with pomegranate juice. I substituted apple juice for some of the water also. The result after 6 months was 3 batches of clear mead that tasted great. I did add a few tablespoons of honey into each bottle at the end to give it a little raw sweetness. The taste is very similar to the mead sold at a local fair for $5 a 6 ounce glass, where my mead only cost me about 50 cents for the same glass full. My friends that are "Mead Masters" are amazed that I got the results I did without any boiling, chemicals, carboys, airlocks or expensive yeasts. In fact one friend was so impressed that he gave me a five gallon carboy and airlock so I can use the recipe on a larger scale. " -Jim (DragonMyst) Here is a picture of everything you need. This pic was submitted by Andy who is now officially a Mead Maker. Thanks Andy! Ingredients List to purchase from the Supermarket: 1 Gallon of Spring Water (room temperature, do not get refrigerated) 3 pounds of honey – pure unprocessed 1 bag of balloons big enough to stretch over the mouth of the spring water jug 1 package of Fleishmann’s Yeast 1 box of raisins 1 Orange Here are some suggestions for variations in this recipe If you can't get Fleishmann's Yeast here are some perfectly suitable alternates: Narbonne Yeast (Lalvin 71B-1122), Lalvin D-47, or Montpelier Lalvin (K1V-1116) If you would like to add a bit of spice to this recipe you could add 1 or 2 cloves. But be careful, they are very strong so don't put more than 2. How to make the Mead Pour about half of the water into a clean container then slice up your orange into eighth’s and put the slices, honey, twenty-five raisins, and the yeast into the jug. Pour some water back into the jug so the level is a couple of inches from the top then put the cap on it and shake it up well. If you can, you should shake it for a good five minutes. This will aerate the mixture. The yeast really needs lots of oxygen to grow vigorously. Now poke a pinhole in the top of the balloon, remove the cap from your jug and put the balloon right over the mouth of the jug. Stretch the open end of the balloon right over the jug so that as the gases form inside the jug they will inflate the balloon. Put a rubber band or tape around the neck to keep it firmly in place -if it feels like it might come off. Leave it out on a counter for the first day so you can monitor it. (Note: The balloon can age and oxidize over time so you should inspect it regularly to make sure it doesn't break down and develop cracks. If it seems like it is breaking down replace it with a new balloon! - My thanks to Tim for submitting this tip) What will happen next? Somewhere between an hour and twenty-four hours later the balloon will start to inflate. This is a great sign and it means that your yeast is transforming the contents of the jug into wine. Gases are forming inside the jug and are escaping through the pinhole. This setup insures gases escape but no contaminants get into your brew. If the balloon is getting big you may need to poke another hole or two in it. You don’t want it to burst. It would leave your mead open to contamination. Once you are satisfied that the gases are escaping and the balloon is not under unusual stress you can set the jug in a cool dry place like a kitchen cabinet or closet shelf. Check on it every day if you can just to make sure it is ok and the balloon hasn’t popped off. After two to three weeks the major portion of the ferment will be done and the balloon will be limp. At this point you can taste a little bit to see how it is coming along but it isn’t really a tasty wine at this point. It will need another couple of months to start to get delicious. Over time, as you check on it you will notice that the cloudiness disappears and it slowly clarifies and transforms into wine. The Orange and the raisins can stay in the mixture for the whole duration but if you want to make the mead a little milder and help it clarify faster you can transfer the liquid into another gallon jug and place the balloon on that one. This would be after the two to three week ferment period has completed. This process is called racking and it will move your mead along nicely. Here is a picture of the completed batch. Now it is time to just sit back and watch the yeast do its thing! Pic submitted by Andy. Some Tips You can make the honey easier to pour by letting it stand in a sink or bowl of warm water. And you can experiment with the flavor a bit by adding a cinnamon stick or a pinch of nutmeg to the batch when you add the orange. Don’t leave out the raisins. They are not there for taste. They are a necessary food for the yeast because honey is a bit low in the nutrients that yeast like. If the honey is a bit expensive you can cut this down to two pounds. Any quantity between two and three and a half pounds will work well and the more honey you put the sweeter the mead will be. But, the more honey you put the longer it will take to mature. Finally Be patient and taste your mead every few weeks. It should be really clear and delicious after a few months. It will continue to age and improve over a long period of time so the longer you wait the better it will get. If you are struggling with this then you should probably make another batch! Try to wait six months if you can! Addendum to this tutorial on mead making:The importance of Sanitation One of the most important aspects of mead making is sanitization. It is very important that you sanitize everything when you are making mead. Let me explain why! When mixing up your honey, water and other things you are making a food environment. It is a place loaded with nutrients for yeast and that means it can be easy for other types of unwanted yeast or bacteria to quickly grow! It's almost like a little incubator :) What you want is to make sure no outside yeast or cells develop other than the yeast you pitch. This means you should sanitize everything that comes in contact with your new batch of mead including the jug, spoons and measuring cups. Doing this sanitizing will add a litte extra work but it is well worth it. It greatly improves your chances of making a wonderful tasting mead. The Nuts and Bolts of Sanitizing Mead: I have a video you can watch that will help you understand sanitation here: Sanitization of Mead I use store bought wine making chemical for sanitizing and you can easily get around this by using Chlorine Bleach and here is an article that will help you: Using Bleach for sanitizing food equipment In summary: "about one tablespoon (1/2 fluid ounce, 15 ml) of typical chlorine bleach per gallon of water is the maximum that should be used for sanitizing food contact surfaces, according to federal regulation". Want to see some videos of how to make mead? I have a youtube channel playlist that currently has 30 Mead making videos here I found a whole bunch of wonderful drinking goblets on amazon. I have a page with them right here. Just a couple of years ago you couldn't get a goblet, or mead! It is great to see both are becoming very popular. Mead Goblets Make a peach or pineapple fruit mead If you have always wanted to make a fruit mead (melomel) you might want to check this tutorial out. I take you through the whole process from start to finish including bottling. Make a Peach or Pineapple Melomel PRODUCTS
The Internet of Things promises to make life easier in countless ways. But don’t make it angry. You won’t like it when it’s angry. Rise Of The Machines Scene: New York City in mid-July, not too many years from now—the first day of a new war. The Holland Tunnel connecting New Jersey with lower Manhattan is just over a mile and a half long. One of six thoroughfares managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, it features 84 massive fans that can change out air throughout the tunnel every 90 seconds. One Monday morning in the middle of rush hour, those fans suddenly stop. So do the ventilation systems of every other tunnel leading into Manhattan. Within minutes, air quality nose-dives—though, oddly, automatic alarms fail to sound. Drivers woozy from carbon monoxide plow into guardrails, walls, and each other. The carnage is terrible; multiple huge pileups block exits in all directions, trapping thousands of people amid toxic fumes and inevitable conflagrations as spilled gasoline ignites. Over on the George Washington Bridge, all is chaos when a string of BMW M7 coupes—the hot new car among Wall Streeters—experience multiple-tire blowouts while crossing the span. Many drivers survive the resulting crashes thanks to airbags; others are not so lucky after exiting their crumpled vehicles, only to find another 4,642 pounds of luxury sports car screeching toward them, sparks flying from their tireless rims. Other new BMWs soon experience surges of unexpected acceleration and brake failures, with predictable results. In a matter of minutes, traffic across the city is hopelessly snarled across its major arteries and intersections, as often as not in flaming vehicular pileups. Other major cities up and down the eastern seaboard are similarly plagued with gridlock and blazes that no fire company can easily reach. Meanwhile, up and down the East Coast, cooling systems in dozens of data centers inexplicably shut themselves down, defying technicians’ attempts to coax them back to life. The enormous heat generated by endless racks of servers soon forces now-understaffed IT managers to shut them down, costing businesses millions of dollars an hour—and also taking offline critical systems such as emergency response. Residential and business alarm systems inexplicably begin sounding all over the five boroughs, overloading 911 systems and adding to the general chaos. Power transformers all over Manhattan then blow out all at once, as do others of the same model in Newark, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Fires start to burn in cities paralyzed with crumpled vehicles and conflicting reports. By the end of the day, more than 1,600 people are dead in New York and other East Coast cities, amid confused and badly sourced reports of war, terrorism and rioting. When the dust finally settles, experts agree that the tragedy was the most damaging cyberterror attack in history—a coordinated effort that subverted both public and private infrastructure to wreak unprecedented death, destruction and panic at an eventual cost of several hundred billion dollars. The only consolation was that it could have been much, much worse. All because folks let the Internet of Things get out of hand. Meanwhile, Back In Reality That hypothetical example points to a largely unspoken yet very real concerns about the coming Internet of Things: the way that a distributed but “intelligent” network of ordinary devices could threaten normal commerce, personal privacy, and even human life should malicious types figure out how to hack it. The Internet of Things is basically today’s Internet on steroids—one that’s connected to an incredible variety of handheld, household and industrial gadgets, each of which can transmit data to or even control other connected devices without human intervention. Some classic theoretical examples include the car that signals the maintenance center when a part is close to failing, or the toaster that tweets when your bagel is ready. There’s still a lot of work to do before that kind of semi-autonomous network actually comes into existence. And it’s easy to envision it as a technological haven where devices work in concert to ease the burden of our daily lives by directing traffic in our cities, managing power consumption in our homes and letting us know when our kids are on their way home from school. But if we’re not careful, the Internet of Things could also turn out to be one of the most dangerous weapons around. Subverted by malicious intent, the Internet of Things could just as easily turn our lives into a horror movie, one in which the everyday objects we depend on have suddenly developed a new urge—the urge to kill. Spoof A Sensor, Destroy A Data Center Devices on the Internet of Things generally fall into one of two categories: sensors and controllers. Let’s talk sensors for a moment. Sensors monitor anything that can be measured: temperature, location, power, hydroflow, radiation, atmospheric pressure—you name it. More sophisticated sensors can also watch and listen to their surroundings. Link them all to the Internet of Things and suddenly you have a nervous system for much of the planet, one replete with feedback systems that loop in other devices. Many of those other devices are the controllers. These are the gadgets that act on the world around them—actuators, switches, servos, valves, turbines and ignition systems, just to name a few. (You may recognize some of these controllers as common elements of critical infrastructure such as power plants and transportation systems.) Though fewer controllers are connected to the Internet than sensors, engineers are rapidly redressing that imbalance. Of course, it sounds insane to plug the controls for a nuclear power plant or hydroelectric dam into the open Internet. But we’re also talking about large numbers of fairly innocuous devices like thermostats, monitor screens and residential power meters. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Not really—at least, not until they develop minds of their own, at which point the downstream effects of minor security breaches can get serious, fast. Consider the hypothetical disaster above. Innocuous pressure sensors in the tires of BMW M7s overheated at the behest of malicious commands, causing the tires to blow. Master control of data-center cooling went down because attackers fooled associated sensors into reporting emergency conditions that warranted immediate shutdown. Home alarms were easily tripped with faulty sensor data. Transformers exploded when outside commands disabled their surge-protection features and then jolted them with current spikes. Viewed this way, the Internet of Things is comprised of a multitude of potential security weaknesses, each largely innocuous in itself. But put them all together, and ya got Trouble with a capital T. Control A Controller, Crash A Car Lawrence Pingree could be voted Most Likely To Become A Supervillain. The Gartner research director has put an inordinate amount of thought into various ways bad actors might compromise the hardware systems we have today—not to mention the ones we may have tomorrow. For instance: Given the profusion of sensors and controllers in today’s automobiles, and the fact that their numbers will continue to mushroom as we move closer to self-driving cars, it’s probably only a matter of time before someone can—theoretically, at least—seize control of your car and effectively turn it into a multi-ton weapon of metal, glass and fuel. Hello, Christine. Here’s another. Consider the world of medical devices, increasing numbers of which feature wireless connections that allow remote programming. (The advantage for implanted devices such as pacemakers is obvious: Wireless reprogramming obviates the need for a second surgery.) It’s not hard to envision these devices eventually connected to the Internet for monitoring, analysis of health data and firmware updates. Now suppose hackers find a way to hijack these systems to injure or kill their users. Diabetics and heart patients aren’t the only ones at risk; biomedical monitors, “smart” drug patches and even hospital devices such as robotic surgical systems are all potentially vulnerable. Let’s Get Small The example of medical devices highlights a problem that’s endemic to many of the new gadgets now linking up to the Internet of Things: They’re frequently built to tight specs with limited memory and processing power that barely accommodates the functions their designers have crammed into them. There often isn’t much headroom for anything else. Like, well, security. Such limitations are widespread. So even if a manufacturer had the wherewithal to retrofit existing devices with hardened security, there may be very real limitations preventing such upgrades. And that, in turn, means that many of the “things” on the Internet may already be wide open to selective attack. You don’t need a hypothetical scenario to see some of these threats. All you really need is a specialized search engine like Shodan. Shodan is designed specifically to locate devices that have been carelessly plugged into the Internet without much attempt at preventing unauthorized access. It’s sometimes portrayed as the scary bogeyman of the Internet of Things, an all-powerful master search engine that can find any device connected to the Internet at any time. The reality isn’t quite that dramatic; Shodan isn’t very user friendly and performing searches takes time. But sophisticated users won’t have any trouble using Shodan or similar tools to find unguarded systems to attack. Why Disaster Hasn’t Yet Struck So what’s holding them back? “Hackers usually want to keep systems up and running,” Pingree says. Destruction of the systems hackers subvert would—usually—run counter to their goals of profiting or making a broader social/political point. At the individual level, only a true supervillain would want to blow things up for the sake of blowing things up. Which is good news, since as we’ve recently learned, prisons sometimes have trouble keeping regular villains locked up. What we have seen, thus far, has been the small stuff, the kind of activities that one would expect from hackers. Just this summer, for example: An unknown person hacked into a baby monitor-camera in a 2-year-old’s room in Houston, Texas. The hacker bypassed the manufacturer’s security and used the established connection to shout obscenities though the monitor’s speakers. Security expert Nitesh Dhanjani released a whitepaper detailing the security vulnerabilities of the Philips Hue lighting system. The vulnerability could theoretically allow an attacker to black out locations via remote control, though there aren’t any known exploits. Yet. Forbes reporter Kashmir Hill was walked through a demonstration of a connected home system hack, which had her controlling the lighting system of a complete stranger’s home. But Simon Mullis, a systems engineer at the security firm FireEye, raises a new concern. Compromising lower-level devices such as simple sensors could offer hackers a way to move up the food chain toward their real target. A hacked low-level device, Mullins warns, could help inject malware into a government or company control system with more authority, and thus create a major security breach. “You could use a device to inject bad shell code into another device, and up the chain until you take over one of the company’s servers,” Mullis said. Nation-states and terrorists, by contrast, might harbor fewer qualms about such destruction. Financial systems, power grids, sewage systems, oil and natural-gas pipelines communications—all might be fair game in a declared or undeclared cyberwar, Pingree argues. If things go badly wrong, it won’t be groups like Anonymous or LulzSec or a real-life Lex Luthor to blame, but a state or terrorist actor bent on doing real, serious damage. What Is To Be Done? Preventing such scenarios is simple but not easy. Pingree wants to start at the beginning by setting up and enforcing strict security standards at the manufacturing level, so that devices are hardened before they leave the factory. Developers and engineers also need to start putting on their black hats, he said, and really start thinking about scenarios where things could go sideways with their devices. It may also come down to a complete revision of how such devices are utilized. CoreTalk Founder and CEO Sandy Klausner proposes a model where devices are explicitly connected to a domain controlled by a single entity (a person, corporation or government). Any functions directed to a device from someone outside the domain would always be blocked. Only domain-specific commands would be regarded as true, and pretending to be inside the domain would be impossible. All this is more easily said than done. At the moment, there’s no authority ready to devise and enforce new security standards for thermostats and the like. Some manufacturers may take on that challenge themselves, but that would only offer piecemeal protection. Sad to say, it may take an actual disaster to get the attention of device builders. Will the Internet of Things will be the harbinger of a post-apocalyptic world where we’re all huddled over smoldering fires and munching on lichens? Probably not. But it’s time to take security more seriously to minimize the odds that malefactors can wreak havoc via the smallest of our devices.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States are close to starting joint military action against militants in Syria’s Aleppo, Russian news agencies on Monday quoted Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying. A man rebuilds a wall of a damaged building in the rebel held al-Katerji district in Aleppo, Syria August 13, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Fighting for control of the divided city of some 2 million people has intensified in recent weeks and there have been some gains for rebel groups battling Syrian government forces. Russia backs Syrian President Bashar al Assad in the five-year-old Syria conflict, while the United States wants to see Assad step down. But both are participating in talks to try to find a political solution to end the civil war. Senior Russian and U.S. military officials have held Geneva negotiations on Aleppo and on restoring an overall ceasefire, U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said last Thursday. “We are now in a very active phase of negotiations with our American colleagues,” the RIA news agency cited Shoigu as saying. “We are moving step by step closer to a plan - and I’m only talking about Aleppo here - that would really allow us to start fighting together to bring peace so that people can return to their homes in this troubled land.” Asked about Shoigu’s remarks, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters in Washington: “We have seen the reports and have nothing to announce ... We remain in close contact (with Russian officials).” Trudeau said the United States continued to push for a broader cessation of Syria hostilities accord with Russia. The battle for Aleppo is “one of the most devastating urban conflicts in modern times,” Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said on Monday. “No one and nowhere is safe. Shellfire is constant, with houses, schools and hospitals all in the line of fire. People live in a state of fear. Children have been traumatized. The scale of the suffering is immense,” Maurer said in a statement. The ICRC reiterated its call on all warring parties to allow humanitarian agencies to deliver supplies to civilians in desperate need of food and clean water across Aleppo. Russia has delivered aid to Aleppo and is helping to rebuild damaged water pumping stations, Shoigu said. About 700,000 people are still living in Aleppo and residents in the eastern part of the city were “hostages of armed groups”, he added. Earlier on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Syrian militants had used a temporary ceasefire around Aleppo to regroup. Related Coverage Russia deploys bombers to Iranian air base for Syria strikes: state TV Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia should play a more active role in helping to resolve the Syria crisis. “(They should) sit down at the table and negotiate,” Bogdanov told RIA news agency, saying he would meet representatives of the Syrian opposition in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Aug. 16. But the official spokesman for the Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), Riad Nassan Agha, said on Monday the HNC was unaware of this meeting. He said it did not know which “opposition” Bogdanov was referring to.
One of the most iconic raid dungeons in World of Warcraft, the floating citadel known as Naxxramas, will soon make its debut in Hearthstone with Curse of Naxxramas: A Hearthstone Adventure. Today, we’re going to take a look into the history of Naxxramas for those of you who are unfamiliar with the undead terrors that lurk inside the necropolis’ creepy corridors. Kel’Thuzad: A Thirst for Power High above the bitter cold of Dragonblight in the continent of Northrend, the ancient Nerubian necropolis known as Naxxramas looms in the skies, casting a dark shadow on the barren tundra that lies beneath it. Safe from most terrors that may threaten it, Naxxramas is an effective holding ground for a host of undead horrors, ready to strengthen the influence and reach of the undead Scourge at a moment’s notice. The archlich known as Kel’Thuzad sits at the seat of power within Naxxramas, coordinating the normally mindless Scourge into a fighting force for the Lich King. In his mortal days, Kel’Thuzad was once a powerful human mage and high-ranking member of the Kirin Tor, working under the great Archmage Antonidas, leader of the Kirin Tor at the time. The Kirin Tor had a wealth of secrets and knowledge at their disposal, and Kel’Thuzad spent countless hours devouring every bit of knowledge he could get his hands on—even the darkest and most unthinkable of arcane arts, such as necromancy. He became increasingly more reclusive and shunned by his peers the further he delved into forbidden magic. The Lich King sought out Azeroth’s most powerful and ambitious individuals to bend to his will, sending out a mental summons to those he thought could easily be swayed by the promise of power. Kel’Thuzad was the first to answer the Lich King’s call. He saw the power the Lich King held over the undead and desired such power for his own, so he offered his services as a mage to the Lich King in whatever manner he desired. After a long, tortured journey to the frozen wastes of Northrend, Kel’Thuzad knelt at the feet of the Lich King and offered him not just his loyalty, but his soul as well. “As my lieutenant, you will gain knowledge and magic to surpass your most ambitious dreams. But in return, living or dead, you will serve me for the rest of your days. If you betray me, I shall make you into one of my mindless ones, and you will serve me still.” The Lich King’s words were both a threat and a promise. Kel’Thuzad would become his lieutenant, carrying out the Lich King’s whims, but in return he would gain power beyond his wildest dreams. Kel’Thuzad accepted these terms . . . as if he had much of a choice in the matter. Inside the Necropolis The lich Kel’Thuzad uses Naxxramas as a base of operations for the undead Scourge, separating the citadel into four specialized quarters to train his minions: The Arachnid Quarter The Arachnid Quarter houses undead nerubians, an ancient race of intelligent arachnoid beings. Normally highly reclusive and suspicious of outsiders, living nerubians fought valiantly against the undead Scourge, but were overwhelmed by their numbers. While living nerubians were immune to the undead plague, nothing could prevent the Lich King from bringing back the fallen to join the Scourge in undeath. One of the minions raised by the Lich King was the Crypt Lord Anub’Rekhan. In life, he was one of the nerubians’ most powerful lords. Now, he guards the doors of the Arachnid Quarter that house . . . . . . Grand Widow Faerlina. Once one of the high-ranking members of the Cult of the Damned under Kel’Thuzad, in death she breeds and takes care of the seemingly endless amount of arachnids that swarm from the depths of the citadel. A master of poisons, she has a keen understanding of what makes mortals suffer. The poisons she concocts comes from the spiderlings produced by . . . . . . Maexxna, a massive spider taken from the depths of Northrend. She feasts on those foolish enough to enter the necropolis, producing spider after spider that Kel’Thuzad uses to his own foul ends. The Plague Quarter Rife with monstrosities twisted by the undead plague, the Plague Quarter produces and refines the plague into highly efficient weapons, bent on destroying all of humanity as a part of Kel’Thuzad’s undead army. Noth the Plaguebringer was once a reputable mage of Dalaran, who heard the call of the Lich King in much the same way Kel’Thuzad did. Also driven by power, he accepted the summons to serve the needs of the Scourge with his skills in necromancy and curse-weaving. However, when Noth saw that the Third War was taking numerous innocent lives, he began second guessing his decision to join Kel’Thuzad. Kel’Thuzad swiftly dealt with Noth’s growing compassion by freezing the living heart in Noth’s chest. Heigan the Unclean was the mastermind behind the magic of the cauldrons that quickly spread the undead plague through Lordaeron, corrupting not just the humans, but the flora and fauna in the area as well. The entire wilderness surrounding Lordaeron is now referred to as “the Plaguelands”—thanks in no small part to Heigan’s handiwork. A prime example of how the plague manifested in the local flora and fauna is the twisted fen creeper Loatheb. In a twisted mockery of the plant kingdom’s natural ability to regenerate, Loatheb can summon deadly spores that quickly spread a sickening miasma that turns magical healing arts against those who wield them. The Military Quarter Many of the humans and their loyal mounts who were once soldiers in Lordaeron’s army now find their martial talents put to use in Naxxramas’s Military Quarter. Here, in service to Kel’Thuzad and the Lich King, they hone their skills far past what they could have accomplished in life. Leaders, trainers, and military coordinators—all use their talents to coordinate the Scourge into a powerful fighting force rather than a mindless horde. Many Death Knights begin their training within this quarter under the direction of its powerful lieutenants. Instructor Razuvious is the trainer of the Death Knights, the fiercest and most loyal of the Lich King’s servants. His strikes are sure and deadly, and it is rumored that only students under his tutelage can withstand even a single blow of his deadly runeblade. Gothik the Harvester, master of necromancy, teaches young Death Knights the power of summoning the undead to their aid. Even the most novice Death Knight can call the lifeless from their graves, thanks to Gothik’s dark and sinister techniques. Ghosts, ghouls, skeletons—none are safe from Gothik’s influence. Kel’Thuzad’s royal guard can be found in the Four Horsemen, each with their own twisted powers at their disposal: Lady Blaumeux is a master of the shadow, able to drain the essence of life from those she encounters; Thane Korth’azz controls the destructive power of fire, and can even call forth fiery meteors from the skies; Sir Zeliek was once a paladin, so powerful in life that he can still wield the Light in death; and Baron Rivendare, once a friend of Kel’Thuzad, now continues to serve his old comrade in death with his corrupting powers and skeletal Deathcharger. The Construct Quarter The Construct Quarter houses various nightmarish abominations stitched together from the once-living. A steady stream of toxic slime flows through this wing of Naxxramas; though it doesn’t pose a threat to the undead constructs that shamble about within, the viscous ooze is deadly to those who still enjoy doing things like breathing and having a pulse. Patchwerk is one of Kel’Thuzad’s most powerful abominations—his strength and speed come as a shock to those that may face him in combat. Far from a sluggish, mindless undead, Patchwerk uses his immense power to pulverize any tiny meat thing that may face him with a flurry of potent, powerful attacks. He just wants to play! Grobbulus lurks deeper in the Construct Quarter, carrying the same ooze that flows through Naxxramas within its hulking form. Grobbulus is a flesh giant, the first successful one of its kind, created to build a formidable army capable of quickly spreading the undead plague. One of Grobbulus’ limbs has been replaced with a syringe, which it uses to inject the plague slime of Naxxramas into its enemies. The undead plague-dog Gluth sits obediently within Naxxramas, awaiting orders from his masters. No doggie biscuit can satisfy Gluth’s ravenous hunger. It is rumored that Gluth can easily devour an army of undead on a daily basis, which Gluth uses to knit his own decaying flesh back together. The final hulking horror that stands within the Construct Quarter is Thaddius. Pieced together from the flesh of the innocent, this massive abomination dwells in one of Naxxramas’ experimental laboratories, flanked by two huge wights—Stalagg and Feugen. Powerful bolts of electricity arc through the laboratory, supercharging Thaddius and his wight minions. Frostwyrm Lair At the pinnacle of Naxxramas awaits Kel’Thuzad himself, who is protected by the ancient skeletal frost wyrm Sapphiron. Once one of Malygos’ blue dragonflight, Sapphiron was slain by Arthas Menethil and raised from the dead to guard Kel’Thuzad for all of eternity. Like many of the blue dragonflight, Sapphiron had immense magical power, which was only magnified by the fact that the Lich King personally resurrected him to serve the Scourge. The chill of frost is at his command, and he uses his magic to defend Kel’Thuzad at all costs. The true mastermind behind the secrets of the necropolis (just kidding—he’s just a cat!), Mr. Bigglesworth is said to be the last thing connecting Kel’Thuzad to his once mortal life. Meow! Are you ready to face the terrors of Naxxramas in some epic card-slinging Hearthstone strategy? The wretched champions of the Scourge and their minions await your challenge in Curse of Naxxramas: A Hearthstone Adventure, coming soon!
Instead of picking pieces of each person's input and spreading them around this article, I'll include various lessons learned from various athletes here. The location after their name indicates the race they learned their lessons from, if you were wondering - Brandon Barros (Vermont) - "Definitely go in over prepared for nutrition and weather. Tahoe I had an exceptional amount of nutrition to carry on course but I also spent the two weeks prior cleansing and prepping. I constantly checked the weather and had prepared for hot or cold weather. Also while on course (to each is own) I paced myself cautiously on the first lap avoiding any other injuries than the ones I already had. The second lap was a push myself out of comfort and to get under 12. Always approach a UB with not just one plan but maybe 3 plans minimum. Anything can happen out there. Your drop bag should be organized and filled with candy, high sodium food, salt tabs and anything you feel necessary to keep you going. The second lap usually gets dark on us and becomes 80% mental." Sonny Fricia (Tahoe/Vermont) - "Too many people ran out of food. No idea why... but they did" Jeff Medrano (Tahoe) - "Ziplock bags to keep your shirt dry during the swim. A bottle of mustard instead of packs. This will allow you to share with those who are not in the know about this miracle condiment. Also, take cold showers. That made the swimenjoyable for me. There was no shock factor getting in the cold water" Matthew Melcher (Tahoe) - "Personally, I think training in awful conditions helped me through the UB. I didn't do any swimming training, but in August I did the ascent of the Presidential Traverse in NH up to Mt. Washington. ~10,000ft vertical climbing but above the tree line was 40 degrees, raining hard and wind gusts 40-70mph. I can see how people unprepared die up there." Caleb Becky Miner (Vermont) - "So, I did the beast with no camel pack and no electrolytes. Note to self... never do that again. Thanks to all the spartans who helped me along the way!" Steven Grannary (Sun Peaks) - "Training in uncomfortable situations is a definite bonus. Trained hills in the dark at 32F and extra food. Always come prepared for all four seasons." Christopher Kravitz Peltier (Tahoe) - "Ski mountaineering and alpine skiing in the winter provide traning conditions unmatched by any of these races. I swam competitively when I was younger, so water was an advantage. The cold weather training (often below 0) really helps with understanding gear/clothing under all conditions. Nutrition using the Hammer products (Endurolyte extreme, Gel, and Perpetuem made as a gel) has worked well for the long haul" Mike Maurer (Vermont) - "I use Tailwind as my caloric backbone, plus the electrolytes in it help prevent cramping. I used a 50k trainer for my cardio. Not because there is a ton of running, but it forced me to train and adapt to being completely spent & exhausted. For the midwest flat lands, I needed to include more tire drags into my training to help with the climbs" John Hayley (Vermont) - "I come from both sides. DNF and finisher. The main difference is that when I DNF'd I paced myself. By the time the second loop came around I had to hurry to catch up on lost time. Spoiler alert...that did not work. So this year my main objective was to hammer that first loop as hard/fast as I could and just gut out the second loop. That worked like a charm. I had banked so much time, that I was able to treat the second half like a victory lap. It allowed me time to stop and help fellow racers, especially some of the beast people that were obviously over their heads." Vincente Forero (Tahoe) - "Pack a god damn dry bag, light wind breaker, light running gloves and ear covers" Jeffrey Hella Jef (Tahoe) - "UB Tahoe was weather. I should have dress for the weather. I had enough food, was super hydrated (had to piss every 3 miles). About 2 weeks out I was on all natural diet, full serving of veggie juice each day. I started taking mass gainer to carb up from all the endurance training didn't gain more than a pound or two top. I started at 180lb 6 months out ended up at 157lb race day. I live on at sea level highest peak we have is at 4000ft, Start my run at 500 try to do it twice once a month, along with heavy crossfit and running 5 days a week." Brannon Espy (Tahoe) - "Get a dry bag for the swim for sure... Better insulation for early lap... Hot hands from bin saved me the second lap... I still have numbness in my fingers... It was able to climb the second lap... Nuun tabs on my water helped as well as the mustard and didn't even get a hint of a cramp... Liked the thinner power gel over the GU as t was easier to swallow moving faster and breathing in the cold" Kert Elkins (Vermont) - "If you work at a desk all day, get a stand up desk. Commit to never sitting down. I did this about 8 months out, and I think it helped out big time. You can run all the miles you want, but you also have to be conditioned to be on your feet for 8+ hours. I work Mon-Thurs 10 hours a day. The first 2 weeks is rough, if you aren't used to being on your feet. But I committed to standing. So much so, that I got rid of my chair so that I would never sit down. Again, I think this was a big help to me." Joshua Cherwinski (Vermont) - "Get used to being uncomfortable for an hour at a time. Do 500 unbroken burpees, row a half marathon. Swim 2 miles. Do something like this once a week. I did very little running but alot of the things above."
The BBC is a quasi-autonomous corporation authorised by Royal Charter , making it operationally independent of the government, who have no power to appoint or dismiss its director-general, and required to report impartially. As with all major media outlets it has been accused of political bias from across the political spectrum, both within the UK and abroad. The department's annual budget is in excess of £350 million; it has 3,500 staff, 2,000 of whom are journalists. [2] BBC News' domestic, global and online news divisions are housed within the largest live newsroom in Europe , in Broadcasting House in central London. Parliamentary coverage is produced and broadcast from studios in Millbank in London. Through the BBC English Regions , the BBC also has regional centres across England, as well as national news centres in Northern Ireland , Scotland and Wales . All nations and English regions produce their own local news programmes and other current affairs and sport programmes. BBC News is an operational business division [1] of the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC ) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. [2] [3] The service maintains 50 foreign news bureaus with more than 250 correspondents around the world. [4] Fran Unsworth has been Director of News and Current Affairs since January 2018. [5] [6] This article is about the organisation within the BBC. For the television channel, see BBC News (TV channel) . For other uses, see BBC News (disambiguation) Early years Edit “ This is London calling – 2LO calling. Here is the first general news bulletin, copyright by Reuters, Press Association, Exchange Telegraph and Central News. ” — BBC news programme opening during the 1920s[7] The British Broadcasting Company broadcast its first radio bulletin from radio station.2LO In 14 November 1922.[8] Wishing to avoid competition, newspaper publishers persuaded the government to ban the BBC from broadcasting news before 7:00 pm, and to force it to use wire service copy instead of reporting on its own.[7] On Easter weekend in 1930 (18 April), this reliance on newspaper wire services left the radio news service with no information to report after saying There is no news today . Piano music was played instead.[9] The BBC gradually gained the right to edit the copy and, in 1934, created its own news operation. However, it could not broadcast news before 6 PM until World War II.[7] Gaumont British and Movietone cinema newsreels had been broadcast on the TV service since 1936, with the BBC producing its own equivalent Television Newsreel programme from January 1948. A weekly Children's Newsreel was inaugurated on 23 April 1950, to around 350,000 receivers.[10] The network began simulcasting its radio news on television in 1946, with a still picture of Big Ben.[7] Televised bulletins began on 5 July 1954, broadcast from leased studios within Alexandra Palace in London.[11][not in citation given] The public's interest in television and live events was stimulated by Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. It is estimated that up to 27 million people[12] viewed the programme in the UK, overtaking radio's audience of 12 million for the first time.[13] Those live pictures were fed from 21 cameras in central London to Alexandra Palace for transmission, and then on to other UK transmitters opened in time for the event.[14] That year, there were around two million TV Licences held in the UK, rising to over three million the following year, and four and a half million by 1955. 1950s Edit Television news, although physically separate from its radio counterpart, was still firmly under radio news' control – correspondents provided reports for both outlets–and that first bulletin, shown on 5 July 1954 on the then BBC television service and presented by Richard Baker, involved his providing narration off-screen while stills were shown.[15] This was then followed by the customary Television Newsreel with a recorded commentary by John Snagge (and on other occasions by Andrew Timothy). It was revealed that this had been due to producers fearing a newsreader with visible facial movements would distract the viewer from the story. On-screen newsreaders were finally introduced a year later in 1955 – Kenneth Kendall (the first to appear in vision), Robert Dougall, and Richard Baker–three weeks before ITN's launch on 21 September 1955. Mainstream television production had started to move out of Alexandra Palace in 1950[16] to larger premises – mainly at Lime Grove Studios in Shepherd's Bush, west London – taking Current Affairs (then known as Talks Department) with it. It was from here that the first Panorama, a new documentary programme, was transmitted on 11 November 1953, with Richard Dimbleby becoming anchor in 1955.[17] On 18 February 1957, the topical early-evening programme Tonight, hosted by Cliff Michelmore and designed to fill the airtime provided by the abolition of the Toddlers' Truce, was broadcast from Marconi's Viking Studio in St Mary Abbott's Place, Kensington – with the programme moving into a Lime Grove studio in 1960, where it already maintained its production office. On 28 October 1957, the Today programme, a morning radio programme, was launched in central London on the Home Service.[18] In 1958, Hugh Carleton Greene became head of News and Current Affairs. He set up a BBC study group whose findings, published in 1959, were critical of what the television news operation had become under his predecessor, Tahu Hole. The report proposed that the head of television news should take control (away from radio), and that the television service should have a proper newsroom of its own, with an editor-of-the-day.[19] 1960s Edit On 1 January 1960, Greene became Director-General and brought about big changes at BBC Television and BBC Television News. BBC Television News had been created in 1955, in response to the founding of ITN. The changes made by Greene were aimed at making BBC reporting more similar to ITN which had been highly rated by study groups held by Greene. A newsroom was created at Alexandra Palace, television reporters were recruited and given the opportunity to write and voice their own scripts–without the "impossible burden" of having to cover stories for radio too.[20] In 1987, almost thirty years later, John Birt resurrected the practice of correspondents working for both TV and radio with the introduction of bi-media journalism,[21] and 2008 saw tri-media introduced across TV, radio, and online. On 20 June 1960, Nan Winton, the first female BBC network newsreader, appeared in vision.[22] 19 September saw the start of the radio news and current affairs programme The Ten O'clock News.[23] BBC2 started transmission on 20 April 1964, and with it came a new news programme for that channel, Newsroom. The World at One, a lunchtime news programme, began on 4 October 1965 on the then Home Service, and the year before News Review had started on television. News Review was a summary of the week's news, first broadcast on Sunday, 26 April 1964[24] on BBC 2 and harking back to the weekly Newsreel Review of the Week, produced from 1951, to open programming on Sunday evenings–the difference being that this incarnation had subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. As this was the decade before electronic caption generation, each superimposition ("super") had to be produced on paper or card, synchronised manually to studio and news footage, committed to tape during the afternoon, and broadcast early evening. Thus Sundays were no longer a quiet day for news at Alexandra Palace. The programme ran until the 1980s[25] – by then using electronic captions, known as Anchor – to be superseded by Ceefax subtitling (a similar Teletext format), and the signing of such programmes as See Hear (from 1981). On Sunday 17 September 1967, The World This Weekend, a weekly news and current affairs programme, launched on what was then Home Service, but soon-to-be Radio 4. Preparations for colour began in the autumn of 1967 and on Thursday 7 March 1968 Newsroom on BBC2 moved to an early evening slot, becoming the first UK news programme to be transmitted in colour[26] – from Studio A at Alexandra Palace. News Review and Westminster (the latter a weekly review of Parliamentary happenings) were "colourised" shortly after. However, much of the insert material was still in black and white, as initially only a part of the film coverage shot in and around London was on colour reversal film stock, and all regional and many international contributions were still in black and white. Colour facilities at Alexandra Palace were technically very limited for the next eighteen months, as it had only one RCA colour Quadruplex videotape machine and, eventually two Pye plumbicon colour telecines–although the news colour service started with just one. Black and white national bulletins on BBC 1 continued to originate from Studio B on weekdays, along with Town and Around, the London regional "opt out" programme broadcast throughout the 1960s (and the BBC's first regional news programme for the South East), until it started to be replaced by Nationwide on Tuesday to Thursday from Lime Grove Studios early in September 1969. Town and Around was never to make the move to Television Centre – instead it became London This Week which aired on Mondays and Fridays only, from the new TVC studios.[27] Television News moves to Television Centre Edit The final news programme to come from Alexandra Palace was a late night news on BBC2 on Friday 19 September 1969 in colour. It was said that over this September weekend, it took 65 removal vans to transfer the contents of Alexandra Palace across London.[28] BBC Television News resumed operations the next day with a lunchtime bulletin on BBC1 – in black and white – from Television Centre, where it remained until March 2013. This move to better technical facilities, but much smaller studios, allowed Newsroom and News Review to replace back projection with colour-separation overlay. It also allowed all news output to be produced in PAL colour, ahead of the transition of BBC1 to colour from 15 November 1969 – and, like Alexandra Palace Studio A, these studios too were capable of operating in NTSC for the US, Canada, and Japan as the BBC occasionally provided facilities for overseas broadcasters. During the 1960s, satellite communication had become possible,[29] however colour field-store standards converters were still in their infancy in 1968,[30] and it was some years before digital line-store conversion was able to undertake the process seamlessly.[31] 1970s Edit Angela Rippon, pictured in 1983, became the first female news presenter in 1975. On 14 September 1970, the first Nine O'Clock News was broadcast on television. Robert Dougall presented the first week from studio N1[32] – described by The Guardian[33] as "a sort of polystyrene padded cell"[34]—the bulletin having been moved from the earlier time of 20.50 as a response to the ratings achieved by ITN's News at Ten, introduced three years earlier on the rival ITV. Richard Baker and Kenneth Kendall presented subsequent weeks, thus echoing those first television bulletins of the mid-1950s. Angela Rippon became the first female news presenter of the Nine O'Clock News in 1975. Her work outside the news was controversial at the time, appearing on The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show in 1976 singing and dancing.[32] The first edition of John Craven's Newsround, initially intended only as a short series and later renamed just Newsround, came from studio N3 on 4 April 1972. Afternoon television news bulletins during the mid to late 1970s were broadcast from the BBC newsroom itself, rather than one of the three news studios. The newsreader would present to camera while sitting on the edge of a desk; behind him staff would be seen working busily at their desks. This period corresponded with when the Nine O'Clock News got its next makeover, and would use a CSO background of the newsroom from that very same camera each weekday evening. Also in the mid-1970s, the late night news on BBC2 was briefly renamed Newsnight,[35] but this was not to last, or be the same programme as we know today – that would be launched in 1980 – and it soon reverted to being just a news summary with the early evening BBC2 news expanded to become Newsday. News on radio was to change in the 1970s, and on Radio 4 in particular, brought about by the arrival of new editor Peter Woon from television news and the implementation of the Broadcasting in the Seventies report. These included the introduction of correspondents into news bulletins where previously only a newsreader would present, as well as the inclusion of content gathered in the preparation process. New programmes were also added to the daily schedule, PM and The World Tonight as part of the plan for the station to become a "wholly speech network".[33] Newsbeat launched as the news service on Radio 1 on 10 September 1973.[36] On 23 September 1974, a teletext system which was launched to bring news content on television screens using text only was launched. Engineers originally began developing such a system to bring news to deaf viewers, but the system was expanded. The Ceefax service became much more diverse before it ceased on 23 October 2012: it not only had subtitling for all channels, it also gave information such as weather, flight times and film reviews. By the end of the decade, the practice of shooting on film for inserts in news broadcasts was declining, with the introduction of ENG technology into the UK. The equipment would gradually become less cumbersome – the BBC's first attempts had been using a Philips colour camera with backpack base station and separate portable Sony U-matic recorder in the latter half of the decade. 1980s Edit By 1982, ENG technology had become sufficiently reliable for Bernard Hesketh to use an Ikegami camera to cover the Falklands War, coverage for which he won the "Royal Television Society Cameraman of the Year" award[37] and a BAFTA nomination[38] – the first time that BBC News had relied upon an electronic camera, rather than film, in a conflict zone. BBC News won the BAFTA for its actuality coverage,[39] however the event has become remembered in television terms for Brian Hanrahan's reporting where he coined the phrase "I'm not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but I counted them all out and I counted them all back"[40] to circumvent restrictions, and which has become cited as an example of good reporting under pressure.[41] Two years earlier, the Iranian Embassy Siege had been shot electronically by the BBC Television News Outside broadcasting team, and the work of reporter Kate Adie, broadcasting live from Prince's Gate, was nominated for BAFTA actuality coverage, but this time beaten by ITN for the 1980 award.[42] Newsnight, the news and current affairs programme, was due to go on air on 23 January 1980, although trade union disagreements meant that its launch from Lime Grove was postponed by a week.[21] On 27 August 1981 Moira Stuart became the first African Caribbean female newsreader to appear on British television. The first BBC breakfast television programme, Breakfast Time also launched during the 1980s, on 17 January 1983 from Lime Grove Studio E and two weeks before its ITV rival TV-am. Frank Bough, Selina Scott, and Nick Ross helped to wake viewers with a relaxed style of presenting.[43] The Six O'Clock News first aired on 3 September 1984, eventually becoming the most watched news programme in the UK (however, since 2006 it has been overtaken by the BBC News at Ten). In October 1984, images of millions of people starving to death in the Ethiopian famine were shown in Michael Buerk's Six O'Clock News reports.[44] The BBC News crew were the first to document the famine, with Buerk's report on 23 October describing it as "a biblical famine in the 20th century" and "the closest thing to hell on Earth".[45] The BBC News report shocked Britain, motivating its citizens to inundate relief agencies, such as Save the Children, with donations, and to bring world attention to the crisis in Ethiopia.[46] The news report was also watched by Bob Geldof, who would organise the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to raise money for famine relief followed by the Live Aid concert in July 1985.[44] Starting in 1981, the BBC gave a common theme to its main news bulletins with new electronic titles–a set of computer animated "stripes" forming a circle[47] on a red background with a "BBC News" typescript appearing below the circle graphics, and a theme tune consisting of brass and keyboards. The Nine used a similar (striped) number 9. The red background was replaced by a blue from 1985 until 1987. By 1987, the BBC had decided to re-brand its bulletins and established individual styles again for each one with differing titles and music, the weekend and holiday bulletins branded in a similar style to the Nine, although the "stripes" introduction continued to be used until 1989 on occasions where a news bulletin was screened out of the running order of the schedule.[48] 1990s Edit The combined newsroom for domestic television and radio was opened at Television Centre in West London in 1998. During the 1990s, a wider range of services began to be offered by BBC News, with the split of BBC World Service Television to become BBC World (news and current affairs), and BBC Prime (light entertainment). Content for a 24-hour news channel was thus required, followed in 1997 with the launch of domestic equivalent BBC News 24. Rather than set bulletins, ongoing reports and coverage was needed to keep both channels functioning and meant a greater emphasis in budgeting for both was necessary. In 1998, after 66 years at Broadcasting House, the BBC Radio News operation moved to BBC Television Centre.[49] New technology, provided by Silicon Graphics, came into use in 1993 for a re-launch of the main BBC 1 bulletins, creating a virtual set which appeared to be much larger than it was physically. The relaunch also brought all bulletins into the same style of set with only small changes in colouring, titles, and music to differentiate each. A computer generated cut-glass sculpture of the BBC coat of arms was the centrepiece of the programme titles until the large scale corporate rebranding of news services in 1999. In 1999, the biggest relaunch occurred, with BBC One bulletins, BBC World, BBC News 24, and BBC News Online all adopting a common style. One of the most significant changes was the gradual adoption of the corporate image by the BBC regional news programmes, giving a common style across local, national and international BBC television news. This also included Newyddion, the main news programme of Welsh language channel S4C, produced by BBC News Wales. 2000s Edit Following the relaunch of BBC News the previous year, regional headlines were included at the start of the BBC One news bulletins in 2000. The English regions did however lose five minutes at the end of their bulletins, due to a new headline round-up at 18:55. 2000 also saw the Nine O'Clock News moved to the later time of 22:00. This was in response to ITN who had just moved their popular News at Ten programme to 23:00. ITN briefly returned News at Ten but following poor ratings when head to head against the BBC's Ten O'Clock News, the ITN bulletin was moved to 22.30, where it remained until 14 January 2008. The retirement of Peter Sissons and departure of Michael Buerk from the Ten O'Clock News led to changes in the BBC One bulletin presenting team on 20 January 2003. The Six O'Clock News became double headed with George Alagiah and Sophie Raworth after Huw Edwards and Fiona Bruce moved to present the Ten. A new set design featuring a projected fictional newsroom backdrop was introduced, followed on 16 February 2004 by new programme titles to match those of BBC News 24. BBC News 24 and BBC World introduced a new style of presentation in December 2003, that was slightly altered on 5 July 2004 to mark 50 years of BBC Television News.[50] The individual positions of editor of the One and Six O'Clock News were replaced by a new daytime position in November 2005. Kevin Bakhurst became the first Controller of BBC News 24, replacing the position of editor. Amanda Farnsworth became daytime editor while Craig Oliver was later named editor of the Ten O'Clock News. The bulletins also began to be simulcast with News 24, as a way of pooling resources. Bulletins received new titles and a new set design in May 2006, to allow for Breakfast to move into the main studio for the first time since 1997. The new set featured Barco videowall screens with a background of the London skyline used for main bulletins and originally an image of cirrus clouds against a blue sky for Breakfast. This was later replaced following viewer criticism.[51] The studio bore similarities with the ITN-produced ITV News in 2004, though ITN uses a CSO Virtual studio rather than the actual screens at BBC News. Also, May saw the launch of World News Today the first domestic bulletin focused principally on international news. BBC News became part of a new BBC Journalism group in November 2006 as part of a restructuring of the BBC. The then-Director of BBC News, Helen Boaden reported to the then-Deputy Director-General and head of the journalism group, Mark Byford until he was made redundant in 2010.[52] On 18 October 2007, Mark Thompson announced a six-year plan, Delivering Creative Future, merging the television current affairs department into a new "News Programmes" division.[53][54] Thompson's announcement, in response to a £2 billion shortfall in funding, would, he said, deliver "a smaller but fitter BBC" in the digital age, by cutting its payroll and, in 2013, selling Television Centre.[55] The various separate newsrooms for television, radio and online operations were merged into a single multimedia newsroom. Programme making within the newsrooms was brought together to form a multimedia programme making department. BBC World Service director Peter Horrocks said that the changes would achieve efficiency at a time of cost-cutting at the BBC. In his blog, he wrote that by using the same resources across the various broadcast media meant fewer stories could be covered, or by following more stories, there would be fewer ways to broadcast them.[56] A new graphics and video playout system was introduced for production of television bulletins in January 2007. This coincided with a new structure to BBC World News bulletins, editors favouring a section devoted to analysing the news stories reported on. The first new BBC News bulletin since the Six O'Clock News was announced in July 2007 following a successful trial in the Midlands.[57] The summary, lasting 90 seconds, has been broadcast at 20:00 on weekdays since December 2007 and bears similarities with 60 Seconds on BBC Three, but also includes headlines from the various BBC regions and a weather summary. As part of a long-term cost cutting programme, bulletins were renamed the BBC News at One, Six and Ten respectively in April 2008 while BBC News 24 was renamed BBC News and moved into the same studio as the bulletins at BBC Television Centre.[58][59] BBC World was renamed BBC World News and regional news programmes were also updated with the new presentation style, designed by Lambie-Nairn.[60] The studio moves also meant that Studio N9, previously used for BBC World, was closed, and operations moved to the previous studio of BBC News 24. Studio N9 was later refitted to match the new branding, and was used for the BBC's UK local elections and European elections coverage in early June 2009. 2010s Edit The new newsroom in Broadcasting House A strategy review of the BBC in March 2010, confirmed that having "the best journalism in the world" would form one of five key editorial policies, as part of changes subject to public consultation and BBC Trust approval.[61] After a period of suspension in late 2012, Helen Boaden ceased to be the Director of BBC News.[62] On 16 April 2013, incoming BBC Director-General Tony Hall named James Harding, a former editor of The Times of London newspaper as Director of News and Current Affairs.[5] From August 2012 to March 2013, all news operations moved from Television Centre to new facilities in the refurbished and extended Broadcasting House, in Portland Place. The move began in October 2012, and also included the BBC World Service, which moved from Bush House following the expiry of the BBC's lease. This new extension to the north and east, referred to as "New Broadcasting House", includes several new state-of-the-art radio and television studios centred around an 11-storey atrium.[63] The move began with the domestic programme The Andrew Marr Show on 2 September 2012, and concluded with the move of the BBC News channel and domestic news bulletins on 18 March 2013.[64][65][66] The newsroom houses all domestic bulletins and programmes on both television and radio, as well as the BBC World Service international radio networks and the BBC World News international television channel.
Reddish rock powder from the first hole drilled into a Martian mountain by NASA's Curiosity rover has yielded the mission's first confirmation of a mineral mapped from orbit. "This connects us with the mineral identifications from orbit, which can now help guide our investigations as we climb the slope and test hypotheses derived from the orbital mapping," said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Curiosity collected the powder by drilling into a rock outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp in late September. The robotic arm delivered a pinch of the sample to the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument inside the rover. This sample, from a target called "Confidence Hills" within the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop, contained much more hematite than any rock or soil sample previously analyzed by CheMin during the two-year-old mission. Hematite is an iron-oxide mineral that gives clues about ancient environmental conditions from when it formed. In observations reported in 2010, before selection of Curiosity's landing site, a mineral-mapping instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provided evidence of hematite in the geological unit that includes the Pahrump Hills outcrop. The landing site is inside Gale Crater, an impact basin about 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter with the layered Mount Sharp rising about three miles (five kilometers) high in the center. "We've reached the part of the crater where we have the mineralogical information that was important in selection of Gale Crater as the landing site," said Ralph Milliken of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. He is a member of Curiosity's science team and was lead author of that 2010 report in Geophysical Research Letters identifying minerals based on observations of lower Mount Sharp by the orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). "We're now on a path where the orbital data can help us predict what minerals we'll find and make good choices about where to drill. Analyses like these will help us place rover-scale observations into the broader geologic history of Gale that we see from orbital data." Much of Curiosity's first year on Mars was spent investigating outcrops in a low area of Gale Crater called "Yellowknife Bay," near the spot where the rover landed. The rover found an ancient lakebed. Rocks there held evidence of wet environmental conditions billions of years ago that offered ingredients and an energy source favorable for microbial life, if Mars ever had microbes. Clay minerals of interest in those rocks at Yellowknife Bay had not been detected from orbit, possibly due to dust coatings that interfere with CRISM's view of them. The rover spent much of the mission's second year driving from Yellowknife Bay to the base of Mount Sharp. The hematite found in the first sample from the mountain tells about environmental conditions different from the conditions recorded in the rocks of Yellowknife Bay. The rock material interacted with water and atmosphere to become more oxidized. The rocks analyzed earlier also contain iron-oxide minerals, mostly magnetite. One way to form hematite is to put magnetite in oxidizing conditions. The latest sample has about eight percent hematite and four percent magnetite. The drilled rocks at Yellowknife Bay and on the way to Mount Sharp contain at most about one percent hematite and much higher amounts of magnetite. "There's more oxidation involved in the new sample," said CheMin Deputy Principal Investigator David Vaniman of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. The sample is only partially oxidized, and preservation of magnetite and olivine indicates a gradient of oxidation levels. That gradient could have provided a chemical energy source for microbes. The Pahrump HIlls outcrop includes multiple layers uphill from its lowest layer, where the Confidence Hills sample was drilled. The layers vary in texture and may also vary in concentrations of hematite and other minerals. The rover team is now using Curiosity to survey the outcrop and assess possible targets for close inspection and drilling. The mission may spend weeks to months at Pahrump Hills before proceeding farther up the stack of geological layers forming Mount Sharp. Those higher layers include an erosion-resistant band of rock higher on Mount Sharp with such a strong orbital signature of hematite, it is called "Hematite Ridge." The target drilled at Pahrump Hills is much softer and more deeply eroded than Hematite Ridge. Another NASA Mars rover, Opportunity, made a key discovery of hematite-rich spherules on a different part of Mars in 2004. That finding was important as evidence of a water-soaked history that produced those mineral concretions. The form of hematite at Pahrump Hills is different and is most important as a clue about oxidation conditions. Plenty of other evidence in Gale Crater has testified to the ancient presence of water. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Science Laboratory projects for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, and built the Curiosity rover. NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, developed CheMin and manages instrument operations. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, developed and operates CRISM. For more information about Curiosity, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ You can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity News Media Contact Preston Dyches / Guy WebsterJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California818-354-7013 / [email protected] / [email protected] BrownHeadquarters, [email protected] CullerAmes Research Center, Moffett Field, [email protected] StaceyBrown [email protected]
(Foto: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) O bitcoin começa a ser aceito por construtoras de imóveis residenciais de alto padrão do país, que apostam no uso da moeda digital para diversificar opções financeiras e usar a crescente popularidade da criptomoeda como forma de promoção da imagem de inovação. A mineira Katz Construções anunciou nesta quinta-feira que passou a aceitar bitcoin como pagamento em todo seu portfólio de imóveis já lançados e futuros, apesar do custo da transação com a moeda ser maior que o realizado em reais, afirmou o presidente da companhia, Daniel Katz. "Na verdade, o custo (da venda com bitcoin) é um pouco maior, porque vou pagar 1% de comissão para transformar em real...Mas é uma diversificação de ativos pois vamos manter parte do lucro da venda em bitcoins", disse o executivo, filho do fundador da empresa fundada em 1975. O bitcoin é a criptomoeda mais usada no mundo. A moeda acumula valorização de cerca de 1.500% neste ano, mas não sem passar por forte volatilidade como a ocorrida na quarta-feira (20), quando perdeu quase 20% do valor em relação à máxima atingida três dias antes, de US$ 19.666. Na semana passada, o presidente do Banco Central, Ilan Goldfajn, fez um novo alerta para o risco de bolha no mercado de moedas digitais e chegou a classificá-las como "pirâmide" e passíveis de serem usadas em crimes. A Katz, que tem uma carteira de R$ 50 milhões em imóveis, não é a única a aceitar bitcoins como pagamento. A rival de maior porte Tecnisa começou a vender apartamentos por meio de bitcoins em 2014, mas só nesta semana conseguiu as duas primeiras vendas, em meio ao que chamou de "crescimento exponencial" no volume de consultas de interessados em fazer negócio com a moeda no mês passado. "Quando lançamos essa opção tivemos muita procura, mas pouco negócios porque o valor da moeda estava baixo e não tinha tanta liquidez. Agora, com a valorização que teve, elevou a liquidez", disse Romeo Busarello, diretor de marketing da Tecnisa. "Quem estava com bitcoin há algum tempo, está realizando esse ganho transformando em apartamento", disse o executivo. Os imóveis vendidos com bitcoin pela Tecnisa, que afirma ser a primeira construtora listada em bolsa do mundo a aceitar a moeda digital, foram um apartamento na cidade de São Paulo e um outro em Jundiaí, no interior paulista. Katz afirmou que a empresa decidiu aceitar bitcoin mesmo sem uma demanda específica de clientes, mas apostando no potencial de valorização da criptomoeda e na atração de investidores internacionais com interesse em empreendimentos como um condomínio de luxo lançado por sua construtora no sul da Bahia. "Hoje, com juro a 7%, estamos em um dos melhores momentos para se comprar imóvel. E o investidor que comprou bitcoin a 80 dólares tem oportunidade de ganho gigantesco que poderá transferir para o mercado imobiliário", disse Katz. Ele acrescentou que a Katz, que cobra preço médio de R$ 700 mil a R$ 1 milhão por apartamento, vai ingressar no mercado paulistano em 2018, com um edifício residencial a ser lançado no bairro classe média alta de Moema e que também poderá ser adquirido com bitcoins. Na Tecnisa, os novos negócios com bitcoins envolvem outros 11 imóveis que estão sendo negociados com 10 clientes, dos quais metade estão em fase avançada de conclusão e o restante deve ficar para 2018, disse Busarello. A Tecnisa tem 25 mil imóveis em estoque, formando uma carteira de 1 bilhão de reais. "Ninguém arrisca o valor das criptomoedas no futuro, mas elas vieram para ficar", disse o executivo da Tecnisa. "Não temos ambição nenhuma de transformar bitcoin em nossa principal forma de negócio, mas aceitar a moeda viraliza, dá 'buzz' (notoriedade)." Diferente da Katz, e por ser empresa listada em bolsa, a Tecnisa precisa converter todas as bitcoins que recebe em reais antes de concluir a operação, trabalhando com a corretora brasileira Bitfox. "Nunca tivemos intenção de transformar a bitcoin em vantagem competitiva", afirmou o executivo. Segundo ele, a Tecnisa paga um "ágio" de 5% ao comprador de imóveis da empresa que usem bitcoins e está pensando e elevar este percentual para 2018 "para vender mais". (Por Alberto Alerigi Jr.)
Amazon announced plans Monday to open its first fulfillment center in Colorado. Amazon announced plans Monday to open its first fulfillment center in Colorado. The facility is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs in Aurora for workers who will pick, pack and ship larger customer items, such as sports equipment, musical instruments and furniture. Last year, Amazon.com Inc. added hundreds of jobs in Aurora when it opened its first Colorado sortation center. “We knew Amazon coming to Aurora meant the creation of great jobs for this community and the arrival of a strong corporate neighbor,” Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said in a statement. “Our community has already benefited from their presence here and the announcement of a second facility is very exciting because it means continued economic growth in Aurora and the surrounding communities.” Amazon is building a 1 million-square-foot facility at Smith Way and 19th Avenue in Aurora, about three miles southeast of its sortation facility. “It is a new building and is currently under construction. The center is expected to open before the holiday shopping season,” said spokeswoman Ashley Robinson. The new jobs will pay 30 percent higher than traditional retail jobs and come with comprehensive benefits starting on day one, according to the Seattle-based e-commerce company. Subscribe to Denverite’s newsletter here. Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/adriandgarcia.
Leaders of the five organisations of the survivors of the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal today condemned the United States government for its attempt to protect Dow Chemical from ongoing criminal proceedings in the Bhopal District court. They said that today was the third time that Dow Chemical had ignored the notice to appear in the Bhopal district court. They said that the US Department of Justice has informed the CBI that it has decided not to serve the notices against Dow Chemical as it held that Dow Chemical could not be held liable for the Union Carbide disaster. Counsel for one of the organizations, Bhopal Group for Information & Action, Avi Singh said the US Department of Justice’s refusal to serve notice on Dow was against the principle of international cooperation against crime as enshrined in the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Mr. Singh pointed out that Dow Chemical refers to the Bhopal court’s notice upon its own website and has thus publicly acknowledged the summons. Accordingly there was no need for further notice to be served on Dow. On behalf of the Bhopal Group for Information & Action, Mr. Singh moved an application in the court to commence ex parte proceedings against Dow Chemical as well as refer them for contempt of court, and filing of a FIR under sections 174 (obstruction of a public official) and 212 (harbouring a fugitive) of the IPC. The application by the Bhopal Group for Information and Act also sought commencement of the criminal trial against UCC.
Along with the overall chances of winning the election, Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight Blog also computes probabilities for winning each state/district (a combination of polling info, trends, underlying facts relevant to the given state, etc.) One fairly simple thing you can do to get a sense of the race is to assume that, starting with states that each candidate is guarranteed to win, work your way down the probabilities adding electoral votes as you go. So for example, Obama currently is given a 100% chance of winning nine states (go Vermont!) and Maine, district 1, followed by 11 states between 90 and 100%, ending at Pennsylvania with 91%. Assuming Obama will win all of these, we proceed through the next four states, all between 70 and 80%, ending with Ohio at 71% for a total of 275 electoral votes. Notice that to get to 270, using only Obama's highest probability states, we never had to use a state with lower than 70%. On the other hand, doing the same process for Romney, using only his highest probability states, he has to use states for which he has a less than 50% chance of winning-- in some cases, much less. Put another way, the easiest path to 270 for Romney-- in terms of current probabilities-- runs through three states between 30 and 40%, ending with Ohio, at only a 29% chance of winning. That's gotta hurt. But wait! There's more... While Romney has no path to victory using states where his chance of winning is greater than 50%, Obama has not just one but many such paths. I've summarized all of them in the chart below. The chart is organized like this: Along the top we have the eight states that Obama currently has between 50 and 90% chance of winning. (I assumed Obama wins all states with above 90% probability.) Next I assumed he wins Florida, currently given a 56% chance (up 2 points from yesterday, by the way.) On the top row you can see that Obama then needs only one more state to get to 270. In the next four rows I assume Obama loses Florida but wins Ohio and various other arrangements of states. In the last four rows, I assume he loses both Florida and Ohio. The final column gives the the number of ways that each path category (along a row) could occur. No surprise: winning Florida nearly guarantees a victory, with so many ways to get to 270 electoral votes. But even without Florida, there are still 66 paths that use states that are above a 50% probability-- in fact, most are above 70%. To summarize: while Romney's easiest path to 270 electoral votes forces him to slog through several low-probability states, Obama has a whopping 193 ways to get there using only states above a 50% probability! Naturally, there are caveats. First, who knows how accurate the probabilities are. Second, not all the paths are equally likely. Winning Florida may provide many paths to victory, but it is also considerably less likely than some other options (today, anyway.) And then there's the next two months of mayhem, mischief, and lies from the other side. But it's helped me to dig into the numbers a bit and come up with this chart. I hope you enjoy it.
The number of U.S. service members killed as a result of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan is rising, Foreign Policy reported Friday. From the beginning of April to the end of June of this year, IEDs killed or injured 3,043 people in 1,143 separate incidents in Afghanistan, according to internal slides obtained from the Department of Defense by FP. ADVERTISEMENT When compared to the previous 90 days, the numbers from the nearly-three-month-long period show an 8 percent increase in IED incidents, as well as a 39 percent uptick in attacks that resulted in death and injury. The numbers are also a 17 percent increase when compared to the same period in 2016, according to the report. The Pentagon's bomb-combatting agency, the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Organization (JIDO), produced the report. While it used open-source reporting for its analysis, the document was marked for Official Use Only, FP reported. A spokeswoman for JIDO told Foreign Policy in an email that the agency typically will release unclassified documents a few months after they are reviewed. She did not immediately respond to the outlet's request for comment about the statistics. IEDs have long been a weapon used by terrorist organizations in their battles. Afghanistan was the only country in Central Command to see an increase in both incidents and casualties from IEDs compared to the previous 90 days, the JIDO report says. Iraq in the same period saw 15 percent fewer incidents and 30 percent fewer casualties than it had in the previous 90 days. Anthony Cordesman, an Afghanistan expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told FP that IEDs give the Taliban “visibility, power, and influence," adding that the insurgents may use the weapon more frequently as they lose ground controlling cities in the war-torn state. President Trump is expected to send an additional 4,000 troops to Afghanistan, where 11,000 troops were stationed at the end of August, according to the Pentagon.
In the last few years, a preferred topic of journalistic inquiry amongst concerned Baby Boomers and Gen Xers is the unique situation caused by the invasion of the workforce by Millenials. Born from the early 80s to the early aughts, Millenials bear the positive distinction of being among the most idealistic and socially conscious generations ever. Formed in the Internet Age, Millenials have knowledge of and wish to improve things on a global stage in a way no other generation has even had an opportunity to. This idealism is not solely limited to notions of transcontinental betterment, however. Unfortunately, many have noted that these same Millenials also bear unrealistically idealistic notions of their own capabilities leading to a sense of grandiosity and entitlement often categorized under the term of “narcissism.” Sociologists debate how seemingly an entire generation has been captured by Narcissus’ condition, but, no matter the cause, the effects seem rather dire. Relationships between Millenials often can suffer because of this shared selfishness, but it also seems to hamper the ability of my generation to really grind out a job in the work place The latter is the most frequently discussed fruit of this excessive self-love and is the main topic to be analyzed in this article. Having been told they are special throughout their entire developmental life, Millenials find it difficult to put their head down and crank out the work required of entry-level positions because they feel that their skill set requires more challenge and excitement. Can you really blame them? They’ve been told since kindergarten to “follow their passions” and if the situation you’re in doesn’t really resonate with your ideals and passions then something is defective. One can see the apparent difficulties for Millenials relationships (i.e. “as soon as you encounter difficulties it’s nothing you have to change about yourself it’s their problem and run”) and the same dynamic is played out at the professional level. My intention with this article is not to simply ensure that an online Catholic journal has an article similar to those that have been written dozens of times already on Yahoo News! or for the Huffington Post. Neither is it my intention to join the chorus of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers who are “…just so appalled at the lack of a work ethic in this newest generation.” Rather, I would seek to call out to Catholics Millenials who have grown up in the “You Are Special” milieu to confront how the inability to find meaning in the mundane can be a profound detriment to a relationship with Jesus. Note the tendency of the Millenial: an overexalted sense of self leads to a general discontentment with being engaged in a gulp NORMAL way of life. When this underlying tendency becomes “Catholicized,” this sense of grandiosity becomes applied to the spiritual life. We may even convince ourselves that such notions are really God’s voice we are hearing. I have a theory that the vocation of Perpetual Discernment is in some sense related to this grandiosity. “Only when I find a situation that perfectly “fits” me will I choose to dive into it.” In other cases, my fellow Millenials and I will read the Lives of the Saints and be convinced that we too MUST be called to such exalted levels of public immolation. This conviction leads to discontentment with our little sacrifices surrounding family life and 9-5 employment. If we really loved the Lord (and if He really loved us), then we would have an international speaking ministry or would already be in South Sudan serving orphans, right? I posit the question to my fellow sinners though, are these the only real paths to holiness? Does sanctity really require such public displays? Is that ALWAYS the Lord’s desire for you as a saint? I think in part because of my own Millenialness, I’ve begun to develop a deep devotion to the saints who haven’t been canonized by the Church. There are probably some pretty powerful, heavy-hitters sitting up there right by the throne of Jesus of whom we here on Earth have never even heard. Close to the Lord’s heart. Completely anonymous. To put a finer point on it, the real difficulty is this: if our excessive sense of self causes us to be discontent with our daily lives and unable to find the Lord’s hand working in the mundane, then we are currently, right now, missing the only opportunity for grace that is being offered to us. Holiness, sanctity, grace is a present moment kind of thing and if our present moment is pretty gulp NORMAL then the Lord has chosen for us a quiet and private holiness, at least for now. Let’s be those kind of saints, guys. No one’s going to know about us, but we’re going to know the Lord’s heart pretty well.
The Orlando Magic have started this season really well, going 2-1. Here are some of the main positives for a team that looks more cohesive than ever. Before the season began, most Orlando Magic fans would have been more than happy with a 2-1 start. They would also have assumed that one loss so far would have come away to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In reality it did not, with the Magic going into Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday night and putting the smackdown on a franchise that has tormented them for five years. The 114-93 final score showed just how good the Magic were. Even better is the fact they could be 3-0, but let the Brooklyn Nets squeak past them for a win. With all of this unexpected positivity to start the year, there have been a number of key factors that have the team looking like they could be in the playoff discussion come next spring. It’s early days for sure, but the Magic have spent so long being mediocre and had such negative things said about them, that turning a corner like this should be celebrated. There have been a few factors at work for this team, including an unexpected D.J. Augustin mini-surge, but here are the main three takeaways from an enjoyable start.
PACER Lags PACER was designed before the turn of the century, and hasn't been updated much. It is difficult to search, confusing to use, and is not indexed by search engines like Google. The biggest problem is that it charges for access. Every time you search, view a docket report, or download a document, you pay. These little charges add up quickly and make it impossible to do large-scale searching or analysis. This is bad for democracy. Docs Populi The Open PACER bill is being developed with active feedback from anyone who wishes to comment. Beside each paragraph, you will see a blue comment bubble. Click, and you can add your own remarks or suggestions. Usually the only people who are allowed to do this are members of Congress or lobbyists, but with this bill you are in charge. This is an approach that was first taken by open-internet champion Representative Darrel Issa. Law is Code You can even edit the bill yourself. It is written in Legislative XML, the exact same format that legislators use to draft a bill. The "source code" of the bill is managed through a tool called github, which is popular with open-source computer programmers. Open PACER takes this spirit to the legislative drafting process. You can view the source code, create your own version ("fork") of the bill, and submit proposed changes ("patches").
In the world of elearning, microlearning has become a buzzword. It’s considered a powerful new approach to training the workforce. With the average attention span in North America dropping from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2015, the demand for shorter, more engaging training is higher than ever! In this post, our goal is to cover the basics and leave you with an understanding of: What Microlearning is and the benefits it can provide. Throughout this post, we’ll try to give you examples of how to use microlearning in your own training programs. What is Microlearning? Microlearning is focused learning that is delivered in bite sized chunks. Since this method of learning provides small bits of knowledge at a time, it’s best used for delivering information that learners need to retain. Microlearning can be achieved using a number of different delivery methods: emails, online posts and short multimedia videos, are all examples of different ways you can deliver training that is designed for your learners to retain new knowledge and achieve their educational goals. Examples of Microlearning: – Watching video tutorials on Youtube – Receiving small bits of education via email: like Word of the Day from Dictionary.com – Online learning programs like Duolingo or Lynda What are the benefits that Microlearning can provide? 1. Avoid the risk of overwhelming learners Microlearning allows learners to move at their own pace, giving them the ability to go back and review complex concepts as often as needed. Since new knowledge is delivered in smaller chunks, learners avoid the risk of being overwhelmed by too much information at once. 2. Create on-the-go training that can be accessed anywhere, at anytime. Microlearning can be achieved using a number of different delivery methods. Email, online posts, videos, even tweets because of this training can usually be accessed across multiple devices, making it available on-the-go. Learners can access and review training materials while doing everyday tasks like: waiting for the bus, sitting on the train, or even riding the elevator! 3. Help learners better retain new knowledge Traditional classroom training often provides little to no long term takeaways for learners. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that 90 percent of new skills are lost within a year of training! Microlearning breaks new knowledge down into short chunks making learning easier to digest, understand, and apply on the job. Different ways to use Microlearning: – Health and Safety training – Learning new software – Business Processes and Procedures Microlearning yields many benefits for organizations looking to effectively train their people. Some may say that it’s another way of bringing education into the 21st century and adapting it to our ever-changing learning styles. Whatever the case may be, I think microlearning is more than a buzzword, it’s an effective form of delivering education that’s here to stay! I’m curious to know your thoughts, lets us know in the comments section below. Share this: Twitter Email Reddit Facebook LinkedIn Google Print
By Hisao Adachi The Teiken Boxing Gym in Tokyo officially announced the first defense of the world flyweight title of the World Boxing Council (WBC), unbeaten Nicaraguan Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez (40-0, 34KOs), who will face the No. 8 world ranked Philippine contender Rocky "The Road Warrior" Fuentes (35-7-2, 20KOs) on the 22nd of November at the Yokohama International Swimming Pool. The fight will be paired on the same card where the Japanese WBC super featherweight world champion Takashi "Bomber" Miura (27-2-2, 20KOs) will make the third defense of his crown against Mexican challenger and No. 1 world-ranked contender Edgar "Chananon" Puerta (23-4-1, 19KOs. This boxing evening will be hosted by the influential Japanese promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Boxing. Gonzalez will be making the first defense of his WBC title that he conquered this the past September with a ninth round TKO of Yaegashi Akira in Tokyo.
Manual Pick and Place by by V.K. Papanikolaou is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License If you are dealing with tiny SMD parts (e.g. 0402 resistors and capacitors), a manual pick and place machine is a helpful piece of equipment for prototyping and small-batch manufacturing. On the other side, traditional SMD placement using precision tweezers not only requires an ultra-steady hand but also becomes a tiresome drill, especially when working long hours upon fine-pitch PCB footprints. You would think : Hey, one thousand for a couple of X-Y sliding metal bars ? That was my idea, when started to design my own : total cost ? well under € 100 ! The plans are here in .dxf format (right click - Save As). Grab a (right click - Save As). Grab a free .dxf viewer and check it out. They are pretty self-explanatory : you will need some pieces of MDF, aluminum angles, some bearings and lots of bolts, washers and nuts, all found in your local store. Moreover, you will need a cheap vacuum pen and an small aquarium pump, which has to be reversed in order to work in suction, as explained here . You can even add more extras, like a USB microscope for enhancing the SMD placement precision. First step is to assemble the base of the machine. No difficulties here; just make sure that the upside-down angles (sliders) are perfectly parallel to each other. A good tip is to make the mounting holes one millimeter (sorry US friends !) larger that the bolt thread diameter, so that it will be easier to make fine adjustments afterwards. Next step is to prepare the short horizontal slider angles with the addition of bearings, as described in the plans. Here they are, fully assembled : Now attach them to the underside of the horizontal tray with using wood screws and washers. Be careful : use only four screws per slider and tight it up from their sides. Place the tray on the base before tightening fully; make sure that the tray slides freely and all eight bearings are touching the bottom sliders at the same time (you can still readjust the base sliders as well). Now you have a fully working horizontal tray (x-axis) ! Next step is to prepare the pen holder slider as described in the plans. The pen holder slides on the horizontal tray (y-axis) by using eight bearings and two aluminum angles mounted on the tray, mirrored to each other (thanks to this guy for sharing his idea). If your bearings are not touching both angles at the first time don't worry; use two large washers to uplift one of the angles and then make necessary fine adjustments. With a bit of patience, the pen slider will work flawlessly without any jitter. Now you are ready to place the vacuum pen vertically on its dedicated slider (z-axis). I used two needle bearings (12 mm inner diameter) mounted on the slider by two U-bolts, as shown in the picture. I also used a longer 12 mm tube for the pen, salvaging only the tip and the tail from the cheap manual button-pen I bought from eBay. I also used one U-bolt to mount a USB microscope (at a small angle) next to the vacuum pen. However, you can always use your imagination for alternative configurations (and please share them) ! The last bit : destroy a notepad (a real one !) and get the wire. This kind of wire is excellent for making a short compression spring for the vacuum pen. Wind the wire around the pen tube and it is ready in seconds ! Insert the spring in the tube and secure it at the top with an elastic band (or whatever you may think of), while its bottom sits on the needle bearing. A couple of sewing-machine-oil drops inside the needle bearings is always a good idea. Leave a clearence of about an inch (for my US friends) between the base and the needle tip and your manual pick & place machine is READY ! Now you can pick up your fine SMD components by moving both the tray and pen slider (X-Y) with your arm and lowering the pen with your hand (Z), while activating the vacuum pump (I made a foot switch for this). You already noticed that, thanks to the needle bearings, the pen can rotate around its axis as well, in order to perfectly align the picked component. Max working area 400x200 mm (too much for anything !). From my first experience, this machine is VERY accurate ! Hence, I am encouraging you to go for it. A nice detail for the end - little slots for vacuum pen tips. I am thinking of adding more upgrades in the future, but I've run out of ideas - please send me yours ! Update : since the MD F has ti ny spots that m ay distract vision from small SMD compone nts ( e.g. 0402) , a nice idea is to apply a wh ite paint coating (matte , not glossy ) over the pen usable area : Here's some views from the USB microscope that is attached next to the vacuum pen. It also features adjustable LED lighting. Update 2 : found this little gem (memory foam) i n eBay for £1 ! It really feels great a n d looks cool : And finally, the HD action video is here !
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian air strikes in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have intensified, a U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday, despite Western calls for Russia to stop the air campaign. A man sprays water on an ambulance at a site hit by what activists said were three consecutive air strikes carried out by the Russian air force, the last which hit this vehicle, in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan town in Idlib province, Syria January 12, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Major powers agreed last week to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria, in a deal that takes effect at the end of this week but was not signed by any warring parties - the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it. Several Western countries said there was no hope for a pause in combat without a halt to Russian bombing. Russia says the “cessation” does not apply to its air strikes, which have shifted the balance of power towards Assad. “There has been no lessening of the intensity of the Russian and the (Syrian) regime air campaign,” said Colonel Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. “If anything it’s increased.” Warren said the Russians fired three short-range ballistic missiles in the suburbs of Aleppo in the last few days, though he said the United States was unsure what sites the missiles hit. The Syrian government has also continued using “barrel bombs,” he said. The use of barrel bombs - oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and shrapnel - has drawn international condemnation. “We don’t see any notable preparation for the temporary cessation of hostilities,” Warren said. Russia says its air strikes are targeting Islamic State militants, while the United States has said it is strengthening Assad and targeting moderate rebel groups. Missile attacks in rebel-held areas of northern Syria on Monday killed scores of civilians and struck medical facilities and schools. Turkish officials blamed Russia for the strikes and accused it of carrying out war crimes. A Russian official said its air strikes were targeting Islamic State infrastructure and not civilian sites. Warren said on Wednesday that Russian and Syrian planes were conducting strikes in the areas where hospitals were hit, although he said the United States was not sure which country had carried out the strikes. “Russian and (Syrian) regime aircraft conducted strikes in those areas, and those hospitals were hit,” Warren said. On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the United States could not “definitively” say who was responsible for strikes on hospitals in northern Syria. U.S.-led coalition planes were not responsible for the hospital strikes, Cook said.
A Utopian fantasy based on the Leninist concept of "equality of outcome." It says that since you have more, it must be taken away from you to give to those who have less, so that you are both equal. So there is much in common with the petty thief , who steals your wallet at gun point in order to equalize both of your wealth. Though this never seems to apply to rulers, who always seem to be exempt from social justice policies.In order for social justice to exist, there has to be a ruling class to mete out that social justice. If there is an elite ruling class, then there is no social justice. So the concept of social justice always collapses in upon itself. Social Justice is generally supported by hipsters of all ages who can't afford weekly groceries or gas for their cars, but who are simultaneously bedazzled with hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars of tattoos and piercings.It is often used by power hungry despots to fool voters into surrendering their rights and liberties in exchange for promises of free stuff, while lining the pockets of the ruling class with the stolen wealth of the people.
So it’s been a while since I’ve done one of my “Soap Box Rant”-style posts, but I keep running into something that kinda bugs me and I’d like to rant about it. I subscribe to a lot of game development forums and boards and I can’t help but notice certain patterns in posts. Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more posts like this: Person A: I am looking for an engine to write my game in. Is Unreal Engine any good? Person B: Unreal Engine is great, plus blueprints allow you to quickly wire up your game for prototyping. Person C: Ha! You think blueprints are good?!?! (insert snarky comment containing multiple references to spaghetti) Just look at this!! …sigh… Let me start out by saying I love blueprints in Unreal. I’ve dabbled in multiple styles of visual scripting languages in the past–Playmaker, Kismet, Blender–and generally I’m not that big of a fan as I find it easier and faster to just write the code, but there’s something about blueprints that I really like. Person 3 from the above post is in a strange, Schrödinger’s cat state of being both correct and incorrect about blueprints. Yes, Blueprints can get very messy, but a blueprint doesn’t just messy itself. It takes a mess architect to create a monstrosity like the one in the above image, and the idea that messy unreadable code is limited to blueprints is ludicrous. I’ve worked as a software developer for nearly a decade in traditional coding languages, and let me tell you, I’ve seen some shit…. functions that are over 1000 lines long, for loops inside of for loops inside of for loops inside of for loops inside of.., variables named “myVar”, functions with only one line of code that just calls some other function… I could go on and on, but my point is that it’s still possible to write shitty code without a single blueprint. What is important is that a language gives you the tools to not have to write bad code, and a blueprint does exactly that. That having been said I will admit that going through the images of blueprints posted to the unreal forums can sometimes be quite a nightmare. One of the great things about blueprints is that it makes coding accessible to people who have never written a line of code before in their life, but I also think that fact is responsible for why people outside of Unreal think blueprints look like someone left a cat unsupervised in the yarn section of a Jo-Ann Fabrics. I’ve written before about needing to be OK with sub-par code. I still stand by everything in that post, but just as no great book was ever written in a first draft, so too should no game be written without a great deal of REFACTORING! Refactoring code means going through your hastily written prototype blueprints and making more readable, more usable code out of them. For a lot of developers this will mean writing them out in C++, but for the sake of this article let’s say you don’t know C++. There are still ways to clean up and refactor existing blueprints. Note: I realize that a lot of these tips are personal opinion and should be read as such. I’m not trying to argue one way of refactoring over another but instead offer my method if you do not already have your own. Things to look for when refactoring blueprints Copy and Paste: The first way to massively narrow down the size of a blueprint is to look for areas where you hit copy and paste. If there’s a bit of code you find yourself needing in multiple locations, there’s a really good chance that section of code should probably be it’s own function. Got different variables you need to execute it against? Great, make them inputs for the function. Need to use the code returned in different locations? Great make them outputs! Variable Spaghetti: So lets say you ran a trace or something that returns a whole bunch of variables that you need reference to in a whole bunch of other places. If you just drag and drop the connections you’ll create a mess. Instead consider promoting them to variables. If you’re in a function (which you probably should be if you are using a trace) consider making them local private variables. Similar Functions Used on Multiple Blueprints: So let’s say you moved, copied, and pasted code to a function. That’s great, but now you want that same function to be able to be called on a different blueprint. Well there’s two ways to go about that. If the function is a utility that could be used on any number of blueprints consider making it a macro. If it belongs to a blueprint related to a second blueprint, for example you’ve written code on a car that honks it’s horn, and you’d like similar code on a truck, consider using inheritance to make a vehicle blueprint, moving the horn honking code to that and then making both the car and the truck inherit from that blueprint . Awkward Names: Any function or variable names sound strange to you now? Well guess what. It will seem completely foreign to you when you find yourself trying to debug something in that same section of code a month from now. Typing out long explicit variable names isn’t fun for anybody, but the you from a couple of months from now will be more than willing to buy the you from today a drink for the effort. Trust me. Also it never hurts to come up with a naming convention and stick with it. A Lack of Comments: Most of this is about making the code cleaner so that it’s easier to read and see exactly whats going on. Comments theoretically should do just that, so that you don’t need to read the code. The developer just wrote in plain English what that section of code does. The true strength in comments though is that they tell you what the developer thinks that section of code does. Being able to see what a section of code was intended to do can sometimes really help when making code actually do what it’s supposed to do. Really Long Blueprints: Do you find most of your functions are just one really long sequence of nodes that you have to keep scrolling to the side to read? Consider using a sequence node to break that into discrete pieces and make your code way more readable. Wires Crossing Nodes: Do you have any wires crossing over a node they do not connect to? Then you potentially have a graph that can be easily misread. Save yourself some trouble by using a redirect node to make the graph a little neater. It’s super simple now that adding it only requires double clicking an existing wire. I use it almost to a fault in my code. Un-aligned Nodes That Make You Feel OCD: This one doesn’t make your graph any easier to read, just nicer to look at. Unreal Engine introduced node alignment tools a couple builds ago that made lining up nodes so much easier. Just highlight the nodes you want aligned and right click to open the context menu. Honestly this stupid little tool has become one of my favorite features in Unreal. Anyways, thanks for listening to me rant. I hope some of my code refactoring tips help. I really just glossed over a lot of the ideas here. If you’re interested in having me go over any of these ideas more in depth (e.g. inheritance, macros, etc.) just leave a comment and I might make that the topic of a future post. Update: I applied these methods to some actual code – Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Like this: Like Loading...
"There's a lot of things going on behind the scenes that people don't know about" the frontman said Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor has spoken for the first time about drummer Joey Jordision’s decision to quit the band. It was revealed last week (December 13) that Jordison had parted ways with the group and cited “personal reasons” as the motivation behind his departure, with the band promising to give fans more information in the future. In his first interview since Jordison’s exit, Taylor told Minneapolis radio station 93x: “I can’t really talk about it right now. It’s still so fresh and there’s a lot of things going on behind the scenes that people don’t know about, so legally and respectfully, I can’t say a lot about it. “I can confirm that we have parted ways with Joey and as soon as we can say something, we will, but we’re trying to protect him, trying to protect us, just making sure that we do everything right because that’s what we would expect from ourselves and what we would expect from the fans.” Taylor concluded: “I know the fans are chomping at the bit, it’s just we can’t really say anything right now. It sucks for them and it sucks for us because we have always really prided ourselves in being able to come out and honest with everybody, but there’s really nothing we can say right now.” In June, Slipknot dropped hints that they will be returning with new material in the near future as they headlined the opening night of Download Festival. The band’s last album ‘All Hope Is Gone’ was released in 2008 before bassist Paul Gray’s death, and they have never confirmed that they will be recording another LP. Earlier this year, musical equipment worth $36,000 (£24,000) was stolen from Taylor’s Iowa home. The singer told police that two guitars that had belonged to Gray, who died in May 2010, were among the items stolen.
Optimum HDTV viewing distance is the distance that provides the viewer with the optimum immersive visual HDTV experience. Although opinions vary on the exact screen size to distance relationship, formal research and recommendations suggest closer is preferred to farther[not in citation given], to provide a more immersive experience.[1][2] How close? “As close as you can stand it”.[dubious – discuss][3] Background [ edit ] HDTV is designed to provide an experience more realistic than the television system it is designed to replace.[4] The "thrilling realism"[5] HDTV attempts to offer arises from increased resolution (detail) and the typically large screen sizes. A larger display increases the visual angle at which content is viewed, both of which contribute to an increased feeling of presence.[6][7] Thus, correct viewing distance is critical to the enjoyment of HDTV as it is intended. While helping to define the HDTV standard, RCA engineer (and later vice-president) Bernard J. Lechner did an early analysis of viewing distance under various conditions, deriving the so-called Lechner distance. Presence [ edit ] The concept of presence has been described as the sensation of “reality”, of “being there”, and as “an illusion of nonmediation”.[6] The concept of presence originated and was studied with regard to Virtual Reality (VR) and other 3D environments. It was later established that television viewers could also experience a feeling of presence.[6] Presence is influenced by a number of factors, including video camera techniques, audio fidelity, visual and aural dimensionality, and most relevantly to this topic, image size (visual angle) and quality (angular resolution).[8][9] Visual angle [ edit ] The ideal optimum viewing distance is affected by the horizontal angle of the camera capturing the image. One concept of an ideal optimal viewing distance places the viewer where the horizontal angle subtended by the screen is the same as the horizontal angle captured by the camera. If this is the case, the angular relationships perceived by the viewer would be identical to those recorded by the camera. A mismatch in this regard is traditionally disregarded, but some rotating motions can make these distortions very noticeable as a pincushion effect. This is likely in 3d video games, so gamers are likely to adopt close viewing positions matched to a game's fixed field of view. If the camera's angle were always the same, an optimal viewing distance could be easily calculated. However the camera's horizontal angle varies as the focal length of its lens changes. If the camera's sensor has fixed dimensions, a shorter focal length (wide angle) lens captures a wider angle of view, requiring the viewer to sit closer to the screen. Conversely, a longer focal length (telephoto) lens captures a narrower angle of view, demanding a more distant viewer position. Such opposing viewing distances would not only be impractical, but would negate the very purposes of telephoto shots (for example, to see a distant object in more detail, or minimize distortion in facial images) and wide-angle shots (causing the viewer to sit too close to the screen, where undesirable image artifacts would be visible). One compromise assumes the lens is "standard" (a 50mm focal length, for a standard 35mm format). A "standard" lens preserves the same spatial relationships perceived by a spectator at the camera location. For a "standard" lens image, viewing distance should be equal to the diagonal length of the screen. Horizontal, vertical and diagonal field of view. It has been demonstrated that viewing a display that occupies a greater visual angle (also referred to as field-of-view) increases the feeling of presence.[8] More importantly, the wider the visual angle (to approximately a plateau point of 80 degrees), the greater the feeling of presence.[10][11] Angular resolution [ edit ] With printed graphics, resolution refers to the number of pixels (usually referred to as "dots") in a fixed linear measurement.[12] With HDTV, resolution is measured in terms of the number of pixels in the physical display.[10] When the resolution of a printed image is increased, the image is cleaner, crisper and more detailed.[12] However, image quality does not improve if the increase in resolution exceeds the observer's visual capabilities. For a HDTV's image to noticeably improve, its resolution per degree of arc (or angular resolution) must increase as well as the pixel count of the display.[10] Recommendations [ edit ] To maximize the feeling of presence and thus provide a better viewing experience, the viewer would need to be situated at the theoretical spot where the HDTV occupies the widest view angle for that viewer[dubious – discuss]. It is also important that the resolution of the display per degree of arc remain at a high quality level.[1] Opinions regarding where the nirvana position lies are numerous and varied. Recommendations on HDTV viewing distances fall into two general classes; a fixed distance based on HDTV display size, or a range of distances based on the display size. The most common recommendations from reasonably authoritative sources are presented below. Fixed distance [ edit ] Fixed distance recommendations are the more common of the two types. For the most part, the majority of the fixed distance recommendations were issued before the end of 2007, when arguably HDTV displays were still in the early adoption phase.[13][14] The most frequently cited fixed distance recommendations are listed. Diagonal measurement × 2.5 (corresponding to 20-degree viewing angle) [ edit ] One of the more popular recommendations on the proper HDTV viewing distance is multiply the diagonal measurement of the display screen by 2.5. This recommendation is cited by television manufacturers,[15] retailers,[16] respected publications[17][18] and websites,[19] though the popular electronics review website CNET suggests that high-resolution content can be watched at a closer distance – 1.5 times the display screen's diagonal measurement (corresponding to 32 degree viewing angle).[20] Diagonal measurement × 1.6 (corresponding to 30-degree viewing angle) [ edit ] Viewing an HDTV from a position where the display occupies a 30-degree field of view is widely quoted as the SMPTE (or SMPTE 30) recommendation (equivalent to about 1.6264 times the screen size in a 16:9 TV). This recommendation is very popular with the home theater enthusiast community,[21][22] appears in books on home theater design,[23] and is also supported by a white paper produced by Fujitsu.[24] Although an article on research into setting the specification for the next evolution of HDTV, Ultra HDTV (or UHDTV), does support the premise that HDTV was optimized for a view angle of 30 degrees,[10] there seems to be no direct recommendation from SMPTE on the issue. Diagonal measurement × 1.2 (corresponding to 40-degree viewing angle) [ edit ] THX recommends that the “best seat-to-screen distance” is one where the view angle approximates 40 degrees,[25] (the actual angle is 40.04 degrees).[3] Their recommendation was originally presented at the 2006 CES show, and was stated as being the theoretical maximum horizontal view angle, based on average human vision.[26] In the opinion of THX, the location where the display is viewed at a 40-degree view angle provides the most “immersive cinematic experience”,[25] all else being equal. For consumer application of their recommendations, THX recommends dividing the diagonal screen measurement by .84 to calculate the optimum viewing distance, for a 1080p resolution. This equates to multiplying the diagonal measurement by about 1.2.[25] Optimum ranges [ edit ] Stating optimum viewing distance as a range rather than as fixed distance is on the rise; possibly because of changes in the profile of the typical HDTV purchaser. Early adopters of HDTV were typically videophiles,[27] the technically adventurous[28] and the sports enthusiast[29] looking to have the ultimate viewing experience. Today, the typical HDTV consumer's aims may be a little more modest; total immersion takes a back seat to room integration.[30][31] Major retail chains like Best Buy that once stated their recommendation as a fixed distance,[16] are starting to provide range recommendations.[32] Manufacturers have also started to provide range recommendations, updating their website with small applications that denote the optimum viewing distance as a range of distances.[33][34][35] THX in March 2009, added range recommendations to their website.[25] The minimum end of the range tends to be the proponent's fixed optimum distance recommendation. Manufacturers' recommendations [ edit ] Range recommendations from manufacturers are the most modest of the groupings. For the minimum (or nearest) viewing distance, they recommend a view angle of approximately 31 degrees; and for the maximum, a view angle as low as 10 degrees.[33][34] A 10-degree view angle is approximately the angle that NTSC television was typically viewed from.[36] RCA Screen Size Recommended Range 22" 3'0" – 8'4" (0.9 – 2.5 m) 26" 3'5" – 9'10" (1.0 – 3.0 m) 32" 4'4" – 12'1" (1.3 – 3.7 m) 40" 5'4" – 15'1" (1.6 – 4.6 m) 42" 5'5" – 15'10" (1.7 – 4.8 m) 52" 6'0" – 17'0" (1.8 – 5.2 m) TOSHIBA[37] Screen Size Recommended Range 40" 4.0’ - 6.3’ (1.22 – 1.92 m) 42" 4.2’ - 6.7’ (1.28 – 2.04 m) 46" 4.6’ - 7.3’ (1.4 – 2.22 m) 47" 4.7’ - 7.4’ (1.43 – 2.26 m) 50" 5.0’ - 7.9’ (1.52 – 2.41 m) 55" 5.5’ - 8.7’ (1.68 – 2.65 m) 65" 6.5’ - 10.3’ (1.98 – 3.14 m) Retail recommendations [ edit ] The recommendations currently posted on the websites of retailers Best Buy and Crutchfield take more of a middle ground. Both retailers post a minimum viewing distance that accommodates a view angle of just a little over 32 degrees on average.[32][38] This viewing distance approximates the view angle needed to be able to see pixel level detail. The maximum viewing distance will provide a viewing angle of approximately 16 degrees with Best Buy's recommendation and approximately 20 degrees with Crutchfield's. The maximum viewing distance (minimum viewing angle) provided by Best Buy aligns with vision theory on the highest spatial frequencies perceivable by the human visual system.[39] Crutchfield's maximum viewing distance aligns with the lower boundaries where viewers typically begin to find HDTV immersive.[10] BEST BUY Screen Size Recommended Range 26" 3.3' – 6.5' (1.0 m – 2.0 m) 30" 3.8' – 7.6' (1.2 m – 2.3 m) 34" 4.3' – 8.5' (1.3 m – 2.6 m) 42" 5.3' – 10.5' (1.6 m – 3.2 m) 46" 5.8' – 11.5' (1.8 m – 3.5 m) 50" 6.3' – 12.5' (1.9 m – 3.8 m) 55" 6.8' – 12.8' (2.1 m – 3.9 m) 60" 7.5' – 15.0' (2.3 m – 4.6 m) 65" 8.1' – 16.3' (2.5 m – 5.0 m) CRUTCHFIELD Screen Size Recommended Range 26" 3.25' – 5.5' (1.0 m – 1.7 m) 32" 4.0' – 6.66' (1.2 m – 2.0 m) 37" 4.63' – 7.71' (1.4 m – 2.4 m) 40" 5.0' – 8.33' (1.5 m – 2.5 m) 42" 5.25' – 8.75' (1.6 m – 2.7 m) 46" 5.75' – 9.5' (1.7 m – 2.9 m) 50" 6.25' – 10.5' (1.9 m – 3.2 m) 52" 6.5' – 10.8' (2.0 m – 3.3 m) 55" 6.9' – 11.5' (2.1 m – 3.5 m) 58" 7.25' – 12.0' (2.2 m – 3.7 m) 65" 8.13' – 13.5' (2.5 m – 4.1 m) 70" 8.75' – 14.75' (2.7 m – 4.5 m) THX ranges [ edit ] While THX still contends that the optimum viewing distance is a position where the display occupies a 40-degree view angle for the viewer, they too provide a range recommendation. The minimum viewing distance is set to approximate a 40-degree view angle, and the maximum viewing distance is set to approximate 28 degrees.[25] THX Screen Size Recommended Range 35" 3.5' – 5.0' (1.0 – 1.5 m) 40" 4.0' – 6.0' (1.2 – 1.8 m) 50" 5' – 7.5' (1.5 – 2.2 m) 60" 6.0' – 9.0' (1.8 – 2.7 m) Screen height [ edit ] Consideration should also be given to the height at which the screen is placed. A common suggestion is that the viewer's eyes are horizontally level with the bottom or middle of the display, so that the screen does not overpower the viewer. THX recommends that a viewer's head should not have to look up more than 15 degrees.[40] Factors influencing the calculations [ edit ] Each recommendation serves the underlying goal of the organization that proposes it. Manufacturers will have an easier time selling their HDTVs if they support a position that does not require consumers to purchase as large a set as required by the THX recommendations. In the absence of economic influences, calculating the best screen size to distance ratio that will produce the utmost feeling of presence is not at all straightforward. There are a number of factors that can affect the calculation including the limitations of the human visual system,[10] the technological limitations of HDTV displays,[1] human physiological considerations,[10] the content that will be viewed,[8] and the interpretation of empirical data from formal testing. There is also the fact that the screen image is on a flat plane and not curved. Perhaps the biggest of these are uncertainties surrounding the limits of the human visual system, and how those limitations apply to what we see and perceive. A further, more practical consideration, is one of room size, including the position of speakers, seating and other furniture in the room. Human visual system limitation [ edit ] The human visual system has a fixed capacity to detect detail from a distance. Our understanding of limitations with regard to visual detail recognition and identification from a distance is primarily based on the work of Dr. Hermann Snellen. Dr. Snellen developed the eye examination chart that bears his name (Snellen chart). From his findings and the work of others over the last hundred years, one arcminute is seen as the threshold beyond which critical detail cannot be identified,[41] by a person with normal vision.[42][43][44] An arcminute is an angular measurement, which is equal to 1/60 of one degree of a circle. Normal vision is referenced as 20/20 or 6/6 vision in North America and Europe respectively.[44][45] The visual acuity threshold has been identified as a constraint factor in the recommendations on the optimum viewing distance for HDTV,[36] and also in formal research that comment on the subject of television and angular resolution.[1][46][47][48] Assuming display is flat, with 1 arcminute as the constraint for seeing critical detail, in order not to miss any detail a viewer would need to be situated at a position where their view angle to a 1080p HDTV is approximately 31.2 degrees or greater (32 degrees for spherical display), for 2160p HDTV approximately 58.37 degrees or greater (64 degrees for spherical display) and for 4320p HDTV approximately 96.33 degrees or greater (128 degrees for spherical display).[1][3] However, there is not always agreement that the Snellenian limit should be the constraining factor. To calculate the viewing distance, based on display size and content resolution, the following formula may be used: VD = DS ( NHR NVR ) 2 + 1 ⋅ CVR ⋅ tan ⁡ 1 60 {\displaystyle {\textrm {VD}}={\frac {\textrm {DS}}{{\sqrt {\left({\frac {\textrm {NHR}}{\textrm {NVR}}}\right)^{2}+1}}\cdot {\textrm {CVR}}\cdot \tan {\frac {1}{60}}}}} Where: VD: Viewing distance DS: Display's diagonal size NHR: Display's native horizontal resolution (in pixels) NVR: Display's native vertical resolution (in pixels) CVR: Vertical resolution of the video being displayed (in pixels) Note: Make sure the angle mode is set to degrees when calculating the tangent. If using a spreadsheet such as Excel, you must multiply the angle by PI()/180. If DS is given in inches, VD will be in inches. If VD in meters is desired, multiply VD by 2.54 and divide by 100. Example for DVD video on a 32-inch 1080p HDTV: VD = 32 ( 1920 1080 ) 2 + 1 ⋅ 480 ⋅ tan ⁡ 1 60 = 112.36 {\displaystyle {\textrm {VD}}={\frac {\textrm {32}}{{\sqrt {\left({\frac {\textrm {1920}}{\textrm {1080}}}\right)^{2}+1}}\cdot {\textrm {480}}\cdot \tan {\frac {1}{60}}}}=112.36} (inches) Example for high-def video on a 32-inch 1080p HDTV: VD = 32 ( 1920 1080 ) 2 + 1 ⋅ 1080 ⋅ tan ⁡ 1 60 = 49.94 {\displaystyle {\textrm {VD}}={\frac {\textrm {32}}{{\sqrt {\left({\frac {\textrm {1920}}{\textrm {1080}}}\right)^{2}+1}}\cdot {\textrm {1080}}\cdot \tan {\frac {1}{60}}}}=49.94} (inches) Sitting beyond these distances will result in a loss of detail. A 1998 Sun Microsystems paper on the limits of human vision and video display systems uses a different constraint value of approximately ½ an arc minute (or 30 arc seconds), when estimating the saturation point for the human visual system.[39] With 30 arc seconds as the constraint, the view angle necessary to see all the detail provided by an HDTV with a 1080p resolution drops to approximately 16.1 degrees. Furthermore, several academic articles have challenged the notion that 1 arcminute of resolution is the typical resolving power of the human eye, suggesting that on average, we can resolve detail smaller than that.[45][49] Also, there is the issue of vernier acuity, which is the eye's ability to detect an offset between 2 lines and stereoacuity, which is the ability to discriminate depth by the use of both eyes. Vernier acuity and stereoacuity are cited as being detected with only a 2–4 arc second degree of separation.[50] Ultimately all of the various types of acuity play a part in how we see things and more importantly, how we perceive what we are witnessing. The complexities of the human visual system and the relationship between different types of acuity are not yet fully understood.[50] Thus, depending on which human visual system constraints are applied, viewing angles calculations will vary to some degree, especially when technological constraints are factored in. Technology limitations [ edit ] Magnification of the pixel grid Image with a portion greatly enlarged, showing how individual pixels are rendered While viewing an HDTV display from a shorter distance can produce an increased sense of presence, the limitations of technology can have an adverse effect if the viewer is too close to the display. If you examine an LCD or plasma HDTV display when it is turned off, you can see the construction of the pixel grid. Turning the display on doesn't completely mask this. If you are too close to the display when it is on, it can look as though you're viewing it through a screen door.[47][51] Even with different HDTV display technology, such as front or rear projection DLP, LCoS or laser TV, the way HDTV images are rendered limits how close a viewer can be before the image's segmented nature becomes evident. HDTV displays produce images the same way computer bitmaps (also known as raster graphics) are produced, using a mosaic of colored 4-sided pixels. Like computer monitors, each HDTV display has a video resolution consisting of rows and columns of specific numbers of pixels. From far enough away, the human eye perceives the illuminated pixels as a smooth image.[12] As one gets closer, a point occurs where the blocky appearance of individual pixels becomes apparent.[1] The image then loses its smoothness, its perceived quality drops, and the advantage of closer viewing becomes a disadvantage. Calculating the point where the human eye can detect pixels is not straightforward. Obviously, people's visual acuity varies greatly. But pixel geometry varies as well, in shape and spacing (known as interpixel gap[36]), depending on a display's technology and design. Human physiological considerations [ edit ] Research conducted on presence with HDTV and other higher resolution formats that use a wide field display, has revealed that sometimes the feeling of presence can be too real, producing physiological effect that some viewers may find undesirable. Subjects have reported experiencing an increase in symptoms that are common to motion sickness when viewing strong visual stimuli on large screens.[10] A study conducted using virtual reality simulation as part of the experiment, found that subjects with lower visual acuity experienced significantly more of the symptoms associated with motion sickness. Furthermore, the study also found that the symptoms of motion sickness increased when subjects observed the visual stimuli without the aid of their glass or contact lenses.[52] Consequently, optimum viewing distance recommendations based solely on human visual system and technological limitations may not always produce the best viewing experience. Viewers with lower visual acuity, who prefer to watch HDTV without their corrective lenses may want to sit closer to see critical details and run the risk of undesirable side effects. End-user content selection [ edit ] Although studies show the feeling of presence and image size are directly correlated, calculating the size to viewing distance relationship may not be a necessary exercise for all consumers. A 1997 study, which hypothesized that increases in screen size would give rise to increased feelings of presence, found that the content was more important than the screen size. The findings were that for commercials, action-adventure and reality programming an increase in the feeling of presence did correlate with increased size. The researcher attributed these findings to the fact that the aforementioned content contained scenes that were shot with a point of view camera, scenes with sudden movements and shorter shots. Conversely, for programming consisting of talk shows and drama programs changing the screen size had no effect on the feeling of presence.[53] See also [ edit ]
Discovered on a rocky spit on Triquet Island, around 300 miles north of Victoria, Canada, the remnants of an ancient village have surprised archaeologists. Possibly alluding to one of the oldest settlements found in North America, the discovery in question here (made last year) is 14,000 years old, thus making the village almost 10,000 years older than the veritable pyramids at Giza. The findings at the remote island in British Columbia were made by the collaborative effort of Hakai Institute and University of Victoria, along with the local First Nations members. The scope of discovery entailed a range of items, including fish hooks, spears, and tools for making fire. And judging by the nature and date of the small settlement, the researchers have hypothesized that there was a mass migration along coasts of British Columbia. Alisha Gauvreau, an anthropology PhD student at the University of Victoria and a researcher at the Hakai Institute, said (as told to CTV News Vancouver Island) – I remember when we get the dates back and we just kind of sat there going, holy moly, this is old. What this is doing is just changing our idea of the way in which North America was first peopled. Now interestingly enough, there are several hypotheses regarding the Bering Strait land bridge (also known as Beringia) that connected Alaska with Siberia and how it was used by a few thousand immigrants to cross into the Americas (from eastern Siberia). However in spite of the existence of this land bridge during the period of the settlement (the land bridge was finally submerged by the sea around 11,000 years ago), the researchers have conjectured that the inhabitants of the village were more likely to have come by boats. In essence, the coastal route was probably more favored by the prehistoric populace rather than the ‘romanticized’ land route of Beringia. Even more intriguingly, there are folkloric traditions that tell tales of ancient coastal villages in the cultural sphere of the First Nations (the native peoples of Canada south of the Arctic), including the Heiltsuk Nation. And now there is some degree of archaeological evidence that matches up with a few of these traditions, thus suggesting the historical value of folklore and tales. William Housty of Heiltsuk Nation, said – To think about how these stories survived all of that, only to be supported by this archaeological evidence is just amazing. And finally the good news for history enthusiasts pertains to the fact that this scope of the discovery is still not complete. In that regard, the researchers are looking forth to excavate other islands in the proximity to unravel more remnants of lost ancient settlements on the western Canadian coast. Source: CTV Vancouver Island News / Via: Independent / Inhabitat Images Courtesy of Hakai Institute. 244 Shares
New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony said Thursday on ESPN Radio that it's "very likely" he will shut it down after the All-Star Game. Anthony maintained that he plans to play in Sunday's game at Madison Square Garden, "even if it's just a few minutes" -- but likely will be done playing after that. "It's very likely. It's very likely. Now I've got to start thinking about the future," Anthony told Marc Stein, Marc Kestecher and P.J. Carlesimo in an interview on ESPN Radio. "This season is this season. So I really want to just sit down with my team and sit down with the proper people to just kind of plan this thing out and see exactly what I have to do to get done and just to fix it." The Knicks' leading scorer and franchise player has been dealing with soreness in his left knee for months. Anthony aggravated the injury in Monday's loss to the Miami Heat and sat out Wednesday's loss to the Orlando Magic. Despite the injury, he plans to appear in Sunday's All-Star Game to honor the fans who voted him in as an Eastern Conference starter. "Even if I come out and just play a couple minutes and just wave," Anthony said. "I don't think the fans deserve [seeing me miss the game]. They voted me in for a reason, so at least I can show them that I appreciate that by just participating in the game." Knicks Hopeless Minus Carmelo The Knicks are 0-13 without Carmelo Anthony this season, averaging 87.2 points on 40.9 percent shooting in those games, both of which would rank last in the NBA for the whole season. 2014-15 With Melo Without W-L 10-30 0-13 PPG 94.3 87.2 FG pct. 44.5 40.9 -- ESPN Stats & Information The eight-time All-Star also reiterated on Thursday that if he undergoes a surgical procedure to fix his knee, it won't interfere with his offseason workout schedule. "That's why if anything was to get done, I want to get it done right away so I'm not taking time and missing training camp and things like that," Anthony said. "When I come back to training camp, I want to be sharp." The Knicks have been cautious with Anthony by reducing his minutes and requiring the 12-year veteran to sit out some games during loaded stretches in the schedule, such as skipping the second night of a back-to-back set of games. But Anthony said earlier this week that playing through the knee soreness was only growing more frustrating. "It's little things that I'm doing out there on the court," Anthony said. "I'm restricted, I'm not getting that power or that bounce, and then to do something like I did today, I think I'm getting closer to that point. I think due to the lack of movement, the lack of explosiveness I have right now -- I'm just trying to compensate and try to figure it out as it goes along." Editor's Picks Melo: 'Onus' on Knicks' front office Carmelo Anthony says the "onus" falls on Phil Jackson and the front office to turn the Knicks around, writes Ian Begley. The Knicks enter the All-Star break at 10-43, the worst record in the NBA. Knicks president Phil Jackson hopes to turn things around this summer via the draft and free agency. The Knicks have a first-round pick in June's draft and are expected to have upwards of $30 million in cap space to spend on free agents. "The fate is in the front office now," Anthony said. "As players the only thing we can do is go out and try to compete on a nightly basis and try to get wins and try to get better. But I think the onus is on the front office and they've got a task ahead of them to start building for now and for the future." He added that he's looking forward to recruiting free agents with Jackson and the rest of the Knicks' front office in the offseason. "I can relate to these guys. I compete against them," Anthony said of prospective free agents. "I know what it takes to play in New York. I know who can handle New York and who can't handle New York. ... If I'm coming to you, that means I really want you to come over here and join forces with me." The full interview with Anthony airs Saturday on ESPN Radio at 5:30 p.m. ET as part of the "Meet the All-Stars" show. ESPN.com's Michael Wallace contributed to this report.
A retired Ottawa chiropractor is appealing his conviction for sexually assaulting three of his patients, and his sentence of seven months of house arrest and another eight months of curfew is on hold pending his appeal. Michael Beaton, 77, received the 15-month conditional sentence in court Tuesday after being convicted in June of two cases of indecent assault and one case of sexual assault involving three male patients who had sought treatment from him for neck and back pain. The incidents took place between 1979 and 2003. The patients had been lying on his treatment bed in various states of undress, the court heard, when Beaton fondled them. Michael Beaton is a sexual predator and pervert who used his profession and friendships to abuse unsuspecting clients and friends. - Victim Immediately after the sentence was handed down, defence lawyer Richard Auger filed an appeal of all three convictions "on a whole host of grounds." Beaton will not be put under house arrest while his convictions are being appealed, according to Auger. "We've obtained an order from the court of appeal staying that conditional sentence and house arrest, which means that it's on hold until the court of appeal can deal with the conviction appeal," said Auger. Auger said his client was relieved the trial was over, and was looking forward to the next step in the process. Victim 'disappointed' with house arrest sentence After the sentence was announced, one victim said "it would have been nice" if the retired chiropractor had been sent to jail. "I'm disappointed, but at least he's convicted," said the victim, who cannot be named, in an interview with CBC News. "He should have got jail time." In a victim's impact statement read in court on Monday, the same victim said he still suffers from "severe panic attacks and anxiety" when dealing with doctors. "Michael Beaton is a sexual predator and pervert who used his profession and friendships to abuse unsuspecting clients and friends," said crown attorney James Cavanagh, reading the statement on the man's behalf. "He used his predatory skills to take advantage of me and others." Cavanagh had asked Justice Douglas Rutherford to impose a jail sentence of 12 to 18 months. Judge 'very cautious' about victim statement Beaton's lawyer, Richard Auger, urged Rutherford to give "little to no weight" to the man's statement, alleging that the man had called Beaton and his defence team directly, claiming he had information that would help Beaton's case and asking for money. Auger said he did not return the man's call. In his decision, Rutherford said he was "inclined to be very cautious" in giving the victim's impact statement weight, given the allegation. In an interview with CBC News, the victim admitted he made a mistake when contacting the defence to ask for payment. "I'm naive. I don't know how the legal system works," he said.
An amazing admission from a NYT spokesman: “As the debate over interrogation of terror suspects grew post-9/11, defenders of the practice (including senior officials of the Bush administration) insisted that it did not constitute torture. When using a word amounts to taking sides in a political dispute, our general practice is to supply the readers with the information to decide for themselves. Thus we describe the practice vividly, and we point out that it is denounced by international covenants and in American tradition as a form of torture.” The Times spokesman added that outside of the news pages, editorials and columnists “regard waterboarding as torture and believe that it fits all of the moral and legal definitions of torture.” He continued: “So that's what we call it, which is appropriate for the opinion pages.” But it is not an opinion that waterboarding is torture; it is a fact, recognized by everyone on the planet as such - and by the NYT in its news pages as such - for centuries. What we have here is an admission that the NYT did change its own established position to accommodate the Cheneyite right. So their journalism is dictated by whatever any government says. In any dispute, their view is not: what is true? But: how can we preserve our access to the political right and not lose pro-torture readers? If you want a locus classicus for why the legacy media has collapsed, look no further. So if anyone wants to get the NYT to use a different word in order to obfuscate the truth, all they need to do is make enough noise so there is a political dispute about a question. If there's a political dispute, the NYT will retreat. And so we now know that its core ethos is ceding the meaning of words to others, rather than actually deciding for itself how to call torture torture. Orwell wrote about this in his classic "Politics and the English Language." If newspapers will not defend the English language from the propaganda of war criminals, who will? And it is not as if they haven't made this call before - when they routinely called waterboarding torture. They already had a view. They changed it so as not to offend. In so doing, they knowingly printed newspeak in their paper - not because they believed in it, but because someone else might. This is not editing. It is surrender. It is not journalism; it is acquiescence to propaganda. It strikes me as much more egregious a failing than, say, the Jayson Blair scandal. Because it reaches to the very top, was a conscious decision and reveals the empty moral center in the most important newspaper in the country. When historians look back and try to understand how the US came to be a country that legitimizes torture, the New York Times will be seen to have played an important role in euphemizing it, enabling it, and entrenching it. The evidence shows conclusively that there is not a shred of argument behind the dramatic shift in 2002 - just plain cowardice. In my view, the people who made that decision should resign. They have revealed that they are nothing but straws in the wind - in a time when moral clarity and courage were most needed. We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected].
Luciano Velleda Da RBA Morador do Recreio dos Bandeirantes, zona oeste da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Nabil Rizkallah pega carona quase diariamente para ir e voltar do local de trabalho, na Barra da Tijuca. Faz isso há cerca de sete meses, desde que a empresa começou a oferecer o serviço de carona do aplicativo Bynd. “É muito legal, uso quase todo dia. Acredito ser importante por reduzir o número de carros nas ruas, reduzir a poluição, o uso de gasolina, é bom para a sociedade e o meio-ambiente”, explica o gerente de segurança da Nokia no Brasil. Criado há três anos, foi no último ano e meio que o aplicativo Bynd cresceu e ampliou sua carteira de clientes para os dez que tem atualmente, entre eles a Porto Seguro, Nokia, Mercado Livre, Schneider Electric e Avon. O foco são empresas com mais de 150 funcionários, que pagam uma mensalidade para o aplicativo e disponibilizam o serviço para seus empregados, sem custo algum para eles. O valor mensal varia de acordo com o número de trabalhadores da empresa. Por sua vez, os empregados se cadastram na plataforma e passam a oferecer e ganhar carona dos colegas. Para Nabil Rizkallah, além dos benefícios ambientais, o uso do aplicativo tem também a vantagem de estreitar a amizade com colegas de trabalho. Em seu trajeto diário do Recreio dos Bandeirantes até a Barra da Tijuca, um percurso que leva entre 40 minutos e uma hora, ele diz ser tempo suficiente para uma boa conversa. “Dá pra conversar sobre a empresa, os colegas, sobre o trabalho. Por pegar carona com quem mora perto de mim, também trocamos dicas de lugares para ir com a família, um restaurante, algo assim. Tem muita coisa que dá pra compartilhar até chegar no trabalho”, explica o gerente da Nokia. Por meio do aplicativo, ele diz já ter conhecido inclusive colegas novos. Nabil enaltece a iniciativa da empresa em que trabalha por oferecer o serviço. Segundo ele, a preocupação com o meio-ambiente e com o lado humano dos empregados é uma característica da Nokia. “A empresa procura aplicar na prática seus valores pessoais e ambientais”, avalia. Morador do Recreio dos Bandeirantes, zona oeste da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Nabil Rizkallah pega carona quase diariamente para ir e voltar do local de trabalho, na Barra da Tijuca. Faz isso há cerca de sete meses, desde que a empresa começou a oferecer o serviço de carona do aplicativo Bynd. “É muito legal, uso quase todo dia. Acredito ser importante por reduzir o número de carros nas ruas, reduzir a poluição, o uso de gasolina, é bom para a sociedade e o meio-ambiente”, explica o gerente de segurança da Nokia no Brasil. Criado há três anos, foi no último ano e meio que o aplicativo Bynd cresceu e ampliou sua carteira de clientes para os dez que tem atualmente, entre eles a Porto Seguro, Nokia, Mercado Livre, Schneider Electric e Avon. O foco são empresas com mais de 150 funcionários, que pagam uma mensalidade para o aplicativo e disponibilizam o serviço para seus empregados, sem custo algum para eles. O valor mensal varia de acordo com o número de trabalhadores da empresa. Por sua vez, os empregados se cadastram na plataforma e passam a oferecer e ganhar carona dos colegas. Para Nabil Rizkallah, além dos benefícios ambientais, o uso do aplicativo tem também a vantagem de estreitar a amizade com colegas de trabalho. Em seu trajeto diário do Recreio dos Bandeirantes até a Barra da Tijuca, um percurso que leva entre 40 minutos e uma hora, ele diz ser tempo suficiente para uma boa conversa. “Dá pra conversar sobre a empresa, os colegas, sobre o trabalho. Por pegar carona com quem mora perto de mim, também trocamos dicas de lugares para ir com a família, um restaurante, algo assim. Tem muita coisa que dá pra compartilhar até chegar no trabalho”, explica o gerente da Nokia. Por meio do aplicativo, ele diz já ter conhecido inclusive colegas novos. Nabil enaltece a iniciativa da empresa em que trabalha por oferecer o serviço. Segundo ele, a preocupação com o meio-ambiente e com o lado humano dos empregados é uma característica da Nokia. “A empresa procura aplicar na prática seus valores pessoais e ambientais”, avalia. Moradora de São Paulo, Natara Clissi é consultora de Tecnologia da Informação e precisa ir a Campinas três vezes por semana devido ao seu trabalho. Desde dezembro de 2015, oferece carona por meio do aplicativo Blablacar para o trajeto de ida e volta. Conheceu o aplicativo por intermédio de um grupo de caronas no Facebook e, desde então, está satisfeita com a experiência. “Para mim tem sido bem útil. Me dá a possibilidade de morar em uma cidade e trabalhar em outra com pouco gasto”, explica Natara, de 28 anos. Fundado na França em 2006, o Blablacar existe no Brasil desde o final de 2015. Já em seu primeiro ano de funcionamento intermediou cerca de um milhão de assentos em carona, em mais de 25 mil rotas pelo país. Em 2017, os dados mostram que o uso do aplicativo segue crescendo rapidamente em seu segundo ano de atividade. Ao contrário do Bynd, de uso exclusivamente corporativo entre funcionários de uma mesma empresa, o Blablacar é um aplicativo de carona para longa distância entre desconhecidos. Suas viagens tem, em média, 250 quilômetros de percurso e em 37% dos casos a razão do deslocamento é visitar pais e familiares. Visitar namorado (a) ou amigo (a) vem logo em seguida, com 26% dos motivos de quem usa o aplicativo, enquanto as viagens de negócios representam 18%. “Quanto a segurança, eu tento analisar as pessoas pelas avaliações que são feitas pelos motoristas. É muito importante a avaliação tanto de quem oferece quanto de quem pega a carona”, explica Natara Clissi. Na lógica do aplicativo Blablacar, motoristas indicam sua rota e o número de assentos disponíveis, enquanto os passageiros interessados em pegar carona acessam a plataforma para encontrar lugares vagos de acordo com seu destino. A partir de então, ambos se conectam para dividir os custos da viagem. Novas possibilidades Na revolução das mídias digitais e da sociedade em rede, o uso de aplicativos de carona no Brasil é um fenômeno recente. Para o diretor do Blablacar Ricardo Leite, o Brasil é “perfeito” para o desenvolvimento do aplicativo, por ser um país muito grande em termos de área, população e frota de veículos – são em torno de 50 milhões de automóveis, combinado com poucas alternativas de transporte, passagens aéreas caras, além de muitos destinos turísticos e pessoas interessadas neles. Segundo o diretor, o apelo econômico, em comparação com outros meios de transporte, é a principal vantagem da plataforma, mas o que faz as pessoas continuarem usando-a é também um aspecto social. “Você acaba conhecendo muita gente interessante. É uma experiência social muito bacana”, avalia Ricardo Leite Os dados da empresa mostram que 81% das caronas são para o “uso funcional”, ou seja, visitar parentes, amigo (a), namorado (a) ou trabalho. A faixa etária de quem mais usa o serviço, com 42%, é entre 26 e 35 anos de idade. Com cerca de 25 mil rotas em atividade no país, a plataforma registrou no primeiro ano, como os trajetos mais populares: São Paulo – Campinas; São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro; Florianópolis – Porto Alegre; Belo Horizonte – São Paulo; Florianópolis – São Paulo; Curitiba – São Paulo; Belo Horizonte – Rio de Janeiro; Curitiba – Florianópolis; Ribeirão Preto – São Paulo; e Florianópolis – Joinville. Um recorte por região mostra que São Paulo é o estado com o maior volume de viagens. Apesar do sucesso do Blablacar, Ricardo Leite analisa a existência de uma certa barreira cultural, principalmente no aspecto da segurança. Para atenuar esse fator, ele explica que tanto o motorista que oferece a carona quanto o caroneiro efetuam um cadastro no aplicativo, com diversas informações tornadas públicas, além das avaliações que um faz do outro, disponível para todos os usuários da plataforma. “Como as viagens costumam ser programadas com alguns dias de antecedência, é possível já ver com quem se irá viajar”, explica Ricardo Leite. Entre as informações disponibilizadas está o histórico da pessoa, telefone, documentação, entre outros detalhes confirmados pelo aplicativo. “Mesmo não conhecendo a pessoa, com as informações que a plataforma juntou sobre ela, se passa a confiar”, afirma o diretor da Blablacar, ponderação confirmada pela usuária Natara Clissi. “Mais de 90% dos usuários vem do boca a boca, o que é a consequência da segurança do aplicativo. Quando as pessoas descobrem uma maneira que é mais barata de viajar e é também uma experiência agradável, elas começam a falar com os amigos. Alguém que tem uma barreira de desconfiança, quando ouve o relato de um amigo, passa a confiar muito mais e então usa”, diz Ricardo Leite, enfatizando que o motorista não lucra por oferecer a carona, pois são viagens que aconteceriam de qualquer forma. Carona verde O modelo de carona corporativa desenvolvido pelo Bynd nasceu após a viagem de carro de cinco amigos de São Paulo até o Alasca, ao longo de 13 meses. No retorno, dois deles, profissionais do mercado financeiro, decidiram fundar o aplicativo. Na opinião de Lara Pascom, responsável pela comunicação do Bynd, a proposta do aplicativo surge como solução do problema do trânsito nas cidades. Segundo ela, há estudos que indicam que mais de 60% de quem trabalha em empresa, usa o carro para ir da casa ao local do emprego, em veículos ocupados por apenas uma pessoa. Lara destaca que o uso do aplicativo de carona reduz o número de carros nas ruas e, como consequência, reduz também a emissão de gás carbônico. “São índices que mostram para as empresas algo que elas podem incluir em seus relatórios de sustentabilidade. Muitas vezes, as empresas não mensuram o impacto ambiental que elas causam”, explica. Ela cita ainda o aspecto do networking entre os usuários da empresa, que se descobrem viver perto um do outro e estreitam relação. “Não temos feedback negativo.” De acordo com Lara Pascom, os usuários do Bynd são, em geral, pessoas que estão descobrindo a possibilidade da carona como meio de transporte para o trabalho, enquanto outros já tinham o hábito e, para esses, a plataforma se tornou um facilitador. Toda carona vale 200 pontos, seja para o motorista ou o passageiro. Se o motorista tiver dois caroneiros, são 500 pontos para ele e, se forem três, 800. Os pontos podem ser trocados no programa Multiplus. “Isso torna a carona mais atrativa”, explica Lara. Quem convida um colega de trabalho a entrar na plataforma também ganha pontos. Segundo a responsável pela comunicação do Bynd, o aspecto da segurança é facilitado pelo fato dos usuários saberem que a outra pessoa é um colega da empresa, ainda que eles não se conheçam pessoalmente. “Isso acaba inibindo problemas porque é um círculo social restrito.” Para melhorar a segurança, o aplicativo oferece um filtro específico para o uso feminino, de modo que a carona seja agendada somente entre elas. “Há mulheres que se sentem mais seguras com outra mulher”, explica. Apesar dessa possibilidade, diz ela, o filtro é pouco usado. As vantagens da empresa oferecer o serviço de carona entre seus funcionários é reconhecida por Malena Martelli, vice-presidente de recursos humanos da Schneider Electric. “A empresa já tem a cultura da sustentabilidade, faz parte do nosso DNA, então para os nossos funcionários qualquer coisa sobre esse tema é bem recebido. Não tivemos nenhuma resistência, pelo contrário, houve uma grande aceitação”, relata Malena. A Schneider Electric começou a oferecer o serviço há dois meses. Nesse curto período, cerca de 500 funcionários criaram perfil no aplicativo e mais de mil caronas foram feitas. Por ser um modelo que envolve apenas os trabalhadores da empresa, a vice-presidente de recursos humanos diz ter havido “zero de preocupação” com a questão da segurança. “Se é um funcionário nosso, ele já foi selecionado dentro dos nossos critérios”, enfatiza. Segundo Malena Martelli, mesmo os empregados que ainda não usam a carona se mostram satisfeitos com a iniciativa da companhia. “Há um sentimento de orgulho da empresa oferecer algo mais condizente com o momento do planeta”, pondera. Em tempos de redes sociais e uso crescente das mídias digitais, parece que a cena do dedão levantado na beira da estrada começa a ser uma imagem do passado.
Only about a third of communities in the Northeast have completed tree inventories, according to the estimates of John Parry, a forester with the Urban Forestry Program for New England and New York. Nationally, Mr. Parry said, the figure is probably lower. Worcester had the foresight to inventory earlier than most — in 1986 — but it stopped short at that time of making the changes the inventory showed were necessary. “If Worcester had had the money and expertise to diversify plantings after the 1986 inventory showed there were too many maples,” said David Bloniarz, a scientist with the Forest Service, “things wouldn’t have been so bad today.” Photo Ithaca, N.Y., doubled its tree diversity after completing an inventory in 1997, said its urban forester, Andy Hilman. Ithaca went from having 200 tree varieties to more than 450, he said. Ithaca has been a testing ground for new technology developed by the Forest Service that helps inventory takers determine whether pests are responsible for a tree’s abnormal appearance. They enter any symptoms they spot, like small holes in a tree, into a hand-held computer and it tells them which pests could be responsible. A team of professional inventory takers hired by Worcester failed to notice the beetles in 2006, Mr. Bohne said. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. “If they’d had that pest detection software when they did the Worcester inventory,” Mr. Hilman said, “and if they had noticed small holes and sawdust piles, then that could have led to earlier detection.” With the software improving, cities throughout the country look to tree inventories as having the potential to save millions of dollars. And many are recruiting local volunteers to do such inventories, an option that foresters endorse because it means more people are trained to look for signs of pests. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “In most cases the Asian long-horned beetle was first detected by residents,” said Keith Cline, program manager with the Urban and Community Forestry Program. In Worcester, Donna Massie, a resident of Greendale, first noticed the beetle this summer and reported it to the authorities. Ms. Massie is eager to help with eradication efforts, but other residents are angry that the beetle went undetected for so long. “It seems to me that Worcester just drags its feet,” said Donald Huard, 58, a handyman who lives on an affected street. “And now look; the problem is so big it’s really going to change our landscape.” Ms. Massie, 53, is trying to get her neighbors to stay positive and informed through her Web site, asianlonghornedbeetleitems.com, which also sells beetle-themed goods like lacquered frozen beetles in wooden boxes and beetle Christmas ornaments. She plans to give half her proceeds to the city for replanting. “Some people blame the government for catching the problem after the beetles already had time to spread,” she said. “But, really, it’s the beetle’s fault, and we’re all responsible, so the best thing to do now is to get educated and deal with the situation before it gets even bigger.”
Today in Nationals’ History: Stephen Strasburg makes his debut Nationals Communications Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 8, 2016 June 8, 2010 — Prized pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 while tossing seven innings of four-hit, two-run ball in his MLB debut vs. Pittsburgh. Strasburg’s electric performance came in front of a capacity crowd and a national television audience on MLB Network. Washington bested the Pirates, 5–2. Strasburg became the first pitcher in history to strike out at least eleven batters without issuing any walks in his pro debut. He also fell only one strikeout short of the all-time record in a pitcher’s MLB debut. Notably, Strasburg struck out every batter in the Pirates’ lineup at least once and struck out the last seven batters he faced, a Nationals team record. Check out some pictures from this memorable day in Nats’ history in the gallery above!
The costs of homeownership in Vancouver can total as much as 79 per cent of typical household income, according to the latest RBC Affordability Index – far greater than the 30 per cent maximum recommended by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Using the Index, Ratehub created a housing affordability map for major cities across Canada, and calculated the national average. The map was created by examining utilities, mortgage payments and property taxes in each major city to calculate the percentage of pre-tax income Canadians are spending on housing. article continues below Not surprisingly, residents of Vancouver and the GTA took to the top two spots, with home ownership costs making up 79.7 per cent and 72 per cent of incomes respectively. Both cities rank more than 20 per cent higher than the national average calculated by RateHub of 45.9 per cent. RateHub co-founder James Laird explained that other factors must be considered when examining affordability in the Toronto and Vancouver housing markets. "People buying in these geographies cannot only be relying on their income to pay for these homes," Laird said. "Many of them are relying on existing wealth that was not earned in the most recent tax year." Of the 12 cities examined in the report, Regina, Saskatchewan, St. John, New Brunswick and St. John's, Nova Scotia were the only three in which home ownership costs made up under 30 per cent of typical incomes.
In London, Thomas Blood, an Irish adventurer better known as “Captain Blood,” is captured attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. Blood, a Parliamentarian during the English Civil War, was deprived of his estate in Ireland with the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. In 1663, he put himself at the head of a plot to seize Dublin Castle from supporters of King Charles II, but the plot was discovered and his accomplices executed. He escaped capture. In 1671, he hatched a bizarre plan to steal the new Crown Jewels, which had been refashioned by Charles II because most of the original jewels were melted down after Charles I’s execution in 1649. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website On May 9, 1671, Blood, disguised as a priest, managed to convince the Jewel House keeper to hand over his pistols. Blood’s three accomplices then emerged from the shadows, and together they forced their way into the Jewel House. However, they were caught in the act when the keeper’s son showed up unexpectedly, and an alarm went out to the Tower guard. One man shoved the Royal Orb down his breeches while Blood flattened the Crown with a mallet and tried to run off with it. The Tower guards apprehended and arrested all four of the perpetrators, and Blood was brought before the king. Charles was so impressed with Blood’s audacity that, far from punishing him, he restored his estates in Ireland and made him a member of his court with an annual pension. Captain Blood became a colorful celebrity all across the kingdom, and when he died in 1680 his body had to be exhumed in order to persuade the public that he was actually dead. ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for watching! Visit Website
Local researchers may soon use a version of the herpes virus combined with a powerful stimulant to jump-start the immune system to fight a sneaky and often deadly form of brain cancer. “It’s a very exciting area, this whole concept of teaching the body to reject the tumor using the immune system,” said Massachusetts General Hospital Neurosurgery Chairman Dr. Robert ?Martuza. “I think it’s going to be a whole new world of treatment.” Scientists from MGH and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a three-pronged approach to treat glioblastoma, which killed U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Beau. The virus would be injected into the tumor to attack and destroy cancer cells. But unlike other treatments that use viruses like polio to wipe out cancer, this approach would use a so-called immunostimulant to bring cancer-fighting molecules to the affected area, and “check point inhibitors” that would suppress the cancer’s ability to trick the immune system. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a clinical trial for humans would be underway starting this year, Martuza said. “The idea is that as the body is rejecting the virus, it learns to reject the cancer cells,” he said. ?“It doesn’t have the toxicity ?of chemotherapy.” Scientists have used modified viruses to destroy various types of cancer over the years. The FDA approved a viral treatment for melanoma in October, and Duke University has conducted clinical trials using polio to treat glioblastoma. Martuza led the first-ever ?research effort that used this tactic to tackle brain tumors, with a 1991 publication in the journal Science. Since then, he and his colleagues have worked to make the approach more sophisticated and less ?dangerous. Brain cancer cells are especially good at evading the immune system, said Brigham and Women’s Hospital Chief of Neurosurgery Dr. Antonio Chiocca, who is working on the new treatment with Martuza. Earlier versions of this type of virus have been injected into brain tumors since the early 2000s, but none were strong enough to ?be effective. “The problem was, we were always worried about causing a bad effect on the brain,” Chiocca said. But there are now better methods of disabling the virus if it ?begins infecting healthy cells, he said, including ways to program the virus to shut itself off. Glioblastoma is the most common type of malignant brain cancer and typically results in death in the first 15 months after ?diagnosis, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
BOSTON - The Red Sox got their rings today, so naturally, the organization brought the entire city together for the event. With the Patriots, Bruins and Celtics recent title teams represented, Leon Powe held the Larry O'Brien trophy on the Fenway field. Powe also visited the Celtics locker room Friday evening and caught up with old friend and title teammate Rajon Rondo. Powe, 30, saw his promising NBA career cut short after multiple ACL tears with the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers, having a short stint in Memphis before playing a season in the emerging Puerto Rican BSN. Although Powe's career was short, he endures as one of the most memorable role players in recent Celtics history. It was no surprise when Powe was welcomed back to the city with high praise. "It's home, it's family," Powe said. "I love Boston and I know they love me. We had a lot of special moments together." Powe isn't only loved in Boston, as he trended worldwide on Twitter Friday. When I broke the news to him, he was so happy he hugged me. "It felt great," he said on representing the Celtics at Fenway. "I wanted to represent my teammates and represent the Celtics organization well and I felt I did that and just represent the victims from the Marathon and talking to them was a blessing and they're spirits [are] up. I was happy today. Everything went well." He was back home in California when the Marathon attacks happened, but he felt the pain and anger from across the country. But Powe knows the city of Boston and was convinced it would remain resilient. "I was deeply saddened by, hurt, mad, angry, but all that is [the Tsarnaevs] trying to break our spirit and try to break our tradition we have every single year. I told everybody on the west coast, ‘That's not gonna break the people's spirit down there in Boston. They're so strong and that's just going to bring us together even more.'" Although Powe misses Boston, he misses playing as well. He has considered trying to make a come back, but is not physically capable of doing so at this point. "I wasn't able to explode like I wanted to and before I do anything, first I had to go get checked out by one of my doctors and stuff. I know that's behind me because the injuries. Injuries do happen. If my doctor be like, ‘Okay! Now you're magically healed and you can do some good things out there,' then I'll do it." Powe has continued to thrive even though his career ended prematurely, entering the business world. Although Powe only earned a modest - by NBA standards - $3.7 million in the league, he is a graduate of California-Berkeley and is trying to put together an ownership group to buy an NBA franchise. He would not be the first player to own a team, but he has considerably less resources and power than Michael Jordan. The fact that he is able to pursue such a task speaks to his business acumen. "[I'm] trying to put together an ownership group, an investment group for ownership to own a team. An NBA team. I've been doing research and got a couple groups with me right now. But I want to [have a] majority ownership stake, so I'm trying to make sure my side is good too." The former Celtic and Grizzly has experience in dealing with the business side of the league, being a representative for the players during the 2011 lockout and a named plaintiff in the NBPA's antitrust lawsuit against the owners that helped end the lockout. Powe sees his unique background for an owner as a benefit to the players. "You want the players represented well. You want other players to get opportunities to be on teams, to do what they want to do; GMs, whatever. And have the right benefits to do so. That's all we're trying to do as players. Trying to make sure the game keeps going and everybody can enjoy and watch it." So just how close is he to making this a reality? "I got a couple of investment groups right now and I haven't reached out to no former players yet, but I'm pretty sure I will," he told CLNS Radio. "I don't know if I will need to, but I'm pretty sure I will just to see what they say. It would be real good. I'm just trying to put everything together. You know I'm a hard worker and I'm going to stick to it and see what happens." Follow @CLNS_JaredWeiss
(I had to use the English opening because I could not find a T.V. sized vershon of the Japanese. Oh well it is the very same song and video just in English.) Detective Conan is something that much like One Piece it is super, mega popular in Japan. Though over here in the U.S. and Canada not too many people care about it, but I think people at least know about One Piece here even if they have not seen any of it. This is pretty sad because Detective Conan or “Case Closed” as it is know here is actually a pretty good show. When it would show on YTV here (a Canadian broadcast station that used to show anime on Fridays) I would always tune in to check out the new episode. Weather or not the mystery in the show is actually very good never really mattered to me it was just fun to watch. I think some of the problems people have with Detective Conan that are not into it are things like: Its very sit-com-ie in how it is run and American anime fans don’t normally take well to things that are not one solid story. I think this could stend for a bit of “Japanophila” in the way that Detective Conan is kind of like an american animated sitcom that resets at the end of every episode and the view especially among younger fans is that they don’t want their cartoons to be anything like American ones. Honestly to me is pretty funny because the shows that are most popular in Japan would have no chance here at all. Things like Dorimon, Sazae-San, Chibi Maruko Chan and of course Detective Conan. I understand that American fan culture is very, very different from what normal Japanese people are watching on T.V and by extension are still very different from the way Japanese Otaku work. But that is a topic for another day. There is also another problem with this in the way that Detective Conan is a show meant for families and kids in Japan. Here there is no way a show like Conan could fly on T.V. with the kind of air play it gets in Japan the show is just to violent for kids T.V. standards here. Half of the market is cut off right there and put on top of that what we just talked about that most anime fans wont give it a chance. That is another fairly large market cut off. The only people you have left watching your show are people who already know about it and already like it. I think this is the toughest part of trying to sell Conan to en American audience, who is the audience? Detective Conan runs in Weekly Shonen Sunday and has been that way for almost 20 years now. Also at the time of me writing this has just passed its 666th episode which is a ludicrous amount of episodes. I am not sure what the show with the most amount of episodes in Japan is but Conan has to be up there. Right now here in North America we have about 130 episodes and a hand full of movies of the series to watch. I understand 100% why Funimation has not licensed any more Conan, I mean why would they? No one probably buys it (I my self am guilty of this but those Viridian collections look pretttttty good). The Japanese probably want an insane amount of money per episode because it is so popular there. It is a sad thing, but this can be changed! everyone, Detective Conan is awesome and also super cheep! There is no reason for anyone to at least not give a couple episodes of Detective Conan a chance. Who knows, you may just think that it is awesome. Remember everyone, One truth prevails!
Highrev1 The GREG Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: JERZIE 3) iTrader: ( Posts: 5,001 2002 Audi AllRoad Mold Remova/Restoration...Signature Detailed First I want to thank DJ Mayo, David Fermani, and Barry Theal for their ideas and thoughts on this detail. I got an email from the owner and said his Audi had some mold. I have done some light mold work before and wasn't too worried about it :cool1: I decided to go check out the car to put together a more exact estimate. This Audi had a leak coming from the firewall, causing the drivers side floor to be soaked. It was put away in a garage for about 4 months or so for the winter. So what does 4 months of wet car interior look like...:sick1: After some discussion, and research, I decided to use an Enzyme Mold Cleaner called sporicidin. I knew this would be a two day project. I suited up, using a mask, gloves, long sleeve shirt tucked into the glove, and some old pants. I was going to throw away everything I was wearing so I looked like pretty silly I diluted it in a bucket, and in a spray bottle. Not wanting the mold to get airborne I sprayed everything down with the sporicidin mixture and let it sit for a few minutes. Even after just spraying I saw a huge improvement. I was concerned about pitting on the leather but fortunately the mold wasn't on there long enough to pit the leather. I then continued to go over the entire interior with towels from the buckets rinsing after about every square foot or so, I wanted to remove it not spread it around. Even though I was using the sporicidin I decided to break out the steamer to assist in the mold killing. I have a Polti 2085 steamer that is absolutely amazing at producing steam, I don't know what I would have done without it. I steamed the carpets and lightly hit the seams of the leather. The air ducts were steamed also. SC Crew# 16 http://www.signaturedetailing.com/ Follow me on FaceBook __________________
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than half of U.S. doctors now favor switching to a national health care plan and fewer than a third oppose the idea, according to a survey published on Monday. A zoomed picture shows two surgeons performing an operation to implant an artificial heart valve in the operating room of a Berlin hospital in this file photo from August 15, 2003. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch The survey suggests that opinions have changed substantially since the last survey in 2002 and as the country debates serious changes to the health care system. Of more than 2,000 doctors surveyed, 59 percent said they support legislation to establish a national health insurance program, while 32 percent said they opposed it, researchers reported in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. The 2002 survey found that 49 percent of physicians supported national health insurance and 40 percent opposed it. “Many claim to speak for physicians and represent their views. We asked doctors directly and found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support national health insurance,” said Dr. Aaron Carroll of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who led the study. “As doctors, we find that our patients suffer because of increasing deductibles, co-payments, and restrictions on patient care,” said Dr. Ronald Ackermann, who worked on the study with Carroll. “More and more, physicians are turning to national health insurance as a solution to this problem.” PATCHWORK The United States has no single organized health care system. Instead it relies on a patchwork of insurance provided by the federal and state governments to the elderly, poor, disabled and to some children, along with private insurance and employer-sponsored plans. Many other countries have national plans, including Britain, France and Canada, and several studies have shown the United States spends more per capita on health care, without achieving better results for patients. An estimated 47 million people have no insurance coverage at all, meaning they must pay out of their pockets for health care or skip it. Contenders in the election for president in November all have proposed various changes, but none of the major party candidates has called for a fully national health plan. Insurance companies, retailers and other employers have joined forces with unions and other interest groups to propose their own plans. “Across the board, more physicians feel that our fragmented and for-profit insurance system is obstructing good patient care, and a majority now support national insurance as the remedy,” Ackermann said in a statement. The Indiana survey found that 83 percent of psychiatrists, 69 percent of emergency medicine specialists, 65 percent of pediatricians, 64 percent of internists, 60 percent of family physicians and 55 percent of general surgeons favor a national health insurance plan. The researchers said they believe the survey was representative of the 800,000 U.S. medical doctors.
Small businesses usually have, at best, a minor impact on their hometown. They employ a few people, they pay taxes, and they certainly add a convenience factor, but as individual entities, they're rarely big revenue drivers. Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton, North Carolina, is one of the exceptions. Founded four years ago, the beer maker has just three full-time employees but has built such a strong reputation in the beer world that Morganton (located about an hour east of Asheville) has become a destination for beer tourists, bringing thousands of visitors to the town of 17,000 people each year. While its locally sourced funky and Saison beers have become hot commodities in the $23.5 billion craft beer market, Fonta Flora's way of running its business isn't much different than many of the companies CNBC surveyed in the CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey. It's among the 61 percent with an employee count of just one to four people (though it does have 10 part-timers who assist). It's among the 55 percent that have a website, though it's fairly rudimentary. And the owners will be the first to admit that they were slow to fully take advantage of social media marketing.
David Armstrong (centre-left) said that while the plans were at the very early stage, he hoped to break ground in two or three years Aviva Premiership club Wasps is looking into the possibility of building a second arena close to its Ricoh Arena home to continue its expansion following its move to Coventry in 2014. At the second day of the SportsPro Live conference, Wasps chief executive David Armstrong said the club was “looking carefully at potentially building a second arena” that would act as an indoor sports and music facility. Following a panel session titled If You Build it They Will Come, in which he participated, Armstrong told Sports Management that while plans were still in the very early stages, he envisaged breaking ground on the project within two or three years. The facility will include activities such as indoor surfing, trampolining and climbing, and will be connected to a separate leisure facility Armstrong revealed during Rugby Expo last year. During the panel session, Armstrong told delegates the move was to “expand its footprint” and make the club’s suite of facilities – which it purchased in November 2014 – more enticing to people in the local area. The Ricoh Arena already had a hotel, casino and large exhibition space when Wasps moved in, but the board moved quickly to give the green light to build a second hotel. Armstrong told Rugby Expo 2015 that a third hotel may also be in the offing. According to the chief executive, one third of the 1.4m people who visit the Ricoh attend for sporting reasons, meaning that the lion’s share of visitors come for alternative functions. “We’re hosting events 364 days a year,” he said. “We have our own hotel, our own casino and host indoor and outdoor music events, from the scale of 250 people for a classical music event, to Rihanna coming in a couple of weeks’ time which we’ve sold 36,000 tickets for. “That’s a model that is so important going forward. The Ricoh Arena is the perfect sports venue because it is so much more than sport.”
In early 2009, shortly after our attendance at 25C3, we released version 0.7 of the I2P Anonymous Network. Over the next 15 releases in 18 months we have worked to improve the usability of the I2P software and increase its performance, security, and reliability - all while dealing with unprecedented growth in the network. In recognition of these accomplishments, we are declaring the start of the 0.8 series. The 0.8 release is fully compatible with all 0.7.x releases. This release contains several bugfixes, a new Dutch translation, and completion of the German translation. As always, users are encouraged to upgrade. Some visible highlights of the 0.7.x release series in the last year and a half: Automatically generated Base32 destination names, reducing reliance on host names. Themable router console with GeoIP display. Plugin system for easy installation and maintenance of user-generated applications. For example I2P-bote, distributed serverless anonymous e-mail. Translation infrastructure for the router console, and translation into several languages. Many improvements leading to less CPU and memory usage. Network improvements for scalability, now you can invite all your friends into cipherspace! Several important under-the-hood improvements: Redesign of the floodfill infrastructure for network database storage, by implementing a simplified Kademlia storage system, and an increase in floodfill routers from 5 to almost 100, for increased reliability and scalability. Encryption of queries and stores to floodfill routers for increased security. Separate session key managers for each local destination for increased security. Multi-layered system of limiting connections to peers. New, smaller tunnel build message to reduce the chance it will be dropped, and increase build success rates. Several bug fixes and improvements in the streaming library to speed up connections dramatically. Transition to Java 5 concurrent data structures for a significant reduction in lock contention. Transition to Java 5 coding styles, a significant increase in javadoc documentation, and elimination of unused code for maintanability. Split directory structure for ease of use on multi-user systems and easier packaging. Clock skew system redesign, with implementation of NTP-style clock adjustment. Adjustment of several parameters based on the speed and maximum memory of the router, to optimize speed and memory usage. UPnP support to open firewall ports. An uncountable number of bugfixes and improvements that enhance security, anonymity, reliability, performance, scalability, and the user experience. In zzz's interview with gulli.com last year, he said that "privacy is under severe and increasing threat throughout the world". It is clear that this trend is accelerating both in "oppressed" nations and those that are nominally "free". As we prepare to attend the HOPE conference in New York, with many talks on privacy, we'll be working on plans to continue improving I2P and spreading the word. You can help, as always, by joining the network and contribute your bandwidth. Give the developers feedback on IRC #i2p or forum.i2p2.de and get involved, spread the word, and donate! We are still looking for help on new and existing translations. Please volunteer on IRC #i2p. Files are available on the download page. SHA256 Checksums: d14ef28ffff7ef95e5627d7bbeac8f5aad57c82b89d2071383787f2124152ca9 i2pinstall_0.8.exe a179fc478279383af3420c84699a014a40f9cb0da87ab2a2d2b890639345b999 i2psource_0.8.tar.bz2 57c6dd9dab15dc52613e35ba538842de948ad5f230d17f693cdcc86fa056f97c i2pupdate_0.8.zip b9eff16965fb597b7a69fab72c5e4d21a767ffc1e654b3269d2dd9febdb79291 i2pupdate.su2 79b3ac041ea6afb0c04f705e134da10ec32bd4ffe5a7f378da60faf274ef112c i2pupdate.sud
Around 2 a.m. local time on Saturday, astrophotographer Steve Cullen was driving home from visiting the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. He stopped at around 11,000 feet to take some panorama shots of the peak … but what he got was much more. He noticed an orange light heading up into the sky out of the west. It was moving across the sky at about the speed you’d expect from a satellite, but at that time of night no satellite moving at that rate would be lit by the Sun, so it wouldn’t be visible. Within seconds, though, it became clear what he was seeing: some sort of human-made space debris re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. How? Because this. Check. This. OUT. A rocket burns up high over the volcanoes of Hawaii. Steve Cullen HOLY WOW! What a shot! (Click the photos for bigger, higher-resolution versions on Cullen’s Facebook page.) Over the foreground of volcanic rock and more distant clouds (seen from above at that elevation), the debris came streaking toward the east, seeming bursting forth from the constellation of Orion (can you see it behind the trails?). It turns out this was almost certainly the remains of a Chinese Long March rocket body, predicted to burn up over that area at around that time: The predicted path of the re-entry. Note the most likely time and place are right where Cullen was. Aerospace.org The rocket launched on Sept. 12, 2015, carrying a very secret satellite of some kind. Once the satellite is in orbit the rocket is no longer needed, so it’s allowed to burn up as it falls back to Earth. Doing so over the enormous Pacific Ocean minimizes the risk of debris doing any damage once it’s down. As the rocket rams through Earth’s air, it compresses the atmospheric gas violently. A compressed gas heats up, and this is so powerful during re-entry that the heat is enough to vaporize the debris. It falls apart, each piece leaving a long trail of ionized metal and gas behind it that can glow for quite some time. They fall together, moving across the sky as a unit, though they separate over time as drag affects each piece separately. A few minutes later, the pieces started to set in the east. Steve Cullen, used by permission As the pieces move farther away, perspective makes it look like the trails are converging. This is the same effect that makes rays coming from sunset appear to diverge as they move away from the Sun, and sometimes converge on the other side of the sky. Steve Cullen Finally, once they were gone, all that was left was the bits of glowing particles, literally twisting in the wind dozens of kilometers above the Earth. Steve Cullen, used by permission I can’t get over how amazing these photos are. I’ve seen lots of cool re-entry photos, but I think these very well might be the very best. Mind you, Cullen happened to stop because he wanted to take a few more photos, and did so at just the right time to see this incredible event. Do I even need to say it? Keep looking up! You never know what you might see.
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) walks to his office after the House voting on debt limit on Capitol Hill in Washington on August 01, 2011. UPI/Yuri Gripas. \| License Photo WEST CHESTER, Ohio, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Staff members at the Ohio office of Speaker of the House John Boehner say they locked the office doors when a protest by union groups and others got rowdy. About 125 protesters showed up at the Republican congressman's West Chester office Tuesday and wanted to send two protesters inside to talk to staff members, who locked the doors when confronted by the angry crowd, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. One protester reportedly kicked at the door several times. Union officials said hundreds of people would rally to insist Boehner address the question of jobs for people in his district. No arrests were made, police said. Boehner was not at the office during the incident as he was taking part in a fundraising golf event in Dublin, Ohio, the Enquirer reported.
Timothy Geithner no superhero Kathleen Pender, business columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle poses for a portrait on Tuesday Sept. 30, 2008 in San Francisco Calf. Kathleen Pender, business columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle poses for a portrait on Tuesday Sept. 30, 2008 in San Francisco Calf. Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Timothy Geithner no superhero 1 / 1 Back to Gallery The Senate overlooked Timothy Geithner's tax mistakes and confirmed him as Treasury secretary because he was the superhero who could rescue the financial system. Turns out Geithner is a mere mortal. He has no magic bullets or secret decoder ring. And that explains why the stock market fell off a cliff as Geithner delivered his "Financial Stability Plan" on Tuesday. By day's end, the Dow Jones industrial average had fallen 381.99 points, or 4.6 percent, to 7,888.88. "I think the market is reacting to a growing sense that the problems are larger than the ability of our elected officials to deal with them," says Karl Mills, president of Oakland investment firm Jurika, Mills & Keifer. Geithner laid out several new or expanded plans for relieving banks of their toxic assets and jump-starting lending. But all were short on specifics. "People were expecting him to come up with something substantive. It was more of a progress report and a statement of the obvious," Mills says. Geithner warned that his strategy will "require a substantial and sustained commitment of public resources" and will "involve risk and take time." Kudos to Geithner for his honesty, but that is not what investors wanted to hear. "The bottom line is, there is no easy solution," Mills says. "It's not like there's a death star you can load up with bad loans, shoot into space and 30 years later it will fall back to Earth." Although Geithner is taking the blame for Tuesday's market tumble, President Obama did him no favors when he warned, in his televised news conference Monday night, that failure to pass a stimulus bill "could turn a crisis into a catastrophe." "Those kind of comments set up (the idea) that this guy (Geithner) ought to have a good plan," says Steve Brown, president Pacific Coast Bankers' Bank in San Francisco. "Geithner came in and said I have a plan, but we're still working out the details, it's going to take a long time and cost a lot of money. That obviously doesn't give anyone the warm and fuzzies." Adam Lerrick, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, says Geithner failed to answer five questions, at least to Wall Street's satisfaction: "What is he trying to do? How is he going to do it? Why is it going to work? How much is it going to cost? Where is he going to get the money?" Lerrick notes that Geithner's predecessor Henry Paulson didn't answer those questions, either. Experts were especially disappointed at the lack of detail in Geithner's plan to help banks "cleanse their balance sheets" of "legacy assets" by creating a "public-private investment fund." This fund would use public and private capital to buy toxic assets from banks. Private investors would set the price paid, thereby minimizing the cost and risk to taxpayers. The problem is, if the fund buys these assets at a price private investors are willing to pay "it will bankrupt the sellers. If they pay more, they really jam it to the taxpayers," says Allan Meltzer, a professor of political economy at Carnegie Mellon. The previous administration had the same problem with the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Plan. Originally, TARP was going to buy toxic assets from banks, but finding the right price was a big problem. If Treasury paid too much, it put taxpayers at risk. If it paid too little, it could erode bank capital. Eventually, that's one reason Paulson decided to use the first part of TARP capital to buy preferred stock in banks. That helped shore up bank capital, but the toxic assets remain in banks. Geithner's plan simply proves that "the problems are large, they are complicated and there is no easy answer," Mills says." If there was, somebody would have come up with it."
A new vulnerability has been announced in TimThumb, a library that many WordPress sites use to manipulate and display images. This vulnerability makes sites with a particular configuration of TimThumb vulnerable to arbitrary code execution attacks. These attacks are pretty serious, allowing the attacker to force your server to run any command they like. Usually, it’s not much work for an attacker to use an arbitrary code execution to gain complete control of the vulnerable server or network. If this feels familiar, it should. A very similar vulnerability was found in TimThumb in 2011. That one was much more serious, because pretty much all sites using TimThumb were vulnerable. This time not so many people will be affected, because you have to have the plugin in a specific, non-default configuration to be vulnerable. That said: if you have a WordPress website that uses TimThumb, you should immediately check to see if you’re vulnerable. If you’re a customer of ours, you can rest easy: we’ve had a look, and although some of our customers are using this library, none have the vulnerable configuration enabled. The vulnerability report only lists version 2.8.13 as vulnerable. According to Michael VanDeMar (thanks!), this feature goes back to at least TimThumb 2.4, making it likely that almost all versions in use today are vulnerable. Unfortunately, an updated version of TimThumb is not yet available, so if you are vulnerable, you’ve got to get into the source code to sort it out. What should I do now? Because some themes rename TimThumb files, you’re not necessarily in the clear if you can’t find a file called timthumb.php . To check if you’re vulnerable, search through all your project’s files for WEBSHOT_ENABLED . If you can’t find that text anywhere in your site’s wp-content directory, you’re almost certainly in the clear. If you do find it, it could show up anywhere. But most likely, you’ll find this line in timthumb.php : if(! defined('WEBSHOT_ENABLED') ) define ('WEBSHOT_ENABLED', false); // Beta feature. [snip] If, as in this example, every mention of WEBSHOT_ENABLED defines it as false, you’re in the clear. If, however, you find this anywhere: define ('WEBSHOT_ENABLED', true); Then you are probably running with the vulnerable feature enabled. How do I fix it? The solution is to disable the feature, by setting it back to false: define ('WEBSHOT_ENABLED', false); Finding every place where this is set to true and changing it to false will probably be enough to make you safe, but if you’re unsure, you should ask a developer to do this for you. Alternatively, you could switch to a theme that doesn’t have TimThumb (or doesn’t enable this feature). However, if you are vulnerable, it’s also possible that you’ve already been exploited. So, unless you are sufficiently technical to fix and investigate this yourself, it’s probably best to find a developer to help you out. PS: Many thanks to Michael VanDeMar for pointing out a problem with the original post – it’s been updated now.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates has formally ordered the Air Force, Navy and Defense Logistics Agency to conduct an inventory of all U.S. nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon-related materials to make sure all items are accounted for, according to a Pentagon memo released Thursday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates orders an inventory of all U.S. nuclear weapons and related materials. The order comes in the wake of the discovery last week that four nuclear warhead fuses were accidentally shipped to Taiwan in 2006. Gates' memo, issued Wednesday, calls for all items to be accounted for by serial number. Pentagon officials said at a news conference Tuesday that Gates would call for the review in addition to a full investigation into how the shipment to Taiwan from a Defense Logistics Agency warehouse happened 18 months ago. The inventory review, which will involve thousands of items, is due to Gates in 60 days. Pentagon officials said the request was ordered, in part, because this latest incident comes after the August 2007 accidental flight of six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on a B-52 bomber across the country. "At a minimum, your report should include the results of the inventory and your personal assessment of the adequacy of your respective department or agency's positive inventory control policies and procedures," Gates said in the memo. Four officers --- including three colonels -- were relieved of duty last year after a B-52 bomber mistakenly carried six nuclear warheads from North Dakota to Louisiana, the Air Force said. A six-week investigation uncovered a "lackadaisical" attention to detail in day-to-day operations at the bases involved in the incident, an Air Force report said. E-mail to a friend All About Robert Gates • The Pentagon
Maria Mangini (Albany County Sheriff's Office photo) Maria Mangini (Albany County Sheriff's Office photo) Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close School psychologist, husband arrested after teen baby-sitter finds pot in home 1 / 3 Back to Gallery BETHLEHEM — A school psychologist and her husband were arrested on Thursday after the sheriff's office said a teenage baby-sitter discovered a stash of pot in their home, took some and got caught with it at school. Brian and Maria Mangini, both 41, of 2006 Delaware Turnpike in Clarksville, have two children, ages 5 and 8, Sheriff Craig Apple said. Brian Mangini works at Bethlehem's Blue Sky Music store, the sheriff's office said. Maria Mangini was placed on paid administrative leave after the arrest, according to the school district. An investigation began when officials at the Bethlehem Central School District caught a student with marijuana and referred the matter to police, Apple said. The girl told officials that she found the drug while snooping at the home of the school's psychologist, where she was baby-sitting, the sheriff said. Apple said it's not clear whether the girl met Maria Mangini through her profession as the school's psychologist. Apple said the sheriff's office obtained a search warrant for the home and found 3 ounces of marijuana. "It's not a huge amount of marijuana," Apple said, "but still with kids in the house and her employed by the school, we were very concerned." The Manginis were charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of marijuana and endangering the welfare of a child. They were released on appearance tickets set for 5 p.m. Feb. 2 at New Scotland Town Court. The incident is the latest in a string of drug-related exploits at the school district, including five drug arrests in the week before Thanksgiving. A 16-year-old Delmar student was arrested on felony drug charges just after Thanksgiving after police said he sold methadone to other students at Bethlehem Central High School. After the methadone incident, High School Principal Charles Abba sent a letter to parents pointing to other instances where students had been involved in drugs and vandalism. "In recent weeks, there has been an increase of inappropriate behavior at our high school," the letter stated. "Specifically, there have been more discipline referrals for disrespectful behavior, incidents of graffiti in the boys' bathrooms and possession and use of marijuana and controlled substances." On Dec. 2, school officials abruptly postponed a school dance in the wake of the incidents. Thursday, Superintendent Thomas Douglas sent another letter to parents about the latest incident, asking them to give feedback as the school addresses the issues. More Information "I encourage you to join us in taking a proactive approach to these issues and partnering with us as we address them," the letter states. Also Thursday, the district released a statement addressing Maria Mangini's arrest, and said she was placed on leave "pending a thorough and timely investigation by the Bethlehem Central School District." In the wake of the drug-related incidents, the district said the Board of Education is looking into the use of security cameras in the high school, officials are being vigilant with regards to inappropriate behavior in the district and forums on the effects of drug use are being organized. "Above all, the district is concerned for the safety of our students," Douglas said. "It remains our highest priority." Reach Dayelin Roman at 454-5350 or [email protected].
On Dec. 21, Facebook released Poke, a messaging app with a built-in self-destruct feature that was intended to take on Snapchat. Facebook Poke hit #1 on Apple's list of free apps in the U.S. the following day, but it didn't hold onto the top spot long, dropping out of the top 25 less than a week later. Now, one month after it launched, Poke has fallen out of the top 50, the top 500 and is well on its way to falling out of the top 1,000 free apps. As of Monday, Facebook Poke had dropped to number 706 on the list of Apple's top free apps, according to data from App Annie, a service that tracks app rankings. Snapchat, far from being killed off by Facebook, enjoyed a big boost from all the extra attention on its app. As Facebook Poke fell out of the top 25, Snapchat managed to crack the top 5 apps, rising to as high as #3. Snapchat has since declined somewhat in the rankings, but is still firmly in the top 20 at #14. Snapchat's continued popularity suggests that the demand is still there for this kind of messaging app — just not for Facebook Poke. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, CWLawrence and App Annie
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo has dismissed as a joke the suggestion that Red Bull boss Christian Horner could replace Bernie Ecclestone as Formula One supremo. Ecclestone, 83 and facing legal challenges including a $100 million damages claim in London over a 2005 business deal, told British newspapers in Brazil last week that he would like to hand over one day to Horner, 40. “Christian would be ideal,” he was quoted as saying. Horner, who has led Red Bull and German driver Sebastian Vettel to four successive constructors’ and drivers’ championships, subsequently played down such talk and Montezemolo made his feelings clear to Italy’s RAI television. “Ecclestone sees Horner as his successor? As the years go by, he more and more enjoys making jokes and I’m happy he still has the desire to do so,” the Italian said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday night. Montezemolo also addressed Ferrari’s failures over a season that saw the sport’s oldest and most successful team finish third in a championship dominated by Red Bull. He denied that Ferrari had lost any of their political clout, highlighting that they alone among the teams had a historic right of veto. “More political weight than that is impossible,” he said in excerpts published on the Ferrari website (www.ferrari.com). Montezemolo said 2013 had been “definitely a year to forget” and demanded answers as to why the team had failed to develop the car in the second half of the season when Vettel won a record nine races in a row. He criticised the Interlagos race stewards for a drive-through penalty imposed on Ferrari’s departing Brazilian Felipe Massa that cost the team a chance to leapfrog Mercedes in the championship. “Every so often the gentlemen who come to the races to act as stewards make decisions that are a bit ridiculous and anachronistic,” he declared. “One needs to be careful that we maintain credibility, for the work of the teams that invest money and for the drivers who risk their lives.” Massa was penalised for crossing a white line at the pit lane entry with all four wheels, a transgression that drivers were warned about before the race by the governing body. Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said after the race that his drivers had reported Massa was consistently breaking the rules. Montezemolo hailed Fernando Alonso, overall runner-up, for a great season but only gave him eight out of 10 rather than a maximum score as an incentive for next year, when 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen returns as Massa’s replacement. The Finn, he said, “will give us a boost and should bring the points we were missing this year”. The president warned both drivers that the team always came first, however, even if double world champion Alonso was possibly the strongest racer he had ever met. “None of our drivers could ever hurt the other one,” Montezemolo declared. “I am sure they will help one another.” (Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Alison Wildey)
This article is over 1 year old Haider al-Abadi prepared to intervene militarily if Iraq’s population is ‘threatened by the use of force outside the law’ The Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, says he is prepared to intervene militarily if the Kurdish region’s planned independence referendum results in violence. In an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday, Al-Abadi said if the Iraqi population was “threatened by the use of force outside the law, then we will intervene militarily”. Al-Abadi called the vote “a dangerous escalation” that will invite violations of Iraq’s sovereignty. Iraq’s Kurdish region plans to hold the referendum on 25 September in three governorates that make up their autonomous region and in disputed areas controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad. The United Nations has urged the Iraqi Kurdish leader, Masoud Barzani, to drop plans for the independence referendum and enter talks with Baghdad aimed at reaching a deal within three years. Jan Kubis, the top UN envoy in Iraq, offered international backing for immediate negotiations between the country’s federal government and the autonomous Kurdish region. In a document seen by Agence France-Presse, he proposed “structured, sustained, intensive and result-oriented partnership negotiations ... on how to resolve all the problems and outstanding issues” between Baghdad and Erbil, the Kurdish region’s capital. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is embroiled in long-standing disputes with the federal government over oil exports, budget payments and control of ethnically divided areas. Iraqi Kurdish lawmakers on Friday approved holding the referendum in the face of fierce opposition both from Baghdad and the Kurds’ international backers. Kubis called for talks, overseen by the UN Security Council, that would aim to reach a deal defining “principles and arrangements” for future relations between Baghdad and the KRG. In return, Barzani’s administration would agree to postpone the referendum at least until the end of negotiations. “Here is this offer, if they accept this alternative, there will be negotiations,” Kubis said. He added that he hoped to hear from Barzani “in the next two or three days”. “I hope they will consider the options and I am waiting for their answer,” he said.
arthurlittsey Community Voice Income tax, Isaac Littsey, Money, Social Security, Social Security Trust Fund, Taxes, United States My brother Isaac took the time to respond to the questions at the end of my blog, “The Only Things Certain In Life Are DEATH and TAXES! Due to the length of his response it will be published in two parts. What a great breakdown on how are taxes are divided and distributed. Good job. What I find truly fascinating is what a small percentage of our taxes go for the things that significantly impact the middle class. At the federal level less than 15% of our tax dollars go to areas like: Science and Technology (1%), Education, Training, Employment and Social Services (3%), Agriculture (1%), Veterans Benefits (3%), Transportation (2%). Areas like Energy, Community and Regional Development, get less than 1% of our Federal Income Tax dollars. To be fair some of these areas do receive tax subsidies and grants. The true irony is that, though these departments account for such a small part of the budget, they are the ones most vulnerable to cuts. Across the board cuts, of virtually any amount, would effectively eliminate the capability of some departments to do their jobs. As for your questions… How would I save Social Security? First, I would make sure the money owed to Social Security, by the government, is shown prominently in the budget as a debt owed. There is more than 2.5 trillion dollars currently “borrowed” from the Social Security Trust Fund and those monies should be visible and accounted for. As that money can only be borrowed by the government, and is subject to interest, we should be sure that when money is borrowed its use is for projects that will provide a return on investment. Never again should that money be used to fund things like wars. Could you imagine if just half of that 2.5 trillion dollars had been dedicated to transportation and infrastructure, education, energy or perhaps Veterans Benefits what could have been done? I would also raise the interest on money borrowed from the fund as an added incentive to choose, wisely, [the use] of any borrowed money. I would look into possibly raising the cap on the amount of income subject to tax. The current cap is $90,000. I would consider raising it, perhaps 50%. This could allow higher payouts, keeping them in line with the true cost of living, not just the cost of being alive. It may be argued that this is nothing more than a tax increase, but I would argue that it is more than a tax increase. It’s also an increase in benefits, and an increase in the security that you may require later in life. And lastly, I would consider some sort of “means testing.” You know, when you purchase other forms of insurance it is accepted that you are paying for something just in case you need it. Hoping, for the most part, that, you won’t need it. But happy to have it, if you do. Social Security should be something like that. As much as we complain about insurance premiums, we’re happy not to need to use it, and if we get some of it back in rebate, well, so be it. If I were at a place in life financially, where I could live comfortably, I would gladly fore go my Social Security, especially if [say] I would pay no taxes on money drawn from retirement accounts. Capital gains and money made on investments are already taxed at a minimum rate. More to follow in Part Two! You can follow Isaac at his blog at www.declarativeusa.com Related articles Advertisements
While at AgileIndy 2015 today, I had the opportunity to hear someone who I respect immensely, Mike Cottmeyer of Leading Agile, speak about his thoughts on Agile Transformation. Mike really gets it, and expresses his thoughts on the matter eloquently and with such impact. While listening to him speak, I remembered this piece I wrote back in December 2014, and wanted to share it. It's not directly related to his talk, but there are some parallels and shared opinions. I play a lot in the space of Lean Startup, but I also come from an Agile/ agility background. When asked to write a piece for an e-book a few months ago, I thought - why don't I combine my backgrounds in these two things and talk about how to adopt agile using a lean startup approach? So I did. And here's what I wrote. I'd love your thoughts and feedback. Mike, thanks for inspiring me to post this! What Can Lean Startup Teach Us About Agile Adoption? It's no secret that a transition to Agile (agile, agility, agile methods, take your pick) requires strong senior executive support to be successful. But how do you get there? How do you, as someone who is in charge of this kind of a transition, help create the culture and environment required for a successful adoption of agile? Culture Doesn't Change Overnight Let's be real: cultural change doesn't happen overnight. In reality, it can take months, or even years to take hold, especially in larger organization. In the absence of having a quick-fix to the cultural challenges that make an agile transition challenging, I propose a strategy that borrows from a framework we've all heard of. Lean Startup FOR AGILE ADOPTIONS Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past decade has at least heard of Lean Startup, a business and product development method proposed by Eric Ries. One of my hobbies is experimenting with applying Lean Startup principles to other areas of my life. When it comes to agile adoptions or agile transitions, I started to wonder: What if we applied Lean Startup methods to agile transitions? What if we could figure out a way to define the minimum implementation of agile within an organization that would: show real value to stakeholders, but that also meets those stakeholders at their level of willingness and preparedness to change? of agile within an organization that would: How could we run a small but impactful implementation of agile with a team, measure the areas of success and failure, and then figure out how to improve such that we are more successful the next time around? I believe that we can approach agile adoptions or transitions using concepts borrowed from the Lean Startup in order to make us more successful, as follows: Minimum Viable Product: In this case, the product is the project or initiative which you choose to do a proof-of-concept with for your agile implementation. In this context, the concept of minimum viable should guide you to select a project that is only large enough to show success. Tips for making your agile MVP concept work include: Be careful not to choose a project that is so small that no real value can be demonstrated. WHY? You want your customer (i.e. senior-level executives) to care about the success of your project and to pay attention to your results. Be careful not to choose a project that is mission-critical, is mired in a lot of organizational politics, or has too many interdepartmental or inter-team dependencies. WHY? I believe this part is pretty self-explanatory. Politics, dependencies, and highly-sensitive projects can all highjack your success in ways that may do more damage than simply a failed agile implementation. Build-Measure-Learn: The concept of build-measure-learn is the Lean Startup's counterpart to Agile's inspect-and-adapt. Agile frameworks encourage (and actually build in) a continuous inspect and adapt mindset, and this comes in the form of continuous feedback cycles, retrospectives, and continuous collaboration. The Lean Startups' build-measure-learn cycle provides a structure for measuring an agile adoption's success. In addition to using tools such as continuous feedback and retrospectives, you can measure metrics that can be used to show the success of this new method. Tips for implementing a build-measure-learn cycle to an agile adoption include: Track metrics that not only demonstrate success, but that also highlight areas of improvement. By tracking and analyzing these metrics, you're more likely to follow through with implementing improvements needed to make the next iteration of your agile adoption more successful. Ask your customers (senior-level execs) what their "success criteria" are for your agile adoption pilot (MVP), and translate those into metrics. By being aware of and tracking the metrics around what defines success for your customers, you set yourself up for success, by knowing what to focus on. Remember, culture doesn't change overnight. I agree wholeheartedly with Mike, who stated that especially in large organizations that have an established culture, you need to start with solidifying the structures and processes that allow people to be agile before changing their mind (culture) about it. Iterative and incremental, people. Iterative and incremental.
The crime gripped the public’s imagination, for both its magnitude and its moxie: In the predawn hours of Dec. 11, 1978, a group of masked gunmen seized about $6 million in cash and jewels from a cargo building at Kennedy International Airport. The Lufthansa heist, as it was known, was billed as the biggest cash robbery in United States history, and it played a starring role in the 1990 Martin Scorsese movie “Goodfellas.” It remained unsolved for four decades, perhaps because many of those who might have known something turned up dead. But more than 35 years later, federal authorities on Thursday charged a 78-year-old man, Vincent Asaro, with playing a role in the robbery, saying they had four cooperating witnesses from organized crime families who linked Mr. Asaro, a reputed capo in the Bonanno crime family, to the robbery. It is an unexpected turn in a famously unsolved case that had long been attributed to the Lucchese crime family. The indictment makes clear that the authorities now are convinced that the Bonanno family was also involved.
by Chris Edelson, assistant professor of government in American University's School of Public Affairs. He teaches classes on the Constitution and presidential power. Edelson is author of the forthcoming book, Emergency Presidential Power: From the Drafting of the Constitution to the War on Terror, which will be published by the University of Wisconsin Press in November 2013. It was an encouraging development for the rule of law when President Obama decided to ask Congress for legislative authorization to take military action in Syria. When Obama took office in 2009, it was reasonable to expect that his administration would move away from the Bush-Cheney-Yoo unitary executive model, which was essentially an argument for unchecked presidential power. However, while the Obama administration has certainly not embraced the outlandish unitary executive theory, it has, at times, found ways to skirt limits on presidential power. The most prominent examples are probably the targeted killing, without judicial hearing, of U.S. citizens believed to be terrorist leaders and the administration’s decision to order military action in Libya in 2011. As I have argued elsewhere, in each case, executive branch lawyers in the Obama administration found ways to justify unilateral presidential action unchecked by the other branches of government. Obama’s decision to involve Congress in the debate over the use of military force in Syria suggests a meaningful acknowledgment that presidential power is accountable to checks and balances. As I have written for the Los Angeles Times, Obama’s decision to seek congressional approval was required by the Constitution since the United States has not been attacked by Syria. However, it was far from clear that Obama would turn to Congress. Advocates of presidential power point out that past practice -- including Obama’s own action in Libya -- supports the conclusion that presidents can more broadly use military force when it is in the national interest, and not only when the U.S. is attacked. The fact that Obama did not act on his own is a positive sign and may help prevent future presidents from unilaterally using military force (picture a hypothetical President Ted Cruz deciding the national interest justified an attack against Canada). There is reason to contain one’s optimism, though, when it comes to setting new limits on the use of presidential power. Obama has stated that he reserves the right to use military force even if Congress declines to pass authorizing legislation. That is disconcerting, and simply does not make a great deal of sense. What is the point of Congress making a decision if it is merely an advisory opinion? If Congress decides not to authorize the use of military force in Libya, Obama should respect that decision and should not act on his own. Unilateral action under these circumstances would be a dangerous decision for the Constitution, and could also be a bad political move. Some Republican members of Congress have made clear that they are eager to find a reason, any reason, to impeach President Obama and remove him from office. To date, there is no legitimate reason to support such an idea. However, if Obama ordered military action in defiance of Congress, that could provide his political opponents with a legitimate argument for impeachment.
Adverts for educational exhibition taken down over fears they could be interpreted as symbol of resistance to government The British Council in Hong Kong has removed advertisements in a metro station bearing the British flag over concerns that they could be interpreted as a symbol of resistance to the Hong Kong government. Posters advertising a British Council educational exhibition were installed in Hong Kong's Admiralty station last week but were taken down shortly afterwards because they were seen as "open to misinterpretation", a British Council spokeswoman told the South China Morning Post. One advert showed a union flag, a portrait of William Shakespeare and the words "Literature is GREAT". The spokeswoman said: "The GREAT campaign is being used to promote the British Council education exhibition. As a global campaign it has uniform messaging for all markets. Given some of the wording has been subject to misinterpretation in Hong Kong it was decided to remove those posters a few days early in order not to detract from the positive nature and overall success of the campaign." The colonial-era flag of Hong Kong, which combines the union flag symbol with a seal depiction representing Hong Kong, has been used, in the past few months, as a symbol of opposition to the territory's chief executive, the politician Leung Chun-ying. Many of Hong Kong's seven million residents regard Leung as a Beijing loyalist who is intent on surreptitiously eroding the territory's free press, its liberal education system and the independent judiciary. Anti-government protesters waved the flag this month as a symbol of nostalgia for the relatively prosperous last two decades of British rule before Beijing assumed control over the territory in 1997. The South China Morning Post reported that the adverts had sparked a heated debate online about the legacy of British colonial governance. "UK has always seemed to mean less at home than to its own nationals and admirers abroad," it quoted a Facebook contribution. It is unclear whether the Hong Kong government pressured the British Council to remove the adverts. The organisation has not responded to inquiries. According to a synopsis on the website of the British consulate-general of Hong Kong, the GREAT Britain campaign is "the country's biggest ever overseas campaign to boost worldwide awareness of the UK", which aims to attract "an extra four million visitors and a £1bn boost for business over the next four years".
Barack Obama will earn the equivalent of his annual presidential salary to speak at a Wall Street lunch conference later this year. Fox Business Network reports that Obama will earn $400,000 to speak at a healthcare conference for investment banking firm Cantor Fitzgerald in September. “We understand that he is going to be the keynote speaker for the lunch, and he’s going to receive a fee of $400,000,” reported Fox Business Network’s Charlie Gasparino. That hefty payout, which is roughly seven times the median household income in the U.S., puts Obama in the same league as Bill Clinton on the lucrative presidential speaking circuit. But unlike Clinton, Obama was a vocal critic of Wall Street as president. As Fox Business notes, Obama derided “fat cat bankers on Wall Street” during a 2009 TV interview and regularly blamed big banks for the 2008 recession. Gasparino says that Obama has signed a contract for the appearance but that he has the option of backing out of the event if any scheduling conflicts arise. The news comes on the same day that Obama attended his first public event since leaving office. The Democrat appeared pro bono at a forum at the University of Chicago, the planned site of his presidential library. Follow Chuck on Twitter
Terri Nicholson, from the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command unit, said that taxpayers’ money was being claimed fraudulently and used by terrorists in countries such as Iraq and Syria . She said there had been “a number of cases” recently of terrorists making fraudulent student loan claims to fund their activities. MPs described the prospect of British money being used to bankroll potential terrorist plots on British soil as “sickening”. Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs committee, said he would in the coming weeks question Theresa May, the Home Secretary, over the “shocking” disclosures. Two brothers became the first Britons to be jailed for Syria-related terrorism offences, having gone to a training camp in the country. Another jihadist, who skipped bail to fight in Syria, used Twitter to mock the lapse in security that allowed him to flee. Meanwhile, the family of Fusilier Lee Rigby claimed Facebook failed in its “duty of care” when it missed messages in which one of his murderers discussed killing a soldier. Facebook was accused in a report of being a “safe haven for terrorism” after it failed to pass on information that could have prevented the killing of Fusilier Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, last year. Miss Nicholson, a Met Assistant Commander, said terrorists were using “innovative” techniques to send money abroad. “We are seeing a diverse fraud, including substantial fraud online, abuse of the benefits system, abuse of student loans, in order to fund terrorism,” she said. She also said women were being used to smuggle money out of Britain to fund terrorists abroad, as it is believed they will arouse less suspicion. Earlier this month, Amal El Wahabi, a British mother-of-two, was jailed for more than two years for trying to arrange to smuggle €20,000 (£16,000) to her husband, who is believed to be a jihadist fighting in Syria. She duped her friend, Nawal Msaad, into carrying the cash in her underwear. Philip Davies, the Tory MP, said of Miss Nicholson’s claims: “I know the Government has been cracking down on benefit fraud. It seems to me that this shows that if anything, they need to go further.” He added: “It is sickening to think that [UK money is funding terror plots] but whenever there is any money being doled out, it’s obvious that terrorists will be trying to get their hands on as much of it as possible.” Kwasi Kwarteng, a Conservative member of the Commons work and pensions committee, said: “Ordinary people will be very, very concerned about this and it’s something which the Government obviously has a duty to crack down on.” Mr Vaz said: “It is shocking that this is happening. We need to see assurances from government that the integrity of the student loan and benefits system has not been compromised, with the full cooperation of the banking network.” A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “No one should doubt our commitment to rooting out benefit fraud.” Ministers said up to 50 suspected jihadists a year are expected to be prevented from going to Syria or other terrorism hot spots under proposed powers to seize passports. Around 15 terror suspects a year will also be placed under the revamped terrorism prevention and investigation measures (Tpims), which restrict their activities. The measures are part of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill.
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Sign up for Take Action Now and we’ll send you three meaningful actions you can take each week. Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue Travel With The Nation Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Be the first to hear about Nation Travels destinations, and explore the world with kindred spirits. Sign up for our Wine Club today. Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine? Donald Trump believes that the government can closely monitor every individual entering the country to determine their likelihood of participating in a terrorist attack. He calls it “extreme vetting.” So surely his handpicked choices for the cabinet were vetted with that level of deep scrutiny, so no surprises would ensue after the selection. Ad Policy Yet Trump’s choice for defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis (chosen, one assumes, for the nickname), has a very damaging association hiding in plain sight in his record—his current position on the board of directors of quack medical company Theranos. That’s right, current. It’s been more than a year since The Wall Street Journal raised questions about the celebrated biotech startup, which led to the company’s downfall. Yet there Mattis is, still listed on the board of directors. Former secretaries of state George Schultz and Henry Kissinger, former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, former defense secretary William Perry, and former Senate Armed Services Committee chair Sam Nunn have all backed away from the board. Another, construction company chairman and top investor Riley Bechtel, just stepped down today. But Mattis, given every opportunity to end his relationship with Theranos and its dodgy activities, is hanging in there. Mattis’s relationship with Theranos and its “next Steve Jobs” CEO Elizabeth Holmes dates back to 2011, when the general remained on active duty, in charge of Central Command and the war in Afghanistan. Theranos claimed to have invented a blood-testing device that would only require a few drops of blood. Mattis took an interest. In fact, he worked to get the US Army to procure Theranos lab equipment for field use, before it had completed the FDA approval process. E-mails from 2012 show Mattis’s personal involvement in the project, with him telling Holmes, “We’re kicking this into overdrive to try to field your lab in the near term.” Despite several personal interventions from Mattis, including meeting directly with the regulatory official in charge, the procurement fell apart as parts of Theranos’ lab-testing equipment never passed FDA inspection. Mattis’s insistence led one colonel to say that Central Command’s medical teams “feel caught in the middle of something that feels quite political.” In actuality, Theranos was hiding its secretive technology rather than getting the proper FDA clearances because the blood test didn’t work in the way they claimed. The company’s lab practices caused potential harm to patient health, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. There were multiple inaccuracies in the testing; 81 patients got unverified and potentially false results. The clinical labs have now all been closed. Walgreens, where Theranos had an exclusive agreement, has sued, along with a handful of investors. None of this stopped Mattis from joining the board in 2013, after he left active duty. This was part of Holmes’s strategy on Theranos: cultivate powerful friends and use them to increase the company’s credibility and influence. Only two of the 12 Theranos board members had experience in medicine, and one (Bill Frist) hadn’t practiced in many years. By contrast, six had government experience and two were military commanders. Clearly, this powerhouse board was assembled to iron out regulatory matters and get Theranos products into the lucrative military-procurement process. But even all that firepower couldn’t help when Theranos was caught selling bogus technology and lying to its funders. It is assumed that Mattis will leave the board now as he prepares to go into the government. And maybe it’s OK that he didn’t understand the depths of the deceit at the company in 2012. But the fact that he didn’t leave the Theranos board until now suggests either a troubling credulousness, an inability to admit a mistake, or a desire to stay on the gravy train. Theranos is a privately held company, so it’s unknown how much money Mattis made for his board position. But Holmes’s net worth was at one point $4 billion, and the company raised scads of money from venture capitalists, so it’s reasonable to assume that seat was lucrative. Ready to Fight Back? Sign Up For Take Action Now Mattis has a passion for corporate boards—he’s also on the board of General Dynamics, the major defense contractor. As Lee Fang wrote for The Nation in 2014, earning $88,479 in cash and stock options just in 2013. That grew to $264,070 in 2015, the last year for which there is data. The seeming meddling in the procurement process is a really giant red flag for an individual who would run the military. It’s one thing for the head of Central Command to run into bureaucratic difficulties when trying to get a product onto the battlefield; it’s another for the defense secretary to demand it, using the power not only inside the Pentagon but on Capitol Hill. The potential for crony capitalism is great. This result of Trump’s “extreme cabinet vetting” fits with his other selections. His education secretary married into a multilevel marketing fortune. His treasury secretary used a favorable government deal to profit off of foreclosure victims, just like his commerce secretary. His transportation secretary’s family owns a dicey shipping company. And now Mattis has ties to the biggest scam company in Silicon Valley. And heck, it fits with a guy who ran a fraudulent fake university. Maybe being linked to something shady is part of the Trump cabinet job description.
A* ap= new A(); //object on heap func(ap); // NOT CALL BY REFERENCE, scream the language lawyers! You are the one who seems to be screaming, not the supposed "language lawyers" func is defined as func(A); It's the actual C++ spec that calls this call-by-value A a; // object on stack func(&a); // NOT CALL BY REF, scream the lawyers again! Again, you are screaming here. You're using the address-of operator to obtain a pointer. This pointer is then passed to a function for which we already established it was call-by-value. This example adds little to nothing. It's the actual C++ spec that calls this call-by-value. func2(a); // FINALLY, A CALL BY REFERENCE, scream the lawyers, with their whiny voices! And again, you are the one who's screaming. func2 is defined as func2(A &); So yes, according to the C++ standard this is called call-by-reference. The java-is-call-by-value language lawyers would have us state that the non-stack-residing object "ap" is NOT passed by reference to func solely because "ap" is passed by value. Indeed, since you'e not passing the dereferenced version of "ap" to func(). The call you're doing is func(ap), so what's getting passed is the pointer "ap", and that pointer is passed by value. Same with the second invocation of func using &a. Because it is the same. In this case too you are not passing an object. What you are passing is the address of an object, which is a pointer. Since it's the exact same func, the semantics are the same here. The semantics are tied to the definition of the function, not to where a call-site happens to obtain a pointer from. How this helps the language lawyers sleep at night is beyond me! Mark, we very much know all of this is beyond you. It's very obvious. Do notice that there were only two examples being shown. From the list given by Arjan: Value variable passed by-reference (func2) Pointer variable passed by-value (func) No definition of func was given, but assume the following: void func(A* aPointer) { aPointer = new A(); } This assignment will have zero effect on the variable "ap" that's being passed in. If you were to use call-by-reference however this would have an effect. This is easily demonstrated with the following code: #include <iostream> class A { public: int value; }; void callByValuePtrAssign(A* a) { a = new A; a->value = 0; } void callByReferencePtrAssign(A* &a) { a = new A; a->value = 0; } int main() { A* a = new A; a->value = 3; cout << "Initial value:" << a->value << endl; callByValuePtrAssign(a); cout << "After call by value:" << a->value << endl; callByReferencePtrAssign(a); cout << "After call by reference:" << a->value << endl; return 0; } without touching the original #include <iostream> class A { public: int value; }; void callByValueMutate(A* a) { a->value = 1; } void callByReferencePtrAssign(A* &a) { a = new A; a->value = 0; } int main() { A* a = new A; A* b = a; a->value = 3; cout << "Initial value A:" << a->value << endl; cout << "Initial value B:" << b->value << endl; callByValueMutate(a); cout << "After call by value A:" << a->value << endl; cout << "After call by value B:" << b->value << endl; callByReferencePtrAssign(a); cout << "After call by reference A:" << a->value << endl; cout << "After call by reference B:" << b->value << endl; return 0;} callByValueMutate function, we mutate the object. As expected, after the call we see the change in main via both a en b. This is logical, they point to the same instance. A pointer was involved, the state of an object was mutated, and this change was visible outside the function, but the calling convention is still call-by-value. This is by definition of the C++ spec. In the next call we use call-by-reference to pass in "a". Now we assign a new instance to "a" and mutate this. After the call, the change is seen via "a", as it prints the 0 that we assigned to the "value" member of this new instance. However, we haven't touched the instance that a en b originally pointed to. This is seen as we observe that for b the old value is printed. It's this last effect that is impossible to achieve in Java. We can mutate the state of the object our pointer points to, but this has the side-effect that everyone else who points to that object also sees this change. If the class involved is immutable (as with a String or a Long) we cannot even do this. What we want to achieve is simply doing an assignment; assign a new pointer. If you want to do this from a function being called, you need call-by-reference. Java doesn't have call-by-reference, so it's impossible to re-assign a variable from the caller in a callee. The output will be:Initial value:3After call by value:3After call by reference:0Try for yourself here: http://codepad.org/B0oUJuC8 In both cases pointers are being passed into the function. In both cases a new instance of A is assigned to the function parameter, and this new instance is mutated to hold the value 0. In the case of the call-by-value version, this change is not propagated to the calling main function. Before and after the call the value is still 3 and thus the a in main still points to the same instance.In the case of the call-by-reference version, the change is propagated, and the value is now 0.Now you are probably going to scream that both type of functions can mutate the instance that the A being passed into points to. So, at this point I can imagine your hands itching to write a call-by-value version that also mutates A's value to 0.This however is NOT what distinguishes call-by-refernence. Call-by-reference let's the variable being passed in point to another instance,. We often don't want to mutate the original A, since others might point to this as well, and they will be effected too.This is demonstrated by the following code:The output will be:Initial value A:3Initial value B:3After call by value A:1After call by value B:1After call by reference A:0After call by reference B:1Try this one here: http://codepad.org/Kzxxk6Hp What happens is that a new instance is created and both "a" and "b" point to it. If we pass "a" into the call-by-value function, it gets another copy of the pointer pointing to the one and only instance. There are now thus 3 pointers to it. Via this pointer that happens to live in the
The Sixth Circuit’s sharply split decision reads like something out of Orwell (or The Onion): Michiganders’ decision to amend their state constitution to outlaw racial preferences in college admissions somehow violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. As Dave Barry would say, I’m not making this up: The court voted 8-7 that making people more equal under the law violates the constitutional provision that requires people to be treated equally under the law! The Sixth Circuit’s “logic” would similarly prevent Congress from outlawing racial preferences under federal law. Fortunately, this crazy ruling will not long survive. The California-based Ninth Circuit has (remarkably) ruled the other way; conflict between the lower courts virtually ensures that the Supreme Court will take the case. And don’t forget that the Court this term is already considering the propriety of racial preferences in UT-Austin’s admissions program. If the Court finds racial preferences themselves to be unconstitutional—that’s my view—then the Sixth Circuit’s ruling has no practical effect anyway.
Pin 22 22 Shares A super easy and frugal recipe for homemade hair gel that really works! It only uses two ingredients, with an optional third one. It’s also non-toxic and natural! I have written a lot about my hair on the blog. Going no-poo in 2010 was the catalyst to leading a natural lifestyle for me and why I started this blog! I’ve perfected how I wash my hair without shampoo since that first post and wrote No-Poo Alternatives to Baking Soda, My Natural Curly Hair Regimen – How to Love Your Gorgeous Curls, and Oils and Other Natural Conditioner Alternatives. But until now, I have YET to find a hair gel that works with my thick, coarse, dry curls. I’ve been using Tigi Catwalk’s Curlz Rock hair cream and have always loved it, but lately I started noticing how whenever I used it on my hair, my hands would break out in eczema and start to itch. It gets a toxicity rating of 5 out of 10 on the EWG’s Skin Deep database, with the worst ingredient being the fragrance. Not a terrible rating, but it’s the pièce de resistance in my beauty regime as I’ve switched over to all-natural things in everything else! Yet I’ve tried so many different natural concoctions like flax seed hair gel (it gunked up on my hair after a week or so and was as hard to get out as glue!), shea butter, coconut oil, a combo of those two, aloe vera, glycerine… you name it, I’ve probably tried it! I’ve pretty much given up on finding one that would work. Until I saw on DIY Natural that they use hair gel made with just gelatin and water. Awesome. Just two simple little ingredients. I’ve been drinking grassfed gelatin in my detox tea on a daily basis and have watched my nails grow and get strong, so I love gelatin. What I Love About It It’s super duper cheap . Literally, pennies per batch. There are 96 teaspoons in this bottle of gelatin, and we’re only using 1/2 tsp. per batch. That’s 10 cents per batch! . Literally, pennies per batch. There are 96 teaspoons in this bottle of gelatin, and we’re only using 1/2 tsp. per batch. That’s 10 cents per batch! The essential oils I use are lavender and peppermint or orange, lavender and rosemary. So I get whiffs of the scent all day long and it’s so nice! (where to buy high quality essential oils) I use are lavender and peppermint or orange, lavender and rosemary. So I get whiffs of the scent all day long and it’s so nice! (where to buy high quality essential oils) It’s easy to make. It’s totally safe and natural. Fun fact – my mom says synchronized swimmers back in the fifties used gelatin in their hair to keep the style! The Different Holds Normally my hair needs a lot of styling cream as it is so dry and crazy (it’s super thick, coarse and very curly). I was surprised as the light hold actually worked for me! I found the medium hold is best, though, for my hair, as it lasted for several days. The strong hold is really strong and a bit crunchy for my taste. I found that it is crunchy when drying, but soft once it’s totally dry. DIY Natural Hair Gel with Gelatin (My affiliate links to Amazon are included in this section for your convenience). Pour the hot water into an 8 ounce container (but not plastic just yet since it’s so hot!) and pour in the gelatin. Stir to combine then refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set. Drop the essential oils in once cooled and stir. Store in the fridge and it lasts for 1-2 weeks. I find it’s easiest to use with a squirt bottle or else it gets messy. It’s jello for your hair, who would’ve thought?! SaveSave SaveSave
I’ve put it in writing before, and I’ll say it again: I love America. I really, truly do! But this week, at least, my relationship with the land of my birth has faced some dire challenges, as it seems that the governing body of this fair nation has become something of a series of practical jokes. This one is particularly hilarious (read: Please direct me to the nearest open window): The likely head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is the man who literally wrote the book on climate denial — and even talked to us about it! America’s coastline, meet your reaper: James Inhofe, Oklahoma senator. (I would specify political party, but at this point it’s just redundant.) Whenever we feel real sad, we turn to one of our would-be Grist boyfriends: Stephen Colbert. (I know it seems like we have a lot of those. Well, sea levels are rising, life is short, and we like to keep our options open!) On the much-beloved refrain of the GOP with regard to climate change, Colbert reflects: “Yes, everyone who denies man-made climate change has the same stirring message: ‘We don’t know what the f*** we’re talking about!'” So, watch the video above, and at least a few of the tears in your Friday double bourbon (let’s be honest — this week, it’s at least a triple) will be from laughter.
Image copyright Fox/Greenway/Ko/REX/Shutterstock Image caption Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin in the 1960s TV series Adam West, the US actor best known as the star of the 1960s hit TV series Batman, has died aged 88. West died peacefully in Los Angeles after a "short but brave battle" with leukaemia, a family spokesperson said. His tongue-in-cheek portrayal of Batman and the superhero's alter ego Bruce Wayne won a cult following. He later struggled to find big acting roles, but won a new generation of fans in more recent times after joining the cast of Family Guy. First appearing in season two in 2002, he voiced Quahog's eccentric Mayor Adam West, described by series creator Seth MacFarlane as an "alternate universe", satirised version of the actor. MacFarlane paid tribute to the star on Twitter, saying he had "lost a friend" and described West as "irreplaceable". Image copyright Twitter West's family said in a statement: "Our dad always saw himself as The Bright Knight, and aspired to make a positive impact on his fans' lives. He was and always will be our hero." The Batman TV series, with its onscreen fight-scene graphics of Wham! and Pow! became an unexpected hit. West and his co-star Burt Ward, who played Batman's sidekick Robin, won widespread acclaim for their kitsch portrayal of the Dynamic Duo. Catwoman mourns death of Batman 'Robin' actor Burt Ward: He was great actor and a wonderful human being Actor Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman in the series, paid tribute to West on Saturday, saying he was was "bright, witty and fun to work with". "I will miss him in the physical world and savour him always in the world of imagination and creativity," she said. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Adam West remained closely associated with the Batman character throughout his career In a 2010 interview with the website Slice of SciFi, West said the TV series had benefitted from very good writers. "They saw the craziness, the comedy. You know, just as he's about to put her in (jail), Batman says to Catwoman, 'You give me curious stirrings in my utility belt.' That's funny stuff." When the series ended, West struggled to break free from the character, but over a long career appeared in nearly 50 films including Drop Dead Gorgeous, An American Vampire Story and Nevada Smith. Who has played Batman? Adam West -TV series (1966-68); Batman: The Movie (1966) -TV series (1966-68); Batman: The Movie (1966) Michael Keaton -Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) -Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) Val Kilmer -Batman Forever (1995) -Batman Forever (1995) George Clooney - Batman and Robin (1997) - Batman and Robin (1997) Christian Bale - Batman Begins (2005); The Dark Knight (2008); The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - Batman Begins (2005); The Dark Knight (2008); The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Ben Affleck - Batman v Superman (2016); Justice League (2017) Tributes to the actor poured in via social media following news of his death. Actor Val Kilmer, who played Batman in a later movie, tweeted: "Ah dear Adam West. He was always so kind when we met. A real gent. Once when I was a kid we found ourselves in front the Batmobile. I got in." The author Neil Gaiman tweeted: "Rest in Peace Adam West. We met once in 1987 and I was too embarrassed and too foolishly 'cool' to tell you what you meant to my childhood." Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, who worked with West, described him was "a wonderful actor and so kind". He tweeted: "I'm so lucky to have worked w/ him & tell him how much he meant to me & millions of fans." Before embarking on an acting career, West was drafted into the US Army and was an announcer for the Armed Forces Network. The US defence department tweeted a picture of West in his uniform with the message: "He was our hero long before the cape." Image copyright Twitter West was born in 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington state, and began his acting career in Hawaii in the 1950s. He is survived by his wife, Marcelle, six children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
This is one of the more interesting personal stories that we’ve uncovered. For a while now, we’ve heard stories about President Grant being arrested for riding his horse too fast in the city. This is amusing on two accounts, the first being the President driving a horse and buggy alone on the streets of Washington. The second, that he was actually stopped and arrested for speeding. Clearly, we wouldn’t see this today, even though, technically, POTUS‘ motorcade probably doesn’t obey the speed limit signs in D.C. Ulysses Grant speeding incident The most informative article about the incident was one that we found in The Washington Post, written by J. LeCount Chestnut on November 7th, 1925. William West is the horseman who once arrested a president. He forced President Ulysses S. Grant to go with him to the police station where he booked the chief executive on charges of speeding. Grant was driving his favorite team of horses at what West thought was excessive speed. He ordered the president to stop, chased him down, gave him a lecture in approved modern traffic cop style, and then arrested him. Grant and West became solid pals after the incident, and in one of their frequent chats West informed the president that he, too, was a speed maniac, and that while off duty he had been arrested more than 20 times for speeding. West owned a stable of fine horses that at once attracted Grant’s admiration, and provided for the two men a strong bond of common interest. … The day before Grant’s arrest a woman with a 6-year-old child had been seriously injured at West’s corner by a driver of fast horses. washington, after a series of such accidents, was conducting the same campaign against “reckless driving” of horses that modern metropolitan cities are engaging in today to check auto speeding. Grant had chosen the wrong time to dash by the corner of 13th and M Sts. his team thundering along at a furious pace. West shouted, the president’s team was brought to a standstill, and West approached him. “Well, officer, what do you want with me?” Grant asked. “Mr. President,” was the reply, ” I want to tell you that you were violating the law by driving at reckless speed. Your fast driving, sir, has set the example for a lot of other gentlemen. It is endangering the lives of the people who have to cross the street in this locality. Only this evening a lady was knocked down by one of the racing teams.” “I am very sorry,” said President Grant, “and I’ll promise that hereafter I will hold my team down to the regulation speed. Is the lady who was run down seriously hurt?” But the very next day, however, the good intentions were forgotten, and General Grant came racing down 13th St. fast as ever. When hailed, he turned into M St. and was almost at 14th before he could stop. As West approached, Grant said, “Do you think, officer, that I was violating the speed laws?” “I certainly do, Mr. President,” answered West, not a bit softened by the president’s query. “I cautioned you yesterday, Mr. President, about fast driving, and you said, sir, that it would not occur again. I am very sorry, Mr. President, to have to do it, for you are the nation’s chief executive, but my duty is plain, sir: I shall have to place you under arrest!” Part of me is a little skeptical that it went down exactly like this, but nevertheless … the story continues. At the request of the president, Officer West got into the executive’s carriage, sat beside him and drove to the station house. Grant left $20 collateral, which was forfeited. After this incident President Grant and Officer West grew very friendly and spent frequently hours at a time chatting. Their love of horses was the great bond of sympathy. Strange to relate, West himself was an inveterate fast driver. He confessed that he had been arrested at least 25 times for speeding. Old timers around Washington yet remember West’s remarkable horse, “Dan.” This animal was so trained that when his master had cornered an offender, he would seize the culprit by the coat with his great front teeth. As a rule, the horse was careful not to catch a man’s flesh, but if the offender offered resistance the great teeth would grasp flesh along with clothing. The pair were a familiar sight for years at 7th and U Sts. N. W., where they were stationed. There are a couple facts in this story that are different in other stories, but what seems to be consistent though, is that Officer West did arrest and book Grant. We found another story stating that Grant was arrested in 1866 before he was in the White House, and this is also true. Another time Ulysses Grant was arrested He was arrested on April 11th, 1866 as well as July 1st for reckless driving. At the time, he was still a general in the U.S. Army. POTUS 18 had a penchant for speeding, so all three of these stories are true. The man liked to ride fast, and paid the price a few times. Whatever the details are of this story, the fact is, President Grant was arrested just after the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation by an African-American Washington policeman. That’s a terrific story and a great piece of trivia with which you can impress your history-loving friends. William West: African-American Policeman West was listed in the 1900 U.S. Census living at 1025 3rd St. NW, with his wife of 32 years, Katherine and their six children. Sadly, like so much of D.C., the building is gone. By 1910, his wife had passed away, and he was living at 424 New York Ave. NW with two sons and a lodger. This building also appears to be gone. A decade or so after his encounter with President Grant, he had some trouble with the police force and was found guilty of neglecting his duties. Below is the article that we dug up from September 26th, 1884 in The Washington Post, detailing the account. Officers William H. West and William H. White, of the police force, were tried last Wednesday before the trial board of the Metropolitan Police “for neglect of duty and indecently wrangling on political matters upon public streets.” The board found that the officers had stopped twenty or thirty minutes and entered into a conversation about matters not pertaining to their official duties and were also guilty of improper language on the public streets. Their sentence was a fine of $25 and in addition to be dismounted and transferred. … The rule referred to forbids officers from stopping and holding conversation with citizens while patrolling their beats. If workplaces had this rule today, at least 75 percent of D.C. would be fined for surfing the web, checking Facebook, or chatting around the watercooler. Get back to work! In later years, Officer West ran into some more trouble according to an in The Washington Post, printed on January 29th, 1898. West was accused and tried for not paying a certain debt of $40. He had borrowed the money from a Mrs. Terrell, a local money lender. At the time, it was common for them to prey on underpaid police officers (similar to those shady payday loans today) and charge exorbitant interest rates. The loan agreement had him paying 10% per month until it was paid off. He ended up paying $72 in 19 months and then ceased paying. Ultimately, the case was dismissed as the laws of D.C. exempted debtors from paying any interest rate deemed usurious. He again shows up in the papers on June 30th, 1901 after being arrested for disorderly conduct in Mt. Vernon Square, following an argument. Policeman William H. West, who has been before the trial board several times on charges of conduct unbecoming an officer, was arrested in Mount Vernon Square early last evening charged with disorderly conduct. At the First precinct station Lieut. Amiss directed that he be stripped of his badge and revolver and suspended. The lieutenant will make a report on the case to Maj. Sylvester this morning. West is a negro, about fifty-eight years of age, and has been on the force many years. He gained notoriety soon after his appointment by arresting President U. S. Grant for riding horseback on a pavement. He is fond of blooded horses, and was a mounted policeman for several years. He drove to the restaurant of Charles H. Dismer, at 708 K street northwest, early last evening. Lindsey Madre, a negro youth, was engaged to mind his team. When West returned to the vehicle he is said to have given Madre a tip of 5 cents. This started an argument, and Madre demanded more money for his services. The quarrel resulted in West and Madre going across the street to Mount Vernon Square, where their fight attracted the attention of the neighborhood. Policemen Hooper and McDonnell, of the First precinct, ran to the scene and arrest both men for disorderly conduct. They were released on $5 collateral each. We dug up a little more on Lindsey Madre, who was born some time near 1873. In the 1910 city directory, he was listed as living at 807 Barry Pl., which is just west of Georgia Ave., near the McDonald’s and south of the baseball field. In the 1920 U.S. Census, he’s still listed at the same address with the occupation of bootblack (i.e., shoe shiner). He was living with his wife Annie and daughter, Odesa under the roof of his in-laws, the Freemans.
Geena Davis is one of the nation's best with a bow and arrow, but she doesn't like to talk about it much. The actress is a finalist to make the U.S. Olympic archery team after competing in the semifinals against 299 women last month in Ohio. "Yes, Geena Davis is one of the top 32," National Archery Association spokeswoman Kathleen Frazier said Thursday. She just wants to keep a low profile." Davis, who won the supporting actress Academy Award for the 1988 movie The Accidental Tourist, was one of 300 women competing July 12-16 in Oxford, Ohio, for a semifinals berth. The Aug. 22-24 finals in Bloomfield, N.J., will determine three slots, plus an alternate. Paul Bloch, Miss Davis' publicist, wouldn't comment on her archery skills. The 1996 gold medal victories of American archer Justin Huish in Atlanta inspired Miss Davis, a source close to the actress, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press. Huish became the first American archer to win two gold medals in the same Olympics when he took home the top prize in the men's individual as well as a team gold. "She was watching the Olympics and she got into it about two years ago. She took lessons and she practices five hours a day, every day," the source said. Davis' movie credits include Beetlejuice, Earth Girls Are Easy, The Fly and A League of Their Own. ©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
This video is amazing, the idea that those parents did was stunning, it’s an amazing thing for everyone when they know that there is a new member that will come soon, and so when Kira the wife became pregnant, she was absolutely happy, so they decided to do a new idea. He captured a photo every day for her, capturing the growth by photography, and who was her companion? Her faithful dog, during the 38 weeks of pregnancy, her dog was with her in all the photos, you will see how many times the dog was cuddling and putting his paws on her tummy. By the end, it was time for the baby to come to the world, the dog was very welcoming to the new baby, and from the very first months, the baby was sleeping beside his four legged companion. Isn’t it a great video? Lots of parents feel a little worried about their babies when they have dogs at home. I feel very curious when I see a video that shows a dog and a baby together, we know that if a dog and a baby are in the same room, those types of videos show the deep bond created between babies and dogs that is full of joy, cuteness and happiness. Shockingly, after all those videos that show how deep the relation is between them, we still see those heartless owners who give up on their dogs when they deliver a baby. They don’t actually know about that special relation between dogs and children; especially babies. It’s a very loving, caring, and protective relation. Those babies in this video are very lucky to have a dog friend who is caring and loving as them. I wonder how it will be when they grow up, and watch those amazing videos together.
Cortney wrote earlier today about how Grammy Award-winning rapper Kayne West was spotted in Trump Tower earlier this morning and met with the president-elect. Now, we may know just what exactly West was doing with Trump: he reportedly discussed an ambassadorship or an "entrepreneurship leadership role." E! News reported with the exclusive that West is being considered for a position. The "Jesus Walks" rapper met with Trump to discuss becoming an "ambassador of sorts," a source close to West tells E! News. The source adds that Trump is interested in getting West involved in an "entrepreneurial leadership role." As for how the meeting came about, the insider tells us that Trump's team reached out to West. "Trump thinks he's a great role model when it comes to business," the insider adds. In a video taken shortly after the meeting, Trump explained that he's been friends with West for a long time. West recently announced that while he did not vote in the 2016 election, if he had, he would have voted for Trump. Shortly after that announcement, West canceled the remaining dates of his Saint Pablo tour and was hospitalized for a short period of time. West has also mused the idea of a 2020 run for president.
1 of 6 Mike Stobe/Getty Images Omer Asik, New Orleans Pelicans (Three years, $33.9 million) Omer Asik is in awkward territory. His contract doesn't look so bad when pitted against deals other bigs brokered in 2016, and waiving him via the stretch provision next summer, at $4.8 million per season for five years, won't seem completely crippling. But, as far as salary dumps go, the 31-year-old couldn't be in a more complicated situation. One first-round pick won't grease the wheels, and the New Orleans Pelicans don't have the surrounding assets to beef up that offering—nor, frankly, should they be trafficking out draft choices before DeMarcus Cousins reaches free agency. New Orleans can always try targeting teams with steeper contract obligations to actual contributors, but that's equally unappetizing prior to Cousins' decision. Most of the crummy deals at that level belong to bigs and aging (Luol Deng), injury-prone (Chandler Parsons) and ball-dominant (Evan Turner) wings anyway—player-types that don't come close to fitting the roster makeup. If the Pelicans want to get rid of Asik, they'll likely need to stretch him or hope expiring contracts reign supreme in 2019. Brandon Knight (Three years, $43.9 million) Despite posting cruddy shooting percentages and the league's second-worst plus-minus before being shut down in February, Brandon Knight holds some intrigue. Or rather, he held some intrigue. Knight suffered a torn left ACL near the end of July and is expected to miss the entire 2017-18 season. Combo guards in their mid-20s who've shown they can work on and off the ball in the semi-recent past should never be considered hopeless causes, but they're not players you gamble on during a year lost to injury. Ian Mahinmi (Three years, $48.1 million) Ian Mahinmi's $48.1 million balance wouldn't be immovable if he spent 2016-17 matching or rivaling his 2015-16 performance—especially when measured against the blizzard of other 2016 overpays. Shoot, had he even finished the year in relatively good health and standing, he might be fine. He didn't, so he's not. Mahinmi appeared in just 31 games during his inaugural year with the Washington Wizards while battling injuries to both knees and his left calf. Whatever goodwill he built up as a quality rim-runner and defensive anchor with the Indiana Pacers is gone. Bigs who don't space the floor are in an iffy area by default. Mix in injuries, an imminent 31st birthday (November) and three more years of guaranteed salary, and the chances of hammering out a trade before he's had the opportunity to recoup some squandered value are zilch. Joakim Noah (Three years, $55.6 million) Prior to the draft, Phil Jackson's insistence Joakim Noah be included in any Kristaps Porzingis trade was among the biggest roadblocks that prevented him from dealing the New York Knicks' unicorn, per ESPN.com's Ian Begley. This says all we need to know about the movability of Noah's contract. Chandler Parsons (Three years, $72.3 million) Chandler Parsons' pact might be the least valuable trade asset in the league. Market buyers cannot talk themselves into a resurgence—not after each of his last three seasons have ended with a knee injury. The Memphis Grizzlies, meanwhile, don't have the sweeteners necessary to attract salary-dumping enthusiasts. Bottom-feeders with cap flexibility may not bite even if Memphis did. Not only does Parsons gum up the cap sheet, but a healthy version of him adds unnecessary wins to a rebuilding team's bottom line. Hence the dilemma: Squads trying to make noise cannot count on him having an impact, while rock-bottomers cannot be 100 percent sure he won't eventually compromise the value of their draft pick.
Blu-ray + DVD The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Review "All good stories deserve embellishment..." Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, March 7, 2013 An unexpected journey indeed... It was bound to disappoint. With expectations at an enormous high, a 48fps experiment in tow, and fandom, both literary and cinematic, frothing at the mouth, poised to strike the moment the first film intrilogy showed the slightest sign of weakness,. And yet it shouldn't have. Criticism continues to run the gamut.Was anyone really that surprised to see Jackson and company indulge a little? Did the decision to stretch two films into three fail to clue anyone into the fact thatwould be more akin to aextended version than a lean, mean theatrical cut? For that matter, are the same people who swear byExtended Editions actually upset with the end result? By some strange, blinding magic: yes, yes and yes.Fortunately, it was only bound to disappointfans. There are those among us who chose a different path. Those who were familiar with the quaint, charming tale of "The Hobbit," enough so to avoid setting-slaying expectations. Who didn't squander our first viewing ofby leaping headlong into an entirely new (and arguably distracting) way of watching a film. Who were overjoyed to immerse ourselves in Peter Jackson's Middle-Earth once again, for whatever length of time he saw fit. No,isn't perfect. It isn't a sacred adaptation of Tolkien's text, or even one that rivals any offilms. It's a gorgeous, gripping, at-times enthralling return to Middle-Earth, though, with far more to offer the Peter Jackson and J.R.R. Tolkien folds than many are willing or perhaps able to admit.The humble, altogether simple story of "The Hobbit" becomes the grand, still relatively simple story of, with a smart series of additions, refinements and expansions and only a few questionable tweaks or misguided deviations. Told in flashback (with several flashbacks within that flashback), we meet a younger, less impulsive Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the once and future ring-bearer played in his old age by Ian Holm. Coaxed by Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) into joining thirteen dwarves on a quest to reclaim their kingdom and stockpiles of gold from a vile dragon named Smaug, Bilbo reluctantly embarks on an adventure that takes him from the safety of Hobbiton to the troll and orc-ridden wild, the Elven city of Rivendell, the depths of the Misty Mountains and beyond. Drawing from the original book, Tolkien's Appendices and co-writers Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro's ever-evolving screenplay, Jackson'spresents Bilbo as an adventurer-in-the-making in a coming-of-late-age tale, dwarf prince-turned-king Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) as a fallen hero, the unruly dwarves as nomads longing for a rightful place to lay their heads (rather than mere treasure), their quest a more honorable journey, and Gandalf's frequent absences a means to a far greater end: a response to the rise of a sinister Necromancer (Benedict Cumberbatch) in the stronghold of Dul Guldur.Elrond (Hugo Weaving), Lord of Rivendell, and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) of Lothlorien return, as does Saruman the White (Christopher Lee), who isn't so willing to accept the news Gandalf and fellow wizard Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy) have to share. Meanwhile, the dwarves -- among them Dwalin (Graham McTavish), Balin (Ken Stott), Bofur (James Nesbitt), Kili (Aidan Turner) and Fili (Dean O'Gorman), who receive the most screentime -- are being tracked by an old foe: Azog the Defiler (Manu Bennett), a vindictive orc chieftan who killed Thorin's grandfather before losing an arm in a battle with the dwarf king himself. But other enemies await Thorin, Bilbo and the dwarven company before the first film draws to a close. Rock giants, a trio of lumbering cave trolls, a horde of goblins, their king the Great Goblin (Barry Humphries) and, in a dank cave beneath the goblin halls, a riddle-obsessed creature named Gollum (Andy Serkis), corrupted by a seemingly harmless magic ring that grants its wearer invisibility.As withtrilogy, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens focus first and foremost on character and story, placing the utmost value on casting, performances and the ensuing adaptation above all else. Freeman isn't an A-lister (or rather wasn't before) but his turn as Bilbo establishes him as the film's greatest casting coup. With Freeman, Bilbo is a fully realized anchor point and unmistakably human for a hobbit. The scene in which he awakes to an empty house -- initially relieved and then, all at once, saddened by the silence -- is one of the best acted beats in Jackson's thus far four-film Middle-Earth saga, and makes everything that follows more convincing and compelling than it would otherwise be. It's these moments, these small amendments not present in the original novel but used to terrific effect in the film, that highlight the balance between performance power and adaptative craft the filmmakers make a habit of employing again and again and again. And it's these moments that carrythrough less satisfying scenes that rely a bit too heavily on CG and heightened action (the escape from Goblin Town and the Rock Giant run come to mind).The rest of the ensemble is too talented for one film. (Thank God there'll be three.) McKellenGandalf the Grey, and makes a number of interesting choices, from his perfectly rounded affection for Bilbo to his slight irritation at the hobbit's hesitance to strike out with the dwarves. McKellen is also responsible for yet another subtly emotional series exchange, this time with Blanchett, in a tender, easily overlooked moment of intimacy that never fails to send chills racing up my arms, even after this, my fifth viewing. Armitage is excellent too, even though Thorin's disdain for Bilbo is given the spotlight one time too many. With an iron gaze and a coalfire in his chest, he helps Jackson accomplish a dramatic trifecta: infusing the film with an undercurrent of tragedy, giving Bilbo a reason to sacrifice his all for the dwarves and providing the first film with a captivating conflict all its own. The rest of the dwarvish actors, particularly McTavish and Nesbitt, fill out the company nicely and, more importantly, serve Thorin and Bilbo's arcs selflessly. And Serkis? Freeman and Serkis' Riddles in the Dark sequence is engrossing, not just as a through-thread tobut as a brilliantly staged and shot rendition of one of the book's most iconic encounters. All told, the cast is a true ensemble in every sense of the word. Jackson may not have filled the ranks with more familiar Hollywood faces, but what he nets in return is on-screen comradery, obvious even between's mortal enemies.Ifstumbles on its, it's not in expanding the tale or the characters, it's in expanding the action and, to a lesser degree, embellishing the visual effects. Tolkien opposed his books being turned into action-oriented spectacles and the last act of, more so even than(which all but required such spectacle), is puffed up and a tad bloated, with whirling swords, a chase scene that goes on a full minute too long, a mountain-pass giant fight that borders on ludicrous (not the fight but the fact that the dwarves end up standing on one of the giants' legs) and a burning treetop showdown that's intense but pure screenwriters' prerogative. None of it kills the film, but it does knock it down a notch, at least in terms of storytelling. Visually, it's immaculate, packed with cutting-edge WETA effects, incredible motion captured creatures and, of course, Gollum, who couldn't look more real. Thankfully, Jackson doesn't turn to computers for every challenge. Middle-Earth is still New Zealand and the practical effects team's masterfully forged props, sets and production design in all their natural and hand-crafted glory; enhanced with CG as needed, sure, but rarely created wholesale in a computer. More to the point, everyone on the production team -- from the costume designers to the armor makers to the weapon masters to the prosthetics masters -- is an integral player in the ensemble, as much as the actors. Likefilms,is a melting pot of gracious, self-sacrificing talent both in front and behind the camera.The long and short of it? Even whencan't quite carry the Ring, it can carry you.
It's that little innate ability that is so easy to forget. And if you are one of the following 10 champions, you are happy that passives are easily forgotten. A passive can often mean the difference between life and death, and you will see this frequently from the 13 most powerful passives in League of Legends. I originally intended on listing the 10 most powerful passives. But, it was just too hard to narrow it down to a top 10 and I wanted to avoid any qq'ing about Champion X not being on the list. EDIT: Due to overwhelming response, I have added 2 more champions to the list, making it "The 15 Most Powerful Passives". Thank you for your comments on the forums and on Reddit :)
Epic Games is suing a 14 year old for making a cheat tutorial and his brilliant mother is PISSED Epic Games makes the wildly successful multiplayer free-to-play game Fortnite, which is the locus of a pitched battle between players and publisher over game-mods, especially cheat-hacks that give unfair advantage to some players. A 14 year old boy named Caleb “Sky Orbit” Rogers made a video in which he demonstrated the use of one of these hacks. In response, the company sent Youtube a heavy-handed copyright takedown, claiming that capturing incidental footage of gameplay was a copyright violation, and that demonstrating the functionality of one of these aftermarket add-ons is also a copyright violation. Then Caleb Rogers correctly asserted that there was no copyright infringement here. Videos that capture small snippets of a videogame do not violate that game creator's copyrights, because they are fair use: they take a small part of the work (not the core of the work), for a critical purpose, without creating a substitute market for the work. No one who watches a 14 year old's screen capture of a videogame will decide that it's as much fun as playing the game. When Caleb Rogers filed a put-back notice with Youtube that reinstated his video, Epic responded by filing a lawsuit against him, repeating the incorrect claim that Rogers' video was a copyright infringing derivative work, and claiming that Rogers had formed, and then breached, a contract with Epic by playing their game and then talking about how to cheat in it. In response, Rogers' mother, Lauren Rogers, has filed an outstanding memo with the court explaining some of the problems with Epic's suit. She points out that Epic claims that her minor child is incapable of forming a contract, so he can't have breached a contract by violating the game's EULA. She adds that Epic published news releases that identified her minor child by name, breaching child protection law. She says that Epic is just wrong when they claim that Caleb was selling the cheat software. Finally, she says that it's impossible that a cheat program deprived the company of income from its free-to-play game, because the game was free-to-play. There's more, though. Epic has claimed that after Caleb Rogers filed his put-back notice on Youtube, they were obliged to sue him, or they'd lose the right to sue other people who did the same thing. This is wrong. There is the concept of "genericization" that's part of trademark law, under which someone who consistently fails to enforce their trademarks against competitors can eventually lose their mark. But Epic is suing Caleb Rogers for copyright infringement, which has no such doctrine. Lauren Rogers' memo also fails to mention the clear fair use nature of Caleb Rogers' video, and the Lenz decision, which requires rightsholders to consider fair use before sending takedown notices, and can make them liable for fees if they are found to have abused the takedown process by failing to do so. Caleb Rogers did some obnoxious things: cheating, boasting about cheating, then making a video about his takedown in which he said intemperate things about companies. But you know what's more obnoxious that 14 year old cheaters? Corporations staffed by grown-ass humans who file lawsuits against 14 year olds that advance absurd theories about copyright, infringement, fair use, contracts, and EULAs. If Epic wins its suit, the precedent it sets will not be limited to corporations who are upset about obnoxious teens -- it will establish that capturing incidental footage of games (the heart of Let's Play videos and innumerable other forms of online communication, criticism and analysis) is a copyright infringement if you hurt some corporate overlord's feelings in the process. “This particular lawsuit arose as a result of the defendant filing a DMCA counterclaim to a takedown notice on a YouTube video that exposed and promoted Fortnite Battle Royale cheats and exploits,” Epic told Polygon. “Under these circumstances, the law requires that we file suit or drop the claim. Lauren Rogers to the U.S. District Court Eastern District of North Carolina [Scribd] Epic Games receives scathing legal rebuke from 14-year-old Fortnite cheater’s mom [Nick Statt/The Verge]
ADVERTISEMENT It's official: Donald Trump is now president of the United States. President Trump's inaugural address was — by his usual standards, at least — relatively restrained and moderate. He thanked the Obamas for their help, and disavowed prejudice, saying that "whether we are black, brown, or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots." But it wasn't all exactly inclusive feel-goodery. Hardly. The major theme of Trump's speech was the same fearsome and bleak brand of populism that animated his campaign. He described factories "scattered like tombstones across the land," and lamented supposed plagues of "drugs" and "gangs." "This American carnage stops right here and stops right now," America's new president vowed. Of course, Trump presented himself as the savior to solve all our problems, the personification of the restoration of democratic legitimacy over a self-dealing Washington establishment. "We are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people," he said. It's a noble sentiment — and an open fraud. To my jaundiced left-wing ears, Trump's evisceration of the moneyed elite rang uncomfortably true. He lamented the very real fact that the Washington area (especially the suburbs of northern Virginia) has become incredibly rich while de-industrialization has devastated vast swathes of the hinterlands. "Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of the country." While this is an unfair reading of the entirety of the Obama years, for a huge fraction of the country — beset by outsourcing, foreclosure, opioid addiction, falling homeownership, and stagnant or declining wages — it's also a lived reality. These are real problems, and despite his borderline-apocalyptic rhetoric, Trump is at least theoretically right to skewer America's past leaders for failing to solve them. However, there is precisely zero sign that America's 45th president is going to do anything to make good on his fiercely populist promises. On the contrary, every action he's taken so far signals the opposite. His Cabinet is filled with wealthy bankers and donors to the Republican Party. Every agency designed to protect citizens is going to be staffed with zealous partisans of the predatory businesses they are supposed to oversee. Trump's budget — copy-pasted from the ultraconservative Heritage Foundation — promises incomprehensible amounts of austerity, so that stinking rich people like Donald Trump might pay less in taxes. Consider health care, obviously a major political focus during the Obama years. During the campaign, journalists conducted many interviews with Trump voters on ObamaCare who were frustrated they could not get access to Medicaid (largely the fault of their own Republican governors and/or a very flawed law), and just blindly trusted Trump to come up with some better system. Something "terrific," surely. These people are about to get run over by a train. Congressional Republicans are preparing to repeal ObamaCare, and have no plans whatsoever to replace it with anything even halfway decent. On the contrary, the Heritage budget includes additional savage cuts to Medicare (41 percent) and Medicaid (47 percent) over the next decade. If passed, tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people will be killed due to lack of insurance. Why? So that stinking rich people like Donald Trump might pay less in taxes. Even on trade, Trump's signature issue, there's little he can do given that most manufacturing jobs have already been outsourced or automated away. And there's little sign he is actually interested in the industrial policy and careful renegotiation of trade deals that would restore American competitiveness (instead of sparking a zero-sum trade war). Almost his first act as president was to make it harder for people to buy a house: JUST IN: In one of first Trump admin. orders, Dept of Housing & Urban Dev. suspends reduction of FHA annual mortgage insurance premium rates — CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) January 20, 2017 So what can you expect from the Trump administration? Endless tweets about tiny handfuls of jobs President Trump is "protecting" here and there, presented in a rhetorical facade of faux-populism, while corporate American runs wild in an orgy of corruption and looting. Some populist.
Jerry Parr, a Secret Service agent who helped save a wounded Ronald Reagan during a 1981 assassination attempt, has died, his wife said Friday. He was 85. Carolyn Parr said her husband died of congestive heart failure, three days short of their 56th wedding anniversary. Jerry Parr was the lead agent the day John Hinckley Jr. shot Reagan and three others. After hearing six gunshots, he grabbed the President by the shoulders and pushed him into the car. Agent Ray Shaddick shoved Reagan into the back, made sure Reagan’s legs were in the car, and slammed the door shut. At first Parr had the limousine headed to the White House, but Reagan’s blood was on a handkerchief pressed against his lips, so Parr redirected the car and the followup vehicles to George Washington Hospital. Reagan spent two hours in surgery and was hospitalized for about two weeks. One of the doctors who treated Reagan said if the car had gone to the White House, the President would have died. The bullet that hit Reagan ricocheted off the car and hit him below the left armpit. “If we had been a split second slower, he could have been hit in the head,” Shaddick told CNN in 2011. Hinckley is now allowed to stay with his mother in Williamsburg for 17 days a month. Parr didn’t notice the small wound as he checked Reagan in the car but once he saw the President spit up blood, he knew they had to go to the closest hospital. Parr and his wife co-wrote a biography of him called “In The Secret Service: The True Story of the Man Who Saved President Reagan’s Life.” According to a website for the book, Parr was a Secret Service agent from 1962 to 1985. He was the special agent in charge for President Jimmy Carter and for Reagan. After he retired he became a minister. Nancy Reagan said Friday that Parr was “one of my true heroes.” “Without Jerry looking out for Ronnie on March 30, 1981, I would have certainly lost my best friend and roommate to an assassin’s bullet,” she said. “Jerry was not only one of the finest Secret Service agents to ever serve this country, but one of the most decent human beings I’ve ever known. He was humble but strong, reserved but confident, and blessed with a great sense of humor. It is no wonder that he and my husband got along so well.” Parr was inspired to become a Secret Service agent in part after seeing the 1939 movie “Code of the Secret Service.” The star of the picture? Ronald Reagan. “I did tell him about it once after the assassination attempt,” Parr recalled four years ago. “And he told me, he said, ‘Well, it was really the cheapest movie I ever made.’ ” Some reports say Reagan also called it the worst movie he ever made. The Parrs have three daughters and four granddaughters.
It’s now over but the shouting. It began the moment charges moved from unnamed sources in the New York Times and the Washington Post to the desk of Robert Mueller III, the former Director of the FBI, now the special counsel. It began the moment a counterintelligence investigation became a criminal matter. It accelerated further once a “person of interest” was identified by the FBI, with parlor betting believing that it’s Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the president. The end began when the adults took over the investigation and now the only thing that remains are dates and times of the final resignation. White House staff members will soon lawyer up and it’s only a matter of time before more beans are spilled because rats rarely climb onto a sinking ship. As my one friend in law enforcement once said, “nothing makes a white-collar suspect break into a sweat like the words ‘you have the right to remain silent.’” It accelerated into high speed after the Trump White House experienced a series of self-inflicted body blows like none other seen in any modern presidency. Last Monday started with former Acting Attorney General Yates stating that she could not understand why the White House was unwilling to act on her concerns about General Michael Flynn’s questionable behavior. On next day, James Comey was fired as the head of the FBI, for the unbelievable rationale of his treatment of Hillary Clinton’s emails during the end stage of the presidential election. Then the president himself pulled the rug out from his entire senior staff, including the vice president, when he later said that he had planned to get rid of Comey all along and that the Rod Rosenstein memo was nothing more than a pretext. Then he followed it up with a threat, suggesting that his meeting with Comey was somehow “taped” and he should watch what he says. Then he chose to blithely share highly classified data surrounding ISIS with the Russians (that we now know came from Israeli sources) and after his staff was trotted out to defend his action, Trump once again undercut them by saying that sharing the intelligence was his prerogative as president. Just as quickly, the former FBI director pushed back. When it became known that fired FBI director took copious notes, friends of Comey stated that the president tried to elicit his loyalty on several occasions and hoped that the disgraced General Flynn would not be prosecuted. Rosenstein, a career Justice Department official, then moved forward to select a special counsel. In this crazy period, there are details that I have left out—there is there is just so much crazy stuff out there. Just as Nixon’s behavior became his own worst enemy, Trump’s behavior of early hour tweeting has served to be his undoing. The new special counsel, Robert Mueller III, is a different sort of breed. He is not like Ken Starr, who authorized the bodice-ripping Starr Report near 20 years ago in 1998, which cleared Bill Clinton of everything, but for lying about the act of consensual sex with an intern. It was Mueller, who alongside then-acting Attorney General James Comey, who stood down the Bush White House in 2004 over a reauthorizing warrantless wiretapping program. He was prepared to walk away from the FBI directorship because of principle and protest. Trump’s downfall is entirely Shakespearian and it is an opera that begs to be written. It was Trump, who flirted with a White House run for nearly two decades, who is now watching it all melt away, even if he remains in deep denial. Those who cheered the extremist rhetoric of Candidate Trump have found that President Trump has flip-flopped on many major topics after he took office. Jared Kushner, the husband of Trump’s beloved daughter, might find himself in legal hot water now that the FBI is rumored to have set their sights on his activities with the Russians. Two Republican Congressmen have already begun to duel for the right to claim that they were the first Republican to call for impeachment, something that Pete McCloskey, then a Republican Congressman from San Mateo, could claim when he started to call for the removal of Richard Nixon two generations ago. They say that the White House is a ship that leaks from the top, but this current White House is leaking like a sieve. Stories published in The New York Times or The Washington Post have been confirmed by large numbers of unnamed White House sources, far more than what took place in Watergate. However, what is most apparent is that after only several months of this administration, the nation is simply too exhausted and policymakers are wondering what shoe will drop next. This is not how superpowers are supposed to behave. The Washington Post via Getty Images However, the most surprised guy in the room has got to be Vice President Pence, who now must walk a very fine line so that he is not ensnared in whatever cover-up continues to build. Last year, he went from a sitting Indiana governor, who was in a very tough reelection bid, to a vice president who is only months away from becoming the 46th President of the United States. Recently I found myself in Orange County on Highway 91 heading into Los Angeles and I saw a sign that the Richard Nixon Birthplace and Museum was located near the next exit. I had some extra time, so I followed the signs and soon enough, I was in the parking lot of the museum of the 37th president. As I toured the well-appointed grounds and walked to the final resting place of Nixon and his wife Pat, buried a stone’s throw from his birthplace, I was struck by the 13-minute video that detailed his life. It recalled his hardscrabble childhood and the death of his siblings before it talked about his meteoric political rise, when he became Ike’s vice president before the age of 40. The film spent some time detailing his years in the wilderness before emerging to win the 1968 election in a squeaker and 1972 in a landslide. When they turned to Watergate and the resignation speech, it was glossed over―as if the events took place in a vacuum or showed up unannounced at the Oval Office door. People forget that it was Nixon’s personality, his penchant for secrecy, his desire to strike out at enemies perceived as well as real, and his paranoia about others that led to his downfall. It was Nixon’s personality that drove Watergate and it was Nixon’s behavior which led to his downfall. I’m not sure if they will ever build a Trump Presidential Library but perhaps one should be built to serve as a cautionary tale. Just as Nixon’s behavior became his own worst enemy, Trump’s behavior of early hour tweeting has served to be his undoing. It has been Trump—and Trump alone―who has put this nation on course for its first constitutional crisis since the days of Watergate. Like I have said in the past, if somebody would have taken away the president’s cell phone or cancelled his Twitter account, 90% of his problems would have simply vanished.
As CIA director, Mike Pompeo has taken a special interest in an agency unit that is closely tied to the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, requiring the Counterintelligence Mission Center to report directly to him. Officials at the center have, in turn, kept a watchful eye on Pompeo, who has repeatedly played down Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and demonstrated a willingness to engage in political skirmishes for President Trump. Current and former officials said that the arrangement has been a source of apprehension among the CIA’s upper ranks and that they could not recall a time in the agency’s history when a director faced a comparable conflict. “Pompeo is in a delicate situation unlike any other director has faced, certainly in my memory,” said Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, a CIA official for 23 years who served in Russia and held high-level positions at headquarters, “because of his duty to protect and provide the truth to an independent investigation while maintaining his role with the president.” [Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault] What is Fusion GPS and did it receive Russian government funds as it investigated Donald Trump? (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) The Russia issue has complicated Pompeo’s effort to manage a badly strained relationship between the agency and a president who has disparaged its work and compared U.S. intelligence officials to Nazis. Amid that tension, Pompeo’s interactions with the counterintelligence center have come under particular scrutiny. The unit helped trigger the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia by serving as a conduit to the FBI last year for information the CIA developed on contacts between Russian individuals and Trump campaign associates, officials said. The center works more closely with the FBI than almost any other CIA department does, officials said, and continues to pursue leads on Moscow’s election interference operation that could factor in the probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director. Pompeo has not impeded that work, officials said. But several officials said there is concern about what he might do if the CIA uncovered new information potentially damaging to Trump and Pompeo were forced to choose between protecting the agency or the president. “People have to watch him,” said a U.S. official who, like others, requested anonymity to speak frankly. “It’s almost as if he can’t resist the impulse to be political.” A second former CIA official cited a “real concern for interference and politicization,” saying that the worry among some at the agency is “that if you were passing on something too dicey [to Pompeo] he would go to the White House with it.” Pompeo has attributed his direct supervision of the counterintelligence center to a desire to place a greater emphasis on preventing leaks and protecting classified secrets — core missions of the center that are also top priorities for Trump. President Trump dismissed allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia at a rally in Huntington, W. Va., on Aug. 3. (The Washington Post) Having the center report to him was designed “to send a signal to the workforce that this was important and we weren’t going to tolerate misbehavior,” he said at a security conference in Aspen, Colo., last month. CIA spokesman Ryan Trapani described the suggestion that Pompeo might abuse his position as “ridiculous.” Executive-order guidelines prohibit the CIA from passing information to the White House “for the purpose of affecting the political process in the United States,” Trapani said. “The FBI and special counsel’s office are leading the law enforcement investigation into this matter — not CIA. CIA is providing relevant information in support of that investigation, and neither the director nor CIA will interfere with it.” Pompeo, 53, arrived as director at the CIA just days after Trump delivered a self-aggrandizing post-inaugural speech at agency headquarters. Appearing before a wall of carved granite stars that commemorate CIA officers killed in the line of duty, Trump used the occasion to browbeat the media and make false claims about the size of his inauguration crowds. Pompeo has worked to overcome that inauspicious start, winning over many in the CIA workforce with his vocal support for aggressive intelligence gathering, his command of complex global issues and his influence at the White House. Pompeo spends several hours there almost every day, according to officials who said he has developed a strong rapport with the president. But Pompeo is also known for berating subordinates, aggressively challenging agency analysts and displaying the fierce partisanship that became his signature while serving as a GOP member of Congress. When asked about Russian election interference, Pompeo often becomes testy and recites talking points that seem designed to appease a president who rejects the allegations as “fake news” conjured by Democrats to delegitimize his election win. “It is true” that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Pompeo said at Aspen, “and the one before that, and the one before that . . . ” The phrasing, which Pompeo has repeated in other settings, casts last year’s events as an unremarkable continuation of a long-standing pattern, rather than the unprecedented Kremlin operation described in a consensus report that the CIA and other agencies released in January. Russia’s intervention in 2016 represented “a significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of effort,” the report concluded. Its goal went beyond seeking to discredit U.S. democratic processes, the report said, and in the end was aimed at trying “to help President-elect Trump’s election chances.” Pompeo has taken more hawkish positions on other areas of tension with Russia, saying that Moscow intervened in Syria, for example, in part because “they love to stick it to America.” Almost all CIA directors have had to find ways to manage a supposedly apolitical spy agency while meeting the demands of a president. But Trump, who has fired his FBI chief and lashed out at his attorney general over the Russia probe, appears to expect a particularly personal brand of loyalty. “It is always a balancing act between a director’s access to the president and the need to protect CIA’s sensitive equities,” said John Sipher, a former senior CIA official who also served in Russia. “Pompeo clearly has a more difficult challenge in maintaining that balance than his predecessors given the obvious concerns with this president’s unique personality, obsession with charges against him, lack of knowledge and tendency to take impulsive action.” Pompeo has shown a willingness to handle political assignments for the White House. Earlier this year, he and other officials were enlisted to make calls to news organizations — speaking on the condition of anonymity — to dispute a New York Times article about contacts between Russians and individuals tied to the Trump campaign. Pompeo has never publicly acknowledged his involvement in that effort. He has also declined to address whether he was approached by Trump earlier this year — as other top intelligence officials were — to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion with Russia or to intervene with then-FBI Director James B. Comey to urge the FBI to back off its investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Pompeo has, by all accounts, a closer relationship with Trump than others who did field such requests, including Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats and National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers. Pompeo was exposed to Trump’s wrath over the Russia investigation on at least one occasion, officials said. He was among those present for a meeting at the White House earlier this year when Trump began complaining about the probe and, in front of Pompeo and others, asked what could be done about it. Trapani, the CIA spokesman, declined to address the matter or say whether Pompeo has been questioned about it by Mueller. Pompeo’s conversations with Trump “are entitled to confidentiality,” Trapani said, adding that “the director has never been asked by the president to do anything inappropriate.” Pompeo spends more time at the White House than his recent CIA predecessors and is seen as more willing to engage in policy battles. In interviews and public appearances, Pompeo has advocated ousting the totalitarian regime in North Korea, accused the Obama administration of “inviting” Russia into Syria and criticized the nuclear accord with Iran. Pompeo has also come under scrutiny on social issues. As part of an effort to expand chaplain services to CIA employees — which Trapani said was in response to requests from the agency workforce — Pompeo has consulted with Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled an anti-gay hate group. Perkins has described that characterization as “reckless.” When Trump came under criticism for failing to specifically condemn Nazi sympathizers taking part in protests in Charlottesville — instead lamenting violence by “many sides” — Pompeo defended the president in a CBS interview, saying that Trump’s condemnation of bigotry was “frankly pretty unambiguous.” Pompeo inherited an agency that had undergone a major reorganization under his predecessor, combing analysts and operators in a constellation of “centers” responsible for geographic regions, as well as transnational issues such as terrorism. Pompeo’s alterations have been minimal. He added two centers — one devoted to North Korea and the other to Iran. All but the counterintelligence unit fall under Pompeo’s deputy on the CIA organizational chart. Pompeo, who met with Russian intelligence officials in Moscow in May, would have been entitled to full briefings from the counterintelligence center even without making that bureaucratic tweak. But asserting more control of the unit responsible for preventing leaks probably pleased Trump, who has accused U.S. spy agencies of engaging in a smear campaign to undermine his presidency. U.S. intelligence officials have disputed that spy agencies are behind such leaks but acknowledge broader concerns about security issues, pointing to episodes including the CIA’s loss of a vast portion of its hacking arsenal, which was obtained this year by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. A descendant of the unit led by legendary CIA mole-hunter James Jesus Angleton, the counterintelligence center is run by a veteran female CIA officer who has served extensively overseas in Europe, East Asia and Russia. She was also one of the main authors of the CIA’s internal review of a deadly suicide bombing that killed seven agency employees in Khost, Afghanistan, in 2009. “I think she’s wary about the administration,” said a former colleague who also described her as “someone who would not fall in line” if she suspected interference in the center’s role. Preventing the center from sharing information with the bureau would be difficult — an FBI official serves as head of the center’s counterespionage unit. Last year, the center played an important part in detecting Russian efforts to cultivate associates of the Trump campaign. Former CIA director John Brennan testified in May that he became “worried by a number of the contacts that the Russians had with U.S. persons” and alerted the FBI. The center has since been enlisted to help answer questions about key moments in the timeline of Trump-Russia contacts, officials said, possibly including the meeting that Donald Trump Jr. held in June with a Russian lawyer. “Who sent her on the mission — was it Russian intelligence or on her own initiative?” a former official said, referring to the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya. “Mueller can’t do anything on that without the agency.” Julie Tate, Adam Entous and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.

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