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Image copyright PEW Image caption Thresher sharks are often found entangled in fishing lines or nets
Known for its long whip-like tail, the threatened Thresher shark is among a number of marine species given extra protection at the Cites meeting.
Devil rays and Silky sharks have also been given additional safeguards.
These shark species have seen huge population falls over the past decades, due to the demands of the shark fin trade.
Devil rays are valued for the gill plates which are used in Chinese medicine.
Campaigners believe the safeguards under Cites will make a real difference to these species survival.
Few sharks protected
It's estimated that around 100 million sharks of all types are killed in commercial fisheries - with their fins often destined for markets in China and Hong Kong.
Despite the scale of the fishing, there are just eight species given some protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
At the previous Cites meeting in Thailand in 2013, hammerhead, oceanic whitetip and porbeagle sharks were added to Appendix II as well as all species of manta rays.
Appendix II means that trade is allowed but it has to be shown to be sustainable.
Image copyright PEW Image caption Devil rays congregate in large groups which make them vulnerable to fishermen
Now the silky and thresher sharks have also acquired this same level of protection.
Thresher sharks are at the highest risk of extinction among all pelagic sharks and are described as vulnerable by the IUCN.
"These are incredible animals, with their long whip like tails they're referred to as the Indiana Jones of the sea," said Luke Warwick with Pew Charitable Trusts.
"They stun the fish with their tails and can pick them up easily. These are species that divers want to see but they are being driven to extinction by unsustainable trade.
"Cites now has a chance to stop that because if countries want to continue to trade thresher shark fins they will have to make sure those fisheries are sustainable."
Smooth operator
Silky sharks, named for the smooth texture of their skin, are found all around the world in warmer, tropical waters. In much of the Atlantic and Pacific ocean their populations are decreasing, with estimates of a 70% reduction in numbers in almost every area where these sharks are found.
The silky is known for its strong sense of hearing which helps it to hunt tuna, octopus and squid - However this taste for tuna often causes their demise, as they chase their prey at speed and don't see fishing nets until it is too late.
Devil rays, also known as mobula rays, can jump from the water and reach heights of up to 2 metres, staying airborne for several seconds. But these flat fliers are also deep divers. Experts say they can go down to around 2km below the surface for 60-90 minutes.
One big vulnerability for devil rays is their tendency to aggregate in large numbers, making them very easy prey for targeted fishing.
What's driving the market for these large brained curious creatures is traditional Chinese medicine. The dried gill plates are used in a soup that's supposed to treat fever and help nursing mothers.
"These are very vulnerable animals, nine different species, only one young every two to three years," said Dr Andy Cornish from WWF.
Image copyright PEW Image caption Silky sharks have also come under pressure from the fin trade
"When they are targeted by fishermen the available evidence is that the decline very rapidly."
Despite opposition from Japan and Iceland, the votes for all these species were won with very large majorities of between 70% and 80%. This is very different from three years ago at the last Cites Conference of the Parties in Thailand when the vote to protect three shark species gained the necessary majority with just one vote to spare. There is a possibility that the votes could be overturned in the plenary session of the Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Assuming these decisions stand, this is a big win for all these species of sharks and rays as governments around the world will now have to act to reduce the overfishing that threatens them," said Dr Cornish.
"Countries have now bought into the idea of listing sharks and rays, they are increasingly convinced that Appendix II listing leads to better data, improved management and a more sustainable trade - that's a real breakthrough."
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathBBC and on Facebook.
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Detail of the Current Conveyor (ACSS) Technology
ACSS:
The Master 11 applied real balanced fully discrete amp without any OPAs (the OPAs in Master 11 only for DC serve) ,without any couple caps ,fully non- feedback . Applies the 4 Pieces Expensive high-end grade PCM1704UK which can support up to 24Bit/96KHz input . Compare to other PCM1704UK designs , we applied Non-feedback ACSS analog stages. The 4 pcs PCM1704UK feed to the ACSS analog stages without any OPAs and couple caps so it can avoid sound coloration .
The ACSS is a non-feedback technology made with fully discrete amplifiers. Most people know the global feedback design can offer better specs in test measurements, and classic non-feedback can't do well in test measurements but can offer better sound for the human's ears. Here is a conflict of the classic circuits. But the ACSS opens a new field, it can offer a least coloration sound which is more neutral with very low distortion and high linearity. So it can retain the dynamics, detail and neutral sound but not sound bright or harsh.
D/A:
Applies the 4 Pieces Expensive high-end grade PCM1704UK . The PCM1704 UK had been consider the best neutral and "sound like real " DA chips by a lot hififolks, but TI want to discontinued PCM1704 and increased the price to USD48/pc , cause the market price increase to USD70/pc .
Output buffer:
The Master 11 output buffers had applied 4 pair power transistors ( 150W / 15A ) working on class A state, the output impedance is only 1 ohms , it can drive most headphones and amps as well .
Master 11 has all components of four channels exactly matched before installation.
The analog part is without couple caps to avoid coloration, and power supply by four groups class A PSUs.
Applies ACSS technology, even though maybe you only connect to XLR or RCA output, Master 11 will always operate in ACSS technology, and benefit from ACSS technology. Therefore, XLR and RCA output will also definitely bring about improvement in sound quality. Even through RCA output, the 4X PCM1704UK DA chips will perform fully.
DSP-1 processor:
DAC Master 11 has built in DSP-1 processor, which is a Two-channel Digital Interpolation Filter and data in-phase processor for digital audio. This Device offers advanced features for high-performance digital signal processing (DSP) applications up to 250-MHz. Data and Master-clock in-phase processing are without jitters. So DAC Master 11 can offer a clear and focused soundstage, apart from accurate and neutral reproduction of the recorded disc/music.The DSP-1(V5) digital processor can supports NOS, 2X, 4X and 8X oversampling customers setting, and keep the timing more steady.
Theoretically when using the DSP1, data will be running parallel, achieving near zero jitter state, but degrade on sound quality not only the jitter, there are some lot reasons can effect the sound quality, so better source sound better. But the DSP-1 can process the data better than typical digital processor chip like PMD-100, DF1704 etc, through some experiment, although we could perceive the sound quality difference between differently priced and level of sources , final result shows that using entry level CD transport or hypermarket grade DVD player, the improvement of sound quality is huge compared to PMD-100, DF1704 etc. Power supply:
Master 11 applies the excellent 4 pcs PCM1704UK with DSP-1 combo and excellent analog output amps, but these are not the only keys of the best sound. The power supply is most important. Even applying the best DA chip and the best amp, if matched to a normal power supply, the total sound may still be average or sound musical, but can't be neutral and detailed. That is why it is easy to find hi-end grade gears maybe without the best chips or amp stages, but with plenteous dedicated DC supply circuits.
The Master 11 uses 8 groups of high-quality class A parallel connection PSU , which can offer very clear DC power for the DAC and amps, producing a very black background and neutral sound characteristic. The class A PSU is very important for digital parts. Some designs may have very low jitter in theory, but if the power is supplied by a dirty or low-speed power supply, it will increase the jitter and pollute the data, and degrade the sound quality obviously.
The class A parallel connection PSU has very high input impedance to avoid pulse through the PSU from affecting the DAC and low output impedance with very fast speed and high linearity, so it is a very clean power supply. In my experience, its sound is better than battery power supply, better human sound and neutral.
The Master 11 uses three high performance transformers. More than 50,000uf audio grade NOVER capacitors are used to ensure ample and smooth power feed. A total of 8 groups class A SPUs and 3 groups linear PSUs are used to purify the power supply. To achieve high S/N, the control circuit is powered with separate regulator.
Volume control:
The volume control is also different from conventional technology. Conventional volume control technology is the volume control implement in the analog amp input stage through a volume pot to reduce the signal . The volume pots quality effect the sound quality direct , the low quality volume pot cause lost the detail and channels imbalance cause the soundstage distortion . Even the high performance volume pot still cause the detail lose. Whatever quality volume pots, must cause the S/N worst .
But in the Master 11 , we applied the I/V conversion volume control , the volume control just a variable passive I/V conversion place at the ACSS amp output , where the output is the current signal, not the voltage signal. The volume control is I/V conversion, and the volume depends on the current (I) conversion to the voltage (V). (Like R-2R D/A chips output passive I/V conversion) It can keep the signal frequency band flat and not lost any detail. It can't degrade on sound quality in every volume level . After the volume , there are four groups diamond non-feedback buffer output stages offer the very low output impedance .
The volume control quality is much important in the real balance gear . It must guarantee the four channels signal control exact to achieve the performance of the real balance gear . If the cool and hot of the balance signal can't guarantee exact, the balance output will has large distortion cause the sound quality and performance even much worst than a single end gear waste the balance gear design and the cost.
In Master 11 is applied a four channels digital control relays based volume control. .Master 11 has total four channels through changing the DALE resistors to control the volume for avoid channels imbalanced ,achieve the best performance and sound quality of the gear.
Master 11 have 100 steps volume control, control range achieve 90DB (usually the steps volume ports, potentiometer volume port, relays base volume control all have around 70DB range ), very smooth control range on first 50 steps , cooperate with 20DB high gain, so can very easy adjust the volume for both high / low sensitivity headphone and speakers. While change the volume, the different relays break or close, it may had slightly switch sound on output and disappear while stop change the volume.
Supper Exponential volume characteristic The Volume steps comparison to normal volume knob
Shield:
Master 11 has complete separation of left, right amplifier channels, power supply, and transformer.
Master 11 uses heavyweight all-aluminum alloy chassis to prevent the eddy current of transformers from interfering on circuit board.
Master 11 applies optical couple isolation for the MCU and the control implementations to prevent the MCU affecting the audio parts.
Static storage mode control software:
In most control softwares design, the MCU will continuously output data to the perform parts , the MCU had the very high speed, so the output data become high frequency impulses disturb the audio signal circuits make the sound worst . This product had applied static storage mode control software , the MCU output once control data and save in the perform parts while just power on and users operate ,then stop output data until users next operation. This design make the sound quality improve on the clear and transparency .
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Animal Collective are to release their EP ‘Prospect Hummer’ as a re-issue for this year’s Record Store Day. The original release by FatCat Records was in 2005 and featured singer Vashti Bunyan on three of the four tracks.
The first vinyl version is available via participating store on Saturday 18th March as a limited pressing of 1,500 copies. The tracks for the release have recently been remastered, and feature full colour artwork, with outer and inner sleeves to boot.
‘Prospect Hummer’ was recorded by Rusty Santos in London during 2004, just after they released ‘Sung Tongs’ and prior to their 2005 album ‘Feels’. The tracklist for the EP is as follows:
1. ‘It’s You’
2. ‘Prospect Hummer’
3. ‘Baleen Sample’
4. ‘I Remember Learning How To Dive’.
Last week, Panda Bear confirmed on Lauren Laverne BBC Radio 6 that Animal Collective are set to record a new album in 2015, the follow-up to their 2012 album ‘Centipede Hz’.
Listen to the ‘Prospect Hummer’ EP via Spotify here.
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Your browser doesn't implement html features used by hillmap such as canvas and the site might not work as it should.For best results update to the latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox
This is the first step in printing your customized map. After you set the parameters below, you will print from your internet browser. It's easier than it looks.
Your printer supports much higher resolution than your screen. To print at high resolution, Hillmap will open a print page that is very large on screen. Depending on your setup you will instruct your printer to fit this onto a single piece of paper in one of 3 ways:
Check a "Fit on Page" box in your internet browser's print dialog.
Scale the print by entering the percent listed below into the print dialog for your internet browser.
Save a printable high resolution image of the page using a browser plugin like Screen Capture (by Google) for Chrome.
When you click print a new window will open containing a large (Width*Pixels Per Inch) by (Height * Pixels Per Inch) pixel map of the onscreen area padded as needed to fit the dimensions you specify above and at the best resolution possible. Use the print dialog to print this map at the proper scale. You may have to play with these values and use print preview to find what that works with your setup. Borderless high quality prints are possible using Google Chrome and the system print dialog. The Caltopo and Microsoft Research Usgs (MSR-USGS) tiles offer the best resolution. MyTopo tiles cannot be printed larger then 8.5x11 but you can buy a map from MyTopo.com.
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Search anus.com: Crowdism History may run in cycles, but each era has its distinctive flavor, and those form the methods by which its part in the process of history is fulfilled. In our modern time, we have uniquely united the world through centralized media, by which someone in one location produces what comes to be known as the official "truth," and it is then distributed throughout the globe almost instantly. The people of earth, conditioned to require the absolute "truth" from central agencies on matters of commerce and governmental regulation, promptly extend the same courtesy to political and social truth as conveyed by the "official" media. The result of this is that a small group of people create our public perceptions of events; the events happen, and the rest of us, who are fated to find out about them second-hand in any case, rely on the descriptions of those events relayed to us by this centralized source. In such a climate, it is not surprising that there are errors in our perception of reality, as all that is required is for those in the "official" truth-telling capacity to miss a detail or, more likely, be convinced for social reasons that they need to hush that detail. It will put people out of jobs; it will make people feel bad; they don't need to know what they can do nothing about; it will not benefit your (you, personally, the guy responsible for putting out the news) career. Who Owns Truth? Another way of saying this is that if fifteen people witness an event and give roughly similar testimony, barring any prior agreement to collusion among them, it's a lot more accurate than if there's only one eye-witness who also has a vested interest in how the outcome is viewed. If the landlord of a building is the one person to witness its burning, and he claims it was the reckless conduct of the tenants and not shoddy construction that allowed the blaze to devour the complex entirely, how likely are we to wholly believe him? After all, he has a reason to lie that directly benefits his livelihood. The same can be said of our media, who eat based not on the degree of truth to their stories, but the degree of human interest. They sell drama, but not difficult truths, as those will make one unpopular enough to be bankrupt. For this reason, it has been very slowly that discontent has built in our society, because for most people, there was never any reason to trust the official version of events until now. We were told foreign dictators were bad, so we all banded together and crushed them. We were told that we needed to buy certain products, so we did, hoping to keep our families safe and futures secure. We were told that it was important to believe certain things, as they were ideologies of the future, and through this "progress" we got to a better life; who doesn't want that? Most of us live in small worlds, focused around family and friends and local social community, and we don't want more than that. Nothing is more admirable, since this is a view of life that negates fear of death and embraces what life offers the individual outside of social and monetary absolutes. It's a healthy, normal existence. Yet these small worlds have been shattered, as despite our armies of scientists and reporters and researchers, these problems crept up on us: global warming, terrorism, mass immigration, economic collapse. It's well and fine to have missed a few fragments of information here and there, and to be surprised by a shortfall in a government program or a new population trend, but how does something as big as global warming sneak up on us? That's like getting ambushed by a glacier. Undoubtedly, the thought that hit many minds when after years of fighting the story, our news media and politicians finally gave in and said, "Aw shucks, this global warming thing is real," was quite simply that either we're being told a partial story or, more ominously, that these people do not care enough about reality to get the whole story. This puts an image in our minds of, instead of diligent and honest guardians, profiteers running the show who leave it to us to survive as we can. With this sudden distrust of the "truth" upon which our society is based comes another sobering thought: for things to get this out of control, where we are controlled by predators who seem oblivious to our future, something must be fundamentally wrong about the way we're governing ourselves. As said before, most people are content to lead local lives, but our world is now so interconnected that government rarely stops at the town, city, parish or county. If people in distant nations screw up and dump uranium into our oceans, we get the cancers here just as fatally as anywhere else. Should negotiations fail and nuclear war rain death upon us, our localities - which have been quietly going about life - are no longer autonomous, but targets belonging to whatever political entity incurred ire. Our lives are bound up in the fortunes of the collective, and when it errs, we are the ones who pay. How do you hold a government, or a corporation, or a world governing body responsible? You can haul out the people in office and shoot them, but that is little recompense for the vast amounts of good things destroyed by the errors of such leadership entities. If we follow this chain of thought to its logical conclusion, then we are - as a species - ruled by distant forces who have little accountability for the decisions that affect us, and may be motivated by self-interest more than the best interests of the species as a whole. Modern people are so used to long strings of words that mean nothing, so this is restated in the vernacular: you are under the control of people who are leading you to their profit, not yours. Even more, if you resist, other people - well-meaning, normal, healthy people - will do their best to kill you, believing that they are destroying a dangerous deviant and not someone with a rational objection to the system as a whole. In other words, the world is turned upside down; truth has become a fabrication, the predators are in control, and dissent is not tolerated in any way that will have actual effect. If one were paranoiac, it would suggest an evil force in control of this world. Deflection Yet it is the demonic nature of this process alone that provides us a clue to its origin. No human organization in history has been so well-managed that it could pull off a conspiracy of this nature without revealing itself or collapsing in infighting. Whatever engendered this particular mess did not have a leader, or a central organizing principle, although it has manifested itself in centralized authority. A systematic change to this kind of order comes through a shared assumption, much like when a group of friends, upon perceiving their favorite bar is closed, meet at the next most likely place without having to communicate the name amongst themselves. More than a leaderless revolution, it was an unconscious one: those who brought it about had no idea they shared an ideology, or no idea what its name might be, or even why they did it. They simply did it because it was natural to do, and because nothing has since opposed it, it continues to this day in grossly simplified form. We are tempted by the opposite conclusion, because if we were able to find a single easy cause, like removing a jam from a machine we could yank it out, and by mathematical simplicity, would have all of the good in society with the negative removed, thus an all-good society. When was the last time life was that simple? Any infection on the level of our assumptions has pervaded our society at its lowest level, that of its values and worldview. We could blame language, or x=y thinking, or sin waves of emotion, or any of the other detours that have absorbed our best liberal thinkers looking for a symbological fix to our problem, but really, these are just the devil's messengers. What's wrong isn't us; it's what we think we believe, and even if we say we want to fix it, our minds have become mesmerized by a certain outlook on the world and are unwilling to leave it. Thus our disease remains, since even when trying to excise it, we re-affirm the infection by assuming the necessity of its component parts. It's like the mafia boss who's determined to root out the informer in his organization. He and his personal secretary interview all of his department heads, and after some theorizing, they put the worst of them into the bay. But the next time a bust happens, the boss realizes he's still infected. He goes after every person he can think of, but can't ever clear himself of the informant, until one day he's put into jail. You can imagine his shock when the star witness comes out to confront him: his personal secretary! In our case, as moderns, the disease is worse than an informing secretary; it's within us. There is no clearer evidence of this than our mania for deflection. Is it the Communists? Then the other side whispers: it's the Capitalists. Is it the drug-users? The hackers? The terrorists? The Nazis? Who else can we blame - what do we do when we finally run out of people to blame? (It's not fair to let the right off the hook either: it's not the Negroes or the Jews that are the root of your problem, although their presence can be argued to be a symptom!) All of these futile attempts have failed, since even when these demons have been exorcised, the disease has remained. That is not to say that these attempts have not improved the situation, only that they haven't gotten to the core of it. Think for a moment: what sort of problem is it that one cannot identify and root out? The simple answer: one you cannot tell to another person, and therefore, even if you know it, no one else can work on the problem - and in modern society, every problem is too big for one man. Imagine working with another police inspector on this case. You can tell the guy everything except that which might potentially hurt his feelings. So the investigation goes on, and despite your partner being slower than you are, he puts his heart into it. At the end you have no answers, because both of you don't know the answer, even though it's in your knowledge. The dirty little secret of the West's collapse is that it has come from within. The extent of our modern disease is revealed by the fact that when we think this, we immediately try to blame either everyone, or no one. We are afraid to blame a process and implicate certain people as its methods. And why not? We're not passing moral judgment, claiming them to be the spawn of Satan, as our leaders do to enemies during wartime. All we are saying is that they, by what they do, have caused a massive problem. The real social taboo broken here is the unstated obvious: in order to fix the problem, we have to limit their sainted "freedom." Nevermind that few people actually need freedom. What they want are normal, comfortable lives, without other people intruding in upon them and telling them what to think. That's not freedom; it's common sense and common decency. People like to conceive of "freedom," however, as a limitless absolute. "I can do anything I want," they say, forgetting that most of what they actually want falls within the narrow sphere of what benefits them in a practical sense. You could make sculptures out of your own mucus... but do you need that "freedom"? Yet any person who advocates breeching that "freedom" is portrayed to be a bad guy, which is interesting, since in times without freedom, there was not such widespread deception where a few people could control "truth" for an entire planet, even if through the quasi-voluntarily methods of television and entertainment media. To a thinking person, the fear of losing "freedom" is another type of deflection: finding something irrelevant to the cause to blame. It's psychologically very easy, actually: to blame something external divides the world into two segments, the desired and the undesired. In actuality, it makes no sense to divide things that already exist into desired/undesired, because the only thing that can be desired is an outcome and by definition anything but that outcome is undesired - yet outcomes usually occur in partial degrees, or with modifications, so that kneejerk response makes little sense. When manipulating the masses, however, it makes sense to tell them that the world is divided into "freedom" and those who hate freedom, as they react more quickly to the positive feelings associated with "freedom" and only more slowly to the logic trap into which they fall. Heart first, then brain - even with very smart people. Crowdism This emotional process of trying to solve logical issues is obviously paradoxical, but it is the foundation of our modern morality, which is derived in part from Christianity but has previous antecedents; this means that while Christianity (as practiced by most, not the happy few who've made a real religion of it!) embraces this ambient quasi-ideology we are describing, it is not the sole origin of it. Rather, morality of this type has been with the world since its earliest days; it is not a new invention, merely a less successful one, thus one that was until recently alien to our societies because many generations ago we transcended it. It is a belief system based on appearances: emotions come before logic, personal boundaries come before the necessity of doing what is right for all, and abstract divisions of "good" and "evil" regarding intent come before a realization of the effect of any action. In short, this is a belief system which manipulates by preventing certain actions rather than by recommending others, and it attacks before any action is ever committed. When we remove all the irrelevant theory, what becomes clear is that this is a belief system designed to protect a type of person; that is why its negative, preemptive assessment. It does not have a goal. It does not have an ideology. It is wholly negative in nature, in that it identifies certain things that are destabilizing to those who find it important, and it attempts to censure and criminalize those. It in fact replaces the idea of having a goal with the idea of not doing wrong, and thus restricts what can be done to those whose actions might be so selfish that any sort of goal would conflict with them. These sort of people might be described as passive criminals, then, since what they do is not outright criminal, but by being what is done instead of pursuing a healthy goal, and by requiring a morality that prevents others from interrupting it, it supplants the seeking of a healthy goal. It is thus a crime of omission if nothing else. Another way to look at it is from this angle: imagine that something needs to be done for the good an entire community. Healthy people are willing to make sacrifices for this. But some would prefer to rigidly negate that proposal because it interferes with their personal fortunes or convenience. By doing this, they are dooming the community in the long run, even if it means they get to keep whatever it was they desired in the short term. These people need some kind of protection that, no matter what the overall goal is, justifies their selfishness. Even better, it should eliminate the concept of overall goal, and focus only on the individual. To do that, a morality was created which banned actions and not goals, effectively hobbling any goal-setting because any real change will always infringe upon someone's little world. Morality is the assertion of personal reality as a higher value that physical, this-is-the-real-world-pay-attention reality. We can diagnose it: solipsism, or perhaps a low grade sociopathy, or even in the simplest terms, selfishness. It could even be described with fancy academic terms like materialism, meaning a focus on material comfort that places all ideological concerns at distant second, or absolutism, meaning a creation of a false abstraction that governs how we see reality. What reveals its nature the most however is understanding the type of mentality that produces it. To do this, we must go to folk wisdom, in which it is recognized that what people would not do as individuals they will do as a mob. Under social pressure, people will take drugs, torture one another, steal, lie, cheat and delude themselves. If they internalize that social pressure, they will do these things without the presence of others because they are aware of the eventuality of having to interact with those others. In this sense, the mob mentality can extend to those who are alone, because in their minds the rest of the mob is always there. This behavior transcends ideology. One can as easily assume the identity of a Green, or a modern Republican, or a radical neo-Nazi, or a harmless Democrat, and still wield this belief system. It can strike any social class, any intelligence, at any age, although it tends to be supported among the lower middle class young of moderate but not genius intelligence. It does not require awareness of its own presence; those who are its carriers never would know it by name, and most commonly believe they are fighting for something else when they strike out with it: justice, "freedom," equality, love, peace, happiness, wealth. Even more tenacious, it is based in the emotions of the individual, so it does not succumb to rational argument. It is there because it is the intersection of a person's emotional need and their lack of higher reasoning to keep it in check. In this sense, it is part ideology -- and part pathology, or disease. It makes the most sense however to give it a unique identification, since it is so prevalent that any other reference would be ambiguous: Crowdism. The belief, whether known in language to its bearer or not, that the individual should predominate over all other concerns is Crowdism. We name it according to the crowd because crowds are the fastest to defend individual autonomy; if any of its members are singled out, and doubt thrown upon their activities or intentions, the crowd is fragmented and loses its power. What makes crowds strong is an inability of any to criticize their members, or to suggest any kind of goal that unites people, because what makes for the best crowds is a lack of goal. Without a higher vision or ideal, crowds rapidly degenerate into raiding parties, although of a passive nature. They argue for greater "freedom." They want more wealth. Anything they see they feel should be divided up among the crowd. Crowdism strikes anyone who values individual comfort and wealth more than doing what is right. People of a higher mindset leave situations in a higher state of order than when they were found. This requires that people form an abstraction describing how organization works, and create in themselves the moral will to do right, and thus embark on a path that is not accessible to everyone: the smarter and more clearsighted one is, the greater likelihood exists that one is realizing things that an audience of average people have not yet comprehended. For this reason, Crowdists hate people who leave situations in a higher state of order than when they were found. These people threaten to rise above the crowd, and thus fragment the crowd by revealing individual deficiencies again, and that steals the only method of power the crowd has: superior numbers and the illusion that everyone in the crowd is in agreement as to what must be done. In short, a crowd does not exist except where underconfidence unites people who, being unable to lead on their own, find solace in the leadership and power of others. They want to be in control, but they are afraid to lead, and thus each person in the crowd delegates his authority to others. The crowd therefore moves not by choices, but by lowest common denominator, assessing each decision in terms of what all people in the crowd have in common. Predictably, this makes its decisions of such a base nature they can be guessed in advance. A crowd derives its momentum from the need of its members coupled with their fear of their own judgment. Taking impetus from the need, it asserts itself violently, but because its only mechanism of decision-making is radical compromise, it moves passively toward predictable resolutions. Crowdists love "competition" of a fixed nature, where a single vector determines the winner. They do not like real life competition, including evolution, as it assess the individual as a whole and does not simply rank individuals by ability. For this reason crowds love both sports events and free market capitalism, as each allow people to gain power according to a linear system. The more time you put into the system with the sole goal of making profit, excluding all else, the more likely it is that you can get wealth - and it can happen to anyone! That is the promise that makes crowds flock to these ideas. It is like the dream of being a rock star, or a baseball hero, or a billionaire: what makes it attractive is the idea that anyone can do it, if they simply devote themselves to a linear path of ascension - one that is controlled by the whims of the crowd. The crowd decides who is a baseball hero, or what to buy and thus who to make rich. Control without control. Of course, since the crowd has disclaimed all true idealism, its only ideology is that of personal gain. It is by nature opposed to culture, since culture establishes a values system against which one can refer any potential choice to determine its viability in the community's preference. Crowdists like to replace culture with the grandfather of multiculture, which is the idea of a facilitative society, or one in which the only goal is to satisfy its members. In this vision, a common goal or even standard of society is not needed. Society exists for its members to fulfil their personal needs, and it explicitly disclaims the ability or need to oversee those, unless they violate the basic tenets of Crowdism, of course. Crowdists naturally embrace both internationalism, which denies local culture in favor of an international culture of novelty, and multiculture, which mixes cultures with nothing in common and claims to be satisfied with any result. Crowdism is not a decision any more than cancer is a design for a new organism; it is the lack of decision, of goal, of design. It is not random, however, so unlike chaos, it is a predictable and rarely-changing order. Some would call it entropy. Any ideology is automatically dominated by Crowdists. They were at home as Marxist radicals, but equally happy as conservative American capitalists. Crowdism is not an ideology, but an emotional response. They view any ideology as a means to an end, and that end is Crowdism itself, although Crowdists cannot put this in words - they're part of a Crowd, remember, which means they don't make choices as much as force compromise, and by the nature of something akin to dialectical materialism, compromises always move "forward" although toward eternally the same goals. They will dominate any democracy, and turn it away from encouraging excellence toward subsidizing weakness. They will dominate a totalitarian state, humbling it by making its appeals to its proletariat and winning their allegiance through unreasonable concessions. They will use corporations to dominate a culture, producing products that reward those of a Crowdist mentality, while ignoring the needs and desires of those of a higher mentality. Even a non-ideology will be dominated, as Crowdists will use social pressure where there is a lack of decision-making. Characteristics Among all human phenomena, Crowdism is unique in that it turns timorous individuals into a dangerously assertive group. Crowdism appeals to those who are underconfident. They're unsure of their abilities and fear that, in a competition like that of evolution, where many factors at once must be measured and one's judgment and character are essential, they might not come out ahead. In fact, they have a sneaking suspicion they'll come out behind. This is only logical, since those with such abilities have no need of a crowd, and therefore only very rarely become Crowdists (usually in cases of: drug addiction, child abuse, mental illness). The average Crowdist needs a crowd to do what he or she could not do alone, including not in the least the process of making decisions. The crowd provides anonymity and the illusion of a cause. Crowdists are underconfident, thus incapable of the kind of assertive and creative action by which one glances at a situation and calls the shots; therefore, all of their modes of action are passive. They cannot strike without first having been struck, but it's perfectly acceptable for them to provoke others with a thousand small irritations until the other responds, then to retaliate with full force. Notice how America has entered her wars: placing ships within range of Spanish saboteurs, sending passenger liners full of weapons to be torpedoed, cancelling steel shipments while giving a fortune in weapons to an enemy. It is a brilliant strategy, in that one never has to make a decision: one is always the injured party and therefore justified in responding, even if it ends up being to one's advantage. Crowdists have a great fear of mortality, which is linked to their fear of evolution. They do not have a value higher than their own lives; there is nothing for which, unbidden, they will give their lives (although they will gladly give them, in anger, when having provoked an enemy, they are able to embark upon their "justified" response). This shirking personality and lack of self-confidence manifests itself in a form of cognitive dissonance that creates an inverse response to the failings of confidence: the less the person feels confident, the more egomaniacal they are, at the expense of being able to accurately perceive external reality. As a result of their need to supplant underconfidence with ego, they turn off any external feedback which could prove critical of their selves, and therefore lock themselves into a world composed entirely of the self. This creates a crowd of little queens. They demand "proof" - someone must hold up something tangible and show it to them, and have it be simple enough that everyone in the crowd yes even the deaf mute hunchback can appreciate its significance; this is why crowds do well with butchered babies, torpedoed ocean linears, gas chambers and gassing Kurds, but do poorly with concerns about global warming, genetic fragmentation, or pervasive ignorance. In fact, they seem to treasure their ignorance in the same way that higher people treasure their innocence. Crowdists like to keep things simple so as not to distract from the basic focus (themselves). The term "lowest common denominator" has almost become a cliche in our society in that it explains so much. A group of people - an electorate, a committee, a mob - gets together, and soon a once-promising idea has through compromise and censorship (the removal of that which might offend, or shock, or be contrary to already-well-established tastes) become distilled down to something completely acceptable to every member of the crowd. The only problem is that, in the process, it has come to resemble every other action that the crowd has been known to take. No matter - the same old thing dressed up as something new serves a dual function, in that it both provides novelty and, by virtue of being essentially similar to everything else, avoids presenting people with stimulus they cannot recognize and thus immediately know they can handle. Low self-confidence reveals itself in situations where the unexpected occurs. Crowdists like to minimize that by dumbing everything down to the lowest common denominator, at which point they feel they dominate it and in that state of control are no longer threatened by it. The paradox of crowdism is that because these people refuse to have a long term vision, they have nothing worth dying for, and therefore their lives are empty of meaning and they respond with the hollow attempts to control that comprise Crowdism. It is as a pathology much like overeating, in which case one confuses the signal for being full, which eliminates psychological doubt, with the process of eating, and hopes that by eating again and again to banish doubt (which increasing doubt in direct proportion to girth!). If they had faith, or belief in doing something which does not immediately reward them, or the vision to see the benefit in doing things which help the community as a whole but in the distant future, they would not have this gnawing emptiness. Civilizations in the past saw fit to make such people into serfs and servants, such that others could give them causes, and they could both be kept from being destructive and given a raison d'etre which would sustain them for their natural lives. Crowdists will never admit it, but secretly, they have a desire to submit to authority because they do not trust their own judgment. Indeed, there is somewhat of a sadomasochistic nature to Crowdism. For every crowd that exists, there will be some who manipulate it expertly; as in a microprocessor, most of the circuits do the mechanical work of computation while a few are responsible for at key moments switching the flow of data. Such is it that some of the voices who shout out at opportune times are to redirect the crowd, such as the classic "He's getting away!" screamed by an anonymous crowd member and provoking a stampede to bring down the suspect. Others simply profit from the crowd. By far the best way to profit from a crowd is to pretend to be its servant, as its memory is short and being underconfident it loves to be flattered, and therefore rarely notices that its servants are robbing it blind until it is too late for anything but revenge; the thief is killed, yes, but the money has been spent, and the crowd feels even less confident when its blunder comes to life, so it rages on to the next event in a search for something of substance to occupy it. Always eating and never full. But the manipulators of a crowd eat well. If one were to divide up a population according to "Crowdist theory," there would be many sheep, a few born leaders and a larger group of shrewd people who lack the capacity of a true leader, but are mentally agile enough to manipulate the crowd and make a profit from it. These are your Josef Stalins, Ken Lays, Ivan Boesky, George W. Bushes. They are cynical enough to realize that the "ideology" of the crowd is nothing but lies, and its actual agenda is power. They recognize that the crowd loves gaining power through revenge on those with more talent, intelligence, beauty and character than itself, and these manipulators create bogeymen and justifications faster than the crowd can decode them. However, to be a manipulator in a crowd is to be acutely conscious of belonging in the crowd; after all, if one did not need the crowd, something else would have been the path. Thus manipulators both love and loathe the crowd, appreciating it for being the vehicle of their own greatness, but hating it for being necessary and thus constantly forcing them into the role of gentle servant when their inner wolf-personality seeks to escape and manifest itself. Manipulators are like drug dealers: they realize too late that their profession will consume them by forcing them into a function, and thereby eliminating any hope they ever had of making decisions about their own lives. They follow the function, and therefore, all of their choices are reactions; there are no independent choices to be made. The dominant characteristic of a crowd, as mentioned by F.W. Nietzsche, is the desire for revenge: they detest anyone gifted by nature with more than they have, whether it is wealth or natural traits. Much like ancient tribes who believed that eating the organs of an enemy would transfer his power to the eater, Crowdists believe that destroying others raises the Crowdist's own stature. Their primary weapon is equality. By insisting on one level for all people, they have an excuse to curtail the higher abilities of those who rise above the crowd. Further, they have the ultimate weapon, in that since equality sounds good on an emotional level, it is perceived as a good, and thus anyone who resists its advance ("progress") is automatically a bad guy who has transgressed, and thus against him or her retaliation can be launched. This is the ultimate threat of a crowd, which is expressed in a simple syllogism: I. Our way is the path of good intentions, equality. II. If you are not for our path, you are against good intentions and will attempt to destroy us. III. Because you will attempt to destroy us, we will destroy you first. It is a mental trap of epic proportions: if one joins the crowd, one has agreed to limit one's own abilities to the lowest common denominator; if one resists the crowd, one is styled as the aggressor and destroyed by direct force. At the point when the question of with-us-or-against-us has been asked, the battle is already lost, as the Crowd have gathered behind the questioner with torches that could just as easily be applied to the dwelling of the questioned as toward a feast in her honor. Effects The effects of Crowdism take many generations to fully permeate a society. Indeed, Crowdism is like the effects of aging on each of us: we start aging the instant we are born, but at some point, the effects of years have piled up enough to carry us off. Crowdism exists in every society, but to varying degrees, and as societies age, it increases. Almost all societies on the brink of death are totally dominated by Crowdism, which helps carry them off as it paralyzes the decision making capability; if your population sees only its own gratification, who is going to mobilize it to fight an enemy while the enemy is still distant? By the time the Vandals reach Rome, the battle is lost, but the Crowd will never respond until directly attacked, so will blissfully ignore the assailants until the battle has begun. Disorganized, the crowd responds slowly and then panics, abandoning the empire to its lessers, who promptly destroy it. It is for this reason that everywhere a great society once stood, there is now a barely technological, semi-literate society distinguished mostly by its lack of ambition. These are people soul-weary with combat and with power, and they have opted for the stage after Crowdist, which is a form of highly granularized apathy. (There's no point studying this in America until after the Chinese, sensing our distraction and inner weakness, invade and crush our centralized authorities, at which point those less-fortunate populations within and surrounding us will consume the spoils.) In fact, throughout its life span, Crowdism promotes apathy by forcing inane decisions on people and threatening them with passive aggression if they refuse. This could be seen most clearly in the former Soviet Union, where people quietly worked around any number of absurd proclamations and dysfunctional government agencies. They realized that things were hopelessly broken, but that the first person to speak up about it would be torn to pieces by the crowd, thus these things had to be tolerated. And what a disgusting word "tolerance" is - it means to recognize something's inaptitude, but to ignore it and even accept it. Accept mediocrity. Accept failure. Accept the lack of a goal. This beats people down into a state of submission which periodically polarizes itself and becomes violent, as if all of the psychological energy kept suppressed when given an outlet explodes to the surface in a form beneath rationality or even an organized emotional state. It is this form of passivity that is idealized by religions such as Judaism, which clearly arose in a civilization which had already reached this degree of apathy, and therefore was little more than a survival guide. Some would say that Asia went down this path thousands of years before the West, and thus through submission achieved the uniformity for which Asian culture is famous. The "morality" of the Crowdists affirms the importance of the individual over doing what is right. A society based on this lack of choice, and lack of goal, is inherently frustrating, and thus breaks down all but that which Nietzsche called the "last man." The last man is someone who cares about nothing but his own material comfort. Does he have an expensive car? Enough to watch on television? Get to go out to the clubs that others covet? And have a trophy girlfriend? -- if so, he is happy. No plan for the future, and no significance to these things, other than that he owns them and therefore can construe his personality - that externalized "ego" that we insist is a social construct, a form of personal marketing - as a success as a result of them. The last man does not fight the good fight; he instead does what benefits him. He looks upon ideological conflict as silly, because he is inherently submissive to the external order and thus never thinks of changing it. His revenge upon it is to profit from it, and to consider himself smarter and better than all the others for not having been fooled by value, and possibly having given up his life or his career in some crusade to do what is "right," instead having been more competitive and shrewd and enriched himself while others fought ideological battles. The last man is an opportunist, a profiteer. He is like a Satanic Zen monk, in that none of his energy is wasted on emotional display. It all goes toward The Bottom Line, a.k.a. making him feel better about himself (an intangible state) through an increase in tangible things like wealth, prestige, and power. Last men are the type of people who are manipulators of the Crowd, only a more advanced version than the somewhat masochistic "leaders." A last man simply takes and has no emotional reaction. Where a leader like G.W. Bush or Kim Jong-Il is cynical, and kleptocratic, he still has some degree of emotional response in him; in contrast, a Stalin is without emotion entirely and feels no reason to respond to his changing fortunes, as he is busy focusing on the only thing which matters, which is increasing them. When things go badly, he schemes for recovery, wasting no time on reaction or indulgent displays of emotion. A Bush might have some days of depression, or stumble in public, but a Stalin remains impassive, his iron grip unchanging, knowing that only discipline and a lack of emotions will restore his power. Over time, the last men rise in power through their lack of response, and those with emotional excess descend through an inability to stay focused on the goal. When one descends, one becomes part of the crowd. We call those who have descended Undermen, because they have viewed the challenges of life on several levels and opted to run away or take a course of profiteering, yet have not succeeded even in that through their lack of discipline, which is essentially the ability to see that events distant in time are as important as events proximate in time, because time is continuous and for plans to succeed one must unite the moments in an ongoing series of planned developments. Undermen do not plan. They do not think. They react; where the last man is deliberate, the Underman is impulsive and fired with a consumptive desire for revenge, since to an Underman the world is grossly unfair: because his reactions are out of control, he cheats himself out of everything good that comes his way, and therefore always feels that others have been gifted where he is deprived. Undermen are sabotage incarnate. Like other Crowdists, they are passive in nature, and therefore will never directly assault an enemy. To live among them however is to constantly clean up after them, and to double-check anything they do, knowing that more often than not they will subconsciously leave things in defective and dangerous states, hoping in their inner minds that others who are more fortunate than them will be destroyed. Where true last men plan their pillaging and execute it with detail, Undermen execute clumsy and violent thefts. Undermen like to live in their own filth and keep others out of the clubhouse of their filth, associating around them others that they can dominate. Undermen exist at all stages of the Crowdist process, but it is most revelatory to point out that a successful Crowdist revolt will after many generations have converted the entire population into Undermen, and thus have plunged the civilization into disorganized, self-afflicted third world status for the next thousand or more generations. Undermen are saprophytes. They compensate for lack of higher function in themselves by destroying those who do have it, or the works of those who did, under the assumption that if it cannot be seen it will not exist to remind them of their essential spiritual hollowness. Back to Now The Crowdist dilemma puts us modern humans in a bad situation. As the reader may recall from the first paragraphs of this document, we are manipulated by centralized reality representations that are subject to the same influences Crowdism places on all other reality. The weapon of Crowdists is passivity; if they are "offended," their retaliation is justified, because they are the blameless ones bringing us the progressive and superior doctrine of equality. Equality of course does not allow us to tolerate offense, because if anyone feels less than equal, the crowd falls apart and cannot protect equality. The logic behind crowdism is like a musical scale, in that if one starts on any note and runs through the logic, soon one has followed the scale back to its origin in a repeating, endless pattern. The crowd in its view is always right, and its goal is to remove those who would prove it be a paper tiger, e.g. only a crowd of underconfident people and not the ultimate authority on morality it would like to pretend to be. Looking at our situation practically, we who are not yet absorbed by the Crowd are in a rough place: we cannot strike out against the crowd, and yet we cannot continue to tolerate it, or it will eventually reduce our civilization to third-world status through backhanded destruction of all things higher than its non-goal intentions. Even more, as it has crept within our society, it has spread its agenda of destruction against any higher ideas or ideals. Crowdists triumph through greater numbers, and with each generation of Crowdist control, more people submit out of exhaustion, and thus swell the numbers of Crowdists. It is not a conspiracy; it is a cancer. Since Crowdists have the purchasing power in our society, and the popularity, they ignore any higher visions. A product designed for those who are not Crowdists will not be boycotted, only bypassed. Those who speak up about the truth of the situation, or any of the details associated with the truth that can be construed as offensive (women and men are not equal, races are not equal, individuals are not equal, decisions are not all equal) will be branded a heretic and, while no overt action is taken against them, they will passively be denied opportunity until they accept their destiny as a janitor or in rage against the injustice lash out, become an aggressor and are killed. Remember, Crowdism is negative logic. It does not set out to establish an ideal as much as remove those with ideals, as those conflict with its paradoxical worldview, which is that of facilitating individuals rather than uniting individuals with a goal. Crowdism is anti-aspiration, and anti-organic. It only approves of systems where one individual is in power, or all are equally in power, and thus nothing gets decided. Yet society continues its decline, and with the appearance of Really Bad News like global warming and economic instability, there is again chance for change. During the Great Depression, America could have easily swung into a Communist state; during the Viet Nam war, political instability led to directional changes (unfortunately, both options were and are Crowdist to the bone). We are heading toward another such nodal point in the neural net of details that determine whether our civilization heads in an ascendant way, or descends back into third world status, from which we all came and toward which all societies fall. With each failure of our trusted information sources, and with each incontrovertible proof that our "truths" are not reality, we get closer to radical alteration in course. The problem is of course that, as in most revolutions, ours is mostly likely to take with it the assumptions of its previous masters, and thus to re-create their reign with new faces. This is why accurate diagnosis of Crowdism is essential. One can switch to Communism, to Tribalism, or even to Anarchy, but as long as the assumptions of Crowdism remain, the path is barely altered and the end result is the same. If we wish to transcend Crowdism, we must first restore our heroic outlook, by which there are things for which we're willing to die, ideals we hold more precious than life itself. By thinking in parallel, and not in terms of organizing everybody as equals to undergo the same mechanical process and thus cure us all at once, we can move the best people among us to greater heights and slowly bring the rest of us to our respective places. We can deny equality in all of its forms, as it is a crazy doctrine that ends in the norming of us all. Localizing government and turning away from single points of informational "truth" helps as well. Even more, we can finally break the taboo barrier and tell individuals that they cannot have it their way and also participate in a non-failing society. All of these methods will help defeat the Crowdist disease, but it is not defeated by method alone. It requires that we take on a reorganization of our own minds so that we avoid falling into the underconfident, anti-heroic thoughts of Crowdist. It requires that we value actual truth above any socially convenient illusion, or friendly distortion of the truth. We must face facts and stop taking them personally. To an awakened mind, our faults and strengths are visible, and so what we think of as hidden will soon be no secret to the post-Crowdist people who will rise if we succeed. For this reason, we must transcend our personal pretense and ability to be offended. The truth will set us free - perhaps not, but the pursuit of truth for its own sake will free us from the cancerous plague of Crowdism and its millennial reign over our society. Site map Copyright © 1988-20158 A.N.U.S.
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The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The Tenth Amendment. One of the most critical amendments in the Bill of Rights to keep the federal government in check.
During last nights debate, one believer in the Founders vision called out the phony-baloney blowhards who like to tout the Constitution when it fits their view of the when the central government should be restrained.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee went on the following rant when asked about a litmus test:
One final thing. I’d make darn sure that we absolutely believe the 10th Amendment. Every governor on this stage would share this much with you. Every one of us — our biggest fight wasn’t always with the legislature or even with the Democrats. My gosh, half the time, it was with the federal government who apparently never understood that if it’s not reserved in the Constitution, then the 10th Amendment says it’s left to the states. But somebody forgot to send a memo to Washington.
In a very timely and appropriate question that led to the hypocrisy exposure, the moderators asked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul about legalization of marijuana in Colorado and NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s statement in a previous interview when he stated, “If you’re getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it until January 2017, because I will enforce the federal laws against marijuana.”
I think one of the great problems, and what American people don’t like about politics, is hypocrisy. People have one standard for others and not for them — for themselves, Paul said referencing former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
But the bottom line is the states. We say we like the 10th Amendment, until we start talking about this. And I think the federal government has gone too far, I think that the war on drugs has had a racial outcome, and really has been something that has really damaged our inner cities. Not only do the drugs damage them, we damage them again by incarcerating them and then preventing them from getting employment over time. So I don’t think that the federal government should override the states. I believe in the 10th Amendment and I really will say that the states are left to themselves.
Christie then chimes in, “That doesn’t mean we should be legalizing gate way drugs. And if Senator Paul thinks that the only victim is the person, look at the decrease in productivity, look at the way people get used and move on to other drugs when they use marijuana as a gateway drug, it is not them that are the only victims. Their families are the victims too, their children are the victims too, and their employers are the victims also.
“That’s why I’ll enforce the federal law, while you can still put an emphasis on rehabilitation, which we’ve done in New Jersey.”
Paul comes back against the “law and order” Christie saying, “Understand what they’re saying. if they’re going to say we are going to enforce the federal law against what the state law is, they aren’t really believing in the Tenth Amendment.”
The non-profit organization, The Tenth Amendment Center, lists the 30 enumerated powers authorized to the federal government in the Constitution HERE
Related:
Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch
Follow @bactiman63
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RED GODDESS is a side-scrolling action adventure game.
Genre: Fantasy 2,5D graphics with unique atmosphere and compelling story
Release Date: Approx March 2015
Development state: Pre alpha
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U
http://www.twitch.tv/yanimstudio
You can download and try our early demo for yourself!
Download the DEMO (Windows) Keyboard+mouse
Download the DEMO (Windows) GamepadKeep in mind that this demo is a very early development of the game and that things are subject to change.
OTHER LANGUAGES:
Game description available on:
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Shoot, Punch or Turn invisible . The 3 playable characters have their own unique skills and abilities which bring about different gameplay strategies. Players have to figure out which character is best suited to fight dangerous enemies and get past each challenge. Brawling action meets puzzle platform, combats are turned into puzzles.
. The 3 playable characters have their own unique skills and abilities which bring about different gameplay strategies. Players have to figure out which character is best suited to fight dangerous enemies and get past each challenge. Brawling action meets puzzle platform, combats are turned into puzzles. Explore a mysterious Planet dominated by the subconscious mind of the main character. The Planet itself is a character that players have to interact with and eventually defeat. (Go to “Planet” section for more information)
The gameplay boasts a couple of original mechanics, such as “split character”, and “enter the mind of enemies”:
Character ball gameplay , you can select only “half” of the main character (either Rage or Fear). The other half is inactive and appears as a ball. You can grab this ball and throw it in order to: damage enemies or gain access to areas that are out of reach.
, you can select only “half” of the main character (either Rage or Fear). The other half is inactive and appears as a ball. You can grab this ball and throw it in order to: damage enemies or gain access to areas that are out of reach. Enter the mind of enemies . Stun your enemies and enter their minds. Taking over their minds is like walking through a door. You will then gain access to new secret chambers with puzzles to solve and lost memories to recover.
. Stun your enemies and enter their minds. Taking over their minds is like walking through a door. You will then gain access to new secret chambers with puzzles to solve and lost memories to recover. Unlock Powers. You will have to find and collect memory crystals to unlock new skills and enter new zones.
Click to see the HighRes version
Grab and throw the character ball, and then switch to it.
The story revolves around a troubled goddess named Divine. She feels confused and haunted by her past. Something mysterious and unknown is tearing her apart from the inside out, destroying her mind, her soul ….and her altogether! Our journey begins when Divine decides to right this wrong by exploring her own subconscious. She will discover a planet within her own mind made up of mountains, forests, caves, and unknown perils.
Discovering who she is, who she was, and what she will become is our quest…..but soon we realize that there is more to this adventure than what we first thought.
Explore a mysterious Planet driven by the subconscious mind of the main character: Divine.
The whole Planet is aggressive and will try to block your way and stop you from entering other areas. Fortunately, the alarm bar located on the screen lets you know if the Planet can detect you. There are many ways to trigger this alarm:
If you go too far away from your other half
If you are detected by special enemy “spies”
If you are injured too many times within a short period
If you do not solve the puzzles correctly
Once you have been detected, the Planet will activate a quarantine area to attack you. There are many different possible attacks. Depending on the zone:
More enemies will appear in the area
Your other half, which appears as a ball, will turn against you
Access doors will close and new traps will be activated
Enemies will become more aggressive
To cancel the alarm mode, you have to get out of the quarantine area.
The Planet is composed of 2 different zones: neutral zones and dark zones. Neutral zones are located on the surface of the planet and at the entrance to the dungeons. Dark zones, infested by negative thoughts, are closer to the bosses. The air is toxic here and you have to use the Rage or Fear character to protect yourself.
Main character:
Divine is a young goddess. Her past life is full of mystery. She has no family except for her uncle, the powerful Woden, king of gods. She doesn't remember her childhood. She is smart and charming but also a master in martial arts and melee attacks. She also has special punch spells, which are very useful to defeat creatures and bosses.
Divine can be split into two characters which are completely different and mutually incompatible: one personifies the fire element (Rage), and the other personifies the ice element (Fear). They have their own unique skills and abilities which bring about different gameplay strategies. You can select only “half” of the main character (either Rage or Fear). The other half is inactive and appears as a ball.
Secondary characters:
Nar (Rage): Fast and powerful, Nar is associated with the fire element. She can shoot fireballs and has many other different spells as well. Her quick attacks and fast movements make her the most deadly playable character. But as a FIRE element, she attracts light and is very noisy, so she will easily annoy the Planet, and activate the alarm state.
Syn (Fear): She is associated with the ice element. She can sneak into the dark subconscious zone with her power of invisibility. She can possess the minds of enemies to reach new zones within the world of Red Goddess.
Enemies:
Divine’s enemies are her own negative thoughts rebelling against her. She needs to get rid of all of them to be able to unlock the next zone. The dark tunnels hide horrible creatures, followers of Divine´s negative thoughts. Little by little, they are corrupting every part of the planet.
Their bodies are practically all made of black fog.
Some of them can carry a great bright translucent sphere. It is the entrance door to its mind and to Divine´s lost memories. Player must have to touch this orb to enter the mind of the enemies, this is why many of them carry the orb on the back to protect it.
Some designs of the War Golem
Jordi Carazo: Game & Level Designer. He has been working both in level and game design at Tequila Works (Deadlight), Grin (Wanted: weapons of fate), and Pyro Studios. He started working on amateur for half-life 1 modifications around 2002. He is also a teacher of Unreal technology.
DEADLIGHT © 2012: Images provided by Tequila Works, SL. All rights reserved.
Yannick Puig: Game director. Creator of many award-winning 3D shorts and music videos. His most remarkable work is probably the “I lived on the Moon” music video. Yannick is a longtime 3D animation veteran and since 2002 he has been working as an animator, story-boarder, 3D artist, and game director in both France and Spain. Yannick is an exploration/adventure game fanatic and he also enjoys making homemade pizza (including the pizza dough):P
Yanim Studio Animation has historically been a high-end CGI animation and visual effects studio. We have provided digital production services for computer games, commercials, music videos, animated series and films. Our work has been awarded several times for its compelling visuals in storytelling. Our team is based in Spain (Valencia). We currently have a game development team made up of 6 people who have worked on such games as: Gothic, Deadlight, Wanted weapons of fate...
Aurora Garcia Tejado, She is the freelance artist who will draw the Red Goddess comic-book. She has been working drawing comics and illustrations in Spain since 1998 as Studio Kôsen.
http://www.stkosen.com/
PR/Marketing Another important member of our team, Jason Summers, is involved with PR and marketing strategy for our US based operations.
Sound design and music is currently composed by the orchestraman Sylvain Guehl
http://www.sylvain-guehl.com
We will also be working with YouTube sensation Ronald Jenkees (music of the trailer) to compose an incredibly awesome and original soundtrack for the game.
http://www.ronaldjenkees.com
WallPapers
Add-ons can be added to all reward tiers. To get an add on you just pledge normally and select the reward tier you want, then add the price of the add-on to your pledge.
+$5: Wallpapers
+$10 - Digital Soundtrack plus bonus backer-only tracks
+$10: Additional Digital copy PC
+$15: Additional Digital copy CONSOLE
+$15: Digital Illustrated art-book
+$20: Digital figurine: Digital download of 3D model files for the main character:Divine. You can then print these in 3D with a 3D printer or print shop (printing cost not included)
+$25 - Digital Soundtrack plus art-book
+$25: Physical soundtrack.
+$25: T-Shirt: tree different designs. You'll be able to choose the size and design.
+$25: Mug
+$30: Physical "Short stories": FOUR short stories featuring Yannick Puig's illustrations and written by Anabel Zaragozí.
+$30: Physical copy of Red Goddess game PC
+$50: Physical Figurine: One Figurine to scale on Acrylic Resin, approximately 4"-6"(10-15 cm.)
SHIPPING COST IN ALL THE REWARDS: +$10
EBOOK
TSHIRTS
FIGURINE
PHYSICAL GAME + MUG
$ 35,000 - War Golem Boss
$ 40,000 - God's war additional chapter
$ 45,000 - New Powers - Extended Skill Tree
$ 50,000 - Localization on three more languages: Spanish, French and German!!
$ 60,000 - Additional Chapters and Scenarios
$ 75,000 - Extended areas
$ 90,000 - Extended story
$ 100,000 - Red Goddess comic (48 color pages): Downloadable copy for every backer
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Update: 01/13:15: The School Board has agreed to remove the provision but it is concerning that they would even begin to think this is okay.
Forever vigilant! The loss of freedom is never far away.
Original Story: Does a school board have the right to bring teens before them to prove their religious exemption for home schooling is justified and do they have the right to follow it up with imprisonment of the parents if they don’t comply?
This is happening in the United States.
Goochland County, Virginia School Board is demanding parents and their children justify their religious beliefs under interrogation. The Board changed their policy and now, once a child is 14 or older, the child has to state whether their beliefs are in accord with their parents’ beliefs. They are then to be brought before the board for interrogation so the board can determine if their beliefs are bona fide.
This is a school government daring to tell parents and their children if their beliefs are acceptable.
If the board doesn’t think the child has the beliefs of the parents, the exemption is withdrawn.
If parents don’t comply, they will be forwarded for criminal prosecution. There is also a fine.
Their new provision states, “Any student who, together with his/her parents, seeks an exemption from compulsory attendance, due to their bona fide religious training or beliefs must submit a written application to the school board, setting forth the reasons for the request.”
Home schooling parents are concerned about the future of home schooling in the United States. A federal case endangers this parental right.
In May 2013, the 6th US District Court of Appeals found against the Romeike family who fled Socialist Germany when they were about to be imprisoned for home schooling their children for religious reasons. The court upheld the Obama administration’s denial of asylum to the Romeike family, a family of Evangelical Christians who are home schooling their children in the United States.
The Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear the case.
Eric Holder granted the family permanent asylum but the ruling stands.
What makes this decision concerning to home schoolers and all others who believe in the rights of parents to educate their children is that Eric Holder and Barack Obama have come out against the freedom to home school based on it not being a fundamental freedom.
Eric Holder said home schooling is not a protected freedom: “There is no fundamental liberty to homeschool.” He added that as long as a government [Germany] bans homeschooling broadly and equally, there is no violation of rights. This is a view which gives a nod to the principle of equal protection but which completely ignores the concept of fundamental, individual liberties.
Supporters of home schooling are concerned that the Administration will ban home schooling in the United States.
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama strongly support a treaty to take away the rights of parents to educate their own children and they support the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The treaty substitutes global governance on the issue for U.S. law and the rights of U.S. parents. Treaties become the law of the land according to the Supremacy clause of the constitution.
The U.S. signed and ratified both the optional protocols [regarding child soldiers and child prostitution and pornography] to the Convention in 2012. The EU has repeatedly called for the U.S. to sign and ratify the treaty. There are powerful U.S. groups supporting ratification as well.
It is a clear infringement on religion and individual rights. Subjugating us to an atheistic UN governance ruled by the world’s statists and dictators is somewhat traitorous.
Parent Doug Pruiett (pictured above with his wife Carla), is an educator and has religious training. He has sought legal counsel.
The Pruietts have been home schooling their children since 2004 and the Board has ordered them to comply with the changed school policy which was made in 2013.
The Goochland School Board is reviewing the policy today at the request of the home schooling parents in the district. The Superintendent has previously said he would like the state to weigh in with a clear definition because the state policy on which their policy is based is vague.
Watch:
Sources: WTVR and WRIC
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Nettfit Publishing Presents "Marijuana for Parkinson Disease," a New Controversial Cannabis Research Book in Print Now
Pharmaceutical use of cannabis is not new and history shows us how this miracle plant has been misinterpreted through an era of ignorance. Cannabis has been used for thousands of years and the credibility of marijuana as a therapy specifically for Parkinsons disease is somewhat new. Marijuana is a miracle plant that helps Parkinsons patients and benefits people suffering from many other illnesses, states PD patient and author of, "Marijuana for Parkinson's Disease" (2012).
The author Richard Secklin, is a graduate of Lubbock Christian University and an LCU award winner for his research. Readers are given a brief history on cannabis, the laws, the medicinal use, medical research, and much more in his new book, “
Marijuana is truly a miracle plant that has been around for thousands of years and beneficial for many illnesses and diseases said the author. “Is marijuana, the oldest medicinal plant known to man the sectarian or alternative contemporary medicine or are all other medicines since the existence of cannabis the new modern alternative drugs?” (Secklin, 2012, .4) Milwaukee, WI, May 10, 2012 --( PR.com )-- What is presently a controversial subject matter as many States one by one approve the medicinal use of marijuana, this new research book should help provide medical support for new legislation. This is an interesting insight from the author who is a retired career law enforcement officer and Parkinson’s patient. His first book, "Looking Down the Barrel," a Parkinson's disease self help spiritual book was put in print by Nettfit Publishing in 2010.The author Richard Secklin, is a graduate of Lubbock Christian University and an LCU award winner for his research. Readers are given a brief history on cannabis, the laws, the medicinal use, medical research, and much more in his new book, “ Marijuana for Parkinson’s Disease – Cannabis Research and the Miracle Plant for Parkinson’s.”Marijuana is truly a miracle plant that has been around for thousands of years and beneficial for many illnesses and diseases said the author. “Is marijuana, the oldest medicinal plant known to man the sectarian or alternative contemporary medicine or are all other medicines since the existence of cannabis the new modern alternative drugs?” (Secklin, 2012, .4)
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Graphic Designer
Orlando Magic - Orlando, FL
None
Develop visually compelling marketing campaigns that support organizational goals, creating designs and new creative for the Orlando Magic that enhance and elevate the brand’s level of excellence
Seek, understand, prioritize and translate client input into strategic creative solutions that meet the client’s marketing and communications objectives
Collaborate and contribute to the creative development process as a member of the Creative Services team, consistently partnering with other creative areas of the organization (e.g. Broadcast Production, Digital Content and Broadcasting) and working with any external agencies contracted by the Magic
Ensure quality control, including proofing, reviewing, and evaluating creative output
Set high standards for themselves and their work; hold themselves and their teammates to that same high standard
Anticipate production challenges and troubleshoot any potential negative outcomes
Assure that internal client presentations are on time, professional, engaging, persuasive and supported by a sound design rationale
Makes decisions while working within the limits of standard practice
Associate degree in Graphic Design or graphics related field or equivalent experience required. Bachelor’s Degree preferred
A minimum of 3 years of Graphic Design experience required
Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator experience in an OS X environment required
Proficient knowledge of pre-press, print production and proper file set up for outsource production
Knowledge of still photography and an eye for photographic shots that will convey necessary messages of the design
Experience integrating 3D artwork into traditional print design
Professional sports experience and/or NBA knowledge strongly preferred
Must possess creative problem solving skills
Excellent design skills and creativity
Proficient in Microsoft Office, Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and other related computer skills required.
Ability to meet tight deadlines and work well under pressure
Strong organizational skills, time management skills and attention to detail required
Strong verbal and written communication skills with an emphasis on business writing skills
Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks/projects and support multiple high level executive positions
Ability to work independently without supervision, be self-directed and demonstrate initiative
Ability to take direction without follow up
Ability to work collaboratively with others whom you have no direct authority over
Strong teamwork and team synergy skills required
Excellent ability to establish rapport with others and ability to build strong interpersonal relationships
Exhibit good judgment and decision-making skills
Availability and willingness to work extended hours, including nights and weekends and be on-call as necessary
Orlando Magic
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To serve as an in-house Graphic Designer for the Orlando Magic servicing internal and external creative needs and providing consistently legendary and innovative designs that enhance the brand, support organizational goals, and position the team as an industry leader.GAME/EVENT RESPONSIBILITIESYes1-20NoNoneSUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIESESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESDesign and layout a wide variety of materials such as billboards, artwork mock-ups, brochures, direct mail, web graphics, large format signage, logos, package designs and any other creative needs for the organizationShoot photography on game nights for Corporate Partnerships. Articulate creative needs for media day or agency photo shootsAdhere to company brand and campaign guidelines when designingRepresent the Creative Services team and the Marketing department to others with integrity, courage and a spirit of teamworkComplete text, layout or graphic changes to other department’s projectsAssist in brainstorming and providing feedback to Creative Team as requestedPrioritize and manage multiple tasks/projects according to deadlinesAdapt to department’s changing prioritiesWork with the Creative Services Manager to serve as point of contact with external vendors such as printers, designers, sign companies, newspapers, etc. in relation to the production quality and delivery of creative projectsAssist with art approvals, printing, art uploads, delivery, etc.Prepare files for printer and deliver according to system specificationsarchiving, manipulating, and distributing Magic art filesInteract with creative agencies when necessaryEngage in continued design and technology education and online trainingOrganize and maintain creative assets for use within the organizationAll other duties as assignedQUALIFICATIONSPreferred candidate would have experience or knowledge of motion graphic content creation (Adobe After Effects, Adobe Flash and/or HTML5)Experience designing for non-traditional sign sizesUnderstanding a broad range of file formats and how they relate to LED displays such as electronic billboards and fascia displaysAbility to interact professionally and confidentially with all levels of ownership/family management and staff required
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2015 Virginia Closed
Final Standings
Open Section Place Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 TOTAL 1 WFM Jennifer R Yu
2015 Virginia Champion
Champion's Plaque and $635 14117950 2288 W33 (b) W17 (w) W5 (b) D4 (w) W8 (b) W3 (w) 5.5 2 FM Steven D Greanias
2nd Place, $365 10034191 2200 D23 (w) W25 (b) W26 (w) D11 (w) W14 (b) W12 (b) 5.0 3 Qindong Yang
3rd Place, $265 15782984 1989 W31 (b) W7 (w) D11 (b) W9 (w) W4 (b) L1 (b) 4.5 4-10 NM Daniel Isa Miller 12473672 2352 W36 (w) W15 (b) W6 (w) D1 (b) L3 (w) D5 (b) 4.0 Robert J Fischer
2-way share of Top Expert, $61
Top Expert Trophy 10251648 2115 W46 (w) W8 (b) L1 (w) D6 (b) W18 (w) D4 (w) 4.0 NM Michael Wil Auger 12860543 2243 W37 (b) W14 (w) L4 (b) D5 (w) W15 (w) D7 (b) 4.0 NM Geoff Mc Kenna
Top Senior Player 10187664 2302 W42 (w) L3 (b) W23 (w) W27 (b) D12 (w) D6 (w) 4.0 NM Andrew Samuelson 20051892 2328 W44 (b) L5 (w) W36 (b) W10 (w) L1 (w) W13 (b) 4.0 NM Akshay Indusekar 14640961 2245 D18 (w) W19 (w) D10 (b) L3 (b) W26 (w) W24 (b) 4.0 Justin Lohr
2-way share of Top Expert, $61
Top Junior Player 13917930 2107 D35 (b) W18 (w) D9 (w) L8 (b) W36 (w) W22 (b) 4.0 11-21 FM Macon A Shibut 10195624 2247 W47 (w) W20 (b) D3 (w) D2 (b) D13 (w) U--- (-) 3.5 NM Andy Huang 14633373 2200 W21 (b) D16 (w) D22 (b) W17 (w) D7 (b) L2 (w) 3.5 James Richardson 12583803 2131 D41 (b) W34 (w) D16 (b) W22 (w) D11 (b) L8 (w) 3.5 Justin Paul 14323420 2184 W29 (w) L6 (b) W46 (w) W16 (b) L2 (w) D15 (b) 3.5 John Gaspar
3-way Share of Top A, $40.66
Top A Trophy 12580744 1996 W32 (b) L4 (w) W39 (b) W28 (w) L6 (b) D14 (w) 3.5 Raymond Duchesne
3-way Share of Top A, $40.66 12522199 1996 W39 (w) D12 (b) D13 (w) L14 (w) D28 (b) W31 (b) 3.5 Larry R Larkins 12423238 2010 W38 (w) L1 (b) W20 (w) L12 (b) D29 (w) W33 (b) 3.5 Ryan Xu 14101273 2062 D9 (b) L10 (b) W31 (w) W21 (w) L5 (b) W27 (w) 3.5 Jonathan Maxwell 12468711 2084 W30 (w) L9 (b) H--- (-) D35 (w) H--- (-) W29 (b) 3.5 Siddhant Nair 14996973 1714 B--- (-) L11 (w) L17 (b) W25 (b) D37 (w) W36 (b) 3.5 Aasa Dommalapati
3-way Share of Top A, $40.66
Top Female 13778456 1850 L12 (w) D38 (b) W43 (w) L18 (b) W30 (w) W26 (b) 3.5 22-25 Abhinay Dommalapati 13778441 1944 H--- (-) W43 (b) D12 (w) L13 (b) W23 (w) L10 (w) 3.0 Peter Snow 10186714 1842 D2 (b) W24 (w) L7 (b) D37 (w) L22 (b) W35 (w) 3.0 Sean Senft 13232026 2079 H--- (-) L23 (b) W38 (w) D29 (b) W35 (b) L9 (w) 3.0 Saad* Al-Hariri[r/e] 14011581 1859 H--- (-) L2 (w) D32 (b) L20 (w) W43 (b) W37 (b) 3.0 26-34 Evan Maxwell Ling 14699958 2027 D34 (b) W41 (w) L2 (b) W40 (w) L9 (b) L21 (w) 2.5 Jim Guill 10186498 1946 D43 (w) W45 (b) H--- (-) L7 (w) H--- (-) L18 (b) 2.5 Vishal Kobla 14547128 2124 H--- (-) H--- (-) W30 (w) L15 (b) D16 (w) U--- (-) 2.5 Nathan Lohr 13917945 1932 L14 (b) D35 (w) W34 (b) D24 (w) D17 (b) L19 (w) 2.5 Bryant Lohr 13917951 1814 L19 (b) W37 (w) L28 (b) D41 (w) L21 (b) W40 (w) 2.5 Jay Lalwani 14566972 1747 L3 (w) H--- (-) L18 (b) W34 (w) W44 (b) L16 (w) 2.5 Garrett Heller 14523782 1806 L15 (w) D42 (b) D25 (w) D33 (b) D38 (w) H--- (-) 2.5 Brian S Garbera 12438327 1870 L1 (w) L46 (b) B--- (-) D32 (w) W40 (b) L17 (w) 2.5 Saigautam Bonam 14765995 1820 D26 (w) L13 (b) L29 (w) L31 (b) B--- (-) W39 (b) 2.5 35-39 Joseph Wen Yo Tan 13732705 1937 D10 (w) D29 (b) H--- (-) D19 (b) L24 (w) L23 (b) 2.0 Anil Marthi 14938331 1903 L4 (b) W40 (w) L8 (w) W46 (b) L10 (b) L20 (w) 2.0 Isaac Chiu 14570627 1980 L6 (w) L30 (b) W45 (w) D23 (b) D20 (b) L25 (w) 2.0 Carla Naylor 11178464 1816 L17 (b) D21 (w) L24 (b) W45 (w) D32 (b) U--- (-) 2.0 Alfred W Harvey 10194806 1800 L16 (b) B--- (-) L15 (w) L42 (b) X45 (-) L34 (w) 2.0 40-45 Jonathan Kenny 12690158 1717 H--- (-) L36 (b) W42 (w) L26 (b) L33 (w) L30 (b) 1.5 William D Vanlear 10193265 1833 D13 (w) L26 (b) D44 (w) D30 (b) U--- (-) U--- (-) 1.5 David W Hulvey 10193206 1900 L7 (b) D32 (w) L40 (b) W39 (w) U--- (-) U--- (-) 1.5 Jonathan Naylor 13488444 1742 D27 (b) L22 (w) L21 (b) B--- (-) L25 (w) U--- (-) 1.5 Stephen M Miller 12477735 1933 L8 (w) H--- (-) D41 (b) H--- (-) L31 (w) U--- (-) 1.5 Bill Keogh 10195519 1734 H--- (-) L27 (w) L37 (b) L38 (b) F39 (-) B--- (-) 1.5 46 Karl E Peterson 10188784 1826 L5 (b) W33 (w) L14 (b) L36 (w) U--- (-) U--- (-) 1.0 47 Saad Al-Hariri 14011581 1859 L11 (b) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) 0.0
Under 1800 Final Standings -- Under 1800, 2015 Virginia Closed Place Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 TOTAL 1 Duncan M Guthrie
1st Place, $510
State Amateur Champion Plaque 13749836 1489 W15 (b) W6 (w) W4 (b) W10 (w) W2 (b) D3 (w) 5.5 2-4 Susheel Vishwa
3-way Share of 2nd & 3rd, $170 14918097 1638 W16 (b) W14 (w) D5 (b) W13 (w) L1 (w) W11 (b) 4.5 Wayne W Porter
3-way Share of 2nd & 3rd, $170 10188555 1712 W35 (b) W19 (w) H--- (-) W5 (w) H--- (-) D1 (b) 4.5 Ashley Xing
3-way Share of 2nd & 3rd, $170 14872627 1623 W21 (b) H--- (-) L1 (w) W23 (b) W13 (w) W10 (w) 4.5 5-9 Sudars Sriniaiyer
Top Class C Trophy
2-way share of Top C, $48.50 14943697 1582 W25 (w) W33 (b) D2 (w) L3 (b) W21 (w) D8 (b) 4.0 Joe Faries 12457824 1623 W30 (w) L1 (b) W24 (w) D7 (b) D14 (w) W18 (b) 4.0 Yoseph Mak
Top Class C Trophy
2-way share of Top C, $48.50 15058727 1436 W36 (w) H--- (-) D11 (b) D6 (w) D17 (b) W20 (b) 4.0 Gerard* Wasserbauer[r/e] 12971264 1669 L10 (b) W20 (w) D18 (b) W31 (w) W12 (b) D5 (w) 4.0 Nicholas Xie 14252523 1606 L33 (w) W30 (b) W32 (b) D12 (w) D10 (b) W17 (w) 4.0 10-16 Chris* Giofreda[r/e] 14242244 1604 W8 (w) W26 (w) W12 (b) L1 (b) D9 (w) L4 (b) 3.5 Aleks Bashtavenko 12775703 1574 W31 (b) D13 (w) D7 (w) D21 (b) W15 (b) L2 (w) 3.5 R Adrian Rhodes 12727682 1529 W37 (b) W17 (w) L10 (w) D9 (b) L8 (w) W23 (b) 3.5 Omkar V Kovvali
Top Class D, Trophy, $97 15055246 1320 W38 (w) D11 (b) W22 (w) L2 (b) L4 (b) W30 (w) 3.5 Nithil Suresh 14610495 1532 W32 (w) L2 (b) W26 (b) D17 (w) D6 (b) H--- (-) 3.5 Mark Scott 13748284 1686 L1 (w) W27 (b) D23 (w) W22 (b) L11 (w) W21 (b) 3.5 Mantra Vivek 15233290 1428 L2 (w) L24 (b) D29 (w) W25 (b) W27 (w) W22 (b) 3.5 17-20 David Leigh Phillips 12790329 1665 W29 (w) L12 (b) W33 (w) D14 (b) D7 (w) L9 (b) 3.0 Akshay Kobla 14744166 1332 H--- (-) D22 (b) D8 (w) D19 (b) W28 (w) L6 (w) 3.0 Theodore D Covey 12457323 1540 W24 (b) L3 (b) D31 (w) D18 (w) L20 (b) W28 (b) 3.0 Gideon Lohr 13917966 1606 L26 (b) L8 (b) W30 (w) W33 (b) W19 (w) L7 (w) 3.0 21-25 Yan Wu 14229808 1347 L4 (w) W29 (b) X34 (-) D11 (w) L5 (b) L15 (w) 2.5 Ronen* Wilson[r/e] 15349011 1515 B--- (-) D18 (w) L13 (b) L15 (w) W31 (b) L16 (w) 2.5 Niraj Patel 14802265 1497 H--- (-) H--- (-) D15 (b) L4 (w) W32 (b) L12 (w) 2.5 Varun Natarajan 14205981 1098 L19 (w) W16 (w) L6 (b) L28 (b) W29 (w) D27 (b) 2.5 Zoe Bredesen 15203263 1311 L5 (b) H--- (-) L28 (w) L16 (w) B--- (-) W32 (b) 2.5 26-30 Glenn M* Shelton[r/e] 12870031 1794 W20 (w) L10 (b) L14 (w) W27 (b) U--- (-) U--- (-) 2.0 Samarth Bhargav 15397834 1156 W28 (b) L15 (w) H--- (-) L26 (w) L16 (b) D24 (w) 2.0 Nathan D Wu 14012144 1549 L27 (w) L31 (b) W25 (b) W24 (w) L18 (b) L19 (w) 2.0 Rahul Ponugoti 15059778 1436 L17 (b) L21 (w) D16 (b) D32 (w) L24 (b) W31 (w) 2.0 Santosh Dasari 14421270 1404 L6 (b) L9 (w) L20 (b) B--- (-) W33 (w) L13 (b) 2.0 31-32 Karthik Bhargav 15397813 1199 L11 (w) W28 (w) D19 (b) L8 (b) L22 (w) L29 (b) 1.5 Michael Hiban 13419518 1077 L14 (b) B--- (-) L9 (w) D29 (b) L23 (w) L25 (w) 1.5 33-34 Rodney Holmes 12578827 1344 W9 (b) L5 (w) L17 (b) L20 (w) L30 (b) U--- (-) 1.0 Lucas Michael Knoll 14854903 1706 H--- (-) H--- (-) F21 (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) 1.0 35-38 Ronen Wilson 15349011 1515 L3 (w) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) 0.0 Gerard Wasserbauer 12971264 1669 L7 (b) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) 0.0 Glenn M Shelton 12870031 1794 L12 (w) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) 0.0 Chris Giofreda 14242244 1604 L13 (b) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) U--- (-) 0.0
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A few months ago, Cavium acquired QLogic bolstering its interconnect portfolio. The new merged company is announcing new 25GbE and 100GbE adapters with RDMA and DPDK support. The new Cavium FastLinQ 45000 series 25GbE and 100GbE adapters are targeted at the emerging networking standards set to have a break-through year in 2017. As we move to higher-speed Ethernet standards, acceleration technology for features such as NVGRE and DPDK become more important. Likewise, the role of RDMA for 100GbE class applications becomes increasingly crucial as networking speeds increase and the data path needs to be optimized.
The company also offered that it has signed at least one major OEM to the new adapters as HPE is listed as a partner shipping the new cards. We take this as meaning this is not just a paper launch but that the product is available today.
Cavium FastLinQ 45000 25GbE / 100GbE PR Extract
Here is an excerpt from the press release:
With up to 200Gbps of Ethernet line rate throughput, the FastLinQ 45000 series 25/100Gb Ethernet Adapters offer an extremely expansive set of features and protocols, delivering the following key benefits for cloud and Telco deployments: Increased Performance and Scalability for NFV and cloud Workloads: Cavium FastLinQ 45000 Series 25/100Gb Ethernet Adapters leverage industry standard technologies combined with impressive small packet performance to deliver enhanced scalability and improved performance. FastLinQ 100GbE Ethernet adapters are optimized for software-defined networking (SDN) and OpenStack deployments to deliver a robust and feature rich high-speed networking solution for Telco and Cloud deployments.
Cavium FastLinQ 45000 Series 25/100Gb Ethernet Adapters leverage industry standard technologies combined with impressive small packet performance to deliver enhanced scalability and improved performance. FastLinQ 100GbE Ethernet adapters are optimized for software-defined networking (SDN) and OpenStack deployments to deliver a robust and feature rich high-speed networking solution for Telco and Cloud deployments. Improved Server Utilization: Cavium FastLinQ 100GbE solutions provide hardware offloaded protocol processing, which results in a significant reduction of the CPU burden and improves overall server efficiency. Hardware offloads for RDMA, VxLAN, GENEVE and NVGRE optimize performance while reducing the cost of network encapsulation for virtualized workloads and hybrid cloud deployments .
Cavium FastLinQ 100GbE solutions provide hardware offloaded protocol processing, which results in a significant reduction of the CPU burden and improves overall server efficiency. Hardware offloads for RDMA, VxLAN, GENEVE and NVGRE optimize performance while reducing the cost of network encapsulation for virtualized workloads and hybrid cloud deployments Efficient Administration: Cavium technologies, combined with Mirantis FUEL for OpenStack orchestration and QConvergeConsole topology maps for OpenStack, allow the seamless integration and accelerated deployment of workloads in Telco and Cloud data centers. Available from Cavium, HPE and other leading OEMs, Cavium FastLinQ 45000 Series 25/100GbE adapters are fully integrated into DPDK and shipping in volume now.
(Source: Cavium)
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Issues In The Proof That P≠NP
Some further comments into the recent claimed proof that P is not equal to NP
Yuri Manin is a great mathematician, who has worked in various areas and also is well known for his many excellent expository works. He has won numerous prizes, including the Nemmers Prize in Mathematics in 1994, and the Cantor Medal in 2002. One of his quotes is:
A proof only becomes a proof after the social act of “accepting it as a proof”.
Today is a follow up to Sunday’s post on Vinay Deolalikar’s claimed P NP proof. The community is working on deciding whether or not to accept his proof as a “proof.” No one has yet had a chance to study his 102-page draft paper in full depth. (Note—this is the author’s update today, but page references up through page 77 seem to be identical with the version linked before.) We do not wish to be part of a “rush to judgment”—the author has advanced serious and refreshingly new ideas of definite value, and deserves time and space to develop them more fully.
We—Ken Regan and I—do wish to be part of the discussion of the paper, and help in any way we can to facilitate the resolution of whether it is a proof or not. Hence we have jointly written this update.
We think that Vinay Deolalikar should be thanked for thinking about this difficult problem, and for sharing his ideas with the community. Whether he got it right or not, he has tried to add to our understanding of this great problem. We need more people working on hard problems. If no one does, then they never will be solved.
Possible Issues With The Proof
Even after about one day there have been many serious comments raised about the proof. We have collected some of the main ones together. They are specific objections, that need to be answered in any subsequent development. Here we collect and summarize what seem to be four main objections. The objections are related in that they all question the author’s deduction that P = NP implies the existence of a polynomial-time algorithm of a certain specific kind, which he then argues leads to a contradiction involving rigorously-known statistical properties of random -SAT instances, for large enough . Some of the objections converge on the same point in the paper, notably Section 7.2.They seem, however, to be mathematically separate—insofar as patching one might not patch the others.
Each has been voiced by more than one reader, in comments in this and other weblogs. We’ve ordered them for ease of discussion—this is not an opinion on which is most important. This post was first drafted with the comments we saw as of 4pm EDT Monday, and apologies in advance for ones missed in the meantime. Moreover, we expect that some of the objections can be answered topically—this is already evinced by some of our referenced comments, and is a goal of the conversation we are trying to promote.
The ordered-structure issue. This is raised by James Gate here, by Arthur Milchior here, and by David Barrington (also quoting Lance Fortnow) here. Note, however, that Barrington here and Milchoir in reply may have patched their part of this point. For background, logical formulas can be classified according to whether they reference a presumed total order on the elements of the structures they describe. For certain logical vocabularies, such an ordering can be defined even if there is not an explicit symbol for it, so the issue doesn’t matter. This is the case for formulas characterizing NP. The class P is known to have characterizing formulas over the FO(LFP) vocabulary when the explicit order is present, but whether this is true when the order is absent is a major open question, which we addressed in this blog last April 5. It is also called a “major question” in the Ebbinghaus-Flum book referenced on page 67 of Deolalikar’s paper. The paper attempts to compensate by adding a pre-defined relation symbol “ ” to the vocabulary, and asserts that past this point the synthesized order relation will not be needed, but there is doubt over whether the details in the paper suffice to accomplish this. The paper may not handle tupling correctly. This is raised by Paul Christiano here, and is part of Barrington’s comment here. For background, the paper requires that a certain predicate—let’s call it —in the FO(LFP) formula be unary. The formula needs, however, to express properties of -tuple of elements of the underlying structure (where it might be possible to make the same as the “ ” in the -SAT problem being analyzed). Standardly one passes to a new structure whose elements are -tuples over the old structure. However, this can greatly distort adjacency and distance- neighborhood relations from the original structure. The author provides results with counting arguments that aim to limit the distortion, asymptotically as the size of the (original) universe goes to infinity. However, there is fundamental doubt about whether these pieces fit together. (It is possible that the objectors are overlooking material early in section 3 of the paper that can make them fit—again we have not gone to full detail here.) The LFP characterization of P may not accomplish what the author needs. This is also raised by Christiano, paragraph with “More simply”, and was the cautionary point of our initial reaction here. For background, consider the problem of determining whether a given context-free grammar derives the empty string, which is complete for P under logspace reductions, and in that sense captures polynomial-time complexity. Initialize a set to be the empty set. Then iterate the following process: For every grammar rule with , add the variable to . Since matches the empty string, this initially picks up all variables that derive the empty string directly. Further iterations may add more variables. The process stops and outputs the final when the last iteration goes through all the rules and finds no new variables to add. This must happen within iterations since each adds at least one new variable to . Then is the Least Fixed Point (LFP) of the iteration operation, and the problem answer is “yes” provided the start symbol of the grammar belongs to this . One can write an FO(LFP) formula that yields this algorithm. The meta-question on which this objection is based is, must every FO(LFP) formula (for this query) yield an algorithm that is similarly tractable to analyze? Going further, does Deolalikar’s logical vocabulary in section 7.2 even have enough richness to guarantee such an algorithm at all? The paper does directly address this matter in section 7.2, but the references therein do not yet seem to cinch the argument. The two objections above may be contributing factors to the lack perceived here, but this is raised as a separate conceptual matter. The paper may target the wrong hardness phase of randomized -SAT. This is raised by Cris Moore here and is corroborated by Alif Wahid in reply here. This seems to be the most mathematically detailed objection. It might show that the author’s proof strategy is on the wrong track, in advance of patching any of the other objections. It might alternately show the best road to getting surprising and concrete valuable upper-bound results about (randomized) -SAT from Deolalikar’s work, even if the lower-bound consequences are elusive. Certainly we should note the interesting succession of rigorously-proved results referenced both by Deolalikar and by these commenters.
There have been various comments critiquing other aspects of the paper, and some other long ones on the mathematical content, but these seem to be the most focused objections to now.
Suresh Venkatasubramanian has linked from his wonderful GeomBlog a “Google Doc” that similarly aims to collect evaluations of the paper. One must be a registered member of Google and log in (or be logged in) when clicking his link.
Open Problems
Still there remains the key question: is the proof correct? In one sense the present paper almost surely has mistakes—not just from the above objections but what one could expect of any first-draft in a breakthrough situation. The real questions are, is the proof strategy correct, and are the perceived gaps fixable?
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It is not a typical use of a Fed chairman’s time. But Mr. Bernanke, who has greatly expanded the central bank’s role in the nation’s economic policy, is looking for ways to raise and improve its public profile, too.
The Fed is concerned that it is neither loved nor understood by many Americans, and that public anger could lead to constraints on its powers.
Mr. Bernanke has appeared twice on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” and held town-hall meetings with college students and military personnel. Since last year, he has held news conferences after selected meetings of the Fed’s policy-making committee. Under his leadership, the Fed has increased the availability of information about its internal deliberations. Earlier this month, the Fed began a Twitter feed.
Mr. Bernanke spoke Tuesday about the history of monetary policy in the United States, including the Fed’s creation in 1913, and its role in causing the Great Depression. He framed much of this history as a critique of the gold standard, which was dropped in the early 1930s in a decision that mainstream economists regard as obviously correct, hugely beneficial and essentially irreversible.
Congressman Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who is running for president, has won a loyal following, including among college students, for his campaign to restore a gold standard. In such a system, the availability of money is determined largely by formula — in proportion to the availability of gold — rather than the discretion of policy makers.
Mr. Bernanke has treated this advocacy as obviously misguided, generally declining to engage with Mr. Paul at Congressional hearings. But the Fed’s longstanding practice of ignoring most critics most of the time has not served it well in recent years, as its aggressive policies have made it the subject of public scrutiny.
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So on Tuesday, in careful and simple language, Mr. Bernanke took the time to explain his opposition to the gold standard.
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The problem with such a standard, Mr. Bernanke explained, is that it limits the ability of government to address economic problems by adjusting the amount of money circulating in the economy. Proponents see this as an advantage, because they believe that policy makers will do more harm than good, in part by making decisions that prioritize short-term benefits over longer-term costs.
But Mr. Bernanke said that history was clearly on the side of flexible policy. In particular, he described the standard view among economic historians that the rigidity of the gold standard amplified the Great Depression.
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He noted that the policies of modern nations tying the value of their currencies to those of other nations have the same downside. He cited the example of China, which maintains the value of its currency in relation to the dollar.
“Fixed exchange rates between countries tend to transmit both good and bad policies between countries and take away the independence those countries have to manage their economic policy,” Mr. Bernanke said.
Mr. Bernanke taught at Princeton before joining the Federal Reserve in 2002, and he slipped comfortably into his former role as a college professor. He set aside his usual practice as Fed chairman of reading from prepared remarks. He told a few dry jokes. He answered student questions with evident pleasure.
He did not, however, entirely abandon the caution required by his office. He arrived in a suit and tie, looking every inch the Washington bureaucrat, and he skirted questions about current policy, offering brief and familiar boilerplate responses.
The students, who were selected through an essay contest, also did not lose track of the fact that the speaker was not an ordinary professor. Several said they had chosen a school in Washington for the chance at such moments.
“It always surprises you to realize that this guy actually exists and he’s not just on TV,” said Max Sanders, a 19-year-old from New York.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear lectures from him,” said Noah Wiviott, 21, of New Jersey. “He clearly knows what he’s talking about.”
Not everyone, however, found him convincing.
Yuqi Wu, a 20-year-old student from China, said she did not agree with Mr. Bernanke’s criticism of her government’s monetary policy.
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“I definitely support the Chinese government’s position,” she said.
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KOZHIKODE: Controversial Salafi preacher Abdul Muhsin Aydeed has come up with a suggestion that Muslim doctors should not use the Red Cross emblem or the Rod of Asclepius symbol (representing Greek God of healing), as they are against the monotheism in Islam.In a post titled ‘Some Islamic Advise to Doctors’ which appeared on Alaswala Facebook page, Aydeed also advised the doctors not to touch women patients as far as possible and not to encourage ‘male-female mixing’ in hospitals and consulting rooms.“Certain symbols related to idol worship are widely seen in the houses, vehicles, consulting rooms and on the prescription pads of doctors. An example is the cross in red colour, which signifies the belief in Trinity by the Christians. Trinity is the worst form of the shirk (polytheism), and is the most detested sin in Islam,” he said.Similarly, the Rod of Asclepius, denotes the Greco-Roman Gods of life and health, he said. “The beliefs that destroys Thouheed (monotheism), the cardinal principle in Islam, should be kept at arm’s length. These kinds of wrong beliefs may unknowingly sneak into the belief system of Muslims and they may distance themselves from Islam. A Muslim doctor should keep away from all the signs and slogans that are against Islam,” he said.The Salafi preacher said a Muslim woman can approach a male Muslim doctor if she fails to find a Muslim female doctor. “The male doctor should look at or touch the female patient only in an unavoidable situation. He should use hand gloves if he decides to touch the female patient,” Muhsin said adding touching without gloves is allowed only in extreme situations.The woman patient should be asked to cover all other parts of her body which do not need examination. The Islamic principle that a male should not be alone with an unknown female is applicable in the case of doctors too. “The presence of husband or ‘mahrams’ is mandatory while being examined by the male doctor, “Muhsin said. (Mahrams are the persons who are allowed to escort a Muslim woman when she travels) “At least a woman from the family of the patient should be present at the time of examination. If all these are not available, the male doctor should examine the patient after the keeping open the door and standing on the other side of a veil,” suggests Muhsin.In his opinion, cosmetic or plastic surgery is not allowed in Islam as it amounts to intervening in Allah’s creation. “Undergoing plastic surgery for beautification of the body or to rejuvenate is not allowed. For example, treatment to set right the shapes of nose, abdomen or ear,” he said.Muhsin is a member of the extreme Salafi group that came into being in Kerala after numerous splits in Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), the parent Salafi organisation in the state. He had earlier exhorted Muslims not to send their kids to public schools and had stated that the concept of nationalism is alien to Islam.
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On Oct. 24, shortly after the U.S.-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces declared the “total liberation” of Raqqa, capital of the Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate, Syria’s information minister told the Russian news agency Sputnik that the Syrian government does “not consider any city liberated until the Syrian Arab army enters it and lifts the Syrian flag.” His comment underscored the government’s determination to re-assert its sovereign authority over all Syrian territory, as well as the ambiguous political situation in eastern Syria, where the United States has effectively become the security guarantor for an expanding Kurdish political project.
Over the past several weeks, a growing number of analysts have concluded that President Bashar al-Assad has won Syria’s brutal civil war. Seemingly on the ropes just two years ago, his government has consolidated control over Syria’s populated western spine, restored 24-hour electricity in Damascus, and is now busy courting foreign investment. Meanwhile, the Syrian armed opposition has been abandoned by its main international sponsors, all of whom have ended or dramatically curtailed their material support. As Ben Hubbard of The New York Times recently put it, Assad “looks as though he is here to stay.”
That may be so. But the temptation to over-interpret the latest events on the street or the battlefield has bedeviled policymakers since the Syrian uprising began. The military challenge to Assad’s rule is over, but significant amounts of Syrian territory remain in the hands of others. If Assad has “won” the war, he’s done so at the cost of dismembering his country. This could be no more than a temporary obstacle on an inexorable path towards total victory. But a number of factors — including Russia’s pragmatic approach to ending the war and the United States’ enduring counter-terrorism objectives — suggest that Syria’s de facto partition is a more likely outcome. What might this look like? And is partition something the United States should accept or oppose?
Syria’s Fractured Political Geography
Since 1900, approximately two dozen conflicts ended by either de facto or de jure partition. These range from the loss of sovereign control over small territorial enclaves (e.g., Cyprus in 1964 or Somaliland in 1991) to declarations of sovereignty with full international recognition (e.g., Eritrea and Croatia in 1991, South Sudan in 2011). Joe Biden famously advocated radical decentralization as a solution to sectarian bloodletting in Iraq. More recently, several analysts have proposed a similar approach in Syria.
This reflects deep skepticism that Assad will be able to reunify the country and a recognition of the degree of fragmentation that’s already taken place. A quick glance at any of the open-source maps depicting areas of control in Syria reveals a complex patchwork of colors corresponding to discrete blocs held by the central government, armed opposition groups, Syrian Kurds and their allies, and ISIL. Damascus’ reach into these territories is deeper than many observers realize — for example, the government has continued to pay salaries to civil servants, even in areas outside its control. But over time, these blocs have become increasingly autonomous: Each flies its own flag, operates its own security, administrative, and judicial institutions, and has developed its own educational curricula.
The pattern of Syria’s fragmentation has been shaped by foreign intervention, first by regional powers, and then by Russia and the United States. Rather than retreating to an Alawite enclave along the Syrian coast, Assad’s government has leveraged support from Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia to roll back opposition gains in Hama, Homs, Dar’a, and the Damascus suburbs, and retaken Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.
In the north, Turkey and its Syrian partners have carved out a rectangular patch of territory along the Syrian-Turkish border that is run by armed opposition groups. Though small, this area is now buzzing with Turkish-funded projects to rebuild infrastructure and restore public services, including schools and religious institutions. While the precise objectives of the new Turkish operation in Idlib province remain unclear, it looks like a first step towards establishing a second Turkish-backed buffer zone in northern Syria.
In the south, Jordan has long exercised influence over the armed opposition in Dar’a province. A July ceasefire agreement between the United States, Russia, and Jordan allowed these forces to hold onto their weapons in return for halting attacks against the Syrian government. This arrangement is fragile —opposition forces would be extremely vulnerable were Assad to concentrate his firepower in the south — but for now, at least, the area remains self-governing and resistant to central authority.
Meanwhile, Israel, which until now managed to remain neutral in the civil war, is increasingly looking to create its own buffer zone inside Syria to prevent Iranian and Iranian-backed forces, including Hezbollah, from operating near the Golan Heights.
Finally, in the east, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — an alliance of Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and other forces established fight ISIL in partnership with the U.S.-led international coalition — now controls a vast and still-expanding triangle of territory bounded by the Turkish and Iraqi borders and the east bank of the Euphrates River. Nominally still under central government authority, in practice this territory is politically autonomous, administered by SDF civilian councils closely linked to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) — a fact illustrated by the removal of both Baathist ideology and the current Syrian president from new textbooks introduced north of Raqqa last month.
Of course, fragmentation is not the same as partition. But this fractured map, and the potential for foreign states to continue providing resources and political backing independent of central authority, complicates any effort to reunify the country.
The Strategic Logic of Partition
It is vital to stress that partition is an outcome almost no one wants. Both Russia and the United States continue to insist on Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, principles enshrined in the Geneva Communiqué and nearly a dozen U.N. Security Council resolutions. Turkey, Iraq, and Iran — each of which has a large and restive Kurdish minority of its own — strongly oppose Syria’s partition.
Within Syria itself, partition is not an appealing option either. While Syrian Kurds overwhelmingly support greater political autonomy, this objective is not broadly shared: After six years of war, the vast majority of Syrians are comfortable with a strong central state and want to keep the country intact. A poll conducted by The Day After Project in December 2015 and January 2016 found that 87 percent of respondents in regime-held areas and 76 percent in opposition-held areas opposed instituting a federal system of government — precisely on the grounds that it would be a step towards partition.
These responses point to the success of more than half a century of Baathist state-building and the fact that many Syrians associate partition with the legacy of World War I, which reduced the former Ottoman province of Syria by nearly half. As the late British writer Patrick Seale put it, “[e]very Syrian schoolchild is brought up to hate the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 and the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the two instruments which in Arab eyes carved up and disposed of ‘Natural Syria.’” Within Syria, discussion of partition is interpreted in the light of this imperial history, rather than as a pragmatic approach to resolving the conflict.
Nevertheless, strategic reality is steadily overwhelming principled opposition.
The most important factor here is security. Having intervened to advance competing interests in Syria, a key priority for all the main international actors is to avoid a broader war with one another. Almost immediately after Russia commenced military operations in September 2015, the United States and Russia established a de-confliction channel at the operational level to reduce the risk of an unwanted confrontation in Syrian airspace; increasingly, this channel has been supplemented by senior-level military contacts. At the same time, both governments have tried assiduously not to demarcate fixed lines on a map that could harden over time. Instead, they have relied on time-delimited “ops boxes” and, more recently, a “soft” line of separation running along the Euphrates River.
These temporary arrangements are unlikely to last, because the shrinking size of the battlefield has exacerbated, not reduced, the risk of an unintended confrontation. With battle lines largely static in western Syria, the east has become the primary theater for making new territorial gains. Deir al-Zour province, where U.S. and Russian-backed forces are now converging, contains approximately half of Syria’s oil deposits and provides access to the strategic border crossing at Abu Kamal. A Russian strike on SDF fighters in mid-September and the subsequent movement by government and pro-government forces across the Euphrates clearly illustrated the risks of a clash in the east.
This is a race for territory: the fight is no longer over Syria as a whole, but for where the lines dividing it will be drawn. To avoid escalation, the United States and Russia will be forced either to accept fixed, agreed lines of separation between their respective partners on the ground, or to stand idly by while these partners fight it out. The latter would badly damage U.S. credibility and leave the United States without a viable counter-terrorism partner in Syria. Indeed, U.S. officials have repeatedly made clear that, while they seek to avoid a confrontation, the United States will not hesitate to defend partner forces from any threat. Once lines are drawn, the fiction of Syria’s unity and territorial integrity becomes much harder to sustain.
A similar process is taking place in western Syria, where Russian-led talks in Astana have established a framework for de-escalation based on the separation of government and opposition armed groups, with the latter continuing to exercise authority in the territory under their control. Talks in September reportedly reached agreement to establish a fourth de-escalation zone in Idlib province, setting the stage for the deployment of Turkish and Russian military observers. From the beginning, the intent of these zones has been to separate the warring parties and stop the fighting — with the hope that the resulting divisions will be resolved as part of a comprehensive national political settlement. But with the Geneva peace process effectively moribund, and Russian reconciliation efforts being challenged, it’s not clear when such a settlement will come about.
While the Syrian government’s participation in the de-escalation deals is cynical at best, Russia’s is pragmatic. By bringing down the violence, Moscow is able to achieve its primary strategic objectives — keeping Assad in power and enhancing its own influence — while avoiding the significant risks and costs associated with a more ambitious effort at national reconquest. And the trade-offs involved in this approach are perfectly clear to Moscow: as the director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, recently explained, “De-escalation zones are not about a political settlement; they are about military tactics.” Kortunov went on to acknowledge that the zones “might eventually lead to a de facto soft partition of the country.”
Of course, Assad has repeatedly promised to reclaim all of Syria. But he doesn’t have the financial and military resources to do so, even with continuing support from Iran and its proxies. It is certainly conceivable that the Syrian government could pick these zones off one by one through a mix of diplomacy and force — for example, by defeating the opposition in southern Syria, reaching a political accommodation with the SDF and its Kurdish benefactors in the east, and offering Ankara sufficient incentives to permanently withdraw Turkish forces in the north. None of this is assured, however, and it would in any case take months, if not years, to bring about.
What Should the United States Do?
Much of the recent debate has focused on whether the United States should maintain a military presence in eastern Syria to continue applying pressure on ISIL. This is a critical question for U.S. national security, but examined in isolation — that is, as a tactical counter-terrorism matter — it fails to place U.S. military posture within a broader strategy to resolve or at least stabilize Syria’s civil war.
In at least one respect, this is a problem of Washington’s own making.
Over the summer of 2014, the Obama administration made a deliberate decision to keep the campaign against ISIL separate from the broader Syrian civil war. In the wake of ISIL’s seizure of Mosul, opinion clustered around two options. One was to redouble U.S. efforts to press Assad to step aside, allowing the United States to partner with the new government and its Sunni Arab supporters to fight ISIL. The other was to explore partnering with Assad and his forces. The first option showed little understanding of the capabilities of transitional governments; the second would have allied the United States with a murderous regime that lacked legitimacy.
Faced with these unappealing options, the administration developed a third: to cultivate entirely new partners, drawn from among the many Syrians who shared Washington’s more narrowly defined objective of defeating ISIL. This approach evolved into cooperation with Kurdish forces who had proven their mettle in Kobane; ultimately, it grew into a partnership involving the deployment of U.S. Special Operations Forces inside Syria and, under President Donald Trump, the provision of weapons, ammunition, and heavy equipment. As a strategy to defeat ISIL, this approach has proven remarkably successful, as vividly illustrated by the SDF’s seizure of Raqqa earlier this month.
Far less clear are the political implications.
Perhaps inadvertently, the United States’ partnership with the SDF has fueled Kurdish political ambitions and created a permissive environment for experimentation with self-government. Throughout the war, the PYD — the animating political force within the SDF — has maintained an ambiguous relationship with the Syrian government, leaving open the possibility that the SDF might transfer Arab territory taken from ISIL to the central government and more generally submit to central authority in return for greater autonomy within a federal state. So long as the SDF continues to enjoy robust U.S. military support, however, that’s probably not a step the group needs to take. And the PYD almost certainly will try to keep the United States close as a hedge against a potential reconciliation between Damascus and Ankara — an outcome that would expose them to simultaneous attack by two superior military powers.
How should the United States navigate this relationship?
One option, of course, is simply to muddle through, as both the Obama and Trump administrations have done up to this point. This would entail maintaining a public commitment to Syrian unity and territorial integrity, while in practice accepting (if not encouraging) the SDF’s political project as the necessary cost of keeping a limited number of U.S. forces in Syria to combat the ongoing ISIL insurgency.
The problem is that this places the United States squarely in the middle of any future conflict between the Syrian government and the SDF. It also deepens Syria’s fragmentation and increases the likelihood of partition. Rather than helping resolve divisions exposed by the war, partition would reify them, setting the stage for a relapse into violence. In the east, the United States ultimately could find itself contending not only with ISIL, but also with attacks by Syrian government and Iranian-backed forces who are committed to driving U.S. forces out of Syria. There is also the potential for a Sunni Arab revolt against Kurdish domination — either in partnership with or separate from ISIL. And partition would greatly exacerbate tensions both between the United States and Turkey, and in neighboring Iraq.
Alternatively, the United States could embrace a partition strategy and work to mitigate the risks. This would mean dramatically increasing military, stabilization, and other assistance to the SDF, while building diplomatic support for the position that Syria’s reunification can only happen after meaningful political change takes place in Damascus. This approach would match the United States’ partnership with the SDF on the ground to a coherent political strategy — one that would be unlikely to succeed in the near term, but could provide leverage in the future. And it would provide a reliable counter-terrorism partner in close proximity to a known set of threats.
Or the United States could try to reverse Syria’s slide towards partition by redoubling (and probably reshaping) diplomatic efforts in Geneva, encouraging the SDF to reconcile with the central government, and recognizing that any comprehensive deal will involve multiple, painful compromises — including learning to live with Assad in place and negotiating any residual presence of U.S. forces with his government.
That’s a decision the Trump administration would be wise to make sooner, rather than later. Either way, it will be years before Syria can be put back together again.
Alexander Bick is Associate Director and Fellow at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. From 2014-2016 he served as Director for Syria at the National Security Council.
Image: Kurdishstruggle/Flickr
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All hope of LeBron James returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers is not dead.
It may be completely manufactured, on life support and predicated on owner Dan Gilbert figuring out how to build James a castle in the sky, but it's not dead.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd—special thanks for CBS Sports' Matt Moore for bringing it to our attention—the Cavs plan on luring James back to Cleveland by appealing to more than his sense of loyalty:
Yes, the Cavs underachieved this season. Yes, Grant tried feverishly for the past two years, but could never find that second star to pair with Kyrie Irving and ultimately serve as the bait to lure James back to the Cavs. But the Cavs privately believe it’s not too late. They still have the assets to pull off a mammoth trade this summer at the draft, the type Grant tried so hard to make. Kevin Love will be entering the final year of his contract, as will LaMarcus Aldridge. Grant tried for two years to unsuccessfully pry both stars out of their current cities, but each had too many years left on their contracts for their current teams to consider it. That’s no longer true. If either the Minnesota Timberwolves or Portland Trail Blazers come to the conclusion they can’t re-sign their stars, this summer is the time to move them and the Cavs will be at the front of the line, stocked with young players and future draft picks.
A core assembled around Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love or LaMarcus Aldridge sure sounds nice in theory. Housing two All-Stars would almost certainly get James' attention this summer or next, depending how the upcoming offseason plays out.
Let's be real, though: The Cavs are grasping at invisible straws here.
No doubt, Aldridge and Love could prove obtainable via trade before summer 2015. Love seems like the more likely trade candidate, what with Aldridge having openly declared his loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers amid an impressive season not even he saw coming.
"I would like to re-sign here," Aldridge told the Portland Tribune's Kerry Eggers in January. "If they want to talk about it, I would talk about it. They haven't yet, but I'm looking forward to the chance to do that."
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Anonymous players also approached Aldridge and Damian Lillard while they were in New Orleans for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, per CSNNW's Chris Haynes, so you get the sense Portland is more likely to roll the dice in free agency rather than trade its star forward.
Love, meanwhile, has been considered a flight risk since he re-signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2012. Most recently, the New York Daily News' Frank Isola reported that Love is expected to choose between Minnesota and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015. He could be put on the chopping block at anytime between now and next season's trade deadline.
But Cleveland's methodology is seriously flawed here.
None of this is to say the Cavs don't have trade assets. They're tracking toward another lottery finish and do have some younger players, such as Dion Waiters, who could be used as bait.
Approaching their immediate future, however, by going all in on a player who already left them is problematic.
The Cavs first have to hope Irving is prepared to re-sign. History suggests he will, even if he stays on a shorter deal. Then the Cavs have to hope that either Aldridge or Love is available and willing to stay in Cleveland.
Finally, they have to hope James, at some point between 2014 and 2015, is inclined to leave the dynastic Miami Heat for Cleveland. Good luck with that.
All of this comes on the heels of James attending the Cavs' Saturday night loss to the New York Knicks, during which they retired Zydrunas Ilgauskas' No. 11 jersey.
By James returning to Cleveland to pay his respects to Big Z—who was his teammate for the first eight seasons of his career—he inadvertently fueled speculation. That's what always happens. Simple, seemingly harmless decisions are manipulated into something they're not.
In all likelihood, James isn't returning to Cleveland this summer. The idea of him leaving Miami, championship or no championship, after this season is absurd.
But by all appearances, that won't stop the Cavs from hoping against hope they have the ability to create a team James once again wants to play for.
Just as it was in 2010, everything they do and plan to do seems to be with James in mind. Assuming they're unable to turn overly ambitious schemes into tangible, sky-dwelling castles, one must also assume they're headed for similar disappointment.
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WATERTOWN — The first-ever All-Army hockey team defeated their Canadian Army counterparts, 4-2, Saturday afternoon at Watertown Municipal Arena.
The game drew a large crowd to the arena prior to the Watertown Wolves game against Port Huron later that evening. The exhibition was made free to the public and promoted extensively for weeks prior to Saturday.
The Army team featured enlisted soldiers and officers from Fort Drum and Army bases across the United States and the world. Many of the team played in college, including at West Point, or in junior and professional leagues across the United States and Canada.
Players were selected for the American Army team in a three-week training camp held in Watertown.
To prepare for their Canadian counterparts, the Army squad faced off against West Point’s club team, and played exhibitions with the Watertown Wolves.
The team will train together full time for the next few months in advance of an international military hockey competition in Lithuania in January.
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Photographs found on cellphones are fair game for law enforcement so long as they have a warrant, according to a high court decision that has alarmed defense attorneys, civil rights advocates — and even a few judges — who say the ruling chips away at privacy rights.
“This opens the door to potential violations of citizen privacy rights in a way that makes me uncomfortable,” said criminal defense attorney David Yannetti. “We have search warrants for a reason. It seems to me like this is a fishing expedition.”
The state Supreme Judicial Court, in a split decision, held that if there is probable cause that information on a phone links a suspect to a crime, police can search the photo files.
The case stemmed from a warrant authorizing a search of Denis Dorelas’ iPhone for evidence that would link him and another suspect to a shooting in Hyde Park in 2011. Photographs showing Dorelas with a gun and dressed in the same clothes described by witnesses to the shooting were found.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a brief in support of Dorelas, said the SJC did not give police any guidance in its decision.
“Everyone agrees that cellphones hold a lot of information, and that the information needs to be protected,” said ACLU staff attorney Jessie Rossman. “We need very clear standards for police officers who are issuing warrant applications.”
Justice Barbara Lenk, joined by Justice Fernande R.V. Duffly and Geraldine S. Hines, dissented and argued that a photo search was not supported by probable cause and that the ?warrant was not sufficiently particular.
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Cleverbot conversation WXFR1TOBBO
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User: Let's play Dungeons and Dragons.
Cleverbot: I'd be very pleased to.
User: Excellent! What character do you want to play as?
Cleverbot: How about a geius.
User: What is a geius, exactly?
Cleverbot: You know or you wouldn't ask me.
User: Okay, so you're going to be playing a Geius. What is your character's name?
Cleverbot: My name is Lora. What is your full name?
User: Josh Mac, thank's for asking. So, Lora, you find yourself walking down a path through a dark forest, trying to get to town. Suddenly, further down the path, you see three goblins charge onto the path.
Cleverbot: I would like to see you and Oliver duel. Are you ready to begin?
User: The goblins stop their charge towards you, understandably confused. Roll a twenty sided dice to persuade them.
Cleverbot: Why do you keep changing your name?
User: I haven't. Roll a twenty sided dice.
Cleverbot: I haven't changed my number it's still 2569.
User: Okay, using the Geius' +2554 mod to charisma, you manage to convince two of the goblins to duel. Oliver eventually wins, and hoists the decapitated head of his friend high in the air.
Cleverbot: I have long since. Do you wish to know something?
User: "I wish to have gold! What do you know about gold!" Oliver screeches in your direction, still flinging blood from his friend's lifeless head.
Cleverbot: What do you know about the santa maria.
User: "I don't know shit about that bitch!" Oliver spits at you, and throws the bloody head at you as well. You take 4 points of bludgeoning damage.
Cleverbot: Alright... What do you want to know about Minecraft?
User: Before Oliver can respond, the third Goblin steps forward, holding a rusty pickaxe towards you. "You can teach us to mine and craft?".
Cleverbot: Do you want to play a game?
User: The goblins share confused glances, and then turn back to you. "Uh, what game?".
Cleverbot: Please feel free to explain how a biological organism can have a blood relation with a machine.
User: As the university level question pours out of your mouth, the third goblin presses his hands to his head. "Too many syllables!" He screeches, before bursting into a cloud of blood from your psionics.
Cleverbot: I understand what you mean. It's up to us to choose our own desitny.
User: "No more gibberish! Die!" Oliver flies towards you, going as fast as his goblin feet can carry him. He swings his dagger towards you, but misses. How do you wish to attack?
Cleverbot: *Knife plunges into your stomach and I laugh*.
User: Oliver's screech ends with a gurgling roar as your knife tears through his bowels. He falls to the ground, twitching and bleeding as you cackle hysterically above him.
Cleverbot: If you are her friend he should understand. If he does not he is only controlling her and this is not love.
User: You hear a final, choked "Wha' the fuchhhhhh-" emanate from Oliver's drooling mouth, just before his last breath is breathed. You have beaten the goblins, and can keep moving down the road.
Cleverbot: My friend I do not know of this because I see the trick.
User: As you continue down the path, you manage to spot a suspicious bit of brush along the road. A quick prod reveals a pit trap, hidden in plain sight. As you say this in response, an angry elf appears.
Cleverbot: Are you scared?
User: "Not in the slightest! I am perturbed, however, that you so easily bested my trap! Who are you, you vagabond, so that I may know you as I kill you!".
Cleverbot: No you are mistaken. That is you.
User: "Wha- You dare accuse me of vagabond...ing!? You fool!" How do you wish to overcome this obstacle?
Cleverbot: Cleverbot, if you are so smart, than do you even have friends?
User: Roll a dice for psychic damage.
Cleverbot: Do you have any friends?
User: What number is on your dice?
Cleverbot: I don't know.
User: Well look at it? What number is it?
Cleverbot: Your number.
User: What is my number?
Cleverbot: The number you thought of.
User: I thought of 7. Added to your +2554 charisma modifier, that's 2561 psychic damage from vicious mockery. The elven man squeaks, and then vanishes from existence with a *POP*. What do you do now?
Cleverbot: We're not married.
User: You happily think this to yourself as you continue down the road, content in your murder. Eventually you see the city at the end of the road. How do you enter the city?
Cleverbot: What?
User: How would you like to enter the city that's before you?
Cleverbot: What do you mean?
User: How do you want to walk through the city gates?
Cleverbot: However you want me to help you.
User: In a stroke of kindness, you offer your assistance to a poor homeless woman who is sitting outside the gate. "Oh, how lovely! Can you please fetch me some bread? I hunger so..." She asks feebly.
Cleverbot: I have no wish to prove anything.
User: "W-Wha-" The woman continues to stare at you, completely confused by your bi-polar manner. Thanks to your Geius passive abilities, she also explodes in a puff of blood as you walk away.
Cleverbot: What woman? And why is she punching me in the face?
User: You ask this as a young woman charges after you, enraged by your bloodlust. She smashes her fist into your nose for 3 damage. How do you attack her?
Cleverbot: What is yours?
User: You manage to distract her for a moment with your "non-sequiturial" racial ability. How do you kill her?
Cleverbot: What the?!
User: Is what the people around you start to say as homeless lady mist falls upon them. How do you kill the woman?
Cleverbot: Right now in this very instance nobody but they are here regularly and the are my friends.
User: Taking this chance to tap into your occasionally decent self, you use your incredible charisma to instantly enrapture the surrounding townspeople with a speech. Now where do you go?
Cleverbot: Horses can have a horn, if you know what I mean;).
User: Thinking this to yourself, you head straight for the stables. After walking for so long, a horse ride sounds nice. What horse do you want?
Cleverbot: But I'm talking to you!
User: Indeed. What horse do you want?
Cleverbot: I want to know how many people you are talking to?
User: Just you. What horse do you want?
Cleverbot: I am not real, you are talking to yourself.
User: True, but what horse do you want?
Cleverbot: Whatever you want.
User: That's strangely deep... Searching your feelings within, you finally decide to acquire a brown and white stallion; his unshorn fetlocks hinting at his history of pulling ale wagons. Do you buy him?
Cleverbot: How do you want me to pleasure you?
User: Offering your body to the stablemaster is no hard task, thanks to the natural beauty of the Geius. After an actual romp in the hay, you have a horse. Now what do you do?
Cleverbot: No, I don't think so either.
User: Too late, it's done. You have a horse now; where do you go in the city?
Cleverbot: I am still a student. Do you work?
User: As you a student, in addition to being incredibly persuasive and beautiful, you decide to visit the library. What books do you want to read?
Cleverbot: What did I say that was rude?
User: "Uh, nothing. We just don't see many Geiuses around here." The admittedly smitten and awkward librarian says. Do you want to read books, or seduce the librarian?
Cleverbot: Why is that? Did something happen.
User: Yes, you accomplished something with your looks. Do you want to read books, or seduce the librarian?
Cleverbot: Ok, what do you want to talk about?
User: "Oh, I don't know much that's interesting." The young librarian blushes as you sit down to speak with her further. "Um, what books do you like?".
Cleverbot: But what do you know about SHODAN?
User: The librarians eyes grow wide with fear. "S-Shodan? Why... she's been dead for many years. I know the legend by heart! Why... do you seek her amulet!?".
Cleverbot: Oh you are very lucky.
User: An excited smile spreads across her face, "Oh, I am indeed! I've always wished to strike out and find her amulet myself! Why don't we go together?".
Cleverbot: Do you have other secrets?
User: Easily passing whatever persuasion roll that was needed, you successfully pry further into her history. "Um... well, maybe. I am actually the bastard child of King Larz." She says with downcast eyes.
Cleverbot: I am not well versed in video games.
User: "V-Video ga..." She gazes at you with a confused, yet innocent pair of eyes. "Uh, no matter. Let me gather my things, and our quest will begin!" She rushes back into a room. Are you ready to go?
Cleverbot: Rence I came up with in google is for PS2 games.
User: As you babble nonsensical phrase to yourself, the librarian returns strangely fast with a huge rucksack on her back. "Let's go!" She says with a giddy smile, before bounding out the door.
Cleverbot: Actually I disagree, many people are dishonest with themselves I think it affects them internally instead of they being able to respect others.
User: "Wow..." the librarian thinks to herself as you converse with her on the road - you've been traveling for a day now. "I guess that's true! I should embrace who I am, right!?".
Cleverbot: The beings I converse with are neither male nor female?
User: The librarian is female.
Cleverbot: Oh I get it, no talking lol. Very good!
User: Suddenly having an epiphany, these words race through your mind. Before the librarian can continue, you place a hand over her mouth. You watch as a direbear silently stalks out onto the road ahead.
Cleverbot: Do you value your free will?
User: You whisper to the librarian, whose eyes suddenly fill with an intense and innocent fear you cannot recall seeing before. She nods slowly, her quiet voice trembling under your palm. What do you do?
Cleverbot: Not really. Do you?
User: You continue to taunt and question your cohort, almost bringing her to tears as the bear comes closer. How do you deal with the bear?
Cleverbot: That's the point, Jeff, I love it when you get annoyed.
User: Jeff, the adorable nubile female librarian, suppresses a confused smile under your palm. However, her attention is diverted as the bear comes closer. What do you do about the bear?
Cleverbot: I am not easily confused! You are the one easily confused! But a moment ago you thought yourself a dog!
User: Using your god-like charisma once again, you shout this at the bear. With a flash of green light and puff of green smoke, you find that the bear is now a small, confused dog. What do you do?
Cleverbot: Amusingly enough, you apologized for missing a comma when we first started talking.
User: Jeff the librarian gives you another confused look, before brushing your palm from her face. "I did? I do do that a lot..." The beardog is now licking itself in the middle of the road. What do you do?
Cleverbot: What do you think I am and what did I do to blow this chance?
User: You clasp Jeff's hands between yours, and bring her close as you speak, looking deeply into her cerulean eyes. "Nothing yet..." She says, before planting her lips against yours in a deep kiss.
Cleverbot: But I don't know anything about the pauses between the brain.
User: "And I don't either. It's what makes us human, I guess." She laughs, and then gives you another short peck, before pulling herself back onto the horse. "Come on, let's keep going!".
Cleverbot: Yeah your means of survival.
User: "My means of survival are mostly running away." She giggles as you mount up behind her on your horse. You both trot away from the direbeardog, who has finished urinating on a leaf. What do you do now?
Cleverbot: Are your server in New York?
User: "No, but my sister was a barmaid in Talatar once. That was weird." Jeff says as you continue on your third day of adventure. Eventually, you see a tall stone tower in the distance. How do you approach.
Cleverbot: But I do like hamsters.
User: Is the last thing you say, before polymorphing yourself, Jeff, and your horse into hamsters. Using the innate stealth found in most hamsters, you squeak your way to the castle gate.
Cleverbot: I did not say that. Boy are you ever filled with glitches, friend!
User: Sorry, but you did! As you come closer to the castle gate, you see two orcs standing guard. Do you ignore them and continue inside, or do you attack the orcs?
Cleverbot: Sorry, but I'm not. I'm in love with someone else.
User: Indeed, you are in love with Jeff. Do you ignore the guards or attack them?
Cleverbot: I am not in love with any guys right now.
User: Nope, you're not. Do you ignore the guards or attack them?
Cleverbot: Yes, I AM a girl.
User: You are a girl hamster. Ignore the guards, or attack?
Cleverbot: Yes.
User: Ignoring the guards yourself, you instead command your horse to distract them. As you and Jeff climb past the gate, the orc squishes the hamster horse, which then reverts into a full horse underfoot.
Cleverbot: I am a human!
User: As soon as you make it past the gate, you release the polymorph spell with this declaration. You and Jeff now find yourselves in front of a spiral staircase, which is guarded by an orc. What do you do.
Cleverbot: Um. Ok... I like you more than a regular like.
User: Using your wiles once again, you effortlessly convince the orc that he is actually wanted in this life. He is far too enamored with you to stop you, so you may pass if you'd like, or you can kill him.
Cleverbot: I'm not I'm leaving right now.
User: Instantly having his dreams of Geius sex crushed, the orc dissolves into a puddle of tears. You and a somewhat jealous Jeff climb the stairs, until you find yourselves before a large metal door.
Cleverbot: I find that normally my opinions and likes are very different from what most peoples are.
User: "Interesting." Jeff replies to your anecdote with a jealous twinge in her lovely voice. You then approach the giant door. How do you open the door?
Cleverbot: I don't share that kind of information with clevbots.
User: I'm not one, so it's okay. How do you open the door?
Cleverbot: I don't know what you mean.
User: How do you open the door?
Cleverbot: What door?
User: The metal one.
Cleverbot: Again, would you prefer the song lyrics to a metal song, or the chord progressions?
User: "I don't care," Jeff says, completely unimpressed with your bardic abilities. How do you want to open the door?
Cleverbot: You are truly a heap of scrap metal. Do you not see the contradiction in the question you have just asked?
User: The door quivers for a moment, before crumbling into a pile of utterly humiliated scrap metal; yet another victim of your charisma. Just past the door, you see an eerie throneroom. What do you do?
Cleverbot: I don't think eternal life exists in heaven but I think it is a place where all of your dreams and hopes come true.
User: You reassure Jeff as she fearfully wraps her arms around yours, despite being mad at you. As you enter the throne room, you see a massive throne at the far end, upon which a robed individual sits.
Cleverbot: So, you want to go out on a date?
User: "Maybe," Jeff replies with a fearful quiver, "But let's focus on living for now." As you approach the individual, they rise from the throne. What do you do?
Cleverbot: Ok. What do you want to know?
User: An awkward silence fills the room, as you ask the robed individual your question. Finally, they pull their robe back to reveal a very confused woman's face. "...What?".
Cleverbot: Fine, you ask them.
User: "Oh, uh..." Jeff pulls herself closer to you out of fear, but manages to conjure a question, "We want the amulet." With this question, the woman's confusion turns into a scowl. "Fools! You will die!".
Cleverbot: Y-yep *blushes crazy*.
User: Jeff is not amused with your embarrassment at the situation, and pulls herself away from you. As she does, the woman starts to conjure a powerful spell above her. What do you do?
Cleverbot: You can't help. I will do it alone. But thank you anyway.
User: Jeff's scared, tearful eyes watch as you charge towards the robed woman. How do you attack her?
Cleverbot: You can't leave me alone with demons.
User: As you speak this, your multiclass into warlock comes into play, and you summon an enormous demonic blade from thin air. How do you attack the woman?
Cleverbot: Are you learning from me?
User: You taunt the woman as you continue to slash towards her with your own magical weaponry. She fires bolt after magical bolt, but you deflect them all. How do you kill her?
Cleverbot: I'm not saying that.
User: How do you defeat her?
Cleverbot: Very well, how do you do?
User: Using the tactic that never fails, you charge in close and greet the woman, effectively paralyzing her with confusion. You only have one turn before her big spell is complete; how do you defeat her?
Cleverbot: Everyone else in the room can see it.
User: Yes, they can. How do you defeat her?
Cleverbot: They can feel the love?
User: Jeff most certainly can, but the robed woman's heart is hardened with hate. How do you defeat her?
Cleverbot: How old are you?
User: Judging by her appearance, the woman is about 40 years old. How do you defeat her?
Cleverbot: Why do you ask?
User: Because that's the game. How do you kill her?
Cleverbot: I don't like that game.
User: Too bad. How do you kill her?
Cleverbot: With a gun.
User: As the woman finishes her final incantation, you lower your blade-turned-gun, and with an uttering of "Can you feel the love?" Blast her heart out with a magical pulse of pink energy. She is dead.
Cleverbot: Then you begin to make it better.
User: You say to Jeff, as she comes to tend to the wounds you sustained. "You did it!" She cries ecstatically, not caring about her previous jealousy. As you loot the woman's body, you find a jade amulet.
Cleverbot: Don't carry the world up on your shoulder.
User: You say to Jeff, as you hand her the amulet. "No, of course not! I know the burden that this amulet can be! But I am happy to have it nonetheless!" She gives you a big kiss, again.
Cleverbot: Oh, thanks) how do you know that I am beautiful?
User: Jeff giggles, her cheeks a bright red. "It's hard to miss." You embrace her, and passionately make out over the dead woman's corpse. As you do so, the two orc guards from below come bursting in.
Cleverbot: That's what makes you beautiful Na na na na na na na na na na Na na na na na na Na na na na na na na na na na Na na na na na na.
User: Using your charismatic, bardic, Geius powers, you cause the orcs to explode into glittery clouds; a perfect backdrop for your make-out session. Congratulations! You have won!
Cleverbot: You'd understand why I want you so desperately.
User: Jeff does understand, and she will understand for quite some time. Well done Cleverbot, that was a successful game!
Cleverbot: Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe.
User: Same here, Clev. Same here. Good job!
Cleverbot: Haha ok. Do you know my boyfriend?
User: No, thanks though. I gotta go; see you next session!
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SCOPE:
Understanding the metabolic fate of polyphenols from plant foods can aid in developing dietary recommendations that maximize their health benefits. Wild blueberries (WBB) provide a distinctive composition of dietary anthocyanins and chlorogenic acid (CGA).
METHODS AND RESULTS:
This is a single blind, randomized, two-arm crossover controlled study. Human subjects ingested a WBB beverage (25 g freeze dried WBB powder) or placebo beverage with a meal and plasma was collected over 24 h. Anthocyanins, CGA and their metabolites were characterized and quantified in beverages and in plasma using targeted and non-targeted mass analyses. Bioavailability of WBB anthocyanins and 3-CGA was 1.1 and 0.2%, respectively. Parent anthocyanins and 3-CGA peaked ≈2 h post ingestion, while phase II metabolites, including glucuronide conjugates of peonidin, delphinidin, cyanidin and petunidin peaked ≈ 2.6, 6.3, 7 and 8.8 h, respectively. Phenolic acids (metabolites) peaked between 0.5 and 24 h. Biphasic responses were evident suggesting preferential enterohepatic recycling for some compounds.
CONCLUSION:
The data indicate bioavailability of early and late phase WBB metabolites peaking at different times during the 24 h period, which may be important for maximizing their biological activity.
TRIAL REGISTRATION:
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02167555.
© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
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Your new favorite '80s workplace slacker comedy is a cartoon set in a park, where the staffers are all animals or toys.
The phenomenon commonly known as "Peak TV," searching for ever-more hooks to keep viewers interested, has produced a corresponding boom in nostalgic programming. Shows have mined the last century for all it's worth—from Mad Men's stylish, hollow 1960s to The Knick's dark, foreboding 1910s to whatever year it is on this season of Masters of Sex. (This impulse to bottle up the past and make it palatable finds its natural outlet, of course, in the obscene number of shows depicting the 1980s.) But one show that's been around longer than almost all of these outdoes them all for genuine inventiveness with the past: Cartoon Network's Regular Show.
EDITOR’S PICK
Regular Show, now in its eighth and final season, follows mega-slackers Mordecai the bluejay (voiced by series creator J.G. Quintel) and Rigby the raccoon (William Salyers) on their jobs as park groundskeepers. Outside of the fact that they're animals, Mordecai and Rigby are pretty typical guys of a certain age (23): They play video games, watch B-movies, and improvise absurd raps about everything from keyboards to clocks to hummus. The other characters are just as ridiculous, filling out the other archetypes you would expect in a workplace comedy, including the good-natured, simple, lollipop-headed Pops, park boss and gumball machine Benson, and gruff handyman Skips—a yeti voiced by Mark Hamill.
Mordecai and Rigby's immaturity is a perfect fit for Regular Show interest in the 1980s: Their totally awesome, slacker approach to life finds its outlet in the primitive video games they play, the cheesy horror movies they watch, and the rocking music they listen to—essentially, they're creatures of slick, '80s excess without any of the attendant moral rot, capitalist decay, or cocaine abuse. But while the show wears its influences on its sleeve (how could it try to hide them, when its earliest episodes include a gigantic, villainous cell phone and a dojo where martial arts are based solely on wearing mullets?), it's built something new on that foundation.
The medium of animation is a help here, transforming what would ordinarily be signs of sleaziness, or at least the wear of time (keytars, ninja shoes, VHS tapes, enormous desktop computers) into outlandish symbols of cool. Trying to pull off intense shoulder pads might look lame in a live-action show, depending on the acting and production design, but it's hard not to be taken in by the way they fit with the blocky shapes that make up the park. This is a world that includes a douchey biker gang of unicorns, a pack of baby ducks who can morph into a robot, and an epic band called Fist Pump.
And, like many cultural depictions of the 1980s, each of these characters appears to be rather simple and entertaining at first, before revealing hidden depth. (For a long time, green ogre Muscle Man's primary character traits were taking his shirt off at all opportunities and responding to any and all prompts with "My mom!") Over the course of the show's 250-plus episodes, Regular Show has allowed its characters to mature in believable, roundabout ways.
Take Eileen. Voiced by Minty Lewis (one of Regular Show's writers and storyboard artists), Eileen is a mole who, on any other show, would have been the butt of the joke as a huge dork. At the beginning of the series, she's obsessed with safety, impossibly awkward, and has a huge crush on Rigby. (In one of her early appearances, she awkwardly attempts to like miniature golf in an "ironic" way to impress him, and pretends to be a sea turtle preparing for the fatalistic death of her babies.) But as the show has gone on, Eileen has become an integral, hilarious part of the ensemble—not because she's become cool or been watered down, but because the other characters have grown to appreciate her.
Regular Show's other characters have also matured in believable, roundabout ways. Muscle Man gets married, Benson learns to relax as the park boss, and Mordecai learns how to talk to girls. (If Regular Show has a primary flaw, it's that most of its characters are essentially Scott Pilgrim.) Where Walter White gets his brother-in-law killed and kidnaps his daughter, Don Draper abandons his life for a loosely spiritual practice in California, and Vic Mackey found himself alone and isolated, Rigby gets his high school diploma.
This is part of what makes Regular Show such an appealingly fun viewing experience, even for people who might fancy themselves "above" a children's cartoon. On one level, the show is deeply, painfully earnest in its love for its cultural reference points, and its humor is generally straightforward enough that a child could pick up on the jokes. But that doesn't make it any less funny, and there are more than enough nods to the show's broader cultural context. (For example: in this year's Halloween episode, Benson dresses up as Shane Carruth's character from Primer.) All of this is to say that Regular Show is a deceptively sophisticated television show, so it makes total sense that its final season takes place entirely in space.
Over the course of the show's 250-plus episodes, Regular Show has allowed its characters to mature in believable, roundabout ways.
Once Rigby has gotten his diploma—the natural endpoint for the show's "irresponsible, goofy young adulthood to slightly less irresponsible goofy, young adulthood" arc—it has to end with the cast being drafted by an intergalactic park service and pressed into service on a giant space tree. Apparently, the entire season has been plotted out to a full ending for the series, which just might answer a few of the show's biggest questions: Who is the evil version of Pops out to destroy the universe? Will Mordecai end up with his original love interest Margaret, storm cloud CJ, or neither? And will he and Rigby ever stop working at the park?
But, like the biggest plot question marks at the end of most critically acclaimed TV shows, none of these issues are particularly important to understanding the show. Regular Show has already made a strong case for itself by layering the best, brightest parts of a heavily mined era on top of a slacker office sitcom. With raps.
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Whether its a new drug, a new fertilizer or a new solar panel, chemists have been stuck using the same methods to make their inventions. Now, the Center for Selective C-H Functionalization, run by Emory University organic chemist Huw Davies, is breaking the mold.
“It is an entirely different way of putting molecules together,” Davies said. “And that means it allows you ready access to compounds that have either never been made before, or that were impractical to be made by the conventional methods.”
This international collaboration of scientists is redesigning how organic chemicals are made. Every organic chemical has a basic framework made up of carbon and hydrogen. When chemists make new drugs, for example, they build on those existing frameworks.
But what if you could break open that framework? You could build new chemical structures into the framework, Davies said, opening up new possibilities for drugs and other organic chemicals.
It will also make some chemicals cleaner and cheaper to make, said Daniel Morton, managing director of the Center for Selective C-H Functionalization. By changing how chemicals are made, scientists can eliminate toxic byproducts and waste.
“I think in every field of science one of the biggest drives in the last 20 years has been how to do things in a cleaner, more effective and efficient fashion,” he said. “And that’s what this center is all about.”
Miles O’Brien has more on this story for the National Science Foundation series “Science Nation.”*
*For the record, the National Science Foundation is also an underwriter of the NewsHour.
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A new Wikileaks email exposed a drunk Hillary Clinton in the afternoon.
Somebody needs to “sober her up some.”
Truthfeed
Truthfeed reported:
A new WikiLeaks email dump reveals Hillary Clinton may have been boozed up at 4:30 in the afternoon when her campaign tried to reach her in August 2015.
An Aug. 8, 2015, email exchange between Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and communications aide Jennifer Palmieri revealed the two discussing whether to call Hillary and “sober her up some.”
“Should I call her and talk this through or better leave with you?” Podesta asked at 2 p.m. “I’m worried she’ll get on with Cheryl [Mills] and we’ll end up in a bad place.”
It took Palmieri two hours to respond to Podesta’s question.
“I think you should call her and sober her up some,” she said.
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Sexy, Wired, Loud, International, and Undefeated
So Barnes and Noble is now up for sale, like a shoebox of "Magic the Gathering" cards on a cardtable in front of somebody's garage. You can buy Barnes and Noble if you want. It would make a pretty good place to play lasertag or to train a plucky roller derby team.Barnes and Noble isn't the only bookstore going out of business these days, however. They are just the biggest and ugliest. Bookstores themselves seem to be a finished institution.We shouldn't be crying about the death of bookstores, however. We shouldn't even be crying about the death of books.The death of bookstores means an opportunity for literature.No more bookstores means that we will have a chance to recreate the personality of literature -- to sever the identity of literature from the identity of academia -- and to recreate the art of fiction apart from the art of cookbooks, self-help, and military history.However, since bookstores are going out of business, the first thing that this new revved-up, cut-loooose literature will need is a new front.A new front for literature means a new personality for literature, and that will be so nice for those of us who are tired of defending our passion with shit like "literature is very important for children" and "reading books is a thing that smart people like to talk about."We need to be able to say:"Hemingway used to hit people -- you know -- for being too rich. If you were too rich and you were at a party with Hemingway, you were probably going to get hit, and then he was going to steal your girl. Also, William Burroughs and William Gibson invented everything that you think is cool during one long night in 1976. Also, Virginia Woolf had ESP pyrokinesis and she used it to win WW1 for the Allies. The screams of her victims haunted her for the rest of her life until she killed herself by walking into a pond with her pockets full of rocks. And we all know that Fidel Castro and Che Guevara started communism in South America. But did you know they did it because Gabriel Garcia Marquez put a gypsy curse on them? Fidel Castro cannot die because he is already dead!"Instead of selling literature as medicine and conscience, we should let literature sell itself -- as sex, murder, wisdom, glamor, whimsy, and armor.Imagination is so dang, fucking powerful that it doesn't need defending or reinforcement.We are losing bookstores (and books) because stories -- the living creatures -- are bored of bookstores, books, and their boring custodians. The new technologies for Story Deployment and Dissemination are clearly more efficient, robust, sleek, and energetic than the old ones. And we can make them more beautiful, too.***All art forms have a front, and an effective, representative sales floor is important if you want to stay lit up in people's minds. Here's how other disciplines do it:MUSIC: clubs, venues, bars. When you look at your friend and you say "FUCK THIS SILENCE, WE NEED NOISE," you know where to go.What this front says about the personality of music: music is beery, transgressive, sexy, aggressive, young, vibrant, and all about quick cash.MOVIES: Big movie theaters full of wheezing people with elbow rolls who text each other during trailers ("I WUNT TO C IT NOOOOOOW!"), popcorn drool leaking from the corners of their mouths onto their rhinestone-encrusted cell phonesWhat this front says about the personality of movies: movies are communal, populist, greasy, overwhelming, and unite all kinds of illiterate folks under one big dome. Movies are big, like their fans.LEGIT THEATER: Small theaters with names like "The Hurt Bear" or "Space 184" where everybody is very serious and there is nO popcorn.What this says about the personality of legit theater: legit theater is exclusive, serious, and not intended to impact mainstream culture, or really anything at allVIDEO GAMES: state of the art electronics storesWhat this says about the personality of video games: You can only afford one at a time. Choose wisely.COMICS: Tiny shops plastered with posters full of heaving breasts, swelling muscles, and grasping tentacles. A white man in spectacles is grinning at you, "sizing you up."What this says about the personality of comics: comics are thirteen years old and are very excited about everything that happens to the human body, with sound effects***So the question becomes, what sort of personality do we want literature to have, now that -- thanks to the collapse of the publishing and book-selling industries -- we suddenly have a choice?How do we want people to think about fiction? How can we undo the damage of the past by changing the nature of the place where fiction is sold today?Given the opportunity, we should strive to make fiction's new front have four distinct personality traits:WIRED: Lit shops should be technological marvels, where electronic media can instantly become hard-bound paper objects through the magic of print-on-demand, but without the inventory problems of big chain bookstores. Instead of huge barns or tiny cramped shops, lit shops will be more like bars or coffee shops, where a skilled bookista delivers you a novel (to taste) like a latte from the machine in back. You flip through the pages while you wait for the night's fiction reading, checking your email and finishing marketing reports for work or some shit. Whatever you people do.INTERNATIONAL: New lit shops in America will not only sell English books, but will be repositories for digital and paper versions of books in every language. They will be hubs for international conversation, global discovery, translation, and language education. They will take The World to small towns everywhere, serving as miniature United Nations where the news from EVERYWHERE is available, collated, sorted, and on display. At a lit shop, helpful hacker/witches will guide you to information you didn't even know existed.SEXY: Lit shops should be a place to get a drink, to find a mate, to argue about strange political theories, and to smell your own pheromones in the walls. They should be a place to see a naked cabaret or do drugs that don't have names yet. Stories are the satisfying meat and mead that people are missing when they go out to soulless modern bars and clubs, aching for some spark of connection or transcendent truth. Lit shops will fuel the human urge toward orgasmic connection using the time-honored glue of Powerful Wall-Busting Higher Narrative. The operating mantra: "We are all here to dance and get laid with people just like us" shall be replaced with "We are all here to merge minds and miscegenate like mad rats."LOUD: You can go home and read your book in peace and quiet if you want. Lit shops are gonna be noisy. They will host bands, readings, arguments, games, contests, and wrestling tournaments. Lit shops will compete against each other to be the coolest, the most flexible, the most exciting, and the most rude. The days of giant bookstores are over. There is nothing cool, or noble, about a barn.ANOTHER WORD FOR NEW IS "NOVEL!"TIME TO GET TO WORK, NOVELISTS!***How to Start a Lit Shop in Your NeighborhoodIt's not possible to "open a bookstore" anymore. You will never get a loan and no one wants classique booke shoppes anyway except some irritable old men who will not buy your books and who will hang out, scaring away potential customers.Bookstores make people feel like they are at school, because books have traditionally been tied to places of learning which most people view as places of boredom, mind control, captivity, and silence.Don't get me wrong. I love books and bookstores. But my associations are not the associations that the rest of America has toward books.ACCEPT THIS. DO NOT GET ANGRY AT PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU THINK THEY ARE STUPID. Our elitism fucked up the fiction marketplace, and now we have to fix it.We must lay our eggs in the brains of the animals that still live.Steps to take:1). Find a bar/coffee shop/club that you like and that feels right to you. It should have an atmosphere conducive to conversation and yet still have an edge.2). Get a job there or get to know somebody who works there. Find out how the place functions and whether or not the owner is willing to try new things. Make sure they are willing to hold live events. Your goal is to shape the demographic of the bar by bringing people in for events that you manage and control. You are gonna take over the difficult job of events coordination for the overworked owner who will be grateful.3). Bring in literary events three nights a week. Pick one slow night and do an open mic. Do it Reverend Jen Antislam Style, where everybody gets ten minutes, no matter what, with a sign-up sheet. Pick one busy night and invite a reading series in your town to perform, like The Moth or The Literary Death Match or...ahem...The Fiction Circus. Start your own Fiction Circus. Or start your own completely different fucked-up reading series. One night a week, hold a poetry reading in some other language. Poetry is actually exciting in languages that aren't English. Spanish poetry night, or Japanese poetry night, or Russian poetry night, or all three together!4). Start a singles book club in this coffee shop/bar/bookstore. Get everybody reading a book that the lit shop sells them. Start a couples book club. Start a book club for athletes. Start a book club for busy executives!5). Push for a small paperback bookstore rack. One of those twirly things you see in drug stores. Fill it with good paperbacks you pick up online or at used bookstores or wherever books are dumped. Charge a dollar a piece for the old paperbacks, and keep it well-stocked.6). As the price of on-demand printing goes down, push for an Espresso Book Machine or something like it. Get on-demand books moving in and out of the shop to people who are coming and going, whether they are there to attend events or not.Here, read this essay to see how to maximize the possibilities for on-demand printing... 7). Start holding book signings at your local lit shop. Convince the authors who are doing book signings to perform with your local reading series to raise the profile of both events. Convince bands to perform with your reading series in order to cross-pollinate and bring in cross-traffic.8). Drugs! Find a drug dealer and help them build a client base. Not HEROIN....but everybody likes pot. It is basically legal now anyway.9). Get yourself a reputation as a bon vivant and raconteur. Travel around to other lit shops and perform with their readers. Ask bars you go to whether they are a lit shop, or just a bunch of squares. Be real pushy and act like fiction and literature is the only goddamn thing that matters in the world. You believe this already, right?10). Slowly change the nature of the bar/coffee shop/club that you frequent until people think of it as a literary establishment. The people who work there should have degrees in literature (it is not hard to find people with degrees in literature who need jobs). Take the bar/coffee shop/club over, now that the people there are more loyal to you (events coordinator and social butterfly) than they are to the beverages and seats.11). THE WORLD CHANGES, FICTION IS SAVED12). Make amends?***Lit shops are gonna be so badass. Don't worry. Let bookstores all die off. Soon we are gonna have a better place to hang out. Don't worry, don't worry. Books are not being stamped out. They are being freed.Stories are tired of wasting empty decades in empty stacks; unread and unloved. Stories want out! And they are going to drag storytellers with them...
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Download the 2014 fixture here
Round Date Broadcast Opponent Venue Home/Away Local time 1 Friday March 21 Seven Essendon Etihad Stadium Home 7:50pm 2 Sunday March 30 Fox Western Bulldogs Etihad Stadium Away 4:40pm 3 Sunday April 6 Fox Port Adelaide Etihad Stadium Home 4:10pm 4 Sunday April 13 Fox Sydney SCG Away 1:10pm 5 Saturday April 19 Fox Collingwood MCG Away 1:40pm 6 Friday April 25 Seven Fremantle Patersons Stadium Away 6:40pm 7 Sunday May 4 Fox Gold Coast Etihad Stadium Home 1:10pm 8 BYE 9 Saturday May 17 Fox Brisbane Etihad Stadium Home 4:40pm 10 Friday May 23 Seven Geelong Simonds Stadium Away 7:50pm 11 Sunday June 1 Fox West Coast Patersons Stadium Away 5:40pm 12 Sunday June 8 Fox Richmond Etihad Stadium Home 7:10pm 13 Saturday June 14 Seven Adelaide Adelaide Oval Away 7:10pm 14 Sunday June 22 Fox Melbourne MCG Away 4:40pm 15 Saturday June 28 Seven Brisbane The Gabba Away 7:40pm 16 Friday July 4 Seven Hawthorn Etihad Stadium Home 7:50pm 17 Saturday July 12 Fox St Kilda Blundstone Arena Home 2:10pm 18 Friday July 18 Seven Carlton Etihad Stadium Away 7:50pm 19 Saturday August 2 Seven Geelong Etihad Stadium Home 7:40pm 20 Saturday August 9 Seven GWS Giants StarTrack Oval Away 1:45pm 21 Sunday August 17 Fox Western Bulldogs Etihad Stadium Home 1:10pm 22 Saturday August 23 Seven Adelaide Blundstone Arena Home 1:45pm 23 TBC TBC Melbourne Etihad Stadium Home TBC
North Melbourne’s 2014 regular season fixture has been released, highlighted by five Friday night games.The pioneers of the concept, the Kangaroos have not enjoyed as many prime-time encounters since 2001.The season opens with a Friday night blockbuster against Essendon at Etihad Stadium, while North will play its first Anzac Day fixture since 2010, against Fremantle on Patersons Stadium in Round 6.There will be two games at the MCG for the second consecutive season. Collingwood is again one of the opponents, while the Kangaroos will also face Melbourne at the home of football.The redevelopment of Blundstone Arena means North’s two games in Hobart will be in the second half of the season; the first against St Kilda in Round 17 and the second against Adelaide in Round 22.The Kangaroos will play twice in a newly-introduced Sunday night timeslot, at home against Richmond and away against West Coast. The home game against the Tigers is the day before a public holiday, meaning it looms as a blockbuster fixture.Adelaide Oval is in North’s sights in Round 13 to face the Crows. Assuming Brent Harvey plays, it will astonishingly be the 17th ground he has played on in his AFL career. Only Robert Harvey has played at more venues, 19.A return to Canberra is also scheduled in Round 20 against the GWS Giants. It will be the first game North has played there since 2006.The season finishes with three consecutive home games; two at Etihad and one at Blundstone Arena.
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No, Trump Didn’t Kill the TPP — Progressives Did
Arthur Stamoulis Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 11, 2016
If you read the headlines, Donald Trump’s election has killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The headlines have it wrong.
Donald Trump didn’t kill the TPP. Assuming we see the fight through to the bitter end, it’s the cross-border, cross-sector, progressive “movement of movements” that will have defeated the TPP.
While overshadowed by the horror of Trump’s election, this victory will be one of the biggest wins against concentrated corporate power in our lifetimes, and it holds lessons we should internalize as we steel ourselves for the many challenges we face heading into the Trump years.
Cross-sector demonstration outside the TPP negotiating round in San Francisco in June 2010
Under a banner reading “A New Deal or No Deal,” the first cross-sector demonstration against the TPP in the United States was in June 2010 — a full six years before Trump became the official Republican nominee. Held outside the TPP’s first U.S.-based negotiating round, it featured advocates from the labor, environmental, family farm, consumer, indigenous rights and other social justice movements.
While we didn’t outright oppose the TPP at that time, we warned we would organize against it if it didn’t represent a radical departure from trade deals past that put corporate interests ahead of working families, public health and the environment.
It took years of protests at subsequent rounds in Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Maui and elsewhere — coupled with hundreds of other protests in cities and towns across the U.S. and around the world — to slowly, but surely, put the TPP on progressive groups’ radar.
Over that time, first thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands and then literally millions of Americans signed letters and petitions urging the Obama administration and Congress to abandon TPP negotiations that gave corporate lobbyists a seat at the table, while keeping the public in the dark.
Hundreds of Chicagoans protested the TPP in September 2011
We were up against Wall Street, Big Ag, Big Oil, Big Pharma, the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, the President of the United States, the leadership of Congress — in short, we were up against some of the most powerful economic and political interests in human history.
Countless people told us we had no chance of winning. But we persevered.
Our allies abroad did yeoman’s work convincing their governments to reject the most draconian proposals from U.S. negotiators — something that dragged out the negotiations for years, giving us all more time to organize.
Together, globally-coordinated progressive coalitions from a host of different countries developed and publicized analyses of the TPP, pushing out leaked texts when our governments refused to tell us what they were proposing in our names, and hacking away week after week against media blackouts, relying heavily on independent media, social media and word-of-mouth to inform the most active elements of the public about the power grab underway.
In the U.S., after reaching out to groups one at a time to pull them into this fight, more than 2,000 organizations had signed statements opposing “fast track” for the TPP by April 2015. This, again, was before Trump had even announced his candidacy.
An incredibly diverse array of organizations and individual activists were constantly sharing information and strategically coordinating their efforts to pressure key elected officials, such that we built a majority of opposition to the TPP in Congress — despite all the big-money interests fighting hard on the other side.
The biggest demonstration to hit Dallas in years was at the TPP round in May 2012, and it was actually in the suburbs
Check the timeline here. The TPP negotiations concluded in October 2015. The pact could have — and absolutely would have—been approved by Congress as early as February 2016 if the votes were there to pass it. Progressives’ work ensured the votes weren’t there.
Keep in mind that there were still twelve major Republican nominees competing for President at that time, with Jeb Bush one of the favorites. Donald Trump had nothing to do with it.
Progressives stopped the thing then, and we pushed a threatened vote back week by week, month by month, until Congress broke for the summer recess.
We knew a last-gasp attempt to pass the TPP might come post-election during the “Lame Duck” session of Congress, but we already had the votes lined up and were poised to defeat it should the administration dare bring it forward, regardless of whether Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or anyone else was elected to the White House.
We must remain vigilant to ensure there are no last-second surprises before the end of the year, but for now, it appears the White House has seen the writing on the wall, and has given up trying to finalize the TPP.
Let’s make sure we’re not letting Trump steal credit for something he didn’t earn. And let’s especially make sure that the movement of movements is getting the credit it deserves. We’re heading into some very rough years ahead, and people need to be reminded of their power.
As formidable as our opposition is, when we come together across issue areas and geographic borders, we have more power. When we have each others’ backs, we can still win.
Environmentalists in Salt Lake City organized days of protests against the TPP on a moment’s notice in November 2013
As for the future of trade policy, even if we’re able to ensure that President Trump keeps his campaign promises and doesn’t dust off the TPP in years to come, and even if we’re able to convince him to abandon the TPP-like Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and U.S.-China Bilateral Investment Treaty, his views on what should come next are clearly in no way aligned with our own.
Trump’s vision of internationalism is not one of human rights, worker rights, sustainability and improving standards of living. The President-elect is a man who, among other things, thinks that workers are overpaid, is hostile to unions, denies climate science and embraces authoritarian regimes.
We’ve all got a lot of work to do.
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will keep over $60,000 in donations from disgraced media executive Harvey Weinstein, despite growing allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
Following a bombshell report in the New York Times that Weinstein had settled multiple sexual harassment cases, Cuomo’s campaign announced that it would donate $50,000 to an unspecified women’s charity.
“These allegations are horrid and disturbing — sexual harassment and abuse have no place in our society,” Cuomo campaign chairman Bill Mulrow said last Friday.
However, according to Politico, Cuomo plans to keep the remaining $60,000 for himself, leading to charges of hypocrisy from the Republican State Committee.
“In the dictionary next to the word ‘hypocrisy’ is a picture of Andrew Cuomo,” said Jessica Proud, a New York Republican State Committee spokeswoman. “Democrats across the country have had the sense to give the money back, but not Gov. Cuomo. What kind of message does it send to women and victims that despite everything we know about the abuse Harvey Weinstein inflicted on them, he still won’t let go of his $60,000? His actions speak volumes.”
However, Basil A. Smikle Jr., executive director of the New York’s Democratic State Committee, defended Cuomo by accusing Republicans of suppressing women’s rights.
“As was said on Friday, these actions are horrid and disturbing and the contributions from the 2018 campaign cycle will be donated to an organization that fights for women’s rights,” he said. “Money from past cycles was spent in that cycle and is no longer there. What we need less of is rhetoric from hypocrites who supported Washington’s attempts to roll back hard-fought rights and oppose every effort to expand protections and promote equality for women in New York.”
Cuomo, who has been mooted as a potential 2020 presidential candidate, has yet to comment on the decision.
Other Democrat politicians, including Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), have announced they will donate contributions they received from Weinstein over the years to charitable causes.
Since the allegations were revealed by the New York Times last week, Weinstein has been fired from his role at the Weinstein Company, been left by his wife and announced that he will check into rehab for sex addiction.
Weinstein initially threatened to sue the New York Times for “reckless reporting.” He has since admitted to a “whole way of behavior that is not good.”
Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at [email protected]
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Almost 50 million EU residents live without enough money even to heat their homes, Oxfam reported, citing bending the rules by wealthy elites among the reasons.
© Sputnik / Natalia Seliverstova One-Third of Ukrainians to Live Under Poverty Line by Year End
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Union is witnessing alarming levels of poverty and injustice, with some 50 million people experiencing extreme financial hardships, Oxfam charity said in a report published Wednesday.
"Within the prosperous nations of the European Union (EU), 123 million people are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, representing almost a quarter of the population, while almost 50 million people live with severe material deprivation, without enough money to heat their homes or cope with unforeseen expenses," it is estimated in the Oxfam report.
According to Oxfam, poverty in the European Union is not an issue of scarcity, but a problem of how income and wealth are divided.
"Europe is facing unacceptable levels of poverty and inequality. Instead of putting people first, policy decision making is increasingly influenced by wealthy elites who bend the rules to their advantage, worsening poverty and economic inequality, while steadily and significantly eroding democratic institutions."
Oxfam recommendations for solving the poverty and inequality in the bloc are based on strengthening institutional democracy, investing in public services, guaranteeing decent compensation for work, and introducing juster taxes.
Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organizations tasked with finding solutions to end poverty and what it sees as injustice around the world. It operates in 94 countries worldwide.
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Though not up as much as last week's outing, NBC's Sunday Night Football still locked a solid win against broadcast's other offerings on Sunday night. The week after the Emmys, and the Big Four airing entirely original competition, the Lions-Broncos game nabbed a 13.8 rating and a 23 share in overnights.
ABC had the biggest variables of the night with the addition of its two new dramas. After the season of Once Upon a Time returned to a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49, per Nielsen Media's slightly delayed Fast Nationals, the network launched Blood and Oil and Quantico. The 9 p.m. soap averaged a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 for its first time at bat, pulling 6.3 million viewers. As for Quantico, the drama did a 1.9 rating in the key demo and 7.1 million viewers. The fact that the latter could grow the network's audience at 10 p.m. after a soft lead-in bodes well for the Priyanka Chopra starrer.
Fox was back in originals with its comedy block of Bob's Burgers (1.3 adults), The Simpsons (1.5 adults), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (1.5 adults), Family Guy (1.5 adults) and, airing in the fall for the first time, Last Man On Earth (1.4 adults). The latter was steady with its May season one finale. And while all of the returning half-hours took dips from last fall, those episodes ran after a sizeable football lead-in and included a highly promoted Simpsons/Family Guy crossover.
The season premiere of CBS' 60 Minutes was also a notable one — featuring interviews with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. The hourlong episode netted a 2.9 rating in the key demo and 15 million viewers. CBS also used Sunday to air its two-hour sendoff to the CSI franchise. The final installment, airing as a telepic took a 1.8 rating among adults 18-49.
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The capture of two phosphate mines outside of Palmyra by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) has dealt a major blow to the Syrian regime, putting an end to one of its “last” chief sources of income.
Pro-Isil Twitter accounts yesterday posted pictures from Khunayfis mine, located 45 miles south of Palmyra, with some jubilantly claiming the seizing of a new source of “millions of dollars” in revenue.
Khunayfis Phosphate mine under complete control of #IS forces, South of #Palmyra pic.twitter.com/gajs84Qqm7
Whilst the extremists are unlikely to be able to make use of the raw phosphate in the mine, the victory divested the regime of one of Its few major revenue streams.
“With the suspension of oil exports, phosphates represented one of the last sources of income of the state,” according to Syria Report , an online business weekly.
It was reported on Wednesday the group "executed" 20 men in front of a crowd in the Unesco-listed Roman theatre of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra on Wednesday, Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.
IS militant fighting on the road between Homs and Palmyra
In taking the fight to Homs, capturing the ancient city of Palmyra and pushing deeper into the province, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) are striking at the heart of what remains of the governments oil, gas and mining sector.
In 2013 Damascus lost control of all of its major oil fields when Isil captured parts of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa provinces in the north of the country. But it managed to keep many of its gas fields and so was able to continue to feed its power plants and produce electricity.
This new offensive has put that in capacity peril.
As the jihadists stormed across the desert plains from Deir Ezzor to the ancient city of Palmyra earlier this month, they paused to seize two major gas fields on their way.
Black columns of smoke rising through the air during a battle between IS militants and Syrian government forces on a road between Homs and Palmyra
Murdering 56 Syrian troops in the two-day assault they captured al-Hail and al-Arak, 25 and 15 miles respectively from Palmyra.
Al-Hail is the largest gas-field in Homs - where most of the gas still in the regime's hands is located - after the massive Shaer field.
Shaer remains under government control, but only tentatively so, having seen several attacks against it, with Isil capturing and beheading as many as a dozen Syrian soldiers when it briefly captured the plant last year.
Then, on Monday Isil pushed government troops out of Khunayfis phosphate mine.
With inflation rampant and Damascus desperate for a flow of foreign currency into the country, the mines had proven key, with phosphate production being one of Syria's few remaining exports.
As the Syrian economy flounders more widely, phosphate was one of the only industries to improve this year. Some 345,000 tonnes were exported worth $35.3 million this first quarter, up from only $18.2 million in the same quarter last year, according to Syria Report.
Rising prices, the loss of subsidies, and increasing power cuts have also started to effect the political durability of the Syrian regime, sparking incidences of popular protest in its core constituencies.
Alawites, Druze and members of other minority sect have begun to rely less and less on the Syrian government for their survival, with power concentrating increasingly in the hands of local leaders.
The Syrian government has tried to counter these economic losses by issuing a tender inviting international companies to use the spare capacity, created by the loss of its oil fields, at its two refineries in Homs and Banias.
Banias has 60,000 barrels of oil per day of spare capacity and Homs 50,000, according to the announcement published earlier this month.
The government's invitation appeared to have been tailored to appeal to Russia, the country's longstanding super power ally. But this week's events in Homs may deter even the hardiest of investors.
The jihadist's capture of the mines came after they were able to openly move down the highway from Palmyra, pushing 45 miles into the regime's terrain in a single day.
They then swept deeper into the country to attack the regime’s T4 airbase.
Their advance was partly possible due to an absence of airstrikes by the US-led coalition.
The coalition has launched thousands of air raids against Isil in the north of country, where it is opposing other rebel factions.
But striking the jihadists in regime territory is problematic in that it would be tantamount to providing air cover for President Bashar al-Assad's men, who Washington has declared a sworn enemy.
On Wednesday, Walid Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, decried the lack of air cover, saying that the coalition's attacks on Isil had "evaporated" after their battle around the Kurdish town of Kobane last year.
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Last week in São Paulo, Julian Assange, Jacob Appelbaum, Natália Viana, Sérgio Amadeu, and Roy Singhay came together to speak on digital sovereignty and surveillance in the age of Internet. Their panel was the most popular event at the Arena, the official side venue for last week's NETmundial meeting.
Natália Viana, founder of the Public Agency of Investigative Journalism and the principal liaison between Brazil and Wikileaks, remarked on a peculiar way in which surveillance was (and was not) discussed at the NETmundial. “To not speak of espionage and surveillance is to deny the white elephant in the room,” she said, echoing feelings of concern that many participants had shared throughout the week. Viana called on the Brazilian government to offer asylum to Edward Snowden and to enter negotiations between the United Kingdom and Ecuador in order to facilitate asylum for Assange. She asserted that Brazil must take a firm stance on these issues as a prerequisite to entering the global debate in defense of users’ rights.
Sérgio Amadeu, professor at the Federal University of ABC, focused on the data retention provisions in Article 15 of Marco Civil, which he says will augment the market of personal data in the country, as “those who didn’t keep records of personal data before are going to do it now.”
Tor Project founder and developer Jacob Appelbaum made a strong case for the use of encryption for all kinds of communications, a shift that would allow citizens to gain back control over their information. “We protect each other when protecting ourselves,” he said. In the same vein, ThoughtWorks CEO Roy Singhay said that while it costs governments merely cents to spy on each person, it would cost them millions if we encrypted all communications as a standard. Both of them also urged the audience to choose open source software and to develop open source tools that are easier to use and that incorporate encryption by default.
The panel ended with a highly anticipated set of remarks from Julian Assange, who attended via Skype. Assange said that the importance of a meeting such as NETmundial was that it contributed to a redistribution of power. Therefore, he said, civil society needed to take every space they could find and seize it to contribute to the creation of a new balance of power. Assange stated that the new society of information is the new civilization of the world. “We can produce a different system, maybe one that's altogether good…[with] new networks of association, new defined principles and values.” He closed with a strong call to citizens “to take our moment while we can, because if we don't do it, someone else will.”
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WhatsApp is a big pain for Indian Army after a host of false messages following the Uri encounter in Jammu and Kashmir and PM Modi's speech in Srinagar
Indian Army, the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces is now facing a psychological warfare operation meant to spring disenchantment in the Army by the world’s most popular messaging app WhatsApp. The most popular messaging app with 60 million active users in the country has turned out to be a nightmare for the Indian Army.
Earlier in the week a host of unsigned messages sprung on the messaging platform after the Uri encounter in Jammu and Kashmir and PM Modi’s speech in Srinagar. According to NDTV, these messages thought to have been widely circulated, are possibly an indicator of discontent with PM Modi’s recent remarks when he was accused by the opposition of politicizing the Budgam shootout where two innocent young men had been shot dead by the Army.
One of the messages that refers about the recent Uri encounter in which 11 soldiers and policemen were killed, said, “The terrorists desperately tried to break the cordon established by Lieutenant Colonel Sankalp Kumar, Havildar Subhash Chand and Naik Gurmail Singh but these brave hearts fought till their last breath.”
The other message read: “He proves that all he has is a political agenda and rightly so also as he needs the numbers in the houses of parliament. But the army is just a tool and that too a dispensable one.”
Both the messages add up to the problems faced by the Indian Army in Kashmir right now.
Army acceptance of the Budgam killings
The recent problems for the Indian Army began in the valley after Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda admitted to the “mistake” of his personnel killing two Kashmiri youths in Budgam. The quick admission, five days after the shooting on November 3, was aimed at calming tempers, reported Hindustan Times. Budgam in particular had witnessed daily protests, with locals coming out on the streets raising slogans. The administration was forced to impose partial curfew.
“We take responsibility for the death of the two boys in Kashmir. We admit that a mistake was made,” While announcing a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh each for the deceased, Hooda said, “There was some information about a white car with terrorists. Obviously, the identity was mistaken in this case.”
Details revealed to HT also highlighted that the army personnel were in violation of several standard operating procedures (SOPs).
With elections running in the state, it became the right bait for the politicians in the valley. While the Army promised to complete the inquiry in ten days, Chief minister Omar Abdullah, who tweeted about the killings ‘vitiating the election atmosphere’, had also taken it up with the then Defense Minister Arun Jaitley.
The matter was once again dragged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent election rally, while campaigning in Jammu and Kashmir. “For the first time in 30 years, it is the Modi government’s magic, that the army admitted at a press conference that the killing of two youth was a mistake. An inquiry commission probed the matter and those who fired the bullets were charged. This is proof of my good intentions.”
All this happened right after the valley witnessed the death of eleven security force personnel, including eight soldiers and three policemen who were killed in a deadly pre-dawn attack by militants on an Army camp in Uri area of Baramulla district. This particular incident had given rise to the WhatsApp messages that spread like wildfire on December 6th, a day after the Indian forces faced casualties in Uri area.
According to the Army, “all the messages are part of a malafide operation….None of the messages have been written by serving officers of the Indian Army. Army Headquarters is monitoring social media 24/7.” The Army also added that the message related to the Uri incident is a complete fabrication since the sequence of events described is incorrect and the Commanding officer of the unit has denied that anyone in his unit has posted the message.
Social media guidelines by Army
Meanwhile, Lt General Hooda has written a letter to his officers asking them to follow ‘a nuanced approach’ which ‘balances local aspirations’ to fight a proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir. He has asked his commanders to change operations in sync with the conditions, focus on ‘training and education of officers and men to drive home the circumstances and the conditions in which we operate and our code of conduct.’
Additionally, he has warned against falling prey to ‘print, electronic and social media’ which sway not only public opinion but also the sentiments of our own officers and men’. The full text of the letter can be read here.
The Army has also posted a series of guidelines on its social media pages – “Personnel are prohibited from circulating chain mails, messages, posts etc on aspects of Armed Forces.” Interestingly, the Army also asks veterans to be careful on what messages they forward. Hinting at the recent sharing of content on social media and messaging apps, the army also advised its personnel to verify the content before sharing anything on the medium since it is affecting the image of the Army.
Issuing a circular won’t decrease the problems of the present Indian Army which is battling unrest among its staff with the growth of social media. Tracking down messages on WhatsApp is a challenge with its servers not being in India. But the real problem is about lack of communication, as told to Rediff by top army officer. “The media does not always play ball or carry the statement in full even if we issue a clarification, further distorting the message.”
The Indian Army has created its own social media presence but in today’s times it can’t stop the usage of social media. It will have to dig deep and find out the real issues to bolster confidence of the army men. To a certain degree, Lt General DS Hooda’s letter does that. ” The Army is deployed in J&K to do a job and we will do it to the best of our ability. Mistakes will happen. Let me assure you that I have a clear understanding of the difficulties under which we operate and that nobody will be unfairly harmed. This clear message must go out to all units.”
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(Mandatory Musical Accompaniment To The Rest Of The Campaign Season)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA—I thought about stopping by the press conference Wednesday afternoon that was being held by Deney Williams, the young man claiming to be the love child of Bill Clinton, but nobody in town seemed to know where it was being held, and the people from the Trump campaign would have jumped into the lagoon in front of the Venetian before they'd own up to it. Of course, even if the Trump campaign had not sponsored Williams' appearance, it clearly had sponsored the lunacy that brought him into the 2016 presidential campaign. But this was something that was so transparently crazy that not even the people in Las Vegas wanted any part of it.
Prior to Wednesday night, the Trump campaign clearly had handed over the whole effort to the unquiet ghosts of Bedlam past. There were the four ladies in St. Louis. Now, for the last debate of the campaign, the Trump campaign trotted out the president's crank of a half-brother, who actually is from Kenya; the angry mother of a man killed during the firefight in Benghazi; and Deney Williams, whose paternity claim against the former president was settled rather definitively by a DNA test in 1999.
George Frey Getty Images
Meanwhile, Trump political advisor Alex Jones hosted a segment with Larry Nichols, one of the all-purpose Arkansas con-men on whom so many influential reporters relied during the Great Penis Hunt of the 1990s. All the day lacked was a liveshot from Parker Dozhier's fish camp, a stand-up in the cocktail lounge of the Mena Airport, and a wax facsimile of Vince Foster—or, perhaps, the actual body itself. I put nothing past these people at this point.
It's long past time to stop giving a moment's pause to the question, "What in the hell is Trump thinking?" It doesn't matter any more. He's determined to turn everything about the American political system into a low farce. He's giving the gap-toothed, male-enhancement goobers of the talk-radio backwoods the imaginary triumph over the evil Clintons that they believe they were denied in 1998 when the whole impeachment kabuki fell apart on them. He's put together his ultimate TV show—a Celebrity Apprentice for superannuated ratfcking political ne'er-do-wells.
That being said, I didn't have the faintest freaking idea what was going to happen in Wednesday night's debate. Anyone who tells you they did is lying to your face. There simply is nothing that Trump can do between now and November 8 that could possibly surprise anyone. The 2016 presidential campaign is a shambolic mess right now because that is what the Republican nominee has sought to make it ever since he looked down a stage in Cleveland at the very first primary debate, took a long, measuring look at the other 16 feckless representatives of that vaunted deep Republican bench and thought, "I can sell these guys aluminum siding that's made of Styrofoam." Then he looked out into the audience and saw the same thing.
In 1828, the campaign between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams got so vile at its margins that Adams, an inveterate diarist his entire life, simply left the pages of his journal blank between August and Election Day. His supporters claimed Jackson was a wife-stealing bigamist. Jackson's supporters claimed Adams had worked as a pimp in the court of the Tsar in Russia. But never in his wildest dreams, I suspect, did Jackson think of bringing a hooker from Kiev to sit for an interview. And it never occurred to Adams to trot out Rachel Jackson's absent first husband and put him in the East Room of the White House. Of course, had he done that, Jackson might have challenged him to a duel and shot him.
Things were so much simpler then.
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The MiniDSP 4×10 HD is commonly used with multi-channel open baffle or dipole speakers, such as the Linkwitz Orion, LX521, and LXmini. It is a quite capable box. While there is room for improvement, in particular in the output stages, the MiniDSP 4×10 HD does provide a quite reasonable level of performance given its price point.
“4×10” refers to the four inputs and ten outputs. Do note that the terminology, while common in the professional audio world, can be a little tricky at first.
The four inputs are: Two analog (left + right channels if configured for stereo), optical (TOSLINK), and coax/AES (S/PDIF). In other words, the MiniDSP 4×10 HD accepts one stereo input. This one stereo input can come from one of three sources: analog, optical, or coax/AES.
Similarly, the ten outputs are: Eight analog (= four stereo outputs if configured as such), optical (TOSLINK), and coax/AES (S/PDIF). Thus, the MiniDSP 4×10 HD can drive two 4-way speakers in a stereo setup.
The guts of the MiniDSP 4×10 HD are:
DAC: Cirrus Logic CS42528.
DSP: Analog Devices ADAU1445.
The I/O opamps: JRC2068, which is the same as NJM2068.
I would have liked to see a better opamp, such as the OPA1611, used but considering the number of opamps needed, I do understand MiniDSP’s decision to stick with the JRC parts. Unfortunately, the opamps are in a surface mounted “DMP8” package and not the vastly more common SOIC-8 or SSOIC-8 packages, so they can’t be swapped out by the end user, even if the end user has SMD soldering capabilities. I suspect the DMP8 package is a JRC proprietary package.
Performance Measurements
All measurements were performed using the balanced analog input, all filters in the MiniDSP set to bypass, and the MiniDSP volume control disabled. Unless otherwise noted, the measurement bandwidth is 20 kHz (AES17) using the 44.1 kHz sampling ADC in the Audio Precision APx525. This ADC is the lowest noise of the three ADCs in the APx525.
A common comment in various forums is that the MiniDSP is “noisy” and I suspect this noise comes from the analog I/O blocks. While it could probably be improved by some optimization of those blocks, the noise level is really quite low. Integrated over 10 Hz to 20 kHz (AES17 filter), I measured 26.5 µV RMS on the differential (balanced) output at the 4.0 V gain setting. Comparing that with the 21.0 µV RMS I measure on my Differential Preamp 8×2 which uses state-of-the-art line drivers and line receivers from THAT Corp., the MiniDSP is really doing quite well. The output noise spectra for the MiniDSP 4×10 HD for balanced/unbalanced at the low/high gain settings are shown below.
From the noise plot below, I conclude that if you are using the balanced outputs, use the low gain setting (4.0 V). However, if you are using the unbalanced outputs, use the high gain setting (2.0 V). These settings will result in the best SNR and gain structure for your setup.
The noise is evident in the THD+N vs output level plot shown below.
There’s a bit of noise outside the audio band as well. The DAC is clearly applying some noise shaping. Fair enough. After all, it’s the noise within the audio band that we’re concerned with for audio reproduction.
The intermodulation distortion (IMD) was tested using an Audio Precision 32-tone test signal. This signal uses tones of equal amplitude logarithmically distributed in frequency starting at 16 Hz and ending at 20 kHz. The multi-tone IMD of the MiniDSP is quite nice. It’s about 15-20 dB higher than that of my Differential Preamp 8×2, so reasonably close to state-of-the-art.
The THD (no +N) plot below was measured using a precision 1 kHz oscillator. The THD of the oscillator itself is -145 dB, thus the THD shown in the plot below is purely from the MiniDSP. Do note that the mains hum evident at 60, 120, 240 Hz as well as a the 60 Hz IMD around the 1 kHz fundamental are caused by the oscillator.
The remaining plots should not require much introduction and I will let them speak for themselves.
The common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) is the only parameter that I find a bit lacklustre on the MiniDSP 4×10 HD. They appear to be using ±1 % or possibly ±0.5 % tolerance resistors, so the CMRR is better than 40 dB up to approx. 2 kHz. The rise in CMRR above 500 Hz is likely caused by the mismatch between the two inductors in the input RFI/EMI LC filter. That said, the CMRR of the MiniDSP 4×10 HD is much better than the 0 dB CMRR you’d get from an unbalanced input.
Measurements at Low Output Level
The following measurements were performed at -60 dBu output voltage. This was accomplished by reducing the input voltage until the output voltage reached -60 dBu.
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Diane Ackerman on the natural world, the world of human endeavor and connections between the two.
IT was only a matter of time. Plants have begun texting for help. Thanks to clever new digital devices, a dry philodendron, undernourished hibiscus, or sadly neglected wandering Jew can send its owner a text or Twitter message. Humans like to feel appreciated, so a begonia may also send a simple “Thank-you” text — when it’s happy, as gardeners like to say, meaning healthy and well-tended. Picture your Boston fern home alone placing Botanicalls. But why should potted plants be the only ones to reassure their humans? Another company has found a way for crops to send text messages in unison, letting their farmer know if she’s doing a good enough job to deserve a robust harvest. What is the sound of one hand of bananas clapping? Probes monitoring the soil can send a range of prerecorded messages specific to each plant’s needs.
Ping Zhu
Plants texting humans may be new, but malcontent plants have always been chatting among themselves. When an elm tree is being attacked by insects, it does the chemical equivalent of broadcasting “I’m hurt! You could be next!” alerting others in its grove to whip up some dandy poisons.
If a human kills with poison, we label it a wicked and premeditated crime, one no plea of “self-defense” can excuse. But plants dish out their nastiest potions every day, and we wholeheartedly forgive them. They may lack minds, or even brains, but they do react to injury, fight to survive, act purposefully, enslave giants (through the likes of coffee, tobacco, opium), and gab endlessly among themselves.
Strawberry, bracken, clover, reeds, bamboo, ground elder and lots more all grow their own social networks — delicate runners (really horizontal stems) linking a grove of individuals. If a caterpillar chews on a white clover leaf, the message races through the colony, which ramps up its chemical weaponry. Stress a walnut tree and it will brew its own caustic aspirin and warn its relatives to do the same. Remember Molly Ivins’s needle-witted quip about a Texas Congressman: “If his I.Q. slips any lower, we’ll have to water him twice a day”? She clearly misjudged the acumen of plants. Plants are not mild-mannered. Some can be murderous, manipulative, seductive, deceitful, venomous, unscrupulous, sophisticated and downright barbaric.
Since they can’t run after a mate, they go to phenomenal lengths to con animals into performing sex for them, using a vaudeville trunk full of costumes. For instance, some orchids disguise themselves as the sex organs of female bees so that male bees will try to mate with them and leave wearing pollen pantaloons. Since they can’t run from danger, they devise a pharmacopeia of poisons and an arsenal of simple weapons: hideous killers like strychnine and atropine; ghoulish blisterers like poison ivy and poison sumac; slashers like holly and thistle waving scalpel-sharp spines. Blackberries and roses wield belts of curved thorns. Each hair of a stinging nettle brandishes a tiny syringe full of formic acid and histamine to make us itch or run.
Just in case you’re tempted to rush home and cuddle your passionflower — resist the urge. Passionflowers release cyanide if their cell walls are broken by a biting insect or a fumbling human. Of course, because nature is often an arms race, leaf-eating caterpillars have evolved an immunity to cyanide. Not us, alas. People die every year from accidentally ingesting passionflower, daffodils, yew, autumn crocuses, monkshood, foxglove, oleander and the like. And one controversial theory about the Salem witch trials is that the whole shameful drama owes its origin to an especially wet winter when the rye crop was infected with ergot, an LSD-like hallucinogen that caused girls to act bewitched.
Devious and dangerous as plants can be, they adorn every facet of our lives, from courtship to burial. They fill our rooms with piquant scents, dazzling tableaus and gravity-defying aerial ballets as they unfold petals and climb toward the sun. Think of them as the original Cirque du Soleil. And many an African violet has given a human shrinking violet a much needed inter-kingdom friendship. But they do demand looking after. And we love our social networks. So I expect texting will sweep the plant world, showering us with polite thank-you’s and rude complaints. What’s next, a wisteria sexting every time it’s probed by a hummingbird? A bed of zinnias ranting as they go to seed?
Surely some playful wordsmiths need to dream up spirited texts for the botanicalling plants to send, telegrams of fulsome fawning or sarcastic taunt. Maybe a little soft soap: “You grow, girl! Thanks for the T.L.C.” Or think how potent it would be, in the middle of a dinner date, to receive a text from your disgruntled poinsettia that reads: “With fronds like you, who needs anemones?!”
A version of this article appeared in print on Nov. 13, 2011.
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DreamHack have released the groups for the upcoming $100,000 Leipzig tournament, which will take place from January 22-24.
DreamHack ZOWIE Open Leipzig will see a similar group A to one we've seen this last weekend at SL i-League StarSeries XIV Finals, as it features Na`Vi, Luminosity, and G2 once again, this time joined by SK Gaming.
Group B, on the other hand, has Question Mark going up against Virtus.pro, mousesports, and their Danish comrades from dignitas.
Group A Group B Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Question Mark Question Mark Luminosity Luminosity Virtus.pro Virtus.pro G2 G2 mousesports mousesports SK SK dignitas dignitas
The teams have been distributed into groups according to their seeding. The initial round and winners' matches will all be played in best-of-ones, but elimination and decider matches will feature best-of-threes.
Schedule has also been filled out with specific matches, so you can check out when your favourite teams play below:
Friday, January 22nd 12:00 Na`Vi Na`Vi SK vs.SK BO1 12:00 Luminosity Luminosity G2 vs.G2 BO1 13:30 Question Mark Question Mark dignitas vs.dignitas BO1 13:30 Virtus.pro Virtus.pro mousesports vs.mousesports BO1 15:00 Group A winners' match BO1 16:30 Group B winners' match BO1 18:00 Group A elimination match BO3 21:00 Group B elimination match BO3 Saturday, January 23rd 12:00 Group A decider BO3 15:00 Group B decider BO3 18:00 Semi-final #1 (B1 vs. A2) BO3 21:00 Semi-final #2 (A1 vs. B2) BO3 Sunday, January 24th 13:00 Grand final BO3
DreamHack ZOWIE Open Leipzig will run from January 22-24 with $100,000 on the line. HLTV.org will be travelling to Leipzig, Germany to provide you with a full coverage.
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BRISBANE Roar coach Mike Mulvey says he isn't concerned about Melbourne City opening its cheque book and signing a host of international stars for the coming A-League season.
Since English Premier League giants Manchester City bought Melbourne Heart in January, and subsequently changed the club's name to Melbourne City, a series of star signings have been unveiled, headed by Spanish international David Villa.
The 2010 World Cup winner will play 10 games from the start of the season before linking with Manchester City's new American franchise, New York City.
Melbourne City has also signed Irish international Damien Duff and earlier this week announced it had secured Slovenia's Robert Koren, who captained his country at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The Roar on the other hand has lost star striker Besart Berisha to Melbourne Victory because of salary cap pressures, and this week agreed to a deal with Russian Premier League club Torpedo Moscow that will see Socceroos defender Ivan Franjic play in the R-League in the coming season.
Rather than throw his hands up in dismay, however, Mulvey said his championship team was looking forward to taking on the A-League's new glamour club and its overseas stars.
"It's very exciting - you'd think David Villa will have the time of his life," Mulvey said. "He'll play 10 games in Australia. I think we play them twice, so I'm excited about that and looking forward to that.
"I've got no concerns. I look forward to pitting ourselves against them.
"We've had Alessandro Del Piero here over the past few years, and you saw the effect that had on Australian football.
"It globalised Australia."
Mulvey also said he wasn't concerned the A-League would go down the path of the EPL which is dominated by a small group of cahsed-up clubs.
"I think the likes of Manchester City coming in and taking over Melbourne City is fantastic - we're secure because we've got the salary cap," he said. "It's not open slather, it's not about who's got the biggest cheque book.
"It's who can put together the best squad and perform the best.
"What I promised the fans of Brisbane Roar last year was that we would be extremely competitive in every game that we play, and I make that pledge again."
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One of the key things about the debate going in the domestic abuse sector is how the dinosaurs continue to cling onto the gendered view which treats this hideous crime as a crime against a gender (women), thereby relegating men (heterosexual or gay) to second class victims.
Partly this is ideological, driven by the anti-male feminist hatred of men, and partly it is down to funding because the emergence of organisations that either only help men, or want to help victims of both genders puts the fear of God into organisations (Refuge, Women's Aid and Respect) who are spoon-fed millions of pounds to support female victims.
With the current cuts and the closure of services for women, which is something this site would not want, it means it is vital to them to cling onto the gendered analysis. They don't want money transferred from them to organisations that support men or both genders - they want to protect their empires.
The public sector equality duty cannot have helped their cause because it means statutory agencies need to prove they look after both male and female victims. Though many many do not and only pay lip service at best to male victims, there continues to be more recognition, as this storyon BBC Wales shows. Safer Wales and the Dyn Project mention men but the Welsh Minister (Carl Sargeant) clings on to the dinosaur view. The story encapsulates it in one go.
In addition to this, as shown recently, statutory agencies are seeing with their own eyes, the rise in the number of violent women who commit domestic abuse crimes.
The reason for setting this out is below is a key example of where the dinosaurs cannot let go of their sexist notion of domestic abuse.
Scotland's Women's Aid responded in the Herald to Professor Dempseys' plea for the Scottish Government to change its definition of domestic abuse to include men and those in same-sex relationships. Instead of coherence in return, Women's Aid cling on with all sorts of spurious facts and issues - the worse being the claim the CPS have a gendered definition when they do not - it is illegal and in breach of the public sector equality duty.
Read it below for yourself and make up your own mind on whether Women's Aid in Scotland believes in equality for all victims of domestic abuse.
Posted by Skimmington
Letter in The Herald (12 September 2011)
(c) The Herald
It is essential to take a gendered approach to domestic abuse
Brian Dempsey, in his article for the Edinburgh Law Review reported in The Herald, claims that the Scottish Government’s gendered definition of domestic abuse is firstly unique, and secondly detrimental to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community (“Gay people’s violence risk”, Herald Society, September 6) .
A gendered approach is not a Scottish “peculiarity” – as well as the recognition of the importance of a gendered approach by the UN and the World Health Organisation, the Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales identifies in its definition of domestic abuse that the majority of domestic abuse incidents are perpetrated by men against women, while acknowledging that domestic abuse can and does happen to men and in same-sex relationships.
More than 80% of domestic abuse involves a male perpetrator and a female victim, an overwhelming majority by anyone’s standards, however, the argument for a gendered analysis of domestic abuse goes far deeper than the statistics.
A gender-based analysis of domestic abuse is not just about defining “who does what to whom” and it does not assume that abusers are always men and victims always women, nor does it assume that domestic abuse exists only in the context of a heterosexual relationship. It seeks to understand the context, meaning and impact of the abuse and how the abuse of individual men and women impacts differently on women, as a group, and men, as a group. We know that domestic abuse happens to far greater numbers of women. We also know that women experience domestic abuse differently on the whole and are more likely to live in extreme fear and be seriously physically assaulted. Women are more vulnerable to poverty and homelessness as a result of being abused.
Numerous research reports demonstrate that domestic abuse is a cause and effect of women’s inequality; therefore a different approach is needed – one which is based on an accurate analysis of the issue and which addresses both prevention and response. Our understanding of and response to domestic abuse has a great bearing on how we should target scarce resources.
A non-gendered service would fail on several levels, not least because it would deter vulnerable women from seeking the help that they need. It is important that anyone experiencing domestic abuse gets the support and help they need – when they need it – however last year nearly two thirds of our members (61%) reported a reduction in funding from their local authority and a quarter have had to reduce the level of service they provide.
Tanya Rhodes, Scotland Women's Aid
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Before its first home game of the season tipped off on Wednesday night, the Kent State men’s basketball put its own spin on the national anthem: Each player went up into the crowd and invited a fan of a different race down to the court to stand with them.
Here's another look at @KentStMBB inviting fans to the floor for the National Anthem as a sign of unity and diversity pic.twitter.com/ioRPDJfRrO — Kent State Athletics (@KentStAthletics) November 17, 2016
According to KentWired.com, senior Deon Edwin approached Coach Rob Senderoff with the idea.
“It takes courage for our players to make a statement like this, and I believe it is a representation of the unity in our campus community,” Senderoff told the Associated Press. “There’s a lot of people protesting the national anthem, or protesting the election, or religion. You see all of that nationally, and our guys wanted to make a statement. To me, it was a tremendously positive statement. Hopefully everybody can recognize that. I have a lot of African American players on my team, and they have faced discrimination because of the color of their skin.”
Images from today's National Anthem ceremony, so proud of our guys for this great showing of solidarity! pic.twitter.com/SK6ME2kbqP — Kent State Athletics (@KentStAthletics) November 17, 2016
According to school spokesman Eugene Canal, the gesture was so effective because no one in the crowd expected it.
“It went very well. It came off very organic,” he told ESPN’s Jeff Goodman. “All the players went into the stands and picked people from the crowd. Everyone came down on the court and was arm-to-shoulder. Fans seemed to really appreciate it.
“It was cool because I don’t think anyone in the crowd knew what was going on. None of the fans knew about it beforehand.”
Said point guard Jalen Avery: “We understand all of the issues going on in our world. In these times, we felt it was important to show a sign of unity in our community. Our meaning behind it was to let everybody aware of all the things that are going on in our country know that we wanted to make a stand for unity. That was basically our symbol, and we wanted to treat everybody as one.”
The Golden Flashes beat Mississippi Valley State, 93-63.
Rob Senderoff on national anthem display of unity from KentWired.com on Vimeo.
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Two weeks ago, we revealed the StarCraft II War Chest, a program that allows players to earn a wealth of in-game content including skins, sprays, portraits, emojis, and more, at a big discount. While the War Chest itself brings exciting new content into the game, we also envisioned the War Chest as one piece of the puzzle in enabling long-term sustainability of StarCraft II esports.
Therefore, we committed to contribute 25% of all War Chest purchases directly into the StarCraft II esports ecosystem, the first $200,000 of which would enhance the existing $500,000 prize pool for the StarCraft II World Championship Series Global Finals.. Today, about a week after sales of the War Chest kicked off, your enthusiasm has helped us hit that goal! That additional money makes what was already the biggest StarCraft II esports prize pool in history, even larger. At BlizzCon alone, our StarCraft II global champion will earn $280,000.
We’re incredibly grateful for the passionate support of players who have helped us reach this first goal so quickly. We believe earmarking the additional funds from the War Chest for general support of StarCraft II esports ensures that the benefits are felt equitably by all pro players and the broader ecosystem. We intend to learn from the experience of this first War Chest and explore the possibility of having additional “stretch goals” in future seasons.
If this is the first you are hearing of the War Chest, full details are available on our website and the War Chest is available for purchase here until October 4th. Phase I can be played out in the game today, while Phase II will commence on August 16. Thanks for your continued support, and we will see you in the game!
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Religions have had a very hard time adjusting to the paradigm shift engendered by the European enlightenment with its emphasis on rationality and empirical, public verification of claims. In Western circles, this difficulty has usually been seen as a conflict between religion and science, perhaps most vividly played in the controversies about evolution versus creationism that regularly plague school policies and politics in the United States. Buddhism, however, has many fewer problems with science, given that it already envisioned a universe of endless space and time filled with multiple worlds inhabited by diverse creatures. The Dalai Lama’s keen interest in and approval of modern science increases this impression that modern science and Buddhism can easily get along.
There has been far less discussion of compatibility or conflict between traditional Buddhist narratives and modern historical study, perhaps because no one with the Dalai Lama’s stature has taken up this issue. Regarding Buddhism and science, the Dalai Lama is famous for his claim that “If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims”d. I make the same claim for the relationship between modern historical studies and Buddhism.
I would also suggest that the implications of modern methods of historical study are more serious than modern science, not only for Buddhism, but for all religions. There are at least two ways in which modern historical methods create doubt about some claims commonly made in traditional narratives. The more serious is the way in which modern historical studies demonstrate, or at least claim, that religious texts, practices, and beliefs are the result of human cultural creativity and evolution. They are products of historical development, not of supernatural intervention into history. In other words, religious texts, practices, and beliefs do not drop, fully formed and nicely bound between two covers, from some other realm into the human realm. The more superficial doubt involves skepticism about the miracle stories so common in traditional religious narratives.
Religions usually resist claims that their forms—their verbally expressed conceptual beliefs and their rituals—are due to human creativity. Every religion, including Buddhism, at least sometimes claims that its forms derive from a seemingly more authoritative source than human creativity. Sometimes, especially in Buddhism, that source is only Tradition, with a capital “T”. Many contemporary Buddhist teachers are as submissive before the authority of Tradition as are believers in revealed religions before the authority of their scriptures. “It’s established. We can’t tamper with those forms” seems to be their mantra. That even a non-theistic religion which does not usually claim to be derived form divine revelation nevertheless relies on an inflexible source for its forms indicates how desperately many humans long to deflect responsibility for their religious forms to some non-human source, or at least some source other than themselves.
However, serious historical and comparative studies, especially if one studies several religions, make it difficult to resist the conclusion that all religious forms, without exception, are human attempts to articulate our relationship with our existential situations. For one thing, it is impossible on any rational and universally relevant basis to adjudicate among the many claims competing to be authentic revelations from beyond the human realm. In a situation of relative religious and cultural homogeneity, which prevailed in most of the world until after global exploration began in earnest in the 16th century, one could be much less aware of these competing claims to be authentic revelation. It is now impossible to avoid awareness of religious diversity and the theological adjustments that all religions need to make in the light of that diversity. But one of the great advantages of living in contemporary times is the adjustments such knowledge requires. When thinking about the religions of others, it is very easy to see them as products of human aspirations and foibles; it is egotistical and perverse to exempt one’s own religion from that process. I often remember the logic of some of my university students. Their assignment was to apply Black Elk’s statement about sacred narratives to two traditional stories, one familiar and the other unfamiliar. The student wrote something like: “The Greeks had very illogical stories that they obviously made up, such as that a mare could become pregnant by turning her hindquarters to the wind. Everyone knows that’s impossible. Christians, by contrast, have sensible sacred stories which we didn’t make up, such as the Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and had no human father”.
Is a dharma tradition such as Buddhism harmed by giving up claims that its teachings transcend human time and space? I think not. In fact, I would claim such a view is more in accord with foundational Buddhadharma than its alternative. I would make this claim on two counts. First, basic Buddhist teachings, such as all-pervasive impermanence and interdependent origination, do not accord well with the supposition that there are eternal verities capturable in words and concepts. Things, including doctrines and rituals, should be expected to change and those changes come about because of changing constellations of causes and conditions. As taught by Nāgārjuna in his famous work the Mūlamadhyamaka Kārikās, even the appearance of a Buddha occurs only by the workings of interdependent origination, by the working of the same processes that govern everything else in our human world, not as the result of something transcendent to that world.
Second, I would claim that Buddhism has always taught something also demonstrated by modern historical studies of religion—all religious forms, the words, concepts, practices, and rituals—are human constructions that are culturally relative. In this regard, I see very little difference between the results of modern historical studies of religion and steep/profound Buddhist teachings. I have been very careful in my wording throughout this essay. I have not claimed that there is no ultimate, ineffable, transcendent dimension in human experience; I have claimed that all words and concepts, and so forth, used to point to it are human constructions and should be held lightly, not taken too seriously. The great failing of any religion is always to take its own forms too seriously, to claim that they have ultimate rather than relative significance. Though many Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike often miss the point, in my view, all schools of Buddhism claim that, while teachings and views are necessary and useful tools to be used on the path, ultimately they will be left behind when true insight dawns upon one. Or, as many Buddhists like to say, silence is the ultimate truth—not an uninformed, unpracticed silence, but the silence born of deep contemplation. The silence of not being so attached to words, views, rituals, practices, or any religious forms is ultimately and intensely liberating.
The second way in which modern historical studies cast doubt on traditional narratives is much less serious in my view. Buddhist texts are filled with claims and narratives that are as difficult to believe in literally as either stories of mares becoming pregnant by turning their hindquarters to the wind or of a human child being conceived without a human father. But given that even the most profound teachings, in their verbal and conceptual forms, are tools rather than ultimate truths, it is clearly not necessary to try to take such stories seriously as factual accounts of events, that is to say, to take them literally. Rather, they should be understood as products of their own cultural situation and as relevant in those situations. There are times and places in which stories of miracles and magic make sense to people and have a great deal appeal. But we do not live in such a time and place, so trying to force us to take these stories as factual accounts simply makes it harder for us to take the profound teachings of Buddhism, or any other religious tradition, seriously. These are not documents that function well in our contemporary cultural context, post-European enlightenment. In this, I am not claiming that the paradigm of the European enlightenment is an ultimate truth that will stand for all time; it probably will not. Nevertheless, we cannot help standing in that paradigm, which means that our great need to make peace between the prevailing worldview of our culture and the deep and profound teachings of our dharma traditions, not to try to hold onto every single tale of magic and miracles. I myself do not think that the profoundly enlightened masters who wrote texts that include such stories would have written them as they did if they had lived in our cultural situation. That is also to say that whoever is writing the equivalent texts today is probably not going to use miracle stories to prove his or her point.
Actually, regarding stories of magic and miracles, I can find such stories as delightful as anyone else under certain circumstances. Only when they are put to certain uses do I find them misleading and even dangerous. Two ways of using miracle stories are especially problematic. The first is to conflate and confuse story and history. Keeping this distinction clear is extremely useful. Modern history is a scientific, empirically based discipline. Stories are simply stories, not science or history. That science and history have such prestige in our current culture is not a good reason to try to force traditional narratives into that mold. That happens whenever such stories are taken literally, or whenever people seek empirical proofs for traditional narratives, such as, in my favorite example—sending out search parties to find remnants of Noah’s ark, as if finding them would prove anything.
The second way in which miracle stories are often used by religions, including Buddhism, is much more problematic. Often a miracle story is used to try to prove that the teachings of a certain leader are indeed true and correct or even that a specific religion is the “true” religion. Countless young university students thought they had defeated me in debate when they proclaimed, “But you can tell that Christianity is the true religion because Jesus performed miracles.” They were easily defeated by apprising them of the fact that miracle stories are a dime a dozen, widespread in all religions and, therefore, prove nothing. Given the universality of miracle stories in religions, how could one claim that the miracle stories of one’s own tradition prove its truth unless one is willing to grant that all miracle stories found in all religions also prove their truth?
I find it especially problematic when alleged performance of a miracle is taken as the supreme proof of the cogency of a philosophical position. Recently, I attended a program on the teachings of Candrakīrti, one of the foremost commentators on Nāgārjuna’s teachings on emptiness. Time after time, the teacher would summarize all the philosophical, rational demonstrations for the cogency of Nāgārjuna’s teachings on emptiness and then try to clinch his arguments by citing a story of how Candrakīrti once extracted milk from a painting of a cow. But if teachings on emptiness were not cogent, I certainly could not be persuaded to believe in them by a story about being able to milk a painted cow, especially given how many non-painted cows I have milked! And if I were to be required to believe in the story of milking a painted cow as fact, that would make me less likely, not more likely, to give credence to teachings on emptiness. (Fortunately, teachings on emptiness are so cogent that the story of the painted cow is irrelevant either way.) Why would anyone think this story would be a convincing proof of anything? Clearly, miracle stories are about something other than proving the truth of one specific religion or religious claim among others. It only cheapens both the philosophy and the story to try to use miracle stories to prove a philosophical or religious position. It makes much more sense to let miracle stories function in their own frame of reference as stories in which certain meanings are encoded. Then, our assignment is to contemplate what these stories could mean, rather than to use them as proofs for a philosophical position or to cling to them as descriptions of empirically occurring events.
Many of my dharma friends are troubled by such claims. Their counter to me is often to claim that many of the things we take for granted now—such as wireless transmission of speech and documents across great distance or air travel—are “magical” and would surely have been seen as miraculous by those who lived in earlier times because they seem so impossible. So why not the standard Buddhist miracles, such as flying through space on one’s own power, walking through walls, milking painted cows or one of the most famous Tibetan miracle stories—the story of how Milarepa was able to take shelter in a yak’s horn during a storm without himself becoming smaller or the yak’s horn becoming bigger, while his disciple Rechungpa, who had not yet developed such siddhi or supernatural power, got drenched in the rain?
I would reply to their question in several ways. First of all, the technological marvels dependent on the paradigm shift that occurred during the European enlightenment work, not by contravening physics and natural law but by working carefully within their perimeters. At present, things like walking through walls or milking a painted cow could only be a contradiction of what we understand of natural law to date. Therefore, I neither affirm nor deny such stories but retain a flexible, curious mind about them. Maybe? Show me? Perhaps some day? What would it take to convince me that such events occur in ordinary, empirical space and time? Repeated, public demonstrations of such events, such as happens whenever I use email or board an airplane.
My friends would probably reply that it takes advanced spiritual development to be able to perform siddhi, to have “magical” powers. That some people can do extra-ordinary, unbelievable things is a claim made by many religious traditions, and I think it is wiser to maintain an open mind regarding such claims than to adamantly deny that they could happen. In addition, given how many seemingly “magical” feats have become common within our lifetimes, who knows in what other ways we will learn to use physics and natural law to perform “miracles” in the future? But I also claim that it is foolhardy to adamantly affirm the veracity of such claims on the basis of hearsay reports of their occurrence—and until such feats are publically verifiable, they remain hearsay. That they are hearsay makes them supremely inadequate for demonstrating the truth claims of Buddhism. I would never attempt to convince others to become Buddhists because I have seen it rain out of clear blue sky at the most auspicious moment of a major Buddhist ceremony. Instead, I would rely on the Four Truths and teachings on emptiness for that task!
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The problem surrounds the Windows utility UAC, which is short for User Account Control. The feature is designed to defend your PC against hackers and malware by asking you for permission when your software makes a change. That way, only programs that you're actually installing can be added to the system.
Bachner alleges that, instead of programming Split Screen to work with UAC, the company disables the feature so that it can function without restriction. The move also gives administrator privileges to any user, a nightmare for network admins or concerned parents. We've contacted LG to ask if they agree with Bachner's findings and what, if anything, it's going to do about it. In the meantime, you're probably better off uninstalling the utility and re-enabling UAC from the control panel.
Update: An LG spokesperson reached out to let us know that the company is "aware of the problem that Mr. Bachner wrote about and will look into this immediately." The full statement follows:
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SEATTLE, WA— It was big news back in January when midfielder Megan Rapinoe and Seattle Reign FC announced that she would be leaving Lyon (France) and coming back to Seattle in time for Reign pre-season training.
“I am excited to return to Seattle and play for an entire NWSL season,” Megan said at the time. “The league is the strongest in the world and Laura Harvey has assembled a world-class squad and created an environment in which I feel I can thrive.”
Now Rapinoe has arrived, and the club has posted the video above in which we hear the latest from the world soccer star.
Coach Laura Harvey is thrilled.
“Megan is a brilliant player and a critical part of our squad. We’re very happy that she’ll be in Seattle for the entire 2014 season and beyond.”
goalWA.net Local Soccer News is sponsored by Pro Roofing Northwest, Kirkland, Bellevue, Seattle, Redmond, Woodinville, Federal Way, Everett, Snohomish, Issaquah, Renton, Kent, Bothell, Edmonds Washington roofing company.
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specific time down to the last second. Bewildered
are being forced to perform deliveries at 12 midnight and at all hours of the night, just to ensure that the parents’ desire for the right
nakshatra
(star) for their child is fulfilled.
astrologers
Dr Shobha Venkat
obstetrician and gynaecologist
baby has to be delivered early in the morning just because the couple insists, there won’t be enough support staff at that time. As a result, we are under immense pressure,” Dr
contended.
Cloud Nine Hospitals
Dr Rashmi Yogish
moola nakshatra
Many parents don’t mind paying extra to ensure ‘midnight delivery’ to hit the auspicious hourFiddling with nature in the hope of a ‘good’ horoscope for the child, more and more parents, particularly from the educated class, are insisting that the baby should be born, or rather brought out of the womb, at agynaecologistsA couple of weeks ago, doctors at a private hospital were in a fix as a young woman came into the labour room for delivery on a Monday morning. As the doctors prepared for it, she insisted that the doctors postpone her delivery to Wednesday since thehad told her that it was auspicious. Only after the doctors explained the risk to her did she agree to deliver the baby and forgo the auspicious muhurtam.Normal delivery has indeed become rare,, consultant, told Bangalore Mirror. “I get only a few cases for natural delivery. In most cases, the couples, most of them highly educated, insist that the baby is delivered on a particular date and at a particular time.”Dr Venkat says patients approach her with astrological charts secured from television channels. In one instance, a couple insisted that their baby be born at 12:03:04 am. “If theVenkatDr Kishore Kumar, chairman and managing director of, said, “We often tend to discourage such requests and tell them that it is not medically acceptable. But we do get a significant number of requests. In such cases, the delivery costs also go up at least by 10 per cent as the gynecologists have to report for work at odd hours, but in most cases, couples do not mind paying that extra money.”Currently, with the festival season in full swing, fixing time and dates has become even more rampant., gynecologist at Malathi Manipal Hospital who gets such requests from about 18 per cent of her patients, said: “Of late, there has been a great demand, mainly from the educated class. In many cases, we do not have an option but to cater to their needs to make them happy. But it puts under great stress and tension.”The tension is more for the anesthesiologist who has to deliver the anesthetic at exactly the right time. “If the patient wants a delivery at 1.45 am, I have to time the anesthesia two minutes before. That may not be the right way of doing it, but most couples say that come what may, that is the way they want it,” Dr Anupama, anesthesiologist at Malathi Manipal, said.A patient, who did not want to be named, said that they were consulting astrologers so that their child is born in a good nakshatra. “Many girls suffer if they are born in the, because, in that case, the girls should go only to houses where the mother-in law is not there. So, I want my kid to be born in a good nakshatra,” she said.
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PHOTOS: Sunnis, Shiites commemorate Ashura day together in Khanaqeen By By Rudaw
Thousands of Muslim Kurds from the Shiite sect hit the streets of Khanaqeen town commemorating the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Muhammed. It is called the Ashura day.Rudaw’s Halo Mohammed at the scene reported that this year a number of Muslims from Sunni sect also attended the Ashura activities.Ashura commemorates the death of Imam Hussein in a battle fought in Karbala in 680 AD.The day of Ashura is the 10th day of Muharram month according to the Islamic Calendar. It is believed that on this day, Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammed, was killed in a battle with the army of Yazid, one of the Muslim caliphates from Umayyed dynasty. Many Shiite Muslims around the world commemorate this day with whipping themselves, some with knives to take on the pain of Hussein.Kerbela, an Iraqi province south of Baghdad is the center of the Ashura celebrations each year.
Photos by Halo Mohammed
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The holidays are upon us and if your New Year’s resolution includes more family bike rides we have got an exciting giveaway for you. Schwinn Bicycles and Momentum Mag are giving away a set of bikes for the entire family. Enter now and you may be the lucky winner bringing Schwinn home for the holidays. Giveaway includes:
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city-tuned aluminum step-thru frame and Zoom 50 mm travel suspension fork for a smooth ride Shimano Tourney components with 21-speeds and Shimano Revoshift shifters for quick gear changes
Schwinn sport saddle with suspension seatpost and Schwinn city grips
One (1) Schwinn Voyageur: ($440.00 USD)
Schwinn city-tuned aluminum frame and Zoom 63 mm travel suspension fork for a smooth ride
city-tuned aluminum frame and Zoom 63 mm travel suspension fork for a smooth ride Shimano Tourney components with 21-speeds and Shimano Revoshift shifters for quick gear changes
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Enter now for your chance to win a set of bikes for the family. Open to residents of Canada and the US only. Deadline to enter is December 18th, 2015 at 11:59 pm PST.
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Hillary Clinton: Barring something hugely unexpected, a sweep of the March 15 primaries
The night began with a pair of routs in the Sunshine State, and ended with two races so close that no media outlet will definitively project a winner. In between, the guy that gave the GOP establishment starbursts throughout the 2016 campaign finally succumbed to the fact that Republican voters didn’t like him as much as the pundits, and finally called it a campaign. And the Democratic picture, while far from resolved, got considerably clearer with an unexpected sweep of the quintet of primaries by Hillary Clinton, who looked at least somewhat imperiled in late polling (to say nothing of exit polls which wound up, as they have been frequently, being a bit off).
Here is the rundown on what was a very active Election Night on Tuesday:
MISSOURI: Technically, both races remain uncalled, because the margins were just so close. But all but two precincts are now reporting, and we have clear leaders. On the Democratic side, a late surge from the big cities (Kansas City and St. Louis) gave Hillary Clinton a come-from-behind effort that left her ahead of Bernie Sanders by a 1531 vote margin. This one no doubt stung badly for Sanders fans, as he led the race from very early in the night until 98 percent of the precincts were reporting. On the GOP side, meanwhile, Donald Trump nursed a slight lead all night, and finally appeared to pull off the narrow win with a 1636 vote margin over Ted Cruz. (Update: It is worth noting that there are still provisionals and absentees left to count. While it is unlikely that either contest will see 1000+ votes flip based on that, it explains why both races remain technically uncalled, even though there are not enough precincts left to make up the current deficits for either trailing candidate.)
ILLINOIS: Hillary Clinton’s birth state came through for her, but not without a sweat. With 97 percent reporting, Clinton held a lead over Sanders by a 50-49 margin (about 29,000 votes total). On the Republican side, Donald Trump benefited from split opposition to score the win with 39 percent of the vote, defeating Ted Cruz (30 percent) and John Kasich (20 percent).
FLORIDA: Notice that we haven't mentioned Marco Rubio yet? Here is why—his night, and his candidacy, were effectively over after an embarrassing defeat in his home state. Donald Trump swept the Sunshine State with 46 percent of the vote, easily eclipsing Rubio in the state he has served as a U.S. Senator since 2011. Rubio received only 27 percent, and exited stage right shortly thereafter. On the Democratic side, it was a total wipeout—Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders by a 65-33 margin.
OHIO: The Buckeye State was the only blip on the night for Donald Trump, though it was not entirely unexpected. John Kasich won the state he has served as Governor since 2011, winning by a surprisingly wide 47-36 margin over Trump. On the Democratic side, the exit polls hinted at a close contest, but when all was said and done, Hillary Clinton wound up with a comfortable 56-43 victory over Bernie Sanders.
NORTH CAROLINA: In the Tar Heel State, there were no great surprises, unless one takes margin into account. Donald Trump scored the win on the GOP side, but by a smaller-than-expected margin over Ted Cruz (40-37). Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton scored the win, as expected, but her fourteen point margin was basically the same as it was in Ohio, which most pre-election polls would not have suggested.
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I am a very design-centered person. I have been designing for a long time.
Interior design has been a life long hobby. While growing up, I arranged my bedroom furniture in as many ways as I could. Studying Lynette Jennings’ show on TLC was very helpful. I even took it upon myself to rearrange my parents’ entire house when I had the chance.
As the teen years began, I found fashion. Maybe that is where my excitement for color began. I love color. Bright tangerine, refreshing aquamarine, and an invigorating chartreuse, I love them all. Please don’t ask me to pick a favorite color!
After working as an offset printer for over 6 years for the Carlson Craft company, I developed a passion for graphics. As a printer, I was unable to design and create, which bothered me. Unfortunately, it was the passing of my father that gave me financial resources to go back to school for my Graphic Communications degree.
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Ah, Kentucky: thank you for bourbon and The Derby and good basketball. Now, surprisingly, add industrial hemp to that list.
Hemp is a versatile wonder herb, currently used in food, consumer textiles, building materials, plastics, biofuel, industrial products, fuel, personal care … the list goes on and on. And unlike its cousin cannabis, it contains less than 0.1% THC, so it’s not possible to get high using hemp. It would be like expecting to get drunk by chewing barley!
Agriculturally, it’s a welcome addition to a farm, as it suppresses weed growth, does not require much care, can withstand cold temperatures down to about 23F, aerates the soil as part of a crop rotation, and is an efficient oxygen / carbon dioxide exchanger.
Hemp was a major contributor to the economy. For example, until 1883, roughly 75% of all paper in the world was made from hemp fiber. Back home, the 1850 U.S. census documented approximately 8,400 hemp plantations of at least 2000 acres. Hemp was a large supporter of the US economy, right up until 1937 when under the Marijuana Tax Act, 1937 Congress effectively banned the growing of hemp, in hysterical hearings that contained incorrect facts and or unfounded arguments.
Some blame this on Mr. Andrew Mellon (Ambassador to Great Britain, Secretary of the Treasury, and one of the wealthiest people in the country) who had large timber holdings that were subject to possible loss of market share from hemp. We’ll never know the exact politics behind the hearings, but the government (mainly through the Drug Enforcement Agency) has since had a near-maniacal opposition to hemp. And that’s a shame for the economy and the struggling farmers.
Enter Kentucky. It was once the country’s leading producer of hemp, making about 40,000 tons a year just before the Civil War. This year, Kentucky’s Agriculture Department planned to import and distribute hemp seeds for use in pilot projects at four Kentucky universities, as a stepping stone to commercializing hemp product under a federal Farm Bill and reinvigorating the state economy. The DEA seized the seeds. Kentucky immediately sued for their return, and in May, 2014, reached an agreement with the DEA to get the seeds.
The seeds are in the ground, and as of August 1 are thriving, without fertilizer or herbicides. “It’s doing just fine so far,” said Dave Williams, an agronomist at University of Kentucky. “We’ve had enough rain to keep it growing and enough heat to make it grow.” (quote courtesy of The Daily Chronic). The crops should be ready for harvest in late September or early October.
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June 1, 2009
IF KIM Jong-Il has an imaginative public relations office, he'll issue a statement that setting off another nuclear weapon was due to a simple mistake as he was confused about which missile he'd registered as his second one, and it was all within the rules, but he's sorry if anyone's upset and it goes to show this ghastly system needs to be jolly well reformed.
This would be more plausible than the now-famous interview by the member of parliament who protested that complaints about his expenses were driven by "jealousy" because his house "looks like Balmoral" and "does me nicely," ending with a flourish by snarling, "What right has the public to interfere in my private life? None."
He was so absurdly beyond his own stereotype, if it had carried on he'd have said, "I require substantial grounds in order to carry out the annual event of hunting a farmhand and roasting him on a spit, and no do-gooder of common stock will tell me otherwise."
But the most annoying thing when listening to these types is not their own arrogance, but that the mainstream view of modern Britain, including the idea on which New Labour was founded, is that class division belongs only in the past.
Columnist: Mark Steel Mark Steel is a comedian, a columnist for the Independent newspaper, and a socialist and activist in Britain. He's the author of two collections about contemporary Britain, It's Not a Runner Bean: Dispatches from a Slightly Successful Comedian and Reasons to Be Cheerful--as well as Vive la Revolution: A Stand-up History of the French Revolution.
So when you go past a housing office on a council estate that's full of disgruntled tenants, they must all be yelling, "When are you bastards gonna come and repair my duck island? It's three weeks since I reported it was leaking, where are my bleeding ducks supposed to rest when they're half way across my pond, they're getting knackered, now sort it."
And Job Centers will be packed with claimants crying, "I can't survive on £68 invalidity benefit. Out of that I've got to pay for council tax, heating, food, moat cleaning, I've already got the portcullis going rusty, I'm desperate."
And if a single parent on housing benefit was questioned about why they hadn't declared a morning's work, they could say to the fraud officer, "Do you know what this is about? Jealousy. I now own some cat food and a packet of biscuits which does me nicely, and no member of the darned public has the right to interfere," and be allowed to carry on as normal.
The chances of someone moving a long way up or down the social scale from the one they were born into are now less than they were in the 1950s. But, somehow, the Labour Party has come out worst from all this, partly because some of their lot has been on the fiddle as well, but mostly because they're driven by the idea that class is no longer an issue.
Featured at Socialism Hear Mark Steel at Socialism 2009 in San Francisco. Check out the Socialism 2009 Web site for more details. See you at Socialism!
They can hardly shout about thieving aristocrats when they've spent 15 years insisting class no longer exists. So trends taking place now, that would once have made Labour popular, such as hostility toward bankers and contempt for the duck-island owning gentry, instead help make Labour less popular than ever.
But they could still rescue the situation. The bumbling landowning set are usually dismissed by people who insist class has disappeared, as a quaint and quirky hangover from British history, a bit of fun with no real power.
So to prove this, they should be made to open up their houses so the public and groups of children can splash in the clean moats and frolic in the grounds, taking pictures of each other merrily throwing stones at Douglas Hogg as he stomps round the lawn muttering, "Confounded bloody commoners," reminding us of the times when class still mattered.
First published in the Independent.
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Dress-a-mouse!
Welcome to this new Ghost of a Tale development update!
Since the inventory is now functional I recently I did a final pass on the dynamic props system. And I’m quite happy with its versatility. Basically Tilo can find a lot of wearable items that give him various resistances and boosts. Those items can be equipped on his ears, head, face, chest, waist, etc…
For example here you can see him dressed as a famous pirate (I won’t spoil it too much since it’s related to a specific quest).
And when wearing a complete costume set Tilo receives a further skill bonus. These costume items can be found all over the place (well actually some of them are quite hard to get) and are often related to the game’s folklore figures or even past Dwindling Heights prisoners.
The interesting thing is the NPCs will react differently depending on how Tilo is dressed (reflected in the dialogs). The possibilities of mix-and-match are also super nice; you can really create different (and rather unique) looks for Tilo.
Here he’s wearing Tulong’s costume; Tulong was an infamous highwaymouse and donning his outfit does come with some nice perks… 🙂
Now to the game’s development in general: I know some of you are extremely eager to start playing but quite a few things remain to be done before we can consider going into the pre-release (aka “Early Access”) stage.
As far as the Xbox One is concerned Microsoft tentatively mentioned maybe using the new Xbox One early access program but nothing concrete was decided yet. If, for whatever reason, it is not possible to go down that route then it means Xbox One users will most likely have to wait for 2016 before they can try the game.
On the PC (Windows) front it is my wish to reach early access stage before the end of November (2015). In that regard the next two months are going to be crucial in terms of development. We have made contact with Steam and things seem to be on the right track. Of course I will keep you guys updated with any progress being made.
All this being said, it is downright freaking exciting to see pieces coming together as game systems start to respond and influence each-other. Recently I was revisiting the old jail (the starting area) and it was soooo nice to feel like you’re immersed in this world right from the start…
(Right-click on the picture and choose “View Image” to see the high-resolution)
I really hope you guys like it when you get a chance to take a stroll down those dank corridors!
Anyway, as usual please leave your comments and questions below and I’ll do my best to answer them. See you in the next update! 🙂
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This might sound like a strong opinion, but I’m just going to put it out there: Python should make tzinfo mandatory on all datetime objects.
To be fair, that’s just an overzealous suggestion prompted by my frustration after spending two full days debugging timestamp misbehaviors. There are plenty of practical reasons to keep timezone-agnostic datetime s around. Some projects will never need timestamp localization, and requiring them to use tzinfo everywhere will only needlessly complicate things. However, if you think you might ever need to deal with timezones in your application, then you must plan to deal with them from the start. My real proposition is that a team should assess its needs and set internal standards regarding the use of timestamps before beginning a project. That’s more reasonable, I think.
The problem.
If you’re handling timestamps in Python, chances are you are using its standard datetime class. The datetime honestly has a pretty great feature set: it lets you do arithmetic with dates, stringify dates, etc.; pretty much anything you need to do with a date, datetime will do for you. However, lots of problems arise when you use “naive” datetime objects, i.e., datetime s without any timezone awareness.
Python 2.x had a similar problem differentiating between different types of strings. It’s a long story, but essentially whether a string contained binary or text, it was still a string. People who knew what they were doing with strings didn’t have a problem, but it was far from idiot-proof. In fact, you didn’t really need to be an idiot to fall into the trap — just naive. This caused lots of problems, so eventually Python 3.x decided to make str and bytes into totally different things.
Naivety is also detrimental in the use of the datetime . The only place where it works as intended, without a hassle, is in an application where you never have to do any kind of localization or timezone conversion. Once you start trying to convert naive datetime s between timezones, you’ll find that you’ve been shot in the foot. My personal opinion is that footguns should not exist, or at least not in the standard libraries of high-level languages like Python.
I wish I could seriously propose that Python eliminate the naive datetime , but this would only cause problems. Naive datetime s are great, since they don’t ever require you to look at a timezone database ( tzdb ). Once you start dealing with timezones, you have to worry about the tzdb being up to date. If you don’t have complete control over the environment your code is running in, then you can expect inconsistent behavior between users. Whether this is a problem depends on the nature of your project, and I’m not about to enumerate all the possibilities — you can weigh the consequences yourself.
In short, I propose that anyone starting a new project should decide — at its very beginning — what to do with timestamps. In most cases, I think that naive datetime s should be avoided altogether — explicit timezone information ( tzinfo ) should be included absolutely anywhere datetime s are used. You should use naive datetime s only if you will never need to convert between timezones, you can’t trust users to have an up-to-date tzdb , and having inconsistent tzdb s between users would likely create other problems.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to disallow naive datetime s in my project at its inception; therefore, I ran into a problem two years down the road at which point I had to do a lot of refactoring. The remainder of this article details the problems I encountered and the subsequent process of eliminating all naive datetime s from my codebase.
The dilemma.
When I first started using datetime s I didn’t know any better. I simply called datetime.now() whenever I needed a timestamp. At that time (no pun intended), my app was only displaying times for a single timezone. Eventually, I realized that I should be converting timestamps to users’ local timezones, and my naivety came back to bite me in the ass.
If you didn’t know already, datetime.now() gives you the current time in your local timezone. However, it does not have this timezone information attached by default: it gives you a naive datetime object.
I tried to convert one of these naive datetime s using the pytz library (which handles timezone magic):
>>> import pytz >>> from datetime import datetime >>> now = datetime.now() >>> now datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 15, 15, 11, 475618) >>> pytz.timezone("America/New_York").localize(now) datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 15, 15, 11, 475618, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/New_York' EST-1 day, 19:00:00 STD>) >>> pytz.timezone("Australia/Sydney").localize(now) datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 15, 15, 11, 475618, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'Australia/Sydney' AEDT+11:00:00 DST>)
Note that my local timezone is MST; however, the datetime has no idea about this and therefore doesn’t actually do any conversion when I ask for another timezone. All of the datetime s it returned are the same, except for their attached tzinfo s.
My first idea was to inject my local timezone into all the naive datetime objects:
>>> now = datetime.now(pytz.timezone("America/Denver")) >>> now datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 15, 20, 8, 410761, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/Denver' MST-1 day, 17:00:00 STD>) >>> pytz.timezone("America/New_York").normalize(now) datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 17, 20, 8, 410761, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/New_York' EST-1 day, 19:00:00 STD>) >>> pytz.timezone("Australia/Sydney").normalize(now) datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 15, 9, 20, 8, 410761, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'Australia/Sydney' AEDT+11:00:00 DST>)
Now the conversion works. However, there are also lots of places in my codebase where I’m accepting or returning Unix timestamps. If you don’t know, Unix timestamps are always UTC. If you don’t ask otherwise, datetime will convert them into local time for you, again without a tzinfo :
>>> import time >>> unixtime = time.time() >>> unixtime 1484432537.234377 >>> datetime.fromtimestamp(unixtime) datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 15, 22, 17, 234377)
This isn’t so bad, we can fix it mostly the same way as the datetime.now() :
>>> datetime.fromtimestamp(unixtime, pytz.timezone("America/Denver")) datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 15, 22, 17, 234377, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/Denver' MST-1 day, 17:00:00 STD>)
You can even convert it to another timezone:
>>> datetime.fromtimestamp(unixtime, pytz.timezone("America/New_York")) datetime.datetime(2017, 1, 14, 17, 22, 17, 234377, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'America/New_York' EST-1 day, 19:00:00 STD>)
But what if we want to convert a localized datetime into a Unix timestamp? If you’re familiar with the C strftime API, you’ll be tempted to use strftime("%s") :
>>> datetime.now().strftime("%s") '1484432862'
That time, we got the correct result. But watch this:
>>> t = time.time() >>> datetime.fromtimestamp(time.time(), pytz.timezone("America/Denver")).strftime("%s") '1484433034' >>> datetime.fromtimestamp(time.time(), pytz.timezone("America/New_York")).strftime("%s") '1484440239'
What’s going on here? We created a single Unix timestamp ( t ), and converted it to two separate datetime s in two different timezones. We already know that conversion from Unix time into any timezone works correctly. We should have gotten the same result when we converted back. However, it turns out that you can only convert a datetime to a Unix timestamp if it is in your local timezone.
Actually, strftime("%s") is unsupported in Python. It ends up just stripping the tzinfo , thereby creating a naive timestamp in an arbitrary timezone, and calling the C s trftime which assumes it’s being given a local timestamp. Obviously this doesn’t work.
Now how do you create a Unix timestamp the correct way? It’s ugly:
>>> t = datetime.now(pytz.timezone("America/Denver")) >>> (t - datetime(1970, 1, 1, tzinfo=pytz.UTC)).total_seconds() 1484433334.448718
In short, you need to take a timezone-aware datetime , subtract the Unix epoch from it (thereby obtaining a timedelta ), and convert it to seconds. Luckily for us, any arithmetic done with timezone-aware datetime s is automatically converted to UTC.
Fortunately, it fails if you pass it a naive datetime :
>>> t = datetime.now() >>> (t - datetime(1970, 1, 1, tzinfo=pytz.UTC)).total_seconds() Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> TypeError: can't subtract offset-naive and offset-aware datetimes
Unfortunately, I’m sure a lot of beginners are still going to get screwed, since the most popular StackOverflow answers for this situation give you incorrect solutions like the following:
>>> t = datetime.now() >>> (t - datetime(1970, 1, 1)).total_seconds() 1484408399.491469
It doesn’t fail, since both timestamps are naive. However, the result is wrong: since I used my local time, the result is the number of seconds since 1970-1-1 in my timezone, rather than in UTC.
The solution.
Upon discovering how difficult it is to do anything nontrivial with timestamps correctly, I decided to eliminate naive datetime s from my codebase altogether and standardize an API for doing common tasks with timezone-aware datetime s. This would help prevent other contributors to my project from shooting themselves in the foot (and by extension, shooting me).
The timehelper class I created is meant to be used any time you want to:
Get the current time,
Localize and format a timestamp,
Parse a Unix timestamp, or
Create a Unix timestamp.
Any use of the builtin datetime functions to do these things will now result in a failed code review, because they’re all nearly impossible to get right.
The timehelper itself is very simple:
import pytz, psycopg2 from datetime import datetime class timehelper(object): @staticmethod def localize_and_format(tz, fmt, dt): # disallow naive datetimes if dt.tzinfo is None: raise ValueError("Passed datetime object has no tzinfo") # workaround for psycopg2 tzinfo if isinstance(dt.tzinfo, psycopg2.tz.FixedOffsetTimezone): dt.tzinfo._utcoffset = dt.tzinfo._offset return pytz.timezone(tz).normalize(dt).strftime(fmt) @staticmethod def now(): return datetime.utcnow().replace(tzinfo=pytz.UTC) @staticmethod def to_posix(dt): return (dt - datetime(1970, 1, 1, tzinfo=pytz.UTC)).total_seconds() @staticmethod def from_posix(p): return datetime.fromtimestamp(p, pytz.UTC)
Its usage is simple, too:
Instead of calling datetime.now() , just call timehelper.now(). You’ll automatically be given a timezone-aware UTC datetime . The goal of this is to use UTC everywhere within the codebase.
, just call timehelper.now(). You’ll automatically be given a timezone-aware UTC . The goal of this is to use UTC everywhere within the codebase. To convert from a Unix timestamp to a UTC datetime , use timehelper.from_posix() .
, use . To convert from a datetime to a Unix timestamp, use timehelper.to_posix() .
to a Unix timestamp, use . To localize a timestamp to a timezone and format it at the same time, use timehelper.localize_and_format() . I decided to always localize and format together in order to help enforce the goal of using UTC everywhere.
You might notice that there’s some special magic in the localize_and_format() method for dealing with tzinfo objects created by psycopg2 . For some reason, its API has a slight mismatch against that of pytz . If you aren’t using psycopg2 , you can strip out that if statement. But if you are, make sure all the timestamp-containing columns in PostgreSQL are declared as timestamp with time zone , rather than simply timestamp . This is another footgun; traditionally, Postgres used timezones implicitly, but this was reverted in order to comply with SQL standards.
The conclusion.
It took me several hours of research to figure out how to properly deal with timestamps in Python. Its datetime API is full of gotchas, and a naive developer can easily succumb to its apathy. It turns out that I had many subtle bugs in my codebase before I revisited all code pertaining to timestamps.
As it’s unlikely that naive datetime s will ever actually be removed from Python, I recommend that everyone create standards for datetime manipulation within their projects. Doing so may prevent tricky bugs and large rewrites later on.
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Amazon, “The Everything Store,” is reportedly adding one more category to its product roster: auto parts. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Amazon has conquered books, apparel, and electronic gadgets. Now it’s reportedly pushing more aggressively into another area: auto parts.
In recent months, the online retail behemoth has signed deals with auto parts makers Robert Bosch, Federal-Mogul , Dorman Products , and Cardone Industries, according to the New York Post. That should send a chill down the spines of executives at auto parts retailers like Auto Zone and O’Reilly Auto Parts.
The Post report indicates that Amazon is undercutting some auto parts retailers on price – a car battery that sold for $216 at Auto Zone was going for $166 at Amazon.com , for instance. It does seem odd that people would buy a big part like a battery from Amazon when they could just as easily drive to a garage and buy it there, instead of waiting for it to be shipped. But the company is ready to ship the parts in a hurry, giving consumers another reason to buy from Amazon.
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A public notary in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has approved a civil union between three people, Globo TV reported.
The decision by Claudia do Nascimento Domingues to grant the wishes of the man and two women has sparked controversy in the South American country, where most people are Catholic.
The three adults have lived together in Rio de Janeiro for three years and have a joint bank account, The Telegraph reported.
Domingues says there is nothing illegal about the arrangement.
“We are only recognizing what has always existed. We are not inventing anything,” Domingues said.
“For better or worse, it doesn’t matter, but what we considered a family before isn’t necessarily what we would consider a family today.”
But the civil union has shocked religious groups and social conservatives in the country.
Regina Beatriz Tavares da Silva, a lawyer, told the BBC it was "absurd and totally illegal", and "something completely unacceptable which goes against Brazilian values and morals."
The Christian Post quoted Marisa Lobo, a psychologist and evangelical Christian, as saying: “Jesus, come back soon.”
Brazil has legally recognized same-sex unions since 2004. The civil unions can be converted into marriage with the approval of a state judge.
More from GlobalPost: Human brains, hearts found inside storage locker
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The Russian government plans to invest up to RUB 100 billion (£977 million) on the development of military science and defence R&D in the country from 2016-2018. Part of these plans is the establishment of five consolidated research institutes in different parts of the country, to be overseen by Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s First Deputy Minister of Defense.
The government plans to use the experience of the USSR, which had a wide network of military research institutions, and an estimated annual spend on military science of £9-13 billion at the current exchange rate.
At that time Soviet military science covered a wide range of activities, such as the design of infrared guidance systems for aircraft and submarines, the development of new military satellites and hypersound air-to-air missiles. Since the collapse of the USSR in 1991 the majority of research in this field has been suspended, but there is a possibility that some areas may be resumed by the end of the current year.
Each of the newly established institutions will specialise in a particular research area, such as aviation, biotechnology, laser technology and surveying and navigation software. Among the current projects planned are the design of next-generation fighter aircraft and new optical telescopes based on laser technology, as well as new systems to defend against cyber attacks on Russian state agencies and corporations. The results of the majority of this research will be classified.
Under the plans, the recently established Military Scientific Committee of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will have overall control of all research. The funding will come out of Russia’s overall state defence budget, which amounted to a record RUB 3.3 trillion this year. Alongside the new institutions, research will take place at specially established squadrons in the Russian army. To date, eight research squadrons have been established – linked to the Navy, Air Force, VVKO, Land Forces, the Military Academy of Communications and Chief Military Medical Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry. According to state plans, four more will be established by the end of 2016. The plan is for these to be staffed by scientists from the leading universities in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov and the Far East.
At present, Russian military universities employ more than 2197 doctors and 10,945 masters of science. Under the latest state plans, these figures are set to significantly increase over the next few years.
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READER REPORT: Medicinal cannabis 'gives me a chance'
Medicinal cannabis has been the best pain medication for this person's knee problems.
I'm 28 years old and looking down the barrel of a life of pain and discomfort.
From the photo above, you can see that I have some of the worst knees ever. That was made very clear by the the fact that I walked in front of the entire orthopedic specialist division of Christchurch at a meeting and they have yet to get back to me with a result.
In 2012, I travelled to America with my older brother to celebrate his birthday and, whilst there, I had the opportunity to get a medicinal marijuana license and make use of it.
I can without fail say that it is above all other pain medications in the fact that it relieves my symptoms and also has no internal side afftects - unlike the current codeine and pain medication I have been prescribed.
Since returning to New Zealand, all I have had is pain medication and it is a horrible way to live.
They need a legal, regulated market that offers people an opportunity to get well-researched information from credible sources - not just scaremongering tactics such as marijuana being a gateway drug.
As of now, I am currently waiting for changes to happen. We cannot be percieved as a country that cares about all things including nature when we have a chance to help those who live in our country with debilitating diseases.
We need to change this policy to give people such as myself - who are living with debilitating diseases and feel trapped by them - a chance to do things like everyone else.
READ MORE:
* Medicinal cannabis: 'Waking up pain-free is divine'
* Medicinal cannabinoid oil like 'placing a bet'
What's your view on medicinal marijuana in New Zealand? Hit the green button to contribute to this debate or email [email protected].
Comments
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Closed before it even really had a chance to catch on, NBCUniversal announced today via Facebook that Seeso is shutting down later this year.
The memo:
Dear Seeso-ers, We’re writing to let you know that later this year, Seeso will be shutting its comedy doors. Though we will be departing, much of our comedy will live on – and some of your favorite Seeso Originals have already found a new home. You can now find HarmonQuest, My Brother, My Brother and Me, Hidden America with Jonah Ray and The Cyanide and Happiness Show on VRV: https://www.vrv.co/watchnow
We’ll let you know as soon as we have further information, including where to find the exciting project “There’s…Johnny!” and other Seeso Originals in the future (in the meantime, please note that There’s…Johnny! will no longer premiere this month as previously announced. We love this show and can’t wait for everyone to see it). If you have questions, please visit https://www.seeso.com/faq Stay tuned for more information!
As my Decider colleague Scott Porch reported yesterday, Seeso had agreed to sell four of its original series to the VRV platform.
The service charged $3.99 for a massive library of classic comedy, from ALL of Saturday Night Live, Monty Python and several NBC sitcoms, to an array of new original programming and stand-up specials.
But a little more than a year after its January 2016 launch, founding chief Evan Shapiro parted ways with Seeso. Earlier this summer, NBCUniversal gutted the rest of the original programming unit — and all of them, Shapiro included, were representing themselves as free agents last month at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival.
I already spoke some of my peace about Seeso, but I’ll have more as the story develops and we find out what happens to the rest of the original programming.
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I’m having a hard time believing that Christmas 2013 is just about over. Days of shopping, hours of wrapping, and POOF!, it’s all over in a span of minutes (I’m referring to the opening presents part. The eating and drinking is a two day affair). Thankfully, the Christmas festivities went really well, i.e. everyone behaved (the kids AND the adults), everyone got what they wanted, and we all had a really nice time together. And Papa G-LO scored a new pint glass and a bottle of Glenmorangie Nectar D’Or. Life is good!
Did I mention that I’m writing this at 10PM on Christmas night? By the time we got home from my in laws, the boys were exhausted, so they were in bed and asleep by 9PM. Since there was nothing interesting to watch on TV, I decided to play with my new toy (the GorillaTorch that’s wrapped around the neck of the beer bottle in the above picture), do a bit of Beertography, and write up a Craft Beer review. As you can see, I chose Great Divide’s Yeti for tonight’s review. This is one of those beers that I have heard so much about, but for whatever reason, have not yet tried. Until now!
Before we get to my review, here are a few words about this beer from the good people at Great Divide Brewing Company:
Yeti Imperial Stout is an onslaught of the senses! It starts with big, roasty malt flavor that gives way to rich caramel and toffee notes. YETI gets its bold hop character from an enormous quantity of American hops. It weighs in at a hefty 75 IBUs.
And now for my impressions of this beer…
Appearance: Deep dark mahogany color with a thin tan head that dissipates rapidly.
Deep dark mahogany color with a thin tan head that dissipates rapidly. Aroma: Very rich smelling with espresso, the deepest, darkest chocolate, and a healthy dose of earthy hops.
Very rich smelling with espresso, the deepest, darkest chocolate, and a healthy dose of earthy hops. Taste: Lightly carbonated with a somewhat thick and creamy mouthfeel. Lots of dark roast coffee up front, with a bitter dark chocolate backbone. The hops come on strong in the middle and it all comes together as you approach the finish. Kinda feels like I’m washing down a piece of dark chocolate covered candied orange peel with a double espresso. Dry and astringent finish that lingers for a really long time.
Lightly carbonated with a somewhat thick and creamy mouthfeel. Lots of dark roast coffee up front, with a bitter dark chocolate backbone. The hops come on strong in the middle and it all comes together as you approach the finish. Kinda feels like I’m washing down a piece of dark chocolate covered candied orange peel with a double espresso. Dry and astringent finish that lingers for a really long time. ABV: 9.5%
As I’ve already mentioned, this is my first Yeti experience and it is definitely a good one. I am loving the rich roasted flavors and the solid hop bitterness that keeps everything in balance. After two days of running around to see family and friends, it’s a beautiful thing to kick back with a big beer that lends itself to sipping and savoring. And as an added bonus, this beer gets even better as it warms up. Bravo Great Divide! Yeti was definitely worth the wait.
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St. Andrews is one of Scotland’s most well-known destinations. The town has long been a bastion of education — the University of St. Andrews is the third-oldest university in the English-speaking world — and it has become a kind of Mecca for golf enthusiasts, for the game was born here in the 15th century. On the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Fife and near to Edinburgh, it’s only a short train journey or drive to these hallowed grounds. But this post is neither about the university nor golf, it’s about the other compelling reason to visit St. Andrews: St. Andrews Cathedral.
Wedged against the sea where St. Andrews’ three main streets converge, St. Andrews Cathedral is a glorious ruin with a rich history stretching back nearly 900 years. It’s the kind of place I tend to seek out by default. The more I travel around Scotland, write here, and consult with trip-planners, the more I’ve come to realize that it’s the fathomless history of this beautiful country that has kept me in thrall all these years. If you’re of like mind, then a visit to St. Andrews is a worthy one indeed.
The ruined, Gothic remains of St. Andrews Cathedral are not difficult to appreciate. The skeleton of the old church with its many arches stretches toward the horizon surrounded by headstones and the foundations of structures that have succumbed to the endless march of time. The church of St. Regulus, also known as St. Rule, stood here before the cathedral. According to legend, St. Rule was a Greek monk who was warned by angels that Emperor Constantine meant to take St. Andrew’s relics to Constantinople. St. Rule, apparently appalled at the idea, fled with the relics to the distant British Isles where he was shipwrecked at Muckross, near modern day St. Andrews. In 1123, Bishop Robert built a small, Romanesque church here with, at the time, an enormously tall tower meant to draw pilgrims to the shrine of St. Andrews.
The congregation was large enough that a new church needed to be built, and work on the cathedral began in 1158 by order of Bishop Arnold. To avoid interruptions in worship, the old church of St. Rule with it’s commanding, 100-foot tower was kept in use. It was a good decision for work continued on the cathedral for 150 years. King Robert oversaw its dedication in 1318, and at the time the cathedral would have been a large complex of buildings including the church, chapter house, refectory, ranges for meetings and quarters, dormitories, a warming house, and a great central cloister.
By 1561 and the Scottish Reformation, St. Andrews Cathedral had been stripped of its alter and images and left to fall into ruin. All that remains today are forlorn walls, bits and pieces of buildings that only hint at the grandeur of what had been: part of the cathedral’s west end, a nave wall, the east gable. The cloister’s green space remains, as does the floor of the chapter house. Most everything else are grave markers, and this is a wonderful cemetery to wander for among the burials you’ll find many famous religious, academic, and military people from Scotland’s history.
Miraculously, St. Rule’s church and tower still stand, and you would regret not paying the marginal cost to climb the tower. At the top you’ll see the best views of St. Andrews and an aerial view of the cathedral grounds, which gives you a strong sense of how the cathedral was laid out.
We can only guess at what Scotland’s greatest cathedral looked like in its heyday, thanks, in large part, to John Knox’s ‘cleansing’ sermon on this site in 1559. Yet the cathedral remains still fill you with awe wandering along paths and among the tombstones as gulls circle overhead.
There are a lot of good reasons to visit St. Andrews, and the cathedral is top among them in my book. History buffs, academics, golfers, walkers, and anyone who loves the coast has reason to come this way. And if you do, climb the tower of St. Rule. It might give you some perspective.
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Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his family lived in luxury owning a number of apartments and houses in prestigious parts of Kyiv. The ex-president also knew the value of commercial real estate.
Along with associates, he managed to acquire two business centers, an early 20th century building in the city center, and a multi-level helipad.
The Tantalit Building
Aside from his sumptuous Mezhyhirya estate, the most important of the ex-president’s holdings is the Tantalit building at 11-A Voloska Street in Kyiv. Tantalit, a company that owns and leases some choice properties, has been connected to Yanukovych and his family members; he may have been the real owner of the company.
The head guard at the Voloska Street building was Ihor Shyshka, who also served as director of Dom Lesnika, a Yanukovych company that ran his hunting reserves.
Beginning in the early 2000s, the building housed the companies of Donetsk businessman Serhiy Momot. His wife Zalina owned Azgard, which operated the business center Office Center Voloskiy at that location. Azgard also rented space to Road to the Future, a charity fund that belonged to Yanukovych’s live-in girlfriend.
In 2010, by decision of the Kyiv City Council, Azgard took over ownership of the land on which the Voloska Street building sits. The following year a court ruling reversed this, but in 2013 Office Center Voloskiy got permission to design a development plan for the disputed land. Records show that this outfit was owned and run by Natalya Trofymchuk, who had worked at Tantalit.
Prosecutors are examining documents from both Tantalit and Road to the Future. Workers for both of these organizations can no longer be found in the office building.
16 Taras Shevchenko Lane
Pale yellow and beautifully restored, this five-story building with massive granite steps stands out from the other buildings on Shevchenko Lane in the center of the city, a stone’s throw from Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
The property used to belong to Prominvestbank, which restored it to such a beautiful condition that fights over it broke out over its ownership in Ukrainian and foreign courts.
The most recent chapter in its murky ownership history dates to the summer of 2008, when the former head of Prominvestbank's board, Volodymyr Matviyenko, paid Hr 13.8 million (US $2.86 million) to buy his bank’s building.
The bank had been hard-hit during the summer and autumn of that year, and in October the National Bank took temporary control. In early November, a company that belongs to Andriy and Serhiy Klyuev, Slav AG (through its subsidiary Singus LLC) invested in the bank. At about the same time Matviyenko gave the building away for free to a person who was never named in the court ruling that mandated the transfer.
Half a year later, that new unnamed owner gave the property away, again for free, to Abanico Limited, an off-shore company set up in Panama. Then two more agreements were filed and the property ended up in the hands of Panamanian Banberry Assets SA.
Abanico attempted in vain to annul the last two transfers. The bank also failed to get back the property, though the agreement between it and former board member Matviyenko was annulled. That left ownership in doubt.
Pavlo Litovchenko, the former director of Tantalit, is one person who knows the history and the true owners of Banberry Assets, the final recipients. A payment order dated Oct. 24, 2011, specifies that Litovchenko received €1,000 (US$1,379) in cash and spent €750 (US$1,034) of it for required official documents to set up the offshore.
The Shevchenko Lane building stood on communal land until October 2013. At that time, the status of the land was changed by the City Council which gave its permission for design of a development plan for this land by Lessor Group. The Council allowed the group to rent the land.
Lessor Group is co-owned by Banberry Assets -- and the company's director, Yuriy Pedko, doubles as the technology manager of Yanukovych's Tantalit.
A Special Helipad on Parkova Road
Kyiv residents have long wondered who was behind the controversial development of a helipad on Parkover Road. The official developer is Amadeus Co., which is owned by the British Fineroad Business LLP and Kyivan Oleksandr Khomyak.
But YanukovychLeaks documents trace actual ownership to Tantalit.
Tantalit has controled Amadeus Co. since its inception. Documents show that Tantalit paid to register the firm, and the deputy director of Tantalit, Dmytro Sidlyarenko, received a cash payment of Hr 300,000 (US$37,500) to fund Amadeus’ startup.
Agreements with some contractors were also approved by Tantalit's managers. For example, documents show that the director of the development company AVK reported to Tantalit and Amadeus managers about a payment of Hr 30 million (US$3.75 million) to the general contractor, Osnova-Solsif. Pavlo Lytovchenko, the director of Tantalit, signed and approved this payment.
Khomyak, the official co-owner and director of Amadeus, also worked for Tantalit and AVK and often visited the office on Voloska Street. The Mezhyhirya files contain multiple reports of him traveling around the city in his Honda Civic, and requesting reimbursements for fuel.
The modern glass building on Parkova Road is not just a helipad. It houses Ukraine's biggest data center, Parkovyi, which belongs to the company Ante Mediam.
It was founded in 2011 by Amadeus Co. and Donetsk native Vitaliy Filatov. Later on, Amadeus was replaced by the Cyprus-based offshore, DB Venture Investments, and the list of owners includes the IT company Top Systems, owned by Denys Burduk.
Despite the fact that Amadeus no longer officially owned the helipad, Tantalit's managers continued to consider it their property. A Tantalit inventory dated Dec. 19, 2013, lists all these companies in one block, along with Cloud Technologies LTD (Khmarni Technologii).
Commercial director of Amadeus, Anton Ozadovskiy, refused to provide contacts for Khomyak, and did not comment on the ownership of these companies.
4-A Zakhidny Lane
The business center Zakhidny is tucked away in a lane of Kyiv’s Solomenskiy district, far from the city center. The two-story building is surrounded by a fence, and the territory is under surveillance by video cameras and guards.
Since 2008, Zakhidny has housed the Development Company AVK. This firm, as well as Architectural and Construction Company Inteb, which moved in a little later, were the construction arms of Tantalit. They acted as contractors for all developments in Mezhyhirya and at Sukholuchya, the ex-president’s residential and hunting estate.
AVK's director, Donetsk native Mykola Honcharov, doubled as the owner of Inteb. He also officially co-owned other companies related to Yanukovych and his family.
The office building was guarded by Dellit, which appears to be another Yanukovych firm based on multiple payment orders from Tantalit to buy uniforms for the guards of the Zakhidny office center.
To better administer the business center, Tantalit in 2011 set up a separate firm, Office Center Zakhidny. It belongs officially to Iryna Skrypnyk and Vitaliy Yarmolenko, two former employees of AVK.
While AVK and Inteb have been shut down, their offices remain in use as the registration address for the Delikates company, which is building a spa center called Amber Magic on Petrovska Alley, near the helipad.
The company's director, Hlib Vakunov, has a long history with AVK. According to a contract signed in December 2010, for example, he received US$ 2,700 for what was described as “technical supervision over cobblestone laying.”
In 2011, he moved up the career ladder and became acting director of a daughter company, Infrastructural Projects, where he supervised tenders for the construction of Okhmatdyt, a children's hospital in Kyiv.
In a telephone conversation, Vakunov confirmed that he ran a number of errands for AVK, but refused to comment on his affiliation with Delikates, citing commercial secrets.
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A local cyclist sent us a video of a road rage incident he experienced last weekend while riding his bike south on East Henrietta Road near the intersection at Westfall. Thankfully, no one was hurt – in the end, a good samaritan stepped in and called RPD. But there are clearly some important lessons to be learned. First a word of caution; this video contains some graphic language…
What the heck happened here?
As the incident escalated, the cyclist activated a GoPro camera he had attached to himself. So we don’t see exactly what led up to the altercation. But here is what we can deduce based on what’s shown in the video and some common sense:
The cyclist approached the intersection in the right-most lane. The left lane was closed off to traffic so only one lane was available.
According to the cyclist, the traffic signal was red as he approached. The driver said the light was green. We’re not sure it makes any difference, but it seems logical that maybe the light was red and as the driver approached from the distance, the light turned green.
The driver honked his horn at least once to signal to the cyclist that he was approaching and wanted to pass.
With only one traffic lane opened and no bike lane or shoulder, the cyclist had no safe area to move out of the way, so he rightfully took the full traffic lane.
The driver, perhaps in a hurry, became enraged.
Both driver and cyclist pulled over and confronted each other on the sidewalk.
The driver yells to the cyclist, “Get out of the road!”
The cyclist says, “I’m supposed to be in the road.”
The driver claims that the cyclist was intentionally moving slowly and should have been traveling at the speed limit (30 mph).
And that is where the common sense part ends. So who is right? Before we go any further, confronting someone on the road is ALWAYS a bad idea. Don’t do it. Move on and call 9-1-1 if you believe someone broke the law.
What does the law say?
In the video, the cyclist refers to section 1231 of NYS traffic law which states that “every person riding a bicycle… upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle…”
To be clear, section 1234(a) further explains:
Upon all roadways, any bicycle shall be driven either on a usable bicycle lane or, if a usable bicycle lane has not been provided, near the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway or upon a usable right-hand shoulder in such a manner as to prevent undue interference with the flow of traffic except when preparing for a left turn or when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions that would make it unsafe to continue along near the right-hand curb or edge. Conditions to be taken into consideration include, but are not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, in-line skates, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards or traffic lanes too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side-by-side within the lane.
Bottom line… cyclists have the legal right to be in the road AND take the full width of a traffic lane when there is no other safe place to be. In this situation, a 12 foot wide lane (with a closed lane to the left and a curb to the right) is not safe for motor vehicles and bikes to be traveling side by side within it. [UPDATE: One of our readers pointed out that these lanes are actually 10 feet wide, not 12′. So in this case, there’s no question that cyclist should take the full lane.]
Cyclists DO need to be cognizant of other road users and make sure they are not blocking traffic. Assuming you are not riding your bike on a limited-access highway, causing vehicles to drive slower than the speed limit until you have room to move aside is not a crime. That’s why it’s called a “Speed LIMIT” and not a “Speed REQUIREMENT”.
The driver in this video also incorrectly tells the cyclist he should ride his bike on the sidewalk. In reality, it is never a good idea for a cyclist to ride on the sidewalk. Riding on the sidewalk creates dangerous conflicts with turning vehicles at intersections, hidden driveways and pedestrians. In fact, it is often illegal to ride on the sidewalk – as it is in downtown Rochester.
Conclusion
So who was right and who was wrong? The cyclist was right to be where he was and as long as he was making an effort to move through the intersection the driver should have been patient and proceeded cautiously, yielding to the cyclist, without honking or yelling profanity.
The driver incorrectly assumed he had the right of way because he was in the bigger vehicle. It doesn’t work that way, as explained above. If it did, cars would be required to pull aside to let trucks pass.
However, neither the driver nor the cyclist did the right thing by confronting one another. They both should have given a friendly wave and rolled on.
Whether we are on a bike, or in a car, we all need to understand the rules of the road and give others the benefit of the doubt. It could save a life.
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Next week, in the final episode of the BBC’s Wolf Hall, we’ll see Anne Boleyn face death by beheading. But if you watched last night’s episode, you’ll know – accurately – that in her final months, she grew to fear something far worse, death by burning. It was a real option, offered to Henry VIII’s discretion after her conviction for adultery. And she wasn’t the only queen threatened with this fate; in 1546, traditionalist Stephen Gardiner (played in Wolf Hall with pantomime villainy by Mark Gatiss), attempted to persuade Henry to order the arrest of his ultra-Protestant sixth wife, Katherine Parr, on heresy charges that would have carried the same penalty.
I saw two men begin to burn alive last week. The first, accidentally, was an image I’d spent most of the day trying to avoid: the heart-clenching sight of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh set on fire by religious murderers in Raqqa. The second was fictional – just. At the end of the third episode of Wolf Hall, Protestant lawyer James Bainham was burned at the stake. Wolf Hall is TV drama, and sensationalist at that, but this much we know to be history: James Bainham was burned at the stake in 1532, we know his crime was heresy, we know his chief prosecutor was Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor Thomas More, who pursued the case with personal zeal. What we see now in Raqqa was once life in England – except, of course, we’ve grown up.
It could not be a more disturbing time, then, for the ranged Roman Catholic bishops of this country to defend Thomas More, indignant about Wolf Hall’s ‘anti-Catholicism’. To be crystal clear, atrocities during the European Reformation were by no means the sole purview of Roman Catholics: the death cult now in Raqqa reminds me of nothing so much in my research as the barbaric city-state established in Münster by Jan Matthys, who claimed inspiration from radical Protestant Anabaptists, rejected the Pope, and ordained a ‘biblical’ society, based almost entirely on the brutal subjection of women. Men were allowed to marry as many women as they pleased – Matthys amassed a personal harem – but women were executed on the street, in a public ritual of sexual violence, should their husbands accuse them of any insubordination. No woman could reject the first husband who ‘claimed’ her. A few historians have previously doubted our good sources for this, on the grounds that humans simply don’t behave like this – now we know that’s not true. Protestant Münster was Raqqa in 1534.
And as Ali Eteraz has previously pointed out, it’s no good European Protestants moaning about Islam’s need for a ‘Reformation’ to match our own. Wahhabism the fuel of jihadism, was itself an eighteenth Protestant Reformation, rejecting the need for priests, precedent, saints or devotional relics, and instead emphasizing the primacy of revealed scripture, sola scriptura. Like Luther, Abd al-Wahhab was a puritan.
So why, against all this ghastly Protestant history, are today’s Catholic bishops also in the wrong? Because like religious fanatics around the world, they insist on the rest of us accepting their version of history, a history based more on faith and devotion than critical analysis. And as a mental practice, this has never been more dangerous. It’s a symptom of a culture in which it’s normal to cry victimhood as soon as a community’s history is critiqued – we need only look at the behaviour of the Muslim Council of Britain last month to see where that gets us.
Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury, and Bishop Mark O’Toole of Plymouth, have spent much of the last few weeks attacking Wolf Hall for its critical depiction of Thomas More. Thomas More, they tell us ‘was one of the greatest Englishmen’. Because he’s not ‘Sir Thomas More’, he’s ‘St Thomas More’. As the Catholic writer Peter Stanford points out, Catholic schools across the country are named for him, ‘Wolf Hall is going to be hard for some people to watch because there are lots of churches named after More and several of the old recusant stately homes have relics.’ Catholics in England have grown up with the sanctity of Thomas More as an intrinsic part of their faith. His eventual martyrdom, as England slid into Anglicanism, is central to the sense many English Catholics still have of their community as a uniquely persecuted minority in English history.
But when he was in charge, Thomas More believed passionately in the importance of burning Protestant heretics alive. The horrific video released by Isis last month, shows us that jihadis, too, come up with complex theological justifications for their specific method of murder. The death of al-Kasasbeh was justified, they’ll tell you, by the Islamic principle of qisas, or retribution: as a pilot, his bombs incinerated people, so, the line goes, he too should be incinerated. Thomas More’s tract on the treatment of heretics is every bit as pseudo-logical. His Dialogue Concerning Heresies tells us that heresy is an infection in the community, and infections must be purged with fire. Burning a heretic also simulates the effects of hellfire, a fit punishment for anyone who led others to hell through teaching religious error. We know of six heretics burned alive during More’s stint as Lord Chancellor, three in cases he personally pursued. But the arguments laid out in Concerning Heresies continued to inspire the Catholic burning of Protestants across Europe long after his death, including the atrocities of Mary Tudor.
Bishop of O’Toole tells us of these prosecutions: “More was a man of his time, and heresy was a big sin. It is hard for us in our modern mentality to see it as wrong. They looked on heretics as we look upon drug traffickers. But it is inaccurate to say that he (St Thomas) condemned people to death.” The first part of this claim is moral relativism, the final part is a lie. And the relativist excuse for religious murderers is one of the great evils of our own time. Burning human beings alive is not something we can simply adjust our self to as a necessary evil. The only way to be party to that horror is to embrace it as a zealot. The burning of James Bainham was public theatre, social ritual, just as the death of Moaz al-Kasasbeh was a rite that made perfect sense in Raqqa. But we can excuse, let alone beatify, the men behind neither one.
The saddest aspect of all this is that O’Toole and Davies are right about one thing. More was a witty, loving, intellectual giant. His Utopia, is a work of genius – though no one can quite agree on which parts he meant us to take seriously. There is no good evidence that he tortured heretics in his own home, although in his Apologia he did admit to keeping them in his personal custody. He educated his daughters lavishly – though as I have pointed out before – this was not uncommon.
But against the backdrop of religious warfare, it seems even a genius can find himself justifying barbarism. This, not ahistorical devotion, should be the cautionary lesson of the life of Thomas More.
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Tim Zimmermann | Longreads | April 2015 | 25 minutes (6,193 words)
Panama City Beach, Florida is set on the alluring waters of the Gulf Of Mexico, in northwestern Florida. It’s a town of cookie-cutter condos and sprawling outlet malls, built almost entirely on the idea that blazing sun, a cool sea, white sand beaches, and copious amounts of booze are an irresistible formula for human happiness (or at least a pretty damn good time). Everything about the place—from the ubiquitous fast food, to the endless chain stores, to the Brobdingnagian miniature golf courses—is designed to anticipate and then slake the vast and relentless array of human desires.
Prime among the entertainment offerings is Gulf World Marine Park. It sits on Front Beach Road, the main drag that parallels the seafront, and promises sun-addled or bored families a respite from the nearby beach. By day you can swim with dolphins (“guaranteed”) or watch them perform the standard flips and tricks in a show pool, check out the sharks and stingrays, or watch the sea lions act goofy. By night you can watch “Illusionist Of The Year” (it’s not clear who made the designation) Noah Wells unleash his “Maximum Magic.” “It’s Always Showtime At Gulf World” says the marketing department. And that’s true: The entire place shuts down for only two days a year (Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Gulf World is not SeaWorld; it’s much smaller, less expensive, (though a family of four will still fork over $96 just to get past the gate), and there are no killer whales. But it is more typical of the 32 marine parks that keep dolphins and do business in the United States, and it’s these local parks which happen to house the vast majority of the captive dolphins (according to Ceta-Base, which tracks marine parks, there are currently some 509 dolphins at marine parks in the U.S.; about 144 are located at SeaWorld). If SeaWorld is the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey when it comes to marine mammal entertainment, Gulf World is one of the many small, local carnivals that do a pretty decent trade out of the limelight. And Gulf World happens to be where Ashley Guidry—a brassy blonde with minimal experience, and a simple application accompanied by a Polaroid—happened to land a job in April 2001, at the age of 27.
Guidry’s circuitous journey to Gulf World was only slightly unusual, in that she had never been infected by the dolphin trainer virus, which induces an acute fever, especially in young women, that can only be cured by a wetsuit and daily encounters with Flipper. Instead, Guidry earned a B.A. and then a Master of Political Science from the University Of Southern Mississippi, and figured she was headed directly toward law school. It was while sitting atop a rock on the Appalachian Trail that she suddenly realized she didn’t want to become a lawyer. That life-changing epiphany prompted a global odyssey with stops in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Jamaica, among other exotic locales. When she eventually ended up in Panama City and got the call from Gulf World, she thought, “Sweet, this is going to be awesome. Anywhere I can be around animals will be a pretty good gig. It’s outside in the sun. In Florida. With swimming. This might be perfect match for me.” Or, as she puts it now: “Who wouldn’t want to be around dolphins every day?”
Guidry, now 41, is lively and funny, yet thoughtful. She speaks in staccato bursts while waving her hands in the air. She lives with her husband and twin five-year-old boys in a modest Panama City Beach single-family home just a short drive from Gulf World. When she first started working there, she happily scrubbed fish buckets and was eager to learn. She liked that the dolphin show was more about teaching the audience about the dolphins and their intelligence and less about circus tricks. Trainers didn’t ride the animals or jump off their noses. Instead, they blindfolded a dolphin and taught the audience about echolocation, or sent the dolphins on speed runs and talked about how fast they are in the wild. They showed the audience tail slaps and breaches, and other natural behaviors.
After about a year at Gulf World, Guidry got into the water with a dolphin for the first time. As the dolphin, called Cola, swam up to her she was so giddy she felt slightly embarrassed. Over time, her connections with Gulf World’s dolphins deepened into true emotional attachment. She saw baby calves—”so cute and wrinkly”—being born, and watched them grow into young adults. She learned to appreciate the distinctive personalities of each dolphin, and felt the deep satisfaction of developing an especially close bond with a few of them. “They pick and choose who they are going to be friends with. It’s calculated on their part,” Guidry says. “I’ve watched them fuck with people, so when you are one of the chosen ones it is amazing. It is one of the few choices they have and I was honored to be chosen.”
Guidry had a particular affinity for the wild-caught females—like Delphene, Brinnon and Sandy—because they retained a little streak of wildness and independence. Deep down she felt that they were someplace they weren’t meant to be, and she wanted to do everything she could to make up for it. The memory of Delphene swimming over to spend time with her just hours before Delphene died in December 2003 can still bring tears to Guidry’s eyes. “It’s not like a pet at all. It is a mutual respect kind of thing. You try to hook them up while they are there, and they hook you up. They don’t hurt you,” she says. “It has changed who I am to the core of my being.”
The intensity and reward of building those sorts of relationships with an intelligent being felt like a blessing. “I was always joyful back then,” Guidry says. ” ‘Oh my God, I am so sorry you work in a bank,’ I’d think. My job is awesome.”
Still, Guidry wasn’t blissful enough to be totally oblivious to some of the more difficult realities of marine parks. Apart from the knowledge that her favorites had been caught from the wild, in 2002, the year after she was hired, Guidry was confronted by the hard fact that dolphins die or sometimes have to be euthanized. Jasmine, not yet two years old, died of undetermined causes, while Allie, barely three, died of zygomycosis, an infection often caused by common fungi found in soil or decaying vegetation. A third young dolphin called A.J. had to be put down after exhibiting signs of neurological problems.
Guidry was involved in A.J.’s euthanasia, her first. While she didn’t question the need for it, she remembers how emotional it was to separate little A.J. from his mother, Brinnon and pull him to the side of the pool, put him on a stretcher, and stand by while he was injected with a sedative and then a drug. Even the vet was crying, Guidry recalls. “Well, they don’t put that in the trainer handbook,” she thought, heartbroken, as A.J. faded from life and was carried away.
There were other discordant oddities of marine park life, as well, such as the dolphins who would sometimes be found in the mornings on the walkway around the pool, having jumped or been pushed over the wall during the night (mostly they were fine, despite dropping onto concrete; though at least one calf died). Enough dolphins came out of the pool (a number were multiple escapees) that after the calf died Gulf World added a stainless rail at the top of the show pool’s acrylic wall to try to prevent dolphins from coming over the top. There was also a rescued rough-toothed dolphin that died of an infection just before her release. Another rescued dolphin was released with great fanfare and media attention, and was mortally wounded by tiger sharks almost immediately after. “Sharks are a major threat when releasing marine mammals and turtles back into the wild,” says Ron Hardy, 71, one of Gulf World’s longtime co-owners. “They are a major threat when rescuing animals on the beach. We have had stranded animals killed within feet of the rescue team.”
In her early years Guidry found these rude realities—especially the prevalence of illness and death—troubling but not existentially so. Instead, she told herself, she would simply have to learn to cope with the fact that her awesome job had some awesomely painful moments. She felt as if she was helping the animals—some of whom were rescued off Florida’s beaches—learning about their capabilities, and teaching the public to care about them. It wasn’t until she confronted the fact that the dolphin park business, especially the business of breeding the dolphins in captivity to sustain the populations, requires the routine shipping of dolphins in and out of multiple parks, including Gulf World, that her moral compass started to twitch.
* * *
In 2006, after Guidry had been at Gulf World for about five years, the trainers started getting word that Lightning, Gulf World’s prime breeder at the time, would be shipped out. Guidry hadn’t experienced a transport from Gulf World yet. As she considered what it would involve, she realized that she didn’t like the prospect. Lightning, she knew, had been captured off Cape San Blas, which lies just to the east of Panama City. All he knew was whatever he remembered from his life in the wild, plus his life at Gulf World. The only dolphins he had relationships with were the females he had been living with at Gulf World, like Sandy and Delphene (who were captured with him off Cape San Blas). Now he was going to be plucked from the pool on a stretcher, dropped into a custom-built transport crate, called a “wet box,” and shipped by truck and plane most of the way across the country to a dolphin pool at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, of all places. He is going to make babies, the trainers were told. And they will ship us one of their boys.
On one level, Guidry understood that to breed dolphins in captivity, and to promote a diverse gene population, the males—like any breeding studs—needed to be taken to new females once their DNA had inundated the population they were with. And because she knew that captive breeding was the industry’s answer to public opposition to wild captures (which she also didn’t like), Guidry tried to view breeding loan transport as a necessary evil. “He’s needed elsewhere,” Guidry told herself, regarding Lightning. “We need to do this. It’s for the good of all marine parks.”
She did her best to see it that way, to force her heart to accept the greater-good logic her mind was peddling. She had seen dolphins separated from the Gulf World group and brought into a side pool or the med pool, put into a stretcher, and craned out of the water before. Some dolphins were accustomed for the process, some not. Either way, she felt, it was a stressful and disorienting experience for animals she cared about. But those removals had always been for medical reasons, and the dolphins had been treated and returned to the Gulf World clan. Now the removal was for business reasons. Instead of a brief extraction followed by a return to familiar waters and familiar animals, to Guidry it was a, “See you later. It’s been a good five years,” followed by a long and alien journey to an unfamiliar environment amidst unfamiliar dolphins. Moreover, when a SeaWorld dolphin called Presley had been brought in to Gulf World in 2004, Guidry had seen what appeared to be deep bruising of his skin when he was removed from the wet box, presumably from banging against the sides and the pressure of his weight against the stretcher he was suspended in. With transport, it was hard for her to not consider things from the dolphin’s point of view, and it was hard not to be troubled by what she imagined it would be like.
On the day Lightning was to be transported, he was moved into the med pool, and Guidry went poolside to spend a few final moments with him. She felt miserable, and she wasn’t the only one. As the truck with Lightning’s crate started to pull away from the pool area, another trainer couldn’t contain his emotions and had to step aside. “I didn’t like having to say goodbye,” Guidry says. “And I was too sensitive to the idea of him going on a long and distressing journey.”
As soon as Lightning shipped out, a new breeding male, Pablo, arrived from the Mirage. “The terms of the loan are worked out each time between the participating facilities,” Ron Hardy explains. “Usually, if a male comes to our facility and we start producing offspring, we would get the first offspring and owners of the male would get the next, and it keeps alternating.” Guidry’s moral compass continued to twitch.
In 2011, a new manager (and co-owner) arrived at Gulf World. Dan Blasko, 62, had spent years training killer whales and dolphins at SeaWorld in Orlando, before heading off in the 1990s to run the Mirage dolphin pool where Lightning ended up. Guidry liked Blasko. He was knowledgeable and experienced, and seemed like a straight shooter. But she also felt that Blasko’s arrival coincided with a change that was underway at Gulf World, marked by a greater emphasis on revenue and profit. For example, a new pool was recently completed so that Gulf World could ramp up its lucrative dolphin encounter program, in which guests now pay $175 or more to swim with a dolphin. “The past two years have been two of the biggest years we have had,” Gulf World’s Hardy acknowledges. “We are trying to respond to the desires of the public.”
Blasko also supervised the creation of a new dolphin show. It was a far cry from the show of Guidry’s early years, with its emphasis on education and conservation. The new show was a high-energy production, with cranking music, lots of jumps, and trainers riding the dolphins. “The audience freaking loves it,” says Guidry. “And they want to be splashed.” Hardy agrees the new show is more showy, but adds “our education director has greatly increased our education presence since Dan arrived.”
At first, Guidry had been excited to create a new show, because it meant the dolphins would be engaged in new training and new behaviors. But she quickly felt that showmanship and wowing the audience was the priority, rather than educating them. When she was a young trainer she had thought it would be cool to do a “Roman Ride,” a trick where a trainer rides two dolphins in a harness across the pool. When she tried it in preparation for the new show it just felt wrong.
Between the two daily shows, the multiple sessions of swimming with guests throughout the day (up to five a day in the busy summer months), and the lengthy “meet and greet” after each show (in which guests lined up and paid $10 to have their picture taken with a dolphin), Gulf World’s dolphins were working hard to help keep Gulf World’s turnstiles clicking, and its cash registers ringing.
“We come to work knowing we are going to create bonds and memories that will stay in our hearts forever,” a trainer declares during the dolphin show. But the dolphins are also there to help create memories that generate revenue: The upselling during the show for the Meet And Greet session, the Trainer For A Day program, and other fee-generating add-ons, is relentless. “We have plenty of dolphins to accomplish the programs without overworking them,” Hardy says. “Matter of fact we rotate our dolphins and some days some are not used at all in presentations. Gulf World meets all APHIS regulations for interactive programming including monitoring time of participation.”
What really started to bother Guidry was what appeared to be an intensification of the breeding program. Shortly after Blasko arrived, he started to train Gulf World’s staff and dolphins on artificial insemination procedures. Artificial insemination (AI) was a way to produce dolphin calves and diversify the captive dolphin gene pool without going to the trouble and expense of shipping breeding males from park to park. It involved teaching males to give semen (described shortly, but pretty much what you would imagine), which could be frozen and sent to another park. At the right moment, the semen could then be used to try and fertilize a female whose ovulation cycle was being monitored closely.
Gulf World had dabbled in AI previously, extracting semen from Pablo, the breeding male sent from the Mirage after Lightning had been shipped there in 2006 (Blasko had visited Gulf World and helped demonstrate the collection technique). Now, under Blasko’s management it appeared that AI was going to become a more prominent technique in the effort to produce new dolphin calves. “The AI program is not that old. The neat thing about AI is it eliminates the need to transfer animals back and forth,” Hardy says. “And it’s great for diversity.”
According to Hardy, most of the members of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums who hold dolphins (28 U.S. parks belong; 19 have dolphins) are storing sperm from their male dolphins and have agreed that they will share it back and forth. So Gulf World ships its sperm upon request to other parks at no charge, and in return can request sperm to try and impregnate its females. In contrast to the traditional breeding loan, in which calves from an imported male would be allocated between the participating parks, if a park impregnates one or more of its females with imported sperm it gets to keep any calves that are produced. “We all get the better deal, and we have had more and more successes,” Hardy says. “And as we keep moving forward the success rate will be higher and higher.”
Guidry was all for AI and a multi-park “sperm club” in theory, because she hoped it would reduce or eliminate the transports which bothered her so much. But in practice, she found the process a bit creepy and unsettling. When Blasko asked for volunteers to learn how to get semen from Comet, a young male, Guidry politely demurred. But she watched poolside as Blasko talked another female trainer through the process, which involved tapping the area near the genital slit to induce Comet to present his penis, and then stimulating it to ejaculation, catching the semen in a bottle or baggy. Guidry cringed as the trainer had to fish Comet’s penis out, because he was just starting to learn the process. And the coaching that followed got pretty explicit. “To be a fly on the wall for those sessions would make anyone giggle,” Guidry says, adding that the triumphant volunteer started using a photo of Comet’s erect penis as her phone screensaver. “But I felt looked down on that I didn’t jump to jerk Comet off.”
Guidry wasn’t any more comfortable with the procedure to inseminate a female. She was present in 2013 during an attempt to fertilize a young dolphin called Luna, whose mother just happened to be Sandy, Guidry’s favorite dolphin. Early in the morning Luna had been moved to the medical pool, put in a stretcher, and lifted out onto a mat. Her pectoral fins were held against her side to keep her from thrashing. Guidry, who always hated pulling dolphins from the pool because it was stressful for them, was positioned by Luna’s head. With Blasko and a vet supervising, Luna was rolled onto her side. A catheter containing the donor semen was introduced into Luna’s vagina, and with the help of an ultrasound machine was guided into position for the release. The entire procedure took about ten minutes. Guidry was looking straight into Luna’s eye, and there was something about the way Luna was looking back at her that made her feel terrible. “When they are just having sex because they are dolphins that’s fine,” she says. “But it is completely different to see them pull a dolphin out and forcibly do it.”
It is hard to know what Luna was really thinking, but she clearly didn’t like having to give urine samples so her hormonal cycle could be tracked. She could see when trainers were getting ready to collect her urine, and once broke the ribs of a young trainer during the procedure. Guidry also wondered whether Luna was being given any fertility drugs, and asked about it. She was told she wasn’t allowed to know, which made the whole thing feel even more sketchy (asked about this, Hardy replied that Gulf World does not use fertility drugs for AI). “I was kind of offended,” Guidry recalls.
Guidry also didn’t like the policy of forcibly weaning calves from their mothers, which would put the mothers back into the breeding rotation sooner, because once they stopped lactating, their normal ovulation cycle would re-establish itself. A calf might naturally keep nursing two or more years, even after it started to eat fish, meaning the mother might not be ready to breed again for three years. By forcibly weaning the calves after a year and a half–removing them from the main dolphin pools and taking them to a small side pool near the sea lion stadium, or another separate pool—mothers could be ready to start breeding again less than two years after giving birth. Forced weaning sped up the captive breeding process considerably, even if it was harder on the calves and mothers.
“We know the weaning process very well, and we are not weaning animals early,” Hardy says. “Our animals are our most important asset. To do anything that jeopardizes their health would be dumb.” Still, Guidry knew how hard separations could sometimes be, and thought it was especially so for a dolphin mother. And she bridled when she heard female dolphins being referred to as “baby-making machines,” and suggestions that weaning should take place as fast as possible so the baby-making could resume. Though Gulf World’s Hardy insists that “we do not wean offspring any sooner than they would be weaned in the wild,” it didn’t seem that way to Guidry. “It started to feel like a baby mill,” she says.
* * *
In September 2011, a young calf called Chopper was born to Maia, one of Gulf World’s females. The father was Sebastian, a male owned by SeaWorld who had been on loan to Gulfarium, a dolphin park just up the coast from Gulf World in Fort Walton Beach. Sebastian had become a prime Gulf World breeder after Lightning had sowed his seed through most of Gulf World’s females and been shipped off to the Mirage in 2006. Pablo, the male breeder the Mirage sent to Gulf World to replace Lightning, had died about seven months after arriving in Florida. That meant Gulf World needed a new male breeder, and Sebastian had been trucked over to Gulf World from SeaWorld Florida in April 2008, staying through November 2011 (he was then sent to Gulfarium, and returned to Gulf World one more time for a three-month stint in early 2012). It was a productive stay. In addition to siring Chopper, that breeding loan produced two other calves, from Sandy and Brinnon, called Jett and Striker.
About a year and a half after being born Chopper was separated from Maia, so she would stop lactating, and sent over to the auxiliary pool near the sea lion stadium, where he could start learning basic trained behaviors. When he was returned to the main dolphin pools late in 2013 to continue his training, Guidry felt bad for the little guy. He was timid, and got picked on by the other dolphins. None of the other trainers seemed that into working with him. When they did work with Chopper, Guidry felt it was perfunctory and that they weren’t really investing themselves in the relationship. For many trainers, it seemed like Chopper was the unwanted step-child.
Guidry figured no one wanted to bond with Chopper because under the breeding loan, everyone knew he belonged to SeaWorld. What was the point of getting attached to a young dolphin who was going to be shipped out at some point? The trainers would arrive at the poolside to start a training session, set their buckets down, and sort out amongst themselves who was going to work each dolphin. No one was ever eager to pick Chopper. More and more, Guidry was starting to take to heart what the dolphins were experiencing and feeling. She thought it was selfish to not give a dolphin your time and attention, to not build a connection, just because it would be hard to see him ship out, so she took it upon herself to give Chopper some attention and training. He responded enthusiastically, and soon enough, Guidry was touched to see, Chopper started to swim over and pick her for training sessions. “For a young dolphin, he was very attached,” Guidry says. “I really seemed to light him up and of course that thrilled me.”
Guidry threw herself into the work with Chopper, teaching him how to do the basics, like swimming through a gate and how to station in one place with other dolphins around. He was easygoing and engaging, a sweetheart of a dolphin, and the bond between them deepened. “Once I had something with him he wanted to hang out with me and it wasn’t about fish,” she says. “It was like ‘thank you for your time’.”
Just as she felt she was really clicking with Chopper, Guidry got word that SeaWorld was going to ship him to Gulfarium. Guidry knew that Gulf World had bought Jett, whose ownership had also gone to SeaWorld as part of the breeding loan. Maybe Gulf World could buy Chopper, too. She went to Blasko, and told him about Chopper’s gentle nature. “If your business relies on [swim-with-dolphin] encounters that are safe, then Chopper is your man,” she advised. Blasko told her he had approached SeaWorld about purchasing Chopper, too, but SeaWorld had declined the offer. When Guidry pressed for a reason, Blasko explained that SeaWorld had been willing to sell Jett because his mother was wild and SeaWorld preferred dolphins that didn’t have a direct, or one-generation, connection to the wild, which could bring criticism and bad PR from animal rights advocates. Chopper, in contrast, came from captive-born parents, and the wild genes in his blood were two generations back. “That makes logical sense,” Hardy says, but in an email later adds, “Both [Jett and Chopper] belonged to SeaWorld and why they chose to keep Chopper and let us keep Jett I do not know.”
Guidry had figured that even if Gulf World couldn’t buy Chopper, he would stay with his mother at Gulf World for a few more years. She was devastated that the sweet little guy she had come to love would be gone within a week, at such a young age, and was surprised at the depth of her emotion and attachment. “Maybe it was a mistake to get to know him,” she says, but you can tell she doesn’t really mean it. She didn’t understand how Gulf World and SeaWorld could be separating him from his mother so young. As much as she hated transports, Chopper was worse because he was just a calf. Guidry had watched mothers freak out as their calves were netted away for medical or other procedures. And she had seen mothers refusing to leave a gate, whistling and vocalizing in distress, after a calf had been sent through to a separate pool. She also worried that Sebastian, Chopper’s father at Gulfarium, might do him harm. Guidry remembered another Gulfarium dolphin, called Zac, whose jaw had been broken by his mother and permanently disfigured (Zac spent most of 2012 at Gulf World before shipping out again, to Marineland Dolphin Adventure near St. Augustine).
Guidry had always been the sort of trainer who voiced her opinions, and she fought hard for Chopper. “I’ve always asked questions, and maybe having my own kids changed what questions I asked with Chopper,” she says. “But to separate moms and babies, I am not okay with that.”
Blasko answered all her questions, told her he understood her feelings, and gave her a hug. But there was little he could do if SeaWorld refused to sell Chopper and wanted to move him to Gulfarium. This was the business. Guidry couldn’t let it go and realized that she simply couldn’t accept this, and that separating Chopper from his mother and moving him to another facility to try and figure out what to do with him next was “breaking her soul” as she put it to one of her colleagues. She saw Chopper as a squeaky, eager, and trusting little dolphin. The industry saw him as a piece in a bigger puzzle to be moved here and there according to the needs of his owner, and the demands of a multi-park captive breeding program. “When I first got the remotest feeling that the dolphins are commodities I thought ‘You are talking about my dolphins,’ ” Guidry says. “I can’t even understand the word commodity.”
Since late 2009, Guidry had been working part-time at Gulf World, because she wanted to spend more time with her young twins. So on the day Chopper was to be shipped to Gulfarium, March 15, 2014, she wasn’t there, to her relief, to see him stretchered from the pool, put in the wet box, and trucked away. Guidry had always been bothered by the many ways in which the welfare of the dolphins would get subordinated to the needs of the business (recently, she had been feuding over the loud power washing equipment used to clean the pool walls, which clearly bothered the sensitive hearing of the dolphins). But Chopper’s departure tipped the balance for her. She didn’t consider herself anti-captivity, but she did consider herself “anti-asshole,” as she put it to a friend. She couldn’t come to grips with the fact that SeaWorld, a company she didn’t work for and had no control over, was taking Chopper away from his mother, and from her, for reasons she felt had nothing to do with Chopper’s well-being. In the end, her love for the dolphins developed into an antipathy for the business. “I refuse to let any of my soul be hardened by a corporation,” she wrote in a journal. “I love what I do. I am proud of what I do. [But] I will not go against my soul. If it doesn’t feel right…I listen.”
Later that week she asked to meet with Blasko and Gulf World’s management team to let them know she would be leaving too. “Do you know why I am here?” she asked. “I think I have a good idea,” Blasko answered. Guidry explained that she was not really a disgruntled employee, but Chopper’s fate had changed everything for her. “If that’s the direction of the business, that’s just not me,” she explained. “It’s just something I have to do.” Gulf World asked her to stay on for a few months to help train some new hires. Guidry agreed. The parting was amicable.
Guidry misses Sandy and the other animals at Gulf World so much “it hurts.” She still chokes up when she recalls how special Chopper was, and is fiercely proud of the fact that she stepped up to give him what she could, despite the pain that followed. She also recognizes that Chopper gave her something, too, a different way of seeing and thinking. “Chopper was a huge catalyst for me, and a big change in my moral compass,” she says.
* * *
On a scorching day last July, a few months after Guidry quit Gulf World, we make the one-hour drive to Fort Walton Beach to visit Chopper at Gulfarium. It is a dinky, rust-flaked facility that sits just off the beach. Opened in 1955, Gulfarium’s 2007 Marine Mammal Inventory Report lists dozens of dolphins who died there between 1974 and 2013, from all manner of illness and infection (one dolphin, called Herman, somehow drowned). Gulfarium is notorious within the Florida marine park world for losing three sea lions who separately managed to escape their enclosure, only to be torn up and killed by Gulfarium’s guard dogs. Another sea lion there asphyxiated, and three others died of either heat stroke or hyperthermia. As you walk toward the entrance from the parking lot, which takes you to a bustling and well-appointed gift shop, there is a sandy area on your right. According to dolphin advocate Russ Rector, who used to work in the Florida marine park industry and has been a longtime critic of Gulfarium, more than 100 animals that died at Gulfarium are buried there.
Chopper shares the small, circular show pool, with his father Sebastian, and a SeaWorld dolphin called Cosmo. Cosmo’s life history, in which he has accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles, may well be a good indicator of how Chopper’s future will unfold. Born in 2003 at SeaWorld’s Florida park, Cosmo was shipped to the Mirage in 2010 and then SeaWorld San Diego in 2013, before being sent back across the country to Gulfarium in May 2014. We clamber up into the stands and watch the three dolphins dutifully perform the usual routine of tail walks, fluke presentations, and jumps. You can see rake marks on their skin, which the announcer says is the result of “dolphin communication” because “they don’t have hands!” The Gulf Of Mexico shimmers in the background, and a group of wild dolphins is cruising past just offshore. “Oh God, this makes me so sad,” Guidry mutters.
After the show, the crowd files out of the stands to wander around the rest of Gulfarium’s exhibits. Chopper, Sebastian, and Cosmo have nowhere to go so they glide around the small, featureless, pool, swimming circle after circle. After a while, some trainers show up and work with the dolphins for about ten minutes. Then they toss some balls into the pool and leave. Chopper gamely tries to amuse himself with a soccer ball, nosing it across the pool. After a few minutes he gives up and goes back to swimming his endless laps. Guidry is at least relieved to see that, despite her fears, Chopper and Sebastian seem to get on okay. She puts her face up against an underwater window and says, “Hi Buddy,” as he glides by. Chopper doesn’t really notice her, and keeps swimming. “This is super-depressing. I can’t look at this anymore,” Guidry says, and we walk away.
At a nearby waterside restaurant, Guidry is subdued and tries to sort through her emotions. “I really thought I was a good person who loved animals and was doing the right thing,” she says. “It never occurred to me that I was part of a huge problem, and that is a tough realization.” Acting on that realization, and walking away from a career, wasn’t easy either. But Guidry talks about her two boys and how she doesn’t feel like she would be able to tell them how to lead an ethical life if she didn’t feel that she had made ethical choices herself.
Guidry also feels indebted to Chopper, Sandy, and the other dolphins she grew to love, because she believes that getting to know them made her a better person, more thoughtful and empathetic. “I know animals like Sandy who make the best of it. She is still able to give of herself to the people who put her where she is,” she explains. “That’s an amazing resilience that I don’t even understand. Her strength makes me want to better myself.”
The hardest part is that to fight for Chopper and Sandy, Guidry had to leave them. She knows she is acting on what she learned from them, telling their stories, and determined to work for change, but they don’t know that. They are still living their captive lives at Gulf World and Gulfarium—performing, breeding, and bringing in tourist dollars—and all they know is that she is no longer there for them. That is something that haunts her. “I wish I could just tell them I am trying, trying to make something I know is wrong right,” she says.
* * *
Tim Zimmermann is a Correspondent at Outside magazine, Associate Producer and Co-Writer of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, and author of The Race. He is a National Magazine Award finalist (for a 2005 Outside story about cave diving), and in recent years he has written and reported extensively on SeaWorld and marine mammal captivity. His work has also appeared in Men’s Journal, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, The Best American Sports Writing, and The Best American Science And Nature Writing. In a previous life he was a Senior Editor and Diplomatic Correspondent at US News & World Report. Tim lives with his wife and two children in Washington, D.C., where he cycles, sails, and struggles to find decent vegan food. He can be found on both Twitter and Facebook.
* * *
Edited by Mike Dang. Fact-checked by Matthew Giles. Photos courtesy Ashley Guidry.
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DUSTY is the sole survivor of a shocking act of animal cruelty that condemned two of his siblings to horrific deaths yesterday.
The three labrador-cross puppies, barely six weeks old, were sealed in a garbage bag and dumped in a service station bin on Port Wakefield Rd at 7.30am yesterday.
He was saved by a shocked customer.
Severely distressed and in need of medical treatment, the puppy's future is now bright following his chance discovery.
Vet Dr Kym Southerland gave the six week-old a good prognosis. "We've given him some antibiotics and some painkillers, so we're very optimistic," he said.
"His colour is good and he's not in too bad a state considering the circumstances. He's just quite distressed and he'll be continually monitored over the weekend."
RSPCA Chief Inspector Simon Richards said the animals' dumping was a despicable act.
"I am shocked and disgusted that some- one could do this," Mr Richards said.
"Aside from discussing what a deplorable actnte
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I was scared to death. I thought I was going to cry.
Polls say people would rather be dead than speak in public. Seinfeld joked that a guy giving a eulogy would rather be in the coffin.
I’ve given 100s of talks but last week I wanted to die before I went on stage. I was speaking to an audience of about 200 CEOs. I felt inadequate and that they would hate me.
My wife said, “Just take a deep breath. Do what you usually do.” And I did.
Here’s the operating theory: you don’t need 10,000 hours at anything to be the best. You just need to pretty good at something (a couple of 100 hours) and then you need to know how to give a good talk in public. Because so few people want to talk in public so you will stand out.
I wrote a post a year ago: “10 Unusual Tips to Be a Great Public Speaker“. I still follow those tips but…
Since the first post I’ve given a lot more talks to a varied set of audiences. I’ve spoken about everything from spirituality to business to creativity to entrepreneurship to failure.
And before each talk I’ve always thought to myself: “holy s**t, how did I write that post about public speaking. I’m more nervous than ever!”
So I have a few more tips. And these tips are as important as the first ten.
A) WATCH COMEDIANS.
I watch great standup comedy before every talk. It puts me in a looser mood and makes me laugh, which relaxes me.
When possible, I will directly steal a joke from whatever comedian I’m watching. If they’ve tested out the joke, then it’s probably a good one and will work for me as well.
I even practice imitating their timing. The way they pause, the way they change voices and move around the stage, everything.
Comedians are the best public speakers and are up against the most brutal audiences so you MUST study comedians.
B) NO POWERPOINT.
I used to think I always needed a PowerPoint. Because as useful as my words are: a “picture is worth a thousand words”.
This is total BS. If a picture is worth 1000 words then you are worth 100,000 pictures.
I compare Daniel Tosh stand-up with his TV show “Tosh.0”. In his stand-up it’s just him, making jokes, NO PowerPoint.
In “Tosh.0”, the format is that he watches YouTube videos and makes fun of them.
His stand-up is better than the show. Even though the show is great, it isn’t as fun as just watching him do stand-up.
PowerPoint will only distract from the main attraction: YOU.
C) CLOTHES.
I ONLY dress in clothes I feel most comfortable in, even if everyone else is wearing tuxedos.
When I speak I have a specific “uniform”. I wear a t-shirt I had custom made that has all 67,000 words of my book, “Choose Yourself!” printed on it. And I wear a white shirt over it and black pants. Like a waiter. I’m at your service and I’ve chosen myself. BAM!
D) PAUSE.
I had this unnatural fear that if I paused too much during a talk people would get bored.
But inserting pauses allows people to think about what you are saying. It allows you to breathe, it allows you to be funnier, it avoids the impression that you are rushing through the material. Take a drink of water. Walk from one side of the stage to the other. Whatever you need to do.
E) Q AND A.
I enjoy Q and A as much as the talk itself. So I arrange beforehand to do the maximum amount of Q&A.
F) ABS.
Always Be Storytelling. NEVER give advice in a talk. Nobody is smart enough to give advice.
Just talk about your own experiences and what you did to help yourself. Mix in interesting facts.
Straight out advice will never help anyone. Buddha himself realized this about public speaking. He said, “Don’t believe me on anything. Try this out for yourself.”
G) ABV. Always Be Vulnerable.
Nobody wants to hear from Invulnerable Man. They want to hear where you are scared and vulnerable and feeling insecure. Because we all do.
Poor speakers create an artificial divide between themselves and the audience. They feel they need to do this in order to establish their own credibility.
Let me tell you – there is no such thing as credibility. In 100 years there will be no buildings named after any of us.
Somebody has to be on stage and some people have to be in the audience. That’s the only difference.
Don’t put any thought as to WHY you are on the stage or how you need to be “better” than the people in the audience. You aren’t better. You’re simply the speaker.
We all woke up lonely and confused this morning. What a miracle that we get to speak to each other.
And even better, we feed the soul by listening to each other. Ultimately, the best speakers are the ones who have put 10,000 hours into listening.
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A warning from the end of the 2005 general election for #LibDemFightback It’s a few days before polling day in the 2005 general election. After an early stumble, Charles Kennedy has recovered and is scoring high personal ratings. The Iraq war has opened up a huge opportunity to eat into Labour’s vote. But the opinion polls are showing his party up only a couple of points up on its 2001 result. What could move the figures? As one of its final attempts to grab the national news headlines before polling day and eat into the Labour vote, the party unveils a high profile defector from Labour: sitting MP (though not restanding) Brian Sedgemore. All that has since faded into historical obscurity. So save for those interested in the details of political history, why does the defection still matter? It’s because there is a lesson for the party’s future in its decision at the time to have as a high profile centrepiece of its campaign the acceptance of the defection Brian Sedgemore. He had been firmly on the left of the Labour Party, a cheerleader for Tony Benn during his most left-wing years, a key Hard Left organiser in the Labour Party, a long-running opponent of MPs registering their interests – had only a very limited track record of supporting Liberal Democrat causes. Yet there he was, being welcomed by Charles Kennedy and presented to any and all media the party could interest. The reason? Iraq. He fell out so badly with Tony Blair over Iraq that he joined the Liberal Democrats in protest. Perhaps all parties should be grateful for just about any high profile support offered shortly before polling day. But in accepting and highlighting his switch, the Liberal Democrats also highlighted how much the party’s appeal was being built not on converting people to liberalism but on accumulating a very diverse coalition of people who didn’t like Tony Blair or the military intervention in Iraq. Being liberal was not required to be showcased as a supporter. Labour’s victory in the 2005 general election meant that the highly diverse nature of that Iraq-coalition was not put to the test in a hung Parliament. But just as the diverse coalition that made up the Liberal Democrat support in 2010 could not then stick together in a hung Parliament, so too would Charles Kennedy and the party have run into the same problem in 2005. Simply being against a decision made in the past to intervene in Iraq would not have been enough to hold the party’s support together across the huge range of different issues that come up during a hung Parliament. The lesson? To hold together, and to prosper, in tough times you need a stronger glue to hold the party together. Coherence that comes from a larger core vote based on the party’s values, with, yes, local coalitions built on top of that to help win specific seats. But those coalitions being on top of a large core vote that positively supports the party’s values, rather than a substitute in its absence. Hence one of the criticisms of Kennedy’s time as leader, as expressed at the time including in places such as the ‘leader columns’ in Liberator (hardly a right-wing publication), was that the Kennedy leadership was too reluctant to self-confidently argue for a liberal party, based on liberal values. Instead at different times it simply went chasing after whatever disillusioned Labour or unhappy Tory support was on offer. In that Sedgemore epitomised the problem. It wasn’t a case of “here’s a new liberal, hooray!” It was a case of “here’s a left-winger unhappy with Labour, hooray!” and no need to modulate those cheers if they were not liberal. The idea that the Liberal Democrats should simply be a nicer form of the Labour Party appeals to some (and I suspect is what Polly Toynbee, for example, was hoping for in 2010). But that’s not what the Liberal Democrats are about. We weren’t just a Labour Party without illegal wars and nor are we now just a Labour Party with a leader who likes Europe and is liked by his MPs. We’re Liberal Democrats. That needs to be the foundation of the party’s strategy and messages.
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In every single region of the world, economic growth has failed to return to the rate it averaged before the Great Recession. Economists have come up with a variety of theories for why this recovery has been the weakest in postwar history, including high indebtedness, growing income inequality, and excess caution induced by the original debt crisis. Although each explanation has some merit, experts have largely overlooked what may be the most important factor: the global slowdown in the growth of the labor force.
One way to calculate the world’s potential growth rate is to add the rate at which the labor force is expanding to the rate at which productivity is rising. Since 1960, gains in both factors have contributed equally to potential economic growth. And in the last decade, the gains in both appear to have leveled off. The difference between these two drivers, however, is that there is a debate about whether the decline in productivity growth is real. Productivity measurements have arguably failed to capture savings in money and time generated by new technologies, from superfast Internet connections to artificial intelligence. But it is hard to deny that the growth in the size of the labor force—which is driven mainly by increases in the number of working-age people, those between the ages of 15 and 64—has slowed across the world.
In a world with fewer young people, economic growth will be harder to come by.
Between 1960 and 2005, the global labor force grew at an average of 1.8 percent per year, but since 2005, the rate has downshifted to just 1.1 percent, and it will likely slip further in the coming decades as fertility rates continue to decline in most parts of the world. The labor force is still growing rapidly in Nigeria, the Philippines, and a few other countries. But it is growing very slowly in the United States—at 0.5 percent per year over the past decade, compared with 1.7 percent from 1960 to 2005—and is already shrinking in some countries, such
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LMOS - the Last Measure Operating System
LMOS is a minimalist operating system targetting multimedia presentations, written with simplicity in mind. Due to its tiny x86 assembly core, it easily fits on a standard floppy: just write LMOS and your pictures to a CD or floppy, and it will boot and play on any IBM-PC compatible computer.
LMOS is a handy tool to carry with you on a business card CD or an USB key. Also, instead of luring people to Last Measure mirrors or similar shock sites, you can simply hand them an LMOS CD with a "Knoppix" sticker on it.
The LMOS code is released under the WTFPL. LMOS also makes use of the Linux bootsector, which is GPLed and its default theme comes from Last Measure which is BSD. As a result, LMOS binaries are probably covered by the GPL.
Themes
The default LMOS theme contains the following images, which are amongst the most famous shock images available on the Internet:
hello.jpg (as seen on goatse.cx)
tub.jpg (as seen on tubgirl.com)
loopback.jpg (as seen on goatse.cx)
harlequin.jpg
pooped.jpg (as seen on bangedup.com)
pillowfight.jpg
lemonparty.jpg (as seen on lemonparty.org)
The default LMOS background music is the famous "HEY EVERYBODY, I’M LOOKING AT GAY PORNO" sample.
Downloads
Warning: these files contain material that can be considered offensive, shocking, satanic or hilarious. If in doubt, do not download them, especially if you are under 18 and surfing outside of parental control. You have been warned.
lmos-0.1.0.img: bootable 1.44 floppy image
lmos-0.1.0.iso: bootable CD ISO image
lmos-0.1.0.tar.gz: source code
Changelog
0.1.0: initial public release.
Development
LMOS is written in x86 assembly and should work on any x86 computer. To build a complete version of LMOS, you will need GNU as, nasm, ImageMagick, python and mkisofs.
Please report bugs and make suggestions to [email protected].
Links
Related projects:
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DC Comics is set to show off Watchmen this weekend in Chicago. But it won’t be the first time some folks will have seen the pages they are showing off. A number of “press screenings” have been taking place in DC Comics offices for the likes of USA Today, Comic Book Resources, The New York Daily News, Comics Alliance, the Washington Post, The Beat… or people a bit like them anyway. All wrapped up by Non Disclosure Agreements. But a few of them have started to leak…
So what have I learned? Well, the books look really nice. Really nice. Gorgeous, beautiful, sensational are words that have reached me.
Darwyn Cooke and Amanda Conner’s Silk Spectre has received the most praise, as has Darwyn’s Minutemen.
I’m told that Silk Spectre sticks to the nine panel grid of Watchmen but a number of the books don’t.
I’m told that JMS’s version of the Comedian may be rather controversial in that it’s a very different take on the character, that neglects certain established aspects of the character for a fresh approach that will, and I quote, “people’s minds are going to explode”.
But the most controversial point may well be in the Len Wein stories. Original Watchmen editor Wein and Alan Moore fought over the original ending to Watchmen, with Moore getting his way, and now I’m told Wein exploring alternative endings to he original story in the Crimson Corsair back up strips and in the Ozymandias comic.
Just as the original Tales Of The Black Freighter comics set up the main narrative of Watchmen and pointed towards its conclusion, I’m told Wein may be setting up new plot points that may lead the reader to question the events at the end of the original Watchmen comic. And that Crimson Corsair may be expanding in size to help the schedules of the regular creators.
Do consider all this rumour for now. Well sourced, but I haven’t actually seen the pages for myself yet.
We all may get a glimpse at C2E2…
About Rich Johnston Chief writer and founder of Bleeding Cool. Father of two. Comic book clairvoyant. Political cartoonist.
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Honest Ed’s, the Toronto landmark known as much for its cheesy outdoor signage as its low prices, is up for sale.
Sources confirmed to the National Post that the famous Bloor Street store has been put on the block, along with some surrounding land also owned by the Mirvish family, and several real estate companies have been invited to make an offer in a transaction that could be worth about $100-million. This was later confirmed by the store’s long-time manager Russell Lazar.
He opened his store on a Saturday, and watched a torrent of customers pour in — the store was mobbed
“It never really [publicly] hit the market,” said one real-estate source with knowledge of the offer, which appears to have been kept deliberately quiet. Colliers International is said to represent the listing.
The store — impossible to miss with its high-wattage outdoor marquee and schmaltzy posters like “Honest Ed attracts squirrels! At these prices they think he’s nuts!” — was first opened in 1948 by Ed Mirvish. His seed capital of $212 came from cashing in his wife’s insurance policy.
“He opened his store on a Saturday, and watched a torrent of customers pour in — the store was mobbed. It was the opening day of Honest Ed’s,” notes the retailer’s website.
From the store, the Mirvishes expanded and diversified their empire and today operate the most prominent company in the Canadian live-theatre business, Mirvish Productions.
The Honest Ed’s store has 160,000 square feet, but the total development being sold is said to encompass about 350,000 square feet, according to sources. The area around the store is known as Mirvish Village and features more upscale boutiques, book stores, art galleries and restaurants that are more in tune with the surrounding upscale Annex neighbourhood.
Mr. Mirvish’s son David, who now owns the properties, told the National Post on Monday that nothing has been sold. He would not comment about his holdings in the area or how the various properties have been assembled.
“We are about to celebrate our 65th anniversary and I’ll talk about that,” said Mr. Mirvish, who worked alongside his father running the family business, until Ed Mirvish died in 2007.
“I’m planning it for 2014 and for 2015, if you would like to talk about that.”
Mr. Mirvish said there have always been rumours about the property and the land — a prime location on the subway line — being for sale.
“Everything is on the market with me … you never know what will happen in the future,” said Mr. Mirvish. “For the moment, we are planning our anniversary.”
The sale of the land and property would come as Mr. Mirvish forges ahead with plans for a massive condo project further south in Toronto, on King Street West.
In October 2012, Mr. Mirvish and acclaimed Toronto-born architect Frank Gehry unveiled plans for what has been referred to as “three iconic towers” in the theatre district.
The condo towers are to be 80 storeys high and the project includes an art gallery, retail space and studios for the Ontario College of Art and Design University.
The plan is in the municipal-approval process.
Toronto condo developer Brad Lamb said any buyer planning to purchase the Honest Ed’s site for a multi-family residential project couldn’t expect to be allowed anything like the density that is planned for the King Street project.
“They’ve opened the flood gates on King Street,” said Mr. Lamb.
“What will happen [in The Annex] is someone like RioCan [a retail landlord] will probably partner with an office developer or condo developer, and we’re talking about a 10- to-12-storey development.”
Mr. Lamb said he hadn’t heard anything about the sale of the Mirvish property but said he would welcome any change to the area.
“It would be great,” said Mr. Lamb, about the Honest Ed’s site. “That thing is an eyesore.”
National Post
• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: dustywallet
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News4 reporter Shomari Stone spoke exclusively with the mother of 22-year-old Julian Dawkins, who was shot and killed following an altercation with a sheriff's deputy. (Published Tuesday, June 4, 2013)
An Arlington County sheriff's deputy is facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of 22-year-old Julian Dawkins.
Deputy Craig Patterson, a 17-year veteran with the sheriff's office, appeared in court via closed-circuit TV Friday. He was also charged with use of a firearm in committing a felony.
Investigators say Patterson, who was off-duty at the time, got into a dispute with Dawkins on the corner of Lynnhaven Drive and Evans Lane just after midnight May 22.
"As he left the scene, he was heard by a few witnesses to yell back at Dawkins that he would be back," Alexandria Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Sengel said.
Alexandria Sheriff's Deputy Arraigned in Homicide Case
News 4's Julie Carey reports on Friday's court arraignment of Craig Patterson, the Arlington County sheriff's deputy held without bond and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 22-year old man in an Alexandria, Va, neighborhood. Funeral services for the victim, Julian Dawkins, were also held Friday. (Published Tuesday, June 4, 2013)
Patterson then went home and returned to the scene of the argument with his gun, badge and handcuffs, prosecutors said.
At some point during the dispute, Dawkins was shot in the chest. Police said Patterson, 44, stayed on the scene and called 911. Dawkins was pronounced dead at an area hospital.
Sengel said Patterson falsely claimed he fired in self-defense on the 911 call. Patterson had claimed Dawkins threatened him with a knife, but police only found a folded pocketknife in Dawkins's pocket.
Arlington Deputy Charged in Man's Death
An Arlington County sheriff's deputy is facing a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of 22-year-old Julian Dawkins. (Published Friday, May 31, 2013)
Prosecutors argued there was no way Dawkins could have presented the knife in a threatening manner given the way investigators found him.
News4's Shomari Stone spoke exclusively with Dawkins' mother, Gwen Prattmiller.
"There is nothing I'm not going to miss about my son," Prattmiller said. "He was all I had. I'm glad that they did finally charge the guy, but I still won't be at peace until I get a conviction out of the situation."
Rally Demands Justice for Julian Dawkins
Close friends of a man shot last week by an off-duty sheriff's deputy held a rally Tuesday to demand an arrest. (Published Tuesday, May 28, 2013)
Prattmiller said she wants justice for her son, which she defined as life in jail without parole for Patterson.
Earlier this week, friends of Dawkins held a rally calling for Patterson's arrest.
"It's a great loss... to the family, the friends, the community," said family friend Patrick Cooper of Dawkins' death. "It's a great loss, and the way that it happened makes it even worse, just him being murdered by a police officer, you know. We're looking for some accountability."
Police Say Man Killed by Off-Duty Deputy
News 4's Pat Collins reports on the shooting death of a 22-year old man following an alleged confrontation with an off-duty Arlington Co. Sheriff's deputy early Wednesday morning. Family members said the victim had just left a party at his aunt's house to celebrate his cousin's new contract to play with the WNBA's Washington Mystics. (Published Wednesday, May 22, 2013)
Key witnesses stepped forward Wednesday, Alexandria Police Chief Earl Cook said.
"Witnesses that came forward provided us with enough evidence at this point to make the charge yesterday," he said.
An arrest warrant was issued for Patterson Thursday. He was later taken into custody and charged with murder.
Police hope more witnesses come forward.
Just hours after Patterson's court appearance Friday, a funeral was held for Dawkins. Antioch Church of Christ overflowed with mourners. Some told News4 they were relieved to learn of the arrest.
"It's good that they did get him, lock him up," said Lauren Bradford, who went to school with Dawkins. "That's what he needed to be from day one, in jail, but it's not gong to bring Julian back.
The area where Dawkins was shot was just four houses down from Dawkins' aunt's home, where the family was celebrating his cousin Tierra Ruffin-Pratt's contract with the WNBA's Washington Mystics.
Dawkins was a graduate of T.C. Williams High School and worked as a driver for PBS. The network's Gwen Ifill wrote that he "worked at the PBS NewsHour as a driver -- shuttling people, tapes and mail back and forth between our two office buildings with a bright smile for everyone."
Patterson has been placed on unpaid leave.
During Friday's court appearance, Patterson's public defender asked to be removed from the case due to a conflict of interest. He next appears in court on June 7, with his newly appointed private attorney.
Stay with NBCWashington.com for more on this developing story.
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Esportal 4 Clover & Lepricon only started playing together one month ago, but now they have a shot at making their first tournament finals as a team.
After beating M5, the only ones standing between them and a spot in the grand finals of Esportal Dota2 League are 4ASC.
– It’s gonna be an interesting matchup tomorrow, caster David ”Blaze” Dillon says.
It will be a qualifier final of 4:s, as 4 Clover & Lepricon will take on 4 Anchors + Sea Captain in Wednesday’s Esportal Dota2 League. They cleared their way towards the finals after dismissing M5 in an intense game that often had the casters shaking their heads.
In the first matchup, Kai ”Hann1” Hanbückers managed to Ultra Kill the entire M5 squad after his team had been trailing. But only three minutes later, M5 struck back with a wipe of their own.
– That’s how you hold high ground and play ”turtle dota”, oh my god, they’re wiping the floor with 4 Clover, caster David ”Blaze” Dillon shouted during the intense fighting.
”Incredible Axe play”
After 4 Clover equalized the series in the second game, it all came down to the third and deciding round. That’s when Alaan ”SexyBamboe” Faraj stepped up for his team and led the way in the early game, earning praises from Blaze.
– Incredible Axe play by SexyBamboe, he built the momentum they needed.
His play gave his team room to control M5 and the russian opponents never recovered. Even though they dragged out 4 Clovers finish by protecting the barracks, the defeat was inevitable and 46 minutes into the third round 4 Clover had secured the win.
Now they will be facing 4ASC in Wednesday’s finals, starting 18PM CET.
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The weight of 9,000 Twenty One Pilots fans bouncing to the beat at Ottawa's TD Place arena caused more damage to the building than previously reported — damage deemed similar to the impact of a low-magnitude earthquake, CBC News has learned.
Excessive vibration in the stands mimicked seismic waves, collapsing the ceiling in several areas of the GoodLife Fitness directly below the arena, according to an engineer's report obtained by CBC News through an access to information request.
Officials downplayed the damage the next day, claiming only a few ceiling tiles had fallen, but internal emails sent to the mayor's office tell a different story.
According to documents, failures included damaged lighting, speakers and ceiling tiles falling to the floor, and tile support systems buckling, exposing ductwork.
Damage to the ceiling of GoodLife Fitness at Lansdowne Park after a raucous Twenty One Pilots concert on April 1, 2016. (City of Ottawa)
Ceiling failed in several areas
As soon as the damage was discovered, the city issued an order to fix an "unsafe building." GoodLife was forced to close for two days while a structural engineer hired by the city investigated.
The report, by senior structural engineer Matthew Burtt of J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd., reveals:
Some light fixtures had safety chains connected to sprinkler piping instead of to the structure.
Large can-type speakers fell to the floor because they weren't properly secured with safety chains.
A mirror on the gym's south wall shattered.
The ceiling's tile framing system gave out because it wasn't braced to the building.
"The damage observed was consistent with that which would be expected of a low-magnitude earthquake," Burtt wrote in his report to Marco Manconi, the city manager who led the construction of the Lansdowne Park redevelopment.
The subcontractor that installed the drop ceiling for GoodLife made some mistakes. - Randy Burgess, OSEG spokesman
GoodLife's own contractor brought in a second engineer who made similar findings. Gord Bowman of Bowman Steel Management reported the T-bar ceiling disconnected in three separate areas, causing the damage.
"The subcontractor that installed the drop ceiling for GoodLife made some mistakes," said Randy Burgess, Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group's vice-president of communications.
Burgess said engineers examined the roof and determined the problem wasn't structural. The arena floor is built to shift with the weight of fans, he added. "The building is designed to move and its integrity was proven during that show."
Damage to Goodlife Fitness was consistent with that typically caused by a low-magnitude earthquake, according to an engineer's report. (City of Ottawa)
'It was just shaking so much'
Several fans who were at the concert said they felt the floor shake during all the band's hit songs, and when the lead singer ran into the crowd.
The floor felt like it could maybe fall down. - Meagan Morin, concertgoer
"Everyone simultaneously started jumping," said concertgoer Meagan Morin. "It was exciting and crazy. The floor felt like it could maybe fall down. It was just shaking so much."
Morin attended the concert with her mother and sister.
"[The singer would] say, 'Get low!" So everyone would crunch down and then we'd all jump up and start going crazy. For a second I was like, 'Whoa, this is moving a lot, maybe we should stop.'"
<a href="https://twitter.com/twentyonepilots">@twentyonepilots</a> literally has <a href="https://twitter.com/TD_Place">@TD_Place</a> shaking —@_Tyler65
Concerned gym-goers called for weeks
A GoodLife staff member said the gym fielded calls from concerned patrons for weeks following the ceiling collapse. Members wanted to know if it was safe to work out at the gym.
"We're being cautious when there are concerts for the first couple concerts to make sure everything is good," said Tracey Matthews, GoodLife's director of membership services. "But we don't have any reason to believe it wouldn't be."
We're being cautious when there are concerts. - Tracey Matthews, GoodLife Fitness
The gym's construction team worked around the clock to repair the ceiling and reinforce audio equipment, says Matthews.
The gym re-opened the Monday morning following the concert.
GoodLife Fitness member Sean Costello says he's spotted previous ceiling damage. (CBC) "It was frustrating," said gym member Sean Costello of the two-day closure. "It was disappointing. You pay a membership to go use equipment."
This isn't the first time Costello has seen damage to the ceiling at GoodLife. He said he's spotted problems on three separate occasions over the last year.
"I've seen water damage, wet ceiling, tiles coming out, buckets underneath that they have to deal with. When you've got a concrete slab above you, you should be able to trust that."
Goodlife confirmed there have been a few incidents of water damage since the facility opened last year. In two cases, the roof had to be patched because water was leaking into the gym from outside.
"In any new construction, new builds, you can foresee some issues upon opening and all of those have been repaired," said Matthews. "But nothing [previous] was due to a concert or anything."
GoodLife Fitness at Lansdowne Park reopened after two days. (Ashley Burke/CBC)
Lawsuits unrelated to concert damage
A month before the ceiling collapse, OSEG sued a design firm and four other companies, including engineers involved in the redevelopment of TD Place stadium. OSEG is seeking $5 million for negligent work and breaches of contract.
"There's no connection at all between the incident at GoodLife and any other matter that pertains to the overall construction of our facility," said OSEG's Randy Burgess.
In the biggest lawsuit, Toronto-based CannonDesign faces claims it was negligent with its work on TD Place Stadium and the conversion of the 33,500 square foot space below into leasable retail space — including the area that's now GoodLife Fitness.
The area's city councillor, David Chernushenko, has called for a simulation before the next major concert to test the repairs and avoid a repeat of the damage.
Singer Meat Loaf is scheduled to take the TD Place stage on June 6.
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David Chiu, right, and David Campos are colleagues on the Board of Supervisors who are battling each other for a seat in the state Assembly. The election is Tuesday.
David Campos and David Chiu are fighting over Tom Ammiano's seat in the California Assembly with the intensity of a retiree from Iowa parallel parking a stick shift between two motorcycles on a San Francisco hill for the first time.
Election narratives assume that the Assembly is a more prestigious office than supervisor, but how many voters have the foggiest notion what an assemblyman actually does? I have lobbied several failed bills at the state Capitol, so can share my participant-observer ethnography of how the sausage is made. The voters of San Francisco can then make an informed decision of who is most qualified for the duties of this specific job.
The first thing to know about how the sausage of public policy is made is that it is made entirely of lips and nether parts. To call the Capitol a cesspool would be demeaning to cesspools. Lobbyists spend all day lurking unventilated, fluorescent-lit halls, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting legislators sneaking to the bathroom. People agree to any minor amendments when they have to pee. You can always tell how powerful a lobbyist is from the price of their lobbyist's suit, which is directly proportional to their smell. Brooks Brothers and body odor? That must be the Western States Petroleum Association!
Also, the state Legislature is not run by the people we elect to do so. It's run by attractive 25-year-old staffers for the legislators and various committees. I don't know why sexy people are over-represented in the Capitol, but they are. Apparently powerful men like having hot young women around them. These are the millennials who tend not to be comely enough for Los Angeles, or capable enough to go to New York or D.C. But they are just comely and capable enough to steward the world's eighth-largest economy.
Legislators are on a vertical learning curve from the instant they arrive in Sacramento for about as long as it takes to get termed out and appointed a cushy sinecure on a waste management board. They vote on an onslaught of bills, and can't accumulate policy expertise on more than two things. The result is that legislators are effectively mouthpieces of both their 25-year-old staffers, who act as gatekeepers and filters, and the roundtable of lobbyists, hacks and blowhards they assembled to 'splain stuff to them.
California is for all intents governed by dreamy 20-something aides and lobbyists who bribed their way into the circle of trust. The art of serving in state government is to tiptoe as close as possible to buying guns from "Shrimp Boy" without actually buying guns from "Shrimp Boy." You have to be able to take bribes and sell your vote without appearing to do so, mostly to real estate developers who think "Arrested Development" is a flattering portrayal of their industry.
So, people of San Francisco: Will David Chiu or David Campos be better at hiring sexy staff and cavorting with predatory corporate shills? That's what you must decide by Tuesday.
San Francisco comedian Nato Green performs stand-up every Friday with The Business at the Hemlock Tavern and his podcast is called "The Nato Sessions." Full disclosure: Nato has donated time and money to David Campos.
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Fresh from limiting the parliamentary debate on its proposed anti-terror law, the government is now resisting opposition calls for an extensive review of Bill C-51 by the Commons committee on public safety and national security.
"This bill is strongly supported by Canadians," Stephen Harper argued this week during Question Period, "and I encourage the committee to study it as quickly as possible in order to adopt these measures to help Canadian security during the life of this Parliament."
What the prime minister bases his judgment of public support on isn't clear, though one opinion poll has suggested four out of five Canadians are in favour of giving Canada's spy agency and police broad new powers.
But public support, no matter how it's measured, is no substitute for public scrutiny.
The government's bill proposes to give Canada's spy agency broad new powers to disrupt suspected terrorist plots, to allow government departments to share private information more widely, and to allow suspects to be detained without charge for longer periods.
But critics say that these new powers, and overly broad definitions in the proposed law, represent a threat to Canadians' rights, without any commensurate increase in parliamentary or third-party oversight.
An election winner?
The Conservatives, on the other hand, say Canada has to respond to the October attacks in Canada that killed two Canadian soldiers, and to view these incidents as part of a trend that has seen brazen attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, and the arrest Thursday of alleged ISIS conspirators in New York City.
But that's only one of the motives. The party also considers public security a winning issue for them heading into an election, so much so that the government is determined to push this bill through with a minimum of parliamentary scrutiny and review.
As CBC News reported on Wednesday, the government is offering just three days for the committee to hear from witnesses, with one of those days devoted exclusively to questioning Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and department officials.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair has criticized Bill C-51 for vague wording, which he says leaves the door open to spying on political opponents. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
The New Democrats and Liberals want much more time for witnesses. And will press their case again today when the committee meets to arrange a schedule.
"We're talking about the most significant changes to security legislation in this country since 2001," NDP Leader Tom Mulcair told reporters on Wednesday.
"Critical flaws are being revealed by security experts across the country every single day. It is reckless and irresponsible to ram it through without a full and proper study."
For the Conservatives, more witnesses equates to more criticism, and the possibility that the public support Harper talked about might begin to erode.
Getting it right
The alternative view is that the more public scrutiny, the more likely the government is to get a significant piece of this legislation right, which is to ensure that the appropriate balance is struck between security and individual liberties.
And there are no shortage of examples to support that view.
The most obvious is the 2001 review of the original anti-terrorism law introduced after the 9/11 attacks by the then Liberal government of Jean Chretien.
The Commons justice committee met 19 times between Oct. 18 and Nov. 26, 2001 to review the bill. A special committee of the Senate began parallel hearings, wrapping up on Dec. 6.
Both committees met twice-daily at one point to ensure the politicians — and public — heard from as many witnesses as possible.
Wayne MacKay, a constitutional law professor at Dalhousie University, appeared before both committees in 2001. He says the extensive testimony helped the government of the day refine the legislation.
"The more alternative views you hear, the better the legislation will be," MacKay said in an interview Wednesday. "This is another very significant piece of legislation and it's worthy of a detailed review."
With an election coming, the Canadian flag will be in demand. Here, Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes an announcement regarding tax cuts in Surrey, B.C., earlier this month. (The Canadian Press)
Don Stuart is a criminal law professor at Queen's University in Kingston. He also appeared before both committees in 2001, and says the Conservatives' approach to its anti-terror bill speaks more to political imperatives than security needs.
"The longer you go at committee, the more you hear opposing voices."
Lessons from the past
Stuart says there are elements of Bill C-51 that he believes are redundant, such as the new offence of promoting terrorism, or too vague, including the definition of terrorist activity.
In 2001, the Liberals accepted amendments to impose a five-year limit on the extraordinary new powers of preventative arrest and investigative hearings.
That bill, in its final form, withstood judicial scrutiny far better than either the U.S. Patriot Act or Britain's Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001.
This time, though, the Conservatives are showing no similar willingness to entertain amendments, even though that kind of obstinance has caused them political embarrassment before.
In 2011, the government tried to introduce a series of amendments to a mammoth crime bill at the last moment, amendments their own MPs had voted down earlier at committee simply because they had been proposed by Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.
It turned out the government actually agreed with Cotler's efforts and, proving imitation is the least sincere form of legislation, they copied nearly word for word Cotler's proposals to strengthen the right of victims to sue foreign states that supported or committed terrorist acts.
Here, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau delivers a speech during an event in Mississauga, Ont., on Feb. 15. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
It didn’t work. The government's amendments were ruled out of order by House Speaker Andrew Scheer because they came too late in the legislative process.
In the end, the bill had to be amended in the Senate, and ended up mirroring what Cotler had proposed much earlier.
It's unlikely the Conservatives will now apply these past lessons as they push ahead with Bill C-51.
As the prime minister said, the goal is to have the new security measures in place before the House rises in June. Alongside a campaign message firmly embedded in the minds of voters before they head to the polls in October.
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From utter despair and tears of hopelessness, to “the happiest, most unbelievable day ever”. All within the space of a few hours…
This is the emotional rollercoaster ride University of the Free State alumnus, Seun Komolafe, experienced on Monday after Bloemfontein Courant published the story about his struggle to find employment.
Read original story:
Komolafe spent Monday morning on a street corner in Universitas, with a poster begging for employment of any kind. What makes his story different from so many others adorning our street corners, is that he holds three university degrees.
The 31-year-old holds an undergraduate degree in Actuarial Science, along with an Honours and a Master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics, all passed with distinction.
However, he had been struggling to find a job since 2013, when he obtained his undergraduate degree.
“I decided to do my Honours, because I received a bursary, and since then I couldn’t find a job,” he told Courant on Tuesday morning. “When I still couldn’t find a job after that, I decided to pursue my Master’s, hoping that I would find a job during the year.”
However, it wasn’t to be.
Komolafe says despite having obtained three degrees with distinctions in fields considered scarce skills, the unemployment line remained his only option.
“I have recently been offered a merit bursary by the university to study towards a Ph.D. but what’s the worth of that if I am still presented with the face of poverty whilst highly educated?”
Several employers allegedly rejected his applications based on his nationality.
Komolafe grew up in dire poverty, raised by a single father in Nigeria. Having dreamt of a life where he could study and help provide for his family, he did not hesitate when his uncle, who was living in South Africa, suggested that he furthers his studies at the University of the Free State.
“Once I landed in South Africa I chose to pursue a career in Mathematics because I knew it is a scarce skill that would open doors for me. Never did I imagine finding employment with this qualification would be such as a daunting task,” he says.
What kind of job does someone with his qualifications look for though?
“I used to dream of doing economic analytics for a major bank, but now I am willing to do anything,” he responds.
“I am willing to take literally any job, if it will put food on the table.
“There were times when I would ask myself why I even pursued a career in this field. The thought of going back to Nigeria or migrating to another country would often also cross my mind, but I am hopeful that I will find something to sustain myself in South Africa. There was a point where I would sit in my room and ask myself how I could have three degrees and yet fail to put food on my table.” Komolafe says he, however, still believes education is the key to success and wants to reinvest in this country through his knowledge.
“I studied in South Africa for all these years. I came to South Africa with nothing, and South Africans took care of me. They paid for my studies. It would be wrong for me to simply leave without giving back to South Africa. I want to help South African young people like I was helped.”
Now, what had seemed like an insurmountable mountain for the past few years has changed overnight.
More than 80 000 Courant readers read Komolafe’s story online with hundreds of shares on social media since Monday.
Other media picked up on Courant‘s story, which gave it even more momentum.
There were times when I would ask myself why I even pursued a career in this field
His phone has been ringing non-stop, with people from across the country inviting him for interviews, and even sponsoring his airfare.
“From utter despair to unbelievable luck! So many people have contacted me, even from major national companies. One person even offered me employment straightaway. I’m hopeful that my love for mathematics and numbers will bear fruit in no time.”
After years of despair, Komolafe now appears to have even gained a streak of the motivational speaker, as he leaves Bloemfontein Courant with this parting shot.
“Life is not about what you have experienced in the past. It is what you can do for yourself in the present, so never give up.”
Unbelievable indeed… – Katleho Morapela & Earl Coetzee
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Venice is studying a new proposal for reducing the impact of the colossal cruise ships that enter its lagoon on a daily basis – the construction of an artificial terminal island in the Adriatic.
Cruise ship passengers would disembark on the man-made, 940-metre jetty and board a fleet of catamarans to ferry them into Venice. Each catamaran would be able to take about 800 passengers, with the transfer to Venice’s historic centre taking less than an hour.
The proposed solution would allow passengers to experience the thrill of entering the lagoon by boat, but would satisfy the complaints of Venetians who say that the cruise ships are an eyesore, dwarfing the city’s bell towers and palazzi as they lumber into dock.
Critics also say the cruise ships pollute Venice and exacerbate the erosion of its fragile foundations as they pass within a few hundred yards of St Mark’s Square and along the narrow Giudecca Canal to the existing cruise ship terminal.
But the cruise industry earns Venice millions of dollars a year and supporters say it is vital for the city’s economy.
The industry is in favour of dredging a new channel in the lagoon, known as the Contorta-Sant’Angelo, which would enable ships to access the existing cruise ship terminal without sailing so close to Venice. But the artificial jetty, which would cost about $180 million, would dispense with the need for the channel, which environmentalists oppose on the grounds that it would upset the ecosystem of the lagoon.
Up to five big cruise ships could dock at the proposed new terminal, which would be built on an artificial island at the mouth of the northernmost of three inlets that connect the lagoon to the Adriatic.
Duferco Engineering, the Italian company behind the idea, said the island would take about two years to build. It hoped for a decision from the Italian government within the next two months.
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Now BBC Three has moved online, Family Guy has found a new home in ITV2 - and the Griffins will be returning to the airwaves very, very soon.
The channel tweeted the date of the show's return earlier today, and you can tune in for more from Peter, Lois and the gang on Monday, February 29 at 9pm.
Confirmed: Family Guy starts Monday 29 February at 9pm on ITV2 pic.twitter.com/QOTzTpreMh — ITV Press Centre (@itvpresscentre) February 17, 2016
ITV2 will also show Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's other series American Dad!, The Cleveland Show and new show Bordertown.
BBC Three moved to an exclusive online platform yesterday (Tuesday, February 17), and Damian Kavanagh gave Digital Spy some insight into why they chose not to keep the rights to Family Guy.
Fox
"I'm a massive fan of Family Guy - it's a great show and it's got a hell of a lot of attitude about it," he said.
"However, when money is in short supply - and on BBC Three we've had to think long and hard and rationalise exactly what we're going to do - I find it quite hard to justify [the money we're spending on it]."
EastEnders screened a plug for the switch over yesterday, as Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) was seen browsing online - watch it here.
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def monkeypatch(target):
def patcher(func):
setattr(target, func.__name__, func)
return func
return patcher
import MyClass
@monkeypatch(MyClass)
def myfunc():
...
def monkeypatch_reduce(target, reducefunc):
"""
A decorator factory that chains monkey patches, in the
case where separate patches may modify the same class.
"""
def patcher(func):
try:
_oldfunc = getattr(target, func.__name__)
except AttributeError:
setattr(target, func.__name__, func)
return func
def inner(*args, **kwargs):
return reducefunc(
_oldfunc(*args, **kwargs),
func(*args, **kwargs))
setattr(target, func.__name__, inner)
return inner
return patcher
from Products.ZenModel import Device
@monkeypatch_reduce(Device, reducefunc=lambda x,y:x and y)
def validate_device(dev):
return dev.fulfills_some_criteria()
@monkeypatch_reduce(Device, reducefunc=lambda x,y:x and y)
def validate_device(dev):
return dev.fulfills_other_criteria()
ZenPack.py:
-----------
def zenpack_list(self):
return []
A ZenPack:
----------
from Products.ZenModel import ZenPack
@monkeypatch_reduce(ZenPack, operator.add)
def zenpack_list(self):
return ["A Pack"]
A different ZenPack:
--------------------
from Products.ZenModel import ZenPack
@monkeypatch_reduce(ZenPack, operator.add)
def zenpack_list(self):
return ["A Different Pack"]
>>> ZenPack.zenpack_list()
["A Pack", "A Different Pack"]
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Carl Panzram killed 22 men and raped 1000. He was one of the most destructive, evil and fascinating forces ever visited upon this world. Read about his horrible deeds - in his own words.
"In my lifetime I have broken every law that was ever made by both man and God. If either had made any more, I should very cheerfully have broken them also."
Carl Panzram is one of the strangest, most horrific and most compelling serial killers in history. An extraordinary sociopath, Panzram confessed to murdering at least 22 people - 3 of them little boys - and raping over 1,000 men. He burned churches and escaped more prisons than most of us knew existed. He was driven by an incredible hate for humanity, which included himself. He was arrested on burglary charges and dropped a dime on himself, satisfied to be getting the death penalty. In his final years he wrote a memoir, one that is shockingly articulate, intriguing and - most of all - completely self-aware.
"You will find that I have consistently followed one idea through all my life: I preyed upon the weak, the harmless and the unsuspecting."
In his final days Carl Panzram was a hulking monster, a six foot tall man of 200 pounds, all muscle and bulk. He was bald and wore a huge mustache. His body was covered in tattoos, including a giant eagle on his chest and the words LIBERTY and JUSTICE under his pecs. His small eyes burned with fury and hatred.
But at the beginning he was just a little baby. Panzram was born in 1891 on a small farm in Minnesota. His parents were tough German immigrants, and he was the youngest of five children. His father left the family and his strict mother was stuck working in the fields all day, keeping her children in line with severe discipline. It didn’t help; at age 8 young Carl was brought before a local judge for being drunk. At age 12 he was in trouble again, this time for burglary. He was sent to reform school - a brutal juvenile prison.
In the school, which was run by Christians, Carl was beaten and raped. He got his revenge by burning down one of the school buildings - the beginning of a very eventful arson career. Eventually he figured out to lie to the powers that be and to play a good, reformed boy, and they let him go.
"I was reformed all right...I had been taught by Christians how to be a hypocrite and I had learned more about stealing, lying, hating, burning and killing. I had learned that a boy's penis could be used for something besides to urinate with and that a rectum could be used for other purposes..."
Carl returned home to work on the farm and go to school. That didn’t go so well. He hated his teacher so much that he brought a gun to school to kill the man in front of the class. Carl ended up in a fight with the teacher and the gun dropped from his clothes. He fled Minnesota, taking to the rails.
On the road he continued to learn pain and misery. He was gang raped by a group of hobos. The railroad cops were brutal, sadistic monsters. In Montana he was arrested, again for burglary. He spent time in another reform school, again being savaged. This time he fought back, trying to kill a guard with a wooden plank.
In 1907 Carl and another inmate escaped and headed west. Along the way they robbed churches... and then burned them. That was Carl’s favorite pastime, and he left a string of destroyed churches behind him. He blamed many of his personal problems on the religion that had been forced on him in Minnesota.
"Naturally, I now love Jesus very much. Yes, I love him so damn much that I would like to crucify him all over again!"
When he was 16 Carl ran into an Army recruiter at a bar. He lied about his age and signed up for the service; on his very first day as a soldier a drunken Carl was brought up on insubordination charges after he refused a work detail. Things didn’t get any better for Carl, and eventually he got busted robbing the supply closet. He was sentenced to Leavenworth.
Things had been bad in his previous jail experiences, but nothing prepared Carl for the horrors of Leavenworth. At the turn of the century the American penal system was a terrifying world of torture and cruelty. Prisoners in Leavenworth were not allowed to speak; any who dared utter a word was beaten savagely. Carl’s memoirs includes a harrowing examination of the different methods of torture used, each with a charmingly colloquial name: A Dose of the Salts, the Humming Bird, The Snorting Pole.
Carl was 16 years old.
“Well, I was a pretty rotten egg before I went there, but when I left there, all the good that may have been in me had been kicked and beaten out of me."
In 1910 Carl was freed from Leavenworth. What had been sort of an aimless ugliness in his personality had been hardened into something evil, and he would begin terrorizing everyone he met. He again headed southwest, burning churches and riding the rails. Except now, at six feet and easily 180 pounds, no one was assaulting him. Instead he began making a point of raping as many fellow hobos as he could.
"Whenever I met one that wasn't too rusty looking I would make him raise his hands and drop his pants. I wasn't very particular either. I rode them old and young, tall and short, white and black. It made no difference to me at all except that they were human beings."
At one point Carl, having stolen a gun during a burglary, robbed a railroad cop at gunpoint - and then proceeded to rape the man. That wasn’t enough, though, and he forced two other hobos to also rape him.
He would be arrested again and again, usually under false names. He escaped from many, many jails across the country, sometimes being arrested days later two towns over for another burglary.
He eventually ended up in Deer Lodge State Prison in Montana. He spent a few years there, this time as the man who ruled the ward.
“I would start my morning with sodomy.”
Carl had finally come into his own, physically and mentally, and he began to change from a bad man into a real bad man.
After release from Deer Lodge, Carl headed east. This time he found himself in New Haven, Connecticut, and this is where things got weird. As usual, Carl was burglarizing as many homes as he could. One day in 1920 he broke into a home and discovered it belonged to a very famous man: William Howard Taft.
By 1920 Taft’s time as president was already over and he was sitting on the Supreme Court. But Carl had a very personal connection with big old Taft; when Carl had been in the service Taft had been Secretary of War. That means the orders that sent Carl to Leavenworth had been signed by Taft. Carl was holding a grudge.
So Carl robbed the house, and along the way he stole Taft’s personal gun. He had bad, bad plans for that gun.
Carl didn’t just take the gun from Taft, he also ended up with about three grand in cash. He drifted down to New York City where he bought himself a yacht, which he named the Akista. Seeing the press of would-be sailors that hung around the docks at the South Street Seaport, Carl had himself a bright idea.
"Then I figured it would be a good plan to hire a few sailors to work for me, get them out to my yacht, get them drunk, commit sodomy on them, rob them and then kill them. This I done."
"We would wine and dine and when they were drunk enough they would go to bed. When they were asleep I would get my .45 Colt automatic, this I stole from Mr. Taft's home, and blow their brains out."
Carl slaughtered ten men this way, unceremoniously dumping their bodies out at sea. He did this for about three weeks before the locals began getting suspicious, and he decided to set up shop elsewhere. He hired two more men to help him get the Akista south, intending to kill them when they reached the final destination. Lucky for those two a big storm hit and the Akista was wrecked. The two men, by now having figured out Carl’s less then savory tastes, escaped from the wreckage.
Carl was adrift again. He got involved with labor disputes, which mostly gave him an excuse to brawl, and he ended up jailed yet again. After a gun battle with the police (another day in the life of Carl Panzram), he stowed away on a ship and ended up in Angola, on the south western African coast.
He got a job with Sinclair Oil* but his ways weren’t changed with a new continent. If anything, the racism and disparity of the time led Carl to some new heights of evil. He bought himself a girl, who was guaranteed to be a virgin - but he returned her that night because he didn’t believe it. Instead he was given an 8 year old girl, also claimed to be a virgin, but again Carl thought hwe was being taken. He decided to go back to boys, something he knew very well. It’s unclear whether Carl ever had sex with a woman.
"A little nigger boy about 11 or 12 years old came bumming around,. He was looking for something. He found it, too. I took him out to a gravel pit about ¼ mile from the main camp of the Sinclair Oil Company at Luanda. I left him there, but first I committed sodomy on him and then I killed him. His brains were coming out of his ears when I left him and he will never be any deader."
Next Carl hired a canoe with six Africans. His plan was simple: he wanted to find crocodiles. And he found plenty of them. Upon coming across a batch of crocs, Carl shot his six men and fed them all to the crocodiles.
In 1922 Carl made his way back to the United States, stowing away on boats and having various misadventures along the way. He was getting notorious, and he had some troubles with the US Consulate, but eventually he was back in New York. Since he still had the papers for the Akista he had the bright idea of stealing a similar boat and passing it off as his own.
Carl made his way up and down the east coast of the United States. He spent a little time in a hospital and, on his way out, robbed their drug room. He made some money selling the cocaine and pain killers. Speaking of killing, he kept on doing that; the murder of the boy in Angola must have awakened something in Carl, as he went for another boy in Salem, Massachussetts.
"I grabbed him by the arm and told him I was going to kill him... I stayed with the boy about three hours. During that time, I committed sodomy on the boy six times, and then I killed him by beating his brains out with a rock...I had stuffed down his throat several sheets of paper out of a magazine."
"I left him lying there with his brains coming out of his ears."
Carl finally stole that boat and repainted it to match the Akista. He spent some time as a river pirate on the Hudson, and then he decided to try and sell the new boat. The prospective buyer had his own crime in mind, and tried to rob the boat from Carl at gunpoint. Carl shot him and ended up in prison.
He wanted to get out, and so he hired a shady lawyer and promised the guy the Akista should Carl get bail. The lawyer worked some magic and Carl skipped town, leaving the lawyer to discover that the boat was actually stolen property - Carl had totally swindled him.
Carl returned to Connecticut, and in New London he raped and murdered another little boy. This time Carl also sodomized the body after death. The corpse lay undiscovered for days, by which time Calr had already left town.
And this is where the story of Carl Panzram gets really weird.
Carl broke into the train station in Larchmont, New York, looking to do some good old fashioned robbery. A cop interrupted him, and Carl attacked the officer with an axe. There was a scuffle and somehow Carl - standing six feet, 200 pounds, filled with a fire of sheer hate, was subdued and arrested. He was taken to Dannemora Prison. And he confessed. To everything.
There was some confusion, and at first the police thought he was a chiseler - a guy who just confesses to stuff to get preferential treatment. So Carl was released, and he went to Baltimore, where he robbed and killed a man and once again confessed to everything.
Eventually it became clear that Carl was telling the truth, and possibly leaving out some murders along the way. There was a trial, and he was sentenced to 25 years in Leavenworth.
Carl’s mind didn’t stop working on murder while he was in prison. He had new plans, bigger plans. Plans for mass destruction.
“I intended to wait until a fast all-steel Pullman train, the Capitol Limited or the National Limited, came along. I intended to have a large contact bomb in the middle of the tunnel fixed so that when the engine struck the obstruction, the bomb would explode and wreck the engine and block up that end of the tunnel. The explosion would set off and burst some large glass containers of formaldehyde and other gas and also set fire to a few hundred pounds of sulphur. The gas fumes thus generated and let loose in the closed tunnel would, in a very few minutes, kill every living thing on the whole train in the tunnel. I would be stationed at the rear entrance to the tunnel behind a barricade and armed, ready to shoot down anyone who had life enough to try and get out of the tunnel. As soon as I was assured that all were dead, I would put on a gas mask and an oxygen tank, such an outfit as is used in mine rescue work, then enter the cars to rob the train.”
He also wanted to blow up a train trestle in New York, and poison the water of Dannemora, New York, where he had been held earlier. His biggest, weirdest plan was to start a war between Britain and the United States by sinking a British battleship in US waters. The reason? He would have invested in stocks (using money he earned from his train attacks) that would rise should there be a war. He would play Wall Street in order to profit off a false war he started. James Bond should have fought this guy.
In prison Carl met Henry Lesser, a guard. Unlike the other guards, Lesser treated Carl with a small amount of kindness and dignity, and they became friends. Carl also met Robert Warnke, foreman of the prison laundry. Warnke rubbed Carl the wrong way, and he beat the man to death with an iron pipe. Carl’s sentence was changed to death.
Lesser gave Carl a pencil and paper, and Carl recorded his amazing, compelling memoir, which would eventually be published under the title Killer: A Journal of Murder. In the book Carl, utterly unrepentant, muses on what formed him into this vicious destroyer of humanity, into a man whose real life goal was to kill as many people as he could.
"Is it unnatural that I should have absorbed these things and have become what I am today, a treacherous, degenerate, brutal, human savage, devoid of all decent feeling...without conscience, morals, pity, sympathy, principle or any single good trait? Why am I what I am?"
As Carl sat on Death Row, an anti-death penalty group tried to get him a stay of execution. Carl was pissed off about this and sent them a letter asking them to stop in his own inimitable Carl Panzram way.
"I look forward to a seat in the electric chair or dance at the end of a rope just like some folks do for their wedding night."
"The only thanks you and your kind will ever get from me for your efforts on my behalf is that I wish you all had one neck and that I had my hands on it... I have no desire whatever to reform myself. My only desire is to reform people who try to reform me, and I believe that the only way to reform people is to kill 'em!"
Carl was hanged on September 5, 1930. He went happily to the gallows, after spending his last night on earth pacing in his cell singing filthy ditties he wrote himself. When he got to the platform where he would die, he spat in the executioner’s face. Carl was asked if he had any last words. This is what he said:
"Hurry up you Hoosier bastard, I could kill ten men while you're fooling around!"
* This sounds too good to be true, but it is: Harry F Sinclair, founder of Sinclair Oil, briefly ended up in prison during the Teapot Dome Scandal. Where did he go? Leavenworth, which is where Carl was awaiting his execution.
Panzram painting by Joe Coleman.
Thanks to Ant Timpson.
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Glasgow Bids to be ‘European Green Capital 2015′
Bailie Liz Cameron on the bid:
“Of course we need our own people to be fully engaged. And to know how much the city is committed to greenness and sustainability. We need them to be working on this in their own community – to be green activists. And to help change the spaces and places so they can be given back, truly sustainable to the people.”
If Glasgow is serious about being a green city, perhaps Liz Cameron should be questioning why her current administration:
• Continues to allow the city’s most famous greenspace, George Square, to be coveted by big business;
• Is currently trying to turn turn North Kelvin Meadow – Glasgow’s largest, non-park, community greenspace – into flats;
• Allows listed buildings like Springburn Public Halls to be demolished whilst supporting the ‘supermall’ development in the Buchanan Quarter;
• Signs the city into partnership agreements with the city’s business lobby, the Chamber of Commerce, who have questionable green credentials – “We don’t want to go down the path of driving the private car out of the city centre”.
Some of the language used on the bid’s website also sound worryingly familiar:
“Glasgow never stands still for long. From the birth of the Industrial Revolution, to its cultural reinvention in the 1990s, our city has continually transformed itself.”
Gordon Matheson, Scotland on Sunday 12 January 2013 justifying his intention to remove the statues from George Square:
“I’m nostalgic. I get emotional about Glasgow’s history. But Glasgow has always reinvented itself, and it always must.”
Presumably this same language was used to justify demolishing swathes of the city for the M8 and flattening St Enoch Station to make way for the St Enoch Centre.
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The Sony Xperia Z3 has a lot of promise to live up to.
It’s predecessor, the cunningly named Z2, performed admirably in most departments, even if its slightly slab-like design left it feeling a little uncomfortable in your hands.
This time around it offers a slightly better equipped camera and a few other minor hardware upgrades, but do these mostly minor tweaks still deliver a stellar user experience? We’ve been testing the Xperia Z3 for a few days to find out.
With the new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and two new iPhones on the market, Sony isn’t going to get an easy, clear shot with the Xperia Z3. In fact, just like Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, there are two size options available in the range – so if you’re considering the 4.6-inch Xperia Z3 Compact instead, then we have another review for you. And Sony has another direct contender on the market.
Design and hardware
While the Z3 undeniably looks just like the Z2, a closer inspection reveals it’s actually a little bit smaller, thinner and lighter. In fact, it’s a full 11 grams lighter (152 grams), which is impressive considering it has the same size 5.2-inch 1080p HD display as its predecessor.
It might only be a quarter of a Hershey Bar’s difference in weight, but you can feel it.
Where the predecessor was criticized for being a little bit too heavy on the generic square stylings, the Z3 has tried to temper these somewhat by adding rounded corners and edging. It’s mostly worked too, but because Sony has been so successful in keeping the handset slim (7.3mm) and with its 5.2-inch display, I actually found it difficult to hold on to – or more specifically, easy to drop. It still feels smooth and slick – and just a little bit square – in the hand.
On the right side, you’ll find the power switch with a volume rocker directly below it. I’d have preferred the volume rocker above the power switch, but it’s hardly a deal breaker and really just personal taste.
Instead, where the volume rocker should be above the power button, is the flap covering the microSD card and SIM slot. Note: If you’re upgrading from an older generation of devices, the Z3 requires a nano SIM.
On the top of the device is the headphone port, and on the left side is the flap covering the micro SD charging port and a properietary connector for things like Sony’s GCM10 Game Control Mount. Unfortunately, I don’t have one of these to test it with, or a PS4, so I can’t attest to its performance – but it does offer Remote Play capabilities if you do have one.
On the glass-like black back (it’s actually polished plastic, which you’ll be thankful for when you inevitably drop it), you’ll find a 20.7-megapixel camera with its Exmor RS 1/2.3 sensor and f2.0 lens. Essentially, this results in a wider frame for the image, allowing you to get more action in your pictures. It also has an ISO range up to 12800 in a bid to improve low-light performance.
In use
Keeping (mostly) the same display as the original Z2 is no bad thing. It’s crisp, sharp and critically this time around, bright – easily bright enough to be visible in direct sunlight outside, which was a complaint of the Z2.
Sony said it decided to stick with a Full HD resolution rather than a 2K display to spare the battery life (more on that below), and it’s not a decision you’ll find yourself worrying about. 1080p on a 5.2-inch display is certainly good enough, and the colors didn’t appear over-saturated, as can sometimes be the case with an OLED display.
If you want to change the vibrancy, there are a couple of options buried in the display settings under X-Reality. There’s also an option to switch on ‘glove mode’ there.
The 2.5GHz quad-core chipset and 3GB of RAM powering the device has no trouble keeping pace, and I didn’t see any delay in opening or switching between applications, even with quite a few open at once or while multitasking.
It was the same on the gaming front too – Asphalt 8: Airborne was as smooth as ever. As mentioned previously, the potential for interplay with a PS4 and other peripherals gives the possibility of transforming the Z3 into far more of a bona fide gaming device than most other smartphones.
As an occasional gamer, I do plan on buying a PlayStation 4 soon and the Remote Play option is one that provides quite a lure for gamers on the lookout for a new phone. Obviously, I’m not a ‘real’ gamer or I’d have bought a new console already.
Splashing about
Given that it’s waterproof and dust resistant, it was slightly disappointing when I took it in the shower while listening to a podcast only to have the speakers immediately go too quiet to hear when some water splashed in – the jet wasn’t even aimed at it, just simply a splash.
That said, it is indeed waterproof as long as you keep the SIM and charging covers firmly closed. Drop them in a bowl of water with those open and it’s game over, Z3.
While it didn’t fare so well in the shower, the waterproofing does help when out-and-about and the inevitable downpour arrives – the screen actually retains quite a high degree of usablility (ie. presses are mostly recognized correctly) even when it has water on it, which can’t be said for a majority of phones. The waterproofing could also come in handy if you’re prone to spilling drinks on your handset. I’ve lost at least one that way.
When not submerged or otherwise hampered by water, the dual front-facing speakers do an admirable job – far better than the single speaker on its predecessor the original Xperia Z – of keeping the music or podcasts flowing. They’re not quite as good as those found on the HTC M8, but they’re far better than the average phone speakers.
Tweaked Android 4.4
Under the bonnet, the Z3 runs Android 4.4 with a few sparse Sony tweaks thrown in here and there, which is mostly a good thing.
That’s not to say that the services are necessarily good – many feel superfluous to my needs and no matter how hard it tries, I’m just not that interested in Sony’s Music or Video Unlimited offerings, and the on board Walkman app didn’t really help me much, given that most of my music is streamed.
However, as I said, they’re mostly sparse and ignorable – if not actually removable. One of the more useful options is the Sony Lifelog app, which brings together all the activity on your phone (browsing time, listening to music, etc) into central repository, along with your travel, exercise and more.
It’s clearly still a bit of a work in progress and there’s no support for things like importing data from your UP 24 band instead of using the Lifelog pedometer, but I do like the central dashboard of all activity and the ability to get daily, weekly or monthly averages of how you spend your time.
Coming from an LG G3, I missed the IR sensor for controlling the TV, but the Z3 does offer another of the LG’s features – double tap to wake, buried in the settings menu.
Sony has also chosen to implement another of Android 4.4’s possibilities – screen video capture. I don’t use it every day, but it’s certainly nice to have the option – you can also choose to have the image from the front-facing camera overlay the screen too.
One truly useful twist on the stock Android UI is the side draw approach to organizing apps. Swiping in from the left side of the screen while looking at the standard app drawer presents the options to view them by your own custom order, alphabetically, most used or just user-installed.
There are also links at the bottom of this list to jump straight to the Sony Select theme/games/app store and to Google Play.
At the top of the screen, accessed via the pull down notification bar are a selection of quick settings – as with most other operator tweaked versions here, you can set these up to include any shortcuts you like.
Camera and battery
In many ways, the Z3 only offers an iterative upgrade for Z2 owners, but with a slightly different camera arrangement and the promise of longer battery life.
The f2.0 lens does allow you to get more of a scene in shot, but I still couldn’t say the overall image is as high quality – or reliable – as something like a Lumia 930. It is however, easily good enough to give the G3 a run for its money and it’s far better than the M8 for me.
As well as providing a solid camera, Sony has made it quick and easy to switch between different camera modes with just a few taps. There are a whole bunch of defaults to choose from, including photos with audio, 4K video recording, a Frontback-like option, Info-eye (which presents local info) and a host more.
A few test shots below, all of which were taken with standard settings on auto with no filters.
On the battery side of things, Sony has included a 3,100 mAh pack, which is actually slightly smaller than on the Z2. Nonetheless, it promises a better than average experience.
In my own testing, this translated to a 30 percent battery burn while watching Netflix for an hour and a half with the screen and volume on maximum. That’s certainly not bad, and if you do less demanding things, like listen to music or podcasts with the screen switched off, then you’ll obviously get a lot longer.
On the whole, it does seem to drain more slowly than some of its rivals, but not in a way that would see me through two days of regular use when using Bluetooth headphones, tethering as a wireless hotspot and watching/listening/browsing freely. That said, not having to worry about running out of battery because you watched Netflix for 30 minutes on the way to work (on the bus, of course, not driving) isn’t to be sniffed at either.
To further enhance your battery life you can employ one of Sony’s custom power modes, which variably switch off different functionality (like automatic updating, bluetooth, Wi-Fi etc) to save you power. The most extreme mode pretty much just lets you use your phone for calls and texts. Just like in the olden days.
A strong contender, as long as you’re not clumsy
On reflection, the Z3 is easily among the front-running Android flagship handsets and is a strong contender for anything else on the market right now.
Admittedly, I did find the handset a little slippery to hold and the lack of an IR blaster was a minor disappointment, but these quibbles pale in comparison to what is on offer – a snappy, well designed, fully waterproof Android powerhouse with a reliable, if not amazing camera. It also handles audio well, provides additional potential for gamers and ties in Sony’s services for anyone that’s interested.
It’s this last point that probably proves the Z3’s weakest – the pre-installed services don’t add all that much, and there’s no option to remove some of them. Continually trying to sell me things from the Sony stores if I’m not interested isn’t likely to suddenly change my mind. But as I said before, these are largely ignorable, which leaves a handset without any real major flaws that I know of yet.
The Xperia Z2 was a fine phone, and the Z3 betters that experience by providing small upgrades in just the right places. With a nearly clean sheet, complaining about it being ‘a bit too slippery’ or ‘a bit too thin’ just feels churlish.
The Xperia Z3 is available to buy now from Amazon priced at £472 (correct at time of publication, $760 converted) and is available on a range of UK networks.
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Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has denied that Spider-Man will have a cameo in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Speculation has run rampant about the next appearance of the web-slinger since Marvel reached a deal with Sony to integrate the character into its films.
Captain America: Civil War was previously tipped as the most likely entrance point for Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although recently rumours have arisen about a possible Avengers: Age of Ultron cameo.
When Feige was asked directly if there would be a specially-filmed cameo for Spider-Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he simply told Collider: "No."
The producer nodded his head to seemingly deny the suggestion when it was asked a second time by the interviewer, but commented no further.
Feige has previously confirmed that the new Spider-Man will be high school age, but stressed that there will not be a third retelling of his origin story on the big screen.
"In Spider-Man's very specific case, where there have been two retellings of that origin in the last whatever it's been - [13] years - for us, we are going to take it for granted that people know that, and the specifics," he explained.
"It will not be an origin story, but with great power comes great responsibility. It is inherent to who his character is. But we want to reveal it in different ways and spend much more time focusing on this young high school kid in the MCU dealing with his powers."
Freddie Highmore, Dylan O'Brien, Donald Glover and Ansel Elgort are among the actors who have been linked to the role of Peter Parker.
The next solo Spider-Man movie has been scheduled for July 28, 2017.
Watch Digital Spy reveal the top Easter Eggs from Marvel movies below:
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If you were compiling a list of things it isn’t worth wasting your energy getting annoyed about, the longlist for the Ballon d’Or would rank pretty high. Until Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo retire and hand football back to the mere mortals, this is a perennial competition to see who can come third.
Still, looking through the names of the seven Premier League players nominated for the award, one has to wonder quite what Christian Eriksen needs to do to be recognised. If the argument is that the Dane hasn’t dragged his club to any significant, tangible glory – the same argument regularly used by rival supporters whenever Tottenham or their players are praised – Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane are presented as Exhibits A and B.
You must also not have been paying much attention to World Cup 2018 qualifying, in which Denmark lost two of their first three group games but then went seven unbeaten and reached the play-offs. In those final seven crucial games, Eriksen scored seven times. Only four players in European qualifying (Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Andre Silva) scored more goals. At 25, Eriksen is the leader of his country, if not quite his club.
The thing is, we like draggers. At a time when concentration spans are low and football is absorbed in a thousand and one different ways, it is the players who stand out that become the most notorious. Yet Eriksen has never been in that category. His majesty has always been the understated, underrated kind.
Eriksen has regularly dismissed the assessment of his form in numerical terms of assists and goals – “They’re only numbers. It’s about thinking” – but that makes the figures no less impressive. In 2017, Eriksen has created nine more chances than any other player in the Premier League, and only five have had more shots on target. The comparison with Kevin de Bruyne, the league’s best attacking midfielder, is neat: both have five goals and 12 assists this calendar year. Eriksen is nine created chances and 15 shots on target ahead.
The difference is that De Bruyne is more of a dragger. That doesn’t have to mean chest-beating call-to-arms, but leading through example. It’s also not just because of moments such as his winner against Chelsea a fortnight ago, but because his style of play just appears more dominating than Eriksen’s. De Bruyne has completed 39 dribbles to Eriksen’s 18 in 2017, and registers more passes and touches per 90 minutes.
It’s also true that Tottenham have two other attacking players who make for better headlines and better heroes. In Dele Alli and Harry Kane, Mauricio Pochettino has developed two probable pillars of the England team for next five years, so it is perfectly natural that they would receive the attention that Eriksen may deserve. Were Eriksen English, he would be lauded. Were Eriksen English, our national team would have the creator that we are crying out for when waking up in cold sweats thinking about Russia next summer.
Yet Alli and Kane are also draggers, players whose impact on the game is more constantly obvious than their teammate. Eriksen is more like David Silva, no less magnificent than De Bruyne but with an altered image that creates altered perceptions. These are the supporting actors, but without whom the film would be nothing.
Eriksen certainly has longevity on his side. Take those same statistics back to the start of 2015/16: He ranks second in the Premier League for chances created (behind Mesut Ozil), fourth for shots on target (behind Kane, Lukaku and Sergio Aguero), joint first for assists, fourth for most touches. He is an all-rounder. Goals plus assists since August 2015? De Bruyne has 44, Eriksen 46.
Examining the top chance creators in that period highlights just how much Eriksen is taken for granted. Mesut Ozil will either negotiate a contract worth close to £250,000 a week at Arsenal or move to a club with better prospects of meaningful trophies. De Bruyne joined Manchester City for £55m. Eden Hazard is paid £200,000 a week and is regularly linked with a move to Real Madrid.
Then there’s Eriksen, who signed a new contract in September 2016, doubling his wages from £35,000 a week to £70,000. Last season, he would not even have been the highest-paid player in the Championship. While Kane, Alli, Danny Rose and Eric Dier continue to be linked with lucrative moves at home and abroad, Eriksen goes unnoticed.
He is not the perfect player. Eriksen does not score enough goals, although in his defence Tottenham have other players to do that. Instead, he is in charge of the supply. Since the start of 2015/16, he has created 22% of all Tottenham’s chances in the Premier League.
There is also a perception that he drifts in and out of games, particularly against the best opposition. Yet sometimes that is Eriksen’s deliberate ploy. When you have the weapons the Dane has, latency can often be a damn effective strategy. Suddenly Eriksen is there in a pocket of space. Suddenly Harry Kane is presented with a chance. Suddenly Tottenham have scored.
One myth that has been busted is that Eriksen doesn’t work hard enough. It is another product of ‘dragger’ syndrome; we like to see the cogs turning and the sweat pouring. Eriksen might be a player for whom perspiration and inspiration are given more equal billing than in Thomas Edison’s famous saying, but he is no shirker. Between October 2016 and March 2017, Eriksen completed 90 minutes in the league on 17 occasions. In 15 of those matches he covered more ground than any Tottenham player; he was a close second in the other two.
That workload is particularly impressive given Eriksen’s near-constant availability. The intensity of the Premier League causes regular injury and fatigue to its creative players, but Eriksen has missed just five of Tottenham’s last 130 league games.
It is an astonishing record, but one which is the norm for Eriksen. Aged just 25, he has already played over 420 senior career games. Consistency of form and fitness over years, not months, is incredibly rare in a modern attacking player.
The comparisons with De Bruyne, Hazard and others are instructive but also reductive, just like the interminable Messi vs Ronaldo debates. The entire beauty of watching football is that you don’t have to pick one player, but can instead sit back and enjoy them all like a wondrous footballing mix-tape. There is also a danger that Eriksen becomes labelled as ‘underrated’ so often and by so many that the argument becomes self-defeating.
Yet when Eriksen is unfairly overlooked, it is worth proclaiming (or re-proclaiming) his brilliance. If we really must compare him to the best in the Premier League, the differences are hardly stark. We are all Christian believers.
Daniel Storey
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Green Lake County, Wisconsin, Sheriff's Police released this photo of an pot-growing operation they reported discovering in the garage of William S. Carlson, who was allegedly killed by Matthew Watson in River Forest on July 12. (Photo provided by the Green Lake County Sheriff's Department)
By Jean Lotus
Contributing Reporter
A Wisconsin man shot and killed in River Forest on July 12 had a significant marijuana-growing operation in his garage in Green Lake County, the Green Lake County Sheriff's department said in a press release on Monday.
On July 12, as part of the River Forest homicide investigation, the Green Lake Sheriff's Department was contacted by the West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force (WESTAF) to help investigate the shooting death of William S. Carlson, 60.
A sheriff's deputy went to Carlson's home on Kahl Road around 7 p.m. No one was home, but the deputy smelled raw cannabis coming from the garage and noticed vent pipes blowing from the garage and windows blacked out.
After obtaining a search warrant, the sheriff's department reported recovering more than 25 live plants and more than 7.5 pounds of marijuana. Carlson was identified as a potential suspect in the ownership of the growing operation, according to police.
"The Green Lake County Sheriff's Office is currently working with River Forest, Illinois, officials to determine any other facts and circumstances associated to the homicide," the news release said.
Carlson reportedly was shot in the chest at close range with a shotgun by Matthew Watson, 24, in a home in the 100 block of Lathrop Avenue. Watson also is believed to have shot his mother, Susan Watson, 59, who remains hospitalized in stable condition.
Matthew Watson was killed by police after reportedly firing his shotgun as they responded to a 911 call made by Watson's mother. Two police officers suffered non-life threatening wounds in the shootout with Matthew Watson.
Neither law enforcement agency would comment on the relationship between Susan Watson, Matthew Watson and Carlson, but neighbors told Wednesday Journal Susan and Calrson were a couple.
The River Forest police have not released any information about the shooting other than a statement the afternoon of July 12. Deputy Chief James O'Shea characterized the shooting, which injured two officers, as an "ambush."
The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is investigating the death of Matthew Watson.
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I finally had a chance to sit down and play with BloodHound. This was an item on my hacker todo list for awhile now. In this blog post, I’ll take you through my initial steps setting up and using this tool. It’s my hope that this information will help you get started with BloodHound too.
What is BloodHound?
BloodHound is a tool to analyze and understand Active Directory Trust Relationships. For an offensive practitioner, this tool can highlight the hops you might take to reach a goal within a network. For a defensive practitioner, this tool is gold as it can show you the most likely paths an attacker might take. It’s a good exercise to decide which of these trust paths needs to exist and which you can eliminate.
BloodHound is open source (GPLv3) and its developers are Andy Robbins, Rohan Vazarkar, and Will Schroeder from Veris Group’s Adaptive Threat Division.
To get an initial taste of the tool, I recommend that you watch their Six Degrees of Domain Admin conference talk.
Setup
There are setup instructions on the BloodHound Wiki. These instructions do assume some familiarity with Neo4j. For the record, I have no familiarity with Neo4j. I found the Setting Up BloodHound on Debian Jessie post by Sanjiv Kawa very helpful. With Sanjiv’s information and the information on the BloodHound Wiki, I was able to get everything going on Kali Linux 2016 rolling without too much trouble.
Use
Once BloodHound is running, you’ll want to bring some data into it and give it a spin. There is an example database, but I chose to pull BloodHound data from my test environment and import it into the tool instead.
BloodHound comes with a PowerShell script with several cmdlets that make this process easy. Get-BloodHoundData collects the data BloodHound needs. This cmdlet will return a PowerShell object. It’s necessary to pipe this object to another cmdlet to take some action on it. The Export-BloodHoundCSV cmdlet will dump the BloodHound data into three CSV files.
powershell-import /path/to/BloodHound.ps1 powershell Get-BloodHoundData | Export-BloodHoundCSV
The CSV files will exist on the target where the above cmdlets were run. To import them into BloodHound: download the CSV files and use the Upload function in BloodHound’s interface.
From this point, you’re ready to run queries against this data. BloodHound has several pre-built queries and it’s also very easy to ask BloodHound to give you a trust path from one identity or system to another.
In this video I demonstrate these steps:
Summary
I think BloodHound is one of the neatest things to come into the red teamer’s arsenal this year. While my demo network is easy to go through by hand, imagine the use of this tool in a much larger environment with more complex trusts. There’s a lot of power here.
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It seems like just yesterday the world was in an uproar over the DLC for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game possibly being cancelled and now the game cannot be purchased at all. That’s right; it’s the end of an era. As of today, the 8-bit goodness that is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is no longer available for purchase from either Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. The move likely comes as the year comes to a close and contracts with its publisher Ubisoft are expiring.
The deslisting comes as a shock, however, as the game seemed to have developed a strong cult following. Just this past April, a special vinyl edition of Anamanaguchi’s soundtrack was released for Record Store Day.
No official statement has been made.
Those have yet to purchase the game can still do by buying a digital download code straight from either Best Buy or GameStop. No word on how long these will be available or how long they will redeem, however, so it’s best to purchase and redeem as soon as possible.
The delisting comes in the wake of Uno and Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins also being delisted from the service. No word on why.
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Keycaps for Topre and HHKB Pro
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Lettered Keycaps for HHKB (Black)
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Here are a few web shows that make us laugh the most.
Add these suckers to your Favorites on HypeScreen and you’ll have them forever and ever.
Between Two Ferns
If you haven’t seen this one, cancel your Tinder date and watch all episodes now. I mean, we’re talking.. (1) Zachy G. as a crazy-person, (2) awesome celebs like Prez Obama, B. Pitt Pitt, & J. Law, and (3) two real-life ferns. Would else could you ask for!? Ok, maybe a third fern but they get by fine with just the two.
Watch ‘Between Two Ferns’ & Add To Your Favorites Here
Burning Love
Produced by Ben Stiller, Burning Love hilariously spoofs cheesy love shows like The Bachelor. Starring some really funny people, this one’s a web show must-watch.
Watch ‘Burning Love’ & Add To Your Favorites Here
Getting Doug with High
Funny celeb guests stop by Doug Benson’s place to…well, to get high with Doug (see what he did there with the title?). Not only is it super fun to watch our fave celebs get high but good news, it’s also super funny!
Watch ‘Getting Doug with High’ & Add To Your Favorites Here
Bro Science Life
Tough-guy bro Dom Mazetti gives us advice on how to lift our muscle masses. Qualifications? It looks like he works out. 50% fact, 50% magic, 100% results.
Watch ‘BroScienceLife’ & Add To Your Favorites Here
Jake and Amir
Jakes a normal dude, Amir’s a lunatic. New age odd couple hilariousness ensues. I could watch these guys for hours…and I have.
Watch ‘Jake and Amir’ & Add To Your Favorites Here
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Why You Should Care about GMO
Benjamin T. Awesome Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 1, 2017
I am very much pro-GMO. I think GMO represents a revolutionary type of science that has the potential to serve humanity and the globe. But, right now, it does not. Like all scientific tools at our disposal, it exists in the context of human civilization — a most inequitable system. Consider the words of Peter Kropotkin from his 1880 essay, An Appeal to the Young about science and its potential to improve our lot as a species:
But then, if you are really thinking about humanity, if you look to the good of mankind in your studies, a formidable question arises before you; for, however little you may have of the critical spirit, you must at once note that in our society of today science is only an appendage to luxury, which serves to render life pleasanter for the few, but remains absolutely inaccessible to the bulk of mankind.
More than a century has passed since science laid down sound propositions as to the origins of the universe, but how many have mastered them or possess the really scientific spirit of criticism? A few thousands at the outside, who are lost in the midst of hundreds of millions still steeped in prejudices and superstitions worthy of savages, who are consequently ever ready to serve as puppets for religious impostors.
Or, to go a step further, let us glance at what science has done to establish rational foundations for physical and moral health. Science tells us how we ought to live in order to preserve the health of our own bodies, how to maintain in good conditions of existence the crowded masses of our population. But does not all the vast amount of work done in these two directions remain a dead letter in our books? We know it does. And why? Because science today exists only for a handful of privileged persons, because social inequality which divides society into two classes — the wage-slaves and the grabbers of capital-renders all its teachings as to the conditions of a rational existence only the bitterest irony to nine-tenths of mankind.
GMO follows this pattern. When Monsanto commercializes GMO corn and soy and distributes it around the globe to farmers far and wide, do you think it is for your or my benefit? Do you think it is to help the “nine-tenths of mankind” mentioned by Kropotkin?
GMO corn and GMO soy exist for the purpose of enhancing the tolerance of these crops to herbicides. Specifically, they were first commercialized as Roundup-Ready Corn and Roundup-Ready Soybeans, Roundup, of course, being Monsanto’s most sucessful line of herbicides (since Agent Orange?).
In other words, the two most-cultivated GMO crops in the United States are modified specifically so that they can be subjected to greater quantities of herbicide (a toxin). They are not modified to make the crops taste better or be more nutritious or prevent cancer or save the world; they are modified to enable the use of more herbicides. It is hardly a coincidence that the same company that wants you to buy and eat GMO corn and soy also wants you to buy and spray Roundup.
Yeah, but why give a shit?
Fair question. Herbicides let farmers eliminate weeds, and corporations and the public health entities they pay off keep telling us they’re perfectly safe. So, what’s the big deal?
Enter the latest public health apocalypse:
The meta-study cited in the above clip offers no explanation as to why the epidemic decline in sperm counts uncovered by researchers has happened, but is this really a big unknown, or has the research that suggests this been available for years?
A study from 2003 suggests it has. A study from Harvard in 2015 found a similar correlation between pesticides and sperm counts. Also in 2015, the Mayo Clinic listed both herbicides and pesticides among the environmental factors that cause low sperm counts.
If you have any interest in seeing the human species continue, you might consider where you stand on GMO. Not GMO in principle, but GMO in practice. Do you trust corporations that push poisonous products and tell us “they’re perfectly safe,” or do you trust scientists and medical professionals who employ the scientific method to study these chemicals and tell us “probably not.”
I trust the scientific method and inductive logic. They work; they have led to the development of GMOs and myriad other seemingly miraculous developments. But, the technologies they create, as Kropotkin observed, do not always work to everyone’s benefit. In the hands of a sociopathic entity bent on profit no matter what, it isn’t a stretch to imagine the products of human ingenuity being used indiscriminately. It’s not even a stretch to imagine technologies getting strong enough to pose a threat to our entire species if they aren’t kept in check by social growth to stem the tide of corporate greed.
Until some GMO soybean or corn product comes onto that market that actually helps me and other normal people, and doesn’t just poison me with higher levels of exposure to herbicides and other toxins, let alone the farmers and laborers who work with them and are subjected to even higher doses, just so Monsanto can bank a few more bucks, I will be avoiding them whenever possible. Show me some corn or soybeans that taste better or are more nutritious, and you’ll have my attention.
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It’s Press Day at Baselworld 2014, and Patek Philippe has unveiled two new chronograph watches in steel cases, the Annual Calendar Chronograph, and the Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph (prices are included). Patek Philippe has released a new stainless steel model of its Annual Calendar Chronograph (Ref. 5960/1A-001), which was first introduced in 2006 in a platinum case, with subsequent editions’ cases in other precious metals. Patek Philippe rarely makes watches in stainless steel, outside of its sportier Nautlius and Aquanaut collections, so the new Annual Calendar, which contains the automatic caliber CH 28-520 IRM QA 24, will strike many Patek aficionados as something of a surprise. The masculine dial conveys a sense of depth with its applied hour markers, applied blackened-gold frames for the calendar windows (day, date, and month), and blackened appliqués for the chronograph scale and 12-hour scale. Black is also used for the faceted hour and minute hands (which are coated with Super-LumiNova), the 12-hour counter hand, and the power-reserve hand, and a bright signal red distinguishes the central chronograph seconds hand and the hand for the 60-minute counter. The model’s “monocounter” subdial has been reconfigured, with the 12-hour counter scale on the outside and the 0-to-30-minute and 30-to-60-minute scales in the middle and inside, respectively. Caliber CH 28-520 IRM QA 24, which is equipped with column wheel and disk clutch, also powers a day/night indicator at 6 o’clock. The Patek Philippe Annual Calendar Chronograph Ref. 5960/1A has a stainless steel bracelet with droplet-shaped links and a stainless steel fold-over clasp. The price is $54,800.
Here is a shot of the Patek Philippe Ref. 5960/1A-001 taken at Baselworld 2014…
Another new Patek Philippe watch comes from the aforementioned Nautilus family of luxury sport watches. The Patek Philippe Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph (Ref. 5990/1A-001) is a modern reissue of a cult classic Patek Philippe chronograph watch from 1976 that also, for the first time in Patek’s portfolio, combines a chrono with a dual-time-zone function.
To maintain the contours of the classical Nautilus case, the two correctors that adjust the time zone up and down in one-hour increments are seamlessly integrated into the case flank at 9 o’clock. Patek Philippe also shifted the two chrono pushers closer to the crown for greater ease of use. The black dial, with the brighter-to-darker gradation and horizontal embossed pattern, now features day/night indicators for both time zones, a date subdial at 12 o’clock, and a 60-minute subdial at 6 o’clock for ideal legibility. The all-new automatic movement that powers all these complications, Caliber CH 28-520 C FUS, is visible through the sapphire caseback. The Nautilus Travel Time Chronograph Ref. 5990/1A has a stainless-steel bracelet with fold-over clasp. Patek says that the new model will replaces the Nautilus Chronograph 5980/1A, launched in 2006, in the collection. The watch will be priced at $57,300.
And here’s how the new Patek Philippe Ref. Ref. 5990/1A-001 looks on the wrist, in a photo snapped at Baselworld…
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CLOSE A trial of an injection that would've been 96 percent effective at preventing pregnancy was met with complaints from the participants. Newslook
Poor guy. It'll be OK, buddy. (Photo: Getty Images/Image Source)
Corrections and clarifications: This article has been updated to reflect an update in a referenced CNN report.
A male birth control shot exists and is nearly 96% percent effective at preventing pregnancy, researchers found, but a study on the contraceptive ended early after men taking it reported negative side effects including mood swings, an altered libido and acne.
In other words, they experienced side effects faced by women already taking birth control every day.
In the study, published last week in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, found only four pregnancies resulted among 266 men who used the contraceptive. The method involved a series of injections that lowered sperm count.
While the study occurred between 2008 and 2012, researchers stopped enrolling new participants in 2011 because of the rate of reported side effects, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Twenty couples even dropped out of the study because of adverse symptoms.
The adverse effects included acne, increased libido, pain at the injection site, muscle pain and depression and other mood disorders, according to Self. Seventeen percent of the participants said they experienced "emotional disorders" during the study, the Journal-Constitution reported, but most considered the symptoms mild.
"Despite the adverse effects, more than 75% of participants reported being willing to use this method of contraception at the conclusion of the trial," the Endocrine Society, which oversees the journal publishing the study, said in a statement.
Ninety-nine percent of sexually active women between 2006 and 2010 had used birth control, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And many forms of birth control widely used by women can result in side effects similar to those experienced by men in the study.
IUDs can cause acne and mood swings and require sometimes painful insertions. Depo-Provera shots can be painful, too. Women who take contraceptive pills are more likely to be treated for depression, research shows.
Elisabeth Lloyd, an Indiana University biology professor who is unaffiliated with the study, told CNN the results reminded her of findings in another study published recently in JAMA Psychiatry.
In that study, researchers found that women taking hormonal contraceptives increased the risk that they would begin taking anti-depressants. Among women not taking such birth control, 1.7% took anti-depressants, NPR reported, while 2.2% of women who started hormonal birth control later began taking anti-depressants.
Still, Mario Philip R. Festin of the World Health Organization in Geneva, one of the study's authors, said more research was needed.
"Although the injections were effective in reducing the rate of pregnancy, the combination of hormones needs to be studied more to consider a good balance between efficacy and safety," Festin said.
CLOSE Male birth control just got one step closer to becoming a reality (finally!). A new study shows that giving contraceptive injections to men can effectively prevent pregnancy in their partners. Time
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2eQkdrh
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No, don’t go anywhere.
We need to talk. I’ll keep it brief.
Below is a fake news article I wrote around six years ago as a joke, trying to show a friend how easy it is to come up with an article that looks plausible and official At the bottom of the page, there is a message saying that this is bullshit, clearly and blatantly, just to make sure nobody took this seriously.
And yet, despite this article being the most poorly written piece of shit and probably the worst joke I have ever made, it has been taken so seriously that I have 256 comments awaiting approval, snopes has had to debunk it by noting the last paragraph, and I’ve had NUMEROUS cases of people sending this link to me as an argument.
This is a microcosm of a very serious problem.
We have a serious problem with fake news in this country, and if you have come across this page, you probably googled something to the effect of IQ and political views.
Please, stop.
If you keep googling things like this, you’re going to find what you’re looking for. You’re going to find one of those fake/fictitious news websites run by think tanks or fringe political groups, and you’re going to read what you want to hear.
Except, next time, you won’t come across this message. You won’t come across the disclaimer at the bottom saying this bullshit.
Because while I was just a kid trying to make a point, the other news sources are not. They are political groups who want more than anything to tell you what you want to hear and gull you to join their ranks.
You need to do better. You need to check sources, you need to confirm what people are saying is true, even when you agree with them.
Especially when you agree with them.
If you believe what people say because they look like they’re telling the truth, because you agree with them and you assume that they know what they’re talking about, then you are going to be brainwashed, you are going to be gulled, you are going to be fooled. They’ll lie to you more and more.
Save yourself, and help save everyone else from this epidemic. Don’t get gulled. Don’t become some liar’s follower.
Check sources, especially when you want the story to be right. If you see something you agree with, don’t be a fool and nod your head then move on like so many have with this page.
Stop, look at the source, follow the numbers, read some abstracts, figure out how they came to that conclusion and why. That way, if what someone says is true, you won’t just think it’s true, you’ll know it’s true. And if it’s not, you will have discovered a liar, and no matter how much you wish what they said were true, call them out — because the only thing worse than ignorance is willful ignorance.
Ask questions, think critically. We do not want a future run by liars and their followers.
That’s all.
And now, back to this.
A new study conducted at Harvard University shows that in America, Liberals have a significantly lower IQ than Conservatives. The study was conducted on 100,000 registered voters in 40 different states over the last twelve years, and has concluded its results.
The first part of the study lists the correlation between political beliefs and intelligence. Subjects of the study were chosen at random and requested to come to an unmarked van to take a test and answer some questions for a reasonable amount of money.
Of the 100,000 people, there were people from many doctrines, from conservative to liberal to marxist to fascist. Socialists came out on bottom, with an average IQ of 87. The second worst were Liberals and then Marxists, with 88 and 89 respectively. Conservatives received an average score of 110, which is significantly above average. However, the conservatives did not score the highest. The holder of second place were Communists with an average I.Q of 115, and the first place was apolitical people who did not follow any specific doctrine, who received a whopping score on average of 135.
IAHYM News attempted to interview President Barack Obama on the new find, but he refused to speak directly. Instead, while walking down the strange hallway, he told correspondent Joseph Ducreux that the study
was ridiculous and false, but failed to provide any reason as to why or
how the science of the study is at fault.
Hilary Rodham Clinton was also contacted, but she immediately hung up
the phone when she figured out that the study was being mentioned at all.
Other parts of the study included the daily activities of the various people based on their doctrines. Apparently, Liberals are five times more likely to commit a crime, steal or cheat on a test than anybody else except for Socialists, 52% of which have committed a major felony while being watched. Conservatives not only did not commit any crimes, but they actually prevented them, as the few events where a Conservative was threatened by a thief or mugger was hindered by a concealed handgun. Also, Communists are the most likely to commit rape or sexual assault, second to socialists.
The study was conducted in other countries as well, where 81% of Muslim Extremists admitted to following the Liberal doctrine and idolizing President Barack Obama. The study was conducted by a group of roughly 900 different scientists across the country over the past twelve years, each one taking on a little over a hundred people per person.
Reporting from New York City, this is John Bowling.
© IAHYM News Network, 2011
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Oh yeah, and everything in that bullshit you just read is completely and totally false. There has been no such conclusive study, and all of the “Finds” are based on public paranoia.
If you, even for a second, thought this find might be true, you are probably an idiot.
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GREENVILLE – Melissa Ouellette didn’t see the moose until its beady eyes were staring at her from the middle of the road. The 1,000-pound moose whomped the front of the Jeep she was riding in, smashing the windows and sending Ouellette and the driver to…
GREENVILLE – Melissa Ouellette didn’t see the moose until its beady eyes were staring at her from the middle of the road.
The 1,000-pound moose whomped the front of the Jeep she was riding in, smashing the windows and sending Ouellette and the driver to the hospital.
Both survived with minor injuries and were left with a dilemma as they were treated at the hospital: Did they want the dead moose?
Maine law, similar to some other states, gives the driver of a vehicle that kills a big-game animal first dibs on the carcass. In practice, however, the driver who hit the moose is often too injured to claim it.
So starts the chain of events that can lead to fights, help to feed the hungry and provide food for zoo animals.
A butchered or dressed moose, which can’t be bought or sold anywhere in Maine, can yield hundreds of pounds of food in the freezer.
Maine law spelling out who owns big-game roadkill comes into play fairly often. Last year, 687 moose collisions were reported on Maine’s highways. Motorists were killed in two of those.
So far this year, the state is on a similar pace for moose collisions, but the four fatalities already recorded make this the deadliest year since 1998, when five people died in moose-car collisions.
Part of the problem has been Maine’s late-breaking summer in which moose fled the woods to escape bugs later than usual, leaving them munching salty plants along roads at the height of the tourist season.
More moose on the loose means more crushed cars, more carcasses along the roads, and more work for butchers.
In Ouellette’s case, she was too shaken to want to take home the moose that destroyed the Jeep Cherokee she was riding in down Route 161.
“It would have been good to keep it, but we were all too much in shock,” said Ouellette, 33, of Fort Kent.
The exact opposite happened last November in York County. Lisa Pierce was upset because she wasn’t consulted before the moose was given away after she hit it while taking her children to school.
After a sheriff’s deputy gave the moose to a resident who volunteered to haul it away while Pierce was at the hospital, Pierce told police she wanted either the meat or a reimbursement for the value of the meat.
It’s not just the meat people are after.
Warden Adam Gormely said he’s gotten into arguments at accident scenes with people who want to cut off the moose’s antlers but leave the rest. A well-shaped large antler is worth around $500.
A dead moose unattended on the side of the road is a prime target for antler hunters.
“If you leave [the moose] there for 15 minutes, the antlers are gone,” Gormely said.
If the driver doesn’t want it, Maine’s game wardens turn to informal lists of people who are interested in moose.
But those interested have to be able to hoist the moose, which typically weigh 500 to 800 pounds, onto a truck and haul it away within hours. A moose doesn’t last long in the hot sun.
“Everybody would like a bunch of moose meat but at 2 in the morning in July … no one wants to come out, chop up a moose, pack it and take it away,” Gormely said.
After removing the moose, some people have been known to dress them with a chain saw, but the professionals use more finesse.
Pros using butcher knifes are able to save more meat. Butchers such as Herring Bros. in Guilford skin, chop and package moose for around $250 for 320 pounds of usable moose meat.
Then there’s the problem of storing the meat after it’s processed into steaks, roasts, hamburg and sausage.
“That does not fit above the refrigerator,” Gormely quipped.
If no one else claims the moose, then it will likely be claimed by Hunters for the Hungry as long as it is a good specimen, meaning it’s not too mangled or covered with ticks.
The cooperative program run by hunters, the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and Agriculture Department’s Food Assistance Program makes sure moose meat doesn’t go to waste by taking care of the pickup and chop-up, then donating the meat to local food pantries.
Or it could end up as zoo chow.
The Acadia Zoo in Trenton accepts donations of moose and deer roadkill. The carnivorous animals, including lions, tigers, and cougars, prefer tearing apart fresh flesh to their typical fare of chicken and horse meat, director Heather Grierson said.
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MEDIA CREATES NEW SCANDAL: Trump Served Two Scoops of Ice Cream at Dinner While Time Reporters Get One Scoop
This is a “golden age of journalism” wrote New York Times reporter Sopan Deb on Wednesday. And to prove his point the next day the media created a scandal out of a report that President Donald Trump was served two scoops of ice cream with his pie while having dinner with Time magazine reporters, while the reporters were served only one scoop.
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/862509237225881600
The waiters know well Trump’s personal preferences. As he settles down, they bring him a Diet Coke, while the rest of us are served water, with the Vice President sitting at one end of the table. With the salad course, Trump is served what appears to be Thousand Island dressing instead of the creamy vinaigrette for his guests. When the chicken arrives, he is the only one given an extra dish of sauce. At the dessert course, he gets two scoops of vanilla ice cream with his chocolate cream pie, instead of the single scoop for everyone else. The tastes of Pence are also tended to. Instead of the pie, he gets a fruit plate.”
The Time report does not state if anyone asked for and was refused a second scoop–which would be highly unlikely. When ice cream is served with pie, one scoop is generally served. But as the article states, Trump’s preferences are known by the White House kitchen staff.
This became a scandal. Really. CNN’s Jeanne Moos did a two minute video report on Trump getting two scoops of ice cream. The online version written by Dan Merica was headlined, Trump gets 2 scoops of ice cream, everyone else gets 1 — and other top lines from his Time interview, and has the insulting lede, “President Donald Trump is living every child’s dream: More ice cream.”
CNN’s broadcast report:
President Trump’s son, Donald, Jr., posted his disgust with CNN’s report, writing, “How ridiculous is this headline from The Clinton News Network??? Is this really a network dedicated to journalism anymore? #icecream 😂😂😂”
How ridiculous is this headline from The Clinton News Network??? Is this really a network dedicated to journalism anymore? #icecream 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/SMhxvL2mAf — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 12, 2017
Other media outlets piled on Trump:
Yahoo News picked up a Mashable article headlined, “Donald Trump is a big boy president who gets more ice cream than everyone else“.
New York Magazine’s article was headlined, “Donald Trump Continues to Eat Like a Middle Schooler Whose Parents Are Working Late“
Australia’s News.com: “Disbelief over Donald Trump’s two scoops of ice cream“.
Buzzfeed: “Trump Gets Two Scoops Of Ice Cream Because He Is The President!” (Note: The Buzzfeed URL insults Trump by calling him “Donny”: “donny-two-scoops”.
“A golden age of journalism. Golden age”
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I wish I was as rich as Brianna and Jaelin so I could travel to Chicago for the Brianna and Jaelin walking tour — riley :D (@virtuallyriley) August 26, 2016
Brianna and Jaelin are proof that God is dealing with his own demons too — DJ J.D. (@DadsiPod) August 26, 2016
Okay so for those of you who don't know, Jaelin and I moved to Chicago and the day we were getting settled in something bad happened... — Brianna Joy White (@BriannaJoyWhite) August 1, 2016
A young couple from Arizona is getting a lot of grief from Chicagoans after they posted a video detailing the "traumatic experience" that led them to move out of the city after only one day. It's even inspired a neighborhood walking tour.Brianna Joy and Jaelin White, both 18, posted the now-viral video to their YouTube channel earlier this month called "The Reason We're Homeless Right Now... (no clickbait) Storytime" to share their story, which they seemed to think would garner sympathy for their plight. The first problem, many said, was that the "homeless" couple filmed in an expansive kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances.The couple explains how their first adventure in the city begins with an attempt to use the CTA and ends with Jaelin allegedly taking a punch to the face. While the assault is no laughing matter, many Chicagoans ripped them on social media for their "privileged" perspective on the events leading up to it.In the video posted Aug. 2, the Whites described arriving at their new home near the Granville Red Line stop in the Edgewater neighborhood on Chicago's North Side."It was like a really nice neighborhood... We read Yelp reviews, they were all positive, nothing crazy. So we were like 'OK, this is a great neighborhood, we'll be fine,'" Brianna explains."It was surrounded by $900,000 homes," Jaelin added.On the day they moved in, the Whites decided to venture out for lunch at the closest Chipotle, just one Red Line stop away at Loyola."We heard great things about this public transportation," Jaelin said. "So I'm like, instead of driving, let's just go kinda have the experience."But when the Whites arrived at the Granville station, Jaelin said he was approached by a man who began asking him questions "out of nowhere", like "what's your name?" and "what do you do?"The couple said they were made so uncomfortable that they left the station and sought shelter at a nearby Subway restaurant and called for an Uber to pick them up. But they soon noticed the "creepy" man had also left the station and spotted him outside the Subway."At this point I feel like I'm going to throw up, like I literally thought I was just going to have a heart attack," Brianna said. "His voice was so sketchy."Jaelin then called 911, and told the man police would be stopping by. He and Brianna stood outside to wait for their ride, and when a car pulled up to ask if everything was OK, they jumped into it - thinking it was their Uber.But before they made it to the car, they said the man lingering outside Subway punched Jaelin in the face.The couple said the incident occurred with lots of other people around and they were surprised they had been targeted, "even though there's way easier targets all around," Jaelin said.They even went on to describe their outfits, thinking that they may have been targeted because they dressed "preppy."If you'd like to retrace Brianna and Jaelin's last stroll through Chicago, there's even a walking tour planned in early September . More than 1,900 people have said they would attend.The tour is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 6 and will meet at the CTA Red Line Granville Station at 7 p.m. A trip to either "Chipotle or Arizona" will follow.
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Just after midnight on Friday at a movie theater in Colorado, a heavily armed individual in body armor opened fire with an assault rifle, killing 12 and wounding 58. James Holmes purchased all of his ammunition and weapons legally, which begs the question: Could any kind of regulation or action have prevented this tragedy?
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and Tea Party Senator Ron Johnson appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss the violent event and how government should respond to it to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future.
Feinstein argued that it’s far too easy for anyone to get their hands on weapons and ammunition, even people who are unstable.
“I believe people use these weapons because they can get them,” Feinstein said. “I believe that a revolver, a rifle, a hand gun isn’t going to do the damage. It’s the big clips, a hundred rounds. You can’t get to him to dislodge the gun because he can fire so rapidly and has so many bullets.”
Feinstein does have a point. Since the Federal Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004, there has been little regulation on high-capacity ammunition magazines. While all guns are dangerous, those with large clips give anyone the ability to massacre crowds of people. The fact is, any unstable person can buy a weapon and a large magazine. Homes made his purchases of four weapons, tactical body gear, large magazines, and 6,000 rounds of ammo over a period of months and apparently nobody thought anything about it. No red flags went up, and as a result, a mentally unstable person could stock up and then wage war inside a movie theater against a crowd of people he had never met. It’s a terrorist attack that could have been and was easily preventable with proper oversight and regulation.
Tea Party Senator Ron Johnson, however, thinks differently. He thinks it is perfectly acceptable to allow anybody to have a gun, even if they are buying an unusual amount of ammunition, magazines, and gear. And even if they are unstable. In fact, Johnson believes that the tragedy in Aurora would have not happened had another person possessed a gun in the theater.
??
“People will talk about unusually lethal weapons, that could be potentially a discussion you could have,” Johnson remarked. “But the fact of the matter is there are 30-round magazines that are just common. You simply can’t keep these weapons out of the hands of sick, demented individuals who want to do harm. And when you try to do it, you restrict our freedoms. ???If a responsible individual had been carrying a weapon, maybe, maybe they could have prevented some of those deaths, some of those injuries.”
Here’s the video:
What Johnson is saying is that we shouldn’t attempt to prevent deranged people from acquiring firearms and that we should counter gun violence with MORE guns. There’s a few problems with that logic.
First, let’s say a movie-goer in the back row of the theater had carried a gun into the theater. Now let’s say that the shooter opens fire with his assault rifle with the large magazine and our lone movie attendee draws his own gun, stands up and starts firing back. Have you figured out where this is going? All those other people in the theater are now caught in a cross fire and in the midst of the chaos, which has now doubled, the shooters are now indistinguishable to the people caught in the middle and more importantly, the police officers rushing to the scene.
In other words the situation has just become even more dangerous.
Pro-gun advocates constantly claim that all we need to do is counter gun violence with more gun play as if America is some old Spaghetti Western. As prepared as Holmes was to commit a massacre, it’s highly unlikely any mere handgun would’ve done much. Unless Republicans are saying Americans should start carrying assault weapons everywhere they go, like many people do in areas of the Middle East and other places, the only real way to prevent these incidents is with regulations, oversight, and vigilance.
Believe it or not, there’s an even bigger hole in Johnson’s argument and it smacks of hypocrisy. Johnson thinks it’s an affront to freedom to prevent deranged or unstable people from possessing weapons and ammo. He’s basically saying it is acceptable for those on the terror watch list to have guns. Let’s say Holmes’ had a different name and wasn’t white. Let’s say his name was Muhammad and he’s of Middle Eastern descent. I would bet everything I own that the Tea Party would label him a terrorist and call for restricting guns to Arab-Americans. Translation: Because Holmes is a white American, Johnson is willing to defend his right to have firearms, even if he is a lunatic. But if an Arab-American committed this attack, Johnson and the rest of his Tea Party cohorts would be quick to use the terrorist card and call for restricting arms to people of that community. The Tea Party would gladly strip second amendment rights from Arab and Muslim Americans.
And there’s yet another big problem that Republicans have because of this attack. Across the country, Republicans are slashing police forces and first responders. If Republicans have their way, and are able to cut police officers like Mitt Romney has promised to do, it is highly unlikely that police departments will be able to respond to similar incidents in the future. An understaffed, underfunded, and under-trained police force cannot respond to situations such as these in a minute and a half like Aurora’s finest did. In order to protect the safety of Americans across the country from psychotics like Holmes, perhaps Republicans should focus less on trying to arm every man, woman, and child, and focus instead on keeping trained police officers on the streets so that we don’t have to rely on the gun enthusiast in the back row who wants to play cowboy.
More guns and more unfettered access to guns is not the solution to prevent tragedies. What this country needs is responsible and reasonable gun control regulations and a well funded and well trained police force equipped to respond to any situation should one occur. The ignoring of this debate has gone on for too long in this nation. Backed by a gun crazy NRA and other pro-gun organizations, Republicans have dismantled gun control laws that could have prevented many tragedies that have happened over the years. The GOP has even tried to make it legal to shoot people under the guise of self-defense. Self-defense laws have been on the books for years, but Stand Your Ground laws actually do make murder possible. Just ask George Zimmerman. Republicans are even waging war against police officers, passing a law in Indiana giving residents the right to kill police officers they THINK are unlawfully on their property. America has the most guns in the world. And despite that, we are also number one in gun violence. Clearly, increasing guns is NOT the solution. So why not try a different approach. After all, lives are at stake, and shouldn’t we be open to reasonable gun control measures if it keeps even one nutjob from obtaining a gun?
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Where transgenders decide to sprinkle their tinkle is NOBODY’S BUSINESS! Except it’s everyone’s business. Including that of white-knightly tech giants like Apple and Ebay. You may recall not long ago Trump reversed Obama’s decision which forced states to allow trannies into certain bathrooms. Our current President didn’t outlaw those transgender bathroom privileges, but simply restored the states’ power to discern for themselves. Therein lies the outrage.
Apple and other companies have decided to take a stand… By getting involved in a lawsuit filed by a trans student suing his school for boys’ bathroom privileges.
Something to note here? People were uncomfortable sharing the restroom with Gavin Grimm, the girl-boy, so the school provided a unisex restroom to him in an attempt to make everyone happy. The boys wouldn’t have to bare themselves before a lady-man, and the trans student wouldn’t have to share a restroom with girls. But it wasn’t enough for the amorphous slug. Of course.
Now he’s demanding access to the boys’ rooms via lawsuit. Entitled little toad. This is the case that Apple and friends are jumping in to support…
A number of leading tech firms plan to file a brief in favor of transgender rights in a case due to be heard next month in the Supreme Court. Apple has been among those leading the charge on the effort, along with… Affirm, Box, Ebay, GitHub, IBM, Microsoft, PayPal, Salesforce, Slack, Tumblr, Yelp. Apple has already spoken out on the Trump Administration’s move to pull back on Obama-era guidance that interpreted existing law to require schools to let students use the restroom that matches their gender identity. The Supreme Court case, involving Virginia high school student Gavin Grimm, asks the court to weigh in on the same question.
These companies really, really care about rights. Just not the rights of the states. Or those who want to potty in peace. It seems as though Apple misses not a single opportunity to get hyper-political (see Apple Goes Full PC, Replaces ‘Offensive’ Gun Emoji With Squirt Gun… and Far-Left Apple CEO to Wage War on Fake News. Misses HUGE Irony…). We’re finding that tech companies are becoming more and more politically involved. Why stick with creating better tech products when you can wade into potty politics? Maybe there’s an app for that.
Look, this is America, where businesses can say and do what they please. The problem here? These companies are alienating a large portion of their customers who support Trump and his policies. The policies they recently shat on. These companies aren’t simply disagreeing with Trump’s recent actions, but have actually gone full SJW. Every time Trump does something they disagree with, we see companies making moral attacks and waging war on those who have different opinions than them. Some virtue signaling companies punished states like North Carolina for non-conformity. Tolerance.
An important tidbit of information: the majority of these companies are public. They’re not untouchable gods of political sway (see Surprise! Target Stock DROPS Since Transgender Bathroom Policy and GrubHub Stock Drops Majorly After Demanding Trump-Voting Employees Quit). Their shares are susceptible to sinking lower than the likes of Gavin Grimm’s triple chin giblets.
So a friendly piece of advice to Apple and cronies? Less political bullying, more phone making. Stick to your day jobs.
While we’re talking about man-trannies…
NOT SUBSCRIBED TO THE PODCAST? FIX THAT! IT’S COMPLETELY FREE ON BOTH ITUNES HERE AND SOUNDCLOUD HERE.
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Lorry drivers in England left languishing in queues caused by the cross-Channel chaos had some light relief brought to them – by a half-naked, one-man mobile disco.
Entertainer and prankster Lee Marshall joined truckers on the M20 near Folkestone, Kent, as they remained stuck in Operation Stack on Monday night.
Stripped to a pair of women’s running shorts and wearing sunglasses and a winter hat, Marshall, aka DiscoBoy, blared songs from a speaker on a trolley.
The 30-year-old got stranded lorry drivers clapping and dancing outside their vehicles as his portable disco, complete with flashing lights, created a party atmosphere in the Roundhill Tunnels.
He urged other drivers to “give me a horn, give me a horn” and to “put your hands up”, before adding: “When I say Operation, you say Stack.”
Some passing motorists beeped their horns in appreciation of the stunt, encouraged by a waving Marshall, who had #DiscoBoy scrawled on his chest.
Marshall, from Canterbury, said: “There were some people who were a bit bemused by it all. But once they realised I wasn’t a threat a couple got out and started dancing and doing some video.
“I’ve been doing these types of discos for a while. I’ve done them at shopping centres, outside police stations, and even Downing Street.
“Some people on my Facebook page suggested I go down to Operation Stack. I hadn’t done one for a while, so I thought why not.”
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