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The Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) is a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Lorikeet
Rainbow Lorikeets feed mainly on fruit, pollen and nectar, and possess a tongue adapted especially for their particular diet. The end of the tongue is equipped with a papillate appendage adapted to gathering pollen and nectar from flowers.[9] Nectar from eucalyptus is important in Australia, other important nectar sources are Pittosporum, Grevillea, Spathodea campanulata (African Tulip-tree), and sago palm.[8] In Melanesia coconuts are very important food sources, and Rainbow Lorikeets are important pollinators of these.[10] They also consume the fruits of Ficus, Trema, Mutingia, as well as papaya and mangoes already opened by fruit bats. They also eat crops such as apples, and will raid maize and sorghum.[8] They are also frequent visitors at bird feeders placed in gardens, which supply store-bought nectar, sunflower seeds, and fruits such as apples, grapes and pears.
Grevillea ‘Honey Gem’ is a grevillea cultivar originating from Queensland in Australia.
It is a shrub that grows up to 6 m (20 ft) in height and has deeply divided dark green leaves that are approximately 29 cm (11 in) long and 24 cm (9 in) wide The inflorescences are yellowish orange racemes that are about 16 cm (6 in) long and 8 cm (3 in) wide. Flowers occur mainly in winter and spring.
The cultivar is a cross between Grevillea banksii (red form) and Grevillea pteridifolia. The original plant was obtained as a seedling of Grevillea pteridifolia by Cherrel Jerks of Taringa in Brisbane, Queensland.
-27.606320 153.316269 |
Steve Ballmer is back in the public eye for the first time in a while, appearing on Bloomberg this morning to talk about the technology industry and he had a lot to say about other companies.
Ballmer, Microsoft’s ex-CEO, was asked about Apple’s current position and said that “Microsoft will give them a good run for their money” and that “nobody else has really tried to compete with them anymore really seriously in hardware.”
According to Ballmer, Microsoft is the only one that can take on the company; “if there’s going to be any competition at all for Apple it will come from Microsoft.” He acknowledged, however, that “they’ve done a good job.”
He also couldn’t help but take a few jabs at other companies, like Amazon, which was recently in the spotlight thanks to a New York Times investigation on working conditions at the company.
Ballmer said that “I think they are a place that people don’t want to work” and that “anybody who ever left Microsoft [to work at Amazon], we could count on them coming back within a year or two because it’s not a great place to work.” He claims that “many, many people” made a round trip between the companies.
When asked about Twitter, Ballmer, who is one of Twitter’s biggest investors said that “there’s all kinds of opportunity” at the company and believes “Jack’s on top of it.”
Before today, Ballmer has stayed mostly out of the spotlight, other than being spotted at a few Clippers games in Los Angeles.
Read next: The Next Web has a xenophobe problem |
Any fears that the clash between Germany and Turkey in the Euro 2008 semifinals would unleash trouble between Germans and the large Turkish community living in the country proved unfounded. In the end it was all about the football, as fans of both teams watched the nail-biting game at venues across the country, cheering side by side.
In Berlin's Kreuzberg district, a stronghold of the city's Turkish community, fans exchanged chants of "Deutschland, Deutschland" and "Turkiye, Turkiye," though in the dying minutes of the game it was supporters of the German team who were shouting loudest when Philipp Lahm struck home in the last minute to clinch a 3-2 victory and a place in Sunday's final.
As the final whistle blew, cheers, honking car horns and a burst of fireworks greeted the German win and fans hit the streets for impromptu parties, singing "Finale!" to the tune of "Volare," climbing lampposts and dancing exuberantly. And the disappointed Turkish fans joined in. In Kreuzberg one supporter of the losing team told SPIEGEL ONLINE: "Germany did win, but we are going to party anyway." Teyfik Yilmaz, a Berliner with Turkish parents, was disappointed, telling the Associated Press: "Turkey played better than Germany.... We didnt pull it off but, but in any case it's the furthest Turkey has ever come and that's a good thing."
Germany is home to about 2.7 million people of Turkish origin around 500,000 of whom are German citizens. In the run up the match, the first time the two countries have met in a major tournament since the 1950s, Turkish and German flags have been flying together from car windows and balconies in a nation gripped by football frenzy.
In downtown Berlin, an estimated 500,000 fans packed into the "fan mile" public viewing area next to the historic Brandenburg Gate, with access shut off a full hour before the game even kicked off after the organizers declared it full. The winning goal by the Germans saw the huge crowd erupt into a frenzy of football celebration.
In Hamburg around 42,000 German and Turkish fans gathered at the city's Heiligengeistfeld venue to watch the fast-paced game. Ahmet Hirac, 35, the son of Turkish immigrants told SPIEGEL ONLINE that he was wearing the Turkish football jersey for the semifinals but: "I will wear my German shirt for the finals." He was philosophical about the Turkish defeat: "I would have been happy no matter who won."
In the end, being of Turkish origin in Germany was a guarantee of a place in the final whatever the result. Before the match 20-year-old Erkan Ak had said: "I'm for Turkey first, but I'll also be happy if Germany wins," To prove the point he wore a German flag on one arm and a Turkish one on the other.
While the general mood was one of good-natured rivalry there were some ugly incidents in the eastern German city of Dresden. After the game around 30 drunken youths attacked at least one Turkish-owned kebab shop in the city, causing some damage. On Thursday a police spokesman told Reuters that one or two Turks had been injured.
smd/ap
With reporting by Ferda Ataman and Birger Hamann. |
Illustration by Steven Weissman
After a month of watching the 2016 clown car roll into early primary states, bringing its traveling flea circus into the isolated political environs of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the presidential race will finally open up this week for Super Tuesday. Voters in 13 states—and one territory—will head to the polls on March 1, casting ballots in an onslaught that amounts to the biggest presidential contest before the general election in November.
If there's anything 2016 needs less at this point, it's another opportunity for cable news anchors to work themselves into a lather over the chaotic death spiral that is the presidential election. But so far, 2016 hasn't really cared what we think it needs. Super Tuesday is the kind of political made-for-TV marathon that keeps Wolf Blitzer up at night, talking strategy with his holograms. Expect every major media outlet to provide nonstop Super Tuesday coverage for the next 72 hours, shouting over one another to give hot-take analyses, play-by-play voting breakdowns, and unnecessary touch-screen demonstrations of just what it all means for the 2016 race.
In the words of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, it's gonna be yuuugee. Here's what you need you to know:
Which states are voting?
Technically, 13 states and American Samoa will hold nominating contests on March 1. But the big states to watch are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia, each of which will hold primaries for both Democrats and Republicans. Republicans will also get results from Alaska, which is holding its caucuses on Super Tuesday, and Democrats will hold their nominating contests in Colorado and American Samoa.
In a strange quirk of the GOP's nominating process, Republicans will also begin their caucuses in Colorado and Wyoming on Tuesday, but the results of those contests won't be made official until the state party conventions later this spring.
Combined, these states represent 22 percent of all the delegates up for grabs in the 2016 race—a total of 1,460, plus another 150 "superdelegates" who get to choose their candidate on the Democratic side.
What's at stake for Republicans?
To win the party's nomination, a Republican candidate needs to secure 1,237 delegates. So far, none of the five remaining GOP candidates—Trump, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and Ben Carson—has racked up more than 100 delegates. Nearly 600 Republican delegates are up for grabs on Tuesday, which means the results will likely go a long way toward determining which candidates have a viable path to win the nomination.
Can anyone stop Donald Trump?
In the lead up to Super Tuesday, Trump has looked increasingly like the GOP's inevitable nominee, a predictable development that has nevertheless sent the Establishment into a full-blown panic. The orange-hued billionaire continues to hold the lead in national polls, and he has gained considerable momentum from his three consecutive wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. With 81 delegates, he's the indisputable front-runner heading into Tuesday's contests, and he is expected to score big in the Southern states, where his support is particularly strong. The endorsements from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Maine Governor Paul LePage could also give him a boost in the Northeast, solidifying his standing with the swamp Yankee base that handed him a resounding win in New Hampshire earlier this month.
At this point, the question is not so much whether Trump will clean up on Super Tuesday but just how sweeping his wins will be in the states that vote this week. If he continues to rack up big wins like the ones he saw in South Carolina and Nevada this month, he'll end Super Tuesday with a huge lead in the delegate count, leaving the GOP elite to deal with the party's impending apocalypse.
What about the other guys?
After a rancorous debate performance on Thursday night, Rubio goes into Super Tuesday as the clear Establishment favorite to take on Trump. While he trails behind the reality-TV mogul in most states, polls in several Midwestern states show him within striking distance. If he can win a state or two on Tuesday—and that's a big if—or at least come in close behind Trump in a handful of contests, he may be able to pick up enough delegates to stay in the game for another couple of weeks. If Rubio does manage to take advantage of the nutty Super Tuesday math like this, the Republican contest could turn into a two-man race after March 1, weakening Trump's momentum in the months going into the party's convention this summer.
For Cruz, Rubio's closest rival, Super Tuesday has come down to one state: Texas. Cruz is looking to win big on his home turf—incidentally, the most delegate-rich state to vote on Super Tuesday—in order to maintain a semblance of legitimacy for his candidacy going forward. After months of touting his Southern state strategy, though, Cruz seems likely to lose to Trump across the so-called SEC primary states. At this point, he and Rubio are like the Thelma and Louise of the GOP, driving off a cliff together in what may ultimately be a vain attempt to keep Trump out of the White House in 2017.
For Kasich and Carson, Super Tuesday looks even less promising. Both candidates continue to trail in the polls, running increasingly quixotic campaigns to the consternation of their entire party. It's not clear if Super Tuesday losses will knock either candidate out of the race, although Carson will probably take the opportunity to head home again to change his clothes.
What about the Democrats?
The electoral stakes on Super Tuesday are similarly high for Democrats, who will compete for 1,015 delegates on March 1—nearly a quarter of the total delegates needed to win the party's nomination. But coming off of Hillary Clinton's big win in South Carolina Saturday, the Democratic contest lacks the sort of nail-biting suspense typically associated with Super Tuesday.
At this point, Clinton continues to hold a lead in most of the major states set to cast ballots on Tuesday, including the delegate-heavy South and Midwest. Sanders seems likely to pick up wins in Vermont and Massachusetts, but at this point, it probably won't be enough to shake the perception that Clinton has all but won the party's nomination.
Like Rubio and Cruz, Sanders's only chance at staying in the game is to close the gap with Clinton in states that she is projected to win, picking off enough delegates to sustain the argument that he is running a viable campaign against the Democratic heir apparent.
Follow John Surico on Twitter. |
Tennessee freshman forward Zach Kent
The Tennessee basketball team practiced Friday afternoon at Pratt Pavilion, and GoVols247 was on hand to check out the action.
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Come check out some of the action for yourself in this exclusive photo gallery from GoVols247 senior writer Wes Rucker.
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Coach Rick Barnes and his Vols continue preseason play with a Thursday night exhibition game against Carson-Newman at Thompson-Boling Arena, and they'll play at Clemson three days later in an exhibition with all proceeds going to hurricane relief.
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Yes, you heard that right. As Think Progress points out, in a new post by Marlene Cimons, countries with the widest economic inequality make climate change and its consequences worse.
“What’s missing from the conversation is what our inequality crisis is doing to our planet,” said Susan Holmberg, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and author of a new report that shows how unequal societies inflict more environmental damage than more economically even societies. “One key topic that is still overlooked is how environmental degradation and climate change are themselves the toxic byproducts of our inequality problem,” Holmberg said.
The greater the wealth gap, the less lower and middle class people can do to conserve energy, lower their carbon footprint, etc., and the less the incentive among the wealthy to take steps to lessen climate disruption. As we know, the wealthy and mega-corporations control our government, and their only motive is to increase their profits, even if that results in greater environmental degradation, either through less government regulation of environmental laws, or greater tax relief for themselves, which results in lower budgets for government agencies tasked with protecting our environment that are already underfunded.
“People assume that raising incomes will increase personal consumption and, as a result, also increase carbon emissions, which would do little to alleviate climate change,” Holmberg said. “But there are so many more mechanisms at play, including how power disparities hobble communities from protecting, for example, their air or their water.” [...] “Since the Reagan administration, the left has been hobbled by a supposed environment versus jobs/economy dichotomy,” Holmberg added. She cited economist James Boyce — her dissertation advisor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst — as the first to propose that lopsided income distribution can imperil the environment. Boyce theorized that the rich have the power to pollute the environments of poorer people.
Income inequality is not only killing people or making their lives miserable, it is also killing the planet. It's a major driver of climate change, or so so say a number of prominent economists, including ...
Rachel Cleetus, lead economist and climate policy manager for the climate and energy program of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who was not involved in the study, said that the report reiterates what many environmental justice advocates have been saying for years, that financial regulation, progressive tax policy and social insurance programs should be regarded as integral to climate change policy. “They will not directly pull carbon out of the atmosphere, which we need to do so urgently, but these kinds of progressive economic policies may be a necessary foundation for a sustainable society,” she said.
Saving the planet doesn't mean killing jobs. On the contrary, progressive economic policies are necessary if we are going to mitigate the damage climate change is already caused and will continue to cause going forward. The rich have no incentive to help the poor or save the planet. They are obsessed with what I call the "Short Term Thinking Disorder" but others call "Short Termism." Our big transnational corporations and the wealthy oligarchs who control them are focused solely on profits and wealth accumulation for their bottom line is as short a time as possible. They, as a class, have little of any concern for the long term consequences of their actions. We've seen this pattern repeated over and over again.
Environmentalists, climate scientists and the working class are all in the same boat when it comes to what are wealthy corporations and elites are doing. The neo-liberal ideologists that control the world economy are dead wrong on this point. Saving the planet is not at odds with saving and creating good jobs and providing financial security to the 99 percent. Indeed, only progressive polices that reduce wealth inequality while also focusing on the greatest threat to our species have any hope of delivering a sustainable and stable future for ourselves, our children and the generations to come. |
One spring morning back in 2010, I awoke on the floor of a disgusting motel room in Wilmington, N.C., after a friend allegedly spent 10 minutes hitting me with a pillow.
"Is he dead?" I heard as I slowly regained consciousness. "Should we call someone?"
I had no idea a headache could hurt this much. A sane, somewhat logical person would have seen this coming, as I spent the night before mixing Jamaican rum that came in a plastic bottle into cans of Coors Light -- like a moron.
I drank enough of this objectively embarrassing concoction to email one of my state congressmen and admit my love for Natasha Bedingfield's music to a group of elderly strangers. I hadn't eaten anything since roughly 5:30 p.m.; a drop of water hadn't touched my lips in at least 16 hours. Oh, and there was a small plant in my back pocket, along with a handful of mulch.
"This is rock bottom," I thought as I removed the left side of my face from a carpet that was probably installed during the Nixon administration. Following a lopsided battle with gravity, I managed to stand up.
Many people have asked me what it feels like to watch the Winnipeg Jets compete in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Truth be told, it's the emotional equivalent of waking up to an all-time hangover while being pulverized in the skull with a suspiciously off-color cushion.
I should explain why.
I'm an Atlanta native who grew up watching the Thrashers. I was devastated when they left, and, though a number of years have passed since relocation, I'd be lying if I said I'm over it. I'd also be lying if I said I enjoy the sport as much as I once did.
Remaining a part of the hockey community after losing your team is like spending every day on Facebook looking at photos of your ex-girlfriend -- whom you still love -- wrapped around another guy. Not just any guy, mind you: This man is the blue-collar, charming underdog even your mother can't help but fawn over.
He has an impressive vinyl collection filled with indie records you've never heard of but would almost definitely enjoy. He posts endearing pictures of himself embracing impoverished children. His Rolex is probably real.
He fell on some hard times a while back, and dang it, he was due for a good break.
Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- thinks he's better for her than you ever could have been. And, even though four years have gone by since the big breakup, people just won't shut up about it.
"I'm so happy for him," they say right to your face. "No one deserves her more than Johnny Manitoba.
"You never cared for her like he does."
These words hurt, mostly because there's an element of truth in them. Your relationship with this girl was regularly questioned from start to finish. It was rocky, nontraditional, uncertain. You had loyal supporters, and you shared a couple good years together, but the peanut gallery thought she should have been dating someone far more affluent, someone far more deserving.
Someone who actually had his shit together.
So yeah, it stings. A lot. Hockey is a game, and it doesn't matter much when viewed in the right perspective. Still, it's always different when dealing with pieces of one's own childhood. Having a team to cheer for got me through some hard times as a kid and allowed me to develop a mighty passion.
Nevertheless, it's hard to focus on the positives while looking at the white out, while hearing the MTS Centre erupt in a way Philips Arena hardly (if ever) did. It was especially difficult to watch Bryan Little fire a slapshot past Frederik Andersen in Game 3 on Monday. All I could think about were the hours spent trying to convince the five readers of my old blog how good Little was back in 2008.
It sucks, yet at the same time, I don't want the Jets to fail again. Failure wouldn't make things right here, and it'd only hurt those who already went through similar anguish in the '90s. Some Winnipeg fans have been cruel about the move, sure, but most seem like good people.
So now I'm conflicted. I want Little, Tobias Enstrom, Chris Thorburn, Ondrej Pavelec and Jim Slater to enjoy playoff hockey. I want the Jets supporters who treated Atlanta with respect to be rewarded. I truly do.
That said, the thought of my old team celebrating a championship in a building more than 1,500 miles away makes me want to drink all the cheap rum and Coors Light in the world. |
01:00 Sekaii: Gaia01:00 Sekaii: mod my map irc01:00 Sekaii: i need sp01:00 Sekaii: orz01:00 Sekaii: =3=01:00 Gaia: =3=01:00 Gaia: hai hai01:00 Sekaii: ;w;01:01 Sekaii: or mod like baka monstrata01:01 Sekaii: lol01:01 Sekaii: that meme mod01:01 Gaia: lol01:01 Sekaii: it's good but01:01 Sekaii: his replies01:01 Sekaii: was perfect lol01:02 Sekaii: orz01:02 *Gaia is editing [https://osu.ppy.sh/b/1262811 ClariS - Hitorigoto -TV MIX- [Easy]]01:02 *Sekaii is editing [https://osu.ppy.sh/b/1262811 ClariS - Hitorigoto -TV MIX- [Easy]]01:02 Gaia: tick 1 pls01:02 Sekaii: o3o/01:02 Sekaii: why01:02 Sekaii: I used some tick hitsound on kiai01:02 Sekaii: check o.o/01:02 Gaia: `00:05:465 (3) - finish on repeat?01:03 Gaia: and o01:03 Sekaii: and okay01:03 Sekaii: fixed it01:03 Gaia: 00:56:556 - wait why here LOL01:03 Gaia: should be on the white tick..?01:03 Sekaii: because it's like my insane o.o01:04 Sekaii: I used on red tick01:04 Sekaii: it still fits on red tick >01:04 Gaia: lol01:04 Sekaii: with music i mean01:04 Gaia: i dont think so but whatever01:04 Gaia: lol01:04 Sekaii: :c01:04 Gaia: wewww01:05 Gaia: 00:08:374 (2) - move right more to avoid overlap?01:06 Gaia: aa so many 3/2 gaps01:06 Sekaii: =3=01:06 Sekaii: it fits the song01:06 Gaia: 00:14:374 (3,4) - maybe u can use this instead01:06 Sekaii: and I don't wanna over map xD01:06 Gaia: http://puu.sh/vlPT6/df610cbb8b.jpg 01:07 Sekaii: but but01:07 Gaia: 00:18:011 (5,1) - basically make the (5) into a 3/2 slider and add circle on the clap01:07 Sekaii: it plays fine D:01:07 Sekaii: and follows the music ;w;01:07 Gaia: lol01:07 Gaia: wew01:07 Sekaii: :<01:07 Gaia: 00:36:011 (1) - finish01:08 Gaia: clap on end01:08 Gaia: 00:38:920 (1) - finish01:08 Gaia: 00:44:011 (5) - make into reverse?01:09 Sekaii: hmm01:09 Sekaii: well01:09 Gaia: 00:46:920 (4) - same if u apply aboive01:09 Sekaii: the lyrics stopped there01:09 Sekaii: so maybe it's fine if their on red ticks01:09 Gaia: kkk01:09 Gaia: 00:57:829 (1) - finish01:09 Sekaii: plus there is gap between those sliders01:09 Gaia: 01:00:738 (1) -01:09 Gaia: same01:10 Gaia: the reason y i said those rhythms is cuz 3/2 is hard to play for noobs01:10 Gaia: but it doesnt really matter01:10 Sekaii: yeah lol01:10 Gaia: 01:08:011 (3) - move left a bit for blanket?01:10 Sekaii: most mappers do that nowadays01:10 Gaia: 01:10:192 (2) - this can too i guess01:10 Gaia: well yeah01:10 Gaia: it's fine01:10 Gaia: but01:10 Gaia: it's not good01:10 Gaia: so it really depends on what you're aiming for lol01:11 Gaia: personally i only do that as a worse case scenario01:11 Gaia: ok rest looks good01:11 Sekaii: i know right xD01:11 *Gaia is editing [https://osu.ppy.sh/b/1261780 ClariS - Hitorigoto -TV MIX- [Insane]]01:12 Gaia: 00:17:283 (2) - 00:18:011 (4) - missing claps01:12 Gaia: 00:20:192 (2) - same01:13 Sekaii: on the tail?01:13 Sekaii: o.o01:13 Gaia: yeah01:13 Sekaii: okay01:13 Sekaii: fixed them01:13 Gaia: 00:28:738 (1) - changing to circle + 1/2 slider would be nice cuz you've been following vocals all this time01:13 Gaia: 00:34:556 (3) - same01:14 Gaia: 00:35:283 (5) - clap on the end01:14 Gaia: 00:37:465 (1) - remove clap on the end and put it at the head of 00:38:192 (2) -01:14 Gaia: 00:37:283 (5) - clap here too01:14 Gaia: 00:40:192 (3) - 00:40:374 (1) - << tail of01:14 Gaia: claps01:15 Gaia: 00:41:102 (3,4) - all 3 should have the same hitsounds?01:16 Gaia: 00:48:011 (2,3,4) - 00:48:738 (5,1,2) - rhythms should be consistent01:16 Gaia: 00:48:738 (5,1,2) - should be 2 circles + 1/2 slider01:17 Gaia: 01:17:374 (5) - wrong place for triple01:17 Gaia: should be at 01:17:556 - instead01:17 Gaia: 01:26:192 (3,4) - just a suggestion maybe change into 1/4 repeats?01:17 Gaia: u can still follow vocals that way01:18 Gaia: bakai ded01:18 Sekaii: I'm still fixing the first suggestion lol01:18 Gaia: =3=/01:18 Sekaii: took me a while xD01:18 Sekaii: since 1/1 slider01:18 Sekaii: orz01:19 *Gaia slaps01:19 Gaia: oh yeah and combo colours01:19 Gaia: also widescreen on gero's diff01:19 Gaia: and easy01:20 Gaia: and kanto01:24 Sekaii: okay01:25 Sekaii: finally fixed everything01:25 Gaia: =3=/01:25 Sekaii: orz01:25 Sekaii: took me a while xD01:25 Sekaii: lsdjsalkdj01:25 Gaia: good01:25 Gaia: job01:25 *Gaia slaps01:25 Gaia: =3=/01:25 *Sekaii slaps slaps =3=/01:25 *Gaia slaps slaps slaps =3=/01:25 Sekaii: you've suggested good stuff01:25 Gaia: wew01:25 Sekaii: but slappy as usual orz01:25 Gaia: ok post?01:25 Gaia: =3=////01:25 Sekaii: wait01:26 Gaia: nani nani01:27 Sekaii: okay you can post01:27 Sekaii: was fixing the widescreen lol01:27 Gaia: =3=/01:27 Gaia: kk01:27 Sekaii: i'll add combo colors later01:27 Gaia: oh yeah01:27 Sekaii: too lazy right now01:27 Gaia: tell gaia that his diff sux01:27 Gaia: hitsounds too loud01:27 Gaia: pls redo them01:27 Sekaii: yeah01:27 Sekaii: they are lol |
Zinedine Zidane gave his thoughts on Paul Pogba during an interview with French radio station RTL. “He has everything,” said the Castilla coach when asked about his fellow countryman.
The French coach was full of praise for the midfielder: “I think that he’s fantastic. What I like about him is that he has it all. He is a complete player who also has the ability to score goals because he likes to get forward. In terms of footballing qualities, he is extraordinary.”
Zidane also admitted that Real Madrid are interested in signing him. “A lot of clubs are interested in him and so are Real. It is natural that talented players are of interest to all the big clubs. For his continued growth it is important that he has a healthy environment and I hope that he will always have that."
Zidane somewhat contradicts the statement from the club, which denied interest in the player after Turin-based newspaper La Stampa reported that contact had been made with player and Juventus.
Pogba, 22, arrived at Juventus in 2012 from the youth ranks of Manchester United, who signed him from French club Le Havre. This season he has played in 41 matches with Juventus and scored ten goals, as well as contributing 11 assists. |
After an explosive, yet rather unsatisfactory series finale paving the way nearly four years ago for the movie that ultimately never was, as well as Kiefer Sutherland's follow up bomb, Touch, 24 fans rejoiced last year at the news that Jack and Chloe would be back in a 12-episode miniseries this summer, 24: Live Another Day. With each passing day, it seems we get a little more information about what to expect for the new "season" which die hard fans such as myself hope and pray will develop into something more. We have a name for the new commander in chief (which is probably exactly who loyal fans expected), a rather unbelievable name for the British Prime Minister, a plethora of returning cast members, some of whom you'd expect and some not so much, a city, and many other elements that make 24 the show we loved over the better part of the previous decade. There are, however, a lot of questions left from the finale and other previously unwrapped storylines from the show's original run, from the groundbreaking post 9/11 premiere in 2001 to the pivotal finale in 2010. As fans who invested our hearts and souls into the landmark drama for all eight seasons and a TV movie, only to be left with more questions than answers as the clock symbolically ticked to zero nearly four years ago, we're thrilled to have this miniseries in lieu of the promised feature film, which is said to be in script limbo. Considering that this may be the last we see of Jack Bauer if the movie is truly dead, there are many questions that the writers need to answer if they want to bring total closure to us fans. Watch the first trailer from the SuperBowl below for 24 LAD; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo4_r5RlBII And now after the jump, we outline 5 things we know about the new series and 5 questions we feel need to be answered... |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Judge Masipa stopped short of giving her expected verdict, as Karin Giannone reports
The judge in the Oscar Pistorius trial has cleared him of murder, but has left it to Friday to announce whether the athlete is guilty of culpable homicide.
Judge Thokozile Masipa said prosecutors had not proved he meant to kill his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, prompting tears from the Olympic sprinter.
But she said he acted hastily and had been negligent. Mr Pistorius says he thought an intruder was in the toilet.
Adjourning the trial, the judge said a reasonable person would not have fired.
The BBC's Andrew Harding, who was in court in Pretoria, says she is expected to deliver a verdict of culpable homicide (manslaughter) but has not yet spelled it out.
Earlier, Judge Masipa described Mr Pistorius as an evasive witness but said this did not mean he was guilty.
Clearing him of murder charges, she said he could not have foreseen killing whoever was behind the toilet door.
The South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter had denied murdering Ms Steenkamp after a row on Valentine's Day last year, saying he shot her by mistake.
Mr Pistorius, 27, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces, including two counts of shooting a firearm in public and the illegal possession of ammunition.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Judge: Killing not premeditated murder
Analysis: Pumza Fihlani, BBC News, Pretoria High Court
While finding Oscar Pistorius not guilty of murder, Judge Masipa appears to be leaning towards the lesser charge of manslaughter, known in South Africa as culpable homicide.
Minutes after the lunch break, she seemed to be on the verge of announcing her verdict, only to stop abruptly and adjourn until Friday - leading to sighs and gasps in the overflow court.
Judge Masipa didn't mince her words when she said the athlete, who has a good knowledge of guns, acted negligently by firing four shots into a confined space. She questioned why he did not phone for help or run to the balcony instead of confronting the apparent danger - questions that have plagued many.
Following a long trial that has gripped people around the world, Judge Masipa seems to want to give a detailed account before announcing her verdict. South Africa's legal system has also been on trial and many believe the athlete is getting off lightly, possibly because of his fame.
But legal experts argue that the judge has merely followed the law and the evidence before her. The onus was on the state to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, which the judge said it had failed to do.
How judgement was tweeted
Verdict What it means Sentence Premeditated murder Intended and planned to unlawfully kill Reeva Steenkamp, or an intruder Mandatory life term - 25 years before parole Common-law murder Unlawfully intended to kill in the heat of the moment but without "malice aforethought". Either: Shot door intending to kill, or knew someone might be killed and still fired gun Minimum of 15 years up to 20 years, at judge's discretion Culpable homicide (manslaughter) No intention to kill. Takes into account disability, but actions negligent and not in keeping with a reasonable person Maximum of 15 years, possibly between seven and 10 years Discharging a firearm in public Two counts for allegedly firing a gun through a car sunroof and discharging a gun at a restaurant A fine or up to five years - for each charge Illegal possession of ammunition In possession of .38 bullets for which he has no licence A fine or up to 15 years
'Facts wrong'
Judge Masipa began by detailing the charges against the athlete and repeating extracts of his testimony, reading in a slow, measured way.
She then moved on to a summary of the trial.
A tense-looking Mr Pistorius looked on from the dock, and wept several times during the proceedings.
The judge questioned the reliability of several witnesses who apparently heard screams and gunshots at the time of the incident, saying most of those who said they had heard the incident had "got facts wrong".
The prosecution had used these witnesses to try to prove that Mr Pistorius had killed Ms Steenkamp with premeditation after an argument.
Later in her judgement, Judge Masipa concluded that the prosecution had failed in this.
"The state has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty of premeditated murder," she said. "There are just not enough facts to support such a finding."
The judge added that the accused believed his life was in danger and therefore could not be found guilty of a lesser charge of murder.
"How could the accused reasonably have foreseen that the shot he fired would kill the deceased?" she said.
"Clearly he did not subjectively foresee this as a possibility, that he would kill the person behind the door, let alone the deceased as he thought she was in the bedroom at the time."
Image copyright AFP Image caption Reeva Steenkamp's parents were present for the verdict
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Mr Pistorius's family were also in the courtroom
But Judge Masipa then adjourned for lunch before moving on to the charge of culpable homicide which suggests negligence without intention to kill and which could still mean a jail sentence.
"The accused knew there was a person behind the toilet door, he chose to use a firearm. Would a reasonable person in the same circumstances as the accused have foreseen the possibility that if he fired four shots whoever was behind the toilet might be struck and die as a result?
She said the answer was yes.
"I am of the view that the accused acted too hastily and used excessive force. In the circumstances, it is clear that his conduct was negligent," she said, before abruptly adjourning for the day.
Her decision to do so took many by surprise.
Throughout the day the court witnessed Judge Masipa's logic and style - gentle, tolerant of error from witnesses, but razor sharp, reports the BBC's Andrew Harding.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption In 2012, Oscar Pistorius made history by becoming the first double amputee to run in the Olympic Games
Most of the trial, which began on 3 March 2014, has been televised and attracted worldwide attention.
Before the fatal shooting, the double amputee was feted in South Africa and known as the "blade runner".
He had won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and also competed at the Olympics.
The judgement at his trial is likely to be well over 100 pages. The judge went through each charge, summing up the prosecution and defence cases and analysing the evidence.
Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, was hit three times by bullets shot through a toilet door by Mr Pistorius at his home in the capital, Pretoria, in the early hours of 14 February 2013.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Andrew Harding in the house where the shooting took place
He denies the prosecution's allegation that the couple - who had been dating for three months - had rowed.
The athlete said he thought she was still in the bedroom when he heard a noise in the bathroom, which he believed to be an intruder.
The prosecution have tried to characterise Mr Pistorius as a "hothead", while his defence team have portrayed him as having a heightened response to perceived danger because of his disability and background.
In July, a psychiatric report requested by the judge said Mr Pistorius had post-traumatic stress disorder but no mental illness that could prevent him being held criminally responsible for his actions. |
Is this my interface or yours?
A piece about perspective
John Saito Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 8, 2016
The evolution of My Computer
Remember back in the day when Windows had a My Computer icon? It was a glorious little icon that represented all the stuff you had on your computer—all your programs, all your work, all the digital pieces of you.
In later versions of Windows, Microsoft changed the label of this icon to Computer, then changed it again to This PC. Did they change it because “my” was misleading? Inconsistent? Unnecessary?
This little change got me thinking about a bigger question: Why do products sometimes label things as my stuff, and sometimes label things as your stuff?
What do you call your stuff?
As you tap around from app to app, you’ll see that there’s no standard way to refer to the things that belong to you within an interface. Some say it’s my stuff. Some say it’s your stuff.
YouTube and Google Drive call it “my” stuff. Spotify and Amazon call it “your” stuff.
If you’re designing an interface, does it matter whether the words are written from the user’s point of view or the product’s point of view? I think there’s a subtle difference, and it all depends on how you want your users to feel while using your product.
“My” point of view
By using “my” in an interface, it implies that the product is an extension of the user. It’s as if the product is labeling things on behalf of the user. “My” feels personal. It feels like you can customize and control it.
By that logic, “my” might be more appropriate when you want to emphasize privacy, personalization, or ownership. And maybe that’s why My Computer worked well years ago. Back then, a computer was almost always a single-player experience. People usually didn’t share files, and all their stuff felt safe inside that one little icon.
Mine. All mine.
“Your” point of view
By using “your” in an interface, it implies that the product is talking with you. It’s almost as if the product is your personal assistant, helping you get something done. “Here’s your music. Here are your orders.”
By that logic, “your” might be more appropriate when you want your product to sound conversational—like it’s walking you through some task. Whether it’s paying bills, scheduling an appointment, or filling out tax forms, many products help people do things faster, smarter, and more easily.
Nowadays, computers and apps are even taking on the persona of a personal assistant. They have names like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. They help you take notes, remind you to buy milk, and read emails out loud to you.
Hey Siri, can you change my baby’s dirty diaper?
Many different apps, including Medium, give you recommendations. In my mind, I think of this like a personal assistant hand-picking stories for me to read today. I think this trend will only become more widespread, and we’ll probably see more and more apps using “your” instead of “my.”
No point of view
As with most things in design, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution that works for every situation. But one thing that many products do nowadays is to just cut out words like “my” or “your” whenever labeling things that belong to the user.
No mention of “my” or “your” here.
And maybe this dropping of the “my” is the exact same approach that Windows took when it decided to change My Computer to Computer.
Unfortunately, cutting out “my” or “your” doesn’t work 100% of the time. Sometimes you really do need to differentiate the user’s stuff from someone else’s stuff. For example, in YouTube, you can’t just say “Channel,” because it’s not clear whether that’s referring to your channel, channels that you’ve subscribed to, or channels that YouTube is recommending to you.
Just using “Channel” won’t work in this context.
And maybe, just maybe, this is why Windows eventually changed Computer to This PC. It was because Computer was too ambiguous on its own, and they needed to clarify that they were referring to this computer.
Putting it all into perspective
Up until now, I’ve mainly been talking about the things that belong to you in an interface. That’s just a small fraction of the words that you’ll come across as a user. What about things like button labels, instructions, settings screens, and so on?
There are widely differing opinions on this, but here are the general guidelines I like to follow:
When to use me: Use I, me, my, or mine when the user is interacting with the product, like clicking a button or selecting a checkbox. But only add these words if you absolutely need to for clarity.
Use I, me, my, or mine when the user is interacting with the product, like clicking a button or selecting a checkbox. But only add these words if you absolutely need to for clarity. When to use you: Use you or your when your product is asking questions, giving instructions, or describing things to the user. Just imagine what a personal assistant might say.
“Our” point of view
Before I wrap up, I have to mention one more point of view that‘s pretty common out there: our point of view. This is when products use “we,” “our,” or “us” within the interface.
From Chase Bank’s homepage
By using “we,” “our,” or “us,” they’re actually adding a third participant into the mix — the people behind the product. It suggests that there are real human beings doing the work, not just some mindless machine.
If your product is selling people-powered services like cooking, designing, or cleaning, “we” adds a human touch. “We’re here to help.” “See our services.” Knowing that real humans are there, behind all those windows and boxes, can help the user feel a little more at ease.
On the other hand, if your product is an automated tool like Google’s search engine, “we” can feel misleading because there aren’t human beings processing your search. In fact, Google’s UI writing guidelines recommend not saying “we” for most things in their interface.
What’s your point of view?
I wrote this story because I’ve seen this question come up time and time again from designers, developers, and writers. Why do we use “my” here? Why do we use “your” there? And yet, I’ve seen very little of this documented externally in style guides.
Do you have your own guidelines for dealing with perspective in an interface? If so, I’d love to hear your point of view. |
Last Tuesday, three weeks after voters in Washington, D.C., overwhelmingly voted to legalize marijuana in the nation’s capital, the District of Columbia Council took an important step toward carrying out that mandate. The council’s Committee on Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs approved legislation that charges D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) with licensing and regulating marijuana producers and retailers. ABRA would have six months to write the regulations, after which it would begin accepting license applications, so recreational cannabis stores could open in 2016 if the council approves final legislation by next spring and Congress does not try to stop the process.
The plan to license cannabusinesses, part of a bill introduced last year by Council Member David Grosso, actually goes beyond the provisions of Initiative 71, the ballot measure that passed on November 4 with support from 69.5 percent of voters. Other sections of Grosso’s bill would eliminate penalties for possessing two ounces or less of marijuana, for growing up to six plants at home, and for transferring small amounts to other adults without payment, as called for by Initiative 71. Because of legal restrictions on changes that can be made by ballot measure, the initiative did not address commercial production and distribution.
Grosso’s bill would combine medical and recreational marijuana into one industry regulated by ABRA, but it would impose a lower sales tax on marijuana purchased by patients with doctor’s recommendations: 6 percent, as opposed to 15 percent for recreational consumers. By comparison, Colorado is collecting a 15 percent excise tax plus a 10 percent sales tax on recreational marijuana, while Washington state imposes a 25 percent tax at each of three levels.
Like both of those states, Grosso’s bill would ban cannabis consumption in marijuana stores and many other locations. The provision dealing with marijuana use says “nothing in this section shall permit consumption that is conducted in public,” which if broadly defined would encompass businesses open to the public. By contrast, Initiative 71 says businesses should be free to “prohibit” or “regulat[e]” marijuana use, meaning that bar and restaurant owners, for example, could choose to allow it.
So far only Sections 6 through 8 of Grosso’s bill, which deal with licensing, regulation, and taxation, have been approved by committee. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, the other 10 sections must be approved by two other committees before the bill can be considered by the entire D.C. Council. “Advocates do not expect further action on this legislation before the Council adjourns next month,” DPA says, but the council is expected to “resume consideration of a similar tax and regulate bill in January.” |
Experts in forensic adolescent psychiatry will be meeting with staff from Northern Territory mental health services for a day and a half workshop which will discuss best practice care for young people with mental health and substance abuse problems in the justice system.
More than 50 doctors and other health professionals have already registered for the sessions which will be held at Royal Darwin Hospital and nearby on 11th and 12 February.
‘The high response to this session shows the demand from local clinicians for expertise which combines both forensic and child and adolescent mental health management’ said RANZCP NT Branch Chair Dr Carolyn Little
‘It’s a very important area of care where vulnerable people can fall into the cracks between traditional services.
‘Continuing medical education is important for all doctors and health professionals working in this complex area. This session will provide an excellent basis for new doctors working with this challenging population group , and will be a ‘refresher’ for experienced doctors and psychiatrists familiar with the issues encountered in this area of adolescent mental health care’.
Sydney based forensic psychiatrists Dr John Kasinathan and Dr Yolisha Singh will discuss neurodevelopmental disorders in young offenders, the management of violent offenders and risk assessment. The session has been organised by the NT Branch of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) following their meeting with local members in late 2015.
‘We have more than 5000 psychiatrist members who work across Australia and New Zealand’ said RANZCP President Professor Malcolm Hopwood ‘but only a very small number who work in the Northern Territory. So we have been keen to open this session up to a broader group of mental health professionals who work with psychiatrists in multidisciplinary teams’
‘Working in mental health care in the Northern Territory offers a wide range of challenges and is tremendously rewarding’ said Dr Little. ‘I’ve been here for 12 years and the variety of work experiences and opportunities to creatively develop and expand mental health care services continues to grow each year’
WHAT: Adolescent forensic psychiatry workshop
WHEN: Friday 12 February 2016
WHERE: Royal Darwin Hospital
TIME: 9am – 5pm
For information: Joanne Phillips, RANZCP Manager Membership Engagement, (0419) 371 854 |
JF: This is a subset of the general brokenness of the medical marketplace, right?
DB: Yes. There are many problems that come from the brokenness of the health-care market. To put it another way, if the medical market functioned like the car industry or the computer industry or the service industry, with true competition based on quality and price, providers would have adopted electronic records long ago. I’m not advocating pure market competition in health care. But there are many ways in which the medical marketplace should work better, and this is one of them.
JF: What’s the best thought-experiment example of medical-marketplace incentives working the right way? The VA?
DB: When the benefits of using better technology are “internalized,” as the economists would say, there has been much more rapid, complete, and effective adoption of electronic medical records. So, the VA: the benefits are internalized, because the VA has to live within a budget. In private health-care organizations like Kaiser or the Geisinger plan in Pennsylvania, or the Group Health Cooperative in Puget Sound, electronic medical records were adopted decades ago, and are widely used and highly effective. You don’t need a thought experiment to find living, breathing examples of what happens when the incentives work right.
JF: What’s the connection between the electronic-records effort you directed and the larger Obamacare strategy?
DB: This may be a Beltway detail, but the law that I implemented was not in the Affordable Care Act. It was actually part of the earlier and much maligned stimulus bill. The hope was that promoting medical records would lay the groundwork for a more efficient health-care system, and thereby make universal coverage more affordable to the country—
JF: And—
DB: And you’re about to ask whether it did.
JF: Yes.
DB: It would have. And it will. But it needs time to realize its potential.
I think the parallel is the time it took from when computerization became prevalent in other industries to the time when worker productivity improved. We are only three years into the process of making digital information widely available in health care. And health care is an extraordinarily complex, knowledge-intensive industry. If you want a thought experiment, you could ask yourself how good modern medicine is when physicians and nurses know nothing at all about the patient. So information is absolutely the critical resource in health care, more important than steel in making cars. When you change the way information is used and collected in medicine, you change everything about the way work is done. It is an enormously disruptive process within the health-care system. It takes time to accommodate. In places like Kaiser and Geisinger, electronic medical records are already making a big impact. But that is mostly because those organizations started using them a long time ago. |
Click images for larger view
No longer on view.
Standing 4’3” tall, Laura Ford’s Bird is a cast bronze figure perched at the edge of the Sculpture Park. Its tail and pointed beak are obvious identifiers, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear that Bird is quite unsettling; the figure’s legs and feet are that of a child and the bird is missing its eyes.
Bird exemplifies Ford’s overarching interest in childhood clichés and dream-like scenarios, which she presents in mysterious beings that are part human, part animal. Developed through recollections of her own youth, Ford’s sculptures also reference fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Many pieces seem to hover between the real and unreal, and serve as an exploration of the strangeness of childhood – or the ways in which children grapple with the difference between real life and fantasy. As a result, the tangible dreaminess of Ford’s work functions as a subtle contemporary take on films by Jean Cocteau and David Lynch, which the artist herself has cited as having a large influence on her practice.
Looking at Bird in relation to another Laura Ford installation in the Park, Armour Boys, reveals more sinister undertones. Bird gazes directly at the fallen soldiers and although these works are unrelated, the siting creates an undeniable connection, furthering the intrigue and mystery of both. Is the bird hunting its prey, watching over the small figures, or perhaps even responsible for the boys demise?
Laura Ford was born in Cardiff, Wales and studied art at Bath Academy of Art before receiving her MA in Sculpture from the Chelsea School of Art. She has had solo exhibitions at Camden Arts Center in London, Arnolfini in Bristol, UK, and the Centre of Contemporary Art in Salamanca, Spain. Her work was chosen to represent Wales in the 2005 Venice Biennial and was included in the Miami Art Museum exhibition, Figuratively Speaking. Ford lives and works in London.
Taken off view December 2013. |
Written by Ben Horowitz, cofounder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz in Menlo Park, Calif.
“And I always find, yeah, I always find somethin' wrong
You been puttin' up with my sh*! just way too long
I'm so gifted at findin' what I don't like the most
So I think it's time for us to have a toast
Let's have a toast for the douchebags,
Let's have a toast for the a**holes,
Let's have a toast for the scumbags,
Every one of them that I know
Let's have a toast for the jerkoffs
That'll never take work off
Baby, I got a plan
Run away fast as you can”
--Kanye West
In high tech, intelligence is always a critical element in any employee, because what we do is difficult and complex and the competitors are filled with extremely smart people. However, intelligence is not the only important quality. Being effective in a company also means working hard, being reliable, and being an excellent member of the team.
When I was a CEO, this was one of the most difficult lessons for me to learn. I felt that it was my job to create an environment where brilliant people of all backgrounds, personality types, and work styles would thrive. And I was right. That was my job. Companies where people with diverse backgrounds and work-styles can succeed have significant advantages in recruiting and retaining top talent over those that don’t. Still, you can take it too far. And I did.
Here are three examples of the smartest people in the company being the worst employees.
Example 1: The Heretic
Any sizable company produces some number of strategies, projects, processes, promotions, and other activities that don’t make sense. No large organization achieves perfection. As a result, a company needs lots of smart, super engaged employees who can identify its particular weaknesses and help it improve them.
However, sometimes really smart employees develop agendas other than improving the company. Rather than identifying weaknesses, so that he can fix them, he looks for faults to build his case. Specifically, he builds his case that the company is hopeless and run by a bunch of morons. The smarter the employee, the more destructive this type of behavior can be. Simply put, it takes a really smart person to be maximally destructive, because otherwise nobody else will listen to him.
Why would a smart person try to destroy the company that he works for? There are actually many reasons. Here are few:
1. He is disempowered—She feels that she cannot access the people in charge and, as a result, complaining is her only vehicle to get the truth out.
2. He is fundamentally a rebel—She will not be happy unless she is rebelling; this can be a deep personality trait. Sometimes these people actually make better CEOs than employees.
3. He is immature and naïve—She cannot comprehend that the people running the company do not know every minute detail of the operation and therefore they are complicit in everything that’s broken.
Often, it’s very difficult to turn these kinds of cases around. Once an employee takes a public stance, the social pressure for him to be consistent is enormous. If he tells 50 of his closest friends that the CEO is the stupidest person on the planet, then reversing that position will cost him a great amount of credibility the next time he complains. Most people are not willing to take the credibility hit.
Example 2: The Flake
Some brilliant people can be totally unreliable. At Opsware, we once hired an unequivocal genius—I’ll call him Roger (not his real name). Roger was an engineer in an area of the product where a typical new hire would take 3 months to become fully productive. Roger came fully up to speed in two days. On his third day, we gave him a project that was scheduled to take one month. Roger completed the project in 3 days with nearly flawless quality. More specifically, he completed the project in 72 hours. 72 non-stop hours: No stops, no sleep, no nothing but coding. In his first quarter on the job, he was the best employee that we had and we immediately promoted him.
Then Roger changed. He would miss days of work without calling in. Then he would miss weeks of work. When he finally showed up, he apologized profusely, but the behavior didn’t stop. His work product also degraded. He became sloppy and unfocused. I could not understand how such a stellar employee could go so haywire. His manager wanted to fire him, because the team could no longer count on Roger for anything. I resisted. I knew that the genius was still in him and I wanted us to find it. We never did. It turns out that Roger was bi-polar and had two significant drug problems: 1. He did not like taking his bi-polar medication and 2. He was addicted to cocaine. Ultimately, we had to fire Roger, but even now, it pains me to think about what might have been.
One need not be bi-polar to be a flake, but flakey behavior often has a seriously problematic root cause. Causes range from self-destructive streaks to drug habits to moonlighting for other employers. A company is a team effort and, no matter how high an employee’s potential, you cannot get value from him unless he does his work in a manner in which he can be relied upon.
Example 3: The Jerk
This particular smart-bad-employee type can occur anywhere in the organization, but is most destructive at the executive level. Most executives can be pricks, dicks, a-holes or a variety of other profane adjectives at times. Being dramatically impolite can be used to improve clarity or emphasize an important lesson. That’s not the behavior that I am talking about.
When used consistently, asinine behavior can be crippling. As a company grows, its biggest challenge always becomes communication. Keeping a huge number of people on the same page executing the same goals is never easy. If a member of your staff is a raging jerk, it may be impossible. Some people are so belligerent in their communication style that people just stop talking when they are in the room. If every time anyone brings up an issue with the marketing organization, the VP of marketing jumps down their throat, then guess what topic will never come up? This behavior can become so bad that nobody brings up any topic when the jerk is in the room. As a result, communication across the executive staff breaks down and the entire company slowly degenerates. Note that this only happens if the jerk in question is unquestionably brilliant. Otherwise, nobody will care when she attacks them. The bite only has impact if it comes from a big dog. If one of your big dogs destroys communication on your staff, you need to send her to the pound.
When do you hold the bus?
The great football coach John Madden was once asked whether or not he would tolerate a player like Terrell Owens on his team. Owens was both one of the most talented players in the game and one of the biggest jerks. Madden answered: “If you hold the bus for everyone on the team, then you’ll be so late that you’ll miss the game, so you can’t do that. The bus must leave on time. However, sometimes you’ll have a player that’s so good that you hold the bus for him, but only him.”
Phil Jackson, the basketball coach who has won the most NBA championships, was once asked about his famously flakey superstar Dennis Rodman: “Since Dennis Rodman is allowed to miss practice, does this mean other star players like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen can miss practice too?” Jackson replied: “Of course not. There is only room for one Dennis Rodman on this team. In fact, you really can only have a very few Dennis Rodmans in society as a whole; otherwise, we would degenerate into anarchy.”
You may find yourself with an employee who fits one of the above descriptions, but nonetheless makes a massive positive contribution to the company. You may decide that you will personally mitigate the employee’s negative attributes and keep them from polluting the overall company culture. That’s fine, but remember: you can only hold the bus for her. |
The best way to defeat proposed incinerators has proven itself once again: community organizing. The Maryland State Department of the Environment pulled the permit on the proposed 4,000 ton per day incinerator to be built in the long suffering industrial communities of Curtis Bay-Brooklyn on the Fairfield Peninsula in south Baltimore. Curtis Bay and Brooklyn are adjacent to communities in Anne Arundel County, MD which are also celebrating this grass roots victory.
This decision impacts the entire Mid Atlantic Region as cities and counties considering this plant as an option for their garbage will have to build an incinerator in their own back yards over strenuous citizen opposition. These communities will now be encouraged by mobilized groups to go further along the path of recycling, economic development and Zero Waste.
Congratulations and thanks to the United Workers, Chesapeake Children and Youth Center, The Ben Center at Ben Franklin High School, Environmental Integrity Project, Clean Water Action, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Energy Justice Network, Free Your Voice, Filbert Street Community Garden, and the many activists from around the city who came out in support of these groups.
ILSR has been a working member of the Curtis Bay team for the past three years, responsible for identifying recycling, reuse and composting alternatives to incineration. “After all these years”, said Neil Seldman, ILSR Waste to Wealth Initiative, “the community can now focus exclusively on building a green and local economy.” The success of the effort in Curtis Bay comes a year after organized citizens and small businesses in Carroll and Frederick Counties, MD won a 10 year battle against a proposed incinerator.
VICTORY FOR CLEAN AIR: MARYLAND PULLS PERMIT FOR NATION’S LARGEST TRASH BURNING INCINERATOR
Maryland Department of the Environment Decides that Permit has Expired for Construction of Energy Answers Incinerator in South Baltimore
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 17, 2016
Media contacts: Tom Pelton, Environmental Integrity Project (443) 510-2574‚ tpelton@ environmentalintegrity.org
Greg Sawtell, United Workers (513) 638-7107, [email protected]
Baltimore, Md. – Clean air advocates and residents of South Baltimore today praised a decision by Maryland nullifying approval to build what would be the largest trash burning incinerator in the U.S.
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) found today that the New York-based developers of the Energy Answers waste-to-energy plant, proposed for Fairfield, allowed the project’s permit to expire when they stopped construction on October 31, 2013.
“This is a great decision for clean air and for environmental justice,” said Leah Kelly, Attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. “This plant would have been a large source of toxic air pollution in an area that already has a high air pollution burden. MDE is charged with enforcing the letter of the law, and it is had done so with this decision.”
Many residents of the Curtis Bay, Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Park neighborhoods closest to the incinerator site – including a studentt-led organization called Free Your Voice – have been fighting the propossed 4,000-ton-per-day trash burning incinerator because of the air pollution that it would add to a neighborhood already suffering from toxic air emissions.
Destiny Watford, a local resident who has been leading the campaign against the incinerator, said: “Today marks a crucial point in the communities of Brooklyn, Curtis Bay and Brooklyn Park. Community members have been working to bring truly green community driven positive alternatives like solar, recycling, and composting that provides good jobs for residents, and doesn’t put our lives at risk. The incinerator was holding us back from that positive vision.”
Charles Graham, a Senior at Benjamin Franklin High School who has been fighting the project, said: “It’s awesome that MDE, after all of the pressure we’ve been building, is finally taking a step in the right direction. I’m just happy that it’s finally happening and see it as an opportunity for city and state officials to help support working towards the community’s vision for positive fair development alternatives to the incinerator.”
Rodette Jones, a longtime Curtis Bay resident and manager of the Filbert Street Garden, said: “This is awesome. Curtis Bay residents fought and we won and now our vision is finally coming into focus. Now we can roll up our sleeves and get to work on our plans for community driven alternatives for solar and recycling. The people stood up to a threat to our health and environment and this is a big victory.”
On February 10, residents of South Baltimore joined with environmentalists and United Workers to file a notice of intent to sue the developer over the status of the permit. Under the federal Clean Air Act, approval to build a major source of air pollution, like the Energy Answers incinerator, expires if a company halts construction for a period of eighteen months or more.
Instead of an incinerator, the community has been pushing for more positive development alternatives that would create truly green jobs without putting residents’ health at risk. Possibilities include a solar energy farm, and recycling and composting facilities.
Watford, the local campaign leader, said: “Since August, doctors, environmentalists, and community members that wanted to see the incinerator project come to an end, have been reaching out to MDE, stating why the incinerator project is not only a failure, but is also fundamentally wrong. We are incredibly proud of the MDE for making the right decision helping us move forward towards a future filled with truly green developments. Now, more than ever, is the time for our public officials to stand with residents as we work to make our positive vision a reality.”
On December 15, 2015, more than 100 protesters gathered at MDE headquarters to demand that the state nullify the expired permit for Energy Answers. “Pull the permit!” the protesters chanted.
Seven of the protestors conducted a sit-in, refusing to leave the building until MDE issued a decision that the permit had expired. In response, dozens of police officers arrived to arrest the seven protestors engaging in civil disobedience, including a local high school student and a physician who opposes the incinerator project. The charges were later dropped.
After the protest at MDE on Dec. 15, the activists returned to the state agency to drop off petitions signed by almost 2,000 people. The petitions asked the state to find the incinerator permit invalid.
The Environmental Integrity Project is a 14-year-old nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to holding polluters and governments accountable and to protecting public health.
The United Workers is a Baltimore- based human rights organization, founded in 2002 by homeless day laborers, that is dedicated to building a movement to end poverty and to securing economic human rights through fair development. |
Two decades ago, liberals and conservatives found common ground in the doctrine of government privatization. “It makes sense to put the delivery of many public services in private hands,” affirmed David Osborne and Ted Gaebler in their best-selling 1992 book, “Reinventing Government,” “if by doing so a government can get more effectiveness, efficiency, equity or accountability.” Vice President Al Gore headed up a “reinventing government” initiative that concluded, among other things, that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration should avoid “hiring thousands of new employees” to perform worksite inspections by giving the job to private-sector inspectors instead.
A generation later, the federal government employs more than three times as many contract workers as government workers, and state and local governments spend a combined $1.5 trillion on outsourcing. One result, according to Demos, a nonprofit public policy organization, is that the federal government effectively pays $12 or less to nearly two million contract workers – “more than the number of low-wage workers at Walmart and McDonalds combined.”
Now a new report by In the Public Interest, a nonprofit group that tracks government contracting, argues that privatization at the state and local level “contributes to the decline of the middle class and the rise in poverty-level jobs, thereby exacerbating growing economic inequality.”
“The false promises of privatization are triggering a race to the bottom.” Donald Cohen, executive director of In the Public Interest
Public-sector pay is lower on average than private-sector pay, but at the low end of the pay scale the opposite is true: Workers with just a high school degree make 6% more in the public sector than in the private, and workers with a few years of college but no college degree make 9% more . For low-wage workers, then, privatization means even lower pay and fewer (or no) benefits.
“I was a housekeeper from Milwaukee County courthouse,” Mary Farrow told reporters on a conference call organized by In the Public Interest. Farrow said that working for the county she made $14.29 per hour plus health care and other benefits. Then, in 2010, the county turned housekeeping services over to a private contractor. “They offered me $8 an hour with no benefits,” Farrow said. She turned it down. Now, unable to find work, she’s had to raid her son’s college fund to cover living expenses.
In New Jersey, where 64% of all school food-service workers are contract employees, those who previously worked directly for school districts earned $4 to $6 less per hour after their jobs were outsourced.
“In California, contract school cafeteria workers collect $1,743 annually in public assistance because their private employers underpay them. In effect, the state is putting its own employees on the dole.” Timothy Noah, msnbc contributor , that’s jointly funded by the state, the Veterans Administration, Medicare and private sources, nursing assistants earn $15 to $20 per hour and receive health and pension benefits. But that’s only if they’re lucky enough to be employed directly by the state of Michigan. Other nursing assistants at the same veterans home performing the same work are contract employees who receive only $8.50 per hour and no benefits.
“The false promises of privatization are triggering a race to the bottom,” Donald Cohen, executive director of In the Public Interest, said in the conference call.
Much of the “efficiency” realized by privatization lies in reducing former middle-class workers to poverty wages. Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington nonprofit, argued in the conference call that even from an efficiency point of view, privatizing low-end government jobs was self-defeating. “You get what you pay for,” Bernstein said. Lower wages for public services, he said, translate into “higher turnover and a decline in the quality of work.” It also means an uptick in welfare expenses. In California, contract school cafeteria workers collect $1,743 annually in public assistance because their private employers underpay them. In effect, the state is putting its own employees on the dole.
Outsourcing low-wage work is hardly limited to governments. It’s been a common practice for decades among corporations, which have been ever-more reluctant to employ directly anyone who earns, say, less than about $30,000 per year. As a consequence, these companies no longer offer much opportunity for anyone performing a menial job to make it to the top. That used to actually happen now and then. Sidney Weinberg started at Goldman, Sachs in 1907 as a janitor’s assistant and by 1930 was its chief executive. David Geffen started, as recently as 1964, in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency before advancing to Hollywood megamogul. Today, though, jobs like janitor and mailroom clerk are almost always outsourced.
Does Osborne, now a senior partner with a consulting firm, have second thoughts about privatization? “No, I don’t,” Osborne wrote in an e-mail. “We could subsidize higher wages than the marketplace provides, as we often do in the public sector, and tell ourselves we are all better off. But it would be a lie. The more of our dollars that go into taxes and fees to support public employees, the less we spend on other things, and the more demand we withdraw from the private economy. The end result: we are all poorer.”
“Far better,” Osborne said, “to support things like [the Earned Income Tax Credit] and food stamps and job training to help the working poor than to subsidize millions of public employees.”
But since when is government assistance an acceptable substitute for paying employees a living wage – particularly when those employees themselves work for the government? In the Public Interest’s new report suggests that, at least for low-wage workers, we might be better off reinventing government back to how it was before liberals succumbed to privatization fever. |
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Here Are 11 of the Best Animal Movies to Ever Exist
Do you love animals?
Who doesn’t? About 68% of American households have a pet, which indicates that people, in general, have a strong connection to animals.
This is often why for some people, animal deaths in movies are more tear-inducing than human deaths. This is also why such movies popular–everyone loves seeing adorable animals on-screen.
With that said, why not spend today at home and watch movies about animals from your couch? Read on to find out the best movies to watch for the animal lover in you.
1. Flipper
This is a little old, having come out in 1964, but it’s one of the best animal movies for any animal-lover. It’s a heartwarming tale of how a boy and a dolphin can play together and form a friendship.
The 15-year-old Sandy (Luke Halpin) found an injured dolphin, which he then nursed back to health. He named it Flipper, and they would spend their days playing in the waters together with Bud (Tommy Norden). However, he must first persuade his father, who doesn’t like the dolphin swimming in his waters, to let him keep it.
2. Free Willy
This 1993 film is a little sad, considering that it stars an orca captured and separated from its family to become an attraction.
It’s no wonder that it’s uncooperative with the staff, having been in isolation without a friend. Still, a 12-year-old boy named Jesse (Jason James Richter) made his days a little better.
Will the whale be able to see its family and swim in the oceans again with the help of its new friend?
3. Finding Nemo
Animated films deserve some love, too, especially this classic 2003 movie from Pixar. It’s the 10th highest grossing animated movie of all time, so you can also be confident that you’re in for a good time.
In case you’re not familiar with Finding Nemo, it’s about a clownfish dad looking for his lost son. You’ll get to see various sea creatures as Marlin (Albert Brooks), the father, travels the whole ocean. He goes with an amnesiac blue tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) to find Nemo (Alexander Gould).
4. Ice Age
We shouldn’t limit our love for animals to the ones existing now, but to the ones brought to extinction as well.
The 2002 film Ice Age follows the adventures of a mismatched group of extinct animals. The group consists of a woolly mammoth, a giant ground sloth, and a saber-tooth tiger. Together, they attempt to bring back a human baby they saved from death to his people.
These creatures aren’t likely to be roaming the Earth again soon. Nevertheless, the film is an interesting way to introduce and preserve these creatures.
5. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale
If you want to watch a cute Akita Inu and you also want to cry, this film should be the next on your list. It’s a sad, beautiful story about the friendship of an old man and his loyal companion named Hachiko.
This movie will remind you of a dog’s loyalty and how it never wavers even beyond the death of its owner. While the movie itself is touching and sad, what will get you bawling is the fact that it’s based on a true story. The difference here is that this is a dramatic retelling instead of a straight-forward documentary.
6. 101 Dalmatians
If you want a classic entertainment without heavy feelings, though, the 101 Dalmatians live-action film from 1996 will hit the spot. As the name implies, the movie is about a hundred and one Dalmatians attempting to escape the evil Cruella (Glenn Close), who wants to make a coat out of puppy fur.
As you would guess, it’s based on the animated movie of the same name from Walt Disney. You may also check it out, but the live-action film has the added benefit of having real, cute dogs to watch. Speaking of cute dogs, this company makes sure to keep any dog at their appearance.
7. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
Can’t get enough of dogs in animal movies? This film will give you two plus a cat on a journey to find their home: wherever their owners are. It explores what it means to be a family in the perspective of your pets.
The film features Chance (voiced by Michael J. Fox), Shadow ( voiced by Don Ameche), and Sassy (voiced by Sally Field). The American Bulldog, your average Golden Retriever, and Himalayan Cat trio travel through the forests. They encounter many wild animals in an attempt to get back to their family.
8. Second Chances
This one is a classic tearjerker about a girl and her horse.
This 1998 film revolves around the 10-year-old Sunny Matthews (Kelsey Mulrooney) and her bond with Ginger, a racing American Quarter Horse. It’s about the beautiful bond of a human and a horse and how it helped Sunny overcome her injuries.
9. Charlotte’s Web
If you ever wanted to explore the dynamics of a relationship between a piglet and a spider, this film is for you. The 2006 American movie is an adaptation of the 1952 children’s novel.
The main star is the pig named Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay), who felt out of place in the barn until a smart spider named Charlotte (Julia Roberts) befriended him. Various barn animals make an appearance, including a rat called Templeton (Steve Buscemi). It’s a simple story of love and friendship, but both come with sacrifice.
10. The Lion King
The Lion King is a timeless piece by Walt Disney that tells the story of a lion kingdom in Africa.
It describes the good and the bad about the struggle for power – how it might corrupt one being and how it might save a pack from an incompetent leader. Of course, Disney presents it in a lighthearted way with all the music and funny characters.
11. Paulie
If you liked the idea of pets with owners, what about a film about a blue-crowned conure named Paulie (Jay Mohr)?
The adventure fantasy film is about an intelligent, yet disobedient bird who tells his own life story to a janitor. After having a succession of different owners, all Paulie wants is to reunite with Marie (Trini Alvarado), the girl he grew up with.
Which Movies About Animals is Your Favorite?
We guarantee these movies about animals will bring you laughs and tears. Make sure to give them all a try before choosing a favorite.
Need more movie recommendations aside from animal films? Check out our top 5 post-apocalyptic movies and visit our website for more entertainment and gaming tips. |
For the majority of Americans, the 2000s was a “lost decade,” with wages flatlining or declining. Middle-class jobs disappeared during the Great Recession and many have never come back. Instead, many of the fastest-growing sectors are those that pay the least. Median income remains below pre-recession levels. How is all of this influencing how Americans are feeling about the American dream?
Surveys continue to show that Americans, in large numbers, still believe in many of the tenets of the American dream. For example, majorities of Americans believe that hard work will lead to success. But, their belief in the American dream is wavering. Between 1986 and 2011, around 50 percent of those polled by Pew consistently said they felt that the American dream was “somewhat alive.” However, over that same time period, the share who said it was “very alive” decreased by about half, and the share that felt it was “not really alive” more than doubled.
Majorities of Americans think it will get worse in the future. Survey after survey finds that when asked about the next generation, Americans are pessimistic, saying that it will be harder and take more effort for the next generation to get ahead.
These gloomy sentiments may be part of a more general shift: The majority of Americans once thought the playing field was more or less level. No more. Back in 1998, a Gallup poll about equal opportunity found that 68 percent thought the economic system was basically fair, while only 29 percent thought it was basically unfair. In 2013, feelings about fairness had reversed: Only 44 percent thought the economic system was fair, while 50 percent had come to feel it was unfair. Another 2013 poll found that by an almost two-to-one margin (64 to 33 percent), Americans agreed that “the U.S. no longer offers an equal chance to get ahead.”
Perhaps as a result of all of this, there are signs that the very idea of the American dream is changing. The American dream has long been equated with moving up the class ladder and owning a home. But polling leading up to the 2012 election revealed something new—middle-class Americans expressed more concern about holding on to what they had than they were with getting more. Echoing these concerns, Pew reported in 2015 that when asked which they would prefer—financial security or moving up the income ladder—92 percent selected security. This is a seven percentage point increase since just 2011, when 85 percent selected security over economic mobility.
And while majorities of Americans continue to say that home ownership is a key part of the American dream in general, when a survey asked people which things were the most important to their personal American dream, only 26 percent selected “owning a nice home” as a top choice, while 37 percent chose “achieving financial security” and 36 percent chose “being debt free.” In a 2013 Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll that asked respondents to define what it means to be middle class, 54 percent of respondents chose “having the ability to keep up with expenses and hold a steady job while not falling behind or taking on too much debt,” and only 43 percent defined being middle class as earning more, buying a home, and saving. |
These are the show notes for the Unchained podcast, sponsored by OnRamp. Listen to my whole interview with Daniel and Jeff here or on Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio.
Since its beginnings eight years ago, bitcoin was seen as a way to spend digital money while enjoying many of the features of cash, including, to some extent, privacy.
A new attempt by the Internal Revenue Service to collect data on a large group of bitcoin users — customers of Coinbase, the most popular cryptocurrency exchange in the United States — threatens that privacy, but the players involved aren’t giving up without a fight.
In November, the IRS, with approval from a federal court, served a subpoena to Coinbase, requesting information on its users from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2015. The purported reason? To catch individuals using cryptocurrency to evade taxes.
This so-called John Doe summons, which doesn’t target an individual, but a group or class of people, would affect millions of Coinbase customers.
The company initially responded, “In its current form, we will oppose the government’s petition in court,” and chief executive officer Brian Armstrong has since published a Medium post calling the subpoena “overly broad” and saying it “unfairly punishes Coinbase," which, as I described in my magazine feature on the company, has a track record of prioritizing compliance and working with regulators and law enforcement. Armstrong then proposed an alternate solution: that the company file 1099-B reports, which brokerage firms use to report customers’ gains and losses.
Jeff Berns, managing partner at Berns Weiss LLP and cofounder of its virtual currency practice group, and Global Tax Accountants’ Daniel Winters, an accountant specializing in cryptocurrency, have a lively discussion about the case — and make bets in how they think it will turn out — in the latest episode of my podcast, Unchained (Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio).
“This is unprecedented. I’ve never seen a fishing expedition come like this from the IRS,” says Berns, who is also gotten personally involved in the case. In order to represent the interests of Coinbase’s users, he filed a motion to intervene asking the court to stop the procedure.
He says the subpoena’s strategy is to “ask for everything and eventually, they’ll find something” — to get records on a couple million people in order to find a few customers and companies who did use bitcoin to evade taxes.
Comparing the amount of information requested in the case to that required for a criminal proceeding, he says, “They want every scrap of email. Every scrap of transaction history. They want to know the devices that accessed your account and how. They want the password that access your account and, as I read it, access to the virtual currency. I don’t know how many people understand that. Once you have private keys, it’s the password that controls your virtual currency, [the money] can be sent out anywhere and never recovered again.”
Tune in to the episode to find out why Berns called the IRS’s response to his motion to intervene “fantastical” and why he says it shows that the agency has requested more information than it needs.
Winters believes that the John Doe summons indicates that the IRS has “a fundamental misunderstanding of bitcoin and blockchain technology.” Noting that bitcoin is a legitimate way to transfer value and do business — Coinbase alone processes payments for more than 45,000 merchants — Winters says, “With this really broad John Doe summons to Coinbase, it seems their only focus is that bitcoin can be used for tax evasion and money laundering.”
However, Winters and Berns say that there have been previous John Doe summons that were justified. For instance, in a John Doe summons served to UBS, the IRS had obtained a statement from a former UBS banker that the bank assisted U.S. clients in hiding assets offshore. UBS eventually turned over information on its U.S. account holders.
However, the John Doe summons on Coinbase is built on shakier ground, says Winters. The IRS only has evidence of three entities having broken the law — only one of which is an individual — and the Coinbase connection is simply that the two businesses had Coinbase accounts.
“It’s a huge difference of degree,” says Winters. The John Doe summons on UBS had “evidence of criminal activity on a broad scale,” he says, referring to the statement by the former UBS employee. In contrast, the summons to Coinbase is more “we know that three users broke the law, and therefore we’re now going to treat the other 99.99% of users as criminals,” he says.
Tune in to this energetic discussion (Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, web) to find out what Winters and Berns say would be a more appropriate kind of request from the IRS, why the IRS chose Coinbase out of all the cryptocurrency exchanges, and what fundamental mistake Berns says the IRS made long before even issuing this summons.
Plus, as it’s tax time, in this episode, Winters describes how users can best track their bitcoin transactions for tax reporting purposes.
These are the show notes for the Unchained podcast, sponsored by OnRamp. Listen to my whole interview with Daniel and Jeff here or on Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. |
Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.
Balad MK Basel Ghattas is being investigated on suspicion of smuggling cellphones into Palestinian security prisoners. A date has not been set for the police questioning of Ghattas.
According to a Channel 2 report, Ghattas, a member of the Joint List, is suspected of smuggling phones to two Fatah prisoners in Ketziot Prison in the Negev. One of the prisoners is supposedly serving a 37-year sentence.
The police have decided to investigate Ghattas, for a matter that does not appear to be connected to the ongoing police fraud investigation of Balad party finances.Regarding the Ghattas investigation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “If the suspicions against MK Ghattas are correct – then this is a serious offense against the security of the state and the citizens of Israel. Whoever harms state security should be severely punished and not allowed to serve in the Knesset.”Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman accused the Joint List of being “a list of spies and traitors,” and called for the citizenship of Ghattas and other Arab MKs to be revoked. “From Azmi Bishara to Basel Ghattas, representatives of the Marmara in Israel, Haneen Zoabi and other friends – we will continue to act so that not only will they not be part of the Israeli Knesset, but they will [also] not be citizens of Israel.”Balad Secretary-General Mtanes Shehadeh responded that the accusation against Ghattas “is part of the political persecution against us.Lieberman exploits every story to say that Balad must be expelled from the Knesset.”Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the suspicions against Ghattas are “very serious.”“If he was not MK, he probably would be detained in light of the seriousness of the allegations,” Erdan said, calling for visits to Palestinian security prisoners by MKs to be banned.Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) responded saying "all violations of state security, all cooperation with the enemy and all trading of state secrets and information, demands an immediate investigation by any means necessary. And if it becomes clear that the accusations are true, an uncompromising punishment must be given regardless of any connection to religion or ethnicity."Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said regarding the accusations against Balad MK Ghattas "These are serious suspicions. IF it turns out that MK Ghattas committed the offenses attribute to him, it must be dealt with great severity. It cannot be that an MK that serves the State of Israel undermines the countries and its citizens security."In a statement released before the report, Balad accused the police of conducting a “campaign of political persecution to delegitimize the activities of the party and damage its image in the Arab public.”Police suspect Balad officials of fraud, forgery and money laundering involving millions of shekels and attempts to conceal the source of illegal funds.Police deny that the probe is politically motivated.
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Elaborately decorated nails are nothing new but the manicure in this new Southern Comfort ad should have its own theme music. In one of the more loosely connected brand collaborations, SoCo is embracing Shark Week with boozy gusto.
The brand, with agency Wieden + Kennedy New York, has introduced the viewing public to the latest memorable character doing whatever’s comfortable–in this case, stirring a “Cold Blooded Ginger” cocktail with sharked-up fingernails while enjoying a rendition of “Little Red Riding Hood” in a dive bar. The brand has also “adopted” its own geo-tagged shark, and this week will dole out cocktail suggestions online and via the Twitter hashtag #sharktender based on the creature’s movements. The “Sharktender” and the sharky lady join the greased up budgie smuggler, the Young Gun, the multiplicity dance party, and ‘stache salon shampoo guy in the Whatever’s Comfortable stable of weird and wonderful characters. |
Review: Stinker
This year at Gen Con, I got to meet Nick Bentley of North Star Games, which was super awesome. He seemed like a guy who truly has a passion for games, and even especially for party games. One day, while perusing BGG for heaven-knows-what, I discovered his name as the designer of Stinker, a party game from FoxMind, and was immediately interested. Well, now I’ve had a chance to play the game, and is it good or is it… a stinker? (Sorry.) Here’s a reminder of my scoring categories:
Components – Does the game look nice? Are the bits worth the money? Do they add to the game?
Accessibility – How easy is the game to teach, or to feel like you know what you are doing?
Depth – Does the gameplay allow for deeper strategies, or does the game play itself?
Theme – Does the game give a sense of immersion? Can you imagine the setting described in the game?
Fun – Is the game actually enjoyable? Do you find yourself smiling, laughing, or having some sense of satisfaction when it’s over?
Components: The game is essentially just a few question cards and a crapton of letter tiles, but it’s all very well-produced. There’s an unnecessary-but-helpful card stand for the deck of cards, the tiles are small (which is actually good) but very solid, thick plastic, and the rules were very cleanly written. The box is just the right size too. The MSRP of $30 might seem a tad high for a party game, but I suspect the tiles were much more expensive to make than a bunch of cards, and (spoiler) I think the game is well worth the price.
Accessibility: I described this game to the group as Apples to Apples meets Bananagrams, and later, someone who didn’t hear me came to the exact same conclusion himself. Given how simple both of those games are, you shouldn’t be surprised that it took me literally 120 seconds to explain this game to a group, and we were up and going with no trouble right off the bat. Exactly as a party game should be!
Depth: To me, I think this is a little different with party games – I don’t really care if the game encourages you to actually win (we don’t even keep score in Telestrations) as long as it encourages you to engage via its mechanisms, and Stinker does that in spades. It’s got a couple of awesome subtleties that makes it rise above its related competition. The first is that the “judge” for the round is not predetermined, which means that person isn’t bored, and you’re also not catering to anyone in particular. The second is that there’s a speed element, but a longer word can give more points, so while we didn’t pay close attention to score, it still motivated us to strategize somewhat. The third, most important thing is that being restricted to a pile of (probably crappy) letter tiles means that you have to be pretty creative, and everyone has an equal chance at each pile of letters. I really had to learn to let go of my first response to a question and go off what my letter tiles suggested, instead of just thinking of any particular word, and that led to some really great creative moments (and plenty of hilarity).
I remember interviewing Donald X. Vaccarino about Kingdom Builder and he talked about having fewer choices actually increases strategy (if all choices were available, there would be one boring, optimal solution) and I agree with him. Somehow, Nick Bentley has managed to sneak that philosophy into a word-based party game!
Theme: I don’t know why this game is called Stinker, or why skunks are wild. A few players asked, but we didn’t spend too much time on it. It is a pretty funny word to say, which is part of the gameplay as you race to not be the last person to say it. It’s a party game, and it doesn’t really need a theme, but I will say that it was definitely immersive, and certainly hilarious. Yet another awesome facet of this design is that, as a party game should be, it allows for great flexibility in your playgroup. This game is as intelligent, or dumb, or clean, or dirty, as you want it to be, and that’s a great way to appeal to many different players.
Fun: 2015 really is shaping up to be the year of the party game. Codenames and Spyfall are truly timeless games, but I think Stinker is too. Don’t pass this one up. It’s an awesome mix of everything I love about traditional party games like Apples to Apples, Say Anything, and Loaded Questions, with none of the stuff I dislike. It really does seem to be the master of the “judge” genre of party games. I highly recommend everyone give this one a look.
If you enjoy “judge” style party games but always thought they could be a little bit better than they are, Stinker will be an absolute revelation.
Rating:
5 out of 5 |
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An undisclosed number of customers at Scotiabank, Banco Popular and FirstBank in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands were recently impacted by a major security breach.
The Virgin Islands Consortium reports that FirstBank Visa debit card holders have been restricted from accessing or using their accounts, while some have reported seeing thousands of dollars stolen.
According to FirstBank, the breach took place on November 12, 2014.
Scotiabank and Banco Popular were similarly affected. Scotiabank marketing director Christine Lee told the Consortium that some of the bank's debit card accounts had been compromised, after which those accounts were immediately locked and the affected customers were contacted.
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Lee told the Virgin Islands Daily News that at least 1,230 Scotiabank customers' accounts were compromised.
FirstBank marketing communications manager Alana Alexander said in a statement that "as a result of recent security incidents in retail locations, FirstBank's internal security processes detected an external security breach regarding some Visa Debit card numbers."
Alexander wouldn't say how many FirstBank customers were affected, however, stating only, "The total number of impacted cards has been identified by the business unit and we are ensuring our clients' needs are being attended to. However, this is confidential information and we are not at liberty to disclose this information."
While the bank initially tried to call all affected customers to inform them of the breach, many customers had outdated phone numbers listed in their accounts. The bank then sent letters and emails instead, and restricted the use of affected debit cards to ATM transactions only.
"This action was taken to ensure that the clients' accounts were not compromised further," Alexander said.
While it's not clear from the banks' statements exactly how the breach occurred, Alexander said the breach itself took place in the U.S. "I can disclose that the breach occurred in two U.S. retailers, therefore FirstBank does not need to involve local police authorities," she said.
Scotiabank's Lee also told the Consortium that the breach happened through "outside retailers," not at the bank itself.
The BVI Beacon reports that Dr. Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, said at a press briefing that the protection of BVI citizens' financial assets is of the highest priority. "Each and every person in the territory who has accounts at the bank here must be assured that their deposits are secure," he said. |
Wandering around a Tudor house or garden on a sunny day is a delightful experience. We can imagine the lady of the house in her velvets and French hood, picking flowers and herbs or the still-room maid turning those herbs into cooking ingredients or medicine. Visiting during the day, we seldom think of what the evenings must have been like – long hours, with no entertainment other than what the household could provide. How did they while away the evenings? Very much as anyone over the age of about sixty nowadays did in youth – board games – some of which we still play to similar rules, and some which have been adapted over time.
Chess & Tables
The most enduring game of all is Chess, which has been played in Western Europe since the early middle ages – witness the beautiful Lewis Chessmen. The rules, however, underwent a significant change in the mid-to-late fifteenth century, when the queen, from having been a weak piece, became the most dominant figure on the board. The romantic amongst us might date the change to the emergence of powerful mediaeval women rulers, such as Isabella of Castile or Anne of Beaujeu.
Chess-playing was an essential social skill for the upper classes. In the inventory taken of the goods of Katharine of Aragon, after she had been banished from court, were two ivory chess-boards with men, a set of red and ivory chess men, and a further box of ivory chessmen. These were all commandeered by the King. Katherine Parr, Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I are also all known to have played chess. It was so much a part of court-life that Henry VIII’s accounts show payment to a cook for creating two chessboards and men of sugar, decorated with gold, for a banquet.
Another game recognisable today was tables, now known as backgammon. Together with chess, it was enjoyed by Chaucer’s Pilgrims in the fourteenth century, and continued in popularity. Again in Katharine of Aragon’s inventory, a ‘pair of tables’ of pearl (with the counters missing) was listed. In the rules for the gentlemen of Henry VIII’s privy chamber, ‘immoderate’ playing of cards, tables or dice was forbidden, although ‘moderate’ play of chess, tables and cards was allowed.
Chess and tables were not however, just games for the upper classes – indenture records for the reign of Henry VI show that apprentices were forbidden from ‘frequent(ing) the tavern or play(ing) at dice or chess…’
Gambling on Dice
These prohibitions bring up the most popular Tudor game of all – gambling on dice. The government waged a constant war on it, trying to licence taverns, and preventing less reputable inns from allowing gaming to take place. The heart of the authorities’ concern throughout the period from around 1512 to the end of Elizabeth’s reign, was that, instead of keeping up the regular archery practice that had been a feature of mediaeval life the lower orders were ‘creep(ing) into bowling alleys, and ordinary dicing houses’.
In 1542, a comprehensive act was passed against popular games. No artisan, husbandman (a small farmer lower in status than a yeoman), labourer, fisherman, waterman or servingman was permitted to play tennis, bowls, quoits, dice, skittles or other unlawful games, except at Christmas. Shove ha’penny, too, was banned. The frequency with which the records mention breaches of the rules suggest that the government made little headway.
In particular, there were ordinances against gambling amongst soldiers and sailors – many of the rules laid down for these groups include such prohibitions, such as this one for the garrison at Berwick in 1560:
‘No soldier to use dice or cards for money except within the twenty days of Christmas, or else at any of the gates of the town, or within the watch-houses, market-place, or Tolbooth, under pain of three days imprisonment, and the stakes to be forfeited to the Queen's bridge at Berwick.’
The rules of one of the dozens of dice games as played in the sixteenth century were not dissimilar to those of the modern card-game, pontoon. A game was called a ‘ main’. The players laid their stake in the pool, then rolled two or three dice as many times as they chose, totting up the score and aiming to be as close as possible to 31. If the player exceeded 31, he or she was out of the round. The winner, taking the pool, was the player closest to, but not exceeding, 31.
A more complex variant was called hazard. It was for two players, and needed three dice. The four lowest and four highest numbers that can be rolled with three dice (3,4,5,6,15,16,17,18) are the hazard numbers. After rolling a die to pick the first player, the two players make their bets, then the first aims to roll a hazard number. If he does, he wins, if not, the second player rolls. Again, if a hazared number comes up, then the player wins. If neither win, the second round is an attempt to either roll the number made by the player in the first round, or a hazard number. The game continues until a player has won. Additional hazard numbers arise if both players roll the same value in one round.
If the game were played in complete silence, it was known as mumchance. Presumably, any squeak of excitement led to the other player winning!
Dice, which were made of bone, ivory or silver, could also be played on a board marked with diagonal lines, and the location of the die when it fell affected the scoring.
The problem of weighted or false dice gave rise to many legal indictments, such as this one from February 1556:
‘Edward Wylgres…fishemonger enticed… Thomas Pratt gentleman into playing unlawful and prohibited games… Wylgres having with him in his left hand false dice that at every fall of the dice came forth at his pleasure; and that by secretly removing the true dice and play with these false dice, Edward Wylgres despoiled and defrauded Thomas Pratt of … four shillings and four pence.’
By 1604, it was even thought necessary to deal with false dice by the introduction of a statute preventing their manufacture or sale.
For the upper echelons of society, there were no restrictions on dice and fortunes could be lost. The Duke of Buckingham lost over £76 to the Duke of Suffolk and others on a single occasion (in a time when a gentleman not at court could live comfortably on about £20 a year). Henry VIII frequently played, and there are regular appearances in his accounts of sums he had in hand for dicing - £45 to play with the Duke of Norfolk and others at Christmas 1529, and an entry for £23 for payment to the Sergeant of the (wine) Cellar for money the King lost – it is not clear whether he was playing with the Sergeant, or whether the money was to be distributed to courtiers who had won. In total, in the years 1529 – 1532, Henry lost £3,243 5s 10d gambling.
For the betrothal of his daughter, Mary, in 1518, as part of the festivities, large bowls of money and dice were placed on the tables for the guests to play. Mary, like her father, grew up to be a frequent and unlucky gambler. There are numerous references in her accounts to losses at cards and bowls.
On the last night of his life, Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, played dice with the Earl of Bothwell, who was probably the man who had organised the gunpowder being laid under Darnley’s house even as they rolled their ivory cubes.
Board Games
A game that could be played with or without gambling was ‘goose’. It is reminiscent of snakes and ladders in that the players (unlimited in number) had to advance around a spiral of 63 squares, in accordance with the roll of the dice. 13 of the squares were ‘goose’ squares, enabling the player to move on the same number of squares as he had rolled to arrive at the goose. Seven others require moves back or forward, or missing turns – such as The Tavern (miss 2 turns), The Maze (go back to Square 30) or The Grave – back to the beginning.To win, the player had to land on the 63 square with an exact roll.Players wagered by putting in a stake in at the start, which the winner would collect.
Another popular board game (which can be seen in a giant, outside, version at Burghley House in Lincolnshire today) was nine-men’s-morris or merrels. This is a more complex version of three-men’s morris, which is what we now call noughts and crosses, the objective being to place three of your men in a row on a board.
In the nine-men’s variant, a circular board was used, with eight positions equidistant around the rim, and one in the centre.The players took turns to place a man on the board, aiming to get three in a row or a ‘mill’. If a mill were achieved, the player could take one of his opponent’s men off the board. The game finished when one player was down to two men.
Fox and geese was not dissimilar to merrels, but was played with seventeen men, with the central piece being the fox. The object of the game was to move the geese around theboard to trap the fox.
Cards
Cards were perennially popular at all levels of society. The cards themselves were a bit longer and narrower than today, with blank backs and were often imported from France. It has been said that Queen Elizabeth of York is the model for the queen of hearts in the pack. Popular games were Imperial, Primero, and Pope Joan.
Imperial is rather like Picquet – a game for two players which involves taking tricks. Primero was played all over Europe in a number of variants, usually with forty cards. It is similar to Poker in that the aim is to achieve groups of cards – four of a kind etc. The Primero hand was one of each suit. Players drew and discarded in different ways, and bet both at the start and during the game.
'Pope Joan' was all the rage at the English court in the late 1520s, as the cards and combinations of them were named King, Queen, Jack, Pope, Game, Matrimony and Intrigue, and the game became a symbol of the bitter dispute between Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon over the annulment of their marriage. There is a story that Katharine was playing the game with her rival, Anne Boleyn, and seeing Anne winning the hand, said:
‘Lady Anne, you have the good fortune to always stop at a king. But you are not like the others, you will have all, or none.’
It could be said that both ladies gambled and lost!
This article was first published on the BBC History Extra website in January 2016.
Bibliography & Sources
British History Online [accessed 7 September 2015]
Brewer, John Sherren, and James Gairdner, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII: Preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and Elsewhere in Engl (United Kingdom: British History Online, 2014)
Cavendish, George, Life of Cardinal Wolsey (George Routledge & Sons, 1890)
‘Chess History - Ancient Chess - How to Play - Xiangqi - Shogi - Shatranj’
http://ancientchess.com/page/01.htm [accessed 20 November 2015]
Nicolas, Nicholas Harris, Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York: Wardrobe Accounts of Edward the Fourth: Wardrobe Accounts of Edward the Fourth (New York: Barnes & Noble, 1972)
Nicolas, Nicholas Harris, Privy Purse Expenses of King Henry VIII: From November 1529 - December 1532 (London: William Pickering, 1877)
Strutt, Joseph, The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, ed. by William Hone (United States: Kessinger Publishing, 2007) |
Washington DC – -(Ammoland.com)- Concealed carry reduces crime, period–but especially violent crime.
And while mainstream news outlets like MSNBC justify pushing more gun control by seizing on one incident of violent crime–like the shooting of Christopher Lane in Oklahoma or the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary–they overlook thousands of defensive uses of guns that take place every day.
Yes, thousands.
In his seminal work, “More Guns, Less Crime,” scholar John Lott brought together FBI crime stats to show not only that concealed carry lowers crime but that it it lowers violent crime especially.
During the early 1990s, as concealed carry laws were being instituted around the country, Lott observed the impact on crime at the county level:
“When state concealed-carry handgun laws went into effect in a county, murder fell by about 8 percent, rapes fell by 5 percent, and aggravated assaults fell by 7 percent.”
The crime savings was so great that Lott found that if all counties not subject to discretionary concealed carry laws had been “subject to state concealed carry handgun laws and had thus been forced to issue handgun permits, murder rates [in the U.S.] would have declined by about 1,400.”
In other words, guns are part of the solution to violence in this country.
One other point: Lott cites polls and studies from the mid-1990s which show that even at that time, when the popularity of concealed carry was much lower than today, “defensive uses of guns per year” were between 760,000 and 3.6 million.
Yet the mainstream media seizes on one criminal use of a gun to ban guns altogether?
As Breitbart News reported in January 2013–when the push to ban “assault weapons” was at its apex–FBI crime stats show more people are killed by hammers and clubs each year than by rifles.
Yet the mainstream media wants to ban AR-15s and AK-47s?
Guns are part of the solution to the very problem for which they are being blamed.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins
About:
AWR Hawkins writes for all the BIG sites, for Pajamas Media, for RedCounty.com, for Townhall.com and now AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.
His southern drawl is frequently heard discussing his take on current events on radio shows like America's Morning News, the G. Gordon Liddy Show, the Ken Pittman Show, and the NRA's Cam & Company, among others. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal (summer 2010), and he holds a PhD in military history from Texas Tech University.
If you have questions or comments, email him at [email protected] You can find him on facebook at www.facebook.com/awr.hawkins. |
THE HEAVENS—Saying the whole situation felt “super creepy,” God, Our Lord and Heavenly Father, confirmed Friday He was completely weirded out by Atlanta-area Christian Dale Evans, who has repeatedly professed his love for Him despite only attending church for a month. “He’s only gone to services for three or four Sundays now, and yet he’s already trying to talk to me every night and telling all his family and friends about how great I am—it’s kind of unsettling,” the Divine Creator told reporters, adding that Evans didn’t take any time to get to know Him before claiming that he wanted to be with God forever, a claim that the Lord Almighty said He found “pretty disturbing.” “I don’t mind a little admiration here and there, but this guy is really, really into me. The way this freak went from zero to 60 in the blink of an eye just makes my skin crawl. It’s kind of scary how obsessed he is with me.” At press time, God had reportedly decided to cut off all ties with Evans, acknowledging that He didn’t need another toxic relationship with a fucked-up Christian.
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Supreme Court Makes It Harder To Challenge Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
Enlarge this image toggle caption Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A sharply divided Supreme Court has made it practically impossible for American citizens to challenge the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
FISA is the federal law that authorizes large-scale electronic surveillance of phone calls and emails to and from targets abroad and individuals in the United States. By a 5-4 vote along ideological lines, the court said that human-rights advocates, journalists and lawyers for detainees could not show with near certainty that they had been or will be harmed by the program and, therefore, they could not challenge the statute in court.
FISA was amended in 2008 to do away with the previous requirement that the government obtain a warrant from a special intelligence court when conducting electronic surveillance of individuals abroad. Instead, the government can now monitor large groups of people with one single request, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which was originally established to provide strict oversight of surveillance requests, now has very limited powers of supervision.
Background
The FISA expansion was challenged in court by lawyers for Guantanamo detainees, human-rights groups such as Amnesty International and journalists. The challengers routinely have conversations with people overseas — conversations that they say almost certainly have been monitored by the government under FISA. They went to court, contending that the law is unconstitutional because it gives the government authority to conduct what they call "dragnet searches." And they said that as a result of FISA, they have been forced to spend money on foreign travel to protect the confidentiality of communications.
The Supreme Court, however, blocked the suit from going forward, and in so doing, all but ensured that there will be no further challenge to the law.
The five-man court majority said that those challenging the law had not shown with sufficient certainty that they had been monitored, and the court said that without such certainty, there was no legal standing, no right to sue.
Writing for the court majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that the challengers' claims were based on nothing more than a "highly speculative fear" that their communications would be intercepted. Indeed, Alito said, even if the challengers could show that their communications had been intercepted, they could not show that the government was acting under FISA, as opposed to some other federal surveillance law.
'A Catch-22'
The decision most likely means that nobody will ever be able to bring a challenge to FISA.
"It's a Catch-22," says Elizabeth Wydra of the Constitution Accountability Center. "It's a secret program that is hard to get information about, and yet the court is seeming to require plaintiffs to get that absolute certainty before they can challenge the constitutionality of the surveillance."
Because of the majority opinion's broad language limiting the right to go to court in this case, some constitutional law experts worry about the courtroom door being similarly closed in cases that do not involve national security — for example, in cases involving the environment or property rights. And indeed on Tuesday, the four Supreme Court dissenters, led by Justice Stephen Breyer, cited dozens of cases in which the court in the past has allowed lawsuits based on a reasonable or high probability that the plaintiff will be harmed by some activity.
"How could it be otherwise," asked Breyer, noting that a court certainly would not block a lawsuit brought by homeowners worried that construction of a dam would flood their property — even if the risk of flood was 60 percent and not 90 percent.
Concern Over Scope Of Decision
The dissenters' litany of citations to a more flexible approach as to who can sue, plus the restrictive language of the majority opinion, prompted the concern in some quarters that the logic of the opinion could bleed over to non-national security areas. Environmental protection advocates were particularly worried, but constitutional law scholars, for the most part, saw the decision as more limited.
Harvard law professor Richard Fallon noted that the doctrine of standing — who has the right to sue — can be elastic. Fallon saw Tuesday's ruling as "very significant" for the FISA statute but "probably not terribly significant for other standing cases."
He cautioned, however, that "the Supreme Court has now put on the books some very restrictive general language about standing, and it's impossible wholly to rule out the possibility that it will turn out to be a generally more significant opinion."
Todd Hinnen, who served in high-level anti-terrorism positions in the Bush and Obama administrations, however, saw the FISA decision as "limited to the facts of this case and potentially other cases involving national security authorities." The court, he said, "essentially held that where plaintiffs are forced by the secret nature of government activity to speculate as to whether they've been directly harmed by that activity, they did not have standing. It's a holding that, by its terms, is limited to the kinds of national security activities the court was addressing in this specific case." |
A state appeals court ruled today in the first case of its type that an insurance company does not have to foot the bill for a company facing damages over climate change.
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled in the closely watched case that Steadfast Insurance does not have a duty to defend AES Corp., a utility which is a defendant in a major climate case, Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil Corp., et al., which is currently before the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Litigation over insurance coverage relating to climate change is likely to grow in coming years, lawyers predict, so the ruling could help shape the legal landscape.
When AES faced the Kivalina lawsuit in 2008, it asked its insurer, Steadfast, to defend it against the claims that emissions had contributed to rising sea levels that are endangering the village.
Steadfast refused and instead asked an Arlington County, Va., judge to decide the question of whether it had a duty to defend.
The judge ruled in favor of Steadfast, in part because there was no "occurrence" or "accident" that triggered a duty to defend.
AES had argued Steadfast did have a duty because the plaintiffs in Kivalina had accused the plaintiffs of negligence.
"Steadfast's policies broadly obligate it to indemnify AES for property damage claims involving 'accidents,'" the AES brief states.
The Virginia Supreme Court rejected that argument in its ruling in the case, AES v. Steadfast.
Justice Bernard Goodwyn wrote that under the terms of the various insurance policies in question, the acts relating to climate change that are the basis of Kivalina are not covered.
"The relevant policies only require Steadfast to defend AES against claims for damages of bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence or accident," he wrote.
The Kivalina lawsuit does not meet that definition because the plaintiffs allege that the utility was intentionally emitting carbon dioxide and knew that it contributed to global warming, Goodwyn noted.
"Whether or not AES' intentional act constitutes negligence, the natural and probably consequence of that intentional act is not an accident under Virginia law," he wrote.
Climate change legal expert J. Wylie Donald, a partner at the McCarter & English law firm in Wilmington, Del., warned of the danger of reading too much into one decision because it only applies to Virginia and to one particular policy.
Similar cases will be decided on a state-by-state basis.
"Insurers will be heartened," he said. "But that should only be for a nanosecond."
Attorney Christina Carroll, a partner at McKenna, Long & Aldridge in Washington, described the ruling as an "initial victory for insurers in the field of unfolding climate change liability."
It remains to be seen, she added whether other courts take a similar approach.
The Virginia ruling comes three months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in American Electric Power v. Connecticut, in which the court held that states cannot sue utilities over greenhouse gas emissions under federal common law (Greenwire, June 20).
Despite that outcome, lawyers expect cases against utilities over climate change featuring different legal theories to continue.
Meanwhile, the 9th Circuit still has to rule on Kivalina, which focuses on a lawsuit filed by the Alaskan village of Kivalina against various major polluters.
Its lawyers claim that emissions have contributed to rising sea levels that endanger the village, which sits at the end of an 8-mile barrier island that separates the Chukchi Sea and Kivalina River.
Click here (pdf) to read the ruling.
Copyright 2011 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved. |
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Mary Kay Bergman did not have a face known to many - her voice was recognized more than anything else in the world. Although she was a big voiceover star in the 1990s, her true claim to fame was Trey Parker and Matt Stone's critically acclaimed adult animated television series, South Park (1997), in which she voiced almost all of the female characters. Sharon Marsh, Shelly Marsh, Sheila Brofloski, Wendy Testaberger, and Carol McCormick were only few of the thousands of voices she performed. She helped Parker and Stone pave the waves of fame for "South Park" in the late 1990s, until her surprising suicide on Veteran's Day of 1999.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: kbb6497
Spouse (1)
Trivia (8)
First job was a radio commercial for a small home security company on a local radio station back in 1986.
Died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Gained popularity for voicing most of the female characters on the TV show South Park (1997) (Stan's, Kenny's, & Cartman's Mothers, Wendy Testaburger, Mayor McDaniels, Ms. Crabtree, Principal Victoria, Stan's sister Shelly, & Nurse Gollum).
Suffered from life long depression nobody knew of until after she committed suicide.
Was the original voice for Timmy Turner in the The Fairly OddParents (2001)'s "Oh Yeah! Cartoons" shorts. Upon her death, Tara Strong (then Charendoff) took over the role.
As a child, she lived across the street from Adriana Caselotti , the voice of Snow White. Mary Kay would eventually take over as Snow White's voice for read-along books and commercials after Adriana retired.
With a total of eleven, Mary Kay holds the distinction of voicing the most characters in the original Leisure Suit Larry game series.
Was a close friend of Grey Griffin , who took over voicing Daphne in further Scooby-Doo productions.
Personal Quotes (1) |
Universal Pictures has acquired film rights to the late Robert Jordan’s bestselling “The Wheel of Time” novel series in a seven-figure deal.
Adaptations of the fantasy tomes will begin with the first book in the cycle, “The Eye of the World.”
Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon will produce for Red Eagle Entertainment, which published graphic novel adaptations of Jordan’s books.
“The Wheel of Time” follows, among its dozens of characters, Rand al’Thor, the latest incarnation of a force for good called “The Dragon.” Rand is born to fight an evil character called Shai’tan.
“Wheel of Time” books have sold 44 million copies worldwide and spawned computer, trading-card and role-playing games; a soundtrack; comicbooks; and numerous fan sites. The four most recent installments have reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
The property has been optioned before, notably in 2000, when NBC held the rights to make a miniseries based on “The Eye of the World.”
Jordan died last year at 58, but the final book in the series is still set for publication in fall 2009, with fellow fantasy scribe Brandon Sanderson writing the novel’s conclusion from Jordan’s notes and tapes. |
This story contains language some people may find offensive
Manchester, New Hampshire (CNN) Donald Trump on Monday night repeated the offensive term a woman attending his rally shouted in reference to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
After first calling on a woman close to the stage to "shout it out" again, Trump repeated the woman's one-word insult aimed at Cruz: "She said he's a pussy."
The term was flung into the political orbit just a day before the New Hampshire primary as Trump was discussing Cruz's apparent hesitation during the last GOP debate on whether he would support waterboarding.
Suddenly, Trump stopped mid-sentence, pointing to a woman near him in the crowd: "She just said a terrible thing."
"You know what she said? Shout it out because I don't want to say," Trump continued as the woman appeared to loudly shout the vulgar word again.
But realizing most of the crowd could not hear the woman, Trump decided to take matters into his own hands.
"OK you're not allowed to say and I never expect to hear that from you again. She said -- I never expect to hear that from you again -- she said he's a pussy," Trump said as the crowd erupted into a roaring cacophony of laughter and applause.
"What kind of people do I have here?" Trump joked after the crowd's reaction.
JUST WATCHED Donald Trump repeats vulgar insult of Ted Cruz Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Donald Trump repeats vulgar insult of Ted Cruz 01:19
Katrina Pierson, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, defended Trump's use of the word Tuesday morning on CNN's "New Day."
"Mr. Trump is exercising his free speech. It was in fun with the audience," she said.
Alice Stewart, a Cruz spokeswoman, said Trump was out of line.
"There are certain words and certain phrases that are just not suitable for running for president," she said on "New Day."
Cruz during the last debate backed the practice of waterboarding, which is considered torture by international law, but said that he would not "bring it back in any sort of widespread use."
Rick Tyler, Cruz's communications director, called the incident just the "latest episode in the reality show that Donald has made the 2016 campaign."
"Let's not forget who whipped who in Iowa," he said.
While Cruz contended that waterboarding was not torture, Trump was more direct in his defense of the practice during the debate.
"I'd bring back waterboarding," Trump said during the debate. "And I'd bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.
After repeating the woman's insulting characterization of Cruz, Trump noted that the press has previously castigated him for not reprimanding offensive and controversial statements his supporters have made at his rallies.
"So I just want to tell you right now, ma'am, you're reprimanded," Trump said as his crowd laughed.
The woman who yelled the vulgarity that Trump repeated is a 52-year-old Salem, New Hampshire, resident named Caroline, who declined to give her last name.
She told CNN that she went to the rally hoping to ask Trump a question about how he would crack down on tax fraud committed by undocumented immigrants.
"He truly cares about the American people," she said.
She said she did not plan to yell out a vulgarity, but when Trump mentioned Cruz, she said she couldn't help herself.
"It just came out of my mouth," she said. "It wasn't like I thought about it."
Afterwards, she said,"Everybody behind me was just patting me on the back."
She said she knew that Trump was kidding when he reprimanded her. |
While the rest of the nation comes to grips with fresh concerns about terrorism, domestic and foreign, Congress is wrapped up in the peculiar obsessions of the gun lobby — most of which are certain to make Americans less safe in their homes and on the streets.
Congress, for example, is cowering before the gun lobby insistence that even terrorist suspects who are placed on the “no-fly list” must not be denied the right to buy and bear arms. Suspects on that list purchased more than 1,100 weapons in the last six years, but Congress has never summoned the gumption to stop this trade in the name of public safety and political sanity.
Legislation to close this glaring threat continues to languish with little promise of enactment because a bipartisan mass of lawmakers fear retribution by the gun lobby’s campaign machine. Firsthand pleas this week from New York City ’s mayor and police commissioner — testifying after the attempted Times Square bombing attributed to a suspect who was also carrying a legally obtained gun — showed no sign of budging a timorous Congress.
It is a sign of the gun lobby’s growing confidence that if feels free to keep up the pressure, public and private, after the near-disaster in New York. Normally, the lobby goes quiet for a decent interval after a particularly heinous crime occurs.
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To the contrary, Senator John McCain and other members of the gun lobby’s cohort are pressing for legislation to strip local taxpayers in Washington of such basic gun controls as owner registration and a ban on semiautomatic battlefield rifles — laws already upheld by the courts. The gun lobby cued Congress to take another run at scuttling the city’s gun controls after previously using the issue to stymie the district’s hopes to at last have a full-fledged voting representative in the House.
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If Capitol supporters of the National Rifle Association agenda dared to check reality outside their windows they would confront the district’s alarm over the four dead and five wounded citizens who fell six weeks ago in a spray of bullets from a semiautomatic weapon. Instead, the gun lobby aims at allowing residents to buy weapons and ammunition in lightly policed markets in Virginia and Maryland . |
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“Meanwhile in Portugal we are witnessing the makings of a genuine coup with the unwillingness of the establishment there to accept the outcome of an election and the support won by parties who oppose EU austerity.” Gerry Adams, Sinn Féin, Oct 24, 2015
This is the truest form of Euro authoritarianism, short of full prisons and torture chambers. (These may, in time, come.) If you are not seized by the idea, the fetishism of a currency; if you gather up your forces to mount an offence against austerity, twinned as it with monetary union, then you must be, in the eyes of these policing forces, against the European project.
This obscene inversion has found form in Portugal, yet another country that has taken the road towards anti-democratic practice when it comes to the battle between the outcome of staged elections and the heralded inviolability of a broken euro system. It has the chill of history – political groupings with a certain number of votes barred because of supposedly radical tendencies. It has also received scant coverage in certain presses, with a few notable examples, such as Ambrose Evans-Pritchard’s observation that the country had “entered dangerous political waters.”[1]
First, the mathematics of the election held on October 4. The combined Left bloc won 50.7 percent of the vote (122 seats), while the conservative premier, Pedro Passos Coehlo’s Right-wing coalition gained 38.5 percent – a loss of 28 seats. One would have to be a rather brave and foolish individual to let the latter form government.
This, in fact, is what Aníbal Cacavo Silva, the country’s constitutional president, did. “In the 40 years of democracy, no government in Portugal has ever depended on the support of anti-European forces, that is to say forces that campaigned to abrogate the Lisbon Treaty, the Fiscal Compact, the Growth and Stability Pact, as well as to dismantle monetary union and take Portugal out of the euro, in wanting the dissolution of NATO.”
The statement hits upon a definition of the European project, if you can call it that, linked to bound, self-interested market structures and the virtues of military defence. Cavaco Silva evidently cannot conceive that a European project could involve a variation of the theme, let alone one averse to dogmas of austerity and the bank.
The Socialists, under António Costa, have promised Keynesian reflation policies with expenditures on education and health, a policy platform very much at odds with the EU’s Fiscal Compact.
So much, in that sense, for the legacy of the Carnation Revolution, which saw Portugal’s post-Salazar normalisation. It was that generally peaceful revolution that oversaw the demise of the Estada Novo, António de Oliveira Salazar’s corporatist vision that shares, in some perverse sense, similarities with the anti-democratic spirit of EU market governance. Bolting from those same stables, Cavaco Silva insists that the European left, and specifically the parties in Portugal, are somehow against Europe, parochial and therefore dangerous. The reverse, in fact, is the case.
The clue in Cavaco Silva’s erroneous thoughts on where a pan-European idea lies in his total faith in the market, corporate ideal. It is not the language of voters and public investment here that counts, but the ghostly forces of capital and private investment. The investors, the financiers, and the bankers must be kept in clover – or the entire country and by virtue of that, the EU, unravels.
“This is the worst moment for a radical change to the foundations of our democracy. After we carried out an onerous programme of financial assistance, entailing heavy sacrifices, it is my duty, within my constitutional powers, to do everything possible to prevent false signals being sent to financial institutions, investors and markets.”
In point of fact, the most radical tendency in history is the illusion that democracy and the market do, in fact, have a relationship that corresponds, rather than jars. In truth, democracy can only ever survive when markets are controlled. The European financiers have given the impression, manifested through the ideology of the Troika, that the estranged European Union is democratic only because it has such institutions as a single currency, or a tough austerity line.
The Greek crisis showed this entire process to be a grim sham, with Athens now a client state mortgaged to the hilt and contained by debt bondage. This happened after Syriza won power in January with a platform that seemed, at first, to be wholly against austerity. Sovereignty is short changed, while the finance sector counts its gains.
The entire context of such revolt in finance is permissiveness towards reactionary, nationalist elements. This is the paradox of having a supposedly flexible market that encourages the ease of liquidity in the absence of stable social structures. Historically, the forces of capital and finance permit a degree of nationalism and extremism as long as the money sector comes good. The liquidity tends to stay put.
The Portuguese example has become the most overt statement of this so far, though the Left grouping promise to block and scuttle the proposed four-year policy programme of the minority administration when the assembly resumes.
Till the two points meet – the pro-European left inspired by Keynesian-buttressed sovereignty, and the anti-democratic institutions that have held the European idea hostage – the notion of a workable euro zone will disintegrate. It will become, instead, a geographical area populated by authoritarian governments who see elections as mere pantomimes.
Notes.
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11949701/AEP-Eurozone-crosses-Rubicon-as-Portugals-anti-euro-Left-banned-from-power.html |
The President Who Went Nuclear
In the wintry days of January 2009, as Barack Obama prepared for his inauguration, he was briefed on how to unleash the weapons that could destroy the planet many times over. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright conducted the briefing on the "nuclear football," the 45-pound briefcase containing the codes that allow the president to launch America’s arsenal of over 5,000 nuclear weapons.
In the tumult before the inauguration – not to mention a global economy heading toward meltdown – Obama wasn’t certain he would remember each step to launch the world’s most dangerous weapons. Shortly after taking office as the 44th president, he contacted his defense secretary, Robert Gates. "You know that guy who scared the shit out of me?" he said, according to James Mann’s The Obamians. "Can I talk to him again?"
Almost five years later, non-proliferation has emerged as the centerpiece of Obama’s agenda in the Middle East. In Syria, he signed off on a Russia-brokered agreement for President Bashar al-Assad to gradually destroy his chemical weapons. In Iran, he inked a controversial agreement that will see the Islamic Republic stall its nuclear program for six months, in exchange for roughly $6 billion in sanctions relief. Such steps represent significant victories for the president’s non-proliferation agenda — but have also disappointed those who wonder if they come at the cost of America’s other interests in the world.
The drive for a nuclear-free world, in fact, has been a central thread of Obama’s foreign policy views for his entire adult life. It was the topic of his first public foray into the debate over America’s role in the world as a university student, a subject that he turned into his calling card in the U.S. Senate, and an issue that he raised in his first months as president, where he told a crowd in Prague that he would work toward "a world without nuclear weapons." Now, it may just be the cause that defines his administration’s foreign policy legacy.
Cartwright, speaking to Foreign Policy, said Obama has also come to grips with the fact that the proliferation of knowledge about nuclear technology has permanently altered America’s options in combatting the spread of these weapons. Since you can’t bomb knowledge, he says, military force can only delay, not stop, proliferation risks. "This is much of the problem we have with Iran today," he said. [If] a country wants these weapons, they can get them…So you have to start to think of alternatives to the threats of: ‘I’m going to attack you.’"
While the deal just signed in Geneva only temporarily stalls some aspects of Iran’s nuclear program, non-proliferation experts hold out hope that it could pave the way sweeping reductions in nuclear warhead stockpiles in the world’s most powerful states.
"In my view, Iran is a gateway issue," said Joseph Cirincione, the president of the Ploughshares Fund, an organization focused on nuclear weapons policy. "If Iran is seen as abandoning its [nuclear] approach…it opens the pathway to convincing North Korea to take a deal like this, to convincing others states not to start nuclear programs, and to give the countries with nuclear weapons greater confidence that they can safely reduce [their stockpiles]."
Obama came of age during the nuclear freeze movement, a grassroots attempt to halt the deployment of ever more destructive weapons by both the United States and the Soviet Union. As a senior at Columbia University, he enrolled in a seminar taught by Professor Michael L. Baron on foreign policy decision-making, where he wrote a long year-end paper on the arms reduction negotiations between the two Cold War rivals. That same year, he published an essay in the Columbia University magazine Sundial titled "Breaking the War Mentality," which noted the "flowering" of the nuclear freeze movement.
Obama’s primary critique of the movement was that its goals were not sweeping enough, arguing that its narrow focus "suit[s] the military-industrial interests, as they continue adding to their billion dollar erector sets." His overall tone, however, was positive, as he suggested the freeze movement represented the public’s "growing awareness of the consequences of nuclear holocaust."
While Obama certainly tempered his rhetoric about nuclear weapons between his early 20s and the beginning of his political career, his interest in the topic – and his fundamental views – do not appear to have changed. Upon beginning his career in the Senate in 2005, he turned to non-proliferation as the issue on which to bolster his foreign policy bona fides, and sought out the mentorship of Sen. Dick Lugar to do so.
As Obama recounts in his 2006 book The Audacity of Hope, the two senators traveled to Russia and Eastern Europe to inspect firsthand the efforts to secure what had been the Soviet Union’s weapons of war. The future president wrote about "gazing in silence at the massive, sleek, still-active missiles" that had once been aimed at European cities, and noted with some horror coming across a freezer in Kiev, Ukraine, holding anthrax and the bubonic plague that was "secured by nothing more than a seal of string."
The trip, however, also highlighted the challenges of dealing with the Russians. As the two senators attempted to leave Russia, Lugar told Foreign Policy, they were detained for three hours as Russian security officials tried to search their plane. "You might as well take a nap, because we’re going to be here for a while," Lugar remembers telling Obama.
For both Obama and Lugar, the trip underscored the difficulties – and also the urgent need – to secure nuclear stockpiles. "Whatever might have been your idea of the impact of mutually assured destruction, it certainly drove it home," Lugar said. "When you see the pictures and the targets [of Russian nuclear weapons], you understand the jeopardy the United States faced."
Obama also used his time in the Senate and the 2008 presidential campaign to assemble a team of non-proliferation advocates, who would be integral in pushing the issue during his administration. Then Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, for example, was integral to shepherding the New START treaty, which led to joint nuclear weapons reductions with the Russians, through the Senate in Obama’s first term. In 2012, Chuck Hagel, who had retired from the Senate and gone into academia, co-authored a report with James Cartwright that called for sweeping reductions to the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Other members of Obama’s transition team dealing with non-proliferation — such as Ivo Daalder, Michele Flournoy, Robert Einhorn, and Ashton Carter — went on to serve in high-ranking positions within the administration.
Obama’s non-proliferation agenda got off to a fast start in its first year, as the administration negotiated the New START treaty; held the Nuclear Security Summit, which included delegations from 47 countries across the world; and released a new Nuclear Posture Review, which called for reducing the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. national security strategy. In some of the global hotspots that concerned the United States, the focus on nuclear non-proliferation also took precedence over concerns about human rights or democracy promotion.
In Russia, Obama prioritized non-proliferation over concerns about Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on his domestic political opponents. "The nuclear issue is really important to his background," Michael McFaul, the current U.S. ambassador to Moscow, told Mann for The Obamians. "He thinks you need a New START treaty, no matter whether the Russians are a democracy or an autocracy, because these are dangerous weapons and we’ve got to control them-and in a way, that’s a legacy from this 1980s era."
When it came to Iran, nuclear non-proliferation also clearly took precedence over human rights, or the Islamic Republic’s support for terrorist groups across the Middle East.
"I don’t think [Iran’s nuclear program] was a high priority to the exclusion of everything else, but it was clearly a kind of ‘first things first’ approach," Dennis Ross, who served as a key Obama advisor on Iran and is now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Foreign Policy. "[Obama] saw we were living an in age of terror, and I think he saw the possible linkage of the worst weapons in the worst hands as something that was really unthinkable."
But while most U.S. officials recognized the potential threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, some were willing to contemplate the possibility that the president’s pursuit of non-proliferation goals elsewhere was coming at the expense of other American foreign policy goals. The most obvious example of that came in Syria, where the administration’s pursuit of an agreement to dismantle Assad’s chemical weapon’s stockpile has arguably granted a degree of legitimacy to his regime as the international community’s interlocutor on this effort.
"I think there’s some validity to the argument that the chemical weapons deal gives a boost to Assad," said Robert Einhorn, who served as the secretary of state’s special advisor for nonproliferation during the Obama administration and is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. However, he noted, that hasn’t stopped the United States from offering modest amounts of military and humanitarian support to the Syrian rebels, or attempting to organize a peace conference that would remove Assad from power. U.N. officials announced that the conference will be held in Geneva on Jan. 22, and both the regime and the mainstream opposition have stated their willingness to attend.
However, the administration has appeared to disconnect its aims in Syria’s chemical stockpile from its larger goals in the country. "Chemical weapons were always treated as something different than the political fate of Syria," said Ross. "You’ve had chemical weapons as an issue that almost stood alone in terms of what we were responding to."
With the wind at the back of the president’s nuclear agenda, the stakes could extend far beyond Damascus or Tehran. The one notable exception to Obama’s non-proliferation agenda — so far – has been Israel, where this administration’s refusal to push for nuclear disarmament has led to charges of hypocrisy among both Arabs and Iranians. Could a non-proliferation breakthrough really serve as a gateway issue – reordering America’s alliances in the Middle East, paving the way for the dismantling of thousands of U.S. and Russian nuclear warheads, and bringing the world closer to Obama’s goal of "nuclear zero"?
Those fresh out of government, cognizant of the tenuous nature of progress on non-proliferation — not to mention the many minefields of negotiating with Iran – are cautious. "Whether this is a good arrangement [with Iran] will depend on where it leads, and whether it does get us to a final deal," said Einhorn.
In other corners of the nation’s capital, however, a few people are beginning to allow themselves to think big.
"It’s not very often that you get to see the hinge of history move," Cirincione said. "We are in one of those moments." |
Story highlights The actress appeared on "The Nanny" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show"
She loved performing in the theater, her daughter says
(CNN) Actress Ann Morgan Guilbert died Tuesday at the age of 87, according to her daughter Nora Eckstein.
Guilbert appeared on the 1990s sitcom "The Nanny" as Fran Drescher's grandmother Yetta Rosenberg and also played the next-door neighbor on the 1960s comedy "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
She had finished filming a couple of episodes of the CBS show "Life in Pieces" and worked until her cancer diagnosis a few weeks ago, said her daughter. Guilbert was never in any pain and died Tuesday morning after a very brief illness, Eckstein said.
The late actress enjoyed performing on the HBO show "Getting On" and "The Nanny." Her acting career spanned more than five decades.
While Guilbert was best known for her television roles, especially "The Dick Van Dyke Show," her true love was the stage, said her daughter. Among her favorites was performing in the play "The Immigrant" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and "Night Mother" at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., for which she won an award.
Read More |
There is overwhelming agreement within the scientific community, backed by multiple lines of evidence, that human activities are causing the climate to warm. Yet only 27 percent of Republicans agree, according to a July survey from the Pew Research Center.
Republican presidential candidates are decidedly mixed on their acceptance of the link between warming and human activities.
Greg Fishel, chief meteorologist for the CBS affiliate in Raleigh in N.C., is sickened by this state of affairs.
Over the weekend he penned a stirring commentary railing against the partisan divisiveness in climate change discussions and disregard for the science.
Greg Fishel (WRAL)
Fishel said in an email message that due to overall state of party politics, after 30 years, he is no longer a Republican and considers himself unaffiliated.
“I hate agendas, and there are agendas on both sides of the climate change debate which I abhor and have no time for,” Fishel’s essay begins. “But once you cut through all of that, much of which is ideological and political, you are left with hard science.”
Fishel’s essay lays out the scientific case for manmade warming, starting by debunking one of the most oft-repeated myths that the sun is behind the recent warming trend:
If it were the sun, the entire atmosphere would be warming, but it’s not. The troposphere, where most of the weather occurs, is warming up, and the stratosphere is cooling. This is all part of the radiative adjustments that are taking place because of what man is doing to the composition of our atmosphere.
He pleads with readers to set aside their biases and swallow their pride in scientific discussions.
“We live in a country now where we embrace division for the sake of division,” he says. “It’s about winning and being right as opposed to doing what’s best for the country and the world.”
Fishel specifically appeals to conservatives and people of faith to open their minds:
I believe science is a gift from God. We benefit from science in our daily lives 1,000 times over through all the conveniences we enjoy. Why have we chosen to turn our back on science when it comes to basic chemistry and physics? It is time to stop listening to the disingenuous cherry-pickers and start taking responsibility for learning the truth about climate change.
Fishel was once skeptical of manmade contributions to warming himself. But after after spending many hours reading scientific papers and talking to climate scientists, changed positions.
“I have gone through the entire process,” Fishel writes. “But in my mind, I didn’t make a mistake, I simply grew as a human being. There aren’t too many experiences in life that can top that.”
Fishel’s entire essay can be read on the WRAL Web site. It was also posted to Facebook where it has been liked over 1,400 times and received glowing endorsements.
“Your unique perspective as a well-known, widely respected meteorologist, a Christian, and a curious skeptic, positions you well to convince a lot of fence-sitters of the need to make meaningful and substantive changes in government policy, as well as in our lifestyle choices,” writes reader David Brackins.
His words and themes echo those made by another Republican meteorologist, Paul Douglas of Minneapolis. In 2012, Douglas wrote:
I’m going to tell you something that my Republican friends are loath to admit out loud: climate change is real. I am a moderate Republican, fiscally conservative; a fan of small government, accountability, self-empowerment, and sound science. I am not a climate scientist. I’m a meteorologist, and the weather maps I’m staring at are making me uncomfortable.
[Republican meteorologist Paul Douglas: conservatives should embrace climate science] |
I don’t agree with liberals often, because I’m not an idiot and because I love America, but when they once again say, “We must have a conversation about guns!” I still couldn’t agree more. And, since all we’ve heard is you leftists shrieking at us all week, I’ll start it off.
You don’t ever get to disarm us. Not ever.
There. It sure feels good to engage in a constructive dialogue.
Now, we should have this conversation because in recent years we’ve seen a remarkable antipathy for the fact that normal Americans even have rights among those on the left. We should have this conversation to clear the air before leftists push too far and the air gets filled with smoke. But we really don’t need to have a conversation about our rights to keep and bear arms. They’re rights. There’s nothing to talk about.
This goes for all our rights that the left hates, like the rights to speak and write freely, to practice our religion as we see fit, and to not be railroaded by liberal authority without due process. Leftists hate our rights because they hate us, and when we assert our rights it gets in the way of their malicious schemes to dominate and control us. It makes them stamp their little sandaled feet in rage when we normals just won’t cooperate and surrender our rights. But we love our rights – rights are wonderful things with which we were endowed by our Creator, and which our beloved Constitution merely reiterates. But the left, including its pet media, thinks that our rights were merely iterated, and that the left can take an eraser to the parchment and – voila! – no more pesky rights for you flyover people.
Nah. I think we’ll keep ‘em. All of them, unchanged. And there’s only one way we can lose them, unless a lot of leftists buy a lot of guns, conduct a lot of tactical training, and stop being little weenies. I’m not worried about any of those things happening, particularly the last one. So, as a practical matter, we only lose our rights if we allow ourselves to be shamed, threatened, whined, and lectured into giving them up by skeevy tragedy-buzzard pols, mainstream media meat puppets, and late night chucklemonkeys whose names and faces all blend together into one unfunny, preachy blur.
I just don’t see Jimmy Kimmel donning Kevlar to molon labe and risking his sorry carcass trying to separate normal Americans from their ability to defend themselves, their families, and their Constitution from the people who constantly tell us how much they hate us.
Yeah, hate us. Sorry, but the left hates you, and because you’re nice and you try to always act in good faith, you probably have a hard time accepting that the people on the other side don’t. You want to believe that we just have some minor disagreements but that we can still all come together and blah blah blah blah blah. Well, that’s not happening unless the left has a major rethink, and thinking isn’t its strong suit. You want to see the hate? Wade into the social media cesspool, a world where no impulse is controlled and if you only wait long enough, they’ll tell you how they really feel. Did you see the people celebrating the attack on normal people at a country music festival? Did you see them then pivot to calling us “terrorists” and “murderers” for refusing to give up our rights? Just check out what gets launched at me on my Twitter timeline. Dana Loesch gets it even worse, because she’s a conservative woman and that’s a double heresy.
I, for one, am not super inclined to give up my ability to defend myself in response to demands by people who eagerly tell me they want me enslaved or dead. Literally dead.
And this isn’t just about the ravings of a few unhinged loonies on social media (also, it ain’t “a few”). This verbal hyperbole is the leftist establishment’s MO. This is how they intend to strip us of our rights – via a constant campaign of hate that they hope somehow leads to us just giving them up. And it’s not just guns. Free speech? Oh, that’s racist, and it causes violence – by which they mean that leftists will attack you if you attempt to speak freely. Freely exercising your religion? Not if you violate leftist scripture – then you’re a bigot and your livelihood must be destroyed even though Sue and Shelly can wander two doors down and get someone else to decorate their nasty organic carrot wedding cake.
And due process? Well, you must love rape if you think that a young man accused of it should be informed of the charges against him, allowed to cross-examine the witnesses, and have an impartial judge. Do you phallocentric male-identifying men and others have any idea how much harder it is to railroad some guy in the name of smashing the patriarchy when you actually have to prove your case with evidence? Like any woman would ever make up a rape allegation out of whole cloth! A fair trial? That’s something right out of The Handmaid’s Tale!
And don’t get me started on the hate crime of hatred that is misgendering. Why, calling a man a “man” when xe got up this morning and decided xe was a non-binary, femme-leaning, twin-spirit otherkin is pretty much just what Hitler did.
So, let’s continue our important conversation. How about this? How about we continue to speak freely, saying whatever we want however we want, and you leftists just sit there and be offended? How about we practice our faiths however we want, even if that means some of us don’t end up validating every one of your preferred personal peccadillos (I checked under all of the penumbras and emanations in the Constitution and I can’t find anywhere that you have a right to have us high-five everything you do). And how about we insist that everyone accused of something gets due process and the chance to defend himself – or herself, or even xirself?
Yeah, we know that us having rights is inconvenient, but that’s too damn bad. Because we aren’t asking you for our rights. We’re telling you we aren’t giving them up.
See, we’re done walking on eggshells and playing your verbal minefield game. You’ll call us “murderers,” “racists,” “sexists,” “homophobes” and every other kind of “phobe” you can invent no matter what we do anyway, and it’s all a lie. It’s also all meaningless. You don’t even believe it. It’s just a rhetorical weapon, and a lame one, but you’ve fired all your ammo. The chamber is empty. Keep pulling the trigger on your slanders, but we’re now woke to the scam and you’re just shooting blanks.
Anyway, let’s continue our conversation. You’re not going to pin the rampage of some scumbag on millions and millions of people who didn’t do it. You’re not going to leverage this spree into disarming us – which is your ultimate goal. We know how you hate the idea that we are armed and independent, that we hold a lead veto over your fever dreams of tyrannical rule over us. You know how important it is to us to be free citizens; you yearn to humiliate us by stripping us of our self-respect by taking away our means of keeping ourselves free from the tyranny of people like you.
You never cared that 59 people were murdered – some of you, as we have seen, cheered – and I gotta say, it’s a bad look to screech “I’m glad you crackers are dead, now heed my command to give up your guns!” If you really cared about 59 people being murdered, you’d demand that the Chicago PD flood the ghetto and stop and frisk until every punk with a gun was disarmed because 59 people get murdered there in a slow month. Oh, but wait – their rights! Gee, I thought that RIGHTS DON’T MATTER IF TAKING RIGHTS AWAY SAVES JUST ONE LIFE… I guess it’s really about whose rights, isn’t it?
Let’s not even mention abortion. Jimmy Kimmel’s head might explode because he’s all about the kids not getting killed, except only after they’re born. He and you liberals seem cool with killing them before then.
So, let’s finish our conversation about guns. Where was I? Oh yeah. No.
No to your fake “solutions” that have nothing to do with this guy’s rampage.
No to your bogus “care” and “concern” that arises only when it involves stripping normal Americans of our sacred natural rights.
No to your has-been Democrat pols, your 23-year old Vox scribblers, and your hack Hollywood goofs thinking they get a say about our rights.
They don’t.
I guess that’s the end of our little conversation, because we’ve already heard every poisonous thing you leftists have to say, and I don’t have anything else to say except this. If you really want to disarm us, come on and try. |
Why shouldn’t taxpayers be allowed to use the same excuses the IRS, and other elements of our imperial government, deploy when they get in trouble? Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) aims to make it happen with his “The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act.”
“Taxpayers should be allowed to offer the same flimsy, obviously made-up excuses the Obama Administration uses,” Stockman declared, offering legislation that would require the IRS to accept any of the following reasons when we can’t meet their demands for documentation:
1. The dog ate my tax receipts
2. Convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction
3. Traded documents for five terrorists
4. Burned for warmth while lost in the Yukon
5. Left on table in Hillary’s Book Room
6. Received water damage in the trunk of Ted Kennedy’s car
7. Forgot in gun case sold to Mexican drug lords
8. Forced to recycle by municipal Green Czar
9. Was short on toilet paper while camping
10. At this point, what difference does it make?
But don’t worry, Stockman’s bill would not mean the total collapse of our tax system. “In any case, IRS can see the NSA for a good, high quality copy,” the Act concludes. |
The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) has published a brief article advocating the use of blockchain technology.
In the article, the IEET describes the blockchain as next-generation information technology with many potential upsides in a number of fields beyond digital currencies.
The IEET made a clear distinction between ‘bitcoin 1.0’ (currency) and other emerging technologies, classified as ‘bitcoin 2.0’ (contracts) and ‘bitcoin 3.0’ (beyond currency and finance) applications of blockchain technology.
More than just a currency
IEET affiliate scholar Melanie Swan said the currently developing models of bitcoin and blockchain technology are “not the final paradigm”, as they are plagued by problematic flaws. However, she pointed out that decentralised models in general could have a pronounced impact on technology and society.
Swan said:
“Bitcoin and blockchain technology is much more than a digital currency, the blockchain is an information technology, potentially on the order of the Internet (‘the next Internet’), but even more pervasive and quickly-configuring.”
She described blockchain technology as one of the first identifiable large implementations of decentralisation models.
Looking at the bigger picture, Swan argued that decentralised models have the potential to “reorganise all manner of human activity” due to their ability to provide frictionless and trustless interaction between people and technology.
“The blockchain (decentralised network coordination technology) could emerge as a fundamental infrastructure element in the model to scale humanity to its next levels of orders-of-magnitude-larger progress,” she said.
Connecting the world
Swan pointed out that new computing paradigms usually arise once a decade. Mainframes were complemented by PCs in the ’80s, which were revolutionised by the Internet in the ’90s, followed by mobile devices and social networks in the 2000s.
The fifth paradigm, according to Swan, could be described as the ‘connected world’ – a future marked by wearables, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and smart homes, cars and cities – all backed by blockchain technology.
The IEET is not the first organisation to examine the potential uses of blockchain technology in the emerging field of IoT. Tech heavyweight IBM is also looking similar possibilities, along with German conglomerate Bosch, which is examining ways of monetising IoT with blockchain-derived technologies.
This is how the IEET described its vision of the ‘connected world’ paradigm:
“Paradigm 5 functionality could be the experience of a continuously-connected seamless physical-world multi-device computing layer, with a blockchain technology overlay for payments, and not just payments, but micropayments, decentralized exchange, token earning and spending, digital asset invocation and transfer, and smart contract issuance and execution; all as the economic layer the web never had.”
Apple Pay was described as a “critical intermediary step” in moving to a full-fledged cryptocurrency world, in which the blockchain will serve as the seamless economic layer for the web.
Promoting new technologies
The IEET has been promoting new technologies and looking at their social implications for more than a decade.
The institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organisation based in the US and was formed as an offshoot of Humanity+ – an international organisation that advocates the ethical use of emerging technologies to enhance human capacities.
Over the years, the IEET has had the occasional controversy, with some observers and authors criticising some its views as being transhumanist, a movement that is advocated by Humanity+. The IEET maintains that while some of its fellows have transhumanist views, others do not.
As for Swan, she is a principal of the MS Futures Group, a futurist, philosopher and options trader. She was director of research at telco consultancy RHK/Ovum and she previously held management and finance positions at JP Morgan, Fidelity, iPass and Arthur Andersen.
Connected world image via Shutterstock |
If you have moved house since you last voted you must register at your new address - paying council tax does not mean you are registered to vote.
Everyone in your home must register individually. You can do this on the government website gov.uk.
You’ll need your National Insurance Number. If you can't find it you can find a lost national insurance number on gov.uk or call the National Insurance Numbers helpline on 0300 200 3502.
If you still can't give your National Insurance number you'll be asked to say why. We may contact you for more information so we can check your identity.
Applying to vote, doesn't automatically add you to the electoral register. We have to check your details first, then you'll get a letter either confirming that you're registered, or asking you for more information.
Check if you are registered if you aren’t sure.
You can check when your name will appear on the register. |
Last week, Brooke Amelia Peterson's YouTube video went viral. Most of the video was average family vacation stuff -- shopping, chatting with her family etc. But one part showed Peterson inside Apple's Cupertino campus, eating lunch with her father and filming her reaction to his iPhone X model -- which has not yet been released. Capturing footage inside Apple buildings is strictly against Apple rules, something her father, an employee of four years, would be aware of. And Peterson was filming this on a DSLR with an attached microphone -- hardly a subtle enterprise. Unsurprisingly, the video blew up, her father was let go and Peterson is now very, very sorry about the outcome of her actions -- posting another video to alert the world to this fact.
Over 4 million people have viewed her second viral video. "My dad is the best dad anyone could ask for," she said in her update video. "He is the most genuine human being. He works so hard."
The video ends with her in tears, imploring viewers to leave her Dad alone -- if they have mean comments to say it to her. While her actions were unmistakably foolish, the vitriol she has received seems disproportionate -- people make mistakes and she now has to live with the consequence of her actions and how they have impacted on those she loves. She says she didn't realize she was breaking the rules and took down the video when Apple asked as she respects the company.
"It was insane," she said. Let's all give the girl a break, OK? |
Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore had secured the top spot in this category last year.
Oberoi Vanyavilas in Sawai Madhopur (Ranthambhore) secured the number one spot in the world in a TripAdvisor ranking of top 10 hotels around the globe in small hotels category. The second position in the category was secured by La Maison d'Aix', Aix-en-Provence, France, followed by Vahine Private Island Resort, Tahaa, Society Islands, according to the TripAdvisor's travellers' choice rankings.A check on Oberoi Hotels' website showed tariffs ranging from Rs 47,000 to Rs 70,000 per night for stay later this week.Oberoi Vanyavilas, Sawai Madhopur (Ranthambhore), had also secured the first position in this category last year."It's always exciting to acknowledge the best properties worldwide that inspire travellers to create lifetime memories. With an Indian hotel taking the number one rank in the world, for the second year in a row in any category leaves no doubt that Indian hotels are at par with the best of the class globally. Congratulations to The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore for being the number small hotel in the world and to all the other winners across categories," TripAdvisor India country manager Nikhil Ganju said.In the large hotels category, Jodhpur's Umaid Bhawan Palace and Udaipur's Leela Palace have featured in TripAdvisor's list of top 25 global hotels this year.Leela Palace in Udaipur has been ranked 19th while Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur featured at the 21th spot, according to the TripAdvisor Top Hotels Overall Travellers' Choice.Aria Hotel Budapest topped the list, followed by Mandapa, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Ubud, Indonesia; Turin Palace Hotel (Italy), Hotel The Serras, Barcelona, Spain, and BoHo Prague Hotel, Czech Republic. TripAdvisor rankings highlighted the world's top 7,612 properties in 109 countries and eight regions worldwide, in many other categories, including top hotels overall, luxury, bargain, small, service, and B&Bs. (With agency inputs) |
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When I meet Kenny Belov mid-morning at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, the boats that would normally be out at sea chasing salmon sit tethered to their docks. The steady breeze coursing through the bay belies choppier conditions farther out—so rough that the local fishermen threw in the towel for the fifth morning in a row. Belov scans the horizon as he explains this, feet away from the warehouse of his sustainable seafood company, TwoXSea. Because his business hinges on what local fishermen can bring in, he’s used to coping with wild fish shortages.
If we continue to fish at the current pace, some scientists predict we’ll be facing oceans devoid of edible marine creatures by 2050.
But unlike these fishermen, Belov has a stash of treasure in his warehouse, as he soon shows me: a golf-cart-size container of plump trout, their glossy bodies still taut from rigor mortis. The night before, Belov drove north to Humboldt to help “chill kill” the fish by submerging them live into barrels of slushy ice water. Belov can count on shipments of these McFarland Springs trout every week—because he helped grow them himself on a farm.
For many consumers, aquaculture lost its appeal after unappetizing news spread about commercial fish farms—like fish feed’s pressure on wild resources, overflowing waste, toxic buildup in the water, and displacement of natural species. But consider this: Our appetite for seafood continues to rise. Globally, we’ve hungered for 3.2 percent more seafood every year for the last five decades, double the rate of our population. Yet more than four-fifths of the world’s wild fisheries are overexploited or fully exploited (yielding the most fish possible with no expected room for growth). Only 3 percent of stocks are considered underexploited—meaning they have any significant room for expansion. If we continue to fish at the current pace, some scientists predict we’ll be facing oceans devoid of edible marine creatures by 2050.
Aquaculture could come to the rescue. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations predicts that farmed fish will soon surpass wild-caught; by 2030, aquaculture may produce more than 60 percent of fish we consume as food.
One of the most pressing concerns about aquaculture, though, is that many farmed fish are raised on a diet of 15 million tons a year of smaller bait fish—species like anchovies and menhaden. These bait—also known as forage fish—are ground up and converted into a substance called fishmeal. It takes roughly five pounds of them to produce one pound of farmed salmon. Bait fish are also used for nonfood products like pet food, makeup, farm animal feed, and fish oil supplements.
Forage fish are a “finite resource that’s been fully utilized.”
It may appear as though the ocean enjoys endless schools of these tiny fish, but they too have been mismanaged, and their populations are prone to collapse. They’re a “finite resource that’s been fully utilized,” says Mike Rust of NOAA’s fisheries arm. Which is disturbing, considering that researchers like those at Oceana argue that forage fish may play an outsize role in maintaining the ocean’s ecological balance, including by contributing to the abundance of bigger predatory fish.
And that’s where Belov’s trout come in: Though he swears no one can taste the difference, his fish are vegetarians. That means those five pounds of forage fish can rest easy at sea. It also means that the trout don’t consume some of the other rendered animal proteins in normal fishmeal pellets: bone meal, feather meal, blood meal, and chicken byproducts.
Belov and McFarland Springs’ owner David McFarland were inspired to switch to vegetarian feed in part by Rick Barrows, a USDA researcher. About six years ago, recounts Barrows, several USDA studies confirmed that fish rely on nutrients—vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and protein—rather than fishmeal or fish oil, to thrive. If those nutrients could be found in other products, including purely plant-based substances, then aquaculture might not be so dependent on feeding fish other smaller fish.
Barrows and team began to test about 50 potential materials a year, and now have a database of 140 that anyone can browse through online. Belov was one of their first commercial partners. The plant-based food fed to McFarland Springs’ trout consists of a hearty blend of marine algae, freshwater micro algae, vitamins, minerals, flax, flax oil, corn, and nut waste. The resulting complete protein means the trout’s omega 3s are high and their omega 6s are low—a ratio that’s said to enhance anti-inflammatory properties. And “they don’t have the concentration of heavy metals that come from the bait fish,” Belov says. I took one of his rosy fillets home and turned it into trout lox; find the recipe here.
McFarland Springs manages the trout’s waste by funneling it out into a natural sagebrush pasture where it composts the soil.
Belov’s fish feed includes California nuts that are too broken or disfigured to be sold.
Barrows thinks region-specific material for this type of feed offers the most potential. For instance, his team learned that around 5 percent of California nuts can’t be sold because they’re broken or disfigured. They realized they could repurpose excess nut parts for the trout feed; the nut bits helped round out the complete protein. Lately, Barrows has become especially excited about turning barley surplus from the beer industry—which comes at a cheap price in Montana, where he’s based—into a feed-grade concentrate for trout feed.
“You can get just as much growth rate out of fishmeal-free feeds as fishmeal,” says Barrows. And his lab has proven as much with eight different fish species: cobia, Florida pompano, coho salmon, Atlantic salmon, walleye, yellowtail, and White seabass.
But the price difference still stands in the way for many fish farmers. Belov pays slightly more than $1/pound for his plant-based feed, whereas fishmeal pellets average around $0.71/pound. He sells his trout for $6.95/pound, about a dollar more than conventional. But he’s well positioned in the affluent Bay Area, and he usually sells out of his McFarland Springs trout well before the end of each week. As innovation continues in the realm of plant-based feeds, he’s hopeful, along with Barrows, that the price of the pellets will continue to drop.
Here in the United States, we consume plenty of farmed fish already, but only 5 percent of it is sourced domestically. “If we didn’t import so much farmed seafood,” implored Four Fish author Paul Greenberg in a recent New York Times op-ed, “we might develop a viable, sustainable aquaculture sector of our own.” It doesn’t just boil down to economics: The locations we generally export from, like China and South Asia, don’t have near the stringent environmental and health regulations as the US. “Growing more seafood at home would help with trade deficit, but also we could control the safety more,” says Barrows.
Though our current aquaculture sector is relatively tiny, US farmers are in a better position to innovate, because we have a sophisticated animal nutrition research center and feed sector, says NOAA’s Rust. “We’re the leading technical country in the world on feed.”
Belov wasn’t always open to aquaculture, and he still feels that fish—such as some salmon—with healthy wild fisheries attached to them should never be farmed. That way, environmentally responsible fishermen can stay in business. His long-term strategy for sustainable seafood? Draw from the “amazing [wild] fisheries that exist, and then you backfill with intelligent aquaculture, and yes, you can feed the planet with sustainable marine products.” Which may take more work, but as he puts it, “We depleted the ocean. It wasn’t anybody else’s fault. So it’s our job to fix it.” |
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 2.78 KB C Harold: Hahaha~! How are you doing, Lutz?! Lutz: Ah! It's dad! Ya~y! Da~d! Harold: Ooh! What a cute one! Ni~ce, nice, nice!! Lutz: Ahahahaha! Dad, it tickles! Harold: That's right, that's right! I'm sorry. By the way, Lutz, is the wyvern I gave you alright? Lutz: You mean Michel?! Of course! We get along perfectly every day! Harold: I see, I see! You get along perfectly! Lutz: Yeah! Harlod: ...... Ugh....! Lutz: What's the matter, dad? You’re shaking all of a sudden. Harold: Don't look at me, son! The image of the wyvern I have prepared being so treasured by my son... Dad is now going to hide and cry in secret! Uoooooooh! I'm so incredibly happy! Lutz: Ahaha! You didn't hide yourself at all, dad! B Harold: Lutz! Lutz: Dad! Were you looking for me? Harold: Yeah, of course! Lutz: Ya~y! I'm so happy! Harold: I see, I see! Dad is happy too! By the way, about the wyvern we were talking about before... Lutz: Michel?! What about him? Harold: How to say this... Is his temper okay? Lutz: Of course! He's full of energy every day! Harold: But, since he got so attached to you, doesn't he act violent? Lutz: No. That doesn't happen. Harold: I see, it doesn't happen. Doesn't. Yes. Lutz: ??? What's wrong? You're acting weird today. Harold: What are you saying, son! Dad is the same as always!! ...So you really don't have any problems flying on that wyvern? Lutz: I told you I don't~! A Harold: ..... Lutz: Ah, dad. Harold: O-oh, son. What a coincidence, meeting you here. Lutz: What are you saying! You were peeking on me! I noticed it, you know. Harold: No, that's, how should I... Lutz: Geez... What is it? You're not acting like yourself now, dad. Harold: ...Um, actually, I'm worried about the wyvern I gave you. Lutz: About Michel? Why? When you first heard we get along, you were super happy... Harold: Actually, I learned that the wyvern's parent had an unexpectedly brutal personality. Lutz: Eeh? U-unexpectedly brutal?! Harold: Yeah... My bad luck, which chose this little wyvern, has passed on to you... I didn't want to tell you that, but I couldn't even think about the bad things that could happen... Lutz: So that's why you came to peek on me. But just take a look and you will know! That Michel is a very good boy! Harold: Hm. It has such an intimidating presence but is completely obedient around you, it's owner... It really acts like the ideal wyvern. Lutz: Of course it does! It's the wyvern I got from you dad! No mistake about it! Harold: I see! So that's how it is! You made the bad luck I had disappear! That's my son! Dad, dad is so happy! ......... Lutz: What happened? You're shaking all of a sudden... Harold: Because of witnessing how wonderful my son is, I'm going to hide and cry in secret! Lutz: Ahaha! I told you, you're not hiding it at all!
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C Harold: Hahaha~! How are you doing, Lutz?! Lutz: Ah! It's dad! Ya~y! Da~d! Harold: Ooh! What a cute one! Ni~ce, nice, nice!! Lutz: Ahahahaha! Dad, it tickles! Harold: That's right, that's right! I'm sorry. By the way, Lutz, is the wyvern I gave you alright? Lutz: You mean Michel?! Of course! We get along perfectly every day! Harold: I see, I see! You get along perfectly! Lutz: Yeah! Harlod: ...... Ugh....! Lutz: What's the matter, dad? You’re shaking all of a sudden. Harold: Don't look at me, son! The image of the wyvern I have prepared being so treasured by my son... Dad is now going to hide and cry in secret! Uoooooooh! I'm so incredibly happy! Lutz: Ahaha! You didn't hide yourself at all, dad! B Harold: Lutz! Lutz: Dad! Were you looking for me? Harold: Yeah, of course! Lutz: Ya~y! I'm so happy! Harold: I see, I see! Dad is happy too! By the way, about the wyvern we were talking about before... Lutz: Michel?! What about him? Harold: How to say this... Is his temper okay? Lutz: Of course! He's full of energy every day! Harold: But, since he got so attached to you, doesn't he act violent? Lutz: No. That doesn't happen. Harold: I see, it doesn't happen. Doesn't. Yes. Lutz: ??? What's wrong? You're acting weird today. Harold: What are you saying, son! Dad is the same as always!! ...So you really don't have any problems flying on that wyvern? Lutz: I told you I don't~! A Harold: ..... Lutz: Ah, dad. Harold: O-oh, son. What a coincidence, meeting you here. Lutz: What are you saying! You were peeking on me! I noticed it, you know. Harold: No, that's, how should I... Lutz: Geez... What is it? You're not acting like yourself now, dad. Harold: ...Um, actually, I'm worried about the wyvern I gave you. Lutz: About Michel? Why? When you first heard we get along, you were super happy... Harold: Actually, I learned that the wyvern's parent had an unexpectedly brutal personality. Lutz: Eeh? U-unexpectedly brutal?! Harold: Yeah... My bad luck, which chose this little wyvern, has passed on to you... I didn't want to tell you that, but I couldn't even think about the bad things that could happen... Lutz: So that's why you came to peek on me. But just take a look and you will know! That Michel is a very good boy! Harold: Hm. It has such an intimidating presence but is completely obedient around you, it's owner... It really acts like the ideal wyvern. Lutz: Of course it does! It's the wyvern I got from you dad! No mistake about it! Harold: I see! So that's how it is! You made the bad luck I had disappear! That's my son! Dad, dad is so happy! ......... Lutz: What happened? You're shaking all of a sudden... Harold: Because of witnessing how wonderful my son is, I'm going to hide and cry in secret! Lutz: Ahaha! I told you, you're not hiding it at all! |
“Deal with that, turds.”
After repeatedly trying to appease citizen groups, city working groups, and town council members, a downtown developer has submitted his final revision of a plan for new downtown building development with the above snarled derision.
Initially proposed at 21 stories, concerns ranging from skyline maintenance to waste handling had whittled the initial development plan down to 70% of it’s initially planned size and was deemed a reasonable adjustment by all sides. However, those changes were still not enough to appease a committee advising city council, who were deadlocked at 3-3 in votes for and against the project, so the developer took a different tack.
The revised tower includes radical bylaw variance, reduced aesthetic appeal, the removal of subsidized housing, and a 15-foot mirror ball at the pinnacle. When asked about the last point, the developer laughed. “You want historic charm? How about a disco-ball homage to the last time this city had any reasonable growth.”
Other developers were quick to line up in support of the new tower, seeing it as a shining example of passive-aggressive sarcasm. Some went so far as saying that they would make their own proposals denser, shittier, and uglier “purely in solidarity.”
The downtown developer shook his head in disbelief when asked if he would leave the plan as-is, or withdraw it after the obvious message had sunk in.
“You know what’s crazy about you guys? You don’t even understand that you’re the butt of the joke.” He explained, indicating that he meant the entire city. “When I have lunch with friends developing in the GTA, Ottawa, hell almost anyone, I’m the life of the party! I have all of these stories about trying to make you happy, and my friends just laugh and laugh at all the bullshit I have to go through to try and do anything here.”
The developer mood darkened, as he continued.
“So take it or leave it. Eventually nobody is going to want to deal with this circus, and I’m sick of making my friends pay for lunch.” |
Seth Rosenblatt/CNET
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The impact of US government surveillance on tech firms and the economy is going to get worse before it gets better, leaders at some of the biggest tech firms warned US Sen. Ron Wyden on Wednesday during a roundtable on the impact of US government surveillance on the digital economy.
The senior Democratic senator from Oregon took the floor at the Palo Alto High School gymnasium -- where he played high school basketball well enough to earn a college scholarship for his court-side abilities more than 50 years ago -- to discuss the economic impact and future risks of US government surveillance on technology firms.
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, who has been outspoken on the topic, pulled no punches with his assessment of how the spying scandal has and will continue to impact Google and other tech companies.
The impact is "severe and is getting worse," Schmidt said. "We're going to wind up breaking the Internet."
Also on the panel with Schmidt was Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith, another critic who became more outspoken of government surveillance after Edward Snowden leaked National Security Agency documents in 2013 that showed a much wider federal spying apparatus than previously believed.
"Just as people won't put their money in a bank they won't trust, people won't use an Internet they won't trust," Smith said.
Panelist Ramsey Homsany, general counsel for online storage company Dropbox, said the trust between customers and businesses that is at the core of the Internet's economic engine has begun to "rot it from the inside out."
"The trust element is extremely insidious," Homsany said. "It's about personal emails, it's about photos, it's about plans, it's about medical records."
The documents leaked by Snowden indicate that the US government has been collecting a record of most calls made within the US, including the initiating and receiving phone numbers, and the length of the call; emails, Facebook posts and instant messages of an unspecified number of people; and the vast majority of unencrypted Internet traffic including searches and social media posts. Documents from Snowden show that the British equivalent of the NSA, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), has a similar program.
Trouble abroad
In prepared remarks to open the roundtable, Wyden noted that he warned back in 2011 that people were going to be stunned and angry when they found out how the US government had been "secretly applying its surveillance authority" to its citizens. What he wasn't counting on was the international backlash.
Some of the international pushback is in response to data collection by tech companies, not the US government. Europe's new and controversial "right to be forgotten" law, which says European citizens have a right to ask search engines to remove any results that might infringe on their privacy, is causing headaches for Google. Critics contend that Google policies placed data collection over privacy.
The tech execs on the panel were most upset and scared about international efforts to impose "data localization," as Microsoft's Smith put it, referring to a burgeoning efforts by countries to force companies to build data centers based within their borders.
The cost of building data centers in each country that a tech firm wants to do business in could wind up destroying US tech firms, Schmidt and Smith warned.
Schmidt called data localization a "national emergency." Tech titans have yet to go in-depth as to the actual financial impact data localization has had on them, but in addition to the costs of having to build at least one separate data center for each country that demanded it, data localization could also subject the data to local laws in a way that tech firms worry would erode user trust -- and their ability to trade on that trust -- even further.
Smith noted that 96 percent of the world does not live in the US, and that the American tech economy depends on convincing them that American tech services are trustworthy. "Foreign data centers would compromise American [economic] growth" and leadership, he said.
Abroad, efforts are already underway to force international tech companies to be more respectful of their own national interests -- efforts that could erode consumer trust further, said Wyden. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said publicly that Germany is looking at European email service providers so that their messages "don't have to go across the Atlantic." The government of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is considering forcing US tech firms to build data centers in Brazil, if they want to do business with Brazil.
The biggest indication of the decline of America's ability to guide the Internet, according to Wyden, is that Chinese officials told the senator earlier this summer that they considered the Chinese theft of US tech trade secrets no different than US government surveillance of foreign governments and firms.
Rebuilding trust
Part of reclaiming leadership in the digital economy since the Snowden document leaks has been efforts by tech companies to encrypt user data to protect it. Facebook has used its leverage to help convince tech companies to implement tougher webmail encryption standards, while Google and Yahoo are seeking to push the envelope of how encryption can safeguard webmail.
Panelist Colin Stretch, general counsel for Facebook, called efforts to encrypt user data "a key business objective of all of us."
"I'd be fundamentally surprised if anybody takes the foot off the pedal of building encryption into their products," he said.
Wyden reiterated his stance that he is not opposed to all government surveillance: He supports Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments from 2008, which allows the director of National Intelligence and the US attorney general to team up to target non-US citizens located outside the US.
While Wyden and the panelists discussed the need to revise American laws as the first step to regain the trust of American citizens and international governments, they didn't talk about what to do with the data that's already been collected.
Wyden told CNET after the panel that he had no plans at the moment to address the data that the government has currently collected.
"I have to reflect on that," he said, but added, "The cat's out of the bag. I want to get policies right for the future."
"There's no question that Washington, DC, does overreach well," quipped the senator.
Wyden concluded with a promise to make Congress take action to preserve the digital economy.
"The message here today is that there is a clear and present danger to the Internet economy," he said. "The reality is that we can pass a good bipartisan bill by the end of the year."
Update, 3:23 p.m. PT with additional information and background. |
Niklas Hjalmarsson of the Chicago Blackhawks subsists on a strict diet of juice and steak
Professional athletes don't get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focus—and that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what pro athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Here's a look at the daily diet of Swedish hockey star Niklas Hjalmarsson.
"You have a dynasty."
That's what NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said earlier this month when he awarded the Stanley Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks, their third in six seasons and their first home win since the 1930s.
But while goalies get a disproportionate amount of love for stuffing an opposing offense, credit is due to the defensemen—and Niklas Hjalmarsson was one of the best in the league this season. (His playoff average of 25+ minutes of ice time per game is telling.) Along with those three recent Stanley Cup wins with the Blackhawks, he also played with Sweden's silver medal-winning team during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
So! What does he eat to stay fueled during the season?
"I don't go on a special diet, I just try to stay healthy," he says. "I try to think smart and if there's anything special I do, I drink a lot of juices. That’s pretty much it."
Breakfast is an omelet with juiced greens, afternoon snack is a juice from Hi-Vibe Juicery in Chicago, and dinner is a steak and salad. Nothing changes. From the start of training season up until the last game of the Stanley Cup, Hjalmarsson doesn’t shake up his meal routine. "That's actually a mental battle throughout the playoffs," he says. "You eat the same kind of food for two months and it gets pretty old but you have to refuel your body. You eat as much as you can but it's a struggle."
The one thing that varies day-to-day is lunch with his wife, which is usually heavy on starch and protein, be it pasta, maybe salmon, or sea bass and quinoa. But usually they share something homemade and Swedish. “My wife is pretty good at cooking so she usually has lunch for me, some kind of traditional Swedish cooking with meat and potatoes."
There may be something to Swedish cuisine. Mediterranean has been a favorite of nutritionists, but a growing body of evidence suggests that a Nordic diet can be just as healthy. Built on nuts, berries, fish, and game, the Viking diet is starting to lure Paleo practitioners who aren't quite ready to eat their way forward a few millennia.
But herring and lingonberries don't have a monopoly on the Swedish palate. Hjalmarsson swears that pizza in Sweden is better than anywhere else in the world, and as soon as he's back home, with another Stanley Cup under his belt, he's ready to binge. "Right after the season I take three weeks without caring at all what I eat, just to get rid of that craving. So after those three weeks I can just focus on working out and being healthy."
Breakfast
Three egg omelette with onion and chorizo
Greek yogurt and berries
Juice made from spinach, kale and romaine lettuce
Lunch
Beef/pork meatballs with lingonberry jam Mashed potatoes
Afternoon Juices
Watermelon, mint, and turmeric
Carrot and jalapeño
Pineapple, pomegranate and ginger |
Pups from the Ohau Point seal colony frolicking beneath a waterfall - which is "full of rocks" but may be recoverable.
A beloved seal breeding ground near Kaikoura has been destroyed.
Ohau Point is a popular tourist spot due to its thriving seal colony on the jagged rocks by State Highway 1.
Visitors can walk along Ohau Stream Track to a waterfall, where seal pups are often spotted playing in the pool beneath.
NZ TRANSPORT AGENCY The landslide at Ohau Pt after the Kaikōura Earthquake, where an estimated 110,000 cubic metres of rock and debris came down.
Massive landslides caused by this week's earthquakes appear to have wiped out the breeding ground along the coast, just weeks before the start of pupping season.
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"The majority of that breeding colony is completely gone," Department of Conservation (DOC) ranger Mike Morrissey said.
THE PRESS Seals playing at the Ohau waterfall before the earthquake that damaged their spot.
"It's just rock."
It is likely some seals were killed in the landslides.
It was fortunate timing, however, as many would have been out at sea feeding ahead of pupping season.
It was unlikely there were pups at the waterfall at the time of the earthquake, Morrissey said.
The waterfall was not yet accessible, so it was unclear if it remained intact, but due to the surrounding damage it was unlikely to have survived.
When the seals returned in the coming weeks they would not recognise their home, Morrissey said.
"Those seals generally come back to the area where they were born. They'll go in there and it won't be like anywhere they recognise before, so they'll probably just go and breed on other parts of the coast."
The colony will likely return at some stage, albeit in a different form.
"There's that much damage to the colony there now that if they clear the road they'll probably just tip a lot of that stuff over the edge where it will just create new habitat for them anyhow.
"Once the rocks are settled they'll come back."
There were areas both north and south of Ohau Point where seals could haul themselves out to rest, said DOC marine species and threats manager Ian Angus.
It would take several weeks for the full impact on wildlife to be determined. Blue penguins may also have been affected.
"DOC's immediate priority in the aftermath of the earthquakes is to assist Civil Defence with the recovery effort, including ensuring that structures and tracks are safe."
A group of University of Canterbury students had been studying the seal colony and hoped to use thermal imaging to check the population.
"We're hoping to get up there within the next couple weeks," said scientist Dr Sharyn Goldstein, who is supervising the students.
"Apparently there has been a big landslide, and at this year they're pupping and pregnant so it might have quite an effect."
There are also concerns for the local shearwater population, which live in a colony high in the Kaikoura ranges.
The endangered seabird lives only in Kaikoura where the population is fiercely protected by locals, particularly when they fall from the sky en masse.
DOC has yet to survey the damage to the colony as it can only be reached by helicopter, but it is likely to have been impacted.
"I should imagine from what we can see that there will be quite big effects," Morrissey said. |
Misty Copeland took her first ballet class at age 13 and performed as Clara in the Nutcracker eight months later. Four years after that, she joined the American Ballet Theatre as a corps member, and in 2007 she became the company’s only black female soloist. She was also the first in decades, only the third in the company’s history, and has for years been the only black woman dancing in the company at large.
You came to ballet late, at age 13; the first time you came to the barre, you were wearing gym clothes. What did those first experiences feel like?
I initially felt like a fish out of water. I grew up on soul and hip hop, so I didn’t understand the classical music, how to count it, or how to find the rhythm. But the physical movement came quite easily to me, even though I couldn’t grasp what I was doing.
And still you were on pointe within a few months and were recognized as a prodigy right away. What did that word mean to you?
That word meant nothing to me until I was a professional living in NYC dancing for ABT. It wasn’t until then that I realized the weight that word held. That I might have this huge standard to live up to as a professional.
Around that same time, you were sort of accelerated into adulthood. In your book you wrote about ballerinas tending to be late bloomers in life, physically and otherwise: how you didn’t get your period till the doctors induced it via birth control at 19, and then your body changed dramatically and fast. I can’t imagine how strange that must have been in such a concentrated dance environment.
The physical shift was intense. I no longer had control over my instrument: my body. Day to day was a struggle never knowing how my body was going to look and respond to what I was doing and feeding it.
But, that was when I realized how much there was to offer outside of ballet. I was searching for a connection to people and I no longer felt that in the ballet studio. I started to embrace it more within the urban community of the city. I think it helped me to grow and become a whole person that most dancers don’t experience if you’re locked in a studio your whole life.
You’re biracial and identify as black: I wondered if your racial identification ever changed or shifted its meaning growing up and throughout your time in ballet?
I never struggled with my identity being black, white or other. From the time I can remember, my mother raised me and my siblings to identify with being black. I found comfort in meeting other biracial people as a kid, and I found that in my obsession with Mariah Carey. And I was never identified as white in the ballet world, that’s for sure. I’ve always stood firm on the fact that I am a black women and that’s how the world will view me. Especially the ballet world.
You talked about choreographing routines to Mariah Carey when you were little, and letting off steam at the club when you moved to NYC. Do you still play around with hip-hop?
I absolutely do. You can see it all over my Instagram. I have grown to love dancing to classical music, but there’s something freeing for me to make classical ballet work to any music. I love improvising moves to pop, soul and hip hop music.
And one time you worked with Prince! What’s your best memory of working with him?
My best memory of working with Prince was the time spent on the stage with him during shows. We had so much fun off the stage hanging out, listening to music and going to parties, but being in a performance setting brought something very special out of both of us. It’s like we became different people and challenged each other artistically.
Who’d be your top pick to work with now?
I would love to work with James Blake.
People wanted to pull you into contemporary for reasons related both to your expressiveness and also your “non-traditional” look: what made you stand firm in wanting to stay a classical ballerina?
I was always aware of my innate awareness of movement, but I wanted to prove that my classical technique was my strength. I trained as a ballerina and nothing else. I didn’t work for all these years to be out on the stage as a modern or contemporary dancer.
If given an empty studio and a day all to yourself, what would you do? What music would you put on?
I love to improvise. I would put on some Etta James, James Blake, Drake, Beyoncé, Frank Ocean…
How often do you get off stage and think, “I did that perfectly”?
It’s rare. Just a handful of times in my 13-year professional career. There are days your body is just more capable and days when you are so relaxed that your artistry and the character you’re portraying easily oozes out. That’s the cool thing about performing in front of a live audience and never knowing how your body will respond each day. It’s like diving into the ocean blindfolded.
You talk in the book about the corps member entry salary, which isn’t much, especially in New York, and it made me think about how much a factor like that might keep the ballerina population (like so many other populations!) to people that start off wealthy. What was it like dealing with this rarefied class situation in ballet?
I had times of struggling during our layoff seasons, and I couldn’t turn to mommy and daddy to help me out. If anything, I was the one helping my family out when I could. And now, it’s amazing to have so many opportunities because of ballet and to now make enough money to comfortably help them out. The class situation in ballet is what it is: yes, most come from money in this world, but I couldn’t resent my peers for something they couldn’t help.
If you’d known the obstacles you were going to face when you started out, would you have done anything differently?
Not at all. I would have taken on the ballet world again and again because of what it’s given me as a person.
And you seem really ready to take on criticism and engage it head-on: you use social media, read comments. Whose criticism matters most to you?
My artistic directors and my own. In the end, ABT’s artistic director Kevin McKenzie is who’s putting me on stage and of course I have to be happy with me everyday. Other critics’ words are fleeting and subjective.
How do you deal with the idea that sometimes gets thrust on you, that you are playing or benefiting from some sort of a race card?
It actually makes me laugh. The race card doesn’t exist in the ballet world. Those words to me are so ignorant, especially coming from people inside this world. People aren’t trying to put diversity on the stage to better their companies or brands. The ballet world could care less. They have survived in this bubble forever; it really doesn’t affect their audiences, whether or not there’s a black woman on stage.
Do you think this will change?
I do see the ballet world taking steps over the next decade to include more diversity. I think the dialogue has been opened up for the world to peek in, and it’s definitely going to change.
First and last photos courtesy of Misty Copeland’s Instagram. Her memoir Life in Motion is available for purchase, and it’s a wonderful read. |
This article is about mains power connection devices used in domestic and light commercial environments. For other types, see Industrial and multiphase power plugs and sockets
AC power plugs and sockets allow electric equipment to be connected to the alternating current (AC) power supply in buildings and at other sites. Electrical plugs and sockets differ from one another in voltage and current rating, shape, size, and connector type. Different standard systems of plugs and sockets are used around the world.
Plugs and sockets for portable appliances became available in the 1880s, to replace connections to light sockets with wall-mounted outlets. A proliferation of types developed for both convenience and protection from electrical injury. Today there are about 20 types in common use around the world, and many obsolete socket types are found in older buildings. Coordination of technical standards has allowed some types of plug to be used across large regions to facilitate trade in electrical appliances, and for the convenience of travellers and consumers of imported electrical goods.
Some multi-standard sockets allow use of several types of plug; improvised or unapproved adaptors between incompatible sockets and plugs may not provide the full safety and performance of an approved socket–plug combination.
Concepts and terminology [ edit ]
Plugs and sockets may sometimes combine male and female contacts. Clockwise from top left: CEE 7/4 (German) plug; a matching CEE 7/3 socket with exposed earth (ground) projections on circumference of socket; CEE 7/5 (French) socket with projecting earth pin. Typically no energy is supplied to any exposed pins or terminals on the socket, for safety.
A plug is the movable connector attached to an electrically operated device, and the socket is fixed on equipment or a building structure and connected to an energised electrical circuit. The plug is a male connector with protruding pins that match the openings and female contacts in a socket. Some plugs have female contacts that are used only for an earth ground connection. Some plugs have built-in fuses for safety.
To reduce the risk of electric shock, plug and socket systems have safety features in addition to the recessed contacts of the energised socket. These may include plugs with insulated sleeves, recessed sockets, or automatic shutters to block socket apertures when a plug is removed.
A socket may be surrounded by a decorative or protective cover [1] which may be integral with the socket.
Single-phase sockets have two current-carrying connections to the power supply circuit, and may also have a third pin for a safety connection to earth ground. Depending on the supply system, one or both current-carrying connections may have significant voltage to earth ground.
History [ edit ]
When commercial electric power was first introduced in the 1880s, it was used primarily for lighting. Other portable appliances (such as vacuum cleaners, electric fans, smoothing irons, and curling-tong heaters) were connected to light-bulb sockets.
As early as 1885 a two-pin plug and wall socket format was available on the British market. By about 1910 the first three-pin earthed (grounded) plugs appeared. Over time other safety improvements were gradually introduced to the market. The earliest national standard for plug and wall socket forms was set in 1915.[citation needed]
Application issues [ edit ]
Types of power plugs and sockets used by country.
Designs of plugs and sockets have gradually developed to reduce the risk of electric shock and fire. Safety measures include; pin and aperture dimensions, a plug topology that permits only proper insertion of a plug into a socket, and earth (ground) pins that make contact before line (power) pins can be connected. Some types can also include fuses and switches.
Shutters [ edit ]
Shutters on the socket prevents foreign objects from contacting live contacts. The first shuttered socket was introduced by British manufacturer Crompton, in 1893. Electrical insulation of the pin shanks to reduce live contact exposure was added to some designs, as early as 1905. [2]
Earthing (grounding) [ edit ]
A third contact for a connection to earth is intended to protect against insulation failure of the connected device. Some early unearthed plug and socket types were revised to include an earthing pin or phased out in favour of earthed types.
Different types of plug are used for different IEC appliance classes. The assigned class depends on whether the device is earthed and the degree of insulation it incorporates. Class I, for example, refers to earthed equipment that requires a third contact in the plug and socket, while Class II refers to unearthed equipment protected by double insulation.
Polarization [ edit ]
Polarization is maintained by the design of the plug, socket and contacts so that a plug fits only one way into a socket. Where the building wiring system defines a "neutral" conductor that is close to earth potential, it is safer for people interacting with the equipment to preserve that distinction. For example, appliances may ensure that single-pole switches interrupt the line side of the circuit, or ensure that screw-base lampholder shells are connected to the neutral side of the supply, minimizing the chance of contact with live parts. In most designs, "polarized" plugs cannot be mated with non-polarized sockets. Wiring systems where both circuit conductors have a significant potential with respect to earth do not benefit from polarized plugs.
Universal sockets [ edit ]
"Universal" or "multi-standard" sockets are intended to accommodate plugs of various types. In some jurisdictions, they violate safety standards for sockets. [3] [4]
Safety advocates, the United States Army,[5] and a manufacturer of sockets [6] point out a number of safety issues with universal socket and adapters, including voltage mismatch, exposure of live pins, lack of proper earth ground connection, or lack of protection from overload or short circuit. Universal sockets may not meet technical standards for durability, plug retention force, temperature rise of components, or other performance requirements, as they are outside the scope of national and international technical standards.
A technical standard may include compatibility of a socket with more than one form of plug. The Thai dual socket is specified in figure 4 of TIS 166-2549 (shown below) and is designed to accept Thai plugs, and also Type A, B and C plugs. Chinese dual sockets have both an unearthed socket complying with figure 5 of GB 1002-2008 (both flat pin and 4.8 mm round pin), and an earthed socket complying with figure 4 of GB 1002-2008. The exception is that both Thai and Chinese dual sockets also accept 120 V rated plugs, potentially causing an electrical incompatibility because both states use a 220 V residential voltage.
A so-called 'universal socket', which meets no standard [7] but is intended to accept a number of different plug types.
An earthed Thai socket that appears to comply with figure 4 of TIS 166-2549. Although it may accept NEMA plugs, the Thai voltage is 220 V and thus electrically incompatible with US devices.
Chinese dual socket accepting both unearthed 2-pin (upper) and earthed 3-pin (lower) plugs.
Voltage rating of plugs and power cords [ edit ]
NEMA 5-15 (type B) plugs with current and voltage ratings shown (left) on label (7 A 125 V) and (centre) on engagement face (10 A 125 V). Also shown (right) is the rating on the C13 connector at the other end of the 10 A 125 V appliance cord.
Plugs and power cords have a rated voltage and current assigned to them by the manufacturer, and these values are marked on the plug. Using an appliance, plug, or power cord that is inappropriate for the load may be a safety hazard. For example, high-current equipment can cause a fire when plugged into an extension cord with a current rating lower than necessary. Sometimes the cords used to plug in dual voltage 120 V / 240 V equipment are rated only for 125 V, so care must be taken by travellers to use only cords with an appropriate voltage rating.
Appliance connections and extensions [ edit ]
So that manufacturers need not build many similar appliances differing only in the type of plug fitted, a common strategy is to provide an IEC 60320 inlet on the appliance and a detachable power cord (mains flex lead) and appropriate plug. The appliance need only to be tested to the power inlet. Some appliances have a switch for selection of voltage.
A Plug Strip with 2 USB ports and built in Surge Protection
Extension cords (extension leads) are used for temporary connections when a socket is not within convenient reach of an appliance's power lead. A power strip with multiple sockets may also have a switch, surge voltage protection, or over-current protection.
Special purpose plugs and sockets [ edit ]
Special purpose sockets may be found in residential, industrial, commercial or institutional buildings. Examples of systems using special purpose sockets include:
Special-purpose sockets may be labelled or coloured to identify a reserved use of a system, or may have keys or specially shaped pins to prevent use of unintended equipment.
Shaver supply units [ edit ]
Shaver supply unit for BS 4573, US Type A, Australian two-pin, and Europlug Type C.
National wiring regulations sometimes prohibit the use of sockets within certain areas adjacent to water taps, etc. A special socket, with an isolation transformer, may allow electric razors to be used near a sink. Because the isolation transformer is of low rating, such outlets are not suitable to operate higher-powered appliances such as blow dryers.
An IEC standard 61558-2-5, adopted as CENELEC standard EN 61558-2-5 and also as a national standard in some countries, describes one type of shaver supply unit. Shaver sockets may accept multiple two-pin plug types including Europlug (Type C), Australian (Type I) and BS 4573. The isolation transformer often includes a 115 V output accepting two-pin US plugs (Type A). Shaver supply units must also be current limited, IEC 61558-2-5 specifies a minimum rating of 20 VA and maximum of 50 VA.[10] IEC 61558-2-5 requires sockets to be marked with the shaver symbol defined in IEC 60417-5225, the words "shavers only" are also often used but not required.
Isolation transformers and special shaver receptacles were once standard installation practice in North America, but now a GFCI receptacle is used instead. This provides the full capacity of a standard receptacle but protects the user of a razor or other appliance from leakage current.
Types in present use [ edit ]
The plugs and sockets used in a given area are regulated by local governments.
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) maintains a guide with letter designations for generally compatible types of plugs,[11] which expands on earlier guides published by the United States Department of Commerce. This is a de facto naming standard and guide to travellers. Some letter types correspond to several current ratings or different technical standards, so the letter does not uniquely identify a plug and socket within the type family, nor guarantee compatibility. Physical compatibility of the plug and socket does not ensure correct voltage, frequency, or current capacity. Not all plug and socket families have letters in the IEC guide, but those that have are noted in this article, as are some additional letters commonly used by retail vendors.[12]
In Europe, CENELEC publishes a list of approved plug and socket technical standards used in the member countries.[13]
Argentina IRAM 2073 and 2071 (Type I) [ edit ]
Argentinian 1996 power plug arrangement
The plug and socket system used in Class 1 applications in Argentina is defined by IRAM standards. These two standards are; IRAM 2073 "Two pole plugs with earthing contact for domestic and similar purposes, rated 10 A and 20 A, 250 V AC" and IRAM 2071 "Two pole socket – outlets with earthing contact for 10 A and 20 A, 250 V AC., for fixed installations." The plug and socket system is similar in appearance to the Australian and Chinese plugs. It has an earthing pin and two flat current-carrying pins forming an inverted V-shape (120°). The flat pins for the 10 A version measure 6.25 by 1.55 mm (0.246 by 0.061 in) and 8.0 by 1.9 mm (0.315 by 0.075 in) for the 20 A version, and are set at 30° to the vertical at a nominal pitch of 7.92 mm (0.312 in). The pin length is the same as in the Chinese version. The earthing pin length is 21.4 mm (0.843 in) for the 10 A version and 21.8 mm (0.858 in) for the 20 A version. On the plugs, the pole length is 18.2 mm (0.717 in) for the 10 A version and 17.8 mm (0.701 in) for the 20 A version. The most important difference from the Australian plug is that the Argentinian plug is wired with the line and neutral contacts reversed.
In Brazil, similar plugs and sockets are still commonly used for high-power appliances like air conditioners, dishwashers, and household ovens. Although being often called "Argentinian plug," it is actually based on the American NEMA 10-20 standard, and is incompatible with Argentinian IRAM plugs. Since Brazil adopted the NBR 14136 standard which includes a 20 A version, the original motivation to use the NEMA 10-20 plug has ceased to exist.[citation needed]
Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 3112 (Type I), used in Australasia [ edit ]
Australian 2005 standard power plug with insulated pins
Australasian switched 3-pin dual power point (socket) rated 10 amperes
This Australian/New Zealand standard is used in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. It defines a plug with an earthing pin and two flat current-carrying pins forming an inverted V-shape.[14] The flat pins measure 6.5 by 1.6 mm (0.256 by 0.063 in) and are set at 30° to the vertical at a nominal pitch of 13.7 mm (0.539 in). Australian and New Zealand wall sockets almost always have switches on them for extra safety, as in the UK. An unearthed version of this plug with two angled power pins but no earthing pin is used with small double-insulated appliances, but the sockets always include an earth contact.
There are several AS/NZS 3112 plug variants, including ones with larger or differently shaped pins used for devices drawing 15, 20, 25 and 32 A. These sockets accept plugs of equal or of a lower current capacity, but not of higher capacity. For example, a 10 A plug will fit all sockets but a 20 A plug will fit only 20, 25 and 32 A sockets. In New Zealand PDL 940 "Tap-on" or Piggy-back plugs are available which allow a second 10 A plug, or a charger, to be fitted to the rear of the plug.
Australia's standard plug/socket system was originally codified as standard C112 (floated provisionally in 1937, and adopted as a formal standard in 1938), which was superseded by AS 3112 in 1990. The requirement for insulated pins was introduced in the 2004 revision.[15] The current version is AS/NZS 3112:2011, Approval and test specification – Plugs and socket-outlets.
Brazilian standard NBR 14136 (Type N) [ edit ]
Brazil, which had been using mostly Europlugs, and NEMA 1–15 and NEMA 5–15 standards, adopted a (non-compliant) variant of IEC 60906-1 as the national standard in 1998 under specification NBR 14136 (revised in 2002).[16] These are used for both 220-volt and 127-volt regions of the country, despite the IEC 60906-2 recommendation that NEMA 5-15 be used for 120 V connections. There are two types of sockets and plugs in NBR 14136: one for 10 A, with a 4.0 mm pin diameter, and another for 20 A, with a 4.8 mm pin diameter.[17] This differs from IEC 60906-1 which specifies a pin diameter of 4.5 mm and a rating of 16 A. NBR 14136 does not require shutters on the apertures, a further aspect of non-compliance with IEC 60906-1. NBR 14136 was not enforced in that country until 2007, when its adoption was made optional for manufacturers. It became compulsory on 1 January 2010.
Few private houses in Brazil have an earthed supply, so even if a three-pin socket is present it is not safe to assume that all three terminals are actually connected. Most large domestic appliances were sold with the option to fit a flying earth tail to be locally earthed, but many consumers were unsure how to use this and so didn't connect it. The new standard has an earth pin, which in theory eliminates the need for the flying earth tail.[18]
Brazilian 10 ampere socket and plugs
Brazilian 20 ampere socket
British and compatible standards [ edit ]
BS 546 and related types (Type D and M) [ edit ]
BS 546 plugs. Left to right: 15 A, 5 A and 2 A.
BS 546, "Two-pole and earthing-pin plugs, socket-outlets and socket-outlet adaptors for AC (50-60 Hz) circuits up to 250V" describes four sizes of plug rated at 2 A, 5 A (Type D), 15 A (Type M) and 30 A. The plugs have three round pins arranged in a triangle, with the larger top pin being the earthing pin. The plugs are polarized and unfused. Plugs are non-interchangeable between current ratings. Introduced in 1934, the BS 546 type has mostly been displaced in the UK by plugs and sockets to the BS 1363 standard. According to the IEC[19] some 40 countries use Type D and 15 countries use Type M. Some, such as India and South Africa, use standards based on BS 546.
BS 1363 (Type G) [ edit ]
BS 1363 rewirable plug
Comparison of moulded plugs. Schuko type weighing 47g and BS 1363 weighing 44g, both manufactured by Longwell Company
BS 1363 "13 A plugs, socket-outlets, adaptors and connection units"[20] is the main plug and socket type used in the United Kingdom. According to the IEC[11] it is also used in over 50 countries worldwide. Some of these countries have national standards based on BS 1363, including: Ireland, Malaysia, Malta, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
This plug, commonly called a 13 A plug or 13 amp plug, has three rectangular pins forming an isosceles triangle. The BS 1363 plug has a fuse which is suitably rated to protect the appliance and its flexible cord from overload and consequent fire risk. Modern appliances may only be sold with a fuse of the appropriate size preinstalled.
BS 4573 (UK shaver) [ edit ]
BS 4573 Plug
In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Malta, there is a two-pin plug and socket for use with electric shavers and toothbrushes, defined by the BS 4573 standard.[21] The plug has insulated sleeves on the pins. Although superficially similar to the Europlug Type C, the diameter and spacing of the pins are slightly different.
CEE 7 standards [ edit ]
The International Commission on the Rules for the Approval of Electrical Equipment (IECEE) was a standards body which published Specification for plugs and socket-outlets for domestic and similar purposes as CEE Publication 7, known simply as CEE 7. It was originally published in 1951, the 2nd edition was published in May 1963 and was last updated by Modification 4 in March 1983.[22] CEE 7 consists of general specifications, plus a number of standard sheets for specific connectors.
A number of standards based on two round pins with centres spaced at 19 mm are in use in continental Europe and elsewhere, most of which are listed in IEC/TR 60083 "Plugs and socket-outlets for domestic and similar general use standardized in member countries of IEC".[23] There is no European Union regulation of domestic mains plugs and sockets, and the Low Voltage Directive specifically excludes domestic plugs and sockets.[24] EU countries each have their own regulations and national standards; for example, some require child-resistant shutters, while others do not. CE marking is neither applicable nor permitted on plugs and sockets.
CEE 7/1 unearthed socket and CEE 7/2 unearthed plug [ edit ]
CEE 7/1 wall socket, accepts CEE 7/2 (unearthed) plug and also CEE 7/4, CEE 7/6 and CEE 7/7 (earthed) plugs
Power bar with CEE 7/1 sockets and CEE 7/2 plug
CEE 7/4 plug partially inserted in CEE 7/1 non-earthed socket, pins are in contact but exposed. There is no connection for the earthing contact
CEE 7/1 unearthed sockets are designed to accept CEE 7/2 round plugs without notches in the body and having 4.8 by 19 mm (0.189 by 0.748 in) pins.
Because they have no earth connections they have been or are being phased out in most countries. The regulations of countries using the CEE 7/3 and CEE 7/5 socket standards vary in whether CEE 7/1 sockets are still permitted in environments where the need for earthing is less critical. Sweden, for example, prohibited them from new installations in 1994. In Germany unearthed sockets are rare, whereas in the Netherlands and Sweden it is still common to find them in "dry areas" such as in bedrooms or living rooms. Some countries prohibit use of unearthed and earthed sockets in the same room, in the "insulated room" concept, so that people cannot touch an earthed object and one that has become live, at the same time.
The depth of the sockets varies between countries and age. Older sockets are so shallow that it is possible to touch the pins of a plug when the plug is inserted only deep enough to get electrical power on the pins, while newer sockets are deep enough to protect from this kind of accident. CEE 7/1 sockets accept CEE 7/4, CEE 7/6 and CEE 7/7 plugs without providing an earth connection. The earthed CEE 7/3 and CEE 7/5 sockets were specifically designed not to allow insertion of CEE 7/2 unearthed round plugs fitted to older appliances which had to be earthed via other means.
Two Schuko (CEE 7-3) socket-outlets manufactured by Busch-Jaeger Elektro GmbH, the lower has (black) protective shutters, the upper does not, revealing internal metal contacts.
CEE 7/3 socket and CEE 7/4 plug (German "Schuko"; Type F) [ edit ]
Schuko plug (CEE 7/4) and socket (CEE 7/3)
The CEE 7/3 socket and CEE 7/4 plug are commonly called Schuko. The socket (which is often, in error, also referred to as CEE 7/4) has a predominantly circular recess which is 17.5 mm (0.689 in) deep with two symmetrical round apertures and two earthing clips on the sides of the socket positioned to ensure that the earth is always engaged before live pin contact is made. The plug pins are 4.8 by 19 mm (0.189 by 0.748 in). The Schuko connection system is symmetrical and unpolarised in its design, allowing line and neutral to be reversed. The socket also accepts Europlugs and CEE 7/17 plugs. It is rated at 16 A. The current German standards are DIN 49441:1972-06 "Two-pole plugs with earthing-contact 10 A 250 V≅ and 10 A 250 V–, 16 A 250 V∼" (which also includes CEE 7/7 plug) and DIN 49440-1:2006-01 "Two-pole socket-outlets with earthing contact, 16 A 250 V a.c."
In addition to Germany, it is used in Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Italy (standard CEI 23-50), Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Peru[25], Portugal, Romania, Russia,[26] Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea[27], Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uruguay.
Schuko is an abbreviation for the German word Schutzkontakt, which means "Protective contact" - in this case "protective" refers to the earth.
Some countries, including South Korea, Portugal, Finland, Denmark,[28] Norway and Sweden, require child-proof socket shutters; the German DIN 49440-1:2006-01 standard does not have this requirement.
CEE 7/5 socket and CEE 7/6 plug (French; Type E) [ edit ]
French socket
Rewireable French plug
The CEE 7/5 socket and CEE 7/6 plug are defined in French standard NF C 61-314 "Plugs and socket-outlets for household and similar purposes" (which also includes CEE 7/7, 7/16 and 7/17 plugs) The socket has a predominantly circular recess which is 15 mm (0.591 in) deep with two symmetrical round apertures and a round 4.8 mm (0.189 in) earth pin projecting from the socket such that the tip is 23 mm (0.906 in) beyond the live contacts, to ensure that the earth is always engaged before live pin contact is made. The earth pin is centred between the apertures, offset by 10 mm (0.394 in). The plug (which is often, in error, also referred to as CEE 7/5) has two round pins measuring 4.8 by 19 mm (0.189 by 0.748 in), spaced 19 mm (0.748 in) apart and with an aperture for the socket's projecting earth pin. This standard is also used in Belgium, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and some other countries.
Although the plug is polarised, CEE 7 does not define the placement of the line and neutral and there is no universally-observed standard. However, the Czech standard recommends that the line wire be on the left side when facing the socket. The French convention changed circa 2002 from nothing particular, to, if the earth pin was at the top then the line hole in the socket would be on the right looking at the socket.[citation needed] However, the socket may not necessarily be installed with the earth pin at the top. Packaging in France of sockets is normally marked with correct connection of the cables. Polarised pre-fitted plugs on appliances are therefore connected with the brown line wire to the right pin and the blue neutral wire to the left, the earth being connected to the contact at the "top" of the plug.
CEE 7/2 and 7/4 plugs are not compatible with the CEE 7/5 socket because of the round earthing pin permanently mounted in the socket.
CEE 7/7 plug (compatible with E and F) [ edit ]
CEE 7/7 plug
To bridge the differences between German and French standards, the CEE 7/7 plug was developed. It is polarised to prevent the line and neutral connections from being reversed when used with a French CEE 7/5 socket, but allows polarity reversal when inserted into a German CEE 7/3 socket. The plug is rated at 16 A.
It has earthing clips on both sides to connect with the CEE 7/3 socket and a female contact to accept the earthing pin of the CEE 7/5 socket. Currently, appliances in many countries are sold with non-rewireable CEE 7/7 plugs attached, enabling use in all countries whose socket standards are based on either CEE 7/3 or CEE 7/5.
This plug can be inserted into a Danish Type K socket, but earthing is not enabled.
CEE 7/16 plugs [ edit ]
The CEE 7/16 standard sheet appears in Supplement 2 (June 1962) to the 1951 edition of CEE 7. The CEE 7/16 unearthed plug is used for low power Class II applications, it has two round 4 by 19 mm (0.157 by 0.748 in) pins, rated at 2.5 A. There are two variants.
CEE 7/16 Alternative I [ edit ]
Alternative I is a round plug with cutouts to make it compatible with CEE 7/3 and CEE 7/5 sockets. (The similar-appearing CEE 7/17 has larger pins and a higher current rating.) This alternative is seldom used.
CEE 7/16 Alternative II "Europlug" (Type C) [ edit ]
Example of a Europlug
Alternative II, popularly known as the Europlug, is a flat plug defined by Cenelec standard EN 50075 and national equivalents. The Europlug is not rewirable and must be supplied with a flexible cord. It can be inserted in either direction, so line and neutral are connected arbitrarily.
There is no socket defined by EN 50075; neither is there a socket specified in CEE 7 to accept only the Europlug. Instead, the Europlug was designed to be compatible with a range of sockets in common use in Europe. These sockets, including the CEE 7/1, CEE 7/3 (German/"Schuko"), CEE 7/5 (French), and most Israeli, Swiss, Danish and Italian sockets, were designed to accept pins of various diameters, mainly 4.8 mm but also 4.0 mm and 4.5 mm, and are usually fed by final circuits with either 10 A or 16 A overcurrent protection devices.[29] To improve contact with socket parts the Europlug has slightly flexible pins which converge toward their free ends.
UK shaver sockets designed to accept BS 4573 shaver plugs also accept Europlugs for applications requiring less than 200 mA.[30] Other than such personal hygiene applications, UK consumer protection legislation[31] does not permit Europlugs.
The Europlug is also used in the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Asia .
CEE 7/17 unearthed plug [ edit ]
CEE 7/17 plug
This is a round plug which conforms to a shape compatible with CEE 7/1, CEE 7/3, and CEE 7/5 sockets. It has two round pins measuring 4.8 by 19 mm (0.189 by 0.748 in). It may be rated at either 10 A or 16 A, and may be used for unearthed Class II appliances (and in South Korea for all domestic non-earthed appliances). It is also defined as the Class II plug in Italian standard CEI 23-50. It can be inserted into Israeli SI 32 with some difficulty. The Soviet GOST 7396 standard includes both the CEE 7/17 and the CEE 7/16 variant II plug.
Danish Section 107-2-D1 earthed (Type K) [ edit ]
Danish 107-2-D1, standard DK 2-1a, with round power pins and half round earth pin
Danish unearthed and switched socket
Socket for the tilted flattened pins and half-round earth pin of Danish computer equipment plug (mainly used in professional environment), standard DK 2-5a
This Danish standard plug is described in the Danish Plug Equipment Section 107-2-D1 Standard sheet (SRAF1962/DB 16/87 DN10A-R). The Danish standard provides for sockets to have child-resistant shutters.
The Danish socket will also accept the CEE 7/16 Europlug or CEE 7/17 Schuko-French hybrid plug. CEE 7/4 (Schuko), CEE 7/7 (Schuko-French hybrid), and earthed CEE 7/6 French plugs will also fit into the socket but will not provide an earth connection and may be attached to appliances requiring more than the 13 A maximum rating of the socket.
A variation (standard DK 2-5a) of the Danish plug is for use only on surge protected computer sockets. It fits into the corresponding computer socket and the normal socket, but normal plugs deliberately don't fit into the special computer socket. The plug is often used in companies, but rarely in private homes.
There is a variation for hospital equipment with a rectangular left pin, which is used for life support equipment.
Traditionally all Danish sockets were equipped with a switch to prevent touching live pins when connecting/disconnecting the plug. Today, sockets without switch are allowed, but then it is a requirement that the sockets have a cavity to prevent touching the live pins. The shape of the plugs generally makes it difficult to touch the pins when connecting/disconnecting.
Since the early 1990s earthed sockets have been required in all new electric installations in Denmark. Older sockets need not be earthed, but all sockets, including old installations, must be protected by earth-fault interrupters (HFI or HPFI in Danish) by 1 July 2008.
As of 1 July 2008, wall sockets for French 2-pin, female earth CEE 7/5 are permitted for installations in Denmark.[32] This was done because no electrical equipment sold to private users is equipped with a Danish plug.
CEE 7/3 sockets were not permitted until 15 November 2011[33]. Many international travel adaptor sets sold outside Denmark match CEE 7/16 (Europlug) and CEE 7/7 (Schuko-French hybrid) plugs which can readily be used in Denmark.
Italy (Type L) [ edit ]
Side by side comparison of Italian CEI 23-50 S 11 and S 17 plugs and sockets rated 16 A (left) and 10 A (right).
Italian plugs and sockets are defined by the standard CEI 23-50 which superseded CEI 23-16. This includes models rated at 10 A and 16 A that differ in contact diameter and spacing (see below for details)[34]. Both are symmetrical, allowing the line and neutral contacts to be inserted in either direction. This plug is also commonly used in Chile and Uruguay.
10 A plugs and socket Pins which are 4 mm in diameter, the centres spaced 19 mm apart. The 10 A three-pin earthed rear entry plug is designated CEI 23-50 S 11 (there are also two side-entry versions, SPA 11 and SPB 11). The 10 A two-pin unearthed plug is designated CEI 23-50 S 10. The 10 A three-pin earthed socket is designated CEI 23-50 P 11, and the 10 A two-pin unearthed socket is designated CEI 23-50 P 10. Both 10 A sockets also accept CEE 7/16 (Europlugs).
16 A plug and socket Pins which are 5 mm in diameter, the centres spaced 26 mm apart. The 16 A three-pin earthed rear entry plug is designated CEI 23-50 S 17 (there are also two side-entry versions, SPA 17 and SPB 17). The 16 A two-pin unearthed plug is designated CEI 23-50 S 16. The 16 A three-pin earthed socket is designated CEI 23-50 P 17, there is not a 16 A two-pin unearthed socket. The 16 A socket used to be referred to as per la forza motrice (for electromotive force, see above) or sometimes (inappropriately) industriale (industrial) or even calore.
forza to 2 × luce and 1 × forza Old adaptor fromto 2 ×and 1 ×
The two standards were initially adopted because up to the second half of the 20th century in many regions of Italy electricity was supplied by means of two separate consumer connections – one for powering illumination and one for other purposes – and these generally operated at different voltages, typically 127 V single phase and 220 V single phase (from 3-phase 380 V) or two phase (from 220 V 3-phase). The electricity on the two supplies was separately metered, was sold at different tariffs, was taxed differently and was supplied through separate and different sockets. Even though the two electric lines (and respective tariffs) were gradually unified beginning in the 1960s (the official, but purely theoretical date was the summer of 1974) many houses had dual wiring and two electricity meters for years thereafter; in some zones of Lazio the 127 V network was provided for lighting until 1999. The two gauges for plugs and sockets thus became a de facto standard which is now formalized under CEI 23-50. Some older installations have sockets that are limited to either the 10 A or the 16 A style plug, requiring the use of an adaptor if the other gauge needs to be connected. Numerous cross adaptors were used.
Almost every appliance sold in Italy nowadays is equipped with CEE 7/7 (German/French), CEE 7/16 or CEE 7/17 plugs, but the standard Italian sockets will not accept the first and the third ones since the pins of the CEE 7/7 and CEE 7/17 plugs are thicker (4.8 mm) than the Italian ones (4 mm); besides the pins are not sheathed and forcing them into a linear Italian socket may lead to electric shock. Adaptors are standardized in Italy under CEI 23-57 which can be used to connect CEE 7/7 and CEE 7/17 and plugs to linear CEI 23-50 sockets.
Europlugs are also in common use in Italy; they are standardized under CEI 23-34 S 1 for use with the 10 A socket and can be found fitted to Class II appliances with low current requirement (less than 2.5 A).
The current Italian standards provide for sockets to have child-resistant shutters ("Sicury" patent).[38]
Italian multiple standard sockets [ edit ]
CEI 23-50 17/11 (Bipasso) socket (#1) and CEI 23-50 P 40 (Italian adapted Schuko) (#2) in a modern installation. Italian Vimar universale socket accepting CEE 7/4 (German), CEE 7/7 (German/French), CEE 7/16 (Europlug), CEE 7/17 (German/French unearthed), NEMA 1-15 (US/Japan), CEI 23-50 S 11 (10 A) and S 17 (16 A) Italian plugs. 4box side socket combining 1 Schuko and 2 CEI 23-50 P 17/11 bipasso (Italian type plugs).
In modern installations in Italy (and in other countries where Type L plugs are used) it is usual to find sockets that can accept more than one standard.
The simplest type, designated CEI 23-50 P 17/11, has a central round hole flanked by two figure-8 shaped holes, allowing the insertion of CEI 23-50 S 10 (Italian 10 A plug unearthed), CEI 23-50 S 11 (Italian 10 A plug earthed), CEI 23-50 S 16 (Italian 16 A plug unearthed), CEI 23-50 S 17 (Italian 16 A plug earthed) and CEE 7/16 (Europlug). The advantage of this socket style is its small, compact face; its drawback is that it accepts neither CEE 7/7 nor CEE 7/17, very commonly found in new appliances sold in Italy. Vimar brand claims to have patented this socket first in 1975[39] with their Bpresa model; however soon other brands started selling similar products, mostly naming them with the generic term presa bipasso (twin-gauge socket) that is now of common use.
A second, quite common type is called CEI 23-50 P 30 and looks like a Schuko socket, but adds a central earthing hole (optional according to CEI 23-50, but virtually always present). This design can accept CEE 7/4 (German), CEE 7/7 (German/French), CEE 7/16, CEE 7/17 (Konturenstecker, German/French unearthed), CEI 23-50 S 10 and CEI 23-50 S 11 plugs. Its drawback is that it is twice as large as a normal Italian socket, it does not accept 16 A Italian plugs and the price is higher; for those reasons Schuko sockets have been rarely installed in Italy until recent times.[citation needed]
Other types may push compatibility even further. The CEI 23-50 P 40 socket, which is quickly becoming the standard in Italy along with CEI 23-50 P 17/11, accepts CEE 7/4, CEE 7/7, CEE 7/16, CEE 7/17, CEI 23-50 S 10, CEI 23-50 S 11, CEI 23-50 S 16 and CEI 23-50 S 17 plugs; its drawback is that it does not accept SPA 11, SPB 11, SPA 17 and SPB 17 side-entry plugs; however almost no appliance is sold with these types, which are mainly used to replace existing plugs. The Vimar-brand universale (all purpose) socket accepts CEE 7/4, CEE 7/7, CEE 7/16, CEE 7/17, CEI 23-50 S 10, CEI 23-50 S 11, CEI 23-50 S 16, CEI 23-50 S 17 and also NEMA 1-15 (US/Japan) plugs (older versions also had extra holes to accept UK shaver plugs).
Soviet standard GOST 7396 C 1 unearthed [ edit ]
This Soviet plug, still widely used in modern Russia, has pin dimensions and spacing equal to the Europlug, but lacks the insulation sleeves. Unlike the Europlug, it is rated 6 A. It has a round body like the French CEE 7/6 or flat body with a round base like CEE 7/17. The round base has no notches. The pins are parallel and do not converge. The body is made of fire resistant thermoset plastic. The corresponding 6 A socket accepts the Europlug, but not others as the 4.5 mm holes are too small to accept the 4.8 mm pins of CEE 7/4, CEE 7/6 or CEE 7/7 plugs.
There were also moulded rubber plugs available for devices up to 16 A similar to CEE 7/17, but with a round base without any notches. They could be altered to fit a CEE 7/5 or CEE 7/3 socket by cutting notches with a sharp knife.
Soviet grip plug, 6 A 250 V AC, thermoset plastic
Soviet round plug, 6 A 250 V AC, thermoset plastic, half height
Moulded rubber Soviet plugs cut with knife so that they can fit into CEE 7/3 socket. Originally the plugs had a round base.
Soviet shaver power cord. The plug is similar to CEE7/16, but has different configuration. Thermoplastic plug is rated 6 A and 250 V.
Swiss SEV 1011 [ edit ]
SEV 1011:2009 type 13 socket (here: a triple socket) and type 12 plug Type J: The 10 Amperesocket (here: a triple socket) andplug
The Swiss standard, also used in Liechtenstein,[40] is SN SEV 1011:2009 Plugs and socket-outlets for household and similar purposes.[41] The standard defines a hierarchical system of plugs and sockets with two, three and five pins, and 10 A or 16 A ratings. Sockets will accept plugs with the same or fewer pins and the same or lower ratings.[42]
SEV 1011:2009, overview of the hierarchical Swiss System
The three phase variants of the standard are also described at Industrial and multiphase power plugs and sockets § Switzerland: SEV 1011.
All of the single phase connectors are rated at 250 V. The three-phase connectors are rated at 250 V (phase-to-neutral) / 400 V (phase-to-phase).
The Swiss standard does not require the use of child protective shutters.
The Swiss standard was first described in SEV 1011 (ASE1011/1959 SW10A-R). On 4 December 2009, the TK23 Technical Committee issued the new revised edition of the Swiss standard SEV 1011:2009 for 10-A plugs and 11/12 sockets to provide, among other things, improved protection against contact with partially insulated pins can. As of 1 January 2013, imports into Switzerland of Type 11 and Type 12 plugs are only permitted with partially insulated plug pins. After the year 2016, only sockets type 13 with a recessed socket hole may be brought onto the market.
10 A plugs and sockets (Type J) [ edit ]
SEV 1011 defines a "Type 1x" series of 10 A plugs and sockets.
The type 11 plug is unearthed, with two 4 mm diameter round pins spaced 19 mm apart. The type 12 plug adds a central 4 mm diameter round earth pin, offset by 5 mm.
The type 12 socket has no recess, while the type 13 socket is recessed. Both sockets will accept type 11 and type 12 plugs, and also the 2.5 A Europlug. From 2017 only recessed sockets are permitted to be installed, minimizing the risk of electric shocks.[43]
Earlier type 11 & 12 plugs had line and neutral pins without sleeved pins, which present a shock hazard when partially inserted into non-recessed sockets. Since 1 January 2013, only type 11 & 12 plugs with line and neutral pins partially sleeved are allowed to be imported and distributed to reduce the risk.[44]
The IEC type J designation refers to SEV 1011's type 12 plugs and type 13 sockets.[40]
Unique to Switzerland is a three-phase power socket compatible with single-phase plugs:[42]
The type 15 plug has three round pins, of the same dimensions as type 12, plus two smaller flat rectangular pins for two additional power phases. The type 15 socket is recessed, and has five openings (three round and two flat rectangular). It will accept plugs of types 11, 12, 15 and the Europlug.
16 A plugs and sockets [ edit ]
SEV 1011 also defines a "Type 2x" series of 16 A plugs and sockets. These are the same as their 10 A "Type 1x" counterparts, but replace the round pins with 4 mm × 5 mm rectangular pins. The sockets will accept "Type 1x" plugs.
The unearthed type 21 plug has two rectangular pins, with centres 19 mm apart. The type 23 plug adds a central rectangular earth pin, offset by 5 mm.
The recessed type 23 socket will accept plugs of types 11, 12, 21, 23 and the Europlug.
Again, the three-phase power socket is compatible with single-phase plugs, either of 10 A or 16 A ratings:[42]
The type 25 plug has three rectangular pins of the same dimensions as type 23, plus two rectangular pins of the same dimensions as type 15. The corresponding type 25 socket is recessed and will accept plugs of types 11, 12, 15, 21, 23, 25 and the Europlug.
Adaptors etc. [ edit ]
A 2012 appendix to SEV 1011:2009, SN SEV 1011:2009/A1:2012 Plugs and socket-outlets for household and similar purposes – A1: Multiway and intermediate adaptors, cord sets, cord extension sets, travel adaptors and fixed adaptors[45] defines the requirements applicable to multiway and intermediate adaptors, cord sets, cord extension sets, and travel and fixed adaptors, it covers the electrical safety and user requirements, including the prohibition of stacking (the connection of one adaptor to another). Non-conforming products must be withdrawn from the Swiss market before the end of 2018.[46]
Swiss sockets
Type 12 triple socket (10 A), no longer sold or installed
Type 13 triple socket (10 A)
Very outdated Type 14 socket
Type 15 socket (3-phase, 10 A)
Type 23 triple socket (16 A)
Type 25 socket (3-phase, 16 A)
IEC 60906-1 (Type N) [ edit ]
In 1986, the International Electrotechnical Commission published IEC 60906-1, a specification for a plug and socket that look similar, but are not identical, to the Swiss plug and socket. This standard was intended to one day become common for all of Europe and other regions with 230 V mains, but the effort to adopt it as a European Union standard was put on hold in the mid-1990s.[47]
The plug and socket are rated 16 A 250 V a.c. and are intended for use only on systems having nominal voltages between 200 V and 250 V a.c. The plug pins are 4.5 mm in diameter, line and neutral are on centres 19 mm apart. The earth pin is offset 3.0 mm. The line pin is on the left when looking at a socket with the earth pin offset down. Shutters over the line and neutral pins are mandatory.
The only country to have officially adopted the standard is South Africa as SANS 164-2.[48][49]
Brazil developed a plug resembling IEC 60906-1 as the national standard under specification NBR 14136.[16] The NBR 14136 standard has two versions, neither of which has pin dimensions or ratings complying to IEC 60906-1. Use at 125 V is permitted by NBR 14136, which is against the intention of IEC 60906-1.
China GB 2099.1‐2008 and GB 1002‐2008 (Type A & I) [ edit ]
Chinese 3-pin socket and compound socket which also accepts NEMA and Europlug (right), and a less common, larger 16 A version (left)
The standard for Chinese plugs and sockets (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) is set out in GB 2099.1‐2008 and GB 1002‐2008. As part of China's commitment for entry into the WTO, the new CPCS (Compulsory Product Certification System) has been introduced, and compliant Chinese plugs have been awarded the CCC Mark by this system. The plug is three wire, earthed, rated at 10 A, 250 V and used for Class 1 applications; a slightly larger 16 A version also exists. The nominal pin dimensions of the 10 A version are: 1.5 mm thick by 6.4 mm wide, the line & neutral are 18 mm long, and the earth is 21 mm long.[50] It is similar to the Australian plug. Many 3 pin sockets in China include a physical lockout preventing access to the active and neutral terminals unless an earth pin (which is slightly longer than the other 2 pins) is entered first. China also uses American/Japanese NEMA 1‐15 sockets and plugs for Class-II appliances; a common socket type that also accepts Europlug (type C) is also defined in GB 1002. The voltage at a Chinese socket of any type is 220 V.
Type I plugs and sockets from different countries have different pin lengths. This means that the uninsulated pins of a Chinese plug may become live while there is still a large enough gap between the faces of the plug and socket to allow a finger to touch the pin.
Israel SI32 (Type H) [ edit ]
Two Israeli plugs and one socket. The left plug is the old standard; the one on the right is the 1989 revision.
Socket polarity, with wire colour coding.
The plug defined in SI 32 (IS16A-R) is used only in Israel and in the territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. There are two versions: an older one with flat pins, and a newer one with round pins.[51]
The pre-1989 system has three flat pins in a Y-shape, with line and neutral 19 mm (0.75 in) apart. The plug is rated at 16 A. In 1989 the standard was revised, with three round 4.5 mm (0.177 in) pins in the same locations designed to allow the socket to accept both older and newer Israeli plugs, and also non-earthed Europlugs (often used in Israel for equipment which does not need to be earthed and does not use more current than the Europlug is rated for).[51] Pre-1989 sockets which accept only old-style plugs have become very rare in Israel.
SI 32 plugs have no sleeve insulation, so when a plug is partially removed its prongs may still be powered although they can be touched by small fingers, metal objects, etc., with a risk of electric shock.
Sockets have a defined polarity; looking at the front, neutral is to the left, earth at the bottom, and line to the right.[52]
North American and IEC 60906-2 [ edit ]
Most of North America and Central America, and some of South America, use connectors standardized by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. The devices are named using the format NEMA n-mmX, where n is an identifier for the configuration of pins and blades, mm is the maximum current rating, and X is either P for plug or R for receptacle. For example, NEMA 5-15R is a configuration type 5 receptacle supporting 15 A. Corresponding P and R versions are designed to be mated. The prefix, L, is added for the locking types; a 15 A 120 V two-pole grounding plug is designated NEMA L5-15P. Twist-locking types are used for additional protection from accidental disconnection, or to prevent interchange with parallel blade types
Within the series, the arrangement and size of pins will differ, to prevent accidental mating of devices with a higher current draw than the receptacle can support.
NEMA 1-15 ungrounded (Type A) [ edit ]
Polarized (left) and unpolarized NEMA 1-15 plugs
NEMA-1 plugs have two parallel blades and are rated 15 A at 125 volts. They provide no ground connection but will fit a grounding NEMA 5-15 receptacle. Early versions were not polarized, but most plugs are polarized today via a wider neutral blade. (Unpolarized AC adaptors are a common exception.)
Harvey Hubbell patented a parallel blade plug in 1913, where the blades were equal width (US patent 1064833[53]). In 1916 Hubbell received a further patent for a polarized version where one blade was both longer and wider than the other (US patent 1180648[54]), in the polarized version of NEMA 1-15 both blades are the same length, only the width varies.
Ungrounded NEMA-1 outlets are not permitted in new construction in the United States and Canada, but can still be found in older buildings.
NEMA 5-15 grounded (Type B) [ edit ]
NEMA 5-15 plug, left. Decorative-style duplex socket, with orientation as specified in NECA 130-2010, centre. Ordinary duplex socket, with orientation typically found, right. Photos are different scale – parallel blades are on 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) centres.
The NEMA 5-15 plug has two flat parallel blades like NEMA 1-15, but also adds a ground (earth) pin.[55] It is rated 15 A at 125 volts. The ground (earth) pin is longer than the line and neutral blades, so the device is grounded before the power is connected. Both current-carrying blades on grounding plugs are normally narrow, since the ground (earth) pin enforces polarity.
This socket is recommended in IEC standard 60906-2 for 120-volt 60 Hz installations.
In 46 of the 50 United States[56] and all of Canada, tamper-resistant sockets are now required in new residential construction. These have shutters to prevent contact by objects like keys or paper clips inserted into the socket.[57]
In stage lighting, this connector is sometimes known as PBG for Parallel Blade with Ground (earth), Edison or Hubbell, the name of a common manufacturer.[58]
NEMA 5-20 [ edit ]
5-20RA (Canada) or 5-20R (US) T-slot socket mounted with the earth hole up. The neutral connection is the wider T-shaped slot on the right.
As NEMA 5 currents increase, changes are made to the plug's neutral blade so that it will not fit into sockets rated for a lower current. Some sockets rated for higher currents are designed to accept many shapes for the neutral blade, so that both high and low draw devices are compatible with it.
The NEMA 5-20 AP variant has a horizontal neutral blade (in a plane that would intersect the hot blade). The receptacle has a T-slot for the neutral blade which accepts either 15 A parallel-blade plugs or 20 A plugs.
NEMA 14-30 [ edit ]
A 30 A, 4-wire single-phase grounding socket is often used for electric clothes dryers. 240 volts from the split phase system is used for the heating elements, and the motor and controls run on 120 volts.
NEMA 14-50 [ edit ]
This is a 50 A, 4-wire grounding socket usually installed in kitchens and used for electric cooking ranges and ovens supplied with 240 V . Many plug-in electric cars also use this type of socket for recharging in the owner's garage[citation needed]). It is also commonly found in RV parks to provide electricity to recreational vehicles. These plugs have a straight neutral blade that will not fit in a NEMA 14-30 receptacle.
JIS C 8303, Class II unearthed [ edit ]
Japanese socket with earth post, for a washing machine
Japanese socket with earth post and earth connector, for an air conditioner
Japanese 200 V socket with earth post, for an air conditioner
The Japanese plug and socket appear physically identical to NEMA 1-15. The Japanese system incorporates stricter dimensional requirements for the plug housing, different marking requirements, and mandatory testing and approval by METI or JIS.[59]
Older Japanese sockets and multi-plug adaptors are unpolarized – the slots in the sockets are the same size – and will accept only unpolarized plugs. Japanese plugs generally fit into most North American sockets without modification, but polarized North American plugs may require adaptors or replacement non-polarized plugs to connect to older Japanese sockets. In Japan the voltage is 100 V, and the frequency is either 50 Hz (East Japan) or 60 Hz (West Japan) depending on whether the customer is located on the Osaka or Tokyo grid.[60][61] Therefore, some North American devices which can be physically plugged into Japanese sockets may not function properly.
JIS C 8303, Class I earthed [ edit ]
Japan also uses a grounded plug similar to the North American NEMA 5-15.[59] However, it is less common than its NEMA 1-15 equivalent. Since 2005, new Japanese homes are required to have class I grounded sockets for connecting domestic appliances. This rule does not apply for sockets not intended to be used for domestic appliances, but it is strongly advised to have class I sockets throughout the home.[62]
Thai 3 pin plug TIS 166-2549 [ edit ]
TIS 166-2549 plug
Thai Industrial Standard (TIS) 166-2547 and its subsequent update TIS 166-2549[63] replaced prior standards which were based on NEMA 1-15 and 5-15, as Thailand uses 220 V electricity. The plug has two round power pins 4.8 mm in diameter and 19 mm in length, insulated for 10 mm and spaced 19 mm apart, with an earthing pin of the same diameter and 21.4 mm in length, located 11.89 mm from the line connecting the two power pins. The earth pin spacing corresponds to that of NEMA 5 and provides compatibility with prior hybrid three-pin sockets, which accept NEMA 1-15, NEMA 5-15 and Europlugs, all of which have been variably used in Thailand. The hybrid socket is also defined in TIS 166-2547, in addition to a plain three-round-pin socket, with plans to replace the former and phase out support for NEMA-compatible plugs. Sockets are polarised (as in NEMA 5-15).[64] The plug is similar to, but not interchangeable with, the Israeli SI32 plug. The Thai plug has not been designated with a letter code at IEC World Plugs,[11] but is sometimes referred to and sold as "Type O".[65][66][67][68][69]
Comparison and compatibility of standard types [ edit ]
a b [11] that provides classification letters similar to a United States Department of Commerce publication[12] that sees widespread but not universal use to differentiate plug and socket types based on rough mechanical compatibility. Most common household plugs have an associated letter. Type letters are from the International Electrotechnical Commission ( IEC ) Web sitethat provides classification letters similar to a United States Department of Commerce publicationthat sees widespread but not universal use to differentiate plug and socket types based on rough mechanical compatibility. Most common household plugs have an associated letter. a b c d e f g h i j k l Will accept unearthed plugs. a b c Standard does not define a socket. a b c CEE 7/17 specifies an unearthed hybrid plug that will fit into both the CEE 7/3 and CEE 7/5 sockets. ^ There are some CEE 7/17 plugs with special shape which are polarised when used with CEE 7/5 sockets (mechanically only). ^ CEE 7/1 socket accepts earthed CEE 7/3, CEE 7/5 and CEE 7/7 plugs but provides no earth connection. ^ BS 4573 and BS EN 61558-2-5 do not explicitly specify a current rating for a compliant plug, see BS 4573 section of British and compatible standards. a b c CEE 7/7 specifies an earthed hybrid plug that will fit into both the CEE 7/3 and CEE 7/5 sockets. ^ Plug can only be inserted one way with French CEE 7/5, but lack of wiring convention means that the system is not polarized. a b c The recess provided by CEE 7/3 and CEE 7/5 sockets offers protection against touching the live pins of CEE 7/4, CEE 7/6 and CEE 7/7 plugs. When used in CEE 7/1 (unearthed) sockets, or "universal adaptors" there is no protection for those plugs. ^ The actual rating of non-rewirable plugs is marked according to the fuse fitted by the cord set manufacturer, the fuse rating being determined by the rating of the flexible cable. ^ Polarized on earthed versions only. ^ Import of plugs with non-partially-insulated pins no longer allowed after 2012. ^ Type L comes in two variations with ratings of 10 A & 16 A having different pin diameters and spacing from each other.
Compatibility [ edit ]
Plugs of type D, G, and M are physically incompatible with any other type other than their own.
3-pin plugs of type H, J, K, L, N, and Thai are only compatible with sockets of the same letter type.
Not all plugs with a given letter are entirely compatible with a socket of the same letter.:
Polarized A plugs will not fit into unpolarized A sockets.
Type I sockets in Argentina vs. Australia & China are physically compatible, but have the reverse polarity, thus causing an electrical incompatibility.
Sometimes the shape of the plug (especially when built into a device like an AC adapter) may cause the plug to be physically incompatible with the socket, or to prevent nearby sockets from being used.
Various European-style plugs with two male pins fit a variety of 2 and 3-pin sockets, but compatibility is not complete across all types (see table).
Adaptors [ edit ]
A travel adaptor for "Type M" (16 A SANS 164-1 ) sockets from South Africa.
Adaptors between standards are not included in the standards, so have no formal quality criteria defined. Physical compatibility does not ensure that the appliance and socket match in frequency or voltage. Adaptors allow travellers to connect devices to foreign sockets, but do not change voltage or frequency. A voltage converter is required for electrical compatibility in places with a different voltage than the device is designed for. Mismatch in frequency between supply and appliances may still cause problems even at the correct voltage.
Multisocket adaptors allow the connection of two or more plugs to a single socket. They are manufactured in various configurations, depending on the country and the region in which they are used, with various ratings. In Europe for example, they are called double or triple adaptors, and transform one socket into a multiple socket. This allows connecting more than one electrical consumer item to one single socket and is mainly used for low power devices (TV sets, table lamps, computers, etc.). They are usually rated at 6 A 250 V, 10 A 250 V, or 16 A 250 V, however this is the general rating of the adaptor (for example, if we have an adaptor for four sockets and it is marked 16 A 250 V, this means that the adaptor should not be loaded more than 16 A, whether one, two, three or all sockets are used. Some people overload them, thus leading to accidents). In some countries these adaptors are banned and are not available in shops, as they may lead to fires due to overloading them. Adaptors can be made with ceramic, Bakelite, or other plastic bodies.
Unusual types [ edit ]
Lampholder plug [ edit ]
Italian bypass lampholder plugs with Edison screw mount. Left: early type (porcelain and brass, c. 1930); right: late type (black plastic, c. 1970)
A lampholder plug fits into the bayonet cap or Edison screw socket of a lampholder in place of a light bulb and enables an electrical appliance to be powered from a wall or ceiling light fitting. As mentioned in Early History above, they were first introduced in the late 1800s and in use to the 1960s in situations where wall sockets were scarce and sometimes non-existent in some rooms (bathrooms, cellars, attics, etc.). Also, as in some countries (such as Italy) electricity was supplied on a "split tariff" basis with electricity for lighting being charged at a lower rate than that for other purposes, lampholder plugs enabled the consumers to reduce their electricity costs and were thus in broad use.
Lampholder plugs were and are rarely fused.
In the UK, lighting circuits are protected with a 5 A fuse or 6 A miniature circuit breaker.[70] Wiring regulations in the UK and some other countries no longer approve lampholder plugs because of the risks of overheating and fire.
Edison screw lampholder adaptors (for NEMA 1-15 plugs) are still easily found and commonly used in the Americas.
NEMA 2‐15 and 2‐20 [ edit ]
These unearthed plugs with two flat blades are intended for 240 volt circuits; the sockets are no longer permitted in new construction. In some cases these plugs can be inserted into incorrect-voltage sockets.
Soviet adaptor plugs [ edit ]
Soviet adaptor plug
Some appliances sold in the Soviet Union had a flat unearthed plug with an additional pass-through socket on the top, allowing a stacked arrangement of plugs. This design was very useful, because the usual Soviet apartment of the 1960s had very few sockets, but somewhat unsafe; the brass cylinders of the secondary socket were uncovered at the ends (to allow them to be unscrewed easily), recessed by only 3 mm, and provided bad contact because they relied on the secondary plug's bisected expanding pins. The pins of the secondary plug (which lacked insulation sleeves) could not be inserted into the cylindrical sockets completely, leaving a 5 mm gap between the primary and secondary plugs. The adaptors were mostly used for low power appliances (for example, connecting both a table lamp and a radio to a socket).
UK Walsall Gauge plug [ edit ]
Walsall Gauge 13 A plug (bottom) compared to regular BS 1363 plug
Unlike the standard BS 1363 plugs found in the UK, the earth pin is on a horizontal axis and the line and neutral pins on a vertical axis. This style of plug/socket was used by university laboratories (from batteries) and the BBC, and is still in use on parts of the London Underground for 110 V AC voltage supply.[71] In the 1960s they were used for 240 V DC in the Power laboratory of the Electrical Engineering department of what was then University College, Cardiff. Power was supplied by the public 240 V DC mains which remained available in addition to the 240 V AC mains until circa 1969, and thereafter from in-house rectifiers. They were also used in the Ministry of Defence Main Building on circuits powered from the standby generators to stop staff from plugging in unauthorised devices. They were also known to be used in some British Rail offices for the same reason.
Italian BTicino brand Magic security connector [ edit ]
Left: Bticino Magic Security socket, detail.
Centre: assortment of Magic Security sockets (in orange, the industrial three-phase type).
Right: assortment of Magic Security plugs.
This style of connector, produced by Italian manufacturer BTicino, appeared in the 1960s and was intended as an alternative to the Europlug or CEI 23-16 connectors then in use. The socket is an almost rectangular socket, with one or more lateral key pins and indentations to prevent inverting the polarised plug, or connecting plugs and sockets with different current ratings. At least four models were produced: three single-phase general purpose connectors rated respectively 10 A, 16 A and 20 A; plus a three-phase industrial connector rated 10 A; all of them have different key-pin positioning so plugs and sockets cannot be mismatched. The socket is closed by a safety lid (bearing the word ‘’Magic’’ on it) which can be opened only with an even pressure on its surface, thus preventing the insertion of objects (except the plug itself) inside the socket. The contacts are positioned on both sides of the plug; the plug is energised only when it is inserted fully into the socket.
On the left a BTicino Magic Security plug (10 A), on the right a type L to Magic Security plug adaptor
The obvious drawback of the system is that it is not compatible with Italian 10 A and 16 A plugs, as well as with Europlugs. As household appliances were never sold fitted with these security plugs and the use of adaptors would defeat all of the newly introduced safety features, once this system is adopted all standard plugs must be cut off and replaced with the appropriate security connector. However, the Magic security system had some success at first because its enhanced safety features appealed to customers; standard connectors of the day were considered not safe enough. The decline of the system occurred when safety lids similar to the Magic type were developed (Vimar Sicury[74]) and then applied to standard sockets by third brands and by BTicino itself.
In Italy, the system was never definitively abandoned and, though very rarely seen today, is still marked as available in BTicino’s products catalogue,[75] (except for the three-phase version, which stopped production in July 2011).
In Chile, 10 A Magic connectors are commonly used for computer/laboratory power networks, as well as for communications or data equipment. This allows delicate electronics equipment to be connected to an independent circuit breaker, usually including a surge protector or an uninterruptible power supply backup. The different style of plug makes it more difficult for office workers to connect computer equipment to a standard unprotected power line, or to overload the UPS by connecting other office appliances.
In Iceland, Magic plugs were widely used in homes and businesses alongside Europlug and Schuko installations. Their installation in new homes was still quite common even in the late 1980s.
Single phase electric stove plugs and sockets [ edit ]
Plug (sheet V) and socket (sheet VI) to French standard NF C 61-315 (400 V, 32 A)
Russian stove connectors rated 250 V 25 A AC. Left: plug and socket. Center: Socket. Right: Plug.
The plugs and sockets used to power electric stoves from a single-phase line have to be rated for greater current values than those used with three-phase supply because all the power has to be transferred through two contacts, not three. If not hardwired to the supply, electric stoves may be connected to the mains with an appropriate high power connector. Some countries do not have wiring regulations for single-phase electric stoves. In Russia an electric stove can often be seen connected with a 25 to 32 A connector.
In Norway and parts of Sweden a 25 A grounded connector, rectangular shaped with rounded corners, is used for single phase stoves. The connector has three rectangular pins in a row, with the grounding pin longer than other two. The corresponding socket is recessed to prevent shocks. The Norwegian standard is NEK 502:2005 – standard sheet X (socket) and sheet XI (plug). They are also known as the two pole and earth variants of CEE 7/10 (socket) and CEE 7/11 (plug).
Industrial and multiphase [ edit ]
Plug and socket systems intended for high current, high voltage or polyphase industrial equipment, as well as additional contacts and larger contacts, may also include features to improve security and safety. For example, a high-power plug may include a locking ring or twist-lock feature to prevent accidental disconnection. A socket may include a mechanical interlock that prevents insertion or removal of a plug unless the local safety disconnecting switch is open. Plugs may include special measures to contain an arc generated during disconnection. Plugs used for equipment in wet locations (such as mines) may include small supervisory contacts that check the integrity of the earthing conductor.
See also [ edit ] |
Yikes. They’re going for it. Think Progress:
When President Obama proposed ensuring affordable health care to all Americans, Congress spent a year hashing out how best to achieve this goal. Yet when Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) decided that he wanted to phase out Medicare, the GOP-controlled House took only two weeks to debate and pass this radical proposal. This afternoon, House Republicans overwhelming endorsed his plan to eliminate Medicare, slash education, and jack up the middle class’ taxes. 235 Republicans supported the Medicare elimination bill, with just 4 GOPers casting a vote to leave Medicare unmolested[.] The centerpiece of the House Republicans’ plan is a proposal that repeals traditional Medicare and replaces it with a health insurance voucher that loses its value over time. Because the value of the Republicans’ privatized Medicare replacement does not keep up with the cost of health care, their plan will gradually eliminate Medicare because its increasingly worthless vouchers will eventually only cover a very tiny fraction of the cost of a health insurance plan.
On the roll call vote, all Democrats voted No, and all Republicans except Jones, McKinley, Ron Paul, and Rehberg voted Yes.
Think Progress helpfully reminds us of Paul Ryan’s hidden tax cut. The Center for American Progress has a nice summary:
Rep. Ryan’s budget simply doesn’t describe exactly how his tax plan would work, instead resorting to broad bullet points that conveniently skip over important details. Nonetheless, the broad outlines of his tax plan are to: Maintain the Bush-era tax cuts beyond their expiration in 2012 and cut the top individual tax rate down to 25 percent from 35 percent
Consolidate the current six tax brackets into some, unspecified, fewer number of brackets
Keep overall tax revenue levels the same
Pay for the enormous tax cut for the top by eliminating or curtailing some, unspecified, tax expenditures
No shared sacrifice for you, Middle Class America; unless, of course, we can convince you this is it.
Let the games begin.
GP |
Since the launch of Street Fighter 4 and the revival of the fighting game genre, fighting games have changed quite a bit from the days of Street Fighter 2 on to Marvel vs Capcom 2. They are easier to play and understand, the internet has made communities thrive, and to some that can be a great thing. More people who can play a game means more sales, which means more sequels and projects for us to play, and also larger communities for said games.
However, some would also argue that there comes a point where that access cripples a game and makes it too easy for anyone to be good at. It's a common complaint among newer games, actually. The claim is that the depth is robbed from the veterans in favor of catering to the newer crowds. Is that a fair claim? Can accessibility be bad for games? Well, let's discuss.
We'll start with the game that began such claims for the current era, Street Fighter 4. While the game was given a rather warm reception, it received its fair share of ire for the Focus Attack system as well as the Ultra system. The latter was meant as a high damage comeback mechanic that is built by taking damage. When it was explored, it was seen as a means for new players to simply land an attack and level the playing field against someone who'd been outplaying them for an entire round. As for the FA system, it was a means of absorbing an attack and then countering with one of your own. It was also used to cancel many normals and specials to make them safer. This was abused. Heavily.
It became the cornerstone of many high damage combos, but it was then that people found the depth of the game without taking out the accessibility. Optimized Focus Attack combos were difficult, especially when you factor in 1 frame links. It created a new level of creativity. It took a noob friendly mechanic and made it something that was easy to learn and difficult to master. To this day, many regard it as the go to Street Fighter game...which leads us to Exhibit B.
Before that, some honorable mentions to the cause of how harmful accessibility can be, if left unchecked. Street Fighter X Tekken. I love the game to death, but it was a busted game. Between the Gem system and the VERY loose combo structure, it led to some pretty nice combos and some were even difficult to pull off. But more often than not, the characters that were at the top had the highest damage for the least work. Marvel vs Capcom 3. While it, too, is "easy to learn, hard to master" the difficulty in that game comes down to execution. Once you can do a combo or a set up, then it isn't hard to win. Look at Vergil or MorDoom. Once you could do that kind of horse shit, winning wasn't hard. Yes, it still makes me salty. Injustice. It was an easily game to play, plagued by characters that were too good with moves and set ups that could be learned in a couple practice sessions. Remember Batgirl? That wasn't at all hard to do. Once you learned it, like everyone else did, then it would be Batgirl featuring the rest of the cast.
So now, here we are. Street Fighter 5. I will be brief, as I have talked this game into the ground. Three frame links. That alone seemed to rob the game of depth and give character a list of go-to combos. Along with that came their V system which...didn't exactly help or hurt that depth for most characters. Most V-Triggers are either really good (Balrog, Laura, Urien, Necalli) or really bad (F.A.N.G., Ryu, Nash, Vega) and help propel characters through the tiers as a result.
Of course, there are games that maintain a balance of ease of play and depth. Look at Guilty Gear Xrd. It is easily one of the easiest anime fighters to jump into. But being good at it and being creative with your character is a challenge all its own. It took a mechanic that were once reserved for the TRUE masters of the game, Roman Cancelling, and made it easier to implement one several levels while making it a mechanic that needed to be mastered in order to use effectively. Plus, it still has its fair share of tricks within its air dashing, Dust mechanic, various defensive options, etc. Try it for yourself. It isn't a game you can simply play for an hour or 2 then go online and expect to reign over people who have been playing it since release.
So, the take away from this is...accessibility is a fragile thing that needs to be handled properly. Is it bad? Not necessarily. It needs to be checked or else the game will be shallow and uninteresting. Currently, that is the worry of Marvel vs Capcom Infinite. With the discovery of auto-combos and the rumors of easy inputs, people are already speculating that it'll be a shallow shell that fans don't want to be a part of. I think it will strike that sweet spot, but time will tell. In all honesty, I don't think that its all that hard to strike a balance, but I also don't develop games. I just play and enjoy them.
So, where do you stand? Are your for accessibility, or do you favor a deeper and harder game? Let us know in the comments.
About Anthony B Rushdown Radio is a online Video Game web show based in Chicago. Check us out on facebook for the latest news, updates and misc. stuff about Video games and geek culture. with a bit of humor...actually a lot of humor. |
Screenshot via YouTube
Style-versus-style remains one of the most attractive promises in combat sports. For some reason nothing is more interesting to the casual observer than fights that supposedly prove the superiority of one fighting style over another. Boxing versus MMA, karate versus kung fu, wrestling versus judo—you name it, someone has booked it and marketed it. Even in the modern UFC 'striker versus grappler' is still a compelling match up, despite training daily with top tier Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners, Khabib Nurmagomedov can get people talking about 'sambo versus jiu jitsu', and of course fictional news about Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather makes the headlines in publications that should know better every couple of weeks.
The dojo storming is a proud and silly tradition in style-versus-style debates, not just true styles but even sub styles of the same martial arts. For every Gracie family or Kano Jiu Jitsu dojo storming where an important and overlooked principle of combat is proven, there are a hundred that are just stupid beyond words. For examples of sublimely ridiculous dojo wars one need only read about the life of Count Juan Raphael Dante. Count Dante (who predictably was not a Count or Spanish) had various run ins with the Chicago Cobra Kai, supposedly had a friend murdered in a dojo storming, and was caught strapping dynamite caps to a rival dojo in 1965. When he died of a bleeding ulcer at just 36-years-old, Dim Mak rumours started flying.
For an example of the kind of disgusting, pig-headed stupidity that can be involved in this almost tribal dojo storming stuff you need only look up the footage of the Bobby J. Blythe incident wherein a mentally retarded man was supposedly beaten to death. The 'supposedly' is because conflicting stories have been drummed up in the aftermath, but you can readily watch the man have his head stomped into the floor on camera and be dragged out leaving a trail of blood after already verbally yielding long before. Video of the incident is available all over the Internet but as a fair warning: it is revolting and watching it will ruin your day. It is hard to find information about the aftermath but it seems as though nothing ever came of the video evidence of what seems to be at the least grievous bodily harm or even attempted murder.
Xu Xiaodong vs. Wei Lei
Style versus style challenge matches are back in the news this week as a retired MMA fighter named Xu Xiaodong met a Taichi master named Wei Lei in Chengdu for the honour of Chinese martial arts. Wei Lei was apparently the hot thing in Taichi since appearing on a Chinese documentary demonstrating chi-based magic tricks such as using a force field of chi to prevent a bird from leaving his hand. In the kung fu canon of street magic—and it is a grand tradition with an interesting history—that was a new one for this writer. As magical feats go it was also kind of underwhelming.
Apparently the populace believed it though, and why wouldn't they? Fighting is hard to appreciate and magic is not. The legendary Mas Oyama built his reputation on magic tricks and feats he learned as a performing strong man more than his actual fighting ability. It is well worth reading Jon Bluming's account of his time with Oyama and the many methods of 'monkey business' that Oyama used. The footage of Mas Oyama wrestling a bull seems remarkable but there is something off about it that you just can't put your finger on. Then you realize that it is just an old, dying ox that they then hit in the horn with a hammer until it was hanging so that Oyama could karate chop it off. This explains why the 'bull' at no point fights back and just wants to be left alone, and the video becomes a lot sadder. But that one piece of theatre on film was evidence enough that you will now regularly hear the story of how Oyama fought and killed almost thirty bulls with his bare hands in his lifetime.
Xu Xiaodong was apparently largely self-taught which is believable because mixed martial arts is still in its infancy in China. And doubly believable when you see that even against Wei Lei, who clearly has no clue how to carry himself, he runs straight past the Taichi master as the latter pivots off line by accidental instinct.
However, Xiaodong followed up with his running, lunging strikes and easily put Wei Lei down, following up with strikes on the ground for an easy knockout to a stunned silence from the crowd. The impetus for the fight was Xiaodong calling Chinese martial arts outdated and fake, and the results certainly helped his case. Now he is public enemy number one to the Chinese martial arts community and is attempting to hustle together money fights with professional boxers and the bodyguards of millionaires. One Chinese soft drink magnate has just offered a two million dollar bounty to any kung fu stylist who can beat Xiaodong, missing the point entirely by treating Xiaodong himself as the problem. Xiadong is not the problem and in fact he is completely unremarkable as a fighter. Beating him does not restore the honour of Chinese martial arts to anyone with an ounce of common sense. Xiaodong's victory over Wei Lei should instead be seen as a symptom of a focus on mysticism and a fear of actual feedback within the Chinese martial arts world.
Aliveness
Xu Xiaodong wasn't born a better fighter than Wei Lei or any other Chinese martial arts master. He became a better fighter by fighting, and that is the part that so many traditional martial arts purists struggle to deal with. A blacksmith learns to make horseshoes by making a thousand rubbish horseshoes. An artist learns to draw by trying his best a thousand times and producing nothing but fractionally improving garbage. Why would fighting be any different? You don't have to take professional fights to get better at fighting, but you do have to struggle against the will of other people regularly. This so called 'aliveness' in training is what makes people better and prepares people for the worst. But Wei Lei had a set idea of what he was going to do coming in and so did the famous kiai-jutsu master who was easily drubbed in a challenge match a few years back:
I don't know much about Xu Xiaodong or the fighter from the above clip, but I can guarantee you that they spent their first grappling session being smashed, their first boxing session unable to touch their opponent, and their first kickboxing session getting kicked in the leg whenever they had just missed a kick of their own. That is the real value of 'aliveness' in training, it prepares you for the absolute worst and builds you from the ground up. Dominick Cruz goes into a fight looking to stay off the fence, but he knows what to do if and when he gets there. A kiai master finds out that he cannot paralyze his opponent with his shout in the opening seconds and then what is there? When the opening gambit fails for a man who has been repeatedly promised that his non-fighting training will making him unbeatable in a fight, it undermines ten to twenty years of belief he has placed in magic. What would be a minor setback becomes an all-out crisis of faith. But when something goes wrong for someone who trains with people better than him, day in and day out, it is just a mild inconvenience that necessitates a quick tactical adjustment. In the aftermath of the Wei Lei – Xu Xiaodong 'superfight', Lei is apparently claiming that he held back his true internal strength for fear of killing Xiaodong. We can only hope that this is an embarrassing attempt to save face and not something that Wei Lei actually tells himself to rationalize his inability to fight.
But that is the real shame about challenge matches like these, and the reason it can be hard to get joy out of them. Real charlatans don't agree to challenge matches publicly and invite the press along. Men claiming to have the death touch or the 'answer' to MMA are a dime a dozen, but you won't see many backed into the corner of actually proving it. When a no touch knockout master fails to make someone fall down in a careful demonstration, there are zero repercussions with the believers—maybe he had a bad lunch or something. But the fact that Wei Lei and the kiaijutsu master actually drummed up the interest, set the date and turned up to prove their art suggests that they aren't knowingly running a scam and stealing people's money for techniques that don't work. It means that they themselves actually believe in what someone else sold them. When you look at it like that it is hard not to feel bad for these men.
Dojo Storming for the Better
Style-versus-style fights have served their purpose. While James Toney versus Randy Couture in the UFC and Conor McGregor versus Floyd Mayweather in a boxing ring will tell the experienced fan or practitioner nothing at all about their 'styles', there have been style-versus-style fights that change the way we practice martial arts. When Jigoro Kano was advocating a style of jiu jitsu which abandoned more dangerous techniques in order to allow more free sparring or ' randori', he and his students were able to prove not the superiority of Kano's 'style', but the superiority of his practice methods and philosophy. When the Gracie's were storming dojos and winning vale tudo tournaments the lesson learned was not really that 'Gracie Jiu Jitsu' is the best martial art, but that ground fighting is an enormously important and undervalued element of fighting generally.
Wushu Watch: Dojo Storming for a Better TomorrowOn the other hand, however, it is a good thing that these campaigns were not entirely successful. There were plenty of taekwondo or karate practitioners who saw the Gracies In Action tapes and quit their art thinking it was useless in a real fight because at the time it seemed to be the truth. In the modern era techniques and principles from karate, taekwondo, and a dozen other arts are changing fights at the highest levels of MMA. The absorbing of ideas and testing them is what makes a martial artist, not whose flag or gi patch he's sporting. Certainly there is value in examining the old if only for the inspiration it provides. Studying classical forms and texts is an excellent past time for the bored or injured martial artist. The old Chinese text The Bubishi contains some remarkably solid ideas about fighting and self-defence, but also contains a heap of disproven nonsense about the death touch, chi meridians, and alchemy. Who knows, maybe one day chi will be proven to exist and effectively weaponized—but no one is going to do it without testing it day in and day out against resisting, competent sparring partners. Whether someone believes in chi balls or not is relatively unimportant: the fact that there are apparently still hordes of angry Chinese martial artists who believe they can fight without meeting an ounce of resistance or adversity in the gym is extremely disappointing. |
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE - Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said a Minot Air Force Base B-52 bomber crew did a "magnificent job" when one of the plane's engines dropped from the plane Wednesday while on a local training mission.
"Based on what I have heard so far, the crew just did a magnificent job under difficult circumstances but of course one of the hallmarks of our airmen is we place a lot of emphasis on training and so even under difficult circumstances, training kicks in," said James, in an interview Wednesday while visiting the Minot base. "From the sounds of it, they did all of the right things to ensure continuing safety of flight for the period that they remained aloft."
James was informed by Minot AFB officials about the engine incident while at the base Wednesday.
"They do believe at this point that it was really a catastrophic failure of that one engine. Another way of putting that is it disintegrated and then fell out of the aircraft upon disintegration," James said.
"They think it's at the bottom of a river, so recovery of that is something we would like to do because that helps in understanding what happened but that, of course, complicates it if it's at the bottom of the river - it may take a longer period of time," she said.
Minot AFB officials said when the B-52 pilot discovered an engine dropped from the aircraft on Wednesday, an in-flight emergency was declared. The aircraft landed safely with no injuries to the five crew members on board and when the plane landed, it was confirmed the engine was gone. No weapons were on board.
An initial safety investigation board has been set up by the wing commander. UH-1N helicopters assigned to the 54th Helicopter Squadron at the base, located possible engine debris in an unpopulated area about 25 miles northeast of the the base, Minot AFB officials said.
James said she estimates it will be several months before the accident investigation has been completed. "But the key thing is the crew did a great job - no one was hurt. They landed safely," she said.
She said she has "zero indication" the engine incident is a widespread problem within the B-52 fleet.
"I have no indication of that - there's no evidence of that. It appears this was a one off situation but again I want to emphasize it just happened and it will be fully investigated," James said.
She added that the Air Force puts a great deal of emphasis on maintenance - preventive maintenance.
James said many people "hearken back to the fact" that the B-52 is an old aircraft. "But they're very, very well maintained and they have very high what we call mission capable rates. They fly a lot, we keep them well maintained in order that they can fly a lot." |
The death toll in a huge explosion that rocked Kabul’s diplomatic quarter has risen to 80 and another 350 people have been injured, Afghanistan’s Public Heath Ministry has said, in what is believed to be one of the worst terror incidents to ever hit the Afghan capital.
Police spokesperson Basir Mujahid confirmed the damage on Wednesday morning was caused by a powerful suicide car bomb deployed during rush hour.
The massive blast near the German embassy in Zanbaq Square sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky and managed to shatter windows and blow doors off their hinges hundreds of metres away. Makeshift ambulances struggled to deal with the number of casualties as the scale of the damage became clear.
Video from the scene showed a number of injured people and bodies still lying on the ground or in burning cars. The majority of the dead are thought to be civilians.
A BBC team was caught up in the explosion, killing driver Mohammed Nazir, and inflicting non-life-threatening injuries on four journalists, a statement from the corporation said.
At least one journalist working for local Tolo news agency was confirmed to have died. German security sources said that an Afghan security guard at the embassy had been killed and several German staff hurt.
“The attack took place very close to the German embassy. It hit civilians and those who are in Afghanistan to work for a better future for the country with the people there. It’s especially contemptible that these people were the target,” German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Twitter.
The Japanese Embassy also confirmed two of its employees had been wounded, and heavy damage was sustained by the nearby British, Turkish and Chinese embassies as well as the AFP news agency’s offices.
People are still arriving at local hospitals and the death toll is expected to rise, the Interior Ministry said, putting out an urgent appeal for blood donors.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack – although the Taliban have denied involvement, making it more likely Isis is to blame.
Spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that Wednesday’s explosion had “nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of Islamic Emirate,” as the Taliban call themselves. While the Taliban claim only to wage war on the US-backed government and occupying foreign forces, civilians usually bear the brunt of the carnage, and the attack bore resemblances to other recent Taliban violence.
It is not uncommon for Isis to wait for a day or two before making claims of responsibility for attacks.
The terror incident is the deadliest in Kabul since two Isis suicide bombers blew themselves up during a Shia protest march last July, killing 80 people and wounding a further 230. Prior to Wednesday’s attack, a total of 220 people had died in extremist violence in the capital since April 2015.
Last month, a Taliban offensive on an army training compound near the northern city of Mazar-e-Sherif killed 135 soldiers.
It is not clear what the attacker’s intended target was, although recent incidents targeting foreigners inside the heavily fortified diplomatic district – supposedly the capital’s safest area – have been claimed by both groups.
The latest explosion is sure to raise questions about existing security procedures.
Local media said the explosives were hidden inside a lorry or water tanker, although authorities have not confirmed the reports.
In a statement the Afghan government condemned the attack, saying: “Today the enemies of Afghanistan once again showed their brutality by killing and wounding civilians. The enemy has no mercy on civilians.”
Afghanistan as a whole has seen of a wave increasing violence in the past 12 months as both Taliban and Isis militants struggle to overthrow the government and impose Islamic law.
In recent years jihadist groups have increasingly called for attacks on civilians during the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Saturday. A suicide bomber killed 26 people breaking their fast and enjoying ice cream at a shop in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Tuesday.
Although the Taliban lost control of the country following the US invasion of 2001, since most international troops withdrew in 2014 the organisation has steadily gained ground and other extremists such as Isis have flourished. Islamists are currently in control of around 40 per cent of Afghanistan, although they hold no major cities.
Last month the group announced a spring offensive which would target foreign forces in the country.
There are currently around 13,000 US and Nato ally troops deployed to Afghanistan, although the Pentagon has urged US President Donald Trump to send more soldiers to combat the deteriorating security situation. |
The passage of the tax cut bill locks President Trump and Republicans in Congress together as the party of the rich and the rulers of the swampland in Washington. The stage is set for a historic progressive renaissance that will win the 2018 midterm elections and lead the nation after the 2020 presidential campaign.
The tax cut bill was designed to provide lavish financial windfalls to America's wealthiest citizens, largest multinational conglomerates, leading money center banks and most powerful Wall Street firms.
Many middle-class citizens will receive modest and temporary tax cuts, which were cleverly created by Republicans to expire, unlike the lavish benefits given by the bill to our largest corporations, which were cleverly created by Republicans to be permanent.
However, between 5 and 10 percent of middle-class Americans, measured in the millions of voters, will be hit with a tax increase. What's more, countless Americans, comprising tens of millions of voters, will be whacked by insurance premium increases that will create anger against Trump and Republicans from these voters.
The tax bill has always been, and will remain, highly unpopular with voters who understand that this is "a tax cut for the rich" that offers them comparatively little benefit and imposes significant pain through insurance premium increases and, in some cases, tax increases.
Beneath the surface of American politics is a powerful and profound trend creating broad support for a progressive renaissance of historic dimension.
The Gilded Age abuses of the late 19th century were followed by the progressive renaissance under President Teddy Roosevelt. The Wall Street frenzies and socially unjust policies of the 1920s were followed by the progressive renaissance of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal.
The Wall Street scandals and financial crash during the presidency of George W. Bush were followed by landslide Democratic victories in congressional elections and the huge victory of President Barack Obama in 2008.
History will repeat itself. The stage is set for a potentially epic Democratic landslide that could bring a Democratic House and even potentially a Democratic Senate after the 2018 midterm elections. It is increasingly likely that a progressive Democratic president and strong Democratic majorities in Congress could lead and govern the nation after the 2020 presidential campaign.
If Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) decides to run for president in 2020, he would be the instant frontrunner for the nomination and favored in the general election against Trump or any other GOP nominee. If Sanders decides not to run, there is a strong likelihood that the ultimate nominee will campaign, win and govern as a true progressive in the Sanders mold.
When historians look back on the Sanders campaign in 2016, they will note two fundamentally important and lasting contributions that Sanders and his supporters made.
First, the Sanders platform in the 2016 primaries, which was significantly but not fully included in the Democratic platform at the convention, will provide the policy blueprint for the next Democratic presidential campaign and the next great Democratic president.
The progressive populist policies of William Jennings Bryan evolved into the progressive populist presidency of Teddy Roosevelt. The populist policies of Teddy Roosevelt, when he campaigned to regain the presidency as the progressive candidate after abandoning the Republican Party, were largely incorporated by Franklin Roosevelt into his New Deal.
Similarly, the programs championed by Sanders in 2016 will largely be adopted in the Democratic platform in 2020 and fervently championed by the 2020 nominee, whether it is Sanders or a similar candidate.
The second historic legacy of the Sanders campaign in 2016 was that he challenged, and defeated, the old style campaign fundraising paradigm of previous major candidates. It was revolutionary and historic that Sanders energized a gigantic army of small donors and became a fundraising leader who changed campaign fundraising forever.
The Sanders small-donor paradigm thrives today in the pro-Sanders group, Our Revolution, and in the enormous impact small donors have had since 2016, most recently in the Alabama Senate election.
The most profound political change in 2017 is that the Trump presidency and the GOP rule in the House and Senate that produced bills that most Americans oppose and many consider legislative monstrosities, fomented a powerful and growing resistance that provoked a huge turnout from anti-Trump and anti-GOP voters in elections throughout 2017.
While the Trump and Republican tax cuts will create yet another substantial increase in income inequality in America, they will provoke an equally substantial further increase in Democratic voter turnout to "throw the bums out."
While Trump and Trump Republicans in Congress now speak as one and lavishly praise each other while celebrating the tax bill that most Americans oppose, the stage is set for the progressive renaissance that will bring far greater celebrations after its ultimate repeal.
It will either be led by Sanders or a candidate like Sanders, who will turn the progressive vision into the law of the land after the 2018 and 2020 elections.
Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics. |
Budget Magic: $97 (67 tix) Modern Mono-White Blink
by SaffronOlive // Nov 29, 2016 Tweet
video modern budget magic
Jeeka, ma chi uula, Budget Magic lovers! It's that time again. This week, we are heading to Modern to play a deck that's looking to string together a bunch of small, seemingly insignificant advantages, with the help of some really tricky cards, and in the end turns these small advantages into game and eventually match wins: Mono-White Blink! While our deck this week isn't overloaded with raw power (although we do occasionally end up with an Akroma, Angel of Fury on Turn 4), it makes up for it by being really hard for our opponent to play against. We have a lot of cards we can play at instant speed that fizzle opponents' removal spells and attacks and disrupt their plans just enough that we can (hopefully) eke out a win!
We'll talk more about Mono-White Blink after the videos, but first a quick reminder: if you enjoy the Budget Magic series and the other video content on MTGGoldfish, make sure to subscribe to the MTGGoldfish YouTube Channel to keep up on all of the latest and greatest.
Mono-White Blink: Deck Tech
Mono-White Blink vs. Living End
Mono-White Blink vs. Skred Red
Mono-White Blink vs. GW Tron
Mono-White Blink vs. Sun and Moon
Mono-White Blink vs. Affinity
The Deck
Mono-White Blink is a pretty hard deck to describe because we don't have one singular game plan. Instead, our game plan depends on our opponent's game plan. We have the tools to take the aggressive role in many matchups, curving out with efficient creatures and backing them up with some tricks, but we can also be the control deck, generating card advantage with Wall of Omens, Thraben Inspector, and our blink effects before eventually running our opponent out of resources and winning the game.
The Blink
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Restoration Angel and Cloudshift are two of the most important cards in our deck because they not only give us a way to blink our other creatures for value, but they can be played at instant speed, which allows for all kinds of tricks like blinking something in response to a removal spell or fizzling a big attack after blocks are declared. Restoration Angel is clearly the more powerful of the two, because apart from being a blink effect, it's also a very powerful creature. Having flash means we can play it at the end of our opponent's turn to pressure planeswalkers or our opponent's life total; plus, having four toughness (and costing four mana) means it dodges a reasonable amount of popular removal like Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix and Abrupt Decay.
Cloudshift, on the other hand, might look funny, but it's actually extremely powerful since it's so efficient. Being only one mana allows us to do things like play a face-down Akroma, Angel of Fury on Turn 4 and immediately blink it face up, giving us a huge threat. It's also one of our best ways to blink a Flickerwisp at the end of our turn, which lets us flicker away one of our opponent's lands and put them down a mana for their next turn.
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It might be tempting to lump Flickerwisp in with Restoration Angel and Cloudshift because it can exile something and return it to the battlefield, but it's actually hugely different in how it plays because instead of immediately returning whatever was "blinked," it returns it at the end of turn (often called "flickering"). While this might not sound like a huge difference, it opens the door for a whole bunch of tricks. For one thing, we can use Cloudshift, Restoration Angel, or a second Flickerwisp to have our Flickerwisp enter the battlefield during our end step and flicker something of our opponent's, which means they will be missing that something for the entire next turn. This is especially important against Tron, because it gives us a way to get rid of a Tron land for a turn, or against planeswalkers, because it puts our opponent down an activation, since they are only activated at sorcery speed.
Apart from the end-of-turn tricks, Flickerwisp is the only one of our exile / return effects that can target our opponent's things, which means we can use it to get rid of +1/+1 counters or a blocker for a turn, or get in an attack by removing an Ensnaring Bridge. Plus, it offers a really aggressive flying body. While it isn't nearly as resilient as Restoration Angel (actually, it dies to just about everything), a three-drop that hits for three in their air closes out games quickly.
Blink Targets
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Let's start with our best blink target: Akroma, Angel of Fury. Since we are a mono-white deck, we'll never be able to just cast it, but this doesn't really matter. The entire reason Akroma, Angel of Fury is in our deck is because we can cast it face down with morph and blink it, and it will return face up as a 6/6 flying, trample with protection from two colors. The best part of Akroma, Angel of Fury is that she's amazingly hard to kill. Her size means she dodges Lightning Bolt and even Dismember, protection from white means she dodges Path to Exile, and protection from blue keeps our opponent from bouncing Akroma, Angel of Wrath with Cryptic Command or Vapor Snag. As a result, getting an early Akroma, Angel of Fury is our best way to close out the game quickly.
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Epocrasite is another one of our best aggressive blink targets, essentially being a 4/4 for only two mana once we blink it with a Restoration Angel, Cloudshift, or Flickerwisp. It also gives us some resilience to removal, since it keeps coming back after it dies. While the process is slow, it's effective against control decks and even slower midrange decks, since at the very worst, it chumps in the early game and we get a 4/4 in the late game.
Blade Splicer isn't as tricky, but it is powerful as a 1/1 that makes a 3/3 whenever it enters the battlefield, while also giving all of the 3/3s first strike. In some matchups, it's our best blink target and we can win the game by making a bunch of Golem tokens and beating down. Having first strike also makes the Golems good on defense because we can sometimes use them to double or triple block big creatures and kill the creature with first strike before it damages our tokens.
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Thraben Inspector and Wall of Omens are the cards that allow out deck to shift into the control role in some matchups, since they have the ability to generate a ton of card advantage. Wall of Omens is the better of the two because it actually draws a card when it enters the battlefield; plus, as a 0/4, it does a good job blocking Wild Nacatl, Goblin Guide, and most other early-game creatures. Thraben Inspector gives us something we can play on Turn 1, and even though we have to sink some mana into cracking Clues, it does draw us a card eventually.
Things get really out of control once we start blinking our Thraben Inspector and especially Wall of Omens. Once we get one of these on the battlefield, all of our Flickerwisps, Restoration Angels, and Cloudshifts say "when X enters the battlefield, draw a card." Drawing these extra cards means we find more blink effects, which means we draw even more cards, and the cycle continues until we overwhelm our opponent with card advantage.
Removal
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Last but not least, we have our removal, and here we have a bunch of different options. Fiend Hunter dies easily but can do some cool tricks with our blink effects. If we can blink it with the "exile another creature" trigger on the stack, the "return the exiled card" trigger will resolve first, which means that whatever creature we exile will be gone forever.
As for Dismember, it's a budget substitute for Path to Exile in the paper world (which is weird, because Path to Exile is actually significantly cheaper on Magic Online, so if you are building on Magic Online, you might as well play Path to Exile). While we will always have to pay life, it's instant speed and kills most anything for a low cost, which makes it a necessary evil in a world where Infect is one of the best decks in the format.
Condemn is another Path to Exile substitute and is actually pretty reasonable because most of the best threats in the format need to attack to be effective, although it's lacking if our opponent plays something like an Eidolon of the Great Revel and just lets it sit on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Oblivion Ring gives us a main deck answer to non-creatures like planeswalkers, artifacts, and enchantments, and works well with Flickerwisp, since we can exile something in the early game and then, if our opponent plays a bigger threat later, reset the target by exiling it and returning it to the battlefield.
The Mana
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Most of our lands are Plains, but we also have five colorless lands in four Ghost Quarters and one Tectonic Edge. While these cards do nothing in a high percentage of matchups, the opportunity cost of running a few colorless lands is low, and in the matchups where they are good, they are great, giving us some change of winning when we run into a deck like Tron or control decks looking to win with Celestial Colonnade.
Ultra-Budget Mono-White Blink
The ultra-budget build of Mono-White Blink is almost exactly the same as the build we played in the videos with two major subtractions. First, we lose Restoration Angel, which really hurts because the flashy flier was one of the most powerful cards in our deck. In its place, we get more copies of Fiend Hunter and some Filigree Familiars. Second, we lose the Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edge from our mana base. One of the things I realized while recording the matches is we probably aren't going to beat Tron even with our Ghost Quarters, so instead of spending money on non-basic lands, for the ultra-budget build, we just go with all Plains and write off Tron as a matchup we just can't win.
Non-Budget Mono-White Blink
The non-budget build of Mono-White Blink takes a slightly hatebear-ish direction with additions like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Selfless Spirit. However, the biggest addition to the deck is Aether Vial, which lets us flash in our Flickerwisps at instant speed for even more trickery. Since we have Aether Vial to cheat on mana, we also get to go all the way up to four copies of Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge. We also get a copy of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in the main deck and more in the sideboard to help against control decks. Otherwise, the list should play pretty much like the one in the videos, just with more resilience to removal. Another option for upgrading would be to transition into a UW Emeria build, which would take advantage of Flickerwisp and Wall of Omens, and could maybe run a copy of Restoration Angel or two.
Conclusion
Anyway, that's all for today. All in all, we went 4-2 in our on-video matches, but one of those wins was a lucky one against Tron. While I was recording, I ran into GW Tron four times and only managed to win once. On the other hand, I also ran into Skred Red a second time and won easily. As such, it seems like Blood Moon decks are good matches while Tron is one of our worst. As always, leave your thoughts, ideas, opinions, and suggestions in the comments, and you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive, or at [email protected]. |
Why has Wall Street recovered so nicely yet it’s still like this for the rest? Even worse, why did Congress and the White House go along with it? The GOP may lead the way with apologies for Wall Street but the Democrats have hardly been wallflowers either. The system needed to be saved but that did not mean forgetting about the losses of the majority while ignoring the responsibilities of the minority who caused the crash. It’s hard to believe this is not the direct result of our dysfunctional campaign finance laws where those with the deepest pockets dictate the rules. CNNMoney:
U.S. household wealth fell by about $16.4 trillion of net worth from its peak in spring 2007, about six months before the start of the recession, to when things hit bottom in the first quarter of 2009, according to figures from the Federal Reserve. While a rebound in the stock market, an improved savings rate and consumer steps to reduce debt resulted in net worth gains since 2009, only a little more than half of that lost wealth – $8.7 trillion — is back on household balance sheets. That leaves American household wealth $7.7 trillion less than it was before the recession. |
Rain, hailstorm wreak havoc in KP, Fata PESHAWAR: Six persons were killed and four others sustained injuries as rains and hailstorm wreaked havoc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas, officials and locals said on Wednesday. Three women were killed and two kids were wounded when the roof of a house caved in due to the heavy rains in Zangali area on the outskirts of Peshawar.According to the officials of the Rescue 1122, one Arbaba Bibi, wife of Hakeem Shah, her daughter Shabana and daughter-in-law Razia died when the roof of their house collapsed after heavy downpour. Hakeem Shah’s daughters, Sajida and Shazia, were injured and had to be hospitalized at the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. The roofs and walls of several houses collapsed in different parts of Peshawar city and district following heavy rains and hailstorm.The rain continued for around 24 hours. It rained slowly or heavily at times. Past midnight and in the early hours of Wednesday, there was hailstorm in Peshawar and certain other areas. The rains and hailstorm made the weather chilly and prompted many people to use warm clothes that had been abandoned a few days ago due to the rising temperatures. The rains resulted in flood in the Budhnai Nullah that affected the nearby residential areas. However, no causality was reported.The rain inundated low-lying areas of the city causing difficulties to motorists and pedestrians and also to the residents. Pools of water accumulated at a number of places including the University Road, Tehkal, Board Bazaar, GT Road , Karimpura, Babu Town , Firdous, Qissa Khwani, Rampura and Kohat Road .The rains also disrupted the electricity supply to many party of the provincial capital including Saddar, Badaber, Pishtakhara and Kohat Road. CHARSADDA: The flood water wreaked havoc in Sardaryab area, popular with visitors due to its fish shops and river boats, and swept away boats and makeshift hotels.The flash flood inundated the low-lying areas and entered houses in Sardaryab. The river Kabul was in high flood at Sardaryab due to heavy rains in upper parts of the country. The floodwater washed away 30 boats and 40 makeshift hotels selling fish and built on the banks of the river Kabul.The district administration launched rescue work after the flash flood hit the tourists’ spot. GHALLANAI: Two sisters were killed when the roof of a house caved in at a village in the Haleemzai tehsil of Mohmand Agency.Locals said the roof of the house of one Gulab collapsed due to heavy rain in Khwaja Wass Koroona in Haleemzai.His two daughters were buried under the debris. The local people retrieved the bodies from the rubble after hectic efforts. LANDIKOTAL: A man was killed and two children sustained injuries while crops on hundreds of acres of land were washed away in Khyber Agency.The roof of a house collapsed in Lowara Mina area of Mullagori in which a man identified as Gul Zada was killed while his two sons sustained injuries. The injured were taken to the Jamrud Civil Hospital. Six vehicles, including a mini-truck loaded with chickens, were also washed away by the floodwater in Landikotal.Political Agent Syed Shahab Ali Shah visited the affected areas and gave away Rs50,000 to the family of the deceased.The Pak-Afghan highway passing through the Khyber Pass and linking Peshawar to the border town of Torkham also remained closed all the day due to the flash flood.
PESHAWAR: Six persons were killed and four others sustained injuries as rains and hailstorm wreaked havoc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas, officials and locals said on Wednesday.
Three women were killed and two kids were wounded when the roof of a house caved in due to the heavy rains in Zangali area on the outskirts of Peshawar.According to the officials of the Rescue 1122, one Arbaba Bibi, wife of Hakeem Shah, her daughter Shabana and daughter-in-law Razia died when the roof of their house collapsed after heavy downpour. Hakeem Shah’s daughters, Sajida and Shazia, were injured and had to be hospitalized at the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar.
The roofs and walls of several houses collapsed in different parts of Peshawar city and district following heavy rains and hailstorm.The rain continued for around 24 hours. It rained slowly or heavily at times. Past midnight and in the early hours of Wednesday, there was hailstorm in Peshawar and certain other areas. The rains and hailstorm made the weather chilly and prompted many people to use warm clothes that had been abandoned a few days ago due to the rising temperatures.
The rains resulted in flood in the Budhnai Nullah that affected the nearby residential areas. However, no causality was reported.The rain inundated low-lying areas of the city causing difficulties to motorists and pedestrians and also to the residents. Pools of water accumulated at a number of places including the University Road, Tehkal, Board Bazaar, GT Road , Karimpura, Babu Town , Firdous, Qissa Khwani, Rampura and Kohat Road .The rains also disrupted the electricity supply to many party of the provincial capital including Saddar, Badaber, Pishtakhara and Kohat Road.
CHARSADDA: The flood water wreaked havoc in Sardaryab area, popular with visitors due to its fish shops and river boats, and swept away boats and makeshift hotels.The flash flood inundated the low-lying areas and entered
houses in Sardaryab. The river Kabul was in high flood at Sardaryab due to heavy rains in upper parts of the country.
The floodwater washed away 30 boats and 40 makeshift hotels selling fish and built on the banks of the river Kabul.The district administration launched rescue work after the flash flood hit the tourists’ spot.
GHALLANAI: Two sisters were killed when the roof of a house caved in at a village in the Haleemzai tehsil of Mohmand Agency.Locals said the roof of the house of one Gulab collapsed due to heavy rain in Khwaja Wass Koroona in Haleemzai.His two daughters were buried under the debris. The local people retrieved the bodies from the rubble after hectic efforts.
LANDIKOTAL: A man was killed and two children sustained injuries while crops on hundreds of acres of land were washed away in Khyber Agency.The roof of a house collapsed in Lowara Mina area of Mullagori in which a man identified as Gul Zada was killed while his two sons sustained injuries. The injured were taken to the Jamrud Civil Hospital.
Six vehicles, including a mini-truck loaded with chickens, were also washed away by the floodwater in Landikotal.Political Agent Syed Shahab Ali Shah visited the affected areas and gave away Rs50,000 to the family of the deceased.The Pak-Afghan highway passing through the Khyber Pass and linking Peshawar to the border town of Torkham also remained closed all the day due to the flash flood. |
Google's comprehensive 2012 election coverage will now include a tool to help citizens register to vote, the company revealed this morning in an announcement about new resources for voters. Google has partnered with the New York nonprofit TurboVote, which collects contact information from voters and then sends them registration forms, reminders about voting, and state-specific information about things like mail-in ballots. The option to register to vote is prominently featured on Google's information-rich Politics and Elections site, where it's labeled "Voter Info."
The voter tool supplements all the political news, video, and data Google will be serving up this election. Like Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and many other companies at the intersection of media and tech, Google wants to participate in the conversation around the biggest political event in the country.
The voter tool supplements all the political news, video, and data Google will be serving up this election
Along with election results and trends from search data, this year Google is heavily emphasizing its YouTube-powered live video coverage. Google just started broadcasting the Republican National Convention this week from Tampa, where the show has gone on in spite of Hurricane Isaac. Google will also stream the Democratic National Convention in September as the "official live stream provider and social networking platform" for both events.
Google is also constantly streaming politics news from selected media partners including the New York Times and BuzzFeed, and promises to feature interviews with political "power brokers" from behind the scenes. Election night results will also be streamed live.
"As we approach the final days of the election, we’ll continue to develop useful ways for voters and campaigns to engage one another around the important issues in 2012," Google's Eric Hysen wrote on the company's blog this morning. At this rate, concerned citizens may be able to follow the election this year without having to turn on the TV. |
For other characters who appear in the Fallout universe named Kenny, see Kenny.
“ Did you know I once bagged a mirelurk ten feet tall? ”
Kenny (also known as Latchkey Kenny) is one of the inhabitants of Point Lookout in the year 2277.
Contents show]
Background Edit
Fleeing the other swampfolk because he wasn't born with the right "look," Kenny (also known as "Latchkey Kenny") is a lonely child looking for a friend to play with. He's holed up in the old Herzog Mine. The kid is exceptional at rigging traps.[1]
Kenny was born to swampfolk and spent his early childhood hidden in his parent's basement because he "don't got the marks" which caused the other swampfolk to shoot at him like they would shoot at the others without the marks. During his time in the cellar he learned how to make traps by taking apart and rebuilding anything he could find. He later ran away from home and took up residence in the old mine. Kenny might have chosen the mine because rumors of it being haunted would keep locals away.
Daily schedule Edit
Kenny stays in his makeshift house and on occasion shoots junk off of a shelf with his BB gun.
Interactions with the player character Edit
Interactions overview Edit
General Services Quests Essential: Enslavable: Companion: Bounty: Merchant: Repairman: Doctor: Rents bed/room: Starts quests: Involved in quests:
Effects of player's actions Edit
With a speech check, using Child at Heart or by retrieving his Kenny Bear from the bottom of the Mine's Shaft, the Lone Wanderer may convince him to let them stay with him in the mine, and use his containers. One can also play either tag or hide-and-seek with him when asked.
Inventory Edit
Notes Edit
Kenny may be a reference to South Park's Kenny McCormick. Both are named Kenny and are skilled with weapons. Kenny can also occasionally be heard whistling the South Park theme song.
Kenny's nickname of "Latchkey Kenny" is a reference to the phenomenon of Latchkey kids, children who return to an empty home because their parents are at work or otherwise absent, or who spends large amounts of time without parental supervision. Both definitions apply to Kenny.
When asked about Mr. Herzog, he will say he hung himself. When one travels deeper into the mine (Blackdamp Shaft) they can see a skeleton dangling by its neck from a rope. One can return Kenny-bear to Kenny even if he has been convinced to let the Lone Wanderer stay. However, there is no reward other than his thanks.
Oftentimes Kenny can be seen shooting items off a shelf in his room for target practice with his BB gun
The items Kenny shoots at with his BB gun respawn occasionally. They include a toy car for weapon creation and a camera that can be handed in to Scribe Rothchild (If the player has Broken Steel ).
). Kenny wears a wasteland scout uniform. The uniform can be obtained by reverse-pickpocketing Kenny with better armor. Like Elder Lyons' robe, the Pip-Boy icon is that of a Vault 101 jumpsuit.
Kenny can, in fact, be reverse pickpocketed armor and weapons. He can even wear power armor. When given weapons and ammunition for them, he will use them for his target practice.
He is armed with a Red Ryder BB gun and threatens to shoot the player on their first meeting.
Kenny is a joke about the urban myths of hillbillies having disfigured children due to inbreeding and locking the disfigured child in a basement to hide the child out of shame, but a reverse version of this myth. Instead of normal parents hiding their disfigured child in a basement, it is disfigured parents hiding their normal child in a basement.
Notable quotes Edit
Appearances Edit
Kenny appears only in the Fallout 3 add-on Point Lookout.
Bugs Edit
PC Playstation 3 Xbox 360 [verified]
PC Playstation 3 [verified]
Gallery Edit
The hanging body of Mr. Herzog Kenny talks about
Add an image to this gallery |
In June, the first
, which was intended to seek common ground on the issue of legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, deteriorated into a snipe-fest, with
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pitted against most of the other participants. So how will the second debate, slated for tomorrow night at
, avoid similar disaster? Says
: "Mason won't be there."
According to Kriho, also known for her work with the Cannabis Therapy Institute, "It was against my better judgment that we invited Mason to begin with. It was supposed to be a debate with people who were willing to work together -- and because he wasn't willing, it turned into what it did.
"My goal was to get everybody in the state to work together, but Mason has taken his toys to play in his sandbox by himself -- and that's why it was counterproductive. So now we're back to the original idea: working together to create legislation."
Marijuana Deals Near You
For the record, Tvert says he and his associates solicited the opinions of all marijuana activists before settling on language for the initiative, and they want to build a strong and positive relationship within the cannabis community. Case in point: Tvert decided not to pursue charges against Miguel Lopez, who allegedly snatched a petition away from a Regulate volunteer at a recent event. Lopez, a veteran marijuana activist, is a vocal critic of the Act team's approach.
As for those on the dais tomorrow, Crazy for Justice's Corey Donahue won't be featured this time around. But plenty of other well-known figures from the marijuana movement are scheduled, including Greenfaith Ministry's Reverend Brandon Baker, Colorado Coalition for Patients and Caregivers' Robert Chase, Patient and Caregiver Rights Litigation Project's Kathleen Chippi, Cannabis Alliance for Regulation and Education's Rico Colibri, attorneys Rob Corry and Danyel Joffe, Vitamin Cannabis producer Kyle "Cap'n Cannabis" Marsh, and Timothy Tipton of the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative.
Kriho, meanwhile, will serve as moderator -- a role played last time around by Westword editor Patricia Calhoun. She hopes to create an atmosphere conducive to give and take, not body blows. The previous debate "was my one chance to speak my mind," she says. "I won't be able to participate in this one, but it's good that we're getting new people into the mix. We want to get some new ideas out there so we can come up with language for the 2012 ballot that people can all agree on."
Not everyone, of course. Kriho believes the marijuana-legalization movement has split "into two camps that I'd liken to Republicans and Democrats. Mason's camp says, 'Let's control it. Let's hand the keys over to the Department of Revenue and continue with seed-to-sale tracking and surveillance.' It's what we call the law-enforcement model. And we favor more liberalization. We're fighting for cannabis freedom. We want all crimes related to cannabis to be abolished."
The latest Casselman's debate won't be the last. Kriho expects more conversations to take place before language is finalized, probably around the first of the year. In the meantime, she admits that "Colorado might not be ready for legalization. It certainly doesn't seem like it." But she believes that if a true legalization movement fails, "we'll have an organization on the ground that's ready for the next battle."
Page down to get all of the details about tomorrow's event, courtesy of Legalize2012.com. Legalize2012.com release: |
Richard Dawkins has declared that humans are “nicer than is good for our selfish genes.” Emory University primatologist Frans de Waal argues against this popular picture of evolution as a Hobbesian wilderness of selfishly competing individuals, where life is “nasty, brutish, and short.” De Waal focuses his research on the social behavior of primates, studying questions of culture, altruism, morality, and empathy.
Citing social animal behavior, de Waal posits that justice, morality, altruism, empathy—noble notions we tend to think of as being particularly human, and therefore antithetical to “animal nature”—are not “unnatural,” but rather are deeply rooted in our primate past; that the good in us is as instinctive a part of our biology as the bad.
De Waal is the author of, among other books, Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved (Princeton University Press, 2006) and The Age of Empathy (Harmony Books, 2009).
Where do you think human empathy came from?
Where everything started for me was maternal care. It’s advantageous for female mammals to be sensitive to the mood states of their offspring, so they react when their offspring are distressed or in danger. That also explains why empathy is more developed in females than males in many species, including humans. From there it spread to other areas of social life. It’s contagious: if you have a cooperative society, you need to be concerned about the well-being of those you depend on.
If I live in a society where I depend on others, I need to be concerned if those others are doing well, and that’s where empathy and altruism come in. It’s also why we think you find empathy in all mammalian species. It’s not limited to humans, and it’s not limited to primates. It’s probably universal in mammals.
How close do you think the connection is between this instinct for empathy and religion?
Many religions stress compassion. I recently had a meeting with the Dalai Lama here at Emory University—for him, morality’s all about compassion—that’s the core of it. I think all religions emphasize that you need to be compassionate, to some degree or another. Sometimes that is forgotten. I personally feel the Christian Right in this country is not always as compassionate as they could be. But that’s in practice. In theory, I think it’s always emphasized in all religions.
Explain what you mean by “veneer theory.”
Veneer theory is the idea that humans and animals are inherently selfish and always out for their own goals, that things like kindness, compassion and mutual help don’t come naturally. You can work on it—but if you want to believe in moral life, you have to work very hard, because we are not naturally made that way.
That’s the theory of original sin: we are born selfish. It’s not in agreement with what we know about human biology, and it’s not in agreement with what we know about animal biology, either. It assumes the only thing individual humans or animals care about are their own selfish benefits. There’s nothing wrong with saying that empathy evolved for reasons to serve yourself, or that cooperation evolved in the end to serve yourself. But that needs to be distinguished from what we call the proximate reasons for behavior, or the proximate motivations for behavior. They concern psychology—what makes you do something.
At that level, not everything is self-serving. There are a lot of things we do on a daily basis that are not necessarily self-serving. The reasons for the evolution of empathy are self-serving, but the reasons why you show empathy in your daily life are not necessarily self-serving—that’s the big distinction.
The way I often explain it is by sexual behavior. Sex evolves for reproduction, but not everyone engaging in sex is thinking of reproduction. The sexual motivation has become an autonomous motivation. What drives you to have sex is not the reason why sex evolves. The same is true with the connection with empathy and altruism, and veneer theory trying to explain everything in selfish terms—the “selfish gene,” and all that kind of language. That’s a narrow way of looking at things. That’s a purely genetic, evolutionary way of looking at things that doesn’t cover human psychology very well.
Why do people like to think of nature as being competitive, and empathy and ethics as being unnatural?
Humans for a long time have denied that they are like animals, and related to animals. If humans did very bad things, like kill each other, we would say they’re “acting like animals,” and if humans did very nice things, like massive acts of altruism, we would claim that for ourselves, and say that’s something we came up with—in our religion, our culture, whatever. Humans have that tendency. Humans were not very happy to be connected to nature. Humans liked to be considered the crown of creation, totally separate from everything else. They used nature to blame things on themselves, and never made that full connection that I am advocating, which is that both the good and bad in our species come from our primate background.
In your work you often criticize the 19th-century British biologist T. H. Huxley, “Darwin’s bulldog,” as having misinterpreted Darwin in this regard.
Huxley had a very mechanistic view of organisms, including humans. He was an atheist, and Richard Dawkins has expressed admiration for Huxley—he’s a Huxleyan, he’s not really a Darwinian.
Dawkins will say that we are the robots produced by our genes, so to speak, and Huxley had that same sort of mechanistic view of the human species. And he could not for the life of him understand how evolution—which is a nasty process of natural selection—could have produced morality. So Huxley pushed morality outside the domain of evolution. He said, that must come from somewhere else; humans have morality, but it’s not produced by evolution.
That’s where Huxley deviated from Darwin, as Darwin tried to explain morality in the framework of evolution. Huxley was a big defender of Darwin, and the only time he deviated from Darwin was in the pessimistic view he had—which he shares with Dawkins—that humans are not naturally moral. I consider that pessimistic, because that means morality is not really deeply rooted in human nature. You’ve talked yourself into a corner if you are an atheist—as Huxley was and as Dawkins is—and you think evolution cannot produce morality. Then it’s a real dilemma—where does it come from? If it does not come from biology, and you don’t believe in religion, you’re going to have a very hard time explaining why humans are moral.
The solution Dawkins has found is to attack God. But that’s a distraction. Whether God exists or not doesn’t solve the issue of where morality comes from. On the other hand, Francis Collins says that morality cannot come from biology, but we clearly do have morality, so that means God must exist—which in a way is more logical.
Atheists—some of them, at least—have talked themselves into a corner and they don’t know how to get out of it, because we need to find a way of explaining where morality comes from. I think the way to do that is to return to Darwin. Darwin tried to place morality within human evolution. And that’s what I’m trying to do, at least with my primate studies. I’m trying to say, look at the behavior of other primates—there are enough indications that they have what Darwin would call the social instincts needed to get to morality. They don’t exactly have it, but they’re close enough for me to see that there’s a continuity. I think that’s the way out of the dilemma. Talking about whether God exists or not just really doesn’t do any good for that problem.
You recently wrote, “Fortunately, there has been a resurgence of the Darwinian view that morality grew out of the social instincts.” Why is this change happening now?
That’s partly the influence of my own work, and of neuroscience that’s in line with what Darwin was saying, that the continuity exists with the social instincts. Some psychologists, like Jonathan Haidt, have been working on the issue of the intuitions surrounding morality. The moral decision-making humans do is much faster than you would expect from a simple rational reasoning process. Neuroscientists are finding that if you present moral dilemmas to humans and look at what happens in the brain, it activates areas that are extremely old, that have to do with emotions.
So it’s not just thinking through a number of propositions and reasoning yourself to a moral position. There are certain gut feelings involved in these moral decision-making processes that make it more like a Humean process than a Kantian process, in the sense that it’s more related to the moral sentiments than to reasoning. There are now certain philosophers, like Richard Joyce, who are interested in the origins of morality.
All these things have come together within the last ten years or so. Scientists can help with the question of where morality comes from, instead of just leaving it in the hands of philosophers, as used to be the case. Scientists are now actively interested in this particular issue, and that’s going to continue.
Marc Hauser, a Harvard biologist who studies primate behavior and has written about morality, was recently accused of eight counts of scientific misconduct, including fabricating data. Following the Hauser controversy, there was a lot of commentary from, for instance, linguists like Derek Bickerton, criticizing what they see as an undisciplined bias against the case for human uniqueness.
That’s an eternal issue. There are people who feel that we are not animals. Of course, as a biologist, I feel that we are basically animals. I am much more inclined to see the continuities rather than the discontinuities. In almost everything you can imagine, there’s some continuity between humans and other animals.
But in academia, especially in the social sciences—in linguistics, in philosophy—a lot of people can’t stand this continuity. They’re not creationists per se—they are not necessarily saying that we were created by God—but they still have this idea that we’re extremely special and nothing compares to us, which is not so far removed from creationism.
The Hauser case brought out those people, because all of the sudden they had a good target—someone who was accused of misconduct, who had been working on issues of human/animal comparisons. This was the right moment for them, they felt, to jump in and say that all this is partly based on fraudulent data. But you know, that case is only one case—I hope it’s only one case—and our science is much bigger than just one person, so I don’t think it really undermines all the other findings people keep coming up with.
The general trend in our field over the last fifty years has been to knock down each and every distinction that people have come up with. So people would say, only humans can make tools—yes, animals use tools, but only humans make tools—but that was knocked down. Or, only humans have theory of mind. People come up with all these distinctions, and one by one we have been knocking them down. There’s not so much left now. I think language is the big one that is left, and that will probably remain, but other than that there’s not a whole lot that’s been left standing. |
Andrej Kramaric played for Dinamo Zagreb between 2009 and 2013, before moving to FC Rijeka
Leicester City's record signing Andrej Kramaric has joined Bundesliga strugglers Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the season.
The Croatia striker, 24, has made just five appearances for the Premier League high-flyers this season.
Kramaric joined the Foxes from FC Rijeka in a £9.7m deal last January.
"I spoke with him to understand what he wants to do and a loan is a solution that works for everybody," Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said.
"Andrej has the European Championships to think about this summer, so it's important for him that he has the opportunity to play.
"He is a fantastic player and a great professional but, in this moment, we have other strikers that are playing well."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. |
Image copyright Thinkstock
Over the last 20 years, Chinese attitudes to sex have undergone a revolution - a process carefully observed, and sometimes encouraged, by the country's first female sexologist, Li Yinhe.
"In the survey I made in 1989, 15.5% of people had sex before marriage," says Li Yinhe. "But in the survey I did two years ago, the figure went up to 71%."
It's one of many rapid changes she has recorded in her career. She uses the word "revolution" herself and it's easy to see why. Until 1997, sex before marriage was actually illegal and could be prosecuted as "hooliganism".
It's a similar story with pornography, prostitution and swingers' parties.
People are going through a revolutionary change in their mind and behaviour Li Yinhe, Sexologist
In 1996 the owner of a bathhouse was sentenced to death for organising prostitution, Li said in a lecture to the Brookings Institution last year, but now it is widely practised. The most severe punishment these days, according to Li, would be the closure of the business.
Publishers of pornography could also be sentenced to death as recently as the 1980s, as could those who organised sex parties. Now the punishment for pornography is less draconian and swingers' parties, while still illegal, are common. "No-one reports them, so they do not get noticed," Li says.
As a young sociologist, Li spent much of the 1980s studying in Pittsburgh, in the US. When she returned to China, she found a country still living in the puritanical climate set by Mao.
Image caption Li during the Cultural Revolution - when men and women mostly wore the same clothes
In the early years of Communist rule, writing about love was considered bourgeois. It became possible toward the end of the 1950s, Li has said, but writing about sex was forbidden until the 1980s - and even then authors could only go so far.
Li's book, The Subculture of Homosexuality, published in 1998, could only be bought by people who had invitation letters from their employers or held senior positions.
The official position on her book The Subculture of Sadomasochism, published at about the time, was even more extreme.
"I was informed to burn all copies... But by then, 60,000 volumes had been sold out. So the burning notification was left unsettled," she says.
Her translation of a book on bisexuality was refused by Chinese publishers, and she had to look beyond mainland China to Hong Kong, to find a publisher for her own study of polysexuality.
Find out more
Li Yinhe appears in the four-part documentary series Her Story: The Female Revolution which will air on BBC World on 27 February, 5 March and 12 March.
But the Communist Party has increasingly seen sexuality as a private matter and Li has been allowed relative freedom in her academic research and in her writing.
"She positions herself as an avant-garde academic who's introducing the so called international standards towards sexuality... And therefore she's tolerated by her colleagues, a general audience and the regime as well," says Dr Haiqing Yu, co-author of the book Sex in China.
One of the main impulses driving the change in attitudes to sex, according to Li, was the Communist Party's one-child policy, which was enforced from 1979 to 2015.
"The one-child policy allows people to have one or two kids only. So unless you give up sex afterwards you are changing your purpose of having sex. Having sex for pleasure gets justified too," she says.
"People are going through a revolutionary change in their mind and behaviour and my research is at the forefront of the struggle.
"When I gave a lecture in Tianjin, over 1,000 people attended it... I think the desire suppressed in people's hearts has bounced out."
Image caption Large crowds turn up for Li Yinhe's book-signings
Accused by a blogger of being a closet lesbian, Li responded in December 2014 with a blog post that revealed her partner of 18 years was a transgender man. To her surprise, the response was mostly positive and the couple were photographed for the cover of People Weekly, a popular magazine.
"I think they find transsexualism more acceptable than homosexuality," says Li.
"Why? Because a trans is defined as heterosexual… heterosexuals wrapped in the wrong body."
She adds: "The real signal of social tolerance is the society's attitude towards homosexuality."
Homosexuality was only removed from China's official list of mental illnesses in 2001 and gay rights are still limited.
Gay marriage is not legal, there is no anti-discrimination protection for gay people in the workplace, and an undercover film last year found Chinese doctors still offering electroshock therapy to "cure" homosexuality - even though a Beijing court had recently ruled against the practice.
The more freedom is offered for sex in a society, the happier people get Li Yinhe, Sexologist
But Li believes that gay rights will gradually evolve too. Gay men and women used to be invisible in Chinese society, she points out, but have come to the surface in the last few years.
A positive article in China Daily on the 2011 Shanghai Pride march was a turning point, with other official media following the newspaper's lead and beginning to mention the LGBT community, Li says.
This year Addiction, a drama about four gay teenagers, was a major success for iQiyi, China's leading online video platform, until it was pulled a few days ago without explanation - generating millions of indignant posts on the Weibo microblogging service.
Li herself has submitted several proposals to the Chinese parliament calling for the legalisation of same-sex marriage, which she thinks will happen one day, though says it's hard to predict when.
"Homosexuality will be better recognised," she says.
"Foucault [the French philosopher] once said, there was no society in the world where sex was absolutely free. There are always restrictions. But I believe the more freedom is offered for sex in a society, the happier people get."
Li Yihhe appears in the four-part documentary series Her Story: The Female Revolution which will air on BBC World on 27 February, 5 March and 12 March. Find out more about the documentary.
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Here's a fun language lesson: the literal translation of an Inuktitut term for lesbian relationships is "two soft things rubbing against each other," while for gay men it's "two hard things rubbing against each other." Hence the title of Mark Kenneth Woods and Michael Yerxa's Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things, a new documentary world premiering at Toronto's Inside Out LGBT Film Festival this weekend.
The film is set against the backdrop of an LGBT Pride celebration in Iqaluit, Nunavut, which despite being the most populous community in the territory has less than 7,000 permanent residents. Woods and Yerxa heard about the festivities via this 2014 article in Daily Xtra, which detailed how it was actually the city's response to the anti-gay laws in Russia during the 2014 Winter Olympics that led to the idea to throw the first Iqaluit Pride.
"We thought, isn't this unbelievably cool that a Pride event is happening in this part of the world in this community of 7,000 people where you wouldn't necessarily expect it?" Yerxa told CBC Arts. "When we read the article we knew that there must be something more to investigate and a lot more stories that will come out of it."
Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things (Inside Out)
"The more we dug, the more complicated and layered it got," added Woods. "You can't have Pride in Nunavut without really retracing the history of colonization, residential schools and Inuit being taken off land and put into settled communities. And then there's Christianization and the writing system being created to teach people the Bible. There's all sorts of things that really lead up to how and why that celebration is happening there now."
The filmmakers don't shy away from any of these issues, and moreover show how the growing embrace of LGBT Inuit is helping the community heal the past. It was colonization and religion that shamed and erased traditional Inuit beliefs about sexuality and family structure, and Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things helps show how a new generation of Inuit are actively "unshaming" their past.
"There's still a lot of thoughts tied to Christianity and traditional marriage," Yerxa said. "That all came on the heels of being colonized. It's nice to see the people actively trying to change their community and that's really what the film is about: their stories."
For Woods and Yerxa, the biggest thing they took away from the experience of making the film is how little is known in the rest of Canada about Nunavut and its people and history.
"We as Southern Canadians aren't learning about this in school," Woods said. "I was really embarrassed about how little I knew and was really blown away by what had happened to that area and its people."
Yerxa added that he hopes the film starts a longer conversation about the history of Inuit, particularly their family structures and sexual identities.
"I hope it's a tipping point for that to be talked about in a much bigger way," he said.
After it premieres at Inside Out, Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things is already set to screen in Sudbury, Ont. and have its international premiere at San Francisco's Frameline Film Festival later this month. But the filmmakers want to make sure that's only the beginning and that the film reaches the many people its story represents.
"We want to make it available free of charge for Inuit communities and it's already starting to happen," Woods said. "People in various communities are reaching out to me asking for copy. The answer's always going to be yes."
Two Soft Things, Two Hard Things. Directed by Mark Kenneth Woods and Michael Yerxa. 71min. Fri, June 3, 5:30pm. TIFF Bell Lightbox, Toronto. Q&A with filmmakers and subjects following the movie. |
Home Daily News Former Penn State president is sentenced…
Criminal Justice
Former Penn State president is sentenced to jail in Sandusky scandal
Former Penn State University president Graham Spanier in 2010. Richard Paul Kane / Shutterstock.com
Former Penn State president Graham Spanier and two other onetime university officials were sentenced to jail time on Friday for their inadequate response to a locker room shower incident involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Judge John Boccabella called the case against Spanier, 68, “a Shakespearean tragedy” and questioned why none of the defendants called police, report the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pennlive.com in stories here and here.
Prosecutors said Sandusky went on to sexually abuse other youths after Spanier failed to tell police about a report that Sandusky had molested a boy in a locker room shower in 2001. After the incident, Spanier and other Penn State officials developed a plan to bar Sandusky from bringing other children to the campus and to inform officials at Sandusky’s charity for at-risk children.
“Why no one made a phone call to the police … is beyond me,” Boccabella said. “Why Mr. Sandusky was allowed to continue to use the Penn State facilities is beyond me.”
Spanier was convicted in March on a misdemeanor child endangerment charge but acquitted of felony endangerment and conspiracy. Spanier’s lawyers had argued their client didn’t realize Sandusky’s interaction with the boy was sexual in nature.
Boccabella sentenced Spanier to four to 12 months’ confinement, with at least two months served in jail and the rest in home confinement. He also ordered Spanier to pay a $7,500 fine.
Boccabella also sentenced two other university officials who had pleaded guilty and testified against Spanier. Former vice president Tim Curley was sentenced to seven to 23 months’ confinement, with at least three months in jail, and fined $5,000. Former athletic director Gary Schultz was sentenced to six to 23 months’ confinement, with at least two months in jail, and fined $5,000.
In addition, Spanier, Curley and Schultz each received two years’ probation.
Sandusky was convicted in 2012 on 45 of 48 counts for sexually abusing 10 boys. He is serving 30 to 60 years in prison. |
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ryan Miller and the Vancouver Canucks have already found a groove just three games into the regular season. The Anaheim Ducks are still looking for a way to get their offense going.
Radim Vrbata and Alex Burrows scored in the shootout, and the Canucks spoiled Anaheim's home opener with a 2-1 victory Monday night.
Miller made 28 saves and Adam Cracknell scored in regulation for Vancouver, which beat the Ducks for just the third time in their last 12 meetings.
Vancouver improved to 2-0 on the road in the young season, with Miller yielding just one goal in each game. That's encouraging to the veteran, who played in only four games after Feb. 22 last season while dealing with a knee injury.
"I'm just trying to go out there and battle and compete," said Miller, who stopped a third-period redirection by Carl Hagelin with his mask. "That was my mindset coming off an injury. That's what it really comes down to, getting back the focus early on. I didn't play hockey for a while. The technical stuff I worked on this summer and I pay attention to in practice."
Even with twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin combining for just one shot, the Canucks won the new season's first meeting between the Pacific Division's top two teams last year. Anaheim won its third straight division title, while Vancouver finished a surprising second before losing in the opening round of the playoffs.
Sami Vatanen scored and Frederik Andersen stopped 24 shots for the Ducks, who have scored just one goal while going winless in the first two games of a season that begins with Stanley Cup aspirations.
Anaheim was shut out in San Jose on Saturday in its opener before returning to Honda Center for its first real game on home ice since Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, when Chicago advanced to win the Stanley Cup.
Kevin Bieksa played nearly 24 1/2 minutes in his second game with the Ducks. Anaheim acquired the veteran defenseman from Vancouver last summer after he played 10 years with the Canucks, who drafted him in 2001. Bieksa was reunited with Ryan Kesler, the longtime Vancouver forward who moved to Anaheim before last season.
"We fought back a lot better than we did in San Jose," Bieksa said. "So we need to keep building on this in the rest of this homestand here. If we do that, we're going to be all right."
After the Ducks failed to score on a power play during their first official taste of 3-on-3 overtime hockey, Vrbata and Burrows got stuttering, halting shots past Andersen, who stopped Burrows' shot before watching it trickle under him.
"I've done that move a few times against a few goalies, but I don't think I've ever done it against Freddie," Burrows said. "So I tried it, and I'm lucky it went in tonight. It hit his stick and trickled in."
Jakob Silfverberg scored in the shootout for the Ducks, who lost their home opener for just the second time in six seasons. Anaheim's talented offensive players aren't clicking so far, but nobody is panicking yet.
"I think we're doing things the right way now," Vatanen said. "We battled hard. We got some good chances. The season is long, so we're going the right way."
Both teams opened at a furious pace, with end-to-end chances throughout. After a scoreless first period, Vatanen got the Ducks' first goal of the season when his long, low shot went through Mike Santorelli's screen.
Cracknell evened it later in the period with a sharp-angled shot that somehow deflected off Andersen's shoulder or stick and landed behind the goalie. The journeyman got his first regular-season NHL goal since April 4, 2013, and just the seventh of his 85-game NHL career.
"Pretty fortunate goal on their part," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. |
These past few days we have had some interesting conversations with some of our fellow Chicago Cubs fans. Oddly enough everything revolved around their buying Clayton Richard to fill in as their fifth starter until they could actually (possibly) find a better pitcher on the trade market.
That is where the real fun began as we got a comment on our blog which I had no real idea how to respond to. Check this one out, because this is special.
What Epstein and Hoyer are really doing is trying to cover up the Ricketts for doing NOTHING in terms of reinvesting the Millions being raked in from Cubs Fans all over these United States… The Ricketts Family and Stuffed Shirts like Epstein and Hoyer say they have been rebuilding our Farm System and MLB Team when in fact they have done NOTHING MUCH Financially, Forbes has reported that Ricketts took home a New Record MLB Profit in 2013 and then DOUBLED that amount by taking home 73.3 Million last year… (Even after Lester) The only real improvements have been thru being awarded the Top Draft Picks from years of LAST PLACE FINISHES of the Cubs… Forbes also has named the Cubs as one of the Highest Profit Makers in Baseball… Topping the Cubs, the Dodgers profits are even higher, but last year they reported a 12 Million Dollar LOSS…. That reflects true commitment!!! Something PARISITES like Ricketts, Epstein and Hoyer cannot hide in what looks like another RECORD YEAR to feather their pockets as we Fans AGAIN EXPRESS OUR DISAPPOINTMENT and watch our Boys in Blue decline the ranks of the Central Division Standings… We need to trade for better Ownership and Front Office Management considering the HUGE SUCKING sound coming from the removal of Cubs Revenues… Maybe it looks great to Forbes and Wall Street Types to see Ricketts quietly morphing Wrigley into Rickettsville… But, us Cubs Fans are not fooled, impressed nor happy with Ricketts Greedy Bargain Basement Offerings and can see his underhanded tactics CLEARLY!!! 😉Truth…
Apparently he has not been paying attention to anything other than the 25 and 40 man rosters. Tom Ricketts has spent Millions, putting a lot of money into this system to do all be could (despite the limitations placed on him from the sale of the team) in order to turn this team into one that can compete for a championship year in and year out.
Unfortunately, he is not alone in his thoughts. This was a tweet that came after one of our writers shared the comment on twitter.
Ricketts, Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have been as transparent as they could be in telling us EXACTLY what they would be doing, giving us a step by step plan. So far, they have done EVERYTHING they said they would do. No lying. No bullshitting. Just the truth.
I love my fellow Cub fans. But honestly, some of them make me want to bang my head against a wall. To these fans, and those who think like them, all I can say is this.
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WASHINGTON - Keeping American weapons from getting into the hands of Mexican gangs is the goal of a program called "Project Gunrunner." But critics say it's doing exactly the opposite. CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports on what she found.
December 14, 2010. The place: a dangerous smuggling route in Arizona not far from the border. A special tactical border squad was on patrol when gunfire broke out and agent Brian Terry was killed.
Kent, Brian's brother, said "he was my only brother. That was the only brother I had. I'm lost."
The assault rifles found at the murder were traced back to a U.S. gun shop. Where they came from and how they got there is a scandal so large, some insiders say it surpasses the shoot-out at Ruby Ridge and the deadly siege at Waco.
To understand why, it helps to know something about "Project Gunrunner" an operation run by the ATF the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Read the indictment
"Project Gunrunner" deployed new teams of agents to the southwest border. The idea: to stop the flow of weapons from the US to Mexico's drug cartels. But in practice, sources tell CBS News, ATF's actions had the opposite result: they allegedly facilitated the delivery of thousands of guns into criminal hands.
CBS News wanted to ask ATF officials about the case, but they wouldn't agree to an interview. We were able to speak to six veteran ATF agents and executives involved. They don't want to be quoted by name for fear of retaliation. These are their allegations.
In late 2009, ATF was alerted to suspicious buys at seven gun shops in the Phoenix area. Suspicious because the buyers paid cash, sometimes brought in paper bags. And they purchased classic "weapons of choice" used by Mexican drug traffickers - semi-automatic versions of military type rifles and pistols.
Sources tell CBS News several gun shops wanted to stop the questionable sales, but ATF encouraged them to continue.
Jaime Avila was one of the suspicious buyers. ATF put him in its suspect database in January of 2010. For the next year, ATF watched as Avila and other suspects bought huge quantities of weapons supposedly for "personal use." They included 575 AK-47 type semi-automatic rifles.
ATF managers allegedly made a controversial decision: allow most of the weapons on the streets. The idea, they said, was to gather intelligence and see where the guns ended up. Insiders say it's a dangerous tactic called letting the guns, "walk."
One agent called the strategy "insane." Another said: "We were fully aware the guns would probably be moved across the border to drug cartels where they could be used to kill."
On the phone, one Project Gunrunner source (who didn't want to be identified) told us just how many guns flooded the black market under ATF's watchful eye. "The numbers are over 2,500 on that case by the way. That's how many guns were sold - including some 50-calibers they let walk."
50-caliber weapons are fearsome. For months, ATF agents followed 50-caliber Barrett rifles and other guns believed headed for the Mexican border, but were ordered to let them go. One distraught agent was often overheard on ATF radios begging and pleading to be allowed to intercept transports. The answer: "Negative. Stand down."
CBS News has been told at least 11 ATF agents and senior managers voiced fierce opposition to the strategy. "It got ugly..." said one. There was "screaming and yelling" says another. A third warned: "this is crazy, somebody is gonna to get killed."
Sure enough, the weapons soon began surfacing at crime scenes in Mexico - dozens of them sources say - including shootouts with government officials.
One agent argued with a superior asking, "are you prepared to go to the funeral of a federal officer killed with one of these guns?" Another said every time there was a shooting near the border, "we would all hold our breath hoping it wasn't one of 'our' guns."
Then, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered. The serial numbers on the two assault rifles found at the scene matched two rifles ATF watched Jaime Avila buy in Phoenix nearly a year before. Officials won't answer whether the bullet that killed Terry came from one of those rifles. But the nightmare had come true: "walked" guns turned up at a federal agent's murder.
"You feel like s***. You feel for the parents," one ATF veteran told us.
Hours after Agent Terry was gunned down, ATF finally arrested Avila. They've since indicted 34 suspected gunrunners in the same group. But the indictment makes no mention of Terry's murder, and no one is charged in his death.
Kent Terry said of his brother, "He'd want them to tell the truth. That's one thing my brother didn't like was a liar. And that's what he'd want. He'd want the truth.
In a letter, the Justice Department which oversees ATF says the agency has never knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to suspected gunrunners. |
A unique urban ecology prompts a new look at globalization.
By Naohiko Hino
Photo Naohiko Hino.
Extending from the interior of the mainland to the southern regions west of Hong Kong, the Pearl River Delta is home to Guangzhou, China’s third-most populous city. Compared with the development of Beijing and Shanghai as cosmopolitan metropolises, Guangzhou has less international appeal, attracting relatively few visitors beyond those who travel there for work. With a population of some 17 million, Guangzhou on its own is not an incredibly big city, but together with Hong Kong, Macao and Shenzhen it comprises one of the world’s largest mega-regions. Yet even in the series of major international events recently hosted in China – namely the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and, in Guangzhou, the 2010 Asian Games – the city’s position in the country’s regional hierarchy is apparent.
As with China’s other economic boomtowns, Guangzhou is a city of new skyscrapers. In the Pearl River New Town district, a park with dramatic vistas toward the Pearl River is seemingly pinned against the water by a cluster of a dozen or so glistening skyscrapers, with another cluster under construction nearby. For good measure, the area is also home to the Zaha Hadid-designed Guangzhou Opera House and Eric Owen Moss’s Guangdong Museum, throbbing with now-ness.
Hadid’s Opera House is certainly an impressive sight, but “New Town” has little else to offer. Ultimately, a skyscraper is a skyscraper, and here all there is to see are the glass curtain walls of still vacant edifices – so glaring in their brand-newness – and the domestic tourists who nevertheless intently gaze up at them. As with McDonalds franchises the world over, New Town is no different from the next urban development.
However, an article in the May 2010 issue of the French periodical Le Monde Diplomatique on Guangzhou’s resident African community suggests that it may be worth paying more attention to this city. (1) How could Guangzhou, which compared with Shanghai appears so provincial, be home to such an extensive enclave of foreigners? Intrigued, I traveled there on my own to conduct further research into this phenomenon.
Le Monde Diplomatique’s reportage was no exaggeration. In fact, there are several African enclaves in Guangzhou: one in an area about one kilometer to the northwest of Guangzhou Station; another two kilometers east of Guangzhou Station in the vicinity of Guangzhou Metro Xiaobei Station; and perhaps others as well. It’s not just that there are numerous Africans living in these areas – businesses are also emerging and, in establishing their own way of living, the inhabitants have truly formed something of their own community.
Including undocumented immigrants, it is estimated that there are an astounding 150,000 Africans in Guangzhou, a majority of them male. It should come as no surprise then that among Guangzhou’s foreign residents, those from Africa make up the largest proportion. These immigrants essentially operate on an individual basis. Working in China as buyers, they can be seen determinedly ranging the streets of central Guangzhou’s wholesale district. There are variations in density, but among the passersby on some bustling streets, half will have African features. There are those from East Africa and West Africa, of all kinds of builds from all different countries. They come to stock up on goods ranging from clothes to cosmetics and sundries, even fake brands – probably collected from factories forced to compete with prices in the Guangzhou region – seeking out deals for everything. Gathering together enough to fill a shipping container, they send these miscellanies home and then flip them for twice the cost, with Guangzhou’s customs duty apparently accommodating such motley trade.
The Africans and Chinese don’t seem to be on particularly friendly terms. They keep their relations strictly business, with the Chinese staff selling to all comers, and the buyers haggling for better prices. Among the negotiations conducted in broken English, there is not any sound of laughter. The African buyers are incredibly diligent, single-mindedly doing the rounds of wholesalers from morning to night. As they size up goods, their eyes are the picture of intensity, and as soon as they complete a deal they stuff the goods into large vinyl bags with rapid movements. If they have too many purchases to carry, they call upon idle Chinese workers to deliver the packages, and then briskly continue to the next shop. Not once have I seen them killing time on the streets. Should they pass an acquaintance, the most they do by way of acknowledgement is to raise their hands, never interrupting their walking.
The individual buyers are supervised by North African or Middle Eastern controllers, and when night comes they gather at restaurants to carry out microloan-style finance meetings. There are several such restaurants near Xiaobei station, all observing Halal practice. Based on their appearances, the staff at these family-run establishments seem to be Chinese Muslims – probably from Xinjiang – who are recruited through ethnic networks. As night deepens, the restaurants become sites for the buyers to exchange information among themselves, with groups of men gathered around different tables, all speaking intently in any number of languages. (On one visit coinciding with the recent revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East, several men looked as though they were about to be sucked into a television relaying broadcasts from Al Jazeera.) All the services necessary to support their lives are concentrated in these enclaves. There are restaurants serving cuisine from the Congo and Nigeria, stalls with cheap telephone rates to Africa, mobile phone brokers, specialty barbers, vendors hawking cassettes and CDs of African music, and in some buildings that have been completely occupied by African tenants, the rare African-run intermediary wholesaler doing order-made customization.
To put it simply, Guangzhou’s African enclaves can be seen as an effect of globalization. African buyers seeking cheap products come to China, “the world’s factory.” Yet if globalization is generally understood as the reproduction of standardized conditions across the world – as with the buildings of Pearl River New Town and McDonalds franchises – the African enclaves present an exceptional case study of globalization. With different ethnicities convening in a competitive, mixed environment, and all kinds of social functions developing there under the tensions of conflict and negotiation, these enclaves constitute a unique urban ecology. The surrounding Chinese neighborhoods are closed off and so overcrowded they evoke the notorious congestion of Kowloon Walled City; they are rarely if ever visited by the Africans. Without any pretence to mutual integration, these communities individualistically pursue their own distinct values. There is no place for so-called neo-liberalism here, only a bare coexistence made possible by a commodity economy that surpasses all context.
Neither the stultifying homogeneity of McDonalds-style franchising, nor the radical mixing of Guangzhou’s African enclaves is the definitive reality of globalization. On the one hand there is the globalization of fluid capital, which, seeking profit, flashes up in all corners of the globe, as expressed concretely by Pearl River New Town’s cluster of skyscrapers. On the other hand, there is the globalization of Guangzhou’s African enclave and its unique urban ecology. But what does the overlaying of these different models mean for our understanding of relations between the global and the local?
For example, in his What is Globalization? (1997), Ulrich Beck proposed the following as counter-aspects to the franchise effect of globalization. First, we are already implicated in social and power relations that are organized at a level that differs from the Modern social unit of the nation-state. Second, the real experience of living and moving beyond the borders of national units is actually now routine. The social system of the Modern nation-state that defined citizens in terms of territory is unable to completely govern multinational corporations, NGOs, worldwide media and other bodies that transcend national borders, while the circulation of people, funds and capital between nations now encompasses us. In encountering and then consuming these phenomena, as in the concrete form of redevelopment, we transform our living environments, and in this way reality has been more or less globalized.
However, for those with a keen interest in cultural fields, this analysis may come across as rather conservative and obvious. It’s not as if only society as a national unit has been internationalized, or only that neighbors may now be of differing nationalities. For us, a globalization that penetrates even deeper into the living experience, complicates social relations and compels communication across cultural barriers is a real and pressing concern.
Guangzhou’s African enclaves can be considered a somewhat exaggerated version of just such a reality. There, multinational conditions constitute an intrinsic order. This is no longer a situation of just casual interactions between neighbors, but rather one that necessitates confronting a heterogeneous mix of others. Under conditions of friction, and in order to stabilize relations, the diverse inhabitants must weave together a specific ecology that is regulated by the local conditions of the site.
This unique adaptation cannot necessarily be applied in the same way in other locations, and it’s possible that even in Guangzhou it may not be sustainable. For example, the African communities in Paris lead completely different lives compared to those of Guangzhou, while Africans in Southeast Asia are subject to more extreme degrees of discrimination. The lone-wolf start-ups of Guangzhou may sooner or later undergo expansion, and businesses that relied on an informal economy may be subjected to systemic pressures. And it’s entirely possible this situation may be nothing more than a passing reflection of international dynamics precipitating the intensification of China’s relations with Africa. But certainly current conditions are being produced through a process of accumulation of creative responses to shifting trends, and certainly the residual traces of the large-scale and complex reality that has existed to date will continue to impact the future. In that sense, globalization itself has perhaps become a condition for the production of contemporary locality. Neither globalism nor locality can be explained in terms of exclusion; the former determines the latter, while the latter is a precondition for the former, in a mutual function of interdependent development.
Guangzhou’s African community may be a unique case, but as an outlying element of a massive spectacle it still relates to our everyday lives. From the Filipinos who gather by the thousands every Sunday to picnic on the pedestrian decks in central Hong Kong; to the Hong Kong natives who left in droves prior to the territory’s return to Chinese control, establishing overnight a new Chinatown in Toronto; to the Japanese-Brazilians, comprising over 15 percent of the population in the town of Oizumi in Gunma prefecture, who enter the Japanese production force and attempt to commit to regional society even as they are affected by fluctuations in the world economy; or Africans who have never lived in the US but are employed as sales staff in Shibuya hip-hop fashion outlets simply because they look the part: we may assume that such phenomena are isolated elements of everyday reality, but actually they share a strong sense of contemporaneity and cohesion. In this way, globalization is generating a vivid new reality all across the world.
Looking into the past, just as the Chinese themselves established Chinatowns across the globe, there is no shortage of historical examples of diaspora communities. Yet globalization has volumetrically accelerated the flux of populations, expanding the capacity of nationality such that it potentially extends anywhere, and occasionally manifests in unconventional ways. This leads to a new kind of specificity, or even, in a broad sense, the formulation of creolized lifestyles, which recursively converge with the characteristics of each place and become a part of that locality. Considered this way, in its mixing of multiplicities globalization produces not standardization, but rather a quite specific hybrid locality. So what is locality? What is globalization? Such questions can no longer be understood through the logic of dichotomy. At least in some small measure, even if we always remain in our countries of origin, we may already be a diaspora.
Translated from the Japanese by Andrew Maerkle.
Based in Tokyo, Naohiko Hino is principal of Hino Architect’s Office. He is also active as an independent curator and critic.
“Where the Lion Rides the Dragon: Africa does business in China” in Le Monde Diplomatique, May 2010 http://mondediplo.com/2010/05/02africansinchina (subscribers only); complete article available in French: http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2010/05/COLOMA/19133 |
As we learned from the absurd questions asked of Pacific Crest Trail thru-hikers, people are mostly interested in hikers' thoughts on the “scary things” out in the wilderness.
Basically: bears, mountain lions, and murders.
Why people are so fixated on bears and murders? The last (and only) recorded death from a wild bear in California, Oregon, or Washington? A four-year-old girl in 1974. The last hiker killed by a mountain lion on the PCT? Never. The last time a person was murdered on the PCT? Also, never.
The idea that hikers should be afraid of bears, mountain lions, and murders is so irrational that to even engage it is a waste of time. That's right, you just wasted an entire minute of your life.
But this is America, we have to be afraid of something. You're right, anonymous reader, we do. And so now I present to you seventeen things scarier than bears on the Pacific Crest Trail.
1. LIGHTNING
Bolts of electricity from the sky: the scariest thing on the Pacific Crest Trail, bar none. When it comes to “things that pucker your butthole”, the wrath of Zeus shits all over bears and cougars. It won't matter if you are walking along an exposed ridge, fleeing down into a valley, or just sitting in your tent – all activities are terrifying in a thunderstorm. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) website, “you are not safe anywhere outside” during a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes without prejudice, and if you get caught in a storm, in the middle of the wilderness, miles from shelter, then you will know its fury. Watch me being scared of lighting on the PCT here.
2. UNMARKED TRAIL JUNCTIONS
The Pacific Crest Trail is relatively well-marked, but occasionally hikers encounter unmarked trail junctions. Even with maps, these junctions can sometimes be difficult to decipher. If you are lucky, a hiker ahead of you will have marked the correct path with an arrow or cairn, but sometimes it falls onto you to decide the way to Canada (or Mexico). The miles following said junctions are always incredibly frightening. “Did I choose correctly? Is that water source ahead? If I am off trail, that means no trail magic!” Eventually, you will until stumble across a trail marker or a landmark and regain your confidence (or not and you will be forced to turn around). Despite my only having chosen the incorrect trail three or four times, I was always 100% convinced that I had wandered off trail following unmarked junctions.
3. BEES
You will make a lot of new critter friends on the Pacific Crest Trail, but perhaps the most loathed of your newfound company will be the bees. I had never been stung by a bee before hiking the PCT; now I have been stung by four (and that number is small compared to many of my PCT friends). In Northern California and parts of Oregon the bee population was not happy to have hikers around. Stopping for lunch in bee territory is a truly regrettable decision. I ate many a meal whilst walking as a result of being driven from my lunch spot by the bees. The worst part? The bees wait to appear until you stop hiking. Cheeky bastards.
4. GIARDIA
A word that hikers learn quickly on the Pacific Crest Trail, giardia can take down even the most seasoned of hikers. Whether or not you can properly pronounce it, the symptoms are the same: diarrhea, flatulence, greasy stool that can float (difficult to diagnose when pooping in a hole), abdominal cramps, upset stomach, and nausea. This experience is terrible when at home, in bed, with a readily available toilet. In the wilderness, the agony endured by those unfortunate enough to come down with the parasite is something I do not dare imagine (likely akin to slowly pulling out your toenails with pliers).
5. THE SUN & DEHYDRATION
Drink a lot of water, and shade yourself from the sun. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. What sounds like two simple tasks can quickly become problematic (and even deadly) on the Pacific Crest Trail. Triple-digit temperatures, high altitudes, long waterless stretches, and extreme physical exertion all make keeping hydrated a constant battle. Knowing nothing of the statistics, I would wager that more hikers die from sunstroke and dehydration each year than from all the other items on this list combined. However, the sun is a silent killer, and therefore, it is not as scary – which explains why it falls so far down the list.
6. POISONOUS PLANTS
Yes, plants are scarier than animals. The Pacific Crest Trail is home to a number of poisonous plants that can cripple hikers bold enough to even come into contact with them. In Southern California hikers do battle with the infamous Poodle Dog Bush (remember, you cannot smoke it). Then, in the lower elevations of Northern California, hikers contend with a poison oak enveloped trail. Sure, avoiding a couple of plants here and there is no problem, but sometimes the trail is literally overgrown with these plants, and avoiding them for miles on end can prove mentally and physically exhausting. Just accept that you might end up itchy (and don't touch your eyes or genitals).
7. BUTT CHAFE
In the realm of conversation topics, the Pacific Crest Trail's social faux pas are few and far between. That being said, chafe, and more specifically butt chafe, is scarier than any bear or mountain lion could ever be. I witnessed many a strong hiker taken down as a result of bleeding butt cheeks. Butt chafe can strike at any moment, and no matter how well you think you wiped, it can (and will) still find a way to ruin days of hiking for you. The one and the only cure for butt chafe? Sleep. Good luck out there.
8. BICYCLISTS
Despite bicycles being forbidden on the entirety of the Pacific Crest Trail, some people believe themselves to be above the law (me, for example). These people ignore the PCT's prohibition of bikes and endanger not only themselves but hikers as well (that guy who almost hit me in Big Bear, for example). Hikers, expecting only to encounter fellow hikers and equestrians, can quickly be taken out by bikers flying around corners or barreling down descents. I typically hiked with music blasting in both my ears (usually J-Pop) because why would I listen for bicyclists who were not supposed to be on the trail in the first place? If you encounter bikers on the trail and can avoid being hit while doing so, then do the polite thing and refuse to yield.
9. MOSQUITOS
Mosquitos may not themselves be deadly, but they can certainly make you want to kill yourself. My time in the Sierra, when not spent marveling at indescribable beauty or bathing naked in mountain streams, was oftentimes spent fleeing from vicious swarms of mosquitos. Without exaggeration, I can say that there were times that if I dared to stop hiking for even a moment, hundreds of mosquitos would swarm around me – biting every inch of exposed skin. Fortunately, you can out-hike the mosquito swarms, but as soon as you stop to for water, to make camp, or god-forbid to poop, they will be all over you. And what's that? Your shirt is thin enough for them to bite through? Time to finally put that rain gear to use.
10. CARS
Cars? Yes, cars. The Pacific Crest Trail itself may be free of motor vehicles, but thanks to the occasional road walking adventure, the many highway crossings, and the number of hours hikers spend hitchhiking, there exist plenty opportunities to be struck by a vehicle. As ironic as being hit by a car whilst hiking the PCT would be, it is a realistic possibility that hikers need to be aware of.
11. UNLEASHED DOGS
You are just hiking down the trail, minding your own business, when all of a sudden: WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF! From around the next bend, an angry-looking dog comes charging at you barking its head off. The dog's owner? Nowhere to be seen. You pucker your butthole (hopefully you don't have butt chafe) and hope that this encounter will end well (i.e. you won't have to stab a dog in the throat with your trekking pole).
This happens quite often on the PCT, and for reasons I fail to understand, people who have dogs that “don't really get along with strangers” insist on keeping them off-leash whilst walking in the wilds. How many times did a bear bite me on the PCT? Zero. How many times by a dog? One. Point, bears.
12. MAN-MADE HAZARDS
Asbestos, high voltage cables, and unexploded military ordinances are just a few of the things hikers will have to contend with on the Pacific Crest Trail. Wait, did you say unexploded military ordinances? Like bombs? Yes, I did, and yes, like bombs. As if hikers didn't have enough to look out for already, man's encroachment upon the wilderness and the trail has made hiking the PCT more treacherous than nature intended. Watch your step out there, hiker trash.
13. THE BOOGIE MAN
If you are afraid of the dark now, just wait until your first night alone on the Pacific Crest Trail. No matter how confident you are during the day, once nightfall comes, the trail belongs to the darkness. The boogie man lurks at every campsite, and no matter where you try to hide, he will find you. He's responsible for the howling wind, the unnerving noises in the bushes, and the mysteriously disappearing tent stakes. You are being watched.
14. SNAKES
Day one hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, I came across the first of many rattlesnakes I would eventually meet along the trail. How many did I see? I stopped counting after the first twenty. Some hikers claimed to not see any snakes on-trail, but this does not translate to them not being seen by any snakes. You are lucky to see some bears, and you are a celebrity if you spot a mountain lion, but you will be the minority if you do not encounter any poisonous snakes along your way. Remember that they are just one of many desert murders.
15. COWS
The Pacific Crest Trail passes through many miles of land used for raising cattle. Giant, beastly, genetically enhanced cattle. Few things rattled me more during the night than the sound of some huge cow crying out in what I can only assume was sexual frustration, very near to my tent (everything sounds closer in the darkness). More than once I had sketchy encounters with cows refusing to move out of the trail, and more than once I was legitimately frightened that I would be run down by an angry bull. Cows may be big and dumb, but sometimes big and dumb can be a lethal combination (like that stupid red dog).
16. SNOW
Hikers aim to enter the Sierra late and to pass through Washington early to miss yearly snowfalls, but the timing of many a thru-hike does not agree with the weather. Snow can make those unmarked trail junctions an impossible mystery, and can quickly cover hiker footprints or even the entire trail. Waking up to a campsite covered in snow can be terrifying in itself, and without the proper equipment, hikers can quickly become trapped out on the PCT. At least there will be plenty of time for constructing a massive snowman whilst awaiting snowmelt (or rescue).
17. POOP
Coming in last we have poop. Cow poop, dog poop, horse poop, hiker poop – it's everywhere. Just accept it, you are going to come into physical contact with poop on the Pacific Crest Trail. It does not matter if you are stepping over cow pies in the middle of the trail, trying to find a barren piece of land to erect your tent, or searching for an unspoiled patch of earth to deposit your own feces into, you are going to come face to face with poop eventually. You had might as well just embrace it.
CONCLUSION
But wait, where are bears, mountain lions, and murderers on the list? They aren't on the list! Why? Obviously, you have not been paying attention.
Despite what is said here, the Pacific Crest Trail is not a scary place. What frightens people about the PCT and the wilderness is the unknown, but the unknown should instill you with excitement, not fear.
I felt safer in the wilderness than I have felt in many a city across the world. Times mugged on the PCT? Zero. Times mugged not on the PCT? One. It's math, people.
Remember, you are the crazy people out in the wilderness.
Still not scared? Check out: 11 MORE Things Scarier Than Bears On The Pacific Crest Trail. |
IN AUGUST 2011 Desiree Versteeg, a Dutch mortuarist, was driving home in the suburbs of Arnhem in the eastern Netherlands when she saw an animal in the road. “At first I thought it was a dog. Then I thought it was a fox. Then—I couldn’t believe my eyes—I saw it was a wolf.” She got out of the car to take a picture. “I was seven or eight metres away from him. He couldn’t get away because a fence was blocking his path. He turned and stared at me. That was a frightening moment.” Both she and the wolf fled.
From Ms Versteeg’s photographs, and from the carcass of a deer found nearby—its throat torn out in classic wolf fashion—scientists verified that she was the first person to have seen a wolf in the Netherlands since 1897. Having talked to the experts, she now understands that the wolf was probably more frightened than she was. “But all you know at the time is: it’s a wolf, it’s a predator and I’m in its way.”
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Ms Versteeg’s experience illustrates a dramatic reversal that has taken place in the West over the past couple of decades. Economic change has led to a fundamental shift in humanity’s attitude to wolves. For the first time since man first sharpened a spear, he has stopped trying to exterminate them and taken to protecting them instead. The effort has been so successful that wolves are recolonising areas from which they disappeared as much as a century ago. As they do so, they are forging revealing divisions over whether mankind can live side-by-side with the species it replaced as the Western world’s top predator.
State v wolf
Most man-made extinctions have been accidental—the result of over-hunting, or importing predators or diseases. Wolves are different. Through most of human history, killing them has been regarded as a public good. As soon as anything that looked like a state developed, it set about exterminating wolves.
In England King Edgar imposed an annual tribute of 300 wolf skins on Idwal, king of Wales, in 960; monarchs made land grants on condition that the beneficiaries carried out wolf hunts; King Edward I employed a wolf-hunter-in-chief to clear central and western England of wolves. By the end of the 15th century they seem to have disappeared from England, though in Scotland they hung on a little longer: in 1563 Mary Queen of Scots had 2,000 Highlanders drive the woods of Atholl for a hunt that bagged 360 deer and five wolves.
America’s original settlers, then, had no previous experience of wolves. The dense lupine population in the forests along the eastern seaboard in the New World, for which the colonists’ livestock was a walking buffet, made a tough life harder still. Towns set generous bounties for wolves. In 1643 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, for instance, the reward for killing a wolf in a trap was five shillings; for killing one with a dog, it was 20s. Colonists devised imaginative ways of getting rid of them: John Josselyn, an English traveller, reported that locals would tie two fish-hooks together, dip them in tallow, and leave them out for wolves to swallow.
Although man domesticated his best friend from the species at least 15,000 years ago, he has long regarded the wolf as his worst enemy
Boston’s last specimen was killed in 1657, but elsewhere on the east coast wolves lived on in enclaves through the 18th century. Farther west they remained a serious threat for much longer. In 1848, shortly after the Mormons arrived in Salt Lake Valley, Thomas Bullock reported that “the wolves made things hideous with their continuous howls”; in 1850, 15% of Utah’s budget went on wolf bounties. In the 20th century the federal government took on the job, and by 1970—largely through the use of poison—had wiped wolves out everywhere except Alaska and a pocket of northern Minnesota.
In western Europe, being hunted to death was not wolves’ only problem: they also suffered from shrinking habitat. As the human population rose, people chopped down the forests for firewood and ate the deer and boar on which the wolves had fed. As they lost out in the tussle with people, wolves were exterminated, progressively, from the Benelux countries, France, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and West Germany. Small numbers survived in Italy and Spain.
Then sometime in the mid-to-late 20th century, things started to change. In Europe urbanisation, industrialisation and rising incomes led peasants to abandon their farms and move to cities. Land that had once been converted from heath or forest to fields reverted to its wild state. In some places—such as Alpine areas, where trees help protect people from avalanches—governments encouraged reforestation. The process is still going on: in the past two decades the forested area of western Europe has increased by around 7%.
At the same time as habitat suitable for wolves expanded, so did the food supply. These days people eat from supermarket shelves rather than from the land, so deer and wild boar are no longer shot for the pot. Hunters’ groups have helped restore the populations of these animals, and more quarry for hunters also means more food for wolves.
It wasn’t just the physical environment that was changing. On both sides of the Atlantic, attitudes were shifting too.
The howl of nature
Although man domesticated his best friend from the species at least 15,000 years ago, he has long regarded the wolf as his worst enemy. The wolf prowls through stories—Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf, the Norse myth of the beast that will swallow the sun at Ragnarok—as the embodiment of evil.
In a way, it is odd that the wolf should be mankind’s bête noire. Bears, which get a far better press, are more dangerous. Disturb a bear and it may turn on you; disturb a wolf and it will run away. Presumably competition explains this ancient hatred. Once people took to raising animals, wolves competed with them more directly than any other creature. A pack of wolves will happily kill hundreds of sheep in an hour. In communities whose livelihood goes about on four legs, wolves and people are not compatible.
This rivalry has spawned awful cruelty. In 1814 John James Audubon, one of America’s great naturalists, recorded watching a farmer in Ohio hoist trapped wolves out of a pit he had dug for them and, for his and Audubon’s amusement, cut their tendons and set his dogs upon them to see how long they would last. Audubon regarded it as fine entertainment.
Yet around the middle of the 20th century sentiment started to change. First came a shift in conservationist thinking, illustrated by the life and writings of Aldo Leopold, father of the American environmental movement.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries environmentalists believed that because predators killed other animals, conservation was best served by killing them—a view that fit the economic imperative of the times. Leopold, employed by the Forest Service to kill wolves and other predators in New Mexico, was part of that effort.
But he grew concerned about the consequences of this campaign. In “The Sand County Almanac”, first published in 1949 and probably the best-selling environmentalist book ever, he wrote, “I have watched the face of many a newly wolfless mountain, and seen the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed, first to anaemic desuetude, and then to death. I have seen every edible tree defoliated to the height of a saddlehorn.” The campaign to destroy wolves, he believed, was destroying America’s landscape.
Conservationists were not the only ones who began to reconsider. So did the general public. As people moved to towns, attitudes to nature moved from utilitarian to romantic.
In America the idea of manifest destiny—that conquering territory previously controlled by savages and wild beasts was a moral duty—fell out of favour. Growing evidence of environmental damage fuelled the belief that while mankind was busy getting rich, it was ruining its most precious asset. Progress came to seem like the opposite. And as the world turned upside down, so vermin became victim. “Wolves are the antithesis of civilisation,” says Doug Smith, head of the wolf programme at Yellowstone National Park. “They represent the wilderness we have lost.”
In Europe, according to Marie-Odile Guth, former director of nature conservation at the French environment ministry, wolves arouse feelings not so much of guilt as of longing. “People are tired of urban life. The wolf represents a return to natural life. It’s attractive, and at the same time it’s a little bit frightening.” Thus economic development has both enhanced the wolf’s charms and put an end to the competition that once set mankind against it.
Changing public attitudes brought legislation—in America the Endangered Species Act of 1973, in Europe the Bern Convention of 1979 and the Habitats Directive of 1992—designed to prevent the extinction of the many species that were under the cosh. And in America the idea of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone took hold. Proposed by conservationists, it turned out to have widespread popular support; so in 1995, 14 grey wolves were captured in Canada and released in Yellowstone and nearby Idaho.
In Europe, encouraged by a combination of protection and mankind’s retreat to the cities, the wolves returned naturally. They spread across the Alps from Italy into France, where the first was spotted in 1992; from Finland into Sweden, where they were identified in 1977; from Poland to Germany in the 1990s, and thence, in 2011, to the Netherlands and Belgium.
The wolves were not alone in benefiting from the legislation and the landscape changes. Other large predators started to recover too. The lynx, endangered in Europe, is now recovering fast. America’s grizzly bear population has grown from 500 in the 1970s to 1,500 now. Brown bears are clinging on in some bits of western Europe, such as the Pyrenees, and flourishing in other parts, such as Sweden, where the population has risen from 370 in 1966 to 3,500 now.
Compared with slow-moving bears, wolves are adaptable, adventurous creatures that breed and spread fast. Their packs operate over a territory of 250-400 square kilometres; fully-grown pups leave the pack and travel up to 1,000km in search of their own territory and a mate. Using their DNA, which can be extracted from their scat, and radio-tracking collars, scientists have logged some extraordinary journeys. A wolf from south-west of Turin lived around Bonn for a year; two Italian wolves were found to be living in the Pyrenees; a Slovenian wolf travelled through Austria and into Italy where he eventually settled down with a mate near Verona. Italians were entranced by the romance of their lupine Romeo and Juliet—which came to a sad end when the female was run over by a car.
Wolf numbers are now growing in most of western Europe. But the population rebound is most dramatic in America, where the combination of protection and a sparse human population suits them perfectly. In the Rocky Mountains, since the wolf’s reintroduction in 1995, the population has grown to 1,700-2,000; in the Great Lakes, where it never entirely disappeared, it has gone from 750 to 4,000 over the same period.
Some scientists credit the wolf with a dramatic ecological impact. Yellowstone’s elk population has fallen from about 20,000 before the wolves arrived to 5,000 now. Bison and beavers are thriving on the resulting vegetation. The grizzly bears that scavenge the wolf kills are having a fine time. Willow and aspen have recovered along the banks of rivers; as the bushes grow into trees, the songbirds that like to live in them are flourishing.
Yet outside nature reserves the wolf’s ecological effects are blurred by man, and the case for protecting it must be made on other grounds. “It’s a bit like gender equality,” says Guillaume Chapron of the Grimso Wildlife Research Station in Sweden. “We support it not because it is economically efficient, but because we are a modern society which believes that women should have the same rights as men. Similarly, we believe that a modern wealthy society can share its landscape with other species.”
Not everybody agrees. Where humans were once united in their determination to eradicate the wolf, they are now sharply divided over its return.
Bobos in love
On both sides of the Atlantic the wolf’s supporters are in a majority. They include disproportionate numbers of young people, women and city dwellers. By and large, the farther away people live from wolves, the more they like them. The big exception is Native Americans, who live close to them and respect them. Wolves feature in their mythology as man’s creator or brother and, according to Chris McGeshick of the Mole Lake Band of the Chippewa tribe in the Great Lakes area, the Indians see their fate as linked to the wolf’s: “We’re doing better, we’re exercising our rights, we’re getting back to where we were before the Europeans arrived. As the wolf gets stronger, so do the tribal people.”
Environmental and animal-welfare organisations are leading the fight to keep the wolf protected. They have generous supporters, for whom the wolf is totemic. When Defenders of Wildlife polls its 1m members about the species they care about, the wolf always comes out top, according to Jamie Rappaport Clark, its president and a former director of the federal government’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). That makes lobbying for the wolf a priority: “Our members expect a return on their investment.”
But the wolf’s supporters do not care for it as much as its opponents hate it, and they have good reason to. In 2009, the worst year for her since the wolf’s reintroduction, Kim Baker, a rancher in Montana, suffered seven confirmed wolf kills, 12 head of cattle missing and yearlings that, worn down by harassment, weighed in at an average of 710lb (322kg) instead of the expected 770lb. She calculates the total losses that year at around $42,000. “Sometimes it gets pretty doggone depressing. If you could see what the wolves leave…We don’t raise our cattle to be tortured.” Photographs show savaged dogs and cattle with their rumps chewed off. Ranchers get compensation for losses; but Ms Baker says that, because of the difficulty of proving that a wolf was to blame, the pay-offs make up for only 10% of her losses.
In Europe conflict between wolves and farmers has been sharpest in France, where heavy subsidies still sustain agriculture in marginal areas. Joseph Jouffrey, president of the shepherds’ association in the Hautes-Alpes, says that one of his neighbours recently lost 67 sheep. Around 5,000 were killed by wolves in the whole of France last year, up from around 1,500 five years ago. As in America, farmers say the compensation does not cover their losses. There have been anti-wolf demonstrations and arson attacks in the national park where they first appeared, and death threats against the park’s staff.
In the fight against the wolves, hunters tend to side with the ranchers and shepherds (see article). Moose-hunting in Sweden is an important part of rural life, says Gunnar Gloersen, a hunter from Varmland in mid-Sweden. Every year 100,000 moose are shot, partly to protect pine trees, whose young shoots moose eat, and partly for sport. Even the schools and the police stations close on a moose-hunting day. Wolves disrupt shooting by slaughtering around 5,000-10,000 moose a year and, more importantly, by killing hunting dogs. The costs of losing a dog are not just emotional: a well-trained jamthund is worth €10,000 ($13,000). The presence of wolves reduces the value of hunting rights and, according to Mr Gloersen, costs landowners in his part of Sweden around €50m a year.
The wolf’s supporters do not care for the species as much as its opponents hate it
The division between the wolves’ opponents and supporters is cultural as well as economic. While supporters regard themselves as caring for the planet, opponents see themselves as in touch with the earth. Pierre de Boisguilbert, the general secretary of France’s Société de Vènerie (hunting with hounds), characterises the wolf’s supporters as “bobos”—bourgeois-bohemians, a disparaging term for urban left-wingers. “The bobos love the wolf. They’ll never see one, but the idea of the wolf is great.”
In America, the argument over the wolf’s protected status escalated into a full-blown political battle. Wolf numbers swiftly hit the FWS’s (modest) target of 100 wolves per state, so in 2002 it started talking about removing their protection. To stop this happening, the environmental and animal-rights organisations took the federal government to court. As judges deliberated, and more cases were brought, the wolf population rocketed, and hunters and ranchers got increasingly angry. In 2011 Congress lost patience and legislated to override the courts and “delist” the wolves. They are now fair game in all the Rocky Mountain and Great Lakes states where they are present.
What will happen to America’s wolf population is not clear. The states are trying to cut their numbers to the FWS’s original targets. Some conservationists think populations of those sizes are too small to be sustainable, and that the wolf risks being wiped out again; others say the animals are now too numerous to be culled to the target levels. Dave Mech, senior research scientist with the United States Geological Survey, says the wolf population is too large to be controlled by “fair-chase” hunting (without the use of aircraft or poison). What is clearer is the damage that the explosion of wolf numbers has done to conservation, by turning those whose livelihoods have suffered against environmental legislation. “Our biggest enemy”, says Ms Baker, the rancher, “has been the Endangered Species Act.”
In Europe wolves still receive strict protection from the EU Habitats Directive. The commission took Finland to court in 2005 for allowing too much hunting, and is now pursuing a similar case against Sweden, although there is widespread recognition that the wolf’s growing numbers are a problem. Culling is allowed only in tiny numbers: in France, for instance, 11 wolves may be harvested this year. Yet they have spread as far west as the Massif Central, where there are lots of people, and lots of sheep. “If the wolves get there in significant numbers, it will be a nightmare,” says Luigi Boitani, head of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s working group on large carnivores in Europe.
Mankind’s relationship with the wolf has always been difficult, and lupine politics must be delicately managed. But although this divisive canine still has too many enemies for its survival to be taken for granted, history is on its side. In most of the world, agriculture’s share of economic output is shrinking, the rural population is falling and people are drifting ever farther from the soil. These days wolves are little more to most humans than a reminder of a wilder past they have put behind them, but which still tugs at their souls. |
CLOSE "Antifa" is commonly considered to be part of the far-left, a group Trump said was partially responsible for violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Video provided by Newsy Newslook
Police toss gas canisters at protesters in downtown Phoenix on Aug. 22, 2017, after President Trump spoke at the convention center. (Photo: Yihyun Jeong/The Republic)
Before this summer, Phoenix's antifascist movement existed primarily in the far-left corners of social media and the rowdier pockets of civil-rights protests.
Its adherents — mostly young, mostly masked and often carrying bats — seemed to appear at any politically charged demonstration, but often drawing little notice.
An Aug. 22 Trump rally in downtown Phoenix changed that.
The word "antifa" has now made its way to mainstream political discourse, both locally and nationally. In the Phoenix area, its membership is fluid and secretive but has drawn attention far beyond its ranks.
It is a disjointed collective of far-left-leaning activists who see themselves as the line of defense against neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the so-called alt right.
Where antifa veers from its counterparts is in tactics. While other left-wing groups court media attention, antifa operates behind pseudonyms and masks. They believe violence is justified by harassment or hate speech. And perhaps most importantly, they believe activism is most effective outside the parameters of government.
Phoenix police have warned against them. Academics question their tactics. But those involved are convinced they must work outside the normal advocacy process to be heard.
The Republic interviewed two people who said they were members of the movement and confirmed their identities, but none would provide their names for publication.
Here's what we know about the antifa movement, its goals and impact, based on interviews with members of law enforcement, other activists and researchers who study antifa.
Multiple ideologies and approaches
Modern-day antifa traces its roots to the militant anti-fascist movements that spread in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.
One of the largest antifa or antifa-adjacent groups in Arizona is the John Brown Gun Club, which is an offshoot of Redneck Revolt, a national network of left-wing militants. John Brown Gun Club adherents are anti-racist, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, and heavily armed. Its membership looks to recruit the white working class, offering a leftist alternative to far-right movements such as the neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan or Minutemen.
Others in the movement lean toward the Antifascist Action Phoenix Facebook page, which organizes actions and other community events. While its philosophies overlap with the John Brown Gun Club, Antifascist Action Phoenix adherents aren't known to carry guns and don't narrow their scope to white working class.
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Their protest targets are Trump supporters, white nationalists and anyone who discriminates based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion. They argue that hate speech inherently leads to violence, and that the First Amendment has its limits. Much of their activism is blocking any platform from the far right.
Phoenix's antifascists often enlist themselves as backup for other left-wing causes. They were at the Arizona State Capitol in 2015, primed to defend immigrants as they prepared legalization paperwork. They were in Fountain Hills in 2016, blocking the roads into a Donald Trump rally and screaming obscenities at his supporters. And they were at Phoenix's Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in February, trying to stop a van carrying a woman toward deportation.
The Trump rally: What happened?
Before the Trump rally, almost no one in Phoenix outside the movement called them "antifa."
But the Aug. 22 Trump rally in downtown Phoenix gave the collective a local stage.
"You know they show up in the helmets and the black masks, and they’ve got clubs and they’ve got everything,” Trump said to his audience as he mocked his protesters. "Antifa!"
Less than an hour later, a group of people in black bandannas with anti-fascist flags approached the barrier separating Trump's protesters and supporters.
A few from the group tossed gas canisters at Phoenix police.
“It gets to the point where they see that peaceful protest is not helping out so people react emotionally.” Salvador Reza, civil-rights activist
Within minutes, chaos erupted. Police shot various forms of pepper spray at the crowd and later blamed "antifa" for instigating.
MORE: Trump protests in Phoenix: What caused the night to unravel?
"What happens, unfortunately, is as these people disperse, they don’t leave the area," Phoenix Police Sgt. Jonathan Howard told reporters recently as he showed footage of the event. "They actually intermingle and they conceal themselves within the crowd."
Police say a few continued to toss objects at the officers, and soon officers retaliated against the protesters at large. The night ended in chaos, with peaceful and non-peaceful demonstrators alike coughing through tear gas and dodging pepper balls.
Police arrested a handful of protesters at the event, though none who identified as antifa. Still, police are taking the collective's message seriously, monitoring their presence online and in demonstrations.
MORE: Phoenix to seek independent review of police response at Trump rally
And their message of rejection of establishment partnerships is beginning to resonate among well-known local activists, many of whom feel failed by the traditional system.
"It gets to the point where, they see that peaceful protest is not helping out so people react emotionally," said Salvador Reza, a civil-rights activist and longtime centerpiece at protests against former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
"It’s provoked by desperation that peacefulness hasn’t worked."
Police: 'They won't work with us'
Protesters were gassed by Phoenix police outside of the Phoenix Convention Center following President Donald Trump's visit in Phoenix on Aug. 22, 2017. (Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)
To local police, the antifa movement is the feral version of its counterparts.
Groups such as Black Lives Matter are willing to talk with officers and compromise, Howard said. BLM organizers, for example, will work with police officials to plan an acceptable march route.
"With antifa, they don’t have any true organization that can help us establish some ground rules … 'here’s what your rights are, here’s what we’re going to agree on, here are the things we’ll work with you on, here are some lines,' " Howard said. "They won't work with us to come and find some common ground."
MORE: President Trump's August rally cost Phoenix taxpayers more than $450,000
Many members of Phoenix’s antifa are veterans of other, related movements of yesteryear. They may have marched in the Occupy movement or Anonymous protests. Many identify as anarchists.
Howard said the latest iteration is more concerning.
"They’re significant enough that we need to be aware of them," Howard said, adding that its adherents' entire goal is "disruption."
"I don’t know if it’s the tension in the overall, nationwide atmosphere, but they seem to be more disruptive than they have been in the past," he said.
Perspective: Academics offer pros, cons
People including Francisca Porchas tell their stories of being teargassed by Phoenix police during the Aug. 22 Trump protest rally as Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton walks out after calling a temporary adjournment for the Phoenix City Council meeting on Aug. 30, 2017. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic)
Mark Bray, a Dartmouth professor and author of a new book, “ANTIFA: The Anti-Fascist Handbook," said the movement has reignited several times throughout history in response to what groups believe are immediate threats.
"It’s largely a defensive activity," Bray said. "Some people have likened it to a firefighting action. It’s intended to respond to overt actions of fascist politics."
Antifa members are united more by what they don’t want than what they want, Bray said.
"It’s a way for people who are social democrats to get on the same page against a common enemy and put aside differences," he said.
Bray said the lifespan of antifia movements often aligns with their perceived threat. Their members may take up another environmental or criminal-justice cause after their foes fade from power.
"If there’s a dozen problems you think are going on, you’re going to put your time into the one you think is most immediately relevant," he said. "When that isn’t relevant, people usually move on."
'To say that those two are the same is missing the politics'
The word "antifa" has been used as a slur by some on the political right, either by painting all leftist movements with the fringe brush or likening anti-fascists to alt-right or white supremacist movements.
In a highly publicized exchange, Trump shot back at criticism that he was too slow to condemn the white supremacists who had engaged in violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. He doubled down on his contention that both sides, including the "alt-left" were to blame.
MORE: Trump's denouncement disappoints, angers white nationalists
Bray said this is a false equivalency because there’s a difference in someone being confrontational in the name of anti-Semitism and white supremacy and someone being confrontational in the name of racial equality.
“Their definition of a 'defensive' action, and who a fascist (is), is so sweeping, it makes them nothing short than an armed mob looking to bust heads.” Brian Levin, Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism director
"To say that those two are the same is missing the politics and the values behind it," he said. "I don’t think you can ever talk about any political tactic or strategy without also taking into account why it’s being done."
It’s often difficult to draw a firm line around antifa, but critics of the movement say it’s important to distinguish them from peaceful protesters.
Adherents believe that hate speech inherently leads to violence, and treats it as a first punch. Their confrontational approach, they say, is to take away the platform from white supremacists before they gain more power.
But Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University in San Bernardino, said this justification grants leeway to invoke violence whenever the mood strikes.
"Their definition of a 'defensive' action, and who a fascist (is), is so sweeping, it makes them nothing short than an armed mob looking to bust heads," Levin said. "And they’ll assault journalists, law enforcement or researchers."
Inside the Antifascist Action Phoenix group
Republic reporters spoke to two area residents who identify as antifa about this night and their overall presence in the Valley. The Republic has confirmed their identities, but the individuals asked that their real names not be used out of fear of retaliation.
The woman and man are two of the administrators behind the Facebook page "Antifascist Action Phoenix," but stressed their collective has no formal organization or leaders. They said it's difficult to give even a ballpark estimate of their ranks in Phoenix, but that at least a few hundred people were involved.
The two described adherents as a "mishmash" of 9-to-5 workers, activists, environmentalists and the like. They're not necessarily anarchists but are all anti-capitalists, they said.
They stressed that everyone who opposes fascists could count as antifa but conversely were quick to distance themselves from other self-proclaimed anti-fascists. Their branch, they said, had nothing to do with the group that clashed with police at the Trump rally.
There are varying degrees of participation, but as of early October their Facebook page had about 3,100 followers. Both said they saw spikes in interest after both Trump's election and his inauguration.
A Black Lives Matter supporter exchanges viewpoints with a man holding a rifle outside the Phoenix Convention Center before President Donald Trump's speech Aug. 22, 2017. (Photo: Pat Shannahan/The Republic , The Arizona Republic)
The two said the local antifa members support Black Lives Matter and immigration activist groups such as Puente but believe those groups are limited in what they can accomplish because still work within the bounds of traditional politics. They will start petitions, work to change laws and meet with police or other government officials.
They said their anonymity frees them to work in the way they see fit, without worrying about public relations.
The two said the most common ways they help the community are as backup, supporting members of diverse communities who feel intimidated by racists.
They said one of their most high-profile targets had been Jon Ritzheimer, an Arizona militia member who staged anti-Muslim protests in the Valley before making national headlines in an armed occupation in Oregon last year. He pleaded guilty to a charge that he conspired to impede federal officers through intimidation, threats or force.
The two said the local branch does community service work as well. They hand out food at parks, set up a table at First Fridays and hold picnics with community members to address their neighborhood's needs.
The two said alt-right has been known to masquerade as antifa to soil its name. They pointed to a local, satirical Facebook page that mocked antifa but that had gained more followers than their own.
Mainstream activists show understanding, empathy
Amanda Blackhorse, a Navajo activist, leads a protests against the Washington Redskins Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014 outside the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Blackhorse was the lead plaintiff in the suit (Blackhorse et al v. Pro-Football Inc.) against the NFL Washington Redskins team, which just lost its federal trademark registrations. Photo/David Kadlubowski (Photo: David KadlubowskI/The Republic)
Amanda Blackhorse has spent more than a decade fighting racism in the some of most peaceful means possible.
She is a 35-year-old Navajo woman, mother, social worker and Native American advocate who lives in Phoenix. In a 2006 case, Blackhorse and others argued the NFL's Washington Redskins' name was offensive to American Indians and therefore not eligible for trademark registration.
“I feel like we have been assaulted enough and it’s now time for more approaches that really defend who we are as people. We’re done laying down for the world to walk all over us. We have to do something else.” Amanda Blackhorse, Native American advocate
In 2014, the U.S. patent office's trademark board agreed and revoked six team trademarks. Later that year, the team filed a new suit against her and the group to overturn the decision.
A Supreme Court ruling this June effectively ended her 11-year legal battle against the team, in the Redskins’ favor.
“We have gone through the ‘correct’ channels or the peaceful channels of litigation and peaceful protesting,” she said. “I feel like we have been assaulted enough and it’s now time for more approaches that really defend who we are as people. We’re done laying down for the world to walk all over us. We have to do something else.”
Blackhorse visited the Standing Rock Reservation during protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, when thousands of people from more than 250 Native American tribes convened in what may have been the largest, most diverse display of tribal resistance in centuries.
In response, law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against protesters in freezing temperatures.
'The fight is against the system'
Although she does not identify as “antifa,” doesn’t wear black to protests or use violence in any way, she said she understand why activists are moving in that direction.
“I think the climate right now calls for something as radical as that,” she said. “I see it more as a defense for our people rather than an aggressive approach."
Reza, the immigrant-rights activist and Arpaio foe, echoed Blackhorse's disillusionment.
Reza watched as Trump pardoned his political ally last month, lifting what would have been Arpaio's only legal consequences in a decade-old racial profiling case.
"For 10 years, you go and prove it in the court of law," Reza said. "The guy is guilty as charged — he's been racially profiling (Latinos), then violating a court order.
"And then what happens? You have ... Donald Trump say, 'I’m the president, I can pardon anybody.' "
Reza, who for years has advocated peaceful demonstrations, said he wouldn't condemn antifa, and understood the frustration.
"The fight is not against them, the fight is against the system. The system wants us to fight against each other," he said. "We cannot lose that target. I don’t have time to be fighting with antifa."
READ MORE:
Here are the 18 hate groups that operate in Arizona
Phoenix police share footage of response to Trump protest
Diaz: What is Antifa? Too dangerous to be admired — or ignored
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There are 118 elements in the periodic table. Everybody knows calcium is the stuff in milk and bones, chlorine goes into swimming pools, and helium floats balloons. But, besides sitting in some scientist’s cupboard, what’s the use of molybdenum, antimony, or gallium?
Keith Enevoldsen has created an interactive periodic table that shows the everyday applications of all the known elements, except for the super-heavy elements, which are short lived, don’t exist in nature, and are only really used in atomic research.
Take, for example, strontium. Other than being a distant memory of a chemistry lesson, this alkali Earth metal (just like calcium and magnesium) is a common component in red fireworks and flares. It’s also used in clear batteries and medical diagnostic tracers.
There’s also a downloadable PDF of the table, which makes for the perfect teaching tool. It doesn’t look too overwhelming to kids, while containing the key features of a conventional periodic table. Alternatively, you can buy it in poster form from an online store if you’re in need of a new wall hanging.
Head over to Enevoldsen’s website elements.wlonk.com for the full interactive map. Here’s a small sneak preview of it:
Related |
A FEW years in the past, molecular biologists made an enormous breakthrough. By borrowing an antiviral mechanism from bacteria, they created a simple method to tweak the genetic data inside cells – a method that had huge implications for science, medicine & agriculture. However, a dispute over who precisely invented what first has threatened to curtail its potential. But CRISPR -Cas9, as the disputed technique is known as, turns out to not be the only means bacteria defend themselves from the attentions of viruses.Recently, in Cell, a group of researchers led by Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is among the parties to the patent dispute, have announced their discovery of another such mechanism.
Like its predecessor, the new mechanism, called CRISPR -Cpf1, has the potential to turn into a tool that may deal with intractable genetic diseases such as Huntington’s, and degenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s. It may also be used to create new classes of anti-viral treatment, and thus curb infectious disease. Plant and animal breeders, as well as doctors, might find it helpful, too. They could create new strains of crops and livestock. Indeed, because, like CRISPR -Cas9, it doesn’t involve taking genes from one organism and implanting them in another, it is not going to count as “transgenic”, a bogeyman of campaigners and customers alike.
CRISPR -Cas9 consists of a molecular pair of scissors (the Cas9) and a guide sequence of DNA (the CRISPR ) that tells the scissors where to chop. The dispute over who can rightfully claim inventorship has prompted some, although not all, potential companies to give the technology a wide berth. Monsanto, a plant-breeding and agrichemicals agency, has gone on record as saying that it’s reluctant to make use of CRISPR -Cas9 widely till it understands the intellectual property concerned. Drug corporations have also circled at a distance. CRISPR -Cpf1, which has a different pair of scissors, might effectively not endure these legal issues.
CRISPR -Cpf1 can also be better than CRISPR -Cas9 in other ways. Cpf1 is a smaller and less complicated enzyme (identified technically as an endonuclease) than Cas9, which suggests it is going to be simpler to deliver to the cells whose genes need modifying. And its slightly offset cuts to double-stranded DNA will help researchers to insert genetic patches more effectively and precisely.
Its discovery also raises the question of how many other endonuclease-based systems are out there in the world’s bacteria. Viral infection is a serious threat to these microbes, and the natural job of both CRISPR -Cas9 and CRISPR -Cpf1 is to recognise viral genes and chop them up before they can do any harm. Conversely, viruses are constantly evolving to escape the antiviral systems’ attentions, meaning bacteria need to generate new ones. The chances are good, therefore, that CRISPR -Cas9 and CRISPR -Cpf1 are not alone. As Dr Zhang himself puts it, “I can’t even begin to count how many there may be. There really is great diversity that we as a scientific community should go out and explore.”
The tools to carry out that exploration now exist. CRISPR -Cpf1, for instance, was found not by searching in bacteria directly, but by scrutinising a published database of bacterial genetic sequences, which yielded two species that contain it. Further searches might be equally rewarding—and the more gene-editing systems are discovered, the harder it will be to monopolise their use.
Despite the optimism of those who think the new techniques may calm qualms about genetic engineering, however, some people are bound to have ethical worries—certainly when it comes to applying them to human beings. Earlier this year, for example, when Chinese scientists used CRISPR -Cas9 gene editing on a human embryo (albeit one that was unviable, and could not therefore have developed into a person) there was much brouhaha and several calls for a moratorium on this line of inquiry.
In December, therefore, a group of academic societies from America, Britain and China are hosting a meeting in Washington, DC, to thrash out some of the issues—particularly about the way in which gene editing might be used to make changes in human beings that could be inherited. On September 18th researchers in Britain applied for permission to modify human embryos genetically, as part of a study of human development. Any licence would allow the use only of embryos left over after IVF treatment, and those embryos could be studied for no more than two weeks of development. Nor could they be used to create a pregnancy, or for any other clinical application. But the direction of travel is clear.
The Washington meeting is thus timely. Scientists need to set out to politicians, and to the public at large, what gene-editing technology can now do. They could also speculate usefully about what it might mean for the future, and how best to use it. Dr Zhang is one of those who will attend. He will say that it is the responsibility of scientists and developers of the techniques to make sure that they engage the public in thoughtful discussion, and that the technology is used to best advantage. |
(WITHOUT CHEATS!)
Please PM soldyne if you have any questions about this article.
The number one question asked on the forums by many new and old players alike is "How do I make money?" The easy answer is to just give a link to the STEX and tell them to use a money cheat. Well, the better way is to build your city efficiently and to learn how the game works, which is what this tutorial is designed to teach you.
First I must say that I have a ton of plugins going on in my game but 90% of them are for aesthetics. The only mod I have that affects game play is the Network Addon Mod which only affects traffic. Since this tutorial is about getting a city started and how to make money in the early stages, that mod will have little effect on the outcomes.
With that said, this tutorial is designed to be replicated by anyone even if all they have is the vanilla version of SC4. I also try to give a few hints on how to start a new region, what to think about when planning a city and I even give a few city building design tips along the way. For the most part though, this tutorial is about making money and creating an efficent city. City design is really up to each individual player as that is the fun of the whole game.
Before we start, I also want to inform the reader that I have a small reference guide in the Omnibus which will be very handy in developing a new city called Money Saving Tips For Any City Design. The best way to make money is to not spend it!
Also, a quick note on challenge. I always use the easy setting, and this tutorial is done on that setting as well. For a tutorial/experiment on making money with high challenge (or at least not going bankrupt) check out Voar Tok's experimental CJ here Never Go Bankrupt Again!
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The first thing to consider when starting a new region is where you want your city to develop. Think ahead as to where your downtown and central business districts (CBD) will be. Then consider the surrounding areas.
Here is a nice small region which is actually the Fairview region included with the game by Maxis:
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I would like my CBD to be along the shore line as many real life cities grow up near water and rivers. Since it will be impossible to get skyscrapers at this point, we need to consider to outlying areas first such as the industrial and suburban areas. These areas will be used to build our region population and to feed demand for our CBD later on.
Here is a good place for a nice bedroom community.
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Right next to it is a great place to start an industrial city with power and trash support for the region.
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It is important to mention that with region play in SC4 it is an excellent idea to segregate your zones right from the start. Keep all the pollution in its own private city square like dirty and manufacturing industry, power production and trash handling. Make neighbor deals right from the start for power and trash as this will help save money in our residential city... no point in paying full price for 6000 MW if we are not going to use it all, right? Not only that, the neighbor deal will help the industrial city pay for the power upkeep and help reduce maintenance costs. it sounds like a good deal all around doesn't it?
In our suburban city, this looks like a very nice open area to start our development
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Since we wish to have our industrial neighbor connected to the east and our CBD to the south we should start in the south east corner of the map.
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The next thing to do now is consider how you want your road network to look. In a suburb, avenues and streets are your main tools. Avenues are your main roadways where your commercial will be. The streets make up your neighborhoods and connect to the avenues. In a suburb we will not want to go beyond low density. In some cases, depending on your design, you may want a few small areas to be medium density, but low density is the main zone size for a suburb. Also, we will probably want to keep lot sizes to 1x1 or 2x2.
If you zone 3x3 you run the risk of attracting R$ sims. These guys give a lot of money, and we want money, but R$ sims have a lot of disadvantages for a new region. They are very demanding, will only work in very particular commercial zones (and High Tech-IHT to some degree) and they take up a lot of space and have a low population count. The main disadvantage of R$ in a new community is the job preference. We are not going to have any jobs for the R$ for quite a while, so what will happen is that they will move in, displace all the industrial workers, then abandon and you have a nice big, dilapidated city.
In other words, R$ is bad news for a new region, so, we will use lot sizes in our suburbs to limit R$ growth. (technically, R$ won't grow without water, but, the job problem is real and will become a big problem later on when we put in water, so, it is a good idea to plan ahead now and keep zones too small for R$ to develop. When we are ready for R$ we can zone bigger.)
I have chosen the following layout for my initial suburb. Notice I have two avenues with connections to the south and the east and use streets for the res zones which are only 1x1 in size. I put a tile between the zones to add parks and trees later on, but for now it will remain as empty space.
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Something else to consider at this point is mass transit. This is something that most people overlook early on in a city's development. Here in a suburb though, mass transit is usually not used to a great degree. I prefer to use bus stops in my suburbs along with highways. I sometimes use subways but not too much. Mass transit will become a much bigger factor later on in our CBD however, so just keep it in mind and dont forget about it.
Now that we have our zones we need power.
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To get power, we need to talk to our neighbor. Here, in Powerton, we can see our avenue connection from suburbia.
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While we are here we can plop a coal plant, an incinerator and make a connection with some wires. One point of interest here is the incinerator. If you drop funding of the incinerator to $0 you can still burn trash but it just wont produce any power. Some people find this to be cheating, but, you will still be paying money for the trash in a "pick up and delivery" charge in your utilities menu. The $1000 maintenance fee is just for the power production which we don't need right now.
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Also while we are here, we can zone for some industial jobs to prepare for our new residents. Let the simulator run for a month or two to allow the game to realize that you have placed a power plant, incinerator and industrial zones. Some of the zones may begin to grow and this is ok. After a few months, save and exit to region. Dont worry about the temporary loss of funds, we will fix that in just a bit.
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Back in Suburbia we start things up and make a neighbor deal. Some people say they have trouble making neighbor deals. I usually don't. If you are having trouble making a deal for power and trash at this point read over this checklist:
For power
- is there a powerline connection to the proper cities?
- is the selling city producing a surplus?
- is the buying city in a deficit? This question is weird. If you have a power plant somewhere in the buying city and the total power produced is enough to power your city (even though it may not be connected) to all the zones then the game will not allow you to buy power from a neighbor. This includes far away wind generators which may be powering distant areas. Make sure that your buying city has a total power deficit by checking the power graph.
For trash
- is there a road or avenue connection to each city and does the selling city have an incinerator/landfill with road access? If there is no road access then no deal can be made.
- does the buying city have a need to export its trash? This is the same situation as described above for power.
Now hopefully, you can make some neighbor deals. At this point I will assume you have and we can move on. Let the simulation run for a bit and you should get some houses popping up. One of two possiblities will occur at this point; either you will get a flood of people moving in or you will get one or two houses to develop and thats it. If you only get a few homes, dont worry, this is expected. The way SC4 deals with neighbors and development is complicated, you have to remember that even though we have industrial zones in our neighbor, there are not that many of them. The game will try to extrapolate a projected growth of zones in the neighbor city, but only up to a certain point.
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Either way our next goal is to expand. Since this is a suburb we want to expand outward, not upward. Start to expand your road network out and keep your avenues free for commercial development and leave plenty of space for residential neighborhoods and future parks. Hopefully, after you have expanded with enough res zones, the simulator will start extrapolating jobs in the neighbor and you will start to see houses growing all over the place.
I call this the "popcorn effect." Once the demand starts to fill in the popcorn will stop popping and that is when you need to start working on something else.
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At this point, you may gaze down at the budget and realize that you are making money!
But dont get ahead of yourself, we are just beginning.
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Uh oh! A lot of our new residence are complaining about commute times. Huh? Commute times? They are no more than 5 minuets from the industrial city! What are they complaining about?
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Abandonment due to commute times is also a sign of unemployment. Sims will drive around all day until they find work, if they dont find work then they complain that work is too far and start to leave. The briefcase can also be an indication that there are not enough of the right kind of jobs available. This is the problem that R$ brings. R$ will only work in very high class jobs and will complain about commute times even if there is a commercial zone with available jobs right next to them only because they dont want to work at bob's grease pit.
In our current case, we really dont have enough jobs, so back to the neighbor to develop more work!
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Things are developing nicely! Oh no, whats this? Its a FIRE! Well we knew this would happen eventually. Place a small fire station next to the fire and it will dissapear eventually.
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A few people have complained that they hate having to put fires out all the time. What those people fail to realize is that a fire will never break out in your city within the radius of a well funded fire station. If you have an area that is fire prone, put in a station and the problem will dissapear.
And whats this? Even with a coal plant, incinerator, and fire station, this little industrial center is actually turning a profit!
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Once the industrial popcorn is done popping save and exit and go back to suburbia.
The next thing to do is to keep expanding. We want more neighborhoods and thus more people. Remember to keep your main roads clear for commercial develeopment later on and just have fun with the neighborhood designs.
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Notice that until now, we have not put in any civic services of any kind. The sims dont need them. Sure they want them, and our city will remain dumb and sick until we put them in, but the goal of a young city is to get your cities roots firmly planted first, then make people happy. Usually, the first civic building you will place will be...
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A fire station!
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The pattern you may have noticed here is that we expand the res zones until we have a drop in the popcorn and they start complaining about jobs. Then we develop the industrial sector and go back for more people. This is the leap frog technique of region play going back and forth between city squares to let the game update the neighbor cities.
Our next goal is to start working on education and building up demand in commercial and IHT. For now, you can look at your population and budget and see that making money is as easy as fixing a bag of popcorn!
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This ends Chapter 1. Chapter 2 will cover the addition of civic services, manufacturing industry and commercial development. We will also disscuss the effects of education and wealth levels on demand and developer types.
Chapter 2: Pop 5,000 - 25,000 (Education and Manufacturing)
Please PM soldyne if you have any questions about this article.
To recap where we are now we have about 7000 sims in the Fairview region living in a nice quite suburban community with an industrial neighbor next door providing the much need jobs.
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Suburbia is still in need of jobs:
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...and Powerton has room to spare:
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But, we are starting to out grow our standard leap frog routine of "zone and switch" which got us this far. Now we need to start attracting some big business. To do that we need to add some water:
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Notice that I put the water pump as far from the industry as I could (well maybe I could have put it further but you get the idea). I also gave the pump its own power supply. This is important since we dont want our water supply to be dependant on our main power source. As our cities grow we may experience rolling brown outs where certain sections of the city lose power for a short time. This could be catastrophic if our water pumps shut down all of sudden. So always give the pumps their own power.
Now that we have water big industries can start to build but for now we have no more demand and must go back to suburbia and make more homes:
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LET THERE BE WORK and so there was and the people saw that this was good and wanted to move in to our city! There was much rejoicing http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/i/expressions/4.gif
At this point it will be a good habit to start checking all of your graphs for important information. check on power usage, water usage (none yet), garbage levels, and anything else you can think of. If your city is starting to get close to running out of any of those then renegotiate your neighbor deals or build more utilities.
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Our current situation is good. Things are stable and everyone is mostly happy. However, we dont want a small low class suburb forever so we need to start thinking about bigger and better things.
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Just like in Powerton, we need water to get to the next stage in development. In our case we want more R$ to move in. The reason for wanting R$ is not because they pay more taxes (although that is nice). We want R$ because they are the driving force for all things in SC4. They produce the most demand for manufacturing, IHT and most of the Commercial sector, also, they prefer to use mass transit more than any other wealth class. Ultimatly R$ is what will support our region and will eventually make up the bulk of our population.
So our first step in attaining all of that is water:
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Since we are doing so well with income and have plenty of money to spare I suggest we layout all of our pipes ahead of time. This will save us a lot of stress later when we start to expand as all areas of the map will already be watered.
Lay out your pipes with 12 spaces in between each. This will provide the most efficient coverage.
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The next step in providing for R$ is education. Education coverage will not only increase desirability for R$ but it will also affect how our demand will change. The more educated our sims are the more sophisticated their tastes in jobs becomes. As it stands all of our population is demanding farms and ID. If we want IM and IHT as well as more commercial demand (so we can begin on our CBD to the south) we need to have high education.
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To get the most out of your education system you have to understand how the game works. Different education structures provide different amounts of education to different age groups. In a young city with no health coverage, there will be many young sims. This means that we need an elementary school. Right now, a HS or college will do us no good as there are not enough older sims living here to take advantage of them.
One thing you can add at this point is a library. Libraries affect nearly all age groups the same by providing a bonus to EQ at every age level. Not only that libraries are cheap.
Unfortunately, education does not come without a price. Please note, that I am using the Large Elementary School which is unlocked as a reward. By now your city should be big enough to have unlocked it . If you have not unlocked it yet, then keep expanding until you do:
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Another thing to think about when placing schools is coverage. Make sure that most of your sims are covered by your schools and libraries. We dont need to cover everyone just most of them for now. For the moment we only need 2 sets to get the best coverage:
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By now you may be worrying about the high cost of the school system. Not to fret! Using the query tool click on one of the schools. You will see that there are two sliders here, one for staff funding and the other for bus funding. For now our bus coverage is acceptable. It is the staff funding we want to reduce. Slide the bar to the left until the total student capacity is reduced to a number that matches the current usage (if current usage is 0 then let the simulation run for a month or two). Then add about 200 for wiggle room. Do this for the libraries and other schools and now we are making money yet again:
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Now we need some direction. Lets look at our demand graph. AH HA! The education system is already at work. Now we are starting to see some Industrial Manufacturing (IM) demand:
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So to satisfy that demand we go back to Powerton. When we arrive the first thing we should do (for any city) is check our graphs. By now we may need to add another power plant and possibly another incinerator. If you are using the 0 funding technique for the incinerator then make sure to reset the power funding levels on all new utilities that get plopped.
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Another interesting concept to mention here is the idea of industrial parcelization. Most of the time when you zone industry it does not make those little boxes with arrows (parcels). This lets the industry grow randomly and can create a lot of litle 1x1 industry buildings. To encourage big industry to grow we need to parcelize the zones.
We do this by holding down the CTRL key when we zone. Holding down CTRL and ALT will cause the zone to face in a different direction (for instances when zoning on a corner). Just experiment and you will eventually see what I mean. For more information on Industrial parcelization see StarrDarcy's thread on the subject:
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And now we have our big industry moving in:
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And our first IM building!
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Back in Suburbia we do what we do best; EXPAND! This is a good time to relax and enjoy the music. Be creative, have fun and make interesting neighborhoods. We want to take our time here because the education system we just put in is going to take a while to get up to speed.
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After a while we will see that more and more manufacturing demand is comming our way:
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It seems that back in powerton we have quite a few big industries popping in and all of our parcels are filling up nicely:
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So guess what? We expand some more and keep expanding until we have 0 industrial demand:
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I want to point out that water pollution is a real issue in an industrial city. Notice that no matter how much I expand I do not put industry any where near my water pumps. Industry can cause quite a bit of water pollution and even at this distance it looks pretty bad:
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So I suggest adding a bunch of trees (with god mode if you like) just to be safe. The reason we do this is to prevent our needing a water treatment plant which happens to be very expensive. So long as the query tool says that the water pollution is acceptable then we are good to go.
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Meanwhile, back in Suburbia: our education is on the rise:
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Hmmm, whats this? Industrial High Tech Demand along with IM! Our schools are doing very well! Also take note of the ID demand. It is in the negative. This is because all of the ID workers are starting to get an education and are looking for jobs in IM . Are we starting to see how the whole education/demand thing works?
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And just to keep on track we are doing very well on income:
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Now that we have some IHT demand it is important to go back to powerton and start manipulating the taxes. In powerton we want a strong IM labor market NOT IHT. If IHT starts moving in then the pollution will cause them to abandon and we are left with a bunch of buildings that have nothing in them. So to prevent IHT from moving into powerton we set IHT taxes to 20%, and while we are here we might as well relieve some more IM demand:
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OK, Back to Suburbia (getting dizzy yet?). Things in our little burb are looking good and income is high. Now is the time to start thinking about health care.
Not all sims in a population of any city will be old enough to work. With poor health care the average age of the city will be low and people will die off before they have a chance to retire. To help increase the number of sims in our city that are of working age we need good health care. In other words a city of 10,000 sims and low health care will have fewer workers and lower demand than a city of 10,000 sims and high health care.
So here is the cycle of things with health care: better health means a higher percentage of workers in a given population. More workers means more demand for jobs. More jobs means more demand for workers and thus higher population. The cycle continues and grows and that is how we build a region.
Our city so far will need 2 hospitals for best coverage. Again, manipulate funding of the hospitals to ensure that our expenses remain below our income.
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Another important aspect of the game which needs to be addressed at this time is that of Demand Caps. Demand Caps are a whole article unto themselves so I will only discuss them briefely here. When a population gets to a certain size the game has a cap which forces the demand to drop and no more of that developer type will grow. If demand cap relief is provided the cap is raised and more of that developer can come into the city.
The initial demand cap for R$ is set to 2000. We are getting very close to that now so we need some relief or else our city growth will stall. The best relief for residential is parks. The large flower garden and the large plaza provide the best demand cap relief. Thats right, plazas provide demand cap relief for residential not commercial. commercial gets demand cap relief from neighbor connections and airports.
One of each park should give us about 16,000 demand cap relief for all wealth levels.
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Our next concern is commercial development. Our sims are getting more educated and are starting to demand more commerce. Zone your commerce along your main roads and let the sims build to their hearts content:
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Another thing we can do while we are here in suburbia is to start providing for some of that IHT demand we have been saving up. IHT is nearly pollution free and has the same desirability requirements that residential does. We can very easily build a small IHT district right here in the city which will help by reducing commute times for the those people on the west side.
Before we start to zone, however, we must set taxes for ID and IM to 20% each or we might get a few stray IM buildings in the mix which can really screw us up (because of pollution).
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OK, great, our city is off and running. By now we need to check on our education levels and by the looks of it, education is starting to level off. This could be due to many things such as abandonment or it could be due to our population getting older.
When a residential building abandons and new sims move in all of their statistics are reset to 0. this means 0 EQ and 0 HQ. So when we have lots of abandonment (common in a new city) the average education and health will seem to stagnate or fall. At this point in our city's evolution stability will be difficult.
To address the issue of our population getting older we can simply add a High School. One HS should be sufficient for our small town:
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All of our primary services are now provided for and everything is going according to plan. Now we just keep expanding and growing our population. Add a new set of schools to cover any new development. Keep a close watch on power, water, garbage, demand and jobs. Remember that when adding new residents to the city our average education and health will seem to stagnate or fall. Give the game a few years to allow the new population to get up to speed before making any rash judgements.
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Now that suburbia is starting to stabilize lets check in on powerton one more time. It seems that even with extra power plants, incinerators, and lots of water pumps we are making quite a profit:
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Before we end this chapter there is one last concept to cover: mass transit. Our region is growing quite a bit now and the people on the west side of suburbia have quite a trek in the morning to get to the east side of powerton.
Our first and best option at this point is bus stops:
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Once we put in bus stops in powerton we must let the simulation run for about a month or two to let the game realize what is there. When you start to see some busses on the roads then you should be ok to save, exit, and go back to Suburbia to set up some bus stations there.
There are many guides, FAQs and topics about mass tranist already on the forums so I will try to make this brief. Mass transit needs at least two stations to work; one in a residential area, and one in a job area (commercial or industrial). Try to have stations no more than 12 tiles from each other as sims are too lazy to walk more than 6 or so to get to them. Don't expect to make a profit off of mass transit in a suburb. The population density is not high enough for it. When we start getting into medium density and more that is when we will start to see profit in mass transit systems.
For now, our mass transit system is here to help reduce commute times and help stabilize the city.
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As we end this chapter on making money I want to show a few graphs about where we are. We are starting to see more commercial, IM and IHT demand, our education is steadily rising, our R$ population is looking healthy, and above all we are MAKING MONEY!
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At this point you can start to decorate your city. Parks are more than just eye candy. They provide much needed residential demand cap relief. Don't go overboard though since you will have to pay for it all. also, your population should be stabilizing which means that while you decorate your education should be increasing steadily.
In Chapter 3 we will start to focus on commerical development, IHT growth, and try to build up some more neighbors to help our regional demand.
CHAPTER 3: Commercial Development and High Density Zoning
Please PM soldyne if you have any questions about this article.
So far in this guide we have taken a new region, untouched by human actions, and built a quaint little burg of single family residences supported by heavy industry and corner grocers. The region is starting to become a rather popular place though, and the mayor (that's us) has high hopes for high rises. In this chapter we will be exploring the more advanced aspects of city building where we start to attract tall buildings, crowded populations and advanced technologies.
The only way to get our Central Business District up and running is to build a healthy supporting region. There are two main reasons why we need a large, stable region: increased demand, and stage caps.
We have already discussed demand and all the intricate ways in which it is influenced including health and education. One thing about demand which is important enough to mention again is how each developer type influences demand of the others. Demand influence is a big circle; a resident from a certain wealth level and education level will demand a certain percentage of both commercial and industrial type jobs. Even though this one resident will only work at one of these jobs he will still create demand for both. When we zone for both types we will get businesses to move in to fill the demand. when the businesses (comm and ind) move in they in turn generate their own demand for more workers of a particular type. So, to fill this demand we zone more residential and the cycle continues. This is how the simulator is designed and this is how we build our region. I call it the "Leap Frog Effect". This is also why a new city is so hard to get started because we have so few workers and jobs generating such a little amount of demand. It is difficult to start but once the demand ball gets rolling it will be hard to stop.
Knowing this important bit of info is integral in controlling how your region will develop. If you want your city to develop in a certain way then you must affect your residents with varying civic services (health levels, education levels, wealth levels) to generate the right kind of demand in other areas. For instance high and medium wealth citizens of high education will create more demand for CO$ and CO$ (for our CBD) where as low education and low wealth will demand more CS$ and ID. The Prima Guide for SimCity 4 actually has a very nice chart which details the relationships between wealth levels, education levels and demand generation by developer type. Get this guide if you don't have it already and get to know this table very well.
The next concept to understand is that of stage caps. Don't confuse stage caps with demand caps. Demand caps will limit the growth of your population overall within a single city. These can be increased by placing rewards, parks, making neighbor connections and just doing what it is you are supposed to do anyway to make a city healthy and stable. Where a demand cap is related to population size within a city, a stage cap is realted to building size within a region. stage caps are a way for the game to limit the size of your buildings and is directly related to your population size and so is limited by demand caps as well. In other words, to get skyscrappers you need to have a very large population. The game will not allow (without cheating) high rises in a region of 30,000 people, it just wont happen. The good news is, that your total region population counts toward the stage caps in every city in that region. If you have a region with 1 million people and start a new map you can easily start zoning with high density and get skyscrappers right away (so long as you have the right kind of demand, desirability and utilities).
There are 8 building stages. Low density zoning will allow for stages 1-3. Medium density zoning will allow for stages 1-5 and high density zoning will allow for all stage sizes (6-8 being your sky scrappers). Tto even start thinking about stage 6-8 buildings we need a population of at least 100,000 sims. So you have 100,000 sims in your region and still don't have a sky scrapper jungle? This is because you can only have a certain percentage of your buildings in each stage level. The percentage of level 1-3 buildings is much higher than larger buildings in a small city. when the population grows the percentages shift toward the taller buildings. Even with 100,000 sims you might only be allowed to have 1-2% of your buildings as stage 6 buildings but still not be allowed stage 7 or 8. So for every 100 buildings only 1-2 of them are allowed to be stage 6 (as an example). As the population increases the percentages for taller buildings increase. If you want a large high rise forest then you are going to need at least a 500,000 or higher population and even then most of your buildings will still be in the 5-6 range.
The good news is that once sky scrappers start showing up they come with quite a bit of capacity. A high rise may have as many as 1000-2000 people in it, all of which will create demand for more jobs which in turn create demand for more residents. Best of all, each new skyscrapper that builds adds its large population to your overall region total. So, you can easily see that once a region starts growing it can be very easy to keep it growing. The biggest problem then is to make sure it does not grow out of hand or collapse under its own weight. but, I am getting ahead of myself.
Back in Fairview we still have a small region size. Our overall goal in all of this (other than making a profit) is to build a CBD on the north riverbank (to the south of suburbia). But to do this we will need a much higher population. So our current goal is to attract more people.
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The best way to attract more people is to ensure that our commercial and industrial demands are always satisfied (near zero). If we have demand for either of these types then we must zone more area for them to develop. We can also spend some time zoning for more residential, but, keep in mind that the more residential you zone for the more unemployment you will have.
Here is what I have done with suburbia to finish it off. I added some high class citizens to help increase our CO$ and CS$ demand and I added more suburbs to help bolster the overall population.
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Fariview is actually a rather small region with many small maps. This will make it difficult for us to satisfy our demand in the surrounding areas. Remember though that a true artist will not see obstacles, only opportunities! Use what you have here and use all the information from the previous chapters and other guides out there to start expanding the region around suburbia.
I have chosen to satisfy IHT demand by building Industrial parks to the west. One thing to remember here is that power can only be be bought or sold, not both. This means that each new city you start must also be touching a power producing city or produce its own power. This can be good if you want to start a new ID or IM city, but with a res, comm, or IHT city it can get a little hairy. Do your best and use your imagination but try to use the techniques you have learned up to this point to keep each new city in the black and making a profit.
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With IHT taken care of we can start concentrating on increasing population. Gridburg to the south west of suburbia will be our first attempt at a more urban landscape. We will give this area a more gridded and planned feel with the road layout and zone all of our areas ahead of time. Here we are going to start right off with medium density. our region population is big enough right now to afford us a decent number of stage 4 or 5 buildings. We are lucky that the city just to the west of gridburg is just big enough to provide for one power plant and one incinerator to get us up and running.
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Once we get some power and water into our city we can let the simulator loose and see what happens. With our region population and neighbor demand feeding our city we are blessed with an inundation of 27,000 people in just under 6 years! This is the effect of region play; new city to urban sprawl in the blink of an eye (don't you just love popcorn?).
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Don't forget to allow room for education and health. in a city with medium density you will start to have a problem with overcrowding in your civic buildings (health care especially). if you have overcrowding just build another building of the same type in the area. the load will be spread nearly evenly between the multiple buildings. You can also experiment with the bus/ambulance radius funding.
A smaller radius will be responsible for less people. A good tactic for urban areas is to have many civic buildings with a $0 bus/ambulance funding level. This will allow the service to concentrate on a small area and allow you to create small neighborhoods and reduce overcrowding. It can also be a great money saver!
One of the problems with larger buildings is that they tend to eat up a lot of power and make a lot of trash. The good news is that with 27,000 R$ and R$ in the city we qualify for a solar plant! the solar plant allows us to produce home grown power with no pollution. This is what I like to think of as a tactical use of reward buildings.
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At this point we can start planning our CBD (finaly!). Here we are also going to want a grid layout but with more avenues. Remember this will be a true CBD meaning that it will have no residential or commercial buildings at all. We are going to have a lot of traffic comming into the city so we need to plan mass transit and roads ahead of time. To save money we will only build avenues in one direction and roads in the other. this will help reduce maintenance costs overall and will give us a guidline when we zone. We will lay out our zones facing along the avenues and leave the roads as though they were alleyways between the buildings which will give our CBD a more NYC look and feel (IMHO). Of course, this part is all about design which is up to you. but, it is important to think about mass transit and your road layout before the developers start building. Once you get high rises in there it will not be very easy or cheap to upgrade roads to avenues.
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Another problem we have is that we dont have a small city next to our CBD in which we can build a power town. We do have an empty city to the east but this would be better served as another medium/high density res city to help increase population and demand. So, how do we handle power and trash?
Power is easy. Remember that gridburg won the right to build solar power plants. these plants will produce enough energy for the city and plenty left over to sell to the CBD. the CBD will have power and gridburg will have extra money to pay for the upkeep.
The trash however, will be more complicated. We will need to export the trash from Downtown to its neighbors. the neighbors then need to export that same trash to either another neighbor or a trash town. By now we have two or three trash towns, so the difficulty will be in getting the right amount of trash exported to the right place before it piles up and starts driving people away.
in addition to avenues and roads we will want to have some mass transit here. With the kind of large population we are expecting we are going to need something more than just bus stops. Rush Hour offers many forms of mass transit, but, subway is (IMHO) the best choice. it takes up very little space on the surface (stations mostly), it is the second fastest form of transportation (monorail being fastest) and is the easiest to lay out (you can have 90 degree intersections with subway, all the other mass transit forms need gentle sloping curves which take up more space). Maintenance is not that bad on subway but the initial cost is the killer.
When layout out your new zones and networks leave ample space for mass transit stations. also remember to go back to your residential cities and add subway and bus stops there too. At first only connect a few subway stations up and wait for the simulator catch up. also, make sure not to overspend. Ensure you are still making a profit and let the bank account build for a bit before finishing your subway masterpiece.
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At this point in the game our CBD will be quite small and sickly. We dont have nearly enough demand or population to have the kind of city we want. Our next step is to do what we have been doing from start; expand, grow, and develop. Increase you population and raise your demand and stage caps.
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Here is how I expanded my region and started to get high rises (stage 6 buildings). I built another residential town to the east of the CBD and built some more industrial areas to the east of that. I then expanded to the south bank of the river and started building on the south side.
Here is waffleton. 53,000 sims in just under 13 years. As always profit is a standard.
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South Ville is directly south of downtown across the river. it was very difficult to connect this city to downtown via the bridge. it took some fancy terrain modification to make things work out, but I got it and now this city is growing like crazy; 67,000 sims in 11 game years! Also, notice that I am now starting to get stage 6 buildings for my residential population. Just one step closer to our CBD!
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Finally we go back to our Downtown CBD and we can see that demand and stage caps are working in our favor. the CBD is building up just as planned but we are still not seeing many large buildings. this is just a matter of not having enough commercial population in the region, and, by now, we should all know what to do about that; expand, expand, expand!
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One last thing you should know is that demand is only shared between cities if there is a land connection between them. this means that for city A to share its demand with City B there must be a road, highway or avenue connection between them. Ferries will not work, nor will airports. I am not sure if subways, rail or monorail will work, but you can experiment with this if you like. road connections are not only important for commercial and industrial demand cap relief but they are also vital to the concept of regional demand.
This particular region is not the best for developing huge CBDs. it was merely chosen to be a quick easy tutorial region. once you are confident that you have learned all the lessons presented in this guide feel free to try larger regions or even design your own. the more space you have for building the easier it will be to get he megalopolis of your dreams.
There is really nothing more I can teach you at this point.
- You know about the demand cycle and how education, health, and developer types influence demand.
- You know about stage caps and region population.
- You know about buying and selling resources and why its important to keep pollution away from the populace.
- You know about demand caps and how to increase them; parks for residential, connections for commercial and industrial.
- You know how to manipulate funding for utilities and civic buildings and why it is important and how it affects your bottom line.
- You know the basics of mass transit and why it is important to plan for the future right from the start.
- You how to start small, build slowly, make short and long term goals.
- You know why it is important to keep your demand satisfied as much as possible and how to influence your employment rates using health and education.
- You know how to manipulate developer types and wealth levels with zone sizes and tax manipulation.
- Best of all, you now know how to Make Money The Easy Way!
Good luck and keep playing and experimenting. you can always contact me through a PM or start a thread in the forums for a public discussion about my guide. If you have a good question then I am sure there are many others who can benefit from its answer.
</em> |
The first time American attitudes toward Bitcoin have been measured using a statistically sound sampling technique.
Today Coin Center released this month’s data from our ongoing Bitcoin Public Sentiment Survey. The survey measures American attitudes toward Bitcoin using a statistically sound sampling technique, the first of its kind.
Some of the top-line findings from this month’s sample are:
64.3% of Americans surveyed indicated that they are not familiar at all with Bitcoin.
with Bitcoin. Of those who are familiar with Bitcoin, 82.7% have never used it.
familiar with Bitcoin, 82.7% have never used it. Of those who are familiar with Bitcoin, 51% of respondents feel that Bitcoin has at least some usefulness today. A quarter of respondents believe that it is not useful at all. The remaining 24% answered that they did not know.
To download this months data, as well as historic data, visit our survey page. |
Last week marked the six month anniversary of Hillary Clinton's last press conference, a milestone that highlighted her acute aversion to fielding sustained, free-wheeling questions from the news media. In response to criticism over her press-avoidance strategy, Clinton cited the countless questions she's deigned to answer in one-on-one interviews and at town hall events, some of which have been shown to be highly choreographed by her campaign. Hillary spokesman Brian Fallon was confronted with the half-a-year statistic on CNN over the weekend, and he issued the following response:
The Washington Post took issue with this "totally bogus" (their headline) spin, via Ed Morrissey:
Technically, yes, it has been a long time since the candidate’s last formal news conference, but she routinely answers questions in other settings, press secretary Brian Fallon argued Sunday on CNN. A news conference, he said, “oftentimes is just defined by whether you have a banner behind you or a podium in front of you.” Fallon added this: “Oftentimes … we will do an ‘avail’ — what would be known as an avail to the people in your business — where she informally comes out after an event has concluded, after she’s taken some photos and some selfies, and she will literally stand there for 15, 20 minutes and answer questions from her traveling press corps, including the embeds from the various networks.”
Except this is all literally not true. If Clinton were truly in the habit of fielding questions from reporters for an extended period of time — a period of time that resembles the duration of a news conference — then griping about the informal nature of the sessions would indeed be harder to justify. Talking to reporters in a scrum isn’t particularly conducive to live television — and the comparison here is to Trump’s regularly scheduled news conferences, which cable channels often air live — but at least Clinton would be submitting herself to a similar level of questioning.
Not to be outdone, ABC News demonstrates just how inaccurate Fallon's characterization is, explaining that the presumptive Democratic nominee does not conduct media avails "often," as he claims, and that not one of them has even lasted ten minutes, let alone "15 or 20." Amid criticism of what I've referred to as her bunker approach to campaigning, Mrs. Clinton held a brief media scrum yesterday. Was this finally a proper, lengthy press conference? Nope. It lasted eight minutes. And as Larry O'Connor points out with disgust, the assembled reporters decided to reward Clinton's media tactics by lobbing process-focused softballs at her for the entirety of the exchange. Maddening:
Three questions about becoming the first female major party nominee in US history -- including two about the emotions involved (!) -- two about President Obama's reportedly imminent endorsement and role in her campaign, and three about Bernie Sanders and the nominating process. That's it. Nothing on foreign policy, which was the focus of her acerbic anti-Trump speech last week. Nothing on the damning IG report, from which her campaign is reeling. Nothing about the Clinton Foundation, about which Sanders has begun to level serious criticisms. Nothing about the scandal at the State Department, which she used to lead. None of any of that. And now when other journalists try to hold her feet to the fire on access and accountability, her team can say that they just held an "extended" Q&A with reporters...or however they'll exaggerate it in their self-serving framing. Up next: The adulation-saturated Hillary victory tour, having clinched her party's nomination. Have you heard she's making history? Tell us how that makes you feeeeeeel, America. (Spoiler: Shrug). |
India’s tourism minister has said foreign women should not wear skirts or walk alone at night in the country’s small towns and cities “for their own safety”.
Discussing tourist security in the north Indian city of Agra, site of the Taj Mahal, Mahesh Sharma said foreign arrivals to India were issued a welcome kit that included safety advice for women.
“In that kit they are given dos and don’ts,” he said on Sunday. “These are very small things like, they should not venture out alone at night in small places, or wear skirts, and they should click the photo of the vehicle number plate whenever they travel and send it to friends.”
Women walk alone to reclaim India's streets from fear and harassment | Shaifali Agrawal Read more
He added: “For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts ... Indian culture is different from the western.”
The welcome kit, geared at female travellers and introduced last year, is one of a suite of measures introduced to address declining rates of female tourism after the high-profile gang-rape and murder of a Delhi medical student in 2012, and a number of subsequent attacks on female tourists.
The kit says: “Some parts of India, particularly the smaller towns and villages, still have traditional styles of dressing. Do find out about local customs and traditions or concerned authorities before visiting such places.”
It mirrors the UK Foreign Office advice to women travelling in India, which suggests they “respect local dress codes and customs and avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day”.
Sharma clarified his remarks later on Sunday, denying they amounted to a dress code for foreign women. ”We have not given any specific instructions regarding what they should wear or not wear. We are asking them to take precaution while going out at night. We are not trying to change anyone’s preference,” he said.
“It was very stupid, not a fully thought-through statement,” said Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, a thinktank focusing on gender equality in India. “The minister doesn’t realise the implications of such irresponsible statements.”
Women in burkinis and men in suits | Letters Read more
Kumari said the remarks reflected “the syndrome of blaming women” for what they wore and where they were. She said: “But the problem is men and boys in India. They go for all kinds of misogyny and sexual acts, rapes and gang-rapes. It’s important for [Sharma] to have said how to punish the perpetrators of crime and stop the nonsense of ogling women and following them. Why should any girls come to India when it is becoming famous for not being safe to girls?”
India toughened sentences for rape and introduced fast-track courts for sexual assault trials after the fatal 2012 gang-rape focused world attention on violence against women in the country.
National crime statistics show 92 women are raped each day in India, mostly in rural areas, though the figure is widely believed to be an underestimate. Street harassment and violence, sometimes called “eve-teasing”, is even more common, experienced by 79% of Indian women according to a recent survey.
Tourists can be subjected to the same harassment and worse, most recently in July 2016 when an Israeli national was sexually assaulted by a gang of men in the Himalayan resort town of Manali. A Japanese woman was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in 2014 in Bihar and a Russian assaulted by an auto-rickshaw driver in Delhi in 2015, among other cases.
Sharma’s remarks trended on Indian social media on Monday and earned rebukes from political rivals.
Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) France shd send all burkinis it confiscates to our Tourism Minister who'll turn India into a Hindu Saudi Barbaria https://t.co/o5XudSXzh3
Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) Women had greater freedom to wear clothes of their choice in Vedic times than they have in Modi times
https://t.co/8nKdRAhXIC
Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) I will be writing a letter to Mahesh Sharma ji today requesting him not to insult nation by such advisories. https://t.co/JnoteVLeqD
Sharma has previously been criticised over his views on nights out for women. “It may be alright elsewhere, but it is not part of Indian culture,” he said last year. |
When she was 13, Heather Lawver read a book that changed her life: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Inspired by reports that J. K. Rowling’s novel was getting kids to read, she wanted to do her part to promote literacy. Less than a year later, she launched The Daily Prophet, a Web-based “school newspaper” for the fictional Hogwarts. Today, the publication has a staff of 102 children from all over the world.
Lawver, still in her teens, is its managing editor. She hires columnists who cover their own beats on a weekly basis-everything from the latest Quiddich matches to Muggle cuisine-and edits each story. She encourages her staff to closely compare their original submissions with the edited versions and consults with them on issues of style and grammar as needed.
Heather, by the way, is a home schooler who hasn’t set foot in a classroom since first grade.
My last two columns have centered on what parents and schools can do to help kids develop media literacy. This month, I will reverse directions and examine how participating in popular culture may help kids to master traditional literacy skills. We often act as if schools had a monopoly on teaching, yet smart kids have long known not to let schooling get in the way of their education.
Teachers sometimes complain that popular culture competes for the attention of their students, a claim that starts from the assumption that what kids learn from media is less valuable than what schools teach. Here, however, much of what is being mastered are things that schools try-and too often fail-to teach their students. (It has been said that if schools taught sex education the same way they taught writing, the human race would die out in a generation.)
I will focus on high school aged kids who are reading, writing, editing, and critiquing Harry Potter fan fiction online. But keep in mind that such informal teaching occurs across a range of other online communities. We could, for example, talk about the important role the Riot Grrl subculture played in the early 1990s in helping teenage girls to develop technical competency at a time when cyberspace was still seen as a predominantly male domain; we could talk about young anime fans who are teaching each other Japanese language and culture in order to do underground subtitling of their favorite shows.
University of Wisconsin-Madison education professor James Gee calls such informal learning cultures “affinity spaces,” asking why kids learn more, participate more actively, and engage more deeply with popular culture than they do with the contents of their textbooks. As one 16-year-old Harry Potter fan told me, “It’s one thing to be discussing the theme of a short story you’ve never heard of before and couldn’t care less about. It’s another to be discussing the theme of your friend’s 50,000-word opus about Harry and Hermione that they’ve spent three months writing.”
I have studied and participated in fan communities, off and on, for more than two decades. Yet much of what I found when I recently turned my attention to Harry Potter fandom took my breath away. Ten years ago, published fan fiction came mostly from women in their twenties, thirties, and beyond. Today, these older writers have been joined by a generation of new contributors-kids who found fan fiction surfing the Internet and decided to see what they could produce.
Consider, for example, the girl known online as Flourish. She started reading X-Files fan fiction when she was 10, wrote her first Harry Potter stories at 12, and published her first online novel at 14. She quickly became a mentor for other emerging fan writers, including many who were twice her age or more. Most people assumed she was probably a college student. Interacting online allowed her to keep her age to herself until she had become so central to the fandom that nobody much cared that she was in middle school.
What difference will it make, over time, if a growing percentage of young writers begin publishing and getting feedback on their work while they are still in high school? And what happens when those young writers compare notes, becoming critics, editors, and mentors? Will they develop their craft more quickly-and develop a critical vocabulary for thinking about storytelling?
FictionAlley, the largest Harry Potter archive, hosts more than 30,000 stories and book chapters, including hundreds of completed or partially completed novels. Its (unpaid) staff of more than 200 people includes 40 mentors who welcome each new participant individually. At the Sugar Quill, another popular site, every posted story undergoes a peer-review process it calls “beta-reading.” New writers often go through multiple drafts before their stories are ready for posting. “The beta-reader service has really helped me to get the adverbs out of my writing and get my prepositions in the right place and improve my sentence structure and refine the overall quality of my writing,” explains the girl who writes under the pen name Sweeney Agonistes-a college freshman with years of publishing behind her.
Like many of the other young writers, Agonistes says that Rowling’s books provide her with a helpful creative scaffolding: “It’s easier to develop a good sense of plot and characterization and other literary techniques if your reader already knows something of the world where the story takes place,” she says. By poaching off Rowling, the writers are able to start with a well-established world and a set of familiar characters and thus are able to focus on other aspects of their craft. Often, unresolved issues in the books stimulate them to think through their own plots or to develop new insights into the characters.
Literary purists, of course, might question the wisdom of having kids develop as creative writers in this nontraditional way. But while there is certainly value in writing about one’s own experiences, adolescents often have difficulty stepping outside themselves and seeing the world through other people’s eyes. Their closeness to Harry and his friends makes it possible to get some critical distance from their own lives and think through their concerns from a new perspective. And writing about Harry offers them something else, too: an audience with a built-in interest in the stories-an interest that would be difficult to match with stories involving original fictional characters. The power of popular culture to command attention is being harnessed at a grassroots level to find a readership for these emerging storytellers.
Harry Potter fan fiction yields countless narratives of youth empowerment as characters fight back against the injustices their writers encounter everyday at school. Often, the young writers show a fascination with getting inside the heads of the adult characters. Many of the best stories are told from a teacher’s perspective or depict Harry’s parents and mentors when they were school aged. Some of the stories are sweetly romantic or bittersweet coming-of-age tales; others are charged with anger or budding sexual feelings, themes that could not be discussed so openly in a school assignment and that might be too embarrassing to address through personal narratives or original characters. As they discuss such stories, teen and adult fans talk openly about their life experiences, offering each other advice on more than just issues of plot or characterization. Having a set of shared characters creates a common ground that enables these conversations to occur in a more collaborative fashion.
Through online discussions of fan writing, the teen writers develop a vocabulary for talking about writing and they learn strategies for rewriting and improving their own work. When they talk about the books themselves, the teens make comparisons with other literary works or draw connections with philosophical and theological traditions; they debate gender stereotyping in the female characters; they cite interviews with the writer or read critiques of the works; they use analytic concepts they probably wouldn’t encounter until they reached the advanced undergraduate classroom.
Not surprisingly, someone who has just published her first online novel and received dozens of comment-filled letters finds it disappointing to return to the classroom where her work will be read only by the teacher-whose feedback may dwell more on comma splices than character development. Some teens have confessed to smuggling drafts of stories to school in their textbooks and editing them during class; others sit around the lunch table talking plot and character issues with their classmates or try to work on the stories on the school computers until the librarians accuse them of wasting time. They can’t wait for the school bell to ring so they can focus on their writing.
It is not clear that these successes can be duplicated simply by incorporating similar activities into the classroom-though some teachers are using fan fiction exercises to motivate their students. Schools have less flexibility than the fan community does to support writers at very different stages of their development. Moreover, schools impose a fixed leadership hierarchy (including very different roles for adults and teens); it is unlikely that someone like Heather or Flourish would have had the same editorial opportunities that they have found through fandom.
Even the most progressive schools set limits on what students can write compared to the freedom they enjoy on their own. Certainly, teens may receive harsh critical responses to their more controversial stories when they publish them online, but the teens themselves are deciding what risks they want to take and facing the consequences of those decisions. The Harry Potter books are not universally welcomed into U.S. schools; they have been at the center of more textbook and library controversies over the past several years than any other book. The teen writers are acutely aware of those censorship struggles and many have decided, not to talk with parents and teachers about what they are writing. What the grown-ups don’t know can’t hurt them.
Some students say teachers have ridiculed them for the time they put into their fan writing; others complain of parents trying to protect them from the “demonic” influence of the books. But some teachers do care enough to read and give feedback on these stories. And there are supportive parents who fly with their sons and daughters to conventions where the young writers speak to rooms full of people about the story-writing craft. These teens don’t need adults taking over their spaces-but they do need adults to respect and value what they are trying to do.
Many young fan writers aspire to professional writing careers; many are getting accepted into top colleges and pursuing educational goals that stem from their fan experiences. Fandom is providing a rich haven to support the development of bright young minds that might otherwise get chewed up by the system, and offering mentorship to help less gifted students to achieve their full expressive potential. Either way, these teens are finding something online that schools are not providing them. |
The weeks leading up to Oct. 17 and my MMA debut were a mix of stress, stress and more stress. My training had gone as well as I could've hoped (despite frequent exhaustion and occasional injury), and I was concluding my "fight camp" with a clarity of my limited strengths (basic grappling and jiujitsu, a few rudimentary submissions) and glaring weaknesses (pretty much everything to do with striking). My sparring sessions in the last few weeks of training had shown some signs of improvement (I was mostly able to control my instinct to flinch and turn away from incoming punches), but my striking offense frequently bordered on laughable. I'm reasonably strong given my background and physique, but my crappy balance and general lack of coordination makes for some hilariously ineffective combos and striking flurries. In other words, I knew going in that if I was going to win this fight, it was a lot more likely to happen during a grappling exchange on the mats, vs. a striking exchange on the feet.
My game-plan, such as it was, mostly consisted of "throw some jabs, move around a lot, try to tire him out in the first round, and then dive for a takedown in the second round," but even while I was focusing on this plan I knew it was pretty shaky at best. All I knew about my opponent Mike was that he'd had some taekwondo lessons as a kid, and that his weight-cut has been stalled for personal reasons (hence the change from fighting at 185lbs to our 195-pound "catchweight"). Those two facts indicated that he might feel comfortable throwing kicks (a central technique of TKD) and that his conditioning might be suspect. I repeatedly drilled a technique called "catching a kick" - basically waiting for your opponent to throw a kick and then responding by quickly grabbing their leg and using it to throw them off-balance. At best it's a risky move, since you have to "eat" a kick and absorb the blow, but for someone like me with effectively zero wrestling ability, it was a reasonable way to imagine getting the fight off our feet and onto the mats.
A few days before my wife, son and I were going to board a plane for Las Vegas, I received a distressing message from my opponent: his training and weight cut had gone very poorly, his weight was MUCH higher than expected, and he wasn't even sure if he was going to show up to the weigh-ins. Needless to say, I was both livid (I've been taking this seriously and training my ass off since late April!) and terrified (all this training for nothing!). I did my best to keep a civil tone in my replies, and I encouraged him to continue doing his best to get to the weight we agreed upon (195).
So we left for Vegas filled with uncertainty that the fight would even happen, but determined to make the best of the situation. My wife's Vegas-based friends and family had all bought tickets to the fight, as had several friends who also flew in for the event, so I felt a weird sense of responsibility to make sure that they didn't waste their money paying for a fight that might not happen. I knew this wasn't really logical - it wasn't me who was putting the fight into question - but nevertheless, I really didn't want everyone to be disappointed by a cancelled-at-the-last-minute fight.
There was some confusion about our hotel room at The Orleans (where all the fighters were being housed and where the event itself would happen), but a series of phone calls with various managers ultimately got it resolved. As we were making our way to our room a few hours before the weigh-ins, my wife spotted a woman and man chatting, and she noticed that the woman's name tag bore the same unusual name as the manager who'd helped me resolve the room issue over the phone, so we walked over to say hi and thank her in person. The guy she was chatting with turned out to be affiliated with Tuff-N-Uff (the fight organizers), and he gave me a funny look. "Are you supposed to fight Mike?" I confirmed, and mentioned that I wasn't even sure if Mike was going to show up. "He's definitely here, but he's WAY over weight. I've been helping him cut weight for the past few hours and he's down some from when he got here, but man, it's gonna be close. If there is more than 10 pounds separating two fighters they absolutely won't let you proceed, so if you want to fight this guy, you need to put on as much weight in the next couple hours as you possibly can!" This is how I ended up in the highly-unusual position of worrying about being UNDERweight prior to weigh-ins, and so I was pacing nervously while chugging several large bottles of water until just minutes before stepping on the scales.
Once we arrived at the weigh-ins on Thursday, I got my first look at my opponent Mike. He was a heavy-set Asian guy with several tattoos and a generally friendly demeanor, and he was there with his girlfriend (who was very friendly and polite). We shook hands, went through the pre-fight medical exam, and then did the weigh ins. I weighed in at ~198lbs (and felt like I was going to BURST from having and gulped down so much water to raise my weight), and Mike weighed in at ~207lbs. The officials asked me if I wanted to proceed with the fight in the "Light Heavyweight" class (205lbs) given that Mike was technically two pounds over the limit, and I immediately agreed. We shook hands, rounded up our stuff and left the arena once the rule review was completed. |
Pittsburgh Steelers doctors are hopeful, though hardly optimistic, that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be able to return from his rib and shoulder injuries Dec. 2 against the Baltimore Ravens, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Steelers doctors believe Roethlisberger will miss three weeks, though the team has not abandoned hope that he may miss only two games and be able to return for the rematch against the Ravens.
Roethlisberger was ruled out of Sunday night's game against the Ravens and is not expected to play next Sunday at Cleveland.
Though Roethlisberger said the injury to his first rib on his right side threatened his aorta, a source said doctors believe the greater threat is to the surrounding arteries, vessels and soft tissue.
Roethlisberger was in as much pain Friday as he was Monday, a source said, and the timetable for his return is somewhat unpredictable. The injury is rare and needs to heal itself -- there's no treatment or procedure that can fix it quicker.
While Roethlisberger missed Sunday night's 13-10 loss to the Ravens, running back Rashard Mendenhall started and rushed 11 times for 33 yards.
And safety Ryan Clark, who has suffered two concussions in the last three weeks, told ESPN that he would wear a special helmet which is one size bigger than usual and packed with bullet-proof Kevlar against the Ravens.
ESPN's Rachel Nichols contributed to this report. |
Unit testing is the procedure during which individual parts of a program are tested to determine whether they work as expected.
Whether you plan to follow a test-driven design (TDD) approach, or simply want to verify that your program works each time you make a bunch of changes, it is generally accepted that unit testing is a good practice.
What unit testing is not, is a substitute for writing good code—you'll hardly ever get 100% test coverage, so a passing test does not necessarily mean that your code is bug-free.
In this tutorial, we'll be creating a simple REST API in Node.js Express and use Mocha/Chai to verify that the API works as expected.
Express REST API
Our API will have a single endpoint /colors , that we can use to GET a list of colors and POST (insert) new values.
Create a file index.js to write our application:
'use strict'; const express = require('express'); const bodyParser = require('body-parser'); const PORT = 8080; const HOST = 'localhost'; const DEFAULT_COLORS = ['RED', 'GREEN', 'BLUE']; const app = express(); app.use(bodyParser.json({ limit: '100k', })); /** * Array holding color values */ let colors = [].concat(DEFAULT_COLORS); /** * Returns a list of colors * Response body (JSON): {results: [....]} */ app.get('/colors', function(req, res, next) { res.json({ results: colors }); }); /** * Inserts new color in the 'colors' array * Request body (JSON): {color: ...} */ app.post('/colors', function(req, res, next) { if (req.is('application/json') && typeof req.body.color === 'string') { let color = req.body.color.trim().toUpperCase(); if (color && colors.indexOf(color) < 0) { colors.push(color); // 201 Created return res.status(201).send({ results: colors }); } } res.status(400).send(); // 400 Bad Request }); app.listen(PORT, HOST); console.log('Listening on %s:%d...', HOST || '*', PORT); /** * Export the Express app so that it can be used by Chai */ module.exports = app;
Assuming you are fairly familiar with Express, the above code should be easy to follow.
The reason we export the express application in the last line is because we want to be able to automatically launch our server during testing and import our app instance into Chai HTTP.
Unit Testing
To create our unit tests, we will be using Mocha, Chai, and Chai HTTP modules.
Mocha is a popular JavaScript test framework—it runs test cases and reports any errors encountered during the process. However, Mocha does not have a built-in assertion library. That's where Chai comes in, which is an assertion library for Node.js. Assertions are simple statements that are always expected to evaluate to true, and if not, they throw an error. Furthermore, since we are testing API endpoints, we also need a module for sending HTTP requests. Chai-http fulfills that role by communicating with the application/server, returning the responses, and using Chai assertions to verify the results.
In a Mocha test, we describe our tests using the describe function, which typically contains our test cases. The individual test cases are implemented using the it function, which is where we insert our assertions.
describe('API endpoint /colors', function() { it('should return all colors', function() { }); });
Create a new directory test and inside that directory a file test.js . Your directory structure should resemble the one below.
.
├── index.js
├── package.json
└── test
└── test.js
Write our Mocha test in test.js :
'use strict'; const chai = require('chai'); const expect = require('chai').expect; chai.use(require('chai-http')); const app = require('../index.js'); // Our app describe('API endpoint /colors', function() { this.timeout(5000); // How long to wait for a response (ms) before(function() { }); after(function() { }); // GET - List all colors it('should return all colors', function() { return chai.request(app) .get('/colors') .then(function(res) { expect(res).to.have.status(200); expect(res).to.be.json; expect(res.body).to.be.an('object'); expect(res.body.results).to.be.an('array'); }); }); // GET - Invalid path it('should return Not Found', function() { return chai.request(app) .get('/INVALID_PATH') .then(function(res) { throw new Error('Path exists!'); }) .catch(function(err) { expect(err).to.have.status(404); }); }); // POST - Add new color it('should add new color', function() { return chai.request(app) .post('/colors') .send({ color: 'YELLOW' }) .then(function(res) { expect(res).to.have.status(201); expect(res).to.be.json; expect(res.body).to.be.an('object'); expect(res.body.results).to.be.an('array').that.includes( 'YELLOW'); }); }); // POST - Bad Request it('should return Bad Request', function() { return chai.request(app) .post('/colors') .type('form') .send({ color: 'YELLOW' }) .then(function(res) { throw new Error('Invalid content type!'); }) .catch(function(err) { expect(err).to.have.status(400); }); }); });
Chai HTTP sends all requests to our express application instance, which we import in Line 8, and returns a promise (Lines 23, 35, 47, 63). Mocha waits for the promises inside the it functions to resolve, before it continues to the next test case, unless it is setup to use callbacks. The before and after blocks can be used to setup our tests before any testing begins, and cleanup after all tests have been completed.
Running the Unit Tests
Before we run our unit tests, we should first install the application dependencies. Since we only use Mocha/Chai during development, it's a good practice to save them as devDependencies using the --save-dev parameter.
$ npm install express body-parser --save
$ npm install mocha chai chai-http --save-dev
Your package.json should be similar to the one below.
{ "name": "colors-api", "version": "1.0.0", "private": true, "description": "", "main": "index.js", "scripts": { "start": "node index.js", "test": "mocha --recursive" }, "dependencies": { "body-parser": "^1.17.2", "express": "^4.15.3" }, "devDependencies": { "chai": "^4.0.2", "chai-http": "^3.0.0", "mocha": "^3.4.2" } }
Note that, by default, mocha --recursive runs all tests it finds under the test directory. In addition, npm automatically inserts node_modules/.bin into our shell's PATH, that's why we can execute Mocha without installing it globally.
To run our test, simply execute npm test .
$ npm test
API endpoint /colors ✓ should return all colors ✓ should return Not Found ✓ should add new color ✓ should return Bad Request 4 passing (71ms)
If there are no errors, then the output should be similar to the above, otherwise Mocha will report the test case and code line where the test failed on.
You can find all source code in this tutorial in my GitHub repository. |
Justin Bieber May Still Sue That Chick ... And Her Lawyers
Justin Bieber May Still Sue Mariah Yeater and Her Lawyers Over Baby Drama
Ifthinks she's dodged thelawsuit bullet by dismissing her paternity lawsuit, she needs to do some re-thinking.TMZ broke the story,last Thursday, after Justin and his team made it clear ... they were going to sue Yeater and her lawyers for filing a malicious claim.Despite the fact that Yeater's claim has now been dismissed and the 2 lawyers who filed it have quit, Justin is not backing down from his threat.The singer's publicist, Matthew Hiltzik, tells TMZ, "We intend to still hold them accountable."As we first reported,and the lawyers to set an example that people who file baseless claims against celebs do so at their own peril. |
I think we are rather missing a major point about money in politics, at least in the United States.
Our politicians, by and large, are not taking campaign donations to order to personally enrich themselves. It's simply not a very efficient way to get wealthy in America. If you are willing to spend all of that time and energy dialing for dollars and exhibiting the stamina of a warhorse in campaigning, you would be far better off in the private sector. Not to mention, there are more than a few corrupt politicians who are rotting in prison because they got too personally greedy. Why take that kind of risk when the same commitment to sheer unbridled capitalism would be much more rewarding?
It's true that the revolving door means that almost any Congressman can expect to lead a very comfortable life as a lobbyist after leaving office. But most enter office with money, and those who don't know they can make far more doing far less tedious jobs. Getting rich is simply not their primary motivation. They raise so much money for their campaigns as a means to an end- to get in office and remain there.
It's about power. This is the seductive nectar every politician finds irresistible. Sometimes this ego-driven desire for agency is in the service of a grand and admirable vision for a more humane and fair society; sometimes it is far more about status. I think Obama is an excellent example of someone operating from an idealistic desire to improve the world, and Donald Trump is his exact opposite - pathologically obsessed with personal aggrandizement. But both have one thing in common - they're not really in it for the money.
And neither is Hillary Clinton. If that's what made her tick, she would have abjured becoming Secretary of State and simply continued to rake it in on the corporate speaking circuit. To boot she could have led a much more pleasant and less grueling existence teaching a class or two at an Ivy League University and cutting ribbons for the Clinton Global Initiative. But clearly, a comfy existence holds very little interest for HRC. (Nor for Bernie either, certainly.)
To my mind, it's pretty clear she's raised/accepted as much money as she has because she had every reason to believe that in the era of $1 billion presidential campaigns, a huge war chest represents a sine qua non to becoming President. Trump and Sanders both, in opposite ways, may yet prove that to not necessarily be the case, but can you really fault her for operating from that premise from the day she put together an exploratory committee?
Sanders has asked innumerable times why X, Y, and Z industry would contribute to a campaign without the expectation of something in return. He's not wrong, but what is that "something?" As Trump has pointed out (accurately, I hate to say), you're buying the minimum guarantee that a victorious candidate will take your calls. But access to an airing of your views hardly means you get what you want anymore. In the era of Citizens United, the perversely beneficial effect of so much money from so many entities is that the actual power of each contributor is diluted.
Yes, I'm making the shocking assertion that by saying yes to everybody, Hillary Clinton can afford to say no to anybody.
Of course it's a stunning accomplishment that Bernie Sanders has outflanked the Super Pac system and been fueled by the $27 contributor, and it's unquestionable that he has never been interested in personally getting rich. (I don't even think he plays golf.) But what's going to happen if he gets the nomination? Where is all of that money going to go when those presently willing to give it to Hillary know it won't even get them an answered phone call in a Sanders administration? In fact, can we even hope for a Sanders administration if his campaign budget is $200 million as opposed to $800 million for the GOP? (Just because money can't buy a victory doesn't mean that its lack can't make it much less likely.)
Which begs the question: If Hillary is taking this corporate money not to grant favors, but as a means to an end, what's the point of that end? Why does she want to be President, basically? What exactly does she want to do with that power?
I just don't buy the depiction of her on the Sanderisian left as someone who wakes up in the morning revved up by a Lady Macbethian ambition and a desire to advance an agenda that will make her corporate donors even greater Masters of the Universe. I think she is happy to take their money if it gets her to a place where she is most likely to achieve what she insists she wants to achieve - a more democratic and peaceful world, arresting climate change, equality for women, universal healthcare, an expanding middle class, a decline in poverty, a less racist and fairer criminal justice system etc. Denmark writ large, basically. Very much the same vision as Bernie Sanders, ironically.
We can argue about how much past is prologue, or to what degree she's been irrevocably influenced by admission into the world of the 1%. But to believe that she has been bought and paid for by campaign contributors means that you believe that she would consciously pursue policies in defense of the status quo even if she knew it would mean more war, more poverty, more inequality, more climate change and so on. |
The collective bargaining agreement dictates that all contracts signed by rookie free-agents are three years in length with a minimum value of $1.44 million over the life of the contract. But not all rookie free agent contracts are exactly the same, as teams can guarantee differing amounts of money to each player upon signing them.
That was the case for the Patriots latest pool of undrafted free-agents, and the following is a break down of how much each player received in guaranteed money, which comes in the form of either a signing bonus of a partially guaranteed base salary.
Wide receiver T.J. Moe
Signing bonus: $8,000
Base salary guarantee: $22,000
Total guarantee: $30,000
Tight end Zach Sudfeld
Signing bonus: $12,000
Base salary guarantee: $5,000
Total guarantee: $17,000
Offensive lineman Elvis Fisher
Signing bonus: $7,500
Base salary guarantee: $7,500
Total guarantee: $15,000
Offensive lineman Josh Kline
Signing bonus: $4,000
Base salary guarantee: $10,000
Total guarantee: $14,000
Fullback Ben Bartholomew
Signing Bonus: $10,000
Base salary guarantee: 0
Total guarantee: $10,000
Safety Kanorris Davis
Signing bonus: $5,000
Base salary guarantee: $5,000
Total guarantee: $10,000
Defensive lineman Cory Grissom
Signing bonus: $4,000
Base salary guarantee: $4,000
Total guarantee: $8,000
Offensive lineman Chris McDonald
Signing bonus: $5,000
Base salary guarantee: 0
Total guarantee: $5,000
Offensive lineman Matt Stankiewitch
Signing bonus: $2,500
Base salary guarantee: $2,500
Total guarantee: $5,000
Wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins
Signing bonus: $2,500
Base salary guarantee: $2,500
Total guarantee: $5,000
Punter Ryan Allen
Signing bonus: $1,500
Base salary guarantee: $2,500
Total guarantee: $4,000
Cornerback Brandon Jones
Signing bonus: $3,500
Base salary guarantee: 0
Total guarantee: $3,500
Tight end Brandon Ford
Signing bonus: $3,000
Base salary guarantee: 0
Total guarantee: $3,000
Cornerback Stephon Morris
Signing bonus: $2,500
Base salary guarantee: 0
Total guarantee: $2,500
Long snapper Mike Zupanic
Signing bonus: $2,000
Base salary guarantee: 0
Total guarantee: $2,000
Defensive lineman Dewayne Cherrington
Signing bonus: $1,000
Base salary guarantee: $1,000
Total guarantee: $2,000
Running back Quentin Hines
Signing bonus: $1,000
Base salary guarantee: 0
Total guarantee: $1,000
Note: Linebacker Ian Sluss and defensive lineman Joe Vellano signed deals with no guaranteed money.
QUICK-HIT THOUGHTS: As the final round of the draft winds down, teams begin preparation to sign undrafted free agents and engage in negotiations with those players' respective agents. In the case of some undrafted players, several teams are courting them, which often leads to higher guaranteed totals. That T.J. Moe received the largest guarantee among all of the Patriots undrafted free agents is likely due to the fact that the Patriots believed he was among the better players not taken in the draft and/or they were competing against other teams to sign him. While there's no guarantee that any of these players will make the final roster, it's interesting to note their contract guarantees, which offers us a little bit of a feel for how the team valued them upon signing. One other note on the undrafted free agent pool is that, due to the size of the class, the Patriots guaranteed $137,000 to the 19 players. That's up from just $81,000 that was given to the seven undrafted free agents signed following the draft last year, although that total ballooned when Jeff Demps was signed in training camp and earned $211,000 in guarantees. |
Data released by the United Nations find that the United States isn’t just first in the world in commissioning memoirs from Twitter users and putting cookies on sticks and frying them—we’re also first in overall opiate use.
The report, which was published by the International Narcotics Control Board, measures the global use of opioids, a class of powerful drugs that include heroin and many of the strongest prescription painkillers, like oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and fentanyl. It found that Americans are prescribed opioids much more frequently than other countries—six times more than France. We also consume an enormous amount of opoids, including over 99 percent of the world’s supply of hydrocodone.
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Stanford psychiatrist Keith Humphreys wrote about the report for the Washington Post:
For example, Americans are prescribed about six times as many opioids per capita as are citizens of Portugal and France, even though those countries offer far easier access to health care. The largest disparity noted in the U.N. report concerns hydrocodone: Americans consume more than 99 percent of the world’s supply of this opioid.
One might think that Americans consume more opioids because as an aging population, they have objectively more aches and pains. But the U.S. population ranks only 42nd in the world in its proportion of people aged 65 or older. Countries with a much higher proportion of senior citizens than the United States, such as Australia and Italy, consume only a fraction of the prescription opioids of Americans.
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The Post cites as potential influencing factors our lax drug marketing regulations and the supremely American view that “life is perfectible”—i.e. that pain is unnecessary and avoidable.
Opiates affect parts of the brain that control both pain and emotions, encouraging the production of dopamine and giving the user a rush of euphoria. This ferociously addictive combination—pain reduction and extreme mood improvement—combined with overprescription and recreational use of high-potency drugs, have led to a staggering number of of drug-related deaths. 33,091 Americans died of an opioid overdose in 2015, and an average of 91 continue to die every day, according to CNN. |
Businessman holding salmon (Picture: Getty Images)
You might be allowed to touch ‘salmon under suspicious circumstances’ soon.
It’s currently illegal to do such a thing as it contravenes ‘The Salmon Act of 1986’ but this law could be repealed next year, according to the New York Times.
Of course that doesn’t mean you won’t look odd if you decide to handle the fish in a dubious way.
MORE: Can you spot the massive penis on this Primark Christmas jumper?
It’s not just salmon lovers that could benefit from a change of laws.
More than 200 other pieces of legislation are also reportedly set for the chop in 2016 and it’s up to lawyers at the Britain’s Law Commission to recommend the changes.
‘Just the age of the legislation isn’t a determining factor,’ Elaine Lorimer, chief executive of the Law Commission, said.
‘The research has got to be done to make sure that actually this is no longer required.’
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Other laws that could potentially be repealed, include not being allowed to wear a suit of armour, which is a dream come true for us.
MORE: Grandmother dies three months after ‘being bitten by rat at care home’
MORE: Nottingham is the ‘horniest student city in the UK’ |
By year's end, Portland General Electric will fire up its 550-megawatt power plant in Boardman for a daylong test burn, feeding 8,000 tons of pulverized, roasted wood into its boilers instead of the usual diet of coal.
The exercise is meant to gauge whether the aging fossil fuel plant could reliably generate electricity using renewable feedstock such as "torrefied" wood after its scheduled closure in 2020. If it works -- technically, economically and environmentally -- Oregon's only coal-fired power plant could one day become the country's largest biomass power plant.
It's an uncertain, embryonic effort, but some believe the payoff could be substantial. The conversion of Boardman and other coal plants could extend the life of existing equipment, benefiting ratepayers, while helping utilities comply with state renewable power mandates. It could cut pollution from power plants and logging operations. And it could boost forest restoration efforts, particularly in overstocked national forests east of the Cascades, by creating a viable market for the small trees, tree tops and limbs left over from thinning and logging projects.
"There are job creation opportunities. We can take more material out of the woods. It's a big winner -- if it works," said Bruce Daucsavage, president of Prineville-based Ochoco Lumber Co., which operates the only remaining sawmill in Grant County.
Yet many conservation and climate advocacy groups are hoping it won't work. Biomass may be a renewable resource, they say, but it is not clean, particularly when it comes to emissions of greenhouse gases. Replacing coal with another carbon-emitting resource is a step in the wrong direction, they maintain, and would only pillage forests that sequester carbon and help combat climate change today.
It's a hot debate. But biomass energy projects are inching forward in Oregon.
Ochoco Lumber has partnered with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities to set up two pilot torrefaction lines at the Port of Morrow for the PGE test burn. The venture, called Oregon Torrefaction, is currently roasting wood chips at an idled tire recycling plant and a mobile unit trucked in from Idaho.
Meanwhile, a Japanese company announced its intention last week to build the first commercial scale torrefaction plant in Oregon by 2018. It plans to use technology developed by a Troutdale-based startup, HM3 Energy, with financial and technical support from the state clean tech incubator, Oregon BEST.
The plant would transform wood waste into biomass briquettes that can replace coal in existing plants. The company is hoping to tap markets in Japan, where the government is looking to reduce reliance on nuclear power and is subsidizing utilities to use biomass in existing power plants.
"We in Oregon have an opportunity to show the country and even the world how to do biomass right," Sen. Ron Wyden said last week after touring HM3's pilot plant. "That means doing things in a way that makes economic sense, while also having long-term environmental benefits, and keeping in step with the best science."
Without saying it directly, Wyden was acknowledging the carbon controversy. Earlier this month, more than 20 forest conservation and climate advocacy groups in the state called on him and fellow Sen. Jeff Merkley to block provisions of the energy bill making its way through Congress that would classify biomass energy as "carbon neutral."
The groups say the designation is scientifically inaccurate. They also believe it would spur the expansion of large-scale biomass plants that spew greenhouse gases and other pollutants by protecting them from future carbon regulation.
"This could fundamentally change the industry, and we could see our forest management practices altered on the need to feed these plants," said Alexander Harris, a conservation organizer with the Sierra Club.
Concern over carbon
Carbon accounting is a complicated, controversial business in its own right. But proponents of biomass energy offer a fairly simple rationale for the carbon neutral designation: The carbon dioxide released when wood is harvested and burned ends up being sucked up and re-sequestered as new trees grow back.
From the environmentalists' standpoint, that's misleading at best, as a forest's natural cycle of decomposition and regrowth takes many decades, while biomass plants release the carbon instantaneously.
"It's not carbon neutral, and we should be having an honest debate about whether we want to be treating our forests as feedstock," said Dominick DellaSala, chief scientist at the Geos Institute in Ashland. "These are natural systems, not feedstock."
This file photo shows PGE's coal plant in Boardman, which is slated to shut in 2020. In the next few months, the utility plans to conduct a daylong test burn, using torrefied wood instead of coal to fuel the plant.
Linc Cannon, director of forest resources and taxation at the Oregon Forest & Industries Council, says the notion that mature trees would be harvested for energy production is misguided -- in the Northwest at least -- because biomass is such a low-value use of the wood.
When it comes to slash from harvests and thinning, he says, the environmental community needs to consider its alternative fate. Most of that material is burned in woods today or left to rot on the forest floor, where it can help fuel forest fires.
"Existing forest restoration contracts are going to be generating a whole bunch of biomass," Cannon said. "You either stack it and burn it, or you take it somewhere and you use it."
DellaSala says most of those projects don't make sense in the first place. He's skeptical they're doing much to control fires. To accomplish that, the scale of the thinning would have to be so massive that the associated carbon emissions would be extreme.
"We should be solving climate change by having reliable clean energy, and woody biomass is not the path we should be on," he said. "It doesn't work on a big industrial scale. You're just kicking the can down the road."
State's stance on biomass
The energy bill, including the biomass provisions, could move in the coming lame duck session. Wyden, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he'd been talking with stakeholders on all sides.
"I am working hard with my colleagues on the energy bill conference committee to develop a solution that ensures any biomass policy is rooted in the science, is bipartisan, and moves Oregon and the entire country to a smarter carbon policy."
Oregon already classifies biomass energy as a renewable resource and allows utilities to count it toward the state's renewable energy standard. That mandate requires them to meet half of their customers' demand with renewable power by 2040.
The state also offers tax credits for the production, collection and transportation of biomass. And the Department of Environmental Quality doesn't regulate the carbon output at the handful of sawmills that burn biomass today to co-generate electricity and heat.
Oregon's Global Warming Commission is in the process of developing a carbon inventory for all state forests. That data could be used to analyze the effect of forest stewardship work in eastern Oregon, as well as the use of the biomass those projects produce for energy production.
Angus Duncan, chair of the commission, says that even if the fuel supply for biomass energy is limited to thinning projects intended to improve forest health, or clear invasive juniper trees, "We still need to be doing the carbon accounting."
"If we can come up with a forest biomass strategy that's compatible with a low carbon future, that will benefit those forest communities," he said. "You don't do that by passing a law that is contrary to what the science tells you."
Experimental industry
For now, in Oregon, the entire industry is still an experiment. A technical experiment. An environmental experiment. And maybe most of all, an economic experiment.
Matt Krumenauer, chief executive of Oregon Torrefaction, said no one is sure which torrefaction technology works best, how much it costs at a commercial scale, what species of wood makes the ideal fuel, or whether there's an adequate, sustainable supply of it.
He says the environmental question is crucial, but believes it is possible to use biomass in an appropriate way. As it stands, he said, the "biggest barrier to this technology is the market."
Utilities and other companies that could use the fuel don't want to make a long-term commitment to buy because they still don't have enough information about its viability or costs. But building a commercial-scale torrefier is expensive and not practical without a long-term buyer in place.
It's unclear whether the biomass provisions in the energy bill would affect the outcome of PGE's deliberations on Boardman. The company wouldn't be running a biomass plant full blast for much of the year, as it does the coal plant. Instead, it's likely to use the plant during periods of high demand, when other renewable resources like wind and solar may not be available.
"We've got a lot of hills to climb," Krumenauer said, and the first step is getting through PGE's test burn. "Enough standing around looking at each other. Let's actually do it and see if we can answer these questions."
[email protected]
503-221-8505; @tedsickinger |
Eggplant meets chickpeas in this legume-filled version of Baingan Bharta. Spicy, aromatic, and downright delicious!
Sometimes when a recipe is truly great, I find I have little to say other than “Make this.” So, if you like Indian food in general and Baingan Bharta in particular, make this. It’s as good as or better than what you’ll find in a restaurant but without a lot of oil or, possibly, butter and it’s certified delicious by my resident eggplant-hater.
Before you run off to the kitchen, let me admit that yes, I made baingan bharta and basically added chickpeas to it. Laziness is the reason, my usual desire to get vegetables and protein all into one dish so that I don’t have to make side dishes.
In this case, I could have used some sides because this dish was so mouth-watering, so appetite-inducing, and yet so light that we were all three still hungry after we’d polished off the 4 average-sized servings. So plan to either double the recipe or make some side dishes. I suggest Red Cabbage and Peas with Cumin and Mustardseed, Baked Spinach Kofta, Palak Tofu, Bhindi Masala, or any of my Indian recipes.
Finally (boy, I just can’t shut up), I really need to point out that you can get all of the essential ingredients at almost any supermarket, but if you have an Indian grocery store nearby, you’ll be able to find asafetida and ginger paste there. Neither is a necessity, but I find the ginger paste to be a big time-saver, as well as a recipe-saver when all my fresh ginger root seems to have become dried up, gnarled, and downright scary in my fridge.
You’ll also find fresher garam masala in an Indian store than you will in a supermarket, but not as fresh as if you make it yourself; see the end of the recipe for ingredients before you head out on your shopping trip.
Print Pin 5 from 12 votes Add to Recipe BoxGo to Recipe Box Eggplant and Chickpea Curry Eggplant meets chickpeas in this vegan, chickpea version of Baingan Bharta. Spicy, aromatic, and downright delicious! And it’s a zero points food on Weight Watchers! Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes Servings 4 Author Susan Voisin Ingredients 1 large eggplant
1 medium onion , chopped
1/2 red bell pepper seeded and diced
1 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon asafetida (or 1 clove garlic, pressed)
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (fire-roasted preferred)
2 teaspoons ginger paste or minced ginger root
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or other hot red pepper (less or more, to taste)
1 15-ounce can cooked chickpeas , rinsed and drained (or 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup minced parsley or cilantro
1/4 teaspoon garam masala (start with less and add more to taste) Instructions Preheat oven to 400F. Prick eggplant with a fork several times and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until eggplant is sunken and soft all the way through. Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop the eggplant flesh.
Heat a non-stick skillet. Add the onion and cook until it begins to turn golden. Add the bell pepper and cook for a few more minutes. Clear a spot in the center of the skillet and sprinkle the cumin seeds directly on the hot surface. Stir and toast them for about a minute, until they become fragrant. Stir them into the onions and peppers and add the coriander, turmeric, asafetida (or garlic), tomatoes, ginger paste, and red pepper.
Add the eggplant and cook over medium heat, pressing eggplant with the back of a spoon to break up large pieces, for about 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas and enough water or chickpea cooking liquid to keep the mixture moist, cover tightly, and turn heat to low. Cook for at least 15 minutes, stirring periodically, until sauce has thickened and flavors have blended. (You can hold this dish on low for up to 45 minutes while you prepare the rest of your meal, but add additional liquid as needed and don’t forget to stir, scraping the bottom.)
Just before serving, add parsley (or cilantro), garam masala, and salt to taste. Serve with rice or Indian bread. Notes 1 tablespoon black cardamom seeds, 1 cinnamon stick (about 2 1/2 inches long), 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 1 teaspoon black peppercorns. Grind in coffee or spice grinder until powdered. Heat a small, dry pan. Add spices and toast just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and allow to cool. Once cool, store in a sealed jar for future use. This recipe alone (no rice) is zero points on Weight Watchers Freestyle program. I used freshly-made garam masala, which is more flavorful than most store-bought blends; depending on your spice blend, you may need to add more to get the right flavor. Garam masala recipes vary, but my current favorite is to combineGrind in coffee or spice grinder until powdered. Heat a small, dry pan. Add spices and toast just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl, and allow to cool. Once cool, store in a sealed jar for future use.This recipe alone (no rice) is zero points on Weight Watchers Freestyle program. Nutrition Facts Eggplant and Chickpea Curry Amount Per Serving (1 serving) Calories 208 Calories from Fat 17 % Daily Value* Total Fat 1.9g 3% Sodium 548.5mg 23% Total Carbohydrates 41.7g 14% Dietary Fiber 11.6g 46% Sugars 8.4g Protein 8.3g 17% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Tried this recipe? Post a photo and mention @susanffvk or tag #fatfreevegan
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We’ve not yet seen Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, which is due out on May 5, but the trailers suggest the sequel is every bit the clever, action-packed movie that the first volume was, if not more so. Director James Gunn has doubled down on everything here: the firepower and the star power (Kurt Russell is Star-Lord’s dad for cryin’ out loud); the cuteness, the Grootness, and the blueness (watching Nebula and Drax trying to get along is delightful). Naturally, this has promoted discussion about a third entry in the franchise, which Gunn says is an inevitability. What’s unclear is whether he’ll direct it.
Gunn spoke with Complex about the possibility of returning for Guardians Vol. 3 while doing the press rounds for The Belko Experiment, a movie that makes all other office spats pale in comparison.
There will be a Guardians 3, that’s for sure. We’re trying to figure it out. I’m trying to figure out what I want to do really, that’s all it is. I got to figure out where I want to be, what I want to spend the next three years of my life doing. You know, I’m going to make another big movie; is it the Guardians or something else? I’m just going to figure it out over the next couple of weeks.
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As much as he enjoyed working on a horror film again, Gunn isn’t walking away from big-budget pictures. But the question of whether he’ll helm the future adventures of Gamora, Rocket, et. al. remains unanswered for now. |
Pearls on a String
Volume 2
Chapter 14: Meetings
Undisclosed Location in Vale
Damian tapped the side of his leg impatiently. Even after all this time, the meticulous planning to get him to where he was at this point and the exquisite details he had to attend to in order to keep him there, he still detested waiting.
"You're fidgeting," his sister commented mildly.
He let out a soft, dignified snort of humor, but quickly ceased his movement. "I am merely anxious," he reminded her.
"Big brother of mine, you can face down the wardroom of a company in a hostile takeover, yet one man causes you such nervousness?"
"Anxious, Frost," he corrected her. "Not nervous."
His younger sister snorted in much the same way as he had earlier. "If you say so," she smirked affectionately. "But just so you know, I've got your back."
"And you always do," he murmured with a gentle smile. "I do appreciate it, Frost."
"Well of course, Damian," she said with a shrug. "That's what a bodyguard is for, after all."
"True, but you could have taken any number of huntress jobs right after graduating from the Academy," he mentioned, turning to gaze back out the window of the corporate Bulldog air transport. "You didn't have to join me."
"Of course I did," she replied with just the barest hint of reproach. "You're not just family, you're my brother, and you needed me."
"I suppose I did," he sighed. As he stared at the reflection of his face in the window, he couldn't fail to note the brief glimpse of a cold, calculating look in his pale blue eyes, one which he carefully wiped away before turning back to her with a warm smile. "And as I have said, I appreciate it."
Frost waved away his gratitude as she always did, recrossing her legs and minisculely bouncing the toes of her boot-clad foot in the air. "So, you're still not going to give me the details on this meeting with your new partner?"
"You'll see soon enough," he replied with a smirk. "We're almost there."
Indeed, the Bulldog had begun its descent below the treeline, the dark shapes of the forest flashing by in the midmorning light. Before too long it arrived in a clearing that seemed otherwise deserted and settled down smoothly before powering the dust-powered jets off.
"This is the place?" Frost asked skeptically as she rose from her seat. She tugged her white miniskirt down and adjusted the abbreviated short-sleeved jacket she wore over her tube top. "Seems deserted."
"The pilots know how to follow the beacons," Damian explained, adjusting his own silken suit. He glanced at his sister with affection. Anyone seeing the two together could tell that they were siblings, not just because of their hereditary eye and hair color, but also their demeanor. They carried the bearing of nobility, it was simply a part of them, nature and nurture alike.
The side hatch of the Bulldog opened to reveal a short girl, under five feet, wearing a black petticoat with purple highlights that were visible from the gentle breeze drifting through the clearing. She also wore a black long-sleeved jacket, low-cut with no shirt underneath, and a dark purple sash around her waist. Black heeled ankle boots sparkled from the amethyst jewels on the sides that matched the numerous bracelets and necklaces she wore as well. Her dark purple hair was done up into an intricate bun and held in place by black lacquered chopsticks.
"Welcome," the petite girl began with a smooth bow, her light amethyst eyes twinkling. "My name is Whisper, and it will be my pleasure to conduct you to my master."
She smiled brilliantly at the duo. "Won't you please accompany me, Mr and Ms Schnee?"
City of Vale
Saturday Afternoon
Pip leaned back in her chair and glanced around the quaint little cafe her team had chosen for their rendezvous. They'd come to spend the day in Vale for some shopping and well-deserved relaxation after a rough week of classes. The lanky blonde team leader had wandered for a bit, visiting her favorite weapons shop to see what new upgrades were in, as well as a boutique that catered to those who appreciated fine body care products.
She smiled to herself as she reflected on her shopping history that day. What can I say, I'm a complicated person.
"Did you have a good morning?" a lightly accented voice called out from behind her.
Pip twisted in her chair to grin at Lustre as her teammate walked around to sit at the table. "I did, yeah. Got me the latest 'Guns n' Dust' catalog, and some sweet new soaps. You?"
The silver-haired girl hefted her bag before settling it under her seat. "I found several new volumes in a series I have been reading," she replied, her pale blue eyes twinkling merrily. "It was a very productive time."
"Oh, babe," Pip sighed mournfully. "That was the extent of your shopping? Books?"
Lustre blinked her eyes uncertainly. "Er… yes?"
"We have so got to take you clothes shopping sometime," the blonde stated, shaking her head. "When was the last you did that?"
"Why would I need to shop for clothes? I have school uniforms and my combat outfit. I require nothing else."
Pip leaned forward and gently banged her head against the table.
"Oh, don't be so melodramatic, blondie," another voice snarked. "Not everyone shares your taste."
"And I shall convert you all yet to the finer side of things," Pip declared, lifting her head back up to regard the other half of her team. Evie and Beryl stood next to the table, their arms wrapped around each other comfortably and with blissful grins on their faces. "Just because I have no money doesn't mean I can't appreciate elegance, as should you all."
"Pfft," the blue-haired girl scoffed as she plopped down on a chair next to the one Evie took. She nonchalantly placed her hand on top of her girlfriend's thigh, which was quickly covered by the raven-haired girl's hand and squeezed affectionately. "I appreciate the finer things just fine."
"Really?" the Cat Faunus asked, her eyebrows raised. "Like what?"
"Well, I have you," Beryl smirked.
"Oh my Oum, you guys," Pip groaned as the couple gave each other a look that was becoming far more commonplace than she'd like to admit. "Have you two lovebirds been like this all day?"
"Yep, pretty much," Evie admitted without taking her eyes off of the blue-haired girl.
"Were you expecting otherwise?" Lustre inquired mildly.
Pip shook her head and grinned. "No, I suppose not. You guys gonna make out already, or do you wanna order something?"
"Hmm," Beryl pondered, the barest hint of a grin showing. "What if I'm hungry for both?"
Evie laughed, swishing her tail around to bop her girlfriend lightly on the nose. "You, my dear Beryl, are incorrigible."
"True enough," Beryl smirked. "But, yeah, I suppose we should order something now. Plenty of time for making out later."
The blonde girl shook her head in amusement as she flagged down a waiter. These two girls, her best friends and sisters in all but blood, had finally admitted their feelings for each other a week ago. Since then, they'd been inseparable, but Pip was overjoyed not just by their happiness but at the changes it wrought in each of them. The Cat Faunus hadn't been irritable at all, even towards some of the louder students that would normally set her off in the classroom. For her part, Beryl was more confident and outgoing, showing little of her usual social anxiety.
For all that, she could put up with a little bit of sickeningly sweet interaction.
The small group ordered a light lunch, along with drinks, and had just begun to talk about the stores that they'd visited when a loud, booming voice rang out through the cafe.
"RADIANCE BERYL!"
"Oh, Grimmshit," Beryl moaned before leaping to her feet. Approaching the table was a giant of a man, with a black bushy beard that matched the wild hair and shaggy eyebrows. He easily stood seven and a half feet tall, and his outfit seemed to match his demeanor, with a large black overcoat over matching black shirt and trousers. His bootsteps seemed to rattle the window pane as he approached.
Pip and the others quickly leapt to their feet, hands on their weapons. "Beryl…?" the blonde murmured inquiringly.
The blue-haired girl in question sighed resignedly and pushed her way forward, just in time to be wrapped up and lifted off her feet in a bone-crushing bear hug.
"Hi, Dad," she squeaked from somewhere within the confines of his chest.
The other three gazed at each other incredulously. "Dad?" Pip mouthed in surprise.
And then Evie's eyes got wide and panicked.
Oh, Dust, she's about to meet her girlfriend's father, and he looks like he could wrestle an Ursa bare-handed…
She tried to shoot her partner a reassuring look, but only had the chance to open her mouth before the towering man barked out a loud laugh.
"Ah, it's great to see you, Radiance! Is this your team, here?" The others could now see a large black round shield poking out from behind his back, perhaps the same size as Beryl's but on his arm it would likely function more as a buckler, as well as the hilt of an enormous sword strapped under it and poking up over his shoulder.
Beryl had finally regained her feet and stood, swaying slightly. "Um, yeah, Dad, they are," she murmured sheepishly.
Pip took the chance to step forward and offer him her hand. "Hello, sir, I'm Pip Cerise, Beryl's team leader."
Her calloused hand was swallowed whole by the man's meaty paw. "Wonderful!" he chuckled heartedly. "My name is Corvid Beryl, and I thank you, Miss Cerise, for taking my little girl under your wing! She's told us a great deal about you all!"
Lustre spoke up next, carefully remaining out of handshake range. "A pleasure to meet you, sir. I am Lustre Bijou."
"Ah, yes, I saw your final round at the Vytal Festival! A most admirable attempt, I'm glad someone with such skill is partners with Radiance!"
Pip noted with some amusement that Beryl winced slightly every time her father used her hated first name.
Corvid looked over at Evie who was hanging by the back of the group, as if afraid to approach the great bear of a man. "So now, are you a member of Radiance's team as well?"
Evie clasped her hands behind her back, unusually nervous. "Um, well… that is…"
Beryl stepped over to wrap her arm around the Cat Faunus' waist. "Yeah, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Evie Black."
"Girlfriend?" Corvid's shaggy brows rose up to disappear behind his hairline, only to thunderously descend once more. "And what are your intentions towards my daughter?" he growled, seemingly looming over Evie and blocking out all the light.
"Eep," the Faunus girl squeaked in reply, visibly wilting.
"Dad!" Beryl shouted, pushing her girlfriend behind her. "Stop it!"
"I'm allowed to-"
"No, you're not! We've been going out for only a week for Oum's sake, don't you dare scare her like that!"
"I want to know she's gonna treat my little girl right!"
"She is, Dust damn it!"
"Radiance Beryl, you will watch your language around me or so help me-"
"Dad!" Beryl barked, her hands on her hips and glaring up the the mountainous man. "Do I need to get Mom on the scroll?"
The pair of them stared daggers at each other while the other three members of the team looked on warily. Evie was ready to bolt at any second but was torn by her desire to stand by Beryl, while both Pip and Lustre seemed poised to intervene, suicidal as it may appear.
After almost a full minute, Corvis threw his head back and laughed, a booming sound that practically shook the rafters and caused all of the girls to jump slightly. "Oh, Oum, it's good to see you again, Peanut!"
"You too, Dad," the blue-haired girl replied sheepishly, allowing herself to become engulfed into another hug, fortunately remaining on her feet this time.
Evie had a look of relief on her face, and was beginning to edge away from the two when she was caught by a massive paw. "As for you, Miss Evie Black, if you're dating my daughter then you get the Papa Beryl treatment as well!"
The Cat Faunus let out a startled mewl as her escape was halted and she was pulled into the hug. "Th- Thank you?" she stammered uncertainly.
Once the two girls were released and able to breathe again, they turned to note the expression of merriment on Pip's face.
"Peanut?" the blonde smirked widely.
Beryl rolled her eyes, but her father decided to expound on the nickname.
"It's because when she was a baby, she was such a tiny little thing! Just like an adorable little peanut!"
"Daaad," Beryl groaned over her teammates' laughter.
"Oh, come on now, you used to love it when I called you that!"
"Seriously, Dad, you're killing me here. Can you not embarrass me in front of my friends all to Vacuo and back?"
"Oh, fine," the large man rumbled. "Still, the stories I could tell…"
"No, Dad."
"Wait," Pip snickered. "I wouldn't mind hearing-"
"One more word, Pip," the blue-haired girl warned irritably, "and you shall become intimately acquainted with your own intestines."
Pip screwed up her face thoughtfully. "Aren't I already, though? I mean, they're inside me…"
"Blondie..." Evie said in a quiet but threatening voice.
"Wow, okay, guess it's gang up on Pip day," she snarked, raising her hands in surrender.
Lustre sidled up to Evie smoothly. "Ten lien says Beryl threatens Pip with bodily dismemberment before we leave," she murmured.
"You're on," Evie smirked. "She knows when to back off."
The silver-haired girl shot her an incredulous look. "This is Pip we are speaking of, correct?"
"True. I'll still take the bet, though."
"You know I'm right here and can hear every word, right?" Pip deadpanned.
The other two girls just beamed an innocent smile at her.
"So, Peanut," Corvis interjected. "I'm glad I no longer need to worry about you getting pregnant now, eh?"
"Oh my Oum, Dad!" Beryl squawked, her hands flying up to cover her face which was once again beet red. "Please, stop!"
"Well, I suppose you still should be concerned about protection and all," he mused in a low rumble as if he hadn't heard her. "Or do you? Miss Black, what do you-"
"Emergency change of subject!" Beryl shouted. She shot a glare at both Pip and Lustre who were now leaning against each other for support, tears of mirth streaming down their faces, while Evie was blushing just as brightly. "Why are you in Vale, Dad?"
"Well, Oz asked me to look into a few things," he rumbled absently. "Some such nonsense about mutant Grimm…"
"Wait, like fire-breathing Nevermores?" Beryl asked eagerly, her earlier embarrassment forgotten.
"Yeah, how do you… Ohhh, I see, so it was you lot who tangled with that beastie back in Vacuo, eh?" Corvis chuckled, his entire body shaking mirthfully. "Should have known my little Radiance was in the thick of things, just like a true Beryl, eh?"
"Here, why don't you have a seat, Mr Beryl?" Pip asked solicitously, pulling up another chair for him.
"Yes, we would love to hear more of your thoughts on this matter, being such an experienced and powerful hunter," Lustre commented evenly. Pip had to hide a grin behind her hand as she sat down. Very smooth, babe, very smooth. Maybe we'll finally get somewhere on this...
"Thank you girls, thank you. Now, where was I… Right! Oz said there's been reports of these new Grimm right here in Vale, of all places! Can you believe it?"
The four girls all exchanged wary glances as Beryl's father continued. "No other giant glowing Nevermores, but there are stories of Gryffons that also glow, these ones in green though. Strangest thing, glowing Grimm… Ah, well, I'll believe it when I see it. Ha! But you lot, you really did take down a fire-breathing Nevermore, eh?"
"Yeah, we did, Dad, me and Pip," Beryl assured him. She launched into the tale of their encounter, while the blonde sat back and pondered what Corvis had revealed.
So they're spreading? I wonder if they originated from the middle of the continent maybe? And how long before we start hearing of more missing teams?
How safe is it for any of us out there anymore?
Lustre leaned over towards her as Beryl expounded on her insane plan of the makeshift dust chamber grenade. "You are thinking quite loudly," she commented.
"If it's in my head, it can't be loud," she quipped back.
"You know what I mean," the silver-haired girl grumbled. "Are you concerned about more of these enhanced Grimm in our region now?"
"Yeah, I am… Lustre, I've never been so scared in my entire life as when I faced that… thing."
"Is that so?" Corvis interjected while turning to the two of them, obviously having overheard Pip's conversation as well as the end of Beryl's tale. "It sounds as if you dealt with it well enough, though."
"Sir, so far as we know, there were a lot of other teams that went missing in Vacuo," Pip began slowly. "Students and Hunters alike. If that starts happening here…"
Beryl nodded. "Dad, maybe I wasn't clear in this, but we just barely escaped with our lives. And we've fought literal hordes of Grimm before, but nothing like this."
"We're lucky to be alive," Pip agreed.
Corvis sat back and stroked his bushy beard thoughtfully. "Well, then," he finally mused. "That certainly gives me much to think about… Now I'm even more glad to have caught up with you, Peanut."
"Dad," Beryl groaned quietly.
"I think I'm going to go have another talk with old Oz before I head out into the wilderness," he continued as if he hadn't heard his daughter. He glanced up as the team's lunch arrived. "Ah! It seems your food is here, I will take my leave of you then. A great pleasure to have met you all!"
Corvis stood up once more, towering over the table. "Radiance, come give your old man another hug!"
"Yes, Dad," the diminutive girl sighed affectionately. Pip very carefully did not listen to their murmured endearments, as she did not wish to embarrass Beryl further.
"And you, Miss Black! You keep treating my little girl right, you hear me?"
Evie noded quickly. "Y- Yes, sir!" she stuttered.
"Good girl. I expect to see you over the break sometime, come meet the missus. Oh, before I go… Miss Cerise, might I have a word with you?"
Pip clambered to her feet uncertainly. "Um, yes, sir!"
She followed him out and into the street where he paused, looking up at the cloudless sky.
"I wanted to thank you," he rumbled quietly as she stood attentively beside him. "For looking after my little girl. I know she's training to be a huntress, Dust, it's all she ever wanted ever since I put a sword in her tiny little hands." He smiled ruefully, causing his beard to twitch. "But it's hard watching her grow up and put herself into danger."
He turned to face Pip solemnly. "So, you have my thanks for all you have done for her."
The blonde nodded back just as solemnly. "Sir, she's my family. All of them are, they're all I have and I love them dearly."
He furrowed his eyebrows and stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You don't say? So… your parents, they are not proud of you?"
"Um, I'm an orphan, sir," she replied quietly.
"Remarkable," he murmured, the sound like an approaching thunderstorm. "You look just like… Well, no matter!" He reached out and pulled Pip into one of his customary bear hugs, and the lanky blonde suddenly attained a new appreciation for how out-of-breath both Evie and Beryl seemed after receiving such ministrations.
"Farewell, Miss Cerise, and you take care of that team of yours!" He waved merrily as he strode off, towering head and shoulders above the rest of the pedestrians.
She slipped back inside the cafe, shaking her head slightly. What was that all about?
"You okay, Pip?" Beryl asked solicitously. "Come on, your food's getting cold!"
"Sure thing, Peanut," she snarked as she took her seat.
"Pip," the blue-haired girl said levelly without even sparing her a glance. "I swear to Oum, they will never find the body parts."
Evie sighed and pulled a ten lien note out which she slid over to a widely grinning Lustre.
Eh, sometimes I just can't help myself...
Undisclosed Location in Vale
Damian and Frost Schnee had finished their tour of the underground facility and were making their way towards the heart of the operation.
"And this here is where the magic happens," their tour guide smirked. She held a hand out towards a thin, nervous-looking man in a lab coat. "Have you met the good doctor before, Mr Schnee?"
"No, indeed not," the scientist exclaimed, hurrying over to shake Damian's hand. "Doctor Viridian, at your service, sir."
"A pleasure, Doctor," he smiled politely. "This is my sister and bodyguard, Frost." She gave him a polite nod of her own but maintained a respectful distance behind the group, looking about the room in interest while her hand rested on the hilt of her weapon. "So, can you finally tell us about this process of yours?"
"Yes, yes indeed," he replied enthusiastically, twirling a stylus in his fingers that had one end chewed. "You see, it all begins with our dear Whisper here!"
The petite girl nodded amicably. "My semblance allows me to control Grimm."
"I see," Damian replied levelly. "And that's how you obtain your subjects, then?"
"Correct, and then the real fun begins!" the doctor stated excitedly. "You see, once she brings them in and under control, we implant the device… er, that is, the control unit…"
"It allows me to control them easily, multiples of the creatures and from further away," Whisper interjected. "It will also be critical to the final stage of the plan, as you might understand."
"Yes, I do." Damian looked about, noting that in the sterile, stark white laboratory, only Whisper showed up as any color. Both he and Frost wore all white, as was customary for their family.
"And the… process?" Frost asked hesitantly, brushing her chin-length white hair behind an ear. "How does that work?"
"Oh, it's quite complicated," the doctor began, tapping at his handheld rapidly. "You see, the basic functionality-"
"Now, now, Doctor," a smooth male voice, one with the weight of authority behind it, interrupted. "No need to go into the specifics."
The group turned to observe a tall, well-built man enter the room. He wore an expensive silk three-piece suit much like Damian's but in black with a white shirt and crimson tie. His face, bordered by a neatly-trimmed black beard that matched the short hairs on his head, bore a certain magnetism, one which would certainly be considered handsome but also one that commanded a certain amount of respect for the charismatic power he obviously held.
"Welcome, Mr Schnee," the newcomer said jovially as he extended a hand. Damian met his grip with a firm one of his own, immediately confirming his earlier impressions about the man.
This was someone used to power, someone who should not be trifled with.
"Lord Malachite," Damian greeted his host warmly. "Such a pleasure to finally meet you in person."
"But the pleasure is all mine, I assure you!" Malachite replied. His pale green eyes were hard and glittering, though Damian couldn't detect any hint of actual malice therein.
"And to answer your question, Ms Schnee I presume? Yes, the process itself essentially fuses dust with the Grimm. Red dust for the Nevermores to allow them fire, green dust for the Gryffons for their wonderful sonic attack, and white dust for the Beowolves to lend them incredible speed."
Damian nodded agreeably, though he noted Frost wore a frown on her face. He shot her a quick glance, and her visage immediately faded to neutral again.
"Now, this facility here is for Research and Development only. We have another here in Vale to stage our operation, though we don't have the time to tour that today. Would you like to witness the actual process?" Malachite grinned at them, his brilliant pearly white teeth practically sparkling in the bright lights of the lab. "We have another captured Beowolf already on a table for you to observe."
"Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you…"
A couple of hours later the Schnee siblings were back on their corporate flight home to Atlas once more. Frost was gazing out the window, her face troubled.
Damian sighed inwardly. He knew she might have some objections to this. His sister was always an idealist, ever since she'd inherited the rapier that was at her waist. The young girl had idolized her Aunt Weiss, and when she had died she had resolved right then and there to follow in her and their mother Winter's path to be a huntress.
He glanced wryly at Myrtenaster. His little sister had indeed become deadly proficient with the weapon, easily surpassing her Aunt at that age, if the stories were to be believed. Only two years out of Atlas Academy, having graduated top of her class, and now she served the family.
Well, she serves me. We are all the family that remains. He let a quick, hard smile spill across his face before letting it slip once more. Certainly took long enough.
"Damian," his sister finally sighed. "I have concerns."
"I'm sure you do," he replied smoothly. "You know, though, I wouldn't be doing this without good reason."
"Would you?" she whispered. "You wouldn't do this just to amass more power?"
"Power is always a worthy goal," he asserted. "But in this case it is secondary. The greater good comes first. You remember all those who tried to dismantle our great-grandfather's company, don't you? Those who were so jealous of us that, even in the midst of our grieving, they tried to slander me, besmirch our family name?"
"I remember," she replied softly, still gazing out the window. "And still they try."
"Yes, still they try," he agreed. "It's the same everywhere, the people in power who hold their heels to the throats of anyone who isn't privileged enough to be wealthy or skilled enough to be a hunter. You've seen it yourself." Damian sat forward eagerly. "I am only one man, Frost. Reform comes slowly against those in power who fight it. Unless I can help wrest that power away from them, I cannot enact meaningful change."
Frost nodded slightly and turned to face him. "And your part of this deal, providing the financial resources for this Lord Malachite… It sets you up as the most powerful being in Atlas."
"That is the plan, yes."
"And this will benefit society, being able to finally push through all the reforms we've talked about?"
"Yes," he replied with a warm, trusting smile. "Absolutely."
"Very well, Damian. You know I shall always support you. We're all the family we have, after all."
He leaned back, careful not to show the smugness that coursed through his veins. It had been a risk to let her into the plan this early, but the risk paid off with her acceptance.
"Thank you, Frost. You won't regret this."
A/N: Yet more actors on the stage! And hey, the shadowy man finally has a name! I suppose that means that this arc for the story might just concern them more, eh? The plot thickens! Quick note about Damian and Frost keeping the name Schnee though their mother was Winter. Theirs is a dynasty, and likely anyone marrying into it, male or female, would assume the Schnee name unless the circumstances were extraordinary.
I had fun writing Corvis Beryl. Everyone knows a parent like that. Also, shout-out to /u/popoley4221998 on Reddit (Commando2341) for the Evie x Beryl pairing name of Scaredy Cat. I love it! And also my thanks to them for the reviews, as well as everyone else who favorited, followed, and/or reviewed!
TacoKing23: What a marathon of reviews. Thanks! Your kind words really keep me motivated to continue on this story, I am so very honored that you and others have grown so attached to the characters!
DustGremlin: I responded via PM too, but yes actually Lustre is ace. I'm trying very hard not to assign the girls their sexuality in a way that defines their character really, more like just another trait that goes along with Pip's snark, Lustre's calm, Beryl's social anxiety, Evie's playfulness when alone with the team. So, Pip prefers boys, Evie likes both boys and girls, Beryl likes girls only, while Lustre is asexual. Easy enough. But I am very glad you liked the section from Chapter 11 between Sunny and Beryl, and I agree it should help things whenever Beryl and Evie reach that point. Which I'm not gonna reveal my plans for that one way or another.
Stay shiny! |
Rising class segregation by residence is partly related to rising income inequality, but it is also the result of an expansion of exclusionary zoning. Research by Jonathan Rothwell, now at Gallup, and Douglas Massey, a sociologist at Princeton, has found that “a change in permitted zoning from the most restrictive to the least would close 50 percent of the observed gap between the most unequal metropolitan area and the least, in terms of neighborhood inequality.”
Exclusionary zoning frustrates the Fair Housing Act’s aim by erecting barriers that exclude millions of low-income African-Americans and Latinos from wealthier white communities. And growing numbers of poor whites are affected as well. As Paul Jargowsky, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University, notes, African-Americans and Hispanics remain much more likely to live in concentrated poverty than whites, but since 2000, there has been a 145 percent increase among non-Hispanic whites living in high-poverty neighborhoods.
Economic segregation matters because where you live affects so much in life — your access to transportation, employment opportunities, decent health care, and, most important, good schools. In Montgomery County in Maryland, which requires developers to set aside units for low-income families, disadvantaged students attending good local schools cut the math achievement gap with their middle-class peers in half between 2001 and 2007, according to a study by Heather Schwartz, a RAND Corporation researcher.
To bolster the 1968 Fair Housing Act, we need a new “economic fair housing act” to prohibit or discourage local ordinances that unnecessarily exclude people from entire neighborhoods and their schools. Given political realities in Washington, we could begin with laws in friendly states and build toward a moment, sometime in the future, when the federal government would take on the issue.
In its strongest form such a law would ban unjustified and pervasive exclusionary zoning laws that prohibit townhouses or apartments in single-family areas or impose minimum lot sizes. These ordinances, Lee Anne Fennell of the University of Chicago Law School notes, have become “a central organizing feature in American metropolitan life.”
If we can’t achieve a ban, we should assess a penalty on municipalities that engage in discriminatory zoning, either by withholding infrastructure funds or limiting the tax deduction that homeowners in those towns can take for mortgage interest. At the same time, inclusionary zoning laws of the type used in Montgomery County are needed to promote mixed-income housing.
There would, of course, be fierce political and legal opposition from many property owners in exclusive neighborhoods who have enjoyed an unwarranted inflation of their home values through social engineering of a particularly pernicious stripe. Economists across the political spectrum agree that current exclusionary policies create an artificial scarcity of housing, driving up prices beyond what the market would naturally dictate. |
Authored by Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute,
When Hurricane Maria knocked out power in Puerto Rico, residents there realized they were going to need physical cash — and a lot of it.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Fed was forced to fly a planeload of cash to the Island to help avert disaster:
William Dudley, the New York Fed president, put the word out within minutes, and ultimately a jet loaded with an undisclosed amount of cash landed on the stricken island... [Business executive in Puerto Rico] described corporate clients’ urgent requests for hundreds of thousands in cash to meet payrolls, and the challenge of finding enough armored cars to satisfy endless demand at ATMs. Such were the days after Maria devastated the U.S. territory last month, killing 39 people, crushing buildings and wiping out the island’s energy grid. As early as the day after the storm, the Fed began working to get money onto the island,
For a time, unless one had a hoard of cash stored up in one's home, it was impossible to get cash at all. 85 percent of Puerto Rico is still without power, as of October 9. Bloomberg continues: "When some generator-powered ATMs finally opened, lines stretched hours long, with people camping out in beach chairs and holding umbrellas against the sun."
In an earlier article from September 25, Bloomberg noted how, without cash, necessities were simply unavailable:
“Cash only,” said Abraham Lebron, the store manager standing guard at Supermax, a supermarket in San Juan’s Plaza de las Armas. He was in a well-policed area, but admitted feeling like a sitting duck with so many bills on hand. “The system is down, so we can’t process the cards. It’s tough, but one finds a way to make it work.” The cash economy has reigned in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria decimated much of the U.S. commonwealth last week, leveling the power grid and wireless towers and transporting the island to a time before plastic existed. The state of affairs could carry on for weeks or longer in some remote parts of the commonwealth, and that means it could be impossible to trace revenue and enforce tax rules.
Note the deep concern with "trac[ing] revenue" and "enforc[ing] tax rules" - as if making payroll for ordinary people were not the real problem here.
Puerto Rico has been fortunate that the United States, so far, has not attempted to implement many anti-cash measures that have been popular among central bankers in recent years.
Abolishing cash, of course, has become de rigueur among mainstream economists who have long argued that physical cash is an impediment to "nontraditional" monetary policy like negative interest rates.
Moreover, advocates claim, physical cash makes it harder to control the flow of money, collect taxes, and control black markets.
This drive to supposedly fight crime and corruption was given as the justification for the disastrous war against cash in India in 2016. Hatched as a scheme to assert more government control over the economy, the Indian government removed mostly large bills from circulation in India, which accounted for 85% of its physical cash by value.
The demonetization badly damaged the economy. The Wall Street Journal reported in December:
Not surprisingly, shock waves from the announcement continue to crash through the economy. The Asian Development Bank cut its growth estimate for India for the financial year ending March 31 to 7% from 7.4%. JP Morgan expects growth to decline by half a percent to 6.7%. Meanwhile, falling sales have begun to translate into layoffs spanning various sectors, including construction, textiles and jewelry. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy estimates the transaction costs alone of swapping out an estimated 14.2 trillion rupees’ worth of currency to be 1.28 trillion rupees, or about $19 billion. India’s economy will eventually recover from this self-inflicted wound, but there’s no question that demonetization has created doubts about Mr. Modi’s competence. The decision, reportedly hatched in secret with a coterie of trusted bureaucrats, showcases the prime minister’s faith in the command-and-control ethos of the civil service rather than in the “minimum government” he once promised.
One can only imagine how much more grim matters would be for Puerto Rico if most physical cash were made illegal as happened in India.
It's unlikely, however, that any well-known economists - such as Kenneth Rogoff who has deemed physical cash "a curse" - will be recanting their anti-cash views.
If you want to make an omelet, you have to break some eggs, and while some of the "little people" like Indian peasants and Puerto Rican workers might have to suffer greatly whenever the power goes out, we all have to make sacrifices.
Perhaps this is what Richard Thaler - the newly announced economics Nobel-Prize winner - had in mind when he came in out in favor of demonetization in India.
Certainly, abolishing cash is likely to devastate a poor economy more than a wealthy one.
A wealthy country, with more advanced and reliable infrastructure, and with greater access to resources in general, is more fully able to weather a shortage of physical cash, and natural disasters. Overall, though, going cashless makes an economy more fragile, and makes ordinary people sitting ducks whenever there is a natural disaster, or even worse disruptions such as wars. |
The negative publicity from Blackfish, a documentary film that followed the violent behaviour of an orca kept captive by SeaWorld, has caused attendance to fall at the theme parks
Shares in the amusement park SeaWorld fell 33% after a 6-7% decline in the company’s revenues was forecast – with falling attendances driven in part by the negative publicity surrounding the documentary film Blackfish.
The film follows Tilikum, an orca kept in captivity by the amusement park’s Florida outpost, who would perform in acrobatic displays for visitors. He became involved in the deaths of three people, with the documentary suggesting that this violence was driven by the conditions of his captivity, including incidents of harassment by fellow orcas. The film also claims that orcas’ lifespan is shortened by being kept in captivity.
Blackfish became extremely popular, getting 21m viewers in the US alone when it aired on CNN. It prompted protests at SeaWorld following its release, at both its Florida and San Diego parks, and various music artists who were set to play at SeaWorld cancelled, including Willie Nelson and Trisha Yearwood.
The director of Blackfish, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, backed a recent motion by a member of California’s state assembly to outlaw orca performance. In April the vote was delayed so that a period of review, potentially lasting as long as 18 months, can get under way. James Atchison, SeaWorld chief executive and president, acknowledged the impact of the bill on the company’s bottom line: “In California, our challenge is related more to the media attention from the legislative initiative. That was probably our biggest headwind in California.”
Expected revenues of $445m for the second quarter of the year were not met, only reaching $405m. “Until today’s report we were willing to . . . take SeaWorld’s word that there was no discernible impact,” said Tim Nollen of investment firm Macquarie. “This report was notably worse than previous reports.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite: ‘It’s time for this experiment to end’
Following a strong IPO last year which raised over $700m, just before the film’s wider release, some of SeaWorld’s shareholders subsequently offloaded their shares. Its chairman sold over a million dollars’ worth, and owners Blackstone Group sold its majority stake, going from 63% to just 25% ownership.
According to Louie Psihoyos, who directed dolphin documentary The Cove, Blackfish also impacted upon Finding Dory, the forthcoming sequel to Finding Nemo. Psihoyos said that the film’s directors met with Cowperthwaite, and subsequently reworked a SeaWorld-esque park that features in the film.
Orca trainers however have come out fighting against the film, with former trainer Mark Simmons calling it a “crusade against SeaWorld and zoological care in general... engineered by a perfect marriage between sensational animal rights organizations and disgruntled ex-SeaWorld employees.” Even the family of Dawn Brancheau, one of Tilikum’s victims, distanced themselves from the film, saying: “Dawn would not have remained a trainer at SeaWorld for 15 years if she felt that the whales were not well cared for.” |
When Bungie split with Microsoft and parted ways with Halo, not everyone was interested in saying goodbye. Frank O' Connor decided to stay with the Halo universe and serve as the franchise development director for 343 Industries. Since he was heavily involved in the development, we talked to him about how Halo 4's narrative will connect with Halo 3 and how the formation of a new team has affected the tone of the series. Watch the video below to see what he has to say, and feel free to check out this bonus portion of the interview on our YouTube channel in which he talks about the difference in studio cultures between Bungie and 343 Industries.
To learn more about Halo 4, be sure to check in on our content hub below where we will be rolling out videos and features throughout the month. |
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